WordPress 2.8 Features
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Let’s see how slowly I write a post 
As I start to write this post, WordPress 2.7 has been downloaded 5,949,994 times. Let’s see how many more users will download WP 2.7 before I end my post.
Milestone of WordPress 2.8
Alright, the date has been written in the stone. WordPress 2.8 will be released on June 10, 2009. Mark it on your calendar!. 2.8 is the one with the most tickets opened and closed. According to the developer’s tracker, it is the first time a milestone passes the 800 line. What does it mean? It simply means that WordPress solved/fixed 800 bugs and/or added/improved/optimized features! I know that most user’s are not aware of these. Heck, we doesn’t even care on what’s going on behind the engine of WordPress.
Let’s just be thankful for all the developers, reviewers, testers and all the people involved in this magnanimous project that is giving benefits to all of us.
Highlights and New Features of WordPress 2.8
New Theme Browser and Installer
You may now be able to install your favorite themes in a single click, quick and easy just like installing a plugin. Searching and browsing for a theme is now much easier because of the new options to choose like colors, column width, features and more. Additionally, you can use keywords to search for a theme.
Plugin Management
I thought installing plugins in WP 2.7 is the best already, but WP 2.8 provides filtering plugins by state such as Active, Recently Active, Inactive and Upgrade Available. You can also search for a plugin by name, author and tag, or simply click on popular tag.
Customize Headers
WordPress 2.8 Ready Theme
It is now possible to change the header menu text without touching the code or manually editing the theme. This feature will work will only work if the theme author has configured the theme to allow this capability.
New Drag and Drop Widgets Interface
Widgets can now be arranged in up to four columns in the administration dashboard.
Faster Loading of Admin Pages
This very important to most of us since we are accessing this page everyday. This was made possible via script compression and concatenation.
Automatic Timezone and Day Light Savings Time (DST)
No need for manual update anymore!. Just enter your location/city and let it roll on its own.
There are actually hundreds more new features like; Don’t ask for confirmation when marking a comment as spam, helping people when entering wrong email addresses during the installation, etc. I leave to you to find out the other features. And by the way, smilies are now loading much faster than ever
What do you think of these new features in WordPress 2.8? If you think I left out some important features (maybe you have favorites), please leave a comment to say so.
My question is, I’m already in love with version 2.7, so why did you create something as great as 2.8?
Note: I’m now about to publish my post and the latest WordPress 2.7 download is at 5,954,791. That is almost 5,000 downloads while I was writing! Let’s see how WordPress 2.8 downloads stats in the following weeks.
WordPress 2.8 Ready Theme
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This is great and I should have waited but my husband wants it to happen and start. Right now , I’m just waiting for the domain name to take effect before I could launch it. Ishould have used this WP version. Thanks for this info. Well, at I could transfer anytime …maybe by next week habang wala pang ranking yung blog na yun. I know it’s easy to migrate but the question is , what about the comments? Paano mo ma-transfer yun?
You know that the drawback for me in WP w/c kept me from using it is because of its installation of themes, and widgets. These are very important to me.
Well, I know I have a tutor in you.
Eric,
Exciting news! My digital video production company has been signed to follow Michael Jordan, the famous basketball player, around the golf course at the Celebrity Pro Amateur Golf Tournament in Reno Nevada USA.
It will help me with publicity to have a photo and videos of Michael Jordan!
Hope your site is now secure!
I’m planning to roll out another site on my domain for my video recording business.
Respectfully,
Nicholas Chase – Producer / Director
Nicholas Chase Digital Video Productions
comments from where?
mostly comments from other platforms (bloggers,blogspot,wordpress.com) can be transferred automatically.
just let me know if you need my help.
I really envy you Nicholas! you seems getting all the best publicity and photo-op in the world!…
I haven’t transferred my blog yet on another host… still waiting for some “considerations”.
I’m excited to see the direction you are taking on your online ventures!
great post but I`m not using WP yet. this will be my guide to build one. thanks
Hey Eric,
Thanks for this post.
I’m really excited for WordPress 2.8 though I’m still expecting some “major” changes.
How about the dashboard? are there any changes on the dashboard? like layout, or perhaps the organization of the whole dashboard?
Thanks is advance!
JeD Chan
let me know if you need some help. if time permits, I can help you in setting up your WP site/blog.
thanks for asking Jed Chan, most of the changes of WP 2.8 from previous version is actually on the Dashboard. you may now be able to arrange the dashboard widgets up to four columns, you can also easily configure the number of items to show on management page (use the Show Options), Admin has new improved icons (grey-to-transparent shadows) and is using blue color scheme.
I’ll finaly be able to keep my old plugin settings without any problems. I wonder why this wasn’t a feature in 2.7 – I guess they just overlooked it.
I upgraded to 2.8 and it’s better!
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