WordPress 2.3 is due next week and we’ve got a LOT of news on the new release. We’ve got WordCamps now in Australia, Germany, Israel, and Texas! New WordPress Plugins out for WordPress 2.3. More security news. A mandatory security release of WordPress was out last week. Have you upgraded? And the WordPress 2.3 Plugin Compatibility List is out and growing.
WordPress News
Update WordPress: WordPress 2.2.3 has been released and is a mandatory security release for the WordPress 2.2 line. You can download WordPress 2.2.3 in full, or update only the changed files for updating from WordPress 2.2.2 to 2.2.3 by Techtites or Viper007Bond.
WordPress 2.3: WordPress 2.3 is due September 24 and is still in beta testing. The latest beta versions are coming out hard and fast with a lot of fixes. Tags will be built-in, and new Plugins and utilities for importing different Tag Plugins are being released. Changes to the database will break some WordPress Plugins, so check the WordPress 2.3 Plugin Compatibility List. Here are some of the latest news about the upcoming release:
- Weblog Tools Collection lists several new Tagging Plugins for WordPress 2.3 from Plugin authors jumping on the new built-in tagging feature. These include Advanced Tag Entry WordPress Plugin and Click Tags WordPress Plugin.
- WordPress 2.3 Related Posts Plugin generates a list of related posts using the new WordPress 2.3 built-in tagging system. It also adds the related post list to the blog’s feed.
- How To Add Wordpress 2.3 Tags To Your Current Theme by Rich Gilchrest is a step-by-step guide to changing your WordPress Theme to include the new tag template tags.
- Weblog Tools Collection has put together a list of WordPress 2.3 Features, with links to a ton of sites covering news about WordPress 2.3. It’s an excellent reference to bookmark so you are ready for the new version coming out next week.
- Ryan Boren explains the WordPress 2.3 Database schema changes, including the new, changed, and removed tables that may break some WordPress Plugins dependent upon direct SQL queries on the categories, link2cat, or post2cat tables.
- Post Status Transitions allow those with “lower” user levels and permissions to submit their blog posts for “review” and release by the Editor or Administrator for multi-blogger blogs.
- The inclusion of AtomPub Support explained.
- URL Redirection for changes in Page and post titles, slugs, and links.
- Peter Westwood has created the Tag Importer for Bunny’s Technorati Tags which should make it into the final WordPress 2.3 release. Tag importer utilities for Jerome’s Keywords and Ultimate Tag Warrior are already included.
- Ryan Boren – WordPress 2.3 Taxonomy Schema shows how the new tagging system will work in WordPress 2.3.
- WPDesigner – WordPress 2.3 Beta Review and Checklist includes more explanations on using the new tag template tags.
- Plugin Update Notification will alert you to a Plugin that needs updating from the WordPress Plugin Directory, hopefully leading towards faster and easier Plugin updates.
International WordCamps: So far, we’ve got the following international and US WordCamps in the works:
- WordCamp Israel – October 25, 2006 in Tel Avia (English)
- WordCamp Melbourne November 17, 2006
- WordCamp Hamburg – January 26-27, 2008
- WordCamp Dallas – March 1, 2008
The WordPress Podcast: The latest WordPress Podcast is out with news on WordPress 2.3, and includes me, Lorelle, and co-hosts, Charles Stricklin and Aaron Brazell. We chat about this and that and WordPress.com killing off 41,000 splogs in August, WordPress.com blocked in Turkey, Thailand, and China, WordCamp Israel, WordCamp Dallas, and more. Last week’s issue WordPress Podcast is still available with WordCamp memories, theme hijackers and vulnerabilities, and even more WordPress news and information.
Hardening WordPress Security Project: Blog Security is working on the WordPress Hardening Project and have just released an update. This is exciting, due to another recent announcement of a security exploit that impacts multiple versions of WordPress. Blog Security estimates that due to failure to upgrade WordPress to the most recent mandated security releases, over 50% of WordPress blogs may be vulnerable to an attack.
WordPress on Your Calendar: Here are some WordPress-related dates and events to put on your calendar as found on the WordPress Roadmap and the WordPress Meetup Group Listings (subject to change):
- The Baltimore-Washington WordPress September Meetup – September 20, 2007
- WordPress 2.3 – September 24, 2007
- WordPress Meetup in London after Future of Web Apps – October 4, 2007
- Conservative Leadership Conference of Bloggers (RIGHTOBERFEST) – October 11-13, 2007
- WordCamp Israel – October 25, 2006 in Tel Avia (English)
- WordCamp Melbourne November 17, 2006
- WordCamp Hamburg – January 26-27, 2008
- WordPress 2.4 – January 15, 2008
- WordPress 2.5 – May 5, 2008
- Blog Business Summit Now in Seattle – December 5-6, 2007
- WordCamp Dallas – March 1, 2008
- WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco – July 2008 (we hope)
If you are having a WordPress-related event that isn’t on the calendar, post them below or via email.
