WordPress 5.3 (and the subsequent 5.3.1 maintenance and security release) has been released to the VIP Platform. Named “Kirk” in in honor of jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, the release includes hundreds of new features and usability improvements for the block editor and various other interfaces and APIs.
The Highlights
The block editor now includes with more intuitive interactions, additional layout options, and style variations to allow designers more control over the look of a site. For example, the new Group block lets you easily divide your page into colorful sections.
Accessibility improvements include the integration of block editor styles in the admin interface, which fix many issues like color contrast on form fields and buttons, consistency between editor and admin interfaces, and more. For people who use a keyboard to navigate the dashboard, the block editor now has a Navigation mode, which lets you jump from block to block without tabbing through every part of the block controls.
This release also introduces the Twenty Twenty theme giving the user more design flexibility and integration with the block editor. Creating beautiful web pages and advanced layouts has never been easier.
Other Notable Changes
Admin Email Verification: you’ll now be periodically asked to confirm that your admin email address is up-to-date when you log in as an administrator.
Date/Time Component Fixes: Developers can now work with dates and timezones in a more reliable way thanks to a number of new API functions for unified timezone retrieval and PHP interoperability.
PHP 7.4 Compatibility: This release works seamlessly with PHP 7.4. Please stay tuned for news around PHP 7.4 upgrade plans for the VIP Platform.
Update Dec 11th, 20:41 UTC: The WordPress Core team has delayed the release of WordPress 5.3.1 until tomorrow, Thursday, December 12. We will be updating all VIP Go sites to WordPress 5.3.1 once it is released ( skipping version 5.3 on production ) .
WordPress 5.3.1 will be deployed to production environments next Wednesday, December 11 when WordPress 5.3.1 is available.
During the course of the initial upgrade to WordPress 5.3, we identified an issue in the way JavaScript is concatenated on VIP Go. In short, JavaScript that opts in to Strict Mode can’t be concatenated with JavaScript that does not. In certain contexts, this could lead to JavaScript errors on certain pages and break expected functionality.
All develop and preprod environments have already been upgraded to the new version. We recommend continued testing of WordPress 5.3 there to ensure a smooth upgrade.
Upgrades of production environments have been paused due to some sites experiencing JavaScript errors impacting the editing experience within WP Admin. We have completed our upgrades to WordPress 5.3 across all develop and preprod WordPress environments on the VIP Go platform. To have your production environment upgraded, get in touch with us.
What are my next steps?
To ensure your site’s compatibility with WordPress 5.3 we strongly recommend you thoroughly test your non-production environments. We also recommend updating all plugins to their latest versions.
Updated deployment timeline
We will resume upgrading production sites to WordPress 5.3 once we are confident we have resolved the underlying cause. This post will be updated once we have a new date and time for the upgrade.
If you have any testing feedback or questions related to this release, please open a ticket, and we’ll be happy to assist.
WordPress 5.3 was released to the general public on November 12, 2019, and we’ve already rolled out the latest release across the WordPress.com VIP platform. This update specifically pertains to sites running on VIP Go and includes a final call for testing and deployment timeline.
WordPress 5.3 Deployment Timeline on VIP Go
We’ll be upgrading all sites across the VIP Go platform to WordPress 5.3 on Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at 8pm UTC / 3pm ET / 12pm PT.
As with all upgrades, this date is subject to change if critical issues are discovered during testing. If the upgrade date does move, we’ll keep you updated through additional Lobby posts.
Final Call for Testing
In a recent Lobby post, we detailed the many enhancements included in the latest WordPress release. If you haven’t reviewed that post already, we encourage you to do so.
For local environments, we highly recommend updating to the beta release using the Beta Tester plugin or updating to track 5.3 via either the Subversion or GitHub repos. (If you’re using VVV, one of the default sites will already be tracking 5.3. For Chassis users, you can switch your install to a separate checkout.)
WordPress 5.3 is also available for development environments on VIP Go. If you would like to have non-production sites switched to 5.3 for testing purposes, please open a ticket, and we can set that up for you.
How Should I Surface Issues?
If you have any testing feedback or questions related to this release, please open a ticket, and we’ll be happy to assist.
