First impressions of WordPress 3.0
As a long-time user (I started off with version 1.2 six years ago) and a big fan of the blog platform WordPress, I try to keep up with new features by testing early betas and release candidates of upcoming versions. While my own public WordPress themes are significantly outdated by now, I have built several custom-designed sites for various projects which have force me to stay updated on what happens with the WordPress core. And for every new release, I get more and more impressed by the contributing developers and their ability to add features which I didn’t know that I needed – but which is incredibly useful once they are included.
A few days ago, version 3.0 was released. I had tested pre-release versions of it for a couple of months but not used it to build any live website, and sure it looked good. But when I moved on from just testing and started building something more serious, I realized that WordPress has gone way past being just a blog engine. The new features in 3.0 includes a new way of managing navigation menus, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that the new menu system is a tool that will cut down the time it takes to build more advanced websites dramatically. It will also make it a lot easier for site owners and bloggers to manage their sites and blogs. Justin Tadlock (creator of the brilliant Hybrid Theme) has written a great article about the new custom menu feature, and it is recommended reading for anyone interested in theme development and good inspiration for me.
Upcoming releases
The plan for the upcoming weekend is to upload two new free website templates. I will do the final fixing and testing of them during the next two days, and if everything works out well I will upload the first of the two on Saturday the 26th. I will also publish an article about the ideas I have for including mobile-friendly (and touch screen optimized) layouts in the templates, and then release the second template on Sunday. Look back in a few days to see new material!
This article was written by Andreas Viklund
Web designer, writer and the creative engine behind this website. Author of most of the free website templates, along with some of the WordPress themes.