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Wordpress 2.7 is the Real Deal
By Mark Evans | October 5, 2008
For all the excitement about Wordpress 2.5 with its pretty new design, Wordpress didn’t change all that much for me.
The layout was different, the design (provided by hot-shot consulting firm, Happy Cog) was a lot more user-friendly but Wordpress continued to be Wordpress. By that, I didn’t do much with it other than install a few plugins - after getting used to the new widget system. Most important, I continued to ignore Wordpress’ publishing tool; using Ecto as my publishing tool.
But judging by what I saw yesterday at WordCamp Toronto, that could all change with Wordpress 2.7, which Matt Mullenweg announced will be released next month. In particular, the dashboard and the writing tool are going to be overhauled in a major way that I think are going to be a lot more interesting and exciting than Wordpress 2.5.
This most noticeable change in 2.7 will be the navigation bar being moved to the left-hand side of the page. Within the writing tool, there will be drag-and-drog functionality so you can configureit how you want, and the ability to collapse widgets to create a lot more writing room). It will also be easier to add media - photos, images, videos.
When Mullenweg provided an overview yesterday at WordCamp Toronto, the reaction from the audience was extremely positive - sort of like the kids being told the candy store was going to be selling bigger and better chocolate bars.
For me, Wordpress 2.7 could be an Ecto-killer. Ecto is a great way to write and manage multiple blogs but it’s pretty no-frills, and there’s little way to pimp it with plug-ins. It is, however, a user-friendly tool, particularly the ability to insert and size images.
That said, Wordpress 2.7 is taking major leaps forward in usability, although I’d like to see the gallery become even more-user friendly. When the new Wordpress comes out next month, I’m looking forward to using it to write posts.
As from the 2.7’s bells and whistles, Mullenweg said Automattic is working on making upgrades easier to implement. Over time, the goal will be to put the upgrade functionality into the core so Wordpress upgrades - which are slated to happen every three months - will work much like how Firefox does now.
For the curious, here are the Wordpress 2.7 wireframes. You can also get a really good overview by checking weblog tools collection.
More: WordCamp Toronto was really good - a good mix of speakers, lots of new and interesting ideas, and an enthusiastic audience. In terms of constructive criticism, the venue was a long way from downtown Toronto, and it probably should have been a one-day event with two tracks rather than two days.
Update: Here’s a video featuring Mullenweg talking about the state of Wordpress.
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October 5th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I’ve been really looking forward to 2.7, the 2.5 upgrade was good but personally I thought there could have been more. By the look of the 2.7 framework, we’re in for some great upgrades.
October 5th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Thanks for the link Mark - tonight (probably at 11pm eastern), I will post Matt’s walkthrough of 2.7 - he spent about 25 minutes walking through the entire app - and I really like how everything works. While I love drupal, I wish it had the usability on the post side as WP does.
October 5th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
[...] WordPress 2.7 is the Real Deal→ [...]
October 5th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Allen,
Looking forward to seeing the walkthrough. Although it hasn’t got anywhere near the buzz of 2.5, it appears to be a much more interesting update.
Mark
October 5th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
[...] Wordpress 2.7 is the Real Deal | Mark Evans [...]
October 6th, 2008 at 12:53 am
[...] Wordpress 2.7 is the Real Deal [...]
October 6th, 2008 at 7:25 am
liebesraum? That would be Lebensraum (with a capital, since German nouns are capitalized).
October 6th, 2008 at 7:27 am
More information about Lebensraum, the main motivation for the agressive expansion of Nazi Germany : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensraum (it makes the reference somewhat compare Matt Mullenweg to Adolf Hitler, which is pretty impressive I guess).
October 6th, 2008 at 7:30 am
[...] from the sizzle within the next Wordpress upgrade (aka 2.7), one of the most interesting parts of WordCamp Toronto [...]
October 6th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Changing the UI every year is not a good strategy. However, I guess we can all agree improvements are necessary after 2.5 dropped everything below the post. But what we really need are improved db optimization and caching when possible to improve performance.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:04 am
[...] 2.7 será igualmente relevante. En el post de Mark Evans, que tiene el prometedor título de “WordPress 2.7 is the Real Deal” (”WordPress 2.7 es el auténtico“, en una traducción libre) se explican algunas [...]
October 6th, 2008 at 9:48 am
2.5 was pretty cool update for me, but really do we need so much changes in so little time? It seems like some form of disorder in developing WP.
October 6th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
WordPress 2.7, al caer…
El sistema de gestión de contenidos más popular del mundo está preparando su nueva versión, que llegará el próximo 10 de noviembre y que entre otras cosas dará un vuelco importante al panel de control, y, roguemos por que sea verdad, al sistema …
October 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
[...] Wordpress 2.7 is the Real Deal [...]
October 10th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
[...] Wordpress 2.7 is the Real Deal [...]
October 15th, 2008 at 6:03 am
[...] “For all the excitement about Wordpress 2.5 with its pretty new design, Wordpress didn’t change all that much for me. The layout was different, the design (provided by hot-shot consulting firm, Happy Cog) was a lot more user-friendly but Wordpress continued to be Wordpress. By that, I didn’t do much with it other than install a few plugins - after getting used to the new widget system. Most important, I continued to ignore Wordpress’ publishing tool; using Ecto as my publishing tool. But judging by what I saw yesterday at WordCamp Toronto, that could all change with Wordpress 2.7, which Matt Mullenweg announced will be released next month. In particular, the dashboard and the writing tool are going to be overhauled in a major way that I think are going to be a lot more interesting and exciting than Wordpress 2.5.2” [...]
October 21st, 2008 at 6:42 pm
hi
btw, you can just try wp 2.7 on my blog: wp.blogywalkie.com. Use “test” as your password and username
this is very new, wp2.7 on my blog is prototype version. only few blogger has copy of it, include me. check it out guys!!!!
check it out about wp. 27, online live wordpress, just at my blog!!!