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I have a plugin listed in the plugin directory that I created several years ago.

Each new release I get an email asking me to update my plugin compatibility. I dont have the source control software installed any more, and I vaguely remember that it uses multiple copies of the plugin source, something about branch and trunk and the individual plugin versions.

I need a guide to updating the version of WordPress that my plugin is compatible with but everything I type into Google is just bringing me to guides for admins installing new updates, not updating the actual plugin directory.

I'm sure it's pretty simple but there are certainly concepts, multiple steps and software that needs to be installed. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

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The following is a brief overview on how to pull down your repository from WordPress.org and bump the Tested Up To version, without having to push out an update for your plugin.

Subversion or TortoiseSVN

The first thing you need is a method to interact with the version controlled running SVN. If you are on a Mac, you can install SVN through brew.

$ brew install subversion

If you are on a PC you can install TortoiseSVN to help manage things through a GUI. (I'm sure there is one for the mac, I just haven't used it)

https://tortoisesvn.net/

Clone the Plugin

Once you have one of the above methods installed, you need to pull down the repository for your plugin. Your plugin can be found at https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/your-plugin-name where your-plugin-name is the slug of your plugin.

To clone the repository using one of the above methods:

Subversion on Mac: $ svn co https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/your-plugin-name my-local-dir (replacing your-plugin-name with your plugin slug)

TortoiseSVN on Windows: I believe you can right click go to TortoiseSVN → Checkout and enter the URL for your plugin.

Docs: https://tortoisesvn.net/docs/nightly/TortoiseSVN_en/tsvn-dug-checkout.html

Bump Tested Up To Version

When the files have all been cloned, to bump the 'Tested Up To' version in your plugin you will want to update the 'Tested Up To' version inside of the readme.txt inside of the latest tag and the trunk directories.

Ideally the version would be something like 4.9, which moving forward will include all point releases (4.9.1, 4.9.2 etc).

Commit the Changes back to WordPress.org

Once you've made your changes you'll need to add and commit the changes back to the WordPress plugin repository.

Subversion on Mac: $ svn add --force ./* $ svn ci -m 'Bump tested up to version'

TortoiseSVN on Windows: Right click the top level directory for your plugin and select TortoiseSVN → Commit Check the boxes next to each of the files you want to commit, enter a commit message at the top and click OK.

Docs: https://tortoisesvn.net/docs/nightly/TortoiseSVN_en/tsvn-dug-commit.html

That's all. Once your commit has gone through it can take up to 15 minutes or so for the changes to reflect on WordPress.org.

Additional Resources

  1. Additional info on using subversion with WordPress: https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-org/how-to-use-subversion/
  2. Brew subversion: http://brewformulas.org/Subversion
  3. TortoiseSVN Docs: https://tortoisesvn.net/docs/nightly/TortoiseSVN_en/
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  • wow this is a really detailed answer, thanks, I will give it a spin!
    – rtpHarry
    Nov 18, 2017 at 15:47
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    this got me moving in the right direction. I ended up fixing some bugs and taking it another step forward by adding a new tag but this guide is the correct answer to my original question. Thank you very much for taking the time to list it so well.
    – rtpHarry
    Nov 21, 2017 at 14:20
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    wow thank you again for this detailed answer. I've just come back, several years later, with the same problem, except I'm now on a mac instead of windows and you covered these instructions as well! I wish I could upvote this twice :)
    – rtpHarry
    Jan 11, 2022 at 13:13
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    @rtpHarry You are welcome! I wrote this so long ago, I'm glad to hear that you still find it helpful. Happy 2022!
    – EHerman
    Jan 11, 2022 at 17:37

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