For all sorts of reasons, some people have a problem with updating WordPress installs properly. I will state now that for both our free and premium plugins we do not support anything but the latest and the prior to last version. At the time of writing that’s WordPress 3.5 and WordPress 3.4. If you’re running anything else, we can’t help you. But mostly, I want to convince you to upgrade by dispelling all the reasons why you shouldn’t or “couldn’t” upgrade.
The top four reasons we hear:
#1: “my site / theme will break”
Usually followed by “and I don’t have the time to fix it”. Well, plan some time or hire someone. This week. Because if you’re on WordPress 3.1 or 3.2, it’s a matter of time before you’ll get hacked. At that time you’ll not have the luxury of “planning” the upgrade, you’ll just have to suck it up and deal with it. Prevent that from happening and upgrade.
#2: “our core modifications will be gone”
Your what? You do realize that if you were to tinker with the code of say, Microsoft Word, Microsoft wouldn’t be helping you either? That’s exactly how it works with us. Our plugins work with WordPress, not with what you did to it. Remove your core modifications and turn them into plugins so they behave as expected by other plugins and then: update.
#3: “plugin x that we use won’t work anymore”
Well, you’ve got three options:
- contact that plugins developer and ask him to fix it;
- contact another developer and pay him to fix it;
- drop the plugin and start using another plugin.
#4: “I don’t need any of the new functionality”
WordPress is updated regularly, not just to add new functionality but to fix security issues too. Frankly, most people out there, probably including you, are not able to determine whether they need new functionality. WordPress 3.4 and 3.5 added API’s for developers that plugins that you’re using might want to use, not upgrading makes those plugins function less, or not at all.
Conclusion
In short: upgrade. I know some developers out there are saying that we can’t “require” people to upgrade, well, I disagree. He compares it to Apple not forcing you to buy a new Mac when it breaks. The difference there is that we’re not talking about hardware. We’re talking about software. Apple regularly asks you to upgrade your system to fix battery issues or other issues.
In the end, it’s an economic decision: I’m not going to spend valuable support and development time on a minority that doesn’t want to upgrade, at the cost of not developing new features or fixing bugs for current versions of WordPress. So, if you want to use our plugins, stay current!
Why we don’t support old WordPress versions is a post by Joost de Valk on Yoast - The Art & Science of Website Optimization. A good WordPress blog needs good hosting, you don't want your blog to be slow, or, even worse, down, do you? Check out my thoughts on WordPress hosting!