WordPress 6.7 “Rollins” Released With New Default Theme, WordPress.org Experiences Outage

WordPress 6.7, code-named “Rollins,” was released on November 12, introducing a new default theme, Twenty Twenty-Five, zoom out view, and new powerful APIs. The announcement post stated, “Rollins’ bold and exploratory style resonates with WordPress’ own commitment to empowering creators to push boundaries and explore new possibilities in digital expression.”

The new default theme, Twenty Twenty-Five, “embodies ultimate flexibility and adaptability.” Fully compatible with the Site Editor, it offers multilingual font support, diverse color palettes, and an extensive set of patterns to make site customization easier.

The new zoom out mode enhances the editing experience, focusing on broader content patterns rather than individual blocks, enabling users to work with content from a higher, less granular perspective.

WordPress 6.7 also improves media handling, adding HEIC image support, auto-sizing for lazy-loaded images, and more background image support at individual and global levels. The release also has tons of site editor improvements and improved font management with deep styling capabilities.

Now, the Query Loop block automatically inherits queries from the default template. WordPress 6.7 also stabilized content-only editing for blocks.

Performance has also been boosted with faster pattern loading, optimized previews in the data views component, enhanced PHP 8+ compatibility, removal of deprecated code, auto-sizing for lazy-loaded images, and more efficient tag processing within the HTML API.

This release has given importance to accessibility, too. “65+ accessibility fixes and enhancements focus on foundational aspects of the WordPress experience, from improving user interface components and keyboard navigation in the Editor, to an accessible heading on WordPress login screens and clearer labeling throughout.”

Two new APIs—Template Registration API and Preview Options API—debut with this release, alongside enhancements to the Interactivity, Block Bindings, and HTML APIs.

As the final major release of 2024, WordPress 6.7 reflects the work of more than 780 contributors and includes over 340 updates and fixes. For further insights, check out the Field Guide, WordPress 6.7 documentation, Developer Notes or Jamie Marsland’s 250-second video on the highlights. You can also watch the Official WordPress 6.7 release video for an overview.

WordPress.org Experienced Increased Error Rates After the WordPress 6.7 Release

Several people reported getting 502 “Bad Gateway” errors and Systems Wrangler at Automattic, Barry, has confirmed that WordPress.org experienced intermittent elevated latency and increased error rates on November 12, which affected both the WordPress.org website and API.

He has shared more details, “This initial incident was quickly resolved by the team, but reoccurred briefly on Nov 13 at 0110 UTC, 0900 UTC, and 1400 UTC. The underlying cause was network saturation of the hosting provider’s network that hosts some of the WordPress.org infrastructure. Although all of the servers and switch interfaces that our team has visibility into were within normal levels of utilization, there were some upstream network bottlenecks that created increased latency and packet loss that affected the WordPress.org environment.”

They are still working to resolve the underlying issues.

Future of WordPress and Russian Contributions

Robert DeVore drew the attention of the WordPress community to Biden’s Executive Order 14071. He wondered what happens to WordPress when it can no longer accept contributors from Russia.

Here's a question for the WordPress Community

What happens to WordPress when it can no longer accept contributors from Russia?

What happens when Automattic can no longer employ Russian employees to work on WordPress?

Crazy talk? IDK about that

"Biden's Executive Order… pic.twitter.com/wlGBIusDRm
— Robert DeVore (@deviorobert) October 24, 2024

A WordPress.org spokesperson shared this with WPTavern on the issue: “The claim that Russians can’t contribute to GPL-licensed software is not entirely accurate. Executive Order 14071 was issued on April 6, 2022, and it prohibits new investments in the Russian Federation by U.S. citizens and restricts the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply of certain services to individuals located in Russia.

Additionally, it does not specifically address or ban the use of GPL-licensed (General Public License) software by Russian individuals or entities. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has provided guidance on the scope of services restricted under this order. While certain information technology and software services are prohibited, these restrictions do not extend to the mere use of GPL-licensed software by individuals in Russia.

WordPress.org is committed to increasing security expectations, adopting secure development practices, continuing to lead the project with transparency, and being a willing and helpful partner regarding any government requirements.”