Sometime at the end of the year we can expect to see the next point version update for Wordpress (2.7). Those familiar with Wordpress know that with version 2.5 the blogging engine received a major, much needed, overhaul to the backend and a plethora of new features, so if you’re not expecting much out of 2.7 you’re in for a surprise. This update looks to add just as many features, if not more than 2.5, along with a restructuring of the backend layout, most notably the move from a horizontal-top navigation bar to an accordion style vertical-left nav.

This change and many of the other visual elements are being made to favor widescreen monitors. I’m glad they finally realized that the top style nav didn’t lend itself well to being extensible, with each plugin usually adding at least one nav link. Anyone who uses more than a few plugins knows what I’m talking about.

Add/Edit Post page (The Write-panel)

The write-panel received it’s fair share of “improvements”. Fans of the old school drag and drop elements will be happy to know that they’ve made a return. You can now drag and drop any of the element boxes between the right hand column and the column under the content box. They’ve gone a step further and added the ability to hide element boxes that you don’t want to see. Though, my thought is that these settings should be available through the settings menu rather than on the write-panel.

Plugin Repository

The change I’m most excited about is the ability to search the Wordpress plugin repository, select and install plugins, all from the backend of Wordpress! It’s all automated and very slick, no more having to download plugins, unzip them and then upload them manually. The only thing lacking about this addition is that the search flat out sucks. You’ll know this if you’ve ever tried to look for any plugins from http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/, you get too many irrelevant plugins and typically the one you are looking for is buried at least a couple pages in.

Other notable additions

• ability to make posts “sticky”
• inline editing of posts from the front end
• comments XMLRPC API
• automated Wordpress updates
• new HTTP request API (looking forward to that one)
• built-in threaded comments (woo-hoo)
• ability to reply to comments from the backend
• added global settings for images (an addition size “Large”)
• “Inbox” (this feature is not complete so I’m not sure exactly what it is going to be officially, however I’m guessing they are adding in some sort of built-in contact form… which would make a whole lot of sense)
• QuickPress - a widget on the dashboard for quickly creating a post. (Honestly, kind of pointless, who doesn’t have time to click a link to get to the post page (there are 2 links on the page already)
• media buttons consolidated to single “Add Media” button, this may only be for development and will probably go back to the 4 original buttons)

Not ready for primetime

Right now 2.7 isn’t ready for use on a production blog, some of the features are broken or completely disabled. However, if you want to get your hands dirty and try out the software you can get the latest nightly build here (scroll to the bottom and click the “Zip Archive” link). Have fun.

On the path to claiming your own piece of hyperspace real estate, purchasing a domain name is a good place to start. If you want to learn what a domain name is and get some tips for buying one, keep reading, but if your itching to blow some money click here to skip to the spendin’ part.

Examples

• www.ebay.com
• www.google.com
• www.justingable.com

Purpose

In the simplest explanation possible; a domain name represents a specific place (directory) somewhere in the vast network of computer servers, what we web professionals like to call the “internet”, with an easily memorable name. If we didn’t have them we’d have to remember web addresses such as http://74.125.19.147/ if we ever wanted to visit Google.

Dot Whatever

Those little letters that appear at the end of a domain after the “.” (com, net, org) are called Top-Level Domains (TLD). Each one has it’s own reason for existance; the 3 most common are:

• com: (Commercial) officially intended to designate commercial entities
• org: (Organization) mostly associated with churches, charities and other non-profits
• net: (Network) intended to be used only for the computers of network providers

Of course anyone can buy a domain name with either of these extensions, and these “rules” I listed are generally not followed. When buying your own domain, however, get a .com if at all possible, it’s the one that most people will assume is your TLD when entering in your address.

What’s in a name?

• it must contain 3 to 63 characters
• it can contain the letters a-z as well as numbers 0-9
• it can contain a hyphen (-) but it cannot start or end with one
• it cannot contain spaces or any other special characters

Where to buy

There are many places that will sell you domain names, some will try and entice you with $1 domains or even free… DO NOT FALL FOR THIS! Usually they want you to sign up for their hosting service before they “give you” the domain name of your choice. But wait there’s more! That domain you were just “given”, you don’t own it, the people you bought it through do. So, when you go to change hosts for whatever reason, they will most likely not give you the domain name back.

It is best to buy through a 3^rd party and there are two that I recommend, GoDaddy (you know, the ones that run all the ads during the Super Bowl with the skanky women) and NetworkSolutions. Both offer nice controls to manage all your domain names and have excellent customer service. GoDaddy is who I use and they’re the ones I’m going to walk you through buying your own domain name.

The Walk-thru

 
Buying a domain name on Godaddy.com from Justin Gable

Wrapping up and looking ahead

Hopefully I’ve helped clear the air around getting your own domain name. However, if there is something you feel I left out or something I went over needs some more elaboration, leave me a comment.

In the next tutorial I’m going to show you how to purchase your own hosting and setup your domain name to point to your shiny new server space.

Hey, everyone! I’m very excited to introduce a blog series that I’m going to be posting starting this week titled Blog Yourself (if someone has a better name please let me know :) ). I will show you how to create your own blog from start to finish. I wanted to breakdown the seemingly complicated process of setting your own blog up and make it easy for anyone interested in blogging.

I have noticed some of my wife’s blogging buddies and many others using services such as Blogger and TypePad to run their blog. These services may be an appropriate option for some, but are actually quite limiting to those seeking more control and a more professional image. For bloggers falling into this category, I want to offer insight on migrating their blog to their own web host as well.

Let me give you an overview of what I will be covering and who may be interested in this series:

What I will cover

• Purchasing a domain name
• Finding and purchasing web hosting
• Installing and configuring blogging software (WordPress)
• Free applications used to setup and customize your blog
• Free web services that show you detailed statistics for your blog
• How to customize your blog with themes and plugins
• Tips on best practices and better usability
• Basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to give your blog a higher ranking in various search engines such as Google and Yahoo!

Who may be interested in this series

• non-bloggers who would like to start their own blog
• bloggers who use a hosted blogging service such as Blogger or TypePad and who would like more control by hosting it themselves (I will show you how to migrate your posts and comments from your current blog)
• bloggers who want to learn useful tips on customizing and promoting their blogs

Who/what this series is not intended for:

• those looking for WHAT to write about on their blogs (I’m just giving you the tools, not the content)
• people intending to use blogs to spam
• carnies

I am planning to go into as much detail as possible on each subject, even splitting individual topics into multiple posts if they require more attention. I will try to include as many screenshots as well as videos (if requested) of the tutorials. Feel free to post comments asking questions or send me a message on my contact page.