Manas T

So I jumped off the boat and upgraded this blog to the latest and greatest WordPress version ever … version 2.5. The features were just too much for me to resist. So how does WordPress 2.5 feel compared to the previous WordPress releases ? Find out after the jump.

In case you are afraid to upgrade manually, try the Instant Upgrade plugin. It worked for me without any problem.

1. Incompatible plugins

Out of my 15 old plugins just one plugin was causing problems. It was Disable WordPress Widgets. I had never liked the idea of WordPress widgets. But no plugin update was available.

So I am now using widgets in the sidebar. A small sacrifice for using Worpress 2.5.

2. The new dashboard

WordPress 2.5 includes a fully customizable dashboard with fresh new colors and a complete redesign to make things simpler. At first looks, the new dashboard looks great but there are some downsides. The layout is not fluid, so there is a lot of space wastage in widescreen monitors. Also the colors used are a bit difficult to read on laptop screens.

The one shot solution for these problems is a new admin theme. Download and install the Fluency WordPress admin theme. Its a cool new admin theme which is compatible with WordPress 2.5. You can check out screenshots here.

3. Multi-file uploading now easy

Uploading files is now much easier. Uploading files is somewhat like Flickr now. You can select multiple files at the same time and see the progress of each file while they are uploading. Cool !

4. Automatic plugin upgrades

Now you can automatically upgrade plugins from your dashboard itself. Open the Plugin page. If there is an update available WordPress will show you. Check out the screenshot telling me there is an update available for the XML sitemaps plugin.

Click upgrade automatically and WordPress will do everything for you.

5. Built-in gallery support

Upload a bunch of photos and embed galleries by just putting [ gallery] (without the space) in your post. It’ll display all your thumbnails and captions and each will link each to a page where people can comment on the individual photos.

Check out Paul Stamatiou’s post using WordPress 2.5 Gallery support.

Thats it for now….. I am still checking out WordPress 2.5.

After much delay, WordPress 2.5 is now available for everyone to download.

Some of the exciting new features in WordPress 2.5 are an all new customizable dashboard, support for multi-file upload, one-click plugin upgrades, faster load times, built-in galleries and much more. The WordPress.org site has also been redesigned and it looks marvellous with the new colors and design.

But before you upgrade, make sure you have the latest back-up of your blog. Also its better if you upgrade all your plugins to make sure you there are no incompatibility problems. Unlike previous releases, this WordPress upgrade involves some database changes too. So make sure you follow the official WordPress instructions while upgrading.

I just finished upgrading to WordPress 2.5 thanks to the WordPress Instant Upgrade plugin and the screenshot you see above is of my all new dashboard. All my plugins seem to be working fine so far too. Just one gripe though, the new WordPress dashboard design is not fluid in design and looks out of sorts on my widescreen laptop.

So are you upgrading your WordPress blog to 2.5 ?

Download WordPress 2.5

The official announcement

Finally… After much testing and releasing new builds, Microsoft has finally made available Windows Vista SP1 final to customers starting today.

Just open Windows Update on your Vista PC and check for new updates. You will see Windows Vista SP1 available there. You can also download the standalone package of Windows Vista SP1 from Microsoft Download Center here.

Windows Vista SP1 Pre-install check-list

1. Uninstall any pre-release version of Windows Vista SP1 (the Beta or the RC) that you have installed.
2. Update all your system drivers. If you have an incompatible driver then Windows Vista will not show up on Windows Update. Microsoft has a list of known incompatible drivers here.
3. SP1 is available in these 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese. If you have any other language installed, SP1 will not be offered to you. (You might not even know if you have an additional language installed! Check the Language control panel to see what languages you have installed)

Go install Windows Vista SP1.

Windows Vista Team Blog : Windows Vista released to Windows Update

Download Windows Vista Service Pack 1 for x86 systems

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 for x64 systems

Thoughts.com is a new entrant in the much crowded blogosphere with every other site giving the option to open a free new Blog at http://www.thoughts.com/ for you. So what sets Thoughts.com different in this crowd ?

First thing I noticed about this site, is that they have got a nice domain name. The domain name clearly reflects what the site is about. And this adds great value to the service they are providing. Apart from opening a new blog you can upload photos, videos, do podcasting and add friends. Plus unlimited bandwidth too…

After spending some time on Thoughts.com it looks to be a blogging site with a pinch of social networking thrown in to make blogging look more exciting. There is a rating system which lets other people rate the posts you write. You need not spend time promoting your post, Thoughts.com will do that for you.

Now the time for downsides. One big downside : Thoughts.com does not have enough options for customizing your blog. There are a few themes but not much choices are there if you want your blog to look different. 

If you’re looking for the pure part of blogging, and a small audience from the beginning to read what you have to say, then Thoughts.com might just be your thing. Try out Thoughts .

This is a paid review.

A follow-up to my previous post, I found this nifty little article in PCMAG which shows you a way to delete empty folders  with a single command. No software required to be downloaded…

Read it here.