The most interesting additions include Block Hooks, improved pattern organization, a redesigned and enhanced Command palette, changes to attachment pages, a lightbox effect on images, and several improvements to the writing workflow.

Improved template loading, refined script loading strategies, and other performance enhancements makes your WordPress website run faster, while List View enhancements and several upgrades to the admin user interface make it more usable and accessible.

WordPress 6.4 also brings a new default theme with tons of ready-to-use patterns and templates that streamlines your editing process.

That’s a whole lot of things, isn’t it? So don’t wait any longer, and let’s find out what’s new in WordPress 6.4.

New: Improved Site Editor

The headline feature of WordPress 6.4 is the upgraded Site Editor.

There’s a new Templates and Patterns menu and the ability to customize navigation without having to switch to the Menus screen.

Getting started with the Site Editor is straightforward, but mastering it might take a bit of time.

As long as you have a compatible block theme installed, you have some new screens to experiment with.

You can enter Site Editor from Appearance > Editor and get a high-level view of your theme and make sitewide changes.

You’ll see a black menu on your left with your main options. Select the one and you’ll move to the respective page.

To go back, click the small arrow icon until you return to the main Site Editor screen.

For instance, click on Styles and you’ll access the default style palette in use for your theme.

Similarly, select Pages and you’ll see a list of every published page on your website. Clicking one takes you to the page editor.

Block Editor’s New Features

When you start editing a page, the editing screen will look familiar. It operates quite similarly to before, but now there are a couple of extra perks.

Lightbox effect, fixed template for images, vertical text, and query loop pagination are the new additions for content creators and developers.

The blocks transition smoothly, giving you the freedom to adjust, move, or add content as you wish.

Now, let’s dive in to know what’s new.

Lightbox effect

You might be familiar with the lightbox effect used for images in various plugins and themes. It’s now part of WordPress 6.4!

You can apply this effect easily in the block editor.

When an image is selected on your page, head over to the right sidebar settings. There, you’ll find a toggle called Expand on click.

If you want the lightbox effect, just flip this toggle on.

On the front end, when you hover the mouse over the image, you’ll spot a zoom icon. Click on it and the image expands smoothly using the lightbox effect.

To return to the original size, click the image once more or hit the ‘X’ in the top right corner.

Remember, this feature isn’t activated automatically. You’ll need to enable it for each image you want the lightbox effect on, even in galleries.

Background Images in Group Blocks

Now, you can spice up group blocks with a background image.

Start by picking the group you want from the List View.

This action will also open up the related settings in the sidebar on your right.

Next, head over to the Style tab. Look for the Background option and click on it.

From there, you can either choose an image from your media library or upload one directly from your computer.

If you change your mind, there’s a Reset option available to remove the added image.

Placeholder Image Ratio

Placeholder images can now keep a specific aspect ratio locked in place, which is handy when creating image templates on your page.

Let’s walk through an example.

• You’ve got a block on your page with an image inside that has a standard 4:3 aspect ratio.
• Start by removing the image, then click the ‘+’ sign to add an image block again.
• When you select the image block to add an image, you’ll see the aspect ratio field appear in the right sidebar.
• From the drop-down list, choose a different aspect ratio than the original image. For instance, let’s select a Portrait 3:4 aspect ratio here to demonstrate how the locked aspect ratio works.
• Now, add an image that has a different aspect ratio from the one set for your placeholder. For our example, the image is sized at 1920×1310 pixels.
• You’ll notice the image gets cropped neatly to fit the aspect ratio we’ve set. This means you’ve created a template with a fixed aspect ratio

Whenever you add an image in this placeholder, it’ll disregard the image’s original aspect ratio and adjust automatically to match the set value

Vertical text

In WordPress 6.4, you’ve got the ability to switch up your text’s orientation. It’s a handy tool for various needs, especially if you’re after an artistic touch.

To make this change for a paragraph block:

• head over to the Typography options in the right sidebar.
• Click the three-dot menu for more choices. Within that menu, you’ll spot Text orientation.

This will show you two orientation buttons. Click on the vertical orientation button to see how it alters the text.

Query Loop Pagination Improvements

The upgraded pagination feature within the Query Loop block is quite noteworthy.

Currently, moving between two pages in the Query Loop block triggers a complete page refresh. However, in version 6.4, this issue has been addressed.

Here’s how you can do it:

• Simply click on the Query Loop block.
• Then, go to the settings sidebar, scroll down a bit, and below the Sticky posts option, you’ll find Enhanced pagination.
• Activate this feature, update your settings, and preview the page in a new tab.

Now, when you navigate to the next page, you’ll notice that the page no longer reloads.

Block Hooks

Block hooks are a new developer feature that allows you to ‘hook’ a function into a block.

Inspired by the hooks in WordPress core APIs, block hooks enable developers to dynamically extend blocks.

This means plugins can introduce their unique options to a block. Users will then see these additional options in the block settings panel, giving them the ability to toggle these options on or off.

Workflow Improvements

In WordPress 6.4, we see a lot of improvements in workflows that make day-to-day website maintenance, admin tasks, and content management easier.

Here are the updates:

Improved Command Palette

The Command Palette is a shortcut for common commands within the WordPress editor and was initially released in WordPress 6.3.

This updated version is more usable as the text is darker and there are some new keyboard shortcuts.

Hit ⌘+k on Mac or Ctrl+K on Windows or select the new menu at the top of the edit screen and you’ll see a popup with search.

Type anything into that to see relevant commands. For example, type ‘page’ and you’ll see all possible page commands you can use.

Select an option and you’ll be taken immediately to that resource, whether it’s a new page, the edit screen or elsewhere.

Style Revisions

Revisions are one of the most useful parts of a page builder and another reason Elementor is so popular.

WordPress 6.4 now joins the party with Revisions.

Look at the bottom of the left pane in your Site Editor, you’ll see a blue Revisions or Review 1 change… button.

What you see will depend on whether you have made any changes and how many you made.

Click the blue button and a popup will show you recent changes and ask you if you want to save them.

Image Preview

In WordPress 6.4, finding images within the List View (a.k.a Document Overview) is now simpler.

This is super handy, especially if you’ve got loads of images on a page and need to quickly spot a specific one with the help of a small preview.

Rename Groups

Now, managing your groups is easier with more descriptive names. You can rename your group now in the List View to whatever suits you.

For instance, if a group has ‘about us’ information, you can name the group likewise to spot it quickly.

To rename a group, pick the one you want in the list view, click the three-dot icon, and select Rename from the menu. Then, type in the new name and hit Save.

Toolbar Improvement

This looks like a minor improvement that might go unnoticed but we believe it will have a significant impact on your workflow.

In WordPress 6.4, the toolbar is now consistent for parent and child blocks such as quotes, navigation, and lists.

No matter if it’s the main content or the secondary cite block, the toolbar stays in the same spot.

It’s a subtle tweak, but it significantly enhances the user experience. Let’s check its impact on a list item.

Open Link in New Tab

Many users like to open links in new tabs. It saves them from leaving the current page.

In WordPress 6.4 website admins can decide if a link on the page should open in a new tab or the current one.

Now, whenever you add a link anywhere on the page, you’ll notice a link preview and a checkbox underneath. Check the box and the link will open in a new tab for users.

Attachment Pages Disabled

Starting with WordPress 6.4, attachment pages won’t be activated by default. This resolves a long-standing issue in WordPress sites.

Previously, when you uploaded attachments (images), WordPress automatically generated pages that showed the file and its description. Search engines indexed those pages which impacted your site’s SEO.

To fix this, users relied on SEO plugins like All in One SEO or Rank Math to disable attachment pages and guide users back to the original post.

While this change will apply to new sites, older sites built before WordPress 6.4 will continue to function as they did.

If you want to disable attachment pages on your website, you can implement the following custom code.

update_option( ‘wp_attachment_pages_enabled’, 0 );

Pattern Personalization and Customization

Block Patterns have been a key benefit of Spectra and Elementor for a while now. The feature was added to WordPress in version 6.3 but is now much better.

