WordPress News: WordPressMU Updated, WordPress 2.8 News, WP.com, WordPress Events
Some Administration Panel Redesigns in WordPress 2.8: While WordPress committed to no changes in the WordPress Administration Panels interface, there will be a few minor tweaks. In “Design Tweaks: Who’s In? (An idea in three acts),” Jane Wells explains that your help is wanted to redesign the header area of the interface. UX and design guidelines have been posted and you are welcome to have your input until Tuesday, April 27, 2009. The submissions will be offered for voting for only one day due to the pressure to get WordPress 2.8 released.
WordPress 2.8 News: The final stages of development, testing, and patching is underway for the release of WordPress 2.8. The latest news on the next version of WordPress includes:
- Has-Patch Marathon Results: The results of the Has-Patch Marathon for WordPress 2.8 are in and 44 patches were committed to the core, with 20 new ones added, with a total of 102 tickets closed. Expect the release candidate for WordPress 2.8 to be out soon.
- Widgets Redesigned Finally: The long awaited redesign of the WordPress Widgets are in the Appearance panel is done and undergoing testing. Some visual improvements are needed, but it is close to done. Widgets are now able to be added to WordPress by extending
WP_Widget, which allows multiple instances of the same WordPress Widget in the sidebar. They note that all existing Widgets must be converted to this new system as previous API functions will be removed in WordPress 2.9. - Plugin Management Panel Updated: The Plugins Management Panel has been updated to match the other Administration Panels and now includes status filters for All, Active, Recently Active, Inactive, and Update Available, as well as a search and option for setting the number of Plugins to show per page.
- New Favorite Actions: The new Favorite Actions feature is a drop down menu that allows you to set your most redundant actions on the Administration Panels. It recognizes what page you are viewing on the Administration Panels and helps you to navigate faster through them.
WordPress MU 2.7.1 Released: Donncha announced WordPress MU 2.7.1 has been released. The new features include a revamped WordPressMU Plugin system, a new “My Blogs” page to feature the user’s blogs and set the settings, and the ability to set a Global Dashboard blog for those without blogs. WordPressMU 2.7 now permits upgrading directly from inside the MU Administration Panels.
BuddyPress Release Candidate Out: The BuddyPress 1.0 RC-2 is out for serious testing as it moves towards final release. BuddyPress is a WordPressMU Plugin and design package that incorporates social networking features.
WordPress/Google Summer of Code Students Announced: The students participating in the Summer of Code Students have been announced along with the projects they will be working on. There are some exciting projects from which the majority of WordPress users will benefit from when completed.
WP Super Cache WordPress Plugin Updated: The popular WP Super Cache has been updated again. It is used to speed up the loading process and slow down the server load on your WordPress or WordPressMU blog site.
WordPress.com News
WordPress.com is now WP.com, too: The WordPress team has now acquired the domain name for WP.com which currently redirects to WordPress.com. Matt’s debating about doing more with it, but that’s where it lands now.
WordPress on Your Calendar
Upcoming WordCamp and WordPress Events include:
April 2009
- Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas – DFW WordPress Meetup – April 25, 2009
- Alameda, California – The East Bay WordPress Meetup – April 26 , 2009
- Edmond, Oklahoma – OKC WordPress Users Group – April 27, 2009
- Ferndale, MI – April WordPress Meetup – April 27, 2009
- Scottsdale, Arizona – Scottsdale WordPress Meetup – April 27, 2009
May 2009
- Chicago – Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference (SOBCon) – May 1-3, 2009
- Mobile, Alabama – Gulf Coast WordPress/Blogger May Meetup – May 7, 2009
- Canada, British Columbia – Vancouver WordPress May Meetup – May 7, 2009
- WordCamp Toronto – May 8-10, 2009
- Richmond, Virginia – WordCamp RVA – May 9, 2009
- Los Angeles WordPress Users Group at Farmers Market – May 10, 2009
- Belmar, New Jersey – New Jersey WordPress May Meetup – May 13, 2009
- Ohio – WordCamp Columbus – May 16, 2009
- Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia – WordCamp Mid-Atlantic – May 16, 2009
- Milan, Italy – WordCamp Milan 2009 – May 22-23, 2009
- New York, NY – WordCamp Ed CUNY – May 22, 2009
- Texas – The Dallas/Ft. Worth Area WordPress May Meetup – May 23, 2009
- North Carolina – Raleigh WordPress May Meetup – May 23, 2009
- Atlanta, Georgia – Atlanta WordPress Users Group – May 26, 1009
- Ohio WordPress Meetup – May 28, 2009
- WordCamp San Francisco 2009 – May 30, 2009
Past WordPress News Reports
- WordPress News: 2.8 Patch Marathon, TalkPress, and Commercializing WordPress Plugins
- WordPress News: Widget API, Bye-Bye Kubrick, Query_Posts Plugin, and Template Tag Plugin
- WordPress News: WordPress 2.8, Summer of Code, PodPress Returning, iPhone Update
- WordPress News: iPhones Up, WordPress Widgets API, 2.8 Delayed, International WordPress.tv, and More
Each week, the Blog Herald features WordPress News, a weekly column by Lorelle VanFossen of Lorelle on WordPress featuring the news from around the WordPress Community. You can follow more WordPress news, WordCamp and WordPress Event information, WordPress tips and help, see Lorelle on WordPress and her Twitter account, @lorelleonwp, where she posts a WordPress Plugin and WordPress Tip daily. If you have a WordPress news item or tip to suggest, please contact her at: lorelleonwordpress@gmail.com
WordPress releases too many new versions. It seems like as soon as you get used to using the current version they decide to release the next one. I’m just sticking with 2.7 since I am perfectly happy with it.
There has not been a “new” release of WordPress since December, save for a security release. Updating WordPress is now automatic. The changes mentioned are very minor and will not impact your user experience – or change how you work with WordPress. It’s cosmetic. Updating is easy.
I sure wish other programs updated as frequently as WordPress does. I am continually besieged by upgrades to my operating system and many key software components on a daily basis.
With each version of WordPress, usability and functionality improves. With WordPress 2.7, my interaction with the Administration Panels has dropped by about 40%, speeding up my blogging time so I can do other things. With the improvements in functionality for the Media Library and handling multimedia, and the improvements in the Widget’s area, something LONG overdue, I eager await the next version to make it even faster and easier to blog.