WordPress Changelog

What's new in WordPress 6.5.2

Apr 10, 2024

The security team would like to thank the following people for responsibly reporting vulnerabilities, and allowing them to be fixed in this release:
A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting the Avatar block type; reported by John Blackbourn of the WordPress security team. Many thanks to Mat Rollings for assisting with the research.

New in WordPress 6.5 (Apr 3, 2024)

Say hello to WordPress 6.5 “Regina,” inspired by the dynamic versatility of renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter. An award-winning artist and storied jazz educator known for transcending genre, Regina’s technical foundations in classical music and deep understanding of jazz have earned her the reputation of boldly going beyond what’s possible with the violin.
Let the stunning twists and subtle turns of Regina’s genre-bending sound surprise you as you explore everything 6.5 offers.
This latest version of WordPress puts more power into the details. It offers new and improved ways to fine-tune and enhance your site-building experience, letting you take control in ways that make it your own. You’ll find new ways to manage your site’s typography, more comprehensive revisions available in more places, and a collection of Site Editor updates paired with impressive performance gains to help you get things done smoother and faster.
“Regina” also marks the introduction of some breakthrough developer tools that will start transforming how you use and extend blocks to craft engaging experiences. The Interactivity API opens up a world of creative front-end possibilities, while the Block Bindings API makes dynamic connections between blocks and data seamless. These, among other developer-focused improvements and updates, are ready to help you evolve how you build with WordPress.
What’s inside 6.5:
Add and manage fonts across your site:
The new Font Library puts you in control of an essential piece of your site’s design—typography—without coding or extra steps. Effortlessly install, remove, and activate local and Google Fonts across your site for any Block theme. The ability to include custom typography collections gives site creators and publishers more options when it comes to styling content.
Get more from your revisions—including revisions for templates and template parts:
Work through creative projects with a more comprehensive picture of what’s been done—and what you can fall back on. Get details like time stamps, quick summaries, and a paginated list of all revisions. View revisions from the Style Book to see how changes impact every block. Revisions are also now available for templates and template parts.
Play with enhanced background and shadow tools:
Control the size, repeat, and focal point options for background images in Group blocks so you can explore subtle or splashy ways to add visual interest to layouts.
Set aspect ratios for Cover block images and easily add color overlays that automatically source color from your chosen image.
Add box shadow support to more block types and create layouts with visual depth, or throw a little personality into your design.
Discover new Data Views:
Every piece of your site comes with a library of information and data—now, you can find what you need quickly and organize it however you like. Data views for pages, templates, patterns, and template parts let you see data in a table or grid view, with the option to toggle fields and make bulk changes.
Smoother drag-and-drop:
Feel the difference when you move things around, with helpful visual cues like displaced items in List View or frictionless dragging to anywhere in your workspace—from beginning to end.
Improved link controls:
Create and manage links easily with a more intuitive link-building experience, like a streamlined UI and a shortcut for copying links.
What’s fresh for developers in 6.5:
Bring interactions to blocks with the Interactivity API:
The Interactivity API offers developers a standardized method for building interactive front-end experiences with blocks. It simplifies the process, with fewer dependencies on external tooling, while maintaining optimal performance. Use it to create memorable user experiences, like fetching search results instantly or letting visitors interact with content in real time.
Connect blocks to custom fields or other dynamic content:
Link core block attributes to custom fields and use the value of custom fields without creating custom blocks. Powered by the Block Bindings API, developers can extend this capability further to connect blocks to any dynamic content—even beyond custom fields. If there’s data stored elsewhere, easily point blocks to that new source with only a few lines of code.
Add appearance tools to Classic themes:
Give designers and creators using Classic themes access to an upgraded design experience. Opt in to support for spacing, border, typography, and color options, even without using theme.json. Once support is enabled, more tools will be automatically added as they become available.
Explore improvements to the plugin experience:
There’s now an easier way to manage plugin dependencies. Plugin authors can supply a new Requires Plugins header with a comma-separated list of required plugin slugs, presenting users with links to install and activate those plugins first.
From fast to faster: Performance updates
This release includes 110+ performance updates, resulting in an impressive increase in speed and efficiency across the Post Editor and Site Editor. Loading is over two times faster than in 6.4, with input processing speed up to five times faster than the previous release.
Translated sites see up to 25% improvement in load time for this release courtesy of Performant Translations. Additional performance highlights include AVIF image support and improvements for registering block variations with callbacks.
A tradition of inclusion:
This release includes more than 65 accessibility improvements across the platform, making it more accessible than ever. It contains an important fix that unblocks access to the admin submenus for screen reader users and others who navigate by keyboard. This release also adds fixes to color contrast in admin focus states, positioning of elements, and cursor focus, among many others, that help improve the WordPress experience for everyone.

New in WordPress 6.5 Beta 1 (Feb 14, 2024)

Meet the Font Library:
Initially slated for release in WordPress 6.4, the Font Library is one of those great things worth the wait. It gives you new capabilities for efficiently managing a vital piece of your site’s design—typography—without coding or extra steps.
With the Font Library, you can handle fonts across your site regardless of your active theme—much like how you manage assets in the Media Library. You can install local fonts or Google Fonts, and it’s easily extensible, with the ability to add your own custom typography collections.
Synced patterns get an upgrade:
Synced patterns bring efficiency to the design process, letting you make global changes to particular layouts with minimal effort. However, there’s often a need to make contextual changes when it comes to content.
WordPress 6.5 introduces new enhancements to synced patterns that let you override the content in each specific instance. You can choose what content can be updated within a synced pattern—while maintaining the design and layout you’ve already created. Use it for templated pieces like recipes, testimonials, or case studies that use recurring elements to frame unique content.
This major release will introduce overrides for the Paragraph, Image, Heading, and Button blocks, with support for more blocks to come as work on synced patterns continues.
Connecting blocks and custom fields or other dynamic content:
WordPress 6.5 will finally make it possible to connect core block attributes to custom fields. This capability lets you use the value of a custom field without creating custom blocks. For example, a digital publication could use custom fields with Paragraph and Image blocks. It could pull information from its individual staff writer profiles to dynamically display on its team page, like headshots and names.
The Block Bindings API powers this functionality and is designed to be extensible enough for developers to connect blocks to any dynamic content—not just custom fields. If your data is stored elsewhere, you can easily point blocks to that new source with only a few lines of code.
This is the first step in a larger project to simplify how custom fields and other dynamic content are managed.
The Interactivity API gets baked into Core:
What started as just a taste in WordPress 6.4 with the lightbox feature for images is officially making its way into Core. The Interactivity API is a new framework that offers developers a standardized method to bring interactive front-end experiences, or interactions, to blocks. It aims to simplify the process, with less dependencies on external tooling, while maintaining optimal performance.
Interactions create engaging user experiences, whether showing new comments or fetching search results without reloading a page, allowing visitors to interact with content in real time, or incorporating effects like countdowns and transitional animations that surprise and delight. Check out this demo site to get a taste of what this framework can do.
6.5 is just the beginning of bringing this developer experience into Core. Find out how you can follow along with the work or lend a hand and test more features.
Get more from your revisions:
Revisions are the markers of progress. For creative projects, they’re also a welcome fallback when you’re working through a new design or concept. This release brings more detail to your style revision history in the Site Editor.
Style revisions in 6.5 present a more detailed picture of your work, with design updates like time stamps, quick summaries that outline changes, and the ability to see a full list of revisions made—not just the previous 100. View revisions from the Style Book to see changes that aren’t reflected in the template you’re working on. Style revisions are also newly available for templates and template parts, giving you a broader view of your site’s changes.
Expect to see more work happening to expand and improve revisions across the WordPress experience. It’s a foundational part of the collaborative editing and workflows focus of the Gutenberg project’s Phase 3.
Classic themes can opt into appearance tools:
As the design experience in Block themes evolves and improves, many of these upgrades are also available for Classic themes. Theme authors can choose to add support for appearance tools to any Classic theme—even without the use of theme.json. Opting in gives designers and site creators using Classic themes access to a varied set of design options, from spacing and border controls to typography and color options.
Switching themes can feel like a big undertaking, and for folks who aren’t ready to jump into the flexibility of Block themes, these pathways to adoption can help ease that tension. Once a Classic theme gets initial support for appearance tools, more design options will be automatically added as they become available.
More design tools are on the way:
Each WordPress release brings more thought and attention to the way you can create with the Site Editor. The latest improvements to the design experience help bring your creative vision to life:
Background images for Group blocks get size and repeat support, letting you play with subtle or splashy ways to add visual interest to your layouts.
Aspect ratio support for the Cover block gives you more control over your Cover block images’ shape and size.
Shadow support added to more blocks to help create layouts with visual depth or add a little personality to your design.
Site Editor updates to streamline your workflow:
Bring ease and simplicity to your site-building process with the latest advancements to the Site Editor’s capabilities, from important interface improvements to upgraded tools.
Going beyond Group blocks, you can now rename every block in the List View. You can also rename or duplicate individual patterns to help keep them organized. Other notable UI improvements add access to your block settings with a quick right-click from List View, adjust preferences with consolidated settings in the Editor preferences panel, and the ability to use the block toolbar on hover when you’re in Distraction Free mode.
You’ll also notice a cleaner and more unified link-building experience that improves link controls, making it easier to create and manage links in various blocks.
This release has a bounty of drag-and-drop enhancements to make your editing experience feel more intuitive. You’ll notice helpful visual adjustments, like displaced items in List View when you drag them around to reorganize. You’ll also find that you can drag and drop anywhere you’d like in the Editor, from the very beginning to the end of you workspace.
New Data Views in the Site Editor:
Every piece of your site comes with a library of information and data. Organizing it, finding what you need, and making informed changes should be as effortless as your site editing experience.
WordPress 6.5 includes data views for pages, templates, patterns, and template parts. You can view data in a table or grid view, with a new UI for toggling fields and making bulk changes. It’s a refreshing and feature-rich experience that leads the way for the upcoming Admin Redesign project on the WordPress roadmap.
Plugin dependencies improve the plugin experience:
WordPress 6.5 improves how users manage plugins that require other plugins. Plugin authors can supply a new Requires Plugins header with a comma-separated list of required plugin slugs from the WordPress.org Plugins repository, which will present users with links to install and activate those plugins first.
Required plugins must remain active and installed for as long as plugins that require them are active and installed. If any required plugins become inactive or uninstalled, the plugins that require them will be automatically deactivated.
Big performance gains across the editing experience and more:
WordPress 6.5 contains more than 110 performance-related updates, including an impressive increase in speed and efficiency across both the Post Editor and Site Editor. Loading is over two times faster than in 6.4, with input processing speed increasing to nearly four times faster than the previous release. You’ll also find yourself navigating through the Site Editor six times faster than before.
The loading time for translated sites gets a boost due to merging Performant Translations into Core. This greatly improves the load time of translated sites across the board by loading multiple locales simultaneously, making switching between them a faster and more enjoyable experience.
Accessibility highlights:
Ensuring that WordPress remains highly accessible is crucial for its success and fulfilling the mission of democratizing publishing. With this in mind, 6.5 will ship more than 65 updates to improve accessibility throughout the platform. These updates include fixes to contrast settings, cursor focus, submenus, positioning of elements, and more. For more information on specific tickets and improvements, please visit WordPress Trac and GitHub for Gutenberg.

New in WordPress 6.4.1 (Nov 9, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.4 (Nov 8, 2023)

Meet Twenty Twenty-Four:
Experience site editing at its finest with Twenty Twenty-Four. This new multi-faceted default theme has been thoughtfully crafted with three distinct use cases in mind, from writers and artists to entrepreneurs. Save time and effort with its extensive collection of over 35 templates and patterns—and unlock a world of creative possibilities with a few tweaks. Twenty Twenty-Four’s remarkable flexibility ensures an ideal fit for almost any type of site.
Let your writing flow:
New enhancements ensure your content creation journey is smooth. Find new keyboard shortcuts in List View, smarter list merging, and enhanced control over link settings. A cohesive toolbar experience for the Navigation, List, and Quote blocks lets you work efficiently with the tooling options you need.
The Command Palette just got better:
First introduced in WordPress 6.3, the Command Palette is a powerful tool to quickly find what you need, perform tasks efficiently, and speed up your building workflow. Enjoy a refreshed design and new commands to perform block-specific actions in this release.
Categorize and filter patterns:
Patterns are an excellent way to leverage the potential of blocks and simplify your site-building process. WordPress 6.4 allows you to organize them with custom categories. Plus, new advanced filtering in the Patterns section of the inserter makes finding all your patterns more intuitive.
Get creative with more design tools:
Build beautiful and functional layouts with an expanded set of design tools. Play with background images in Group blocks for unique designs and maintain image dimensions consistent with placeholder aspect ratios. Do you want to add buttons to your Navigation block? Now you can do it conveniently without a line of code.
Make your images stand out:
Enable lightbox functionality to let your site visitors enjoy full-screen, interactive images on click. Apply it globally or to specific images to customize the viewing experience.
Rename Group blocks:
Set custom names for Group blocks to organize and distinguish areas of your content easily. These names will be visible in List View.
Preview images in List View:
New previews for Gallery and Image blocks in List View let you visualize and locate where images on your content are at a glance.
Share patterns across sites:
Need to use your custom patterns on another site? Import and export them as JSON files from the Site Editor’s patterns view.
Introducing Block Hooks:
Block Hooks enables developers to automatically insert dynamic blocks at specific content locations, enriching the extensibility of block themes through plugins. While considered a developer tool, this feature is geared to respect your preferences and gives you complete control to add, dismiss, and customize auto-inserted blocks to your needs.
Performance wins:
This release includes more than 100 performance-related updates for a faster and more efficient experience. Notable enhancements focus on template loading performance for themes (including Twenty Twenty-Four), usage of the script loading strategies “defer” and “async” in core, blocks, and themes, and optimization of autoloaded options.
Accessibility highlights:
Every release is committed to making WordPress accessible to everyone. WordPress 6.4 brings several List View improvements and aria-label support for the Navigation block, among other highlights. The admin user interface includes enhancements to button placements, “Add New” menu items context, and Site Health spoken messages. Learn more about all the updates aimed at improving accessibility.
Other notes of interest:
PHP 8.1 or 8.2 are recommended for use with WordPress 6.4. Find in-depth details on PHP support in this post.
WordPress 6.4 disables attachment pages for new installations.

New in WordPress 6.4 RC 1 (Oct 17, 2023)

A new flexible default theme brings together the latest and greatest of WordPress. Discover its vast collection of templates and patterns to tweak and match your brand. Built for versatility, Twenty Twenty-Four is an ideal fit for nearly any type of website.
Enable lightbox functionality in images for immersive viewing experiences.
Organize your patterns with your own custom categories. Find them all more intuitively with advanced filtering in the Patterns section of the inserter.
Enjoy more writing improvements, including new keyboard shortcuts, smoother list merging, and enhanced control over your link settings. A revamped toolbar experience for Navigation, List, and Quote blocks ensures cohesive and organized access to the tooling options you work with.
A redesigned Command Palette with new commands helps you find what you need, perform tasks efficiently, and speed up your workflow.
Rename Group blocks to organize and distinguish areas of your content easily.
See and locate your content’s media assets at a glance with new gallery and image previews in List View.
Build beautiful yet functional layouts with an expanded set of design tools. Play with background images in Group blocks for unique creative designs, keep image dimensions consistent with placeholder aspect ratios, and effortlessly add buttons to your Navigation block without custom CSS—among other new capabilities.
Block Hooks enable developers to automatically insert blocks at their chosen content locations, enriching the extensibility of block themes through plugins. While developer-centric, this new feature improves your building experience with blocks and gives you complete control to customize Block Hooks to your needs.
Over 60 accessibility updates, including significant List View enhancements, aria-label support for the Navigation block, and upgrades to the admin user interface.
More than 100 performance updates, focusing on template loading performance for classic and block themes, usage of the script loading strategies “defer” and “async,” and optimization of autoloaded options.

