{"id":59498,"date":"2020-09-09T11:53:41","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T15:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/?p=59498"},"modified":"2025-01-22T15:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T20:28:18","slug":"wordpress-5-6-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/edu\/wordpress\/wp-releases\/wordpress-5-6-release\/","title":{"rendered":"WordPress 5.6 Release Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"WordPress<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 5.6<\/strong> was officially launched on December 8, and the final WordPress release of 2020 came packed with new updates and features.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The development team focused on continuing to improve the Gutenberg block editor<\/a> in this release, as well as enhancing security with expanded auto-updates, and bringing users a brand new Twenty-Twenty-One theme<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that just scratches the surface. Here\u2019s what\u2019s new in WordPress 5.6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Block Patterns<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 5.6 introduces even more block patterns<\/a> that enable users to master complex layouts with minimal effort. Some themes now come preconfigured with new block patterns that make setting up standard pages easier than ever before.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customize each pattern to your liking with the images, copy, and colors that match your brand or identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added patterns mean less time spent customizing pages and more time focusing on bigger tasks, and all patterns are shareable with your team, clients, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auto-Updates for WordPress Core<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For several years, it was only developers that were able to update WordPress automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 5.5 introduced auto-updates for theme and plugins, and WordPress 5.6 takes auto-updates a step further.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now with WordPress 5.6, there is a dashboard UI that allows users to turn on auto-updates for major WordPress releases<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The core auto-updates feature has already been around for some time in WordPress, but WordPress 5.6 introduces a new user interface that makes it easier than ever to opt-in to auto-updates for major version releases straight from the WordPress admin Dashboard<\/strong> > Updates<\/strong> page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing this ensures users can always know that their WordPress site is running the latest code available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improved Layout Flexibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 5.6 introduces a plethora of new tools that allow users to edit their layouts with or without code. New tools include single-column blocks, full-width headers, designs with mixed columns and widths, as well as gradients for cover blocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New WordPress Theme: Twenty-Twenty-One<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The new Twenty-Twenty-One theme debuts with the goal of acting as a canvas for WordPress users\u2019 ideas, with the block editor serving as their all-in-one brush.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The theme was designed around the block editor and loaded with new block patterns that can only be accessed in the default themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Users are able to switch layouts in seconds with just a few clicks and utilize one of the new theme\u2019s designs to take their posts and pages to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-Twenty-One also offers increased accessibility for your website. It meets all the standards of the WordPress accessibility-ready guidelines<\/a> and tackles many other specialized web standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of all that, Twenty-Twenty-One also comes with a rainbow-colored range of pre-selected pastel color palettes and gives users the option to choose their own background color for a theme. Once a user chooses their custom background color, the theme automatically chooses accessibility-conscious text colors to conform to AAA standards for contrast.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Twenty-Twenty-One<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For users that want even more customization, you can also use the color picker to choose your own color palette.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accessibility Statement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Twenty-Twenty-One theme makes it easier to make your site meet accessibility guidelines, but WordPress 5.6 didn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This version of WordPress also comes with a new feature plugin, which can automatically generate the structure of an accessibility statement for your website.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This plugin looks and acts like the Privacy Policy tool already found in WordPress, and it includes template copy that users can edit and publish on their site. Plus, the copy is written to support different contexts and jurisdictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enhanced Video Captions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Adding captions and subtitles to your videos is even more simple in the latest version of WordPress, as doing so can now be done within a page or post.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The video block now supports subtitles, and subtitles can be customized to display in a users\u2019 preferred language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Developer Updates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t just the users who saw big changes introduced in this release. Developers got plenty of love too.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s new for developers in WordPress 5.6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Application Passwords<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the most helpful new features is included in the API\u2019s new Application Passwords authorization feature, which enables third-party apps to connect to their websites safely and smoothly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A brand new REST API feature allows you to see what applications are connecting to your website and control what they do or have access to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passwords are 24-characters long and feature a combination of upper-case, lower-case, and numeric characters. They can either be generated manually or through the REST API.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased Support for PHP 8<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There were a lot of new features and optimizations introduced with PHP 8.0, but it also introduced several new updates that eliminate a site\u2019s ability to remain backwards compatible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making WordPress compatible with the newest version of PHP is quite a process, but WordPress 5.6 marks the first steps forward for WordPress Core support for PHP 8.0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these steps, getting PHP 8.0 fully-integrated within WordPress will take some time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about what to expect next, read the PHP 8 developer note<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Updates to jQuery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Updates to jQuery were included in WordPress 5.5, but they are also in this version and will continue to be added in WordPress 5.7 as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since WordPress 5.6 marks the halfway point of the updates process, users are asked to run the Test jQuery Updates plugin<\/a> and ensure there are no errors on their sites ahead of time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If users find any issues with the look of their site such as something not displaying or functioning properly, they are asked to also install the Enable jQuery Migrate Helper plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Notes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WordPress 5.6 is titled \u201cSimone\u201d and is named for the legendary jazz performer Nina Simone.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This release was brought to us by an all-women release squad, but offers its appreciation to the more than 600 volunteer contributors who made it possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to get WordPress 5.6 across the finish line, they collaborated to close nearly 350 Trac tickets and more than 1,000 GitHub<\/a> pull requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of release, WordPress 5.6 is available in 38 languages, but 70 languages are at least 90 percent completed and can be expected to be added later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can learn even more about what all is new in this release in the official WordPress 5.6 Field Guide<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned above, WordPress 5.6 is the final major release of 2020. WordPress 5.7 will be the next major release in the development cycle and is tentatively scheduled for a March 9, 2021 release date.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there was something you were hoping to see in 5.6 that wasn\u2019t in this release, WordPress core has opened a 5.7 wishlist<\/a> where users can submit their suggestions for the next release.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Easy\r\n

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\n\n\n\n

WordPress 5.6 Release Schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The final release candidate for WordPress 5.6 came out on December 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With millions of WordPress<\/a> users and thousands of plugins and themes, there\u2019s always a chance some things were missed, which is why WordPress users are asked to test out the release candidate, especially if they didn\u2019t test any of the betas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be users final chance to test out WordPress 5.6 before the planned December 8 release date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can test the WordPress 5.6 release candidate in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n