WordPress 2.9 is now street legal and straight outta beta for the masses.

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.

It’s true that I wasn’t that excited with this what I was seeing. The beta was much of the same old stuff. The full release, yes, the same with some catchy features for the less savvy users. A good move.

Now that WordPress has the newbs and graphicsprogramiphobes covered, it is time to get on with 3.0 and I hope it is a great departure from the current release.

I wrote a post about what I’d like to see in WordPress 3.0 a month ago or so, but lets talk about it some more.

1. Simplify the options

Currently there are too many options that appear in the left hand navigation when a publisher is writing a post. A contextual menu system that displays navigation items when needed would help out even the most advanced user.

2. Simply the posting process

There is an ability to produce a quick post inline on the dashboard but nothing like that in main admin. Would be a nice option.

3. Simply theming

No exception to the rule, WordPress often integrates the best of the open source plugins that authors produce for it. But some of the best of these get left on the table and remain plug-ins. Themes haven’t had much of this treatment and deserve it. There are elements of themes and options, like those for auto-thumbnails that could be added to the codebase and used as hooks for themes.

Congratulations to the entire WordPress team for rolling this new version 2 update out the door. There are plenty of shimmers of what will come in version 3.0.

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WordPress 2.9 Now, Next 3.0 is a post from: TechStartups.com

With the imminent release of WordPress version 2.9 on the horizon and my subsequent lack of excitement, it only seems fitting to put together a wish list for the next version. It is even more fitting since Raanan (@raanan) asked, “What’s on your wishlist for 3.0 ?”

I partially answered that question in the comments with the following:

1. Semantic integration with Zemanta or OpenCalais
   1. This would be like having a librarian with a fancy masters degree in categorizing everything on the planet riding shotgun with you while you write.
2. WordPress recommended vocabulary for categories
   1. This could mirror NYT Open Linked Data RDF or other semantic tools
3. Image upload and modal window to open in advanced mode for properties control
   1. This could be a combo of both tabs but something more powerful from the first time the window opens so that users don’t need to perform multiple actions to add padding or custom links to images
4. Feed only choice for publishing posts
   1. This doesn’t have to be authenticated and would work by same rules with tags, categories, etc. to syndicate for apps or widgets
   2. Imagine being able to use WP as a CMS to manage the data that is delivered to mobile apps on the iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Palm as one standard

In addition to these four I have some more wishes for this list

1. The return of horizontal navigation to the administration panel or the option to choose vertical left side or horizontal suckerfish style
2. Integrated gallery function for display in themes
   1. Yes, there are plenty of plugins to do this but some of that code like the integration of the fabulous WPTouch mobile theme into central codebase would be huge
3. WordPress.org installs that allow for gravatar uploads through profiles
   1. Hook this into the .com API and welcome these users into the fold
   2. This could turn out to be a great way to make them familiar with the .com platform
   3. But mainly so users can swap them on the fly with their own installs
4. Content libraries from media companies
   1. Stock photos, video, quotes
      1. A new API component to allow multiple third parties to supply this content

I’m sure that over the next few weeks I will think about this some more and come up with a couple other ideas. But for now, what’s on your wishlist for 3.0 ?

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WordPress 3.0 Wish List is a post from: TechStartups.com

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.

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WordPress 2.9 beta Review is a post from: TechStartups.com