Wordpress 2.8 Upgrade a Mess

[sbucciarel]

Is anyone having problems after upgrading Wordpress to 2.8?

The widgets, which are now drag and drop, are not working at all. I can't edit current widgets or add new ones. Just launched a new site and unfortunately, just upgraded it and now I wish I hadn't, as I can't do anything at all with the widgets.

[dvduval]

I know it is a bit late to tell you this, but this is why I always wait at least a month or so after a release to actually upgrade my site, unless it is a security related upgrade.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Nope, no trouble to report so far (fingers crossed).

[AfteraDream]

Originally Posted by dvduval

I know it is a bit late to tell you this, but this is why I always wait at least a month or so after a release to actually upgrade my site, unless it is a security related upgrade.

This... I will wait a bit too to update it. I will wait till they fix the bugs

[TheRichJerksNet]

I always suggest for people to wait because you have no idea what is lurking around in wordpress. It also seems wordpress is more and more not being able to support older browsers which is going to cause many people problems.

If you are having trouble with drag and drop then it is probably the browser you are using. I do not know this, just a guess... I have not installed 2.8 yet and will wait a bit before I do. I know with 2.7 it has browser issues so I would expect 2.8 to have the same..

James

[SocialMarketing4U]

I am planning to Upgrade my blog today. Now, I guess, I will now have to wait a month more to do this.

Thanks for starting this thread.

To Your Success!

[PolarBearAK]

I was going to start a new blog, using 2.8, but I'll start with 2.7 and upgrade later.
Thanks for the warning!

Margaret

[pts123]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Is anyone having problems after upgrading Wordpress to 2.8?

The widgets, which are now drag and drop, are not working at all. I can't edit current widgets or add new ones. Just launched a new site and unfortunately, just upgraded it and now I wish I hadn't, as I can't do anything at all with the widgets.

I only upgrade to the next wordpress version once I know that all of my plug ins are updated for the latest version as well....

[zulfnore]

The issue is most always the plug-ins - especially if you upgrade without deactivating all of them and doing a backup of both database and files.

The procedure is to backup first, deactivate the plug-ins then upgrade. If all seems ok so far then start reactivating each plug-in one at a time and making checks on both the admin dashboard and the front end. Once you are happy that there is no conflict then proceed to reactivate the rest of the plug-ins.

Should you find that there are issues after upgrading and before reactivating the plug-ins, then all you have to do is revert back to your original dabse and files from the backup. For more details read this post: How To Upgrade To Wordpress 2.8 – Read This First! | Blog Installation Service!

And here is a forum post on one of the known plug-in issues: Fatal Error After Upgrading To Wordpress 2.8 | Troubleshooting | Forum | Blog Installation Service! <<< You may find this has now been resolved by the author but just incase.

Good luck, if any problems do give us a shout.
Zulfikar

[XRay]

I upgraded to WP 2.8 and haven't had any problems with it. As already stated here, most of the issues people are going to have are related to their plugins. If they haven't been updated in God knows when, it's better to wait.

[n7 Studios]

If you add widgets to the sidebar, and then they disappear, or you're editing them and the changes aren't being saved, it'll be down to your theme and how it registers its sidebars.

When I upgraded from 2.7 to 2.8, a custom theme I created broke, because my register_sidebar function specified a sidebar ID (which, according to the documentation, it should). Removing the unique ID fixed the problem (mainly because 2.8 allows multiple instances of widgets, each with their own settings).

2.8 also introduced a new API for creating widgets - it should be backward compatible, but given that widgets were always buggy and ropey from a code point of view in 2.7 and earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if you experience some strange side effects.

[pearlydean]

I upgraded my 4 wordpress blogs to 2.8 after doing a full backup, deactivated plugins then reactivated everything and all working well up to now....fingers crossed!

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by PolarBearAK

I was going to start a new blog, using 2.8, but I'll start with 2.7 and upgrade later.
Thanks for the warning!

Margaret

You could, but I started three new sites this weekend, all on 2.8 and didn't have a single problem with anything at all (that I know of). So far, everything is functioning perfectly.

I think the problem comes with some plugins following an UPGRADE rather than a fresh install. Also, some plugins haven't been tested or certified on 2.8, so that's why some folks may have had a problem.

Just offering my own personal experience...

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by n7 Studios

If you add widgets to the sidebar, and then they disappear, or you're editing them and the changes aren't being saved, it'll be down to your theme and how it registers its sidebars.

