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	<title>WPMU.orgNews | WPMU.org</title>
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	<link>http://wpmu.org</link>
	<description>WordPress, Multisite &#38; BuddyPress plugins, themes, news and reviews and special offers from the team at WPMU.org</description>
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		<title>52% of Top 100 Blogs Use WordPress</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/top-blogs-use-wordpress-2013/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/top-blogs-use-wordpress-2013/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 17:54:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Foley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[top blogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress usage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=114797</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A new study from Pingdom.com shows that WordPress continues to pick up market share among big blogs.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>According to <a href="http://royal.pingdom.com/2013/05/07/wordpress-top-100-blogs/">a report from Pingdom.com</a>, 52 out of the <a href="http://technorati.com/blogs/top100/" target="_blank">Technorati Top 100 blogs</a> use WordPress as their platform of choice, up from 48 blogs last year. Four years ago, that number stood at 32.<span id="more-114797"></span></p>
<p>These numbers are somewhat affected by one organization, the NY Times, having seven blogs on the list and another organization, Wired, having three blogs on the list. That said, no one can doubt that the trend for WordPress has been an upward one.</p>
<p>The following chart is from Pingdom.com.</p>
<div class="image-grid cgrid-row">
<div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><img class="aligncenter size-ratio-large wp-image-114798" title="wordpress-top-blogs" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/wordpress-top-blogs-700x521.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="521" /></div>
</div>
<p>And here’s a list comparing last year’s results and this year’s results.</p>
<div class="image-grid cgrid-row">
<div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><img class="aligncenter size-ratio-large wp-image-114799" title="2012-13" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2012-13-700x453.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="453" /></div>
</div>
<p>To see a list of what each of the Top 100 use, head on over to <a href="http://royal.pingdom.com/2013/05/07/wordpress-top-100-blogs/" target="_blank">the Pingdom report</a>.</p>

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</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The Most Exciting Feature of WordPress 3.6: Native Audio and Video Support</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/the-most-exciting-feature-of-wordpress-3-6-native-audio-and-video-support/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/the-most-exciting-feature-of-wordpress-3-6-native-audio-and-video-support/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 May 2013 14:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah Gooding</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[html5 video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress audio player]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress video player]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress video plugin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=112988</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Check out this preview of the new native audio/video support in WordPress 3.6.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We&#8217;re all eagerly <a href="http://wpmu.org/wordpress-3-6-what-to-look-forward-to/" target="_blank">looking forward to WordPress 3.6</a> with its beautiful updates to Post Format UI and bright new default Twenty Thirteen theme. But there&#8217;s one feature that far and away surpasses all the others.</p>
<p>The upcoming WordPress 3.6 release will add <strong>native support for audio and video files</strong>. This one is a real game changer. We&#8217;re going to give you a full introduction to the new capabilities and show you how you can use them on your WordPress site. But first, let&#8217;s take a look at how we&#8217;ve previously been managing multimedia files.</p>
<div class="image-grid cgrid-row">
<div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/audio.jpg" rel="lightbox[112988]" title="audio"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/audio-700x467.jpg" alt="" title="audio" width="700" height="467" class="aligncenter size-ratio-large wp-image-114422" /></a></div>
</div>
<h3>In the old days&#8230;</h3>
<p>If you&#8217;re a podcaster or video blogger, in the old days your WordPress site required a plugin in order to play the audio or video files that you created.</p>
<p>For example, if you were going to upload a video, here&#8217;s what it would look like in the WordPress post edit screen: </p>
<figure id="attachment_114410"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-large cgrid-row" style="width: 700px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/old-video-post.jpg" rel="lightbox[112988]" title="old-video-post"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/old-video-post-700x432.jpg" alt="" title="old-video-post" width="700" height="432" class="size-ratio-large wp-image-114410" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Inserting an uploaded video into a post just results in a clickable link with no player.</figcaption></div></figure>
<p>As you can see, inserting  an uploaded video into a post just results in a clickable link with no player on the front end. Boo! If this was a first time discovery, I&#8217;d be off to find a suitable plugin for displaying my media.</p>
<p>Of course, you could always take advantage of a third party service like Youtube or Vimeo and easily embed it in WordPress. But what if you just want to use your own server? There was no way to do this before without the help of a plugin.</p>
<h3>A Preview of Audio/Video Uploads in WordPress 3.6:</h3>
<p>Below is a quick preview of how you might upload a video in WordPress 3.6.  You can also see how the post format selection will appear:</p>
<figure id="attachment_114429"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-large cgrid-row" style="width: 700px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/new-video-post.jpg" rel="lightbox[112988]" title="new-video-post"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/new-video-post-700x461.jpg" alt="" title="new-video-post" width="700" height="461" class="size-ratio-large wp-image-114429" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Option to post embed code or upload your own video file</figcaption></div></figure>
<p>What I like about the update is that it provides a clear path of action. Once the user selects &#8220;Video&#8221;, he doesn&#8217;t have to wonder what&#8217;s next or how to get the video to display. He can either paste in the URL to the video or upload one. The shortcode is automatically provided. Here&#8217;s what that looks like on the front end:</p>
<figure id="attachment_114430"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-large cgrid-row" style="width: 601px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/video-frontend.jpg" alt="" title="video-frontend" width="601" height="471" class="size-full wp-image-114430" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Front end video display</figcaption></div></figure>
<p>The whole experience is much easier than before, don&#8217;t you think? These updates make it possible for anyone to post the occasional audio or video file without having to search for a media player.</p>
<h3>What&#8217;s under the hood?</h3>
<p>Some of you may already be familiar with <a href="http://mediaelementjs.com/" target="_blank">MediaElement.js</a> and have perhaps even used in on your WordPress site via a plugin. There are a number of reasons MediaElement.js was chosen to power WordPress&#8217; core audio/video support, but these are perhaps the most compelling:</p>
<ul>
<li>Outstanding support for all major browsers and devices</li>
<li>MediaElement.js uses the same HTML markup, regardless of playback implementation</li>
<li>The players can be easily skinned with CSS</li>
</ul>
