WordPress 3.5, “Elvin” has been released

Phew. What a relief.

After a valiant battle with TinyMCE, WordPress 3.5 has been released today and is ready for download. Before reviewing the (awesome) new additions to WordPress, and talking about how you can go ahead and upgrade your WP Engine site, there’s an important piece of business we want to take care of.

Thanks to everyone on the Core team who has been working tirelessly on the release. The updates and additions to WordPress contained in this release continue the work of the Community to make it easy for anyone to publish on the web. Many of the new features and updates add an entirely new level of “user-friendly” to WordPress, and this will no doubt be reflected in an uptick in downloads of WordPress.

Nacin and Koop have been very visible over the last 2 weeks as the deadline approached, and they certainly led the charge that became a grind toward the end. However, there is a list of amazing people who contributed to the release of 3.5, and deserve a thank you. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the entire list of contributors.

What’s New in 3.5

In 3.5, “Elvin,” the way that you organize media has been re-imagined, the new default theme, TwentyTwelve, has been released (and is fully responsive), the dashboard was re-designed, everything is Apple Retina-ready, and many more things were updated.

Watch the overview of WordPress 3.5 “Elvin”

New Sites at WP Engine

New sites at WP Engine will roll out with 3.5 beginning tomorrow. Our dev team has done all the testing to make sure that all new accounts created will be shipping with 3.5 and TwentyTwelve on Wednesday, December 12.

Current Sites that Want to Update Today

If you’re ready to update your existing sites on WP Engine to 3.5, and you’ve made a checkpoint, you can follow the following instructions to go ahead and get 3.5 rolling on your site. We always recommend staging your updates before updating on a production site.

1. Log into your /wp-admin/,
2. Click the Dashboard > Updates menu items
3. Follow the WordPress 3.5 upgrade instructions
4. Enjoy!

All WP Engine Sites will be updated on December 27

Your sites will be auto-updated after the rush of the Christmas holiday on December 27. If you would like to request a deference from this date, please create a support ticket and include the reason why you’d like to be deferred.

Now, onto the good stuff:

Thank you:

Aaron D. Campbell, aaronholbrook, Aaron Jorbin, Adam Harley, akbortoli, alecrust, Alex Concha, Alex King, Alex Mills (Viper007Bond), alexvorn2, ampt,Amy Hendrix (sabreuse), andrea.r, Andrew Ryno, Andrew Spittle, Andy Skelton, apokalyptik, Bainternet, Barry, Barry Kooij, bbrooks, Ben Casey, Ben Huson,Ben Kulbertis, bergius, Bernhard Riedl, Billy (bananastalktome), bolo1988, bradparbs, bradthomas127, Brady Vercher, Brandon Dove, Brian Layman,Brian Richards, Bronson Quick, Bryan Petty, cannona, Caroline Moore, Caspie, cdog, Charles Frees-Melvin, chellycat, Chelsea Otakan, Chouby,Chris Olbekson, Christopher Finke, Chris Wallace, Cor van Noorloos, Dan, Dan Rivera, deltafactory, DjZoNe, dllh, doublesharp, Drew Jaynes (DrewAPicture),Eddie Moya, elyobo, Emil Uzelac, Empireoflight, Eric Andrew Lewis, Erick Hitter, Eric Mann, ericwahlforss, Evan Solomon, fadingdust, F J Kaiser, foxinni,Gary Cao, Gary Jones, Gary Pendergast, GeertDD, George Mamadashvili, George Stephanis, GhostToast, gnarf, goldenapples, Gustavo Bordoni, hakre, hanni,hardy101, hebbet, Hugo Baeta, Ian Stewart, ikailo, Ipstenu (Mika Epstein), itworx, j-idris, Jake Goldman, jakub.tyrcha, James Collins, jammitch, Jane Wells, Japh,JarretC, Jason Lemahieu (MadtownLems), javert03, jcakec, Jeff Bowen, Jeff Sebring, Jeremy Felt, Jeremy Herve, Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic),Jesper Johansen (Jayjdk), jndetlefsen, Joe Hoyle, joelhardi, Joey Kudish, John Blackbourn (johnbillion), John James Jacoby, John P. Bloch,Jonas Bolinder (jond3r), Jonathan Brinley, Jonathan D. Johnson (jondavidjohn), joostdekeijzer, Jorge Bernal, Joseph Scott, Josh Betz, Josh Harrison, Juan,Justin Sainton, Justin Sternberg, Justin Tadlock, Kailey Lampert (trepmal), Kelly Dwan, Keruspe, kitchin, Knut Sparhell, Konstantin Kovshenin, Kopepasah,Kristopher Lagraff, Kurt Payne, Kyrylo, Larysa Mykhas, leogermani, lesteph, linuxologos, Luc De Brouwer, Luke Gedeon, Lutz Schroer, mailnew2ster,Manuel Schmalstieg, Maor Chasen, Marco, MarcusPope, Marko Heijnen, MartyThornley, mattdanner, Matthew Richmond, Matt Martz, Matt Thomas, mattyrob,Max Cutler, Mel Choyce, Mert Yazicioglu, Michael Adams (mdawaffe), Michael Fields, Mike Bijon, Mike Glendinning, Mike Hansen, Mike Little, Mike Schinkel,Mike Toppa, Milan Dinic, mitcho (Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine), Mohammad Jangda, mohanjith, mpvanwinkle77, Mr Papa, mtdesign, murky, Naoko Takano,Nashwan Doaqan, Niall Kennedy, Nikolay Bachiyski, ntm, nvartolomei, op12no2, Paul Clark, pavelevap, Pete Mall, Pete Schuster, Philip Arthur Moore,Phill Brown, picklepete, Prasath Nadarajah, r-a-y, Rami Yushuvaev, Ricardo Moraleida, Richard Tape, Robert Chapin (miqrogroove), Robert Wetzlmayr,Ron Rennick, rstern, Ryan Imel, Ryan Koehler, Ryan Markel, Ryan McCue, Safirul Alredha, Samir Shah, Sam Margulies, Samuel Wood (Otto), sara cannon,Satish Gandham, scott.gonzalez, Scott Kingsley Clark, Scott Reilly, ScreenfeedFr, sergey.s.betke, Simon Prosser, Simon Wheatley, sirzooro, ssamture, sterlo,sumindmitriy, sushkov, swekitsune, Takashi Irie, Taylor Dewey, Taylor Lovett, Terry Sutton, Thomas Griffin, Thorsten Ott, timbeks, timfs, Tim Moore, TobiasBg,TomasM, Tom Auger, tommcfarlin, Tom Willmot, toscho, Travis Smith, Vasken Hauri, Vinicius Massuchetto, Vitor Carvalho, Waclaw, WaldoJaquith,Wojtek Szkutnik, Xavier Borderie, Yoav Farhi, Yogi T, Zack Tollman, and ZaMoose.

You’re a big part about what makes this Community great. Thank you, and please keep kicking ass.