WordPress has officially announced the release candidate for version 6.8, now open for community testing. While this marks a significant milestone, experts advise using it only on test servers rather than live sites, as the software is still under active development.

This news release signals a major step forward in the WordPress 6.8 journey. The release candidate offers early access to new features and improvements, and community feedback will be key in shaping the final version. Testers are encouraged to explore the changes and share their insights to help ensure a smooth rollout upon completion.

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How to Try Out WordPress 6.8

Plugin	Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin on a WordPress install.  (Select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).
Direct Download	Download the RC1 version (zip) and install it on a WordPress website.
Command Line	Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.8-RC1
WordPress Playground	Use the 6.8 RC1 WordPress Playground instance (available within 35 minutes after the release is ready) to test the software directly in your browser without the need for a separate site or setup.

The final version is expected on April 15, 2025. For more details on the release schedule, visit our release cycle overview and keep an eye on the Make WordPress Core blog for upcoming posts.

What’s New in This Release?

WordPress 6.8 RC1 brings many improvements, including:

• Overview of Key Features: A summary of the major updates first shared in the Beta 1 announcement.

• Technical Updates: Insights into the latest changes, including recent GitHub commits and resolved issues.

• New Enhancements:

  • Faster loading times with speculative loading.

  • Improved password security using bcrypt.

  • Updated design tools for blocks.

  • More efficient block type registration.

  • Fresh updates to user interface components.

  • Better practices for the Interactivity API.

  • Enhanced internationalization for more languages.

How You Can Help

WordPress is built by a passionate community, and you can contribute in many ways:

• Testing: Follow our guide to test WordPress 6.8 and report any issues on our support forums or via our bug tracker.

• Security: If you find any new security issues before the final release, note that the reward for reporting them is doubled. Please follow our responsible disclosure rules.

• Theme and Plugin Updates: Developers should test their themes and plugins with this release and update the “Tested up to” version accordingly.

• Translations: If you speak another language, help us translate WordPress into one of the 100+ languages. Note that RC1 is the cutoff for new string additions in this release.