I am currently testing the new Version of WordPress, version 2.7  Beta and so far I am very impressed with it.

The new look and feel of the dashboard gives you navigation buttons down the left hand side. The most important navigation button of them all to me and many other WordPress platform users is the Media button. The dashboard also has a cool drag and drop configuration for all your most used window screens.

My good friend Peggy Duncan and I were in agreed annoyance over why WordPress made you create a new blog post or blog page in order to add new images to your media library. Well Peggy, the new media button takes care of that problem. Now you can add images to your media library in two button clicks. So you can now add and edit your images before posting anything.

The other major change is the ability to update your WordPress to the newest version without the use of an FTP client like FileZilla or CuteFTP. All you have to do now is click on the Tools button (see screen shots below) which will then give you a drop down of choices. One of the choices is Update as in upgrade your WordPress to the latest version. This feature works similar to the plugins automatic update. Even a novice WordPress user can now keep up to date with all new version updates.

Speaking of plugins, Wordpress 2.7 Beta has made installing plugins just as simple as upgrading them. You can find additional plugins for your site by using the new Plugin Browser/Installer. This new feature will help you automatically search for and then install a plugin using the zip file format.

What has not changed so far is the uploading of new WordPress Themes. This still has to be done the old fashioned way by uploading your theme folder into your wp-content/themes directory. I am sure uploading Themes is not that far behind.

If you have not seen the new dashboard yet here are a few screen shots.

If you would like to test the new version out for yourself you can download WordPress version 2.7 beta here.

I am sure WordPress has even more great changes to come. I will post a follow up article when they release version 2.7 officially.

All the best

JB

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If you have a linkedin.com account you may want to try their new Linkedin Applications section.  Linkedin.com is a Web 2.0 social media website designed to help you with online networking for you or your business business.

The Linkedin Application suite is currently limited to 9 different applications right now. Company Buzz, Box.net Files, Blog Link, Reading List by Amazon, My Travel, SlideShare Presentations, Google Presentation, Huddle Workspaces, and WordPress.

I have tried all the applications but the ones that seem to work the best without any trouble in loading is Reading List by Amazon and SlideShare Presentations. These application are supposed to be similar to the many Facebook application that help you enhance your experience with the website. Unfortunately Linkedin may need a bit more time to get all these applications up to speed.

What’s great about having these applications on is they allow you to optimize your Lnkedin profile page. Given time these application will allow your Linkedin network to follow your blog posts using the Blog Link or WordPress app. Follow your Tweets with the Company Buzz app and follow your uploaded presentations with SlideShare and Google Presentations.

What’s not so great is the lack of support of these applications if they are not working on your profile page. I have been trying to get answers to why I can’t change the URL to the Blog Link app and why the Company Buzz app won’t show up on my profile page at all. All they give you is a feedback form that says your feedback is helpful but will not get a response.

As impressed as I am with Linkedin as a whole I am less than impressed with the roll out of these new applications. I would have thought that the 9 applications currently available would have been tested on multiple profile pages using multiple browsers. I have tried the applications on Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Crome all with the same results.

Even though I can only get 2 of the 9 to work consistently on my profile page, I still have hope that all of the applications will eventually perform to their fullest.  If you would like to see some of the Linkedin Applications in action please take a look at my profile page below and click on the View full Profile button on the bottom of the page. Oh and please leave me comments on your experience with loading and viewing these applications on your Linkedin Profile page

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyalexanderbrathwaite

All the best

JB

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