August 30, 2023
Video: Here is How to Create a Landing Page in WordPress for FREE
WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials originally appeared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUhn24i00Vw
August 29, 2023
WordPress 6.3.1 Maintenance Release
WordPress 6.3.1 is now available!
This minor release features 4 bug fixes in Core and 6 bug fixes for the block editor. You can review a summary of the maintenance updates in this release by reading the Release Candidate announcement.
WordPress 6.3.1 is a short-cycle release. The next major release will be version 6.4 planned for November 2023.
If you have sites that support automatic background updates, the update process will begin automatically.
You can download WordPress 6.3.1 from WordPress.org, or visit your WordPress Dashboard, click “Updates”, and then click “Update Now”.
For more information on this release, please visit the HelpHub site.
Thank you to these WordPress contributors
This release was led by Jb Audras and Andrew Ozz, with the help of Sergey Biryukov on mission control, and Isabel Brison who worked on Gutenberg backports.
WordPress 6.3.1 would not have been possible without the contributions of the following people. Their asynchronous coordination to deliver maintenance fixes into a stable release is a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress community.
@antonvlasenko, @audrasjb, @austinginder, @azaozz, @dd32, @dlh, @frankit, @get_dave, @hellofromTonya, @khokansardar, @mathsgrinds, @mukesh27, @peterwilsoncc, @Presskopp, @rajinsharwar, @RavanH, @sergeybiryukov, and @tmatsuur.
How to contribute
To get involved in WordPress core development, head over to Trac, pick a ticket, and join the conversation in the #core and #6-4-release-leads channels. Need help? Check out the Core Contributor Handbook.
Thanks to @jeffpaul for proofreading.
WordPress 6.3.1 Maintenance Release was originally posted at https://wordpress.org/news/2023/08/wordpress-6-3-1-maintenance-release/
August 28, 2023
Video: Creating Effective Calls-to-Action using Blocks in WordPress
WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials originally appeared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raO0dpXtq9w
August 24, 2023
Video: How to Move WordPress from Local to Live
WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials originally appeared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmGM_sBAdi8
August 21, 2023
Video: Change Your WordPress Login URL for Better Security and User Experience
WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials originally appeared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sWd3rfAsYc
August 17, 2023
Video: The Best Headline Analyzers to Get More Clicks in Google
WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials originally appeared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYOQFk6o8to
August 14, 2023
Video: Beginner’s Guide to Image SEO – How to Optimize Images for Search Engines
WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials originally appeared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlqSD2gx9iU
August 10, 2023
Video: How to Get a Google Featured Snippet for Your WordPress Site
WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials originally appeared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leDpZA8DmKA
August 8, 2023
WordPress 6.3 “Lionel”

Say hello to WordPress 6.3 “Lionel,” named after Lionel Hampton, the celebrated American jazz artist. A prolific jazz vibraphonist, pianist, and percussionist, Hampton gained notoriety working in harmony with greats from Charles Mingus to Quincy Jones and as bandleader of the eponymous Lionel Hampton Orchestra. His artistry and charitable work have been recognized with a Grammy, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the National Medal of Arts.
Be sure to turn up the volume of the musical stylings of Lionel Hampton as you discover all “Lionel” has to offer.
With “Lionel” you can create beautiful and compelling websites more efficiently than ever. Whether you want to build an entire site without coding or are a developer looking to customize every detail, WordPress 6.3 has something to pique your interest. As you unpack and explore this latest release, you will discover updated functions and navigation designed to help you work and create with less effort, design tools that give you more control over layout, and added functionality enriching the site-building experience.
“Lionel” marks a major chapter in the evolution of WordPress as a tool for expression. It’s the culmination of years of work from hundreds of contributors, bringing a more powerful and cohesive editing experience for crafting websites with blocks. It continues the quest of making web publishing approachable for everyone—so it’s also just a new beginning!
Matías Ventura, WordPress 6.3 Release Lead
What’s inside
This momentous release opens new possibilities for the creative expression of designers, creators, and builders. Powerful tools and refined controls give users confidence and allow them to easily manage their sites.
Do everything in the Site Editor
WordPress 6.3 brings your content, templates, and patterns together in the Site Editor for the first time. Add pages, browse style variations, create synced patterns, and enjoy fine-tuned control over navigation menus. Spend less time switching across different site areas—so you can focus on what matters most. Creation to completion, all in one place.

Preview Block themes
Experience block themes before you switch and preview the Site Editor, with options to customize directly before committing to a new theme.

