WordPress 5.7 is the first major core release for 2021. WordPress gives more editor controls to users in its newest update and helps your website load faster with more security. Plus, a bright new color palette brings that fresh spring feeling.
Following the last update of 5.6.1, WordPress’s latest delivers new features, upgrades, and fixes after the 5.6 release at the end of 2020.
Read on to learn more about WordPress 5.7 features, including:
- Various tuneups
- A more versatile editor
- Lazy loading for iframes
- Easier migration to HTTPS
- New robots.txt functions
The Latest Version: WordPress 5.7
Named after musical prodigy Esperanza Spalding, WordPress 5.7, aka “Esperanza,” brings a breath of new life with its upgrade. That means new controls and a bright new look.
One change with 5.7 is a new default color palette that prioritizes simplicity. The palette is condensed into seven core colors and 56 shades. The colors also meet the WCAG 2.0 contrast ratio recommendation when used with white or black.
The rollout brings several new features along with 127 bug fixes, 66 improvements, and 29 tasks crossed off WordPress’s to-do list. Just a few of these include:
- Interface changes to the login and registration pages
- Multiple adjustments to the Twenty Twenty-One theme
- Admins can now send reset password links to users
- More ways to see if a post is publicly viewable
WordPress 5.7 also continues to improve its handling of jQuery 3.5.1. Just as WordPress keeps adapting, so does jQuery. But with the WordPress 5.7 update, users will notice a less bothersome jQuery.
Now, let’s take a deeper look into the other major features of this significant release.
Upgrades to Editor and More Control Without Coding Know-How
WordPress knows its users aren’t all coding-savvy developers, which is why it’s committed to making its editor easier to use.
New editor features include:
- Adjusting the font size in more places instead of going to another screen to make the change
- Drag and drop blocks and patterns into your posts straight from the inserter
- Autosave on reusable blocks when you click the update button
- Upgrades to reusable blocks to make them more straightforward to use and stable
The update also includes more accessibility for your alignment, social icons, and buttons block without writing custom code.
Lazy-Load Option for iFrames
Lazy loading is a tool to use to make your website faster. Instead of loading the entire webpage at once, lazy loading causes loading to occur when users get to the specific image or feature.
Many WordPress users turned to plugins to achieve this result, but the platform is catching up with demand. Lazy loading for images was introduced in WordPress 5.5, and now 5.7 expands the lazy-load option to iframes.
This change will only affect those elements that provide a width and height attribute. Otherwise, the lazy loading option for iframes will not work.
One-Click Migration From HTTP to HTTPS
Navigating from HTTP to HTTPS is critical for enhancing SEO (search engine optimization), as search engines prefer URLs with HTTPS. And WordPress just made it easier for you to move your URL to HTTPS by letting users do it in one-click.
Instead of making sure all of your URLs are switched over, this update takes care of that automatically, saving you the headache of navigating it yourself.
New API for Robots.txt
The robots.txt file is an integral part of the SEO landscape on your website. The robots.txt file tells search engines whether or not to crawl your website.
In the WordPress update, the new Robots API lets you control more of the file’s functionality. For example, you can include filter directives that let you control the image size. If you choose to show large photos, this can help improve your traffic because search engines favor images.
With this new API, some of the previous functions of the robots meta tag have been replaced with new commands. Some commands have been deprecated and are no longer the correct function.
WordPress Updates March 2021
Enjoy the new functionality available in WordPress 5.7, like making your images easier for search engines to optimize and a smoother editor experience.
The next significant WordPress upgrades are slated for later in 2021, with 5.8 expected in July and 5.9 in December. Stay up to date with the latest WordPress news on Bluehost.
Do you want to upgrade your WordPress website? Check out Bluehost’s competitive hosting packages today.
