Great news everyone!  WordPress 5.9 “Josephine” was released today!  This update seems to be heavy on WordPress and Theme customization.    Pretty excited to try them out.  Here’s the info from the WordPress website:

Full Site Editing

Control your whole site, right in the WordPress admin.

Twenty Twenty-Two Theme

And say hello to the first default block theme in the history of WordPress. This is more than just a new default theme. It’s a brand-new way to work with WordPress themes.

Block themes put a wide array of visual choices directly in your hands, from color schemes and font combinations to page templates and image filters, all from the Site Editor. So in one place, you can give Twenty Twenty-Two the same look and feel as your organization’s other materials—or take your site’s look in another direction.

You already have the Twenty Twenty-Two theme—it came installed with WordPress 5.9. You will find it with your other installed themes.

Your personal paintbox awaits

Twenty Twenty-Two is not the only theme built for full site editing. More block themes are in the Themes directory, and the number will grow.

When you use any of those new themes, you no longer need the Customizer. Instead, you have all the power of the Styles interface inside the Site Editor. Just as in Twenty Twenty-Two, you build your site’s look and feel there, with the tools you need for the job in a fluid interface that practically comes alive in your hands.

The Navigation block

Blocks come to site navigation, the heart of user experience.

The new Navigation block gives you the power to choose: an always-on responsive menu or one that adapts to your user’s screen size. And your choices are remembered! In 5.9, the block saves menus as custom post types, which get saved to the database.

More Improvements

Better block controls

WordPress 5.9 features new typography tools, flexible layout controls, and finer control of details like spacing, borders, and more—to help you get not just the look, but the polish that says you care about details.

The power of patterns

The WordPress Pattern Directory is the home of a wide range of block patterns built to save you time and add to your site’s functionality. And you can edit them as you see fit. Need something different in the header or footer for your theme? Swap it out with a new one in a few clicks.

With a nearly full-screen view that draws you in to see fine details, the Pattern Explorer makes it easy to compare patterns and choose the one your users need.

A revamped List View

In 5.9, the List View lets you drag and drop your content exactly where you want it. Managing complex documents is easier, too: simple controls let you expand and collapse sections as you build your site—and add HTML anchors to your blocks to help users get around the page.

Treat every image in a Gallery Block the same way you would treat it in the Image Block.

Style every image in your gallery differently, or make them all the same, except for one or two. Or change the layout with drag-and-drop.

Conclusion

As per usual, if you’re currently a hosting client of I Heart Blank, LLC then we will be (over the next weeks) updating your site for you!