Image via CrunchBase, source unknown
Written by Karen D. Swim
I spent the better part of the day in WordPress purgatory. As is typical with all things technical,there is no chicken exit. Once you start you are all in until the deed is done or you have broken something and need to call in an expert.
I thought that Saturday would be the perfect day to tackle the WordPress upgrade. I was relaxed and could take my time. I don’t post on weekends so did not have to worry about blog visitors. It all began so innocently.
Initially I was going to use the WP Auto Upgrade plug-in. I got it loaded up on my server and came back to the WordPress dashboard to activate and enter my FTP info. It logged in but I soon got a red error. It could not find a file. Uh oh. Now, a smarter mind would have stopped right there but um I’m not that smart!
No big, the easy way did not work, I would just install the files myself. I backed up my files and then proceeded to go through the upgrade. It was fast and easy and everything was in place. That is when the real fun began. I could not log into my WordPress admin panel. I entered username and password and got the white screen of death. No error message, just a blank white screen. I still did not panic. I’d read about this issue and knew it was common so I surfed the forum for the fix.
After seeing messages on the WordPress Forum that insinuated idiots should stick to wordpress.com, I was both insulted and still without an answer to my issue. Oh plenty of people had the issue but rather than answers I was treated to a thread of tech in-fighting. While slightly entertaining to watch techies raise their configs and .htacess in bloody battle, I needed help and preferably in something close to English.
So, I turned to Google where I knew real people would have real answers. After adding lines to the config file, altering my phpfiles and clearing my cache so often I was sure my computer would scream in agony, I could no longer deny that I was in wordpress purgatory. Some fixes resulted in my blog disappearing. I was able to quickly bring it back but never able to log in.
I finally threw in the towel and restored my old version of WordPress. The result? I can log in but my dashboard interface has changed.. I cannot edit publish dates, insert pictures or work in visual mode.
So my advice, if you are like me and a real person who is comfortable with technology, don’t upgrade to 2.6 or 2.6.1. It is buggy and the answers out there do not work for everyone. If your blog is working fine, well don’t break it! If I find the solution I will post it in English and if you have the solution, feel free to share!
TIna says
Same problems here Karen. I just read this link below.. hope can help you to fix the problem.
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/167694
Gruese aus Ulm, Germany.
deninho says
finaly, i managed to solve the problem i had with the visual editor. TinyMCE, for some reason, after updating had a problem with compression. I edited the file “tiny_mce_config.php”, and turned compresion, to “false”, and it worked fine. Akismet still doesn’t work. As soon as I find a solution, I will post here.
Dionysis 🙂
PS My English skills are a little rusty, so forgive me (or even better correct me) for syntax, or grammar faults 🙂
Evelyn Lim says
I wish I read your post earlier!! I thought I should go for an upgrade and engaged someone to do it for me two weeks ago because I’m not technically inclined. He assured me that WP2.6 is alright. I ended up with one nightmare after another!! I continue to experience problems!
Evelyn Lims last blog post..Planet Of Dreams
Karen Swim says
@deniho, Wow! I also just heard from another WP user who is having the same issues. Crud! I still do not have visual mode, can’t edit the publish date, it’s either draft or publish now. If I find answers I will definitely post. Thanks for commiserating! 🙂
deninho says
same problems here. After coming back from vacations i decided to upgrade 2.5.1 to 2.6.1. Since then, I can’t delete all the spam messages from Akismet, nor use the visual mode in the post writing section 😕 Downgrade to 2.5.1 didn’t work either 😕 After this story, I’m sure I won’t become an early adopter again 😛
Karen Swim says
Meryl, I’m sorry for your troubles but also glad I’m not alone. Until Harry mentioned it, it never dawned on me to call my hosting company! *Thunks head* I just moved the blog over and I guess I have trouble remembering that my blog and website are with the same host. My dashboard partially cleared up all by itself. It’s very strange. For now, I’m just enjoying the last bit of my weekend. 🙂
Meryl Evans says
I feel your pain, Karen. I ran into serious WP problems when I did the last major upgrade. Thank goodness for my wonderful host. Christine of Vervehosting helped me sort through it. She always comes through and it seems the gal never sleeps.
