The new major version update for WooCommerce brings some new features and enhancements to our favorite ecommerce plugin for WordPress. Version 3.7 was released on August 12 and contains over 1200 (!) commits.
This update should be backward compatible with other plugins, but it is still recommended to create a backup before installing this update.
New features
Product Blocks
Product Blocks were introduced in WooCommerce 3.6 to implement the Gutenberg editor of WordPress. In this update, the performance has been improved and the usability enhanced.
There are also new Blocks for the editor:
- Focal point picker on the Featured Product Block.
- Product Categories List Block.
- Featured Category Block.
- Products By Tags Block.
New Requirements
WooCommerce 3.7 will require WordPress 4.9 or higher and at least PHP 5.6. If you are running an older version of PHP, you consider updating to a newer version to improve the performance and security. Updating the PHP version can result in fatal errors, you should try changing the version on a test server and create a backup.
Performance Improvements
- Tax classes have moved from using the wp_options table to a new dedicated tax class table
wc_tax_rate_classes. - Reduced the number of queries to populate variations.
- Excluding Action Scheduler tasks from all comments queries speeding up page load times considerably on pages where comment data is loaded.
- A performance bottleneck on the persistent cart has been fixed.
Additional Content Email Settings
Store owners can now change the wording of the additional email content in the footer (usually: «thanks for using yoursite.com») from the Email Settings for each type of email without the need to override templates. Previously the text was hardcoded and had to be changed in the template files.
Auto Coupon Code Generation
In the past, you had to create a unique coupon code yourself by trying a new code. WooCommerce now includes a generate coupon code button when adding a new coupon.
The coupon code generation algorithm is fully customizable via filters should you wish to alter the default behavior.
Package Management System
WooCommerce 3.7 brings a fundamental change on how it handles inclusions of certain features that are developed outside of the WooCommerce core plugin. Features that are not directly included in the WooCommerce Core like the REST API and Product Blocks are now managed by the Composer.
This change does not affect endusers in any way.
Remember to create a backup before installing an update
