WordPress News: Release Week News, WordPress 2.7.1, BuddyPress, WordPress MU, and More Releases

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It’s Release Week. WordPress 2.7.1 Beta 1 released for testing. WordPressMU updated. BuddyPress Beta 2 released. WP Scanner beta released. WordPress.com releases January stats. Akismet updated and improved. WordCamp.tv releases more WordCamp videos from last year. Scott Wallick releases his site and the Sandbox WordPress Theme for sale. Kym Huynh of WordCast released from hospital, and does blogging with WordPress suck?

WordPress News

WordPress 2.7.1 Beta 1 Released: The first WordPress 2.7.1 Beta has been released and is undergoing testing. It is a maintenance release with 66 tickets fixed. Expect the final release within the next week or so.

WordPressMU Update Released: WordPressMU 2.7 is now available, the multi-user version of WordPress than runs and other blog networks. This new version includes the latest version of WordPress and a lot of bug fixes. It also includes the exciting announcement that Viper007bond’s admin bar has been added to the core to make it even easier to use.

BuddyPress News: BuddyPress 1.0 Beta 2 has been released and all components and Themes are available for download. Hundreds of fixes have been patched and fixed since the first beta and now will synch up with WordPressMU releases for the eagerly anticipated WordPressMU social media and networking WordPress Theme and Plugins.

Akismet Reports CAPTCHAs are dead: In “Akismet: Make Commenting Easy,” Akismet reports that CAPTCHAs are now officially dead and useless, and cite a report by ZDNet that a quarter of a million CAPTCHAs are easily broken by bot and human spammers every day. Modern comment spam fighting tools, like Akismet and Defensio, do the job without interferring in the interaction between a reader and their comment. [Read more…]

WordPress News: Logogate, WordCamps Everywhere, WordPress.tv, BuddyPress, WordPressMU, WordPress Plugin Podcast, and More

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WordPress Logogate continues. New WordCamps announced worldwide. WordPress.tv is changing WordPress tutorials and resources. WordPressMU updated. BuddyPress released any day. Super Cache new version released. Matt featured in USAToday. Did you hug a WordPress Plugin developer recently? New podcast on WordPress Plugins announced. And tons more WordPress news, tips, techniques, Plugins, and Themes.

WordPress News

WordPress Logogate: Among Matt’s new year’s resolutions is to get the WordPress Community using the correct WordPress logo. He’s created a comparison image to convince everyone to use the right logo, but that wasn’t enough. Many thought the difference between the two was the color when it’s reallyl the font. So he’s created a new specific version to help you understand:

WordPress Correct font logo example

Color it whatever you want, but use the right base to start with. The font counts. When playing with the WordPress logo, start with the Official WordPress logos.

Also, WordPress is spelled WordPress not WordPress. To make this part of his new year’s resolutions come true, he’s written a script to force WordPress into WordPress across all of the 5 million plus blogs on . Instant gratification.

Our Matt: Our favorite blogger and WordPress fanboy is making it big. In a recent USAToday article on WordPress Founder Matt Mullenweg, they talk to some of the big wigs behind WordPress love and even interview his mother to get a peek at the roots of WordPress magic. [Read more…]

WordPress News: Buddy Press Almost Ready, WordCamp Las Vegas Success, Plugin Author Tips, WordPress Tattoo

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Matt Mullenweg’s New Year’s Resolutions set a plan for WordPress in 2009. BuddyPress nearing release from beta. WordCamp Las Vegas was a resounding success. This weekend is WordCamp Jakarta. Next weekend is skiing and WordPress at WordCamp Whistler. BlogSecurity makes predictions for security issues facing WordPress in 2009. WordPress shines at the People’s Choice Awards. Are you a Plugin author? Got information you have to know about the future of developing WordPress Plugins. WordPress.com now offers Subscribe to Comments WordPress Plugin on every WordPress.com blog. Google offers method for converting between blog platforms, including WordPress. Want to have your say in where Ed Morita puts a permanent WordPress tattoo on his body? And more WordPress news.

WordPress News

Matt Mullenweg’s New Year’s Resolutions and Birthday Celebration: Matt Mullenweg offered “Open Sourcing Resolutions,” asking people to tell him what his resolutions should be for the new year. In Twenty-Five, he celebrates his birthday and lists his goals for the next year, which include goals associated with WordPress.

