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WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.3 Released, Plugin Trouble, International WordCamps and Regional Meetups, Edublogs 100,000, and More News

WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.3 Released, Plugin Trouble, International WordCamps and Regional Meetups, Edublogs 100,000, and More News

WordPress 2.3 new version release goes well. Plugins still cause trouble for many. International WordCamps heat up with the next one in Israel. Local and regional WordPress Meetups are also active again with the fall schedule. Edublogs turns 100,000 blogs old. WordPress.com bloggers unhappy with new tag feature. And some neat WordPress Plugins, Themes, and more WordPress News.

WordPress News

WordPress 2.3 Released: WordPress 2.3 is available for download. I reported on a ton of new features and issues with WordPress 2.3 last week in WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.3 Released, WordPress Podcast, International WordCamps and summary of news on WordPress 2.3. For the most part, other than conflicts with WordPress Plugins and Theme customization code that dealt with post categories, the upgrade was fine for many, and the new features and abilities welcome. Be sure and check the WordPress 2.3 Plugin Compatibility List before upgrading – and check with your favorite WordPress Plugin authors for updates.

Explaining WordPress Taxonomy Tags: Ryan Boren explains more about the new tag taxonomy tags in WordPress to help designers and developers understand more about how they work in the new version.

What’s Right With WordPress 2.3: Carthik of Wordlog reports on “What’s Right with WordPress 2.3”, commenting on the new tag feature, improved search results with tagging, removal of links to developer’s blogs from the blogroll, and mentions a few of the things many users are confused over with the new release.

WordPress 2.3 Delivered: Ryan Boren reports on the “delivery” of WordPress 2.3 and some positive responses and a few problems along the way. Development is now focused on WordPress 2.4 and he hints that new features will include a new interface, as was mentioned at WordCamp.

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:

Westi on WordPress 2.4 Reports: Peter Westwood, known to many as Westi, has started a series on WordPress 2.4, reporting weekly on activity for the next major version of WordPress. The first post is WordPress weekly digest 24th September to 30th September 2007. You can monitor the updates on Westi on WordPress (feed).

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.

100,000 Edublogs: James Farmer announces 100,000 Edublogs on his popular Edublogs.org, the online education tools and community of blogging educators. He adds that the free blogs for educators brought in “268,638 unique visitors, who dropped by 904,053 times enjoying 13,701,840 page views while sucking up almost 500Gig bandwidth”. Edublogs was the first run site, with following soon after. Congrats to all!

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):

If you are having a WordPress-related event that isn’t on the calendar, post them below or via email.

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 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

WordPress.com W logoWordPress.com Number 22 in the US: Matt Mullenweg reports that according to Quantcast, WordPress.com is number 22 on a list of the top sites in the United States, just ahead of Craigs List. Impressive. Congrats!

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.

What’s Hot on WordPress.com? The hottest blogs on WordPress.com were:

  1. I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?
  2. CNN Political Ticker
  3. GretaWire
  4. POPSEOUL! entertainment, style and beauty in seoul
  5. Les Amateurs de Stars
  6. 7th Columnist
  7. A Hot Mess!
  8. deputydog
  9. GigaOM
  10. pollycoke :)

The hottest blog posts on WordPress.com were:

  1. Sacco pieno. Sacco vuoto
  2. Anita Hill: I have to speak out
  3. Rival pounces on Skype’s woes
  4. Democrats Continue to Outraise Republicans; Ron Paul Exception – HRC Raises $27 Million
  5. On you, it looks good.
  6. interesting elevators
  7. but… i luvs you
  8. Istina je, novi pornic’ za Manc(ic’ku!
  9. The SCO Group, or the Dead Man Walking
  10. Shard of Fear First Look!

WordPress Plugins and Themes News

WordPress Plugins DatabasePlugin 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.

Lester Chan GaMerZ WordPress Plugins Updated: GaMerZ’s WordPress Plugins have been updated recently to work with WordPress 2.3. Lester Chan’s popular Plugins include WP-Ban, WP-DBManager, WP-EMail, WP-PageNavi , WP-Polls, WP-PostRatings, WP-PostViews, WP-Print, WP-RelativeDate, WP-Sticky, WP-Stats, WP-Useronline, and two new Plugins.

NOTE: Since WordPress 2.1, the Ultimate Tag Warrior WordPress Plugin has had some major problems and the author has decided to stop support, especially now that WordPress 2.3 has tagging built-in. Much thanks, appreciation, and honors goes to author Christine Davis, who gave so much time and energy to supporting one of the most powerful and flexible WordPress Plugins ever produced. The WordPress Community is feeling the loss of this great Plugin, and we thank you, Christine, for proving to the world how versatile and flexible a WordPress Plugin can be. (September 2007)

Admin Drop Down Menus WordPress Plugin: Many look for fast and clean Administration Panel WordPress Plugins, and a favorite is Admin Drop Down Menus WordPress Plugin by Yellow Swordfish. It consolidates the menus into a basic drop down toolbar format. Instead of clicking Comments then Akismet, slide your mouse over Comments and choose Akismet from the drop down bar. It works with WordPress 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3. This version is based upon the Admin Menu Drop Down Plugin by Ozh, another powerful Administration Panel Plugin that speeds up your navigation time.

Share This WordPress Plugin Now Owned by Share This: If you are a fan of the Share This WordPress Plugin by Alex King, he writes that he has turned over ownership of the Plugin to Share This. It will continue to be free and under the GPL license and expect an upgrade soon.

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.

Featuring WordPress Plugins: The following are a few interesting WordPress Plugins I’ve found over the past week:

See Also
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  • The WordPress Cabaret WordPress Plugin creates random poetry from words in your posts and comments, along with some other fun stuff.
  • Report Comments WordPress Plugin offers reporting options for visitors who find inappropriate comments on your WordPress blog, a great way of alerting you to a potential problem.
  • Drop-Down Post List WordPress Plugin displays drop-down boxes of posts for specified categories with controllable trigger text from within a post or Page or Theme template file.
  • Homepage Excerpts WordPress Plugin allows control of the size of posts as excerpts on the front page and other pageviews of your WordPress blog.
  • Articles WordPress Plugin allows you to feature a list of posts outside of your blog chronology, useful for featuring specific articles from your blog’s past.
  • Shortcut Macros WordPress Plugin allows you to use abbreviations in your post or Page content and when you save it, the text will be expanded. This is great for those who write a ton of redundant content and links.
  • Different Posts Per Page allows you to control the number of posts found on home, category, archive, search pages, author, and other pageviews, allowing you to set the order of the posts.

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:

WordPress Techniques and Tips

Here are some featured articles and videos from around the WordPress Community and the , 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.

WordPress Community News

WordPress Community graphicNew 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 , 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 and . 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 News Sources


Each Wednesday on 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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