Aaron Jorbin 3:53 pm on May 24, 2024
Tags: 6-5 ( 76 ), 6-5-x ( 6 )

WordPress 6.5.4: An upcoming maintenance release

A number of pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party authors have reported that the fix introduced as a part of #60992 has not sufficiently helped their users, therefore #61269 is being proposed as a short cycle fix. In order to get this fix released quickly, WordPress 6.5.4 is being planned with the following schedule.

30 May 2024 – Release Candidaterelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta). made available and announced here on the make/coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. site.
5 June 2024 – Final release made available.

Specific times will be decided in advance and adjustments to the schedule may be made. All adjustments will be noted in this post.

Minor or Maintenance releases of WordPress are intended as bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority.-fix only releases. If you have a tracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. that you think should be considered, please put it in the 6.5.4 milestone. If you have a githubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ issue, please add it to the 6.5.x Editor Tasks board. If you lack bug gardening capabilities and have a ticket or issue you wish to highlight for 6.5.4, please add a comment here.

Note: except in extreme situations, only bug fixes will be considered and generally only bugs that have been introduced during the 6.5 cycle.

Get involved with 6.5.4

Each of the open tickets in the milestone is going to require development work along with testing and review. Additionally, while the intent is for no new translated strings in this release, some locales have strings in 6.5 in need of translation.

General coordination for the release will happen in the #6-5-release-leads channel and decisions around code for the release will be made in the #core room.

This minor releaseMinor Release A set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality. will be led by @hellofromtonya, @costdev, and myself (@jorbin). If there are editor related issues that need to be included, @grantmkin has agreed to lead those as well.

Thanks to @joemcgill, @costdev, @grantmkin, and @hellofromtonya for prepublication review.

#6-5, #6-5-x

Pascal Birchler 12:46 pm on May 27, 2024

I feel like we should have just reverted the original change in 6.5.3 instead of adding an enhancementenhancement Enhancements are simple improvements to WordPress, such as the addition of a hook, a new feature, or an improvement to an existing feature. in a minor releaseMinor Release A set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality. that now causes us to ship yet another enhancement in a new minor release. Now plugins need to opt into desired behavior with a filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. instead of WP just doing it for them.
- Andrew Ozz 10:24 pm on May 28, 2024
  
  now causes us to ship yet another enhancementenhancement Enhancements are simple improvements to WordPress, such as the addition of a hook, a new feature, or an improvement to an existing feature. in a new minor releaseMinor Release A set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality.
  
  Yea, thinking the chances are somewhat high to still “not get it right”. As this affects how plugins are installed and configured, ideally, imho, some of the people that make “flagship” plugins (like Woo) would step in and come up with a solution that’s best for the users.
  - Tonya Mork 11:06 am on May 29, 2024
    
    Hey @azaozz, are you also supporting @swissspidy suggestion of “reverting that Ajax part” of 6.5.0?
- Tonya Mork 10:43 pm on May 28, 2024
  
  I feel like we should have just reverted the original change in 6.5.3
  
  @swissspidy are you referring to reverting the “original change” from 6.5.0, meaning to revert 6.5.0 “original change” in 6.5.3?
  
  If yes, that was seriously explored for 6.5.4. Reasonings shared here in the “Why not revert?” section. Coping here to keep the discussion in one place:
  
  A full revert of the Plugins Dependencies (PD) feature will potentially cause a backwards compatible (BC) break. Why? It shipped public functions, classes, etc that are available for invoking and extending in plugins. If any plugins are currently invoking or extending, the user will experience a fatal error.
  A partial revert of the AJAX will impact users using a pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party that adopted the feature.
  Thus, a revert also impacts users.
  - Pascal Birchler 6:17 am on May 29, 2024
    
    No. I am referring to reverting that Ajax part. It would impact much fewer users than the current hotfix workarounds.
    - Tonya Mork 11:03 am on May 29, 2024
      
      I am referring to reverting that Ajax part
      
      Thanks @swissspidy. That’s what I thought you meant – revert the Ajax, which is the 6.5.0 change causing the impacts and the extra work in the minors.
      
      It would impact much fewer users than the current hotfix workarounds.
      
      Could you share more on what you’re seeing as to why it would “impact much fewer users” than the current plan?
      - Pascal Birchler 12:32 pm on May 29, 2024
        
        There are way more plugins that change something visual in the adminadmin (and super admin) (adding menu items, adding onboarding flow) than there are plugins with dependencies.
        
        Let me try to explain this way:
        
        Before 6.5, you install & activate a pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party, the page refreshes, you see a new admin menu item or an onboarding wizard. That works for every plugin and user.
        If you want to install another plugin right afterwards, you go back to the install page and continue doing so. Not ideal, but not many users install >1 plugin in one go anyway.
        
        In 6.5, nothing happens after activating a plugin, because you might want to install another one, like a dependent plugin. But there are only very few plugins with dependencies, so this is an edge case. And again, not many users install >1 plugin in one go. On the other hand, most plugins either have an onboarding flow or add menu items or something else. But now you don’t see that until you manually reload the page. Some onboarding flows maybe even broke, and you’ll only see it when you navigate to the dashboard or something. By improving UXUX User experience for an edge case, we made it worse for the more common use case. Arguably, this could be seen as a backward compatibility break.
        
        Then, we rushed to get 6.5.3 out, where instead of fixing the common use case, we display an admin notice for reloading the page. And for the edge case (installing more plugins), it’s a distraction.
        
        Now we’re rushing to get 6.5.4 out, where instead of fixing the common use case, we now force plugins to opt into pre-6.5 behavior. Not to mention that #61269 is only targeted at plugins with an onboarding flow, but not at plugins who maybe add some new admin menu item. So it does not solve all use cases.
        
