WordPress fans and developers have been eagerly waiting for the release of WordPress 6.7, which officially launched on November 12, 2024. This is the third and final major update of the year, and it brings a host of exciting new features to make building and managing websites even more accessible and more enjoyable. We’ve been keeping a close eye on its development and have tested all the new features on our test sites.
In this article, we’ll walk you through what’s new in WordPress 6.7. From helpful updates to new features, you’ll get a look at everything this version has to offer. Let’s dive in and see what’s in store for you in this exciting new update!
Key Improvements in WordPress 6.7
Here are the features & updates that come with WordPress 6.7.
Twenty Twenty-Five: Introducing New Default Theme
With the release of WordPress 6.7, they’re getting an exciting new default theme: Twenty Twenty-Five. Each year, WordPress introduces a fresh theme to give users a reliable, modern, and flexible option to start building their sites. This year’s Twenty Twenty-Five theme is specifically crafted with bloggers in mind, offering a perfect fit for anyone looking to create a strong, engaging online presence.
The theme is designed to let your content take the spotlight. Bloggers can easily customize the look and feel of their site by adjusting colors, fonts, and layouts without any complex steps. This new theme also supports various content types and blog styles, whether you’re a lifestyle blogger, a travel writer, a foodie, or running a professional blog.
The theme’s clean, modern design ensures your posts are easy to read and visually appealing. With built-in support for the latest WordPress features, Twenty Twenty-Five offers a smooth editing experience that lets you focus on creating high-quality content rather than dealing with technical hurdles.
Zoom-Out View for Enhanced Site Editing Experience
WordPress 6.7 introduces a helpful new feature called the Zoom Out view, designed to make editing pages with many sections and patterns easier without focusing on individual blocks. When working on long pages, many users find it frustrating to scroll up and down to see the overall layout constantly. The Zoom Out view solves this issue by letting you quickly switch between close-up and full-page views to get a better sense of your page structure.
With the new Toggle Zoom Out button in the top toolbar, you can turn the Zoom Out view on and off as you work. When you activate this feature, your content zooms out, giving you a clearer, big-picture view of all the blocks and sections on your page. You can easily switch back to the normal view when you need to edit specific blocks in detail.
Media File Upgrades & New Image Format Support
WordPress 6.7 includes major improvements to media handling, making it easier to work with images and other files.
Support For HEIC Image Upload
One of the standout updates in WordPress 6.7 is support for HEIC image files, which is great news for Apple users. Now, you can directly upload HEIC photos from iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices without converting them first. WordPress will automatically convert these HEIC images to the widely supported JPEG format, ensuring your photos display correctly across different devices and browsers.
If your server has ImageMagick installed with HEIC support, you can upload HEIC files seamlessly, and your site will show them in JPEG format. For those who still need the original HEIC version, it remains available to download.
To check if your site supports HEIC files, go to Tools -> Site Health, switch to the Info tab, and scroll down to Media Handling.
Under ImageMagick supported file formats, you can see if HEIC support is enabled. This feature makes it easier than ever for Apple users to showcase high-quality images on their WordPress sites without compatibility issues.
Improved Background Image Capabilities
They bring an exciting improvement for background images, giving users more control over how backgrounds look throughout their site. Now, you can set background images not just for the overall site but also for individual blocks, like verse or post content blocks, adding more creative touches to your pages.
With this update, you can add unique background images to individual sections, helping certain parts of your site stand out. It’s a great way to add personality and style to your content, whether you want a bold, eye-catching look or something more subtle and elegant. This flexibility makes it easier to create beautiful, custom designs that grab visitors’ attention and create a cohesive visual experience across your website.
Refined Lazy Loading for Faster Performance
It improves lazy loading, a smart feature that helps websites load faster by only loading images when they’re about to appear on the screen. Instead of loading every image on a page right away, WordPress waits to load each one until the user is about to see it.
With the refinements in WordPress 6.7, lazy loading works even better. It ensures that images load at just the right moment for a smooth experience. This update is a win for site performance and makes your website more enjoyable for visitors.
Upgrades in Preview Options API
A new feature makes the post and page editor preview option even more helpful. Now, you can add custom menu items to the preview settings. It means that when you’re working on a post or page, you have more options to preview exactly how it will look in different settings.
