Many WordPress bloggers have been anticipating the next major release of the blogging software. There are significant improvements that the WordPress development team skipped the version 2.4 release, and headed straight for version 2.5. WordPress 2.5 RC1 has been released. Is it ready for a spin?
Well, I decided to take the plunge. Backed up the blog files and database, and upgraded to 2.5 RC1. There are no visible differences to the blog front itself. The administration interface, however, has gotten face lift. Although the interface is not fundamentally earth-shattering (maybe my expectations are too high), it is no doubt the most talked-about improvement. (See review on geek ramblings.) In terms of functionality, I think the online plugin upgrade is a much needed feature.
There are problems for me. For some strange reason, the TinyMCE editor bunches up all my paragraphs. I get to see the paragraphing as I type, but after saving, everything is bunched up in a big paragraph. I first noticed this problem on WordPress 2.3.3 too, but that was only when I browsed using Apple’s Safari 3.1 browser. There was a tweak to the JavaScript to fix it. But this paragraph bunching problem on 2.5 RC1 is now happening to Firefox, Safari, regardless of Mac OS X or Windows XP platforms. I didn’t have any problem with a fresh installation of WordPress 2.5 RC1. So, some cruft left behind from 2.3.3 is mucking things up. (WordPress 2.5 comes with TinyMCE 3, which has fixed compatibility problems with Safari 3.1.)
The next thing that didn’t go well for me is WPG2, the WordPress Gallery 2 plugin. It is a known problem, and the WPG2 developers are making this a priority item.
In the end, I decided to rollback to 2.3.3 and wait. Hopefully these issues get fixed. The new administration interface is nice, and the couple of feature improvements here and there are neat. But they are outweighed by the hiccups I encountered. For the blog readers, there are also no significant improvements (unless your readers care significantly about Gravatars).
Just a friendly reminder if you want to take 2.5 RC1 out for a spin: Backup your files (the directory tree containing your WordPress installation), and your database. Upgrading to 2.5 RC1 will cause schema changes to your database.