The most often asked question regarding WordPress 2.0 is, "When is it coming out?" Well, that's going to be this week.
The second most often asked question regarding WordPress 2.0 is, "What is changed?" I think I wrote about that before.
The third most often asked question regarding WordPress 2.0 is, "Will my plugins and/or themes work?" Uh.... Possibly?This is also known as the dreaded question, "In what way is WordPress 2.0 going to break my site and cause me hours of upgrade pain without someone to whom I can whimper, 'Please, make it go again.'?"
This post isn't going to make that question much easier, but I may provide a toll-free support number for handling these issues before the week is out.
There is a user-supplied list of plugins that will/will not work with WordPress 2.0 over on photomatt's Codex user page. I hope that this page gets rolled into the main site soon because it's a little off the beaten path.
Here's the good news: Themes are probably OK. Unless your theme was doing something crazy before, it's probably going to work after the upgrade. There have been a lot of new plugin hooks added to the 2.0 version, but it doesn't seem like anything made it into the theme system that would cause it to break.
The theme system does allow for a custom plugin-like set of functions to be loaded. WordPress will automatically load a file named functions.php for any theme that includes one. This is done in the same way that plugins are loaded, and allows themes to supply their own custom features, including both output functions and configuration pages.
Also, themes should now come with "thumbnail" images (I say "thumbnail" in quotes because they're actually more the size of your palm, but...) that will be displayed in the admin. If your theme doesn't have one, it'll simply show a blank box.
A theme that doesn't have either one of these should load just as it did in WordPress 1.5.2, but won't have those additional features.
Plugins are another question, though. There are some specific sections of WordPress that have been heavily revised. If you use a plugin that integrates into one of these sections, it will probably not work. Specifically, the permissions and capability sections will be a bear for plugins that are affected by user levels.
If you are running a "view level" plugin - something that restricts a reader's permissions to access certain posts - I'll say straight out right now that unless you've got a brand new version (and I know of no author who has written one of these plugins that is offering an updated version) it's not going to work. If you have an update, comment here - I'm looking for it myself.
One often overlooked aspect of this is that any plugin that uses an admin page will need review. The function call that adds custom admin pages used to require a user level number. It now requires a capability name. Now there are some backwards-compatibility checks for user levels in there, but they may obviously not work as well as something specifically designed to work with the new capabilities system.
Also in the administration area, if you are using a plugin that hooks into the editor, you may have issues with it. This is particularly so if that plugin adds buttons to the Quicktag toolbar, since the new default is to use the WYSIWYG editor, which does not use the same toolbar.
I have written the buttonsnap class, which lets plugin authors add buttons to both editors very easily. It's not a plugin itself, but a library that makes it very simple for plugin authors to create buttons in either editor with a simple, single function call. Still, the plugin will have to be rewritten to use my library or some other solution if it's going to be effectual.
If your plugins use DOM to insert new elements into the user interface (pretty much any plugin that adds elements is using DOM to do it) then it may need to be updated to account for changes there.
The Upload page in the admin is gone. If your plugin altered or attached to that page, it won't be any more.
Generally speaking, you're going to need to procure write access for your server to the /wp-content directory of WordPress. That means you have to allow your server to write files into that directory from scripts. This will allow things like caching, image uploading, and the bundled backup plugin to work as they should, although your host may not like it or allow it (most hosts will, but you should check), and you might not consider it secure to leave all of the subdirectories there in that state.
You should verify with someone you trust concerning the permissions you intend to use to provide the access to your server that you want to provide.
What should you do if your plugin doesn't work?
Panic.
Nah, just kidding. Actually, before you upgrade, compare the list of working plugins against the ones you're using. If your doesn't appear in the "known working" section of list, you need to talk to someone.
Your best bet, if you can find contact info, is to badger the plugin author. Barring that, you can try any of the standard support channels, but be aware that in the fallout that is bound to occur when everyone upgrades, your 3rd-party code (code written by someone outside of the WordPress core) isn't going to be a priority.
I suggest trying WordPress IRC (#wordpress @ irc.freenode.net) and see if anyone there knows how to solve your problem. There is usually someone there that can at least record the issue or forward it on to someone who can start fixing.
I haven't been keeping up with documentation on 2.0 as well as I should, but I imagine that with the frequency of changes over the past month or two that nothing is verifiably up to date. If you find instructions in the Codex for performing some necessary intrinsic system change, first be sure that the instructions apply to the version you are installing.
