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Jeffrey Paul 10:07 pm on July 15, 2021

WordPress 5.8 Release Candidate 4

In preparation for the final release of WordPress 5.8 on July 20, 2021, an RC 4 has been packaged and released to fix some late-discovered blocking issues. The following changes have been made since RC 3:

  • Block Editor: Backport fixes targeted for WordPress 5.8 RC4 ([51445] for #53397).
  • Media: When resizing, WebP images set the compression to “lossy” by default. It Fixes a bug where the compression was set to “lossless” when the uploaded WebP images have extended file format (VP8X) ([51437] for #53653).
  • Media: Fix JS error in Media Library when infinite scroll enabled ([51441] for #53672).
  • Media: Document edge cases with the new image_editor_output_format filter ([51444] for #53667, #53668, #35725).
  • Privacy: Ensure the copy button actually copies the suggested privacy policy text ([51433] for #53652).
  • Widgets: Prevent widgets unintentionally being moved to the inactive sidebar ([51439] for #53657).
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“Release Candidate” means the new version is ready for release, but with thousands of plugins and themes and differences in how the millions of people use WordPress, it is possible something was missed. WordPress 5.8 is slated for release on July 20, 2021, but your help is needed to get there—if you have not tried 5.8 yet, now is the time, we have one week to go!

How to Help

Test RC 4

You can test the WordPress 5.8 release candidate 4 in any of these three ways:

  • Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the Bleeding edge channel and then Beta/RC Only stream)
  • Directly download the release candidate version (zip)
  • Use WP-CLI to test: wp core update --version=5.8-RC4

Thank you to all of the contributors who test the Beta and RC releases and give feedback. Testing for bugs is a critical part of polishing every release and a great way to contribute to WordPress.

If you think you have found a bug, you can post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. We would love to hear from you! If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on WordPress Trac, where you can also find a list of known bugs.

Test your plugins and themes

Please test your plugins and themes against WordPress 5.8 and update the Tested up to version in the readme file to 5.8. If you find compatibility problems, please be sure to post to the support forums so we can try to solve them in time for the final release.

For a more detailed breakdown of the changes included in WordPress 5.8, check out the WordPress 5.8 beta 1 post. The WordPress 5.8 Field Guide, which is particularly useful for developers, has info and further links to help you get comfortable with the major changes.

Translate the release

Can you speak and write in a language other than English?  Help us translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!

Props to @webcommsat, @cbringmann for peer-reviewing!

Happy testing, folks
Next a smooth, final release
And a new Jazzer

#5-8

Dan Farrow 7:15 pm on July 15, 2021

CSS Chat Summary: 08 July 2021

The meeting took place here on Slack. @ryelle facilitated and @danfarrow wrote up these notes.

Housekeeping

Discussion: Custom Properties (#49930)

  • @ryelle has updated her PR with some custom-property additions to common.css
  • @ryelle observed that a small subset of custom-properties are getting used very often, noting “…while it feels like a lot of variables to be adding, we also use the same concepts in many places”. For example:
1
2
3
4
--wp-admin--surface--background: #fff;
--wp-admin--surface--background-alternate: #f6f7f7;
--wp-admin--surface--border: #c3c4c7;
--wp-admin--surface--border-alternate: #f0f0f1;
  • @colorful-tones had a question about a particular chunk of core CSS defining somme custom-properties being loaded from multiple unique sources which seems redundant
  • @ryelle clarified that it’s added from a SASS mixin in base-styles and she thinks its there to allow each package to be standalone
  • We agreed that it does feel somewhat redundant when multiple packages are used together. Possibly it’s something that could be improved in future with core custom-properties

