Should You Upgrade To Wordpress 2.5?

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Wordpress is about to issue a new version: 2.5. Actually, it’s over due, as it was announced several times before, but I’m confident it’s coming one of these days.

So, how does this affect you and your blog?

Well, first and foremost you should always upgrade to the latest version if it has the latest security fixes. Or if it has great new functionality issues. The latter seems the case in Wordpress 2.5.

At the official Wordpress site you can get a sneak peak of the new functionalities. The first thing that caught my eye was ‘faster load times’. I use quite some plugins and while I minimized on showing third party widgets, I’m always interested in speed when it comes to loading my web pages.

But also built-in galleries, tag management and one-click plugin upgrades sounds great. I’ve written before about the plugin that automates the task of updating plugins, but if that’s a standard feature from this version on, that’s one plugin less. And less plugins sounds to me as faster load times.

Photo Credit: Wolfgang Staudt

Unfortunately, Lorelle VanFossen reports that this new plugin-update feature doesn’t work very well. People testing the new version report that they still have to download and upload updated plugins manually. That’s too bad, but I have the same experience using my Update plugin, so that doesn’t make the situation worse.

While I didn’t want to upgrade yet -not stable, not official- I was curious as to what the new features might look. So, I searched for a beta tester and found the demo site of Chris Johnston. He allows you to really have a peak inside the admin panels. Thanks Chris.

If you’re interested, check it out. I personally found the navigation better. It shows the most important things first and lets you handle all elements like a batch job, which makes it an easy check list.
I haven’t played with the multi media files yet, but they sure look very promising. The new version also allows you to play around with the color schemes used in the Admin area.

After reading that one, I still had another concern: how would my plugins react to the new Wordpress version. I searched for more news on this issue and found a list of plugins that have been tested for compatibility with Version 2.5. It didn’t make me quite happy as there aren’t that many on that list, so better be careful when upgrading. Test your plugins!

Finally, I was curious as to any database changes. It appears now there are some and Harnknell isn’t optimistic as he’s expecting a Flamestorm of Wordpress 2.5.

As I wrote before, many Wordpress users are not technical people and just don’t know how to upgrade to the next Wordpress version.
There’s a great plugin that upgrades automatically for you. Get it!
But my advice is wait with your upgrade until first results come in. If they’re good, go ahead.

What do you think?
Do you always upgrade immediately?
Do you thinks it’s safe this time?
Post your comments below.

Edit:
I upgraded to 2.5.
Everything works fine, except the plugin Popularity Contest. I can’t activate it. Nothing happens when I do and there are no warnings. If anyone knows how to solve this problem, I’ll be all ears.

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