WordPress is one of the most popular blogging engines in use at present. Over the last few months WordPress not only released an upgrade (2.3.1) but shortly before Christmas released an urgent upgrade, 2.3.2 to fix security issues.
Since the WordPress upgrade release, I have received numerous calls for help. It appeared that many users were experiencing strange problems and these problems in general related to the WordPress database. A little research and I discovered that the latest version of WordPress utilized the database in a different manner to previous versions.
Generally speaking, the problem can be traced back to the WordPress plugins that had been installed.
Resolving the Problem – Before doing anything, check your plugins for any upgrades. Ensure they have been upgraded to the 2.3 version of WordPress. If after upgrading you still experience the problem you will have to dig a little deeper. The problem will most likely lie with one or more of the plugins that have not been upgraded. Disable each WordPress plugin that you have not upgraded – one at a time. After you have disabled the plugin, check to see if you still get the error. No error – bad plugin. You can now enable the other plugins that you had disabled – one by one, again testing for errors. If you get an error – disable that plugin.
WordPress Tip to Prevent Future Problems – Problems of this nature can be prevented to some extent by first, reading the installation FAQ’s thoroughly. It is also a good idea to undertake regular maintenance of your WordPress blog. Maintenance should include the following:
- Backing up your WordPress blog on a regular basis
- Checking each of your plugins for updates on a regular basis
- Undertaking an analysis of your plugins to determine their value – if they do not provide any benefit to your blog – disable them
- Deleting plugins you are not using. WordPress still loads all plugins even if they have been disabled. Your blog will load faster if the unused plugins are deleted.
Finally, if, after disabling all plugins you still get the error message, the problem will lie with the theme itself. You will need to either find an updated version of the theme or install a new WordPress 2.3 compatible theme.
