WordPress 2.8 Has-Patch Marathon: Jane Wells announced The Super-Awesome WordPress 24-Hour Has-Patch Marathon to attack 500 active tickets on WordPress 2.8. The invitation included developers, hackers, and coders to dig into the code of WordPress and fix all kinds of things and test them from April 16-17. We’re awaiting results of the marathon.

TalkPress: Imagine combining the architecture behind WordPress.com with bbPress. The end result is TalkPress. In a recent announcement on the bbPress blog, Sam Bauers explained that TalkPress is going to be a hosted forum service using bbPress with the HyperDB extension for WordPress to create a WordPressMU style network of bbPress forums. It is currently being tested by corporations such as Time’s Health.com site. read more

March is WordPress month with more WordCamps and WordPress Meetups than ever. Will April beat it? Lester Chan makes a WordPress PowerPoint Template for presentations. WordPress wins the Best Irish Blogs Awards. FeedBurner transfer deadline is this weekend. Adobe Flash security vulnerability found, impacting many Plugins and WordPress blogs. And a lot more WordPress news coming your way.

WordPress News

The Best Bloggers in Ireland Use WordPress: Donncha O’Caoimh attended the Best Irish Blogs awards and reports that WordPress powers the best Irish blogs. Cathal Garvey created a comparison chart that found WordPress and WordPress.com represented 66% of the nominees, followed by Blogspot, then Movable Type. Has another country done similar comparisons?

WordPress PowerPoint Presentation Template: In anticipation of presenting a WordPress program at Blogout’09 in Singapore, Lester Chan went looking for a WordPress style template for Powerpoint. He couldn’t find one. So he created the WordPress PowerPoint Template that uses the official WordPress Logos and Graphics and looks very WordPress 2.7. He offers it free for anyone else searching as he did. Thanks, Lester! read more

Can you spot a WordPress blog? Are you sure? WordPress 2.7.1 released. Improvements on the WordPress Plugin Directory search functions. Help for those transferring from LiveJournal to WordPress.com, and WordPress in the future. WordPress 2.8 development on track. WordPress iPhone app in testing for next release. WordPress.com gets a new data center. More WordPress Tattoo news. WordCamps in Miami and India this weekend, Denver next. Singapore starts its first blogger meetup, including WordPress fans. WordPress jobs, and tips for WordPress Plugin and Theme authors.

WordPress News

WordPress 2.7.1 Released: WordPress 2.7.1, a maintenance release, is out. If you are using WordPress 2.7, take advantage of the automatic built-in upgrade. If you are not, then consider upgrading to WordPress 2.7. Sixty-five files were modified with 68 bug and feature fixes and improvements, and I covered more details about the release on my blog.

Improvements in the WordPress Plugin Directory: At long last, the WordPress Plugin Directory now has a new and improved search function using Sphinx open source SQL full-text search engine to help you find the Plugins you need in the directory from the site as well as the WordPress Plugins panel.

Improved LiveJournal Migration: For those looking to migrate from LiveJournal to WordPress.com, there is now an even easier LiveJournal migration process that the WordPress.com team has come up with to help the ever increasing number of people moving to WordPress.com from one of the oldest blogging platforms in the world. The new technique is a step by step approach that improves the importing from importing by the month without comments to now include comments, handle “friends only” posts, private posts, improvements in tagging, link back to LiveJournal blogs, and connection to the LiveJournal API to download all posts and comments in one pass. One LiveJournal users helped test the importer which handled over 3,700 posts and nearly 200,000 comments. The new importer will be included in the next major release of the full version of WordPress. read more

WordPress 2.7.1 is out. The first ever permanent tattoo of the WordPress logo is embedded. BuddyPress helps change how WordPressMU handles Plugins. New WordPress Plugin development book due soon. WordCamp Germany this weekend, with Miami and Denver coming up. New insights into WordPress 2.8 under the hood. And more from WordPress.tv and WordPress fan blogs.

WordPress News

WordPress 2.7.1 Released: WordPress 2.7.1, a maintenance release, is out. If you are using WordPress 2.7, take advantage of the automatic built-in upgrade. If you are not, then consider upgrading to WordPress 2.7. Sixty-five files were modified with 68 bug and feature fixes and improvements, and I covered more details about the release on my blog.

Permanent WordPress Tattoo: Ed Morita of Baker’s Hours in Hawaii is the first to put a permanent tattoo of the WordPress logo on his body. In January, he invited readers and WordPress fans to tell him where to place the tattoo and the wrist was the most popular response. I covered the event live on my blog, on the WordCast podcast, on Twitter (@lorelleonwp and @NctrnlBst), and it was picked up by many, including Mashable. In Ed’s story about the tattoo, he explains that it is meant to represent what it would look like if his skin was torn off to reveal a circuit board underneath with the WordPress logo. There has been much debate over whether or not the logo is the “right” one, and Matt Mullenweg confirms that it is the correct logo. The news has prompted another person on Twitter to hold an auction to get a tattoo, and several news agencies have contacted Ed Morita to cover the story. read more

WordPress.tv announced. Know the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? A Tweet sums it up. WordCamp Whistler this weekend. If you use the WordPress logo, Matt Mullenweg wants you to use the right one. Last chance to have your say on the first permanent WordPress tattoo. City saves money choosing WordPress. And more WordPress news and information.

WordPress News

Watching WordPress.tv: WordPress.tv is your WordPress channel for watching all things WordPress. It features videos put together by WordPress staff and others on how to use WordPress and WordPress tips and techniques. The tutorials cover the full version of WordPress and WordPress.com. There is also a WordCampTV channel to watch the videos from WordCamp events around the world.

