This journal is now upgraded to WordPress version 2.3, for good or for ill. This upgrade required a few behind-the-scenes changes so I took advantage of this opportunity to do a little “out with the old, in with the new” action.

The Old: I wasn’t using the Timeline at all, and only rarely did I update my Status page. The plugins which made those pages work aren’t fully compatible with 2.3 so I ditched them. Since I was already on a housekeeping binge, I made the Technorati widget go away (you could count the referrals I received from them on the fingers of one hand) and removed some of the old themes & plugins that I was never going to use again anyway.

The New: Tagging. I don’t think I’m going to go through my back catalog of nearly-1800 posts to add tags, but I can add new tags as I go and as I find the need to touch up an older posting.

The Unchanged: I was going to spring a new theme on you, but I couldn’t find one that didn’t annoy me in one important aspect or another. I think in the long run it’ll have turned out wise to just plug new code revisions into this theme just as I’ve done with the WordPress 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 upgrades. This upgrade was infinitely less annoying than the last one, at least.

The Linkage: If you’re going to retrofit an existing theme, you should absolutely pick up the Advanced Tag Entry plugin and the Configurable Tag Cloud widget plugin. With Advanced Tag Entry, you actually get to manage the tags you’re using on each of the posts. The default WordPress 2.3 installation provides no meaningful control over existing tags whatsoever, and ATE remedies that handily. The Configurable Tag Cloud, meanwhile, gives you the sidebar widget we should have been given with the stock WordPress install in the first place. Get it, use it, love it.

Well, this took a bit longer than I originally expected. I guess I’ll have to work on my long-overdue image manipulation projects later this week, eh? (There’s a gallery to fill with pictures from the coast trip, there are banner images to craft for both of the forums…)

This would seem to be the year during which I resurrect departed forum communities. First I created AEIOU to give former ABM denizens a new home. Now, in the spirit of Pool, I present Pond.

One of them is populated by anime geeks. The other is just run by an anime geek. I apply the same standards of behavior to both, however: Comport yourself respectfully, communicate in complete words and sentences. That’s all I really ask…

I suppose there are worse things I could be doing with this space than to highlight amusing webcomics I’ve been reading lately, right?

First, one for the rugrats: While VG Cats is often tasteless, disturbing and generally Not Appropriate For Children, occasionally there’s an entry that I can share with anybody. Under this heading I present Exhibit P, for “Pokemans.” Having played the original Red, Blue and Yellow versions, it’s nice to see that very little has changed over the years. (To understand the reference in the comic’s title I direct your attention to Exhibit M, for “Cat Macros.”)

Next, one for the Sci-Fi geeks, especially those who also don’t care for door-to-door proselytizers: Home On The Strange has a pair of delightful entries (#211 and #212) up this week showcasing the debate on whether Jesus Christ or the last of the Timelords makes a better saviour. (I’d tell you my favorite line from the two strips, but that’d be giving away the punchline.)

There you go. My work here is done, at least for now. (Oh, if only my work week was done…)