Important Latest WordPress News Till January 2021

WordPress meetups and events are online till now. However, this is a hint that in the future it can be moved to safe locations once the COVID is over.

Gutenberg 9.7 and 9.8

Gutenberg 9.7 is released on January 6 and it includes improvements in block variations and reusable blocks. Version 9.8 is released on January 20 and it adds multiple variations to an iframe, block switcher. There are also improvements in FSE.

Learn WordPress Contributors

Learn WordPress is inviting to several contributors who can present and share ideas on the topic.

News in December 2020

The month of December includes different updates in WordPress, Learn WordPress, BuddyPress, and Gutenberg.

WordPress 5.6

The awaited version of WordPress 5.6 has been released in 55 languages. 605 contributors from 57 countries were involved in this process.

State of Word Recording

You can find the State of Word 2020 video in WordPress.tv

Release of Learn WordPress

Learn WordPress is the official resource for WordPress that includes different lessons, plans, and workshops related to WordPress. One can take their desired course to increase their knowledge in the particular topic.

Full Site Editing

This is useful if you are maintaining or building a site.

BuddyPress 7.0 and 7.1 Released

BP 7.0 includes new blocks for posts and pages, clear administration screens, default profile in case of network sites, and improved support for twenty twenty-one theme. It is released on December 9. Later, BP 7.1 is released on the 21st.

Gutenberg 9.5 and 9.6 LIVE

In addition to different bug fixes and features, this version of Gutenberg includes solutions for Full Site Editing. Version 9.6 can drag a block and a vertical layout for buttons. Version 9.5 includes full-height alignment and font sizes.

WordPress News – November 2020

November updates consist of WordPress and Gutenberg updates along with the translation and Learn WordPress platform updates.

WordPress 5.6 Updates

Before the release of the version, there is a release of different Beta versions and release candidates this month.

Gutenberg 9.3 and 9.4

Version 9.3 supports Full Site Editing on a block-based theme. Version 9.4 works out on block variations and font sizes including percentage width and social icons.

Learn WordPress Updates

The contributors will launch Learn WordPress platform in December. It will include different videos that will cover different topics and discussions.

WordPress 5.6 Translations

WordPress 5.6 will be translated and released in different languages automatically.

Latest WordPress News – October 2020

The month in October consists of the release of multiple products including some updates.

WordPress Annual Survey

The survey is out in order to help the users and contributors to understand the mode of usage of WordPress. Anyone can participate in the survey in 5 different languages as it will be open for more than 6 weeks. In the meantime, the survey results for 2019 have been released.

WordPress Translation

Efforts have been raised to encourage hire contributors having knowledge of multiple languages. The single-day event was fruitful in this scenario.

WordPress Releases

WordPress 5.5.3 is released on Oct.31 just 2 days after the release of version 5.5.2. This release addresses different bugs as well as security issues.
On the other hand, WordPress 5.6 Beta 1 and Beta 2 are also released in the month of October.

Gutenberg 9.2

The improvement in widget screen, the transformation of blocks into columns block as well as video subtitles is effective from this version of Gutenberg. It is released on Oct. 21.

Learn WordPress in the process

WordPress is creating a platform where you can learn different components of WordPress from the official site.

The latest WordPress news in the month of September consists of the new releases of WordPress and Gutenberg and the information related to Twenty Twenty One theme.

Latest WordPress News – September 2020

WordPress 5.5.1

On the first day of September, the core team released WordPress 5.5.1. It addresses different bugs that were present in WordPress 5.5.

Gutenberg 8.9, 9.0, and 9.1

The core team released Version 8.9 in early September, and it introduces block-based widgets feature in Gutenberg. Gutenberg 9.0 was launched on the 16th of this month, while they launched version 9.1 on September’s last day.

9.0 introduces a different view on the navigation screen and changes in the query block. 9.1 aids for the improvement in several blocks and UI.

