WordPress 4.9 is officially the best release ever (that rhymes with Shore Joint Twine)! Users have safer and more flexible ways to edit code, new and improved widgets, and improvements to customizing their site while developers will be able to take advantage of 188 enhancements and features added. Let’s look at the many improvements coming in 4.9…
Widgets: now new and improved
Galleries aren’t just for posts anymore, now they can get all up in your sidebars. That’s a good thing, if you’re into that sort of thing. On top of that your text widget 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. now supports shortcodes, images, galleries, videos, audio, and other media. Oh, and the text widget now supports embeds, so go ahead and drop a YouTube clip in that widget.
Introducing the Gallery widget
Widget Improvements in WordPress 4.9
WordPress and CodeMirror sitting in a tree…
Something something I-D-E. Ever wondered what an IDE Integrated Development Environment. A software package that provides a full suite of functionality to software developers/programmers. Normally an IDE includes a source code editor, code-build tools and debugging functionality. would look like inside WordPress? Do you use Notepad as your IDE? No? Great, then you’ll love the syntax highlighting, linting, and auto-completion functionality within the Customizer 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.’s Additional CSS Cascading Style Sheets. feature, the Custom HTML HyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. widget, and the Plugin 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 and Theme file editors!
Code Editing Improvements in WordPress 4.9
🔎, 🏗️, and 👓 Themes in the Customizer
That’s emoji for browsing, installing, and previewing, but you knew that already. The Customizer now includes a new experience theme browsing and live-previewing themes, as well as—for the first time—installing new themes from WordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ in the process. Don’t believe us? Then give it a try with your favorite theme!
A New Themes Experience in the Customizer
Changesets
Quick, what’s your favorite sequel? If you said Caddyshack 2, then we need to have a little chat. If you said Changesets 4.9, then you’re correct! Get ready to learn all about Drafting, Scheduling, Autoloading, and Linear/Branching Modes, Autosaving Auto-Drafts and Autosave Revisions The WordPress revisions system stores a record of each saved draft or published update. The revision system allows you to see what changes were made in each revision by dragging a slider (or using the Next/Previous buttons). The display indicates what has changed in each revision., Post Locking, and Customization Drafts. Yes, all of that is in 4.9. You’re welcome.
New Features and Enhancements with Customizer Changesets in 4.9
Nav menu creation flow
Ever had problems working in the Customizer and adding a page to a menu or forgetting to assign a menu to a location when trying to create a menu? The Customizer’s menu creation flow has been updated to address these issues.
Nav Menu Improvements in the Customizer in 4.9
The A(PI)-Team
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them….maybe you can hire The A(PI)-Team. The Customizer JS JavaScript, a web scripting language typically executed in the browser. Often used for advanced user interfaces and behaviors. API 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. improvements in 4.9 fix many longstanding annoyances and shortcomings with the JS API. Additionally, a REST 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/. update now effectively requires named URL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org parameters and thus no longer allows regular (numeric) matches.
Improvements to the Customize JS API in 4.9
Improvements in REST API request parameter regular expressions
Multisweet multisite 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 multimprovements
Run a network (versus site, blog) of sites? Then pour yourself some coffee and dig into all the multigoodies in 4.9. New functions and filter 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., replaced functions, capability and role updates, and some security improvements all come along for the ride on the multisite train.
Multisite Focused Changes in 4.9
Users and security updates
Were you hoping for new capabilities for activating and deactivating plugins plus installing and updating language files, capability security hardening, changes to how multisite handles switching roles and capabilities, and security improvements to how email addresses get updated in 4.9? If so, you’re going to be happy. If not, you should still be happy.
Improvements for roles and capabilities in 4.9
Account Security Improvements in WordPress 4.9
Don’t Press That
Press This is no longer in core Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., but can be found via a “canonical” plugin. Cry if you want to, but the functionality still exists so cheer up!
Press This in 4.9
ME.js updates.js
If.js I.js could.js think.js of.js something.js witty.js related.js to.js the.js ME.js.js updates.js, then.js I.js would.js have.js wrote.js that.js here.js. Instead.js… .js.js all.js the.js things.js.
MediaElement upgrades in WordPress 4.9
Updates for screen readers
As usual, we saved the best for last! Modernization and standardization comes to the screen-reader-text CSS class.
Changes to the screen-reader-text CSS class in WordPress 4.9
But Wait, There is More!
Roughly 400 bugs, 181 enhancements, 7 feature requests, and 42 blessed tasks have been marked as closed in WordPress 4.9.
Please, test your code. That bears repeating: Please, test your code. Fixing issues now, before 4.9 is released, helps you and helps millions of WordPress sites. Please. Test. Your. Code.
#4-9, #field-guide
