I noticed that one of my client's sites using the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin had not been updated in a very long time. The plugin was at version 2.5, while the latest version was 6.1. I assumed the site was configured with the WP Engine Smart Plugin Manager, which automatically updates plugins, but it wasn’t. I felt like I had missed this for far too long.
After updating the plugin to 6.1, an error message popped up on the top of the WordPress Admin screen:
A database upgrade is required to use Subscriptions. Upgrades from the previously installed version is no longer supported. You will need to install an older version of WooCommerce Subscriptions or WooCommerce.
Below is how I was able to resolve this issue.
Initial Attempt to Resolve the Issue
I started by searching online for previous versions of the WooCommerce Subscriptions plug in. I wasn't able to find any previous versions by doing a few minutes of Googling. So I went over to WooCommerce Subscriptions page and found their online support chat. I asked for older versions of the plugin so I could perform an incremental upgrade instead of jumping from 2.5 to 6.1 directly.
Despite the error message, the subscriptions on the site appeared to be functioning correctly. I shared system details with support, confirming that the database schema was up-to-date. This indicated that the error shouldn’t have been caused by outdated database structures.
However, support was unresponsive and incredibly slow to respond. This was all done via the chatbot, which didn’t inspire much confidence. Although it seemed like I was communicating with a real person, there was no way to verify this. Despite repeated requests, support refused to provide the older versions, claiming they no longer had access to them.
I attempted to search for the older plugin builds online without success. Frustrated, I decided to call it a day and revisit the issue later.
Follow-Up Attempts
I restarted the troubleshooting process the next day. After reinitiating a support chat and bringing the agent up to speed, the new support agent understood the problem as I described and agreed the correct course of action would be to downgrade the plug in and walk back up to the current version. The support agent then was able to provide me with plugin versions 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 to try. See below for download links.
Testing the Provided Plugin Versions
I started with version 3.0, but it failed to install due to a fatal error during activation. Next, I moved to version 4.0, which successfully installed but displayed a welcome message for WooCommerce 3.1. It’s possible that version 4.0 was mislabelled or internally considered a 3.x version. From there, I upgraded to version 5.0 and then to the latest version, 6.1. After updating to each new version, the error message disappeared. Finally on version 6.1 all was good again.
Lessons Learned
After checking the existing subscriptions and products, everything looked good. I wasn’t confident WooCommerce support would be helpful after my first attempt, but thankfully, the second attempt yielded better results.
For anyone who may encounter a similar situation, I’ve attached the previous plugin versions of WooCommerce Subscriptions. The key takeaway here is to keep plugins up to date. Even if you rely on automated systems to manage updates, it’s essential to periodically review your setup manually. A pair of human eyes can often catch issues that automated tools might miss.