<p>If you&#8217;re wondering just how robust the browser and device support is, check out this chart from the MediaElement.js website:</p>
<figure id="attachment_114417"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-large cgrid-row" style="width: 700px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/browser-device-support.jpg" rel="lightbox[112988]" title="browser-device-support"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/browser-device-support-700x326.jpg" alt="" title="browser-device-support" width="700" height="326" class="size-ratio-large wp-image-114417" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">MediaElement.js Browser and Device Support</figcaption></div></figure>
<p><strong>MediaElement.js Features:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>HTML5 audio and video players in pure HTML and CSS</li>
<li>Custom Flash and Silverlight players that mimic the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/video.html" target="_blank">HTML5 MediaElement API</a> for older browsers</li>
<li>Accessibility standards including <a href="http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/webvtt.html" target="_blank">WebVTT</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The awesome thing about the media players is that any regular Joe with just a little bit of CSS can style them to make them look completely custom. Full visual control of the media player was quite rare in the old days of using plugins. In fact, many media players come branded for the software and make their logos/links difficult to remove. Not so with the new native players. <strong>The display is entirely under your control.</strong></p>
<h3>Why Native Audio/Video support makes life easier for everyone:</h3>
<p><figure id="attachment_114435"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 448px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-3 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/headphones-feature.jpg" rel="lightbox[112988]" title="headphones-feature"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/headphones-feature-448x266.jpg" alt="" title="headphones-feature" width="448" height="266" class="size-ratio-3-2 wp-image-114435" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Solid audio/video support means a better experience for both publishers and readers</figcaption></div></div></figure>Finding the right audio or video plugin can be a gigantic hurdle, especially for a beginner. Not only does it require a plugin compatible with the current version but it also requires learning how to use it, and some of them don&#8217;t make it easy. The new native audio/video player makes it possible for anyone to upload and display multimedia content without having to be familiar with plugin installation and customization. Not only is it easier for those posting blogs but it&#8217;s also fantastic for the readers, given the broad support for browsers and devices. This is the way it should be and I&#8217;m glad it&#8217;s finally here. </p>
<h3>Third-party services like Youtube and Vimeo no longer required</h3>
<p>So now if you take a quick video with your phone, you can easily upload it to your WordPress blog without having to jump through a bunch of different hoops. Multimedia bloggers, bands, podcasters, magazines and news sites can their own audio and video libraries with WordPress &#8211; no plugins or third-party services required. Just remember that streaming audio and video can take a huge toll on your server, so you may still want to use a service like Youtube or Vimeo. WordPress 3.6 has you covered with new embed handlers if you go that route. </p>
<p>The new native audio and video support is a giant leap forward for all WordPress users. Since WordPress powers a very large chunk of the web, we&#8217;re bound to see a huge increase in multimedia blogging.  Are you excited about the changes in WordPress 3.6? Will you ditch your audio/video plugins and use the new native capabilities?</p>
<p><strong>Image Credits: </strong><br />
Creative Commons license:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wakingphotolife/8401314268/" target="_blank">Untitled</a> by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wakingphotolife/" target="_blank">wakingphotolife</a><br />
Creative Commons license: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sophielovescute/4660366629/in/faves-pollyplummer/" target="_blank">Your petite tune</a> by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sophielovescute/" target="_blank">Esellee</a></p>
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</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Where are the Women in WordPress?</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/women-in-wordpress/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/women-in-wordpress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Raelene Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gender inequality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sexism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[women]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=112557</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The lack of women in tech is nothing new, but a string of events in the past month have reignited the debate about the industry’s gender inequality. So when it comes to WordPress, how do we rate as a community inclusive of women?]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since my first Programming 101 lecture at college 10 years ago where I was just one of five women in my class, it seems not a lot has changed.</p>
<p>Back then, the stares of a hundred pimply nerds trying to pass off bum fluff for facial hair burned my skin. No doubt they were all wondering what the hell I was doing there, invading their territory, their space to avoid the needless stress of making small talk with the opposite sex.</p>
<p>Gender inequality in tech is nothing new. All of my computer science lecturers, bar one dalek-obsessed woman with a hint of a moustache (“It’s dah-lek, not day-lek!”), were men.</p>
<p>So when I went along to a friend’s computer science college graduation ceremony recently, I was disappointed to watch as, one by one, men crossed the stage to receive their degrees.</p>
<p>And where else is there usually a sausage-fest of men? Oh yeah, <em>WordCamps</em>.</p>
<figure id="attachment_112936"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-large cgrid-row" style="width: 700px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><img class="size-ratio-large wp-image-112936" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/origin_2768400173-700x466.jpg" alt="WordCamps can be a case of spot the woman." width="700" height="466" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">WordCamps can be a case of spot the woman.</figcaption></div></figure>
<p>Where are the women? Has really nothing changed in 10 years?</p>
<h3>Are Women Their Own Enemy?</h3>
<p>At last year’s first WordPress Community Summit, a gathering of the who’s who of the WordPress world, just 12 of the people there were women. Naturally, they got together to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/11/16/summary-women-in-wordpress/">talk about that fact</a>.</p>
<figure id="attachment_113434"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 448px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-3 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img class="size-ratio-3-2 wp-image-113434" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/woman-thumbs-down470px-448x304.jpg" alt="" width="448" height="304" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Do women sabotage themselves by underrating their abilities?</figcaption></div></div></figure>
<p>They discussed the lack of women applying to present at WordCamps, where speakers are usually men on the developer track. It&#8217;s an issue for the tech industry as a whole, where conferences are usually a flood of white men. It’s been said that women often turn down invitations to present because they feel the need to have a PhD on a topic, whereas when men are asked they&#8217;re more likely to say, &#8220;Yeah, I know a bit about it. Sign me up.&#8221;</p>
<p>Then there&#8217;s &#8220;imposter syndrome.&#8221; When women are complimented on their skills, many immediately think to themselves, &#8220;I&#8217;m not that great.&#8221; Most guys accept the compliment and believe it.</p>