CSS Link Share / Open Floor

  • @ryelle shared a comment on the CSS deprecation ticket (#53070) that she wants to reply to. This led to a discussion about CSS deprecation which covered some of the following:
    • A wider discussion about CSS backwards compatibility needs to happen
    • Some kind of tooling might help to address the issue
    • In the ticket comment, @tellthemachines comments that, as moving redundant CSS into a deprecated.css file doesn’t offer a performance boost, it would be simpler to move it to a /* Deprecated */ section at the end of its file. @colorful-tones disagreed, noting that it deprecated.css existed it could be dequeued for a performance boost. @ryelle asked what would then happen if you installed a plugin that uses a deprecated style
    • @colorful-tones agreed with JJJs comment, adding that “Plugin developers need to keep up with changes. If their plugin breaks then it is on them to update.”
    • @ryelle noted that the deprecation issue centres more on “elements that don’t exist in core anymore but a plugin could be using that markup & expecting the CSS to just be there”
    • @colorful-tones observed that multiple deprecation paths might be needed for the various sources of CSS, which @ryelle summarised as theme CSS (the Twentys styles), wp-admin CSS (all the files in wp-admin/css and wp-includes/css) and Gutenberg CSS (“technically a subset of wp-admin CSS but also its own thing”)
    • @colorful-tones expressed support for the approach recommended in the Trac ticket: “Create deprecated.css and perhaps even start appending --deprecated-5.8 to classes that are deprecated.”

With that we were out of time. Thanks everyone!

#core-css, #summary

marybaum 5:47 pm on July 15, 2021

Dev chat summary: July 14, 2021

Well now! We have less than a week left in the 5.8 release cycle, and this was its final devchat.

@francina welcomed several new attendees and opened the chat with this agenda (props @jeffpaul!).

Notable blog posts

5.8 RC 3 is here. Please test the release and report any last-minute issues!

A Week in Core for last week highlights 44 contributors, two of them new and 14 active committers. Props @audrasjb!

Ever wondered why we use chat instead of video? So did Arnold Wright KITI, and here’s the discussion that followed.

Three items of Gutenberg news:

If JavaScript is your jam, the Core JS team is changing its office hours.

And, the mobile teams would really like you to test their respective beta releases, for iOS here and for Android here.

Upcoming release: 5.8

A final schedule reminder: we’re in the RC period, with a hard string freeze. RC 4 is slated for Thursday, July 15 at 16:00 UTC (Ed. note: basically now, at this writing) and final release in FIVE DAYS on Tuesday, July 20.

@desrosj gave a detailed report on what still needs to happen before Tuesday. He also covered what’s going in the RC 4 release. Please check out his review and pitch in if you can!

If you’re interested in the process of Core development, you’ll want to see the discussion that followed, about the tickets involved and how they arose. The team is following a new, more traditional process that @francina championed for this release and has also had strong public advocates in @azaozz, @audrasjb, and others.

@chanthaboune raised this Polyglots/WP-CLI ticket and asked for some quick eyeballs.

Component maintainers

@sergeybiryukov reported in for Build/Test Tools: they’re working hard to modernize the WordPress unit test suite with tickets #53363 and #53491.

Open floor

@francina used the last ten minutes of the chat to go back to @Arnold W. K.’s questions and give more context about how the Core team does things.

She also asked first-time attendees how they happened to find their way to the channel.

You can catch the discussion verbatim here.

(Ed. note: Updated Friday, July 16) @webcommsat reminded the group of two things:

Marketing is still accepting ideas for social-media posts on this Social Sharing Google Doc. Questions? Ask her, @marybaum or @meher.

Marketing also still wants to know: what’s your favorite feature? Add your nomination, and why it’s your favorite, to this Google Doc.

#core, #dev-chat, #summary

Lara Schenck 4:19 pm on July 15, 2021

CSS Chat Agenda: July 15, 2021

This is the agenda for the upcoming CSS meeting scheduled for Thursday July 15 at 21:00PM UTC.

The meeting will be held in the #core-css channel in the Making WordPress Slack.

  • Housekeeping
  • Discussion: Custom Properties (#49930)
    Continue discussing the workflow for adding Custom Properties to core.
  • Open Floor + CSS Link Share

If there’s any topic you’d like to discuss, please leave a comment below!

#agenda, #core-css

annezazu 5:45 pm on July 14, 2021

Editor chat summary: 14 July, 2021

This post summarizes the weekly editor chat meeting (agenda here) held on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 02:00 PM UTC on Slack. Moderated by @annezazu.

Announcements

WordPress 5.8 project board

Big celebration for all the hard work there with 107 issues in the Done column. There are a few new items listed but, with an RC4 coming tomorrow, anything that cannot be completed today will likely need to wait for 5.8.1. Both @desrosj and @youknowriad noted this for the group. Don’t let this stop you from testing and finding bugs but do let this set expectations!

