WordPress 3.7 has been released and the big news is that WordPress now has the ability to update itself. This begins a new era of automatic background updates for security and minor releases. Web hosts around the world have been eagerly awaiting this release and are cheering its arrival. The upgrade process has been greatly…
The WordPress ecosystem is made up of thousands of websites, code repositories, blogs, forums, etc. To a new WordPress user, it can be intimidating or downright frustrating figuring out where to go. My goal with this post is to provide a map for those who are brand new to the world of WordPress to be…
Kevin Muldoon has published a great post that may change the mindset of both WordPress end users and developers. In his post, he talks about WordPress, GPL, and ethics but further into the post, he mentions that perhaps we should not be thinking about what sites like GPL Avengers or GPL Club are doing as…
One of the most anticipated features of WordPress 3.6 was the new Post Formats UI which would have exposed the feature to users who may not have known of its existence. Unfortunately, near the tail end of development for 3.6, Mark Jaquith made the announcement that the feature would be exiting core and that the…
When the dashboard redesign is officially added to WordPress core, it looks like it will be missing a widget that’s been with the software since 2005 when the Dashboard feature was introduced with WordPress 1.5 “Strayhorn”. In its early days, the incoming links widget used Technorati but due to the service not being able to…
Coming home from a WordCamp is like falling back to earth after floating on a cloud for a weekend. You’ve probably noticed that WordCamp Europe attendees are now blogging about their experiences at the WordPress party of the year. Their posts are packed full of speaker notes, shoutouts to new friends and pictures of the…
Amidst the different projects currently ongoing around WordPress, there is one that will potentially change the way in which we edit published content. It’s called Front-end Editor and is being developed as part of the features as plugins program. While the initial concept and mockups look good, there is another perspective by Mark Root-Wiley that…
While many WordPress GSoC projects have focused on improving the core, Mert Yazicioglu submitted a proposal for enhancing profiles on WordPress.org. Although other aspects of WordPress.org have received design and feature updates, the profiles haven’t quite kept pace. As a plugin developer and core contributor, Mert wanted developers to be able to fully represent themselves…
WordPress 3.7 is right around the corner with the beta out this weekend and the official release coming in mid-October. This release has a strong focus on improving WordPress security and includes automatic updates to help installs stay up to date with maintenance and security releases. If you install the beta and have a play,…
At a recent local WordPress meetup I attended, I went through an experience that is becoming the norm. That is, trying to explain WordPress to those who have either never used it, or were just getting started. It used to be the most difficult thing for me to explain to people was the process of…
What would you think about the possibility of WordPress being able to keep track of code changes made in the dashboard theme and plugin editors? Any mistakes you make could easily be reversed using the new revision viewer introduced in WordPress 3.6. Should this feature be added to the core? This discussion is currently on…
Last year John O’Nolan caused quite a stir when he announced that he intended to fork WordPress to create Ghost, a new open source blogging platform. O’Nolan posted his proposed designs for Ghost on his website, originally intending for it to be a minimalist concept of WordPress with a blog-oriented dashboard, fewer options to configure,…
Emil Uzelac is a freelance WordPress designer and developer who has been reviewing WordPress themes for the past three years. He and other team members have been blazing through theme approvals and setting records this month on wordpress.org. Recently, I had the chance to chat with him about what it’s like to be on the…
Here’s a fairly common scenario for WordPress users and developers. When setting up a self-hosted site for someone else, you’re usually working alone, without your client by your side. Perhaps you’re building a site for your mother or a non-profit or someone who is not technically inclined. You quickly install WordPress, apply your chosen theme…
WordPress 3.6.1 has been pushed out the door. This release comes 42 days after WordPress 3.6 was made available on August 1st. This is a maintenance package that contains bug and security fixes. You can find more information about this version via the Codex. If you don’t see any upgrade notices now, check again later.