Twenty Twenty One Theme

Twenty Twenty One theme will be the default theme for WordPress 5.6. This theme includes a limited color palette. We can expect the base of the theme to be the modified version of Seedlet theme.

You will be able to edit the full site, experience child theme friendly interface, and improved global styles support.

WordPress News – August 2020

The month of August comes with the release of new versions of WordPress and Gutenberg. Further, you may have heard about the Learn WordPress project, which we will discuss below.

WordPress 5.5 is out

WordPress 5.5 is out with a handful of features that is supportive in 50 different languages.

5.5 has features like inline image editing, in-built XML Sitemaps, block patterns, and lazy loading of images. It minimizes the use of multiple plugins on your site. Now you can upload ZIP files to update.

Once you set the automatic updates for the installed themes and plugins, you no longer have to worry about them. Cool! Isn’t it?

Gutenberg 8.7 and 8.8

With the improvement in Post Block Suite, Gutenberg 8.7 can update the description of the group block. The buttons block is changed, where the edits to the block will be autosaving on frequent intervals.

The launch of Gutenberg 8.8 leads to the improvement in Template Management, Mobile Experience, and Global Style. You will see a new widget screen along with Toolbar and navigation menus.

Learn WordPress Platform

WordPress Community will make learning content available with help from the TV team, training team, and meta team. The discussion groups will follow up on the workshops available on the site. Anyone can join the discussion in the meetup group.

WordPress News and Events (July 2020)

The latest WordPress news in the month of July consists of the release of Beta versions of WordPress 5.5, Gutenberg 8.5 and 8.6, news related to Wordcamp US and Reimagining of WordPress events. Let’s find out more:

WordPress 5.5 Updates

In the month of July, there were several improvements before the release of WordPress 5.5. A total of four Beta versions were released in July. Furthermore, the first release candidate was published on July 28.

Gutenberg 8.5 and 8.6

Gutenberg 8.5 has added features for external images, block directory as well as drag and drop and accessibility. In Version 8.6, it has introduced features related to block patterns and video position control. Both these versions have been released in July.

WordCamp US 2020 Updates

WordCamp US was formerly scheduled to take place on October 27-29. But, due to the circumstances, the organizers were preparing to make it as an online event. However, it is now canceled and we can expect it to occur in a different format later in the year.

Zip Files Ready for Plugins and Themes

With the introduction of WordPress 5.5, you can now upload themes and plugins directly with a ZIP file. Users will have the ability to choose and compare the installation version with the uploaded versions. This helps users to choose the best option by continuing or aborting the installation. In addition, the theme and plugin will be updated automatically.

Reimagining WordPress events

The community has decided to work on reimagining WordPress events. The current online format will no longer be continued for the rest of the year. There will be key changes so that the attendees will be able to learn in an effective way. Hopefully, it will be for the improvement of WordPress events in the future.

Latest WordPress News June 2020

June started with WordCamp Europe to the release of WordPress 5.4.2. Some of the latest WordPress news in the month of June 2020 are as below:

WordCamp Europe 2020

Recently, there was an online WordCamp event in Spain. Yet in Europe, the biggest online event of the year was conducted from June 4-6. There were 8,600 registered people for the event who were from 138 countries. On the other hand, a total of 2500 people registered for the contributor day. The event was sponsored by 40 companies where there were 33 speakers. In addition, the Q&A session with Matt Mullenweg was one of the major attractions.

WordPress 5.4.2 Release

This was one of the periodic security and maintenance release done by WordPress. This version fixed 17 errors and added 4 enhancements. From June 10, you can update WordPress to 5.4.2 from the dashboard. While the next major version of WordPress is expected to be WordPress 5.5, we can expect the beta version to be available anytime soon for testing.

Minimum Recommended PHP version in WordPress is 7.2

WordPress now recommends the minimum PHP version of your site to be at least PHP 7.2. However, if you look at the downloads page, then you will find the recommended version to be PHP 7.3 or above. If your site is still running in PHP 5.6, then its high time that you should go with the recommendations of WordPress as it affects the speed and performance of your website. The next major release in PHP will be PHP 8.0.

