WordPress Tutorial: The Proper Way to Upgrade to WordPress 3.3.2

by jupiterjim on April 26, 2012

Where's Jupiter Jim when you need him?

Can’t I just hit the “Update Now” Button?

This WordPress Tutorial shows you the proper way to update to WordPress 3.3.2

Here are the basic steps for updating to WordPress 3.3.2 –

Backup the database and files to WordPress site.
De-activate your WordPress theme.
De-activate all your active plugins.
Update to WordPress 3.3.2
Re-Activate your WordPress Theme.
Update your plugins.
Re-Activate your plugins.
Done. Breath a sigh of relief!

How did you learn to Update WordPress?

I got a lot of information for this post and video from my good friend and WordPress Expert Kimberly Castleberry and I strongly suggest you also read her article on updating WordPress here.

FREE WordPress Backup Plugin, Please?

For FREE backing up of your WordPress database and files, I would recommend the “online backup” plugin.

If you would like to learn more about some other options for backing up your WordPress site, you can check out this article on premium WordPress plugins at WPBeginner.com.

For more information on the latest WordPress update please check out the WordPress.org website.

Tagged as: backup plugins, wordpress updates

Over 75 FREE WordPress Video Tutorials!

portrait of jupiter jim I have created over 75 FREE WordPress and Thesis Theme Video Tutorials! That's over 10 hours of FREE Training! Click here for my Thesis Theme Video Tutorials. And click here for my WordPress Video Tutorials. You may find all my videos on my YouTube Channel. I also design WordPress Blogs and Websites using the Thesis Theme.

Thanks for your COMMENTS!

Sincerely,

Jupiter Jim

{ 75 comments… read them below or add one }

Eihdra April 27, 2012 at 12:49 AM

Wow! I just backup and update! Didn’t know I also need to deactivate those things!

jupiterjim April 27, 2012 at 1:18 AM

Eihdra,
It’s really the safest thing to do is to de-activate plugins especially and also themes, too. Write to the theme developer and make sure the theme is ready for the upgrade to the latest version of WordPress.

Thanks for being the first to comment on this post for me!!!!

Take Care,

Jupiter Jim

Eihdra May 1, 2012 at 7:35 AM: Finally backed up all 20 blogs using your “technique”.. so far no problems.. Thanks again!
Eihdra recently posted..Contest Alert : Goodies for Mommies Giveaway

Reply

Kostas April 27, 2012 at 2:16 AM

Hi Jim,
I haven’t updated my WordPress yet, I am always waiting 1-2 weeks before I make the update and search to find if others have any problem…
Did you notice any problem with any plugin on your blog after the update?
Kostas recently posted..Free WordPress Installation Service – Start Blogging Now I clicked the google button when I commented

jupiterjim April 27, 2012 at 2:30 AM: Kostas,

I noticed no problems with any of the plugins. I say, back it up and go for it! It’s been a week now.

Reply

Nica Mandigma April 27, 2012 at 2:44 AM

Ooops! I dont back up but I do have WP Backup to Dropbox so that takes care of it. I should keep in mind to deactivate plug ins and themes. Thanks for that tip, Jim!
Nica Mandigma recently posted..How to Create a Google Calendar Event from Gmail

Pete Goumas April 27, 2012 at 7:48 AM

Hi Jim,
Thankyou for sharing the basic steps for updating to WordPress 3.3.2 and now it make it easy for me to update it. I liked your recommendation of “online backup” plugin and it is really good to use for free backing up of WordPress database.
Pete Goumas recently posted..Vitalicious Discount Coupons & Review

bolivar April 27, 2012 at 10:24 AM

thanks for this recommendation of the “online backup” youve given great basic steps for updating to WordPress 3.3.2 too cheers mate

Steve Vernon April 27, 2012 at 11:07 AM

EXTREMELY helpful, Jim. Thanks. I’ll be doing all the appropriate backups and updates this evening using your instructions. Your videos are always very clean, straightforward and extremely easy to follow. Keep it up!
Steve Vernon recently posted..The Power of Doing Nothing

