WordPress 6.8 includes some caching optimizations that may affect themes and plugins using the WP_Query::get() method and the WP_Query::$query_vars property. In #59516, WP_Query was optimized to improve cache hits for queries with equivalent arguments. This enhancement improves performance for sites that run equivalent queries with a different order of arguments. The impact will be most noticeable on sites […]
WordPress 6.8 performance improvements
This post is the latest in a series of updates focused on the performance improvements of major releases (see 6.7, 6.6, 6.5, 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2). WordPress 6.8, “Cecil” is the first and likely only major version WordPress released in 2025. It includes numerous significant performance improvements to the editing and browsing experience, spearheaded by the speculative loading feature. The release pays special […]
WordPress 6.8 “Cecil”
Each WordPress release celebrates an artist who has left an indelible mark on music. WordPress 6.8, code-named “Cecil,” honors the legendary pianist and jazz pioneer Cecil Taylor. Classically trained yet relentlessly unconventional, Taylor reimagined the piano as a percussive instrument—layering tone clusters, polyphony, and rhythm into a sound both chaotic and precise. His music defied expectation, finding form […]
WordPress 6.8 Release Candidate 3
The third release candidate (“RC3”) for WordPress 6.8 is ready for download and testing! This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC3 on a test server and site. Reaching this phase of the release […]
Performance Chat Summary: 8 April 2025
The full chat log is available beginning here on Slack. Announcements / Reminders The Performance team is shifting the timing of out meetings to 3pm UTC to match many countries having shifted their time 1 hour in recent weeks. Our next chat will be held on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 15:00 UTC. WordPress Performance Trac tickets There […]
WordPress 6.8 Release Candidate 2
The second Release Candidate (“RC2”) for WordPress 6.8 is ready for download and testing! This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC2 on a test server and site. Reaching this phase of the release […]
WordPress 6.8 Release Candidate 1
The first Release Candidate (“RC1”) for WordPress 6.8 is ready for download and testing! This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC1 on a test server and site. Reaching this phase of the release […]
Performance Chat Summary: 25 March 2025
The full chat log is available beginning here on Slack. Performance Lab plugins As a consequence from the previous meeting and last week’s release (which for the first time saw releases for only a few of the performance plugins, without Performance Lab), changes to the release cadence were defined Specifically, the team will change release cadence from monthly […]
Interactivity API best practices in 6.8
WordPress 6.8 comes with a few new best practices and requirements in the Interactivity API that are part of a longer-term continuous-improvement effort. Some of the relevant changes in 6.8 are an intermediary step: They do not include these enhancements themselves, but they prepare the project to add them in a future release by adding two new deprecation […]
WordPress 6.8 Beta 3
WordPress 6.8 Beta 3 is now ready for testing! This beta version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it is recommended you evaluate Beta 3 on a test server and site. You can test WordPress 6.8 Beta 3 in four […]
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