Well, it’s that time of the year. WordPress is coming out with its new version. The new WordPress 5.9 is expected to release on December 14,  2021. And we are all waiting eagerly for that. But we are here to give you some details about what we can expect from the new version of WordPress. Here’s what we know so far,

Table of Content

• WordPress 5.9 – When it is coming out?

• What can we expect from WordPress 5.9?
  • Full Site Editing: They Have Made Some Improvements
  • Lazy Loading Images Feature
  • They Have Added Global Styles Interface

• Other notable WordPress 5.9 enhancements

• The fixes in WordPress 5.9!

• The new Twenty Twenty-Two default theme

• Test the WordPress 5.9 Beta Version

WordPress 5.9 – When it is coming out?

So, what we have here is the official WordPress 5.9 release schedule.

• FSE Features – October 14
• Feature Freeze / Bug Fixes – November 9
• Beta 1 – November 16
• Beta 2 – November 23
• Release Candidate 1 – November 30
• Release Candidate 2 – December 7
• Stable and Final Release – December 14, 2021

What can we expect from WordPress 5.9?

So, in all the previous releases, WordPress has added some new features. This time is not different. They are going to add some new features as well. Features include,

Full Site Editing: They have made some improvements

The main goal for WordPress in 2021 is to get full site editing for all WordPress users. Full site editing helps you control both the page content and global pieces of your website at the same time. You can change your header or footer design while you are working on the page content. You don’t have to leave the screen and use the same design tools.

There will also be several updates to the Gutenberg editor:

• Improvements to List View
• Patterns
• You will learn how to align elements
• Query Block improvements
• Updated design tools with global styles
• Lighter navigation block experience
• However, the proposed Nav Editor will not be ready for the WordPress 5.9 release as there is not enough time for the necessary testing. Focus has shifted to getting the Nav Block ready.

Lazy loading images feature

You will find several improvements to WordPress Core’s lazy-loading images feature. Here is the goal WordPress has set for itself:

The first “x” content image(s) should not be lazy-loaded by default, with “x” being as high as possible so that there is little to no LCP (Largest Contextual Paint) regression and as low as possible so that there is little to no regression in the total bytes loaded.

While testing, WordPress found that lazy-loading is the first content image on a page that resulted in a median LCP improvement of 7%. WordPress 5.9 has proposed that it will not be lazy-load the very first content image or content iframe. Excluding featured images is also under discussion.

They have added global styles interface

These new tools are coming so that you can change design elements like typography, spacing, and colors to your entire site at once. For more information and additional previews of the new interfaces, please refer to the github ticket.

Other notable WordPress 5.9 enhancements

Here are some other anticipated new features of the WordPress 5.9:

• Ability to show login screen in different languages
• Active embeds for Pinterest
• Improved PHP8 support
• An update to jQuery 3
• Gallery Block Refactor
• Responsive Blocks with more fluid typography tools

The fixes in WordPress 5.9!

WordPress 5.9 will also include a number of bug fixes.

• You may have noticed when on the Themes page and hovering over a thumbnail, the browser window briefly shakes. There is already a pull request on git with a fix. We may see a fix.
• If your reusable blocks have disappeared, you can read the comments on this ticket for a possible solution.
• When you use Dark Mode, the Widget screen in the previous version also shows in Dark Mode. A bug makes the widgets text gray on a white background making them very difficult to work with, like shown below on the left. They have fixed it and it looks great.

The new Twenty Twenty-Two default theme

There is news that confirmed we will get a new default theme called Twenty Twenty-Two. The Theme will be built for full site editing, first with the goal of all theme styles being editable through Global Styles. WordPress 5.9 will likely be required to use Twenty Twenty-Two, as it is a block theme.

Twenty Twenty-Two will use a variety of color palettes, page templates, headers, and footers for endless customization.

You will be able to change fonts, image designs, and more. It’s usually pretty easy to tell when a website uses a default theme, it sounds like Twenty Twenty-Two might change that.

Test the WordPress 5.9 Beta Version

The Beta version of WordPress 5.9 is now available for testing. If you are testing keep in mind that this is not a stable release. So you should not install this version of WordPress on a production site. We are hearing that Beta 1 will be released on November 16. This version will be more stable and you can test it easily.

Tell us what you found after testing WordPress 5.9. We will be happy to hear your thoughts and include them in our article.