Glad Sunday was a better day for you. In the meantime, all looks great from my POV. So relax for a little while. Do something fun to make up for the pain.
Meryl Evanss last blog post..Big Labor Day Sale at Big Fish
Karen Swim says
@Harry, your words were as comforting as chocolate! I didn’t rush to upgrade preferring to wait it out, and I thought surely now that there was 2.6.1 the bugs were fixed and I would be safe. *sigh* It was not to be. Funny thing is I was less worried about getting into my blog than losing your beautiful work! Although I had backed up in two places, there’s always that lingering panic. 🙂
@Roland, I do remember reading that suggestion…of course I wish I had remembered before I attempted the stupid upgrade! LOL! Ah bookmarking now, great suggestion!
@Joanna, WELCOME BACK!!! Sunday has been so much better, thank you. I’m so glad you’re back!
@Alex, I shall be standing on the sideline with you. I also agree that it does pay to well “Pay” but this was something that I was comfortable doing and should have been an easy process. That will teach me! LOL!
Alex Fayle says
Yes, after fighting with the auto-upgrade and permissions, I deleted the auto-upgrade plugin and decided I’ll wait on the upgrade until I get told by WP that it’s a “CRITICAL” upgrade and then I’ll get my host provider to do it for me (and yes, I’ll pay – as much as that irritates me), but my blog is now a part of my business and I’ll pay to get it right.
Good luck figuring it out!
Cheers,
Alex
Alex Fayles last blog post..My Summer Someday List
Alex Fayle says
Yes, after fighting with the auto-upgrade and permissions, I deleted the auto-upgrade plugin and decided I’ll wait on the upgrade until I get told by WP that it’s a “CRITICAL
Joanna Young says
Hi Karen, that sounds like the pits! Hope your Sunday has been a bit better 🙂
I’ve been surprised how many times I’ve had to upgrade wordpress in the short time I’ve been using it. Fortunately I’ve not had any glitches yet, but it’s quite a lot of extra waiting and clicking – and wondering if something is going to go wrong…
If it’s any comfort, everything looks good at the reader end
Joanna
Joanna Youngs last blog post..Smooth Crossings
Roland Hesz says
Karen, I feel with you, upgrades can be painful.
(and I said it with the fact that my blog is updated from SVN repository, and has a permanent 2.X.X-bleeding edge version name, but I like to take risks.)
What I recommend is that you put up a blog on your machine – now comes the shameless self promotion – as I wrote it here:
http://fracturedbloughts.heszroland.hu/2008/07/26/some-tips-on-working-with-a-self-hosted-wordpress-blog/
Then if you ever, ever want to try a new plugin, update, whatever, you should do it there first.
I know it’s an extra step, but can make life easier.
And another thought. Why don’t you send me a mail when you have troubles with WP? I am not a genius, but I will gladly help if I can.
Harrison McLeod says
PS: Your blog still looks pretty 🙂
Harrison McLeods last blog post..Finding Your Ideal Reader
Harrison McLeod says
Aw, Karen, I hear ya. I hate upgrades with a passion. If I had my way, there would be no upgrades. Something always goes wrong. James never understood my anxiety or reluctance to upgrade until he saw how many things could go wrong with each new version.
With 2.6 the problem was a single plug in conflicting with the new version. The culprit: Limit Posts.
After I got the White Page of Doom I contacted our host (In Motion Hosting – they ROCK!). They took a quick peek and told me it was the plugin.
Since I couldn’t get into my WP dash, I took a chance and went into my cpanel and deleted the offending plugin. Went back to WP and all was right with the world.
2.6.1 didn’t give me any problems, other than several moments of confusion as new windows popped up during the upgrade process.
I hate having to upload manually, it’s time consuming and sucks, and I don’t like futzing with the databases either. I won’t wait for our host to get the new upgrades either (mainly because James can’t wait). Going through the host is a good idea, because by the time they get it a month after the release, many of the bugs have been worked out.
Just once I’d like an upgrade – any upgrade – to go as planned without something exploding.
Harrison McLeods last blog post..Finding Your Ideal Reader