The WordPress coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. development team builds WordPress! Follow this site for general updates, status reports, and the occasional code debate. There’s lots of ways to contribute:
Found a bugbugA 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.?Create a ticket in the bug tracker.
This guide outlines major developer features and breaking changes in 6.6 and is published in the Release Candidaterelease candidateOne 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). cycle to help inform WordPress extending developers, CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. developers, and others.
This release includes 392 enhancements, 462 bugbugA 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 46 accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (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) improvements for the Block Editor (a.k.a. gutenbergGutenbergThe 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/).
Below is the breakdown of the most important developer-related changes included in WordPress 6.6.
BlockBlockBlock 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
WordPress 6.6 brings 8 Gutenberg releases into core – 17.8, 17.9, 18.0, 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4, and 18.5. The Block Editor receives several improvements related to the ReactReactReact is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to reason about, construct, and maintain stateless and stateful user interfaces. https://reactjs.org/. library, the Block APIAPIAn 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., Themes, and more.
React
A new version of React and the new JSX transform is available in WordPress 6.6.
Block API
Some Block API improvements available in WordPress 6.6 include:
Unification of slots and extensibility APIs between the post and site editors
Improvements on isActive property of Block variations
Improvements on some core blocks
Block Bindings: Editing custom fields from connected blocks
Themes
WordPress 6.6 introduces several theme-related updates, including:
A new version 3 of theme.json
Uniform CSSCSSCascading Style Sheets. specificity applied across core styles
Introduction of section styles to streamline the styling of blocks and their internal elements
Additional features for the grid layout type in blocks
Capability to define site-wide background images in theme.json and the Site Editor
Miscellaneous Block Editor Changes
Some other updates to the Block Editor are also included in WordPress 6.6:
A table on design tools supported per block at WordPress 6.6 has been published as a reference.
Interactivity API
WordPress 6.6 includes updates for the Interactivity API, such as new async directives, support for derived state props from PHPPHPThe web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher, integration with Preact Devtools, and new warning messages available when the SCRIPT_DEBUG configuration constant is enabled.
HTMLHTMLHyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. API
WordPress 6.6 includes a helpful maintenance release to the HTML API. This work includes a few new features and a major improvement to the HTML Processor’s usability. This continues the fast-paced development since WordPress 6.5.
There’s also a new data structure coming in WordPress 6.6 for the HTML API: the WP_Token_Map.
Options API
Several changes have been made to the Options API to support an optimization for the autoloading behavior, and to create a way to apply further optimizations going forward.
PHP Support
Support for PHP 7.0 and 7.1 is dropped in WordPress 6.6.
I18Ni18nInternationalization, 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.
One of the highlight features included in WordPress 6.6 is the automatic rollback of pluginPluginA 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 auto-updates upon detecting PHP fatal errors.
New/Modified HooksHooksIn WordPress theme and development, hooks are functions that can be applied to an action or a Filter in WordPress. Actions are functions performed when a certain event occurs in WordPress. Filters allow you to modify certain functions. Arguments used to hook both filters and actions look the same.
Modified FilterFilterFilters 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. Hooks