WordPress 2.8 New Features
With WordPress 2.8 beta 1 now available – there are some great new features that I wanted to highlight for the upcoming WordPress 2.8 release.
An exhaustive list of all the updates are available for review, but here are ten highlights for the end user.
- Don’t ask for confirmation when marking a comment as spam
- Don’t notify post author of own comments
- Allow the dashboard widgets to be arranged in up to four columns as set via the Screen Options tab
- Improved Plugin search on Administration > Plugins > Add New
- Autosave post/page when pressing Control/Command+S
- Support more than one gallery on the same page
- “Choose a city in the same timezone as you” for Timezone in Administration > Settings > General
- Add “Send this password to the new user by email” option to Administration > Users > Add New
- In upgrade process, provide better explanation for database upgrade message
- Add password strength meter to Add User and Edit User
Everything looks very promising and the developers are doing a great job with getting bug fixes in place, more options, and easier to user interfaces. Stay tuned for the release of WordPress 2.8 in the near future!
WordPress 2.7.1 is Released
WordPress 2.7.1 has officially been released. The update contains a number of bug fixes. For more information on WordPress version 2.7.1, read the official WordPress version 2.7.1 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: <a href="http://wordpress.org/wordpress-2.7.1.zipWordPress 2.7.1
WordPress 2.7 is Released
WordPress 2.7 has officially been released. The update contains a number of new features and functions but most notably – the admin has been redesigned and made very customizable. For more information on WordPress version 2.7, read the official WordPress version 2.7 documentation which also contains a video that covers the new features/interface.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: WordPress 2.7
WordPress 2.7 New Admin Overview
There is a great post on the WordPress.com blog about the upcoming release (2.7). If you are looking for a general admin user interface changes/updates overview, take a few minutes to read the blog post on WordPress 2.7.
WordPress 2.6.5 is Released
WordPress 2.6.5 has officially been released (version 2.6.4 was skipped). The update contains a critical security fix (XSS exploit) as well as a few bug fixes. For more information on WordPress version 2.6.5, read the official WordPress version 2.6.5 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: WordPress 2.6.5
WordPress 2.7 Admin Notes
I decided to update a few of my sites to the latest WordPress 2.7 beta so I could see all the new changes. This post will cover some of the changes/details that are beyond the new look and feel of the WordPress Admin. WordPress 2.7 is scheduled to be released in the next few days. I will write more posts on WordPress 2.7 and the more technical changes in the next few days-weeks.
The Customizable Screen Options
There is now a handy tab “Screen Options” at the top of the admin window (right under Turbo/Logout) that allows you to customize each screen very easily.
Here is an example of how you can easily customize the Dashboard screen:
If you click on the “Screen Options” tab on the post page, you will get completely different options:
This is very handy if you want to trim down the admin area or just remove items you do not use.
Media
WordPress users are adding more media to their posts/pages than ever before.
(You could edit media previously outside of a post (Media Library) but having a “Media” menu item is a great addition.
Appearance Menu
Where to put “Themes”, “Widgets” and “Editor” was always a big mystery. 
(Notice how the icon next to the menu title (Appearance) has a color hover state – another nice touch.
Time/Date Stamp
Overall – I think the 2.7 update really makes an impact for users that are not as comfortable with technical settings as us developers. 
While options like this may seem small and something you can overlook – I know my clients will appreciate them.
Word Count
There are a number of really nice touches to WordPress 2.7 and I am happy to see this be one of them. A number of my clients are very word count conscious and this will make them all very happy. 
WordPress 2.6.3 is Released
WordPress 2.6.3 has officially been released. The update contains a security fix to a library (Snoopy) used to fetch RSS feeds. For more information on WordPress version 2.6.3, read the official WordPress version 2.6.3 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: WordPress 2.6.3
Keep Up to Date With Your WordPress Version
WordPress is a great tool, but make sure you keep it up to date to avoid security vulnerabilities. I have fixed a number of outdated and hacked versions of WordPress over the past few years which could have easily been taken care of by keeping up to date with WordPress updates a few times a year. If you are using WordPress 2.5+ it is really easy to be notified when a plugin or WordPress has a new version available when you log in.
If you do not want to go through the process of using svn or ftp to update your files, WordPress even gives you the option to automatically update.
If you suspect you were hacked, feel free to contact us and we will update and clean your site.
WordPress 2.6.2 is Released
WordPress 2.6.2 has officially been released. The update is primarily a security update along with a few bug fixes (see full list). For more information on WordPress version 2.6.2, read the official WordPress version 2.6.2 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: WordPress 2.6.2
WordPress 2.6.1 is Released
WordPress 2.6.1 has officially been released. The updated includes almost 60 bugfixes (see full list). For more information on WordPress version 2.6.1, read the official WordPress version 2.6.1 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: WordPress 2.6.1