WordPress allows you to design and build a website that meets your unique needs. Start a blog, business site, portfolio, online store, or anything else you can imagine. We explore what’s new in WordPress 5.6.
With built-in optimization and responsive, mobile-ready themes, there’s no limit to who you can reach with your new website. Create a simple website for your family or sell products around the world—it’s up to you.
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What’s new in WordPress: Five awesome new features
Like previous releases, WordPress 5.6 includes several versions of the Block Editor enhancing the editing experience for WordPress users who don’t have the Gutenberg plugin installed and updated on their websites yet.
Not everything is about the Block Editor, though. Several features have been added to WordPress Core, like a new default Twenty Twenty-One theme, auto-updates for major releases, better support for PHP 8.0, Application Passwords for REST API Authentication.
There is so much more in WordPress 5.6. You will see accessibility improvements, UI enhancements, tons of bug fixes and a huge list of changes for developers.
1. New default theme: Twenty Twenty-One
One of the major new features in WordPress 5.6 if the new default theme: Twenty Twenty-One. It looks awesome, plus it’s lightning fast, accessible and SEO-friendly. One of the coolest features is that you can quickly build a complex layout thanks to block patterns. These block patterns were introduced in WordPress 5.5 and this new theme uses them nicely. The theme comes with a couple of patterns, but you can make your own to suit your needs. The Twenty Twenty-One theme was designed by Mel Choyce-Dwan and built by a development team — consisting of several Yoasters — led by Carolina Nymark. You can read about how Twenty Twenty-One came to be.
Twenty Twenty-One comes with a number of great color palettes, plus support for block patterns
2. Automatic updates
Keeping your site and plugins up to date is a chore — but an essential chore to keep your site safe and secure. It’s one of the reasons why the WordPress team is working hard on making that process a little bit easier by providing automatic updates. Luckily, WordPress can already automatically update minor versions, but with 5.6, it can also update to major versions automatically. This is an opt-in, so you have to activate it yourself in the WordPress Updates screen if you want to make use of this. Remember, automatic updates of major versions has its pros and cons, so think before you activate.
By turning automatic major updates on, WordPress can always update itself
3. Application passwords
Application passwords offer a new way of providing access to certain parts of your site. You can’t use them to log into your account, but you can use them to help give external sources access to your site without you having to give away your password. You can easily generate access keys and share them with your users. Keys are easy to understand and come in a familiar format like abcd EFGH 1234 ijkl MNOP 6789. Revoking access is just as easy. Simply hit the Revoke button. Keep an eye on this feature as many plugins and platforms will adopt this.
Application Passwords makes managing external authentication easier
4. Loads of Gutenberg updates
We’re big fans of the new block editor, but we know there are still a lot of naysayers out there. Luckily, the Gutenberg team keeps chugging along and put out great release after great release. In WordPress 5.6, you’ll find the results of not one or two Gutenberg updates — but no less than seven releases. Among many things, you’ll find improved support for video positioning in cover blocks, enhancements to the block patterns, better dragging and dropping of blocks, improved keyboard navigation, et cetera. It comes with many performance and accessibility improvements as well.
5. Beta support for PHP 8 in WordPress 5.6
PHP 8 has just been released and it is a huge deal for developers. It’s the latest version of the programming language in which WordPress is written and it brings a whole lot of cool stuff that will help developers use modern code practices and features. As of WordPress 5.6, the CMS is considered beta compatible with PHP 8. Still, there’s a lot of work to do to get WordPress fully compatible with PHP 8 and before developers can use all the new goodies that it brings.
New build or upgrade
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