wordpress 5.2 | The Blog Pros

May 8, 2019

WordPress 5.2 “Jaco” Released, Includes Fatal PHP Error Protection and A Recovery Mode

WordPress 5.2 “Jaco” named after bassist Jaco Pastorius, is now available for download. Normally, I’d start listing new features but I’m going to do something a little different this time.

Let’s begin by recognizing the 327 people who contributed to this release with 109 of those being first time contributors. It was led by Matt Mullenweg, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and Gary Pendergast. Included in the list is Alex (Viper007Bond) Mills who passed away from Leukemia earlier this year.

Mills still has a few uncommitted patches in Trac so it’s possible he’ll end up on the list of contributors in future releases.

Minimum PHP Version Required to Run WordPress 5.2 Is Now 5.6.20

WordPress 5.2 bumps up the minimum PHP version required to 5.6.20. If you’re using an older version, you’ll need to update PHP before upgrading to WordPress 5.2. Updating PHP to version 7.3 or above is recommended.

Additional Improvements to Site Health Check

In WordPress 5.1, Site Health Check features were added to inform users of outdated PHP versions. WordPress 5.2 builds on this foundation by adding two new pages that help debug common configuration issues. Users can find the Site Health section in the WordPress backend by browsing to Tools > Site Health.

Browsing to the Site Health page triggers a series of tests. When the tests are performed, errors and recommended improvements are displayed on the results page. There’s also a an Information tab that displays every detail about the configuration of your site.

Theme and Plugin authors can add their own tests and modify or remove existing ones with filters.

Fatal Error Protection

Instead of seeing the dreaded “white screen of death,” WordPress 5.2 includes fatal PHP error protection. When a fatal error is detected, a user-facing error message is displayed and an email is sent to the administrator’s email address.

The email includes a link to a new feature called “recovery mode.” While in recovery mode, plugins and themes that are causing fatal errors are put into a paused state to ensure administrators can work around the errors and access the backend normally.

In addition to being informed about which themes or plugins are causing fatal errors, administrators have at least three options to fix the issue.

Administrators can deactivate the theme or plugin to maintain a working version of the site.
Administrators can fix the problem if they have the technical capabilities, and afterwards reactivate the theme or plugin.
Administrators can file a support request with the developer, pointing out the error.

Administrators can exit recovery mode by pressing a button in the admin bar. A few examples on how developers can utilize this feature can be found here.

WordPress 5.2 also includes accessibility improvements, thirteen new dashboard icons, plugin compatibility checks, and an variety of changes to the block editor. In addition, the Privacy Policy page includes four new helpers that make customizing and designing the page easier.

To learn more about the features in WordPress 5.2 and how to extend or work with them, check out the WordPress 5.2 Field Guide.

April 26, 2019

WordPress 5.2 Pushed Back to May 7, RC 1 Now Available for Testing

WordPress 5.2 was originally scheduled to be released on April 30, but has now been pushed back to May 7, due to the number of open tickets last week (43). There is now only one ticket remaining on the 5.2 milestone for completion of the About page and WordPress 5.2 RC 1 is ready for testing.

The upcoming release will bring major improvements to the block editor (everything released in the Gutenberg plugin prior to version 5.4). This includes the new block management capabilities and several new blocks that were ported from core widgets.

WordPress 5.2 will introduce a new admin interface for Site Health under the Tools menu. It runs tests that deliver results categorized as critical, recommended, or good, along with action items for users to improve their settings. The Information tab was added for basic debugging and provides information about the website and server setup.

A new feature called “fatal error recovery mode” is also included in this release. It pauses themes or plugins that are causing a fatal error and puts the site into recovery mode so the user can still access the admin to troubleshoot the issue. Users should experience fewer “white screen of death” situations with this new feature in place.

WordPress 5.2 brings a host of accessibility improvements to various admin screens for users who rely on assistive technologies. It also makes it easier to customize and design WordPress’ included Privacy Policy page.

Check out the 5.2 field guide for a detailed breakdown of everything that’s coming in the upcoming release. If you want to get a sneak peak and help test the release candidate, the easiest way is to install the Beta Tester plugin and select the “bleeding edge nightlies” option.

April 1, 2019

What’s Coming in WordPress 5.2 (Features and Screenshots)

WordPress 5.2 is expected to be released by the end of April 2019. We have been following the development and tested the first beta to try out new features that are on the way.

