WordCamps are popping up everywhere, in China, Japan, Australia, Israel, Utah, Toronto, Vancouver, Portland, and more. Are you tracking WordPress 2.7 development? Martha Stewart now does WordPress and windows. Super Cache updated. WordPressMU upgraded. Ozh wants your input on the next version of WordPress Theme Toolkit. And more WordPress news.
WordPress News
Tracking WordPress Development: Did you know you can track the development of WordPress and WordPress related applications? Here is a list:
- WordPress Development Updates Blog
- WPDevel Twitter
- WordPress Development Trac Timeline
- WordPress iPhone App Trac Timeline
Martha Does WordPress: Matt Mullenweg announced that Martha Stewart us upgraded from a TypePad blog to WordPress after careful research and the desire to “switch to a platform offering more programming options.”
WordPress 2.7 Development News: The following are some of the news items and information about WordPress 2.7 development which includes a new updated interface for the WordPress Administration Panels.
- Ability for the Administrator to reply directly from the Comments Panel has been added to the WordPress 2.7 trunk.
- Comment moderation and management now has keyboard shortcuts.
- Weblog Tools Collection offers a first look at WordPress 2.7 with a warning that while there are some very exciting new features in the Administration Panels, this is all subject to change.
- Live on the Bleeding Edge of WordPress with SVN by Techtites reminds you that using the latest build of WordPress means risking your blog’s life. These versions are for testing purposes only. Not for the uninitiated.
- Ryan Boren announced that the Ryan Boren Warns WordPress 2.7 is Experimental so take care running the test version.
- Inline Documentation almost completed by Jacob Santos for WordPress 2.7, helping developers, Plugin authors and hackers.
- Jacob Santos – Don’t Use WordPress 2.7 Trunk on a Live Blog is another warning that those who are running their blogs with the latest trunk alpha testing versions should stop whining when it breaks their blogs. The trunk versions are stable but they are test data and likely to break when combined with various Plugins and Themes and systems.
Joseph Scott on WordPress Performance and Scalability: Joseph Scott presented the program WordPress Performance and Scalability (slides) at the Utah Open Source Conference recently.
Super Cache Updated: Some bugs were found in the Super Cache WordPress Plugin and it’s been updated and a fix is also available.
WordPressMU Updated: WordPress MU 2.6.1 is now available for WordPressMU, the multiple user version of WordPress which runs WordPress.com. This is a mandatory upgrade as it fixes critical bugs in the program.
WordCast Podcast: WordCast 25: WordPress Normal covered WordCamp San Francisco, WordPress 2.6.1 release, the WordPressMU Plugin competition, Olympic WordPress bloggers, and favorite WordPress Plugin picks. WordCast 26: It’s Jeff’s Fault! featured Jeff Chandler, Kym Huynh, Beth Skinner, and Dave Moyer talking about WTF Blog Design Clutter, writing code in posts, a blogger arrested for leaking songs from Guns n’ Roses, Magazine Themes, interview with Jeff Chandler about blaming WordPress, and some great WordPress Plugins.
WordPress Weekly Returns: Jeffro2pt0 announced that his WordPress Weekly Podcast is coming back due to popular demand. It will be now a part of Weblog Tools Collection and he’s looking for co-hosts and more.
Last Week’s WordPress Wednesday News: Can’t get enough WordPress news and tips? There is so much news coming out about the latest version, so you can catch up with the past news in last week’s WordPress Wednesday News: WordCamp 2008, Copy and Paste in WordPress iPhone, Count Your Comments, WordCamp South Africa.
