What’s New in WordPress 6.0 (Features and Screenshots)

The beta version of WordPress 6.0 arrived a few days ago and is scheduled to release on May 24, 2022. This will be the second major release of 2022 and will come with many new features and improvements.

We closely followed the development and tested new features on our test sites.

In this article, we’ll give you an overview of what’s new in WordPress 6.0 with features and screenshots.

To note:You can try the beta version on your computer or in a test environment using theWordPress beta testerconnect. Please keep in mind that some of the beta features may not be in the final release.

Improvements to the full site edition

WordPress has gradually released the new full site editing experience.

Basically, with the full site edition, you can customize your WordPress themes using the same block editor you use to create posts and pages.

You can make site-wide changes to your theme templates and change them visually with blocks.

Note: you will need a block-enabled theme that supports this feature.

WordPress 6.0 brings a ton of improvements and new features to the theme editor. Here are a few.

Change theme style effortlessly

WordPress 6.0 will allow users to easily switch theme styles with a single click.

Simply click the Style button in the upper right corner, then switch to the Browse Styles tab to see the styles available in your theme.

This allows theme developers to add multiple style presets to their themes that users can easily change.

Export your WordPress block theme

The new theme editor (full site editor) allows you to create your own templates, customize styles, create beautiful layouts. What if you wanted to copy them all to another WordPress site?

WordPress 6.0 will allow you to easily export your theme with all the changes you have made.

You can then simply install this theme on any other WordPress site and it will include all the changes you made to the original theme.

New blocks in the block theme editor

WordPress 6.0 will introduce the following new blocks that you can use in your theme and templates.

1. Comments

You can now add a feedback request loop block. It comes with sub-blocks like comment author name, avatar, comment content, edit link, etc. You can edit them individually to make your comments stand out.

2. Read more

While the Excerpt block in WordPress 5.9 allowed you to just enter the text you want to use for “Learn more”.

WordPress 6.0 will also come with a separate block. This way, you can choose a different text, background, and border for the link to make it more noticeable.

3. No result 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 has no results.

4. Biography of the author of the message

The new post author bio block can now be used with the post author and avatar blocks.

5.Avatar

The avatar block is used to display a user’s avatar (profile photo). You can choose to display the avatar of a specific user or display the avatar of the current post/page author.

While the default theme editor continues to see improvements, it still needs more work to compete with the custom theme builder solutions that are part of the WordPress page builder.

Block Editor Changes in WordPress 6.0

The block editor is where most website owners spend most of their time creating content and pages for their website.

Each version of WordPress comes with significant improvements and new features for the content editor. Here are some of the most notable changes coming in WordPress 6.0 for the Block Editor.

Featured Image in Cover Block

Want to use the featured image for an article in the cover block? With WordPress 6.0. You will be able to choose the featured image for a cover block and it will automatically display the featured image of the current post/page.

Changing the selected image will automatically change the image displayed in that cover block.

Easier text selection in multiple blocks

Currently, selecting text across multiple blocks is difficult. Often the block editor ends up selecting all the text in the block.

WordPress 6.0 will make it easier to simply select the text you want to select.

Lock Reusable Blocks

A major problem with reusable blocks is that if a user makes changes to them, those changes are saved.

To solve this problem, there are already plugins you can use to lock down the reusable block and prevent users from modifying it.

WordPress 6.0 should bring this feature to the core. You can simply select the Lock Reusable Block option to prevent users from editing it directly.

This will bring up a pop-up where you can choose lock restrictions.
You can lock editing, moving or deleting the block.

Responsive group and row blocks

With WordPress 6.0, you will be able to choose how you want blocks to behave on different screen sizes.

For the group block, you will see the option to display the blocks inside as a row or a stack.

You can also select multiple blocks and then choose between a row or stack layout.

Miscellaneous block editor improvements

Here are some notable block editor improvements in WordPress 6.0.

1. Border for the column block

You can now add a border around the column block.

3. Gallery Image Spacing

You can now adjust the spacing between individual images inside a gallery block.

4. Quick shortcut to add internal links

You can now quickly add links by adding two square brackets followed by the post or page title.

5. Select multiple blocks in list view

Users will be able to use SHIFT+Click or Shift+Up+Down to select multiple adjacent blocks in the list view. They can then move them up or down or perform other actions.

See a full list of useful WordPress keyboard shortcuts.

Accessibility improvements in WordPress 6.0

Each release of WordPress continues to improve usability by making it more accessible to users.

WordPress 6.0 will come with a ton of improvements that would improve the user experience for users with accessibility needs.

Here are some of the most notable accessibility improvements.

• The post title will be used as the ALT text for featured images if no other ALT text is provided.
• Better tabbing in blocks with placeholder elements.
• Wanted ad in block search.
• Read description of blocks with placeholder configuration.
• The admin bar text labels will be readable by screen readers on smaller screens.

For a detailed overview, see accessibility improvements in WordPress 6.0.

Changes under the hood

WordPress 6.0 will also bring many changes for developers to explore and use in their own themes, plugins, and projects.

Here are some of those changes under the hood:

• The Webfonts API will provide theme authors with a more efficient way to manage local fonts via PHP or theme.json. (See the details)
• An API to prevent blocks from appearing on the Widgets screen. (#55301)
• Build get_the_author_linkpluggable. (#51859)
• Improved post-sticky query. (#36907)

We hope this article has given you some insight into what’s coming in WordPress 6.0.

Comment below to let us know what features you find interesting and what you would like to see in a future version of WordPress!

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The post What’s Coming in WordPress 6.0 (Features and Screenshots) first appeared on WPBeginner.