What Is New in WordPress 3.2
This release focuses on a leaner, faster, and more modern administration experience. It's a significant step forward in performance and user interface design.
| Category | Key Changes |
|---|---|
| New Features | New Default "Twenty Eleven" Theme, Distraction-Free Writing Mode, Admin Bar |
| Improvements | Faster Performance, Updated Admin UI, Better Documentation, WordPress Requirements |
| Under the Hood | jQuery & jQuery UI Updates, IE6 Support Dropped, New Screen Options API |
How is the admin experience faster and leaner?
The entire WordPress admin was optimized for speed, resulting in noticeably faster page loads. This was achieved through code refactoring and optimization, making the dashboard feel much more responsive. In practice, this makes managing content and navigating between admin screens a smoother experience.
The UI was also streamlined with cleaner CSS and a refreshed color scheme, moving away from the heavier, gradient-heavy look of previous versions.
What's the deal with the new writing mode?
The new Fullscreen Mode (or Distraction-Free Writing) allows authors to focus solely on writing content. It hides all admin menus and distractions, presenting a clean, centered editing area.
You can activate it by clicking the icon in the toolbar above the post editor. This was a direct response to user feedback requesting a cleaner writing environment, similar to standalone writing apps.
Why did the system requirements change?
WordPress 3.2 dropped support for PHP 4 and MySQL 4.4, requiring PHP 5.2.4 or greater and MySQL 5.0 or greater. This was a necessary move to utilize newer features and security improvements in these technologies.
For developers, this meant we could finally stop writing backward-compatible code for ancient PHP versions and use modern PHP features. It also improved overall security and database performance.
What are the key developer-focused changes?
jQuery and jQuery UI Updates
The bundled jQuery library was updated to version 1.6.1, and jQuery UI was updated to 1.8.14. This gave developers access to the latest features, performance improvements, and bug fixes from the jQuery project.
Internet Explorer 6 Support
Support for Internet Explorer 6 was officially dropped in the admin area. This freed developers from having to write complex CSS hacks for a notoriously problematic browser, allowing for a more standards-compliant admin design.
New Theme: Twenty Eleven
The new default theme showcased post formats and a more modern, flexible design. It served as a much better reference for theme developers compared to the previous Twenty Ten theme.
FAQ
Is the Admin Bar the same as the one we have today?
It's the precursor. The 3.2 Admin Bar was a new feature that appeared at the top of the screen when logged in, providing quick links to common admin functions. Its functionality and design were much simpler than the modern Toolbar.
My host still runs PHP 4. What do I do?
You must upgrade your hosting environment. WordPress 3.2 will not run on PHP 4. This was a hard requirement change. Contact your host and request an upgrade to a supported PHP 5.2.4+ version.
Does the new Fullscreen Mode work with plugins?
Most well-coded plugins should work, but some that modify the post editor UI might have compatibility issues. The new writing mode primarily alters CSS and visibility, so plugin functionality is generally preserved.
Why was IE6 support dropped?
Microsoft itself was discouraging its use, and supporting it required a significant amount of extra development time for CSS fixes and hacks. Dropping it allowed the admin UI to be built with modern web standards.
What's the most important thing to test after upgrading?
Test any custom admin functionality or themes that might have relied on the old jQuery version or IE6-specific styling. The jQuery update, while beneficial, has the highest potential to break existing scripts that weren't written to be forward-compatible.