WordPress 4.0 Release

Updated June 1, 2022

WordPress 4.0 Beta is now available for testing. The release date for a non-beta version is anticipated for sometime this week. In this post I’ll highlight some upcoming features and why it’s an exciting event.

Beta 1 Available for Testing

For those who love to try out new software, then WordPress 4.0 Beta 1 is for you. However, here’s a word of caution: do not run it on a production site. Rather, test is out on a development server. If there’s a glitch in the code it won’t negatively affect a live website.

WordPress 4.0 Goodies

Whenever a new release comes out, it’s an exciting event for us developers. Automattic (run by WP co-founder Matt Mullenweg) stays close with their community. The WP forum is notorious for monitoring feedback, noting requests for improvements, and general sharing related to this open-source software.

WordPress 4.0 is expected early September; here are the expected features:

• Previews in the visual editor for embedding URLs. This means you can paste urls directly into a page or post.
• Improvements to the media library. If you have a ton of images uploaded into your library, it can be cumbersome to sift through them. WordPress 4.0 provides a grid view.
• Plugin installs will become a bit easier. It’s anticipated that searching for specific plugins will include more viewing details.
• Intelligent resizing within the editor. This looks like it will impact how TinyMCE will function. For tester, developers are particularly interesting in reporting any bugs. Note the feature numbers #28328 and #29595.
• Changes to widgets in customizer panel as well as some formatting functions.

WordCamp SF Update

While you still can’t register for WordCamp SF 2014 yet, they are releasing conference topics and speaker information. In the meantime, mark your calendar for October 25 & 26 and stay tuned for when registration opens up. I anticipate that tickets will go fast.