WordPress 2.7 Code Named Coltrane

Loving WordPress 2.7!
Loving WordPress 2.7!

I’ve heard from a few interested parties asking for more information about WordPress 2.7 and is it worth the upgrade. I have to say wholeheartedly YES it is worth the upgrade!

WordPress is free, but the time and effort to install it is not. The first time I installed it, it took under 2 hours. So, why is it worth the under around two hour time investment?

  1. Once you upgrade to WordPress 2.7 you will never need to do a manual upgrade again. WordPress will upgrade the application itself. That alone is well worth the trouble.
  2. With WordPress 2.7 your plugins can be upgraded automatically with one click. Wow, that’s another good reason to make the installation worth the trouble.
  3. The site navigation, has moved from the top to the left and offers drop down options. No more poking around trying to find where to update settings for a plugin.
  4. Improved image upload. For me this is one of the biggest new features. My Flash based upload function stopped working when I upgraded to Flash Player 10. Installing WordPress 2.7 fixed this plus gave me some nice new options for images such as adding a caption and very simply image upload interface. I know that my blog writers will now easily be able to add a photo to a blog when they want from the 2.7 platform unlike some earlier versions of WordPress that really need someone who understands source code to go in to to view source and remove broken code that keeps an image from showing up.

All in all, I think that WordPress 2.7 is an excellent upgrade even to version 2.6.1 or 2.6.2. Once you’ve installed it, I think that you’ll agree it is well worth the several hours it takes to install it.

How to Upload and Tag Photos on Facebook

This tip is for all new Facebook users that can’t seem to find out how it all works. Don’t worry, I had the same problem when I first started to use Facebook. The transition form MySpace to Facebook was strange.

Step one, on uploading pictures, first, find the “Photo” link on your screen. It should be located in the upper right quarter under “Applications”. Click the link and it will bring you to a page showing everyone’s pictures. Go to “My Photo’s” at the top of the screen right below “Home” then it will take you to your albums. Depending on which album you wish to add the photo to, click “Edit Album”. Then from there it will give you the option to “Add Photos”.

Now to tag photos, all you need to do when you upload them is click the “Tag Photo” option. Then, just select the face of the person you wish to tag and find them on your friends list that pops up.

If they do not have a Facebook profile, give them a name in a little writing bar Facebook supplies. If you ever want to tag older photos just go to “Photos” then “My Photos” and click on the album in which the picture is located. After this, find the picture and just click on the face from the line of photos you have. You will be able to tell you can tag the photo because your cursor will show up as a cross hair. It will show you the list of friends once again and you just choose their name.

Why tag someone in a photo?
When you tag someone that person will now see this newly tagged photo on their profile page. Other Facebook users can now identify who people are to then in turn visit their profile and check them out as a possible new friend.

Also when you are tagged in a photo all your friends will see this photo on their entry page under updates letting others see what you are doing and who is photographing and tagging you.

Uploading and tagging photos simply makes your interaction on Facebook more fun and personal.

Adobe Air, What Is It?

Adobe Air is an application that allows for the viewing of the integration of multi media like Flash, Ajax and other applications with data, but on your desktop and not tied to your browser and works on multiple operating systems.

Just like a Flash plug-in an Adobe Air plug-in is needed to view applications built using Adobe Flex.  Although it is hard to wrap your head around exactly how Adobe Air is different from things like Flash or Shockwave, the big difference is that Adobe Air allows you to use the technology in free standing downloadable applications that are not tied to a browser. Adobe Air integrates the very best of multi media and interactivity through some of the newest web technologies, but not only the Web now on your desktop.

Although Adobe Air is not a hot property on the Web for browsing consumers at this point, it is a hot property for developers and being used as the backbone for new applications that are in the works.

Here’s a link to the Adobe.com website that showcases one Adobe Air product that was built for NASDAQ that will help you to understand what Adobe Air does. Built with Adobe Flex but played with Adobe Air this new breed of applications is coming and is sure to change the way you view and interact with data online and offline in the very near future.

Enjoying the Season

You know, you can actually work too much! Some of my customers disagree with this, but I feel that you can. I personally am making an effort this year to be off when my kids are out of school or out of school early. I feel that balance between work and family is hugely important particularly around this time of year.

I find that having time with my kids and husband provide the power charge that I need to be able to go full throttle in my business. Without their energy boost, I know that I could easily burn myself out by working all the time. I have clients all around the world so there are phone calls up to late at night and sales I could be making if I didn’t put constraints on my work schedule to have time for my husband and family.

So keep this in mind when I tell you that I will not be working between Christmas and New Year’s this year. I want to take my family snow tubing in the mountains in northern Maryland, go to the newly opened Smithsonian Museum of American History, and take my family to Hillwood Estate museum in Washington where I just became a member.

What will you be doing this holiday season? Working? Traveling? Hopefully you can take a respite from work and enjoy your family while they are on break and get your batteries recharged too. From all of us here at McCord Web Services, we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!