It’s been about a week now since the 4.0 update for WordPress codenamed “Benny” was released. Overall, 4.0 makes the step from draft to publishing a much more seamless experience and I love it.

The new update includes a lot of bug fixes and security updates as well as lots of nice nifty new features that WordPress enthusiasts will love. Video embeds are so much easier now. All you have to do is paste in the URL directly from your web browser into your blog post; no more looking for the video embed codes. In addition, WordPress 4.0 supports more sites not just YouTube Sites like WordPress.tv, Ted.com, Vimeo.com, Spotify.com and a ton of other media sites are all supported with this new feature. Furthermore, video and audio files are playable right within the editor.

Plugins are a lot easier to find with the new interface as well. Instead of an all text interface, the plugin view now sports thumbnail pictures of all the plugins plus a whole lot more detailed information that you will find useful. Even currently installed apps show more detail than they ever did before. Without even opening the page, you can more easily see how popular a plugin is as well as when it was updated and even if its compatible or not with your current version of WordPress. Clicking the “More details” link opens up a pop-up window giving you a more detailed description of the plugin. Prior to this you had to go directly to the WordPress.org page for the plugin in another browser window or tab. Certainly the new plugin view makes this makes plugin searches and selection a whole lot easier.

Editing and viewing your posts is a lot more fluid as well. With 4.0 you get a better picture of what your finished masterpiece will look like on your blog page. The new media library, sports an interface with infinite scrolling of your uploaded media. I find this is a great tool to find any broken media as I do occasionally find. Being able to scroll my media lets me find things more easily. The editing window fits your content as you write and keeps the formatting toolbar in view even as you scroll your post, kind of the same way you might freeze panes in Microsoft Excel.

Ultimately, I think the 4.0 update makes the WordPress interface more fun!

WordPress is the most popular content management system in use today powering millions of websites including 48% of the top 100 Technorati blogs, ranked by In fact, as of this writing, more than 77 million websites run WordPress. This incredible number includes some of the top companies and brand names on the internet including TED, NBCSports, GigaOM, UPS, TechCrunch, CNN, and CBS Radio.
So without much further ado, here are some reasons why we love WordPress.

1. WordPress is So Easy To Use
   WordPress is so easy to use with its intuitive admin interface. This brings the ability to create a website to the masses regardless of skill level. I think this is the number one reason why we love WordPress so much. Before content management systems like WordPress existed we had to learn complicated website programming code to create a website. Now anyone who wants to publish can start out with an account at WordPress.com or set up their own hosted blog/website using the software at WordPress.org. Best of all, no matter which method you use, WordPress is absolutely free!

2. WordPress Is So Customizable:
   There are so many ways to customize our beloved content management system. There are tons of paid and free WordPress themes galore to help you customize the look of your WordPress site and with over 29,000 plug-ins and counting the functional possibilities seem limitless. With the power of WordPress almost anyone can make unique blogs and websites.

3. WordPress Has Many Great Features
   Some of the great features of WordPress include the ability to schedule posts, use short-codes to add more design and function and incredibly design flexibility. If you want to add forums to your website you can do that. If you want to add a form or some other form of feedback on your site, you can do that. Practically anything you want to do with your WordPress based site is possible.

4. WordPress Is Convenient:
   There are multiple ways to publish using WordPress these days. You can use your browser, email program, and other third-party programs. I think the most flexible of these is the email-to-Wordpress feature where you can publish from anywhere using most devices wether that is your cell phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. WordPress also has its own mobile apps. Here are a few links for WordPress apps on popular mobile devices:
   WordPress on Android
   WordPress on iPhone

5. There are so many tools and services for WordPress:
   There are quite a number of third-party services that will enhance and help you with your WordPress site; from backup and security services to design and customization. Furthermore, if you are looking for a great host you can use any of the usual hosts or you can go with a host who specializes in WordPress hosting. I recommend WP Engine. Click to read my full review of WP Engine read here.

6. WordPress Is Great for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
   In a nutshell SEO is making it easier for search engines such as Google and Bing to define and find your website and blog. WordPress makes this easy because the codebase it is built on is very easily read by search engines.

7. WordPress is fast, scalable and performs well
   A well tuned WordPress website will perform very well even with thousands of visitors coming to your website or blog.

8. WordPress is well supported.
   If you have questions, the internet has answers. You can subscribe to my blog to learn more. You can also visit the following communities:
   WordCamp Community. There is plenty of help for those who need it. People from all over the world, share their tips and tricks for using WordPress year round and online. Helpful community who can help you with your problems and customization of your blog.
   WordPress.org Forums – This is the official forum for the WordPress website.

9. Versatility – WordPress is great for bloggers, hobbyists and businesses alike. . You can use WordPress as a blog, forum, online directory, membership site, commerce or just about anything you want your site to do. WordPress is certainly the jack of all trades.

I was recently introduced to WP Engine after going to WordCamp in NYC and all I have to say is I’ve been in love with it ever since. Here are some of the reasons why:

WP Engine Has Lightning Fast Performance

WP Engine caches everything on your site for you making your WordPress site incredibly fast. You don’t need any caching plugins whatsoever, because WP Engine takes care of all of that for you. Beyond that you can take advantage of their CDN for even extra site responsiveness and speed. Ultimately, WP Engine is scalable and ready for the extra traffic when you are.

Back-up, Security, WordPress Updates: WP Engine Has it All Covered

With WP Engine you don’t have to worry about updating WordPress, they will do it in the background for you.