Earlier this month, over 3500 of you responded to our survey asking you to help us prioritize some of the media features that had been suggested for the 2.9 release. While the exact features for 2.9 have not been hammered out yet, as we continue to match up developers with features, we wanted to share the survey results and let you know what we’re thinking in terms of approach.
First, the results. The first question, and the only one that was mandatory, asked what single media feature you would choose to include in version 2.9. The top vote-getter was standalone editable photo albums (as opposed to the current per-post gallery) at 17.5%, followed closely by easier embeds for videos and other third-party content at 16.5%. Next came basic image editing (such as rotating, cropping and resizing) at 13.7%, and post thumbnails (image teasers for posts featured on the home page) at 12.9%. The rest of the features each took less than ten percent of the vote. The full list came in like this:
The second question was optional (3406 people answered it), and asked you to rate each feature on a scale going from top priority down to definitely not for implementation priority. Results here were in line with the results from the first question, with most features rated as nice to have more often than anything else. The features that scored the highest in question 1 were more likely to have earned higher votes in the Top Priority column, but no feature was ranked as a Top Priority more often than it was ranked as a Nice to Have (though Media Albums, Easier Embeds and Post Thumbnails came close). The complete tabulations are shown in the chart below.
Question three was getting at the same thing, but in a more granular fashion, asking you to rank the eleven features in order of priority to you. As only one feature could be assigned to each position, this prevented people from assigning the same priority to multiple features, and we wondered if it would alter the results. Though some features got more recognition in this question, the overall rankings were still in line with the results from question 1. Here are the exact votes per feature/per position:
The fourth question asked for your preferences regarding including new media features in core, bundling them as plugins with the core download, or developing them as plugins but not bundling them with the core download. This vote was more interesting to watch. As the notice for the voting went first to the development community, then to the user community, it was possible to see a shift in the voting. Earlier in the voting cycle, there were more votes for bundling ‘core plugins’ for the advanced media features, while later votes skewed heavily toward just putting the features in core. This vote shows, I think, one of the differences between developer and user perspectives. While developers are heavily interested in keeping the core code lean and relying on plugins for advanced functionality, many users would prefer features they want to be included in core rather than being a separate plugin. The final tally on this question was 56.2% for including features in core, 38.1% for bundled plugins, and 5.7% for non-bundled plugins. The actual numbers:
Clearly this issue deserves more discussion, and the concept of how we move toward a system of canonical plugins and/or core “packages” intended for different use cases (CMS, photoblog, portfolio, etc) will be a big topic in the months ahead.
So where does that leave us regarding features coming down the road? When the vote closed, the results were discussed in the #wordpress-dev IRC chat to divvy up feature development.
The top-voted feature, standalone photo albums, is being worked on as a Google Summer of Code project by Rudolf Lai, under the mentorship of WordPress Lead Developer Mark Jaquith. The “pencils down” date for GSOC is in less than two weeks, at which point we’ll be assessing the state of Rudolf’s project. Hopefully, we’ll be able to incorporate it with 2.9 development, do some testing, amend the code and/or UI as needed, and have this launch with the 2.9 release (in core or as plugin TBD). Undoubtedly, additional functionality will be contributed by core contributors who have also been working on media plugins.
Easier embeds, the second most popular feature, is being looked at in a couple of ways. One, more shortcodes for third-party services. Work on this has already begun. In addition, Viper007Bond, of Viper’s Video Quicktags plugin fame, has taken on the task of working on a way to improve the embed experience in core. We’re not sure quite how this will work yet, but stay tuned.
Adding some basic editing functions like 90-degree rotation, cropping and resizing was considered an obvious winner in the dev chat, and as several plugins handle this functionality, we’re hopeful it will be included soon.
Post thumbnails are being handled by Mark Jaquith, who has created this functionality before, with an assist from Scribu, who has a similar plugin in the repository.
