This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC3 on a test server and site.

Reaching this phase of the release cycle is an important milestone. While release candidates are considered ready for release, testing remains crucial to ensure that everything in WordPress 6.9 is the highest quality possible.

You can test WordPress 6.9 RC3 in four ways:

The scheduled final release date for WordPress 6.9 is December 2, 2025. The full release schedule can be found here. Your help testing RC versions is vital to making this release as stable and powerful as possible.

Please continue checking the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.9-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.

What’s in WordPress 6.9 RC3?

Want to look deeper into the details and technical notes for this release? Take a look at the WordPress 6.9 Field Guide. For technical information related to issues addressed since RC2, you can browse the following links:

• Gutenberg commits for 6.9 since November 18
• Closed WordPress Core Trac tickets since November 18

How you can contribute

WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline various ways you can get involved with the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is crucial to the development of any software. It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute. 

Your help testing the WordPress 6.9 RC3 prerelease is key to ensuring that the final release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.9. For those new to testing, follow this general testing guide for more details on getting set up.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta/RC area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general?  Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack..

Update your theme or plugin

For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.

Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 6.9 prereleases. If you haven’t yet, please conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your theme and plugin readme files to 6.9.

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information in the support forum.

Test on your hosting platforms

Web hosts provide vital infrastructure for supporting WordPress and its users. Testing on hosting systems helps inform the development process while ensuring that WordPress and hosting platforms are fully compatible, free of errors, optimized for the best possible user experience, and that updates roll out to customer sites without issue.

Want to test WordPress on your hosting system? Get started with configuring distributed hosting tests here. 

Help translate WordPress

Do you speak a language other than English? ¿Español? Français? Русский? 日本語? हिन्दी? বাংলা? मराठी? ಕನ್ನಡ? You can help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages.

An RC3 haiku

Some folks make money,

some folks make time to travel,

and we Make WordPress.

Props to @akshayar, @davidbaumwald, @westonruter, @ellatrix, @mobarak and @tacoverdo for proofreading and review.

This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC2 on a test server and site.

Reaching this phase of the release cycle is an important milestone. While release candidates are considered ready for release, testing remains crucial to ensure that everything in WordPress 6.9 is the best it can be.

You can test WordPress 6.9 RC2 in four ways:

The scheduled final release date for WordPress 6.9 is December 2, 2025. The full release schedule can be found here. Your help testing RC versions is vital to making this release as stable and powerful as possible.

Please continue checking the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.9-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.

What’s in WordPress 6.9 RC2?

Get a recap of WordPress 6.9’s highlighted features in the Beta 1 announcement. For more technical information related to issues addressed since RC1, you can browse the following links:

• GitHub commits for 6.9 since November 11
• Closed Trac tickets since November 11

Want to look deeper into the details and technical notes for this release? These recent posts cover some of the latest updates:

• Notes Feature in 6.9
• Abilities API in WordPress 6.9
• WordPress 6.9 Frontend Performance Field Guide
• Interactivity API’s client navigation improvements in WordPress 6.9
• Block Bindings improvements in WordPress 6.9
• Changes to the Interactivity API in WordPress 6.9
• Consistent Cache Keys for Query Groups in WordPress 6.9
• DataViews, DataForm, et al. in WordPress 6.9
• Preparing the Post Editor for Full iframe Integration
• Theme.json Border Radius Presets Support in WordPress 6.9
• Heading Block CSS Specificity Fix in WordPress 6.9
• Miscellaneous Developer-focused Changes in 6.9
• Modernizing UTF-8 support in WordPress 6.9

How you can contribute

WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is crucial to the development of any software. It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute. 

Your help testing the WordPress 6.9 RC2 version is key to ensuring that the final release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.9. For those new to testing, follow this general testing guide for more details on getting set up.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report.  You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs. 

Curious about testing releases in general?  Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the#core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Update your theme or plugin

For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.

Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 6.9 beta releases. If you haven’t yet, make sure to conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.9.

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.

Test on your hosting platforms

Web hosts provide vital infrastructure for supporting WordPress and its users. Testing on hosting systems helps inform the development process while ensuring that WordPress and hosting platforms are fully compatible, free of errors, optimized for the best possible user experience, and that updates roll out to customer sites without issue.

Want to test WordPress on your hosting system? Get started with configuring distributed hosting tests here.

Help translate WordPress

Do you speak a language other than English? ¿Español? Français? Русский? 日本語? हिन्दी? বাংলা? मराठी? ಕನ್ನಡ?  You can help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages. This release milestone (RC2) also marks the hard string freeze point of the 6.9 release cycle.

