WordPress 6.4 is set to launch on November 7th, 2023 and with it comes a new slew of design tools. As with the various prior release related exhibits, starting with WordPress 6.0, an exhibit for art created with WordPress 6.4 will be available. To help provide some sparks of inspiration sooner rather than later, this post goes into detail about what you can look forward to with this release.
Fonts galore (Update: this has since been punted to WordPress 6.5)
The Font Library makes it easy for anyone to install, remove, and activate fonts across your site. It will be available globally, independent of the theme activated, similar to the Media Library. Any installed font, whether installed by a user or a theme, can then be selected across the editing experience. When fonts are installed, they are stored in wp-content/fonts. As part of this new experience, Google Fonts is automatically included for folks to use, along with the option to upload fonts manually. This new ability unlocks a powerful way to control a key part of your site and a new pathway for possible future art.
Background image support for Group blocks
Images are a powerful yet basic tool on any website for added personality and engagement. The same is true for block art with images often playing a key role, like in this piece. To further how images can be used, background image support has been added to Group blocks. Group blocks are a commonly used part of block art so we’re excited to see how this might be creatively put to use.
Even more block supports
The following block supports have been added, continuing to push the boundaries on what’s possible with individual blocks:
- Preformatted: add margin and padding support. (45196)
- Social Links: add Threads Icon. (52685)
- Social links: add X icon (54092).
- Verse: enable line breaks. (52928)
- Details: add block gap support. (53282)
- File: add margin and padding support. (45107)
- Column: add stretch alignment (53325).
- Image: keep image size upon replacing an image (49982).
- Buttons: allow using a button element for button blocks (54206) .
- Post Content: add block gap support (54282).
- Post Content: add color control support (51326).
- Footnotes: Add link, background, and text color support (52897).
- Footnotes: Add typography, dimensions, and border block supports (53044).
Each new block support in each release marks a new tiny door opening for new possibilities.
Additional items
Outside of these features, there are a few more that may not be particularly useful for block art (but who knows!) yet they are still worth noting:
- Design Tools: Add block instance elements support for buttons and headings (53667) and Columns (54104) with a demo of setting button styling for Group block .
- Navigation block: add buttons to list of allowed blocks (53966) with a demo.
- Add vertical text orientation support to themes (50822).
- Add aspect ratio to the Image block’s placeholder (54216) with a demo of both setting an aspect ratio on the placeholder and using it within a wireframe pattern.
Stay tuned for WordPress 6.4 and, when the time comes, we hope you submit some new art for the collection.