WordPress 5.3, named “Kirk” in honour of jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, is now publicly available. For sites on WordPress.com VIP, we’ve already rolled out the bulk of the enhancements in the new release. For VIP Go sites, we’re still on track to upgrade all sites on Tuesday, December 3, 2019.
Today, we want to share updates on the enhancements in WordPress 5.3 to help you test your application ahead of the new release.
Enhancements in WordPress 5.3
A large portion of the enhancements in WordPress 5.3 is directed at the block editor originally introduced in WordPress 5.0.
Improved Speed in Block Editor
WordPress 5.3 brings enormous speed improvements to the block editor, particularly when working with posts that have hundreds of blocks. Here’s a benchmark of the performance increase with the upcoming release for a post containing ~1,000 blocks and ~36,000 words.
Upgrades to Existing Blocks
Many existing blocks received an upgrade. For example, the Columns Block now includes additional layout options and the ability to set the width on a per-column basis.
Other blocks receiving an upgrade include:
Table Block – You can now add header/footer rows directly in the block customization options.
Button Block – You’ll have more control over color selection and border radius.
Latest Post Block – You’ll be able to add excerpts (and control their length) of your latest posts.
New Gutenberg Blocks
The WordPress 5.3 release adds a new social icons block that enables you to place social sharing icons virtually anywhere within a post or page.
You can also group blocks together and interact with them as a group, making it easier to design reusable sections and templates for your content.
Accessibility Improvements
WordPress 5.3 introduces many accessibility improvements including a number of style fixes: color contrast on form fields and buttons, consistency between editor and admin interfaces, new snackbar notices, standardizing to the default WordPress color scheme, and the introduction of Motion to make interacting with your blocks feel swift and natural.
For people who use a keyboard to navigate the dashboard, the block editor now has a Navigation mode. This lets you jump from block to block without tabbing through every part of the block controls.
Unified Approach for Time Zone Retrieval and Date Localization
WordPress 5.3 introduces new API functions for a unified approach for time zone retrieval and date localization. Previously, date and time components relied on a WordPress timestamp, a sum of Unix timestamp with a time zone offset. This created bugs and a lack of interoperability upstream with external systems. New functions like wp_date() and current_datetime() provide a more reliable way to manage time and date localization.
Improved Experience for Uploading Images
Using EXIF metadata, WordPress 5.3 will automatically rotate images correctly on upload. It also improves large image support for uploading non-optimized, high-resolution pictures taken from your smartphone or other high-quality cameras.
Instructions for Testing WordPress 5.3
For local environments, we highly recommend updating to the beta release using the Beta Tester plugin or updating to track 5.3 (i.e. bleeding edge) via either the Subversion or GitHub repos.
(If you’re using VVV, one of the default sites will already be tracking
5.3. For Chassis users, you can switch your install to switch over to a separate checkout.)
How Should I Surface Issues?
If you have any testing feedback or questions related to this release, please open a ticket, and we’ll be happy to assist.
The WordPress 5.3 development cycle is fast approaching an end, and the second release candidate is now available for download. We wanted to provide an update on our intended release timelines for both VIP Go and WordPress.com VIP.
WordPress 5.3 Release Schedule
While the anticipated release date is set for November 12, 2019, the 5.3 release across WordPress VIP will be platform dependent.
WordPress.com VIP: As with all Core upgrades, we have begun pushing incremental updates leading up to the public release. Many of the enhancements from WordPress 5.3 have already been deployed to the platform, and we’ll finish deploying the final changes by the end of the week starting November 4, 2019.
VIP Go: We’ll deploy the release to all sites on VIP Go on Tuesday, December 3, 2019.
These dates are subject to change if critical issues are discovered during testing or the public release is delayed. We’ll continue to keep you updated through Lobby posts if the dates do change.
Instructions for Testing WordPress 5.3
For local environments, we highly recommend updating to the beta release using the Beta Tester plugin or updating to track 5.3 (i.e. bleeding edge) via either the Subversion or GitHub repos. (If you’re using VVV, one of the default sites will already be tracking 5.3. For Chassis users, you can switch your install to switch over to a separate checkout.)
How Should I Surface Issues?
If you have any testing feedback or questions related to this release, please open a ticket, and we’ll be happy to assist.
WordPress VIP Lobby 
You must be logged in to post a comment.