Gutenberg New Versions (8.3 and 8.4)

While Gutenberg is focused on the improvement of blocks, Gutenberg 8.3 and 8.4 were released this month. 8.3 has added features related to link color, spacing, parent block, etc. While 8.4 contains editing options for tools and multiple blocks. In addition, it has the block directory search feature.

WordPress News May 2020

The major news related to WordPress in the month of May includes Gutenberg updates and WordCamp Events.

Release of Gutenberg 8.1 and 8.2

After the release of Gutenberg 8.1 on May 13, Gutenberg 8.2 was released after 14 days on May 27.

8.1 has added features that support the inclusion of new design patterns. In addition, it is user-friendly to touchscreen users and everyone who does not use keyboard shortcuts.

8.2 makes large block patterns descriptive as you will find categories and viewport width. Furthermore, content writers can explore content alignment and enhancements.

Gutenberg Phase 2 Announcement

Phase 1 was introduced in WordPress 5.0 with the introduction of the block editor. Phase 2 will include the Full Site Editing (FSE) in the future. Contributors have already started to include the basic functions for FSE in WordPress 5.5. Let’s see what features can we see from WordPress 5.5

WordPress Events – WordCamp Spain Online

WordCamp Spain was online from May 6 to 9. It was a successful event with 16 sponsors, 60 speakers, and more than 5,500 attendees. The count of people in the Contributor day was around 200.

WordPress Events – Online WordCamp Program

In case if any community wants to organize WordCamp, there are a set of guidelines that you can follow. There will be no need for local sponsorship as the community team has to cover the online production costs associated with the event. Now you can find out whether or not the WordPress event will take place online.

BuddyPress 6.0.0 “iovine’s”

Members and Groups are added as blocks in the editor with the release of BuddyPress 6.0.0 “iovine’s”. The six remaining endpoints were added to complete the Rest API. A total of 80 changes has been made with the help of 42 contributors.

Rebranding Theme Review Team

Theme Review Team has decided to change its name to Themes Team as they were involved in different other activities except reviewing themes.

Latest WordPress News April 2020

The month of April was full of different improvements in WordPress. We will mention about the new releases and events that are scheduled in the WordPress News April 2020

WordPress 5.4.1 Release

WordPress 5.4.1 was officially released on the 29th of April. All the active sites have already been updated by the users. This version brings 7 security and 17 bug fixes as identified by the contributors. We had also written about this post in detail when 5.4.1 was officially released. Have a look at this post for details:

WordPress 5.4.1 Security and Maintenance Release

Gutenberg (7.9/8) Releases

The development of Gutenberg has also been continuously progressing. Gutenberg 7.9 adds 3 new patterns. It has improved block markups along with the addition of design tools for blocks. Later Gutenberg 8.0 was released that has additional features in Code editor. In addition to this, there is an added option for inline formatting with a continuation in improving the block editor.

BuddyPress 6.0.0

This release of BuddyPress includes changes that allow moving profile photos and the image present in the cover. In addition, a new Rest API will be created for BuddyPress. This will introduce blocks and a minimum PHP version of 5.6 and at least the site should be running on WordPress 4.8

WordPress Events – WordCamp US

Due to the current situation, the organizers have decided to conduct WordCamp US in October. You can attend this event online from October 27-29, 2020. If you are interested to join as a speaker, you can apply.

The call of speakers is extended till May 31, 2020.

In addition, if you can host WordCamp US in 2021/2022, then the call of cities is open as well.

WordPress Events – WordCamp Europe

WordCamp Europe was postponed till 2021. However, the organizers have now decided to run an online WordCamp event from June 4-6, 2020. The virtual contributor day will be held on June 4th and the event will be free for everyone.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully, the latest WordPress News Till January 2021 is useful for you. We will be updating the latest WordPress news every month. Stay Tuned!

All this information is taken from the official WordPress site.