As you may know, we’ve been working behind the scenes on the design and development of version 2.7 of the WordPress software that powers your blog. The administration interface you’re used to will be changing as a result of your feedback and the results of the usability testing we conducted over the summer. Version 2.7 is due to release officially on November 10 (Update: at the end of November), but in the meantime, we’re posting sneak previews of the look and functionality to come. So far we’ve covered the new navigation system and the new Dashboard. If you want to get an early idea of what you can expect come November, head over to the WordPress.org blog and check out The Visual Design of 2.7 and The New 2.7 Dashboard.

We’ll be publishing more descriptions of how things will work over the next couple of weeks so that when the change comes it won’t be a complete surprise. We’re also working on new Help materials that you can use for reference (replacing FAQs, screencasts, etc.) while you adjust to the new structure. Overall, the response so far is that the new interface is easier to use, and that it’s faster to access the screens people use most, so hopefully once you’ve checked out the posts linked above, you’ll be as excited for the launch of 2.7 as we are.