WordPress 3.3 is available and trust me it’s incredibly cool.

But don’t be tempted to update before you back up your current installation.

The not so quick and easy  method is to:

1. Download all the files on your website
• You’ll need to jump in to your ftp client to do this
2. Download a copy of your DataBase
1. Login into your website hosting account’s Control Panel
2. Some hosts like Godaddy have a built in system to set up a database backup. BUT
3. I recommend connecting to your database via phpMyAdmin and downloading a copy of your database to your desktop
• If you don’t have or don’t know what phpMyAdmin is call your host and ask them how to use it
3. Now please check that your plugins are compatible with the new wordpress 3.x install
1. If all of your plugins are free go to http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ and search for your plugins by name
2. Go to the plugin’s page and check in the right side column for a box called “Compatibility”
• If it works for 3.3 your good to go
3. For your premium plugins go to your plugin developers website to find out the status of your plugin