What you need to know
WordPress’s extended upgrade instructions require a usable backup of the database and every file before a manual upgrade, and suggest upgrading incrementally when crossing more than two major releases. Treat a neglected site as a staged recovery project.
Potentially affected
WordPress websites that have gone unmaintained for one or more major releases, inherited sites, and sites where one-click updates fail because of filesystem permissions.
DSE recommendation
DSE recommends treating an upgrade of a neglected WordPress site as a staged project with a tested restore point at each step.
WordPress’s extended upgrade instructions require a usable backup of the database and every file before a manual upgrade, and suggest upgrading incrementally when crossing more than two major releases. Treat a neglected site as a staged recovery project.
Source facts
The WordPress extended upgrade instructions start a manual upgrade by backing up the database and all WordPress files, including .htaccess, and verifying that the backups exist and are usable, which the page calls essential. Plugins are deactivated before the upgrade, and the page says not to attempt it until those first four steps are complete. During file replacement, wp-config.php, the wp-content folder, a customized .htaccess and a site-root robots.txt are kept.
WordPress says one-click updates work on most servers, and that problems are probably related to filesystem permissions. Upgrading directly across many versions is supported with proper backups, but when crossing more than two major releases the page suggests considering an incremental upgrade to avoid conflicts and reduce the risk of database damage. For very old releases it describes expected losses of some theme and plugin functionality, though not of content.
Applicability
Use this for inherited or long-unpatched WordPress sites and for planning repair work on them. Sites already on current releases with working automatic updates need ordinary update monitoring rather than this procedure.
DSE recommendation
DSE recommends treating an upgrade of a neglected WordPress site as a staged project with a tested restore point at each step. Copy the site to a staging host, take and test-restore a full database and file backup, record the theme and plugin versions, plan any intermediate WordPress releases needed, and only then upgrade core, PHP, themes and plugins in a controlled order before repeating the process on production.
Verification
After each stage, sign in, publish and preview a test post, exercise forms and any e-commerce checkout, check the PHP error log, and confirm the dashboard reports the expected WordPress version. Keep the backup from each stage until the site has run cleanly in production.
Official reference
WordPress Developer Resources — Upgrading WordPress: Extended Instructions. Reviewed October 18, 2026.
Review the official source
WordPress Developer Resources — Upgrading WordPress: Extended Instructions · Verified October 18, 2026
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