New in WordPress 6.4 Beta 3 (Oct 10, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.4 Beta 2 (Oct 3, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.4 Beta 1 (Sep 27, 2023)

A first look at WordPress 6.4:
WordPress 6.4 will introduce a versatile default theme, new features, and numerous updates designed to enhance your WordPress experience across multiple areas—from writing and design to workflow efficiency. All while the foundational work continues for Phase 3 of the WordPress roadmap. Read on for some highlights.
Meet the Twenty Twenty-Four theme:
Twenty Twenty-Four is a new default theme that will launch with 6.4. With a versatile collection of templates and patterns, this theme covers a diverse range of use cases, from entrepreneurs to small businesses to artists and writers. Twenty Twenty-Four also emphasizes the latest design tooling and site editing features, enabling you to leverage the flexibility of blocks and unlock numerous creative possibilities with just a few tweaks. Follow the theme’s progress and report any issues on this GitHub repo.
Manage fonts across your site
WordPress 6.4 will introduce new font management features:
The Font Library enables you to handle fonts across your site, regardless of your active theme—just like you manage assets in the Media Library. Easily install local and Google Fonts and choose which to activate for each theme. This new font manager is a powerful way to control a fundamental piece of your site’s design and branding without coding. Thanks to its extensibility, custom typographic collections can expand your font choices.
On the other hand, Font Face provides server-side @font-face style generation and printing support. It introduces a new global function called wp_print_font_faces(), which processes font data received from styles set in the editor or by the active theme.
Please note: The Font Library is slated for inclusion in upcoming 6.4 beta releases.
Add lightbox functionality to your images:
Showcase your images in an interactive fashion with lightbox functionality. This new core feature will be available for Image blocks, allowing visual assets to be opened and enlarged on top of the existing content.
Enjoy new writing improvements:
Many enhancements in 6.4 will ensure that your WordPress writing experience remains smooth and enjoyable, from new keyboard shortcuts to more reliable pasting from other sources. Moreover, a fresh toolbar experience will be available for the Navigation, List, and Quote blocks, making working with their tooling options more efficient and intuitive.
More design tools, greater creativity:
New design tools will improve the overall creation experience with WordPress while providing greater layout control and flexibility. Some updates include:
Background images for Group blocks, allowing for creative and customized layouts.
Aspect ratios for image placeholders—a new feature that’s particularly useful when creating and using patterns. After setting a placeholder’s desired aspect ratio, you can drag and drop an image, and it will adjust to maintain the design consistency.
Button and heading color customization in Group and Columns blocks, enabling you to define the appearance of these elements when placed within these container blocks. This feature takes a step towards allowing section-specific styling, which will continue to develop in upcoming releases.
Alignment settings in synced patterns. When creating and converting a synced pattern with wide, full-width, left or right-aligned blocks, this improvement ensures alignment attributes remain intact for a seamless site editing and pattern creation experience.
Upgrades for smoother workflows:
As the Site Editor continues to evolve and expand its capabilities, so do the interface and tools that support it.
First introduced in WordPress 6.3, the Command Palette helps you perform actions, search, and quickly navigate your site’s content and settings. It will receive significant updates in 6.4, featuring an updated design, new commands to accomplish block-specific actions, and better command language and action consistency.
List View provides a great way to browse and work with the blocks that make up your site. This release will introduce enhancements to its interface and usability, making it even more powerful. You can rename Group blocks, view media previews for Gallery and Image blocks, and duplicate blocks with a keyboard shortcut.
Pattern advancements:
Patterns play an essential role in site editing, and its importance remains prominent in the upcoming release.
6.4 will allow you to better organize your synced and unsynced patterns with categories as part of the creation process. These categories are available for sorting within the insertion flow to make discovering and adding patterns easier. In addition, you can conveniently access all your custom patterns from the same place—the Patterns section of the Block Inserter, which removes the separate tab for synced patterns.
Other improvements include importing and exporting patterns as JSON files, ensuring backward compatibility with Reusable blocks, and enabling pattern transfer across sites.
Lastly, this release will improve compatibility with Classic Themes, building on the groundwork laid in WordPress 6.3 for pattern creation and management. A new Patterns tab under the Appearance menu of your dashboard will grant access to the pattern interface available in the Site Editor.
Introducing Block Hooks:
Block Hooks is a new powerful feature that enriches the extensibility of block themes, drawing inspiration from the familiar WordPress Hooks concept. Upon activation, plugins can automatically insert blocks into content relative to another block. For example, a “Like” button block can automatically be inserted after the Post Content block.
While developer-centric, Block Hooks enhances the user experience by making block usage more intuitive and allowing for further customization and control over where and how the auto-inserted blocks appear. A new block inspector panel named “Plugins” is designed to respect creators’ preferences, ensuring you can add, dismiss, or relocate Block Hooks as desired.
Accessibility:
WordPress 6.4 has 70 accessibility improvements slated for inclusion, 60 of those are included in Beta 1. Notable updates focused on enhancing the user interface (UI) experience include better button placements, improved context for “Add New” admin menu items, and upgraded spoken messages in Site Health.
Additionally, fixes for image editing in the Media Library, error reporting on the login screen, and “no motion” settings for GIFs have been implemented. The cause of some false positives in automated UI tests has been corrected, and users without JavaScript now see a direct link to install the Classic Editor plugin. Learn more about these changes and other accessibility improvements for 6.4 on WordPress Trac.
Performance:
WordPress 6.4 will include more than 100 performance-related updates, including improvements to template loading performance for Block Themes and Classic Themes, usage of the new script loading strategies “defer” and “async” in core, blocks, and themes, and new functions to optimize the use of autoloaded options.

New in WordPress 6.3.1 (Aug 29, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.3.1 RC 1 (Aug 24, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.3 (Aug 9, 2023)

What’s inside:
This momentous release opens new possibilities for the creative expression of designers, creators, and builders. Powerful tools and refined controls give users confidence and allow them to easily manage their sites.
Do everything in the Site Editor:
WordPress 6.3 brings your content, templates, and patterns together in the Site Editor for the first time. Add pages, browse style variations, create synced patterns, and enjoy fine-tuned control over navigation menus. Spend less time switching across different site areas—so you can focus on what matters most. Creation to completion, all in one place.
Image titled: "Do everything in the Site Editor"
Preview Block themes:
Experience block themes before you switch and preview the Site Editor, with options to customize directly before committing to a new theme.
Image about previewing block themes titled Previewing Themes depicting "Previewing: Organizer"Preview a new block theme before you switch and commit
Create and sync patterns:
Arrange blocks and save them to the ‘My Patterns’ section for use throughout your site. You can even specify whether to sync your patterns (previously referred to as “Reusable blocks”) so that one change applies to all parts of your site. Or, utilize patterns as a starting point with the ability to customize each instance.
Image showing the new My Patterns section in the CMS.My patterns: All your patterns in one place
Work faster with the Command Palette:
Switch to a specific template or open your editor preferences with a new tool that helps you quickly access expanded functionality. With simple keyboard shortcuts (?+k on Mac or Ctrl+k on Windows), clicking the sidebar search icon in Site View, or clicking the Title Bar, get where you need to go and do what you need to do in seconds.
Image depicting the new Command PaletteGet to know the new Command Palette
Sharpen your designs with new tools:
New design controls bring more versatility for fine-tuning, starting with the ability to customize your captions from the Styles interface without coding. You can manage your duotone filters in Styles for supported blocks and pick from the options provided by your theme or disable them entirely. The Cover block gets added settings for text color, layout controls, and border options, making this powerful block even more handy.
Image representing the new design tools in the Site EditorNew design tools
Track design changes with Style revisions:
With a new audit trail, you can now see how your site looked at a specific time. Visualize these revisions in a timeline and access a one-click option to restore prior styles.
Image titled "Style Revisions"Style revisions: See your style revision history
Annotate with the Footnotes block:
Footnotes add convenient annotations throughout your content. Now you can add and link footnotes for any paragraph.
Image depicting the new Footnotes BlockAdd footnotes effortlessly with the new Footnotes Block
Show or hide content with the Details block:
Use the Details block to avoid spoiling a surprise, create an interactive Q&A section, or hide a long paragraph under a heading.
Image depicting the new Details BlockDisplay or hide content with the new Details Block
Performance gets a boost:
WordPress 6.3 has 170+ performance updates, including defer and async support for the Scripts API and fetchpriority support for images. These improvements, along with block template resolution, image lazy-loading, and the emoji loader, can dramatically improve your website’s perceived load time.
Accessibility remains a core focus:
Incorporating more than 50 accessibility improvements across the platform, WordPress 6.3 is more accessible than ever. Improved labeling, optimized tab and arrow-key navigation, revised heading hierarchy, and new controls in the admin image editor allow those using assistive technologies to navigate more easily.
Other highlights:
Set aspect ratio on images:
Specify your aspect ratios and ensure design integrity, especially when using images in patterns.
Build your site distraction-free:
Distraction-free designing is now available in the Site Editor.
Rediscover the Top Toolbar:
A revamped Top Toolbar offers parent selectors for nested blocks, options when selecting multiple blocks, and an interface embedded into the title bar with new functionality in mind.
List View improvements:
Drag and drop to every content layer and delete any block you would like in the updated List View.
Build templates with Patterns:
Create unique patterns to jumpstart template creation with a new modal enabling access to pattern selection.
Changes in PHP support:
Support for PHP 5 is discontinued. The new minimum supported version of PHP is 7.0.0.
Failed update safeguards:
WordPress will now auto-restore the previously installed version of plugins or themes if something goes wrong during a failed manual update.

New in WordPress 6.3 RC 3 (Aug 1, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.3 RC 2 (Jul 25, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.3 RC 1 (Jul 19, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.3 Beta 4 (Jul 11, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.3 Beta 3 (Jul 3, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.3 Beta 2 (Jun 29, 2023)

Performance:
Following the incredible performance improvements introduced in 6.2, the release includes more than 170 performance-related updates, including adding defer and async support to the WP Scripts API and fetchpriority support for images. Optimizations were made to block template resolution, image lazy-loading, and the emoji loader, all of which benefit LCP performance. Support for PHP versions 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2 has been improved.
Site Editor:
The Site Editor expands to include navigating and editing pages, styles, templates, and content. The unified site editing experience will include a distraction-free mode, enhanced navigation, and an improved loading experience. Additionally, you can use the Site Editor to preview a block theme and adjust your site before activating the new theme. This release includes style revisions so you can toggle between and preview different saved styles. Rounding out the changes, 6.3 ushers in a new Command Palette, enabling users to context switch and perform actions quickly across different sections of the site editing experience.
Blocks:
New blocks for details, time-to-read, and footnotes debut in this release, along with updates for better handling of image aspect ratios and improved fallback states. Spacer blocks now include presets, and the cover block gets updates for managing text colors and layout support.
Patterns and Design:
Reusable blocks have been renamed to synced patterns. This change reflects the unification of reusable blocks and traditional block patterns (unsynced patterns) within the Editor. A new option allows you to assign patterns to templates, adding the ability to have starter patterns to speed up the creation process. Site creators can now easily create, save, and manage custom synced and unsynced patterns, as well as browse a directory of curated patterns. Additionally, the duotone filter and captions can now be edited in the Styles interface.
Usability:
Some key usability highlights include toolbar updates, updated template descriptions, enhanced list view drag-and-drop, improved padding and margin controls, and a new area for managing patterns (including reusable blocks, now called synced patterns.) Link control receives some updates, rounding out high-level usability enhancements in 6.3.
Accessibility:
WordPress remains steadfast in making the site-building experience accessible to everyone. 6.3 incorporates over 50 accessibility improvements across the platform. Improved labeling, optimized tab and arrow-key navigation, revised heading hierarchy, and new controls in the admin image editor allow those using screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other assistive technology to navigate more easily. The login form, installation steps, and list tables (for sorting and selection) have all been updated. Additional accessibility tickets are viewable in the WordPress Trac.

New in WordPress 6.2.2 (May 20, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.2.1 (May 16, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.2 (Mar 29, 2023)

Meet the reimagined Site Editor:
Ready for you to dive in and explore: 6.2 is your invitation to discover what the next generation of WordPress—and block themes—can do.
Now out of beta, the Site Editor has an updated interface, giving you a new way to interact with your entire site. Explore full previews of your templates and template parts, then jump in and get to editing your site from wherever you choose.
Manage menus in more ways with the Navigation block:
Add, remove, and reorder menu items faster—with a new sidebar experience that makes editing your site’s navigation easier.
Discover a smoother experience for the Block Inserter:
A refreshed design gives you easier access to the content you need. Use the Media tab to quickly drag and drop content from your existing Media Library. Find patterns faster with a split view that lets you navigate categories and see previews all at once.
Find the controls you want when you need them:
Your block settings sidebar is better organized with tabs for Settings and Styles. So the tools you need are easy to identify and access.
Build faster with headers and footers for block themes:
Discover a new collection of header and footer patterns. Use them with any block theme as a quick, high-quality starting point for your site’s templates.
Explore Openverse media right from the Editor:
Openverse’s library catalogs over 700 million+ free, openly licensed stock images and audio—and now it’s directly integrated into the WordPress experience through the Inserter.
Focus on writing with Distraction Free mode:
For those times you want to be alone with your ideas. You can now hide all your panels and controls, leaving you free to bring your content to life.
Meet the new Style Book:
Get a complete overview of how every block in your site’s library looks. All in one place, all at a glance, directly in the Site Editor.
Copy and paste styles:
Perfect the design on one type of block, then copy and paste those styles to other blocks to get just the look you want.
Custom CSS:
Power up your site any way you wish with design tools and custom CSS for another level of control over your site’s look and feel for maximum creativity and artistry in your designs.
Other highlights in 6.2
Sticky positioning: Choose to keep top-level group blocks fixed to the top of a page as visitors scroll.
Importing widgets: Options to import your favorite widgets from Classic themes to Block themes.
Local fonts in themes: Default WordPress themes offer better privacy with Google Fonts now included.

New in WordPress 6.2 RC 1 (Mar 9, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.2 Beta 1 (Feb 7, 2023)

New in WordPress 6.1.1 (Nov 15, 2022)

New in WordPress 6.1 (Nov 2, 2022)

After introducing foundational elements for block themes and style variations in releases 5.9 and 6.0, WordPress site builders welcome a new default theme, Twenty Twenty-Three, that is powered by 10 different styles and tagged as “Accessibility Ready.” These intentionally unique styles ensure users can apply a different look and feel to their site with a single click—all within a single theme.
New templates for an improved creator experience:
New and more refined templates now give site builders more control over the creation of their sites. In this suite of new templates, find a custom template for posts & pages in the Site Editor. Create and edit template parts like headers and footers more quickly with a new search-and-replace tool and easily view your new site.
Design tools for more consistency and control:
Thoughtful upgrades to the controls for design elements and blocks make laying out and building your new site a more consistent, complete, and intuitive experience.
Manage menus with ease:
New fallback options in the navigation block mean you can edit the menu that’s open; no searching needed. Plus, the controls for choosing and working on menus have their own place in the block settings. The mobile menu system also gets an upgrade with new features, including different icon options, to make the menu yours.
Cleaner layouts and document settings visualization:
View and manage post and page settings with a better-organized display improving the use of features like template picker and scheduler.
One-click lock setting for all inner blocks:
When locking blocks, a new toggle lets you apply your lock settings to all the blocks in a containing block like the group, cover, and column blocks.
Improved block placeholders:
Various blocks have improved placeholders that reflect customization options to help you design your site and its content. For example, the Image block placeholder displays custom borders and duotone filters even before selecting an image.
Compose richer lists and quotes with inner blocks:
The List and Quote blocks now support inner blocks, allowing for more flexible and rich compositions like adding headings inside your Quote blocks.
More responsive text with fluid typography:
Fluid typography lets you define font sizes that adapt for easy reading in any screen size.
Add starter patterns to any post type:
In WordPress 6.0, when you created a new page, you would see suggested patterns so you did not have to start with a blank page. In 6.1, you will also see the starter patterns modal when you create a new instance of any post type.
Find block themes faster:
The Themes Directory has a filter for block themes, and a pattern preview gives a better sense of what the theme might look like while exploring different themes and patterns.
Keep your Site Editor settings for later:
Site Editor settings are now persistent for each user. This means your settings will now be consistent across browsers and devices.
A streamlined style system:
The CSS rules for margin, padding, typography, colors, and borders within the styles engine are now all in one place, reducing time spent on layout-specific tasks and helps to generate semantic class names.
Updated interface options and features:
Updates include styling elements like buttons, citations, and links globally; controlling hover, active, and focus states for links using theme.json (not available to control in the interface yet); and customizing outline support for blocks and elements, among other features.
Continued evolution of layout options:
The default content dimensions provided by themes can now be overridden in the Styles Sidebar, giving site builders better control over full-width content. Developers have fine-grained control over these controls.
Block Template parts in classic themes:
Block template parts can now be defined in classic themes by adding the appropriate HTML files `parts` directory at the root of the theme.
Expanded support for Query Loop blocks:
New filters let Query Block variations support custom queries for more powerful variations and advanced hierarchical post types filtering options.
Filters for all your styles:
Leverage filters in the Styles sidebar to control settings at all four levels of your site—core, theme, user, or block, from less to more specific.
Spacing presets for faster, consistent design:
Save time and avoid hard-coding values into a theme with preset margin and padding values for multiple blocks.
Content-only editing support for container blocks:
Thanks to content-only editing settings, layouts can be locked within container blocks. In a content-only block, its children are invisible to the List View and entirely uneditable. So you control the layout while your writers can focus on the content. Combine it with block-locking options for even more advanced control over your blocks.
Other notes of interest:
6.1 includes a new time-to-read feature showing content authors the approximate time-to-read values for pages, posts, and custom post types.
The site tagline is empty by default in new sites but can be modified in General Settings.
A new modal design offers a background blur effect, making it easier to focus on the task at hand.
Enhancing WordPress 6.1 Accessibility:
Accessibility is an integral part of the WordPress mission of fostering an inclusive community and supporting users of all types around the world. With this in mind, WordPress 6.1 includes nearly 60 updates specifically focused on enhancing the accessibility of the platform. Read these updates to learn more about the continual initiatives aimed at improving accessibility.
Improved Performance in WordPress 6.1:
WordPress 6.1 resolves more than 25 tickets dedicated to enhancing performance with improvements for every type of site. A full breakdown can be found in the Performance Field Guide.

New in WordPress 6.1 RC 6 (Nov 1, 2022)

New in WordPress 6.1 RC 3 (Oct 25, 2022)

New in WordPress 6.1 RC 2 (Oct 19, 2022)

New in WordPress 6.0.3 (Oct 18, 2022)

New in WordPress 6.1 RC 1 (Oct 12, 2022)

New in WordPress 6.1 Beta 1 (Sep 21, 2022)

New in WordPress 6.0.2 (Aug 31, 2022)

New in WordPress 6.0.1 (Jul 12, 2022)

The following core tickets from Trac are fixed:
#55668 – Build/Test Tools: Pass GitHub Actions environment variables to the Docker container.
#55681 – Fix block-templates theme support not present in /themes REST API endpoint
#55808 – About page: Replace video thumbnail image
#55837 – Resolve WP_Term_Query cache problem
#55890 – Fix caching issues in WP_Term_Query class.
#55997 – Remove meetup from oembed allow list
#56093 – Register Comments Query Loop from metadata to enable title and description translation.
#56097 – Themes: Revert the change of theme preview width on Add Themes screen.
#56126 – Block Patterns: Update the value used for keywords.
#55810 – Bundled Themes: Revert the Twenty Ten theme version to 3.6.
The following block editor issues from GitHub are fixed:
#41423 – Lower the priority of the gallery gap css so it loads after the block layout css
#41487 – Add utility classnames back to blocks that have layout attributes specified
#41354 – Block Library: Fix JS Error in Avatar Block
#40329 – Media & Text: Remove font size declaration from template
#41631 – Comment Author and Date blocks: aligned editor markup with the frontend
#41328 – Handle no variation case in the block transform menu
#40710 – Fix/block meta icon prop errors
#40593 – Prevent opening the links in editor for Latest Posts
#40671 – Navigation block “Open on click”: Inherit font style and font weight
#41627 – Comments Block: fixed issue with custom font sizes and links color
#40560 – Reuse code of the editor placeholder across Post Comments and Post Comments Form
#40563 – Improve the logic for warnings for Post Comments Form placeholder
#41603 – Post Comments Form: Add button that enables commenting to warning
#40799 – Ensure only the main query is modified when resolving template for new posts
#40859 – Strip whitespaces in render_block_core_cover before injecting the featured image.
#41827 – Post Template: Ensure layout classnames are not attached to inner li elements
#41907 – Pasting: Fix performance regression due to removeWindowsFragments
#42131 – Post Comments Form: Fix warning i18n

New in WordPress 6.0 (May 25, 2022)

Enhanced Writing Experience:
Writing improvements abound, whether you’re writing a brand new post or adding elements to an existing page. Explore more ways to streamline your content creation process, including:
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 now include the option to contain multiple style variations. This expands the new Style system even further and enables shortcuts to switch the look and feel of your site all within a single theme. In block themes that support this feature, you can change both the available settings, like the font-weight, and the style options, like the default color palette. Change the look and feel of your site with just a few clicks.
More Template Choices:
WordPress 6.0 includes five new template options for block themes: author, date, categories, tag, and taxonomy. These additional templates provide greater flexibility for content creators. Tailor each with the tools you already know or with the following new options in this release:
Featured images can be used in the cover block.
New featured image sizing controls make it easier to get the results you want.
While editing a template, at the root, or between blocks, the quick inserter shows you patterns and template parts to help you work faster and discover new layout options.
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 appear when you need them in even more places, like in the quick inserter or when creating a new header or footer. If you’re a block theme author, you can even register patterns from the Pattern Directory using `theme.json`, enabling you to prioritize specific patterns that are most helpful to your theme’s users.
Additional Design Tools:
Design tools grow more powerful and intuitive with each release. Some highlights for 6.0 include:
A new color panel design saves space, but still shows your options at a glance.
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.
Use the gap support functionality in the Gallery block to create different looks – from adding spacing between all images, to removing spacing altogether.
Better List View:
New keyboard shortcuts enable you to select multiple blocks from the list view, modify them in bulk, and drag and drop them within the list. List View can be opened and closed easily; it comes collapsed by default and it automatically expands to the current selection whenever you select a block.
Block Locking Controls:
Now you can lock your blocks. Choose to disable the option to move a block, remove a block, or both. This simplifies project handover, allowing your clients to unleash their creativity without worrying about accidentally breaking their site in the process.
Improved Performance in WordPress 6.0:
This release includes several updates focused on improving the performance of WordPress. These enhancements cover a range of performance areas including improving the page and post-load speed, reducing the execution time of various query types, caching, navigation menus, and much more. The performance team working group is an important focus area of the core development team. For more information on this group’s work, please follow their work on Making WordPress with the #performance hashtag.
Enhancing WordPress 6.0 Accessibility:
Accessibility is an integral part of the WordPress mission of fostering an inclusive community and supporting users of all types around the world. With this in mind, WordPress 6.0 includes more than 50 updates specifically focused on enhancing the accessibility of the platform. You can read about these updates and learn more about the accessibility initiatives that are ongoing.

New in WordPress 6.0 RC 2 (May 10, 2022)

New in WordPress 6.0 RC 1 (May 4, 2022)

New in WordPress 5.9.3 (Apr 5, 2022)

New in WordPress 5.9.2 (Mar 11, 2022)

New in WordPress 5.9.1 (Feb 22, 2022)

New in WordPress 5.9 (Jan 26, 2022)

New in WordPress 5.8.3 (Jan 7, 2022)

New in WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 (Dec 22, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.8.2 (Nov 10, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.8.1 (Sep 9, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.8 RC 4 (Jul 16, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.8 RC 1 (Jun 30, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.8 Beta 4 (Jun 25, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.7. 5.8 Beta 3 (Jun 23, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.8 Beta 2 (Jun 15, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.8 Beta 1 (Jun 9, 2021)

Highlights:
Handpicked Patterns:
Patterns can now also be recommended and selected during block setup, offering powerful new flows. Pattern transformations are also possible and allow converting a block or a collection of blocks into different patterns.
New collection of Patterns and an initial integration with the upcoming Pattern Directory on WordPress.org.
Powerful Blocks:
Discover several new blocks and expressive tools, including blocks for Page Lists, Site Title, Logo, and Tagline. A powerful Query Loop block offers multiple ways for displaying lists of posts and comes with new block patterns that take advantage of its flexibility and creative possibilities.
Interacting with nested blocks has been made easier with a permanent toolbar button for selecting a parent. Block outlines are shown when hovering or focusing on the different block type buttons. Block handles are now also present for drag and drop when in “select” mode.
Introduces the List View, a panel that can be toggled and helps navigate complex blocks and patterns.
Reusable blocks have an improved creation flow and support for history revisions.
A cool new duotone block adds images effects which can be used in media blocks or supported in third-party blocks. Color presets can also be customized by the theme.
Better Tools:
New template editor that allows creating new custom templates for a page using blocks.
Themes can now control and configure styling with a theme.json file, including layout configuration, block supports, color palettes, and more.
New design tools and enhancements to existing blocks, including more color, typography, and spacing options, drag and drop for Cover backgrounds, additions to block transformation options, ability to embed PDFs within the File block, and more.
Includes improvements to how the editor is rendered to more accurately resemble the frontend.
Internet Explorer 11:
Support for Internet Explorer 11 is ending in WordPress this year. In this release, most of those changes are being merged so use the Beta and RC periods to test!

New in WordPress 5.7.2 (May 13, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.7.1 (Apr 15, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.7.1 RC 1 (Apr 8, 2021)

Fixed Core tickets from Trac:
#52787 – Empty array for non-single post meta breaks post save through REST API
#52822 – PHPMailer change in WordPress 5.7 breaks working sites
#52670 – Admin pointer arrow border color darker than pointer content
#52713 – Reverse logic in wp_robots function and filter
#52743 – Hardcoded SVG image URLs on WP 5.7 About screen
#52750 – WP 5.7 colors inconsistent in get_option( 'admin_color' ) since color contrast changes
#52751 – UI issue on Privacy Policy Guide page
#52756 – Duplicate video URLs on WP 5.7 About screen
#52758 – 5.7 About Page: Image comparison doesn’t work on first load on some browsers
#52760 – Color not accessibility for AA
#52764 – Classic editor adding empty tags in some media embed situations
#52768 – WordPress post URL oEmbed rendering blocked by iframe lazy-loading
#52783 – Health Check mis-reports https functionality in certain situations
#52789 – Gallery layout block adds all media items when changing an image
#52816 – Post metabox style Twenty Seventeen has a border
#52826 – New wp_getimagesize() causing unexpected failures
#52834 – Reset password screen: improve buttons layout for better i18n
#52891 – Privacy: print screen reader text message
#52894 – The wp_sanitize_script_attributes function added in version 5.7 does not escape attributes in some cases
#52932 – Rest Api enum validation does not work correctly WordPress 5.7
#52961 – Add ‘object-position’ as an allowed CSS attribute
#52981 – Twenty Twenty-One: Update IE specific editor stylesheet
Fixed Block editor issues from GitHub:
PR30218 – Core Data: Use getAuthors for showCombobox
PR30524 – Editor: Revert (#27717) save editors value on change
PR30122 – Gallery: Set addToGallery prop to false when images don’t have IDs
PR29809 – Revert: Show empty paragraphs on fronted
PR29860 – Try: Fix gallery item clicking
PR29920 – Fix sibling block inserter displaying at end of block list
PR30125 – Block Editor: Ensure that uncategorized block types are properly handled
PR30243 – Add object-position to allowed inline style attributes list

New in WordPress 5.7 (Mar 10, 2021)

Meet “Esperanza”, the first WordPress release of 2021. “Esperanza” is named in honor of Esperanza Spalding, a modern musical prodigy. Her path as a musician is varied and inspiring—learn more about her and give her music a listen!
With this new version, WordPress brings you fresh colors. The editor helps you work in a few places you couldn’t before without getting into code or hiring a pro. The controls you use most are right where you need them. Layout changes that should be simple, are even simpler to make.
Now the new editor is easier to use:
Font-size adjustment in more places: now, font-size controls are right where you need them in the List and Code blocks. No more trekking to another screen to make that single change!
Reusable blocks: several enhancements make reusable blocks more stable and easier to use. And now they save automatically with the post when you click the Update button.
Inserter drag-and-drop: drag blocks and block patterns from the inserter right into your post.
You can do more without writing custom code:
Full-height alignment: have you ever wanted to make a block, like the Cover block, fill the whole window? Now you can.
Buttons block: now you can choose a vertical or a horizontal layout. And you can set the width of a button to a preset percentage.
Social Icons block: now you can change the size of the icons.
A simpler default color palette:
This new streamlined color palette collapses all the colors that used to be in the WordPress source code down to seven core colors and a range of 56 shades that meet the WCAG 2.0 AA recommended contrast ratio against white or black.
Find the new palette in the default WordPress Dashboard color scheme, and use it when you’re building themes, plugins, or any other components. For all the details, check out the Color Palette dev note.
From HTTP to HTTPS in a single click:
Starting now, switching a site from HTTP to HTTPS is a one-click move. WordPress will automatically update database URLs when you make the switch. No more hunting and guessing!
New Robots API:
The new Robots API lets you include the filter directives in the robots meta tag, and the API includes the max-image-preview: large directive by default. That means search engines can show bigger image previews, which can boost your traffic (unless the site is marked not-public).
Lazy-load your iFrames:
Now it’s simple to let iframes lazy-load. By default, WordPress will add a loading="lazy" attribute to iframe tags when both width and height are specified.
Ongoing cleanup after update to jQuery 3.5.1:
For years jQuery helped make things move on the screen in ways the basic tools couldn’t—but that keeps changing, and so does jQuery.
In 5.7, jQuery gets more focused and less intrusive, with fewer messages in the console.

