Archive for Maintaining Your Installation
Wordpress Glitches with 2.9 — upgrade now
I have heard from many of you that your automatic postings aren't working with 2.9 and have come to understand the this was a known problem with Wordpress 2.9. As of today, you can automatically upgrade to 2.9.1 that addresses this and a few other issues.
I have personally had that problem with prior versions and haven't used the 'future post' option in a long time. If you upgrade and still experience this problem, it is most likely a plugin conflict or a conflict with your theme and without an 'error' message would not be able to troubleshoot. A good way to start, is to disable all plugins (except for Akismet) and try again. A great resource for questions about Wordpress is www.Wordpress.org which also has a support forum.
You can read the full article on the complete update HERE.
Using the Automated Update 2.7+
One of my favorite things about the new Wordpress 2.7 (now 2.8) is the automatic upgrade option from the dashboard. As of this post, 2.8.1 has just been rolled out, so most of you will be using the ‘automated upgrade’ for the second time. Those of you slacking and haven’t done it yet… what are you waiting for?
So far the only failures with the automated upgrade have ended up being because the person was up at their server space capacity (easily fixed… my customers… call me). My new video on upgrading and backing up covers how to check before you start.
So, this tutorial covers a few scenarios, most noteably if you are still prior to 2.7 because you haven’t been upgrading like you should be… but I go over backing up your installation before you start and checking how much space you have as well as using Fantastico for the last time to upgrade you to 2.8 for you to then go forward and upgrade regularly.
So why am I telling you to backup your site when my servers create a back up of every site, every 24 hours (usually between 1am-5am EST)? Well there are times that you have done a lot of work since the morning and *then* you upgrade and if a site restore is needed, you lose everything you’ve done since last update.
Also, on occasion the ‘automated backup’ turns out to be corrupt (does not happen often) and you need to restore from the weekly backup. So, be safe and you probably won’t need it.
That being said if you are at 2.3 and are upgrading to 2.8 via Fantastico, definately make a backup because the further you go between backups the better the chance something will go wrong.
Wordpress 2.8 is here!
As I’ve said… it’s here and better than ever. If you have been behaving right, you are already at 2.7.1 and know that starting with 2.7 there is an automatic upgrade at the top of your screen and I updated my site in 20 seconds this morning. If not, you’ll have to use Fantastico to upgrade to 2.7.1 and then upgrade via your Wordpress dashboard manually. The only upgrade problems I’ve seen have to do with widgets that no longer are compatible with the version you upgrade to.
To view a video (which will answer your questions about the changed options), click here.
Some of the things you will love are the ability to swap out your theme and ‘try on’ a new one right from the dashboard. I will be updating my videos and including ‘how to’s’ on some commonly asked questions.
Also, I am now on Twitter, and you can follow me at www.Twitter.com/websbyamy
Fantastico is up to 2.6.3
Fantastico (on my servers) is now up to 2.6.3 so you should go and upgrade! If you need a refresher, you can refer to my page at Support >Tutorials or below are the links:
Since Wordpress 2.7 is going to be a major change, I can’t stress how important it is to have made the incremental upgrades. The longer you go between version upgrades, the more of a chance that there may be a problem.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact me directly (hosting customers only).


