More WordCamp announcements and news. WordPress 2.7 information such as impact on Theme developers with comments and parent/child Themes. Lester Chan’s WordPress Plugins can be found on famous blogs. WP Super Cache updated and faster than ever. And more WordPress news.

WordPress News

Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.7: The following are articles and posts with information you need to know for WordPress 2.7 if you are a developer, WordPress Theme or Plugin author.

• Sivel – Separating Pings from Comments in WordPress 2.7
• Ottodestruct – WordPress 2.7 Comments Enhancements for Themes
• WordCamp NYC: Matt Mullenweg on the State of WordPress also gives a walk through of WordPress 2.7 (video)
• Look under WordPress Themes and Plugins news for information on the new Parent/Child Theme structure in WordPress 2.7.

WordPress 2.7 Development: As development of WordPress 2.7 nears the freeze date, the WordPress Development Updates is firing up with a lot of action. Some development news includes threaded comments and the new Comments API, Quick Edit for Tags, Categories, and Link Categories, TinyMCE updated and improved for caching in Google Gears and browsers resulting in speeding up Write and Edit page by 40%, increasing content area for writing blog posts, implementation of some WordPress 2.7 Wireframe features, a comment type filter for the edit-comments.php Comments Panel to view all types of comments including trackbacks and pingbacks, batch editing for posts and Pages, comment paging, drafts now have real timestamp, drafts now ordered properly in the All Posts timeline, improvements in custom fields, the addition of “Close comments for old posts” to the Settings > Discussion, a Themes update API, and improvements to the Administration Panels and styles.

Portland, Oregon, Having a WordPress Upgrade Party: After the very successful WordCamp Portland, Portland WordPress fans are having a semi-un-not-so-official WordPress Upgrade Party at CubeSpace on Nov 10, 2008. Are you having a WordPress Upgrade Party with your community’s WordPress fans? read more

WordCamps are everywhere! WordPress 2.7 preview of the Administration Panels and interface wireframes released but not final. Theme changes in WordPress 2.7 will improve comments by design and code. Automattic buys Intense Debate for the comment power. WordPressMU updated. WordPress.com stats out. And more WordPress and WordCamp news and events.

WordPress News

WordPress 2.7 Wireframes: Jane Wells revealed the WordPress 2.7 Wireframes, the graphic draft versions being tested for the development of the new WordPress 2.7 and future version Administration Panels and interface. A work-in-process, the PDF files are going around the web and serve as guides not final versions of the interface. These are constantly in fluctuation as testing and updates are ongoing.

WordPress Theme Changes in WordPress 2.7 Comments: Otto of Ottodestruct covers the changes in WordPress 2.7 comments that may impact some WordPress Themes. While older WordPress Themes will continue to work but WordPress 2.7 includes some new features WordPress Theme designers need to know. They include creating a WordPress 2.7 compatible comments.php template file, changes in the comments loop, password protection checks, AJAX, and style changes. Some of the improvements and features explained are subject to change as WordPress 2.7 nears release.
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Four WordCamps and one WordPress Meetup all on September 27. It’s WordPress Day! WordPress 2.6.2 released. Update now. New Plugin released taking advantage of new features in 2.6.2. Comment threading and inline editing added to upcoming WordPress 2.7 release. More WordPress Themes found to be hazardous to your blog’s health. Count your Twitter follows on your WordPress blog. Lots of Plugin news, and WordPress.com bloggers get first look at new sticky post feature coming to all WordPress blogs soon.

WordPress News

WordPress 2.6.2 Upgrade Now: Many people are not taking the latest announcement about the WordPress 2.6.2 upgrade seriously. The security flaw this update repairs applies to all PHP applications, not just WordPress, and specifically targets those with open registration, which includes multiple blogger blogs and registration for comments. All are seriously recommended to has been released and WordPress users are required to download WordPress 2.6.2 and upgrade immediately. WordPress 2.6.2 was released with the fix five hours after the critical security flaw had been filed.

The upgrade also includes a good list of fixes including:

• Control of user redirects during login
• textpattern import
• mysql version in version check query string included
• get_posts not working properly
• Insert image into post inserts full size rather than specific size
• RSS widget link appearing when there isn’t one
• get_post_meta fails to unserialize when $single=false
• comment_max_links causes confusion when zero

There is a full changeset and list of changed files. WordPressMU blogs may also be at risk. Stay tuned for more information on that. 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 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

WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco is this weekend and WordPressers are flying in from around the world to attend the big event. Look for them prowling around San Francisco in a fundraising Scavenger Hunt on Sunday! WordPress is now running the British government, with WP Super Cache supporting it. Vote now for your favorite WordPress Plugin. Learn the secrets behind the new WordPress Theme Directory. WordCamp Utah speakers announced. Lots of news about WordPress Plugins. And more!