Lower ranked features aren’t off the radar, but may take lower priority than some other (non-media) features we have in the works. One of my favorite 2.9 features is in trunk now, and changes the way we delete content. Goodbye, annoying popup asking me if I’m sure I want to delete a comment/post/etc. Hello, fast and quiet removal into a trash can, from which the content can be retrieved if it was deleted by accident. Think Gmail style. We’re also hoping to work on improving page management, though that has a number of technical issues that may cause it to be a 3.0 feature instead.
As always, you can keep track of development progress in a number of ways:
1. Keep track of Trac. Contribute a patch, test a patch, just read through tickets if you have some time to kill, whatever. There are over 500 tickets against the 2.9 milestone currently. Patches and testing can help us get that number down.
2. Follow Trac commits on Twitter. Don’t want to get involved in the nitty gritty, just want to see what’s getting committed? Follow wpdevel on Twitter and you’ll get core commit updates in your stream.
3. See what’s on the dev agenda. Each week for the IRC dev chat, there’s an agenda, created based on developer suggestions posted at wpdevel.wordpress.com. This blog also contains discussions about specific development issues.
4. Join the dev chat. The day changed this week, to accommodate European schedules. Chats are now held for one hour each week on Thursday at 21:00 UTC. That’s 5pm NYC, 2pm in California, etc. Chats are in the #wordpress-dev room at irc.freenode.com.
5. Watch this blog. If you’re not a developer and prefer to stick to major announcements, the occasional survey to help decide a feature, and security notices, just keep doing what you’re doing. Reading this blog will get you all of these things.
Thanks again for your help in prioritizing features for version 2.9, hopefully coming toward the end of the year to a server near you!
Quite a few of you use Gmail's custom "From:" to send messages with one of your other email addresses listed in place of your Gmail address. Since these messages are sent by Gmail's servers but "from" a non-Gmail address, we have to include your original Gmail username in the "Sender" field of the message header to comply with mail delivery protocols and help prevent your mail from being marked as spam. Most email programs just display the "From" address and not the "Sender" field, but some (including versions of Microsoft Outlook) show these messages as coming "From username@gmail.com On Behalf Of customaddress@mydomain.com" which really annoyed people.
We heard your request for another option that wouldn't show the "on behalf of" text loud and clear, and now there's a new option that does just that. Instead of using Gmail's servers to send the message, we'll use the servers where your other email address lives. Since Gmail isn't the originating domain, we don't have to include "Sender" info in the header. No more "on behalf of."
Here's the difference. All custom "From:" addresses used to work like this:
Now, if your other email provider supports POP and/or IMAP access, you can choose to send your message like this instead:
To switch to this new method, go to the Accounts page under Settings, and click "edit info" from the "Send mail as" section. Then choose the option to "Use your other email provider's SMTP servers."
We recognize that your other address might not have a server that you can use to send outbound messages — for example, if you use a forwarding alias rather than an actual mailbox, or if your other email provider doesn't support authenticated SMTP, or restricts access to specific IP ranges. For this reason, we've kept the original method as well. Check out our Help Center for further details on these two "send mail as" configuration options.
If you use Google Apps Premier or Education edition and would like to send mail as another address within your domain or within an aliased domain, no sweat. We do all the work behind the scenes so your original username won't be listed in the "Sender" header, and your recipients won't see "on behalf of."
The WordPress team had initially committed to maintaining the WordPress 2.0.x legacy branch until 2010. Unfortunately, we bit off more than we could chew—the 2.0.x branch is now retired and deprecated, a few months shy of 2010.
Many of the security improvements to the new versions of WordPress in the last couple of years were complete reworks of how various systems were handled. Porting those changes to the 2.0.x branch would have been a monumental task and could have introduced instability or new bugs. We had to make hard decisions between stability and merging in the latest security enhancements. Additionally, far fewer people stayed on the 2.0.x branch than we anticipated. I take that as a testament to the new features in WordPress and perhaps even more the features offered by plugins, many of which don’t support older versions of WordPress!