An RC2 haiku

A calm hillside sighs,
Work of many now complete —
RC2 stays true.

Props to @amykamala, @annezazu, @davidbaumwald, @westonruter and @joedolson for proofreading and review.

This version of the WordPress software is still under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it’s recommended to evaluate RC1 on a test server and site.

WordPress 6.9 RC1 can be tested using any of the following methods:

The scheduled final release date for WordPress 6.9 is December 2, 2025. The full release schedule can be found here. Your help testing Beta and RC versions is vital to making this release as stable and powerful as possible.

Please continue checking the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.9-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.

What’s in WordPress 6.9 RC1?

Check out the Beta 1 announcement for details on WordPress 6.9.

You can browse the technical details for all issues addressed since Beta 4 using these links:

• Gutenberg commits for 6.9 since November 7, 2025
• Core commits for 6.9 since November 7, 2025
• Closed Trac tickets since November 7, 2025

Want to know more about this release? Here are some highlights:

• Site Editor improvements and Refined content creation
  • Ability to hide blocks
  • New blocks
  • Notes on blocks
  • Universal command palette in wp-admin
• Developer updates
  • Updates to dataviews and dataforms components
  • New abilities API
  • Updates to interactivity API
  • Updates to block binding API
• Performance Improvements
  • Improved script and style handling
  • Optimized queries and caching
  • Added ability to handle “fetchpriority” in ES Modules and Import Maps
  • Standardizing output buffering

The final release is on track for December 2nd. As always, a successful release depends on your confirmation during testing. So please download and test!

How you can contribute

WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is crucial to the development of any software. It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute. 

Your help testing the WordPress 6.9 RC1 version is key to ensuring that the final release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.9.

Calls for testing

Thank you to everyone who helps test the following enhancements and bug fixes:

• Accordion Block
• Ability to Hide Blocks
• Classic themes loading block styles on demand
• Modified notes notifications
• Abilities API

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums, or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Thank you to everyone who helps with testing!

Update your theme or plugin

For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.

Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 6.9 beta releases. With RC1, you’ll want to conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.9.

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.

Test on your hosting platforms

Web hosts provide vital infrastructure for supporting WordPress and its users. Testing on hosting systems helps inform the development process while ensuring that WordPress and hosting platforms are fully compatible, free of errors, optimized for the best possible user experience, and that updates roll out to customer sites without issue.

Want to test WordPress on your hosting system? Get started with configuring distributed hosting tests here. Thank you to all web hosts who help test WordPress!

Curious about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

An RC1 haiku

As the sun rises,

RC1 breaks its cocoon

and emerges strong.

Props to @akshayar, @davidbaumwald, @jeffpaul, @desrosj, @westonruter, @ellatrix, @priethor, @krupajnanda and @cbravobernal for proofreading and review.

This beta version of the WordPress software is still under development. Please don’t install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, you can evaluate Beta 3 on a test server and site.

WordPress 6.9 Beta 3 can be tested using any of the following methods:

The final release of WordPress 6.9 is scheduled for December 2, 2025, and the release schedule can be found here. Your help testing Beta and RC versions is vital to making this release as stable and powerful as possible. Thank you to everyone who helps with testing!

Please continue checking the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.9-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.

Find out what’s new in WordPress 6.9: Read the Beta 1 announcement for details and highlights.

How to test this release

Your help testing the WordPress 6.9 Beta 3 version is key to ensuring that everything in the release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally as important. This detailed guide provides a walk through on testing features in WordPress 6.9.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums, or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Beta 3 updates and highlights

WordPress 6.9 Beta 3 contains more than 80 updates and fixes since the Beta 2 release.

Each beta cycle focuses on bug fixes, and more are on the way with your testing! You can browse the technical details for all issues addressed since Beta 2 using these links:

• Gutenberg commits for 6.9 since October 28, 2025
• Closed Core Trac tickets for 6.9 since October 28, 2025
• Comparing commit changes in Core for 6.9 since October 28, 2025

A Beta 3 haiku

Code is poetry,

and poetry is magic.

So code is magic.

Props to @akshayar , @jeffpaul, @krupajnanda, @mosescursor, and @westonruter for proofreading and review.

This beta version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites.  Instead, you should evaluate Beta 2 on a test server and site.

You can test WordPress 6.9 Beta 2 in any of the following ways:

The scheduled final release date for WordPress 6.9 is December 2, 2025.  The full release schedule can be found here. Your help testing Beta and RC versions is vital to making this release as stable and powerful as possible. Do check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.9-related posts in the coming weeks for more information. Thank you to everyone who contributes by testing! 

Catch up on what’s new in WordPress 6.9: Read the Beta 1 announcement for details and highlights.

