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Hi everyone,
yesterday, Leo had to do some overtime because I messed up my Symbiostock upgrade from 2.6.5 to 2.7.4Here is the background story:
Prior to installing the latest version, I switched over to the 2012 theme so I can delete the Symbiostock theme folder (otherwise I get an error because the folder still exists).
I downloaded the latest SY version and installed it. The actual theme installation was successful but then my WordPress back end kind of “froze” or crashed as the first page I clicked on (don’t remember which one) all I saw was PHP code on white background. The page never loaded (trying to refresh).
I had to copy paste the URL http://stockphoto-images(dot)com/wp-admin/ into the URL field of my browser in order to see my back end again.
At this point I received multiple notifications that certain plugins have not been found and my blood pressure went through the roof.
I thought I had entirely missed specific information about new requirements for the latest Symbiostock installation.
Leo was very helpful trying to guide me through it, but the admin login that I created for him was not working and he couldn’t even log in. I tried it as well from a second computer and sure enough, no log in (even me as an admin) was possible.
I was afraid that I would lose access to my backend entirely and was afraid to move forward installing missing or required plugins to make the new version work.
Besides, the few plugins I attempted to install left me with a blank, white screen (after installation) not redirecting me back to the plugin page or admin area. I was so spooked out.
I never had any such issues with previous versions of Symbiostock during the installation. Now I feel like, I’m standing in front of a huge mountain of requirements to get the new site working.
Additionally, I’m afraid that my current child theme CSS will be “useless”.
Right now I have 2300 images (20GB) on my site and it purrs like a kitten. Of course I would like to eventually add EL licenses etc. but I’m so afraid that I will totally destroy my site. I have some decent traffic and I just get nautious thinking that my site could be offline for 24 hours or longer.
I rolled back to 2.6.5 and I have these plugins currently installed:
Anti-Captcha,
Contact Form 7,
Elegant Zazzle Plugin (EZP),
Google Analytics Dashboard for WP,
Google Analytics for WordPress,
Kebo – Twitter Feed,
Meteor Slides,
Slideshow (which I think was required for the latest SY?!?),
SYMBIOSTOCK – Ajt Stock Plugin,
SYXtra Symbiostock eXtra Features,
UpdraftPlus – Backup/Restore,
Wordfence Security (not activated but required for new SY?),
WordPress SEO,
WordPress Social Login,
WP Super CacheIs there hope for me? Has anyone else gone through something similar?
What are the minimum plugin requirements to get the latest version running?
My host is running full backups once a week but I guess I would feel more confident if I backed up my site myself as well.
Thanks in advance and apologies for the long post.
I am leaving my main site alone at 2.6.5. It is a little bit of work but I have setup a test site using a sub-domain. The test site looked exactly like my main site. I then proceeded to work with the newer versions of Symbiostock on the test site. Until I am very comfortable with the new version, happy with the test site, and feel I am ready to take it to production I will leave my main site alone. With the test site I can make the mistakes and learn from them.
There is hope!!!
I know it is a lot of work but a test site can save your sanity 🙂
For licensing I am using the Premium Plugin on my live site and seems to be very stable with 2.6.5 from my experience.
On my test site I am running the following Plugins: (SY Theme 2.7.7)
Jetpack
SY Professional Plugin 1.2.3
SY Imagemap
SY Emails and Notifications
Related Posts by Taxonomy
Anti-Captcha
disable comments
wordfence
LayerSlider WP
Widgets on Pages
WordPress SEO (Yoast)@ tdahl-stock
Thanks for your idea of using a test site – duh.
I do have a second site already, which I may eventually incorporate into my main site, so I can use that one for testing.
My brain must be already in hibernation mode lol.
Having a testing site is a excellent idea – I have had one since April or May and am using it to beta test and learn the new version(s), until I feel ready to change to it.
The only plugin I feel you really need initially apart from the meta one that comes with Symbiostock is a contact form – and not everyone is using one of those which makes it almost impossible for potential clients (and other symbiostock members) to contact them.
The 2.7.7 list that keeps appearing everytime you do anything is, I believe a recommended list, not required. In fact I do not use any of *them but for new members who have not yet discovered things for themselves they are the most used items among the network members.
