The news this week is almost all WordPress 2.3. The latest release is out with built-in tags and a lot of other improvements. WordPress.com continues to be banned in Turkey and elsewhere. The WordPress Podcast is out with a new episode. There are new tag WordPress Plugins for WordPress 2.3. The international WordPress community is setting up WordCamps around the world. WordPress.com gets tags, and many are only semi-happy. More “bad” WordPress Themes reported. And I share a few rumors and more WordPress news.
WordPress News
WordPress 2.3 Released: WordPress 2.3 is available for download. With more than 351 tickets in the WordPress Trac closed in time for this release, and the great new features, this is one of the most anticipated and welcome releases of WordPress in a long time.
There have been some thrilled folks who have had successful upgrades, and some disappointed WordPress users who find the new built-in tagging feature to be less than stellar, though there are new Plugins which promise to enhance the basic tagging feature. I wrote a summary of news on WordPress 2.3 and here are more of the highlights, tips, and news on WordPress 2.3:
- Feature News: The following are articles with news about WordPress 2.3 features:
- Weblog Tools Collection – WordPress 2.3 Features
- Aaron Brazell – 10 Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.3
- Ryan Boren – WordPress 2.3 Database schema changes
- Ryan Boren – Post Status Transitions
- Intervingly – AtomPub Support
- Ryan Boren – WordPress 2.3 Taxonomy Schema
- Mark Jaquith – WordPress 2.3: Canonical URLs
- WordPress Development – WordPress 2.3 Dexter Released
- mdawaffe – Improved Post and Page management in WordPress
- Installing and Upgrading WordPress 2.3:
- WordPress Development – Preparing for 2.3
- How To Add Wordpress 2.3 Tags To Your Current Theme by Rich Gilchrest
- Blog Security – 5 Step Failsafe upgrade for WordPress
- WPDesigner – WordPress 2.3 Beta Review and Checklist (tips for including tags in your Themes)
- Upgrading to WordPress 2.3 Dexter (news and tips on upgrading)
- WordPress Support threads for upgrade database errors dealing with WordPress Themes and troubleshooting the Google Sitemap WordPress Plugin
- Blogger Camp offers a fix for creating asides in WordPress 2.3
- Nathan Rice – WordPress 2.3 Theme Backward Compatibility
- Nathan Rice – The Overlooked WordPress Tag Tags
- WordPress Plugins: There have been changes to the WordPress database again, this time impacting categories. Any WordPress Plugins reliant upon those tables will break unless you find an updated version. Check the WordPress 2.3 Plugin Compatibility List.
Some popular WordPress Plugins not compatible (but may soon have updates) are:
- Google Sitemap Generate equal to or below 3.0b8 or 2.7
- Popularity Contest 1.2.1
- Ultimate Tag Warrior 3.141592
- Customizable Post Listings
- Event Calendar 3.1.1.rc1
- Extended Live Archives
- Front Page Excluded Categories
- Get Author Profile 0.5.1
- Get Recent Comments
- Organize Series WordPress Plugin 1.6.3
- Plugin Installer 0.2.1
- Post Levels 1.1.1
- Search Pages 2.0
- SEO Title Tag 2.0 RC2
- Similar Posts 2.1.0 beta
- Simple Tagging 1.6.8.1
- Style Admin 3.0
- Tiger Style Admin 3.0
The list also warns not to run these combinations of WordPress Plugins at the same time.
- cForms 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 with WP-Email 2.11 and 2.20 beta
- WP-Postratings 1.11 with Coolplayer 9 (in IE)
There are also new WordPress 2.3 Plugins for the new tagging feature:
International WordCamps: So far, we’ve got the following international and US WordCamps in the works. Most of these WordCamps are working hard to get as much sponsorship as possible so the event will be free. They will need volunteers, and advanced registration is required – so sign up as fast as you can. Space is usually limited:
- WordCamp Israel – October 25, 2007 in Tel Aviv (English)
- WordCamp Melbourne November 17, 2007
- WordCamp Hamburg – January 26-27, 2008
- WordCamp Dallas – March 29-30, 2008
The WordPress Podcast: Charles Stricklin has been busy with two WordPress Podcasts back to back. Episode 30: Weblog Tools Collection Plugin Competition Winners covers the winners of the Weblog Tools Collection 2007 Plugin Competition, and news about WordPress 2.3. Last week’s podcast covered news on WordPress 2.3 and WordPress.com, and includes me, Lorelle, and co-hosts, Charles Stricklin and Aaron Brazell. The previous WordPress Podcast is still available with WordCamp memories, theme hijackers and vulnerabilities, and even more WordPress news and information.
Blog Backup and Conversion Online: Weblog Tools Collecton shares news and tips about BlogBackupOnline, an online backup service which allows you to import posts from Blogger, WordPress, Friendster, LiveJournal, TypePad, Serendipity, Windows Live Spaces, Movable Type, Terapad, Vox and Multiply and restore them into your WordPress blog. It’s free up to 50 MB while in beta testing. Now might be the time to switch with such a great feature available.
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.
Do You Use the WordPress Visual Editor? Weblog Tools Collection asks “Do you use the WordPress Visual Editor”, and the responses have been interesting. Whether you love or hate it, the new features that come in WordPress 2.3 are making a few die hard coders switch – just to check it out.
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):
- WordPress Meetup in London after Future of Web Apps – October 4, 2007
- Conservative Leadership Conference of Bloggers (RIGHTOBERFEST) – October 10-13, 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 29-30, 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.
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.
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.
