As an agency focused on delivering client websites using the popular WordPress CMS, we have a keen eye on what the newly released WordPress 6.5 contains and what that means for your business.

Sometimes, new releases just contain slight improvements to the previous releases and nothing more than a bit here and there to move the platform forward, whilst other releases take major leaps forward, revolutionising the options available to both the web developer and the team that will maintain the website contain for the long-term, often an in-house team that has limited technical skills but who still want to maintain the professional level that the website was delivered to.

So, where does WordPress 6.5 fall when measured against this scale? Let’s start by taking a look at what the more basic changes are.

WordPress Bug Fixes and General Improvements

First of all, there are 20 bug fixes for the WordPress Editor, meaning that the platform is more stable and reliable than ever, and this open-source continuous improvement approach is just one of the reasons that Clarus chooses WordPress over all the other options out there. And then there are over 4o tickets raised by the WordPress community for the CMS that have been addressed, many of which contain nice new features that will help us make richer featured and better-designed websites for our clients, including for usability for website visitors with accessibility concerns and some of these will be features that out more power in the hands of the company individuals within marketing teams, updating and adding new content. Other notable improvements are for performance, updates to Blocks, and other core areas within WordPress, such as appearance tools for themes and plugin dependencies.

WordPress 6.5 New Features

So, without further ado, let’s list the most notable new features.

1. WordPress Font Library – This is a new feature allowing for easy installation of both local and Google fonts which has always been a bit fiddly. The result is a better interface and more control over typography without relying on the theme fonts or CSS. Faster set-up means lower costs for our clients.
2. DataViews Component – This is a new Site Editor feature which introduces new views and features for the management of pages and templates. Options include grid, table and list views as well as filters, search, sorting and pagination. The improved usability will help our more involved clients get the most out of the CMS. Like the item above, we have more features that help us keep our initial development costs as low as possible without compromising the website build quality.
3. Interactivity API – This new API standardises interactivity on the front end. Whilst it is not something that will help our clients manage or enhance the website on a daily basis, it will let us use dynamic pagination, instant search, and real-time interaction between blocks. The net client benefit will be that it enhances the UX without the need for page reloads.
4. Block Bindings API – This is an exciting new feature that allows the connection of block attributes to values from different data sources, such as custom fields, site and user data, etc. This means that we can display dynamic data within blocks, providing an improved UX and allowing our clients to show relevant and up-to-date data on the front end.
5. Design Tools and Site Editor Updates – This is where, at first glance, we feel most of our clients will benefit. We have increased controls over background image sizes and repeating images and importantly, for many of our clients, control over the aspect ratio of the Cover images. There are other enhancements, too, with improved views and other functions that aid with development, which, again, help ensure that we can continue to design and build increasingly awesome websites for our clients at the price level that we do now.

Click for more details on our WordPress development and supporting services, and then get in touch if you are interested to learn how we can help grow your business or non-profit.