WordPress 5.7.1, a security maintenance release, has been pushed out to all VIP sites running WordPress 5.7 that were not locked to a specific version.
WordPress 5.7 has been released to the WordPress VIP platform.
Bringing you fresh colors in the admin, simpler interactions in the editor, and controls right where you need them, WordPress 5.7 lets you focus on the content you create. You’ll see 66 enhancements and feature requests, 127 bug fixes, and more!
“Esperanza” is named in honor of Esperanza Spalding, a modern musical prodigy. Her path as a musician is varied and inspiring—learn more about her and give her music a listen!
Updating your local development environments to the beta release using the Beta Tester plugin or updating it to track 5.7 (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 5.7 RC 1 now. If this is something you’re interested in, please open a ticket and we can set it up for you.
When Will WordPress 5.7 Be Deployed?
WordPress 5.7 will be rolled out to all VIP sites on Tuesday, March 9, 2021.
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.
Improvements to the block editor, including improvements to inserter drag-and-drop, full height alignment, block variations, reusable blocks, the buttons block, the social icons block, and many bug fixes.
The ability to standardize colors used in WP-Admin CSS to a single palette.
A new Robots API, which allows the filter directives to be included in the ‘robots’ meta tag.
The core community team is expecting to publish 5.7-related developer notes in the coming weeks, and these will describe the above changes in more detail.
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:
Remove jQuery Migrate 1.x. This was completed in WordPress 5.5 (August, 2020).
Remove jQuery Migrate completely. This is included in WordPress 5.7 (March, 2021).
Update: Step 3 in the changes to jQuery in WordPress core has been moved to the WordPress 5.8 release, expected in June, 2021.
Is there a plugin that I can use, instead of upgrading themes and plugins?
The jQuery Migrate Helper plugin may allow users to continue to use an outdated, legacy version of jQuery. However, we recommend using the latest version of jQuery in WordPress core for performance and security reasons, as well as for continued plugin compatibility.
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.
What do I need to do?
We recommend:
Updating your local development environments to the beta release using the Beta Tester plugin or updating it to track 5.7 (i.e. trunk) via either the Subversion or GitHub repos.
You can have your non-production sites switched to WordPress 5.7 now. If this is something you’re interested in, please open a ticket and we can set it up for you.
Testing for bugs is a vital part of polishing the release during the beta stage and a great way to contribute. ✨
WordPress 5.7 will be rolled out to all VIP Go sites on March 9, 2021.
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.
WordPress VIP Lobby 
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