Save the date! WordPress 6.1 is scheduled for release on 1 November 2022. This release is the culmination of over 360 updates and 370 bug fixes. Check out last week’s 6.1 Product Walk-Through for a visual overview of major features shipping with 6.1.

For a list of when each pre-release build will be available for download, refer to the WordPress 6.1 Release Schedule. And drop by the #core-test Slack channel to chat about testing, attend a weekly scheduled team meeting, or a test scrub!

Table of Contents

• Testing Environment
• Testing Tips
• Key Features to Test
• Where to Report Feedback
• Changelog

Testing Environment 💻

Please only test on a development siteDevelopment Site You can keep a copy of your live site in a separate environment. Maintaining a development site is a good practice that can let you make any changes and test them without affecting the live/production environment. and not on a production/live site. You can follow these instructions to set up a local installLocal Install A local install of WordPress is a way to create a staging environment by installing a LAMP or LEMP stack on your local computer., or use a tool like this to set up a development site.

Once your development site is set up, please install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester Plugin. After activation:

• Navigate to Tools > 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. Testing.
• Set the update channel to “Bleeding edge” and click Save Changes.
• Set the stream option to “Beta/RCRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. only” and click Save Changes again.
• Navigate to Dashboard > Updates and click the Update to latest… button.

For more detailed steps, click here for complete instructions.

Testing Tips 💡

At a high level, here are a few tips to keep in mind to get the most out of helping to test:

• Test across different browsers.
• Test in different languages.
• Compare features on different screen sizes, including tablets and mobile.
• Use just your keyboard to navigate, or use a screen reader.
• Test with both 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. and classic themes.

Key Features to Test 🔑

Twenty Twenty-Three

WordPress 6.1 introduces a new default theme, Twenty Twenty-Three (aka TT3). This theme ships with 10 unique Styles variations, the result of a month-long community design collaboration, with submissions from around the globe.

In addition to activating and testing the base TT3 theme itself, please refer to the official Styles documentation for more information on accessing and modifying theme Styles.

HeaderHeader The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. and Footer Patterns

Community designers have banded together to produce a new collection of Header and Footer block patterns for use in all themes.

To help make finding patterns for specific use, new categorization has been added to the pattern chooser to identify patterns by type. To test, look for the new categoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging. dropdown, and explore the different options available for your theme.

Quote and List Block Updates

The Quote and List blocks have been supercharged, and now support inner blocks. For instance, Quote can now contain any inner block, such as Heading, Image, List, or even another Quote. And List items are now treated as individual blocks, which makes sorting much easier than before.

To test these updates, create and reorder lists, and make quotes more expressive with inner block options.

Fluid Typography 🛠

The first version of fluid typography support via theme.json is shipping with WordPress 6.1, which allows theme authors to set text that adapts to the user’s viewport.

For details and testing instructions, see Testing and Feedback for the Fluid Typography Feature.

Classic Theme Block Template Part Support 🛠

Now classic themes can adopt block-based template parts through a new add_theme_support( 'block-template-parts' ); flag. For guidelines on testing this feature, see the Testing and feedback for using block based template parts in classic themes post.

More Design Tools

The WordPress editor has undergone extensive usability improvements, including better consistency between editor design controls, and extending style options to a broader range of blocks. These updates allow for more fine-tuned design control over content, enhancing the editor experience.

These improvements have been extended to a long list of block types that can be tested in 6.1:

Additionally, detailed information on testing specific block features can be found at the following issue tracking links:

• Typography
• Dimensions (spacing for padding, margin, and block gap)
• Color
• Border
• Layout
• Axial block spacing (gap spacing, also available in global styles)

Enhanced Layout and Styles Control 🛠

With 6.1 comes a new Style engine, bringing with it numerous opportunities to optimize and improve style management in themes. Explore each of the following features for information on testing this new functionality.

• Theme authors can now opt-out of default generated styles via the add_theme_support( 'disable-layout-styles' ); flag.
• New semantic layout classes have been introduced, such as .is-layout-flow and .is-layout-flex.
• Layout utility class names that were removed in WordPress 5.9 have been added back to blocks that support layout features.

Appearance Tools for Any Theme 🛠

Themes that don’t use a theme.json file can now opt-in to enable the editor’s global styles Appearance Tools. To test, add the add_theme_support( 'appearance-tools' ); feature support flag to your theme, and see the Appearance Tools documentation for supported CSSCSS CSS is an acronym for cascading style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site. styles.

Note that adopting Appearance Tools in a classic theme can introduce some unexpected visual changes when applying new default styles (via the support flag) or user-selected styles (modified through the editor). Therefore adopters are encouraged to test thoroughly to be aware of how their individual theme is affected.

Block Theme Spacing Presets 🛠

As an alternative to providing users with full control over spacing, block themes can now define preset spacing ranges in theme.json to ensure greater consistency throughout the theme.

To learn more about how to implement and test this feature, see these PRs: padding presets, margin presets, and block gap presets.

Pattern Block Locking 🛠

Locking features have been extended to Patterns, providing theme authors control over the intended design, and providing users with a more streamlined experience while building out content. See the "templateLock":"contentOnly" update for testing instructions.

Locks on blocks also get a much desired update with the ability to quickly apply selected locks to all blocks within a container block, rather than applying locks individually to each inner block. (Now say that ten times fast! 😉) Applies to Column, Cover, and Group blocks. Testing information for this feature can be found at the content lock PR.

Expanded Template Options

The template selection and creation process in the editor has been extended and streamlined, offering an easier way to find, apply, and modify templates, template parts, and patterns – all without code. This has been achieved through the following updates:

• Support to create – in the editor – page, post and custom post type, custom/general, and taxonomy templates through the expanded template creation experience.
• The ability to search for different template parts by name from the inserter.
• Better template content fallback during creation.

To test these updates, begin by creating templates for specific categories, pages, and more. You can also add and edit templates for custom posts types and taxonomies. Get very specific and offer a different template for single categories or tags.

Featured Images in Cover Block

The Cover block now supports using the featured imageFeatured image A featured image is the main image used on your blog archive page and is pulled when the post or page is shared on social media. The image can be used to display in widget areas on your site or in a summary list of posts. to streamline users’ content editing workflows.

To test this feature, refer to the featured image in media placeholder PR.

Starter Patterns for All Post Types 🛠

Theme authors now have the ability to include patterns for any post type — including custom post types — as well as the ability to prioritize these patterns for their users.

To test this feature, authors can add a patterns folder to their theme, and add these two sample files: new-event-announcement.php and event-recap.php (provided courtesy of #fse-outreach-program). Then try adding a new post to confirm that these custom patterns appear.

Also refer to the ability to use creation patterns for other post types PR for more information on testing starter patterns.

Where to Report Feedback 🗣

If you find any issues, it’s best to share them on the WordPress.org alpha/beta forums, or if you are more technically savvy and comfortable, on Core Trac. For helpful reporting guidelines, refer to the Test Reports section of the Test Handbook.

Please share feedback as soon as you can before the release on 1 November 2022.

Changelog 🪵

• 2022-09-20
  • Initial post.
• 2022-09-29
  • Updated “Appearance Tools for Any Theme” to indicate that this feature will be available in a future version of WordPress (refer to this discussion for details).
• 2022-10-11
  • Following the 6.1 RC1 release, updated “Header and Footer Patterns” to indicate availability of this enhancement in a future release (discussion for context).

A huge thank you 🙏🏻 to @annezazu, @boniu91, and @dansoschin for review and contributions to this post.

#6-1, #full-site-editing, #release-field-guide