Proposed WordPress Major Release Schedule for 2026

As 2025 concludes, the community is looking ahead to the WordPress major release schedule for 2026. Following two major versions in 2025 (6.8 “Cecil” in April and 6.9 “Gene” in December), the goal for 2026 is to return to a cadence of three major releases, approximately one every four months. This rhythm has proven effective in balancing various factors within the global contributor community.

The four-month release cycle offers several advantages:

• It provides sufficient time to develop quality new features for each release.
• It is short enough to encourage iterative shipping over pursuing perfection, aligning with the "release early, release often" philosophy.
• It allows for one to three minor releases in between major versions, typically following a 6-8 week timeline.

Proposed 2026 Release Schedule

Careful consideration was given to ideal four-month spacing and avoiding major holidays. The proposed final release dates align closely with prominent in-person WordPress events for 2026, building on the successful live release of 6.9 during the State of the Word.

WordPress 7.0 – Thursday, April 9th

This first release of the year is targeted during Contributor Day at WordCamp Asia. This presents unique teaching opportunities, allowing new contributors to observe the release process live or even participate in shipping a WordPress version on their first day.

• Beta 1: Thursday, February 19, 2026
• RC1: Thursday, March 19, 2026

WordPress 7.1 – Wednesday, August 19th

The public release of 7.1 is planned to coincide with the final day of WordCamp US. The end of the conference week is deemed suitable for this release.

• Beta 1: Wednesday, July 1, 2026
• RC1: Wednesday, July 29, 2026

WordPress 7.2 – December 8th, 9th, or 10th

To conclude 2026, the community will celebrate the year's achievements by releasing 7.2 around the annual State of the Word address.

• Beta 1: October 20-22, 2026
• RC1: November 17-19, 2026

Important Notes

• A call for volunteers for the 7.0 Release Squad will be published the week of January 4th on Make WordPress Core.
• While releases are scheduled alongside in-person events, travel is not required for release squad members. All communication and coordination will continue via Slack.
• A healthy balance of in-person and distributed contributors on release day is preferred to mitigate technical issues like unreliable WiFi.
• The spacing between the three flagship WordCamps in 2026 offers an opportunity to intentionally time releases. The eight-week window between WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe is ideal for a minor release, allowing for meaningful improvements with adequate development time.
• During the 6.9 dry run, contributors identified areas to improve the Core handbook, particularly documentation for release practices and processes. These improvements will enhance synchronous collaboration for both in-person and distributed contributor groups and will be detailed in a separate Make Core post in January.
• The WordPress 7.2 date has the least flexibility due to major global financial holidays (Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Giving Tuesday) earlier in December, and major religious holidays and year-end time off later.
• Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are historically avoided for releases to respect the weekends of users, developers, maintainers, and supporters.

Discussion and Feedback

These proposed dates allow contributors to plan for the three major releases in 2026. There is flexibility for adjustments based on community feedback or unforeseen factors. The community is invited to share questions, thoughts, ideas for improving the Core Handbook or release process, or specific features they are anticipating for 2026.