WordPress is scheduled for a May 2009 release, according to the official WP roadmap. WordPress Trac shows the release date as 31 May. We will update this page with WordPress 2.8 download links as soon as it is available.
For now, you can read through the planned (and completed) features of WordPress 2.8 (codename yet to be decided), and also see a few screenshots of the admin dashboard (taken from WordPress 2.8 beta 2)
WordPress 2.8 features
- Theme installer to add themes from dashboard
- CodePress syntax highlighting in theme and plugin editors
- Dashboard widgets configured in upto four columns
- Revamped admin dashboard icons and blue color scheme
- Autosave post by pressing Control+S
- Improved database performance
- Various other script loading/compression improvements
There are lots of other features and improvements that are of interest to theme/plugin developers only. You can view them on the WordPress 2.8 Codex page.
WordPress 2.8 screenshots
Some elements of WordPress administration dashboard has been modified. Some new features like one-click theme browser/installation have appeared in the UI of beta 2, although the features do not work yet.
Here is the Write Post page. Notice the 2/3 column layout options. The 2 column option will be particularly helpful for those with narrow monitors, or when you blog on a netbook.
Here is the Themes section. Notice the “Add themes” link in left sidebar.
The Add Themes link takes you to a page where you can browse for and install themes with one click.
I’m presonally excited most about the performance improvements and autosave using Control+S. The dashboard interface tweaks do not bother me at all, I trust Dean Robinson to bring out a new version of Fluency admin theme for it.
Download WordPress 2.8
WordPress 2.8 beta 2 was released recently, and you can download the beta 2 to play around in a local install of WordPress (see how to install WordPress on your PC to test themes, plugins etc.)
We will add links to download WordPress 2.8 final here when it is released.
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Happy to see theme suggested by me
Wii … its for kiddish gaming. and XBOX is for hard-core gaming. Both are from very different jounders!
@Vasu : I was familiar with Nick La’s NDesign Studio. His website’s design is so beautiful! But it never crossed my mind that he had WP themes. Thanks !
@Rishi : Wii is not just for kiddish gaming. Know Zelda? As for hardcore gaming, nothing beats PS3. That is the problem for Xbox 360 – neither there nor here
I have a feeling that you are an Xbox 360 fanboy – same here, but I know that it is not the best.