WordPress 3.2 “Gershwin,” released earlier this summer, got me more excited than a typical WordPress release.

There’s the beautiful, HTML 5 Twenty Eleven default theme. There’s the different post formats.

Then there’s the refreshed dashboard that includes a full screen editor function.

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Whether you’re blogging for your news organization or are a freelancer representing yourself, blogging from the field has never been easier. If you’re using WordPress.com (not the self-hosted version, although there are similar solutions for WordPress.org users), here are a few tricks for your phone or tablet to help make you better at what you do.

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For news organizations without their own branded CMS, Blogger is one of the top blogging platforms out there. However, it’s no secret that WordPress is favored amongst blogging types for its extreme customizability and clean navigation. Today, Google announced a much-needed overhaul of the entire editing and management Blogger system, a move which will align the UI with their recent Gmail and Calendar redesigns. So, what’s different?

• Clean and simple blogging interface: According to Google’s blog, “The post editor has been expanded and simplified to give you a larger canvas for drafting and previewing your work.” The whole UI of the post editor is fresher and much easier to use.
• Integrated stats: Blogger’s Dashboard now offers a snapshot of Google Analytics for bloggers to better understand and grow their target audiences.
• Recommended blogs: Google is renowned for their creepily accurate recommendations, and now the Dashboard will recommend blogs you may be interested in based on your blog’s content.

Blogger’s new look comes at a time when Google is redesigning a large portion of their products to keep with a unified user experience. What do you think of the redesign?

A few weeks ago, we covered 7 great free WordPress themes for journalists that put the focus on your content while taking the guesswork out of choosing the right design.

So what’s the difference in using a premium WordPress theme aside from the price? For starters, support and compatibility. Purchasing a premium WordPress theme ensures that you will have a direct channel of contact to the theme designer to answer any technical questions, and the theme you purchased will have been tested thoroughly in all of the major browsers. Premium WordPress themes may often come with a guarantee for free updates, increased admin options, and the opportunity to download multiple themes if you purchase from a theme club like WooThemes or NattyWP.

Here are a few premium WordPress themes I’ve found that are great for journalists to feature text, photos, or video. If there’s any premium theme that you’ve seen on the Web which would also be great for journalists, let us know in the comments!

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We’ve covered WordPress quite extensively here at 10,000 Words, including must-have plugins and a workflow for running your news site using WordPress and Google Docs. It’s extremely important for every journalist to have a portfolio online which profiles their work, and WordPress makes it extremely simple to do this. Another great selling point for WordPress is the ability to switch up the design of your site on a whim using a theme, transforming it from a mere blog into a real showcase. Here are seven WordPress themes below which I think are great for journalists and emphasize content with a professional design.

Oh, and they’re free too! Is there a great WordPress theme for journalists which you like? Let us know below in the comments.

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