Technology changes every day and so do programs associated with it. One of the major programming languages on the internet is WordPress, with its introduction that has taken the internet world by storm. WordPress has completely revolutionized the way websites are now made across the world. Over the years WordPress has gone through many changes some out of the necessity to evolve in order to avoid becoming obsolete while others are just some overhauls and improvements in how the user experiences the whole WordPress program. The use of the WordPress program and its growth is largely due to its contributors and people who regularly update and bring new solutions to the program. This is also the main reason due to which people are appreciating WordPress since it offers so many different value additions that come directly from programmers and developers.

One such development is the modern and very recent version of WordPress named “Smith” which was released off late; the program brings a different and new round of changes. The focus this time seems to be on the back-end editing and some admin functions such as big TimeMCE (visual editor) update, gallery previews, media, and finally an improved user interface of your widget. This article talks about the details of some major changes that have come in WordPress 3.9.

Importance Of WordPress Updates

There is hardly any occasion when we see a certain website was not being exploited or hacked every, why does this happen? The simple answer to this is security, similar to many different programming languages WordPress also has some security patches associated with it that become weak over time, to improve its security an overhaul and reengineering process is important and necessary. This is the only fix that can save any website from being hacked, so here is your major reason as to why WordPress update is so important.

Secondly, today with the fast-paced internet and more user-friendly changes, updating WordPress has become so easy and convenient that it should never be an effort or a time taking the task, which is why it is always recommended to update your program.

Outdated and obsolete plugins and themes are another reason for the update of WordPress because as the functionality of the website needs to be increased all the time, these outdated themes or plugins are not enough. So if you wish to be a top developer who works on big clients then having updated software is very important without which you will not be able to make a website on the current benchmarks of the industry.

Improved User Interface For Your Widgets

The user interface has gone on to become a very important element in programming languages as they form a part of the modernization of such tools. Attractive user interfaces that are also user-friendly have more appreciation among programmers, now the time has gone when we used to see a black screen with data on it. This day and age are all about attractive and smooth screens and displays to work on. Understanding this major requirement, the developing team at WordPress has done a major overhaul in the interface for all the widgets.

The old version of widgets did set the grounds for enhanced user interface during the time of its introduction; however, with changing technology a major overhaul was needed. The development team used the customizer plugin, building it along with the main system, the drastic changes here that we can see with the new user interface are:

  • Editing existing or modified widgets
  • Creating a new widget
  • Widget setting and reordering
  • Deleting Widgets

Update On Visual Editor

The visual editor lets you add customized buttons to your website, it has over time gone through quite a lot of changes because of the growing demands of more and more customization when it comes to adding buttons and visuals on the website, recently introduced changes in the visual editor, promises a lot of potential opportunities for not only present but also future.

Visual editor this time has undergone a major update, within the main system as well as from the user interface end. Some changes that can be named are horizontal lining buttons, as well as an updated version of TinyMCE. Some button icons have also been changed in terms of design.

Gallery previews are the most famous change that is implemented in the update. They offer a very refreshing look to the overall UI of the program and also match the benchmark of the ways how modern picture galleries operate; it means the conventional placeholder has now lost its place. A live media preview that modern tools have is a highlight. TinyMCE has gone through an update from the existing version to 4.0 and to the Plupload version 2, as well. The update now has the capacity to handle all user interfaces within the WordPress program.

The new update with the visual editor will also add an amazing drag and drop functionality that makes it very convenient to drag and drop images from the desktop to your posts with automated formatting options.

Theme Preview Updates And Additions

If there was one thing that WordPress seriously required was its capacity to see the effects of changes in real-time rather than waiting for them to come up after getting done with the whole process.

The live theme update is a great value addition to the WordPress program in the new WordPress 3.9; it enables the user to preview how a website with a different theme would look after all the aesthetic changes. This feature is an example of WordPress adaptability as time grows. Besides the framework of themes, you can also add the widgets and rearrange them, and see the changes on the preview.

Easy Theme Installation

Changing or installing a new WordPress theme was an exhausting task in the old version, the novel theme techniques have shown some major and very crucial improvement on the old versions. This change is also very obvious to any level of Word Press user.