WordPress versus WordPress.com Overheard: The difference between WordPress and WordPress.com was recently explained on Twitter as:

@TheGeneTeam Diff between wp.com & wp.org is freedom. Org is freedom to tweak. Com is freedom to just blog. :D One free, other free with expenses.

Matt Mullenweg’s New Year’s Resolutions and Birthday Celebration: 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. He worked hard to come up with the current logo created a few years ago.

Update on WordPress Logogate: Many thought the issue Matt had with the community generated WordPress logo was the colors. Matt has corrected this with a clear graphic explanation of what his issue is with the community-generated logos and the trademarked, real WordPress logo. It’s not the color, it’s the font. He worked hard to get the right font for the “W” in the logo. You can color it whatever color you want, just keep that pretty “W” font in its place. Thanks for clearing that fine detail up for us, Matt.

Let’s help Matt make his new year’s resolution and goals come true and use the right logo. I’ll be updating them here in the next issue. read more

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.

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WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco videos should be out any time. Lots of WordCamp News including last weekend’s WordCamp South Africa and upcoming WordCamps in Portland, Hawaii, Birmingham, Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Utah, Philippines, and more. Jeffro asks you to stop blaming WordPress. Crazyhorse shakes the WordPress 2.7 trunk. How to switch from TypePad to WordPress with only a little stress. And more WordPress news.

WordPress News

Stop Blaming WordPress: In a daring post, Jeffro asks you to stop blaming the WordPress team for problems they have no control over, specifically, WordPress Plugins. I’ve written on this subject before and I agree. WordPress is an ongoing product in constant development and will undergo changes. For the most part, they are very good about announcing changes in code that will impact Plugins and Themes, and getting better all the time. If you support a WordPress Theme or Plugin, it’s your resonsibiilty to keep it updated. Thanks for reminding us, Jeffro.

Bleeding Edge Interface for WordPress 2.7: Ryan Boren announced that the new user interface from the Crazyhorse experimental version of WordPress 2.7 (we hope) is in the trunk. It is usable, but it will bite back, so only use it on your alfa testing blogs where it can do little harm.

Considering Switching from TypePad to WordPress: The never-ending battle between Lloyd Budd of Automattic and TypePad continues with his latest rant against TypePad, The TypePad Trap. Rant or not, this is a great article with tips you need to know about if you want to switch from TypePad to WordPress. read more

WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco was a hit! The WordPress Scavenger Hunt fundraiser was great fun. WordPress hosts the US Government, as well as Britain. WordPress 2.6.1 released. The first WordPress Plugin API for a WordPress Plugin announced. Want to copy, cut, and paste in your iPhone with WordPress? How about a beautiful comment count chicklet added to your blog? Could be a new competition. How many comments do you have? Super Cache WordPress Plugin updated. WordCamp South Africa this weekend.

WordPress News

US Government Agencies Using WordPress: Attendees at WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco were stunned when Matt put up a list of US Government agencies using WordPress for their blogs, CMS, and intrasite networks. Mark Jaquith has published the list which includes the US Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Goard, the Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of State, Department of Treasury, DEA, FBI, CIA, SNA, and more. Matt’s point was that if they are using it, WordPress must be doing something write with security – especially with these security concious agencies helping the WordPress community.

WordPress 2.6.1 Released: WordPress 2.6.1 has been released. They cleaned up the problems with the right-to-left languages and fixed over 60 things needing fixing. Ajay of Techtites has released a WordPress 2.6 to 2.6.1 Upgrade File to make the process of updating your blog easier.

Ozh Offers the First WordPress Plugin API for the Admin Drop Down Menu WordPress Plugin: Planet Ozh updated the popular Admin Drop Down Menu WordPress Plugin with localization, fun icons, and an API that will allow others to hook into the Plugin with their Plugins. This is the first time a Plugin has had its own API that I know of. Think of the possibilities!

Sticky Posts in the Future: Lester Chan reports that WordPress 2.7 will incorporate a simplified version of his popular WP-Sticky WordPress Plugin into the core of WordPress, allowing users to “stick” a post to the front page of their blog. read more

WordPress iPhone mania sweeps the WordPress Community. WordPress will now rule an entire nation. WordCamp UK a resounding hit. WordPress 2.6 appears to be a stable release. The new WordPress Themes Directory is now an extend. WordPress working hard on improving localization and international translations. Go VOTE for your favorite new WordPress Plugin.

WordPress News

iPhone for WordPress: It’s the talk of the web. The WordPress for iPhone brings your WordPress blog to your iPhone. It is Open Source and compatible with iPhone 3G, iPhone, and iPod Touch and works with full-versions of WordPress (2.5.1 or higher) and WordPress.com. You can download it for free from the iTunes App Store. There is a WordPress iPhone frequently asked questions page to help, and a place to report iPhone WordPress problems. A walk-through video on WordPress for iPhone is on the Automattic Publisher blog. CNet Webware gives a positive review of the iPhone WordPress app, including pros and cons such as uploading photos from your Media Library or from your phone’s camera, and a good post preview. The downside is not being able to copy and paste links and text. It’s all hand HTML coding, too. There are a lot of WordPress mobile options for blogging and keeping up with your WordPress blog via your cell phone.

WordPress Now Rules a Nation: Simon Dickson announced at WordCamp UK that Number 10 Downing new site will be on WordPress.
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