Understanding WordPress Community Fanaticism

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When the first Barcamps became WordCamps, Barcamps for WordPress fans, I was so excited. As soon as possible, I got myself involved and invited to these grassroots events, enjoying meeting WordPress fans from all over the world.

When asked to speak at WordCamp Portland, they chose “How WordPress Changes Lives.” While preparing the video and presentation for “WordCamp Portland: How WordPress Changes Lives,” I kept asking myself what it is about WordPress that changes lives – that something that goes beyond blogging.

Blogging changes lives, but when enters into the conversation, faces light up. Fans recognize fans instantly. They want to “talk” WordPress. They want to debate over favorite Plugins, Theme features, SEO, and how to make WordPress work better for them. They share their thoughts openly about what’s wrong with WordPress, what’s right, and what can be better.

When I go to blog, web, and social media conferences, I don’t hear folks using TypePad, Movable Type, Live Journal, Blogger, or other hosted or blog platform services getting so fanatical and energized by talking about their blogging tool. Sure, they will whine and moan about this and that, wish they had this feature, and say they are satisfied with that feature, but the passion for the product is lacking. [Read more…]

WordPress Wednesday News: WordCamp News, WordPress 2.7, Lester Chan Plugins Famous, Super Cache Updated

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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.

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…]

WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.7 Final Features, WTC Plugin Contest Winners, WordCamps, Surveys, and More

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WordPress 2.7 features are now announced and set. Weblog Tools Collection announced their WordPress Plugin Contest winners. WordPress wants your input on the the new WordPress 2.7 interface. Smashing Magazine toasts WordPress development resources. And there are so many WordCamps, you can plan vacations around them. Why not?

WordPress News

What’s Really Going to be in WordPress 2.7? No more beating around the bush. Ryan Boren has pulled the curtain off WordPress 2.7 features to prepare us all for the upcoming release. They include the new “crazyhorse” WordPress Administration Panels interface, a new Write Post Panel that allows dragging and dropping of meta boxes so you can rearrange your writing surface, the ability to hide columns on the content index pages, inline editing of posts and Pages on the new content index pages, comments XMLRPC API, sticky posts, automatic WordPress Plugin installation and integrated Plugin browser, HTTPOnly auth cookies, and much more.

The MOST exciting features are the ability to automatically upgrade WordPress and the total revamping of the Comments Panel to include replying to comments, keyboard shortcuts (hot keys) for managing comments, and threaded comments to help you keep track of the conversation.

Expect an announcement any day on the Development Updates and other WordPress development sources that major testing of these core features will commence as WordPress developers move closer to the release candidates (alpha versions).

Want a Say in the WordPress 2.7 Administration Panels Interface? In announcements on the WordPress Development Blog and on WordPress.com, WordPress users are invited to participate in a survey to have your say on how the navigation options on the WordPress 2.7 Administration Panels interface (UI) should look and work. [Read more…]

Who Would You Like to Meet at a Blog Conference?

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I’m going to be at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas on September 20-21, 2008, and so is David Peralty, who listed “Some People I Hope to Meet at Blog World Expo.”

The list of Exhibitors and Speakers at Blog World Expo this year is incredible. A veritable list of whose who.

His list of people he’d like to meet got me thinking about my list. And then I started thinking about all the conferences I attend and speak at every year and all the fantastic people I meet, some famous and some not, who change my life in those few minutes of meet and greet.

I love blog and web conferences. I learn so much. While many think that I am there to be the educator, I enjoy them because of the lessons I learn from fellow speakers, but most of all from fellow attendees. Those quickly caught moments in corridors, exhibition halls, at my book table, or even in the restroom. Those are where the real business of a conference really happens. Those quick moments of connections made that last long after the conference. [Read more…]

WordPress Wednesday News: WordCamp South Africa, World of WordCamps, Blaming WordPress, and Crazyhorse Gallops

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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 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 – Snapshot of the Changing Social of Conferences

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I’m still reeling and processing all the exciting events associated with WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco. Saturday was packed with so many of the best speakers – the best of the best in blogging, SEO, WordPress, PHP, Theme and Plugin development – it was blogging and WordPress overload.

Today’s conferences and events are true definitions of information overload and blogs and social media play important roles in the over-abundance of input. They are also part of the new online social networking surge, allowing attendees to share their experience of the event with the world through various media and social networks.

While attending the conference and afterward, there was so much information being shared on different services – it was difficult to keep up. Many were live blogging the WordCamp event on their blogs while others were using Twitter, Tumblr, and other microblog services to share the event. Many were also discussing the event on Twitter, Pounce, Plurk, and other social services.

It used to be that event coordinators would put most of their energies into the event specifics, corrdinating speakers, attendees, social functions, and logistics. Today’s events must also prepare and monitor the online world to help coordinate and track discussions, news, and feedback before, during, and after the event.

Here are some of the coverage from different services about WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco, a mere sampling of all the coverage.
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WordCamp 2008 Coverage

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WordCamp SF 2008 was held yesterday – here’s a brief look at sites covering the goings-on.

Matt Mullenweg himself calls the WordCamp coverage by ZDNet “the best ongoing coverage”.

CNet’s Webware has coverage by Dan Farber.

Aaron Brazell covers his talk on Search and Findability

TechCrunch has a strong roundup of coverage as well.

Patrick Havens offers detailed coverage at WordCamp Report.

Post your Wordcamp links in the comments and we’ll update this post later today.

WordPress Wednesday News: WordCamp 2008, WordPress Rules the UK, and WordPress Plugin News

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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…]

Gravatars On Badges For WordCamp San Francisco 2008

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This is actually pretty cool. It appears that you’ll get your Gravatar printed on your WordCamp San Francisco 2008 badge if you’re attending, according to Andy Peatling, who urges you to have a Gravatar with as high resolution as possible (being 512×512 pixels) ready by August 14. WordCamp San Francisco 2008 is scheduled for August 16, with speakers like Matt Mullenweg, Aaron Brazell, and our very own Lorelle VanFossen.

Hat tip: Matt Mullenweg’s blog

WordPress Wednesday News: iPhone, 10 Downing Street, WordCamp UK, WordPress 2.6 Rocks, WordPress International, and WordPress Themes Directory

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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 (2.5.1 or higher) and . 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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