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.
The live meeting will focus on the discussion for upcoming releases, and have an open floor section.
The various curated agenda sections below refer to additional items. If you have ticketticketCreated for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. requests for help, please continue to post details in the comments section at the end of this agenda or bring them up during the dev chat.
Announcements 📢
WordPress 7.0 Call for Volunteers
If you are interested in volunteering for WordPress 7.0, please comment here by January 16.
Nominations for CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Team Reps 2026
The nomination process for Core Team Representatives for 2026 is now open. Please submit your nomination here.
Dropping support for PHPPHPThe web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher 7.2 and 7.3
Support for PHP 7.2 and 7.3 will be dropped in WordPress 7.0. Here you can find more information.
6.9 Release Retrospective
The 6.9 release retrospective is open to all contributors, not only release squad members. Broader feedback helps improve future release processes. The form and comments will be open until January 15.
Discussions 💬
The discussion section of the agenda is for discussing important topics affecting the upcoming release or larger initiatives that impact the Core Team. To nominate a topic for discussion, please leave a comment on this agenda with a summary of the topic, any relevant links that will help people get context for the discussion, and what kind of feedback you are looking for from others participating in the discussion.
Any topic can be raised for discussion in the comments, as well as requests for assistance on tickets. Tickets in the milestone for the next major or maintenance release will be prioritized.
Please include details of tickets / PRs and the links in the comments, and indicate whether you intend to be available during the meeting for discussion or will be async.
Support for PHPPHPThe web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher 7.2 and 7.3 will be dropped in WordPress 7.0, currently scheduled for release in April 2026. The minimum recommended version of PHP will remain at 8.3, but the new minimum supported version of PHP will be 7.4.0.
Historically, the project has used 5% as the baseline usage percentage that a PHP version must fall below before it can be considered for a well-earned retirement. Now that usage of PHP 7.2 and 7.3 combined has fallen well below that, the process to increase the minimum supported PHP version can proceed.
The goal of increasing the minimum supported version of PHP is to ensure the long-term maintainability of WordPress. The benefits to increasing the minimum supported PHP version manifest over time across multiple areas, including the 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 and theme ecosystem, tooling and libraries for AI, the long-term perception of the WordPress project, developer relations, and eventually within the WordPress codebase itself, including its developer tooling and automated testing infrastructure.
WordPress coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. is fully compatible with PHP 8.0 to 8.3 and is beta compatible with PHP 8.4 and 8.5.
Sites that are running PHP 7.2 or 7.3 will remain on the 6.9 branchbranchA 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". of WordPress once 7.0 is released. While only one branch officially receives security updates, fixes are backported down to WordPress 4.7 as a courtesy when possible.
What about the 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/ plugin?
There are no plans to bump the minimum supported PHP version on a set schedule. The Core team will continue to monitor PHP version usage and work with the Hosting team to encourage users and hosting companies to upgrade their versions of PHP as swiftly as possible. The 5% usage threshold will continue to be used as the standard for the foreseeable future.
Props to all those that have contributed to this discussion recently. Thanks to @desrosj, @westonruter, and @jorbin for feedback and proof-reading this post.
Planning is underway for WordPress 7.0! This post outlines the proposed schedule along with a call for volunteers to support the release process.
Following the typical cadence and accounting for holidays later in the year, the proposed final release date for 7.0 is Thursday, April 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.
Proposed Schedule
Milestone
Date
Alpha Begins
Immediately (7.0-alpha began in trunk on November 12th with [61222])
BetaBetaA 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
Thursday, February 19
Beta 2
Thursday, February 26
Beta 3
Thursday, March 5
Beta 4
Thursday, March 12
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). 1
Thursday, March 19
Release Candidate 2
Thursday, March 26
Release Candidate 3
Thursday, April 2
Dry Run
Wednesday, April 8
Final Release
Thursday, April 9
As always, all dates are subject to change based on development progress.
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, and 6.9 release cycles, WordPress 7.0 will continue the approach of forming a smaller, focused Release Squad with making 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 RepA 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 7.0 during Contributor DayContributor DayContributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. at WordCampWordCampWordCamps 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. Asia (which follows India Standard Time), traveling to or attending WordCamp Asia is not a requirement to serve on the release squad. All communication related to the release process will continue to take place in the #coreSlackSlackSlack 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 7.0 in one of the following roles, please comment below or reach out in the #7-0-release-leads Slack channel:
Release LeadRelease LeadThe community member ultimately responsible for the Release. – Matt Mullenweg (@matt)
Release Coordination – helps manage timelines, cross-team collaboration, and status updates
Tech Leads – oversees coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. development (including 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/), triagetriageThe 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, January 16th.@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 7.0 the best one yet!
The 6.9 release retrospective is open to all contributors, not only release squad members. Broader feedback helps improve future release processes.
Discussions 💬
PHPPHPThe web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher Extensions List – filter
The discussion covered whether the PHP filter extension is set as default. See the Hosting Team Handbook. @dmsnell asked about the impact on CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., how similar changes were handled before, and mentioned concerns about using functions like FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL. @realloc noted that Core uses filter only in a few places, mainly in PHPMailer, and suggested removing those usages instead of requiring the extension. The topic will be discussed again next week.