Monthly Priorities & Key Project Updates

Block based Widget Editor

Work continues to focus on bug fixes and building out this refinement overview issue post release.

Navigation Block & Navigation Editor

Many of the folks working on these projects have been out on vacation to relax, get time away from screens, and get inspiration from the wider world.

Template editor

Work is mainly focused on 5.8 bug fixes/testing.

Patterns

The Pattern Directory is still underway with plans to go live when 5.8 does. You can see the latest in this milestone here.

Styling

The focus continues to look out for fixing bugs that are backported to the Betas/RC.

Mobile Team

Done:

  • Users can now set the text and background colors on blocks.
  • Mobile Gallery Block Refactor (PR) done, waiting on web side now.
  • Started work on supporting GSS Font Settings and specific text color settings.

In Progress:

  • Breakthrough on the Block Picker Search blocking issue, wrapping up the project soon.
  • Embed block about to ship a first iteration of the block.
  • Further investigations for the iOS share extension project.
  • Added some integration tests.

Task Coordination

@zebulan

@zieladam

@toro_unit

@paaljoachim

@mamaduka

@annezazu

  • Still heavily focused on end user documentation in order to get the major new features covered (Query Loop, Widgets editor, Block pattern directory, Preferences, etc).
  • Running a hallway hangout today for the #fse-outreach-experiment (all are welcome!) and have been testing 5.8 everyday over the last week+ to find some bugs.

@gwwar

Open Floor

Would it be possible to shadow the Gutenberg Release process? Raised by @vcanales.

Both @vcanales and @gwwar expressed interest in shadowing for the release process for today’s RC. Documentation for managing releases was updated this week with more information including the need to be a part of the Gutenberg development team to help out.

Next step: @vcanales and @gwwar are going to pair up with help as needed from @youknowriad.

Help review the refactored gallery block PR. Raised by @paaljoachim.

Paal raised this PR for the gallery block refactor work as needing reviews with @youknowriad chiming in to say that it’s an important one that might require input from everyone.

#core-editor, #core-editor-summary

Darren Ethier (nerrad) 5:56 am on July 14, 2021

Changes to Core JavaScript Office Hours

Attendance at the Core JS Office hours has been low for the last few weeks so at the most recent chat those that were present decided that we’d move to a bi-weekly cadence for now. Here’s a quick summary of what is happening:

  • Core JavaScript office hours will be bi-weekly at the same time slot (15:00UTC) with the next meeting happening July 27th.
  • Items can still be suggested/added to the open rolling agenda here.
  • Whenever there is something requiring more attention, the suggestion is to schedule a dedicated meeting for interested parties to gather together in the #core-js Slack channel to have the discussion.

A reminder that the #core-js channel and office hour chats are intended to cover JavaScript across all of WordPress core, all JavaScript infrastructure, tools that build, lint, or test JavaScript code and higher-level discussions about coding styles, libraries used, etc. So has some distinction (even though there can be some overlap) from the kinds of discussions that happen within the #core-editor Slack instance which focuses predominately on the Gutenberg project and its implementation within WordPress.

#javascript

Jeffrey Paul 3:45 pm on July 13, 2021

Dev Chat Agenda for July 14, 2021

Here is the agenda for this week’s developer meeting to occur at Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 08:00 PM UTC.

Blog Post Highlights

5.8 Schedule Review

  • RC 2 released last week and RC 3 yesterday, now under hard string freeze
  • Email to plugin/theme authors on Field Guide went out last week
  • No further bug scrubs scheduled, so please highlight issues of concern directly in #core
  • 5.8 release in SIX days on Tuesday, July 20th

Components check-in and status updates

  • 5.8 plans and help needed
  • Check-in with each component for status updates.
  • Poll for components that need assistance.

Open Floor

Do you have something to propose for the agenda, or a specific item relevant to the usual agenda items above?

Please leave a comment, and say whether or not you’ll be in the chat, so the group can either give you the floor or bring up your topic for you accordingly.

This meeting happens in the #core channel. To join the meeting, you’ll need an account on the Making WordPress Slack.

#5-8, #agenda, #dev-chat

Jb Audras 10:36 pm on July 12, 2021

A Week in Core – July 12, 2021

Welcome back to a new issue of Week in Core. Let’s take a look at what changed on Trac between July 5 and July 12, 2021.

