I used to be afraid to tackle the confusing array of upgrade configuration options, but now all of my WordPress 2.9 installations offer an upgrade link at the top of the admin panel.   I’m done with only a couple of clicks!

The Admin Panel doesn’t look much different in WordPress 3.0, which won’t confuse current users with a totally new interface.

The most convenient and time-saving feature about WordPress3.0 is Bulk Updates, so you can upgrade 15 plugins at once with a single click

The new default theme is Twenty Ten, which includes a cool new menu system.  Of course, the Theme you’re currently using has to support these new features to be usable.  But it’s great not having to spend an hour upgrading to a new version of my favorite CMS.

It’s recommended to back up your files first before an upgrade; Click open Tools menu, click Export.  The resulting XML file contains all your posts, pages, comments, custom fields, categories, and tags.  It can be imported back into your blog in case of a disaster.

Source: WordPress Blog

There’s more great info on WordPress3.0 at planet.wordpress.org

The WP team has assembled some well done tutorial videos for learning WordPress.

Welcome to WordPress TV, is a visual reference for all things WordPress.

There’s also a Blog for WordPress TV at blog.wordpress.tv

Here’s some other useful WordPress sites:

weeklywp.com offers weekly updated podcasts, tips and tricks. They also cover the various WordCamps, offering workshops and instruction on WordPress.

WordPress Tweaking has video instruction at wptopsites.wordpress.com

The original WordPress Code Site at codex.wordpress.org/

I Love Old Magazines has ads, covers and graphics from old magazines, just like the title implies.

It’s from the same guys who came up with I Love Charts. They have a very creative way of looking at all types of charts.

They’re both on Tumblr a great Web 2.0 tool that allows you to share anything on the web. You can customize your own page too, just like Blogger and WordPress.

Tumblr also has a iPhone app and a Facebook app.

We’re going to see some important improvements in this new version, which will push WordPress even further along as the leading CMS tool on the web.

The WordPress Blog has posted about some of the biggest changes in the 3.0 Beta, listed here:

• A Custom Menu System
• WordPress and WordPress MU have merged
• A New Default Theme called Twenty Ten
• Custom Post Type Functionality

The new WordPress 3.0 Beta has the blogosphere buzzing…I’ve found the following posts have been the most informative.

• CyberCoder on Twitter:
  Nice changes to the WordPress 3.0 Edit Themes page, cleaner file names, descriptions, selected file. The new Default Theme and Custom Menu in WordPress 3.0 appears to be a nice addition.
• CyberCoder is testing the WordPress 3.0 Beta here.
• mashable.com WordPress Beta 3.0 Released
• net.tutsplus.com 10 Features to Look Forward to in WordPress 3.0
• WordPress Development Updates wpdevel.wordpress.com/
• WordPress Trac Timeline core.trac.wordpress.org/timeline
• WordPress Planet planet.wordpress.org
• Beta testers can report bugs at wp-testers mailing list

Leading web designers engage in debate about CMS tools.

Question; Is WordPress killing web design?

WordPress has been named the leader among popular CMS tools, Movable Type, Joomla!, and Mambo.

So is WordPress creating a new set of design conventions that designers feel obliged to follow? Are CMS tools making web designers lose creative focus, making them lazy?

Official SXSW YouTube Channel

Follow SXSW on Twitter

SXSW on Facebook

“We’ve left the digital decade behind, and now we’re moving into the era of the connected community.”

So what does that mean? Well, often I have to look back at where I’ve been, in order to figure out where I’m going. In a previous post I wrote about the past ten years, the World Wide Web from Y2K to Today.

In 2005 I started blogging and discovered that I love to write. The blogging format gave me a world wide voice which allowed me to connect with others I never otherwise would have met. I started working with my brother David and we naturally wrote about our common interest, music. We used Google’s Blogger and eventually migrated into WordPress, and even looked into other platforms like Joomla!

In the ensuing five years we have evolved into working with other tools like Twitter and Facebook, FriendFeed, bit.ly and HootSuite. We have become more connected to a community of like-minded net citizens, engaging in many different conversations across the world wide web.

The term Web 2.0 first took off in 2004, during the first O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference. Six years later, Web 2.0 has exploded, expanded and morphed into a host of different web applications connecting us all with each other.

What does it mean to you?

2000: Napster gets sued for music file sharing violations by Metallica, Dr. Dre, Madonna and A&M Records. The site shuts down the following year after an RIAA injunction.

2001: iTunes launches as the killer music app for the iPod.

2002: Napster files Chapter 11 and is forced to liquidate it’s assets.

2003: MySpace & WordPress debut. WordPress becomes a leading open source content management system.

2004: Firefox 1.0 debuts as an alternative standalone browser to the bloated Mozilla web suite that includes Netscape.

2005: YouTube & Google Earth debut. My first blog posts appear on ThisCrazyCosmos.

2006: Twitter debut, Facebook opens registration to the public, instead of just students.

2007: DailyRover, my new blog about the web goes online.

2008: Google’s Chrome browser debuts after public beta. Napster is purchased by Best Buy.

2009: Internet Explorer 8.0 is introduced as the first real Windows browser upgrade since IE7 in 2006. Google Chrome replaces Safari as the number three web browser of choice, behind Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

2010: What will happen next? Will Twitter finally find a way to make money? More users than ever will Tweet this coming year, especially from the Olympic Games via iPhones and other mobile platforms.

It’s a given that Chrome will take market share from both leading browsers as Google continues world domination. YouTube will continue to create new sensations from home video, and Facebook just keeps getting bigger. I’m sure someone, somewhere is already making predictions for 2010.

So…the turning point came last weekend after a post with an embedded video link to nbc.com.  After I used the embed code to the John McCain video, the post published OK, but then Firefox wouldn’t render the page correctly.  It pushed the entire sidebar down to the bottom of the page, which just ruined the page formatting.  Funny thing, the page rendered OK in IE and Safari, but not in Firefox.  (Yes I’m using the latest versions of all 3 browsers.)  The real fix came after deleting the embedded video and just linking to it instead.  DailyRover.com is back to normal.

But I like using Firefox, so this bothered the heck outta me.  Until today, when I got some much needed WordPress help from CyberCoder.  He showed me how to update to the latest version of WordPress, which wasn’t that hard after all.  He’s got some great ideas posted on his latest sites the-niche-doctor.com and cybercoded.net.

Thanks man!

Thanks for all your hard work, Bro!

Woof!!