New WordPress 3.9 is Love – The Highlights

A smoother media editing experience!

This recap of the stunning new WordPress 3.9 software is for everyone who goes behind the scenes of their WordPress website and makes changes or blogs. Watch and video and see my entire recap at WordPress. Oh, and remember to back up your site before updating!

Version 3.9 of WordPress, named “Smith” in honor of jazz organist Jimmy Smith, is available for download or update in your WordPress dashboard. This release features a number of refinements that we hope you’ll love.

Improved visual editing

The updated visual editor has improved speed, accessibility, and mobile support. You can paste into the visual editor from your word processor without wasting time to clean up messy styling. (Yeah, we’re talking about you, Microsoft Word.)

Edit images easily

With quicker access to crop and rotation tools, it’s now much easier to edit your images while editing posts. You can also scale images directly in the editor to find just the right fit.

Drag and drop your images

Uploading your images is easier than ever. Just grab them from your desktop and drop them in the editor.

Gallery Images

Galleries display a beautiful grid of images right in the editor, just like they do in your published post.

Do More with Audio and Video

Images have galleries; now we’ve added simple audio and video playlists, so you can showcase your music and clips.

Live Widget and Edit Previews

Add, edit, and rearrange your site’s widgets right in the theme customizer. No “save and surprise” — preview your changes live and only save them when you’re ready.

The improved header image tool also lets you upload, crop, and manage headers while customizing your theme.

Stunning New Theme Previews

Looking for a new theme should be easy and fun. Lose yourself in the boundless supply of free WordPress.org themes with the beautiful new theme browser.