Here are some of the improvements and new features added to patterns in WordPress 6.4:

Categorize Patterns

You can now organize (categorize) your custom block patterns for better management across your site. It’s like having your own toolbox filled with your favorite patterns, ready to be reused whenever you need them.

One easy way is to do it from within the list view.

• Click on the three-dot menu at the edge of a group or parent column to open the menu.
• Next, select the Create Pattern option to open a box where you can set a pattern category name and choose from available categories.
• WordPress has default categories to help you categorize your patterns easily. You can also create your own category name.
• Add multiple categories if needed and click Create once you’re done.

Remember to turn off the Synced option, which we’ll discuss next.

Whenever you want to use this pattern on another page, go to Block Inserter > Patterns to find the folder named My Pattern where your custom patterns are stored.

You’ll see these specific patterns in each category you selected while creating them, like the Services category in our example.

Import and Export Patterns

WordPress users now have the ability to share patterns across multiple websites. To do this, you’ll export your preferred pattern as a JSON file and import it into any other website you desire.

Here’s how you can do it:

1. Open the site editor by going to Appearance > Editor and clicking on Patterns in the left sidebar.
2. Next, go to My Patterns to view your saved patterns. Click the three-dot menu button and select Export as JSON to save the file on your computer.
3. When you are on a different website, open the site editor and go to patterns.
4. Click the ‘+’ button at the top left and select the Import pattern from JSON to bring in the desired pattern.

That’s it! You’ve now successfully created a pattern on one website and imported it to another.

Note: Sometimes, the styling of the imported pattern may not match exactly on the new website. In such cases, you can manually customize the pattern to suit your preferences.

Synchronize Patterns

We’ve long used global settings in page builders like Spectra and Elementor. Now, from WordPress version 6.4, this feature is part of the default WordPress offerings.

Remember the Synced option we talked about while creating patterns? It allows you to create a pattern that updates globally wherever it’s used.

Let’s revisit the page editor and create a pattern from the list view just like before. This time, keep Synced enabled, which is the default setting for all patterns.

When you make changes to this pattern, the changes automatically apply everywhere it’s used.

Another way to tweak a pattern is through the pattern editor.

Go to Appearance > Editor and select Patterns. Then, at the bottom of the left sidebar, click Manage all of my patterns to access them.

From there, open the pattern you want to edit (like ‘Global Call to Action’ in our case).

Any changes you make here will update all copies of that pattern you’ve created.

Add Buttons to Navigation Bar

From WordPress 6.4, adding buttons to your navigation bar becomes easier, even for noncoders!

For instance, let’s say you want to add a signup button. Here’s how in a few simple steps:

• Open the page template to access the navigation block.
• Click within the navigation block to reveal the black ‘+’ sign. No need to click it.
• Head to the right sidebar under the navigation menu items and hit the blue ‘+’ block inserter button.
• Choose the button item and customize its appearance as desired.

Twenty Twenty Four Theme

WordPress 6.4 introduces the new default theme, Twenty Twenty Four.

Similar to its predecessors, it’s a sleek block theme, but this time it offers a bit more.

When you open it in the Site Editor and go to Styles in the menu, you can preview different looks using presets.

Choosing a style instantly updates the appearance. Once you find a style you like, hit the blue Save button at the bottom left.

While few will actually use Twenty Twenty Four for a live site, it’s a great way to explore what WordPress 6.4 offers.

It’s one of the most practical default themes we’ve seen so far.

Theme Preview

In WordPress 6.4, theme preview gets a mention as a minor update, but it’s actually pretty handy.

Instead of activating a theme to see how it looks, now you can preview it right in the Site Editor.

This allows you to check it out, and decide what works, and what doesn’t before making it your active theme.

For those who enjoy experimenting with themes, this is a major time-saver!

To try it, head to Appearance > Themes.

Hover over a theme you’re interested in and click the blue Live Preview at the bottom of the theme block to load the preview window.

If it’s an inactive theme, you’ll also spot a blue Activate button at the bottom left to set it as your default theme.

Convenient, right?

Other Improvements in WordPress 6.4

WordPress 6.4 introduces 170+ performance updates to help improve page load time across the board. Here are some worth mentioning updates:

• Admin notices function: WordPress 6.4 introduces two functions for admin notices instead of using the old approach of blending HTML and PHP codes.
• Split queries in object caching: This feature helps WordPress break down complex queries into smaller, more efficient ones. This significantly improves website speed.
• More accessibility: Over 50 accessibility improvements include better labeling, better navigation, revised headings, and new controls for the image editor to help people navigate better.
• Footnotes block: If you want to add annotations to pages and posts, you can use the new Footnotes block.
• Details block: The new Details block allows you to add expandable content sections for FAQs or to combine short and long answers within the same section.
• PHP Recommended Versions: WordPress relies on PHP for its working. You are suggested to use PHP 8.1 or 8.2 on your server for WordPress 6.4 to work smoothly.
• Template Loading Improvement: The newest version comes with several improvements in loading templates to make things faster and more efficient for both WordPress developers and users. These upgrades include Reduced file lookups and file system access, Optimized block template lookups, and Improved error handling.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the most notable changes:

New Site Editor Navigation: The Site Editor navigation has been revamped to make it more intuitive and user-friendly. Now, you can easily find and edit all the different parts of your website, from pages and posts to templates and patterns.

Improved Pattern Management: Patterns are a great way to add reusable blocks of content to your website. In WordPress 6.3, pattern management has been improved to make it easier to find, edit, and use patterns.

Edit Pages in The Site Editor: For the first time, you can now edit pages directly in the Site Editor. This makes it even easier to create and customize your website pages.

Manage Navigation Menus in The Site Editor: Another new feature in WordPress 6.3 is the ability to manage navigation menus in the Site Editor. This means you can now create, edit, and rearrange your navigation menus without having to switch back and forth between the Site Editor and the Menus interface.

Easily Switch Theme Styles in The Site Editor: Theme styles are now easily accessible in the Site Editor navigation. This makes it easy to switch between different theme styles and see how they look on your website in real time.

Preview Themes in The Site Editor: You can now preview block themes directly in the Site Editor. This means you can see how a theme will look on your website before you activate it.

Style Revisions to Easily Undo Changes: WordPress 6.3 introduces style revisions, which allow you to easily undo changes to your website’s styles. This is a great way to experiment with different styles without having to worry about making permanent changes.

Introducing the New Command Palette Tool: The command palette tool is a new keyboard-driven interface that allows you to quickly access and use WordPress features. To open the command palette, simply press Ctrl+K or Cmd+K on your keyboard.

Two New Blocks in The Block Editor: WordPress 6.3 includes two new blocks: the Footnotes block and the Details block. The Footnotes block makes it easy to add footnotes to your posts and pages, while the Details block allows you to hide content behind a clickable element.

Better Padding and Margin Tools: The padding and margin tools in the block editor have been improved to make them more user-friendly. The new tools are more compact and easier to use, even on small screens.

Select Aspect Ratio for Your Images: You can now select the aspect ratio to display an image in WordPress 6.3. This is a great way to ensure that your images look good on all devices, regardless of screen size.

Improved Top Toolbar: The top toolbar in the block editor has been improved to make it more user-friendly. The new toolbar is more compact and easier to use, even on small screens.

Cover Block with Layout and Color Options: The Cover block has also been improved in WordPress 6.3. You can now choose the layout for the Cover block, and you also have more color options.

Link Control Enhancement in WordPress 6.3: The link control in the block editor has been enhanced in WordPress 6.3. You can now create a page directly from the link control popup, and you can also open links in a new tab or window with a single click.

Under The Hood Changes: WordPress 6.3 also includes a number of under-the-hood changes for developers. These changes improve performance and security, and they also make it easier to develop custom themes and plugins.

So there you have it! A witty breakdown of the new features and enhancements in WordPress 6.3.

Now go forth and create awesome websites!

