The WordPress coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. development team builds WordPress! Follow this site for general updates, status reports, and the occasional code debate. There’s lots of ways to contribute:
Found a bugbugA bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority.?Create a ticket in our bug tracker.
Improving accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) requires ongoing effort and this post seeks to highlight some of the ways in which the project continues to make strides in this area. If you’re interested in helping with this work, please join the #accessibility channel in Make SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. and check out how you can get involved. There’s plenty of important work to be done including testing, giving accessibility feedback, and creating PRs to address feedback.
Ensuring accessibility from the start with the Navigation blockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. [planned for 5.9]
The Navigation Block is a key milestone for the full site editing project that focuses on the experience of editing a site’s navigation menuNavigation MenuA theme feature introduced with Version 3.0. WordPress includes an easy to use mechanism for giving various control options to get users to click from one place to another on a site., both in terms of structure and design. This is a big effort that includes how to make it easy to add submenu items, how to create a responsive navigation experience, how to support multiple different inner blocks, and more. While work is underway to simplify the experience for all (ex: reducing the number of steps to add a page link), this section covers three big pieces of the work, thus far, that have had a particularly strong impact on accessibility:
The first is that when implementing submenus it was intentional that they would open on explicit click rather than focus, when navigating with a keyboard and/or screen reader. The changes made ensure that screen reader users are better informed when tabbing submenus, and can choose whether to enter them or not. Previously it was necessary to tab through every submenu item to get to the next parent item. For a deeper look into the behaviors of the navigation block and submenu items, check out these visualizations that provide more context but have not yet been fully implemented.
When building the responsive navigation feature in the navigation block, work was done to ensure the hamburger menu was built using proper modal behavior from the start. This means that when you open the responsive burger menu, the tab is kept inside the responsive menu experience until you press Escape. A quick demonstration is shown in the video displayed in this section.
Accessibility benefits with the Gallery Block Refactor [planned for 5.9]
Ahead of WordPress 5.9, an update to the Gallery Block was shipped that essentially allows you to have all of the tools you’re used to with an Image Block for each image in the Gallery Block. Thanks to this change, the Gallery Block now benefits from improved keyboard navigation and the ability to add alt text right within the block sidebarSidebarA sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme.. This will make it easier to both produce accessibility friendly content and for those navigating what you create when viewing your site. To learn more about the Gallery Block Refactor, you can check out this WordPress News post dedicated to it.
Other noteworthy updates/fixes [in the GutenbergGutenbergThe Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/pluginPluginA plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party today]
There’s a lot of high-impact changes that can be overlooked when not shown altogether. To help capture additional accessibility improvements, here are high impact changes in the editing experience:
Thank you to @joen who helped provide wonderful insights about the navigation block, including the featured video. Thank you to @kellychoffman@priethor@daisyo for the content review. Thank you to @javiarce for the lovely Gallery Block refactor screenshot.
Next minor releaseMinor ReleaseA set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality.: WP 5.8.2 👉 WordPress 5.8.2 Deferred
Next major releasemajor releaseA release, identified by the first two numbers (3.6), which is the focus of a full release cycle and feature development. WordPress uses decimaling count for major release versions, so 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, and 3.1 are sequential and comparable in scope.: WP 5.9 👉 WordPress 5.9 Planning Roundup
Components check-in and status updates
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.
GutenbergGutenbergThe Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ 11.7 RC will be released Wednesday.
Navigation BlockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. & Navigation Editor.
Template editor.
Patterns.
Styling.
Mobile Team.
Task Coordination.
Open Floor.
If you are not able to attend the meeting, you are encouraged to share anything relevant for the discussion:
If you have an update for the main site editing projects, please feel free to share as a comment or come prepared for the meeting itself.
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.
Welcome back to a new issue of Week in CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.. Let’s take a look at what changed on TracTracAn open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. between September 27 and October 4, 2021.
