![\"\"](\"http://s.wordpress.org/screenshots/2.5/stats-widget.png\")
On Tuesday, May 27th, WordPress will turn 5 years old. We’ve come a long way from that original 0.7 release.
To celebrate we’re throwing a party in San Francisco at 111 Minna, starting at 9PM. You can get the full details and RSVP on Upcoming.org or on Facebook.
I hope you see some of you there, should be a fun time.
If you host a party in your area for WordPress’ 5th, let us know and we’ll post it here.
Update: Party in Sydney! Blog post, Facebook.
\";}s:3:\"wfw\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentrss\";s:61:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/05/birthday-party/feed/\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:321:\"On Tuesday, May 27th, WordPress will turn 5 years old. We’ve come a long way from that original 0.7 release. To celebrate we’re throwing a party in San Francisco at 111 Minna, starting at 9PM. You can get the full details and RSVP on Upcoming.org or on Facebook. I hope you see some of you there, should [...]\";s:12:\"atom_content\";s:874:\"On Tuesday, May 27th, WordPress will turn 5 years old. We’ve come a long way from that original 0.7 release.
To celebrate we’re throwing a party in San Francisco at 111 Minna, starting at 9PM. You can get the full details and RSVP on Upcoming.org or on Facebook.
I hope you see some of you there, should be a fun time.
If you host a party in your area for WordPress’ 5th, let us know and we’ll post it here.
Update: Party in Sydney! Blog post, Facebook.
\";}i:1;a:12:{s:5:\"title\";s:29:\"Usability Testing in New York\";s:4:\"link\";s:71:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/05/usability-testing-in-new-york/\";s:8:\"comments\";s:80:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/05/usability-testing-in-new-york/#comments\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 20 May 2008 22:13:49 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Ryan\";}s:8:\"category\";s:11:\"Development\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://wordpress.org/development/?p=241\";s:11:\"description\";s:98:\"We’re doing some usability testing in New York City. Join in if you’re in the area. \";s:7:\"content\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";s:187:\"We’re doing some usability testing in New York City. Join in if you’re in the area.
\";}s:3:\"wfw\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentrss\";s:76:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/05/usability-testing-in-new-york/feed/\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:98:\"We’re doing some usability testing in New York City. Join in if you’re in the area. \";s:12:\"atom_content\";s:187:\"We’re doing some usability testing in New York City. Join in if you’re in the area.
\";}i:2;a:12:{s:5:\"title\";s:18:\"Upcoming WordCamps\";s:4:\"link\";s:60:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/upcoming-wordcamps/\";s:8:\"comments\";s:69:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/upcoming-wordcamps/#comments\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:54:48 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:8:\"category\";s:6:\"Events\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://wordpress.org/development/?p=240\";s:11:\"description\";s:343:\"WordCamps are my favorite events to go to because there’s something about the core WordPress community that attracts smart folks with good philosophies that are fun to hang out with. In this post I’ve collated the upcoming WordCamps we know about, including the one in San Francisco. Hopefully there will be one nearby so you [...]\";s:7:\"content\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";s:1446:\"WordCamps are my favorite events to go to because there’s something about the core WordPress community that attracts smart folks with good philosophies that are fun to hang out with. In this post I’ve collated the upcoming WordCamps we know about, including the one in San Francisco. Hopefully there will be one nearby so you can meet other WordPressers in your area.
WordCamp San Francisco will be August 16 at the Mission Bay Conference Center.
WordCamp Paris will be on May 3rd. Here’s their official site.
WordCamp Italy in Milan will be May 10th. (And I believe I’ll be there.)
WordCamp Birmingham UK will be July 19-20.
WordCamp Toronto will be October 4th.
There are people in the planning stages in Australia, Philippines, Beijing, Utah, Hawaii, UK, NYC, and possibly others, so if you live in one of those areas and would like to help set up a WordCamp in your area Google around or connect with bloggers in your area.
You can always find out more at WordCamp Central.
\";}s:3:\"wfw\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentrss\";s:65:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/upcoming-wordcamps/feed/\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:343:\"WordCamps are my favorite events to go to because there’s something about the core WordPress community that attracts smart folks with good philosophies that are fun to hang out with. In this post I’ve collated the upcoming WordCamps we know about, including the one in San Francisco. Hopefully there will be one nearby so you [...]\";s:12:\"atom_content\";s:1446:\"WordCamps are my favorite events to go to because there’s something about the core WordPress community that attracts smart folks with good philosophies that are fun to hang out with. In this post I’ve collated the upcoming WordCamps we know about, including the one in San Francisco. Hopefully there will be one nearby so you can meet other WordPressers in your area.
WordCamp San Francisco will be August 16 at the Mission Bay Conference Center.
WordCamp Paris will be on May 3rd. Here’s their official site.
WordCamp Italy in Milan will be May 10th. (And I believe I’ll be there.)
WordCamp Birmingham UK will be July 19-20.
WordCamp Toronto will be October 4th.
There are people in the planning stages in Australia, Philippines, Beijing, Utah, Hawaii, UK, NYC, and possibly others, so if you live in one of those areas and would like to help set up a WordCamp in your area Google around or connect with bloggers in your area.
You can always find out more at WordCamp Central.
\";}i:3;a:12:{s:5:\"title\";s:15:\"WordPress 2.5.1\";s:4:\"link\";s:55:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/wordpress-251/\";s:8:\"comments\";s:64:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/wordpress-251/#comments\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:54:19 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Ryan\";}s:8:\"category\";s:8:\"Releases\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://wordpress.org/development/?p=231\";s:11:\"description\";s:360:\"Version 2.5.1 of WordPress is now available. It includes a number of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one very important security fix. We recommend everyone update immediately, particularly if your blog has open registration. The vulnerability is not public but it will be shortly. In addition to the security fix, 2.5.1 contains many bug fixes. [...]\";s:7:\"content\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";s:2251:\"Version 2.5.1 of WordPress is now available. It includes a number of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one very important security fix. We recommend everyone update immediately, particularly if your blog has open registration. The vulnerability is not public but it will be shortly.
In addition to the security fix, 2.5.1 contains many bug fixes. If you are interested only in the security fixes, you can download these corrected copies of wp-includes/pluggable.php, wp-admin/includes/media.php, and wp-admin/media.php. Replace your existing copies of these files with these new copies.
If you download the entire 2.5.1 release, you will be getting over 70 other fixes. 2.5.1 focuses on fixing the most annoying bugs and improving performance. Here are some highlights:
Since 2.5 your wp-config.php file allows a new constant called SECRET_KEY which basically is meant to introduce a little permanent randomness into the cryptographic functions used for cookies in WordPress. You can visit this link we set up to get a unique secret key for your config file. (It’s unique and random on every page load.) Having this line in your config file helps secure your blog.
Many thanks to Steven Murdoch for responsibly reporting the security issue (CVE-2008-1930) and Alex Concha for reporting an XSS issue.
\";}s:3:\"wfw\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentrss\";s:60:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/wordpress-251/feed/\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:360:\"Version 2.5.1 of WordPress is now available. It includes a number of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one very important security fix. We recommend everyone update immediately, particularly if your blog has open registration. The vulnerability is not public but it will be shortly. In addition to the security fix, 2.5.1 contains many bug fixes. [...]\";s:12:\"atom_content\";s:2251:\"Version 2.5.1 of WordPress is now available. It includes a number of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one very important security fix. We recommend everyone update immediately, particularly if your blog has open registration. The vulnerability is not public but it will be shortly.
In addition to the security fix, 2.5.1 contains many bug fixes. If you are interested only in the security fixes, you can download these corrected copies of wp-includes/pluggable.php, wp-admin/includes/media.php, and wp-admin/media.php. Replace your existing copies of these files with these new copies.
If you download the entire 2.5.1 release, you will be getting over 70 other fixes. 2.5.1 focuses on fixing the most annoying bugs and improving performance. Here are some highlights:
Since 2.5 your wp-config.php file allows a new constant called SECRET_KEY which basically is meant to introduce a little permanent randomness into the cryptographic functions used for cookies in WordPress. You can visit this link we set up to get a unique secret key for your config file. (It’s unique and random on every page load.) Having this line in your config file helps secure your blog.
Many thanks to Steven Murdoch for responsibly reporting the security issue (CVE-2008-1930) and Alex Concha for reporting an XSS issue.
\";}i:4;a:12:{s:5:\"title\";s:23:\"An Event Apart Discount\";s:4:\"link\";s:65:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/an-event-apart-discount/\";s:8:\"comments\";s:74:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/an-event-apart-discount/#comments\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:33:19 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:8:\"category\";s:36:\"Eventsan event aparthappy cogzeldman\";s:4:\"guid\";s:65:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/an-event-apart-discount/\";s:11:\"description\";s:321:\"An Event Apart is a web design and development conference which features some of the same fine folks who helped out with WordPress 2.5. (And many others.) I attended the one in Chicago a while back and was engaged the whole day in interesting talks on design, writing copy as interface, advanced CSS, and creativity [...]\";s:7:\"content\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";s:1194:\"An Event Apart is a web design and development conference which features some of the same fine folks who helped out with WordPress 2.5. (And many others.) I attended the one in Chicago a while back and was engaged the whole day in interesting talks on design, writing copy as interface, advanced CSS, and creativity — each topic presented by the leading folks in the field.
The conference normally costs just under a thousand dollars to attend, which is well worth it, but because of our association with the folks they’ve set up a discount for WordPress users.
If you enter AEAWP on checkout the price drops to $795, or $200 below the regular registration fee. The coupon is unlimited, and can be used for one ticket or five. They have events coming up in New Orleans, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago. You can learn more and register on their site at aneventapart.com.
We’ll also have some final dates for WordCamp San Francisco coming up, I’ll be posting those soonish so people can start making vacation and travel plans. (Nothing like a blogging vacation.)
\";}s:3:\"wfw\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentrss\";s:70:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/an-event-apart-discount/feed/\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:321:\"An Event Apart is a web design and development conference which features some of the same fine folks who helped out with WordPress 2.5. (And many others.) I attended the one in Chicago a while back and was engaged the whole day in interesting talks on design, writing copy as interface, advanced CSS, and creativity [...]\";s:12:\"atom_content\";s:1194:\"An Event Apart is a web design and development conference which features some of the same fine folks who helped out with WordPress 2.5. (And many others.) I attended the one in Chicago a while back and was engaged the whole day in interesting talks on design, writing copy as interface, advanced CSS, and creativity — each topic presented by the leading folks in the field.
The conference normally costs just under a thousand dollars to attend, which is well worth it, but because of our association with the folks they’ve set up a discount for WordPress users.
If you enter AEAWP on checkout the price drops to $795, or $200 below the regular registration fee. The coupon is unlimited, and can be used for one ticket or five. They have events coming up in New Orleans, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago. You can learn more and register on their site at aneventapart.com.
We’ll also have some final dates for WordCamp San Francisco coming up, I’ll be posting those soonish so people can start making vacation and travel plans. (Nothing like a blogging vacation.)
\";}i:5;a:12:{s:5:\"title\";s:13:\"WordPress 2.5\";s:4:\"link\";s:62:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/wordpress-25-brecker/\";s:8:\"comments\";s:71:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/wordpress-25-brecker/#comments\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:49:45 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:8:\"category\";s:8:\"Releases\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://wordpress.org/development/?p=228\";s:11:\"description\";s:391:\"WordPress 2.5, the culmination of six months of work by the WordPress community, people just like you. The improvements in 2.5 are numerous, and almost entirely a result of your feedback: multi-file uploading, one-click plugin upgrades, built-in galleries, customizable dashboard, salted passwords and cookie encryption, media library, a WYSIWYG that doesn’t mess with your code, [...]\";s:7:\"content\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";s:15112:\"WordPress 2.5, the culmination of six months of work by the WordPress community, people just like you. The improvements in 2.5 are numerous, and almost entirely a result of your feedback: multi-file uploading, one-click plugin upgrades, built-in galleries, customizable dashboard, salted passwords and cookie encryption, media library, a WYSIWYG that doesn’t mess with your code, concurrent post editing protection, full-screen writing, and search that covers posts and pages.
For a short overview of the features with screenshots, it’d be best to visit our sneak peek announcement for RC1. Or check out a 4-minute screencast of the new interface in action. If you just want to jump straight to the good stuff here’s where you can find 2.5 upgrade and download information.
If you want to see everything I would grab a cup of coffee or a mojito, because this post is epic.
Cleaner, faster, less cluttered dashboard — we’ve worked hard to take your feedback about what’s most important in the dashboard and organize things to allow you to focus on what’s important — your blog — and get out of your way. In collaboration with Happy Cog and the community we’ve taken the first major step forward in the WordPress interface since version 1.5.
Dashboard Widgets — the dashboard home page is now a series of widgets, including ones to show you fun stats about your posting, latest comments, people linking to you, new and popular plugins, and of course WordPress news. You can customize any of the dashboard widgets to show, for example, news from your local paper instead of WP news. Plugins can also hook in, for example the WordPress.com stats widget adds a handy double-wide stats box.
Multi-file upload with progress bar — before when you would upload a large file you’d wait forever, never knowing how far along it was. And uploading more than one photo was an exercise in patience, as you could only do one at a time. Now you can select a whole of folder images or music or videos at once and it’ll show you the progress of each upload.
Bonus: EXIF extraction — if you upload JPEG files with EXIF metadata like camera make and model, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, et al. WordPress will extract all the data into custom fields you can use in your template. If you use the EXIF title fields or similar those will be put into their equivalent fields in WP. Most modern digital cameras generate EXIF data.
Search posts and pages — search used to cover just posts, now it includes pages too, a great boon for those using WordPress as a CMS. New themes can style or sort pages differently in results.
Tag management — you can now add, rename, delete, and do whatever else you like to tags from inside WordPress, no plugins needed.
Password strength meter — when you change your password on your profile it’ll tell you how strong your password is to help you pick a good one.
Concurrent editing protection — for those of you on multi-author blogs, have you ever opened a post while someone was already editing it, and your auto-saves kept overwriting each other, irrecoverably losing hours of work? I bet that added a few words to your vocabulary. Now if you open a post that someone else is editing, WordPress magically locks it and prevents you from saving until the other person is done. You’ll see a message like below.
![\"\"](\"http://s.wordpress.org/screenshots/2.5/write-currently-editing.png\")
Few-click plugin upgrades — if the plugins you use are part of the plugin directory since 2.3 we’ve told you when they have an update available. Now we take that to the next logical step — downloading and installing the upgrade for you. This is dependent a little bit on your host setup, and it may ask you for your FTP password much like OS X or Windows will ask you for a password, but it works well on majority of hosts we were able to test, your mileage may very, plugins in mirror may be larger than they appear.
Friendlier visual post editor — I’m not sure how to articulate this improvement except to say “it doesn’t mess with your code anymore.” We’re now using version 3.0 of TinyMCE, which means better compatibility with Safari, and we’ve paid particular attention this release to its integration and interaction with complex HTML. It also now has a “no-distractions” mode which is like Writeroom for your browser.
Built-in galleries — when you take advantage of multi-file upload to upload a bunch of photos, we have a new shortcode that lets you to easily embed galleries by just putting [ gallery] (without the space) in your post. It’ll display all your thumbnails and captions and each will link each to a page where people can comment on the individual photos. I’ve been using this feature on my blog and have already uploaded over 1,200 pictures into 23 galleries. The shortcode has some hidden options too, check out this documentation.
Now for the geeky stuff. While we’re excited about the above features, each one represents a new opportunity or API for other developers to take to another level. (The best of which we’ll someday integrate back into WP.)
Salted passwords — we now use the phpass library to stretch and salt all passwords stored in the database, which makes brute-forcing them impractical. If you use something like mod_auth_mysql we’ve created a plugin that will allow you to use legacy MD5 hashing. (The hashing is completely pluggable.) Users will automatically switch to the more secure passwords next time they log in.
Secure cookies — cookies are now encrypted based on the protocol described in this PDF paper. which is something like user name|expiration time|HMAC( user name|expiration time, k) where k = HMAC(user name|expiration time, sk) and where sk is a secret key, which you can define in your config.
Easy taxonomy and URL creation — probably best illustrated with an example: I can call register_taxonomy() with a few arguments to register a “people” taxonomy and whenever I edit an image I’ll see a UI like tags has for identifying the people in a photo, and these will be URL addressable with /person/firstname-lastname/. All with a single function call.
Inline documentation — the vast majority of the new code going into WordPress include inline documentation that explains the functions and documents their arguments.
Database optimization — we haven’t changed the table layout in this release, which is one of the reasons so many plugins work fine with 2.5. We have added a few new indicies and made a few default fields more flexible based on some bottlenecks we found on WordPress.com, which now hosts 2.7 million WordPress blogs. It should be invisible to the application, just a bit faster on the database side.
$wpdb->prepare() — now almost all of the SQL in WordPress is prepared first, and the same functions are available to your plugins. This should prevent elementary SQL escaping issues.
Media buttons — the add media buttons above the post are both expandable, so you could have an “Add Google Map” button if you like, They can be overridden, so if you think you can do the video or audio tab better than we have you can replace the default.
Shortcode API — the new gallery functionality is powered by the new shortcode API. Shortcodes are little bracket-delineated strings that can be magically expanded at runtime to something more interesting. They give users a short, easy to type and copy/paste string they can move around their post without worrying about messing up complex HTML or embed codes. The Shortcode API is fully documented.
Now you see why 2.5 took a little extra time. 
2.5 does include security fixes so it is recommended for all users, the 2.3 branch will no longer be updated. The upgrade instructions for this version are pretty much the same as any other version. The most important thing to check is your plugins, so if for example everything works except the new uploader, a legacy plugin might be causing a javascript error on the page and breaking it. If something goes wrong, the safest thing to do is turn your plugins off (we have a button to do them all at once, now) and turn them back on one-by-one, testing the problem along the way. This has solved almost everybody’s problems in testing, and it also lets you know which plugin author to show some love to so they’ll update their plugin, and which plugin authors already have so you can shower them with praises on your blog.
One brief note about some of the new upload and plugin upgrade features, there are some edge-case hosting platforms, like versions of Lighttpd before 1.5 or over-agressive mod_security rules, which can break. If something isn’t working like it was looked in the screenshot, ask your host if there’s something on the server side which may be interfering. Hosts, feel free to join and post to our wp-testers mailing list if you have an environment that requires some extra code to work around. We’d be happy to include it in the next update.
Quick tip: in 2.5 you click the name of things to edit them, like your username to edit your profile or the title of a post to edit it.
More than growing, it’s on fire. We always talk about things like downloads, and the 2.3 branch has already had 1.92 million downloads as I write this post, but this time we have some far more interesting information I’d like to share.
There were over 1,200 commits to our repository since 2.3.0 and over 90 people were credited in them. This means in our core code, not plugins, there were at least 90 individual folks that contributed something high-quality enough that it made the cut to be part of the download you guys get today. I had no idea this group of people was so large.
Outside of the core commit team, there was particular help from these people, in rough order of number of credits and tickets: mdawaffe (Michael Adams), azaozz (Andrew Ozz), nbachiyski (Nikolay Bachiyski), andy (Andy Skelton), iammattthomas (Matt Thomas), tellyworth (Alex Shiels), josephscott (Joseph Scott), lloydbudd (Lloyd Budd), DD32 (Dion), filosofo (Austin Matzko), hansengel (Hans Engel), pishmishy, ffemtcj, Viper007Bond, ionfish (Benedict Eastaugh), jhodgdon (Jennifer Hodgdon), Otto42, thee17 (Charles E. Free-Melvin), and xknown. Also want to thank MichaelH and Lorelle on the documentation side, and moshu, Kafkaesqui, whooami, MichaelH, Otto42, and jeremyclark13 for helping with support.
The 2.5 branch is nicknamed “Brecker” in honor of Michael Brecker, an exceptionally talented saxophonist who could cross styles effortlessly and never stopped experimenting and pushing himself until he passed away last year.
All of this wasn’t enough, so in our copious spare time we decided to redesign WordPress.org to better match the aesthetics of the new dashboard and also to spruce up a few areas that needed lovin’. Some parts of the site, like the Codex, might show the old style for a day or two. We know, just give us a bit of time. Thanks to Matt Thomas for his epic effort in designing and coding the new site.
As always with WordPress, we don’t claim any of these features to be perfect, or to be better than everyone else in the world, but they are done by and for the people and the one thing we do promise is that with every release we listen and do our best to improve.
2.5 is a major milestone for WordPress not because it added dozens of user-requested features, but because it reaffirms that we’re as passionate about blogging as the day we started. Our community is too fierce to rest on its laurels — contrary to what pundits claim, blogging is far from “finished” and every improvement just whets our appetite for more. And more is coming.
