WordPress 2.5.1 released

I know a lot of you just got through upgrading to 2.5, but 2.5.1 is out already, and I definitely recommend the upgrade.

2.5.1 has over 70 bug fixes, as well as includes an important security fix and other performance enhancements. One of the things I was very pleased to see was addressing of the media upload bugs. Recently a large number of blogs (my own included) experienced a series of issues with the new media uploading that 2.5 implemented. Despite a number of adjustments, I never was able to workaround the HTTP upload errors that 2.5 seemed so fond of. In the end I elected to install a plugin that basically replaced the standard uploader and that has worked well so far.

The good news is, according to WordPress.org, these issues have been addressed. The bad news is, on at least 1 of my blogs I have whole new upload errors. So in the meantime I am continuing to use the Flexible Upload plugin. So far I have been able to upload and insert media with no issues using the plugin and highly recommend it as at least a temporary fix for any of you still experiencing issues.

The Flexible Upload Plugin can be found here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/flexible-upload/

Also included in the 2.5.1 update according to WordPress.org are:

Performance improvements for the Dashboard, Write Post, and Edit Comments pages.

Better performance for those who have many categories

Media Uploader fixes

An upgrade to TinyMCE 3.0.7

Widget Administration fixes

Various usability improvements

Layout fixes for IE

Another interesting thing to note on the upgrade is the implementation of SECRET_KEY in the wp-config file. Since 2.5 your wp-config.php file allows a new constant called SECRET_KEY which basically is meant to introduce a little permanent randomness into the cryptographic functions used for cookies in WordPress. You can visit this link we set up to get a unique secret key for your config file. (It’s unique and random on every page load.) Having this line in your config file helps secure your blog.

I haven’t had a chance to research that yet and what all it could mean for your blog, but it’s on my list of many many things to do lol.

So when you get a chance, you can download the most recent WP update at: http://wordpress.org/download/ or read more about the changes here: http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/wordpress-251/

If you’re not comfortable updating your WordPress yourself, I do offer services for that. Just hit me up through the Contact Me page and I will work you in.

Happy upgrading!