WordPress 6.0 release stages

Every major WordPress release goes through certain release stages. This allows volunteers to thoroughly test the new version before public release. Currently WordPress 6.0 is scheduled for release on May 24, 2022. Below there are the stages of the 6.0 release:

Most important changes in WordPress 6.0

The new major WordPress release introduces significant changes and improvements. Some of the changes help moving towards WordPress being a complete site editor. One of the most important steps for this is to update the Gutenberg editor in WordPress core.

Gutenberg update

Major WordPress releases include the latest version of the Gutenberg plugin. Gutenberg was introduced in WordPress 5.0. back in December, 2018. Since then, it has become the new way to edit pages and posts in WordPress. Additionally, it has managed to divide the WordPress community as soon as it arrived. There are many users who love the new editor and are eagerly waiting to see how much it can evolve. However, there are many other users who hated Gutenberg from the minute they could start to use it.

WordPress 6.0 will integrate Gutenberg 13.0. This new version includes many improvements to help Gutenberg evolve into a site builder. Of course, there’s a long road ahead before Gutenberg can turn into a website builder. Let’s check some of the most exciting improvements Gutenberg 13.0 will bring to WordPress users!

Selecting text across blocks

The Gutenberg editor uses blocks to build content. A paragraph is a block of text, so are headings, images and other content. Previously when you tried to select texts, you could only do so within the current block you were editing. However, from now on you can select text between several blocks. It can be useful for formatting the text.

Additionally, it helps to make the editing workflow smoother. You can quickly get rid of the text you no longer need that’s divided into more blocks.

New blocks and block enhancements

Blocks help you build content, so it’s always nice to have a new selection of blocks. Gutenberg 13 includes a couple of new blocks. Some of the most interesting new blocks are:

• Stack: Lets you stack your content vertically.
• Avatar: Helps to display the avatar of a specific user or the author of the post.
• Read more: Creates a Read more button that links to the post. Useful in category pages.
• Post Author biography: Displays the biography of the post author.
• Comments query loop: This block is actually replacing the Post comments block. Gives advanced customization features to style the comment list.

Block enhancements

There are many block enhancements coming with WordPress 6.0. Here are the most notable ones:

• Featured image at media and text and cover blocks. Previously the featured image was only available at the post featured image block. From now on it’ll be possible to add the featured image to the media and text and also to the cover block.
• Lock reusable blocks. Helps to prevent (accidental) changes in a single instance of a reusable block.
• Typography options for container blocks. Group, row, and stack blocks have typography options from now on.
• Keeping block style. If you change your block type (e.g. from paragraph to heading) the block styling will stay. This includes color and typography.
• Gallery spacing. The Gallery block now offers the possibility to set the spacing between the images.

New Full site editing changes

Full site editing was first introduced in WordPress 5.9. It’s a collective term for WordPress’ new features. These new features include template and site editing. You can think of it as the first step to make WordPress a complete website builder tool. Users can edit their sites using blocks in many ways that before were only possible by writing code. However, they’ll need a block enabled theme that supports full site editing.

Keep in mind that in WordPress 6.0. Release Candidate 1 the Full Site Editing feature is still in Beta.

Theme styles

The first new feature of the Full Site Editing is the ability to switch theme styles. Each theme can have many separate theme styles which you can change by one click. For example, there might be a style which has white background and dark text colors. But the theme devs can define another style which has a blue background and light text colors. Font families, text sizes can also differ among styles.

New page templates

Due to the Gutenberg 13 integration, WordPres 6.0 will have five new page templates. The new templates are the following: author, date, categories, tag, and taxonomy.

Export block themes

WordPress 6.0 will allow you to export the created block-based theme to re-use it on other sites. It’s also a good way to have a backup of your customized theme, just in case.

Under the Hood changes

Apart from the visible changes, WordPress 6.0 comes with a bunch of under the hood improvements.

• Webfonts API. Provides an efficient way for theme authors to manage local fonts with PHP or theme.json.
• API to prevent certain blocks from appearing in Widget Areas. Not all Blocks were made to be used as widgets. WordPress 6.0 offers developers an API to prevent blocks from showing up at the widget areas.

