WordPress has released the long-awaited Version 3.0, also known as Thelonious. The new software package has some improvements that will make your WordPress sites and blogs more versatile. We’re currently developing some exciting new sites with these new applications.

Here are the highlights of the new features and how you can improve your site:

1. Merging WordPress and WordPress MU (Multi-User). You now have the ability to manage multiple sites with only one installation. This is perfect for a business that wants to have individual websites for multiple product lines. You can efficiently dedicate a site to each line and manage your updates from one location.

2. Custom Post Types. In the past, you only had two options for your content: “Posts” and “Pages”. Thelonious gives you the power to customize different types of pages. You can have a different look for separate post types. Let’s suppose that you own a used car dealership. You can have a different post type for Fords, GMs, Hondas and Toyotas.

3. Create your own taxonomies. There are already two of these in WordPress: “Categories” and “Tags”. Thelonious lets you create your own group type. It saves you time by not having to manually type in information that is also needed for a specific post type. Again, if you are selling used cars, you can create taxonomies for model, color, year and mileage for the individual page of each vehicle.

4. Customize your menus. This new menu feature will allow you to easily construct a navigation menu that has a mixture of external sites, internal links and categories. This is a useful way to group all of the pages you want people to visit in one place.

5. Creating a shortlink for Twitter feeds. Thelonious makes linking your blog post with your Twitter feed even easier. You don’t have to use a third-party application (such as TinyURL) to fit your link in a 140 character platform. The new “Get Shortlink” feature will allow you to shrink the URL on your create post page.

6. Selecting a username and password. You are able to create your unique user name upon installation. This is an added security measure, as any hacker who is attempting to break into your server no longer already knows the user name.

This video, created by WordPress, gives you a complete rundown of the new features.

Are you excited yet? Click here to start the process of developing a new WordPress based site.