WordPress 4.5, named “Coleman” in honor of jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, has officially arrived today. This release doesn’t include any jaw-dropping new features, but it does pack some quality of life improvements which many WordPress users will enjoy. This short video introduction highlights some of the nifty new additions in 4.5…
WordPress 4.5 “Coleman”
Continuing on from the 4.4 improvements to the mobile experience…
4.5 builds on that trend by adding the handy responsive site preview in the customizer. This will let site owners easily preview how changes they make will be handled on different device screen sizes.
This update also gives some love to load times by enhancing image optimization, which will be most beneficial to site visitors on mobile devices or with slow connection speeds. 4.5 claims to reduce image sizes by up to 50% without any noticeable loss in quality.
Convenient new features added to the content editor
The neatly packaged inline link editor is probably one of the most exciting new features in 4.5 – making it easier than ever to link to content within your site.
I also like the handy new formatting shortcuts, and although I don’t use them very often, having ultra-convenient inline access to horizontal rules is a nice touch. I know that some of my clients are going to appreciate this new feature.
Baked-in theme logo support
This should be a nice change for theme developers and site owners alike, as it will greatly simplify how site logos are handled in WordPress.
Improved comment moderation
4.5 is adding more editing capabilities to the comment moderation screen, which is going to be really useful for site owners who moderate a ton of comments.
Log in with your user name or email address
For folks who don’t use any sort of password vault, this little change is a long-awaited and welcome addition to WordPress. You may not always remember what your user name is for a particular site, but you can usually remember your email address.