What’s New in WordPress 5.8
With its release on July 20th, 2021, WordPress 5.8 comes with an impressive line-up of advanced features and bug fixes. The latest update also introduces Full site editing – this is just the beginning, so you can expect lots of features and improvements in later versions. So,what’s new in WordPress 5.8? Let’s take a deeper dive into the highlights of WordPress 5.8.
Full site editing
Full-site editing enables WordPress users to build websites using blocks. With the added range of tools and features, you can create any page element from navigation menus templates. The best benefit of full-site editing is that you will have the option to customise the website design without writing any code.
Since FSE is a big concept, you’ll only be given a small introduction to it in this release. But it’ll be worked on and fully implemented in the upcoming versions.
Template editor
The template editor is a part of full-site editing. This function allows you to create your templates, save, and store them for further use. It’s a great tool for users who want to create and edit templates from the block-editor interface. You’ll have the option to enable and disable it as you wish.
The template editor will still be reliant on the WordPress theme you choose. The customisation options will depend on the styles available in the theme.
WebP images
WebP is a file format in which images are 25-34% smaller in file size when compared to PNG and JPEG. If you try to upload WebP images in WordPress now, you will get an error since it is not a supported image format. WordPress 5.8, however, will allow you to upload WebP images to your website without using any additional plugins. All you have to do is upload the images to your media library and insert them into your content. The pictures will still have a high quality.
Improvements in Block editors
WordPress 5.8 comes with a whole lot of new attractive blocks in the Gutenberg editor. Page listings, site titles and site logos are some of the most important ones. Reusable blocks, i.e., blocks you use multiple times in a website or a post, can now be named. They’ll be available in the block toolbar, making it easy to identify and modify them.
You’ll be able to add PDF documents by dragging and dropping or by selecting from the library. You’ll also have the option to manually adjust the height of the PDF viewer and enable/disable embedded PDFs.
WordPress 5.8 also brings in new features that will help you control the background and foreground colours of table blocks. Border block support is yet another addition that gives you the ability to control and stylise the borders.
Duotone filters
Duotone filters are another exciting feature in WordPress 5.8. These filters can be used on single images and over galleries as a whole. While it comes with a set of presets, you have the option to create your own with the colours you wish to use. You can customise the effect using two sub-controls that allow you to alter shadows and highlights.
Blocks as widget interface
The “blocks as widget” interface is yet another step for creating a full-site editing experience. The interface makes your sidebar widgets more flexible. You’ll be able to add and edit designing tools such as colours, typography, spacing, etc., without installing new plugins. You’ll be able to create layouts in sidebars and include rich, formatted text in the widget. With this feature, customisation possibilities are endless.
Enhanced block API
Using block.json files to register block types provides several advantages. It will optimise resource queuing and combat lazy loading to a helpful extent. It also helps in reducing page size.
Pattern directory
Pattern directory is a feature of WordPress 5.8 that will make your website designing a lot easier and faster. When you search for a new block, the editor will suggest patterns that you can add to the block to make it more attractive. There are many patterns available in WordPress. After the integration of the pattern directory with WordPress.org, you’ll have infinite patterns to choose from. With just a few clicks, you can copy and paste your favourite patterns to the desired blocks.
Additional features
WordPress 5.8 has dozens of exciting features, including drag and drop support, layout and content width support, developer-focused options such as enhanced API support, etc. There are options to add custom tabs to the site health interface and support multiple admin screens. WordPress will also end the support for Internet Explorer with this update.
WordPress 5.8 is a gift box waiting to be explored. It is a milestone on the journey to full-site editing. This release of WordPress will bring in tons of new features and functions to play around with for both developers and users. We would advise taking a backup of your site before updating your site. Better still, test the new version in a staging environment before you give it the green signal. Want to learn more about WordPress and WordPress 5.8? Contact us or email us at sales@computingaustralia.group.
Jargon Buster
WebP: An image format developed by Google that creates high-quality files that are smaller in size compared to PNG, JPEG or GIF.
API: Application Programming Interface, API is a set of functions and procedures that allow applications to access data from another application, service, or operating system.
Blocks: In WordPress, blocks are elements you add to the edit screen to create layouts for your content.
by The Computing Australia Group