2.9 Release Video Feedback
Hi folks. I’m in the process of putting the 2.9 release video together. I’ve just posted a WIP over on the 2.9 page of the codex. If you have any thoughts on improvements, additions, things to remove, or any other suggestions I’d love to hear about them in the comments here. Preferably in the next… oh, 16 or 17 hours 
Thanks in advance!
Michael Pick, 
miqrogroove, 
Alex M. 8:15 am on December 17, 2009 Permalink |
Nit picking time!
The URL-on-it’s-own-line-turning-into-an-embed is enabled by default.
I’d move DailyMotion further up the list. I hear it’s fairly popular in Europe (France especially), so worth mentioning early.
Michael Pick 8:18 am on December 17, 2009 Permalink |
Cool – will “patch” accordingly. Nit picking most welcome!
Mark Jaquith 10:19 am on December 17, 2009 Permalink |
“So for example [...]” → “For example [...]” Three sentences start with “So” and this one works least well.
Michael Pick 10:30 am on December 17, 2009 Permalink |
Well spotted – one of my many crimes against grammar. Fix in the works
Shane 6:09 pm on December 17, 2009 Permalink |
Also that MySQL min requirement is at 4.1.2 for stand-alone installations.
Michael Pick 12:33 am on December 18, 2009 Permalink |
Thanks Shane. I think it might be worth pointing viewers to the technical requirements directly, rather than trying to fit them into the brief overview. It has the danger of slightly breaking the flow if we get into too many of the finer points. On average the release videos bring in 1million+ views, and I’m not sure what percentage of those are people with the technical knowledge to appreciate the technical details, however important they are. I’d opt for adding a pointer to the technical requirements in there to cover this one. Anyone else have any thoughts?
miqrogroove 6:36 pm on December 18, 2009 Permalink
Pointing out the SQL change is a big deal, even from a non-technical perspective. MySQL 4.0 is a dinosaur whose database language is incompatible with all newer versions. Except for the simplest of code, this new 4.1 requirement lifts a major hindrance to compatibility and efficient development. It’s like the PHP5 of the database world. It’s great for developers. It’s a mixed blessing for anyone running MySQL 4.0.
Michael Pick 2:44 am on December 19, 2009 Permalink
@microgroove – I understand your concerns, but would still contend that an overview “headlines” type release video isn’t the place to list technical specifications or issue installation caveats & warnings. If the MySQL requirement update does prove to be an important issue I’m sure it will be noted in the installation documentation and on the download page, which seem like more appropriate places.
That said, I did add a pointer to the technical specifications in the final version (now nearing the end of production) in addition to further reference to the many fixes and additions in 2.9 that you mentioned below. You can see the final script, including these ammendments, over on the 2.9 Codex page. Thanks for your input!
miqrogroove 7:20 pm on December 17, 2009 Permalink |
It looks great for a video about new features. Unfortunately, those new features pale in comparison to the list of bugs that went unresolved until version 2.9. Some of my favorites:
#9471 All media uploads were orphaned unless “Save Draft” came first.
#10004 Auto-saved posts had wrong username.
#10326 Google rejected feeds due to UTF-8 corruption.
#11129 Dashboard configuration broken in Internet Explorer.
#11289 Logout caused Internal Server Error.
Fixing those is a great accomplishment, of course. You might consider mentioning that several major bugs were fixed in the Media department. It sounds a bit more reassuring than, “We’re adding all sorts of doodads on top of what you already have.”
Michael Pick 12:40 am on December 18, 2009 Permalink |
I agree, miqrogroove, that a lot of the most important changes version to version are the less glamorous (but totally essential) fixes. The key thing with the video is to give a very brief, blog-embed friendly overview that complements the richer details in the release post, and what a lot of blogger’s choose to write about is “what’s new”. That said, I think more of a hat tip to the work here is definitely worth adding, even if it means pointing out to the finer details elsewhere. I’ll have a crack at working this in. Thanks!