Archive notice: This article was originally published on April 2, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Over the weekend, the developers of blogging software WordPress http://wordpress.org officially released the substantially changed version 2.5, which offers many new usability features. The WordPress dashboard now uses a range of customisable widgets. Content can be put online more easily through multiple-file uploads, and a galllery function has been integrated for images. There are new features for developers too, including in security and through a “Shortcode API” that enables code abbreviations for complex functions.
The new dashboard with its widgets is clearer overall and easy for users to customise. Plug-ins such as an extra-wide statistics box can be incorporated. Updating plug-ins has generally been made easier, although this depends on the host. Editing a blog is simplified by options such as uploading several files simultaneously, a built-in galllery function for images and a WYSIWYG interface that is intended no longer to scramble bloggers’ own code as before. For multi-author blogs, there is a protection feature to prevent authors overwriting one another when editing entries at the same time. Anyone using WordPress as a CMS can look forward to an expanded search function.
There have also been developments on the developer side, including in security. Using the phpass library and a plug-in that enables HD5 hash cryptography improves password security, and cookies are now encrypted. The Shortcode API allows complex functions with extensive code to be called in blog posts through a short macro string. One example of such a shortcode is the newly implemented galllery function. A database optimisation promises slightly higher speed.
The open-source software WordPress 2.5 is available to download in English from the website http://wordpress.org online. A German version is available at http://de.wordpress.org. The software can be used with any web host that allows PHP 4.3 or later and MySQL 4.0 or later. Alternatively, users can create a blog free of charge on http://wordpress.com online. The WordPress blog-hosting site currently contains almost 2.8 million blogs.
