{"id":4607,"date":"2019-11-13T13:52:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T13:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/?p=4607"},"modified":"2022-06-09T20:01:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T20:01:46","slug":"wordpress-5-3-new-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wordpress-5-3-new-features","title":{"rendered":"WordPress 5.3 Comes in with New Default Theme, Blocks, and PHP 7.4 Support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">WordPress 5.3 is now available for download. The name is <strong>Kirk<\/strong>, in honor of American jazz musician <strong>Rahsaan Roland Kirk<\/strong>. This major release comes with many new features and improvements, including such in the user interface, accessibility, a lot of new block editor features, and a new default theme\u2014<strong>Twenty Twenty<\/strong>. A total of 645 volunteers contributed to the release of WordPress 5.3, which is the largest group ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<div class=\"alert alert-info mb-5\"><p>The PHP native <strong>JSON extension<\/strong> <strong>is now a requirement<\/strong> for sites running on WordPress 5.3 or later. Because the extension has been bundled with PHP since 2006, the fact that JSON is now required should not be an issue for the majority of WordPress users. However, keep in mind that WordPress will output an error and cancel the update if it detects that the JSON extension is missing.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We are about to cover the most significant changes that come with WordPress 5.3, which are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"nav-list wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"#improved-site-health-tool\">Improved Site Health Component<\/a><ul>\n\t<li><a href=\"#site-health-grading-removed\">Site Health Grading Removed<\/a><\/li>\n\t<li><a href=\"#recovery-emails-improved\">Recovery Emails Improved<\/a><\/li>\n\t<\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#whats-new-with-gutenberg\">What\u2019s New with Gutenberg<\/a><ul>\n\t<li><a href=\"#new-and-improved-blocks\">New and Improved Blocks<\/a><\/li>\n\t<\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#a-new-default-wordpress-theme\">A New Default WordPress Theme<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#design-and-user-interface-updates\">Design and User Interface Updates<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#some-love-for-the-developers\">Some Love for the WordPress Developers<\/a><ul>\n\t<li><a href=\"#date-time-core-component-improvements\">Date\/Time Core Component Improvements<\/a><\/li>\n\t<li><a href=\"#new-aria-current-attribute\">New Aria-current Attribute<\/a><\/li>\n\t<li><a href=\"#the-rest-api-in-wordpress\">The REST API in WordPress 5.3<\/a><\/li>\n\t<\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#under-the-hood-improvements\">Under The Hood Improvements in WordPress 5.3<\/a><ul>\n\t<li><a href=\"#wordpress-miltisite-changes\">WordPress Multisite changes in 5.3<\/a><\/li>\n\t<\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#how-to-update-to-wordpress-5-3\">How to Update to WordPress 5.3<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"improved-site-health-tool\">Improved Site Health Component<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Site Health tool came along with <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wordpress-5-2-whats-new\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress 5.2<\/a>. It informs you about <strong>your website\u2019s health<\/strong>, while at the same time helping you improve it. Additionally, Site Health helps all admins recover their websites whenever technical issues occur. With version 5.3 of WordPress, there are some extra improvements to the tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"site-health-grading-removed\">Site Health Grading Removed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>With WordPress 5.2, Site Health gave a percentage grade at the top of its status page. However, many considered that score grade to be doing more bad than good because it often makes users prioritize health scores over what is good for their WordPress site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The indicator used to show a percentage and how many tests have been passed, but now that has changed. With WordPress 5.3, Site Health begins to show you whether your site\u2019s health condition is <strong>Good<\/strong> or <strong>Should Be Improved. <\/strong>&nbsp;This way the condition of your site will be considered more a reminder, than an absolute necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"recovery-emails-improved\">Recovery Emails Improved<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever a failure occurs, WordPress will attempt to <strong>send the admin a recovery email<\/strong>. However, such emails don\u2019t really offer useful information when it comes to debugging. The admin is only informed that something went wrong with their WordPress site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To provide some additional and helpful information and give you a hand with restoring your site, WordPress 5.3 is introducing the <code>recovery_email_debug_info<\/code> filter. This filter <strong>enables you to get the debugging information<\/strong> needed. You will now have the opportunity to resolve the issue by yourself, or at least know how to effectively get help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"whats-new-with-gutenberg\">What\u2019s New with Gutenberg<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since it launched with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wordpress-5-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">WordPress 5.0<\/a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/gutenberg-new-wordpress-editor\" target=\"_blank\">Gutenberg<\/a> has been improved regularly with the help of many contributors globally. With that said, new releases of the Block Editor are not merged into the WordPress core as soon as they are ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This brings us to the point. With version 5.3 of the CMS, <strong>a whole package of thirteen Gutenberg releases<\/strong> are being merged all at once. You know