WordPress, the most popular blogging tool out on the web, has released the first beta of its latest version, WordPress 2.7. While the full version was supposed to go out on November 10th, it was delayed – but they managed to give out a beta version of the software for everyone to try out. So, I took that opportunity to find out what has changed and what has been removed.
But first, I have to tell you that all images were taken on my local server and not on the main server. This was done to make sure the site is still up, during the review process.
The Dashboard
The Dashboard has been given a huge revamp, with the site now being split into three columns – one for the navigation and the other two to show recent comments, latest dev news about WordPress, etc. However, there are a couple of new features – including a section called “Quick Press”. This new feature allows people to publish posts instantly on the default category without clicking on the “Add New” link under the Posts navigation.
As well, another neat feature is the “Screen Options” – which will appear all over the entire site. This allows you to customise what you want to see in each setting – like for the Dashboard, you can hide the QuickPress feature, the development news from WordPress.org, etc. This most handy in writing a new post or page, so you can hide certain options until when you need it.
Posting A New Post
The entire layout has been reorganised and been given the similar design, with Tags and the Categories sections being moved to the right now – after being the most complained about thing from WordPress 2.5 and 2.6
Another change is that the “Publish” button is now called the “schedule button”, which is a bit weird. But the biggest thing is the “Stick to Front Page” function – where you can stick a post to be at the top, even if the post is before other, newer posts. You can see an example below. (And while the photo shows the timestamp, it is the development version of Crystalline Duo).
Comments & Shortcuts
A brand new feature in the comments section is the option to do threaded and paged comments. The comments section, however, remains relatively unchanged. But that’s what they want you to think. This is because there is another feature, called Comment Keyboard Shortcuts; but you need to have it activated on your account.
Once you activate it, you can use the keys to move up or down the comments list and approve, mark it as spam or delete the comments. The entire list can be found on the WordPress Codex.
Other Features
Among the other features listed on the WordPress Codex – it will include:
- WordPress Upgrader – automatically upgrades WordPress for you. The code is still being finalised – and it should not be tried by everyone, since some hosts don’t support it.
- A new WordPress Template Tag “wp_page_menu” – which acts like wp_list_pages, but adds support for a Home link.
- One-click Plugin installer
- Automatic Theme Upgrades
- XMLRPC Comments API
However, these weren’t present when we tested it or that it was a feature not found when reviewing the Admin Panel of WordPress 2.7. In my view, the UI looks a bit clunky. But when this gets out, we suggest that you hold out for a couple of days, to allow the themes and plugins to release new versions that would support WordPress 2.7