Archive for the ‘WordPress News’ Category
by David Peralty on June 29th, 2009
Beta 2 is here. Get it while it’s…still not quite out of Beta…or something.
From the WordPress.org Dev Blog…
Notable fixes in beta 2:
* Translation of role names fixed
* wp_page_menu() defaults to sorting by the user specified menu order rather than the page title
* Upload error messages are now correctly reported
* Autosave error experienced by some IE users is fixed
* Styling glitch in the plugin editor fixed
* SSH2 filesystem requirements updated
* Switched back to curl as the default transport
* Updated the translation library to avoid a problem with mbstring.func_overload
I’ve been using 2.8.1 Beta 1 on a few sites, and liking it quite a bit. There are some issues with plugins, as there always are with any new version, but other than that it’s pretty solid.
Categories: WordPress News
Tags: beta, wordpress, wordpress 2.8.1 beta 2
by David Peralty on June 24th, 2009
Is WordPress.com hurting the WordPress brand? Mark Jaquith seems to think so, and I’m inclined to agree with him.
Here’s a snippet of his reasoning…
I got a tip that Chris Anderson’s upcoming book Free has the following to say about WordPress:
2. Feature limited (Basic version free, more sophisticated version paid. This is the WordPress model.)
* Upside: Best way to maximize reach. When customers convert to paid, they’re doing it for the right reason (they understand the value of what they’re paying for) and are likely to be more loyal and less price sensitive.
* Downside: Need to create two versions of the product. If you put too many features in the free version, not enough people will convert. If you put too few, not enough will use it long enough to convert.
This is most assuredly not the WordPress model. Anyone and everyone can go to wordpress.org and download a completely free, completely unrestricted, and completely feature-complete version of WordPress to run for any purpose. There is no feature limited version of WordPress.
It seems that Chris Anderson has confused WordPress the software, with WordPress.com the hosted blog service, and he’s not alone.
I’ve seen many people comment on the limitations of WordPress when they were really talking about WordPress.com. Not a LOT (that I’ve seen), but certainly enough to show that there is a problem.
Chris Garrett posted today on blogherald.com about it, and also agrees there is a definite issue that should be resolved, though he isn’t sure how. Here’s what he has to say on the topic…
Now if you support the idea that WordPress.com is causing confusion for the WordPress brand, and I think many people will agree that it is, what to do about it?
Well, it is not like all those thousands of *.WordPress.com sites are going to be happily redirected to new domains. I can only think that rebranding the software would be the (inelegant, or even downright ugly) solution 
I’m not really sure what the best way to deal with the problem is. It seems that a rebranding of either the WordPress software itself, or the hosted blog service, would no doubt anger many, and confuse many others for quite some time.
Seems like the WordPress brand is caught of the middle of a cliche about rocks and hard places.
Categories: WordPress News
Tags: branding confusion, wordpress, wordpress.com
by David Peralty on June 22nd, 2009
Since so many people are having simple problems with their WordPress 2.8 installations, the WordPress community is working tirelessly to get a point-one update out as soon as possible, and the first step on that road is to test a beta of the release.
WordPress 2.8.1 Beta 1 has been released, and they need people to test it out and see if it fixes the problems, so if you are having issues with WordPress 2.8, try the beta, and see if that resolves it.
Here are some of the errors it fixes:
- Certain themes were calling get_categories() in such a way that it would fail in 2.8. 2.8.1 works around this so these themes won’t have to change.
- Dashboard memory usage is reduced. Some people were running out of memory when loading the dashboard, resulting in an incomplete page.
- The automatic upgrade no longer accidentally deletes files when cleaning up from a failed upgrade.
- A problem where the rich text editor wasn’t being loaded due to compression issues has been worked around.
- Extra security has been put in place to better protect you from plugins that do not do explicit permission checks.
Just remember though, that beta software should never be used in a production/live environment.
Check out the WordPress.org blog for more details.
Categories: WordPress News
by David Peralty on June 15th, 2009
Matt Mullenweg was recently interviewed on Tekzilla by Veronica Belmont. He talks about themes and templates, the iPhone app, and some other fun stuff for the future.
Categories: WordPress News
Tags: Interview, matt mullenweg, tekzilla
by David Peralty on June 12th, 2009
So while the bug and issue reports are less than most full point releases I’ve seen, the issues people are having are fairly consistent, leading some people to be very frustrated, as there was a fair bit of downplaying over the number of changes in this latest WordPress version.
Some of the main issues people seem to be having are related to plugins, Google Gears, and their ability to edit/update and create posts and pages.
This has lead me to suggest to most of the people I know to wait until the WordPress 2.8.1 release, which I am sure will be out in the next few weeks, as more issues are found, and the sources are tracked down.
Have you had any issues with WordPress 2.8? And if you are planning on upgrading today, please make sure to do a backup before proceeding, as I’d hate any of my readers to have frustrating issues with WordPress, especially since I don’t think WordPress 2.8 provides any substantial features or security upgrades in my opinion.
