WordPress 4.0 is not inside, it's on the top of the page -

I'm sure the title of this post won't mean much to anyone who isn't a child of the 1980s, but we'll provide some cultural learning for you I'm glad you're here.

WordPress v4.0 released on 4 September. published on September 4, and two of The WooTeam ( myself as well as Mike Jolley) being part of the 275 contributors to the release. A lot of discussion was made about WordPress 4.0 specifically in relation to the obvious landmark version, which the name appears to suggest, therefore we felt it was good to have a review what's contained in this release to see just what difference the release makes in our everyday lives.

What's included WordPress 4.0?

Every WordPress release is accompanied by a plethora of updates, enhancements, as well as general improvements. This release was no different and with v4.0 it included 711 tickets that were included - each ticket represents either the release of a brand new feature, upgrade to an existing feature or an improvement to the broken function.

They are among the most important enhancements that WordPress 4.0 has to offer: 4.0:

• Enhanced grid and details views of the library's media collection
• Enhance embedding of media in posts (YouTube, Twitter, etc.)
• The post editor has been improved include a toolbar which slides down the page when you write
• An improved plugin search with much more visually appealing results for searches

It is possible to view a complete list of all the 711 closed tickets that were included in this update on the WordPress Core Trac.

But where are all the new capabilities?

If you take a look at the feature list that is below, you'll notice that they are all upgrades or enhancements to existing (already working) functions. The result was a large number of people to dismiss v4.0 as a version that's not worthy of the apparent significant milestone it is (more on that below), but the thing that a majority of users don't realise is that these enhancements serve to improve WordPress to be an even more powerful platform for writing and publishing your own work.

Pippin Williamson has made several excellent points about this already, so there's no need to go into detail here just to point out that after working with WordPress 4.0 for a short time, you'll see that the 'additions' are so valuable that you'll be unable to comprehend why you didn't have them until now.

As a writer of plugins, I love the latest search engine for plugins and, for bloggers, the updated post editor is revolutionizing. The improvements alone are a major new release for WordPress.

What's all this fuss about Version numbers?

Many software programs utilize semantic version numbers - which implies that the release of a 4.0 release will be a more significant release than v3.9 and could alter the software in a major way. WordPress doesn't work in a way like it does, instead treating 4.0 just like 3.9 or 4.1 (you will find more information about WordPress the system of numbering versions on this page). That, along with its impressive improvements that the new version offers, puts a stop to claims that WordPress 4.0 4.0 has been "hugely uninspiring".

What's new in WordPress 4.1?

I can't say exactly what the main feature set of WordPress 4.1 is, however if you have a look the tickets that are earmarked for the 4.1 milestone the user will get an idea of what to expect. As usual there will be improvements and fixes to current features and a number of additional features that could refine WordPress more.

Want to get involved in WordPress core development? Check out the complete list of excellent first-time bugs for new contributors.