Woe and Ramblings with WordPress 2.6
Posted on 19. Jul, 2008 by dimaks in Blogging
For sure, having things renewed, polished and updated should be a positive phenomena but not when it comes to upgrading into WordPress 2.6. You see, I know a couple of bloggers who suffered from seemingly a total disaster when they opted to upgrade their blogging platform into the 2.6 version of WordPress. Although WordPress support pages, documentations and all are all over the place so to speak (in fact it is already overflowing), a conscious user will probably immediately look for a fresher guide and not just a listing for new features and developer notes.
Some friends in Plurk are also having this dilemma whether they should upgrade to the latest version or not. And yes, I know somebody who was not even able to upgrade to WordPress 2.5, for whatever reason I did not bother to inquire.
Anyway, I passed through the gauntlet that is intertwined with the upgrading process and to tell you frankly, I did a horrendous logging of everything that is in full operation while at the version 2.5. I went on very carefully so as not to screw things. The database backup was massive that as if, tomorrow is the doomsday.
Now came the search for the support documentation. I was particularly looking for the new codes on how to exclude a page in the blog header’s navigation menu. I wrote a page explaining “RSS” and I can’t make it disappear from the header navigation menu except by making it private. But doing so will defeat the purpose because the page will not display when pointed as a link. I went to WordPress Codex page and found nothing but a list of new features for WordPress 2.6. Next thing was the documentation. The same result. I dived into the WordPress forums and found nothing but old threads pertaining to the older versions. Google also failed me.
Who saved the day? It was Simon Wheatley with his plugin “Exclude Pages“. Exactly what I was looking for. Now here is how my dashboard looks like when in page writing mode:
I know, I know.. I should have looked first in the WordPress plugin pages but I guess it would be the least option that you would take because plugins (most of them) are owned and created by third party individuals. The first thing you would look for upon buying a gadget is its user manual and not those of its add-ons.
Anyway, now I that am done with the upgrade and page exclusion from the navigation menu, I do hope WordPress will brush up its upgrade documentations for easier use of the system.
And yes, did you like those two artworks up there? I was switching windows while writing this post – following a photoshop tutorial while blogging.
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Part-time blogger dimaks is involved in transport planning and research and is into Internet technology, PC games, digital photography, motorcycling and martial arts.. 
What are your woes on upgrading to WP « Wakamono’s Portal
Jul 19th, 2008
[...] What are your woes on upgrading to WP Posted July 19, 2008 Filed under: Blogging, News, WordPress | Tags: WordPress, WordPress 2.6 | What are your woes and complaints on the recent WordPress 2.6? [...]
K
Jul 19th, 2008
I am not sure anymore. I’ll leave things as is – ugly dashboard 2.6, theme editor not working and a couple more.
Simon Wheatley
Jul 19th, 2008
Glad to be of service!
dimaks
Jul 19th, 2008
K,
i feel for you man, i once screwed my dashboard prior to my upgrade to 2.6 but luckily, i was able to restore things back to where they were before.
Simon Wheatley,
Great help there! thanks a lot. more awesome plugins to come.
Chelle
Jul 20th, 2008
I am happy with the new wordpress…had lots of plug-ins issues, but finally got it all resolved after installing them one by one & giving up a few.
sasha
Jul 20th, 2008
This is the very reason why I want the new version to be up for a few weeks already before I do the upgrade. I have friends who lost their blogs temporarily because of the upgrade.
dimaks
Jul 20th, 2008
Chelle,
same thing that i did.. i had to be very cautious after hearing some complaints from friends. good thing it went fine with you and your plugins.
sasha,
the upgrade is crucial and tricky, you got to be cautious in every step you make
jessie
Jul 23rd, 2008
dimaks,
the sad thing about the new WP is its lack of documentation and troubleshooting guide. if you are not patient enough, your WP installation will remain screwed (sorry for the term). it took me a while just testing the features like its ability to align images and videos. up to now i’m having some problems with videos but i’ve found some good workarounds through trial and error. lesson: install WP on your local machine before putting it live online to make sure all the features work fine.
thanks for dropping by my site. i hope to see you around.