Posted on 5 December, 2008 By
Kim Woodbridge
36 Comments
Preparing for the Release of WordPress 2.7
WordPress 2.7 was released last night for WordPress.com users. It will be released for those of us using the self-hosted version of WordPress on December 10th.
If you are planning on upgrading when WordPress 2.7 is released, here is some information about compatibility, preparing your theme, and a list of new features.
- 10 Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.7 – This is a great guide to the new features, layout and look of 2.7
- The plugin compatibility guide – WordPress.org has a list of plugins that have been tested with WordPress 2.7 and are known to be compatible. If there is a plugin that you can’t live without and it isn’t on this lists, then you might want to wait to upgrade. Alternatively, you could search for a non-plugin related solution to the functionality that you require.
- Core Update Host Functionality – WordPress 2.7 will have a built-in Auto Upgrade Feature. This is a list of webhosts that the auto update function works with. If your host isn’t on the list, it probably hasn’t been tested and if the feature doesn’t work with your host, you can still upgrade manually. Please note that this will not matter for your upgrade to WordPress 2.7, but rather for all subsequent upgrades.
- Theme Compatibility - WordPress has a list of themes that are compatible with WordPress 2.7. This is a little misleading – your theme will still work with 2.7 it is just that 2.7 will have features that can’t be taken advantage of unless changes are made to your theme, such as threaded comments. This leads us to the next point.
- Upgrading Your Theme – There are a number of tutorials that explain how to edit your theme so it can take advantage of the new features in 2.7. WPHacks explains the sticky post and page function and OttoDestruct explains how to make the comments template compatible with WordPress 2.7 As I mentioned, your theme will still work as is. Upgrading your theme is only needed in order to take advantage of some of the new features in 2.7
- WordPress 2.6 Plugins – If you are planning on staying with version 2.6.5, this is a list of plugins that you can use to give your blog 2.7 functionality.
Hmm … guess I know what I will be spending part of my weekend doing.
photo credit: David Reece
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December 5, 2008 at 7:07 am
Plus ca change
December 5, 2008 at 7:07 am
Good morning Kim.
WordPress upgrades make me scaaaarrd! A few nightmares in the past. I have a plugin for upgrade, I know you prefer manual but would that work with 2.7? I will probably have 6 backups available before I attempt it.
Dee Langdon – BloggerNewbie´s last blog post – Do You Think Blogging Is Becoming Over Saturated?
December 5, 2008 at 7:29 am
Not upgrading. Not a chance.
Wesley´s last blog post – if.e.v.v.v.v.dx.six
December 5, 2008 at 7:43 am
i tested wp 2.7 and it seemed fine. what i expect to be broken and not working correctly are plugins that have a dashboard widget since the coding for the widget has been changed a little. i would suggest to all of you setting up a test site with the exact copy of your blog and testing how the update goes there.. the new version definitely is worth the update!
stratosg´s last blog post – Update to WordPress 2.7 for $25!
December 5, 2008 at 8:27 am
Sure, it is tempting to upgrade but i’d prefer to wait, read more reviews before doing so. I love plugins and can’t dream of my blog without plugins.
ShriNagesh´s last blog post – 30 Alternative Tools To Twitter Search And Tracking Memes On Twitter
December 5, 2008 at 10:42 am
Wesley makes me laugh. :)
Useful info as always, Kim. Thanks, and enjoy your weekend. ;)
December 5, 2008 at 11:02 am
Thanks for the list of WordPress 2.7 URL’s, Kim!
I have a test site where I’ve tested my theme (Thesis), first as a plain-vanilla installation, and as of today, with all my modifications. Then I will be adding plugins one by one, starting first with those on the WordPress “ready for prime time” list.
Only when I am certain everything works will I upgrade my site to WP 2.7. And I will do it with Kim’s manual upgrade instructions!
Maybe I’m super-cautious, but I value my readers too much to have them encounter a broken blog.
