WordPress 6.5 has been postponed due to disagreements over a new feature that would have required some websites to download a plugin to maintain functionality.
Font Directory Problem
The delay in releasing version 6.5 is primarily due to a new Font Library feature for managing fonts, which also makes using Google Fonts GDPR compliant. The GDPR compliance aspect allows publishers to connect with Google Fonts and download fonts locally instead of serving them from Google’s servers. This ensures GDPR compliance because Google’s servers won’t have access to a visitor’s IP address.
The fonts were initially going to be stored in a new directory, /wp-content/fonts/. However, it was acknowledged that this could lead to bugs due to some file systems being unable to store fonts in that directory. The initial compromise was to require sites with these issues to use a plugin called Fonts to Uploads to function with WordPress 6.5.
This solution was not well-received as it did not align with the design philosophy of making WordPress work out of the box. There was significant opposition from the WordPress community.
Among the comments:
“I think this is a significant mistake that deviates from WordPress’ core philosophies, the existing technical infrastructure, and the stated requirements and plan for shipping in 6.5. …By removing a key aspect of the compromise plan, it undermines the entire plan, and means we are fundamentally shipping something we know is broken with 6.5.”
Multiple comments agreed that the original plan was flawed. One pointed out:
“So basically the decision of moving uploadable fonts outside of the uploadable folder is already proven problematic even before releasing with partial testing. And TBH
wp-content/uploads/fontspath was semantically better in the first place.”
As a result, the fonts are now set to be stored in the more compatible location of /wp-content/uploads/fonts/.
This led to the announcement that 6.5 would be delayed by a week:
“Based on community feedback on the Unblocking WP6.5 – Font Library and Synced Pattern Overrides and Font Library follow-up posts, there has been a change to the WordPress 6.5 release schedule and a final change to the Font Library. …This approach ensures that the greatest number of sites possible can benefit from the new Font Library feature without the need to install or configure anything. …Shipping a feature that requires additional configuration or technical knowledge isn’t in line with the guiding philosophies that have helped the project mature into the successful project that exists today.”
Not Without Some Minor Complaints
The change in the storage location for fonts did receive some criticism. It was noted that storing fonts in the /uploads/ directory is not semantically correct because the fonts are downloaded in the case of Google fonts, among other observations.
WordPress 6.5 is now scheduled for release on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024.
Read the full announcement:
WordPress 6.5 release delayed 1 week
Featured Image by Shutterstock/PBXStudio
