Episode 21: WordCamp, an official plug-in directory and Charles’ troubles with upgrades
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| 00:00 | Mindless Banter: David is still recovering from his cold and Charles missed SXSW. |
| 03:11 | News: WordCamp scheduled for July 21st and 22nd. |
| 07:11 | News: WordPress now has an official plug-in directory. |
| 12:42 | News: How to get your OpenID URL account to work on WordPress.com blogs. |
| 15:24 | News: WordPress.com adds slideshows and maps. |
| 17:13 | News: Add WordPress Wednesdays to your must-read lists. |
| 18:29 | News: Mark Jaquith is getting married! |
| 19:36 | Plug-In: InstantUpgrade v0.1 mostly worked as advertised, but read the instructions carefully! |
| 24:04 | Plug-In: Database Backup v1.7 backs up your database, except it failed to backup mine, but that wasn’t its fault. |
| 26:05 | Plug-In: Enhanced Plug-In Manager v1.1 supposedly deactivates all your plug-ins in one fell swoop, but I couldn’t get it to work. |
| 29:44 | Plug-In: Visualize Advanced Features v0.03 adds an icon to the end of the default editor bar that brings up the advanced featured editor bar when clicked. |
| 31:34 | Theme: Blogging Pro’s theme has been released in three different flavors: one requiring certain plug-ins, one requiring no plug-ins and one supporting widgets. |
| 34:18 | Feedback: Jeremy Visser suggests the WordPress 2.0 branch is being updated because of its in Debian Etch, the next stable release of Debian, which requires a commitment for security updates. |
| 35:30 | Feedback: Toni Schneider informs us that the KnowNow WordPress Enterprise Edition is being used in Fortune 1000 companies such as AMD, First Republic, HP, Sun, Union Bank, and Wells Fargo. |
| 38:04 | Feedback: Both Lloyd Budd and Byrne Reese weighed in on OpenID as well as the new Blogger importer. |
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Interesting…
The RSS feed from Wordpress Planet -
(http://planet.wordpress.org/feed/)
is listing Wordpress Podcast Episode 21,
but the RSS feed from The WordPress Podcast itself -
(http://feeds.feedburner.com/wordpresspodcast)
is not (7:47 pm EDT)
Hi guys. Nice cast! I hope you do make it to WordCamp, Charles.
A minor correction @24:20: Skippy’s real name is Scott Merrill. He wrote WP-DB Backup. Sometimes in #wordpress people type sk<autocomplete> and ping my nick, skeltoac, when they mean to ping skippy.
I don’t think database backup needs to be a core feature. Most folks will get all of the data they need with the Export feature and then have the benefit of being able to easily import that data non-destructively into any blog they wish to create or join.
Now, I see instant upgrades as a worthy candidate for core once it gets added and debugged.
Marc,
The Planet WordPress feed links to the actual post whereas the feed here is to the podcast itself, that is, the MP3 files.
I’m not sure what you’re getting at with your comment. As far as the database error you saw previously, it has something to do with the configuration of Mark Jaquith’s Subscribe to Comments plug-in, and I’m troubleshooting it now.
Andy, et al, regarding the export feature vs the database backup, unless I’ve missed something,there’s no auto backup feature in the export. Sure, I can set up crons, or email myself a reminder in iCal, but bottom line, Skippy’s plugin was spot on for even experienced users to have a simple way to backup their DB.
The most current version that’s out there (2.0.1), http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/wp-db-backup, works flawlessly in 2.1, and now you can set it to even better increments, depending on how actively you blog.
Bear with me - I’m still a newb in some regards. I was hoping that placing (http://feeds.feedburner.com/wordpresspodcast) into Sage (within Firefox) would allow me to know ASAP (when I ‘cycle/refresh’ my list of RSS feeds, of course) when in fact a new WP Podcast was available. I was wondering why I was able to learn that WP Podcast EP 21 was available (via http://planet.wordpress.org/feed/) yet not through (http://feeds.feedburner.com/wordpresspodcast). Perhaps I am doing something wrong or is it just that the feeds update a different times and that’s just the way things work. I appreciate your guidance and hoped that my comment was taken as simple user feedback that might be helpful in some way.
I was actually quite shocked when I clicked through to the new podcast to be greeted with lots of links in pink boxes. (I use the Search Status plugin for Firefox)
I have a feeling you are not using nofollow on those links deliberately, so maybe you are using some kind of linking manager that did it, or copied html directly from comments which had the nofollow code.
I think Debian is pronounced with a short ‘e’, not a long one. Maybe I’m saying it wrong though!
I make a plugin that does (disable all plugins and restore it) that and it does work. Its called Plugin Tools. Email me if you want to try it.
