The second major release of this year, WordPress 5.8 has been released with new features and enhancements. This update has been named after the legendary Jazz pianist, Art Tatum. So, let’s welcome the new update and learn more about it.
If you’ve been staying updated with the latest buzzes on WordPress, you might be aware of the major changes that are taking place in WordPress 5.8. Some of the major updates include new blocks and patterns, block widgets in both editor and customizer, duotone media filters, new emoji support, post templates edit, an overview of the page structure, suggested patterns for blocks, style and colorize images, WebP image format support, plugins enhancements, rest API changes, site health updates, support dropped for IE11, and many more.
A closer look at the new changes in WordPress 5.8 “Tatum”
Blocks Widgets
You can now add blocks in your widget areas to make your site more interesting and dynamic. You can insert the blocks in widget areas through the editor and also with live preview through the Customizer. This update opens up new possibilities for content creation and it’s also a step towards the FSE experience.
Media Enhancements
In the media enhancements, we now have the Duotone feature added to the Image and Cover blocks. It allows laying two colors over the media files, making your images unique and match your theme.
A “load more” button has replaced the infinite scrolling, improving the experience for screen-readers.
WebP Image Format Support
WordPress 5.8 has added support for WebP image format. Also, there’s a new image_editor_output_format filter to enhance the experience.
New Blocks and Patterns Enhancements
With the Query Loop Block, you can display posts based on specified parameters. You can easily display posts from a specific category without any coding requirements. Also, the new block patterns suggestion makes it easier to create unique content with exciting patterns.
Edit Post Templates
You can now create, assign, and edit block templates to specific posts and pages while on a special mode available in the editor. A new set of theme blocks have also been introduced that will help you in building templates easily.
Support from IE11 Dropped
With this new update, WordPress has dropped support for Internet Explorer 11. Therefore, if you are an IE user, it is recommended that you switch to a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and more.
KNOW MORE ABOUT WORDPRESS 5.8 HERE. Or you can also check out the WordPress 5.8 Field Guide for more details.
The lead for this major update was Matt Mullenweg.
Other Squad Members:
- Release Co-Coordinator: Jeffrey Paul (@jeffpaul)
- Release Co-Coordinator: Jonathan Desrosiers (@desrosj)
- Editor Tech Lead: Riad Benguella (@youknowriad)
- Marketing and Communications Lead: Josepha Haden Chomphosy (@chanthaboune)
- Documentation Lead: Milana Cap (@milana_cap)
- Test Lead: Piotrek Boniu (@boniu91)
- Support Lead: Mary Job (@mariaojob)
There were 530 contributors with props in this release. With so many new and improved things this time, the WordPress 5.8 release comes with WordPress 80% or more translated into 80 languages with more on the way.
Have you updated to WP 5.8 yet? Did this newest version of WordPress fulfill all your expectations? Let us know in the comments section below.
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