wptutor.com

And I’m not talking about the much talked about Wordpress 2.5

Stability

Running a blog, especially if it is professional, for a business, or simply just needs to be as robust as possible requires tried and tested software. Upgrading to the latest version of the older Wordpress 2.3 branch is a great way to ensure a stable and predictable blog.

New versions, like Wordpress 2.5 promise a lot, but are only in their infancy, even if it does just add to the previous code. The trouble with new code is that it is often not thoroughly tested. Or lets be a little more fair, there are always bugs that get through.

The older 2.3 branch benefits from being out there for a long time. Many bugs and security issues have been identified and fixed. Most of the potential issues have been sorted out.

Plugins

The 2.5 branch introduces a new interface for uploading and dealing with images and other media. This is a fantastic change which enhance the blogging process, making the management of pictures and movies so much easier. But it breaks a lot of plugins used to achieve certain specific tasks for images and movies, and there is a good chance that they will not work in the new interface. If the functionality is now built-in, which it might be with all the changes, then there is less to worry about. But if its not, then it will take time for the original plugin author to upgrade their plugin and get it compatible, so unless you can do it yourself, can pay someone to do it, or the plugin author is really on top of things, you’ll have to wait a while. That is not always feasible.

Best to wait

So, if you want predictability and  stability, stick with the 2.3 branch until the 2.5 version has been tested by the community for a while. Only jump right in if you are ready, or like to play around.