WordPress 6.8 Released: Enhancing Performance, Security, and Usability

WordPress has officially released version 6.8, marking its first major update of the year. This release focuses on refining existing features, enhancing performance, and bolstering security, rather than introducing a multitude of new functionalities.

Key Highlights of WordPress 6.8

Performance Enhancements

WordPress 6.8 introduces speculative loading using the Speculation Rules API. This feature anticipates user navigation by preloading pages, resulting in faster load times. Currently, this is supported in Chromium-based browsers like Chrome and Edge.

Security Improvements

The update replaces the older phpass password hashing algorithm with bcrypt, offering enhanced protection against brute-force attacks. Existing passwords will be rehashed with bcrypt upon the user’s next login or password change.

Editor and Usability Upgrades

Global Styles and Style Book: The Global Styles interface is now accessible from the main menu of the site editor, allowing for real-time customization. The Style Book feature, previously exclusive to block themes, is now available for classic themes that support editor styles.
Data Views: Enhancements include customizable properties like Preview, Slug, Parent, Discussion, Template, and Password. A new density control for table layouts offers Comfortable, Balanced, and Compact views.
Query Loop Block: Users can now ignore sticky posts within the Query Loop block, aligning with the ignore_sticky_posts parameter in WP_Query. Additionally, a new “Query Total” block displays the total number of results or the range of results currently displayed.

Developer-Focused Changes

Block Registration: A new function, wp_register_block_types_from_metadata_collection(), allows developers to register multiple block types simultaneously, streamlining the development process.
Interactivity API: Improvements include asynchronous handlers that enhance the responsiveness of websites by running tasks asynchronously, reducing delays during user interactions.
Performance Warnings: Developers will now receive console warnings when the useSelect hook is used inefficiently, aiding in identifying potential performance bottlenecks.

Community and Contributor Involvement

WordPress 6.8’s development was a collaborative effort, addressing over 300 Core Trac tickets, including 104 enhancements and more than 170 bug fixes. The release squad comprised various roles, from core tech leads to documentation and performance leads, emphasizing the community-driven nature of WordPress development.

Looking Ahead

With WordPress 6.8 now available, users and developers are encouraged to update their installations to benefit from the latest improvements. The next major release, WordPress 6.9, is scheduled for August 5, 2025, promising further enhancements and features.

For a comprehensive overview of all changes in WordPress 6.8, refer to the official WordPress 6.8 Field Guide.