Mike Nichols´s last blog post – Phobia Names: Why Can’t We Just Agree?
December 5, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I’m posting this here because I’m not sure if you check comments on older posts (not to nag).
http://www.kimwoodbridge.com/backing-up-isnt-hard-to-do/#comment-2530
Wesley´s last blog post – if.e.v.v.v.v.dx.six
December 5, 2008 at 1:07 pm
@David – I had to look that up. Very true.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
@Dee – The manual upgrade will work :-)
@Wesley – Why not?
@Stratos – That’s interesting about the dashboard widgets. I have a test site but I haven’t put 2.7 on it yet. I’ve been feeling a little lazy.
@Vered – lol – thanks!
@Mike – Thanks! You are going to be completely prepared. I’m glad the upgrade guide is usedul.
@Wesley – Yep – I answered it. I answer all comments – even on old posts :-)
December 5, 2008 at 1:08 pm
@ShriNagesh – Woops – didn’t mean to miss you. Thanks for visiting and commenting. Most standard plugins will be updated. You can check the compatibility list. Many people, including myself, often wait for the .1 version before upgrading.
December 5, 2008 at 1:21 pm
i just upgraded to 2.6.5 this morning. these upgrades seem to be coming faster and faster. i thought one of the upgrades would allow you to comment to someone within their comment instead of making a new comment. i like how cardiogirl responded on my blog and hers to comments…within the comment..no doubt done from the dash board or right on the blog in edit mode.
do i make sense?
NaTuRaL´s last blog post – The Day of the Fight
December 5, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I need to wait and see how my theme behaves – especially with my own changes :) Also I have already started to get a feeling that many widgets and plugins (that has a user interface) will have some minor issues here and there…
As such I have not moved to even 2.6.5 :) I hate this frequent WP upgrades
Ajith Edassery´s last blog post – Right Time to Start Your New Self-Hosted Professional Blog
December 5, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Ill think Ill leave this one alone – too afraid of screwing up! I don’t even know how to back up my WP yet. Eek!
Carla´s last blog post – Emperor “Clean Coal” has no clothes
December 5, 2008 at 3:19 pm
@Natural – I don’t think 2.6.5 has that functionality. In 2.7 you will be able to respond to comments from with the admin area rather than through the blog.
Cardiogirl must have been using edit and adding her reply into each comment. That’s the first time I’ve seen comment replies done that way.
@Ajith – I think you’re right. Stratos has noticed problems with plugins that use the dashboard. I don’t like all the little upgrades but I’m excited about 2.7
@Carla – It will be the same as any upgrade really – it’s just the admin interface will look diffent and take some getting used to.
I wrote an article about backing up WordPress awhile back. Once you set it up, you don’t really need to think about it anymore. Well, it backups the database.
http://www.kimwoodbridge.com/dont-rely-on-your-host-and-lose-your-blog-backup-wordpress/
December 5, 2008 at 3:27 pm
@ Kim – thanks for the link. Its just I never upgraded before. :-/
Carla´s last blog post – Emperor “Clean Coal” has no clothes
December 5, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Ah. HA! Thanks for they eye openers, Kim. Perfect timing. Needed this.
Jaculynn Peterson´s last blog post – Two great eBooks available from Triiibes
December 5, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Hi Kim: I’ve bookmarked this to read next weekend, when I’ll be upgrading to 2.7. I read that this version is going to be completely different but that it’s worth the learning curve. I hope so.
December 5, 2008 at 4:50 pm
@Carla – I know :-) Don’t worry
@Jaculynn – Thanks! I’m glad it’s helpful. I really appreciate your positive support on Twitter.
@Marelisa – I hope it helps :-) I think we will end up loving the new version but that it will slow down our work for a bit.
December 5, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I’ve got a test 2.7 up on my blog and have been developing against 2.7 rc1 all week for a new social intranet for NameMedia. It’s very cool. One thing most people miss: now we can have themes and sub-themes, which lets me put my special code in the main theme, then reuse it on different sites, each one with a separate sub-theme.
