Yellow Dog Ventures

Okay, so I wrote that using the WordPress Automatic Update plugin was great and the upgrade went smoothly and everything was wonderful.

Well it wasn’t.

Thank goodness I had backups.

When I published a post using WordPress 2.6 my screen went totally white. Same thing for the other blog that I upgraded to 2.6.

So, what do I learn from this?

Restoring a database from cPanel went very smoothly. This was my first experience having to do this and the thought of it had always made me very nervous. Not anymore.

I’m pretty sure the blank screen problem lies with WP 2.6 and not with the plugin. I say that because the upgrade was fine with the plugin before I made the post. Then the problems started. Same thing with both blogs.

I recommend the plugin at this point, but not WordPress 2.6. I had heard it was a minor upgrade and 2.5.1 seemed pretty stable so I expected a smooth ride. Silly me for not waiting for all the bugs to be worked out first, like I usually do.

Oh well, enough about all this. If this experience helps anyone else out, I’m glad.

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Wow! It’s done. I just upgraded this blog to the newest version of wp and it was a piece of cake.

When I posted earlier about using the WordPress Automatic Update plugin, I wrote a couple words of caution about the backups and upgrading the database. I take them both back. Seeing the process work again, it is obvious when to download the backups and I had no issues with passwords. Very cool.

Highly recommended plugin.

Next step is to really get comfortable with Wordpress version 2.6.

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My plan today is to upgrade this blog to the new WordPress version 2.6. Right now it’s still at 2.3.3.

I am currently using version 2.5.1 with a number of blogs and really like some of the features, particularly when it comes to managing plugins. With 2.5.1 you can automatically upgrade plugins when a new version becomes available. This is such a time saver (rather than downloading the new version, unzipping it and uploading it to the server…).

While Fantastico is cool for installing blogs, I have preferred not to use it because I prefer to name the database with a tag I will recognize. With Fantastico, you get wrdp_1, wrdp_2, etc. and that’s not helpful long term, especially if you have a good number of blogs. So, while upgrading WordPress with Fantastico is a piece of cake, I don’t have that option.

Instead, I found a plugin that will upgrade automatically for me — Wordpress Automatic Upgrade. I tested this plugin out on another blog and it worked really well. Much easier than a manual upgrade. So I’m sold.

A couple things though:

• During the upgrade process, the plugin says it has created backups and you can download them. I did not see any options or links to follow to actually download the backups. Maybe it’s obvious and I just missed it, but I missed it. I’d recommend doing your own backups before beginning.
• The plugin led me through an upgrade of my database. That’s fine, but when it came to logging back into my admin panel, I couldn’t - my password wasn’t recognized. It was easy enough to get a new password, but I needed my email address in order to do that. I’d recommend noting what email address you have listed on your blog before going through the upgrade process. (I have dozens of email addresses and actually don’t know what email address I have used with all of my blogs.)

That’s it! So far, I highly recommend this plugin. I’ll play with it on a couple more blogs and then I’ll know for sure.

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I feel like I’m flying. I have so much mapped out that I want to implement, my productivity has never been higher.

If you’ve read any previous posts, you know I’ve been working on some WordPress blogs. I’ve moved into the promotion phase on a number of them. Time to build backlinks!

I’ve already “stumbled” each blog on StumbleUpon. As expected, I got a bunch of traffic fairly quickly and then that ended. There were just a few adsense clicks too. StumbleUpon was true to its reputation of offering a quick flash of traffic and very little clicking. That’s okay. I have a link (I think!)

Getting set up on 3WayLinks.net was next. I really like the concept and it’s all laid out well — just submit your websites and it automatically builds backlinks for you. Ran into a roadblock with the content on one of my blogs. 3WL declined to accept the blog into its network, claiming it is not “family friendly.”

That’s a head scratcher. The theme of the blog is marriage, specifically promoting a clickbank product. The articles focus on “saving my marriage” with love, respect, and good communication within the relationship. How is that not family friendly? There appears to be no recourse. I must admit it bugs me.

While I’d recommend 3WayLinks, I know it will take me places, but if you decide to sign up understand ahead of time that there is some interesting censorship on which websites are acceptable and which are not. My “psychic” themed site was refused several months ago on the grounds that the content is religious. I had an easier time understanding that one.

I have a gardening themed blog in my master plans, too. It’s a little ahead of schedule, but I get to be a beta tester for a gardening datafeed store created by Dave Wooding. He appears to be a pretty talented programmer. Dave has installed the initial layout and is now in the process of refining the look and functionality of the store as feedback comes in. You can check out an example at davewooding.com/garden.

This is fun. Have a good one!

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Well, I’m sort of all over the place again, but having a very good time. I actually do have a written plan I am implementing that involves creating a variety of websites (or improving some existing sites that I’ve had for awhile), adding backlinks, and driving traffic. I have a ton of great resources available, too. So now my job is to focus, focus, focus and accomplish as much as I can each day.

One of the fun parts is hunting for cool WordPress templates. There are a lot of them! I’ve been creating a number of sites using WordPress as the platform and I really like it.

But, I watched a video recently that demonstrated WordPress 2.5, which was due out this week (it’s delayed). There are huge changes coming. Darn! I’ve become very comfortable with this interface and really like the feeling of competence. Can’t say I feel that very often, but I guess I’m confident I can catch on to the new layout.

Today was the first in an 8 week series of classes with Jack Humphrey and Samuel Clark of the Authority Site Center. They’re offering “16 Steps To Success,” which will teach how to create a successful authority site. Looks like it will be really good, and I feel pretty excited about it too. This does fit into my plan, although I had envisioned building an authority site a bit further down the road. But, the training is available now, the price is right, so I jumped at the chance. I feel really lucky.

That’s it for now. Thanks for visiting.

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