When I upgraded from 2.7 to 2.8, a custom theme I created broke, because my register_sidebar function specified a sidebar ID (which, according to the documentation, it should). Removing the unique ID fixed the problem (mainly because 2.8 allows multiple instances of widgets, each with their own settings).

2.8 also introduced a new API for creating widgets - it should be backward compatible, but given that widgets were always buggy and ropey from a code point of view in 2.7 and earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if you experience some strange side effects.

Just tried it in Explorer ... I normally use Firefox. As for the upgrade, it was done with WpAutomatic Upgrade, so the plugins were disabled first. Explorer is the same problem ... the widgets simply don't drag ... they don't drop. They don't open to edit or do anything.

I thought it might be the theme, but I remembered that I upgraded one other blog the other day and I just checked and it has the same problem. Widgets just don't work at all and it's a Woo theme and the other is an Elegant theme.

Naturally, I didn't click on save when doing the upgrade to save the database, etc. Where would a copy of that be located .... anyone know where WP Automatic Upgrade saves a copy?

[Wasim]

I upgraded my site today and the widgets seem to be working fine too ....... so far anyway. But after reading some commenmts on here I think next time I will give it some time to be sure anyway !

[dorim]

I only updated one of my blogs and it too is a mess. The sidebars are not aligned properly and my youtube videos suddenly appeared stacked on top of each other on one of the sidebars.

[n7 Studios]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Just tried it in Explorer ... I normally use Firefox. As for the upgrade, it was done with WpAutomatic Upgrade, so the plugins were disabled first. Explorer is the same problem ... the widgets simply don't drag ... they don't drop. They don't open to edit or do anything.

I thought it might be the theme, but I remembered that I upgraded one other blog the other day and I just checked and it has the same problem. Widgets just don't work at all and it's a Woo theme and the other is an Elegant theme.

Naturally, I didn't click on save when doing the upgrade to save the database, etc. Where would a copy of that be located .... anyone know where WP Automatic Upgrade saves a copy?

Sounds like a botched upgrade. I just upgraded from 2.7 to 2.8 using the upgrade link provided by Wordpress in the admin panel. It downloaded the new version and did its business to upgrade itself.

2.8 uses Javascript / jQuery to allow drag + drop functionality for widgets. It sounds like that's failing for you - if you're familiar with the Error Console in Firefox (Ctrl + Shift + J to show it), see if there are any errors that appear when you load the widgets page in Wordpress Admin.

[kentaiwan98]

I can say that the widgets sometimes don't work for me. It's definitely the plugins causing the problem. So check your plugins. Clear your cache and try again.

Kenneth

[stevenh512]

If drag and drop isn't working, it's a javascript issue. Along with everything else that came with Wordpress 2.8, they upgraded to the latest version of JQuery. That alone shouldn't cause any problems, but maybe your browser has issues with the latest version.. or you could have a plugin that uses some javascript that isn't compatible with the latest version.

[zulfnore]

@Dorim - Sounds like an incompatible theme issue. Check it againt the origina default theme to see if there problem still persist. If it does then its back to the plug-ins they need updating or deactivated till a new version is released.

[TheRichJerksNet]

Originally Posted by n7 Studios

Sounds like a botched upgrade. I just upgraded from 2.7 to 2.8 using the upgrade link provided by Wordpress in the admin panel. It downloaded the new version and did its business to upgrade itself.

2.8 uses Javascript / jQuery to allow drag + drop functionality for widgets. It sounds like that's failing for you - if you're familiar with the Error Console in Firefox (Ctrl + Shift + J to show it), see if there are any errors that appear when you load the widgets page in Wordpress Admin.

Auto Update .. Bad Idea, security risk ...

Yes it uses a great deal of js/jQ and so does 2.7 - This will be one of their downfalls.. It reminds me when "flash" came out and was the next big thing, many designers was running to get their sites in flash while many site visitors was running the other way to static sites because their systems could not handle all the memory hogging of flash...

Never update a system to use all that latest technology unless you know 90%+ of the user base is able to handle it.. I personally am not changing my main browser just to run a wordpress blog.

James

[sbucciarel]

I just deactivated every plugin, cleared the cache and the problem is still there, so it's with two different themes and no plugins activated.

