How to use allow_major_auto_core_updates filter in WordPress

Ever wondered how to enable or disable major automatic updates in WordPress? No worries, I’m here to explain it in a simple way. Let’s dive into the allow_major_auto_core_updates filter hook!

allow_major_auto_core_updates Filter

Filters whether to enable major automatic core updates.

To use the allow_major_auto_core_updates filter, first register it using add_filter. You can place this code into the functions.php of your activated theme or in a custom WordPress Plugin.

We at WePlugins always prefer to create a custom WordPress Plugin while using hooks so nothing breaks when you update your WordPress Theme in the future.

In the example below, we define a function weplugins_modify_allow_major_auto_core_updates which takes 1 parameter. We register it using add_filter. The first parameter allow_major_auto_core_updates is the name of the hook, the second parameter weplugins_modify_allow_major_auto_core_updates is the name of the function to be called, the third parameter is the priority of calling the hook if the same hook is used multiple times, and the last parameter is the number of arguments (if any) to be passed in the registered function.

Sometimes, you need to remove a registered hook, so you can use remove_filter to remove the allow_major_auto_core_updates filter.

Parameters

Below is the 1 parameter required to use this hook:

• $upgrade_major : (bool) Whether to enable major automatic core updates.

Live Example

Below is an example of how you can use this hook:

Example 1: Enable Major Auto Core Updates

Enable major automatic core updates for your WordPress site.

    function weplugins_modify_allow_major_auto_core_updates($upgrade_major) { 
        // Enabling major auto core updates
        return true; 
    }
    // add the filter
    add_filter("allow_major_auto_core_updates", "weplugins_modify_allow_major_auto_core_updates", 10, 1);
    

Example 2: Disable Major Auto Core Updates

Disable major automatic core updates for your WordPress site.

    function weplugins_modify_allow_major_auto_core_updates($upgrade_major) { 
        // Disabling major auto core updates
        return false; 
    }
    // add the filter
    add_filter("allow_major_auto_core_updates", "weplugins_modify_allow_major_auto_core_updates", 10, 1);
    

Example 3: Conditional Major Auto Core Updates

Enable or disable major automatic core updates based on certain conditions.

    function weplugins_modify_allow_major_auto_core_updates($upgrade_major) { 
        // Enable updates only if the site is not in maintenance mode
        if (!defined('WP_MAINTENANCE')) {
            return true;
        }
        return false; 
    }
    // add the filter
    add_filter("allow_major_auto_core_updates", "weplugins_modify_allow_major_auto_core_updates", 10, 1);
    

To remove a hook callback, use the example below:

    remove_filter("allow_major_auto_core_updates", "weplugins_modify_allow_major_auto_core_updates", 10, 1);
    

Please make sure to provide the same callback function name, priority, and number of arguments while removing the hook callback.