The third major release of the year follows WordPress 6.0 Arturo, released on May 24, and WordPress 5.9 Josephine, released on January 25.

As it always happens, new WordPress releases bring new features, improvements, and bug fixes from the latest versions of the Gutenberg plugin into the core. And WordPress 6.1 is no exception, as 11 versions of the Gutenberg plugin have been merged into the core, from 13.1 to 14.1.

In this post, we will take a peek behind the curtains and introduce the new exciting features coming with the new major release of WordPress.

Matias Ventura gave us some insights in the Roadmap to 6.1, where he said that the goal of 6.1 is to refine the experiences introduced with 5.9 and 6.0 and fix some things as we approach phase 3 of the Gutenberg roadmap.

1. Template Editor Improvements: One of the main new features is the Template Editor. WordPress 6.1 should introduce the ability to browse, visualize, and edit the structure of the site.

2. Template Patterns: The goal is to give block patterns a central role in template and page creation, adapting them to custom post types and block types, enhancing locking functionality, improving saved pattern management, etc.

3. Global Styles and Blocks & Design Tools: WordPress 6.1 will allow managing webfonts, implement responsive typography, and expand the toolset available to blocks.

Full details here: https://kinsta.com/blog/wordpress-6-1/

Let’s say right away that, if WordPress 5.9 brought us to the heart of Phase 2 of Gutenberg, WordPress 6.0 aims to consolidate the customization tools already available.

But the new version isn’t just that. As Matias Ventura pointed out in the Preliminary Roadmap for 6.0, the introduction of the site editor marked a big milestone but also just a first step in the journey.

This preview courtesy fo KINSTA : https://kinsta.com/blog/wordpress-6-0/

WordPress 6.0 brings significant improvements in several areas of the CMS, from usability to performance, including the following:

• Improved information architecture and template browsing experience
• Improved template creation
• New hooks
• Webfonts API
• A new Browse Mode for the site editor
• Alternative Global Styles
• An enhanced Navigation block
• New design tools
• Improved performance
• And much more…

But wait, that’s not all. WordPress 6.0 brings an impressive number of changes, with 251 Trac tickets, including 97 features and enhancements and 131 bug fixes.

Yep, there’s a lot to talk about. So let’s not delay any longer and find out what’s new in WordPress with 6.0.

WordPress 6.0 is here! It brings improved template creation, alternative Global Styles, new blocks, and much much more… Check out what’s new in the latest WordPress major release right hereCLICK TO TWEET

Webfonts API

A new Webfonts API now provides a standardized way to load webfonts into WordPress ensuring performance and user privacy

As of WordPress 6.0, you can only register a new webfont from your theme.json.

Using the theme.json is quite straightforward. All you need to do is to add a new font family to the typography section. The following code provides an example of webfont registration:

{
	"settings": {
		"typography": {
			"fontFamilies": [
				{
					"fontFamily": "-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,\"Segoe UI\",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,\"Helvetica Neue\",sans-serif",
					"name": "System Font",
					"slug": "system-font"
				},
				{
					"fontFamily": "\"Source Serif Pro\", serif",
					"name": "Source Serif Pro",
					"slug": "source-serif-pro"
				},
				{
					"fontFamily": "\"Inter\", sans-serif",
					"name": "Inter",
					"slug": "inter",
					"fontFace": [
						{
							"fontFamily": "Inter",
							"fontWeight": "200 900",
							"fontStyle": "normal",
							"fontStretch": "normal",
							"src": [ "file:./assets/fonts/inter/Inter.ttf" ]
						}
					]
				}
			]
		}
	}
}

The code above adds the Inter font family to the default set of fontFamilies available in Twenty Twenty-Two. If you want to try it yourself, download the Inter webfont from Google Fonts to the ./assets/fonts folder, then add the code above to the settings.typography section of Twenty Twenty-Two’s theme.json. Once you’re done, save the file and get back to the site editing interface.

The following image shows the result in the editor.

The Webfonts API only registers fonts that are required to render blocks on the current page and that’s particularly useful with webfonts defined in style variations. In addition, the API optimizes the number of HTTP requests by registering and enqueueing fonts by font family.

You can read more about the new API in the Webfonts API pull request, in Status of Webfonts API for WordPress 6.0 Inclusion, and in Global Styles variations in WordPress 6.0.

Global Styles Switching

Global styles variations are one of the most awaited features coming with WordPress 6.0. Theme authors can now bundle multiple sets of Global Styles with their themes, enabling users to switch between style variations with a single click.

It’s much like having ready-to-use child themes, with a predefined set of styles for each one.

To add a style variation to your block theme, you will add an alternative JSON file into a styles folder located in your theme’s root.

Theme supporting Global Styles variations show a new Browse styles item in the Global Styles sidebar. This brings to a panel where theme users find a list of the available styles.

Pick a Global Style from the list and the styling is automatically applied to your entire website.

The new feature allows theme developers to create an unlimited number of style variations and perfectly pairs with the new Webfonts API.

The following image shows a custom style from the previous example, with a different font applied to headings.

If you want to try it yourself, add a styles folder to your block theme’s root, create a new JSON file with a meaningful name, open it in your favorite code editor and add the following code:

{
	"version": 2,
	"settings": {
		"color": {
			"duotone": [
				{
					"colors": [ "#143F6B", "#EFEFEF" ],
					"slug": "foreground-and-background",
					"name": "Foreground and background"
				},
				{
					"colors": [ "#143F6B", "#FEB139" ],
					"slug": "foreground-and-secondary",
					"name": "Foreground and secondary"
				},
				{
					"colors": [ "#143F6B", "#F6F54D" ],
					"slug": "foreground-and-tertiary",
					"name": "Foreground and tertiary"
				},
				{
					"colors": [ "#F55353", "#EFEFEF" ],
					"slug": "primary-and-background",
					"name": "Primary and background"
				},
				{
					"colors": [ "#F55353", "#FEB139" ],
					"slug": "primary-and-secondary",
					"name": "Primary and secondary"
				},
				{
					"colors": [ "#F55353", "#F6F54D" ],
					"slug": "primary-and-tertiary",
					"name": "Primary and tertiary"
				}
			],
			"palette": [
				{
					"slug": "foreground",
					"color": "#143F6B",
					"name": "Foreground"
				},
				{
					"slug": "background",
					"color": "#EFEFEF",
					"name": "Background"
				},
				{
					"slug": "primary",
					"color": "#F55353",
					"name": "Primary"
				},
				{
					"slug": "secondary",
					"color": "#FEB139",
					"name": "Secondary"
				},
				{
					"slug": "tertiary",
					"color": "#F6F54D",
					"name": "Tertiary"
				}
			]
		},
		"typography": {
			"fontFamilies": [
				{
					"fontFamily": "\"Inter\", sans-serif",
					"name": "Inter",
					"slug": "inter",
					"fontFace": [
						{
							"fontFamily": "Inter",
							"fontWeight": "200 900",
							"fontStyle": "normal",
							"fontStretch": "normal",
							"src": [ "file:./assets/fonts/inter/Inter.ttf" ]
						}
					]
				}
			]
		}
	},
	"styles": {
		"blocks": {
			"core/post-title": {
				"typography": {
					"fontFamily": "var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter)",
					"fontWeight": "700"
				}
			},
			"core/query-title": {
				"typography": {
					"fontFamily": "var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter)"
				}
			}
		},
		"elements": {
			"h1": {
				"typography": {
					"fontFamily": "var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter)",
					"fontWeight": "700"
				}
			},
			"h2": {
				"typography": {
					"fontFamily": "var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter)",
					"fontWeight": "700"
				}
			},
			"h3": {
				"typography": {
					"fontFamily": "var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter)",
					"fontWeight": "700"
				}
			},
			"h4": {
				"typography": {
					"fontFamily": "var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter)",
					"fontWeight": "700"
				}
			},
			"h5": {
				"typography": {
					"fontFamily": "var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter)",
					"fontWeight": "700"
				}
			},
			"h6": {
				"typography": {
					"fontFamily": "var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter)",
					"fontWeight": "700"
				}
			}
		},
		"typography": {
			"fontFamily": "var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter)"
		}
	}
}

You can find the full code used in the example above on GitHub and gist.

