WordPress News: WordPress Resolutions, Tattoos, LiveJournal, Converters, Security, Plugins, and More

I just published WordPress News: Buddy Press Almost Ready, WordCamp Las Vegas Success, Plugin Author Tips, WordPress Tattoo on the Blog Herald covering:

WordPress news about Matt Mullenweg’s New Year’s Resolutions set a plan for WordPress in 2009. BuddyPress nearing release from beta. WordCamp Las Vegas was a resounding success. This weekend is WordCamp Jakarta. Next weekend is skiing and WordPress at WordCamp Whistler. BlogSecurity makes predictions for security issues facing WordPress in 2009. WordPress shines at the People’s Choice Awards. Are you a Plugin author? Got information you have to know about the future of developing WordPress Plugins. WordPress.com now offers Subscribe to Comments WordPress Plugin on every WordPress.com blog. Google offers method for converting between blog platforms, including WordPress. Want to have your say in where Ed Morita puts a permanent WordPress tattoo on his body? And more WordPress news.

I don’t pay attention to the non-pretty permalinks of WordPress blog posts on all of the different blogs I write for, but this issue wins my award for best URL this year:

http://www.blogherald.com/?p=10101

My fellow geeks will understand totally why I appreciated this.

The news highlights you need to know in the WordPress Community for the past week are:

BuddyPress Prepares for Launch

Second Beta and 1.0 Final Dates for BuddyPress are set. The second beta release of this social media Theme for WordPressMU (and potentially for full versions of WordPress) is scheduled for January 26. The final release is set for February 9.

Andy Peatling of BuddyPress will be speaking at WordCamp Whistler 2009 in Whistler, BC, Canada, on January 24, 2009, if you want an upclose and personal view of this new social media WordPress Theme.

Google Blog Converters

The Google Blog Converters is a Google project that uses Python scripts and the Google GData API to convert blog services from one to another. The blog platforms include Google Blogger/Blogspot, WordPress, LiveJournal, and Movable Type.

WordPress Skills Required

According to a post on the WordPress Publisher’s blog, oDesk Reports “WordPress” Fastest Growing In-Demand Skill in 2008. WordPress expertise is now required as a top skill when it comes to web design and development.

If you are a web designer without WordPress skills, this could be a big sign it’s time to start embracing WordPress.

Death to the Lower Case P

Matt Mullenweg offered “Open Sourcing Resolutions,” asking people to tell him what his resolutions should be for the new year. In Twenty-Five, he celebrates his birthday and lists his goals for the next year. They include teaching the world that there is a capital P in WordPress – so help him achieve that goal by spelling WordPress as WordPress not Wordpress.

By the way, the rest of the WordPress Community rules include Plugin is Plugin, not plug-in (what you put into a wall electrical socket), and WordPress is trademarked so you are not allowed to use WordPress in your domain name.

Co.mments Closes

Many WordPress blogs eagerly embraced Co.mments, a blog comment tracking service with easy integration into WordPress blogs. The company has announced that it is shutting down, though some have expressed interest in taking over the company.

If you are using the Co.mments WordPress Plugin or have integrated it into your blog, consider removing it until the status is determined so your blog will not break down.

Social Media Tools Security, Worm and Virus Warnings

While not WordPress specific, a lot of WordPress bloggers use social media tools like LinkedIn and Twitter. Recently, SecurityFocus reported on malware security problems with Twitter and LinkedIn. The Blog Herald recently covered the news, and has started a series on Downadup Worm Infection: Cyber Attacks on the Rise in 2009.

BlogSecurity announced a WordPress 2.6.3 XSS Vulnerability which is covered by those who upgraded to WordPress 2.6.5 a few months ago. They also reported on WordPress Security Predictions in 2009 which may include spoofing and DNS poisoning type attacks, more SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities, WordPress Plugin attacks, development of a secure framework for WordPress Plugin developers, work and virus attacks through integrated services, and attacks against WordPress.com.

Take extreme care when responding to email, blog comments, and other social media messages that look even the slightest bit suspicious.

So far, my series on online security include:

• Downadup Worm Infection: Cyber Attacks on the Rise in 2009
• Security and Hacking: The State of WordPress Blogs

Monday’s article will cover tips for protecting your WordPress blog, and the next in the series will cover how to report security issues.

JavaScript Optimization in WordPress Plugins

Lester Chan talks about JavaScript in his WordPress Plugins to help others using JavaScript in theirs. He uses Dean Edward’s Packer and TW-Sack or Simple AJAX Code-Kit (SACK) in his WordPress Plugins and talks about how the series by Andrew Ozz on Optimizing Script Loading on the WordPress Development blog has changed how he uses JavaScript in his Plugins, as well as the pros and cons of using these two tools. He’s upgrading his WordPress Plugins accordingly, and recommends other Plugin authors do the same.

The optimizing script loading series on the WordPress Development blog by Andrew Ozz are must reads for WordPress Plugin and Theme authors:

• Optimizing script loading
• Optimizing script loading part 2
• Optimizing script loading, implementation

Subscribe to Comments Plugin on WordPress.com

One of the most popular WordPress Plugins, Subscribe To Comments by Mark Jaquith (originally Scriptygoddess), is now on WordPress.com. It is enabled by default on all WordPress.com Themes and allows commenters to get email messages when a comment is added to a blog post.

Moving From LiveJournal to WordPress.com

With the recent announcement of layoffs for LiveJournal employees, WordPress.com hopes to be the service LiveJournal users will turn to. WordPress.com offers LiveJournal Migration, a simple and easy import process, with their LiveJournal import tool.

Already they are seeing a huge spike in LiveJournal imports and the tool is working well to transfer blogs over to WordPress.com.

WordPress Tattoo

My friend, Ed Morita wants a permanent tattoo. His WordPress blog has changed his life and he wants to honor the expertise with a WordPress tattoo. In “Where Should I Put My WordPress Tattoo?” he asks for input on where to put his new WordPress logo tattoo on his body. The deadline is January 30, and he will get the tattoo on his birthday, February 10th.

Upcoming WordPress Events and WordCamps

WordCamp Indonesia 2009 – Jakarta, Indonesia – January 17-18, 2009, is this weekend. Next weekend is WordCamp Whistler 2009 – Whistler, BC, Canada, on January 24, 2009, and I’m the keynote speaker along with some top WordPress and blogging and photography experts.

Boston WordPress Meetup in Boston, Massachusetts, is January 19, the WordPress Mingle is in Austin, Texas, on January 19, the New York WordPress Meetup Group – WordPress as a CMS: The Strategy of Content Publishing is January 20, and other upcoming events include:

• RefreshAugusta January Meetup at The Well Community Church – WordPress 2.7 – January 20, 2009
• The Scottsdale WordPress January Meetup – Scottsdale, Arizona – January 21, 2009
• WordPress Meetup Group San Francisco – Upgrade to 2.7 and Lightning Talks – January 22, 2009
• (Facebook)
• Toronto WordPress Meetup – January 24, 2009
• Chicago WordPress January Meetup – January 24, 2009
• The Dallas/Ft. Worth Area WordPress January Meetup – Texas – January 24, 2009
• Teens in Tech Conference – Microsoft San Francisco – January 31, 2009

To see all the WordPress news from around the WordPress community, check out WordPress News: Buddy Press Almost Ready, WordCamp Las Vegas Success, Plugin Author Tips, WordPress Tattoo.

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, the author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.