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I get this question often, and I wonder, are people really encountering themes that are having compatibility issues with WordPress 2.5.x? If so, what are the issues and how to fix it? This quest led me to searching the WordPress forums for folks complaining about their theme not being compatibility with WordPress 2.5, nothing there. Next I searched on Google, all I got were hits to sites that claims their themes being compatible, so no real compatibility issue to report.

So why is it that each time WordPress releases a newer version, folks start doubting if their theme is compatible? The answer might be not in the themes themselves, but in the plugins that some of the themes employ. Most all theme that are sidebar widget ready will work in the newest WordPress version, in fact I am willing to say that all themes with widget sidebar will work in WordPress 2.5.x because the changes in WordPress template tags was mostly related to links and categories. Now, all of this changes if your theme relies on any plugins to do its magic.

Plugins are developed differently from themes. WordPress Themes “are files and styles that work together to create a presentation or look for a WordPress site”. Themes are made and distributed for various reasons, mostly for fame and fortune. On the other hand, Codex defines plugins as, “tools to extend the functionality of WordPress”. Note that most all plugins are created to meet a specific need the plugin author had, then packaged to share with others with similar need. So when WordPress makes any changes to its core code, the theme can usually continue running on deprecated tags and not crash but the plugins invariably need to be updated.

With this stark contrast in the design and purpose of these tools, the probability of the plugin being incompatible is far greater than any theme can be. So the next time you upgrade your WordPress install and find your site is having issues, here’s what you do:

1. Update all your plugins.
2. If that does not help, disable all plugins except Akismet, clear cache (if active) and then check your site.
3. To troubleshoot, turn one plugin at a time and check which makes your site go wacky.
4. If the above steps fail to fix the issue, switch your design to the “WordPress Default” theme that came with the newest version of WordPress. Check to see if it works.
5. If all the above steps fail to fix your issue, then reinstall WordPress after deleting all your old wp-admin and wp-includes folders/files (keep your wp-content folder as is).

If all else fails, check the official WordPress forums or contact a WordPress consultant (or me). Hope this information is useful.