This new version is packed with significant improvements and new features. Many of them focused on the block editor and site editing in WordPress.

In this article, we’ll show you what’s new in WordPress 6.2 and which features you should try after the update.

Note: WordPress 6.2 is a major release, and unless you are on a managed WordPress hosting service, you’ll have to initiate the update manually. Here’s how to safely update WordPress.

Important: Don’t forget to create a complete WordPress backup before updating.

That being said, here’s all that’s new in WordPress 6.2.

WordPress Site Editor Comes out of Beta

The site editor comes out of the beta.

It has been around for the past few WordPress releases, the removal of the beta label is merely an invitation for more users to try it.

This also indicates the completion of phase 2 of the WordPress development roadmap which started out with the release of the new block editor back in WordPress 5.0 (late 2018).

WordPress 6.2 includes several new features added to the site editor, including some brand-new tools which we’ll talk about later in this article.

Improved Navigation Menu Block

Navigation menus help you define your website layout to your users. However, creating them in the full site editor had been a bit difficult for beginners.

WordPress 6.2 now comes with an improved ‘Navigation’ block.

You can now create and manage the Navigation block by editing items in the sidebar.

To add a new menu item, simply click on the ‘add (+)’ button. You can also drag and drop menu items to rearrange them.

Want to use a different menu? You can now easily switch between menus you have created earlier by clicking on the Three-dot menu in the sidebar.

Overall, this is a significant improvement to the older Navigation block where you had to edit items inline which was not a good experience for beginners.

Improved Template Browsing Experience

WordPress 6.2 comes with a new template browsing experience.

This allows users to browse different templates to find out which one they need to edit if they want to make changes to a certain area of their website.

To edit a template or template part, simply click to load it inside the preview window. After that, just click on the preview window to start editing.

Want to exit the site editor?

Simply click on the WordPress or your site logo at the top left corner of the screen to enter the template browser. Then click again to exit and return to the WordPress dashboard.

The template browser screen will now also show you that you have unsaved changes.

It also offers an improved saving experience showing what changes you are saving.

Template Parts Highlighted with Colors

A template in the site editor may include several template parts, like the header and footer.

These are global elements that can be used in multiple places on your WordPress website. If you edit a template part on one page, those changes will be reflected all over your site.

Previously when editing a template part, the only indication was the label at the top changed to show the template part name.

Editing template parts affects all templates that include those elements. This makes it important to indicate that users are editing a global template part and not simply the page they are looking at.

WordPress 6.2 now makes this more noticeable by adding colors and an icon to indicate that you are editing a template part.

Modify Your Theme With The Style Book

WordPress 6.2 comes with a style book feature in the site editor.

This is basically one convenient place to browse how your theme displays all the blocks. To access it you need to switch to the Styles panel and then click on the Style Book icon. It is the one that looks like an eye.

This will show you all the blocks, and how they are styled in your theme. They are organized into different categories so that you can easily locate the block you want to edit.

Click to start editing a block and you will see all the tools that you can use in the sidebar panel. Changes you make here will apply globally to your theme.

Basically, you can change the appearance of your entire theme by editing individual blocks here and creating a completely new style of your own.

Want to edit block styles individually? Don’t worry there are even more design tools at your disposal to edit blocks.

Ability to Add Custom CSS to Your Theme or Blocks

By default, the site editor hides the legacy Theme Customizer interface. Many users added their custom CSS in the ‘Additional CSS’ panel available with the legacy customizer.

Until 6.2, it was a problem to add custom CSS using the default tools available.

WordPress 6.2, however, now allows you to add custom CSS that applies to your entire site. Simply click on the Styles panel and choose Custom CSS under the three-dot menu.

You can also add custom CSS to individual blocks as well.

Switch to the Style panel and then click on Blocks.

Now, you need to select the block that you want to modify.

After that, click on the ‘Additional Block CSS’ tab to enter your custom CSS code.

WordPress 6.2 makes it easier to add custom CSS if you need to. However, it comes with a ton of built-in design tools which are much easier to use than adding custom CSS.

Copy and Paste Block Styles

Another styling feature that reduces the need to add custom CSS is the ability to simply copy and paste block styles.

Let’s say that you just made some changes to a block and want to make the same changes on another block as well.

With WordPress 6.2 you can simply click on ‘Copy styles’ under the block options.

After that, click on the block options for the block where you want to paste the style and select ‘Paste styles.’

Note: Your browser will ask for permission to allow your website to view the contents of the clipboard. You need to click ‘Allow’ to continue.

Improved Pattern Insertion

WordPress block patterns are a collection of pre-made design elements that you can use for creating custom content layouts faster.

By default, WordPress comes with several built-in patterns. Your WordPress theme may also include its own pattern. Plus, you can find more patterns in WordPress Patterns Directory.

WordPress 6.2 comes with an improved pattern insertion interface.

Openverse Free Media Library Integration

WordPress 6.2 now adds a ‘Media’ tab in the inserter as well.

