What To Expect From The Upcoming WordPress 7

We’re going to learn about WordPress’s next major version.

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WordPress is one of the leading content management systems (CMS) used by thousands and thousands of people around the world to create and manage their websites. With each new release, this CMS brings a range of new features, improvements, and bug fixes to the platform. Version 7 is the next major release that is highly anticipated by the community of this CMS.

As with any major release, users are eager to find out what to expect and how new features and changes will affect their websites. It is assumed that this new version will include several new features and improvements that will help users create more dynamic and attractive websites.

In this article, we will explore some of the exciting new features and improvements that we can expect from WordPress 7. By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of what to expect from the new release and how it will impact our websites.

But… What exactly is Content Management System?

A Content Management System (or CMS) is a software application that allows owners and privileged users to create, manage and publish content on their websites without the need for technical knowledge, by providing an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to use. administration process and processes in general.

A CMS typically consists of two main components: a content management application (or CMA) and a content delivery application (or CDA). The CMA allows content publishers and website administrators to create, manage, and modify digital content, while the CDA is responsible for delivering the content to the end user.

What should we expect from a website implemented using a CMS?

• Technical knowledge is not required for its use.
• That simplifies the redesign of the website and its contents.
• Provide an all-inclusive marketing solution.
• That allows the collaboration of multiple teams for the creation and maintenance of content.
• That it’s secure.
• That each implementation has an excellent time to market.

WordPress, for years, has met and exceeded what is required on these points, positioning it as one of the most important content management platforms on the Internet. It powers more than 40% of existing websites that utilize a CMS for their operation in some form. It is an open-source platform that provides a variety of features, including custom themes and templates, plugin compatibility, SEO optimization, eCommerce capabilities, and more.

What was the origin of WordPress?

WordPress was initially launched in 2003 as a blogging platform. Since then, it has evolved into a powerful Content Management System (CMS). The growth and popularity of WordPress is due to its ease of use, flexibility, and scalability.

In my opinion, the biggest update to WordPress was the introduction of Gutenberg, a block-based editor, in WordPress 5. This editor completely transformed the way users create and edit content in WordPress, making it more intuitive and easy to use.

Analyzing a bit more this version and just as the best example I can provide, I´m going to list below the main features of each release of version 5 of the CMS:

WordPress 5.0 (December 6, 2018):

• Block Editor (Gutenberg): This was a significant change in WordPress, introducing a new block-based editor that allowed users to create content using blocks, making it easier to customize layouts and content elements.

WordPress 5.1 (February 21, 2019):

• Site Health Check: This feature provided users with information about the health of their WordPress site, including issues that might need attention for optimal performance and security.

WordPress 5.2 (May 7, 2019):

• Site Health Check Improvements: Enhanced the Site Health Check feature with additional tools and information to help users maintain a healthy WordPress site.

WordPress 5.3 (November 12, 2019):

• Improved Block Editor: Introduced more features and enhancements to the Block Editor, including improved accessibility, new block styles, and improved user interface.

WordPress 5.4 (March 31, 2020):

• Improved Block Editor: Continued to refine and improve the Block Editor, introducing new features like social icons, buttons, and enhanced typography options.
• Privacy Tools: Enhanced privacy features to provide better control over user data and site information.

WordPress 5.5 (August 11, 2020):

• Lazy Loading: Introduced native lazy loading for images, improving page loading times.
• Inline Image Editing: Allowed users to perform basic image editing tasks within the Block Editor.
• XML Sitemaps: Added built-in XML sitemaps to help search engines index content more efficiently.

WordPress 5.6 (December 8, 2020):

• Default Theme: Introduced the Twenty Twenty-One default theme.
• Block Patterns: Enabled the creation of predefined block layouts, making it easier to design complex pages.

WordPress 5.7 (March 9, 2021):

• One-Click HTTPS: Simplified the process of migrating sites to HTTPS with a one-click option.
• Drag-and-Drop for Block Editor: Allowed users to drag and drop blocks directly into the editor.
• New Robots API: Provided more control over the robot’s meta tag for better search engine optimization.

What can we expect in the future of WordPress?

With each update, WordPress becomes a bit easier to use, with more customization options, intuitive controls, and time-saving shortcuts, the problem I see, as a developer, is mainly the lack of polish in the current major version, WordPress 6.

