website A Complete Guide to the New WordPress 5.1 Release
WordPress has always remained a very popular choice among the website builders and the developers. Due to its versatility and fantastic usability as a website builder, WordPress is most commonly used for the purpose of developing a website. The latest release of the version 5.1 of WordPress took place in the month of February 2019 which is basically the first major launch after the launch of Gutenberg in WordPress 5.0. Very similar to any other released versions, this release also has some of the advanced and improved features. So, at this point of time, if you are looking forward to create a website or have any other web development project or simply want to upgrade a website that already exists, here are a few of the important things that you should be clearly knowing about the latest Betty in WordPress 5.1 release.
Special Tools for Checking the Health of the Website
In general, WordPress by default has a very simple and user friendly CMS but it has a number of things that are complicated which operate behind the scenes at all the time. For this reason, it becomes necessary to address the health of the WordPress website that you develop or that exists. PHP is the base of WordPress and there is a need to update the version of the language whenever there is a new one comes up. If you are not doing the same, it might be trouble for the health of your website. But not to worry any more, the 5.1 WordPress comes with a special plugin referred to as “Site Health”. This plugin sends alerts whenever there is a usage of an outdated version of PHP is detected. Most importantly, it makes sure that you have not installed a new plugin if it is detected that it is not compatible with the version of PHP that is presently running.
Dashboard Notice for PHP Version
The use of the latest PHP versions is certainly the best from the point of view of performance as well as security. The release of Betty makes sure that it is empowered with the latest version of PHP with some of the latest notices as well as tools. Most importantly, if the version of PHP being used is outdated on the server, it will be indicated by the new dashboard widget which prompts the user for an upgrade which is of a great benefit.
Compatibility Checks for the Plugins and Themes
The new WordPress 5.1 comes with an added compatibility checker for PHP which checks the version at the time of installation of the plugin or theme. Now, if there is an attempt to go for an installation that has a minimum version of PHP that is higher as compared to the one on the server, there will be a warning message that the plugin is not compatible with the version of PHP that is presently existing.
Block Editor Performance is Improved
The previous WordPress which was 5.0 offered an innovative experience of editing with the blocks. But now with Betty, the present version that is WordPress 5.1, the editing experience has been further enhanced. It shows up much quicker which feels extremely smooth. In an addition to this, there is a lot more performance improvement is expected in the future versions and for the time being it is just going to get better as compared to the previous ones.
Protection from White Screen of Death
WordPress 5.1 was supposed to come with a feature that would offer protection from fatal error. This feature offers protection from the very problematic white screen of death at the time of PHP update. But unfortunately, at the very last moment, this particular feature was pulled off from the release. Once, this protective feature is reinstated, it will be able to recognize the fatal error and necessarily pause the plugin or the theme that is responsible for the error in the admin dashboard. This makes sure that the user is still able to log onto the backend of the website and find a resolution for the issue.
Now, with the update to WordPress 5.1, the users just need to click in the icon of ‘updates’ available in the admin dashboard. Then, the users need to click on the ‘Update Now’ button and the update is in progress. One thing is to be kept in mind that the website will be in the maintenance mode at the time when the update is in progress. So, what are you waiting for? Just go for the WordPress 5.1 update and start enjoying its new improved features.
