WordPress News Roundup December 2018: WordPress 5.0 “Bebo” Ships the Block Editor

December 2018 was the month WordPress changed its editor. WordPress 5.0 “Bebo” was released on December 6, making the block editor the default writing experience for the first time and shipping with the new Twenty Nineteen theme. Two days later, Matt Mullenweg used the State of the Word at WordCamp US in Nashville to explain why, and to set out what would come next.

The rest of the month was about stabilising. A security release followed within a week and a performance-focused maintenance release came just before the holidays. By the end of December, the conversation had already moved on to Gutenberg phase 2 and a list of nine priorities for 2019.

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Investments

No notable acquisitions or funding rounds were announced in December. The closest thing to an investment story was Automattic’s pledge, confirmed mid-month, to fund the WPCampus accessibility audit of Gutenberg that the community had been trying to finance.

WordPress Core Updates

• RC3 (December 4): A final release candidate arrived as the team confirmed a December 6 target, a date that prompted widespread concern about launching days before WordCamp US.
• WordPress 5.0 “Bebo” (December 6): Named after Cuban jazz musician Bebo Valdés, 5.0 introduced the block editor, Twenty Nineteen, and block editor styles for the older default themes. Sites that preferred the old experience could install the Classic Editor plugin, which remained supported through 2021.
• WordPress 5.0.1 (December 13): A security release for all versions since 3.7, fixing issues including unauthorised file deletion by authors, PHP object injection through crafted meta data, several cross-site scripting vectors, and search engine indexing of the user activation screen. Updated 4.9.x and older branches were released alongside it.
• WordPress 5.0.2 (December 19): A maintenance release addressing 73 bugs, with block editor performance improvements that made a post with 200 blocks around 330 percent faster.
• Gutenberg phase 2: The team outlined the next phase, starting with converting widgets into blocks.
• Minimum PHP plan: Core announced a plan to raise the minimum PHP version, starting with PHP 5.6 in 2019.

Other WordPress News

• State of the Word 2018: At WordCamp US in Nashville, Mullenweg acknowledged the bumpy road to 5.0 while making the case that the block editor laid the foundation for WordPress’s future, from widgets and menus to full site customisation.
• Nine projects for 2019: Mullenweg followed up with nine priorities for 2019, including a navigation menu block, porting all widgets to blocks, a triage team for Trac, and auto-updates for plugins and themes.
• WordCamp US 2019 dates: Next year’s event was set for November 1–3, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri.
• Block-enabled plugins: The Plugin Directory added a curated section highlighting plugins that provide blocks.
• AMP plugin 1.0: The official AMP plugin reached version 1.0 with AMP validation integrated into the block editor.
• Navigation in blocks: Designers began exploring how navigation menus could move to a block interface, one of the year’s stated goals.
• JavaScript standards: Contributors proposed revisions to WordPress’s JavaScript coding standards.

Security Alerts and Plugin Vulnerabilities

• WordPress 5.0.1: The month’s most important security news was core’s own release. Several of the fixes, including the file deletion and PHP object injection issues, had been reported by researchers at RIPS Technologies and others, and backported versions meant even sites not ready for 5.0 could be protected.
• A botnet of WordPress sites: On December 5, Wordfence detailed a botnet made up of infected WordPress sites being used to launch brute force attacks against other WordPress sites.
• Backwards compatibility: The 5.0.1 fixes required some compatibility breaks, and plugin authors were asked to review the developer notes.

Industry Trends and Insights

• A foundation, not a finish line: 5.0 made clear that the block editor was the start of a multi-year effort. Phase 2’s focus on widgets and site customisation signalled that themes would change most of all.
• Classic Editor as safety net: Many site owners chose to install the Classic Editor before updating, giving agencies time to train clients and test plugins.
• PHP moves on: PHP 7.3 was released on December 6, the same day as WordPress 5.0, while PHP 5.6 reached end of life on December 31. WordPress’s new minimum version policy aligned the project more closely with the wider PHP ecosystem.
• Performance matters: The rapid 5.0.2 performance work showed how quickly the editor could improve once it had a real-world audience.

Theme of the Month: Twenty Nineteen

Twenty Nineteen shipped as the default theme in 5.0 and was designed to demonstrate the block editor at its best. Its clean typography, generous whitespace and support for wide and full-width blocks gave theme developers a reference for building in the new era.

Plugin of the Month: Classic Editor

For many site owners, the most important plugin in December was the one that kept things the same. The Classic Editor restored the previous editing screen and gave businesses time to adopt blocks at their own pace, with official support promised until the end of 2021.

Host of the Month: DreamHost

DreamHost, a long-standing WordPress.org recommended host, offered managed WordPress plans with automatic core updates. In a month with a major release and an urgent security update back to back, hosts that applied updates reliably helped protect a large number of smaller sites.

Founder of the Month: Matt Mullenweg

WordPress’s co-founder personally led the 5.0 release, held listening sessions in the run-up, shipped it on December 6 and then stood in front of WordCamp US to defend and explain it. Whatever one thought of the timing, December 2018 was a defining month of his stewardship of the project.

Looking Ahead to January 2019

January should bring a 5.0.3 maintenance release and the start of WordPress 5.1, which is expected to focus on editor performance and the first Site Health features, including warnings for sites on outdated PHP. Work on porting widgets to blocks and on a navigation block will continue in the Gutenberg plugin.