Let’s chat about what’s included in this release, focusing on Whats New in WordPress 6.9 (codenamed “Gene”). If version 6.8 was a fresh coat of paint, 6.9 is all about helping you work smarter, not harder. It’s packed with tools that smooth out your workflow and finally brings true collaboration right into the editor.

Grab a cup of coffee and let’s walk through the highlights.

So grab your coffee and let’s take a look at what’s new in WordPress 6.9 and walk through the highlights.

Hold Your Horses: Major vs. Minor Updates

You know the drill by now—treat your website like your car.

Minor updates (like 6.9.1) are security patches (fixes). Do them immediately to keep things secure. Major updates (like this one, 6.9) are more likely to contain new features and changes that might not have been thoroughly tested by the creators of a plugin or theme on your site.

So, it’s smart to give it a few days for the early adopters to find the glitches. And as always, back up your files and database before you hit “Update.” If things go sideways, you’ll be glad you did.

Chat Right Inside the Editor

Ever wish you could leave a sticky note on a paragraph for your editor, or a reminder for yourself, without cluttering up the actual post? Now you can.

With Block-Level Notes, collaboration feels like Google Docs. You can leave comments, tag team members, and resolve threads directly on individual blocks. No more back-and-forth emails or Slack messages to fix a typo in the second paragraph. It’s all happening right where the work gets done.

Now You See It, Now You Don’t

Have you ever wanted to hide a section of your page, maybe a holiday promo or a draft paragraph, without actually deleting it?

WordPress 6.9 introduces the ability to Hide Blocks. A simple toggle in the block settings lets you hide a block from the front end while keeping it visible (but muted) in your editor. It’s perfect for staging content or temporarily shelving a section without losing your hard work.

New Toys in the Toybox

It wouldn’t be a major release without some new blocks to play with. Here are the standouts:

Accordion Block: Finally! You can create collapsible FAQ sections or toggle-able content natively. No extra plugins required.

Math Block: For the educators and scientists out there, you can now write complex mathematical formulas using MathML directly in the editor.

Time to Read: A simple block that automatically calculates and displays how long it will take your visitors to read your post.

Drag and Drop That Actually Makes Sense

Dragging blocks around used to be a bit of a guessing game. “Will it land here? Or inside that group?”

WordPress 6.9 has polished the Visual Drag and Drop experience. You now get a much clearer preview of exactly where your content will land before you let go of the mouse. It feels snappier, more predictable, and less frustrating.

Your “Genie” in the Dashboard

The Command Palette (that search bar that pops up with Cmd+K or Ctrl+K) has broken free from the Site Editor. You can now use it everywhere in the admin dashboard. Whether you’re in the plugins menu or writing a post, you can jump to any setting or page with a few keystrokes. It’s a massive time-saver for power users.

Looking Sharp: Typography and Galleries

Designers get some love in this release, too:

Fit Text to Container: Ever struggled to get a headline to look just right in a hero section? The new “Stretchy” option for Heading and Paragraph blocks automatically resizes text to fit its container.

Gallery Aspect Ratios: You can now force all images in a Gallery block to share the same aspect ratio. No more jagged, uneven rows of photos, everything looks uniform and professional instantly.

Under the Hood: Dev-Friendly Upgrades

If you build or tweak plugins and themes, here is what you need to know:

The Abilities API: A major addition that provides a standardized way to register what your site can do, laying the groundwork for better AI and automation integrations.

PHP 8.5 Support: WordPress is staying ahead of the curve with beta compatibility for the upcoming PHP 8.5.

Interactivity API Updates: More robust tools for creating dynamic blocks that react instantly to user input without page reloads.

Cron at Shutdown: Scheduled tasks now trigger at shutdown rather than init, speeding up page load times for your visitors.

That’s the scoop on what’s new in WordPress 6.9, better collaboration, smarter blocks, and a smoother workflow. Once you’re backed up, hit Update, then try hiding a block or leaving a note for yourself to feel the difference. Enjoy!

The post Whats New in WordPress 6.9 appeared first on White Label PLR for WordPress Training.

Let’s chat about what you’ll notice once you flip the switch to WordPress 6.8. This isn’t a flashy overhaul—it’s more like a fresh coat of paint, a tune‑up under the hood, and a few neat tricks up your sleeve. Grab a cup of coffee and let’s walk through the highlights.