WordPress News

WordPress Rules the British Government: As has been widely reported, number10.gov.uk for Number 10 Downing Street, home of the British Primer Minister’s office, is run with WordPress. Donncha is excited for that, but mostly because they are using his WP Super Cache WordPress Plugin to handle the traffic load smoothly fairly well.

Weblog Tools Collection WordPress Plugin Competition – VOTE NOW! Have you voted yet? Get your vote in for your favorite in the WordPress Plugin Competition. There are some top notch Plugins included, and Ozh has written his review of the entrants in part one and part two of the competition, giving you insights into which are the ones he likes and why, and things WordPress Plugin authors can learn along the way to improve their Plugins. read more

WordPress 2.6.1 Beta released for testing. Rumors fly about WordPress 2.7. Go vote for your favorite in the WordPress Plugin Competition. Lots of news for WordPress.com members including iPhone access, tags, Theme updates, image captioning, and statistics. Tons of WordCamps and WordPress Meetups around the world announced. September will be a record breaker for WordCamps. WordCamp San Francisco features hot speakers and a scavenger hunt for charity.

WordPress News

WordPress Mailing List: For those on the WordPress Announcement Mailing List, Matt Mullenweg sent out an announcement about WordPress 2.6, WordPressMU’s latest update, WordPress for iPhone, the new WordPress Theme Directory, and WordCamp San Francisco, among other WordPress news.

Weblog Tools Collection WordPress Plugin Competition – VOTE NOW! Have you voted yet? Get your vote in for your favorite in the WordPress Plugin Competition. There are some top notch Plugins included, and Ozh has written his review of the entrants in the competition, giving you insights into which are the ones he likes and why.

WordPress 2.6.1 Beta 1 Released: The beta 1 version of WordPress 2.6.1 has been released with more than 50 fixes, including a fix for IE users for Press This. Testers are encouraged to put it through its paces as the goal is to release WordPress 2.6.1 in time for WordCamp 2008 on August 16. New features and fixes include allowing password disabling reset per user, WordPress authentication of the Atom API, the post_status now allows query functions for values separated by commas, and more security improvements.
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WordPress iPhone has already been updated. Over 201,000 blogs using WordPress 2.6. More than 300 WordPress Themes uploaded to the new WordPress Theme Directory. Simon Dickson rocked WordCamp UK with great info on WordPress as a CMS for businesses. WordCamp San Francisco opens registration. Need help tracking changes in WordPress versions? There is now a Plugin that will help your WordPress Themes and Plugins make the transition. WordPress 2.5 is dead. WordPressMU 2.6 is alive. And Mark Jaquith writes a one line WordPress Plugin.

WordPress News

WordPress iPhone: The WordPress iPhone is now at version 1.1 with a lot of improvements and a couple bug fixes. You can learn more about it on the WordPress iPhone Development Blog and study the source code on the WordPress iPhone SVN.

WordPress 2.6 Released: WordPress 2.6 was released last week and appears to be a fairly stable release. It is a mandatory release with security patches and you should Download WordPress 2.6 now. Over 194 bugs were fixed, too. I’ve included a lot of the new features in past issues of the WordPress Wednesday News. For those with WordPress Themes that have not been updated to handle the new image placement, see Hack WordPress and WP Lover for technical help.

WordPress 2.6 Stats: Matt Mullenweg released some numbers on WordPress 2.6. Within the first 10 days, there are 201,000 blogs using 2.6. The English version had been downloaded on average 23,000 a day. According to the WordPress Development blog, there have been 34 issues fixed so far for the upcoming release of 2.6.1.
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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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WordCamps in Africa, China, and the Philipines. WordPress is spreading. WordPress 2.6 is out with only a few problems, and a lot of cool features and improvements. The Weblog Tools Collection WordPress Plugin Competition is now closed and there is a great list of Plugins for you to vote on. Lots of news on WordPress 2.6. WordCamp UK is this weekend, and there are some record breaking WordCamps coming up. Jeffro2pt0 bids the WP Weekly Podcast good-bye.

