Message from Me
If you are nervous to update your version of WordPress because of possible compatibility issues with your plugins, then wait. I personally did not wait and did not have any issues but I run my entire blog off 5 plugins. Kimberly Catleberry of JustAskKim.com suggests waiting for all plugins to be compatible with WordPress 3.0. This is especially for beginner bloggers. However, not all plugins are still supported so you may never receive an update for them. It’s ok to wait for plugins to become compatible but for me the pros of version 3.0 out weighs the cons of outdated unsupported plugins.
Below is the blog post from http://wordpress.org/ posted on June 17, 2010 by Matt.
Arm your vuvuzelas: WordPress 3.0, the thirteenth major release of WordPress and the culmination of half a year of work by 218 contributors, is now available for download (or upgrade within your dashboard). Major new features in this release include a sexy new default theme called Twenty Ten. Theme developers have new APIs that allow them to easily implement custom backgrounds, headers, shortlinks, menus (no more file editing), post types, and taxonomies. (Twenty Ten theme shows all of that off.) Developers and network admins will appreciate the long-awaited merge of MU and WordPress, creating the new multi-site functionality which makes it possible to run one blog or ten million from the same installation. As a user, you will love the new lighter interface, the contextual help on every screen, the 1,217 bug fixes and feature enhancements, bulk updates so you can upgrade 15 plugins at once with a single click, and blah blah blah just watch the video. :) (In HD, if you can, so you can catch the Easter eggs.)
For a more comprehensive look at everything that has improved in 3.0 check out 3.0’s Codex page or the long list of issues in Trac. (We’re trying to keep these announcement posts shorter.) Whew! That’s a lot packed into one release. I can’t think of a better way to kick off the 3.X cycle we’ll be in for the next two and a half years.
The Future
Normally this is where I’d say we’re about to start work on 3.1, but we’re actually not. We’re going to take a release cycle off to focus on all of the things around WordPress. The growth of the community has been breathtaking, including over 10.3 million downloads of version 2.9, but so much of our effort has been focused on the core software it hasn’t left much time for anything else. Over the next three months we’re going to split into ninja/pirate teams focused on different areas of the around-WordPress experience, including the showcase, Codex, forums, profiles, update and compatibility APIs, theme directory, plugin directory, mailing lists, core plugins, wordcamp.org… the possibilities are endless. The goal of the teams isn’t going to be to make things perfect all at once, just better than they are today. We think this investment of time will give us a much stronger infrastructure to grow WordPress.org for the many tens of millions of users that will join us during the 3.X release cycle.
It Takes a Village
I’m proud to acknowledge the contributions of the following 218 people to the 3.0 release cycle. These are the folks that make WordPress what it is, whose collaboration and hard work enable us to build something greater than the sum of our parts. In alphabetical order, of course.
Committers: azaozz (Andrew Ozz) (prof), dd32 (Dion Hulse) (prof), donncha (Donncha O Caoimh) (prof), iammattthomas (Matt Thomas) (prof), josephscott (Joseph Scott) (prof), markjaquith (Mark Jaquith) (prof), matt (Matt Mullenweg) (prof), nacin (Andrew Nacin) (prof), nbachiyski (Николай Бачийски) (prof), ryan (Ryan Boren) (prof), westi (Peter Westwood) (prof), and wpmuguru (Ron Rennick) (prof). Contributors: aaroncampbell (Aaron Campbell) (prof), akerem (prof), alexkingorg (Alex King) (prof), amattie (prof), ampt (Luke Gallagher) (prof), andrea_r (prof), andreasnrb (Andreas Nurbo) (prof), anilo4ever (Angelo Verona) (prof), apeatling (Andy Peatling) (prof), apokalyptik (Demitrious Kelly) (prof), arena (André Renaut) (prof), barry (Barry