[stevenh512]

Then it's most likely either a Javascript issue with your browser (I doubt it, the latest JQuery seems to work in every browser I've ever tested it in.. several versions of IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari).. or your upgrade went bad and you have a corrupted javascript file somewhere. If you're running Firefox try installing the FireBug extension and see if it comes up with any errors.

[circle1ne]

Actually upgrading to 2.8 fixed a few issues I had where my plugins were conflicting making me have to choose one over the other. After upgrading I had a few minor bugs with older plugins but nothing serious and my conflicting plugins now work together flawlessly.

Regardless of the WP version you're running, the best thing to do when faced with bugs caused by plugins is to deactivate all of them and I usually reactivate and test them in batches of 5 to narrow down what plugin is causing the problem... It works at least 90% of the time for me.

Hope this helps someone.

[Abledragon]

I'm sorry to hear your experience - I can understand just how frustrating that is!

Problems with WP upgrades are usually caused by plugins or themes, with browsers also figuring - e.g. the recent problems Safari users experienced.

I use Thesis on all my sites and they generally issue updates to coincide with WordPress upgrades to ensure that there are no problems. That was the case with 2.8 and my upgrades went without a hitch.

Most Premium theme providers do (or should do) this.

My suggestion would be to:

1) Deactivate all your plugins and see whether the problems are fixed. If they are, re-activate them one at a time and check the result until you find the plugin that's causing the problem. Remember that it may be more than 1 troublesome plugin.

2) If plugins are not the problem and you're using a Premium theme check your theme's support forums to see if anyone else had the same problem and how they fixed it. Raise a support ticket if necessary,

3) If you're using a free theme try activating the WordPress default theme to see whether the problem persists.

4) If themes are not the problem try both FireFox and IE 7 or IE 8 to see if the problem still persists.

I hope you manage to get to the bottom of it, because 2.8 has some good stuff in it.

Looking ahead to WP2.9 the developers have already advised that it will require MySQL version 4.1.2+, so be prepared for that one! As far as I know there was no change in requirements from 2.7 to 2.8, so that should not be the cause of your current problems.

Cheers,

Martin.

[sbucciarel]

They are both premium themes. I was planning on flipping this site soon, but will have to wait now until I get it resolved or a new upgrade comes out that fixes it. I tried all of the above suggestions and problem still persists. I'll check the theme forums ... it's Woo and Elegant themes, to see if anyone else is having this problem.

I won't be so quick to upgrade again, that's for sure ... and I will download those backup files next time. I never do that because I've never had a single problem with upgrading before.

[SteveJohnson]

First thing to do when you're having problems with WP after a plugin or theme install, or version upgrade is to clear your browser cache, close and restart your browser. That forces a reload of all files associated with a page.

I've done almost a dozen upgrades, 4 new blogs with new themes, all on 2.8, and had no problems at all.

If a plugin/theme developer didn't follow conventions when scripting their widgets, they will have problems, just a matter of time.

I take that back - there was one problem. An older semiologic plugin killed a 2.8 install. Removed the plugin, all was good.

cheers

[Quentin]

Test by loading up the default theme in worpress and check everything works and this will tell you if its wordpress or your theme.

Q

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by Quentin

Test by loading up the default theme in worpress and check everything works and this will tell you if its wordpress or your theme.

Q

Doesn't seem to be the theme. I just activated the default and it still does not work.

[sbucciarel]

Just checked Firefox Error messages and this is the first one. Does this mean anything to anyone?


Error: syntax error
Source File: http://twitterbrick.com/wp-admin/loa...633fd42ef1019b
Line: 19, Column: 220
Source Code:
].handle.elem)}}});(function(){o.support={};var F=document.documentElement,G=document.createElemen t("script"),K=document.createElement("div"),J="scr ipt"+(new Date).getTime();K.style.display="none";K.innerHTML ='' <link/><table></table><a href="/a" style=

I just remembered ... I recently purchased this site so I do have a complete backup if I want to discard all the work I've done since yesterday on it.

[Craig Desorcy]

I've updated one blog to 2.8 with zero issues.

Try this: disable all plugins and then see how things work. Everything ok?
Start turning on one plugin at a time and test. There is a good chance
it's a plugin.


Craig

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by Craig Desorcy

I've updated one blog to 2.8 with zero issues.

Try this: disable all plugins and then see how things work. Everything ok?
Start turning on one plugin at a time and test. There is a good chance
it's a plugin.


Craig

I've done that. Deactivated all plugins, changed theme to default, tried in numerous browsers ... all to no avail.

