WordPress in 2026: Releases, Tools & Traffic Trends | WP More - Issue 33
Major updates planned, contributor dashboard arriving, and why bot traffic matters for your site.
Hello WordPressers!
Welcome to this year’s final WPMore newsletter, issue 33, where you get curated news about WordPress and the WordPress community all in one place. I hope your holidays are going great and that your New Year's plans are still intact.
WordPress is gearing up for a busy 2026. The project has announced three major releases timed with flagship WordCamps, launched a pilot dashboard to track contributor engagement, and shipped Gutenberg 22.3 with a dedicated Fonts page. Meanwhile, new data reveals how bot traffic and security practices are reshaping website performance across the globe. Here's what you need to know.
WordPress In this Issue:
WordPress 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2: Your 2026 Release Roadmap
A New Dashboard to Track Contributor Journeys
Gutenberg 22.3 Brings a Dedicated Fonts Page and Better Image Editing
Bots Now Drive Up to 70% of Web Traffic (and Why That Matters)
The WordPress Stories That Shaped 2025
WordPress 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2: Your 2026 Release Roadmap
WordPress is returning to a three-releases-per-year cadence in 2026, with each major version launching during a flagship WordCamp event. WordPress 7.0 is scheduled for April 9th during WordCamp Asia, 7.1 lands August 19th at WordCamp US, and 7.2 wraps up the year around December 8–10th during State of the Word.
The four-month spacing gives contributors enough time to build quality features while encouraging iterative shipping over chasing perfection. It also creates unique teaching opportunities; newer contributors can watch or even help with live releases at WordCamps, learning the process firsthand.
A few practical notes: you don’t need to attend in person to be involved, all coordination happens in Slack, and the 7.0 Release Squad call for volunteers goes out the week of January 4th. The dates may shift slightly based on community feedback, but the overall rhythm is set.
This schedule also leaves room for minor releases between major ones, giving teams breathing space to deliver improvements with confidence.
Read the official Make WordPress blogpost here.
A New Dashboard to Track Contributor Journeys
WordPress is piloting a Contributor Dashboard to map how people join, participate, and grow across Make teams. The dashboard uses a five-stage ladder - Connect, Contribute, Engage, Perform, Lead- to describe participation patterns without ranking contributors or suggesting that some work matters more than others.
The goal is simple: help teams understand engagement, spot where support is needed, and improve the contributor experience over time. Right now, contribution activity is scattered across many tools, and non-code work often lacks visibility. This pilot aims to change that.
The dashboard will launch at the end of February 2026 with a limited multi-team pilot. It uses a custom plugin to map existing activity from WordPress.org systems to ladder stages, so it won’t require new infrastructure or place new demands on contributors. It also respects privacy—no personal or sensitive information gets displayed.
If you’re interested in helping test or refine the dashboard, you can comment on the project thread or join the conversation in the #five-for-the-future Slack channel.
This work builds on years of community requests for better contributor recognition and visibility.
Read the official Make WordPress blogpost here.
Gutenberg 22.3 Brings a Dedicated Fonts Page and Better Image Editing
The latest Gutenberg release, 22.3, introduces a dedicated Fonts page under the Appearance menu for block themes. Until now, managing fonts meant digging through several panels inside Global Styles. The new page centralizes typography management, letting you browse, install, and preview fonts in one place. Support for classic themes is coming next.
The image cropper also got a rebuild. It works the same way, but now aspect ratios and zoom levels stay put when you rotate images - a small fix that clears up a long-standing frustration. This update also sets the stage for more image-editing improvements down the road.
Other highlights include email notifications for Notes (so collaborators get alerts when someone leaves feedback), alignment support for the Breadcrumbs block, and a responsive Grid block that adapts layouts across screen sizes. The editor also now shows clearer error messages when you lose connection.
Fonts page simplifies typography management for block themes
Image cropper improvements fix rotation issues
Grid block now responds to different screen sizes automatically
These changes make everyday editing smoother without forcing you to rethink your workflow.
Read the official Make WordPress blogpost here.