Jesse April 27, 2012 at 12:39 PM

Hey Jim!
Thanks for the recommending Kim’s website! Her Rolodex page alone is worth it’s weight in Gold! And thanks for post the proper procedure for updating WordPress. I was just pressing the “update” button like most Admin’s. Didn’t realize it was so important to deactivate the templates and all the plug-in’s first. Thanks again, buddy!
You’re a Gem!
-Jesse

Steven Papas April 27, 2012 at 1:25 PM

I love the picture. That is exactly the way I feel when I do thing that could mess with a source of income for me.
Steven Papas recently posted..Webhosting Plans

Tristram Lodge April 27, 2012 at 2:54 PM

It feels like only yesterday I did the last update and I had a couple of problems then. I will take your advice and deactivate the pluggins and theme and update. Thanks for sharing.

Tristram Lodge
Tristram Lodge recently posted..Free MLM Leads – Is There Such A Thing?

Lucy April 27, 2012 at 5:52 PM

straight forward advice sure takes the pressure off, thankyou – glad I found ya!!

Kat April 28, 2012 at 12:16 AM

I learned to hard way. I updated to the latest WP a couple of versions ago and it ran a conflict with my theme. Since then I delayed updating but it got me into a lot more trouble when hackers used it to infect my site with malware.

Now I do as you say, back up, deactivate and voila! Problem free WP Update! Thanks for sharing this!
Kat recently posted..Swimming and Drownproofing for Babies and Toddlers

Elizabeth April 28, 2012 at 1:08 AM

Hi Jupiter,
This time round I want to get it right and without hassle so this article will definitely be of great help! My last update was a total disastor! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Elizabeth recently posted..Niche Marketing Strategies Revealed: 3 Best Successful Strategies

marquita herald April 28, 2012 at 10:05 AM

Hum, well I always back-up but have never deactivated the plugins. I do however make sure the plugins I have are up to date. Really great advice and I’ve made note of the steps for the next WP update. Thanks!
marquita herald recently posted..Until You Value Yourself, You Won’t Value Your Time

Lanikee April 28, 2012 at 8:43 PM

Aloha Jupiter Jim, very informative post and video. Gosh another update with Wp and you summed it up for most of us. You’re the man, staying on top of it and sharing with us. Mahalo, Lani
Lanikee recently posted..Modifiy Spam Comments To Increase Your Page Rank

Syeda Mehwish April 29, 2012 at 7:14 AM

Hi Jim,
It’s a great way to teach your readers by making videos. I always prefer to watch video and it make so easy for me to understand the topic.After watching this video we could easily upgrade to wordpress 3.3.2. Thankyou so much!
Syeda Mehwish recently posted..Native Remedies Coupon Codes

Amrik April 29, 2012 at 8:03 AM

really nice! I followed your steps and I updated my blog so easily!
Amrik recently posted..Effect Of Google Panda Update On Online Marketing

Devesh April 29, 2012 at 8:51 AM

Hi Jupiter,

Great stuff and thanks for taking time to share the basic stuffs. This is very helpful for beginner WordPress users or those who’re just getting started with WordPress.

Keep up the good work, Jim.

-Dev
Devesh recently posted..Should You Add a Donation Button to Your WordPress Blog?

Beatrice April 30, 2012 at 1:23 PM

Everyone should be wary when upgrading because you might lose your precious files and destroy your wordpress forever. It’s always good to have a back up. How many times have you failed to save your existing files before upgrading?

-Beatrice
Beatrice recently posted..Website

Holly April 30, 2012 at 3:48 PM

You make it sound pretty simple.. but I always get so worried when I update.. In fact I usually have some one do it for me.. Bit of a phobia… I will watch and read again.. see if I can get the courage up to do the update!! Thanks Jim!!
Holly recently posted..Hooked Into Another Weight Loss Miracle?