Hold Your Horses: Major vs. Minor Updates

You know how your car gets oil changes and tune‑ups? WordPress does, too.

• Minor updates (like 6.8.1) are your oil changes—do them right away to seal up security holes.
• Major updates (like 6.8) are more like swapping out spark plugs—give it a few days for early adopters to spot any hiccups.
• And hey—always back up your files and database before you hit “Update.” That way, you’re covered if anything goes sideways.

Pages That Pop Open Lightning‑Fast

Ever hover over a link and think, “Man, I wish this would load already”? With speculative loading, it almost does.

• WordPress quietly preloads pages when you hover, so a click feels instant.
• It’s powered by the Speculation Rules API, which means developers can tweak exactly what gets preloaded and when.
• Don’t sweat it if you’re on Safari, Firefox, or have extensions that block it—you’ll either get a speed boost or nothing at all, but never a slowdown.

Level Up Your Password Game with Bcrypt

Under the hood, WordPress has traded in its older, weaker MD5 hashing for Bcrypt. That fancy name just means your passwords are now tougher to crack.

• The switch happens automatically when each user next logs in—no dramas, no forced resets.
• It covers all your password‑related bits: login passwords, application keys, reset tokens, even the recovery‑mode key.
• Bcrypt’s “work factor” slows down brute‑force attacks, giving you peace of mind that your site’s locked tight.

A Fresh Style Book for Classic Themes

If you’re still rocking a classic theme like Twenty Seventeen, you can now peek at your site’s full Style book—colors, fonts, buttons and all—right alongside the old Customizer.

• Head to Appearance → Themes → Design to open the visual style guide.
• Patterns moved over too—find them under Appearance → Design → Patterns, keeping everything design‑related in one spot.
• It’s view‑only for now, but it’s a great way to eyeball your site’s look without clicking around.

A Smoother Styles Panel & Global Edits

When you jump into the Site Editor, you’ll spot a clean, three‑pane layout:

1. Left: your template or page list
2. Center: overall design controls (think fonts, colors, spacing)
3. Right: live preview

You can tweak global styles—fonts, colors, layouts—all in one sidebar. It feels like WordPress is getting its own workspace makeover.

Neat Design Shortcuts You’ll Love

You don’t have to dig through menus for every little thing. Here are some quick wins:

• Any image → featured image. Click your image, open the three‑dot menu, choose “Set as featured image.” Boom.
• Switch section styles on the fly. In zoomed‑out view, the block toolbar lets you flip between predefined section looks. Great for experimentation.
• Undo your image edits. Crop, rotate, resize—and if it looks off, hit Undo right from the success notice.

Query Loops, Refined

Custom post layouts just got smoother:

• In your Query Loop block, you can now Ignore sticky posts, so they don’t sneak to the top unless you want them to.
• Plus, drop in a Query Total block to show how many items your loop is pulling—perfect for archives, search results, or category pages.

One‑Click Blog‑Page Setup

Need to tell WordPress which page holds all your posts? In the Site Editor’s page list, hover a page and hit “Set as posts page.” No more hunting through Settings.

Cleaner Admin Views

Managing content in the back end just got friendlier:

• Grid view can now show a content preview—see post excerpts or page snippets at a glance.
• List view tables let you toggle between compact or spacious density. Pack ’em in or give ’em room to breathe.

Little Touches That Matter

They say the devil’s in the details—well, 6.8 chased him down:

• Buttons and menus now say “Add Item” (not “Add New Item”) for consistency.
• The Date Format screen adds two new presets—pick a style without crafting a custom string.
• Canva embeds via oEmbed—paste your Canva link right into the editor and voilà, your design appears.
• Accessibility tweaks everywhere: tighter focus outlines, clearer link text, smoother form‑control navigation.

Under the Hood: Dev‑Friendly Upgrades

If you build or tweak plugins and themes, you’ll appreciate:

• Bulk block registration with wp_register_block_types_from_metadata_collection().
• Official Interactivity API best practices for dynamic blocks.
• A new REST API filter so you can expose your menus publicly—handy for headless setups.
• Better localization for PHPMailer errors and plugin‑update emails.
• Block Hooks now work on synced patterns.
• The option to hide “Disable the visual editor” in user profiles.
• Fresh contextual body classes to fine‑tune your custom CSS.

