WordPress News: iPhones Up, WordPress Widgets API, 2.8 Delayed, International WordPress.tv, and More

  • 7 min read

iPhone for WordPress is in the iTunes store. WordPress Widgets will use new Widgets API as of WordPress 2.8. Security authentication will improve with OAuth in future versions. WordPress 2.8 delayed. WordCamps in Hong Kong and China coming up. International languages embraced on WordPress.tv. And more WordPress news, tips, resources, and help.

WordPress News Changing: Your input is needed to help the evolve. See “Changing the Blog Herald WordPress News: Your Help Needed” to share your thoughts on the shape of this weekly report.

WordPress News

iPhone for WordPress: The iPhone for WordPress Version 1.2 is now in the iTunes App Store, ready for you to blog and track comments on your iPhone.

WordPress 2.8 Delay Confirmed: The WordPress Development team has confirmed that WordPress 2.8 will be released in April, pushing back the release date a few weeks in order to take a little more time with improving the underlying code, incorporating the new Widgets API, and improvements for managing JavaScripts, Plugins, AJAX, and more. There is a list of features, changes, and improvements in the WordPress Codex.

WordPress.tv News: has now launched the Making WordPress.tv development blog run on the new P2 WordPress Theme for those who want to keep up with what is going on with the new video service for the WordPress Community. The first goal for improving the new WordPress.tv is to improve the localization, the ability to understand the videos in your language. Michael Pick is working on adding language filtering to help with the translation of videos into other languages. You can now filter the videos by language preference, too.

Review WordPress Plugins:. Recently, Weblog Tools Collection started their “User Reviews” project where anyone can add their reviews of WordPress Plugins. The first set of Plugin Reviews from their readers is out. If you would like to join their reader review team, go get involved. It’s a great way of helping WordPress Plugin authors by supporting your favorite WordPress Plugins, and a great way to give back to the community by helping point out the coolest and most helpful WordPress Plugins.

Help WordPress Development: Jane Well is asking for help from the WordPress Community and you are invited to join. At WordCamp Denver, she presented a program on community involvement, opening the door to more non-developers to help WordPress develop, helping with quality control, documentation, ideas and opinions, user experience, graphic design, accessibility, usability testing, community organization, and WordPress.tv.

WordPress Release: The most recent version of WordPress is WordPress 2.7.1, a maintenance release. If you are using WordPress 2.7, take advantage of the automatic built-in upgrade.

Last Week’s WordPress Wednesday News: Are you just catching up now to our ? Check out the past news in last week’s WordPress News: Plugins Reach Milestone, New WordPress Community Project, Help to Search for WordPress Help.

WordPress on Your Calendar

WordPress Events CalendarWordCamp News: Jeff Chandler recently published “What I Learned From WordCamp Denver,” his experience of watching WordCamp Denver through the eyes of the BitWireLive live streaming from the lobby of the event as well as watching the Twitter tweets and live blogging. It’s an interesting look at a WordCamp event through the eyes of a “non-participant” – showing us how far and wide a WordCamp goes to make an impact. You can watch the live interviews by BitWireLive on Ustream.

WordPress Meetup or WordCamp Near You? If you are putting together a WordPress event, please email me so I can publicize it here. If there is a WordCamp near you, go. If you are interested in setting up a WordCamp, stay tuned for news and information on to bring a WordCamp event near you.

Here are some WordPress-related dates and events to put on your calendar.

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

Trending around the web:

October 2009

Upcoming WordCamps not scheduled or confirmed:

Upcoming WordCamp and WordPress Event News

WordCamp Toronto News: WordCamp Toronto volunteers are working overtime to publicize and prepare for their May 8-10, 2009, event. They have found the event venue at OASI in Toronto’s West End, are looking for local artists to display their work during the event, are having a FREE WordCamp Toronto Tickets Giveaway, and invite everyone to help promote the event by downloading a WordCamp Toronto Banner and displaying it on their blogs. Registration is filling fast for this amazing event, so sign up now to get a seat.

WordCamp Dallas News: WordCamp Dallas is June 27-28, 2009, at the University of Dallas in Dallas, Texas. The ticket price is $30 and covers meals and t-shirts and other goodies over the two day event.

WordCamp RVA News: WordCamp RVA is May 9, 2009, in Richmond, Virginia, at Hirschler Fleischer. Admission is free but registration is required. You can also track the event’s news on their Twitter at @wordcamprva.

