This post covers the two Playground meetings held in May 2026. These are biweekly chats where contributors working on WordPress Playground gather to discuss updates, ongoing work, and plans for current and future releases. All are welcome to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facilitator: @<\/span>fellyph<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Website<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Website updates focused on the rollout and refinement of the new PHPPHP<\/span> PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. https:\/\/www.php.net\/manual\/en\/index.php<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>-WASM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n PHP-WASM work focused on making custom PHP extensions a first-class capability. Updates added extension build workflows, manifest improvements, support for additional files, exported symbols needed for extension compilation and loading, and tighter runtime constraints for external extensions. Several runtime fixes also improved stability across Node.js and the web, especially around networking, streaming responses, filesystem mounts, and compilation targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blueprints<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blueprints became more flexible and easier to diagnose. The key improvements were support for PHP-only Playground instances without WordPress, support for SQLite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n SQLite-related work focused on compatibility and boot reliability. Updates added support needed for the SQLite WASM extension, fixed boot issues for saved SQLite-backed sites, and registered an updated SQLite build for PHP 5.2 environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CLICLI<\/span> Command Line Interface. Terminal (Bash) in Mac, Command Prompt in Windows, or WP-CLI for WordPress.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n CLI updates focused on reliability, configurability, and developer ergonomics. The team improved test stability, added a worker-thread configuration flag, improved certificate handling for network operations, and cleaned up Xdebug-related output behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Documentation and internationalization<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Documentation updates included improvements to the PR Preview button documentation, guidance for using @<\/span>fellyph<\/a> connected with the Plugins team at WordCamp M\u00e1laga<\/a> to discuss ways WordPress Playground could support the plugin review process. Follow-up work included a new Query API<\/a> for the file browser, documentation about using My WordPress<\/a> is also receiving UI updates. The top Playground bar is being removed, configuration is moving to the bottom left, and previous app options are being moved into the About section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facilitator: @<\/span>fellyph<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Website<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Website changes focused on authentication flow improvements, query and APIAPI<\/span> 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.<\/span><\/span><\/span> capabilities, documentation, build correctness, and test updates to match newer WordPress behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PHP snippets<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n PHP snippet work focused on run reliability, UI polish, expected output behavior, documentation<\/a>, and support for PHP-only or non-runnable snippet modes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PHP-WASM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n PHP-WASM work centered on extension loading, side-module compatibility, browser networking fixes, runtime exports, and package reliability across Node.js and the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blueprints<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blueprint work focused on making configuration steps behave more accurately inside WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SQLite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n SQLite-related work supported extension loading, Markdown and editor integration, and runtime compatibility for native side modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CLI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n CLI work focused on extension loading, static export tooling, and support for external runtime and editor workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WP-Personal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n WP-Personal updates improved app installation UX, dependent-tab behavior, and test stability as external app behavior evolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n @<\/span>fellyph<\/a> worked on the documentation migration, translation cleanups, MDX components, support for the file browser parameter in Playground, and an investigation into Playground CLI<\/a> issues. A pull request was also started to add PR Previews to the Plugin Check<\/a> plugin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n @<\/span>bpayton<\/a> continued exploring ways to run real server software in the browser. This work could open up more runtime options for Playground in the future, though there were no specific Playground pull requests to share during this meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team noted that Playground<\/a> continues to support easier testing for WordPress coreCore<\/span> Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.<\/span><\/span><\/span> and related projects. Following the WordPress 7.0 launch that week, contributors were encouraged to share plugins or projects that could benefit from Playground-powered PR Previews<\/a>. The AI plugin<\/a> is already using PR Previews as a straightforward way to support testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contributors were also invited to share recent posts about WordPress Playground and to say hello to the team during WordCamp Europe Contributor Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next Playground chat will be on June 26th in the #<\/span>playground<\/a> SlackSlack<\/span> Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https:\/\/slack.com\/<\/a>. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/chat\/<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span> channel. All are welcome.<\/p>\nAnnouncements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Updates by area<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<php-snippet><\/code> experience. Snippets are now embeddable and editable, with support for expected output and non-runnable examples. The team also reduced loading flicker, fixed execution-related UIUI<\/span> UI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think \u2018how are they doing that\u2019 and less about what they are doing.<\/span><\/span><\/span> errors, improved Blueprint URLURL<\/span> A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website\u2019s URL www.wordpress.org<\/span><\/span><\/span> handling, updated PR Preview documentation, improved AI discoverability, and refined site-management UXUX<\/span> UX is an acronym for User Experience - the way the user uses the UI. Think \u2018what they are doing\u2019 and less about how they do it.<\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n.git<\/code> repository URLs, and better surfacing of pluginPlugin<\/span> 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\/<\/a> or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party.<\/span><\/span><\/span> activation errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n@php-wasm\/compile-extension<\/code><\/a>, and changes that improve AI discoverability<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nContributor updates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
encodeURIComponent<\/code> with URL fragments, continued migrationMigration<\/span> Moving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies.<\/span><\/span><\/span> of the documentation to the Handbook, and a Brazilian Portuguese translation for My WordPress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMeeting \u2013 May 22, 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Announcements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Updates by area<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Contributor updates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Open floor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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