It’s a good thing WordPress doesn’t limit the length of posts, because this one would have hit it. If you made it this far, thanks for sharing a bit of your day with us. I sincerely hope this new version of WordPress helps you do what you love to do.
\";}s:3:\"wfw\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentrss\";s:67:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/wordpress-25-brecker/feed/\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:391:\"WordPress 2.5, the culmination of six months of work by the WordPress community, people just like you. The improvements in 2.5 are numerous, and almost entirely a result of your feedback: multi-file uploading, one-click plugin upgrades, built-in galleries, customizable dashboard, salted passwords and cookie encryption, media library, a WYSIWYG that doesn’t mess with your code, [...]\";s:12:\"atom_content\";s:15112:\"WordPress 2.5, the culmination of six months of work by the WordPress community, people just like you. The improvements in 2.5 are numerous, and almost entirely a result of your feedback: multi-file uploading, one-click plugin upgrades, built-in galleries, customizable dashboard, salted passwords and cookie encryption, media library, a WYSIWYG that doesn’t mess with your code, concurrent post editing protection, full-screen writing, and search that covers posts and pages.
For a short overview of the features with screenshots, it’d be best to visit our sneak peek announcement for RC1. Or check out a 4-minute screencast of the new interface in action. If you just want to jump straight to the good stuff here’s where you can find 2.5 upgrade and download information.
If you want to see everything I would grab a cup of coffee or a mojito, because this post is epic.
Cleaner, faster, less cluttered dashboard — we’ve worked hard to take your feedback about what’s most important in the dashboard and organize things to allow you to focus on what’s important — your blog — and get out of your way. In collaboration with Happy Cog and the community we’ve taken the first major step forward in the WordPress interface since version 1.5.
Dashboard Widgets — the dashboard home page is now a series of widgets, including ones to show you fun stats about your posting, latest comments, people linking to you, new and popular plugins, and of course WordPress news. You can customize any of the dashboard widgets to show, for example, news from your local paper instead of WP news. Plugins can also hook in, for example the WordPress.com stats widget adds a handy double-wide stats box.
Multi-file upload with progress bar — before when you would upload a large file you’d wait forever, never knowing how far along it was. And uploading more than one photo was an exercise in patience, as you could only do one at a time. Now you can select a whole of folder images or music or videos at once and it’ll show you the progress of each upload.
Bonus: EXIF extraction — if you upload JPEG files with EXIF metadata like camera make and model, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, et al. WordPress will extract all the data into custom fields you can use in your template. If you use the EXIF title fields or similar those will be put into their equivalent fields in WP. Most modern digital cameras generate EXIF data.
Search posts and pages — search used to cover just posts, now it includes pages too, a great boon for those using WordPress as a CMS. New themes can style or sort pages differently in results.
Tag management — you can now add, rename, delete, and do whatever else you like to tags from inside WordPress, no plugins needed.
Password strength meter — when you change your password on your profile it’ll tell you how strong your password is to help you pick a good one.
Concurrent editing protection — for those of you on multi-author blogs, have you ever opened a post while someone was already editing it, and your auto-saves kept overwriting each other, irrecoverably losing hours of work? I bet that added a few words to your vocabulary. Now if you open a post that someone else is editing, WordPress magically locks it and prevents you from saving until the other person is done. You’ll see a message like below.
Few-click plugin upgrades — if the plugins you use are part of the plugin directory since 2.3 we’ve told you when they have an update available. Now we take that to the next logical step — downloading and installing the upgrade for you. This is dependent a little bit on your host setup, and it may ask you for your FTP password much like OS X or Windows will ask you for a password, but it works well on majority of hosts we were able to test, your mileage may very, plugins in mirror may be larger than they appear.
Friendlier visual post editor — I’m not sure how to articulate this improvement except to say “it doesn’t mess with your code anymore.” We’re now using version 3.0 of TinyMCE, which means better compatibility with Safari, and we’ve paid particular attention this release to its integration and interaction with complex HTML. It also now has a “no-distractions” mode which is like Writeroom for your browser.
Built-in galleries — when you take advantage of multi-file upload to upload a bunch of photos, we have a new shortcode that lets you to easily embed galleries by just putting [ gallery] (without the space) in your post. It’ll display all your thumbnails and captions and each will link each to a page where people can comment on the individual photos. I’ve been using this feature on my blog and have already uploaded over 1,200 pictures into 23 galleries. The shortcode has some hidden options too, check out this documentation.
Now for the geeky stuff. While we’re excited about the above features, each one represents a new opportunity or API for other developers to take to another level. (The best of which we’ll someday integrate back into WP.)
Salted passwords — we now use the phpass library to stretch and salt all passwords stored in the database, which makes brute-forcing them impractical. If you use something like mod_auth_mysql we’ve created a plugin that will allow you to use legacy MD5 hashing. (The hashing is completely pluggable.) Users will automatically switch to the more secure passwords next time they log in.
Secure cookies — cookies are now encrypted based on the protocol described in this PDF paper. which is something like user name|expiration time|HMAC( user name|expiration time, k) where k = HMAC(user name|expiration time, sk) and where sk is a secret key, which you can define in your config.
Easy taxonomy and URL creation — probably best illustrated with an example: I can call register_taxonomy() with a few arguments to register a “people” taxonomy and whenever I edit an image I’ll see a UI like tags has for identifying the people in a photo, and these will be URL addressable with /person/firstname-lastname/. All with a single function call.
Inline documentation — the vast majority of the new code going into WordPress include inline documentation that explains the functions and documents their arguments.
Database optimization — we haven’t changed the table layout in this release, which is one of the reasons so many plugins work fine with 2.5. We have added a few new indicies and made a few default fields more flexible based on some bottlenecks we found on WordPress.com, which now hosts 2.7 million WordPress blogs. It should be invisible to the application, just a bit faster on the database side.
$wpdb->prepare() — now almost all of the SQL in WordPress is prepared first, and the same functions are available to your plugins. This should prevent elementary SQL escaping issues.
Media buttons — the add media buttons above the post are both expandable, so you could have an “Add Google Map” button if you like, They can be overridden, so if you think you can do the video or audio tab better than we have you can replace the default.
Shortcode API — the new gallery functionality is powered by the new shortcode API. Shortcodes are little bracket-delineated strings that can be magically expanded at runtime to something more interesting. They give users a short, easy to type and copy/paste string they can move around their post without worrying about messing up complex HTML or embed codes. The Shortcode API is fully documented.
Now you see why 2.5 took a little extra time.
2.5 does include security fixes so it is recommended for all users, the 2.3 branch will no longer be updated. The upgrade instructions for this version are pretty much the same as any other version. The most important thing to check is your plugins, so if for example everything works except the new uploader, a legacy plugin might be causing a javascript error on the page and breaking it. If something goes wrong, the safest thing to do is turn your plugins off (we have a button to do them all at once, now) and turn them back on one-by-one, testing the problem along the way. This has solved almost everybody’s problems in testing, and it also lets you know which plugin author to show some love to so they’ll update their plugin, and which plugin authors already have so you can shower them with praises on your blog.
One brief note about some of the new upload and plugin upgrade features, there are some edge-case hosting platforms, like versions of Lighttpd before 1.5 or over-agressive mod_security rules, which can break. If something isn’t working like it was looked in the screenshot, ask your host if there’s something on the server side which may be interfering. Hosts, feel free to join and post to our wp-testers mailing list if you have an environment that requires some extra code to work around. We’d be happy to include it in the next update.
Quick tip: in 2.5 you click the name of things to edit them, like your username to edit your profile or the title of a post to edit it.
More than growing, it’s on fire. We always talk about things like downloads, and the 2.3 branch has already had 1.92 million downloads as I write this post, but this time we have some far more interesting information I’d like to share.
There were over 1,200 commits to our repository since 2.3.0 and over 90 people were credited in them. This means in our core code, not plugins, there were at least 90 individual folks that contributed something high-quality enough that it made the cut to be part of the download you guys get today. I had no idea this group of people was so large.
Outside of the core commit team, there was particular help from these people, in rough order of number of credits and tickets: mdawaffe (Michael Adams), azaozz (Andrew Ozz), nbachiyski (Nikolay Bachiyski), andy (Andy Skelton), iammattthomas (Matt Thomas), tellyworth (Alex Shiels), josephscott (Joseph Scott), lloydbudd (Lloyd Budd), DD32 (Dion), filosofo (Austin Matzko), hansengel (Hans Engel), pishmishy, ffemtcj, Viper007Bond, ionfish (Benedict Eastaugh), jhodgdon (Jennifer Hodgdon), Otto42, thee17 (Charles E. Free-Melvin), and xknown. Also want to thank MichaelH and Lorelle on the documentation side, and moshu, Kafkaesqui, whooami, MichaelH, Otto42, and jeremyclark13 for helping with support.
The 2.5 branch is nicknamed “Brecker” in honor of Michael Brecker, an exceptionally talented saxophonist who could cross styles effortlessly and never stopped experimenting and pushing himself until he passed away last year.
All of this wasn’t enough, so in our copious spare time we decided to redesign WordPress.org to better match the aesthetics of the new dashboard and also to spruce up a few areas that needed lovin’. Some parts of the site, like the Codex, might show the old style for a day or two. We know, just give us a bit of time. Thanks to Matt Thomas for his epic effort in designing and coding the new site.
As always with WordPress, we don’t claim any of these features to be perfect, or to be better than everyone else in the world, but they are done by and for the people and the one thing we do promise is that with every release we listen and do our best to improve.
2.5 is a major milestone for WordPress not because it added dozens of user-requested features, but because it reaffirms that we’re as passionate about blogging as the day we started. Our community is too fierce to rest on its laurels — contrary to what pundits claim, blogging is far from “finished” and every improvement just whets our appetite for more. And more is coming.
It’s a good thing WordPress doesn’t limit the length of posts, because this one would have hit it. If you made it this far, thanks for sharing a bit of your day with us. I sincerely hope this new version of WordPress helps you do what you love to do.
\";}i:6;a:12:{s:5:\"title\";s:32:\"Screencast and WordPress 2.5 RC2\";s:4:\"link\";s:58:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/wordpress-25-rc2/\";s:8:\"comments\";s:67:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/wordpress-25-rc2/#comments\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:36:25 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:8:\"category\";s:11:\"Development\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://wordpress.org/development/?p=227\";s:11:\"description\";s:334:\"2.5 is coming along thanks to the fantastic feedback you guys provided on RC1 (over 580 pingbacks and counting), and we’re now ready to show you a bit more of a peek with a short screencast covering the new dashboard and uploader and Release Candidate 2. First here’s the screencast, which is also available embedded [...]\";s:7:\"content\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";s:2991:\"2.5 is coming along thanks to the fantastic feedback you guys provided on RC1 (over 580 pingbacks and counting), and we’re now ready to show you a bit more of a peek with a short screencast covering the new dashboard and uploader and Release Candidate 2. First here’s the screencast, which is also available embedded below, as a Flash movie, or as a 17mb AVI download:
I’ve uploaded more than a thousand photos already into the new gallery system — it works.
(This was my first screencast, but I hope we can have more on WordPress.org and our documentation in the future.)
If you make frequent backups and you’re interested in helping us out with development by testing the very latest, download and install Release Candidate 2 of WordPress 2.5, and join our testers mailing list to report any bugs you find in the code.
Finally with regards to theme and plugin compatibility, we’ve had no reports of any broken themes in this upgrade, which makes sense because we didn’t really change anything core about themes, just added new optional capabilities like Gravatars. Plugins that work with the admin may require updating to take advantage of the new, cleaner UI in WordPress 2.5.
The community has started to keep a list here of which plugins work great and which don’t. It’s worth looking at, or even better just deactivate your plugins before upgrading for 2.5 and let the built-in updater notify and give you one-click upgrades to plugins you have installed, assuming the developer is cool and has updated their code for 2.5 already.
\";}s:3:\"wfw\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentrss\";s:63:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/wordpress-25-rc2/feed/\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:334:\"2.5 is coming along thanks to the fantastic feedback you guys provided on RC1 (over 580 pingbacks and counting), and we’re now ready to show you a bit more of a peek with a short screencast covering the new dashboard and uploader and Release Candidate 2. First here’s the screencast, which is also available embedded [...]\";s:12:\"atom_content\";s:2991:\"2.5 is coming along thanks to the fantastic feedback you guys provided on RC1 (over 580 pingbacks and counting), and we’re now ready to show you a bit more of a peek with a short screencast covering the new dashboard and uploader and Release Candidate 2. First here’s the screencast, which is also available embedded below, as a Flash movie, or as a 17mb AVI download:
I’ve uploaded more than a thousand photos already into the new gallery system — it works.
(This was my first screencast, but I hope we can have more on WordPress.org and our documentation in the future.)
If you make frequent backups and you’re interested in helping us out with development by testing the very latest, download and install Release Candidate 2 of WordPress 2.5, and join our testers mailing list to report any bugs you find in the code.
Finally with regards to theme and plugin compatibility, we’ve had no reports of any broken themes in this upgrade, which makes sense because we didn’t really change anything core about themes, just added new optional capabilities like Gravatars. Plugins that work with the admin may require updating to take advantage of the new, cleaner UI in WordPress 2.5.
The community has started to keep a list here of which plugins work great and which don’t. It’s worth looking at, or even better just deactivate your plugins before upgrading for 2.5 and let the built-in updater notify and give you one-click upgrades to plugins you have installed, assuming the developer is cool and has updated their code for 2.5 already.
\";}i:7;a:12:{s:5:\"title\";s:14:\"2.5 Sneak Peek\";s:4:\"link\";s:55:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/25-sneak-peek/\";s:8:\"comments\";s:64:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/25-sneak-peek/#comments\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:08:57 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:8:\"category\";s:11:\"Development\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://wordpress.org/development/?p=226\";s:11:\"description\";s:360:\"A customizable dashboard, multi-file upload, built-in galleries, one-click plugin upgrades, tag management, built-in Gravatars, full text feeds, and faster load times sound interesting? Then WordPress 2.5 might be the release for you. It’s been in the oven for a while, and we’re finally ready to open the doors a bit to give you a taste. For [...]\";s:7:\"content\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";s:5448:\"A customizable dashboard, multi-file upload, built-in galleries, one-click plugin upgrades, tag management, built-in Gravatars, full text feeds, and faster load times sound interesting? Then WordPress 2.5 might be the release for you. It’s been in the oven for a while, and we’re finally ready to open the doors a bit to give you a taste.
For the past few months, we’ve been working with our friends at Happy Cog — Jeffrey Zeldman, Jason Santa Maria, and Liz Danzico — to redesign WordPress from the ground-up. The result is a new way of interacting with WordPress that will remain familiar to seasoned users while improving the experience for everyone. This isn’t just a fresh coat of paint — we’ve re-thought the look of WordPress, as well as how it’s organized so that you can forget about the software and focus on your own creative pursuits.
Here are a few vignettes of what’s in store.
![\"dashboard-wide.png\"](\"http://wpcom.wordpress.com/files/2008/03/dashboard-wide.png\")
The Dashboard’s most important role is to inform quickly and get you to where you’re headed in the admin. In interviewing users, we found that most of you ignore the Dashboard entirely — its useful information being mostly hidden in an overly complex design. The new Dashboard is focused on the most relevant tasks at hand: a quick summary of what’s published and scheduled for publication, the latest comments and incoming links, blog stats, and WordPress updates and news. You can add your own RSS feeds and edit the way information is presented so that the new Dashboard conforms to the way you use WordPress.
![\"nav-wide.png\"](\"http://wpcom.wordpress.com/files/2008/03/nav-wide.png\")
The WordPress navigation has confounded even sophisticated users. With the new design, we’ve cut the number of navigation options in half, separating the primary functions (writing, managing posts and pages, editing the blog’s design, and managing comments) from secondary functions. This presents information at a more comfortable pace, revealing only the information that’s necessary. Everything you need is still there — just better organized. (Especially for people new to WP.)
![\"write-wide.png\"](\"http://wpcom.wordpress.com/files/2008/03/write-wide.png\")
![\"write2.png\"](\"http://wpcom.wordpress.com/files/2008/03/write3.png\")
By far, the most frequently accessed part of WordPress is the Write screen. It gets the job done, but its myriad options can be overwhelming. The new write screen only displays the information that you’ll use most often. It displays the most common fields in a way that makes posting incredibly easy. Additional options are hidden away until you need them. The new Write screen anticipates the natural flow of the way you write, and is smart enough to remember the way you left it so that your preferred writing environment is always quickly available. The new visual editor even has a handy full-screen mode to help block out distractions while composing your newest post. (My personal favorite new feature.)
![\"\"](\"http://wpcom.wordpress.com/files/2008/03/manage-wide.png\")
![\"\"](\"http://wpcom.wordpress.com/files/2008/03/manage.png\")
The Manage screens have been redesigned and unified so that now, managing your pages, posts, media, and comments all use similar, consistent interfaces. We’ve omitted superfluous information and made what’s important faster to find. We believe these changes will make you a faster, more proficient blogger.
You might also notice there are some new colors, the dashboard feels much fresher and lighter. If you’re jonesing for the old look under your user options you can now select the “classic” colors and get those old blues back. (It’s also pluggable so people can easily add or share their own color schemes.)
If you make frequent backups and you’re interested in helping us out with development by testing the new code, download and install Release Candidate 1 of WordPress 2.5, and join our testers mailing list to report any bugs you find in the code.
We’re also interested in feedback on the new interface and would love to hear your opinions, thoughts, rants, raves, and anything in between. We created a special email address just for the occasion: 2.5-feedback@wordpress.org.
The software is basically done and stable, and could be released today, but we’d like to incorporate feedback from a wider audience before making it available to the general public. After a few days of your feedback we’ll set a final release date. Personally, I can’t wait.
A customizable dashboard, multi-file upload, built-in galleries, one-click plugin upgrades, tag management, built-in Gravatars, full text feeds, and faster load times sound interesting? Then WordPress 2.5 might be the release for you. It’s been in the oven for a while, and we’re finally ready to open the doors a bit to give you a taste.
For the past few months, we’ve been working with our friends at Happy Cog — Jeffrey Zeldman, Jason Santa Maria, and Liz Danzico — to redesign WordPress from the ground-up. The result is a new way of interacting with WordPress that will remain familiar to seasoned users while improving the experience for everyone. This isn’t just a fresh coat of paint — we’ve re-thought the look of WordPress, as well as how it’s organized so that you can forget about the software and focus on your own creative pursuits.
Here are a few vignettes of what’s in store.
The Dashboard’s most important role is to inform quickly and get you to where you’re headed in the admin. In interviewing users, we found that most of you ignore the Dashboard entirely — its useful information being mostly hidden in an overly complex design. The new Dashboard is focused on the most relevant tasks at hand: a quick summary of what’s published and scheduled for publication, the latest comments and incoming links, blog stats, and WordPress updates and news. You can add your own RSS feeds and edit the way information is presented so that the new Dashboard conforms to the way you use WordPress.
The WordPress navigation has confounded even sophisticated users. With the new design, we’ve cut the number of navigation options in half, separating the primary functions (writing, managing posts and pages, editing the blog’s design, and managing comments) from secondary functions. This presents information at a more comfortable pace, revealing only the information that’s necessary. Everything you need is still there — just better organized. (Especially for people new to WP.)
By far, the most frequently accessed part of WordPress is the Write screen. It gets the job done, but its myriad options can be overwhelming. The new write screen only displays the information that you’ll use most often. It displays the most common fields in a way that makes posting incredibly easy. Additional options are hidden away until you need them. The new Write screen anticipates the natural flow of the way you write, and is smart enough to remember the way you left it so that your preferred writing environment is always quickly available. The new visual editor even has a handy full-screen mode to help block out distractions while composing your newest post. (My personal favorite new feature.)
The Manage screens have been redesigned and unified so that now, managing your pages, posts, media, and comments all use similar, consistent interfaces. We’ve omitted superfluous information and made what’s important faster to find. We believe these changes will make you a faster, more proficient blogger.
You might also notice there are some new colors, the dashboard feels much fresher and lighter. If you’re jonesing for the old look under your user options you can now select the “classic” colors and get those old blues back. (It’s also pluggable so people can easily add or share their own color schemes.)
If you make frequent backups and you’re interested in helping us out with development by testing the new code, download and install Release Candidate 1 of WordPress 2.5, and join our testers mailing list to report any bugs you find in the code.
We’re also interested in feedback on the new interface and would love to hear your opinions, thoughts, rants, raves, and anything in between. We created a special email address just for the occasion: 2.5-feedback@wordpress.org.
The software is basically done and stable, and could be released today, but we’d like to incorporate feedback from a wider audience before making it available to the general public. After a few days of your feedback we’ll set a final release date. Personally, I can’t wait.
