WordPress 7.2 Call for Volunteers

Planning is underway for WordPress 7.2!  This post outlines the proposed schedule along with a call for volunteers to support the release process.

Following the typical cadence, the proposed final release date for 7.2 is Wednesday, December 9, 2026.  This proposed timeline remains flexible for the resulting Release Squad and adjustments can be made if necessary as they determine what timeline works best for their schedule as well as adjustments in coordination with State of the WordState of the Word This is the annual report given by Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp US. It looks at what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and the future of WordPress. https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/..

Proposed Schedule

Milestone	Date
Alpha Begins	Immediately (7.2-alpha began in trunktrunk A directory in Subversion containing the latest development code in preparation for the next major release cycle. If you are running "trunk", then you are on the latest revision. on August 10th with [63167])
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. 1	October 20-22
Beta 2	October 27-29
Beta 3	November 3-5
Beta 4	November 10-12
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). 1	November 17-19
Release Candidate 2	November 24-26
Release Candidate 3	December 1-3
Dry Run	December 7-9
Final Release	December 8-10

As always, all dates are subject to change based on development progress.

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Call for Volunteers

Each WordPress release depends on contributors from across the project coming together to make it a success. 

As with the 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 7.0, and 7.1 release cycles, WordPress 7.2 will continue the approach of forming a smaller, focused Release Squad based on feedback received.  This streamlined structure places more emphasis on collaboration with the various Make Team Reps, who are encouraged to help coordinate efforts from within their respective teams.  The goals are to reduce the overhead on the Release Squad while still ensuring each team’s contributions and priorities are represented throughout the cycle, and to reduce overlap between a Make Team RepTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. and that team’s Release Squad Leads.  Noteworthy Contributors will be captured from Team Reps towards the end of the release cycle.

While the end goal is to publish the final release of WordPress 7.2 at State of the Word (aka SotW), traveling to or attending SotW is not a requirement to serve on the release squad.  All communication related to the release process will continue to take place in the #core SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/ channel.

If you are interested in helping lead WordPress 7.2 in one of the following roles, please comment below or reach out in the #7-2-release-leads Slack channel:

• Release LeadRelease Lead The community member ultimately responsible for the Release. – sets overall goals, makes final decisions on merging, gives final reviews where needed
• Release Coordination – helps manage timelines, cross-team collaboration, and status updates
• Tech Leads – oversees coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. development (including 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/), triagetriage The act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors., and critical issues
• Triage Lead – help monitor issues, shepherd patches, and guide contributors
• Test Lead – coordinates testing efforts across the community and test reports

Whether you have led a release before or are looking to get involved for the first time, there are many ways to contribute.  Volunteers of all backgrounds and experience levels are welcome!

If you are interested in volunteering, please leave a comment below noting your preferred area(s) by Friday, August 28th. @4thhubbard (or a designee), will review the nominations shortly after to confirm and announce the release squad as soon as possible.

Together we can make WordPress 7.2 the best one yet!

Props to @4thhubbard @annezazu @jorbin @desrosj for reviewing this post.

#7-2