Today, we are happy to announce our first WordPress-focused micro-credential, designed to help students build practical AI skills, earn a recognized credential, and connect more directly to job opportunities.The program, AI Leaders, is a workforce-oriented credential rooted in WordPress and open source contributions. Students are paid for their time, work on real WordPress projects, and gain hands-on experience applying AI in ways that are directly relevant to the WordPress ecosystem. This pilot…
WordPress 6.9.1 is now available!This minor release includes fixes for 49 bugs throughout Core and the Block Editor, addressing issues affecting multiple areas of WordPress including the block editor, mail, and classic themes. For a full list of bug fixes, please refer to the release candidate announcement.WordPress 6.9.1 is a short-cycle maintenance release. The next major version of WordPress will be 7.0; it is scheduled for release on 9 April 2026 at WordCamp Asia.If you have sites that…
Faster Way For AI Agents To TestAI code agents are getting better at writing WordPress plugins and themes, but testing can still be the slow part. WordPress contributor Brandon Payton has published wp-playground, a new AI agent skill designed to run WordPress via the Playground CLI, giving agents a fast, repeatable way to run WordPress and verify their work as they iterate.“AI agents work better when they have a clear feedback loop. That’s why I made the wp-playground skill. It gives agents an…
WordCamp Asia is back in 2026, this time in Mumbai, India, and it’s building on a year that showed just how ambitious and connected the WordPress community has become. Now is the time to get involved. Get your ticket, explore sponsorship opportunities, and help spread the word.Get Your Event PassBecome a SponsorAbout WordCamp AsiaIn 2025, more than 1,400 attendees from 71 countries gathered in person, with nearly 15,000 more joining online for WordCamp Asia 2025. With notable guests like…
Over the past few weeks, a new space has taken shape on WordPress.org for students who want to learn, build, and contribute. WordPress Education programs bring together initiatives that help students enter the WordPress ecosystem through clear, accessible entry points that lead to real-world practice.With hands-on initiatives and supportive communities, participants can grow new skills and take their first steps as contributors. Across campuses and communities worldwide, learners publish real…
WordPress Playground had a busy year in 2025, with updates that make it more capable for day-to-day development, plugin previews, and learning environments. The project’s latest year-in-review highlights progress across performance, compatibility, database support, and tooling, expanding what can be done in a WordPress environment that runs in the browser and through the command line.From faster load times to broader plugin support, the throughline is clear: Playground is moving beyond quick…
Become a driving force behind WordPress innovation by joining the Global Community Sponsorship Program: a comprehensive initiative that supports the events and people powering our open source mission. As a Global Sponsor, your organization gains meaningful visibility across the international WordPress ecosystem while helping to fund events that foster growth, collaboration, and community.Why Choose Global Sponsorship?Instead of managing multiple individual sponsorships, this streamlined program…
State of the Word 2025 brought the WordPress community together for an afternoon that felt both reflective and forward-moving, blending stories of global growth with technical milestones and glimpses of the future. This year also marked the twentieth State of the Word since the first address in 2006, a milestone noted in the WordPress history book Milestones: The Story of WordPress as the beginning of a tradition that has helped the project tell its own story.From the outset, the keynote carried…
Each WordPress release celebrates an artist who has made an indelible mark on the world of music. WordPress 6.9, code-named “Gene,” honors the American Jazz pianist Gene Harris. A piano veteran, self taught at the age of six, Harris infused mainstream jazz with elements of soul, blues, and gospel, creating a warm, signature sound that is both elegant and iconic. Harris’ bluesy jazz lived at the intersection of worlds, weaving a rich landscape of texture and mood, with a thread of soulfulness…
The third Release Candidate (“RC3”) for WordPress 6.9 is ready for download and testing!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…
