WordPress 5.6.2 Maintenance Release

WordPress 5.6.2, a maintenance release, has been pushed out to all VIP sites running WordPress 5.6 that were not locked to a specific version.

This maintenance release features 5 bug fixes affecting WordPress 5.6.1. To see a full list of changes, you can browse the list on Trac, read the 5.6.2 RC1 post, or visit the 5.6.2 documentation page.

For more details about this release (including specific changes), please see the announcement post and release notes.

Have questions?

If you have any questions related to this release, please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.

WordPress 5.6.1 Maintenance Release

WordPress 5.6.1, a maintenance release, has been pushed out to all VIP sites running WordPress 5.6 that were not locked to a specific version.

This maintenance release features 20 bug fixes as well as 7 issues in the block editor. To see a full list of changes, you can browse the list on Trac, read the 5.6.1 RC1 post, or visit the 5.6.1 documentation page.

For more details about this release (including specific changes), please see the announcement post and release notes.

Have questions?

If you have any questions related to this release, please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.

New Release: WordPress 5.6 “Simone”

Nina Simone

WordPress 5.6 has been released to the VIP platform. This release has been named for the legendary performer Nina Simone, who is known for tunes like “Feeling Good”, “Young, Gifted and Black”, and “Four Women”.

What is being added or changed?

Changes to jQuery

This version of WordPress makes important changes to the use of jQuery. WordPress 5.6 includes part 2 of the 3-step plan for upgrading the version of jQuery bundled with core. WordPress 5.6 now uses the latest version of jQuery (3.5.1), the latest version of jQuery Migrate (3.3.2), as well as the latest jQuery UI (1.12.1).

Updates to jQuery in WordPress take place across three releases 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7. Developers should update jQuery dependencies in their themes and plugins in order to co-ordinate with these changes.

Is there a plugin that I can use, instead of upgrading themes and plugins?

The jQuery Migrate Helper plugin will now allow sites to stay on the legacy version of jQuery. Only the latest version of the plugin, v.1.2.0, released just days ago, has this feature.

We don’t recommend this route as it hides issues that need to be corrected, reduces alignment with the WordPress core codebase, and incurs technical debt that will be increased in future WordPress core upgrades. There are also security implications when using the legacy version of jQuery. However, it may solve some immediate problems.

Other Changes

  • Improvements in the Block editor
    These include greater layout flexibility, more block patterns, and better video captioning. The block editor continues its rapid iteration. Gutenberg version 9.2 is bundled with WordPress 5.6; that’s seven Gutenberg releases (versions 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 9.0, 9.1, and 9.2) all bundled into this release (and as noted in the related Gutenberg handbook page)! Bug fixes and performance improvements from Gutenberg versions 9.3 and 9.4 are also part of 5.6.
  • A new default theme
    Twenty Twenty-One is a theme that puts accessibility at the heart of your website.
  • Improved PHP 8 support
    The WordPress project has a long history of being compatible with new versions of PHP as soon as possible, and this release is no different.
  • Better accessibility
  • REST API authentication with Application Passwords
    You can now make authenticated requests to various WordPress APIs via the newly-introduced, user-specific, application passwords.
  • Changes to Site Health Checks
    There are 11 Site Health updates in 5.6. You’ll want to particularly notice enhancements to the way the Site Health component handles and validates health checks. 
  • Rest API improvements
    Of the 28 REST API updates, pay attention to the new framework for making a series of REST API calls in one request to the server and the new wp_after_insert_post action that allows theme and plugin developers to run custom code after a post, its terms, meta data has been updated. Read the respective dev notes below to learn more about these two new additions to the WordPress REST API.

You’ll see 85 enhancements and feature requests, 201 bug fixes, and more! 

WordPress 5.6 brings you countless ways to set your ideas free and bring them to life. With a brand-new default theme as your canvas, it supports an ever-growing collection of blocks as your brushes. Paint with words. Pictures. Sound. Or rich embedded media.

– WordPress.org

For more details about this release (including specific changes), please see the announcement post and Field Guide.

We also outlined some of the included changes when the beta version was released, and again when the Release Candidate was available.

Questions?

If you have any questions related to this release, please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.

Call for Testing: WordPress 5.6 Release Candidate

WordPress 5.6 is scheduled for public release on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, and the 5.6 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is now available for testing. We recommend clients review the changelog as part of their testing.

What is being added or changed?

We outlined some of the upcoming changes when the beta version was released. You may want to review the following changes:

Changes to jQuery

Developers will need to update jQuery dependencies in their themes and plugins in order to co-ordinate with a three-step plan to update the version of jQuery included in WordPress. This plan was announced by the Core WordPress Community team last June. The changes involved have been spread across three major releases and 10 months.

The three steps were as follows:

  1. Remove jQuery Migrate 1.x.
    This was completed in WordPress 5.5 (August, 2020).*
  2. Update to the latest version of jQuery (3.5.1) and add the latest version of jQuery Migrate (3.3.2). Update to the latest jQuery UI (1.12.1).
    This will be part of WordPress 5.6 (December, 2020).
  3. Remove jQuery Migrate completely.
    This is planned for WordPress 5.7 (March, 2021).

* Developers who did not upgrade in time for the removal of jQuery Migrate 1.x, and relied on the use of the jQuery Migrate Helper plugin instead, will need to complete that work, as well as the second step in this process.

Is there a plugin that I can use, instead of upgrading themes and plugins?

No. The jQuery Migrate Helper plugin will no longer mitigate against the jQuery changes in WordPress core, once WordPress 5.6 is released. In addition, jQuery Migrate 3.3.2 will not cover all the cases that jQuery Migrate 1.x did.

What changes do I make? How do I test?

The core team has provided some jQuery-related testing instructions and an overview of the changes necessary.

Testing with the Test jQuery Updates plugin

You may want to test locally using the Test jQuery Updates plugin. It is also possible to enable the plugin in non-production environment on the VIP Go platform. The plugin is enabled if the VIP_ENABLE_TEST_JQUERY_UPDATES constant is set. You can also use vip_load_test_jquery_updates in a query string.

Will my jQuery-dependent code work?

We’ve created a chart that summarizes which jQuery-dependent code is likely to work in WordPress 5.6, as compared to other versions of WordPress. Please note that this should be used for rough guidance. Testing is strongly recommended.

Will my code work?: jQuery changes in WordPress core versions

As this is a major upgrade to the jQuery library, please make sure you test your plugins and themes as thoroughly as possible before the release of WordPress 5.6 to avoid any preventable breakage.

– Make WordPress Core

For a more detailed list of changes, see the RC 1 release announcement.

What do I need to do?

We recommend:

  1. Local development: Updating your local development environments to the release candidate using the Beta Tester plugin or updating it to track 5.6 (i.e. trunk) via either the Subversion or GitHub repos.
  2. Non-production environments: For sites on VIP Go, you can have your non-production sites switched to WordPress 5.6 now. If this is something you’re interested in, please open a ticket and we can set it up for you.
  3. jQuery changes: Updating theme and plugin code to be compatible with jQuery version 3.5.1 combined with the newer jQuery Migrate plugin version 3.3.1

When Will WordPress 5.6 Be Deployed?

VIP Go: WordPress 5.6 will be rolled out to all VIP Go sites on Tuesday, December 8, 2020.

WordPress.com VIP: As with all Core upgrades, we’ll be pushing incremental updates leading up to the public release.

Please note that the deployment dates are subject to change if critical issues are discovered during testing or the public release is delayed. We’ll post updates to the Lobby if the dates do change.

Questions?

If you have testing feedback or questions, related to this release, please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.

Call for Testing: WordPress 5.6 (Beta)

WordPress 5.6 is scheduled for public release on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, and the 5.6 Beta 1 release is now available for testing.

What is being added or changed?

Improvements in the Editor

WordPress 5.6 includes seven Gutenberg plugin releases. Here are a few highlighted enhancements:

  • Improved support for video positioning in cover blocks.
  • Enhancements to Block Patterns including translatable strings.
  • Character counts in the information panel, improved keyboard navigation, and other adjustments to help users find their way better.
  • Improved UI for drag and drop functionality, as well as block movers.

To see all of the features for each release in detail check out the release posts: 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 9.0, 9.1, and 9.2 (link forthcoming).

A new default theme

The default theme is making its annual return with Twenty Twenty-One. This theme features a streamlined and elegant design, which aims to be AAA ready.

Auto-update option for major releases

The much anticipated opt-in for major releases of WordPress Core will ship in this release. With this functionality, you can elect to have major releases of the WordPress software update in the background with no additional fuss for your users.

Increased support for PHP 8

The next major version release of PHP, 8.0.0, is scheduled for release just a few days prior to WordPress 5.6. The WordPress project has a long history of being compatible with new versions of PHP as soon as possible, and this release is no different.

Because PHP 8 is a major version release, changes that break backward compatibility or compatibility for various APIs are allowed. Contributors have been hard at work fixing the known incompatibilities with PHP 8 in WordPress during the 5.6 release cycle.

While all of the detectable issues in WordPress can be fixed, you will need to verify that all of your plugins and themes are also compatible with PHP 8 prior to upgrading. Keep an eye on the Making WordPress Core blog in the coming weeks for more detailed information about what to look for.

Application Passwords for REST API Authentication

Since the REST API was merged into Core, only cookie & nonce based authentication has been available (without the use of a plugin). This authentication method can be a frustrating experience for developers, often limiting how applications can interact with protected endpoints.

With the introduction of Application Password in WordPress 5.6, gone is this frustration and the need to jump through hoops to re-authenticate when cookies expire. But don’t worry, cookie and nonce authentication will remain in WordPress as-is if you’re not ready to change.

Application Passwords are user specific, making it easy to grant or revoke access to specific users or applications (individually or wholesale). Because information like “Last Used” is logged, it’s also easy to track down inactive credentials or bad actors from unexpected locations.

Better accessibility

With every release, WordPress works hard to improve accessibility. Version 5.6 is no exception and will ship with a number of accessibility fixes and enhancements. Take a look:

  • Announce block selection changes manually on windows.
  • Avoid focusing the block selection button on each render.
  • Avoid rendering the clipboard textarea inside the button
  • Fix dropdown menu focus loss when using arrow keys with Safari and Voiceover
  • Fix dragging multiple blocks downwards, which resulted in blocks inserted in wrong position.
  • Fix incorrect aria description in the Block List View.
  • Add arrow navigation in Preview menu.
  • Prevent links from being focusable inside the Disabled component.

When Will WordPress 5.6 Be Deployed?

VIP Go: WordPress 5.6 will be rolled out to all VIP Go sites on Tuesday, December 8, 2020.

WordPress.com VIP: As with all Core upgrades, we’ll be pushing incremental updates leading up to the public release.

Please note that the deployment dates are subject to change if critical issues are discovered during testing or the public release is delayed. We’ll post updates to the Lobby if the dates do change.

What Should I Do?

We highly recommend updating your local development environments to the beta release using the Beta Tester plugin or updating it to track 5.6 (i.e. trunk) via either the Subversion or GitHub repos.

For sites on VIP Go, you can have your non-production sites switched to WordPress 5.6. Currently, this means switching to the “Trunk” branch with active development. If this is something you’re interested in, please open a ticket and we can set it up for you.

And, as always, if you have any questions related to this release, please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.