How To Upgrade To WordPress 2.5 In 5 Minutes

WordPress LogoIt is always a pain to upgrade WordPress to the latest version. Fortunately there are some great plugins to help you out big times!

Before you start any upgrade don’t forget to backup, backup, backup! Save your files local and use the great plugin WP-DBManager by GaMerZ

Then download and activate Wordpress Upgrade Preflight Check. It checks all your plugins you use, if it may have compatibility problems with the newest WordPress or not. If you get an error message for a specific plugin, please contact the author of the plugin directly to make sure if it’s working in the newest WordPress Version. Or just deactivate the plugin if it’s not really important for you website.

Doug, the author of the plugin was telling me at the WordCamp Dallas, that he is working on a new version, which should come out the next few days.

Another good resource is the incompatibility plugin list on WordPress 2.5, but some of the plugins in this list are already updated since many plugin authors working fast to fix it for WordPress 2.5.

After you checked all your plugins, you should use “The Instant Upgrade plugin for WordPress” by Alex Günsche. Install and activate the plugin, deactivate all your other plugins. Run Intstant Upgrade and after just some clicks and connecting to your ftp server, it automatically upgrades your WordPress in about a minute or less. You don’t have to do anything. Just lean back :)

There is also another plugin out there, “Wordpress Automatic Upgrade“, but it looks like some people have major problems with it. It has some more features as the “Instant Upgrade” plugin, like automatically deactivating and activating plugins and backup the files automatically. But especially recently, people had a complete disaster with this plugin and the author unfortunately is not very responsive lately.

Just FYI, when I did the upgrade, my website was blank for about a minute or two. Don’t panic! It just does the work until everything is running fine again. :)

Also don’t use any of these plugins when you installed WordPress via Fantastico.

Have fun upgrading your WordPress Website, it’s worth it!

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81 Comments »

  1. avatar #1 - new zealand accommadation Says:

    The instant upgrade plugin is a real lifesaver! I have several blogs I update for myself and friends and it cuts down on a lot of my hassle.

  2. avatar #2 - Alex Says:

    Thanks for your comment. This plugin is a really live saver expecially if you have several blogs

  3. avatar #7 - Tom Andros Says:

    “Also don’t use any of this plugins when you installed WordPress via Fantastico.”

    In the above excerpt, do you mean “these” referring to all the plugins or do you mean just the last plugin you discussed? Please clarify. Also, why not with Fantastico?

  4. avatar #8 - Alex Says:

    Hey Tom,

    yes, I meant these. Sorry for the typo. You shouldn’t update if you used Fantastico because they do it a little bit funky. So the whole installation is a little bit different and can be messy. You can try it out, but I would rather do it manually or with Fantastico when the new version is available.

    If you try it with Instant Upgrade, let me know how it went.

    BTW I changed it to “these”

  5. avatar #10 - David Roberts Says:

    The site for Wordpress Upgrade Preflight Check says it is only good for upgrades to version 2.3 and that he is working on a version for 2.5 (not available as yet). How did this help you in upgrading to 2.5? Thanks.

  6. avatar #11 - Alex Says:

    Hey David,

    reasonable question. Doug, the author of the plugin told me, there aren’t much changes in 2.5, he probably doesn’t have to change anything on his plugin.

    I’m also wondering why he didn’t update his post yet.

    Also, it still can help you at least a little bit. If you check your plugins for compatibility and they are not compatible with WordPress 2.3.3 you can bet, that they won’t work for 2.5 neither.

  7. avatar #12 - Baz L Says:

    I’ve use the Wordpress Automatic Upgrade since WP 2.1 and haven’t had a single problem with it.

    I do like the option of Instant Upgrade to set up the FTP, but IMO Wordpress Automatic upgrade has some simple features that make it more worthwhile.

    Plugins and Backsups do it for me.

  8. avatar #16 - Alex Says:

    Hey Baz,

    thanks for your comment. I do like the features of WPAU and it looks great. But I saw many comments where people had major problem with the plugin and the author didn’t respond to that. :(

    Whereas Alex Günsche is responding very fast. So I rather live without the features than having major issues and no one can help. But I’m glad it worked for you :)

  9. avatar #17 - Baz L Says:

    I don’t know, I never had ONE issue with Wordpress Automatic Upgrade. I’ve used it on tons of different servers for different blogs. I stick this plugin for every blog I set up for people.

    It even has a nice lil’ back up archive feature…

    I’ve always been one to keep my version current, so when using a plugin such as this it should go without saying that you should upgrade the plugin to the latest version before proceeding

    I’d be interested to hear the problems that people are having though.

  10. avatar #20 - Malaikax Says:

    Nice Post. I’m currently use WP 2.3.1. Still wait for those WP 2.5 problem issues actually about plugin compatibility. Thx for share.

