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Lessons in Upgrading a WordPress blog

In the last 3 days, I’ve been trying to fix a blog that got screwed with a buggy upgrade from WordPress 2.0.3 to version 2.1.2. I have been upgrading dozens and dozens of blogs on an almost regular basis for years now but this has got to be the toughest one yet. A fracked up upgrade means that either some files are old and some are new or that some database tables did not convert completely or got corrupted in the process.


And yes, we’re not running out of lessons yet:

  • If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That goes to say that if the upgrade is not a necessary one, i.e., the existing version is not vulnerable or open to exploits, skip the upgrade for later (or when you have time for the unexpected).
  • Don’t assume that you’ve seen them all. With all the blogs and WP versions that you’ve gone thru, you’d think you’re an expert already. Well, it only takes one really screwed up update to get your humility to sink back into its proper place.
  • Backup, backup, backup. Again, backup – backup – backup. Have to drill that deep into the skull.
  • Read the manual (or documentation or update notes). Is anybody actually reading them?
  • Time your upgrades. Don’t do them just before you go to sleep. So many things could happen is you’re close to dozing off. If something screwy happens, you’ll still have some energy to stay at it. Tech Support guys call it the “resolution time“.
  • If it’s not your own blog, get a waiver or disclaimer. Ok, that’s way too much. I mean, you’ll need to make the owner of the blog understand that though it’s an easy task, things could go wrong. A lot of patients die from a simple appendectomy because of circumstantial infections or the doctor just forgot to fish out the scalpel before stitching their belly back.
  • Save copies of the old app version. In case you’ll need to revert back, you still have copies of the old version to re-install.

The usual upload time of the new WordPress seems to be much longer compared the old versions. I believe there are more files now than the pre-2.0 version.

Anyway, hope this helps. ;)

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

8 Responses

  1. Avatar for Gas Detector Gas Detector says:

    books online are great, wether they are e-books or conventional hardbound and paperback books `,;

  2. Avatar for Blogie Blogie says:

    Hi Abe!

    Good thing it happened to me when I was not yet feeling WP-know-it-all… Somehow I fracked up my database — I upgraded with not enough ‘resolution time’ and concentration power than needed. It was a valuable lesson learned!

  3. Avatar for ajay ajay says:

    Abe, thanks for the help (and the programmer’s) didn’t quite realize that it would turn your world upside down. didn’t know also what happened to my blog but yes, you’re right about the disclaimer part,hehe. I just need to be assured of the back-up

  4. Avatar for eksena eksena says:

    Those are some very useful tips you have. I find the last one extremely useful – i call it the “if all else fail” getaway.

  5. Avatar for randy randy says:

    nice tips yuga. ;)

    you can also create a replica of your files and database and try to upgrade it. if all goes well, you can then move the upgraded files or just upgrade the live one.

  6. Avatar for Tingting Rimart Tingting Rimart says:

    good tips!

  7. Avatar for ManuelV ManuelV says:

    If you’re on Dreamhost, try uploading a zipped WordPress installation into a different folder, just to see if this work out. DH will automatically unzip it.

    If things look all right, then you can do the zip-auto unzip approach in your regular folder.

    Just remember to exclude the wp-content when creating your zipped WP installation files.

  8. Avatar for Dusty Dusty says:

    Yup, having a backup of both the app and the database makes a world of difference.

    You get the freedom to do anything you want with the current system and if you **** it up then it’s no biggie.

    Of course, it’s important to test that your backup will restore properly first ;)

    I’ve had too much experience of other people and myself included that was too confident to the extent of tweaking live servers without a backup. It was a nightmare ….

    Oh, btw … a very bad habit that most technical guys have is … documentation = last resort … hehehe … RTFM

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