WordPress gets an overhaul with 'Thelonious'

The latest edition of the WordPress open source publishing platform has been released.

Dubbed "Thelonious," the WordPress 3.0 release aims to consolidate the task of managing multiple blogs as well as streamline the user interface for site administrators.

Among the new features in the update is the merging of the MU and WordPress interfaces, a move which will allow users to manage multiple publications through a single installation.

Additionally, the 3.0 update will allow users to update and manage multiple plugins and themes at once through a single screen.

The new version of WordPress will also bring a new theme dubbed "Twenty Ten, " the theme will become the default on new blogs and will feature support for new features such as custom menus and improved typography.

WordPress founder and developer Matt Mullenweg said that in total the Thelonious update contains 1,217 bug fixes and feature enhancements and was the result of some 218 collaborators.

Mullenweg said in a blog post introducing the update that the next plan for WordPress is to take a release cycle off to analyse and tune the current platform, rather than immediately develop another update.

"So much of our effort has been focused on the core software it hasn’t left much time for anything else," said Mullenweg.

"Over the next three months we’re going to split into ninja/pirate teams focused on different areas of the around-WordPress experience."