WordPress 2.9

WordPress 2.9 has been release.

Here are some of the highlights:

  1. Global undo/”trash” feature, which means that if you accidentally delete a post or comment you can bring it back from the grave (i.e., the Trash). This also eliminates those annoying “are you sure” messages we used to have on every delete.
  2. Built-in image editor allows you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images to show them who’s boss. This is the first wave of our many planned media-handling improvements.
  3. Batch plugin update and compatibility checking, which means you can update 10 plugins at once, versus having to do multiple clicks for each one, and we’re using the new compatibility data from the plugins directory to give you a better idea of whether your plugins are compatible with new releases of WordPress. This should take the fear and hassle out of upgrading.
  4. Easier video embeds that allow you to just paste a URL on its own line and have it magically turn it into the proper embed code, with Oembed support for YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv (and more in the next release).
  5. We now have rel=canonical support for better SEO.
  6. There is automatic database optimization support, which you can enable in your wp-config.php file by adding define('WP_ALLOW_REPAIR', true);.
  7. Themes can register “post thumbnails” which allow them to attach an image to the post, especially useful for magazine-style themes.
  8. A new commentmeta table that allows arbitrary key/value pairs to be attached to comments, just like posts, so you can now expand greatly what you can do in the comment framework.
  9. Custom post types have been upgraded with better API support so you can juggle more types than just post, page, and attachment. (More of this planned for 3.0.)
  10. You can set custom theme directories, so a plugin can register a theme to be bundled with it or you can have multiple shared theme directories on your server.
  11. We’ve upgraded TinyMCE WYSIWYG editing and Simplepie.
  12. Sidebars can now have descriptions so it’s more obvious what and where they do what they do.
  13. Specify category templates not just by ID, like before, but by slug, which will make it easier for theme developers to do custom things with categories — like post types!
  14. Registration and profiles are now extensible to allow you to collect things more easily, like a user’s Twitter account or any other fields you can imagine.
  15. The XML-RPC API has been extended to allow changing the user registration option. We fixed some Atom API attachment issues.
  16. Create custom galleries with the new include and exclude attributes that allow you to pull attachments from any post, not just the current one.
  17. When you’re editing files in the theme and plugin editors it remembers your location and takes you back to that line after you save. (Thank goodness!!!)
  18. The Press This bookmarklet has been improved and is faster than ever; give it a try for on-the-fly blogging from wherever you are on the internet.
  19. Custom taxonomies are now included in the WXR export file and imported correctly.
  20. Better hooks and filters for excerpts, smilies, HTTP requests, user profiles, author links, taxonomies, SSL support, tag clouds, query_posts and WP_Query

Download: WordPress 2.9 (2.2MB)
Changelog: WordPress 2.9

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WordPress 2.9 Beta 2

WordPress 2.9 Beta 2 has been released.

I tested my plugins on WordPress 2.9 Beta 1 and it all works without any problem. I don’t think I will have time to release any updates till I get back from my holiday at the end of December 2009. Having said that, the current version of my plugin should work fine with WordPress 2.9 as well.

Download: WordPress 2.9 Beta 2
View: Changes Since Beta 1

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Mentioned By Jane Wells in WordPress.Org Blog

Woot! I was mentioned by Jane Wells in the latest blog entry on WordPress.org blog entitled A Little Support?

Here is the part where I was mentioned:

And an additional shoutout to plugin authors who take an active role in moderating threads regarding their plugins, again nominated by official moderators for recognition:

scribu, GDragoN, sivel, MikeChallis, GamerZ, alexrabe, arnee, sociable, takayukister, hallsofmontezuma, joostdevalk, filosofo, roytanck, donncha, Hiroaki Miyashita, manojtd, froman118, error, Viper007Bond, alexkingorg, cavemonkey50, azaozz, aaroncampbell, isa.goksu, flipper, joedolson, redwallhp, eight7teen, orenshmu, WebGeek, Otto42, toddiceton, the_dead_one, mywpplugin, MattyRob, markjaquith, TobiasBg, Txanny, elfin, jolley_small, stastoc, anmari, micropat, frekel.

I first joined the WordPress.org forums on 18th September 2003! Time flies, it has been 6 years!

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Away From 7th December 2009 To 27th December 2009

I will be away from the 7th December 2009 to 27th December 2009 to Taiwan and Hong Kong for holidays.

During this period, http://forums.lesterchan.net will be in a read-only mode, meaning you can only search and read topics/replies. Registration of new account, replying to an existing topic and posting a new topic will be DISABLED.

Please make an effort to search or read through the respective forum for your answers. I am 90% sure that your problems had been addressed before.

I WILL NOT entertain any support questions that are sent to me via email during this period. If you urgently need support, you can try posting it in WordPress.org Support Forums.

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