This release will bring improvements to the block editor, site health check, several bug fixes and minor enhancements.

In this article, we will show you what’s coming in WordPress 5.2 with features and screenshots.

Note: You can try out the beta version on your computer or on a staging environment by using the WordPress Beta Tester plugin.

WordPress 5.2 is still under development, which means some features may not make it to the final release.

That being said, let’s take a look at some of the upcoming features in WordPress 5.2.

Improved Fatal Error Protection in WordPress

The most common WordPress errors are usually fatal errors that stop users from accessing the admin dashboard.

Users are then required to undo changes using an FTP client or ask their hosting company for support.

WordPress 5.2 introduces a new recovery mode for site administrators. In case of a fatal error, you will see a message that ‘This site is experiencing technical difficulties’.

WordPress will then send an email to the admin email address with a special login link.

Using that link, you will be able to login to the WordPress admin area. After that, you can undo any changes that may have triggered the fatal error.

This feature will be a blessing for many beginners who find it quite difficult to fix such errors.

Block Editor Updates in WordPress 5.2

The WordPress block editor (Gutenberg) was introduced in WordPress 5.0. Since then there has been continuous development on the block editor to further improve it.

WordPress 5.2 will continue that with some new features and enhancements to the block editor.

Performance Improvements

The new WordPress block editor is much faster than the older classic editor. However, it could get slower when editing lengthier blog posts with tons of blocks.

WordPress 5.2 addressed that with significant performance improvements.

It will now shave 35% off the load time for massive posts. WordPress 5.2 will also cut the keypress time in half, which would make it feel way more responsive when you are typing.

Accessibility Improvements

The goal of WordPress is to democratize publishing and making the software accessible for all users. WordPress 5.2 will bring several accessibility improvements to the block editor.

The block editor will now support reduced motion settings in user’s browser.
The post URL slug will have better labeling and help text, which will make it easier to locate.
Block editor will have a clearer and consistent focus styling for keyboard navigating through landmarks.
WordPress 5.2 will also bring improved screen-reader experience with new speak messages. Existing speak messages are also improved to be clearer.

Introduction of New Blocks

WordPress 5.2 will also introduce the following new blocks in the default editor. Some of them were already available as Widgets, but now you can use them in posts and pages as well.

RSS block – It will allow you to easily fetch and display any RSS feed in your WordPress posts and pages.
Amazon Kindle embed block – Allows you to embed content from Amazon Kindle
Search block – Add the default WordPress search feature in your content.
Calendar block – Displays a calendar of your blog posts allowing users to click on a date to view posts published on that day.
Tag Cloud block – Displays the tag cloud in your content.

A New Block Manager Tool

By default, the block editor comes with several default blocks. You also have plugins and themes adding their own blocks as well.

However, the reality is that you’ll probably never use all those blocks. Most users usually stick to a handful of blocks for writing all their content.

WordPress 5.2 will introduce a new block management tool, which will allow you to hide blocks that you don’t want to use.

The block manager will list all the blocks that you have available on your site. You can simply uncheck the blocks that you don’t want to use.

The Minimum PHP Version Requirement

WordPress is used by millions of people from all over the world, using different hosting companies, and hosting environments.

This is why WordPress still supports some older PHP versions, which is a bit problematic. Users may not even realize that they can improve the performance of their website by using a newer PHP version.

WordPress 5.2 will set the current minimum required PHP version to 5.6, which is still old (current stable PHP version is 7.3.2). The goal is to gradually increase the minimum required PHP version with future releases.

Users on the older versions of PHP will see a notification, that they are using an older PHP version and need to update it.

Under The Hood Improvements in WordPress 5.2

These are the changes in WordPress 5.2 which will mostly affect developers.

Users will be able to provide a log file path when adding WP_DEBUG_LOG in wp-config.php file. #18391.

Plugins will be able to specify the minimum required PHP version. #40934

Dashicons, the default icon font used for the WordPress admin area will have 25 new icons to use. #41074

We hope this article gave you a glimpse of what’s coming in WordPress 5.2. Let us know which features you find interesting and what new features you would like to see in the future.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post What’s Coming in WordPress 5.2 (Features and Screenshots) appeared first on WPBeginner.