WordPress plays a large role at Skatter Tech and I am quite excited for the latest v3.1 update. Although intended for a late-2010 launch, numerous issues pushed the release date further down. I actually hoped to launch Skatter Tech 3.0 late last year with the new engine, but it was not ready in time. Fortunately, we are upgrade-proof and we will roll out the update after internal testing over the next day or two. For WordPress users, this is the first major update since v3.0 became available in June 2010. Unlike recent releases which only fixed bugs, the update brings new features to the table.

Internal Linking

This feature makes lives easy for bloggers and it is surprising that it was not already included. While composing a new article, writers can now take advantage of an internal link search tool to find and reference previous posts. This saves authors the time of having to open a new tab and use the front-end interface for finding their own content.

Admin Bar

WordPress.com users are probably quite familiar with this feature. While logged into the administrative interface, a menu bar hovers over website with handy navigational links to your profile page, compose screen, comment queue, and appearance settings. There’s even a readily available search box at the top right at all times.

Post Formats

While most blogging tools offer categories and tags for organizing content, new services such as Tumblr take a step further. Their interface lets users style their articles with one of the provided formats: aside, gallery, image, quote, status, video, audio, or chat. Although upgrading to the latest version of WordPress will add support for post formats, bloggers will not even see the option appear in the dashboard until theme developers upgrade their templates.

Other Notable Additions

The WordPress Core developers clearly focused on dashboard improvements for the new version. New users and those who upgrade can enjoy a clutter-free write screen, better network admin screen organization, new export/import tools, and even a fancy new blue administrator color scheme.

Upgrade Soon

Since WordPress is one of the largest and most popular blogging platforms, there are many vulnerabilities that effect users. Sticking to the latest updates does not ensure 100% security, however it minimizes the chances of your blog getting hacked. According to Matt Mullenweg, the founder of Auttomatic, there were over 2,000 commits and 820 resolved issues with this release. for Existing WordPress users can easily upgrade when they see a notice appear in the dashboard and new users can download the latest version from WordPress.org.

Links: WordPress v3.1 Changelog | WordPress Blog: ThreeOne