What Movable Type Going GPL Means for WordPress: Mark Jaquith has written a commentary on what a GPLD Movable Type blogging program means for WordPress as competition.
WordCamp Videos Now on WordCamp 2007 Site: John Pozadzides has been working overtime to get the videos from the WordCamp 2007 sessions on the WordCamp 2007 site. They are there, in their full glory, for all to enjoy the fun of WordCamp.
What Are Your WordPress Pet Peeves? WPDesigner has released his “WordPress Pet Peeves”, a rant against the annoying things in WordPress. He begins with ranting against those who don’t search first when visiting the WordPress Support Forums, as well as those who don’t follow instructions. He also has a few things to say about those who modify his WordPress Themes and then want him to link to them, giving them credit for their few changes. I have a few WordPress rants of my own, do you? Sometimes, it helps to get them off your chest, but more importantly, they provide information to other WordPress users on what NOT to do, and helps developers, WordPress Theme designers, and WordPress Plugin authors hopefully “get the point”. Got a rant you’d like to share?
Speed Up WordPress: Virtual Hosting offers “WordPress on Speed: 17 Tweaks to Accelerate your WP”, with some great tips for speeding up your WordPress blog. Also see Segala’s Increase Performance of Your WordPress site for more tips.
Vote for WordPress Ideas: Did you know you could have your say in how WordPress works? You can add your idea and vote on any of the ideas to push them to the top in getting them added or removed from WordPress future versions. The WordPress Ideas section on WordPress is an open forum for you to have your say. Why not take advantage of it and add your voice to the vote.
WordPress.com News
Got Ads on Your WordPress.com Blog: Bye-Bye: In a painful reminder, WPThemesPlugin tells of a WordPress.com shut down and removed without warning because it violated the Terms of Service and included ads on the blog. While the blogger was angry and frustrated to lose all that content, this is reminder to everyone that WordPress.com is serious about stopping splogs and those who cross the Terms of Service line. By an overwhelming majority, WordPress.com users said they wanted to blog ad-free. For those who want to make money on their blogs with ads, they can use the free full version of WordPress and pay for their hosting. WordPress.com may make provide an option in the future for the free bloggers to pay a fee to put ads on their blogs, but for now, no advertising permitted. Personally, I like it. But you’ve been warned.
What’s Hot on WordPress.com? The hottest blogs on WordPress.com were:
- CNN Political Ticker
- A Hot Mess!
- GigaOM
- Web Worker Daily
- Media Biz
- The Browser: Analyzing the tech biz
- NewTeeVee
- Kimkins Exposed
- Animam Recro
- Flickr Blog
The hottest blog posts on WordPress.com were:
- Jesse Jackson: Obama’s ‘acting like he’s white’
- Here, there be Dragons!
- The Next Mrs. Dwyane Wade?
- Photo tour through Crossway Books
- Breaking the bank: ATM fees
- Taser Incident Sparks Uproar
- Little Black Book
- What, you never gif youself harcut?
- Oscar De La Hoya (or not?) Flicks: Not Safe For LIFE
- Asterisk This.
- This guy just won a “mint”
WordPress Plugins and Themes News
Is Your Plugin Compatible with WordPress 2.3? The WordPress 2.3 Plugin Compatibility List is out. If you are a WordPress Plugin author, check to make sure your WordPress Plugin is on the list if it is compatible. If you are dependent upon a favorite WordPress Plugin or two, keep checking in on the list to see if your Plugin is listed. If it isn’t, contact the Plugin author to see if the Plugin is compatible with WordPress 2.3.
Warning: New Tagging in WordPress 2.3 May Break Plugins: Ryan Boren warns that the new WordPress 2.3 Taxonomy Schema may break some WordPress Plugins:
The taxonomy schema is hidden behind a fairly comprehensive taxonomy API. The category API remains as a backward compatibility layer on top of the taxonomy API. Plugins that use the category API should not require any changes when upgrading to 2.3. Plugins that perform direct SQL queries on the categories, link2cat, or post2cat tables will break, unfortunately.
Please update your WordPress Plugins accordingly.
Plugin Authors Note: How to Maintain Your WordPress Plugin Using Subversion: Design Praxis has written How to Maintain Your WordPress Plugin from a Windows Workstation using Subversion, a step-by-step guide to help you set up, upload, and maintain your WordPress Plugin on the WordPress Plugin Directory Subversion site.
