Yesterday, I got around to upgrading WordPress.  A week or two ago, I noticed that I didn’t have the newest version – there was a 2.6.something available.  When I saw that 2.7 was just around the corner, though, I decided to hold on.

I’d already gotten a taste of WordPress 2.7 with my classroom blogs at wordpress.com, and I knew I liked the new dashboard. It seemed silly to upgrade to the latest version just to upgrade again a few days later.

Last night, I upgraded to WordPress Coltrane (2.7), and the process was pretty smooth.  After backing up the database, I started uploading the new files and it was over in about five minutes.

Changes in Coltrane

I’ve only been using the new version for a day or so, so I haven’t fully explored all of the new features. It certainly looks different -and better.

The first thing you’ll notice is the new dashboard. It’s a pretty radical change from the previous admin style, and I like it. You can customize what appears on the dashboard, and everything is drag-and-droppable to suit your tastes. I’m definitely going to have to take some time and customize it this weekend.

Something else I’m excited about is automatic updates. I always found it a bit irritating that I had to download WordPress and its plug-ins and then re-upload them to the server to upgrade. Now it’s all built in to the WordPress admin area. That’ll probably help me keep up to date with stuff because I used to be a bit lazy about it…

If you’ve got your own WordPress blog, I’d suggest you head over and upgrade. You can also take a look at the introductory video at the WordPress development blog to see some of the changes.