{"id":17429,"date":"2024-06-25T16:23:50","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T16:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/?p=17429"},"modified":"2024-07-17T08:20:53","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T08:20:53","slug":"wordpress-6-6-release-candidate-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/2024\/06\/wordpress-6-6-release-candidate-1\/","title":{"rendered":"WordPress 6.6 Release Candidate 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first release candidate (RC1) for WordPress 6.6 is ready for download and testing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This 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.<\/strong> Instead, please evaluate RC1 on a test server or a local environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reaching this phase of the release cycle is a worthy achievement. While release candidates are considered ready for release, testing is still vital to make sure everything in WordPress 6.6 is the best it can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can test WordPress 6.6 RC1 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 RC1 version (zip)<\/a> and install it on a WordPress website.<\/td><\/tr>
Command Line<\/th>Use the this WP-CLI<\/a> command:
wp core update --version=6.6-RC1<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
WordPress Playground<\/th>Use the 6.6 RC1 WordPress Playground instance<\/a> (available within 35 minutes after the release is ready) to test the software directly in your browser without the need for a separate site or setup.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Please test WordPress 6.6 RC1 in one or more of these four ways.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The current target for the WordPress 6.6 release is July 16, 2024<\/strong>. Get an overview of the 6.6 release cycle<\/a>, and check the Make WordPress Core blog<\/a> for 6.6-related posts<\/a> in the next few weeks for further details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two notes about changes in the RC period<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hard string freeze:<\/strong> From now until July 16, there is a hard string freeze<\/a> in place\u2014no strings may change, and no new strings may be committed. That’s to give the Polyglots team time to translate WordPress 6.6 into as many languages as possible before final release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two-committer signoff:<\/strong> Commits in the RC period also require two Core committers to sign off on every merge. Since release candidates are supposed to be ready to go, only major fixes and blessed tasks should merge at this late date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s in WordPress 6.6 RC1?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to your testing and many other contributors\u2018 up to now, this release includes more than 40 bug fixes for the Editor and more than 40 tickets for WordPress Core<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get a recap of WordPress 6.6\u2019s highlighted features in the Beta 1 announcement<\/a>. For more technical information related to issues addressed since Beta 3, you can browse the following links:<\/p>\n\n\n\n