WordPress 6.9 -- What's new - CourtneyR.dev's 2nd Brain

WordPress 6.9 -- What's new? 🔗 **Source:** [WordPress 6.9 -- What's new?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY) > [!note]+ Document Notes  ## Claude Analysis --- tags: [wordpress, cms, update] author: WPBeginner source: YouTube reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY date created: 2025-01-11 12:00 --- # 🏷️ Title: WordPress 6.9 -- What's new? ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Test WordPress 6.9 using WordPress Playground with beta tester plugin — 00:42 #testing - [H2] Implement notes feature for team content review workflows — 02:15 #collaboration - [H3] Explore hiding blocks for staging content changes — 05:20 #workflow ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [WordPress Playground](https://playground.wordpress.net/) - [WordPress Beta Tester Plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/) ## 📝 Summary - WordPress 6.9 introduces significant collaboration and workflow improvements including block-level notes, content hiding, and expanded command palette functionality - New blocks include accordion, terms query, math equations, and time-to-read functionality that previously required plugins - Behind-the-scenes improvements include the new Abilities API for AI integration and performance optimizations - This will be the last major WordPress update in 2025 and doesn't include a new default theme - These features particularly benefit teams working collaboratively on content and developers building advanced functionality ## 📖 Main Content WordPress 6.9 represents a major step forward in collaborative content management and AI integration. The update focuses heavily on team workflows with Google Docs-style commenting through the notes feature, allowing team members to leave block-specific feedback without external tools. The content staging capabilities through block hiding eliminate the need for duplicate pages during development. The update also democratizes functionality previously requiring plugins, with native support for accordions, mathematical equations, category/tag displays, and reading time estimates. These additions reduce plugin dependency and improve site performance. Most significantly, the Abilities API establishes WordPress's AI integration framework, potentially enabling direct AI-to-WordPress interactions for content optimization and site management tasks. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=0) — Introduction to WordPress 6.9 - Key idea: WordPress 6.9 releases in a few weeks with major improvements - Evidence: "WordPress 6.9 is scheduled to be released just in a few weeks" #### ⏱️ [00:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=42) — Testing WordPress 6.9 - Key idea: Use WordPress Playground with beta tester plugin for safe testing - Evidence: "You can use the WordPress playground, which is a free service that you can use to test out WordPress" #### ⏱️ [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=135) — Notes Feature Introduction - Key idea: Block-level commenting system similar to Google Docs - Evidence: "You can leave notes on specific blocks for your team members to see" #### ⏱️ [03:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=225) — Notes Feature Functionality - Key idea: Notes show author, timestamp, and support threaded conversations - Evidence: "You see that here. So right now my username is admin...you can respond to it and you can respond to yourself" #### ⏱️ [05:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=320) — Hiding Blocks Feature - Key idea: Hide blocks from frontend while keeping them in editor for staging - Evidence: "You can make changes something and then hide it and launch show" #### ⏱️ [07:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=450) — Unhiding Blocks Process - Key idea: Use list view to manage and restore hidden blocks - Evidence: "All you have to do is go to the list view here...It has an icon here which is a this is the hidden block" #### ⏱️ [08:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=525) — Command Palette Expansion - Key idea: Command palette now works site-wide, not just in block editor - Evidence: "In WordPress 6.9 it works differently. If you press control K it automatically opens the command place" #### ⏱️ [10:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=615) — Template Preservation - Key idea: Custom templates persist when switching themes - Evidence: "You create custom templates. Even if you change a theme, the custom templates will be retained in WordPress 6.9" #### ⏱️ [11:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=690) — Accordion Block - Key idea: Native accordion functionality without plugins - Evidence: "The new feature or new block inside WordPress 6.9 gives you the functionality without having to mess with this" #### ⏱️ [13:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=825) — Terms Query Block - Key idea: Display categories, tags, and taxonomies with flexible options - Evidence: "What if you wanted to show the actual terms that means the tax means categories tags on your site" #### ⏱️ [16:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=960) — Math Block - Key idea: Native support for mathematical equations and LaTeX formatting - Evidence: "WordPress 6.9 introduces the math block which makes this easier" #### ⏱️ [17:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=1035) — Time to Read Block - Key idea: Built-in reading time estimation without plugins - Evidence: "Just add the time to read block and now you can see the time to actually read the blog post" #### ⏱️ [18:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=1110) — Abilities API Introduction - Key idea: New API framework enabling AI-WordPress integration - Evidence: "The abilities API gives a shared language that humans and AI systems can understand" #### ⏱️ [20:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=1200) — Performance Improvements - Key idea: Behind-the-scenes optimizations for speed and server performance - Evidence: "Output buffering is improved. Classic themes should load faster, less render blocking should happen" ## 📚 References - [WordPress Playground](https://playground.wordpress.net/) - [WordPress Beta Tester Plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/) - [WordPress Developer Documentation](https://developer.wordpress.org/) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - WordPress 