WordPress 2.3.3 is an urgent security release. If you have registration enabled a flaw was found in the XML-RPC implementation such that a specially crafted request would allow a user to edit posts of other users on that blog. In addition to fixing this security flaw, 2.3.3 fixes a few minor bugs. If you are interested only in the security fix, download the fixed version of xmlrpc.php and copy it over your existing xmlrpc.php. Otherwise, you can get the entire release here.
Also, there is a vulnerability in the WP-Forum plugin that is being actively exploited right now. If you are using this plugin, please remove it until an update is available from its author.
Since we are talking security, remember to use strong passwords and change them regularly. While you’re updating WP and your plugins, consider refreshing your passwords.
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Also, there is a vulnerability in the WP-Forum plugin that is being actively exploited right now. If you are using this plugin, please remove it until an update is available from its author.
Since we are talking security, remember to use strong passwords and change them regularly. While you’re updating WP and your plugins, consider refreshing your passwords.
\";}i:9;a:12:{s:5:\"title\";s:15:\"WordPress 2.3.2\";s:4:\"link\";s:55:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2007/12/wordpress-232/\";s:8:\"comments\";s:64:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2007/12/wordpress-232/#comments\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:44:09 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Ryan\";}s:8:\"category\";s:8:\"Releases\";s:4:\"guid\";s:55:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2007/12/wordpress-232/\";s:11:\"description\";s:325:\"WordPress 2.3.2 is an urgent security release that fixes a bug that can be used to expose your draft posts. 2.3.2 also suppresses some error messages that can give away information about your database table structure and limits and stops some information leaks in the XML-RPC and APP implementations. Get 2.3.2 now to [...]\";s:7:\"content\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";s:1243:\"WordPress 2.3.2 is an urgent security release that fixes a bug that can be used to expose your draft posts. 2.3.2 also suppresses some error messages that can give away information about your database table structure and limits and stops some information leaks in the XML-RPC and APP implementations. Get 2.3.2 now to protect your blog from these disclosures.
As a little bonus, 2.3.2 allows you to define a custom DB error page. Place your custom template at wp-content/db-error.php. If WP has a problem connecting to your database, this page will displayed rather than the default error message.
For more detail on what’s new in 2.3.2, view the list of fixed bugs and see the changes between 2.3.1 and 2.3.2.
Special thanks to Alex Concha for his help on this release.
\";}s:3:\"wfw\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentrss\";s:60:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2007/12/wordpress-232/feed/\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:325:\"WordPress 2.3.2 is an urgent security release that fixes a bug that can be used to expose your draft posts. 2.3.2 also suppresses some error messages that can give away information about your database table structure and limits and stops some information leaks in the XML-RPC and APP implementations. Get 2.3.2 now to [...]\";s:12:\"atom_content\";s:1243:\"WordPress 2.3.2 is an urgent security release that fixes a bug that can be used to expose your draft posts. 2.3.2 also suppresses some error messages that can give away information about your database table structure and limits and stops some information leaks in the XML-RPC and APP implementations. Get 2.3.2 now to protect your blog from these disclosures.
As a little bonus, 2.3.2 allows you to define a custom DB error page. Place your custom template at wp-content/db-error.php. If WP has a problem connecting to your database, this page will displayed rather than the default error message.
For more detail on what’s new in 2.3.2, view the list of fixed bugs and see the changes between 2.3.1 and 2.3.2.
Special thanks to Alex Concha for his help on this release.
\";}}s:7:\"channel\";a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:26:\"WordPress Development Blog\";s:4:\"link\";s:32:\"http://wordpress.org/development\";s:11:\"description\";s:33:\"WordPress development and updates\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sun, 25 May 2008 17:27:47 +0000\";s:9:\"generator\";s:36:\"http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6-bleeding\";s:8:\"language\";s:2:\"en\";s:7:\"tagline\";s:33:\"WordPress development and updates\";}s:9:\"textinput\";a:0:{}s:5:\"image\";a:0:{}s:9:\"feed_type\";s:3:\"RSS\";s:12:\"feed_version\";s:3:\"2.0\";s:5:\"stack\";a:0:{}s:9:\"inchannel\";b:0;s:6:\"initem\";b:0;s:9:\"incontent\";b:0;s:11:\"intextinput\";b:0;s:7:\"inimage\";b:0;s:13:\"current_field\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"current_namespace\";b:0;s:19:\"_CONTENT_CONSTRUCTS\";a:6:{i:0;s:7:\"content\";i:1;s:7:\"summary\";i:2;s:4:\"info\";i:3;s:5:\"title\";i:4;s:7:\"tagline\";i:5;s:9:\"copyright\";}s:13:\"last_modified\";s:31:\"Sun, 25 May 2008 17:27:47 GMT \";s:4:\"etag\";s:36:\"\"bb875376d259c4b324d031ca47a27e5e\" \";}' WHERE option_name = 'rss_0ff4b43bd116a9d8720d689c80e7dfd4' made by update_option [02-Jun-2008 04:58:40] WordPress database error Lost connection to MySQL server during query for query UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = 'O:9:\"magpierss\":19:{s:6:\"parser\";i:0;s:12:\"current_item\";a:0:{}s:5:\"items\";a:50:{i:0;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:64:\"Weblog Tools Collection: If Plugin Deactivation Breaks Your Blog\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3584\";s:4:\"link\";s:93:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/06/01/if-plugin-deactivation-breaks-your-blog/\";s:11:\"description\";s:1087:\"Ever deactivate a plugin, only to have it crash your blog? Typically, this will result in a “Fatal error: Call to undefined function.” which is then displayed on the front end of your site. According to John Lamansky, the reason this error occurs is because the theme is still calling on the plugin you deactivated.
John Lamansky has put together a list of steps that you should perform to alleviate this issue entitled, What To Do If Plugin Deactivation Breaks Your Blog. Typically, deleting the plugin file from your plugin directory usually solves most problems. However, John’s list of steps guides you through the process of determining which bits of code from the failed plugin are causing the errors and then removing those lines of code.
If you have ever gone through the experience described above, please let us know how you went about fixing the issue.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:48:23 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:1087:\"Ever deactivate a plugin, only to have it crash your blog? Typically, this will result in a “Fatal error: Call to undefined function.” which is then displayed on the front end of your site. According to John Lamansky, the reason this error occurs is because the theme is still calling on the plugin you deactivated.
John Lamansky has put together a list of steps that you should perform to alleviate this issue entitled, What To Do If Plugin Deactivation Breaks Your Blog. Typically, deleting the plugin file from your plugin directory usually solves most problems. However, John’s list of steps guides you through the process of determining which bits of code from the failed plugin are causing the errors and then removing those lines of code.
If you have ever gone through the experience described above, please let us know how you went about fixing the issue.
\";}i:1;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:24:\"Matt: Arriving in Greece\";s:4:\"guid\";s:20:\"http://ma.tt/?p=5600\";s:4:\"link\";s:40:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/arriving-in-greece/\";s:11:\"description\";s:3185:\"First photos from arriving in Athens, ferry to Ios.
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0003-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0005-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0007-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0009-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0010-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0012-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0014-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0016-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0017-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0018-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0019-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0020-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0022-139x210.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0024-195x129.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http://s.ma.tt/files/2008/05/mcm_0025-195x129.jpg\")
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sat, 31 May 2008 12:12:08 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:3185:\"First photos from arriving in Athens, ferry to Ios.
\";}i:2;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:20:\"Matt: Kindle Podcast\";s:4:\"guid\";s:36:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/kindle-podcast/\";s:4:\"link\";s:36:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/kindle-podcast/\";s:11:\"description\";s:186:\"Matt Mullenweg Loves His Kindle, from a chat I had with Mashable. Posting from Greece, where it’s hot.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sat, 31 May 2008 09:12:21 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:186:\"Matt Mullenweg Loves His Kindle, from a chat I had with Mashable. Posting from Greece, where it’s hot.
\";}i:3;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:59:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WordPress Plugin Releases for 5/31\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3601\";s:4:\"link\";s:87:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/31/wordpress-plugin-releases-for-531/\";s:11:\"description\";s:4133:\"Google AJAX Libraries API Plugin
The Google Ajax Libraries API Plugin is designed to make it easy to use the Google hosted libraries without the need to mess with your theme and plugin code.
This plugin will allow you to have full control over images displayed, or it takes the power of WordPress and uses its image cropping methods.
This plugin pares down the page-topping links interface that shows up on every WordPress administration page.
This one does what you’d probably guess: shows the latest tweet. Be sure to check out the release page as it offers more than just displaying the latest tweet.
This is a recent comments plugin that displays customizable number of blog posts with recently updated comments. The output is very similar to phpBB’s View Active Topics and vBulletin’s Today’s Posts functions.
The User Rank WordPress plugin ranks users based on their total number of comments, posts or a combination of both.
This plugin allows you to get better control on how your categories are listed. It provides a widget which lets you get more options than the default WordPress category widget (show RSS, hide empty categories, etc.). Furthermore, it allows to hide the children categories and use clickable buttons to expand them.
As a side note, Lester Chan’s Gamerz has announced the second wave of updates for the rest of his plugins. These include:
Lester makes a point in saying that all of his plugins now work with WordPress 2.5 and above. No version below 2.5 has officially been tested. Since the path to these plugins has been fixed, updating from the plugin upgrader in WordPress 2.5 should work flawlessly.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sat, 31 May 2008 05:03:55 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:4133:\"Google AJAX Libraries API Plugin
The Google Ajax Libraries API Plugin is designed to make it easy to use the Google hosted libraries without the need to mess with your theme and plugin code.
This plugin will allow you to have full control over images displayed, or it takes the power of WordPress and uses its image cropping methods.
This plugin pares down the page-topping links interface that shows up on every WordPress administration page.
This one does what you’d probably guess: shows the latest tweet. Be sure to check out the release page as it offers more than just displaying the latest tweet.
This is a recent comments plugin that displays customizable number of blog posts with recently updated comments. The output is very similar to phpBB’s View Active Topics and vBulletin’s Today’s Posts functions.
The User Rank WordPress plugin ranks users based on their total number of comments, posts or a combination of both.
This plugin allows you to get better control on how your categories are listed. It provides a widget which lets you get more options than the default WordPress category widget (show RSS, hide empty categories, etc.). Furthermore, it allows to hide the children categories and use clickable buttons to expand them.
As a side note, Lester Chan’s Gamerz has announced the second wave of updates for the rest of his plugins. These include:
Lester makes a point in saying that all of his plugins now work with WordPress 2.5 and above. No version below 2.5 has officially been tested. Since the path to these plugins has been fixed, updating from the plugin upgrader in WordPress 2.5 should work flawlessly.
\";}i:4;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:53:\"Weblog Tools Collection: Ajax Edit Comments Part Deux\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3595\";s:4:\"link\";s:82:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/30/ajax-edit-comments-part-deux/\";s:11:\"description\";s:3889:\"Ajax Edit Comments, the Digg like comment editor written by Ronald Huereca has undergone a significant rewrite. For those that are familiar with the older versions, you’re going to be in for quite the surprise as Ronald has rewritten the plugin from the ground up. The new version contains an updated interface, numerous backend improvements and a redesigned configuration page.
One of the biggest changes I noticed with the new version is that you no longer can double click on the comment text to edit it inline. Instead, you click on an Edit link. After clicking the edit link, you’re presented with a screen similar to this one:
![\"Editing](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/editingacomment.png\" "\\"editingacomment\\"")
Another visual change are the buttons/links that appear underneath every comment. The buttons give you access to edit the comment, moderate the comment, mark the comment as spam or deleting the comment. That comment interface looks little like this:
![\"Interface](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/ajaxcommentinterface.png\" "\\"ajaxcommentinterface\\"")
In my opinion, this makes handling comments much more streamlined, especially when you can do most of the administration functions from the comment form itself, rather than the administration panel. Interestingly enough, this same panel of options appear within the administration panel in the Akismet area as well as the comment moderation area.
Probably the biggest change in regards to version 2 is the back end configuration page. Ronald has done an excellent job using the WordPress 2.5 admin styles to allow the options page to blend in smoothly with the back end redesign. This is where the bread and butter of the plugin is located. Here is a short list of things you can configure:
So far, I’ve upgraded Ajax Edit Comments on my personal site and the plugin has been working flawlessly so far. I actually prefer this version over the other, primarily because of the interface changes. Ronald has done an excellent job with the new version and I recommend everyone download and give this plugin a try. In my opinion, it is very frustrating to comment on someone’s WordPress powered site and discover that there is no way to edit your own comments. I believe that editing your own comments should be one of those features that should be added to the core of WordPress. But until that happens (if it does) this plugin makes an excellent addition to your blog.
As a side note, Ronald has told me that he coded the plugin in such a way that it would be pretty easy to implement it into the core.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Fri, 30 May 2008 21:34:26 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:3889:\"Ajax Edit Comments, the Digg like comment editor written by Ronald Huereca has undergone a significant rewrite. For those that are familiar with the older versions, you’re going to be in for quite the surprise as Ronald has rewritten the plugin from the ground up. The new version contains an updated interface, numerous backend improvements and a redesigned configuration page.
One of the biggest changes I noticed with the new version is that you no longer can double click on the comment text to edit it inline. Instead, you click on an Edit link. After clicking the edit link, you’re presented with a screen similar to this one:
Another visual change are the buttons/links that appear underneath every comment. The buttons give you access to edit the comment, moderate the comment, mark the comment as spam or deleting the comment. That comment interface looks little like this:
In my opinion, this makes handling comments much more streamlined, especially when you can do most of the administration functions from the comment form itself, rather than the administration panel. Interestingly enough, this same panel of options appear within the administration panel in the Akismet area as well as the comment moderation area.
Probably the biggest change in regards to version 2 is the back end configuration page. Ronald has done an excellent job using the WordPress 2.5 admin styles to allow the options page to blend in smoothly with the back end redesign. This is where the bread and butter of the plugin is located. Here is a short list of things you can configure:
So far, I’ve upgraded Ajax Edit Comments on my personal site and the plugin has been working flawlessly so far. I actually prefer this version over the other, primarily because of the interface changes. Ronald has done an excellent job with the new version and I recommend everyone download and give this plugin a try. In my opinion, it is very frustrating to comment on someone’s WordPress powered site and discover that there is no way to edit your own comments. I believe that editing your own comments should be one of those features that should be added to the core of WordPress. But until that happens (if it does) this plugin makes an excellent addition to your blog.
As a side note, Ronald has told me that he coded the plugin in such a way that it would be pretty easy to implement it into the core.
\";}i:5;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:35:\"Donncha: Fifty years with WordPress\";s:4:\"guid\";s:29:\"http://ocaoimh.ie/?p=89493722\";s:4:\"link\";s:56:\"http://ocaoimh.ie/2008/05/29/fifty-years-with-wordpress/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2471:\"Ah yes, them were the days when we had to type blog posts on quaint old keyboards. Can you imagine it? You actually had to write everything letter by letter. Today’s thought entry systems are so much more convenient don’t you think?
That there Matt fella is still the youngster he always was. He may not be quite as fast on his feet but that embedded camera in his skull sure takes some snazzy photos. My camera gives me a headache, especially when the lens doesn’t focus fast enough. Great to see that mind blog integration stuff working out for him though. I can’t believe blogging has come so far in such a short time.
Oh wait! Fifty? It’s only been five. Where have the years gone? Matt noticed that I officially joined the WordPress team 5 years ago today! At the time I was working on the predecessor to WordPress MU, b2++ that was running on Linux.ie Blogs. It was a sometimes hard slog. MU was always on the sidelines of the WordPress community and somehow it escaped the attention of the vast majority of people online. I noticed many surprised voices when people found out what was running on WordPress.com!
Two years later and Matt starts Automattic and I come on board to work on WordPress.com and I’ve never looked back. The GPL licensed WordPress and WordPress MU go from strength to strength.
As a final note on this rambling post, if you enjoy using WordPress, head over to gnu.org and read their philosophy page to find out what influences Matt and Alex and everyone else who contribute to GPLed software projects.
Related Posts
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 29 May 2008 17:21:57 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:7:\"Donncha\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2471:\"Ah yes, them were the days when we had to type blog posts on quaint old keyboards. Can you imagine it? You actually had to write everything letter by letter. Today’s thought entry systems are so much more convenient don’t you think?
That there Matt fella is still the youngster he always was. He may not be quite as fast on his feet but that embedded camera in his skull sure takes some snazzy photos. My camera gives me a headache, especially when the lens doesn’t focus fast enough. Great to see that mind blog integration stuff working out for him though. I can’t believe blogging has come so far in such a short time.
Oh wait! Fifty? It’s only been five. Where have the years gone? Matt noticed that I officially joined the WordPress team 5 years ago today! At the time I was working on the predecessor to WordPress MU, b2++ that was running on Linux.ie Blogs. It was a sometimes hard slog. MU was always on the sidelines of the WordPress community and somehow it escaped the attention of the vast majority of people online. I noticed many surprised voices when people found out what was running on WordPress.com!
Two years later and Matt starts Automattic and I come on board to work on WordPress.com and I’ve never looked back. The GPL licensed WordPress and WordPress MU go from strength to strength.
As a final note on this rambling post, if you enjoy using WordPress, head over to gnu.org and read their philosophy page to find out what influences Matt and Alex and everyone else who contribute to GPLed software projects.
Related Posts
\";}i:6;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:70:\"Weblog Tools Collection: Removing Width/Height from the Image Uploader\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3600\";s:4:\"link\";s:98:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/29/removing-widthheight-from-the-image-uploader/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2571:\"Reader Vivien writes in:
Is there a way to prevent WordPress from inserting the width and the height for images in the new 2.5 media manager?
In short, yes, but it requires you to insert some code into your theme’s functions.php file.
Fortunately, there is a WordPress filter we can use called image_downsize, which takes in three arguments (a boolean, an attachment ID, and a size string).
All I’m doing in the above filter is setting the filter name, the function to call (my_image_downsize), what priority I want the filter, and how many arguments the function takes.
From there, I mimic the function image_downsize in the ‘wp-includes/media.php’ file, but do not return a width or a height. As a result, when the image is sent to the editor, no width or height is present.
function my_image_downsize($value = false,$id = 0, $size = \"medium\") { if ( !wp_attachment_is_image($id) ) return false; $img_url = wp_get_attachment_url($id); //Mimic functionality in image_downsize function in wp-includes/media.php if ( $intermediate = image_get_intermediate_size($id, $size) ) { $img_url = str_replace(basename($img_url), $intermediate[\'file\'], $img_url); } elseif ( $size == \'thumbnail\' ) { // fall back to the old thumbnail if ( $thumb_file = wp_get_attachment_thumb_file() && $info = getimagesize($thumb_file) ) { $img_url = str_replace(basename($img_url), basename($thumb_file), $img_url); } } if ( $img_url) return array($img_url, 0, 0); return false; }
Here is a sample functions.php file of the code presented in this article.
I also used Andrew’s plugin generator to quickly put together a plugin that I will creatively call No Image Width or Height (download link). It will accomplish the same thing for those not comfortable with code. Just unzip, place in your WordPress plugin’s folder, and activate.
Thanks Vivien for the interesting question.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 29 May 2008 10:00:13 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:14:\"Ronald Huereca\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2571:\"Reader Vivien writes in:
Is there a way to prevent WordPress from inserting the width and the height for images in the new 2.5 media manager?
In short, yes, but it requires you to insert some code into your theme’s functions.php file.
Fortunately, there is a WordPress filter we can use called image_downsize, which takes in three arguments (a boolean, an attachment ID, and a size string).
All I’m doing in the above filter is setting the filter name, the function to call (my_image_downsize), what priority I want the filter, and how many arguments the function takes.
From there, I mimic the function image_downsize in the ‘wp-includes/media.php’ file, but do not return a width or a height. As a result, when the image is sent to the editor, no width or height is present.
function my_image_downsize($value = false,$id = 0, $size = \"medium\") { if ( !wp_attachment_is_image($id) ) return false; $img_url = wp_get_attachment_url($id); //Mimic functionality in image_downsize function in wp-includes/media.php if ( $intermediate = image_get_intermediate_size($id, $size) ) { $img_url = str_replace(basename($img_url), $intermediate[\'file\'], $img_url); } elseif ( $size == \'thumbnail\' ) { // fall back to the old thumbnail if ( $thumb_file = wp_get_attachment_thumb_file() && $info = getimagesize($thumb_file) ) { $img_url = str_replace(basename($img_url), basename($thumb_file), $img_url); } } if ( $img_url) return array($img_url, 0, 0); return false; }
Here is a sample functions.php file of the code presented in this article.
I also used Andrew’s plugin generator to quickly put together a plugin that I will creatively call No Image Width or Height (download link). It will accomplish the same thing for those not comfortable with code. Just unzip, place in your WordPress plugin’s folder, and activate.
Thanks Vivien for the interesting question.
