2.6: Upgrade Tips and Recommendations

Additional note: I spoke to one hosting company that reported that a significant number of their support tickets today have been as a result of this upgrade.

If you don’t need the upgrade, don’t upgrade today. Wait a while, I suspect 2.6.1 is going to come out very quickly indeed.

I second that. Wait till the issues are fixed.

I would take this back if TPTM came in and said “there is a security hole in 2.5.1”. There are some obvious ongoing issues with xml-rpc (which has lead to the 2.6 version shutting it down unless you explicitly ask for it to be active) but otherwise I don’t see any major security issues. Would someone in the know care to address this?

Personally I think that it’s a bit much to tell people not to upgrade. I’ve just upgraded two completely seperate sites with no issues whatsoever.

I think a lot of the issues people are experiencing is just because they are not deleting cookies from older versions. Possibly the upgrade notes for this version should mention it as a step.

Incidentally, you should always take database + file backup before upgrading, that’s just common sense.

mrmist, actually, the upgrade issues touch a bunch of different people. My feeling is if you are running a very standard blog, no plugins (besides maybe askimet), on the root of the site, using a standard style theme with no complicated widgets or sidebars, and you aren’t needing to have all your links working right away, then upgrade.

Basically, the developers of the plugins don’t get the upgrade for the most part until it actually comes out. So many of them are going to spend time in the next couple of days to make their plugins compatible with the changes that have been made between 2.5.1 and 2.6. So if you use anything beyond pretty standard, you are facing potential issues.

This is also a .0 upgrade that changes a number of things from how the feed links work to how to log into the admin area, and a bunch of other things besides. It isn’t a security update, so unless there is some wild pressing need for a blogmaster to upgrade to get a feature they have been waiting for or something, upgrading on day zero just ain’t the best idea.

With the number of issues that are out there as a result of this upgrade, this is a good one to sit out, at least for a few days to get a better build.

I agree with you that first day upgrading carries with it a degree of risk, but I also think that starting a thread like this is just spreading FUD when there is no need.

Neither of my sites that I’ve upgraded actually have the WP install in the site root, it lives in distinct directories on each. After clearing cookies login no-probs. I have five plugins running without issues.

If plugin developers really want to stay at the cutting edge, they can test them on the various beta releases. Otherwise yes there is a danger that they might stop working, that’s why you are encouraged to disable them before upgrading.

Personally I think that if you are running a production site that is mission critical to you, then you shouldn’t be doing any upgrades without testing them first on your test site. If you don’t have a test site then your prod site can’t be worth that much to you. If you’re not operating your sites like that (test/prod), then you’re not running a business properly. And, really, if you’re not running a business from your sites, then it ain’t going to matter that much if a plugin stops working.

Commercial site or not, people pour their time and effort into their blogs and have regular visitors and readers. Doing it for love or money really shouldn’t matter, a dead blog is a dead blog if it stops making money or stops filling your heart with the joy of creation.

The developers of most of the plugins out there aren’t doing it for money, they are doing it for enjoyment and pleasure, and I am sure that a large number of them aren’t actively scanning for alpha and beta versions to work from. They have real lives too.

The cookie issue to you might be a “no problem” thing, but in reality there are plenty of people coming here with that same issue. It is an issue that less technical people may not be able to fix by themselves, a bug in the way that the programmers have chosen to handle previous version cookies through the new logon process, something I am sure will get cleaned up in the 2.6.1 update.

I just really feel that unless the upgrade is a security upgrade (ie, urgent) that the “upgrade now” thing that annoys everyone their blog admin panel probably shouldn’t have been turned up for a couple of days, so that only the more hardcore users might have upgraded and discovered the issues. That reminder bug means that tens of thousands of less than technical people are going to be out there upgrading blogs and running into issue on a 0 day release of a .0 version without need.

Just bumping this back up, I think this is a very useful thread for people to read BEFORE they upgrade.

can i go back to 2.5.1 if i have upgraded and now i am having errors

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: force_ssl_admin() in /home/virtual/site14/fst/var/www/html/wp-settings.php on line 390

please please advise

If you backed up the database and your install before, then replace the database with your backup and replace the files with your backup files..

only backed up database

no files were backed up

Try replacing your db. . . I upgraded today, and what a mistake. It lost my password info, and then I thought, hm, maybe an odd glitch, so I went through the whole getting another password. While I got it, it still will not let me login. I have no idea why.

The general tone of this conversation makes me inclined to chime in that the first post in this thread should have read:

“1. If you don’t know how to back up your files and database

2. If you don’t know how to restore your files and database

3. If you don’t want to upgrade to 2.6

Don’t do it.”

Self hosting your WordPress is a challenge and you need to educate yourself in managing your software and installation.

Are there problems? Sure. That’s the way it is; the software development is driven by the best efforts of volunteers and unfortunately not all test cases get caught.

Is just advising people to not upgrade really helpful? The only mention of security I can see in the release announcement concerned better SSL support (very cool) and “A number of proactive security enhancements, including cookies and database interactions”. No mention of “upgrade or lose everything”.

So if you want to take the plunge and upgrade, then backup, get ready to restore, and enjoy if it works out. If not then keep enjoying 2.5.1.

BTW I did 3 upgrades without problems. The new plugin management page alone is worth it for me.

jdembowski, you hit it exactly. My comments aren’t to say that the 2.6 upgrade won’t be good for some people, or be good for all people at some time in the future, but for now there are a number of teething issues that someone who is less than entirely technically inclined might find a challenge.

You are correct as well – back it up, back it ALL up… then give it a try if you like, and be prepared to remove it and go to your backup if you don’t like it or can’t work with it.

It really should be clear: this isn’t a panic oh my god security problem upgrade, this is a feature upgrade. Effectively 2.5.1 might end up being a level that a bunch of people stop upgrade at, something plugin writers might want to consider matching up to.

One more bump to return this is page 1. Useful info and discussion, should be pinned but it isn’t.