WordPress News

WordPress 2.6 Released: WordPress 2.6 has been released. It is a mandatory release and you should Download WordPress 2.6 now. I’ve included a lot of the new features in past issues of the WordPress Wednesday News and highlights and commentary include:

• Google Gears (Turbo) to speed up your interaction with the WordPress Administration Panels by “local server” caching – storing the files on your computer (not offline blogging – yet). Lloyd Budd explains how it works and privacy issues.
• Post Revisions to track changes to your blog post and go back to previous edits if necessary.
• Press This, the new version of the Press It function, which allows fast blogging from whatever page you are viewing, such as a YouTube video page including the video embed code automatically.
• Theme Previews for a real look at what a Theme will look like before deciding.
• Word Count helps you track how many words you’ve written in your blog post.
• Integration of the Media Library with the WYSIWYG Visual Editor including toggling between the new Flash and classic uploader, and the ability to upload media in the full-screen mode.
• Drag-and-drop reordering of images within the photo galleries.
• The ability of adding Image captions to images.
• Improvements to the Plugin update notifications.
• Customizable default avatars so your blog commenters will never go faceless.
• Improved security on several levels to help protect your blog, including SSL and Cookies handling, moving from a single cookie to triple cookie setup for better security. Jacob Santos covered authentication issues from another perspective.
• Joseph of Random Networks covers some of the XML-RPC and AtomPub changes in WordPress 2.6, as does Dougal Campbell along with WordPress blog APIs in general.
• Ozh covers what WordPress Plugin authors need to know about WordPress 2.6 and their Plugins now and in the future. Konstruktors Notes covers how WordPress 2.6 makes improvements to how JavaScript and CSS files can be added to the WordPress <head>, which can cause problems with some WordPress Plugins, but also make it easier.
• For a listing of WordPress 2.6 bug fixes, see the 2.6.1 roadmap.
• Hack WordPress reminds us the importance of upgrading WordPress to prevent and protect your blog from security flaws and for the feature improvements.

The announcement also included some interesting information about the release of WordPress 2.6. Over 75 people contributed code to this version. That is a huge team that deserves all our applause for their hard work!

Upgrade with the Automatic Upgrade WordPress Plugin: WordPress Automatic Upgrade WordPress Plugin, which makes upgrading easier, has been updated to work with WordPress 2.6.

WordPress 2.6 Issues: For the most part, there have been very few problems reported with upgrades of WordPress 2.6.

• There is an easily fixable issue that impacts those using index.php in their permalinks, something you shouldn’t need to do.
• If you are having a problem with a WordPress Plugin after upgrading WordPress, check the Plugin author’s site for news and information on the status of the Plugin. There have only been minor issues with Plugins.
• For those who do not like the new Post Revision feature, Lester Chan (Gamerz) has a Plugin to turn it off.

WordPress 2.5 Branch No Longer Supported: The announcement of the release of WordPresss 2.6 came with the news that WordPress 2.5 will no longer be supported. It is nearly identical to the new version and has little impact on Themes and Plugins.

WordPressMU Beta Release: WordPressMU 2.6 beta 1 has been released to work with WordPress 2.6 features and includes a change in the version number from 1.6 to 2.6 to match WordPress, improved spam proofing on the sign up page, object cache changes to improve efficiency and speed, and many more bug and security fixes. WordPressMU is the WordPress version that runs multi-user blogs like WordPress.com.

WordPress Meets iPhone: WordPress for iPhone is a an iPhone-native WordPress client and supports WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress blogs. There is a screencast video showcasing its usage. There are also examples of how the WordPress iPhone works with Prologue and Mdot.

Do You Blog By Email? Ozh brings up blogging by email and asks readers if they are using this long time core feature of WordPress. Are you? Would you like to see it improved? Join the conversation.

Looking Back Into the History of WordPress: Keith Dsouza of Weblog Tools Collection shares “Evolution of WordPress: B2/Cafelog to WordPress 1.0″, a history lesson on how WordPress grew out of B2/Cafelog in the early days.

WordPress Mug Contest: WordCast is having a WordCast Mugshot Contest with winners winning WordPress mugs and other prizes. To enter, you must share a picture of your favorite mug.

WordPress Plugin Competition: The Weblog Tools Collection’s WordPress Plugin Competition for WordPress 2.5+ is over for entrants and now it’s time to check out these hot and innovative WordPress Plugins and rate your favorites. Here are most of the final entries:

• Role Scoper
• Dodo
• Broken Links Remover
• Yank Widget
• WP125: Easy 125×125 Ad Management For WordPress
• WordPress Image Browser Extender
• Vent – add events to your blog
• Tabbed Widgets Plugin
• Snazzy Archives
• Show Me Options
• PayPal API Subscriptions
• Idealien Category Enhancements
• Flickr Gallery
• Editor Extender
• Attachment Extender
• Snazzy Archives
• Media In Response
• Invite Friends
• FlareSmith
• Click Tracking Plugin
• AnyVar
• WP Sentry: Private Posting Plugin
• MultiSiteManager unleashed
• WPMU plugin: Vote2Publish
• WPMU plugin: rePost
• SlideShare Plugin
• Live Blogroll
• Dk Obama Slideshow Plugin
• WP Wall
• ComicPress Manager
• PhotoJAR: Base
• tWPtter ~ WordPress Microblogging
• New WP Comment Remix Version
• Sidebars
• PostGroups v1.1.0
• WP Easy Uploader
• One Click Upgrade and Backup All WordPress Blogs
• Current tags
• PostGroups
• Manageable
• ZdMultilang
• Post Tabs
• MailPress
• Great Real Estate
• WPMU Plugin Commander
• SEO Smart Links
• Adminimize
• DL-MENU Tab generation and dynamic colorschemes
• Content By Country
• Automatic Timezone Plugin
• Simple Flash Video WordPress Plugin
• Sermon Management WordPress Plugin for Churches
• Reflex Automatic Blogroll WordPress Plugin
• Fun with In-Context Comments WordPress Plugin

Having Trouble Publishing Code in Posts and Comment? If you publish code in your WordPress posts and comments, WordPress may think it is code. To prevent code acting like code, WordPress automatically filters it out of the posts and comments, as does many other blogging and CMS programs. To publish code as content, see Writing Code in Your WordPress Posts and Writing and Publishing Code in Your WordPress Blog Posts.

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: WordCamps in Australia and Hawaii, Security Check Plugin, Google Gears, Lots of Plugin News and Tips, WordPress 2.6 News, and If Not WordPress, What?.

WordPress Podcasts

WordPress Podcast: The WordPress Podcast: Episode 43: Out Of Date Blogs Hacked, All-In-One Seo Gets Dropped, Then Picked Up covered those topics and the development of the Crazy Horse new WordPress Administration Panels interface, Batcache, HyperDB, WordPress Plugins, WordPress 2.6, and security issues.

WP Weekly Podcast: This week saw the Final Episode Of WPWeekly with Jeffro2pt0, a fun WordPress weekly live show. The final episode includes a rare interview with Alex King, one of the hottest Plugin developers and WordPress fans. The Alex King Theme Competition and other contests and WordPress Community efforts are legendary, and he continues to produce and support some of the most popular WordPress Plugins. What a great send off. Good luck, Jeff, with your future with Performancing!

WordCast Podcast: The 20th episode of WordCast featured Lorelle on WordPress in the longest podcast they’ve ever recorded. Topics included WordPress 2.6, favorite books for bloggers, blog advertising, Matt Mullenweg, and a lot of blogging and WordPress talk. Lorelle also shares her favorites: WordPress Comment Ninja and Akismet Anti Spam FireFox Greasemonkey Scripts for WordPress. The next issue, WordCast 21: Purple Knuckles, featured WordPress 2.6, WordPress.com versus WordPress.org, and more WordPress Plugins.

WordPress on Your Calendar

WordCamp UK Rocking: WordCamp UK is on for this weekend and is filled with some of the best of the best in WordPress and blogging from the area:

• Benjamin Ellis
• Chris Garrett
• Gurbir Singh
• Ian Covey
• Jonnya
• Mike Little
• Nick Garner
• Peter Westwood
• Rich Boakes
• Richard Williams
• Sam Bauers
• Simon Dickson
• Simon Wheatley
• Tony Scott

Tickets are required for WordCamp UK, so hurry before they are all gone.

Record Breaking WordCamps: We’ve got some record breakers coming up for WordCamp events. There are 5 WordCamps set for this September, and three will all be on September 27: WordCamp Utah in Salt Lake City, WordCamp Birmingham in Alabama, and WordCamp Portland in Oregon. Three WordCamps are scheduled so far for October. It’s going to be an autumn stuffed with WordCamp and WordPress fun.

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).

• The New York City WordPress – July 19, 2008
• WordCamp UK – July 19-20, 2008, Birmingham, UK VENUE CHANGE
• Boston WordPress July Meetup – July 24, 2008
• The Dallas/Ft. Worth Area WordPress July Meetup – July 26, 2008
• WordCamp San Francisco 2008 at Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF – August 16, 2008
• WordCamp South Africa – Cape Town – August 23, 2008
• WordCamp Philippines – September 6, 2008
• Blog World Expo, Vegas – September 20-21, 2008
• WordCamp China – Beijing – September 20-21, 2008
• WordCamp Utah – Salt Lake City – September 27, 2008
• WordCamp Birmingham – Alabama – September 27, 2008
• WordCamp Portland, Oregon – September 27, 2008
• WordCamp New York – New York – October 4, 2008
• WordCamp Toronto – October 4-5, 2008
• Podcamp and WordCamp Hawaii – Oct 24, 2008
• MinneWordCamp – Minneapolis – November 15, 2008
• WordCamp Australia – Sydney – December 6-7, 2008

WordCamp San Francisco August 16: August 16, 2008 is the next WordCamp San Francisco, considered by many to be the premier WordCamp event. This year, it appears it will be only one day instead of two, but details are still coming. It will be at the Mission Bay Conference Center this year.