\";}i:7;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:58:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WordPress Theme Releases for 5/28\";s:4:\"guid\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/28/wordpress-theme-releases-for-528/\";s:4:\"link\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/28/wordpress-theme-releases-for-528/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2525:\"![\"wptouch-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/wptouch-thumbnail.png\")
WPTouch is a complimentary theme installed as a plugin on your WordPress blog or website that will format your content with this Apple-inspired, full-featured theme when your visitors are using an iPhone or iPod touch.
![\"hanami-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/hanami-thumbnail.png\")
Hanami is a two-column widget-ready theme, inspired by the WP Admin palette and the Seed Conference font-stack. Simple and clean, the theme displays content in clear and concise manner.
![\"simple-blog-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/simple-blog-thumbnail.png\")
Simple Blog is a simple theme, 2 columns, widget-ready with Gravatar support for comments.
![\"lean-and-clean-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/lean-and-clean-thumbnail.png\")
Lean and Clean is a two column widget-ready theme. The size of the content area and the sidebar is almost same.
![\"k9-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/k9-thumbnail.png\")
K9 is a two-column widget ready theme based upon the popular K2 theme. The theme works only on WordPress 2.5 and above only.
![\"midnite-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/midnite-thumbnail.png\")
Midnite is a 3 column, widget-ready, cross-browser friendly theme compatible with WordPress 2.5.1.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 29 May 2008 03:55:05 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:12:\"Keith Dsouza\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2525:\"
WPTouch is a complimentary theme installed as a plugin on your WordPress blog or website that will format your content with this Apple-inspired, full-featured theme when your visitors are using an iPhone or iPod touch.
Hanami is a two-column widget-ready theme, inspired by the WP Admin palette and the Seed Conference font-stack. Simple and clean, the theme displays content in clear and concise manner.
Simple Blog is a simple theme, 2 columns, widget-ready with Gravatar support for comments.
Lean and Clean is a two column widget-ready theme. The size of the content area and the sidebar is almost same.
K9 is a two-column widget ready theme based upon the popular K2 theme. The theme works only on WordPress 2.5 and above only.
Midnite is a 3 column, widget-ready, cross-browser friendly theme compatible with WordPress 2.5.1.
\";}i:8;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:35:\"Gravatar: Chris Pirillo on Gravatar\";s:4:\"guid\";s:35:\"http://gravatar.wordpress.com/?p=53\";s:4:\"link\";s:62:\"http://blog.gravatar.com/2008/05/29/chris-pirillo-on-gravatar/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2496:\"We recently came across this screencast that Chris made: Is your Avatar a Gravatar? and we think he did a terrific job of breaking down what gravatar is, and what it does! It’s really awesome
The only thing that we’d like to mention is that gravatar is not specific to wordpress, developers are free to use gravatar for anything. We’ve seen gravatars in non-blog web pages, in lots of different programming languages, and even in desktop applications!
So…
*IS* your avatar a Gravatar?
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/gravatar.wordpress.com/53/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/gravatar.wordpress.com/53/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/gravatar.wordpress.com/53/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/gravatar.wordpress.com/53/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/gravatar.wordpress.com/53/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/gravatar.wordpress.com/53/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/gravatar.wordpress.com/53/\")
![\"\"](\"http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=blog.gravatar.com&blog=1886259&post=53&subd=gravatar&ref=&feed=1\")
We recently came across this screencast that Chris made: Is your Avatar a Gravatar? and we think he did a terrific job of breaking down what gravatar is, and what it does! It’s really awesome
The only thing that we’d like to mention is that gravatar is not specific to wordpress, developers are free to use gravatar for anything. We’ve seen gravatars in non-blog web pages, in lots of different programming languages, and even in desktop applications!
So…
*IS* your avatar a Gravatar?
We’re thinking of opening an Automattic office in Austin. Being the only local employee, I imagine sharing the space with independent/satellite WordPress professionals. Are you interested?
Candidates should be earning all or part of their income working on WordPress (developing, designing, or servicing) and be able to defend their choice of editor. Benefits may include collaboration, networking, social opportunities, fortune, fame, romance, and French pressed Ruta Maya coffee.
We don’t have any locations in mind yet. Please include your home zip code for geographical tabulation. If you can recommend a cool location with flexible space, good bandwidth, and no long-term commitments, please do.
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/andy.wordpress.com/176/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/andy.wordpress.com/176/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/andy.wordpress.com/176/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/andy.wordpress.com/176/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/andy.wordpress.com/176/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/andy.wordpress.com/176/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/andy.wordpress.com/176/\")
![\"\"](\"http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=andy.wordpress.com&blog=155&post=176&subd=andy&ref=&feed=1\")
We’re thinking of opening an Automattic office in Austin. Being the only local employee, I imagine sharing the space with independent/satellite WordPress professionals. Are you interested?
Candidates should be earning all or part of their income working on WordPress (developing, designing, or servicing) and be able to defend their choice of editor. Benefits may include collaboration, networking, social opportunities, fortune, fame, romance, and French pressed Ruta Maya coffee.
We don’t have any locations in mind yet. Please include your home zip code for geographical tabulation. If you can recommend a cool location with flexible space, good bandwidth, and no long-term commitments, please do.
I was on WordPress Weekly last Friday, mostly answering questions.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Wed, 28 May 2008 00:51:05 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:168:\"I was on WordPress Weekly last Friday, mostly answering questions.
\";}i:11;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:51:\"Weblog Tools Collection: Matt M On WordPress Weekly\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3587\";s:4:\"link\";s:80:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/27/matt-m-on-wordpress-weekly/\";s:11:\"description\";s:1537:\"Matt Mullenweg and surprise special guest, Andy Peatling of the BuddyPress project stopped by for a one hour live interview on the WordPress Weekly Podcast. Within this interview, a number of questions were answered in regards to WordPress Trademark and logo usage, status updates on Akismet, Bbpress, TalkPress, BuddyPress, WordPress.com, WordPress.org, Theme Repository, Gravatar, the role that Warwick will play within Automattic, an explanation as to how the 2.5 administration redesign became a reality, how much influence do the end users of WordPress have on the development of the project, and last but not least, we discussed the Google Gears implementation into WordPress 2.6. The interview was conducted by yours truly.
I apologize up front for the first 15 minutes of the show. While the interview was taking place, a chord on the speaker phone device was accidentally pulled out, causing it to reboot. Matt later called in with his cell phone which didn’t have the best connection. Shortly there after, the speaker phone device came back on and the rest of the show had good audio quality.
To listen to the interview without having to download the mp3 file, click on the play button within the widget.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 27 May 2008 22:33:21 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:1537:\"Matt Mullenweg and surprise special guest, Andy Peatling of the BuddyPress project stopped by for a one hour live interview on the WordPress Weekly Podcast. Within this interview, a number of questions were answered in regards to WordPress Trademark and logo usage, status updates on Akismet, Bbpress, TalkPress, BuddyPress, WordPress.com, WordPress.org, Theme Repository, Gravatar, the role that Warwick will play within Automattic, an explanation as to how the 2.5 administration redesign became a reality, how much influence do the end users of WordPress have on the development of the project, and last but not least, we discussed the Google Gears implementation into WordPress 2.6. The interview was conducted by yours truly.
I apologize up front for the first 15 minutes of the show. While the interview was taking place, a chord on the speaker phone device was accidentally pulled out, causing it to reboot. Matt later called in with his cell phone which didn’t have the best connection. Shortly there after, the speaker phone device came back on and the rest of the show had good audio quality.
To listen to the interview without having to download the mp3 file, click on the play button within the widget.
\";}i:12;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:50:\"Weblog Tools Collection: Happy Birthday WordPress!\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3586\";s:4:\"link\";s:78:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/27/happy-birthday-wordpress/\";s:11:\"description\";s:698:\"Today is WordPress’ 5th birthday. Matt announced a WordPress Party along with others in the works around the world to celebrate the occassion. Oh, how our baby has grown!
Many happy returns of the day to WordPress and all WordPressers. May this year be as fulfilling and productive as the last.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 27 May 2008 14:34:12 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:10:\"Mark Ghosh\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:698:\"Today is WordPress’ 5th birthday. Matt announced a WordPress Party along with others in the works around the world to celebrate the occassion. Oh, how our baby has grown!
Many happy returns of the day to WordPress and all WordPressers. May this year be as fulfilling and productive as the last.
\";}i:13;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:59:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WordPress Plugin Releases for 5/26\";s:4:\"guid\";s:87:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/26/wordpress-plugin-releases-for-526/\";s:4:\"link\";s:87:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/26/wordpress-plugin-releases-for-526/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2153:\"akWpLightbox is a plugin that helps you create a simple lightbox to be used with the images on the post. You can add your images as you do now and the plugin will take care of rest of the things.
Related Posts is a plugin that provides multiple options to show the via tags related posts of a post. It contains a sidebar widget that is only visible when viewing a single post and displays a list of posts that are related with the current post via the tags.
Better Tags Manager (BTM) allows you to edit tags from the manage post section without having to visit the post itself. You can add and edit tags for multiple post at once from within the admin manage panel itself without ever leaving the manage page. Disclaimer: This plugin has been written by me.
Enhanced Links is a plugin that allows you to get better control on how your links are listed. It provides a widget which lets you get more options than the default WordPress links widget (show image, description, etc.).
Entrecard Popper is a WordPress plugin that pops your Entrecard up to the top middle of the page when a user comes from a an Entrecard surfing site, other wise it stays where you put it.
Mortgage Loan Calculator is a plugin for any loan officer or real estate agent looking to provide good-looking, functional, valuable content to readers.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 27 May 2008 03:55:01 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:12:\"Keith Dsouza\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2153:\"akWpLightbox is a plugin that helps you create a simple lightbox to be used with the images on the post. You can add your images as you do now and the plugin will take care of rest of the things.
Related Posts is a plugin that provides multiple options to show the via tags related posts of a post. It contains a sidebar widget that is only visible when viewing a single post and displays a list of posts that are related with the current post via the tags.
Better Tags Manager (BTM) allows you to edit tags from the manage post section without having to visit the post itself. You can add and edit tags for multiple post at once from within the admin manage panel itself without ever leaving the manage page. Disclaimer: This plugin has been written by me.
Enhanced Links is a plugin that allows you to get better control on how your links are listed. It provides a widget which lets you get more options than the default WordPress links widget (show image, description, etc.).
Entrecard Popper is a WordPress plugin that pops your Entrecard up to the top middle of the page when a user comes from a an Entrecard surfing site, other wise it stays where you put it.
Mortgage Loan Calculator is a plugin for any loan officer or real estate agent looking to provide good-looking, functional, valuable content to readers.
\";}i:14;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:38:\"Donncha: WordPress Stickers and Badges\";s:4:\"guid\";s:29:\"http://ocaoimh.ie/?p=89493720\";s:4:\"link\";s:59:\"http://ocaoimh.ie/2008/05/26/wordpress-stickers-and-badges/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2238:\"![\"WordPress](\"http://ocaoimh.ie/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/wordpress-stickers-and-badges.jpg\" "\\"WordPress")
This was a nice surprise. While enjoying a lovely meal in the Castle Hotel in Blarney a courier rang me with a package. I wasn’t expecting anything but luckily he was close by and I met him in front of the local Garda station. Brimming with excitement I ripped open the package sending stickers and badges flying everywhere. Some landed in my burger, a few badges in my wife’s quiche and the baby grabbed a sticker or two before they fell on the ground.
No, I’m joking, but I did get a jiffy bag with a nice portrait of (most of) Automattic in Arizona and quite a few badges and stickers.
Before you ask, I’m not sending anyone any. I’ve already promised stickers to one person who’s been waiting a few months, and John probably thinks he’ll get his badges and stickers this year but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I was him. Sorry!
On the other hand, if I meet you on the street, I may have a supply of badges and stickers in my camera bag so don’t be afraid to ask. I will of course have badges and stickers to give out at the Doneraile photowalk next month. If you’re around the area, feel free to join us exploring and photographing Doneraile Park!
Related Posts
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 26 May 2008 14:47:22 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:7:\"Donncha\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2238:\"This was a nice surprise. While enjoying a lovely meal in the Castle Hotel in Blarney a courier rang me with a package. I wasn’t expecting anything but luckily he was close by and I met him in front of the local Garda station. Brimming with excitement I ripped open the package sending stickers and badges flying everywhere. Some landed in my burger, a few badges in my wife’s quiche and the baby grabbed a sticker or two before they fell on the ground.
No, I’m joking, but I did get a jiffy bag with a nice portrait of (most of) Automattic in Arizona and quite a few badges and stickers.
Before you ask, I’m not sending anyone any. I’ve already promised stickers to one person who’s been waiting a few months, and John probably thinks he’ll get his badges and stickers this year but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I was him. Sorry!
On the other hand, if I meet you on the street, I may have a supply of badges and stickers in my camera bag so don’t be afraid to ask. I will of course have badges and stickers to give out at the Doneraile photowalk next month. If you’re around the area, feel free to join us exploring and photographing Doneraile Park!
Related Posts
\";}i:15;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:28:\"Matt: Original Indiana Jones\";s:4:\"guid\";s:44:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/original-indiana-jones/\";s:4:\"link\";s:44:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/original-indiana-jones/\";s:11:\"description\";s:573:\"For the first time in his life Rahn met someone even more obsessed with finding the Grail than he was. Indeed, so confident was Himmler of finding the Grail that he’d already prepared a castle - Wewelsburg in Westphalia - for its arrival. In the basement, surrounded by busts of prominent Nazis, was an empty plinth where the Grail would go.
The original Indiana Jones: Otto Rahn and the temple of doom. Truth is stranger than fiction.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sun, 25 May 2008 19:09:42 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:573:\"For the first time in his life Rahn met someone even more obsessed with finding the Grail than he was. Indeed, so confident was Himmler of finding the Grail that he’d already prepared a castle - Wewelsburg in Westphalia - for its arrival. In the basement, surrounded by busts of prominent Nazis, was an empty plinth where the Grail would go.
The original Indiana Jones: Otto Rahn and the temple of doom. Truth is stranger than fiction.
\";}i:16;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:22:\"Matt: Home Advertising\";s:4:\"guid\";s:38:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/home-advertising/\";s:4:\"link\";s:38:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/home-advertising/\";s:11:\"description\";s:426:\"Apparently advertisers who take the tour have been known to drool ovr the opportunities of putting recipes on the kitchen counter and apparel recommendations in the closet. It will come true — advertisers abhor blank space like nature abhors a vacuum.
The home of the future?, Rob Norman
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sun, 25 May 2008 17:38:25 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:426:\"Apparently advertisers who take the tour have been known to drool ovr the opportunities of putting recipes on the kitchen counter and apparel recommendations in the closet. It will come true — advertisers abhor blank space like nature abhors a vacuum.
The home of the future?, Rob Norman
\";}i:17;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:22:\"Matt: WordPress Party!\";s:4:\"guid\";s:20:\"http://ma.tt/?p=5585\";s:4:\"link\";s:39:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/wordpress-party-2/\";s:11:\"description\";s:244:\"Celebrate WordPress’ 5th this Tuesday in San Francisco. (Possibly other places?) Details on Upcoming or Facebook.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sun, 25 May 2008 06:09:45 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:244:\"Celebrate WordPress’ 5th this Tuesday in San Francisco. (Possibly other places?) Details on Upcoming or Facebook.
\";}i:18;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:34:\"Dev Blog: WordPress Birthday Party\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://wordpress.org/development/?p=243\";s:4:\"link\";s:56:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/05/birthday-party/\";s:11:\"description\";s:873:\"On Tuesday, May 27th, WordPress will turn 5 years old. We’ve come a long way from that original 0.7 release.
To celebrate we’re throwing a party in San Francisco at 111 Minna, starting at 9PM. You can get the full details and RSVP on Upcoming.org or on Facebook.
I hope you see some of you there, should be a fun time.
If you host a party in your area for WordPress’ 5th, let us know and we’ll post it here.
Update: Party in Sydney! Blog post, Facebook.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sun, 25 May 2008 05:51:03 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:873:\"On Tuesday, May 27th, WordPress will turn 5 years old. We’ve come a long way from that original 0.7 release.
To celebrate we’re throwing a party in San Francisco at 111 Minna, starting at 9PM. You can get the full details and RSVP on Upcoming.org or on Facebook.
I hope you see some of you there, should be a fun time.
If you host a party in your area for WordPress’ 5th, let us know and we’ll post it here.
Update: Party in Sydney! Blog post, Facebook.
\";}i:19;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:58:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WordPress Theme Releases For 5/24\";s:4:\"guid\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/24/wordpress-theme-releases-for-524/\";s:4:\"link\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/24/wordpress-theme-releases-for-524/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2743:\"![\"wp-silver-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/wp-silver-thumbnail.png\")
WP Silver is a one-column theme with three widget-ready sidebars in the footer. The theme makes use of CSS drop down menu and Social Bookmarking reloaded plugin.
![\"mystefied-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/mystefied-thumbnail.png\")
Mystefied is a two widget-ready theme column theme. The theme is simple and has a extended header where you can add content such as latest posts, popular posts, etc.
![\"deserta-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/deserta-thumbnail.png\")
Deserta is a fixed-width, widget-ready 2 column theme with a right hand sidebar. The comments are gravatar-enabled and will work whether you’re using WP2.5 or lower. There’s also separation of user comments from pingbacks/trackbacks.
![\"structure-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/structure-thumbnail.png\")
Structure is a two column, widget-ready theme which includes built-in video and image features that easily allow you to customize your site. There are content blocks that you can place virtually anywhere on the page.
![\"darl-room-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/darl-room-thumbnail.png\")
Dark Room is a dark 2 column theme suitable for personal and photo blogging.
![\"screwdriver-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/screwdriver-thumbnail.png\")
ScrewDriver is a two column widget ready theme. The theme has lots of nuts in it. Overall a decent theme which you can download and use.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sun, 25 May 2008 03:55:08 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:12:\"Keith Dsouza\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2743:\"
WP Silver is a one-column theme with three widget-ready sidebars in the footer. The theme makes use of CSS drop down menu and Social Bookmarking reloaded plugin.
Mystefied is a two widget-ready theme column theme. The theme is simple and has a extended header where you can add content such as latest posts, popular posts, etc.
Deserta is a fixed-width, widget-ready 2 column theme with a right hand sidebar. The comments are gravatar-enabled and will work whether you’re using WP2.5 or lower. There’s also separation of user comments from pingbacks/trackbacks.
Structure is a two column, widget-ready theme which includes built-in video and image features that easily allow you to customize your site. There are content blocks that you can place virtually anywhere on the page.
Dark Room is a dark 2 column theme suitable for personal and photo blogging.
ScrewDriver is a two column widget ready theme. The theme has lots of nuts in it. Overall a decent theme which you can download and use.
\";}i:20;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:64:\"Weblog Tools Collection: Dashboard Widget Manager - Video Review\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3576\";s:4:\"link\";s:91:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/24/dashboard-widget-manager-video-review/\";s:11:\"description\";s:1412:\"If you cannot see, the video, please visit this link: Dashboard Widget Manager - Video Plugin Review
Today’s WordPress Plugin video review is of Dashboard Widget Manager by Viper007.
Video Summary: Dashboard Widget Manager is a great way to customize the WordPress 2.5 dashboard. The plugin is great for multi-author blogs where each author would like a customizable dashboard. Admin can also set a default dashboard setup.
The ability to re-order and customize certain dashboard widgets is a very nice feature. If possible, I’d like to see some extra widgets in the future.
Pros: Customizing the dashboard is very easy if you are familiar with widgets.
Cons: Minor style issues.
If you think your WordPress plugin will merit itself to a video review, please get in contact with me via e-mail (ronalfy+wltc @ gmail dot com). Please keep in mind I will not review premium plugins.
For more videos, please check out our brand new video website at Weblog Tools Videos.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sat, 24 May 2008 22:31:29 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:14:\"Ronald Huereca\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:1412:\"If you cannot see, the video, please visit this link: Dashboard Widget Manager - Video Plugin Review
Today’s WordPress Plugin video review is of Dashboard Widget Manager by Viper007.
Video Summary: Dashboard Widget Manager is a great way to customize the WordPress 2.5 dashboard. The plugin is great for multi-author blogs where each author would like a customizable dashboard. Admin can also set a default dashboard setup.
The ability to re-order and customize certain dashboard widgets is a very nice feature. If possible, I’d like to see some extra widgets in the future.
Pros: Customizing the dashboard is very easy if you are familiar with widgets.
Cons: Minor style issues.
If you think your WordPress plugin will merit itself to a video review, please get in contact with me via e-mail (ronalfy+wltc @ gmail dot com). Please keep in mind I will not review premium plugins.
For more videos, please check out our brand new video website at Weblog Tools Videos.
