WordPress 4.6 is finally here. You will be seeing a nice, clear update message at the top left side of your Dashboard screen by now.
*Extra* Do you know Dominik Schilling is leading the development team of WordPress 4.6? He is the same guy who was the backup lead for WP 4.4!
DevriX is proud to have two of our team members – Alex Dimitrov and Stanko Metodiev as core contributors to 4.6 release!
In this post, we will be taking you on a guided tour of WP 4.6 release and try to explain the new features with screenshots and explanation. So, just sit back, relax and read on!
This is what you should all be expecting in WordPress 4.6.
Editor Improvements
The WordPress 4.6 will come with lots of post-editing new features. One of the highlights of the improvements is an advanced auto save feature. Currently, if you have “revisions” turned off you might not be able to fully recover a post from the “autosave” feature. In WP 4.6, editors will now have the liberty to restore posts from autosave and even from the browser backup without too much of a hassle.
Ability to detect broken links is another major enhancement for editors in this release. If you’re using the visual editor for writing a post and decide to enter a link, WordPress will quickly analyze it and highlight it in a red box if the link is broken. If everything is right, it will be highlighted in the same blue color.
Admin Area & Native System Fonts
“Consistency is good but can be dull at times.” – This holds true for the WordPress Admin panel. WordPress has been using the “Open Sans Fonts” in the admin area with an aim to create consistency over all platforms and devices. The downside of this was slower load time of admin pages and WP had to rely on sources from third parties. This, however, has changed with the official release of the WordPress 4.6. The admin panel will now use the system fonts, which means that the overall look might be different (slightly) on different platforms.
Check the screenshot of the WordPress admin area on Google Chrome running on Windows 10. You might notice the fonts are slightly different to those of your system.
System fonts that will be used by WordPress 4.6 across different platform and environments are…
- GNOME – Cantarell font
- Ubuntu – Ubuntu font
- Mac (10.11 and above) – apple-system
- Chrome OS & Android – Roboto
- Windows – Segoi UI
- KDE – Oxygen-sans
- Older Macs – Helvetica Neue
- Chrome on Mac – Blink Mac System Font
The fonts above will only affect the admin area of WP and not the visual editor area.
Shiny Updates
This is one of the major highlights of the WP 4.6 release. The admin panel has now become extremely straightforward. Installing, deleting and updating plugins and themes is now simpler. Previously, when you updated or installed a theme, it used to show a progress screen. What this update will bring is a faster user experience.
What’s In-Store for Developers?
The 4.6 version aims to keep everyone happy – the editors, developers and designers. Let’s discover what’s new for developers.
Requests
Presently WP entertains a single HTTP request at a given time. This is about to be changed in version 4.6 – thanks to a new PHP library that helps in generating parallel HTTP requests. This change is likely to enhance performance.
WP_Post_Type
This version of WP will introduce WP_Post_Type class, which means methods and base properties to handle post type objects.
WP_Term_Query
WP_User_Query, WP_Query, WP_Comment_Query compliment each other, which makes them easy to use, enhance and maintain.
Pages that have slow load time will now benefit from new WP_Network_Query & WP_Site_Query.
External Libraries
Mediaelement.js, TinyMCE, imagesLoaded, Masonry have all been updated. Theme and plugin developers must check for compatibility issues with external libraries.
Team DevriX
This article is crafted by DevriX's seasoned marketing team, boasting over four decades of collective expertise in crafting sophisticated marketing funnels, devising comprehensive content frameworks and pillars, implementing engaging email campaigns, and creating impactful social media content designed for scalability.
Our marketing experts specialize in the complete spectrum of inbound marketing strategies. As an accredited HubSpot Agency Partner and a Semrush Partner, we engage in meticulous research, blending our extensive experience with the unique insights of our highly skilled team.
We set benchmarks in content creation by incorporating cutting-edge marketing trends, leveraging in-depth industry research, and utilizing state-of-the-art AI tools for data segmentation and captivating content hooks. Our proficiency extends across a diverse range of sectors, including working with SMEs, Fortune 1000 companies, global B2B brands, major publishing entities, WooCommerce platforms, business directories, and affiliate networks.
