So, I restored the old site 2.0.5. Now ready to start again. I have all the incremental versions downloaded and all old files, including the .sql for that database, backed up to my harddrive as well. I verified that the .sql opens in texteditor and all files seemd to be there (posts, audio etc).
How do I do an ‘incremental upgrade”? I went to the link you provided above last message it gave me some weird message that said I only had 1 step offered a button click, I did and it brought me back here to the forum?
Obviously I will research how to upgrade from the current version in the codex but I’m leery of mis-reading again.
http://thenaica.org/wordpress/wp-admin/upgrade.php
Regarding above link: I clicked on it. Told me it was only one step. I clicked the upgrade tab for it to do the one step. Told me I was done. Logged into admin for blog…it’s still version 2.0.5. Nothing has changed. Clearly I have to upgrade the files on my server because this “one step” isn’t doing anything.
What’s the difference between upgrading old files and doing installs anyway. Seems logical that you would have to overwrite old php files associated with older versions of the blog, no?
yes, you upload the files from the version you want to upgrade to
the wp-admin and wp-includes folders, and the files from root. You keep the wp-content folder and the wp-config.php file in root from your old install, don’t delete those
THEN you visit the upgrade link
Upload the all the files and folders from 2.1, but not wp-config.php or wp-content. Then go to the same upgrade link. That’s what upgrades your database. Then you’re done with that version.
Then upload the next version files and go to the upgrade link. You need to go to 2.1, then 2.1 to 2.3, 2.3 to 2.5, 2.5 to 2.8.5, 2.8.5 to 3.0
Once you get to 3, your theme will probably be not working, so switch to Twenty Ten and then upload your existing header image in Twenty Ten options.
THANK YOU!
I am sorry for being a pain in the ass. LOL.
I really appreciate all of your help.
Relief! Just did upgrade for 2.1 and all the content is there. So relieved! Thanks again for my unbearably dumb questions.
But I’ve learned all sorts of new things about WP and databases. So that’s good.
well…on the bright side, once you get to 2.8.5 there is an automatic upgrade feature in wordpress!
Well…I spoke too soon.
I just did the upgrade to version 2.3 (going from 2.1 to 2.3 as was suggested). It says i am upgraded but now the blog is not showing up:
http://www.thenaica.org/wordpress
I didn’t delete any of the pertinent files only replacing wp-admin, wp-includes and the ancillary php files EXCEPT config.php
hmmm now what happened?
Reupload all the 2.3 files and folders again. Something didn’t upload all the way. Rename your plugins folder to oldplugins to deacivate them all.
On the WP Codex page re: Upgrades it suggested doing this:
NOTE: If you did not delete the wp-content folder, you will need to overwrite some files during the upload.
The wp-content folder holds your WordPress Themes and Plugins. These should remain. Upload everything else first, then upload only those WordPress files that are new or changed to your new wp-content folder. Overwrite any old versions of default plugins with the new ones.
The WordPress default theme has changed so you will want to upload the wp-content/themes/default folder. If you have custom changes to the default theme, those changes will need to be reviewed and installed after the upgrade.
I did so for that first upgrade to 2.1 and it worked fine. So I did it as well for version 2.3. However the theme we were using, really old Nosebleed theme, was not the default anyway…and all I did was upgrade the Askimet and hello.php plugins.
Everything else I did exactly as I did the first time.
Hmmm? Maybe delete the files again and start fresh and reimport 2.3 files?
Well reuploading all the files worked. Interestingly when I logged into the dashboard it now gives me the “A new version of WordPress is available! Please update now.” prompt. This is WP 2.3.
Should I go ahead and auto update or keep going through this process?
Reuploading files usually always works. GoDaddy drops FTP connections regularly.
No, don’t use the auto update. It will – as far as I know – take you to the newest version right away, which will break your database.
Well, it’s done. Sort of. This old database was based off PHP4. I couldn’t upgrade to WP 3 because it require PHP5.
Godaddy would not help me upgrade the database to 5. Said it would mess up the content because it was based off 4? I’m not sure that’s correct. But I guess this is better than nothing.
Thanks for all your help!
First thing to learn is ignore most of what Godaddy tells you.
You’re confusing the database with php. Many, many people have upgraded WordPress hosting from php4 to php5. Go here: http://help.godaddy.com/article/3937
Mmm they told me about that. I have a few other WP websites in subdomains within the main root folder. It’s that first WP blog that I just upgraded that is based on php4. All the others are under php5.
How do I update that one site? Is it creating a new php.ini file to place in the root folder for that particular blog? Will that help?