what that means\u2014a lot of new stuff. So, If you haven\u2019t used Gutenberg until now, it\u2019s probably time to give it a go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"new-and-improved-blocks\">New and Improved Blocks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Apart from improvements on various existing Gutenberg blocks, the user interface, as well as the user experience, are <strong>overall improved<\/strong>. There are also some interesting new visual hints and animations. Now you can improve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/how-to-format-wordpress-blog-posts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"your blog post formatting (opens in a new tab)\">your blog post formatting<\/a> even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New Group Block<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>An addition to the blocks is the <strong>Group Block<\/strong>. With WordPress 5.3, you can create groups of blocks and interact with them altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"464\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/add-a-new-group-block-in-gutenberg.png\" alt=\"Add a New Group Block in Gutenberg\" class=\"wp-image-4617\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/add-a-new-group-block-in-gutenberg.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/add-a-new-group-block-in-gutenberg-300x136.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/add-a-new-group-block-in-gutenberg-768x348.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s quite simple\u2014add a group block and then begin adding blocks inside of it. Another option is to <strong>use the drag and drop<\/strong> if you want to add or exclude blocks from the group. This way you can save multiple block items as just one reusable group block (consider it as a folder on your computer).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Improved Image Block<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The image block has been improved with WordPress 5.3. You can now select a style for your images: <strong>Default<\/strong> and <strong>Circle mask<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/select-styles-for-your-image-blocks.png\" alt=\"Styles Added to Image Block\" class=\"wp-image-4618\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/select-styles-for-your-image-blocks.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/select-styles-for-your-image-blocks-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/select-styles-for-your-image-blocks-768x329.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Improved Columns Block<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>With the columns block, you can now choose between different layouts, or adjust the width of every column from the settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/column-settings-in-gutenberg.png\" alt=\"New Column Settings in Gutenberg\" class=\"wp-image-4619\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/column-settings-in-gutenberg.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/column-settings-in-gutenberg-300x117.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/column-settings-in-gutenberg-768x299.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Add New Block<\/strong> placeholder inside columns is also <strong>clearly visible<\/strong>, which makes it much easier when creating multi-column layouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Improved Table Block<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The table block gets improved visually. Now you can <strong>select styles and add stripes<\/strong> to the table rows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/stripes-added-to-tables-in-gutenberg.png\" alt=\"Stripes Added to Tables in Gutenberg\" class=\"wp-image-4620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/stripes-added-to-tables-in-gutenberg.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/stripes-added-to-tables-in-gutenberg-300x109.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/stripes-added-to-tables-in-gutenberg-768x279.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, you can <strong>add header and footer rows<\/strong> to your tables:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"387\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/header-and-footer-added-for-tables.png\" alt=\"Add Header and Footer to Your Tables\" class=\"wp-image-4622\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/header-and-footer-added-for-tables.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/header-and-footer-added-for-tables-300x113.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/header-and-footer-added-for-tables-768x290.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Improved Button Block<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you need to add a button in your posts or pages, then you will probably love the fact that the button block is also getting some love. You can now <strong>customize your own border-radius<\/strong> for each button block.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"323\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/new-button-settings-in-gutenberg.png\" alt=\"New Settings for The Button Block in Gutenberg\" class=\"wp-image-4623\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/new-button-settings-in-gutenberg.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/new-button-settings-in-gutenberg-300x95.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/new-button-settings-in-gutenberg-768x242.