Loving WordPress 2.8

This weekend, I’ve upgraded this blog to WordPress 2.8 and it was sooo easy! With 2.7 came the ability to update to new versions automatically within the WordPress dashboard. Therefore, no need to worry about fiddling around with FTP logins and complex file revisions. One click and all done within 5 seconds!

I’m a huge fan of WordPress. It’s the platform I use for every blog I look after including the Wildfire one.

And version 2.8 has some interesting updates including:

- It’s faster

- New theme updater

- New widgets dashboard

- New screen options on the top right of every page

You can get a good run-through of these in this video (nice Jazz theme tune as well!):

And if you were still unsure why WordPress really is the best out there, here are my top ten reasons:

1. Easy to install, easy to update – from 2.7 you can do more or less everything within the dashboard

2. Themes – lots of templates to use – you can even design your own

3. Widgets – easy to update side bars and footers (new and improved with 2.8)

4. Plugins – with the WordPress API there are a multitude of 3rd party plugins allowing you to do almost anything! [this feature alone makes it a winner!]

5. WordPress.com – if you don’t want to host a blog yourself, this is the option for you

6. Total control with WordPress.org – if hosting doesn’t put you off, then you get much more for your buck

7. Fantastic UI – the new dashboard (from 2.7) is slick, easy to use and powerful

8. Edit themes and plugins within the dashboard – no need to use FTP or an HTML editor [editing plugins is new with 2.8]

9. The community – WordPress has millions of users, many of whom are ready and willing to lend a hand when things go wrong

10. It’s free!

Danny Whatmough