WordPress 6.4 Is Here: What You Need to Know

Greetings, fellow WordPress lovers! The time has come for the third and final major release of the year – WordPress 6.4, which is released on the 7th of November 2023, and is the 48th release in the history of WordPress.

Earlier this year, we greeted the arrivals of WordPress 6.3, and WordPress 6.2, which brought significant improvements to the WordPress ecosystem.

Now, we are excited about what the new release of WP will look like. WP 6.4 is named after the iconic jazz artist Shirley Horn. Let us find more about it.

WordPress 6.4: What You Need to Know

1. The New Default Theme Is Here: Twenty Twenty-Four
2. Lightbox Popup Will Enlarge Images
3. Improvements in the Command Palette
4. Enhancements to the Block Editor
5. Block Hooks for Developers
6. Background Images for Group Block.
7. Improved Toolbars for Parent, and Child Blocks
8. Enhanced Pattern Management
9. Open in New Tab in Link Preview

1. The New Default Theme Is Here: Twenty Twenty-Four

According to tradition, the last new release of the year, receives the honor of introducing the new default theme. Therefore, WordPress 6.4 comes with the new theme – Twenty Twenty-Four.

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It features a minimalistic layout, while being packed with new features. The theme is created to work well with the Site Editor, and comes with 6 style variations to choose from.

It also includes a dozen pattern blocks, which you can use in the Site Editor, or when writing new posts and pages. These include a few section patterns that help you quickly add entire sections to your pages.

2. Lightbox Popup Will Enlarge Images

Have you ever wanted to be able to view and image, without having to open it in a new tab? Well, Lightbox popup will do just that.

In WP 6.4., you will have the option to enable Lightbox popup, which will allow users to then click on an image, and expand it.

Basically, after you upload an image, you can mark the Expand option to enable users to open said image in a Lightbox popup.

3. Improvements in the Command Palette

In WordPress 6.3 we saw the introduction of the command palette tool, which enabled users to quickly type commands using CTRL + K. Now, WP 6.4 brings us some new improvements in the command palette.

First of all, there is a slight design update, making the elements slightly darker. Second, there are a few new commands and actions you can use to duplicate, delete, transform, or insert blocks from the command palette.

4. Enhancements to the Block Editor

The WordPress 6.4 release focuses heavily on improving the existing site editor, through various enhancements, and new block editor features. WP 6.4 will merge several Gutenberg releases in the core.

5. Block Hooks for Developers

Presenting the block hooks functionality for developers. The block hooks functionality would allow plugins to automatically add blocks upon their activation. This means that plugin developers will practically be able to interact with the block editor and extend blocks without touching them.

6. Background Images for Group Block

The easiest way to create different sections of a layout in the post or full site editor is through grouping blocks.

Previously, users were limited to selecting the background and text colors for the entire group block. WordPress 6.4 will now allow you to set a background image.

7. Improved Toolbars for Parent, and Child Blocks

Until now, working with blocks that have child blocks was challenging due to the toolbar movement and changes, as you moved around blocks. This created a bad user experience, so with WP 6.4 the child toolbar will automatically get attached to the parent, which aims to deliver a user experience.

8. Enhanced Pattern Management

WordPress 6.3 saw Reusable Blocks being merged into Patterns, and a pattern management screen added to the Site Editor.

Now, this Pattern Management will be improved by added pattern categories when creating a new pattern, and the Patterns tab being shown as your patterns are organized in categories.

9. Open in New Tab in Link Preview

Another great addition for better user experience is the open in new tab preview in links. This will spare users the few extra clicks to open a link in a new tab.

So, based on feedback from users, now a new checkbox is added in the link preview options, allowing users to easily open a link in a new tab.

Summary

We hope you found our article interesting, and informative. The release of WordPress 6.4 has definitely excited developers and WordPress enthusiasts alike.

What are your thoughts on the new release? Is there a feature you are particularly excited about? Let us know in the comments, and keep in mind that DevriX is a WordPress agency that can help your business grow, and scale. Check out our services, and don’t hesitate to contact us!