Trusted WordPress tutorials, when you need them most.
Beginner’s Guide to WordPress
WPB Cup
25 Million+
Websites using our plugins
16+
Years of WordPress experience
3000+
WordPress tutorials
by experts

What’s Coming in WordPress 6.0 (Features and Screenshots)

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on WPBeginner. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Learn more about Editorial Process.

WordPress 6.0 Beta arrived a few days ago, and it is expected to be released on May 24th, 2022. It will be the second major release of 2022 and will come with many new features and improvements.

We have been closely monitoring the development and trying out new features on our test sites.

In this article, we’ll give you a sneak peek into what’s coming in WordPress 6.0 with features and screenshots.

Features and screenshots of upcoming WordPress 6.0 (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. Please keep in mind that some of the features in beta may not make it into the final release.

Video Tutorial

Subscribe to WPBeginner

If you’d prefer written instructions, just keep reading.

Improvements to Full Site Editing

WordPress has been gradually releasing the new full site editing experience.

Basically, with full site editing, you can customize your WordPress themes using the same block editor that you use to create posts and pages.

You can make site wide changes to your theme templates and edit them visually with blocks.

Note: You’ll need a block enabled theme that supports this feature.

WordPress 6.0 is bringing a ton of enhancements and new features to the Theme Editor. Here are some of them.

Effortlessly Switch Theme Styles

WordPress 6.0 will allow users to easily switch theme styles with one click.

Simply click on the Style button at the top right corner and then switch to Browse Styles tab to see available styles in your theme.

Easily browse and switch styles

This allows theme developers to add multiple style presets to their themes that users can easily switch.

Export Your WordPress Block Theme

The new Theme Editor (Full Site Editor) allows you to create your own templates, customize styles, create beautiful layouts. But what if you wanted to copy all of them to another WordPress site?

WordPress 6.0 will allow you to easily export your theme with all the changes you made.

Export block theme

You can then simply install this theme on any other WordPress website and it will include all the changes you made to the original theme.

New Blocks in Block Theme Editor

WordPress 6.0 will introduce the following new blocks that you can use in your theme and templates.

1. Comments

You can now add comments query loop block. It comes with sub-blocks like comment author name, avatar, comment content, edit link, and more. You can edit them individually to make your comments standout.

Comment Query Loop block

2. Read More

While the Excerpt block in WordPress 5.9 allowed you to just enter the text you want to use for ‘Read more’.

WordPress 6.0 will come with a separate block as well. This way you can choose different text, background, and border for the link to make it more prominent.

Read more block

3. No results in Query Loop

When adding a Query Loop block, you can now insert the No Results block inside it. However, the block will only be available if your selected query doesn’t have any results.

No Results block

4. Post Author biography

New post author biography block can now be used along with Post Author and Avatar blocks.

Add post author biography

5. Avatar

The avatar block allows you to display a user’s Avatar (profile photo). You can choose if you want to display Avatar for a specific user or display current post/page author’s avatar.

Avatar block

While the default theme editor continues to see improvements, it still needs more work to compete with custom theme builder solutions that come as part of the WordPress page builder.

Block Editor Changes in WordPress 6.0

The block editor is where most website owners spend most of their time creating content and pages for their website.

Each WordPress release comes with significant improvements and new features to the content editor. Following are some of the most noticeable changes coming in WordPress 6.0 for the block editor.

Featured Image in Cover Block

Want to use the featured image for a post in the cover block? With WordPress 6.0. You’ll be able to choose featured image for a cover block and it will automatically display current post/page’s featured image.

Featured image in cover block

Changing featured image will automatically change the image displayed in this cover block.

Easier Text Selection in Multiple Blocks

Currently, selecting text across multiple blocks is difficult. Often the block editor ends up selecting all text in the block.

Selecting text across multiple blocks in WordPress 5.9

WordPress 6.0 will make it easier to simply select only the text you want to select.

