On May 24 WordPress 6.0 «Arturo» was released with some new features and almost 1000 enhancements. This update focuses on improving the usability of blocks in WordPress and making creation and editing of posts and sites easier than ever.
New Features
Enhanced Writing Experience
New features allow easier editing and creation of posts and sites.
- Select text across multiple blocks for easier copying and pasting.
- Type two open brackets `
[[` to quickly access a list of recent posts and pages. - Keep existing styles when you transform some blocks from one kind to another—from a Paragraph block to a Code block, for instance.
- Create customized buttons and any new buttons you make will retain the style customizations automatically.
- Make tag clouds and social icons even more appealing with updated settings and controls, and a new outline style for the tag cloud.
Style Switching
Block themes include the option to contain multiple style variations. You can change the style of your site within a theme. These block themes includes font-weight, and the style options, like the default color palette.
More Template Choices
WordPress 6.0 includes new template options for block themes: author, date, categories, tag, and taxonomy.
- Featured images can be used in the cover block.
- New featured image sizing controls.
- While editing a template, at the root, or between blocks, the quick inserter shows you patterns and template parts.
- The query block supports filtering on multiple authors, support for custom taxonomies, and support for customizing what is shown when there are no results.
Integrated Patterns
Patterns will now be available in the quick inserter or when creating a new header or footer.
Additional Design Tools
- A new color panel design saves space.
- New border controls offer a simpler way to set your border exactly as you like it.
- Transparency levels for your colors allow for even more creative color options.
- Control gaps, margins, typography, and more on a collection of blocks, all at once, in the Group block.
- Switch between stack, row, and group variations to position groups of blocks with more layout flexibility.
- The gap support functionality in the Gallery block allows you to create different looks.
Better List View
New keyboard shortcuts to select multiple blocks from the list view, modify them in bulk, and drag and drop them within the list are now available. List View can be opened and closed easily.
Block Locking Controls
Choose to disable the option to move a block, remove a block, or both to simplify project handover, allowing your clients access without worrying about accidentally breaking their site in the process.
Improved Performance and Accessibility
Improving the page and post-load speed, reducing the execution time of various query types, caching, navigation menus as well as more accessibility features were target of this update.
Credits
- Picture courtesy of Tore Sætre, Wikimedia
