The latest and greatest WordPress, version 3.6, named Oscar is released with a new blog-centric theme autosave and post locking options, native support for audio and video embeds and also improved integrations with SoundCloud, Rdio and Spotify.
It got the name Oscar in honor of the great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.
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.
– 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.
– 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.
– 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
– You can now choose HTML5 markup for things like comment and search forms, and comment lists.
– A new audio/video API gives you access to metadata like ID3 tags.
– 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.
Here are changes and new features in details.
Colorful New Theme
Introducing Twenty Thirteen
The new default theme puts focus on your content with a colorful, single-column design made for media-rich blogging.
Inspired by modern art, Twenty Thirteen features quirky details, beautiful typography, and bold, high-contrast colors — all with a flexible layout that looks great on any device, big or small.
Write with Confidence
Explore Revisions
From the first word you write, WordPress saves every change. Each revision is always at your fingertips. Text is highlighted as you scroll through revisions at lightning speed, so you can see what changes have been made along the way.
It’s easy to compare two revisions from any point in time, and to restore a revision and go back to writing. Now you can be confident that no mistake is permanent.
Improved Autosaves
Never lose a word you’ve written. Autosaving is now even better; whether your power goes out, your browser crashes, or you lose your internet connection, your content is safe.
Better Post Locking
Always know who’s editing with live updates that appear in the list of posts. And if someone leaves for lunch with a post open, you can take over where they left off.
Support for Audio and Video
New Media Player
Share your audio and video with the new built-in HTML5 media player. Upload files using the media manager and embed them in your posts.
Embed Music from Spotify, Rdio, and SoundCloud
Embed songs and albums from your favorite artists, or playlists you’ve mixed yourself. It’s as simple as pasting a URL into a post on its own line.
Under the Hood
Audio/Video API
The new audio/video APIs give developers access to powerful media metadata, like ID3 tags.
Semantic Markup
Themes can now choose improved HTML5 markup for comment forms, search forms, and comment lists.
JavaScript Utilities
Handy JavaScript utilities ease common tasks like Ajax requests, templating, and Backbone view management.
Shortcode Improvements
Search content for shortcodes with has_shortcode() and adjust shortcode attributes with a new filter.
Revision Control
Fine-grained revision controls allow you to keep a different number of revisions for each post type.
External Libraries
New and updated libraries: MediaElement.js, jQuery 1.10.2, jQuery UI 1.10.3, jQuery Migrate, Backbone 1.0.
Download
You can download and test WordPress 3.6 from: http://wordpress.org/download/