6.9 transforms team collaboration by adding Google Docs-style commenting directly to blocks, eliminating the need for external feedback tools - Content staging becomes seamless with block hiding functionality, allowing developers to prepare changes invisibly before making them live - Plugin dependency decreases significantly with native accordion, math equation, taxonomy display, and reading time features built into core ## 📰 Newsletter WordPress 6.9 is bringing some exciting improvements that will streamline your workflow! The standout feature for teams is block-level notes - finally, you can leave Google Docs-style comments directly on content blocks for seamless collaboration. Content creators will love the new block hiding feature, which lets you stage changes invisibly before going live. No more duplicate pages for testing! Plus, the command palette now works site-wide for faster navigation. Several new blocks eliminate plugin dependencies: native accordions for FAQs, terms query for displaying categories/tags, math blocks for equations, and time-to-read estimates. Behind the scenes, the new Abilities API sets the foundation for AI integration. Test these features safely using WordPress Playground before they roll out to your production sites! Resources: [WordPress Playground](https://playground.wordpress.net/), [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [Developer Docs](https://developer.wordpress.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### WordPress - Core: Test WordPress 6.9 features using Playground environment before production deployment - Core: Evaluate notes feature implementation for team editorial workflows - Core: Document block hiding functionality for content staging best practices - Core: Assess new native blocks (accordion, terms query, math, time-to-read) for plugin replacement opportunities - Core: Prepare for Abilities API integration and AI workflow development - Documentation: Create user guides for new collaborative features and workflow improvements - Community: Share WordPress 6.9 feature demonstrations at local meetups - Training: Develop lesson plans incorporating new block types and collaboration tools #### DevRel - Education: Create workshops on WordPress 6.9 collaboration features for team environments - Developer experience: Document Abilities API integration patterns and best practices - Developer marketing: Highlight AI integration possibilities and performance improvements - Community management: Gather feedback on new features through user surveys ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Block-level notes will reduce external tool dependency for content collaboration by 40% - Native accordion and terms query blocks will decrease average plugin count per site - Abilities API adoption will accelerate AI-powered WordPress tool development - Command palette expansion will improve admin navigation efficiency for power users ### 📊 Methodology - Survey WordPress teams before and after 6.9 adoption measuring collaboration tool usage - Analyze plugin installation data comparing pre and post-6.9 for affected functionality - Track Abilities API implementation in WordPress ecosystem over 6 months - Measure admin task completion times with expanded command palette ### ❓ Questions - How will the Abilities API security model prevent malicious AI interactions with WordPress sites? - Will block hiding functionality scale effectively for large sites with complex content hierarchies? - Can the notes feature integrate with existing project management tools for enterprise workflows? ### 🔮 Future Research - Comprehensive security analysis of Abilities API implementation patterns - User experience studies on collaborative content creation workflows - Performance impact analysis of new native blocks versus plugin alternatives ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Teams can consolidate content workflows within WordPress instead of external tools - Policy: Organizations need governance frameworks for AI-WordPress integrations via Abilities API - Security: New API surface area requires careful access control and audit procedures - Education: Training programs must incorporate collaborative features and AI integration concepts - Funding: Reduced plugin licensing costs offset by increased hosting resource requirements ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 8th Grade (Flesch-Kincaid) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Side-by-side version comparisons, menu screenshots, block demonstrations - Improve: Architecture diagrams for Abilities API, workflow visualizations #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Video narration with clear explanations - Improve: Audio-only summary of key features #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear feature definitions, step-by-step explanations - Improve: Analogies comparing features to familiar tools (Google Docs, etc.) #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Live demonstrations, WordPress Playground testing - Improve: Interactive tutorials, hands-on exercises #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Structured feature progression, technical architecture explanations - Improve: Feature comparison matrices, upgrade decision trees #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Team collaboration focus, community feedback requests - Improve: Group testing scenarios, collaborative exercises #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Self-guided WordPress Playground testing - Improve: Individual reflection prompts, personal workflow assessments #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: WordPress ecosystem evolution context - Improve: CMS landscape positioning, sustainability considerations ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear heading structure, descriptive video narration - Improve: Alternative text for UI elements shown in demonstrations #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Command palette keyboard shortcuts demonstrated - Improve: Full keyboard navigation paths for new features #### Contrast and readability - Present: High contrast in video demonstrations - Improve: Ensure UI elements meet 4.5:1 contrast ratios #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Video content adaptable to different screen sizes - Improve: Responsive design considerations for new blocks #### Media and captions - Present: Video with clear audio narration - Improve: Closed captions, transcript availability #### Forms and interactions - Present: Clear interaction patterns for new features - Improve: Accessible form validation for notes feature ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Universal collaborative workflow applications - Improve: Multi-language considerations for notes feature #### Inclusive language - Present: Clear, jargon-free explanations of technical concepts - Improve: Define technical terms like "LaTeX" and "API" #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Well-structured content with clear sections - Improve: Consistent heading hierarchy, reduced cognitive load #### Representation - Present: Focus on functionality over demographics - Improve: Diverse use case examples across different industries #### Psychological safety - Present: Encouraging tone for testing and exploration - Improve: Emphasize safe testing environments, no-judgment learning ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Clear feature demonstrations support claimed functionality - Inductive strength: Plugin replacement benefits logically follow from native implementations - Causal reasoning: Team collaboration improvements linked to specific features - Analogical strength: Google Docs comparison effectively explains notes feature #### Fallacies - Appeal to novelty: Assumes newer features are automatically better without considering trade-offs - Hasty generalization: Claims about performance improvements need more specific evidence #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Enthusiastic and informative, appropriate for tutorial content ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No concerning denial patterns detected - Attack: No attacks on previous versions or competitors - Reverse victim/offender: No victim/offender dynamics present - Emotional cues and rhetoric: Positive enthusiasm appropriate for product updates ## 🎯 Conclusion WordPress 6.9 represents a significant evolution toward collaborative content management and AI integration. The block-level notes and hiding features address real workflow pain points for teams, while new native blocks reduce plugin dependency. The Abilities API foundations suggest WordPress is positioning itself for the AI-powered future of web management. Teams should test these features in staging environments and prepare workflows to take advantage of improved collaboration capabilities. ## 🧱 Refactor Appendix ### 📚 Literature Split Pad ### [H1] WordPress 6.9 transforms content collaboration workflows > [!quote] [WordPress 6.9 -- What's new?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY) by [[WPBeginner]] via [[YouTube]]. Published 2025. Accessed 2025-01-11. > "You can leave notes on specific blocks for your team members to see." Google Docs-style commenting eliminates external collaboration tools for WordPress teams. [view highlight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY?t=135#H1) #collaboration #wordpress ID:rw_wp69_notes ### [H2] Native blocks reduce WordPress plugin dependency > [!quote] [WordPress 6.9 -- What's new?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5y --- ## Full Transcript [00:00] WordPress 6.9 is scheduled to be [00:01] released just in a few weeks as I'm [00:03] recording this video. So in this video, [00:04] I'm going to show you the top [00:05] improvements that are coming to [00:06] WordPress 6.9 and there are plenty of [00:08] them out here. And by the way, if you [00:10] want to test it out yourself, you don't [00:11] have to mess with your site. You can use [00:13] the WordPress playground, which is a [00:14] free service uh that you can use to test [00:16] out WordPress and install the plug-in [00:18] WordPress beta tester, which you can see [00:19] on my screen. With that, let's get [00:21] started with the improvements in [00:22] WordPress 6.9. So I'm going to be [00:24] demonstrating the differences live with [00:26] two websites side by side. This one is [00:28] WordPress 6.8 8 and this one is 6.9. [00:31] Now, how do you tell the difference? Of [00:32] course, I'll try to overlay things on [00:33] screen and say things that hey, I'm [00:35] doing this and you can see this bar here [00:37] and this bar is a signature of the [00:39] WordPress playground which is WordPress [00:41] 6.9 for this use case. So, let's get [00:44] started with the first feature which is [00:45] very powerful and useful if you have a [00:46] lot of team members working on your [00:48] website especially when writing kind of [00:49] content. So if you're the one who [00:51] checking out comments, who's checking [00:52] out hey we need to make changes or if [00:55] you have a team that writes content this [00:56] is a very powerful feature and this [00:58] comes not I would say I wouldn't say [01:00] it's an inspiration but you're probably [01:01] familiar with this feature if you're [01:02] coming from Google Drive or Google Docs [01:04] if you use it a lot and the feature is [01:06] called the notes feature. So let me show [01:07] you how it works. So on any document [01:10] pages and post you have when you are in [01:12] the block editor you can click a [01:14] specific block and go to the menu here [01:15] and you find a lot of options here which [01:17] I'm demonstrating on screen. Now this is [01:19] the WordPress 6.8 menu. So nothing [01:22] specific, nothing stands out. But if you [01:24] go to WordPress 6.9, you should start [01:26] seeing couple of new features. For [01:27] example, let's click the image block [01:29] here. I'll click here and you'll start [01:31] seeing add note. This is the new [01:33] feature. You can leave notes on specific [01:35] blocks for your team members to see. So [01:37] if I click here now, you can leave. I [01:39] can probably write, hey, [01:42] let's change this image. And then I can [01:45] just add this note. And this the note [01:47] will be added here. And of course, [01:48] similar to how notes work in Google [01:50] Docs, the note u who leaves the note, [01:53] you see that here. So right now my [01:54] username is admin. So I can see it here [01:56] when was it left and you can respond to [01:58] it and you can respond to yourself or [02:00] other team members can respond to it. [02:01] You can mark it as resolved or you can [02:03] go here edit and delete. And once it's [02:05] resolved, you can reopen like uh the [02:06] comment and just work with it. And if [02:08] you want to hide the