Naroum Update Merge

Editing a third-party plugin is sometimes the only way to get what a client needs. The problem comes with the next update: installing it overwrites your changes, and skipping it leaves security fixes behind.

Naroum Update Merge solves this with a three-way merge, the same approach version control tools use. It compares:

• the original version your changes were made on,
• your customized version, currently installed,
• the new version of the plugin.

Because it knows the original, it can tell what you changed from what the update changed:

• Files and lines changed only by you are kept automatically.
• Files and lines changed only by the update are applied automatically.
• Changes on both sides in different places are merged line by line.
• Only real conflicts, where both sides changed the same lines, are shown to you.

For each conflict you choose which code to keep: my version, the new version, both (in either order), or the original version. The tool only combines code that already exists in these versions; it does not let you type code. To adjust the result by hand, download the merged ZIP, edit it, and install it with Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.

Safe installation

• ZIP backup of the installed plugin before anything is replaced, downloadable from the tool.
• PHP syntax check of every file that comes from your version or from a merge. Installation is blocked on error.
• Installation is blocked if the plugin changed on the server since the analysis.
• The plugin folder is swapped with two renames on the same disk, with automatic rollback if the second one fails.
• The new release is saved as the reference for your next update, so you only need to provide the original version once.
• Prefer to install manually? Download the merged plugin as a ZIP instead.

Sources

• Original version: downloaded from WordPress.org (matching the installed version number), uploaded as a ZIP, or the reference saved by the previous merge.
• New version: latest release from WordPress.org, or uploaded as a ZIP (premium plugins, specific versions).
• No original version available? A two-way comparison lets you choose every difference, with a bulk action for the files you did not touch.

Who is it for?

Agencies and developers who maintain client sites with customized plugins and want a reviewable, reversible update process instead of redoing their changes by hand.

The tool is available under Plugins > Update Merge, to users who can install and update plugins. It is unavailable when DISALLOW_FILE_MODS is set. On multisite, it is in the network admin.

External services

This plugin connects to WordPress.org only when you choose a WordPress.org source in the analysis form. Nothing is sent automatically or in the background.

• api.wordpress.org (Plugins API) is queried with the plugin slug to find the download link of the latest release.
• downloads.wordpress.org is used to download the latest release, or the original release matching the installed version number.

No personal data is sent. Only the plugin slug and version number are part of the requests. WordPress.org Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.