WordPress Products: Blocks, WP-CLI, WooCommerce and Releases

Blocks are the visual foundation of WordPress and can be used to create and manage every part of a site. They allow users to interact visually with any piece of content, with or without code, supporting rich layouts and extensibility. The WordPress editor is the default way to insert, transform, style and move blocks on a visual canvas through a drag-and-drop interface. Developers who cannot find a suitable block can build their own, since creating a block is comparable to building a React component, and the @wordpress/create-block package is available to start a new one.

• Visual editing with or without code
• Drag-and-drop block canvas in the editor
• Block directory for browsing available blocks
• @wordpress/create-block package for custom blocks
• Blocks combine into patterns and block themes

WP-CLI is the command line interface for WordPress, described by the project as scriptable by design. Anything that can be done in the WordPress admin can be done from the terminal, with no browser required. Documented tasks include installing and updating plugins, importing content, creating users and running search-replace operations.

• Command line tool for WordPress
• Install and update plugins from the terminal
• Import content and create users
• Run search-replace operations
• Browsable command reference

WordPress 7.1, named for Mary Lou, was released on 19 August 2026 and focuses on styling and editing. It allows block styles to be customised responsively across screen sizes and interactive states without CSS, and introduces a streamlined media editor. Notes support rich text and @mentions, and the admin bar persists across the Site Editor and block editor. The most recent release in the series is 7.1.1, dated 17 September 2026, which is described as a maintenance and security release and the only actively maintained line.

• Released 19 August 2026, named for Mary Lou
• Responsive block styling without CSS
• Streamlined media editor
• Notes with rich text and @mentions
• Persistent admin bar across editors
• Latest release 7.1.1, 17 September 2026

WordPress 6.3, named for Lionel Hampton, was released on 8 August 2023 and brought templates, content and patterns together in the Site Editor. Pages can be created, browsed, edited and published from within the Site Editor, and a new Command Palette provides search and quick access to common commands. A dedicated patterns page manages patterns, template parts and synced patterns, which were previously called reusable blocks. The release included performance work and additional editing features such as the Details block, the Footnotes block, image aspect ratios and style revisions.

• Released 8 August 2023, named for Lionel Hampton
• Page creation and publishing inside the Site Editor
• Command Palette for search and commands
• Patterns page for browsing, creating and managing patterns
• Details and Footnotes blocks
• Over 500 improvements and more than 400 bug fixes

WooCommerce is an ecommerce plugin for WordPress and one of several options for running a store on the platform. The project states that more than 20% of online stores run on WooCommerce alone, with deployments ranging from single-product stores to catalogues spanning tens of thousands of digital and physical products. Hundreds of extensions support existing vendors and foundational systems, and stores can also be run headless or combined with a SaaS backend such as BigCommerce. The wider plugin repository contains more than 50,000 plugins, and WordPress data portability is supported by a built-in API and query technologies such as GraphQL.

• WooCommerce ecommerce plugin for WordPress
• More than 20% of online stores run on WooCommerce
• Hundreds of WooCommerce extensions
• Headless and SaaS-backed approaches available
• More than 50,000 plugins in the official repository

The WordPress core software is available free of charge and can be downloaded and installed manually or set up through a hosting provider. Recommended requirements are PHP 8.3 or greater, MariaDB 10.11 or greater or MySQL 8.0 or greater, and HTTPS support. A release archive lists every recorded release with zip and tar.gz downloads, and the WordPress Playground offers a live demo environment in the browser. Content can also be created and updated using the WordPress app.

• Free download of the core software
• PHP 8.3 or greater recommended
• MariaDB 10.11 or MySQL 8.0 or greater
• HTTPS support recommended
• Zip and tar.gz downloads in the release archive
• WordPress Playground browser demo