WordPress 6.4, affectionately dubbed “Shirley,” has made its grand entrance, introducing a fresh default theme and a series of noteworthy enhancements, all of which combine to transform WordPress into a more user-friendly and intuitive content management system.
New Default Theme
In this latest iteration, WordPress comes equipped with a brand-new default theme, christened Twenty Twenty-Four. What sets this theme apart are its 35 pre-designed webpage layouts, known as patterns. These thirty-five patterns are comprehensive full-page designs that enable the swift creation of webpages. An exciting addition in version 6.4 is the ability to assign custom names to these patterns. Users can now create patterns and bestow them with meaningful labels to simplify identification. The introduction of a filter is yet another facet of the new patterns feature. This filter streamlines the process of locating specific patterns within the library. These subtle yet invaluable changes, though incremental individually, collectively enhance the overall user experience.
Enhancements to the Writing Experience
WordPress 6.4 has ushered in various improvements to ensure that the writing process is seamless and devoid of any hindrances. New keyboard shortcuts and other enhancements have been incorporated to make the writing experience smoother and more focused, with less distraction from the interface.
A new toolbar interface, attached to the parent block, has been introduced for navigation, list, and quote blocks. This innovative addition keeps these functions accessible when needed while staying out of your way when you’re immersed in your writing. Additionally, new design tools, a lightbox functionality that allows site visitors to interact with images, the capability to assign custom names to group blocks, improved image block discovery through image previews in the list view, and the option to import and export patterns for use across different websites have been implemented.
Developer Features
WordPress 6.4 has included valuable features for developers, including block hooks.
100+ Performance Wins
A noteworthy aspect of WordPress 6.4 is the inclusion of over one hundred performance enhancements. This extensive list of improvements underscores the core developers’ commitment to steadily enhancing WordPress’s performance with each release.
