WordPress 5.7 is the first major WordPress release of 2021. The release includes several new features. What’s coming in WordPress 5.7?
New features for site administrators
Perhaps the most handy new feature in WordPress 5.7 is the ability for a site administrator to send a password reset link. Presently, users can reset their own password or an administrator can choose a new password for a user, but the addition of the ability to email a password reset is a handy new feature. WordPress 5.7 also includes some updates to the password reset screen user interface, as well as similar changes to the login and registration screens.
WordPress 5.7 also has standardized the colors used in the WordPress Dashboard.with a new palette of 12 shades of blue, green, red, and yellow, as well as 13 shades of gray, pure black, and pure white. This will create consistency as well as making it easier for WordPress developers to comply with accessibility guidelines for contrasting colors.
Lazy loading iframes
The other headlining feature in WordPress 5.7 is that iframes will now be lazy loaded by default. Lazy loading for images was included in WordPress 5.5, so now embedded iframes will receive the same performance boost.
HTTPS compatibility detection
WordPress will now be able to detect if a website is capable of supporting HTTPS — in other words, if a website has a security certificate installed but is not utilizing it. When this happens, administrators will be alerted in the WordPress Dashboard. WordPress 5.7 will also feature enhancements to simplify migration of a website to HTTPS.
Block editor updates
The Gutenberg block editor will also include several handy new updates. Blocks will now offer full height alignment to make blocks fill the entire viewport. Similarly, blocks will have controls for vertical alignments and width percentages. The Social Icons block will include the ability to change their size. The List and Code blocks will also include font size control. Reusable blocks will have enhanced usability and stability. Several other developer-focused changes have been implemented as well.
Developer-focused changes and bug fixes
WordPress 5.7 includes 127 bug fixes and 66 enhancements and feature requests. As always, WordPress 5.7 includes numerous developer-focused changes. Because changes to things like APIs, filters, and functions aren’t relevant to most users, we won’t explain them in detail here, but you can read the WordPress 5.7 field notes if you’d like to learn more about these changes.
WordPress 5.7 releases on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Unless you have turned on automatic major updates — a feature WordPress allowed you to opt into beginning in WordPress 5.6 — you’ll need to update your site manually to take advantage of the update,
