Lee Odden

WordPress Updates: Is there to much of a good thing?

Lee Odden     Blogging Strategy

It seems that WordPress updates come down the line quite often.  So often, that if you manage quite a few WordPress blogs, you seem to always be updating them.  Is there to much of a good thing here?

So far there have been seven WordPress updates in 2008 with at least one more major update, and an unknown number of minor updates, due later this year.

  • v2.6.2 Released: 9/8/08
  • v2.6.1 Released: 8/15/08
  • v2.6 Released: 7/15/08
  • v2.5.1 Released: 4/25/08
  • v2.5 Released: 3/29/08
  • v2.3.3 Released: 2/5/08

Updating blog or two isn’t an issue, it’s when you have 15+ blogs to update each time.  Not only do you need to update the software, but also keep in mind backups, plugin compatibility research and plug-in updates.  It can keep a person quite busy.

The good news here is that WordPress is working on an auto updating feature called WordPress Upgrader.  It sounds like it’ll work much like the auto-updating of plug-ins does currently where you can choose to have WordPress update your software.  I for one am excited about this feature!

Another thing you can do with the smaller updates is only update the files that changed. Whenever a WordPress update comes out, the announcement blog post links to a full changeset and list of changed files. (Example  Post) Once you’ve clicked though to the WordPress trac site, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you’ll see a zip file that contains only the updated files.  Update these on your blog and your update will be complete.  There may be only a handful of files that need updating and can be a real time saver.

Whether you choose to update a few, or all files, keeping your blog up-to-date is important.  Not only to ensure that your blog software runs smoothly, but to ensure it’s safe and secure too.

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Lee Odden About Lee Odden

@LeeOdden is the CEO of TopRank Marketing and editor of Online Marketing Blog. Cited for his expertise by The Economist, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, he's the author of the book Optimize and presents internationally on integrated content, search, social media and influencer marketing. When not at conferences, consulting, or working with his talented team, he's likely on a beach somewhere doing absolutely nothing.

Comments

  1. Vinh Le says:
    October 8, 2008 at 8:13 pm

    That is the first I heard about the auto-updating feature, that does sound like a very sweet idea.

  2. David Airey says:
    October 9, 2008 at 8:15 am

    When I tried using a plugin to update, it caused a whole lot of headache, and took a while to revert to the backup before manually upgrading.

    Here’s hoping WordPress do integrate an easier solution before too long.

  3. Brian says:
    August 15, 2009 at 1:27 pm

    The updater works like crap. I almost ALWAYS have to manually update, and it seems there is an update every 2 weeks in 2009. This is getting ridiculous!

    • Thomas says:
      August 28, 2009 at 9:46 am

      I don’t know why, but with some blogs, the auto updater works great. Others not at all. It’s very hit or miss.