Some Support Threads to Follow:
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/278874
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/279170
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/278446
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/278627
Categories: WordPress News
by David Peralty on June 12th, 2009
I have been a fan of WPCandy.com for a long time, and am sorry to see the owner getting ready to part with it. As we continue to move forward in out interactions with the web, some of us inevitably fall out. I have fallen in and out of love with WordPress as a topic to consistently write about as well, and I have sold a few of my own sites and regretted it each time.
WPCandy is a well-established blog about WordPress. It’s one of the top sites about WordPress, if not #1. We haven’t updated the site regularly in months and still receives decent traffic through tons of solid linkbacks. Recently, we’ve been having trouble finding the time to update the site due to other projects, so we’re looking for an individual or company who’s interested in taking the proper time to expand the site and continue making it the best WordPress resource on the web.
But rather than let a good site die, it is always beneficial to shop it around, and I wish both the current owners and new owners luck in their transaction. If you would like to pick up a strong WordPress blog, then check out the SitePoint listing for WPCandy.com.
Categories: WordPress News
by David Peralty on June 10th, 2009
Many people thought WordPress 2.8 would be released on June 10th, and only an hour and a half before the end of the day in EDT, my time zone, the button was pressed. WordPress 2.8 “Baker” is out.
2.8 represents a nice fit and finish release for WordPress with improvements to themes, widgets, taxonomies, and overall speed. We also fixed over 790 bugs.
I am looking forward to seeing what plugins and themes break with the new version, as well as what most people think of it. I just started playing around with the 2.8 Release Candidate One today, and so haven’t dived deep into what 2.8 offers, but many say that the improvements, rather than the new features are what makes this release so great.
What’s next? Well, Matt mentions it in the WordPress blog:
We’re already thinking hard about the next versions, 2.9 and 3.0. Keep an eye out for improved media handling, better dependency checking, versioning of templates and themes, and of course the fabled merging of WordPress and MU announced at WordCamp San Francisco two weeks ago.
Try out WordPress 2.8 and let me know what you think of it. I hope that this, unlike most releases, won’t “have” to have a point-one release to fix any glaring security errors.
Categories: Important, WordPress News
by David Peralty on June 6th, 2009
So after arriving to Chicago, we relaxed and took in the comfort of the hotel. Getting up early today, I hit up the UBS Center where WordCamp Chicago is being held. I was amazed at the style of building.
The sessions were great, especially Jeremy Wright and Micah Baldwin who really did things that appealed to me (a rarity at WordCamps these days).
So now for some random thoughts from day one that I hope you’ll all enjoy:
- Brian Gardner is ripped! I wasn’t expecting that, but his head shot doesn’t do him justice
- There were at least half a dozen Canadians, including myself at the event.
- Long-ish breaks between sessions were awesome
- The internet connection started really horribly, but started getting better as the afternoon progressed
- Some people actually recognized me, more from WordPress Weekly, than anywhere else
I am really impressed with the event, and think that those involved in organizing it deserve some insane respect. I think that the presentations still weren’t WordPress focused enough, but overall they were less business focused than other events I’ve been to.
I am looking forward to day two, despite only being a half day. If you are at WordCamp Chicago, and want to meet up, let me know through a comment on this post, or via Twitter (@brandingdavid), where a huge back channel of content is being created under the hash tag #wcchicago.
Categories: WordPress News
by David Peralty on June 5th, 2009
Ford recently launched a WordPress powered website called “The Ford Story” to chronicle their progress towards more fuel-efficient, high-quality cars/trucks/etc in a transparent and (hopefully) interesting way.
Well it seems that the people over at Automattic’s WordPress Publisher Blog talked to Scott Monty from the Global Digital Communications group at The Ford Motor Company about the project.
Here’s a sample…
Why did you choose WordPress over other publishing platforms?
We wanted to use a flexible platform that would easily integrate with the social web. The Ford Story is going to be a dynamic site, and we wanted to be ready to respond to the needs of the day, so we needed a technology that would allow us to take a modular approach. Knowing that we could use plugins and other components that connect with the rest of the web was a strong selling point.
For the full interview head over the WordPress Publisher blog.
Categories: WordPress News
by David Peralty on June 5th, 2009
So today I hit the road to attend the first annual WordCamp Chicago, an event that is sure to be fun and interesting. Many of the people online that I connect with on a fairly regular basis will be there, some have already arrived in the windy city, while many more will be arriving throughout today and early tomorrow.
My wife is coming along with me, not to attend the conference, but because this might be the only “vacation” we get this year, so more than just the conference, we are going to try to make the most of our trip.
I am looking forward to interacting with the people that attend, and hope that everyone is half as excited as me (I could barely sleep last night, it was like waiting for Christmas morning).
If you want more information on what’s going on, Jeff Chandler has already started a back channel on his WPTavern Forum. This is a great place to list where you’ll be, what you want to do, and what you thought of sessions as we go through the one and a half days.
While there is no plan for video recording of the sessions, Jeff might also be live-streaming some of the sessions over UStream.
Lastly, and most importantly, if you see the guy in the picture with this post, wish him a Happy Birthday. It will be Jeremy Wright’s 30th birthday!
Categories: Important, WordPress News
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