WordPress just gets better with every release and the recent major update, version 2.9 is no exception.

This release now includes a solution for what has been for me one of the most trying parts of a content management system, image editing. No matter how simple a web site is to update, for those with no technical knowledge, image manipulation and uploading can still prove a challenge. I have seen many client sites over the years suffer because of poor image management. Let’s face it, it’s a skill in it’s own right.

The Built-in image editor allows you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images. WordPress say this is the first of many media-handling improvements to come.

As if that wasn’t enough WordPress now supports video embedding straight out if the box. Up to this point you would need a plugin or to copy and paste the embed code to include video from 3rd party sites such as YouTube.

Now you can just copy and paste the video URL straight into your blog post, WordPress will then replace it with the appropriate code to display the video. The list of supported video sites is extensive and includes YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv with more sites to be announced in future releases.

With video becoming increasingly popular with bloggers I am sure we’ll see further enhancements to this functionality. We’ve used it here to display the WordPress 2.9 update video from WordPress.tv.

There are many more great features in the 2.9 update, pop over to WordPress for more details. Be sure to upgrade your blog soon.