What's up with WordPress versions? #WPstuff

TLDR;

It's a great idea to be familiar with new WordPress versions, and it is essential to update your WordPress versions when you can... but your day-to-day experience with your WordPress site won't change much from version to version!

Question: As a WordPress user, does it matter which version of WordPress I'm using?

Answer: For security, yes! For your experience, not really!

When you're first learning how to create and/or manage a WordPress site, it can be difficult to know what's important and what isn't. There are so many moving parts to a WordPress website. And sometimes you may see reference to something and not be sure how significant it is to your workflow and experience. WordPress version updates can be one of those things.

At the time of writing this, we are on WordPress version 6.4.2. But what does that mean?

Software that is being managed, updated, changed, or re-released by developers will be numbered based on how many versions were released before it. And each number in the version means something different. So if we follow standing version numbering conventions, WordPress version 6.4.2 tells us that WordPress is in it's 6th major version, has 4 additional functionalities added, and two patch fixes have been implemented.

When a new version of WordPress is released, you can more or less understand how significant it is from looking at the numbers. When WordPress 7.0 is released, that will be a huge deal. That will be an update you should read about and make sure you understand, since it will more than likely contain significant changes that could alter how you use WordPress. For example, WordPress 6.0 introduced Improved information architecture and template browsing experience improved template creation, new hooks, webfonts API, new browse mode, alternative Global Styles, and much much much more. And WordPress 5.0 was historic for introducing the block editor itself.

When WordPress 6.5 is released, you'll know it's not as major, but introduces some new functionality. This is great to know because a new functionality won't necessary change or remove the things you're already familiar with. When WordPress 6.4.3 is released, you'll know that a bug was patched and you should grab that update right away to make sure that bug doesn't affect your website.

This also means that if you're watching a tutorial or course about WordPress, the version numbers don't matter so much as long as you're within the last major update. If your site is still on 6.0 and you're watching a tutorial that utilizes a site on 6.3, you'll know that aside from a few functions and perhaps some UI differences, you can follow those instructions without a problem. However, if you're using 4.0 and the tutorial uses 6.0, there will be so many differences that you'll probably struggle to follow along.

Why do you need to stay on top of WordPress updates if they potentially don't change your experience? The main reasons why you should update your WordPress version when a new one becomes available is for performance and security.

1. Along with new WordPress updates, plugins and themes may update as well in order to complement that core update. You want to prevent potential conflicts by ensuring that all the software on your site meshes together as intended. You do this by keeping everything up to date.
2. Hackers and bots look for out of date software specifically when targeting sites. If you core software is out of date, that means you potentially lack important patches and security fixes that will keep your site safer.
3. It's simply a good habit to have. If you don't update on a regular basis, your site could fall behind significantly. Sites with very old versions are vulnerable to attack. So you don't want to allow your updates to lapse.
4. The WordPress community of volunteers work hard all year long to provide new functionality and bug fixes as frequently as possible. If you aren't utilizing new versions, you're not getting all you can out of WordPress.

So we can see that WordPress versions are important. But it's important to remember not to sweat it if you're behind by a few updates. Since your day to day experience with your site wont' change much, the most important thing to focus on is updating for security and performance.

What do you think? How much does your experience with WordPress change version to version? Do you have a favorite WordPress update?? Are there considerations I'm missing? Share it with me!

Some extra reading:

• How to Find your Current WordPress Version
• The Ultimate Guide to Each WordPress Version