New in WordPress 5.7 RC 1 (Feb 24, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.6.2 (Feb 23, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.7 Beta 3 (Feb 17, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.7 Beta 2 (Feb 10, 2021)

New in WordPress 5.7 Beta 1 (Feb 3, 2021)

Improvements in Core:
Lazy-load iframes:
Now you can enable lazy-loading of iframes by adding the loading="lazy" attribute to iframe tags on the front-end.
Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS is streamlined:
Switching a WordPress site from HTTP to HTTPS has proven to be a pain for all involved. While on the surface, the Site Address and WordPress Address have to be updated, content with embedded HTTP URLs remains unchanged in the database. With this release, migrating a site to HTTPS is now a one-click interaction. URLs in the database are automatically replaced when the Site and WordPress Address are both using HTTPS. Also, Site Health now includes an HTTPS status check.
Standardize colors used in WP-Admin CSS to a single palette:
This change collapses all colors used in the CSS to one of the available shades of blue, green, red, yellow, grey, black, and white. The palette makes it simpler than ever to build components your users can read, because half the range gives you great contrast with white type and a half with black, according to current accessibility guidelines.
Ongoing cleanup after update to jQuery 3.5.1:
jQuery deprecations in WordPress Core and bundled themes show up a lot less often, and the notifications make more sense to the user.
New Robots API:
The new Robots API allows the filter directives to be included in the ‘robots’ meta tag. Also, the directive max-image-preview:large is now included by default to allow large image previews to be displayed in search engines (unless the blog is marked as not being public).
Improvements in the Editor:
Buttons block: Overhaul alignment and justification controls
Buttons block: Adds variations for vertical layout
Buttons block: Adds width selector
Code block: Adds support for font sizes
Cover block: Full Height Alignment control
List block: Adds font size support
Social Icons block: Adds Patreon, Telegram, and Tiktok icons
Social Icons block: Adds the ability to change social icon sizes
Spacer block: Use a semi-transparent background
Adds block variations transformations
Allow dragging blocks & block patterns from the inserter into the canvas

New in WordPress 5.6 (Dec 9, 2020)

Greater layout flexibility:
Bring your stories to life with more tools that let you edit your layout with or without code. Single column blocks, designs using mixed widths and columns, full-width headers, and gradients in your cover block—make small changes or big statements with equal ease!
More block patterns:
In some themes, preconfigured block patterns make setting up standard pages on your site a breeze. Let the power of patterns streamline your workflow and save you clicks. Plus, share these features with clients, editors, and more.
Better video captioning:
To help you add subtitles or captions to your videos, you can now upload them within your post or page. This makes it easier than ever to make your videos accessible for anyone who needs or prefers to use subtitles.
Twenty Twenty-One is here:
Twenty Twenty-One is a blank canvas for your ideas, and the block editor is the best brush. It is built for the block editor and packed with brand-new block patterns you can only get in the default themes. Try different layouts in a matter of seconds, and let the theme’s eye-catching, yet timeless design make your work shine.
What’s more, this default theme puts accessibility at the heart of your website. It conforms to the WordPress accessibility-ready guidelines and addresses several more specialized standards from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AAA. It will help you meet the highest level of international accessibility standards when you create accessible content and choose plugins which are accessible too!
A rainbow of soft pastels:
Perfect for a new year, Twenty Twenty-One gives you a range of pre-selected color palettes in pastel, all of which conform to AAA standards for contrast. You can also choose your own background color for the theme, and the theme chooses accessibility-conscious text colors for you — automatically!
Need more flexibility than that? You can also choose your own color palette from the color picker.
Improvements for everyone:
Expanding auto-updates:
For years, only developers have been able to update WordPress automatically. But now you have that option, right in your dashboard. If this is your first site, you have auto-updates ready to go, right now! Upgrading an existing site? No problem! Everything is the same as it was before.
Accessibility Statement:
Even if you’re not an expert, you can start letting others know about your site’s commitment to accessibility! The new feature plugin includes template copy for you to edit and publish, and it’s written to support different contexts and jurisdictions.
Built-in Patterns:
If you’ve not had the chance to play with block patterns yet, all default themes now feature a range of block patterns that let you master complex layouts with minimal effort. Customize the patterns to your liking with the copy, images, and colors that fit your story or brand.
For developers:
REST API authentication with Application Passwords:
Thanks to the API’s new Application Passwords authorization feature, third-party apps can connect to your site seamlessly and securely. This new REST API feature lets you see what apps are connecting to your site and control what they do.
More PHP 8 support:
5.6 marks the first steps toward WordPress Core support for PHP 8. Now is a great time to start planning how your WordPress products, services, and sites can support the latest PHP version. For more information about what to expect next, read the PHP 8 developer note.
jQuery:
Updates to jQuery in WordPress take place across three releases 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7. As we reach the mid-point of this process, run the update test plugin to check your sites for errors ahead of time.
If you find issues with the way your site looks ( e.g. a slider doesn’t work, a button is stuck — that sort of thing), install the jQuery Migrate plugin.

New in WordPress 5.6 RC 5 (Dec 8, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.6 RC1 (Nov 18, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.6 Beta 4 (Nov 13, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.6 Beta 3 (Nov 3, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.5.3 (Oct 30, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.5.2 (Oct 30, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.6 Beta 2 (Oct 27, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.6 Beta 1 (Oct 21, 2020)

Improvements in the Editor:
WordPress 5.6 includes seven Gutenberg plugin releases. Here are a few highlighted enhancements:
Improved support for video positioning in cover blocks.
Enhancements to Block Patterns including translatable strings.
Character counts in the information panel, improved keyboard navigation, and other adjustments to help users find their way better.
Improved UI for drag and drop functionality, as well as block movers.
To see all of the features for each release in detail check out the release posts: 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 9.0, 9.1, and 9.2 (link forthcoming).
Improvements in Core:
A new default theme:
The default theme is making its annual return with Twenty Twenty-One. This theme features a streamlined and elegant design, which aims to be AAA ready.
Auto-update option for major releases
The much anticipated opt-in for major releases of WordPress Core will ship in this release. With this functionality, you can elect to have major releases of the WordPress software update in the background with no additional fuss for your users.
Increased support for PHP 8:
The next major version release of PHP, 8.0.0, is scheduled for release just a few days prior to WordPress 5.6. The WordPress project has a long history of being compatible with new versions of PHP as soon as possible, and this release is no different.
Because PHP 8 is a major version release, changes that break backward compatibility or compatibility for various APIs are allowed. Contributors have been hard at work fixing the known incompatibilities with PHP 8 in WordPress during the 5.6 release cycle.
While all of the detectable issues in WordPress can be fixed, you will need to verify that all of your plugins and themes are also compatible with PHP 8 prior to upgrading. Keep an eye on the Making WordPress Core blog in the coming weeks for more detailed information about what to look for.
Application Passwords for REST API Authentication
Since the REST API was merged into Core, only cookie & nonce based authentication has been available (without the use of a plugin). This authentication method can be a frustrating experience for developers, often limiting how applications can interact with protected endpoints.
With the introduction of Application Password in WordPress 5.6, gone is this frustration and the need to jump through hoops to re-authenticate when cookies expire. But don’t worry, cookie and nonce authentication will remain in WordPress as-is if you’re not ready to change.
Application Passwords are user specific, making it easy to grant or revoke access to specific users or applications (individually or wholesale). Because information like “Last Used” is logged, it’s also easy to track down inactive credentials or bad actors from unexpected locations.
Better accessibility:
With every release, WordPress works hard to improve accessibility. Version 5.6 is no exception and will ship with a number of accessibility fixes and enhancements. Take a look:
Announce block selection changes manually on windows.
Avoid focusing the block selection button on each render.
Avoid rendering the clipboard textarea inside the button
Fix dropdown menu focus loss when using arrow keys with Safari and Voiceover
Fix dragging multiple blocks downwards, which resulted in blocks inserted in wrong position.
Fix incorrect aria description in the Block List View.
Add arrow navigation in Preview menu.
Prevent links from being focusable inside the Disabled component.

New in WordPress 5.5.1 (Sep 1, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.5 (Aug 12, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.5 Beta 2 (Jul 15, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.4.2 (Jun 11, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.4.1 (Apr 30, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.4 (Mar 31, 2020)

Welcome to WordPress 5.4
Every major release adds more to the block editor.
More ways to make posts and pages come alive with your best images. More ways to bring your visitors in, and keep them engaged, with the richness of embedded media from the web’s top services.
More ways to make your vision real, and put blocks in the perfect place—even if a particular kind of block is new to you. More efficient processes.
And more speed everywhere, so as you build sections or galleries, or just type in a line of prose, you can feel how much faster your work flows.
Two new blocks. And better blocks overall:
Two brand-new blocks: Social Icons and Buttons make adding interactive features fast and easy.
New ways with color: Gradients in the Buttons and Cover block, toolbar access to color options in Rich Text blocks, and for the first time, color options in the Group and Columns blocks.
Guess a whole lot less! Version 5.4 streamlines the whole process for placing and replacing multimedia in every block. Now it works the same way in almost every block!
And if you’ve ever thought your image in the Media+Text block should link to something else—perhaps a picture of a brochure should download that brochure as a document? Well, now it can.
Cleaner UI, clearer navigation—and easier tabbing:
Clearer block navigation with block breadcrumbs. And easier selection once you get there.
For when you need to navigate with the keyboard, better tabbing and focus. Plus, you can tab over to the sidebar of nearly any block.
Speed! 14% faster loading of the editor, 51% faster time-to-type!
Tips are gone. In their place, a Welcome Guide window you can bring up when you need it—and only when you need it—again and again.
Know at a glance whether you’re in a block’s Edit or Navigation mode. Or, if you have restricted vision, your screen reader will tell you which mode you’re in.
Your fundamental right: privacy:
5.4 helps with a variety of privacy issues around the world. So when users and stakeholders ask about regulatory compliance, or how your team handles user data, the answers should be a lot easier to get right.
Take a look:
Now personal data exports include users session information and users location data from the community events widget. Plus, a table of contents!
See progress as you process export and erasure requests through the privacy tools.
Plus, little enhancements throughout give the privacy tools a little cleaner look. Your eyes will thank you!
Just for developers:
Add custom fields to menu items—natively:
Two new actions let you add custom fields to menu items—without a plugin and without writing custom walkers.
On the Menus admin screen, wp_nav_menu_item_custom_fields fires just before the move buttons of a nav menu item in the menu editor.
In the Customizer, wp_nav_menu_item_custom_fields_customize_template fires at the end of the menu-items form-fields template.
Check your code and see where these new actions can replace your custom code, and if you’re concerned about duplication, add a check for the WordPress version.
Blocks! Simpler styling, new APIs and embeds:
Radically simpler block styling. Negative margins and default padding are gone! Now you can style blocks the way you need them. And, a refactor got rid of four redundant wrapper divs.
If you build plugins, now you can register collections of your blocks by namespace across categories—a great way to get more brand visibility.
Let users do more with two new APIs: block variations and gradients.
In embeds, now the block editor supports TikTok—and CollegeHumor is gone.

New in WordPress 5.4 RC2 (Mar 11, 2020)

New in WordPress 5.3.2 (Dec 19, 2019)

New in WordPress 5.3.1 (Dec 13, 2019)

New in WordPress 5.3 (Nov 13, 2019)

Block Editor Improvements:
This enhancement-focused update introduces over 150 new features and usability improvements, including improved large image support for uploading non-optimized, high-resolution pictures taken from your smartphone or other high-quality cameras. Combined with larger default image sizes, pictures always look their best.
Accessibility improvements include the integration of block editor styles in the admin interface. These improved styles fix many accessibility issues: color contrast on form fields and buttons, consistency between editor and admin interfaces, new snackbar notices, standardizing to the default WordPress color scheme, and the introduction of Motion to make interacting with your blocks feel swift and natural.
For people who use a keyboard to navigate the dashboard, the block editor now has a Navigation mode. This lets you jump from block to block without tabbing through every part of the block controls.
Expanded Design Flexibility:
WordPress 5.3 adds even more robust tools for creating amazing designs.
The new Group block lets you easily divide your page into colorful sections.
The Columns block now supports fixed column widths.
The new predefined layouts make it a cinch to arrange content into advanced designs.
Heading blocks now offer controls for text and background color.
Additional style options allow you to set your preferred style for any block that supports this feature.
Introducing Twenty Twenty:
As the block editor celebrates its first birthday, we are proud that Twenty Twenty is designed with flexibility at its core. Show off your services or products with a combination of columns, groups, and media blocks. Set your content to wide or full alignment for dynamic and engaging layouts. Or let your thoughts be the star with a centered content column!
As befits a theme called Twenty Twenty, clarity and readability is also a big focus. The theme includes the typeface Inter, designed by Rasmus Andersson. Inter comes in a Variable Font version, a first for default themes, which keeps load times short by containing all weights and styles of Inter in just two font files.
Improvements for Everyone:
Automatic Image Rotation:
Your images will be correctly rotated upon upload according to the embedded orientation data. This feature was first proposed nine years ago and made possible through the perseverance of many dedicated contributors.
Improved Site Health Checks:
The improvements introduced in 5.3 make it even easier to identify issues. Expanded recommendations highlight areas that may need troubleshooting on your site from the Health Check screen.
Admin Email Verification:
You’ll now be periodically asked to confirm that your admin email address is up to date when you log in as an administrator. This reduces the chance of getting locked out of your site if you change your email address.

New in WordPress 5.3 RC 2 (Oct 23, 2019)

New in WordPress 5.2.4 (Oct 15, 2019)

New in WordPress 5.2.3 (Sep 5, 2019)

New in WordPress 5.2 (May 8, 2019)

New in WordPress 5.2 RC 1 (Apr 28, 2019)

New in WordPress 5.1.1 (Mar 13, 2019)

New in WordPress 5.1 (Feb 22, 2019)

New in WordPress 5.0.2 (Dec 20, 2018)

New in WordPress 5.0.1 (Dec 13, 2018)

New in WordPress 5.0 (Dec 7, 2018)

We’ve made some big upgrades to the editor. Our new block-based editor is the first step toward an exciting new future with a streamlined editing experience across your site. You’ll have more flexibility with how content is displayed, whether you are building your first site, revamping your blog, or write code for a living.
Building with Blocks:
The new block-based editor won’t change the way any of your content looks to your visitors. What it will do is let you insert any type of multimedia in a snap and rearrange to your heart’s content. Each piece of content will be in its own block; a distinct wrapper for easy maneuvering. If you’re more of an HTML and CSS sort of person, then the blocks won’t stand in your way. WordPress is here to simplify the process, not the outcome.
We have tons of blocks available by default, and more get added by the community every day. Here are a few of the blocks to help you get started:
Paragraph
Heading
Preformatted
Quote
Image
Gallery
Cover
Video
Audio
Columns
File
Code
List
Button
Embeds
More
Freedom to Build, Freedom to Write:
This new editing experience provides a more consistent treatment of design as well as content. If you’re building client sites, you can create reusable blocks. This lets your clients add new content anytime, while still maintaining a consistent look and feel.
A Stunning New Default Theme:
Introducing Twenty Nineteen, a new default theme that shows off the power of the new editor.
Designed for the block editor:
Twenty Nineteen features custom styles for the blocks available by default in 5.0. It makes extensive use of editor styles throughout the theme. That way, what you create in your content editor is what you see on the front of your site.
Simple, type-driven layout:
Featuring ample whitespace, and modern sans-serif headlines paired with classic serif body text, Twenty Nineteen is built to be beautiful on the go. It uses system fonts to increase loading speed. No more long waits on slow networks!
Versatile design for all sites:
Twenty Nineteen is designed to work for a wide variety of use cases. Whether you’re running a photo blog, launching a new business, or supporting a non-profit, Twenty Nineteen is flexible enough to fit your needs.