Abrahamson) (prof), batmoo (Mohammad Jangda) (prof), beaulebens (Beau Lebens) (prof), belg4mit (prof), bigdawggi (Matthew G. Richmond) (prof), blepoxp (Glenn Ansley) (prof), brentes (Brent Shepherd) (prof), briancolinger (Brian Colinger) (prof), bumbu (prof), caesarsgrunt (Caesar Schinas) (prof), camiloclc (prof), CAMWebDesign (prof), carbolineum (prof), caspie (prof), catiakitahara (Cátia Kitahara) (prof), CharlesClarkson (Charles Clarkson) (prof), chdorner (Christof Dorner) (prof), chrisbliss18 (Chris Jean) (prof), chrisscott (Chris Scott) (prof), cnorris23 (Brandon Allen) (prof), coffee2code (Scott Reilly) (prof), computerwiz908 (prof), cyberhobo (Dylan Kuhn) (prof), dancole (Dan Cole) (prof), Daniel Koskinen , deepak.seth (Deepak Seth), demetris (Δημήτρης Κίκιζας) (prof), Denis-de-Bernardy (prof), dimadin (Milan Dinić) (prof), dndrnkrd (Dan Drinkard) (prof), docwhat (prof), dougwrites (prof), dphiffer (Dan Phiffer) (prof), dragoonis (prof), dremeda (Dre Armeda) (prof), dtoj , dougal (Dougal Campbell) (prof), duck_ (Jon Cave) (prof), dxjones (David Jones) (prof), eddieringle (Eddie Ringle) (prof), edward mindreantre (Edward Hevlund), eoinomurchu (prof), empireoflight/Ben Dunkle (prof), ericmann (Eric Mann) (prof), etiger13 (Eddie Monge Jr.) (prof), filosofo (Austin Matzko) (prof), firebird75 (prof), frankieroberto (Frankie Roberto) (prof), Frumph (Philip M. Hofer) (prof), garyc40 (Gary Cao) (prof), gautam2011 (prof), Gary Ross (Gazzer) , GDragoN (Milan Petrovic) (prof), greenshady (Justin Tadlock) (prof), GIGALinux (Dennis Morhardt) (prof), hakre (prof), husky (prof), iandstewart (Ian Stewart) (prof), ipstenu (Mika Epstein) (prof), jacobsantos (Jacob Santos) (prof), jamescollins (James Collins) (prof), jane (Jane Wells) (prof), jbsil (Jesse Silverstein) (prof), jdub (Jeff Waugh) (prof), jeffikus (Jeffrey Pearce) (prof), jeffstieler (Jeff Stieler) (prof), jeremyclarke (Jeremy Clarke) (prof), jfarthing84 (Jeff Farthing) (prof), Jick (James Dimick) (prof), jmstacey (Jon Stacey) (prof), jobjorn (Jobjörn Folkesson) (prof), johanee (Johan Eenfeldt) (prof), johnbillion (John Blackbourn) (prof), johnjamesjacoby/jjj (John James Jacoby) (prof), johnjosephbachir (John Joseph Bachir) (prof), johnl1479 (John Luetke) (prof), johnonolan (John O’Nolan) (prof), JohnPBloch/wmrom (John Bloch) (prof), joostdevalk/yoast (Joost de Valk) (prof), jorbin (Aaron Jorbin) (prof), joshtime (prof), jshreve (prof), junsuijin (prof), kallewangstedt (Karl Wångstedt) (prof), keighl (Kyle Truscott) (prof), kevinB (Kevin Behrens) (prof), koopersmith (Daryl Koopersmith) (prof), kpdesign (Kim Parsell) (prof), ktdreyer (Ken Dreyer) (prof), kurtmckee (Kurt McKee) (prof), laceous (prof), lancewillett (Lance Willett) (prof), lloydbudd (Lloyd Budd) (prof), lriggle (prof), markauk (prof), markmcwilliams (Mark McWilliams) (prof), markoheijnen (Marko Heijnen) (prof), markup (Sasha Mukhin) (prof), mattsains (prof), matveb (Matias Ventura) (prof), mdawaffe (Michael Adams) (prof) , mentel_br (prof), messenlehner (Brian Messenlehner) (prof), miau_jp (prof), Michael (Michael Heilemann) (prof), MichaelH (prof), mikeschinkel (Mike Schinkel) (prof), Miloslav Beňo , minusfive (prof), miqrogroove (Robert Chapin) (prof), misterbisson (Casey Bisson) (prof), mitchoyoshitaka (mitcho (Michael 芳貴 Erlewine)) (prof), MMN-o (prof), momo360modena (Amaury Balmer) (prof), morganestes (Morgan Estes) (prof), mrmist (David McFarlane) (prof), mtdewvirus (Nick Momrik) (prof), nadavvin (prof), Nao (Naoko McCracken) (prof), nathanrice (Nathan Rice) (prof), neoxx (Bernhard Riedl) (prof), niallkennedy (Niall Kennedy) (prof), ninjaWR (Ryan Murphy) (prof), noel (Noël Jackson) (prof), nomulous (Fletcher Tomalty) (prof), ocean90 (Dominik Schilling) (prof), Otto42 (Samuel Wood) (prof), pedger (prof), PeteMall (prof), pampfelimetten (prof), pnettle (prof), PotterSys (Juan) (prof), prettyboymp (Michael Pretty) (prof), ptahdunbar (Ptah Dunbar) (prof), ramiy (prof), RanYanivHartstein (Ran Yaniv Hartstein) (prof), reaperhulk (Paul Kehrer) (prof), reko (prof), remi (Rémi Prévost) (prof), rlerdorf (Rasmus Lerdorf) (prof) , rmccue (Ryan