Title: Which WordPress?
Last modified: August 18, 2016

---

# Which WordPress?

 *  [Shari](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shari/)
 * (@shari)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/)
 * I was hoping I could get some pointers or advice about what I assume are several
   different “branches” of WordPress. I’ve browsed the forums and trawled through
   the release announcement posts and I’m just not sure what the difference/advantage
   is to having 2.0.x, 2.1.x, or 2.2. I saw that 2.0.x will be maintained until 
   2010, but will 2.1.x be supported? Can anyone explain it, or is there a link 
   to somewhere I could read about it? I’ve been told off 🙂 for having 1.5.31. 
   I know I need to upgrade, but I’m so out of date I don’t even know which one!
 * Here are the specs of my host:
    PHP Version 4.4.1 mySQL Version 12.22 Distrib
   4.0.27
 * Very much appreciate the help!

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)

1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/page/2/?output_format=md)
[→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/page/2/?output_format=md)

 *  [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/)
 * (@whooami)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570538)
 * ignore 2.1 .. the last release had a hole, and they jumped to 2.2
 * you’re left dealing with 2.0x, of which the latest is 2.0.9, or 2.2, of which
   the latest is simply 2.2
 * 2.1 and now 2.2 had code that was different enough from 2.0 that they called 
   it a different branch.
 * 2.0.9 is _publicly_ secure, as is 2.2.
 * All that could change in 2.0.3.1.45 days. 😛
 * The simplest and least painful upgrade for you, would be to 2.0.9 since the code
   in that most resembles what you are currently using.
 *  Thread Starter [Shari](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shari/)
 * (@shari)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570543)
 * OK, thank you so much for that explanation.
 * Do I need to do the upgrades by steps? From 1.5.3 to 2.0, then then to 2.0.1,
   and so on? Or can I download 2.0.9 and do the upgrade in one step?
 *  [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/)
 * (@whooami)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570544)
 * No, you can jump from 1.5.x to 2.0.9 the last digit represents minor changes —
   2.0.1 is only minorly different from 2.0.9
 * Just make sure you backup your database, and disable ALL of your plugins, and
   do not overwrite files. Delete than upload. 🙂
 * [http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress#Detailed_Instructions](http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress#Detailed_Instructions)
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570545)
 * There are two branches:
    2.0.x and 2.1/2.2 (2.1 had security upgrades… 2.1.3 
   was the last one but it is advised to upgrade to 2.2 if you have that one).
 * 2.0.x will be supported for several years.
 * The split happened when the 2.0 and 2.1 appeared in the same time.
 * The two branches have different server requirements.
 *  [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/)
 * (@whooami)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570547)
 * _The two branches have different server requirements._
 * among other things, changed sql statements that break plugins that have worked
   for years…
 * more and more ajax …
 *  Thread Starter [Shari](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shari/)
 * (@shari)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570580)
 * Moshu: Thanks for further explaining the branches and the reasons for them. I
   feel more in touch now. 🙂
 * Whooami: Thanks so much for your help. Hopefully this upgrade will fix my commenting
   problem and any security issues. If not, I look forward to your help after the
   upgrade.
 * I feel like a little kid on the big diving board. 😉
 *  Thread Starter [Shari](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shari/)
 * (@shari)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570600)
 * Upgraded to 2.0.9 and was shocked. It’s all working, it looks like! Not sure 
   about the comments since I can’t seem to comment as a guest, but we’ll see!
 * Thanks again… if anyone has the time, could you possibly wander over to [http://www.thewordens.org/openup](http://www.thewordens.org/openup)
   and try to leave a comment?
 *  [MichaelH](https://wordpress.org/support/users/michaelh/)
 * (@michaelh)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570601)
 * I believe 2.0.10 is the latest version in the 2.0.x family.
 * Of course when you look for it on this page:
    [http://wordpress.org/download/release-archive/](http://wordpress.org/download/release-archive/)
 * it is listed just after 2.0.1, not 2.0.9.
 *  Thread Starter [Shari](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shari/)
 * (@shari)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570603)
 * Oh, booger. I never even saw that.
 *  [DianeV](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dianev/)
