What’s Coming in WordPress 6.8 (Features and Screenshots)

We recently tested WordPress 6.8 and are excited to share the changes coming with this release. Small tweaks make WordPress much smoother, while new features improve its performance and customizability.

For example, this upcoming release comes whats-coming-in with a major security update, including new password hashing using bcrypt. In terms of performance, speculative loading will significantly improve page load times.

There are also major improvements to key parts of the block editor to improve the site editing experience for all users.

Ready to learn more? Read on as we explore these changes and show you how WordPress 6.8 will improve the WordPress experience.

Here’s a quick overview of the changes coming in WordPress 6.8:

Speculative loading to improve performance whats-coming-in

Have you ever noticed how some websites load pages almost instantly ? This is usually due to a technique called speculative loading.

In WordPress 6.8, this feature will be built right in, making sites faster.

So what is speculative load?

Imagine you’re reading a blog post and you see a link that you can click on next. WordPress anticipates this and starts loading the linked page in the background. Then, when you click, the page appears quickly, like magic 🪄.

This is done using the Speculation Rules API . It allows WordPress to set rules for which links will be preloaded. For example, if you hover over a link, WordPress will take this as a hint and start preloading the page.

For developers, there are options to customize this behavior. You can adjust which links are preloaded and how early the process starts.

Stylebook accessibility in classic themes  whats-coming-in

We love how design in WordPress has become more intuitive with the introduction of the Style Book. Initially available for block themes , WordPress 6.8 will extend this feature to classic themes (themes that don’t support the full site editor) as well.

The Style Book provides a comprehensive overview of your site’s design elements, including colors, typography , and block styles. It’s like having a style guide built right into your WordPress dashboard.

In supported Classic themes, you can find the Style Book by going to Appearance ” Design ” Styles . This centralized location makes it easy to manage and view design changes.

Additionally, site patterns will be relocated to Appearance \ Design \ Patterns . This brings together all design-related settings in one place and makes the customization process much easier.

The Style Book enhances the editing experience by providing a clear, organized layout of your site’s design components. It lets you see how different elements fit together, making it easier to maintain a cohesive look.

Enhanced design and editing tools  whats-coming-in

WordPress 6.8 will bring several job seekers database updates that will make designing and editing in WordPress easier. From better global styling options to improved block controls, these changes will help users create and manage content more efficiently.

Global Styles panel in the Site Editor sidebar

The Styles panel in the full site editor now offers more control over global design settings. Users can adjust typography, colors, and layouts in one central location, simplifying site-wide changes.

Set image blocks as featured images

WordPress 6.8 will allow you to set any image block as the featured image with just one click. This eliminates extra steps and makes managing featured images easier.

Note: Deleting the image block you used for your featured image will not remove or change the featured image.

Section Style Selector in Toolbar

A new toolbar option will allow users to quickly switch between different section styles in zoomed out mode.

This makes it easy to experiment with layouts without having to dig through menus.

Success notifications for image editing with undo link whats-coming-in 

WordPress already comes with some basic image editing features , such as cropping, rotating, and others.

After editing an image, WordPress will now display a success message with an Undo button. This helps users quickly revert changes if needed.

Introducing the Query Total block

This new block will allow users to display the total number of posts in a query loop.

It is useful for showing how many articles match a category or search.

Easily set a page as the posts page

Previously, you could only set one page as the home page in the site editor.

Now, a new option in the Pages list view will allow users to designate any page as the Blog Posts page . This makes site setup faster and more flexible.

Query Loop Block Refinements  whats-coming-in

The Query Loop block is a powerful how to focus employees on the main thing tool for dynamically displaying posts. In WordPress 6.8, it’s getting a small but important improvement that gives users more control over their post listings.

Option to ignore sticky posts

By default, sticky posts always appear at the top of a Query Loop. This can be useful, but sometimes you want to display posts strictly by date or category.

WordPress 6.8 introduces a new setting that allows users to ignore sticky posts when setting up a polling loop. This gives you more flexibility when designing post layouts.

If you’ve ever had issues with sticky posts disrupting the order of your posts, this update will make it easier to control.

Enhanced data displays whats-coming-in

WordPress 6.8 brings improvements burkina faso business directory to data visualizations, making content management more intuitive and efficient.

Unified Layout Behavior

Data views will now offer consistent layouts across different views. For example, you can now configure it to show content views in data views for pages.

Density options in table layouts

Users will be able to adjust the density of table layouts in data visualizations. This will allow for greater control over how information is displayed.