In the last month, the WordPress team has released four beta versions for the upcoming WordPress 5.9. The final version is set to be released on the 25th of January, later than the initial release date because of some delays in the pipeline starting with Beta 1.
The WordPress team has announced the first release candidate version of the upcoming WordPress 5.9. RC1 is now ready to download and install via the usual WordPress RC / Beta installation methods shown below. To install and test the WordPress 5.9 Release Candidate 1 you can use one of those:
- Install WordPress Beta Tester plugin, then select “Bleeding Edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream.
- Directly download the beta version as a zip file, then manually install.
- Using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, 3, or 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, you can use those command lines:
Command
wp core update --version=5.9-RC1
Alternative command
wp core update --version=5.9-RC1 –force
The WordPress team stated that the 5.9 version is ready to be used in the announcement. However, with Release Candidate 1, the developers want to see if they have missed anything. That’s why they ask users to test the new release and share feedback.