WordPress 5.4, named “Adderley” after jazz musician Nat Adderly, became WP Engine’s default WordPress version for new customers following its late-March release. This release brings major enhancements to the block editor, improved performance, and developer-friendly features.
New Block Editor Features
The Gutenberg block editor received significant enhancements including two new blocks for social icons and interactive buttons. Color improvements bring gradient options to Button and Cover blocks, with color toolbar access in Rich Text blocks and new color options for Group and Columns blocks. Media handling has been streamlined across blocks.
User Experience Improvements
The editor offers a cleaner interface with block breadcrumbs for faster navigation, improved tabbing for sidebar access, and default full-screen editing mode. Tips have been replaced with an optional Welcome Guide, and screen reader support now distinguishes between Edit and Navigation modes.
Performance Gains
Users experienced significant speed improvements, with the editor loading 14% faster and achieving 51% faster time-to-type. These performance gains make the content creation experience noticeably smoother, especially for content-heavy posts.
Developer Features
WordPress 5.4 introduced native custom field support for menu items without plugins, simplified block styling, and added two new APIs for block variations and gradients. TikTok embed support was added. WP Engine engineers Anthony Burchell and Benjamin Moore contributed to the release.