The live meeting will focus on the discussion for upcoming releases, and have an open floor section.
The various curated agenda sections below refer to additional items. If you have ticketticketCreated for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. requests for help, please continue to post details in the comments section at the end of this agenda or bring them up during the dev chat.
Announcements 📢
Happy New Year!
The first Dev Chat meeting of the year will take place on January 7 at the usual time.
6.9 Release Retrospective
The 6.9 release retrospective is open to all contributors, not only release squad members. Broader feedback helps improve future release processes.
Discussions 💬
The discussion section of the agenda is for discussing important topics affecting the upcoming release or larger initiatives that impact the CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Team. To nominate a topic for discussion, please leave a comment on this agenda with a summary of the topic, any relevant links that will help people get context for the discussion, and what kind of feedback you are looking for from others participating in the discussion.
PHPPHPThe web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher Extensions List – filter
Any topic can be raised for discussion in the comments, as well as requests for assistance on tickets. Tickets in the milestone for the next major or maintenance release will be prioritized.
Please include details of tickets / PRs and the links in the comments, and indicate whether you intend to be available during the meeting for discussion or will be async.
Note: This was the final Dev Chat of 2025. The next Dev Chat will take place on January 7, 2026. Bug scrub meetings may still take place in the meantime. Thanks everyone, and see you in the new year.
Announcements 📢
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/ 22.3 has been released!
WordCampWordCampWordCamps 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. Asia 2026 Contributor DayContributor DayContributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/.: Call for table leads
Contributors interested in helping with the CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Team during the WordCamp Asia 2026 Contributor Day can contact @krupajnanda.
WordPress 6.9 Hotfixes
Since the WordPress 6.9 release, several issues have been reported, temporary workarounds are available as plugins and will be included in a maintenance release planned for January 2026 at the earliest, with full details in the linked post.
Planning for WordPress 7.0
With 6.9 released, attention is already shifting toward WordPress 7.0, including early ideas, focus areas, and ways to contribute, all outlined in the follow-up post.
Real-time collaboration: Early user feedback
Real-time collaboration for WordPress 7.0 has been in WordPress VIP betaBetaA 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. testing since October 2025, with early feedback covered in this post.
Discussions 💬
Dev Chats Over the Holidays
During today’s meeting, it was decided to skip the next two Dev Chat meetings, making today’s meeting the final Dev Chat of the year. Bug scrub meetings may still take place during this time. The next Dev Chat is scheduled for January 7, 2026.
The live meeting will focus on the discussion for upcoming releases, and have an open floor section.
The various curated agenda sections below refer to additional items. If you have ticketticketCreated for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. requests for help, please continue to post details in the comments section at the end of this agenda or bring them up during the dev chat.
Announcements 📢
WordPress 6.9 Hotfixes
Since the WordPress 6.9 release, several issues have been reported, temporary workarounds are available as plugins and will be included in a maintenance release planned for January 2026 at the earliest, with full details in the linked post.
Planning for WordPress 7.0
With 6.9 released, attention is already shifting toward WordPress 7.0, including early ideas, focus areas, and ways to contribute, all outlined in the follow-up post.
Real-time collaboration: Early user feedback
Real-time collaboration for WordPress 7.0 has been in WordPress VIP betaBetaA 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. testing since October 2025, with early feedback covered in this post.
Discussions 💬
The discussion section of the agenda is for discussing important topics affecting the upcoming release or larger initiatives that impact the CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Team. To nominate a topic for discussion, please leave a comment on this agenda with a summary of the topic, any relevant links that will help people get context for the discussion, and what kind of feedback you are looking for from others participating in the discussion.
WordCampWordCampWordCamps 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. Asia 2026 Contributor DayContributor DayContributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/.: Call for table leads
@krupajnanda asked whether contributors would be available to volunteer as table leads for the WordCamp Asia 2026 Contributor Day.
No further topics have been submitted for this discussion round yet. If you have something in mind, feel free to leave a comment below this post.
Open floor 🎙️
Any topic can be raised for discussion in the comments, as well as requests for assistance on tickets. Tickets in the milestone for the next major or maintenance release will be prioritized.
Please include details of tickets / PRs and the links in the comments, and indicate whether you intend to be available during the meeting for discussion or will be async.
With 6.9 out in the world, our collective attention has already turned to 7.0. Core contributorsCore ContributorsCore contributors are those who have worked on a release of WordPress, by creating the functions or finding and patching bugs. These contributions are done through Trac. https://core.trac.wordpress.org., together with Matt and Mary, had a call to discuss ideas and projects. There was shared excitement about this release, even if it’s just another number. This post acts as a gathering point for contributors to share what they are starting to work on and to find known areas they can contribute to. There will be another more tactical follow up with release schedule and responsibilities, this one is about the initial scope.
