Performancing slams WordPress over v2.5
April 14, 2008 by Nicki
Via BloggingPro, I was reading Raj Dash’s recent post explaining why he hates WordPress 2.5 with a pretty in-depth list of reasons. I have to admit, many of those he listed I can identify with and offer some sympathy … to a point. While there are still a handful of things that I’d change if I had my way, I feel Automattic worked in their users’ best interests, taking in many requests, most of which I’ve seen with my very own eyes on the forums, and now see reflected in these recent — however dramatic — changes!
Raj began to close his post with the following:
Automattic, you seriously dropped the ball on this. WordPress 2.5 is an enormous disappointment in the simplest of features. As an experienced (but retired) programmer, I can say with confidence that you don’t release significant interface changes in mid-version software. People that are expecting minor fixes might be shocked. V2.5 should have been renumbered to V3.0. If it had, more people might think twice before making a “big jump” from 2.x to 3.0. I’m so glad that I didn’t install WP 2.5 on a production site, but I do have to use it on several client sites - something I don’t relish.
You’ve now lost one of your most active WordPress evangelists…
He’s certainly entitled to his opinion. In the comments, he notes that power users ‘like him’ will hate the new WordPress. What’s more, new users seem to like WP 2.5 — wait, isn’t that a good thing? 
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My two pennies on the matter
I certainly can’t speak for anyone else, but I like to consider myself a WordPress “power user” and while it took me a day or so to learn my way around and where everything is in the new layout, I’m finding that I rather like it and now prefer it! On top of that, the dashboard is everything I have wanted for SO LONG! Almost every single one of my most frequently visited options/configurations/things-needing-changing are right there and I don’t have to click 2 or 3 links deep to find what I want. (something that used to piss me off to NO end!)
Isn’t this what progress is supposed to be like?
So what I want to know now is…
What do you think? Is Raj right? Has WordPress screwed the pooch on this one? Or is he over-reacting?
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I consider myself a power user of WordPress (personal site under reconstruction as we “speak”) and WordPress MU (The Terminal) and I’m enjoying the changes that have been made to the interface. I think it’s actually easier to use than the previous version and provides all of the information that I need in one simple resource. If WordPress.com is any indicator of the changes in store for it, I’m looking forward to that as well, as the ability to use tags to move from blog to blog alone is a marked improvement for admins.
He’s definitely overreacting on this one…
Andre’s last blog post: Is Birmingham ready to host a WordCamp?
The one thing I found today I couldn’t do was edit a comment from the manage screen. I dont like where the stuff on the right side of the Write screen went, but for the most part I like it!
Jo’s last blog post: H.U.R.L.
Hiya Jo!
Another thing I like, the built-in Gravatar support. Look at you and your pretty mug.
re: edit comments - I rarely used that function, but from what I can tell, it’s still the same … just click over the little conversation bubble next to Status.
I like it. I was a little surprised, and offput at first, but quickly got used to it.
I just go wit da flow.
-Deb
Nice Deb’s last blog post: Pope Benedict XVI: Just A-Clingin?
I like it! The admin interface alone is an improvement.
Although this plugin makes the admin interface even better. http://deanjrobinson.com/projects/fluency-admin/
I found out how to edit the comment: clicking on the author. I sometimes edit my own comments to something to correct spelling, or put a note on someone else’s comment that I edited because it violated my comment policy in part.
Jo’s last blog post: H.U.R.L.
Yeah, I think this is being nit-picky. There’s always something we might not like about a major software improvement, but for the most part I think WordPress got 2.5 right. It certainly seems that they were listening to the people who are actually using it. The quibbling over the 2.5 version designation is a little overboard, also. We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that WordPress, as an open-source software, is vastly superior to anything else out there.
Rick’s last blog post: links for 2008-04-15
I still haven’t upgraded, but that’s just me being stubborn. I may even wait for 2.5.1, which I know will happen sooner than I’d like otherwise if for no other reason than to REALLY fix the image uploader problem (which I still don’t completely understand, but I don’t want to).
I’m mostly waiting for ALL my plugins to be upgraded, because I know some of them won’t work with 2.5. Bad Behavior was what kept me from upgrading until last week, but now I’m sorta like…eh, no big rush. Not yet, anyway. I’m not anti-change, but I really don’t like the new dashboard, from what I’ve played with on my testing d/b. I know I’ll get used to it, but I still don’t see how it’s a big improvement. Drop-down tabs would make all the difference to me, and the plugin that exists for that purpose is just full of fail.
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Beth’s last blog post: Tax Day? No! It’s Buy a Gun Day!
Okay, Ben’s link to the Fluency admin theme just might make the difference for me. I really like that!
Thanks, Ben!
Beth’s last blog post: Tax Day? No! It’s Buy a Gun Day!
Now you see why I keep Ben around, he’s handy! (and he’s cute and has a kick ass British accent that’s sexy as hell)
re: Bad Behavior - you know, I turned it off and haven’t noticed a bit of difference in the spam. Akismet is catching everything, so I’m content to leave it off.
Heh! And thats why i stick around, always about the compliments from the laydee’s.
I’ve been using WP for years, and I hate the new admin interface. See my posting rant here. Add to this the fact that so many features and plugins broke - no scriptlet, no iPhone admin, widgets completely horked - and I’m a very unhappy camper.
Geoff Arnold’s last blog post: Blaming one’s tools