2014 appears to have been one other profitable yr for WordPress. The favored open-source CMS continued to dominate market share, powering over 23% of internet sites. It additionally continues to be adopted by more users than another CMS.
Past simply the sheer variety of customers, let’s check out a few of the options and releases which have marked this yr:
WordPress three.9 "Smith"
Launched on April the 16th, 2014 and named after jazz organist Jimmy Smith, version 3.9 introduced us some a lot wanted enhancements to the WordPress Visible Editor and media capabilities.
The visible editor turned somewhat bit extra glossy and labored loads higher on cellular gadgets (it’s now not as painful to demo the WordPress admin for my shoppers on an iPad now). The truth that now you can drag-and-drop photographs straight into the visible editor was additionally a significant user-friendly enchancment.
Maybe the nicest characteristic three.9 introduced us was the power to have media playlists. Lastly a clear, purposeful technique for including a bunch of audio or video recordsdata is included within the core. No extra plugins, no extra (gasp) Flash – simply a simple solution to share multimedia. This can be my favourite new characteristic of the yr.
Additionally included have been widget previews and an overhauled theme browser. A upkeep launch, model three.9.1, was launched on Could the eighth.
WordPress four.zero "Benny"
In a reputation honoring bandleader Benny Goodman (when will we honor some rock ‘n roll stars?), WordPress 4.0 was launched on September the fourth, 2014. Whereas there weren't essentially any groundbreaking options on this launch, there have been some good enhancements nonetheless.
Firstly, this model of WordPress was the primary to ask you which of them language you most popular throughout set up. As founder Matt Mullenweg mentioned in his 2014 State of the Phrase tackle, non-English downloads of WordPress surpassed English language downloads for the primary time. WordPress is really a world platform and it’s nice to see the software program including options for the non-English-speaking consumer base.
The media gallery additionally acquired an enormous makeover, making it a lot simpler to search out what you’re in search of. That is particularly necessary for websites which have loads of photographs/paperwork.
From my standpoint, the added means to scroll by means of content material within the visible editor whereas retaining the editor’s toolbar in a set place is an enormous enchancment. Modifying lengthy posts is now fairly a bit simpler.
Media embeds akin to movies, audio recordsdata and tweets now render within the visible editor. Earlier than this enchancment, you needed to preview a put up to see what the media would seem like. Fortunately, we are able to now see this stuff straight throughout the visible editor.
Final however not least, the Plugin Gallery now appears and features significantly better than earlier than. The addition of avatars for every plugin makes them a lot simpler to select in crowded search outcomes.
Upkeep launch 4.01 mounted some safety holes and was made accessible on November the 20th.
WordPress four.1 (Beta)
Set for launch in December, WordPress 4.1 will convey us the brand new Twenty Fifteen default theme. It’s a really clear and minimal theme, and has clearly been designed with a content-first method and with cellular customers in thoughts.
Additionally, a considerably controversial addition referred to as Focus v2 is activated by default (not less than within the beta launch). It’s a characteristic that's meant to advertise "distraction free writing", as the parents who work on the WordPress core wish to name it.
Basically, while you’re writing within the put up editor all different packing containers, menus, and so on. fade out of view. That is meant to cut back litter on the display screen and thus make it simpler to give attention to writing. When your cursor is now not lively within the visible editor, all beforehand hidden web page components come again. I can see this being a pleasant characteristic for writers who don’t like loads of litter on their display screen.
Additionally on faucet is the power to vary language packs from the Normal Settings display screen, and a nifty inline formatting bar for photographs (I’m actually excited for this one).
What Will 2015 Carry?
Whereas we don’t have official phrase of latest options coming to WordPress four.2 and different future releases, it’s a secure wager that we’re going to see continued enhancements to the UI. It appears the event crew is absolutely eager on making WordPress simpler to make use of with a much less cluttered interface.
Media recordsdata have been an enormous focus and I can solely see that persevering with in 2015. The benefit of importing, inserting and enhancing media is one space the place WordPress has lacked the previous few years however fortunately appears to be an enormous precedence of late.
One merchandise I’ve heard discussed is discovering a solution to simply replace a media file that's used on multiple web page or put up in a website. For instance, let’s say you have got a PDF file that's linked on just a few completely different pages. Proper now, there is no such thing as a straightforward one-step technique for changing that hyperlink with a brand new PDF file when it’s time to replace. It's important to go web page by web page and replace the hyperlink. Whereas it might be considerably of a distinct segment use, that is one thing that may make working a bigger WordPress website a lot simpler.
One other potential characteristic in the long run was Mullenweg’s point out of permitting WordPress to repeatedly replace itself as new variations are launched (each main and minor), very like the Chrome or Firefox browsers do. This might actually assist with retaining everybody’s website as safe as doable. Though, I wouldn’t think about seeing this occur in 2015.
Lastly, anticipate extra tweaks aimed toward non-English-language customers. This may proceed so as to add extra handy options for worldwide websites.
Wrapping Up
Whereas 2014 might not be thought-about a revolutionary yr for WordPress, the software program has continued to evolve in the fitting path. And, whereas not particularly talked about right here, there have been additionally many "beneath the hood" enhancements aimed toward higher efficiency and offering builders with highly effective new instruments.
WordPress is significantly better due to the enhancements we’ve seen in 2014. That's one thing to really rejoice!
