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Step 1:
01. Before you get started, please make sure you have a backup for the current Wordpress contents and databases.
02. Then, please proceed to deactivate your plugins. A plugin might not be compatible with the new version, so it's nice to check for new versions of them and deactivate any that may cause problems. You can reactivate plugins one-by-one after the upgrade. This is particularly important when upgrading to WordPress 2.7!
Step 2:
01. Get the latest WordPress. Download and extract it to your computer.
02. Delete your old wp-includes and wp-admin directories.
03. Copy the new WordPress files to your server, overwriting old files in the root, except perhaps the wp-content folder
* If you use the default or classic theme and have customized it, then you can skip that theme.
* The wp-content folder requires special handling, as do the plugins and themes folders. You should copy over the contents of these folders, not the entire folder. In some cases, copying the entire folder may overwrite all your customizations and added content.
Also take care to preserve the content of the wp-config.php file in the root directory. This file contains current settings for your existing installation, e.g. database sign-in information. Occasionally new versions of WordPress adds statements to this file. Compare your existing file with the new installation file which is named wp-config-sample.php. Either transfer your settings to the sample-file and rename it to wp-config.php or copy the new statements from the sample file into your current file.
Step 3:
01. 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 like http://yourdomain.com/wordpress/wp-admin/upgrade.php. Follow that link and follow the instructions. This will update your database to be compatible with the latest code. If you fail to do this step, your blog might look funny.
Step 4:
01. Your WordPress installation is now successfully upgraded. You should be seeing the latest version at the bottom of your page once you had login to /wp-admin.
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