If you have a blog or write for an online publication, chances are you’ve used WordPress. From the free hosted WordPress.com blogs to customized WordPress.org installs like the ones that power AppStorm and other Envato blogs, WordPress is one web app you see all the time without realizing. In fact, aside from browsers like Chrome and Firefox, it’s one of the few opensource programs that average users love and know about.
WordPress has in many ways democratized web publishing. The newest version, WordPress 3.2, was recently released, and it aims to make it even easier for anyone from novices to pros to publish their thoughts online. From a speedier dashboard to a new UI overhaul to a distraction-free writing mode, there’s something in the new WordPress for everyone.
Out With the Old
One of the first things you might notice with WordPress 3.2 is that it’s been designed for the future of the web. WordPress has now retired support for PHP 4 and older versions of MySQL, so you’ll need to make sure your server is up to date before diving into the WordPress update. But it’s not just older server tech that’s being left behind. WordPress is now dropping support for IE 6 at long last, and is also pushing users to use the very latest browsers available. If you login to WordPress from an older browser, you’ll be prompted to update to a newer version.
I was suprised to be reminded to update my browser when I logged in from Firefox 4, a browser that was new only a few months ago. In addition to the dashboard prompts, the Automattic team has been designed a new site, Browse Happy, that presents popular browser options to help people switch away from outdated browsers. As fast as the web changes, it’s never a good idea to rely on an archaic browser, especially when you’re running a cutting-edge web publishing platform!
Yup, even Firefox 4 is outdated now
Clean, Elegant Design
The most obvious change in WordPress 3.2 is the new Dashboard style. WordPress has changed over the years, but this represents one of the most drastic interface changes yet. The left-hand menus have been tweaked to make them more out of the way, and the Dashboard itself has been stripped of much of the clutter that has been added over the years. Instead, the new style uses strong typography and whitespace to make it easy to find the settings and content you want.
The best thing about the new design is its speed. The WordPress dashboard and settings pages feel so much faster, and when you spend hours each day using WordPress, that can be a very significant benefit. Combine that with the new Admin bar, and it’s always quicker to get what you need in WordPress.
The newly restyled WordPress dashboard
Writing Made Simple
It’s easy to spend hours tweaking settings on your blog, but at the end of the day, your blog is designed for writing. WordPress 3.2 focuses on making it easier to write directly in your browser. While there are a ton of different blogging apps for computers and mobile devices, it’s often nicest to write your posts from start to finish directly in WordPress so you know exactly how everything will look. The new tweaked Post Editor makes it nicer to create formatted posts in your browser. It even includes a tool to insert custom characters in your post, so you won’t have to go looking through your Character Map to find that obscure character you need.
A slightly redesigned editor screen
Best of all, the full screen editing mode has been completely overhauled to turn it into a distraction-free writing environment. Tap the full-screen button in the post editor, and you’ll see the new fullscreen mode. It includes a few basic formatting buttons along the top, with your post underneath. As you start writing, though, the toolbar and post border disappear, leaving you with just your content. Tap F11 to take your browser fullscreen, and it’s nearly as nice as using WriteRoom, iA Writer, OmmWriter, or any of the other popular writing apps to write your post. Only this time, you can get the same clean experience right in WordPress in your browser.
The new full-screen writing mode
When you’re ready to publish your writing, WordPress 3.2 includes a new theme to help you present your posts the way you want. The new theme, Twenty Eleven, builds on the Twenty Ten theme with an updated style and more options than ever. You can change your page layout, tweak colors across the theme, use multiple post types similar to Tumblr blogs, and more. It’s a great theme to get started with, or to tweak to your own style and make work like you want.
The new tweakable Twenty Eleven theme
That’s not all, folks!
WordPress is one of the most rich web apps we use daily, and each version has added numbers of new features to make it easier to publish content and create dynamic sites. We’re excited to see the new changes in WordPress 3.2, and hope to continue to see more exciting innovation in WordPress over the coming months and years.
If you’d like more info about WordPress 3.2, check out the official announcement blog post, or the walkthrough video below. Or, hey, just update your blog or download WordPress today and try it out for yourself!