Hey, I have a number of WP sites and most have been hacked – I am wanting to upgrade all sites to the latest version but still keep the information in the databases – themes also if possible. Can that be done? Thanks!
Thanks for the reply. What would be the easiest option don't mind about plugins, I think I will have to upgrade themes ( Although I use regular WP themes installed through the dashboard I mainly just have the images changed, logo etc. so I don't mind doing that )
how old are we talking about? If they are that old, then it may not be worth updating... Is your old stuff responsive? If not, then I would think the easiest way would to find a modern, responsive theme, then have a coder import your content. They would have to set something up along the lines in order to extract the content from the old dB, and then import the content into the new dB, now you have WP latest, now update plugins, or get rid of them if they have not been updated often, as old, non-updated plugins could cause you to be hacked again in the future....
It can get a little complicated but make sure to back up your files first before getting an update. You know just to avoid or prevent hassle.
When you upgrade your WordPress to the latest version, there is no impact on the data like articles, content of the pages or uploaded images. In fact, it is highly recommended always update to the latest version.
Just open WP dashboard (if you can still access it after hacking) and click the Updates tab. All the plugins, themes, and WP itself will be updated automatically. If you can't access the dashboard and there's no way for you to recover an entry to it, I would recommend backing up your data, installing the same WP version you had (so your database structure remains the same), importing old data, and then using auto update feature.
Unfortunately I cant access the dashboard.. I cant access anything aside from the database - So the content should still be there in the db. I just want to have things upgraded to the latest WP and use the same db. I think it is how someone gained access to my server and got into a lot of other sites that weren't WP. Im trying to find an older backup on another hard drive now just to hopefully have most content but I cant keep the WP files that were hacked in that install.. Thanks again for the help
If you can access the DB, you can surely change email address (if it was changed) of admin user back to yours. Then, just use forgotten password feature, and you are in!