\";}i:21;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:60:\"Weblog Tools Collection: Create Your Own Frontpage Slideshow\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3545\";s:4:\"link\";s:89:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/23/create-your-own-frontpage-slideshow/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2413:\"The folks over at PerfectSurf.de have published a tutorial which goes into detail on how you can create your own personal slideshow to appear on the frontpage of your WordPress powered site. This slideshow feature has been seen in numerous premium themes as of late and now you can create one for yourself via this tutorial. A slideshow is great for showcasing images within a gallery or showing off images related to top news items on your blog. The tutorial is not meant for beginners, but those of you who understand terms such as The Loop, excerpt and permalink, you should be fine.
There are some caveats to this process which are outlined in the requirements:
There are many ways of embedding slideshows to your website. This tutorial is based on a Wordpress 2.5 installation (with some files customized and of course all files updated that were critical in WP2.5 concerning security issues!). Moreover you need to BUY a plugin that was originally developed for “Joomla!”, which is an open source Content Management System (CMS). The plugin is called “frontpage slideshow version 1.6? (FPSS) and it was transformed by its creators into a so called “static version” that fits into ALL websites that are PHP-based.
After going through the tutorial, you’ll notice that you need to change the slideshow file manually in order to update the content the links within the slideshow point to. This seems like a mundane approach. I believe this can be done via custom fields but I’d like to know what other ways this effect can be accomplished without having to purchase anything and without having to manually update the slideshow?
*NOTE* Tobi of the perfectsurf website left a note in the comments regarding this post:
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Fri, 23 May 2008 16:04:52 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2413:\"No need to buy the FPSS anymore. I made a new plugin out of Jason Schuller’s FCG plugin, I called it FCS (Featured Category Slideshow) You find everythin at perfectsurf.de/category/fcs (by now, take the first post)
The folks over at PerfectSurf.de have published a tutorial which goes into detail on how you can create your own personal slideshow to appear on the frontpage of your WordPress powered site. This slideshow feature has been seen in numerous premium themes as of late and now you can create one for yourself via this tutorial. A slideshow is great for showcasing images within a gallery or showing off images related to top news items on your blog. The tutorial is not meant for beginners, but those of you who understand terms such as The Loop, excerpt and permalink, you should be fine.
There are some caveats to this process which are outlined in the requirements:
There are many ways of embedding slideshows to your website. This tutorial is based on a Wordpress 2.5 installation (with some files customized and of course all files updated that were critical in WP2.5 concerning security issues!). Moreover you need to BUY a plugin that was originally developed for “Joomla!”, which is an open source Content Management System (CMS). The plugin is called “frontpage slideshow version 1.6? (FPSS) and it was transformed by its creators into a so called “static version” that fits into ALL websites that are PHP-based.
After going through the tutorial, you’ll notice that you need to change the slideshow file manually in order to update the content the links within the slideshow point to. This seems like a mundane approach. I believe this can be done via custom fields but I’d like to know what other ways this effect can be accomplished without having to purchase anything and without having to manually update the slideshow?
*NOTE* Tobi of the perfectsurf website left a note in the comments regarding this post:
\";}i:22;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:51:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WordCamp Philippines Is On\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3535\";s:4:\"link\";s:80:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/22/wordcamp-philippines-is-on/\";s:11:\"description\";s:1868:\"No need to buy the FPSS anymore. I made a new plugin out of Jason Schuller’s FCG plugin, I called it FCS (Featured Category Slideshow) You find everythin at perfectsurf.de/category/fcs (by now, take the first post)
It’s recently been confirmed that the first WordCamp in the Philippines will be taking place on October 25, 2008 September 6, 2008 in Manila. The event is being put together by the same group of people who were responsible for the Mindanao Bloggers Summit. The WordCamp event plans on taking two tracks. One for technical sessions with the other concentrating on beginners. Asides from the social gathering of WordPress enthusiasts, WordCamp Philippines is also planning to hold an “Install-Fest” where everyone will be encouraged to bring their laptops or desktops to the event where a guided tour of installing to the latest version will done along with, installing the most important plugins, and for demonstrations on how to tweak WP themes.
Robillo has stated that :
“Beyond the technical know-how that we wish to impart to participants, doing WordCamp in the Philippines will mean deeper awareness of blogging as an effective medium of communication and advocacy,”
Wow, it sounds like WordCamp Philippines is going to be an awesome event.
![\"WordCamp](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/wordcamp_philippines-whitebg.png\" "\\"wordcamp_philippines-whitebg\\"")
To stay up to date on the latest information regarding this particular WordCamp, be sure to book mark the official Philippines WordCamp Page.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 22 May 2008 22:57:54 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:1868:\"It’s recently been confirmed that the first WordCamp in the Philippines will be taking place on October 25, 2008 September 6, 2008 in Manila. The event is being put together by the same group of people who were responsible for the Mindanao Bloggers Summit. The WordCamp event plans on taking two tracks. One for technical sessions with the other concentrating on beginners. Asides from the social gathering of WordPress enthusiasts, WordCamp Philippines is also planning to hold an “Install-Fest” where everyone will be encouraged to bring their laptops or desktops to the event where a guided tour of installing to the latest version will done along with, installing the most important plugins, and for demonstrations on how to tweak WP themes.
Robillo has stated that :
“Beyond the technical know-how that we wish to impart to participants, doing WordCamp in the Philippines will mean deeper awareness of blogging as an effective medium of communication and advocacy,”
Wow, it sounds like WordCamp Philippines is going to be an awesome event.
To stay up to date on the latest information regarding this particular WordCamp, be sure to book mark the official Philippines WordCamp Page.
\";}i:23;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:41:\"mdawaffe: Post Revisions in WordPress 2.6\";s:4:\"guid\";s:35:\"http://mdawaffe.wordpress.com/?p=63\";s:4:\"link\";s:72:\"http://mdawaffe.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/post-revisions-in-wordpress-26/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2860:\"Have you ever saved a post on your blog only to realize later that you accidentally erased a critical paragraph? Ever worked on a blog with multiple authors and needed to keep a log of who changed what and when?
WordPress should store a history of all your posts. You’d get protection from accidental changes, and you’d be able to see a clear timeline of the evolution of each of you posts.
Happily, WordPress is awesome! In the upcoming WordPress 2.6 release, the feature exists and rules! ![\":)\"](\"http://s.wordpress.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif\"){kind=icon}
And check out the pretty colors!
![\"\"](\"http://mdawaffe.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/post-revisions-1.png?w=103&h=96\")
![\"\"](\"http://mdawaffe.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/post-revisions-2.png?w=96&h=96\")
![\"\"](\"http://mdawaffe.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/post-revisions-3.png?w=128&h=59\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/mdawaffe.wordpress.com/63/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/mdawaffe.wordpress.com/63/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/mdawaffe.wordpress.com/63/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/mdawaffe.wordpress.com/63/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/mdawaffe.wordpress.com/63/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/mdawaffe.wordpress.com/63/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/mdawaffe.wordpress.com/63/\")
![\"\"](\"http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=mdawaffe.wordpress.com&blog=90&post=63&subd=mdawaffe&ref=&feed=1\")
Have you ever saved a post on your blog only to realize later that you accidentally erased a critical paragraph? Ever worked on a blog with multiple authors and needed to keep a log of who changed what and when?
WordPress should store a history of all your posts. You’d get protection from accidental changes, and you’d be able to see a clear timeline of the evolution of each of you posts.
Happily, WordPress is awesome! In the upcoming WordPress 2.6 release, the feature exists and rules!
And check out the pretty colors!
WP-Lightform is an AJAX / PHP contact form with spam protection, form validation and custom form elements.
This plug-in lists all the plugins you are using. The plugin can inserts a simple html list of your blog plugins into any post/page.
Postlists plugin provides placeholders for dynamic lists of posts you can configure in the admin panel! You can define the placeholders yourself and configure the list that should replace it.
Role Scoper is a comprehensive drop-in replacement for capability enforcement and administration in WordPress. Assign reading, editing or administration roles to users or groups on a page-specific, category-specific or other content-specific basis.
Sensitive Tag Cloud provides a configurable tagcloud that shows tags depending of the current context only.
WP Math Publisher allows you and your visitors to create math equations without LaTEX or MathML.
The User Rank WordPress plugin ranks users based on their total number of comments, posts or a combination of both.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 22 May 2008 03:55:55 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:12:\"Keith Dsouza\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:1869:\"WP-Lightform is an AJAX / PHP contact form with spam protection, form validation and custom form elements.
This plug-in lists all the plugins you are using. The plugin can inserts a simple html list of your blog plugins into any post/page.
Postlists plugin provides placeholders for dynamic lists of posts you can configure in the admin panel! You can define the placeholders yourself and configure the list that should replace it.
Role Scoper is a comprehensive drop-in replacement for capability enforcement and administration in WordPress. Assign reading, editing or administration roles to users or groups on a page-specific, category-specific or other content-specific basis.
Sensitive Tag Cloud provides a configurable tagcloud that shows tags depending of the current context only.
WP Math Publisher allows you and your visitors to create math equations without LaTEX or MathML.
The User Rank WordPress plugin ranks users based on their total number of comments, posts or a combination of both.
\";}i:25;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:50:\"Mark Jaquith: ACLU relaunches blog using WordPress\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/?p=151\";s:4:\"link\";s:81:\"http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/aclu-relaunches-blog-using-wordpress/\";s:11:\"description\";s:1747:\"The American Civil Liberties Union relaunched their blog using WordPress 2.5.1 yesterday. It gets a new name, a new look, a new engine, and is given a kick start with a bunch of guest posts by popular human-rights bloggers.
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/markjaquith.wordpress.com/151/\")
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![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/markjaquith.wordpress.com/151/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/markjaquith.wordpress.com/151/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/markjaquith.wordpress.com/151/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/markjaquith.wordpress.com/151/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/markjaquith.wordpress.com/151/\")
![\"\"](\"http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=markjaquith.wordpress.com&blog=316&post=151&subd=markjaquith&ref=&feed=1\")
The American Civil Liberties Union relaunched their blog using WordPress 2.5.1 yesterday. It gets a new name, a new look, a new engine, and is given a kick start with a bunch of guest posts by popular human-rights bloggers.
How do I start writing on the Plugin Blog and submit my ideas for feedback from readers?
After you have registered yourself on the Plugin Blog or if you already have a registration but do not have author permissions, please contact us with your details and a little information about the plugin(s) you are planning to enter into the competition and we will enable your account. This is a security precaution and we apologize for any inconvenience.
When should I submit my plugin?
We recommend that you submit your plugin to us at the end of the competition. This will give you enough time to test the plugin for any bugs and resolve them. You will have time to look into feature requests from your visitors. This will also ensure that you don’t need to submit multiple bugfixes to us. We prefer receiving a single final version for our records.
Won’t I be at a disadvantage if I submit it at the end?
No, of course not. Voting will begin only after the plugin competition ends. Also, our judges will take a look at the plugin only after the end of the competition.
Is okay to release it prior to submitting it for the contest?
Plugins released in these two months are eligible for the competition. In fact if you release it now, you have time to test it and receive feedback from the community so an early release to public is a good thing. Conversely, an early release to the public does not mean an automatic submission to the competition.
How do I know the plugin is new?
You can search to see if a similar plugin is available in WordPress Extend. You can also use any search engine to see if a similar plugin is available.
What about the plugins in last year’s competition
If you need an idea of the type of plugins that have been submitted in the past, here is a list of plugins from last year’s competition.
I am a WordPress user. I have an idea, where do I submit it?
You can also post them in this post or this posting in our News Forum.
How do I sponsor a prize?
If you would like to sponsor a prize or donate some money to the competition, please contact us. We are actively looking for prize money.
Do you have any other questions about the competition? Please post them in the comments section below.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Wed, 21 May 2008 14:18:10 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Ajay\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2980:\"How do I start writing on the Plugin Blog and submit my ideas for feedback from readers?
After you have registered yourself on the Plugin Blog or if you already have a registration but do not have author permissions, please contact us with your details and a little information about the plugin(s) you are planning to enter into the competition and we will enable your account. This is a security precaution and we apologize for any inconvenience.
When should I submit my plugin?
We recommend that you submit your plugin to us at the end of the competition. This will give you enough time to test the plugin for any bugs and resolve them. You will have time to look into feature requests from your visitors. This will also ensure that you don’t need to submit multiple bugfixes to us. We prefer receiving a single final version for our records.
Won’t I be at a disadvantage if I submit it at the end?
No, of course not. Voting will begin only after the plugin competition ends. Also, our judges will take a look at the plugin only after the end of the competition.
Is okay to release it prior to submitting it for the contest?
Plugins released in these two months are eligible for the competition. In fact if you release it now, you have time to test it and receive feedback from the community so an early release to public is a good thing. Conversely, an early release to the public does not mean an automatic submission to the competition.
How do I know the plugin is new?
You can search to see if a similar plugin is available in WordPress Extend. You can also use any search engine to see if a similar plugin is available.
What about the plugins in last year’s competition
If you need an idea of the type of plugins that have been submitted in the past, here is a list of plugins from last year’s competition.
I am a WordPress user. I have an idea, where do I submit it?
You can also post them in this post or this posting in our News Forum.
How do I sponsor a prize?
If you would like to sponsor a prize or donate some money to the competition, please contact us. We are actively looking for prize money.
Do you have any other questions about the competition? Please post them in the comments section below.
\";}i:27;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:25:\"Matt: Health.com Switches\";s:4:\"guid\";s:20:\"http://ma.tt/?p=5582\";s:4:\"link\";s:40:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/healthcom-switches/\";s:11:\"description\";s:275:\"Health.com switches from Typepad to WordPress and adds two main WP-powered sections to their site. Check out their new site, great design too.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Wed, 21 May 2008 07:01:12 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:275:\"Health.com switches from Typepad to WordPress and adds two main WP-powered sections to their site. Check out their new site, great design too.
\";}i:28;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:39:\"Dev Blog: Usability Testing in New York\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://wordpress.org/development/?p=241\";s:4:\"link\";s:71:\"http://wordpress.org/development/2008/05/usability-testing-in-new-york/\";s:11:\"description\";s:186:\"We’re doing some usability testing in New York City. Join in if you’re in the area.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 20 May 2008 22:13:49 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Ryan\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:186:\"We’re doing some usability testing in New York City. Join in if you’re in the area.
\";}i:29;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:23:\"Matt: Usability Testing\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/usability-testing/\";s:4:\"link\";s:39:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/usability-testing/\";s:11:\"description\";s:159:\"We’re doing some usability tests in New York City, want to join?
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 20 May 2008 20:49:59 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:159:\"We’re doing some usability tests in New York City, want to join?
\";}i:30;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:24:\"Matt: Graffiti Animation\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/graffiti-animation/\";s:4:\"link\";s:40:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/graffiti-animation/\";s:11:\"description\";s:191:\"YouTube - MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU. Hat tip: Clay Shirky.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 20 May 2008 20:08:07 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:191:\"YouTube - MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU. Hat tip: Clay Shirky.
\";}i:31;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:58:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WordPress Theme Releases for 5/19\";s:4:\"guid\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/19/wordpress-theme-releases-for-519/\";s:4:\"link\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/19/wordpress-theme-releases-for-519/\";s:11:\"description\";s:3323:\"![\"wpfreemium-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/wpfreemium-thumbnail.png\")
WPFreemium is a two column theme widget-ready theme designed for multi-authored blogs. I integrated full gravatar support into all posts, author profiles and comments.
![\"greeny-20-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/greeny-20-thumbnail.png\")
Greeny2.0 is a 2 column widget-ready theme. The theme has a web2.0 look and uses different flavors of the green color.
![\"wp-garden-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/wp-garden-thumbnail.png\")
WP Garden is a beautiful two column widget ready theme which has a nice looking header and footer. The theme makes use of green colors for the links.
StudioPress
Update: Theme Link and Thumbnail removed for reported Copyright Issues with header Image
StudioPress is a two column WordPress theme crafted for photographers. StudioPress comes in two varieties - black and white.
![\"mini-wp-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/mini-wp-thumbnail.png\")
Mini-wp is a pownce look-a-like theme which is for people who don’t like to post long blog. The sidebar is empty and only contains a note about the author.
![\"andrea-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/andrea-thumbnail.png\")
Andrea is a beautiful 2 column theme which makes use of the blue color. The theme is simple and looks appealing to the eyes.
![\"aviation-journal-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/aviation-journal-thumbnail.png\")
Aviation Journal is a simple, three column, widget-ready WordPress theme. Also includes a random header image script.
![\"serenity-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/serenity-thumbnail.png\")
Serenity is a three column WordPress theme. Widget ready, with a Site Map and no sidebar template, as well as custom 404 page.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 20 May 2008 03:57:32 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:12:\"Keith Dsouza\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:3323:\"
WPFreemium is a two column theme widget-ready theme designed for multi-authored blogs. I integrated full gravatar support into all posts, author profiles and comments.
Greeny2.0 is a 2 column widget-ready theme. The theme has a web2.0 look and uses different flavors of the green color.
WP Garden is a beautiful two column widget ready theme which has a nice looking header and footer. The theme makes use of green colors for the links.
StudioPress
Update: Theme Link and Thumbnail removed for reported Copyright Issues with header Image
StudioPress is a two column WordPress theme crafted for photographers. StudioPress comes in two varieties - black and white.
Mini-wp is a pownce look-a-like theme which is for people who don’t like to post long blog. The sidebar is empty and only contains a note about the author.
Andrea is a beautiful 2 column theme which makes use of the blue color. The theme is simple and looks appealing to the eyes.
Aviation Journal is a simple, three column, widget-ready WordPress theme. Also includes a random header image script.
Serenity is a three column WordPress theme. Widget ready, with a Site Map and no sidebar template, as well as custom 404 page.
\";}i:32;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:32:\"Matt: WordPress + mod_auth_mysql\";s:4:\"guid\";s:46:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/wordpress-mod_auth_mysql/\";s:4:\"link\";s:46:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/wordpress-mod_auth_mysql/\";s:11:\"description\";s:269:\"mod_auth_mysql and phpass, a new patch that allows Apache authentication (for Subversion, Trac, enterprise integration systems) to work with the new WordPress secure password storage.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 19 May 2008 16:43:31 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:269:\"mod_auth_mysql and phpass, a new patch that allows Apache authentication (for Subversion, Trac, enterprise integration systems) to work with the new WordPress secure password storage.
\";}i:33;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:59:\"Weblog Tools Collection: 24 Ways To Contribute To WordPress\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3547\";s:4:\"link\";s:88:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/19/24-ways-to-contribute-to-wordpress/\";s:11:\"description\";s:11406:\"WordPress is great, nothing new there. However, outside of creating themes or plugins, most people don’t believe they can help contribute to the development of WordPress. This notion is wrong and this post will describe at least 24 different ways in which anyone from joe schmoe to WP-Pro can contribute to the development of WordPress. Helping out the WordPress project comes in two flavors, direct and indirect. Hopefully, after reading this article, you’ll see one or two things in which you feel you can do to contribute to the project.
The official WordPress forums which can be found here http://wordpress.org/support/ were set up for users to help other users. Everyone that posts on the forum is doing so voluntarily. The forum is one of the places to go if you require support while using the WordPress.org software. The forum could always use more users familiar with WordPress.
This is one of the easier ways in which you can generate buzz about WordPress, blog about it. Not only will this raise awareness, but it gives you another avenue in which to share your experiences or knowledge regarding the software.
This one is a no brainer. Generally, plugins are answers to problems and most likely, there will be more than one user who has the same problem as you.
Many people still don’t realize that their is an extended part of WordPress.org which houses all of the ideas which have been submitted by users. WordPress.org Ideas Page. These ideas can then be rated on a 5 star system. You can also throw in your two cents for specific ideas. It’s been said by Matt himself that the core dev team takes a look at the ideas section and if there is enough demand for certain ideas, the chances are good (Not Definite) that the change would come along in a future version of WordPress.
Now, you might scoff at the idea of donating cash towards the WP.org project, but the fact of the matter is, most of the money involved with Automattic is used for WP.com. The WP.org project is free to use, free to host, is just about as free as free gets. However, donations towards the project do go towards useful things such as contests, legal costs, domain registrations, developer rewards ect. You can donate to the WordPress.org project by visiting the WP.org Donate Page.
WordPress does have it’s own shop filled with wares branded with the WordPress logo. The store offers up hoodies, mugs and T-shirts. Not only does wearing branded apparel showcase your joy/love for WordPress, but the money goes right back into the WP.org project.
Not much explaining I have to do here. If you create a theme, share your work to the masses. One of the biggest reasons WordPress is successful is due to the large amount of variety and creativity found within themes.
The Codex is the ultimate knowledge base for WordPress. Just about everything involved with WordPress has in some form or fashion been documented within the Codex. Ok, not everything has been documented, but that is where you come in. The Codex could always use new contributors and it’s very easy to do. Click here to figure out how to contribute to the Codex.
