WordPress 3.9 has been released with a number of refinements that WordPress hopes you'll "love". The changes and new features are solid but perhaps not as many as we've come to expect given past WordPress point releases. Some of the new features that can be found in WordPress 3.9 include improvements in the media editing experience, gallery previews, and live editing of widgets and headers.
Media Editing Improvements
- Improved visual editing - The updated visual editor has improved speed, accessibility, and mobile support. Filtering out excess code from your word processor such as from Microsoft Word has been improved.
- Image Editing - Quicker access to crop and rotation tools and you can now also scale images directly in the editor.
- Drag and Drop - Uploading your images can be grabbed from your desktop or file system and dropped directly into the editor.
Gallery Previews
Galleries display a beautiful grid of images right in the editor, just like they do in your published post.
Audio and Video Playlists
Similar to how WordPress has handled images with galleries; WordPress now has included a simple audio and video playlists to embed your music and clips within the content.
Live Widget and Header Previews
Those familiar WordPress widgets can now be added, edited, and rearranged right in the theme customizer. It's "live editing" where you can preview your changes without having to save and publish.The improved header image tool also lets you upload, crop, and manage headers while customizing your theme.
WordPress 3.9 is open source and can be downloaded for free from WordPress.org. Current WordPress users with relatively recent versions of WordPress should be able to update to WordPress 3.9 directly through the WordPress Dashboard Updates screen (admin menu).
Source: WordPress.org
This article was originally posted on CMS Report.