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, you can set the target, while also adding \u2018<em>rel<\/em>\u2019 attribute to the link. This means that you can open your button links in new windows, making them nofollow when needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Block Navigation Mode<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a new navigation mode (<a href=\"https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/core\/2019\/08\/14\/whats-new-in-gutenberg-14-august\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">Gutenberg 6.3<\/a>) that enables you to navigate between blocks using the <strong>Tab<\/strong> or <strong>Arrow<\/strong> keys, without having to go into block content. Users can switch from <strong>Navigation mode<\/strong> to <strong>Edit mode<\/strong> and back just by hitting <strong>Enter<\/strong> or <strong>Esc<\/strong>. This is a great feature and a big improvement in usability, especially when we talk about screen readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inline Image Reordering in Gallery Blocks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Gallery block received the <strong>inline image reordering<\/strong>. You are now able to rearrange images in your gallery only with a click on Move image forward and Move image backward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"598\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/inline-moving-of-images-in-gallery-blocks.png\" alt=\"Inline Image Reordering for your Gallery Blocks\" class=\"wp-image-4624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/inline-moving-of-images-in-gallery-blocks.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/inline-moving-of-images-in-gallery-blocks-300x175.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/inline-moving-of-images-in-gallery-blocks-768x449.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Improved Latest Posts Block<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Up until now, the <strong>Latest Posts block<\/strong> used to just add a list of recent posts. Now, with WordPress 5.3, this block will additionally allow you to add and control excerpts lengths. Currently, the latest posts block simply adds a list of your recent posts. In WordPress 5.3, the latest posts block will also allow you to add excerpts and control excerpt lengths as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"266\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/exerpts-added-to-latest-posts-block.png\" alt=\"Exerpts Added to Latest Posts Block\" class=\"wp-image-4625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/exerpts-added-to-latest-posts-block.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/exerpts-added-to-latest-posts-block-300x78.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/exerpts-added-to-latest-posts-block-768x200.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind though, the Latest Posts block still <strong>doesn\u2019t show the post thumbnails<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">List Block Improved<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Lists block now has indent and outdent shortcuts, start value, and support for reverse order (when using ordered lists).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"314\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/new-list-options-gutenberg.png\" alt=\"List Block in Gutenberg Improved\" class=\"wp-image-4626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/new-list-options-gutenberg.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/new-list-options-gutenberg-300x92.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/new-list-options-gutenberg-768x236.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 data-role=\"contents-nav-item\" id=\"a-new-default-wordpress-theme\">A New Default WordPress Theme<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As everyone probably expected, WordPress 5.3 comes with a <strong>new default theme &#8211; Twenty Twenty<\/strong>. This new theme is based on a <strong>free WordPress theme\u2014Chaplin<\/strong>. Twenty Twenty is designed by Anders Nor\u00e9n, with its most elegant part being the typography. The new default theme comes with a font family called Inter typeface. The font works perfectly for headlines, making them appealing and crisp. Additionally, Inter typeface also looks very good on small screens (mobile devices).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Twenty Twenty helps people <strong>capitalize on the Block Editor<\/strong> and create attractive content layouts for their WordPress posts and pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Twenty Twenty also <strong>includes a cover and a full-width template<\/strong> for pages and posts. You can find two navigation menus at the top, a Social Links menu at the bottom, in addition to two menus for mobile device screens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The theme is with a single column layout, meaning there are no sidebars to the left or right of your content. With that said, there are two areas at the bottom that where you can add widgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last, but not least\u2014Twenty Twenty works with all of the popular WordPress page builders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"design-and-user-interface-updates\">Design and User Interface Updates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some changes with the overall appearance of WordPress come with the 5.3 release. The changes are not significant, and they might even go unnoticed by many WordPress admins. However, the changes are present, and they include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Improved Color Contrast.<\/strong> There has been an improvement in color contrast, as well as many accessibility issues being fixed;<\/li><li><strong>Admin Email Verification.<\/strong> When the admin (you) has not logged in a period of time, there will now be an admin email verification. This interval is set to six months by default, but it can be changed by developers if they use the admin_email_check_interval filter;<\/li><li><strong>Resuming Uploads.<\/strong> Uploading large images (or videos) from a smartphone will no longer break things in the middle of the process. WordPress now supports upload resuming for whenever they fail;<\/li><li><strong>Image Rotation.<\/strong> Images will now be correctly rotated upon upload\u2014according to <strong>EXIF<\/strong> orientation metadata.