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WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.5 On Track, Uninstalling WordPress Plugins, Premium WordPress Themes Debated, Permalinks, and More WordPress News
The Blog Herald
The Blog Herald

WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.5 On Track, Uninstalling WordPress Plugins, Premium WordPress Themes Debated, Permalinks, and More WordPress News

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January 17, 2008

WordPress 2.5 still slated for March. Uninstalling WordPress Plugins is a very hot topic. As are what makes a Premium WordPress Theme premium. Worried about your pinger? Want to improve your permalinks structure? MySQL has been bought. Auntie Akismet has been updated. More WordPress Plugins found with security vulnerabilities. Are you paying attention to yours? WordPress.com wins Best Blog Host. WordPress still hawking hoodies. And more WordPress news and adventures.

WordPress News

WordPress 2.5 News: WordPress 2.5, skipping over version 2.4, is scheduled for release in March and will include the new Administration Panels design along with some other great improvements.

WordPress 2.5 Weekly Digest: Peter Westwood reports on changes and improvements to WordPress 2.5 this wee includes update of the jQuery form Plugin, addition of a mass select functionality to the users panel for selecting all users for changing access permissions, a new interface introduced for Widget management, a new image uploader which has many very excited, ability to re-activate all Plugins deactivated by the Deactivate All button, ability to limit the depth of the “tree” displayed by wp_list_categories() template tag, optimization of the SQL query for determining which URLs are awaiting pinging and which have been pinged, and a lot more documentation, fixes, and improvements.

Mandatory Security Release WordPress 2.3.2: WordPress 2.3.2 has been released and is a mandatory security upgrade. The full details of the update include an urgent security release to fix a vulnerability in draft posts, suppression of some errors messages that may put your database at risk, and other bug fixes. Upgrade to WordPress 2.3.2 now.

The Missing WordPress Plugins Uninstall Feature: Weblog Tools Collection continues covering the WordPress Plugins lack-of-uninstall features in WordPress and offers tips and recommendations from readers and WordPress experts on where to go with this frustrating “lack-of-feature” in WordPress. To get up to speed on the discussion, see Uninstall – Is There Such A Thing?.

Sun Buys MySQL: InfoWorld announces that MySQL has been purchased by Sun. Many see this as a good thing, though others worry that open source is going too corporate. WordPress is based upon using PHP and MySQL’s database.

WordPress Permalinks: Two detailed articles came out this week covering WordPress permalinks, the technique that changes your blog post address from a number to words. Perishable Press offers “Comprehensive URL Canonicalization via htaccess for WordPress-Powered Sites” and Weblog Tools Collection published “Configuring WP Permalinks”. With recent versions of WordPress, the ability to create strong permalinks that WordPress can automatically redirect to the correct published page is amazing. Maybe it’s time to update your permalink structure.

Faster False-Positive Scans with Akismet: Don’t forget that the Akismet Auntie Spam Firefox Greasemonkey Script for Firefox browser users is one of the most powerful add-ons WordPress bloggers can use to get a grip on caught comment spam by . It’s recently been updated and is even more powerful than ever before. It shortens your processing time considerably.

Is Your Pinger Broke? Donncha O’Caoimh recently wrote about The Ping Heard Across The World discussing the issue of whether or not trackbacks and pings are working on your WordPress blog. Have you tested yours lately? If it isn’t working, check out his tips.

WordPressMU Tutorials: WPMU Tutorials started recently and offers some tips for users.

Vote for WordPress Ideas: Want your say in the next version of WordPress? 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.

Last Week’s WordPress Wednesday News: Last week’s WordPress Wednesday News report covered WordPress 2.4 is 2.5, Release Delayed, Security Release Issued, WordPress Groups Group, Talking to Plugin Authors, and More, if you would like to catch up with the news on WordPress.

WordPress Security News

WordPress SecurityThe latest release of WordPress 2.3.2 is a mandatory security release, fixing some recent vulnerabilities found in WordPress. Upgrade WordPress now.

The most recent news on WordPress security includes:

To check your blog’s security, try WPIDS – WordPress Intruder Detection System and WP Scanner WordPress Plugin.

WordPress on Your Calendar

WordPress Events CalendarWordCamp Hamburg is coming fast on January 26-27 and so far, it looks like an amazing event with top German bloggers and WordPress experts and designers. I’m not sure if it’s sold out, so check now for any last minute tickets.

