Sofie Estolloso Hofmann Designs International

I finally upgraded all the eight (8) sites that I maintain using WordPress as CMS. I spent the whole day yesterday backing up the database, saving some files, upgrading the sites except for my personal blog, and also upgrading all the WordPress Plugins that I’m using with the different sites.

All the WordPress Plugins that I’m using are all compatible with WordPress 2.6. So far, no major problems occurred. Everything went fine. I followed the same procedure when I upgraded the sites before. Just kindly read my other blog entries on Upgrading WordPress as I will not explain about it here anymore.

Just a reminder though, when you upgrade to WordPress 2.6 and upgrade WordPress Plugins that you are using, make sure you deactivated all the WordPress Plugins. I suggest that you delete all the old versions of the WordPress Plugins not just overwrite them and upload the new ones to avoid scripting errors.

I will also not discuss about the new features of the new WordPress version. So if you would like to know more about it, read about WordPress 2.6 “Tyner” at the WordPress site. Once again, Matt discussed the new features extensively.

Well, that’s all and have fun exploring WordPress 2.6 “Tyner”.

Several weeks ago WordPress 2.5.1 was released but it was only last week that I was able to upgrade my blog (SofieHofmann.com Blog) and all the sites (Sehdi.com, Weggis.net, Pandan.ph among others) that I manage and maintain using WordPress. I was on vacation for at least 3 1/2 weeks.

Well, upgrading the blog and the sites went fine. I just followed my 10 Steps to upgrading WordPress.

I noticed something though at the Plugins section regarding Widgets before I upgraded the blog and sites using WordPress 2.5 and even after upgrading to WordPress 2.5.1. Did you notice those remarks stating that a plugin has a new version available? Well, the link of the supposed new version of the Widget mentioned does not match to the particular Widget being used.

Let me illustrate it…

First Example:

There is a new version of Simple Recent Comments Widget available. Download version 1.2.1.20070210b here or upgrade automatically.

This text “Download version 1.2.1.20070210b here” is being linked to the Sidebar Widgets page in WordPress.org (as of this writing, the version is 1.2.1.20070210b as it may change later on) and not to the Simple Recent Comments Widget page (if there is any as I did not find the page when I search WordPress.org for it).

Second Example:

There is a new version of WP-PostViews Widget available. Download version 2.20 here or upgrade automatically.

This text “Download version 2.20 here” is being linked to WP-DBManager page in WordPress.org (as of this writing, the version is 2.20 as it may change later on) and not to the WP-PostViews Widget page in WordPress.org (as of this writing, the version is 1.20 as it may change later on). I am actually using the simple WP-PostViews (current version 1.20) and not WP-PostViews Widget.

Then I saw a discussion about WP-PostViews Widget at the WordPress Forum, and Lester Chan (GaMerZ), the WP-PostViews and WP-DBManager Plugins developer, have explained why. Kindly click “wp-dbmanager is showing as an upgrade for wp-postViews Widget” for information.

Well, we’ll just have to bear with it, sooner or later, they’ll find the solutions for it. Creating Plugins for WordPress is voluntary and we should be grateful that we are benefiting from each developer’s work.

Kudos to the WordPress Plugins Developers!

Yesterday, I finally finished upgrading the last site that I maintain using WordPress as CMS. I upgraded three (3) sites and one (1) blog on Sunday, Sehdi.com, SofieHofmann.com Blog, Pandan.ph and Tugbong.pandan.ph. I upgraded them first in my local computer as a test and so far, no WordPress Plugins were broken. Once everything were ok, I performed the upgrade process just like the usual and everything went well.

I experimented on Pandan.ph though, and it has to do with WordPress Stats Plugin. I did not deactivate the WordPress Stats Plugin so I do not have to write the API Key again. To note, once you deactivate the WordPress Stats Plugin and activate it again, it will always ask for the API Key unlike the Akismet Plugin. The Akismet Plugin, once deactivated and activated, the API Key do not have to be supplied again.

Anyway, what happened? I was not able to access the dashboard at all. So, I deleted the WordPress Stats Plugin at the control panel as I know it was probably the cause. But it remained the same, I was not able to access the dashboard. So I deleted all the Plugins at the control panel as well, not at the Plugins menu. You can delete the Plugins via FTP too. Then uploaded the Plugins, activated them, and everything went fine.

Then I upgraded two (2) more sites on Monday, Pandan.gov.ph News and Pagtatap.org, and yesterday, LADiosolibrary.org, and everything went fine as well.

With Weggis.net, I upgraded it using the one-click upgrade by the web host and so far, everything went well too. Of course, I deactivated all the Plugins first, and only activated them afterwards.

Before that, I tested both WordPress 2.5 Release Candidate 1 and WordPress 2.5 Release Candidate 2 but did not write anything about it right away. I had issues with the built-in gallery then. I wanted to write about it but decided to wait for the official WordPress 2.5 release. I was relieved because what I wanted to do with the gallery can actually be done with the official release. I did not see those features of the built-in gallery at the Release Candidates 1 and 2. I probably overlooked those features but I will not discuss that further as it will only make this entry long. 🙂 I’m still testing the gallery up to now anyway. I’m trying to explore what more could it do. 🙂

Anyway, as I have said in my last entry, I would take note of the database changes but the database did not really change that much, no additional tables at all, except for some which I’m not going to reiterate as you can read about it at the Weblog Tools Collection, 2.3 to 2.5 Database Changes.

