WordPress 3.0 Review
WordPress review for Marketers: Version 3.0 is the last major release for a long time. The developers are skipping a release cycle in order to refactor the WordPress organization as a whole, which is a good thing. WordPress 3 is an even better thing. Here's a brief overview for marketers. There are literally a thousand new features and twice as many bug fixes, but I'm sticking to the big-ticket items and taking things like security fixes for granted.
WP Template is a Killer Default
The new default theme, called Twenty 10, is sensational. Appears to be inspired by the old Cutline theme so beloved of marketers and anyone else with good taste, which sort of got left behind due to licensing issues. This is the first default theme that will blow away just about anyone right off. Kubrick and Classic are gone. Good riddance.
Quickly Change Header Image
Oddly, earlier versions of WordPress required a dip into the CSS editor to change the background color or the image used for the header. This was frightening to nontechnical users, easy to screw up with nothing more than a misplaced semicolon, and just plain tedious. While an increasing number of themes have started to include these features, WordPress 3 adds an image browser for the header. This one comes with a few built-in header images that look great.
Background Color Wheel
To change the background color, do it visually with a color wheel. Again, no messing with CSS. Win! If you think about it, combined with the background color option, you now have a huge palette of options without requiring HTML/CSS and WP theme knowledge. These two along make WordPress 3 a no-brainer for marketers.
Mashup Menus
You can now mash posts, pages, categories, tags and links in a new menu feature. Still wrapping my arms around this, but I think it will a) eliminate some widgets eventually and b) make some cool new widgets available.
Separate Front Page Feature
You can set aside a page to introduce new users to the site, sort of like a splash page. Just choose the one you want and mark it in the Dashboard as a Front Page.
Help Without Cumbersome Searches
A Help tab on the upper right of the admin pages gives you context-sensitive help from the WordPress site. It's from the WordPress Codex but doesn't force you to search manually.
Blog Posts Are Now Drop-In Modules
A special new Posts Page means you can now treat the blog as just another drop-in module, at peer level with a static page. This harmonizes with what corporate types expect out of CMS software, eroding WordPress' reputation as "just a blog".
Custom Posts
Suppose you have a product review site that has fields for Product Name, Description, Category, and Rating. Remember that blog posts only have Title, Content, and Category.
Custom Posts now let you create new post types with the additional fields. This makes WordPress capable of what are essentially custom database tables with their own specialized formatting for output. This will be a huge feature, but for now it requires plugins and they are fairly rudimentary, lacking integrated CSS support for the fields.
Eventually there will be tons of custom post types, and every large site will have its own custom posts for specialized areas. Imagine product catalogs, review sites, and specialized online manusl.
WordPress- Multiple Blogs Now a Snap with WordPress 3
Many marketers know about WordPress MU, which is designed to manage multiple WordPress sites. It is however incompatible with standard WordPress in many regards. WordPress MU functionality is now rolled into WordPress 3.0, but the new features appear only if you add a line your wp-config.php. (keeps novices from making big, big mistakes by accident).
Lots of UI changes for the better
Version 2.7 changed the Dashboard in a lot of ways. It was quite a change. Like it or not (I did, but I can see how old-timers might not) the user interface has gone further in that direction, making the Dashboard more consistent with terminology and streamlining some steps.
WordPress 3 For the Win
If you get WordPress 3 only for the incredibly flexible, elegant, and infinitely customizable Twenty 10 template, security fixes, and front page features, you're money ahead. I've installed it on a few blogs and have had no trouble so far with plugins, but of course YMMV. Overall, this thing rocks. Never had so much fun doing a WordPress review.
WP Template is a Killer Default
The new default theme, called Twenty 10, is sensational. Appears to be inspired by the old Cutline theme so beloved of marketers and anyone else with good taste, which sort of got left behind due to licensing issues. This is the first default theme that will blow away just about anyone right off. Kubrick and Classic are gone. Good riddance.
Quickly Change Header Image
Oddly, earlier versions of WordPress required a dip into the CSS editor to change the background color or the image used for the header. This was frightening to nontechnical users, easy to screw up with nothing more than a misplaced semicolon, and just plain tedious. While an increasing number of themes have started to include these features, WordPress 3 adds an image browser for the header. This one comes with a few built-in header images that look great.
Background Color Wheel
To change the background color, do it visually with a color wheel. Again, no messing with CSS. Win! If you think about it, combined with the background color option, you now have a huge palette of options without requiring HTML/CSS and WP theme knowledge. These two along make WordPress 3 a no-brainer for marketers.
Mashup Menus
You can now mash posts, pages, categories, tags and links in a new menu feature. Still wrapping my arms around this, but I think it will a) eliminate some widgets eventually and b) make some cool new widgets available.
Separate Front Page Feature
You can set aside a page to introduce new users to the site, sort of like a splash page. Just choose the one you want and mark it in the Dashboard as a Front Page.
Help Without Cumbersome Searches
A Help tab on the upper right of the admin pages gives you context-sensitive help from the WordPress site. It's from the WordPress Codex but doesn't force you to search manually.
Blog Posts Are Now Drop-In Modules
A special new Posts Page means you can now treat the blog as just another drop-in module, at peer level with a static page. This harmonizes with what corporate types expect out of CMS software, eroding WordPress' reputation as "just a blog".
Custom Posts
Suppose you have a product review site that has fields for Product Name, Description, Category, and Rating. Remember that blog posts only have Title, Content, and Category.
Custom Posts now let you create new post types with the additional fields. This makes WordPress capable of what are essentially custom database tables with their own specialized formatting for output. This will be a huge feature, but for now it requires plugins and they are fairly rudimentary, lacking integrated CSS support for the fields.
Eventually there will be tons of custom post types, and every large site will have its own custom posts for specialized areas. Imagine product catalogs, review sites, and specialized online manusl.
WordPress- Multiple Blogs Now a Snap with WordPress 3
Many marketers know about WordPress MU, which is designed to manage multiple WordPress sites. It is however incompatible with standard WordPress in many regards. WordPress MU functionality is now rolled into WordPress 3.0, but the new features appear only if you add a line your wp-config.php. (keeps novices from making big, big mistakes by accident).
Lots of UI changes for the better
Version 2.7 changed the Dashboard in a lot of ways. It was quite a change. Like it or not (I did, but I can see how old-timers might not) the user interface has gone further in that direction, making the Dashboard more consistent with terminology and streamlining some steps.
WordPress 3 For the Win
If you get WordPress 3 only for the incredibly flexible, elegant, and infinitely customizable Twenty 10 template, security fixes, and front page features, you're money ahead. I've installed it on a few blogs and have had no trouble so far with plugins, but of course YMMV. Overall, this thing rocks. Never had so much fun doing a WordPress review.
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