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The Web Mechanic fixes what annoys you about your web site or blog.

WordPress Assistance

WordPress 3.5.1 has been released – Time to upgrade WordPress

January 26, 2013 by Ken Dawes Leave a Comment

WordPress has announced the release of their Maintenance and Security update, WordPress 3.5.1 and its time, once again, to upgrade WordPress.

While WordPress 3.5 was released not too long ago, there were a number of issues that caused some people to have problems with their WordPress site. This release addresses those issues and also includes important security updates to the WordPress core. You can be assured that hackers will try to exploit WordPress sites that have not upgraded and have known vulnerabilities.

Remember that you should always backup your website (both files and database) before upgrading WordPress. While updating WordPress almost always works flawlessly, in the event something should go awry, having a backup will allow your site to be restored with a minimum of hassle.

Don’t forget to upgrade your WordPress themes and plugins as well. There have been some significant changes to the way WordPress does things and your old versions may not be compatible the new WordPress. Outdated WordPress themes and plugins can also pose a security risk.

In the case of themes, especially with older WordPress themes, you should do a little research before you update.  You want to be sure that your theme is compatible with the new versions when you upgrade WordPress. Also, remember that if your theme has had customizations made to it, updating can cause those customizations to be lost. Another good reason to backup before updating!

If you are worried about making the updates to your WordPress yourself, contact The Web Mechanic to take care of it for you!

From the wordpress.org website, here is what’s new in WordPress 3.5.1.

WordPress 3.5.1 is now available. Version 3.5.1 is the first maintenance release of 3.5, fixing 37 bugs. It is also a security release for all previous WordPress versions. For a full list of changes, consult the list of tickets and the changelog, which include:

  • Editor: Prevent certain HTML elements from being unexpectedly removed or modified in rare cases.
  • Media: Fix a collection of minor workflow and compatibility issues in the new media manager.
  • Networks: Suggest proper rewrite rules when creating a new network.
  • Prevent scheduled posts from being stripped of certain HTML, such as video embeds, when they are published.
  • Work around some misconfigurations that may have caused some JavaScript in the WordPress admin area to fail.
  • Suppress some warnings that could occur when a plugin misused the database or user APIs.

Additionally, a bug affecting Windows servers running IIS can prevent upgrading WordPress from 3.5 to 3.5.1. If you receive the error “Destination directory for file streaming does not exist or is not writable,” you will need to follow the steps outlined on the Codex.

WordPress 3.5.1 also addresses the following security issues:

  • A server-side request forgery vulnerability and remote port scanning using pingbacks. This vulnerability, which could potentially be used to expose information and compromise a site, affects all previous WordPress versions. This was fixed by the WordPress security team. We’d like to thank security researchers Gennady Kovshenin and Ryan Dewhurst for reviewing our work.
  • Two instances of cross-site scripting via shortcodes and post content. These issues were discovered by Jon Cave of the WordPress security team.
  • A cross-site scripting vulnerability in the external library Plupload. Thanks to the Moxiecode team for working with us on this, and for releasing Plupload 1.5.5 to address this issue.

Filed Under: WordPress Assistance Tagged With: internet explorer, WordPress Plugin, WordPress themes, WordPress upgrade

WordPress Upgrade to 3.5: Problems and Solutions

January 15, 2013 by Ken Dawes Leave a Comment

A WordPress upgrade is generally pretty easy and effortless. However, sometimes things just don’t work out as planned and problems may arise. I’m going to let you know of a few problems I have found and how they may be solved.

Before Your WordPress Upgrade

First, you should always backup WordPress before upgrading. While automatic updating during your WordPress upgrade usually works flawlessly, should something go very wrong you’ll be able to restore your site. You should backup your database and your wp-content folder at least, if not all of your site.

I also recommend updating your plugins before upgrading WordPress itself. Sometimes an older plugin version may not be compatible with a new WordPress version and stop working. This shouldn’t be much of a problem, after all you DO keep your plugins and themes always up to date don’t you?

Speaking of themes, you should check that your theme is compatible with the new version of WordPress before upgrading WordPress. Some themes may not be well maintained and could break in some manner when used with a new version of WordPress. Do some research, check with the author or the folks you got the theme from. Better safe than sorry!

NOTE: When a theme is updated, WordPress removes all of the old theme files and uploads new ones. If your theme has been customized, you will lose all of those customizations! If you are unsure, before upgrading your theme, check with your web person, or if they are no longer available, check with a knowledgeable WordPress pro who can find out if your theme is safe to update.

Without further ado, here are some problems and solutions I have found when performing a WordPress upgrade to Version 3.5.

NOTE: Some of these will be (hopefully) corrected in WordPress 3.5.1.

Common WordPress 3.5 Upgrade Problems

Next: After updating to WordPress 3.5, I can no longer update plugins or save pages!

