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 our bug tracker.
Following up on the WordPress 6.2 planning proposal and based on the feedback and comments received, this post intends to summarize the release schedule and release squad composition for the next major WordPress release.
WordPress 6.2 Schedule
As a reminder, the WordPress 6.2 release cycle introduces a fourth planned 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. to accommodate 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, providing an extra buffer between the event and two of the biggest release milestones (Beta1 and RC1).
Milestone
Date
Alpha (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. open for 6.2 release)
October 18, 2022
Beta 1 & Feature Freeze
February 7, 2023
Beta 2
February 14, 2023
Beta 3
February 21, 2023
Beta 4
February 28, 2023
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
March 7, 2023
Release Candidate 2
March 14, 2023
Release Candidate 3
March 21, 2023
Dry Run
March 27, 2023
WordPress 6.2 General release
March 28, 2023
WordPress 6.2 Release Squad
Thanks to everybody that volunteered for the release squad! Considering all applications for the different roles, a release team has been assembled with project leadership to ensure all areas are properly covered.
Based on the positive feedback received by the proposal of this new role in the call for volunteers for the release squad, this release will trial a new role — Performance Lead. In this first iteration, the Performance Lead will run early performance testing in WordPress trunk and act as an advisor, flagging performance regressions before they are shipped, helping solve them, and providing guidance to the rest of the release squad on performance-related discussions.
All release decisions will ultimately be this release team’s to make. However, contributors are more than welcome to follow along with the release process on the #6-2-release-leads Slack channel.
As we wrap 2022 with three major releases, it’s time to look ahead and start planning for the following year. In preparation, this post includes proposed target dates and a call for the release squad for WordPress 6.2, the first major release of 2023.
The first-ever 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 will take place in February 2023. To accommodate it and avoid having major milestones (Beta1, RC1) very close to the event, the proposed schedule consists of a 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. period consisting of four planned Beta releases, as opposed to the three planned Betas in recent major releases.
According to the schedule proposed below and 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/ release cadence, WordPress 6.2 would include up to Gutenberg 15.1 for a total of 10 Gutenberg releases.
Proposed WordPress 6.2 Schedule
Milestone
Date
Alpha (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. open for 6.2 release)
October 18, 2022
Beta 1 & Feature Freeze
February 7, 2023
Beta 2
February 14, 2023
Beta 3
February 21, 2023
Beta 4
February 28, 2023
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
March 7, 2023
Release Candidate 2
March 14, 2023
Release Candidate 3
March 21, 2023
Dry Run
March 27, 2023
WordPress 6.2 General release
March 28, 2023
Please leave your feedback about the schedule in the comments by January 10.
Proposed WordPress 6.2 Release Leads
Release LeadRelease LeadThe community member ultimately responsible for the Release.:Matt Mullenweg Release Coordinator: TBD CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Tech Lead: TBD Editor Tech Lead: TBD Core TriagetriageThe act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. Lead: TBD Editor Triage Lead: TBD Documentation Lead: TBD Marketing & Communications Lead: TBD Test Lead:TBD Design Lead: TBD
All release decisions will ultimately be this release team’s to make and communicate while gathering input from the community.
Join The Squad!
If you are interested in being a part of 6.2’s release squad, please show interest in the comments below. Roles can be shared among more than one person!
WordPress 6.1 will be the third major release of 2022. Following WordPress 6.0 Arturo, 6.1 will aim to refine those experiences found in Arturo and in 5.9 Joséphine [ref]. In preparation, this post includes target dates, features, and a call for the release’s squad.
This release cadence will consist of a long alpha and two short 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. periods before the 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). phase. According to the schedule proposed below and 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/ release cadence, WordPress 6.1 would include up to Gutenberg 14.1 for a total of 11 Gutenberg releases, the same amount as WordPress 6.0 included.