WordPress on Your Calendar
WordCamp 2008 San Francisco Videos: John Pozadzides of One Man’s Blog was the “official” video guy at WordCamp 2008 and here are the videos he’s released so far from the event:
- Chuck Lewis – The SEO Rapper at WordCamp SanFrancisco
- WordCamp 2008: Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word
- WordCamp 2008 San Fran: Kathy Sierra – Kicking Ass and Creating Passionate Users
- WordCamp 2008 San Fran: Stephan Spencer – SEO Mistakes Most Bloggers Make
- WordCamp 2008 San Fran: Alan Levine – It’s All You Can WordPress at the EduBlog Diner
- WordCamp 2008 San Fran: Andy Skelton Sings ‘Deserve’
- WordCamp 2008 San Fran: Ben Huh – LOLcats and the Secret of Virality
- WordCamp 2008 San Fran: Lloyd Budd – Switching to WordPress Painlessly
- WordCamp 2008 San Fran: Stephen O’Grady – Open Source Business Models
For more tweets, videos, live blogging, and more coverage, see WordCamp 2008 – Snapshot of the Changing Social of Conferences.
Matt Videos from WordCamp South Africa: A week ago was WordCamp SA 2008 and here are some videos of Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, speaking at the event:
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- 7 behaviors of parents who raise confident and self-assured children, according to psychology
- Matt Mullenweg – WordCamp South Africa – Part 1
- Matt Mullenweg – WordCamp South Africa – Part 2
- Matt Mullenweg – WordCamp South Africa – Part 3
- Matt Mullenweg – WordCamp South Africa – Part 4
WordCamp Utah: WordCamp Utah – Provo, Utah – September 27, 2008 is scheduled for September 27, 2008, in Provo, Utah, and the speakers list is now up and registration is now open for $20 a ticket which includes lunch, stickers, t-shirts, and the full day event activities.
WordCamp Australia Date Change: The new WordCamp Australia dates are November 29-30, 2008, and the venue has now been confirmed to be at The Red Box in the Suburb of Lilyfield. Registration is now open so get your tickets as soon as possible as the price will rise as the event gets closer. Matt Mullenweg has confirmed that he will be a speaker. A WordPress Meetup is scheduled for September 11 in Sydney for volunteers and WordPress fans.
WordCamp Augusta: cdharrison has twittered about a WordCamp Augusta in 2009? Interested?
WordCamp Israel: Tal Galili, the man behind the first WordCamp event in the Middle East, is working on WordCamp Israel 2009 (Hebrew) and looking for help. You can reach him (in Hebrew or in English) through his site or through his Twitter account at @talgalili.
- If these 8 experiences sound familar, you’ve lived a richer and more fulfilling life than 95% of people - Global English Editing
- If someone displays these 9 subtle signs, they probably feel lost and aimless in life - NewsReports
- 4 zodiac signs who tend to worry about things that are out of their control - My Inner Creative
WordCamp for Educators: Wordcamp Ed(ucation) is a Twitter account just set up for a WordPress WordCamp event specifically geared towards educators. Oh, how I would love to be part of that. Twitter @wordcamped if you are interested.
WordCamp Birmingham: Dougal Campbell will be speaking at WordCamp Birmingham on “The Future of WordPress” and would love your input. He is just one of the many top speakers at this WordCamp event in Alabama. They are still looking for more speakers, sponsorship opportunities, and volunteers.
WordCamp Indiana: WordCamp Indiana is looking for volunteers, sponsors, and participants to put together their event. See Watershed Studios to let them know if you are interested.
WordCamp New York Taking Registration: WordCamp New York in New York on October 5, 2008, is now accepting registrations. The location is set for Sun Microsystems Office at 101 Park Avenue, New York, and is now set for Sunday, not Saturday.
WordCamp Charlotte, North Carolina, Coming Soon: There is a new WordCamp site up on WordPress.com for WordCamp Charlotte. They don’t have a location or date, but they do have a Participants page you can sign up for to volunteer, sponsor, speak or attend. That’s great faith. WordCamp RDU is scheduled for October 4, 2008, in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, which is exciting. This could be the first time there are two WordCamps in one state.
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 as found on the WordPress Roadmap and the WordPress Meetup Group Listings (subject to change).
