The WordPress Roadmap is a great tool to look back at previous WordPress releases and get a good idea about what’s coming up.
WordPress version 5.0 will be included in our strategic roadmap soon, at which point the feature set will be “frozen” in preparation for its official launch. This stabilization phase is a critical component of the development lifecycle; typically, the entire month prior to a major release is dedicated to freezing new features to ensure the focus remains exclusively on quality assurance.
Bug hunting
During this time, WordPress engineering teams will work on eliminating bugs and profiling the code for performance issues to provide the most stable environment possible. We will be working with our WordPress hosting and migrations clients to get ready for the change when a stable version is ready to test and review.
As it stands however, WordPress 5.0 still has a significant development path ahead before it is ready for public release. The current stable version, 4.9.6, was launched to serve as a bridge, incorporating initial links to the upcoming Gutenberg editor.
This is a significant change and has led to growth in interest of our comprehensive WordPress maintenance services.
While we look toward the 5.0 milestone, version 4.9.6 followed a more accelerated release cycle to address immediate technical requirements. Key targets successfully addressed in that release included:
- The implementation of the “Try Gutenberg” prompt to encourage early user adoption and feedback.
- The integration of essential GDPR-related items to ensure global compliance standards were met.
- Critical updates resulting from community discussions regarding API changes necessary to facilitate the long-term transition to Gutenberg.
