WordPress 2.8.1 Released
You have probably already noticed this in the WordPress dashboard but WordPress 2.8.1 was released a couple of days ago.
WordPress 2.8.1 fixes a number of bugs and corrects some security problems with the plugin administration pages.
If you have already upgraded to 2.8, I highly recommend that you upgrade to 2.8.1 as soon as you can. If you are still running 2.7.1, you should upgrade, but it doesn’t need to happen right away.
Here are some of the most important bugs that were fixed.
- The amount of memory used by the dashboard has been reduced. A number of people were getting out of memory errors, which resulted in only a partial page being loaded.
- The visual editor wasn’t being loaded for some users due to compression issues. This problems has been corrected.
- Better security has been enabled for plugins that don’t do specific checks on permissions.
- And … the big one. The automatic upgrade no longer deletes files after a failed upgrade. Yep, the automatic upgrade would fail and then delete a number of the WordPress files. That is not good. But, apparently it has been corrected.
As always, please back up your database and WordPress files before upgrading, make sure your necessary plugins are compatible with the new version, and upgrade manually, if possible. My WordPress 2.8 Upgrade Issues and Recommendations article has a list of steps to take before any upgrade.
Here is a video about the main features in WordPress 2.8.
photo credit: Rgtmum
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July 13, 2009 at 4:31 am
Hi Kim,
Really great stufff – and something I’m planning to do today (especially after seeing what it fixes, which are problems I’m dealing with).. Thanks!
Lance´s last blog ..Sunday Thought For The Day
July 13, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Hi Lance – I hope it resolves the issues you’ve been having.
July 14, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Kim,
It did, thanks! And I used your site as a guide, and that also worked so easily! I’m all good now, and that’s thanks to you (and the Wordpress people!).
Lance´s last blog ..Painting The Masterpiece of Our Life
July 15, 2009 at 11:22 am
Hi Lance – Great! I am so glad that it solved the problems. And that my guides are helpful :-)
July 13, 2009 at 5:57 am
The rate at which WordPress releases are coming in really scares me :) I guess they should have a proper release plan like major releases (i.e. 2.0 to 3.0) every three years or so and minor releases every three months or something like that.
Thanks for the review. One of the things I am finding very irritating is the autosave :( is it customizable somehow without too many settings? I see that my post ID’s keep increasing at a rapid pace – before I moved to 2.7.1 I was having post IDs increasing by 1 and because of their stupid logic for autosave, the post ID change.
(Small setence error -> The amount of memory reduced by the dashboard has been reduced)
Cheers, Ajith
Ajith´s last blog ..How Post Frequency affects your traffic and ranks?
July 13, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Hi Ajith – It looks like they are planning on 2-3 major releases per year. Right now 2.9 is scheduled for Halloween. I’ve found there is always a .1 release – and I tend to wait for it.
Stratos answered your question about the revisions. I also wrote an
article about it and there is a Delete Revisions plugin to clean up the old ones.
http://www.kimwoodbridge.com/how-to-turn-off-post-revisions-in-wordpress/
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/delete-revision/
July 13, 2009 at 8:26 am
I have a similar concern as Ajith. Is there a way to go back and delete the auto saves that WP does? One of my “pages” has like 6…kind of irritating. I’m not as concerned about the numbering of the of the IDs, but wonder if it hits performance of the site? Thanks Kim…you are my go to person on these WP questions. Thanks as always.
Rick Castellini´s last blog ..Computer designed for seniors
July 13, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Hi Rick – Stratos answered the question and you can see what I wrote
for Ajith above. I have used the Delete Revisions plugin and haven’t had
any problems with it.
July 13, 2009 at 8:37 am
@Ajith and Rick: I have written an article about this here http://www.stratos.me/2008/11/delete-post-revisions-without-any-plugin/ I believe that having autosaves can really save you at certain points but every now and then you should go back and delete them. As for the post id’s. Well once the autosave is committed the ID is gone! ;) I guess that’s not too bad though. You just need to remove the clutter from in there that’s all.
stratosg´s last blog ..The acrobatic balance of price and quality on freelancers
July 13, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Thanks @stratos, I read your post. The query is very useful for a onetime clean up. What irritates me the most with this feature is the fact that, as soon as you paste something, it seem to do an immediate save :D mostly, I edit my posts in Word or notepad and paste there. I am reducing the autosave frequency further to 5 minutes now.
Ajith´s last blog ..How Post Frequency affects your traffic and ranks?
July 14, 2009 at 6:44 am
Autosave can be completely disabled too.
http://www.untwistedvortex.com/2008/06/27/adjust-wordpress-autosave-or-disable-it-completely/
July 13, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I remember you wrote a while ago that you usually prefer to wait after a major release until they release the first “0.1″ version to that release, because major releases are rarely stable and often need to be patched and upgraded shortly after the release. Looks like you were right. :)
Vered – MomGrind´s last blog ..Low Rise Jeans: Five Reasons To Hate Them, One Reason To Love Them
July 13, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Hi Vered – Some friends of mine would laugh and say, “Kim is always
right.” Not always but I can be a real pain when I am right. ;-)
Since I’ve been using WordPress I’ve seen the 0.1 version with each release.
July 14, 2009 at 12:23 am
I don’t do my IT work, but my IT does always wait until the try something out at her work before she does upgrades..
I have been having trouble with my blog loading in code no one can read and my email not opening up this week again!!!! Now my new computer on button turns on/then shuts the computer off right away…I have to wait and try again later – this part is so very frustrating to me…and with leaving for a couple of week, I hope I can stabilize the problems.
Patricia´s last blog ..Understanding Agenda For a New Economy ~ David Korten
July 14, 2009 at 6:45 am
Hi Patricia – If the computer is immediately turning off there could be a serious problem. It could be a virus or even bad memory. You should
have your IT person look into it.
It’s great that she waits to do upgrades – I think it’s best to be cautious.
July 14, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I ran a compete spyware and Norton’s comprehensive scan…my IT person says it sounds like memory to her???? but she is unsure how to check it on logmein….from San Francisco to me….
I am trying not to think that I got a lemon computer this time around, but truly it seems to be something nearly every month since May 2007 when my antique died. I usually get the office rejects, this was a new one…
Maybe it knows I kinda sorta wanted a Mac? and it resents it?
Barbara at BWOB has me kind of worried about security right now too..aargh. Oh well, two weeks of hiking Scotland coming up – maybe it just needs a vacation too?
Patricia´s last blog ..Understanding Agenda For a New Economy ~ David Korten
July 15, 2009 at 11:21 am
Hi Patricia – I think it’s memory too. You might need someone local to work on that. It does sound like you and your computer need a vacation.
July 18, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Hi,
This is great. My husband usually does my updates for me. I would like to give it try by following your steps.
Thanks so much
BunnygotBlog´s last blog ..Advertising Towards Dummies: Interview With An Advertising Professional
July 18, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Hi Bunny – As long as you make backups and research the plugins first, you should be fine :-)