The boys at WordPress has finally lifted the curtains on the newest version of the world’s best blogging software. You can find more information about it at the WordPress blog.
WordPress 2.5, the culmination of six months of work by the WordPress community, people just like you. The improvements in 2.5 are numerous, and almost entirely a result of your feedback: multi-file uploading, one-click plugin upgrades, built-in galleries, customizable dashboard, salted passwords and cookie encryption, media library, a WYSIWYG that doesn’t mess with your code, concurrent post editing protection, full-screen writing, and search that covers posts and pages.
This is a major update. The list of changes are a mile long. Download the latest version of WordPress here. I think I’ll start by upgrading some of my other blogs and see how those go before upgrading this one. If you’ve upgraded, let me how it went and if you’ve found any bugs.
*Update – I have just updated John Chow dot Com to the latest WordPress. The update went smooth as butter with absolutely no problems what so ever. The new interface is really nice. I recommend everyone upgrade.
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One of the most common complaint (or excuse) I hear from potential new bloggers is they don’t know how to install WordPress. Terms like FTP and CPanel are like a foreign language and setting up a database might as well be setting up the space shuttle for a launch. Because of the technology barrier, many would-be bloggers never start their blogs...
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First!!! yeah
But were you the first to download?
I updated it on several of my blogs (still anxious to do it to the main one).
I usually avoid upgrading because I’ve heavily updated my theme to be SEO’d.
No worries though, 2.5 updates are mostly admin dashboard related and don’t seem to affect the blog the theme that much.
So no problems to report on the ones you upgraded on?
The new features sound pretty good though. What I like about WordPress is the upgrade is so easy to do.
~Terry
This should mean that no problems with most SEO related plugins as well, right? I tested the beta and it was cool but some plugins were not working, I will give it a test fresh install with the current plugins I use to check it out.
John, shall we expect a gallery now?
lol alas no I was not. The news is a little slow in reaching me here in East Van….
Go Cancuks Go
John: Speaking of other “blogs”, how does the secret anonymous blog going on? any updates for us?
what secret anonymous blog ?
What don’t I know 
? 
Last summer, John wanted to test his own theories about blogging by starting a new blog without revealing he was the blogger behind it.
It’s been a while and I wanted to know more about his progress and if he made money.He had a budget of $100 to start it and to grow it.
I tought it was johncow.com, is it?
No, it’s not johncow.com. He appeared a few months months before that.
Hmmm! It could be me as I have my own FREE ebook
Watch Free Movies Legally(and make money too)
P.S. Don’t worry TrustURL is my new site(member only) and I use it to track downloads from johnchow.
O Sweet I didn’t know about that … John needs to update everyone on stuff like that.
I guess John’s secret new blog is still a secret.
John, go ahead and let us know how its going. We promise we won’t tell anyone.
Lol, I just switch to Wordpress from Blogger YESTERDAY and I already have a new version to worry about. Oh well, from what I’ve heard so far, this new version will be great.
Lol here too…..I’m in the same boat except I switched about a week ago!
I would have been first…it crashed and went to techzone something page …anyway….I still use the white version for my blogs ( white admin login), They bring new ones all the time. Old version still works perfectly for me, so maybe I’ll install new one some day….
Parabéns pelo seu blog cara…
Aqui no Brasil ele também é muito visitado por todos que querem aprender como ganhar dinheiro com Blogs…
Um grande abraço a todos de sua Equipe!
Pedro Nagi / RJ / Brazil
Be interesting to see … Going to wait a while first to see if there are any bugs that need to be worked out.
I think I will wait also until we get some feedback. I am particularly concerned about my existing plug-ins working properly.
I’ll update it tonight… give me something to do on this snowy/rainy Saturday night.
That’s why John Chow has Hockey Night in Canada double headers to watch on Saturday nights.
Isn’t that right John?
~Terry
Updated on a couple blogs so far and works like a charm…nothing broke as far as I can tell…
I am updating mine ASAP – I’ll post any bugs if I find them!
Good luck updating this weekend everyone!
Stumbled earlier through a post about this update. That blogger wasn’t really pleased about all the modifications in the admin panel.
I prefer wordpress v2.0 and I think I will leave my wordpress blogs as they are. No updates for me.
I already upgraded and I love it!
I was coming from WP 2.2.
I’ve updated, no problems so far.
I think I currently use wordpress 2.3. Is it really worth it to update?
Yes. Worth it! Definitely!
Without a doubt.
