WordPress Update Makes it a Content Management Contender

WordPress, the popular open-source content management system system, has received a significant update. The program was already popular with many companies because of its built-in support for web standards, ping notifications, comments and more. WordPress 2.0 adds many features that make it a more powerful content management system, especially for companies that want to maintain sites with multiple levels of users.



All in all, WordPress 2.0 is a major upgrade that makes it a powerful tool for companies that want a web-based content management system that supports web standards.



The new version of WordPress has a very easy installation. You need to have a database created and know the database name, user name and password. Then you download WordPress, copy it to your server, and edit a text file to let the program know how to connect to your database. Finally, you run the installer script, which sets up the WordPress database. The install is impressively quick and easy.



Here's a rundown of the features in WordPress 2.0 that will be useful for ebusiness publishing.



User Roles - Every user in WordPress now has a role that determines their access and rights within the application. Users' rights are managed by assignment to roles; rights are determined by the roles themselves. For example, you can let a role create new articles, but not publish it, and then have a second role be allowed to review and publish the new content.



Import - The import process has been updated to make it easier to import content from other content management systems. When importing, you can assign articles to specific users.



WYSIWYG editing - The post editor is designed to let you see what an article will look like as you edit it. It's a nice addition, because it gives you an idea of what the content portion of your pages will look like. It can be disabled for users that want to see their code, too.



Post preview - While the WYSIWYG editor is convenient, it doesn't show you exactly how articles will be displayed in your pages. The preview now puts the article in the context of your page, with the same layout and style sheets that it will be published with.



Theme abstraction - WordPress abstracts the "look" of your site from the content. Version 2 extends this capability, letting you change "Themes" on the fly. This separation of content from presentation will make it easier to test and update the look of sites. For example, you could use a test installation to try out various changes to a site's look. Once the look has been finalized, the theme can be copied to the production installation. Within the admin interface, the theme can easily be activated, instantly changing the look of the entire site.

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