On average, WordPress releases around 3 major updates per year, adding new features to the backend. Once every few years, though, WordPress releases an even bigger .0 update, making even more changes than usual. The most notable of these was the WordPress 5.0 update in December 2018, bringing the new visual editor to WordPress. 4 years later in 2022, WordPress 6.0 laid the groundwork for full-site editing in WordPress. Now in 2026, WordPress 7.0 is here, bringing about more major changes.
Artificial intelligence (AI) in WordPress
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of years, you know the biggest shift in technology has been toward artificial intelligence. Chatbots such as ChatGPT and Claude have exploded in popularity. Social media companies like Meta and X have released their own AI technology like Meta AI and Grok to get in the AI space. Operating systems have added AI features, like Google’s Gemini, Apple Intelligence, and Microsoft Copilot. AI is simply everywhere.
The WordPress AI Connectors screen will allow you to choose which AI agents you want to use with your website. (Image courtesy of the WordPress 7.0 Field Guide)
So it should come as no surprise to see WordPress getting in on AI as well, especially with other website companies offering websites created purely with AI. WordPress 7.0 includes a built-in AI client. It is provider-agnostic, so you can use any compatible AI tool with it. The WordPress core simply provides an interface to input a query and receive a result. AI in WordPress can be used for text or image generation. Developers can even specify preferences for models — WordPress gives an example of a developer specifying to use Claude Sonnet 4.6 if it is installed, Gemini 3.1 Pro as the second choice, and GPT 5.4 as the third fallback choice — and the plugin will still function if none of the preferred models are available.
The WordPress AI client will allow developers to accept text prompts as well as file input, and developers can provide system instructions, specify output file types, and utilize conversation history. Prompts can also be limited to admin users.
As an end user, you’ll be able to go to Settings → Connectors in the WordPress Dashboard and select the AI connections you use with your website. Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI are available as default providers, but you can install any others you want as well.
New WordPress Dashboard look and features
WordPress 7.0 includes a new color scheme and look throughout the Dashboard. In addition to updated colors and a higher contrast ratio, the Dashboard features new visual transition and a new Command Palette shortcut in the upper admin bar to access tools from anywhere in the Dashboard.
WordPress will also provide a Font Library, a new, easy way to manage fonts used in a site in the Dashboard. The Dashboard will also now include the ability to compare two versions of a page visually instead of only displaying the code.
Changes to WordPress blocks
WordPress 7.0 also introduces two new changes to improve responsive editing for different viewports:
- The ability to reveal or hide blocks depending on the viewport size and change styles for different breakpoints
- Hamburger menu overlays can now be customized and built from blocks and patterns
It also includes several new blocks:
- Heading
- Icons
- Breadcrumbs
- Playlist
- Added lightbox support for the Gallery block
- Dynamic URL support in the Navigation Link block
WordPress 7.0 also introduces several new tools for developers. With these changes, WordPress Core now requires a minimum PHP version of 7.4, with PHP 8.3 or above still recommended.
