Peeking into the Future of WordPress by Using a Development Release.

WARNING: THE INFORMATION IN THIS POST, THOUGH AWESOME IT MAY BE, IS NOT INTENDED FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!

Actually, using development builds of WordPress is not exactly as scary as my warning message may have made it sound – but it’s important to understand these are development builds and while they do give you a preview into the future of WordPress, it’s not necessarily a wise idea to use these on mission critical WordPress installs.

However, if you are interested in seeing all the new changes of WordPress, or are willing to test out the latest and greatest WordPress has to offer on a personal blog, then this post is exactly what you need!

It’s not exactly widely advertised, but WordPress has developed a one click plugin to automatically update your blog to the latest development releases every night. It makes the process so easy just about anyone could figure it out – especially with a little help! (wink wink, nudge nudge)

The first thing you’ll want to do is visit your WordPress Dashboard, navigate to the left side of the screen and find the Plugins section. Once there, select Add New:

You will be taken to the Install Plugins screen. Locate the Search section and type WordPress Beta Tester as shown below:

Select Search Plugins to search the WordPress plugin Database. With such a specific search, you should find the correct plugin called WordPress Beta Tester as the first option to install. Once found, select Install Now as shown below:

After giving WordPress the green light on installing the plugin, you will be taken to a progress screen, much like the image shown below. Once given the option to Activate the plugin, select it.

Once activated, return to the left side of your WordPress Dashboard and locate the Tools section. Now that the plugin has been installed and activated, there will be an option which reads Beta Testing. Select it:

Upon entering the Beta Testing option screen, WordPress presents you with two options:

Point Release Nightly – Some new features, but fairly stable. (Semi-Safe)
Bleeding Edge Nightly – All new features, but occasionally unstable. (Semi-Risky)

Depending on how “edgy” you feel, select the nightly channel you wish to join. For pure feature enjoyment, Bleeding Edge is the no brainer choice; however, if you are using this as your main blog and just want a tiny peak into the future of WordPress, then Point Release might be the better choice for you.

Once you’ve chosen your path, be sure to Save Changes.

After saving the changes, once again look back at the left side of your WordPress Dashboard, and locate the Dashboard section. Under Dashboard, select the Updates option.

Once in the Updates area, scroll down and find a big blue button that reads Update Now. Select it to begin the process of updating your blog to the latest build of WordPress.

WARNING: NO TURNING BACK AT THIS POINT. BE SURE TO BACKUP IF YOU ARE HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS!

Once the process is completed, at least at the time of writing, you will be able to confirm the process went successfully as a few sections of the WordPress Dashboard have notably changed. If you are reading this article at a later date and notice no major changes, you can scroll down to the right hand side of your WordPress Dashboard footer to find a message similar to the following:

If this states you are on a development version, then congrats! You’ve officially got the latest and (hopefully!) greatest version of WordPress!

This is great for testing, or just having a little fun. As a avid WordPress user, it’s always beneficial to gain first hand experience at what is coming down the WordPress pipeline, so you know how to use it to its fullest when it’s released to the wild!

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