*I used wordfence until a couple of days ago when it locked me out of my site, and still does so if I install it, no idea why.
http://kerioakimaging.com - trying to reopen
http://nail-art-at.kerioak.com - Art and Nail Art@christine wrote:
… The only plugin I feel you really need initially apart from the meta one that comes with Symbiostock is a contact form – and not everyone is using one of those which makes it almost impossible for potential clients (and other symbiostock members) to contact them. …
The meta one completely confused me. Leo mentioned it and the name “Meta Categories” (I blieve that was the notification I got) made me look for the plugin and I couldn’t find it.
What is this “Meta” plugin? Is there a bit more of info available?
Like I said, before it was a piece of cake to install Symbiostock, now I feel like I need to “prepare” myself and my WordPress installation to be “ready” for the new Symbiostock.
I may be wrong but it feels like it’s not working anymore just “out of the box”. Sorry for being so critical but I have to admit that I was out of the loop for a month or two missing a lot of new Symbiostock developments but besides, it’s quite a big load of information to take in, staying up to date with everything…
It installs with Symbiostock so you do not need do do anything about the Meta plugin (< -- IGNORE, SEE POST 11)
I think Leo is trying to make it easier for new members to use Symbiostock “out of the box” so they can set their preferred colours and background, upload their pictures and get going. Also using the latest technology.
For those of us who have gradually built and adapted our sites over the last few months it is not going to be quite so easy unless we forgo all the adjustments we have made already and just set to with the new version as you (well I did anyway) have to forget about the childtheme you already have and start again. Some bits you might be able to use but others you will need to do from scratch. That is where having a testing site is soooo useful. You can try things out there so when you want to do it on your main site it should be much easier and faster.
http://kerioakimaging.com - trying to reopen
http://nail-art-at.kerioak.com - Art and Nail ArtI’m terribly sorry to hear about your disastrous attempt to upgrade to 2.7. The stress must have been awful until you got your site back to where it was before. Thank heavens Leo was available and willing to help you!
Like you, I’ve been very happy with SYS 2.6.5 running with Clean Theme 2. Everything was looking and feeling great. I was planning to stay put until the 2.7 version was bug free and the child theme upgraded to match. Your experience confirms my fears.
But just yesterday I discovered a major glitch: sales don’t go through to completion. (The same problem Shelma had a couple of days earlier.)
So now it appears I’m facing a mandatory upgrade to 2.7.7 in order to be able to actually make a sale.
One thing eases my anxiety a bit: I do have VaultPress backing up everything on my site every hour, including the newest images I uploaded yesterday. So in a pinch, I could restore the site as it is right at this moment without losing months of work. Still would have the sales problem, but that’s probably fixable somehow without an upgrade.
You’ve convinced me to do the upgrade as a testing site. Sounds like a wise move. Three months ago, I wouldn’t have cared. Now I do.
Good luck!
@christine wrote:
It installs with Symbiostock so you do not need do do anything about the Meta plugin. …
Hmm, I don’t know what happened but after I installed 2.7.7 I got the notification the the Meta plugin was not installed/missing. This was the part that freaked me out and made me think that I missed some crucial prep-work before installing the latest SY version.
I wish it would have just “gone through”. I’m with Hostgator and I think it has nothing to do with my host (at least I hope so) but all those notifications were just scaring me as I’ve never encountered a situation with any install/version before.
@marthamarks wrote:
I’m terribly sorry to hear about your disastrous attempt to upgrade to 2.7. The stress must have been awful until you got your site back to where it was before. Thank heavens Leo was available and willing to help you!
Like you, I’ve been very happy with SYS 2.6.5 running with Clean Theme 2. Everything was looking and feeling great. I was planning to stay put until the 2.7 version was bug free and the child theme upgraded to match. Your experience confirms my fears.
But just yesterday I discovered a major glitch: sales don’t go through to completion. (The same problem Shelma had a couple of days earlier.)
So now it appears I’m facing a mandatory upgrade to 2.7.7 in order to be able to actually make a sale.
One thing eases my anxiety a bit: I do have VaultPress backing up everything on my site every hour, including the newest images I uploaded yesterday. So in a pinch, I could restore the site as it is right at this moment without losing months of work. Still would have the sales problem, but that’s probably fixable somehow without an upgrade.
You’ve convinced me to do the upgrade as a testing site. Sounds like a wise move. Three months ago, I wouldn’t have cared. Now I do.
