Welcome WordPress 3.6 — and HTML5

The up-to-the-second version of WordPress hit the Internet today. It’s Christmas and Bastille Day all in one. Put on the party hats … and start brewing coffee.

The count brings us to WordPress 3.6, and true to WP upgrades it’s named after a jazz master. This time, it’s Oscar Peterson, the great Canadian pianist and “maharaja of the keyboard.” (Yes, they’ve already used Monk. Geesh.)

New elements include a built-in HTML5 media player accommodating native audio and video embeds. This is terrific news, since homegrown A/V no longer requires plugins. We’ll see how it plays out.

HTML5 markup also is an option “for things like comment and search forms, and comment lists.” The Genesis premium themes I prefer, those from StudioPress, haven’t been updated in months in anticipation of the HTML5 transition for WP, and so this is terrific news.

Other goodies in WordPress 3.6 include:

• The new Twenty Thirteen theme, “inspired by modern art.” Featuring a “responsive, device-agnostic Layout.” Newbies and kids-and-pets bloggers should be thrilled. Maybe some other folks, too.
• Better auto-saving and an interface that allows users to scroll through changes line by line. Let’s hope this also addresses the obnoxious “the revisions are identical” bug.
• Post locking for those who share their sites with other bloggers and editors. Waaaaaay past due.
• A revised menu editor that’s apparently easier to understand, although the previous one seemed clear enough.
• Expanded support for embedded media such as Spotify, which will come into play right away on my psychedelic music blog-site.

Should you update right away? Two schools of thought.

1. Let the early adopters find all the bugs and suffer the headaches.
2. Do it now; we’ve waited long enough for this stuff. WordPress 3.6 has been beta tested to death since it’s a major release. And every day a site remains on the older (unsupported) versions makes it more exposed to hackers.

What about this site? Done, 30 seconds ago.

Since I have multiple personal WordPress sites, I’ll upgrade one or two more, then follow with the rest when the inevitable .1 bug fix drops. I don’t experiment with clients’ sites, so they’ll all wait on the first fix release.

Enjoy some Oscar P. and get a breezy look at the upgrades: