WordPress 4.3 Field Notes (Lots of Changes for Plugin Developers!)

Do you follow the make/core blog? If not, you should!

Over on the make/coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. blog, we compiled all of the developer-focused changes in WordPress 4.3 in one spot. In case you don’t want to click, here’s a reprint of those changes:

• PHP4-style constructors have been deprecated, in preparation for the upcoming PHP7 release.
• Comments are now turned off on new pages, by default. And there was much rejoicing. 🎉
• Singular.php is a new theme template that can be used for any singular post, of any post type.
• A number of editor changes and enhancements have occurred this cycle, including an update to word/character counts.
• With the new site icon feature, filters have been added for custom site icon sizes as well as new Customizer controls.
• Speaking of the CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings., changes were made to panels and sections and fast preview was enabled for menus in the Customizer.
• Header tags were updated through the admin screens, such that <h1> is now the default instead of <h2> for improved 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).
• Quite a few multisite changes occurred in this cycle, including the addition of get_main_network_id().
• Passwords in WordPress 4.3 are strong by default.
• get_transient() is now more strict in WordPress 4.3.
• The old Distraction Free Writing (DFW) code has been removed.
• The code that powered the old theme preview has been removed.
• List tables have both API and UI changes, with the introduction of a primary column concept and easier subclassing.

Just a week and a half left to get your plugins updated. Thanks for all your hard work!