WordPress 2.9 Is Ready For Download

The world’s most popular blogging platform has released an important update. Release 2.9 for WordPress is out and includes some significant changes. Just so you know I have seven blogs to update, but thanks to the automatic update tool, that job is over and done with quickly.

WP 3.0 Looms

Being that this is release 2.9, this particular update brings us one step closer to a major overhaul of the platform which will introduce WordPress 3.0 to the world. No doubt, we’ll see several interim updates before then such as WP 2.9.1, 2.9.2, …, but when it does show up I’m sure that it’ll reflect the best of what WordPress has to offer.

Before you upgrade WordPress, you’ll want to back up your database first. Select Tools > Backup to accomplish that task, but if you’re not in the habit of regularly backing up WordPress, I suggest that you install the nifty WordPress Database Backup to automate the process. Why chance having your site crash and then discover your database (which contains all of your articles) is old and your most recent articles are no more? That’s a lot of work to lose because you failed to backup your database!

Four Significant Changes

Automattic, the company which developed and oversees WordPress, says that the following major changes have been included with WP 2.9:

1. Batch Plugin Update – I like this feature because every time that there is a significant update of WP, many of the plugins fail or don’t work quite as well as they could. That means WP plugin developers will respond by making quick changes to bring their plugins up to snuff, which also means that you may have scads of updates to handle. FYI, some of my sites have as many as 26 plugins installed, but thanks to the new batch update process, I can handle those changes at once and so can you.

2. Undo Feature – Have you ever accidentally deleted one of your posts? I can’t say that I have, but I know if I did I’d be bummed. WordPress has created a feature which will allow you to find and bring back your killed off posts, saving you a lot of grief and anxiety.

3. Image Editor – A built-in image editor makes it easier for you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images without having to leave WP and use Photoshop, Gimp, or other image editing program to get this work done. I haven’t used it yet, but if it works according to plan, then this feature will save bloggers plenty of time and remove the excuse that you don’t have time to include a photo with your work.

4. Video Embeds – I don’t do all that many video embeds across my network of blogs, but that may change now that WP 2.9 has made this task easier to accomplish. All you have to do is paste the URL of the video in your post and WP automatically converts it to an embed code. Amazing! My personal recommendation for WP pros is to use videos sparingly as they tend to slow down the loading of your site. Too many videos on one page and your visitors may move on. Still, the updated feature sounds like a good one to me.

Upgrade Now

How do you perform an update to WordPress 2.9? That’s easy. A drop down notice is sitting on the top of your screen in the administrative control panel. Click on it and choose either to “upgrade automatically” or “download 2.9” and do the latter yourself. I always select automatic updates once I know everything is backed up and I haven’t had a problem yet.

And Then The Snow Fell….

I relocated with my family to North Carolina from New Jersey in 2004, in a bid to escape the crowds and high costs associated with living in the New York City suburbs. Under the best travel conditions we could get into Manhattan in about thirty-five minutes, a possibility on a clear Sunday morning or very late at night.

These days we reside in Cary, a large suburb wedged between Raleigh and Durham. In its own right, this city of nearly 150,000 people has a lot going on for it, hosting national sporting events including college soccer and baseball. Cary reminds me of my New Jersey home town, Ridgewood, but much more spread out.

But when it comes to snow or the threat of wintry precipitation, the similarities between these two communities comes to a slippery halt.

Today, I’m witnessing a Triangle spectacle: people panicking over the mere threat of snow. The Triangle was once defined as Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, but the sprawling metropolis now encompasses at least four counties and more than one million residents.

Residents include natives as well as many transplants from the northeast, midwest, and California, a mixed bag of people who uprooted their lives in pursuit of a job, schools, retirement, and other reasons.

Clearly, some people are accustomed to driving in the snow, but a lot of people here aren’t. Worse, we’re just far enough south to where most cities and counties don’t invest all that much in snow removal equipment and road salt which means that whatever falls usually melts and refreezes within moments.

We found out how ridiculous it can get when in January 2005 a surprise one inch midday snowfall closed down schools and businesses at once, sending everyone scrambling to pick up children and head home. That storm made national news because everything iced over and traffic came to a halt.

Reports quickly came in that children were stranded at school, interstate traffic was backed up for more than twenty miles, and the entire area was paralyzed under a thin, icy grip.

It took almost a day for traffic to clear which meant that young children had to stay at school overnight with their teachers and some people slept in their cars. No joke – the entire Wake County Public School System, which relies on busing to transport kids all across the county – had to warehouse thousands of students for a night.

Our little adventure on January 19, 2005, became the butt of jokes on national news, with local leaders pointing fingers, forming commissions and studies, before finally establishing a working plan in a bid to avert repeating the debacle. That plan was outlined one sultry night in the middle of the summer when people were on vacation or too hot to care.

Well today the snow began to fall on this last day of school for 2009. Temperatures were in the upper-30s and began to drop in the early afternoon when the snow began descending. Soon, we received calls from our boys’ teachers announcing a one hour early release, with my wife and I hoping that the botch job of 2005 wouldn’t repeat itself.

Thankfully, the snow shower was brief and wet, which meant that our boys made it home early with no worry that this Christmas they’d spend it snowbound at school.

Yes, I know that I am exaggerating which is something I tend to do after a week’s worth of work, several lengthy edits, and with Christmas just days away. But I’m also giddy because since I do work at home I don’t have to contend with what promises to be a very messy evening commute.

See Also — North Carolina State University: January 19, 2005 Winter Storm