WordPress 3.1 New Features: Admin Bar, Post Formats, Internal Linking…

WordPress 3.1 update included many bug fixes and new features such as admin bar, post formats, internal linking, etc.

WordPress 3.1 is now available for free download. The code name “Reinhardt” is named in honor of the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Existing WordPress user can update from within the WordPress dashboard.WordPress 3.1 is a great update from previous WordPress version, there are many features and bug fixes. Here are some of the WordPress 3.1 noticeable new features (and how to enable them):

1. Blue colour admin scheme

Say “bye-bye” to gray color admin panel. The admin color scheme is located under Users -> Your Profile. (took me half hour to find out!)

Admin bar

Already familiar by WordPress.com users, the admin bar allows quick access to user’s profile, add new post, moderate comments, and change blog design.

2. Internal linking

Now it is easier to link to your previous posts when you are editing a new post. The insert link window added previous post search for easy linking.

3. Post formats

WordPress 3.1 is the 1st version that officially build-in support for different post formats, like the already popular Tumblr micro-blog. The support posts types are: aside, gallery, link, image, quote, status, video, audio, and chat. Post formats needs to be enabled in your theme.

“With the 3.1 release, WordPress is more of a CMS than ever before. The only limit to what you can build is your imagination.” — Matt Mullenweg, founding developer of WordPress.

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My two cents

The user interface changes do not mean too much to me, I do not write blog posts online (I use a desktop blog editor). Instead, I care more about the bug fixes and performance improvements.

I like the post formats feature. It would bring people back to their blogs from Twitter and other micro-blogging platforms. Currently, I am using Posterous for my private personal blog. I might migrate it to WordPress if it hasenough mobile support.

Have you upgraded to WordPress 3.1? What’s the feature you like most?