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

Mark Ghosh of Weblog Tools Collection asks “How many Queries are too many?” in a WordPress blog. In summary, the issue is how many queries to the WordPress database are made by WordPress Plugins and WordPress Themes and what impact that has on the database, server load, and user experience. His experience with his popular site gives a great example and he asks you to chime in with your experiences.

Must Have WordPress 2.5 Plugins: Mashable: 20+ Must-Have WordPress 2.5 Compatible Plugins has been released with some great Plugins in their listing. However, they are a week short since WordPress 2.6 is now out. Fortunately, most WordPress 2.5 Plugins will work with the new version.

Interesting WordPress Plugins: Here are some interesting and unusual Plugins I stumbled on recently:

• Related Posts by Categories für WordPress is in German and is a WordPress Plugin that creates related posts in the same category as the current article.
• Tagline Rotator WordPress Plugin randomly selects a tagline from a list and displays it under your blog title.
• Show125 WordPress Plugin by X-OR WordPress Widget is a widget that gives you more control over easily adding 125×125 pixel ads to your blog in ad blocks.
• Duplicate Post Checker WordPress Plugin checks for duplicate content before you publish.
• Version Creator WordPress Plugin adds your blog’s design version number, name, and note, so you can entertain or inform your visitors on which version your blog is in its development.

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.

Do You Say “WordPress Plugin” on Your Plugin Page? I’m finding a lot of WordPress Plugin authors are not using the word “WordPress Plugin” in their Plugin’s official page, nor within the text. Remember that “WordPress Plugin” is a popular keyword search term and if you aren’t using it, your chances of being found drops. Avoid separating the two words like “WordPress Blah Blah Plugin” and keep them together such as “Blah Blah WordPress Plugin” as the closer the terms are to each other, the more important they are. Most people search for “how to do blah WordPress Plugin” when they search, so help them find you by using the words and keeping them together. And it’s Plugin not plug-in, something you connect to electricity.

WordPress Techniques and Tips

Here are some more interesting WordPress tips I’ve uncovered:

• Justin Tadlock – Making Authors Template Page
• JJ and the Kids Podcast – Episode 6 – Edit the Config File
• Server Load Button for Blogs
• WordPress Category Page Hacks
• WordPress – Make your blog your management system
• WordPress Hack: Using WordPress Conditional Tags

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 Community News

Get Your WordPress Mug: I love my new WordPress mug and shared my love with a lot of people recently. Go get yours at the WordPress Shop along with t-shirts and hoodies. Don’t want to buy one? Enter the WordCast Mugshot Contest and you could win one, alone with some other fun schwag.

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.

Give Something Back to WordPress: Jeff Chandler of Weblog Tools Collection has written “24 Ways To Contribute To WordPress” with suggestions on how to get involved in helping WordPress development. If you would like to help with the WordPress Codex, the official online user manual for WordPress users, we need you. If you would like to contribute to WordPress as a volunteer in the WordPress Support Forums, testing, coding, and more, see Contributing to WordPress. If you would like to help improve WordPress by reporting bugs, please report them via the WordPress Bug Report form. Your help is needed to ensure WordPress works.

Vote for WordPress Ideas: There is still time to get your vote in for ideas on upcoming versions of WordPress in the The WordPress Ideas section. Why not take advantage of it and add your voice to the vote.

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: WordCamps in Australia and Hawaii, Security Check Plugin, Google Gears, Lots of Plugin News and Tips, WordPress 2.6 News, and If Not WordPress, What?
• WordPress Wednesday News: Your Own Song in the Plugin Competition, WordPress 2.6 Beta and First Looks, WordCamp UK New Location, Batcache, Naked Themes, and More
• WordPress Wednesday New: Planet WordPress Canada, WordPress Plugins Contest, Crazyhorse, BuddyPress Default Theme, Blog Hacked, Sitemaps, and More
• WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress Blogs Hacked, Plugin Competition is Hot, BuddyPress, WordPress Sayings, and Lots of WordPress Plugin News

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.

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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