  11. avatar #21 - Alex Says:

    Thank you for your compliment :) . You should upgrade to 2.3.3 at least. That is also possible with the instant upgrade plugin. You just type in the version no. you liked to install. That’s it.

  12. avatar #23 - John Chan Says:

    Great article, but i prefer manually upgrade step by step. Although its takes time, but its saver. Need to backup all of it first, the old files and the database. Then just upload the new version.

  13. avatar #24 - Baz L Says:

    How is it safer? These plugins simply do what you’d be doing anyway. I can’t speak for instant upgrade, but the WP Auto Upgrade uses all the steps from the recommended Wordpress.org install.

    But I guess you only have one blog, so to each his own. I’ll never, NEVER, go back to upgrading the old way again. This auto upgrade, alone with the One-Click install for plugins and themes makes life soooo much easy.

  14. avatar #25 - Jo Says:

    Thank you for this post and the time you put into it for us out here. I wasn’t sure I needed the auto plugin or not, but your note at the end about Fantastico sealed the deal. I also needed a good backup plugin now (lost my other one somwhere) and now I have that information.

    Thanks again!

  15. avatar #26 - Alex Says:

    Hey Jo,

    glad I could help. I hope you come back and visit my website again, I might have some more helpful tips in the future :)

  16. avatar #29 - abufaris Says:

    Thanks Alex for the posting. Have been looking for an easy way to upgrade mine for sometimes.

  17. avatar #30 - Alex Says:

    No problem, glad it worked out for you!

  18. avatar #32 - article.f-buzz.com Says:

    Thanks alex, now i can upgrade it to wp 2.5

  19. avatar #33 - Alex Says:

    My pleasure, hope it worked out fine for you. :)

  20. avatar #34 - cuzzy Says:

    OKay I have quite the mess of problems.

    I use fantastico to always install and upgrade my wordpress.

    the upgrade to 2.5 is not there yet but someone said….use the automatic upgrade plugin.

    ok what the hell.

    used it and it has been a nightmare ever since.

    Now I get a script error when I try to post and I can use tags or add an image until I save a post and then come back to edit it.

    http://cuzoogle.com/wp-content.....creen1.gif

    I have also had issues where my host was shutting me down for using too much CPU usage. IS that involved as well?

    I read that a lot of people were having that problem. It is not like I get that much traffic.

    What is the best way to go from here?

    I also read that my theme is not on the list of 2.5 supported. Would that cause issues?

    I just want it to be easy and managable like it was before.

    I like WordPress because it makes it easy for non-coding people but it seems like that is no longer.

    Where do I even start?

  21. avatar #35 - Alex Says:

    Hey cuzzy,

    looks like your WordPress Blog is messed up.

    There are two solutions you can do, both are not very positive for you.

    1. Use a backup and restore your blog to 2.3. Wait until 2.5 is available for Fantastico. You have to write your posts after the upgrade again.

    2. Export your posts and pages in WP admin and start from scratch. Install 2.5 manually without Fantastico. Insert your old post in the new blog and you have it clean and lean.

    Or there is a 3 way to check out what is wrong. Disable all plugins and check out if you still have the script error. Looks like something is heavy loading. This certainly might be the reason why you use too much CPU.

    If your theme is not listed on 2.5, contact the theme author or just switch for some minutes to the default themes and check out if you still have errors.

    So answer your last question short: Deactivate all your plugins and change to the default theme and check if the error still persists. If so, choose solution one or two.

    I hope I was able to help you. Let us know what you did and leave a comment please. Thanks

  22. avatar #37 - melic Says:

    Great post thank you! Its been very useful

  23. avatar #38 - mayooresan Says:

    I just upgraded manually, it’s fun! I have more control over it!

  24. avatar #39 - Baz L Says:

    More control over what? Dude, it’s Wordpress, not and operating system.

    Baz L
    Day In The Life of Baz

  25. avatar #40 - Alex Says:

    @mayooresan Glad it helped :)

    @baz L, control over the force, because WordPress is very powerful ;)

  26. avatar #41 - Alex Says:

    Hey Melic,

    glad it was helpful for you too. :)

  27. avatar #43 - mahendran Says:

    certainly was a great help :)

    thank you brother! cheerz!

  28. avatar #44 - Alex Says:

    No problem :)

  29. avatar #46 - quixote Says:

    Well, with *heaps* of nervousness, I followed your way of upgrading wordpress. My blog was still of 2.0.5 because upgrading WP was just so damn difficult. And knowing how useless any sort of help on the wordpress forums is, I knew I’d be on my own if anything didn’t work. (Maybe I should say “was.” Haven’t tried it in over a year because it’s always been useless plus aggravating / arrogant / frustrating / take your pick.)

    I downloaded and installed Instant Upgrade, backed up, deactivated other plugins, and hit the button. The only thing different from your description — and it was a rather big thing — is that it took over an hour. Not a couple of minutes. It’s just lucky I didn’t abort on the assumption it had hung.

