• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Digital Maestro

Harmonizing Your Online Strategy

  • Home
  • About
  • Work With Us
    • Coaching
      • One-on-One Coaching
    • Services
      • Set Up Services
      • Website Maintenance
  • Products
    • WPICA
    • WP Security Help
  • Blog
    • Affiliate Marketing
    • Plugins
    • Business
  • Resources
    • Registrar
    • Hosting
  • Contact

Dec 16 2011

WordPress 3.3 Upgrade Issues

As you know, “Sonny” (the codeword for WordPress 3.3) was recently release earlier this month. So far, things are looking good! There are some really cool new features and I am loving the new upload interface!

As with all good things, there are some no so good things that may come along with it. In my case, I have found a couple plugins that did not play nicely with WordPress 3.3 – mind you there are not many of them, but I did run into a couple:

These are:

WP SEO Pix – you may have read my post a few days ago – this is my new favorite plugin! It allows you to correctly use images on your website. However, when I upgraded to WordPress 3.3, the site ‘broke.’ I needed to get a new version (which聽 the creator of WP SEO Pix quickly released – kudos to HP for that!) and all was well!

Popup Domination – I realized that I was using an older version of Popup Domination. The older version was not playing nicely with WordPress 3.3.聽 The error you get is, “Call to undefined function is_rtl() in /xxx/public_html/wp-includes/general-template.php on line 2102” – or something very similar. Currently, the developers are working on a fix for this. For me, WordPress 3.3 was more important to have, do I disabled Popup Domination for the time being by renaming the folder in my plugin directory.

This last point is important, so let me say it again to emphasize the point. If you ever upgrade the core functionality of WordPress and something breaks, start by disabling all your plugins and reinstall. Once you are running ‘clean,’ activate each plugin one at a time until you find the offending plugin. WHen you find it, check out the developer’s website to see if they are aware of the issue and when an updated plugin will be available. If nothing is listed on the website, send him/her an email! I do not know of any developers that like to have bad work out in the world!

As for Popup Domination? I will let you know when I find out that it is fixed!

Have you found any issues with your upgrade? Share them in the comments area!

Written by Paul · Categorized: Plugins · Tagged: Upgrade

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hughie Bagnell says

    December 16, 2011 at 11:43 am

    Thank you Paul for sharing…haven’t upgraded as of yet so great to be aware of these items…Have a great weekend! …Cheers, Hughie

    Reply
    • Paul says

      December 16, 2011 at 1:53 pm

      You too, Hughie! When you go to upgrade (and you will love the new format) just make sure to make a complete backup before you do anything!

      Safety First!

      Paul.

      Reply
  2. lar says

    December 16, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    hey my teacher Paul –

    just a thought . . . why not wait a week (or 2 or 3) after a new version comes out, before updating to the latest/greatest/newest version of WordPress (or any other software package for that matter) . . . and let everyone else work out any final bugs in it, before you upgrade . . . then your upgrade should be that much smoother

    granted, this logic isn’t always 100% effective . . . but me thinks waiting, rather than being the first on the block with new software, is typically a safer option . . . again, just a thought (and yes, I’m waiting another week or two before I upgrade to 3.3)

    – young grasshopper from your first class

    Reply
    • Paul says

      December 17, 2011 at 11:59 pm

      Lar-

      You know I am an IT guy and I know the value of waiting. I will never install a new version of any MS product. I will always wait for that!. However, WordPress is much more reliable. I won’t get into any debates about this (unless it is a good one), but open source software has a lot of advantages!

      WordPress is very stable. The things that are crashing is not WP, but the plugins. Think back about 4 or 5 months ago… Remember when you had issues with your site? Turns out it was not WP, but a plugin. See what I mean!

      I don’t think that if I waited, I would not run into problems. I would have. And in the meantime, I would have lost time with some of the great new functionality that 3.3 is offering! The upload interface is wonderful! I love it! That ALONE to be is worth it.

      Thanks for the comments, as usual!

      Reply
      • lar says

        December 19, 2011 at 9:54 pm

        well my teacher Paul –
        as you know, my site is a tad picture intensive . . . so maybe I won’t wait 4 weeks . . . and I will upgrade this week
        always luv asking you a good question . . . many thanks
        – young grasshopper

        Reply
  3. Annemarie Cross says

    December 16, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    Hi Paul,

    Yes, I also experienced problems after my upgrade, something I’ve never had before with any other upgrade.