New in WordPress 4.9.8 (Aug 3, 2018)

New in WordPress 4.9.7 (Jul 6, 2018)

New in WordPress 4.9.6 (May 18, 2018)

New in WordPress 4.9.6 RC 2 (May 15, 2018)

New in WordPress 4.9.6 RC 1 (May 11, 2018)

BUG FIXES:
Customize:
43945 – Missing closing button tag in ‘Live Preview’ button
General:
43934 – Missing doc for the user_request_key_expiration filter
43951 – Typos in `WP_Privacy_Policy_Content::get_default_content()`
44016 – user_request_action_email_content filter hook documentation inaccurate
43583 – Account for SimpleXMLElement and `ResourceBundle` in is_countable()?
Privacy:
43964 – “Email Data” button text – Make it more clear that an export link is sent, not the whole data
43920 – Use the terms erase / erasure instead of remove / removal for personal data
43905 – Personal data export link does not work
43913 – On sending the personal data export email, the request should be marked COMPLETED
43922 – Data removal/erasure requests don’t get marked as “Completed” after erasure happens
44015 – Add `id` attribute to each row of privacy post list tables
43852 – Fix spacing on responsive for Use This Page button in Privacy Tools
43966 – Prioritize the User group in Personal Data Exports to right below the About group
43968 – Add Request Type into Confirmation Email Subject for GDPR
44023 – Remove help tab from settings privacy until we have something helpful to say
43908 – Export keeps generating new .zip files on Windows installations
43970 – Add request type to the confirmation confirmation page – GDPR
43973 – Email user once removal request completed – GDPR
44040 – Potential PHP notice in wp_ajax_wp_privacy_erase_personal_data()
43954 – Showing the privacy policy admin notice on all screens is intrusive
43933 – Make the Privacy Policy page intro text shorter and more friendly
43909 – Improve styling on personal data tables
43967 – Admin emails after email confirmation don’t work for GDPR requests
43961 – Privacy Policy popup covers collapsed admin menu
43929 – Privacy pages: buttons should be buttons and other coding standards
44031 – Add personal data export request ID to the wp_privacy_personal_data_export_file_created hook
43980 – Consider outputting the suggested privacy policy content to a new page instead of a postbox
44023 – Remove help tab from settings privacy until we have something helpful to say
TinyMCE:
43984 – Customize: JavaScript error when opening Text widget
43969 – Custom themes will not work in TinyMCE 4.7

New in WordPress 4.9.5 (Apr 4, 2018)

New in WordPress 4.9.4 (Feb 6, 2018)

New in WordPress 4.9.3 (Feb 5, 2018)

New in WordPress 4.9.2 (Jan 16, 2018)

New in WordPress 4.9.1 (Nov 29, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.9 (Nov 16, 2017)

Major Customizer Improvements, Code Error Checking, and More:
Version 4.9 of WordPress, named “Tipton” in honor of jazz musician and band leader Billy Tipton, is available for download or update in your WordPress dashboard. New features in 4.9 will smooth your design workflow and keep you safe from coding errors.
Featuring design drafts, scheduling, and locking, along with preview links, the Customizer workflow improves collaboration for content creators. What’s more, code syntax highlighting and error checking will make for a clean and smooth site building experience. Finally, if all that wasn’t pretty great, we’ve got an awesome new Gallery widget and improvements to theme browsing and switching.
Customizer Workflow Improved:
Draft and Schedule Site Design Customizations:
Yes, you read that right. Just like you can draft and revise posts and schedule them to go live on the date and time you choose, you can now tinker with your site’s design and schedule those design changes to go live as you please.
Collaborate with Design Preview Links:
Need to get some feedback on proposed site design changes? WordPress 4.9 gives you a preview link you can send to colleagues and customers so that you can collect and integrate feedback before you schedule the changes to go live. Can we say collaboration++?
Design Locking Guards Your Changes:
Ever encounter a scenario where two designers walk into a project and designer A overrides designer B’s beautiful changes? WordPress 4.9’s design lock feature (similar to post locking) secures your draft design so that no one can make changes to it or erase all your hard work.
A Prompt to Protect Your Work:
Were you lured away from your desk before you saved your new draft design? Fear not, when you return, WordPress 4.9 will politely ask whether or not you’d like to save your unsaved changes.
Coding Enhancements:
Syntax Highlighting and Error Checking? Yes, Please!:
You’ve got a display problem but can’t quite figure out exactly what went wrong in the CSS you lovingly wrote. With syntax highlighting and error checking for CSS editing and the Custom HTML widget introduced in WordPress 4.8.1, you’ll pinpoint coding errors quickly. Practically guaranteed to help you scan code more easily, and suss out & fix code errors quickly.
Sandbox for Safety:
The dreaded white screen. You’ll avoid it when working on themes and plugin code because WordPress 4.9 will warn you about saving an error. You’ll sleep better at night.
When you edit themes and plugins directly, WordPress 4.9 will politely warn you that this is a dangerous practice and will recommend that you draft and test changes before updating your file. Take the safe route: You’ll thank you. Your team and customers will thank you.
Even More Widget Updates:
The New Gallery Widget:
An incremental improvement to the media changes hatched in WordPress 4.8, you can now add a gallery via this new widget. Yes!
Press a Button, Add Media:
Want to add media to your text widget? Embed images, video, and audio directly into the widget along with your text, with our simple but useful Add Media button. Woo!
Site Building Improvements:
More Reliable Theme Switching:
When you switch themes, widgets sometimes think they can just move location. Improvements in WordPress 4.9 offer more persistent menu and widget placement when you decide it’s time for a new theme.
Find and Preview the Perfect Theme:
Looking for a new theme for your site? Now, from within the Customizer, you can search, browse, and preview over 2600 themes before deploying changes to your site. What’s more, you can speed your search with filters for subject, features, and layout.
Better Menu Instructions = Less Confusion:
Were you confused by the steps to create a new menu? Perhaps no longer! We’ve ironed out the UX for a smoother menu creation process. Newly updated copy will guide you.
Lend a Hand with Gutenberg:
WordPress is working on a new way to create and control your content and we’d love to have your help. Interested in being an early tester or getting involved with the Gutenberg project? Contribute on GitHub.

New in WordPress 4.9 RC 3 (Nov 14, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.8.3 (Oct 31, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.9 RC 1 (Oct 31, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.9 Beta 3 (Oct 19, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.9 Beta 1 (Oct 5, 2017)

Drafting (#39896) and scheduling (#28721) of changes in the Customizer. Once you save or schedule a changeset, when any user comes into the Customizer the pending changes will be autoloaded. A button is provided to discard changes to restore the Customizer to the last published state. (This is a new “linear” mode for changesets, as opposed to “branching” mode which can be enabled by filter so that every time user opens the Customizer a new blank changeset will be started.)
Addition of a frontend preview link to the Customizer to allow changes to be browsed on the frontend, even without a user being logged in (#39896).
Addition of autosave revisions in the Customizer (#39275).
A brand new theme browsing experience in the Customizer (#37661).
Gallery widget (#41914), following the media and image widgets introduced in 4.8.
Support for shortcodes in Text widgets (#10457).
Support for adding media to Text widgets (#40854).
Support for adding oEmbeds outside post content, including Text widgets (#34115).
Support for videos from providers other than YouTube and Vimeo in the Video widget (#42039)
Improve the flow for creating new menus in the Customizer (#40104).
Educated guess mapping of nav menus and widgets when switching themes (#39692).
Plugins: Introduce singular capabilities for activating and deactivating individual plugins (#38652).
Sandbox PHP file edits in both plugins and themes, without auto-deactivation when an error occurs; a PHP edit that introduces a fatal error is rolled back with an opportunity then for the user to fix the error and attempt to re-save. (#21622).
Addition of dirty state for widgets on the admin screen, indicating when a widget has been successfully saved and showing an “Are you sure?” dialog when attempting to leave without saving changes. (#23120, #41610)
As always, there have been exciting changes for developers to explore as well, such as:
CodeMirror editor added to theme/plugin editor, Custom CSS in Customizer, and Custom HTML widgets. Integration includes support for linters to catch errors before you attempt to save. Includes new APIs for plugins to instantiate editors. (#12423)
Introduction of an extensible code editor control for adding instances of CodeMirror to the Customizer. (#41897)
Addition of global notifications area (#35210), panel and section notifications (#38794), and a notification overlay that takes over the entire screen in the Customizer (#37727).
A date/time control in the Customizer (#42022).
Improve usability of Customize JS API (#42083, #37964, #36167).
Introduction of control templates for base controls (#30738).
Use WP_Term_Query when transforming tax queries (#37038).
Database: Add support for MySQL servers connecting to IPv6 hosts (#41722).
Emoji: Bring Twemoji compatibility to PHP (#35293). Test for any weirdness with emoji in RSS feeds or emails.
I18N: Introduce the Plural_Forms class (#41562).
Media: Upgrade MediaElement.js to 4.2.5-74e01a40 fixing missing mejs.MediaElement reference (#39686).
Media: Use max-width for default captions (#33981). We will want to make sure this doesn’t cause unexpected visual regressions in existing themes, default themes were all fine in testing.
Media: Reduce duplicated custom header crops in the Customizer (#21819).
Media: Store video creation date in meta (#35218). Please help test different kinds of videos.
Multisite: Introduce get_site_by() (#40180).
Multisite: Improve get_blog_details() by using get_site_by() (#40228).
Multisite: Improve initializing available roles when switch sites (#38645).
Multisite: Initialize a user’s roles correctly when setting them up for a different site (#36961).
REST API: Support registering complex data structures for settings and meta
REST API: Support for objects in schema validation and sanitization (#38583)
Role/Capability: Introduce capabilities dedicated to installing and updating language files (#39677).
Remove SWFUpload (#41752).
Users: Require a confirmation link in an email to be clicked when a user attempts to change their email address (#16470).
Core and the unit test suite is fully compatible with the upcoming release of PHP 7.2

New in WordPress 4.8.1 (Aug 3, 2017)

This release contains 29 maintenance fixes and enhancements, chief among them are fixes to the rich Text widget and the introduction of the Custom HTML widget.
Administration:
#40982 - Permalink Settings: custom structure field keyboard trap
Build/Test Tools:
#41327 - Bump Akismet External - 4.9 Edition
Comments:
#40975 - 'Empty Spam' and 'Empty Trash' comment buttons not displayed on mobile
Customize:
#40978 - Customizer Panel Footer border missing
#40981 - Customizer: Menus: it is far too easy to mistakenly delete a menu because the "Delete Menu" link and the "Add Items" button are too close together
#41158 - Increase tinymce panel z-index
#41410 - Set `'filter' => 'content'` on starter content "business info" widget
Embeds:
#41019 - oEmbed: Update VideoPress oEmbed URL
#41048 - `WP_oEmbed_Controller::get_proxy_item()` should remove `_wpnonce` from cached `$args`
#41299 - oEmbed proxy fails to forward maxwidth and maxheight params
General:
#41056 - WP-API JS Client: Settings is incorrectly registered as a collection
Media:
#41231 - media-views.js: Cannot read .length of undefined (this.controller.$uploaderToggler.length)
REST API:
#38964 - Add filter to allow modifying response *after* embedded data is added
#40886 - REST API: PUT requests fail on Nginx servers when fancy permalinks aren't enabled
Taxonomy:
#41010 - wp_get_object_terms() returns duplicate terms if more than one taxonomy is given in args
TinyMCE:
#41408 - TinyMCE: Images with link and caption look "broken" when selected
Widgets:
#40907 - Introduce widget dedicated for HTML code
#40935 - Facebook Video Works On Preview But Not On Theme
#40951 - New Text Widget - Switching Between Visual/Text Editor Strips Out Code
#40960 - Widgets: The Text widget should respect the “Disable the visual editor when writing” setting
#40972 - TinyMCE editor in Text widget does not have RTL contents
#40974 - Updated text widget do not save text (when using paste)
#40977 - Widgets: Query param for `loop` added for non-hosted external videos
#40986 - Widgets: text widget and media widgets cannot be edited in accessibility mode
#41021 - Text widget does not show Title field or TinyMCE editor
#41361 - Text widget can raise JS error if customize-base is enqueued on widgets admin screen
#41386 - Text Widget - Wording - Legacy Mode 4.8.1 beta
#41392 - Theme styles for Text widget do not apply to Custom HTML widget
#41394 - Text widget: Rename legacy mode to visual mode and improve back-compat for widget_text filters

New in WordPress 4.8 (Jun 8, 2017)

Though some updates seem minor, they’ve been built by hundreds of contributors with you in mind. Get ready for new features you’ll welcome like an old friend: link improvements, three new media widgets covering images, audio, and video, an updated text widget that supports visual editing, and an upgraded news section in your dashboard which brings in nearby and upcoming WordPress events.
EXCITING WIDGET UPDATES:
Image Widget:
Adding an image to a widget is now a simple task that is achievable for any WordPress user without needing to know code. Simply insert your image right within the widget settings. Try adding something like a headshot or a photo of your latest weekend adventure — and see it appear automatically.
Video Widget:
A welcome video is a great way to humanize the branding of your website. You can now add any video from the Media Library to a sidebar on your site with the new Video widget. Use this to showcase a welcome video to introduce visitors to your site or promote your latest and greatest content.
Audio Widget:
Are you a podcaster, musician, or avid blogger? Adding a widget with your audio file has never been easier. Upload your audio file to the Media Library, go to the widget settings, select your file, and you’re ready for listeners. This would be a easy way to add a more personal welcome message, too!
Rich Text Widget:
This feature deserves a parade down the center of town! Rich-text editing capabilities are now native for Text widgets. Add a widget anywhere and format away. Create lists, add emphasis, and quickly and easily insert links. Have fun with your newfound formatting powers, and watch what you can accomplish in a short amount of time.
LINK BOUNDARIES:
Have you ever tried updating a link, or the text around a link, and found you can’t seem to edit it correctly? When you edit the text after the link, your new text also ends up linked. Or you edit the text in the link, but your text ends up outside of it. This can be frustrating! With link boundaries, a great new feature, the process is streamlined and your links will work well. You’ll be happier. We promise.
NEARBY WORDPRESS EVENTS:
Did you know that WordPress has a thriving offline community with groups meeting regularly in more than 400 cities around the world? WordPress now draws your attention to the events that help you continue improving your WordPress skills, meet friends, and, of course, publish!
This is quickly becoming one of our favorite features. While you are in the dashboard (because you’re running updates and writing posts, right?) all upcoming WordCamps and official WordPress Meetups — local to you — will be displayed.
Being part of the community can help you improve your WordPress skills and network with people you wouldn’t otherwise meet. Now you can easily find your local events just by logging in to your dashboard and looking at the new Events and News dashboard widget.
EVEN MORE DEVELOPER HAPPINESS:
More Accessible Admin Panel Headings:
New CSS rules mean extraneous content (like “Add New” links) no longer need to be included in admin-area headings. These panel headings improve the experience for people using assistive technologies.
Removal of Core Support for WMV and WMA Files:
As fewer and fewer browsers support Silverlight, file formats which require the presence of the Silverlight plugin are being removed from core support. Files will still display as a download link, but will no longer be embedded automatically.
Multisite Updates:
New capabilities have been introduced to 4.8 with an eye towards removing calls to
is_super_admin(). Additionally, new hooks and tweaks to more granularly control site and user counts per network have been added.
Text-Editor JavaScript API:
With the addition of TinyMCE to the text widget in 4.8 comes a new JavaScript API for instantiating the editor after page load. This can be used to add an editor instance to any text area, and customize it with buttons and functions. Great for plugin authors!
Media Widgets API:
The introduction of a new base media widget REST API schema to 4.8 opens up possibilities for even more media widgets (like galleries or playlists) in the future. The three new media widgets are powered by a shared base class that covers most of the interactions with the media modal. That class also makes it easier to create new media widgets and paves the way for more to come.
Customizer Width Variable:
Rejoice! New responsive breakpoints have been added to the customizer sidebar to make it wider on high-resolution screens. Customizer controls should use percentage-based widths instead of pixels.

