The second beta for the next big release, WordPress 5.9 is available for the general public to test. WordPress 5.9 Beta 2 was released yesterday on 7th December 2021.
Since the software is still in development mode, it’s best that you don’t run it on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to try out the new version. To test WordPress 5.9, try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want the “bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream). Or you can download the beta here (zip).
There have been 24 bug fixes since the first beta release. It includes numerous small bug fixes and improvements to help smoothen your WordPress experience. Have a quick look at the WordPress 5.9 Beta 2 highlights.
- Block Editor: Remove navigation areas (#54506)
- Navigation block view JavaScript error in Block Editor (#54456)
- Block Editor: Block template theme error related to child themes (#54515)
- General: Fixing existing links to Customizer when the Site Editor is enabled (#54460)
- Media: Media library showing only the selected image (#53765)
- Media: Fatal error uploading media on PHP8 (#54385)
- REST API: Add Global Styles REST API endpoints from Gutenberg into Core (#54336)
WordPress 5.9 Release is on for January 25, 2022, 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.
Check out the previous Beta 1 post to learn more about what’s coming in WordPress 5.9.