That’s the scoop on WordPress 6.8—speed, security, style, and a handful of tweaks that make daily work a little smoother. Once you’re backed up, hit Update, then poke around in Appearance → Design, click on your images, and hover over links to feel the difference. Enjoy!

Or, you may have heard of the WordPress playground where you can spin up a free version of WordPress in your browser and test the new version of WP or most anything WordPress-related. I made a short video about the quick setup-and-run WordPress Playground:

The post What’s New in WordPress 6.8 appeared first on White Label PLR for WordPress Training.

Let’s begin with an introduction to this new release of WordPress. Then we’ll move on to the Font Library, something I called (maybe others have also) Image Cropping Override or ICO if you are one of the cool kids. Then I touch on the New Data Views wherre the site editor is getting more and more like the post and page editor. Or is it the other way around.

Oh and then it is on to the new revisions updates and then the catch-all segment that I call the miscellanious stuff.

What’s New in WordPress 6.5 – An Introduction

WordPress version 6.5 brings several exciting changes and additions. This eBook provides an overview of the key new features and improvements in the latest WordPress release.

Holding Off on Major Updates

When a major WordPress update like 6.5 is released, it’s advisable to wait a few days before updating your site. This allows time for any initial bugs to be identified and resolved.

However, minor updates that contain important security patches should be applied immediately to keep your site secure.

Backup Before Updating

Before performing any WordPress update, whether major or minor, always create a fresh full backup of your site files and database. This ensures you can restore your site if any issues occur during the update process.

Accessing the New Versions’ About Page

After updating to WordPress 6.5, you’ll see the “About” page highlighting what’s new. You can return to this page anytime by going to yourdomain.com/wp-admin/about.php or clicking the “Learn more” link in the Dashboard welcome banner.

New Features in WordPress 6.5

Font Library

The biggest addition in WordPress 6.5 is the much-anticipated Font Library. This allows you to add and manage fonts directly within WordPress for your block themes. We’ll cover this feature in-depth in an upcoming section.

Cover and Group Block Enhancements

WordPress 6.5 introduces more options for using images in Cover and Group blocks, such as:

• Drop shadow effects
• Image aspect ratio locking in Cover blocks

These improvements will be detailed in their own classes in this mini-series.

List View Improvements

The List View in the post/page editor keeps getting better with each major WordPress release. In 6.5, you can now rename (almost) every one of the blocks for improved organization.

Upcoming Changes

Some features that are still in development may or may not make it into the final 6.5 release, such as:

• Partially synced block patterns (currently a bit buggy)
• Major revisions to the Styles interface

However, there are many confirmed design, performance, and accessibility improvements we’ll highlight later in these classes.

For Developers

WordPress 6.5 brings continued iterations to the Site Editor, with the goal of creating a more cohesive editing experience alongside the post/page editor.

Developers can also look forward to:

• Interactivity API for more engaging user experiences
• Improved block registration and variations
• Updates to the HTML API and Tag Processor

For full technical details, check out the WordPress 6.5 Field Guide and release notes.

That covers the high-level changes coming in WordPress 6.5. The rest of these classes in this mini-series will take a closer look at the key new features and enhancements for users and developers.

Before we move on to those, here is my video (over-the-shoulder-style) version of the introduction to What’s New in WordPress 6.5

What’s New in WordPress 6.5: Rename Any Block in List View

WordPress 6.5 introduces an exciting update to the List View that allows you to rename any block for better content organization. This feature extends the block renaming capability first introduced for Group blocks in WordPress 6.4.

To rename a block in List View:

1. Open the List View in the block editor
2. Select the block you want to rename
3. Click the three-dot (kabob) menu on the right
4. Choose “Rename” from the dropdown options
5. Enter your desired name for the block
6. Save your changes
   This enhancement provides several key benefits:
7. Improved content structure for users – Quickly understand and navigate content by using custom labels for blocks.
8. Intuitive block editing for theme authors – Offer a more user-friendly experience within theme templates and patterns.
9. Precise content management for admins – Gain greater control and implement tailored strategies for organizing site content.

Most core blocks can be freely renamed, with a few exceptions to maintain clarity and core functionality, such as core/block, core/template-part, core/pattern, and core/navigation blocks.