WordCamp Chicago News: WordCamp Chicago now has a venue. It will be at the UBS Tower Conference Center in downtown Chicago. It has a maximum capacity for 200 attendees, which means seating will extremely limited. Register now.

WordCamp San Francisco 2009 News: WordCamp San Francisco 2009 is open for registration. Some hot speakers are already lined up for the May 30, 2009, event at the Mission Bay Conference Center, including Matt Cutts, Tim Ferris, Philip Greenspun, Douglas Hanna, Tara Hunt, Andy Peatling, and Steve Sounders. This often sells out so get your ticket and arrangements to attend the parent WordCamp event of the year now.

WordCamps and WordPress Meetups Everywhere

WordPress Fan Blogs and Podcasts

Weblog Tools Collection: Recent news, Plugin and Theme reviews, and helpful posts on include:

Recent posts by Weblog Tools Collection include:

WordCast Podcast: WordCast 47: Sneeze for us! saw Kym come back to the show after too long away, and WordCast 48: Leave Twitter alone! covered Twitter and WordPress, the inside scoop on the new version of , and more WordPress tips and news.

WordPress Weekly Podcast: WPWeekly Episode 45 – Unlucky Stream covers lookup functions in Flash, WordPress 2.7 Plugins milestone, revamping the , BuddyPress framework Theme released, previews of WordPress 2.8, and more WordPress tips and news.

Talking WordPress Plugins: The most recent episodes of the The WordPress Plugins Podcast featured Plugins 011 – Search And Replace Plugin and Plugins 010 – Contact Form 7 Plugin.

WordPress Podcast: The latest episode is “Episode 50: WordPress 2.7.1 released, WordPress.tv, How much do YOU love WordPress?” and covered WordPress Plugin writing, WordPress 2.7.1, WordPress.tv, the first WordPress permanent tattoo, the WP Greet Box WordPress Plugin, and more WordPress Theme and Plugin information and tips.

WP Engineer: WP Engineer has tips and techniques for using WordPress, including:

WPCandy: WPCandy offers tips and information on WordPress Themes, Plugins, and code.

WPRecipes: The WPRecipes site offers tips and techniques for using WordPress, and recent posts include:

WPTavern: The recent news from the WPTavern blog and forum includes:

WordPress Plugins and Themes News

WordPress Plugins DatabaseNew WordPress Widgets API: A new WordPress Widgets API in in development for WordPress 2.8. Based upon MultiWidget Class, it will handle all the multi-widget functions and hooks to implement a multi-widget Plugin, giving developers an easier process to extend their WordPress Plugins with Widget functionality. The WordPress Development team has announced that they are converting all default WordPress Widgets to work with the new Widgets API. If you are a WordPress Plugin author with a Widget-enabled Plugin, or you want to expand the flexibility of your Plugin for WordPress 2.8, check this out.

See Also
Old Blogging Sites That We Thought were Gone

Lester Chan covers the new WP_Widget Class in WordPress 2.8 in greater detail to help Plugin authors understand how it works and how it can help them.

OAuth in WordPress Coming Soon: Will Norris wrote about “Authentication in WordPress 2.8” as part of his ongoing project for the OpenID WordPress Plugin. Working with Peter Westwood, WordPress 2.8 now includes a new filter for authentication that passes through three paramters, along with the username and password. According to , right now, the OAuth for WordPress will be a WordPress Plugin, with hopes of integrating it into the core in the future.

The libxml2 Saga Continues: There is now a new WordPress and libxml2 Plugin to deal with the release of PHP 5.2.9 and libxml2 2.7.3 that solve the ongoing issues Joseph Scott has had with how the XML-RPC requests work. This fix resolves the issues of stripped brackets for XML-RPC requests and a few other related issues. If you cannot upgrade to the latest PHP and libxml2 versions, then this Plugin will help.

Are Your WordPress Plugins in the WordPress Plugins Directory? Justin Tadlock is doing it, are you? Most of the most popular WordPress Plugins are now hosted on the WordPress Plugin Directory, the official resource for WordPress Plugins. It ties directly into the automatic Plugin installation and upgrading feature in WordPress 2.7. If you want your Plugin found, why don’t you join others and have it hosted on the WordPress Plugin Directory.

Are You Ignoring the Potential of Pages? Justin Tadlock wrote “Page templates: The untapped potential of WordPress,” a look at WordPress Plugins and how to customize them to work differently from the rest of your blog. Some WordPress Themes offer a few sample Pages but there is so much more you can do. Why not experiment?

