WordPress 6.1 Beta 1 is now available for download and testing.

This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it is recommended that you test Beta 1 on a test server and site. 

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You can test WordPress 6.1 Beta 1 in three ways:

Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).

Option 2: Direct download the Beta 1 version (zip).

Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command:

wp core update --version=6.1-beta1

The current target for the final release is November 1, 2022, which is about six weeks away. 

Additional information on the 6.1 release cycle is available.

Check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.1-related developer notes in the coming weeks detailing all upcoming changes.

Keep WordPress bug-free – help with testing

Testing for issues is critical for stabilizing a release throughout its development. Testing is also a great way to contribute. If you have never tested a beta release before, this detailed guide is a great start.

Testing helps make sure that this and future releases of WordPress are as stable and issue-free as possible. Anyone can do it – especially great WordPress community members like you.

Want to know more about testing releases like this one? Read about the testing initiatives that happen in Make Core. You can also join a publicly-accessible channel on the Making WordPress Slack workspace.

If you think you have run into an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. This is also where you can find a list of known bugs.

To review features in the Gutenberg releases since WordPress 6.0 (the most recent major release of WordPress), access the What’s New In Gutenberg posts for 14.1, 14.0, 13.9, 13.8, 13.7, 13.6, 13.5, 13.4, 13.3, 13.2, and 13.1.

This release contains more than 350 enhancements and 350 bug fixes for the editor, including more than 250 tickets for the WordPress 6.1 core.

Some highlights

Want to know what’s new in WordPress version 6.1? Read on for some highlights.

Features for end-users

• Default theme powered by 10 unique style variations (learn more)
• More design tools in more blocks (learn more)
• Expanded and refined template experience and template options
• More intuitive document settings experience
• Header and footer patterns for all themes
• Improved quote and list blocks with inner block support
• More robust placeholders for various blocks
• New modal interfaces and preferences improvements
• Automatic navigation block selection with fallbacks and easier menu management
• Apply locking settings to all inner blocks in one click
• Improvements to the block theme discovery experience
• Accessibility updates, with more than 60 resolved tickets
• Performance updates, with more than 25 resolved tickets

For developers

• Opt into appearance tools to make any theme more powerful
• New iteration on the style system
• Add starter patterns to any post type (learn more)
• Evolution of layout options including a new constrained option and the ability to disable layout options
• Content lock patterns for more curation options
• Expanded support for query loop blocks
• Allow the use of block-based template parts in classic themes (give feedback)
• Filter theme.json data (learn more)
• Fluid typography allows for more responsiveness (give feedback)
• Ability to style elements inside blocks like buttons, headings, or captions in theme.json

Please note that all features listed in this post are subject to change before the final release.

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A Haiku for you

Twenty Twenty-Three
10 style variations
The new default theme

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Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: @dansoschin, @annezazu, @cbringmann, @davidbaumwald, @priethor, and @jeffpaul.