WordPress 4.6 Beta 1 is now available!

This software is still in development, so we don’t recommend you run it on a production site. Consider setting up a test site just to play with the new version. To test WordPress 4.6, try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”). Or you can download the beta here (zip).

WordPress 4.6 is slated for release on August 16, but to get there, we need your help testing what we have been working on, including:

Shiny Updates v2 ([37714]) – Shiny Updates replaces progress updates with a simpler and more straight forward experience when installing, updating, and deleting plugins and themes.

([37714]) – Shiny Updates replaces progress updates with a simpler and more straight forward experience when installing, updating, and deleting plugins and themes. Native Fonts in the Admin (#36753) – Experience faster load times, especially when working offline, a removal of a third-party dependency, and a more native-feeling experience as the lines between the mobile web and native applications continue to blur.

(#36753) – Experience faster load times, especially when working offline, a removal of a third-party dependency, and a more native-feeling experience as the lines between the mobile web and native applications continue to blur. Editor Improvements – A more reliable recovery mode (#37025) and detection of broken URLs while you type them (#36638).

There have been changes for developers to explore as well:

Resource Hints (#34292) – Allow browsers to prefetch specific pages, render them in the background, perform DNS lookups, or to begin the connection handshake (DNS, TCP, TLS) in the background.

(#34292) – Allow browsers to prefetch specific pages, render them in the background, perform DNS lookups, or to begin the connection handshake (DNS, TCP, TLS) in the background. New WP_Site_Query (#35791) and WP_Network_Query (#32504) classes to query sites and networks with lazy loading for details.

(#35791) and (#32504) classes to query sites and networks with lazy loading for details. Requests (#33055) – A new PHP library for HTTP requests that supports parallel requests and more.

(#33055) – A new PHP library for HTTP requests that supports parallel requests and more. WP_Term_Query (#35381) is modeled on existing query classes and provides a more consistent structure for generating term queries.

(#35381) is modeled on existing query classes and provides a more consistent structure for generating term queries. Language Packs (#34114, #34213) – Translations managed through translate.wordpress.org now have a higher priority and are loaded just-in-time.

(#34114, #34213) – Translations managed through translate.wordpress.org now have a higher priority and are loaded just-in-time. WP_Post_Type (#36217) provides easier access to post type objects and their underlying properties.

(#36217) provides easier access to post type objects and their underlying properties. The Widgets API (#28216) was enhanced to support registering pre-instantiated widgets.

(#28216) was enhanced to support registering pre-instantiated widgets. Index definitions are now normalized by dbDelta() ([37583]).

([37583]). Comments can now be stored in a persistent object cache (#36906).

can now be stored in a persistent object cache (#36906). External Libraries were updated to the latest versions – Masonry to 3.3.2 and imagesLoaded to 3.2.0 (#32802), MediaElement.js to 2.21.2 (#36759), and TinyMCE to 4.3.13 (#37225).

were updated to the latest versions – Masonry to 3.3.2 and imagesLoaded to 3.2.0 (#32802), MediaElement.js to 2.21.2 (#36759), and TinyMCE to 4.3.13 (#37225). REST API responses now include an auto-discovery header (#35580) and a refreshed nonce when responding to an authenticated response (#35662).

responses now include an auto-discovery header (#35580) and a refreshed nonce when responding to an authenticated response (#35662). Expanded Meta Registration API via register_meta() (#35658).

via (#35658). Customizer – Improved API for setting validation (#34893, #36944).

If you want a more in-depth view of what major changes have made it into 4.6, check out posts tagged with 4.6 on the main development blog, or look at a list of everything that’s changed.

If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on the WordPress Trac. There, you can also find a list of known bugs.

Happy testing!

More Shiny Updates

In 4.6 Beta 1.

And Font Natively.

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