First look: Wordpress for iPhone

July 22nd, 2008

This is my first post using the new Wordpress application for iPhone.

Overall I must admit I’m quite impressed! The app downloaded all of my existing posts easily and whilst there aren’t any comment, design or page management features, it’s ideal for posting a quick update whilst on the go.

You can easily add images from your photo roll or new pics taken with the
iPhone’s camera to new or existing posts - something which I imagine will appeal to a lot of bloggers. Minor gripe: there doesn’t seem to be a way to specify where the images should appear in the text.

There are also no formatting controls, something obviously made difficult by the lack of drag selection on the iPhone. I could imagine that could overcome by support for markdown-style formatting.

But for a 1.0 product I think Wordpress have done a stellar job.

Posted in Wordpress, iPhone | Comments »

OpenID is a mess

July 22nd, 2008

OpenID seems like a nice idea to simplify logins and profiles on the web. The promise: Create an account with one OpenID-enabled service such as Yahoo, Wordpress or others and then you’ll be able to sign in to other OpenID-enabled services.

The reality? OpenID still has some way to go before really becoming seamless enough for the average user to use it. Most of the issues lie with the sites implementing OpenID, but from what I can see they’re pretty systemic Here’s my OpenID experience:

1st attempt: Using my wordpress account to sign up for Skribit

So I decided to sign up to Skribit. They offer OpenID support, so I decided to try that, rather than create a traditional account. First of all you’re asked for your OpenID url. If you don’t know what that is, tough luck. There’s no link with more information on what your url could look like or how you can get one. 

Frustrated, I figure I’ll go to OpenID.org to find out more. OpenID.org looks like a cross between a phishing site and 1996:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Opinions, The web, UI Design | 2 Comments »

Wordpress 2.5 is out! Figures…

March 30th, 2008

Right after I finished configuring and polishing my Wordpress installation, Wordpress go ahead and release Wordpress 2.5:

WordPress 2.5, the culmination of six months of work by the WordPress community, people just like you. The improvements in 2.5 are numerous, and almost entirely a result of your feedback: multi-file uploading, one-click plugin upgrades, built-in galleries, customizable dashboard, salted passwords and cookie encryption, media library, a WYSIWYG that doesn’t mess with your code, concurrent post editing protection, full-screen writing, and search that covers posts and pages.

“The improvements in 2.5 are numerous” - Of course they are… I just spent all day yesterday setting up and configuring the old version. (Leo Laporte effect anyone?)

Anyway, the new interface looks great and upgrading was simple, so I’m not really complaining. Nice job Wordpress!

Posted in Wordpress | Comments »