Hmmm… finally managed to update my php version for my blog.
Not to say, without any problems encountered. Of course, I had problems. I think, even the tarsier who only looks as dumbed as it actually is, will also encounter problems with the process as well. 😉
Okay, nobody said it is easy. I get it. That’s why some bloggers don’t do the technical maintainance part of their blogs themselves. They get it fixed! Professionally! Perhaps, they only do the final click of uploading. Everything else is done by, well… somebody else.
I have to claim, that most of the works in my blog are handled by me, myself and I. If something does not seem to work well, and I can’t seem to fix it myself after spending like a hundred hours on it already, then my very own personal, private IT Helpdesk jumps in… *lol*
He jumps in, but not without a very long and repetitive lecture on the mistakes that I made. The simple, dumm error that usually accompanies my laziness to analyze properly and concentrate fully on the tasks at hand. Hence, I get stuck at some point and the rest of the time I would just end up with online shopping 🙂 🙂 🙂 up to the point where I get a headache and back pains from vegetating in front of my laptop. Then my fingers get stiff… and finally, my CC gives up! *lol*
Anyways, for the past several months, I have been neglecting the change. Why?, Well, first off, because I was still unsure of doing it myself. I have totally forgotten how I did it when I started my own blog. That was already like more than a decade ago. I just got lazy and pretended that nothing has changed. It seemed like I just wanted to live in the past. As if the world stopped turning and nothing great has changed. Well, I did notice that the turn of the century came, that everything else online is more expensive and that my last bills for the previous shopping craze was much less than at present… hmmm, there goes my limit again. Oh, I am digressing again.
Up to some point it worked, but then, some plugins were slowly giving me problems. A reminder kept popping up tells me that my version of php is waaaaaaaay too old, it needs to be updated in order for new features of the plugins to work, etc. etc.
So, I finally succumbed.
The procedure:
#Backup first! – I regularly do a back up of the whole database and files. It definitely makes everything so much more easier and faster.
#Log-in to internet host customer platform
#Go to “My Accounts”
#Click on “Expert Settings”
#Go to PHP Version Analysis – here you would find the current version you are using. Alternatively, you can upgrade your php version from this point on. However, one cannot reset it back to the old version once the change request has been made.
If all goes well, then this first part will go smoothly. From downloading the database, which would depend on how big the file is, it could go from 2-3 hours or more. The switching of the php version though will only take few minutes or with say few clicks.
Then, the next stage of the change has to be done. At some point, you go back and log in on your blog site and presto, your dashboard is full of red messages for errors. Obviously, most of your current settings, if not all, is not compatible with your brand new version of php paltform. Now, the real work begins.
You need to change themes, configure layouts. Check for the correct plug-in that works with your theme, php version, etc.etc. This took me the whole night. Well, I also needed to clean up my files. Then did some editing on my lay outs, choose another back up lay out, in case i get bored with the current one, then again perhaps two more extras. Last but not the least, just had to check every link I have on my blog if they were all still actual.
Unfortunately, I found out that some bloggers have stopped blogging since 10 years ago. I guess, right about the time when FB boomed from then on, a lot of bloggers retired. Or maybe switched to FB, which is way easier and most economical. So, a lot of my links has been removed. I should propbably start blog hopping again and see who is still doing the same. 😉
But for now, I need to go to sleep. I have another online event in a few hours and I do not want to like like dracula on video cam. *lol*
So, I would have to say, log-out and lights off for now.