WordPress 5.3 Beta 1, the initial beta for the next major release – WordPress 5.3 was released yesterday. The Beta 1 update has been released with numerous highlighted features that will definitely excite the users.
The software is still in development, so the development team recommends you not run it on a production site and so do we. Simply set up a test site just to play around with the new version.
The major release, WordPress 5.3 is targeted for release on November 12, 2019. It is our responsibility to help the team roll out the major release with minimal (to no) issues. Therefore, let’s start testing! To test WordPress 5.3, try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”). Or you can download the beta here (zip).
Check out the big items to test to find as many bugs as possible in the coming weeks to make things easier for the developers.
Highlights in WordPress 5.3 Beta 1
Block Editor Enhancements
WordPress 5.3 Beta 1 is going to include features that were in 12 releases of Gutenberg plugin. The features and fixes include:
- Group block and grouping interactions
- Columns block improvements (width support + patterns)
- Table block improvements (text alignment support, header/footer support, colors)
- Gallery block improvements (reordering inline, caption support)
- Separator block improvements (color support)
- Latest Posts block improvements (support excerpt, content)
- List block improvements (indent/outdent shortcuts, start value and reverse order support)
- Button block improvements (support target, border-radius)
- Animations and micro-interactions (moving blocks, dropdowns, and a number of small animations to improve the UX)
- Accessibility Navigation Mode which will allow you to navigate with the keyboard between blocks without going into their content.
- Block Style Variations API
- Group block and grouping interactions
- Columns block improvements (width support + patterns)
- Table block improvements (text alignment support, header/footer support, colors)
- Gallery block improvements (reordering inline, caption support)
- Separator block improvements (color support)
- Latest Posts block improvements (support excerpt, content)
- List block improvements (indent/outdent shortcuts, start value and reverse order support)
- Button block improvements (support target, border radius)
- Animations and micro interactions (moving blocks, dropdowns, and a number of small animations to improve the UX)
- Accessibility Navigation Mode which will allow you to navigate with the keyboard between blocks without going into their content.
- Block Style Variations API
With all of these features merged in the default editor, using Gutenberg editor sure is going to be exciting and fun.
New Default Theme
A new default theme will be introduced in WordPress 5.3 – Twenty Twenty. This new theme is based on already released Chaplin WordPress theme.
You can get the full detail on the new default theme, Twenty Twenty here.
Admin Interface Enhancements
The whole admin interface is getting some cool enhancements on the design and accessibility fields. It includes accessibility improvements, color contrast improvements on form fields and buttons, add consistency between editor and admin interfaces, modernize the WordPress color scheme, add better zoom management, and more.
Moreover, WordPress 5.3 also adds support while resuming the image uploads, automatic correct image rotation, site health check improvements, email update notifications, and more.
There are more than 400 tickets closed in WordPress 5.3. It includes numerous small bug fixes and improvements to help smooth your WordPress experience.
As mentioned above, WordPress 5.3 Release is on for November 12 and the development team can surely use all the help they can get. If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on WordPress Trac, where you can also find a list of known bugs.
Source: WordPress News