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WordPress 7 is Coming: What to Expect and How to Prepare
A new version of WordPress is scheduled to be released this year, and if your website runs on WordPress, you may be wondering what that means for you.
- Will your site break?
- Do you need to update right away?
- How do you know whether your theme and plugins are ready?
In this article, I’m going to share what to expect with WordPress 7.0 and how you can prepare without creating unnecessary risk for your team or your website.
WordPress 7.0 release date
WordPress 7.0 is scheduled to be released on April 9, 2026.
However, major WordPress releases don’t all arrive at once. They move through a public process of beta releases, release candidates, testing, and bug fixing before the final version ships. That process is already underway for WordPress 7.0, which means developers, plugin and theme teams, and site owners already have early versions they can test in staging environments before launch.
What should you do about the new version of WordPress?
We’re going to talk a little bit more about the process leading up to the WordPress update, but the short version is: don’t rush to update on day one, and don’t do it on your live site.
How long you should wait isn’t really a set number of weeks. It depends on your specific setup.
The reason is, your WordPress site isn’t just WordPress. It’s WordPress plus your theme (or theme framework, like Divi or Elementor), plus every plugin you’re running. All of those pieces need to work with WordPress 7 before you make the switch.
Here are the steps we recommend for making the switch to WordPress 7.
- Wait for the first minor release. WordPress 7.0.1 will likely come out within a couple weeks of launch. It catches the early bugs that only surface once the wider community starts using it. That’s your signal that core is stable.
- Check your theme or theme framework. If you’re running something like Divi, Elementor, Astra, GeneratePress, or anything similar, check their blog or changelog for a confirmed WordPress 7.0 compatible update. Your theme controls how your entire site looks, so if it’s not ready, you’re not ready.
- Check your critical plugins. Go through your plugin list and make sure the ones you depend on have been updated for WordPress 7. Actively maintained premium plugins (like Gravity Forms, Yoast SEO, WPML, WooCommerce…) will likely be ready at or near launch. Smaller or free plugins may take longer.
- Once your whole stack is ready, test making the core update on staging. You should have a staging site that’s in sync with your live site no matter what so that you can test any change or update you make before rolling it out. But if you don’t, now’s the time to set one up.
- After you’ve made the update on your staging site, do a comprehensive review. Test your forms, your integrations, different pages and different types of pages. Pay close attention to any filtering, animations and special functionality (like a map or timeline).
- If your website looks and functions the way it should on staging, then you’re ready to push that to your production site.
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How long will updating to WordPress 7 take?
For someone running all premium, actively maintained tools, this whole process might take a couple weeks. If you’ve got niche or older plugins in the mix, it could take longer, and that’s actually a signal that those plugins may need replacing.
What happens if something breaks on the staging site?
If you do update and something breaks (either a plugin or your theme), there’s unfortunately nothing you can do other than wait for the developers of that plugin or theme to fix their product, or switch to a different plugin. That’s why we test on staging first.
Note: One more thing to be aware of: WordPress 7.0 is raising the minimum PHP version to 7.4 (up from 7.2). If your site is running PHP 7.2 or 7.3, you won’t even be able to update to WordPress 7.0. Check with your hosting provider to confirm what PHP version you’re on, and if you need to upgrade, do that before attempting the WordPress update. For the best performance and security, the WordPress core team recommends PHP 8.3 or higher.
What can we expect with WordPress 7.0?
WordPress 7.0 is a big release. It marks the start of Phase 3 of the Gutenberg project, which is all about collaboration and workflows. The idea is to move WordPress from a single-author editing tool to something more like a collaborative platform where teams can work together.
- Real-time collaboration: Think Google Docs-style editing where multiple users can work on the same post at the same time, seeing each other’s cursors and changes as they happen. The full experience may arrive in stages, but WordPress 7.0 is where it starts.
- Expanded commenting and communication: WordPress 6.9 introduced block-level commenting, and version 7.0 expands that into a fuller communication system. You’ll be able to leave notes on specific blocks or text fragments, @mention teammates, and get email or dashboard notifications.
- New AI infrastructure: WordPress 7.0 introduces something called the Abilities API and an AI Client. These give developers a standard way to build AI-powered tools (like layout assistants or content generators) that plug into WordPress. It’s not a built-in AI writer; it’s more like the plumbing that lets plugins offer those kinds of features in a consistent way.
