
WordPress 6.0 “Arturo” brings some really cool new changes and features. But there’s a question on many community members’ minds: is it really a major release?
Well, I believe it deserves to be categorized as a major release, and I’ll show you why below.
The last major release 5.9 brought us Full Site Editing, which allowed us to edit everything on the website through Gutenberg Blocks.
In 6.0, this functionality is even more extended and easier to use since 5.9 had some limitations.
The New Patterns
We had seen patterns in 5.9, but they’ll have extended functionality and ease of use now.
When you’re adding a new block, you are offered patterns as well. You can easily use the Browse option to import any pattern you need.
If you would rather browse for a pattern, open the drawer on the left-hand side and search there.
In WordPress 6.0, you will be able to edit patterns completely according to your needs.
Some Cool Full Site Editing Changes
WordPress 6.0 release lets you create a template for Author, Categories, Date, and Tag.
Also, there is a new way to edit navigation menus where each item is converted to an isolated post type.
Last but not least, the Full Site Editing now opens up the possibility of switching global styles.
When you’re done creating a new style or template, you can easily export everything and reuse it on some other website with the same theme.
There’s Block Editor News, Too!
The Read More block now lets you edit it, make it look like a button, and add styling to it.
There is also a new Comments Loop block that will query all comments for a specific post.
And the Post Comment form block lets you fully stylize the look and feel.
Is There Something New for Developers?
There are some minor changes and news. Developers will be able to manage local fonts in PHP or theme.json with Web Fonts API, which was planned for 5.9 but postponed for 6.0.
And because of the legacy code, Gutenberg will now be able to stop blocks appearing in widgets by providing API.
Did the Block Editor Improve?
Yes! The Block Editor has some really cool fixes in the WordPress 6.0 release, which will make everyone’s life easier.
For instance, you can add a link to any post/page by typing [[page/post title]]
Or just [[ when you will be presented with pages and posts to link.
Another useful feature is you can edit part of the paragraph by selecting it. Earlier, you could only select the whole paragraph.
I found locking blocks really useful if you don’t want other editors to make changes to your blocks.
Finally, you can add spacing between images in the gallery block element by simply setting the value in px.
Accessibility Matters
Accessibility isn’t just required by the law. Inclusivity means that more people can easily use WordPress.
By visiting the Preferences option and activating the “Show button text labels”, all icons will be changed to text – great for people with vision disabilities.
Before >
After >
Also, the page title will be automatically set as the alt tag for the featured image, even if you don’t set the alt tag on the image itself.
Summary
Because of all of this, WordPress 6.0 release definitely deserves to be considered a major version of WordPress and not just an update or minor version change.
Constant upgrades and improvements of both the block editor and site editor are opening many opportunities for easier theme development and advanced usage for the end-user. Achieving final results while keeping a good performance score is now easier. You can also view how to edit head in WordPress.
If I’ve missed anything in this review, please comment below so I can edit the post and add your feedback as well.
Sarim Javaid
Sarim Javaid is a Sr. Content Marketing Manager at Cloudways, where his role involves shaping compelling narratives and strategic content. Skilled at crafting cohesive stories from a flurry of ideas, Sarim's writing is driven by curiosity and a deep fascination with Google's evolving algorithms. Beyond the professional sphere, he's a music and art admirer and an overly-excited person.