Previously, when you forked a repository the fork name would default to the same name as the parent repository. In some cases, that wasn't ideal because you wanted the fork to have a different name. Your only option was to rename the fork after it was created. Now you can customize the fork name at the same time you're creating it.
You can now use the web UI to synchronize an out of date branch of a fork with its upstream branch. If there are no merge conflicts between the branches, the fork's branch is updated either by fast-forwarding or by merging from the upstream's branch. If there are conflicts, you will be prompted to open a pull request to resolve.