Jonathan Desrosiers 9:30 pm on December 18, 2025  

Proposal: 2026 Major Release Schedule

As 2025 comes to a close, it’s time to reflect and start thinking about what the major releaseMajor Release A set of releases or versions having the same major version number may be collectively referred to as “X.Y” -- for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, and all other versions in the 5.2. (five dot two dot) branch of that software. Major Releases often are the introduction of new major features and functionality. schedule for the 2026 calendar year will be. This year, the community came together and published two fantastic new major versions of WordPress to the world: 6.8 “Cecil” in April and 6.9 “Gene” in December.

While 2025 saw just two releases, the goal is to return to 3 major releases in 2026 (roughly one every 4 months).

This cadence has proven to effectively balance the many different factors at play within the global contributor community. The 4 month release cycle also:

  • Is long enough to build out quality new features for each release.
  • Is short enough to encourage shipping iteratively rather than pursuing perfect software (release early, release often).
  • Allows for 1-3 minor releases in between when following a 6-8 week timeline.

2026 Schedule (Proposed)

Using the ideal 4 month spacing between each release and making efforts to avoid major holidays, the final release dates for the next three releases fall within close proximity to a few prominent in-person WordPress events for 2026.

Following the successful live release of 6.9 during State of the Word earlier in December, the schedule below was created to continue trying out this model.

WordPress 7.0 – Thursday, April 9th

To start off the year, 7.0 is targeted for release during Contributor Day of WordCamp Asia. This creates some unique and exciting teaching opportunities! Newer contributors can observe the release process live to learn about how to contribute, or even participate in the release process, pitching in to help ship a version to WordPress to the world on their first day contributing.

Important dates

  • BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. 1: Thursday, February 19, 2026
  • RC1: Thursday, March 19, 2026

WordPress 7.1 – Wednesday, August 19th

This date for the public release of 7.1 coincides with the final day of WordCamp US. WCUS begins on a Sunday and ends on a Wednesday, which makes the final day more suitable for a release.

Important dates

  • Beta 1: Wednesday, July 1, 2026
  • RC1: Wednesday, July 29, 2026

WordPress 7.2 – December 8th, 9th, or 10th

To round out 2026, the community can celebrate the year’s accomplishments by releasing 7.2 on or around the annual State of the WordState of the Word This is the annual report given by Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp US. It looks at what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and the future of WordPress. https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/. address.

Important dates

  • Beta 1: October 20-22, 2026
  • RC1: November 17-19, 2026

A Few Notes

  • A call for volunteers interested in serving on the 7.0 Release Squad will be published the week of January 4th. If you are interested, please keep an eye on Make WordPress Core or subscribe for updates via email in the site’s sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme..
  • While the releases are lining up with in-person events, there is no requirement to travel in order to be on a release squad. All communication and coordination will continue to happen in SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..
  • A healthy balance between in-person and distributed contributors on release day is actually preferred. This helps ensure that any unexpected technical issues such as poor/unavailable WiFi do not result in a delayed release.
  • The spacing between the three flagship WordCamps in 2026 presents a strong opportunity to be intentional with release timing. With the proposed April 9th date for 7.0, moving straight into the 7.1 cycle would significantly compress the alpha period for feature work. The eight-week window between WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Asia & WordCamp Europe is an excellent fit for a minor releaseMinor Release A set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality., which could help to deliver meaningful improvements with confidence and adequate breathing room.
  • During the 6.9 dry run and final release, contributors identified several opportunities to improve the CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. handbook, especially the pages aimed at documenting the release practices and processes. The live release of 6.9 notably shined a light on areas that require clarification to ensure both in-person and distributed contributor groups can synchronously collaborate more transparently and effectively. These will be collected and shared in a separate Make Core post in January.
  • The WordPress 7.2 date is the least flexible of the three with earlier dates encroaching on the major global financial holidays of Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Giving Tuesday, and later dates getting too close to major religious holidays and end of year time off.
  • Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday have historically been considered unsuitable for a release to avoid spoiling weekends of those who use, build with, maintain, or support anyone with a WordPress site.

Discussion & Feedback

As always, the dates above are being proposed to allow contributors to begin planning for the rough timing of each of the 3 releases in 2026. There is some flexibility to make adjustments if necessary based on community feedback or factors that were not considered.

Do you have questions or thoughts about the release schedule as proposed? Ideas for ways to improve the Core Handbook or the release process itself? Or maybe a specific feature that you’re most looking forward to in 2026? Share them below and join the conversation.

Props @annezazu, @jorbin AND @4thhubbard for helping to narrow down possible dates and/or reviewing this post.