WordPress 7.0 “Armstrong” has been available since May 20, 2026. Named in honour of the legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, this release marks the start of a new era: it’s the first to lay the foundations of artificial intelligence at the very heart of WordPress.
The result of the work of more than 875 contributors around the world, WordPress 7.0 bundles over 420 enhancements and fixes. On the menu: a fully modernized dashboard, AI infrastructure built into core, new blocks, universal font management and a richer toolbox for developers. We’ve explored the most notable new features for you. Let’s discover them together!
AI integrated directly into WordPress
This is THE headline announcement of this release. WordPress 7.0 introduces a new AI Client in core, which lets WordPress communicate with generative AI models. All your connections to third-party AI services are now managed from a central hub, the “Connectors” screen, with three presets to get started in just a few clicks — or the option to add your own connections.
Combined with the new Abilities API, this client opens the door to task automation and new creation tools. By installing the new official AI plugin, you’ll be able to generate and edit images, create titles or excerpts, or even suggest alt text for your images automatically.
WordPress 7.0 also adds a Client-Side Abilities package: the JavaScript counterpart to the Abilities API, with its own interface and a command palette to access a wide range of AI features, both native and hybrid.
A fully modernized dashboard
First impression when you log in: the admin has a fresh new look. WordPress 7.0 features a brand-new colour scheme, clean finishes and smooth transitions between screens that make navigation far more pleasant.
A long-awaited addition: the Command Palette. A simple ⌘K (or Ctrl+K) shortcut, available from the icon in the admin bar, lets you reach your favourite tools from anywhere in the dashboard. A real everyday time-saver.
A dedicated font management page
No more juggling settings depending on your theme: WordPress 7.0 introduces a dedicated typography management page. You can install, upload and organize your font collection from a single place — and, pleasant surprise, it works just as well with block themes as with hybrid or classic themes.
Visually scrub through your revision history
Revision management finally becomes intuitive. You can now visually scrub through the different versions of a piece of content to see at a glance what changed, thanks to markers that make editorial choices far more readable. Spot the revision you want and restore it instantly.
New blocks to design your pages
The editor gains several much-awaited native blocks:
- The Gallery block now offers a lightbox display: your visitors can browse your images as a slideshow without leaving the page.
- A new Heading block to fine-tune your markup more precisely.
- A Breadcrumbs block to deliver clear navigation within your site.
- An Icons block to add an extra touch of detail to your layouts.
Per-device responsiveness controls
WordPress 7.0 refines responsive handling: you can now hide or reveal blocks depending on the device (desktop, tablet, mobile), without affecting the display on other viewports. A great way to offer an experience truly tailored to each screen.
A fully customizable menu overlay
The menu overlay is now built with blocks and patterns, for full control over what your visitors see. Add columns, style typography, embed your own close button… Start from an existing template or build your menu from scratch.
Detachable patterns and block-level CSS
You can now fine-tune your layouts with patterns that behave as a single unit, yet remain detachable for more isolated control. Insert your pattern, swap elements and customize it with ease.
And for fans of advanced customization: you can now style every detail of your content with custom CSS at the block level, right inside your post or page.
A richer toolbox for developers
WordPress 7.0 doesn’t forget developers. It’s now possible to create blocks and patterns on the server side using only PHP, auto-registered through the block API. The Site Editor also becomes more extensible with a routing system, route validation and a new wordpress/boot package that lets plugins build their own pages within the Site Editor.
Our take on WordPress 7.0 “Armstrong”
With “Armstrong”, WordPress crosses a symbolic milestone: moving to version 7.0 isn’t just a change of number — it’s the first step of a platform opening up to artificial intelligence. Beyond that much-publicized novelty, it’s mainly the everyday improvements — a modernized dashboard, the command palette, centralized font management, new blocks — that make a real difference for content creators.
As with every release, we encourage you to test this version on a staging environment before updating your live site, and to check the compatibility of your themes and plugins. As a reminder, you can find our overview of the previous release in our article WordPress 6.2: new features to discover!. Enjoy exploring WordPress 7.0!