Probably the most sound advice I can give you is this: If you have any doubt about performing an upgrade - don't upgrade! There's no reason to submit yourself as a guinea pig to test this software, especially if you're fairly satisfied with what you have already. Granted, WordPress 2.0 is a nice piece of work, but it's going to be a while before 1.5.2 loses the support of the community at large.
Take your time. Learn from the mistakes of the 500,000 other downloaders. After that, take the plunge.
Remember to backup everything.
Shameless plug: There are also people who can do your upgrade for you.
If any of you developers think of any other "gotchas" in the new system, please leave them in the comments. Thanks!
Otherwise, I'll see you in WP 2.0 later this week. I've got at least two plugins for 2.0 that I hope to have baked for the release. I'm also looking forward to the sleek new WordPress.org site redesign/rebranding we were promised with the new version release.
Know what else isn't gonna work in 2.0? Comments, if you happen to be dumb enough to run MySQL in standards-compliant mode (also known as "strict" mode). The fix has been in Trac for weeks, and was even marked as "solved" and closed, but it's still broken. Any thoughts on that?
MySQL 5 issue, mate. Hardly what most hosts are running.
There was also a whole thread on the support forum regarding this issue, and the amusing argument you were having with masquerade.
Suffice to say that if you're running MySQL 5 (most people aren't) and it's running in strict mode (not the default) then you'll probably have the same problems as 90% of the apps out there for PHP and MySQL. The only people concerned about compatibility right now are the people who are developing the next versions of PHP and MySQL, who want to see their product continue to be used by a public who would have difficulty updating several thousands of lines of code just to accomodate their changes.
The bottom line is, I'm not convinced it's an issue, and I don't appreciate you using my comment area for proselytizing or inducing hysteria.
Getting Ready for WordPress 2.0...
It’s almost here… within 48 hours, WordPress 2.0 will be released. As with major upgrades for most systems, there’re bound to be compatibility issues. For WordPress, many people are concerned that their plugins and themes won’t...
[...] As for what’s gonna work and what’s not plugin and theme wise, he’s also written this post on that matter. Don’t fret though, all of my plugins work with WordPress v2.0, minus Short URLs, but who cares about that retarded plugin anyway? [...]
[...] Here’s a page that you might like to visit too - What’s Not Gonna Work in WordPress 2.0 ! [...]
[...] Questa settimana dovrebbe uscire ufficialmente wordpress2. Due pagine interessanti per chi desiderasse verificare la compatibilità del proprio “set-up” con la nuova release: . La pagina del Codex di Matt con le indicazioni sulla compatibilità dei plugin . Questo articolo su asymptomatic che tratta di cosa non funzionerà [...]
[...] Aggiornamento: se leggendo questo o altri post vi è nata spontanea la domanda “Ma il mio sito funzionerà con wp 2.0?”, qui trovate qualche risposta Scritto da Stefano alle 13:35 :: Archiviato in: [...]
Hmmm. The Shimmer site still has no info on pricing/services/personnel. Not very professional, is it. ;-)
Right now I'm not sure if it's just something for enterprises or whether it might be affordable for poor college students
who should be concentrating on their schoolwork instead of fiddling with WPas well. Any ballpark figures?Andrea: We're so busy bending over backwards for customers that we don't even have time for our own stuff. ;)
We don't publish prices because unlike most designers out there who think they can pack everything you want into a preset price, we price everything individually. Yeah, sometimes that means "more expensive", but it always means "better results".
True, we tend toward designing for enterprise, but I'm thinking of running an absolutely crazy special for personal bloggers very soon.
If you're just interested in an upgrade, that's easy as pie. And I know you, so you should just email me. Free upgrades for friends. ;)
Man, I love having connections. :-D Thanks for the info, and I'll be sure to get back to you on this. If I remember my last upgrade correctly, "easy as pie" wasn't exactly the term I'd use to describe the experience, but at least nothing crashed or exploded. Much.
[...] At the end of Owen's article about what's not going to work in Wordpress 2.0 1, there's a link to an image on Matt's site of a proposed redesign of the main Wordpress site. [...]
[...] Tous les Wordpressiens se posent évidemment la même question: mes plugins (extensions) seront-ils compatibles avec la nouvelle version? [...]
