WordPress 4.7 was released in early December.  This is the last major update of the year and with it comes some pretty sweet improvements and fixes.  This week, we’ll go over some of the major changes and fixes.

For a full list and description of the changes in this new release, check this page out.

Seeing that 4.7 is a major release, you’ll need to manually initiate the update.

IMPORTANT:  Do NOT forget to create a WordPress backup prior to starting the update.  It’s better to be safe than sorry in this case.

Twenty Seventeen – A New Default Theme

WordPress likes to name new default themes after the year they are released in.  Thus, the new theme is named Twenty Seventeen.

This theme was built with a focus on business websites instead of blogs.   It’s front page is fully customizable and features large featured images and vivid typography.

While the theme is built with the business website in mind, it is so customizable that it can still be used effectively as a blogging theme.

Video Headers

A great addition for many themes is support for video headers.  This will make background video integration easier to add that extra punch needed to bring your website to life.

Theme Starter Content

This addition makes getting your new website up and running a breeze!  Many of the WordPress premium themes already provided starter content but this addition now provides that content for the WordPress core and themes.

If you’re looking to leap over the hurdle of website design, use the starter content to give you a good layout filled with dummy content that you can edit with your own content.

After you are done customizing your site with your own text and images, you can then save and publish your new site and go live with your new content.

Improvements to the Post Editor

The WordPress post editor is home to bloggers and content creators.  The vast majority of time is spent here so it only makes sense for WordPress to make this area as user-friendly as possible.

WordPress 4.7 now makes it easier to find the keyboard shortcuts in dropdown menus and “tool tips” area.

The layout of the toolbar has been tweaked a bit as well to be a bit more intuitive.

PDF Thumbnail Previews

WordPress 4.7 makes document management even easier by generating thumbnails for your uploaded PDFs so you can easily peruse your uploaded documents.

I hope this week’s blog post is a good overview on some of the most important upgrades available in WordPress 4.7.

Again, for a complete rundown of the changes and fixes important to both users and developers, check this page out for some great info.

As always, thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me this week.  If you like what you’ve read here, please subscribe and share via the social media links.  You can also find MTM Photography on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram so be sure to check out those pages!  I’ll see ya next week!