Update on 5.0 Release Schedule

As discussed during the CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. devchat this week, the initial November 19th target date is looking a bit too soon for a release date. After listening to a lot of feedback — as well as looking at current issues, ongoing pull requests, and general progress — we’re going to take an extra week to make sure everything is fully dialed in and the release date is now targeted for Tuesday, November 27th (within the space that was originally outlined).

Taking a step back, it’s great to see all the progress since the days of the prototypes and how full theme integration, like with the 2019 theme, can make the experience come together…

It has also proven difficult to align 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 releases (and their release candidates) with betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. releases of core, process wise, so here’s the outline for the final stretch:

  • Core betas to go out on Monday, November 12th (beta 4) and Thursday, November 15th (beta 5) aligning with plugin releases (4.3 and 4.4).
  • Work to be organized and prioritized around three milestones: 5.0 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)., 5.0 Launch, 5.0.1, and 5.0.x (planning for +0.0.1 every two weeks following 5.0).
  • 5.0 RC1 targeted for Monday, November 19th.
  • Daily high-level updates on current status (open pull requests to be reviewed, outstanding bugs, etc) in the core-editor channel.

The last part of delivering a project of this scale is always hard and emotions run high. I’d like to take a step back and truly thank everyone for the staggering amount of work, attention, and care being put into preparing this release. I am grateful for the hard work of all contributors — not just those submitting code — including those who have given candid and valuable feedback throughout. It is all helping us move towards a better product.

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