Create and sync patterns
Arrange blocks and save them to the ‘My Patterns’ section for use throughout your site. You can even specify whether to sync your patterns (previously referred to as “Reusable blocks”) so that one change applies to all parts of your site. Or, utilize patterns as a starting point with the ability to customize each instance.

Work faster with the Command Palette
Switch to a specific template or open your editor preferences with a new tool that helps you quickly access expanded functionality. With simple keyboard shortcuts (⌘+k on Mac or Ctrl+k on Windows), clicking the sidebar search icon in Site View, or clicking the Title Bar, get where you need to go and do what you need to do in seconds.

Sharpen your designs with new tools
New design controls bring more versatility for fine-tuning, starting with the ability to customize your captions from the Styles interface without coding. You can manage your duotone filters in Styles for supported blocks and pick from the options provided by your theme or disable them entirely. The Cover block gets added settings for text color, layout controls, and border options, making this powerful block even more handy.

Track design changes with Style revisions
With a new audit trail, you can now see how your site looked at a specific time. Visualize these revisions in a timeline and access a one-click option to restore prior styles.

Annotate with the Footnotes block
Footnotes add convenient annotations throughout your content. Now you can add and link footnotes for any paragraph.

Show or hide content with the Details block
Use the Details block to avoid spoiling a surprise, create an interactive Q&A section, or hide a long paragraph under a heading.

Performance gets a boost
WordPress 6.3 has 170+ performance updates, including defer and async support for the Scripts API and fetchpriority support for images. These improvements, along with block template resolution, image lazy-loading, and the emoji loader, can dramatically improve your website’s perceived load time.
Accessibility remains a core focus
Incorporating more than 50 accessibility improvements across the platform, WordPress 6.3 is more accessible than ever. Improved labeling, optimized tab and arrow-key navigation, revised heading hierarchy, and new controls in the admin image editor allow those using assistive technologies to navigate more easily.
Other highlights
Set aspect ratio on images
Specify your aspect ratios and ensure design integrity, especially when using images in patterns.
Build your site distraction-free
Distraction-free designing is now available in the Site Editor.
Rediscover the Top Toolbar
A revamped Top Toolbar offers parent selectors for nested blocks, options when selecting multiple blocks, and an interface embedded into the title bar with new functionality in mind.
List View improvements
Drag and drop to every content layer and delete any block you would like in the updated List View.
Build templates with Patterns
Create unique patterns to jumpstart template creation with a new modal enabling access to pattern selection.
Changes in PHP support
Support for PHP 5 is discontinued. The new minimum supported version of PHP is 7.0.0.
Failed update safeguards
WordPress will now auto-restore the previously installed version of plugins or themes if something goes wrong during a failed manual update.
Learn more about WordPress and 6.3
Explore Learn WordPress for quick how-to videos, online workshops, and other resources to level up your knowledge of the latest features in WordPress.
Check out the WordPress 6.3 Field Guide for detailed developer notes to help you build with WordPress and get the most out of the latest release. Read the 6.3 release notes for additional technical details about this release, including feature recaps, installation information, file changes, fixes, and updates.
Read and subscribe to the Developer Blog for even more helpful WordPress content.
WordPress is a global software platform
61 locales have translated 90 percent or more of WordPress 6.3 into their language. Community translators are working hard to ensure more translations are on their way. Thank you, gracias, ありがとう, धन्यवाद, and ευχαριστώ to everyone who helps to make WordPress available in 200 languages.
Contributing to WordPress
WordPress believes in democratizing publishing and the freedoms that come with open source. Supporting this idea is a large community of people collaborating to strengthen the software. A big thank you to everyone who makes WordPress.
Our community of contributors has always been what makes WordPress wonderful. You are what makes sure our project continues to thrive, and our software remains secure, usable, and impactful. Thank you so much for joining together to make the web (and the world) a better place!
Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director, WordPress.org
WordPress 6.3 arrives thanks to more than 650 contributors’ collective passion and effort in at least 52 countries. This release also includes over 205 first-time contributors!
The 6.3 release squad
The 6.3 release was led from start to launch by an active set of contributors from across many disciplines. Over several weeks, they kept the release on track and moving forward by connecting ideas, resolving issues, and removing roadblocks.
