WordPress 6.4: Updates, New Features, and Changes.

The next major WordPress update, version 6.4, is scheduled for November 7, 2023. This release is special because it is led by a team representing a group that has traditionally been underrepresented in the field.

Update 6.4 promises to further enhance the user experience, from writing a new article to customizing your site's themes.

Exciting new features are on the way: we’ll soon have tools to manage our fonts more easily, as well as a brand-new default theme. In addition, automatic data backup will be available, ensuring that the last word you typed is saved.

This update will address some of the existing shortcomings by introducing more advanced ways to refine designs. Work on Phase 3 will continue to progress through the Gutenberg plugin, and any significant progress will be incorporated into it, further enhancing the potential of this major release.

It’s also worth noting that we should see the inclusion of about five Gutenberg updates in this version 6.4 of WordPress, ensuring consistency with previously saved data.

Don't wait—check out all these new features in WordPress 6.4!

Introduction of New Features

Font Library

The WordPress Font Manager was designed to simplify the installation and use of different fonts on your WordPress site, while offering integration options for plugins. Universally accessible within the WordPress environment, this font library operates independently of the current theme, similar to how the WordPress Media Library works. Progress on this topic is documented in the associated tracking issue on the WordPress development platform.

Typeface

In the WordPress ecosystem, fonts—working in tandem with the font manager—are responsible for creating and displaying @font-face designs on the server side.

Revisions for Templates and Prototype Parts in WordPress

By expanding WordPress initiatives to make changes to designs, updates to templates and their sections will improve the user experience by providing the flexibility to undo any change at any level.

New Blocks in WordPress

Three new blocks are planned for WordPress version 6.4, with the associated GitHub issues:

• Table of Contents.
• Reading time.
• Scroll mark.

Lightbox for Images in WordPress

A lightbox feature for image blocks is currently being considered for WordPress.

Blocks Automatically Inserted by WordPress

To make it easier to use in WordPress, a feature is being explored that would automatically insert these blocks into certain sections. For example, after installing a WordPress plugin, a suggestion might be made to add a login button to the navigation bar. This new feature might initially appear in a new widget panel before being refined.

Post Formats in Block Themes

Starting with version 3.1, WordPress supports post formats. Although themes use these formats differently, several optimizations are underway, including:

• Handling untitled articles in templates.
• Propose a prototype for the new items.
• Optimize the formatting of the article block in queries.

Improve current features and experiences.

Writing Experience

Writing on WordPress—whether it’s a post or a page—should be smooth and enjoyable. The tools shouldn’t get in the way; they should stimulate creativity. With blocks, design tools, and transformations, you should be able to create freely. This release focuses on that. You can follow updates on writing, link improvements, and other specific features in the corresponding tracking issues.

Interfaces and Tools

Tools are constantly being improved to make it easier to create websites and write content:

• List view update: name customization, previews for media modules, resizing, duplication, etc.
• Changes to the main toolbar, including improved keyboard navigation.
• Optimized distraction-free mode.
• An expanded set of controls for a better experience, even on small screens.

Website Editing

When it comes to the website, several improvements are planned for this cycle to enhance the user experience, including:

• "View Template" option when editing pages.
• Discussion settings for pages.
• Preview changes in "Browse Styles."
• The prototype remains independent when changing themes.
• Option to hide the page or post title.
• In the site editor, you can change the template.
• Harmonization of editing tools between the site editor and the article editor.
• Add the missing CSS classes to the prototypes.
• Optimizing the Styles panel.

Design Tools

With the goal of facilitating more sophisticated designs, several optimizations and features are planned for the design tool:

• Component for adding shadows.
• Update the theme.json file for spacing presets.
• Options for developers to set default widths.
• Expanded and simplified layout controls.
• Optimized custom CSS styles.
• More consistent design approaches.
• Support for specific buttons and headers.
• Improved aspect ratio management.
• Styles for individual elements in modules.
• Settings for the width of the site logo.
• Color for the cover block's background image.
• Support for text input.
• List option for the Categories component.
• Group block: support for background images.
• Media + Text Block: Integrating the Featured Image

Global Styles (Styles, Style Guide, etc.)

