WordPress 5.5 Beta 1 is now available for testing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This software is still in development,<\/strong> so it’s not recommended to run this version on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with the new version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can test the WordPress 5.5 beta in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current target for final release is August 11, 2020. This is only five weeks away<\/strong>. Your help is needed to ensure this release is tested properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Testing for bugs is an important part of polishing the release during the beta stage and a great way to contribute. Here are some of the big changes and features to pay close attention to while testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WordPress 5.5 will include eleven releases of the Gutenberg plugin, bringing with it a long list of exciting new features. Here are just a few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In all, WordPress 5.5 brings more than 1,500 useful improvements to the block editor experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To see all of the features for each release in detail check out the release posts: 7.5<\/a>, 7.6<\/a>, 7.7<\/a>, 7.8<\/a>, 7.9<\/a>, 8.0<\/a>, 8.1<\/a>, 8.2<\/a>, 8.3<\/a>, 8.4<\/a>, and 8.5<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n XML Sitemaps are now included in WordPress<\/a> and enabled by default. Sitemaps are essential to search engines discovering the content on your website. Your site’s home page, posts, pages, custom post types, and more will be included to improve your site’s visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WordPress 5.5 also brings auto-updates for plugins and themes<\/a>. Easily control which plugins and themes keep themselves up to date on their own. It’s always recommended that you run the latest versions of all plugins and themes. The addition of this feature makes that easier than ever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n WordPress 5.5 will include native support for lazy-loaded images<\/a> utilizing new browser standards. With lazy-loading, images will not be sent to users until they approach the viewport. This saves bandwidth for everyone (users, hosts, ISPs), makes it easier for those with slower internet speeds to browse the web, saves electricity, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With every release, WordPress works hard to improve accessibility. Version 5.5 is no different and packs a parcel of accessibility fixes and enhancements. Take a look:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep your eyes on the Make WordPress Core blog<\/a> for 5.5-related developer notes<\/a> in the coming weeks, breaking down these and other changes in greater detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So far, contributors have fixed more than 360 tickets in WordPress 5.5<\/a>, including 157 new features and enhancements<\/a>, and more bug fixes are on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you speak a language other than English? Help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you think you\u2019ve found a bug, please post to the Alpha\/Beta area<\/a> in the support forums. We would love to hear from you! If you\u2019re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on WordPress Trac<\/a>. That\u2019s also where you can find a list of known bugs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Props to @<\/span>webcommsat<\/a>, @<\/span>yvettesonneveld<\/a>, @<\/span>estelaris<\/a>, and @<\/span>marybaum<\/a> for compiling\/writing this post, @<\/span>davidbaumwald<\/a> for editing\/proof reading, and @<\/span>cbringmann<\/a>, @<\/span>desrosj<\/a>, and @<\/span>andreamiddleton<\/a> for final review.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WordPress 5.5 Beta 1 is now available for testing! This software is still in development, so it’s not recommended to run this version on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with the new version. You can test the WordPress 5.5 beta in two ways: Try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (choose the \u201cbleeding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1182764,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,14],"tags":[286],"class_list":["post-8624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-development","category-releases","tag-5-5","mentions-andreamiddleton","mentions-cbringmann","mentions-davidbaumwald","mentions-desrosj","mentions-estelaris","mentions-marybaum","mentions-webcommsat","mentions-yvettesonneveld"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pZhYe-2f6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1182764"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8624"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8785,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8624\/revisions\/8785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Block editor: features and improvements<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wait! There\u2019s more!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
XML sitemaps<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Auto-updates for plugins and themes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lazy-loading images<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Better accessibility<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
prefers-reduced-motion<\/code> media query.<\/li>Error:<\/code> prefixes have been removed from error notices.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nMiscellaneous Changes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How You Can Help<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n