It’s been quiet around here. I’ve been busy, but I couldn’t let this one slip past no matter how much else I have to do.

Matt and company surprisingly released a new plugin for us .org users today. He actually hinted at a new project abbreviated JP in his new years resolutions, but who guessed it would be called Jetpack?

So, what exactly is Jetpack?

Jetpack supercharges your self-hosted WordPress site with the awesome cloud power of WordPress.com

Really, it provides a reason for me to stop second guessing myself about whether or not to host my blog on WordPress.com. Not that I would ever have actually done it, but I’ve often considered the advantages of using Automattic’s managed WordPress solution.

Besides practically bullet-proof servers, WordPress.com users have always had a few shiny things that have made the service tempting – even for people like me who want control over every single aspect of what is my website.

What do we get?

Initially we’re getting updates to WordPress.com Stats, the Twitter Widget, Gravatar Hovercards, WP.me Shortlinks, Sharedaddy buttons, LaTeX, After the Deadline, and Shortcode Embeds. And it looks like there’s more on the way. This is all packaged in one, nice plugin and updated and currated by Automattic.

Now, I won’t be using all of the extras, but right away the Stats and Sharedaddy links seem quite useful. I definitely won’t be using the Twitter Widget or WP.me Shortlinks, as I’ve got custom solutions that solve both of these problems in a way that I like. I haven’t been a fan of shortcodes lately, so I probably will skip that one as well. After the Deadline is something I’ll probably turn on for awhile and I’ve already got some ideas for ways to implement Gravatar Hovercards.

The Future

More than anything, this has me excited for the future of what this could mean for self-hosted WordPress. The additions that they’ve decided to ship with are cool, but I see a ton of potential for this product.

One thing that I’d really like to see is tighter integration into the WordPress.com network with a “WordPress bar” for users who are currently logged in to their WordPress.com accounts with subscription options, random post, shortlinks buttons, and the like. At this point, I can’t see anything stopping them from implementing these features. It would make that network instantly larger and more valuable.

Go get it

I definitely recommend everyone with a self-hosted blog go check out Jetpack. You can get it from the dashboard by searching for “Jetpack” in plugins or go to their website at jetpack.me