Been awhile – a little help please

This is what I get when I try to access the admin area after inputting my user and pw…

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/cache.php on line 99

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/query.php on line 21

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/theme.php on line 576

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/cache.php:99) in /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-login.php on line 202

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/cache.php:99) in /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-login.php on line 214

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/cache.php:99) in /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-login.php on line 216

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/cache.php:99) in /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 557

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/cache.php:99) in /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 559

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/cache.php:99) in /home/expres12/public_html/express-home-mortgage.com/ehm/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 694

Your theme is … wait, are you REALLY using 2.51 or did you upgrade to 3.2 and NOW you get the error?

No it’s really 2.51. The business itself is defunct and I keep the site up for archival purposes. It’s been fine until today. I’d do an upgrade but cannot get into the admin area.

It appears my host upgraded their version of php and is incompatible with word press 2.51. I have my host looking into that now and will update the thread when I hear from them. They are now running php version 5.3.6. and that version appears to be problematic.

Don’t bump your posts unless you’re adding new info.

You need to upgrade WordPress, really. 5.3.6 is a modern version of PHP, and 2.5.1 is an ancient one of WP.

I’m looking into upgrading now. The instructions say to disable plugins which I cannot do because I cannot access the dashboard. Is it possible to upgrade without disabling plugins? If so, what are the ramifications?

BTW, thanks…

You’ll want to rename the plugins folder to plugins-old for this.

Read https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Upgrading_WordPress_Extended#Detailed_Upgrade_Instructions_for_1.5.x.2C_and_versions_2.0_-_2.6.5.2C_to_3.2 for details on how to upgrade.

You’ll basically want to go 2.5.1 -> 2.7 -> 2.9 -> 3.0 -> 3.2

I’ve heard someone went from 2.3 to 3.0 without issues, and if you have a good backup, you can try it, but I’ve always favored the ‘skip one’ upgrade.

That took some doing. I’ve upgraded to 3.2.

Now what do I do with the plugins.old file? Do I simply rename it or transfer the plugins to the new plugins folder?

I’m good to go.

Thank you so much for your guidance Ipstenu.

Rock on ?? Sorry, I fell asleep!