One of my favourite features in the latest versions of WordPress is the ability to automatically download files from the WordPress servers. By simply entering your blogs database login information you can update to the latest version of WordPress automatically and download plugins and themes.
It’s incredibly useful as it saves you having to download files to your computer and then re-upload them to your server. However, the process doesn’t always work that well.
First of all, installing files from WordPress directly through your blogs admin area is incredibly slow. This isn’t a major problem when updating to the latest version of WordPress as I’m usually working on something else and it can install in the background. Though it can be a real pain when you are installing a plugin or theme as you can’t do much until it’s installed.
I find it’s still much quicker to download plugins and themes directly to my laptop and then upload them myself.
However, the main problem is not it’s speed, it’s the fact that the process fails frequently. Between 50 and 75 percent of the time I wait a few minutes for the download to install only to find that the unpacking failed. Sometimes you can install it by simply trying again though if it fails again you’re probably better just downloading and installing the files yourself.
I have several sites which use WordPress so the auto update feature saves me a lot of time, though many times the process fails, which can be very frustrating. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has this problem (I experienced it on my last server and on my new server too so I doubt that’s the problem).
WordPress is still the best blogging platform by a mile in my eyes though I do hope they improve their auto download service as it would make my life a helluva lot easier.
Has anyone else had problems with this?
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
(I experienced it on my last server and on my new server too so I doubt that’s the problem).
I still think it's more likely to be your host than WP. I manage multiple blogs on many different hosts, and can honestly say that I have almost no problems downloading either core upgrades or plugins. (I can recall only one "hiccup" in the last year or so, and that was a simple "try again and it worked second time".)
The one host I had ENORMOUS problems with was Blue Host, where I had two different blogs whose admin areas were almost unusable because they were so slow. We moved them to my own hosting (I'm a Hostgator reseller) and they were fine.
You could also try the "turbo" setting if you're not already:
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/gears/
My last setup was a dedicated server which cost $269 a month. I usually got speeds over 1mb a second when downloading directly from it so I never thought the hosting was an issue.
Strange how you're not getting any problems and you're on a shared hosting setup (I assume that's what you're on).
Anyone else get this problem? Surely it's not just me haha
Kevin
I believe it is partially due to WordPress and partially due to hosting providers. On a shared hosting provider, I sometimes receive errors that resolve fairly quickly with a page refresh, while other times, I have to determine where the conflict lies. I'd suggest the Easy Uploader plugin for adding new plugins, as you can copy/paste links when available for installation.
I can't comment too much on the core update though, as I use the Simple Scripts service, which makes it easy to update and install new versions.
I'd also like to see how many other people have issues uploading and upgrading plugins/their installations.
Strange, I have never experienced any such issues while downloading files directly from WP Admin interface. I am using a VPS, I use Admin UI for all my updates, themes and plugins for all my blogs and it has been quite fast.
Do try Gears for Turbo Speed and that may help.
I've never had a single problem downloading and installing through the wordpress admin panel. It's been about 6 months now and I'm on a $4.99 a month plan from 1and1.
I use 1and1 and have the exact problem the post author does. Automatic upgrades have NEVER worked for me for WordPress upgrades, so I've done it manually. Plugins would upgrade automatically though, until I upgraded WP to 2.8.4. Now I'm up to 2.8.6. Occasional plugins will do upgrade instantly, but the majority won't anymore, so I have to do it manually too.
Hearing another 1and1 user doesn't have issues gives me hope I can get it resolved somehow…
Eeks.
I'm actually surprised that no one else is having this problem. Strange. It was so common that I just assumed that it happened to everyone.
Hi Kevin-
I am also using bluehost for several websites and have had a problem only a few times, specifically with updating wordpress. Plugins have uploaded on the first go around though.
Kory
I use a dedicated server too and I've had the same problem Kevin. I only tried once from the admin panel and is was so slow the page timed out. When I hit the back button my page was gone! Everything was gone, both the admin and public site. I was able to get into the cpanel, thankfully, by typing in the direct URL. I uploaded my last backup and got the site back but lost a couple days of comments. I will never try to download a theme from within WP again.
Hi,
I use blue host for my blogs also, I have 2 blogs hosted separately and have found blue host more than adequate. Word press one click install works a charm every time.
Brian – It's good to hear that someone else is having the same problem. I thought I was going mad haha!
It's interesting that you are experiencing the same problem with a dedicated server. Perhaps it's something to do with the settings as downloading directly from a dedicated server is usually very very quick.
I just upgraded one of my blog from WordPress 2.8 to 2.8.5. The automatic update process went smoothly this time. However in some instance when upgarding plugins lot of things go wrong. It's always a good ideas to make a backup copy of your blog database as well as the content of your uploads folder in wp-content.
The folks at WordPress are sure working very hard to make this blogging platform top notch.
I host a number of blogs on a Hostgator reseller account and both the automatic WordPress updates and plugin downloads / installs tend to go very smoothly.
very nice informations. Thanks for sharing.
WordPress update or add plugins function on my hetzner dedicated server is slow too! Why??
Thanks for the given informations. These are really good and very useful informations. Everybody has to see that. So I will share this link with all my friends. Thanks
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I use a dedicated server too and I've had the same problem Kevin. I only tried once from the admin panel and is was so slow the page timed out. When I hit the back button my page was gone! Everything was gone, both the admin and public site. I was able to get into the cpanel, thankfully, by typing in the direct URL. I uploaded my last backup and got the site back but lost a couple days of comments. I will never try to download a theme from within WP again.