WordPress 6.5 “Regina” is finally here, the first major update of the year. It includes some mandatory bug fixes and performance improvements, but the new features really take the cake. Today, I’ll walk you through the new features that I’m really excited about.

Disclaimer: I’m no developer, and this article is not an alternative to the official WordPress 6.5 changelog. I’ll point out the new WordPress features that stand out to me and that I’m looking forward to use in my blogs

So, let’s get straight into it.

Renameable Blocks

From now on, you can rename almost all WordPress blocks. In the previous version, this feature was restricted to select blocks but is now available for all Gutenberg blocks.

With the ability to rename blocks, bloggers and content writers can keep their content more organized. You can use it to create a skeleton for the article if you start adding content to it.

It also helps you navigate when you are returning to an old article with the intention to revise or update. You can quickly access the block you want from the list view.

AVIF Image Support

When it comes to images on websites, most people decide upon one of two image formats — PNG or JPEG. The latter is usually used by photographers and websites that prioritize image quality.

On the other hand, JPEG is used by websites that prioritize smaller image sizes to image quality.

In the recent time, Google has been recommending users shift to WebP. The reason?? It offers better compression that allows your site to load faster improving user experience.

However, with WordPress 6.5, you might see tech-savvy users moving over to AVIF. The reason remains the same — it results in a smaller image size, especially if the image has a large area of uniform colors.

The only caveat here is it is not as widely supported as other image formats discussed so far. That said, incompatibility with Opera Mini and KaiOS is not going to stop from experimenting.