McCue) (prof), rooodini (prof), rovo89 (prof), ruslany (prof), sc0ttkclark (Scott Kingsley Clark) (prof), scottbasgaard (Scott Basgaard) (prof), ScottMac (prof), scribu (prof), SergeyBiryukov (Сергей Бирюков) (prof), ShaneF (prof), sillybean (Stephanie Leary) (prof), Simek (Bartosz Kaszubowski) (prof), simonwheatley (Simon Wheatley) (prof), simosx (Σίμος Ξενιτέλλης) (prof), sirzooro (Daniel Frużyński) (prof), sivel (Matt Martz) (prof), skeltoac (Andy Skelton) (prof), snumb130 (Luke Howell) (prof), solarissmoke (Samir Shah) (prof), sorich87 (prof), ssandison (prof), stencil (prof), stephdau (Stephane Daury) (prof), tai (prof), TECannon (Tracy Cannon) (prof), technosailor (Aaron Brazell) (prof), tenpura (prof), thales.tede , TheDeadMedic (prof), thee17 (Charles E. Frees-Melvin) (prof), thetoine (Antoine Girard) (prof), tinkerpriest (c.bavota) (prof), TobiasBg (Tobias Bäthge) (prof), tomtomp (prof), tychay (Terry Chay) (prof), typeomedia (prof), uglyrobot (Aaron Edwards) (prof), UnderWordPressure (prof), usermrpapa (prof), Utkarsh (Utkarsh Kukreti) (prof), validben (Benoit Gilloz ) (prof), Viper007Bond (Alex Mills) (prof), vladimir_kolesnikov (Vladimir Kolesnikov) (prof), willmot (Tom Willmot) (prof), wahgnube (prof), waltervos (Walter Vos) (prof), wds-chris (Christopher Cochran) (prof), williamsba1 (Brad Williams) (prof), wnorris (Will Norris) (prof), xibe (Xavier Borderie) (prof), yoavf (Yoav Farhi) (prof), zeo (Safirul Alredha) (prof), znarfor (François Hodierne) (prof), and zoranzaric (Zoran Zaric) (prof).
Bonus
If you’ve made it this far, check out my 2010 State of the Word speech at WordCamp San Francisco, it’s jam-packed with information on the growth of WordPress, 3.0, what we’re planning for the future, and the philosophy of WordPress.
Edit (Thanks Kim)
Full contents of this post courtesy of:
http://wordpress.org/development/2010/06/thelonious/
Hey Clifton,
This looks interesting. I hope that it won’t be too hard for us non-techy people to work with. Now I’ve heard suggestions to wait a couple of days to make sure my plugins have time to upgrade. Are there going to be alot of issues with certain plugins?
Anyway, I guess I’ll find this out as I move into the upgrade! :)
Val :)
.-= Val Wilcox´s last blog ..It’s All About The Story =-.
WordPress 3.0 has actually been out for a couple of weeks as a Release Candidate. This means that an unstable version is available for plugin and theme developers can test compatibility of their code with the newest version of WordPress before it is release publicly. So, as long as your plugins are maintained by their developer, you shouldn’t have any problems. If you do, just deactivate the plugin.
I love Open Source software but the biggest problem with it is that it can just not be supported or maintained anymore. So if a plugin isn’t kept update because it’s developer quit working on it, you shouldn’t be using the plugin anyway. :)
I do not see any problems with upgrading to the newest version of 3.0 right away. If you want to wait for a version of 3.0.x that may have some bug fixes you can do that too. :)
Thanks!
Full contents of this post courtesy of:
http://wordpress.org/development/2010/06/thelonious/
Now the more important question is your OWN views on this release and what you feel the community needs to know. What impact will this have for the community as a whole – both those running your theme and those not?
Kimberly
.-= Kimberly Castleberry´s last blog ..Must Know Information Before The New Version Of WordPress Arrives =-.
Hey Kim, thanks for the link to the original post. I got caught up and forgot to add it but it is added now. :)
I will write a second post regarding your questions based on my opinion of the newest version. But I can tell you right now that it will make things much easier for the novice bloggers as far as shorturls, menu management, post types, and appearance.
As a developer, the extended API is a plus too.
Thanks you so much for this post and all the information here. I am technically challenged, but I am excited as you make it seem so simple … Thank you Clifton and Kimberly you guys rock !!!
Kaye