WordPress 2.8-beta1
WordPress 2.7, which introduced major changes to the platform’s core, was released only recently, and now there’s another significant upgrade on the horizon: version 2.8. It’s still fresh in beta 1 status (Matt hasn’t even chosen a jazz musician to name it after yet).
Still, WP2.8 is already looking to be a very welcome upgrade. Number one on the list: automatic theme installations. I’m beta testing it now, and the built-in theme installer seems to be working just fine. Much like the automatic plugin installation functionality, the theme installer lets you search for themes (that exist in the WordPress.org directory) from within your dashboard, and get your chosen theme up & running in no time. The theme search facility is pretty accurate, too. You can search by keyword, tag, and/or author, either by manually entering the keywords or selecting predefined values.
There is also a way for you to upload and install theme .zip files that are already sitting in your hard drive. No need to go to your web host’s control panel file manager any longer. Whew! Now that’s what I call a content management system to beat!
More on WP as a serious CMS: themes templates and plugin codes are now presented to you in technicolor. OK kidding aside, editing theme templates are now easier on the eyes because of what Automattic calls CodePress syntax highlighting. It’s now easier to sift through templates’ codes, thanks to basic color differentiation of PHP, HTML and normal text. Nothing like what you might expect in industry-strength code editors, but it’s a start.
All in all, WP2.8 will be a major enhancement and a collection of bug fixes and security patches — all in the effort to make using WordPress much more user-friendly and yet powerful. Here’s a list of the new features we can expect from this upcoming upgrade. Can’t wait for the final release!
WordPress 2.5 is out! | WordPress 2.8 rocks! | Upgraded and rarin’ for more! | Upgrading multiple WordPress installs | B.O.B. contest in honor of WordPress
I’m looking forward to the built-in theme install functionality.
It would be nice though if there’s an option to install a theme by just pasting the theme’s URL.
I’d love to see the CodePress. I love to see colorful code, woot!
Hey Mikko! Give it a spin on one of your blogs — WP2.8 is pretty stable already.
Cool is this already available for download?
Yes it is! Here’s the link.
Blogs,
Can you please email me your cp number so I can finally arrange to give my pasalubong for you? 2 months na ito at baka mabigay ko pa sa iba. hehe.
Okay, genuinely excited for 2.8