Proposed WordPress 6.1 Schedule
Milestone
Date
Alpha (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. open for 6.1 release)
May 3, 2022
Beta 1 & Feature Freeze
September 20, 2022
Beta 2
September 27, 2022
Release Candidate 1
October 4, 2022
Release Candidate 2
October 11, 2022
Release Candidate 3
October 18, 2022
Dry Run
October 24, 2022
WordPress 6.1 General release
October 25, 2022
Proposed WordPress 6.1 Release Leads
Release LeadRelease LeadThe community member ultimately responsible for the Release.:Matt Mullenweg Release Coordinator: TBD CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Tech Lead: TBD Editor Tech Lead: TBD Core TriagetriageThe act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. Lead: TBD Editor Triage Lead: TBD Documentation Lead: TBD Marketing & Communications Lead: TBD Test Lead:TBD Design Lead: TBD
All release decisions will ultimately be this release teams’ to make and communicate while gathering input from the community.
Join The Squad!
If you are interested in being a part of 6.1’s release squad, please show your interest in the comments below. Roles can be shared among more than one person!
With one month to the first WordPress 6.0 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., let’s review the WordPress 6.0 cycle status.
Live-streamed walkthrough and feature freeze
As an iteration over WordPress 5.8 and 5.9’s Go/No Go demo, WordPress 6.0 will offer a hosted walkthrough on April 5th. In this event, placed closer to Beta than past demos, WordPress leads will review the features ready for the next major releasemajor releaseA 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. together with the community in a live, moderated stream.
As a result of this demo and to address contributor feedback received in the last two major release cycles, the effective feature freeze will happen with Beta 1 on April 12th.
This adjustment will give 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. two extra weeks over the original schedule. Together with the live demo, they will offer enough buffer time to identify and address any last-minute blockerblockerA bug which is so severe that it blocks a release. issues found during the walkthrough, reducing the amount of backports post- Beta 1.
5 April 2022
Live-streamed walkthrough
12 April 2022
Beta 1, effective Feature Freeze
19 April 2022
Beta 2
26 April 2022
Beta 3
3 May 2022
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
10 May 2022
Release candidate 2
17 May 2022
Release candidate 3
23 May 2022
Dry run
24 May 2022
WordPress 6.0 stable release
Release team
With the exception of the AccessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (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) Lead, the release team is nearly complete. Thanks to all participating volunteers!
Release LeadRelease LeadThe community member ultimately responsible for the Release.:Matt Mullenweg
TriagetriageThe act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. Lead:Ahmed Chaion and Colin Stewart.
All release decisions will ultimately be this release teams’ to make and communicate while gathering input from the community. Coordination between the whole squad primarily occurs in the public #6-0-release-leadsSlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel, and contributors are welcome to join the release team in this process.
How To Help
If you are still interested in being a part of 6.0’s release squad or shadowing a lead to participate in future releases, please show your interest in the comments below or the #6-0-release-leads Slack channel. If you want to dive deeper into 6.0, join the weekly meetings in the #core Slack channel, which occur every Wednesday at 20:00 UTC.
WordPress 6.0 will be the second major release of 2022. Following WordPress 5.9 Joséphine, 6.0 will aim to refine and iterate on the customization tools introduced earlier this year. In preparation, this post includes target dates, features, and squads.
This release will follow the same cadence as 5.9, with a long alpha and short 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. periods before the 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). phase.
Proposed WordPress 6.0 Schedule
Milestone
Date
Alpha (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. open for 6.0 release)
January 4, 2022
Feature freeze/Bug Fixes
March 29, 2022
Beta 1
April 12, 2022
Beta 2
April 19, 2022
Beta 3
April 26, 2022
Release Candidate 1
May 3, 2022
Release Candidate 2
May 10, 2022
Release Candidate 3
May 17, 2022
Dry Run
May 23, 2022
WordPress 6.0 General release
May 24, 2022
Proposed WordPress 6.0 Scope
Take a look at the 6.0 preliminary roadmap, which includes Editor refinement, Pattern expansion, Navigation 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. refinement, block exploration, and design tooling.
Proposed WordPress 6.0 Release Leads
Release LeadRelease LeadThe community member ultimately responsible for the Release.:Matt Mullenweg
AccessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (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) Lead:
All release decisions will ultimately be this release teams’ to make and communicate while gathering input from the community.
