And finally today on 02 November 2022, WordPress 6.1 “Misha” was officially released, and is available for download. This is the third major release of the year 2022 following WordPress 6.0 Arturo, released on May 24, and WordPress 5.9 Josephine, released on January 25. The latest version of WordPress 6.1 “Misha” refine the features of previous relese WordPress 5.9 and 6.0 update and fill gaps in functionality to “connect the different flows into a more coherent and fulfilling experience while awaiting phase three of the Gutenberg roadmap becomes.”
Note: Minimum PHP Version Required to Run WordPress 6.1 Is Now 7.4 or greater. That means If you’re using an older version, you’ll need to update PHP before upgrading to WordPress 6.1. (via WordPress system requirement)
WordPress 6.1, “Misha”
Inspired by the life and work of Soviet-Norwegian jazz pianist Mikhail “Misha” Alperin.
Download WordPress 6.1
Before update WordPress to 6.1 we recommend to check and make sure all installed plugins are up to date.
- When you open the WordPress Dashboard, you get notified WordPress 6.1 is available.
- You only need to click “please update now” link to get WordPress 6.1 installed.
- Also, you can click on the Updates icon in your WordPress admin dashboard.
- And click on the “Update Now” button to get WP 6.1 update
- While your site is being updated, it will be in maintenance mode.
- As soon as your updates are complete, your site will return to normal.
- As long as everything goes well with the update you should then see the “Welcome to WordPress 6.1” screen. And that’s it! Quick and easy.
If you are looking to download WordPress 6.1 files visit the release archive. For step-by-step instructions on installing and updating WordPress follow this link
WordPress 6.1 features
WordPress 6.1 focuses on “speed, security & search” and more than 25 tickets have been closed to improve performance. From REST API to multisite, from WP_Query to core block registration and from new site health checks to the addition of the async attribute for images, there are performance optimizations for every type of WordPress website. Whether you are a developer helping clients or you manage your site solo, here is all you need to know new things in this version of WordPress 6.1
New default Theme 2023
With the latest WordPress 6.1 release, a new default theme – Twenty Twenty-Three introduces Four different font styles to choose from when writing posts or pages. Like its predecessor Twenty Twenty-Two, the theme is block-based. One of the biggest differences, however, is that it no longer contains predefined images, instead, placeholders for your own images are inserted.
Style Variations
The new WordPress update brings ten style variations that can be used with the Site Editor! And Each of them offers a unique look and feel, and all of that within a click of a button.
One click lock for all inner blocks
When locking blocks, a new, additional toggle lets you apply your blocking settings to all blocks within a parent block. This is useful for group, cover and column blocks.
The table of contents block
The new TOC block, originally introduced with Gutenberg 13.3, is improved with WordPress 6.1: as soon as you add the TOC block to a new post, the block automatically recognizes any heading blocks that have been added to the content. These are then displayed as anchor links in a list. The creation of a table of contents is thus much faster and easier with the update.
Block Editor Improvements
Each WordPress update brings improvements to the block editor (Gutenberg), And today’s update allows users add borders to more blocks, as well as to separately adjust the top, right, left, and bottom borders.
- Also, you now have the option to rearrange positions in lists and quotes without having to edit them.
- The latest WordPress version 6.1 allows users to set their featured images in cover blocks. And using covers will let users display featured images wherever they want.
- Also, there is a new and improved navigation block that permit you to create and select a menu from the block settings with ease,
With WordPress 6.1, the sidebar within the Gutenberg editor is slightly customized. For example, permalinks now appear in the summary instead of under the address bar as before. The permalink can be adjusted there with one click, which allows you to change your slug according to your wishes.
The release of WordPress 6.1was led by Matt Mullenweg and was supported by a release squad that made the new version with all its enhancements possible for the general users.
- Release Lead: Matt Mullenweg
- Release Coordinators: Héctor Prieto and Jonathan Desrosiers
- Core Tech Co-Leads: Mike Schroder, David Baumwald, and Jeff Paul
- Editor Tech Co-Leads: Michal Czaplinski, Bernie Reiter, and Carlos Bravo
- Core Triage Co-Leads: JB Audras and Ahmed Chaion
- Editor Triage Co-Leads: Nick Diego and Anne McCarthy
- Documentation Co-Leads: Birgit Pauli-Haack, Milana Cap, and Femy Praseeth
- Marketing & Communications Co-Leads: Jonathan Pantani and Dan Soschin
- Test Lead: Brian Alexander
- Design Lead: Rich Tabor
- Default Theme Co-Leads: Beatriz Fialho & Sarah Norris
Also read: