The process of publishing new posts just got simplified big time. Starting today, any time you're logged in to WordPress.com, you can create and publish new posts without the leaving the page you're on. So instead of having to visit your blog's dashboard each time you want to publish a post, now you can start a new post the very second you're inspired to create one.

Simply click the New Post button on the right side of the toolbar, and you can instantly start a new post with the editor that slides down from the top of the screen:

First, select the type of content you want to share (text, photo, video, quote, or link).

Use the Write a Post tab if you want to include multiple images in your post (or if you want to write a text-only post). If you just want to quickly share a single photo, select the Post a Photo tab.

When the post is ready, add some tags if you like, then choose the blog you want to post to (if you have more than one) using the drop-down menu below the post editor:

When you're done, hit Publish Post, and you can go right back to whatever you were doing before you started the post.

Note that if you have a theme that supports post formats, posts published with the Post a Photo, Video, Quote, and Link tabs will be displayed on your site with a nifty, visually distinct post format:

An example of the Esquire theme's video and quote post formats.

Lastly, there's also a New Post tab on the WordPress.com homepage for quick access to the new post editor:

Keep in mind that if you want to add categories to a post, preview it, or schedule it to publish at a later time, you can still create and edit posts with the dashboard editor by going to Posts → All Posts.

So what do you think of this new way to publish posts? Leave your feedback in the comments below.