[...] Auf Wordpress.org: Download WordPress 2.0 Release Candidate Viper007Bond.com: WordPress v2.0 Final This Wednesday or Thursday! Nochmals Wordpress.org: Wiki-Liste, Plugins that work and don´t work Asymptomatic zu: What´s not gonna work in Wordpress 2.0? [...]
[...] WordPress 2.0 is right around the corner. In fact, the “final” release candidate is available for download now. As I mentioned before, many of my customizations and plug-ins are going to go right out the window. Owen Winkler outlines what’s not going to work. [...]
[...] Die Meldung, dass die Version 2.0 des Blog-Systemes WordPress erschienen ist, sollte ja inzwischen jeder Blogger mitbekommen haben, der (wie ich) WordPress verwendet. Vor dem allzuschnellen Update würde ich allerdings jedem einen Blick in die rudimentäre Problemauflistung auf asymptomatic.net (englisch) empfehlen. Vielleicht auch nur dieses ganz kurze Zitat: Probably the most sound advice I can give you is this: If you have any doubt about performing an upgrade — don’t upgrade! There’s no reason to submit yourself as a guinea pig to test this software, especially if you’re fairly satisfied with what you have already. Granted, WordPress 2.0 is a nice piece of work, but it’s going to be a while before 1.5.2 loses the support of the community at large. [...]
[...] Laut Chef-Entwickler Matt Mullenweg soll WordPress 2.0 noch diese Woche in einer finalen Verion erscheinen (aktuell ist momentan der RC3). Zusätzlich wird die WordPress-Website ein neues Gesicht bekommen. Hier ein kleiner Vorgeschmack auf das Design (via Asymptomatic). [...]
These changes will be great, thanks. We have looked for plug-ins for many of these upgrades. I am interested in seeing how the new roles and capablilities is going to work, I have read about the upgrades on the Codex and think it is a much simpler system. We find that it is one of the hardest things that clients have to try and get their heads around, the whole issue of who has what permission. Also cann't wait to see the new image/file upload, and the WYSIWYG editor, again we have used plugins to this point. Also looking forward to the ping delay issue, and the admin redesign.... thanks again.
[...] Alright, it's time to get really technical again. With the release of Wordpress 2.0 just around the corner (finally) and Ringmaster wrote about something that I completely overlooked with all the bug hunting on the beta and release canditate versions of Wordpress so far. The Wordpress plugins. [...]
Say Owen, there's this one plug-in called "asysound" that I use pretty extensively through out my site. I didn't see it mentioned as either "working" or "non-working" on the list. Any idea how I could get ahold of the developer to ask about the status? :)
Hmm...
I thnk AsySound works just fine. I'm pretty sure I've used it here since I upgraded to 2.0, and the hooks that it uses (primarily the_content) weren't affected by the upgrade.
If you have problems, stop by my support forums and let me know, but I expect it to work just fine.
WP 2.0 remix...
WP 2.0 has been bumped to RC3.. final is due out real soon nowtm. For those looking to leap on in and get stuck into WP 2.0, some resources on plugin status and what may or may not work might prove useful, as will the support channels.
No Tags......
Thanks, Owen :)
By the way, there's no requirement for wp-content to be 777, or indeed world-writeable at all. As long as it's writeable by your server, everything's okay. For example, on my SUSE box, my Apache runs with the 'www' group, so I just chgrp'd wp-content to www, gave it group write access, and everything works.
True, true. I didn't mean to give that impression.
Sometimes explaining how security works on linux isn't worth the time to folks who have trouble with ftp. Better to give instructions like you've said, chgrp and be done.
Hi, Owen. Thanks for doing this comprehensive explanation of what is going on. Many of us "silent" people out there in the blogging world are looking forward to the newest upgrade.
I am curious about APIs with sites like Flickr. This is something I use almost daily. Will they still be functioning as far as you know?
Let's check it out. Looks like it works pretty good to me. :)
Awesome! Thank you so much! You guys are great!
[...] What’s not gonna work in WordPress 2.0 [...]
[...] A la espera de que aparezca la versión definitiva de WordPress 2.0, un par de posts para preparar: What’s Not Gonna Work in WordPress 2.0 y, sobre todo, una lista temporal de plugins que funcionarán (o no). [...]
