WordPress Upgrade Precautions
It seems one thing is constant with WordPress and that is regular updates. Along with fixing and adding new functionality, security is one of the main reasons for updates to the WordPress core. To keep WordPress as secure as possible and to stay a step ahead of the hackers you should keep your WordPress sites up to date.
The automatic upgrade that is now part of WordPress, version 2.8.2 as of the time of this post, is for the most part, a nice addition to keep WordPress up to date. There are some precautions that should be practiced no matter how you update WordPress.
First is to backup and keep a copy of the wp-content folder. The wp-content folder has your themes, plugins and uploads in it. The automatic upgrade should not overwrite these folders but I have seen cases when a customized default theme was overwritten. Next is the most important thing to backup and that is the database. The database holds the actual content and settings. Loose the database and loose it all!
So do you need to go do this backup routine every time you upgrade WordPress? If you are doing a major upgrade from say version 2.5 to 2.8, then by all means you better backup and be ready for some issues especially if you have a lot of active plugins. I also recommend a manual upgrade for major jumps like that. But if doing a minor upgrade like 2.8.1 to 2.8.2 then I usually don’t backup anything and just do it automatically. When I say I don’t backup anything I mean I don’t do a manual backup right before the upgrade but I do have an automated backup that is no more than a few days old.
How to do a backup is entirely up to you but I strongly suggest you find a method and keep a regular backup schedule. The related posts below should help you get started with your backups.
Similar Posts:
- Another Security Release WordPress 2.8.4
- WordPress 2.8.5 Another Security Release
- WordPress Upgrade Error Allowed Memory Size Exhausted
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Comments
Innovations!Wordpress keep making things easier and faster and is always updated. And to keep pace with the Wordpress every new upgradation is a task in itself. Knowing about the new update and how its going to help you and what step it requires if your are planning to install it.Having a good latest backup of your blog or site always help, be its any kind of upgradation,minor or major. Good informative post!
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Hi
Looks like you have done good amount of Research about Wordpress. Could you please suggest how to transfer a blog on blogger to WP without loosing its PR. Is it possible?
If you didn’t like my comment before deleting plz reply to my query on the id given above. It would be a great help to me.
Kind Regards
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Jeff Replied:
July 27th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Sorry I don’t do requests and this isn’t a forum. May I suggest Google?
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Thanks so much for this Jeff- I’m actually doing an upgrade today and almost forgot to back up the folders. I had done the automatic database backup but hadn’t downloaded the themes. Your post reminded me of backing it up again.
All the best,
Eren Mckay
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Too bad that some of my favorite old plugins don’t support the latest wordpress version. Also the automatic wordpress upgrade hit my WP with some error of wrong path or kinda
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It is really a great precautions tips and will be of great help to many people. Upgrade is always quite helpful and i am sure it would be really liked by many people.
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I am always so slow and hesitant at updating my blog now. If I remember correctly, the last 4 or 5 times I have updated there has always been something out of wack. A plugin (usually plugin”s”) stop working, themes not showing correctly, lost settings, I completely understand how some people could say It could be a nightmare. Also kind of makes me wonder what other problems other CMS users have like in joomla and phpbb when they update.
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i’m always reluctant to update incase of an error and all my data dissapears!
yes, wordpress always seem to be updating , way to often
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These are some nice tips. It is truth that working with any tool (no matter is it WordPress, Word, Excel, Powerpoint or other program) need some precautions. Making backup copy should be first thing to do when working on anything important. And that copy should be keep on another hard drive. If anything happens to main drive, there is always safe copy.
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Should I made a backup before I install the new update? thanks in advance!
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Jeff Replied:
July 28th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
You are kidding right? No don’t bother and don’t bother looking both ways when you cross the street. Need any more advice?
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I am a complete WP noobie, so imagine how things can be a bit complex for me. I can’t even edit a theme for starters, later on I discovered its just the permission that needs modifying. lol Thanks for your great post, another great WP idea has been added on my mind bank.
