WordPress v4.5.1 was just released and includes some great new and updated features.  We’ve tested it on the latest version of the Bootplate Theme Framework and everything is looking great.  Here’s a little background on this latest release of the WordPress core.  For now, you can feel confident your Bootplate-powered website is fully compatible with WordPress v4.5.  Yay!

About WP v4.5

New Features of Note

As with all major WordPress updates, there are numerous bug fixes and security patches, but WP 4.5 also comes with some cool new features the average user is gonna love.

Inline Linking

inline link edits

Instead of being taken to a modal when you try and link something, you can stay focused on your writing with a less distracting interface that allows you to easily link to your content inline.

Live Responsive Previews

live-responsive-previews

The updated Customizer includes three previews for mobile, tablet and desktop viewport widths so you can make sure your site and navigation look great on all sorts of different devices.

Smart Image Resizing

There is some nerdy stuff going on here including the overhaul of the wp_get_upload_dir() function, but suffice it to say, generated images include magic compression so they load up to 50% faster with no noticeable quality loss.

Selective Refresh

The Customizer now supports a comprehensive framework for rendering parts of the preview without rewriting your PHP code in JavaScript. This is particularly obvious when editing menus from the Customizer.

Better Embed Templates

Embed templates have been split into parts and can be directly overridden by themes via the template hierarchy using the following reserved names:

  • embed.php
  • embed-404.php
  • embed-content.php
  • header-embed.php
  • footer-embed.php

According to the core team:

To leverage the core embed template parts, simply use standard get_template_part( 'embed', 'content' ); calls within your themes. The template hierarchy will do the rest.

Nerdy stuff, I know.  Just know that Bootplate supports the majority of these new features and we’ll be adding support for the remaining in the next release or two.