Over the many passing years, WordPress has shown considerable improvement in performance, interface, effectiveness and usability. The latest version, Wordpress 2.8 code named Baker is another firm step in that direction. Named after famous vocalist Chet Baker, this 2.8 version has more than 750 bug fixes and majority of crashes fixed that were reported in the earlier version.
Checkout this video to know more.
New features of WordPress 2.8
The main features that have been introduced in WordPress 2.8 are as follows:
Theme Browser
Users can now browse, install and update themes easily by managing the entire process through the dashboard. CodePress Editor highlights the syntax that allows to manage the tweaks or edits more effectively as you can easily identify the functions that are being used.
Redesigned Widget Interface
The widget interface in WordPress 2.8 is very flexible and allows to edit widgets on the run. You can also easily move the widgets between sidebars along with creating duplicate copies of the same widget.
New Widget API
Since WordPress publishing platform is open source, the new widget API is a great extension to already provided software development kit. It is bound to make creating widgets more easier.
Advanced options
WordPress earlier allowed users to just change the arrangement of the widgets on admin dashboard. But WordPress 2.8 lets users to change the number of columns of widgets to be displayed which for now can be customized till 4 and also the number of items per page can be manipulated.
Configurable management
Every information displayed on the custom pages is not of use to everyone. WordPress 2.8 handles this concern by allowing users to decide on which information needs to displayed and what remains hidden.
WordPress 2.8 is undoubtedly faster than all the earlier versions due to change in the coding of styling and scripting. This is of course not the complete list, to have a look at all the features that have been added in WordPress 2.8 Baker, visit Codex. There is a major improvement in speed, APIs are more clean and helpful, and widget customization is more user friendly. You can download this new version from WordPress official site.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Google Squared: Is It Worth It?
Google has recently put forth a new experimental search tool "Google Squared" which is in direct competition to Wolfram Alpha, a knowledge engine. To put in simple words, Google Squared collects the information from the web and presents it in a structured form allowing the users to compare various characteristics of different items in the search.
It is a great concept because as a user I otherwise have to go through so many sites, procuring the results, evaluating them, comparing them and then reaching at conclusions. But does Google Squared really solves the problem? I conducted the test myself and got the following results:
Searching for 'handycams' strangely displays only two results and one of them is a memory stick.
Interestingly, a search like 'sony mobile phones' displays all brands including Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and even iPhone.
Although you have the facility to add new columns and new items but the search results are far from satisfactory. More so, when you put a query for which Google Squared could not gather results, it prompts you to create a square by entering 5 example items like I did for 'technology blogging' but sadly the first six results also included Business Week, a business related magazine that has nothing to do with technology.
The concept of providing structured data is intriguing but the implementation in the form of Google Squared is not impressive or inspiring as a matter of fact. At least for now, Google Squared does not have all the arsenal to dethrone Wolfram Alpha.
It is a great concept because as a user I otherwise have to go through so many sites, procuring the results, evaluating them, comparing them and then reaching at conclusions. But does Google Squared really solves the problem? I conducted the test myself and got the following results:
Searching for 'handycams' strangely displays only two results and one of them is a memory stick.
Interestingly, a search like 'sony mobile phones' displays all brands including Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and even iPhone.
Although you have the facility to add new columns and new items but the search results are far from satisfactory. More so, when you put a query for which Google Squared could not gather results, it prompts you to create a square by entering 5 example items like I did for 'technology blogging' but sadly the first six results also included Business Week, a business related magazine that has nothing to do with technology.
The concept of providing structured data is intriguing but the implementation in the form of Google Squared is not impressive or inspiring as a matter of fact. At least for now, Google Squared does not have all the arsenal to dethrone Wolfram Alpha.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Microsoft Bing On The Roll
Shakespeare once asked a famous question "To be or not to be" and in today's times, Its internet asking you a remodeled question "To Google or to Bing"? Yes, Microsoft Bing is up and running. The first step to thwart Google's monopoly in search engine field is taken by Microsoft in style in Europe with the launch of Bing.
Microsoft Bing is being promoted as "decision engine" that is aimed at helping the users in making decisions and not just displaying the most popular results. It splits the information on the basis of information mining. For example, you search for small businesses in US, the results are varied containing its government organization supporting small businesses, business advisory, solution experts and all that you need to go about it. A small pop up at the side of every link that appears on highlighting makes sure that you read the introductory content without even opening the link helping you to optimize your search results.
The difference in Microsoft Bing and its competitors like Google and Yahoo as per company's Vice president is finding the best results for the query put to the search engine. The four major areas of stress are: locating a business (local), tour planning, R&D related to particular health condition, and the crucial purchase decisions. You can visit Bing.com to have a look at the beta version.
You can checkout this video to understand why you should Bing. Microsoft Bing offers some really unique features like 'contains' search operator, RSS feeds of the search results, saving the search results and emailing them. Although it will take a little more time to get the hang of this new search engine or decision engine as the new offering is being called, but Microsoft Bing is certainly one step forward in terms of innovation and technology.
Microsoft Bing is being promoted as "decision engine" that is aimed at helping the users in making decisions and not just displaying the most popular results. It splits the information on the basis of information mining. For example, you search for small businesses in US, the results are varied containing its government organization supporting small businesses, business advisory, solution experts and all that you need to go about it. A small pop up at the side of every link that appears on highlighting makes sure that you read the introductory content without even opening the link helping you to optimize your search results.
The difference in Microsoft Bing and its competitors like Google and Yahoo as per company's Vice president is finding the best results for the query put to the search engine. The four major areas of stress are: locating a business (local), tour planning, R&D related to particular health condition, and the crucial purchase decisions. You can visit Bing.com to have a look at the beta version.
You can checkout this video to understand why you should Bing. Microsoft Bing offers some really unique features like 'contains' search operator, RSS feeds of the search results, saving the search results and emailing them. Although it will take a little more time to get the hang of this new search engine or decision engine as the new offering is being called, but Microsoft Bing is certainly one step forward in terms of innovation and technology.
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