We’ve implemented a fix in trunk for the XML RPC issue some WordPress app users have experienced. I’m looking for volunteers who have had that problem (not being able to add a blog and getting an XML-RPC type error).

What I need to do is test the fix to be sure I’ve caught any edge cases. This means either A) temporary access to your blog with at least Author-level permission, or B) for you to run the simulator with the latest code.

If you have an iPhone and would like to help them out, you can get more info at the original post, or the related forum post on the WP for iPhone forum.

To prove those points wrong and show you that Wordpress can be used for serious projects that can go big scale, we are highlighting the most popular brands that are using Wordpress.

If you are a business, or a company trying to convince a business to use WordPress, here is a great post to point them to regarding how useful the platform is. If it is good enough for Fortune 500 companies, isn’t it good enough for you?

Here’s what they have to say about how things are going so far…

We have 18 plugins announced so far for the competition, with at least five posts in draft stage (so at least five other plugins waiting to be posted). If you have written a plugin since the start of the competition (1st of May) and are looking for some more exposure for you and/or your plugin, read through the rules, signup on the plugin competition blog and post your plugins.

If you did not know this already, there is over $3000 in cold hard cash to be won in the competition! Generous donations made by WPMUDev, BuySellAds, WPWebHost, White Shadow and Ozh have made the awesome prize pool for the competition a reality. Thank you to all the sponsors, developers and authors for helping us make this event a reality.

Sounds like some fun stuff will be coming out of this contest. Should be very interesting to see how this pans out and what sort of creative plugins gets developed (whether they are the winner or not).

There’s still time to get in on the contest if you’re a plugin developer, but only weeks. Better get to it!

Here’s a bit to get you started from the first step…

First Step: Killer Articles (1 hour per day)

Spend one hour brainstorming, researching and writing killer articles (also called linkbaits, pillar articles and so on).

Notice that your goal is to release one killer article every week. If that is not possible for one every 15 days. So the one hour that you will spend every day will be dedicated to the same piece. In other words, expect killers articles to take from 5 up to 10 hours of work.

It goes into a fair bit of detail on each step, and comes complete with examples to get the creative juices flowing. If you are looking to expand your reach a bit, or just need some fresh ideas to move your blog into the future, this would be a good place to start.

As one of the top fifty affiliate networks in Website Magazine, Logical Media has reached a standard of customer service that many affiliate sites are simply unable to attain. Through the use of excellent placed ads, customer service and daily updates throughout the ads which are placed on the website, there are many reasons that you should consider Logical Media for marketing that can begin to earn you money from the moment you begin using the program.

With the added incentive that bloggers are equipped with, to earn twenty five dollars for signing up for the service, the blogger can begin to make money right away. With many other services, it seems that you are waiting weeks and even months for money to accrue within the account. However, with the instant twenty five dollars, just for signing up – you can begin to see an immediate profit!

With an easy to set-up and user-friendly interface, you can be up and running within a matter of minutes. Through the information which is provided and targeted keywords, ads will be developed that will be suited to your blog, your readers and your genre.

There are many other services which are offered to bloggers, in addition to the paid ad placement that can be taken advantage of throughout the blog. Through the use of valuable referral programs, in which the referrer can earn up to five percent through each referral and the real-time reports which the blogger will have access to, there are many ways that the blogger can learn to better the site – All while getting paid!

There are very few other paid ad placement companies that offer a high sign-up bonus. With the twenty five dollars that is offered to new customers you can begin to see your account move upward, through each click which is made on the ads placed within the blog. Are you seeking a program that enables you to track these movements in real time, while making real money? If this is the kind of program that you think would work for you, consider Logical Media, as the services offered are one of the many reasons more bloggers are choosing the company.

When it is time to get paid, bloggers always get paid on time, and the right amount. Through the use of intricate bookkeeping, bloggers are kept happy with accurate payments, regular payments and a variety of methods which are used to complete payments to bloggers that have signed up for the program. A reliable way to monetize your blog, more and more bloggers are choosing Logical Media.

The main focus of WordPress 2.9 will be on it’s media features, and they are looking for input on what the community thinks are the most important things they need to be working on via a survey that you can take right here.

There are 11 features listed in the poll, which are…

# Photostream
# Post Thumbnails
# Media Metadata
# Additional Media Filters
# Basic Image Editing
# Easier Embeds
# Revised Media UI
# Better Media Settings
# Bulk Media Import API
# Media Albums
# Custom Image Sizes

So if you have a minute to spare, and an interest in seeing any of those features pushed hard in WordPress 2.9, take a moment to take the survey.

Here’s just a sample of changes since 2.8.0…

# Dashboard memory usage is reduced. Some people were running out of memory when loading the dashboard, resulting in an incomplete page.
# The automatic upgrade no longer accidentally deletes files when cleaning up from a failed upgrade.
# A problem where the rich text editor wasn’t being loaded due to compression issues has been worked around.
# Upload error messages are now correctly reported.
# Autosave error experienced by some IE users is fixed.
# Styling glitch in the plugin editor fixed.

You can also view ALL of the changes here on their trac system, and it’s a pretty long list.

Check it out below or at WordPress.tv

The article includes a bunch of information about CDN’s (including the definition you’re about to read, so don’t worry if you’re lost), and why you should probably be using one if you don’t hate your readers.

Here’s a tidbit from the post to get you started…

CDN stands for Content Delivery Network or Content Distribution Network. Basically, it’s a bunch of highly optimized servers all across the world, with a bit of unique logic worked into them: you’ll always hit the server that’s closest to you. This leads to huge performance improvements for sites that have visitors from all across the world, like this one.

My images were coming from the US, which was better for like 50% of my readers but pretty slow for a lot of my European readers (about 35% of my readers are European). Now, for them, these images can come from the CDNs servers in London, Amsterdam or Frankfurt, whichever is closest to them.

If you’ve got readers from all over the place, a CDN is likely a very good idea if you can afford it (it’s surprisingly affordable usually). Yoast.com is claiming a 3x (or more) increase in load speeds for most readers, and that adds up pretty fast if the site gets a lot of traffic.

Definitely something that every budding blogger should look into.

Take a look at all the fixes in 2.8.1 (warning: it’s a list of closed tickets in Trac, viewing this list may put your sanity at risk, but it’s worth it if you’re into the nitty-gritty of how WordPress works).