WordPress 5.5 Beta 1 – Available for testing

The wait is over! WordPress 5.5 Beta 1 is available for testing.

If you have any test site then you can check the features of the new version. As it has not been officially released, it will cause issues if you install it in a production site.

At this phase, Beta testers will play a huge role as the official release is scheduled to be on August 11, 2020. You can be one of the contributors if you know about coding.

WordPress 5.5 Beta 1 Features

WordPress 5.5 has added the following features:

XML SiteMaps

You needed an SEO plugin or manual file for a sitemap. Now, sitemaps will be present by default from this version of WordPress. Sitemaps help search engines to understand your site. As a result, there will be a gradual positive effect on the visibility of the site.

Auto-updates

If you would like to update the theme or a plugin automatically, whenever it is available then you can include it in your auto-update list. This will be useful as you no longer need to update your important themes and plugins manually. In addition to the auto-update, now themes and plugins can be updated with a ZIP file.

Lazy-Loading Images

Different plugins give this feature in their image optimization section. However, with the release of WordPress 5.5, you no longer need a plugin to lazy load images. This will be handy for the users who have access to slow internet as the images will load only if they reach the viewport. As a result, it will save bandwidth and electricity. 

Better Accessibility

1. You will be able to add different view modes in the table.
2. The links in media screens and widgets can be easier to copy with the introduction of buttons.
3. Widgets can be converted to HTML5 navigation blocks.
4. Disabled buttons look different than the active buttons.
5. You do not need a mouse to move meta-boxes. i.e. you can do it from the keyboard.
6. The front page is not linked with the help of a custom logo present on the front page.
7. The animation during a login failure can be changed with a media query.
8. The error notices will be prefix-free.
9. Image Editor contains status messages with associated devices.

Improvements in Blocks

Inline Image Editing

The image blocks will be provided with an option to zoom, crop, and rotate photos inline.

Block Patterns

There will be additional block patterns useful to create different pages.

Device Previews

Now you can have a look at the preview of the content in various devices before publishing the content.

Improvements in Editing

The editing experience will be improved as you will see the changes in the drag and drop interface. There will be a dedicated parent block section as well as multiple selections of blocks. Furthermore, it will help to relocate blocks for better performance.

With this version, themes will contain an extended toolset useful for making designs. The new version makes it easier to add gradients and backgrounds to groups, columns, and other blocks as well. There are different types of measurements except for pixels like ems, rems, vh, vw, percentage, etc. Now WordPress will support all these measurements.

The new block directory will also be useful to use third party blocks directly from the Gutenberg editor. It will display categories and collections smoothly.

There will be several other features related to advanced redirection during 404 errors, external libraries.

Conclusion

WordPress 5.5 Beta 1 will be improved and WordPress 5.5 release date is on August 11, 2020. Stay updated with the latest version of WordPress.

Additional Readings