Here’s a quick rundown of what’s got bloggers and content management system (CMS) folks amped up:

Custom Post Types

At this point, WordPress has two default types of content, posts and pages. (You can read posts on this blog and you can view extra pages through the navigation bar at the top of the page. Other themes may have different link placement.) In version 3.0, you can create custom post types with their own attributes for things like press pages, client testimonials, portfolio display, podcasts, video libraries, you name it. WordPress users are not forced into jury rigging posts or pages to fit their needs.

Menu Management

WordPress 3.0 takes control over navigation menus to a whole new level. Using the drag and drop user interface, you can create menus with internal links, external links, category or tag pages, or whatever you choose. Then you can use and manage these menus as a widget in the link management screen.

Custom Taxonomies

The ability to create taxonomies enhances WordPress’ standing as a true CMS. By default, you have the ability to create categories and tags within your site, but now you can add additional layers of meta data, and even make them hierarchical. For example, on this blog, there are over-arching subject categories for each post and more specific tags. Each of these allows readers and search engines to find topics of interest more easily. With version 3.0, I could choose to create another taxonomy for rowing and label posts with names such as sculling, sweeps, coaching, coxswainship, etc. and provide deeper layers of categorization and searchability. I’ve worked on websites with single-layer taxonomies as well as websites with multi-relational and hierarchical taxonomies, and this feature excites the web geek in me.

Multi-site

WordPress 3.0 now allows the management of multiple websites (with different domains and/or sub-domains). The former WordPress multi-user tool has been integrated into the newest version. An average blogger will probably not need this feature because you need to know a bit of code and how to configure server settings, however, for those who run blogging networks, news sites or companies with many employees with branded blogs, this feature is likely to raise an eyebrow or two.

Shortlinks

As Twitter and Facebook become more important, the need to shorten your URLs also becomes more important. With the wp.me URL shortener, you don’t have to rely on other URL shorteners such as TinyURL or bit.ly and can keep your branding intact. That’s right, you can shorten your URL and keep your own domain name. The WordPress blog has more on that feature.

Author Templates

Now everyone gets personal branding! Despite how you feel about personal branding (and I love Doc Searls’ insights here), you can create individual author templates, which are great for multi-author blogs such as this one or if you want to apply different styles or layouts to author pages.

Select Username and Password During WordPress Instillation

Anyone installing a new WordPress blog before 3.0 had their master account default to “admin” as the user name and a password was auto-generated. Now you can create your own user name during install and provide a little more security.

Other New Stuff

If you’re interested in the entire list of new features, upgrades and changes, check out the Codex page for WordPress 3.0.

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