Developers will find in-depth overviews of Global Styles and Theme.json in Global Settings & Styles and Theme.json documentation articles.

You can also check the latest version of Twenty Twenty-Two, which now features three new style variations.

Block Patterns Everywhere

One thing is for sure, block patterns play a central role in the current phase of WordPress development. First introduced with WordPress 5.5, block patterns have been regularly improved over time.

Additionally, starting with WordPress 5.9, patterns featured in the Patterns directory made their way into our WordPress websites, being dynamically retrieved from the Patterns Directory and loaded in the block inserter.

And now anyone can become a pattern developer, thanks to a brand new online tool. The Pattern Creator allows you to build, edit, and submit your best block patterns to the Pattern Directory. All you need to get started is a WordPress.org account.

And WordPress 6.0 introduces further improvements to block patterns.

First, block patterns are easier to find in template editing. Now the quick inserter only shows block patterns when you access it at the top level of a template, i.e. when the block you’re going to add to your template is the direct descendant of the document.

That’s when the following conditions meet:

• You are editing a block template
• The quick inserter is at the root level
• You’re adding a block between other blocks (i.e. neither the first nor the latest block on the page)

Another useful feature now enables theme developers to add recommended patterns to the theme.json. To give it a try, search the Patterns Directory, find the patterns you want to recommend to your theme’s users, then grab the pattern slug from the URL and add it to your theme.json as follows:

"patterns": [
	"image-with-angled-overlay-shape-call-to-action-button-and-description",
	"hero-section-with-overlap-image"
],

Users will find your recommended patterns in the block inserter.

A powerful pattern-related feature coming with WordPress 6.0 is the implicit pattern registration. Themes can now implicitly register patterns by declaring them as PHP files under a new /patterns directory at the root of the theme.

The process is pretty straightforward:

1. create a new patterns folder in your theme’s root,
2. build a block group in the block editor,
3. copy and paste your HTML in a new text file,
4. prepend the following heading,
5. and save the file as PHP in your patterns folder.

<?php
/**
 * Title: My pattern
 * Slug: my-theme/my-pattern
 * Categories: text
 */
?>

And that’s it. You now have a new block pattern to show up in the block inserter.

Page Creation Patterns are another block pattern-related feature introduced with WordPress 6.0. Now, when you create a new page, the page creation screen displays a modal providing a set of block patterns you can choose from to create your page.

The modal is only shown when at least one pattern declares support for the core/post-content block types.

Out of the box, WordPress 6.0 doesn’t include any of these patterns, so the modal won’t appear unless you add support to an existing pattern. But adding the modal to the page creation screen is pretty straightforward.

If you registered a block pattern for your theme as shown in the example above, you can add support for pattern modal using the Block Types property as shown in the example pattern below:

<?php
/**
 * Title: Pattern with columns
 * Slug: twentytwentytwo/pattern-with-columns
 * Block Types: core/post-content
 * Categories: text
 */
?>
<!-- wp:heading -->
<h2>Hello there!</h2>
<!-- /wp:heading -->

<!-- wp:columns -->
<div class="wp-block-columns"><!-- wp:column -->
<div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:image -->
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt=""/></figure>
<!-- /wp:image --></div>
<!-- /wp:column -->

<!-- wp:column -->
<div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:heading -->
<h2>Heading</h2>
<!-- /wp:heading -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Paragraph</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph --></div>
<!-- /wp:column -->

<!-- wp:column -->
<div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:list -->
<ul><li>List item</li></ul>
<!-- /wp:list --></div>
<!-- /wp:column --></div>
<!-- /wp:columns -->

Save this code in a PHP file in the /patterns directory of your theme. Then, in your WordPress dashboard create a new page. You should see a new modal as shown in the following image:

For a closer view at page creation patterns, see also Page creation patterns in WordPress 6.0.

For a more comprehensive overview of the block pattern development, see also New features for working with patterns and themes in WordPress 6.0 and the Tracking Issue on GitHub.

Site Editing Features

Full Site Editing development has not ended with WordPress 5.9. WordPress 6.0 moves things a step further by improving visual theme-building functionalities and delivering new template options for block themes. And more features are on the way.

Visual Theme Building

WordPress 6.0 introduces an improved block theme export tool, which allows you to download the current theme with all your changes and customizations.

If you haven’t used the block theme export tool so far, it’s a powerful site editing tool allowing you to export your styles and templates as a whole theme.

When you’re happy with your changes, from the site editor’s interface, open the Options sidebar and find the Tools section. Here an Export button allows you to download the current theme with all your style and template customizations in a zip file.

You can then export your theme and install it on any WordPress website.

We tested the improved theme export tool on a local WordPress installation, and found that almost everything works as we expected…

Anyway, the export tool is still under development, and today we can only glimpse its tremendous potential. Think about the possibility to create your themes from the editing interface of your website and distribute them on an arbitrary number of installations. And that’s whether or not you’re a developer…

There are still a lot of open issues to be fixed, which makes us think we’ll see several improvements soon. If you’re curious and want to learn more about Visual Theme Building (as we are), you can follow the Tracking Issue on GitHub.

More Template Options in Block Themes

In previous WordPress versions, we had a limited number of template types available.

Now, WordPress 6.0 introduces several new template types, including Author, Category, Date, Tag, and Taxonomy.

This addition should streamline your site editing workflow. To give it a try, just pick a new template from the drop-down list, add the necessary blocks, save your changes, and check how it looks on the front end. Yep, it’s easy like that. Now, consider that in pair with the theme export feature mentioned above and you’d better understand what we may expect with site editing soon.

Interface and Usability Improvements

WordPress 6.0 introduces a number of changes to the UI, many of which are intended to make order in the sidebar. All together these changes should have a considerable impact on the overall editing experience. Here we will only mention just a few of them, but you can check the Gutenberg release notes for a more comprehensive list of changes (see Gutenberg 12.4, 12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.8, 12.9, 13.0).

1. List View Improvements
2. Block Style Previews
3. Paragraph Typography Section
4. Border and Color Settings Moved Under the Tools Panel
5. Post Publish Panel Category Reminder
6. Code Editor Added to the Site Editor
7. Block Locking UI
8. Multi-select
9. Style Retention

List View Improvements

The List View is affected by a considerable number of changes improving component’s usability.

Expand List View on selection

When you click on a block in the editor, now the block is automatically highlighted in the List View. If the block is nested in a parent block, the parent block expands showing the item in the block tree.

List View Collapsed by Default

Before WordPress 6.0, when you open the List View panel, it’s expanded by default.

But since a post often consists of complex structures of nested blocks, having the block tree collapse when opening the List View makes perfect sense.

With 6.0, the List View is collapsed by default in all editors, making the block tree much more understandable at a glance.

Focus on the List View Button

When you open the List view panel, focus now correctly returns to the List View button. This is particularly useful when you browse the List View from your keyboard, and results in a smoother and more seamless editing experience.

Multiple Block Selection and Drag & Drop

Another change to the List View allows you to select multiple blocks at the same level and drag & drop them to another position within the list.

Block Style Previews

Before WordPress 6.0, block style previews were placed in the block sidebar, taking up a considerable portion of the Styles panel.

With 6.0, only the names of the style variations appear in the Styles panel, while the style previews display outside the sidebar when the style name is hovered or receives focus.

This change reduces sidebar dimensions and should make style names more evident.

Paragraph Typography Section

Aiming to make order in the block sidebar, the Drop Cap control for the Paragraph block has been moved from its section to the Typography section.

With this change, all typography settings controls are now placed under the same section, leading to a more consistent user experience.

Border and Color Settings Moved Under the Tools Panel

Aiming to make order in a messy settings sidebar, border settings and color settings controls have been moved into the ToolsPanel and can be expanded and collapsed in several contexts.

This change should streamline the editing experience with several blocks and bring more consistency to the sidebar.

Post Publish Panel Category Reminder

When you’re in a hurry or regularly publish a good number of blog posts, you can easily forget about tags or categories. If you often see yourself in such a situation, you’ll find the tag reminder appearing in the Post publish panel extremely useful.

Now, to help site admins and authors make sure their posts have the necessary categories assigned, with WordPress 6.0 a new Suggestion: Assign a category panel appears in the Post Publish panel when a category has not been already added to the post.

The image below compares the Post publish panel in WordPress 5.9 vs. 6.0.

Code Editor Added to the Site Editor

Starting with WordPress 6.0, the Code Editor is now available within the Site Editor, too. As with the Post Editor, you’ll find the Code Editor under the Options menu.

Block Locking UI

A new Lock item in the More Settings dropdown opens a popup where you can prevent users from moving or removing blocks (or both).

This is particularly useful in template editing and reusable blocks, where you can also restrict block editing.

The new feature can be programmatically disabled using the new canLockBlocks setting.

The following code enables the block locking feature only for users with Editor role or above:

add_filter(
	'block_editor_settings_all',
	function( $settings, $context ) {

		$settings['canLockBlocks'] = current_user_can( 'delete_others_posts' );
 
		return $settings;
	},
	10,
	2
);

Developers can also hide the Block Locking UI on specific block types using the lock property:

{
	"apiVersion": 2,
	"supports": {
		"lock": false
	}
}

You can read more about block locking in Block Locking Settings in WordPress 6.0.

Multi-select

It’s now possible to select text across multiple blocks.

Style Retention

When you transform blocks or create new buttons, several styles are now maintained.

The image below shows a List block with different styles.

When you transform the List block into paragraphs, the new blocks would retain the same styles as the previous list items.

The same enhancement applies to new buttons added to a Buttons block, which now inherit styling from the adjacent buttons.

New Core Blocks

The number of core blocks is constantly increasing. If you’re wondering what are the core blocks currently available, now there is a Handbook page providing a full list of core blocks included in the Gutenberg plugin. For each block, Name, Category, Supports, and Attributes are provided, as well as a useful link to the source code that block developers will love.

And more blocks are coming with WordPress 6.0. Find here the blocks you may expect with the upcoming version.

Comments Query Loop

Similar to the Query Loop block, a new Comment Query Loop block displays post comments. It’s an advanced block that includes several inner blocks that you can edit and configure separately.

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As the image below shows, you can select any of the blocks contained in the Comment Query Loop block to customize its appearance as you like. You can also add more blocks or move or remove existing blocks (Source code).

Read More

A new and customizable Read More block allows you to customize different aspects of the Read More button: borders, colors, corners, typography, and more (Source code).

This is a great addition because it allows you to add and customize the Read More link outside of the context of the Excerpt block.

No Results in Query Loop

The No Results block is a block container in which you can add any text or block to show when the query has no results. To add the No Results block to a Query Loop, just select the Query Loop and click on the plus icon at the bottom right corner to launch the quick inserter. Then search for No Results. The block is not available outside the Query Loop (Source code).

Avatar and Post Author Biography

WordPress 6.0 also introduces new block types to split the Author block into its components and use them separately in your content.

The Post Author Biography block provides the authors’ description (Source code).

The Avatar block simply shows a user’s avatar allowing you to choose between site authors (Source code).

This block is particularly useful for showing an author’s avatar outside the context of the Author Info block or comments. For example, you could use it on a page dedicated to all authors, or on a page showing reviews from your users/readers.

Improvements to Existing Blocks

WordPress 6.0 also introduces several changes and enhancements to existing blocks that will potentially have a strong impact on your editing workflow. The Navigation block will be affected by several changes, but you’ll also see improvements in other blocks, including Query Loop, Featured Image, Group, and Social Icons.

Navigation Block Improvements

Over the past few months, the Navigation block received several improvements and now features a significantly easier-to-use interface.

First, a rich preview has been added to the Navigation Link block. When you add a link pointing to a publicly accessible resource, clicking on the link button in the block toolbar shows up a preview image of that resource.

A few additional changes affect the overall editing experience.

Now, when you add a new menu and only one Navigation Menu exists, then it defaults to the only available menu. This change should speed up your editing workflow if you only have a single Navigation Menu.

Navigation Links already had a description field where users can enter a text describing their navigation links. However, in previous WordPress versions, themes couldn’t support this feature.

Now, with WordPress 6.0, a <span class="wp-block-navigation-item__description"> appears after the link’s label.

In Twenty Twenty-Two, the .wp-block-navigation-item__description element is hidden via CSS, but themes can add a display: block property to show the link description.

Query Loop Filters and Featured Images

The Query Loop Filters settings section now shows input fields for custom taxonomies. This enables users to filter the current post type by one or more custom taxonomies registered for the selected post type.

It’s now also possible to filter posts by multiple authors, while in previous versions you were only allowed to select a single author from a dropdown.

In addition, you can now set the Featured Image dimensions inside a Query Loop block, too.

Typography and Border Support in Responsive Group Blocks

Group and Row blocks now support Typography settings. This change allows users to apply the same typography settings to a whole group of blocks at once, saving a few clicks when it comes to formatting a group containing several nested blocks.

The Group block has been further improved and now you can easily group blocks in Stack or Row with a single click.

Just select the blocks you want to group and pick one of the three controls available in the block toolbar: Group, Row, Stack.

Once you have grouped blocks, a new panel in the settings sidebar shows Group variation descriptions enabling you to switch variation with a few clicks.

WordPress 6.0 also introduces margin support for Group blocks, enabling users to control top and bottom margins separately.

Featured Image in the Cover Block

Now you can use Featured Images in Cover blocks as with WordPress 6.0 a Use featured image toggle has been added to the block toolbar. Thanks to this new control you can switch from the current image to the featured image with a single click.

Show/Hide Labels in Social Icons

A small but usefud enhancement to the Social Icons block now enables users to toggle on/of icon link labels.

When enabling this option, you can display the default service name or set custom labels for your icons separately.

Additional Block Enhancements

The upcoming WordPress version also brings a great number of enhancements to many other blocks.

For example, now you can control the borders of Columns blocks (Gutenberg 12.7).

Another useful UX improvements allows you to insert internal links using a simple [[ keyboard trigger.

It’s now easier to control the space around images in a Gallery block thanks to the new Block spacing control.

Changes for Developers and Performance Improvements

WordPress 6.0 also adds many features for developers.

• A new wp_content_img_tag filter allows adjustment of images in a blob of HTML content (see New filter to modify content images in WordPress 6.0).
• The parse_request method has changed to reduce the number of queries when do_parse_request filter returns false (see Changes to do_parse_request filter in WordPress 6.0).
• Now you can register blocks from within a theme (see Registration of Blocks from within Themes).
• A new ancestor property makes a block only available inside the specified block types (see New ancestor property in block.json).

The new release also gives a boost to performance, with a few additions to the WordPress Caching API, performance improvements to taxonomy term queries, and further performance improvements to single sites with large user counts.

This ends our roundup of the new features and changes you’ll see once updated your WordPress websites to 6.0.

But these are just a few of the improvements coming with WordPress 6.0. For a complete list, check out Gutenberg’s release notes and the WordPress 6.0 Field Guide.Do you already know the new features coming with WordPress 6.0? No… ? Then don’t miss this in-depth overview of WordPress 6.0 CLICK TO TWEET

Summary

As mentioned above, we can now say that we’re in the middle of phase two of Gutenberg’s development, the Customization Phase.

Full Site Editing is now part of the WordPress core and 6.0 and the following versions will bring further improvements to what we already have and can use right now.