I also said that the changes were not just minor changes. Indeed, it was not, WordPress 2.5 had a lot of major improvements. Let me say it, improvements. 🙂 I will also not write about it as Matt Mullenweg wrote so extensively about it at the WordPress Development Blog, WordPress 2.5.

Regarding the WordPress Plugins I am using, I will also not write them here, just browse my past blog entries to know the Plugins that I have in my sites. One thing though, I no longer use the Filosofo Home-Page Control Plugin WordPress since using WordPress 2.3. Regarding Upgrading WordPress process, I just did the same, just like what I wrote in my past blog entries too, similar to Upgrading WordPress Extended.

I’m getting used to WordPress 2.5, and I’m liking it. Way to go WordPress People! Thanks to all of you!

Finally, WordPress 2.5 Release Candidate 1 is out. It was supposed to be out on March 10, 2008, but was delayed as they still fixed a lot of things. I have patiently waited for this as I am already revising a lot of websites using WordPress as CMS (Content Management System).

By just reading what Matt posted a few hours ago, 2.5 Sneak Peek (a sneak peek at the WordPress 2.5 Release Candidate 1), it seems like a lot of changes have been made at the administration side, at the dashboard, navigation, write and manage screens. As I see it, I do not think that they are just minor changes.

Just to quote Matt, 2.5 Sneak Peek:

A customizable dashboard, multi-file upload, built-in galleries, one-click plugin upgrades, tag management, built-in Gravatars, full text feeds, and faster load times sound interesting? Then WordPress 2.5 might be the release for you. It’s been in the oven for a while, and we’re finally ready to open the doors a bit to give you a taste.

Let us see if it is to my liking. I have been waiting for the new built-in galleries. I did not want to use any image or photo plugins so I just used the pages for photo albums instead of the post as I use category and date features to archive the news articles and blog entries, and I do not want that with the photo galleries.

Let us tackle more about it later once I already tested it. I will especially pay attention to the database as I do not like the way files are being saved at the database at the past WordPress versions. In my opinion, if it could be done, pages and posts should not be on the same table. The images or photos as attachments should not be on the same table too with the pages and posts. Links, tags and categories should also be on separate tables.

Anyway, as I have said, let us discuss this further later. I will have to download it now and test it in my local computer.

Read 2.5 Sneak Peek at WordPress.org Blog for more information, and link to the zip file if you want to download it.

Today, as we just stayed at home, I upgraded all the sites using WordPress as CMS from WordPress 2.3.2 to WordPress 2.3.3. I started with Sehdi.com as a test. I had no problem at all, so I also upgraded SofieHofmann.com Blog, Pandan.ph, Tugbong.pandan.ph, Pandan.gov.ph News, Pagtatap.org, Weggis.net and LADiosoLibrary.org. But, is there really a need to upgrade from WordPress 2.3.2 to WordPress 2.3.3? My answer would be YES and NO!

YES, it is recommended to upgrade if you have your registration enabled and you have any other users aside from you. If not, you can leave it as it is, as it won’t really affect your site. If you still worry, you can just upload the fixed version of xmlrpc.php.

When I read about this security release, I just uploaded the fixed version of xmlrpc.php. But I kept on reading this text “A new version of WordPress is available! Please update now.” every time I logged in. So after 13 days I finally gave in. I upgraded all the 8 sites.

There’s a way, of course, if you don’t want to read that message anymore. All you have to do is upload the version.php file under the wp-includes folder. But I’m not comfortable doing it that way, so I upgraded the sites just like I normally do.

And NO, you don’t have to upgrade if your registration is disabled and you’re the only one who has access to your blog or site. Regarding the other minor bug fixes, if those few minor bugs do not also affect your site, then there’s really no need to upgrade. When I read what they fixed, the problems were at the version 2.2, 2.3 and 2.3.1. If you upgraded to WordPress 2.3.2 already, and you encountered no problem at all, then you have the option not to upgrade.

But if you haven’t upgraded to WordPress 2.3.2 yet, then you might be affected, so I suggest that you should upgrade to WordPress 2.3.3. That’s for your own security too. Remember before you upgrade, always backup your files and database.

Note from Sofie: This is just my opinion. It is always your decision whether to upgrade or not.

Last Friday and Saturday, I finished upgrading the sites using WordPress as CMS. I upgraded the sites, Sehdi.com, SofieHofmann.com Blog, Pandan.ph, Tugbong.pandan.ph, Pagtatap.org, Pandan.gov.ph News, Weggis.net, and LADiosoLibrary.org, from WordPress 2.3.1 to WordPress 2.3.2.

There was no problem at all. I just followed my own 10 steps when I upgraded to WordPress 2.3.1 from WordPress 2.3. WordPress 2.3.2 is a bug-fix release just like WordPress 2.3.1. You are advised to upgrade immediately as the prior release can be used to expose your draft posts. It also suppresses some error messages that can give away information about your database table structure and limits. For more information, please read the entire blog entry at WordPress.org Blog about WordPress 2.3.2.

The good news is, the Counterize II WordPress Plugin that I deactivated in some sites is now doing fine, not anymore in conflict with google search, so I activated it again in all the other sites. I didn’t do anything at all, it was just fixed when I used the latest version of Counterize II WordPress Plugin, version 2.12.3.

I use the same WordPress Plugins and you can read about them when I upgraded to WordPress 2.1 Ella.

You can download the new release WordPress 2.3.2 at WordPress.org.