Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

VAerin · #1 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

I have a client that has a wordpress blog. It was designed by someone over seas, very poorly! She wanted the blog upgraded, I backed up the blog and then upgraded. Everything was working fine until yesterday. She goes to login and there is a message that says:

Database Upgrade Required

Your WordPress database is out-of-date, and must be upgraded before you can continue.

The upgrade process may take a while, so please be patient.

Why would this be happening?

Thanks everyone!

ChristinaVOS · #2 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

Erin,
Don't panic. It's fine- Happens sometimes when upgrading. Just run the update.

~C

VAerin · #3 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

EDIT: Is there a difference between update and upgrade?

I already ran the update. That is what worries me. She also has a site built by the same people when the upgrade was done the template broke and we had to revert to a backup. She is working with the developers but I am very confused.

I have worked with wordpress for a long time, all my sites are wordpress. I have never had such bizzare happenings.

ChristinaVOS · #4 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

No difference. The Wordpress update and database update are two different things.

Direct from Wordpress: after running update "Visit your main WordPress admin page at /wp-admin. You may be asked to login again. If a database upgrade is necessary at this point, WordPress will detect it and give you a link to a URL like http://example.com/wordpress/wp-admin/upgrade.php. Follow that link and follow the instructions. This will update your database to be compatible with the latest code. If you fail to do this step, your blog might look funny. "

VAerin · #5 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

Ok, thanks! Is there a risk that the template will brake again?

ChristinaVOS · #6 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

Always a risk- if template isn't coded correctly to start with, it will break at some point.

VAerin · #7 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

That's what I am afraid of. Her other template broke with the upgrade. *sigh*

ChristinaVOS · #8 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

If it does break, let me know if you need any help with the fix or switching to another theme.

VAerin · #9 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

I am not sure what to tell her. She knows that they are poorly created. This blog I am talking about now, there are many strange codings in there. She has multiple sidebars, but the coding is not in the sidebar where they should be but rather within the PHP...I cannot figure it out. As soon as I think I've found it and removed the problem I check the site and its still there. So I have just left the craze code as it is so the blog continues to work.

Also, when you update your wordpress version site/blog (of course backing it up first) do you do anything other then press the update key? The developer of the site gave her a list of things that need to be done and I have never done of them when I upgrade.

Tess · #10 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009

Hi Erin,
While it is possible that her developer did a lot of customization to her template it does sound like a case of 'you get what you pay for' and probably isn't coded very well. Templates themselves can be messy to begin with, and adding customized 'stuff' to them can make them even more so, especially when done by an inexperienced "coder".

One thing you can bear in mind is that her post database is a sep. entity so if you do decide to start her on a fresh design/template you can easily port it over to a more 'sane' solution. And that may very well be the best option. These poorly coded sites always wind up costing much more than the initial investment just for all the problems they bring later on.

Good luck with this! I completely understand how frustrating it can be.