WordPress 6.8, “Cecil”, has been released. In keeping with the WordPress version numbering convention, 6.8 is a major release.
WordPress 6.8 brings many enhancements, including:
- Style Book Enhancements: The Style Book now features a structured layout with clearer labels, making it easier to edit site styles like colors and typography. It also supports Classic themes that include editor-styles or a theme.json file, allowing users to preview theme changes under Appearance > Design.
- Editor Improvements: Users can now more easily navigate Data Views and have the option to exclude sticky posts from the Query Loop. Numerous minor enhancements have been made to streamline the editing process.
- Speculative Loading: This feature preloads pages when users hover over or click links, resulting in faster page loads. It’s compatible with modern browsers and can be customized via plugins or code.
- Enhanced Password Security with bcrypt: Passwords are now hashed using bcrypt, making them more resistant to cracking and enhancing overall site security.
- Accessibility Improvements: Over 100 accessibility fixes have been implemented, affecting bundled themes, navigation menu management, the customizer, and labeling. The Block Editor alone received more than 70 improvements to blocks, DataViews, and overall user experience.
- Performance Updates: Beyond speculative loading, WordPress 6.8 includes performance optimizations in the block editor, block type registration, and query caching. The introduction of the Interactivity API aims to reduce interaction latency to under 50 milliseconds.
Learn more about the highlights of WordPress 6.8.
For more details about this release (including specific changes), please see the announcement post and Field Guide.
Questions
If you have any questions about this release, please open a support ticket, and we will gladly assist.