Thanks to the team of developers, WordPress has consistently been receiving new updates since 2003. The new and latest WordPress update is WordPress 5.8 (Tatum). Named in honor of Art Tatum, the legendary Jazz pianist.
In this article, I will highlight 3 new features to look out for in WordPress 5.8 Tatum update. These 3 features have been long-awaited in the WordPress community, and they definitely solidify WordPress’s lead over other content management systems.
These features are centered around user-friendliness, ease of use, and more functionality.
1.Full Site Editing
WordPress now allows you to edit your website on a single page. Now you can edit your site layout (your logo, your menu, and much more).
The 5.8 update comes with new blocks that allow you to make changes anywhere on your website, from the page editor.
With this feature, you can use blocks to create entire pages or websites, from the site logo to the footer. It aims to provide a single interface where you can add both global elements and page elements.
In order to access the FSE (Full Site Editing) feature, go to:
Default template (Upper right) > Start Editing your website
2.Use Blocks as Widgets
You can now use blocks and add any Block to your site’s widget area, and they still work perfectly as usual.
You can edit your widget area as if you were editing a normal page. This feature is not only just convenient for WordPress editors, but it also provides more customization options.
Ps. You can always go back to the old widget style if you want to. You would need to download the “Classic Widget” plugin, developed by all the awesome WordPress contributors.
Accessing your widgets remains the same.
Simply go to: Appearance > Widgets > Start editing.
3.webP Files/images
What is a WEBP image? A WebP is a modern image format that provides superior lossless and lossy compression for images on the web. Essentially a better version of a JPEG or PNG file optimized “for the web”.
We know how complex optimizing a website can be. As developers or “website builders” any feature allowing you to increase your website speed is always welcome.
This format should help with image optimization and website speed on a larger scale.
According to Google, WebP images are 26% smaller in size compared to PNG’s.
The WebP format is supported in Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera browser, and many other tools.
WordPress 5.8 summary
These are the 3 new features to look out for in WordPress 5.8 Tatum.
This is one step towards a robust Full Site Editing layout for WordPress websites.
Other content management systems already have these features incorporate and their editing process seems to be a bit easier compared to WordPress.
This will provide WordPress with a level playing field in that area.
These are the 3 new features to look out for in WordPress 5.8 Tatum
