WP Engine is proud to have supported a number of the people who devoted their skilled abilities to the ultimate main launch of the yr, WordPressⓇ[1] 6.9, which arrived on December 2, 2025, closing out a yr of steady progress for the open supply mission that powers over 40% of the online.
As one in every of many individuals within the WordPress ecosystem, which has grown in each measurement and complexity, WP Engine contributed to the huge, coordinated effort geared toward sustaining and enhancing the mission.
What’s included in WordPress 6.9?
WordPress 6.9 is the ultimate release deliberate for 2025. It delivers a myriad of latest options, upkeep objects, consumer enhancements, developer enhancements, and efficiency updates. Just a few of the highlights embody:
New options we’re enthusiastic about
Contributors helped to refine the Website Editor with a simplified enhancing mode for customers who wish to make quick textual content and picture updates with out the effort of complicated styling choices, in addition to the power to cover blocks from the frontend whereas retaining them seen within the editor.
The discharge launched new core blocks, like an accordion block for collapsible sections and a phrases question block for displaying taxonomy phrases.
6.9 additionally brings accessibility enhancements, akin to improved display screen reader notification, higher shade distinction, and expands the Command Palette throughout your complete dashboard.
Developer and efficiency updates
For builders and high-volume websites, the 6.9 launch consists of foundational updates essential for scalability and the way forward for the platform:
Contributors refined a number of APIs to provide builders extra management, together with enhancements to the Block Bindings API, DataViews and DataForm elements, and the Interactivity API.
The brand new Skills API has standardized how plugins, themes, and WordPress core register their capabilities, offering clear inputs, outputs, and permissions that AI instruments can perceive. This ensures WordPress is prepared for discoverability and interplay with the agentic net.
The brand new launch additionally introduces vital pace and efficiency enhancements by growing the inline fashion restrict to 40KB, minifying block theme kinds, and omitting kinds and scripts for hidden blocks by default. These updates scale back render-blocking, translating into sooner web page hundreds and improved Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) metrics.
How did WP Engine contribute to six.9?
WP Engine views all its neighborhood contributions as investments within the success of each its prospects and the broader net.
WP Engine group members are proud to hold on the corporate’s lengthy custom of contributing to each WordPress core and the broader neighborhood, and have been particularly excited to extend their core contributions on this launch.
For the 6.9 launch, WP Engine sponsored the work of three Core contributors. The group consisted of Callum Bridgford-Whittick, John Parris, and Weston Ruter.
Information from October 2025 confirmed that WP Engine was the second-largest company contributor through the month, with Weston Ruter main the cost. He contributed 43 of the 192 complete commits to core in October.
Tackling ticket triage
Not all contributions to an open supply mission are as glamorous as a decide to the core software program. A few of the most important work can be essentially the most tedious, usually within the type of ticket triage.
The WordPress mission is managed by the neighborhood by a system of tickets that log all the pieces from bug studies to function requests. With hundreds of open tickets, some untouched for years, figuring out essentially the most related points generally is a large drain on contributor time. That is the type of work Callum and John initially centered on.
“It’s not at all times essentially the most thrilling work,” mentioned John Parris, who began triaging tickets again in April, “however we all know it’s essential to the mission’s well being to start out doing this.”
Sifting by this backlog is a vital service. Contributors should overview every ticket to find out if the difficulty has been resolved elsewhere or if it’s even related to the mission of as we speak. For instance, Callum talked about that there are nonetheless plenty of tickets associated to the traditional editor.
“It’s simply going by lots of testing on outdated tickets to verify they’re nonetheless related,” he mentioned, “and in the event that they’re not, it’s getting them off the system, so there’s extra space to have a look at new tickets.”
By clearing out the digital litter, it turns into simpler for each different contributor to work on the tickets that really matter. This type of constant, devoted effort to managing the “much less thrilling work” is invaluable to the continued development of the WordPress mission.
Why these contributions matter
For companies and builders, stability, clear code, and efficiency optimizations imply much less time preventing bugs and extra time constructing shopper initiatives.
For companies, a sooner, extra dependable CMS means higher experiences for website guests, which might translate into increased conversions, decrease bounce charges, and improved discoverability.
Finally, the neighborhood contribution mannequin is a symbiotic relationship. As Weston Ruter places it, an organization’s monetary funding in full-time contributors turns into a “win-win-win state of affairs.” Devoted contributions guarantee a greater, sooner open net for the general public, a extra sturdy platform for organizations and prospects utilizing WordPress, and a stronger basis for ecosystem companions like WP Engine.
Sponsorship of full-time contributors demonstrates some of the impactful methods firms like WP Engine can responsibly contribute to the mission that finally drives our collective success.
Contributions create progress for all
WP Engine believes that the success of the WordPress mission is intrinsically linked to the well being of its neighborhood. Whereas numerous volunteers have contributed to its development, the sheer scale and complexity of a CMS that powers greater than 40% of the online requires deep, sustained dedication.
From clearing out outdated tickets to main the cost on new efficiency options, the work of Callum, John, Weston, and each different contributor strengthens the way forward for WordPress for all customers.
WP Engine is dedicated to supporting the upkeep and development of WordPress, now and into the long run. Our contributor group is happy to proceed their important work into 2026 and past, guaranteeing the open net stays sturdy, safe, and performant for everybody.
1WP Engine is a proud member and supporter of the neighborhood of WordPress® customers. The WordPress® logos are the mental property of the WordPress Basis, and the Woo® and WooCommerce® logos are the mental property of WooCommerce, Inc. Makes use of of the WordPress®, Woo®, and WooCommerce® names on this web site are for identification functions solely and don’t indicate an endorsement by WordPress Basis or WooCommerce, Inc. WP Engine just isn’t endorsed or owned by, or affiliated with, the WordPress Basis or WooCommerce, Inc.