How to test this release

Your help testing the WordPress 6.9 Beta 2 version is key to ensuring everything in the release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important.  This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.9.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Beta 2 updates and highlights

WordPress 6.9 Beta 2 contains more than 33 Editor updates and fixes since the Beta 1 release, including 28 tickets for WordPress core.

Each beta cycle focuses on bug fixes; more are on the way with your help through testing. You can browse the technical details for all issues addressed since Beta 1 using these links:

• GitHub commits for 6.9 since October 21, 2025
• Closed Trac tickets since October 21, 2025

A Beta 2 haiku

Morning dew returns,

Small fixes bloom in silence—

Code finds its balance.

Props to @davidbaumwald, @wildworks , @krupajnanda & @mosescursor for proofreading and review.

This version of the WordPress software is under development.  Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites.  Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC3 on a test server and site.

Reaching this phase of the release cycle is an important milestone.  While release candidates are considered ready for release, testing remains crucial to ensure that everything in WordPress 6.8 is the best it can be.

You can test WordPress 6.8 RC3 in four ways:

The current target for the WordPress 6.8 release is April 15, 2025. Get an overview of the 6.8 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.8-related posts leading up to next week’s release for further details.

What’s in WordPress 6.8 RC3?

Get a recap of WordPress 6.8’s highlighted features in the Beta 1 announcement. For more technical information related to issues addressed since RC2, you can browse the following links:

• GitHub commits for 6.8 since April 1
• Changes committed since April 1

How you can contribute

WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community that collaborates and contributes to its development. The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is critical to ensuring WordPress is performant and stable. It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.8.  For those new to testing, follow this general testing guide for more details on getting set up.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general?  Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Search for vulnerabilities

From now until the final release of WordPress 6.8 (scheduled for April 15, 2025), the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled.  Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.

Update your theme or plugin

For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.  For more details on developer-related changes in 6.8, please review the WordPress 6.8 Field Guide.

Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 6.8 beta releases.  With RC3, you’ll want to conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.8.

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.

Help translate WordPress

Do you speak a language other than English?  ¿Español?  Français?  Русский?  日本語? हिन्दी? मराठी? বাংলা?  You can help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages.

An RC3 haiku

The launch draws closer,
Six-eight sings through RC3,
Almost time to shine.

Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: @audrasjb, @mamaduka, @krupajnanda, @benjamin_zekavica, @narenin, @joedolson, @courane01, @joemcgill, @marybaum, @kmgalanakis, @umeshsinghin, @wildworks, @mkrndmane.

This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC2 on a test server and site.

Reaching this phase of the release cycle is an important milestone. While release candidates are considered ready for release, testing remains crucial to ensure that everything in WordPress 6.8 is the best it can be.

You can test WordPress 6.8 RC2 in four ways:

The current target for the WordPress 6.8 release is April 15, 2025.  Get an overview of the 6.8 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.8-related posts in the coming weeks for further details.

What’s in WordPress 6.8 RC2?

Get a recap of WordPress 6.8’s highlighted features in the Beta 1 announcement. For more technical information related to issues addressed since RC1, you can browse the following links:

• GitHub commits for 6.8 since March 25
• Closed Trac tickets since March 25

Want to look deeper into the details and technical notes for this release? These recent posts cover some of the latest updates:

• Speculative Loading in 6.8
• WordPress 6.8 will use bcrypt for password hashing
• Roster of design tools per block (WordPress 6.8 edition)
• More efficient block type registration in 6.8
• Updates to user-interface components in WordPress 6.8
• Interactivity API best practices in 6.8
• Internationalization improvements in 6.8

How you can contribute

WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is critical to ensuring WordPress is performant and stable.  It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute.  This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.8.  For those new to testing, follow this general testing guide for more details on getting set up.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report.  You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general?  Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Search for vulnerabilities

From now until the final release of WordPress 6.8 (scheduled for April 15, 2025), the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled. Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.

Update your theme or plugin

For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.

Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 6.8 beta releases. With RC2, you’ll want to conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.8.

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.

Help translate WordPress

Do you speak a language other than English? ¿Español? Français? Русский? 日本語? हिन्दी? বাংলা? मराठी? ಕನ್ನಡ?  You can help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages. This release milestone (RC2) also marks the hard string freeze point of the 6.8 release cycle.

An RC2 haiku

Testing, 1, 2, 3
It’s almost April fifteenth
Squashing all the bugs

Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: @michelleames, @tacoverdo, @jopdop30, @vgnavada, @jeffpaul.

This version of the WordPress software is under development.  Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites.  Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC1 on a test server and site.

