Should I Update My WordPress?

I have never had any problems updating but that is just me. You don't have to update.

Hey Carol,

It is VERY important to keep your WP installation up-to-date, do it immediately.

Old installations are vulnerable to hackers especially if you don't have any security measures in place.

As you say backup before upgrading.

Tip: When a new WP comes out version wait a couple of weeks, then upgrade it, this gives the lads time to fix any bugs.

Yes...absolutely.

Unless you plan on getting hacked.

I'm very surprised to hear you get that reaction from Hostgator re helping with WordPress problems. I've always found them to be very helpful, and they know WordPress well.

And, to echo the others, yes: you should always keep your WordPress sites up to date.

Problems can occur when you upgrade WordPress, but in 99% of cases they're caused by a plugin, with the final 1% being caused by a theme.

This article goes through an upgrade process that a) will minimise the likelihood of problems but b) will enable you to isolate and fix them if they occur:

How to Avoid WordPress Upgrade Problems | WealthyDragon

Cheers,

Martin.

In defense of Hostgator: they do say they don't support Wordpress problems in their descriptions of what support they will provide. But I've always had techy people who would do it anyway, and in fact were brilliant.

Except once - he said it was against the rules and he couldn't (wouldn't) help me. He had also never heard of Webmaster Tools! That's when I knew I'd really struck out - as had Hostgator - I did tell them he was not the best helper they had, even though I hated doing it - I was sparing in the details to save the guy's job. But I expect he didn't last very long as a Support guy - I expect other people would have expressed their views more strongly.

I've always received great support from Hostgator, apart from that one time.

I've heard from a few people that it's not something you have to do when a new version of wordpress comes out even though a lot of people say you should download the lastest version for security purposes, I usually wait awhile and never have any problems, and if I do it's with a plugin.

Updating is very important, most times the updates fix bugs and security holes.
If you didn't update then your wordpress install could be vulnerable. As far as plugins and addons it's a good idea to never use the one's that change the wordpress core. Usually when you hear folks talking about how the different plugins and themes not working right. It's because the programs underneath the hood are changing the core.

You should always backup your sites, most people ignore backing up until their sites are hacked, or they loose everything, it's then they learn the value of a good backup.

As far as hosting I would consider switching when your business grows. I have used Knownhost.com for years, their support is excellent we're talking something like responses within 5 to 15mins. They have truly spoiled me . So, when I get the 24hr responses from popular services like Aweber I'm usually ticked by that time and wonder why everyone is so happy with the support. 24hrs is usually a standard far as I can tell with IM and no 3rd party support is basically a standard with most hosting companies.

hope this helps,
Walter Parrish

always get the latest version(s) of both WP and all plugins. If there has been no update for 2+ years for plugins or themes, consider moving to new ones.

Yes, you should. Exploits are available for older WordPress version, which means your website could potentially be hacked. I would always update to the latest WordPress version.

You should always upgrade to the latest version - for security reasons, as mentioned above. I usually wait a few days to let the real early adopters shake out any undetected bugs.

Of course, be sure to back up you entire site and database before the upgrade.

Ok maybe this is a total newbie thing to say, but I was recently creating my site on WP and went through all kinds of tutorials. The #1 thing they said, is to always have a child theme, so when you update WP you don't lose the changes you made to the code. I would make sure you have done this and sorry if that is an obvious thing anyone would have done when they started their website. I really had no idea and once I understood what could happen, I did the child them right away. Can anyone else confirm that is correct?

You should update - always... I have only had a problem one time. And that was 2 years ago.. Never since.

It is EXTREMELY important to update your WP installation to avoid security holes. I've been hacked numerous times, and often because of not having an updated WP core. I used to think, like you do, that it's no big deal. I learned the hard way that it IS a big deal.

Upgrade. Keep backups of your files / theme / database.

As opposed to many push button one click promises, upgrading WordPress on hostgator can be done with a few simple clicks when clicking the "update" link in your dashboard. The benefits include fixing any security flaws that could lead to exploitation of your WordPress blog to name just one.

You should always keep your Wordpress up to date!

I always start by exporting the database (tools/export), the theme settings and copying the content of widgets to a Word doc. Then if the update fails (which it sometimes does) it's relatively quick and easy to reinstall from scratch, import the database, import the theme settings and re-setup the widgets.

Many hosts also provide backups, so if your upgrade goes belly-up your host will reinstate.

hi,
it's easy to update is automatically done inside dashboard , before backup ,it's all there , wp is asking you to take this 2 steps ,just follow.

Hi Carolm.

You can easily update your Wordpress Blog with just 1 click.

It is important to update as I have found out in the past when my Wordpress site got "Hacked"!

It doesn't change any of your content or anything like that so there are no worries needed on your behalf.

Go do it now and hope everything turns out okay!!!

Yes I think you should, patches for security exploits may be included in the update. So from a security perspective its probably a wise idea.

A: Yes you should keep any server side software up to date, this extends to Joola, Drupal, all the addins, and any additional scripts that you have added.

B: If you are tired off all that, or you have too many sites to keep updating and managing, then you will start to see why static .html websites are much easier to manage. Our XSitePro is an example of a .html website builder (see the link below ), others are available.

You can always get a backup via FTP just in case something goes wrong.

You definitely need to update WordPress all the time because of security and performance issues. Too bad about the lack of support from HostGator. You really should consider switching to fully managed WordPress hosting. If you did, any problem you ran into would be quickly fixed by staff.