 * (@dianev)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570612)
 * Shari, it’s not a big problem to upgrade to 2.0.10, especially given that you’ve
   just upgraded and lived to tell the tale. 🙂
 * At any rate, I saw your blog post where you were considering doing a backup (
   text file?) of your site. I may not understand what you meant by that, but it’s
   always extremely helpful (and comforting) to have a copy of your website files
   and of the database (databasedump) on hand. Too many copies is better than none
   at all.
 *  Thread Starter [Shari](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shari/)
 * (@shari)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570615)
 * OK, I’ll do that then, before I tweak more things on the site.
 * What I meant by a text back-up was just to go and put each post’s content into
   a text file. I wonder if there would be a plug in that could render posts as 
   plain text in the browser window or even as a file. It sounds pretty backwards,
   but I was thinking in terms of a database backup being corrupted or something…
   worst-case scenario, what if nothing worked, ever again kind of thing… then the
   text would at least be saved. But I have over 500 posts, so converting them to
   text won’t be happening anytime soon!
 *  [DianeV](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dianev/)
 * (@dianev)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570618)
 * Okay. I would use something like WebStripper to download all pages of the site,
   although that might take some juice from your web server … but at least you’d
   have everything.
 * I pretty much use databasedumps; however, where the database is pretty large,
   it’s probably safest to SSH into the server to do it manually. If you don’t know
   what that is, perhaps you can get someone to help you.
 *  [Dgold](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dgold/)
 * (@dgold)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570620)
 * I didn’t realize how much of a “branch” 2.1+ is.
 * See, I was on 2.0.x, and I was busy with school when 2.1 came out & wasn’t reading
   the forums then. When summer started, I looked here and saw 2.2, and the description
   of it pretty much said there’s a security issue and everyone needs to upgrade
   now. That was the impression I got. So I went to 2.2 pronto. Now I am questioning
   that decision, it’s been a bit of a hassle to change my template tags to make
   my theme work for 2.2.
 *  [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/)
 * (@whooami)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570625)
 * oops yes, dgold is right, 2.0.10 is the latest in the 2.0 branch.
 * dgold, you and alot of other ppl upgraded to 2.1 or 2.2 without really needing
   to.
 * It’s not that long ago so I distinctly remember that brightly colored NEW!! image
   in the upper right hand corner of one of the pages on this site prompting everyone
   to upgrade to 2.1 — with very little explanation of why they ‘needed’ to.
 * and in fact, they didn’t need to.
 *  Thread Starter [Shari](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shari/)
 * (@shari)
 * [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/#post-570637)
 * I made it! I don’t know if it was too much traffic for one night, but I kept 
   getting socket errors and timing out on my host as I deleted/uploaded files, 
   so it took a while. But it’s done. I really hope someone can drop by and [help me test the commenting](http://www.thewordens.org/openup)
   soon!
 * Dgold, I was in school as well and just did not have the time. I was also alarmed
   by how many complaints 2.0 got when it was first released, and I’ll admit to 
   being so happy and comfy with my blog I didn’t want to change anything! Then 
   when things slowed down, all the different upgrades just added to my consternation,
   but thanks to some great advice from Whooami, I have the version that seems to
   have impacted the site the least, and I like it that way!

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)

1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/page/2/?output_format=md)
[→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/page/2/?output_format=md)

The topic ‘Which WordPress?’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [branch](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/branch/)
 * [upgrade](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/upgrade/)
 * [upgrading](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/upgrading/)

 * In: [Everything else WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/miscellaneous/)
 * 17 replies
 * 6 participants
 * Last reply from: [Shari](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shari/)
 * Last activity: [18 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-wordpress/page/2/#post-570709)
 * Status: not resolved

## Topics

### Topics with no replies

### Non-support topics

### Resolved topics

### Unresolved topics

### All topics
