SecondVersion

Just upgraded today, things seem Ok - except I can no longer use the Permalink Redirect plugin.

Official Announcement:

I’m thrilled to announce that Version 2.3 “Dexter” of WordPress is now ready for the world. This release includes native tagging support, plugin update notification, URL handling improvements, and much more. This release is named for the great tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon.

The entire team is really proud of this release, and I’m happy that this is our second on-time release under our new development schedule. The grand experiment of a more agile WordPress with significant features in the hands of users more often is working. I could write a blog post about each new feature, but I’ll try to be brief:

1. Native tagging support allows you to use tags in addition to categories on your post, if you so choose. We’ve included importers for the Ultimate Tag Warrior, Jerome’s Keywords, Simple Tags, and Bunny’s Technorati Tag plugins so if you’ve already been using a tagging plugin you can bring your data into the new system. The tagging system is also wicked-fast, so your host won’t mind.
2. Our new update notification lets you know when there is a new release of WordPress or when any of the plugins you use has an update available. It works by sending your blog URL, plugins, and version information to our new api.wordpress.org service which then compares it to the plugin database and tells you what the latest and greatest is you can use.
3. We’ve cleaned up URLs a bunch in a feature we call canonical URLs which does things like enforce your no-www preference, redirect posts with changed slugs so a link never goes bad, redirect URLs that get cut off in emails on similar to the correct post, and much more. This helps your users, and it also helps your search engine optimization, as search engines like for each page to be available in one canonical location. More info here.
4. Our new pending review feature will be great for multi-author blogs. It allows authors to submit a post for review by an editor or administrator, where before they would just have to save a draft and hope someone noticed it.
5. There is new advanced WYSIWYG functionality (we call it the kitchen sink button) that allows you to access some features of TinyMCE that were previously hidden.

You’ll notice that two of those features are straight out of the most-voted for ideas list. That’s just the user facing stuff, if you’re a developer you’ll be interested in:

1. Full and complete Atom 1.0 support, including the publishing protocol.
2. We’re using the new jQuery whis is “800% faster.”
3. Behind the user-facing tags system is a really kickass taxonomy system which, which adds a ton of flexibility. It’s probably the biggest schema upgrade since version 1.5.
4. The importers have been revamped to be more memory efficient, and you can now add an importer through a plugin.
5. Through hooks and filters you can now override the update system, the dashboard RSS feeds, the feed parser, and tons more than you could in 2.2.
6. The new $wpdb->prepare() way of doing SQL queries.
7. Finally there were over 351 tickets in Trac closed for this release, with over a hundred people contributing. This is the polish, the hundreds of tiny bug fixes and features that make WordPress what it is.

You can view the Codex for more information about the release and some screenshots. And of course the place to download is always the same. Before you upgrade you may want to check out our Preparing for 2.3 post and the list of compatible plugins on the Codex.

A number of people are hosting upgrade parties around the world, including myself in San Francisco. If you are let me know and I’ll promote it on my blog.

Upgrade NOW!

WordPress 2.3 RC 1 is now available. I’m still running on 2.2.3, however, I may upgrade to this RC - we’ll see. I’ve been busy with the new job. Anyway..

Official Announcement:

The first release candidate for WordPress 2.3 is now available. We’ve spent the week since beta 3 fixing bugs and shaping RC1 into release candidate material. If you would like try RC1 and help us get 2.3 ready for its final release on Monday the 24th, download RC1 here and report any bugs you find. Although we consider this release candidate to be stable, keep in mind that this is still pre-release software. You may find some lingering bugs. Please back up your database before upgrading. If you have problems with RC1, you will not be able to revert back to your previous release without a database backup.

And a big thanks to those of you who have been testing the betas and now the RC. Your efforts make 2.3 better for everyone.

Well, started the new job today. I’ll be going through training the next 3 weeks. It’s alright, can be a bit boring at times, but I like it Hopefully I can make it through all of training just fine

Well, after nearly 4 years working online, I’ve gotten a job.. offline. I’ll be starting the 17^th for Vangent, Inc. It’s a nice job and I’m hoping it turns out well

Sadly though, I won’t have much time for PHP programming, domain names, etc, once the job starts. I’ll be working 8-10 hour days.

However, I believe things will work out for the best Wish me luck.

WordPress 2.3 Beta 3 is now available.

Official Announcement:

Beta 3, the third and final beta for WordPress 2.3, is now available. Many bugs have been fixed since the second beta, and we could use your help finding and fixing more bugs in preparation for the first Release Candidate due next Monday. The standard disclaimer for betas applies. Beta 3 is pre-release software that is still being tested. If you would like try out Beta 3 and help report bugs, join the wp-testers mailing list and download beta 3 here.

WordPress has released 2.2.3, I’ll be upgrading this blog soon. I’d advise anyone using the 2.2 series to upgrade.

Official Announcement:

2.2.3 is a security and bug-fix release for the 2.2 series. Since this is a security release, we suggest you upgrade immediately. Two of the fixes are high priority.

On our Trac you can see the bugs closed and the files changed for 2.2.3.

To get 2.2.3, please see our download page.

As always, upgrade instructions including an extended upgrade guide are available.

Thanks to Alexendar Concha, Aaron Newman, and xknown for identifying and helping us fix the security vulnerabilities.

Installed APC (Advanced PHP Cache) today, and I must say, I love it! Things are much faster. I decided to install it after no luck with eAccelerator or Xcache. Out of the three, APC also is the most actively developed, and has a kick ass control interface (stats and graphs galore).

If you’re looking for a PHP cache solution, I’d highly recommend APC.

WordPress 2.3 Beta 2 is now available.

Official announcement:

WordPress 2.3 will be here before you know it! We’re putting out a beta release every Monday until WordPress 2.3 ships on September 24th. Today the second beta drops for your testing pleasure. We’ve fixed a bunch of bugs in the last week — thanks to everyone who participated! That said, this is still rough code, so you should only test the beta if you are comfortable troubleshooting PHP issues, filing tickets, and backing up your blog’s data.

Still want to play? Go ahead and join the wp-testers mailing list and download beta 2 here.

Don’t turn away
I pray you’ve heard
The words I’ve spoken
Dare to believe
Over one last time
Then I’ll let the

Darkness cover me
Deny everything
Slowly walk away
To breathe again
On my own

Carry me away
I need your strength
To get me through this
Dare to believe
Over one last time
Then I’ll let the

Darkness cover me
Deny everything
Slowly walk away
To breathe again
On my own

I went through and deleted 55 posts and around 50 comments from the blog. So if you’re looking for a certain post and are redirected back here, don’t be surprised