Updating WordPress to the Latest Version? Here’s What You Need to Do…

1
Updating WordPress to the Latest Version? Heres
What You Need to Do
Why cant you IT guys keep things
simple? said my friend, whos an
entrepreneur and has a digital presence of
his business on WordPress. His face looked
swollen and shoulders were stiff. As if, a
broomstick was holding them up through his
sleeves. Apparently, he seemed quite upset. That
too, on a holiday while unwinding over small talk
at the resort we
2
had put up in. Elaborate please, I said
while sipping an herbal tea whose flavor
lingered on my palate. WordPress 5.0 He
exclaimed. Oh! So, thats what has been
bothering you! I chuckled. Well, you gotta to
do what you gotta do, I said. I know. But now I
need to seek assistance and you have to guide me
through this. He said. And here I am, sitting in
the CEOs corner of my workplace, writing this
blog for the sake of our friendship. As a
business owner, I believe that no matter which
platform you have your website on, it is of
vital importance to keep your website up
to date. The same applies to WordPress.
Well, I know there have been several
controversies around WordPress 5.0 update as
the authorities had announced several dates and
kept postponing them. But finally, its here!
Also, there are a lot of things you need to know
before updating WordPress. Let us try to know
what are they and what should you do to ensure
that the update is successful. So, here we
go! Classic WordPress Editor Vs Gutenberg The
first choice that you need to make. And perhaps,
the most difficult one. (from what the
WordPress website owners feel) Some are
comfortable with their good old friend,
Classic WordPress Editor. However, the
new Gutenberg Editor comes with several
facilities like different blocks for editing,
new visual editor, image options and more. From
what I have heard, Gutenberg makes your editing
tasks relatively easy. But if you want to
keep bugs at bay, you can go back to
using Classic WordPress Editor. Also, if you
download the official WordPress Classic
Editor plugin, it might help you to handle the
Gutenberg bugs.
3
PHP Version Update As you all know, PHP
scripting language drives WordPress as well as
its plugins and themes. So, if you are using an
outdated version, you might experience a lot
of bugs in the system. WordPress themes and
plugins might run with PHP version 5.6 if
they are backward compatible. But theres no
guarantee of it. Hence, the best way to deal with
this is to use the most compatible version of the
PHP software as it will help you keep the bugs at
bay. One of the major benefits of upgrading to
the latest PHP version is, it will boost your
websites speed and keep it secure.
RememberPHP 5.6 security updates end in
December. And you know the best as to what
works for your website. Why not consider
upgrading to PHP 7.2? Upgrade the Plugins From
what I know, Gutenberg will not just
change the experience of editing. The plugins
and extensions that work with Gutenberg editor
will also need to undergo a change. Some
companies have already started developing
Gutenberg friendly themes and plugins so
that WordPress website owners can leverage the
maximum out of the editor. Developers create
these extensions using short-codes that can
interact with the new editor with ease. If you
are currently using some WordPress based
plugins, they might undergo some change. You
can read more about the upgradation of
plugins in this blog. Gutenberg exclusive plugins
are soon to come. So, be ready!
4
Back It Up If you do not wish to lose all the
data, having a back up before upgrading WordPress
5.0 is a must. Also, it is important to have a
recent back up of your database and files in case
something goes wrong while backing up the data.
There are several plugins available in the market
that can assist you with taking the back up.
In case you are uncomfortable indulging
into this task yourself, you can seek help from a
company that provides WordPress Development
Services. Staging the Site This procedure
involves creating a copy of your website.
Thereafter, you need to make some changes on
the copy. You can find companies that will host
your staged website on the servers and
keep the changes different from your website.
WordPress plugins, on the other hand will help
you to stage your website in the best way
possible. As the staged website keeps
hidden, the search engines will not see it and
you will be able to make the changes you need
without worrying. In case you are hosting your
website on someone elses server, the changes you
make on the copy will not decrease the
speed of your websites working. The Caching
of Plugins Some WordPress owners have told me
about the issues they face when it comes to
performance and caching. In case there are bugs
which you cannot get rid of with the help of
Classic Editor, empty your cache and
5
minify the Javascript. Remember, that
every time you update a WordPress
version, its theme, or a plugin, you empty
your cache and minify your scripts. Be Ready
to Update Last but not least, do not freak out.
You might feel scared to update to the latest
version. Especially, now that the holiday
season is close. However, you need to take the
matters in your hands and be prepared from first.
If you keep yourself prepared and acquaint
yourself with the bugs (that you are likely
to face) including the ones with Gutenberg
Editor and Caching plugins, WordPress 5.0 update
will become easy for you. I hope you liked
my perspectives on the new WordPress updates.
Stay tuned and keep reading the Biztech blog for
more information View Source https//www.bizte
chcs.com/blog/updating-wordpress-to-the -latest-ve
rsion-heres-what-you-need-to-do/