WordPress Commit Digest

1.6 development has opened and ch-ch-ch-changes are already afoot. The version number has been bumped to “1.6-ALPHA-do-not-use”. In case you can’t read between the dashes, this is alpha software that is filled with man, woman, child, pet, and hobbit eating dragons. Stay away. Now that we’ve established that actually trying to use 1.6 is foolhardy and dangerous, I will proceed to enumerate what you’re missing out on. Here are some highlights.

• The user system overhaul has begun with the introduction of the usermeta table. The is similar to the postmeta table, except for users. This will allow nifty things like per-user settings.
• The code in wp-blog-header.php was broken up into more manageable functions and moved into a WP class. wp-blog-header.php now simply calls a wp() function which most of the work. The template loading code was moved into template-loader.php. These reorganizations should make embedding WP functionality in other pages easier.
• Feeds now have a host of hooks which allow plugins to manipulate feed output more comprehensively.
• The reduced rewrite ruleset is now the default. This greatly simplifies the rules in htaccess and eliminates the need to add new rules when a page is added or deleted.
• IXR is now at the latest version.
• And now for the most visible change. The first, early bits of the admin UI redesign are going in. We got draggable, expandable goodies that can be rearranged like little pieces of modern furniture in a tastefully decorated contemporary home complete with the cool kitchen that has those trendy appliance garages. Roll up the door to reveal the spiffy Kitchen Aid stand mixer that you never use. Roll down the door to hide it away. It’s all about disclosure boys and girls.