WordPress News Roundup September 2008: Automattic Acquires IntenseDebate as WordPress 2.6.2 Patches Security Flaws

September 2008 mixed a security release, an acquisition and a burst of global community activity. WordPress 2.6.2 shipped on September 8 to address issues raised by security researcher Stefan Esser. Two weeks later Automattic announced it was acquiring the comment platform IntenseDebate. In between, the core team began asking users to vote on the layout of the upcoming WordPress 2.7, and WordCamps took place on three continents.

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Investments

• Automattic acquires IntenseDebate: On September 23, Matt Mullenweg announced in “Intense Debate Goes Automattic” that the company was acquiring the hosted comment system. IntenseDebate would stay an independent, platform-agnostic service like Akismet, while its ideas fed into WordPress core, WordPress.com and Gravatar. Mullenweg noted that WordPress.com was receiving about three legitimate comments every second. Terms were not disclosed.

WordPress Core Updates

• WordPress 2.6.2 (September 8): A security release addressing SQL column truncation and the weakness of PHP’s mt_rand() random number function.
• 2.7 navigation survey (September 15): With 2.7 in development and a revised layout featuring a left-hand navigation column, the team asked users to vote on navigation options.
• Second 2.7 survey (September 28): A follow-up survey asked where the search box, a favourites menu for common actions like adding a post, and future-publishing controls should go.

Other WordPress News

• WordCamps in China: Mullenweg travelled to WordCamp Shanghai and a Beijing event in mid-September.
• A WordCamp weekend: The weekend of September 27–28 brought WordCamps in Portland, Salt Lake City, Vancouver and Birmingham, England, as Mullenweg noted in “WordCamp Weekend”.
• Carrington launches: Alex King announced the Carrington theme framework at WordCamp Utah.
• High-profile switchers: Mark Cuban, Jason Calacanis, Hackaday and the Royal Navy all had WordPress-powered blogs, the first three having moved from Blogsmith.
• WP Super Cache 0.8: Donncha Ó Caoimh released a new version of the caching plugin he had launched the previous November.

Security Alerts and Plugin Vulnerabilities

The issues fixed in 2.6.2 were raised by Stefan Esser, a well-known PHP security researcher. SQL column truncation could, in some circumstances, be used to create a second account with an existing username, and predictable output from mt_rand() could weaken password resets. The team said that anyone allowing open registration should definitely upgrade.

Industry Trends and Insights

Google launched its Chrome browser at the start of the month, adding a fast new JavaScript engine to the browser wars at a time when WordPress’s admin was relying more on JavaScript. The IntenseDebate deal, meanwhile, extended Automattic’s pattern of buying services that worked beyond WordPress, after Akismet and Gravatar. Commenting was becoming a battleground, with hosted systems competing to own conversations across the web.

Theme of the Month: Carrington

Carrington, from Alex King and his team at Crowd Favorite, used a system of conditional templates that let developers change how content displayed based on its context, such as category or author. It arrived as theme frameworks were becoming a major trend.

Plugin of the Month: IntenseDebate

IntenseDebate replaced standard blog comments with threading, reply-by-email, voting and commenter profiles. It worked on WordPress through a plugin as well as on other platforms, and Automattic’s purchase put it alongside Akismet and Gravatar in the company’s growing family of services.

Founder of the Month: Alex King

Alex King, an early WordPress contributor and the founder of Crowd Favorite, launched Carrington at WordCamp Utah this month. His work on plugins and themes made him one of the most respected developers in the community.

Looking Ahead to October 2008

With survey results in hand, the 2.7 team was expected to share wireframes and visual designs for the new admin in October. More WordCamps were on the way, and attention turned to how IntenseDebate would be integrated with WordPress.