We are recommending to all our clients they upgrade their WordPress install to the latest version of WordPress which is 5.5.1.
In that notification Email, we recommend NOT upgrading to 5.5.0 and wait until 5.5.1 arrives. WordPress 5.5.1 has arrived, and we now recommend you upgrade your WordPress install to the latest WordPress version. Below is a checklist of going about upgrading.
If you have KartHost Managed WordPress hosting service, we will immediately be upgrading your website. Upgrades will happen over a course of 2 weeks, Sept 3 - September 17, 2020. We will be following the same steps as outlined below. Note: If you have our EZWP Complete package, you automatically have KartHost Managed Hosting.
Check List for Upgrading Your WordPress Site
(Note if you have KartHost WordPress Managed Hosting or KartHost EZWP Complete package, we will be handling your upgrade for you).
[1] Upgrade all Plugins (even deactivated plugins). Note: if a plugin is deactivated and you have no plans to use it in near term, delete that plugin)
[2] Upgrade your Theme(s) - Note: If you have multiple themes that are not being used (with exception of your Child Theme and a standby 'back up theme', we recommend you delete those if no plans to use them anytime soon).
CAUTION: If you have a custom theme that was created by a WordPress developer you will more than likely not be able to upgrade it without losing all your customization. Ask your Developer that created your custom theme as to the best course of action for your situation.
CRITICAL: If you are using an OLD theme (not necessarily custom) that is no longer supported, we CAUTION you on the upgrade of WordPress to 5.5.1. Make sure you have a backup of your site and if you need a Development Site to TEST the upgrade, open a WordPress Help Desk ticket and we will be happy to clone your site so you can test your Upgrade.
If You Have a Complex Site: If you have a Complex site, like eCommerce, Online Courses, any type of complex processing, we recommend you TEST your upgrade request a Clone Copy of your site.
[3] Make a BACKUP! – This can not be stressed enough. The recommendation is to upgrade your Theme and Plugins. Then Make a Backup of your site in case the upgrade fails for any reason.
KartHost Backup Policy You Need to Know About – KartHost makes BackUps automatically for you, on the following schedule:
Once Per Day - Daily Backups are held for 15 days
Monthly Backups - And retain for 365 days.
SITE OWNER BACKUPS – There is no such thing as too many backups, we recommend you make your own site backups in addition to the Backups KartHost makes on your behalf.
REMEMBER - NEVER BACKUP SITES and store the backup files on the same server as your site, you no longer have a backup but a copy of your site. Also, we do not allow you to backup your files if you have our Advanced Managed VPS Hosting for WordPress. You MUST Store your backup files off-site.
There are plenty of Backup plugins both free and paid. The one we recommend is UpdraftPlus. There is are two versions, the UpdraftPlus Free Version and the UpdraftPlus Premium Version. To learn more about both versions in a comparison chart visit the UpdraftPlus website.
So you know the UpDraftPlus Free version allows you to store your backup files with Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP/SFTP, Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud Files, and via Email (caution your backup will need to be less than 50 MB for KloudEmail and even smaller for other email services)
SPECIAL OFFER TO KartHost WordPress Hosting Clients ONLY - We can provide you with the UpdraftPlus Premium plugin for only $1.35 a month. If you would like to add it to your site, open a KartHost WordPress WordPress Help Desk Ticket to request.
[4] Once items 1 - 3 are complete above just go to Dashboard > Updates > and then click Update and then your upgrade will begin, the upgrade also temporarily places your site in Maintenance Mode. Total time to upgrade should be less than 60 seconds.
