WordPress 3.2 features and test drive

Automattic seems to be in a spree to bring new and exciting features to it’s most widely used bogging platform WordPress. In the last few months we have seen WordPress is going constant overhaul. And we saw the platform has evolved tremendously. Just recently we heard about WordPress 3.0 and then it WordPress 3.1 was released soon after. Now the talk of the bogging arean is the release of WordPress 3.2. The beta version of WordPress 3.2 is already available for download and the final stable version is expected quite soon.

WordPress 3.2 is expected with a lot of new and exciting features, so we downloaded the beta version to give it a try. And guess what, this version of WordPress is just amazing. Some of the notable features in WordPress 3.2 are a new User Interface for Admin, Distraction free writing, New default theme, change in system requirement and a much anticipated Faster WordPress.

New User Interface for Dashboard:

The Admin Interface in WordPress 3.2 s not a complete makeover but a slight change as compared to it’s predecessor 3.x. This new look good cool and elegant and occupy less space. There is also a new option at the bottom to collapse the menu which will then show the icons for different section of the menu and hovering on the icons will reveal the menu options. The footer area in the Admin dashboard has also got a facelift. Also the Favorite menu at the top right is removed. This new Admin Interface looks quite professional and neat. Overall I like it pretty much.

New Default theme Twenty Eleven:

As we are already in 2011, so the default theme Twenty Ten that comes with current versions of WordPress also need a change. Matt finally realized that and the default theme from WordPress 3.2 will be Twenty Eleven. It does not mean they are scrapping out the Twenty Ten theme. hence WordPress 3.2 will come with 2 themes like the 2.x versions but Twenty Eleven will be installed by default.

Clutter Free Write Panel:

Don’t you feel like putting your complete concentration on the content while writing a post? I surely do. To help us concentrate in creating a better post, the WordPress 3.2 will feature a less cluttered and clean write panel. By default all the options like Excerpts, trackbacks, custom fields etc will be hidden. So if you do not see those excerpts or custom filed, do not panic, you just need to Click oN Screen Options at the top right and check the options which you really need.

If that is not enough, you click on full screen mode and you will see a completely new write panel which you will fall in love with for sure. This full screen write panel is definitely a boon. I am going to utilize this feature to the fullest.

Performance Improvement:

While everything being the same, WordPress 3.2 provides a better performance and a faster site load as compared to it’s predecessors. This is very much essential considering Google is now taking into account the page load time while ranking websites.

Change in System requirement:

If you are quite excited with all these new features and are in a hurry to upgrade to WordPress 3.2 when the stable release comes in, you need to first check with your hosting provider to verify if your server meets the system requirement for WordPress 3.2. As going forward WordPress will require PHP 5.2.4 and MySql 5.0. Once you are sure your host meets the requirement, then you decide to upgrade.

Also WordPress 3.2 will not support Internet Explorer 6. Though the front end of your website/blog will not receive any warning, when you try to log into the Admin Dashboard you will be warn that you are using an unsecured version of Internet Explorer and it will ask you to upgrade the browser.

The current release of WordPress 3.2 is a beta version, so do not use it on your live site. As lot of bug is expected and site might become unstable.

If you have not yet tried the WordPress 3.2 beta, we have setup a WordPress 3.2 test drive site so that you can try it on our server and familiarize yourself with the features. use the username and Password both as qlogix to login.