WordPress 3.0 “Thelonious” is Here!

The moment we WordPress users have been waiting for has finally come — the release of WordPress 3.0 codenamed Thelonious. Deuts.NET is of course already upgraded to the latest version.

Watch this video to know more about the new features of WordPress 3.0.

[wpvideo BQtfIEY1 w=400 h=224]

So far, the list of new great features we’re most excited about and would love to employ in this blog (and other blog projects as well) are:

  • A new default theme, called Twenty-Ten, paves the way to be an example on how to take advantage of the new features;
  • Custom background support lets you easily enable your heavily customized theme to support custom backgrounds and custom headers. Moreover, you can assign further custom headers for each post;
  • Multi-site Capabilities and WPMU Codebase Merge is probably is the main feature of this new release. I hope to turn this blog into a multi-site one and utilizing the domain mapping plugin would probably consolidate my other projects into one big Deuts Network site;
  • Custom Post Types reduces the need to fiddle around with custom fields. This brings WordPress to be much more of a CMS.

Some other features are, well, add to the bloat. We’ll just continue to wish for the development team to develop a WordPress Core only and that other features can be easily turned on or off.

Expanding WordPress Mu Functionality with Premium Plugins

For the longest time, I have been planning to build not just a website for my college organization but also a community where our fellow members can hangout and meet and greet each other while in the world wide web. I find WordPress Mu could most probably deliver at what our requirements for a functional social networking site, especially when coupled with cross login details functionality offered by BbPress and BuddyPress.

With WPMU Dev Premium account, I could possibly enhance further the functionality of the site. With 100 more plugins, themes, videos, etc. at my disposal, the possibilities are limitless. And they are constantly maintained, so you’ll be assured that they work with the latest versions of WordPress Mu, BbPress, and BuddyPress. Continue reading Expanding WordPress Mu Functionality with Premium Plugins

Appearance Reboot: Back to ‘Simple but Elegant’

After almost one year with my previous theme (whose last screenshot shown below), I get bored with the same theme, so I decided to try a new one that’s back to the basic and what a real “theme” should be: simple but elegant.

The Last Screenshot of Deuts.NET
The Last Screenshot of Deuts.NET

By the way, so far in this theme did I ever stick the longest in my whole WordPress life.

IntenseDebate Commenting System

The slow speed, especially at the backend, of my site could be partly attributable to a variety of plugins installed in the background that are directly or indirectly pertaining to and enhancing the commenting system. Now, there’s only one WordPress plugin to rule them all–IntenseDebate. Continue reading Appearance Reboot: Back to ‘Simple but Elegant’

WordPress 2.8 is Here and Upgraded

Here I am at it again. Hopping directly into the new WordPress release as soon it hit the mainstream. Unmindful of things that could happen to my blog if something’s not right, or bugs that’ll definitely appear, or any of my plugins could break. I even forgot to deactivate the plugins first before proceeding with the upgrade.

The fact remains, I am a loyal WordPress user. And I loved the innovations introduced throughout the years in this favorite web platform of mine. Nevermind the bloated issue, as long as it’s working. (Just like my attitude towards Ubuntu. Yes, it’s bloated. But it works out of the box.)

Anyway, the new release offers some more enhancements. And I can’t wait to be the first to try those out. Check out the release announcement here, or watch this video: Continue reading WordPress 2.8 is Here and Upgraded

Dreamhost Shared Hosting Servers: No WordPress Mu

Dreamhost could probably be the most popular web hosting company out there right now, with their aggressive marketing campaigns via coupon codes, their unlimited webspace and bandwidth, up-to-date server and program software and hardware, and a whole lot more features they have in the table. Add to that their cheap price.

I availed of their geocities promo lately, and got two years free domain and hosting for free.

But here’s the big turn-off. Just lately a notice was posted here saying:

NOTICE
WordPress MU is not allowed to be run on our shared hosting servers. If you intend on running this under your account, you are required to be on a Private Server.

Continue reading Dreamhost Shared Hosting Servers: No WordPress Mu

When WordPress is Getting Bloated

It has been discussed in some forums, blogs and in the comments:

There are certainly features in WordPress that I don’t particularly use. And I believe a lot of users are not using them as well. Yet, these features are in the core, and we can’t even avoid them.

