The newest release of WordPress is coming out any day now – version 2.0 – – minor and major overhauls to actually jump it from Version 1.5 to 2.0.
Before upgrading:
The Codex has a listing WordPress plugins that work and plugins that don’t work with version 2.0 – check it out before you upgrade your blog. It is, by no means, an exhaustive listing.
Deactivate the plugins that don’t work before you upgrade (that goes without saying, eh?)
BACK UP YOUR DATABASE!
After you’ve upgraded your blog to 2.0 – you may very well find that it’s running database errors. If you’re really lucky, it will all go smoothly. If you have database errors- you need to troubleshoot them. Do this by deactivating all of your plugins — then re-activate them one by one until you find the culprit giving you the error.
What can you do about a plugin that’s not working with the new version? (more importantly… what can your host do about it? Or what can the person who designed your blog do about it?) Nothing, really. You can write to the developer of the plugin (the guy or gal who wrote the thing) and find out if and when they are planning a release that is compatable with 2.0. Then you wait for a response. Or – find a WordPress developer willing to tweak it for you.
When in doubt, or if you don’t know how to go about it – don’t attempt the upgrade yourself. Find someone knowledgable to do it for you. Hosted clients of Blogs About can submit a help ticket to request the upgrade. If you’re not a Blogs About client – E.Webscapes also provides upgrade services for your WordPress blog.
My personal rule of thumb? Wait a week or two. Then do a Google or Technorati search about WordPress 2.0 and learn from the mistakes made by a million WordPress downloaders who came before you. Then take the leap and have fun!
WordPress, as you know it, is about to change. They had to do this during the holidays, didn’t they?