That was strange. You see, the blog I was working with had just been updated to version 2.3.3 using files stored on my computer. The same files that I’d used to update a few blogs on my other domains over the last couple of weeks.

I went and looked at each of the other blogs that I’d updated from 2.1 or 2.2 to version 2.3 and those that were on their own domain still said they were using WP version 2.3.3, but all of the blogs that are located on my Feverishthoughts.com domain – even the ones that are still using much older versions of WP say that they are using WordPress version 2.5 now.

I checked the files for each of the now 2.5 blogs using FTP and by looking at them using my hosting c-panel and there were no extra files that shouldn’t be there. I even checked my web hosts Fantastico version of WP and they are still only using the 2.3.3 upgrade so there’s no way that they did some kind of automatic WP upgrade on my behalf.

The fact of the matter is that the blogs that now say they are using WP version 2.5 are still really using whatever version of WP that they had been prior to my discovery. Nothings changed in the admin panel – you know the new look that 2.5 is supposed to have? Everything about the way the admin area of my blogs are set up are still the same.

So why do some of my blogs say they are using WP version 2.5? Is it some kind of WP glitch? If it is, why don’t my blogs that are on their own domain now also falsely say they are using 2.5?

Has anyone else noticed this strange problem?

BTW I do plan on upgrading all my sites to WP 2.5 shortly, but I’d like to wait a few weeks to be sure that most of the glitches are out of the latest version. I also want to make sure that the plugins that I’m using have upgrades that work with 2.5 as well.

So for now I’ll stick with 2.3 which the majority of my sites are now using and those that aren’t will be upgraded within a few days. Just upgrading to 2.3 has been a pain because I had to widgetize some sites and change from really old themes with function calls that didn’t work with 2.3 to newer themes. For some blogs upgrading has been a total overhaul!

The Wordpress plugin is called the WordPress Upgrade Preflight Plugin. The current version, 1.1, is meant for those who are about to upgrade their WP installation to 2.3.

The Preflight Check plugin will attempt to check your other plugins and themes for any problems that might cause errors when upgrading. It apparently also works in 2.3 and may help identify the cause of any current errors as well.

As I stated in March I was slowly going through my sites and upgrading them from Wordpress versions 2.1 and 2.2 to 2.3. I have a lot of blogs and to be perfectly honest with you I still have four left to upgrade!

I’m using some highly customized older themes on a few of my blogs and as I’ve upgraded I’ve found code that I had to alter to work with WP 2.3. I also had to update a number of plugins. This was time consuming work. I’m sure the Preflight Check plugin will make finishing my upgrades to my final four WP blogs a lot easier. Of course I’ve already updated the plugins.

The plugin author is currently working on a version for WP 2.5 so if you’re planning on upgrading to 2.5 soon be sure to check the Preflight Check page for updates.

Oh and don’t forget to backup your Wordpress database and files before you do any upgrades! I use the Wordpress Database Plugin which allows you to not only backup your files to the server, but to have your backup emailed to you as well. You can also schedule regular backups too.

Anyway, I’ve been driving myself nuts trying to find the perfect themes to convert for my sites. I always customize my themes. I’ve also been looking at a lot of different plugins as well. I can certainly see how some people can get hooked on trying out plugins! There are so many handy ones, as well as ones that do cool things. I don’t think I need them all though.

I managed to convert one of my current sites over to widgets, but I’m using the KonteraControl plugin on that site to keep Kontera out of some of my posts. Trouble is – once I widgetized the site I have Kontera in posts that it shouldn’t be in!

I want to move ahead and change the theme for my main blog Tricia’s Musings and I’d love to finally widgetize the site since it makes it so much easier to change themes in the future. Plus the widgetized categories and pages allow for drop down lists – which is something that site really needs. However because of the kontera plugin problem I’ll have to wait on widgetizing that site.

Does anyone know of any good plugins that either make Archives, Categories and Pages into drop down lists or help in creating pages that will list them? I took a look at WP-dTree 3.2 and while it adds some very cool function to categories and achieves it doesn’t assist in making them drop down lists. I also tried WP Navigation Tool (NAVT) and it does create drop down lists for categories and pages, but doesn’t do it for the blogroll.

Anyone know of any other plugins that might do what I’d like them to do? Or perhaps some simple code to create a drop down menu?

Right now on Tricia’s Musings I’m using Floobles expandable javascript to create drop down menus but the javascript slows down the page load so if I must code my site in some way I’d rather not use javascript.

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Why not enter the “I need a new design” contest that’s being held by lifeBLUE Media.

LifeBLUE specializes in web design, graphic design, SEO, Internet marketing, application development, and web hosting. Visit the site and take a look at their portfolio. They are featuring some very nice web designs that they’ve done for past clients. You’ll be in good hands if you win the contest.

It’s easy to enter the I need a new design contest. Simply visit the LifeBlUE.com website and fill out the contest entry form. Unfortunately this contest is only open to US residents. Otherwise I’d probably enter this plain Jane site myself.

Once you enter the contest you can tell your friends, family and site visitors about the contest and ask them to vote for your site. As you’ll see by visiting the contest link above the site that’s in the lead is shown as a larger image in the collage of sites that have entered.

The contest began and July 9th and submissions and votes will be collected until August 8th, 2007. There’s still plenty of time to take the lead and win a professionally designed web design.

The winner will receive a custom design that will be in both graphical format as well as html format. The design will be created by LifeBLUE’s experienced design team.

The winner will of course have the ability to provide feedback on the design and information about the goal and direction of the site so that the team will be able to create a suitable design that will take your site well into the future.

There are actually two ways to win this contest as two winners will be selected.

One way is to simply submit your site as described above and then to garner votes. The person who has the most votes, and likely the worst current design as determined by their voting friends, family and site visitors will win a free web design.

The second way to enter this contest is to enter the random draw. Write up a blog post and use the following anchor text to link to the main index page of LifeBLUE Media:

Link url – http://www.lifeblue.com/web_design_contest/

Text: web design, web designers, website design, web design company

I presume that the people at LifeBLUE will be keeping track of incoming links with any of those link phrases and that they will add those sites to the random draw.

Why are you still here?

Get going! Enter the contest! A free web design would be fantastic wouldn’t it?

Speaking of themes, I also came across a post that said that HongKiat.com has a list of the 49 most downloaded Wordpress themes of all time. Since I’m looking for new themes for three or four of our sites I mossied on over there to have a look.

I’m not sure that I want to use the same themes that everyone else is using. I’ve always prided myself on altering and customizing the themes that I choose to use to give our sites a unique look and feel. Well, I used to do that. I haven’t had time to customize a few of the themes I’ve been using on some of our sites lately and as a result of not customizing them I’ve grown tired of the themes rather quickly.

The list of the 49 most downloaded themes shows an image of each theme, which is nice if you are seriously looking at the list to find a new theme that might suit your site. Some of the themes listed are quite old and possibly might not work with Wordpress 2.1.

Go have a look at the themes listed at HongKiat and don’t forget to visit BloggingPro too as it has some great web related information in it’s posts that I’m sure you’ll find useful.