It will soon be found at mostlynothing.info but I need beta testers. Let me know! Thanks…
[...] lighter material. This, I think, has been a mistake - I’ve just listened through the latest episode, and found it a mix of interesting, entertaining and frustrating. Frustration mainly because I [...]
I’m sorry that you had problems using InstantUpgrade. Maybe I really should do a bigger warning sign saying that button is *not* to be touched unless you really know what you do and this is what you want.
However, more important: I keep on hearing that one should deactivate all plugins before an upgrade. I still wait for anybody to give me a sensible explaination for why we are supposed to do so.
You (Charles) also proposed this on my blog, I answered that I believe this is an urban legend. As you mentioned your entry on my blog, you might also have said a word about my replies.
By the way, I also wrote another article about issues and questions around the Instant Upgrade plugin.
Alex,
Yes, that was me, and I’m sorry I didn’t catch the follow up responses on your blog. So much to do… so little time… you know the routine. I just plain missed it.
As far as the foul-up, that was 100% mine. I was the idiot that clicked something without reading it fully first. Your plug-in did pretty much exactly what you said it would. However, keep in mind that if there are idiots like me out there, there are others who’ll do the same thing.
As far as disabling plug-ins before upgrading WordPress, it’s actually mentioned as step #2 in the Codex, although I’ve since heard from other plug-in authors that agree with you that it’s unnecessary.
All in all, it’s a nice plug-in, and if I gave the impression that it’s not, I apologize.
I absolutely agree that the userfriendlyness of this plugin can still be improved in order to keep less experienced users (or those who are short of time ;-)) from doing unwanted things.
I see. I think I’m going to raise the question if, why and in how far plugins really should to be deactivated before a plugin at the wp-hackers mailing list. Afaik, the people responsible for the documentation also participate in this list.
I think you clearly pointed out that what you said is your personal experience and opinion. Therefore, I don’t think there is a reason for me to be disapointed. Besides, I believe that even a rather negative feedback is helpful, as it is a source for improvement ideas.
Also, people do acknowledge that this plugin is still in an early stage. And, for most people the upgrade with this plugin was succesful, so I got a lot of positive feedback; far enough to motivate me for future improvements and releases.
[...] Head on over the the site, and check out the latest episode. [...]
Hey there
This isn’t a comment about this episode, just some admin feedback. I’ve posted it here cuz I didn’t see any email info.
Just heard your promo on Jason’s latest show. Listened to Planning. I’ll sub to that, but it’s this cast I’m writing about.
Tried to sub in iTunes. Searched and found. Clicked sub button. Didn’t see it under W. Went back twice and resubbed. Eventually found it under The… (don’t think the “the” in the title on the profile page; mentioned cuz it was a bit confrusting).
Main point: when I finally found it on my sub list, the heading was there, but no content. Clicked update; still nothing came in.
I’ll come back and try again. But I thought you should know, cuz if it’s not just a temporary glitch, you could be losing would-be subscribers.
Also, when I played the Planning cast, it blasted pretty loud. Couldn’t find a volume control. I know PodPress gives some design control over the player. But if there’s not, I’d suggest finding a way to add it.
Regards
BB
Ontario, Canada
…Aaaaaaaaaand LATER the content showed up.
Volume tip still applies, though
BB
Thanks for another awesome cast!
“How to get your OpenID URL account to work”? This is the WordPress podcast right? So do it the WordPress way. There are a number of plugins for this, I use wp-xrds by Will Norris.
A link to deactivates all your plug-ins is also in WordPress 2.2 . The origin of the recommendation to deactivate all of your plugins is because of caching plugins (photomatt explains)
Database Backup is a great plugin and as miklb expresses the Export functionality is not yet comparable.
I also look forward to when upgrade is only a few clicks. Before we get there, I am eager for new version of WordPress and plugin notification, which is a hot topic on wp-hackers mailing list.
The new Blogger Importer is in 2.2!
The change would just be too extensive to get it into WordPress 2.1 . Using WordPress.com to do the import and then export seems like a reasonable work around, allowing us to focus on getting WordPress 2.2 done.
Imagine if Blogger provided an exporter, wouldn’t that be nice!
Nit: David Weitz is correct about how to say Debian. “It is pronounced as the corresponding syllables of these names in American English: /’dÉ›biÉ™n/.” (from Wikipedia)
I made a small donation. Cheers.
[...] Community Podcast: The latest version of the WordPress Community News Podcast is out with news on WordCamp, the new WordPress Plugin Directory, and some of the host’s [...]
[...] Community Podcast: The latest version of the WordPress Community News Podcast is out with news on WordCamp, the new WordPress Plugin Directory, and some of the host’s [...]
Yeh, I think Debian is pronounced with a short ‘e’, not a long one.