Testing the WordPress iPhone app from my iPhone 3g s which is not that bad. More to come soon.
The Tavern Doing A Little Shifting
Don’t be alarmed if you see this site go offline later this afternoon or evening. I’m in the middle of changing some things around regarding the hosting account that WPTavern.com is a part of. Up until now, it was an addon domain for my primary domain but today, I am making WPTavern.com the primary domain. This means things that have full paths will be broken since the folder structure will be different.
I’ll get the site back online as soon as possible but just wanted to give you a heads up.
State Of The Word From WordCamp Dallas
Matt Mullenweg was just on stage at WordCamp Dallas delivering his coveted state of the Word. This presentation is what provides insight into what the WordPress project is doing and what we can look forward to in the future. Here are my cliff notes from watching his presentation via the live stream.
Another mention of merging the codebases of WordPress.org software with WordPress MU. 99.9% code overlap between the two projects. If you’re using WordPress MU now, it won’t be much different same goes for WordPress.org. Still predicting the merging to take place around WordPress 3.0.
Matt gave a primer on BuddyPress and how cool activity streams are. He also mentioned how well the code has been written for BuddyPress so WordPress developers should dive in and take a look at how BuddyPress is doing things.
Matt mentioned advertising and how he doesn’t think blogs should have advertising. After a period of time, he believes that blogging should be about meeting people and having great conversations. If you’re going to show ads, don’t show them to the people who comment and take part in your community.
Why has WordPress gone through so many backend redesigns? WordPress 2.5 redesign broke many of the molds the WordPress backend was stuck in. However, lots of feedback and criticism related to WordPress 2.5 urged another redesign for WordPress 2.7. Matt stated that they will never do a redesign again while the audience laughed. He believes that with the new design, WordPress has a heck of foundation now to build on.
WordPress is just a blank canvass. Its what you do with it that makes it special.
TalkPress was mentioned during the Q&A. Matt mentioned they that have named a jazz musician for bbPress 1.0 meaning a release is imminent. Matt says no plans to open up the TalkPress area to the public but, it could happen in the future. If it would happen, there would be great integration between TalkPress and WordPress.com.
How To Get Into The WordPress Showcase
Douglas Hanna works for Automattic as a “Communications Engineer”, where he spends most of his time working running the WordPress Showcase and supporting WordPress.com users. He blogs about customer service at Service Untitled and occasionally uses Twitter as well.
You probably knew that WordPress could be used as a CMS for a simple content website, but did you know that it could also be used as a fully powered CMS for a complex real estate website? What about as a directory of iPhone applications? The short version of it is that WordPress is an excellent platform to do just about any sort of publishing on the web and most people aren’t aware of that. To help address that, the WordPress Showcase was created.
The Showcase aims to show the world what can be done with WordPress and help demonstrate that WordPress has tremendous capabilities as a publishing platform. For people new to WordPress or unfamiliar with the extent of its capabilities, the Showcase shows them some of the most notable, successful, and coolest uses of WordPress around the Internet. Approximately 400 sites are featured in the Showcase and the idea (and hopefully the reality) is that the sites in the Showcase are the best of the best.
For website owners, developers, designers, or business people, the Showcase can help give you instant credibility, some great link juice, a nice traffic boost, or even a personal ego boost. Regardless of your reasons for submitting your site to the Showcase, doing so isn’t difficult or time consuming.
Sites that want to be added to the Showcase need to meet one or more of the four submission criteria, which are as follows:
- Using WordPress in a unique or innovative way.
- Attracting tens of thousands of regular readers.
- Being written by someone famous or especially notable in his or her particular field.
- Representing a notable organization, government entity, or corporation as an official blog or web site.
If your site fits just one of the criterion, then it’s fine and definitely “Showcase-worthy”. Meeting all four is great (and entirely possible), but not required by any means.
Once you’ve read the criteria and have an idea on how to articulate why your site meets one of more of the items, then just head over to the WordPress Showcase Submission Page, fill out the form, and click submit site. The form asks a few simple questions and takes about two minutes to fill out. Sites that are added will be notified via email within a week or so of the original submission.
If you have any questions about the Showcase, what is and isn’t “Showcase-worthy”, or anything else, head over to this forum topic at the WordPress Tavern Forum and ask. I’ll be monitoring the topic and answering questions as they come up.
WPWeekly Episode 61 – Could WordPress.com Ever Rebrand?
In this weeks edition of WordPress Weekly, David Peralty is back in full form as we discussed a wide variety of topics ranging from the idea of WordPress.com rebranding, WordPress needing more testers and the first virtual WordCamp. We also give you the skinny on WordPress 2.8.1 Beta 2.
Ad Copy:
This episode of WordPress Weekly is sponsored by, WebDevStudios.com. WebDevStudios is a website development company specializing in WordPress support and development services. Contact them today for help with your WordPress powered website.
Stories Discussed:
WordPress 2.8.1 Beta 2 Released And Do We Need It?
Is WordPress.com Bad for WordPress?
Changelogs Now A Top Level Link
The First Virtual WordCamp
WordCamp Dallas To Be Streamed Live
WordPress Tavern Listener Poll:
Last weeks poll question was: How Should I Review A Theme?
Out of a total of 23 votes, 12 of you said to use a fresh install of WordPress while 11 of you said to use a pre existing install filled with my own content.
This Weeks Poll Question Is: Do You Know The Difference Between WordPress.com And WordPress.org?
Plugin Picks Of The Week:
Jeff – Beta Tester – This plugin will allow you to either stay on one of two development tracks. Either the point release nightlies or the bleeding edge nightlies. The point release nightlites should also be fairly stable but will be available before the branch is ready for beta while the bleeding edge nightlies is the bleeding edge development code which may be unstable at times
David – David’s pick this week is a WordPress theme called Journic.