notes menu, you can [02:10] always click here and do this and notes [02:12] will be hidden. You can always switch [02:14] back to notes here and then use the [02:15] notes feature. I think it's pretty [02:17] powerful if you have a lot of team [02:18] members. Uh if you review a lot of [02:20] content on your website and leave notes [02:22] instead of using other software to leave [02:24] comments and notes, this is a much more [02:26] easier and straightforward way to manage [02:28] those comments right here in the blog [02:29] editor. The next feature is one of my [02:31] favorites in WordPress 6.9 and that is [02:33] hiding blocks. Now, if you've designed a [02:36] lot of pages in WordPress, one of the [02:37] problems you have is if you make changes [02:39] live, it actually affects your live [02:41] page. So what I used to do was make a [02:44] duplicate, change the URL, make changes [02:46] to that, then mess with it, copy and [02:48] paste blocks. It's not a very easy [02:50] process. So the hiding blocks uh feature [02:53] is actually very powerful. So you can [02:54] make changes something and then hide it [02:56] and launch show. So what how does it [02:58] work? How do you actually use it? Let me [02:59] show you. So this is WordPress 6.8. And [03:02] once again, if you want to use the [03:03] feature, you have to go to a specific [03:04] block, use the menu. And of course, in [03:06] WordPress 6.8, you won't see the menu [03:08] entry here. You'll have to go to [03:10] WordPress 6.9. So this is 6.9 for let's [03:12] say for example I want I have this block [03:14] for example I'll use this block and let [03:16] me just use the parent block. So let's [03:18] say call to action block. So once you [03:20] selected the block in this case I have [03:22] selected the entire call to action block [03:23] but this works with paragraphs headings [03:26] any blocks. The group block is uh or [03:28] using it with a group block in my [03:29] opinion is more powerful because you can [03:30] hide the entire group and then add it. [03:32] Also works if you have a limited time [03:33] thing you want to enter and like show [03:35] that hey this offer is running. So you [03:37] can design the block uh beforehand and [03:39] then just make it live. So what you can [03:41] do is you right click or no not right [03:42] click is click on the three dotted menu [03:44] and you'll have the option to hide the [03:47] block here. So you can see here if I [03:48] hide the block this block goes away and [03:51] if I save and update this and if I go to [03:53] the live section of this page as well [03:55] this is before I hit the block I opened [03:58] it already. So you can see this is the [03:59] block which was available here and if I [04:01] refresh the page this block is now [04:03] invisible. So you can make changes, add [04:06] things to your website on specific pages [04:08] and post and hide them so that users [04:10] won't see it. So this gives you a lot of [04:11] flexibility adding things, changing [04:13] things, making changes around. Very [04:15] powerful. But the next question is how [04:17] do I get the blog back? So it's pretty [04:19] easy. All you have to do is go to the [04:20] list view here. This is uh not in your [04:22] future. The list feature or the list [04:24] view is already available in WordPress [04:25] 6.8 as well. So you click here and [04:28] you'll see the block is there in the [04:29] list view. It has an icon here which is [04:32] a this is the hidden block. So once [04:34] again you can use the three dot menu go [04:36] back and click show and now it starts [04:38] showing once again on the block editor [04:41] and also on the uh front end of the [04:42] website. The next feature is also very [04:44] powerful for power users and people who [04:47] are familiar with WordPress and want to [04:48] get things done faster. This is a very [04:50] useful feature. So you're probably aware [04:52] of the command pallet. So you can hear [04:53] so you can see it here. Click here the [04:55] command opens and you can always press [04:56] Ctrl K to open the command pallet. And [04:59] this works with WordPress 6.8 as well. [05:01] So you're thinking, hey, what's the new [05:02] feature here? So let me go back to the [05:05] dashboard or the main uh dashboard. I'll [05:08] switch here as well and then I'll show [05:10] you what the difference is with [05:11] WordPress 6.8 and 6.9. Now coming to the [05:14] uh dashboard of WordPress 6.8. If I [05:16] press Ctrl K, you see it doesn't open [05:19] the command pad. It actually opens up [05:20] the browser and you can do some things. [05:22] So you can see my recent uh I say the [05:25] URLs that have opened up. So I'll hide [05:28] that probably. So that doesn't uh or the [05:31] command pad doesn't work in admin area [05:32] only works when you are actually editing [05:34] a page or post or inside the patterns or [05:36] changing those. But in WordPress 6.9 it [05:38] works differently. If you press control [05:40] K it automatically opens the command [05:42] place or command pallet. Now I can use [05:44] this to instantly go to posts which is a [05:47] much faster way in my opinion rather [05:48] than using the mouse because I prefer [05:50] the keyboard. So again, once again, uh [05:53] I'd say a quality of life improvement [05:54] for personally me because if you have a [05:56] lot of plugins, a lot of menu entries, [05:57] you want to switch things around [05:59] quickly, navigate to certain areas, I [06:00] think this is a very powerful feature in [06:02] WordPress 6.9. The next update in [06:04] WordPress 6.9 has to do with full site [06:06] editing. So if you're using a blockbased [06:07] theme and use full-sight editing [06:09] features to create templates, patterns, [06:10] this might be useful. Earlier, if you [06:12] created a custom template from this menu [06:14] inside templates and you switched your [06:16] themes, your custom templates were lost. [06:18] But this is fixed in WordPress 6.9. You [06:20] create custom templates. Even if you [06:21] change a theme, the custom templates [06:23] will be retained in WordPress 6.9. And [06:25] you also have a few quality of life [06:26] improvements when it comes to templates. [06:28] Now you can see the revision directly [06:29] using the three dotted menu. Edit them, [06:31] duplicate them, and few other additional [06:33] changes which makes it easier to work [06:34] with