Conclusion

WordPress 6.0 brings important changes to website owners. These changes make it easier for people to create their own site visually and customize it as they see fit. WordPress 6.0 is another small step to make WordPress a site editor, like Wix or Squarespace. However, there’s still a long road ahead but let’s be optimistic. Gutenberg editor will keep improving and unlock more and more options for site owners. As a result, WordPress can grow as well.

The post WordPress 6.0 is Coming! appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

Why do you need an Instagram slider?

Instagram is the best social platform to grow brand awareness. So, the more you post on Instagram the more chances you have to reach new people. Since you post many awesome things to Instagram, you might want to bring these posts to your website as well. As you can post images and videos to Instagram, it makes a lot of sense to display its post in the form of a slider. In fact, a slider is the best tool to display many photos or videos in a captivating manner on a website.

What’s a countdown timer?

A countdown timer is a visual timer that counts down to a specific date. It’s a popular way to count down to something you’re looking for. For example, you can use it on your maintenance page to tell the early visitors when your site opens. Another favored way to use countdowns is to get ready for an upcoming sale. Similarly, you can use a countdown even if you are already running a sale. Using a countdown you can let your buyers know how much time they’ve got until the sale is over. As a result, you can urge them to buy your products or services.

The Countdown layer has arrived!

The Countdown layer has arrived at Smart Slider Pro in version 3.5.1.2. After updating, you can add a countdown to any slide. This layer is a great way to create a visual timer that you can add to your slider. To create a new countdown layer, simply open up the layer list and find the countdown layer under Special.

New template sliders

Every new Smart Slider feature comes with gorgeous example sliders. There’s no difference with the Countdown layer either. To show the strength of the new layer and to inspire you, we’ve created not one, but 3 slider templates. Let’s take a quick look at them.

Bonsai

The Bonsai template is a slider that counts down to new product arrival. It features a CTA button to learn more about the products until they’re available.

Dance Festival

The Dance Festival template is a spectacular way to count down to the start of the festival. The background video fills the template with life, the layer animations amaze the visitors and the countdown gives the final touch.

Coming Soon

The Coming Soon template helps you create an announcement that you’re working on your site and it will be ready soon. It helps raise excitement and create a memorable experience.

Looking to jump into slider design but don’t know where to start? The How to Build video series is a great first step. These videos cover the basics of slider building: slider settings, controls, layers, layout, and responsive settings.

Conclusion

Smart Slider is full of amazing effects you can use on your site. Recently we have added the Morph and Distortion animations and the Before After layer. In the 3.5.1.2 version we added the Countdown layer for our Pro users. This layer is a great addition to the tons of cool things you can do with Smart Slider. In fact, it opens up many doors to create things that were not possible before. What’s the first countdown you’ll create?

The post Introducing Countdown Layer appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

What is the Before After layer?

The Before After layer is a simple and effective way to show two images in the sample place. Think of it like having the two images below one another. You can select which one you want to see by dragging a line shaped separator tool on top of the pictures. The first image displays completely when the separator is at the right side. Similarly, the second image displays when the separator is at the left side.

What’s the purpose of the Before After slider?

The before after slider is the perfect tool to create a visual comparison. For this reason, there are many cases when you can use this effect. A photographer can use a before and after slider to display their skills. For example, they can show how well they have colored a black and white photo.

Another typical use case is to show off two stages of a transformation. For instance, when someone changes their hairstyle they can use a before and after photo to show it. Another use case is to demonstrate the results of a new diet or workout routine.

The Before after layer has arrived at Smart Slider!

We’re excited to announce the release of the stunning Before After layer! With the 3.5.1.1 update, the new Before After layer is available for the Pro users. This layer allows you to create gorgeous before and after image sliders. Simply add a new Before After layer, select your images and your effect is ready. It’s important to note that you can create a Before After slider using a layer. The Before After images were meant to be part of the content, so they can’t be the backgrounds of a slide. As a result, the Before After layer works with all slider types.

Why should you use a Before After slider? Well, it’s super versatile, so you can use it to achieve many things. You can, obviously, display two images to compare them. You can also add labels to each image and a caption to describe what the layer is about. Additionally, you can choose whether you want a horizontal or vertical comparison.

Before After slider examples

Every new Smart Slider feature comes with inspiring example sliders. There’s no difference with the Before after layer either. To show the strength of the new effects and to inspire you, we’ve created not one, but 4 slider templates. Let’s see a quick overview about them.

