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 A few of the plugins were out of date, but I bulk updated those as well.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!

Oh, This Will Take Some Time….

I mentioned last week that I would be back and, yes, I am here. But only for a few moments. I am up to my neck with deadlines this week and next, but I also have to tend to a few simmering fires involving one web site and one blog.

Work Aplenty

Don't cry; it will all work out.

The website issue has to wait because my efforts to move one blog from URL A to URL B is taking me days, not hours to complete. I have discovered that larger blogs with many posts, categories, photos, tags, and what not can be more difficult to move even if you manipulate the .htaccess or php.ini files to import a large WordPress xml file.

Yes, I turned off the plugins first but even then the shrunken file is still quirky. So what I did was to break 47 months of blogging into pieces, sending bits over here and there. Even then, I discovered that some of the coding contained in various posts was presenting a problem which served to remind me to “go light” on the scripting on the new site.

A few of you have wished me well in the transition with one remarking that this sort of move can “cause more problems than what it’s worth.”

I agree!

But sometimes there are good reasons to make a move including several that I am up against:

Old theme – WordPress offers thousands of free themes, but as you might guess many of these do not age particularly well over time unless the designer keeps up with them. Few do, but who can blame them?

I am considering buying my next bunch of themes and using them instead, especially if they are being supported. I do not mind paying for something that is being looked after; Open Source has its benefits but you cannot expect people to do everything for free.

Wacky plugins – Just like themes, plugins do not always make the transition from blog update to blog update. Even when a newer version is released, I have found that they do not always work as well as they once did.

I have had the occasional plugin mess up a blog, only being able to discover which one it was by deactivating all of them en masse and then activating them one by one.

Lousy URL – When I initially started blogging in 2004, I did not have nearly the understanding I have now regarding search engine optimization and related matters. The blog I am moving sits on a site it once shared with another blog. That other blog is the one you are reading now, itself moved here two years ago.

The other blog making the transition will have its own URL which has been around for some time and was pointing to the blog until I started to make the transition last week.

Such Madness!

Confused yet? Welcome to my delirium! At some point everything will work out. Once the blog has been moved, then I will refocus my attention on the website issue and then maybe, just maybe, I will replace a few blog themes elsewhere.