We recently upgraded to WordPress 3.1. Most of the WordPress core upgrades deal with security and bug fixes, and our clients do not need to be concerned with the details. However, the 3.1 release introduced some new features that will change some of the ways you use WordPress.
Admin Bar. If you logged in to WordPress recently (or if you are automatically logged in and you visited your site), you may have noticed a menu bar at the top of the page. This is the “Admin Bar,” and you will see it when you are logged in to your website. Normal visitors to your site will not see it. The “Admin Bar” makes it easier for you to access common menu items, such as your dashboard and Add New Post. If you have more than one site hosted with EfficientWP, you will see a menu labeled My Sites, which makes it easy for you to switch between your websites and their dashboards.
Note: Under the Appearance drop-down, there is an item called Menus. This is only used for custom navigation menus; most of the sites we build do not use these. Unless you were instructed otherwise, you should use the Pages > Pages menu to edit and delete navigation menu items, the Pages > Add New menu to add new navigation menu items, and the Pages > Page Order menu to re-order navigation menu items.
Improved Internal Linking. An internal link is a link on a website that goes to another place on the same website. You might use internal links to refer your visitors to a page such as your Contact page, or to a relevant blog post you wrote. Previously, you needed to find and copy the URL of that page or post, unless you had it memorized. But now, when you use the Insert/Edit Link toolbar button in the post/page editor, you can click “Or link to existing content.” This lets you search and select from your existing pages and posts, saving valuable time. Unfortunately, when linking to items in your Media Library, you still have to copy the URL of the item you want to link to.
Sorting. You can sort certain lists in your WordPress administration menu, such as your pages and posts. You can sort certain columns, such as Title, Author, and Date.
Note: This only changes the display order in your administration panel, not the display order of your pages and posts on your public website. To change the display order of your pages in your navigation menu, use the Pages > Page Order menu.