WordPress has officially released version 6.8, codenamed “Cecil”, on April 15, 2025. This latest update brings a range of exciting new features, improvements to the editor, and enhancements that aim to make website building more intuitive, secure, and reliable — especially for non-technical users.
Here is the table of contents to help you explore what’s new in the WordPress 6.8 release:
- Why “Cecil” ?
- The Style Book
- Editor improvements
- Speculative Loading
- Stronger password security with bcrypt
- Accessibility improvements
- Performance updates
Why “Cecil” ?
In keeping with WordPress tradition, each major release pays tribute to a legendary artist who has made a significant impact on the world of music. WordPress 6.8 honors Cecil Taylor, a pioneering jazz pianist known for his avant-garde style and innovative compositions.
The Style Book
The Style Book is now accessible for Classic themes with editor-styles or a theme.json file. It also has new settings to play around with. To access this feature, go to Appearance > Design > Styles in your vertical navigation bar on the left side.
Editor improvements
You can exclude sticky posts from the Query Loop and also some editor improvements in this WordPress 6.8 update.
Speculative Loading
Now pages are load faster than before. Speculative loading is a performance optimization technique used by web browsers to improve page load times. WordPress 6.8 introduces speculative loading results in faster page transitions and a smoother browsing experience.
Stronger password security with bcrypt
bcrypt is a password hashing function. Using bcrypt for password security is one of the best practices for securely storing user passwords.
Accessibility improvements
There are many accessibility fixes and enhancements for better WordPress experience. The Block Editor has over 70 improvements to blocks, DataViews, and to its overall user experience.
Performance updates
WordPress 6.8 pays special attention to the block editor, block type registration, and query caching. It also packs a wide range of performance fixes and enhancements to speed up everything from editing to browsing.
For a comprehensive overview of all the new features and enhancements in WordPress 6.8, you can check here https://wordpress.org/news/2025/04/cecil/ in more details. And once again thanks to the over 900 contributors who made this release.