Have you recently made changes to your WordPress website or has it been automatically updated to the latest version of WordPress and this has led to crashes or unwanted changes in the appearance of your site?
The cause of these malfunctions may be due to the incompatibility of the template you are using or one of the plugins installed on the site with the new version of WordPress, so many website owners decide to undo the update and return to the previous version of WordPress.
If the previous scenario is currently happening to you, or for any other reason you have decided to return your website to an older version of WordPress, then you are now in the right place, as in this article we will learn about the most important reasons that may push website owners to return to an earlier version of WordPress, and then We will explain how to return your website to an older version of WordPress, step by step, using more than one method.
Why would you want to downgrade your site to an older version of WordPress?
An update is issued periodically for the version of WordPress, and each new version carries a number of fixes for errors and security vulnerabilities found in the previous version, and a group of improvements at the level of performance, compatibility, and design. Therefore, we always advise users to be careful to update to the latest version of WordPress immediately after its release or activate the feature. Automatic update for WordPress, which automatically downloads and installs new updates on your website immediately as soon as they are available.
Sometimes, due to the large number of templates and plugins used by website owners, you find that some of them may not be compatible with the latest version of WordPress and their work and compatibility are excellent with the previous version, which affects the performance or appearance of the site after the update process.
In the next part of the article, we will learn about the most common reasons that may prompt users to return their website to an older version of WordPress, knowing that whatever the reason is, you should not use an old version of WordPress on your website permanently. Rather, the downgrading process must be A website downgraded to an older version of WordPress is only temporary while you find solutions to the problems you face with the newer version of WordPress.
1- The template is not compatible with the new version of WordPress
Templates are considered one of the most important reasons that lead to the incompatibility problem when updating WordPress, especially when the new update contains changes in one of the basic system components on which the template depends.
Therefore, to avoid this problem and prevent it from occurring, we recommend installing the latest version of the WordPress template that you are using, and making sure to purchase a template that is developed by an active and certified team that continuously issues updates to the template and ensures its compatibility with the latest versions of WordPress.
There are also many WordPress templates that are not updated continuously or their updates are issued long after the WordPress update is issued. There is also a group of website owners or WordPress users who ignore the updating process for the template used, and all of these reasons are leading to the occurrence of problems with Compatibility that could have been avoided before it occurred.
So our advice to you here is to make sure to purchase a professional WordPress template or one that is constantly updated, and one of the best places to obtain such templates is the famous Theme Forest store, and then make sure to install and use the latest version of the template on your website.
2- One of the plugins is not compatible with the new version of WordPress
Plugins are the most common cause of incompatibility problems after updating WordPress. Therefore, we find WordPress placing a mark on each add-on to indicate the extent of its compatibility with the version of WordPress that you are using, where a “ Compatible with the current version of WordPress ” mark is placed next to the compatible plugins, and a “Incompatible” mark is placed next to it. “Compatible with your current version of WordPress” next to plugins that are not compatible with the version or version of WordPress you are using.
Therefore, you must be careful to constantly update plugins and use versions that are compatible with your version of WordPress. If the plugin causes errors on your website after updating WordPress, you must contact the plugin development team and provide them with the required information so that they can help you solve the problem on your site. Or work on updating the add-on as soon as possible.
As we mentioned a moment ago, if the add-on is necessary for the functioning of your website and performs basic tasks that you cannot do without, your website can be returned to the previous version of WordPress until a new, compatible update is issued for the add-on in question.
3- Get used to one of the old versions of WordPress
Since the first versions of WordPress until now, WordPress has gone through many major changes, whether in the way of dealing with and editing pages and articles, or in the appearance of the control panel and the arrangement of elements within it. Sometimes a WordPress user finds himself inclined to use a specific version of WordPress that he finds to be the best and easiest for him and not Would like to continue using new versions.
We find, for example, that a large number of WordPress users prefer to use the traditional editor for pages and articles, and do not prefer the component editor (Gutenberg), which they find themselves forced to use with new versions of WordPress.
Although there is an add-on that enables you to install the traditional editor, the majority of users prefer to return their site to an older version of WordPress and continue using the traditional editor that they have become accustomed to over the past years.
This is also the case for those who prefer to write and edit articles via the phone, as we find that the first versions of the Gutenberg component editor enabled phone users to edit and format articles with ease, but after the recent updates, phone users began to suffer from difficulty in using the editor and many would like to They may revert the website to the previous version of WordPress for this reason only.