- Release Lead: Matías Ventura
- Release Coordinators: Francesca Marano, Héctor Prieto
- Core Tech Leads: Andrew Ozz, Mike Schroder, David Baumwald
- Editor Tech Leads: Isabel Brison, Ramon Dodd
- Core Triage Leads: Jb Audras, Ahmed Kabir Chaion, Mukesh Panchal, Olga Glecker
- Editor Triage Leads: Anne McCarthy, Birgit Pauli-Haack, Firoz Sabaliya, Nick Diego
- Documentation Leads: Femy Praseeth, Steven Lin, Leonardus Nugraha, Mushrit Shabnam
- Marketing & Communications Leads: Dan Soschin, Jonathan Pantani, Meher Bala
- Test Leads: Brian Alexander, Pooja Derashri, Chris Malone, Piotrek Boniu
- Design Leads: Tammie Lister, Rich Tabor
- Performance Leads: Felix Arntz, Emily Clarke
6.3 contributors
Complimenting the release squad is a diverse group of contributors whose global collaboration delivered hundreds of enhancements and fixes, ensuring a stable release for all—a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress community.
Özgür KARALAR · 6adminit · Aaron Jorbin · Aaron Robertshaw · Abha Thakor · abhi3315 · Abhishek Sharma · Abir · abitofmind · Adam Silverstein · Adam W. Warner · Adarsh Akshat · Adel Tahri · Aditya Jain · Ahmed Chaion · Ahsan Chowdhury · Aki Hamano · akmelias · Akramul Hasan · Alex Concha · Alex Dimitrov · Alex Kozack · Alex Lende · Alex Stine · Alexandre Lara · allancole · Alvaro Gómez · Alvi Tazwar · Amaan Khan · amansurov · amin · Amy Hendrix (sabreuse) · Anatoliy · Anatoliy Dovgun · Andrea Fercia · Andrei Draganescu · Andrew Nacin · Andrew Ozz · Andrew Serong · Andrey "Rarst" Savchenko · André Maneiro · Andy · Andy Fragen · Andy Peatling · Anil Vaza · Ankit K Gupta · Ankit Panchal · Ankur Chotai · Anna · Anne McCarthy · Anne-Mieke Bovelett · annziel · Anthony Burchell · Anton Timmermans · Anton Vlasenko · Antony Agrios · anver · Anveshika Srivastava · Arafat Jamil · Ari Stathopoulos · Artemio Morales · Arthur Chu · Arunas Liuiza · Asad Polash · Ashar Irfan · Ashikur Rahman · Atanas Antonov · Aurooba Ahmed · Austin Matzko · Ayesh Karunaratne · azizantoun · Aznadesign · bangank36 · bartkalisz · Ben Dunkle · Ben Dwyer · Benjamin Grolleau · benjibee · benlk · Bernie Reiter · Bhavik Kalpesh · Bhrugesh Bavishi · Bijay Yadav · Birgit Pauli-Haack · bitnissen · bonger · Boone Gorges · Boro Sitnikovski · Brandon DuRette · Brandon Kraft · Brandon Payton · brasofilo · Brennan Goewert · Brian Alexander · Brian Coords · Brian Fischer · Brian Gardner · Bridget Willard · Bronson Quick · Brooke Kaminski · Brooke. · caraffande · Carlos Bravo · Carlos Garcia · Carolina Nymark · Cathi Bosco · ceer · Chad Chadbourne · Chintan hingrajiya · Chirag Rathod · Chloe Bringmann · Chouby · Chris Flannagan · Chris Lubkert · Chris Malone · chriscct7 · Christoph Daum · ckoerner · Code Amp · Colin Stewart · corentingautier · Courtney Robertson · Crixu · crs1138 · crstauf · cshark · Daisy Olsen · Dan Bernardic · Dan Soschin · Daniel Bachhuber · Daniel Richards · Daniele Scasciafratte · danyk4 · darerodz · Darshit Rajyaguru · Dave Whitley · David Baumwald · David Biňovec · David Calhoun · David Herrera · David Smith · davidmusnik · davidwebca · Dean Sas · Deepak Vijayan · Delete My Account · Denis de Bernardy · Denis Žoljom · Dennis Snell · Dennys Dionigi · densityapps · Derek Ashauer · Derek Blank · devshagor · Dharmesh Patel · Dhrumil Kumbhani · Dhruvi Shah · DigTek · Dilip Bheda · dimijazz · Dion Hulse · doems · Dominik Schilling · Drew Jaynes · dsar · dustyreagan · ebai4 · ecorica · Ed Beck · eduwass · Edward · Edwin Takahashi · ehsanakhgari · Ehtisham S. · Ella van Durpe · Emily Clarke · emirpprime · Enrique Sánchez · eric.7186 · Erik Betshammar · Ernest Behinov · Estela Rueda · Fabian Kägy · Fabian Todt · Faisal Ahammad · Falguni Desai · Farhan Ahmed · Felipe Elia · Felix Arntz · Femy Praseeth · Firoz Sabaliya · Florian TIAR · Francesca Marano · Frank Klein · franrosa · gaeldenysiak · Gal Baras · Gan (a11n) · Garth Mortensen · Gary Cao · Gary Jones · Gary Pendergast · Gennady Kovshenin · George · George Mamadashvili · Gerardo Pacheco · gilles66 · Gio Lodi · Glen Davies · GrandSlambert · Grant M. Kinney · Greg Ziółkowski · Gudmundur Haraldsson · Guillaume TURPIN · gvgvgvijayan · Hanzala Taifun · Hardik Thakkar · Hareesh S · Harit Panchal · Harsh Gajipara · Hasan Misbah · Hasanuzzaman · Haz · hbhalodia · Heiko Mamerow · Helen Hou-Sandi · HelgaTheViking · Hendrik Luehrsen · Hilay Trivedi · Himani Panchal · hrdelwar · Hridoy Mozumder · Hugo Baeta · hugod · Huseyin Berberoglu · Huzaifa Al Mesbah · Héctor Prieto · Iain Poulson · Ian Belanger · Ian Dunn · Ibrahim Khalil · Ibrahim Sharif · Ignat Georgiev · imanish003 · intoxination · Ipstenu (Mika Epstein) · Isabel Brison · jacknotman · Jahid Hasan · Jakaria Istauk · James Koster · James Roberts · james0r · Jan Boddez · jane · jankyz · janpaulkleijn · Jarda Snajdr · Jason Crist · Jason Johnston · Jason LeMahieu (MadtownLems) · Javier Casares · jbcouton · Jean-Baptiste Audras · Jeff Ong · jeffmora · Jeffrey Paul · Jen · Jenil Kanani · Jeremy Felt · Jeroen Rotty · Jerry Jones · jhnstn · jigar bhanushali · Joe Dolson · Joe McGill · Joen Asmussen · John Blackbourn · John Hooks · John James Jacoby · jomonthomaslobo1 · Jon Bourne · Jonathan Desrosiers · Jonathan Pantani · Joni Erkkilä · Jonny Harris · Joost de Valk · jordesign · Jorge Costa · Jos Klever · Josep Morán · Joseph G. · Josepha · Josh Habdas · Josh Pollock · Joy · jqz · Juan Aldasoro · JuanMa Garrido · Juliette Reinders Folmer · Juzar · K. Adam White · KafleG · Kai Hao · Kailey (trepmal) · Kajal Gohel · Kantari Samy · Kapil Paul · Karol Manijak · Karthik Thayyil · Kathryn P. · Kausar Al Mamun · Kausar Alam · Kelly Choyce-Dwan · kenwins · Kevin Behrens · Khoi Pro · Kjell Reigstad · Knut Sparhell · koenschipper · Konstantinos Xenos · Krishna Neupane · Krunal Bhimajiyani · Krupa Nanda · Krupal Panchal · kutsu · KZeni · Léa McAleese · Lachezar Gadzhev · Lana Codes · laurelfulford · Lauren Stein · laurentmagnin · Lena Morita · Leonardus Nugraha · lessbloat · Levdbas · Linda van Tol · Linkon Miyan · lowlydev · lphk · Luigi · luisherranz · Luke Cavanagh · madejackson · Madhu Dollu · Madhu Dollu · Maggie Cabrera · Mahdi Hasan · Mai · Maja Loncar · Malae · Malav Vasita · manfcarlo · maniu · Marc · Marcelo de Moraes Serpa · MarcGuay · Marco Ciampini · Marek Dědič · margolisj · marianne38 · Marin Atanasov · Marine EVAIN · Mario Santos · Marius L. J. · Mark Jaquith · Mark Parnell · markdoliner · Marko Heijnen · Marko Ivanovic · Markus · Markus Kosmal · martin.krcho · marybaum · masteradhoc · mastrup · Mat Lipe · Matias Benedetto · Matias Ventura · matmoe · Matt Mullenweg · Matt Watson · Matt Wiebe · matt_fw · Matteo Enna · Matthew Boynes · Mauriac AZOUA · maurodf · Max Lyuchin · maxcgparis · maysi · Mayur Prajapati · McAlyster · mcliwanow · Md Mahamudur Rahaman · Md Monir Hossain · MD Shakibul Islam · megane9988 · Meher Bala · Mel Choyce-Dwan · Menaka S. · mensmaximus · mgol · Michael Adams (mdawaffe) · Michael Burridge · Michael Day · MichaelH · Michal Czaplinski · Miguel Fonseca · Mike Schinkel · Mike Schroder · mikecho · mikeyzm · Mikin Chauhan · Milana Cap · Milen Petrinski - Gonzo · Mitch Canter · mitchellaustin · mitcho (Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine) · Moe · Mohammad Jangda · Mohan Raj · Mohip Patel · Mohiuddin Omran · Monique Dubbelman · Monzur Alam · Morten Rand-Hendriksen · Mrinal Haque · mtxz · Muhammad Yeasin · mujuonly · Mukesh Panchal · Mushrit Shabnam · nadimcse · Naeem Haque · Nahid Hasan · Narthur · nataliat2004 · Nate Allen · Nazgul · Nazmul Hosen · Nazmul Huda · nendeb · Neycho Kalaydzhiev · Nicholas Garofalo · Nick Diego · nickpap · nidhidhandhukiya · Nihar Ranjan Das · Nik Tsekouras · Nilo Velez · Niluthpal Purkayastha · Nithin John · Nithin SreeRaj · njsamsatli · nkeller15 · Noah Allen · obliviousharmony · Okamoto Hidetaka · Olga Gleckler · OllieJones · opr18 · Orestis Samaras · Ov3rfly · owi · Paal Joachim Romdahl · Pamela Ribeiro · Paragon Initiative Enterprises · Pascal Birchler · Patel Jaymin · patriciahillebrandt · Paul Biron · Paul Kevan · Paul Von Schrottky · Paulo Trentin · Pavan Patil · Pedro Mendonça · Peter Westwood · Peter Wilson · Petter Walbø Johnsgård · Philipp Bammes · Phill · Pierre Sylvestre · Pieterjan Deneys · Piotrek Boniu · Pitam Dey · Piyush Tekwani · pkbhatt · Platon Kristinin · Pooja Derashri · Pooja N Muchandikar · pouicpouic · Prashant · Prashant Singh · Pravin Parmar · Presskopp · Priyanka Adhikari · Przemek Hernik · Rachel Baker · Rafa Poveda · Rafael Fischmann · Rajan Panchal · Rajin Sharwar · Ramon Ahnert · Ramon James · Ratnesh Sonar · Rehan Ali · rembem · ren · Riad Benguella · Rian Rietveld · Rich Tabor · richards1052 · Richie Carey · rjasdfiii · rob1n · Robert Anderson · Robert O'Rourke · Robin · Rolf Allard van Hagen · Ronak Ganatra · Ruman Ahmed · Rutvik Savsani · Ryan Boren · Ryan Fredlund · Ryan Kienstra · Ryan McCue · Ryan Welcher · Sé Reed · Sébastien SERRE · Sérgio Gomes · Süleyman Kenar · Sahil B. · Sajjad Hossain Sagor · Sakib Mohammed · salvoaranzulla · Sam Fullalove · samiamnot · SamNajian · Samuel Wood (Otto) · Sarah Norris · Sarequl Basar · Saxon Fletcher · Scott Reilly · Scott Taylor · scribu · Sean Davis · Sergey Biryukov · Shail Mehta · Shalin Shah · Shannon Little · Shipon Karmakar · Shreyas Ikhar · shubhamsedani · shuvo586 · shvv · Shweta Bathani · Siddhant Wadhwani · siddharth ravikumar · Siddharth Thevaril · Simon Dowdles · Simone · Siobhan · Sirajum Mahdi · Sjoerd Boerrigter · Sjoerd Linders · skorasaurus · Smit Rathod · Soren Wrede · Spencer · sque · srikanthmeenakshi · Stanimir Stoyanov · Stefano Minoia · Stephan Nijman · Stephen Bernhardt · Steven Lin · Subrata Sarkar · Sudip Dadhaniya · Sumit Bagthariya · Sumit Singh · sunyatasattva (a11n) · Suvro · Suzette Franck · Suzette Franck · syamraj24 · Sybre Waaijer · Syed Nuhel · Synchro · Taco Verdonschot · Tahmina Jahan · Takashi Kitajima · Tammie Lister · Tanner Moushey · Thakor Darshil · thomask · thunder rumbles · Tijmen Smit · Till Krüss · Tim Brathärig · Timothy Jacobs · tmatsuur · TobiasBg · tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn Fjellner) · Tom de Visser · Tom J Nowell · Tomoki Shimomura · Toni Viemerö · Tonya Mork · tonythomas01 · Toro_Unit (Hiroshi Urabe) · Torsten Landsiedel · Towhidul I Chowdhury · Tryon · twstokes · TyB · Ugyen Dorji · Umesh Gupta · Umesh Patel · Upadala Vipul · Utsav tilava · uxtremist · Vagelis · valterlorran · Vasilis Manthos · victoranto · Viktor Szépe · vivekawsm · Vlad T · Weston Ruter · whaze · williampatton · wlindley · Wojtek Szkutnik · wplmillet · xerpa43 · xmarcos · Yani Iliev · Yui · Zdrobau · Zeba Afia Shama · Zebulan Stanphill · Zenaul Islam · zieladam · Zunaid Amin
WordPress support forums
Many thanks to the community volunteers who contribute to the support forums by answering questions from WordPress users worldwide.
