WordPress 2.2 with Widgets Integration
Filed in: WordPress — May 16th, 2007
After the previous delay, WordPress 2.2 is finally released today. The new version includes several new features and hundreds bug fixes.
Here are some new features for WordPress users:
- WordPress Widgets — This is not new but integrated into WordPress core by default. Previously you need to install the WordPress widget plugin.
- Full ATOM support — WordPress 2.2 now support ATOM 1.0
- New Blogger importer — the Blogger importer is now able to handle the latest version of Google’s Blogger and import all posts and comments. Previously, it has to be done with some hacks.
- Infinite comment stream — Edit Comment page is now AJAX-ed. It keeps the page with 20 items even you delete comments or mark spam comments.
- Break protection — you are now protected from breaking your blog by activating a plugin or editing a file.
- Speed optimizations — core plugin and filter are optimized to be faster and lighter on your web server.
- WYSIWYG for Safari — added a hook for WYSIWYG support in future version of Safari.
For developers, WordPress 2.2 included a new set of WordPress-specific XML-RPC APIs for editing pages, setting categories, and more. The WordPress internal mail functions are now using phpMailer, with SMTP support.
Changed files or full upgrade?
Since there are a lot of files been changed in WordPress 2.2. I recommend existing WordPress users to do a full WordPress upgrade by replacing all the existing files (of course, spare your own files and images!).
My two cents
Personally, I do not use any WordPress Widget. I prefer to have control, and Widget’s options are usually limited for ease of use. With Widget integration, users do not need to take another step to install the WordPress widget plugin.
The break protection is good for curious WordPress users like me. I like to test different WordPress plugins and some of them really break my blog. Although I could manually disable the bad plugins, a protection to avoid it is great.
For anyone who run a heavy WordPress blog, the speed optimizations are always good to have. Although I do not expect it to be a big improvement but that’s better than none.
Have your WordPress blog upgraded? Have you encountered any problems?
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May 16th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Just finished upgrading it and didnt notice any problem at all
Since there are a lot of files been changed in WordPress 2.2. I recommend existing WordPress users to do a full WordPress upgrade by replacing all the existing files (of course, spare your own files and images!).
Previously i always use the changed files method too, but since i got ssh access from my host, i always use the full upgrade
May 16th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
@Reaper-X: ya, SSH wordpress upgrade is simple and fast
May 16th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
I heard John Chow said it has several problems, he has downgraded to previous version, I think I will not upgrade it now
May 16th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
I upgraded my blog that has the least number of posts from 2.1.3 to 2.2.
No problem whatsoever. I did it the lazy way by replacing all the old files (overwriting).
Dare not upgrade my other older blogs for fear of breaking them. Probably after backing up, I’ll upgrade it.
What are you waiting for LiewCF? Upgrade and tell us about it
May 16th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
@Andrew Ooi: I will be away for a few days. Will upgrade WP when I am back
May 17th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Upgraded. No issues. Speed increased slightly…
May 27th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Upgraded to 2.2 and I *HATE* it.
This widget-ready version doesn’t allow me to assign specific widgets to appear on specific pages. Everything appears EVERY PAGE whether I want it to or not.
In my previous version, 2.1.1, I used a plugin called Sidebar Modules by Nybble Labs, which worked with any widget-ready theme. It had the capacity to do exactly what I described above.
I naively thought that since WP 2.2 was “widget ready” I could simply use this plugin and things would run as I normally had them.
After the upgrade, I discovered that Sidebar Modules is incompatible.
I then found a plugin that supposedly disables the “widget-readiness” of WP 2.2.
I installed that one, tried using Sidebar Modules and it LOOKED like everything was working smoothly to me.
Unfortunately, to my readers, the page took an eternity to load or even caused their browser to hang, requiring them to close via ctrl-alt-delete!!
SO… for the past week or so my page has been all messed up and I’ve lost readership… and possibly income because I sell my artwork and handmade jewelry through my site as well.
Does anyone know a good way to downgrade back to my previous version or have another solution?
*Any* help would be greatly appreciated.
May 31st, 2007 at 5:30 pm
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