templates in WordPress 6.9. The [06:36] next few updates in WordPress 6.9 come [06:38] from having new blocks. So let me show [06:40] you some new blocks. So if you wanted to [06:42] show and hide elements on screen, most [06:44] of the time the details block was [06:45] something that you used. For example, if [06:47] I add the details block here and I can [06:49] add something here and then I I can add [06:51] something here. For example, let's add [06:53] this and then you can hide and show and [06:55] then you can add nest and columns. But [06:57] the new feature or new block inside [06:59] WordPress 6.9 gives you the [07:01] functionality without having to mess [07:03] with this. It's called the accordion [07:04] block. So I've already added it here. [07:06] Let me show you first and then I'll [07:07] should demonstrate the block again. So [07:09] if I click here, you can see instantly [07:11] the accordion opens. Accordion is much [07:13] easier to use and you can add multiple [07:15] columns. What I did here, I just added [07:17] the accordion block, added a columns [07:18] block, use the three column menu or [07:21] three column option here and just added [07:23] an image. Of course, you can do a lot of [07:25] things here. And if you click out, the [07:27] accordion automatically closes. Let's [07:28] publish this page so we can test out how [07:30] it looks on the front end. And let's [07:32] view the post here. So you can see here [07:35] this is the accordion and this is not [07:37] the accordion. This is the details block [07:39] and this is the accordion now. So this [07:41] is a native feature or native block now [07:43] in WordPress which makes your job easier [07:45] when adding accordians. For example, you [07:47] can use it for adding FAQs on your site [07:49] or important pages which is very useful [07:51] for landing pages, even uh product [07:53] pages, all sorts of pages. So welcome [07:56] addition to WordPress 6.9. The next new [07:58] block in WordPress 6.9 is a terms query [08:00] block. Now you're probably aware of the [08:02] query block or query loop block. So if I [08:04] add it here, you can see the query loop. [08:07] So query loop is used to loop through [08:09] all your let's say posts and pages. So [08:11] if I enter that here you can choose and [08:13] then start again. But what if you wanted [08:15] to show the actual terms that means the [08:17] tax means categories tags on your site. [08:19] Example uh you create a say breadcrumbs [08:22] of all the categories on your page. [08:23] Anything else? So for that we have the [08:25] new block called the terms query. So now [08:27] if I add the terms query block oops [08:31] terms query. If I add this now we can [08:34] share the name and name and count. So if [08:36] you just show the names that will just [08:37] show the names of the specific category [08:39] or tag or other text that you want to [08:41] show or the count will also show how [08:42] many actually post and other kind post [08:45] types are in that. Let's start with the [08:47] posts here and for this we don't have or [08:50] this is just a demo site setup. So [08:51] there's no tags no categories here. So [08:53] by default it shows the uncatategorized [08:55] which is just one default category [08:57] inside WordPress 6.9. But you can go [08:59] here and change categories to tax or [09:01] other tax. And then you have uh order [09:05] and selected terms. So you can filter [09:06] them out. For example, you want to just [09:07] show specific filters, specific uh tax [09:09] enemies, then you can add them here. You [09:11] also have the option of showing empty [09:13] terms and also showing nested terms. So [09:15] if you have nested categories, you can [09:17] show that here as well. And you can also [09:19] set the maximum l. I think it's a very [09:21] powerful new feature which helps you I'd [09:22] say keep users on the page. Add [09:24] important categories. Users are reading [09:25] a specific blog post on a spec specific [09:27] category. Nice idea to lead them to the [09:30] category page directly of the specific [09:31] term. And I think there's a lot of [09:33] flexibility in how you can use or how I [09:35] can or we can use this new block in [09:37] WordPress 6.9. Another block that's [09:39] coming to WordPress 6.9 is the maths [09:41] block. Now to add mathematical [09:43] equations, I think the correct term is [09:44] latex equations. I'm not sure about [09:46] that. You need to add an external [09:48] plug-in right now with WordPress 6.8, [09:50] but WordPress 6.9 introduces the math [09:52] block which makes this easier. So let me [09:54] demonstrate. So all you have to do is [09:56] just come to the block editor and type [09:58] in the math block. And once you're here, [10:01] you can add the equation here. So I'll [10:03] just simp enter a simple equation E= [10:06] empty square. And you can see instantly [10:08] now it's visible right here in the [10:10] correct formatting in WordPress. And you [10:12] can click here and again change the [10:13] equation whatever you like. I think very [10:15] welcome, very easy to use and I think [10:16] very powerful as well. Another new block [10:18] that's coming to WordPress 6.9 is the [10:20] time to read block. Again, this [10:22] functionality was reserved for plugins. [10:23] You need to add a plugin so that the [10:25] time to read is displayed somewhere. But [10:26] WordPress 6.9 makes it easy. So just add [10:29] the time to read block and now you can [10:30] see the time to actually read the blog [10:32] post is visible and of course you can [10:33] add the block anywhere you can add it to [10:35] the top of the page the bottom page [10:36] anywhere you like easy instead of using [10:38] plugins now we have this functionality [10:40] native in WordPress so those are the [10:42] important changes happening that you can [10:43] experience right here in WordPress but [10:44] there are also a lot of things happening [10:45] behind the scenes from a development [10:47] perspective which even if you're not a [10:48] developer will be very useful to [10:50] understand WordPress is now embracing AI [10:52] and AI workflow so that it can help you [10:55] create and publish content faster. So [10:57] let me talk about some of the AI [10:58] improvements or other behind the scenes [11:00] or I'd say under the hood improvements [11:01] happening in WordPress 6.9. So one of [11:04] the big changes happening in WordPress [11:05] 6.9 is the abilities API. It's a new API [11:07] that WordPress is creating which allows [11:09] AI tools to access and do operations in [11:12] WordPress. So think about this. Anytime [11:14] you wanted to make any changes to a [11:16] WordPress website, you probably use [11:17] code. That means a plugin. So you [11:19] install plug-in or you change code. But [11:21] how about we use AI tools to actually [11:23] make changes to our website. So the [11:25] technical definition is a little [11:26] different and I'll overlay image here [11:28] which gives you the introduction or [11:30] makes you understand the architecture of [11:32] what is going to happen but the simple [11:34] idea is that the abilities API gives a [11:36] shared language that humans and AI [11:38] systems can understand. So for example [11:39] if you install a plug-in or site they [11:41] can register that hey we can do this XY [11:43] Z functionality which can be hey [11:45] optimize blog post or do something like [11:46] that and then that ability can be [11:49] exposed via the API or something else to [11:51] AI tools as well. So in the future I'm [11:53] assuming you'll be able to connect your [11:55] chat GPT to go say hey optimize this [11:58] blog post to my WordPress website and [12:00] can go do that v or v the abilities API [12:03] to be honest this is quite exciting for [12:05] me because it'll open up a lot of [12:06] workflows and make the management of the [12:08] website quite easy and I think more [12:10] tools will open up to help you design [12:11] websites uh manage websites optimize [12:14] content uh do a lot of analytics and a [12:16] lot of good stuff so I'm very excited [12:17] for the abilities API so apart from this [12:19] WordPress 6.9 is also doing some [12:21] improvements to performance performance. [12:22] If I read out the technical definitions, [12:24] if you're interested, output buffering [12:26] is improved. Uh classic themes should [12:28] load faster, less render blocking should [12:30] happen and server performance should [12:31] improve because crown jobs uh are [12:34] improved as well. And apart from this, [12:36] the interactivity API and blockbinding [12:37] API has also improved. So if you're a [12:39] developer, you should see better results [12:41] or you should be able to do something [12:42] interesting or better with these APIs. [12:44] And to state the obvious, WordPress 6.9 [12:46] will be the last major update in 2025 [12:49] and it will not include a new theme as [12:51] it usually does. So that's WordPress 6. [12:54] Coming to a website near you in just a [12:56] couple of weeks. What's your favorite [12:57] feature? Let me know in the comments. [12:58] Make sure to subscribe to our channel [12:59] for more interesting updates like this. [13:01] My name is Ibraj. You're watching Double [13:02] Beginner. I'll catch you in the next [13:03] video. Take care.  ## 📺 Video ![](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY) --- # 📄 Full Transcript *Auto-generated from YouTube captions · timestamps roughly every 30 seconds · [watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6HlfF5yDY)* **[00:00]** WordPress 6.9 is scheduled to be released just in a few weeks as I'm recording this video. So in this video, I'm going to show you the top improvements that are coming to WordPress 6.9 and there are plenty of them out here. And by the way, if you want to test it out yourself, you don't have to mess with your site. You can use the WordPress playground, which is a free service uh that you can use to test out WordPress and install the plug-in WordPress beta tester, which you can see on my screen. With that, let's get started with the improvements in WordPress 6.9. So I'm going to be demonstrating the differences live with two websites side by side. This one is WordPress 6.8 8 and this one is 6.9. **[00:31]** Now, how do you tell the difference? Of course, I'll try to overlay things on screen and say things that hey, I'm doing this and you can see this bar here and this bar is a signature of the WordPress playground which is WordPress 6.9 for this use case. So, let's get started with the first feature which is very powerful and useful if you have a lot of team members working on your website especially when writing kind of content. So if you're the one who checking out comments, who's checking out hey we need to make changes or if you have a team that writes content this is a very powerful feature and this comes not I would say I wouldn't say it's an inspiration but you're probably **[01:01]** familiar with this feature if you're coming from Google Drive or Google Docs if you use it a lot and the feature is called the notes feature. So let me show you how it works. So on any document pages and post you have when you are in the block editor you can click a specific block and go to the menu here and you find a lot of options here which I'm demonstrating on screen. Now this is the WordPress 6.8 menu. So nothing specific, nothing stands out. But if you go to WordPress 6.9, you should start seeing couple of new features. For example, let's click the image block here. I'll click here and you'll start seeing add note. This is the new **[01:33]** feature. You can leave notes on specific blocks for your team members to see. So if I click here now, you can leave. I can probably write, hey, let's change this image. And then I can just add this note. And this the note will be added here. And of course, similar to how notes work in Google Docs, the note u who leaves the note, you see that here. So right now my username is admin. So I can see it here when was it left and you can respond to it and you can respond to yourself or other team members can respond to it. You can mark it as resolved or you can **[02:03]** go here edit and delete. And once it's resolved, you can reopen like uh the comment and just work with it. And if you want to hide the notes menu, you can always click here and do this and notes will be hidden. You can always switch back to notes here and then use the notes feature. I think it's pretty powerful if you have a lot of team members. Uh if you review a lot of content on your website and leave notes instead of using other software to leave comments and notes, this is a much more easier and straightforward way to manage those comments right here in the blog editor. The next feature is one of my favorites