For developers, block renaming is enabled by default. Third-party block authors can opt-out of allowing renaming by setting "renaming": false in the block’s block.json file.

WordPress 6.5’s block renaming improvements in List View bring a new level of flexibility and control to content organization, benefiting users, theme authors, and site administrators alike.

What’s New in WordPress 6.5: Font Library

WordPress 6.5 introduces the much-anticipated Font Library, allowing you to add and manage custom fonts directly within the WordPress Site Editor.

This feature eliminates the need for additional plugins or theme-dependence for typography customization.

To access the Font Library:

1. Go to Appearance > Editor in your WordPress admin dashboard
2. Open the Styles panel by clicking the half-circle icon
3. Select Typography
4. Click the new “Manage fonts” button on the right
   The Font Library offers three key functionalities:
5. Library tab – View all fonts from your theme and those installed via the Font Library.
6. Upload tab – Upload font files directly from your computer using the drag-and-drop area.
7. Google Fonts tab – Browse and install fonts from the Google Fonts library.

When you select a font from the Google Fonts tab, you can choose which variants to install for your website. These fonts are then stored locally in the /wp-content/uploads/fonts directory for optimal performance.

It’s important to note that the Font Library is currently only available for block themes. After installing your desired fonts, you’ll need to apply them to your site using the Styles panel in the Site Editor.
For developers, the Font Library supports registering custom font collections, allowing you to curate specific sets of fonts for your theme or plugin users.

WordPress 6.5’s Font Library feature empowers users to take control of their website typography, offering an intuitive, performance-optimized solution for adding and managing custom fonts.

Let’s have a look at this new font library.

What’s New in WordPress 6.5: Image Cropping Override

WordPress 6.5 introduces a new “image cropping override” feature for the Cover block, allowing you to maintain the aspect ratio of background images on mobile devices.

Prior to this update, the Cover block would crop background images on mobile to prioritize displaying the block’s text content. This sometimes resulted in awkwardly cropped or mostly hidden images.
Now, with the image cropping override:

1. Both the text and background image will remain visible on mobile screens
2. You can set a specific aspect ratio for the background image
3. The image will be cropped and scaled to fit the chosen aspect ratio

To use the image cropping override:

1. Select your Cover block
2. Open the block settings in the sidebar
3. Go to the Style tab
4. Scroll down to the Aspect Ratio setting
5. Choose your desired aspect ratio from the dropdown (e.g., 16:9, 4:3, square)

By setting an aspect ratio, you ensure that your Cover block’s background image displays consistently across devices, without sacrificing the visibility of your text content.

This enhancement gives you greater control over the visual presentation of your Cover blocks, enabling you to create more engaging, mobile-friendly designs.

WordPress 6.5’s image cropping override for the Cover block is a valuable addition for anyone looking to create visually striking, responsive content that looks great on any screen size.

What’s New in WordPress 6.5: New Data Views

WordPress 6.5 introduces an enhanced “data view” for the Site Editor, providing a more cohesive editing experience between the Site Editor and the post/page editors.

This update brings the Site Editor’s template management interface closer in appearance and functionality to the familiar post and page editing screens.
To access the new data view:

1. Go to Appearance > Editor in your WordPress admin dashboard
2. Click on the “Templates” option
3. Select “Manage All Templates” at the bottom of the screen
   Compared to the template management in WordPress 6.4, the new data view in 6.5 offers:
4. More information for each template on hover
5. Checkboxes for bulk actions
6. Filters for easier navigation
7. Grid view option to preview templates without opening them

The grid view, in particular, allows you to visually browse and compare different templates, making it simpler to find the one you need.

Similar enhancements have been made to the page management screen, accessible via Pages > Manage All Pages. However, the grid view for pages is still a work in progress and may not display previews consistently yet.

For developers, these updates to the Site Editor’s data view are part of a larger effort to create a more unified editing experience across all aspects of WordPress.

As WordPress continues to evolve, users can expect to see further refinements to the Site Editor interface, making

What’s New in WordPress 6.5: Revisions Update

WordPress 6.5 brings a much-improved Revisions feature, with the majority of updates focused on Styles revisions. However, there is also a small update for your Templates and Template Parts revisions. Let’s take a closer look at what’s new.

