Upgrade Yields Errors

[Rob]

Admittedly, I am lousy with this sort of thing.

After following the upgrade instructions, I had a weird error and had to completely reinstall, which has me worried about my data (yes, I did a backup).

Now when I click CiviCRM link in WP Dashboard, I am getting the following errors:

Warning: preg_replace_callback(): Requires argument 2, '', to be a valid callback in /home/reform3/public_html/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/vendor/symfony/dependency-injection/Symfony/Component/DependencyInjection/ParameterBag/ParameterBag.php on line 260

Warning: preg_replace_callback(): Requires argument 2, '', to be a valid callback in /home/reform3/public_html/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/Token.php on line 661

Warning: preg_replace_callback(): Requires argument 2, '', to be a valid callback in /home/reform3/public_html/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/Token.php on line 661

Warning: array_flip() expects parameter 1 to be array, string given in /home/reform3/public_html/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/Token.php on line 1378

Warning: array_keys() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /home/reform3/public_html/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/Token.php on line 1379

Warning: array_fill_keys() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /home/reform3/public_html/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/Token.php on line 1379

Fatal error: Unsupported operand types in /home/reform3/public_html/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Utils/Token.php on line 1380

No clue how to handle these.  I cannot access the CiviCRM Dashboard.

Help?

[Coleman Watts]

After following the upgrade instructions, I had a weird error and had to completely reinstall, which has me worried about my data (yes, I did a backup).

I don't follow your process here. If you did a backup then you should have been able to roll back to the previous version. Why was reinstalling necessary?

[Rob]

The original update isn't as simple in WP as updating a plugin, which is one of CiviCRM's huge failures. When an update becomes available, it can be a tormented PITA to upgrade.  One essentially has to remove the original installation, preserving some files, then upload via FTP, the other files.   This would normally work fine, but in this case, it yielded an error page when trying to access from the WP dashboard.  A full reinstall, including the files the instructions say to keep was the only way.  Everything worked fine, until I went to access the CiviCRM dashboard and received those errors.

Even in a perfect situation, the database always has to be rebuilt after an upgrade. This should all be an automated, safe procedure in WP. CiviCRM chooses to be different.  Honestly, it should be a stand-alone product with a WP interface.

The backup I have is ONLY of the database. I have the previous version.

[Coleman Watts]

I can understand your frustration. CiviCRM is inarguably more difficult to install and upgrade than WP.

It might be useful to step back and remember that only 3 years ago Civi didn't support WP at all, and the integration, while still not perfect, has come a very long way since then.

In many respects it is as you say - Civi is a standalone product that, in some ways, integrates with your WP site. But it still requires separate maintenance and administration.

It may also be useful to remember that Civi was first written to plug into Drupal, which is more technically challenging to install and maintain than WP, and its users tend to be professional or at least prosumer web administrators, who use tools like sftp, version control, and cli interfaces. WP, while it has its share of pros, is more geared towards the needs of hobbyists who often use cheap hosting and get by without the tools pros think of as necessities. If the only access you have to your server is FTP, installing Civi is really going to suck. If you don't have your codebase under version control, then rolling back changes can be a nightmare. If you can't use CLI tools, then upgrading Civi is a pain. You have my condolences.

But the up-side to saying something has room for improvement is envisioning those improvements actually happening. Civi's integration with WP has gone from zero to pretty good in only 3 years. Imagine where it will be in another 3. Two projects I've been advocating for are an easy installer and one-click upgrader, which I hope will get picked up this year as Google summer-of-code projects.

Want to get involved and help out?

[Rob]

Coleman,

Thanks for the kind offer to help, but now running a major non-profit, I'm a bit at a loss for time.  While I'm not the greatest techie I dare say I'm no hobbyist.

I have a dedicated server, which is by no means cheap hosting   and I'm using more than just FTP as a tool. I've done tech support for WP products for years now, and so very familiar with it.

The biggest problem with it is once these errors occur, there's no definitive guide to fix them. 

I still need to find a solution for these errors.  So, is anyone out there able to help?

[Coleman Watts]

Rob, since you did not have your code under version control (maybe this incident will have inspired you to start doing that) you'll just need to carefully put all files back where they were before you did the upgrade. File permissions may also cause problems if files are there but not readable.
Or, since things are already in a broken state, it might make sense to go ahead and try the upgrade again, get more details on the error you encounter while upgrading, and try to solve it.