WordPress Plugin Development Beginner’s Guide: The “WordPress Plugin Development Beginner’s Guide by Vladimir Prelovac has been published and is available for sale.

WordPress Plugin and Theme Development Tips: The following are tips and techniques for WordPress Theme and Plugin authors and developers.

WordPress 2.8 News and Development: Articles worth noting on WordPress 2.8 development include:

Interesting WordPress Plugins:

  • Get My Tweets integrates a specific number of Twitter tweets into your WordPress blog.
  • Insights speeds access and embedding links, images, videos, maps, and more into your blog posts.
  • WP Columnize creates multiple columns within posts for a newspaper/magazine layout.
  • Thumbnail Viewer shows larger thumbnail images than the WordPress default.

Finding WordPress Plugins: For more WordPress Plugins see the official WordPress Plugin Directory, the WordPress Plugins Database, and Weblog Tools Collection Plugin and Theme announcements.

WordPress.com News

WordPress.com W logoBlog Design Contest on WordPress.com: The first blogging design contest has been announced for called “I <3 Blogging Design Contest” is ending in a very few weeks. Co-produced by Infectious, this isn’t a blog web design or WordPress Theme contest. It is a graphic design contest. Design a “why I love blogging and WordPress” graphic design and if yours wins, it could be printed and sold on laptop and iPhone skins around the world through the Infectious store. Let your creative self loose and show the world how you would design what blogging and WordPress mean to you.

WordPress Techniques and Tips

Videos from WordPress.tv: WordPress tips and WordCamp videos include:

WordPress Tips and Techniques: Here are a few more WordPress tips from around the WordPress Community:

WordPress Tips on Twitter: I’ve started sharing WordPress Tips and Plugin suggestions I’ve collected over the past couple years on Twitter at @lorelleonwp. I’ll be posting one WordPress tip and one WordPress Plugin link every morning (PST) covering recent versions of WordPress and WordPress usages and features.

Want Your WordPress Tip Shared Here? The WordPress Community generates some of the best WordPress tips, techniques, and resources. If you would like your WordPress tip and technique included in this list, see Tips For Writing Good WordPress Tips and Writing and Publishing Code In Your WordPress Blog Posts. When its ready, contact me at lorelleonwordpress@gmail.com.

WordPress Community News

WordPress Community graphicThings You Need to Know in the WordPress Community:

Past WordPress Wednesday News Reports

WordPress News Sources

If You Are Reading This: If you are reading this blog post NOT on the or from within your feed reader, it is being used against the copyright policy of the copyright owners. Please report it immediately so action may be taken to break some heads and feed scraping blogs.

Each week, the features WordPress News, a weekly column by featuring the news around the WordPress Community. If you have a WordPress news item or tip to suggest, please contact her at this special email address: lorelleonwordpress@gmail.com

Neuroscientist reveals a new way to manifest more financial abundance

Breakthrough Columbia study confirms the brain region is 250 million years old, the size of a walnut and accessible inside your brain right now.

Learn More

Picture of Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen

The author of Lorelle on WordPress and the fast-selling book, Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging, as well as several other blogs, Lorelle VanFossen has been blogging for over 15 years, covering blogging, WordPress, travel, nature and travel photography, web design, web theory and development extensively as web technologies developed.

RECENT ARTICLES
Self-development

People who age without feeling old usually adopt these 8 daily habits
Self-development

8 coping mechanisms for a highly sensitive person living in our noisy world

travel blog post tips
Self-development

8 reasons we should interact with nature
Self-development

Men who are always loyal and never cheat typically display these traits, says psychology
Self-development

8 reasons that adults need to set boundaries with others, including their parents
Self-development

8 things in life that should always be kept private

Load more

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

7 societal expectations to ditch for a happier retirement

7 societal expectations to ditch for a happier retirement

Hack Spirit
If you want your 70s to be the greatest years of your life, say goodbye to these habits

If you want your 70s to be the greatest years of your life, say goodbye to these habits

Global English Editing
6 zodiac signs that naturally stay fit as they age

6 zodiac signs that naturally stay fit as they age

Parent From Heart
5 zodiac signs who struggle to break free from toxic cycles

5 zodiac signs who struggle to break free from toxic cycles

Parent From Heart
7 daily practices to stay happy and energized in your 50s and beyond, according to psychology

7 daily practices to stay happy and energized in your 50s and beyond, according to psychology

Global English Editing
People who struggle with making friends often exhibit these 9 behaviors, according to psychology

People who struggle with making friends often exhibit these 9 behaviors, according to psychology

Hack Spirit
Load more