Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, has just launched a new feature that transforms WordPress.com blogs into iPad format, so they can be easily read on the popular Apple tablet. And for those of us that have self-hosted WordPress blogs, there is also a plugin available for you to use that will do the same thing.

The WordPress iPad view is optimized to make your blog fully functional on tablets, and the new feature is packed with…well…new features. It will turn your WP blog into something similar to an app, and it supports touch interactions, swiping and rotations. It also has a module interface that makes it quick and easy for you to change up the look and feel of your blog, and is fully integrated with WordPress comments so your visitors can comment from their iPads. In the WP Dashboard, you’ll find options to change fonts and skins, and it even lets you design a loading screen that can display a graphic of your choosing when the visitor taps on your icon. It can also create personalized “covers” that resemble magazine covers so you can highlight your important content and it’ll be the first thing an iPad visitor sees. And that’s just for starters.

iPads and other tablets are only going to get more popular from the look of things, so this might be well worth the effort if you use WordPress blogs in your marketing endeavors. I look at upgrading a blog to be accessible with new technology to be just another extension of the way we make sure our blogs are compatible with the various browsers people use on their desktops or laptops. As more and more people go mobile, it may pay to consider going mobile yourself by making your blogs tablet friendly, too.