WordPress has had over 65 million downloads since version 3.0 was released, and in this third major iteration we’ve added significant polish around the new user experience, navigation, uploading, and imports. Check out this short video that summarizes the things we think you’ll find are the cat’s pajamas:

For Users

Experienced users will appreciate the new drag-and-drop uploader, hover menus for the navigation, the new toolbar, improved co-editing support, and the new Tumblr importer. We’ve also been thinking a ton about what the WordPress experience is like for people completely new to the software. Version 3.3 has significant improvements there with pointer tips for new features included in each update, a friendly welcome message for first-time users, and revamped help tabs throughout the interface. Finally we’ve improved the dashboard experience on the iPad and other tablets with better touch support.

For Developers

There is a ton of candy for developers as well. I’d recommend starting your exploration with the new editor API, new jQuery version, better ways to hook into the help screens, more performant post-slug-only permalinks, and of course the entire list of improvements on the Codex and in Trac.

Roll the Credits

The Credits tab on the new About WordPress screen in the WordPress dashboard provides recognition for contributors to each release, but we like to thank them here as well.

Aaron D. Campbell, Aaron Jorbin, Adam Backstrom, Adam Harley, Alex Concha, Alex King, Alex Mills (Viper007Bond), amereservant, ampt, Andrei Freeman, Andre Renaut, andrewfrazier, Andrew Nacin, Andrew Ozz, Andrew Ryno, Andy Skelton, Anthony Atkinson, Austin Matzko, Bartosz Kaszubowski, Benjamin J. Balter, Brandon Dove, carlospaulino, Caspie, cebradesign, Chelsea Otakan, Chip Bennett, Chris Jean, Coen Jacobs, Curtiss Grymala, Daniel Bachhuber, Daryl Koopersmith, Daryl L. L. Houston, David, David Cowgill, David Gwyer, Da^MsT, deltafactory, demetris, Derek Herman, Devin Reams, Digital Raindrops, Dion Hulse (@dd32), Dominik Schilling (ocean90), Doug Provencio, dragoonis, DrewAPicture, Dylan Kuhn, eduplessis, Eightamrock, eko-fr, Elpie, elyobo, Empireoflight, Erick Hitter, Eric Mann, Evan Anderson, Evan Solomon, fonglh, garyc40, Gary Jones, Gaurav Aggarwal, George Stephanis, goldenapples, goto10, hakre, Helen Hou-Sandi, Ian Stewart, Ipstenu, Jackson, Jacob Gillespie, Jake Goldman, James Collins, Jane Wells, jeremyclarke, Jesper Johansen (Jayjdk), jgadbois, Jick, Joe Hoyle, John Blackbourn, John Hawkins, JohnONolan, John P. Bloch, Jon Cave, Jorge Bernal, Joseph Scott, jtclarke, Jurica Zuanovic, Justin Givens, Justin Sainton, Kailey Lampert (trepmal), kevinB, kitchin, Konstantin Kovshenin, Kuraishi, Kurt Payne, Lance Willett, Latz, linuxologos, Lloyd Budd, Luc De Brouwer, lukeschlather, Mako, Mantas Malcius, MarcusPope, mark-k, Mark Jaquith, Mark McWilliams, Marko Heijnen, Martin Lormes, masonjames, Matias Ventura, Matt Mullenweg, Matt Thomas, Matt Wiebe, MattyRob, Mert Yazicioglu, Michael Adams (mdawaffe), Michael Fields, Michal “Mau” Pliska, Mike Bijon, Mike Schroder, Milan Dinic, mitchoyoshitaka, Mohammad Jangda, Morten Hauan, Mr Papa, mrtorrent, Naoko McCracken, natebedortha, Nikolay Bachiyski, olivM, olleicua, Otto, pagesimplify, paulhastings0, pavelevap, pete.mall, Peter Westwood, peterwilsoncc, ppaire, Ptah Dunbar, r-a-y, Rami Y, Rasheed Bydousi, Robert Chapin (miqrogroove), Ron Rennick, Ross Hanney, ruslany, Ryan Boren, ryanhellyer, Ryan Imel, Safirul Alredha, Samir Shah, Sam Margulies, saracannon, Scott Basgaard, Scott Bressler, Scott Cariss, scottconnerly, Scott Reilly, Scott Taylor, scribu, Sergey Biryukov, Sheri Bigelow, Simon Wheatley, sirzooro, Stephanie Leary, tech163, TheDeadMedic, Tim Moore, Tom Auger, Travis Ballard, Ulrich Sossou, vnsavage, wpweaver, WraithKenny, Yoav Farhi, and Ze Fontainhas.

As well, we’d like to give a shout out to these users who have been particularly active on the support forums since the release of 3.2:

alchymyth, Andrea_r, ClaytonJames, cubecolour, Eran Miller, esmi, Frederick Townes, govpatel, Ipstenu, keesiemeijer, kmessinger, Marcus, Otto, peredur, Rev. Voodoo, Samuel B, Tobias, vtxyzzy, and zoonini.

WordPress News

Last year we wanted to do a video town hall, but ran into technical and scheduling difficulties. This year we’re planning ahead, and will definitely make it happen. We’re currently taking questions, and will record a series of town hall-style videos where we answer your questions. Ask about the roadmap, code, community, contributing, WordCamps, meetups, themes, plugins, features, you name it. No topic (as long as it is about WordPress) is off limits, and we’ll do our best to answer as many questions as we can while we are together. The videos will be posted to this blog and archived at WordPress.tv.

Last year the people who were in attendance also posted pictures and updates to Twitter using the #wptybee tag. We’ll use the same tag this year, so if you’re interested in following along, add it to your Twitter client as a search.

What do you want to know from us? Ask away!

WordPress News

Our goal is to release version 3.3 early next week, so plugin and theme authors, this is your last pre-release chance to  test your plugins and themes  to find any compatibility issues before the final release. We’ve published a number of posts on the development blog that explain important things you need to know as you prepare for WordPress 3.3. Please review this information immediately if you have not done so already.

If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. Or, if you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on WordPress Trac. Known issues that crop up will be listed here, but let’s all keep our fingers crossed for a quiet Sunday so we can get these new features into your hands early next week!

To test WordPress 3.3, try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”). Or you can download the release candidate here (zip).

WordPress News

As the first release candidate was well-received, we think we’re really close to a final release. Primarily, we’ve ensured that new toolbar (the admin bar in 3.2) has a consistent appearance across all browsers, and the API for developers is now final. You can check our bug tracker for the complete list of changes.

Plugin and theme authors, please test your plugins and themes now, so that if there is a compatibility issue, we can figure it out before the final release. On our development blog, we’ve published a number of posts that explain important things you need to know as you prepare for WordPress 3.3.

If you haven’t tested WordPress 3.3 yet, now is the time — please though, not on your live site unless you’re adventurous. Once you install RC2, you can visit About WordPress page (hover over the WordPress logo in the top left) to see an overview of what’s to come in WordPress 3.3 (and what to test, of course).

If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. Or, if you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on WordPress Trac. Known issues that crop up will be listed here.

Enjoy!

To test WordPress 3.3, try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”). Or you can download the release candidate here (zip).

Sometimes time slows down
between releases – like now
This is RC2

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