WordPress Tattoo: Ed Morita wants a permanent tattoo. His WordPress blog has changed his life and he wants to honor the expertise with a WordPress tattoo. In “Where Should I Put My WordPress Tattoo?” he asks for input on where to put his new WordPress logo tattoo on his body. The deadline is January 30, and he will get the tattoo on his birthday, February 10th.

BuddyPress Prepares for Launch: Second Beta & 1.0 Final Dates for BuddyPress are set. The second beta release of this social media Theme for WordPressMU (and potentially for full versions of WordPress) is scheduled for January 26. The final release is set for February 9. Andy Peatling of BuddyPress will be speaking at WordCamp Whistler 2009 in Whistler, BC, Canada, on January 24, 2009, if you want an upclose and personal view of this new social media WordPress Theme. [Read more…]

WordPress News: Weblog Tools Collection Scholarship Fund, WordPress at the Supreme Court, Top Plugin Authors, XML-RPC Trouble, and More

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WordPress 2.7 downloads now passing 800,000. WordPress goes to the Supreme Court. Weblog Tools Collection announces college scholarship fund for WordPress students. WordPress 2.7 problems with XML-RPC. WordPress.com annual wrap up features dramatic statistics and features. Analysis of top WordPress Plugin authors in the WordPress Plugin Directory – who is on top? Chicago Breast Cancer Marathon call for WordPress men to march. And more WordPress news, security information, Plugins, Themes, and tips.

WordPress News

WordPress Men Called to Marathon for Breast Cancer: Brian Gardner is calling on Chicago/Midwest WordPress male fans to join him August 7-9, 2009, for the 60-mile marathon for the Chicago Breast Cancer event. He claims it will be a great journey talking WordPress and blogging non-stop.

WordPress Goes to the Suppreme Court: The community blog of Londonderry NH.net, in Londonderry, New Hampshire, used their WordPress blog in defense of their case on school funding before the Supreme Court of New Hampshire and the Senate. According to Steve Young of Londonderry NY.net, when asked about sharing some WordPress history, he said:

For us it was the fact that it could make history in the way we used it. April 30th, 2005, was our first use of WordPress and [first] post. Using it to blog about school funding in New Hampshire, we published anything and everything on school funding. We ended up in Supreme Court and won. Our attorney told us, in part because they were able to use the data to hold the politicians accountable for the things they had said.

would be proud as it speaks to his favorite subjects: freedom of speech and WordPress.

Problems with WordPress 2.7 XML-RPC: Joseph Scott reports on problems with libxml2 For WordPress XML-RPC users that he’s been finding on the and elsewhere. The problem is not WordPress specific, but the PHP XML extension using the new versions of libxml2 which leaves off angle brackets. The solution so far is to use old versions of libxml2 known to work or build the PHP XML model against the expat parser instead of libsml2. Check the forums and his post for updated information, as well as the Trac ticket on the issue.

One Million Downloads of WordPress 2.7: Two weeks ago, there were 500,000 WordPress 2.7 Downloads and Miroslav Glavic caught the rollover of the counter. As I write this, there are now over 800,000 downloads, moving fast for 1 million. Bets are on Twitter as to when one million downloads will be counted on the counter. There is now the WordPress Download Counter which adds a counter to your blog’s sidebar featuring the number of official WordPress version downloads from the WordPress Download Counter for WordPress fan blogs.

Weblog Tools Collection WordPress Plugin Competition and Now Scholarship: For several years, hosts one of the most popular WordPress Plugin Competitions in the world, with some of the winners becoming the most popular Plugins around the community. Plans are underway to make this year’s contest even bigger than before, but they want to do more. Mark Ghosh announced plans for a Weblog Tools Collection College Scholarship to promote “WordPress development and help students dip their toe in WordPress.” More news on this exciting educational program soon. [Read more…]

WordPress News: 650,000 WP 2.7 Downloads, BuddyPress, Theme Threat, Schwag, and More

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WordPress 2.7 downloads now past 650,000. Poll out for WordPress 2.8 input. Possible WordPress Theme threat you need to know about. BuddyPress beta released. Imagine moving millions of Typepad blogs to WordPress? Want some WordPress schwag? WordCamps coming up in January – are you going to a WordCamp near you? And if the weather permits, and electricity holds, we’ve got more WordPress news for you!

