WordPress 6.5 Unveiled: A Comprehensive Guide to What’s New, Exciting Features, Updates, and Documentation

Introducing the Font Library

No more relying on third-party plugins! WordPress 6.5 introduces a built-in font library, allowing you to manage, install, and use fonts directly within the WordPress editor. This streamlines your workflow and gives you more control over your website’s typography.

Steps to Use the Font Library:

1. Launch the Site Editor: Go to Appearance > Editor in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Switch to the ‘Styles’ Panel: Click on the “Styles” tab within the Site Editor interface.
3. Access Typography Options: Under “Styles,” look for the “Typography” section. This will display the fonts currently available with your WordPress theme.
4. Manage Fonts: Click on the “Manage Fonts” button. This opens the font library in a popup window.
5. Upload or Install Fonts: Choose between uploading fonts from your computer or installing them from the Google Fonts library.
6. Upload Fonts: Click “Browse” and select the font files (TTF, OTF, WOFF, WOFF2 formats) from your device. Click “Upload” to add them to your library.
7. Install Google Fonts: Click on the “Allow access to Google Fonts” button. This will connect your WordPress site to the Google Fonts library. Search for the desired font and click “Install” to add it to your website.

Streamlined Plugin Management with Dependencies

Ever installed a plugin only to discover it requires another one to function? WordPress 6.5 tackles this frustration by enabling developers to specify plugin dependencies. Now, during installation, you’ll see a clear notification if additional plugins are necessary.

Benefits:

• Saves time and avoids confusion by highlighting required dependencies during installation.
• Ensures plugins function properly by requiring users to activate necessary components.

Block Editor Enhancements

The block editor, the heart of content creation in WordPress, receives several improvements in 6.5. Let’s explore some of the most notable ones:

Connect Blocks to Custom Fields:

The image or color you choose. This simplifies design and ensures optimal readability.Block Binding API, allows you to connect custom fields (data specific to your posts or pages) to blocks. This enables dynamic content, making your website more flexible and engaging. Developers can also use this API to show dynamic data within core blocks.

Here’s a quick peek:

1. 1. 1. Add custom fields (e.g., mood, weather) to your post. 
   2. 
      1. Switch to the block editor’s code view and use the provided code snippets to bind the custom fields to text blocks. 
      2. You can now save your changes and preview them! 

Smart Overlay for the Cover Block: The Cover block, often used for hero sections, now automatically generates an overlay based on the image or color you choose. This simplifies design and ensures optimal readability.

Drop Shadow Effect: Add depth and dimension to your layouts with the new drop shadow effect available for Image, Column, and Button blocks. Choose from various styles to match your website’s aesthetic.

Improved Block Management:

Block Settings in List View: Access block settings with a simple right-click in the list view, offering a faster and more intuitive way to manage your content structure.

Rename Blocks in List View: Keep your content organization clear by renaming blocks directly within the list view.

Enhanced Link Control

Linking has become more user-friendly with the improved link control panel. It highlights your blog and front pages, offers a better context menu for editing links, and finally allows you to add “nofollow” attributes directly within the editor (though some plugins like All in One SEO for WordPress might offer a more streamlined experience for managing advanced link options).

Steps to Add a Nofollow Link:

• • Highlight Text or Image: Select the text or image you want to turn into a link.
  • Click the Link Button: Click on the “link” button in the block toolbar (represented by a chain icon).

• Enter Link URL: Paste or type the URL of the webpage you want to link to in the “URL” field.
• Enable Nofollow (Optional): Click on the “Advanced” tab within the link settings popup. Look for the checkbox labeled “Add rel=”nofollow” and check it to link a nofollow link.

• Click “Apply”: Click the “Apply” button to save the link settings.

Revamped Site Editor and Preferences

WordPress 6.5 brings a revamped Preferences panel to the block editor. This means easier access to settings for a smoother editing experience.

What’s new?

• Clearer organization: Find what you need faster with dedicated Appearance and Accessibility sections.
• Improved navigation: Access the panel with a quick click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner.

For users of block themes with full site editing support, the Site Editor gets a refresh in 6.5, very much like the former theme customizer. Here’s what’s new:

New Data Views: Organize your pages, block patterns, and templates more efficiently with new grid and table view options in the Site Editor.

Improved Style Revisions: Track and manage style changes to your site with enhanced style revisions. Now, you’ll see clear descriptions of modifications made for each revision, making it easier to navigate and revert to previous versions.

Introducing the Interactivity API

This innovative API empowers developers to create modern user interfaces that don’t require full-page reloads. Imagine features like live comment updates or seamless search experiences – the Interactivity API opens doors for dynamic and engaging website interactions. 

To further demonstrate its potential, the creators have even produced a demo website. /

Benefits for Developers:

• Enables the creation of more responsive and user-friendly website interfaces.
• Reduces the need for full-page reloads, improving website performance.

Performance Enhancements and Under-the-Hood Improvement.

Beyond the user-facing features, WordPress 6.5 boasts a range of behind-the-scenes improvements:

Faster Block and Site Editors: Experience a significant performance boost with editors loading twice as fast and input response times four times quicker compared to WordPress 6.4. (Details)

Optimized Translation Loading: A new library ensures translations load much faster, improving website performance. (Details)

Classic Theme Enhancements: Classic themes can now leverage appearance tools for a more streamlined customization experience. (Details)

Developer-Friendly Updates: Developers benefit from updates to Block Hooks, the HTML API, and more, granting them greater flexibility and control. (Details )