One of the characteristics of online software is the periodic release of updates. This is only normal as the world thrives on innovations and improvements. Thus, WordPress has scheduled the release of its latest software update, WordPress 6.4. It’s set to come out on the 7th of November, 2023, and has several minor UI refinements. It also has over a hundred performance improvements, and the beta is out for you to test out.
Today at Pugu Digital, I’ll examine the proposed updates and what your site has to gain from them. Here are some key points to summarize its release:
Highlight Summary:
- On the 7th of November, WordPress will release version 6.4, which includes over a hundred efficiency improvements.
- The new default theme, TwentyTwentyFour (TT4), boasts superior quality and lightning-fast loading times.
- The WordPress 6.4 update improves the user experience in many ways, including script loading, image optimization, and style management.
WordPress since 2021
Website performance has steadily improved since the proposal to establish a WordPress Performance Team in 2021. It has nearly doubled in the two years thanks to this latest release. WordPress, at the time, admitted that it was responsible for the effectiveness of the core CMS itself.
The team quickly released the Efficiency Lab plugin and has slowly integrated it into every WordPress change. This is to prevent unnecessary bloat and performance bottlenecks. The results of their work are evident in the HTTPArchive Core Internet Vitals Technology Report. You’ll find documented the efficiency measurements of real WordPress websites. It will be the third major update of 2023 and will include many enhancements, repairs, and speed boosts. Below are some improvements you are bound to see.
Twenty TwentyFour Has Become the Standard Design Scheme
Each year, WordPress releases a fresh set of default themes. This feature is typically included in the final release of the year. Twenty Twenty-Four will replace Twenty Twenty-Three as the standard theme for WordPress 6.4. The new default theme, like its predecessor, will have a clean, uncluttered appearance out of the box.
But don’t be fooled by its simple design. This robust theme comes with a tonne of handy extras. It’s optimized for use with the Site Editor and comes with six different design options. Dozens of WordPress block patterns are also included, which can be used in the WordPress site editor or while creating new pages and articles. Among these patterns are a number of “section patterns,” which allow you to insert complete parts into your pages or templates easily.
Manage Fonts Across Your Website with Font Library
The new Font Library function will be available in WordPress 6.4. Users will be able to control the fonts shown in their WordPress theme and throughout their entire website. Site editors can access the Font Library via the Styles panel. They will have the option of including or excluding specific typefaces from their website.
With the help of Font Library, WordPress users can easily add Google Fonts to their sites. Once connected, it will download the font files from Google’s servers. After that, your font servers will take over.
Lightbox Popup Image Enlargement
In WordPress 6.4 update, users can activate lightbox popups for featured photos. After uploading an image, you may have it open in a lightbox popup by toggling the Expand on Click option under the block’s options.
With this easy-to-use picture popup, visitors may view photographs in more detail without leaving the current page. It’s in its infant stages, so don’t expect much. Examples include the Gallery block, where individual images must be configured rather than the entire gallery.
Enhanced Menu for Making Commands
The WordPress 6.4 update will provide various enhancements to the tool as well as new shortcuts for using the interface. The first noticeable change is a slight darkening of the design.
Second, new block-related commands and actions have been added. The command palette provides options to replicate, modify, remove, and add blocks. For instance, the command palette allows batch transformations of selected blocks.
Block Editor Enhancements
This version’s primary focus is enhancing and expanding the functionality of the site and block editors. The third phase of the Gutenberg project has begun, and its emphasis on teamwork is already showing signs of bearing fruit. Several of the Gutenberg (the block editor’s project name) releases will be included in the core of WordPress 6.4. There are many improvements and new features in each of them.
WordPress 6.4 Block Hooks
The Block Hooks API is coming to the new WordPress update with version 6.4. When activated, plugins might then immediately begin adding blocks. Block hooks, which take their inspiration from the core WordPress hooks, will let plugin creators interact with the block editor and enhance blocks without directly modifying them.
In the case of a membership blog site, a login link can now be included in the main menu using a plugin. You can turn plugin-added blocks on, or off by accessing the block panel.
Improved Pattern Management
In the most recent WordPress update, Patterns replaced Reusable Blocks, and a dedicated screen for managing patterns was added to the site editor. In WordPress 6.4, the site editor will have better pattern management capabilities.
When making a new design, you may now include groupings for them. In version 6.4, you can add categories to your workflow to better manage your synced and unsynced patterns. These groups can be sorted within the insertion flow to facilitate finding and adding designs.
WordPress 6.4 Accessibility
Seventy accessibility enhancements are planned for the WordPress 6.4 update; sixty are included in Beta 1. Better button placement, enhanced context for “Add New” admin menu items, and revised spoken messages in Site Health are just some of the changes made to improve the user interface (UI).
Furthermore, “no motion” options for GIFs, error reporting on the login screen, and picture editing in the Media Library have all been fixed. Some false positives in automated UI testing have been fixed, and the Classic Editor plugin installation link has been made more prominent for users who don’t have JavaScript.
The Improved Stability and Performance of WordPress 6.4
The lesson here is that optimizing WordPress’s core for speed is essential. Sites using earlier themes and versions of WordPress will still benefit from some of these enhancements, as they are mirrored across the board and not just in the core CMS. The HTTPArchive data confirms this rising trend in performance, which is expected to continue with the WordPress 6.4 release on the 7th of November, 2023.
