Upgrading WordPress
Dear Reader,
This is really a note for me because I keep forgetting things.
- Unpack latest copy of wordpress in a work directory
- Rename wordpress directory to blog
- Rename blog directory to blog.original
- Move work/blog to main directory
- Copy blog.original/wp-content/plugins to blog/wp-content/plugins
- Copy blog.original/wp-content/themes to blog/wp-content/themes
- Copy blog.original/wp-content/uploads to blog/wp-content/uploads
- Copy blog.original/wp-config.php to blog/wp-config.php
- Copy blog.original/.htaccess to blog/.htaccess (this is the step I keep forgetting
- Go to blog admin page and check for database upgrade
- Check site for working theme and internal links
Until next time,
(l)(k)(bunny)
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How do you handle differences in hostnames when testing first on your staging server? /me ducks…
HA!
See you thought you’d get me with this one but I maintain a development server with an install of wordpress that I use to test when I have something new. (I don’t often test wordpress upgrades because it’s extremely easy to undo any changes.
Since I installed WP from scratch on the dev server and then put in a few of my blog posts, it has all the hostname info already set properly.
Even so, I’ve pulled a mirror of my site down occasionally when I’ve got difficult issues. In those cases, I usually just add calevans.com to my DNS on the server. My dev server is my DHCP and DNS server as well so doing so propagates the change to my windows box. (After the obligatory reboot) :)
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Install the WordPress automatic upgrade plugin (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-automatic-upgrade/) and it’s easy.
@Dan,
Thanks. I’ve seen that one and never really paid much attention to it. I guess I”m too much of a geek to let something else upgrade my site. However, since I now have like 5 WP installs to manage, I decided to try it out. I installed it on http://cyranosapprentice.com and you are right, it worked.
It took a bit of fiddling to get everything right. Since I normally upgrade by hand, I had to adjust the permissions on some directories that most users wouldn’t have to mess with.
Thanks for the tip. For those that don’t want to mess with upgrading by hand, this is a good alternative.
=C=
p.s. I still do this one by hand. :)
I just do
# svn switch
and hope for the best.
Shouldn’t have used greater than signs…
# svn switch url_to_latest_tag
I have been using svn for my local development and testing.
But I like the new WordPress 2.7 version upgrade functionality which allows you to backup/export the database before doing so.
If things fails, I have a weekly database backup to fall back.
And you do not accidentally from Moscow?
Is it necessary to upgrade?
I’ve started blogging recently and it’s interesting for me. :)
Can I go without it?
It is not a requirement that you upgrade but I strongly recommend that you do. Most upgrades to WordPress have bug fixes or security fixes in them and therefore are a good idea. As of 2.7.1 it is a lot esier to upgrade and if you’ve got FTP setup then you can upgrade in-place using the admin interface.
Thanks for the comment!
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