Update Now!

This is a maintenance release that fixes 15 issues with WordPress 3.3, as well as a fix for a cross-site scripting vulnerability that also affected version 3.3.

Always stay up to date with WordPress as releases like this include security updates and if they issued a release it is important.

Click Here to download the latest version or update automatically through your dashboard.

According to wordpress.org, “The latest and greatest version of WordPress software — 3.3, named “Sonny” in honor of the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt — is immediately available for download or update inside your WordPress dashboard.”

A lot of development goes towards security and it is always a good idea to upgrade to the latest version for that fact alone.  PLUS! There’s the new dashboard layout and admin functionality that make this an extra nice upgrade.

It’s Almost Here.

WordPress is just about ready to release their latest version 3.3 which has just passed the beta stage and advanced to Release Candidate 1.  This says that an official release is just around the corner.  So get ready to enjoy the nice new features this new version brings.

http://wordpress.org/news/2011/12/wordpress-3-3-release-candidate-1/

Easier Uploading with File Type Detection

Instead of needing to click on a specific upload icon based on your file type, now there’s just one. Once your file is uploaded, the appropriate fields will be displayed for entering information based on the file type.

Drag-and-Drop Media Uploader

Adding photos or other files to posts and pages also got easier. You can now Drag files from your desktop and drop them into the uploader. Add one file at a time, or many at once.

More File Formats

They’ve added the rar and 7z file formats to the list of allowed file types in the uploader.

WordPress 3.3 will be out soon so here’s a look at the new admin sidebar functionality.

Flyout Menus

The Dashboard Sidebar will take on a new look.

It speeds up navigating the dashboard and reduces repetitive clicking with new flyout sub-menus. The sidebar stays put. As you hover over each main menu item in your dashboard navigation, the submenus will pop out, providing single-click access to any dashboard screen.  Nice!!

New beta version released.  WordPress has released version 3.3 beta 3 and it is available for use for those that like to stay on the cutting edge.  There are no additional features being added at this time and the current mission is to address any bugs that may be left before they release an official version 3.3.   So it looks like we will all move to version 3.3 very soon.

http://wordpress.org/news/2011/11/wordpress-3-3-beta-3-available/

A new beta release of the latest and greatest WordPress is now available. WordPress 3.3 is now up to a beta 2 version and it looks like we are getting close to a new official version very soon. Dashboard improvements are nice along with performance enhancements.  Here’s the latest.

• Updated the Blue theme
• Fixed IE7 and RTL support
• Improved flyout menu styling and fixed several glitches
• Finished the Pointers implementation
• Landed the dashboard Welcome box for new installs
• Improved contextual help styling
• Tweaked the admin bar a little more
• Fixed a bunch of bugs

The dashboard change is very nice.  The sidebar pop outs are a nice change over expanding and collapsing boxes.  Look for a new version release very soon.

http://wordpress.org/news/2011/10/wordpress-3-3-beta-2/

For performance reasons, it is not a good idea to start your permalink structure with the category, tag, author, or postname fields. The reason is that these are text fields, and by using them at the beginning of your permalink structure it takes more time for WordPress to distinguish your Post URLs from Page URLs (which always use the text “page slug” as the URL), and to compensate, WordPress stores a lot of extra information in its database (so much that sites with lots of Pages have experienced difficulties). So, it is best to have at least two path segments in your post’s permalink structure such as

/%year%/%post_name%/

or even 

/%post_id%/%post_name%/ .

Some people don’t like any date reference so

/%post_id%/%post_name%/ works well in that case.

Using the Widget Context Plugin

Giving your WordPress website different different sidebar widgets for different sections is easy enough to do using a plugin called “Widget Context“.  Once you install this plugin you get some extra functionality in your dashboard’s widget menu.  When you put any widget into your sidebar you can choose what sections of you website this widget will show up on.  It can be displayed on your home page, blog page, single posts, single pages, search page, archive page and more. 

You can also use negative logic and hide that particular widget from certain sections.  Whatever works best for your design.  Here’s a look at the functionality block that gets added to your widget settings.  Just select where you want or don’t want that widget displayed, save, and your all set.

WordPress continues to grow in popularity as more and more people are using it to create full featured websites that you control yourself. WordPress is not just a blog machine. It is a complete CMS that is highly configurable so it can be any kind of website, complete with SEO abilities, RSS feeds and all kinds of other built in functionality.

Blog, Content portal, Business website, Corporate website, Performers websites, Clubs, Schools, Lawyers, they can all have very nice looking and interactive sites. Even online store fronts.  Contact me and we can get your WordPress Website online tomorrow.  We design, host and support you all the way.

14.7 Percent of Top Global Websites are WordPress

A WordPress maintenance upgrade was released today taking us to version 3.2.1 and is available in your dashboard.  You can upgrade easily and automatically.

If you haven’t upgraded to version 3.2 yet make sure your host is running php version 5 as this is now required by WordPress. You can get the Health Check plugin  ( wordpress.org/extend/plugins/health-check ) and check your install.  This will show you the exact version you are running.

You can also download this file,  testphp.zip  Unzip it and extract the file called test.php which you can ftp/upload to the root directory of your website.  Then in your browser enter www.yourdomain.com/test.php.  You get a page of info about the version and settings of the php system on the server you are using.

WordPress 3.2 was released yesterday and is available for download at wordpress.org or as an automatic update through your dashboard.  Along with many functionality and performance enhancements this version sports a new cleaner look to the admin area.  Stay up to date and upgrade your WordPress install today.  www.wordpress.org

WordPress 3.2, is dropping support for Internet Explorer 6, a 10-years-old outdated browser that even Microsoft is ready to leave behind.  If you access your WordPress dashboard with an outdated browser, it will let you know. Why? Because as web technology improves, so does WordPress, and  they build new features to take advantage of these improvements. If you’re using an out-of-date browser, chances are you’re missing out.  IE6 is dead!  Bury it and be done with it!!

The minimum requirements needed to run WordPress are changing.  As of version 3.2, you’ll need to be running PHP 5.2.4 and MySQL 5.0.  Most hosting companies are already running these up to date versions but if they are not you could be in trouble.  If you are running WordPress on your own server then this could be a problem also until you do some updating of your own.  Read more about it here!

WordPress has released version 3.2 -RC-1 which is an official release candidate, meaning a release is soon to come.  We have it running on out other site and have no problems but it’s not official yet and really shouldn’t be used on your active site.  It is available though for those that want to be daring or know what they are doing.  New Dashboard layout and improved functionality are the main improvement areas.

So get ready because a new version of WordPress will be out soon.  You can  Read more about it here at wordpress.org.