Upgrading Wordpress

[sswartz]

I hope someone can help me...I have installed Wordpress thru fantastico and all went well. Wordpress is asking me to upgrade to their recently released version. I have read the instructions but it's way too techy for me to understand.

Can anyone walk me thru this process?

Thanks much!

Sheri

[Vasili]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

The 3-Step Wordpress Upgrade and the 5-Step Wordpress Manual Installation processes are extremely easy to follow if you simply use the links and follow the instructions slowly and in the order they are presented.

Follow the simple "Official" Upgrading instructions documented at WordPress >> http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress

For Converting "Manual" to Fantastico (same process to upgrade a Fantastico installation), use this documentation and follow the links > http://wordpress.org/support/topic/209738

See the list of Topics for Installation/Upgrade Troubleshooting >> http://wordpress.org/support/forum/2

[Vasili]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

bump

[jimchicago]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

Vasili, I have the same dilemma as Sheri: I want to upgrade to the latest (2.7) version of WordPress but it is FAR from easy.

I've spent quite a bit of time trying to follow the very page you mention, http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress. The challenges include:

"Step 0" (why don't they just call it "Step 1"?) requires you to figure out how to back up both your WP site and WP database. There's a section titled "Backing Up Your WordPress Site" but it really doesn't tell you how to do that. Instead, it just talks about the components of a WP site, and then ends with "Most website hosts provide software to back up your site. Check with your host to find out what services and programs they provide." Not too helpful.

On a separate page, http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Backups, there are instructions for backing up your WP database, but they are confusing. You have to know which database (as listed in phpMyadmin) is the "right" WP database (I think I have more than one, as I have WP blogs on multiple BV sites of mine) and then you have to check ONLY the tables used by your WP blog (who knows how to figure that out?).

Next, you have to click just the right boxes and buttons in the 10 very techy steps they make you follow. Of course, only after you've gone through this mind-bending maze of details will you find a section titled, "Automatic Backups" where you can start learning how to avoid all these manual steps.

Then there's the instructions under "Step 1: Replace WordPress Files" (which of course is actually the second step in the upgrade process). These instructions include cryptic statements like,

"As a reminder, to extract a tar.gz to a folder use this command, replacing (folder name) with the name of your folder: tar -xvzf latest.tar.gz -C ./(folder name)"

What in the world is a "tar.gz", and where/how exactly am I supposed to use the "command" given in that sentence? The rest of the instructions in this step come with warnings and not-specific-enough instructions on how to avoid them.

No offense to anyone at VH (I know WP is widely used) but there HAS to be an easier way than this manual method for upgrading to the latest version of WP. I haven't explored automatic upgrades option(s) but I feel I have no choice.

[jimchicago]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

Well, 2 months after my earlier (Feb 9) rant in this thread, I tried to upgrade my blog to WP version 2.7.1. Got confused, didn't follow the (long, complex) instructions perfectly, and thought I had lost all my content--instead of saving my 'uploads' folder, I seem to have deleted it.

So I decided to start over: I uninstalled WP from the directory where it had been, went back to Fantastico and re-installed it to the same directory, assuming I'd get the 2.7.1 version in the process. Instead, I got the same old 2.5 (???!!). I figured, OK, I can just delete 2.5 and in its place, upload and unzip the 2.7.1 files I had downloaded to my hard drive when I first tried to migrate to 2.7.1.

But no, WP says it can't install 2.7.1 because it has no wp-config.php file. To create that file, a dialog box says I have to tell WP the name of the database where 2.7.1 is to be installed, the mySQL username and password, and a couple of other things I don't know.

To try to figure out which database I want it installed on, I first look in phpMyAdmin--no luck. Then I click cPanel's Backups button . . . and discover that the database for my original blog, including all the posts I thought I had lost, is still there!

So . . . having done all this, I'm wondering, what's the best way to re-create or re-build my blog, preferably in 2.7.1 (not 2.5)? I'd love to take the original blog database (wrdp1) and somehow synch it with 2.7.1. If that's not possible, I'd settle for installing 2.7.1 in the blog's directory and then I can post in the NEW database (wrdp7) the content (i.e, text) that I recovered from the old database. Either way, I'm also need help just to get 2.7.1 installed.

This is the wildest wild goose chase I have been on in 3 years with Vodahost! Please, help me get through it!! Thank you!!

[jimchicago]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

It's been four days . . . I would very much appreciate a moderator or other knowledgeable person replying to my questions about how to re-create my blog. Thank you!

[Vasili]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

Jim,

In your cpanel go to the Fantastico area, then click on WordPress. You will see all the Wordpress versions currently installed in your account, and to which domain/add-on domain they are installed -- along with which version.
You will also see to the right, the UPGRADE button (which will upgrade to the current version 2.7.1). Follow these instructions and processes precisely.

If you are having real problems following the instruction sets yourself and need some outside help, email me via my website and I will be sure to get you where you need to be.

[jimchicago]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

Thanks, Vasili, following your instructions, I do see all the Wordpress versions currently installed in my account, and the domains or add-ons where they are installed, as well as the WP version # of each.

But "to the right" I do NOT see an "Upgrade" link or button. Instead, I see only "Visit Site" and "Remove" links. When I tried upgrading to 2.7.1 in April, I believe I found the "official" WP upgrade instructions by following links in my WP admin area to the wordpress.com site. THAT's where the oh-so-complex instructions are, as detailed in my earlier e-mails.

For me the big question is, what (if anything) am I missing out on by NOT uprgrading? Sure, I know at some point I could end up far behind WP's then-current release, but until they make it a whole lot easier (with clearer instructions) to upgrade, I don't see the point of doing so. If you can offer reasons why I should (or why it's not actually that difficult), I'm all ears. Thanks.

[Vasili]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

Apparently we are running into what seems to be another issue of different versions of cPanel being found across the various VodaServers. In cPanel11 and cPanel11-Accelerated this feature is seen (the "auto-upgrade"), but as you say, is not seen in all cPanels even yet.

The impetus to upgrade? As a matter of fact, upgrading beyond 2.7 to 2.7.1 is not something I would reccommend for anyone at this time, based on the negligible benefits compared to the effort required.

As long as your WordPress works the way you want and you are not "suffering" from lack of any widgets, there is no reason whatsoever to think of "improving" what isn't broken.

The fact that 90% of the Premium Templates are written for versions 2.0 - 2.5 presents another problem for those seeking to have a slicker skin, as this requires a much more complicated manual install of earlier (unsupported) versions in addition to the customizing and "widgetizing" they need to undergo. Currently, the "free themes" available will function properly on version 2.7, but the difficulties of removing the Author's links and Copyright lines still make Premium Templates more desireable, despite the cost to customize (time and/or money, even if doing yourself) and the pain in the butt to manually load a stripped-down older version.

Like anything else in life, you have the power of Choice, and "as long as it ain't broke, don't fix it"!

[jimchicago]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

Vasili, I cannot thank you enough for that very intelligent, detailed reply. I learned so much from it, I don't even care that my version of cPanel doesn't have the "Upgrade" links in the place where you said they'd be.

I didn't want to "fix what isn't broken" and now I know I don't have to . . . not to say I never want to upgrade to a newer version of WP ever. As of my April 10 post, I thought I'd get no reply, and assumed I had offended you or other moderators with my earlier criticisms of WP. THANK YOU again for replying so generously.

[Vasili]

Re: Upgrading Wordpress

No problem, Jim!

"Take everything at your own speed .... that way you can enjoy the ride!"


... and on we go!