So, here is another of those WordPress 2.5 Review/Impression posts that you have already found lingering around the whole web 
Yes, it is big, at least on the Administration side of it.
If you are just a reader, you’ll probably won’t notice the change at all at your end.
If you are a WordPress blogger who asks “Should I upgrade to WordPress 2.5?”, then read on!
The Update Process
I was using the Automatic Upgrade WordPress plug-in to update my WordPress version, so it was a very minimal effort 
I was a bit scared at first as usually leaving things to go automated would turn to a disaster. However, since I’ve made a post about this plug-in before, it feels wrong not to trust it as it will make me a hypocrite!
The plug-in didn’t disappoint me *phew*. After a minute of clicking next, next, and next, my WordPress version was updated to 2.5!
First Impression
My first impression of version 2.5 was: “Wow”. It’s good. It’s sleek. It looks as nice as the screenshots that have been lying around over the other blogs. Some bloggers hate the new look and the colors, but I like it so much. People are complaining that it takes time to get used to. Of course! Anything that changes will require you a bit of re-learn. It’s not much. It’s just that A is not under B anymore, but you’ll still find the same feature there, if not more.
The Goods
- It looks so good that I feel like writing more posts (P.S: You can change your color themes if you don’t like the default one, which is called “Fresh”.
- Everything is laid out better than 2.3. It will take some time to get used to, but assuming you’ve never used WordPress before, 2.5 is more organized.
- I like the new “Manage Post” screen. It gives you a nice overview of your whole posts and their statistics. With a glimpse look, you’ll be able to find how many comments do posts have and also posts where you haven’t put tags on (very handy!)
The new “Manage Post” Screen - The new “Gallery” feature rocks! I also love how the new uploading works. Previously, you have to browse through a whole mess of images to grab one to your posts. This time, it’s all more organized and you can even filter to certain month and year to find your images.
I also like it how every post has its own Gallery of media (images, etc). - Built-in Gravatar! I can throw away my Gravatar plug-in after upgrading. However, enabling the Gravatar requires a bit of code snippet on your theme file (the comment.php). I’ll put up a post on how to enable Gravatar on WordPress 2.5 soon.
- It’s supposed to be more secure. Of course, I don’t usually really care about security updates, until it’s too late.
- Upgrading a plug-in is too easy now. On the plug-in screen, you can simply click on “upgrade automatically” and you’ll skip the whole pain process of downloading, unzipping, and uploading the files to your server through an FTP client.
- A bigger space to write posts. You can even go Full Screen! Nice.
The Bad
- I always get an error of: “Specified file failed upload test” every time I’ve uploaded an image. Haven’t tried to find out what this error means. Images were actually uploaded though and I could use it on the posts, so I’ll just close my eyes on the error message.
- Some plug-ins incompatibility. The important ones (to me) are compatible with 2.5. When I looked at the plug-ins screen, the plug-ins was all screaming for updates as soon as 2.5 were out. So make sure you update them first before upgrading.
- I’m still not sure why changing the theme screen is still set as the default when you go to the Themes (or Design) menu. You’ll probably edit your theme files more often than changing your theme. However, this is just a minor “wish list” to me.
That’s it really. The updates are nothing serious toward the users end, but definitely are great for the post writers. A sleek interface and smoother experience of writing posts and managing libraries making an upgrade to this WordPress version a must!
Before you upgrade yours though, please be sure that you have checked all of your plug-ins compatibility with WordPress 2.5 here. One of my plug-in failed to work properly, but I can’t afford to wait anymore to upgrade to 2.5
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
So did you have to update your template or did it remain the same! This is always my biggest fear when considering any upgrading of software!
Looking at the screenshots your provided I must agree with you I like the new look a lot! Also as you already mentioned with any change there will be a new learning curve!
I’m excited to see the final release
Thanks for sharing, also would you ever consider guest blogging over at blogengage? Let me know!
Cheers,
blogengage
blogengage’s last blog post..Give Men a Break
Well I don’t need to update my template at all! (besides updating it to enable the built-in Gravatar feature).
I heard that theme files won’t need any updates at all when you upgrade to version 2.5, so it should be pretty safe. However, always do backups on every upgrade, just in case
Guest blogging at blogengage? Sure, I’ll be honored! We can talk over the email if you like
Yeah it’s pretty simple you pick the topic and subject, create the article and I post it at the blogengage blog!
Umm if you want to discuss it more just s end me an e-mail @ *REMOVED BY ADMIN* and I’ll send you the information!
Can’t wait for 2.5 it’s been a while since I was excited about a software upgrade! Also great advice on the backing up your database and ftp files… this is always a great idea!
blogengage’s last blog post..Give Men a Break
Hi Michael
I am glad to find out that there are more good points than bad points in your experience of upgrading to WP 2.5. That gives me some confidence to go ahead and upgrade my WP blog and I like the idea of using the Automatic Upgrade WordPress plug-in. Saves a lot of time.
Ash
Ash’s last blog post..Four corners of a frame
Plug-ins compatibility is always a problem. Its not a wordpress issue but more of the developers.
Upload problem is a well known problem.. check Wordpress.org’s forum..
vance’s last blog post..Wordpress 2.5 is finally out!
I will wait for the next update to install any new wordpress update. This version look nice but I don’t like how everything are put together. For example I dont like the view to organize thing on my sidebar. Its look messy and I get some few error. I did good to have a back up before installing it!
KiwiPulse’s last blog post..iPod: Bring The Whole Rock Band With You
@blogengage: Email sent. I removed your email address from the comment, just in case a bot gets your email and start spamming it
Well my dashboard is full with “Loading…” texts at the moment, but they are not critical bug anyway. I’m sure another minor WordPress release is on the way after the developers get some good rests with the 2.5 release
So if you are the type that always get excited to see an updated version of WordPress, go for it.
If not, maybe you want to wait for the next minor release
Ah, this explains why I do not see any avatar after disabling my Gravatar plugin and enabling the Wordpress 2.5 built in avatar thingie.
Thanks for letting me know!
Deimos Tel`Arin’s last blog post..Wordpress 2.5 – Have you updated your Wordpress powered blog? How to update to Wordpress 2.5?
I upgraded yesterday also using the WP Auto Upgrade plugin. Everything went great, all my plugins worked, even before I updated them. I’m already used to the new admin interface. It takes less clicks to get to certain places now. I liked the update.
wPlop’s last blog post..How to speed up your computer
yes i convert to it at once also make a review about it
small business idea’s last blog post..The new word press2.5 official release
Same did I, I have updated my blog 10 mins ago, get rid of alinks plugins and others work fine.
Franca Richard’s last blog post..The World’s Funniest Joke, Official!
I don’t like the inability to re-arrange the options on the write page, among others.
Man I tried to upgrade last night and had some major issues! I think it’s because of this new custom template I’m using…
blogengage’s last blog post..Getting Noticed with Twitter (and Get Some Good Traffic!)
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