What’s new for developers? (March 2025)

March means a lot of things to a lot of people. Almost every tradition has a holiday this time of year that celebrates the start of spring, fresh air, new growth and longer days.

For millions of basketball fans like me, it’s the best month of the year for basketball. That’s because, in the US and Canada, March Madness brings the national college tournament and its concurrent excitement of buzzer-beaters, upsets, and championship dreams.

There’s also a lot to get excited about in the WordPress world this month.

WordPress 6.8 is less than a month away, bringing a bucketful (pun intended! It’s March!) of improvements from recent Gutenberg updates. March brings lots of things to test, contribute to, and prepare for what’s ahead.

Table of Contents

Highlights

WordPress 6.8 and Gutenberg 20.3 and 20.4

The next version of WordPress is 6.8, and it is scheduled for release on April 15th, 2025. This update will include enhancements from Gutenberg versions 19.4 through 20.4.

With just about four weeks until launch, there’s plenty to test! If you have time to contribute, now is the perfect opportunity. Stay informed by following developer notes for 6.8, and keep an eye out for the 6.8 Field Guide, which the release squad aims to publish alongside RC 1, on March 25.

Recently published developer notes for 6.8:

While 6.8 is mostly a polish and bug-fix release, you will still find meaningful updates. If you’re a plugin developer, or you otherwise work in the WordPress ecosystem, it’s time to test your products for compatibility.

Themes

Here are some notable changes to blocks your users might appreciate:

Block Library

The latest improvements to Gutenberg bring more flexibility and feature enhancements across various blocks. The Query block now includes an option to ignore sticky post behavior, giving users more control over content display. Social links have been expanded with the addition of Discord, making it easier to link to the platform. The Featured Image block now uses the resolution tool component for better image handling. Additionally, the RSS block receives support for border and spacing adjustments, enhancing layout customization.

Query block: Add option to ignore sticky posts behavior. (69057)
Added Discord in social links. (68848)
Featured Image block: Use resolution tool component. (68471)
RSS: Border & Spacing support. (66411)

Global Styles

Several refinements have been made to improve the usability and customization options in Gutenberg. The Clear button for box shadows is now disabled when no shadow is applied, preventing unnecessary interactions. Duotone settings have been enhanced with a reset button and improved toggle rendering in the FiltersPanel for a smoother user experience. Similarly, a reset button has been added to the Shadow panel, making it easier to revert changes. Additionally, theme developers now have the ability to set the :focus-visible pseudo-selector in theme.json, improving accessibility and styling control.

Disable Clear button if there’s no shadow. (69092)
Duotone Settings: Add reset button and improve toggle rendering in FiltersPanel. (68672)
Shadow Panel: Add reset button. (68981)
Allow :Focus-visible pseudo-selector to be set in theme.json. (68521)

Post Editor

Several improvements have been made to enhance the editor’s usability and stability. Loading states have been added to the Page Attributes Parent and Post Author Combobox components for a smoother experience. Error handling is now improved with clear messages when loading a post fails. The default rendering mode for Pages is now conditionally enabled, and users’ Show Template preferences will persist between sessions. Additionally, the starter content modal has been restored, and the Post Template Panel popover now appears on the left side of the sidebar for better consistency.

Editor: Add loading state to the ‘PageAttributesParent’ component. (69062)
Editor: Add loading state to the ‘PostAuthorCombobox’ component. (68991)
Editor: Display error message when loading current post fails. (68999)
Editor: Conditionally enable the new default rendering mode for Pages. (69160)
Editor: Persist user’s ‘Show Template’ preference. (69286)
Editor: Restore starter content modal. (69081)
Post Template Panel: Display popover on the left side of the sidebar. (69134)

Block Editor

Several refinements have been made to improve block interactions and usability. The Quick Inserter now restores pattern search and insertion for easier access. Keyboard shortcuts for block deletion have been updated to use Shift + Backspace. The Post Navigation Link now supports all non-interactive formats, while the Pullquote block gains a missing alignment style. The Query Loop block introduces menu_order as a sorting option, and block actions now include a convenient cut functionality within the settings menu.

Quick Inserter: Restore pattern search and insertion. (69028)
Update keyboard shortcuts to use primaryShift+backspace for block deletion. (69074)
Post Navigation Link: Enable all non-interactive formats. (69325)
Pullquote: Adding missing alignment style. (68121)
Query Loop: Add menu_order as sorting option. (68781)
Block Action: Implement cut functionality in block actions and settings menu. (68554)

Components

Enhancements to UI controls improve usability and feedback. The BorderControl now always displays the Reset button for quicker adjustments, while the ComboboxControl gains an isLoading prop, allowing a loading spinner to provide better visual feedback when fetching options.

BorderControl: Always show the Reset button. (69066)
ComboboxControl: Add an isLoading prop to show a loading spinner. (68990)

Design Tools

Customization options have been expanded across multiple blocks. The Archives and Categories blocks now support color customization, allowing for better visual styling. Additionally, the Post Comments Count block gains border support, providing more design flexibility.

Archives: Add Color Support. (68685)
Categories: Add Color Support. (68686)

Post Comments Count: Add Border Support. (68223)

Resources

WordPress News
Developer Blog
- Customize WordPress embeds to match your theme

Props to @marybaum and @greenshady for reviewing this article and offering feedback.

One response to “What’s new for developers? (March 2025)”

Alberto Prado

March 28, 2025

The improvements in Gutenberg are greatly appreciated. I’m using it on some test sites (without additional plugins), and I believe it will soon be the best option for designing websites.