One of the main changes is that it will come with a new default theme. This is known as ‘twenty eleven’ and it’s likely that those people who design new themes will use it as their template. It has a large header image like the other WordPress themes and it comes with a couple of different options, as well as being HTML5 and CSS3 compatible.
It offers users a good level of performance and, to acknowledge the changing online world, you can also incorporate Tumblr-like posts into the theme, as well as moving galleries. There are also some changes made to the Dashboard that regular users will no doubt be familiar with. If you have been a user of WordPress for a long time, then you will have no doubt watched the evolution of the Dashboard, which has included some pretty drastic changes over the years.
This update, though, is all about making things more efficient so it isn’t changing too much, meaning you won’t have to start all over when it comes to operating the system. The main Dashboard changes revolve around streamlining everything so, visually, there is less wasted space and the whole thing is slightly more compact. This is likely to make it easier for users to operate as more will be able to fit on a single screen. It’s thought this will be of especial interest to those people who use smaller netbooks.
One of the biggest changes with the 3.2 version is the fact that WordPress will no longer be able to support Internet Explorer 6 and so users are recommended to upgrade their browsers now, before the change takes place. IE6 has been a sticking point for many web designers for quite a while now, so it’s a significant move on the part of WordPress to take the decision to finally stop supporting it.
Another key feature of the WordPress 3.2 upgrade is what is being touted as a ‘distraction free writer’. This is a feature designed to enable users to write and edit posts without a lot of clutter on their screen – again coming back to that goal of streamlining the user experience. All the toolbars disappear while you are writing in this particular feature, although if you move your mouse then most of the toolbars will reappear. You can use it with the HTML or visual editing functions, so it’s a fairly nifty feature if you are someone who could do with removing any distractions from the screen.
