If you have anything but the most basic of blogs, you’re bound to have a range of plugins installed - possibly assembled over a period of several months as your blogging / site development skills have developed.

One disadvantage of free plugins is that the author has no obligation to support the plugin - and you do get the case where a plugin is abandoned due to WordPress’s evolution breaking the plugin. Some authors just don’t have the time or inclination to provide the ongoing support that is required with this evolving application.

So - there is no guarantee that the latest version of WordPress will work with each of your plugins.

Depending on the amount of traffic you’re currently getting and the value of your site, you should consider the following steps:

• Check the Plugins page in your current installation for update notifications
• Check Each Plugin’s Site

Check The Plugins Page For Updates

A feature that was introduced in WordPress a couple of releases ago was the notification of plugin updates. If a plugin has been updated, and if it is registered with WordPress’s plugins database, you will see see a message indicating so just below the specific plugin:

Of course, just because there is an update available, it doesn’t mean that it is an upgrade that caters for the new version, or that it is bug-free. Also, there are some developers not registered with the WordPress plugin database - so you should always check the plugin’s home page - to see if there are any issues with the plugin working with the latest WordPress version.

Check Each Plugin’s Site

To visit the plugin’s ‘home page’, you can simply click on the name of the plugin - but you will navigate away from your plugin list to the plugin’s URL. I use FireFox as my primary browser, so I right-click on each plugin’s name, and open a new tab for each plugin.

Many plugin ‘homes’ are WordPress blogs - with comments enabled. It’s worthwhile to browse through the latest comments - as this is the quickest way to find out whether there are any problems with the plugin working withh the latest WordPress version.

Download the plugin if there is a new version - and the feedback is that it works with the latest WordPress version. Save it in a folder on your PC - ready for uploading later on during the upgrade process.