Title: Upgrade Help Last modified: August 20, 2016 --- # Upgrade Help * [dschaefer](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dschaefer/) * (@dschaefer) * [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/upgrade-help-10/) * Hello, * I’m new to the forums and to WordPress. I’ve had my own blog running Movabletype 2.661 then 3.x and now 4.x for many years (planning to switch to WP soon at some point), so I’m not new to blog software, just WP. I’ve inherited my church’s website which is running WP 3.3.2 and the Aggregate 1.5 theme. * I’ve been getting upgrade nag messages since I took over but I’ve been reluctant to do so because I understand that upgrades can break plugins. I’m not yet familiar enough with WP to proceed thinking that if it breaks I can fix it, besides, this isn’t simply my blog,it’s the site the church relies on. * Besides WP, there are 8 plugins that need updated and all of them show support for 3.4.2 as ‘Unknown’. My install shows 12 installed plugins, 10 active and 2 inactive (what does that mean?). * I’ve browsed the upgrade page of the docs, but they seem rather generic and I’m looking for additional wisdom. * My questions are: * Is there a ‘best practices’ for updating WP? How can I verify that a plugin won’t break and take my site down when I upgrade? Should I upgrade plugins first then WP? What should I know that I won’t find in the docs? * Thanks! Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total) * [Andrew Bartel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrew-bartel/) * (@andrew-bartel) * [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/upgrade-help-10/#post-3129986) * You should create a local install/restricted sub domain and test upgrades and installs on that before you commit **any** changes to a live site, regardless of whether or not they’re WordPress or plugin updates, template changes, whatever. * [mar1965](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mar1965/) * (@mar1965) * [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/upgrade-help-10/#post-3129988) * As far as what is meant by active and inactive plugins, active plugins are those that are turned on, and inactive ones are off. If you haven’t already, have a look at [http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins_Installed_SubPanel](http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins_Installed_SubPanel). * Thread Starter [dschaefer](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dschaefer/) * (@dschaefer) * [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/upgrade-help-10/#post-3130139) * Thanks for the replies. I’ve got a lot of learning to do. * A test install sounds like what I need. Are there any good how-tos on this? I’ve searched and found lots of posts online about this, but most aren’t much very descriptive. I’m pretty new to this, I really need a basic step by step. * WP is generally installed in the directory it publishes to, correct? Is a good way to do this to install WP in the main directory (www.domain.com) and a test install in another directory (www.domain.com/test)? If so, how do you move changes over from test to production? Do you have to do all the work a second time? I’m assuming the two installs aren’t tied to a common database, right? That always got me in MT too, I ran a ‘test’ blog and a ‘production’ blog but never found an easy way to port changes from test to production. * BTW – on my site, WP is installed in a subfolder but publishes to the root. I’m thinking I ought to move WP to the same folder it publishes to and then install it again in a test subfolder. Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total) The topic ‘Upgrade Help’ is closed to new replies. * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 3 replies * 3 participants * Last reply from: [dschaefer](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dschaefer/) * Last activity: [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/upgrade-help-10/#post-3130139) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics