14 Reasons People Don’t Upgrade WordPress

Lorelle announced on her blog that older WordPress versions were getting hacked.

She is advising people to upgrade as soon as possible. 3238781353_4137a74471_o
The current version of WordPress at the time of this writing is 2.8.4 which was released 8/12/2009 and you can download it from the WordPress website. (Current version is 2.9.1 as of 1/20/2010)

The oldest WordPress install I’ve seen of late is 2.5. There are thousands of people still running on WordPress 2.7.

14 Reasons People Don’t upgrade WordPress

and I’ve heard a variety of reasons for not upgrading:

Afraid blog will break
Too busy
Afraid theme won’t be compatible
Not sure how
Don’t want downtime on the site
They’re not aware they need to
The website designer doesn’t know
Don’t want to pay someone else
The blog is a hobby, not something taken seriously
Corporate headquarters doesn’t like frequent updates
Unaware of WordPress community support
Language barrier
Overconfident and cocky
Upgrade seems too complicated

Lorelle lists some great resources to learn more about WordPress security including

Smashing Magazine – 10 Steps To Protect The Admin Area In WordPress

Matt Mullenweg – On WordPress Security

Fear, Uncertainty and Disinformation About The WordPress Exploits and Spam

Upgrading is just part of keeping your WordPress blog secure. We’ll be creating videos about the other things you can do to secure your Wodpress blog but it starts with keeping your blog current. It’s like wearing a seatbelt in your car.

Check out our WordPress upgrade service to keep your blog safe from hacking!