In case you somehow missed all the announcements posted all over the web not to mention all the different feeds listed in your admin panel, Wordpress has just announced the release of version 2.5.

In what is considered a major release, the folks over at Wordpress, among many feature additions/improvements, have done a lot to improve the backend including upgrading to TinyMCE 3.0 for better compatibility and HTML editing plus the admin area is now widget aware which will open up your blog’s backend to widget developers.

The upgrade doesn’t include any major database changes so in theory the upgrade should be somewhat painless and any plugins that rely on the database shouldn’t be affected but as always, back everything up and turn off all your plugins before starting the upgrade.

Download version 2.5 here and feel free to post you upgrade thoughts and or issues in the comments section when you are done.

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Lately I have become more and more diligent in enforcing certain submission requirements to the dismay of some that have been submitting. Despite what some might think, I am not having a bad day nor am I picking on anyone. With the recent crackdown by Google on directories, owners have had to become something more than just a place that provides webmasters with links or they face becoming irrelevant due to the dreaded Google penalty.

So what exactly does that mean? For one directories need to provide something useful for real users, and by that I mean those other than webmasters or bloggers. Before the latest Google “wild hair”, most directories rarely if ever provided a resource for the general browsing public. Webmasters submitted their sites and if they get some link juice from the directory they were happy, any visits received from a directory was a bonus that was normally not expected and rarely happened. The better directories have come to this realization and are now trying to be more than just a link farm.

What does that mean to those submitting here? As has been noticed by some, I am moving towards the DMOZ model of submission reviews. If you stuff your site title or description with keywords, you can guarantee it will be rejected immediately. Site descriptions must actually describe what your site is about, if by reading your description I am unable to determine what your blog discusses, It will be rejected.

Even given a good description and title, ensure you have some posting history. Nothing is more annoying to those looking for types of blogs than finding out about it here and clicking through to a dead link or going to a blog that hasn’t been updated since the Reagan administration. I have received a lot of complaints about that requirement but proving to me that you are serious about your blog by showing some history of updating it means that it will be less likely to turn into a dead link later on. That is also shown by those newer bloggers willing to submit as a featured listing which is why that requirement is waved for premium submitters. Lastly pick the most relevant category. Site users go to a category to find blogs that are relevant to what they are looking for, not for sites submitted to a category because it has page rank or is closer to the home page. Depending on my mood, sites submitted to the wrong category can also be rejected.

Finally I thought I would close with a comment on the benefit of upgrading to a featured listing. Besides the obvious of putting your site above all regular listings and the extra exposure generated by appearing randomly on our home page you also can submit your RSS feed. This feature gives your listing links to 5 more pages on your site along with the text from the article being linked to. As this site has matured, A much larger portion of the visitors are coming directly to the detail pages from search engines because of those post links. They then click through to your blog which if you think about it is what directories were supposed to do in the first place, get visitors to come to your site.

If all you are looking for is a link, feel free to submit your keyword spammed submission to the various directories. I am sure some if not many will accept them. If you want more, spend some time on your submission and write a description and title that would benefit someone looking to find what you offer. Those submissions are welcomed here.

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It’s not like bloggers have the greatest of reputations within the conventional media as it is, the latest stunt by a well know tech blog at the just completed Consumer Electronics Show surely won’t help things.

Gizmodo thought it would be funny to use a TV B Gone remote to shut down various displays on the show floor and during presentations. A lot of people put a lot of time and money into making CES go off without a hitch and Gizmodo single handedly destroyed all that work. And the people at CES have a hard enough job as it is without someone mucking up the works.

Of course the CEA wasn’t impressed by the stunt that at one point shut down the monitors in the middle of a presentation at the Motorola booth.

We have been informed of inappropriate behavior on the show floor by a credentialed media attendee from the Web site Gizmodo, owned by Gawker Media. Specifically, the Gizmodo staffer interfered with the exhibitor booth operations of numerous companies, including disrupting at least one press event. The Gizmodo staffer violated the terms of CES media credentials and caused harm to CES exhibitors. This Gizmodo staffer has been identified and will be barred from attending any future CES events. Additional sanctions against Gizmodo and Gawker Media are under discussion.

Looks like there might be an available pass for next year’s CES. Tech bloggers, the line forms to the right, just leave your pranks at home.

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