SITE UPDATE: New Features at PlanetPOV

We’ve just updated our WordPress software and with the new version, there are a few new features we just wanted to share with you.

FULL SCREEN VIEW FOR WRITING POSTS

To begin, there is a great new feature in your Add New/Edit Post window. When composing a Post, in the Visual tab you’ll see a button with a black and white square, just to the right of the “abc” spell check button. In the HTML tab, you’ll find the last button labeled “fullscreen“. If you click on either of these, you’ll get a full screen view of your post which makes it even easier to write and edit. Bringing your cursor up to the top of the fullscreen window makes a menu of options appear. To return to the regular post screen, just click “Exit Full Screen” in the upper left corner of the screen (it appears when you move your cursor there).

NEW MENU BAR

The menu bar at the very top of the screen has been condensed a bit, less obtrusive and easier to navigate.

At the far left, you’ll see the WordPress icon. You can hover your cursor on it for a variety of resources to learn more about using the WordPress features at our site.

Beside it is “PlanetPOV” which has a “Dashboard” drop down you’ll see by hovering your cursor on it. You can click either to go directly to your Dashboard.

Beside that is a word balloon icon which takes you to a display of comments in your Dashboard.

Next, you’ll find “+ New” which is for adding a new Post or Media (graphic). Hover your mouse over it to choose from these options. Clicking on it or “Post” in the dropdown menu will take you directly to the New Post editing page in your Dashboard. Clicking on “Media” takes you to the upload screen to upload a graphic file.

On the right side of the toolbar, you’ll find a “Howdy” to your username. Clicking on it, your username, Gravatar or “Profile” in its dropdown box (hover your cursor on it to view the dropdown) will take you to your Profile page in your Dashboard where you can update your account, change your bio, etc. There is also a “Log Out” item in the dropdown which functions the same as the “Log Out” item on the site’s main menu bar.

Lastly, there is a magnifying glass icon at the far left for a Search function. It works identically to the Search function at the far left of our main menu, click on it to expand the Search box and you can enter any query to search our many posts.

NEW FEATURE – DRAG AND DROP TO UPLOAD GRAPHICS

You now have the option to Drag and Drop image files to upload graphics. You can use this feature when composing or editing a post or from anywhere on the site to upload a graphic.

To use it while writing a post, click the icon beside “Upload/Insert” (just above the text box of your post) and the upload screen will appear. You can drag any image file or multiple graphic files onto it to upload them or you can click “Select Files” and upload as before by selecting the file on your computer.

To just upload a graphic through Drag and Drop, hover your cursor on the
“+ New” menu item then click on “Media” in the dropdown box and you’ll be brought to the Upload window. You can drag one or more graphic files to the window to upload them or click “Select Files” to choose the file instead.

Getting familiar with the new Menu bar and the new Drag and Drop functionality for uploading graphics could help speed some things up for you at the site.

We’re constantly working at updating and improving The Planet to make it the best blogging experience for our members that’s possible. Hope you enjoy these new features!