Upgrading WordPress Manually
Honestly I don’t like the constant work of upgrading WordPress. I just feel that we spent a lot of time on keeping up the WordPress upgrading work. The latest version of WordPress is 2.8.4, for now I suppose. This year WordPress releases 6 new versions up till now. In 2008 last year there are 9 versions of Worpress released. I would suggest WordPress developers combine the new version release into one per year. That will save us a lot of time and energy on keep on chasing after the upgrading process.
Although I don’t like to upgrade WordPress so often, still we have to do it because of security purposes. One of the main reasons is to prevent your blog being hack. Other than that it’s just minor changes to fix the bugs. I prefer not to upgrade so often because there is a risk that problems might occur. When problems do occur, that means your blog might be down. The down time of your blog is very much depends on how good you are in solving the problems. Before you go on to upgrade WordPress, be sure that you back up, well prepared and understand exactly what you’re doing.
There are lots of guide online on how to upgrade to latest version of WordPress. I did a lot of reading and research before attempting on the upgrading myself. I just feel that I have to write the process myself. So here goes.
- No doubt the first thing that you need to check and read is Upgrading WordPress Extended from WordPress.org. This is the most trusted site which you can refer and compare with other guide written for better understanding. I’ll be just repeating the process here and adding my experience to make it easier to understand.
- Backup your database and all WordPress files. Basically just backup everything. Be sure to check and verified your backups so that they are usable.
- Deactivate all plugins. You may install Maintenance Mode plugin and leave it activate. This plugin creates a page that says “Blog under Maintenance, please come back later”.
- Download the latest version of WordPress. Extract the file and edit the files before uploading it. I did not use ftp. I just delete wp-content folder of the new WordPress files, zip it back and upload it to the server. Extract the edited new WordPress files and over write the old files. Just make sure you don’t over write these files below:
- Wp-config.php file
- Wp-content folder
- Wp-image folder
- Wp-includes/languages/ folder
- .htaccess file
- Robot.txt file
- Edit wp-config.php file. You need to add 4 lines of security keys. Just follow no.13 instruction Add security key definitions to the wp-config.php file at WordPress.org. You can use the online generator to create the keys. If you’re not sure about this, just compare your wp-config.php file with the new wp-config-sample.php file.
- Run the WordPress upgrade program by typing http://yourdomain.com/blog/wp-admin/upgrade.php or http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/upgrade.php. This is basically the location of your WordPress installed.
- Follow the instructions by click on “Upgrade WordPress” and after that “Continue”.
- Login to your blog and you should be using the new WordPress. Activate all the plugins and you may try updating them. Be sure to check if the latest version of your plugins has been tested and compatible with the version of Worrpress that you install.
I’m able to upgrade my WordPress without having any serious trouble. If you’re not confidence on performing the upgrade, then ask somebody who knows for help and assiatance. You don’t have to rush to upgrade to the latest WordPress. It’s better to be able to blog then having a 404 error page hanging around. Just get everything ready and prepared before you proceed with the upgrade and you should be fine. Be sure to know where to get help if problems occur during your upgrade.
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