WordPress 7.0 “Armstrong” shipped May 20, 2026 with native AI integration in Core (AI Client + Abilities API), a modernized dashboard with Command Palette, four new blocks (Gallery lightbox, Heading, Breadcrumbs, Icons), block-level Custom CSS, PHP-only block registration, and a PHP 7.4 minimum. Real-time collaboration was pulled before release. Here’s the full breakdown.
Matt Mullenweg pulled real-time collaboration from WordPress 7.0 on May 8 over surface area, race conditions, server load, memory, and fuzz-test bugs. 7.0 still ships May 20 as a stability release; RTC moves to a future version.
Every WordPress major release from 0.7 in May 2003 to the upcoming 7.0 in April 2026. Codenames, dates, and key features for each version, plus the jazz musician naming tradition and how WordPress evolved from b2/cafelog.
WordPress 6.9 ‘Gene’ shipped December 2, 2025 with block-level Notes for editorial collaboration, the Command Palette extended throughout the dashboard, the new Abilities API laying foundations for AI-powered workflows, Fit Text to Container for Paragraph and Heading blocks, significant LCP performance work, and 30+ accessibility fixes.
WordPress 6.8 ‘Cecil’ shipped April 15, 2025 with Speculative Loading delivering near-instant page navigation, automatic bcrypt password hashing for stronger security, the Style Book extended to Classic themes (under Appearance > Design), editor and Data Views improvements, and 100+ accessibility fixes including 70+ block editor improvements.
WordPress 6.7 ‘Rollins’ shipped November 12, 2024 with the new Twenty Twenty-Five default theme, the Zoom Out macro design view, a Block Bindings UI for connecting blocks to custom fields without code, font size presets with fluid typography support, and 65+ accessibility fixes.
WordPress 6.6 ‘Dorsey’ shipped July 16, 2024 with color and font sets multiplying design combinations per theme, a side-by-side page preview layout in the Site Editor, automatic rollbacks for failed plugin updates, synced pattern overrides for Heading/Paragraph/Button/Image blocks, ~35% faster template loading, and 58 accessibility fixes.
WordPress 6.5 ‘Regina’ shipped April 2, 2024 with the Font Library for typography management, Data Views for pages/templates/patterns, the new Interactivity API and Block Bindings API for developers, 110+ performance updates, 65+ accessibility improvements, and AVIF image support.
Heads-up: WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy” shipped on March 28, 2023. The current major release is now WordPress 7.0 “Armstrong” (May 2026). This post captures what
