OK Chris, so I figured out what happened in the end. When I disabled all plugins the first time, I didn't realize 3.1 had paginated plugins. So I had two pages worth of plugins and Simple Tags was on page 2. So I never disabled it. The source of my earlier issue was a result of this one plugin. Thanks for trying to help and sorry for all my panicking. With a site as big as mine, I thought for sure I was screwed.

Warmly,

Adam

Please read the help file.

There are A LOT of changes since 1.0, and requires setting up. 4.0 requires a theme options plugin. The preview may not work until everything is setup as instructed in the help file.

Changes that would make a fresh install not preview?

There are some significant changes from version 1.0 to 4.0. Please be sure to read the help file for setting up version 4.0.

Incidentally, all my other themes work in preview:

Twenty Ten: http://sweepingzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/twentyten-works.png

Wordpress Classic: http://sweepingzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/wpclassic.png

Wordpress Default: http://sweepingzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/wpdefault.png

FYI: I recently switched hosts and am at site5 with a VPS server. They performed a Cpanel migration for me and, while I've not experienced any issues until this upgrade, I wonder if that may be part of this mess for me. I'm not sure why a fresh install of wpuniversity will only show my site as a gray screen, to start...

My current University theme in WP 3.0 (reverted to backup): http://sweepingzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/theme-that-does-work.png (still works, note renamed themes/sweepingzen)

Proof that 4.0 is installed correctly: http://sweepingzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/theme-that-doesnt-work.png

Preview theme, plugins disabled (gray screen): http://sweepingzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/University-Preview.png

So, not only can I not upgrade to 3.1 but, in 3.0, I cannot implement the latest wpuniversity release, either. Any ideas on what might be causing this?

Confirmation that reverting back to 3.0, plugins disabled, fixed it. I am scared to try an update again until this is understood.

It was because of one bad upload, which I had since deleted; I'd accidentally uploaded the whole University folder the first time. Now, each time I download a new version in 3.1 and try to implement it, I get nothing but a gray site. But the theme is fine. So I revert to the previous install of the theme I had, with the same issue. My host is going to revert to a backup from yesterday with 3.0 installed. I should have had a test site for these releases. After numerous attempts to isolate the problem I am unable and can only reason that it was the 3.1 upgrade that did this. That I cannot implement a freshly downloaded university theme and get it to work is equally as troubling.

So, the style error is gone now but the problem persists. That is happened immediately after upgrading to 3.1 is what gets me. Everything at the website functions as it should except for post categories. All pages exist - everything fine on that front. It's just the mother categories for posts, not pages, are screwed. I'll let you know if going back to 3.0 helps.

I noticed that I forgot to update the version number that WordPress reads, but I can confirm that the downloads page has the latest version of the theme.

I can also confirm that the only way you see that error message is if you're uploading the theme incorrectly. Did you try FTP the folder to your themes directory (instead of using a zip file)?

I've definitely uploaded it correctly. I'll pay you to help me out if you can. I simply made a zip file of the wpuniversity folder. This error message showed after I upgraded to 3.1, before I ever redownloaded the theme (which, incidentally, still says 1.0).

#1 What must I do to get theme 4.0? Simply downloading it again through themeforest gives me 1.0 still.

#2. It says it is missing a stylesheet but very clearly, in Cpanel, I still have a style.css file. I'm at wits end as to what to do. All was well until I upgraded to 3.1 and literally right after I noticed the problem. Can you help me with a more hands on approach? I'll certainly pay you for your time.

Adam

Check this out to make sure you're installing correctly... http://wiki.envato.com/buying/support-buying/solving-broken-theme-issues/

I mean to say I re-downloaded university but the theme says it is 1.0 still, not 4.0.

Hi there.

Well, I just downloaded the theme again but it says it's 3.1. In my dashboard, it says the following:

Broken Themes

The following themes are installed but incomplete. Themes must have a stylesheet and a template.
Name Description
wordpress university theme Stylesheet is missing.

Any tips?

Possibly.

I've successfully updated the demo site (and all my other themes) without any problems, so I can confirm this is not a theme issue, but you might want to get the latest version from your downloads page and try that.

Since you were able to confirm it isn't a plugin issue, the only other thing I can think to try is reinstalling the update. If you navigate to your "updates" page, click "re-install automatically".

If the issue still continues, I'm tempted to think it's a hosting issue - again, because I don't see this issue on any other sites and you confirmed it isn't caused by plugins.

Incidentally, I have University 1.0 installed. Do you think that might be the issue?

I disabled all plugins and still have the same issue.

Hi there

My website is http://sweepingzen.com/

I just updated to the latest version of Wordpress, 3.1, and it was a disaster. All post categories get shoved into Featured, all front page categories display all post content, and the top navigation for post categories all, when clicked, keep you on the front page. Can you help me?

Adam