<p>It was also noted at the summit discussion that many women don&#8217;t think they&#8217;re smart enough and feel like outsiders despite the incredible work they do, and some women who work in development tell people they&#8217;re not a developer.</p>
<h3>More Women Need To Get Involved</h3>
<p>This month, <a href="https://twitter.com/cafenoirdesign">Shannon Smith of Cafe Noir Design</a> will run her <a href="http://2013.ottawa.wordcamp.org/session/where-are-the-women/">third unconference </a>in three years exploring the role of women in the WordPress community and the fact we make up more than half the bloggers but only about a quarter of WordCamp speakers and an even smaller number of developers, coders and contributors at WordCamp Ottawa this month.</p>
<figure id="attachment_113438"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 312px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-2 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img class="size-ratio-2-3 wp-image-113438" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/womens-voices-340px-312x482.jpg" alt="" width="312" height="482" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Women&#8217;s voices should be heard in WordPress.</figcaption></div></div></figure>
<p>“Where are the women? Why aren&#8217;t they participating? And when are they participating? Why don&#8217;t we see them? And more importantly, how can we even out that imbalance?” Smith says.</p>
<p>“Tech dominates our lives, our society. It influences the way we live, what we learn and how we live. At the moment it is directed by, organized in the benefit of (though perhaps unconsciously), and produced by an unequal segment of the population.</p>
<p>“Until technology is controlled by a diverse cross-section of society, it cannot serve all of society. Blogging, by its nature, encourages a diversity of voices. It would be great if that diversity in blog production was also reflected in a diversity in blogging tool production.”</p>
<h2>Why Do We Need More Women?</h2>
<p>So why exactly do we need more women in WordPress? I’m glad you asked&#8230;</p>
<p><strong>1. Diversity Improves Performance</strong></p>
<p>A<a href="http://web.mit.edu/cortiz/www/Diversity/PDFs/Jehn%20et%20al%201999.pdf"> Cornell University study</a> proves diversity improves performance and morale, not to mention the end product. And since<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/11/16/summary-women-in-wordpress/"> 39 per cent of visitors to wordpress.org are women</a> &#8211; and probably even more are users of WordPress software &#8211; it makes sense that women are more equally represented in creating the end product. More women engineers means building a better WordPress and improving it for society as a whole.</p>
<p><strong>2. Future Jobs are in Tech</strong></p>
<figure id="attachment_113566"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 312px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-2 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img class="size-ratio-2-3 wp-image-113566" title="hiring-nerds340px" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/hiring-nerds340px-312x269.jpg" alt="" width="312" height="269" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Hiring Nerds &#8212; Will that also mean hiring women?</figcaption></div></div></figure>
<p>As <a href="http://www.sarajchipps.com/2012/10/in-which-i-answer-all-of-the-questions.html">Sara Chipps points out</a>, there are <strong>six million information technology jobs in the US</strong>, up from 628,000 in 1987, and then 1.34 million in 1997. At the moment, jobs in the tech sector have half the unemployment rate of the rest of the workforce, and this ain’t changing any time soon.</p>
<p>If growth continues at the current rate, it won’t be long before women won&#8217;t be able to find work if they are not qualified to work in tech. We need to better educate girls and encourage them to get involved in communities like WordPress now so in the future they are not the poorest members of society.</p>
<p><strong>3. Women Bring Diversity of Thought</strong></p>
<p>Women think, act and approach problems differently to men. While men, in general, are naturally more prone to risk taking and competition thanks to their increased testosterone, whether it’s cultural or biological, women tend to be more emotionally and socially sensitive, empathetic, are better collaborators and are better at achieving long-term results. Diversity of thought in business and having a company made up of people who approach problems in different ways can only be a good thing.</p>
<p><strong>4. Women Can Talk to Women</strong></p>
<p>Women make up more than half of bloggers, including many small business owners who need websites. If no one can understand their needs, can talk their talk or build and design appropriate products for them, then that’s a massive chunk of the market &#8212; and not to mention profits &#8212; that WordPress is missing out on.</p>
<p>Take car manufacturers, for example. They have quickly cottoned on to the fact that women influence 80 per cent of car purchases and have changed their designs and marketing campaigns accordingly. Even Volvo, marketed for its solidity and reliability, employs more women. When my heavily pregnant sister-in-law went looking for a new car, she wouldn’t look at any other make of car.</p>
<figure id="attachment_113480"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-right cgrid-row clearfix" style="width: 583px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-4 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img class="size-ratio-4-1 wp-image-113480" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/volvo-600px-583x430.jpg" alt="" width="583" height="430" /></div></div><figcaption class="wp-caption-text cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-1"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-left">This 1957 ad shows that Volvo has known for a long time about how important women are in their marketing and to their company.</div></figcaption></figure>
<p><strong>5. Women are Good for a Company&#8217;s Bottom Line</strong></p>
<p>After years tracking the performance of about 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, a 19-year <a href="http://www.20-first.com/764-0-further-proof-of-how-women-in-charge-profit-companies.html">Pepperdine University study</a> consistently found the correlation between high-level female executives and business success was “consistent and revealing.” And the better a company was at promoting women, the better it tended to rank in terms of profitability.</p>
<p>This is something WordPress should certainly take note of &#8212; WordPress’ core and contributing developers and developer emeriti are all men. Just two women are part of the core team.</p>
<h3>Women Have Run Out Of Excuses</h3>
<p>We know there are women out there quietly working with WordPress, tapping away on their keyboards, creating beautiful websites and playing with code. I want them to come out of hiding.</p>
<p>There is no excuse to sit back and let the boys have all the fun. There are plenty of ways to get involved in the WordPress community.</p>
<p><strong>1. Share your knowledge.</strong> At a recent London WordCamp <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/smckeown/contributing-to-wordpress">Siobhan McKeown outlined</a> ways people can contribute to WordPress:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Developer</strong> (Core, Documentation, Plugins, Mobile Techno)</li>
<li><strong>Designer</strong> (User Interface, Documentation, Mobile Design, Theme Review)</li>
<li><strong>Writer</strong> (Codex, Handbooks)</li>
<li><strong>Linguist</strong> (WordPress Translation, Document Translation, Plugins, Multilingual Support)</li>
<li><strong>Teacher</strong> (Teaching, Sharing Courses, Support)</li>
<li><strong>Organizer</strong> (WordCamp, Meetups)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>2. Get Involved.</strong> Getting involved is as simple as clicking “Get Involved” at wordpress.org. Joe Foley has a <a href="http://wpmu.org/how-to-get-involved-with-wordpress/">ripper write-up</a> about it.</p>
<div class="image-grid cgrid-row"><strong>3. WordCamps.</strong> There were <a href="http://central.wordcamp.org/news/2013/02/04/wordcamps-in-2012/">67 of them </a>held around the world last year &#8212; and even more this year. Go along and watch, or better yet, present.</div>