I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to keep the branch maintained until 2010, but since one of the big reasons for that failure was the massive scope of our security improvements for the newer versions of WordPress, 2.0.x doesn’t die in vain!
We believe you should only get the mail you want to get. Some of you already use the "Report Spam" button on all kinds of unwanted email, and for that we're very thankful: the more spam you mark, the better our system gets at weeding out junk mail.
Unsubscribing from mailing lists and newsletters you subscribed to a while back but no longer want to receive should be just as easy. Searching through individual messages for little unsubscribe links is too big a pain —you should be able to unsubscribe with a single click.
So we just launched something that makes this all work better, both for Gmail users and big email senders. Now, when you report spam on a legitimate newsletter or mailing list, we'll help you unsubscribe. After clicking report spam, you'll see a little dialog like this:
Clicking "Unsubscribe" will automatically send a request back to the sender so they'll stop emailing you.
This only works for some senders right now. We're actively encouraging senders to support auto-unsubscribe — we think 100% should. We won't provide the unsubscribe option on messages from spammers: we can't trust that they'll actually unsubscribe you, and they might even send you more spam. So you'll only see the unsubscribe option for senders that we're pretty sure are not spammers and will actually honor your unsubscribe request. We're being pretty conservative about which senders to trust in the beginning; over time, we hope to offer the ability to unsubscribe from more email.
For those of you senders who are interested in this feature, the most basic requirements are including a standard "List-Unsubscribe" header in your email with a "mailto" URL and, of course, honoring requests from users wishing to unsubscribe. You'll also need to follow good sending practices, which in a nutshell means not sending unwanted email (see our bulk sending guidelines for more information).
With an easy way to unsubscribe, everybody wins. Your spam folder is smaller, and senders don't waste time sending you email that you no longer want.
Update (1:50pm): If you want to unsubscribe without reporting the message as spam, click "show details" in the top-right corner of the message, then click "Unsubscribe from this sender."
Posted by Sarah Price, Online Operations Strategist
Like many of us nowadays, I get a lot of email. So much email that going on vacation can be a little scary because I know I'll have a mountain to wade through when I get back. A few messages I receive each day are time-sensitive or very important — but only a few. Lots of my mail can wait a few hours or a few days or even a few weeks, or in the case of that mailing list I've always meant to unsubscribe from, forever.
Thankfully, Gmail has a lot of features that keep me organized, from filters to archiving to keyboard shortcuts to Tasks, as well as a whole bunch of Labs features, like Superstars. I've developed my own system for dealing with all my incoming mail, but I'm always curious to hear about how other people manage their messages.
If you're a Gmail expert and an organizational wizard, we want to see how you do it. So submit a short video at youtube.com/gmail to showcase your tips and tricks for managing your inbox. Submit a great one by August 15th, and your video could end up in our Help Center, our forum, or even on this very blog. And if you aren't into making your own video, check out the videos that others have submitted and let us know what you like.
You can discuss these videos in the official thread in our new forum. The Gmail Help Forum isn't just about "help" -- it's also a great place to connect with other Gmail users and share tips and tricks. We recently gave it a complete makeover, so if you haven't been there in a while, check it out.
We’ve recently made some changes to help improve the communication between plugin authors and plugin users about the changes that are made between versions.
We feel that all software should have a changelog that details, at a high level, what changes have been made in each version so that the user can make an informed decision about when to upgrade and how much testing they should do with their site.
In order to make this an easy and open communication channel we have added support for a Changelog section in the plugins readme.txt file. This changelog information is then displayed as a separate tab in the plugin directory and also in the back end of your WordPress blog when you view the details on a new version of a plugin.
The new section is formatted as follows:
== Changelog ==
= 1.0 =
* A change since the previous version.
* Another change.
= 0.5 =
* List versions from most recent at top to oldest at bottom.