  • 49 commits
  • 44 contributors
  • 67 tickets created
  • 28 tickets reopened
  • 62 tickets closed

Please note that the WordPress Core team released WordPress 5.8 RC 2 last week. Everyone is welcome to help testing the next major release of WordPress 🌟

Ticket numbers are based on the Trac timeline for the period above. The following is a summary of commits, organized by component and/or focus.

Code changes

Build/Test Tools

  • Add assertions to ensure version-controlled files are not modified during CI, and fix the grunt clean command – #53606
  • Replace assertInternalType() usage in unit tests – #53491, #46149
  • Use caching built into actions/setup-node – #53584
  • Add missed file update in [51370] – #53497
  • Expand tests for get_block_editor_settings() – #53458
  • Move loading compatibility layers for PHPUnit 6+ and 7.5+ closer together – #53363
  • Update the wp-api-generated.js fixture – #53606
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53123, #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363
  • Use more appropriate assertions in various tests – #53363

Bundled Themes

  • Correct customzier typo – #53598
  • Correct comment formatting in inc/block-patterns.php – #53359, #52627
  • Update block patterns to match the latest versions of core/* blocks – #53617
  • Remove inline comment that is not relevant in WordPress Core – #53576
  • Remove mention of “FSE” in Core – #53497
  • Twenty Fifteen: Use strict comparison in inc/custom-header.php – #53359

Coding Standards

  • Only check collation in wpdb methods if the query is not empty – #53635
  • Add missing semicolon to endforeach keywords in media templates – #46103
  • Fix WPCS issue in [51404] – #53363
  • Fix WPCS issues in [51367] – #53363
  • Remove wrapping HTML tags from translatable strings – #53359
  • Rename the $ID variable to $user_id in wp_insert_user() and wp_update_user() – #53359

Customizer

  • Skip animations when they have no duration – #53562, #53542

Documentation

  • Correct the @since tag for the user_erasure_fulfillment_email_headers filter – #44314, #53461
  • Miscellaneous docblock improvements – #53399
  • Some documentation improvements for wp_check_widget_editor_deps() – #53437, #53569
  • Update the IRC link from Freenode to Libera.chat – #53590

Editor

  • Merge conflicting wp.editor objects into single, non-conflicting object – #53437
  • Fix for theme.json: color.duotone and spacing.units should allow empty sets – #53175
  • Update packages with latest fixes for 5.8 RC2 – #53397
  • Update packages with latest fixes for 5.8 RC2 – #53397
  • TinyMCE: ensure initialization runs in all cases on ‘interactive’ and ‘complete’ readyState. Fixes a rare bug when the init code is inserted in the DOM after the page has finished loading – #53632

Help/About

  • Update placeholder links on About page – #52775
  • Update the About section for 5.8 – #52775

Internationalization

  • Correct recurring lenghts typo – #53600
  • Translate _doing_it_wrong() messages in wp_check_widget_editor_deps() – #53437, #53569

Multisite

  • Log error/warnings/notices from ms-files.php – #53493

Posts

  • Allow the list of wrapper blocks to be filtered – #53604
  • Fix Spelling in inline docs – [23105], [51375], #53604
  • Prevent an empty excerpt when groups and nested column blocks are present – #53604

REST API

  • Add the $request parameter to methods checking permissions – #53593
  • Ensure a sidebar’s widgets property is a list – #53612

Script Loader

  • Update jQuery version to 3.6.0 following the update in [50520] – #52707

Users

  • Return earlier from wp_update_user() in case of error – #53627

Widgets

  • Use wp_sidebar_description() to retrieve a sidebar’s description – #53646

Widgets

  • Warn when wp-editor script or wp-edit-post style is enqueued in widgets editor – #53437, #53569

