When WordPress 2.5 hit the web, there were a lot of big changes made to the blogging platform. Since then, numerous bugs and quirks have been discovered. Some of the changes were so drastic that users have been holding off for WordPress 2.6. If you’ve been waiting to see improvements for WordPress 2.5, you won’t have to wait much longer. While 2.6 isn’t a big release like WordPress 2.5 was, here’s a rundown of what users can expect to see.
WordPress 2.6 Beta 1 Features
From post revisioning to a “Press This” bookmarklet for quick tumblelog style posting, there are quite a bit of great improvements you’ll see in WordPress 2.6 Beta 1. So what else can users expect to see?
- Caching of static files with Google Gears for faster Admin page loads
- A new and improved image editing dialog that offers lots of control over the images in your posts
- Theme previewing as seen on WordPress.com
- Built-in word counting in the post editor
- The ability to disable remote publishing for the security conscious
- XML-RPC API for changing blog options
- Better SSL support for the Admin
- Hierarchy-aware paging in the Manage Pages and Manage Categories admin pages.
- The ability to relocate your content directory
- The ability to move wp-config.php out of your web root
- Drag-and-drop sortable galleries
- Customizable default avatars
- Bulk delete, activate, and deactivate for plugins
- Check box range selection with shift-click
- TinyMCE 3.1.0.1 with lots of bug fixes
- jQuery 1.2.6 with some nice performance improvements
- jQuery UI 1.5
- Lots of bug fixes and performance improvements
Posting Revisions
What’s Missing?
One of the biggest changes in WordPress 2.5 was the dashboard and design user interface of the entire WordPress system. It would’ve been nice to see an option to revert back to the “classic” WordPress interface or maybe even more dashboard themes for users. While WordPress 2.6 features a host of new improvements, let us know what you think is missing from the list. In the meantime, grab WordPress 2.6 Beta 1 here. Don’t forget to backup your files!
