WordPress 6.5, originally slated for release on March 26, has been postponed to April 02, 2024. The release team has also decided to release an unplanned WordPress 6.5 RC4 on March 28.
WordPress Core Committer Jonathan Desrosiers has shared that this change is in response to community feedback on the Font Library and Synced Pattern Overrides, and Font Library follow-up posts. The confirmation comes after he hinted at a possible delay via Slack on March 23.
The announcement reveals the delay will give contributors time to:
- Change the font storage directory to wp-content/uploads/fonts instead of wp-content/fonts.
- Fix and test high impact bugs identified with the Font Library feature in the upcoming Gutenberg 18.0.0 release.
The one-week delay, instead of a release later this week, allows for thorough testing, considering the major holiday period spanning Thursday to Monday in various regions. Automattic-sponsored contributor Tonya Mork also pointed out “Hosts, service providers, etc may have less folks available to support the release rollout to their users /clients later, due to the Easter weekend and public holidays.”
There were doubts about Font Library being ready to be shipped, but early this month, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the Executive Director of the WordPress project stepped in and confirmed it would be shipped in WordPress 6.5 itself. The feature was initially expected to be in WordPress 6.4 and later postponed to 6.5.
The decision to store the fonts in wp-content/uploads/fonts directory ensures that users won’t need to install or configure anything. “While this is not the preferred outcome for everyone, there does not seem to be any objection proceeding with this.”, said Jonathan Desrosiers.
WordPress core committer Aaron Jorbin wondered whether using wp-content/uploads is a temporary solution with a finite end date or will it continue to be evaluated. Josepha replied: “Continue to evaluate if it’s reasonable and feasible, but with a concrete sense for how long we have to deliberate.”
6.5 release squad Documentation co-lead Estela Rueda said “If an extra day/extra RC is going to reassure we send out a better product, then it is no-brainer to me: we should postpone.”
This isn’t the first time a WordPress release has been delayed. Previously the release team had postponed the release of WordPress 6.2 due to a bug with date formats. Other delays include WP 4.9, WP 6.1 Beta 1, WP 5.9 Beta 1, WordPress 5.6 Beta 4, and WP 5.3 Beta 3,
As per the new schedule, the Dry Run is scheduled for April 01, 2024.