See the new features and updates in the latest WordPress release.
AVIF Image Support
I’m VERY excited that WordPress 6.5 will natively support the AVIF image format.
This is THE most modern image compression format.
And all major browsers support it, so there is no need for fallback images of .jpg or .png.
That’s super important, as formats like WebP do still require fallback images, even though most major browsers support that format.
Keep in mind that when you upload an image, your theme dictates what size thumbnails to create – and there are at least 3 of them.
So, for every image you upload, there are 4 versions of it.
And if fallback images also have to be generated, you could be carrying 8 images for every one that you upload.
That takes up a LOT of disk space and makes your backups huge too.
So, you definitely want to start saving images in the AVIF format after you update to WP 6.5.
Do a Test First
NOTE: Site owners on Iridium Hosting do not need to do this test, as this host supports AVIF.
The WP dev team states that all hosts may not support AVIF images.
(And WP does not support them until after you update to 6.5.)
So, after you update, create an image in AVIF format, upload it, and then embed it on a page using various sizes offered by your theme.
Check to ensure that each one is the AVIF format.
Use Squoosh for Image Optimization
Squoosh is an online image optimizer that allows you to create the perfect display size and file size for your images prior to upload.
And it has the AVIF format available too.
I’ll be updating my Squoosh tutorial for you before I give the all clear to update to WP 6.5.
Block Improvements
WP introduced Gutenberg Blocks back in version 5.0. And let’s face it, they had zero styling features whatsoever.
We all had to use other specialty block plugins to easily add styling.
But, in the last couple of years, WP has steadily been adding more styling options to the most popular blocks.
Border and Shadow
I’m very excited about the new styling options in the Styles tab!!
In WP 6.5 there is anew Border & Shadow set of styling options for the following blocks:
- Image
- Columns
- Buttons
You can add either independently. And you can set the width of the border as well as the colour.
These 2 styles are the main reason I had special CSS added to my theme and/or used a specialty block plugin. I’m delighted that I can now do both with just native WP blocks and styling.
SEE: the Border & Shadow video tutorial for how to use this new feature.
Link Dropdown Changes
When you add a link, then click to see it, all you can currently see is the URL.
In WP 6.5 you’ll be able to see the page/post title and the URL.
Auto Overlay Colour
One of the super features of the Cover Block is that you can assign an overlay to it and put text on it.
And while you could choose any colour you wanted, doing so was a nit-picky process to find just the right colour.
In WP 6.5, the overlay colour will now be auto generated based on the background colour of the image. And you can adjust it from there.
But in my tests, it chose a colour that was so close to the image that it didn’t offer enough contrast for the text to get good ADA compliance.
Maybe how well it works depends entirely on the image you are using and the predominant colour.
Block List View Improvements
I don’t really use the List view of blocks much, do you?
I honestly don’t find it that helpful just to see the name of blocks, especially with nested blocks.
Rename
WP 6.5 will now allow you to rename blocks, but only in the List view.
See Settings
And you’ll be able to alt-click (right-click for most of you) to see the settings of a block, or copy or duplicate or such.
Is this a feature you think you will use?
Dynamic Gallery
In the Gallery block, you’ll be able to set the display order to random, which will show a different order of images on every page load/refresh.
Add Favicon Via Settings
There is a new section on the General Settings page for Site Icon.
Now it’s super easy to upload it instead of doing it through your theme or via a plugin.
Fully Block Based Theme Improvements
To my knowledge, the following features will only be available on themes that have full block support (including areas outside of the content editor).
Fonts Library
Pulling in Google Fonts from Google has become a GDPR compliance issue. So, many site owners have switched to hosting their fonts locally, meaning on their own hosting.
But, getting those fonts installed for the theme to use has been a bit of a tech bear.
WP 6.5 has a new local Font Library where you can easily upload fonts for your theme to use.
You may need to check with your theme’s developer to see how to make use of it in your theme and/or if your theme has a native way to upload your fonts locally before you do it through this new WordPress feature.
FYI, I have multiple sites and on those with themes created over the last couple of years, I’ve gone back to using standard web fonts. They look just fine and I don’t have to store or bring in any font to use them.
If you designed your own theme, you most definitely want to read up on this change, as it is not without issues on some themes.
And you’ll want to know about where WP will be storing the fonts and ensure that directory can be written to.
Otherwise, you’ll have to use the plugin they suggest if you don’t know how to add them to the theme files for storing and preloading.
This is just one more case where hiring a webmaster designer is worth every penny.
Better Template and Pattern Management
You can now see all of your templates and Patterns in a grid layout.
Plugin Check
Many plugin developers make both a free and paid version of their plugin.
And, it’s customary for the free plugin to be installed for the paid version to work.
In WP 6.5, plugin devs can add a check to ensure that the free version is installed and active, else it will throw an error message to install it.
Many devs already have their own requirement check, but now they can allow WP to do that check for them, if they like.
Revisions
As you edit a post or page, WP auto saves it, and now you’ll be able to see your revision changes better.
However, smart site owners have code to do overwrites of revisions after a certain number so they don’t clog up the database with 50-100 auto saves for every post.
That will likely impact how much history you can see in this new revision feature.
Synced Patterns Improvements
Synced Patterns replaced Reusable Blocks in WP 6.4.
But with both of them, editing the individual or original one was a little tricky.
In WP 6.5 they wanted to include an overhaul of synced patterns, but ultimately decided to punt it to WP 6.6 as there are some bugs with it.
Advanced Features
There are a few improvements in WP 6.5 that will excite developers and advanced users.
Custom Fields
Gutenberg Blocks will now natively support custom field association for block attributes.
This means that 3rd party sources can provide dynamic data for that block.
And it also means that custom metadata can be added to the block as well.
A good example of this would be for a news site or one that shows the weather.
New Interactivity API
If developers wanted to add some type of dynamic interaction on their site, they had to create their on JS code.
But this lead to a LOT of inconsistency, especially among different plugins.
WP 6.5 now fully supports an Interactivity API that will do the following:
“Blocks can share data, actions, and call-backs between them. This makes communication between blocks simpler and less error-prone. For example, clicking on an “add to cart” block can seamlessly update a separate “cart” block.”
So it’s obvious that this has implications for e-comm sites.
The lightbox effect on images will also benefit from this new API.
Be sure to check the changelog on your plugins to see if they have been refactored to make use of this new API.
By MaAnna Stephenson
MaAnna is a geek who can still speak in plain English. She helps DIY site owners plus webmasters and designers create sites that are secure, perform well, and get noticed by search engines and readers.