Product Compare

Although it’s called Before after slider, you can use it for much more than just to show before and after images. In fact, you can use it for product comparison as well. For example, if you sell clothing you can use a Before After layer to show two color variations of the same product.

Diet Block

A Before After slider is perfect to display transformation. One of the most typical cases of such transformation is to show the results of a new diet or workout routine. Using the Before After layer you can easily show such transformations on your site.

Photo Compare

The Photo Compare template is a great way for a photographer to allow visitors to compare the pictures they took. At this template we used monochrome and colored images, but you can use anything else you’d like. For example, compare shots you took at different times of a day, like a sunset or sundown photo.

Renovation

The Renovation slider is a bit closer to the traditional way people think of the Before After slider. It displays two stages of the renovation. The starting stage, before the renovation happened, and the finished result.

Conclusion

Not a long time has passed since we brought you the Morph and Distortion animations. Now we have brought you another amazing feature, the Before After layer. It’s another great addition to Smart Slider Pro. You can use it to create stunning sliders you could never create before. When will you start creating Before After sliders?

The post Introducing Before After Layer appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

Does that mean you don’t update your site and its components? Of course not. All you need to do is tick a few items off a checklist before you update.

What is this checklist and how do you know what to do before updating WordPress?

This article shares a must-have 7-step checklist you can use to update your WordPress site.

Checklist: Things to do before updating WordPress

A rushed update — regardless of how important it is — is a recipe for disaster. A broken website undoes all your effort so far and means additional hours wasted in restoring your site.
To avoid such complications, here are 7 things to do before updating the WordPress site:

1. Test your live website before updating

It may seem strange to test a live and functional website, but it is necessary to do so before making a major update. Why is this step required? After an update, you may notice a broken functionality or design feature on your site. The reality could be that this problem may not be related to the update and could have been present before the applied update. Checking the website will help you troubleshoot the problem quickly and accurately, instead of guessing if it was the update that “broke” your website.

Check if all your web pages are loading properly and you can enter comments, send and receive emails, and fill other online forms on your website. If you detect any functionality issues, then this is the best time to fix them before applying the update.

2. Back up your WordPress site

Now that you know that your site is working fine, make sure you take a complete backup of your WordPress site. Why are backups so important? In case your updates end up crashing your live website, you can quickly restore it using the latest backup files. Depending on your needs and the activity on your website, take a backup every week, day, hour, or even on a real-time basis. Whatever the frequency of regular backups, make sure that you do one before every update.

In addition to your website files and folders, don’t forget to back up the WordPress database. Regular database backups ensure that you do not miss any customer data records or a single user comment added to your site.

To make backups easier and faster, you can use a backup plugin like BlogVault that offers unlimited on-demand backup in addition to scheduled and automated backups. It handles backups for both your website files and database records and has a one-click restore functionality that can retrieve the latest backup file and restore your website when needed.

3. Check new update details

Before performing any updates, check the details of the new version. For example, if you are updating a plugin to the next major version (for instance, version 2.x to 4.x), check their release notes for any compatibility issues.

The same goes for the Core WordPress, plugins, and WordPress themes.
Similarly, check if the latest plugin/theme version has gone through a major enhancement or changes. This may cause a major change in your website functionality causing it to break or crash. In this case, you are better off holding on to the update until the new version has been thoroughly tested and found to be stable.

4. Check the PHP version

Every WordPress site runs on PHP software that needs to also be regularly updated to improve website performance. You need to check the PHP version that your hosting is currently using. Also, check if the updated WordPress version is compatible with your current PHP version – without which your site is likely to report incompatibility-related problems and can even crash.

How do you check the PHP version? From your WordPress hosting account, you need to navigate to cPanel >> Select PHP version. Alternatively, you can check your PHP version by installing the “Display PHP Version” plugin from the official WordPress repository.

5. Disable caching

You may not be able to see the new features or changes on your site even after a major version update. This occurs typically when you do not clear your website cache before applying the update. Hence, it is recommended that you clear your existing cache and disable the caching mechanism to observe the website changes immediately.

