Spoiler alert. The answer is yes.
But to just say ‘yes’ without considering your upgrade pathway is setting yourself up for a potential fail. Upgrading the WordPress core without considering implications can lead to website instability, crashes and data loss.
Not good.
So, how should you approach upgrading to WordPress 5?
Well, before doing anything – and this applies to minor core updates (i.e. WordPress 5.0 to 5.01 or 5.1) and plugin updates too – you should backup your files and database. Saving them locally (i.e. on your computer) is best, although if you’re dealing with unwieldy file sizes, you can leave them on the server in the short term.
This is good hygiene as much as anything. It means that if anything breaks in the upgrade, you can roll back to the old WordPress with relative ease.
We don’t like to rely on automated backups – although they’re great, it’s best to take a backup manually so you know it will definitely work if you need to spin it back up.
Before upgrading the core itself, and after taking a backup, we update any plugins that we can and check for compatibility issues. If all tests well, we undergo the core update.
From there it’s a matter of testing to ensure everything is functioning. A hit list is typically page look and feel, contact forms, account login areas and checkout.
There are some major changes with WordPress 5 – so if you aren’t comfortable with this process we’d encourage you to engage the services of an experienced WordPress Developer. Like us!
So What’s the Point of Upgrading?
It always pays to stay on top of both WordPress core updates and WordPress plugin updates for one reason – and one very important reason. Security.
While WordPress is a very secure platform, being secure relies on having the most up to date version of WordPress.
Security flaws are discovered – and patched – regularly. If you do not apply the updates, you don’t get the patches… so you can potentially be hacked.
On top of the security benefits, it’s always easier to update in small, regular jumps than large ones. That is – jumping from WordPress 4.9 to 5.0 is better and less risky than jumping from WordPress 4.1 or 3.9 to 5.0. Essentially – it’s just good website hygiene.
Can you help us upgrade?
Definitely. Contact us and we’ll be in touch!