I seemly not to go pace with new version, I just upgrade version 2.3.3 . it can be said that i am so late to upgrade new version.
I’ve updated to RC2 and have had no problems. The new interface is SWEET! The folks at WP have done a fine job with this one.
I know. I never thought the old interface was any good. It felt like it was so outdated, even from the beginning.
I am soon going to upgrade my blog.
I like the update, but had one problem with the Automatic plugin upgrader. I’m using the Wordpress Automatic Updater, which updated wp 2.3.3 to 2.5 okay. The problem, as I found out was that the WP auto updater plugin has a new version to go with wp 2.5 and you need it to use the plugin updater with the other plugins.
Once I got the new version installed the rest went well.
SAY, hows does the update, change my day to day blogging?!
It revolutionizes it.
Update complete. Amazing!
Great to hear, nice WP updates
I updated my blog in 10 minutes and didn’t run into a single problem. Definitely worth it.
I can’t wait to try this out. There are so many updates.
I just updated to WP2.5, what a difference! The new interface is great, pretty speedy. Definitely worth doing if you haven’t already, it takes about 10 minutes or so depending on your internet connection to back stuff up.
Bugs – no.
Awesome – yes.
Just upgrade using wpau, smooth and support all installed plugin
It sound really great of this major upgrade version.
Did anyone had some on hand experience about the WP 2.5? Any bugs? Will old WP theme supported? Can old WP theme take full advantage of this new WP 2.5? Or we have to wait for new themes?
I updated my blogs today to 2.5 without any problems. Although the update was easy enough, it is not quite the automatic operation I’m used to with most of the software I use. Having to delete directories and copy a bunch of files via FTP is a bit 80s for me. I guess if you like mucking with command line operations and such this sort of update is delightful.
I also don’t see what the big deal is with the changes made to the interface. As far as writing pages and posts I personally find Windows Live Writer a much more user friendly tool.
Joe
The automatic plug-in update is pretty nice, I didn’t see that feature before
Joe,
Where are you getting the FTP stuff? I didn’t have to do any FTP, I used the Wordpress Automatic Updater Plugin which took all of 5 minutes. I then updated the updater plugin and was able to update all my plugins that had new versions. Total of 10 minutes, no FTP, no hassle.
Ray,
Thanks for pointing out the WP Automatic Updater Plugin! I’ve only been using WP for about a month now, so I missed that one. I basically just followed the 3 Step Upgrade instructions on the WP web site. That’s where it tells you to use FTP.
Thanks,
Joe
Same here.. im getting header already sent errors if I try to install it
Upgrading now, myself !:D
I have been beta testing wp2.5 … have to say it is pretty cool.
I waited for a few comments here before deciding, and since people seem to really like the upgrade I think I’ll be going for it too!
My blog is 2.5 now and it is operating well.
Need more time to experience it.
All I have is that 2.5 is the way to go. Much Kudos to Wordpress . We are pushing 2.5 and Im definatley gonna review on it soon enough @ our blog.
Already heard many positive reviews about it, and it looks to be better than the previous version.
Lets download and try it out.
I just saw this announcement over at Shoemoney. I guess I’m going to have to upgrade as well.
Same thing here, but im having problems installing it.
I just switched to WP and am still learning it…I don’t want to mess anything up trying to upgrade…will this throw off any of the widgets I already have?
Question: Is anyone still upgrading the manual way, using Wordpress.org’s instructions? If so, do you have a heavily customized template? I’m reluctant to use the automatic upgrade plugin because I’m afraid it might mess up my site.
I’m not aware that you can upgrade the main Wordpress install automatically. Only plugins can be automatically updated. I used this feature on my test server with 2.5 and it worked fine.
John, thanks for letting us know. Looks like I get to update AND load up a bunch of pics of my favorite person in the whole world.
Been running it for 2 days now. I updated all my blogs … it’s great!
And the media features are really worth it!
Kenneth
It is certainly different and is going to take some getting used to
I updated on my test server with Wordpress 2.5 and realized that the widgets layout is very clunky. Also I had to switch to a different plugin to run PHP in the widgets and posts. Other than that it ran o.k. I think I will update the live blog today. I hope the performance improves with this version because previously the posting process has been slow.
Hey John,
There is a plugin which automatically does the work for you. It’s a great time saver and it works great. Check out the shortcut for upgrading to WordPress 2.5
Use it and you are upgraded in no time.
It doesn’t sound as easy to upgrade to WP 2.5! I believe that I will wait and see for a while before I actually put in on life.