All this will have a huge impact on the WordPress ecosystem and the web as a whole, also considering that, at the time of writing,

WordPress is used by 64.2% of all the websites whose content management system we know. This is 43.0% of all websites. (Source W3Techs)

We’ll stop here for now. Our list of features and improvements coming with WordPress 6.0 can’t be exhausted in a single post, but hopefully, we’ve at least highlighted the additions that will have the biggest impact on the way we’re using WordPress day to day.

Now we’d like to conclude this article with some questions for our readers!

Are you already building your websites using FSE? Do you consider the new editor a suitable tool to build professional websites, or do you think it still needs to be improved before you can use it for business? Have you already tested the new WordPress features coming with 6.0?

Please, share your thoughts with the community in the comments section below.

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Business challenges in the Pacific have been exacerbated by COVID-19, impacting the uptake of digitisation and e-commerce. Mobile technology can play a pivotal role in the digital transformation of the Pacific Islands, enabling access to variety of services and being catalyst for innovation and economic growth.

The ECommerce Private Sector Grant for Pacific MSMEs is financed by the Republic of Korea through the ROK-PIF Cooperation Fund 2021-2023. The ROK-PIF Cooperation Fund is focused on targeting the Korea market for its Pacific niche products and Pacific destinations that meet particular Korean demographics.

This grant aims to diversify operations and defray business costs of going online; and to assist and provide platforms for SMEs to deliver their goods and services to unlock new income opportunities.

What ECommerce Will It Support?

An application can be in relation to all aspects of operating a business online or e-commerce activity:

• ecommerce website, mobile application to enable online payments or payment gateways and security
• Business Support and Advisory Services for training/capacity building for e-commerce
• Payment of Content development, Product listing (e.g. setting up of merchant store, catalogues, store decoration)
• Advertising, promotion, and Channel Management
• Training workshops and opportunities to enhance ecommerce capabilities
• Annual maintenance or service fees
• Other enhancements that increase traffic and commerce to the business
• Project proposals with comprehensive activities and justified costings within the range of USD$10,000 – USD$15,000 are highly preferred.

Ecommerce Grant Eligibility

To be eligible for the grant, a business/enterprise must meet each of the following conditions:

• Have a valid business registration and conducting business in one of the fourteen (14) Forum Island Countries* (FICs).
  • *Cook Islands, Fiji, FSM, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
• Has been trading for not less than twelve (12) months from the date of submitting their application.
• Documentation will need to be provided.
• Must be a member of their respective National Private Sector Organisation or a business network**.
  • **If Not a Member, Funding Can Be Made Available with Submission of Application

Information

For further information with regards to the grant guidelines, please contact:

• Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
• Ratu Sukuna Road, Private Mail Bag, Suva, FIJI
• T: (+679) 331-2600
• E: SMEgrant@forumsec.org

Application

To be considered for the grant, please click on this link and complete the form no later than 5 July 2022 (Fiji Local Time).

Successful applicants will be contacted by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat once all applications have been received and assessed.

Republic of Korea-Pacific Islands Forum (ROK-PIF) Cooperation Fund 2021-2023

The E-Commerce Grants For Pacific MSMEs is an initiative under the Republic of Korea-Pacific Islands Forum (ROK-PIF) Cooperation Fund 2021-2023 under the ambit of the Forum’s Pacific E-Commerce Initiative.

WordPress 5.7.2 is a short-cycle security release. The next major release will be version 5.8.

You can update to WordPress 5.7.2 by downloading from WordPress.org, or visit your Dashboard → Updates and click Update Now.

If you have sites that support automatic background updates, they’ve already started the update process.

Security Updates

One security issue affecting WordPress versions between 3.7 and 5.7. If you haven’t yet updated to 5.7, all WordPress versions since 3.7 have also been updated to fix the following security issue:

• Object injection in PHPMailer, CVE-2020-36326 and CVE-2018-19296.

Thank you to the members of the WordPress security team for implementing these fixes in WordPress.

For more information refer to the version 5.7.2 HelpHub documentation page.

Thanks and props!

The 5.7.2 release was led by @peterwilsoncc and @audrasjb.

Thank you to everyone who helped make WordPress 5.7.2 happen: @audrasjb, @ayeshrajans, @desrosj, @dd32, @peterwilsoncc, @SergeyBiryukov, and @xknown.

The newly updated software has made some major changes that might affect your site (as we’ve seen in the BETA), and may cause an issue or two especially if you are running an older theme, if you need.

WordPress is an “open source” software that continues to be updated regularly. These regular updates help add functionality and make the software faster and more secure.

The upcoming new version is said to significantly alter how JQuery works.

JQuery is the foundational software for many of the more visually appealing functionalities you see on modern websites. Things like animated hero sliders, text that fades in and out or moves into place, and graphics that respond when you roll the cursor over them are all driven by JQuery.

If your theme is a few years old and hasn’t been updated, it will be running an old version of JQuery and that means there’s a good chance it will break with the new update.

WordPress 5.5 removed support for a special piece of built-in code known as JQuery Migrate. This code allowed WordPress to deal with plugins that were referencing old versions of JQuery. But now there will be major changes to JQuery itself.

What does this mean for you?

If your hosting plan uses WordPress Managed Hosting or other forms of specialized WordPress optimization, you will most likely find that WordPress is automatically updated for you.

That’s because it’s far too dangerous for servers to allow old versions of WordPress as they are serious security risks.

In that case, you’re a bit at the mercy of your hosting company, but you still have options if this breaks your site.

Keep in mind that hosting companies usually wait a couple of weeks after a new release to install it on their client sites to give them time to run tests.

The good news is that there are options available.

If WordPress 5.7 does break your site, we can re-install an older version of WordPress.

Themes will most likely be most vulnerable to glitches…

If your theme is a commercially available one, there’s a good chance that updates have been released. Updating the theme involves a process using a staging server to ensure it doesn’t break things, but the whole process doesn’t usually take too long, unless things actually do break.

If your theme was created from scratch, things get a lot more complicated. We can run a trial with the new version of WordPress (after it gets released) to see how it responds.

A well designed theme should get through things fairly well. If it isn’t happy, we can dial you back temporarily to an older version of WordPress while you strategize a redesign or get the original site developer to update their code.

This is one of the reasons to consider a maintenance plan for your website: Software is constantly being updated. Security holes are discovered every day and patched. Software is modified to make it faster and add new features. If you are running outdated code your site is vulnerable to hackers and can run inconsistently.

The value of maintenance

If you subscribe to the our Monkey Magic maintenance service, you benefit from a host of powerful benefits especially designed to improve the security and value of your website.

For subscribers on our PRO and BUSINESS plans, we are keeping your plugins up to date each month and testing the site after every WordPress update for compatibility issues with the theme.

If your site is website built by The Army of Flying Monkeys, we will even update the theme on these plans at no cost to you. Basically, you can relax worry free, knowing that whatever happens, we’ll fix it at no additional charge.

Obviously, if we didn’t design the site that’s not possible as we won’t know all the thousands of intricacies in how your code was structured.

If you’re on the discounted FREE plan, theme updates are not included and will require a fee for the time involved.

 JQuery Migrate Helper

If you are not on a maintenance plan, you can use a plugin called JQuery Migrate Helper to assist with handling old JQuery code. This plugin will reactivate the old WordPress behavior of dealing with outdated JQuery code. The plugin shows admin users in the dashboard what problems were encountered and tries to cover for them, helping keep your site working. However, it is only a temporary fix and just buys you time to deal with the issues that may be impacting your site.

Update your PHP

Make sure to use recent versions of PHP and to keep your plugins up to date. Make sure to test your site after every plugin is updated; don’t update a whole bunch of them all at once because if your site breaks due to the update you won’t know which one caused the problem. Also, make sure your site has a daily backup to not only one but two different servers that are geologically separated so that you don’t have to worry if one of your backup sites goes down.

If your theme is old, there is a chance that it will be using old versions of JQuery, in which case you will need to either update the theme to a more recent version or, if your theme is no longer being supported, you will have to rebuild your website.

