Feature Projects Overview

Feature projects are intended to gather a group of people to explore potential ideas for WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.. Feature projects are similar to the previously used feature plugins in many ways (including in name), but take many different forms than plugins.. Most start as ideas that need exploration to be more fully formed/fleshed out before implementation. Others become discrete patches on tickets. Others may turn into multiple plugins, breaking out the successful parts of the project into patches for core, while iterating on the less-successful pieces.

Projects sometimes gather in a dedicated channel, form in a dedicated GitHubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ Project, or are worked on directly in the GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ repo but with code sitting behind an experimental flag. Depending on the outcome, the feature or just some parts of it will eventually be merged into Core for a specific release. This is done either through Core patches or via Gutenberg package releases.

Projects listed below are not necessarily scheduled for a particular release, nor are they promised for any future version of WordPress. For more on feature plugins, see this post.

Active Projects

active Full Site Editing
This project reflects the focus of Phase 2 of Gutenberg and aims to make it easy for a user to edit any part of their site including parts that used to be only accessible through code editors or ad hoc interfaces. There are various milestones and sub-projects built into this work including Global Styles, Query BlockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience., and more. Leads: @matveb, @youknowriad, @jorgefilipecosta. GitHub Overview, Make Posts.
active Performance

The Performance Lab plugin from the WordPress Performance Group is a collection of modules focused on enhancing performance of your site, most of which will hopefully be merged into WordPress core. The pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party allows one to individually enable and test the modules to get their benefits before they become available in WordPress core, and to provide feedback to further improve the solutions. Currently focused on JavaScript, Images, Infrastructure, Object Caching, Measurement, and Site Health. Leads: @flixos90, @spacedmonkey, @tillkruess, @tweetythierry, @adamsilverstein. GitHub Project. Make posts.
active WordPress Components V2
Operating with the codename “G2 Components”, this project seeks to be the next iteration of WordPress components. It’s being designed to accommodate the ever-growing and ever-expressive needs of the Editor and the platform. The ultimate goal is to provide a first class workflow to empower developers and designers (both core and 3rd party) to create cohesive, robust, and delightful user interfaces. GitHub Project.
active WP Auto-updates
The WP-Auto-updates project is part of the 2020 roadmap. The goal is to introduce major core versions, plugins and themes auto-updates. The first part, Plugins & Themes auto-updates, landed in WordPress 5.5. Lead: @audrasjb. GitHub repo. The second part, auto-updates for major core versions, is milestoned for WordPress 5.6. Leads: The #core-auto-updates team.
active Preferred Languages
The initial project will cover an extensibleExtensible This is the ability to add additional functionality to the code. Plugins extend the WordPress core software. backend implementation as well as a single frontend use case. Lead: @swissspidy. Make posts.
active WP Notify
The WP Notify project is working towards creating a new (better) way to manage and deliver notifications to the relevant audience. Traditionally, WordPress core and theme/plugin developers have been using the admin_notices hook for this purpose, but this solution is lackluster at best and comes with a lot of disadvantages. WP Notify strives to solve those problems. Lead: @psykro. Make Posts, #feature-notifications Slack channel
active 2FA
Two-Factor Authentication is an exploration of how we can build a stable, extensible functionality for enhancing WordPress login pages via various providers. Lead: @georgestephanis. GitHub repo, Make posts, #core-passwords Slack channel.

