Despite a lot of negative publicity surrounding the release of WordPress 2.5, it is still the number one blog software package in use at present. Like all things new, WordPress took a lot of flak for the massive changes it made to the popular blogging product.
Now that the dust has settled, a lot of users are coming to terms with the changes and even admitting, somewhat grudgingly, that most of the changes have been useful. There are still some areas that concern users, particularly the widget interface that has lost its drag and drop function between sidebars. Only one sidebar can modified at a time in the new version of the blog software package.
Positives that are being talked about are the built in plugin update function that enable quick and easy plugin updates. The inclusion of video and picture uploads are also a welcome addition. Overall, the initial poor response has been replaced with an acceptance of the new look. WordPress has little in the way of strong competition when it comes to blog software packages. Whilst the new version has done little to enhance its position, it has not hurt its overall position either.
With version 2.6 expected in the coming months, developers have assured users that some of their concerns will be addressed with improvements to the widget interface and the dashboard likely. The real downside to using WordPress as a blog software package is the constant need for updates. Having included internal plugin upgrades with version 2.5, perhaps version 2.6 could include auto updates for the blog software package itself. That would certainly help.
I absolutely agree. I use WordPress for all my blogs. Normally though I do not jump on the new updates until they are worked out. I have over 23 WordPress blogs, so updating is not a major priority of mines.
I am looking forward to WP2.6. Thanks for the post.
Greg