We’re on the fast track to WordPress 2.7. The new dashboard has been subjected to a couple of surveys, the icons to be used for the admin interface will be decided upon with a contest, and a new 2.7 beta has been released. The version has the following new features, such as:

• Numerous style improvements and refinements.
• All admin notices now go under the page title.
• PHP Notice fixes.
• Dashboard widget options now properly save.
• Menu fixes.
• New design for Quick Edit.
• Canonical feed URL fixes.
• Walker fixes.
• An update for Hello Dolly.
• Plugin installer updates.
• Numerous font updates.
• Updated login logo.
• Switch position of “Save Draft” and “Preview” buttons in publish module.
• File upload support for MS Office 2007+ file formats.
• Media upload buttons won’t show if the user doesn’t have the upload capability.
• Canonical redirects only do yes-www or no-www redirection for domains.
• Shift-click checkbox range selection improvement.
• Add New User page now separate.
• Tag suggest only suggests tags (not other taxonomy terms).
• QuickPress shows “Submit for Review” if user cannot publish.
• Private posts/pages, and password-protected posts/pages are rolled into new “Visibility” section of publish module.

If you Beta 1 or Beta 2 installed already, just go to Tools -> Update to upgrade to Beta 3. If you encounter problems in upgrading, or if this is the first time you’ll be using 2.7 beta, just upgrade the old-fashioned way: through manual uploading for the files via FTP.

Remember, this is a beta release. Do not use this on an important blog, as 2.7 in its current state may break it. If you have a minor or a test blog around, or if you absolutely know what you’re doing, do upgrade. You can download WordPress 2.7 Beta 3 from here.

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