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Upgrading WordPress can be a little daunting, but it’s really not that hard. Here are the steps, broken down, with a video at the end showing you a WordPress upgrade in action. Please read all the steps first and then watch the video, as you will probably get more out of the video that way.

1. Step 1: Backup your Blog. This is without a doubt the most important step. If you have a good backup, then you’re safe even if you totally mess things up. Do not skip this step, really. Here is a whole post showing how to use a plugin to backup your whole blog automatically. Make sure you’ve completed a backup and downloaded the backup before you proceed.
2. Step 2: Deactivate all your Plugins. Just go to “Plugins” in your WP Admin area and click to deactivate all your plugins. Newer versions of WP allow you to deactivate them all with one click. You may want to make a mental note of which plugins were activated so that you can reactivate the right ones.
3. Step 3: Delete Old WordPress Core Files. Next, using an FTP program, delete all your old WordPress core files. (A core file is everything WordPress uses to run itelf, excepting theme, plugin, and uploaded files.) Using your FTP program, navigate to the folder where WordPress is installed: often public_html/blog (or just public_html if your blog is the only thing on your website). When you are deleting files, DO NOT DELETE TWO THINGS. First, do not delete the file named “wp-config.php.” This file contains the information for connecting to your database. Second, do not delete the entire folder named “wp-content.” This folder contains your themes, plugins, and uploaded images.
4. Step 4: Get the Newest Version of WordPress. Go to this page, the WordPress download page, and download the newest version of WordPress.
5. Step 5: Dummy-Proof Yourself. Once you’ve got your new zipped file with the latest version of WordPress, unzip it and dig around inside it until you find the “wp-content” folder. Since we left our copy of this on the server in step 3, we want to delete this folder so that we don’t upload and accidentally overwrite our themes, plugins, and uploaded pictures. Delete the folder. You can also delete the file “wp-config-sample.php” if you want, although it is not necessary. But do delete the “wp-content” folder.
6. Step 6: Upload the New Version. Next, we’re going to use our FTP program to upload the new version to our server. To do this, grab all the file and folders INSIDE the unzipped WordPress folder (which now should be missing the “wp-content” folder) and upload them into the main directory where your blog lives on your server. DO NOT upload the whole folder you downloaded from WordPress, called “wordpress.” You want to upload the files inside of that folder into the same directory where your blog is installed on your server. For a lot of people, if your web address is “http://www.myphotosite.com/blog/” that will be inside a folder called “blog” which is inside a folder called “public_html” or “www”. If your blog is your whole website, with an address something like “http://www.myphotoblog.com” then these file need to be uploaded into your “public_html” or “www” folder. Sometimes these names aren’t the same for everyone, so yours may be slightly different. Uploading can take a few minutes, so be patient. There are lots of little files to upload.
7. Step 7: Upgrade your Database. Most, but not all, WordPress upgrades also do a little tweaking of your database. To upgrade your database, all you have to do is try to login to your blog after completing steps 1-6. If a database upgrade is required, you will be prompted to click a link saying its ok to upgrade. Go ahead and click to let it upgrade, safe in the confidence that even if something went terribly wrong, you have already backed up your database. When it finishes, you’re all set, except for…
8. Step 8: Reactivate your Plugins. This is basically just step 2 in reverse. Just go to “Plugins” and reactivate the ones you were using. You may need to re-set some of the settings in your plugins, it is possible your settings were lost during upgrade. NOTE: if your comments don’t seem to be working after you upgrade, make sure you have reactivated the Ajaxed-WordPress plugin and retweaked it. Directions can be found here.

That’s basically it. Now, watch this video to see me do all the steps above, and give it a go!

NOTE: if you’re upgrading from WP 2.3.3 or lower to 2.5.x or higher, you may have to follow the directions here to fix a little bug with a new max picture width setting in WP 2.5.x.

Other helpful resources: Using a FTP program, Understanding Folders and Directories, Backing up Your Blog, Max picture width problem.

Backing up your blog is an incredibly important thing to do. You don’t want to ever experience losing your data due to a web host server failure. Some higher-end web hosts automatically backup all your data, but most do not.

Also, if you are ever going to upgrade your version of WordPress, it is very important to backup your database and all your files first. That way you can proceed with upgrading with the peace of mind that even if you royally screw the pooch, you can always restore your blog to it’s previous state.

Luckily, as with many things WordPress, there is a plugin that basically will handle this for you. BackupWordPress is a pretty sweet plugin that automatically backs up your WP database, uploaded pictures, config-file, and all your files. It even will do regular, automatic backups and email you the zipped files of the backups.

The following video shows how to use this powerful plugin.

Download the plugin right here.

Related Posts: How to upload and install a Plugin and Upgrading WordPress

Questions? Instead of emailing for support, please leave your questions in the comments so that others can benefit from the clarification. Thanks!

Hey all, you’ll probably start noticing soon that your WordPress blog may start telling you that  there is a new version of WordPress and that you should upgrade.  WordPress just released version 2.5.1.

