The release of WordPress 4.2 is approaching and hopefully if everything goes as planned, we will be able to update our WordPress websites in about two weeks.
It’s always exciting with new versions of WordPress. As you probably are aware of is that all previous versions have been honored to jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, and most recently WordPress 4.1 to Dinah Washington.
It is a concept that is unique and interesting even if you don’t like jazz. I must admit that I am not a person who likes this style of music, but I like how WordPress core developers since version 1.0 have dedicated each version to jazz musicians.
We have come a long way towards WordPress 4.2. Beta 1 and Beta 2 has previously been released and now WordPress 4.2 Beta 3 is available for download. Which means that there are still some features that need to be tested and the software is still in development. In other words, it needs more testing.
This is where you and I are needed.
Install a WordPress test environment on your computer and get started with WordPress testing. It is not recommended that you install the beta versions such as Beta 3 at your regular website. The software is still in development. I recommend you to use tools such as Desktop Server or Instant WordPress to play with the new versions. In addition, you need to install the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge Night Lies”). Or you can download the beta (zip) to get started.
Some of the changes in WordPress Beta 3 include:
- Removed Shiny Installs functionality due to concerns about the activation workflow. Test the remaining “Shiny Updates” functionality from both the Plugins > Add New and Plugins screens to ensure in-line updating still works as well as before.
- An issue with the Comments Quick Edit layout breaking on smaller screens is fixed. Test on your mobile devices.
- Improved accessibility of login screen errors. Screen reader users: Test if you encounter any issues.
- The emoji compatibility script is refined to only load on the front- and back-end if the browser requires it. Test.
- There are several issues fixed in Press This with inserted images being improperly linked to locations other than the source site. Go ahead, “press” a site with images on the page and test if the image links aren’t working as you’d expect.
- Standardized the time display format in a variety of admin screens, switching to 24-hour notation where a.m. or p.m. are not specified.
- Various other bug fixes. More than 65 changes have been made in the last week.
Found a bug in WordPress 4.2 Beta 3? Post it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. Or, if you’re comfortable writing a bug report, file one on the WordPress Trac. There, you can also find a list of known bugs and everything that been fixed.
Some interesting questions are: How many of you guys are testing the Beta or Release Candidate versions in your test environment? Or do you have a test environment installed on your computer?
Awesome if you could leave a comment on what on tools or software you use to test WordPress, themes and plugins locally on your computer?