Earlier this month, WordPress released version 3.3. The Ndividuate Yourself with WordPress Tutorial was created under version 3.2.1.
The new version includes the following changes that may affect portions of the tutorial:
Notifications
In addition to the familiar yellow update notification at the top of the Dashboard alerting users to WordPress updates, there are now:
- Upon your initial updating to the new version, there will be an opening page in the Dashboard that explains the significant changes in the new version.
- Notifications to update your browser if WordPress detects that your version of Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer, etc., is not the latest browser release.
- New Feature Pointers that indicate when you’re on a Dashboard page with a new feature. Once you click on “Dismiss” you won’t see the pointer again. See examples below.
Combined Dashboard Header and Admin Toolbar
Previously, the dark gray header, admin bar, or toolbar could be toggled on/off for both the Dashboard view and the live site view. With version 3.3, it’s now a permanent fixture when you’re working in the Dashboard.
It can be toggled on/off when you’re logged in and viewing the live site. (The toggle checkbox is in each User’s Profile.)
Dashboard Flyout Menus
Rather than requiring a click on the Menu headings in the Dashboard to expand the sub-menu options, you now have rollover-flyout functionality. This design choice does (or can) result in one fewer clicks, but whether or not it’s faster will depend on each user.
Media Uploader
Whereas before there were different media icons above the editing window (for Posts and Pages), there is now only one. WordPress will detect the type of media file (JPEG, MPEG, MP3, etc.) and handle it accordingly.
The uploader still functions (or not, depending on the quirkiness of the flash uploader) similarly, although now there is a drag-and-drop capability for adding multiple files.