WordPress News

Get Ready for WordPress 2.8: Already work is ongoing for WordPress 2.8 and WordPress wants your feedback. In “Prioritizing Features for WordPress 2.8,” Jane Wells invites people to take a poll on what are the top priorities WordPress developers should be putting their energy into. Currently, they are focused on WordPress Widget management, automatic Theme updates and installs, and performance improvements. The poll features the most popular features requests from the Ideas forum and more that the WordPress developers want to work on. Vote by noon on December 31 to have your say in what you want to see in WordPress 2.8.

Half-Million Downloads of WordPress 2.7 and Growing: Last week, there were 500,000 WordPress 2.7 Downloads and Miroslav Glavic caught the rollover of the counter. As I write this, there are now 654,434 downloads, moving fast for 1 million. Bets are on Twitter as to when one million downloads will be counted on the counter. There is now the WordPress Download Counter which adds a counter to your blog’s sidebar featuring the number of official WordPress version downloads from the WordPress Download Counter for WordPress fan blogs.

Friendster Moves Millions of Blogs from Typepad to WordPressMU: Matt Mullenweg and the WordPress Publisher Blog have switched “millions of blogs from Typepad to WordPress” to .

WordPress Theme Intruder Reported: A lot of people are reporting notifications from their web hosts regarding the remv.php file creating malicious behavior on your WordPress blog. Jason Cosper offers a good step-by-step tutorial and Ronald Davies has a video tutorial on how to remove this malicious file from your WordPress Theme folder. After removal of the file from your server via FTP, update your site immediately to WordPress 2.7. For more information, see these discussions on the WordPress Support Forums: Blog hacked, host said to upgrade and WTF is remv.php in wp-content/themes folder. [Read more…]

WordPress News: WordPress 2.7 Awesome, WordPress.com 5 Million, Plugins Updated, and WordCamp News

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There was a lot of WordPress news this week, including the release last week of WordPress 2.7, which has been heralded by many as one of the easiest upgrades and enthusiasm for the new interface. Applause for the whole WordPress development team and community that worked so hard to make WordPress 2.7 so awesome. A lot of WordPress Plugins have been updated, and some thought discontinued by incorporation of their features into WordPress 2.7 are back and better than ever. Lots of WordPress.com news, including crossing the 5 million blog mark. WordCamps and WordPress Meetups are starting to fill up the schedule for 2009. And a lot more WordPress news is crammed into this issue, so hang on.

WordPress News

Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.7: Last week’s issue, WordPress News: WordPress 2.7 Released, covered a ton of information you needed to know about the latest version of WordPress.

Ryan Boren announced that there have been 100,000 downloads in the first 20 hours of release, followed by a hint that WordPress 2.7.1 work in progress and will be out soon with many of the fixes found during the first week of the release.

Other WordPress 2.7 news and tips include:

  • Accessibility and Speed Comes to the WordPress 2.7 Comment Panel: Mark Jaquith presented a great demo screencast of the WordPress 2.7: Comment Moderation Keyboard Shortcuts which shows the various keyboard shortcuts you can use with the new version of WordPress to speed up the processing of comments. To turn it on, visit your Profile Page (click your name in the upper right corner) and check the box to enable keyboard shortcuts. From there, it’s just a few keystrokes to fast management of your comments.
  • Customize the WordPress Login Panel: WordPress 2.7 now features an easily customizable WordPress login screen and WPEngineer offers a tutorial on how to customize the WordPress login screen to your own design needs.
  • Admin Drop Down Menu Upgraded: With the major changes and easy-to-use interface of WordPress 2.7, many thought that Ozh of Planet Oz would discontinue support of his popular WordPress Plugin, Admin Drop Down Menu. Fortunately, the requests to continue and support an upgraded version were too much for him to resist, so it has been upgraded with some new features to better work with WordPress 2.7. It includes a horizontal menu to replace the left sidebar navigation, giving it a more “desktop application” feel. See below in the Plugins and Theme News for more WordPress Plugins making a comeback.
  • WordPress 2.7 Administration Panel Skin: While many are thrilled with the new look and feel of WordPress 2.7, some still like having the option to change and control it. The Fluency Admin WordPress Plugin has been updated with a total rewrite to cover the new underlying structure of WordPress 2.7 while allowing a lot of customization. This version features custom flyout menus, navigation click reduction, hot key access shortcuts, screen options, and some other color variations. Expect more Plugins to change the look of the new Administration Panels soon.
  • hCards in WordPress 2.7? Did you know that microformats are now a part of WordPress? Joost de Valk of Yoast was impressed with the new hCards feature of WordPress, so he’s written a WordPress Plugin to work with the new microformats feature to add name, website, email, and photo to your blog. He offers a a video to show how the Plugin works.