[InternetMarketingIQ]

Because one person has problems it must not be any good or stable. There are many variables that can enter into the equation from your hosting to incompatible themes to poorly coded themes to plugins that are not updated etc. BEFORE you update you should take the time to see if your theme really is compatible, if your plugins really are compatible. I don't use free themes... it's not because I am too good to use them, it's because the developers keep them up to date. And if they die then you have to find one that does. It is very worth paying for a license to a Theme Designer that keeps his stuff moving forward.

It's the same old story. "____" Sucks because it didn't work for me. But it doesn't suck for all the people for whom it is working.

I've upgraded more than a dozen sites now and it seems to be working for me.

So restore your Backup copy... you did make a backup copy right? Because that is one of the first steps in the Official WordPress Update page... and you do follow the recommended steps right?

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by InternetMarketingIQ

Because one person has problems it must not be any good or stable. There are many variables that can enter into the equation from your hosting to incompatible themes to poorly coded themes to plugins that are not updated etc. BEFORE you update you should take the time to see if your theme really is compatible, if your plugins really are compatible. I don't use free themes... it's not because I am too good to use them, it's because the developers keep them up to date. And if they die then you have to find one that does. It is very worth paying for a license to a Theme Designer that keeps his stuff moving forward.

It's the same old story. "____" Sucks because it didn't work for me. But it doesn't suck for all the people for whom it is working.

I've upgraded more than a dozen sites now and it seems to be working for me.

So restore your Backup copy... you did make a backup copy right? Because that is one of the first steps in the Official WordPress Update page... and you do follow the recommended steps right?

You may not have read the previous comments. I am a site flipper and I ONLY use premium themes of which I have a developer's license for. Woo and Elegant are both premium themes. Nowhere have I said "Sucks because it didn't work for me. But it doesn't suck for all the people for whom it is working" .....

I started the thread to see if anyone else was having a problem and if there were any solutions available.

"BEFORE you update you should take the time to see if your theme really is compatible, if your plugins really are compatible"

How do you do that BEFORE you update? You don't know whether or not it is incompatible until it doesn't work and I've already eliminated the plugin and theme theories as previously stated.


So restore your Backup copy... you did make a backup copy right? Because that is one of the first steps in the Official WordPress Update page... and you do follow the recommended steps right?

That's also previously stated that I have a backup copy but have devoted two days of work to this and am quite happy with the results and if I could find a solution that doesn't require going back to square one, that would be great, but hey ... thanks for those helpful tips.

[edhan]

I had done the upgrade, no problem so far.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

"BEFORE you update you should take the time to see if your theme really is compatible, if your plugins really are compatible"

How do you do that BEFORE you update? You don't know whether or not it is incompatible until it doesn't work and I've already eliminated the plugin and theme theories as previously stated.

I'm not going to take any sides here, but to answer your question: in order to ensure compatibility before you upgrade, you check with the publisher and see if they've issued compatibility certification for the new version of WP. Until they certify it, you may wish to avoid upgrading so as not to encounter any difficulties.

[sbucciarel]

I don't know what this error message means. Anyone here know? It's a Firefox error message I saw when I clicked on the Firefox Error Console.

Source File: http://twitterbrick.com/wp-admin/loa...633fd42ef1019b

[Craig Desorcy]

Check this out
WordPress › Support How do I go back to the old version?

Then look for "velirose" post.

I'd try that.

Craig

[stevenh512]

The error message is a javascript error.. since wordpress is serving the "minified" versions of the javascript files the error message won't tell you much (if anything) about where the error really is. Try this..

in wp-config.php add this line:
define('SCRIPT_DEBUG', true);

Just add it with the rest of the defines, doesn't matter where (might want to put it before DB_NAME just to make it easy enough to find later). Now clear your cache and restart your browser, then try going back to your widgets page and see what happens. Either it'll work, or you'll get an error message in the Firefox console that might at least give you a better idea of what's going on and where the problem is.

[sbucciarel]

Thank you thank you thank you Craig. It's all fixed. Back to 2.7.1 and I didn't lose my changes ... and won't be upgrading any time soon. Thanks to all of you with your suggestions. I appreciate it.

[Bobru]

Yep, that's why I'm still waiting for the Vista thing to smooth out......sometimes the old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it" rings true WAY too loudly.....I'll keep my fingers crossed for those of you who had painless upgrades, and pray for you not so lucky WPers!

