WordPress Release: 4.4.1

TL;DR

WordPress 4.4.1 is a maintenance release that addresses numerous bugs and issues from the 4.4 release. It includes important fixes for comment pagination, responsive images, term queries, and security improvements. This update focuses on stability and compatibility, making it a recommended upgrade for all WordPress sites running version 4.4.

Highlight of the Release

• Fixed security issues with HTTP protocol handling and certificate validation
• Improved comment pagination and display functionality
• Enhanced responsive images support with better compatibility
• Fixed issues with term queries and taxonomy handling
• Improved performance for comment handling and term queries

Migration Guide

No specific migration steps are required for this maintenance release. This is a standard bug fix release that maintains compatibility with existing WordPress installations.

If you're upgrading from WordPress 4.4, this update should be seamless with no breaking changes.

Upgrade Recommendations

This is a recommended security and maintenance update for all WordPress 4.4 sites.

WordPress 4.4.1 addresses several security issues and fixes numerous bugs that affect site functionality. The update includes important fixes for:

1. HTTP protocol handling and certificate validation
2. Comment pagination and display
3. Term queries and taxonomy handling
4. Responsive images support

Given the security improvements and numerous bug fixes, all WordPress 4.4 sites should update to version 4.4.1 as soon as possible.

Bug Fixes

Comment System Fixes

• Fixed pagination issues in comments_template() when displaying newest comments first
• Ensured proper handling of custom pagination values in wp_list_comments()
• Fixed comment author notifications to prevent notifications for trashed comments
• Corrected handling of user_ID in the preprocess_comment filter

Term and Taxonomy Improvements

• Fixed get_terms() to ensure unique results when using 'meta_query'
• Restored proper ordering of terms by 'name' when populating object term cache
• Improved handling for WP_Error objects in get_the_terms()
• Fixed handling of comma-separated lists for 'exclude' and 'exclude_tree' in wp_list_categories()
• Forced non-public taxonomies to have a query_var of false

Media and Responsive Images

• Fixed responsive image handling to not exclude images in the src attribute even when larger than max_srcset_image_width
• Added compatibility for versions < 2.7 when full image paths were stored in metadata
• Improved checks for attachment meta matching image src to work with http/https and CDNs
• Fixed media insertion to ensure non-image attachments have proper links

Menu and Widget Fixes

• Restored line breaks between menu items to fix justified menu items
• Fixed the "Show advanced menu properties" checkboxes IDs in the Customizer
• Made dynamic_sidebar() case-insensitive for the $index argument
• Removed extra quotes from widget titles in WP_Widget_RSS

URL and Redirect Handling

• Fixed canonical links for paged posts when not using pretty permalinks
• Prevented incorrect redirects when changing post slugs
• Fixed get_page_uri() to return the correct URI for resources

Other Fixes

• Improved handling of shortcodes with '=' in their names
• Removed 'title' from public query vars to avoid plugin conflicts
• Fixed texturize to properly transform '&' into '&' in tag attributes
• Fixed help tab ordering to respect priority arguments
• Improved handling of object properties in map_deep()
• Fixed the "Configure" link for dashboard widgets

New Features

Emoji Diversity Support

Added support for diverse emoji and improved fallback to Twemoji when the browser doesn't support diverse emoji.

Security Updates

Security Improvements

• HTTP: Restored 1024bit certificates to the trust store to maintain compatibility with older OpenSSL versions
• Updated PHPMailer from 5.2.10 to 5.2.14 to address security concerns
• Improved error message escaping in theme management
• Fixed handling of object properties containing references in map_deep() function

Performance Improvements

Performance Enhancements

• Improved comment handling performance by avoiding the use of array_merge() when building comment children arrays, which was causing speed regressions
• Enhanced term query performance with better handling of unique results when using meta queries
• Optimized background updates by removing redundant update checks

Impact Summary

WordPress 4.4.1 is primarily a maintenance and security release that addresses numerous bugs and issues from the 4.4 release. The update focuses on improving stability, security, and compatibility.

Key improvements include fixes to the comment system, term queries, responsive images, and HTTP protocol handling. The release restores several behaviors that were inadvertently changed in 4.4, such as term ordering, menu display, and widget handling.

Security enhancements include restoring 1024bit certificates to maintain compatibility with older OpenSSL versions and updating PHPMailer to address security concerns.

This release is particularly important for sites that experienced issues with comment pagination, responsive images, or term queries after upgrading to WordPress 4.4. The fixes ensure better compatibility with existing themes, plugins, and workflows.

Overall, WordPress 4.4.1 is a recommended update for all WordPress 4.4 sites, providing important security fixes and addressing numerous functional issues without introducing breaking changes.