If you are already using a WordPress caching plugin, make sure to deactivate the plugin before the update process. This ensures that it will not interfere with the update process. At the same time, remember to reactivate the caching plugin after you have completed the updates.

6. Create a staging site

Always look to apply WordPress updates in such a way that your live site and its visitors are not affected in any way. The best way to do this is through a staging website.
A staging site is a replica of your live website and is completely independent of the main site. This means you can make and test any changes on the staging site with zero impact on the live site. Once you have tested and are satisfied that the applied updates are not breaking your site, you can then choose to merge the updates to the live website.

How can you create such a staging environment?
One option is to install a WordPress staging plugin like WP Staging or WP Stagecoach. If you do not want to invest in a separate plugin just for staging, then you can use the inbuilt staging feature that backup plugins like BlogVault offer. Since BlogVault creates and runs the staging site on its dedicated server, there is no load on your web server and no impact on your website speed.

7. Review and update plugins and themes

It is not simply enough to update your core WordPress version, you also need to update each of your plugins and themes. This is because outdated plugins/themes may cause incompatibility issues with the latest WordPress version. Before applying updates, make sure they are both compatible with each other.

Before you can update plugins/themes before WordPress, make sure to take a complete website backup to revert to their older versions in case the update process fails.

If you have installed hundreds of plugins/themes on your website, you can review and update all of them with a single click by using a WordPress management plugin like ManageWP.

Final Thoughts

Once you have completed this 7-step checklist, you can go ahead and enjoy the enhanced functionality and security that the latest WordPress versions have to offer. This is also a good time to take a fresh backup of your WordPress website and database.
We hope this handy checklist helps you take the unpredictability out of WordPress updates and make managing your WordPress website smoother and simpler.

The post Your 7-Step Checklist to Update WordPress appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

What’s a background animation?

Before we check the new effects, first let’s learn what a background animation is. The background animation is the kind of effect that you see when one image changes to another. This happens when you switch slides either by a control (such as an arrow) or using autoplay.

It’s worth noting that some background animations are not noticeable on background colors. It’s due to the way the animations work: they manipulate the background in a way that it’s hard to spot it on a solid color. The new Morph and Distortion animations are great examples of this. So, make sure you use them on images only.

What are Morph animations?

Morph animations magically transit one background image into another in an unconventional way. The transition is mind-blowing but very smooth, so it’s perfectly suitable for any modern websites.

A blazar is a supermassive black-hole in the heart of a galaxy that produces a high-energy jet. (A jet composed of ionized matter traveling at nearly the speed of light.)

What to expect in Smart Slider 3.5

The content you create with Smart Slider makes an amazing and memorable experience for your visitors. For this reason, we’ve spent the last few months working hard on measuring and improving performance. As a result, our slider templates consistently load faster by 30-40%. Our homepage, which we created using sliders and blocks got a 100/100 score. (Field data on desktop shows higher CLS which caused by a bug in Google Chrome. It will be fixed in Chrome 90.)

We’re really proud of the mind-blowing numbers so from now we will demonstrate the result on all slider template page. But what’s new? It would be impossible to mention everything here, but we want to highlight the most important features. Let’s dive in!

Staggering amount of speed improvements

Most of the changes in Smart Slider 3.5 are under the hood, but some hidden changes are worth mentioning. One of our main goals was to reduce JavaScript footprint, which was mostly caused by jQuery. So we have removed the dependency of the jQuery on the frontend and made everything in native JS.

We were able to get huge gains by removing legacy browser support. Although officially we didn’t support Internet Explorer anymore, we left some compatibility codes. Now we’ve removed these codes. Also, we have completely dropped the support of old Android and Safari browsers.

To get great scores in Cumulative Layout Shift we needed one last thing. In Smart Slider we have changed the responsive behavior into a breakpoint-based system. As a result, we were able to solve all the device-specific changes in native CSS with media queries. Additionally, this helped to improve the Total Blocking Time.

WebP

WebP is a modern image format that provides superior compression for images on the web. In the last few years, more and more browsers have started to support it. We got several requests to add WebP support to Smart Slider, but we were waiting until every popular browser started to support it. As Safari got the support with version 14, we were able to implement our optimizations. From now on you can convert your slide background and layer images into WebP format. Additionally, you can also generate optimized images for 3 different screen widths.