WordPress 2.6 Upgrade Login Problems

If you are planning to upgrade your WordPress system to 2.6, there are a few things that you need to prepare. There is a weird thing that happens after you upgrade: you can’t log in or reset your password. I had a freaking heart attack after upgrading and all of a sudden I couldn’t log back in!

Fortunately, there was already support info on WordPress’ blog. You have to clear out your cookies to log back in. So, what can you do to prepare for the install without getting freaked out or dealing with problems installing multiple systems as I have to do?

First of all, it’s easier to use Firefox to do all this since it has an easy way to clear your cookies, just hit control, shift and delete at the same time and a box will pop up. Make sure the “cookies” box and “authenticated sessions” box is checked and hit “Clear Private Data. You can also reach this in FireFox by going to tools > Clear Private Data.

So the process to upgrade is basically the same as always except that after you do the upgrade, and are asked to log back in, clear your cookies, THEN try to log in. On 3 installs I had to have the password reset, but I didn’t have to on 2 others so I can’t explain the difference. The key is to be prepared for any bad things that could happen.

WordPress 2.6 Upgrade Checklist To Fix Login Failure Problems

Just know that if you are getting ready to upgrade to WordPress 2.6 have the following stuff ready:

• Backup your database! – this is more important than ever since there are a lot of reported bugs with version 2.6.
• Make sure you have your user information – Have the logins, emails and passwords for all administrator accounts. I don’t use the admin account to post articles so all my blogs have at least 2 administrator accounts. You might want to upgrade an account to administrator while doing the upgrade.
• Make sure your WordPress system is sending emails – you will be screwed if your WordPress system can’t send you the password if you need to reset it. Test that your system is sending emails and that you know and have access to the administrator accounts.
• Upgrade WordPress – go ahead and deactivate your plugins and run the upgrade script.
• Clear your cookies! you can use the Ctrl – Shift – Delete keys on your keyboard to launch the cookie clearer in Firefox, or go to Tools – Clear Private Data in Firefox or go to Tools – Delete Browsing History if you must use Internet Explorer.
• Log into your WordPress system as an administrator – once your cookies are cleared you can try to log in as an admin ad start activating your plugins.
• Activate Plugins One At A Time! – do not activate your plugins in bulk mode! If there is a problem with a plugin you will screw your entire system up if you don’t activate your plugins one at a time. If you have a problem with a plugin, but can’t access your plugin page anymore after the run-once screen pops up, you will have use a FTP client to delete the plugin or add a 1 to the extension. Make sure that if you use the automatic upgrade feature for plugins that the plugin that you are upgrading is deactivated before automatically upgrading it.

That should get you through the process of upgrading to WordPress 2.6 and deal with the login problem. Tomorrow I am going to post a tutorial on how to troubleshoot “WordPress White Screen of Death” problems. Remember to back up everything!

If you want to check out the best WordPress thems visit Revolution Themes, they are what I use for all my clients sites.