Bedrock and WordPress Auto-Updates

Hello.
Quick question, already semi addressed in this forum but I need some clarification.

When using Bedrock will I be able to keep using WordPress Auto Updates? (They are disabled by default because it is assumed I will.update WordPress from composer, but after I give the site to my client I want then to be able to keep up with the updates easily).

What about WordPress plugins?

I’m not using Capistrano.

Thank you.

If you want to pass it off to a non-developer client, then you can just re-enable updates and stop using Composer basically. Once you switch that though it would be pretty hard to get it back into a good state with Composer.

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I understand that.
So should I add plugins to composer requires?
Or that just applies to the main WordPress?

It’s up to you. One of the main reasons for using Composer is to keep a version control repo lean but also ensure anyone checking it out can quickly load dependencies (WP plugins). Whether you use Composer is entirely up to you, but if you don’t use Composer then why use Bedrock at all?

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I’m using composer, and I plan to keep using it.
This question was made because I was concerned about the “what if” my client decides to dump composer after I deliver the website.

On a side note, one of the things I feel when reading about Bedrock is that it is more focused for a in-house development environment than to a Develope -> Deploy -> Send to Client and forget about it until they request you (or other dev) to update it.

But, it is still a great workflow, way better than classic WordPress development process. Specially if you are coming from a Laravel background, bedrock seems more natural.

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It uses modern technology and workflow, that’s for sure. It also is not how WordPress was built to be used, as a WP site by default wants to be maintained solely via the WP admin.

For me, handing a site off to a client who may or may not have me update it in the future, the great thing about this is, even if you deploy it to their server, and preserve Composer, Bedrock, and everything else… it doesn’t break anything. If the client updates WP and plugins, they can be along their merry way. Your repository and composer.json will be out of date, but the site itself will continue to work as expected.

With that in mind, I use Bedrock for all projects now. If I continue to maintain the project, cool, I will continue to use Composer. If not, then the client can take care of it from WP.

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@apintocr you’re correct that was it designed for “in-house” development more so than the opposite you describe. But as @kalenjohnson mentioned, if you like developing with Bedrock to begin with, you can still easily hand it off and the client can do whatever they want with it. It will continue to work as a normal WP install would.

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@swalkinshaw and @kalenjohnson, thank you both for your feedback.
My question was clarified and I decided to keep auto updates off, even for clients websites.
I’ll ask them if they want to auto update themselves risking breaking something due to compatibility or if they wish for me to update it alongside taking care of any compatibility issues.

Thank you!