A decade of explaining why WordPress sites don’t feel like apps, and what 2026 changes: blocks described to an AI instead of scaffolded by hand, the Interactivity API handling state without page reloads, and theme.json holding the design system.
Gutenberg 22.8 adds collaborator selection highlighting and presence fixes to real-time collaboration, opens the Connectors registry API, and lets you style button hover and focus states in Global Styles. AVIF uploads and an admin bar Command Palette trigger come along too.
Gutenberg 22.7 puts editorial rules in the database instead of a forgotten PDF. A look at the wp_content_guideline post type, the REST endpoints, and what a persistent rule set gives an AI assistant.
WordPress 7.0 lets any block that supports Block Bindings take part in Pattern Overrides, not just the old Core list. You opt a custom block in with the block_bindings_supported_attributes filter.
Beta 5 is out and RC1 ships tomorrow, so the WordPress 7.0 feature set is settled. Notes on pattern overrides reaching custom blocks, viewport controls landing in core, and why per-block custom CSS worries me.
WordPress 7.0 can hide a block per viewport, but the block still renders and its assets still download. Notes on the new metadata shape and the server-side check I use to handle both formats.
WordPress 7.0 lets you write CSS on a single block instance from the inspector. Here is how the hash-based scoped class is generated, where the rule is stored in the block markup, and how to opt a block out in block.json.
In WordPress 7.0 unsynced patterns open in contentOnly mode by default, so any block without a content role goes uneditable. What to fix in block.json, what the new listView support gives container blocks, and how to switch the whole thing off.
WordPress 7.0 syncs the block editor through Yjs, and one classic meta box switches the whole thing off. Migrating meta to the REST API, swapping HTTP polling for WebSockets, and the block side effects that fire for every editor in the session.
WordPress is looking for volunteers on the Twenty Twenty-Seven default theme, which ships with 7.2 in December 2026. What the work actually involves, why the schedule is tight, and how a core theme differs from any client build.