WordPress 3.3 has been released with lot’s of improvements

WordPress 3.3 is appropriately code-named Sonny after jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt. Like its namesake, WordPress 3.3 is the result of hard-working dedication. The improvements are immediately obvious. When I upgraded, the changes to the administrative interface were clear. Hints displayed for various new tools and features. And, some of the plugin developers got on the “hint” wagon as well. There were invitations that appeared for Yoast’s SEO plugin as well as others.

Here is a quick view of some of the new featured introduced with this latest WordPress release:

Easier Uploading

• File Type Detection

  Streamlined:! Instead of needing to click on a specific upload icon based on your file type, now there’s just one. Once your file has uploaded, the right fields are displayed for entering information based on the file type.

• Drag-and-Drop Media Uploader
  

  Adding photos or other files to posts and pages just got easier. Drag files from your desktop and drop them into the uploader. Add one file at a time, or many at once.

• More File Formats
  

  We’ve added the rar and 7z file formats to the list of allowed file types in the uploader.

Dashboard Design

• Flyout Menus Speed up

  Navigating the dashboard and reduce repetitive clicking with our new flyout submenus. As you hover over each main menu item in your dashboard navigation, the submenus will magically appear, providing single-click access to any dashboard screen.

• Header + Admin Bar = Toolbar
  

  To save space and increase efficiency, we’ve joined the admin bar and the old Dashboard header into one persistent toolbar. Hovering over the toolbar items will show submenus when available for quick access.
  

• Responsive Design
  

  Certain dashboard screens have been updated to look better at various sizes, including improved iPad/tablet support.
  

• Help Tabs
  

  The Help tabs in the upper corner of the dashboard screens below your name have gotten a facelift. Help content is broken into smaller sections for easier access, with links to relevant documentation and the support forums always visible.

Feels Like the First Time

• New Feature Pointers
  

  When we add new features, move navigation, or do anything else with the dashboard that might throw you for a loop when you update your WordPress site, we’ll let you know about it with new feature pointers explaining the change.

• Post-update
  

  Changelog This screen! From now on when you update WordPress, you’ll be brought to this screen — also accessible any time from the W logo in the corner of the toolbar — to get an overview of what’s changed.

• Dashboard Welcome
  

  The dashboard home screen will have a Welcome area that displays when a new WordPress installation is accessed for the first time, prompting the site owner to complete various setup tasks. Once dismissed, this welcome can be accessed via the dashboard home screen options tab.

Content Tools

• Better Co-Editing

  

Have you ever gone to edit a post after someone else has finished with it, only to get an alert that tells you the other person is still editing the post? From now on, you’ll only get that alert if another person is still on the editing screen — no more time lag.

• Tumblr Importer
  

  Want to import content from Tumblr to WordPress? No problem! Go to Tools → Import to get the new Tumblr Importer, which maps your Tumblog posts to the matching WordPress post formats. Tip: Choose a theme designed to display post formats to get the greatest benefit from the importer.

• Widget Improvements
  

  Changing themes often requires widget re-configuration based on the number and position of sidebars. Now if you change back to a previous theme, the widgets will automatically go back to how you had them arranged in that theme. Note: if you’ve added new widgets since the switch, you’ll need to rescue them from the Inactive Widgets area.

Under the Hood

• Flexible Permalinks
  

  You have more freedom when choosing a post permalink structure. Skip the date information or add a category slug without a performance penalty.

• Post Slugs: Less Funky
  

  Funky characters in post titles (e.g. curly quotes from a word processor) will no longer result in garbled post slugs.

• jQuery and jQuery UI
  

  WordPress now includes the entire jQuery UI stack and the latest version of jQuery: 1.7.1.

• is_main_query()
  

  This handy method will tell you if a WP_Query object is the main WordPress query or a secondary query.

• WP_Screen API
  

  WordPress has a nice new API for working with admin screens. Create rich screens, add help documentation, adapt to screen contexts, and more.

• Editor API Overhaul
  

  The new editor API automatically pulls in all the JS and CSS goodness for the editor. It even supports multiple editors on the same page.

So, sit back and dig the newly released “Sonny” WordPress 3.3. Thanks to all the developers and contributors who keep WordPress the most popular open source Web application.