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Emir Hoca.

WordPress 7.2 is coming: a checklist before RC1

WordPress 7.2 Beta 5 came out on 10 November, RC1 is due on 17 November and the final release on 8 December. How to prepare your site now.

2 min read

According to the WordPress 7.2 development schedule, Beta 5 came out on 10 November. Next are RC1 on 17 November, RC2 on 24 November, RC3 on 1 December and the final release on 8 December 2026 (make.wordpress.org). If your site uses a custom theme or custom blocks, the three weeks between RC1 and the final release are the best time to test.

First: are you on 7.1.4?

Before looking at the new version, check the current security update. WordPress 7.1.4 shipped on 28 October with 13 fixes (WordPress.org, 28 October 2026). They include a remote code execution risk during upgrades, several stored XSS issues in core blocks and a denial-of-service issue in the Interactivity API. Sites with automatic background updates should have updated on their own; on sites where automatic updates are off, you have to do it by hand. You can see the version under Dashboard → Updates or with wp core version.

What's in 7.2?

The final feature list will only be clear with the release. According to DreamHost's summary, last updated on 5 October, the plans include a new default theme, a suggestion mode in Notes, form styles in Global Styles, a new description list block, an email when a new application password is created and a Secrets API for storing API keys encrypted (DreamHost). Real-time collaboration is not part of this release. I couldn't verify which features made it into the betas, so read this list as a plan, not a promise.

Checklist for RC1

  1. Copy the live site to a staging environment. Never try a beta or RC on the live site.
  2. When RC1 is out, update staging and open your most used pages, forms and checkout steps one by one.
  3. If you have plugins with custom blocks or the Interactivity API, look at them closely; several 7.1.4 fixes touched those areas too.
  4. Follow your plugin developers' 7.2 compatibility notes.
  5. After the final release, take a backup before updating the live site.

If you'd like help preparing your site for 7.2, get in touch.

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