For anyone who has upgraded to WordPress 2.5 and above and likes to keep the WordPress version number out of the source code of your site when the source is viewed in a browser you could be in for a surprise. It might be back even though you eliminated the line of code in your theme’s “header.php” that generated the version number in the first place.

I know I was surprised to find “2.5.1″ happily displayed when I viewed the source code for my main page in Firefox last night and for the life of me I couldn’t find anything in my theme’s “header.php” I might have missed. At first I thought I had forgotten to comment the line out when I upgraded the theme to the latest version but apparently not.

I finally decided to contact the author of my theme, Scott Wallick of PlainText.org (home of the famous “Sandbox” theme) about this. I have to admit that I was more than a bit surprised when he sent me the explanation especially when I had followed the development of 2.5 so closely:

If you’re using WordPress 2.5, then you’re in for a treat. Because as of this version, WordPress hooks the function wp_head() to insert (automatically) the generator meta link.

You can’t really remove wp_head() as plugins require it to work correctly (inserting JavaScript, etc.), so you have to disable the function that produces the generator link from within WordPress.

See the following announcement:

http://blog.ftwr.co.uk/archives/2007/10/06/improving-the-wordpress-generator/

And to top this all off, Scott worked up a tiny plugin that disabled that very function, attached it to his message and it worked like a charm. I can’t say enough about this guy. I use another of his themes called Blog.txt and through 3 updates to the theme since I first installed it he’s answered all my questions, taken care of submitted bugs and even incorporated one of my suggestions about Gravatar resizing using the theme’s “Options” page in the Admin.

So I decided to host his plugin for those of you who wish to use it. Installation is simple. Extract, upload, activate and you’re done. Your version of WordPress shown in the source of your blog should now be gone unless your “header.php” has the hard coded “generator” still coded into it.

Note: This plugin is only for use with WordPress 2.5 and higher.

Download: rgl.zip

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Along with the new rebuild of WordPress I actually had to waggle my eyebrows at the new look of WordPress.org. Didn’t know they rebuilt (most of) the site as well. Fancy that will ya’.

Okay, this is important! There’s two very popular plugins that will cause problems with 2.5 that everyone needs to be aware of. The first is the Bad Behavior anti spam plugin. The new TinyMCE editor in 2.5 sports a new "Add Media" bar above the write field and the uploader is powered by Shockwave Flash. Unfortunately, Bad Behavior in it’s latest form blocks Shockwave Flash so here’s what you have to do:

Using your FTP client navigate your way to "bad-behavior/bad-behavior/blacklist.inc.php". Download and open "blacklist.inc.php" in a text editor and look for the following line:

"Shockwave Flash",    // spam harvester

And change it to:

// "Shockwave Flash",    // spam harvester

or just delete it. Your choice. Problem solved.

The second one is the current version of Simple Tags (3.9.1). At the moment, this plugin causes a fatal error when upgrading to 2.5. Once activated you won’t have any access to your site, front end or back end until the plugin is manually removed via FTP. Keep this plugin deactivated until the author provides and update (he’s working on it). If you really need the features of Simple Tags, there’s a fix submitted by Dougal Campbell at Google Code.

I’m sure there’s going to be some "old timers" like myself that might be taken aback by the new Admin UI and new functions/features but for me, the more I used it the better I liked it and I’d never go back. There’s still some things I don’t like but that was true with the old UI. Nothing’s ever perfect.

It’s faster, leaner, easier on the server and for the new WP blogger, easier to learn. Personally, I’ve never seen the developers and testers work so hard at any version of WordPress since I began blogging. I’m looking forward to see what folks think of it.

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Warning:  If your using the Simple Tags plugin 1.3.9.1 or previous, make sure you deactivate it and leave it deactivated before and after upgrading to RC2. It is no longer compatible and will cause a fatal error that will stop your blog cold until it’s removed manually via FTP. Amaury Balmer, the author, is currently working on an update for this. If you want to keep up with what’s going on you can visit the new home of the plugin at Google Code.

I’m currently running RC2 and I can actually state that I like the new admin more and more with a couple of minor exceptions. This involves when you’re editing Tags and Media (under the "Manage" menu) and not being returned to the original page the tag/media was on in the first place (like page 8 and being returned to page 1 after the edit). Other than that I can’t really complain. However, it ain’t over yet and I’ve put in my 2 cents worth in over at wp-testers. I’m sure they hate me by now.

I’ve also been playing around with the new automatic updates feature for plugins and I’m happy to say that it’s been working flawlessly so far. Don’t take this feature lightly folks, more hard work than you know has gone into the new built-in automatic upgrades feature in order to cover as many of the myriad possible setups a WP blogger could possibly have which is more than you or I would want to count. I’m sure there will be those server setups that will simply not allow this new feature to work properly but hopefully they will be few and far between.

A lot of work has been put into this release, probably significantly more work than in any other previous release. The developers have obviously learned from the previous milestones and have poured that experience into this release. Like Firefox 3, it ain’t ready until it’s ready. Considering that RC2 has now been released and by what I see at wp-testers, the wait won’t be long.

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It’ll be relief when they finally get WordPress 2.5 ironed out sufficiently for the final release to be…uh…released. Personally I think every WordPress user should have to update at least one online blog with the trunk builds once a day at least 2 weeks prior to the release of a major milestone. By the time that 2 weeks ended everyone would finally know how easy it is to manually upgrade a WP install. They would also know all about deactivating plugins before the upgrade and what the term "Back Up" means and how easy that is.

That’s what we need here. A WordPress Boot Camp! For those who really want to know what their WordPress install is all about but were afraid to ask.

Speaking of that, I’d better do a back up. I forgot that last time.

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I’m having fun though…I think.

Of course I’m coming to realize that if I really wish to become effective at this (praise the patience of the "Much More Qualified" members of the wp-testers list) then I’m going to have to buckle down and learn a lot more about PHP, SQL databases and CSS and how it all applies to the WordPress platform. I figure if I put my mind to it I might be up to speed by the time WordPress 2.6 comes out about this time next year.

And I’m wondering why my head is spinning lately.

A customizable dashboard, multi-file upload, built-in galleries, one-click plugin upgrades, tag management, built-in Gravatars, full text feeds, and faster load times sound interesting? Then WordPress 2.5 might be the release for you.

Source: WordPress Developers Blog

Ironically enough it’s the WordPress "old timers" who might have the most problems with the new admin layout while it’s the new WordPress blogger that might find it much easier to learn than the previous versions were. Time will tell and all that.

If you’re of the mind to try this out on a test or minor blog (it’s still a pre-release and does have bugs you know) or are currently testing the new release candidate, check out Ryan Boren’s WP 2.5 RC1 post and get the new feedback email address. If you have comments regarding the new admin design, this is where you want to send it.

In the meantime, I need some Alka Seltzer and a good night’s sleep.

Did anybody get the image? Anybody at all? WordPress Bugs? Ah, never mind .

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