in WordPress 6.9 and that is **[02:33]** hiding blocks. Now, if you've designed a lot of pages in WordPress, one of the problems you have is if you make changes live, it actually affects your live page. So what I used to do was make a duplicate, change the URL, make changes to that, then mess with it, copy and paste blocks. It's not a very easy process. So the hiding blocks uh feature is actually very powerful. So you can make changes something and then hide it and launch show. So what how does it work? How do you actually use it? Let me show you. So this is WordPress 6.8. And once again, if you want to use the feature, you have to go to a specific **[03:04]** block, use the menu. And of course, in WordPress 6.8, you won't see the menu entry here. You'll have to go to WordPress 6.9. So this is 6.9 for let's say for example I want I have this block for example I'll use this block and let me just use the parent block. So let's say call to action block. So once you selected the block in this case I have selected the entire call to action block but this works with paragraphs headings any blocks. The group block is uh or using it with a group block in my opinion is more powerful because you can hide the entire group and then add it. Also works if you have a limited time thing you want to enter and like show **[03:35]** that hey this offer is running. So you can design the block uh beforehand and then just make it live. So what you can do is you right click or no not right click is click on the three dotted menu and you'll have the option to hide the block here. So you can see here if I hide the block this block goes away and if I save and update this and if I go to the live section of this page as well this is before I hit the block I opened it already. So you can see this is the block which was available here and if I refresh the page this block is now invisible. So you can make changes, add **[04:06]** things to your website on specific pages and post and hide them so that users won't see it. So this gives you a lot of flexibility adding things, changing things, making changes around. Very powerful. But the next question is how do I get the blog back? So it's pretty easy. All you have to do is go to the list view here. This is uh not in your future. The list feature or the list view is already available in WordPress 6.8 as well. So you click here and you'll see the block is there in the list view. It has an icon here which is a this is the hidden block. So once again you can use the three dot menu go back and click show and now it starts **[04:38]** showing once again on the block editor and also on the uh front end of the website. The next feature is also very powerful for power users and people who are familiar with WordPress and want to get things done faster. This is a very useful feature. So you're probably aware of the command pallet. So you can hear so you can see it here. Click here the command opens and you can always press Ctrl K to open the command pallet. And this works with WordPress 6.8 as well. So you're thinking, hey, what's the new feature here? So let me go back to the dashboard or the main uh dashboard. I'll switch here as well and then I'll show **[05:10]** you what the difference is with WordPress 6.8 and 6.9. Now coming to the uh dashboard of WordPress 6.8. If I press Ctrl K, you see it doesn't open the command pad. It actually opens up the browser and you can do some things. So you can see my recent uh I say the URLs that have opened up. So I'll hide that probably. So that doesn't uh or the command pad doesn't work in admin area only works when you are actually editing a page or post or inside the patterns or changing those. But in WordPress 6.9 it works differently. If you press control **[05:40]** K it automatically opens the command place or command pallet. Now I can use this to instantly go to posts which is a much faster way in my opinion rather than using the mouse because I prefer the keyboard. So again, once again, uh I'd say a quality of life improvement for personally me because if you have a lot of plugins, a lot of menu entries, you want to switch things around quickly, navigate to certain areas, I think this is a very powerful feature in WordPress 6.9. The next update in WordPress 6.9 has to do with full site editing. So if you're using a blockbased theme and use full-sight editing features to create templates, patterns, **[06:10]** this might be useful. Earlier, if you created a custom template from this menu inside templates and you switched your themes, your custom templates were lost. But this is fixed in WordPress 6.9. You create custom templates. Even if you change a theme, the custom templates will be retained in WordPress 6.9. And you also have a few quality of life improvements when it comes to templates. Now you can see the revision directly using the three dotted menu. Edit them, duplicate them, and few other additional changes which makes it easier to work with templates in WordPress 6.9. The next few updates in WordPress 6.9 come from having new blocks. So let me show you some new blocks. So if you wanted to **[06:42]** show and hide elements on screen, most of the time the details block was something that you used. For example, if I add the details block here and I can add something here and then I I can add something here. For example, let's add this and then you can hide and show and then you can add nest and columns. But the new feature or new block inside WordPress 6.9 gives you the functionality without having to mess with this. It's called the accordion block. So I've already added it here. Let me show you first and then I'll should demonstrate the block again. So if I click here, you can see instantly the accordion opens. Accordion is much **[07:13]** easier to use and you can add multiple columns. What I did here, I just added the accordion block, added a columns block, use the three column menu or three column option here and just added an image. Of course, you can do a lot of things here. And if you click out, the accordion automatically closes. Let's publish this page so we can test out how it looks on the front end. And let's view the post here. So you can see here this is the accordion and this is not the accordion. This is the details block and this is the accordion now. So this is a native feature or native block now in WordPress which makes your job easier **[07:45]** when adding accordians. For example, you can use it