It’s been advertised for some time, but now it’s here. WordPress 3.0 has finally arrived, and I am very forward to it. There are new features that I cannot wait to try out because they have been a long time coming. I have the option to upgrade now, but before I do there are things that must be done before upgrading.
1. Do your homework
There are quite a few changes from 2.9.2 to 3.0. Find out what the minimum requirements are and make sure you fit those needs. Find out everything that could go wrong before upgrading. What themes and plugins are compatible with 3.0. Are the ones that are business critical for your site or blog on those lists?
2. Backup your WordPress database
There are different methods to backup your database, but this should always be done before updating your WordPress for any version. This is especially important in cases where custom development has been done to your installation.
3. Research your theme and plugin compatibility
Not all themes and plugins will work right away with WordPress 3.0. I can almost guarantee the majority or all your plugins will not work unless they are updated. It is recommended before the upgrade to disable all plugins anyway, and I suggest you definitely do that here before continuing with the update.
There you have it. With a little due diligence you can protect yourself from taking your site down or business critical portions of your site that will do nothing but cause a lot of grief. I am like most of you. I cannot wait for the opportunity to update, but I’m going to wait until I have some time to devote to it and research my own installation and database before taking the plunge.
