Matt of Wordpress.org has just announced that Version 2.6 of WordPress is now available for download, almost a month ahead schedule. Version 2.6, codenamed “Tyner” (named for jazz pianist McCoy Tyner), contains a number of new features that make WordPress a more powerful Content Management System (CMS).

With 2.6 you can now track changes to every post and page and easily post from wherever you are on the web, plus there are lots of other improvements to the features introduced in the previous version 2.5. To see all the new features visit Matt’s post on WordPress.org’s Development Blog.

You can download this new 2.6 version of WordPress from the Wordpress.org download site.

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Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

FLV Embed is a super WordPress plugin made to simplify the process of adding Flash videos (FLV’s) into your blog by using Jeroen’s FLV Player. For information about encoding videos into FLV and why you should use FLV, Jeroen has written an excellent article which you can find on his website.

The FLV Embed’s main features are its ease of installation and a no bells and whistles approach to getting this plugin to display FLV files instantly on your blog!

Plugin Features

• uses simple, intuitive tags to generate Flash video (FLV) movies for your posts
• supports video sitemap generation
• standards compliant: valid XHTML
• many options are configurable, such as autostart, show/hide control bar, player colour, poster image, full screen button etc.
• highly interactive admin option panel for player configuration
• supports text only output for RSS that prompt readers to visit the original post for Flash content
• supports outputting poster image for RSS if desired
• accessibility: requires Javascript to display FLV player, but will prompt user to enable Javascript when disabled
• accessibility: prompt user to download latest Flash player if it is not installed or too old
• accessibility: no annoying “click to activate” for IE users

Installation

1. Download the plugin from FLV Embed
2. Extract to the “flv-embed” folder
3. Upload the “flv-embed” folder to your WordPress plugin directory, usually “wp-content/plugins”
4. Activate the plugin in your WordPress admin panel

Usage

The great thing about this plugin is it uses one universal, standard tag style, which is;

[ flv:url width height] (remove space before flv when using it yourself!)

• url - the URL of the FLV file you want to embed, the path can either be site relative or absolute
• width - width of the FLV movie
• height - height of the FLV movie

Jeroen’s FLV Player also supports the use of poster frames or clip preview frames so that you can use a single still image from anywhere in the FLV video and have it display automatically once the flash player is loaded. (For an example of this see the video at the start of this post.)

A great time-saver when using this plugin is that if you upload an FLV and JPG image and they both have the same name, e.g. demo.flv and demo.jpg, it means you can still use the short bit of code above and it will automatically display the JPG as the preview picture for the video clip. Very Nice!

Download

You can download the FLV Embed plugin 1.0 for WordPress and try it out for yourself here.

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There is no doubt that the All In One SEO Pack for WordPress is the ultimate SEO Plugin that you have been waiting for. The plugin has undergone many updates since I first blogged about the benefits of this plugin in a previous post and it just keeps on getting better and better!

I love it!

Because this plugin has been updated so often, there has been a small bit of confusion about the exact download location for it. The latest version of the plugin can be downloaded from here, and it is well worth checking the creators blog page here; All In One SEO Pack for WordPress, which features the latest news about updated versions.

Video Tutorial

And now Tubetorial has just released a new All In One SEO Pack Video Tutorial about this great plugin. The video is Part 1 of a brand new 7-Part series called “7 Must Have Killer Plugins”. I would definitely agreed that the All In One SEO Pack should be first and the tutorial is sure to be of use to those that may be discovering this plugin for the first time, or even those that have been using it for a while and would just like to see what new features have been added recently. A great tutorial and I’m already looking forward to the other 6 videos in this series.

The Tubetorial All In SEO Pack Video Tutorial can be viewed here.

Plugin Download

To download the latest version of the All in One SEO Pack plugin please visit here.

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If you would like to show video on your blog in the style of Google Video or YouTube then the new Wordpress plugin WordTube by Alex Rabe is for you. Alex has done a great job in creating this plugin as it makes the process of adding and managing media files such as Videos, MP3s and even pictures very easy. This plugin can transform your blog into a complete Media Center if you wanted to!

WordTube supports the following;

• streaming Video formats .flv and .swf,
• sound files such as MP3
• and also JPG, GIF or PNG picture files.

With WordTube activated in your plugins admin area, you simply insert the tag [MEDIA=ID] into your blog to have it displayed. You can also add a playlist of files when you use the [MYPLAYLIST] tag. You don’t need to change the WYSIWYG mode or have special HTML knowledge to insert such a tag. You can show a single media file (i.e. a flv video) or a playlist of all your media files.

How To Encode A Flash Video

There are several ways to encode your videos so that the can be streamed using the WordTube plugin. You can use the Macromedia (now Adobe) Flash Video Encoder (included in the Stanard installation) or the free version of RIVA FLV Encoder. It’s really easy to encode your Mpeg,Avi or whatever into a flash video (the FLV format).

Installation

Unpack the zip file and upload the folder to your Wordpress plugins folder. You will also need the free (for personal use) Flash Media Player plugin from Jeroen Wijering. Download the player from the website and upload the file mediaplayer.swf into the WordTube plugin folder. If you would like to have the Equalizer displayed for MP3s then download the Flash MP3 Player as well. The plugins can now be activated.

Uploading Media Files

You can upload your media files via the Manage->Media Center Upload form or you can manually upload to your blog and select the URL to the file. The file you want to play doesn’t need to be on your server. Note for streaming videos; The Flash player will not show a thumbnail preview so you will need to upload a image thumbnail file. After uploading you can insert the tag [MEDIA=ID] or you show the playlist with the tag [MYPLAYLIST] in your blog.

Download

To have your blog transformed into a very flexible Media Center using the WordTube Wordpress plugin please visit the following sites to download the required plugins;

• WordTube Plugin by Alex Rabe.
• Flash Media Player and Flash MP3 Player by Jeroen Wijering

Have Fun!!

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