    So, folks, if you have a biggish blog or a slow server, it may take a l-o-o-o-n-g time.

    I’m tickled pink to be current again. The new admin interface is 100% better. And no problems that I’ve noticed yet on my blog or with my plugins (Akismet, Angsuman’s Feed Copyrighter, Anti-leech, Google Sitemaps, WP-ContactForm). :D

  30. avatar #47 - Alex Says:

    Hey Quixote,

    glad it worked out after such a looooong wait. :)

    I was a little bit nervous when it took about 5 minutes on my, but an hour? Glad you told us about it, so nobody should be worried if it takes so long.

  31. avatar #49 - Alex Says:

    Hey Jeff,

    thanks a lot for your comment and compliment. You have a nice website, keep up the good work and stay alway updated with your WordPress installation!

  32. avatar #53 - luis Says:

    Good Article , if do you like to see games and others articles visit my site :

    http://abelha.com.br/

    Very good site !

  33. avatar #54 - jackie Obrian Says:

    Here are a few wordpress themes I designed alot better than whats out there for wordpress now, and I want to share them with you guys. please enjoy these

    http://rapidshare.com/files/13.....8.rar.html

    Preview my themes
    [IMG]http://img01.picoodle.com/img/img01/4/4/7/f_lwm_d7bfed5.png[/IMG]
    [IMG]http://i38.tinypic.com/20u9638.png[/IMG]
    [IMG]http://wseo.ws/uploads/newspress.gif[/IMG]
    [IMG]http://flicr.us/files/i4wevfzk5u0umkblyo82.png[/IMG]

  34. avatar #55 - ?ark? dinle Says:

    hmm nice news thanks.

  35. avatar #56 - Alex Says:

    Really nice Themes Jackie, where can we download them?
    @?ark? dinle, hope the information is helpful for you

  36. avatar #57 - ?ark? dinle Says:

    I’m updated wordpress,thanks.

  37. avatar #58 - Kathy Says:

    Very interesting website. Keep up the outstanding work and thank you…

  38. avatar #59 - Steve Says:

    Interesting. Send a link to friend

  39. avatar #60 - luis Says:

    good

  40. avatar #62 - Timur Says:

    I really very liked this post. Can I copy it to my blog?
    Thank you in advance.

    Sincerely, Timur.

  41. avatar #63 - Alex Says:

    Hey Timur, sure you can, sorry for my late response but you landed in my spam folder.

  42. avatar #65 - sean Says:

    Hi Alex,

    The preview of your theme is very nice, I really like it. But the download link doesn’t seem to be working.

    I was also thinking of creating this type of forum on our site http://gsswebsolutions.com, to help a lot wordpress users.

  43. avatar #66 - web development company Says:

    Really a nice post about How To Upgrade To WordPress 2.5 In 5 Minutes.. Just wanted to drop a one line that it contains Quite useful tips. . thanks for sharing.

  44. avatar #67 - Web 2.0 development Says:

    Thanks for this informative article. It was a great help.

  45. avatar #68 - Graphic Chick Brisbane Says:

    Great thank you very much for the link i will update to word pres 2.5 ..lets see how i go.
    thank you very mcuh for sharing

  46. avatar #69 - exinco Says:

    this post need some technically knowledge to performed especially for newbie.

  47. avatar #70 - Orth Otic Says:

    I love the orange and green background. What theme are you running? Thesis ?

  48. avatar #71 - Alex Says:

    Thanks a lot for your compliment! It’s not Thesis, I created it myself. :)

  49. avatar #72 - synthetic grass Says:

    What a time saver thanks!

  50. avatar #73 - synthetic grass Says:

    That’s great thank you. Definately worth 5 mins of my time to give it a shot.

  51. avatar #74 - synthetic grass Says:

    Thanks this is definitely a keeper!

  52. avatar #75 - Foot Specialist Says:

    Hi Alex. I have been too ‘frightened’ to do any upgrades. Is it a problem to leave WP in the version that it was created in? Cheers Sandy

  53. avatar #76 - rome airport taxi Says:

    Hi I write from Rome (Italy) ….wordpress is now the best CMS

  54. avatar #77 - Debbie Ashmore Says:

    Hi Specialist. No, I don’t think it is a problem to just let the old version ride. Cheers Debs

  55. avatar #78 - Toena Ils Says:

    Fantastic green and orange template. How did you make it and / or are you selling it? T

  56. avatar #79 - logo design brisbane Says:

    love the creativity of this blog.

  57. avatar #80 - logo design brisbane Says:

    looks like a painting.

  58. avatar #81 - Melbourne Artificial Turf Says:

    you can also upgrade all wordpress installations for multiple domains from the same page in Pesk! dont forget that!!!


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