Named after musician Esperanza Spalding, the first WordPress release of 2021 offers features such as an easier to use editor and the ability to accomplish more without writing custom code.

Here’s an overview of all the new features in WordPress 5.7.

What’s New in WordPress 5.7?

HTTP to HTTPS Conversion

WordPress 5.7 promises to simplify the process of migrating a site from HTTP to HTTPS.

Until now, converting a WordPress site from HTTP to HTTPS hasn’t been an easy task. With this release it can now be accomplished in one click.

After initiating the conversion, URLs in a site’s database are automatically replaced when the site and WordPress address are both using HTTPS.

In addition, the Site Health section of the WordPress dashboard now includes an HTTPS status check.

Easier to Use Editor

WordPress 5.7 includes the following enhancements to the editor:

• Adjust font size in more places: Font size controls are now available in the List and Code blocks. No need to go to another screen to make adjustments.
• Reusable blocks: Enhancements make reusable blocks more stable an easier to use. They will now save automatically with the post after clicking “Update.”
• Drag-and-drop: Drag blocks and block patterns into the post from the inverter.

Do More Without Code

Site owners can now make the following changes to their WordPress content without writing custom code:

• Full-height alignment: Easily make a block fill the whole browser window.
• Buttons block: Site owners can choose a vertical or a horizontal layout for the buttons block, and set the width of a button to a preset percentage.
• Social Icons block: Easily change the size of social icons.

New Default Colors

WordPress 5.7 has a new default color palette which is said to be simpler and more streamlined.

“This new streamlined color palette collapses all the colors that used to be in the WordPress source code down to seven core colors and a range of 56 shades that meet the WCAG 2.0 AA recommended contrast ratio against white or black.”

The new palette can be seen by using the default WordPress dashboard color scheme.

New Robots API

With the new Robots API, WordPress site owners can include filter directives in the robots meta tags.

The API now includes the max-image-preview: large directive by default. This allows search engines like Google to show larger image previews, which has the potential to generate more traffic.

Lazy Loading iFrames

WordPress 5.7 makes it easier to set iframes to lazy-load.

By default, WordPress will now add a loading=“lazy” attribute to iframe tags when both width and height are specified.

WordPress 5.7 is now available for all site owners.

Source: WordPress.org