Wordpress 2.5 is out

Posted on: March 29, 2008


Wordpress 2.5 is out

 updated 7:45 CST

Today WordPress had released the final version of 2.5. I have successfully installed it into my Sandbox and am playing with it aggressively. I will be adding information as I go, but here is what I had so far:

First of all, for those who don’t know what a “Sandbox” is, this is an area I designated as a test area. In this case, I have a computer at my home in which I installed XAMPP (an acronym for Apache, MySQL, PHP and PERL - the X stands for the “Four”). The Sandbox is a great way to test new plugins, CSS code or anything. One thing to keep in mind in mantaining a Sandbox, though - make sure your Sandbox matches your websites credentials (example - if your Sandbox is running PHP 5 and your website runs on PHP 4, then the test area is pointless).

So Far I have done the following:

- Copied Geekazine SQL to the Sandbox.
- Made changes to the SQL so it will import in the Sandbox correctly without refering to Geekazine.com
- Downloaded 2.5 and installed in the sandbox
- Copied over all themes and Plugins
- Set up WordPress
- Made sure all initial settings matched the site
- Activated all plugins
  - WP-Cache plugin caused problems at first - there are several lines that have a misplaced “%20″ or ASCII code for a “Space”.Corrected the problem and the plugin activated.
  - All other plugins Activated.**(other issues arose though)
- Went to check all settings.
  - RAZ-CAPTCHA would not show a picture. Had to disable the Plugin.
  - Yet Another Photo-Blog is causing issues on the folder - working on issue.

First Update:

The Yet Another Photo Blog error was because I didn’t have all the current pictures imported into the proper folder. Once that change was made, the plugin began to work.

The WP-Cache was a plugin I had installed, but did not implement on WP because of issues. I have disabled it on 2.5

I went through all the settings and matched them up to the site. A lot of plugins had their settings. There were a couple that didn’t remember the settings, so it’s important to have a reference.

There is a Media Manager in WordPress now, but I am continuing to use PodPress. I will be checking out the images gallery option.

TinyMCE had a small hiccup. This is a plugin that extends the use of the Post area. It gives me more buttons and able to customize that area. I had to re-organize the buttons to get it to work again.

The rest of the day I spent getting the blog ready. The theme went over without a hitch. The only 2 issues are RAZ CAPTCHA, which I talked about earlier, and a mobile theme in which I couldn’t get loaded from my smartphone. It may only be because of the sandbox, but I will play with that in the coming weeks.

Summary - 2.5 is easy to install. So easy a cavem…. well, it’s pretty easy. It’s also easy to import your data. I did it the hard way, but then again I like challenges.

I only had minor issues with the CAPTCHA and the mobile theme. There are some other tests and checks I will run before putting it on a mainstream site level.

I like the additions to WP 2.5 - Media, the ability to set up multiple blogs, Update of Plugins right then and there as well as a updated interface. It will be interesting to see what the first few posts are like.

To anyone thinking of updating, my suggestion is one that goes for ALL software. Wait one week before updating. Why? Well sometimes problems might not show up until after the release. A hacker gets their hands on a imperfection and next thing you know your blog (as well as the rest of the site) has been comprimised.

The best thing to do is install XAMPP and run your own sandbox. Understand the program first, then upgrade. You might find a lot of cool things that you may have missed before.

Good luck on Blogging. It’s a lot of fun.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Comcast is Watching You. Good or Bad?

Comcast is Watching You. Good or Bad?

The New York Times reports of a Blogger who gets an email after complaining about a service that is not there. Other people have complained about their bills and Comcast comes back with a “Can I Help”? Even others find themselves with internet connection issues for trying to use the service. This begs the question: are we seeing a new trend and is this a good or bad thing?

First of all, most likely they are not looking at your blog or twitter directly. They are most likely running searches from Google, Summize (remember - Twitter bought that company) and a bunch of other engines. They look at keywords that - in turn - give them information to turn around and say “What can we do?”

Last year while working at a job, we decided to implement a helpdesk system. I looked over a few systems, gave a recommendation and we implemented. The one I’m going to talk about wasn’t the one we went with simply because there were good features they lacked, but this is one feature that really made me think about the way we can see customers.

The service let you put a piece of code on each users’ desktop. When they logged into the network, that code would send a log to the helpdesk software. If any keywords showed up, the software would alert the helpdesk so action could be taken before the customer could call in.

Think about it: Google a specific topic. Let’s take Comcast for example. Go to Google, then “Advanced Search”. Type in “Comcast”, and filter to the last 24 hours. Not only will you get blogs, but you will also get twitters, plurks and a host of other items.

Now  if you organize that with specific keywords like “Comcast” and maybe a hot word like “sucks”, you can see all the blogs and posts that follow. If someone wrote an API that could constantly search for these words, then they can report on a system and get back to the author.

Of course, if you are on Comcast’s’ network and sending plain text (like most blogs are), then it’s ten times easier for Comcast to filter and respond. If it was encrypted, that would be a different story. However it’s only plain old text passing through the internet for all to read - including Comcast.

What is the good? Well, you may not want them to watch what you are sending, but if you put it out on Twitter or in a blog, you want people to see it anyway. So why not Comcast? Why not AT&T? Why not Steve Ballmer or Steve Jobs? I suppose if Ballmer or Jobs were to call you tomorrow over a blog or Twitter, you might see that as an honor that they are noticing your posts.

It can also alert people of any questionable activity. In this post 9-11 era, concern over communication is a hot issue. With so many ways to communicate over the internet, it might be nice to stop another epic event before it takes place.

What is the Bad? Well, it’s just another form of Big brother watching. One more step closer for RIAAs and MPAAs to surface. It is wrong to duplicate and distribute copyrighted material, but for those who don’t do that it’s not fair if we are being watched.

Dave Winer reported that right before an Obama speech, he was disconnected from Comcast for “Security” issues. Dave instantly closed his Comcast account. If I was in the same position, I think I would have either done the same thing or strongly worded the incident and made sure enough people heard it. I would most likely do the latter if I didn’t have another avenue of connection.

Is there a “Happy Medium”? Not really. That is why history is riddled with events like witch hunts and the Spanish Inquisition (Yeah, I know. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition). But with pressure to have a safe lifestyle, you have to have someone watching over it, right?

Well, someone or something might be watching you now. Whether it’s the ISP seeing what you are posting on your Blog or twitter, a security camera watching your actions in and out of a retail store, an ATM watching you take your money or one person just peering out the window to see what you’re up to. It’s all the same, right?

Some may call this move by Comcast as creepy. Others may call it brilliant because they are preventing issues. Even others may call it questionable practice because they are watching you. But the old saying “Danged if you do, danged if you don’t” can come into play here. We want to be safe but we don’t want to be watched or held accountable. What goes on behind closed doors….


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