Yesterday, the much awaited WordPress 2.7, code named ‘Coltrane’, was released to the general public and avid bloggers that were waiting to pounce on the stable release. Though I knew it’s a bit too early to try it out, I decided to upgrade and test it on my fairly new blog What’s Happening? – Broadcast right now!
Since it’s a new blog (not even a month old!), it didn’t have many posts, and none of the posts used custom fields nor images. So, in the event of something going wrong with the upgrade, I can just do a quick restore from the XML file that I had exported earlier.
So, what’s new in WordPress 2.7 – for a casual or non-tech-savvy user? Quite a lot, I must say! A couple of them being significant, in my opinion. It has underwent a major cosmetic change in the admin interface, leading to more a functional flexibility.
The dashboard now gives a brief but broader view of the contents of the blog (see screenshot below).
As you can see from the picture above, the conventional horizontal sidebar is gone, only to take a vertical orientation. I don’t know why, but it reminds me of the old collapsible Slashdot menu.
The New Post link is placed on the top right part of the admin interface, enabling easy access to Drafts, New page, Upload media and Comments. Now you don’t have to click on ‘Manage‘ and shuttle between pages, posts, comments, etc.
Also, if you click on Screen Options you can select or de-select things that you want to be displayed on the dashboard. Well, to me, all of them are required !!
There are two significant additions to this version of WordPress that did not exist in its previous versions. One, search and install plugins without leaving your admin interface, and two, one-click UPGRADE!!
You can also see the ratings for the plugins, along with the install link!
Thank the developers! Now we don’t have to go through the upgrade process by reading the guide(s) line-by-line, adding/deleting/preserving files and directories, and finally uploading the latest version to the server. Phew!!
So, the new version of WordPress definitely has some essential goodies that makes life easier for the webmaster and the lay-user. However, I feel that the admin interface (when not in Turbo mode!) has become too very overloaded that it is painfully slow in moving from one menu function/page to the other. Anyways, the developers at WordPress will find a way to speed-up the interface.
I still haven't got around to upgrading my WordPress installation. Reading this makes me less fearful, but after some wierdness in the past that broke a few things, I'm still putting it off :O))
I was reluctant to upgrade to the newest versions of WordPress as and when they were available. However, once we put in some effort and upgrade to the new one, subsequent upgrades can be done at the click of a button. This is a major improvement in WordPress CMS.. I'm just reluctant to upgrade this site, Ubiquitense, since 'm not sure if my current theme supports WP 2.7. Once 'm sure of this, I'll definitely upgrade to 2.7! All the best!!
I agree- it is way over loaded with text links. i think the last release had an amazing user interface which this one lacks. i suppose it is what happens when programmers design?
i think i'll keep my main blog http://www.mountainbikingnewzealand.co.nz as is until someone releases a plugin that changes it back to the older and sweeter interface and the bugs have been ironed out
I like the new wp dashboard interface . love the theme preview feature . but im a pro blogger that make 30 – 40 + posts a day and i find the dash board speed to be painfully slow . and its annoying the hell out of me i hope they come up with a option list that i can configure so my page doesnt have to load all the functions that i dont use on a daily basis
I think you did the same mistake that I did. I was an early bird in upgrading my blog http://www.whatshappen.in to WP 2.7. This early version is terribly slow. However, when I upgraded this site, I don’t have any of the problems that I face with the other one – such as slow ‘New Post‘ and incorrect plugin installations. Guess they did some bug fixes!
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