The Slick New Features of WordPress 3.3

Here at FSC Interactive we are big fans of WordPress as a platform on which to build your scalable, SEO-friendly website, and the new version 3.3 was released this week.  The nickname of WP 3.3 is “Sonny” (all WordPress versions are named after jazz musicians — this one is named after Sonny Stitt. I’m still waiting for one to be named “Kermit Ruffins”).  After upgrading to Sonny there are a lot of noticeable differences when you log in to the back end’s dashboard. It is a lot smoother, with “flyout” menus that increase your speed when creating new content.

Uploading Media in WordPress 3.3

Uploading media is now easier than ever, too. Whereas before 3.3 you had to choose what type of media you intended to upload, now there is only one button to click, and the software predetermines what type of file it is for you. In other words, you don’t have to tell it that a .jpg is an image and that an .mp3 file is audio. Another excellent feature is the drag and drop upload function. You don’t have to browse for media within the dashboard, you only have to drag it from your desktop to your Web browser. Very cool.

Helpful Pointers

There are also a lot of built-in helpful hints you will find to guide you along the way and teach you the changes.  Plugin authors can also add their own helpful hint boxes to teach you how to use their plugins and in the past few days we have seen their updates displayed in the dashboard.

This is one of my favorites: If you have multiple authors and editors on your WordPress site, you have probably seen the warning message that someone else is working on the post you just opened to edit. No worries — WP 3.3 is better built for multiple authors to work on the same post without erasing each other’s updates.

Be Careful Before Updating

Be sure that your website is ready before you update.  Backup your database. Did I mention you should backup your database?  It is very possible that you or your webmaster might have installed plugins that don’t work with Sonny. Be sure you have a copy of everything including a .SQL file of your entire site as it was on the previous version so that you can revert back if an emergency arises.

There are a lot more technical details that are exciting for those of us who work with WordPress every day. To learn more, see the complete breakdown of WordPress 3.3 features.

Burke Ingraffia
Burke Ingraffia is a SEO specialist and creative web developer who works with FSC Inter@ctive to optimize websites from a content and technological perspective.

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