Downgrade WordPress?? (after bad upgrade… long story)

  • So here’s the story. WordPress apparently runs an automated script that notifies users when it’s time for them to update their theme. This script works on a name-matching function. In my case, the theme that I designed my site with (“Focus”) was designed by a company (“Future Building”) that (I now understand) no longer exists. After they folded, another company (OpenSite) designed a theme with the same name. And so, Mr. WordPress decided that it would be a good idea to notify me that it was time to update my site. I ignored this for a while (as well as the suggestion that I upgrade to WordPress 4.2.2), since I was happy with everything I had. Then I got stupid this morning and decided to run the two updates. Big mistake. My site has now transformed into a basic “Hello World” site because in “updating” my “Focus” theme I was basically overwriting it with something completely different.

    Luckily, I still have a zip file of the original theme installation (from the company that no longer exists). However, when I install that theme back onto my WordPress some strange things start happening. Basically: all of my customizations appear to be saved. (And all of my media remains saved in the Library). But the live website doesn’t correspond with the back-end. My best guess is that this is because I also upgraded WordPress to 4.2.2, and this newest version of WordPress isn’t compatible with my old theme design. (And, of course, there’s nobody left to lend me support from the design firm).

    So…. here’s my question. How do I figure out what version of WordPress I had yesterday, so that I can try downgrading? It’s been over a year since I created my site (April 2014, according to the email I received from ThemeForest). And, as far as I can remember, I;ve never upgraded WordPress since then. Looking at the “versions” history on www.remarpro.com, it seems like the version that was available back then was 3.8.3. Does that sound right?

    And—does this plan make sense? 1) Downgrade to the version of WordPress I was using when I originally designed the site. 2) Re-install the original theme zip. 3) Pray that it works. 4) If it doesn’t work, restore my database via my hosting company.

    Any advice? I’m kind of in a jam because I really need this “business card” site to be up-and-running yesterday…

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  • Your idea makes sense from a “you can do that” perspective.

    From a real-world perspective, I would probably just try to find a similar theme on the theme repository to switch to that has current support. Running old versions of WordPress is a pretty dangerous proposition since it’s already a big target for hacking. A number of major security updates have happened between April 2014 and now, so you’d be really vulnerable to attacks/defacement. Not something you want to chance if this is going to be a site that potential customers/employers will be looking at.

    Hope that helps. ??

    Thread Starter tonsure

    (@tonsure)

    That was a super helpful response. (I think that might be the only time I’ve ever written that sentence). If I can ask a follow-up… am I being super naive to think that nobody would bother hacking into / defacing the site of an antiquarian bookseller (especially if it doesn’t have an ecommerce component)?

    Yes, you are. ??

    In large part, sites aren’t hacked because they are important sites…they’re hacked because they’re vulnerable. I get several hundred hack attempts per week on my personal site that is nothing more than a few blog posts and pictures.

    It’s not a matter of “if”, it’s a matter of “when”.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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