With WordPress 2.8 comes changes to XML-RPC, which is what lets you use external software to publish to your WordPress blog. Joseph Scott has outlined the changes, along with the ones made to AtomPub.
I did a quick test with MarsEdit and Blogo, two OS X blog applications I use on a semi-regular basis, and they work as normal. Has anyone had any issues with external applications after the 2.8 upgrade?
Matt Mullenweg has announced the release of WordPress 2.8, available for download from wordpress.org as always, but also in your up to date WordPress install by automatic update. If you haven’t followed the beta talk, you’ll note that it is visually the same as the previous version, but a lot faster thanks to code improvement. It also featured a new widget interface that greatly improves the usage, as well as giving themes the same update and install treatment as plugins. Speaking of themes, if you’re one of those mad people who edit them right in the browser, you’ll like the code syntax added to these things. There is also new screen options on a per page basis, and a ton of bugs are ironed out.
As for compatibility, most plugins and themes will work. There’s nothing groundbreaking in the core code department, so you can probably update right away. [Read more…]
The first, and possibly only, release candidate for WordPress 2.8 is out now. Ryan Boren on the wordpress.org blog thinks that 2.8 is done, and if that is the case then the June 10th release date will hold firm. Get it now.
The target release date for WordPress 2.8 is June 10th, and I’m sure you’re as anxious to press that update now button in the admin interface as I am. But hold on, you need to make sure that you’re plugins are compatible. So how do you do that? One solution is to find the plugin’s homepage, which might the wordpress.org directory, but chances are most plugins haven’t been updated for 2.8 there yet, wether if it just a compatibility notice or an actual plugin update. Enter WordPress Plugin Compatibility Checker, a 5,000+ list of WordPress plugins and what they need. Impressive!
WordPress 2.8 just recently got a target release date: June 10th, which is Wednesday next week. This was decided on an IRC meetup on June 3rd, and announced on the WordPress.org blog. Other decisions includes a MySQL requirements upgrade for version 2.9, now you’ll need MySQL 4.1.2 rather than just 4.0 that is the current requirement. Naturally, the automatic upgrader will check for compatibility and prevent installation if the host isn’t running 4.1.2 or greater. Another check will also be added to this, one for PHP 5. However, this will only urge users to upgrade from PHP 4 to PHP 5 and not be an actual requirement.
I hope you all played with beta 2 of WordPress 2.8 this weekend, because I sure didn’t for once. If you already ran beta 1 you might want to know about the changes that has been implemented. And if you’re just curious about what’s in 2.8, but don’t want to go through the hassle of actually running it before the sharp 2.8 release, then read this Codex page.
Over at the WordPress development blog, we can read about the first beta of WordPress 2.8. If you’re the tinkering type, do give it a go and help kill all the nasty errors that inevitably have snuck in there. There is no release date for the final 2.8 version yet, but the Codex page listing all the changes says May. I’ll believe that when I see it, but it shouldn’t be more than a couple of weeks at least. And remember, this is beta software and will act funky on you, so think twice – nay, thrice! – before running it on a public blog.
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: [Read more…]
WordPress 2.7 downloads now past 650,000. Poll out for WordPress 2.8 input. Possible WordPress Theme threat you need to know about. BuddyPress beta released. Imagine moving millions of Typepad blogs to WordPress? Want some WordPress schwag? WordCamps coming up in January – are you going to a WordCamp near you? And if the weather permits, and electricity holds, we’ve got more WordPress news for you!
Get Ready for WordPress 2.8: Already work is ongoing for WordPress 2.8 and WordPress wants your feedback. In “Prioritizing Features for WordPress 2.8,” Jane Wells invites people to take a poll on what are the top priorities WordPress developers should be putting their energy into. Currently, they are focused on WordPress Widget management, automatic Theme updates and installs, and performance improvements. The poll features the most popular features requests from the Ideas forum and more that the WordPress developers want to work on. Vote by noon on December 31 to have your say in what you want to see in WordPress 2.8.
Half-Million Downloads of WordPress 2.7 and Growing: Last week, there were 500,000 WordPress 2.7 Downloads and Miroslav Glavic caught the rollover of the counter. As I write this, there are now 654,434 downloads, moving fast for 1 million. Bets are on Twitter as to when one million downloads will be counted on the counter. There is now the WordPress Download Counter which adds a counter to your blog’s sidebar featuring the number of official WordPress version downloads from the WordPress Download Counter for WordPress fan blogs.
Friendster Moves Millions of Blogs from Typepad to WordPressMU: Matt Mullenweg and the WordPress Publisher Blog have switched “millions of blogs from Typepad to WordPress” to WordPressMU.
WordPress Theme Intruder Reported: A lot of people are reporting notifications from their web hosts regarding the remv.php file creating malicious behavior on your WordPress blog. Jason Cosper offers a good step-by-step tutorial and Ronald Davies has a video tutorial on how to remove this malicious file from your WordPress Theme folder. After removal of the file from your server via FTP, update your site immediately to WordPress 2.7. For more information, see these discussions on the WordPress Support Forums: Blog hacked, host said to upgrade and WTF is remv.php in wp-content/themes folder. [Read more…]