We would also like to recommend that you also provide meaningful log messages when you commit changes to the subversion repository for your plugin so that people who want to dig further into your changes can see why things are changing (At the moment is seems a large number of plugin authors leave this field blank which isn’t very helpful).
When an email references external images, Gmail usually doesn't display them automatically. Instead we show placeholders and present you with the option to "Display images below" or "Always display images from" that sender.
We do this to help protect your privacy from spammers, who can use images and links to verify that your email address is real.
But often the messages you get with images are from friends or family and there's no reason to worry about your privacy — you just want to see the photo of your newborn niece or the invitation design they're sending you. So, in these cases, we've decided to start displaying images by default. Now, whenever someone you've emailed at least twice sends you a message containing images, you'll see them right away. Note that we picked this threshold of two messages to start with, but we may tweak it if it doesn't seem right going forward. And we only display images by default for authenticated messages (using SPF or DKIM). Gmail and other big mail providers usually authenticate their mail, but other services might not, so it's possible you'll get an email from one of your contacts where images aren't displayed by default.
If you prefer to go back to the way things were, you can choose not to display images from certain senders or from anyone. To disable images from an individual sender, click "Don't display from now on" under the "Show details" link of an email from them with images. To disable images from everybody, select "Ask before displaying external content" under "External content" on the general Settings tab.
Fences is a one-of-a-kind program, allowing you to draw labeled shaded areas on your desktop, which become movable & resizable containers for your desktop icons. These groups can help bring organization and consistency to your computer's desktop This update brings a number of fixes and compatibility updates. Most notably we have drastically increased the support and performance of Fences on Windows 7. Regardless of which version of Windows you are using, Fences is the ultimate way to keep your desktop organized. Fences can be downloaded for free via Impulse, or at the Fences website. Link: Fences Download: Fences .98 (free) Screenshot: >> Click here
Popular online game World of Warcraft has already been offline in China for six weeks as its new local operator awaits a government review of its content.
Earlier this year Microsoft announced the next wave of Office products that will "redefine how people work", which included Exchange 2010, Office 2010, Visio 2010, Project 2010, and SharePoint 2010. All will enter public beta later this year and is targeted for general availability in the first half of 2010. Over the last few weeks we've seen a ton of information leak regarding the Office 2010 suite, and this week Microsoft has released a sneak-peak of SharePoint 2010. So what exactly is SharePoint again? SharePoint is an enterprise portal that can be configured to run Intranet, Extranet, and Internet sites.
WordPress 2.8.2 fixes an XSS vulnerability. Comment author URLs were not fully sanitized when displayed in the admin. This could be exploited to redirect you away from the admin to another site. Download 2.8.2 or automatically upgrade from the Tools->Upgrade page of your blog’s admin.
I missed my demo of Mafia II at E3, which I’m still bummed out about, but 2K has a released a 15-minute walk through voiced over by producer Denby Grace. It looks quite good. What do you guys think? Due out later this year for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
Ok, so you passed you Comptia A+ exam. Welcome to the club. Let me suggest that you print out this hardware chart. Trust me, it will come in handy. No matter how much of a hardware geek you are, there is no way you can name by sight alone the different types of CPU sockets or some of the more obscure types of RAM. There is nothing wrong with having this cheat sheet in your toolbox or on your flash drive. It will only help you get the job done quicker. Oh, and large size prints are available for all you teachers and computer repair shops out there.
Viliv went all official on the S7 a couple of weeks ago. The hot convertible tablet definitely sparked my interest, especially the 4700mAh lithium polymer batter that is said to have up to 9.5 hours. That’s hot. Well, some folks in Korea got their hands on the portable and put that battery to the test. The results really aren’t that surprising.
Lazion.com tested the S7’s battery life and couldn’t get over 8 hours. Now, 8 hours is still good in my book, but that’s an hour and a half off the claimed battery life. The benchmark didn’t squash its appeal so much. It’s still hot and I hope that Viliv and Dynamism team up once again to import the S7 to the States like they did with the S5 and X70.
