Last updated on November 29, 2023 by esabela
WordPress 6.4 – ‘Shirley’ was released on November 7th, significantly improving the performance and workflow of the popular content management system.
With some notable improvements to performance, accessibility, and seamless content managing experience, WordPress is refining its services with each new iteration. The third major release of 2023 is no different, which brought improved back-end and front-end user experiences for WP developers.
In the following article, I recap the new features, improvements, and bug fixes in the latest WordPress release, version 6.4.
Therefore, let’s get started.
If you haven’t updated your WordPress yet, we recommend updating it now. Read this article on whether WordPress is secure and how to increase WP Security, you’ll understand why updating is important.
Table of Contents
In 2023, WordPress released several improvements with some major and minor updates. One notable WordPress core update was 6.2, also known as “Dolphy,” released on March 29. This version includes a breakthrough fluid typography tool that dynamically adjusts font sizes based on screen measurements.
Moving on, on August 8, WordPress 6.3, codenamed “Lionel,” was published, completing Phase 2 of the platform’s development roadmap. WordPress has evolved into a block-centric platform with the addition of a comprehensive site editor, making site-wide editing much more streamlined.
However, the true highlight of 2023 was the release of WordPress 6.4, commonly known as “Shirley,” on November 7. The most recent version includes the adaptable Twenty Twenty-Four default theme and improves the block editor with new design tools, patterns, and commands.
Although we are talking about development, let’s focus on WordPress 6.4 and check out what WordPress has to offer.
WordPress’s 6.4 release has exciting new features, highlighting the Twenty Twenty-Four theme, enhanced site editor, block hooks, new lightbox feature, and improved pattern handling. Let’s look at these features and see what benefits they can bring you.
Features of WordPress latest update 6.4 in 2023:
Patterns are ready-made groups of blocks that you can insert instantly into your blog posts and pages. They make it easy to add complex and attractive designs to your content. WordPress 6.4 allows you to create your own pattern categories and assign them to your patterns.
Furthermore, you can also browse patterns by category in the site editor and the pattern directory.
WordPress 6.4 also brings several improvements to the block editor, such as:
To use the Placeholder Image Ratio, click on the image block and select the desired aspect ratio from the dropdown menu in the sidebar. The placeholder image will resize itself to match the selected aspect ratio.
Here are some of the benefits of using Placeholder Image Ratio:
Overall, the Placeholder Image Ratio is a useful feature that can help you to create more professional-looking websites.
Additionally, vertical text can be used for decorative purposes, adding a unique touch to headings, sidebars, or other text elements.
To enable vertical text orientation in WordPress 6.4, follow these steps:
Open the block editor and select the block containing the text you want to display vertically.
Locate the Typography panel from the right sidebar. Click the three-dot menu in the Typography panel and select Text Orientation.
Choose the desired text orientation: Vertical or Horizontal.
With vertical text support, WordPress 6.4 expands its design flexibility, enabling web designers and content creators to craft more visually engaging and distinctive websites.
The query loop block allows you to display related posts, blogs, and products. Its pagination feature is particularly useful when scrolling between the pages. But in the earlier version of WordPress, switching to a new page triggered a complete reload.
This is fixed in WordPress 6.4. Now you can set if the page reloads or not. Simply go into the Query Loop Block from the block editor and open Enhanced pagination. Here you can choose to stop the page from reloading by turning a toggle next to Force page reload.
This is a new developer feature. You can now hook features to individual blocks using plugins. These features will show up under Advanced Options. Then you can bring a whole new level of customizations by using these features. As always, you can turn this off from the block settings.
Another headline feature of WordPress 6.4 is the new default theme – Twenty Twenty-Four! It is a beautiful and versatile theme that suits any website including blog sites.
The new default theme has 6 styles, dozens of block patterns, and several templates to help you create stunning layouts. It also supports complete site editing, which means you can customize every part of your site using the block editor.
WordPress 6.4 adds a new option to display images in a lightbox pop-up when you click on them. This creates a better user experience and makes your photos more prominent. You can turn this option on or off for each image block or all your site’s images.
Apart from using image block to have the image lightbox on your pages, you can use some image effects plugins. Read our comprehensive guide on how to install a plugin first, then install the Image Hover Effects plugin, to get the most out of such a plugin.
The command palette is a handy tool that lets you access various commands and shortcuts in the block editor. WordPress 6.4 redesigns the command palette and makes it more user-friendly and accessible.
You can now search for instructions by entering keywords, browsing commands by category, and using keyboard shortcuts to navigate and execute commands.
WordPress produces a distinct page for each picture or media file you upload. These pages could have been more helpful and could harm your SEO.
WordPress 6.4 turns off attachment pages by default for new locations. You can still enable them if you want, but it is recommended to use SEO plugins to redirect them to the parent post or page.
These are the overview of the updates and enhancements introduced in the latest version of WordPress, version 6.4. We hope you will enjoy the newly introduced features and improvements.
WordPress 6.4.1 is a minor update that addresses various bugs and security flaws found in WordPress 6.4. It was published two days after the significant WordPress 6.4 update on November 9, 2023.
The following are some of the changes in WordPress 6.4.1:
A typo in the code: A small mistake that made a notice look wrong in the admin panel. It was fixed by correcting the typo.
A backward compatibility bug: A significant problem arose when specific plugins became non-functional because they relied on code deleted from the system.
This removal inadvertently impacted the compatibility of some plugins, resulting in operational difficulties and potential breaks in intended behavior.
A critical bug causing cURL error: A critical issue that prevented updates from downloading on servers with an outdated version of the cURL library. However, it was resolved by updating the Requests library version.
WordPress 6.4.1 is a recommended update for all WordPress users, as it improves the security and stability of WordPress sites. You can update to WordPress 6.4.1 automatically from your WordPress dashboard or download it manually.
There are two ways to upgrade WordPress to the most recent version. Those are one-click and manual updates. The simplest and most usual option is the one-click update, which you can perform from your WordPress dashboard. The manual update is more hands-on and requires an FTP client to download, extract, and upload the most recent WordPress files.
To update WordPress to the latest version, you must have a web host that supports PHP version 7.4 or greater. Additionally, you need MySQL version 5.7 or MariaDB version 10.4 or greater and HTTPS support. It is also essential to back up your website before updating.
With the release of WordPress6.4, the platform has been greatly enhanced, and many new features have been included.
You will discover something new and intriguing in this edition, whether you are a user, developer, or designer. Now, you have more options and flexibility to customize your site’s look and functionality, and WordPress 6.4 makes creating and managing your site quicker and faster.
Download WordPress 6.4 from the official website or update it from your dashboard. We hope you enjoy the new WordPress 6.4 and have fun creating amazing websites with it.
Founder & CEO of New Webber.