- WordCamp Philippines – September 6, 2008
- The Boston WordPress September Meetup – September 18, 2008
- Blog World Expo, Vegas – September 20-21, 2008
- WordCamp China – Beijing and Shanghai – September 20-21, 2008
- WordCamp Tokyo 2008 – Tokyo, Japan – September 23, 2008
- WordCamp Utah – Provo, Utah – September 27, 2008
- WordCamp Birmingham – Alabama – September 27, 2008
- WordCamp Portland, Oregon – September 27, 2008
- WordCamp Vancouver 2008 – Canada – September 27th, 2008
- The Dallas/Ft. Worth Area WordPress September Meetup – September 27, 2008
- WordCamp RDU – Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina – Oct 4, 2008
- WordCamp New York – New York – October 5, 2008
- WordCamp Toronto – October 4-5, 2008
- WordCamp Bangkok 2008 – Bangkok, Thailand – October 19, 2008
- Podcamp and WordCamp Hawaii – Oct 24, 2008
- MinneWordCamp – Minneapolis – November 15, 2008
- WordCamp Australia – Sydney – November 29-30, 2008 Date change!
- WordCamp Las Vegas 2009 – Las Vegas, Nevada – January 10-11, 2009
Upcoming WordCamps not scheduled or confirmed:
- Wordcamp Ed(ucation) Twitter for Educators using WordPress
- WordCamp Washington D.C. 2008
- WordCamp Denver 2008
WordCamps and WordPress Meetups Everywhere: A WordPress Meetup is a frequent meeting of WordPress fans. A WordCamp is a day or two long event with sponsors and dozens if not hundreds of WordPress fans gathering annually. If you would like to sponsor or host a WordCamp, check out the new official site for tracking WordCamps is WordCamp Central, which includes instructions and guidelines for running a WordCamp. If you would like to start a WordPress Meetup group, find a meeting place and announce it among your friends, and add a listing to the Yahoo Upcoming events for WordPress, as many track WordPress event announcements there.
WordPress Plugins and Themes News
Still Using the Ultimate Tag Warrior WordPress Plugin? John Pozadzides of One Man’s Blog recommends you clean up your database after upgrading from WordPress 2.3 to the latest version if you were using the Ultimate Tag Warrior WordPress Plugin. Upgrading is mandatory, but a lot of people so loved the Ultimate Tag Warrior WordPress Plugin, they weren’t willing to make the change. The latest versions of WordPress now include tags built-in and UTW is no longer supported by the author and WordPress. If you are having trouble, follow John’s tips and clean out or delete the old UTW table in your WordPress database. And remember, the upgrades are also for security purposes. Don’t leave your blog vulnerable.
Should You Use a Magazine WordPress Theme? Smashing Magazine explores when, and when not, to use a Magazine-style Theme for your blog and makes some very good points worth considering. For the past year, Magazine WordPress Themes have been all the rage, but they do have some limitations. A lot of the emphasis is put on the front page of your blog, a page that few people may see as they arrive from search engines and click directly through to single pages, categories, and tags. Some magazine designs put so much work into the front page, they ignored the intricacies of designing for all the various dynamic pageviews found on a WordPress blog. Before you choose, look at all the pros and cons.
Adding Boxes to the Write Post Panel Inconsistencies: Vladimir Prelovac discusses adding boxes to WordPress 2.5+ Write Panels and some inconsistencies between versions. If you are adding any boxes to the Write Post Panel, and having trouble, this might be your solution.
Viper Quicktags Updated: The popular Viper’s Video Quicktags WordPress Plugin has just been updated after almost two months and 3,200 lines of code, and a total code rewrite. There are a ton of new features.
Compatibility Issues with Libraries and Plugins: Weblog Tools Collection covers WordPress Plugin compatibility issues with popular libraries which could cause fatal PHP errors between Plugins.
WordPress Plugin Models Set an Example: Jacob Santos contemplates Plugin models using WordPress Plugin models as an example of good functionality and a simple and easy-to-use method.
PlanetOzh Wants Input On WordPress Theme Toolkit: Ozh of Planet Ozh is asking for input on the next version of the WordPress Theme Toolkit, an amazing tool that allows WordPress Theme authors to add an panel to the WordPress Administration Panels simple and easy. It is used by many WordPress Theme back ends. He wants to update it and is looking for suggestions from those experienced using this or if your Theme is using the Toolkit.
Interesting WordPress Plugins:
- Most Popular Posts WordPress Plugin displays links to your top commented blog posts.
