The Month in WordPress – March 2023

March saw the arrival of the first major release of 2023, WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy.” Planning for the project’s 20th anniversary continues with new celebratory updates and commemorative swag. Read on for the latest happenings in the WordPress space.

Meet WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy”

WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy” was released on March 29, 2023. Named after the acclaimed jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer Eric Allan Dolphy Jr., the latest version of WordPress further enhances the site editing experience with significant updates.

Highlights include a reimagined Site Editor interface, a more intuitive way to manage menus, and a distraction-free writing mode. A new Block Inserter design adds integration with Openverse, allowing you to easily browse and insert free, openly-licensed images and audio files into your content.

Feature highlights in WordPress 6.2: Reimagined Site Editor, more ways to manage menus, a more powerful inserter, faster access to media—yours and Openverse's, the new Style Book, distraction-free writing, and more.

Whether you’re a content creator, designer, or developer, WordPress 6.2 has something for you. Check out the full announcement post for an overview of what’s new and the Field Guide for detailed developer notes.

WordPress 6.2 is one of the last major releases planned for Phase 2 of the project’s development roadmap and was made possible thanks to more than 600 contributors.

Download WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy.”

WP20 swag is here

Show your WordPress excitement with limited edition 20th anniversary merchandise—now available at the official WordPress Mercantile store. If you prefer to create your own swag, you can use these WP20 downloadable assets.

The 20th anniversary website lists celebrations as organizers announce and schedule them. Check back regularly to see if there’s an event in your area to join or help organize one to celebrate this milestone with your local community.

Enter the Wapuu Coloring Giveaway by April 17, 2023, for a chance to win some commemorative WP20 swag!

New in the Gutenberg plugin

Two new versions of the Gutenberg plugin have shipped in the last month:

Gutenberg 15.3 was released on March 13, 2023. This version polishes the Site Editor experience, includes a new “Time to Read” block for displaying estimated read time to posts, and enhances the Duotone design tool.
Gutenberg 15.4 is available for download as of March 22, 2023, and focuses primarily on bug fixes and testing improvements. Other additions include color and layout support for the Cover block, improved descriptions to help you understand the purpose of each template in the Site Editor, and the ability to turn paragraph blocks into columns.

Follow the “What’s new in Gutenberg” posts to stay on top of the latest enhancements.

Team updates: Phase 3 planning, WordPress Developer Blog launch, and more

Gutenberg Lead Architect Matías Ventura outlined the focus areas for Phase 3 of the WordPress development roadmap, known as Collaboration or Collaborative Editing.
Last month, the WordPress Developer Blog officially launched (removing the “beta” label). Subscribe to keep up with the latest features, tutorials, and learning resources in the WordPress development space.
The Documentation Team seeks volunteers to help with WordPress 6.2 end user documentation.
Are you looking to broaden your knowledge and improve your WordPress skills? See what’s new on Learn WordPress in March 2023, including the latest course on Converting a Shortcode to a Block.
A new Community Themes initiative aims to bring together a group of contributors to collaborate and build block themes.
The Training Team is looking for assistance in creating content to complete this WordPress Development syllabus.
The newly formed Contributor Working Group hosted an inaugural chat to kick off work on the WordPress Mentorship Program.
The Polyglots Team is testing AI systems to help with translation work.
The WordPress.org redesign project has a new dedicated Making WordPress Slack channel to coordinate work: #website-redesign.
The March 2023 editions of the Polyglots monthly newsletter and the Meetup Organizer newsletter are available for reading.
The Mobile Team announced a new support forum for the WordPress mobile app.

Tune in to Episode 52 of WP Briefing to learn more about the visioning behind Phase 3, Collaboration.

Feedback & testing requests

A new Full Site Editing (FSE) Program exploration looks into the Site Editor as a design tool in light of the recent WordPress 6.2 release. Participants are asked to create a block theme without coding using the current editor tools. Share your experience by April 26, 2023.
A group of Core contributors is working on a new Interactivity API proposal to provide a better developer experience for building interactive blocks.
Version 22.0 of the WordPress mobile app for iOS and Android is ready for testing.

Members of the Core Team are looking for user experience (UX) feedback on the Plugin Dependencies feature plugin.

WordPress events updates

WordCamp Asia 2024 is calling for organizers. Apply by April 15, 2023.
Registration for the WordCamp Europe 2023 Contributor Day is now open.
Want to create diverse and inclusive WordPress events? Mark your calendars for the upcoming #WPDiversity workshops.
Four WordCamps are taking place this month:
- WordCamp Torino, Italy, on April 14-15, 2023
- Wordcamp Vienna, Austria, on April 15-16, 2023
- WordCamp Paris, France, on April 21, 2023
- WordCamp Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 22-23, 2023