Finally, WordPress 3.4 is here and out the door. The new version named “Green” in honor of guitarist Grant Green, and it has plenty of enhancements and impoverishment, especially in the theme customization, custom headers, Twitter embeds, and image caption.
WordPress 3.4 features introduction video
[wpvideo Gg0EFixV w=728]
It’s so clear that most features has been added towards theme customization in this release of WordPress 3.4, for both users and developers.
Head over WordPress 3.4 features page at the codex to read more about its features.
I’ve used 3.4 before on my dev sites, however I did an upgrade now to start using the latest version, pretty cool stuff!
Here are some of the main feature that you will probably enjoy the most!
Live Theme Previews
With 3.4, there is no need to rush anymore, You will have the option to customize your theme before activating it! (of course, you will need to actually have it installed on your blog).
Plus you will be able to customize your current theme, using the live preview mode.
Twitter Embeds : Share Tweets with Style
The new WP 3.4 allows you to embed individual tweets in posts. “It includes action links that allow readers to reply to, retweet, and favorite the tweet without leaving your site. Just paste a tweet URL on its own line”. Nice!
This works with URLs from some other sites, too. For more, see the Codex article on Embeds.
Better Image Captions
Basic HTML support has been added to the caption field in the image uploader. This allows you to add links — great for photo credits or licensing details — and basic formatting such as bold and italicized text.
Have you upgraded to the new version?
How you like it so far?
Samuel Pustea August 22, 2012 at 1:36 pm
I really love this new update.
The ability to add forms and add an example tweet makes this update one of the best around.
Good work by WordPress!
Samuel Pustea recently posted..Top WordPress Plugins To Reach The Top!
Gouri August 11, 2012 at 6:07 am
And those using Thesis should also upgrade to the latest version of the theme to use this feature. Thanks for the post.
Caleb June 25, 2012 at 7:30 pm
That embedding functionality also works for YouTube vid urls, but the size of the video may be off depending on your post page parameters..
Dean Saliba June 22, 2012 at 7:47 am
I did what I always do (and everyone else should do as well) and updated my small blogs first to make sure there were no problems before I upgraded my big blogs.
I haven’t noticed a major change which I think could be a good thing, I was always annoyed when a new version of something comes out and com[pletely changes the layout, just like Facebook did with their new timeline recently.
Although I love the new feature which lets you work on a new theme without having to activate it first, no more having to turn the blog off and put up a maintenance notice.
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Aky Joe June 15, 2012 at 10:02 am
There seem to be Image Caption Problem with Thesis Theme Workaround.
Hesham Zebida June 15, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Thanks for reporting this Aky!
Aky Joe June 15, 2012 at 5:54 pm
My Pleasure! In case somebody is looking to overcome this issue, can check out my article here.
Hesham Zebida June 15, 2012 at 7:08 pm
Cool, I read the Tweets between you and Chris, so looking forward to 1.8.5
DiTesco June 14, 2012 at 4:32 pm
I just updated all my sites with 3.4 and fortunately, nothing broke
All is running smooth and the additions are indeed welcomed. I really like the “theme” customization part, but sadly it does not work on all themes. However, I am sure that in the future it will be moving to that direction as more theme developers make their themes compatible with the new WP feature. The tweet embed and better image caption are also great. Man, I love WordPress 
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Hesham Zebida June 14, 2012 at 11:36 pm
Thanks for the confirmation buddy, I did a couple of my sites, things are going well so far!
Just read on StudioPress, they’s upgraded their main site, and working on an upgrade to overcome some minor issues (that is not really a big deal), however .. I didn’t hear anything from the Thesis side, so things seems OK.
Amrik from Monetize Blogging June 14, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Wow, awesome …Nice review
The theme customizer is the biggest change in version 3.4 of WordPress, allowing admins to change various aspects and settings of a theme.
Anita Krie June 14, 2012 at 11:59 am
This is why I love WP. Every time then update it, my work gets easier and easier. Beside new Twitter feature, I like what they done with image caption. I upload a lot of images on my site daily and this will save me some extra time. Thumbs up for WP.
Amandeep Singh June 14, 2012 at 4:33 am
I upgraded to 3.4 immediately after it was released and I must say these are many basic but important features that would make bloggers’ lives easier. I like the twitter embed – effortless…
However, I am on thesis and it does not have many options in Theme Customizer tool – maybe they would plan somethings for the next release.
Amandeep Singh recently posted..Win Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB – Giveaway #2
Hesham Zebida June 14, 2012 at 11:38 pm
Let’s see how Thesis will respond to the new update!
Thanks for the feedback.
Ray June 14, 2012 at 12:17 am
Looks interesting. I might give the Twitter Tweets feature a test drive. I am sure I will probably get some use out of the image captions feature too. I will wait a few days so I can check my plugin compatibility. I don’t foresee any problems, but I will do some checking first just to make sure.
Ray recently posted..Why I don’t like Quotes
Ari Wahyudi June 13, 2012 at 11:18 pm
I just upgraded this morning, and I think the new theme option is quite cool. Wordpress rocks!
Joe Boyle June 13, 2012 at 7:56 pm
I think this is a fantastic update geared towards the users who aren’t as Wordpress-savvy. After looking through a large amount of forum postings, I’ve realized that Wordpress isn’t as easy to others as I’ve come to see it.
I’m particularly excited about this new Twitter-box addition to our posts. It’ll be so much simpler to incorporate social media into our articles now.
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