- DataViews in the admin: Your backend is also going to look and feel different. WordPress is replacing the traditional admin list tables with something called DataViews, which is a more modern, app-like interface. It’s part of a broader effort to bring the older admin screens more in line with the newer block-based parts of WordPress.
- A new default theme: Major releases also typically ship with a new default theme. For 7.0, the community expects Twenty Twenty-Six.
What can you do right now to prepare?
There are a few things you can and should do right now to get ready:
- Make sure your website is set up on staging and that staging is synced up with your live site. If you don’t have a staging environment yet, set one up now, not in April.
- Audit your plugins. Go through your full plugin list. Know what each one does and whether you still need it. Now is the time to remove anything you don’t use. For the ones you keep, check whether they’re actively maintained. When was the last update? Does the developer have a track record of supporting new WordPress versions? If a plugin hasn’t been updated in over a year, that’s a risk, and it’s better to find a replacement now than scramble after the update.
- Know your theme. Same idea. If you’re running a major theme framework (Divi, Elementor, Astra, etc.), check whether they’ve announced WordPress 7 compatibility plans. Most of the big ones will. If you’re running a custom or niche theme, talk to your developer about their plan.
- Check your PHP version. If you’re running anything below PHP 7.4, you’ll need to upgrade before you can move to WordPress 7.0. Talk to your hosting provider about getting on PHP 8.3 if possible.
- If you’re working with a developer (freelance or agency), make sure they’re aware of the coming change and have a plan in place for it. The beta is expected February 19, that’s the time to start testing, not April.
Will we have a better idea of what might break with WordPress 7.0?
The good news is WordPress isn’t going to surprise everyone and release the new version. Leading up to the rollout, there will be pre-releases: Beta 1 is planned for February 19, 2026, and Release Candidate 1 is expected around March 19, 2026. This will enable the community to plan their updates in advance.
We’ll also be testing those pre-releases and we will share information about what to expect as we learn more.
Do you have to make the switch to WordPress 7.0?
Naturally, the question is do you have to make that switch or can you stay on WordPress 6.0? You can, technically, for a while. But it’s not a good long-term plan.
WordPress’s official position is that only the latest major release is fully supported. Previous major releases may or may not receive security patches as serious vulnerabilities come up, but there’s no guarantee and no fixed timeline for those.
WordPress has historically backported security fixes to older versions as a courtesy, but that courtesy is shrinking. In 2022, they dropped security support for versions 3.7 through 4.0. In July 2025, they dropped versions 4.1 through 4.6. The pattern is clear: older versions eventually stop receiving any security updates at all. Every new major release adds to the maintenance burden of supporting old branches, which makes it more likely that your version gets cut off.
Beyond security, plugins will also stop supporting past versions of WordPress as they update their code to work with the new version. Over time, you’ll find fewer and fewer plugins that are compatible with your older version, and the ones that are may have their own unpatched vulnerabilities.
By not making the update, you open yourself up to risks that could be far more costly than the update itself.
What’s a major WordPress update?
WordPress is an actively maintained platform that makes regular updates and improvements. The current version is WordPress 6.9, released in December 2025. Between major versions, there are smaller updates that get rolled out (6.7, 6.8, 6.9, etc.). Where major updates typically introduce new features, architectural changes, and user-facing improvements, minor updates are smaller and focus on bug fixes and security patches.
WordPress 6.9 focused on laying the groundwork for collaboration features. It introduced a new Notes system for block-level commenting, improvements to the Command Palette for faster dashboard navigation, and the early foundations for AI integration through the Abilities API.
One of the strengths of WordPress is it’s an open source ecosystem with an active community contributing to it through plugins and themes. Unfortunately, that means that during large updates, WordPress’s code changes might cause those plugins and themes to no longer work until they get updated.
That means that key functionality on your website (for plugins) or even your site itself could break when you update to the new version.
Final Thoughts
WordPress releases updates on a regular basis; this is a big part of how it remains one of the most used CMSs today. These updates are designed to help you future proof your website. With the right planning, thoughtful testing, and a bit of preparation, you can make sure your move to WordPress 7.0 is a smooth and manageable transition.
A little work now will go a long way to keeping your website secure, stable, and ready for what’s next.