Watch this introductory video by WordPress.org to learn the new features of WordPress 4.0.
Here are some of the highlights of the new features of WordPress 4.0 (please note some of the features might not be available, depending on the themes you use):
Enhanced media library view
When you go to media library, you’ll see that only the thumbnails can be shown in a grid layout, making it so much easier to find what you are looking for. The details view of each media is more intuitive now. You can even play videos/audios right in the media details view, too.
Finding the right plugin got so much easier
We all know one of the powerful aspects of WordPress is its plugins. But finding the right plugin can be a time-consuming process. WordPress 4.0 introduced a very intuitive plugin viewer. It’s now more visual, easy to navigate, and provides all the info right in your dashboard.
Embed object can now be viewed better in the Visual Editor
Don’t you sometimes end up spending extra time, trying to show an embed object correctly by going back and forth between the WordPress editor (where you just see the codes) and the Preview screen (where you can see how the object will actually look on your site)? WordPress now supports some embeddable objects to show up right in the Visual Editor as they will look once published. What a time-saver! Go here to find out which embeds are supported by WordPress 4.0.
Check it out:
Time-saving features for the Page/Post Content
With WordPress 4.0, it’s so much easier to keep writing content without scrolling all over the place! They made the Visual Editor expand and formatted better as you enter the content. In the meantime, the items on the right sidebar (“Publish,” “Category,” etc.) do not move around. No more manually having to change the editor screen size nor constantly scrolling up and down when entering page/post content!
Not sure how to update your WordPress site to WordPress 4.0? Click on below to see some tips!
You can Click Here for the Instructions on
Updating Your Site to the Newest Version of WordPress
Great job Christina!
I to really like the updated way you can now embed your videos directly into your pages or posts. Pretty cool.
And the new look with the media library (is as you pointed out) far more visual.
My only potential caveat is, a while back I immediately updated the latest version of WP after getting notice and for some odd reasons certain basic functions, simply would not work correctly.
For instance, I could no longer add images or embed videos to my posts or link to anything for that matter.
So I immediately contacted my host and they basically did a restore for me. And they logged into my dashboard as well and experienced the exact same issues as I did. I just wanted to be sure that it wasn’t something possibly going on, on my end.
So I’m now a little gun shy and wondering, how many days do you recommend we wait before updating to a newer version?
Or should I just presume that the mishap was just some type of fluke glitch and just go ahead and update, as soon as we receive notice inside our WP dashboards. Thanks!
Mark,
Most WordPress developers wait until the .1 version comes out fixing any bugs. i.e. 4.0.1
Which could take a couple of weeks.
I generally test it out first on a test site, before updating my main sites.
Since WordPress is free open source software, there can be glitches when it first comes out. I have heard problems with older version of Thesis.
Contact your theme company first to see if it’s compatible with 4.0 before updating
cheers,
Christina