WordPress 3.5 should be launching sometime today, and I’ve been quite pleased with the release candidates so far. This update really modernizes WordPress with much anticipated aesthetic and functional improvements. Lets take a look at what’s new.
Revamped Media Management
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one getting frustrated with WordPress’ dinosaur media uploader and management, and they’ve finally breathed some modern magic into it. With a refined UI, Drag ‘n Drop support, and even a custom post box for the content on the attachment page, it is MUCH improved.
Editing
The editor (TinyMCE) has been updated :D It now will generate HTML5, and hopefully be a bit smarter about formatting content.
oEmbeds
This technology lets you embed content easily by just dropping the link into your content. No plugins, no shortcodes. Support for SoundCloud, SlideShare and Instagram have been added.
Twenty Twelve theme
As usual, the default theme that ships with WordPress is a good place to look to for examples of how to take advantage of the newest features. Among the godies, you can expect the newest flavour of the Twenty Twelve theme to cover widgetized home pages, support for post formats (Standard, Aside, Image, Quote, and Status), Responsive Design to better serve mobile clients, and RTL support.
Links
Say goodbye to My Links, not like anyone really uses them anyway. You can drop links into sidebars easily through custom menus and available widgets anyway. If you already have links, they will be retained but for new installs the Link Manager will be disabled. A plugin duplicating the Link Manager functionality has been promised if you really want it.
Visuals & Performance
WordPress 3.5 has received subtle visual tweaks to the administrative panel. Look at the new buttons. Also to be expected, the WordPress team has made some improvements to the performance of the code. You can expect speed improvements in various areas. Developers, read the codex notes.
More
I’ve covered some of the most noticeable features but there is also a good deal of minor aesthetic and internal changes in WordPress 3.5, which you can read about in more detail at SearchEngine Journal, and SitePoint.
