Introduction to WordPress Development Changes
WordPress project leaders recently gathered to discuss the future of the platform due to concerns over the significant decrease in contributed hours from organizations. This decrease has led to a shift in how WordPress will approach its development and releases.
New Release Cadence
The leaders decided that WordPress 6.8 will be the final major release of 2025, with minor core releases continuing as needed. Although not explicitly stated, this implies that future major releases might be limited to one per year, depending on the current contributor levels. A contributor raised a question about the new release cadence, asking if it’s now one major release per year and suggested creating an open roadmap to help users see what they’re waiting for. This roadmap could also allow users to vote on features, helping prioritize what the community wants from WordPress.
Gutenberg and Core Trac Tickets
Gutenberg and Core Trac ticket volumes have remained flat over the past six months, indicating stagnation in development. New feature development in Gutenberg has declined sharply since January, which is a cause for concern as it means the editor is not gaining new capabilities as quickly as it was in previous months.
Work On Release Automation
One of the benefits of slowing down the pace of development is that it allows for work on release automation, making future releases quicker and less manual. However, what exactly this entails is not well-documented.
Focus On Canonical WordPress Plugins
The decision was made to focus on WordPress.org-developed plugins, known as canonical plugins, as a way to improve core and add features outside of core contributions. The canonical plugins discussed include Preferred Languages, 2FA (two-factor authentication), and Performance tools. However, there are issues with these plugins, including a lack of user feedback and poor promotion.
Issues with Canonical Plugins
The main source of feedback for canonical plugins is when something breaks, and the only other metric available is active installations, which doesn’t provide information on how users interact with the features or their usefulness. There’s also an issue with promoting these plugins, as many users are not aware they exist or that they are officially maintained.
Backlog Management
Contributors were encouraged to continue working on clearing the backlog of around 13,000 tickets in both the Core Track and Gutenberg repository. Minor releases can continue with bug fixes.
Final Decisions
The final decisions made include having WordPress 6.8 as the final major release of 2025, with Gutenberg plugin releases continuing every two weeks and minor core releases as needed. The project will also begin quarterly contributor strategy calls to keep discussions going and adapt as needed.
Conclusion
The changes in WordPress development and release strategy are significant, reflecting the challenges faced by the project due to decreased contributor hours. By focusing on canonical plugins, working on release automation, and managing the backlog, WordPress aims to continue improving and adapting to the needs of its users. The introduction of an open roadmap and user feedback mechanisms could further enhance the development process, ensuring that WordPress remains a vibrant and user-centric platform.