WordPress 6.2 Release Candidate 2

WordPress 6.2 Release Candidate 2 is now available for download and testing. This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it is recommended that you test RC2 on a test server and site.

Here it is: the second release candidate (RC2) for WordPress 6.2 is ready! 

WordPress 6.2 is scheduled for release on March 28, 2023—which is only two weeks away. Now is your perfect opportunity if you haven’t tried it out yet. Your feedback and help filing bug reports are what keep the WordPress experience stable, smooth, and delightful. It’s important work and a great way to contribute to the project. 

Thanks to everyone who tested the Beta and RC releases so far. Since RC1 was released on March 9, there have been about 36 issues resolved in Trac and GitHub. 

Catch up on the featured highlights, and dig into more 6.2 details, in the WordPress 6.2 RC1 release announcement.

How to install RC2 for testing

This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it is recommended that you test RC2 on a test server and site. 

You can test WordPress 6.2 RC2 in three ways:

Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).

Option 2: Direct download the RC2 version (zip).

Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command:

wp core update --version=6.2-RC2

A shoutout to plugin and theme developers

Your products are the reason WordPress does so many more things for more people across the world. As you test your latest versions against RC2, make sure you update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.2. If you find compatibility problems, please post detailed information to the support forums.

Check out the WordPress 6.2 Field Guide for more details about the major changes in this release.

Help translate WordPress

Do you speak a language other than English? Help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages. 

Join the bug hunt—test, test, test

Without your testing support, hitting important product milestones would be a much bigger challenge. It’s also a meaningful way to contribute to the project. If you’re new to testing, or it’s been a while, this detailed guide can help you get started. 

If you think you have run into an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Release the haiku

Listen, we are close
One step to final RC
Breathe, and keep going

Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: @laurlittle @marybaum @audrasjb @cbringmann

Haiku by @sereedmedia