Server and Wordpress Updates

October 28, 2007 – 4:19 pm

As part of my plan to Revamp My Blog in 30 Days, yesterday I took the time to update my server, update my version of WordPress as well as add in necessary WordPress Plugins. While detailing these updates may be a bit mundane - I am hoping that (strung together) they will be quite helpful to someone who is trying to accomplish the same type of revamp.

Server Update:

I looked into a few options on this one. I put a posting up on Craigslist, asked a friend if he would help me, thought about doing it myself and pinged my server’s customer service. In the end the breakdown looked something like this:

  • Can someone on Craigslist do it?: The lowest bid I got from people who responded to my posting was $400. While this may not seem like a lot of money for someone to update my Fedora version, PHP version and MySql version, you have to keep in mind this is personal blog - I don’t make money off of it and I am not rich. $400 was too much for me.
  • Should my friend do it?: While my friend could have done it a lot cheaper (free was the price tag on this one), the turn around time would not be within a day or two (which is what I needed). A price tag of $0 for some friendly help would have yeilded a timeline of “I will do it when I have some spare time.” This could have meant 1 day - but it could have also meant 1 year. I didn’t want to find out.
  • Should I do it?: The big problem with this one is that I am not a server guy. I know my way around a server; I can create sites, do mod_rewrites, update permission (all through putty) but I can’t be trusted to update my server software. The price tag of $0 and the learnings would have been great - but it came with the risk of irrevocably screwing up my server.
  • Can my hosting company do it?: Ultimately, this was the option I went with… and to be honest, I lucked out a bit. Apparently b/c I haven’t updated my server in quite sometime, I was able to get a free upgrade to Fedora 6, PHP 5 and MySql 5. The update was free, fast and I didn’t have to do a damn thing - perfect!

WordPress Update:

I think I have been using the first version (ever released) of WordPress for last year; it was time to move up and move on. I had heard horror stories of the last version WordPress put out (plugin issues, DB issues, etc) but quite honestly it was a terrible smooth update.

  • Downloaded new version of WordPress
  • Uploaded all new files (didn’t overwrite config file)
  • Followed instructions to convert database structure (in php admin)
  • Finished with no problems

WordPress Plugins:

With my update (server and WordPress version), I decided to take the time to add in some needed plugins. Below are the plugins I have initially decided to install:

  • XML Sitemap: Every site needs an xml sitemap and while I would love to build a cron job that runs every night and updates my xml sitemap; if a dynamic xml plugin for WordPress already exists then why reinvent the wheel.
  • HTML Sitemap: This what I typically reference to as a site directory. It’s basically an xml sitemap in a human readable form. Again, you could build this yourself but why would you when the work has already been done for you?
  • SEO Plugin: Unfortunately SEO Title tags and the Ultimate Tag Warrior plugins are not yet compatible with the newest version of WordPress. Consequently, I had to opt to use the All in One SEO Pack - it’s a great little plugin and gets the job done (so a million thanks) but I still wish I could have just rolled over with SEO Title Tags and UTW.
  • WordPress Caching: When you are on a cheap server (like I am), you need to do everything in your power to make sure your pages load as fast as possible. You’ll probably want to start by merely doing some MySql query caching but then (it you are slow like me), you’ll have to move on to compiler caching and page caching. This plugin significantly helps your speed issues.
  • Form Management: While this plugin is being used because of pure laziness (I was a lead programmer for 2 years - I can build a form just fine), I do have to say the plugin is quite awesome. It allows you to quick build basic forms, more advanced forms (which allow uploading files and auto “thank you” confirmations) and it also allows you to customize the CSS. It’s a brilliant plugin and I highly recommend it even if you only going to have one simple contact page on your site.

That’s it for yesterday’s updates. Next I am working on getting some social flare, RSS button and a custom logo/design up on the site.