{"id":16854,"date":"2024-02-13T16:31:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T16:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/?p=16854"},"modified":"2024-03-08T15:38:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T15:38:33","slug":"wordpress-6-5-beta-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/2024\/02\/wordpress-6-5-beta-1\/","title":{"rendered":"WordPress 6.5 Beta 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WordPress 6.5 Beta 1 is ready for download and testing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This beta version of the WordPress software is under development. <\/strong>Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, you should evaluate Beta 1 on a test server or site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Test WordPress 6.5 Beta 1 in four ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plugin<\/th>Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester<\/a> plugin on a WordPress install. (Select the \u201cBleeding edge\u201d channel and \u201cBeta\/RC Only\u201d stream).<\/td><\/tr>
Direct Download<\/th>Download the Beta 1 version (zip)<\/a> and install it on a WordPress website.<\/td><\/tr>
Command Line<\/th>Use the following WP-CLI<\/a> command:
wp core update --version=6.5-beta1<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
WordPress Playground<\/th>Use the 6.5 Beta 1 WordPress Playground instance<\/a> to test the software directly in your browser without the need for a separate site or setup. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The current target date for the final release of WordPress 6.5 is March 26, 2024<\/strong>. Your help testing this version is key to ensuring everything in the release is stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get an overview of the 6.5 release cycle<\/a>, and check the Make WordPress Core blog<\/a> for 6.5-related posts<\/a> in the coming weeks for further details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post has been updated as of March 8, 2024, to reflect the latest changes.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to help test this release<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it\u2019s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute\u2014whether or not you have experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you encounter an issue, please share it in the Alpha\/Beta area<\/a> of the support forums. If you are comfortable submitting a reproducible bug report, you can do so via WordPress Trac<\/a>. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curious about testing releases in general and how to get started? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core<\/a> and join the #core-test channel<\/a> on Making WordPress Slack<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 6.5 will include many new features previously only available through the Gutenberg plugin. Learn more about Gutenberg updates since WordPress 6.4 in the What\u2019s New in Gutenberg<\/a> posts for versions 16.8<\/a>, 16.9<\/a>, 17.0<\/a>, 17.1<\/a>, 17.2<\/a>, 17.3<\/a>, 17.4<\/a>, 17.5<\/a>, 17.6<\/a>, and 17.7<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 6.5 Beta 1 contains approximately 681 enhancements and 488 bug fixes for the editor, including about 229 tickets for WordPress 6.5 Core<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vulnerability bounty doubles during Beta 1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The WordPress community sponsors a monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities<\/a>. This reward doubles during the period between Beta 1 on February 13 and the final Release Candidate (RC) scheduled for March 19. Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project\u2019s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page<\/a> and in the security white paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discover what\u2019s on the way in WordPress 6.5<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s first major release will add finesse and fine-tuning to how you control your site-building experience, with lots to explore specifically for developers. You\u2019ll find more ways to manage your fonts and styles, notable upgrades to synced patterns, a collection of Site Editor and performance updates to help you get things done, and new ways to leverage design tools in Classic themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 6.5 will include breakthrough foundational APIs that will start to transform how you use blocks to build memorable experiences. This release invites you to dig into these early-stage frameworks, discover how you\u2019d like to see them evolve, and have an impact on their future improvements and capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excited yet? Keep reading for some highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet the Font Library<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Initially slated for release in WordPress 6.4, the Font Library<\/a> is one of those great things worth the wait. It gives you new capabilities for efficiently managing a vital piece of your site\u2019s design\u2014typography\u2014without coding or extra steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Font Library, you can handle fonts across your site regardless of your active theme\u2014much like how you manage assets in the Media Library. You can install local fonts or Google Fonts, and it\u2019s easily extensible, with the ability to add your own custom typography collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Synced patterns get an upgrade<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Synced patterns<\/a> bring efficiency to the design process, letting you make global changes to particular layouts with minimal effort. However, there\u2019s often a need to make contextual changes when it comes to content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 6.5 introduces new enhancements to synced patterns that let you override the content in each specific instance. You can choose what content can be updated within a synced pattern\u2014while maintaining the design and layout you\u2019ve already created. Use it for templated pieces like recipes, testimonials, or case studies that use recurring elements to frame unique content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This major release will introduce overrides for the Paragraph, Image, Heading, and Button blocks, with support for more blocks to come as work on synced patterns continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update (March 8, 2024): <\/em><\/strong>Overriding content in synced patterns will not be included in WordPress 6.5. To ensure WordPress continues to deliver the best possible experience, this enhancement has been postponed to the next major release to allow for more feedback and testing. Thanks for understanding!<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting blocks and custom fields or other dynamic content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 6.5 will finally make it possible to connect core block attributes to custom fields<\/a>. This capability lets you use the value of a custom field without creating custom blocks. For example, a digital publication could use custom fields with Paragraph and Image blocks. It could pull information from its individual staff writer profiles to dynamically display on its team page, like headshots and names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Block Bindings API<\/a> powers this functionality and is designed to be extensible enough for developers to connect blocks to any dynamic content\u2014not just custom fields. If your data is stored elsewhere, you can easily point blocks to that new source with only a few lines of code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first step in a larger project to simplify how custom fields and other dynamic content are managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Interactivity API gets baked into Core<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What started as just a taste in WordPress 6.4 with the lightbox feature for images<\/a> is officially making its way into Core. The Interactivity API<\/a> is a new framework that offers developers a standardized method to bring interactive front-end experiences, or interactions, to blocks. It aims to simplify the process, with less dependencies on external tooling, while maintaining optimal performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interactions create engaging user experiences, whether showing new comments or fetching search results without reloading a page, allowing visitors to interact with content in real time, or incorporating effects like countdowns and transitional animations that surprise and delight. Check out this demo site to get a taste of what this framework can do<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.5 is just the beginning of bringing this developer experience into Core. Find out how you can follow along with the work or lend a hand<\/a> and test more features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get more from your revisions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Revisions are the markers of progress. For creative projects, they’re also a welcome fallback when you’re working through a new design or concept. This release brings more detail to your style revision history in the Site Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Style revisions in 6.5<\/a> present a more detailed picture of your work, with design updates like time stamps, quick summaries that outline changes, and the ability to see a full list of revisions made\u2014not just the previous 100. View revisions from the Style Book to see changes that aren’t reflected in the template you’re working on. Style revisions are also newly available for templates and template parts, giving you a broader view of your site\u2019s changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expect to see more work happening to expand and improve revisions across the WordPress experience<\/a>. It\u2019s a foundational part of the collaborative editing and workflows focus of the Gutenberg project’s Phase 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classic themes can opt into appearance tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As the design experience in Block themes evolves and improves, many of these upgrades are also available for Classic themes. Theme authors can choose to add support for appearance tools to any Classic theme<\/a>\u2014even without the use of theme.json. Opting in gives designers and site creators using Classic themes access to a varied set of design options, from spacing and border controls to typography and color options<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switching themes can feel like a big undertaking, and for folks who aren\u2019t ready to jump into the flexibility of Block themes, these pathways to adoption can help ease that tension. Once a Classic theme gets initial support for appearance tools, more design options will be automatically added as they become available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More design tools are on the way<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Each WordPress release brings more thought and attention to the way you can create with the Site Editor. The latest improvements to the design experience help bring your creative vision to life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n