Round two of the trials and tribulations of the various websites I maintain. I tend to go back and forth between Drupal and WordPress for CMS depending on client need. This means I keep up with 2 similar but distinctly different content management systems (CMS). This round was updating some WordPress websites. What should have been a simple update turned into another debugging session.
Hidden surprises awaited me that were not immediately apparent. For example, I created a title for this Post then after a few iterations decided to change it. Hmmmm… you’d think that would have been simple and all I should have to do is update the title field at the top of the Post page. Wrong! Apparently with the theme upgrade, I now have some additional fields that are not automatically expanded on the edit page.
Surprising the user is never a good idea and this upgrade in WordPress plus plugins has done just that. New fields that didn’t exist before, new interactions that require some good ol’ fashioned debugging, and just lots of struggles. I do like that TinyMCE is now integrated into the CMS but it would have been nice if there had been a broader notice to me as I now had plugin conflicts which required research and resolution.
My advice here is simple and what you will find elsewhere on the Internet. When you start to see problems that are not quickly resolved, first deactivate ALL plugins and review the site to determine an action plan. If there are still issues, revert to a simple core theme like Twenty Twelve. Once you get to a stable platform performing as expected, then it’s time to start layering on the theme & plugins. Patience and a methodical approach will allow you to get around any issues that came up with you upgraded your core, theme or plugins.
Good Luck!