Bots Now Drive Up to 70% of Web Traffic (and Why That Matters)
WP Engine’s 2025 Website Traffic Trends Report reveals that automated, non-human traffic now accounts for nearly one in three web requests globally. AI-driven bots consume up to 70% of the most resource-heavy operations like hosting and performance, turning traffic management into a financial priority. Unverified bot traffic is growing 76% worldwide, yet only 38% of sites use dedicated bot-mitigation tools.
Security practices now directly affect speed and cost. Sites that fully adopt HTTPS and proactive bot mitigation load 1–5 seconds faster in Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) than those using HTTP. Larger organizations show near-universal use of two-factor authentication and HTTPS, while smaller teams lag by about 25%.
Geography and mobile also matter more than ever. North America and Europe still post the strongest performance, while high-growth regions like Asia and Latin America are slowing down because traffic is rising faster than optimization efforts. About 50% of the top 10 million sites still don’t use a CDN, even though doing so improves LCP by roughly 20%. Mobile performance consistently trails desktop despite mobile being the dominant traffic source.
Bot traffic now represents nearly 1 in 3 web requests
HTTPS adoption improves LCP by 1–5 seconds
50% of top sites still lack a CDN, missing 20% performance gains
If your site feels slower or you’re seeing unusual traffic patterns, these trends might explain why.
Read the full report on WP Engine here.
The WordPress Stories That Shaped 2025
The Repository wrapped up the year by revisiting the most-read WordPress stories of 2025. The list reflects a year marked by conflict, but also by grassroots efforts to move the project forward. The top story was the abrupt shutdown of the WordPress Sustainability Team in January, which sparked backlash over how volunteer work was dismissed. Other highly read stories included the launch of the FAIR project to decentralize WordPress.org services, a class action lawsuit against Automattic over the WP Engine dispute, and Automattic’s layoffs affecting 16% of its workforce.
But 2025 wasn’t only about friction. Quieter developments like WordPress Campus Connect, WordPress Credits, and the launch of the WordPress AI Team showed contributors continuing to build, organize, and experiment despite the tension. One bright spot was Ollie’s Menu Designer being flagged for potential inclusion in WordPress core, with Automattic developers offering to help guide the work forward.
As 2026 begins, most people have moved on from the conflicts to focus on their work, teams, and businesses. Long-time contributors say they’re glad tensions have eased so they can contribute again, while new contributors are already getting involved through initiatives like Credits.
The year was messy, but it also showed that people keep showing up to build, even when things get hard.
Read the full report on The Repository here.
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On other WordPress News
→ WooCommerce 10.4.3: Dot Release (developer.woocommerce.com)
→ WordPress 6.9 Release Retrospective (make.wordpress.org)
→ WordPress 7.0 – What to Expect in 2026 (Current Situation and Possibilities) (fluentforms.com)
→ WooWeekly #579: Traffic Down, Community Up (wcwkly.com)
→ Introducing CSS Grid Lanes (webkit.org)
→ WordPress Vulnerability Report — December 24, 2025 (solidwp.com)
→ Bringing Back Women-Centric WordPress Events for International Women’s Day (make.wordpress.org)
→ WP Plugin Info Card 6.2.0 Released with WordPress.org Profile Badges and Screenshots Block Improvements (dlxplugins.com)
→ Plugin Check (PCP) got new update (wordpress.org)
From WordPress Community
→ SiteOrigin Page Builder is proof that steady progress can still win (X.com)
→ WordCamp Nepal 2026 is 24 days to go! The ticket is still available! (nepal.wordcamp.org)
→ Freemius 2025 Year in Review (freemius.com)
→ Lessons Learned, Course Building Edition (remkusdevries.com)
→ InfluenceWP December Journal (influencewp.com)
→ Etch Review: My Web Dev Journey from Angelfire, to WordPress to Etch. (youtube.com)
Conclusion
That's the latest from WordPress as we head into 2026.
Whether you're planning for new releases, tracking contributor growth, or just trying to keep your site fast and secure, there's a lot to keep an eye on.
Got thoughts on any of these updates? Hit reply, we'd love to hear from you. And if you found this useful, share it with someone who'd appreciate it.
— Nishat, WPMore
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