WordPress launched its new version WordPress 5.3 on 12th November. WordPress has named it “Kirk” in honor of jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The new version is developed by 645 volunteer contributors. It comes with improvements like Expanded Design Flexibility, Block Editor, a new “Twenty Twenty” theme and some new improvements for developers as well.
The Block Editor has been enhanced. Now it has 150 new features with usability improvements. WordPress has improved large image support for uploading non-optimized, high-resolution pictures taken from your smartphone or other high-quality cameras. The integration of block editor styles in the admin interface has been improved. The improvements include color contrast in buttons and fields, new snack bar notices and introduction of motion in blocks.
A new Twenty Twenty theme has been added in the Block Editor. The new theme has variations of columns, groups, and media blocks. A new typeface “Inter” has also been added to the theme. The fonts will improve the readability and clarity of websites. Inter has just two font files that will help a website in loading faster.
WordPress has improved website health checks that will make it easier to find an issue on the website. It has expanded recommendations highlight areas that may need troubleshooting on your site from the Health Check screen. Automatic Image Rotation has been added as a new feature. Now Image will be rotated according to the embedded orientation data. Admin will be asked to confirm their email address in a certain time period. This will reduce the chance of getting locked out of the website.
WordPress has done some improvements for developers. The improvements are:
- Full support for PHP 7.4.
- Improved date/time handling.
- Robots meta tags now used for discouraging search engines from listing a site.
- New meta key comparison operators added.
- Integers are no longer allowed for nav menu slugs.