How To Help!
If you are interested in being a part of 6.0’s release squad, please show your interest in the comments below. In particular, open roles that need volunteer support include:
I believe that the relationship between WP5.9 and WP6.0 will be similar to the relationship between WP5.0 and WP5.1 in that there will be copious user feedback to process so that we can extend, refine, and in some cases even rework the user experience with the vast new feature set introduced in 5.9. By aiming to release WP6.0 in late May, we can let WP5.9 breathe a little, work through the rest of the Phase 2 roadmap, and prioritize WordPress-wide needs as we encounter them.
Given the complexity of our last pair of similar releases, I would love to see some Five for the Future sponsored project manager-ish people* join @jeffpaul and @priethor in addition to our usual release squad. If you’re interested in participating in a squad and want to know more, you can pingPingThe act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.”@chanthaboune, @jeffpaul, @priethor or any former release squad member you know!
*So as not to startle anyone or overpromise anything—I’m not suggesting that we need a bunch of people to show up and boss around all of our brave and generous contributors. I’m suggesting that a 19-year-old project can no longer be fully tracked by a person or two and the people who are tracking all of our moving parts could use some support.
Happy September no matter where you are in the world! Since we’re halfway through the alpha period for the next big release of WordPress, it’s time to gather all the pieces of planning into one place. This post will include all the best guesses and targets for dates, features, and squads.
This release will follow the same general cadence as the other releases this year, with a long alpha period (132 days) and a short 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. period (14 days) before the 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). phase.
Proposed WordPress 5.9 Schedule
These are my best guesses at the milestones:
Milestone
Date
Days from
Alpha (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. open for 5.9 release)
June 30, 2021
Go/no go Date
October 12, 2021 October 14, 2021
104 days after Alpha
Feature freeze/Bug Fixes
November 9, 2021
42 days after go/no go
Beta 1
November 16, 2021
7 days after Feature Freeze
Release Candidate 1
November 30, 2021
14 days after Beta 1
General release
December 14, 2021
14 days after RC1
WP5.9 Schedule
This schedule puts Beta 1 the week of a major US holiday and a few major commerce dates worldwide. It does avoid putting RC1 during that week.
Proposed WordPress 5.9 Scope
The main goal for 2021 is getting full site editing to all WordPress users. For WP5.9 the following features are in the suggested roadmap:
Blocks + intrinsic web design
Navigation menus
Interface for theme.jsonJSONJSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML.
Refining editing flows for 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. themes
New default theme
Additional design tools
There are also a few roadmap hopefuls out there.
Pattern insertion + creation
Unzip/Rollback Failsafes
PHPUnit Tests
Improved compatibility with PHPPHPThe web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 5.6.20 or higher 8.0 and 8.1
Proposed WordPress 5.9 Leads
Release LeadRelease LeadThe community member ultimately responsible for the Release.: Matt Mullenweg
Release Coordinators:
TriagetriageThe act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. Lead:
Editor Tech:
Editor Design:
CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Tech:
Theme Lead:
Technical Writer: Jonathan Bossenger
Docs Lead:
Marketing & Comms: Josepha Haden
AccessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (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) Lead:
Test Lead:
How to help!
I think we will need a slightly larger release squad for this final release of the year, so I’m opening calls for volunteers. As we approach the go/no go date and get a better idea of what features will really land in the release, we’ll get more squad leads assigned.
However, there are a couple of roles we really could use some volunteers for right now:
Triage Lead
Release Coordinators
If you’re interested in lending a hand, please share your interest in the comments!
Props to @francina for early versions of this post, and @jeffpaul + @desrosj for wrestling calendars with me.
With the 5.8 release scheduled for 20 July 2021, I’d like to understand what work folks have planned for the release so that @desrosj and I can help track that overall scope and work to resolve blockers anyone has in achieving those goals (noting that our primary focus will be on Full Site Editing).
Historically within the major release cycle this is the time in which a “wish list” post would be published. However, given the nature of the 5.8 release and it’s primary focus on the release of Full Site Editing there won’t be the normal availability to review a lengthy wish list and attend to getting that work to commit within the release. We hope to return to that approach in a future release.
