WordPress Team has released WordPress 6.0 “Arturo”, which fixes more than 500 bugs and brings more than 400 updates/enhancements. This release was being tested for many weeks, beginning from its transition to the beta phase in mid-April. In total, 4 beta and 3 RC versions have been released before the final version of WordPress 6.0.
42% of all websites are using WordPress
WordPress 6.0 “Arturo” takes its name from the jazz musician Arturo O’Farrill. In its announcement, WordPress Team has also mentioned the current usage ratio of WordPress, which is 42% of all websites worldwide. The highlight of this release is the Gutenberg/Block Editor as expected. The team has delivered most of the new features for the Block Editor in WordPress 6.0. So, let’s have look at them.
Multiple style variations for block themes
The block themes can now include multiple style variations. it delivers shortcuts for switching styles easily, including some deep details such as font weight. The templates also offer more options for block themes; author, date, categories, tag, and taxonomy. It provides the option for covering the block with featured images as well as additional image sizing controls. Furthermore, the query block now supports filtering on multiple authors, custom taxonomies, and customizing the “no results” interface.
Patterns will now appear in more places such as header/footer creation interfaces. The design tools also received some enhancements including a smaller color panel for space-saving, new border controls, new transparency options for colors, additional controls over multiple blocks in the Group block, the ability to switch between variations to position blocks and a new gap options support for Gallery block.
Writing experience improvements
Many improvements directly affect the writing experience in WordPress. The selection operation across multiple blocks has been improved for easier copying and pasting. Users can access the most recent posts and pages by typing in ” [[ “. While transforming the block from one type to another, the styles of the first block are now kept. Creating new buttons will also retain the style customizations. Finally, tag clouds and social icons have more settings and control for making them more appealing.
WordPress 6.0 delivers a better list view with new keyboard shortcuts, allowing selecting multiple blocks from it and providing additional quality-of-life improvements. The blocks are now also can be locked to prevent moving or removing them.
Easier font handling
The Webfonts API now enables admins to add new web fonts via editing the theme.json file by adding codes that include the fonts’ files and attributes. As it is done, they will appear on the global styles typography panel. There is also a new Code editor section that enables users to edit the HTML code of the theme in addition to a new theme exporting tool.
Performance improvements
Among all of the changes, WordPress 6.0 “Arturo” also provides performance improvements. The performance enhancements affect page and post-loading speeds, the execution speed of some query types, caching, and many other situations. Additionally, the new WordPress release delivers many new accessibility options which can be seen by clicking the link below:
Click here to read the accessibility changes in WordPress 6.0
FAQ
How can I update my website to WordPress 6.0?
You can simply go to the admin panel and click the “Updates” section which most likely has a red notification circle currently. Then, click the “Update to version 6.0-xx_xx” button to start to process. We strongly recommend backing up the database and the files of your website.
How can I install WordPress 6.0?
WordPress 6.0 can be freshly installed through the hostings’ control panel (eg: CPanel) via some automatization applications such as Installatron. You can also download it as a zip file for manual installations by following the link below: