WordPress has continuously evolved itself to provide its user base with a smooth and powerful content management system (CMS). WordPress has a share of nearly 15% in the top 100 popular websites in the world currently. With a capacity to handle more than 75 million posts per month, WordPress is a platform that needs to bring out developments frequently.
To enhance its usability and improve its functionalities, the platform has made some major changes and promising announcements in April 2020. The changes are made to make the platform more efficient and convenient for users.
The major announcements go as follows:
WordPress 5.4.1
The release of WordPress 5.4.1 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) was one of the major releases in April 2020. Initially released for testing, it was quickly moved for the official release in the same month itself, on April 29, 2020. The release included around 7 security fixes and 11 maintenance updates.
So, update your websites immediately!
The user can get the WordPress 5.4.1 simply by going to the Dashboard and then clicking on Updates in the site’s admin area.
You can also visit https://wordpress.org/download/releases/. For step-by-step instructions on installing and updating your WordPress site, click here.
If you are new to WordPress, you can take help from professional WordPress Development Services.
Gutenberg 7.9 and 8.0
The month of April 2020 saw the release of the highly anticipated Gutenberg 7.9 and 8.0. The Gutenberg team has finally fixed the pending loopholes and introduced some of the newest features in the release.
Three New Block Patterns
Gutenberg 7.9 release saw the removal of the block patterns icon and it was tucked behind the editor options menu. There were three new block patterns in the release:
- Numbered columns for displaying columns with numbers on the left side and text on the right side.
- Hero Two columns for italic paragraphs, a heading, and two columns of text.
- It’s Time for displaying a paragraph, two columns, and a large paragraph stating ‘it’s time’.
Typography Changes
The users can stick with the desired level heading for their document structure and use the font size option to adjust its appearance.
Gradient Features
Following the update, the users can use gradient backgrounds to covers and button blocks in Gutenberg.
BuddyPress 6.0.0
Initially, the beta version was released in mid-April which led to the final release of Buddy Press 6.0.0 in the same month itself.
The following changes were brought in the newest version of BuddyPress:
The BP REST API
The 6.0.0 version included the endpoints such as blogs, cover images, blog avatar, user sign-ups, and more.
Nouveau
The BuddyPress Nouveau template pack can support many new content areas and improved the designing part of the overall set.
Minimum Requirements
Most importantly, BuddyPress 6.0.0 release has set its new minimum requirements as PHP 5.6 and WordPress 4.8.
WordCamp US 2020
Due to the ongoing COVID pandemic in the world, the WordCamp US will take place online and will be free for anyone who wants to attend. There will be sessions, workshops, hallway track, and State of the Word that will be offered by the team.
If you are interested in speaking at WCUS, the Call for Speakers is still open now!
They have initiated Call for Cities where a community can register if they want to host WordCamp US in 2021 & 2022.
Want to know more?
Sign up on the WordCamp US website.
You may also follow – Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
WordCamp Europe 2020
The team has announced that WorkCamp Europe 2020 will take place online and the tickets will be free. It will take place from June 4-6 in 2020 with live streaming of talks and workshops.
Get the latest news on WCEU!
Follow on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Conclusion
The WordPress community has been working hard to roll out important updates and their motto is to make the platforms bug free. They are improving the core code for enhanced security features. Thus, we recommend you to keep your website updated for its smooth functioning. You can always reach out to a WordPress development company to avail of its services.