How to interact with this post
Please do not use this as a spot to request folks to work on features. GitHubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ and TracTracAn open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. are the best places to share feedback, talk about impact, and advocate for issues.
Please use this post to share what you are working on, including areas you’d like to help with that may be listed here, as well as areas that you are working on that are not. Items with TBD indicate areas where contributors are needed so please comment below if you’re keen to work on those pieces.
If you were planning to work in an area listed below and don’t see your name, please be sure to comment as well and it’ll be updated. It’s intentional that this post is meant to be a place to shore up who is working on what out in the open at this early stage.
Also note this is neither comprehensive nor yet a commitment that all of these things will be part of 7.0, since many are in early stages and may not make this release. Items marked with ✅ mean the work is already merged in 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/ or trunktrunkA 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..
Table of Contents
Collaboration
The project is getting deeper into Phase 3: Collaboration. Notes was a highlight feature in WP6.9 and there’s several improvements already planned to make it even more powerful and resilient.
There’s been a lot of progress in defining the UIUIUser interface and the diffing mechanics for reconciling changes. It’s in very good shape and needs to be reviewed and tested diligently, especially around compatibility with third-party blocks and plugins.
This feature has a stronger dependency on server support and infrastructure than usual WordPress features, so there needs to be a definition of what’s the baseline experience shipping in WordPress (for example, peer-to-peer with 1 or 2 connections) and how it can be augmented, either by WP.org, hosting providers, or plugins.
Support partial selection inside 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. rich text fields.
A “suggestions” mode and interface that allows Notes to refer to specific content within a block and apply the suggestions.
Support for multi-block notes.
Add rich text support in the comments.
Develop a dashboard widgetWidgetA WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. for recent notes.
More notification options (responses, follow a note, mentions).
Make DataViews screens extensibleExtensibleThis is the ability to add additional functionality to the code. Plugins extend the WordPress core software. in the site editor (templates, pages, etc).
RevisionsRevisionsThe WordPress revisions system stores a record of each saved draft or published update. The revision system allows you to see what changes were made in each revision by dragging a slider (or using the Next/Previous buttons). The display indicates what has changed in each revision.
Abilities & Workflows 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.
Upgrade to ReactReactReact is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to reason about, construct, and maintain stateless and stateful user interfaces. https://reactjs.org/. 19
There’s a path for the block editor in the mobile apps that should remove this dependency blockerblockerA bug which is so severe that it blocks a release..
✅ MigrationMigrationMoving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies. guide.
An AI client and API for WordPress to communicate with any generative AI models of various capabilitiescapabilityA capability is permission to perform one or more types of task. Checking if a user has a capability is performed by the current_user_can function. Each user of a WordPress site might have some permissions but not others, depending on their role. For example, users who have the Author role usually have permission to edit their own posts (the “edit_posts” capability), but not permission to edit other users’ posts (the “edit_others_posts” capability). using a uniform API.
Integration with Abilities API.
Strictly no providers included in coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress..
Decide nomenclature.
Ideally, the minimum PHPPHPThe web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher version has to be bumped from PHP 7.2.
Refactor the site editor to allow 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 authors to add their pages there.
✅ Opinionated build tool for plugins.
Update Gutenberg – Core backportbackportA port is when code from one branch (or trunk) is merged into another branch or trunk. Some changes in WordPress point releases are the result of backporting code from trunk to the release branch. flow.
A series of improvements were identified to simplify the navigation workflow and make the experience of managing menus more intuitive and straightforward.
Over the past couple years we’ve been iterating on a series of related systems with the hope of arriving at a more streamlined editing experience of composite blocks and design patterns. We have some solid directions sketched out that are looking promising.
Explore more intuitive page navigation in the site editor
Link: TBD
Key considerations:
Modify the title bar to display a pages dropdown instead of empty command palette. List the pages used in the primary menu with a link to “browse all pages”. Exploration.
Add next/previous page links in zoomed-out view, similar to a carousel. See a preview in a zoomed out state with arrows next to preview or title bar. Exploration.
Keeping the momentum on adding new blocks and new block tools to expand the palette and expressiveness offered to theme builders and users. There’s also some refinements to some fundamental aspects of blocks to make them more resilient and more consistent.
Easy toggling in sidebarSidebarA 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. inspector and transforms.
With WordPress 6.7 out the door, it’s time to plan for next year’s releases. The following dates try to account for flagship events and major international holidays:
6.8 – BetaBetaA 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 on March 4, stable release on April 15 (Beta 1 ten days after WC Asia)
6.9 – Beta 1 on June 24, stable release on August 5 (WCEU in early June)
7.0 – Beta 1 on September 30, stable release on November 11 (no flagship events nearby)
The release cadence is similar to past years, with a longer initial release cycle, including the end-of-year festivities and ~4-month ones. Please leave your feedback below or through a SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. DM by November 29.
Although the 6.8 dates aren’t final yet, they are close to final enough to let contributors know their availability around that time. If you want to participate in the WordPress 6.8 release, stay tuned for an upcoming post with the call for volunteers.
Props to @jeffpaul for reviewing the proposed dates and this post.
