WordPress 6.9 is here! Full review of the new features! 🚀

WordPress 6.9 is finally here! In this video, we’re taking a deep dive into the second major release of 2025. I’ll be honest with you right off the bat - this one feels a little heavier on the developer side than the user-facing side. If you were hoping for a massive overhaul of blocks and design tools, it might feel a little "thin" on the ground. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean it's empty. There is some genuinely good stuff in here for site creators, and considering how bleak things looked earlier this year, I am super grateful to see this release land with so much work behind it. Join me as we explore what’s new, what’s changed, and stick around for the end where I break down my Top 3 New Features that will actually impact how you build websites today. In this video, we cover: – New Features – New Blocks – Update to Existing Blocks – Accessibility & Performance Updates – Updates for developers – AI in WordPress Just a quick note on how I approached going through all the features: I started with the main Help Test WordPress 6.9 page here https://make.wordpress.org/test/2025/... and of course always reference the most excellent “WordPress Source of Truth” post that Birgit Pauli-Haack always posts before a major release, 6.9’s version https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordpress-... - if you haven't seen it, it is a masterful piece of work, and sometimes, and in this case, picks out a few extra bits and pieces that may well have been left off the main testing post from wordpress.org. Also shout to Dave Smith for the heads up on new navigation block feature! - check out his channel for some WP gold:    / @daveonwp   And as always, a massive thank you to the hundreds of contributors who made this release possible. It takes a village of folk to get a WP release out, and despite my critiques, the effort that goes into keeping WordPress moving forward is incredible - grazie mille 🙏 Jump to the features: 00:00 WordPress 6.9 is here! 01:34 How to test new versions of WordPress 02:15 New “Notes” feature for collaborative working 04:59 New “Hide Blocks” feature 06:37 New “Allowed Blocks” feature 10:42 “Drag & Drop” update 11:40 “Command Palette Everywhere” update 14:00 New Block! - “Terms Query” 16:21 New Block! - “Math” 17:57 New Block! - “Stretchy Headings & Paragraphs” 19:23 New Block! - “Time to Read” & “Word Cout” 20:30 New Block! - “Accordion” 22:40 BONUS! - how you should style WordPress blocks when building Block Themes 29:05 Block Update - “Buttons” 30:17 Block Update - “Gallery” 31:31 Block Update - “Cover” 32:09 Theming Update - “Border Radius Presets” 33:29 Block Update - “Navigation” 36:14 Accessibility improvements in WordPress 6.9 36:33 Performance improvements in WordPress 6.9 37:04 More developer features and improvements 37:27 Massive AI Update! - “The Abilities API” Explained 41:05 My Top 3 New Features! 👉Videos mentioned in this video: – Best ever Gallery for Block Themes:    • How to create a popup light box Gallery in...   -- Use Details Block for missing accordion:    • How to create an amazing WordPress accordi...   -- WordPress Local dev environment with Local WP:    • Install WordPress Locally for FREE on Mac/...   – Dave’s ace vid about new Navigation Block update:    • NO MORE BROKEN MENUS: WordPress 6.9 FIXES ...   👉Plugins mentioned in this video – WordPress Beta Tester: https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/w... – Block Visibility: https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-v... 👉Referenced in this video – Accessibility Improvements in WordPress 6.9: https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/... – WordPress 6.9 Frontend Performance Field Guide https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/... – The Abilities API https://make.wordpress.org/ai/2025/07... – Help Test WordPress 6.9 https://make.wordpress.org/test/2025/... – WordPress 6.9 Source of Truth https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordpress-... 👉 *** Free WordPress goodies here: https://jakson.co/freebies/ Ciao! Jakson https://jakson.co/ #WordPress #WordPress69 #BlockThemes #Gutenberg #WordPressRelease #AbilitiesAPI