ROn April 30, 2012 at 6:55 PM

I seriously just back-up and update! Didn’t knowyou had to do all of these things!
ROn recently posted..Chapter by Chapter review: Tyra Banks’ “Modelland” Chapter 21

Kai Sensei April 30, 2012 at 11:32 PM

Thanks for the info.. Looks like this is the place where I should go if I ever I switch to wordpress.
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Cathy Dullea May 1, 2012 at 2:21 AM

I have burnt my finger once! I am not an expert but yes I do own few site made on WP. I had updated it once, something went very wrong and i lost a good amount of money in getting restored. Since then I have stopped using the update button!

chrisair May 1, 2012 at 5:30 AM

I will bookmark this Jim, though I still use to blog in bloggers only, but I know there will be the time that will trasfer to WP
chrisair recently posted..Be the First SoFA Designer for BAYO

Photoescape May 1, 2012 at 9:40 AM

great post! this can really help!

Lizzie May 1, 2012 at 10:05 AM

The update was really helpful. My friend’s blog was hacked and updating to the latest version really helped!
Lizzie recently posted..Payday Loan: A Quick Alternative

Ian l brownmantrips.com May 1, 2012 at 10:14 AM

wow! thanks! big help specially for a wp illiterate like me… hehehehe
Ian l brownmantrips.com recently posted..Taiwan: Millenium Hot Springs 千禧汤

Becca May 2, 2012 at 12:57 AM

Thanks for the good tips provided here! I am not good on wordpress, Hi there, these are some great tips, which will help me improve my knowledgein wordpress.

Violy May 2, 2012 at 4:35 AM

I will save this for possible future use, I’m presently using blogger for my site.
Violy recently posted..Vivi’s soul searching trip to Phuket, Thailand

iPhone 4 cases May 2, 2012 at 7:39 AM

Hey jupiterjim!
Great Free Tips You share.
Am using Word press and it helps me alot. And i also save all this procedure. Thanks again
iPhone 4 cases recently posted..Top 10 Best Horror Movies 2012

Jane May 2, 2012 at 7:44 AM

Good to know! I didn’t really even think about doing all that! I would never remember to deactivate those things on my own!
Jane recently posted..Prevagen Review

MaxiVelasco May 2, 2012 at 10:20 AM

I have a Wordpress account but haven’t really used it at all. I have nothing against Wordpress. It’s just that for the meantime, I think it’s not for me. But I’ll definitely give it a shot one day and when that time comes, I will be running to this blog of yours for help

You have an awesome day, yeah?
MaxiVelasco recently posted..Fashion: Breezy Summer Looks

GreenDei/Daryll May 2, 2012 at 10:22 AM

am longing to learn more stuff from wordpress, think I’ll be visiting your page more often!
GreenDei/Daryll recently posted..Dreamwave at White Beach, Puerto Galera

Melodie Kantner May 2, 2012 at 11:52 AM

I always back up before updating but I have never deactivated plugins.

I love your image. It made me laugh out loud. I have used some similar images from Iclipart. I love the funny ones.
Melodie Kantner recently posted..Why Building A Strong Success Mindset is Crucial

Bery C.P. May 2, 2012 at 9:04 PM

Good to know! I didn’t really even think about doing all that! I would never remember to deactivate those things on my own! This is a great blog with excellent posts and links.
Thanks for sharing

julythomas May 2, 2012 at 10:44 PM

I think blogging is must for every small business, so that you can write interesting post and by promoting it on social media you can easily attract your targeted audience. Many small businesses are using this technique quite successfully.

lilyg May 2, 2012 at 10:45 PM

Linda Your Twin Sis! May 3, 2012 at 1:17 PM

Excellent as always!

Willa May 4, 2012 at 4:47 AM

wow! your tutorial is so easy to follow,though I always update WP but I don’t do back ups, now I know i have to. Thanks!
Willa recently posted..What Is Liability Insurance?

Rent To Own May 4, 2012 at 12:08 PM

I am also planning to upgrade my wordpress site but I am afraid that some of my plugin will not work and my site will get crash. Good thing that I went here and remember the backup thing.