<div class="image-grid cgrid-row">
<div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-right cgrid-col-span-2">
<div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img class="alignright size-ratio-2-3 wp-image-113449" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/wordcamp340px-312x260.jpg" alt="" width="312" height="260" /></div>
</div>
</div>
<p>“I knew there must be other people like me looking for design topics, so I decided to give a few,” says user interface designer Mel Choyce who presented at New York and Philadelphia last year. &#8220;There&#8217;s a good chance you&#8217;ll feel totally unqualified, but everyone thinks that at first. Many people still feel that way. You have nothing to lose from applying to speak.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>4. Meetups.</strong> With <a href="http://wordpress.meetup.com/">430 WordPress Meetup groups</a> listed online, there’s bound to be one in your area.</p>
<p>On the first Monday of every month, members of the Albuquerque’s women working with WordPress “sister” Meetup group get together to pick each other’s brains. Organiser Karen Arnold says this month the ladies met to discuss their current projects.</p>
<p>“One woman had a website she wanted feedback on so we pulled it up on the projector and as a group we helped her solve some issues she&#8217;d been having,” Arnold says. “Another woman shared a project she&#8217;d been working on that she just wanted to show off since she was so excited about the project.&#8221;</p>
<p>Co-organiser Samantha Metheny says women often feel more comfortable about their place in the tech world when they see how many other women are involved, too.</p>
<figure id="attachment_113454"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-right cgrid-row clearfix" style="width: 583px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-4 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img class="size-ratio-4-1 wp-image-113454" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/woman-waves-600px-583x315.jpg" alt="" width="583" height="315" /></div></div><figcaption class="wp-caption-text cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-1"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-left">Women need not face the waves alone. There are others out there too. Sometimes you simply need to reach out to find them.</div></figcaption></figure>
<p>Getting involved in the WordPress community might seem daunting at first, but everyone’s been there. It’s not as if you’re going to receive a formal invite for exclusive access to the secret WordPress society. WordPress is open source &#8211; by the community for the community, so just get stuck in.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think the WordPress community is encouraging to anyone who is jumping in and getting involved. This has nothing to do with gender,” Untame partner and developer Sarah Gooding says.</p>
<h3>It’s Not All Doom And Gloom.</h3>
<p>A handful of successful woman offer a glimmer of hope.</p>
<p><strong>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</strong></p>
<figure id="attachment_113568"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 177px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-1 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img class="size-ratio-1-4 wp-image-113568" title="wordpress-for-dummies210px" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/wordpress-for-dummies210px-177x224.jpg" alt="" width="177" height="224" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Written by a woman.</figcaption></div></div></figure>
<p><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/">Lisa Sabin-Wilson’s</a> story is almost legend &#8212; she was a registered nurse for 12 years and worked on websites in her spare time before walking into her boss’ office one day to hand in her 30-day notice of resignation. She has since written five editions of WordPress for Dummies and is a partner at WebDevStudios.</p>
<p><strong>Andrea Rennick</strong></p>
<p>Then there’s<a href="http://ronandandrea.com/"> Andrea Rennick</a>, who started out as a blogger in the homeschooling community. Rennick wanted to start a website for other parents who were homeschooling and stumbled across the early stages of the WordPress Multisite project. She works with Copyblogger and has co-written several books on WordPress.</p>
<p><strong>Siobhan McKeown</strong></p>
<p>Another success is<a href="http://siobhanmckeown.com/"> McKeown</a>, who started out as a writer on this very website. She has gone on to run<a href="http://wordsforwp.com/"> Words for WP</a>, is an editor at<a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/"> Smashing Magazine</a> and recently started a new role at WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg’s angel investment company<a href="http://audrey.co/"> Audrey Capital</a>.</p>
<p>McKeown says the growing number of women prominent in the WordPress community due to their skills and expertise &#8212; not the fact they wear a bra &#8212; provide excellent role models for young female techies looking to get their foot in the door.</p>
<p>“Their very presence shows what is possible and makes it easier for women who are starting out to see themselves inhabiting that role,” McKeown says.</p>
<p><strong>Jen Mylo</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://jenmylo.com/">Automattic’s Jen Mylo</a> can’t be left off this list. She has been the UX and community lead for WordPress for several years, more recently taking on a greater role focusing on encouraging women and diversity in the WordPress community. In her pre-web life, she was a cook/baker and managed healthy cafes and kitchens in tourist lodges.</p>
<p>In December,<a href="http://jenmylo.com/2012/12/14/changes/"> Mylo announced</a> her role would be focusing more on increasing diversity in contributor groups, starting with the gender gap. Hence, the<a href="http://make.wordpress.org/community/"> Community Outreach contribution group</a> was launched.</p>
<figure id="attachment_113474"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 312px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-2 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img class="size-ratio-2-3 wp-image-113474" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/matt-mullenweg340px-312x442.jpg" alt="" width="312" height="442" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Matt Mullenweg convinced Mylo to work with Automattic in part by opening the door to working with women and WordPress.</figcaption></div></div></figure>
<p>&#8220;When Matt (Mullenweg) convinced me to take the job at Automattic, one of the things that got me in was that he said I could work on programs to bring women and girls into the WordPress community, especially around programming,” Mylo says on her blog.</p>
<p>“In that lunch on a San Francisco sidewalk, I laid out a vision including mentoring programs, school projects, summer camps, trips to the moon… okay, not trips to the moon, but just about everything under it.</p>
<p>&#8220;I keep going back to that sidewalk lunch and how exciting it was to talk about possibilities around using WordPress as a gateway for women, girls, low income kids and minorities of all stripes who are under-represented in our community to get into the web industry.&#8221;</p>
<p>Since that post, Mylo launched her first initiative,<a href="http://learn.wordpress.org/"> a workshop series open only to women</a>, in Washington DC and San Diego last month. The troubleshooting workshops helped participants learn about common errors, CSS fixes, software conflicts and hacks and viruses.</p>
<h3>So What Next?</h3>
<p>It’s all well and good to have women-only workshops, but getting a handful of women together in Washington DC to pick through their CSS isn’t exactly groundbreaking.</p>
<p>What we need is a plan to lift the number of Women actively involved in the WordPress community. This is what I propose:</p>
<figure id="attachment_113468"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 312px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-2 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img class="size-ratio-2-3 wp-image-113468" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/wordpress-girl340px-312x513.jpg" alt="" width="312" height="513" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Getting in the WordPress game.</figcaption></div></div></figure>
<ul>
<li><strong>More women at the top.</strong> We need more women in the core team developing WordPress. We need to push female developers who are sitting back and watching to get more involved and show us what they can do.</li>
<li><strong>Set quotas for women involved in WordCamps.</strong> Positive discrimination is not only symbolic but will give women the confidence and encouragement needed to voice their ideas and opinions to the community.</li>
<li><strong>Target school age girls.</strong> We need to target girls early and educated them about tech and the WordPress community and the opportunities available. Workshops and talks at schools giving girls the chance to<a href="http://wpmu.org/how-to-learn-wordpress/"> play with WordPress and learn how to blog</a> would be a great start.</li>
<li><strong>A roadmap with achievable targets.</strong> There’s no point throwing around ideas if we don’t have something to work towards. Since half of bloggers are women we should work towards ensuring half of those involved in the WordPress community are also women.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Tell us what you think below.</strong></p>
<p>Image credits:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/15132846@N00/5640557375/"> Ray from LA</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewtopia/2768400173/">Randy Stewart</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/epsos/4169834065/" target="_blank">epSos.de</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomtolkien/5972404998/" target="_blank">Thomas Tolkien</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/laihiu/3424437180/" target="_blank">Laihiu</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcknight/6841987167/" target="_blank">Judi Knight</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/keijoknutas/6885437792/" target="_blank">Keijo Knutas</a>.</p>
<p>Photo: <a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-1643102/stock-photo-negative" target="_blank">negative</a> from BigStock</p>
<!-- PHP 5.x --><p>Related posts:</p><ol>
<li><a href='http://wpmu.org/commercial-wordpress-themes-made-just-for-women-coming-soon/' rel='bookmark' title='Commercial WordPress Themes Made Just For Women Coming Soon'>Commercial WordPress Themes Made Just For Women Coming Soon</a> <small>Lisa Sabin-Wilson and her friends over at iThemes have been...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://wpmu.org/allure-themes-launches-new-theme-shop-featuring-wordpress-themes-for-women/' rel='bookmark' title='Allure Themes Launches New Theme Shop Featuring WordPress Themes for Women'>Allure Themes Launches New Theme Shop Featuring WordPress Themes for Women</a> <small>We&#8217;d like to introduce you to a brand new WordPress...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://wpmu.org/buddypress-news-create-your-own-private-buddypress-community/' rel='bookmark' title='BuddyPress News: Create Your Own Private BuddyPress Community'>BuddyPress News: Create Your Own Private BuddyPress Community</a> <small>Many users have asked in the forums about how to...</small></li>
</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Security Alert for WordPress Users!</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/security-alert-for-wordpress-users/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/security-alert-for-wordpress-users/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:41:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Foley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=112998</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It seems there has been a recent surge in attacks on WordPress sites. The brute force attack takes the form of trying to break into your site by repeatedly attempting to log in to your Admin area with computer-generated credentials. It is recommended that you make sure you have a very secure password. A secure [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It seems there has been a recent <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/12/hackers-point-large-botnet-at-wordpress-sites-to-steal-admin-passwords-and-gain-server-access/" target="_blank">surge in attacks on WordPress sites</a>. The brute force attack takes the form of trying to break into your site by repeatedly attempting to log in to your Admin area with computer-generated credentials.</p>
<p>It is recommended that you make sure you have a very secure password. A secure password mixes things up by using letters, numbers, upper and lower case letters, and special characters such as &amp;#)@!, etc. It is also recommend to NOT have a username of &#8220;admin.&#8221;</p>
<p>Photo: <a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-4584873/stock-photo-other-danger-sign" target="_blank">Other Danger Sign</a> from BigStock</p>
<!-- PHP 5.x --><p>Related posts:</p><ol>
<li><a href='http://wpmu.org/security-incident-hits-automattic-affecting-wordpress-com-users/' rel='bookmark' title='Security Incident Hits Automattic Affecting WordPress.com Users'>Security Incident Hits Automattic Affecting WordPress.com Users</a> <small>Oh dear. Automattic has been hit by some hackers :(...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://wpmu.org/security-wordpress-blackhole-malware/' rel='bookmark' title='Security Alert: Is Your WordPress Site Hosting Blackhole Malware?'>Security Alert: Is Your WordPress Site Hosting Blackhole Malware?</a> <small>Keeping your sites and plugins up-to-date can help you avoid...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://wpmu.org/keep-up-to-date-with-wordpress-security-issues-with-wp-secure/' rel='bookmark' title='Keep Up-to-Date with WordPress Security Issues with WP Secure'>Keep Up-to-Date with WordPress Security Issues with WP Secure</a> <small>WP Secure has all of the details about WordPress secuity...</small></li>
</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>15</slash:comments>
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		<title>Posterous Shutting Down: How To Move Your Posterous Site To WordPress</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/posterous-shutting-down-how-to-move-your-posterous-site-to-wordpress/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/posterous-shutting-down-how-to-move-your-posterous-site-to-wordpress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:15:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah Gooding</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plugins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[posterous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[posterous export]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[posterous import plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[posterous wordpress plugin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=112929</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This free plugin makes it easy to move your site from Posterous to WordPress.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><figure id="attachment_112948"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 312px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-2 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/posterous.png" rel="lightbox[112929]" title="posterous"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/posterous-312x312.png" alt="" title="posterous" width="312" height="312" class="size-ratio-2-3 wp-image-112948" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Posterous is shutting April 30, 2013.</figcaption></div></div></figure>The popular Posterous blogging service is shutting down on April 30, 2013. Now is the time to move your Posterous site to WordPress. Don&#8217;t worry, this process doesn&#8217;t have to be a pain in the ass. In fact, we&#8217;ve created a plugin that makes it very simple, no matter how large your Posterous import may be.</p>
<p>Our <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/posterous-importer-advanced/" title="Posterous Importer Advanced plugin for WordPress" target="_blank">Posterous Importer Advanced</a> plugin is a free migration tool for Posterous blogs. This is the best and most advanced Posterous importer available. Not only does it import posts, comments, tags, and attachments, it also grabs embeds and audio so you don&#8217;t lose any of your media.</p>
<h3>How To Get Your Posterous Site Backup File</h3>
