[Categories: Site Announcements]
Back to Wordpress version 2.2
Some of you may remember that I was having some issues with the new 2.3 version and felt more at ease with the older one. After careful consideration and reading up on database restoring in PHPMyAdmin, I decided to do a reverse-upgrade (downgrade?) back to 2.2. Now, I *think* I was running on 2.2.2 but apparently 2.2.3 had some bug/security fixes so I went for that instead, just to play it safe. The main event today though was that I successfully re-installed my pre-upgrade database - this means that I had to re-post my Paprika review but also lost the two reader comments that went with it. To those who commented on that post, sorry about that. ^_^
The upshot of all this is that my categories plugin works again, my A-Z listings page is fine and the links widget ought to work too. On the downside, I’ll miss that advanced toolbar thing on the Write Post page but it’s a small price to pay really.
Lessons learned? Read around before upgrading. Even though the Beta releases ironed out the bugs, that does not necessarily mean that the new version is *better* for your own blog’s needs. If you want tags, advanced toolbar and the other new advances, 2.3 is the way to go. Otherwise, if you’re comfortable with the version you’re using, don’t change it unless there’s a security or stability issue with it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Most importantly, whether you’re planning an upgrade or not, BACK UP YOUR DATABASE AND FILES. Don’t think “I’ll never need it.” or “It’s too much time and hassle.” If you have the know-how to do it (if not, detailed instructions are on the Wordpress site) , DO IT. Even if it doesn’t save time and hassle, it will be peace of mind for you. I am so grateful I followed the advice of backing up both the database and files because I woudn’t have been able to put things back how they were otherwise. So, please, please, back up your blog regularly. You might not thank me for making you go to the trouble but if things go wrong you WILL thank yourself.
I hope this is of help to the rest of you WP users. Thanks for reading. 
Posted on October 1st, 2007 @ 2:54 am
Glad to hear you were able to revert back without too many hiccups. I’m still running 2.2.3, and don’t have any plans to upgrade at the moment, as it’s serving my needs plenty fine.
Posted on October 1st, 2007 @ 4:14 am
I’ve been wondering that — how DO you backup a database in Wordpress? A lot of mySQL software does it for you via some built-in feature, but I can’t seem to find it with Wordpress. Any help would be most appreciated. ^^;
Posted on October 1st, 2007 @ 4:41 am
WP DB Manager is pretty good for backing up your database. It can be set to automatically back up at certain intervals, and keep a certain number of backups, too.
http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming.php
Posted on October 1st, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
@Orion: Cheers. Yeah, it’s a relief and 2.2.3 does everything I want it to with no problems at all.
@Hidoshi: I use PHPMyAdmin (you’d have to check with your web host if you have it or not), then followed the instructions on the Wordpress site. The only problem with the restore is that, unlike the backup which gives a dialogue box showing the download progress, you don’t actually know whether it’s worked until the process is finished. They’re not kidding when they say it’s a long process, either - I had a number of agonising minutes (my DB is around 25MB, approximately half the maximum size PHPMyAdmin can cope with) waiting for it.
@Kabitzin: That sounds like a neat idea - it certainly saves you having to remember to do the backups.
Posted on October 6th, 2007 @ 12:17 am
Currently at my wits end about freshy2 and wanting to keep it vs. the horrible category bug, and lack of a functional blogroll. Ugh. You made the right choice.
Posted on October 6th, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
@Owen S: If you have the old database saved as a backup SQL file it’s not too late to wipe the upgraded one, do a DB restore and get things back to how they were. Wordpress still have older versions of the files themselves available for download too - I recommend 2.2.3 since it’s working fine here. I’m holding out for a 2.3-compatible version of Freshy 2, which may solve many of the problems.
but yeah, it’s a bummer that the categories plugin you(we)’re using isn’t 2.3 compatible, or, what I find to be most baffling, the blogroll either. You have my sympathy, my friend. Or more specifically, empathy since I went through half a jar of Kenco and a whole afternoon in sorting this place out.
Posted on October 7th, 2007 @ 9:57 am
Ah, I sorted it all out by dumping freshy2. Got to cut down on plugins since there’s a built-in image header rotator and title customizer, and tags are wow, just wow. I think it beats D-Tree and categories hands down, no contest. Will follow up with a post about it later when I get my blog up and running. (:
Haha, empathy. I stayed up till 10AM looking for a theme. Man, the things we do for our blogs…