Software Update: WordPress 3.9 Beta 1

The first beta release of WordPress version 3.9 has been released. With this program, which is made available under a gpl license, it is possible to set up and maintain a weblog. WordPress is easy to set up and can be up and running within five minutes if a server with PHP and MySQL is already available. There are possibilities to further extend the functionality of WordPress, in addition to blogging, and improve the appearance with plugins and themes to adjust. Version 3.9 includes a newer version of TinyMCE, the component used for text entry. The complete release notes can be found below.

WordPress 3.9 Beta 1

• We updated TinyMCE, the software powering the visual editor, to the latest version. Be on the lookout for cleaner markup. Also try the new paste handling — if you paste in a block of text from Microsoft Word, for example, it will no longer come out terrible. (The “Paste from Word” button you probably never noticed has been removed.) It’s possible some plugins that added stuff to the visual editor (like a new toolbar button) no longer work, so we’d like to hear about them (#24067). (And be sure to open a support thread for the plugin author.)
• We’ve added widget management to live previews (the customizer). Please test editing, adding, and rearranging widgets! (#27112) We’ve also added the ability to upload, crop, and manage header images, without needing to leave the preview. (#21785)
• We brought 3.8′s beautiful new theme browsing experience to the theme installer. Check it out! (#27055)
• Galleries now receive a live preview in the editor. Upload some photos and insert a gallery to see this in action. (#26959)
• You can now drag-and-drop images directly onto the editor to upload them. It can be a bit finicky, so try it and help us work out the kinks. (#19845)
• Some things got improved around editing images. It’s a lot easier to make changes to an image after you insert it into a post (#24409) and you no longer get kicked to a new window when you need to crop or rotate an image (#21811).
• New audio/video playlists. Upload a few audio or video files to test these. (#26631)