I’ve just upgraded to the latest Beta of WordPress MU, version 2.6. They’ve opted this go-round to keep the version numbers of WP and WPMU the same, which is probably for the best. No matter how you slice it, keeping the versions in some sense of organization is a challenge, keeping people from getting confused is a challenge, so you may as well go for as much transparency as possible.

But right now, I’m most concerned with whether or not the xmlrpc.php problem has been fixed. I’ve been struggling at my main blog with the lack of this functionality, which has become integral to how I perform certain mission-critical tasks. Version 1.6.1 had problems with this file. I’ve not seen anything on Trac that necessarily indicates that it’s been fixed, but I figured rather than comb through a bunch of stuff online, I’d just turn up the juice and see what shakes loose. Well, we shall see in a moment, when I hit “publish,” shan’t we?

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I’d been holding off on upgrading to WPMU version 1.5.1 because I was worried that the extent of the changes from 1.3 to the new 2.5 codebase might be a bit too much for the system without some serious recoding.  Turns out, I was about half right.  And when I did finally upgrade about a week ago, it was a comedy of errors that forced my hand.

Since I’m on a web host that limits the size of my database, it has ever been a concern that I would hit the cap on my main blog.  The Tan-Tan Noodles Flickr Plugin did just that to me, since it saves all the pictures you display with the plugin as binaries in the database.  Suddenly one day, I could not post to my site and plugins seemed to be magically turning themselves off.  I thought for sure that someone had hacked into my site.

So, I opted to upgrade, hoping any security holes in 1.3 might be closed in 1.5.1.  Crazy, but again, I was panicking with a fairly high-traffic site suddenly being in limbo.  Unfortunately, I didn’t figure out the db problem till long after I’d already overwritten my old 1.3 files.  After I did the upgrade I found that my templates weren’t loading correctly.  Why should that be?

It turns out, after a long time troubleshooting, that a couple mu-plugins I’d written to bring content from other blogs to the main blog had become unusable.  I figured this out because Donncha’s post describing some of the new changes mentioned that plugins using the switch_to_blog() method might have a problem with the new caching system.  That didn’t turn out to be the problem, but since some of my code was still using another method of snagging the info (literally, concatinating “wp_1_posts” and querying the db directly!), it was this method that was causing the problem.

So a warning to you plugin writers out there: stick to the WPMU API to the best of your abilities!  I’m not entirely sure why querying the db would have caused so much grief, but when I switched to the API, I had no problems.

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I seem to be having an issue with my primary website, also running WPMU 1.3, that I cannot seem to quite iron out.  I’m not able to post to that site in any fashion, so I’m wondering where the issue lies and posting to this site as a test.

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When I started using FireFox, I discovered something truly amazing (to me at least) in the development world: the idea of separating basic functionality from advanced usage; the idea that a program could be continually improved upon in terms of security and stability without having to add on new features and gadgets, and new gadgets could be added as desired without danger to the core application’s stability.  This was something foreign to someone accustomed to downloading the latest Microsoft updates, which always blend fixes with new features in a confusing and often problematic way.

And since working with WordPress, I’ve come to expect roughly the same thing of that platform.  Plugins can be added at will with minimal risk to the core, and the core updates periodically with new bug fixes and improvements to stability, security and performance.  That is, until 2.3 came out, then 2.5.  And perhaps more importantly, until the new development schedule came out.

WordPress 2.5 is a great new interface that improves the back end and allows us plugin developers to hack what is probably the most important bit of WordPress: the author/administrator interface.  WordPress 2.3 expanded the role of what they now refer to as “terms” and introduced tagging, which I have to admit I love.  But these are radical changes to the core with far-reaching consequences - and they piggy-backed each other in the space of maybe six months.  Its one thing to say that we developers need to keep up, but these changes drastically affect the end user experience in complex ways that are sure to leave them in the dust.

What’s more, they want the development process to be this fast.  Indeed, they skipped right over 2.4 because the changes they wanted were so radical that there wasn’t time in the release schedule to come up with a stable 2.4.  That should be some indication of just how completely crazy their schedule is.  But I haven’t seen a whole lot of talk about it.  Rather, the impetus coming from the top seems to be that WordPress needs to remain competitive and therefore has to have a fast-forward development schedule.  Their release schedule is even planned on a time-based scenario, rather than the more logical needs- or at least design-based schedule.

But now we’re stuck with a Microsoft-esque problem, in that in order to maintain the security and performance enhancements of WordPress, we must of needs also accept new feature enhancements which we may not want or need.  This is not what I’d expected of WordPress at all.

I realize that some changes need to affect the core directly.  I accept that software needs to advance itself in order to remain relevant.  But I am hoping that the folks who push the levers at Automattic rethink their insane release schedule.

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I’ve been meaning to incorporate the force_balance_tags() function into a few plugins that I’ve created which sample text from posts, but haven’t gotten to it yet. Well, today’s the day, and I’m going to experiment by writing some stuff in italics to see if it screws up my formatting on the page that uses the plugin.

