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Waiting for WordPress 2.5

Waiting for WordPress 2.5

Graphic of Arrow and WordPress logo representing WordPress upgrades copyright Lorelle VanFossenUPDATE: According to Weblog Tools Collection, WordPress 2.5 has been delayed about a week. We’re waiting for confirmation from the developers. The developers are working overtime to ensure it is in top notch shape, so don’t worry. The delay is for our benefit. Be patient. It was originally scheduled for the end of March. I’d rather have the glitches fixed than upgrade twice in the same month. :D


I’ve covered the preflight of WordPress 2.5. I’ve written an article asking you if you are ready for WordPress 2.5, and have given you the tips you need to know to upgrade, and here it is March 10, 2008, at 3:20PM and I’m in San Francisco, the main home for WordPress, only a short distance from Matt Mullenweg’s apartment (he’s in Texas, of course), and I’m waiting for WordPress 2.5 like the rest of you.

I’m really looking forward to the new features and the first attempt to integrate the long awaited Administration Panels. I’m especially eager for the new Media Library and having the ability to upload more than one image at a time. Oh, I’ve missed that feature so much.

I really thought that would have already implemented the new version for testing, but alas, we have seen nothing except a bug in the ability to release future posts not fixed since the criminal activity almost two weeks ago caused some server problems, and today’s announcement of a WordPress.com security vulnerability that only impacts those blogs, not stand alone, full version WordPress blogs.

So maybe the developers are busy addressing that issue before 2 million plus blogs are hacked.

So this is Lorelle doing a little blog toe tapping, waiting for WordPress 2.5.

Any minute now.

Yep. I’m watching the feeds like a hawk, waiting for the announcement. I reserved today to be all WordPress writing day and the next two days are booked to the teeth with other work while I’m still here in San Francisco.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Well. So what’s new with you?

Waiting on Upgrades and Releases

Because I write about WordPress and WordPress.com, my work depends upon me arranging my schedule to cover the upcoming release, the release, and the after effects of the release. I dig into my feeds and the to find out what people are complaining about and needing help with. I track down articles, news, code, and techniques for dealing with each issue at it arises. I test the program myself to see how it works, but I can’t do much with that until after it has gone through testing by others.

I’ve handled the pre-release. Now, I’m waiting on the release.

A lot of marketing and networking happens while working on pre-release, release, and post release stages. If you are a WordPress Plugin or Theme developer, giving hints of an upcoming release or update is critical to alerting the public and getting the word of mouth excitement going. Then your audience is panting at the door eager to be the first in line to use your new toy.

Once you release your Plugin or Theme, then comes the fixing, tweaking, testing, and support. You need to respond to the nice, or not nice, reviews. You track the downloads and watch the comments and questions in the WordPress Support Forum.

After a week, two, or a month or so, it’s post release time, a chance to regroup, tweak and fix things based on the requests and problems, and clean things up. And then it starts all over again.

Many burn out through the up and down process. Others thrive on it and love having users help them improve their products even more with their creative feedback.

When you release software or hardware to millions of users, it takes a lot more time for preparation, testing, and planning to make the release go well and users smile more than frown.

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And there is always something at the last minute that threatens to break everything. The security vulnerability for WordPress.com needs to be addressed, and WordPress 2.5 must be checked to see if the vulnerability has been inherited in any way.

So we wait. Tension builds.

Will You Upgrade Immediately?

I’m cautious. How about you? I never run out to be the first in line for anything. I did that as a child and that almost cost me my life as being first in line at the bus stop at age six meant I was directly in the path of a speeding truck that ran over me while crossing the street to get on the school bus. Months of physical therapy and a lifetime of recovery, I’ve learned that being first out of the gate isn’t always the smartest move you can make.

Many will wait a couple weeks for all the issues to be known and the bugs to be fixed, though sometimes it can take a month or so for an updated release. Sometimes it takes minutes. Who knows.

Once it is out in the hands of the public, users install it on their many different servers using various versions of Apache, MySQL and PHP. Their WordPress blog Themes and Plugins have been tweaked and tortured, typically under inexperienced hands, and everything must work with all these mixed up and unknown situations…and usually WordPress works. Not always, but more often than not. That says something really loud about the quality and integrity of the development team.

So will you upgrade immediately so you can be a part of the excitement? Or wait, like me, before you start spreading WordPress 2.5 across all your blogs?

Meanwhile, let’s all tap our feet together while we wait.

View Comments (14)
  • I’m installing it for a couple new sites and have been waiting on this release as it should be much easier for clients to grasp the back-end right away, but I was hoping to do most of that today with an early morning release… but I’m tapping my foot with you.
    Just want to get into the new admin panel and start tearing it up for development of plugins.

  • I won’t install it immediately on my ‘real’ blog, but I’m testing a new design on a local server, and there I will install 2.5 when it’s out.
    Since I’m very new into themes, I want to be sure it all works with the new version, too, and I hope to be ready to bring the new lay-out to the blog once 2.5.1 is out.

  • Thanks for the updates. I run my own web development company,Dot-Chris Development, in which I do updates for all the clients who have purchased a wordpress setup through my services.

    My plan is to personally install WordPress 2.5 and test plugins/themes for 2 weeks before releasing this updates to my clients.

    I guess this delay gives me a extra week to prep for all the testing and sending of notices to clients.

  • I have tried wordpress 2.5 through a demo site.

    I like the new Admin Page even though some people from wordpress forum doesn’t like it and they said its too simple. hmm isnt that one of the main goal of WordPress? to have a simple and easy to use blogging platform?

    Another thing I like with the next version is how its easier to add embeded videos and audios.

    —-
    I’ll wait for few days after its released before I upgrade or til’ most of my plug-ins and theme are compatible with the new version.

  • Hi Lorelle,

    I’ve had my main site running on the latest trunk build about 4 days now (please don’t try this at home) and nearly 2 months on both an online test site and a local test site as well. I don’t count though since I’m an old(er) software tester that is having a ball with WordPress, providing what I hope is fair feedback and generally being foolish.

    I can tell you that this release is already solid, stable, faster and more efficient from any version I’ve used before.

  • It’ll be done when it’s done. I for one do NOT like the new admin panel, and I’m sure once 2.5 is out in the wild the feedback will be enourmous. Lorelle, have you even tried the 2.5 beta before the toe tapping? I assure you, your written text would be worth more had you tested it.

  • [quote]I can tell you that this release is already solid, stable, faster and more efficient from any version I’ve used before[/quote]

    I agree on that point, HOWEVER, seeing as the last svn (7294) was STILL broken in IE6, I can hardly call it a successful release.

  • @skeddy:

    It hasn’t been released, and yes, I’ve tried it. It is at it should be in alpha testing. It hasn’t yet gone to full beta testing. That’s the way things work. That’s how it gets better.

    It now looks like they are going back to the end of the month release as was originally planned, so we should see it in beta soon. I’m very happy with that, and it makes a great “present” for WordCamp Dallas which opens a few days after that date. :D

  • I think upgrading this time is a no brainer: there is no risk.

    Upgrading to WP2.3 *did* require some work to make themes compatible with the new tag stuff, but WP2.5 does not modify any core feature so that something might break.

  • Probably for the best. I’ve been through the new admin interface and while it is generally cleaner, it feels pretty unfinished with fairly glaring visual issues in certain parts. If they need extra time to fix stuff like that then I’m all for it.

    Unfortunately I need to build/launch a fairly significant new project in WordPress ASAP, and I can’t wait for 2.5 now. I’ll have to go ahead and do it now then hope everything doesn’t fall into a million pieces. :(

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