Version 4.0 of WordPress, named “Benny” in honor of jazz clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman, is available for download or update in your WordPress dashboard. While 4.0 is just another number for us after 3.9 and before 4.1, we feel we’ve put a little extra polish into it. This release brings you a smoother writing and management experience we think you’ll enjoy.
Manage your media with style
Explore your uploads in a beautiful, endless grid. A new details preview makes viewing and editing any amount of media in sequence a snap.
Working with embeds has never been easier
Paste in a YouTube URL on a new line, and watch it magically become an embedded video. Now try it with a tweet. Oh yeah — embedding has become a visual experience. The editor shows a true preview of your embedded content, saving you time and giving you confidence.
We’ve expanded the services supported by default, too — you can embed videos from CollegeHumor, playlists from YouTube, and talks from TED. Check out all of the embeds that WordPress supports.
Focus on your content
Writing and editing is smoother and more immersive with an editor that expands to fit your content as you write, and keeps the formatting tools available at all times.
Finding the right plugin
There are more than 30,000 free and open source plugins in the WordPress plugin directory. WordPress 4.0 makes it easier to find the right one for your needs, with new metrics, improved search, and a more visual browsing experience.
The Ensemble
This release was led by Helen Hou-Sandí, with the help of these fine individuals. There are 275 contributors with props in this release, a new high. Pull up some Benny Goodman on your music service of choice, as a bandleader or in one of his turns as a classical clarinetist, and check out some of their profiles:
__, Aaron D. Campbell, Aaron Jorbin, Adam Silverstein, Alex Mills, Alex Shiels, Alexander Rohmann, Alison Barrett, Allan Collins, Amit Gupta, Amy Hendrix (sabreuse), Andrés Villarreal, Andrea Fercia, Andrew Mowe, Andrew Munro, Andrew Nacin, Andrew Ozz, Andy Skelton, Ankit K Gupta, Anton Timmermans, Arne Brachhold, Aubrey Portwood, Austin Matzko, Ben Dunkle, Bernhard Kau, Boone Gorges, Brady Vercher, Bram Duvigneau, Brandon Kraft, Brian Krogsgard, Brian Layman, Brian Richards, Camden Segal, Caroline Moore, Charles Fulton, Chouby, ChriCo, Chris Lloyd, Chris Olbekson, Christian Axelsson, Christopher Finke, Christopher Spires, Clifton Griffin, Compute, Corey McKrill, Daisuke Takahashi, Dan Griffiths, Daniel Bachhuber, Daniel Hüsken, Daniel Jalkut (Red Sweater), Danny de Haan, Darin Kotter, Daryl Koopersmith, Daryl L. L. Houston (dllh), David, David A. Kennedy, David Herrera, DavidTheMachine, DeBAAT, DH-Shredder, Dion Hulse, Dominik Schilling, Donncha Ó Caoimh, Drew Jaynes, Dustyn Doyle, Eddie Moya, Eduardo Reveles, Edwin Siebel, ehg, erayalakese, Eric Andrew Lewis, Eric Binnion, Eric Mann, Evan, Evan Herman, Fabien Quatravaux, Fahmi Adib, feedmeastraycat, Frank Klein, garhdez, Garth Mortensen, Gary Cao, Gary Jones, Gary Pendergast, garza, gauravmittal1995, gavra, George Stephanis, Grégory Viguier, Graham Armfield, Grant Mangham, Gregory Cornelius, Gustavo Bordoni, harrym, Hinnerk Altenburg, Hugh Lashbrooke, iljoja, Ipstenu (Mika Epstein), issuu, J.D. Grimes, Jack Lenox, Jack Reichert, Jacob Dubail, JanHenkG, Janneke Van Dorpe, Jared Wenerd, Jason Coleman, Jaza613, Jeff Stieler, Jeremy Felt, Jeremy Pry, Jeroen Schmit, Jerry Bates (jerrysarcastic), Jesin A, Jesper Johansen (jayjdk), Jesper van Engelen, Jesper van Engelen, Jesse Pollak, jgadbois, Joan Artes, Joe Dolson, Joe Hoyle, Joey Kudish, John Blackbourn, John James Jacoby, John Zanussi, Jon Cave, jonnyauk, Joost de Valk, Jordi Cabot, Josh Eaton, Julio Potier, Justin Sainton, Justin Sternberg, Justin Tadlock, K. Adam White, Kailey (trepmal), kapeels, Kelly Dwan, Kevin Langley Jr., Kevin Worthington, Kim Parsell, Kirk Wight, kitchin, Kite, Knut Sparhell, Konstantin Kovshenin, Konstantin Obenland, Kurt Payne, Lance Willett, Lee Willis, lessbloat, Lew Ayotte, lritter, Luke Carbis, Luke Gedeon, m_i_n, Manny Fleurmond, Manuel, Marius L. J., Mark Jaquith, Marko Heijnen, Mathieu Viet, Matt Banks, Matt Martz, Matt Mullenweg, Matt Wiebe, Matthew Boynes, Matthew Denton, Matthew Eppelsheimer, Matthew Haines-Young, mattyrob, meekyhwang, Mel Choyce-Dwan, Michael Adams (mdawaffe), Michael Nelson, michalzuber, midxcat, Mike Auteri, Mike Hansen, Mike Jolley, Mike Little, Mike Manger, Mikey Arce, Milan Dinić, mordauk, Morgan Estes, Mr Papa, mrmist, Mustafa Uysal, MuViMoTV, Nabil, Namibia, Nashwan Doaqan, nd987, Neil Pie, Niall Kennedy, Nick Halsey, Nikolay Bachiyski, Nils Schönwald, Ninos, Nowell VanHoesen, Pascal Herbert, Paul Bearne, Paul Schreiber, Paul Wilde, pavelevap, Peter Westwood, Philip Arthur Moore, Philip John, Philipp Cordes, Pieter Bos, Piotr Soluch, purzlbaum, Rachel Baker, RC Lations, Richard Tape, Ricky Lee Whittemore, rob1n, Robert Chapin, Robert Dall, RobertHarm, Rohan Rawat, Rouven Hurling, Ruud Laan, Ryan Boren, Ryan McCue, Sam Brodie, Samir Shah, Samuel Wood (Otto), Sathish Nagarajan, Scott Reilly, Scott Taylor, scribu, Sean Hayes, Sean Nessworthy, Sergej Müller, Sergey Biryukov, shanebp, Sharon Austin, Shaun Andrews, Simon Pollard, Simon Wheatley, Slobodan Manic, sphoid, Stephane Daury, Stephen Edgar, Steven Jones, Sumit Singh, t4k1s, Tai, Takashi Irie, Taylor Dewey, Thomas, Till Krüss, Tim 'Eli' Dalbey, Tmeister, TobiasBg, Tom J Nowell, Tom Willmot, Topher, torresga, Tracy Levesque, Travis Smith, treyhunner, Umesh Kumar, Vinod Dalvi, vlajos, Weston Ruter, winterDev, Wojtek Szkutnik, Yoav Farhi, Zack Katz, Zack Tollman, and Zoe Rooney. Also thanks to Michael Pick for producing the release video, and Helen with Adrián Sandí for the music.
If you want to follow along or help out, check out Make WordPress and our core development blog. Thanks for choosing WordPress. See you soon for version 4.1!