WordPress 6.5 introduces a new feature: the Block Bindings API. This is a tool that makes the block editor easier to use, and makes it simpler for you to add all kinds of data to different parts of your website. This means you'll need to write a lot less custom code when you're editing. What is the Block Bindings API? Let's say you have a basic block that you need to use on a web page to display some information from a specific source, such as article details or some custom...

Discover How to Add Custom Features to WordPress: a Practical Guide As someone with many years of experience as a WordPress backend developer, I've tried a variety of ways to customize WordPress to meet my own and others' specific needs. One of the most common ways is to create your own WordPress Custom Features plugin. But as you'll see in this article, this isn't the only option, nor is it always the best option. While this guide is primarily geared towards developers, project managers can also...

WordPress version 6.5 adds the Font Library feature, which allows users to manage fonts directly in the editor. This feature also provides a set of APIs that allow developers to control, tweak, and disable the behavior of the font library. Font Sets A font set is a list of fonts that a user can install through the editor. In WordPress 6.5, these font families are defined through a fontFamily entry in the theme.json format. By default, WordPress...

WordPress version 6.5 has a number of internationalization (i18n) improvements, which are the focus of this developer note. Performance Improvements to the Localized Translation System Over the past year, WordPress contributors have taken a hard look at the performance of the existing internationalization (i18n) system and have created a new feature plugin called Performance Translations. This plugin provides a thoroughly optimized system that significantly improves...

Gutenberg version 17.8 focuses mainly on stability improvements and bug fixes, as many developers are busy preparing for the upcoming WordPress 6.5 release. However, this version also introduces some new features! Remember, WordPress 6.5 is still in beta right now, and some of the fixes for the Gutenberg plugin may be updated into the 6.5 version. However, the new features in Gutenberg 17.8 will not be in WordPre...

WordPress 6.5 now enables dependencies between plugins. WordPress' extensibility is one of its most useful features, and it accomplishes this through plugins and the Hooks API. Many plugins are built on top of other plugins to extend their functionality. The purpose of the plugin dependency feature is to make the process of installing and activating extended plugins and the plugins they depend on consistent and simple. New plugin header A new header "Requires ...