WordPress 3.3 was released today after, close to five months of development and almost 1,200 individual changes. WordPress 3.3 is codenamed ‘Sonny’ after famous jazz artist Sonny Stitt. You can check out his music below:
New Welcome Screen
Among the many improvements to this new release of WordPress is a brand new welcome screen for newbies. This screen appears when you first install WordPress and can easily be dismissed forever for those who don’t need it or want it.
If you’re new to WordPress, this welcome screen will guide you through how to set up your new website, from privacy settings, to setting background colours and header images and so on.
To turn this screen on if you don’t see it once you’ve upgraded to WordPress 3.3, select the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top right and check ‘Welcome’.
Pointer Tips
Pointer tips appear when new features are installed giving you a quick explanation of what each new feature is and how to use it.
Contextual Help
Wherever you are in the WordPress dashboard, select the ‘Help’ tab to reveal a special help panel for that particular area. It also includes links to further information and support forums.
Flyout Menus
The dashboard menu items are more streamlined than ever. Simply hover over each main menu area to get a fly-out list of its sub-menu items. Much less clutter.
The admin menu has also become more compact by offering a hover menu for simplicity in adding new posts, pages, users, links and uploading media more quickly.
New Media Uploader
The new media uploader now supports a drag and drop feature making it much easier to add images in bulk.
Tumblr Importer
Tumblr blogs can now be imported along with the already existing Blogger, LiveJournal, Moveable Type and TypePad.
iPad Optimised
If you update your WordPress blog on your iPad, great news! WordPress version 3.3 now offers full iPad optimisation and touch screen ability.
Since WordPress version 3.0 was released in June 2010 there have been 65 million downloads and 14 million downloads since version 3.2. Upgrade your version now to WordPress 3.3, either by updating directly within your blog or by downloading the new version from WordPress.org.
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