WordPress 7.0: Are Any of the New Features Worth Getting Excited About?

WordPress 7.0 is shaping up to be one of the most significant releases in recent years, or simply the most ambitious rebranding of what WordPress thinks it is.

Perhaps I’m not being direct enough, so let me put it another way: version 7.0 represents the biggest shift in what WordPress actually wants to be in years.

We all know WordPress as a tool where one person writes a post, hits publish, and occasionally encounters a “someone else is editing this” lock screen.

Version 7.0 introduces simultaneous editing that is very reminiscent of Google Docs, adds a provider-agnostic AI layer, and also tweaks post revisions – an old-school feature in core WordPress – to make them more visual.

1. Real-time collaboration (RTC)

This is the flagship feature of WordPress 7.0. The idea is quite simple: you can now work on a piece of content (post, page) with other people in real time. You will see the changes they are making as they happen, and they will see yours.

In principle, this is exactly what you will find in Google Docs.

Some key details:

• Uses CRDT (Conflict-free Replicated Data Types) for conflict resolution
• Built on HTTP polling for universal host compatibility
• Initially limited to 2 simultaneous collaborators – explained as a necessity to protect hosts
• Hosting companies can swap in their own transport/storage providers; JS filters let developers adjust polling intervals
• Disabled when metaboxes are present, which is a hint for plugin developers to migrate how they implement things going forward

Should you care? This real-time collaboration is an interesting feature, but it is clearly aimed at enterprise users and big newsrooms. Personally, I’m not sure how useful it can be for the average WordPress user or even a power user. For example, as a writer, I cannot imagine anything I would hate more than another person doing anything to my draft as I am writing it. 🥲

And it’s not just me who is not entirely convinced. This feature was meant to be enabled by default, as far as I know. However, after a bit of backlash, it is now opt-in.

Still, what we’re seeing now is only the first iteration of this feature, and I’m still very hopeful to see what it’s going to evolve into in the next year or two.

2. AI foundation (Connectors API + WP AI client)

This is arguably the most forward-looking feature in 7.0.

Everyone’s doing AI these days, so it’s no wonder WordPress wants a piece of the pie too. However, the team has chosen a different path. Instead of shipping AI features per se, it’s shipping the scaffolding/framework to let other developers deliver those AI features.

Here’s what that means and what you’ll find in WordPress 7.0:

• A new Connectors screen in wp-admin. This is where users can manage their API keys to OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, and whoever else.

• Then, there’s the Connectors API. Plugins can use it whenever they need to connect to outside services. As I understand, it was meant to handle connections to AI APIs, but it can actually be used for more than that. Basically, any plugin needing external service credentials can use it.
• wp_ai_client_prompt(). This is a single, provider-agnostic PHP function developers can use to send a prompt to an LLM.

Should you care? I’m not the best developer out there, obviously, but even I have to admit that this architecture is quite smart. WordPress aims to give power to the people and help them get the most out of possible AI integrations while handling the basics of AI communication in core.

WordPress wants to be neutral here. There’s no “WordPress-branded AI builder.” But if you want to build one, WordPress is going to make it easier for you.

If you’re a developer, being able to build AI-powered features without handling credentials yourself is a huge help!

3. Visual revisions

I love the old revisions screen:

Now there’s a new one. It lives on the main post-editing screen instead of being a separate page. It gives you a more visual preview of the changes with an easy-to-understand color-coded system.

Specifically:

• There’s now a new timeline slider in the header for browsing versions.
• Color-coded changes: yellow = modified, red = deleted, green = added.
• A minimap on the scrollbar showing where changes exist.
• A “Restore” button replaces “Publish” when browsing history.

Should you care? This arguably makes the revisions screen more usable for non-developers, but I’m not sure WordPress truly understands the typical user of this feature.

Here’s what I mean: if someone has never used revisions before, I’m not sure this modification will convince them to start. On the other hand, for those who have been using revisions, this might be a downgrade. Here’s what the new revisions don’t do (that the old ones do):

• You don’t see the actual source code (HTML), just the rendered content.
• You can’t compare any two revisions. It’s only a comparison of a past version of a post (selected via the slider) to the one directly preceding it.

So, will the new UI be beneficial? You be the judge. It’s surely worth testing out.

Developer standouts 🛠️

PHP-only block registration

Yes, it’s finally here! Now that we have it, it’s rather interesting that this hasn’t been a feature before.

In short, you can now create blocks using only PHP, meaning no JavaScript build step is needed.

Call register_block_type with the autoRegister flag and a render_callback. WordPress automatically generates sidebar controls for suitable attributes. This can be perfect for simple server-rendered blocks where you don’t need interactivity. 👍

Pattern overrides for custom blocks

Pattern overrides were designed to allow you to use synced patterns while having specific content change per instance, with only the layout remaining consistent.

This was previously limited to Heading, Paragraph, Button, and Image blocks. Now, any block that supports Block Bindings will also support Pattern Overrides. This can be a huge advantage if you frequently use custom blocks for client work.

Client-side Abilities API

This is the JavaScript counterpart to the server-side Abilities API from 6.9. It includes two packages: @wordpress/abilities (pure state) and @wordpress/core-abilities (REST-connected).

The mention of “browser agents, extensions, and WebMCP integrations” hints at WordPress’ future direction regarding AI agent interoperability.

Custom CSS per block instance

This is another feature for which it’s surprising we had to wait so long.

If you want to add custom CSS to a block, there is now a CSS input directly in the block sidebar. You write declarations only (no selectors needed) and use & for nesting.

Design and content editing wins 🎨

Navigation overlays

Enjoy full control over mobile hamburger menus with customizable overlay template parts. There are four built-in patterns, an “always visible” toggle for submenus, and the ability to create pages directly from the Navigation block (which can be super helpful, IMO).

Content-focused pattern editing

Patterns now default to content-only mode. This means you see editable text/image fields in a clean sidebar instead of the full block tree. You can still “detach” to gain full control.

This can be super cool for client handoffs … so that they can’t accidentally break layouts.

Viewport-based block visibility

You can now show or hide any block per device type (desktop, tablet, mobile) directly from the toolbar.

We used to need one or two plugins for this functionality. Now, it’s super easy in core WordPress.

Command Palette reminder 🤔

This is only partly new, but I wanted to remind everyone that WordPress now has its own Command Palette, which is available from anywhere.

Just hit ⌘K / Ctrl+K, and you’ll see this:

Use it to find any WordPress setting.

Good release or nah?

A good one for sure.

Even though I might not be that excited by a couple of the new features, the overall direction is still on point. It sends a clear message as to what WordPress wants to be and, perhaps most importantly, what it wants to be in this new “age of AI” (is that what people call it?).

I’m really looking forward to seeing how AI connectors evolve and all the great things people are going to build on top of this! This is basically WordPress assuming the role of a neutral orchestration layer for AI services rather than betting on a single thing.

Congrats to everyone who was involved in this one! 👏

What do you think of WordPress 7.0? Is there anything in particular that you’re excited about?

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