If you’ve been hanging around the WordPress world lately, you know the air gets a little thick with anticipation right before a major version drops. We are officially in the thick of it. The WordPress 6.7 release candidate news is everywhere, and honestly, this one feels different than the iterative "cleanup" updates we’ve seen over the last year.
It’s scheduled to land on November 12, 2024.
Right now, developers and power users are poking at the Release Candidates (RCs) to make sure everything from the new default theme to the under-the-hood API changes doesn't blow up existing sites. It’s the "speak now or forever hold your peace" phase of the development cycle. If you’re a site owner, you're probably wondering if this is the update that finally makes the Site Editor feel like a finished product or if it’s just another layer of complexity to deal with.
The Zoom Out Mode: A View From 30,000 Feet
Let’s talk about the feature everyone is buzzing about. It's called Zoom Out mode.
For a long time, editing in WordPress has felt like looking at a giant mural through a magnifying glass. You could see the brushstrokes on one specific block, but you couldn't see if the whole wall looked balanced. Zoom Out changes that. You click a button in the toolbar, and the editor shrinks the canvas.
Suddenly, you aren't looking at individual paragraphs. You're looking at patterns.
This is basically "architect mode." You can drag entire sections around, swap a hero area for a different design, or delete huge chunks of the page without the clunky feeling of scrolling through dozens of individual blocks. It makes the "pattern-first" workflow that WordPress has been pushing for years actually feel usable.
Honestly, it’s one of those "why wasn't this always here?" features.
What changes when you zoom?
- The List View shifts to focus on high-level patterns instead of every single nested block.
- You get a clearer sense of vertical rhythm and spacing.
- Adding new sections becomes a drag-and-drop breeze rather than a "where did that block just go?" scavenger hunt.
Twenty Twenty-Five: Not Just Another Pretty Face
Every year we get a new theme, and Twenty Twenty-Five is the star of the WordPress 6.7 release candidate news cycle. It’s a block theme, obviously. But the focus here is on extreme flexibility.
👉 See also: How Much Does a Virtual Reality Headset Cost: What Most People Get Wrong
The lead designers, including Beatriz Fialho, wanted something that works for a tiny personal blog but can scale up to a complex news site. They’ve packed it with dozens of patterns and several distinct style variations.
One thing that’s really cool? The theme includes specific templates for different types of content. You’ve got a "Photo Blog" template that’s heavy on the visuals, a "News" layout with a classic sidebar (yes, sidebars are cool again), and a "Personal" layout that’s all about the typography.
It uses a font called Manrope by default, which is super clean, but they’ve bundled a bunch of other high-quality typefaces like Beiruti and Fira Code if you want to get fancy.
Handling the "Font Fatigue"
If you’ve ever tried to manage custom fonts in WordPress, you know it’s historically been a nightmare of manual uploads or bloated plugins.
WordPress 6.7 tries to fix this with a massive upgrade to the Font Library.
You can now create your own font size presets. No more being stuck with "Small, Medium, Large" as defined by the theme author. You can go into the Styles interface and say, "I want my 'Extra Large' to be exactly 42 pixels," and the system will handle it across the site.
They’ve also doubled down on fluid typography. This is technical-speak for "text that shrinks and grows perfectly based on the screen size." It’s been around for a few versions, but in 6.7, the controls are much more accessible to regular users who don't want to write CSS.
The Techy Stuff: HEIC, APIs, and Performance
Okay, let’s get into the weeds for a second. If you use an iPhone, you probably know the frustration of HEIC images. You try to upload them to WordPress, and the site just stares at you blankly.
In WordPress 6.7, the core software will automatically convert HEIC images to JPEGs on upload.
This is a massive win for workflow. No more third-party converters or weird "convert to PNG" shortcuts on your phone. It just works.
Under the Hood Improvements
- Block Bindings UI: In 6.5, we got the ability to connect blocks to custom fields, but you had to use code. Now, there’s a basic UI for it. It’s limited to certain blocks like Headings and Paragraphs, but it’s a start.
- HTML API: This is a big deal for developers. The HTML Processor can now handle almost every HTML tag, which means plugins will be faster and less likely to break your layout when they try to modify content.
- Lazy Loading: They’ve added
autosizes for lazy-loaded images. Basically, the browser gets a better hint about how big the image will be before it loads, which prevents that annoying "layout shift" where the page jumps around while you're trying to read.
Why the Release Candidate Phase Matters
You might see "Release Candidate 1" or "RC2" and think it’s just for developers. Sorta.
But it’s also the time when the community tests for backwards compatibility. WordPress powers over 40% of the web. When they change how the Query Loop block handles inherited queries—which they did in 6.7 to make it simpler—there’s always a risk that a specific plugin setup might glitch.
If you’re running a mission-critical business, don't just hit "update" on November 12.
The smart move is to use a staging site. Test the new Zoom Out mode with your favorite page builder. See if the new Font Library presets conflict with your theme’s CSS. Most of the time, it’s fine. But being the "guinea pig" on day one is rarely a good strategy for a live business site.
Actionable Next Steps for You
Don't just wait for the update notification to pop up. Here is how you can actually prepare for the 6.7 rollout:
- Spin up a Playground instance: Use WordPress Playground to test 6.7 in your browser right now without installing anything. It’s a zero-risk way to see if you actually like the new workflow.
- Audit your fonts: If you're using a bulky font plugin, see if the new native Font Library can replace it. Reducing plugin count is the easiest way to speed up your site.
- Check your HEIC settings: If you’ve been using a plugin to handle iPhone photos, you can probably deactivate it once 6.7 is live.
- Review your "Query Loops": Since the Query Loop block is getting a UI overhaul to make it more "beginner-friendly," make sure your current post grids still look the way you want them to.
The WordPress 6.7 release candidate news points to a version that is less about adding "more" and more about making what we already have actually functional. It’s about giving you the "big picture" view of your site while cleaning up the tiny technical annoyances that have slowed us down for years.