Reaching this phase of the release cycle is an important milestone.  While release candidates are considered ready for release, testing remains crucial to ensure that everything in WordPress 6.8 is the best it can be.

You can test WordPress 6.8 RC1 in four ways:

The current target for the WordPress 6.8 release is April 15, 2025.  Get an overview of the 6.8 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.8-related posts in the coming weeks for further details.

What’s in WordPress 6.8 RC1?

Get a recap of WordPress 6.8’s highlighted features in the Beta 1 announcement.  For more technical information related to issues addressed since Beta 3, you can browse the following links:

• GitHub commits for 6.8 since March 18
• Closed Trac tickets since March 18

Want to look deeper into the details and technical notes for this release? These recent posts cover some of the latest updates:

• Speculative Loading in 6.8
• WordPress 6.8 will use bcrypt for password hashing
• Roster of design tools per block (WordPress 6.8 edition)
• More efficient block type registration in 6.8
• Updates to user-interface components in WordPress 6.8
• Interactivity API best practices in 6.8
• Internationalization improvements in 6.8

How you can contribute

WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development.  The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is critical to ensuring WordPress is performant and stable.  It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute.  This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.8.  For those new to testing, follow this general testing guide for more details on getting set up.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report.  You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general?  Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Search for vulnerabilities

From now until the final release of WordPress 6.8 (scheduled for April 15, 2025), the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled.  Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.

Update your theme or plugin

For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.

Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 6.8 beta releases.  With RC1, you’ll want to conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.8.

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.

Help translate WordPress

Do you speak a language other than English?  ¿Español?  Français?  Русский?  日本語? हिन्दी? বাংলা? मराठी?  You can help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages.  This release milestone (RC1) also marks the hard string freeze point of the 6.8 release cycle.

An RC1 haiku

March fades, nearly there,
Six-eight hums—a steady beat,
RC greets the world.

Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: @joemcgill @benjamin_zekavica @courane01 @mkrndmane @audrasjb @areziaal @ankit-k-gupta @krupajnanda @bph.

This beta version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it is recommended you evaluate Beta 3 on a test server and site.

You can test WordPress 6.8 Beta 3 in four ways:

The current target date for the final release of WordPress 6.8 is April 15, 2025. Get an overview of the 6.8 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.8-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.

Catch up on what’s new in WordPress 6.8: Read the Beta 1 and Beta 2 announcements for details and highlights.

How to test this release

Your help testing the WordPress 6.8 Beta 3 version is key to ensuring everything in the release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.8.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general?  Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Vulnerability bounty doubles during Beta/RC

Between Beta 1, released on March 4, 2025, and the final Release Candidate (RC) scheduled for April 8, 2025, the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled. Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.

Beta 3 updates and highlights

WordPress 6.8 Beta 3 contains more than 3 Editor updates and fixes since the Beta 2 release, including 16 tickets for WordPress core.

Each beta cycle focuses on bug fixes; more are on the way with your help through testing. You can browse the technical details for all issues addressed since Beta 3 using these links:

• GitHub commits for 6.8 since March 12, 2025
• Closed Trac tickets since March 12, 2025

A Beta 3 haiku

Beta three refines,
WordPress shapes with steady hands,
Code grows into form.

Props to @benjamin_zekavica @krupajnanda @ankit-k-gupta @joemcgill for proofreading and review.

This beta version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites.  Instead, you should evaluate Beta 2 on a test server and site.

You can test WordPress 6.8 Beta 2 in four ways:

The current target date for the final release of WordPress 6.8 is April 15, 2025. Get an overview of the 6.8 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.8-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.

Catch up on what’s new in WordPress 6.8: Read the Beta 1 announcement for details and highlights.

How to test this release

Your help testing the WordPress 6.8 Beta 2 version is key to ensuring everything in the release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important.  This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.8.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Vulnerability bounty doubles during Beta/RC

Between Beta 1, released on March 4, 2025, and the final Release Candidate (RC) scheduled for April 8, 2025, the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled. Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.

Beta 2 updates and highlights

WordPress 6.8 Beta 2 contains more than 14 Editor updates and fixes since the Beta 1 release, including 21 tickets for WordPress core.

Each beta cycle focuses on bug fixes; more are on the way with your help through testing. You can browse the technical details for all issues addressed since Beta 1 using these links:

• GitHub commits for 6.8 since March 4, 2025
• Closed Trac tickets since March 4, 2025

A Beta 2 haiku

Second wave refines,
Lines of code like rivers flow,
WordPress finds its form.

Props to @ankitkumarshah @vgnavada @krupajnanda @michelleames @audrasjb @marybaum @ecgan for proofreading and review.