WordPress 2.1 Release Candidate 1

After several rounds of beta releases, Release Candidate 1 of WordPress 2.1 is available. Download it here.

2.1 has been too long in coming, but the wait is almost over. 2.1 is chock full of changes ranging from code reorganization and lots of new API to some cool new user features. We also tuned up our database queries a bit to improve speed and cachability. These tuneups required changing the database schema, which might break some plugins that do raw DB queries instead of using API. For this reason, we’ve been compiling a plugin compatibility list.

If you decide to try out the Release Candidate, please back up your database before upgrading. With a backup of your 2.0.x database you will be able to revert if RC1 does not work out for you. Once WordPress upgrades your database to 2.1, you cannot go back to your 2.0.x database unless you restore it from a backup. Caveat emptor.

You can give feedback on RC1 via the Testers Mailing List, the Beta Forum, or by commenting on this post.

As we’ve worked to bring 2.1 to a close, we’ve been thinking ahead to 2.2. With 2.2 in mind we solicited your ideas a week ago. We’d like to work some of the most popular feature requests into 2.2. Some great ideas have already been put forth, and I look forward to working on them.

2.2 will also mark a change in how we manage releases. We want to avoid doing another 2.1 that takes a year to release. 2.1 took too long because we got greedy with what we wanted to put in it. Changes kept creeping in. With 2.2 we’re going to start doing time based releases. We’re going to try to do a release every four months and limit the scope of the changes to what we can realistically achieve within that timeframe. The goal is to get cool new features into user’s hands more often instead of saving them up for the one big release every year. This also makes development seem more active to those who aren’t hanging out on the mailing lists and IRC channels.

While working on 2.2, we will continue to maintain 2.0.x and will begin 2.1.x maintenance. Expect to see 2.0 and 2.1 releases for years to come.

Get ready for 2.1. I hope you like it.

72 thoughts on “WordPress 2.1 Release Candidate 1

  1. When upgrading from 2.0.4 to 2.1RC1, I got a lot of MySQL errors. I’ve posted them on wp-testers, but since I am in a hurry, I ask here as well…

    WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax near ‘.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND (post_type = ‘post’ AND (post_status = ‘publish’ at line 1]
    SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND (post_type = ‘post’ AND (post_status = ‘publish’ OR post_status = ‘private’)) ORDER BY post_date DESC LIMIT 0, 10

    WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax near ‘()’ at line 1]
    SELECT FOUND_ROWS()

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  3. So there’s going to be a split, with two different branches of WP available? Are both going to be available for download, or is it just maintenance for the sake of slow plugin/theme authors?

  4. Hooray! We’re almost there 🙂

    I must admit that I have been living on the edge by not upgrading my blog with the latest security upgrades because I was waiting for 2.1. (I know, stupid, but I just don’t have the time…)

    Now it seems that very soon I can upgrade to 2.1 and I am very exited about it!

  5. Just upgraded Devlounge to the 2.1 RC1 beta without a hitch, except one minor annoyance. All my plugins work, including iG Syntax Highlighter which I use for displaying code examples in articles. When I re-added the quicktag codes for iGsh into the quicktags.js file, none of them show up. Any ideas?

  6. I have to admit i did the upgrade and got some major sql errors.

    WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax near ‘.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND (post_type = ‘post’ AND (post_status = ‘publish’ at line 1]
    SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND (post_type = ‘post’ AND (post_status = ‘publish’ OR post_status = ‘future’ OR post_status = ‘draft’ OR post_status = ‘private’)) ORDER BY post_date DESC LIMIT 0, 15

    WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax near ‘()’ at line 1]
    SELECT FOUND_ROWS()

    Hopin there is an easy way to fix this one up 😉

  7. Upgrading from 2.0.7 to 2.1 RC1 seemed to go smoothly, the only hiccup being an apparent switch from wp_listcats() to wp_listcategories() messing up my display till I sorted out the new tag. Thanks!

  8. Thanks for the help on the WP forums Ryan. I figured it had to do with the compress quicktags.js file. I’ll probably just wait for RC2, since at the rate you guys have been releasing it’ll probably be tomorrow or Sat 🙂

    Keep up the great work.

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  12. This is great news Ryan. I’m very much looking forward to 2.1!

    I think it’s great to have the release cycle roughly every 4 months. It gives us a chance to plan for updates, especially those of us with a few WordPress installations to manage.

    What would be even better is an internet-based updater that downloads the files required to update WP direct to the web server. I think the Simple Machines forum does something like this.

  13. I noticed this with 2.1 RC1 and again with RC2. Any
    defined page shows up as a normal post in the Archives section, too. I’m using the KG Archives plugin.

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  16. @Everton Blair
    did you find what you are looking for.
    is there a way to control the size of the thumbnails created by the wordpress or is there any plugin available for this .

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