My Pros and Cons of WordPress 2.1

After installing WordPress 2.1 my experiences have been both good and bad. There are a few things I LOVE about the updated blogging software, but there are also a few things that bug me.

Stuff That Bugs Me

1. No ‘Previwe Post’ link when writing a post. This really gets me as I preview my post quite often. Granted the functionality is still there, you just have to scroll down to see it.
2. No Firefox spell check. Seeing as my spelling isn’t the best, I rely on Firefox’s spell check quite often. However, the new WYSIWYG editor doesn’t work with Firefox’s spell check and no red-underlined words makes me think I spelt everything correctly. Now I have to make a point to hitting the spell check button.
3. Oddly enough, the new built in spell check doesn’t know the word WordPress.
4. No defeat categories are selected, yet they are. When you first load the post screen, no categories are selected. This made me think that the idea of a default category was gone. However, it still posted in the default category. Since updating to WordPress 2.1.1 moments ago, it seems that this issue may be fixed.
5. Still can’t minimize the ‘Upload Image’ area. This is really something that’s bugged me for a while. I hate the fact that you can’t minimize the upload area. Come on, you can minimize every other area!

The Good Stuff

1. Auto save! All posts automatically save themselves. This is HUGE and very much appreciated.
2. New post editor. Now switching between code and WYSIWYG editor is simple. Very very handy.
3. Categories are now at the top of the left hand column on the post screen. Minor details, but they should be at the top as they are most important.
4. Better image management. I kind of liked the pre WP 2.1 way of managing and adding images but they’ve updated it to make it a bit easier to understand.
5. Much nicer URL and Image properties window. When adding a link or an image to a post, now you get a nice little Ajax window instead of a pop-up. You also get more image properties including things like h & v space.
6. No Firefox spell check. I know, I complained about this one above, but it’s nice to have distraction free typing. If I stop every few seconds to fix a mis-spelling, it’ll take me longer to finish my post. Plus WordPress 2.1 has a built in spell checker which is pretty handy too.
7. Fancy admin login screen. A minor thing but it’s pretty.

Those are the things that bug me and the things I love about WordPress 2.1. None of them are show stoppers, but some new features may be big enough to cause you to want to update right away. It’s well worth it and WordPress continues it’s reign as the best blogging software. Or so I think.

. 🙂