WordPress 3.0 Has Been Released!

WordPress has done it again. They’ve released version 3.0, one of the most important updates of this popular blogging platform in some time.

But I have a confession to make: I was looking at this update with a bit of trepidation, concerned that some of the problems uncovered in past major updates would find their way into this one. I manage eight blogs and I really DID NOT want to have to update them over several days. Thankfully, the updates went smooth and all eight sites are now running on WP 3.0 including this one.

If you’re running WordPress, your admin panel should have signaled you on June 17 to make the update. Surprisingly, there was very little I needed to do other than to back up my database and hit the update button. A few of the plugins were out of date, but I bulk updated those as well. So smooth…so very wonderful!

As you might expect there were a number of important changes with this update including:

The merger of individual and multi-use (MU) versions of WP. Writing for Information Week, Allen Stern said, “The new functionality, called multi-site, will allow blog administrators to manage one or any number of blogs from one install.” Stern expressed concern that a hacker could wreck multiple blogs if they share a singular set-up as WP 3.0 allows. This is something worth considering if you manage more than one blog.

You will also find a new default blog theme called “Twenty Ten” in honor of this year’s big release. I took a look at it and won’t be using it, but it can make for a nice default theme if you need one while looking for a fresh theme for your site.

Introduction of custom post types. Pages that used to be tagged as posts no longer have to be.  According to PC World, “…each page could represent a product, for instance, and have specific fields relating to that category, such as price and model.”  This could prove to be a better model for promoting a page featuring a particular service or product you have to offer.

Easier to do stuff. Bulk updates of plugins is now a reality for WordPress. The interface is lighter, easier on the eyes and more than twelve hundred bugs have been eradicated.

WordPress, which has been constantly updated, will not see its next update for some time.  WP star, Matt Mullenweg says, “We’re going to take a release cycle off to focus on all of the things around WordPress. The growth of the community has been breathtaking, including over 10.3 million downloads of version 2.9, but so much of our effort has been focused on the core software it hasn’t left much time for anything else.”

Yes, WP has certainly come a long way and has brought along millions of new users with it. Since first using WP in December 2005 I have observed how the WP team works and am satisfied with their product. I am not a WP evangelist per se, but when it comes to blogging WordPress is simply the best!

Are Paid Posts Polluting The Internet?

For the record: this isn’t a paid advertisement. I don’t want to incur the wrath of the Google gods for doing something that violates their TOU by suggesting that it is.

What this article is about is PayPerPost and ReviewMe, two paid blogging models that are popular with some bloggers. I’ve participated in both programs previously, but discontinued paid blogging about the same time that Google announced that penalties were forthcoming. Penalties or not, I was no longer interested in monetizing my blogs through paid posting.

Matthew Mullenweg, who is one of the architects behind WordPress, recently discussed on his Photo Matt blog TechCrunch’s decision not to accept PayPerPost/IZEA advertising after surveying their readership. Mullenweg added, “Their readers made the right decision and voted that it would be disingenuous to accept advertising from a company that, in Michael’s words, pollutes the blogosphere.”

I realize that the words uttered were from Michael Arrington who has a “history” of airing his overwhelmingly negative opinions about PayPerPost, founder Ted Murphy, and the PPP model. Oddly, TechCrunch works closely with TextLinkAds, the company who started ReviewMe. I’m not sure why one business model would be different enough to justify then the other one or whether what PPP does pollutes the internet, while ReviewMe is deemed acceptable.

I’m not taking a position in this debate, but I would hate to be in Ted Murphy’s shoes as the entire PPP model is under attack (talk about job insecurity!) Google has penalized bloggers who use PayPerPost and Murphy is finding himself responding to these attacks by leaving comments (diplomatic ones, at that) on blogs discussing PPP.

Google has changed the way that many blogs do business, leaving some bloggers scrambling to make up for lost revenue. It’ll be interesting to see whether the paid posting model can survive or whether it will be abandoned by bloggers, advertisers, and by the companies providing this service themselves.