Brace yourselves, WordPress enthusiasts! The much anticipated third major release of 2023 WordPress 6.4 “Shirley,” has just been dropped.

Similar to WordPress 5.6 “Simone” this remarkable version is led by an extraordinary all-female and non-binary team. Moreover, this release brings the completion of Phase 2 of the Gutenberg project.

With the latest version of WordPress, you can enhance every stage of the creative process. Having a new and adaptable default theme and several other powerful features. 

Create the content with ease while making further writing enhancements. Discover more ways to carry out ideas and simplify site editing with improved tools.

Explore the latest features in WordPress 6.4 with a handful of elements to thrill both developers and content creators.

WordPress 6.4 Release: A Comprehensive Overview

Many of the features and enhancements in WordPress 6.4 fall in the “small but mighty” category. 

          –Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director of WordPress

Makes the Writing Journey Effortless

To feel empowered after using blocks with all of their varieties, design tools, and transforms. The upgraded version release cycle includes new keyboard shortcuts, improved list merging, and critical fixes. Certainly, it ensures that the straightforward act of writing gets better. 

Welcome twenty-twenty-four

Introducing “Twenty Twenty-Four,” the new default theme. This basic theme is multifunctional and appropriate for all types of websites.

Twenty Twenty-Four is very simple to update and adapt with an emphasis on flexibility and customization.  To assist users in easily creating content layouts for posts and pages. It includes frequently used parts like FAQs, call-to-action sections, and services. Further, it shares six design variations and a variety of block patterns. 

Command Palette Just Leveled Up

With WordPress 6.3, the Command Palette—is a tool that lets users run commands by just pressing Cmd + K on the keyboards.

With WordPress 6.4, this tool is now even more powerful. It goes beyond being a functional upgrade; it also incorporates a subtitle design. The Command Palette’s elements are now slightly darker in color, making for a more aesthetically pleasing experience.

Specifically, it improves block management by introducing a variety of new commands and operations. You can easily replicate, change, delete, and insert blocks with the Command Palette.

With the help of this tool, you may quickly pick and alter numerous blocks at once.

For instance, you can use the Command Palette to select many blocks at once and apply modifications to them.

Organize and Refine Patterns

Within the site editor, the new version of WordPress elevates pattern management. When generating new patterns, users may now include custom categories. It facilitates the management and reuse of these layouts throughout the website.

Everywhere in the WordPress admin area, the Pattern creation window appears the same.

In the Site Editor, the Patterns tab organizes the patterns into categories.

Diverse Design Tools

Utilize an enhanced collection of design tools to create stunning and useful layouts. For creative designs, experiment with background images in Group blocks. Also, make sure that the image proportions match the aspect ratios of the placeholders. Here, we find some interesting features to explore.

1. Color Controls for the Content Block

The Content block within the Query Loop comes in handy for customizing visual aspects of contents in a loop.

When you are building or modifying a template, it is available in the site editor. Similarly, when you are editing a Query Loop, it opens in the post editor.

WordPress 6.4 brings enhanced compatibility for colors for text, background, and links in the Content block.

2. Block for Background Image 

Before, the block editor did not allow you to use a background picture in a block. With 6.4, users may now customize any group block’s background picture.

3. Let the Images Pop!

You may set or disable the lightbox effect on the images using a new Expand on click toggle in the block image Settings panel. The feature is in its initial iteration.

After adding the image, toggle the “Expand on Click” option in the block settings to open it in a lightbox popup.

Users can magnify photos with this straightforward image popup without ever leaving the website.

4. Text Orientation in Vertical Order

Themes can now handle vertical text thanks to a new Text orientation option. You can activate right-to-left vertical text in the Typography settings if the theme allows for this feature.

5. Enhancements for the Footnotes Block

Additionally, WordPress’s latest update brings several enhancements to the Footnotes block. Text color, background, and links are now supported. It also offers border, size, and typography options.

Buttons Allowed in the Navigation Block

There are now buttons in the Navigation block’s list of permitted inner elements.

Using the block toolbar, you can quickly convert a newly created menu item into a button.

Presenting Block Hooks

To support the new capabilities and speed up the workflow WordPress sets the bar a little higher. By implementing several internal enhancements for developers.

Undoubtedly, Block hooks are one of them. With block hooks, developers can extend blocks dynamically, naming them after the functionality of the hooks in WordPress core APIs.

However, plugins can add custom parameters to a block. Users will be able to toggle these parameters on or off using the block setting panel.

Make Use of Common Patterns among Sites

If you want to utilize your custom patterns on a different site, you can seamlessly import and export them as JSON files directly from the Site Editor’s patterns view.

By Default, Attachment Pages are Disabled

WordPress is used to generate a page for attachments that you upload to the website.

Only the attachment (picture or other media file) and its description were displayed on this page. Search engines subsequently crawled these pages and ruled them inappropriate for the SEO of the WordPress website.

To disable attachment pages and route visitors to the post where they posted the media or image, users rely on WordPress SEO plugins such as All in One SEO.

WordPress 6.4 will automatically disable attachment pages for all newly created websites.

It will continue to function normally if you already have a WordPress website. On the other hand, you can add the following custom code snippet to your website to disable attachment pages.

update_option( ‘wp_attachment_pages_enabled’, 0 );

Enhanced List View

You can navigate around the page’s content and take various actions on individual blocks, groups, and patterns using the List View. These operations consist of numerous others in addition to Copy and Duplicate.

Starting with 6.4, you now can rename a group of blocks and preview images for Gallery. Moreover, imply the Image blocks and duplicate blocks using the cmd + shift + d shortcut (ctrl + shift + d on Windows).

Observations of WordPress Enthusiasts

Andrew Wilder, from the WordPress support company NerdPress.net, shared on Search Engine Journal that the modifications to attachment pages will significantly benefit SEO. By default, WordPress generates a distinct “attachment page” for each media item, potentially resulting in numerous redundant and content-poor pages. 

Many clients still have these attachment pages without utilizing or acknowledging their existence, even with the recent Helpful Content Updates. Eliminating them can notably enhance a site’s overall SEO standing.

Existing websites won’t be affected by this update, especially since certain sites, such as photography sites, might still find them valuable. However, in new WordPress installations, attachment pages will now be disabled by default.

Katie Keith, the CEO of Barn2 Plugins (a plugin development company), expressed her enthusiasm that WordPress 6.4 has the new Twenty Twenty-Four theme, which I’m happy about because it’s far better than the default themes from the previous few years.

It’s a fully accessible block theme, just like other current themes, however, this one has a modern, clean, and generic style that works well for a variety of business and personal websites.

Since so many people who visit websites expect to be able to click on an image to see a larger version of it, WordPress 6.4’s new image lightboxes will come in very handy.

To be honest, I’m shocked this wasn’t available earlier!

Update the Site to WordPress 6.4

WordPress 6.4 includes numerous bug fixes, enhancements to the user interface, new design tools, and other minor adjustments.

Additionally, it offers a brand-new, lightweight, multipurpose default theme with a ton of customizable patterns and templates. These upgrades simplify and improve the experience of creating and managing websites. 

Now it’s your turn: Have you had a chance to test WordPress 6.4 yet?

Which of the 6.4 features are your favorites? Post your ideas in the comments section below.