WordCamp Dallas is March 29, 2008 and has opened up registration. There is a USD $20 registration fee and the event will be in Frisco, Texas, just outside of Dallas. I expect this to sell out fast, so get registered now. The line-up of speakers is very exciting and includes the top bloggers and experts on WordPress and blogging. Sponsors are still being sought, so if you want your company or blog’s name associated with a hot WordPress conference, get involved.

Are you involved with a WordPress group or club in your area? Make sure you announce meetings on the WordPress Meetup list and let me know so I can help promote your group’s activities. 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.

WordPress.com News

WordPress.com W logoWordPress.com Wins Best Blog Web Host for 2007: The Performancing Blog Awards 2007 Winners included as the Best Blog Web Host.

Feed Stats Are Back: Andy Skelton reports that there is a new version of Feed Stats for WordPress.com users. Found at Dashboard > Blog Stats, they’ve put back a way to track syndicated views (feed views) for each post within your blog stats compared to actual web page views.

New To WordPress.com: If you are new to blogging on WordPress.com, check out this basic guide on What Do I Do With My New WordPress.com Blog?.

WordPress Plugins and Themes News

WordPress Plugins DatabaseWhat Makes a Premium WordPress Theme Premium? Smashing Magazine and Weblog Tools Collection both ask: What makes a WordPress Theme Premium? They both present some good arguments, pros and cons. Go have your say.

Custom Query String Reloaded: The Custom Query String Reloaded WordPress Plugin has been upgraded with new features including tag support and working with WordPress 2.3.

Updated: Robots Meta WordPress Plugin: Joost de Valk’s Robots Meta WordPress Plugin has been updated to work with newer versions of WordPress.

WordPress Super Cache Updated: WP Super Cache has been updated with some fixes and improved features including fixes to the mod_rewrite rules, viewing mod_rewrite rules, warnings if the blog’s root directory is writeable, and more.

Interesting WordPress Plugins: There are so many interesting WordPress Plugins released each week. Have you been paying attention?

Writing to WordPress Standards: If you are developing WordPress Plugins or Themes, your first step is to visit the , the online manual for WordPress Users, especially the WordPress Coding Standards and Writing a Plugin articles.

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.

See Also
YouTube features for Content Creators
YouTube Plans to Sunset Stories: What’s Next for Content Creators?

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 and Writing and Publishing Code In Your WordPress Blog Posts.

WordPress Community News

WordPress Community graphicFound a Bug in WordPress? Report bugs in WordPress properly by following the instructions in Reporting Bugs on the , the online manual for WordPress Users.

Akismet on .NET: Subkismet .NET is a version of that helps fight comment spam within .NET web applications.

bbPress Upgrade Released: An upgrade and bug-fix release of bbPress 0.8.3.1 was announced which makes the forum program compatible with the latest version of WordPress and includes improvements for topic labeling and “bozo” marking, which allows users to note when a participant is an idiot. I’d like that feature on some of my blogs. :D

Get Your Hoodies! WordPress Hoodies are here and will start shipping again January 2nd, so get your warm sweatshirt with a hood now and proudly let the world know you are WordPress-cool this year. Buy an extra for a friend or family member at the WordPress Shop.

WordPress Podcast: Episode 32: Automattic Rumors, Lorelle Provides WordPress.com News includes an interview with Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today and the Blog Herald discussing copyright issues and content theft, rumors of Automattic’s financial ventures, the WordPress.com Premium Theme Marketplace, and Lorelle joining as a reporter for news on WordPress.com.

Need Help With WordPressMU? Work is ongoing to improve the WordPressMU documentation on the WordPress Codex. If you need help and information on WordPressMU, start there.

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: 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 . Also, remember, it’s spelled “WordPress” not “WordPress”. Oh, and Plugin is Plugin, not plug-in (what you put into a wall electrical socket).

Looking for a WordPress Expert? WordPress Consultants on is a list of experts you can hire to help you with WordPress Themes, WordPress development, WordPress Plugins, or other WordPress-related expertise. Also see the WordPress Jobs listings, and the WP-Pro mailing list.

If You Are Reading This: If you are reading this blog post NOT on the 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.

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

The author of Lorelle on WordPress and the fast-selling book, Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging, as well as several other blogs, Lorelle VanFossen has been blogging for over 15 years, covering blogging, WordPress, travel, nature and travel photography, web design, web theory and development extensively as web technologies developed.

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