New in WordPress 4.8 RC 2 (Jun 2, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.8 RC 1 (May 26, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.7.5 (May 17, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.8 Beta 1 (May 13, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.7.4 (Apr 20, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.7.4 RC 1 (Apr 19, 2017)

Administration:
#39983 – Consider to don’t use the CSS class button-link for controls that don’t look like links
#40056 – Shift-click to select a range of checkboxes isn’t working anymore since 4.7.3 update
Bootstrap/Load:
#39445 – Add class_exists() check before defining the PasswordHash class
Build/Test Tools:
#38500 – Automatically cancel pending Travis builds with each commit
#39219 – Add assertNotFalse method to WP_UnitTestCase.
#39367 – Don’t no-op $user_id in test suite’s wp_set_auth_cookie()
#39988 – The theme used during tests should call wp_head() and wp_footer()
#40066 – Remove the twentysixteen git clone from the Travis config
#40086 – Get Travis tests working again on PHP 7
Bundled Theme:
#40216 – Twenty Seventeen: Some parts do not escape html attributes
#40224 – Twenty Seventeen: navigation.js should be enqueued with jQuery as dependency
#40264 – Twenty Seventeen: Incorrect heading hierarchy for front page sections
#40461 – Twenty Seventeen: Bump version and update changelog
Customize:
#31850 – Customizer links should use canonical admin URL
#37471 – Widgets: If your theme only has one widget area, we should open it automatically
#38953 – Customize Menus: clicking outside of the available menu items panel does not close the panel
#39430 – sections and panels that are open and become inactive should be closed
#39770 – Client-side notification error is unexpectedly cleared when no corresponding server-side validation
#40010 – Template for site icon control fails to check if full image size exists before using
#40018 – Selective refresh always falls back to full refreshes when customizing the 404 template
#40112 – Can’t preview starter content “Home” menu item in subdirectory installation
#40198 – all previewable links are blocked in the customize preview on IE11
#40271 – Use get_user_locale() in Customizer
#40277 – Adding page created with the dropdown-pages settings to menu creates Custom Link instead of Page
#40308 – Video header control fails to use is_header_video_active() for active_callback
#40405 – IE9 errors when attempting to generate changeset parameter
Login and Registration:
#39497 – Can’t log out completely without closing my browser
Media:
#31071 – media / post_mime_type related queries are very slow on larger sites
#40017 – wp_get_image_mime() returns ‘application/octet-stream’ for non-image files.
#40075 – Broken video/audio thumbnails because of corrupted blob meta data
#40085 – Audio/video uploads are broken in 4.2.13 and 4.3.9
#40152 – Crop Image button off-screen on mobile
Networks and Sites:
#40036 – Re-save Network Settings ruin starter content
#40063 – Handle site cache invalidation more specifically for option updates
Posts, Post Types:
#39986 – Register missing REST API properties on WP_Post_Type
Quick/Bulk Edit:
#40242 – Bulk edit tag autocomplete layout error
REST API:
#39854 – Add gmt_offset to base /wp-json response
#39881 – WP_REST_Posts_Controller::check_read_permission() should check if $parent exists before calling itself
#40027 – Tags and Categories should have a “slugs” parameter for batch fetching
#40136 – Issues with dates and DST
#40213 – Users endpoint slug parameter should allow an array of slugs
Taxonomy:
#39987 – Register missing REST API properties on WP_Taxonomy
#40154 – Incorrectly formatted $taxonomies parameter passed to wp_get_object_terms filter
#40306 – Term cache isn’t cleared completely when setting and removing object terms
Themes:
#38292 – Introduce exclusion for WP_Theme::scandir()
TinyMCE:
#40305 – Image popup toolbar does not support Chrome Beta

New in WordPress 4.7.3 (Mar 6, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.7.2 (Jan 26, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.7.1 (Jan 11, 2017)

New in WordPress 4.7 (Dec 6, 2016)

Version 4.7 of WordPress, named “Vaughan” in honor of legendary jazz vocalist Sarah “Sassy” Vaughan, is available for download or update in your WordPress dashboard. New features in 4.7 help you get your site set up the way you want it.
Presenting Twenty Seventeen:
A brand new default theme brings your site to life with immersive featured images and video headers. Twenty Seventeen focuses on business sites and features a customizable front page with multiple sections. Personalize it with widgets, navigation, social menus, a logo, custom colors, and more. Our default theme for 2017 works great in many languages, on any device, and for a wide range of users.
Your Site, Your Way:
WordPress 4.7 adds new features to the customizer to help take you through the initial setup of a theme, with non-destructive live previews of all your changes in one uninterrupted workflow. To help give you a solid base to build from, individual themes can provide starter content that appears when you go to customize your brand new site. This can range from placing a business information widget in the best location to providing a sample menu with social icon links to a static front page complete with beautiful images. Don’t worry – nothing new will appear on the live site until you’re ready to save and publish your initial theme setup.
Edit Shortcuts:
Visible icons appear to show you which parts of your site can be customized while live previewing. Click on a shortcut and get straight to editing. Paired with starter content, getting started with customizing your site is faster than ever
Video Headers:
Sometimes a big atmospheric video as a moving header image is just what you need to showcase your wares; go ahead and try it out with Twenty Seventeen. Need some video inspiration? Try searching for sites with video headers available for download and use.
Smoother Menu Building:
Many menus for sites contain links to the pages of your site, but what happens when you don’t have any pages yet? Now you can add new pages while building menus instead of leaving the customizer and abandoning your changes. Once you’ve published your customizations, you’ll have new pages ready for you to fill with content.
Custom CSS:
Sometimes you just need a few visual tweaks to make your site perfect. WordPress 4.7 allows you to add custom CSS and instantly see how your changes affect your site. The live preview allows you to work quickly without page refreshes slowing you down.
PDF Thumbnail Previews:
Managing your document collection is easier with WordPress 4.7. Uploading PDFs will generate thumbnail images so you can more easily distinguish between all your documents.
Dashboard in your language:
Just because your site is in one language doesn’t mean that everybody helping manage it prefers that language for their admin. Add more languages to your site and a user language option will show up in your user’s profiles.
Introducing REST API Content Endpoints:
WordPress 4.7 comes with REST API endpoints for posts, comments, terms, users, meta, and settings. Content endpoints provide machine-readable external access to your WordPress site with a clear, standards-driven interface, paving the way for new and innovative methods of interacting with sites through plugins, themes, apps, and beyond.
Even More Developer Happiness:
Post Type Templates:
By opening up the page template functionality to all post types, theme developers have even more flexibility with the WordPress template hierarchy.
More Theme API Goodies:
WordPress 4.7 includes new functions, hooks, and behavior for theme developers.
Custom Bulk Actions:
List tables, now with more than bulk edit and delete.
WP_Hook:
The code that lies beneath actions and filters has been overhauled and modernized, fixing bugs along the way.
Settings Registration API:
register_setting() has been enhanced to include type, description, and REST API visibility.
Customize Changesets:
Customize changesets make changes in the customizer persistent, like autosave drafts. They also make exciting new features like starter content possible.

New in WordPress 4.7 RC 1 (Nov 24, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.7 Beta 4 (Nov 16, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.7 Beta 3 (Nov 11, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.7 Beta 2 (Nov 6, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.7 Beta 1 (Oct 28, 2016)

Twenty Seventeen – A brand new default theme brings your site to life with immersive featured images, video headers, and subtle animations. With a focus on business sites, it features multiple sections on the front page as well as widgets, navigation and social menus, a logo, and more. Personalize its asymmetrical grid with a custom color scheme and showcase your multimedia content with post formats. Our default theme for 2017 works great in many languages, for any abilities, and on any device.
Video Headers – Sometimes a big atmospheric video as a moving header image is just what you need to showcase your wares; go ahead and try it out with Twenty Seventeen. Need some video inspiration? Try searching for sites with video headers available for download and use.
Set up your site in one flow – From finding and installing themes right inside the customizer, to automatically staged theme-specific starter content, to clickable shortcuts that jump directly to editing an item from the preview pane, to adding pages while you’re building a nav menu or setting a static front page: getting a new site spun up and ready to share with a friend or a coworker is faster and easier than it’s ever been. Note: starter content appears when live previewing brand new sites and is currently only available in Twenty Seventeen. We’ll be expanding this to other bundled themes very soon, and perhaps to sites with existing content in future releases of WordPress.
Custom CSS with live previews – Ever needed to hide or tweak the look of something in your theme or from a plugin? Now you can do it with CSS and live preview the results while customizing your site. CSS can be a powerful tool; you may find that you won’t need the theme editor or child themes anymore.
User admin languages – Just because your site is in one language doesn’t mean that everybody helping manage it prefers that language for their admin. To try this out, you’ll need to have more than one language installed, which will make a user language option available in your profile.
PDF thumbnail previews – Uploading PDFs will now generate thumbnail images so you can more easily distinguish between all your documents.
As always, there have been exciting changes for developers to explore as well, such as:
REST API content endpoints – If you only test one thing as a developer, please test these. This phase is particularly helpful for people building plugins, themes, and in-admin interfaces. Can you build the things you need? Are these ready for release, and is the world ready for them? (#38373)
WP_Hook – The code that lies beneath actions and filters has been overhauled. You likely aren’t affected, but if you’ve done things to the $wp_filter global or experienced funky recursion bugs in the past, please take a moment to read the dev note and test your code.
Custom bulk actions – List tables, now with more than bulk edit and delete.
Expanded Settings Registration API via register_setting().
For theme developers: Post type templates (#18375)
More goodies for theme developers!
Locale switching (#26511)
Comment allowed checks have the potential for a back-compat break.

New in WordPress 4.6.1 (Sep 8, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.6.1 RC 1 (Sep 1, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.6 (Aug 16, 2016)

STREAMLINED UPDATES:
Don’t lose your place: stay on the same page while you update, install, and delete your plugins and themes.
NATIVE FONTS:
The WordPress dashboard now takes advantage of the fonts you already have, making it load faster and letting you feel more at home on whatever device you use
EDITOR IMPROVEMENTS:
Inline Link Checker:
Ever accidentally made a link to https://wordpress.org/example.org? Now WordPress automatically checks to make sure you didn’t.
Content Recovery:
As you type, WordPress saves your content to the browser. Recovering saved content is even easier with WordPress 4.6.
UNDER THE HOOD:
Resource Hints:
Resource hints help browsers decide which resources to fetch and preprocess. WordPress 4.6 adds them automatically for your styles and scripts making your site even faster
Robust Requests:
The HTTP API now leverages the Requests library, improving HTTP standard support and adding case-insensitive headers, parallel HTTP requests, and support for Internationalized Domain Names
WP_Term_Query and WP_Post_Type:
A new WP_Term_Query class adds flexibility to query term information while a new WP_Post_Type object makes interacting with post types more predictable
Meta Registration API:
The Meta Registration API has been expanded to support types, descriptions, and REST API visibility.
Translations On Demand:
WordPress will install and use the newest language packs for your plugins and themes as soon as they’re available from WordPress.org’s community of translators.
JavaScript Library Updates:
Masonry 3.3.2, imagesLoaded 3.2.0, MediaElement.js 2.22.0, TinyMCE 4.4.1, and Backbone.js 1.3.3 are bundled.
Customizer APIs for Setting Validation and Notifications:
Settings now have an API for enforcing validation constraints. Likewise, customizer controls now support notifications, which are used to display validation errors instead of failing silently.
Multisite, now faster than ever:
Cached and comprehensive site queries improve your network admin experience. The addition of WP_Site_Query and WP_Network_Query help craft advanced queries with less effort.

New in WordPress 4.6 RC 2 (Aug 11, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.6 RC 1 (Jul 28, 2016)

We’ve made a few refinements since releasing Beta 4 a week ago:
Plugins: Move capability checks further up in wp_ajax_update_plugin() and wp_ajax_delete_plugin(). Add tests for both Ajax handlers.
Filesystem API: Output buffering for request_filesystem_credentials() should wrap the function directly. Previously ob_end_clean() was only called when the previous condition was successful which led to unexpected results when another output buffering was involved, like PHPUnit's.
Customize: Prevent customize-preview-widgets JS errors in preview if a sidebar is registered with empty before_widget/after_widget params. Selective refresh will not be available for widgets when they lack these params, so previewing will fallback to full page refreshes. Sidebars registered as such should be rare so this accounts for an edge case
HTTP API: All non-GET/HEAD requests should put the arguments in the form body. Requests defaults to _GET/query for HEAD/GET/DELETE and _POST/body for POST/PUT/OPTIONS/PATCH. For backward compatibility WP_HTTP needs to force data_format to 'body' for all non-GET/HEAD requests. HTTP API: Normalize cookies before passing them to Requests
Requests has its own cookie object in form of Requests_Cookie. Therefore we have to convert WP_Http_Cookie objects to Requests_Cookie
This introduces WP_Http_Cookie::get_attributes() to retrieve cookie attributes of a WP_Http_Cookie object and WP_Http::normalize_cookies() to convert the cookie objects
HTTP API: Bump version of Requests to 1.7.
I18N: After [38077], merge two duplicate strings in wp_insert_term() and wp_update_term().
Script Loader: Clarify documentation of wp_resource_hints hook. Specify that the wp_resource_hints hook is firing for a single relation type. Props: dimadin for initial patch.
TinyMCE: fix the calculation for the inline toolbar vertical position.
TinyMCE, inline link:
Remove proxying through WordPress to test if an URL exists.
Fix and enhance the regex that tests if the URL is well formed.
TinyMCE, wpView:
Add the wpview-wrap class and pass third param to the getNodes() callback for back-compat.
Attach the mutation observer that resizes a view iframe inside the iframe to minimize memory use/leaks.
Remove the wp-mce-view-unbind event. It has never been particularly reliable and now it doesn't fire when the user deletes a view by typing or pasting over it.
Restore changing of a view iframe body classes when the editor body classes change.
TinyMCE, wpView: bail early when the iframe node is not attached to the DOM. We can't load any HTML in it as here is no iframe.contentWindow in these cases.
TinyMCE: fix selecting an image on touch in iOS Safari for TinyMCE 4.4.1.
TinyMCE: upgrade to 4.4.1
Plugins: Use history.pushState() to customize the URL during searches
history.pushState() requires an event handler for popstate which doesn't exist (yet)
System fonts: Don't quote single-word font names, per our coding standards.
Filesystem API: Prevent an endless self-calling loop in wp_tempnam().
Under certain conditions upgrades on Windows may fail because wp_tempnam() gets called in a loop.
This can happen when wp_tempnam() is called with .maintenance for the $filename parameter. The function strips the extension, in this case .maintenance, which results in an empty filename. Because it's empty, wp_tempnam() calls itself with dirname( '.maintenance' ). On *nix systems this would be "/" which allows wp_tempnam() to fall back on time(). But on Windows it's "".
This change adds the backslash to the list of characters which allow wp_tempnam() to fall back on time().
I18N: Add a translator comment for two MediaElement.js strings added in [38089].
Plugins: Add a missing space between classes on element for custom columns of the Plugins list table.
Docs: In wp_schedule_single_event(), add a note about scheduling an event to occur within 10 minutes of another event with the same action hook.
Posts, Post Types: Remove a redundant function_exists( 'mb_strlen' ) check in get_sample_permalink_html(). mb_strlen() is always available since [32114]
List Table: Improve WP_Plugins_List_Table::search_box() which was added in [38033].
Update DocBlock to use third-person singular verb and to include a period at the end.
Use submit_button() for the submit button.
Escape the ID attribute.
Apply the same to WP_List_Table::search_box().
Permalinks: In get_page_uri(), don't prepend a parent page slug if it's empty.
Docs: Update the description of the $box argument of wp_nav_menu_item_taxonomy_meta_box() for consistency with [38129].
Plugins: Make search field placeholder translatable.
Docs: Fix typo in hook description for customize_save_validation_before.
Docs: Fix minor formatting issue for a comment added in [38113]
Filesystem API: Change the default value for the $context parameter of get_filesystem_method() and request_filesystem_credentials() to an empty string.
context is a full path to the directory that is tested for being writable. A path shouldn't be a boolean value.
This also updates WP_Upgrader_Skin::request_filesystem_credentials() and Automatic_Upgrader_Skin::request_filesystem_credentials() and adds missing docs.
Post Thumbnails: Remove an unused nonce in _wp_post_thumbnail_html().
Media: Remove global import for $content_width in _wp_post_thumbnail_html().
Docs: Fix typo in wp_title() description
Docs: Change type of WP_Upgrader_Skin::$result to 'string|bool|WP_Error'.
result can be true too, see Language_Pack_Upgrader::bulk_upgrade()
Database: Replace incorrect use of E_USER_NOTICE in wpdb::_real_escape() with the version number where the message was added.
Editor: Improve styling of "Add Media" button on mobile and make it more consistent with media buttons added by plugins.
Docs: In meta box functions, clarify that "Meta box ID" refers to the id attribute of the meta box and not a numeric ID.
Menus: In wp_nav_menu_item_taxonomy_meta_box():
Rename the $taxonomy parameter to $box for clarity and consistency with other meta box functions.
Make the docs more consistent with post_categories_meta_box() and other meta box functions.
Menus: In wp_nav_menu_item_post_type_meta_box():
Rename the $post_type parameter to $box for clarity and consistency with other meta box functions.
Make the docs more consistent with post_format_meta_box() and other meta box functions.
Correct type and description for the third argument of nav_menu_items_{$post_type_name}_recent filter.
Docs: Correct and expand the docs for the $taxonomy argument of wp_nav_menu_item_taxonomy_meta_box()
Docs: Correct and expand the docs for the $post_type argument of wp_nav_menu_item_post_type_meta_box()
TinyMCE, link check:
Use wp.a11y.speak() to announce bad URLs.
Do not add a title to the link toolbar.
Better error message.
Docs: Fix formatting, tense, verb conjugation, and other syntax for wp-includes/* elements introduced or changed in 4.6.

