Here’s a recap of the latest developments in the WordPress ecosystem, from WordPress core updates and Gutenberg news to more plugin news.

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This post is from the recent WordPress News Roundup – January 2020 webinar hosted by Nathan Ingram. In this webinar, Nathan walks through each of these news items in more depth. Register for the next WordPress News Roundup webinar here.

News from WordPress Core

WordPress 5.3 Development Cycle Ended

• Current version is WordPress 5.3.2
• No more minor releases planned for WordPress 5.3
• Of course, any major security issues will be patched with a short-cycle release
• Follow the WordPress Core Blog

5.3 Release Cycle Post-mortem

WordPress 5.4 is Coming

• 5.4 is tentatively scheduled for a March 31 release date.
• 2020-2021 release calendar can be found here.
• Not much currently available on 5.4 features.
• Certainly, we will see improvements to the block editor, including the Nav menu block.
• WordPress 5.5 scheduled for August 2020.
• WordPress 5.6 scheduled for December 2020.

The Month in WordPress: December 2019

Gutenberg News

Gutenberg 7.2

• Released January 22
• Site Editor Beta Enable under Gutenberg > Experiments
• You must have the Gutenberg plugin installed

What’s new in Gutenberg? (22 January)

Gutenberg 7.3

• • Layout Element Blocks
  • Support the templating feature for site editing
  • Navigation block supports text and background colors
  • Many speed improvements, bug fixes, and accessibility tweaks

What’s Coming in Gutenberg?

• Block Content Areas
• Edit Site UI with front page template and ability to switch templates
• More full-site editing blocks
• Updated block UI design is being explored

What’s next in Gutenberg? (January)

Other Gutenberg News

ShareABlock

• Share and download block and template designs

Introducing ShareABlock: Brand New Way to Share and Download Free Gutenberg Block & Template Designs

No Promotions in Block Directory

• Prototype discussed in December
• Current rules state that blocks in the directory ”must not include advertisements, prompts, or promotional messages.”
• How this (de?)motivates developers is yet to be seen

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This article was written by Kristen Wright and originally published on WordPress News and Updates from iThemes – iThemes.

September was a busy month for WordPress news, so you may have missed a few headlines. In this post, we’ll cover all the major news in the WordPress ecosystem, from the WordPress 5.5.1 maintenance release on September 1, 200, to plugin, theme and SEO news.

News from WordPress Core

The biggest news in September from the WordPress core team was the release of WordPress 5.5.1. This was a WordPress maintenance release with several bug fixes and enhancements.

WordPress 5.5.1 Maintenance Release

• Maintenance release with 34 bug fixes, 4 enhancements and 5 fixes for the block editor
• Most notably, 5.5.1 fixes the issues created with WordPress 5.5 breaking websites with themes and plugins using old JavaScript
  • Discussions are happening to prevent this kind of thing happening again…
  • “What part of the release process ought to have flagged up that this was about to happen, how did that part fail, and how can future similar failures be prevented?” – Jake Spurlock

WordPress 5.6 Planning Underway

The next point release of WordPress is already in active development, with WordPress 5.6 release planning underway.

• Notable features will include:
  • Block editor updates and new customizer support
  • Auto updates of WordPress core
  • Full site editing feature, including FSE-enabled theme
  • Support for PHP 8 (on target for a Nov 2020 release)
• As previously announced, this will be an All-women Release Squad
• WordPress 5.6 release date is planned for December 8, 2020

Continued PHP 5.6 Support

WordPress will continue PHP 5.6 support for the foreseeable future. Removal of support for PHP 5.6 was on the slate for WordPress 5.6, but has been removed. Why?

• “Only 66% of WordPress sites are 7.1 and above” – Matt Mullenweg
• The stated goal of supporting PHP 8 while still working with PHP 5.6 could prove to be challenging for developers.

Gutenberg News

The Gutenberg plugin had a few updates released in September. Here’s more on what changes you’ll see added to the WordPress block editor.

Gutenberg 8.9 Released Sept. 2

The major feature in the Gutenberg 8.9 release is the addition of block-based widgets. You can read more with these two posts: Gutenberg 8.9 Brings Block-Based Widgets Out of the Experimental Stage and What’s new in Gutenberg? (2 September).

• Gutenberg replaces Appearance > Widgets

• Add blocks to footer widgets in compatible themes

• Experimental (and not great) customizer interface for widget bocks needs work.

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Keep Reading »

This article was written by Kristen Wright and originally published on WordPress News and Updates from iThemes – iThemes.