Gutenberg Times: Gutenberg Changelog #134 – Gutenberg 23.7, 23.8, WordPress 7.1 and more

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.

Show Notes / Transcript

• 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
  • Hands-on with the WordPress 7.1 Icon Registration API
  • What’s new for developers (August 2026) 
  • WordPress 7.1 Source of Truth (English)
  • WordPress 7.1 Source of Truth – Deutsch
• Podcasts
  • 478 – Inside WordPress 7.1 – responsive styling, new blocks, media modal and behind-the-scenes changes
  • WordPress 7.1 mit Birgit Pauli-Haack (German)

Gutenberg releases

• What’s new in Gutenberg 23.7? (05 August)
• What’s new in Gutenberg 23.8? (19 August)

What’s discussed or in the works

WordPress 7.2 Tracking issues

• Styling
  • Responsive style states for blocks – 7.2 tasks
  • Custom states for blocks – iteration for WP 7.2
  • Form elements in Global Styles – iteration for WP 7.2
• Editor
  • Block Editor Paper Cuts
  • WordPress 7.2 and beyond: Pattern Editing follow ups
  • Extensible Site Editor: 7.2 Iteration Issue
  • Improve Navigation Editing in the Extensible Site Editor Sidebar for 7.2
• Media
  • WordPress 7.2 Iteration: Media Editor Modal
  • Client Side Media iteration for WordPress 7.2 and beyond
  • WordPress 7.2: Dynamic galleries and media inserter
  • Discussion: How might the media inserter tab look in WP 7.2+
• 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

Stay in Touch

Transcript

The transcript is in the works.