WordPress 6.6 – nicknamed “Dorsey” (after Tommy Dorsey) – was released overnight. With a shorter release cycle, this release is smaller than the last with more iterative processes rather than major new features. Nevertheless, there’s a lot under the hood that I’m excited for. Here’s are WordPress 6.6 new features.
Rollback to Automatic Updates
The first thing which I’m most excited about is the rollback to automatic updates.
What does this mean? Well, if an automatic update to WordPress ran, and it broke WordPress, you’d wake to find a blank screen – the jokingly named “White Screen of Death”. This has meant users have been electing to leave automatic updates switched off. Sure enough they are spending time (or should be spending time) updating the site. If they don’t (which they don’t) there is invariably a hack and the cost of repairing the hack skyrockets.
Should an automatic update fail in WordPress 6.6, rather than face a broken site, the plugin is reverted to the previous (unbroken) version, and the site is fine. When you then have time, you can explore what went wrong, and fix it. This does mean that users should now be running automatic updates switched on.
Now, I do offer plugin updates as part of my maintenance plans, but – to peek behind the curtain – it’s more of a security blanket. The vast majority of my sites that I manage have automatic updates switched on. It’s only when there’s a problem with the update (such as it fails to run, which does happen occasionally), or an issue with a licensed plugin (some premium plugins don’t run in a similar manner), or a cheeky fork I’ve done to fix a bug (in one case). It’s just making sure things are running tip top on a weekly basis for you.
Now, if you don’t have a maintenance plan, there is now really no need to not have automatic updates switched on.
Whilst this is a very exciting update for people like me, it’s sadly not one I can visiualise. So instead, here is friend of the site Tim Nash to tell you more to tell you to switch on automatic updates.
Grid Based Layouts for Grouped Blocks
Groups are rather useful items within modern WordPress development. These allow you to – as the name suggests – group together a few items that are in some way related. You can group them horizontally or vertically. Now there’s a modern way of doing it – Grids.
Grids will allow you to create layouts of items relatively quickly without bothering with patterns or blocks. They are also scalable across all devices. Want something to stretch over multiple rows? Easy. Want a fullwidth element? Simple. You can set a minimum grid width, both in terms of size of columns or number of columns, and go from there.
I can see this becoming my default way of placing content on blog posts, as it’s so expandable. Have a play around with it and let me know what you think, but I’m a fan of it.
Native Shadows!
Not a big update, but I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned as much. Shadows are now present for certain block types!
So if you have a button or an image you now can add a shadow to it, rather than creating a style entitled “Shadow” and implement it in there. I hope there’s a way to add your own, as I can see this being such a timesaver for me.
Dropping Support for PHP 7.0 and 7.1
Another bland one for me, but one that is welcome. PHP 7.0 and 7.1 will now no longer be supported by WordPress. Right now, the supported versions of PHP is 8.2, with 8.1 receiving security support. You really shouldn’t be on the PHP 7.X branch at all, with PHP 7.1’s support ending 4 and a half years ago. By pushing forward with WordPress’ PHP requirements, it allows modern improvements to PHP to be implemented into WordPress’ core, which makes it more secure and faster. So speak to your host to check your PHP version and look to upgrade if you can (and you should).
Weirdly, this is a bit of an emotional update, as I remember the upgrade from the 5.X to the 7.X branch. Time waits for no PHP version.
Other WordPress 6.6 new features
The above are the new features in WordPress 6.6 I’m most excited about. There are more, and I’ve listed them below:-
- Colour palettes and font sets – previously (I believe, as I’m not quite into the FSE), you had a set number of styles to change colours of blocks, now you can change the fonts. Yay I guess?
- Quick previews for pages – You can see all your default page layouts in the sidebar if you use the Full Site Editor.
- Pattern overrides – If you have a synced pattern, you can unlock it and make change it.
- The usual performance and accessibility improvements.
Be Sure to Upgrade
If you are on one of my WordPress Maintenance plans, you should already be on WordPress 6.6, or will be very soon. If not, send me an email and see what I can do for you.
Featured Image: “Tommy Dorsey at Maple Leaf Gardens” by Toronto History is licensed under CC BY 2.0.