14 DAY TRIAL // Just as WordPress 3.2 is set loose upon the web, Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and some of the WordPress.org development, is announcing a brand new theme for WordPress.com users.
Considering that they already got most of the new features that WordPress 3.2 introduced, ahead of time, it's probably enough to make users less 'jealous' of their more independent peers.
Meanwhile, there are already 500,000 Wordpress 3.2 downloads and WordPress.com Publicize now supports LinkedIn as a sharing option.
"Over five years ago, when WordPress.com was just getting started, we launched a theme that has become near and dear to many of us," Automattic's Ian Stewart wrote.
"It’s about time to shake up the Banana Smoothie, isn’t it? Maybe even give some other fruit a shake? We think so. Let’s take a look at its delicious successor, Fruit Shake," he announced.
"The goal of Fruit Shake was to capture Banana Smoothie’s essence and serve it up to everyone with a refreshed design — and even more fruity flavor. Hence, your choice of three fruit-flavored color schemes: Banana, Blueberry, and my favorite, Dragon Fruit," he explained.
The new theme is rather sleek and very customizable, enabling users to create a colorful but stylish look for their blog. The customization options are fairly standard, the header and the background images can be changed with whatever you want.
And you can also remove all of the widgets, for a simple, minimalistic blog. Besides the three color options, WordPress hints at a fourth, hidden option.
If you like what you see, but you're running a self-hosted version of WordPress, don't fret, Fruit Shake is coming to the WordPress theme directory soon.
Elsewhere in the WordPress universe, the Publicize tool, which enables users to push their blog posts to popular social networks and websites, the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo, now supports LinkedIn as well.