wordpress 5.4 screenshots

WordPress 5.4 was released earlier today, and it is the first major release of 2020.

This new release is packed with a lot features, many of them are focused around the WordPress block editor. This release will massively improve the way you create content on your websites.

In this article, we’ll share what’s new in WordPress 5.4, and which features you should try after updating your websites.

WordPress 5.4 is a major release, and unless you are on a managed WordPress hosting service, you’ll have to manually initiate the update.

Important: Don’t forget to create a complete WordPress backup before starting the update.

New and Improved Block Editor in WordPress 5.4

WordPress 5.4 is focused on improving the content editor. This includes new features, enhancements, and new blocks.

Let’s start with the enhancements first.

Fullscreen Editor will be Default in WordPress 5.4

WordPress 5.4 displays the block editor in the fullscreen mode by default.

This change will be noticeable on new WordPress installations, or if you are accessing the WordPress admin area from a new device, browser, or in the incognito mode.

If you are upgrading from WordPress 5.3 using the same browser and device that you regularly use, then your editor will open with the last mode you had enabled.

You can exit the fullscreen mode by clicking on the Editor settings and unchecking the ‘Fullscreen mode’ option.

Update: If you want to permanently disable the full screen mode, then see our tutorial on how to disable full screen editor in WordPress.

New Blocks in WordPress 5.4

WordPress 5.4 brings two new blocks for you to use while writing content.

1. The Social Icons Block

As the name suggests, the Social Icons block allows you to add social media icons in your posts and pages.

After that, you can click on the add button and select a social network that you would like to add. You can then click on the social network icon and provide the link to your profile.

Social Icons block only allows you to add social media icons with links to your profiles. It does not add social sharing buttons. For that, you’ll still need a social media plugin with sharing features.

2. The Buttons Block

WordPress 5.4 introduces the Buttons block which will replace the Button block. As you can guess from the name of the new block, it allows you to add multiple buttons side by side.

You can select the background or gradient colors for each button and choose from two different styles.

Improved Blocks Your Should Try in WordPress 5.4

Several blocks in WordPress 5.4 are improved with new enhancements. Here are the top changes that will make a big difference in your writing experience.

More Color Options for Blocks

WordPress 5.4 offers new color options for multiple blocks. This allows you to create more engaging layouts for your posts and pages.

Previously users were only able to change the color of all text in a paragraph. With WordPress 5.4, you can now change the color of any text inside a paragraph block.

You can also choose text and background colors with gradients for cover block, and you can even choose background and text colors for all the blocks inside a group block.

If you regularly use the Columns block, then you can also use colors for separating columns from regular paragraphs.

Block Selection Tool

A new button in the toolbar now allows you to easily select blocks. This is a really useful tool particularly when you have nested blocks inside a group block.

Simply click on the select tool and then take your mouse to the block you want to select.

Drag and Drop to Add Featured Image

Previously, you needed to manually select to upload and set the featured image. This didn’t match the drag and drop ability of the content editor.

Now with WordPress 5.4, you can simply drag and drop an image to the featured image section.

Better Mobile Toolbar for Block Editor

Previously, if you had to edit a blog post using a mobile device, then you may have noticed how the block settings toolbar moved around.

This made it quite difficult to use the editor on mobile devices. WordPress 5.4 has fixed this with a fixed toolbar on the top.

Select Image Sizes in the Gallery Block

Previously you were not able to select image sizes for images in the image gallery block. Now, you can select image size directly in the gallery block settings.

Improved Latest Posts Block

Previously, the Latest Posts block didn’t include the featured images. You can also choose the size and alignment for the featured image. This makes the Latest Posts block a lot more engaging and useful.

You Can Now Embed TikTok Videos in WordPress

WordPress 5.4 includes oEmbed support for TikTok videos. Basically, you can now add TikTok videos to your WordPress posts and pages just like you would embed YouTube videos.

Simply paste the video URL and WordPress will automatically embed it.

Updated Privacy Tools in WordPress 5.4

WordPress 5.4 brings improvements to the built-in privacy tools. Personal data exports now include session tokens, community events location, and custom user meta.

Personal data export now comes in two files in HTML and JSON. The HTML file includes a table of contents at the top for easier navigation.

Developer Changes in WordPress 5.4

WordPress 5.4 has several improvements for developers. These enhancements affect theme and plugin developers mostly.