New in WordPress 4.6 RC 1 (Jul 28, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.6 Beta 4 (Jul 20, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.6 Beta 3 (Jul 14, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.6 Beta 2 (Jul 6, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.6 Beta 1 (Jun 30, 2016)

Shiny Updates v2 ([37714]) – Shiny Updates replaces progress updates with a simpler and more straight forward experience when installing, updating, and deleting plugins and themes.
Native Fonts in the Admin (#31195) – Experience faster load times, especially when working offline, a removal of a third-party dependency, and a more native-feeling experience as the lines between the mobile web and native applications continue to blur.
Editor Improvements – A more reliable recovery mode (#37025) and detection of broken URLs while you type them (#36638).
There have been changes for developers to explore as well:
Resource Hints (#34292) – Allow browsers to prefetch specific pages, render them in the background, perform DNS lookups, or to begin the connection handshake (DNS, TCP, TLS) in the background.
New WP_Site_Query (#35791) and WP_Network_Query (#32504) classes to query sites and networks with lazy loading for details.
Requests (#33055) – A new PHP library for HTTP requests that supports parallel requests and more.
WP_Term_Query (#35381) is modeled on existing query classes and provides a more consistent structure for generating term queries.
Language Packs (#34114, #34213) – Translations managed through translate.wordpress.org now have a higher priority and are loaded just-in-time.
WP_Post_Type (#36217) provides easier access to post type objects and their underlying properties.
The Widgets API (#28216) was enhanced to support registering pre-instantiated widgets.
Index definitions are now normalized by dbDelta() ([37583]).
Comments can now be stored in a persistent object cache (#36906).
External Libraries were updated to the latest versions – Masonry to 3.3.2 and imagesLoaded to 3.2.0 (#32802), MediaElement.js to 2.21.2 (#36759), and TinyMCE to 4.3.13 (#37225).
REST API responses now include an auto-discovery header (#35580) and a refreshed nonce when responding to an authenticated response (#35662).
Expanded Meta Registration API via register_meta() (#35658).

New in WordPress 4.5.3 (Jun 22, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.5.2 (May 8, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.5.1 (Apr 26, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.5 (Apr 12, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.5 RC 2 (Apr 11, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.5 Beta 4 (Mar 17, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.5 Beta 3 (Mar 10, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.5 Beta 2 (Mar 3, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.5 Beta 1 (Feb 25, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.4.2 (Feb 2, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.4.1 (Jan 6, 2016)

New in WordPress 4.4 (Dec 9, 2015)

New features in 4.4 make your site more connected and responsive. Clifford also introduces a new default theme, Twenty Sixteen.
Introducing Twenty Sixteen:
Our newest default theme, Twenty Sixteen, is a modern take on a classic blog design.
Twenty Sixteen was built to look great on any device. A fluid grid design, flexible header, fun color schemes, and more, will all make your content shine.
Responsive Images:
WordPress now takes a smarter approach to displaying appropriate image sizes on any device, ensuring a perfect fit every time. You don’t need to do anything to your theme, it just works.
Embed Everything:
Now you can embed your posts on other WordPress sites. Simply drop a post URL into the editor and see an instant embed preview, complete with the title, excerpt, and featured image if you’ve set one. We’ll even include your site icon and links for comments and sharing.
In addition to post embeds, WordPress 4.4 also adds support for five new oEmbed providers: Cloudup, Reddit Comments, ReverbNation, Speaker Deck, and VideoPress.
UNDER THE HOOD:
REST API infrastructure:
Infrastructure for the REST API has been integrated into core, marking a new era in developing with WordPress. The REST API gives developers an easy way to build and extend RESTful APIs on top of WordPress.
Infrastructure is the first part of a multi-stage rollout for the REST API. Inclusion of core endpoints is targeted for an upcoming release. To get a sneak peek of the core endpoints, and for more information on extending the REST API, check out the official WordPress REST API plugin.
Term meta:
Terms now support metadata, just like posts. See add_term_meta(), get_term_meta(), and update_term_meta() for more information.
Comment query improvements:
Comment queries now have cache handling to improve performance. New arguments in WP_Comment_Query make crafting robust comment queries simpler.
Term, comment, and network objects:
New WP_Term, WP_Comment, and WP_Network objects make interacting with terms, comments, and networks more predictable and intuitive in code.

New in WordPress 4.4 Beta 1 (Oct 23, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.3.1 (Sep 15, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.3 (Aug 18, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.2.4 (Aug 4, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.3 RC 1 (Jul 30, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.2.3 (Jul 23, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.3 Beta 4 (Jul 23, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.3 Beta 3 (Jul 16, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.3 Beta 2 (Jul 9, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.3 Beta 1 (Jul 2, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.2.2 (May 7, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.2.1 (Apr 28, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.2 (Apr 24, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.1.2 (Apr 22, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.2 Beta 4 (Apr 4, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.2 Beta 3 (Mar 27, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.2 Beta 2 (Mar 20, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.2 Beta 1 (Mar 13, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.1.1 (Feb 19, 2015)

New in WordPress 4.1 (Dec 19, 2014)

New in WordPress 4.0.1 (Nov 21, 2014)

New in WordPress 4.1 Beta 1 (Nov 15, 2014)

New in WordPress 4.0 (Sep 13, 2014)

New in WordPress 4.0 Beta 4 (Aug 16, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.9.2 (Aug 7, 2014)

New in WordPress 4.0 Beta 2 (Jul 19, 2014)

New in WordPress 4.0 Beta 1 (Jul 10, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.9.1 (May 9, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.9 (Apr 17, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.9 RC 2 (Apr 15, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.8.3 (Apr 15, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.9 RC 1 (Apr 9, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.8.2 (Apr 9, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.9 Beta 3 (Mar 30, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.9 Beta 2 (Mar 20, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.9 Beta 1 (Mar 11, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.8.1 (Jan 24, 2014)

New in WordPress 3.8 (Dec 13, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.8 Beta 1 (Nov 22, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.7.1 (Oct 30, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.7 (Oct 25, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.7 RC 1 (Oct 19, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.7 Beta 2 (Oct 11, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.7 Beta 1 (Sep 28, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.6.1 (Sep 12, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.6 (Aug 2, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.5.2 (Jun 22, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.6 Beta 3 (May 11, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.6 Beta 2 (Apr 30, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.6 Beta 1 (Apr 5, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.5.1 (Jan 25, 2013)

New in WordPress 3.5 (Dec 12, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.5 RC 3 (Dec 4, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.5 Beta 3 (Nov 13, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.5 Beta 2 (Oct 13, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.5 Beta 1 (Sep 28, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.4.2 (Sep 7, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.4.1 (Jun 28, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.4 (Jun 14, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.4 RC 3 (Jun 12, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.3.2 (Apr 21, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.4 Beta 2 (Apr 12, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.4 Beta 1 (Apr 5, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.3.1 (Jan 4, 2012)

New in WordPress 3.3 (Dec 13, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.3 RC 2 (Dec 7, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.3 RC 1 (Dec 1, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.3 Beta 4 (Nov 24, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.3 Beta 3 (Nov 10, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.3 Beta 2 (Oct 20, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.3 Beta 1 (Oct 11, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.2.1 (Jul 13, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.2 (Jul 5, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.2 RC 3 (Jun 30, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.1.4 (Jun 30, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.2 Beta 2 (May 26, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.1.3 (May 26, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.2 Beta 1 (May 12, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.1.2 (Apr 27, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.1.1 (Apr 5, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.1 (Feb 23, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.1 RC 4 (Feb 8, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.0.5 (Feb 8, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.1 RC 3 (Jan 24, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.1 RC 2 (Jan 2, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.1 RC 1 (Jan 2, 2011)

New in WordPress 3.0.4 (Dec 30, 2010)

New in WordPress 3.0.3 (Dec 9, 2010)

New in WordPress 3.0.2 (Dec 1, 2010)

New in WordPress 3.0.1 (Jul 30, 2010)

New in WordPress 3.0 (Jul 28, 2010)

