WordPress 3.0 Released: Merge with MU, Custom Post Types, Custom Menus and More
What some once considered to be a leading open-source CMS and blogging platform that exchanged flexibility for a more difficult learning curve, has transformed over the years into the very essence of user-friendly web publishing.
After two beta releases and a release candidate (called RC1), the WordPress development team released WordPress 3.0 (dubbed “Thelonious” after the American jazz musician) jam-packed with enough nifty features to make any web socialite spin in his swivel chair in utter delight, right round like a record baby, right round round round.
WordPress bloggers are able to upgrade through Tools → Upgrade or by downloading the package and uploading. The brighter control panel display and a new menu item titled “Updates” under the Dashboard menu are the first things noticeably different. With the new updates feature, users can update everything in one place. Rather than navigating to the upgrade button for each plugin or theme, users can update all plugins and themes simultaneously by clicking the “Update Plugins” or “Update Themes,” button.
But small enhancements like the new update feature are only a trifle compared to other changes. WordPress 3.0 features:
- A merge with multi-site (MU) version of WordPress. Now casual WordPress users will be able to take advantage of all the MU features like being able to manage multiple blogs from one installation and better back-end support for multiple users.
- Relevant help documentation only a click away from every internal page within the admin control panel. “What the hell do post tags do?” “What do I do with my media library?” “What does it mean to ‘send trackbacks’?” The ever-present help button in the top right corner answers all. In previous versions, the help button hardly answered anything.
- A new custom menu feature. Under Appearance → Menus users can create new menus with links to specified categories, pages or custom links (an address you type in). Theme designers can build custom menu locations into their themes, which users can fill with their custom menus through the Menus page. Non-3.0-compliant themes can also take advantage of the custom menu feature because the menus can be placed in widgetized areas as custom widgets.
Other features include: improved custom post types and taxonomies, custom header and background APIs and a new default theme called “Twenty Ten.” For a complete list of additional features and changes in version 3.0, be sure to check out the changelog in the WordPress Codex.
It’s difficult to imagine WordPress getting any better than it previously was. But the consistent fine-tuning through new releases only attest to the effectiveness of open-source, community driven software. WordPress is one free software that has not stopped getting better.
Article first published as WordPress 3.0 Released: It Just Keeps Getting Better on Technorati.
Related: Top 7 New Features in WordPress 3.0.
Tags: blogging platforms
I was waiting for this release for so long!
WP is definitly the best Blogging Plateform EVER! <3
WordPress is for certain the best out at the moment, but for a plugin developer its a nightmare cause they keep making changes to it. Maybe 3.0 will be better.
I reckon wordpress is far and away the best and easiest to use blogging platform. I would have to agree though that the constant changes to it do make constantly updating sites a real pain…but it’s worth it all in the end
Too bad that did not consider the description (additional text) to each tag, something it has long been in Joomla