WordPress

Why Does My Blog Look Different?! What’s New In WordPress 4.3

WordPress recently updated, and you might have noticed some changes to your site. It can be frustrating when the backend of your site suddenly changes, but many of these changes are great for security and for your business. We walk you through what's new in today's blog.

Custom WordPress Designers

WordPress recently released version 4.3 (otherwise known as “Billie”), and as such you might have noticed some changes to your site. All updates are crucial in order to prevent compatibility issues and fix security vulnerabilities, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still frustrating when the backend of your site suddenly changes. To help make the process smoother, here are the changes you can expect with the update.

1) Better WordPress Security with an Added Captcha

Occasionally, you’ll be asked to solve a little math problem before you’re able to log into your WordPress site to make changes. These problems aren’t complicated (they’re of the 9 + 6 variety), but they do important work. As WordPress puts it, the math problem helps you “prove you’re human” — this is a defense against bots that might attack your site, trying different passwords over and over to try to break in. The math problem means the bots will have a tougher time, even if they do manage to crack your password, and your site stays more secure. Happily, WordPress has chosen math, making their captchas less confusing than the ones that ask users to distinguish wobbly-looking letters or numbers that can sometimes be difficult to decipher (even for humans).

2) Better WordPress Password Security

Previously, passwords were sent via email to new users, with the option for the site admin to not send the email if that worked better for your particular needs. In order to increase security, highly secure and randomized passwords are now created automatically, and password reset links are automatically sent to users without your control. If you’re an Infomedia customer and this causes issues with how you allow customers to access your site (say, you want to control customer passwords, set all passwords to be the same, or avoid alerting customers to site changes with password emails they might find confusing), contact our Infomedia support team — changing this randomized password and preventing reset emails is complicated, but it can be done, and we’re happy to take care of it for you.

3) Comments Turned off on WordPress Pages

Pretty self-explanatory. In previous versions of WordPress, every page had a default setting to enable comments. Now, the default doesn’t allow visitors to automatically be able to comment on every page of your website. This is better for most users because now you won’t have to worry about keeping up with comments on every single page of your site. For pages where you want discussion and comments, don’t worry — turning comments back on is simple.

4) New WordPress Formatting Shortcuts

Do you do a lot of formatting in your posts, adding lots of headlines and bulleted lists? Formatting shortcuts might help you out. When you’re editing a post and you want text to be quickly formatted as a headline, here’s what you do: Enter to begin a new line of text, type out a double hashtag (that’s the number sign, and it looks like this: ##), type a space and enter your headline, and then hit enter again. Voila! You have a properly formatted H2 headline. You can also create a bulleted list more easily: Enter to begin a new line of text, type out an asterisk (that looks like this: *), and type a space. Hurray! There’s your bulleted list! (Note: These shortcuts only work if you’re editing in the Visual Editor instead of the Text Editor on the WordPress backend, but the Visual Editor is the default editor, so chances are good that that’s the one you’re working with.)

As always, the Support Department here at Infomedia is here for any questions or concerns you may have about the update. Contact Infomedia Support any time you have a question or notice something about your site that seems a little bit strange or confusing.

About Tyler

Tyler belongs to the Coach Eric Taylor school of programming: “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose.” That dedication and passion for our clients, plus Tyler’s love of problem solving and teamwork, makes him perfect for us here at Infomedia. At work in his New Bern, North Carolina office, Tyler’s likely to have Podcast Republic on his headphones and a snack of baby carrots and siracha close at hand. When he’s not solving client problems, Tyler’s probably catching up on classics like Tommy Boy, Star Wars, Back to the Future, Indian Jones or The Simpsons. He loves hanging out with his wife, Natalie, their cat, Wilhelmina, and their dogs, Bo and Holly.

See more articles from Tyler Merrels

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