<p>You don&#8217;t have to have be technically inclined in order to move your site to WordPress. Just follow these simple instructions outlined by Posterous to get your WXR backup file: </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Step 1:</strong> Go to <a href="http://posterous.com/#backup" target="_blank">http://posterous.com/#backup</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Step 2:</strong> Click to request a backup of your Space by clicking “Request Backup” next to your Space name.</li>
<li><strong>Step 3.</strong> When your backup is ready, you&#8217;ll receive an email.</li>
<li><strong>Step 4:</strong> Return to <a href="http://posterous.com/#backup" target="_blank">http://posterous.com/#backup</a> to download a .zip file.</li>
</ul>
<h3>How To Migrate Your Site From Posterous To WordPress</h3>
<p>Moving your content into WordPress can be done in two easy steps. </p>
<h4>Step 1: Add the Posterous Importer Advanced Plugin to WordPress</h4>
<p>First, install the <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/posterous-importer-advanced/" title="Posterous Importer Advanced" target="_blank">Posterous Importer Advanced</a> plugin. This will only work with self-hosted WordPress installations. Most hosting companies have a quick install that you can use to get WordPress up and running with one click. </p>
<p>After you have a basic install up and running, go to <strong>Dashboard >> Plugins >> Add New</strong> and install the Posterous Importer Advanced plugin. </p>
<h4>Step 2: Import Your Posterous Content Into WordPress</h4>
<p>After the plugin is activated, you&#8217;ll find the importer at <strong>Tools >> Import</strong>.</p>
<figure id="attachment_112964"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-large cgrid-row" style="width: 559px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/import.jpg" alt="" title="import" width="559" height="476" class="size-full wp-image-112964" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Dashboard >> Tools >> Import</figcaption></div></figure>
<p>Click on Posterous. Now you can <strong>upload the WXR (.xml) file</strong> you got when you backed up your Posterous site.</p>
<figure id="attachment_112966"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-large cgrid-row" style="width: 502px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/import-posterous.jpg" alt="" title="import-posterous" width="502" height="303" class="size-full wp-image-112966" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Import Posterous WXR file</figcaption></div></figure>
<p>Now, relax while all your content is automatically imported. Congratulations, you&#8217;ve successfully migrated your Posterous site and entered the world of WordPress!</p>
<p><strong>Important Notice:</strong> After April 30th, Posterous is shutting down its API and this plugin will no longer work.  </p>
<p><a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/posterous-importer-advanced/" title="Posterous Importer Advanced" target="_blank">Posterous Importer Advanced</a> has been added to our growing list of <a href="http://profiles.wordpress.org/WPMUDEV/" target="_blank">free plugins</a> in the WordPress plugin repository. We&#8217;ve tested this plugin extensively with our <a href="http://edublogs.org/" target="_blank">Edublogs</a> network and have made a number of changes to make sure it is optimized to scale to very large imports. Get your site migrated before it&#8217;s too late!</p>
<!-- PHP 5.x --><p>Related posts:</p><ol>
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</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>BuddyPress 1.7 Released: Now Compatible With ALL WordPress Themes</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/buddypress-1-7-released-now-compatible-with-all-wordpress-themes/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/buddypress-1-7-released-now-compatible-with-all-wordpress-themes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:23:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah Gooding</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BuddyPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bp template pack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buddypress 1.7]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buddypress theme compatibility]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=112319</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Get all the details of what's new and improved in BuddyPress 1.7.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>BuddyPress 1.7 is finally here! Rumor has it that the BuddyPress core devs are mainly powered by pie, so every new major BuddyPress release has a pizza theme. This release is dubbed “Totonno” to honor a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totonno%27s" target="_blank">legendary pizza joint in Brooklyn</a>.</p>
<h2>The exciting new world of Theme Compatibility</h2>
<p>In the past you may have paid a pretty penny to get your WordPress theme compatible with BuddyPress. Even with the help of the BP Template Pack, you had to be able to manipulate the markup and CSS of your theme to make it look right. Those days are over, friends. BuddyPress now fits seamlessly into any WordPress theme. </p>
<figure id="attachment_112851"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-large cgrid-row" style="width: 700px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/bp17.jpg" rel="lightbox[112319]" title="bp17"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/bp17-700x342.jpg" alt="" title="bp17" width="700" height="342" class="size-ratio-large wp-image-112851" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">BuddyPress 1.7 About Page</figcaption></div></figure>
<p>BuddyPress 1.7 comes packed full of new features, improvements and hundreds of bug fixes. Take a closer look at the <a href="http://wpmu.org/7-exciting-new-features-in-buddypress-1-7/" title="BuddyPress 1.7" target="_blank">7 most exciting new features of BuddyPress 1.7</a> for a quick overview of everything that&#8217;s new. The BuddyPress codex also has a <a href="http://codex.buddypress.org/developer/releases/version-1-7/" title="BuddyPress 1.7 release notes" target="_blank">1.7 release notes page</a> listing all of the changes in this release.</p>
<h2>Goodbye, Installation Wizard</h2>
<p>With brand new BuddyPress installations you&#8217;ll notice that that the setup process is now totally automated and the installation wizard has been removed. Now all you have to do is activate the plugin and you&#8217;re ready to roll. You&#8217;ll also notice the new About and Credits pages that help you to stay on top of what&#8217;s new and who to thank for it.</p>
<h2>How To Update to BuddyPress 1.7</h2>
<p>The BuddyPress development team has made it so that you can easily update your site even if you&#8217;re running ancient old BuddyPress 1.5. If you have previously been using the BP Template Pack for making your theme compatible with BuddyPress, you&#8217;ll be happy to know that this plugin is no longer necessary. The BP Codex has a specific process for you to follow for <a href="http://codex.buddypress.org/bp-17-upgrading-template-packed-themes/" target="_blank">upgrading &#8220;Template Packed&#8221; themes</a>. Before upgrading it would be a good idea to review the <a href="http://codex.buddypress.org/developer/theme-development/a-quick-look-at-1-7-theme-compatibility/" target="_blank">BuddyPress 1.7 theme compatibility information</a> to get a solid understanding of the new approach to templating.</p>
<p>Enjoy this new release, fresh from the oven. You can download it today from <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/" target="_blank">wordpress.org</a> or via your site&#8217;s dashboard. Many thanks to the BuddyPress development team and all of the contributors for their tireless work on this awesome new release. </p>
