WordPress 6.9 Post-Release Update: Addressing Key Issues and Hotfixes
Since its December 2nd release, WordPress 6.9 has seen over nine million downloads. Core contributors are actively monitoring bug reports, forum discussions, and social networks to identify and address post-release issues. This article outlines key problems, including CSS styling discrepancies, email sending failures, and adjacent post navigation loops, along with available hotfixes and the plan for an upcoming maintenance release in January. Users are encouraged to test their sites and report further issues.
Since its release on December 2, WordPress 6.9 has been downloaded over nine million times. Following this significant launch, core contributors have been diligently monitoring bug reports, forum discussions, and social networks to understand the effects of the release on user sites. This analysis involves assessing how widespread issues are, their impact on sites, and the availability of viable workarounds. This information, combined with an analysis of potential release dates and the riskiness of fixes, guides the decision for a maintenance release. It is important to note that only a small subset of sites are currently facing these issues.
Based on this review, a maintenance release for WordPress 6.9 is anticipated no earlier than January.
While some reported bugs can be resolved using small code snippets, not all site administrators are comfortable editing PHP files directly. To reduce the burden on affected site administrators, these snippets have also been made available as plugins. Users are strongly recommended to test their sites before installing any of these plugins.
CSS Issues from Loading Separate Block Styles on Demand
WordPress 6.9's new ability to load block styles on demand in classic themes has led to instances where content in some classic themes appears styled in unexpected ways. This occurs because wp-block-library styles, which were previously included by default, are now sometimes omitted. Differences in file loading can also lead to unexpected changes in the CSS Cascade. For more information and to follow the development of a permanent fix, please refer to #64354.
The "Load Combined Core Block Assets Plugin" by core committer @westonruter is available to help address this issue.
Emails Not Being Sent
Changes aimed at improving the reliability of email functionality have uncovered bugs in certain configurations of the underlying libraries and applications used to send email. Consequently, some WordPress installations that previously sent emails successfully are now experiencing failures. For more information and to follow the development of a permanent fix, please refer to #64368.
The "Hotfix plugin", maintained by multiple core committers, has been updated to include a workaround for this problem.
Adjacent Post Navigation
Additionally, a change to adjacent post navigation is causing some sites to encounter infinite loops when modifying the get_{$adjacent}_post_where filter. This change was not previously publicized, but a dedicated dev note is now published and highlighted in the 6.9 field guide. Users should ensure they are using the most up-to-date versions of plugins and themes when updating to WordPress 6.9.
The WordPress project extends its gratitude to the contributors who have tested and reported issues, as well as to the developers who are following up on these reports and continue to work on solutions for both the short and long term. As a community project, WordPress relies on the volunteers and individuals sponsored to work on WordPress Core. If you encounter an issue, please report it to either trac or the Gutenberg repository, depending on where the issue occurs.