With the upcoming release of WordPress 6.8, enterprise organisations are set to benefit from a range of new features and improvements that enhance performance, flexibility, and scalability. Scheduled for release on 15 April 2025, WordPress 6.8 is shaping up to be a significant milestone, especially for enterprises!
At Human Made, we’ve explored the latest changes through the lens of enterprise needs. Here’s what to expect — and why it matters for large-scale WordPress operations.
Why WordPress 6.8 matters for enterprise organisations
As enterprise organisations demand more from their CMS, WordPress continues to evolve to meet the moment. WordPress 6.8 builds on recent innovations to offer:
- Greater control and consistency across global content operations
- A more refined site editor experience for marketers and publishers
- Enhanced tools for developer teams managing custom themes and blocks
- Performance and accessibility improvements critical for at-scale websites
Let’s dig into the features in WordPress 6.8 that matter most for enterprise.
Key features in WordPress 6.8
- Speculative loading with the Speculation Rules API
WordPress 6.8 introduces support for speculative loading, enabling browsers to prerender or prefetch links users are likely to click next, such as when hovering over navigation elements.
Enterprise impact: For high-traffic, content-rich sites, this means significantly faster perceived load times and improved UX, especially on mobile and in global markets.
- Improved Site Editor Experience
WordPress 6.8 introduces usability refinements across the site editor, including better template browsing, global styles UX improvements, and block-specific tools.
Enterprise impact: Empower your marketing and content teams to make brand-consistent updates without relying on dev teams. This supports scalable governance models, reducing bottlenecks while maintaining design integrity across teams, regions, or brands.
- Classic Theme Support for the Style Book
The Style Book, previously limited to block themes, is now supported in classic themes with editor styles or a theme.json file. This allows users to preview and edit design elements like buttons, headings, and blocks in one place.
Enterprise impact: Organisations using legacy or hybrid themes can now bring modern style management into their existing stack, making it easier to transition into Full Site Editing without a full rebuild.
- Security improvements with bcrypt
WordPress is adopting bcrypt for password hashing, replacing the older phpass system. Existing passwords are upgraded automatically when users log in or reset their credentials. We’re proud to have made this possible thanks to our contributions to open-source, with our Director of WordPress Security, John Blackbourn, driving this change as WordPress security team lead.
Enterprise impact: This upgrade aligns WordPress with modern security practices, offering stronger protection against brute-force attacks: especially important for organisations in regulated sectors.
- Performance and Accessibility Improvements
Each release brings performance wins for enterprise, and WordPress 6.8 is no exception. Expect faster front-end load times, reduced asset sizes, and continued progress on accessibility compliance.
Enterprise impact: These improvements contribute directly to SEO, user experience, and compliance – three key concerns for enterprise teams working across regulated industries or international markets.
Preparing for WordPress 6.8
- Test early: Use the beta releases and RCs to test your current infrastructure and identify areas for improvement.
- Evaluate your block strategy: With block bindings and pattern sync improvements, now’s a good time to reassess how blocks are being used across your estate.
- Review governance models: The new site editor tools and pattern capabilities make decentralised content management safer and more scalable.
- Talk to your agency partner: An experienced enterprise WordPress partner can help you unlock the full potential of 6.8, without the growing pains.
Human Made: Your partner for enterprise WordPress
As long-time contributors to WordPress core, Human Made is uniquely placed to support enterprises in adopting the latest WordPress 6.8 features safely and strategically. Whether you need performance audits, bespoke development, or migration support, we’re here to help.