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</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>WordPress 3.6 Beta 1 Hits The Shelves</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/wordpress-3-6-beta-1-hits-the-shelves/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/wordpress-3-6-beta-1-hits-the-shelves/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:04:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah Gooding</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[twenty thirteen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress 3.6]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress 3.6 beta]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=112735</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WordPress 3.6 Beta 1 has just arrived and is ready for testing. This exciting news means that we can expect the official WordPress 3.6 release very soon.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>WordPress 3.6 Beta 1 has just arrived and is ready for testing. This exciting news means that we can expect the official WordPress 3.6 release very soon. If you are a WordPress plugin or theme developer, there&#8217;s no time to wait. Now is the time to make sure that your extensions are compatible with the upcoming 3.6 release. </p>
<h3>What&#8217;s New and Exciting in WordPress 3.6?</h3>
<p>The <a href="http://wordpress.org/news/2013/04/wordpress-3-6-beta-1/" target="_blank">WordPress News blog</a> announced the beta today with a summary of all the finalized features. Nothing else major will be added at this point.</p>
<p><figure id="attachment_111496"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 448px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-3 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/twentythirteen.jpg" rel="lightbox[112735]" title="twentythirteen"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/twentythirteen-448x433.jpg" alt="" title="twentythirteen" width="448" height="433" class="size-ratio-3-2 wp-image-111496" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Twenty Thirteen: WP&#8217;s Upcoming Flagship Theme With Support for Tumblogging</figcaption></div></div></figure>
<ul>
<li><strong>Post Formats:</strong>  Post Formats have been ramped up to have their own UI. Changes in 3.6 also make it possible for theme authors to use templating functions to access the structured data.</li>
<li><strong>Twenty Thirteen:</strong> This release comes with a brand new default WordPress theme. Twenty Thirteen is a very colorful theme that focuses on blogging. Check out our <a href="http://wpmu.org/sneak-peek-at-the-new-twenty-thirteen-wordpress-theme/" target="_blank">sneak peek of the new Twenty Thirteen design</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Audio/Video:</strong> WordPress 3.6 makes it much easier for you to embed audio and video files into your posts without relying on a plugin.</li>
<li><strong>Autosave:</strong>  No more losing content while editing! Posts will be autosaved locally in 3.6. That means that even if your computer dies or you lose connection with your server, your hard work is still saved.</li>
<li><strong>Post Locking:</strong>  Ever tried to edit a post and see that someone else is also working on it? Or perhaps they just forgot to log out? In WordPress 3.6 you&#8217;ll have the ability to kick them out of the editing screen.</li>
<li><strong>Nav Menus:</strong>  A new accordion-based UI gives WordPress nav menus a fresh look. The release also includes a separate tab for bulk-assigning menus to locations.</li>
<li><strong>Revisions:</strong> Post revisions are getting a lot of love in this release. It features a newly re-designed UI with avatars for post attribution and a quick visual overview of the changes made.</li>
</ul>
<p>Want a full preview of all the new features with screenshots? Check out our featured post: <a href="http://wpmu.org/wordpress-3-6-what-to-look-forward-to/" target="_blank">WordPress 3.6 — What To Look Forward To</a>. The adventurous WordPress user can grab the latest beta and run wild with it. The <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/" title="WordPress Beta Tester Plugin" target="_blank">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin is an easy way to get up and running. Install it today and you can jump in on test driving WordPress 3.6. </p>
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<li><a href='http://wpmu.org/daily-tip-use-the-wordpress-beta-testing-plugin-to-quickly-set-up-wp-3-0-beta/' rel='bookmark' title='Use the WordPress Beta Testing Plugin to Quickly Set Up WP 3.0 Beta'>Use the WordPress Beta Testing Plugin to Quickly Set Up WP 3.0 Beta</a> <small>This is a quick reminder that the WordPress Beta Tester...</small></li>
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</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>How To Put Jetpack Into Development Mode for Local WordPress Installs</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/how-to-put-jetpack-into-development-mode-for-local-wordpress-installs/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/how-to-put-jetpack-into-development-mode-for-local-wordpress-installs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:27:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah Gooding</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plugins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development mode]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jetpack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress localhost]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=112532</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Jetpack has a brand new feature for developers. ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><figure id="attachment_74322"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 326px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-2 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/jetpack.png" alt="A Year Later - Your Opinion on Jetpack" title="A Year Later - Your Opinion on Jetpack" width="326" height="222" class="size-full wp-image-74322" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">New Jetpack Feature: Development Mode</figcaption></div></div></figure>Jetpack doesn&#8217;t work unless it&#8217;s connected to WordPress.com. You may have run into this a time or two when attempting to work with Jetpack in a development environment. The latest <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/jetpack/changelog/" target="_blank">2.2.1 spring cleaning release</a> of the plugin includes a massive number of bug fixes. It also introduces a very useful new feature: <strong>Development Mode</strong>.</p>
<p>Jetpack&#8217;s Development Mode allows you to use features that don&#8217;t require a connection to WordPress.com so that you can use them in testing. Activate it by adding this define to your <em>wp-config.php</em> file:</p>
<div id="fvch-codeblock-0" class="fvch-codeblock">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="fvch-line-numbers">
<pre>1
</pre>
</td>
<td class="fvch-code">
<pre id="fvch-code-0"><span class="php"><span class="php-function">define</span><span class="php-brackets">(</span> <span class="php-string">'JETPACK_DEV_DEBUG'</span>, <span class="php-keyword">true</span><span class="php-brackets">)</span>;</span></pre>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p>This is very useful for when you want to test out new features on your dev install before pushing them to your production site. Just remember to remove the line if you move the dev site to the live environment.</p>
<p>Also new in Jetpack 2.2.1 is the ability to filter shortcodes and widgets. Check out the <a href="http://jetpack.me/2013/03/28/jetpack-dev-mode-release/" target="_blank">release notes</a> for more informaation.</p>
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</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>WordPress.tv Needs You!</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/wordpress-tv-needs-you/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/wordpress-tv-needs-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Mar 2013 03:49:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Harley Alexander</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[screencasts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress.tv]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=111524</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WordPress.tv is now accepting community submissions of screencasts and videos!]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://wordpress.tv/">WordPress.tv</a> has long been a great community resource for all WordPress related video.</p>
<p>That goes for screencasts, tutorials, guides, WordCamp presentations, and much more. At long last, they&#8217;ve turned to the community for help.</p>
