For someone who has been working with WordPress ever since the 2.x days, each new release is preempted with great anticipation & excitement. Whilst WP 3.5 was rigorously being tested we eagerly awaited the launch date announcement. Yes, we were that impatient to wait for the stable version to be out in the market.
And it’s finally here –
WordPress.org announced WordPress 3.5, featuring a “completely re-imagined flow” for uploading photos and creating galleries. You can download the new release now from WordPress.org/Download (it’s just under 5MB in size).
Dubbed “Elvin” in honor of drummer Elvin Jones, who played with John Coltrane in addition to many other musicians, WordPress 3.5 features more than just a new photo experience. Elvin adds a new mobile-first default theme (Twenty Twelve), refreshes styles for the dashboard, and updates everything to be Retina-ready with high-resolution graphics. There’s also a new color picker and some streamlining for fewer-used sections of the admin console. Really cool if you ask me Image may be NSFW.
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Some of the highlights are as follows –
New Default Theme – Twenty Twelve
Image may be NSFW.
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- Simple, flexible, elegant – No more listing of blog posts on the front page; instead there’s more space for widgets and other content.
- Mobile-first, responsive design – Don’t worry people not being able to read your blog on their phones. Irrespective of the mobile platform, readers can now access your blog or WP powered site!
- Gorgeous Open Sans typeface – More legibility and highly optimized for printing and reading on the internet or on your phone.
- Uses the latest Theme Features – Change your accent color or your layout. Customize your blog the way you want Image may be NSFW.
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The default theme is also a good resource for those who want to start learning about coding themes. If you want to start tinkering with your site’s code, looking at how Twenty Twelve works is a good place to begin.
New Media Manager
- Beautiful interface: A streamlined, all-new experience – View thumbnails of all images uploaded and enter the Caption and other details in the side-pane that opens up when you click on an image.
- Create galleries faster with drag-and-drop reordering, inline caption editing, and simplified controls – Uploading multiple images and creating galleries couldn’t get any more simple!
- Insert multiple images at once with Shift/Ctrl+click ( For the power user in you Image may be NSFW.
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Admin Enhancements
- New Welcome Screen
- Retina-Ready (HiDPI) Admin ( Did we mention cool earlier!!)
- Hide Link Manager for new installs
- Better accessibility for screenreaders, touch devices and keyboard users
- More polish on admin screens, including a new color picker
However, this release is likely to trigger many hackers to try their hands on breaking the security that comes with WordPress. So lets talk a bit about WordPress security and how you can choose the ideal WordPress Hosting package.
What is WordPress Security?
Fundamentally, security is not about perfectly secure systems. Such a thing might well be impractical, or impossible to find and/or maintain. A secure server protects the privacy, integrity, and availability of the resources under the server administrator’s control.
Qualities of a trusted web host might include:
- Readily discusses your security concerns and which security features and processes they offer with their hosting.
- Provides the most recent stable versions of all server software.
- Provides reliable methods for backup and recovery.
Decide which security you need on your server by determining the software and data that needs to be secured.
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How can your Secure your WordPress account?
Limiting access
Make smart choices that reduce possible entry points available to a hacker.
Containment
Your system should be configured to minimize the amount of damage that can be done in the event that it is compromised.
Preparation and knowledge
Keeping backups and knowing the state of your WordPress installation at regular intervals. Having a plan to backup and recover your installation in the case of catastrophe can help you get back online faster in the case of a problem.
Keep your Computer Virus-Free
Make sure the computers you use are free of spyware, malware, and virus infections. No amount of security in WordPress or on your web server will make the slightest difference if there is a keylogger on your computer.
Web Server Vulnerabilities
The web server running WordPress, and the software on it, can have vulnerabilities. Therefore, make sure you are running secure, stable versions of your web server and the software on it, or make sure you are using a trusted host that takes care of these things for you.
If you’re on a shared server (one that hosts other websites besides your own) and a website on the same server is compromised, your website can potentially be compromised too even if you follow everything in this guide. Be sure to ask your web host what security precautions they take.
There are many more security measures you must keep in mind. You can read them on the official WordPress blog here.
Have you already upgraded to WordPress 3.5? How are you finding the new features? Share your inputs with us Image may be NSFW.
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