The balance tags function is supposed to check a string of text for all the HTML tags used in that string to determine if there are unclosed tags. We shall see if this works or not. I have to write enough text that the closing tag is past the sample point, which in this case is eighty characters. If it works, everything on the page should look fine. If it does not, everything below my widget should be in italics. We shall see. . . .

You can clearly see that the formatting of this post was just silly and useless from a normal reading perspective.  But what has been proven here is that using the force_balance_tags() function will balance any and all tags and prevent a plugin from ruining your formatting by leaving tags open.  This is a very highly useful function that I plan to implement much, much more often in the future.

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I’ve just completed a new plugin, called the Titles to Tags plugin, which I’m sorta proud of. Basically, it checks the title of your post against a list of ignorable words, and then adds tags to your post automatically out of those words that did not appear on the ignore list. The idea is to automatically create a list of relevant keyword tags for your posts. The nice thing is: since I’ve learned to adopt the WordPress API, I’ve found that writing plugins often becomes a much less complex process.

For example, in this plugin, I have to add tags to a post. Obviously, I don’t want to create duplicate tags or create them incorrectly. The new tagging schema is quite complex in the database, and I don’t recommend anyone bother trying to create new tags directly. Instead, I used the wp_add_post_tags() function. This function first checks the current list of tags for the ones I want to add, then if none exist, it creates the tag automatically. This kills both birds with a single stone.

Plus, of course, if the underlying structure of WP should change - and we know it will, eventually - the API will either remain the same or be kept as vestigial, so the plugin doesn’t break because a blog owner did the responsible thing and upgraded to the current version. Another major advantage is that WordPress functions often go through rigorous standards testing and benchmarking, so by using API functions, you’re getting your best shot at creating a highly-compatible and optimized plugin.

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This is a test to see if my new plugin will work.  Cross yer fingers, y’all.

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Wow.  I’m freakin’ old, man.  I owned a C64, complete with GEOS (the Graphical Environment Operating System, but don’t you dare call it Windows!), a 2400 baud-rate modem to connect to Quantum Link and a flip-file filled to capacity with bootlegged games like Miner 2049′r, Jeopardy, Trolls and Tribulations and the oh-so realistic thrill ride that was Strip Poker.

Wired.com is taking a look back at the single most popular gaming console of it’s day and possibly of all time.  I look back at the most powerful 8-bit system ever produced, one which has only just recently ceased to be a viable option to surf the Internet with.  I really wish I still had a working model, it would be quite a show piece, even if mine wasn’t the original bubble machine, but rather the sleeker second version meant to emulate the look of the C128.

Gallery: Looking Back at 25 Years of the C64, the Ultimate ’80s Computer

On the Commodore 64’s 25th anniversary, we cast a nostalgic look back into gaming’s past. Join us on a journey back to 1982 — when men were men, headbands were fashionable, and programs could take half an hour just to load.

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Hey! Who remembers the “Scream Sheets” of William Gibson’s future? All those disposable computer screens that could bring you the latest in the news? Well, Amazon’s going to be the first one to try and market such a device with the new Kindle: a wirelessly-connected little PDA type thang that connects to their service for free.

Kindle will allow you to connect to Amazon, find the book or newspaper you want to read, buy it and read it from anywhere. You don’t need a wireless Internet connection service like Verizon or AT&T, because Kindle comes with its own “Whispernet” wireless network. Plus you get free access to Wikipedia:

Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store

# Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper. # Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing.

OK, that’s cool. But now for the down side. . .

For one, this Whispernet is available through Sprint’s network, which is fine if you live in one of those “good zones” of Sprint’s network. But I bailed on Sprint for the simple fact that I had the worst time getting reception with them in Rochester. I could literally walk ten feet from my house in either direction and get a signal, but directly in front of my house, no go. Now, I realize there was probably some sort of microwave interference in the area, but my Verizon phone never had the same problem.

So, the network is a problem. A second problem is the volatility of the media. This may not matter to some, but I guess I’m old fashioned enough to want to be able to keep a book for a while, whereas if your Kindle becomes kindling, all those books you read are gone. I’ve never been able to quite comprehend the people who have music stored on their iPods without any kind of backup, now we’re going to do it with print media as well.

But the biggest thing is: that damned thing is $400! If you’ve got $400 to spend on something you can only read books on - and you really like reading books that much - knock yourself out. But it seems to me that the entire purpose of those “Scream sheets” of William Gibson’s fantasy was that they were cheap and disposable. If you left your scream sheet on the subway because you were too busy fiddling with your latest “Teach Yourself the Mambo” sub dermal chip, no biggie.

But unless your Paris Hilton on a bender, you’re probably going to want to keep your Kindle where you can find it.

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I’ve commented on this elsewhere, but I’m really hoping that the new “open network” idea Verizon has floated out there also means they’ll consider unblocking the phones they blocked when we bought them.  I want to mo-blog, dangit!

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