11 commits
21 contributors
31 tickets created
4 tickets reopened
23 tickets closed
The Core team is currently working on the next point (5.8.2) and major (5.9) releases 🛠
TicketticketCreated for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. 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
Administration
Enable first and last page buttons in WP_List_Table::pagination() – #42763
App Passwords
Remove placeholder from the app password name input field – #54047
Coding Standards
Remove duplicate assignment from a ternary operator in WP_MS_Sites_List_Table::site_states() – #38296
Use strict comparison in wp-includes/class-http.php – #53359
Use strict comparison in wp-includes/class-wp-http-ixr-client.php – #53359
Docs
Improve documentation for WP_Admin_Bar methods – #54191
HTTPHTTPHTTP is an acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web and this protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands.APIAPIAn API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways.
Remove the DST Root CA X3 certificate expired on September 30, 2021 – #54207, #50828
REST APIREST APIThe REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/.
Sort widgetWidgetA WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. types by their id – #53303
Bundled Themes
Twenty Twenty-One: Keep the closing </span>tagtagA directory in Subversion. WordPress uses tags to store a single snapshot of a version (3.6, 3.6.1, etc.), the common convention of tags in version control systems. (Not to be confused with post tags.) in footer links – #54209
Twenty Twenty-One: Remove duplicate class name from localized font-family elements – #54196
Twenty Twenty: Remove duplicate class name from localized font-family elements – #54196
The WordPress 5.8.x release schedule calls for a release candidaterelease candidateOne of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta). this week and a minor releaseMinor ReleaseA set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality. next week. However, the scheduling for these 5.8.x releases will be changed.
The 5.8.2 release dates as previously planned will be skipped and rescheduled to the “if necessary” 5.8.3 schedule as follows:
5.8.2 (updated)
RC: Tuesday November 2, 2021
Final release: Wednesday, November 10, 2021
This deferral was determined because currently there are no commit candidates. Plus, many commits still need a lot of work to merge, or are potentially too impactful and therefore belong in a major releasemajor releaseA release, identified by the first two numbers (3.6), which is the focus of a full release cycle and feature development. WordPress uses decimaling count for major release versions, so 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, and 3.1 are sequential and comparable in scope. instead.
Release Coordination
Because the 5.8.x releases are part of 5.8 by extension, all coordination and conversation related to the 5.8.x releases are held in the #5-8-release-leadsSlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel.
Do you want to see some tickets included in the next release? Check the 5.8.2 milestone: provide feedback on tickets, test existing fixes, or even submit a patchpatchA special text file that describes changes to code, by identifying the files and lines which are added, removed, and altered. It may also be referred to as a diff. A patch can be applied to a codebase for testing. to help move things along!
GutenbergGutenbergThe Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ 11.6 has been released! This release includes a number of nice enhancements and as usual many bugbugA bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. fixes.
Site Logo cropping and rotating within the editor
Before Gutenberg 11.6, the image used as the site logo had to be edited before being uploaded to your site. With the goal of providing a wide array of tools to adapt your logo without leaving the editor, it is now possible to crop, zoom, and rotate the image you choose for the site logo directly in the Site Logo blockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience.’s toolbar!
Locking control at block level
Alongside template level locking, now you can lock individual blocks to prevent moving or removing them; you can do this by adding a lock attribute on the block settings. Block-level lock takes priority over the templateLock feature and currently, you can lock moving and removing blocks.
The toolbar of locked blocks will have the movers hidden, and the Remove block option won’t be available either.
Query Pagination uses Flex Layout
Following previous releases bringing Flex Layouts to blocks, Gutenberg 11.6 improves the Query Pagination block to support the flex layout along with a justification option, for automatic best-fit.
Other Notable Highlights
Regarding Full Site Editing and Global Styles, basic support for child themes has been added. This means the BetaBetaA pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. Site Editor is available when the child themeChild themeA Child Theme is a customized theme based upon a Parent Theme. It’s considered best practice to create a child theme if you want to modify the CSS of your theme. https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/child-themes/. of a block theme is active, and its templates, template parts, and theme.jsonJSONJSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML. are inherited.
