Need to know about WordPress 4.0

October 30, 2016 - 5 minutes read

Need to know about WordPress 4.0

The release of WordPress 4.0, named after jazz musician Benny Goodman, offers a smoother writing and managing experience.

  • Easier video embedding.
  • More Focus on Content
  • Improved Media Library
  • Improved plugin resources and search capabilities.
  • Language Selection UI

Just to recap, we are scheduled to begin rolling out WordPress 4.0 in a few weeks. But if you’d like to upgrade sooner, you’re more than welcome to. Simply submit a ticket or live chat request to our Support Team and they can get it all figured out for you.

Improved Media Library

The Media Library picked up some huge enhancements. No more multi-page libraries that required scrolling back and forth between pages to find one specific image that you just can’t locate. Now media is in one continuous display with a grid layout similar to many popular desktop image management applications that most users would already be familiar with. And by simply clicking on an image you can see all necessary media management info fields, such as title, caption, atl text and basic tech specs like file type and size. Better still, video and audio files can played directly through the library, and doesn’t require opening external or third party applications.

More Focus on Content

I wanted to start with this because I feel this is the feature that will impact us most often. That’s mainly because WordPress always revolved around writing and publishing content, easy. Once you start editing a post, you’ll notice the editor expanding automatically as you write and that the toolbar is now fixed, following you as you type/scroll down. This removes all the previous friction resulting from unnecessary scrolling and a tiny editor box, speeding up content editing and offering an overall smoother writing experience.

Enhanced Plugin Browser

Finally, the plugin screen got a huge overhaul. Plugins are what gives WordPress so much power and functionality, but despite this the plugin directory has always been pretty underwhelming. The user interface is bland and often more time is spent on external developers sites to find out further details about a particular plugin instead of within the actual directory. This has all changed with the layout now feeling like an actual store. Now, when you click on a plugin you can see a description, installation details, change logs and reviews all with their own tabs. There’s also a sidebar for every plugin displaying tech specs, a link to the developer and a breakdown on user ratings. A massive win for both users seeking new plugins and developers wanting to show off their creations.

Visual Media Embeds

Once you paste the embedded URL, you don’t need to “Preview??? or “Publish??? it in order to see how it looks in your site. As soon as you’ve entered a URL, the video, tweet or any other embedable media will load directly in the editor box. This means using WordPress 4.0 when you get published there will be no surprises with embedded media. And you’ll save time by not being required to go back and forth between the editor and preview screen.

Language Selection UI

If you install a fresh copy of WordPress 4.0, the first installation screen will now ask you to choose your desired language. After selecting a language WordPress 4.0 will download and install the language pack on the fly. The rest of the install process will then be in that language. Basically as soon as a language is selected and the Continue button is clicked, WordPress will download the language pack in the background. This is a big step up from either having to download WordPress in your own language, or grabbing the language files manually and modifying the config after fexofenadine side effects.

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