Now that WordPress.com users are starting to get more features that previously were only available to WordPress.org blogs like premium themes, it’s now WordPress.org blogs turn to get features that were previously only available to WordPress.com users.

How? This is all made possible by Jetpack, a plugin released by Automattic last week that brings WordPress.com features and functionality to WordPress.org or self-hosted WordPress users.

Here’s an excerpt of Matt Mullenweg’s post on the Jetpack blog:

Today we’re launching the first version of what’s been a dream of mine for several years now, really since my State of the Word presentation in 2009: a way to provide feature parity between WordPress.com and WordPress.org for everybody.

Our users have been banging down the door for this. Every time we launch something new on WP.com the first question is always asking how people can get it for their self-hosted blog. Now you can have your cake and eat it too — host your own blog, completely under your control and with the freedom of the GPL, and still get all the cloud goodies of our hosted service. It’s the best of both worlds, the decentralized and the centralized, the control and the convenience, the peanut butter and the chocolate.

For the initial launch, Jetpack will include eight of the most-requested features –

• Gravatar Hovercards: Find out who’s commenting on your posts with enhanced information for Gravatars (includes full name, bio, other web profiles).
• WordPress.com Stats: Keep on top of your traffic with powerful and simple to understand statistics for your site.
• Twitter Widget: Keep your readers more up to date by syncing your tweets to your site via a simple widget.
• Shortcodes: Quickly add movies, images, and more to your posts and pages with a single line of code.
• Shortlinks: Automatically creates an easy to copy/paste mini-url for any post on your site.
• LaTeX: Use the famous markup language to quickly create beautiful mathematical expressions and equations.
• Sharedaddy: Your readers can easily share your posts via email or their favorite social networks.
• After the Deadline: Your writing will improve thanks to this artificial intelligence based spell, style, and grammar checker.

Personally, I haven’t tried Jetpack here on JaypeeOnline but am planning to do so one of these days. Anyways, kudos to Matt Mullenweg and the rest of the WordPress team for creating and releasing Jetpack so self-hosted WordPress users like me can use WordPress.com features on our blogs.

Download Jetpack and supercharge your self hosted WordPress site with the awesome cloud power of WordPress.com.

Anyone here who’s installed Jetpack into their self-hosted WordPress blog? Which initial feature do you like the most? What other feature/s would you like to see added to Jetpack? Please share your thoughts.

Pinoy Blogosphere

• Looking for another way to earn money? McBilly shares some tips on how to make money from event festivals.
• Having a hard time choosing between Windows or Linux? PinoyTechGuy’s article points out the advantages and disadvantages of choosing one over the other.
• Yahoo! Answers is becoming popular especially among students and a reliable source of knowledge or information to others. Abe Olandres of Yugatech asks this question: Is Yahoo! Answers the new Wikipedia?
• Allen of Silkenhut made a compilation of essential plugins that most WordPress users should have. A good resource list for WordPress newbies.
• As most of you guys know, Fil-American Internet sensation Christine Gambito or more commonlly known as HappySlip, is now in the Philippines. Here’s a video of her being featured in GMA 7′s 24 Oras.
• PayPal users in the Philippines can now withdraw funds to local bank accounts. For a list of the official PayPal bank codes and other information regarding this matter, visit PinoyMoneyTalk.

Around the Web

• Ever thought of creating an ebook based on your blog? With the WPTex WordPress plugin, you can easily turn your blog into a PDF ebook using Latex.
• So you think blogging has no risks? Mani Karthik of BloggingTips published this post that talks about the risks involved in blogging.
• Does your MyBlogLog community already have the seal of approval? If not, you better verify your MyBlogLog community and claim ownership. I already verified mine.
• Frustrated that your post doesn’t make it to Digg’s frontpage? BloggingMix’s article entitled Are You Getting DIGGsperate? might just help you get over your DIGGsperation.
• Connect with your blog visitors with the Socialize Me WordPress plugin. How? It greets your visitors referred by social networking websites like StumbleUpon, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Pownce, Twitter, Bebo, MySpace with a link to your profile.

I’m glad to announce that just this weekend, JaypeeOnline has reached a milestone which is surpassing the 200 subscriber mark. Yay! I know it may not be a big deal for other bloggers but it is for me and my blog. Anyways, I had a pleasant surprise yesterday when my FeedBurner chicklet displayed 229 readers. To all my regular readers and subscribers, thank you so much for your continued support! It means a lot to me.

If you haven’t subscribed to my feeds yet, better subscribe now so you won’t miss out on the latest posts and updates!

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions feel free to leave a comment or send me a message via the contact page. Stay safe and have a nice day!