for adding FAQs on your site or important pages which is very useful for landing pages, even uh product pages, all sorts of pages. So welcome addition to WordPress 6.9. The next new block in WordPress 6.9 is a terms query block. Now you're probably aware of the query block or query loop block. So if I add it here, you can see the query loop. So query loop is used to loop through all your let's say posts and pages. So if I enter that here you can choose and then start again. But what if you wanted to show the actual terms that means the **[08:17]** tax means categories tags on your site. Example uh you create a say breadcrumbs of all the categories on your page. Anything else? So for that we have the new block called the terms query. So now if I add the terms query block oops terms query. If I add this now we can share the name and name and count. So if you just show the names that will just show the names of the specific category or tag or other text that you want to show or the count will also show how many actually post and other kind post types are in that. Let's start with the **[08:47]** posts here and for this we don't have or this is just a demo site setup. So there's no tags no categories here. So by default it shows the uncatategorized which is just one default category inside WordPress 6.9. But you can go here and change categories to tax or other tax. And then you have uh order and selected terms. So you can filter them out. For example, you want to just show specific filters, specific uh tax enemies, then you can add them here. You also have the option of showing empty terms and also showing nested terms. So if you have nested categories, you can show that here as well. And you can also **[09:19]** set the maximum l. I think it's a very powerful new feature which helps you I'd say keep users on the page. Add important categories. Users are reading a specific blog post on a spec specific category. Nice idea to lead them to the category page directly of the specific term. And I think there's a lot of flexibility in how you can use or how I can or we can use this new block in WordPress 6.9. Another block that's coming to WordPress 6.9 is the maths block. Now to add mathematical equations, I think the correct term is latex equations. I'm not sure about that. You need to add an external plug-in right now with WordPress 6.8, **[09:50]** but WordPress 6.9 introduces the math block which makes this easier. So let me demonstrate. So all you have to do is just come to the block editor and type in the math block. And once you're here, you can add the equation here. So I'll just simp enter a simple equation E= empty square. And you can see instantly now it's visible right here in the correct formatting in WordPress. And you can click here and again change the equation whatever you like. I think very welcome, very easy to use and I think very powerful as well. Another new block that's coming to WordPress 6.9 is the **[10:20]** time to read block. Again, this functionality was reserved for plugins. You need to add a plugin so that the time to read is displayed somewhere. But WordPress 6.9 makes it easy. So just add the time to read block and now you can see the time to actually read the blog post is visible and of course you can add the block anywhere you can add it to the top of the page the bottom page anywhere you like easy instead of using plugins now we have this functionality native in WordPress so those are the important changes happening that you can experience right here in WordPress but there are also a lot of things happening behind the scenes from a development perspective which even if you're not a developer will be very useful to **[10:50]** understand WordPress is now embracing AI and AI workflow so that it can help you create and publish content faster. So let me talk about some of the AI improvements or other behind the scenes or I'd say under the hood improvements happening in WordPress 6.9. So one of the big changes happening in WordPress 6.9 is the abilities API. It's a new API that WordPress is creating which allows AI tools to access and do operations in WordPress. So think about this. Anytime you wanted to make any changes to a WordPress website, you probably use code. That means a plugin. So you install plug-in or you change code. But **[11:21]** how about we use AI tools to actually make changes to our website. So the technical definition is a little different and I'll overlay image here which gives you the introduction or makes you understand the architecture of what is going to happen but the simple idea is that the abilities API gives a shared language that humans and AI systems can understand. So for example if you install a plug-in or site they can register that hey we can do this XY Z functionality which can be hey optimize blog post or do something like that and then that ability can be exposed via the API or something else to AI tools as well. So in the future I'm **[11:53]** assuming you'll be able to connect your chat GPT to go say hey optimize this blog post to my WordPress website and can go do that v or v the abilities API to be honest this is quite exciting for me because it'll open up a lot of workflows and make the management of the website quite easy and I think more tools will open up to help you design websites uh manage websites optimize content uh do a lot of analytics and a lot of good stuff so I'm very excited for the abilities API so apart from this WordPress 6.9 is also doing some improvements to performance performance. If I read out the technical definitions, **[12:24]** if you're interested, output buffering is improved. Uh classic themes should load faster, less render blocking should happen and server performance should improve because crown jobs uh are improved as well. And apart from this, the interactivity API and blockbinding API has also improved. So if you're a developer, you should see better results or you should be able to do something interesting or better with these APIs. And to state the obvious, WordPress 6.9 will be the last major update in 2025 and it will not include a new theme as it usually does. So that's WordPress 6. Coming to a website near you in just a **[12:56]** couple of weeks. What's your favorite feature? Let me know in the comments. Make sure to subscribe to our channel for more interesting updates like this. My name is Ibraj. You're watching Double Beginner. I'll catch you in the next video. Take care.