The AWSOM Archive plugin for Wordpress (formerly called the AWSOM Drop Down Archive) has been updated to version 1.2.2 and is available for download from it’s product page at AWSOM.org. This is a minor update which fixes an admin area typo and add in full XHTML compliance.

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The AWSOM News Announcement plugin for Wordpress has been updated to version 1.3.2 and is now available for download from it’s product page. This new version of the plugin is a minor release that has been revised to allow for full XHTML compliance.

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I am always excited to see new Open Source web package development, and none more so than Ecommerce solutions. I’m really excited about a new system I discovered recently called Magento Commerce. I haven’t had much time to fully evaluate it, but from what I can see, these guys are building a really super store website system. It looks just as good as any professional online store, with all of the features you’d expect. The fact that you’d normally have to pay a ton of money to get something like this developed, and this is open source and free, is spectacular.

The only lingering questions are how secure this program is, how easy it is to work with, and how difficult it is to upgrade it. But all I can say is if you have been struggling with OSCommerce or any of those other free store site programs, I’d suggest taking a look at this one.

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I often go on the Wordpress.org forum and try to answer help questions from users who are having problems with their install. In many cases the problem is easily solved by knowing a small amount of information–but it’s usually true that most users do not know the most basic information about their setups. In general, anyone who is setting up a Wordpress website should know the following information:

• The Version of Wordpress they have installed
• They Type of Server they are using (Linux, Windows, Solaris, etc.)
• The Version number of PHP (the programming language Wordpress is written in) that is running on their server
• The Version number of MySQL (the database system typically used by Wordpress) that is running on their server

It’s also good to know generally what version number your theme is and all of the plugins you have active in your install. This very basic information can usually diagnose many of the most common problems with Wordpress. The most common issues of aberrant behavior stem from out of date versions of the above items.

In my experience it is best to have at least PHP 4.2.2, MySQL 4.1.x, and Wordpress 2.0.11 running. Using a Linux server also seems to cut down on the possible problems that can exist, since Wordpress was specifically developed with that type of server.

If you are having a problem it’s best to post your install information immediately so others can work with all of the facts, in many cases your problem can be resolved within hours. (Oh, and always remember to post a link to the page/site that is not working, it’s always best if we can see what the problem looks like directly.)

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