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Waiting for WordPress 3
All about WordPress 3
Hold onto your socks – WordPress is about to release version 3.0. What does this mean? Linda explains all in this article...
Custom menu system
The custom menus system (Appearance > Menus) is not quite finished. According to WP, "In Beta 2, the layout will be different and a bunch of the functionality will be improved, but we didn't want to hold things up for this one screen. You can play with making custom menus, and report bugs if you find them, but this is not how the final screen will look/work, so don't get attached to it."
The custom menu option is another step towards the CMS for WordPress. This new functionality makes it very easy to create custom menus by adding and mixing categories, pages or custom urls. WP 3 provides an easy drag-and-drop interface where you can embed these custom menus as a widget wherever your theme allows.
WordPress merges with WordPress MU
For some users, this is the biggest news of all. I haven't covered WordPress MU in my previous articles, so you may want to read up on this content management system at WordPress. Basically, WP MU (Multi-User) allows users to create a site that contains multiple blogs. This is the system that WordPress uses to support WordPress.com a site that serves tens of millions of hits on millions of blogs each day.
You can brush up on network usage at WordPress, too, so you can decide whether or not to open your blog to a network of blogs.
NOTE: While this multi-blog and multi-user system is enticing, make sure you have server support for that type of online activity.
Custom taxonomies
This feature brings WP 3 to that true CMS format. Custom taxonomies allow users to create additional pieces of meta information, similar to creating sub-menus. Default includes "Categories" and "Tags," but now you can add additional types with an option for hierarchy.
Other Improvements
According to PluggedIn, the following list of items will become available with WP 3:
- Change to comments UI to show when a comment is replying to another, and link to the parent comment
- Enable custom taxonomy UI for pages as well as for posts
- Show login form upon email-sent for recover/reset passwords
- New wp_login_form() provides a simple login form for use anywhere
- Allow "No role for this blog" to be chosen in Administration > Users > Add New panel
Additionally, WP 3 users will have the ability to create unique author templates. If you're running a multi-author blog and you'd like to apply unique styles or layouts to individual author pages, you'll have your chance to accomplish this goal.
Linda Goin
Linda Goin carries an A.A. in graphic design, a B.F.A. in visual communications with a minor in business and marketing and an M.A. in American History with a minor in the Reformation. While the latter degree doesn't seem to fit with the first two educational experiences, Linda used her 25-year design expertise on archaeological digs and in the study of material culture. Now she uses her education and experiences in social media experiments.
Accolades for her work include fifteen first-place Colorado Press Association awards, numerous fine art and graphic design awards, and interviews about content development with The Wall St. Journal, Chicago Tribune, Psychology Today, and L.A. Times.