WordPress 5.8 is Coming

[Benjamin]

So what are the big changes coming in WordPress 5.8?  This forum thread is being used to get the ball rolling and initiate the conversation. I've got full blog articles about many of these changes coming in the next few days. But I'm curious as to what features and enhancements are of interest to you?

• Full-Site Editing features arrive in 5.8
  • One of the trickiest things that WordPress has to get right is the proper mapping of archive page templates and single page templates within the Gutenberg/Block Editor.  So far, the core team hasn't done this well and the only solution I've found is a plugin that remaps the archive page templates but it's assigned OUTSIDE of the Block Editor.
  • The second issue is that the Block Editor needs a better Query/Loop Block that enables full access to the WP_Query functionality of WordPress.
  • The final issue is that the Core Team has to decide whether to duplicate blocks where one set of blocks don't touch the WP_Query and another set has the ability to select the dynamic fields from the post database.
  • With all this still up in the air. I can clearly say we won't see "full-site editing" out of the gate with WordPress 5.8 but rather the beginning trickle of full-site editing functionality being slowly added.
• Block-based Widgets will show up directly in the Customizer.
  • For those using themes like GeneratePress and VocePress, this will make your life so much easier because now widgets can be managed directly from areas you already work within.
• Block Settings and Styles will now have a theme.json file
  • One of the major functionalities of this update is that you'll now be able to customize options for client sites (or your own sites).
• WebP Support Arrives
  • That's right, in WordPress 5.8 you'll be able to use WebP directly in the Media Library
• Internet Explorer 11 support is GONE. WordPress 5.8 will no longer support IE11 and before.

There are tons more features and enhancements coming with 5.8 and while you may read lots of articles about all the massive changes coming, for the most part, this is not a HUGE change in your workflow.  As I mentioned, I'll be going into greater detail about many of these topics in the upcoming "republishing" of the WPStudio Blog area.

[Benjamin]

Quick link to the first of multiple posts. Note... most of these descriptions were taken from the official panel that will display in the upcoming WordPress 5.8 admin panel. I reproduced it within the Block Editor.

[Benjamin]

Be prepared... It appears that everything is still on schedule for WordPress 5.8 to drop TODAY, Tuesday, July 20th. Make sure you have backups.

[Benjamin]

And if you haven't seen the massive amount of emails letting you know that your WordPress sites have been updated... this post is to let you know WordPress 5.8 is HERE!!!

[Author]

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