In this 134th episode of the Gutenberg Changelog Podcast, Birgit Pauli-Haack hosts Jessica Lyschik , senior developer at Greyd, to discuss recent Gutenberg and WordPress developments. The conversation centers on the releases of Gutenberg 23.7, 23.8, and WordPress 7.1 (“Mary Lou”), highlighting user-facing enhancements and developer-oriented changes.
WordPress 7.1 introduced notable features, including new styling tools, updated media flow, notes functionality for collaboration, and improved support for AI-driven workflows. Jessica Lyschik emphasized the impactful addition of pseudo states (hover, focus, active) in buttons and navigation links, though global style options for navigation states are still being developed for 7.2. The new icon API was also discussed, which currently requires plugins for full editor integration.
Both speakers observed an ongoing shift: features first become available via theme.json for theme builders, then gradually get exposed in the UI for broader audiences. They also touched on the evolving approach to child themes, font management, and the need for clear style inheritance indicators. Specific enhancements in Gutenberg 23.7/23.8, like responsive editing toggles and improvements to dynamic galleries and block inspector controls, were covered alongside new opt-out mechanisms for block controls.
The episode closed with a look toward WordPress 7.2, highlighting efforts to address “block editor paper cuts” (small annoyances) and improved tracking of in-progress features. Birgit Pauli-Haack announced a three-month podcast hiatus for sabbatical, promising a return for the 7.2 release. Listeners were encouraged to follow GitHub tracking issues and stay current with upcoming Gutenberg releases.
- Editor: Sandy Reed
- Logo: Mark Uraine
- Production: Birgit Pauli-Haack
Show Notes
Special Guest: Jessica Lyschik
- https://x.com/jessicalyschik
- https://www.youtube.com/@jessicalyschik
- profiles.wordpress.org/luminuu
- Greyd Conversations, to be found on YouTube
- DACH Online WordPress Meetup
Announcements / Community contributions
- WordPress 7.2 Call for Volunteers
- WordPress Contributor Toolkit 1.0: A smoother workflow for your first Core contribution
WordPress 7.1
- WordPress 7.1 “Mary Lou”
- WordPress 7.1 Highlights Video
- WordPress 7.1 micro site
- WordPress 7.1 Field Guide
- WordPress 7.1 Release Notes
- Curated
- Podcasts
Gutenberg releases
What’s discussed or in the works
WordPress 7.2 Tracking issues
- Styling
- Editor
- Media
- Notes iteration for WordPress 7.2
- DataViews, DataViewsPicker, DataForm, Fields in WordPress 7.2
- Guidelines built on Knowledge in WordPress 7.2
Greyd Conversations
Greyd Conversations #19 – How Can Product Companies Grow in WordPress Right Now
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Transcript
The transcript is in the works.