Continue reading When WordPress is Getting Bloated

Deuts.NET Upgraded to WordPress 2.7

Upgraded, and am loving the backend. It’s just so awesome and sleek, the fresh look and everything.

I have always been excited with this release.

I did the upgrade from WordPress 2.6.5 to WordPress 2.7 using the WordPress Autumatic Upgrade plugin. For those who are worried to do the same, so far it worked for me. Just make sure to backup everything first before doing anything.

Theme and Plugin Compatibility

So far, I don’t see any compatibility issues with my current set of plugins. The pages are working fine, including the backend (admin area). That’s so far as I try visiting each of them. If anyone notice any error or bug in any pages after this upgrade, please do let me know.

WordPress 2.7 Full Features

WordPress 2.7 is reach in new exciting features. One of my favorites was paged comments and comment threads. I still have to tweak the theme in order to fully exploit these features.

Check out the full feature list of the release over at the codex.

Creating and Maintaining a Personal Website

As a response to Suon Dondi‘s query here:

Personal Websites and Blogs

Most people maintain personal websites through blogs. A blog is what makes a personal website pertinent by posting updates every now and then.

When it comes to blogs, the first thing that should come to mind is WordPress. This is so far, in my opinion (and I’m sure a lot of bloggers will share my opinion), the best blogging platform.

A .com, .net, or .org domain name usually costs around $10 per year. That’s around P470 a year — cheap!:D

Blogger/blogspot actually permits mapping of domain names into your blogger blog. Say, you have a domain name at example.com, you can make it map to your existing blog at blogger.com so all your posts will appear within your domain name (example.com) and all your former permalinks (e.g., example.blogspot.com) will automatically redirect to your new domain name. This service is called Custom Domains. Refer to this documentation to set-up a custom domain at blogger.com.

But blogger.com alone does not offer that much flexibility as compared to when you host your own website. Hosting puts you in total control of your website. But hosting entails additional cost on top of what you paid for the domain name.
Continue reading Creating and Maintaining a Personal Website

Celebrating the Unique Day 8.8.8

Lucky number, indeed. Once in our lifetime will this day ever happen. As such, Deuts.NET welcomes the day and the favorite number with a (what? again?) new design–a new look.

Unique designs by Deuts.NET
Unique designs by Deuts.NET

I know, the change of costume may have happened too soon from the last time. But what can I do, I was just longing for this time to come. And hopefully, we’ll stick to this for much longer period (I know I will).

To the old codelog theme, you have been part of Deuts.NET history. It was great while it lasted.

Bullet Points: WordPress 2.6, Dark Knight, Investments, iPhone 3G

Deuts.NET Related News

Deuts.NET is breaking records after records as regards pageviews and visits after I posted about RA 9504. But unfortunately, only a few bothered to leave a comment.

Windows and Linux

Windows is great…
I used it to download Linux!

Indeed, very true in my case. Without Windows, I could not have been running Ubuntu in my PC right now!

One thing is for sure, it could not be the other way around.

WordPress 2.6

WordPress 2.6 is out and I just upgraded Deuts.NET to the latest version. Every blogger recommends that you should wait a bit longer before upgrading your WordPress intall so that bugs can be fixed first before you actually deploy it in your blog. I say, who would find those bugs in the first place if everybody doesn’t want to try those out. Every version has beta and RC’s before the final release, for users to test and report bugs. Final releases should have been proven and tested. If you are worried about bugs and glitches, even though you actually have the time to do the dirty work of upgrading, then don’t upgrade at all.

Quick Online Tips enumerates the 10 best new features of WordPress 2.6.

Dark Knight’s Record Midnight Madness

The latest Batman movie, inspiring thousands of sold-out screenings and countless desperate hunts for seats, grossed a record $18.5 million at midnight screenings.

Gotta catch this one in theater.

What is a Good Investment During Recession?

Take it from the financial expert, Wilson suggests 4 investment options during an economic recession. As for me, I have no money to invest, so that leaves me no option at all during a recession.

If you are into “Finance”, 21 Wilson Street surely should be a regular read.

Top 5 Reasons to Hate the iPhone 3G

CNET counts down the top 5 reasons to hate the new iPhone 3G.

Continue reading Bullet Points: WordPress 2.6, Dark Knight, Investments, iPhone 3G