The long awaited release of WordPress Version 3.0, named for Thelonious, was released to the public on June 17, 2010. First looks at the new version reveal some very exciting developments for our clients.

Highlights

• WordPress now allows for the management of multiple sites from one WordPress installation.
• New custom menu management feature, allows creation of custom menus combining posts, pages, categories, tags, and links for use in theme menus or widgets.
• Custom header and theme background customization via APIs.
• Ability to set a custom admin username and password during installation.
• Bulk updating of themes with an automatic maintenance mode during the upgrade process.
• Bulk updates of plugins so you can upgrade 15 plugins at once with a single click
• Support for shortlinks – but still requires a plugin or theme support to fully realize this feature.
• Improved Custom post types and custom taxonomies including hierarchical (category-style) support.
• Allow “No role for this blog” to be chosen in Users->Add New panel
• Help text on every screen

Naturally, as with any major software upgrade, a number of upgrade issues have been encountered by users of various themes and certain plugins including the podcasting plugin by TSG, HeadSpace2, and Event Calendar. WordPress has a sticky post detailing answers to most problems. It would be advised to wait to upgrade your installation until plugin developers have time to provide updates for the new version and the majority of bugs that are encountered by early adapters are resolved.

The WordPress development team will not be starting work on the next version for at least three months, instead they are delving into updating the showcase, Codex, forums, profiles, update and compatibility APIs, theme directory, plugin directory, mailing lists, core plugins, wordcamp.org and so on. These supporting pieces have been longing for attention!

As always, our Small- to Mid-Sized Business Solutions staff is here to assist you with upgrading your WordPress installation, plugins, and theme. Please contact Chuck Snyder at 402-391-9200 to discuss your needs!