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"some-love-for-the-developers\">Some Love for the WordPress Developers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.3 comes with plenty of changes and improvements <strong>for the WordPress developers<\/strong>. We will roughly cover some of the most significant changes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"date-time-core-component-improvements\">Date\/Time Core Component Improvements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/core\/2019\/09\/23\/date-time-improvements-wp-5-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">This component<\/a> deals with everything related to date, time, and timezones. Andrey \u201cRarst\u201d Savchenko said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Date\/Time component relied on the so-called \u201cWordPress timestamp\u201d \u2014 a sum of Unix timestamp with a time zone offset. This was causing many bugs and a lack of interoperability with upstream PHP or any external systems. Inline documentation erroneously referred to these as Unix timestamps.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>It was impossible to remove WordPress timestamps without backward compatibility issues. However, the component code got improved by applying several bug fixes, and inline documentation was corrected where needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"new-aria-current-attribute\">New Aria-current Attribute<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever a new post or page is published, its name would appear in a number of menus and widgets. With WordPress 5.3 comes a new aria-current=&#8221;page&#8221; attribute. <strong>This attribute is to point out links to the same page.<\/strong> Theme developers, you can feel encouraged to add specific styles to those links. The change affects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Recent Posts;<\/li><li>Navigation Menu;<\/li><li>Category;<\/li><li>Pages;<\/li><li>Archives.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-rest-api-in-wordpress\">The REST API in WordPress 5.3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Along with everything else, WordPress 5.3 brings <strong>some improvements to the REST API<\/strong> as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most significant changes here is the addition of support for <code>object<\/code> and <code>array<\/code> data types to <code>register_meta<\/code> functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this new power, <strong>the REST API now supports metadata types natively<\/strong>, which enables you to use the API for performing schema-based validation. All this could result in simplifying the client code interaction with some complex values, ultimately allowing developers to build complex meta-based blocks with the use of REST API.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a more <strong>comprehensive overview<\/strong> of the REST API improvements coming with WordPress 5.3, see <a href=\"https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/core\/2019\/10\/16\/the-rest-api-in-wordpress-5-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">The REST API in WordPress 5.3<\/a>.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"under-the-hood-improvements\">Under The Hood Improvements in WordPress 5.3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The following are some of those under the hood changes that come with WordPress 5.3:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>WordPress now offers a better way to discourage Google and other search engines from indexing a site when we check the option <strong>Discourage search engines from indexing this website<\/strong>;<\/li><li>WordPress 5.3 also has <strong>better compatibility with PHP 7.4<\/strong>;<\/li><li>A <strong>show\/hide password toggle is now available<\/strong> on your WordPress login screen for both mobile and desktop.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"wordpress-miltisite-changes\">WordPress Multisite Changes in 5.3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In case you are among the people that use WordPress multisite for your website network, you will be happy to know about the following improvements in that area:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Developers can now filter sites by status;<\/li><li>Multisite now stores database version as meta;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-update-to-wordpress-5-3\">How to Update to WordPress 5.3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcomet.com\/tutorials\/wordpress\/updating-wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">updating your WordPress core<\/a>, we recommend that you utilize the one-click staging environment. Do that to clone your live WordPress site and test the new 5.3 version of the CMS. Always make sure everything works properly (<strong>plugins and theme<\/strong>) before going into the new release. Also, it never hurts to create a manual backup before updating your live site. You can never be too cautious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To update to the 5.3 version of WordPress, all you have to do is click on the updates icon in your admin dashboard. Next, click <strong>Update Now<\/strong>. While being updated, your site will be in maintenance mode. As soon as all updates are complete, the site will be as normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the update is finished, you will see the <strong>Welcome to WordPress 5.3<\/strong> screen. That\u2019s all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Those are <strong>the most significant features coming with WordPress 5.3<\/strong>. Keep in mind that there is an incredible number of&nbsp; small changes, bug fixes, and deprecations, in addition to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Thirteen versions of the Gutenberg plugin merged into one;<\/li><li>Various improvements to the Site Health Tool;<\/li><li>New Twenty Twenty default theme;<\/li><li>Admin interface improvements;<\/li><li>New functions and features for developers and designers;<\/li><li>Better support for PHP 7,4.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Share <strong>your favorite new features and improvements<\/strong> in the comment section. Add anything that you think is important and we missed mentioning. Happy New WordPress!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WordPress 5.3 is now available for download. The name is Kirk, in honor of American jazz musician Rahsaan Roland Kirk. This major release comes with many new features and improvements, including such in the user interface, accessibility, a lot of new block editor features, and a new default theme\u2014Twenty Twenty. 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