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WordPress 2.9 beta Review
By Senior Editor – Kris Smith (@croncast)
WordPress release a beta version of its blogging software earlier this week and I thought that I would give it a go. I installed it on my server having read about new features on other blogs a few days ago.
I was hoping to see some of the changes in effect. I did. But I’m not excited.
This release was more about patching things up and plugging some holes on the code side. It isn’t at all about the UI and display layer. It would have been great to see some Admin changes to the grouping of features or a more robust media uploader.
The current one isn’t bad, it’s just too many steps to get to the advanced features for formatting around the images or video. Sizing them is still fine and linking them up to the post or a larger image of the image being inserted are still options are easy to get use.
I was able to install plugins and themes without many issue. Of course all of them displayed messages letting me know that they weren’t tested with this version of WP and they could blow up the universe if installed. Not really on the universe part but it would have been cool if they said that.
Themes were another story. I’m guessing that there are some hooks that have changed that threw off quite a few that I tested but a couple made it through with flying colors. The most frequent problem was the main body column area not displaying.
This goes without saying, but if you’re not as adventurous as me and seeking thrills in new features or a challenge managing an upgrade, then this version of WordPress is for you. You can do the upgrade and won’t even notice the difference. That is until your theme flakes out.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0
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Hey Kris –
What did you think about the some of the new things like image editing, the trash feature, and post thumbnails ?
some thoughts on those here:
http://dougal.gunters.org/blog/2009/10/16/wordpress-2-9-features
and http://technosailor.com/2009/11/11/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-wordpress-2-9/
Hey Raanan,
Been a while hope all is well! You bring up some good points that these are features that are bells and whistles. Image editing is nice for those users that won’t be editing themselves. As that type user if I left it out. I think it will probably have more value for WP.com users that aren’t doing their own installs. And yes, thumbnails are nifty.
Thanks for the links too. I forgot to add the one to Aaron’s post and will make that update. He always is thorough!
You’ll be happy to hear that I have been waiting for this release and telling the other authors that soon we would make the change on this release.
Hey Kris — all is well here — thanks
Ya, from a usability standpoint, the trash feature has been a big deal already in the few weeks I’ve been using it, and the thumbnail functionality is going to make a big difference for lots of users too.
oEmbed support got a huge cheer at the recent WordCamp NYC when it was talked about as it makes adding media so much easier.
And post types is going to make a big impact for more CMS type uses of WordPress.
What’s on your wishlist for 3.0 ?
cheers.
That’s good to hear! I need some more time to think about this . . . Maybe turn it into a blog post
Offhand Wishlist:
1. Semantic integration with Zemanta or OpenCalais
2. WordPress recommended vocabulary for categories (could mirror NYT Open Linked Data RDF or other semantic tool)
3. Image upload and modal window to open in advanced mode for properties control (could be a combo of both tabs)
4. Feed only choice for publishing posts (doesn’t have to be authenticated and would work by same rules with tags, categories, etc. to syndicate for apps or widgets)
I definitely need to get a post together and get more thorough with this.
The trash feature is great. I built that feature into a CMS I made about 10 years ago and let the professors think they had really deleted their data when I was actually just moving it to another table
This post could simply have been, “It ain’t no Castlock.”
[...] last Friday I wrote about not being excited by the new WordPress beta. I’m not. That isn’t because the software isn’t top [...]
[...] You’ve probably read about the full release already and that is a good thing. You might have even read my review of the beta. [...]
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