I’ve used the newest version of WordPress on another blog for long enough to form some definite impressions about it. Like any new release, there are good bits and not-so-good bits.
The Good Bits
Automatic plugin updating — This is my favorite time saving feature. Updating a plugin to the latest version used to take minutes, but now takes seconds.
Image uploading — This was a bit buggy at first, but seems to be working well now. Lots more options for uploading and inserting images into posts.
The Bad Bits
Sidebar management — This is far worse than in 2.3. You only get to see a single sidebar at a time, so you can’t just drag a component from one sidebar to another any more. I loved the 2.3 way of managing sidebars. 2.5 leaves me cold.
Category management — Every new post is set with at least one category…that’s what categories are for. 2.3 recognized this and put categories in a prominent location. Now they’re stuck below the fold in the editing screen, meaning half the time I forget to set a category when I first write the post.
Post management — The 2.3 post management screen had useful actions as separate links. I could view a post from that screen, edit it, or delete it. In 2.5, you can only edit the post there. To view it, you must edit it, and then click View. Two clicks and a wait for the server, instead of just one click to view. A step backward in user interfaces.
Overall Impressions
I’ll use 2.5 for my blogs, but I feel like it’s a step backward from 2.3’s user interface. I’d rather have 2.3’s user interface with 2.5’s useful new features.