WordPress 5.8: Every New Feature You Need to Know About
WordPress 5.8 is a feature-packed release that moves the platform closer to true full site editing. Here's a breakdown of every major change and what it means for your site.
Native WebP Image Support Finally Arrives
WordPress 5.8 adds native support for WebP images, the file format Google announced back in 2010 and finally brought to version 1.0 in 2018. If you've ever tried to save an image from the web only to find your computer couldn't open it, you've already encountered WebP — and now WordPress handles it out of the box.
Why should you care? WebP images offer up to a 45% reduction in file size compared to PNG, and the format is supported by 94% of web browsers. With WordPress also dropping Internet Explorer support by the end of 2021, WebP is looking like a safe bet for virtually all of your visitors.
There's a caveat worth noting: WordPress won't automatically convert your existing image library to WebP. If you want your back catalog served in the new format, you'll still need a third-party tool like ShortPixel or Gumlet. These tools have supported WebP for a while, creating WebP versions and falling back to JPEG or PNG for browsers that can't handle it. But for any new images you upload going forward, native support means one less plugin to worry about.
Duotone Filters for Images and Media Blocks
WordPress 5.8 introduces duotone filters that you can apply directly to images and media blocks inside the editor. It's a design-oriented feature that lets you add color overlays without leaving WordPress or firing up a separate image editor.
Honestly, this is one of those features that sounds cooler than it is for most users. If you're doing design work in WordPress — maybe tweaking a blog featured image on the fly — duotone filters could save you a trip to Photoshop. But for the majority of site owners who aren't laying out pages in Gutenberg yet, it's a nice-to-have rather than a game-changer. Still, it's free, and it's there when you need it.
The Widget Area Gets a Modern Redesign
You might have assumed widgets were on the chopping block, but WordPress is actually doubling down on them in 5.8. The widget area has been completely redesigned and now supports blocks, bringing feature parity between the block editor and the widget system.
This means you can use any block as a widget and style it the same way you would on a page or post. The entire widget management interface is cleaner and more intuitive. For anyone who's been frustrated by the limited styling options in the old widget area, this is a welcome change that makes widgets genuinely more usable.
New Full Site Editing Blocks
WordPress is steadily moving toward true full site editing — the ability to control your header, footer, sidebar, and content area all from the block editor. Version 5.8 introduces several new blocks designed to make that vision a reality.
The new additions include a site logo block, a site title block, a tagline block, post content and post date blocks, and more. These might sound basic, but they're foundational pieces. They allow you to build dynamic post templates that pull in site-level information automatically, which is a big step toward reducing your dependency on third-party page builders for site-wide design.
Gutenberg Editor Improvements (It Sucks Less Now)
Let's be real: Gutenberg has not been everyone's favorite editing experience. Many WordPress users — myself included — can do everything faster in tools like Elementor. But Gutenberg is the future of WordPress, and version 5.8 makes meaningful strides in usability.
Three improvements stand out. First, selecting a parent block when you have nested blocks is now significantly easier. Second, there's a redesigned list view that shows all of the blocks on your page or post in a clear hierarchy. Third, the parent block is now always visible in the toolbar, so you're no longer clicking around like a maniac trying to get to the right block. These are quality-of-life fixes that address real frustrations, and they make Gutenberg noticeably more pleasant to work with.
Build Custom Post Templates Without Code or Page Builders
This is one of the headline features of WordPress 5.8. You can now design your own page and post templates directly in the editor — no coding required and no third-party page builder needed.
Tools like Toolset and Elementor have offered this functionality for years, and they still have more advanced capabilities. But WordPress core is clawing back that territory by making template creation a built-in feature. You can create a custom template and apply it to any page or post you create.
One thing to watch out for: some themes disable this feature. If you update to 5.8 and don't see the option to create custom templates, your theme may be blocking it. You'll either need to switch themes or add a small snippet to your functions.php file to re-enable it. It's still early days for this feature, but the foundation is solid.
The Query Loop Block Makes Dynamic Sites Possible
When you combine the new full site editing blocks with custom templates, something powerful emerges: the ability to build truly dynamic sites inside WordPress core. The centerpiece of this is the new query loop block.
Think of the query loop block as a more complex and powerful version of the "latest posts" block. It lets you build highly customized, category-specific post views directly in the editor. You could create a curated grid of posts from a specific category, a custom archive page, or a dynamic content section — all without writing a single line of PHP.
That said, tools like Toolset and Elementor still offer more granular control over dynamic content. The query loop block is a good start, but it's not a full replacement for dedicated dynamic content plugins just yet.
Pattern Suggestions for Easier Layouts
WordPress 5.8 introduces pattern suggestions, a feature designed to help you design your site without leaving the editor. The pattern transformations tool now suggests block patterns based on whichever block you're currently working with.
Right now, this only works with the query block and the social icon block, but the plan is to expand it as more patterns are added. The goal is to give you design inspiration on the spot — see a layout you like, click to apply it, and customize from there. It's a step toward WordPress's vision of users building entire websites from a blank page without a page builder, though that reality is still a ways off.
Smaller Improvements Worth Knowing About
Beyond the headline features, WordPress 5.8 packs in several smaller quality-of-life improvements. PDF embedding is now significantly easier — no third-party plugins required. There's support for the latest emoji set, and existing blocks have received tweaks like the ability to adjust padding between columns (finally).
These kinds of incremental improvements don't make for exciting headlines, but they add up. If you've been frustrated by any of these specific limitations, 5.8 quietly solves them.
Should You Update to WordPress 5.8 Right Now?
The short answer: not yet. WordPress 5.8 is a minor release (moving from 5.7 to 5.8), which means new features are being introduced. New features often mean new bugs.
The smart move is to wait for the first patch release — that'll be version 5.8.1. Patch releases focus on fixing bugs that slipped through the beta period. Once 5.8.1 drops, that's the time to start testing on a staging site and thinking about updating your live environment.
As always, back up your site before any update, test in staging first, and don't rush to be on the bleeding edge unless you have a specific reason. WordPress 5.8 is a genuinely exciting release that moves the platform meaningfully closer to full site editing, but there's no prize for updating on day one.
Watch the Full Video
Prefer watching to reading? Check out the full video on YouTube for a complete walkthrough with live demos and commentary.
