WordPress Release: 4.3.0

TL;DR

WordPress 4.3 "Billie" introduces significant improvements to the user experience with features like inline site icons, better password management, and formatting shortcuts in the editor. This release enhances the Customizer with a powerful menu management system, improves site security with stronger password recommendations, and adds productivity features for content creators. It also includes numerous accessibility improvements and bug fixes to create a more polished WordPress experience.

Highlight of the Release

• Site Icons: Add favicons and app icons directly through the Customizer
• Better Passwords: Improved password management with strength meter and auto-generation
• Formatting Shortcuts: Create headings and lists with Markdown-like syntax
• Menus in Customizer: Manage your site's navigation menus with live preview
• Improved Editor: Better word count, visual enhancements, and text pattern support

Migration Guide

Deprecated Features

Several internal feature pointers have been removed in this release. If your plugin or theme relied on these pointers, you'll need to update your code.

Password Management Changes

If your site uses custom user registration or password reset functionality, you should be aware that:

• wp_new_user_notification() now accepts a second parameter to control whether users are notified
• Password reset links are now sent instead of actual passwords
• The password generation and strength meter UI has changed significantly

Term Splitting

WordPress 4.3 continues the process of splitting shared taxonomy terms that began in 4.2. This process now runs in a separate process triggered via wp-cron to allow plugins to hook into the 'split_shared_term' action. If your plugin manages custom taxonomies or terms, test thoroughly with this release.

Nav Menu Changes

The menu management system has been significantly refactored for the Customizer integration. If your theme or plugin extends the nav menu system, review the following changes:

• New filters: customize_nav_menu_available_item_types and customize_nav_menu_available_items
• Renamed class: WP_New_Menu_Customize_Control to WP_Customize_New_Menu_Control

Upgrade Recommendations

Recommended Upgrade Path

This is a standard major release and we recommend all users upgrade to WordPress 4.3. The security improvements alone make this upgrade worthwhile.

Before Upgrading

1. Back up your website - Always create a complete backup of your WordPress files and database before upgrading.
2. Check plugin and theme compatibility - If you use custom themes or plugins, verify they are compatible with WordPress 4.3 before upgrading.
3. Test on a staging site - If possible, test the upgrade on a staging environment before applying to your production site.

After Upgrading

1. Review your menus - Check that your navigation menus display correctly after the upgrade.
2. Test password functionality - If you have custom login or registration forms, verify they work correctly with the new password system.
3. Check site icons - Add a site icon through the Customizer if you haven't already set up a favicon.
4. Explore new features - Try out the new formatting shortcuts in the editor and the menu management in the Customizer.

Bug Fixes

Editor Fixes

• Fixed visual regressions in TinyMCE
• Fixed memory leaks in the inline toolbar
• Fixed cursor position after pasting content
• Fixed issues with empty paragraphs in various browsers
• Fixed wrapping of long strings in iOS

Customizer Fixes

• Fixed element focus after menu item deletion for keyboard accessibility
• Fixed invalid markup for customize-section-description
• Fixed issues with nav menu item tabIndex attributes
• Fixed preview of certain changes to nav menus
• Fixed display of transport list for screen readers

Accessibility Fixes

• Fixed toolbar icons coloring in alternate color schemes
• Improved keyboard shortcuts help dialog accessibility
• Added missing text and labels to nav menu UI controls
• Fixed focus management in date fields and other UI components
• Improved screen reader announcements for various UI elements

Other Fixes

• Fixed updating of nonces on the Edit Post screen after login expiration
• Fixed issues with shortcodes inside HTML tags
• Fixed handling of newlines inside CDATA sections
• Fixed caption shortcode to output valid HTML IDs
• Fixed issues with password field toggling in IE8

New Features

Site Icons

WordPress 4.3 introduces a built-in way to add site icons (favicons) through the Customizer. You can now upload and crop an image to be used as your site's icon across browsers, devices, and when your site is shared on social media.

Better Password Management

The password system has been completely revamped with:

• Automatic generation of strong passwords
• Visual password strength meter with feedback
• Password visibility toggle
• Email notifications when passwords are changed
• Improved security by not sending passwords via email

Formatting Shortcuts

The editor now supports Markdown-like shortcuts:

• Type ## and space to create an H2 heading
• Type ### and space for an H3 heading
• Type * or - and space to start a bulleted list
• Type 1. and space to start a numbered list

Menus in Customizer

The menu management system has been integrated into the Customizer, allowing you to:

• Create, edit, and reorder menu items with live preview
• Search for menu items to add
• Manage menu locations
• Create new menus on the fly

Improved List Tables

Admin list tables (posts, pages, comments, etc.) have been optimized for mobile devices with a new responsive design that focuses on the primary column.

Security Updates

Password Security

• Passwords are no longer sent via email; reset links are used instead
• Improved password strength meter with better feedback
• Auto-generation of strong passwords to encourage better security practices

Database Security

• Fixed issues in WPDB::strip_invalid_text() related to character set handling between queries
• Improved sanity checking for database queries containing characters that need validation

Capability Checks

• Added capability check when creating auto-drafts to ensure users have proper permissions
• Improved capability handling for orphaned comments, falling back to edit_posts capability

Performance Improvements

Query Optimization

• Switched to a more performant query in meta_form(), improving performance when dealing with post meta

Customizer Improvements

• Improved performance when dragging widgets over closed sidebars by refreshing only widgets in the current sidebar instead of all widgets in all sidebars
• Deferred updating nav menu item tabIndex attributes until pane is reflowed, improving UI responsiveness

Editor Improvements

• Improved word count performance with optimized character counting
• Better handling of special characters and shortcodes in word count
• Optimized handling of text patterns in the editor

Impact Summary

WordPress 4.3 "Billie" represents a significant step forward in user experience and security. The introduction of site icons fills a long-standing gap in WordPress's feature set, allowing users to easily add favicons and app icons without plugins or manual code editing.

The password management improvements are particularly impactful for security, encouraging stronger passwords through auto-generation while making the process more user-friendly with the visibility toggle and strength meter. The shift to sending reset links rather than actual passwords aligns WordPress with modern security best practices.

For content creators, the new formatting shortcuts bring a touch of Markdown-like efficiency to the WordPress editor, speeding up common formatting tasks. Combined with the improved word count functionality and visual enhancements, the editing experience feels more polished and productive.

The integration of menu management into the Customizer continues WordPress's strategy of moving site design controls into a live preview environment, making it easier for users to visualize changes before publishing them.

Accessibility improvements throughout the admin interface demonstrate WordPress's ongoing commitment to making the platform usable for everyone, with better keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and focus management.

Overall, WordPress 4.3 delivers meaningful improvements to security, usability, and accessibility while laying groundwork for future enhancements to the platform.