WordPress 4.1 ‘Dinah’ Released; Comes with New Theme & Distraction-Free Writing Feature

Just days before Christmas, WordPress has released its latest platform version—the WordPress 4.1. Launched on December 18, 2014, and nicknamed “Dinah” after 50’s jazz superstar Dinah Washington, WordPress 4.1 arrives with a number of new tools and features, along with a new default theme.

Avid WordPress users won’t be surprised by the arrival of a new theme, as WordPress has been consistently releasing new default themes year after year ever since the release of WordPress 3.0 in June 2010. Unlike Twenty Fourteen’s magazine-style design, this year’s theme, named “Twenty Fifteen,” takes WordPress users back to the platform’s origins as a tool that focuses on creating purely online content. [See Figure 1]

Twenty Fifteen boasts a simple and attractive design that elicits calmness and clarity. Described by the company as a “blog-focused theme designed for clarity,” Twenty Fifteen boasts responsive design and typography that can be accessed by users on any screen size. Its language support is provided by Google’s Noto Web font.

Aside from the new default theme, WordPress 4.1 also includes several other features which place heavy focus on writing content. Its main feature is the improved distraction-free writing mode—a feature introduced by WordPress several versions ago, but is now optimized to provide users with a better app interface and writing experience. With the enhanced distraction-free writing mode, WordPress users can now write content with as close to a blank interface as possible, without being sidetracked by additional buttons. [See Figure 2]

“When you start typing, all the distractions will fade away, letting you focus solely on your writing,” stated Matt Mullenweg in the official announcement. “All your editing tools instantly return when you need them.”

On top of the two major features of WordPress 4.1, there is also a bunch of new tools users can enjoy when using the blogging platform. Going forward, users have the ability to switch to any of over forty languages provided by WordPress, and embed Vine videos directly to their posts.

Users can also log out “everywhere” if they’ve forgotten to sign out of shared computers. This can be accomplished by logging into profiles and logging out everywhere.

Finally, WordPress has introduced a plugin installer recommendation feature, which offers suggested plugins for administrators based on their previously installed plugins. Users have the option to manually download the update, or install it from their dashboard.

For more information on WordPress 4.1 and other updates, visit their core development blog.

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