Installing and Upgrading WordPress eMember plugin is very easy. The installation of this plugin is similar to all the other WordPress plugins.
Fresh Plugin Installation
- Go to the Add New plugins screen in your WordPress admin area
- Click the Upload Plugin button
- Browse for the plugin file (wp-eMember.zip)
- Click Install Now and then activate the plugin
Plugin Upgrade
Before you ask…
Yes, the plugin will retain all the previous information that you saved. No data (your member details, settings values etc.) will get lost during the upgrade.
Important Note 1: If you have a live site where customers are constantly making purchases, then it is a good idea to install the new version of the plugin on a test WordPress site first to minimize any chance of upgrade related issue taking you out by surprise. Most people prefer to have a test WordPress installed in one of the sub-directories (you can install it in a sub-domain too). This way if you face an issue due to the upgrade, you can report it to us and while we work on it, your main site won’t be affected.
Important Note 2: Some people have this bad habit of keeping multiple copies of the same plugin in the “plugins” directory. This is the source of many problems. Please note that you should only have one version of any WordPress plugin in the plugins directory. If you want to keep backups, then you can keep it in your “uploads” directory or on your computer’s hard drive.
With that said, please follow the instructions below when upgrading the WordPress eMember plugin from an older version to a newer version:
Preparation: This is optional (unless you have made custom modifications) but it is a good idea to keep a backup of the currently installed version before you upgrade to the latest version.
- Deactivate the currently installed version of the “WP eMember” plugin from the Plugins menu.
- Delete the current version of the WP eMember plugin from the Plugins menu.
- Upload the new version of the plugin.
- Activate the newly uploaded plugin.
Another easy upgrade, thank you. I was nervous to delete the plugin, but all my information and member accounts were safe just as you said. Thank you!!
CSS changes are easy to maintain… you just need to keep a copy of the old CSS file before upgrading.
Any PHP changes falls under custom user modification and it’s a support nightmare from my side so I am not in favor of this one. You are free to do whatever customization you want but I can’t support it (troubleshoot coding bugs introduced by the tweak).
What if i made custom changes to the CSS file or some output like removing lines from the user profile form? How can i make sure tese changes will not be touched when I upgrade?