But one thing that worries me, are all the plugins compatible with this plugins and also I am using Genisis themes and if it also compatible?

curi lema May 4, 2012 at 2:55 PM

thankyou, you`ve given me the needed kick up the back side to do some backups and updates, found your videos very helpful and easy to follow the info…appreciate it!

tinafreysd May 4, 2012 at 8:08 PM

WordPress, a leading blog server application, doesn’t support direct imports of Adobe Photoshop’s native PSD file format..
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julythomas May 4, 2012 at 8:11 PM

Thanks for being the first to comment on this post for me!!!!
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nakula May 6, 2012 at 2:36 AM

Great, I like your way to explain it, You always have new something, thank for sharing..:)
nakula recently posted..Water Heater

Dhyan May 6, 2012 at 8:46 PM

Thanks for the tutorial you have shared here and I am sure a lot of people would be very excited with this.. Thanks!
Dhyan recently posted..used cars gloucester

Dr. Erica Goodstone May 7, 2012 at 7:05 PM

Jim,

Thanks for explaining that we should deactivate our current plugins and the theme. This whole process worries me but I know I have to do it soon.

Dr. Erica
Dr. Erica Goodstone recently posted..What Does Love Mean to YOU?

Calire May 8, 2012 at 3:01 AM

This whole process worries me but I know I have to do it soon. Thanks for the wonderful explanation. Please keep it up.
Calire recently posted..Difficulty Getting Pregnant

Heliot9 May 8, 2012 at 7:10 AM

Thank you, as a beginner I always need this kind of simple but efficient information. Wordpress backed up and upgraded in 2 minutes!
Heliot9 recently posted..Lunette de tir pour la chasse

Mark May 8, 2012 at 8:43 AM

Oh shoot now I can not just hit the up-date button and blame the system for any screw ups that happen! I never realized I needed to do all the above just to do the up-date. Sitting here thinking about it though does make sense as it is basically the foundation that everything else operates on and if the foundation is shaky then everything else will eventually come down around it.
Mark recently posted..What is the probability of winning the lottery at least once?

Michael May 8, 2012 at 11:47 AM

I agonize over doing this every time there is a wp update. And I usually delay and delay because I am afraid that I will break something and I won’t know how to fix it.

After reading this excellent article, I can see that having a plan to backup everything and then update, instead of just pushing the update button, makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you Jim for sharing this with us, I feel a lot less stress now.
Michael recently posted..Building Your Dream

Sadie-michaela Harris May 8, 2012 at 4:01 PM

LOVE the photo you’ve chose to illustrate this post Jim! It really captures the essence and oh my have I been there, done that, picked up the t-shirt and looked like that guy in your picture!

I really can’t emphasise enough the importance of backing up before upgrading … you just never know … takes so little time when compared to the possible consequences of not doing so!

A good reminder for all, Bien fait Monsieur!
Sadie-michaela Harris recently posted..How Does Google’s Ranking and Website Evaluation Process Work?

William Earl Amis Jr III May 9, 2012 at 4:47 AM

Jim,

This was priceless information and I do agree to backup all prior files. I used my on system and downloaded to save everything.

I just exported all files to my computer and then imported it back once updated. Yet, that was the last time. I did not loose anything doing it my way.

This procedure seems allot of action before you even can change to upgrade your site. It was much easier with just to steps. I host my own site and created my own theme not WordPress and that is why I was able to complete my upgrade without any problems in two steps. Export then upgrade then import and done.

It was simple based on me creating my own theme. I would not ever not backup my site information. I do this everyday before I shut down for the evening. It just makes sense.

Jim, your a great coach and I love your insight on all the topics here. Much to remember and put to use right away. Thanks for caring to share good quality information.
William Earl Amis Jr III recently posted..Your Crazy, Check Yourself

Chucky May 9, 2012 at 10:31 AM

Nice blog. I think blogging is must for every small business, so that you can write interesting post and by promoting it on social media you can easily attract your targeted audience.
Chucky recently posted..Low Carb Diets That Work

jennifer May 10, 2012 at 2:58 AM

Great tutorial, this will bring a huge help to a blogger like me for knowing what’s the best to do in doing such things…
jennifer recently posted..this link

PHP Developers May 10, 2012 at 5:31 AM

nice description about wordpress thanks for sharing it

Mat Slair May 10, 2012 at 10:20 AM

I have always found the process to be far more complicated, I had hit the just update button once and had to spend $300 on getting the original version and my site back!
Mat Slair recently posted..The truth about review sites

