Andrew Nacin 11:58 pm on January 22, 2014  

WordPress 3.8.1 Release Candidate

Greetings! WordPress 3.8.1 RC1 is now available for final testing. Here’s a zip, or you can set the WordPress Beta Tester plugin to “point releaseMinor Release A set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality. nightlies.” (Trunktrunk A directory in Subversion containing the latest development code in preparation for the next major release cycle. If you are running "trunk", then you are on the latest revision., which is 3.9-alpha, also has all of these fixes.)

We hope to get this released to you as early as tomorrow, January 23. Once 3.8.1 is released, we’ll wait a few hours before turning on automatic background updates, which will then be gradually rolled out over about a day.

It’s been nearly six weeks since 3.8, which has seen more than 9 million downloads. It’s now time to kick 3.8.1 out the door, especially since we’re now ramping up WordPress 3.9 development.

Feel free to leave here any questions or comments about 3.8.1 in general, though if you have found a bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. in WordPress, please report them on Trac.

Below is a complete changelog. Each section is roughly ordered by priority. Also on TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress., you can also find the full changelog, a diff of the changes, and the list of 3.8.1 tickets.

Embedding tweets:

  • Switch Twitter oEmbed to SSLSSL Secure Sockets Layer. Provides a secure means of sending data over the internet. Used for authenticated and private actions. due to a Twitter APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. change that broke embedding across all WordPress sites. [26969], #26844.

WP_Query fixes:

  • Fix categoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging. handling in pre_get_posts when pretty permalinks are in use; fix handling of taxonomyTaxonomy A taxonomy is a way to group things together. In WordPress, some common taxonomies are category, link, tag, or post format. https://codex.wordpress.org/Taxonomies#Default_Taxonomies. queries in get_queried_object(). [26946], #26627, #26634.
  • Avoid a fatal error in wp_reset_postdata() if $wp_query global is not set. (Also affected 3.7.) [26951], #26775.

Themes screen fixes and improvements:

Fixes for the new dashboard design:

  • Fix the “dead zone” on submit buttons, so they actually click. [26998], #26700, Chrome bug.
  • Prevent the adminadmin (and super admin) color scheme from previewing when editing another user. [26937], #26607.
  • Update the styles for the media modal when used on the frontend. [26992], #26677.
  • Add a contrasting border to admin feature pointers. [26970], #26689.
  • Update Dashicons to latest. (The Updates icon now points in the right direction.) [26965], #26518.
  • OCD alignment updates on the Updates screen. [26938], #26699.

Responsive admin fixes:

  • Prevent widgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. controls from going off the screen when editing extra-wide widgets on small devices. [26964], #26701.
  • When moderating comments, make sure the comment author is always visible. [26961], #26618.
  • Responsive improvements to submenus in the toolbar. [27009], #26720.
  • Improve keyboard accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) for the admin menu when in responsive mode. [27010], #26639.
  • Prevent the toolbar from wrapping to a second line on narrow screen (multisitemultisite Used to describe a WordPress installation with a network of multiple blogs, grouped by sites. This installation type has shared users tables, and creates separate database tables for each blog (wp_posts becomes wp_0_posts). See also network, blog, site only). [26949], #26537.

The new dashboard widgets:

  • Quick Draft widget: Don’t ignore default comment status and pingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” status. [26960], #26722.
  • At a Glance widget: Don’t link to Pages or Posts for Authors or Contributors (respectively). [27001], #26574.
  • Quick Draft widget: Break long words in Quick Draft content to prevent overflow. [26948], #26658.

Miscellaneous:

  • Media: Fix directory permissions for new media upload directories. [26927], #26781.
  • RTL: Force LTR direction for code inputs. [26954], #26666.
  • RTL: Make sure half-stars in star ratings are filled on the correct side. [26953], #26814.