Akismet Auntie Spam Updated and Improved: Internet Duct Tape’s Akismet Auntie Spam Firefox Greasemonkey Script is now Version 2, an updated and powerful improvement over past versions. It now includes combining like comment spam together to help extract repeat offenders from the list so you can only go through the “unique” comment spam instead of hundreds and hundreds of duplicates. It really helps weed out the false positives. I never use Akismet without it any more. It’s a must have.
Nominate Your Favorite WordPress Theme of 2007: WPDesigner is accepting nominations for the best WordPress Themes of 2007. Deadline is coming fast.
Internationalizing Your WordPress Plugins: Weblog Tools Collection offers “Localizing a WordPress Plugin Using poEdit”, tips for helping WordPress Plugin authors to make their WordPress Plugin international, adding hooks and features for easy translation options, helping your Plugin cross international borders.
Big Business for Translation WordPress Plugin: Angsuman’s Translator Plugin Gold reports that it has now translated over 3 million pages in the last four months. This WordPress Plugin is a commercial Plugin available for purchase, but for those who want access to the international web, it’s a powerful tool.
Finding WordPress Plugins: For more WordPress Plugins see the official WordPress Plugin Directory, WordPress Plugins Database, and Weblog Tools Collection of WordPress Plugins released daily.
A Few Interesting WordPress Plugins: Here are a few interesting WordPress Plugins I’ve discovered recently:
- AI3’s Advanced TinyMCE Editor WordPress Plugin adds a ton of additional quicktag button features to the WordPress Write Post panel, including support for tables such as adding and removing rows and columns. This is ideal for full version WordPress blogs.
- Upcoming Events Plugin for WordPress receives iCalendar feeds from third party sites and displays upcoming events from multiple feeds in your blog.
WordPress Techniques and Tips
Here are some featured articles and videos from around the WordPress Community and the WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress Users, the source to turn to first for your WordPress help.
NOTE: If you would like your WordPress tip and technique included in this list, see Tips For Writing Good WordPress Tips.
- How To Hide Pages from Showing Up In Your Main Menu
- Creative Component – How to Podcast With WordPress Podcast Episode
- WordPress: Changing Page http://www.notetab.com/order.php (video)
- Tubetorial Quick Tips – WordPress – Privacy Settings
- Photoblogging Tips with Lifeblog by Cornell Finch
- RSS Sidebar Widget on Adding Netflix and Last.fm Feeds from Do Not Cross
- Setting Up WordPress on GoDaddy by My Paradox (Hebrew)
WordPress Community News
Want a Job with WordPress and Automattic? Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, is hiring. Interested?
WordPress Jobs: WordPress Jobs is a new “service” announced by Weblog Tools Collection. It features jobs for WordPress experts and WordPress experts looking for work. Currently, the service is free as it is still in beta testing. Give it try.
Looking for a WordPress Expert? Do you want a custom WordPress blog? Want to convert your website into a WordPress blog or use WordPress as a CMS? If you are looking for an expert in WordPress Themes, WordPress development, WordPress Plugins, or other WordPress-related expertise, check out the list of WordPress Consultants on Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, the WordPress Jobs listings, and the WP-Pro mailing list.
WordPress Installed For Free: If you have problems installing the full version of WordPress, visit Installing WordPress for Free (aka Install4Free WordPress). This free, volunteer-driven service is limited to personal blogs only, and they help only with installations, not upgrades.
Using WordPress in Your Blog’s Name: Just a reminder. WordPress is a trademark and you are not allowed to use WordPress in your blog’s name or URL unless you have permission of Automattic and WordPress. Currently, they are lax about enforcing this, but why run the risk of being forced to change your blog’s name and URL? Get permission or don’t use it. Also, remember, it’s spelled “WordPress” not “Wordpress”.
Even More WordPress News?
Past WordPress Wednesday News Reports
- WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.3 News, WordPress 2.2.3 Released, WordPressMU Upgraded, WordCamp Israel, Breaking WordPress Plugins, and Counting Words
- WordPress Wednesday News: International WordCamps, WordPress 2.3, Theme Viewer Working, WordPress.com Banned, and More News
- WordPress Wednesday News: International WordCamps, WordPress 2.3, Theme Viewer Working, WordPress.com Banned, and More News
- WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress Plugin Winners, 2.3 Beta, WordCamp in Beijing and Israel, WordPress.com Banned in Turkey, and More WordPress News
WordPress News Sources
- WordPress Planet
- WordPress Development Blog
- WordPress.com Blog
- Weblog Tools Collection
- BloggingPro’s WordPress News and Tips
- The WordPress Community Podcast
- Lorelle on WordPress
- Planet WordPress from Planet Ozh
Each Wednesday on Blog Herald is WordPress Wednesday, featuring the news around the WordPress Community. If you have a WordPress news item or tip to suggest, please contact me at this special email address: lorelleonwordpress@gmail.com
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