Mar
Why You Need to Upgrade Your WordPress Blogs
Shelly from www.brassblogs.com shared this bit of info on a Ning group that I am on. I thought it was important enough information that I wanted to share it with you guys.
Shelly says…
The latest release (2.7 at this writing) has many security upgrades. And if that doesn’t concern you, then maybe Google blocking your site will. (Because they will.)
Starting several months ago, Google started going through the blogs they index. They found that any installations older than version 2.3.3 were subject to a TON of injection/spam/hacking attacks. (If you didn’t know, if someone hacks your site, and you’re on a shared server, you are compromising *everyone* on that server – not just you.) So they began issuing a warning that most browsers pick up, where if someone visits your site, instead of seeing the blog, you get a page with a big red banner that says something about the site having been a source of bad content that’s harmful to your computer, and you cannot get around it. In the last 4 months, I’ve had to “fix” 4 client sites due to this very issue. You have to go through a process (usually a few days, but I had one case that took 6 weeks) to get your site back up and running again.
I’m not kidding about this either. It’s not meant to scare you, it’s just a fact that you should be aware of. The security releases on any blogging platform (not just WordPress) are, indeed, very important.
If your WP installation is older than 2.3.3 it’s definitely time to upgrade. And don’t worry – you don’t *have* to upgrade every time there’s a release. WordPress puts out a new version about once a year. They are *constantly* trying to improve it (I currently have version 2.8 from the subversion repository – they began work on it last month.) The little releases in between each one – read your dashboard. Many are just bugfixes or aesthetic improvements. You don’t have to install them. However when they release a *security* fix – THAT is the one you need to pay attention to.
Now quick, go check to see what version WordPress you are using.
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Great information and thank you for passing it on, Crystal. Your own WP expertise has been a real boost to virtual assistants within your circle of influence. I’m going to push your post over at the blogging topic at VAnetworking.com. Updating WP gets easier and WP becomes more of a joy to work with every day!
March 7th, 2009 at 9:06 amThank you, Judy. I figured everyone was updated by now. Then I went into a blog this morning and saw it was an old version so I figured a reminder was due.
March 7th, 2009 at 12:03 pmHi Crystal, thanks a million for passing this information along.
I believe it is vital to keep your WordPress installation current and upgrade immediately to all new releases.
Most times when WordPress releases a new version it is to fix security issues, software bugs, and also enhancements that make it more effective to the end user.
The way I see it is that if your current theme is not compatible with the latest version of WordPress then it’s time to upgrade to a new theme as well.
Keep well,
March 7th, 2009 at 12:07 pmFrances