Last Weeks WordPress Trivia Question:
Where and when was the first wordcamp?
WordPress Trivia Answer:
The first WordCamp conference was held in July of 2006 in San Francisco. Matt Mullenweg pulled this event together in only three weeks time and ended up with about 300 people in the Swedish American Hall.
As an aside: The first international WordCamp event was held in Beijing China on September 1st, 2007. However, not too many people knew of the event. So the first KNOWN international WordCamp event took place in Israel on October 25, 2007
Congrats to Josh Leuze for getting the right answer.
Announcements:
Be sure to download episode 60 of WordPress Weekly which features a one hour interview with Charles Stricklin, host and producer of The WordPress Podcast. Also, Sam Bauers of bbPress has been rescheduled for July 17th.
WPWeekly Meta:
Next Episode: Friday July 3rd, 2009 8P.M. EST
Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: Click here to subscribe
Length Of Episode:
Download The Show: WordPressWeeklyEpisode61.mp3
Listen To Episode #61:
Live Stream Of WordCamp Dallas
Live video stream of WordCamp Dallas thanks to Cali Lewis of Geekbrief.TV.
Listener Poll: Do You Know The Difference Between WordPress.com And WordPress.org?
Just out of curiosity, I’m wondering how many of you out there know the difference between the two? In a recent article, Mark Jaquith commented on the fact that he sometimes hears people describe WordPress as feature limited when really they are talking about the hosted version of WordPress, that being WordPress.com. There is no such thing as a limited feature version of WordPress and this is where the idea comes in that WordPress.com may be hurting WordPress.org.
Do You Know The Difference Between WordPress.com And WordPress.org?
- Yes (98%, 52 Votes)
- No (2%, 1 Votes)
- They Are One In The Same (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 53
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The First Virtual WordCamp
As I mentioned on Twitter yesterday, I was wondering when someone was going to create one of these. That is, a virtual WordCamp. Virtual WordCamp is just like a typical WordCamp event only held online, not constrained by a physical location. The added benefit is that attendees from all over the world can attend. The event is slated to begin on the week of September 14th. The virtual WordCamp will host all sorts of presentations that will appeal to business users, new bloggers, pro bloggers, designers and developers. Those who attend the event will get access to the replays as well.
Better grab a spot fast as this WordCamp has limited the amount of live and recorded presentation passes to 1,000. In order to get a pass, it will set you back $69.95 which they consider to be a bargain. I’m not sure about that considering a typical WordCamp event will cost anywhere from $15.00-$30.00 and that is with a physical location, food, after party, etc. So with the elimination of those perks, I would have figured the price to be pretty low but that is not the case.
You can follow the hashtag #VWC09 on Twitter or follow @virtualwordcamp to stay on top of the event.
Let me know if you plan on attending this event. As for myself, I’m on the fence because of the price.
WPWeekly Episode 60 – Interview With Charles Stricklin
In this special episode of WordPress Weekly, I sit down with Charles Stricklin the host of The WordPress Podcast and talked about his foray into WordPress, the difficulties involved with producing the show, podcasting in general, and near the end of the show Charles gives away a free gift which you’ll have to listen for. I thoroughly enjoyed this interview because Charles Stricklin is a large part of the inspiration that lead to me starting the WordPress Weekly podcast.
Ad Copy:
This episode of WordPress Weekly is sponsored by, WebDevStudios.com. WebDevStudios is a website development company specializing in WordPress support and development services. Contact them today for help with your WordPress powered website.
WPWeekly Meta:
Next Episode: Friday June 26th, 2009 8P.M. EST
Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: Click here to subscribe
Length Of Episode: 1 Hour 4 Minutes
Download The Show: WordPressWeeklyEpisode60.mp3
Listen To Episode #60:
GPL, Theme Critique, WP Showcase, Interview Questions
Cool Forum Stats:
Most users ever online was 101, 06-08-2009 at 01:35 AM.
Threads: 558, Posts: 4,731, Members: 283, Active Members: 132
Paying To Download GPL Themes – This forum thread regarding the GPL was actually cool to be a part of. We did’nt so much discuss the validity of GPL and what makes something compliant or not but rather, the notion of paying for GPL compliant stuff such as themes and plugins. The conversation gets really interesting when Spirit and Ethics gets involved but it appears as though just about everyone who participated in the conversation is on the same page.
Sam Bauers Possible This Week – While the scheduled interview with Sam Bauers did not happen, I’m still taking user submitted questions for when I’m able to get him on the show. So keep them coming!
WordPress development course or code generator? – Community member Andreas tapped into the forum to discover if there was any interest in a WordPress course which would go from the ground up to give beginning developers a head start. The other idea was a tool to generate code for plugins, menus, tabs, etc. As you’ll see later on in this thread, someone has a domain already cooking to deliver on one of these ideas.
What WordPress plugin would you like to see made? – Is there a specific plugin you would like to see developed that takes WordPress to the next level? Something outside of the box? If you do, respond in this forum thread and give Carl some ideas.
Criteria for WordPress.org showcase – Dave Coveney started this thread wanting to know what the submission guidelines were in order to be accepted into the WordPress.org Showcase. Thankfully, Douglas Hanna of Automattic and the man in charge of the showcase stopped by to provide all of the information that was needed. Doug has informed me that he will be keeping tabs on this specific forum thread so if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas regarding the showcase, this would be the place to ask.
Theme Feedback – New community member Brady stopped by in the forum and requested feedback regarding the new design for his website. Check it out.