REMINDER: If you want to upgrade to 3.0, be sure to backup your database first.  Many of you might already have the WordPress Database Backup installed, so just go ahead and run it before clicking on the upgrade button.  You may want to wait until you hear back from me on my thoughts of the upgrade.

Well here are a couple ideas for you to chew on while you’re also munching on those Christmas cookies:

1. Pricing structure for custom blogs and blogsites will change in January, so from now until January 5th, they are on sale for $350 and $450 respectively. Save $50 off the old pricing!
2. Custom horizontal layouts are coming soon! The design is at the testing stage right now, but if you want to volunteer to be a guinea pig (your current layout would be intact), please contact me. Get a sneak peek of it here: http://blogsforphotogs.com/horizontal
3. Flash logos coming soon! I am currently in talks with a graphic designer who is interested in collaborating with me to provide this service. Prices for flash animated logos start at $300.
4. Lastly, but not least, WordPress has release version 2.9, with some outstanding new features. I will be test driving the new version this week hopefully, so if you’re in dire need of an upgrade, I would start thinking about this right away.

Hopefully that will get your creative juices flowing and get you thinking about changes you want to make for your business’ internet presence. Cheers and Happy Holidays to all!

Here is what WordPress.org says about 2.8.6:

“2.8.6 fixes two security problems that can be exploited by registered, logged in users who have posting privileges. If you have untrusted authors on your blog, upgrading to 2.8.6 is recommended.”

This may or may not apply to most of you, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially with all the hacking going on these days. I know some of you (yeah, you know who you are) are in dire need of an upgrade and probably don’t know it. The best way to find the version you have installed is to look at the footer section of your admin panel. If you have anything below 2.7, you really need to upgrade but may not have the built-in upgrade utility or plugin to do so. If that’s the case, you can request an upgrade from me.

You can read more about it here: http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/old-wordpress-versions-under-attack/

If you have version 2.8+, you may be able to upgrade easily through the built-in function. If you are pre 2.8+ or have trouble using the function, you can contact me to do it for you. Upgrades are $35.

If you want to try and install the upgrade yourself manually, instructions to do so are here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress
Just follow the “Three Step Manual Upgrade ” instructions.

If your blog has already been attacked and need help with fixing it, contact me also and I can see how to go about fixing it. According to that link, there may be a way to recover a clean database.

Along with the new version comes updated services.  If you turn to the Pricing and Sign-Up page, you’ll notice a few changes.  I’ve added the “Ground-Up” custom blog package to the list, which includes 3 months free support and customizations, as well as having added the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin and a Statistics plugin to the basic installation package.  All packages will have these plugins included with your new blog now!  If you have a current blog and would like these plugins installed, they will be charged at the basic customizations price.

As the list of completed blogs grows (100+!!), I’ve needed to find help from an assistant, which I have in the way of Pam Biasotti.  Not only is she a very good friend, she’s got mad skills in the customer service department from her networking days.  If/when you sign up for one of the installed packages, she will be the first person to respond to your request.  Because of this additional help, I have changed my payment policy to include a $45 up front payment for her technical services in installing your blog.  The remainder will still be charged to you after customizations are complete.

All in all, I’m really excited about the changes and have really come to enjoy my “second” job since its fruition in the beginning of this year.  Stay tuned for some awesome featured custom blogs that I’ve been working on!

Secondly, if any of you are having trouble inserting images into your post using Firefox, make sure to have your admin panel open in its own separate window, rather than a tab with other tabs open. So far I haven’t found a fix for this bug, but this work-around is nearly painless. I’ve only had one client complain of this issue happening in IE, and unfortunately I’ve had to recommend using the separate-window-in-Firefox method to her. I’ll keep you posted if I found out anything new.

Thirdly, someone has informed me of a plugin to automatically upgrade WordPress (thanks Mohammad!) and if you’re interested in doing it yourself, just go here to download the plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-automatic-upgrade/
I have not tested this plugin yet, so do so at your own risk and please contact the developer if you have any problems. One issue that you may need me to resolve once you upgrade it yourself is the maximum image size issue. You can go ahead and fix it yourself as well by reading the documentation I mentioned in that post, but it would be a pretty quick fix for me to do it if you contact me.

LOL…I know…I just realized I title this “couple updates” but it’s actually 3.

Ok, so you’re probably wondering, is it worth it? Well…yes and no. If you have 2.5 and have had no problems with the uploading media and posting them on your blog at the size you want them to be, you’re probably ok. 2.5.1 has fixed some bugs in the media script (although I still had to edit some stuff out for the size thing to work) and supposedly there are some security issues that are fixed too. From what I’ve read, the security fixes are for those people with registered users, and I’m pretty sure 99% of my clients either don’t have registered users or only have admin users.

With the upgrade though, you get a pretty slick media upload tool that pretty much does away with the Flexible Upload plugin that I normally install for the same purpose. Now, with just one upload, you have the choice of inserting a thumbnail, medium size, or original full size version of the same file into your posts. You do have to specify under Settings–>Miscellaneous what sizes you want for your thumbnails and medium size photos first though. After that, it’s pretty easy and pretty slick. You’ll have to be sure to edit the maximum size allowed setting also though, whether it’s something you did yourself or if I did it for you, it’s important to make the changes to the media.php if you’re going to be posting large image sizes in your blog.

If you are one of my clients and currently have 2.5 installed but are having trouble with uploading image files and getting them to post at the correct size, contact me and I’ll upgrade you for free.

I found out where to override the default, so the newest installs I’ve been doing won’t have to deal with that setting. I’ve set it to 900 pixels to allow for posting on the wider format themes.

If I’ve installed 2.5 for you and you’ve been having trouble with the maximum image size, please contact me to get that fixed for free. It’s a simple 1 minute fix, so it’s no trouble for me (I just need to find that one minute to do it LOL).

If you’d like to attempt to fix it yourself, here’s the documentation: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/164667#post-721341

For those first-time WordPress users, you won’t see the differences, but old bloggers will notice right away a big change. The interface is much cleaner and more organized. Some buttons and and features are in different locations on the page though, so it’s confusing at first. Heck, I have yet to upgrade my Design Focus Studio Blog because this dog just isn’t quite ready to learn the new tricks 100%, although this new brand-spanking new blog is 2.5 compliant.

I’ll be posting about the bugs and fixes as I find them, so stay tuned!