Having set the bar so high, it is more than obvious to think that WordPress 6 is not different from version 5, it has only been solving reported problems and adding functionalities to the core that we already had available through small plugins or extensions through custom code, these Improvements do not represent more than a couple of hours of development for an experienced WordPress administrator.

Here’s a brief rundown of what’s new in WordPress 6:

• More features for block editing.
• More options for block theme templates.
• A few brand new blocks for better site editing.
• Switch between pre-set styles for global editing.
• Select text from multiple blocks.
• New shortcut for adding internal and recently viewed links.
• A few other odds and ends: better block displays, page patterns, customizable spacing between gallery images, copy option for image URLs, new Webfonts API, rich preview in the Navigation Link block, bulk editing for Group blocks, and an array of new accessibility options.

Considering the number and quality of features that have been introduced in the current major release, the future of WordPress seems to hold up, if at all, and the release of WordPress 7 is not expected to bring more exciting features or improvements. than those introduced in version 6 that I listed above.

WordPress 7 is expected to be released, although I personally find it difficult, sometime in 2023, and I don’t count on it being a game changer as many have been saying.

Advantages and Disadvantages of WordPress

WordPress is undoubtedly one of the most popular and widely used Content Management Systems (or CMS) in the world. It has numerous advantages that make it a go-to platform for millions of websites. However, like any other platform, it also has its fair share of disadvantages.

Advantages of WordPress

The advantages of WordPress are many and it is expected that these will be maintained in the new version. From the list that I present below, I would like to highlight the simplicity of use and the learning curve.

• User-friendly: WordPress is known for its ease of use and user-friendliness. Its interface is straightforward, intuitive, and customizable, making it accessible to even non-technical users.
• Flexibility: WordPress offers a wide range of customization options, allowing users to create websites that suit their specific needs. There are thousands of free and premium themes and plugins available that enable users to add functionality and design elements to their websites.
• SEO-friendly: WordPress is designed with SEO in mind, making it easier for website owners to optimize their content for search engines. There are various plugins available, such as Yoast SEO, that help to optimize website content for search engine ranking.
• Large community: With millions of users worldwide, WordPress has a vast community of developers, designers, and users who offer support, resources, and advice.
• Learning curve: WordPress is easy to use! Although, like any platform, there is a learning curve involved in its effective use, this CMS triumphs over others due to its simplicity, which means that anyone can learn to use it in a very short time and with minimal support.

Disadvantages of WordPress

And we come to the disadvantages… Security in my opinion had the upper hand in this list until the presentation of version 6 of the CMS, but with disappointment, I see that there are no improvements in the quality of the implementation of the core, plugins, and themes, so the winning disadvantage will be low code quality.

• Maintenance: WordPress requires regular maintenance, including updates to the platform, themes, and plugins. Failure to keep these up to date can lead to security vulnerabilities.
• Low performance: WordPress sites can be slow to load, especially if they are not optimized correctly. This can lead to a poor user experience and negatively impact website traffic. Today this point can only be improved by using heavy and paid plugins, these provide a much-needed cache layer to our beloved CMS. we are expecting that WordPress 7 improves the loading time in its core by 30% and 25% in WooCommerce.
• Customization limitations: While WordPress offers a lot of customization options, there are still limitations to what can be achieved without significant customization or development work.
• Low code quality: The quality of the CMS core code, as well as many plugins and themes used for its extension, is low or non-existent. This is because the community is made up mainly of developers with little or no experience and who want to contribute their two cents.
• Poor security: Although the community continually updates the platform, plugins, and themes to ensure security and minimize vulnerabilities, the low quality of the code requires extra work on each implementation to ensure a quality productive website.

Summary

In conclusion, the future of WordPress looks bright, but not all that glitters is gold. We can expect the upcoming release of version 7 to bring more exciting features and improvements, but the bar has been set very high since recent releases. With full site editing already implemented, performance improved, and speed pushed to the max, WordPress 7 is expected to regain control of the dashboard a bit, but it won’t be a game changer as many are hoping.

References

WordPress news and roadmap.

WordPress learn, documentation, support forums, and developer resources.

TrustRadius, Get the comprehensive product information, customer insights, and decision tools you need to make confident technology decisions.

CompareCamp.com, We’re a group of technology journalists, business experts, and engineers whose mission is to share our knowledge about the latest developments in B2B software technology. We do our best to provide our readers with useful insights, well-research statistics, and unbiased opinions.