WordPress 4.9 Goals

Here’s a draft of the tickets and improvements that we’re looking at improving in 4.9:

  • Code editing improvements:
    • Better code editing experience (Plugin on GitHub).
      • Theme and PluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party editors (#12423).
      • Custom CSSCSS Cascading Style Sheets. in 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. (#38707).
      • Custom HTMLHTML HyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. 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. (#40907?).
    • Safer file editing:
      • Linting code changes: prevent saving, or add confirm message (#41073).
      • Add better warnings when you’re editing themes and plugins (even if they’re not active) (#31779, #41078).
    • Add nested folder structure deeper than 2 levels (#6531).
  • Customization improvements:
    • Changesets (Plugin):
      • Drafting changesets in the Customizer (#39896).
      • Scheduling changesets in the Customizer (#28721).
    • Homepage settings (“Page on Front”, #16379-ish).
    • Gallery widget (GitHub issue, #41914).
    • Add media button to Text widget (#40854, see convo in #32417).
  • Better theme switching:
    • Better widget mapping when switching themes (#39693).
    • Better menu mapping when switching themes (#39692).
  • Updating a plugin or theme via a ZIP file (#9757):
    • Needs input from updater component maintainers.
    • Also, drag and drop uploading of themes and plugins (#24579).
  • Media:
    • Customizer image dropzones (#35827).
    • Responsive images in the Customizer sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. (#36191).
    • Stop forcing people to crop images that don’t need to be cropped (#36441).
  • REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/.:
    • Getting in 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. endpoints that GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ needs.
    • Will comment with more details.

This is quite a few items, so we might not be able to accomplish this all within 4.9. This is what we’re thinking of working on, though. 🙂

Check out the 4.9 development schedule.

#4-9