Announcements 📢

WordPress 6.8.3 is now available!

This is a security release that includes two fixes. We strongly recommend updating your sites immediately. For more details, you can find the information here.

What’s new in 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/ 21.7? 

Gutenberg 21.7 is now available. The release post provides a full overview of the changes and enhancements. 

Forthcoming releases 🚀

WordPress 6.9 Timeline

WordPress 6.9 is planned for December 2, 2025, with 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 beginning October 21.

Bug Scrub Schedule

Regular scrubs are already underway, led by @wildworks and @welcher across time zones.
Full details are in the Bug Scrub Schedule for WordPress 6.9.

Discussions 💬

The discussion section of the agenda is for discussing important topics affecting the upcoming release or larger initiatives that impact the CoreCore Core 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.

Splitting CSSCSS Cascading Style Sheets. class names from HTMLHTML HyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. class attribute

@dmsnell proposed #Gutenberg-PR-10043 to separate handling of CSS class names from the class attribute itself. The goal is a cleaner separation between parsing and rendering. Feedback should focus on the overall design direction, since implementation details may still change.

Refactor of wp_kses_hair()

@dmsnell is working on #63724 to align attribute parsing more closely with browsers and the HTML spec. The open question is whether attributes should be normalized (e.g., decoded, character references resolved) before being returned. This would simplify many edge cases but may introduce backward compatibility concerns.

More reliable wp_html_split()

In #Gutenberg-PR-9270, @dmsnell addresses shortcodeShortcode A shortcode is a placeholder used within a WordPress post, page, or widget to insert a form or function generated by a plugin in a specific location on your site. edge cases when $ignore_html = true. Legacy code treats certain sequences as tags which the HTML spec considers plain text. A decision is needed on whether Core should prioritize spec compliance or legacy compatibility.

Standard for Template Output Buffering

@westonruter raised #43258 to establish a standardized approach to output buffering in Core. Many plugins currently implement their own solutions for caching or optimization, often causing conflicts. With the new HTML APIAPI An 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. and DOM support in PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher 8.4, Core could introduce a unified 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./action structure for safe and efficient processing of the final output buffer.

Additional design feedback request

@jeffpaul highlighted Gutenberg PR #71743 and asked for design feedback.

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.