Here, you can choose media from your own WordPress media library or browse royalty-free images from Openverse.

Openverse is a sister project of WordPress.org. It allows openly licensed and public domain works to be discovered and used by everyone.

Once you select an image it will be inserted into the editor and downloaded to your WordPress media library as well.

WordPress will also save the image caption which may include a link back to the original source. You can delete this caption if the image is in the public domain.

New Sub Panels for Block Settings & Styles

WordPress 6.2 now uses sub-panels to separate block settings and styles.

This helps users understand where they need to look if they want to change the appearance of a block.

New Distraction-Free Mode

Historically, WordPress has always provided options to hide the formatting buttons and toolbars on the post editor screen.

Here is how it looked in WordPress 4.1 with the older classic editor.

However, the block editor had the option to be used in full-screen mode. WordPress 5.4 started using the full-screen mode as the default.

This allowed users to have a much cleaner writing interface, but there was no distraction-free mode.

WordPress 6.2 now comes with a completely clean and calm distraction-free mode.

Users will be able to choose it from the editor settings, and it removes all toolbars and editing panels from the screen.

Import Classic Widgets as Template Parts in Block Themes

WordPress 6.2 provides a nice fallback for importing classic legacy widgets in block themes when switching themes.

Users with classic widget themes lost their legacy widgets when they switched to a block theme. Now, you can import them as template parts.

Simply create a new template part by clicking on the ‘Add New Block’ button (+).

From the template part settings panel, click on the Advanced tab to expand it, and you’ll find the option to import a widget area from your previous theme.

Miscellaneous Enhancements

WordPress 6.2 contains a ton of enhancements. It merges 10 Gutenberg releases (‘Gutenberg’ is the codename for the original block editor project) into WordPress core so there are many refinements and new features to explore.

Here are some of the most useful enhancements.

1. Captions Button in Image Block Toolbar

Previously WordPress automatically added the caption area below the image and moved the cursor automatically to the caption.

This led many users to continue writing their text not realizing that they are writing it in the caption area.

WordPress 6.2 fixes this by adding a caption button to the toolbar. Users can now use it to add a caption if needed.

2. Improved Calendar Block

The calendar block now comes with more color options.

3. The List, Outline, and Info Panels are Merged

The list view, outline, and info panel are now merged into one convenient location.

4. Group Block Layout

The ‘Group’ block now lets you choose a layout.

5. The Download Link for Media Files

The media screen will now show a ‘Download File’ link in the list view.

6. New Icon for Settings Panel

The icon to display the settings panel previously used a gear icon. It is now presented with a panels icon.

Under The Hood Changes

WordPress 6.2 also includes a ton of changes intended for developers. Following are some of these changes:

• A new HTML API called WP_HTML_Tag_Processor is introduced. (Details)
• A new client-side filter called blockEditor.useSetting.before is introduced. It allows developers to change block settings before the editor is rendered. (Details)
• Patterns API extended to include template_types property. (Details)
• Faster updates by moving directories instead of copying them. (Details)
• A new switch_to_user_locale() function is introduced. (Details)
• Create autosave revisions only when content is changed. (Details)
• Add a style variation tag to themes that use style variations. (Details)

We hope this article helped you uncover what’s new in WordPress 6.2 and which new features to try out. We are particularly excited about all the changes to the site editor and performance improvements for block themes.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post What’s New in WordPress 6.2 (Features and Screenshots) first appeared on WPBeginner.

We have been closely monitoring the development and trying out new features on our test sites.

In this article, we’ll give you a sneak peek into what features are coming in WordPress 6.2 with details and screenshots.

Note: You can try out the beta version on your computer or on a staging environment by using the WordPress Beta Tester plugin. Please keep in mind that some of the features in the beta may not make it into the final release.

Here is a quick overview of changes coming in WordPress 6.2:

Full Site Editor Comes Out of Beta

The new full site editor feature in WordPress will come out of beta with the final release of WordPress 6.2.

This completes a significant part of the WordPress development roadmap.

The site editor feature is now stable for the community to create block-based themes and experiment with their own WordPress websites, plugins, or themes.

Browse and Choose Templates to Edit

Previously the Site Editor loaded the Home template of your theme by default. This left many beginners wondering which template or template part they needed to edit.

With WordPress 6.2, the site editor will load the template preview window first. From here, you can browse different templates and see a preview of what it looks like.

Then you can simply click on the Edit button to start working on the selected template.

Once you are done editing the template, don’t forget to click on the Save button to make your changes go live.

After that, you can click on the WordPress logo in the upper-left corner of the screen to bring back the template browser sidebar.

Now if you need to edit a different template, then you can choose it from here. Otherwise, you can simply click on the WordPress logo again and exit the Site Editor.

Add Custom CSS to Your Theme or Specific Blocks

In the last few WordPress releases, the site editor hid the ‘Theme Customizer‘ which made it difficult for users to add custom CSS to their themes.

