233 Tech.

WordPress 3.0 Released

Posted on 21. Jun, 2010 by Nana Kwabena Owusu in WWWPlus

WordPress, one of the most popular blogging (and pseudo CMS) open source software has released its newest major upgrade, WordPress 3.0 (aka Thelonius). This new version brings a lot of changes for both developers and regular users alike, although developer and advanced users of WordPress are most likely to be thrilled. Here are some of the main new features of the 3.0 release.

Custom Menus

This for me is the biggest change for regular users because it takes customising the menu structure of WordPress blogs (and sites) from a difficult or annoying process  (requiring plugins and editing theme files) to an easy (drag and drop) process. Also since it is built into WordPress itself, there will be no update or upgrade headaches for users.

This has been one of the more major feature sets missing from WordPress which almost all other major Content Management System (CMS) platforms have already. This may have been because WordPress has slowly morphed from a blog platform to a a CMS platform and now the millions of blog and site owners out there can  change their menu structure any way they want, easily.

It also makes the lives of WordPres designer and developers a little easier by allowing them to build more flexible sites, which the owner can later restrucrture without major assistance by the developer. I love this feature the most.

Default Theme (Twenty Ten)

The team at Automattic have finally retired the previous default themes (Kubrick)  which shipped with previous versions of WordPress. This change was because the default theme was looking dated in terms of design and also because those it could not take advantage of all the new changes included in this this new version. Default themes allow the WordPress team to showcase all features and functionality supported by the most current version of WordPress, although in a limited form, to show new users the potential of specific features or functions.

The new theme, TwentyTen, really looks good out of the box and will probably not be changed by many casual bloggers. Check it out to see some of the new theme features in WordPress 3.0.

Custom Post Types

This is one of those features which have HUGE potential but at launch only more advanced (or adventurous) users and developers will see its  impact. Its a little difficult to explain for non WordPress users and begginers but here goes.

Post Types ( types of content; blog posts, pages, etc) created in WordPress, allow for certain built-in functionality to occur based on the content type.  As an example, clicking  Add New under the Posts / Page menu (Note: Post here refers to Blog Post), opens the the default New or Edit Post/Page panel,image below, where you create your blog post or page. This works pretty well for this type of content.

Now try applying this same concept to a Real Estate Listings website and the defaults editor fails. Previously you could make use of  custom fields to add info like whether a listing is for sale or rental, location, price range, etc but in a non intuitive manner and complex manner. Now a custom post type, allows for creating a completely new content type, lets call it the Property content type, which allows an New or Edit Property panel  like the example below to be created specifically for Property Listings.

(Credit: Kovshenin.com: Extending Custom Post Types in WordPress 3.0)

Custom post types allow for some specific type of content to be created more easily and its about better organization more than new functionality.

There are other features which also make it easier for customizing themes such as custom headers, background images,  which will all make WordPress 3.0 more functional and all the changes can be viewed at the WordPress Codex.

Related posts:

1. Blogging on the Go: The WordPress Apps
2. Blogging on the Go: WordMobi, the unofficial WordPress for Symbian app
3. Blogging on the Go: BlogPress Lite
4. BarCampGhana 2009

Tags: blogging, releases, updates, wordpress