The writing flow has also received some enhancements in this release: the Richtext format toolbar now shows a visual clue for hidden active items and, when using the quick inserter and clicking the Browse all button, your current filter value is now passed to the main inserter without the need to type it again, making this switch between inserters seamless.
Template Part Focus Mode refers to the view that lets you focus and work on a single template part, like a headerHeaderThe header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes., and is available for any template part. This isolated template part editing is now accessible from the ellipsis menu in the Template Part toolbar. More Template Part Focus Mode improvements are coming soon, so make sure to check its tracking issue here.
11.6
Enhancements
Block Library
Post Title block: Add typography formatting options. (31623)
Cover: Move cover min-height into dimensions panel via SlotFill. (34065)
Group Block: Add information about selected element types for Group Block. (33976)
Image Block: Create two-way data binding for ImageSizeControl. (34649)
Columns Block: Update block description of columns block. (34705)
Gallery block: Add toolbar button to convert old galleries to new format. (34606)
Block Editor
Format toolbar: Visual clue for hidden active items. (21892)
Increase Link UIUIUser interface search results to 10 on the Navigation Editor screen. (34808)
Inserter: Pass filterFilterFilters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. value when clicking Browse All. (34912)
Components
ColorPicker: Enhance the new color picker design. (34598)
ColorPicker: Add reset timeout to ColorPicker’s copy functionality. (34601)
Resize Handles: Fix stroke width of resize handles. (34949)
ServerSideRender: Improve ServerSideRender Component to retain preview of the component while it is loading new state. (28289)
ServerSideRender: Delayed loading state of ServerSideRender component. (35033)
Global Styles
Add a simple Global Styles preview to the sidebarSidebarA sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme.. (34991)
Update the Global Styles Icon and use it in the site editor’s panel. (34871)
Update the global styles sidebar to use a navigation component. (34885)
Widgets Editor
WidgetWidgetA WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. Group: Make title directly editable. (34799)
Block APIAPIAn API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways.
Introduce lock control at the block-type level. (32457)
Design Tools
InspectorControls: Wrap block support slots in ToolsPanel. (34157)
AccessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility)
Improve file block accessibility by adding aria-describedby to download button. (28062)
Button Block: Add prefix to the description ID. (34900)
MediaReplaceFlow: Avoid ReactReactReact is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to reason about, construct, and maintain stateless and stateful user interfaces. https://reactjs.org/. warning when selecting media. (34618)
Remove .has-link-color class upon clearing the link color. (34700)
Rich Text: Fix arrow navigation with consecutive formats. (35014)
Rich Text: Also strip object replacement character when removing padding. (34851)
Writing flow: Fix focus trap on non-text input types. (32714)
Fix bug in the receiveBlocks action resulting in a broken block list. (35076)
Block Library
HTMLHTMLHyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. block: Prevent external styling of editing UI. (34727)
Page List Block: Fix gap in vertical page list. (35026)
MediaPlaceholder: Fix media library button opening the file upload modal. (34894)
Clean theme data when switching themes in the customizerCustomizerTool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings.. (34540)
REST APIREST APIThe REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/.
