Probably a silly question but how do you know if there are plugins on a WP blogsite?

A client of mine has a site that is on version 2.5.1 (Wordpress) and it's really ugly (putting it bluntly). It's not being used as a blog per se. It's a non profit organization with some events and announcements for members, with a focus on hopefully attracting more members.

I've never actually cleaned up a blog or upgraded one but no time like the present

I don't know if I should just scrap the whole site and start over in vs2.7 or try and make sense out of what they currently have.

So I have many questions - if I upgrade to at least 2.6.3 (2.5 offers so little options, it seems), can I just go ahead and hit upgrade? Someone had mentioned that the plugins might not be compatible. How do I know if there even ARE any plugins. They do have a Contact Form and a Membership Sign up Form, plus they have PayPal set up for members to renew their memberships.

I watched the videos on www.beablogger.com which are fabulous and have the book "Does this blog make my wallet look fat". I feel 'somewhat' prepared but seriously, with any of this stuff, if you don't just dig in, you will never do it! So I want to dig in but may have a few questions from all of you WP blog veterans!

Thanks,
Janice

Wordpress has many themes and plugins. If you log into the Wordpress account you will find the features. I would recommend upgrading the site to 2.7 and then doing the changes to theme, etc. If I can help you let me know. I have a website using Wordpress at www.lisaolinda.com which can show you a different theme and some plugins.

__________________
Lisa Olinda of Olinda Services
Keeping you on the path to success!
www.olindaservices.com

Thanks for the reply, Lisa. Your site is great -- really nice & clean.

This particular site I'm talking about is not really being used to "wordpress" potential. Would the 'forms' (contact and membership signup) be a WP plugin?

What's an easy way to save everything before I start any upgrading. I don't want to lose anything, including the forms. Just an FTP transfer? It's a self-hosted blogsite.

Thanks,
Janice

I am not sure how the blog is set up. I can use FTP to backup my sites but not my database. You will have to make sure you back up the database which contains the blog entries. If you go under the site admin under tools you can export the information to an XML file. It should contain all of your posts, pages, etc. The site www.lisaolinda.com does not have a contact and membership sign-up. Those are on my www.olindaservices.com website and that is not done through Wordpress.

__________________
Lisa Olinda of Olinda Services
Keeping you on the path to success!
www.olindaservices.com

I don't know if this version is so ancient, but there isn't even "Tools" to export anything. There's nothing. It's version 2.5.1. I'll probably just copy and save all the pages and posts (and there are very few) into notes or word and upload them in the new version if i have to.

Thanks for your help. I hope i can get through this without their site being down for too long

You need to download the Wordpress 2.7 and upload it via FTP into the wp-admin folder of the blog. The first time you open the blog it will ask you to upgrade the database. Click continue and it will automatically upgrade for you. You should not lose anything in the upgrade. You will then need to choose your theme. You would download the theme and upload via FTP into your wp-content/themes folder in the blog. When you sign in to Wordpress you can then choose which theme you want to use and it will automatically update the content to fit the theme. Then I would deal with plug-ins after you have done that.

__________________
Lisa Olinda of Olinda Services
Keeping you on the path to success!
www.olindaservices.com

Thank you so much, Lisa.... this helps a lot!!!

I'm pretty new to WP myself, but have found an awesome resource in Cathy Perkins, the WordPress Wizard (http://www.TheWordPressWizard.com) She has a weekly WordPress teleseminar that she does for free, as well as lots of free information available as well. She's been a great help to me!

Good luck!

Rebekah

__________________
Learn how to create your own Membership Site!
http://www.DIYMemberships.com

Rebekah, this is a great resource... I've signed up! Thanks so much!

Janice

My site is in Wordpress. Thanks for the info. I'll sign up. Still waiting for the book Wordpress for Dummies to come in. My husband ordered it for me for Christmas.