Lately, I've been playing around WordPress 2.5 RC1 and it was refreshing to use the new Admin interface. It is cool to the eyes and it loads up pretty quick. I must say I'm impressed with the changes and updates Automattic made to WordPress. Some of the new features are a welcome addition too, like the tag management system they have put in place. It displays like the category management page and mimics its features too. From the tag management page, you can add, edit, and delete tags much the same way as categories. It's no Tag Managing Thing, but if you prefer using core features than plugins, this is a very great addition. Another feature worth mentioning is the automatic plugin upgrade system. In RC1, you need to input your FTP credentials in order to perform the automatic upgrade. In WordPress 2.5 RC2, however, you don't have to. The process involves downloading the plugin from the WordPress plugin repository, unpacking the update, removing the old package, installing the latest package, and if the plugin is active while auto-updating, it will deactivate the plugin first before installing the new version, then reactivate the plugin. It will then tell you that the plugin is updated successfully. And it's all automated. One thing to note though, is that you should beware of using the automatic plugin upgrade, as outlined by this article. Some of the issues outlined in the article was already addressed, but not all, so if you are not sure if the automatic upgrade will wreak havoc on your blog, make sure you have a backup and perform the plugin upgrade manually. I tried it on some plugins that query the database and so far, no issues. Lucky me. About the new interface, it is easy on the eyes and a bit more organized that shows the designers are obviously keeping the user experience in mind to make it more user-friendly. One thing I've noticed on the Write page is that it has a subpage that lets you add links, and when you go to the Manage page from the Links subpage in Write, you don't have to click on the Links subpage in Manage. You're already there. The interface is clearly smarter than before. Also, if you are using the WordPress.com Stats plugin, an overview is displayed, and configurable, on the dashboard itself. It can be configured to show daily, weekly, and monthly stats. The feeds in the dashboard can also be configured to the feed of your choosing. Pre-2.5, you can also do this, but you have to go into the code of the core itself. Pretty scary. 2.5 however makes it a whole lot easier to configure what you want to see and which feeds you want to read from the dashboard. All in all, WordPress 2.5 focuses on the user-experience, making it very easy and user-friendly, so that the blogger can focus more on blogging itself.