New hooks in WordPress 5.4 allow developers to add custom fields to navigation menu items. (Details)

Developers can now add keyboard shortcuts to the block editor. (Details)

WordPress 5.4 changes the HTML output for the Calendar widget. It moves the navigation links to a <nav> HTML element right after the <table> element in order to produce valid HTML. (#39763)

A new apply_shortcodes() function is now available as an alias to the do_shortcode() function. (#37422)

Some unused customizer classes are now formally deprecated in WordPress 5.4. (#42364)

We hope this guide helped you learn about what’s new in WordPress 5.4. We are excited about the new features and enhancements in the block editor particularly color options and buttons block.

What’s your favorite feature in WordPress 5.4? Let us know in the comments below.

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 New in WordPress 5.4 (Features and Screenshots) appeared first on WPBeginner.

WordPress 5.4 is scheduled to be released on March 31, 2020. It will be the first major release of the year and will ship with some significant improvements.

We’ve been following the development closely and testing the first beta to try out new features that are on the way.

WordPress 5.4 contains several new features that are mainly focused around block editor improvements. There are also some important changes for developers.

In this article, we will show you what’s coming in WordPress 5.4 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 5.4 is in the feature freeze stage of the development. This means new features will not be added, but existing new features can still change and may not make into the final release.

Having said that, let’s take a look at what’s coming in WordPress 5.4.

The Block Editor Improvements

WordPress 5.4 is focused around improving the block editor by including new features and extending the existing blocks.

This is great news for content creators as they will now be able to do more with blocks inside the content editor.

The New Welcome Guide Modal

WordPress 5.4 will come with a new welcome guide popup to introduce new users with the block editor. It is a simple slide-show that explains blocks, points users to the block library, and a link to block editor tutorial.

You can also relaunch the guide by clicking on the three-dot menu on the top-right corner of the edit screen and then selecting Welcome Guide.

New Blocks in WordPress 5.4

WordPress 5.4 will also bring two new blocks to the library.

1. Social Icons Block

Social Icons block allows you to easily add links to social media profiles inside your WordPress posts and pages.

You can then add social media icons by clicking on the add button and adding an icon. You can also click on an icon to provide a link to your social media page.

Note: These social media icons just allow you to add links to your profiles. For social sharing, you would still need a WordPress social media plugin.

2. Buttons Block

The button block will be replaced by the buttons block. The new buttons block now allows you to add more than one button side by side.

You can choose from two different styles, use your own text and background colors, and add gradient background colors as well.

Block Improvments in WordPress 5.4

WordPress 5.4 will come with many improvements to the WordPress block editor as well as individual blocks. The following are some of the enhancements included in the beta.

More Color Options for Blocks

WordPress 5.4 will introduce more color options for the cover, group, and column blocks.

You can also choose background and text colors for all the blocks inside a group block.

Similarly, you’ll also be able to select background and text colors for the columns block.

Drag and Drop to Upload Featured Image

Currently, you cannot just drag and drop an image to set it as a featured image. WordPress 5.4 will allow users to simply drag and drop an image to the featured image section.

Change Text Color Inside Paragraph Block

Previously, you were only able to change text color for the entire paragraph block. With WordPress 5.4 users will be able to simply select any text inside a paragraph and change color.

Caption Below Table

Users will be able to add a caption below a table block.

Fixed Block Toolbar on Mobile

Currently, if you had to edit a blog post using a mobile device, then you’ll notice the toolbar move around blocks as you write.

WordPress 5.4 fixes this with a floating toolbar at the top which changes depending on the type of block you are currently editing.

Easily Select Gallery Image Size

WordPress 5.4 allows you to easily choose a size for all images in the gallery.

Improved Latest Posts Block

Coming with WordPress 5.4, users will be able to display featured images in the latest posts block.

Easily Select Blocks

WordPress 5.4 will include a select tool that will allow users to easily select a block that they want to change. This will come in handy when you have nested blocks like a group or columns.

The TikTok Embed Block

WordPress 5.4 will come with an embed block to easily add TikTok videos in your WordPress posts and pages.

Under The Hood Changes in WordPress 5.4

WordPress 5.4 will bring significant improvements for developers. The following are some of those under the hood changes.

WordPress 5.4 will change the HTML output for the Calendar widget. It moves the navigation links to a <nav&> HTML element right after the <table> element in order to produce valid HTML. (#39763)

A new apply_shortcodes() function will be introduced as an alias to the do_shortcode() function. (#37422)

Some unused customizer classes will be formally deprecated in WordPress 5.4. (#42364)

In WordPress 5.4, the Button component for WordPress admin area design has been enhanced with several changes and additions. (Details)

We hope this article helped you get a good idea of what’s coming in the WordPress 5.4 release. Let us know what features you find interesting and what you’d look to see in a future WordPress release.

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 5.4 (Features and Screenshots) appeared first on WPBeginner.