<p>Yep! Now anybody can submit their WordPress screencasts, videos, interviews, reports, reviews and videocasts to WordPress.tv for the whole community learn and thrive from.</p>
<div class="image-grid cgrid-row">
<div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full-wide"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-111822" title="featured-wordpress.tv" src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/featured-wordpress.tv_.png" alt="" width="800" height="513" /></div>
</div>
<p>As with any good content aggregator, they&#8217;ve got some <a href="http://wptvblog.wordpress.com/submission-guidelines/">strict guidelines</a> for quality control, but I think it&#8217;s a good thing.</p>
<p>Why? Part of the reason our content is so beautiful here at WPMU.org is because we also have a <a href="http://wpmu.org/wpmu-org-style-guide/">strict style guide</a> for our writers. Every one of us has to run a check through the list to see we&#8217;ve checked everything off correctly.</p>
<p>The result is quality content every time. And I think that&#8217;s what WordPress.tv is going for with their guidelines.</p>
<p>To sum up their requirements, your video basically has to be</p>
<ul>
<li>High quality &#8212; crystal clear video and audio</li>
<li>Well edited &#8212; to keep the viewer engaged</li>
<li>Screencasts must be concise &#8212; no unnecessary waffling</li>
<li>Easy to follow &#8212; mouse and keyboard actions highlighted, textual cues easy to read</li>
<li>Use the most recent version of WordPress</li>
<li>Respect WordPress&#8217;s strict licensing and trademark policies</li>
<li>Only promote plugins/themes that are available on WordPress.org</li>
<li>Obviously &#8212; nothing offensive, violent, or crude</li>
</ul>
<p>In all fairness, that&#8217;s not hard to achieve. There is excellent screencast software out there to facilitate your video tutorials. If you are a good talker/presenter and know your stuff you should be OK.</p>
<p>If you want to get paid for your knowledge though, and prefer writing to talking, why not <a href="http://wpmu.org/write-for-us/">write for us</a>? We&#8217;ll even pay you $150 per article! You get great coverage too, with over 200,000 members and subscribers reading our blog daily.</p>
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</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>CISPA is Back: Protect Internet Freedom and Join the Protest on Your WordPress Blog</title>
		<link>http://wpmu.org/cispa-is-back-protect-internet-freedom-and-join-the-protest-on-your-wordpress-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://wpmu.org/cispa-is-back-protect-internet-freedom-and-join-the-protest-on-your-wordpress-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:50:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah Gooding</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CISPA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet defense league]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress cat signal plugin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress CISPA plugin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wpmu.org/?p=111805</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WordPress users have a new tool to help shut down this civil liberties nightmare. Find out how you can protest CISPA on your blog.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We defeated CISPA once before but it&#8217;s back and internet freedom is under attack again. The <a href="http://internetdefenseleague.org/" title="Internet Defense League" target="_blank">Internet Defense League</a> is an online activist group that has organized to help defend internet freedoms and make people aware of bills that threaten your right to privacy. They&#8217;ve put together a &#8220;<a href="http://members.internetdefenseleague.org/" target="_blank">Cat Signal</a>&#8220;, which coordinates a large number of websites to simultaneously display a notice to their users. This is done by embedding a bit of javascript on your site. When the Cat Signal goes out, your site is ready to join in the protest.</p>
<p><figure id="attachment_111810"  class="wp-caption alignnone wp-caption-large cgrid-row" style="width: 700px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/banner-772x2501.png" rel="lightbox[111805]" title="banner-772x250"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/banner-772x2501-700x226.png" alt="" title="banner-772x250" width="700" height="226" class="size-ratio-large wp-image-111810" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Get the Cat Signal</figcaption></div></figure><br />
<span id="more-111805"></span></p>
<h3>What is CISPA and why should I care?</h3>
<p>CISPA essentially gives federal agencies unlimited access to virtually any of your personal data and online communication without a warrant. Backers of the bill include AT&#038;T, Verizon, Facebook and Microsoft. The <a href="https://www.eff.org" target="_blank">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a> outlines a few of the more <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/03/week-action-opposing-cispa" target="_blank">objectionable provisions</a> included in CISPA:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Eviscerating existing privacy laws by giving overly broad legal immunity to companies who share users&#8217; private information, including the content of communications, with the government.</li>
<li>Authorizing companies to disclose users&#8217; data directly to the NSA, a military agency that operates secretly and without public accountability.</li>
<li>Broad definitions that allow users&#8217; sensitive personal information to be used for a range of purposes, including for &#8220;national security,&#8221; not just computer and network security.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>This affects all of us &#8211; whether you&#8217;re a blogger, online business owner, developer, or designer. CISPA is being promoted in the name of &#8220;cybersecurity&#8221;, but it has nothing to do with security. It&#8217;s nothing more than a government attempt to grasp at more power and rob you of your privacy. This is bad news for everyone, even if you&#8217;re not American.</p>
<h3>How To Add the Cat Signal to Your WordPress Site:</h3>
<p><figure id="attachment_111827"  class="wp-caption alignright wp-caption-right cgrid-row" style="width: 448px"><div class="cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-3 cgrid-col-right"><div class="cgrid-col-wide-right"><a href="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/screenshot-1.png" rel="lightbox[111805]" title="screenshot-1"><img src="http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/screenshot-1-448x374.png" alt="" title="screenshot-1" width="448" height="374" class="size-ratio-3-2 wp-image-111827" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Cat Signal modal window urges visitors to take action</figcaption></div></div></figure>WordPress users have a new tool to help shut down this civil liberties nightmare. If you don&#8217;t want to have to mess with the code in your theme&#8217;s templates, install the new <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cat-signal/" title="WordPress cat signal" target="_blank">Internet Defense League Cat Signal</a> plugin for WordPress. This plugin will automatically load either the modal window or the banner Cat Signal when there is an active campaign from the Internet Defense League. You can select between the two via the settings page.</p>
<p>The modal window will immediately capture your visitor&#8217;s attention and urge them to take action to stop legislation that violates your privacy on the internet. Adding it to your site spreads awareness and essentially makes you a part of the internet&#8217;s Emergency Broadcast System. The House is expected to vote on the bill in April, so right now is your chance to join in the protest and make sure this bill does not pass. </p>
<p>Many thanks to WordPress developer <a href="http://profiles.wordpress.org/jazzs3quence/" target="_blank">Chris Reynolds</a> for creating this plugin. You can download <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cat-signal/" title="WordPress cat signal" target="_blank">Internet Defense League Cat Signal</a> plugin for free from the WordPress plugin repository.</p>
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</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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