WordPress 5.2.1-RC1 is now available for testing! But, your help is needed to test!
There are two ways to test the WordPress 5.2 release 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).: try the WordPress Beta Tester 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 (you’ll want to select the “point release A set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality. nightlies” option), or you can download the release candidate here (zip).
What’s in this release?
5.2.1 contains 32 high priority bug 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. fixes and regressions, improvements to the block Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. editor, accessibility 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), i18n Internationalization, or the act of writing and preparing code to be fully translatable into other languages. Also see localization. Often written with a lowercase i so it is not confused with a lowercase L or the numeral 1. Often an acquired skill., and polishes the Site Health feature introduced in 5.2. Here are some changes of note:
- #47180: An issue typing in the block editor while using a RTL language has been fixed.
- #47186: An bug causing 32-bit systems to run out of memory when using
sodium_compat was fixed. - #47189: The “Update your plugins” link in Site Health now links to the correct page in 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 installs.
- #47185: An issue in
wp_delete_file_from_directory() - #47205: A bug was fixed where spaces could not be added in the Classic Editor after pressing
shift+enter. - #47265: 2 fatal errors on the error protection page when a PHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher error was encountered in a drop-in (such as
advanced-cache.php) were fixed. - #47244:
wp_targeted_link_rel() - #47169: PHP/MySQL MySQL is a relational database management system. A database is a structured collection of data where content, configuration and other options are stored. https://www.mysql.com/. minimum version requirement checks now return proper error codes when requirements are not met in test environments.
- #47177: The backwards compatibility of
get_search_form() was improved. - #47297: The accuracy of the HTTP 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. requests test in Site Health was improved.
- #47229: TinyMCE has been updated to version 4.9.4.
You can browse the full list of changes on Trac.
What’s next?
Committers: The dev-reviewed workflow (double committer A developer with commit access. WordPress has five lead developers and four permanent core developers with commit access. Additionally, the project usually has a few guest or component committers - a developer receiving commit access, generally for a single release cycle (sometimes renewed) and/or for a specific component. sign-off) should now be enforced when making any changes to the 5.2 branch A directory in Subversion. WordPress uses branches to store the latest development code for each major release (3.9, 4.0, etc.). Branches are then updated with code for any minor releases of that branch. Sometimes, a major version of WordPress and its minor versions are collectively referred to as a "branch", such as "the 4.0 branch"..
The official 5.2.1 release is scheduled for Tuesday, May 21.
Happy testing!
#5-2, #5-2-1, #releases