- MarkItUp WordPress Plugin replaces the old Quicktags toolbar on the Write Post panel with a lightweight jQuery WordPress Plugin which turns any textarea into a customizable markup editor for code syntax writing.
- PhotoJAR: Post Thumbnail WordPress Plugin requires PhotoJAR: Base to work. It displays a post thumbnail for posts with galleries automatically.
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 Techniques and Tips
Here are some interesting WordPress tips I’ve uncovered:
- How to Add Google Reader Subscriptions to a WordPress Page
- Finding Your CSS Styles in WordPress
- Opening Links in New Windows
- Author Description Outside the WordPress Main Loop
Want to Write a WordPress Tip and See It Here? 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.com News
WordPress.com August 2008 Stats: The August Wrap-Up for statistics on WordPress.com included 286,860 blogs created, 298,655 new users, 3,442,638 file uploads, 439 terabytes of content transferred from our datacenters, 6,750,960 comments, and 1,196,661 active blogs and 14,056,683 active posts. WordPress.com also crossed four million blogs this past week. They are anticipating the 5 million mark coming up very soon at this rate.
New Theme for WordPress.com Members: WordPress.com announced the Albeo Theme for WordPress.com bloggers designed by Elena at Design Disease.
WordPress Community News
Hack WordPress Looking for Guest Bloggers: Hack WordPress is looking for guest bloggers to write technical articles on using WordPress.
WordPress Facebook: Fan of WordPress? Check out the WordPress on Facebook fan page and join the fun!
Get Your WordPress Mug: I love my new WordPress mug. Go get yours at the WordPress Shop along with t-shirts and hoodies. Don’t want to buy one?
Found a Bug in WordPress? If you find a bug in WordPress, report it by following the instructions in Reporting Bugs on the WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress Users.
Vote for WordPress Ideas: Want to have your say in what happens with WordPress. Vote for ideas on upcoming versions of WordPress in the WordPress Ideas section.
Looking for a WordPress Expert? If you are looking for a WordPress expert, try the WordPress Consultants list from Automattic, the WordPress Jobs listings, and the WP-Pro mailing list.
WordPress Installed For Free: Installing WordPress for Free (aka Install4Free WordPress) is a free, volunteer-driven service is limited to personal blogs only, and they help only with installations, not upgrades.
Don’t Use WordPress in Your Blog’s Name: It’s about respect. Please use WordPress names right because WordPress is a trademark and you are not allowed to use WordPress in your blog’s domain name or URL unless you have permission of Automattic and WordPress. Also, remember, it’s spelled “WordPress” not “Wordpress”. Oh, and Plugin is Plugin, not plug-in (what you put into a wall electrical socket).
Past WordPress Wednesday News Reports
- WordPress Wednesday News: WordCamp 2008, Copy and Paste in WordPress iPhone, Count Your Comments, WordCamp South Africa
- WordPress Wednesday News: WordCamp 2008, WordPress Rules the UK, and WordPress Plugin News
- WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.7, WordCamp News, 2.6.1 Beta Released
- WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress iPhone Upgraded, WordCamp San Francisco Registration, Simon Dickson Rocked the UK, WordPress Theme Directory, and 201,000 Blogs Using WordPress 2.6
- WordPress Wednesday News: iPhone, 10 Downing Street, WordCamp UK, WordPress 2.6 Rocks, WordPress International, and WordPress Themes Directory
WordPress News Sources
- WordPress Planet
- WordPress Development Blog
- WordPress.com Blog
- Weblog Tools Collection
- The WordPress Podcast
- Lorelle on WordPress
- Planet WordPress from Planet Ozh
- WordPress Publisher Blog
- Planet WordPress Canada
If You Are Reading This: If you are reading this blog post NOT on the Blog Herald 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 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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Related Stories from The Blog Herald
- A psychologist shares her non-negotiable bedtime routine – “It’s surprisingly simple, but my energy and productivity levels have increased tenfold”
- 7 types of family members you’re better off keeping at a distance, according to psychology
- 7 behaviors of parents who raise confident and self-assured children, according to psychology