WordPress 6.0 Store Beta was published a few days ago, with a release date of May 24th, 2022. It will be the year’s second big release, featuring a slew of new features and enhancements.
We’ve been keeping a close eye on the progress and putting new features to the test on our test sites.
With features and screenshots, we’ll offer you a sneak peak at what’s coming in WordPress 6.0 in this post.
The WordPress Beta Tester plugin may be used to test the beta version on your computer or in a staging environment. Please bear in mind that not all of the beta features will be included in the final release.
If you’d prefer written instructions, just keep reading.
Improvements to Full Site Editing Store
The new complete site editing experience has been progressively released by WordPress.
Basically, you can alter your WordPress themes using the same block editor that you use to create articles and pages with full site editing.
You may update your theme layouts graphically using blocks and make site-wide adjustments.
Note: To use this feature, you’ll need a block-enabled theme.
The Theme Editor is getting a lot of new features and changes in WordPress 6.0. Here are a few examples.
Effortlessly Switch Theme Styles
Simply click on the Style button at the top right corner and then switch to Browse Styles tab to see available styles in your theme.
This allows theme developers to add multiple style presets to their themes that users can easily switch.
Export Your WordPress Block Theme
The new Theme Editor (Full Site Editor) allows you to create your own templates, customize styles, create beautiful layouts. But what if you wanted to copy all of them to another WordPress site?
WordPress 6.0 will allow you to easily export your theme with all the changes you made.
You can then simply install this theme on any other
and it will include all the changes you made to the original theme.
New Blocks in Block Theme Editor
WordPress 6.0 will introduce the following new blocks that you can use in your theme and templates.
1. Comments
2. Read More
In WordPress 5.9, the Excerpt block enabled you to simply type the text you wanted to use for ‘Read more.’
A separate block will also be included in WordPress 6.0. This way, you may customise the link’s text, background, and border to make it stand out more.
3. No results in Query Loop
When adding a Query Loop block, you can now insert the No Results block inside it. However, the block will only be available if your selected query doesn’t have any results.
4. Post Author biography
New post author biography block can now be used along with Post Author and Avatar blocks.
5. Avatar
You may display a user’s avatar using the avatar block (profile photo). You may select whether to show a specific user’s avatar or the avatar of the current post/page author.
While the default theme editor is becoming better, it still needs development to compete with the custom theme builder solutions that come with the WordPress page builder.
Block Editor Changes in WordPress 6.0
Most website owners spend the majority of their time producing content and pages in the block editor.
The content editor receives considerable enhancements and new capabilities with each WordPress edition. The following are some of the most notable changes to the block editor in WordPress 6.0.
Featured Image in Cover Block
Want to use the featured image for a post in the With WordPress 6.0. You’ll be able to choose featured image for a cover block and it will automatically display current post/page’s featured image.
Changing featured image will automatically change the image displayed in this cover block.
Easier Text Selection in Multiple Blocks
Currently, selecting text across multiple blocks is difficult. Often the block editor ends up selecting all text in the block.
WordPress 6.0 will make it easier to simply select only the text you want to select.
Lock Reusable Blocks
One of the most annoying aspects of the reusable blocks is that any changes made by any user are preserved.
There are currently plugins that can lock the reusable block and restrict users from modifying it to remedy this.
That functionality is planned to be included in WordPress 6.0. To restrict users from directly modifying the reusable block, just pick the Lock Reusable Block option.
This will bring up a popup where you’ll be able to choose lock restrictions.
You can lock edit, move, or removal of the block.
Responsive Group and Row Blocks
With WordPress 6.0, you’ll be able to specify how blocks should behave on various screen widths.
You may choose to show the blocks inside a group block as a row or a stack.
You can also select multiple blocks and then choose between a row or a stack layout.
Miscellaneous Block Editor Enhancements
Following are a few more notable enhancements to the block editor in WordPress 6.0.
1. Border for Columns Block
3. Spacing for Gallery Images
Following are a few more notable enhancements to the block editor in WordPress 6.0.
1. Border for Columns Block
4. Quick Shortcut to Add Internal Links
You may now add links easily by using two square brackets followed by the title of the post or page.
5. Select Multiple Blocks in List View
Users will be able to use SHIFT+Click or Shift+Up+Down keys to select multiple adjacent blocks in the list view. They can then move them up or down or perform other actions.
Accessibility Improvements in WordPress 6.0
Each new WordPress version improves usability by making the platform more accessible to users.
WordPress 6.0 will include a slew of enhancements aimed at improving the user experience for people with disabilities.
Some of the more noteworthy accessibility enhancements are listed below.
If no alternative ALT text is given, the post title will be utilised as the ALT text for featured photos.
In blocks containing placeholder components, better tabbing.
In block search, there is a search announcement.
For blocks with a placeholder setup, see the description.
On smaller displays, screenreaders will be able to read the text labels in the admin bar.
See Accessibility Improvements in WordPress 6.0 for a complete list.
Under The Hood Changes
WordPress 6.0 will also include a slew of new features for developers to experiment with and incorporate into their own themes, plugins, and projects.
The following are some of the adjustments that have been made behind the scenes:
The Webfonts API will allow theme creators to handle local fonts more efficiently using PHP or themes.
json. (See below for further information.)
An API that prevents blocks from being displayed on the Widgets screen. (#55301)
Make get author link a pluggable function. (#51859)
Improved query for sticky posts. (#36907)
We hope this post offered you a sneak peek at what WordPress 6.0 has in store.
Comment below to let us know what features you find interesting and what you’d look to see in a future WordPress release!