WordPress 6.4, named Shirley, has been released, unveiling a new default theme and a variety of enhancements that collectively aim to make WordPress a more user-friendly content management system.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director of WordPress, summarized WordPress 6.4 as follows:
“Many of the features and enhancements in WordPress 6.4 fall in the ‘small but mighty’ category. Alongside the adaptable beauty of the Twenty Twenty-Four theme, these updates help content creators and site developers save time and effort, providing the high-value, low-hassle WordPress experience the world has come to expect.”
### New Default Theme
The latest version comes with the new Twenty Twenty-Four theme, which includes 35 webpage layouts known as patterns. These full-page layouts allow for quick webpage creation. A standout feature is the ability to categorize and name these patterns, simplifying identification and usage. Additionally, a new filter has been introduced to make finding patterns easier.
### Enhancements To Writing Experience
WordPress 6.4 introduces several improvements designed to make writing smoother. New keyboard shortcuts and a revamped toolbar interface for navigation, list, and quote blocks focus on keeping tools handy but out of the way. These enhancements aim to prioritize the writing process over interface mechanics.
### More New Features
Other notable features include new design tools, the ability for site visitors to interact with images through lightbox functionality, the capability to assign custom names to group blocks, improved image previews in list view, and options to import and export patterns for use on other sites.
### Developer Features
Developers can now use block hooks, which enable the automatic insertion of dynamic blocks at specific content locations, enhancing block theme extensibility through plugins. This feature respects user preferences and provides control over the addition, dismissal, and customization of auto-inserted blocks.
### 100+ Performance Wins
WordPress 6.4 includes over 100 performance improvements, underscoring the core developers’ commitment to consistently enhancing the platform’s efficiency with each release.
### Reception By The WordPress Community
The WordPress community’s response has been largely positive. Andrew Wilder of NerdPress.net noted the numerous smaller improvements in version 6.4, emphasizing their collective contribution to the platform’s progress. He highlighted the changes to attachment pages as particularly beneficial for SEO, as they prevent the creation of numerous “thin content” pages that don’t serve a useful purpose.
Katie Keith, CEO of Barn2 Plugins, expressed enthusiasm for the new Twenty Twenty-Four theme, praising its clean, modern design, which suits a wide range of websites. She also welcomed the new image lightbox functionality and the option to mark links as nofollow, both of which enhance user experience.
### Takeaway
While WordPress 6.4 lacks any single standout feature, it is packed with numerous small improvements that significantly enhance the overall user experience. Despite some reports of conflicts with the Oxygen Visual Page Builder, the update has been well-received, with appreciation for the WordPress core team’s efforts.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Master1305
