Website design By BotEap.comMany people with a WordPress website wonder what to do when they see the prompt in the WordPress admin asking them to update to the latest version.

Website design By BotEap.comUpdating WordPress yourself can be as simple as clicking a button, but things can go wrong. Many people take it for granted that all WordPress websites should use the latest version. There is some risk involved, so it is worth considering why it is worth the bother and what you can do to minimize the risks.

Website design By BotEap.comThe last major version of WordPress was version 3.3, released in December 2011. In addition to the new features for WordPress developers, there are many improvements to benefit the average blogger or website owner:

• My new favorite feature is the floating menus in the WordPress admin navigation, giving you one-click access to any screen. Sounds simple but it is a huge improvement that instead of having to click eg on the pages THEN wait for the page to load THEN click ‘Add New’, NOW you can hover over the pages and immediately click on ‘Add New’ in the drop-down menu. As a WordPress designer, this has already saved me a great deal of time and will help you too.
• It’s easier than ever to upload images and other media via the unique upload button on the WordPress toolbar. The drag and drop media uploader allows you to drag and drop files directly from your computer to the WordPress manager, instead of having to search for the file location.
• Whenever you add a new function, a pointer appears that provides useful information on how to use the function.
• Touch support has been improved for those who use iPads or other tablets to manage their WordPress website.
• Version control has been improved for larger companies with multiple users editing the same pages and posts; improved co-publishing support blocks posts that are being edited by someone else.
• And more.

Website design By BotEap.comWebsite security is constantly evolving. Hackers are constantly working to discover and exploit loopholes, and WordPress developers are continually working to close them. The latest version will generally have a number of important security fixes to protect your website. The responsible thing is to update to the latest version and protect your WordPress website.

Website design By BotEap.comUpdating WordPress should be as easy as clicking a button, but things aren’t always that simple. Sometimes things can go wrong; For example, the new version may not be compatible with your website theme or some of the plugins. The worst case scenario is that updating WordPress could damage your website.

Website design By BotEap.comProblems are more likely to occur if:

• Your website is particularly complex or has many plugins installed
• You haven’t fully upgraded and you’re running a particularly old version of WordPress, your website theme, or any of the plugins

Website design By BotEap.comIf any of this applies to your website, then it might be worth hiring a professional WordPress designer to update WordPress for you. This is less likely to be necessary for simpler sites.

Website design By BotEap.comThe WordPress update will affect all files and folders included in the main installation, including all the main files that run WordPress and the plugins that come prepackaged with it. If you have made any customization to these files, the changes will be lost.

Website design By BotEap.comIt is not a good practice to modify the main WordPress installation anyway, so if you have done this, I suggest that you find an alternative way to achieve what you are trying to do. If you don’t know how, any good WordPress designer can help you with this.

Website design By BotEap.comFollow the WordPress Codex instructions to update WordPress with minimal risk. This includes instructions on how to back up your WordPress website before updating, so you have something to revert to if something goes wrong.

Website design By BotEap.comI would add an extra precaution to make things safer. In addition to backing up your site, create a separate test site; this is basically a duplicate of your live site where you can test any changes (i.e. update WordPress) before applying the same changes to the live site. Although backing up is a good backup option (excuse the pun), restoring your WordPress site to a backup version is a hassle, so it’s best not to let things go wrong. first. Updating WordPress on a staging site first is the way to go, as with any other major changes you make to your site at any time.

Website design By BotEap.comI would also recommend checking that each of your plugins is compatible with the new version. You can do this by searching for the plugin in the WordPress Plugin Directory and checking the compatibility box in the right column.

Website design By BotEap.comAnother tip is to wait about a week for a new version to be released before applying the update to your website. This gives WordPress plugin developers and theme designers the opportunity to test their work with the new version and release a new version if necessary, which you can update at the same time. Don’t leave it too long though, as running an older version of WordPress is too big of a security risk.

Website design By BotEap.comIf you update WordPress and the worst happens, there are a few things you can do:

• If you backed up your site, you can go back to the previous version. If you didn’t, don’t panic! Your WordPress web host has likely taken regular backups of your site. Although there may be a charge for this service, they should be able to roll back the site to a previous version of before upgrading. This will get your website working again, but you will still have to figure out how to update to the latest version without breaking it again.
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• You can try to identify the problem yourself by deactivating all plugins and reactivating them one by one. If the problem reoccurs after activating a particular plugin, try removing it and replacing it with something else.
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• If you can’t get to the bottom of the problem, you can ask a WordPress designer to get it working properly again.

Website design By BotEap.comYou may ask if it is worth the hassle, and I would say yes. Any upgrade carries risk, but this is more than outweighed by the benefits.

Website design By BotEap.comMost WordPress designers offer a WordPress update service and can do it for you, including full testing to make sure everything is working properly; this may be worth considering for complex sites with lots of plugins or custom functions.

Website design By BotEap.comAnd if you do it yourself, follow the tips above in most cases, your update will be successful.