Wordpress 1.5 Exporting/Upgrading Woes

April 12, 2012 5:48 AM

I have an old WordPress 1.5.2 installation. I'd like to either export the posts to a new domain/fresh install or upgrade the current install. I expected that to be easy, but getting my posts out of my existing blog does not appear to be simple at all. I only care about the posts and titles: I'd be fine with losing existing comments.

I'd appreciate any help that anyone can provide. I'm reasonably technical but I have no background in databases, so please speak slowly and use small words if necessary.

I found this old AskMe, but either Wordpress has changed in the last four years or I didn't understand the database issues well enough to make it work, because even after synchronizing the two SQL databases, my new Wordpress install didn't show any of the posts from my old install. Similarly, trying to import by RSS doesn't work, because my RSS feed only shows the most recent posts, not the entire history of my old site.

Thanks in advance!

posted by gd779 to computers & internet (14 answers total)

I should add that I'm not trying to be lazy: I've recently developed carpal tunnel, so my old standby solution of hacking at it until I figure it out is now intensely painful. I very much appreciate any help that anyone can offer.
posted by gd779 at 5:50 AM on April 12, 2012

I think you are too far behind to upgrade safely. I would go with a fresh install. Just export your posts and comments from the current Wordpress and save them to your local computer. The export function should be somewhere in your Wordpress admin screens. Then set up the new install and import the old posts. The export / import thing should be 3 or 4 clicks total.
posted by COD at 6:17 AM on April 12, 2012

So you did these steps:

1. Exported your database from your current install.

2. Set up a new database

3. Imported the sql from step 1 into new database.

4. Download latest WordPress and upload files.

5. Visit new WordPress site, and enter database information (from database in step 2), following all the prompts.

If that doesn't work, maybe you can use an old version of WordPress:

WordPress Release Archive

Perhaps at step 4, download WordPress 2.x and try updating from that. IF it works, then restart at step 4 with the latest version of WordPress, which will hopefully be able to import from the 2.x version.

Oh, and then never let WordPress get that out of date. The good thing is the upgrade process is a lot easier now.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:27 AM on April 12, 2012

I think the right approach is going to be:

1. Do a full backup of your WordPress files
2. Do a full database backup (mysql dump using phpMyAdmin or similar)

Then, from your 1.5.2 install:

3. Upgrade to 2.0
4. Upgrade to 2.5.1
5. Upgrade to 3.0
6. Upgrade to 3.3.1

You can get the old versions at http://wordpress.org/download/release-archive/.

I think these are as good a major milestone release as any. You may be able to skip steps, but caution is how I'd approach this. Luckily, the Upgrade Process has not changed for any of these versions.
posted by artlung at 6:30 AM on April 12, 2012

It doesn't go without saying, at my steps 3 to 6, log out and then into WordPress and run the "database upgrade" that each will ask for. Also assure that the site works properly by visiting the main page and an archive page and an individual post.
posted by artlung at 6:32 AM on April 12, 2012

Just export your posts and comments from the current Wordpress and save them to your local computer.

To my surprise, Wordpress 1.5 doesn't have an export function. That was added later, apparently.

So you did these steps:

1. Exported your database from your current install.

2. Set up a new database

3. Imported the sql from step 1 into new database.

4. Download latest WordPress and upload files.

5. Visit new WordPress site, and enter database information (from database in step 2), following all the prompts.

Sort of. I exported my database from my current install. Then I used Dreamhost's one-click install process to set up a new Wordpress install on a different domain and a new mysql database. Then I synchronized the two mysql databases, using the old database as the source and the new database as the target. I think that should be approximately equivalent to the steps you outlined, but if that's not right, please let me know.

Artlung: Your process might work, but it's terrifying. If something breaks in the process of upgrading at some point, my carpal tunnel suffering hands aren't going to be able to remedy the damage.
posted by gd779 at 6:40 AM on April 12, 2012

Syncing the databases should be fine. It does seem like you're going to have to upgrade to a lower version first, and then upgrade again. Maybe you can find someone (or pay someone) to "be your hands" so you don't suffer too much?
posted by backwards guitar at 6:45 AM on April 12, 2012

Because of the differences between the database schema between current WordPress and your 1.5.2 install (it came out August 14, 2005) -- I worry that despite your approach being simpler, it may actually cause more problems. I wish I knew how to help you, but I assure you if you have your backups made, you will be able to restore to your original state should things go wrong. You might even ask your host to do a formal backup of your files and database, and be ready to "swap it in" if the upgrades fail.

I wish I knew how to be more helpful. I've upgraded dozens of WordPress installs, and b2 installs (b2 was the precursor to WordPress) from infected installs, to simply /old/ installs, and I have to stand by my advice. I'm sorry it seems so daunting. A staggered upgrade process just seems like the correct approach here.

You may get advice more to your liking at http://wordpress.stackexchange.com/, in case you're looking for even more opinions than AskMe can provide. That site is also useful if you have follow-on questions as you go through this process. Also, feel free to MeMail me if you have any other questions.
posted by artlung at 6:54 AM on April 12, 2012

Fair enough. Thank you both for your advice. One last question: failing a silver bullet, any suggestion on where I could find someone to do the upgrade/export for me (are you available, artlung?) and how much it would reasonably cost?
posted by gd779 at 6:59 AM on April 12, 2012

Can you dig into the database directly? The simplest thing might be to simply do a select out of the wp_posts table of only the date, title, and body into a comma separated file. Once you do that you can use one of the plugins that will batch-add posts from a CSV file.

As far as covering your ass, I have a script I use for an automated daily backup of the database and all the files. I do it that way so I can do a very quick upgrade and not have to worry about software versions. Do you have command line access? If so I'll share it here.
posted by phearlez at 7:11 AM on April 12, 2012

As for how to find someone, how about the Metafilter jobs site? Plenty of talented folks here.

gd779, I've sent you MeMail with my own availability as well.
posted by artlung at 7:13 AM on April 12, 2012

You can drop me a MeMail if you're stuck finding anyone, too. Good luck.
posted by backwards guitar at 8:02 AM on April 12, 2012

Followup: I did upgrades in sequence, as I described:

I went from:
wordpress-2.0.11
to wordpress-2.7
to wordpress-3.0.6
to wordpress-3.3.2

Upgrading the database each time.

My theory was to use the main releases of WordPress to upgrade the instance of 1.5.2.

I downloaded each .gz file, then gunzip'd each one, then tar xvf'd over the "wordpress" directory. It worked rather well.
posted by artlung at 3:24 PM on April 22, 2012

For the record: phearlez's approach, plus some simple regular expressions, resulted in a human-readable export of my posting history, which at least freed me from the fear of losing all of my writing due to a botched upgrade. Artlung then assisted me with the upgrades, as described in his comment above. Thanks for all of the help, everyone!
posted by gd779 at 3:39 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]