Explore WordPress 6.4: A Brand New Theme, 10+ Features and More

Get ready to experience the third major update this year– WordPress 6.4: “Shirley” which has released on November 8, 2023.

With all the spotlight now on this major update, this release is generating quite a buzz, and for exciting reasons.  

With a brand new default theme and more than 10 exclusive features,  bug fixes, and existing feature improvements, it’s bound to be a game-changer for web designers and content creators. 

So, let’s take a closer look at what’s new in WordPress 6.4 release, and get ready to enhance your web presence like never before!

A Quick Glimpse on WordPress 6.4

🎉 New	🚀 Improvements
✅ Twenty Twenty-Four theme ✅ Lightbox pop-up ✅ Extensive toolbar ✅ Group blocks background image ✅ Image placeholders aspect ratios  ✅ Categories for patterns ✅ Button and heading color customization  ✅ Section-specific Styling ✅ Block hooks ✅ Import/export patterns as JSON file	📌 50+ accessibility enhancements 📌 100+ performance-related updates

What’s New in WordPress 6.4

What’s new in WordPress 6.4?

Well, this latest version of WordPress is packed with a fresh theme and exclusive new features that are sure to take your website-building experience to new heights. At the same time, there are significant improvements in the exciting features of WordPress 6.2 and 6.3 as well. 

Let’s dive into what’s new in WordPress 6.4.

1. Twenty Twenty-Four Default Theme

WordPress 6.4 introduces a fresh default theme, “Twenty Twenty-Four”. 

This new theme offers a versatile range of templates for various user needs, emphasizing the latest design tools and site editing features. 

Good to know: The default theme series started in the WordPress 3.0 named “Twenty Ten” theme released in 2010.

2. Lightbox Pop-up with Images 

The new lightbox functionality of WordPress 6.4 enables your image blocks to display images interactively. You can open and zoom in on them over your content. 

As a result, you can now able to enhance your images more efficiently and dynamically. 

3. Extensive Toolbar

Get ready for an improved writing and designing experience in WordPress 6.4! 

An improved toolbar is also introduced for the ‘Navigation’, ‘List’, and ‘Quote’ blocks. These can make your workflow more smooth and more efficient. Plus, you have now access to new keyboard shortcuts and a better copy-pasting experience from various sources. 

Let’s see how you can enhance the flow of writing lists by catching the upcoming fresh toolbar feature within the parent list block.

🌟 Navigation: To experiment with nested blocks through the Navigation, 

• Create or open a post or page
• Insert a navigation block
• Add navigation links
• Experiment with the nested block’s toolbar in the parent navigation block

🌟 List Items: Add new list item blocks by styling them by indenting and outdenting the items by following the steps:

• Insert a list block
• Add a few list items
• Select between them to indent or outdent the items

🌟 Quote Block: For the Quote blocks, you can modify their styles as well. To do so,

• Insert a quote block
• Add content to the block
• Select between the cite and paragraph content to utilize the captured toolbar

4. Background Images for Group Blocks

Group blocks of the WordPress 6.4 version have the capability to add background images along with background colors. This amazing feature offers room for creative and individualized layouts by,

• Controlling background-related styling options
• Enabling the Group block to make use of this new block support.
• Automatically generating an inline style and size for the selected background image 

5. Aspect Ratios for Image Placeholders

Another handy new feature of the WordPress 6.4 release — the image placeholders with customisable aspect ratios. 

• You are able to easily set the aspect ratio you want and then simply drag and drop an image
• It can automatically adjust to fit your design while maintaining consistency
• It also allows you to style them to match your desired setup

6. Create Your Own Pattern Categories

In the new WordPress 6.4 release, creating your own categories of any group of patterns is another addition to ensure a seamless experience.

Making your own categories including both synced and unsynced patterns can make them organize and you can find them effortlessly. You can also edit or rename the categories as well. 

7. Button and Heading Color Customization in Group 

You can also experience the option to customize buttons and heading colors in Group blocks, as part of the upcoming WordPress 6.4 release. 

This feature marks the beginning of section-specific styling possibilities in each container block.

8. Section-specific Styling

You can utilize the style object for various styling aspects without altering serialization methods. Whether it’s a preset value or a custom one, the approach remains consistent.

You can customize properties such as 

• BackgroundColor
• TextColor
• Gradient
• BorderColor
• FontFamily
• Font size

Important Note: Though it was intended to be included in WordPress 6.4, now it’s decided to release to version 6.5.

9. Introducing Block Hooks

WordPress 6.4 also includes dynamic block functionalities by introducing block hooks. This exclusive feature allows an additional extensibility mechanism for Block Themes.

However, this block hook feature is especially for developers to add blocks automatically with plugins through activation. For instance, the “Like” and “Comment” button blocks will be inserted with the post content block. Or, the “add to cart” button will included automatically when you install the WooCommerce plugin.

10. Import/export Patterns as JSON File

Another noteworthy new feature of the WordPress 6.4 release is the facility to export or import any patterns as JSON files. As a result, you can easily transfer any custom pattern from one website to another. 

For example, you have created some synced/unsynced patterns. Now you want to export them, for this,

• Go to your Site Editor ➡ Patterns ➡ My patterns
• Click on the grid list in the “Actions” menu dropdown of the particular pattern
• Select “Export as JSON”

To import the JSON file of a pattern, 

• Navigate to Site Editor ➡ Patterns
• Click on the plus (+) icon
• Select “Import pattern from JSON”

WordPress 6.4: Upgraded Features 

While highlighting the latest features addition features, an extensive number of previous features are improved in this brand-new version to empower WordPress users.

Let’s explore the array of upgraded features in WordPress 6.4.

• Going to introduce 50+ accessibility enhancements.
• Including 100+ performance-related updates.
• Refining the user interface (UI) with improved button placements.
• Providing clearer context for “Add New” admin menu items.
• A checkbox is added to allow users to open a link preview in a new tab.
• Upgrading audible messages in Site Health aims to improve user experience.
• Implementing new “no motion” settings for GIFs.
• Allowing users to see a direct link to install the Classic Editor plugin without JavaScript.
• Increasing template loading performance for both WordPress Block and Classic Themes.
• Promoting more efficient performance with autoloaded options.
• Improving WordPress 6.3 command palette with better search, navigation and other actions.
• Updating the List view with a user-friendly approach to manage site blocks.
• Improving rename group blocks, view media previews, and duplicate blocks with the keyboard shortcut.

How to Test WordPress 6.4? 

The beta 1, 2 and 3 versions are already released and ready to test. You can test using 3 easy methods.

Let’s see how to test WordPress 6.4 and experience the ultimate features and functionalities. 

Note: Make sure, you test the WordPress 6.4 beta version in your development or local sites. Do not test on a production or live site without taking the backups. 

Method 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin

To test WordPress 6.4, 

• Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester Plugin like any plugin.

After activation, go to the WordPress dashboard

1. Click on “Tools”
2. Select the option “Beta Testing”
3. Select the channel “Bleeding Edge” 
4. Choose the stream option to “Beta/RC only” 
5. Click Save Changes

• Navigate to Dashboard >> Updates
• Click the button to update to the latest 6.4 version

Method 2: Download WordPress 6.4 Beta Version

You can also download the beta 3 version directly of the WordPress 6.4 release.

• Download the Beta 3 version (zip)
• Install it on a WordPress website

Method 3: Using Command Line

Apart from these 2 ways, you can also test the WordPress 6.4 version using the following  WP-CLI command:

wp core update --version=6.4-beta3

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