What is new in WordPress 3.0? (quick review of some new features)

The next version of WordPress, the most popular platform for websites, is due on the 1st of May, 2010. So, we propose to read about the most significant changes that are coming in WordPress CMS 3.0.

Combining WordPress MU and WordPress

It’s a great piece of news for those specialists who work at professional website development on WordPress. And what does it mean for CMS users?
They will be able to create multiple sites using the same admin area (without any new installations).

Custom record types

This function wasn’t added in WordPress 2.9, but finally will appear in the 3.0 version. The combination of record types and taxonomy will make WordPress a more powerful CMS. This option allows to create different types of articles for a website or blog.

Improving website menus

А so-called Custom Woo Navigation will be included in the WordPress system, its mission is to make the website navigation more convenient. Users will be able to drag and drop menu items on a special page, like on the page with WordPress widgets.

New default template

This new template supports replaceable backgrounds that can be added in functions.php:

add_custom_background ();

Templates for designers

WordPress 2.9 has an option that allows to create templates for categories with their URL (slug) in category-slug.php. So, the 3.0 version will have similar feature for WordPress website developers (a new function get_author_template ()).

WordPress wins the Overall Best Open Source CMS Award 2009

Oxagile team is pleased to inform you that WordPress, one of our favorite content management systems has won CMS Award 2009. It’s not a surprise for us, WordPress-as-a-CMS provides great possibilities for themes, templates, widgets and modules development. This victory is a result of hard work, thousands of web designers and programmers created numerous additions for this product, developed high-quality and easy-to-use sites (from simple personal sites and web blogs to corporate portals and even online shops!).

So, here’s the distribution of prizes for Overall Best Open Source CMS Award:

• the 1st place – Wordpress
• the 2nd place – MODx and SilverStripe

The next category is Hall of Fame, it’s a special place for winners of the last years. Drupal and Joomla were the best systems in the year of 2008. This year balance of power remains the same:
•    the 1st place – Drupal
•    the 2nd place – Joomla

And at last we present you the Best Open Source PHP CMSes:

• the 1st place – Drupal
• the 2nd place – WordPress
• the 3rd place – Joomla

It’s a strange fact that the main category has only two prizes: the second place was decided between two “competitors”, and the third place wasn’t given to anyone. We suppose that it was done in order to save money because organizers spent a lot on prize fund (Drupal took more than anyone :)).
So we congratulate all the winners and wish good luck to all defeated systems.

Little secrets of better WordPress development

With WordPress conditional statements your blog will stand out against thousands of others
Conditional statements can transform themes in something unrecognizable. Be sure, your readers will be amazed by such features in Wordpress blog design. There is nothing difficult in directory conditioned elements, they based on PHP code. So with the help of php programmers you will be able to realize your ideas. For instance, welcome block at the home page can be done with the following code:
if (is_home()) {
echo ‘YOUR WELCOME BOX CODES HERE’;
} else { }

Theme framework is a timesaver for WordPress template customization
There are a lot of theme frameworks (Guerrilla Theme, Thesis, Thematic, WP Framework, etc.) that will help you to build custom templates in the shortest possible time. Use them with no hesitation!

WordPress widgets for better usability
With widgets you can easily customize the look of your theme, rearrange different blog areas (ad blocks, posts, headers, footers, etc.).

Say “no” to plugins and “yes” to PHP code
Using WordPress plugins you force end-users of your blog to download and install additional software. It’s not a good idea for quick and easy accesses to blog features and published information. PHP solves this problem and it also gives more know-hows for WordPress developers.
Continuous learning is an indispensable condition of qualitative WordPress development

WordPress has a great blogging community, it’s even more then web community. So WordPress-as-a-CMS development can be just fun and easy work with some simple plugins, php code and official teaching material from tutorial sites. You can try a simple hack code that helps to reduce spam. It blocks all comments on your blog written by users who have come with “No referrer” result (for example, spam bots).

function check_referrer() {
if (!isset($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']) || $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] == “”) {
wp_die( __(’Please enable referrers in your browser, or, if you\’re a spammer, bugger off!’) );
}}
add_action(’check_comment_flood’, ‘check_referrer’);add_action ( ‘check_comment_flood’, ‘check_referrer’);

The best principles of WordPress customization: theme options panel and shortcode

Oxagile developers love WordPress. By the way our own blog is based on this open source application. And today we are going to share our secrets of successful web development and Wordpress blog customization. Some pieces of advice will take only some minutes to realize them; others will require some more time and more development skills. But you may be sure that all these tips will allow you to provide more qualitative blog customization services for WordPress:
Create your personal theme options panel
You definitely have noticed that WordPress blog themes and template development is one of the most popular services. People all over the world readily seek, buy and download paid, free and custom themes / templates. Moreover some of them want to change their blog design on regular basis. So your ability to provide such a possibility will be appreciated.
A theme options panel will allow you (your clients) to make changes in the current WordPress theme without code correction. This nice tool for quick and easy customization can be used by every theme developer.

Shortcode as a short way to users’ hearts
No one likes long and tricky code. All living creatures aspire to simplicity and harmony. So WordPress website developers can give them what they want – clear short codes for user themes.
You can write short code using theme’s file functions.php. The following function should be added and saved into it:

function wdl() {

return ‘Web Design Ledger rules!’;

}

add_shortcode(’wdlrules’, ‘wdl’);

After that shortcode is your little reliable friend, that definitely will help you to find a short way to your blog users’ hearts.

How to take advantage of open source software during the economic crisis

Today costs of new IT products development can be quite comparable with profits. The economic crisis has an impact upon corporate budgets, making software at reasonable prices more and more popular. And there is nothing out of the way! A lot of managers responsible for new IT-projects consider customized open source software as favorable decision that allows to develop more with limited budgets.

While vendors increase license fees, software developers specializing in open source software install and customization offer their customers independence and flexibility. This year open-source usage and adoption is on peak again, the same situation was in 2001-2002 during the previous economic decline.
Taking as an example the most popular open source CMS for website design and development like Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress and Magento we see that these free software products help to save costs giving new technologies, innovative web 2.0 design and other great solutions.

Open source CMS offers numerous advantages and possibilities. Whereas software companies that use their own software for web development slow down innovations, thousands of independent open source developers improve their projects almost every day. Moreover open code is a key for legal and simple CMS installation and full customization, beginning from some little modifications and ending by the development of new complicated modules. It means that free full packaged software products can be used not only for standardized projects, but also for exclusive design and non-typical web resources.