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So you’ve heard about the new version of WordPress 2.3 a.ka. Dexter and you cant wait to upgrade. Are you prepared to upgrade your blog today OR have you considered what could go wrong?

New versions, upgrades, updates, releases, disasters or any other name you can think of to describe changes to a software application that you use, often cause problems for you, the end user. We will refer to this event as an upgrade for this article.

One of the things that you can do to prevent this is to prepare for your upgrade. This is when you, the application user, do all of the things that you complain that the software manufacturer did not do. PREPARE!

Obviously there are times that you do not have control over these upgrades or you are not given significant notification or information (cough, WINDOWS) to PREPARE.

Here is a generic list of steps that can be used to prepare for upgrades. Obviously , there will be exceptions but this list will help.

1. Modifications/Plug-ins/customizations/- If your application is using any additional modules or items that are not a part of the application during the initial installation. Make sure you check to see if the developers support modifications under the new upgrade before hand. Be sure to look deep since often over time we forget that some of this modules did not come with the application.
2. Backups - If your application, no matter what it is, stores data remotely or locally on your PC. Use back features if available. If not make backup copies of these files. If you are not sure what files, ask the ISP(if remote), manufacturer or developer.
3. Testing - In some situations you may be able to install the new upgrade without over writing your current version. If this is the case, you should install the upgrade and configure the application (adding modules) until you get it the way the you want it. You should use the new application for a minimum of 30 days. That will give you time to test many scenarios that you will likely not test in a few hours following the upgrade. If all is well with your upgrade then you can either continue to use the new install and archive the old (Just in case over time you find an issue and need to rollback to the old version) OR simply complete the upgrade of your original application and delete the test version.

Again this list is generic and can be used for any application. Now for the WordPress version of this list. Some users have not had good experiences with the WordPress 2.3 upgrade.

WordPress Upgrade preparation list

1. Modifications/Plug-ins/customizations/ – Plug-ins that do not work with 2.3
2. Backups and Testing - Excellent article on 5 steps to upgrade WordPress. Contains backup plug-ins and great testing procedures.

A complete WordPress 2.3 upgrade Preperation post