Today we would like to talk about an urgent and important topic for all those who use WordPress as a platform for their websites. WordPress version 6.4 was recently released, nicknamed “Shirley” in honor of legendary jazz artist Shirley Horn, known for her distinctive voice and extraordinary connection to the piano. Like Horn, who traveled from Washington DC jazz to international prominence, this version of WordPress also promises to bring significant innovations and improvements.
However, all that glitters is not gold. Since the update was released, we have received numerous support requests and backup restore requests from users whose sites experienced post-update failures. The problem seems to manifest itself particularly in installations with the “NewsPaper” theme or on sites that use WooCommerce.
This brings us to a crucial point: the importance of proceeding with extreme caution when upgrading to a new version of any software, especially one as central to your online business as WordPress. We strongly recommend that you take full backups before any update and do extensive testing after the update to make sure everything is working as expected.
Since 2005, the year we began our adventure in the IT sector, we have witnessed countless updates and changes in the technological landscape. However, we can say with some certainty that the recent release of WordPress 6.4 “Shirley” was probably the most problematic we have ever experienced. We have come across critical bugs that not only cause “500” server errors, but also significantly affect the performance of sites, slowing them down to unacceptable levels.
The WordPress 6.4 update, despite its hiccups, brings with it a number of improvements and new features. Includes a versatile default theme and a suite of updates to power every step of your creative journey. This includes improvements in writing and strengthened tools for site editing. However, given the sensitive nature of an update, it is critical that you take every precaution necessary to protect your site.
