As WordPress celebrates it’s seventh birthday, there is no question that the latest version of the WordPress CMS is the most powerful yet. The WordPress official blog states that the new version contains 1,217 bug-fixes and feature enhancements (which will make your life easier, like updating bulk plugins at once with a single click). Additionally, 218 developers contributed to WordPress 3.0. In this latest upgrade, WordPress added some great new features for both beginner and more experienced administrators and WordPress developers.

Like any upgrade, WordPress 3.0 brings a grocery list of new features. The features to watch in 3.0 are custom menus and post types, and a new default theme and improvements for customization. The most dramatic change to WordPress in 3.0 is the ability to host multiple blogs or sites using one installation of WordPress 3.0. Now, thousands of users can each have their own blogs under a common domain name. However, most users of this type of configuration are companies like Best Buy–which uses a type of setup that gives each of it’s retail locations its own calendar and blog features. To enable multiple site support, users need to edit the configuration file and activate a WordPress network. For more advanced users, a detailed description of the complete process is available here.

WordPress has often been criticized for it’s vulnerability. But, the installation process in version 3.0 is a bit more secure than previous versions. WordPress automatically creates an administrator account and a randomly generated password, which was a slight security issue because attackers could count on every WordPress blog having an “admin” user. However, version 3 encourages users to set their own admin username and password during the installation process.

The best part about WordPress is that it is always expanding, and web administrators and small businesses are really starting to notice the true powers of WordPress. Although WordPress was initially envisioned as a personal blog platform, it’s been extended to handle all types of publications. There are 11.4 million blogs hosted on WordPress.com as of June 2010, which is almost 5 times the amount hosted this time two years ago. As the internet continues to expand, business owners are increasingly using websites to reach consumers. For organizations looking to overhaul an existing website or create one for the first time, the American Express Open Forum suggests that business owners consider using WordPress. WordPress is a cost-efficient platform, offering many of its tools and themes for free. In addition, it has search engine optimization options built directly into it, allowing business owners to ensure that their sites are among the top search results.