As with each WordPress point release there is quite a list of bug fixes and new features introduced so I will highlight a few that I’m most interested in. So without further ado, let’s kick things off…

• Improved performance for script loading
• Use SimplePie for widget and dashboard feeds
• Allow the dashboard widgets to be arranged in up to four columns as set via the Screen Options tab
• Improved database performance
• Autosave post/page when pressing Control/Command+S
• Don’t ask for confirmation when marking a comment as spam

Then there are features that didn’t make it into the WordPress 2.7 release that I would like to see included with WordPress 2.8:

• Better UI for post revisions, maybe an optional field to say what changed in a version
• Method for uploading and installing themes directly in the WordPress UI

You can see a complete list of the new features that WordPress 2.8 brings over at WordPress.org

Is there anything missing from the list that you were hoping for?

This is all well and good but what if you would like multiple blogs all under one WordPress installation, the regular WordPress software isn’t going to cut it, it simply isn’t designed for this purpose. Step in WordPress MU!

WordPress MU (aka WordPress Multi-User or WordPress µ) is the big brother of WordPress, sharing  around 95% of the codebase but with some extra code in place to allow the blogging platform to scale and host multiple blogs. Multiple blogs you say, what are we talking here, 5…10…100? Given sufficient hardware the sky’s the limit. Put it this way, if it works for WordPress.com’s approximately 2.3 million blogs then chances are it can handle whatever you might throw at it!

The great thing is that anyone who has used WordPress before will instantly be at home with a blog hosted on a WordPress MU installation. Each blog can have its own theme and plugins installed just as a regular WordPress installation can, the only limitation here is that some plugins which create their own databases tables or modify core WP tables may not work. Each individual blog can make use of a subdomain or have its own domain pointed at it, WordPress MU is incredibly flexible.

So if you’re looking to build your own blog network and are an experienced user of WordPress then WordPress MU is likely the perfect solution, give it a try.

Unless you’ve been asleep over the past year you’ll be aware that Twitter is becoming big news and it seems everyone wants a piece of the action. I recently discovered that there is now a Twitter widget available to place on your Netvibes page. With this in place you can keep an eye on what your friends are up to on Twitter and update your own Twitter status right from your Netvibes page.

It’s a handy little tool and well worth checking out if you’re a user of both Netvibes and Twitter. Something that might not be immediately obvious is that by adding multiple widgets to your page you can actually manage several Twitter accounts all in one place, very handy for those with multiple Twitter personality disorder!

You can find more details and check it out on the Netvibes blog.

It seems that the Ryanair staff didn’t take too kindly to Jason exposing the less than perfect session management on the Ryanair ticket booking website which resulted in him being shown total flight costs of 0.00 EUR. Amongst the verbal attacks directed at Jason is a swing at the WordPress platform too, all good clean fun and the comments section on Jason’s post makes for a good read.

Related items:

• Ryanair plans to cut all airport check-in desks — will others follow?
• Ryanair claims Thomas Cook overcharged customers

What could possibly me more convoluted than a WordPress blog hosted on WordPress.com that talks about things to do with WordPress? You know it’s so mad that it might just work out ok.

So what can you expect to see here? For the largest part it will no doubt come down to themes, plugins and widgets that catch my eye but expect to see some more general WordPress and blogging topics covered too.