Try:
– deactivating all plugins
– switching to the default 2012 theme
– backing up your database
– finally running the update.
then what happens? (sorry if that a silly question)
If the site is still working OK, start reactivating your plugin and original theme one-by-one.
If it helps at all, I’ve just updated 15 sites in about 30 minutes with absolutely no problems 🙂
With every update (theme, plugin or WP core) there is a chance that some sort of conflict could arise. The WordPress core development team works diligently to mitigate this on their end and ensure backwards compatibility, but it is a risk inherent in any software environment where third-party (theme and plugin) developers introduce code.
The best thing to do is back up your database (you should do this regularly anyway) and your wp-contents directory before making any changes. Then install updates one at a time, thoroughly testing your website after each update is applied to see if anything is not working correctly.
Doing this will help you narrow down the source of your problem, if you encounter one. From there, reach out to the theme or plugin developer directly if possible, or post your questions here.
to back up my database, I can just export from PhpMyAdmin? correct? or is that not a good practice?
Using Phpmyadmin to create a database backup is just fine if you can manage it. 🙂