Get involved today
If contributing to WordPress appeals to you, learning more and getting involved is easy. Discover the teams that come together to Make WordPress and explore the product roadmap on the core development blog. You can also use this interactive tool to help you decide which team is right for you.
Looking toward the future
20 years ago this past May, WordPress shipped the very first version, 0.7. What started with a blog post from co-founder Matt Mullenweg and a subsequent comment by co-founder Mike Little eventually evolved into the world’s most popular web publishing platform.
WordPress software continues to evolve and iterate based on the needs and desires of its robust and diverse user community. This release is the capstone of Phase 2 along the WordPress development roadmap. As the community looks to the future, all efforts turn to 6.4 and, subsequently, the transition into Phase 3, which is expected to introduce powerful collaboration tools to the website creation and management experience.
6.3 Haiku
A capstone release
Ships tools for building great sites
Collaboration
WordPress 6.3 “Lionel” was originally posted at https://wordpress.org/news/2023/08/lionel/
August 7, 2023
Video: See What's Coming in WordPress 6.3
WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials originally appeared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVdWw_pYRFA
August 3, 2023
Video: Proactively Fix Broken Links on Your Website
WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials originally appeared at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-2Dbdgxrdw
August 1, 2023
WordPress 6.3 RC3
WordPress 6.3 RC3 is ready for download and testing.
This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, you should evaluate RC3 on a test server and site.
The WordPress 6.3 release is scheduled for August 8, 2023—just one week away. Now is your last opportunity to test it before the general release.
For a deeper look into this release, read this overview of the 6.3 release cycle, check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.3-related posts, review new features in WordPress 6.3, or watch a recorded demo.
What’s new since RC2
Since the RC2 release on July 25, 2023, there have been approximately 14 issues resolved in Github and Trac. To prepare for 6.3 general availability, RC3 also addresses several bugs and adds fixes for retrieving templates (#4940) and resolving child theme issues (#53138). Thank you for testing, WordPressers!
Developers and extenders should review the comprehensive WordPress 6.3 Field Guide for detailed technical notes regarding new features and improvements.
Ways to contribute
WordPress is open source software made possible by the community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline a variety of ways you can help, regardless of your technical expertise.
Download RC3 for testing
You can test WordPress 6.3 RC3 in three ways:
- Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).
- Option 2: Direct download the RC3 version (zip).
- Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command:
wp core update --version=6.3-RC3
Keep WordPress bug-free—help with testing
Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether you have experience or not. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is too.
- Encountered an issue? Please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.
- New to testing? This detailed guide is a great place to start if you’ve never tested a beta/RC release.
- Want to know more about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel in Making WordPress Slack.
Search for vulnerabilities
The monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled between the Beta 1 release and the final release candidate (RC). Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.
Update your theme or plugin
Do you build themes or plugins? Your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for users of all types worldwide.
This is your final opportunity to test your latest versions against RC3. You will want to continue your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.3.
If you find compatibility problems, please post detailed information to the support forums.
Help translate WordPress
Do you speak a language other than English? ¿Español? Français? Português? Русский? 日本? Help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages.
Release the haiku
Phase two, soon complete
A monumental release
Then onto six-four.
Thank you to the contributors who collaborated on this post: @Meher, @DanSoschin, and @jpantani
WordPress 6.3 RC3 was originally posted at https://wordpress.org/news/2023/08/wordpress-6-3-rc3/