After kicking off development in August, we are just about one month away from the release of WordPress 4.7, which is slated to go live on December 6.
WordPress 4.7 Beta 1 was released last week and people have already started testing the software. The core team welcomes any and all suggestions, so set up a test site and start playing with the new version.
There are a lot of exciting features to look forward to, so let’s jump into what you can expect in 4.7.
REST API Content Endpoints
The REST API framework was merged with 4.4 in October 2015. We expected the remaining phases of the API to be included into 4.5 but there were some disagreements about how best to proceed with endpoints and we didn’t see a full merge in the next two updates. However, we are getting one step closer with 4.7.
Those pesky endpoints are finally getting the merge we’ve all been waiting for come December. According to the merge proposal, the content endpoints, or content merge will support all of the following:
- Posts: Access all post data including pages and media
- Comments: Access comment data including pingbacks and trackbacks
- Terms: Access all term data
- Users: Access all user data
- Meta: Access all meta data
- Settings: Get access to settings data
This is an extremely exciting feature and we’re happy the REST API team was able to get it ready.
Custom CSS And Live Previews
Making changes to your site is now much easier with Custom CSS and live previews. See any changes you make as soon as you make them with liver previews. This feature will save the time of creating a child theme or separate child editor.
User Admin Languages
WordPress has been working toward becoming more and more accessible and part of that is through translations. Because it has such a large reach, people from all over the world are involved. While it’s easy to change the language of the content on your site, before 4.7, you could only have the admin in one language.
Each person can pick a language in their profile, which is perfect for international companies.
PDF Thumbnails
As someone who has uploaded the wrong PDF on more than one occasion, this is a great advancement. Before you upload, you’ll be able to see a preview and easily distinguish between your files.
Changes To The Editor
Some of the toolbar options are changing with the update. Most notably the underline and justify buttons won’t be available. According to the ticket, underlined words may look like links. If you are sad to say goodbye to these features, there will still be keyboard shortcuts to implement them. If you’re unsure of a keyboard shortcut you can now hover over a button and it will be revealed.
Custom Page Template Functionality
This is a great feature for plugin developers. The Custom Page Template Functionality is similar to page templates. They allow you to choose a template name in the page attributes metabox.
This is a change that was proposed four years ago when the ticket was opened.
Conclusion
Any update is exciting and 4.7 is no exception. There is a lot to look forward. Download Beta 1 and make sure to send your suggestions to the core team.
This post will be updated as new features are revealed. If we missed anything, let us know in the comments below.
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