WordPress 4.6 was released yesterday and it is one of the two major releases of this year. There are many new and exciting features and some bugs are fixed too. Let’s discuss what’s new in WordPress 4.6 and which features you will be able to enjoy after upgrading your website.
Note: Please backup your website before installing the new update.
Native System Fonts
Before this update, WordPress was using Open Sans font for its admin panel, which meant a third party project and compromise on the speed. Now, WordPress will use the font of your native system in the admin panel.
No Page Loading While Installing Themes and Plugins
Previously, a page load was required while installing themes and plugins. This meant that more time would be used for installation. Now, with the help of this update, it is faster to install these features, without leaving the page.
Enhancement in Editor
WordPress now highlights the broken and misspelled links in visual editor which you add while posting something. The broken links are highlighted with red dots.
Better Looking Import Screen
You can import your content from sites like Tumblr and Blogger with the help of Importer Plugins located in “Tools”. In this update, the UI of import screen is much better than the previous version. There will be no more pop-ups while installing the plugins
Improvements for Developers
- Resource hints is a new W3C specification, which allows browser to connect and pre-fetch resources to improve performance.
- WordPress 4.6 introduces register_meta() function for the registration of meta keys. It works like register_post_type() function and allows developers to use a standard way to work with metadata.
- WordPress 4.6 allows comments to be cached as a persistent object type. This means comment cache is properly validated and updated when there are changes.
- WordPress 4.6 introduces the new WP_Post_Type class. It changes $wp_post_types to an array of WP_Post_Type objects. This provides methods to handle post type supports, rewrite rules, meta boxes, hooks, and taxonomies.
- The new WP_Term_Query class in WordPress 4.6 provides a better structure for generating term queries.
So, you saw that there are many exciting features in WordPress 4.6. Once you have installed the update, do let us know about your experience with the new features.
Source: WP Beginner
Also read: New .Blog Domains for Websites