[...] Am 26.12. 2005 soll es das neue WordPress 2.0 geben. Es gibt eine Liste, die auflistet welche Plugins weiterhin arbeiten werden und welche nicht.Studiere diese Liste ganz genau und überlege Dir sehr gründlich, welches Plugin Du unbedingt weiterhin haben magst und ob der Verlust desselben die neuen Features von WP 2.0 rechtfertigt. Ich weiß, dass ich mit dem neuen WP 2.0 noch warten werde, denn:Framebuster arbeitet nicht. Frambuster setzt folgendes zwischen head und /head Deines Blogs: [...]
[...] As it was mentioned on Asymptomatic, the wordpress.org will be redesigned in the course of the publication of WordPress 2.0. A screenshot can be found here. [...]
But what would REALLY mean so much to me is a clean method of post moderation for 2.0. I don't need comments. Heck, I'm gonna go in and take comments out (I love freedom of speech, it just doesn't suit my needs).
Any one give me a link to advice on this one? Happy hollidays!
-Stu
I do hope that Exhibit will work...will it? I already asked if the version you wrote for 1.2 (which I love and use and my site wouldn't be what it is without it) works in 1.5 but apparently no one ever saw that question on the support forums:(
[...] Owen discusses the likelihood of plugin incompatibilities under WordPress v2.0. [...]
[...] On a sidenote, Wordpress 2.0 RC3 has been released (thanks to Wei Zhong yesterday for giving me the scoop). Although this is still a Release Candidate, it could very well be the final release if things turn out well. Here’s a good writeup on what’s new in 2.0. A lot of refactoring of the core was implemented, not to mention major bugfixes. Unfortunately, there are still backward compatibility issues, in addition to only some plugins working. So, backup your data before you upgrade. [...]
[...] Verder is de grote vraag: Wat gaat er (niet meer) werken? Ik ga gelijk naar deze lijst met plugins die compatibel zijn, verwijzen. [...]
[...] Also check out the “What’s Not Gonna Work In WordPress 2” post and the list of plugins that are compatible with the new release. [...]
[...] 1. What Works Asymptomatic has your prep list, although I’d note that in my early tests blogs based on variations of Kubrick work without needing to be changed. [...]
[...] What’s not gonna work in Wordpress 2.0 [...]
Wordpress downgrade script...
Se siete passati a wordpress 2.0, vi siete pentiti e volete fare il downgrade per tornare al più stabile 1.5.2 Robert Deaton ha creato un piccolo script di downgrade per far tornare a posto il db.
ciuaz
......
Thanks. This was useful to help me work out what was required for updating the plugin and theme I had developed. (Nothing, as it turns out!)
[...] Owen’s also written a couple of great posts on “What’s new in WP2.0” and “What won’t work in WP2.0” [...]
Trackbacks don't work. Isn't that kind of a big deal?
I have seen a couple hacks, but I'd like to see an authorized WP patch, or a version 2.0.1 to resolve this.
Thinking I might be able to fix whatever broke myself, I madly went ahead and upgraded anyway, even though viewlevels is critical for me. That's what backups are for, right? :-)
Anyway, I found no problems at all. Using viewlevels 1.1.2 from furbona.org (which seems to be down). So if you're using that, you might want to give it a go.
Hehe... Guess I missed the boat on the whole "v2.0 being available" thing... Alas, your post was very reassuring, and I'll rest easy for now without the upgrade. Except now that you can sign up for a free wordpress.org hosted blog, which I assume is using v2.0 (cept it seems to be much more limited, and leave not so much room for customization) it's tempting to just use one of those, or at least play with one. In fact, might it be a good way to try out 2.0 to see how it feels?
Anyways, thanks for the writeup!
[...] Though I’ll probably just upgrade to 2.0 when I have the time… (Why not?) In which case I’ll have to make sure the update doesn’t break my plugins [...]
[...] Of course, a variety of people around the web have already found this out … and there’s a discussion about it on the Wordpress support forums, as well as here, and Techcrunch has a few notes on it as well. Also see this post of a set of general gotchas with Wordpress 2.0. [...]
Hello there :)
I'm new at WP and just installed 2.0 ..and LUV it ;)
anyways, I've got a category view-level plugin installed and it works like a charm:)
Can be found here:
http://dev.wp-plugins.org/wiki/CategoryAccess
~Cheers!