This is one of the easiest ways to upgrade your Wordpress account. I’m writing this short tutorial in response to Jeanette’s problems with upgrading her Wordpress blog. Click the screenshot for a bigger picture.
First, log into your hosting account Cpanel, and click on Fantastico Deluxe (smiling blue face icon). On the main page itself you should see a summary of scripts you’ve installed using Fantastico, and among them should be your Wordpress blog.
You should see the current version of your blog, and right next to it a link to upgrade it to the latest available version. Please note that this may not be the absolute latest version, but rather the latest stable version of Wordpress.
When you click on the link you’ll be shown a warning message that asks you to make sure:
- no files, languages, themes have been modified – this basically means that if you’ve change the default language from English to something else, or tinkered with other core Wordpress files, upgrading this way will override those files and you’ll need to do the customizations again manually. Anything in the themes and plugins folder should not be effected, but make sure you deactivate all plugins before upgrading with Fantastico.
- you haven’t added mods to this installation of WordPress – same thing here, if you’ve messed around with anything in the “wp-admin” folder, you’ll need to make the changes manually again after you upgrade
That’s about it – when you click on “Upgrade” it should (99% of the time) just show you a screen that your Wordpress installation has been upgraded successfully.
Please note that upgrading Wordpress with Fantastico will not work (or work accurately) if:
- You installed WP manually instead of doing it via Fantastico – if this is the case Fantastico should be displaying a message that says “Only manual upgrade possible”
- You’ve moved your WP blog from it’s original Fantastico install location and Fantastico cannot detect it
- You’ve moved your index page from the original install folder to the root or another folder in your domain
- You’ve manually upgraded Wordpress before – this is the case with my blogs, in the image above it shows that my WP blogs are version 2.0.5 but that’s wrong. I’m actually using the latest version and I do it with the Instant Upgrade plugin or sometimes even manual upgrades. Fantastico only detects installation / upgrades via Fantastico so if you see inaccuracies like this it may still work, but please do BACKUP your blog before you try.
If your hosting account doesn’t have Cpanel as I advised in Wordpress Adsense System, let me take this opportunity to tell you “I told you so…”
Having Cpanel makes life easier for the average non-geek person like me and you. I use HostGator for this blog and I strongly recommend that you switch to them if your current hosting account sucks.
If you’re having issues doing upgrades in Cpanel and Fantastico, leave a comment below and I think I may be able to help you with the common ones, or at least point you in the right direction.
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Thank you very much – I have filed this info for the future. I have 2.3.1 installed and that is probably why my fantastico does not show any upgrade options. When I open my wordpress installation, it says an upgrade is available and that upgrade is 2.3.2 – I think that the 2.3.2 version is not yet available on fantastico – that would explain why I wasn’t seeing upgrade options and you were since you didn’t install 2.3.1 with fantastico so that is what the fantastico is offering you.
Thank you – this will come in very handy when the newer version does become available.
The only way to upgrade wordpress to the latest version without waiting for fantastico is downloading and uploading it to the server. I guess it’s not tough but takes some patience to do it. Did it once.
Fantastico is great tool for newbies, however one should learn how to upgrade without using it since it will be faster to make things done
As Edward says, Fantasico is a fine tool for newbies.
If you have customized your blog or even using a theme that are not compatible with the new version of WP, then you don’t know how to fix it.
To the best of my knowledge it is better to it yourself. At wp website http://www.wordpress.org you will find a comprehensive explanation on how to upgrade manually.
Another way is to use a theme with build-in customizable files, that will not be overwritten when new WP upgrades are necessary to install.
I noticed too, that using the control panel method ugrading lags a bit, so I taught myself to use FTP based webhosting, and now when the upgrade comes out, like version 2.3.2 of Wordpress, I can upgrade right away. I prefer the control I have with FTP based hosting, instead of proprietary control panels, I’ll take service instead.
Guy Cook
Fantastico is a great tool for those who are less technically minded. One thing I personally am having trouble with and am looking for some decent advice is, how best to transfer my WP blog to a new server? It seems to be very complicated! Any advice would be great fully received (-;
As a hosting master reseller, I use cpanel and since I manually installed some blogs on my server, I’ll probably have to start over but I don’t mind that since I can then simply upgrade to new versions of wordpress a lot easier. Thanks for the heads up on this as my fantastico was showing that only manual upgrades are available
In mine, it’s written “only manual upgrade possible”. What should I do? Please assist. Thank’s.
Hi dunn,
This is because you most likely installed WP without fantastico so you will need to follow the tips in the link below.
Just make sure you make a backup of your existing blog BEFORE you start tempering with things.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress
Thank Gobala with the tips, i never use Fantastico before to upgrade WP. Just now using it and it’s really easy.
Great! So will we be expecting the upgrade to Wordpress 2.5 soon?
Regards
I had a blog designer modify the Kubrick template to suit my website. I’m currently using WordPress 2.3.3 and I wish to upgrade to 2.5.1 using Fantastico. From what I’m reading here, the Fantastico upgrade SHOULD NOT rewrite Kubrick over my customized template, am I right? I want to double-check before proceeding with Fantastico. Or is it smarter for me to upgrade manually? (Which I’ve never done, btw).
Thanks!
I like manual install, you learn something and it puts you in control, not the ‘control panel’
Guy
Hello Gobala Krishnan,
I was trying to upgrade my Wordpress installation using Fantastico but it showed an error during the process.
i’m running c-panel in hostgator and my msg is
New Installation (2.8)
Disk space required: 9.02 MB
Disk space available: 999984.5 MB
Current installations:
None
I have no idea what to do without messing things up?
any help with this one?
@ chris – It says Current Installations : None. I believe you havent installed WordPress at all using cPanel
Thank you for this wp upgrading tutorial. What would happen if I don’t deactivate all plugins? Just my curiosity.
If you don’t disable plugins, it could cause errors when you upgrade WordPress
Yup, it takes some time for the latest upgrade to be available via Fantastico
Wait until your control panel is updated OR have someone do a manual upgrade if you can’t wait.
Hi Monika, thank’s for your kind response. I did install WP via fantastico in Hostgator. I’m a newbie, and I don’t know much about this. In control panel, I clicked Fantastico, then Wordpress. And now when I want to upgrade, it written “only manual upgrade possible”. Had tried to do tips in the link that you gave me, but I don’t know what I did wrong but the WP still haven’t upgraded. Or do you also think that I just wait until control panel is updated like what Guy Cook wrote above?
Jorge,
Did you get this figured out? I don’t use cpanel/fantastico myself guess that makes me a control type person. Let me know ok?
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