Database Migrations and Updates

Database Migrations and Updates — a practical guide to WordPress plugin DB upgrade with clear examples you can reuse in real projects.

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Short description

Compare stored DB version to plugin DB version on `plugins_loaded`/`admin_init`, then migrate and update the option.

Versioned upgrade

define('ACME_DB_VERSION', '1.1.0');
add_action('plugins_loaded', function () {
    if (get_option('acme_db_version') === ACME_DB_VERSION) {
        return;
    }
    // run migrations...
    update_option('acme_db_version', ACME_DB_VERSION);
});