On August 18, 2015, WordPress released version 4.3 (aka “Billie”, for jazz legend Billie Holliday), offering the release for download on the WordPress site and for update via the WordPress dashboard.
Version 4.3 introduces new features that make it even easier to format content and customize your website, making the WordPress publishing process faster and more straightforward than ever!
Formatting Shortcuts Make Life Easier
New formatting shortcuts in the visual editor allow you to format your content without even a mouse click. Merely inserting an asterisk (*) quickly formats your content as an unordered list, while inserting the number ‘1’ quickly formats the content as an ordered list. Inserting the number sign (#) formats your content as an ‘H1’ heading (“##” formats ‘H2’ headings, etc) , and using “>” will format a block quote.
Site Icons Enhance Your Brand
A site icon, aka “favicon” or app icon, can be an important part of a website’s identity as it can be displayed on browsers, bookmarks, and apps, used to easily identify your brand. Where in previous versions, site icons had to be manually uploaded or added via plugins, a new feature allows you to automatically insert your site icon in browser tabs, on bookmark menus, and as a mobile app “touch” icon. This feature is available to everyone, and doesn’t require any theme support.
Navigation Menu Managed via Theme Customizer
This feature has been introduced to allow users to edit, create, and manage all of their themes settings from the customizer, with a handy live preview option. While users who prefer can still use the old interface, this new option makes menu management easier via a more mobile-friendly interface that is more accessible for all users.
Better Passwords Strengthen Security
For security-conscious users who have requested that WordPress suggest stronger passwords, version 4.3 will introduce a new password generation and renewal interface. Whenever you add a new user, the system will auto-generate a strong password, and send the user a password reset link instead of the previous plain text email. If you edit a password, the system will advise of the strength of the new password.
Summary
Along with the above features and enhancements, WordPress “Billie” includes even smoother administration, refining the list views across the back-end dashboard area, and thereby making WordPress more accessible from any device. Also, comments are now turned off on all new pages by default, keeping comments in your blogs and forums, where they belong and where you specify. Your website can also be customized more quickly, with a new front-end “Customize” link in your toolbar that allows you to instantly make changes. In all, version 4.3 is another WordPress upgrade aimed at making publishing an easier and more enjoyable for all users, and more inviting and intuitive for beginners.