[Read more…]

WordPress News: WordPress 2.7 Released

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Mark Jaquith has just announced that WordPress 2.7 is now live and ready for download.

Rumors were flying with the WordPress 2.7 RC2 release announcement and WordPress mailing lists, and now, the official announcement is now out. This version of WordPress is named “Coltrane” for famed jazz Saxophonist, John Coltrane, a favorite of sax playing, WordPress founder, Matt Mullenweg.

The official announcement includes a video and information on how WordPress 2.7’s new interace was developed. For more examples, screenshots, video, and information on the new WordPress 2.7 version, see WordPress 2.7 Release News and Links, Countdown to WordPress 2.7 and WordPress 2.7 Hits WordPress.com Thursday, December 4, 2008, and keep an eye on WordPress 2.7 blog posts and coverage across the blogosphere. [Read more…]

WordPress News: WordPress 2.7 Out on WordPress.com, WordPress 2.7 News, WordCamps, WordPress Plugins and Themes Updated

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By now, WordPress 2.7 has been released on . The full version should be released by December 10. We’ve lots of WordPress 2.7 version news. WordPress Theme and Plugin authors need to update and ensure they are listed on the compatibility pages on the Codex. Hang on, we’ve got lots of WordPress news.

WordPress News

Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.7: now features a Countdown to WordPress 2.7 on blogger’s Administration Panels. It is clicking off the time until WordPress 2.7 hits WordPress.com blogs.

Countdown on WordPress.com blogs for WordPress 2.7

In the announcement that WordPress 2.7 will arrive on Thursday, December 4, 2008, at 8PM Eastern Time in the United States on WordPress.com blogs, you will find all the tips and information you need to handle the transition to the new version of WordPress. Ryan Boren explained that WordPress.com users have been using WordPress 2.7 for a while without the new Administration Panel interface, which is due to arrive today.

Full Version of WordPress 2.7 Due December 10: In response to the Blog Herald announcement, Jane Wells confirms that the full version of WordPress 2.7 will be released December 10, though it could be sooner if testing on WordPress.com goes well. [Read more…]

WordPress 2.7 Due on WordPress.com December 4, 2008

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WordPress 2.7 will arrive on Thursday, December 4, 2008, at 8PM Eastern Time in the United States, so says the blog and Jane Wells of .

WordPress 2.7 Release Candidate 1 was released December 1, with 280 commits since WordPress 2.7 beta 3. This release includes the new menu icons created by the winners of WordPress 2.7: Project Icon, and fixes to the browser bugs that have been giving the development team headaches. [Read more…]

WordPress Wednesday News: Beta 3 Released, WordCamp Australia, No WordPress 2.6.4, and More

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WordPress 2.7 is at beta version 3 and the first Release Candidate is due any moment. I’ve collected tons of articles covering the next release of WordPress, expected to be one of the most exciting ever. WordCamp Australia is this weekend. Old versions of WordPress continue to be hacked, so please upgrade and not wait for WordPress 2.7. Be warned that if you are using WordPress 2.6.4, it could be fake. And more WordPress news.

WordPress News

WordPress 2.7 Development News: WordPress 2.7 Beta 3 fixed a lot of styles and design elements for the new interface, integrating 144 commits since beta 2. This version also includes an update for the first WordPress Plugin, “Hello Dolly.” The media upload buttons now have an “if available” option. They won’t show unless the ability to upload is available. QuickPress now features “Submit for Review” if the contributor can’t publish posts directly. They’ve added an API to the Administration Panels to make adding screen options easier. The Release Candidate One should be available any time now in final preparation for release by the end of the month if all continues on its right track. and will have WordPress 2.7 fully integrated a couple weeks later.

Jacob Santos has written “10 WordPress Features You’ll Never Care About”, a great list of some of the invisible features that helps make WordPress 2.7 even better, even if you can’t see or ever use them.

The WordPress 2.7: Project Icon for WordPress 2.7 is done and the winners are Ben Dunkle and Verena Segert. The two icon sets will be incorporated after some final adjustments into RC1.

Other articles and news about WordPress 2.7 include: [Read more…]