WordPress 3.6 “Oscar”

by Matt Mullenweg

The latest and greatest WordPress, version 3.6, is now live to the world and includes a beautiful new blog-centric theme, bullet-proof autosave and post locking, a revamped revision browser, native support for audio and video embeds, and improved integrations with Spotify, Rdio, and SoundCloud. Here’s a video that shows off some of the features using our cast of professional actors:

We’re calling this release “Oscar” in honor of the great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Here’s a bit more about some of the new features, which you can also find on the about page in your dashboard after you upgrade.

User Features

  • The new Twenty Thirteen theme inspired by modern art puts focus on your content with a colorful, single-column design made for media-rich blogging.
  • Revamped Revisions save every change and the new interface allows you to scroll easily through changes to see line-by-line who changed what and when.
  • Post Locking and Augmented Autosave will especially be a boon to sites where more than a single author is working on a post. Each author now has their own autosave stream, which stores things locally as well as on the server (so much harder to lose something) and there’s an interface for taking over editing of a post, as demonstrated beautifully by our bearded buddies in the video above.
  • Built-in HTML5 media player for native audio and video embeds with no reliance on external services.
  • The Menu Editor is now much easier to understand and use.

Developer features

  • A new audio/video API gives you access to metadata like ID3 tags.
  • You can now choose HTML5 markup for things like comment and search forms, and comment lists.
  • Better filters for how revisions work, so you can store a different amount of history for different post types.
  • Tons more listed on the Codex, and of course you can always browse the over 700 closed tickets.

The Band

This release was led by Mark Jaquith and Aaron Campbell, and included contributions from the following fine folks. Pull up some Oscar Peterson on your music service of choice, or vinyl if you have it, and check out some of their profiles:

Aaron Brazell, Aaron D. Campbell, Aaron Holbrook, Aaron Jorbin, Adam Harley, adamsilverstein, AK Ted, Alex Concha, Alex King, Alex Mills (Viper007Bond), Amaury Balmer, Amy Hendrix (sabreuse), Anatol Broder, Andrew Nacin, Andrew Ozz, Andrew Ryno, Andy Skelton, Antonio, apimlott, awellis13, Barry, Beau Lebens, BelloSwan, bilalcoder, Billy (bananastalktome), bobbingwide, Bob Gregor, bradparbs, Brady Vercher, Brandon Kraft, Brian Layman, Brian Zeligson, Bryan Petty, Callum Macdonald, Carl Danley, Caspie, Charleston Software Associates, cheeserolls, Chip Bennett, Chris Olbekson, Christopher Cochran, Christopher Finke, Chris Wallace, Cor van Noorloos, crazycoders, Daniel Bachhuber, Daniel Dvorkin (MZAWeb), Daniel Jalkut (Red Sweater), daniloercoli, Danny de Haan, Dave Ross, David Favor, David Trower, David Williamson, Dion Hulse, dllh, Dominik Schilling (ocean90), dovyp, Drew Jaynes (DrewAPicture), dvarga, Edward Caissie, elfin, Empireoflight, Eric Andrew Lewis, Erick Hitter, Eric Mann, Evan Solomon, faishal, feedmeastraycat, Frank Klein, Franz Josef Kaiser, FStop, Gabriel Koen, Gary Cao, Gary Jones, gcorne, GeertDD, Gennady Kovshenin, George Stephanis, gish, Gregory Karpinsky, hakre, hbanken, hebbet, Helen Hou-Sandi, helgatheviking, hirozed, hurtige, hypertextranch, Ian Dunn, Ipstenu (Mika Epstein), jakub, James Michael DuPont, jbutkus, Jeremy Felt, Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic), Jesper Johansen (Jayjdk), Joe Hoyle, Joen Asmussen, Joey Kudish, John Blackbourn (johnbillion), John James Jacoby, Jonas Bolinder (jond3r), Jonathan Desrosiers, Jon Bishop, Jon Cave, Jose Castaneda, Joseph Scott, Josh Visick, jrbeilke, jrf, Justin de Vesine, Justin Sainton, kadamwhite, Kailey (trepmal), karmatosed, Kelly Dwan, keoshi, Konstantin Kovshenin, Konstantin Obenland, ktdreyer, Kurt Payne, kwight, Lance Willett, Lee Willis (leewillis77), lessbloat, Mantas Malcius, Maor Chasen, Marcel Brinkkemper, MarcusPope, Mark-k, Mark Jaquith, Mark McWilliams, Marko Heijnen, Matt Banks, Matthew Boynes, MatthewRuddy, Matt Wiebe, Max Cutler, Mel Choyce, mgibbs189, Michael, Michael Adams (mdawaffe), Michael Beckwith, Michael Fields, Mike Hansen, Mike Schroder, Milan Dinic, mitcho (Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine), Mohammad Jangda, najamelan, Naoko Takano, Nashwan Doaqan, Niall Kennedy, Nick Daugherty, Nick Halsey, ninnypants, norcross, ParadisePorridge, Paul, Paul Clark, pavelevap, Pete Mall, Peter Westwood, Phill Brown, Pippin Williamson, Pollett, Prasath Nadarajah, programmin, rachelbaker, Rami Yushuvaev, redpixelstudios, reidburke, retlehs, Reuben Gunday, rlerdorf, Rodrigo Primo, roulandf, rovo89, Ryan Duff, Ryan Hellyer, Ryan McCue, Safirul Alredha, sara cannon, scholesmafia, Scott Kingsley Clark, Scott Reilly, Scott Taylor, scribu, Seisuke Kuraishi (tenpura), Sergej, Sergey Biryukov, Simon Hampel, Simon Wheatley, Siobhan, sirzooro, slene, solarissmoke, SriniG, Stephen Harris, storkontheroof, Sunny Ratilal, sweetie089, Tar, Taylor Lovett, Thomas van der Beek, Tim Carr, tjsingleton, TobiasBg, toscho, Tracy Rotton, TravisHoffman, uuf6429, Vitor Carvalho, wojtek, wpewill, WraithKenny, wycks, Xavier Borderie, Yoav Farhi, Zachary Brown, Zack Tollman, zekeweeks, ziegenberg, and viniciusmassuchetto.

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