Yesterday marked the release of the next version of WordPress. WordPress 2.7, codenamed “Coltrane” has a completely redesigned admin interface, and is notably faster than WordPress 2.6.

The admin dashboard can be rearranged by dragging and dropping the widgets to the location that you like. You can also shrink the widgets with the click of a button to clear more space on the main page. The admin menu on the left side of the dashboard can be changed from icons and text links, down to just icons to free up additional space on each page. There is also a new “Screen Options” that allows you to customize every admin page. On the write page, you are able to drag and drop everything in the right side column into the main column and have a full screen posting area.

One more thing about the WordPress 2.7.. You will never have to manually upgrade WordPress 2.7 again. 2.7 has a built-in upgrade system that notifies you of a new release, and then when you request it to, will download, install, and upgrade your blog to the new version in a single click.

On a side note, over 150 people contributed code towards this release. For more information on WordPress 2.7, visit the official WordPress Blog Post.

Screenshots