WordPress: Upgrading your Software Version

One of the important “technology” things that need to be done with a blog is to update the software version. The reason to do so has much to do with new features — and fixes to security issues where hackers can come in a just take over your blog.

But upgrading is fraught with risks without a plan. Most of us writers — even with a good background in technology (like me!) haven’t been exposed to this process before. So we are faced with a wall that says we must do the upgrade for security reasons but do not have the necessary knowledge and experience to do a lot of testing, uploading of files, backing up current stuff and knowing what order to do it in and…well, you get the idea. It’s not our core competency — writing is our core competency.

Now, some hosting companies provide “one click” upgrade to the latest software release from WordPress. I’ve used it — on a blog with no plugins, content, or theme. Pretty easy! But, no guarantees with a real blog with real content and modified themes.

Other hosting companies offer an “automatic” upgrade or a “manual” upgrade. Yahoo!, where I host my blogs, offers this option. Of course, I’m a lazy guy, so I selected the “automatic” option to upgrade the software. Because I don’t get this stuff just like all of you.

The problem is…I get the latest software based upon when Yahoo! decides to upgrade the version. And the version my blogs are on is 2.0.4. About ten releases old. WordPress has gone through all of the balance of 2.0 PLUS releases in 2.1. They are now on release 2.2.1. And every one of these releases talks through how it is important to get the latest features and the best security from the release.

Clearly, “automatic” updates to the blogs are a mystery to Yahoo!. Even contacting their support organization yields clueless minions quoting standard scripts that I’ve already read. It’s exceptionally frustrating — but not worth switching hosts as the conversion time to move five different blogs (including some in my family) is just not worth the hassle.

Consequently, this weekend, I’m going to upgrade the WordPress software myself. It should be interesting.

However, my learning is to your benefit. What I’m going to do is document what I do step-by-step so that you too can upgrade your WordPress software.

You’ll miss out on all that pain I might go through with something not working right. You’ll miss out on all the steps I will go through to try and recover something that isn’t working.

You should be grateful for my pain! But, this is what I do — help writers with technology.

There are major steps associated with upgrading your software:

• Backup current software. This, I hope, is obvious: if everything goes to hell in a hand basket, I can return the blog software to the version that is at least working. Fortunately, Yahoo! has a good backup of every blog every night — and I’ve used it and it works well.
• Get latest Plugin versions. Plugins are the most suspect for workability with new versions of WordPress software. Most plugins are built for a particular version of WordPress software and have limited testing. The WordPress software is released, but we have to hope that the plugin developer has actually validated their software with the new version. Most haven’t and those that have simply tested it on their own blog — not yours.
• Get latest version of your theme. If you use one of the many free themes from WordPress.net, you need to check if a newer version has been released by your theme author. This is because they may have updated their work based upon feedback. But, to be fair, most free theme updates are in response to something breaking out there — like on your blog. Once reported, the theme might get fixed; there is no guarantee. Free themes carry risks and this is one of them.
• Disable all plugins. This gets you to a “virgin” blog and will enable a clean installation of the new version of WordPress software.
• Install the new software. Once installed, go see if you can see your theme on the web. If so, a good thing!
• Re-enable one plugin at a time. If you re-enable twenty plugins and nothing works, you have nowhere to start troubleshooting.
• Test the plugin. Once a plugin has been enabled, you need to test the functions of your blog — posting comments, viewing pages…I need to make a list. Once the list has been gone through, then add the next plugin.
• Declare victory. If all goes well — and it never does, trust me — then you have successfully upgraded your blog.

Now, there are some scripts out there that will automatically update your software. I’m going to try one. If it works here, I’ll pass on the information for you.

Upgrading software is important, especially the security aspects of the software. But, having a plan is key. I’ll share mine.

Scot