WordPress 5.0 RC2

The second release candidate for WordPress 5.0 is now available!

This is an important milestone, as we near the release of WordPress 5.0. The WordPress 5.0 release date has shifted from the 27th to give more time for the RC to be fully tested. A final release date will be announced soon, based on feedback from this RC. This is a big release and needs your help—if you haven’t tried 5.0 yet, now is the time! 

To test WordPress 5.0, you can use the WordPress Beta Tester plugin or you can download the release candidate here (zip).

For details about what to expect in WordPress 5.0, please see the previous release candidate post.

Changes since RC1

• Make the Image Link URL field readonly.
• Merge similar text strings for i18n.
• Improve block preview styling.
• Simplify sidebar tabs aria-labels.
• Fix getSelectedBlockClientId selector.
• Fix IE11 focus loss after TinyMCE init. Add IE check.
• Fix Classic block not showing galleries on a grid.
• Fix visual issues with Button block text wrap.
• Fix an issue where the block toolbar would cause an image to jump downwards when the wide or full alignments were activated.
• Fix modals in Edge.
• Move editor specific styles from style.scss to editor.scss in Cover block.
• Apply IE11 input fix only when mounting TinyMCE.
• Avoid rendering AdminNotices compatibility component.
• Change @package names to WordPress.

How to Help

Do you speak a language other than English? Help us translate WordPress into more than 100 languages! 

If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on WordPress Trac, where you can also find a list of known bugs.

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RC bittersweet.
We welcome in Gutenberg,
Vale Gutenbeard.

WordPress 5.0 RC2 was originally posted at https://wordpress.org/news/2018/11/wordpress-5-0-rc2/

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WordPress 5.0 Release Candidate

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WordPress 5.0 Beta 5

WordPress 5.0 Beta 5 is now available!

This software is still in development, so we don’t recommend you run it on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with the new version.

There are two ways to test this WordPress 5.0 Beta: try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”), or you can download the beta here (zip).

Reminder: the WordPress 5.0 release date has changed. It is now scheduled for release on November 27, and we need your help to get there. Here are some of the big issues that we’ve fixed since Beta 4:

Block Editor

The block editor has been updated to match the Gutenberg 4.4 release, the major changes include:

•  A permalink panel has been added to the document sidebar to make it easier to find.
• Editor document panels can now be programmatically removed.
• The uploading indicator for images and galleries has been replaced with a spinner and faded out image.
• The text and code editing blocks will now use the full width of the editor.
• Image handling has been improved. Images now take up the right amount of space for themes with wider editors (like Twenty Nineteen).
  
• Hover styles are now correctly disabled for mobile devices.
• The i18n module has been refactored to benefit from significant performance gains.

Additionally, there have been some pesky bugs fixed:

• Better handling for links without an href attribute, which were showing as undefined.
• Japanese text (double byte characters) are now usable in the list block.
• Better handling for different text encodings (e.g. emoji) within a block in block validation.

A full list of changes can be found in the Gutenberg 4.4 release post.

PHP 7.3 Support

The final known PHP 7.3 compatibility issue has been fixed. You can brush up on what you need to know about PHP 7.3 and WordPress by checking out the developer note on the Make WordPress Core blog.

Twenty Nineteen

Work on making Twenty Nineteen ready for prime time continues on its GitHub repository. This update includes a host of tweaks and bug fixes, including:

• Add .button class support.
• Fix editor font-weights for headings.
• Improve support for sticky toolbars in the editor.
• Improve text-selection custom colors for better contrast and legibility.
• Fix editor to prevent Gutenberg’s meta boxes area from overlapping the content.

How to Help

Do you speak a language other than English? Help us translate WordPress into more than 100 languages! 

If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on WordPress Trac, where you can also find a list of known bugs.

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WordPress 5.0 Beta 5 was originally posted at https://wordpress.org/news/2018/11/wordpress-5-0-beta-5/

WordPress 5.0 Beta 4

WordPress 5.0 Beta 4 is now available!

This software is still in development, so we don’t recommend you run it on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with the new version.

There are two ways to test the WordPress 5.0 Beta: try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”), or you can download the beta here (zip).

The WordPress 5.0 release date has changed, it is now scheduled for release on November 27, and we need your help to get there. Here are some of the big issues that we’ve fixed since Beta 3:

Block Editor

The block editor has been updated to match the Gutenberg 4.3 release, the major changes include:

• An Annotations API, allowing plugins to add contextual data as you write.
• More consistent keyboard navigation between blocks, as well as back-and-forth between different areas of the interface.

Additionally, there have been some bugs fixed that popped up in beta 3:

• Better support for plugins that have more advanced meta box usage.
• Script concatenation is now supported.
• Ajax calls could occasionally cause PHP errors.

Internationalisation

We’ve added an API for translating your plugin and theme strings in JavaScript files! The block editor is now using this, and you can start using it, too. Check out the developer note to get started.

Twenty Nineteen

Twenty Nineteen is being polished over on its GitHub repository. This update includes a host of tweaks and bug fixes, including:

• Menus now properly support keyboard and touch interactions.
• A footer menu has been added for secondary page links.
• Improved backwards compatibility with older versions of WordPress.

Default Themes

All of the older default themes—from Twenty Ten through to Twenty Seventeen—have polished styling in the block editor.

How to Help

Do you speak a language other than English? Help us translate WordPress into more than 100 languages! 

If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on WordPress Trac, where you can also find a list of known bugs.

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International-
isation is a word with
many syllables.

Meta boxes are
the original style block.
Old is new again.

WordPress 5.0 Beta 4 was originally posted at https://wordpress.org/news/2018/11/wordpress-5-0-beta-4/

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WordPress 5.0 Beta 3

WordPress 5.0 Beta 3 is now available!

This software is still in development, so we don’t recommend you run it on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with the new version.

There are two ways to test the WordPress 5.0 Beta: try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”), or you can download the beta here (zip).

WordPress 5.0 is slated for release on November 19, and we need your help to get there. Here are some of the big issues that we’ve fixed since Beta 2:

Block Editor

The block editor has been updated to include all of the features and bug fixes from the upcoming Gutenberg 4.2 release. Additionally, there are some newer bug fixes and features, such as:

• Adding support for the “Custom Fields” meta box.
• Improving the reliability of REST API requests.
• A myriad of minor tweaks and improvements.

Twenty Nineteen

Twenty Nineteen has been updated from its GitHub repository, this version is full of new goodies to check out:

• Adds support for Selective Refresh Widgets in the Customiser.
• Adds support for Responsive Embeds.
• Tweaks to improve readability and functionality on mobile devices.
• Fixes nested blocks appearing wider than they should be.
• Fixes some errors in older PHP versions, and in IE11.

How to Help

Do you speak a language other than English? Help us translate WordPress into more than 100 languages! 

If you’re able to contribute with coding or testing changes, we have a multitude of bug scrubs scheduled this week, we’d love to have as many people as we can ensuring all bugs reported get the attention they deserve.

If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on WordPress Trac, where you can also find a list of known bugs.

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WordPress Five Point Oh
is just two short weeks away.
Thank you for helping!

WordPress 5.0 Beta 3 was originally posted at https://wordpress.org/news/2018/11/wordpress-5-0-beta-3/