WordPress 5.7 “Esperanza” was released to the public on March 9, 2021. Check WordPress 5.7 announcement for more information on this release.
https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-7/
For Version 5.7, the database version (db_version in wp_options) updated to 49752, and the Trac revision was 50513.
You can find the full list of tickets included in 5.7 on Trac.
The WordPress 5.7 Field Guide has pertinent, in-depth information on the major technical changes for this release.
Installation/Update Information #Installation/Update Information
To download WordPress 5.7, update automatically from the Dashboard > Updates menu in your site’s admin area or visit the release archive.
For step-by-step instructions on installing and updating WordPress:
If you’re new to WordPress, you’ll want to start by reading these:
- New To WordPress – Where to Start
- First Steps With WordPress or Upgrading WordPress Extended
- WordPress Lessons
Highlights #Highlights
With this new version, WordPress brings you fresh colors. The editor helps you work in a few places you couldn’t before—at least, not without getting into code or hiring a pro. The controls you use most, like changing font sizes, are in more places—right where you need them. And layout changes that should be simple, like full-height images, are even simpler to make.
Block Editor changes #Block Editor changes
Font-size adjustment in more places: now, font-size controls are right where you need them in the List and Code blocks. No more trekking to another screen to make that single change!
Reusable blocks: several enhancements make reusable blocks more stable and easier to use. And now they save automatically with the post when you click the Update button.
Inserter drag-and-drop: drag blocks and block patterns from the inserter right into your post.
Full-height alignment: have you ever wanted to make a block, like the Cover block, fill the whole window? Now you can.
Buttons block: now you can choose a vertical or a horizontal layout. And you can set the width of a button to a preset percentage.
Social Icons block: now you can change the size of the icons.
Many many other enhancements and bug fixes: To see all of the features for each release in detail check out the Gutenberg release posts: 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8, and 9.9.
WP Admin: A new color palette #WP Admin: A new color palette
This new streamlined color palette collapses all the colors that used to be in the WordPress source code down to seven core colors and a range of 56 shades that meet the WCAG 2.0 AA recommended contrast ratio against white or black.
The colors are perceptually uniform from light to dark in each range, which means they start at white and get darker by the same amount with each step. Half the range has a 4.5 or higher contrast ratio against black, and the other half maintains the same contrast against white.
Find the new palette in the default WordPress Dashboard color scheme, and use it when you’re building themes, plugins, or any other components. For all the details, check out the Color Palette dev note.
From HTTP to HTTPS in a single click #From HTTP to HTTPS in a single click
Starting now, switching a site from HTTP to HTTPS is a one-click move. WordPress will automatically update database URLs when you make the switch. No more hunting and guessing!
New Robots API #New Robots API
The new Robots API lets you include the filter directives in the robots meta tag, and the API includes the max-image-preview: large directive by default. That means search engines can show bigger image previews, which can boost your traffic (unless the site is marked not-public).
Ongoing cleanup after update to jQuery 3.5.1 #Ongoing cleanup after update to jQuery 3.5.1
For years jQuery helped make things move on the screen in ways the basic tools couldn’t—but that keeps changing, and so does jQuery.
In 5.7, jQuery gets more focused and less intrusive, with fewer messages in the console.
Lazy-load your iframes #Lazy-load your iframes
Now it’s simple to let iframes lazy-load. By default, WordPress will add a loading="lazy" attribute to iframe tags when both width and height are specified.
Check out the Field Guide #Check out the Field Guide
Check out the latest version of the WordPress Field Guide. It highlights developer notes for each change you may want to be aware of: WordPress 5.7 Field Guide
The squad #The squad
WordPress 5.7 comes to you from an experienced release squad:
- Release Lead: Matt Mullenweg
- Triage Lead: Tonya Mork
- Release Coordinator: Ebonie Butler
- Core Tech Lead: Sergey Biryukov
- Editor Tech Lead: Robert Anderson
- Accessibility Lead: Sarah Ricker
- Design Lead: Tim Hengeveld
- Documentation Lead: Jb Audras
- Test Lead: Monika Rao
Thank you to all who contributed to WordPress 5.7! See the release post for the full list of contributors.