This is Part 4 of a multi-part series of posts discussing how I test new major releases of WordPress before upgrading my “live” sites. The first step got us rolling with a XAMPP install . Next, we copied our Live database to the test environment. The third step was the copying of the current WP files, extensions and themes to our test environment… In this step, we’ll try an actual upgrade
Upgrading WordPress typically is a pretty minor event. However, upgrading for major releases (like the upcoming 2.3) causes me to take a bit more care and pay a bit more attention.
Will my theme work? How about my plugins (I’m willing to bet some will not…). What are the changes that I’ll want to be aware of?
An upgrade should begin with a complete backup. Since I just built this test environment, I consider it “backed up”, so I’m glossing over this ( since I still have my database export and the files I copied down from the live site: backup. Wouldn’t hurt to make a copy of that wp-config.php we tweaked though).
I know of some database changes associated with 2.3, so I think I can safely assume some plugins aren’t going to work. Therefore, before beginning the upgrade, I’m going to deactivate all of ‘em. For minor releases I tend to skip this step, but not for major.
Say, did you know about the “Deactivate All Plugins” link?
It sits at the bottom of the plugins page, below the list. Nifty, huh?
As of this writing, the 2.3 Release Candidate 1 is the most recent (found at that link) so that’s what I’m going to download and install.
Upgrading a local install like we have with XAMPP is pretty simple. I unzip the download, navigate to that folder and select everything in there — then I unselect the wp-content folder (ctrl-A to select all, ctrl-click on wp-content to unselect it). Ctrl-C to copy, then I navigate to my htdocs/23_testing folder and hit Ctrl-V to paste. When prompted about overwriting files, I click “Yes to all” and wait.
Now I’ll navigate into that new wp-content folder and do plugins and themes individually so as not to blow away my existing themes and plugins folders.
Almost done. Now we need to tell WP to run the upgrade scripts by running upgrade.php. In my case, that’s at http://localhost/23_testing/wp-admin/upgrade.php (yours will be wherever you installed in the previous steps). When prompted, click “Upgrade WordPress” and follow the links.
Done!
Now the work begins. Every theme is different and everyone runs different widgets and plugins, so I’m not even going to attempt to document how you test them all. 
Just point your browser to your blog and start checking things out. Enable plugins/widgets one by one and check to see if/how it works. Be methodical and be observant!
WordPress 2.3 Notes
If you’re doing this testing for WordPress 2.3, be sure to not only check the Plugin Compatibility page in the codex, but also update it with what you learn (anyone can register and make updates).
Final Note: I hear that Christine of Ultimate Tag Warrior fame is rumored to be crafting some new plugins for the built-in tagging stuff that now comes with 2.3. I, personally, can’t wait! I hope some sort of “related posts” functionality is part of that. (not much there yet for Tags oriented template tags)
Oh yeah, without UTW, my Add Related Posts to Your Feed plugin won’t work real well. Would be cool if someone tried it with the other Related to Posts plugin…
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