Global styles provide a system and interface for adjusting the appearance of your site, from individual block details to a complete redesign. This area continues to evolve, with technical adjustments to `theme.json` and interface optimizations for the “Style Book” feature. To further enhance this system while making it more intuitive, here’s what’s currently in the works:

• Styles: Visual comparison, pagination, default design.
• Style Guide: Design Optimization, Focus on Specific Blocks, Integration of Prototypes.
• Theme.json: Links to specific projects, section-specific additions.
• Style Experience: Clear representation of the hierarchy, visibility of inherited styles, and management of variations.

Reasons

Following the introduction of the new pattern creation feature in the editor, version 6.4 plans to add features and optimizations, including:

• Categorization of motifs.
• Standardization of pattern placement.
• Better support for non-block-based themes.
• Optimizing the display of empty categories on the templates page.
• Synchronized models: No alignment in the editor.

In addition, the concept of partially synchronized prototypes is currently being explored, in which some parts are fixed, while others can be updated individually.

Creating and Managing Navigation

Since WordPress 5.9, the Navigation module has been continuously improved to meet users' needs, particularly in terms of responsiveness:

• Overlay treated as part of the model.
• A view showing where each menu is used.
• Styling the current menu item.
• Custom icon option.
• Separate links for mobile devices.
• Exploring a bulk addition.
• Ongoing optimizations of existing features.

Query Loop Block

For more sophisticated article queries, the following optimizations are being considered:

• Possible addition of a request loop module.
• Option to prevent items that have already been shown from appearing again.
• Query module with client-side pagination via the Interactivity API.

The requirements of the Twenty Twenty-Four theme will guide these changes.

Footnotes

Introduced in WordPress 6.3, the Footnotes plugin has been improved with new design options and better compatibility:

• Options for typography, dimensions, and borders.
• Support for links, backgrounds, and text colors.
• Adaptation for Custom Post Types.

Twenty Twenty-Four

The new default theme, Twenty Twenty-Four, will be released with WordPress version 6.4. It will showcase all of WordPress's new features and offer a block-based theme experience. The designs will be rolled out gradually.

Performance

The Performance team will focus on:

• Use the new APIs for loading scripts.
• Improve automatic loading.
• Identify and optimize areas of poor performance, especially when loading models.
• Make optimization attributes more reliable and flexible, such as loading, fetchpriority, and decoding.
• Expand the capabilities of automated testing.
• Continue to refine the theme.json APIs.

Rollback for plugin and theme updates in automatic updates

Following the changes in WordPress 6.3, a rollback system has been developed for automatic updates of plugins and themes. This system will verify that an updated plugin does not cause a critical error. If an error is detected, the previous version of the plugin will be restored, and an email will be sent to the site administrator.

Preliminary and Foundational Work for Phase 3

Although the initial plans for Phase 3 have been unveiled, only a few specific, phased tasks are being considered for version 6.4, including:

• The expansion of the Table component as part of a broader redesign of the administration interface.
• A discussion of possible ways to optimize media management.
• Command adjustments and the design of the command palette (mentioned earlier in the "Interfaces and Tools" section).

It is likely that Phase 3 initiatives will continue to evolve within the Gutenberg plugin without being integrated into Core for version 6.4.

WordPress 6.4 on Video

To wrap up this post on WordPress 6.4

WordPress version 6.4 will introduce a series of web improvements and new features designed to enhance the user experience with content.

This update will introduce a font library as a new extension, new modules, and significant improvements in design, code, and performance. The new theme, Twenty Twenty-Four, will showcase these new features and their built-in functionality.

In addition, additional security measures will be implemented for automatic updates of plugins, extensions, and themes, thereby enhancing the service provided.

Overall, this version promises a more intuitive and robust experience for WordPress users when managing their content.