4.4.1 Release Candidate

A Release Candidaterelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta). for WordPress 4.4.1 is now available. This maintenance release is scheduled for Wednesday, January 6, but first it needs your testing. This release fixes 52 issues reported against 4.4.

WordPress 4.4 has thus far been downloaded over 7 million times since it’s release on December 8. Please test this release candidate to ensure 4.4.1 fixes the reported issues and doesn’t introduce any new ones.

Contributors

A total of 36 contributors have contributed to 4.4.1:

Compute, DvanKooten, JPr, KrissieV, SergeyBiryukov, ShinichiN, aaroncampbell, afercia, azaozz, boonebgorges, dd32, dossy, eherman24, gblsm, hnle, igmoweb, jadpm, jeff@pyebrook.com, joemcgill, johnbillion, jorbin, meitar, nacin, netweb, obenland, ocean90, pento, peterwilsoncc, redsweater, rmccue, rogerhub, salcode, smerriman, scottbrownconsulting, stephenharris, swissspidy, tharsheblows, tyxla, voldemortensen, webaware, wonderboymusic, wp-architect

Notable Bug Fixes

Two severe bugs have been fixed. In some cases, users with an out of date version of OpenSSL being used by PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher were unable to use the HTTPHTTP HTTP is an acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web and this protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. 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. to communicate with to communicate with some httpsHTTPS HTTPS is an acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure. HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol over which data is sent between your browser and the website that you are connected to. The 'S' at the end of HTTPS stands for 'Secure'. It means all communications between your browser and the website are encrypted. This is especially helpful for protecting sensitive data like banking information. sites. Additionally, posts that reused a slug (or a part of a slug) would be redirected.
The polyfill for emoji support has been updated to support Unicode 8.0. This means that diversity emoji, and other new emoji like 🌮 and 🏒 are fully supported. 

All Changes

Most components have received at least one change. This is a list of all tickets closed, sorted by component.

Administration

  • #34987 “Configure” link for dashboard widgets no longer displayed.
  • #35047 Notices are not moved to first headerHeader The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. when header-elements are nested inside .wrap
  • #35057 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 new default_hidden_columns filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output.
  • #35112 Screen Options in Appearance -> Menu not saved correctly sometimes

Bootstrap/Load

  • #34967 SHORTINIT and date_i18n: Call to undefined function _x()
  • #35013 WP4.4 function handle_404 yelds a fatal error on line 613 when trying to clone $wp_query->post if it’s not an object

Build/Test tools

  • #30787 Shrinkwrap NPM dependencies

Bundled Theme

  • #35270 Bump twentysixteen for 4.4.1

Canonical

  • #34890 Canonical metaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. tagtag A directory in Subversion. WordPress uses tags to store a single snapshot of a version (3.6, 3.6.1, etc.), the common convention of tags in version control systems. (Not to be confused with post tags.) for paginated posts incorrect with ugly permalinks

Comments

  • #34946 new comment redirects break anchors in Safari
  • #34997 preprocess_comment filter does not contain old user_ID field for user_id, instead it has new user_id field
  • #35006 Comments sent immediately to TrashTrash Trash in WordPress is like the Recycle Bin on your PC or Trash in your Macintosh computer. Users with the proper permission level (administrators and editors) have the ability to delete a post, page, and/or comments. When you delete the item, it is moved to the trash folder where it will remain for 30 days. for matching keyword blacklist should not generate email notifications
  • #35025 Performance regressionregression A software bug that breaks or degrades something that previously worked. Regressions are often treated as critical bugs or blockers. Recent regressions may be given higher priorities. A "3.6 regression" would be a bug in 3.6 that worked as intended in 3.5. in comments_template in 4.4
  • #35068 Comments not showing up when there are unapproved messages
  • #35175 Page parameter no longer works in wp_list_comments

Customize

  • #35081 Missing Change Theme button when there are only two themes available

Embeds

  • #35152 Remove Rdio embed support
  • #35194 Remove embed discovery tags from HTMLHTML HyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. header of static home pages
  • #35237 Invalidinvalid A resolution on the bug tracker (and generally common in software development, sometimes also notabug) that indicates the ticket is not a bug, is a support request, or is generally invalid. argument supplied for foreach() in /wp-includes/embed-template.php on line 54

Emoji

External Libraries

  • #34948 Update random_compat for “Don’t instantiate COM if it’s a disabled class”

Filesystem API

  • #34976 Plug ins fail to update after WP 4.4 installed

Formatting

  • #35008 Ampersands in URLs are no longer converted to entities
  • #35058 PHP Fatal when map_deep tries to work on an object that has a property by reference

HTTP API

  • #34935 Removed SSLSSL Secure Sockets Layer. Provides a secure means of sending data over the internet. Used for authenticated and private actions. certificates causing errors in WP 4.4

Help/About

  • #35215 Setting help tab priorities fails to correctly order the tabs

Login/Registration

  • #34925 4.4 wp-login.php: no longer possible to use the login_post scheme
  • #35103 login_url Filter is now applied to Login Form Action Attribute

Mail

  • #35212 Update PHPMailer to 5.2.14

Media

  • #35045 Responsive images not added when effective scheme differs from image src scheme
  • #35101 image_default_link_type option not being respected
  • #35102 Responsive images support for external URLs
  • #35106 Responsive images break uploads with full path stored in metadata
  • #35108 Responsive images blurry – srcset attribute doesn’t include full size version
  • #35153 Default link target for media files is none

Menus

  • #34446 WordPress Notice after add support for post type archives in menu
  • #34449 Remove CPT if exists menu item
  • #35107 wp_nav_menu outputs tags without line breaks in 4.4, causes strange bug with justified text

Permalinks

  • #35084 check for post status in get_page_uri causes issues with permalinks

Query

  • #35031 wp_old_slug_redirect() in 4.4 redirecting existing posts
  • #35115 404 error when URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org includes title=…

Shortcodes

  • #34939 ShortcodeShortcode A shortcode is a placeholder used within a WordPress post, page, or widget to insert a form or function generated by a plugin in a specific location on your site. regex no longer matches [shortcode=XXX]

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.

  • #34723 Warning in get_the_terms() because of non-array
  • #35089 Query var on non-public taxonomy remains boolean true since [35333]
  • #35137 get_terms() with a meta_query filter returns duplicated terms
  • #35156 wp_list_categories() does not accept comma-separated IDs for exclude_tree parameter
  • #35180 In WordPress 4.4 the_tags() is displaying tags ordered by ID instead of alphabetically by name

Themes

  • #34962 Issues with wp_get_document_title function causing problems with document titles

Users

  • #34993 Deleting a user no longer asks what to do with their content

Widgets

  • #34978 Extra quotes in title in WP_Widget_RSS class, 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. method
  • #34995 WP_Widget::widget not called

XML-RPC

  • #35053 XML-RPC when post with date_created_gmt, its post_date will gmt date not local date
  • #35185 Unable to create Post via XMLRPC after upgrading to 4.4

Download the RC and Please test!

#4-4, #4-4-1, #maintenance, #release