WordPress 4.6 Released: Pepper

Between the new features of WordPress 4.6 you will find streamlined updates, use of native fonts on your dashboard, hyperlink validation, content recovery, and many “under the hood” improvements. The latest version was released to the general public on August 16.
 

What’s New in WordPress 4.6

Streamlined Updates

Getting plugins installed, updated, or deleted is now possible without having to redirect to another page. The buttons you use to perform these tasks will trigger the process and change their status accordingly. You will also be able to download and activate themes without the need for a page reload.

Native Fonts

As a WordPress administrator you should notice speed improvements with the dashboard, thanks to the adoption of native fonts. The dashboard now utilizes fonts that already exist on your device, thus creating a more natural experience for you.

Editor Improvements

Hyperlink Checker – WordPress is calling this new feature “Inline Link Checker”. Similarly to how you see misspelling errors in your content editor, WordPress will now highlight your link if it appears to be setup incorrectly. One important thing to note is that WordPress is not checking if your link is “legit”, it merely verifies that the format of the hyperlink is correct.

Content Recovery – What happens if you are editing a page or post and you lose internet connectivity? Recovering your work is easier with the newly released version, which saves your content to the browser as you type. This adds on to the autosave functionality that WordPress has been offering since version 3.6, using the browser’s local storage for easy recovery.

Under the Hood

Less noticeable changes in version 4.6 include several under the hood improvements. To view a list of some of these changes you can visit the blog post for the release on WordPress.org. A more extensive list with information can be found by following the various posts at the core development blog.