How To Upgrade From 1.5 to 1.5.1.3?

See “Why is every comment going into the moderation queue?” here: https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Combating_Comment_Spam#Q_.26_A

Thank you for the tip macmax… I had put to “blank” the number of link in a comment. It’s now back to normal.

I still don’t know why wp-upgrade.php did not trigger any screen, but as long as it does not bring any bug, I’m ok with it ! ??

I have my own htaccess file in the root, and also 2 Fantastico files (host said don’t delete; used during cpanel installation of 1.5 a while back), and want to try to do the upgrade from 1.5 to 1.5.1.3 myself because of customizations I’ve made. I.e., can’t do upgrade via Fantastico because of customizations I’ve made.

(I have a list of a few changes I made to things in wp-admin and wp-includes that I will put back after I upgrade. Hopefully.)

Question: can I leave MY htaccess file and the Fantastico stuff there during upgrade?

Also, noticed that the 1.5.1.3 folder has a file called config-sample.php. The site’s file is called wp-config.php, though. Just curious: what relation, what changes, between these two files in upgrade? Or is my installation already messed up because these two files don’t match?

TIA.

Can I leave MY htaccess file and the Fantastico stuff there during upgrade?

Yes.

Also, noticed that the 1.5.1.3 folder has a file called config-sample.php. The site’s file is called wp-config.php, though. Just curious: what relation, what changes, between these two files in upgrade?

You do not have to upload config-sample.php (it is just the template for wp-config.php). Do not delete your copy of wp-config.php.

Thanks macmanx! I was thinking I remembered reading something a loooong time ago about deleting config-sample.php after installation being very important, so I thought, hmm, put it back just for an upgrade, really? Also nice to know what it is for (template for wp-config, aha). Was also a bit confused about “the two htaccess” files (one is mine, one is WP’s).

Apparently you can’t turn off certain plugins (not mentioning the names because I love the plugins!) without making your site show ugly errors even before you try to do the upgrade. I guess it’s the dynamic nature of the plugins . . .

Good news: I’ve backed everything up several times and several ways, in preparation to upgrade straight from 1.5 to 1.5.1.3.

Bad news: I have made changes to wp-admin and wp-includes and a couple of root files. Yes, I know WP gives dire warnings about doing that. Unfortunately, I did not read or know about those warnings in time. My bad. Water under the bridge now, I guess. Hope newcomers may learn from my experience.

So, onward. Does anyone much more experienced that I have any helpful information on “how to pick through the files and delete and replace specific files one by one instead of doing the 1.5 – 1.5.1.3 upgrade like the general instructions say you should, when you’ve made changes to a handful of the core files?”

I’m sure such an ‘upgrade’ method is just terrible form and all, not to mention how it will scramble the heck out of the live site, right? Which is what really worries me.

Or is there a better way? I’m all ears.

I really don’t think my changes are all that severe (in fact, I think a couple of them are worth being permanent changes to WP, and maybe they already are!), it’s just that the upgrade instructions don’t seem to apply precisely to my situation because I’ve made those changes I shouldn’t have made and ruined the simplicity of things.

I’ve made fairly minor changes in one file at ROOT level (wp-login), to 2 WP-ADMIN files (menu.php, quicktags.js), and to 2 WP-INCLUDES files (functions.php, vars.php). I have the original 1.5 files and copies of my current working customized versions.

Also replaced the entire wp-admin templates-function-category.php file per WP’s own security alert, a while back.

At ROOT level, I have (and believe I should not delete in any upgrade process):
My htaccess file (not WP’s, which I guess gets upgraded)
Fantastico files (WP 1.5 was installed via Fantastico)
4 cust error pages
robots.txt file
.ico files
cgi-bin folder

~TIA ~

Apparently you can’t turn off certain plugins (not mentioning the names because I love the plugins!) without making your site show ugly errors even before you try to do the upgrade.

That’s a given, as some plugins force you to enter certain calls into your theme files, and those calls rely on the plugins to be active in order to function properly.

Does anyone much more experienced that I have any helpful information on “how to pick through the files and delete and replace specific files one by one instead of doing the 1.5 – 1.5.1.3 upgrade like the general instructions say you should, when you’ve made changes to a handful of the core files?”

The easy way:

1. Backup your WordPress installation: https://codex.www.ads-software.com/WordPress_Backups

2. Download WordPress v1.5.1.3.

3. By searching the forums, or Codex, confirm whether or not your hacks are still valid. Some of your hacks may have been replaced or made obsolete by enhancements made to WordPress. Also, some of your hacks may have been made obsolete by community-developed plugins.

3. Find all of the valid hacks that you have added to your WordPress and add them to your recently-downloaded WordPress v1.5.1.3 files. You should have been keeping a database or log that lists the location and nature of each hack.

4. Disable all of your WordPress plugins.

5. Delete every WordPress file from your serve except .htaccess, wp-config.php, and the directory of (and files listed in) /wp-content/.