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by Bobru

Yep, that's why I'm still waiting for the Vista thing to smooth out.

You should try Windows 7. The new release candidate is really smooth.

[n7 Studios]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Just checked Firefox Error messages and this is the first one. Does this mean anything to anyone?


Error: syntax error
Source File: http://twitterbrick.com/wp-admin/loa...633fd42ef1019b
Line: 19, Column: 220
Source Code:
].handle.elem)}}});(function(){o.support={};var F=document.documentElement,G=document.createElemen t("script"),K=document.createElement("div"),J="scr ipt"+(new Date).getTime();K.style.display="none";K.innerHTML ='' <link/><table></table><a href="/a" style=

I just remembered ... I recently purchased this site so I do have a complete backup if I want to discard all the work I've done since yesterday on it.

I see you've gone back to 2.7; my next suggestion would have been to load http://twitterbrick.com/wp-admin/loa...633fd42ef1019b directly into your browser. It'll produce a load of Javascript, and for Wordpress 2.8, the file should include the following comments w/ version numbers (along with other code, which I've not included here):

/*
 * jQuery JavaScript Library v1.3.2
 * http://jquery.com/
 *
 * Copyright (c) 2009 John Resig
 * Dual licensed under the MIT and GPL licenses.
 * http://docs.jquery.com/License
 *
 * Date: 2009-02-19 17:34:21 -0500 (Thu, 19 Feb 2009)
 * Revision: 6246
 */

/*
 * Sizzle CSS Selector Engine - v0.9.3
 *  Copyright 2009, The Dojo Foundation
 *  Released under the MIT, BSD, and GPL Licenses.
 *  More information: http://sizzlejs.com/
 */

Either way, it certainly sounds like you suffered a botched upgrade. The only thing I did when I upgraded from 2.7 to 2.8 was to disable any plugins I might have had first, before doing the upgrade.

Certainly see no issues if you use Wordpress on future projects to just download and install 2.8.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by n7 Studios

I see you've gone back to 2.7; my next suggestion would have been to load http://twitterbrick.com/wp-admin/loa...633fd42ef1019b

Certainly see no issues if you use Wordpress on future projects to just download and install 2.8.

I'm happier with 2.7. I've been reading others remarks since this happened and it appears that 2.8 is more of a memory hog and I personally don't like the drag and drop widgets at all. There wasn't anything wrong with the widgets, so why fix them? Sometimes I feel developers embrace these technologies which are purely cosmetic to the detriment of issues like memory, site loading, compatibility, etc.

There also is a plugins compatibility issue that I read about here:
Dev4Press Upgrading to WordPress 2.8

I think I'll set up a test blog next time and when I like the upgrade, then I'll upgrade my real blogs.

[Droopy Dawg]

The widgets were drag/drop in 2.7 as well, so that was no surprise.

My only issue is that they've changed the editor... in the past it was a simple "notepad" format, which was easy for me to make my changes. But they've changed it to some kind of RDE (rapid dev environment) that screws with the lines, and sometimes makes it hard to read.

I'm getting used to it... but I don't really have any porblems with 2.8

[Wasim]

I know this might sound a little silly but is there no way to go back to a previous version by deleting the latest files and uploading the previous ones again?

Or is that a silly suggesstion?

[lharding]

The automatic upgrade didn't work for me. Just gave an error and no explanation. Luckily it left the old blog intact. Basically, I just copied the database (PHPMyAdmin can do this for you) and installed v2.8 into new directory. So, was able to run both 2.7 and 2.8 until I was sure 2.8 was OK. Then just changed the Index.php to point at the 2.8 directory. In future I think I'll continue with this approach as it allows me to keep old version up and running until I'm ready to switch over (which will just be a matter of changing the directory in the index.php).

Cheers, Lee.

[zoobie]

Well I have upgraded yet, since I don't have time for this yet...

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by Wasim

I know this might sound a little silly but is there no way to go back to a previous version by deleting the latest files and uploading the previous ones again?

Or is that a silly suggesstion?

I've never downgraded so I didn't know what the results would be if I just replaced the wordpress files, but not the database. Didn't want to lose all the changes I made to the blog. But that's exactly what I did ... just uploaded the wordpress 2.7.1 files and left the database as it was and it's back to normal now without losing the changes.

[bigbug]

I agree. I dislike the new drag and drop widgets. The old method was easier.