Yoast WordPress SEO Plugin update corrects an issue that caused a fatal error… Do you need to upgrade?
Yoast SEO is available for free. Yoast SEO updated to version 19.10, and the premium version upgraded to 19.5 and introduced a variety of significant modifications.
Here’s what you need to be aware of about these updates when you weigh whether or not you should update.
WooCommerce 7.1 Compatibility
The premium and free versions benefit customers running the newly published WooCommerce Version 7.1.
WooCommerce 7.1 is a massive release, and one of the improvements is a modification to the database dubbed High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS).
High-Performance Order Store creates changes to the database. Therefore, the activation of this feature is optional for now so that it can allow plugin developers to be up to date with the new features.
A WooCommerce explainer noted:
“After the first production release, the HPOS feature will continue to be opt-in, and we will assist developers in making their plugins compatible with HPOS, closely monitor how many extensions are compatible and how many stores are actively testing the feature.”
Yoast 19.10/19.5 Premium and Premium are compatible with the latest WooCommerce HPOS feature. If activation of HPOS leads to a site crash, you can exclude Yoast SEO as a culprit.
The WooCommerce SEO plugin with Yoast will also get an upgrade to structured data that allows it to be suitable for enhancements to search on Google.
Yoast 19.10 Fixes a Fatal Error Bug
The latest version of the Yoast SEO plugin offers a fix for a bug that could lead to the website’s inability to function.
The Yoast SEO changelog blames the problem on another (unnamed) software:
“Fixes a bug where a fatal error would be thrown in the classic editor in combination with certain plugins that misuse meta box hooks.”
A meta box is a customized field that lets users include additional content not part of the main content.
Fixes Two Elementor-related Bugs
The Elementor bugfix that was first introduced fixes an issue that hindered the capability to back up Yoast SEO metadata (under certain conditions). This is a significant issue.
The changelog says:
“Fixes a bug where Yoast SEO-related post metadata would not be saved if a user without the manage_options capability would save a post in Elementor.”
Yoast’s second bugfix has a connection to the one before because of the identical “manage_options capability” problem.
The changelog clarifies the following:
“Fixes a bug where users with site-wide basic access authentication would be prompted to insert their credentials when saving a post in Elementor if they didn’t have the manage_options capability.”
WordPress 6.1 Compatibility and Miscellaneous
Version 19.10 was deemed obsolete by more than a dozen hooks utilized to add custom content to Yoast SEO’s settings pages.
In the end, Yoast SEO offers full compatibility with the recently launched WordPress 6.1 codenamed Misha.
Should You Update to the Latest Version of Yoast SEO?
A few people are inclined to put off upgrading a plugin to ensure that there’s an error of a significant magnitude, and this isn’t a bad idea.
Yoast SEO is utilized by more than five million publishers of websites. The new version of the plugin was made available today, and there are no reports on the Yoast SEO support forum suggesting significant issues with this upgrade.
- It’s just occasional issues that could be more related to other plugins or themes.
- There aren’t any issues that suggest any pattern of problems connected with this update.
Updating to the latest version of Yoast SEO can be considered a great idea, especially for users of WooCommerce or Elementor; however, it’s more than just these users.
Yoast SEO 19.10/19.5 Premium is compatible with the newest version of WordPress, which in turn is a reason to upgrade and recommended to make sure you are using the most recent version of all themes and plugins because it prevents incompatibility issues.
