Burst Blog

Most bloggers are in the game to write about issues and share ideas that matter to them, so it’s no surprise that many self-hosted blogs are a version or three behind the officially released and supported versions. Upgrading blog software isn’t exactly fun, and it takes time time away from starting and contributing to discussions around the Web, but it is important to stay on top of changes to your blogging software, and it’s easier to do than ever. So, why should you stay up-to-date?

Security

Most new releases include code to patch potential security holes in complex blogging software. The last thing you want is someone finding a chink in the armor, gaining access to all of your hard work and destroying or hijacking it. As someone who neglected the software and paid the price, I can tell you that cleaning up after a crazed hacker-kid is not a fun way to spend an evening.

Most point releases (2.0.1 or 1.3.9 etc.) are typically released to fix bugs, with security issues at the forefront. So, even if you aren’t willing to commit to a major new release, you should jump on new point releases quickly. Major releases often include security fixes as well, but it’s rare for a major release to include a security fix that isn’t also released for the previous version. For example, if version 2.5 is released by a software company, odds are good that 2.4.X will come out at the same time, solely comprised of security fixes.

Features

The other key reason to stay up-to-date are the new features bundled into a release. Often times the little features have a really large impact. For example, improvements to spam detection may not seem like much, but good software will let you focus on writing instead of weeding your comments, that can translate into a lot of time.

Every blogging platform has different ways for you to stay up to date. For example, there is a great plugin for WordPress that makes it easy to upgrade the software within your browser. A lot of Web hosts also provide built-in install and upgrade functionality, via services like Fantastico.

If you take a little bit of time now, you can save yourself some heartache later, and you may even find some fun new tools and toys that will make writing for your blog even more fun.