    My drop down tabs (to my pages) went all out of whack so I had to get my programmers to fix it.

    Thankfully it is now fixed, however I’m a little worried this may happen again next time they upgrade. Fingers crossed it won’t.

    Reply
    • Paul says

      December 16, 2011 at 9:11 pm

      That is interesting and unfortunate, Annemarie! Sorry to hear about that! It looks like you are using the theme, the-station-2. Is that a custom theme? I would be interested in hearing what the problem was, in case others have a similar issue.

      Reply
    • Qbeats Radio says

      December 18, 2011 at 6:59 pm

      Hello there,

      I got the same problem with my menu.
      Maybe you can tell me how to fix it.

      Thanks.

      Reply
      • Paul says

        December 19, 2011 at 9:34 am

        It is probably a problem with you theme. What theme are you using? You might want to check with the developers that created your theme.

        Paul.

        Reply
  4. Pat says

    December 16, 2011 at 6:30 pm

    Thanks for the warning Paul, as I had not done the upgrade yet myself with the busy Christmas season. Merry Christmas!

    Reply
    • Paul says

      December 16, 2011 at 9:14 pm

      Pat – let me know where I should send my Christmas list – you can pick which item you want to get me 馃檪

      Reply
  5. Dan says

    December 17, 2011 at 1:18 am

    I was using Popup Domination version 2.0 and got the error you mentioned when updating to WP 3.3. Do you know for sure that they are working on a fix for the older version of Popup Domination? All I’ve heard from others is that the developers aren’t responding to support tickets and that you have to purchase the newer version.

    Reply
    • Paul says

      December 18, 2011 at 12:01 am

      That is just what I have heard. When I hear more (either good or bad) I will let you know!

      Thanks.

      Reply
      • Paul says

        December 18, 2011 at 12:42 am

        Check out:
        https://digitalmaestro.com/popup-domination-wordpress-3-3-it-now-works/

        I just posted a solution!

        Reply
  6. denny hagel says

    December 17, 2011 at 11:11 am

    Updated without problems! Thanks for looking out for us!

    Reply
    • Paul says

      December 18, 2011 at 12:42 am

      Happy to share what I found!

      Reply
  7. stephen davidson says

    December 17, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    my sidebar has dissapeared with the new version!

    Reply
  8. Jandi Theis says

    December 17, 2011 at 9:10 pm

    Thanks for all the tips Paul! I haven’t upgraded yet, so it’s nice to be aware of these things in advance! 馃檪

    Reply
    • Paul says

      December 18, 2011 at 12:43 am

      When you do upgrade, Jandi, you will love it!

      Reply
  9. Deborah says

    December 18, 2011 at 11:05 pm

    You have just saved my life! I had done the 3.3 upgrade on two other sites with NO problem whatsoever, so when my biggest and most important site displayed this error when I upgraded, I thought I would DIE! (Fortunately, I had JUST taken a full backup.) Thanks to this post, all I had to do was rename the PopUpDom folder, and, boom, I’m back in business. THANK YOU!

    Reply
  10. Mandy B. Anderson says

    December 20, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    Thanks Paul! I have been experiencing an unusual problem this time around too. I have updated the new WordPress three times and each time I get the following error:
    Fatal error: Call to undefined function is_rtl() in /home/content/83/6681883/html/wp-includes/general-template.php on line 2102

    What happens is my Admin page won’t work. The site still works, but I cant get in to the admin page to change anything. It just doesn’t show up. So I’ve had to log in to my server account and restore my website to the prior day settings. The IT guy at bulkdomains told me that I might have to go in and manually rename the folder, but I don’t know what to name it to. Anyone else have this problem?

    Thanks a bunch!

    Reply
  11. Harley says

    December 23, 2011 at 3:26 pm

    I upgraded another site I have with 3.3.
    It broke my theme. My theme is a brand new issued premium theme bought and paid for from Envato and I had JUST purchased it and created the site. So it is not a theme problem ( and if it is it should not be ). My advice, do not make the upgrade just yet to WP 3.3 just yet. And BTW, also installed ab brand new wordpress 3.3 in a new subdirectory with a new clean database to give the the fresh new wp 3.3 its own brand new home. Installed another fresh newly minted premium theme from Envato that I bought last week for a client to tst it and it to was a No Go with WP 3.3.