How to downgrade your site to an older version of WordPress
After we learned about the most important reasons that push website owners to downgrade their website to an older version of WordPress and some tips that help you avoid incompatibility problems, we now move to the main part of this explanation, in which we will discuss three different ways through which you can downgrade… Your website has been moved to an older version of WordPress without any errors or malfunctions occurring on the site.
Before starting to downgrade your website to an older version of WordPress, make sure to make a backup copy of your website . Although the following steps explain to you how to do the task step by step, the possibility of an error is possible, especially when dealing with the basic WordPress files. You should take a backup copy of your website before you start making any changes so that you can restore it in the event of any potential problems or errors.
There are several ways to back up your WordPress site, whether you want to use a plugin or by manually downloading WordPress files to your computer. There are also some hosting sites that perform a daily backup of their hosted sites, and we have done it here. On the WordPress Arabic website, we explain how to make a backup copy of your WordPress site. You can review it before starting to downgrade your website to an older version of WordPress.
1- Manually revert your site to an older version of WordPress
We recommend using this method only if you have good knowledge of how to use file management applications on an FTP website, or if a malfunction occurs on your website after the update process that prevents you from accessing the main WordPress control panel.
This method requires downloading the version of WordPress to which you want to return the site from the WordPress Update Archive page and logging in to your website via an FTP application such as FileZilla . If you have access to the main WordPress control panel, it is preferable to disable all plugins and log out of the control panel. Before starting the site recovery process to avoid any problems.
After logging in to the site files via the FileZilla application or the file manager in the hosting, we delete both the (wp-includes) file and the (wp-admin) file and ensure that the (wp-content) file, which contains the content of your website, including pages and articles, is not deleted. Templates and add-ons.
After that, we upload the files of the WordPress version that we downloaded from the official website after decompressing them, with the exception of the (wp-content) file, which must not be deleted from the site or uploaded to it.
Thus, you have completed the process of manually returning your website to an older version of WordPress, and you can log in to the control panel, where you will be asked to update the databases, and after that you can reactivate the plugins that we disabled.
After solving all the problems that made you decide to return your website to an older version of WordPress, you can update WordPress to the latest version by downloading it from the official website and installing it in the same way or from within the control panel.
2- Using the WP Downgrade plugin
If you want to use an easy and simple method and have the ability to log in to the WordPress control panel and prefer to use plugins, then ( WP Downgrade ) is the most famous and at the same time easiest plugin that enables you to return your website to any previous version of WordPress with just the click of a button.
To start using the (WP Downgrade) plugin, you go to the Plugins tab in WordPress and search for the (WP Downgrade) plugin, then install and activate it on the site.
After completing the installation of the add-on, go to the ( Settings ) tab and then click on the ( WP Downgrade ) option to go to the add-on’s main page.
Now in the ( WordPress Target Version ) tab, we write the number of the previous version of WordPress that we want to install. You can get the required version number by browsing the archive of WordPress updates on the official website from here.
After that, we follow up by clicking on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page, and the plugin will now download the selected version of WordPress and install it on your website.
Sometimes you will have to take an additional step, which is to go to the ( Updates ) tab in the WordPress control panel and click on ( Reinstall ) to complete the process of reverting your website to an older version of WordPress.
If you want to install the latest version of WordPress, you can do so by writing the version number on the plugin’s settings page and clicking on the Save Changes button in the same way that was explained a moment ago.
3- By restoring a backup copy
If all attempts fail and you are unable to return your website to an older version of WordPress manually or using a plugin, you still have the option of restoring a backup copy of your website that uses an older version of WordPress.
This matter, of course, requires having a backup copy of your website, whether on your computer or with the web hosting company that you use, and this is evidence of the importance of keeping a backup copy of your website periodically or before making major changes to the site.
One last look at restoring an older version of WordPress for your site
Although using the latest version of WordPress and making sure to constantly update templates and plugins is the basis, sometimes the user finds himself forced to return to a previous version of WordPress in order for the site to return to working normally as it was before the update, and as we learned in this explanation, there are a group One of the reasons that may push you to downgrade your website to an older version of WordPress, the most important of which is of course incompatibility problems, whether in templates or plugins.
There are also some WordPress users who prefer to use older versions of WordPress for ease of editing and formatting articles using the traditional editor or for other personal preferences. This is considered a risk because WordPress updates also contain security updates and addresses vulnerabilities found in previous versions that can be exploited in order to harm your site. Electronic.
So, you now know how to return your website to an older version of WordPress, and you also know the importance of using the latest version of WordPress, templates, and plugins, and that incompatibility problems are a possibility and can be worked on to address them and then return after that to using the latest version of WordPress on your site. e-mail to enjoy the features and benefits it offers.
