Quick 2.7 Update via QuickPress
Dec 15, 2008 Blog General
I’m now 24 hours into my testdrive of WordPress 2.7 and I have to say I’m loving it! The upgrade on my other sites were a breeze. The templates all continued to work as before, and no plugins were broken. I’m very impressed not just by the functionality and cosmetic changes, but also the seamless implementation that occurred when upgrading. Kudos to Automattic and the WP teams!
Another HUGE piece of the 2.7 upgrade that I’ve been all over like jelly on toast is the new Plugin search and install interface. This lets you search the current repository of wordpress plugins hosted by wordpress.org, and install directly from your interface. So far, I’m 3 for 3 when it comes to successful installs from the new plugin gallery. This is nifty nice!
Hopefully this week I can give a detailed list of the plugins that are the pulse of my blogging life.
Made the Jump (2.7)
Dec 14, 2008 Blog General
I had a little bit of downtime today so I made the jump and upgraded two of my major blogs to the latest WordPress release 2.7.
The new admin interface reminds me of the first time I installed WordPress. It’s all foreign, yet somehow familiar. Just like I did the first time I installed WP, I decided that I need to start posting to get used to it. I’m taking advantage of the new “QuickPress” feature that allows me to post to the blog directly from my admin panel and seeing what that is about. Umm… no categories? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Tags are here, but that doesn’t matter since my template doesn’t support them.
Next up, plugins.
Tags: quickpress, Wordpress, wordpress 2.7, wp 2.7 blogging
Project Management: Not a Strength
Dec 10, 2008 30 Days Blogging, Help Yourself
It’s difficult to be a website producer if project management isn’t one of your core strengths. There are so many facets into planning and preparing a website that if you don’t have a roadmap, you simply burn brain miles.
I’m beginning to accept what some of my strengths and weaknesses are. I’m great at the idea concept stage and strategizing a long term vision. I’m horrible at the details of what happens between concept and vision.
I’m great at quick burst projects, things that can get done in a couple weeks or less. I’m horrible at keeping interest if it spans beyond that.
I’m great at initiating contact and establishing solid relationships with potential vendors. I’m not as good during the implementation stage (though to my credit, I had an awesome success with a vendor this past summer). I’m worse at ending the relationship.
So I have strengths in initiating things and getting them past drawing board. I can accept that. What I need to do (and have done for the most part) is make sure I have the people behind me that can execute on my vision. This is for both my professional and personal projects (example of a personal project: it took me two months to tile our shower, it would have taken a pro all of 4 hours.)
What I also struggle with is timelines. Since I’m so used to being a one-man-show when it comes to producing sites, I always feel that I can get something done faster than what reality is. Other projects fill my co-workers queue, and in the grand scheme of things a proper website takes time. I wanted to launch a WordProject before Thanksgiving. It’s still not done. It’s at about the 90% and I found myself getting frustrated. Then a thought occured to me that if I were launching this site at a major public corporation, this thing would still be sitting on someones desk waiting for approval, and could take months or even a year to get it launched properly. The fact that I haven’t launched it after 3 weeks of working on it isn’t something I should be ashamed of. I just need to be patient, and realize that quality work takes quality time.
Tags: getting things done, project management, tasks, to do, Wordpress