The countdown has begun. In a few days, at the beginning of November, WordPress 6.4 will be officially rolled out.
Looking for information about this upcoming major release? You've come to the right place.
This article will reveal the New features and improvements in WP 6.4, even before its release.
For example, you will become acquainted with Twenty Twenty-Four, which could become your next favorite theme, who knows.
And to make everything perfectly clear, we have also incorporated screenshots to show you precisely what some of the options you will soon be able to enjoy look like.
Discover the rest without delay.
Practical information about WordPress 6.4
The third major version of 2023
The official launch of WordPress 6.4 is planned Tuesday November 7, 2023.
This will be the third and final major version of the CMS (Content management system) to be released in 2023.
WP 6.4 will succeed WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy”, released on March 29, and WordPress 6.3 “Lionel”, released on August 8, 2023.
Did you know Each major release of WordPress is named after a jazz musician because the developers at the core of WordPress share a love of this music.
For example, version 1.0 of the CMS is called Miles Davis. Version 6.3 is named Lionel, after the American jazz musician Lionel Hampton.
According to the official WordPress 6.4 roadmap, this new version "focuses on improving elements of the WordPress experience, from the details of writing a new post to pattern management" (Editor's note: block compositions) across your entire site. These efforts include adding new features, such as font management and a new default theme, and addressing gaps in existing features, such as providing more tools for advanced design.
Six versions of the Gutenberg extension (from 16.2 to 16.7) must be integrated into WordPress Core 6.4.
This major release also has a specific feature: it is led by a team of an "underrepresented gender" (underrepresented gender release squad).
The person responsible for this version is Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the executive director of WordPress.
Finally, let's remember that this version 6.4 of WordPress is part of phase 3 of the Gutenberg projectlaunched in early 2023.
During this phase, it will be possible, for example, to co-write content "in a more intuitive way" using the WordPress editor.
How to test WordPress 6.4 safely?
If you are reading this article before the release of WordPress 6.4, please note that you can test this new version before its official launch.
Are you looking to embark on this adventure? Several precautions must be taken:
- Never install a version still under development (Beta or Release Candidate) on your production siteUse only a test site, for example, locally. For this, you can use... the Local tool ;
- always back up your site (files + database) before a test. To do this, use a backup plugin (e.g., UpdraftPlus) or a website management tool like ManageWP ou WP Umbrella.
Info Before the official launch of a major version, WordPress "publishes" test versions called Beta and Release Candidate (RC). Most of the time, there are three of each, with a Release Candidate representing a final version before the public launch of a major WordPress release.
These test versions allow contributors to report bugs and other technical problems… and to fix as many as possible before the official release.
Once in your test environment, install and activate the plugin WordPress Beta Tester on your administration interface (Extensions menu > Add).
Next, go to the Tools > Beta Testing menu on your WordPress back office, and select the following radio buttons:
- Version currently under development ;
- Beta/RC only.
Then click on the "Save changes" button:
Finally, go to the Dashboard menu > Updates, and upgrade to the latest version of WordPress 6.4, if available.
In the example below, we have installed WordPress version 6.4 Beta 1:
WordPress 6.4: What's New
Twenty Twenty-Four, a new default theme
One of the major new features of WordPress 6.4 is the arrival of a new default theme, called Twenty Twenty-Four.
So far, nothing too groundbreaking, since WordPress usually releases a native theme once a year.
However, where Twenty Twenty-Four distinguishes itself from its predecessors is in its concept.
While the old native themes were somehow single-use, Twenty Twenty-Four is multi-purpose..
"The idea behind Twenty Twenty-Four is to create a default theme that can be used on any type of website, with any topic," explains his introductory article.
To achieve this, you will benefit from templates (page models) and patterns (block compositions) to design a website in 3 different areas:
- entrepreneurs and small businesses ;
- photographers and artists ;
- writers and bloggers.
Based on blocks and compatible with the WordPress Site Editor, Twenty Twenty-Four offers the "Cardo" font for titles, and a sans-serif font for paragraphs.
Modern and elegant, the theme also includes 9 different color palettes and more than thirty patterns :
Info WordPress 6.4 will also allow you to benefit from revisions to the templates and template parts (a type of block used to structure your site) offered by your theme. This will allow you to revert to previous versions at any time during the page building process, if you deem it necessary.
A font library on WordPress 6.4
Erratum: the font library has been delayed and will be available with WordPress version 6.5.
After Twenty Twenty-Four, you will also discover a very practical new feature: the Font Library.
This is'a font library which will allow you to install, remove and activate fonts from different sources (e.g. Google Fonts, your local computer), directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Like the Media Library, this Font Library is accessible regardless of your active theme, and you can select the activated fonts (available in the editor) for each theme:
New options related to blocks
Regarding blocks, new options will appear in WordPress 6.4:
- Within the "Image" block, an option that you can activate ("Image lightbox") will allow you toto show or hide an image in a highlighted window, when a user clicks on it.
- a feature ofautomatic block insertion (called "Block Hooks") will be suggested. For example, if you want to insert a menu on your site, WordPress may advise you to add a login or logout option using a block contained in a plugin active on your site.
- More options for displaying messages are available within the "Query Loop" block. (Query Loop). For example, you can decide how many pages you want to display.
Info A block is essentially a container holding content (text, image, video, etc.) within the WordPress editor. Blocks are used without coding and can be moved anywhere within your post or page.