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/ team (via @youknowriad as 5.8 Editor Tech Lead) to understand what WordPress CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. changes are desired to support Full Site Editing (alongside the already-defined “next steps”)
So if you consider yourself a part of one of these three groups, please share what your intended focus is for the 5.8 release so that @desrosj and I can help track the overall 5.8 release scope.
Deadline for response: 14 May 2021 (10 days from now, 11 days from then until Feature Freeze).
Edit: 4/23/2021 @ 19:10 UTC – changed the references to contributors in the last paragraph to WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe 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/ usernames to help to make the connection. – @desrosj
With the schedule finalized and parts of 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/ phase 2 getting ready to merge, it’s time to put together a squad of focus leads for WordPress 5.8.
The roles of release leadRelease LeadThe community member ultimately responsible for the Release. and marketing/communications lead will be filled by @matt and @chanthaboune, respectively.
Expectations
Focus leads should be available for at least 5-6 hours a week to perform their tasks, with more time as milestones like Betas, Release Candidates, and General release approach. On the days of those milestones, you might need to dedicate 4-6 hours to WordPress on one day.
There are no limitations to where you come from. We are a global community, open 24/7 so you will schedule scrubs, if needed, according to your availability and potentially find a deputy to cover other timezones.
Because 5.8 is going to be a busy release, the squad won’t have mentorship or ride-along opportunities, like it did in the past, but as Josepha mentioned there is a public channel for the team to coordinate so that others can learn through observation.
This doesn’t mean you need to have all the answers to volunteer. 🙂 There will be a bunch of people available to help and support (the CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. team representatives, long-time contributors, etc…).
Are you interested?
Please leave your name in the comments with the role you are interested in or reach out to me (@francina), @audrasjb or @chanthaboune if you have any questions before raising your hand.
To be determined, but as soon as possible after being greenlighted
Feature freeze/Bug Fixes
May 25, 2021
91 days after Alpha
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
June 8, 2021
14 days after Feature Freeze
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
June 29, 2021
21 days after Beta 1
General release
July 20, 2021
21 days after RC1
What’s this “Feature Freeze” step?
As previously discussed (first post, second post), mixing defect work and beta testing is not great for a number of reasons:
As a project, we want to respect the beta testers efforts by not introducing new bugs (defect work fixes) in areas they’ve already tested.
A mature software project has a beta period during which the focus is on testing changes made during alpha period to ensure its stability.
Having a separate deadline for enhancements/features and bugs is beneficial to allow developers to switch focus after the first deadline to address a slew of outstanding bugs.
Enter the “Feature Freeze” step: two weeks where contributors and committers can take care of the thousands of defect tickets in TracTracAn open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress..
This process should allow time to dedicate appropriate attention to those tickets, without taking attention and resources away from beta testing, which needs to be a priority, especially in this release.
Squad
With such a complex release, Core needs a group of experienced contributors leading the release. For this release, the ride-along/mentorship will pause so that the leads, with previous experience in releases, can focus on the process.
Pre WP5.8 Squad – Skeleton Crew
The period leading to the go/no go step, will need a minimal squad that will focus on:
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. hunting for WP5.7.x minor releases
triagetriageThe act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. and group tickets into future milestones
test Core and FSE tickets and PRs
We are kicking off with a minimal squad of three roles:
Once we’re past the go/no go dates the skeleton crew, together with the project leadership, will determine which skills are needed to successfully complete the cycle.
What about scope?
The focus of the release is full site editing. As suggested in the recent FSE FAQ, the specific scope is to merge the interface that allows for template interaction outside of content, as well as 20+ new blocks, and design tools. This part of the FSE merge will not be offered to users by default, but instead will be geared toward our extender community (theme authors, 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 developers, agencies, builders, etc) so that they can experiment with their users in mind.
As with other releases, it is possible to include more features, provided someone can spearhead them.
I will start a round of check-ins with component maintainers as soon as the timeline is confirmed.
