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The newest WordPress version has finally been released, which most of you have probably already upgraded to called WordPress 2.9: Carmen. I’ve had it for just over a couple of days now, and for the most part I’ve been very pleased with it. The new features that they’ve implemented are much needed, however, there has been a decrease in speed of WordPress. I am not yet sure whether the new features are worth the decrease and speed, but I’ll wait a little longer to come up with my final opinion. Here is my review on the more significant features of the latest version of WordPress.

Batch Plugin Update

The first feature I’d like to discuss is the Batch Plugin update feature. For a long time now users have been subject to updating each plugin separately, which, depending on how many plugins you had installed, could take substantial amounts of time to upgrade. Now with the batch plugin feature you can update all plugins at the same time. With that said though, WordPress has neglected to allow infinite updates, but limits the amount of plugins that can be to just ten.

In addition, WordPress has also taken an extra step in implement the compatibility feature. This much needed tool allows you to ensure that the plugin you’re updating will work with the latest version of WordPress. In previous versions there was the potential of a plugin to fail simply because it wouldn’t work correctly with WordPress. The compatibility feature is much needed and I’m really pleased that they’ve added this to the package.

Built In Image Editor

The new image editing feature probably isn’t the most prominent addition to the new WordPress, but it’s worth a look at. The image editor basically allows you to crop and fix your photos you have uploaded to your blog. It also allows you to flip photos, fix the aspect ratio, scale images, and perform other basic editing functions. By no way though is it near to what Photoshop can do. Use this tool to fix basic problems and discrepancies with your photos.

Video Embed Improvements

Another new feature that is directed more towards the user experience rather than the overall improvement of WordPress is the ability to get a whole video embedded into a post by simply pasting a link. This is an upgrade to previous versions, as you were stuck pasting the whole embed code rather than just the link itself. With that said though, there is only support for this feature from the following video hosting websites: YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv. WordPress has promised though that they will be adding more sites to this, which will be really nice for those who upload to sites that aren’t as popular. One thing that I’d like to see expanded with this feature is the ability to embed flash videos in general, not from a specific website.

The Trash Can….

The last feature I’d like to talk about, which I actually found to be the most useful is the new trash can. In previous versions of WordPress if you deleted a post or page it was gone forever. Now, with the trash can, if you delete a post it will remain in the trash for up to thirty days before it is deleted permanently. In my experience there has been countless times with my blog where I’ve deleted a post and have wanted it back, and now I can get it back with this fantastic new feature. Good on WordPress for implementing this very basic, but necessary addition.

Conclusion

The only problem that I’ve found with WordPress 2.9 is it’s decreased speed. Ever since I initially installed installed this blogging software two years ago I’ve noticed that with the addition of new releases WordPress has “bogged down”. Maybe it’s the increase in files that have caused this or maybe it’s just me day dreaming. I do feel that there is something acting strange with this version, and I hope that it becomes corrected with the next version.

Other than the speed I’m finding that WordPress 2.9 is a very nice upgrade to the previous version. By including the batch Plugin and the Trash feature WordPress is now becoming extremely easy to use. Users will be very pleased with the latest upgrade and will most likely have a use for at least one of the new features.