Drop us a line if we can help

It’s slick, extremely customizable, and above all, it’s FREE. That’s our mantra to Astra — a WordPress theme that’s so dynamic you can use it for anything — a blog/portfolio website or an online shop. Indeed, it’s an ideal theme for WordPress alongside Elementor.

More than 300,000 websites use Astra theme and that number is increasing by 1,000 per day. Plus, it supports popular page builder plugins such as Beaver Builder, Divi, and Elementor. Meaning you can easily customize your site the way that you want to.

If you are not a designer, then you can easily import high-quality pre-built templates and complete your website in just a few clicks.

On top of that, you can install several free extensions depending on what your website needs. And, if you want more advanced functionalities for your website, you can upgrade to Astra Pro.

So, is Astra worth the hype? And should you use it for your website?

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of Astra theme, why it’s so popular, and what benefits you can get when you upgrade to the pro version of the theme.

Brainstorm Force – The Creators of Astra

We reckon that Astra is the most customisable and lightweight WordPress theme that’s currently on the market.

Created by Brainstorm Force, which is also the group behind the premium plugins such as Convert Pro (email optin and lead generation plugin), Schema Pro (schema markup plugin), and WP Portfolio (portfolio plugin), it is just SO easy to set up and start designing.

Brainstorm Force made Astra to easily and effectively integrate with page builders with the Ultimate Add-ons for Beaver Builder and Ultimate Add-ons for Elementor plugin extensions.

Brainstorm Force is also very active within the WordPress community and in attending WordCamps. Plus, they regularly update their free WordPress plugins.

So, you can undoubtedly rely on the quality of output that this team produces.

What do you get from the Astra theme?

According to Brainstorm Force, the Astra developers, it’s super lightweight and highly customisable. If you use Astra on your website and you only have the default WordPress data; your website should load in less than half a second.

Why is this? They have disabled jQuery and kept the resources below 50kb.

I’m using Astra theme, for my website, and it loads for less than 3 seconds. If you happen to browse my site, you’ll see lots of images and videos but it always takes less than 3 seconds to load.

Another thing that makes Astra unique is that it supports many popular WordPress page builders. Apart from Elementor and Beaver Builder, it also supports Thrive Architect, Divi, Brizy, WPBakery (formerly Visual Composer), and Gutenberg.

But, if you’re planning to import website designs from the Astra Starter Sites, you should use either Elementor, Beaver Builder, Brizy, or Gutenberg for editing.

Did you know that many WordPress themes do not support modern page builders? This means that you can create an attractive page using a page builder, but it doesn’t work with the activated WordPress theme.

So, lucky you if you use Astra theme because you’re never going to worry about this scenario.

When you activate Astra on your website, and when you edit your posts, pages, or other custom post types, you’ll see that there are Astra settings added to the settings box.

It’s great when you can customize your website page-by-page, right? And that’s what you can do with Astra. Even if you are non-techie, you can customize your website through the WordPress theme customizer.

If you don’t want to spend much time and effort in building your website, then you can import Astra’s pre-built website designs. Just activate the Astra Starter Sites plugin and choose the templates that you like.

If you’re using the free version, you can choose from about 35 designs. But if you’re on pro version, there are about 70 designs available. So, whether your website is for your blog, business, online store, or portfolio, you can always have the design that fits for your website.

Almost anyone can create professional looking websites using Astra. But, if you’re a developer, you will surely love using Astra as a starting point.

You can create custom post types with Astra and build a WooCommerce website, too. It follows Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 standards, as well as best practices for SEO. It also supports translation and RTL (right-to-left).

You can also insert hooks and filters to insert content into your website easily. Or, you can use the free Astra Hooks plugin, if you’re not into technical stuff.

How do you customize Astra?

Where can you get a copy of Astra theme for you to install on your website? There are two ways to do this.

You can either download it from WordPress.org. Or just search it from the themes area of your WordPress admin dashboard.

Now, if you want to import the pre-built design templates, just install the Astra Starter Sites WordPress plugin and choose from the design that you like.

Once you’ve installed Astra theme, under the Appearance menu on your WordPress dashboard, you’ll see the Astra Options.

From there, you’ll see different options that you can configure to be able to customize your theme. You’ll also find likes to the free and premium plugins that help extend the functionality of your Astra theme.

These customization options will redirect to the WordPress theme customizer. This is a good thing because you can have a sneak peek of the changes you make in real time. You can even see what your website will look like when in tablet or mobile.

Astra Starter Sites

As I’ve said, if you don’t want to spend much time and effort in designing your own website, you can install the Astra Starter Sites free plugin to choose a website design that you want.

You can find the Astra Sites menu under the ‘Appearance’ of your WordPress dashboard once you’ve installed and activated the plugin.

You’ll be asked to choose which page builder you use: Gutenberg, Brizy, Beaver Builder, or Elementor.

Keep in mind that the page builder must be activated on your website because each design was created using the specific page builder plugin.

Once you’ve selected a page builder, it will display all the website designs available for that specific page builder. You can, as well, filter them based on the type of design: All, Blog, Business, eCommerce, Free, and Other.

You’ll also notice some design templates have the label “Agency.” This only means that it’s a premium design available in Astra Pro.

But, I’m telling you, whether it’s a free or a premium version, these designs are, of high quality.

Click on one of the designs, and you’ll get a preview of what it looks like, as well as which plugins are required to get this working.

Simply click on the “Install Plugins” button at the top or bottom of the page to install all these required plugins. If the plugin is already installed and activated on your website prior to importing the design template, it will be labeled as Active.

Once you’ve installed all the required plugins, click on the “Import This Site” button. A warning box will display, reminding you that you’re going to import the website design on your website and overwrite existing content.

If you’re sure about the website design you’ve selected, just click on the “OK” button and it will be imported on your website after a few seconds.

Once the import is completed, you may now view your website by clicking on the “Done! View Site” button.

Extending Astra with the Core Free Plugins

Go back to the Astra Options under Appearance menu of your WordPress dashboard, and you’ll see a section that lists down all the free plugins that you can use for extending the functionality of your Astra theme.

These plugins are developed by Brainstorm Force except for the Unlist Posts & Pages plugin which was created by Nikhil Chavan.

Five of these free plugins were explicitly developed for Astra.

Why are these not included in the main theme? Well, because the developers need to keep the core version as lightweight as possible.

• So, for example, if you activate the Astra Hooks plugin, a new Hooks section will be added to the WordPress theme customizer. It helps you to easily insert shortcodes, JavaScript, and content.
• If you want to see the hook locations in your Astra theme, you can install the Astra Theme Hooks plugin.
• Astra Bulk Edit helps you to simultaneously edit Astra Meta settings on multiple posts or pages.
• Homepage Banner for Astra Theme lets you add a banner to your homepage.
• If you need to install custom font files and Typekit fonts, you can install the Custom Fonts and Custom Typekit Fonts plugins.
• If you’re using Gutenberg and want to have additional blocks such as post layouts, price list, and infobox, then try activating the Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg plugin.
• If you want to create and manage sidebars, then Sidebar Manager plugin can help you with that.
• If you want to hide specific pages on your website from search engines, then use the Unlist Posts & Pages plugin.
• Templator plugin helps you to save your templates and pages in the cloud so you can export them to any website. It’s available for Elementor only, but they’ll soon add support for Divi and Beaver Builder.

Astra Pro

While Astra’s free version is extremely amazing, imagine what more you can do with the premium version.

You’ll get access to more powerful features to build professional websites in an easier and faster way.

If you’re on the Astra Pro version, you can unlock a total of 18 pro modules which enhance the functionality of your website.

