I’ve been on the mailing list for the WordPress development group for a while, now.  It’s just nice watching things come together and seeing the kinks get worked out, even if I’m not really in a position to help out like I’d like to.

Anyway, I thought I’d let folks know, especially in the Rochester/New York Lefty Blogs community, that if you’re using WordPress you can expect an upgrade to show up soon.  Collectively, it includes a bunch of bug fixes from the previous versions plus support for newer versions of PHP.  Call it a straightening-up of code, but it’s important stuff for those of us interested in maintaining our site’s security.

I believe that they’re heading in the direction of including automatic detection and upgrade of plugin updates from the Dashboard.  Those of you using FireFox know what a convenience this can be, and occasionally what a nuisance.  This will likely remain true in WordPress, I suspect, especially since so many plugin writers are amatures.  At the same time, it’s nice to know when stable plugins get updated so you’re sure you’ve got the latest and greatest.

So, while I usually council caution with upgrading software, I would say where WordPress is concerned it’s best to grab the upgrades as they happen.  The community is pretty diligent about case-hardening the latest release such that it should be at least secure most of the time.  At least, most of the time, but there are always exceptional circumstances.

So, as always, back up your database, your files and shut off your plugins.   Get updated, because the scuttlebutt is that there won’t really be much in the way of support for 2.1.x once 2.2 is in effect.