Installing different themes has become extremely easy now, the changes show that a major engineering phase has gone through and the most favorite themes are now featured in the “Featured” tab so users can quickly install.

This phase of the WordPress update has played a crucial role in increasing the overall acceptance of the WordPress programs.

Audio Or Video Editing Playlists

Another really cool addition to this new WordPress update is the function to create or modify various playlists. Users can very easily now add or edit new audio and video within WordPress 3.9. Video or audio playlists work as shortcodes, just like image galleries, in the current version of WordPress, it is done through usual media uploaded similar to uploading images and files.

A very secret but great feature in the new version is that the program will automatically download album covers for you by using ID3 tags from all the media files.

Visually Appealing Theme Browsing Experience

One of the most attractive changes in the WordPress software is the overall visually appealing browsing experience that you get with the new update, this is a very significant aspect of the update because it adds to the functionality of the program and enables users to have a lot more friendly experience rather than boring screens.

Key Points To Remember For Top Developers

This new update has added some real value additions to the overall WordPress program, however keeping the users and developers in mind there are some keynotes that are important to mention with regards to the new version 3.9.

Plugin or theme programmers should understand some new key elements; there are four varieties of utility functions. Various associated libraries also have been updated as well, including jQuery, a largely popular and most important plugin in the JavaScript framework.  TinyMCE enables you to work on text or visual editing elements of WordPress. Another function is Underscore - a utility-based programming function that is used for JavaScript Programming. Pulpload is usually used to operate on all kinds of user interfaces that are within the mainstream of WordPress. Finally, one more command that is a key to the developer’s interest is the Backbone that works on the functions of Shackbone, to provide key-bindings for the top programming websites.

If we talk about Media Elements, then it is a nicely designed aspect of HTML 5 in the context of audio & video modification.
Before we conclude the article we will also mention 6 major steps to follow before you initiate the updating process.

The WordPress upgrade system is vastly improved, but still, there are some major steps that should be taken in order to ensure all the upgrading process goes down seamlessly. Initially, one tip to all developers here is to create a backup of everything they have worked on before trying to modify or update the program. Also, try to update your WordPress during off-peak hours, this increases your speed as well as due to low traffic volumes the process is more efficient and error-free. The best time to do this is late at night where the overall internet traffic is not great.

-          Create a full site backup: Just like the data and information backup you made before planning an update, also try to create and manage a full backup of your website and program that you are working on. Backing up your software and website saves a lot of your effort and time when you re-start the process of web designing on a new version of WordPress.

-          Disable your cache: There are too many processes running on at the back end of your system during the update, turning your cache off can help you speed that process up and make it efficient by disabling processes and files not required. Turning Caches off also result in a lot less usage of memory in the system that can speed up your processing time and make your working for efficient.

-          Do a complete update: Make sure the update is complete, do not just upgrade the software and let the themes and plugins left idle, because previous themes and plugins might not work or might not be as functional with the program chance, so it is important to make a proper full modification before you start working back on the software. The complete update also results in a full overhaul of the software and themes, which means that you have better options to lay around in front of your clients. The upgraded software will help you create more aesthetically pleasing and functional websites in turn helping you to further highlight your work out in the industry.

-          WordPress themes: Updating your themes as said is very important along with the software, one more benefit to this is that it also upgrades all the necessary security patches that are attached to those themes making your website even more secure. WordPress themes are today’s most appreciated feature in web- designing, it is important to give them really high level of importance as they provide a perfect skeleton on which you will be working.

Summary

As said earlier, with growing demands of creativity and more functionality on sites during their programming process and also on the user interface end, updates of programming language are also very essential. WordPress success is something that is not based on a fluke, its developer's team and contributors work day in and day out to manage the changes and create more updates when necessary.

The new WordPress 3.9, has gone through a major overhaul in terms of both technical and aesthetic changes that will not only add ease and a lot more functionality on the programming part but also will enable them to create a lot more functional and aesthetically pleasing websites. WordPress update is not only necessary to improve the functionality of the program and the resulting website, but it is also important because the security updates and the strong back-end prevents website and programs both from malicious activity as well as all kinds of external exploits.