WordPress 3
For some time now, I have been playing around with WordPress 3, and I must confess I am disappointed.
I have nothing against WordPress itself, but I expected something pretty radical with the advent of a major release, and for the general user there is very little there.
Of course, one of the main features is the integration of WP with WPMU, but I wonder just how many use WPMU in the first place?
For the ordinary user, one of the major changes has been the departure from some of the default settings on installation. From the security standpoint, this is a good thing. No longer is Admin the default user, and the prefix to the database tables is now customisable, but the problem here is that it affects new installations only. An upgrade from V2 to V3 is going to leave the old defaults intact, and to avail of the new settings one would have to scrap the old site and do a fresh install. Even then, importing the old database into the new is going to be difficult, as all the table names will have changed.
Apart from the above, there are very few things that stand out. A new default theme? The ability to bulk update plugins? As I said, I expected more from a primary upgrade.
I still love WordPress as a package, but this isn’t something I would queue all night for.
While I agree the new features in WP 3 seem a little lacklustre for a major version update. I think your underrating the value of the merging of the 2 wordpresses.
I started a blog on WP a long time ago, I posted regularly and then it lay fallow for quiet some time and I started another, different niche blog, I also help maintain a number of other blogs as well, with the code merge and the import tools that Have been mentioned by WordPress it now looks a lot easier to move all these into an MU type environment.
Which in turn should mean a massive reduction in the amount of time I spend updating WP and it’s Plugins, leaving more time to improve my writing or dear lord maybe even see the outside world once in a while 😉
Welcome to my little corner, George!
For various reasons, I maintain quite a few blogs all running WP. Maybe the time has come for me to move them all in under one roof? There is the problem though of utting all my eggs in one basket. Not sure of my hosting company’s reaction!! *cough*
That this version is a .0 doesn’t make it a major version release in the WordPress versioning system. It’s simply the one after .9. Matt is weird that way.
The code merge, as you say, will only affect new installs. That was intentional so as streamline existing single-user upgrades. I read it can be tricked into thinking a stand-alone is MU using magic and a spoon but I’m not brave enough to try it.
George has touched on something John Handelaar spoke about at WordCamp: He maintains a number of sites on a single MU installation using the domain mapping plugin. This makes maintenance far easier for him.
Well if you have a lot of large and busy “eggs” it may not be the best solution for you or your current host. Although I’m not sure how myself.
I can’t see it being a problem for the software as it’s essentially the same as what wordpress use to power all the wordpress.com blogs.
And tbh if the blogs are all with the one hosting company already then it should reduce the mount of resources required to power them. It might even warrant a reduction in your hosting costs. LOL Which could be a “problem” for the hosting company 🙂
And merging them means you only have one install and one set of plugins to maintain. It sounds like a win for all concerned to me.
Welcome Snee Jim. 🙂
I agree that in the case of multiple sites the idea of a single upgrade is very tempting. I currently look after nine WordPress sites. Some are independently hosted, so I can’t do anything about them, but I am more than tempted to combine the rest under one roof. One [Head Rambles] will have to remain separate as it has quite substantial traffic, but the others would be suitable.
In fact, I think it would be an interesting exercise to try, and to report here?
@George
Only kidding about your the hosting company. Yiz won’t find a finer bunch than the gang in Blacknight.
I have tried it,
GranRichard. Just as an experiment mind.And I used shared hosting* with George’s erstwhile employers.
*MU/3.0 Networked will run on shared if you use sub-domains. It won’t for sub-dirs.
Just so there’s no misunderstandings, I don’t work for any hosting company anymore 😉
I do however still host everything I’m currently looking after with Blacknight on their shared platform.