One thing about WordPress, it has an awesome community. Chatting online, posting in the forum, commenting on blog posts is all fine and dandy, but there is nothing like meeting other WordPressers face to face. Conducting a WordCamp or WordPress Meetup in your local area is a great way to gather individuals together with a commonality, you all use WordPress.
Sure, there might be a well established WordPress forum already in use but that doesn’t mean you can’t create one of your own. As far as I can tell, the more people discussing and talking about WordPress, the better.
While this might not directly effect the WP project, it will help indirectly. Some of us are not graphic designers and so, the help of others to create spiffy looking gravatars which are appearing everywhere on the web is a blessing in disguise.
While there is a large amount of inspiration within the WordPress themeing community, some folks just can’t seem to find a way to differentiate themselves, so they copy a successful theme from the codebase all the way to the CSS. Now, this is one of the touchier methods of helping out WordPress as the GPL rule comes into play. But if you see people selling premium themes which you know they are not eligible to be doing, report them to the proper people.
One thing I see too much of is the removal of the WordPress credit link located at the bottom of most themes. Sure, you don’t need to have this link presented in your theme but one way of supporting WordPress is by leaving this link in tact, showcasing your love for WordPress.
Whether it be through Twitter, blogging, yahoo, IM, email, forums, spread the word about WordPress. One thing that really impresses me is that WordPress.org has not spent a dime on advertising. Everything has been through word of mouth. Let’s continue that trend!
This sort of overlaps with purchasing items through the WP Store, but showing off your love for WordPress at your local Starbucks with your big handled WordPress mug is priceless.
This is mostly for you coders out there. Participating in the WP-Hackers Mailing List is a sure fire way to get into the techy development discussions which help to shape WordPress. I don’t participate, I merely read the daily digests and have realized that most of the stuff presented in the mailing list is way over my head. However, these guys are always brining up points/counter points and it’s an interesting read at times.
An integral part of the development of WordPress resides around the Trac. There is an article specifically related to reporting bugs within the codex entitled Reporting_Bugs The more people who report bugs, the better off the project will be. Of course, what really benefits WordPress is those of you who submit patches to fix those bugs.
This mailing list can actually be used by the general publish without needing a Ph D. in coding. The mailing list is called WP-Testers Mailing List New releases are announced as well as discussed within this mailing list. If you are one of those people who downloads release candidates or beta releases, make sure to join this list so you can report and discuss your findings.
If you happen to be a coder and come across something that you think may pose a security risk, the best thing for you to do is to send an email to security at wordpress.org It is standard practice to notify the vendor (the WordPress developers, in this case) of a security problem before publicizing so a fix can be prepared and public damage due to the vulnerability minimized.
Maybe writing isn’t your thing, perhaps video isn’t either but you discover audio is no problem. As it stands, there are a limited number of WordPress centric podcast that exist on the net today. I’m talking about ones that come out with new episodes on a regular basis. One of the way you can share your knowledge of WordPress is through audio and right now would be a good time for you to launch that podcast.
Another way to show your love for the WordPress project is to create a graphic and openly display it on your blog. Or you can display graphics already made and showcase them on your website, perhaps even linking them to WP.org. On the WordPress.org website, there is a page which contains already made buttons that you can use.
I’ll admit, the IRC channel is not for the faint of heart. Generally, this is where the more advanced WordPress user’s hang out but occasionally, there is a good discussion that takes and this is where you can get in direct contact with a number of folks who contribute to the WordPress.org on a regular basis. For information on to get inside the IRC channel, check out this Codex Article.
Although WordPress has already been translated into a number of languages, there are still more translations that could be done. The codex has an article entitled ‘Translating WordPress‘ which covers in detail on how you can translate WordPress and the Codex into other languages.
Even if you are not a coder you can still join in on the development planning for WordPress. Most feature requests end up as endless mailing list debates where the message is hard to keep track of. Please read the article within the Codex entitled Development Planning to figure out how you can participate in this process.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 19 May 2008 14:15:56 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:11406:\"WordPress is great, nothing new there. However, outside of creating themes or plugins, most people don’t believe they can help contribute to the development of WordPress. This notion is wrong and this post will describe at least 24 different ways in which anyone from joe schmoe to WP-Pro can contribute to the development of WordPress. Helping out the WordPress project comes in two flavors, direct and indirect. Hopefully, after reading this article, you’ll see one or two things in which you feel you can do to contribute to the project.
The official WordPress forums which can be found here http://wordpress.org/support/ were set up for users to help other users. Everyone that posts on the forum is doing so voluntarily. The forum is one of the places to go if you require support while using the WordPress.org software. The forum could always use more users familiar with WordPress.
This is one of the easier ways in which you can generate buzz about WordPress, blog about it. Not only will this raise awareness, but it gives you another avenue in which to share your experiences or knowledge regarding the software.
This one is a no brainer. Generally, plugins are answers to problems and most likely, there will be more than one user who has the same problem as you.
Many people still don’t realize that their is an extended part of WordPress.org which houses all of the ideas which have been submitted by users. WordPress.org Ideas Page. These ideas can then be rated on a 5 star system. You can also throw in your two cents for specific ideas. It’s been said by Matt himself that the core dev team takes a look at the ideas section and if there is enough demand for certain ideas, the chances are good (Not Definite) that the change would come along in a future version of WordPress.
Now, you might scoff at the idea of donating cash towards the WP.org project, but the fact of the matter is, most of the money involved with Automattic is used for WP.com. The WP.org project is free to use, free to host, is just about as free as free gets. However, donations towards the project do go towards useful things such as contests, legal costs, domain registrations, developer rewards ect. You can donate to the WordPress.org project by visiting the WP.org Donate Page.
WordPress does have it’s own shop filled with wares branded with the WordPress logo. The store offers up hoodies, mugs and T-shirts. Not only does wearing branded apparel showcase your joy/love for WordPress, but the money goes right back into the WP.org project.
Not much explaining I have to do here. If you create a theme, share your work to the masses. One of the biggest reasons WordPress is successful is due to the large amount of variety and creativity found within themes.
The Codex is the ultimate knowledge base for WordPress. Just about everything involved with WordPress has in some form or fashion been documented within the Codex. Ok, not everything has been documented, but that is where you come in. The Codex could always use new contributors and it’s very easy to do. Click here to figure out how to contribute to the Codex.
One thing about WordPress, it has an awesome community. Chatting online, posting in the forum, commenting on blog posts is all fine and dandy, but there is nothing like meeting other WordPressers face to face. Conducting a WordCamp or WordPress Meetup in your local area is a great way to gather individuals together with a commonality, you all use WordPress.
Sure, there might be a well established WordPress forum already in use but that doesn’t mean you can’t create one of your own. As far as I can tell, the more people discussing and talking about WordPress, the better.
While this might not directly effect the WP project, it will help indirectly. Some of us are not graphic designers and so, the help of others to create spiffy looking gravatars which are appearing everywhere on the web is a blessing in disguise.
While there is a large amount of inspiration within the WordPress themeing community, some folks just can’t seem to find a way to differentiate themselves, so they copy a successful theme from the codebase all the way to the CSS. Now, this is one of the touchier methods of helping out WordPress as the GPL rule comes into play. But if you see people selling premium themes which you know they are not eligible to be doing, report them to the proper people.
One thing I see too much of is the removal of the WordPress credit link located at the bottom of most themes. Sure, you don’t need to have this link presented in your theme but one way of supporting WordPress is by leaving this link in tact, showcasing your love for WordPress.
Whether it be through Twitter, blogging, yahoo, IM, email, forums, spread the word about WordPress. One thing that really impresses me is that WordPress.org has not spent a dime on advertising. Everything has been through word of mouth. Let’s continue that trend!
This sort of overlaps with purchasing items through the WP Store, but showing off your love for WordPress at your local Starbucks with your big handled WordPress mug is priceless.
This is mostly for you coders out there. Participating in the WP-Hackers Mailing List is a sure fire way to get into the techy development discussions which help to shape WordPress. I don’t participate, I merely read the daily digests and have realized that most of the stuff presented in the mailing list is way over my head. However, these guys are always brining up points/counter points and it’s an interesting read at times.
An integral part of the development of WordPress resides around the Trac. There is an article specifically related to reporting bugs within the codex entitled Reporting_Bugs The more people who report bugs, the better off the project will be. Of course, what really benefits WordPress is those of you who submit patches to fix those bugs.
This mailing list can actually be used by the general publish without needing a Ph D. in coding. The mailing list is called WP-Testers Mailing List New releases are announced as well as discussed within this mailing list. If you are one of those people who downloads release candidates or beta releases, make sure to join this list so you can report and discuss your findings.
If you happen to be a coder and come across something that you think may pose a security risk, the best thing for you to do is to send an email to security at wordpress.org It is standard practice to notify the vendor (the WordPress developers, in this case) of a security problem before publicizing so a fix can be prepared and public damage due to the vulnerability minimized.
Maybe writing isn’t your thing, perhaps video isn’t either but you discover audio is no problem. As it stands, there are a limited number of WordPress centric podcast that exist on the net today. I’m talking about ones that come out with new episodes on a regular basis. One of the way you can share your knowledge of WordPress is through audio and right now would be a good time for you to launch that podcast.
Another way to show your love for the WordPress project is to create a graphic and openly display it on your blog. Or you can display graphics already made and showcase them on your website, perhaps even linking them to WP.org. On the WordPress.org website, there is a page which contains already made buttons that you can use.
I’ll admit, the IRC channel is not for the faint of heart. Generally, this is where the more advanced WordPress user’s hang out but occasionally, there is a good discussion that takes and this is where you can get in direct contact with a number of folks who contribute to the WordPress.org on a regular basis. For information on to get inside the IRC channel, check out this Codex Article.
Although WordPress has already been translated into a number of languages, there are still more translations that could be done. The codex has an article entitled ‘Translating WordPress‘ which covers in detail on how you can translate WordPress and the Codex into other languages.
Even if you are not a coder you can still join in on the development planning for WordPress. Most feature requests end up as endless mailing list debates where the message is hard to keep track of. Please read the article within the Codex entitled Development Planning to figure out how you can participate in this process.
\";}i:34;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:68:\"WordPress Podcast: Episode 41: WordPress 2.5.1 released, Webware 100\";s:4:\"guid\";s:29:\"http://wp-community.org/?p=77\";s:4:\"link\";s:46:\"http://wp-community.org/2008/05/18/episode-41/\";s:11:\"description\";s:4729:\"I’ve been busy with other things and sitting on this episode, which Jonathan and I recorded several weekends ago. I’ve finally gotten around to editing it down and it includes:
Episode 42 was also recorded a while back and I’ll be publishing that over the next week or so.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 19 May 2008 03:03:13 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:17:\"Charles Stricklin\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:4729:\"I’ve been busy with other things and sitting on this episode, which Jonathan and I recorded several weekends ago. I’ve finally gotten around to editing it down and it includes:
Episode 42 was also recorded a while back and I’ll be publishing that over the next week or so.
\";}i:35;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:55:\"Weblog Tools Collection: How To: Avoid Duplicate Posts\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3563\";s:4:\"link\";s:82:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/17/how-to-avoid-duplicate-posts/\";s:11:\"description\";s:4021:\"A reader writes in:
I’m developing a new theme and I’m having trouble getting duplicate posts from showing when running two loops (one standard loop and one from a specific category). Even when I copied the specific code from directly from the codex, it was not working.
The Codex article the reader mentioned was regarding the Loop. Although the example shows how to avoid a single duplicate post, it doesn’t show how to avoid duplicating multiple posts.
Here’s how to show two individual loops without duplicating posts in either loop.
A WordPress filter is needed to accomplish this, and we’re going to be tapping into the ‘posts_where‘ filter.
The reason being is we need to modify the query used for the loop and exclude some posts.
Here’s the function we’ll be using called post_strip:
function post_strip($where) { global $myPosts, $wpdb; $where .= \" AND $wpdb->posts.ID not in($myPosts) \"; return $where; }
In the above code, I use a global variable called $myPosts, which is comma-separated string of post IDs to exclude.
Within this first loop we’ll be keeping track of the post IDs being used. Nothing fancy is being done here. We’re just pulling the last five posts posted.
Pay special attention to the $myPosts variable, which is used to keep track of all of the post IDs.
We’ll now need to add a posts_where filter for the second loop. This filter will use the post_strip function we started in Step 1.
The second loop is a repeat of the first loop to demonstrate that the posts are not being duplicated. The second loop uses a different loop technique since paging isn’t necessary.
The filter we added in Step 3 now needs to be removed.
![\"Before](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/before-filter-duplicate-posts.jpeg\")
Before - Duplicates Being Shown
![\"After](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/after-filter-duplicate-posts.jpeg\")
After - Duplicates Removed
Here is a sample index.php for download.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sun, 18 May 2008 00:58:30 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:14:\"Ronald Huereca\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:4021:\"A reader writes in:
I’m developing a new theme and I’m having trouble getting duplicate posts from showing when running two loops (one standard loop and one from a specific category). Even when I copied the specific code from directly from the codex, it was not working.
The Codex article the reader mentioned was regarding the Loop. Although the example shows how to avoid a single duplicate post, it doesn’t show how to avoid duplicating multiple posts.
Here’s how to show two individual loops without duplicating posts in either loop.
A WordPress filter is needed to accomplish this, and we’re going to be tapping into the ‘posts_where‘ filter.
The reason being is we need to modify the query used for the loop and exclude some posts.
Here’s the function we’ll be using called post_strip:
function post_strip($where) { global $myPosts, $wpdb; $where .= \" AND $wpdb->posts.ID not in($myPosts) \"; return $where; }
In the above code, I use a global variable called $myPosts, which is comma-separated string of post IDs to exclude.
Within this first loop we’ll be keeping track of the post IDs being used. Nothing fancy is being done here. We’re just pulling the last five posts posted.
Pay special attention to the $myPosts variable, which is used to keep track of all of the post IDs.
We’ll now need to add a posts_where filter for the second loop. This filter will use the post_strip function we started in Step 1.
The second loop is a repeat of the first loop to demonstrate that the posts are not being duplicated. The second loop uses a different loop technique since paging isn’t necessary.
The filter we added in Step 3 now needs to be removed.
Before - Duplicates Being Shown
After - Duplicates Removed
Here is a sample index.php for download.
\";}i:36;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:58:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WordPress Theme Releases for 5/16\";s:4:\"guid\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/16/wordpress-theme-releases-for-516/\";s:4:\"link\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/16/wordpress-theme-releases-for-516/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2577:\"![\"wallpaper-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/wallpaper-thumbnail.png\")
Wallpaper is a simple fixed-width, 2 column widget-ready theme with a right sidebar. The theme has a blue header and the rest of the body has a white background.
![\"in-the-rough-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/in-the-rough-thumbnail.png\")
In The Rough is a two column widget-ready theme with a simple and grungy look. It’s comes with color options of Pink, Red, Green, Orange and Blue. There is also a print.css for better printing.
![\"unstandard-remix-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/unstandard-remix-thumbnail.png\")
Unstandard Remix is a two column widget-ready theme. The theme makes heavier use of transparencies and woodgrain finishes.
![\"rebel-magazine-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/rebel-magazine-thumbnail.png\")
Rebel Magazine is a widget-ready, 2 columns theme with banner ad integration. The theme sports the look of a magazine and can be used by news blogs.
![\"blue-blog-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/blue-blog-thumbnail.png\")
Blue Blog is a 3 Column which contains 2 widget-ready sidebar, custom templates, integrated pulgins and social networking integration for Digg, delicious and Stumbleupon for post submission.
Liberty
Theme removed due to violation of copyrights
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sat, 17 May 2008 03:57:14 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:12:\"Keith Dsouza\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2577:\"
Wallpaper is a simple fixed-width, 2 column widget-ready theme with a right sidebar. The theme has a blue header and the rest of the body has a white background.
In The Rough is a two column widget-ready theme with a simple and grungy look. It’s comes with color options of Pink, Red, Green, Orange and Blue. There is also a print.css for better printing.
Unstandard Remix is a two column widget-ready theme. The theme makes heavier use of transparencies and woodgrain finishes.
Rebel Magazine is a widget-ready, 2 columns theme with banner ad integration. The theme sports the look of a magazine and can be used by news blogs.
Blue Blog is a 3 Column which contains 2 widget-ready sidebar, custom templates, integrated pulgins and social networking integration for Digg, delicious and Stumbleupon for post submission.
Liberty
Theme removed due to violation of copyrights
\";}i:37;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:34:\"Matt: Don’t Check Your Valuables\";s:4:\"guid\";s:20:\"http://ma.tt/?p=5564\";s:4:\"link\";s:47:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/dont-check-your-valuables/\";s:11:\"description\";s:1562:\"
Another lesson learned the hard way — on the flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco on US Airways my baggage was delayed, and then when it arrived the following morning all my camera equipment was missing. Since I had just been to Italy I was carrying more than usual. The toll ended up being:
I’ve traveled so many times with things in my suitcase I just don’t think about it anymore, literally over a hundred trips over the last 4-5 years. This has shaken me a lot more than the incident a few weeks ago and I’m probably not going to check any electronics anymore. Jon Udell had something similar happen and found a story about packing a starter pistol to get your baggage treated differently. (Hat tip: Lloyd.)
Since relating this story a few other people have told me they’ve had things stolen when leaving Philadelphia specifically, it sounds like there might be a serious problem there, one that warrants investigation. US Airways is just sending me through the “lost luggage” form, so I doubt anything will change or happen. Be extra careful if you travel through there.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 15 May 2008 23:24:40 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:1562:\"Another lesson learned the hard way — on the flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco on US Airways my baggage was delayed, and then when it arrived the following morning all my camera equipment was missing. Since I had just been to Italy I was carrying more than usual. The toll ended up being:
I’ve traveled so many times with things in my suitcase I just don’t think about it anymore, literally over a hundred trips over the last 4-5 years. This has shaken me a lot more than the incident a few weeks ago and I’m probably not going to check any electronics anymore. Jon Udell had something similar happen and found a story about packing a starter pistol to get your baggage treated differently. (Hat tip: Lloyd.)
Since relating this story a few other people have told me they’ve had things stolen when leaving Philadelphia specifically, it sounds like there might be a serious problem there, one that warrants investigation. US Airways is just sending me through the “lost luggage” form, so I doubt anything will change or happen. Be extra careful if you travel through there.
\";}i:38;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:56:\"Weblog Tools Collection: GaMerZ WordPress Plugins Update\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3549\";s:4:\"link\";s:85:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/15/gamerz-wordpress-plugins-update/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2065:\"Lester Chan’s GaMerZ has announced that he has unleashed the first wave of updates for 11 of his WordPress plugins. These include:
The remaining four plugins, WP-Ban, WP-DBManager, WP-DownloadManager, and WP-PostViews will be updated in wave two. Lester has stated that all of these plugins should work in WordPress 2.5 only and they have not been tested in any version below 2.5. Also worthy of note is that the folder path of some of the plugins have been fixed. Previously, the path was nested in another folder which generated a ton of hate mail for Lester because it broke automatic updates. Now that the path has been fixed, the automatic plugin upgrade feature should work correctly.
*Note* I updated my GaMerZ plugins today on my personal blog through the plugin upgrader in 2.5 and all of them were upgraded successfully.
Lester has been developing plugins for WordPress for quite some time now. We have praised Lester’s work at various occasions and we use many of his plugins actively on this site (including the post rating system you see below). He is a meticulous coder, provides extensive documentation, download options and demos and even provides his own support forums. Please be patient with his server, it takes a while to load the linked page but the downloads are mirrored, so they should be quick.
On my own blog, I’m using at least seven of his plugins. If you are using one or more of Lester’s plugins, let us know in the comments.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 15 May 2008 21:59:17 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2065:\"Lester Chan’s GaMerZ has announced that he has unleashed the first wave of updates for 11 of his WordPress plugins. These include:
The remaining four plugins, WP-Ban, WP-DBManager, WP-DownloadManager, and WP-PostViews will be updated in wave two. Lester has stated that all of these plugins should work in WordPress 2.5 only and they have not been tested in any version below 2.5. Also worthy of note is that the folder path of some of the plugins have been fixed. Previously, the path was nested in another folder which generated a ton of hate mail for Lester because it broke automatic updates. Now that the path has been fixed, the automatic plugin upgrade feature should work correctly.
*Note* I updated my GaMerZ plugins today on my personal blog through the plugin upgrader in 2.5 and all of them were upgraded successfully.
Lester has been developing plugins for WordPress for quite some time now. We have praised Lester’s work at various occasions and we use many of his plugins actively on this site (including the post rating system you see below). He is a meticulous coder, provides extensive documentation, download options and demos and even provides his own support forums. Please be patient with his server, it takes a while to load the linked page but the downloads are mirrored, so they should be quick.