        What’s next, a 6.5.5 where we try to fix this once more because we still didn’t get it right..?
        
        Don’t get me wrong, I like the 6.5 enhancementenhancement Enhancements are simple improvements to WordPress, such as the addition of a hook, a new feature, or an improvement to an existing feature., but it would need to magically make menu items & onboarding flows appear after activation.
        
        Instead of a half-baked bandaid for a backward compatibility break in a minor releaseMinor Release A set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality., risking yet another minor release afterwards, it seems better to revert in a minor and properly think it through in a major releasemajor release A release, identified by the first two numbers (3.6), which is the focus of a full release cycle and feature development. WordPress uses decimaling count for major release versions, so 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, and 3.1 are sequential and comparable in scope..
        
        Tonya Mork 3:47 pm on May 29, 2024
        
        Thank you @swissspidy.
        
        A revert of the AJAX was my first recommendation. However, in looking into it, there were concerns as the revert was messy. It appeared to be too risky for a minor.
        
        From your feedback, @costdev and I took a fresh new look at how to disable the AJAX part that is causing the impacts.
        
        There is a way to do it. It’s a very minor change.
        
        I opened a new TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/61319 as an alternative approach to consider for 6.5.4. @costdev added the patchpatch A special text file that describes changes to code, by identifying the files and lines which are added, removed, and altered. It may also be referred to as a diff. A patch can be applied to a codebase for testing..
        
        Would you mind taking a look please? Appreciate your feedback.
        
        Aaron Jorbin 12:38 pm on May 30, 2024
        
        we rushed to get 6.5.3 out,
        
        Can you explain what you mean by this and what timelines you are expecting for minor releases? 6.5.3 had a slightly over 3 week cycle from the announcement post till the release. During that time, no one raised an issue that this release was being rushed on make/coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., in the 6-5-release-leads room, or in dev chat.
        
        For additional context,
        
        6.4.3 was 2 weeks from make/core announcement till release.
        
        6.3.2 was about 6 days from announcement till release.
        
        6.3.1 was also about 6 days from announcement till release.
        
        (Both of the 6.3 releases didn’t have an announcement post with a schedule, so I worked through dev chat notes and the 6-3-release-leads room for the timeline)
- adrianduffell 9:18 am on May 29, 2024
  
  As this affects how plugins are installed and configured, ideally, imho, some of the people that make “flagship” plugins (like Woo) would step in and come up with a solution that’s best for the users.
  
  For Woo at least, the 6.5.4 patchpatch A special text file that describes changes to code, by identifying the files and lines which are added, removed, and altered. It may also be referred to as a diff. A patch can be applied to a codebase for testing. has our support. We will implement the filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. in our next pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party version if this patch is released.
  
  The patch provides Woo with a quick revert to the old behavior while we move forward with a user-centric solution in ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. 61040
  - Tonya Mork 6:13 pm on May 29, 2024
    
    Hello and thanks @adrianduffell. Appreciate your feedback.
    
    What do you / WooCommerce think of the alternative approach https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/61319?
Tonya Mork 5:19 pm on May 29, 2024
Update:

After further inspiration, there an alternative is available for consideration instead of the filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. / CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. redirect approach.

Here are 2 alternative solutions for 6.5.4 to be considered:
- Approach planned for 6.5.4: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/61269 (filter / Core redirect)
- Alternative approach: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/61319 (change the Activate button’s AJAX click event handler)
Added to today’s Dev Chat agenda.
- Miriam Schwab 6:06 pm on May 29, 2024
  
  This alternative direction looks promising too. We at Elementor are happy with both approaches to handling the change made in 6.5, since the end result is the same – bringing back the onboarding experience flow for pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party users, which is very valuable for them.
  - Tonya Mork 6:11 pm on May 29, 2024
    
    Hello and thanks @illuminea. Appreciate your feedback.
- Tonya Mork 8:33 pm on May 29, 2024
  
  Summary of feedback from today’s Dev Chat, held in Making WordPress slackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. `coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.` channel:
  
  Link to start of the thread: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW/p1717013066479629
  
  @afragen shared:
  
  I believe the simplest approach is in #61319
  
  @mikachan shared:
  
  I don’t have much background knowledge here, but after reading @hellofromtonya’s latest comment on #61319, I agree that this sounds like the best approach (less code, restores the previous native behavior of the Activate button) :+1:
  
  @ironprogrammer shared:
  
  I like that this [i.e. #61319] addresses the originally reported regressionregression A software bug that breaks or degrades something that previously worked. Regressions are often treated as critical bugs or blockers. Recent regressions may be given higher priorities. A "3.6 regression" would be a bug in 3.6 that worked as intended in 3.5. w/o adding anything new. Better adherence to the scope that is expected in a minor releaseMinor Release A set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality..
  
  @joemcgill asked:
  
  Would it be good to get feedback from the folks who were critical of the initial approach?
  
  Well, it sounded like you looked into the alternate approach after feedback from @swissspidy and @azaozz, so it may be good to get their feedback on the new approach. Generally speaking, I think we need to be pretty confident in the approach before shipping it in a minor release so getting extra PR feedback and testing is good practice
  
  for which I shared both were pinged requesting their feedback (here in this post’s comments).
mjzanon 6:29 pm on June 6, 2024

after my site has been updated automatically to WordPress 6.5.4. it crashed. How do I turn it back to WordPress 6.3? Please help me

Welcome!

Communication

WordPress 6.5.4: An upcoming maintenance release

Get involved with 6.5.4

Welcome!

Communication

Get involved with 6.5.4

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