Yesterday night I decided it was time to upgrade my WP installation to the latest version and I did not wait for any longer to start working on it. The entire upgrade process took less than 20 minutes and it was trouble free, mostly because I maintain a log sheet of changes that I keep making to the WP and theme files and knew what to backup and which files to update. Here is a list of task items that I ran through:

1. Quickly check if the plugins I use, that are critical for functionality of my site, have a compatible/latest release to run on Wp 2.1.1 or at least 2.0+. Downloaded their latest versions and installed them. Luckily, I found updated versions of all the plugins that I use.

2. Download the latest version of WP from WordPress.Org and extract to a folder.

3. Create a backup of WP database using the Backup plugin in WP. WP-Admin->Manage->Backup and select all the tables corresponding to your WP. You may also want to select additional tables that should be backed up.

4. Make a backup of all the required files, customized files, images directory, wp-content directory on your system. Use any FTP program such as FileZilla to achieve this task. I had made changes to wp-rss2.php and wp-atom files in order to serve Pheedo RSS Ads and since it was on my log sheet of changes, took a backup so I could re-make the changes.

5. Disabled all the plugins to avoid any immediate issues when upgrade is done. Disabling the plugins has an advantage and that is it quickly lets you isolate a problem, if arises after the upload. So, you might enable them one-by-one and observe your home page for any potential problems. In this way, you are immediately aware about the plugin that could be causing the error.

6. Wordpress.Org recommends deleting the files and uploading files from latest version. Since I knew what I was doing, I preferred to overwrite them. I checked the option in FTP client to overwrite the files if they existed on the remote server instead of overwriting only if the files were newer than existing files. [Getting the difference?]. I then began the process of uploading all the files, and I replaced all the required files.

7. After uploading the files, I ran the upgrade.php, located under wp-admin folder as per the instructions. This was by far the most easiest step involved in entire upgrade process.

8. I was done, almost! Checked the home page but could see nothing coming up. I knew that the plugins were disabled. Started to enable them one-by-one till all the plugins were activated.

9. All Set!!

WP 2.1.1 seems to be faster than earlier versions and I am glad that I made the move. There are times in our life when we have to stop thinking and act! I did it!

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MySpace is on the move to add some extra value to their online offerings, and as we mentioned in October, it looks like things are starting with an overhaul of their IM tool.

In its previous incarnation, MySpaceIM was a bare bones instant messaging application. It launched early last year and then disappeared for a while. Now myspaceim is back, and MySpace has partnered with Skype to add VoIP calling to the chat client.

MySpace users will instantly have their friends list populated with upon install with one click login to mail and bulletins. MySpace friends profiles are also one click away.

The social networking site claims the beta version of the client has been installed over 500,000 times. Now that MySpace is taking the beta label off of the chat client, we expect to see that number climb even higher. But will MySpace users who don’t already know one another offline actually like to talk with each other rather than just add each other as friends?

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Do you use WordPress? Are you a fan of really annoying pop-up advertising links/badges? Then Yahoo! has the plugin for you! Launching today, the Yahoo! Shortcuts for Bloggers WordPress plugin is designed to allow bloggers to easily add context links and images to their blog posts, using the power of Yahoo!’s search method. Well, that all sounds fancy and interesting, unfortunately, at least in its current form, we find the plugin pretty lacking in any substantive features.

Here’s how the plugin works: after installing/activating the plugin in your WordPress installation, Yahoo! Shortcuts will automatically monitor your posts, as you type, for keywords that can either be converted to direct links, or into hover links in a little mini Yahoo! search box. Additionally, if you so choose, you can make choose to embed some Yahoo! content, like pictures from Flickr, maps from Yahoo! Maps and products from Yahoo! shopping database directly into your post.

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The hard working folks at WordPress.org have not taken the holidays off. In fact, news broke on Friday of a bug that allowed a would-be hacker access to future, draft, and pending posts.

But WordPress.org has unleashed WordPress 2.3.2 and has labeled the update an “Urgent Security Release”. If you are the purveyor of a WordPress blog, we’d suggest you run right out and update. To get the latest version of WordPress, head over to their download page and install the update.

As an added bonus, WordPress 2.3.2 allows you to define your own custom Database Error Page. At last. No more canned page that screams “I don’t know how to configure MySQL”!

We say thanks to WordPress.org for responding quickly to bugs reported just a few days ago!

• Install WordPress Plugins and Themes from Firefox, No FTP

RSS is a fantastic technology, but what about ‘on-the-go’? Sure, you could use Google Reader, or Newsgator Mobile, but what if you wanted to be SMS-messaged when a new post appears on a particular feed? That’s where Pingie comes in.

By now, you’re probably wondering what on earth the service could be used for. Let’s share with you a few examples. Perhaps you’re wanting to follow Download Squad’s coverage of a particular operating system, category of software, or even a particular author’s posts (all of which have feeds found by adding /rss.xml to the page’s URL), you simply enter the Feed URL, your email address and your mobile phone number and Pingie does the rest. Easy!

Of course, when you’re wanting up-to-the-minute event coverage say from sister sites’ Engadget (at the Consumer Electronics Show) or TUAW (at Macworld Conference and Expo) this might just allow you to keep your finger on the pulse, no matter where you are.

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