Category: WordPress Updates

WordPress 2.5 is Released

WordPress 2.5 has officially been released. The new version includes over 1300 changes (see full changelog) and a variety of new features. For more information on WordPress version 2.5, read the official WordPress version 2.5 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: WordPress 2.5

In addition to the new WordPress release, the wordpress.org web site has a fresh new look. Great work!

WordPress 2.5 Beta 1 Initial Opinions

I took some time today to download the latest version of WordPress (2.5 beta 1) and decided this would be a perfect opportunity to switch to using subversion to manage my WordPress updates. Now that I am all switched over – updates will be much easier to manage.

My initial thoughts and opinions on WordPress 2.5:

  • The upgrade was painless – 5 minutes.
  • All my plugins worked except for my “Secure Admin” plugin – but that was out of date.
  • My theme works fine – after I made some adjustments to some of my AJAX features that relied on an outdated version of Prototype.
  • The new admin interface is well laid out for the most part. I am still not sure I am sold on the really light colors, but I will give it some time to grow on me.
  • The admin interface is cleaner – it no longer shows artifacts like post and category ID which only a few of us use. (If you want to see the post ID or cat ID, just hover over the edit link next to these items and you can see it in the URL – thanks Demitrious)
  • The post interface is much elongated due to the options that were once available in the right hand column (categories, password protect post, etc) are now below the post box instead of next to it. This is going to take some time to get used to.
  • Overall – this is a big release and I look forward to working with the changes and enhancements.

WordPress Update: 2.3.2

WordPress 2.3.2 has officially been released. The new version includes bug fixes and an urgent security fix. For more information on WordPress version 2.3.2, read the official WordPress version 2.3.2 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: WordPress 2.3.2

WordPress Plugin Update: Akismet

Today Automattic released an update to the Akismet. This is a great plugin to help with comment spam and has been priceless on all the sites I manage. If you are not using this plugin, you can use it for free for personal sites, or pay $500 for commercial sites. Check it out!

WordPress Update: 2.3.1

WordPress 2.3.1 has officially been released. The new version includes bug fixes and security fixes. For more information on WordPress version 2.3.1, read the official WordPress version 2.3.1 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: WordPress 2.3.1

WordPress Update: 2.3

WordPress 2.3 has officially been released. The new version includes a number of new features – including tagging, update notification (for WordPress and WordPress plugins), advanced WYSIWYG features, out of the box search engine optimization, as well as other new features and fixes. For more information on WordPress version 2.3, read the official WordPress version 2.3 documentation.
Download the latest version of WordPress: WordPress 2.3

Updating From WordPress 2.2 to 2.3

I have been using WordPress for almost 4 years and have collected a number of database tables, plugin specific directories, and miscellaneous junk along the way on a number of my sites. I wanted to take some time and really do some spring cleaning. After a few hours – I was very pleased with the results and I wanted to share what worked for me.

Here are the steps I recommend to really clean out a WordPress installation:

  1. Make a backup of everything. You never know what you are going to get into – and a backup is very important incase things go bad.
  2. Make a test installation. I always use a test server when I know I am going to make several changes. This way, jappler.com was not down while I was testing and cleaning up. With your backup files, import your database on the test server, and grab the latest version of WordPress (hopefully using subversion)
  3. Remove old or unused plugin database tables. I then went into the WordPress database and removed (dropped) any tables that were created by any of my old or unused plugins that were still hanging around.
  4. Weed out old, unused plugins. I went through my plugins and deleted any old or unused plugins. I had a few “I should really use this” plugins that were never used – and to tidy up – I deleted them before uploading them to the test server environment. Make sure to also remove any files/folders that old plugins might have used in the root folder and or wp-content.
  5. Move your theme over. Upload the theme file over to the test server.
  6. Move your uploads over/miscellaneous files. Upload the uploads folder (wp-content) so you will have all your old uploads.
  7. Update WordPress. Run through the upgrade process (/wp-admin/upgrade.php).
  8. Debug your plugins. Log in, create a test post to make sure you can write to the database without any errors. I ran into a few problems with this, so I deactivated my plugins and activated them one by one. I found I had a few plugins that were not compatible with WordPress 2.3, but there were updates available, so I updated my plugins and moved on.
  9. Import Tags (if you have them). I used Ultimate Tag Warrior and WordPress has an import option for that (Manage > Import) for that.
  10. Display your WordPress tags in your WordPress theme. Now that tagging is available within WordPress without any plugins, you can easily display tags by using: You can also use a tag cloud (see Codex documentation)
  11. Make another backup. I always make another backup of my sites when I am happy with the end result – just incase something happened – I would not lose all my hard work.
  12. Enjoy your updated installation. Hey – you did it! A clean, lean, updated web site. Nice work. Now go and enjoy it!

WordPress Update: 2.2.3

WordPress 2.2.3 has officially been released. The new version includes bug fixes and security fixes and WordPress users are recommended to patch their WordPress installation immediately. For more information on WordPress version 2.2.3, read the official WordPress version 2.2.3 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress:WordPress 2.2.3

WordPress Update: 2.0.11 and 2.2.2

WordPress 2.0.11 and 2.2.2 have officially been released. The new version includes bug fixes and security fixes. For more information on WordPress versions 2.0.11 and 2.2.2, read the official WordPress version 2.0.11 and 2.2.2 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress:WordPress 2.0.11 and 2.2.2