What’s Coming in WordPress 7.0: Real-Time Collaboration, AI Integration, & a Fresh Admin Experience

Ever felt like WordPress is almost a team player?

You can share editing access, leave comments on posts, and assign roles to users. But when you’re working with a team of writers, designers, and editors, you still end up bouncing between Google Docs, Slack, and Trello.

WordPress 7.0 is designed to change that.

Scheduled for release on April 9, 2026, this new version marks the official launch of Phase 3 of the Gutenberg project: Collaboration.

For the first time, WordPress is shifting from a single-author tool to a genuine collaborative platform.

That’s not all. The release also brings AI integration foundations, an improved admin experience, new blocks, and important technical updates that will shape the future of the platform.

Here’s a closer look at all the major updates.

1. Real-Time Collaboration Arrives

WordPress has always been strong at content creation, but collaborative editing has long required workarounds.

There’s growing discussion — and early development — around bringing Google Docs–style real-time collaboration to WordPress 7.0, though the feature hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.

The aim is to allow multiple users to edit the same post simultaneously, see each other’s cursors, and watch changes appear in real time, reducing the risk of overwrites and version conflicts.

According to Matías Ventura, lead architect of Gutenberg, the work so far is “in very good shape” on the editor side, with defined UI patterns and diffing mechanics already in place.

However, this feature is expected to depend more heavily on server infrastructure than typical WordPress updates.

💡What this means for you: If it ships as planned, teams, agencies, and freelancers could collaborate in WordPress much more like they do in Google Docs — with fewer handoffs and less friction.

2. Notes Gets Even More Powerful

WordPress 6.9 introduced “Notes,” the first real Phase 3 collaboration feature. It lets you add block-level comments, reply to threads, and resolve discussions right inside the editor.

WordPress 7.0 takes Notes to the next level with several major improvements:

Fragment Notes (Inline Comments)

Instead of commenting on an entire block, you’ll be able to select specific text within a paragraph and leave a note on just that selection. This is like Google Docs’ commenting system: precise and contextual.

Mentions Support

Need to loop in a teammate? Simply @mention them in a note, and they’ll be notified. No more switching to Slack to tag someone about a specific change.

Suggestions Mode

Reviewers can propose edits tied to specific content within a block, which authors can accept or reject with a click.

Multi-Block Notes and Dashboard Widget

Comments can now span multiple blocks, perfect for leaving feedback on entire sections of content. Plus, a new dashboard widget will show recent notes across your site.

💡What this means for you: Getting feedback on your work becomes dramatically easier. Instead of email threads and chat messages, everything stays in context within WordPress.

3. The Abilities API Expands AI Possibilities

WordPress 6.9 introduced the “Abilities API”: a standardized way for plugins and services to expose their capabilities in a format that AI systems can understand.

WordPress 7.0 expands this foundation significantly with:

• Hybrid abilities: Combine multiple capabilities into complex workflows.
• Client-side package: A JavaScript library (@wordpress/abilities) for discovering and executing WordPress capabilities.
• Core abilities: Official WordPress abilities for common tasks.
• Querying and filtering: New functionality to search and filter available abilities.

The WP AI Client: a uniform API for WordPress to communicate with any generative AI model — continues development. It works with any AI provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.) with no providers included in core.

💡What this means for you: Expect a growing ecosystem of AI-powered plugins that can work together seamlessly.

4. The Admin Gets a Fresh Look

The WordPress admin hasn’t had a major visual overhaul since 2013. WordPress 7.0 begins the process of modernization through several initiatives:

Design System

A unified design system is rolling out across the admin. This includes unified form elements, design tokens for colors, spacing, and typography, refreshed admin tables aligned with the DataViews aesthetic, and modern dashboard widgets.

Dedicated Fonts Screen

Font management now has its own dedicated screen at Appearance > Fonts. You can manage installed fonts and upload new ones from one convenient location.

Accessibility Considerations

WordPress targets WCAG 2.2 level AA compliance, and the admin visual refresh will undergo heavy accessibility testing to ensure color contrast, keyboard navigation, and screen reader compatibility remain intact.

