So far I’ve not had any screams or uncontrollable sobbing, so if you are feeling brave then pop over and try it out. Please take a note of the warnings on that post.

We are, however, still here so I thought I would update you all on the recent updates.

Moving to .org

This blog is currently sitting on the StayPress.com domain. I have decided to follow in others frontprints and use the .com domain for the hosted version of StayPress and will thus be moving this blog over to StayPress.org. If you are subscribed to the RSS feed or Email alert via FeedBurner then your subscription will automatically be moved across to the new blog.

A new site, a new look

The new site will become the repository for all of the downloadable versions of the StayPress plugins. The theme for the new StayPress.org site has been kindly donated by the fantastic designers over at WooThemes (after I had a bit of a panic). StayPress.org will go live within the next few days.

The first plugin - StayPress administration system

The first plugin we shall be releasing is the StayPress administration system. This plugin effectively styles the existing WordPress administration pages and adds some nice bells and whistles. You don’t need to use this plugin in order to make use of the future StayPress plugins, but it will make the experience a lot nicer (in my opinion anyway).

The initial version should be considered an early beta and for the brave few among you. I shall post here as soon as it is available. In the meantime, have a look at the quick screencast I put together showing the initial functionality. Click through for a higher quality version.

Why do I want this information?

1. To build a resource of the better themes for those of us who don’t want to develop our own.
2. To provide some ideas for those that do
3. To get a small number (initially) of the better themes “StayPress ready”.

So I am looking for themes that will be suitable for a single property website (such as a villa or guest house), right the way up to a fully featured Hotel or Vacation property portal (and anywhere in-between).

If you are a theme designer and have some themes that may be suitable, or would like to develop some themes specifically for StayPress, then please get in touch. I’m also considering a “Premium theme” collection, so if you have (or are working on) that something special, then we need to talk.

Please leave any recommendations in the comments below. If you don’t want your comment or message posted then start it “PRIVATE” and I’ll keep it private.

So I thought that I’d update everyone, who expressed an interest, on the current status and what is likely to happen over the next weeks and months.

Those who visit the StayPress site often (which is probably no-one) will have noticed that it looks a little different now. I’ve moved away from the holding page that was originally here and we now have a nice new shiny log in page.

In the very near future I will be sending out invites to a few people to have a play with the hosted version of the StayPress software and provide some feedback on the user interface, functionality and bugs.

Once this private beta stage is complete I will make a download available for the brave amongst you to test on their own servers.

I decided to take this approach as I felt it would be a lot easier to keep the hosted system updated with fixes and modifications as the beta progressed, rather than having to keep producing updated downloads.

Prior to the invites (and alongside the beta testing) I will see if I can produce some screen-casts and articles about the functionality you will find in StayPress, if for no other reason than to keep everyone interested in the project.

So, if you are interested in being a beta tester and you haven’t already subscribed to this blog then do so now. The Invites information will be posted here first and will be available on a first-come first-served basis.

Those who signed up on the original page are already listed so you don’t need to sign up again.