• The Colors & Background module allows you to set the colors on any part of your website (such as your base colors, header, footer, content, blog, and sidebar).
• The Typography module allows you to customize and style your fonts the way you want it. The Spacing module, on the other hand, lets you configure your spacing for margins and paddings.
• The Blog Pro module allows you to customize your blog and archive pages by displaying an author bio or loading a previous blog post under the current one.
• The Custom Layouts module allows you to save custom layouts for your header, footer, hook locations, and 404 pages so you can easily add them into other parts of your website.
• The Site Layouts module allows you to manage your website’s overall layout. The layout that you selected will be applied to your website’s outer wrapper.
• If you have a long web page, you might want to add a scroll to top button at the bottom left or button right of your page so your users can quickly go back to the top of your page. You can do this by using the Scroll To Top module which allows you to customize your icon.
• Footer Widgets module has different layouts that you can use for your footer area. It also allows you to customize your footer based on your preferences.
• If you’re selling physical and digital products, you can easily integrate your website with the Integration Modules for WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, LearnDash, and LifterLMS.
• White Label module allows you to rebrand Astra as your own product. If you’re a design agency, you can use this module to prevent your clients from knowing what WordPress theme you’re using for creating websites.

Now, who’s excited? You must be kidding if you say you’re not.

Astra Pro Pricing

All these features are really impressive. But what about the price? How much will it cost you to get all these features?

Well, don’t be surprised when I tell you that Astra Pro starts at only US$59 per year. Or, you can purchase it for lifetime access that starts at US$249.

Very affordable, right?

All of the Astra Pro packages come with a 14-day 100% money-back guarantee, plus you can install the theme on an unlimited number of websites. You’ll also get premium support when you purchase the Astra Pro package.

If you want more website design templates and additional WP Portfolio plugin, you can upgrade to the Essentials Bundle which is $169 per year or US$499 for a lifetime access.

You can also have either the Ultimate Addons for Elementor or Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder, depends on what you choose to have.

Additional plugins such as Convert Pro and Schema Pro are included in the full Growth Bundle which is $249 per year or $699 for lifetime access.

So, which one should you choose?

I always say the one that’s right for you is the one that can fulfill your requirements and budget.

If you’re just starting, then you might not need all the additional features. You can simply start with the Astra Pro entry-level package.

If you need some more functionality on your website, you can install individual plugins. For example, if you need the Ultimate Addons for Elementor plugin, you can get it for $49 per year up to $249 per year, depending on the package that you choose.

But, if you need more plugins, then it would be better to upgrade to either the Essentials Bundle or Growth Bundle.

So what does it all boil down to?

I’m sure you’ll agree with us in that the Astra theme is a sure winner. It’s one of the best free WordPress themes out there in our Treehouse opinion.

If you’re planning to use the free version, we’re pretty sure you’ll eventually upgrade to the premium version because you can’t enough of all the fantastic features that Astra has to offer.

What are you waiting for? Go ahead, build that website, and impress your users and clients.

So what can we expect from it?

WordPress 5.5 is the second WordPress release of 2020 and we’re happy to introduce the most noticeable features added to Core Check out what’s new in WordPress 5.5

Start with most obvious: The Block Editor

With this release of WordPress 5.5, 10 versions of the Gutenberg plugin will be added to the core, bringing a huge number of UI improvements, features, enhancements, and bug fixes affecting every aspect of the editing experience, from usability to functionality and performance.

Native Image Lazy-Loading automatically

Lazy loading is an optimization technique that defers loading of non-critical resources. This means that the browser is instructed to load visible content on page load and defer the downloading and rendering of images placed below the fold until they are actually needed.

Native lazy loading is supported by Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera browser, Android browser, and Chrome for Android.

Before WordPress 5.5, lazy loading was only possible in WordPress with an optimization plugin like Autoptimize, BJ Lazy Load, or others. Now it’s part of WordPress core and won’t require additional plugins to be installed!

WordPress 5.5 Option to Auto-Update Plugins & Themes

One of the greatest concerns for site owners is site security and keeping your software up to date is a common recommendation every site owner should take into account.

WordPress Automatic updates have been available as a feature since WordPress 3.7. Now, the problem here is that while automatic updates are enabled by default for core maintenance and security releases, before WordPress 5.5, many site owners didn’t take advantage of auto-updates for plugins and themes.

But this feature required knowledge of WordPress development by going into the heart by sftp, and defining one or more constants in the mysterious wp-config.php. Few ever did this.

Now with WordPress 5.5, you can toggle plugin and theme auto-updates on and off with a single click directly in their WordPress dashboard.

What’s New in WordPress 5.5 (Features and Screenshots). https://t.co/SAO4tnHS6P #WordPress #BlockEditor pic.twitter.com/M3nZF1xdOP— WordPress Beginner (@wpbeginner) August 11, 2020

Extensible Core XML sitemaps now in WordPress 5.5

A sitemap is simply a list of URLs allowing search engines to quickly crawl your website.

Sitemaps are quite similar to robots.txt, with the difference that a robots.txt file excludes content from being indexed, while a sitemap provides a list of URLs to be indexed by search engines.

Before WordPress 5.5, sitemaps could be only added to WordPress websites using a plugin or other tools.

Now, WordPress 5.5 brings a brand new XML sitemaps feature to WordPress Core.

The new feature adds basic functionality, but it comes with a good number of hooks and filters allowing plugin developers to further extend built-in functionalities.

XML sitemaps are enabled by default (unless you discourage search engines from indexing your website) and provide the following object types:

• Homepage
• Posts page
• Core post types (Pages and Posts)
• Custom post types
• Core taxonomies (Tags and Categories)
• Custom taxonomies
• Author archives

The sitemap index is available at /wp-sitemap.xml, which contains a maximum of 2,000 URLs. When the maximum limit is reached, then a new sitemap file is added.

Core sitemaps should not conflict with any sitemap plugins you may have installed on your website.

Updating Plugins and Themes From a .zip File

I know what you’re thinking: it may seem quite “unexpected” to see this feature appearing in conjunction with automatic updates. Nonetheless, it does make sense.

Before WordPress 5.5, when lacking a one-click update feature, site admins could only upload plugin/theme updates via FTP/SFTP or file manager. That was mostly true with custom plugins/themes or with extensions hosted on third-party marketplaces.

Starting with WordPress 5.5, you can update plugins and themes by uploading a .zip package from your computer within your WordPress dashboard.

If you want to update a plugin, browse to Plugins > Add New screen and click on the Upload Plugin button. Then, if you have the plugin installed on your website, a new screen lets you know that “This plugin is already installed” and shows the current version and uploaded version details

Thank you to Kinsta for explaining much of this: https://kinsta.com/blog/wordpress-5-5

Business Link Pacific (BLP) is offering 50% per cent subsidy on website development services from advisors like The Army of Flying Monkeys.

This is in an effort to try to mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19 on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Fiji. This subsidy is only available though recognised and approved Partners.

Stuart is a BLP Approved advisor, and The Army of Flying Monkeys is a recognised Partner firm and we have managed to secure funding for implementation of new websites and website eCommerce solutions into 7 different SMEs in Fiji already in the past year.

Business Link Pacific is a New Zealand Government programme supporting private sector development in the Pacific Islands.

“The BLP Subsidy covers up to 50 percent of website development services through BLP approved advisors focusing on services that support business continuity, contingency planning, access to available financial packages, refinancing and renegotiating loans and new working setups, such as IT systems, access to communications platforms and cloud-based software.

The subsidy package will cover services for up to NZ$5,000 per SME, and further support will be considered on a case-by-case approach.

Stuart Gow said “To access the subsidy, any affected business can contact us directly to have a chat about what support we can make available under this scheme.”.

The BLP Subsidy Scheme

Based on our research in the Pacific, we know that small and medium sized business owners and managers often struggle to find quality local business advice that is also affordable. The right business advice can be a game changer for a growing business.

The BLP Subsidy Scheme is designed to make services more affordable, minimise risks and introduce businesses to reliable and quality services.

BLP currently offers subsidies of up to 50% of website development costs through BLP approved advisors.

Our online marketing services have been supported int he form of new and adapted websites and ecommerce solutions and customer engagement.

Why does Business Link Pacific exist?

https://www.buzzsprout.com/714105/2641363-all-you-need-to-know-about-business-link-pacific