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I always update my wordpress!.. Ha, seems to be quite often too!
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Recently upgraded my wp. I had no idea that it basically changes all of your setting back to default. I had a heck of time when I posted my first entry after the update. Had to go back and reset so many items. Such a pain.
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Good advice on the backups prior to WP upgrades. I don’t have a system perfected yet and I somehow survived 50 upgrades – with a little WP mud on my face. I keep a copy of the entire WP file structure on my local drive and I use Dreamweaver to do FTP both to the server and from the server.
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I regularly update my wordpress but i also take care of all my back ups. I keep a record of all my stuffs manually.
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Jeff! Thanks for this very important post! I have never thought before like this. Thank for your advice.
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I am fairly new to the wordpress world and the whole “can be hacked” thing had me a bit worries, but it sounds like they are taking the right steps for the future to cut down on it.
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upgraded my WP last week, no problems at all. was the first time that I have ever upgraded too!
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Most of my upgrades went fairly well, but one blog just didn’t want to upgrade automatically so I just had to FTP the new files and had no problems. I’ve actually never had a wordpress upgrade problem, except a broken theme. However I always use a program to backup the MySQL database and recommend WP-DBManager plugin (have it e-mail you once a week).
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I still have the ugrade plugin installed in a couple of my sites.
Last time when I tried to use the new built in upgrade feature I started to run into problems and errors.
Switched to the trusty plugin (which is a bit slower) and voila! No problems upgrading so I guess I´ll be keeping it installed.
Would be nice to have an upgrade test feature – like a beta of your site to see what is/isnt going to break before you confirm the upgrade – no idea if that is possible or not though
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I hate constantly having to weight the security risk of not upgrading vs the possible headache of plugins gone wrong when I do. This last upgrade caused a few of my plugins to give vague errors on their admin pages like “plugin doesn’t have a valid header”.
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By all means, we should keep WordPress totally secured from hackers. Neglecting this can cause serious problems so it is better to spend a few minutes on security than regret it later.
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“Next is the most important thing to backup and that is the database.”
It is good to keep this in mind because it would really be a problem to lose your database in WordPress.
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Great post!!To keep WordPress as secure as possible and to stay a step ahead of the hackers you should keep your WordPress sites up to date.Thanks for sharing the valuable information with us.
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I use the auto upgrade feature now as my ftp cuts out a lot but it always worries me when i use the auto feature. I guess if there was a risk, it wouldnt be there..
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“It seems one thing is constant with WordPress and that is regular updates. Along with fixing and adding new functionality, security is one of the main reasons for updates to the WordPress core.”
This is also one of the things I like best about WordPress. It is regular in its updates.
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WP upgrade has been an issue to some WP users. They hate it whenever they made upgrades with their WP then eventually lost their files because they don’t have back-ups.
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“It seems one thing is constant with WordPress and that is regular updates.”
This is what I like about Wordpress. It is always one step ahead of glitches and if ever these do arise, WP already has a solution ready.
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“The database holds the actual content and settings. Loose the database and loose it all!”
Yes, I agree, although some Wordpress users still make the mistake of not making any database back ups at all.
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The last few times I have updated there has always been something out of wack. A plugin (usually plugin”s”) stop working, themes not showing correctly, lost settings, I completely understand how some people could say It could be a nightmare. Switched to the trusty plugin (which is a bit slower) and voila! No problems upgrading so I guess I´ll be keeping it installed.
Erica
Gif Blog
Daily Acid
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Upgrading each time a new version comes out is ridiculous. You just end up having to deal with a whole new set of problems for a minimal wp improvement. That is why I still used version 2.3.
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Jeff Replied:
October 8th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I had the same attitude until it got hacked.
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ading each time a new version comes out is ridiculous. You just end up having to deal with a whole new set of problems for a minimal wp improvement. That is why I still used version 2.3.
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