BloggingAmigos

If you spend any amount of time around software developers, you will invariably hear the phrases “software bloat” and “feature creep” bandied about. They are problems that lots of software projects have to combat. Over time, in an effort to make their program more appealing, developers will add more and more features to their project until it becomes almost unusable. The original scope and goal of the program is lost amid the desire to add features to attract more users. The problem is that people stop using the software eventually, because it gets too difficult to keep doing the tasks they’re accustomed to.

Wordpress is a blog package that some might argue had succumbed to “feature creep.” There were just so many cool things that could be done, so why not do them? Automatic RSS, widgets, pings, trackbacks, categories… there was quite a list of features. The problem was that each new gizmo or doohickey that was added to Wordpress was treated with the same relative importance. Looking at the software’s administration panel was rather intimidating, because there was just so much stuff.

Wordpress 2.5 is a major overhaul of the package; so much so that version 2.4 was skipped. Web standardista Jeffrey Zeldman was brought in to help work under the hood. The result is an appealing bit of software, one that makes me glad to use Wordpress again. The first thing you might notice upon upgrading to 2.5 is the new, default template for the blog administration area. It feels much “lighter,” and reflects some of the more appealing (in my opinion) trends in web app design these days.

The dashboard has been streamlined. Upon logging in, you’re instantly presented with a choice between one of the two things you probably logged in to do: write a new post, or write a new page. Some general blog stats are also presented, such as the number of posts, comments, categories, and tags. Below that, there are overviews of recent comments and incoming links. The dashboard is actually a useful page now, as opposed to something you instantly navigated away from.

Gone are the somewhat ambiguous tabs that lined the top of the old design. In their places are Write, Manage, Design, and Comments — which represent the major tasks you would need to do in writing a blog. A small text bubble icon will hover over the Comments tab if comments are waiting in moderation. If you’ve ever used blog software before (or even if you haven’t), you won’t feel any confusion about how to do things in Wordpress.

After working with your blog for a while, you might get the impression that all the extra features that Wordpress is known for have disappeared. Don’t worry, they’re still there… just put in less prominent places. For instance, you can still modify the author, timestamp, and privacy settings of a post, but you’ll have to scroll down the page for those options. You’ll never need them the majority of the time, so why put them on equal footing with other important bits (like writing the actual post)? All the “Wordpress News” articles are still on the dashboard, but below the more important things.

If you’re a blogger running Wordpress, this version is a no-brainer upgrade. The process is dead simple as well: simply copy the new WP files into your web directory, click the “Upgrade Database” link that appears, and you’re back in business. Wordpress 2.5 streamlines the creative process so much, you’ll never want to go back.