Clarence May 11, 2012 at 1:19 PM

Great post! I never thought that there’d be a proper way to update your wordpress plugin. This tutorial has really helped me in a lot of ways. Why do you recommend “online backup” plugin? Anyway, thanks a lot for sharing this information!
Clarence recently posted..article

viec lam hai phong May 11, 2012 at 9:26 PM

Oh, it’s been quite a long time since the last time I’ve updated my WordPress page. It would be nice. Thanks for your information.

gab May 12, 2012 at 10:34 AM

thanks for the brill help here, guess ive got some backups and updates to get on with , found you videos very helpful and easy to follow….cheers

Gary Young China Sourcing May 12, 2012 at 11:33 PM

Great post. Seems like updated WordPress is a good idea and not too hard. Thanks for sharing!

Jeffrey May 13, 2012 at 12:30 AM

WordPress 3.3.2 is a security release and everyone should upgrade. Looks like the SWF uploader is being replaced…good, since it didn’t work that well anyway. No added features, but for security sake you do need to upgrade. Remember…don’t just push the upgrade button…do it right to avoid Murphy’s Law.
Jeffrey recently posted..Belk credit card

Sara May 13, 2012 at 10:22 AM

hey thanks a lot for sharing this helpful blog …
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Penny May 14, 2012 at 1:06 AM

Your blog is quite helpful .. thanks for sharing ..
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Nancy May 14, 2012 at 10:46 AM

This is a really good concept to have been dealing with… great work.
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Holly May 14, 2012 at 2:54 PM

Hey Jim!! I went through your info and followed what you said.. I used 2 computers so that I could watch and do at the same time.. It worked!!
Holly recently posted..Hooked Into Another Weight Loss Miracle?

Brian Lagoni May 15, 2012 at 7:21 AM

Thanks for sharing! Great post & very easy to follow video tutorial.

Regards,

Brian
Brian Lagoni recently posted..A Cool Conversational Hypnosis Trick Demonstrated live

David Merrill May 15, 2012 at 10:59 PM

This is a pretty scary process for the non-tech crowd, Jim.

Thanks for the thorough walk-through and references to guide us through the rough and often unfamiliar waters.
David Merrill recently posted..Leverage | Stealth Internet Marketing

Willena Flewelling May 16, 2012 at 4:30 AM

Wow… thanks for the reminder! I haven’t upgraded mine yet! Great post, Jim, and easy to follow. Now to come back when it isn’t 3:30am, and actually follow your steps!

Willena Flewelling
Willena Flewelling recently posted..Getting Things Done – Where is Your Focus? I clicked the google button when I commented

riathomas May 20, 2012 at 4:09 AM

Thanks for sharing such a valuable information. It’s really amazing.
nice sharing it is Thanks for again sharing
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jenli May 23, 2012 at 2:37 AM

I have seen this “update now” button for few months now but I am very hesitant to hit it because I may break my website..But thanks for sharing these tips. This is very useful since I am planning to upgrade to the newest version..

Rick Lelchuk May 31, 2012 at 3:53 PM

Jim,

Thanks for that update. Been hesitant to do the deed without some fore-knowledge of how to do it. Appreciate you helpfulness.

RICK
Rick Lelchuk recently posted..Why Know Your WHY?

Sherie June 29, 2012 at 2:16 AM

Jim, thank you for the most excellent video on upgrading Wordpress…I watched it twice, took a deep breath and did it. You explain things so clearly. I am very grateful for the time you take to put these videos out. They are very valuable to so many of us!! Thank you!
Sherie recently posted..When You are Tolerating the Intolerable, What are You Really Doing?

Astro Gremlin October 19, 2012 at 7:26 PM

Jim, backing up your blog is critical, whether or not your about to “drop the big one” and upgrade WordPress. I have my blog set up to mail me a backup periodically. Yes, it’s on MY system, not my host’s. When updates roll around I check my e-mail to see if I’ve been sent a backup recently!
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