Good luck!
Initially, I felt like the world’s coming to an end (obviously it didn’t lol) but I literally saw many weeks of tweaking and uploading, SOEing etc. going down the drain. It really made me rethink how to proceed with Symbiostock as well as how much I’m willing to invest financially (future hosting costs, premium plugins, paid backup solutions etc.).
I can tell you from my experience that I get sales with my version 2.6.5 and I have received all payments just fine. No idea what’s causing the issue you are reporting. I’m sorry to hear your troubles with it.
I will be using my small Symbio site to do the testing. 😉
@cathyslife stockphotos wrote:
I am going to wait a bit, Carsten, to upgrade. I really like the looks of some of the features, but they are just working the bugs out of it now. I have too much on my plate right now to have to go through and redo all the CSS, etc., and I am using Clean Theme, which this new version is not compatible with yet. My 2.6.5 is working OK right now…I don’t want to upset the apple cart.
I also had plenty on my plate and I shouldn’t have touched it the way I did (as in not using a test site). I’m glad I could just upload and install 2.6.5 without any hickups and my child theme took care of the layout and design. Thank goodness.
Was this the message?
This theme requires the following plugin: Category Meta.
This theme recommends the following plugins: Contact Form 7, Slideshow and Wordfence Security.
Begin installing plugins | Dismiss this noticeSorry, I was looking at the wrong thing.
I am guessing that the Category Meta might be the basic list of categories for those who do not already have their own – ie for complete newcomers.
If I am right then those of us who are upgrading and already have our our category list would not need it (I have not installed it and have not noticed anything missing) – this is pure guesswork and Leo might need to confirm
http://kerioakimaging.com - trying to reopen
http://nail-art-at.kerioak.com - Art and Nail Art@christine wrote:
Was this the message?
This theme requires the following plugin: Category Meta.
This theme recommends the following plugins: Contact Form 7, Slideshow and Wordfence Security.
Begin installing plugins | Dismiss this noticeSorry, I was looking at the wrong thing.
I am guessing that the Category Meta might be the basic list of categories for those who do not already have their own – ie for complete newcomers.
If I am right then those of us who are upgrading and already have our our category list would not need it (I have not installed it and have not noticed anything missing) – this is pure guesswork and Leo might need to confirm
Yes, as far as I can remember this was the message. Then I was doing a Google search/Wordpress plugin search for “Category Meta” and couldn’t find anything. That really confused me and I was not so thrilled to continue to pursue fixing the issues for the new version.
Also since I was unable to login into my backend (or login to my site AT ALL!) I thought the only way to regain control/keep access was to revert back to 2.6.5
However, I still have no clue what this “Category Meta” is or what it does. I have not made any changes to the categories on my site. :O
I installed it just to have a look – the readme page says:
Add the ability to attach meta data to the wordpress categories and terms.
It can be used to add meta to custom taxonomies (terms).== Description ==
This plugins add meta data to the wordpress categories and terms.
It Creates a wp-termsmeta table to store the entered meta.
It adds input fields to the category and other term administration interface to enter the meta values.
It provides functions to retrive / create / update / delete the category and terms meta.
It can be used to add meta to custom taxonomies (terms).~~
I am none the wiser but it might help someone.
http://kerioakimaging.com - trying to reopen
http://nail-art-at.kerioak.com - Art and Nail ArtCategory Meta plugin is some sort of WordPress plugin.
You can find it here:
http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-category-meta/developers/Funny thing is that the plugin hasn’t been updated in two years.
@christine wrote:
I installed it just to have a look – the readme page says:
Add the ability to attach meta data to the wordpress categories and terms.
It can be used to add meta to custom taxonomies (terms).== Description ==
This plugins add meta data to the wordpress categories and terms.
It Creates a wp-termsmeta table to store the entered meta.
It adds input fields to the category and other term administration interface to enter the meta values.
It provides functions to retrive / create / update / delete the category and terms meta.
It can be used to add meta to custom taxonomies (terms).~~
I am none the wiser but it might help someone.
Thanks for posting it. Did you have to click on a link that was posted next to the notification? My “broken” back-end didn’t allow me to click many links as it took me to a blank, white page.
What is the actual URL to this plugin for download? I think Leo mentioned the name “Metamorphosis”. Is this the same thing?
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