WordPress 6.1 was released on November 1, 2022, and this update includes a lot of new things for the CMS. Here’s what you need to know when getting started with WordPress and what to expect in the future.
WordPress 6.1 improvements
Earlier this year in May, WordPress released version 6.0 with major changes to how users interact with the block editor and an update to the styling tools.
WordPress 6.1 “Misha” continues to work with the changes introduced by its predecessor and creates an improved experience for users.
“Misha” further improves the site building experience. Inside WordPress 6.1, you’ll interact with enhancements that continue to make site building more intuitive and push your creative boundaries further than ever.
With this focus on improving writing and creativity, Misha gives WordPress users a strong foundation for their design needs.
Updates for designers and writers
While this article will contain post-Gutenberg 14.4 breakdowns, the general updates to WordPress design and layout are worth mentioning.
from submitting their new ones Thirty-three topics New templates to let users customize page layouts. Now you can edit or change your header, footer and other information inside your dashboard.
Other design updates include updates to the design controls on the layout panel. Coupled with the image Gutenberg updates, this makes it easy to modify your page with the default editor.
WordPress 6.1 also brings a cleaner look to its settings panel, with a minimalistic approach to menus, block settings, and publishing options.
WordPress performance updates
To solve the problems of the users, WordPress “Misha” brings many improvements to the performance of WordPress.
WP_Query and REST API
marked as two Most important updates The WP_Query and Rest APIs for WordPress 6.1 improve database queries, increase site speed.
With caching updates to the WP_Query class, database queries that are requested more than once are loaded from the cache. This ensures that your database is not running multiple times, resulting in faster speeds.
This change will be enabled by default starting with 6.1, and while it is possible to disable this option, the developers strongly recommend that you Keep caching enabled and instead disable caching with the clean_post_cache function.
similarly, Improving the REST API Also reduce database requirements. First of all, it removes the auto-call prepare_links if added to the _fields parameter.
in 6.1 prepare_links Called only if requested in the response, when links are requested in fields or – Embedded The parameter is passed. As part of this work, the taxonomy and post-type controllers are now updated to implement the mentioned prede_links method to bring them in line with other REST API controllers.
This means that your database will not be called or run unless prede_links are needed, saving you the time it would take to run an empty response.
REST API enhancements also included updates to the posts, user, and comment controllers, priming each by caching the required post in a single request to optimize timing.
Site health
The Performance Team has added two new items Site health checks: persistent object cache and page cache. Both of these features were tested before integration with the Performance Lab plugin.
The Persistent Object Cache Check detects whether a site is currently using a persistent cache and recommends it if it is needed.
On the other hand, Full Page Cache tests the full page caching solution and whether the response time is acceptable for the website.
Others are worth mentioning
Further performance improvements for all WordPress sites include the following by default:
- Improving Multisites – Network parameters function updated to match other metadata types, also added support for registrer_meta.
- loading/unloading – Changed the order of action hooks to give more control over caching behavior, asset preloading, and conditionally executed redirects.
- Cache API improvements – Validation of cache keys in WP_Object_Cache methods, made a number of priming functions public, hence its use in plugins and themes.
- Introducing new features
- wp_cache_flush_group() – Flushes all cache items in a group if the object’s cache implementation supports it.
- wp_cache_supports() – Third-party object cache plugins can now declare the wp_cache_supports() function and correctly list the features they support. This allows developers to call wp_cache_supports ( $feature ) when flushing by group.
For more detailed information and a full list of other WordPress 6.1 performance changes, including their respective Trac tickets, read their full field guide. Create WordPress Core.
Gutenberg 14.4
With WordPress’ focus on creating a better user experience with Gutenberg so that users no longer need to use the classic editor plugin, Gutenberg 14.4 offers some exciting new features for block editor enthusiasts.
Free mode of destruction
For those writers and designers who are more obsessed with the ability to change the appearance of the page than the content, the distraction-free mode is here to save your article.
This mode hides blocks and settings toolbars, allowing you to fully concentrate on your writing. It’s easily accessible from the settings icon at the top of your page, but can also be turned on and off with a quick hotkey.
Another upgrade to the writing experience is the improvement of liquid typography in the first place Introduced in Gutenberg 13.8. Liquid typography is “When site font sizes […] Adapt to all changes in screen size, for example, growing as the viewport increases or shrinking as it shrinks.”
Gutenberg 14.4 builds on this release and allows custom font sizes to be changed when fluid typography is enabled.
Review templates and image updates
Gutenberg 14.4 offers new ways to preview templates, allowing users to see what these blocks will look like before moving them to a live page. The entire main template interface has been redesigned with a more powerful hover effect for a better user experience.
Other updates to the look and feel of the block editor include the ability to write and edit your image captions from the block toolbar, allowing for easier customization.
Restrict access to the navigation block
With the block editor updates, you now have the ability to restrict access to the navigation block. This means that if you have multiple users in your account, you will be able to prevent them from being deleted, moved, or restricted from editing your navigation.
This prevents you from editing links and submenus in your navigation and allows peace of mind for web designers.
For more details and a full list of other changes in Gutenberg 14.4, read their full post Create WordPress Core.
final thoughts
WordPress 6.1 is made possible by the work of over 600 open source contributors. Its new styles are created by the community and, currently, WordPress is the CMS it uses 43.1% on all websites.
With each new release, the WordPress community demonstrates its passion for open source software and how it grows to help users around the world.
Thanks to its improvements, more web designers, developers and regular users will continue to create beautiful websites.
