We bid goodbye to 2020 in style with the release of WordPress 5.6 and the launch of Learn WordPress. But these weren\u2019t the only exciting updates from WordPress in December. Read on to learn more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest major WordPress release, version 5.6<\/a> \u201cSimone\u201d, came out on December 8. The release ships with a new default theme called Twenty Twenty One<\/a>. It offers a host of features, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, WordPress 5.6 is now available in 55 languages. You can find more information about the release in the field guide<\/a>, and you can update to the latest version directly from your WordPress dashboard or by downloading<\/a> it directly from WordPress.org. A total of 605 people hailing from 57 different countries contributed to the development of WordPress 5.6. @<\/span>audrasjb<\/a> has compiled many more stats like that<\/a>, showing what a tremendous group effort this was\u2014they\u2019re well worth a read!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to contribute to upcoming WordPress releases? Join the WordPress #core<\/a> channel on the Make WordPress Slack<\/a> and follow the Core team blog<\/a> to learn the latest on WordPress 5.7<\/a>, which is slated to be out by March 9, 2021<\/a>. The Core team hosts weekly chats on Wednesdays at 5 a.m.<\/a> and 8 p.m.<\/a> UTC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n State of the Word 2020<\/a>, the annual keynote address delivered by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, was streamed online for the first time on December 17. It was followed by a live Q&A from community members all across the world. You can find the stream recording on YouTube<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and Twitter<\/a>. The State of the Word<\/a> video and the Q&A session<\/a> are also available on WordPress.tv. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn WordPress, a new free, on-demand WordPress learning resource, launched officially on December 15. It offers workshops<\/a>, lesson plans<\/a>, quizzes, and courses<\/a> for anyone interested in publishing with, building for, or contributing to WordPress. WordPress enthusiasts can also participate in discussion groups<\/a> focused on specific topics to learn with and from each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to participate in Learn WordPress? Here are four ways you can do so<\/a>! Additionally, contributors have launched a discussion<\/a> on the future of Learn WordPress<\/a>\u2014feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. To help promote Learn WordPress, check out the Marketing Team<\/a>\u2019s materials<\/a>, which detail a range of fun and creative ways<\/a> to share this new resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contributor teams have kicked off the Full Site Editing (FSE) outreach program<\/a> for anyone who is building or maintaining a WordPress site so that they can give feedback on the upcoming FSE feature<\/a> that will be part of Gutenberg Phase 2. Your feedback will go a long way in improving FSE user flows. To participate, check out the initial testing call<\/a> on the Make\/Test blog<\/a> and join the #fse-outreach-experiment<\/a> Slack channel. BuddyPress version 7.0<\/a> went live on December 9. Its features include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n A BuddyPress maintenance release (version 7.1<\/a>) launched on December 21. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to provide feedback or suggestions for BuddyPress? Share your comments on the announcement posts for 7.0<\/a> or 7.1<\/a>. If you find a bug, please report it in the support forums<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Core team launched version 9.5<\/a> and 9.6<\/a> of Gutenberg last month. Both versions include several improvements to FSE flows, bug fixes, and feature upgrades. Version 9.5 introduces features like full height alignment and support for font sizes in the code block. Version 9.6 includes features like the ability to drag blocks from the inserter and a vertical layout for buttons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to get involved in building Gutenberg? Follow the Core team blog<\/a>, contribute to Gutenberg on GitHub<\/a>, and join the #core-editor<\/a> channel in the Making WordPress Slack group<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWatch the State of the Word 2020 recording<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Learn WordPress has launched<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Give feedback on the Full Site Editing project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Want to follow updates on the FSE project? Check out this blog post<\/a>. You can find 2020 updates to the FSE project<\/a> in the Make\/Core blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBuddyPress 7.0 \u201cFilippi\u201d and 7.10 are now available<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Gutenberg 9.5 and 9.6 released<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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