On May 7, 2019, WordPress 5.2 “Jaco”, named for the jazz musician Jaco Pastorius, was released to the public.
As always, you can update your WordPress to the latest version or download the latest files from WordPress.org.
So what’s new with the latest version?
Site Health Check
Building on the Site Health features introduced in 5.1, this release adds two new pages to help debug common configuration issues. It also adds space where developers can include debugging information for site maintainers. Check your site status by going to Tools > Site Health, and learn how to debug issues.
PHP Error Protection
This administrator-focused update will let you safely fix or manage fatal errors without requiring developer time. It features better handling of the so-called ‘white screen of death,’ and a way to enter recovery mode, which pauses error-causing plugins or themes.
Improvements for Everyone
Accessibility Updates
A number of changes work together to improve contextual awareness and keyboard navigation flow for those using screen readers and other assistive technologies.
New Dashboard Icons
Thirteen new icons include Instagram, a suite of icons for BuddyPress, and rotated Earth icons for global inclusion. Find them in the Dashboard and have some fun!
Plugin Compatibility Checks
WordPress will now automatically determine if your site’s version of PHP is compatible with installed plugins. If the plugin requires a higher version of PHP than your site currently uses, WordPress will not allow you to activate it, preventing potential compatibility errors.
Developer Happiness
As always, a large handful of developer-focused changes have also been made. The highlights of these include:
PHP Version Bump
The minimum supported PHP version is now 5.6.20. As of WordPress 5.2, themes and plugins can safely take advantage of namespaces, anonymous functions, and more!
Privacy Updates
A new theme page template, a conditional function, and two CSS classes make designing and customizing the Privacy Policy page easier.
New Body Tag Hook
5.2 introduces a wp_body_open hook, which lets themes support injecting code right at the beginning of the
element.Building JavaScript
With the addition of webpack and Babel configurations in the @wordpress/scripts package, developers won’t have to worry about setting up complex build tools to write modern JavaScript.
And plenty of more which you can read about here.
What we can do for you!
As always, it’s always best to keep your WordPress version and plugins up to date and use plugins from reliable authors that maintain their plugins. If you need assistance with upgrading your WordPress version, plugins, updating core code to be compatible with the latest versions of PHP (recommended) or anything else WordPress or digital related then get in touch by sending an email to [email protected]. We &hearths; WordPress and as specialists in the field; you can guarantee that you are in very capable hands.
Have a look at out portfolio – if it’s a web specialist you require; we’re here at your disposal ; )
