Mamas On The Web

Why you should update your Wordpress to the latest version

November 10th, 2008

A few months ago I was emailing back and forth with one of my readers, and I suggested to her that she update to the current version of Wordpress since she was running a really old version. She insisted that she wanted to wait for a few months and that she didn’t need any of the new features so it didn’t matter to her.

I wanted to smack her with the “Doh!” stick.

Even if the newest version of Wordpress doesn’t include updated or new features, it’s still important to upgrade to keep your Wordpress blog as secure as possible.

Upgrading is easy as long as you have access to your server. Even if you don’t have Fantastico installed - which makes upgrading idiot-proof since you just click one button - it’s just a matter of replacing old files with new ones. Once it’s done, you can sleep a bit easier at night knowing that your blog is more secure.

On The Other Hand…

I know from experience that upgrading (which should only take a few minutes) can leave you with a busted blog. Sometimes it just doesn’t work, sometimes plugins don’t work since they aren’t supported for the latest version, sometimes things just work funny. It’s annoying as hell when that happens, but I find that it doesn’t happen that often, and the fixes are usually quick and easy.

If you’re hesitant to upgrade to the newest version of Wordpress, you’ll have to weigh the pros and cons. But my thinking is that it’s better to have a broken plugin than to have a hacking jackass destroy all your hard work.

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Entry Filed under: Blogging, Wordpress