Dealing with WordPress Problems After Upgrades


WidgetsUpdates often cause people to worry that something that was working perfectly well will stop working.

Unfortunately this does sometimes happen, but you can't avoid the upgrades.

So here are some simple troubleshooting steps.



Upgrades and Updates


All of the elements we’ve talked about so far (WordPress core code, plugins and themes) are constantly being developed and updated.

Some of this is driven by the need to develop security upgrades, and some is simply adding new functionality.

Because WordPress is so widely used it has become a target for hackers - in much the same way that Internet Explorer has.

So I cannot emphasise strongly enough that you need to keep your WordPress installation up to date. For security reasons, as well as the new functionality that's often brought out.

Luckily updating both your WordPress code and your plugins is now a heck of a lot easier than it used to be. In both cases it’s just a question of clicking a link.

Updating your theme, though, may be a bit more involved. Also – it will vary from theme to theme.

The premium themes will all offer periodic updates and will give you clear instructions on how to do so. They will be different from theme to theme.

You should keep your theme up to date because the updates offer both security upgrades and often some very exciting new functionality.

Also, as the WordPress core code incorporates new functionality, the premium theme providers will often release new versions to maximize the opportunities it presents.

Updating a free theme is more difficult. In many cases you’re not able to contact the theme author and, even if you do, they may not offer updates.

This does open the possibility of your theme not functioning properly after updates of either the WordPress core code or plugins.

If you find yourself in this situation the best bet is to find another theme that’s compatible – or move to a premium theme.

Problems After WordPress Upgrades


If you experience problems after upgrading your version of WordPress there's a very good chance these are caused by either your theme or your plugins (or both).

Plugins


To see whether it's your plugins causing the problem deactivate all of them. If the problem has gone then you know it's a plugin.

In this case re-activate them one-by-one until you find the one that's causing the problem. You can then either update it or remove it.

If it's an important plugin you can contact the plugin author and ask for his help or see whether he's planning to issue an update.

Themes


If your plugins are not the cause of the problem then it may be your theme and you have a couple of options:

  1. If you're using a Premium theme check to see whether an upgrade has been issued. Also check the support forums to see if anyone else has had the same problem and, if so, how they fixed it.
  2. If you're using a free theme try activating the wordPress default theme. If your problem disappears then you can be pretty sure it's a theme related problem. Since support for free themes is usually not strong, you may need to look for another theme that is compatible with the latest version of WordPress.

These may seem like very simple solutions, but...

The open source nature of WordPress enables anyone to create a theme or a plugin to extend its functionality and, unfortunately, not all coders are born equal.

Sloppy coding can easily cause apparently unrelated problems in WordPress - as the two examples in this article illustrate.

So following these steps is a good place to start when you're solving WordPress problems.

Now it's time to look at writing your first article





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