Highlights:
WordPress and WordPress MU have merged, allowing the management of multiple sites (called Multisite) from one WordPress installation.
New default theme "Twenty Ten" takes full advantage of the current features of WordPress.
New custom menu management feature, allows creation of custom menus combining posts, pages, categories, tags, and links for use in theme menus or widgets.
Custom header and background APIs.
Contextual help text accessed under the Help tab of every screen in the WordPress administration.
Ability to set the admin username and password during installation.
Bulk updating of themes with an automatic maintenance mode during the process.
Support for shortlinks.
Improved Custom post types and custom taxonomies including hierarchical (category-style) support. (Try the Custom Post Type UI or GD Custom Posts And Taxonomies Tools plugins to see the possibilities.)
A lighter admin color scheme to increase accessibility and put the focus more squarely on your content.
General:
Check required php and mysql versions in the update and notify if the server environment does not meet those requirements
New wp_login_form() provides a simple login form for use anywhere
New WordPress logo for admin header
Place "Search Engines Blocked" mini-alert in the wp-admin header to prevent people from accidentally delisting themselves
Remove 'Turbo' link from admin header and remove Turbo section from the Tools->Tools panel
Renamed various menu items, for example Posts->Edit becomes Posts->Posts, and Links->Edit becomes Links->Links, and so on
Revised administration menu icons
Revised Gray Admin Color Scheme
Revised information in readme.html file
Show login form upon email-sent for recover/reset passwords
Dashboard:
Add link so user can visit Dashboard after core upgrade
Move Tools->Upgrade menu option to Dashboard->Updates and overhaul of user interface so themes, plugins, and core upgrades under one panel
New menu management (navigation) via Menus option under Appearances Menu (#11817)
Password nag for newly registered users
Split Right Now widget into Content | Discussion
Posts:
Allow for removing all tags in quick edit
Allow themes to style the visual editor with editor-style.css file, using add_editor_style() function
Enable custom taxonomy UI for pages as well as for posts
Improved revision comparison user interface
Shortlinks enabled, but still requires a plugin or theme support to fully realize this feature
Added capital_P_dangit() filter to change 'Wordpress' to 'WordPress'.
Media:
Add FunnyOrDie.com oEmbed support
Allow Deletion of Media Alt text
Change Media UI labels from "Post Thumbnails" to "Featured Image"
Cleanup of the edit media screen
Don't let "Crunching" overlap image name while uploading
Optimize scan for lost attachments
Support for additional file type extensions (Changesets 12581 and 13349)
Links:
Order link categories by name, not count, on Add New/Edit Link page
Comments:
Add additional columns to the Posts Comments view
Allow configuration of number of comments to display Recent Comments dashboard module
Block comments for future posts and password protected posts (when password not provided)
Change to comments UI to show when a comment is replying to another, and link to the parent comment
Appearance:
Add meta_value_num and meta_key ordering for WP_Query to allow natural numeric ordering of results
Add filter to get_avatar() to allow avatars for custom comment types
Allow Tab indenting, Shift-Tab (outdenting), and multi-line tabbing, in theme editor
Allow the Tag Cloud Widget to support non-tag taxonomies
Allow theme background customization via new Background panel under Appearance menu
New template file, front-page.php, for the front page of a site
New template file, single-{post_type}.php, for Custom Post Types
New template files, author-{nicename}.php, and author-{id}.php, for author specific templates
New template files, taxonomy.php, taxonomy-{taxonomy}.php and taxonomy-{taxonomy}-{term}.php for Custom Taxonomies
Style tweaks to theme editor
Tab interface for Manage Themes and Install Themes in Appearance->Themes panel
Improved child theme support; child theme use is highly encouraged and as described in the Child Themes article, very simple to accomplish
New comment_form() that outputs a complete commenting form for use within a theme template
The Default (Kubrick), and Classic themes, are no longer included in the WordPress distribution, but are available in the Theme repository
Plugins:
Add Details and Install Now action links under each plugin listed in Install Plugins
Allow Tab indenting, Shift-Tab (outdenting), and multi-line tabbing, in plugin editor
Upgrade plugins in bulk from the Plugins->Installed panel (#11542)
When deleting plugins, check for uninstall hooks, and warn of data deletion
Tools:
Add tag-to-category and category-to-tag converters to the Tools panel, add tag-to-category converter links to Posts->Post Tags panel
Clean up OPML link export script
Expanded filter criteria in Administration > Tools > Export panel
Import WordPress fixes notices, attachments, and users
Removed Turbo menu item, but because Turbo files weren't removed, Turbo may still work
All importers moved to the plugin repository (e.g. WordPress Importer)
Users:
Allow "No role for this blog" to be chosen in Users->Add New panel
Added update_core, list_users, remove_users, add_users, promote_users, edit_theme_options, delete_themes and export Capabilities
Settings:
Removed Settings->Miscellaneous admin menu, moved uploads settings to Settings->Media panel
Revise Settings->General panel, change "Blog" reference to "Site"
Revise Gray Admin Color Scheme
Install Process:
Choose username and password during installation rather than using 'admin'
Show "Log In" button on install.php when "Already Installed"
Automatic generation of Security Keys during installation
Validate table_prefix in wp-config.php generator
Standardize information in wp-config-sample.php
Multisite:
New Tools->Network panel to 'install' mulitsite/network ability, and is available only if WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE is defined in wp-config.php
New Super Admin menu with Admin, Sites, Users, Themes, Options, Update, sub-menus (available only if is_multisite() && is_super_admin() )
New Dashboard->My Sites panel
New Tools->Delete Site panel
Configure a Network (multisite/WPMU) using wp-config.php file
Terminology changes regarding Sites, Blogs, Networks (see Andrew Nacin's explanation)
Development, Themes, Plugins:
A better default excerpt; remove multiple white spaces from the excerpt as well as splitting safely on UTF8 strings
Add Child theme support for theme header registrations, second call to register_theme_headers() should add more headers, and not replace existing headers.
Add add_plugins_page() function to allow adding a submenu to under Plugins menu
Add get_search_link() with Permastruct (/search/) support, update get_search_link(), get_search_feed_link() and get_search_comments_feed_link()
Add is_comment_feed()
Add redirect_to and associated filters to registration and password recovery
Add a wp_loaded action that fires once WordPress init has finished
Add an INDEX on comment_parent (wp_comments table) to speed up wp_delete_comment() and reparenting queries
Add argument hide_if_empty to wp_dropdown_categories() to hide dropdown if no terms to display
Add argument id to wp_dropdown_users() and wp_dropdown_categories()
Add argument post_type to get_page_by_title()
Add argument taxonomies to register_post_type()
Add argument taxonomy to wp_list_categories() and wp_dropdown_categories() to be custom taxonomy aware
Add capability 'edit_theme_options' (see developer discussion on this)
Add capability 'list_users' to provide more controls over listing users vs. editing users
Add compatibility code for old themes that relied on templates from the default theme without expressly identifying it as the parent theme (Note: the fallback to these template files is now deprecated and will be removed in a future version)
Add custom hierarchical post type support to get_pages()
Add defaults for 'post_content' and 'post_title' in wp_insert_post()
Add email and login duplicate checking to wp_insert_user()
Add extra hooks to "Right Now" dashboard widget
Add filter to the links in paginate_links() and to the arguments in wp_link_pages()
Add filter post_updated_messages to allow changes to the $messages array in wp-admin/edit-form-advanced.php
Add filter post_updated action fires when a post is updated; post ID, current and previous post objects are passed and wp_check_for_changed_slugs() updated to use new hook
Add flag to taxonomy registration allowing permalinks to be prepended with front, or not
Add initial WP_DEBUG define to wp-config-sample.php and suggest plugin/theme developers use it
Add mobile webkit styles for twentyten theme
Add more orderby and select options to get_comments
Add Multisite capabilities (#11644)
Add new protocols for kses and make the list of protocols filterable
Add optional comment ID argument to comment template functions
Add replace method to $wpdb (#10864)
Add support to get_terms() to allow 'include' & 'exclude' args to be arrays()
Add support to is_singular() to allow testing of specific post_types such as is_singular('book') or is_singular( array( 'newspaper', 'book' ) )
Add the generator element in feeds through the {rss2|atom|rdf|rss|opml}_head hooks
Add 'themes_loaded' hook to run after parent/child themes have been included
Add ?ver=DATE query strings to all images that changed since 2.9, to expire browser cache and bump versions on all CSS/JS files modified in that process
Admin support for Custom Post Types (#9674)
Admin support for hierarchical taxonomies (#10122)
Allow Custom Post Types to have custom icons
Allow enabling/disabling title and editor per post type, introduce remove_post_type_support(), add enable/disable for author override
Allow include/exclude arguments for get_posts() and get_pages() to be an array
Allow methods to be used as a callback in wp_unique_filename()
Allow more special characters in wp_generate_password()
Allow multiple To: recipients in wp_mail() and improve handling of \r\n in headers and multiple CC/BCC headers
Allow people to attach PHP 5.3 Closures to filters and actions
Allow plugins to modify the query run by WP_User_Search
Allow themes to specify a menu fallback other than wp_page_menu()
Better inline documentation for WP_DEBUG, WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY, and WP_DEBUG_LOG.
Better POST_BY_EMAIL logic
Check PHP and MySQL versions in upgrade.php
Convert Terms page to use WP_Ajax_Response(), hierarchical terms will now appear under their parent OR have the parents prefixed (Changeset 13086)
Create metaboxes for hierarchical taxonomies
Create post_status=auto-draft when creating a new post item and status changes to draft on first auto-save
Customizable death (wp_die() is now pluggable) (#11892)
Deprecate get_alloptions()
Deprecate get_profile() for get_the_author_meta()
Deprecate trackback_rdf() (#11139)
Deprecate add_option_update_handler() and remove_option_update_handler() in favor of register_setting() and unregister_setting()
Deprecate automatic_feed_links() in favor of add_theme_support('automatic-feed-links')
Deprecate get_bloginfo('text_direction') in favor of is_rtl()
Deprecate set_current_user() in favor of wp_set_current_user()
Deprecate MagpieRSS in favor of Simplepie (#11982)
Deprecate Snoopy
Deprecate User Levels (use Roles and Capabilities instead) (#10805)
Deprecate clean_url() in favor of esc_url() and esc_url_raw() (#12309)
Deprecate VHOST in favor of a boolean, SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL (Note: core will keep VHOST defined for plugins' sake, but you should only define SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL; will throw notice if VHOST is defined, and a warning if they somehow conflict; sunrise can still handle them
Deprecate is_term and is_taxonomy in favor of term_exists and taxonomy_exists
Don't check for the existence of index.php in the htaccess rewrite rules
Don't query against entire users table in wp_dropdown_users()
Don't require a default category for post types other than 'post'
Ensure that for multiple sidebar additions, the ID is unique
Extend the_modified_date() to support before/after/echo
Fallback to wp_page_menu() from wp_nav_menu() if no menus are setup
Fix Press This entity encoding
Fix DST/Standard transition display in Settings->General
Fix recursive chmod for WP_Filesystem
Flag post statuses as public, private, protected, or internal
Functon get_usernumposts() is now deprecated in favor of count_user_posts() for naming consistency
Improve user listing performance
In Twenty Ten theme, don't use post thumbnail as the custom header if it's smaller than the header size
Introduce *_user_meta() functions, deprecate *_usermeta() family
Introduce _ex(), a hybrid between _e() and _x(), to translate with context, then echo.
Introduce add_editor_style() to easily register a stylesheet for the visual editor
Introduce add_permastruct() and flush_rewrite_rules(), wrappers for the corresponding WP_Rewrite methods
Introduce disabled() form helper, move selected() and checked() out of wp-admin and into full scope
Introduce delete_user_option()
Introduce get_available_languages()
Introduce get_comment_id_fields() to get comment_id_fields() and introduce a filter on the output to add extra fields
Introduce get_index_template() to allow child themes to override a parent theme's index.php
Introduce get_intermediate_image_sizes() for getting all the intermediate image sizes to be used both when adding attachements and deleting
Introduce get_post_types() function to get a list of registered post types
Introduce get_super_admins() and allow hard-coding a global super_admins array and bypassing site options
Introduce get_taxonomies() function to get a list of all registered taxonomies (#12516)
Introduce get_template_part() function to include generic files (other than header, sidebar, footer) (#13146, #13816)
Introduce get_term_feed_link() and use it in wp_list_categories()
Introduce get_the_author_link()
Introduce get_the_date()
Introduce home_url()
Introduce is_child_theme()
Introduce is_post_type_hierarchical() to use to check if a post type support hierarchical
Introduce is_rtl() and becomes defined when locale is loaded
Introduce is_super_admin()
Introduce is_textdomain_loaded()
Introduce menu_page_url() for plugins to use to get the URL for the pages they have added
Introduce register_admin_color_schemes() to registers the default admin color schemes
Introduce remove_theme_support()
Introduce post_type_exists()
Introduce sanitize_key()
Introduce set_current_screen(). Set current screen for inline edit ajax requests so post rows can be properly displayed.
Introduce taxonomy_exists() to replace is_taxonomy()
Introduce term_exists() to replace is_term()
Introduce the_shortlink() template tag (#10640)
Introduce unload_textdomain() and add plugin_locale and theme_locale filters to load_*_textdomain() functions
Introduce unregister_theme_headers()
Introduce update_blog_details()
Introduce wp_check_filetype_and_ext() to handle mime/ext image comparisons and corrections for upload and sideload
Introduce wp_reset_postdata() to reset the post global for the current query_posts() call after using a loop with a new WP_Query object
Introduce constant DISALLOW_FILE_MODS for disabling all ops that modify core, theme, or plugins files
Introduce constant DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT flag for enabling/disabling the theme and plugin editors
Introduce constant DISALLOW_UNFILTERED_HTML to disallow unfiltered_html for all users, even admins and super admins
Introduce constant SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL boolean to replace VHOST
Introduce constant WP_DEFAULT_THEME to use to set 'default' theme when installing new sites
Introduce Custom Taxonomies translation strings
Introduce theme compatibility files so incomplete themes that need to inherit templates will inherit them from wp-includes/theme-compat
Introduce WP_User::for_blog() and current_user_can_for_blog() to avoid calls to WP_User::_init_caps()
Introduce wpdb::tables() to fetch table names on a global or blog scope
Introduce ZipArchive version of unzip_file() (more efficient on memory usage for supporting hosts)
Make get_bloginfo('wpurl') use site_url(), not get_option('siteurl')
Make better use of $wp_query->get_queried_object()
Make calendar valid HTML 5
Merge clear_global_post_cache() into clean_post_cache()
Merge Categories/Hierarchical taxonomies into edit-tags.php
Merge edit-page-form.php into edit-form-advanced.php
Merge edit-pages.php into edit.php
Merge page.php into post.php
Merge page-new.php into post-new.php
More powerful version of is_tax()
Move send_nosniff_header() into wp-includes so it can be used in wp-ajax.php
New $required_mysql_version global in wp-db.php
New comment_form() that outputs a complete commenting form for use within a template (#10910)
New posts_search filter in query.php
Numerous functions deprecated and changes to not use those deprecated functions
Optimize single_post_title(), single_tag_title() & single_cat_title() to use WP_Query globals if available
Pass default post to default_content, default_title, and default_excerpt filters, to allow filtering by post_type and other attributes
Prevent page(\d+) slugs, and force a suffix
Recommended reading from a theme developer's view regarding navigation menus; see Ryan Boren's recommendation
Redirect ?page_id=xx for the Posts page to the posts page
Refactor get_available_languages() to use glob() instead of *dir functions
Reminder that escaping rules for options and transients changed so see Ryan Boren's explanation
Reminder to plugin authors to test and make sure they do not generate unexpected output; see Ryan Boren's explanation
Remove STYLE_DEBUG constant, SCRIPT_DEBUG now handles both scripts and CSS
Remove wp-ajax.php. admin-ajax.php can be used (and is better for) for front-end/nopriv AJAX requests
Rename get_post_link() to get_post_permalink() to avoid conflict with bbPress
Rename the new 'themes_loaded' hook to 'after_setup_theme' to prevent confusion as to what it actually does & where its fired from
Revised Coding Standards: no camelcase variables, use lowercase for variables
Serve a real 404 for ?p=does-not-exist, ?cat=does-not-exist, etc
Show custom hierarchical taxonomies in the menus
Show theme installer only to super admins
Suffix and version bump for ie.css
The Settings API now supports automatic error display for validation problems with add_settings_error() (#11474)
Tidy up logic for defining WP_DEBUG
Update wp_popular_terms_checklist() to handle custom taxonomies
Update jQuery to 1.4.2 (#12305)
Update jQuery UI to 1.7.3
Update json lib
Update phpass to 0.2
Update Prototype.js to 1.6.1
Update Scriptaculous.js to 1.8.3
Update SWFobject JS to 2.2
Update wp_clear_scheduled_hook calls to use array when passing args
Use admin_url() for images in wp-admin, to allow for filtering
Use get_terms() in wp_count_terms()
Various phpDoc updates
Various changes to wp-includes/http.php

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CSS tweaks for the plugins screen, same style for active and inactive for …
Allow CodePress to be disabled from Screen Options, see #10027
Initialize var. Props dd32. fixes #10050
Use array instead of query string notation. Prop dd32, kamiyeye. fixes …
Validation fix. Props Harish. fixes #10049
CSS fix for vertical misalignment in user-edit.php, props demetris, fixes …
WP Upgrader improvements, props DD32, fixes #9836
Preferred transport: move curl to last position and fockopen to 2nd …
CSS tweaks for plugins-all screen
Fix vertical misalignment in user-edit.php, fixes #10036
Pass name to sidebar, footer, and header get actions. Props scribu. fixes …
Fix the border in the install plugins table
Add styling to the search results table for plugins, props …
Don't pass by reference. Props kamiyeye. fixes #9994
Add gray background to inactive rows on plugins screen
Using css to hide the Save button in widgets without settings, props …
Move buttons from row 4 to row 3 in the editor when row 3 is empty, fixes …
Give login screen proper iPhone viewport, props noel, fixes #10023
noindex for login. Props Viper007Bond, joostdevalk. fixes #10026
Pass taxonomy to_tag_row() when adding tags via ajax. Props dd32. fixes …
Add .description html class to edit-category-form.php and …
Improve widgets hooks, props Denis-de-Bernardy, fixes #10013
Add $hook_suffix as js var, fixes #10008
Add two more images to manifest.php
Add more translator comments for placeholders, props nbachiyski, fixes …
Take out of translatable string, props nbachiyski, fixes #9995
Allow translators to change the curly quotes in wptexturize(), props …
Add "Accessibility Mode" for widgets screen (can be turned on from Screen …
Use proper field for category intersection queries. fixes #9985
We do not use plugin, we use file
Test writability of ABSPATH when upgrading core or WP_PLUGIN_DIR when …
Reload the widget form with the ajax response after save, add Close link …
Fix margin on Find Themes button
Reduce default Thickbox height on plugins install screen, props scribu, …
Fix plugin/theme upgrade issues when using ftp extension. Fixes #9980 …
Add context to the translation of Tag in the theme installer. Fixes #9981.
Move the upload_dir filter before the directory is created so that plugins …
Ensure the errors array is always defined so as to always have something …
Add esc_sql(), for completeness.
Add comment_moderation_headers filter. Props mtdewvirus. fixes #9969
Use _wp_specialchars to get NOQUOTES. see #9934
RTL fixes. Props yoavf. fixes #9975
Add tool_box action to tools.php. Allows appending to tools.
Fix notice when searching categories. Props gortsleigh. fixes #9970
Fix widget unregister back-compat. fixes #9952
Fix submenu position and state on folded admin menu, props sambauers, …
Always show the open/close arrow next to the widget title, fixes #9914
Fix search for custom taxonomies. Props gortsleigh. fixes #9971
Revert [11475]. Keep those strings frozen for 2.8. see #9900
Generate correct links for custom taxonomies. Props gortsleigh. fixes …
Fix notice. Props wnorris. fixes #8433
Fix parent=0 queries. Props Denis-de-Bernardy 107 minutes ago. . fixes …
Note that paging applies to top-level comment counts. Props hailin. fixes …
Adds the bulk actions to the bottom of the plugins listing table and other …
TinyMCE 3.2.4.1, fixes #9950
Check to see if we have an author before displaying it. See #9948.
Add confirmation AYS when upgrading a theme. fixes #9904
Fix default orderby for tt_id query. see #9937
wp_unique_post_slug() fixes. Props Denis-de-Bernardy. fixes #9726
Ensure autosave is run before showing preview for new posts/pages.
Fix unlink warning. see #9936
Fix loop start, loop end workflow. Props Denis-de-Bernardy. fixes #9944
Trim white space
Fix the inserting of caption shortcode when the upload path contains …
Revert [11202], see #9726
Don't use esc_html() for DB bound data. see #9934
Don't use short tag. Props DD32. fixes #9920
Allow a plugin to filter the list of Page statuses. Fies #9928 props …
Add orderby = none option to wp_get_object_terms(). Props …
Add a hook in print_footer_scripts as in print_head_scripts, props arena, …
Improve Filesystem method choice for 'direct'; introduce FS_METHOD …
Remove context from wp_feed_cache_transient_lifetime filter and filter in
Restore LEFT JOIN for post_status_join. fixes #9851 see #9720
Trim tailing whitespace
Set eol style
Add a wp_lostpassword_url() function to complete the set. Based on patch
Hide options from users when they don't make any sense for them. Fixes
Allow plugins to filter the expiration time of the SimplePie cache. Fixes
Delete widgets when dragged back to Available Widgets, add ui.droppable.js
Plugins update notices css tweak
Initialize $table variable in wp-admin/themes.php, props mdawaffe, fixes
Allow a different role to be set for users when they are created in a call
Pass references and more context to the new 'user_profile_update_errors'