WordPress rolls out a major update a few times a year. These new versions always offer improvements in WordPress capabilities, features, performance, and security.
With each major version, we dig in to research what’s new and how it can benefit WordPress users. I’m excited to share with you the most interesting new features of “Tatum”.
Updating to WordPress 5.8
First, I recommend waiting a few days before updating to this new version of WordPress. This gives plugin and theme developers time to make any updates on their end to ensure compatibility.
Version 5.8 is considered a major update (not a minor security update). As a result, you may need to log in to your WordPress website and update your site manually. To learn how to manually update WordPress, check out this step-by-step guide & video on “How to Update WordPress to the Latest Version”.
Some web hosting accounts may handle WordPress updates on their end for you, or you might have an automatic WordPress update option turned on. In those cases, the update will happen soon, if not already.
New Features of WordPress 5.8
Below are some of the noticeable new features in WordPress 5.8.
You’ll see many of these new features are for the WordPress Block Editor, Gutenberg. I don’t teach the WordPress Block Editor in my Website Creation Workshop™. At this point, I still find it confusing for beginners and not intuitive.
Instead, I teach other WordPress visual editors such as Divi and Elementor. I believe they’re ahead of the WordPress Block Editor in terms of functionalities and ease of use. But I’m still excited to see these new features and the direction WordPress is heading: Putting More Power in Its Users’ Hands!
Media Library: You Can Now Upload WebP Images
You may be familiar with popular image formats like .jpg, .png, and .gif. Over the past years, a new image format quickly gained popularity especially for use on websites: WebP
WebP technology makes it possible to create smaller size images without losing quality. It supports transparency, too. And starting with WordPress 5.8, you can now upload WebP images to the Media Library and use them on your website!
Media Library: Copy the URL of a Newly Uploaded Image
Prior to version 5.8, you had to go to the Edit screen to find the URL of an image you’ve uploaded to your Media Library. I used to think it was a bit annoying. Didn’t you?
Now we can easily grab the URL as soon as the uploading is done without having to leave that screen! It’s a tiny change, but a very welcome improvement.
Media Library: How to Fix if Your Media Library Appears Frozen
If you’re using the Enhanced Media Library plugin or other media library plugins, you may find that it won’t scroll or appears frozen. If so, you may need to deactivate the plugin until they update it. Watch this video to learn how:
You Can Now Use Blocks in the Widget Area
WordPress 5.8 incorporates the block editor in the Widgets. This means…
- You will be using the WordPress block editor to create your widgets, making it even easier to add widgets to your website.
- Whatever “blocks” they offer in the editor, you can now use them in the widget area.
For those who are more comfortable with the old style widgets, this plugin is available to revert back: https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-widgets/
Watch the video below on how to get your widgets back with the Classic Widget plugin:
GUTENBERG: More Block Patterns Available Online
WordPress 5.6 introduced Block Patterns (pre-made layouts made up of regular blocks) in its block editor. Block Patterns help you to quickly put together a beautiful web page. However, as nice as they looked, the Block Patterns available in WordPress were somewhat limited.
Now, they’ve added a “Patterns” online depository within wordpress.org. The Block Pattern Directory offers many more Block Patterns. Once you see the Block Pattern you’d like to use on your site, you can simply copy the code provided and paste it into your webpage’s block editor. (More details can be found here.) I expect to see this Block Pattern collection continue to grow over time.
GUTENBERG: “Block List View”
If you’re using WordPress Block Editor (aka. Gutenberg) and have a long page, you may find it difficult to jump to a certain block or figure out the structure of the page.
Block List View is now available in WordPress 5.8. Just click on the List View icon at the top of the editor to open the List View. You can clearly see how the page is structured, and clicking on items on the list will quickly take you to the right location in the editor.
GUTENBERG: Use the Duotone Color Filter Right in the Image Block for Cool Color Effects
Do you like to add color effects to your images but don’t want to fiddle with graphics software? WordPress 5.8 introduced a quick color filter tool right in the Image and Cover Blocks called “Duotone Filter.”
As you use this tool, you can instantly see how the image colors change right in the editor.
GUTENBERG: File Block Lets You Show a PDF Preview
Until now, you needed a plugin to show a preview of a PDF file on your website. With WordPress 5.8’s “File Block,” all you need to do is select your pdf file from your Media Library to display a very slick preview of your pdf content. Adding a download button right under the preview screen is an option, too.
GUTENBERG: Build Your Own Theme with Template Builder and Theme Building Blocks
WordPress 5.8 comes with many new blocks in its block editor that give the user more design and layout control. As a result, it’s easier to achieve a look that may not have been available before due to theme restrictions.
In the Design and Theme groups of blocks, you can already find blocks like Site Title, Site Logo, Query Loop, etc. They’re introducing these blocks now, along with a preliminary version of Template Builder.
Ultimately, WordPress is moving in the direction of enabling users to build their own theme right in the block editor. There are still many limitations, but it’s expected that the users will have more and more control in the near future.
Other Improvements in WordPress 5.8
Of course, there are many other “Under the Hood” new features and improvements that are made mainly for WordPress developers. Although these changes are not obvious to regular WordPress users, they’re very important! You can read more about WordPress 5.8 in the WordPress.org official blog post.
What WordPress 5.8 features are you most excited about? Have you discovered something new that’s not listed above? Please feel free to share in the comment section below!
This is a topic that’s near to my heart… Thank you! Where are your contact details though?
Trinity,
you can find my contact info on my about page and in the footer on my contact us page https://websitecreationworkshop.com/contact-us/