6. Upload the new WordPress v1.5.1.3 files. Do not overwrite the files and directory listed above.

7. Run /wp-admin/upgrade.php.

8. Set your permalinks in Options/Permalinks again.

9. Re-active your plugins.

10. Pray that your hacks still work.

The hard way:

1. Backup your WordPress installation: https://codex.www.ads-software.com/WordPress_Backups

2. By searching the forums, or Codex, confirm whether or not your hacks are still valid. Some of your hacks may have been replaced or made obsolete by enhancements made to WordPress. Also, some of your hacks may have been made obsolete by community-developed plugins.

3. Visit https://trac.www.ads-software.com/timeline?changeset=on&milestone=on and find all changes made to the WordPress files since v1.5 was released, but not after v1.5.1.3 was released.

4. Disable all of your WordPress plugins.

5. Incorporate all of the changes found in step 2 into your WordPress files.

6. Download WordPress v1.5.1.3 and upload the new /wp-admin/upgrade.php file to your server.

7. Run /wp-admin/upgrade.php

8. Set your permalinks in Options/Permalinks again.

9. Re-active your plugins.

10. Pray that your hacks still work.

Good luck!

Apparently you can’t turn off certain plugins (not mentioning the names because I love the plugins!) without making your site show ugly errors even before you try to do the upgrade.

Not quite.
Wrap the plugin call in an if statement, then if the plugin is not active, nothing breaks.

For instance:
<?php if (function_exists('comment_plugger')) comment_plugger(); ?>

<?php if (function_exists('show_post_count')) show_post_count

<?php if (function_exists('get_recent_posts')) get_recent_posts(); ?>

<?php if (function_exists('mdv_recent_comments')) mdv_recent_comments(); ?>

It’s a good habit to get into.

Thanks very much to both. I will try. I wish there was a way to do this upgrade without showing any visible disruption at all on the site, even for a few minutes. Because if I’m understanding, it sounds like ALL upgrades require at least some amount of time during which the live site is fully “deleted” while all the new files are uploaded to replace them, etc. So visitors coming during this time, or already logged in at this time, see . . . what? Just wondering.

Also, when you say “don’t overwrite the files and directory [content] listed above,” I assume you mean that something, at some point, is going to ask me about overwriting? Would that be a WP-upgrade-(“run”) embedded screen, or is it entirely via my FTP program of choice and thus up to me to watch out not to overwrite? I want to be sure not to miss that part, because my default template is quite customized.

Thanks again.

So visitors coming during this time, or already logged in at this time, see . . . what? Just wondering.

They will see blank pages, SQL errors, PHP errors, or 404 errors. The point is to be prepared before you delete/upgrade, so this short period of time goes as quickly as possible.

Also, when you say “don’t overwrite the files and directory [content] listed above,” I assume you mean that something, at some point, is going to ask me about overwriting?

In step 3, I mentioned two files and one directory that you should not delete. If you upload copies of these files with the rest of WordPress v1.5.1.3, you will be asked if you want to overwrite them. Do not overwrite those two files and that one directory, that would be the same as deleting them.

I want to be sure not to miss that part, because my default template is quite customized.

Your default template that is “quite customized,” is listed under the /wp-content/ directory, this is why you should not delete or overwrite the /wp-content/ directory.

Would that be a WP-upgrade-(“run”) embedded screen, or is it entirely via my FTP program of choice?

I’m not sure what you’re asking here. There is no “WP-upgrade-(“run”) embedded screen” that I am aware of. You run /wp-admin/upgrade.php in your browser as a URL. See: https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Upgrading_WordPress#Upgrade

Thanks.

What I meant is when I am “asked” about overwriting, would it be by my FTP program or in the running of the upgrade URL given to me by WP.

Is there any way to just skip the upload of the new CONTENT folder and all files within it? If the upgraded bits aren’t in there anywhere, I mean? Why bother uploading that at all, why include it in the upgrade package (if people are upgrading, they may be presumed to already HAVE the CONTENT folder, right?). Yes, I am full of delightful questions, aren’t I?

When I upgrade, I download the new zip.
Unzip
Then I delete /wp-content and /wp-images
Then what is left are the files I will upgrade with.

To clarify what Podz said, we both remove /wp-content/ and /wp-images/ (because the images haven’t been changed since v1.5) from the freshly downloaded WordPress v1.5.1.3 and upload what is left. The upgrade script only upgrades the database, it does not upgrade the files. Deleting the old files and uploading the new files is what upgrades the files.

Thanks again, both. That is very helpful to know!

My only 1.5 > 1.5.1.3 issue was the .htaccess file — I followed the online upgrade instructions and deleted it, then noticed permalinks didn’t work. I used the WP forums here though to search and find the answer, took me about 5 minutes.

Silly me then restored my old .htaccess file, which didn’t help either! I simply generated a new one, and cut-and-pasted the results into the new file and ftp’d them online — checked my permissions were all okay — and viola!

Not really an issue when the Support Forums were already covering the topic (especially with the popular topics on the Forum home page having larger text — the 404 error I was getting was common at the time I upgraded a few weeks ago).

Dean Happy WP User!