WordPress 6.2 will allow users to switch to the Styles panel and select Custom CSS from the menu.

From here, users will be able to save Custom CSS that applies to their entire theme.

What if you wanted to save custom CSS that only applied to a specific block?

WordPress 6.2 will also allow you to add custom CSS for specific blocks. From the Style panel, click on the Blocks menu.

On the next screen, you will see a list of blocks. Simply click on the block where you want to apply your custom CSS.

Under the block styles, click on the Additional CSS tab.

If you want to conditionally add CSS or keep your custom styles outside of theme specific settings, then we recommend using the free WPCode plugin.

New and Improved Navigation Menus

Adding navigation menus in the full site editor has been a bit difficult for users. WordPress 6.2 will try to solve this by improving the way users can create and manage menus while using the site editor.

First, instead of editing the menu items inline, you can now add, remove, and edit menu items in a subpanel under the Navigation block.

From here, you can add a new menu item by clicking on the Add Block (+) button. You can also just drag and drop menu items to rearrange them.

Want to create a new blank menu or reload an older one? Simply click on the three-dot menu and then choose a menu you created earlier or create a new one.

Colors to Indicate Template Parts Being Edited

WordPress 6.2 will also highlight the template part that you are editing, and that changes will be made on a side-wide, global scale.

The element will be bordered in a color and have a template part icon attached.

This will help users realize that instead of editing the specific page or post, they are now editing a template part and this change will affect other pages on their site as well.

See Styles for All Blocks in The Style Book

The site editor in WordPress 6.2 will ship with a ‘Style Book.’ Simply switch to the Styles panel and then click on the style book icon.

This will show you all the blocks, and how they are styled in your theme.

You can locate a block much more quickly this way, and then click to edit it directly.

After that, you can change its appearance and style and customize it to your own requirements.

Copy and Paste Block Styles

Now that editing block styles and appearance has become so much easier, there is a need to easily copy and paste these styles.

WordPress 6.2 will allow you to simply copy block styles by clicking on block options and then selecting ‘Copy Styles’.

After that, you can click to edit a different block and select ‘Paste styles’ from the block options.

Your browser will ask for permission to allow your website to view the contents of the clipboard. You need to click ‘Allow’ to continue.

Classic Widgets Import as Template Parts in Block Themes

Users with classic widget themes lost their legacy widgets when they switched to a block theme. WordPress 6.2 will provide a nice fallback to that by converting legacy widgets into special Template Parts when switching themes.

You’ll need to enter the site editor and edit the template where you want to import the widgets. After that, create a new template part by clicking on the Add New Block button (+).

From the template part settings panel, click on the Advanced tab to expand it and you’ll find the option to import a widget area from your previous theme.

Separate Sub Panels for Block Settings and Styles

With WordPress 6.2, the editor will show two sub-panels for a block. One for the block settings and the other one for styles.

This will help users understand where they need to look if they want to change the appearance of a block.

A New Distraction-Free Mode is Introduced

Historically, WordPress has always provided options to hide the formatting buttons and toolbars on the post editor screen.

However, WordPress 5.4 made the editor full-screen by default. This allowed users to have a much cleaner writing interface, but there was no distraction-free mode.

WordPress 6.2 will remedy that and will come with a completely clean and calm distraction-free mode. Users will be able to choose it from the editor settings.

Once chosen, the distraction-free mode hides all editor control elements.

As you can see below, toolbars, side panels, and the top bar are nowhere to be seen.

Improved Pattern Insertion with New Categories

WordPress 6.2 will simplify the Pattern Insertion panel. Instead of showing previews and a drop-down menu of categories, it will show the categories first.

There are two new categories of Patterns added for the Header and Footer sections.

Clicking on a category will show you the available patterns that you can use.

You can then just click to insert a pattern into your template and start editing it.

For more details, see our tutorial on how to use patterns in WordPress.

Miscellaneous Changes

Download Link For Media Files – The media screen will now show a Download File link in the list view.

Openverse Integration to Add Free Images – Openverse offers royalty-free open-source images.

With WordPress 6.2, users will be able to find and add those images from Add New panel.

New Icon for the Settings Panel – The icon to display the settings panel previously used a gear icon.

It is now represented with a panels icon.

Under The Hood Changes

There are a ton of changes in WordPress 6.2 intended for developers. Here are some of the changes that you will find in the update:

• Faster updates by moving directories instead of copying them. (Details)
• A new switch_to_user_locale() function is introduced. (Details)
• Create autosave revisions only when content is changed. (Details)
• Add a style variation tag to themes that use style variations. (Details)

Overall WordPress 6.2 beta 1 includes 292 enhancements, 354 bug fixes for the editor, and more than 195 tickets for the WordPress 6.2 core.

We hope this article provided you with a glimpse of what’s coming in WordPress 6.2.

Comment below to let us know what features you find interesting and what you’d look to see in a future WordPress release!

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post What’s Coming in WordPress 6.2 (Features and Screenshots) first appeared on WPBeginner.