WordPress 5.5
11 August 2020
WordPress version 5.5 is now available (major release).
Upgrading to WordPress 5.5
WordPress 5.5 can be upgraded to (or installed) using any of Installatron's products. Use Installatron's optional Automatic Update feature to automatically apply WordPress updates as new versions are released, or use Installatron's Clone feature to duplicate an existing WordPress install to test the 5.5 upgrade prior to applying it live. Get started managing your WordPress installations with Installatron
What's New in WordPress 5.5
Overview
- Speed: Posts and pages feel faster, thanks to lazy-loaded images. In WordPress 5.5, images wait to load until they’re just about to scroll into view. The technical term is ‘lazy loading.'
- Search: Now, by default, WordPress 5.5 includes an XML sitemap that helps search engines discover your most important pages from the very minute you go live.
Security
- Auto-updates for Plugins and Themes: Now you can set plugins and themes to update automatically — or not! — in the WordPress admin.
- Update by uploading ZIP files: If updating plugins and themes manually is your thing, now that’s easier too — just upload a ZIP file.
Block editor
- Block patterns: New block patterns make it simple and fun to create complex, beautiful layouts, using combinations of text and media that you can mix and match to fit your story.
- The new block directory: Now it’s easier than ever to find the block you need. The new block directory is built right into the block editor, so you can install new block types to your site without ever leaving the editor.
- Inline image editing: Crop, rotate, and zoom your photos right from the image block. If you spend a lot of time on images, this could save you hours!
Accessibility
- Every release adds improvements to the accessible publishing experience, and that remains true for WordPress 5.5.
For developers
- Server-side registered blocks in the REST API: The addition of block types endpoints means that JavaScript apps (like the block editor) can retrieve definitions for any blocks registered on the server.
- Defining environments: WordPress now has a standardized way to define a site’s environment type (staging, production, etc).
- Dashicons: The Dashicons library has received its final update in 5.5. It adds 39 block editor icons along with 26 others.
- Passing data to template files: The template loading functions (get_header(), get_template_part(), etc.) have a new $args argument. So now you can pass an entire array’s worth of data to those templates.