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Getting the Latest Stable Version Sooner

WordPress.org now holds every plugin release back from automatic updates for up to 24 hours (its "Protect the Shire" review window). During that window the new version can be installed manually, but the normal update check on your site will not show it yet, so you can be left waiting a day for an important fix to appear.

Events Manager can look up the latest stable release directly from WordPress.org and show it on your Plugins and Updates screens straight away, so you can update by hand without waiting for the rollout.

Turning it on​

Go to Events > Settings > General and open the Admin Tools (Advanced) tab. Under Development Versions & Updates, set Always check the latest stable version? to Yes and save.

From then on, whenever a newer stable release exists that WordPress.org has published but not yet rolled out to your site, Events Manager shows it on your Plugins and Dashboard > Updates screens as a normal available update.

If you would rather check just once, use the Re-Check Updates button in the same section. It performs a single direct check and shows any newer stable release immediately.

Manual updates only, by design​

A release surfaced this way is only ever offered for a manual update. It is deliberately excluded from unattended automatic updates, so enabling the option does not defeat the 24 hour review window for auto-updates. Your plugin continues to show "auto-updates enabled" as normal, and a genuinely rolled-out release still auto-updates when WordPress.org distributes it.

In short, the option lets you choose to update sooner; it does not make your site auto-update sooner.

Forcing automatic updates​

If you run your own sites and want held-back releases to install automatically as well, rather than just showing them for a manual update, add this constant to your wp-config.php:

define( 'EM_AUTO_UPDATES', true );

With this defined, Events Manager auto-updates to the latest stable release as soon as it is published, without waiting for the 24 hour rollout. This is a deliberate, code-level choice rather than an admin setting, because it opts you out of the safety window the delay provides. Leave it undefined (the default) to keep the safe, manual-only behaviour.

Development versions​

This works alongside the Enable Dev Updates option, which checks for the very latest in-development build rather than the latest stable release. See How to Upgrade to the Dev Version for more on that.