SiteOrigin GitHub Updater

SiteOrigin GitHub Updater enables WordPress to obtain plugin updates directly from GitHub Releases, rather than the WordPress.org repository. The implementation is optimized for SiteOrigin-maintained plugins, but the source code is public and may be adapted for other projects.

What It Does

• Queries the GitHub Releases API for the most recent published release (non-draft, non-prerelease).
• Compares the release tag to the Version header of the installed plugin.
• When a higher version is detected, WordPress presents a standard update notice and installs the ZIP asset linked to that release.
• For WordPress versions earlier than 5.8, or when an Update URI header is missing, the updater can fall back to a branch-based check.

Integrating the Updater

1. Add the submodule

cd path/to/plugin
git submodule add https://github.com/siteorigin/github-updater.git github-updater
git submodule update --init --recursive

2. Load and initialize

// Include the updater library.
require_once plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ) . 'github-updater/updater.php';

// Instantiate the updater.
new SiteOrigin_Updater(
    __FILE__,                                  // Path to this main plugin file.
    'your-plugin-slug',                        // Plugin directory name (e.g., 'my-plugin').
    'your-github-owner/your-repository-name',  // GitHub owner and repository name (e.g., 'my-username/my-plugin').
    // Optional fourth argument: branch for legacy updates (default 'master').
);

*   Replace `'your-plugin-slug'` with your plugin's directory name.
*   Replace `'your-github-owner/your-repository-name'` with the GitHub owner (username or organization) followed by a slash and then the repository name. For example, if your repository URL is `https://github.com/my-username/my-cool-plugin`, this argument would be `'my-username/my-cool-plugin'`.
*   The fourth parameter for the branch is optional and is used for the legacy update system (defaults to 'master').

3. Define the Update URI header

/*
 * Plugin Name: Example Plugin
 * Version: 1.2.3
 * Update URI: https://github.com/your-github-owner/your-repository-name
 */

Releasing a New Version

1. Increment the Version header.
2. Commit and push all changes.
3. On GitHub, create a release whose tag matches the new version (for example, 1.2.4 or v1.2.4) and attach the installable ZIP file.
4. WordPress installations will detect and apply the update during their next routine check.

Legacy Update Mechanism

For environments running WordPress < 5.8 or lacking a valid Update URI, the updater retrieves the main plugin file from a designated branch (default master), compares version numbers, and supplies the update directly from that branch.

Licence

GPL-3.0. Refer to the included LICENSE file for details.