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WordPress 4.7 will be the final major releasemajor release A release, identified by the first two numbers (3.6), which is the focus of a full release cycle and feature development. WordPress uses decimaling count for major release versions, so 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, and 3.1 are sequential and comparable in scope. of 2016, and aims to improve the initial theme setup experience with a new default theme to showcase these improvements.

Of note, the US Thanksgiving holiday is November 24-25 and WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. US will be from December 2-4. Both tend to involve travel for a number of people and reduced activity; therefore, we should proceed as if there will only be the initial RCrelease 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).. The feature project merge deadline listed is a final deadline; all features and larger efforts should be continuously evaluated for readiness.

Release Schedule

August 17, 2016 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. is open for business. (Post-4.6)
August 24, 2016 4.7 Kickoff meeting.
October 19, 2016 (+8w) Last chance to merge feature projects.
October 26, 2016 October 28, 2016 (+1w) 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.
From this point on, no more commits for any new enhancements or feature requests in this release cycle, only bugbug 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 inline documentation. Work can continue on enhancements/feature requests not completed and committed by this point, and can be picked up for commit again at the start of WordPress 4.8.
November 2, 2016 November 4, 2016 (+1w) Beta 2.
November 9, 2016 November 11, 2016 (+1w) Beta 3.
November 16, 2016 Beta 4.
November 15, 2016 November 24, 2016 (+6d) 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). and soft string freeze.
November 22, 2016 December 3, 2016 (+1w) Release candidate if needed.
November 29, 2016 (+1w) Final release candidate if needed and hard string freeze. (WCUS week)
December 5, 2016 (+6d) Dry run for release of WordPress 4.7 and 24 hour code freeze.
December 6, 2016 (+1d) Target date for release of WordPress 4.7.

To get involved in WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. development, head on over to TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. and pick a 4.7 ticket. Need help? Check out the Core Contributor Handbook. Get your patches done and submitted as soon as possible, then drum up people to test the patches and leave feedback on the ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker.. Patches for enhancements won’t be committed after the posted dates, so that we can all focus on squashing bugs and hopefully deliver the most bug-free WordPress to date. Wish us luck!