Downloading and Updating Benecaster Plugins

Benecaster itself comes from the WordPress plugin directory. Its add-ons, and the free Benecaster Add-on Manager that installs them, come from your benecaster.com account. This page explains where to get each one and how each one is kept up to date.

The Downloads Panel

Your account page has a Downloads panel, on the Shows & add-ons tab of benecaster.com/my-account/, after Your add-ons. The link in your welcome email opens it. It lists, in this order:

1. Benecaster Add-on Manager: “A free companion plugin that installs and updates your Benecaster add-ons from your WordPress dashboard. Install it alongside the Benecaster plugin.”
2. Benecaster Core: the Benecaster plugin itself, for when you need a specific version or can’t reach the plugin directory.
3. Every add-on your license includes.

Each row shows its current version, release date, file size, the minimum WordPress version it needs, and its release notes.

Installing and Updating Benecaster

Install Benecaster from the WordPress plugin directory: in your WordPress admin go to Plugins → Add New Plugin, search for Benecaster, then Install Now and Activate. Then connect your site. Full instructions: Installing Benecaster.

Updates to Benecaster arrive the same way as for any plugin from the directory, under Plugins and Dashboard → Updates.

If you need a specific version, download Benecaster Core from the Downloads panel and upload it under Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin. If Benecaster is already installed, WordPress asks whether to replace it: choose Replace current with uploaded. Your settings, shows and subscribers are kept.

Installing and Updating Add-ons

Add-ons need the Benecaster Add-on Manager. Install it once, alongside Benecaster:

1. Download Benecaster Add-on Manager from the Downloads panel.
2. Upload and activate it under Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.

Until it is installed, Settings → Add-ons in Benecaster opens with a box headed Install add-ons with one click and a Download the Add-on Manager link to the Downloads panel.

With the Manager active and your site connected:

• Installing: each add-on you own appears under Ready to install on Settings → Add-ons. Press Install; the Manager downloads it, checks that it really came from Benecaster, installs and activates it. See Installing Add-ons.
• Updating: a newer version of any Benecaster add-on on your site is listed under Plugins and Dashboard → Updates, the same way any other plugin update is, and installs with Update Now. WordPress checks twice a day; Check again on Dashboard → Updates checks straight away.
• The Manager updates itself automatically, so security fixes reach every site. Its Automatic Updates column reads Auto-updates enabled with no Disable link. Whether your add-ons update automatically is still your choice, per plugin.

If your license lapses, add-on updates stop, and the Manager keeps updating itself.

When to Download a Zip Yourself

Benecaster normally comes from the plugin directory and add-ons through the Manager, and those are the routes to use. The Downloads panel is also there for recovery: rolling back after a bad update, installing on a server with no outbound access, or a site whose updates are stuck. Download the version you need and upload it under Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.

If the version you need isn’t listed, or a product shows nothing to download, contact support@benecaster.com. That is ours to fix, not something you can work around.

Troubleshooting

When an install or update is refused, the add-on’s card on Settings → Add-ons, or WordPress’s Update failed: line, says why. The common ones:

If your site moved to a new address and Benecaster says the show needs reconnecting, reconnect it there. See Site connection problems.