Users of the popular blogging software known as WordPress have something new and improved to try on for size: the release of WordPress version 3.0. WordPress 3.0, nicknamed “Thelonious” after famed jazz artist Thelonious Monk, is the thirteenth release of the open source self-hosted blogging tool that is now used by millions of people across the world. A community of volunteers help to keep the software running as smoothly as possible, and 218 volunteers were credited in aiding with the release of 3.0.
WordPress 3.0 is ripe with changes from its previous 2.9 edition, which itself passed the landmark of ten million downloads. In all, the newest edition boasts over 2,700 improvements. Of those, 1,217 are comprised of bug fixes that plagued previous editions as well as their users. The popularity of WordPress is at an all time high, and this newest release should help the group further cement its place at the top of the blogging hierarchy against its competitor MovableType.
The list of upgrades in 3.0 is quite extensive, but the highlight of them all could very well be the merging of WordPress and WordPress MU. One area where WordPress was lacking previously was in the capability to run multiple blogs at once from a single WordPress installation. If a blogger or site administrator wanted to have several blogs at the same time, they would have needed a separate copy of WordPress for each site. Otherwise, they would have had to use WordPress MU, or multi-user, which was a specific version of the software created to work with the management of multiple sites at once.
In 3.0, MU has been integrated into the standard software. Not only is this a major plus for loyal WordPress users, but it also is effective in eliminating one of the few longstanding advantages that competitor MovableType had over the software.
The look of WordPress has received an overhaul in 3.0 with the implementation of the “Twenty Ten” theme. It takes over as the new default theme for the software, and is more modern and easier on the eyes than the older “Kubrick” default. Users can now also create custom headers for sites or posts as well. Inside the Dashboard, where all the behind-the-scenes action occurs, the look and tone is much lighter and easier to work with.
For newer users, one can now set their username and password during the installation process to make things easier. Another convenient feature is that of custom menu management. With this feature one can combine pages, posts, categories, links, and tags, as well as create custom menus. Users can also create custom post types to maximize their site's potential even more.
One time-saving feature is that of bulk updates for multiple plugins, themes, and more. 3.0 also supports shortlinks creation on the fly. Should the need for help arise while developing a post, there are help tabs that further clarify the software's features in detail.
The aforementioned features are just a speck on the radar as to what WordPress 3.0 has to offer. It is now available for download for those who want to give it a try for the first time, as well as users of the older version. Current WordPress users can update to 3.0 via their Dashboard.
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