On my own blog, I’m using at least seven of his plugins. If you are using one or more of Lester’s plugins, let us know in the comments.
\";}i:39;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:14:\"Matt: 12 Signs\";s:4:\"guid\";s:30:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/12-signs/\";s:4:\"link\";s:30:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/12-signs/\";s:11:\"description\";s:162:\"12 Signs That The Recession Has Hit The Internet.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 15 May 2008 19:09:57 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:162:\"12 Signs That The Recession Has Hit The Internet.
\";}i:40;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:59:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WordPress Plugin Releases For 5/14\";s:4:\"guid\";s:87:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/14/wordpress-plugin-releases-for-514/\";s:4:\"link\";s:87:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/14/wordpress-plugin-releases-for-514/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2283:\"Feed Wrangler is a simple plugin that allows one to create custom feeds for their WordPress blog. You can customize the structure of that feed by creating a corresponding file in your blog theme, otherwise the custom feed will default to your RSS2 feed.
Gengo is a full featured plugin that provides multi-language blogging for WordPress. It allows for an unlimited number of translations and summaries for any post and provides template tags to display language information.
The Donations Cloud plugin allows visitors to donate and leave a link with a link text. As soon as a donation is done, the blog is notified by PayPal, and the links will automatically appear on the receiver’s website (at a designated position)
Twitter Blaster is a plugin that will allow your visitors to post to your Twitter account.
The Branded Admin Plugin plugin allows for the application of custom header and footer graphics to the WordPress Admin Section. It also removes WordPress links to better distinguish the site as a custom work and reinforce the sites branding.
ImmerStat gets rid of the WordPress.com Stats widget from the Dashboard and replaces it with an ever-present .PNG in the top-right corner of the admin screen.
When you mouseover a commenter’s name you will see a tip appear displaying some information about that given commenter.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 15 May 2008 03:57:32 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:12:\"Keith Dsouza\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2283:\"Feed Wrangler is a simple plugin that allows one to create custom feeds for their WordPress blog. You can customize the structure of that feed by creating a corresponding file in your blog theme, otherwise the custom feed will default to your RSS2 feed.
Gengo is a full featured plugin that provides multi-language blogging for WordPress. It allows for an unlimited number of translations and summaries for any post and provides template tags to display language information.
The Donations Cloud plugin allows visitors to donate and leave a link with a link text. As soon as a donation is done, the blog is notified by PayPal, and the links will automatically appear on the receiver’s website (at a designated position)
Twitter Blaster is a plugin that will allow your visitors to post to your Twitter account.
The Branded Admin Plugin plugin allows for the application of custom header and footer graphics to the WordPress Admin Section. It also removes WordPress links to better distinguish the site as a custom work and reinforce the sites branding.
ImmerStat gets rid of the WordPress.com Stats widget from the Dashboard and replaces it with an ever-present .PNG in the top-right corner of the admin screen.
When you mouseover a commenter’s name you will see a tip appear displaying some information about that given commenter.
\";}i:41;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:23:\"Matt: WP-based Bookings\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/wp-based-bookings/\";s:4:\"link\";s:39:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/wp-based-bookings/\";s:11:\"description\";s:296:\"\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Thu, 15 May 2008 01:41:57 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:6:\"glenda\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:296:\"StayPress is a collection of plugins that will turn a standard vanilla installation of WordPress or WordPress MU into a property management and bookings system.
\";}i:42;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:75:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WP Plugin: Magnify.net Multimedia Search and Embed\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3546\";s:4:\"link\";s:102:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/14/wp-plugin-magnifynet-multimedia-search-and-embed/\";s:11:\"description\";s:1382:\"StayPress is a collection of plugins that will turn a standard vanilla installation of WordPress or WordPress MU into a property management and bookings system.
Magnify.net has released a media search and upload tool in the form of a plugin for WordPress (and for Movable Type). The plugin requires WordPress 2.5 or above and the plugin lets the user search and embed video and images from a variety of networks into their posts. The plugin also provides the ability to shoot and publish videoblog posts using a webcam from within the WordPress and Movable Type platform and users can search and embed video from YouTube, AOL, Yahoo, BlipTV, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Clipsyndicate, Google Video, Veoh, Red Lasso, and more.
Install is relatively simple, though it involves more than just uploading one file. The plugin adds a small button to the post page and provides a search and embed interface for the various multimedia elements including a tab for webcam capture and embed. I would imagine a natural extension of this plugin in the form of enabling video comments for blogs like Seesmic and a screencast capture tool would be a very nice addition for the future. Read more reviews and opinions on the new plugin on Techmeme.
Disclosure: Weblog Tools Videos is built on the Magnify.net service
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Wed, 14 May 2008 21:01:55 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:10:\"Mark Ghosh\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:1382:\"Magnify.net has released a media search and upload tool in the form of a plugin for WordPress (and for Movable Type). The plugin requires WordPress 2.5 or above and the plugin lets the user search and embed video and images from a variety of networks into their posts. The plugin also provides the ability to shoot and publish videoblog posts using a webcam from within the WordPress and Movable Type platform and users can search and embed video from YouTube, AOL, Yahoo, BlipTV, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Clipsyndicate, Google Video, Veoh, Red Lasso, and more.
Install is relatively simple, though it involves more than just uploading one file. The plugin adds a small button to the post page and provides a search and embed interface for the various multimedia elements including a tab for webcam capture and embed. I would imagine a natural extension of this plugin in the form of enabling video comments for blogs like Seesmic and a screencast capture tool would be a very nice addition for the future. Read more reviews and opinions on the new plugin on Techmeme.
Disclosure: Weblog Tools Videos is built on the Magnify.net service
\";}i:43;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:44:\"Weblog Tools Collection: Automattic Turns 21\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3525\";s:4:\"link\";s:73:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/14/automattic-turns-21/\";s:11:\"description\";s:5061:\"Not 21 years old, but that is now the number of people employed by Automattic. As was reported by Ed Sutherland of ProBlogNews.com, Automattic has hired Warwick Poole, former director of systems at Vidavee which was recently acquired by Vignette. According to his job title as “Systemologist” Warwick will be in control of.
Keeping the barriers to online publishing low, by scaling the infrastructure which runs Wordpress.org, Wordpress.com, Akismet.com and other related projects.
But that wasn’t enough for me. I sent Warwick an email containing a few questions regarding his title, as well as his role within Automattic. Here are his responses.
Jeff - First off, congratulations on becoming the 21st employee for Automattic.
Warwick - Thanks, I am very pleased to be involved with Automattic.
Jeff - Mind telling us how this all came about?
Warwick - I am a longtime WordPress user. So I have known about the company for a while. I found Automattic’s recruitment note hidden in their HTTP headers (an innovation typical of this group) and got in contact. Then I met some of the Automattic team.
Jeff - What will your primary focus be while employed by Automattic?
Warwick - For the next few weeks, supporting WordPress.com users and helping bloggers with any support questions they have. All new employees work the support desk for 3 weeks as a way to grok the user experience and to get to know the product(s) well. It’s a great idea. All companies should do this.
Check this: http://automattic.com/about/how-we-work
Jeff - Your role within the company has been labeled as a Systemologist, just what exactly does that mean?
Warwick - It’s a made up title, like some of the other Automattic titles ![\";)\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif\"){kind=icon}
I will be working in the Systems group which looks after the infrastructure powering WordPress.com, WordPress.org and Akismet, and some other projects no doubt.
Jeff - The job criteria states that the employee will be working on keeping the barriers to publishing low while scaling various projects administered by Automattic. Can you give us a couple of your ideas on how you plan on improving the scalability of these projects?
Warwick - Thats not an official Automattic job criteria, I wrote that on my LinkedIn profile. To me, WordPress represents liberty: an instant global publishing system that is accessible to anyone who has the means to be online. The Automattic team is world class and an incredibly talented group of people and their systems are scaling already to impressive levels. This is accomplished with a team so small that it’s hard to fathom. I’ll be working with these guys.
Jeff - What can the end users of the various projects administered under the Automattic umbrella look forward to with your employment?
Warwick - Someone who can speak Afrikaans. But most importantly, a vegetarian amongst the BBQ lovers at Automattic
With the popularity of WordPress.com along with other Automattic projects increasing, Warwick will have plenty of work ahead of him to accomplish. But I think it’s reassuring to see Automattic take a vested interest in trying to make the WordPress software as scalable as possible. Keep in mind that WordPress.com and WordPress.org are live examples of what is capable with WordPress. What is accomplished by those two sites can be equally accomplished by anyone else.
Congratulations to Warwick for becoming the next member of the Automattic team.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Wed, 14 May 2008 12:14:07 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:5061:\"Not 21 years old, but that is now the number of people employed by Automattic. As was reported by Ed Sutherland of ProBlogNews.com, Automattic has hired Warwick Poole, former director of systems at Vidavee which was recently acquired by Vignette. According to his job title as “Systemologist” Warwick will be in control of.
Keeping the barriers to online publishing low, by scaling the infrastructure which runs Wordpress.org, Wordpress.com, Akismet.com and other related projects.
But that wasn’t enough for me. I sent Warwick an email containing a few questions regarding his title, as well as his role within Automattic. Here are his responses.
Jeff - First off, congratulations on becoming the 21st employee for Automattic.
Warwick - Thanks, I am very pleased to be involved with Automattic.
Jeff - Mind telling us how this all came about?
Warwick - I am a longtime WordPress user. So I have known about the company for a while. I found Automattic’s recruitment note hidden in their HTTP headers (an innovation typical of this group) and got in contact. Then I met some of the Automattic team.
Jeff - What will your primary focus be while employed by Automattic?
Warwick - For the next few weeks, supporting WordPress.com users and helping bloggers with any support questions they have. All new employees work the support desk for 3 weeks as a way to grok the user experience and to get to know the product(s) well. It’s a great idea. All companies should do this.
Check this: http://automattic.com/about/how-we-work
Jeff - Your role within the company has been labeled as a Systemologist, just what exactly does that mean?
Warwick - It’s a made up title, like some of the other Automattic titles I will be working in the Systems group which looks after the infrastructure powering WordPress.com, WordPress.org and Akismet, and some other projects no doubt.
Jeff - The job criteria states that the employee will be working on keeping the barriers to publishing low while scaling various projects administered by Automattic. Can you give us a couple of your ideas on how you plan on improving the scalability of these projects?
Warwick - Thats not an official Automattic job criteria, I wrote that on my LinkedIn profile. To me, WordPress represents liberty: an instant global publishing system that is accessible to anyone who has the means to be online. The Automattic team is world class and an incredibly talented group of people and their systems are scaling already to impressive levels. This is accomplished with a team so small that it’s hard to fathom. I’ll be working with these guys.
Jeff - What can the end users of the various projects administered under the Automattic umbrella look forward to with your employment?
Warwick - Someone who can speak Afrikaans. But most importantly, a vegetarian amongst the BBQ lovers at Automattic
With the popularity of WordPress.com along with other Automattic projects increasing, Warwick will have plenty of work ahead of him to accomplish. But I think it’s reassuring to see Automattic take a vested interest in trying to make the WordPress software as scalable as possible. Keep in mind that WordPress.com and WordPress.org are live examples of what is capable with WordPress. What is accomplished by those two sites can be equally accomplished by anyone else.
Congratulations to Warwick for becoming the next member of the Automattic team.
\";}i:44;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:74:\"Mark Jaquith: Bob Barr enters U.S. presidential race, powered by WordPress\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/?p=150\";s:4:\"link\";s:102:\"http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/bob-barr-enters-us-presidential-race-powered-by-wordpress/\";s:11:\"description\";s:1696:\"Bob Barr, former Georgia Congressman, has announced a bid for the Libertarian nomination for president. He’s likely to receive it. Mr. Barr’s campaign blog is powered by WordPress. He even has open comments on his blog’s entries!
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/markjaquith.wordpress.com/150/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/markjaquith.wordpress.com/150/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/markjaquith.wordpress.com/150/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/markjaquith.wordpress.com/150/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/markjaquith.wordpress.com/150/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/markjaquith.wordpress.com/150/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/markjaquith.wordpress.com/150/\")
![\"\"](\"http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=markjaquith.wordpress.com&blog=316&post=150&subd=markjaquith&ref=&feed=1\")
Bob Barr, former Georgia Congressman, has announced a bid for the Libertarian nomination for president. He’s likely to receive it. Mr. Barr’s campaign blog is powered by WordPress. He even has open comments on his blog’s entries!
![\"r3volution-continued-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/r3volution-continued-thumbnail.png\")
R3colution Continued is a one column theme. Clicking on the menu image will show you a hidden content area which you can manage using a widget provided in the theme admin section.
![\"keesheep-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/keesheep-thumbnail.png\")
KeeSheep is a two column widget-ready theme which is made up of bright orange colors. The theme makes good use of rounded corners throughout the theme.
![\"elegance-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/elegance-thumbnail.png\")
Elegance is a two column widget-ready theme with light colors. It comes with the PSD source files to edit graphics. There’s a cool ajax text loader at the top and other effects.
![\"true-colours-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/true-colours-thumbnail.png\")
True Colours is a two column fixed-width, widget-ready theme which makes use of sea-blue and green colors.
Corporate
![\"corporate-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/corporate-thumbnail.png\")
Corporate is a two column widget ready theme. The theme uses a flash based plugin to rotate header images. The rest of theme is simple and uses basic colors. [EDIT] Removed due to copyright complaints.
![\"yg-desire-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/05/yg-desire-thumbnail.png\")
YG Desire is a 2 column widget-ready themes. Theme uses deep background colors but the content area is plain white for maximum readability.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Tue, 13 May 2008 03:55:06 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:12:\"Keith Dsouza\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2668:\"
R3colution Continued is a one column theme. Clicking on the menu image will show you a hidden content area which you can manage using a widget provided in the theme admin section.
KeeSheep is a two column widget-ready theme which is made up of bright orange colors. The theme makes good use of rounded corners throughout the theme.
Elegance is a two column widget-ready theme with light colors. It comes with the PSD source files to edit graphics. There’s a cool ajax text loader at the top and other effects.
True Colours is a two column fixed-width, widget-ready theme which makes use of sea-blue and green colors.
Corporate
Corporate is a two column widget ready theme. The theme uses a flash based plugin to rotate header images. The rest of theme is simple and uses basic colors. [EDIT] Removed due to copyright complaints.
YG Desire is a 2 column widget-ready themes. Theme uses deep background colors but the content area is plain white for maximum readability.
\";}i:46;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:21:\"Matt: Milan Day Three\";s:4:\"guid\";s:20:\"http://ma.tt/?p=5406\";s:4:\"link\";s:37:\"http://ma.tt/2008/05/milan-day-three/\";s:11:\"description\";s:22818:\"A bit of sightseeing. Milan at sunset.
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\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 12 May 2008 20:46:23 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:22818:\"A bit of sightseeing. Milan at sunset.
\";}i:47;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:66:\"Weblog Tools Collection: Chronological Order of Comments on a Post\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3537\";s:4:\"link\";s:95:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/12/chronological-order-of-comments-on-a-post/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2679:\"I never get this right. There are times when I will be reading a post and it feels as if the chronological order of comments would make better sense. At other times, such as the comments on this post on IP Democracy (which has newest comments on top), seems opposite. I actually found it quite difficult and counter intuitive to read through the comments on that post to follow the story as it unfolded. Scrolling upwards on a post is just plain weird. On more popular posts, readers tend to complain when the list of comments grows beyond a certain number and they loose the forest for the trees. The TechCrunch comment threads are simply useless if you want to follow any part of the discussion and I tend to just read the highlighted ones from Michael or the other authors. On the other hand, comment reply threads are unwieldy, take up too much space and somehow fail to mirror forum discussions. Alternatively, outsourcing comments to a third party is just not an elegant or attractive solution for most people.
I feel that commenting systems on blogs need to evolve some more. Some blogs have decided to spin off comments to forums. Others have moved their comments to external services such as Disqus. Yet others like TechCrunch move comments to a linked forum for further discussion after the post has become somewhat stale.
What do forums have that comment threads on blogs do not? Are paged comments a good idea? Should comments threads be pruned by type? Are you more willing to participate in a forum discussion than post a comment on a blog? If that is the case, how could we enhance commenting on blogs to mimic the reader involvement of forums?
I don’t think there is a single right answer. However, I do consider our readers’ comments to be the lifeline of our blogs and shy away from shipping them off elsewhere. That being said, Disqus and Intense Debate have the right idea but the execution takes away from blog ownership. Comment editing and tagging, and comment to post and comment to commenter relationships need a lot more TLC if comments are to become as ubiquitous and as widely used as forum posts. Gravatars go a long way in bringing those relationships closer to a global audience but more needs to be done.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the present state of comments in the blogosphere. Did you come across a commenting system that bridges some of these gaps? Was there some feature that stuck with you or made you go Hmmm? What would make commenting less of a hurdle for you?
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 12 May 2008 20:32:17 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:10:\"Mark Ghosh\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2679:\"I never get this right. There are times when I will be reading a post and it feels as if the chronological order of comments would make better sense. At other times, such as the comments on this post on IP Democracy (which has newest comments on top), seems opposite. I actually found it quite difficult and counter intuitive to read through the comments on that post to follow the story as it unfolded. Scrolling upwards on a post is just plain weird. On more popular posts, readers tend to complain when the list of comments grows beyond a certain number and they loose the forest for the trees. The TechCrunch comment threads are simply useless if you want to follow any part of the discussion and I tend to just read the highlighted ones from Michael or the other authors. On the other hand, comment reply threads are unwieldy, take up too much space and somehow fail to mirror forum discussions. Alternatively, outsourcing comments to a third party is just not an elegant or attractive solution for most people.
I feel that commenting systems on blogs need to evolve some more. Some blogs have decided to spin off comments to forums. Others have moved their comments to external services such as Disqus. Yet others like TechCrunch move comments to a linked forum for further discussion after the post has become somewhat stale.
What do forums have that comment threads on blogs do not? Are paged comments a good idea? Should comments threads be pruned by type? Are you more willing to participate in a forum discussion than post a comment on a blog? If that is the case, how could we enhance commenting on blogs to mimic the reader involvement of forums?
I don’t think there is a single right answer. However, I do consider our readers’ comments to be the lifeline of our blogs and shy away from shipping them off elsewhere. That being said, Disqus and Intense Debate have the right idea but the execution takes away from blog ownership. Comment editing and tagging, and comment to post and comment to commenter relationships need a lot more TLC if comments are to become as ubiquitous and as widely used as forum posts. Gravatars go a long way in bringing those relationships closer to a global audience but more needs to be done.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the present state of comments in the blogosphere. Did you come across a commenting system that bridges some of these gaps? Was there some feature that stuck with you or made you go Hmmm? What would make commenting less of a hurdle for you?
\";}i:48;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:75:\"Weblog Tools Collection: 15 Websites and,or Services I’d Actually Pay For\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3527\";s:4:\"link\";s:109:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/05/11/15-websites-andor-services-i%e2%80%99d-actually-pay-for/\";s:11:\"description\";s:4477:\"15 Websites / Services I’d Actually Pay For Ryan lists fifteen websites/online services he would be willing to pay for, if they were not free. Worthy of note is the following in the list: Wordpress.org: The benefit of blogging with WP is so significant (SEO, functionality, flexibility) that it’s well worth paying for. I’d probably pay a $200 for an installation… which makes me realize how much I rely on the product.
This is an incredibly interesting line of thought and I am sure a lot of Web 2.0 companies/services would kill to have more user data and input on this. I strongly believe that revenue models and monetization techniques are the stuff that make or break a company in spite of the fantastic idea/concept that it might provide. In that spirit, here is my list of 12 things online (15 things were hard to find quickly) I am willing to pay for.
What would you be willing to pay for? If famous OSS programs were not OSS, would you pay for them? Does the cost of software make it less or more attractive (not the relative cost, but just the fact that it is not free)? Would you pay for Twitter? How about Flickr or Google Analytics? What if TechCrunch went to a registration model? Would it still be as popular? How much do you spend on personal online services every month today? Are online vendors sharing more of your wallet today than say, two years ago? Do you think this trend will continue to increase?
These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 12 May 2008 00:15:04 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:10:\"Mark Ghosh\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:4477:\"15 Websites / Services I’d Actually Pay For Ryan lists fifteen websites/online services he would be willing to pay for, if they were not free. Worthy of note is the following in the list: Wordpress.org: The benefit of blogging with WP is so significant (SEO, functionality, flexibility) that it’s well worth paying for. I’d probably pay a $200 for an installation… which makes me realize how much I rely on the product.
This is an incredibly interesting line of thought and I am sure a lot of Web 2.0 companies/services would kill to have more user data and input on this. I strongly believe that revenue models and monetization techniques are the stuff that make or break a company in spite of the fantastic idea/concept that it might provide. In that spirit, here is my list of 12 things online (15 things were hard to find quickly) I am willing to pay for.
