Welcome back, Ninja Forms friends and followers! It may be the spookiest month of the year, but don’t worry: This edition of WordPress Happenings is all treats, no tricks.
October included several notable WordPress announcements plus platform updates that bring us one step closer to the next major WordPress release, coming in November. Read on to learn more — you’ll also find mentions of notable WordCamp events and learn about an opportunity to vote for your favorite WordPress tool.
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
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WordPress releases and updates
What’s new with the world’s favorite content management system? We recently welcomed Gutenberg 16.8 and two release candidates for WordPress 6.4.
Welcome, Gutenberg 16.8
Gutenberg 16.8 — AKA, the newest version of the block-based editor — was released on October 11. It includes several enhancements, including an intelligent color overlay on the Cover Block. When you upload a cover image, the Cover Block automatically chooses an overlay based on the image’s prominent tone. Feel free to manually adjust the overlay as desired.
image credit: Gutenberg 16.8 release post
This version of Gutenberg introduced template toggling. Now, you can focus on your content alone or see it contextually within the page’s templates. It also makes strides toward the flagship Font Feature (recently postponed until WordPress 6.5) with a new Upload tab in the Font Library and improved error messages.
image credit: Gutenberg 16.8 release post
Users can try a new Gutenberg Phase 3 experiment on the pages list, allowing you to sort, filter, and more. You’ll have to enable the experiment (Gutenberg>Experiment>New admin views) before exploring the page updates (Pages > Manage all pages).
image credit: Gutenberg PR #54966
WordPress 6.4 release candidates
WordPress 6.4 is almost here! RC1 and RC2 (release candidates) dropped this month. That means now’s the time for developers and contributors to test their plugins, themes, and more before the official release, scheduled for November 7. Check out the WordPress 6.4 Field Guide for a comprehensive look at what to expect.
Additionally, the WordPress Docs team needs help revising the End User Documentation. Read the call for volunteers if you’re interested in contributing.
WordPress announcements
There’s always something new happening in the WordPress world! In case you missed them, notable announcements for October include:
2024 Open Source Survey
Unlike proprietary software, open source software is available to the public. Anyone can view or modify it. WordPress is a prime example, as the call for testers and contributors mentioned previously shows.
The Open Source Initiative (OSI), a nonprofit that champions, protects, and helps maintain the open source ecosystem, opened its 2024 State of Open Source Survey on October 10. Anyone who uses open-source software can offer feedback, but OSI is especially eager to hear from organizations. As the survey landing page states, “This survey is designed to gather insight into how open source is being used in organizations including trends, growth areas, challenges, and maturity.”
The survey will remain open until November 10, and OSI will compile the answers into a free report in early 2024.
Revamped WordPress Showcase
Have you ever wondered what kind of sites and designs you can create with WordPress? The Showcase tab on WordPress.org provides the inspiration you need.
WordPress recently delivered an all-new Showcase with fresh designs using Blocks. Browse by categories and tags, and see examples for desktop and mobile experiences. This update is another step toward modernizing WordPress.org and follows last year’s updates to the Homepage and Download Page.
WordCamp events
WordPress is a global community; nothing makes that more evident than WordCamps — events that bring together developers, designers, small business owners, and other WordPress professionals and users. Most of these conferences include presentations, workshops, networking, and chances to contribute.
New WordCamps happen every month around the world. In October, that included gatherings in India, Taiwan, Germany, Tokyo, and beyond! WordCamp Atlanta (October 14–15) was especially significant for us here at Ninja Forms because our very own Matt Pritchett spoke at the event.
If you’ve never attended a WordCamp before, we highly recommend you check the schedule and find one near you — or choose an exciting travel destination!
Resource spotlight
As our WordPress happenings articles prove, there’s always more to learn within this community. Whether you want to stay current on the latest releases, learn how to use WordPress, hear about upcoming events, or something else entirely, it can be overwhelming to find information.
The WordPress Weekly does the work for you. This free e-newsletter is a fantastic resource for all things WordPress, mining the latest WordPress information across the web and presenting it in one concise format. Check out their archives to see what we mean, and subscribe for real-time access to the newest editions.
The WP Awards
If you follow our blog, you already know it’s WordPress awards season! Besides their newsletter, WP Weekly also hosts the annual WP Awards. Voting opened on October 4 and continues through November, so vote for your favorite WordPress themes, plugins, and other tools before the deadline.
Another October in the books
What a fantastic month, and we’re sure November will be just as notable. Enjoy the final days of October, have a happy Halloween, and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more WordPress news, Ninja Forms how-tos, and other vital information.
See you next time!
