WordPress.org

1. Zapz
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   WordPress politely ask at the dashboard and I quote "WordPress 2.8 is available! Please update now." And my question is why? My WP version of 2.7.1 is working fine, no bugs and is running as it should. So why is WP recommending me to update? Oh yes, i had a look at the new features and all so spare me with the hype of some new special gotto-have-update. If something is working, why bother to change it.

   Same goes actually to everything nowadays, You don't have to update every freaking time possible. If something is not doing as it should or a very known bug is a issue, only then i understand the urge to update.

   Sorry for this outbreak :) I just want to know how i remove the "please update now"-text in the dashboard! Anyone?

   BR,
   PB

2. DannyWRP
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   I'm not bothering to upgrade until I see that the current v.2.8 is fully stable. Based on the vast number of problems people are having, I think it's best to wait. Out of close to 20 different people I know who did the upgrade, only one seemed to not have a problem! That shows me that this release just isn't ready.

   I also would like to get rid of that "WordPress 2.8 is available! Please update now." notice.

3. StrangeAttractor
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   Out of close to 20 different people I know who did the upgrade, only one seemed to not have a problem! That shows me that this release just isn't ready.

   Have you ever heard the military acronym SNAFU? Situation Normal: All F**ed Up.

   Having been a WordPress user for various sites since version 2.0, I can emphatically state that SNAFU is the perfect description for virtually any new WordPress release. I've come to regard all new WordPress releases as beta versions being tested in the wild.

   A major blessing, though, is that since 2.6, WordPress finally began taking security seriously, so it's not as dire as it used to be to upgrade right away.

   I also would like to get rid of that "WordPress 2.8 is available! Please update now." notice.

   Yeah, I really find the nags annoying. I wish the nag would say

   There's a new version of WordPress out, but, dammit man, why don't you save yourself some serious grief and let other people find all the new bugs before you upgrade? They'll issue a bug-fix version within the next few weeks, and by then the plug-in developers will have caught up, too...

   Yeah, not quite a pithy as the original, but more truthful for sure.

4. Otto
   Tech Ninja
   Posted 2 years ago #

   If you don't want to upgrade, then don't. It's your site.

   That said, I've never had the problems that some people around here describe with upgrading. It's seriously just not that hard. Things just work, if you let them.

   So far, there have been only three real issues with 2.8:
   1) get_categories changed a bit. This is corrected in 2.8.1, and most people didn't have the issue. Only odd themes caused it.
   2) Failed upgrade can cause file deletion. Very rare, only happened in specific cases, but it's a critical problem, which is why 2.8.1 is being pushed so fast.
   3) The new javascript compression and concatenation functionality causes problems for some people and servers. This results in all sorts of odd behavior, like people claiming that widgets don't drag and that the edit box doesn't work, and so forth. It's a relatively rare case, but one easily corrected with one line of code in the wp-config file on sites that have the issue. An even better fix is to activate the "Use Google Libraries" plugin, which not only eliminates the problem, but causes a site speedup by getting most of the javascript from Google.

   And that's it. No other major problems have been reported. Sure, I understand how you'd be upset if the problems happened to you, but hey, these are support forums. You expect to see problems listed here. If there were 50 threads of people reporting problems, then I'd consider that a highly successful release. WP 2.8 has already been downloaded 946,000 times, after all.

5. ybot
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   I made the mistake of ugrading without reading all the errors, I am no longer able to log into admin

   When i first went to admin i was propted to update my database... then...

   I get the folowing error

   Call to undefined function: set_screen_options() in /mnt/w0310/d23/s32/b02f7fb9/www/xxxxxxx.net/blog/wp-admin/admin.php on line 45

   I am not a scripter so it looks like I have destroyed my clients blog

6. Otto
   Tech Ninja
   Posted 2 years ago #

   "Call to undefined function" = Not all the files on your site got updated. Download a copy of 2.8 and upgrade your site manually via FTP.

   Upgrading WordPress

7. StrangeAttractor
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   That said, I've never had the problems that some people around here describe with upgrading. It's seriously just not that hard. Things just work, if you let them.

   It really depends on the degree of customization and the plugins you are using. Not WordPress' responsibility, as many are quick to point out, but nonetheless this kind of extensibility is one of the major draws of WordPress. Various open source applications handle the issue of plugins differently, and with WordPress, it's a bit of a Wild West scenario...

   (And PS, though my comment above was snarky, don't get me wrong -- I love WordPress, obviously. But the rapid UI changes and other version changes -- even when they are unqualified improvements to the product -- can be a source of frustration for a lot of people.)

   I am not a scripter so it looks like I have destroyed my clients blog

   I know a lot of people requested automated upgrades, but I really think it has the potential to be a dangerous feature.

   Actually, I preferred how the older automatic-upgrade plugin handled it -- would turn off all plugins, backup the database and the source files, check for compatibility issues, and then do the upgrade.

   Including an automatic backup of db and files beforehand is essential -- correct me if I'm wrong, but the built-in auto upgrade doesn't do this, does it? (Haven't used it yet.)

   If it doesn't include auto-backups, there should at least be a big flashing warning -- don't upgrade until you have backed up your files and db.

8. whooami
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   the automatic upgrade3 is a nightmare -- not just because of the functional issues, but because it cripples new users into not understanding how to fix things when it does go wrong.

   Ive always said that the more they try to dumb it down, the more problems are actually created

9. Otto
   Tech Ninja
   Posted 2 years ago #

   I've always liked the automobile metaphor. It's the vego-matic of metaphors: It slices, it dices!

   Anyway, owning a website is like owning a car. Any idiot can spend some bucks and learn to drive the thing. But if you want to customize it, you either have to learn how the thing works (so that you can take it apart, modify it, and put it back together) or hire a specialist to do it for you (car stereo installers, auto mechanics).

   If you consider that upgrading is like buying a new car but keeping all your customizations, then to think that any single process can handle it all the time and get it right every single time is more than a bit silly, yes?

   Automatic upgrading works quite well for what it does. But no automatic process is going to work every time given the vast number of configurations and customizations. If your website has value to you, then you need to test things and figure out problems. And yes, to do that, you need to be an auto-mechanic, or at least somebody who can change their own oil.

   So I think the automatic upgrade is a good thing, overall, but I also agree with whooami in that when you make things easy to install and use, then people don't have to learn anything to use them and then are helpless when they break down. However, at the same time, it does increase the market for mechanics. ;)

10. whooami
    Member
    Posted 2 years ago #

    it does increase the market for mechanics. ;)

    So, Ive noticed -- No doubt :)

11. StrangeAttractor
    Member
    Posted 2 years ago #

    Automatic upgrading works quite well for what it does. But no automatic process is going to work every time given the vast number of configurations and customizations.

    Exactly. So, in my opinion, WordPress should stop pretending that it's a trouble-free, one-click process. It's misleading, esp. to new users.

    And I think the upgrade nags encourage people to leap without looking.

    All it would take is some kind of warning:

    1) Make sure to back up all source files and your database before upgrading because sometimes upgrades can break customizations

    2) But be aware that not upgrading to the latest version can make your site vulnerable to hacking.

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