On the Envato blog there's a recent post that covers some of the future of WordPress resulting from some discussions at a recent Future of WordPress panel from the WP Think Tank.

There’s one thing that we can all agree on: the future of WordPress is bright. Outside of this, the ever-passionate WordPress community is a hotbed for debates on where WordPress should go from here. With 22% of websites running on WordPress, a vibrant open-source community, amazing themes and plugins and a developer-friendly mindset, WordPress is stronger today than it has ever been. So what's next?

Their list includes changes touching just about all parts of the application including plenty of UI updates, a continued focus on backwards compatibility a shift towards plugin-driven development. This would allow new features to be installed as plugins when they're ready rather than modifying the core package. There's also some emphasis being put on making it work for "more than just blogging" and push towards more enterprise-level acceptance.

Cal Evans has yet again upgraded his WordPress install and has list his quick and dirty process in a new post to his blog.

The eleven step process includes making a work directory (so you don't copy over your current install and all of its lovely plugins and templates) and copying over a few key files to update to the latest release:

• Copy blog.original/wp-content/plugins to blog/wp-content/plugins
• Copy blog.original/wp-content/themes to blog/wp-content/themes
• Copy blog.original/wp-content/uploads to blog/wp-content/uploads
• Copy blog.original/wp-config.php to blog/wp-config.php
• Copy blog.original/.htaccess to blog/.htacces

For more information on upgrading your WordPress installation, check out this entry on their wiki.

Nick Halstead and crew have launched fav.or.it (yesterday), a social site that seeks to "bring blogging to the masses" and runs on top of the Zend Framework.

From their blog:

We have long talked about 'bringing blogging to the masses' and today we have released a new version of fav.or.it which we think moves a quite a few steps towards that goal. We hope that we have firstly simplified the interaction with blogosphere and in turn made it accessible to a whole new audience. And for the more tech aware users we hope we have a raft of features that will also appeal.

Some of the more important things the site can do include conversation tracking, identity management, simple and easy to use searching, integrated commenting and much more. Check out Nick's list for more great features or just make a login and check it out for yourself.

The PHP-GTK Community site has introduced a new feature for members of the site - the ability to create and write to their own blog right there on the site.

These are the most visible sign of a new feature on the site: registered members now have their own blog on the site, and blogging about a manual update, community story or recent page is just one click away.

Clicking on the "small, dark, lowercase 'b' marks" on their site (when logged in, of course) will allow users to blog about a specific item or piece of content on the site. You can still create free-form posts, but this is a shortcut to prepopulating some of the details about the content without having to cut and paste or type it in yourself.

Check out the PHP-GTK Community site and check out this post for more information on how you can get started.

The PHP-GTK Community site has introduced a new feature for members of the site - the ability to create and write to their own blog right there on the site.

These are the most visible sign of a new feature on the site: registered members now have their own blog on the site, and blogging about a manual update, community story or recent page is just one click away.

Clicking on the "small, dark, lowercase 'b' marks" on their site (when logged in, of course) will allow users to blog about a specific item or piece of content on the site. You can still create free-form posts, but this is a shortcut to prepopulating some of the details about the content without having to cut and paste or type it in yourself.

Check out the PHP-GTK Community site and check out this post for more information on how you can get started.

DevShed continues their look at the creation of a simple blogging script with part three of the series (part 1, part 2) - the creation of an admin utility to work with the contents of the blog.

The idea is to give the owner of the blog the ability to manage the blog by being able to remove users and articles as required, or to alter the status of users by upgrading them to admin status or banning them. It is also a place where the administrator can start new topics that will then garner their own replies.

They go through the creation of the main admin script (functionality managed with a switch statement, including other external PHP files) and the functions that go in each of those individual files to make things work - managing messages, managing users, and managing categories.

DevShed continues their look at the creation of a simple blogging script with part three of the series (part 1, part 2) - the creation of an admin utility to work with the contents of the blog.

The idea is to give the owner of the blog the ability to manage the blog by being able to remove users and articles as required, or to alter the status of users by upgrading them to admin status or banning them. It is also a place where the administrator can start new topics that will then garner their own replies.

They go through the creation of the main admin script (functionality managed with a switch statement, including other external PHP files) and the functions that go in each of those individual files to make things work - managing messages, managing users, and managing categories.

DevShed is starting up a new series this morning with this new tutorial, part one in the creation of a simple blogging system using PHP and MySQL.

In this three-part tutorial we are going to be creating an open blogging system. We are also going to provide scripts that will make it possible to switch to a closed blogging system. This article, which is the first part, will cover the creation of the login scripts for a closed system.

They start with a definition, the difference between an open blogging system and a closed one (if users have to register or not). They start with the creation of the database to store the users in followed by the PHP code for the simple login page. It uses sessions to keep track of which user is logged in. Of course, where there's a log in, there needs to be a log out and they give the simple code for that. Finally, they include a "forgot your password" script to help users when they can't remember the info they'd signed up with.

DevShed is starting up a new series this morning with this new tutorial, part one in the creation of a simple blogging system using PHP and MySQL.

In this three-part tutorial we are going to be creating an open blogging system. We are also going to provide scripts that will make it possible to switch to a closed blogging system. This article, which is the first part, will cover the creation of the login scripts for a closed system.

They start with a definition, the difference between an open blogging system and a closed one (if users have to register or not). They start with the creation of the database to store the users in followed by the PHP code for the simple login page. It uses sessions to keep track of which user is logged in. Of course, where there's a log in, there needs to be a log out and they give the simple code for that. Finally, they include a "forgot your password" script to help users when they can't remember the info they'd signed up with.

This week, Cal Evans is reporting live from this year's php/db|works conference in Toronto. Since today is "Tutorial Day", the schedule is a little lighter, and he makes to time to catch Rob Richards' talk on PHP and Advanced XML and Web Services.

Rob Richards is the author of Pro PHP XML and Web Services. He literally wrote the book on using PHP and XML together. At php|works, he is leading a tutorial on using XML in web services using the DOM extension.

If you ever get a chance to hear Rob do a presentation, let me warn you, it is not for the faint of heart. As I learned last night when I sat down with Rob to record an interview, Rob likes to speak on leading edge and advanced topics. This tutorial is an excellent example of that philosophy.

Cal talks more about the content of the talk - its simplicity despite the complex topic, how much info is jammed in, and the fact that it's not just one giant pitch for Rob's book.