The WordPress dev team released the much-awaited WordPress 6.1 “Misha” update earlier today. This update was named after the Soviet-Norwegian jazz pianist Mikhail “Misha” Alperin who introduced jazz ensembles in the USSR and around the world.
“Misha” further refines the site-building experience. Inside WordPress 6.1 you’ll interact with enhancements that continue to make site creation more intuitive while pushing your creative boundaries further than ever. Don’t forget to enjoy some of Misha’s jazz piano as you take in all WordPress 6.1 has to offer.
WordPress.org
This version provides many stability, performance, and usability enhancements for WordPress site owners and administrators.
This release includes features that many in the WordPress Community have been most excited about since the start of this project. Additional enhancements and improvements to the editor give site owners more control and easier customization while offering a more cohesive experience to users. A lot of writing-focused improvements are included in the release, because if you’re giving voices to the voiceless you’ve got to focus on folks writing the copy.
Some of my favorite enhancements are the refined ability to select partial paragraphs in a block; settings to keep list view open by default; and the keyboard shortcut to add internal links expanded to all blocks.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director
New features & improvements available on WordPress 6.1
- Twenty Twenty-Three: A fresh default theme with 10 distinct style variations
- New templates for an improved creator experience
- Design tools for more consistency and control
- Manage menus with ease
- Cleaner layouts and document settings visualization
- One-click lock setting for all inner blocks
- Improved block placeholders
- Compose richer lists and quotes with inner blocks
- More responsive text with fluid typography
- Add starter patterns to any post type
- Find block themes faster
- Keep your Site Editor settings for later
- A streamlined style system
- Updated interface options and features
- Continued evolution of layout options
- Block Template parts in classic themes
- Expanded support for Query Loop blocks
- Filters for all your styles
- Spacing presets for faster, consistent design
- Content-only editing support for container blocks
You can learn more about WordPress 6.1 by watching this brief overview video that highlights some of the major features included in this update.
Aside from all that stuff, WordPress 6.1 also includes about 60 different updates that specifically focus on enhancing the accessibility of the platform. This update also resolves more than 25 tickets dedicated to enhancing performance which will benefit and provide improvements for every type of WordPress-powered site.
WordPress 6.1 is the third major version of the software released this year (2022) and you can download it via this link or you can update your site via the WordPress Dashboard > Update.
NOTE: Before updating/upgrading your WordPress site, always make sure to create or have a backup of your database and other important files like the wp-content folder and the wp-config.php file.
If you have enabled auto-updates, then you don’t have to do anything as the update will be done automatically.
Personally, I haven’t upgraded to WordPress 6.1 yet. I only upgrade my site right away if it is a maintenance & security release. I usually wait at least a couple of weeks before I install or upgrade to a new stable release because, by that time, most of the bugs and issues that were missed or newly discovered will have already been patched.
After that, I will test it on my staging site before I would upgrade the version on my live site to make sure that everything works fine and there are no conflicts or issues with the WordPress theme or plugins I’m using.
Kudos to the hardworking WordPress dev team and all the contributors for all the time and energy spent in bringing the best WordPress experience to everyone.
Have you upgraded to WordPress 6.1 yet? What are your favorite new features? What do you like or dislike about this latest version? Did you encounter any issues or conflicts with your current theme or plugin? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
