WordPress recently released information explaining why the update to WordPress 5.5 negatively impacted millions of websites. To address these issues, WordPress is issuing a maintenance release, version 5.5.1, which serves as a patch. This gives plugin and theme developers time to update their software.
An announcement has provided a spreadsheet listing hundreds of affected plugins and themes and detailing the specific issues for each. This will aid developers in fixing their software.
WordPress 5.5.1 Maintenance Release: September 1, 2020
The maintenance release focuses on preventing sites from breaking, although developers will still need to fix existing errors. According to WordPress, global JavaScript objects removed in version 5.5 without deprecation caused the issues. WordPress 5.5.1 adds backfill for these globals, preventing JavaScript errors.
Developers have until March 2021 to patch their code, or sites will face another round of failures. WordPress has stated that the fallback code will be removed in version 5.7, providing developers ample time to update their code.
Impact on Millions of Websites
The spreadsheet revealed that millions of websites were affected, contrary to initial speculations that only thousands were impacted. The maintenance patch was urgently released on September 1, 2020.
Some Plugins Already Fixed
Not all plugins remain broken; some have already been fixed. Among the affected plugins with millions of users are:
- SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle (over 1 million users)
- Advanced Custom Fields (over 1 million users)
- Ninja Forms Contact Form (over 1 million users)
Partial List of Plugins Affected by WordPress 5.5
- WordPress Gallery Plugin – NextGEN Gallery
- Polylang
- Child Theme Configurator
- Simple Custom CSS and JS
- Toolset Types – Custom Post Types, Custom Fields, and Taxonomies
- Max Mega Menu
- WP AutoTerms
- YITH WooCommerce Wishlist
- Ocean Extra
- WordPress SEO Plugin – Rank Math
- Meta Box – WordPress Custom Fields Framework
- Hummingbird
- Content Views – Post Grid and List for WordPress
Popular Themes Affected by WordPress 5.5:
- Astra (over 1 million users)
- Storefront (over 200,000 users)
- Hestia (over 100,000 users)
- Neve (over 100,000 users)
- ColorMag (over 100,000 users)
- Customizr
- Hueman
- Zakra
There are many more themes affected, with full lists available online.
Update to WordPress 5.5.1
This maintenance update addresses a wide range of bugs discovered after the release of version 5.5. For those who reverted to a previous version due to site-breaking issues, version 5.5.1 should now be downloaded to fix the discovered problems.
Citations
- Official WordPress Announcement of What Went Wrong
- Spreadsheet with Full List of Affected Plugins and Themes
- List of Themes Affected by WordPress 5.5