    Reply
    • Paul says

      December 24, 2011 at 9:05 am

      My experience has been that it is not WordPress that breaks something, it is something else (a plugin, a theme, etc.) that breaks.

      My advice has always been to take a backup of your site and install it someplace else as a test site. On this test site, apply any major upgrade (like WordPress) to find out if there are any errors caused by the upgrade. This should be done on important plugin upgrades as well as theme upgrades and WordPress upgrades.

      WordPress 3.3 has been out for a few weeks now – and they have not issued another upgrade or patch since then. I have seen many plugins, however, that have issues upgrades to accommodate the new functionality that WordPress provides.

      Harley, even though you just purchased the theme, it does not mean that it is perfect. I would check with the developers to see if they are aware of any issues with the new upgrade.

      Good Luck.

      Reply
  12. Harley says

    December 23, 2011 at 3:27 pm

    sorry for my typos above

    Reply
  13. Brian says

    December 24, 2011 at 10:12 am

    i’m another having problems with my theme after upgrading wordpress to ver 3.3. some of the posts have no text, only the featured image is displayed. hope that an updated theme will be released soon that fixes this problem.

    Reply
    • Paul says

      December 24, 2011 at 1:38 pm

      Have you tried another theme? You can always go back to your back up to restore what you had prior to the upgrade. Make sure you have your widgets saved and any items in sidebars, headers, footers, before switching themes.

      Also, check with the developer of the theme to see if they have an upgrade.

      Good Luck.

      Reply
  14. Brian says

    December 26, 2011 at 11:12 am

    Hi Paul, thanks for the quick reply. yeah i’ve tried some different themes. even twenty ten (ver 1.3) had the same prob. luckily it’s only effecting 4 posts. i’ve recreated these posts and they are working fine.

    Problem solved for now but I’ve no idea what was the cause.

    Reply
  15. Harley says

    January 1, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    I did check with the developer, all is well with theme, I had checked before upgrading. I always do everything as you had suggested above. I have used wordpress for years, it is indeed the new WP 3.3. It needs work. Others should heed, but I do thank you anyway for the response, even though nothing applied to my trouble.

    Reply
    • Paul says

      January 1, 2012 at 5:07 pm

      If you want to send me a private email with your contact info, I can give you a call and see if I can take a look at your site.

      Reply
  16. Bur莽lar says

    January 2, 2012 at 11:36 am

    After upgrading to wordpress 3.3 my tags not working. Do you know any solution?

    Reply
    • Paul says

      January 2, 2012 at 9:46 pm

      Bur莽lar – which theme are you using?

      Reply
  17. Carrie says

    January 3, 2012 at 3:00 pm

    I upgraded and am having a problem no one seems to be discussing anywhere. In my post page (from the admin) when I am editing or creating a new post, the footer is somehow in the wrong place, overlaid on top of the bottom portion of the post content area and keeping me from selecting categories. Any suggestions? I’ve tried reinstalling.

    Reply
    • Paul says

      January 4, 2012 at 8:51 am

      Carrie – it sounds like an issue with your theme. Looking at your site now, things look ok – I guess you changed the theme temporarily. Which theme are you using?

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

UpCity: Best of New Jersey

UpCity Best of New Jersey

Proud Member

Recent Posts

  • Voice Search and Local SEO: The Shift You Can鈥檛 Afford to Ignore
  • The Local Business Owner鈥檚 Guide to Holiday Promotions That Work
  • 7 Holiday Marketing Mistakes That Can Cost Your Local Business (and How to Avoid Them)
  • How Small Businesses Can Compete With Big Brands in the New Year
  • Holiday Marketing on a Budget: Creative Ideas That Don鈥檛 Break the Bank

WordPress Topics

  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Blogging Category
  • Business Building
  • Coaching Category
  • General
  • List Building
  • Marketing
  • Plugins
  • Resources
  • SEO
  • Services
  • Social Media
  • Themes
  • Traffic
  • Uncategorized
  • Video Subscription
  • Webinar
  • WordPress Online Strategy

Missinglettr

Copyright © 2025 路 Digital Maestro 路 Disclaimer 路 Privacy Policy 路 Terms of Service 路 Accessibility 路 Stay Awesome!