Introduction

Recently, I upgraded WordPress from 2.8 to 3.0. Most of the tutorials, including the WordPress Codex, tell you how to update a live blog, which is stored on your web host’s server. I couldn’t find any information on manually updating an installation on a local computer (such as a test server for theme development), so I wrote this article.

You may be wondering, “Why not use the automatic update feature?” Well, as documented by typing something like “WordPress 3.0 hangs when unpacking update” in Google without quotes, I ran into the problem that the automatic function was stopping during the update. I had to install it manually.

Manual installation basics

Turns out the manual update was pretty easy, but it was very difficult at first due to bugs that I didn’t pay attention to. Those will be documented in the “cheats” section below. Although I will not put together an in-depth tutorial, I will tell you how I updated my test blog in a very basic way. This same method is similar to the instructions on the WordPress Codex Update page.

1. First, I made a backup of the database by going to Tools, then Export in the admin panel. Then I selected Download Export File. This method is documented in the article “How to Backup Your WordPress Blog in 60 Seconds” by Christopher S. Penn. Google the title of this article for more information.
2. In the admin panel, there were the buttons Install automatically or Download [WordPress version number]. I chose the download link for a manual installation
3. I navigated to the folder where the file was downloaded. It can be a My Documents, Documents, or Downloads folder. In my case, it was a Downloads folder within My Documents.
4. I unzipped the folder (WordPress-3.01.zip) by right clicking and selecting Extract All
5. Following the Extract All wizard, the extracted folder opens. I double clicked on the WordPress folder
6. From here, I opened a second Explorer window by going to the Start menu, My Computer. From there I navigated to my original WordPress installation. I installed mine on Local Disk (C :), Program Files, Apache Software Foundation, Apache 2.2, htdocs, WordPress
7. Once inside my original WordPress folder, I copied (Ctrl-C) the wp-includes and wp-admin files from my WordPress 3.01 folder and pasted them (Ctrl-V) into the original folder (WordPress 2.8)
8. Although I didn’t do the next step during installation, since my folders were already set up this way, it’s a good idea to set your folders in Windows XP to show the full path in the title bar. To do this, go to the menu item Tools, Folder Options …, View tab, check Show full path in title bar and Show full path in address bar. This way you can know at a glance which folder you are in
9. As mentioned on the WordPress Codex Update page, I didn’t copy the wp-content folder as this would overwrite my current themes and plugins. For WordPress 3.0, I copied the twenty Ten theme folder in wp-content, theme folder to get newest 3.0 default theme
10. Finally, I copied all the files from the top-level folder, WordPress, including index.php. Then I pasted them in the original folder (2.8). I did not overwrite the .htaccess file and wp-config.php file, leaving them as is. These files are generally not included in a typical installation. I renamed the wp-config-sample.php file in WP 3.0 as wp-config-sample2.php just in case
11. From here, I was asked to log back into my admin panel and asked to update the database, following the link provided.
12. The installation was successful!

Windows XP related errors

The installation was successful after a lot of trial and error and curses on my computer screen, that is. I was trying to follow the tips above to install manually after frustrating crash on “Unpacking update” on automatic install. When trying to manually move the wp-admin and wp-includes folder from folder 3.0 to folder 2.8, I received the error message “Cannot create or replace wp-admin: Access is denied.” What was even more frustrating was that you were getting these messages after sending the original file folders to the Recycle Bin by deleting them. I couldn’t even restore the files because access was denied! Surely I thought that I had scrapped the entire WordPress installation and couldn’t update.

I finally realized what the problem was. I was working on a limited account on Windows XP. I do this on purpose for security, because I don’t want to be online with an administrator account. To follow the instructions above, copying and moving files in the Program Files folder and so on, I needed to log into an account with administrator privileges.

I never knew if the limited account issue was the reason the automatic update feature wasn’t working. However, this advice is guaranteed: if you update WordPress manually for a local installation, make sure you are using or have access to an account that has administrator privileges. I hope this article is helpful for those who have encountered the same problems as me. Thank you for reading.