The new blocks were planned but… abandoned along the way
Initially, three new blocks were also expected to appear with WordPress 6.4:
- the block « Table of Contents » (Table of Contents);
- the block « Estimated lecture time » ('Time to Read');
- the block « Scroll marking (Scrolling Marquee).
For various reasons, these three blocks will ultimately not be included in WP 6.4. For example, after discussions, contributors felt that the "Scrolling Marquee" block was not a "standard" block that everyone needs.
Its inclusion has therefore been abandoned for the time being, to make room for other priorities:
The "Table of Contents" and "Estimated Reading Time" blocks are still to come. The release of the "Estimated Reading Time" block, for example, should be included in WordPress 6.5. Stay tuned.
Beyond these various new features, WordPress 6.4 also offers improvements to "current characteristics and experiences"We will detail them in the following section.
What improvements does WP 6.4 bring?
The writing experience
One of the priorities of the WordPress Core contributors is to make the writing process transparent and enjoyable.
Several efforts have been made in this direction, on WordPress 6.4. Various options contained in certain blocks have been improved.
This is the case, for example, with the "List" block, which allows you to create a bulleted list. Now, the toolbar remains attached to its parent block whenever you switch to a list item contained within a child block.
This principle also applies to the "Navigation" and "Quote" blocks. Furthermore, it is also possible to orient text vertically, provided that your theme developers have chosen this option:
The interface and tools
The interface and tools offered have also been simplified when you create a site or write an article.
With WordPress 6.4, you can now:
- duplicate blocks using a keyboard shortcut (CMD+Shift+d on Mac or Ctrl+Shift+d on PC), inside the List View;
- enjoy a distraction-free mode to write with complete peace of mind on the Site Editor. This mode was already available on the content editor.
- take advantage of improvements to the Command Palette (Command Palette), as well as new commands. For example, it is possible to duplicate, copy, delete, and insert after/before.
Design
To allow for more complex designs, improvements have been made to the design tools offered by the publisher.
"These efforts range from block-specific changes, such as adding support for background images on the Group block, to larger efforts, such as extending theme.json to provide preset spacing sizes," WordPress explains.
Info The theme.json file is the configuration file for a block-based theme.
Regarding Global Styles, the contributors have been working on "From more technical updates in theme.json, to work more focused on the user interface around the Styles menu".
The goal? To make Global Styles as easy to use as possible. Speaking of which, you should know that once WordPress 6.4 is active on your site, you will also be able to Easily restore your global styles to their default settings..
Imagine that a modification doesn't suit you; you can restore its original state with one click.
Info Global Styles are a feature that allows you to modify the typography, colors, and layout across your entire site in just a few clicks. With them, you no longer need to customize the appearance of each block individually.
Compositions on WordPress 6.4
With the release of WordPress 6.3, the editing experience around block compositions (patterns) saw significant advancements, such as the ability to:
- create and synchronize your compositions across your entire site;
- have all your compositions in one place, in a "Pattern Library" created for the occasion within the WordPress Site Editor.
The contributors to WordPress 6.4 have been working to consolidate the work undertaken on WP 6.3.
For example, you might have a quick overview of the synchronization status of a pattern in the "Details" section dedicated to it.
The folder containing all your compositions has been simply renamed "My compositions" and is now located at the top of your sidebar, for immediate visibility:
Practical actions have also been added to each composition. You can easily delete, duplicate, rename, and export them in JSON format :
In parallel, it is now possible to create and modify your own composition categories, in order to classify them and find them more easily later.
Info Initially, WordPress 6.4 was planned to include a feature for partially synchronizing compositions. This would allow content to be updated independently while locking the layout and style of the composition. We'll have to wait a little longer to see this option in action; it could arrive with WordPress 6.5 in early 2024.
Footnotes
Introduced in WordPress 6.3, the "Footer Notes" block now supports the following customization options:
- color of the links, the background and the text of the footnotes;
- font selectiondimensions and borders.
Info Upon its release in August 2023, WordPress 6.3 introduced a feature to automatically restore a theme or plugin if an error was detected during a manual update. WordPress 6.4 was intended to continue this work by implementing an automatic restoration feature during automatic updates to your site (e.g., for minor updates). However, due to several technical issues encountered during testing, this option will not be included in WP 6.4.
That concludes this overview of the new features and improvements brought by WordPress 6.4.
Let's not forget to mention that This major version also improves performance and accessibility, while also fixing hundreds of technical bugs encountered during its development.
Our recommendations when upgrading to WordPress 6.4
So, WordPress 6.4 has just been released and you want to update your website to this new version?
This is an excellent idea, especially for to benefit from new features and to strengthen the security of your WordPress site (an up-to-date website is more resistant to hacker attacks).
However, before taking action, we recommend the following:
- Back up your website before any updateIn case of a problem, you can restore it with one click;
- First, test WordPress 6.4 in a test environment., for example locally. If everything is working and you are not experiencing any technical problems, perform the update on your live site;
- before updating the core of the CMS, First, update your theme and plugins. ;
- Wait a few days before switching to a new major version of WP (here WP 6.4). Newly released versions often contain minor technical bugs which, rest assured, are quickly fixed. It's still best to wait a little while until everything is more stable before upgrading to a new version;
- once the update has been completed on your live site, Test your site on different browsers and screen sizesTo check that your pages are responsive on computers, smartphones, and tablets, also verify that the layout hasn't changed and that all your content is still there.
Have you encountered a problem or simply want assistance switching to WordPress 6.4 without risks?
Available 7 days a week, WordPress support service WP Maintenance will offer you a tailor-made solution that will meet your needs with speed, professionalism and efficiency.
