In this post, we'll take a closer look at what's new in WordPress 6.4 and give you an insight into what exciting changes you can look forward to with the latest update.

Every WordPress update undergoes a careful review by the large WordPress community even before its official release. This process also applies to the WordPress 6.4 update, which is already being worked on intensively since April 2023. Here's what you can expect in the new version:

New Standard theme Twenty Twenty-Four

The main goal of the new Twenty Twenty-Four default theme is to provide a design that is suitable for many types of different websites - no matter what the site is about.

Unlike previous years, where a specific theme was the focus, this time the developers worked on three different use cases: one for business people and small businesses, one for photography and artists, and one specifically for magazines and blogging.

The design of Twenty Twenty-Four was influenced by modern design trends. The theme uses a special font for headings and a simple font for the normal text. The main colors of the design are light, but there is also a darker option if that is preferred. There are also two other fonts to choose from: also a light and a dark variant.

Twenty Twenty-Four, like its predecessors, is a WordPress block theme and fits perfectly with the different tools you can use to design websites. It also brings some new design options, such as the "Details Block" and the ability to arrange text vertically. A great goal of this theme is to offer complete page templates and patterns.

This means that you don't have to create an entire site from scratch, but can use pre-built parts to create your own website. This makes your process easier and more intuitive in many cases.

New features in WordPress 6.4

Besides Twenty Twenty-Four, WordPress 6.4 also comes with some new features. We take a look at these in the following.

Font library

The new font library is designed to basically simplify the process of applying and using fonts on a website. It also provides integration points for plugins. Regardless of the currently active theme , the font library will be accessible to all users.

This will ensure that all website owners can choose exactly the fonts they need for their own website. The font library will work similar to the media library, which is already an integral part of WordPress.

Revisions for templates

The developers team is working to improve the way different styles look on websites. They want to make sure that all users can undo their changes to their own design, no matter where they made them. This makes it much easier to make changes to the website but also to remove them.

New blocks

With WordPress 6.4, there should be a total of three new blocks available after the update:

• Table of contents" block
• Time to read" block
• Scrolling Marquee Block

Automatic insertion of blocks

To make it even easier to use, there is now an option to automatically insert blocks into a suitable environment. So, for example, if you are creating a menu on a website, a hint to add a login or logout option might pop up. The exact logic of these recommendations will be developed over time.

Improved features in WordPress 6.4

WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems. But just because features have been released in past updates, it does not mean that they are already 100 percent optimal. That's why with WordPress 6.4 also some adjustments of already existing functions come to make them even better.

Easier writing

If you're writing text in WordPress, such as blog posts or new pages, WordPress 6.4 should make it even easier for you. The tools you use should help you be creative instead of hindering you.

With various options and tools, such as the toolbars or the link control, you can more quickly turn your texts into what you want them to be. The update should allow you to focus more on your creativity instead of dealing with technical problems.

Better operation

In the daily work website owners use many different tools to create pages or posts . The improvements concern the following tools, among others:

• The list of blocks will be better organized: Users should be able to name whole groups of blocks, see images in gallery blocks, resize and copy blocks easily in the future
• Improvements for distraction-free mode, so that you can better concentrate on writing
• A new command palette, with a better design and support for commands without icons

Improvement of the design tools

To enable more complex designs, developers is currently working on additional features for the design tools. This may include small changes for specific design elements, such as the ability to add background images in the group area. Or larger changes, such as extending "theme.json" to offer predefined spacing settings.

Pattern adjustments

After the introduction of the ability to create patterns or templates directly during the editing process, more in-depth features and various improvements are planned for WordPress 6.4:

• Add categories
• Improve compatibility for non-block based themes
• Further development of the state of empty categories on the sample page

Footnotes

WordPress 6.3 introduced the footnote block, which will be further improved with the new update:

• Easier to add font, size and border for the block
• Easier to add links, background colors and text colors
• Verification that the result also works with custom post types

Future-oriented work with WordPress

WordPress is working with the updates to ensure that all website owners worldwide have the easiest and most intuitive experience possible with the content management system. Also already existing functions are improved to always think of the future. This is also made clear by the leadership work on WordPress 6.4: the development of WordPress 6.4 is entirely led by a team of women, non-binary and gender-expanding contributors.

WordPress 6.4 will be the last major update in 2023. But: With the update also start the phase 3 of Gutenberg, the collaboration phase. This third phase is about collaboration in WordPress, such as writing together on a post or on a site. With this, the CMS aims to improve the user experience to promote smooth collaboration in WordPress and strengthen content management workflows. Special attention will be paid to optimize the interface between developers and other team members.

Since WordPress 5.0 a lot has changed at Gutenberg . One big change, for example, was the introduction of blocks in the Gutenberg editor. The blocks can be easily dragged and dropped, similar to a homepage builder, to create a website the way you have it in mind. WordPress has always focused more on flexibility and simplicity.

After the collaboration phase, in which we are with WordPress 6.4, there will be a final phase, in which the focus will be on the multilingualism of a website. We will report about it in our magazine in time. What do you think about the planned changes in WordPress 6.4? We are looking forward to your comments.