Today’s news from Automattic of a revamped WordPress.com was one of the top conversations in the technology world.
Completely rewritten from scratch using JavaScript rather than PHP, the new WordPress administrative interface with code name Calypso is built with the React JavaScript framework, Node.js server-side JavaScript platform, and REST API. Released as open source, the code is available on GitHub.
In addition, a Mac desktop application is available today. Windows and Linux versions are expected soon.
What Users Can Expect
WordPress.com users have already seen many of the features from Calypso, in the post editor, statistics pages, and Reader.
Today’s release shows an administrative interface with a simplified look and feel. Users will be able to manage their WordPress.com and Jetpack-enabled self-hosted WordPress sites.
One thing I’m looking forward to: with the new technology used to create WordPress.com, users can expect faster site performance.
Learn about the Mac desktop application in Jeff Chandler’s post, Automattic Unveils Calypso, an Open Source WordPress Desktop Application for the Mac, who tested the app on his MacBook Pro last weekend.
Competition for Medium
Online technology news sites and technology leaders see the release of the revamped WordPress.com as competition for the popular Medium site, which many bloggers and writers have found easier to use and more popular with readers.
According to The Next Web post:
The new WordPress.com back-end interface looks to be taking Medium head-on, with new ‘discover’ and ‘recommended’ sections that pretty much directly borrow from the newer platform’s structure.
https://twitter.com/ow/status/668850348321210368
Have you downloaded the Mac desktop application? Or checked out the new WordPress.com interface?
Updated November 25, 2015 to clearly identify Calypso as the new WordPress administrative interface