Accessing Revisions

To access the updated Revisions feature in WordPress 6.5:

1. Open the Site Editor
2. Go to Styles
3. Click the Revisions icon (clock hand with circled arrow) in the top right corner

This will display a pop-out with the number of revisions in your history. Clicking on this pop-out will show those revisions in the right sidebar.

Comparing Revisions

In WordPress 6.4, clicking on the Revisions icon for Templates or Template Parts would take you to the old revisions interface. But in 6.5, the Styles revisions interface has been greatly improved.

You can now easily toggle between different revisions by simply clicking on them in the sidebar. This allows you to quickly see what your site looked like at each saved revision point.

If you want to revert to a previous revision, it’s just a matter of clicking the “Apply” button. The selected revision will then be applied to your current site styles.

Previewing with Style Book

A handy addition in WordPress 6.5 is the ability to preview how a past revision looks on different parts of your site using the Style Book.

While in the Revisions screen with a past revision selected:

1. Click on the Style Book icon in the top toolbar
2. Toggle between different pages in your navigation

This allows you to see how that revision’s styles affect various pages across your site, giving you a more comprehensive preview before deciding to revert.

Template & Template Part Revisions

Although the main improvements are in Styles revisions, Templates and Template Parts also received a small update.

In WordPress 6.5, the Revisions interface for Templates and Template Parts now matches the updated Styles revisions interface. You’ll see the same clock hand icon and sidebar functionality for navigating between revisions.

However, this only applies if you have existing saved revisions for your Templates or Template Parts. The demo site used in this guide did not have any yet.

Overall, the enhanced Revisions feature in WordPress 6.5, especially for Styles, provides a more user-friendly and efficient way to manage and preview your site’s revision history. This improved functionality is a welcome addition for anyone regularly working with Full Site Editing.

What’s New in WordPress 6.5: Miscellaneous Updates

In addition to the major new features, WordPress 6.5 includes a variety of smaller enhancements and updates that are worth exploring. Let’s take a look at some of these miscellaneous items.

AVIF Image Format Support

WordPress 6.5 now supports the AVIF image format, alongside the existing WebP, JPEG, and PNG formats. AVIF offers better quality images at smaller file sizes compared to JPEGs.

To learn more about AVIF support in WordPress 6.5, check out the official dev note:
https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/02/23/wordpress-6-5-adds-avif-support/

Template Previews in Post Editor

When editing a post, you can now preview what it would look like in different templates. This feature is limited to block-based themes.

To preview a post in different templates:

1. Open the post editor
2. Next to the “Template” panel in the sidebar, click on the current template name
3. Choose “Preview” from the dropdown options

This will display a preview of your post using the selected template. The preview window uses the same interface as the Site Editor.

Right-Click for Block Options

In the post/page editor, you can now simply right-click on a block to open its options menu. Previously, you had to click on the three-dot kebab menu in the block toolbar.

This small change makes accessing block options quicker and more intuitive.

Drag-and-Drop Image Galleries

When working with images in the post/page editor, you can now drag and drop an image next to an existing image block to automatically convert it into a Gallery block.

Here’s how it works:

1. Insert an Image block and add your first image
2. Drag another image from your computer and hover next to the existing Image block
3. Drop the new image when you see the blue insertion line appear

The Image block will automatically convert into a Gallery block containing both images. This enhancement makes creating image galleries faster and more streamlined.

Link Preview Improvements

WordPress 6.5 introduces an improved link preview feature in the post/page editor. When adding a link to text:

1. Select the text you want to link
2. Click the “Link” button in the toolbar
3. Start typing to search for the page/post you want to link to
4. Select the desired page/post from the search results

The link preview window now remains open after inserting a link, allowing you to easily copy the link URL or make further edits. This is an improvement over previous versions, where the window would close immediately after adding a link.

Partially Synced Patterns (Postponed)

It’s worth noting that the Partially Synced Patterns feature, which was originally planned for WordPress 6.5, has been postponed to the next major release due to some remaining bugs and issues. This feature will allow better pattern synchronization between the Site Editor and post editor.

These are just a few of the many smaller enhancements and updates included in WordPress 6.5, alongside the larger features like the Font Library and updated Revisions interface.

For a full list of changes, you can refer to the official WordPress 6.5 Release Notes and Field Guide, which provide more technical details on everything new in this release.

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