Since its baseball season again, I thought I’d write a brief review of WordPress 2.5, the long-awaited major upgrade to the popular WordPress open-source blogging software. Although Matt Mulleneweg and the crew were aiming for the seats with this version, it appears they instead scored an in-the-park double.
In the run-up to the release, much was written about what WordPress 2.5 would improve. Always at the top of the list of improvements was a revamped administration interface. Although there were multiple delays, Mullenweg offered glimpses of the admin screens, complete with details on how the new software offered your choice of color schemes. But beyond the eye-candy, was WordPress 2.5 worth the wait?
No.
Take the “write post” area, please. Henny Youngman allusions aside, the changes are a step back, rather than an evolutionary advance. The new WordPress version takes information, such as categories, post author and other information that had been on the right of the entry screen and placed them below, forcing you to scroll and scroll. This is simply stupid. Not even the elegant “fluencyadmin” plugin corrects this most obvious design mistake.
What are others saying about the new WordPress look? TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington wonders aloud whether its time to change.
“I am really wondering if WordPress really cares about being a solution for big blogs, or if they think the market is in millions of one person shops. that may be the right thing for them, but i’m not sure its the right software for us.”
Mashable notes the upgrade took six months to produce and wonders if it shouldn’t have been named WordPress 3.0, for all of the new features.
Dave Peralty of Splashpress Media’ Blogging Pro, joined the chorus thankful the long wait is over. “I am excited to get moving on using the new version,” Peralty wrote Saturday. A week ago, Peralty was questioning whether what Mullenweg produced would be worth it.
“I am feeling more and more like WordPress 2.5 will have to be amazing to convince people that the wait was worth it,” Peralty had said.
Is WordPress 2.5 ‘amazing’? Check out what WordPress 2.5 users are saying on the WordPress.org support site.
One nagging flaw we’ve found is when trying to add a link to a story. To get the link to the WordPress support forums, we had to switch to the HTML editor. The “link” button in the visual editor opens a blank window without any input for a URL.
Update: the link problem, outlined at the WordPress support forum, is browser-specific. I experienced problems with the latest Firefox, but had no problems adding a link in the visual editor when using Safari.
Will WordPress 2.5 increase Automattic’s lead over Six Apart? Although Mullenweg escaped with just a few scars from the hissy-fit thrown over Six Apart’s attempt to lure away WordPress users, the jury is still out whether 2.5 will help or hurt WordPress’ competitiveness.
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Well, there’s always Moveable Type! or Blogger!
Don’t let the door hit ya, where the good Lord Split ya!
You are aware that hitting .500 in baseball would be most amazing feat ever accomplished? .400 hasn’t been achieved since 1941. So to say that it is hitting .500 would be saying it is the most amazing thing that has ever been put together. You should say wordpress 2.5, hitting .100
Nick, thanks for the real definition of .500 batting. I’m afraid the closest I get to the batting cage is ESPN. Doesn’t ‘batting 1.000′ imply you aren’t missing a ball? That’s what I was alluding to by saying WordPress 2.5 hitting .500 - in other words, it was mixed.
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