What would you be willing to pay for? If famous OSS programs were not OSS, would you pay for them? Does the cost of software make it less or more attractive (not the relative cost, but just the fact that it is not free)? Would you pay for Twitter? How about Flickr or Google Analytics? What if TechCrunch went to a registration model? Would it still be as popular? How much do you spend on personal online services every month today? Are online vendors sharing more of your wallet today than say, two years ago? Do you think this trend will continue to increase?
These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night.
\";}i:49;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:58:\"Lorelle on WP: Learning from the Voices of WordCamp Dallas\";s:4:\"guid\";s:36:\"http://lorelle.wordpress.com/?p=2546\";s:4:\"link\";s:84:\"http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/learning-from-the-voices-of-wordcamp-dallas/\";s:11:\"description\";s:10584:\"![\"WordPress](\"http://lorelle.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/wpnews1.png\")
Charles Stricklin, the host of WordCamp Dallas 2008 and The WordPress Podcast has released The Voices of WordCamp Dallas, a collection of quick interviews and questions I asked during the event.
I was so amazed at how open everyone was, willing to share their thoughts on WordPress, WordCamp, blogging, and the magic of the web today. I talked to bloggers who had been blogging for years and newbies, with only a few weeks under their belts. It was a collection of the whose who and whose upcoming in the blogosphere and thank you to Charles for sharing the magic that his efforts brought together in one place.
Some of the interviews are excerpted and I hope to bring them to you in their entirety soon, so stay tuned. In the 30 minute set of The Voices of WordCamp Dallas, you will hear:
00.10 Bill Sholar of Webfratelli
00.37 Dan Bates
00.59 Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today
01.45 Ptah Dunbar
02.34 Bryan Lee
03:14 Cory Miller of iThemes Media
03:44 Henry Pugsley
04:07 Kerry Webster of WEBsmith internet consultants
04:44 Wendi McGowan of Wendistry, LLC and Scott Ellis of vsellis.com
05:36 Dave Curlee and Katherine Curlee of RealCookN.tv
06:28 DB Ferguson of No Fact Zone
07:48 Alexander Frison of Not a Niche
09:18 Tony Cecala of Holistic Networker
10:04 Mike Borschow of MetroQ.com
11:55 Mark Ghosh of Weblog Tools Collection
12:30 Dorian Karthauser of DK Enterprises (beginner blogger)
17:35 Charlene Mullenweg (sister of Matt Mullenweg)
23:15 Jim Halloran of AlcoholismDiseaseFree.com
24:13 Ryan Joy and Michelle Greer of Volusion and Michelle’s Blog
26:41 Kathleen Ratliff
27:14 William Addington of Williamedia
28:31 Doug Smith of smithsrus.com and Hide a Pod
29:25 Ronald Huereca of Readers Appreciation Project and Weblog Tools Collection
30:23 Dimitri (blog not public - biotech)
I look forward to repeating this fascinating dialog in future WordCamps and blogging events I travel to and speak at. It’s a humbling experience as I come to teach and come away learning more than I ever expected. Thank you to all for sharing your thoughts and passions with me!
![\"\"](\"http://lorelle.files.wordpress.com/2006/08/sig.gif\")
Site Search Tags: wordpresss news, wordcamp, wordcamp dallas, voices, wordpress community, interview, podcast, mp3
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won\'t Tell You About Blogging.
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Charles Stricklin, the host of WordCamp Dallas 2008 and The WordPress Podcast has released The Voices of WordCamp Dallas, a collection of quick interviews and questions I asked during the event.
I was so amazed at how open everyone was, willing to share their thoughts on WordPress, WordCamp, blogging, and the magic of the web today. I talked to bloggers who had been blogging for years and newbies, with only a few weeks under their belts. It was a collection of the whose who and whose upcoming in the blogosphere and thank you to Charles for sharing the magic that his efforts brought together in one place.
Some of the interviews are excerpted and I hope to bring them to you in their entirety soon, so stay tuned. In the 30 minute set of The Voices of WordCamp Dallas, you will hear:
00.10 Bill Sholar of Webfratelli
00.37 Dan Bates
00.59 Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today
01.45 Ptah Dunbar
02.34 Bryan Lee
03:14 Cory Miller of iThemes Media
03:44 Henry Pugsley
04:07 Kerry Webster of WEBsmith internet consultants
04:44 Wendi McGowan of Wendistry, LLC and Scott Ellis of vsellis.com
05:36 Dave Curlee and Katherine Curlee of RealCookN.tv
06:28 DB Ferguson of No Fact Zone
07:48 Alexander Frison of Not a Niche
09:18 Tony Cecala of Holistic Networker
10:04 Mike Borschow of MetroQ.com
11:55 Mark Ghosh of Weblog Tools Collection
12:30 Dorian Karthauser of DK Enterprises (beginner blogger)
17:35 Charlene Mullenweg (sister of Matt Mullenweg)
23:15 Jim Halloran of AlcoholismDiseaseFree.com
24:13 Ryan Joy and Michelle Greer of Volusion and Michelle’s Blog
26:41 Kathleen Ratliff
27:14 William Addington of Williamedia
28:31 Doug Smith of smithsrus.com and Hide a Pod
29:25 Ronald Huereca of Readers Appreciation Project and Weblog Tools Collection
30:23 Dimitri (blog not public - biotech)
I look forward to repeating this fascinating dialog in future WordCamps and blogging events I travel to and speak at. It’s a humbling experience as I come to teach and come away learning more than I ever expected. Thank you to all for sharing your thoughts and passions with me!
Site Search Tags: wordpresss news, wordcamp, wordcamp dallas, voices, wordpress community, interview, podcast, mp3
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won\'t Tell You About Blogging.
Social Networking Gets a Sanity Check, from GigaOM.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:18:07 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:140:\"Social Networking Gets a Sanity Check, from GigaOM.
\";}i:1;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:80:\"Weblog Tools Collection: 10 Video Tutorials for Learning Basic Web Design Skills\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3640\";s:4:\"link\";s:109:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/06/16/10-video-tutorials-for-learning-basic-web-design-skills/\";s:11:\"description\";s:471:\"10 Video Tutorials for Learning Basic Web Design Skills: Some interesting video tutorials linked from Mashable that could help budding web designers or dabblers put a new sheen on their existing blog or website. Of interest are such video tutorials as “How to turn any web template into a WordPress theme“.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:42:53 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:10:\"Mark Ghosh\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:471:\"10 Video Tutorials for Learning Basic Web Design Skills: Some interesting video tutorials linked from Mashable that could help budding web designers or dabblers put a new sheen on their existing blog or website. Of interest are such video tutorials as “How to turn any web template into a WordPress theme“.
\";}i:2;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:45:\"Donncha: Catch website file changes with AIDE\";s:4:\"guid\";s:29:\"http://ocaoimh.ie/?p=89493743\";s:4:\"link\";s:66:\"http://ocaoimh.ie/2008/06/16/catch-website-file-changes-with-aide/\";s:11:\"description\";s:3263:\"A week ago I suggested installing AIDE to track changes on your server in case it had been hacked. I think AIDE Is so useful that it deserves a post of it’s own. Here’s a short guide to get it working properly.
The AIDE .deb package includes configuration files for over 80 different software packages or log files. That’s great if you have all that software installed or want to keep a paranoid eye on /var but what if you only care about the directory where your website lives?
When I first installed AIDE (using apt-get install aide), it said I needed to run /usr/sbin/aideinit after installation. Every morning I’d get an email from AIDE with a list of changed files from all over my server, including mail logs, Apache logs, and more. I didn’t need all that so I removed the files from /etc/aide.conf.d/ except my WordPress config file:
/home/web/ Checksums
!/home/web/logs/.*
!/home/web/public_html/wp-content/cache/.*
!/home/web/.*/htdocs/wp-content/cache/.*
Unfortunately after I removed the configuration files the daily AIDE email was flooded with open_dir() errors:
Output is 40577 lines, truncated to 1000.
open_dir():Not a directory: /home/donncha/.bashrc
open_dir():Not a directory: /home/donncha/.bash_profile
open_dir():Not a directory: /home/donncha/.viminfo
open_dir():Not a directory: /home/donncha/.bash_history
AIDE was rendered useless by all the errors. Thankfully it was easy to fix. Run aideinit again and it regenerates the AIDE database.
# /usr/sbin/aideinit
Overwrite existing /var/lib/aide/aide.db.new [Yn]? y
Running aide –init…AIDE, version 0.13.1
### AIDE database at /var/lib/aide/aide.db.new initialized.
Overwrite /var/lib/aide/aide.db [yN]? y
For good measure, I ran /etc/cron.daily/aide again which sent me the “Daily AIDE report”, and yes, it reported that my .htaccess file had been changed. Nice.
If your site is on a shared hosting account then you’re out of luck, but if you have a dedicated host, or virtual private server (VPS) then please consider using AIDE to keep track of changed files. It will send you a short email every day listing changed, added or deleted files. It may save you a lot of hassle and embarrassment if your site is hacked.
Related Posts
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:48:31 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:7:\"Donncha\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:3263:\"A week ago I suggested installing AIDE to track changes on your server in case it had been hacked. I think AIDE Is so useful that it deserves a post of it’s own. Here’s a short guide to get it working properly.
The AIDE .deb package includes configuration files for over 80 different software packages or log files. That’s great if you have all that software installed or want to keep a paranoid eye on /var but what if you only care about the directory where your website lives?
When I first installed AIDE (using apt-get install aide), it said I needed to run /usr/sbin/aideinit after installation. Every morning I’d get an email from AIDE with a list of changed files from all over my server, including mail logs, Apache logs, and more. I didn’t need all that so I removed the files from /etc/aide.conf.d/ except my WordPress config file:
/home/web/ Checksums
!/home/web/logs/.*
!/home/web/public_html/wp-content/cache/.*
!/home/web/.*/htdocs/wp-content/cache/.*
Unfortunately after I removed the configuration files the daily AIDE email was flooded with open_dir() errors:
Output is 40577 lines, truncated to 1000.
open_dir():Not a directory: /home/donncha/.bashrc
open_dir():Not a directory: /home/donncha/.bash_profile
open_dir():Not a directory: /home/donncha/.viminfo
open_dir():Not a directory: /home/donncha/.bash_history
AIDE was rendered useless by all the errors. Thankfully it was easy to fix. Run aideinit again and it regenerates the AIDE database.
# /usr/sbin/aideinit
Overwrite existing /var/lib/aide/aide.db.new [Yn]? y
Running aide –init…AIDE, version 0.13.1
### AIDE database at /var/lib/aide/aide.db.new initialized.
Overwrite /var/lib/aide/aide.db [yN]? y
For good measure, I ran /etc/cron.daily/aide again which sent me the “Daily AIDE report”, and yes, it reported that my .htaccess file had been changed. Nice.
If your site is on a shared hosting account then you’re out of luck, but if you have a dedicated host, or virtual private server (VPS) then please consider using AIDE to keep track of changed files. It will send you a short email every day listing changed, added or deleted files. It may save you a lot of hassle and embarrassment if your site is hacked.
Related Posts
\";}i:3;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:30:\"Matt: Seth’s Email Checklist\";s:4:\"guid\";s:20:\"http://ma.tt/?p=6498\";s:4:\"link\";s:43:\"http://ma.tt/2008/06/seths-email-checklist/\";s:11:\"description\";s:244:\"Seth’s Email Checklist. “Before you hit send on that next email, perhaps you should run down this list, just to be sure.” Amen!
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:24:35 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:244:\"Seth’s Email Checklist. “Before you hit send on that next email, perhaps you should run down this list, just to be sure.” Amen!
\";}i:4;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:50:\"Weblog Tools Collection: The Ownership Of Comments\";s:4:\"guid\";s:40:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/?p=3648\";s:4:\"link\";s:79:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/06/14/the-ownership-of-comments/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2958:\"I’ve been reading a very interesting discussion over on the IntenseDebate blog with regards to the question, Who Owns Your Comments? IntenseDebate is one of three major third party commenting systems available. The other two are Disqus and CoComment.
Before I dive into the WordPress aspect of this question, you need to know that IntenseDebate is asking this question because they are a third party commenting system. Therefor, they act as a link between the blog and the commenting system which is outside of the in-house solution provided by publishing platforms such as WordPress. Because of this fact, IntenseDebate needs to figure out how comment editing between the two will work out for the best.
However, the question IntenseDebate raised can be addressed to the realm of blogging in general. When you browse around WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress powered blogs and leave a comment, who really owns that comment? You or the blogger? Or should there be shared ownership between the two?
A number of interesting points were made in the comments of the ID post. For instance, some users didn’t care who owned their comments just as long as they couldn’t be changed by the blog author. Others believe that because of the way U.S. copyright law works, commenter’s retain the ownership and copyright of their comments. While still others believe that a Creative Commons commenting license is in order for Blog owners to display on their site.
Where do I fall on this issue? Bloggers have had the ability to edit comments for quite some time now. I believe that editing a comment to misconstrue the original comment is morally wrong. In fact, I believe the entire issue of what bloggers do with comments after they have been posted comes down to morality. In my own experience, I have only edited a few comments due to misspelling or the posting of personal information such as phone numbers or email addresses.
I don’t believe a commenting bill of rights needs to be created in which all blogs should follow. However, I do think that each blogger should create and make publicly accessible a commenting policy. This policy should clearly explain what you as the blog author will do with comments posted on your site, who retains ownership of those comments and explain circumstances which would require you to edit an end user’s comment.
That’s what I think. Let me know what you think in the COMMENTS!
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:09:18 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:13:\"Jeff Chandler\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:2958:\"I’ve been reading a very interesting discussion over on the IntenseDebate blog with regards to the question, Who Owns Your Comments? IntenseDebate is one of three major third party commenting systems available. The other two are Disqus and CoComment.
Before I dive into the WordPress aspect of this question, you need to know that IntenseDebate is asking this question because they are a third party commenting system. Therefor, they act as a link between the blog and the commenting system which is outside of the in-house solution provided by publishing platforms such as WordPress. Because of this fact, IntenseDebate needs to figure out how comment editing between the two will work out for the best.
However, the question IntenseDebate raised can be addressed to the realm of blogging in general. When you browse around WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress powered blogs and leave a comment, who really owns that comment? You or the blogger? Or should there be shared ownership between the two?
A number of interesting points were made in the comments of the ID post. For instance, some users didn’t care who owned their comments just as long as they couldn’t be changed by the blog author. Others believe that because of the way U.S. copyright law works, commenter’s retain the ownership and copyright of their comments. While still others believe that a Creative Commons commenting license is in order for Blog owners to display on their site.
Where do I fall on this issue? Bloggers have had the ability to edit comments for quite some time now. I believe that editing a comment to misconstrue the original comment is morally wrong. In fact, I believe the entire issue of what bloggers do with comments after they have been posted comes down to morality. In my own experience, I have only edited a few comments due to misspelling or the posting of personal information such as phone numbers or email addresses.
I don’t believe a commenting bill of rights needs to be created in which all blogs should follow. However, I do think that each blogger should create and make publicly accessible a commenting policy. This policy should clearly explain what you as the blog author will do with comments posted on your site, who retains ownership of those comments and explain circumstances which would require you to edit an end user’s comment.
That’s what I think. Let me know what you think in the COMMENTS!
\";}i:5;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:52:\"Gravatar: Intense Debate Introduces Gravatar Support\";s:4:\"guid\";s:35:\"http://gravatar.wordpress.com/?p=56\";s:4:\"link\";s:79:\"http://blog.gravatar.com/2008/06/13/intense-debate-introduces-gravatar-support/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2175:\"The folks at comment tracking service Intense Debate have rolled out Gravatar support.
Now all Intense Debate users can choose to use a Gravatar instead of upload a file for their avatar. Just enter your email address and you’re done. Couldn’t get much simpler than that.
Gravatars used through Intense Debate appear on all comments that a user makes on every site powered by Intense Debate, along with links to the user’s social profiles and other info — all of which goes along nicely with the “global” in Gravatar.
For more details, check out the post over on Inside the Debate.
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/gravatar.wordpress.com/56/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/gravatar.wordpress.com/56/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/gravatar.wordpress.com/56/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/gravatar.wordpress.com/56/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/gravatar.wordpress.com/56/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/gravatar.wordpress.com/56/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/gravatar.wordpress.com/56/\")
![\"\"](\"http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=blog.gravatar.com&blog=1886259&post=56&subd=gravatar&ref=&feed=1\")
The folks at comment tracking service Intense Debate have rolled out Gravatar support.
Now all Intense Debate users can choose to use a Gravatar instead of upload a file for their avatar. Just enter your email address and you’re done. Couldn’t get much simpler than that.
Gravatars used through Intense Debate appear on all comments that a user makes on every site powered by Intense Debate, along with links to the user’s social profiles and other info — all of which goes along nicely with the “global” in Gravatar.
For more details, check out the post over on Inside the Debate.
Useful WordPress Tricks: StylizedWeb has an interesting article on simple but useful WordPress functions and code tricks that can make your theme succint, short and keep it optimized. Examples are simple to understand an include code to copy and paste to try on your own.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:59:28 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:10:\"Mark Ghosh\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:351:\"Useful WordPress Tricks: StylizedWeb has an interesting article on simple but useful WordPress functions and code tricks that can make your theme succint, short and keep it optimized. Examples are simple to understand an include code to copy and paste to try on your own.
\";}i:7;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:72:\"Mark Jaquith: Ron Paul launches Campaign for Liberty with WordPress blog\";s:4:\"guid\";s:39:\"http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/?p=153\";s:4:\"link\";s:103:\"http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/2008/06/13/ron-paul-launches-campaign-for-liberty-with-wordpress-blog/\";s:11:\"description\";s:1674:\"Ron Paul formally ended his U.S. presidential campaign and launched “phase 2″: the Campaign for Liberty — with the blog powered by WordPress, natch.
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/categories/markjaquith.wordpress.com/153/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/tags/markjaquith.wordpress.com/153/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/markjaquith.wordpress.com/153/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/markjaquith.wordpress.com/153/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/markjaquith.wordpress.com/153/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/markjaquith.wordpress.com/153/\")
![\"\"](\"http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/markjaquith.wordpress.com/153/\")
![\"\"](\"http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=markjaquith.wordpress.com&blog=316&post=153&subd=markjaquith&ref=&feed=1\")
Ron Paul formally ended his U.S. presidential campaign and launched “phase 2″: the Campaign for Liberty — with the blog powered by WordPress, natch.
A preview of the upcoming theme for BuddyPress. Be sure to click through to the full-size versions. BuddyPress is coming along nicely, and a good example of what is possible with the WordPress platform.
\";s:7:\"pubdate\";s:31:\"Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:57:00 +0000\";s:2:\"dc\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";s:4:\"Matt\";}s:7:\"summary\";s:287:\"A preview of the upcoming theme for BuddyPress. Be sure to click through to the full-size versions. BuddyPress is coming along nicely, and a good example of what is possible with the WordPress platform.
\";}i:9;a:7:{s:5:\"title\";s:58:\"Weblog Tools Collection: WordPress Theme Releases For 6/12\";s:4:\"guid\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/06/12/wordpress-theme-releases-for-612/\";s:4:\"link\";s:86:\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2008/06/12/wordpress-theme-releases-for-612/\";s:11:\"description\";s:2975:\"![\"faleonis-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/06/faleonisthumbnail.png\" "\\"faleonis-thumbnail\\"")
Faleonis is a two column widget-ready theme with inbuilt gravatar support WordPress 2.5 and above. The theme also shows a gravatar of the author at the end of each post.
![\"syrup-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/06/syrupthumbnail.png\" "\\"syrup-thumbnail\\"")
Syrup is a two-column widget-ready theme which provides users with extensive options panel to control the look and feel of the theme. You can manage custom color schemes, layouts, sidebar positioning, font sizes and more from the admin panel.
![\"darkclassic-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/06/darkclassicthumbnail.png\" "\\"darkclassic-thumbnail\\"")
DarkClassic is a two column widget-ready theme made up of black color with a green tinge. The theme has built in tag support.
![\"gymmetry-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/06/gymmetrythumbnail.png\" "\\"gymmetry-thumbnail\\"")
Gymmetry is a two column widget-ready theme. You can customize the blog title and sidebar styles along with the header of the theme. The theme can also be customized to use 4 different colors.
![\"wp-newsmag-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/06/wpnewsmagthumbnail.png\" "\\"wp-newsmag-thumbnail\\"")
WP Newsmag is a two column widget-ready magazine style theme. The theme has slider functions for the bottom bar and featured articles.
![\"comicpress-thumbnail\"](\"http://weblogtoolscollection.com/b2-img/2008/06/comicpressthumbnail.png\" "\\"comicpress-thumbnail\\"")
ComicPress is a theme made special