WordPress 6.8.2 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 (RC1) is available for testing! Some ways you can help test this minor releaseMinor 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.:

• Use the WordPress Beta Tester 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
  • As this is a minor 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). release, select the Point ReleaseMinor 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. channel and the Nightlies stream. This is the latest build including the RC and potentially any subsequent commits 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..
• Use WP-CLIWP-CLI WP-CLI is the Command Line Interface for WordPress, used to do administrative and development tasks in a programmatic way. The project page is http://wp-cli.org/ https://make.wordpress.org/cli/ to test: wp core update https://wordpress.org/wordpress-6.8.2-RC1.zip
• Directly download the Beta/RC version.

What’s in this release candidate?

6.8.2 RC1 is a release candidate for a maintenance release with a focus on bugs introduced in WordPress 6.8 and small enhancements or bugfixes. In total, this RC features fixes 20 issues throughout Core and 15 for the Block Editor.

WordPress 6.8.2 is led by @audrasjb, @estelaris and @zunaid321.

The following coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. tickets are included:

• #63399 – Twenty Twenty-Five: editor style isn’t enqueued
• #14110 – Expose height and width attributes to ‘wp_get_attachment_image_attributes’ filterFilter Filters 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.
• #42007 – rpc.pingomatic.com still using HTTPHTTP 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.
• #47595 – Re-evaluate whether comment form should still get the HTML5 novalidate attribute
• #61941 – Removing app.screencast.com as an oEmbed provider
• #62995 – Uploading Mac screenshots results in broken images, due to question marks inserted in filenames
• #63029 – Better align restore revision buttons on mobile devices
• #63073 – Twenty Twelve: theme’s figcaption styles do not apply in the editor
• #63254 – Introduce development mode for blockBlock 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 styles
• #63308 – tinymce cache key should be updated
• #63324 – Update Twemoji to v16.0.1
• #63377 – Pin specific 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/ plugin version for E2E tests in 6.6 branchbranch 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".
• #63390 – Add version number tests for package-lock and composer files.
• #63424 – Twenty Sixteen: Quote block Plain style has border in the editor
• #63520 – Twenty Fourteen: Latest Comments block link color does not belong in Content SidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme.
• #63543 – Environment variable WP_CONFIG_PATH should be set on cli container in wordpress-develop env
• #63564 – Dev environment should incorporate enhancements from wp-env for speed and non-interactive usage
• #63588 – do_blocks(): Free up transient memory leak
• #63595 – Cease support for 4.1 – 4.6
• #63613 – Twenty Twenty-One: menu toggle is not responsive until after “load” event

The following Gutenberg PR are included:

• #69627 – Navigation Link: Don’t check validity when block editing is disabled
• #69631 – Navigation Link: Optimize ‘getBlockParentsByBlockName’ selector call
• #69633 – Navigation Link: Improve performance by only requesting entities when selected
• #69698 – Query LoopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop.: Don’t overwrite the ‘query.inherit’ attribute value
• #69741 – Block Editor: Remove truncation from media tab preview tooltips
• #69985 – Image: Avoid stale URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org when reselecting the same image from the library
• #70020 – Post Template: Don’t rely on the default ‘ignore_sticky’ REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/. value
• #70043 – MediaPlaceholder: Fix Regressionregression A software bug that breaks or degrades something that previously worked. Regressions are often treated as critical bugs or blockers. Recent regressions may be given higher priorities. A "3.6 regression" would be a bug in 3.6 that worked as intended in 3.5. with media URL input type to allow a local URL path
• #70051 – DOM: Add summary element to focusable elements
• #70054 – Button: Limit scope of width style for link
• #68741 – Details: Enable all non-interactive formats
• #70056 – Details Block: Fix keyboard accessibilityAccessibility 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) issues and allow list view selection to show up inner blocks
• #70078 – URL: Handle HTMLHTML HyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. entities and ampersand in ‘cleanForSlug’
• #70480 – Remove screencast.com embed block variation
• #70553 – Fix Floating UIUI User interface packages dependencies

What’s next?

Reminder: the dev-reviewed workflow (double committer sign-off) is required when making changes to the 6.8 branch.

The final release is expected on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. This date is subject to change if any issues with RC1 are discovered. Coordination will happen in the WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ 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/. #6-8-release-leads channel, and releases are always packaged and tested in #core.

A special thanks to everyone who reported issues, helped test, and helped create patches. The success of 6.8.2 depends on proper testing, so please lend a helping hand.

Thanks to @audrasjb, @zunaid321, @wildworks and @tacoverdo for pre-publication review.

#6-8, #6-8-x, #minor-releases, #releases