Our approach with WordPress has always been to make it run on common server configurations. We want users to have flexibility when choosing a host for their precious content. Because of this strategy, WordPress runs pretty much anywhere. Web hosting platforms, however, change over time, and we occasionally are able to reevaluate some of the… read the rest

Now if your looking for host that will accommodate what WordPress is doing, HostGator is by far the best choice. We have been using them for years and you will not find a hosting provider that gives support and reliability these guys do. Hands down. Click the banner below to see what they offer!

For a more comprehensive look at everything that has improved in 3.0 check out 3.0′s Codex page or thelong list of issues in Trac. (We’re trying to keep these announcement posts shorter.) Whew! That’s a lot packed into one release. I can’t think of a better way to kick off the 3.X cycle we’ll be in for the next two and a half years.

The Future

Normally this is where I’d say we’re about to start work on 3.1, but we’re actually not. We’re going to take a release cycle off to focus on all of the things around WordPress. The growth of the community has been breathtaking, including over 10.3 million downloads of version 2.9, but so much of our effort has been focused on the core software it hasn’t left much time for anything else. Over the next three months we’re going to split into ninja/pirate teams focused on different areas of the around-WordPress experience, including the showcase, Codex, forums, profiles, update and compatibility APIs, theme directory, plugin directory, mailing lists, core plugins, wordcamp.org… the possibilities are endless. The goal of the teams isn’t going to be to make things perfect all at once, just better than they are today. We think this investment of time will give us a much stronger infrastructure to grow WordPress.org for the many tens of millions of users that will join us during the 3.X release cycle.

It Takes a Village

I’m proud to acknowledge the contributions of the following 218 people to the 3.0 release cycle. These are the folks that make WordPress what it is, whose collaboration and hard work enable us to build something greater than the sum of our parts. In alphabetical order, of course.

Free WordPress Themes:

One of the biggest advantages of using a free WordPress theme is, obviously, the cost. It’s hard to beat ‘FREE’. However, many free WordPress sites are not always laid out or function well for your website’s purpose. You may want to hire a designer to alter the theme you choose to better fit your brand and/or business objectives.

Below are links to three sites with free themes that are better than most.

• WordPress Themes Base
• Free WordPress Themes
• Smashing Magazine

Premium Themes:

If you’re looking for a more professional and feature-rich theme, then a premium WordPress theme is what you’re looking for! Premium themes, which usually run under $200.00, have, in most cases, a much more robust and graphically superior look than most free themes. Many premium themes we work with have significantly more features and options than free themes. Most premium themes need just your logo and slight color change and you are ready to go.

• Woo Themes
• Elegant Themes
• Theme Forest
• Solo Stream
• Studio Press
• Organic Themes

A challenge we have discovered when using a premium theme is they are usually designed to display a lot of content, especially on the home page. Many themes will have numerous “pods” on the home page to display short snippets of articles, photos, video, social buttons and RSS feeds – just to name a few. If your site is not content heavy, look though the premium themes and find one that is not so rich in front page content.
Below are some examples of premium themes we have used frequently in the past 12 months:

Metro Premium Theme

Magazine Premium Theme

Education Premium Theme

Church Premium Theme

Chrome Premium Theme

Allure Premium Theme