WordPress 3.1 RC4 build includes the security fixes and enhancements included in 3.0.5 and addresses about two dozen additional bugs. This latest release should be the final step before the stable version comes out. WordPress 3.1 has been in release candidate phase for about a month and a half now.
This includes fixes for:
* Deleting a user and reassigning their posts to another user.
* Marking multiple users or sites as spam in multisite.
* PHP4 compatibility.
At this stage this version is in the development process, the changes are minimal and the team is focused almost exclusively on bug fixes. Stability and security is the name of the game and WordPress 3.1 RC4 is the cleanest build yet.
While no new features are usually added in the release candidate phase, some may be removed if they prove unreliable and unstable enough. This is exactly what happened in the previous release candidate when the decision was made to postpone the integration of AJAX list tables in WordPress 3.1. The feature was buggy and there were several big issues with it which would not have gotten fixed in time for the stable release. As such, all progress was rolled back and AJAX list tables were removed from WordPress 3.1.
To test WordPress 3.1, try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”). Or you can download the release candidate here (zip). If any new issues become known, you’ll be able to find them here.
After nearly five months of development and testing, we think we’re very close to a final release. Users and developers, please test your themes and plugins.