Namco, creators of such classics like Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug, have announced Museum Essentials for the PlayStation Network. Now you can play the aforementioned games along with Dragon Spirit and Xevious on your PlayStation 3. There’s even Xevious Resurrection with co-op gameplay. This can be all yours for only $10. I know what I’m doing this weekend.
I doubt that many of us knew just how vast the Mario family tree was. This infograph, made by a dedicated gamer, clearly shows the 28 year history of the brand. Yes, the graph really isn’t really in true family tree format, but as the creator points out, it’s just a video game and it works just fine the way it’s currently displayed.
YouTube is filled with TF2 fan videos and tributes, but I’ve never seen one this well done. The video is a bit long at 8:29 and takes a few minutes to get going, but it actually has a compelling story. I think Bob Ross, the gentle painter, would appreciate the message that everyone needs a friend.
Lets get a few details out of the way first. The Casio Exilim is one of the most expensive Verizon phones available at $279 with a 2-year agreement. Only the HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro cost more. Not only that, the Exilim is loaded with a dated OS and is rather bulky. The only selling point that this phone has is the 5.1MP camera, so that’s what I spent most of my time testing.
I pitted the 5.1MP Casio Exilim against a 3.2MP BlackBerry Storm and 6.1MP Nikon D40. I would have to say that I’m impressed with the quality. It’s better than the Storm and almost on par with the D40 in some of the photos. Check out the pics below to see what I mean. (note: these have been resized using Picasa)
The camera has all the features we have came to expect from digital cameras these days: scene modes, flash, 9 point AF, Image stabilizer, and even a 3x optical zoom. I don’t know if I would use it as my primary camera, but it’s a mighty big upgrade for those that already use their Motorola RAZR as such.
The 9 point AF works well and does help get a better photo. There isn’t much lag from when the shutter button is pressed until it takes the photo. The flash is almost too bright, I would have to say though. But in all, the camera is almost good enough for most cases.
Hardware The Exilim meets Military Specifications for durability, but you wouldn’t know that by just looking at it. In fact, I don’t know if I would test that certification as it doesn’t feel that solid. The only hint that it’s durable is the battery lock. The rest of the phone is your standard grade plastic.
The screen isn’t anything to rave about but it gets the job done. It’s bright enough to use in direct sunlight, which is a good thing when taking pictures. The screen rotates around for a more natural camera feel.
Operating System What we have here is one of the most disappointing aspects of the phone. The Exilim is loaded with your standard Verizon-issue OS. I’ll have to say that it’s at least snappy and can even display some fancy animated backgrounds. To me this OS does a huge disservice to great camera phone, but some people might be satisfied with the standard OS.
Quick story: At a recent event with some of my wife’s distant family members, a couple of her cousins were ragging on an Aunt as she fumbled with her presumably new BlackBerry. These early 30 year olds kept asking her why she she uses a BlackBerry and advised that she should just get a “normal phone like everyone else”. These folks aren’t exactly…ummm…educated, so let’s not forget that there are still people out there that want need a simple OS like the one this phone uses.
What’s in the box Remember the days when phones actually use to come with accessories? The Exilim actually comes with some stuff. Included in the box is a charging dock, cables, photo software, a lanyard, and a dumb 3.5mm adapter that’s required to use any 3.5mm headset. Greg hates those things.
Conclusion There is a market for a high quality, simple camera phone. However, I don’t know if that market will pay $279 for such a device. Certainly some of the people that rely on their phone’s camera for special occasions like birthdays and Bar Mitzvahs will probably pony up the cash. The Exilim takes good enough pictures that it could very well be the primary camera for that lot. The rest of us will buy an iPhone or BlackBerry Tour, phones which cost less up front and take decent impromptu photos, and then rely on a standard camera for real photo-taking.