Props

Thanks to the 44 people who contributed to WordPress Core on Trac last week: @audrasjb (4), @SergeyBiryukov (4), @desrosj (4), @aristath (3), @zieladam (3), @johnbillion (2), @ntsekouras (2), @jorbin (2), @nosolosw (2), @andraganescu (2), @TimothyBlynJacobs (2), @spacedmonkey (2), @timothyblynjacobs (2), @sabernhardt (2), @kapilpaul (2), @jrf (2), @isabel_brison (1), @johnjamesjacoby (1), @pbearne (1), @empatogen (1), @gziolo (1), @mikaelmayer (1), @spytzo (1), @hellofromTonya (1), @alanjacobmathew (1), @ryokuhi (1), @javiarce (1), @kellychoffman (1), @chanthaboune (1), @stevehenty (1), @iandunn (1), @peterwilsoncc (1), @kevin940726 (1), @felipeelia (1), @Collizo4sky (1), @walbo (1), @azaozz (1), @youknowriad (1), @vishitshah (1), @dlh (1), @mukesh27 (1), @nielslange (1), @mikeschroder (1), and @dd32 (1).

Congrats and welcome to our 2 new contributors of the week! @mikaelmayer and @spytzo ♥️

Core committers: @sergeybiryukov (19), @desrosj (13), @johnbillion (3), @noisysocks (2), @jorbin (2), @ryelle (2), @azaozz (1), @mikeschroder (1), @jorgefilipecosta (1), @ocean90 (1), @timothyblynjacobs (1), @peterwilsoncc (1), @iandunn (1), and @youknowriad (1).

#5-8, #week-in-core

Riad Benguella 9:58 pm on July 12, 2021

Miscellaneous block editor API additions in WordPress 5.8

WordPress 5.8 brings several additions and tweaks to the block editor API.

Contextual patterns for easier creation and block transformations

We’ve all been there. Staring at a blank page sometimes with an idea of what you want to create; often with a mind as blank as the page. To make the creation process easier, there is now a way to suggest patterns based on the block being used. This is now implemented for the Query block and includes some core patterns to start with.

In addition, there is an API to suggest pattern transformations that are contextual to the currently selected blocks. So how this is different to the patterns current behaviour? Previously, patterns insert demo content that must be updated after insertion. With this feature, it’s possible to use some patterns and retain existing attributes or content.

So it’s for existing blocks!

An important thing to note here is that a pattern transform can result to adding more blocks than the ones currently selected. You can see this with an example like the below where we have a Quote block but the pattern consist of more blocks:

This is the first iteration of the feature that covers most simple blocks (without innerBlocks). A new experimental API has been created where we can mark what block attributes count as content attributes. You can see more details in the PR.

In the long run as this work continues and spreads to more blocks, it will be easier to create content and get inspired without leaving the editor.

Pattern Registration API

if you’re creating your own custom block patterns, there’s a new blockTypes property that will allow your patterns to show up in other contexts like the transform menu. blockTypes property is an array containing the block names.

/register_block_pattern(
     'heading-example',
     array(
         'title'         => __( 'Black heading' ),
         'categories'    => array( 'text' ),
         'blockTypes'    => array( 'core/heading' ),
         'viewportWidth' => 500,
         'content'       => ' <!-- wp:heading {"level":3,"backgroundColor":"black","textColor":"white"} -->
    <h3 class="has-white-color has-black-background-color has-text-color has-background">Demo heading</h3>
<!-- /wp:heading -->',
     )
 );

To learn more about block patterns, see this WordPress News article: So you want to make block patterns.

BlockControls group prop

In WordPress 5.8, core blocks toolbars have been updated and made more consistent across blocks by splitting them into 4 areas like shown in the following screenshot.

To do so a new group prop has been added to the wp.blockEditor.BlockControls component. Third-party block authors are encourage to use this prop in their block code to follow the core blocks design pattern.

<BlockControls group="block">
    <ToolbarButton onClick={ doSomething }>{ __( 'My button' ) }</ToolbarButton>
</BlockControls>

#5-8, #core-editor, #dev-notes

annezazu 9:02 pm on July 12, 2021

Editor Chat Agenda: 14 July 2021

Facilitator and notetaker: @annezazu

This is the agenda for the weekly editor chat scheduled for Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 02:00 PM UTC.

This meeting is held in the #core-editor channel in the Making WordPress Slack.

If you are not able to attend the meeting, you are encouraged to share anything relevant for the discussion:

  • If you have anything to share for the Task Coordination section, please leave it as a comment on this post.
  • If you have anything to propose for the agenda or other specific items related to those listed above, please leave a comment below.

#agenda, #core-editor, #core-editor-agenda, #meetings