How to Manually Update / Upgrade WordPress Unscathed

Like with all WordPress developers, I also have a local WordPress install running on XAMPP albeit an older version – 3.8 to be precise. I really do not know the reason for my reluctance to update it.
Few days ago, I decided to put an end to my procrastination and update it to the latest WordPress version. Rather than automatically update it via the dashboard, I chose to do it manually.

WordPress codex has a great guide on how to carry out the manual update of which I followed.
At the end of the update, I was able to login to the dashboard and perform my administrative duties but the front-end was blank (white screen of death).

After hours of troubleshooting I decided to restore the backup of the older WordPress and do the update my own way.
Below are the steps I took in manually updating WordPress unscathed.

  1. Before updating WordPress, ensure you have the files and database backed up.
  2. Download and install the latest WordPress version.
  3. Upload the old wp-content folder and merge it with the new wp-content folder, overwriting existing files.
  4. Do NOT delete your existing wp-content folder. Do NOT delete any files or folders in your existing wp-content directory (except for the one being overwritten by new files).
  5. Edit and update the wp-config.php file with your MySQL database details.
  6. Visit your main WordPress admin page at /wp-admin. You may be asked to login again. If a database upgrade is necessary at this point, WordPress will detect it and give you a link to a URL to update your database to be compatible with the latest code.
    Update WordPress database after update
  7. If no database is required, you would be told to continue to WP dashboard.
    No database update is required
  8. If you are using a custom URL structure otherwise known as pretty URL, under Settings menu, go to the permalink page and click on save changes.

Rule of thumb: deactivate all plugins before updating WordPress.

Voila! You’ve successfully updated WordPress to the latest version.

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