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Filed Under: WordPress Assistance Tagged With: WordPress 3.5, wordpress problem, WordPress upgrade

Reset Your WordPress Admin Password via phpMyAdmin

August 17, 2009 by Ken Dawes Leave a Comment

Have you forgotten your WordPress Admin password? Do you need WordPress password recovery?  Did you lose access to your WordPress because you fell prey to the WP password vulnerability and your WordPress password was hacked? (Problem was corrected with WordPress 2.8.4.) Take heart, the recovery of your WordPress password can happen outside of WordPress by using phpMyAdmin. [Read more…] about Reset Your WordPress Admin Password via phpMyAdmin

Filed Under: WordPress Assistance Tagged With: wordpress admin, wordpress password

Fix WordPress Memory Error When Upgrading

August 14, 2009 by Ken Dawes Leave a Comment

With the issuing of WordPress 2.8.3 and 2.8.4 a lot of people have run into a WordPress memory error when upgrading–the dreaded “Allowed memory size error” when you try to run the automatic upgrade for your WordPress. (you did backup everything, just in case, yes?) [Read more…] about Fix WordPress Memory Error When Upgrading

Filed Under: WordPress Assistance Tagged With: WordPresd errors

My WordPress Website Died

June 13, 2009 by Ken Dawes 2 Comments

Yes, even The Web Mechanic can experience problems with WordPress!

Recently I thought my website (this website) was running a little slow… but it wasn’t anything that I was concerning myself about very much. Then yesterday, it slowed to a stop! I would try to access a page and my browser would just sit there trying to load the page. I didn’t think it was me, so I contacted my webhost service folks. They could see that there were a bunch of processes running that were gumming up the works. We both thought it was something spurious but also something to keep an eye on.

[Read more…] about My WordPress Website Died

Filed Under: WordPress Assistance Tagged With: WordPress Plugin

WordPress Wednesday

April 8, 2009 by Ken Dawes 8 Comments

Do you have a question about WordPress? Is there something that you want to do with your site that you can’t figure out how to do? A problem?

Ask The Web Mechanic!

On Wednesdays I will take questions and provide answers to your WordPress questions. You can fix many of the problems you might have with WordPress yourself, given a point in the right direction. Some problems may need “professional help”… I’ll let you know that as well.

[Read more…] about WordPress Wednesday

Filed Under: WordPress Assistance, WordPress Wednesday Tagged With: answer, Wordpress, wordpress problem, wordpress question, WordPress Wednesday

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Testimonials

I have been working with Ken for over 10 years and his web support and attention to detail keeps my website organized, material accessible, and ready for all types of web, tablet and mobile device layouts. His skills also make sure my site is protected, ready for my usage spikes, and synced with my ISP to head off any potential issues.

I highly recommend Ken for taking care of your ISP, web material, and website issues.
Dave Beulke
At a time when our chef recipe site traffic was doubling by the month, we had the unfortunate experience of malicious hacking defacements. We were unable to find the bad code inserted in the site and were at our wits end. We found Ken the Web Mechanic via Twitter, and hired him to fix the site. He did a wonderful job making our site secure and safe, was affordable, and easily reachable via email and phone. We highly recommend him for fixing and protecting your Wordpress site, and will use him again in the future without hesitation. Thank you so much Ken! Savory Tv
I used an acquaintance to build my website originally, but was very frustrated with the way the site looked and worked, and received no help at all. I called the Web Mechanic, and two short weeks later, I have a site I can be proud of. My clients appreciate the difference, and Ken’s work has made my site a valuable tool for my business. I highly recommend the Web Mechanic’s services to anyone needing help with a website. Giles Beilby
I put out one tweet on Twitter and there you were! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but your FAR exceeded my expectations. Not only are you fast in responding but you also take the time to explain everything in a very user friendly way. I was never frustrated and you took care of the problem very efficiently. I felt that you are well versed in what I needed for our website to be up and running. you did more than I thought you even would and I so appreciate it! I will definitely be calling on you again! MingCFO and Founder Reiki Fur Babies, LLC
The Web Mechanic not only provided prompt and outstanding service, but also improved the original design of our web site by enhancing our navigational constructs. Sherreen Ogletree
Ken and Casey Dawes successfully migrated our website to WordPress and made it much easier for the less initiated to maintain and made it look exactly the same as the old site. Well done! Rev. Steve Ellis St. John Episcopal Church Rev. Steve Ellis St. John Episcopal Church
Ken Dawes of The Web Mechanic made complicated changes to my Wordpress site easy by finding the exact plugins, creating the code, and tutoring me on how to modify my page hierarchy in clear terms that even a novice such as myself could understand. He’s a life saver. Alice Shapiro - Poet's Tongue
Ken was a fantastic resource to me in helping convert my website design and content into WordPress in order to allow greater flexibility. He also was very helpful in helping me understand the steps for starting and maintaining a blog as well as other neat things, using widgets that act as plug-ins for WordPress …whenever I have a question, I know he’s there to help me figure it out! Jen Berkley
I had been dreading creating a workable web site for more than a year, and then, thanks to a referral, I found Ken. He took my concept, improved it with my blessing and made it a reality. I love the layout and site design, but I also love the ease of administration. When Ken finished the site, he explained the “inner” workings to me in terms that I could understand, with no web guru jargon, providing simple instructions so that I can maintain my site. I am 100% satisfied and will definitely be on his repeat customer list. I encourage you to talk with Ken if you want a current, attractive website that matches your business model and that is easy to administer. Rebecca Bond

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  • WordPress Assistance
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  • WordPress Wednesday

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