Are You Ready for WordPress 3.0?

Jun

Are You Ready for WordPress 3.0?

Ready or not, here it comes!

Actually, WordPress 3.0 will be super-exciting and I can’t wait for it to get here. There are some major changes that will make it easier for the average WordPress user to modify their sites, but if you generally aren’t an “early adopter”, then you may want to wait for the first revisions to 3.0. It has gone through painstaking testing, but once it is out among the millions of users, there are sure to be a few glitches found.

So what do you need to do to get ready prior to WordPress 3.0 being released?

First, if you are not already updated to version 2.9.2, then update lickety-split. (By the way, if you are not using 2.9.2, the latest version that was released 4 months ago, then you are most definitely not an “early adopter”.) While not all hosting companies will make 3.0 immediately available, you want to be in control of what version you upgrade to when. If you make sure you are on 2.9.2 now, you won’t have to worry about jumping from 2.5 to 3.0.)

Second, update all your plug-ins – even the ones that you currently have deactivated. There’s always the chance that you could run into a snag updating your plug-in after 3.0 comes out. If you update now (as in asap), you can rest assured that you have the latest version that works with version 2.9.2.

And third – as always, make sure you are backup your site on a regular basis.
But not just the database – which only includes pages, posts, comments, custom fields, categories, and tags – you also want to back up all your site files on the server.
(For just the database, log into your dashboard, then go to Tools>Export. You will save the export file to your hard drive.)

To back up your entire site, some hosts, like hostgator, have a wizard to walk you through the process in the admin panel (cpanel) – remember you’ll be saving the backup to your hard drive, so remember where you save it.

Or you can use a plug-in like BackUp Buddy.

If you take care of at least those three tasks, you’ll be sitting pretty when 3.01 comes out. Cool