2.5.1 should fix a bunch of bugs with 2.5, so if you have version 2.5, this will hopefully fix a couple issues, in particular problems with the image uploader.  If you’re still running version 2.3.2 or 2.3.3, then I think this is the version you want to jump on and ugrade to.  2.5 was a major release and was kind of buggy, and this 2.5.1 version is basically the same release just with a bunch of bugs corrected.  

HINT:  you can find out which version of WordPress you’re running by scrolling down to the footer of your WordPress admin pages.

So, now that I’m finally telling everyone to upgrade, I do want to tell you to wait just a few more days before upgrading.  Why?

Because, starting this Monday, April 28, I’m going to start posting a bunch of videos and tutorials designed to show you how to safely upgrade WordPress.  I’m going to start with a video on how to backup your database and entire blog, so in case you screw something up, you can be confident you won’t lose anything.  Then, I’m going to have a detailed video tutorial on how to upgrade to the new version.

Why not just post it all today?  Well, frankly, I’m on vacation and I don’t feel like it.  But I’ll do it Monday.

If you’re a WordPress power user, then just go ahead and upgrade.  Otherwise, wait a few days and I’ll have a lot of information here.

Related posts:  Info about WordPress 2.5 and upgrading, Bugs in WordPress version 2.5

This past Saturday, March 29, WordPress released it’s most significant upgrade in many months, version 2.5. Unless you just installed or are an uber-geek like me and have been playing around with unstable pre-releases, that means you’re probably getting the above message in your WordPress Admin panel. I’m going to have a lot more info and a video or two in the days to come about this, but for now here are a couple important things to know

1. Do you need to upgrade? Yes, eventually, but there’s no extreme hurry. In fact, unless you’re a very confident WP user, I recommend not upgrading just yet because I’m going to come out with some very helpful upgrading info soon. You’ll be fine to wait a week or two or even several months. You should eventually upgrade though, because there are security improvements, and you want to keep a few steps ahead of hackers and spammers.
2. Will ProPhoto still work with 2.5? Yes, ProPhoto works smashingly with WordPress 2.5. If you have lots of 3rd party plugins, I can’t vouch for all of those working perfectly, but ProPhoto and its standard plugins work great. No need to worry. NOTE: there was a small glitch discovered between ProPhoto and WP 2.5 related to maximum photo width in posts, but I’ve already fixed it, and I’ve written up the fix in here for those upgrading to WP 2.5 who downloaded ProPhoto before I fixed the glitch.
3. What’s in the upgrade? The biggest thing about this upgrade is a huge overhaul to the Admin area. It’s simpler, less cluttered, more intuitive, and more powerful. It’s got better post-writing features and cool things like the ability to upload many photos at once (yay!).
4. Are you going to update the videos on your site? Yup. My tutorial videos are pretty much all out of date now, so they’ll be replaced soon. I needed to replace them anyway, I cranked them all out in one evening waaaay to fast.

If you are a WP veteran and want to upgrade right now, go for it. Otherwise, wait a few days and keep checking here for lots more info on how to upgrade. If you are upgrading now, here are the basic steps:

1. Backup your mySQL database, wp-content/uploads folder, and wp-config.php file.
2. Deactivate ALL your plugins.
3. Delete the old WordPress files off your server, except DO NOT delete the wp-content folder OR the wp-config.php file.
4. Upload all the new files (get the .zip file from here), except except DO NOT upload the wp-content folder. In fact, remove it before you upload anything just to be safe.
5. Try to login to your admin area, and you will be prompted to upgrade your database. Do it.
6. Open a can of delicious Coke Zero to celebrate your successful upgrade while you tour the new admin interface.

IF you have this problem, you almost certainly have an old version of WordPress. Due to the advanced features, specifically inline commenting, you need at least WordPress Version 2.3.2 or higher. It is always best to stay up-to-date with the most current version of WordPress.

So, you’ll need to upgrade WordPress. Instructions can be found here:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress

the simple version is:

a) back up your mySQL database (not 100% necessary, but always a good idea)
b) back up your ‘uploads’ folder, located in ‘wp-content’ (again, not necessary, but a good idea) by downloading the whole folder to your computer so you have a copy in case you mess up step C.
b) download the newest version of Wordpress from http://wordpress.org/download
c) unzip the file and REMOVE the “wp-content” folder so that you DO NOT upload it.
d) upload the rest of the whole folder into the same directory where your blog exists. all the files should overwrite the old ones.

If you’re version of WordPress is really old, it may prompt you to upgrade your database once you’ve got the new version installed. (This is why I recommend backing up your database first. i’ve never had a problem in the upgrades I’ve done, but the thought of ‘upgrading my database’ without backing it up gives me the willies.)

Usually you can backup your database fairly simply from within your web host control panel. Look for your mySQL manager and there is probably a button to backup the database. If you’re stuck, call your web host and ask them to talk you through backing up a mySQL database. If you act dumb and happy, they should help you.