The Month in WordPress – April 2023

With preparations for the next major releases already underway, the community is gearing up to celebrate WordPress’ 20th anniversary, which is just around the corner. This month has also seen some major highlights, such as WordPress 6.2’s performance wins and the launch of WP Translation Playground. Read on to find out what’s new.

Forthcoming WordPress releases

Following the successful release of WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy,” which has garnered over 31 million downloads (and counting), contributors across all teams are already planning future major releases, including versions 6.3 and 6.4.

While WordPress 6.3 will focus on refinements to the site editing experience, 6.4 will reprise the underrepresented gender release initiative introduced in WordPress 5.6 “Simone.” If you’re interested in contributing, now is the perfect time to get involved.

Check out the WordPress 6.3 proposed schedule and call for volunteers.

WP20 is just around the corner

Mark your calendars for May 27 and join the community for a day filled with exciting parties and activities!

With a refreshed look, the WP20 website offers a list of events to join, swag to show your WordPress pride, and downloadable “selfie props” to add fun to your celebrations.

The Marketing Team has also launched #WP20 From Blogs to Blocks, a community-focused initiative that encourages you to take a small daily WordPress-focused action for 20 days leading up to the anniversary date.

On the other hand, details are being finalized for the 20th anniversary commemorative book, Building Blocks: The Evolution of WordPress 2013-2023. This volume will span the history and most meaningful moments of the last decade of WordPress.

What’s your favorite WordPress swag? Do you have a special memory from a WordCamp or meetup? Share them with the community and join the #WP20 fun on social media.

WordPress 6.2 performance

WordPress 6.2 reiterates the platform’s commitment to optimizing website performance with significant improvements. Load times are 14 to 18% faster for block themes and 2 to 5% for classic themes. Server-side performance is also seeing a big boost, with an increase of 17 to 23% for block themes and 3 to 5% for classic themes.

Learn more about the performance wins in 6.2, including a retrospective from the Performance Core Team on the efforts that made it happen.

New in the Gutenberg plugin

Two new versions of the Gutenberg plugin have shipped in the last month:

• Gutenberg 15.5 shipped on April 5, 2023, with many user-facing features to improve the creation experience. Enhancements include caption style customization, theme-defined template patterns when adding a new template, and experimental support for grid layouts in the Group block.
• Gutenberg 15.6 is available for download as of April 19, 2023. This version introduces an experimental Details block to expand and toggle the visibility of hidden content, and more presets for core block spacing and border controls, among other highlights.

Follow the “What’s new in Gutenberg” posts to stay on top of the latest enhancements.

Team updates: WP Translation Playground, WordPress.org redesign next steps, and more

• The Polyglots Team launched WP Translation Playground, an innovative tool that combines Local GlotPress with WordPress Playground to translate plugins and themes in context—without having to set up anything.
• Wondering what’s next in the WordPress.org redesign project? Learn about the latest updates and how to get involved.
• This Community Team post discusses ways to make WordCamp Contributor Days more effective.
• Explore what’s new on Learn WordPress in April 2023, including the latest content on the platform and the projects the Training Team has been working on.
• WordPress Playground was used in a hackathon to prototype different ways to build plugins with minimal setup, right in the browser. See it in action in these tech demos.
• Members of the Marketing Team suggested improvements to submission guidelines to revitalize the WordPress.org Showcase.
• Most of the work to refocus the WordPress mobile app on core features is complete. Find out how to help shape its future with contributions opportunities for developers, writers, translators, and more.
• Keep up with the latest enhancements and development updates you need to build on top of WordPress in last month’s edition of What’s new for developers?
• The latest issue of the Meetup Organizer Newsletter shares tips and inspiring ideas to help you plan successful community events.
• Find out how WordPress and its global community of contributors positively impacted Monika Rao’s web career in April’s edition of People of WordPress.

Join Josepha Haden Chomphosy in Episode 54 of WP Briefing as she explores the concept of the four freedoms of open source and their likeness to today’s Bill of Rights for the open web.

Feedback & testing requests

• The latest Full Site Editing (FSE) Outreach Program testing opportunity invites feedback on the features included in WordPress 6.2 and those remaining in Gutenberg Phase 2. Share your thoughts by May 8, 2023.
• This update on the WP Feature Notifications project explains the progress towards a modern WordPress user notification system and how you can get involved.
• Help test the latest version of the Preferred Languages feature plugin.
• Version 22.2 of the WordPress mobile app for iOS and Android is ready for testing.

This discussion post welcomes ideas and questions about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be integrated into the WordPress experience.

WordPress events updates

• WordCamp Europe 2023 is fast approaching! The organizing team introduced the first confirmed speakers.
• WordCamp US 2023 announced updates on the programming for the upcoming event, for which tickets are now on sale. Organizers are also calling for sponsors.
• The 2023 Community Summit will provide a valuable opportunity for in-person discussions across contributor teams. Submit your topics if you haven’t yet.
• Don’t miss these upcoming WordCamps:
  • WordCamp Barcelona, Spain on May 5-6, 2023
  • WordCamp Buffalo, NY, USA on May 6, 2023
  • WordCamp Gliwice, Poland on May 12-14, 2023
  • WordCamp Sylhet, Bangladesh on May 19-20, 2023
  • WordCamp Lisboa, Portugal on May 19-20, 2023
  • WordCamp Apatin, Serbia on May 27-28, 2023

Join #WPDiversity with a free online workshop on Organizing Diverse & Inclusive WordPress Events APAC on May 13, 2023.

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The following folks contributed to this Month in WordPress: @sereedmedia, @ninianepress, @rmartinezduque.