Rumor Mill: Slashdot and others started screaming foul when they found that the latest version, WordPress 2.3, sends your blog URL, Plugins list, and version info to WordPress.org to check for new updates of the program and Plugins. Without this information, how could they tell if your WordPress version or WordPress Plugins need updating? They feared it was a privacy issue, but now they’ve updated their initial reports to say that WordPress is NOT spying on you and your blog. If you want updates reported in your WordPress blog, then this information is necessary and no one is spying on you. This has been known for months, and eagerly anticipated. It’s not a conspiracy.
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WordPress.com News
WordPress.com Gets Tags: WordPress.com announced the new tag feature has been added to WordPress.com. I’ve written about it in Tags Arrive on WordPress.com Blogs, and while the original WordPress.com FAQ announcement implied that the tags would list posts within your blog, it appears that the tags, like the category lists outside of your sidebar, link only to all the blogs with the same tag on WordPress.com. According to WordPress.com support, your blog will get more traffic this way. According to a growing vocal opposition group, they want more control over their tags and categories and want them either rerouted to their blogs or with the option to choose. If you have an opinion, let them know.
Explaining Tags and Categories: Unfortunately, Matt Mullenweg is still having trouble explaining categories:
As best as I can explain it, categories are things you create ahead of time and only have a few of. Imagine them like sections of your site. The signs on aisles of grocery stores. Tags are one-off keywords attached to a post. You may add a tag to a post that you’ll never use ever again. Categories are meant to be permanent, tags are ephemeral.
Let’s make this really clear and easy for everyone. Categories are your blog’s table of contents. Tags are your blog’s index words. Categories are hierarchical. Tags are not. That’s it.
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. This is reminder to everyone that WordPress.com is serious about stopping splogs and those who cross the Terms of Service line. In August, over 40,000 splogs and abusers were removed from WordPress.com.
- 5 zodiac signs who feel nostalgia for places they’ve never been - Parent From Heart
- If you really want to be respected, stop explaining yourself to these 8 types of people - Global English Editing
- If these 8 experiences sound familar, you’ve lived a richer and more fulfilling life than 95% of people - Global English Editing
WordPress.com Continues to Be Blocked in Turkey and elsewhere: Global Voices Online reports that Turkey is still blocking WordPress.com blogs, as are Thailand and China.
What’s Hot on WordPress.com? The hottest blogs on WordPress.com were:
- I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?
- CNN Political Ticker
- pollycoke :)
- POPSEOUL! entertainment, style and beauty in seoul
- deputydog
- A Hot Mess!
- GigaOM
- Les Amateurs de Stars
- Público
- Media Biz
The hottest blog posts on WordPress.com were:
- Pop Quiz: Who’s behind the sunglasses?
- Tip #6 : Enhancing WordPress administration
- where vehicles are left to die
- Bespin: il vecchio stile Oxygen redivivo
- ESPN reminds you, black and white people hate each other
- The Many Sad Faces of Norv Turner
- House abandons anti-war netroots
- Zach was not rejected out of Hyde! His meltdown reaction?
- Should the U.S. grant more H-1B visas?
- I iz not alcoholic
WordPress Plugins and Themes News
Plugin Update Notification Built-Into WordPress 2.3: 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.
WordPress Plugin Authors ALERT: If you want your Plugin to take advantage of the new Plugin Update Notification feature, it must be listed within the WordPress Plugin Directory. 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.
Anti-spam Shoutbox WordPress Plugin: The Anti-spam Shoutbox WordPress Plugin helps beat comment spam while still enjoying a shoutbox. Updated version of Jalenack’s Shoutbox WordPress Plugin.
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.
More Ad-Filled WordPress Themes Warning: WPDesigner warns that a new site called wordpress-designer.com is like templatesbrowser.com, and using blatant and stealth techniques to embed ad links into WordPress Themes available through their sites. Be warned and alert for these scams.
Class wp_list_pages WordPress Plugin: Classy wp_list_pages WordPress Plugin adds classes to the list tags generated automatically by WordPress when listing pages in your blog’s sidebar, header, or footer. This allows you to customize the look of each link in your page list.
Who Sees Ads WordPress Plugin Updated: Who Sees Ads WordPress Plugin has been updated with a minor fix, but the upgrade is mandatory.
WP-Scanner WordPress Plugin Improved: The wp-scanner by Blog Security has been improved to detect backups, detect common files on your server which may be at risk, and expanded the Plugin detection database.
Finding WordPress Plugins: For more WordPress Plugins see the official WordPress Plugin Directory, which now lists 1,025 plugins and 1,599,562 downloads, the WordPress Plugins Database, and Weblog Tools Collection of WordPress Plugins released daily.
Most Popular WordPress Themes: The WordPress Theme Viewer lists the most popular WordPress Themes:
- Africa theme 1
- Cutline 3-Column Split 1.1
- Sodelicious Black 1.0
- Yourblog 2.0 theme
- NetWorker 1.0
- Pop Blue
- Naruto Strikes Back
- LoseMyMind 1.0 with Sidebar
- Red Secret 0.1
- Talian 1.0
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.
- Why WordPress and How It Works (video)
- Cutline Theme for WordPress (video)
- A Tip for Thumbnail Images in WordPress by Money Shots
- A Collection of tips for Wordpress.com blogs by The Nameless Blog
- My WordPress Blogging Tips on Writing Posts on WordPress from Mandarine
- WordPress Tips for Technorati Links by KeyTekK.net (Hebrew)
WordPress Community News
New WordPress/Automattic Faces: In New Faces, Matt announces that Peter Westwood and Mark Jaquith have formally joined the lead development team of WordPress. Congrats! This has been a long time coming.
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”. Oh, and Plugin is Plugin, not plug-in (what you put into a wall electrical socket).
Even More WordPress News?
Past WordPress Wednesday News Reports
- WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.3 Excitement and Plugins, International WordCamps, Security News, Upgrades, and Tons More
- 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 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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