Selecting text across multiple blocks in WordPress 6.0

Lock Reusable Blocks

A major pain point with the reusable blocks is that if any user makes changes to them, then those changes are saved.

To fix this there are already plugins that you can use to lock the reusable block and prevent users from editing it.

WordPress 6.0 is expected to bring that feature to the core. You’ll be able to simply select Lock Reusable Block option to prevent users from directly editing it.

Lock reusable block

This will bring up a popup where you’ll be able to choose lock restrictions.
You can lock edit, move, or removal of the block.

Lock options for reusable blocks in WordPress

Responsive Group and Row Blocks

With WordPress 6.0 you’ll be able to choose how you would want blocks to behave on different screen sizes.

For group block, you’ll see the option to display the blocks inside as a row or a stack.

Responsive group blocks

You can also select multiple blocks and then choose between a row or a stack layout.

Multi block row or stack layout

Miscellaneous Block Editor Enhancements

Following are a few more notable enhancements to the block editor in WordPress 6.0.

1. Border for Columns Block

You can now add a border around the columns block.

Border around columns block

3. Spacing for Gallery Images

You can now adjust the spacing between individual images inside a gallery block.

Gallery spacing

4. Quick Shortcut to Add Internal Links

You can now quickly add links by adding two square brackets followed by the post or page title.

Add link shortcut

5. Select Multiple Blocks in List View

Users will be able to use SHIFT+Click or Shift+Up+Down keys to select multiple adjacent blocks in the list view. They can then move them up or down or perform other actions.

Move multiple blocks

See a full list of helpful WordPress keyboard shortcuts.

Accessibility Improvements in WordPress 6.0

Each WordPress release continues to improve usability by making it more accessible for users.

WordPress 6.0 will come with a ton of improvements that would improve user experience for users with accessibility needs.

Following are some of the more notable accessibility improvements.

  • Post title will be used as ALT text for featured images if no other ALT text is provided.
  • Better tabbing in blocks with placeholder elements.
  • Search announcement in block search.
  • Read description for blocks with a placeholder setup.
  • Admin bar text labels will be readable by screenreaders on smaller screens.

For a detailed roundup, see accessibility improvements in WordPress 6.0.

Under The Hood Changes

WordPress 6.0 will also bring many changes for developers to explore and use in their own themes, plugins, and projects.

Following are some of these under the hood changes:

  • Webfonts API will provide theme authors a more efficient way to manage local fonts via PHP or theme.json. (See details)
  • An API to prevent blocks from appearing on Widgets screen. (#55301)
  • Make get_the_author_link pluggable. (#51859)
  • Improved sticky post query. (#36907)

We hope this article gave you a glimpse into what’s coming in WordPress 6.0.

Comment below to 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.

Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. See how WPBeginner is funded, why it matters, and how you can support us. Here's our editorial process.

Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

Get FREE access to our toolkit - a collection of WordPress related products and resources that every professional should have!

Reader Interactions

13 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

    Hey WPBeginner readers,
    Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
    Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
    You can get more details about the contest from here.
    Start sharing your thoughts below to stand a chance to win!

  2. Kizito says

    Can the ability to save and reuse your theme block in another WP site be applicable to other free themes and premium themes in the marketplace?

    • WPBeginner Support says

      It would depend on the theme but a theme could certainly look to capitalize on this functionality.

      Admin

  3. Tonya Miller says

    I love that accessibility options are improving. It’s a big part of my job. This website is just so well done. Much appreciated!!

  4. Alexander J. Smith says

    Adding internal links with “[[” is the syntax of MediaWiki,it’s so familiar to me!(I’m also a MediaWiki user) :)

Leave a Reply to Alexander J. Smith Cancel reply

Thanks for choosing to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Please Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.

WPBeginner Assistant
How can I help you?

By chatting, you consent to this chat being stored according to our privacy policy and your email will be added to receive weekly WordPress tutorials from WPBeginner.