I’m a bit delayed on sharing about the changes in self-hosted WordPress 4.1 (not WordPress.com), but here we go:
Twenty Fifteen
This new theme is a return to simple personal blogging. While Twenty Ten/Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen were great themes to build an entire website on, Twenty Fourteen was ideal for magazine layouts, and Twenty Fifteen is great a keeping blogging simple. Take a look at the demo running on https://twentyfifteendemo.wordpress.com/.
Distraction-Free Writing
Normally when you write a post, you’ll see a screen similar to this:
But now you can see a bit less of the administration while you are writing:
Choose a Language
If you’ve installed WordPress in US English but would prefer that the administration language be set as Canadian, Australian, or British English, you now have that opportunity to switch. Better still, if you want the administration of your site to work in nearly 50 different language options.
Log Out of All Sessions
If you’ve forgotten to log out of your site from a shared computer, or just want to quickly ensure that all of your devices are logged out, you can now do so from your user profile.
Vine Embeds
WordPress has long supported embedding posts from many social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and more. Now Vine embeds are supported.
Plugin Recommendations
When you install a new plugin from your admin dashboard, plugins will now be suggested to you based upon plugins you have installed on any site with the same email address associated to your user login and popular plugins.
Inline Image Editor
When you want to edit an image that you’ve already inserted, it’s now a bit easier. Just above the image, see the hover buttons that display:
Allow PSD Uploads
This feature I will say comes with a big word of caution. Unless you are a graphic designer making files available for others to use, do not upload Photoshop raw files of any sort. Stick with JPG and Gif files for website optimal performance. I even lock up the file types my clients can use to jpg, png, and gif formats exclusively. Otherwise, they’d call wondering why their website is so slow when they’ve uploaded gigs worth of audio and video files to their website hosting server. You’ve been warned, uploading file types might work, but might be bad for website performance.
More Under the Hood
To see the full list of all the tiny detail changes, see http://codex.wordpress.org/Version_4.1