Upgrading Wordpress with Fantastico
Written by Rosalind Gardner on April 1, 2008 · Comments (5)
Filed Under Blogging ·
Evelyn Grazini commented on upgrading Wordpress with Fantastico yesterday, saying “One word of warning though for those who upgrade. DO NOT do it through Fantastico in your cpanel“.
Although it will probably be a couple of weeks before the new Wordpress 2.5 release shows up in Fantastico, I’m more than happy to wait for it and do the installation from there. (I did a manual installation of the new version to another blog, so I still get to play with it in the meantime.)
I do however take a few precautions when doing the upgrade through cPanel and Fantastico, and have never had a problem. First, I make sure that the database has been backed-up and then revert to the default theme and de-activate all my plugins. Once the update has been installed, I change back to my current theme and re-activate the plugins one-by-one, making sure that each works as it should.
If the prospect of ending up with a ‘bunch of weird characters’ (or worse) still has you worried, there are detailed instructions on the Wordpress Codex about how to do a backup and upgrade your Wordpress installation manually.
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Comments
5 Responses to “Upgrading Wordpress with Fantastico”
Francois du Toit on April 1st, 2008 8:04 am
Hi Ros,
Do you think it is really necessary to upgrade in the first place?
I am currently on 2.3.1 and must say I am reluctant to upgrade unless there are some really good reasons for it.
All the best,
Francois
[Reply]
Ninja Blog Setup on April 1st, 2008 8:26 am
We upgrade WordPress for clients all every day, and the best way to do that we’ve found so far is to use WordPress Instant Upgrade Plugin which allows a one click operation and can upgrade the moment the new version is released (no waiting for Fantastico to get the upgrade processed.)
For major upgrades, like the one just released from 2.3.3 to 2.5 it is advisable to wait a couple weeks to allow plugin authors a chance to test and revise any problems in their plugins, but with minor upgrades, like from 2.3.2 to 2.3.3, which are often security related, these should be done ASAP and the Instant Upgrade plugin works fantastically.
As you mentioned, always backup the database before any upgrade (we use the db-backup plugin).
All the best,
Jon
[Reply]
Jens P. Berget on April 1st, 2008 21:06 pm
I am still waiting, and I will probably wait a few more weeks before I upgrade. I am not sure why, but I am thinking that I might experience problems with this new version, but at the same time I am one of those guys who just needs the latest version even though it might not be any real reason to upgrade (I am not sure if I really have to upgrade or not, I am running 2.3.3).
I have heard many good things about the WordPress Instant Upgrade Plugin, but I have never used it before. I might try it this time, thanks for the information.
Jens
[Reply]
shane on April 6th, 2008 16:21 pm
Looks like 2.5 is just about as popular as blue host is , Im sure matt will work out the buggy crap and the widget people will do their thing. Hopefully Wordpress never shuts down for a holiday like blue host appears to do.
[Reply]
John on April 9th, 2008 4:19 am
I have a couple of WordPress hosted blogs on BlueHost - all on 2.3.3. I’ve upgraded with Fantastico without a problem.
A couple of notes though - if you are on a pre-2.3.3 version, you should upgrade; 2.3.3 includes security fixes to avoid some issues that were discovered with people planting spam links in WP blogs.
Also, Technorati has announced that they will stop indexing pre-2.3.3 WP blogs because of that issue, so if you’re not up to 2.3.3 you will no longer be indexed there - which could mean a traffic hit for you.
I’m getting to know 2.5 on a client project (not installed through Fantastico). i like it well enough, after the initial “where did they put everything??” new interface shock. One of the really nice new features for Mac users - you can edit posts using the WP editor in Safari without removing all your tags! This made WP visual editing unusable with Safari in previous versions.
One glitch - when I first started, the insert/edit link popup from the toolbar was completely unusable in every browser, mac and windows, I tried. It’s happened to a bunch of people - it is some kind of caching issue. one of our techies fixed it, and if it’s helpful I can dig out what he told me he did from my email and pass it on. (I cannot explain it, however!).
And - of course - always back up before upgrading ANYTHING, not just WP!
[Reply]
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