New blocks like Tabs and Icons have been reviewed by the Accessibility Team before landing. Joe Dolson, Accessibility Team Lead, noted that ensuring continuity in accessibility is an important goal for the 7.0 cycle.

💡What this means for you: A more modern, consistent admin experience that’s easier to navigate and nicer to look at.

5. New Blocks Expand Your Creative Options

WordPress 7.0 continues expanding the block editor with new native blocks aimed at reducing reliance on plugins and covering more common layout and content needs, including:

• Tabs Block (already merged): Create horizontal or vertical tabbed interfaces for organizing content.
• Breadcrumbs Block (already merged): Native breadcrumb navigation without a plugin.
• Slider Block (in progress): A native carousel/slider block for showcasing images or testimonials.
• Dialog Block (in progress): Create modal dialogs and popups without custom code.
• Playlist Block (in progress): A native audio playlist block for podcasters and musicians.
• Icon Block (in progress): Insert icons from the WordPress icon library.
• Table of Contents Block (in progress): Auto-generated table of contents from your heading structure.

Note: Not all of these blocks are guaranteed to ship in WordPress core — some are still experimental and may remain exclusive to the Gutenberg plugin.

💡What this means for you: Fewer plugins needed for common functionality, which means faster sites and fewer potential conflicts.

6. Responsive Editing Gets Real

WordPress is taking an important step forward in responsive design with block visibility by screen size, making it easy to hide blocks on mobile, tablet, or desktop — without resorting to CSS hacks.

Future releases will build on this foundation with more powerful tools, including responsive style editing that allows styles to be changed and saved per breakpoint, as well as customizable breakpoints that give designers greater control over how layouts adapt across devices.

💡What this means for you: True responsive design within WordPress, without needing custom CSS or third-party page builders.

7. PHP 7.2 and 7.3 Support Dropped

WordPress 7.0 raises the minimum supported PHP version from 7.2.24 to PHP 7.4.0.

If you’re currently running PHP 7.2 or 7.3, your site will remain on the WordPress 6.9 branch after 7.0 is released. You’ll continue to receive security updates, but won’t get new features until you upgrade PHP.

Usage of PHP 7.2 and 7.3 has dropped below 4% of monitored WordPress installations, well under the project’s traditional 5% retirement threshold.

💡What this means for you: Check your PHP version now — if you’re on 7.2 or 7.3, contact your hosting provider about upgrading before April 2026.

“When upgrading, it’s always a good idea to verify how your site looks and works, as it’s not only fatal failures you may see. You may notice some styling missing, some forms may stop working, and so on. I recommend testing your site’s main functionalities to be safe!”

8. Under-the-Hood Improvements

Not all of WordPress 7.0’s changes are visible on the surface. A significant portion of the release focuses on technical upgrades that improve performance, stability, and long-term maintainability of the editor and block system.

• React 19 upgrade: Performance improvements and new features for the block editor.
• Enforced iframed editor: The editor will run in an iframe by default, improving style isolation.
• Block validation improvements: Dramatically reduce “this block is broken” messages.
• Grid block stabilization: The experimental Grid block is being stabilized for production use.

Taken together, these changes point to a broader shift in how WordPress is evolving — not just as a publishing tool, but as a platform designed for modern teams, workflows, and long-term sustainability.

Key Dates

Milestone	Date
Beta 1	February 19, 2026
Release Candidate 1	March 19, 2026
Final Release	April 9, 2026

What Does WordPress 7.0 Mean for Your Website?

WordPress 7.0 is a fundamental shift in how WordPress approaches content creation.

For over a decade, WordPress has been a powerful but solitary tool. With Phase 3, WordPress becomes a collaborative platform:

• For content teams: Real-time editing and inline comments mean faster review cycles.
• For agencies: Streamlined client feedback without email ping-pong.
• For developers: Standardized AI integration and improved APIs.
• For site owners: A modernized admin and new blocks without plugin bloat.

The release also appears to signal WordPress’s return to a three-release cadence in 2026 — likely WordPress 7.0 (April), WordPress 7.1 (August), and WordPress 7.2 (December) — though this schedule has not yet been formally confirmed.