What’s New in WordPress 6.9: A Complete Guide to the Latest Features
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WordPress 6.9 introduces a long list of improvements for creators, editors, and developers — from brand-new blocks to UI enhancements and new APIs that push the platform toward a more interactive, AI-ready future. In this article, I’ll walk you through every feature demonstrated in the video above.
Let’s get started.
Block Notes: Leave Comments Directly Inside the Editor
One of the most useful additions in WordPress 6.9 is the new Block Notes feature. You can now select any block, open the three-dots menu, and click Add note. A simple interface appears, letting you write a comment for the post author or editor.
Once submitted:
- The post author receives a notification like “New note on your post” with the message and a quick link.
- Editors now see new quick links to “All Notes” inside the editor.
- Notes can be opened, replied to, and marked as solved.
- You can filter by “My Notes” for faster collaboration.
This is a real step toward a smoother editorial workflow — especially for teams managing multiple authors or complex layouts.
New Accordion Block (But Still No Native FAQ Schema)
WordPress 6.9 introduces a brand-new Accordion block, perfect for FAQs or collapsible content sections.
Inside the structure panel, you’ll see:
- A main Accordion wrapper
- Individual Accordion Item blocks
- A Heading and a Panel inside each item
The beauty of this new block is its flexibility: inside each panel, you can add any block you want — images, videos, paragraphs, anything.
Accordion Settings
The main Accordion block includes new settings:
- Auto-close: opening a new item closes the previous one.
- Show/hide icon: toggle the default “+” icon.
- Icon position control.
What’s Missing: FAQ Schema
I was hoping WordPress would integrate FAQ schema directly into the Accordion block. Unfortunately, it’s not there yet.
For now, you can use a lightweight plugin by Viney (thanks Viney!) to add FAQ schema support to the block. It works instantly after installation.
Maybe one day we’ll see this added to core — fingers crossed.
Stretchy Text and Heading Blocks
This feature is small but incredibly useful: you can now transform any Paragraph block into a Stretchy Paragraph, and the same applies to headings.
When activated, the text automatically expands to fill all available width of its container. This works beautifully for:
- Hero sections
- Large call-to-action layouts
- Minimalistic landing pages
You’ll also find Stretchy Paragraph and Stretchy Heading as standalone blocks in the inserter.
Time to Read and Word Count Blocks
Two new informational blocks arrive in 6.9:
Time to Read
Displays an estimated reading time for your content. You can show it as:
- A range (e.g., “3–5 minutes”)
- A single estimation
Word Count
A simple counter showing the total number of words.
You can switch between the two blocks with one click. I would love to see an option to add text before or after the counter directly inside the block — maybe in the next version.
Terms Query Block
The new Terms Query block lets you display:
- Categories
- Tags
- Custom taxonomies
You can show them as a list, choose whether to include empty terms, display nested terms (subcategories), and even show the post count for each term.
You can edit the block’s internal template too — for example, removing the post count element if you want a cleaner look.
This is a great addition for building category pages, topic navigation menus, or sidebar lists without plugins.
Math Block
If you write educational or technical content, you’ll love this.
The new Math block allows you to insert formatted mathematical expressions using a dedicated visual renderer. You can:
- Insert standalone math blocks
- Or add a math expression inline inside a paragraph
Everything is automatically formatted for mathematical notation.
Hide Block: Keep Elements Invisible on the Front End
WordPress 6.9 adds a useful “Hide block” option. When enabled, the block:
- Remains in your editor
- But disappears completely on the front end
Right now, the hidden block also disappears inside the backend preview once hidden, which makes editing tricky — but you can toggle visibility again to bring it back.
This is perfect for:
- Seasonal announcements
- Temporary promos
- Content you want to prepare in advance
Improved Drag & Drop Experience
The drag-and-drop system in the Block Editor has been refined. Previously, dragging a block would show a semi-transparent clone while the original stayed in place.
Now, the actual block moves with your mouse — a more intuitive interaction similar to modern site builders.
Command Palette Available Across WP Admin and Site Editor
Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows) anywhere in the admin or Site Editor to open the new Command Palette.
You can instantly jump to:
- Templates
- Settings
- Pages
- Patterns
I would love to be able to trigger it on the front end too, similar to Elementor’s Cmd+E quick search — maybe in a future release.
Developer Updates: The New Abilities API
WordPress 6.9 brings several important updates for developers, especially around interactivity and AI-enabled workflows.
The most important one is the brand-new Abilities API, a unified registry of “capabilities” designed for:
- AI integrations
- Automation workflows
- Better communication across plugins and themes
As shared in the official announcement by James LePage, adopting a shared capability language helps future AI tools discover and interact with WordPress features far more intelligently.
Think of it as the backbone of a more interactive, AI-rich WordPress ecosystem.
There are also improvements to:
- Interactivity API
- Data Views and Data Form components
- HTML API
- Block Bindings API
- Performance across the entire platform
No new default theme ships with version 6.9 — the focus is fully on the Site Editor for now.
Template Management Changes Postponed to WordPress 7.0
A major feature originally planned for 6.9 has been postponed: template management improvements.
This upcoming feature will allow users to:
- Create multiple templates for the same purpose
- Activate or deactivate specific templates
- Keep templates when switching themes
This is incredibly powerful for content-heavy sites.
Personally, I hope WordPress 7.0 also introduces conditional template assignments — for example, assigning different single post templates to specific categories. This is something I already do on my site using Elementor templates and it’s one of the missing puzzle pieces in Gutenberg.
My Rebuild Challenge: Can WP Roads Be Recreated With the Site Editor?
Every time a new major version comes out, I try to rebuild my entire website (wproads.com) using only the Site Editor.
And once again… I can’t fully do it yet.
WordPress 6.9 brings great improvements, but there are still tiny missing pieces that make it hard to build a truly flexible, professional site without mixing in custom solutions, plugins, or external builders.
Maybe WordPress 7.0 will finally close that gap. I’m rooting for it.
What Do You Think About WordPress 6.9?
I would love to hear from you.
Do these features change the way you work with WordPress?
Are you excited, disappointed, or somewhere in the middle?
Share your thoughts in the comments below — I always enjoy reading your feedback and discussing the newest changes with the community.
If you want more WordPress tutorials, guides, and insights, explore the rest of the site starting from the WP Roads Blog.
If you want to dive deeper into WordPress 6.9 new features and updates:
Thanks for reading, and I wish you all the best with your WordPress projects. Take care!
