- WordPress 6.1 is now available for download, bringing more than 60 improvements in accessibility and 25 in performance.
- The newest version of WordPress also delivers next year’s theme, Twenty Twenty-Three, which includes 10 style variations.
- Similar to the other recent releases of WordPress, 6.1 mostly focuses on improvements and new features for the block editor.
The last big update for WordPress was 6.0, which landed at the end of May this year, and here we now have the 6.1. This release is named for Soviet-Norwegian jazz pianist Mikhail “Misha” Alperin, who was also known as a key member of the Moscow Art Trio and died in 2018.
Welcome Twenty Twenty-Three theme
WordPress 6.1 is packed with next year’s default theme, named “Twenty Twenty-Three”, as expected. This new theme allows users to utilize every new feature added in this release. It is an accessibility-ready block theme that includes 10 style variations. Some of those variations apply some tinting to the images as well, which you can see in the image below:
WordPress 6.1 also focuses on writing-related improvements such as enabling users partially select the paragraphs in a block, settings to keep the list view open by default, and a keyboard shortcut to add internal links expanded to all blocks. The other interesting new features of WordPress 6.1 are;
- A consistent set of design tools across blocks: From typography and spacing to color and border controls, these tools give web creators more creative freedom and control to fine-tune the small yet important details of their site’s visual design.
- A better creator experience with refined and additional templates: WordPress 6.1 brings a suite of new templates that users can create directly from the Site Editor to meet their site-building needs, including custom templates for posts and pages. In addition, they can easily create templates from existing ones, find and replace template parts, such as footers or headers, and view their site as they make changes.
- Responsive text with fluid typography support: Fluid typography adds a new level of responsiveness for theme building that lets web creators and developers set one font size to scale seamlessly on any screen. This functionality can be enabled via theme.json, a configuration file for block themes.
- More robust lists and quotes with inner blocks: The List and Quote blocks now support inner blocks, giving users more ease and flexibility in formatting quoted content and organizing and presenting items in a list.
- Improved layout and visualization of document settings: A cleaner and better-organized display helps content creators easily view and manage important posts and page settings, especially the template picker and scheduler.
- Block template parts in Classic themes: As of WordPress 6.1, block-based template parts can be used in traditional WordPress themes, allowing both site owners and plugin and theme authors to adopt what they need as they are ready in a way that is still future forward. A theme needs to specify the block-template-parts theme support to enable this feature.
This update also includes more than 60 improvements for accessibility and 25 improvements for performance, including REST API and WP_Query caching.
Popularity is still growing
In the announcement, they also mentioned the percentage of users. By the time 6.1 is released, 43% of all websites in the world use WordPress. It was 42% when WordPress 6.0 was released, so the popularity of WordPress is still going upwards.
To start using WordPress 6.1, you can simply visit your WordPress admin panel and check for the notification at the top of the interface. You can also use the following link to download WordPress 6.1 as a .zip file:
Click here to download WordPress 6.1
FAQ
What is WordPress used for?
WordPress is used for creating websites with the help of themes, plugins, and some codes when necessary.
Is WordPress good for SEO?
Yes, WordPress is very good for SEO especially if the relevant plugins are installed.
Is WordPress really free?
Yes, WordPress is totally free. However, you might need to pay for some plugins depending on your website’s needs.
Is WordPress still popular in 2023?
Yes, WordPress is still popular. Currently, 43% of all websites in the world are based on WordPress; up from 42% in May this year.
Is WordPress easy for beginners?
Yes, WordPress is mostly easy for beginners. Some themes can make it even easier. On the other hand, building a WordPress website with block-based themes seems to be the easiest way to go.