What’s new in WordPress 5.4? New features and changes
Last updated:
On March 31, 2020, WordPress 5.4 Adderley released. Available for update and download now. What's changed in WordPress 5.4, what's new and what's changed.
WordPress 5.4 Release Date
WordPress 5.4 is the first major release of 2020 and released on Tuesday, March 31, 2020.
The development cycle for WordPress 5.4 had the following schedule.
Date | Content |
---|---|
February 11, 2020 | Beta 1 |
February 18, 2020 | Beta 2 |
February 25, 2020 | Beta 3 |
March 3, 2020 | RC 1 |
March 10, 2020 | RC 2 |
March 17, 2020 | RC 3 |
March 24, 2020 | RC 4 |
March 25, 2020 | RC 5 |
March 30, 2020 | Pre-Release Exercise |
March 31, 2020 | Release |
On April 29, 2020, WordPress 5.4.1 released. This is a security update that fixes the vulnerability.
What’s in the WordPress 5.4.1 update? 7 vulnerability fixes
On June 10, 2020, WordPress 5.4.2 released. This is a security update that fixes the vulnerability.
What’s New in WordPress 5.4.2? Fixed 6 security issues
WordPress 5.4 Codenames
WordPress codenames themselves after jazz musicians.
WordPress 5.4 named Adderley after the American jazz musician Nat Adderley.
Nat Adderley Work Song – YouTube
Server requirements for WordPress 5.4
The following requirements apply to run WordPress 5.4.
- PHP7.3 or greater
- MySQL 5.6 or MariaDB 10.1 or greater
- Apache or Nginx
How to get WordPress 5.4
WordPress 5.4 available on the download page.

Please refer to the article below on how to download WordPress.
How to Download WordPress ( Download Site/Page )
How to update WordPress 5.4
To update to WordPress 5.4 click the Update Now button on the Update page of your dashboard.
Be sure to back up your files and database before a major update.
You will be in maintenance mode during the update.

New features and changes in WordPress 5.4
When I updated to WordPress 5.4, there were some new features and changes, such as.
It reports a 14% reduction in editor loading time and a 51% reduction in input time.
Gutenberg Block Editor
Welcome Guide
After updating to WordPress 5.4, the description of the block editor appears in a modal.

Fullscreen mode
The block editor displays in Fullscreen mode. If you’ve updated from WordPress 5.3, you’ll see it in the mode you last enabled.
To turn off the Fullscreen mode, do the following.
- Click on the menu icon at the top right
- Uncheck Fullscreen Mode

Text Color
It is now possible to specify a color for specific characters in a paragraph. Select a character, press the ▼ button, and select the color you want to specify.

Button block
It is now possible to arrange many buttons in a row. Also, it is now possible to specify a gradient for the background color of the button.

Cover block
Added the ability to specify a gradient for the background color of the cover block.

New block
Social icons and TikTok added as new blocks.

Featured image
Added the ability to register featured images by drag and drop.

Selecting many blocks
Selecting many blocks by clicking or dragging while holding down the Shift key.

Site Health Status
Notifications about site performance and security have added to the dashboard.

Changes for developers
The following changes come for developers of themes and plugins
Calendar Widget
The HTML for outputting calendar widgets has changed. The navigation link has moved to the nav element following the table element.
Theme Requirements
You can list the WordPress and PHP versions you need for your theme. Write the following in style.css
Requires PHP:Required PHP version Requires at least:Required WordPress version
New function
The apply_shortcodes function has added. This is an alias for the do_shortcode function that displays the shortcode.
New Action
wp_nav_menu_item_custom_fields added. Add custom fields to navigation menu items.
Custom shortcut
Added the ability to add keyboard shortcuts to the block editor.
Related Post
Others have also seen this article.
What’s New in WordPress 6.0 (Features and Changes)
What’s New in WordPress 5.9 (Features and Changes/Release Date)
WordPress 5.8 What’s New? New Features and Changes
WordPress 5.7 What’s New? New Features and Changes
What’s new in WordPress 5.6? New Features and Changes
What’s new in WordPress 5.5? New Features and Changes