Your opinions/ recommendations on upgrading…

  • Resolved cdnbook

    (@cdnbook)


    15 years, 1 month ago

    Hi everyone, I’m doing some annual maintenance on my v2.6.3 WordPress blog. It’s currently running in the root directory, and I was wondering what your thoughts are, on the best way to upgrade to the latest version of WordPress. I don’t have the option of automatically upgrading like the latest versions, so I’m sure there’s going to be a little work involved.

    Is there a simple way to export/copy my posts or database, and then import/paste it back into wordpress after I upgrade it?

    Cheers, and thanks for any advice!

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

  • “Annual maintenance”?! Yikes. I think the first thing you should do is check it’s not already been hacked and spammed to bits!

    You shouldn’t need to fiddle with your database at all, but you would be very wise to take a backup of it just in case anything goes pear-shaped.

    Once you’ve done that… download the latest version of WordPress:
    https://www.ads-software.com/download/

    Unzip it onto your hard drive.

    Then FTP to your webspace. Delete the wp-admin and wp-includes folders. Delete all the wordpress files in the root directory — except the .htaccess and wp-config.php file.

    The wp-config.php contains your database information, so be extra careful not to touch that. Don’t touch your wp-content folder either, as that contains images for posts and anything else you’ve uploaded.

    Then upload the new wp-admin and wp-includes folders and the files that go in the root directory from your freshly downloaded copy of WordPress on your hard drive.

    You’ll probably need to run a database upgrade script when you try and login to your dashboard.

    Think that about covers it.

    A much fuller guide is here:
    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Upgrading_WordPress

    Read https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Upgrading_WordPress_Extended.

    And be smart and upgrade more than once a year or two, as you’re susceptible to hacking without regular upgrades.

    Thread Starter cdnbook

    (@cdnbook)

    Awesome advice guys, I really appreciate it!

    One other question… WordPress was originally installed on my site by Fantastico. I noticed at the bottom of the extended upgrading page that it has a “Special note for Fantastico Upgrades”. Does it mean all the steps leading up to that note have to be followed… or can Fantastico automatically upgrade my 2.6.3 installation? It sounds like it can, but I just wanted to check with you guys.

    You might want to make use of Fantastico to upgrade as far as you can. It makes automated backups and allows you to roll back to previous versions if there’s a problem. However, once you’ve upgraded as far as you can using Fantastico, I’d suggest abandoning it in favour of running your own upgrades. It’s too slow at releasing new upgrades (usually a good 6 – 8 weeks behind) which potentially puts your blog at risk if there’s been a security update.

    Thread Starter cdnbook

    (@cdnbook)

    Sounds like a solid plan!

    Thanks again for everyone’s quick help. I’m really impressed with this forum ??

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • The topic ‘Your opinions/ recommendations on upgrading…’ is closed to new replies.