With these custom menu items, you can quickly see how your page or post appears in different layouts, styles, or sections without having to navigate away. It is beneficial for sites with multiple layouts or areas where the content may look different, like a homepage, a blog section, or a specific landing page. It helps you ensure your content looks excellent everywhere on your site.
Enhancement in Typography
Another exciting typography update improves control over fonts. Users can now easily manage font sizes with new features like Font Size Presets and Fluid Typography. This means you can set font sizes more efficiently and make them adapt better to different screen sizes for a consistent look across devices.
Font Size Presets: This gives users more control over the font sizes for different elements, like headings and paragraphs, in the global style settings. It keeps the font sizes consistent throughout your website and makes it easier to maintain the design.
Font Library: The new Font Library makes managing fonts easier and saves time, especially for users who have many custom fonts on their websites. You can organize fonts by their source, making it more straightforward to find what you need. Plus, the new interface lets you activate or deactivate several fonts simultaneously, making font management more efficient and less time-consuming.
Fluid Typography: It automatically adjusts the font size depending on the screen size, ensuring your text looks good on any device. Whether someone is viewing your site on a smartphone, laptop, or desktop, the text will remain transparent and easy to read. This feature helps keep your site looking fantastic and user-friendly across all screen sizes.
Block Enhancements for a Better Editing Experience
WordPress 6.7 brings updates to many of the blocks. Here, we’ll look at the improvements made to some of these blocks.
Group Block
Users can now add drop shadows to Group Blocks, allowing them more control over how their content looks and stands out on the page.
Quote Block
With the latest update in WordPress, users can now add a background image to the quote block, making it visually more appealing. Additionally, you can customize the quote block by adding spacing, setting a border, and adjusting the minimum height. These new options help create a better, more polished design for your quotes, giving them more space and making them stand out on the page.
Image Block
In WordPress 6.7, you can now easily add a margin to the Image Block. It allows you to create more space around your images, helping them stand out better and giving your layout a cleaner look.
Additionally, a new feature lets you select multiple images at once. Simply drag and drop them into the Image Block. Once you do this, the image block will automatically be turned into a Gallery Block, making it quicker and easier to create beautiful image galleries without extra steps.
Buttons Block
You can now customize buttons more quickly in the Button Block. Users can set the border, background color, and padding for the button, giving you complete control over its appearance.
This update makes it simple to create interactive, eye-catching buttons that match your site’s design and stand out to your visitors.
Social Icon Block
You can now add borders around the corners of the Social Icon Block. This feature lets you style the social icons with rounded or sharp corners, giving your site a more customized look.
It makes the icons stand out more, creating a clear separation from the rest of your content and giving your site a cleaner, more polished design.
Enhanced Data Views
Data Views have been refined to simplify content management and filtering within the editor. This feature, which includes a collection of templates, pages, patterns, and more, now has an updated interface for a smoother experience.
You’ll notice a gear icon in the top right corner of the site editor. Clicking on it opens a new, powerful user interface that helps you quickly filter and manage content from the editor. These improvements are designed to make finding, viewing, and organizing your site’s content more accessible.
The Bulk Edit option has also been updated. It’s now located in the footer and combined with the floating toolbar, making it easier to use and access. This change helps improve the overall editing experience by keeping essential tools in one place.
Updates in UI & Other Editing Improvements
WordPress 6.7 brings several new UI updates and features that make editing even better. Let’s take a closer look at some of these improvements.
Custom Block Names in the Block Inspector
In this version of WordPress, when you give a block a custom name, that name will now show up in the block inspector as well. Previously, only the default block name would appear, but now you can see your custom name directly in the inspector, making it easier to identify and organize your blocks.
Option to Disable Choose a Pattern Popup
You can turn off the Choose a Pattern popup that usually appears by default when creating a new page in WordPress. To disable it, go to Preferences, select General options, and simply switch off the “Show Starter Patterns” option.
Enhance Your Website with WordPress 6.7
In conclusion, the WordPress 6.7 update brings many exciting new features. With the fresh default theme, support for HEIC images, and several user experience improvements, building and managing websites is now simpler and more enjoyable. Dive in and explore all that WordPress 6.7 has to offer!
