As some of you may know, WordPress 3.8 beta 1 was released last week and the core and support teams are actively looking for testers. I know, I know, it seems as if WordPress 3.7 was released only a month ago (it was). 3.7 dealt with some stopgap measures, but 3.8 is a bit more of an overhaul that will need your help to find any bugs or conflicts with themes and plugins.
If you want to help, it’s pretty simple. Just download the WordPress beta tester plugin, activate it, and go to Tools -> Beta Testing, then switch it over to “Bleeding edge nightlies.” Make sure you do this on a test install of WordPress, and certainly not a site you have in production, as we are still in beta mode.
You’ll notice some big changes right away. The MP6 aesthetic has been fully incorporated into the admin, making things a little cleaner and the UI a little smoother. And go ahead and stretch your browser window, because the admin is now responsive.
There are a couple of things that the core team is looking for help with when you are testing the new beta, so keep your eyes out for these.
- The responsiveness of the design. If you have any mobile devices or tablets, go ahead and test the admin on them and see if you run into any problems.
- The Appearance -> Themes section has been completely redone and the theme preview option has been improved, so try switching and previewing themes.
- And there’s a brand new default theme, Twenty Fourteen. Try activating it and see if there are any edge cases the theme doesn’t respond to well.
Of course, these are just some light parameters. Definitely dig in and test the new install however you can. Try it with any themes you have already developed and with your favorite plugins. The most fun part of testing is trying to break the software, so have a go at it.
If you do run into a bug, the best thing to do is either file a Trac bug report, or if you are not comfortable with Trac, report it in the Alpha/Beta section of the WordPress.org forums. Also, do a quick search on the existing bug report if you do find a bug just to make sure it hasn’t been reported yet.
If you have any questions about this process feel free to reach out, and I’ll help however I can.
Will you help beta test WordPress 3.8?
Jay Hoffmann is a WordPress developer hailing from NYC. In the strictest sense of the word, he is a WordPress enthusiast with an eye for front-end development and design. He has been working with WordPress since 2006 and currently works for a popular children’s media company. This year, Jay started Tidy Repo, a curated list of the best and most reliable plugins from around the web. You can also follow Jay on Twitter.
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