Following the highly successful release of WordPress 4.2 this past spring, the official WordPress 4.3 release is now in final beta testing before its expected release in August.
Inside the new release, WordPress developers have outlined focus around enhanced mobile experience, improved admin user interface, stronger password protection and customizer improvements.
Although some of these changes may not necessarily mean much to you, inside our blog we will highlight some of the features which will improve your WordPress experience.
If you are perhaps unsure of WordPress, or why having WordPress will benefit your website, make sure you check out our blog, 5 reasons why your business needs a WordPress website.
WordPress 4.3 Improvements
- Add Fav Icons with ease
- Stronger Password Protection
- Customizer Menu Improvements
- Better User Search
- Anti-Spamming Intent
Add Fav Icons with ease
Fav Icon, also known as a site icon, is the tiny icon that you see next to the website’s name in your browser. When you visit the untitled™ website, you will see a small icon next to the URL.
In previous versions of WordPress, administrators would have to previously install a plug-in to add a Fav Icon or look to add it manually by editing theme files. Well don’t worry if none of that last sentence made any sense, WordPress 4.3 will allow any non web-developer add your website’s Fav icon with ease!
Simply visit ‘Settings’, ‘General’ and upload an image for your site icon. What’s cool with WordPress is that it will allow you to crop the image and will provide a live preview so you can see how it will look both in your browser and as a Fav Icon. Pretty Cool
The small icons are an example of a live ‘Fav Icon’
Stronger Password Protection
A number of improvements to password security will be introduced inside the new WordPress 4.3 update.
Firstly when creating a new user, when setting up password, WordPress will make suggestions based around your chosen feedback such as adding numbers or symbols, or if you should add more characters. When a user wants to reset their password, they will visit a whole new user interface. Instead of diverting you back to your email, it will auto generate a strong password to eliminate the risk of hacking.
You may have also noticed that when logging into certain WordPress websites, you are greeted with an additional field which generates a simple maths equation. This is another attempt from WordPress in their quest to stop robot spamming.
Customizer Menu Improvements
From as early as WordPress 3.9, WordPress have been making changes to the customizer in an effort to allow users to customize theme settings from within the customizer. From widgets management through to switching themes in the latest release, these changes are expected to make a big difference in user experience.
Inside the WordPress 4.3 update, users will now be able to manage navigation menus from the theme customizer along with a live preview. Users can still manage, edit and make any changes using the previous interface, but with this new addition, WordPress seem to be pushing users to use the customizer.
Example of the new 4.3 Customizer
Better User Search
This may be of more benefit to web-developers here but WordPress have made some simple, yet highly effective changes to the search functions in the user admin section.
Users will now be able to search for other users by First Name, Last Name, Nickname and even Display name. This will make finding user accounts a much simpler task for websites who have a large volume of users.
Anti-Spamming Intent
Sometimes even web-developers can be guilty of forgetting to turn on disable comments in the settings once creating a page. When you do, you often find that your page can be flooded with spam comments in a matter of days; well WordPress 4.3 plans to eliminate this.
Now, when creating a new page or custom post, the disable function will now be the default settings. Again it’s another simple feature, but saves time and more importantly tackles anti-spamming.
The End Result
Whilst the changes may not seem ground-breaking, from a Cheshire web-design point of view, they certainly offer food for thought and benefit both the user and the developer. We look forward to seeing what WordPress cook up when 4.4 is released later in the year.
If you are looking for a Cheshire web-design agency that specialise in WordPress websites, or perhaps you are looking for a website rebuild, you have come to the right place. We are only a phone call away on 01565 653616, don’t forget you can also follow us on twitter @untitledtm
Research Notes
– WP Beginner