It’s not blog software anymore. It’s a full blown cms. It could compete with many enterprise systems if it had a little more workflow functionality.
Mark Cahill´s last blog post – Layoffs for for Book Publishers
December 6, 2008 at 7:40 am
@Mark – Thanks for the extra information. I really like the themes/sub-themes. I can see that being very useful.
@ultragreen – Thank you for commenting and visiting. I hope you enjoy the site.
December 6, 2008 at 7:57 am
Reading your post and seeing the comments here, I guess I would wait a couple of weeks till everything is clear!
Raju´s last blog post – Technically Personal Gets a Makeover!
December 6, 2008 at 9:27 am
Raju – As long as you are updated to 2.6.5, it’s fine to wait. If you have a test server, you could install it there and see what happens.
December 6, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Hi Kim – thank you. I will definitely be going through these links before I install it. I always dread installing new themes incase it goes wrong. One WP upgrade I installed put funny characters in all my blog posts and I had to go through the lot and delete them.
December 7, 2008 at 7:22 am
@Cath – I hope the links help. Usually nothing goes wrong but it’s such a pain when it does.
December 9, 2008 at 8:59 am
WordPress 2.7 seems more cool but I’m waiting for the stable version
Deca´s last blog post – HostDime.com
December 9, 2008 at 9:36 am
@Deca – I installed RC1 on my test site and didn’t run into any problems. There’s some issues with a couple of plugins but nothing major.
December 10, 2008 at 4:31 am
@Kim Woodbridge
Thanks for your response. Perhaps it’s time to give it try …:)
Deca´s last blog post – HostDime.com
December 11, 2008 at 5:24 am
Great Resources Kim. I guess i will wait for a few weeks before upgrading.
Madhur Kapoor´s last blog post – Get IP Address Information with IPNetInfo
December 11, 2008 at 7:30 am
@Madhur – That’s probably best. I have it installed in my test area. It’s working fine – there’s just a couple of minor plugin issues. I want to work on making the comments threaded and add some of the other features before I install it over here.
December 14, 2008 at 11:56 pm
I’ve installed WordPress 2.7 on two of my blogs using the automatic installer and it worked like a dream. So far everything is behaving properly, including my swath of plugins. No smoke coming out of the computer or anything so I am really quite happy about the whole thing.
Sire´s last blog post – Cool Blog Links Now Live
December 15, 2008 at 6:35 am
@Sire – I haven’t had any trouble with it on my test site. I do want to take the time to make the threaded comments before I install it here. I haven’t been getting that done though so maybe I should upgrade first and work on the comments later.
December 15, 2008 at 7:41 am
Which Threaded Comments are you planning to use?
Sire´s last blog post – Increase Return Commentators With A Simple Plugin
December 15, 2008 at 10:52 am
@Sire – WordPress 2.7 has threaded comments functionality built into it. So you don’t need a plugin anymore but you do need to edit the code on comments.php
http://ottodestruct.com/blog/2008/09/29/wordpress-27-comments-enhancements/
Or use a comments.php file from a theme that is 2.7 ready. My comments.php file is non-standard so I have to do the edits when I’m completely alert, which isn’t often.
December 15, 2008 at 11:38 am
I’m going to have to check out the automatic installer because to me, reading the instructions to upgrade my WordPress is like reading Greek!
Carla´s last blog post – Why New Year’s resolutions dont work | Blogroll
December 15, 2008 at 11:39 am
@Carla – Then you should enter my contest :-)
http://www.kimwoodbridge.com/twitter-holiday-contest-win-a-free-27-upgrade/
December 15, 2008 at 5:23 pm
OK, I didn’t know that. As I use Thesis I reckon I will just wait for the next update on that theme. As for the rest I will just continue using the plugin for now.
Sire´s last blog post – Can You See The Human Apparition In This Splash Of Water