Possible statuses: active idea merged closed

Inactive Projects

Expand inactive projects
merged Block-based Widget Editor
This work added block functionality to the Widgets editor, to make it easier to build the site you want using the power and flexibility  of blocks. Leads: @noisysocks, @andraganescu. Overview, GitHub project, #feature-widgets-block-editor SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel.
merged Servehappy
The servehappy project is an initiative that seeks to educate WordPress site owners about the value of having the latest version of PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 5.6.20 or higher powering their WordPress site. This supports the overall goal of increasing the percentage of WordPress installs running modern PHP versions. Leads: @flixos90, @schlessera. GitHub repo.
merged Lazy Loading
Enabling lazy-loading for images in WordPress content was first proposed nearly two years ago, however the JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. implementation at the time would potentially have introduced many edge cases and failures. Using the new loading attribute removes these concerns. Leads: @azaozz, @flixos90. GitHub repo, WordPress.org plugin.
merged XML Sitemaps
Generating and exposing XML sitemaps for search engines as part of WordPress core. Leads: @tweetythierry, @swissspidy. GitHub repo, WordPress.org plugin.
merged WP REST API
WordPress is moving towards becoming a fully-fledged application framework, and we need new APIs. This project was born to create an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand and well-tested framework for creating these APIs, plus creating APIs for core. This plugin provides an easy to use REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/., available via HTTPHTTP HTTP is an acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web and this protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands.. Grab your site’s data in simple JSONJSON JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML. format, including users, posts, taxonomies and more. Retrieving or updating data is as simple as sending a HTTP request. Leads: @rmccue, @rachelbaker. GitHub repo, WordPress.org plugin.
merged Shiny Updates
Shiny Updates strives for a simplified and more streamlined experience by maintaining the context of the workflow when installing, updating, and deleting plugins and themes.
merged Font Natively
Switch to system fonts for faster loading and a more native-feeling experience.
merged Customize Preview Responsiveness
Add a user-friendly way to preview site responsiveness in the CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings.. Lead: @celloexpressions. Flow posts. See also #31195. Merged in 4.5 release.
merged Customize Partial Refresh
Customizer: Add framework for selective refresh (partial preview refreshes). Lead: @westonruter. Make posts. See also #27355. Merged in 4.5 release.
merged oEmbed
This plugin allows anyone to embed posts from your site by just pasting its URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org. Lead: @swissspidy. Final Proposal, Make posts, GitHub repo. See also #32522. Merged in 4.4 release.
merged RICG Responsive Images
Bringing automatic default responsive images to WordPress. Lead: @mike. Final Proposal, Make posts. Merged in 4.4 release.
merged Menu Customizer
The purpose of the Menu Customizer project is to move navigation menuNavigation Menu A theme feature introduced with Version 3.0. WordPress includes an easy to use mechanism for giving various control options to get users to click from one place to another on a site. management from the WordPress adminadmin (and super admin) to the Customizer. Lead: @celloexpressions. Final Proposal, Make posts. Merged in 4.3 release.
merged Customizer Theme Switcher
The goal is to bring theme-browsing and theme-switching into the Customizer to streamline the themes experience. Lead: @celloexpressions. Final Proposal. Merged in 4.2 release.
merged Press This
Press This is a little tool that lets you grab bits of the web and create new posts with ease. Lead: @michael-arestad. Final Proposal, Make posts, GitHub repo. Merged in 4.2 release.
merged x1f4a9
If only there was a consistent emoji experience for WordPress. That would be 😎👍. This was an experimental plugin to develop Emoji support in WordPress. Lead: @pento. Make posts, GitHub repo. Merged in 4.2 release.
merged User Session Manager
Session management for WordPress. Lead: @johnbillion. GitHub repo. Merged in 4.1 release.
merged Focus v2
A re-think of Distraction Free Writing. Lead: @iseulde. Final Proposal, Make posts. Merged in 4.1 release.
merged Media Grid
When browsing your media, why limit yourself to a list with tiny thumbnails? The Media Grid plugin gives you a nice grid view of your media items. Lead: @ericlewis. O2 posts, Make posts. Merged in 4.0 release.
merged Focus
Focus on editing, while editing. Lead: @iseulde. Final Proposal. Merged in 4.0 release.
merged Widgets Customizer
Changes made when using the Customizer are not visible to site visitors until you hit Save & Publish. So what if widgets could be edited in the Customizer? That’s what the WidgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. Customizer plugin makes possible. No longer do you have to edit your widgets blind! Lead: @westonruter. Final Proposal, Make posts. Merged in 3.9 release.
merged DASH
While functional, WordPress’ dashboard page hasn’t kept up with the rest of WordPress. We mean to improve the experience of the first page of WordPress. Streamline it, clean it up looking at all the widgets, and make it responsive. Leads: @lessbloat, @joen. Final Proposal, Make posts. Merged in 3.8 release.
merged MP6
Simplify and modernize the design of the admin, with a focus on the rapidly growing user base using HiDPI, touch, and small-screened devices. Lead: @iammattthomas. Final Proposal, Make posts. Merged in 3.8 release.
merged THX38
Re-imagine a theme experience that is beautiful, visually focused (able to display more/bigger screenshots), fast, and mobile-ready. Lead: @matveb. Final Proposal, overview, Make posts. Merged in 3.8 release.
merged Widgets Area Chooser
Re-imagine a theme experience that is beautiful, visually focused (able to display more/bigger screenshots), fast, and mobile-ready. Lead: @shaunandrews. Final Proposal, make/ui posts, make core posts. Merged in 3.8 release.
merged Widgets
Improve the WYSIWYGWhat You See Is What You Get What You See Is What You Get. Most commonly used in relation to editors, where changes made in edit mode reflect exactly as they will translate to the published page. experience of widgets through non-destructive live previews. The current approach of making some changes immediately live but not others breaks users’ expectations and trust.
closed Customize Posts
This is a feature pluginFeature Plugin A plugin that was created with the intention of eventually being proposed for inclusion in WordPress Core. See Features as Plugins. intended to implement #34923: Introduce basic content authorship in the Customizer. Lead: @westonruter. GitHub repo.
closed Consent API
A standard way for WordPress core, plugins, and themes to obtain consent from users should be established to provide a consistent and stable experience for administrators, developers, and users of all kinds. Leads: @rogierlankhorst, @garrett-eclipse, @xkon. GitHub repo, WordPress.org plugin.
closed Toolbar Experiments
The toolbar is not a consistent experience in a number of ways, including behavior on touch vs. pointer and its content as you flip between the front end and admin contexts. It should be a consistent experience with the best possible behavior on various devices so that users can use it to its best effect without being disrupted by inconsistencies. Lead: @helen. GitHub repo. See also #32678.
closed Fields API
The WordPress Fields APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. can be used by developers to build forms with a common structure. It makes it possible to efficiently build settings pages, metaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. boxes, profile fields, and other elements in WordPress. Lead: @sc0ttkclark. GitHub repo, Make Posts.
closed Background Image Cropper
This plugin is a WordPress core feature-plugin that adds cropping to background images for parity with headerHeader The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. images. Lead: @celloexpressions.
inactive Block-based Navigation Editor
Similar to the Widget editor work, this project hopes to expand what’s possible with navigation by bringing the familiar block editing experience to this screen. Leads: @andraganescu, @noisysocks. GitHub project.