Anyhow, I’m working on implementing a new theme and will try to revive drivelocity from the dead. Since many things have changed over the past year, some of which involve old topics, I have some new post ideas ready to go once the new theme is ready.

The current theme, while whimsical and suitable for this site, is quite limited as far as customizing and using widgets. I’m pretty excited about that. Stay tuned…

So, what does WordPress 2.8 offer?

• Fixed 790 bugs
• Browse the entire theme directory and install a theme with one click
• Make edits or tweaks to themes or plugins from your dashboard
• Completely redesigned the widgets interface (edit widgets on the fly, have multiple copies of the same widget, drag and drop widgets between sidebars, and save inactive widgets so you don’t lose all their settings)
• New Screen Options on every page (you could set up your dashboard to have four columns of widgets instead of the two it has by default. On other pages you can change how many items show per page)

Read the full list of over 180 new features, changes, upgrades, and improvements on the Codex.

Update: I’ve gone ahead and updated a smaller blog to WordPress 2.8 with no problems. The look & feel of the admin section is pretty much the same as 2.7, but there are some added features. The widgets section is much improved! I am currently make sure all of my plugins are updated on all of my sites. Once I’m done with that, I’ll make backups of everything. Once I’m done with that I’ll upgrade them one at a time…

Here are a few examples:

• Viper’s Video Quicktags – Another update today, which prompted this post. It seems like there are a few updates a week, sometimes daily. The latest update is to fix a bug inroduced in the version it’s replacing.
• Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – This one went a little while without updates, then all of a sudden one came along, but it caused errors. Thankfully, an update was released the same day, but then another the next, and another the next…
• CommentLuv – While not updated quite as often, I’m sticking with an older version. I tried to upgrade on two separate occasions and it screwed up my blog and I had to delete and activate the one I originally downloaded.

While I commented about it here, I thought that enough people use this plugin that I should highlight this problem in case people are using that version.

Instead of using that plugin, try this one, found at StuffBySarah.net. Unfortunately it’s not as plug-and-play as the original, but it only took a matter of minutes to get it set up.

In order to use it as a widget, you will need the ExecPHP plugin found here. Once you install and activate that plugin, you can go to your Widgets and drag over “PHP Code” – edit that widget and paste in the following code:

<?php if(function_exists('ns_show_top_commentators')) { ?>
<li>
<ul><?php ns_show_top_commentators(); ?></ul>
</li>
<?php } ?>

If you don’t use widgets, you can add this code to your sidebar php file:

<?php if(function_exists('ns_show_top_commentators')) { ?>
<li>
<h2>Top Commentators</h2>
<ul><?php ns_show_top_commentators(); ?></ul>
</li>
<?php } ?>

I should point out that the code above is not what I found to work best due to the unordered lists… Here is the exact code I have in the widget:

Want to be listed here? Leave some comments!
<br/><br/>
<?php if(function_exists('ns_show_top_commentators')) { ?>
<ul><?php ns_show_top_commentators(); ?></ul>
<?php } ?>

Now, I don’t know if everyone using the original Top Commentators plugin was experiencing this problem, but I was able to replicate it on two different blogs and have since tested the new plugin on both blogs with no hijacking. I hope this helps some of you…

WordPress states that 2.7 RC1 is ready for everyone to download and try out…

I love WordPress as much as the next blogger, but the sheer number of updates frustrates me to no end. I couldn’t imagine trying to keep several blogs 100% up-to-date. It seems like they just released 2.6.5 right after I upgraded to the latest version before that and now, 2.7 is being pushed out the door. Not only is WordPress itself continuously updated, which I am grateful for, so are the plugins. Each update to WordPress inevitably requires updates to numerous plugins. Of course, some of those updates will require updates. By the time you’re caught up with updating everything, a new version of WordPress is ready to start the cycle all over again.

Don’t get me wrong. I do like WordPress and I appreciate the incredible amount of work that is put into this free script. From a blogger’s standpoint, time is always a limitation and the constant updating can start to be a negative factor. Anyhow, I look forward to what the new version and new Admin UI has to offer.

To the right is what the winning set of icons from their design contest looks like.

Here’s a screen shot. What do you think?