Add missing field _invalid in menu item REST API. (34670)
Fix navigation editor missing appender not showing appender when no blocks selected. (34678)
Fix navigation editor undo button being active when editor loads. (34839)
Open link control if submenu parent is link. (34798)
Stop submitting Create Menu form in busy state. (34983)
Fix saving locations using the “Manage Locations” popup. (34714)
Site Editor
Site Editor – add basic pluginPluginA plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party support. (34460)
Update documentation for ClipboardButton component. (34711)
Create Block: Remove wp-cliWP-CLIWP-CLI is the Command Line Interface for WordPress, used to do administrative and development tasks in a programmatic way. The project page is http://wp-cli.org/https://make.wordpress.org/cli/ callout since not recommended and outdated. (34821)
Update the HooksHooksIn WordPress theme and development, hooks are functions that can be applied to an action or a Filter in WordPress. Actions are functions performed when a certain event occurs in WordPress. Filters allow you to modify certain functions. Arguments used to hook both filters and actions look the same. section in documentation. (35035)
Scripts: Add CHANGELOG entry for jest-dev-server upgrade. (34657)
Rich text: Only merge neighbouring equal formats when applying a format. (35016)
Writing Flow: Merge place caret at edge functions. (30481)
Site editor: fix PHPPHPThe web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 5.6.20 or higher notice: Undefined index: __unstableType. (34735)
Use rest_is_field_included function in menu endpoints. (34673)
Remove duplicate Theme JSON block gap key. (34774)
Block Editor
Global shortcuts: Use React events (portal bubbles & contextual). (34539)
Rename experimental prop used in BlockControls. (34644)
Update callers to handle when getBlockType returns undefined. (34891)
Block Library
Latest Comments: Add missing parameter to widget_comments_args. (29403)
Navigation submenu block: Replace global shortcut event handlers with local ones. (34812)
Components
ColorPicker: Replace global shortcut event handlers with local ones. (34508)
Delete the createComponent utility function. (34929)
i18ni18nInternationalization, or the act of writing and preparing code to be fully translatable into other languages. Also see localization. Often written with a lowercase i so it is not confused with a lowercase L or the numeral 1. Often an acquired skill.
Add a “translators:” comment in the core class used to implement a Block widget. (34840)
Try to fix flaky iframeiframeiFrame is an acronym for an inline frame. An iFrame is used inside a webpage to load another HTML document and render it. This HTML document may also contain JavaScript and/or CSS which is loaded at the time when iframe tag is parsed by the user’s browser. test. (34776)
Test that add_theme_supports are loaded for themes without theme.json. (34998)
Storybook: Remove G2 prefix from the Components section. (34734)
Block Editor: Update react-spring to 9.2.4. (30979)
Move react-native-url-polyfill to dev dependencies. (34687)
Use Jest related rules only when the package is installed. (33120)
Ensure that all *.asset.php files are included in plugin.zip. (34875)
Performance Benchmark
The following benchmark compares performance for a particularly sizeable post (~36,000 words, ~1,000 blocks) over the last releases. Such a large post isn’t representative of the average editing experience but is adequate for spotting variations in performance.
Version
Loading Time
KeyPress Event (typing)
Gutenberg 10.6
7.6 s
38.38 ms
Gutenberg 10.5
7.2 s
38.54 ms
WordPress 5.8
7.9 s
45.97 ms
Kudos to all the contributors that helped with the release. 👏
19 tickets closed during the 5.8 cycle, and some of the remaining bugs are already in the 5.9 milestone.
So what else should happen soon? To help set priorities for upcoming releases, please check out the groups of open tickets below. Hopefully you’ll find a ticketticketCreated for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. that interests you.
Content and arrangement
The first two tickets here suggest a long-term direction for the toolbar content and the order of links.
Audit toolbar links and content: includes exploration in the now-inactive Toolbar Experiments pluginPluginA plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party.
Show a View Post link after publishing—but before refreshing the page—with the blockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. editor.
Show toolbar on Login page if the show_admin_barfilterFilterFilters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. is true.
Interactivity
One major proposal is replacing the hover interaction for expanding dropdown menus so that would require intentional clicking (or touchscreen tap, Space or Enter key) with JavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. enabled. A change this big needs plenty of testing early in a release cycle, and the code is not ready for that yet.
Ultimately, a good implementation of this could keep users from accidentally opening the profile dropdown when they navigate near the Publish button. And it could fix up to three reported bugs:
Other potential fixes and improvements can help the user experience.
Add scroll padding to make sure HTMLHTMLHyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. anchors are not hidden behind the toolbar, either in the adminadmin(and super admin) or on the front end.
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