WordPress 7.1 for Developers: What Shipped and What Didn't

Originally published on Substack. I also write on Medium (profile). More WordPress work at expertwebdeveloper.in.

WordPress 7.1, code-named "Mary Lou", was released on August 19, 2026. Release notes can read like a long list, so here is a shorter way to look at it as a WordPress developer: what you can actually use now, and what was discussed during the cycle but did not make it into the release.

What shipped for developers

Based on coverage from Raidboxes and Wordify, these are the changes that matter most for people who build and maintain sites.

• Icons API. register_icon() and unregister_icon() let agencies and product developers add their own icon sets, with SVG sanitisation and namespace validation.
• AI Client and Connectors. The PHP AI Client adds generation streaming and embeddings. Connectors can now authenticate with a username and application password, not only API keys.
• Block Bindings. List items and nested blocks can be bound to dynamic data sources, and Advanced Custom Fields and Meta Box bindings are included by default.
• REST API batch requests. Several REST requests can be combined into a single HTTP request.
• Responsive styling. Theme authors can set Tablet and Mobile breakpoints in theme.json, and hover, focus and active styles are editor controls for the Button and Navigation Link blocks.
• Media. Images can be processed in the browser before upload, with support for HEIC, Ultra HDR, AVIF and WebP. Firefox and Safari keep using the server-side path.
• Editor and blocks. Notes with @mentions and email notifications, a command palette, and new Tabs and Playlist blocks.

What did not ship

According to Wordify, several items that appeared on the roadmap are not in the final release.

• Real-time collaboration was tested but is not enabled.
• The Table of Contents block, which was on the June roadmap, is not included.
• React 19 in Core was postponed, and the experiment continues in the Gutenberg plugin.
• Guidelines changed during the cycle and is not a finished user-facing feature.
• The planned change to hide the Classic block from the inserter was reverted.

The official 7.1 roadmap itself warned that planned items do not necessarily make it into the final release. That is worth remembering whenever a feature is announced early.

What I would check before updating a client site

This is my own checklist, not an official one.

1. Test on a staging copy first, including checkout and forms.
2. If a theme sets its own responsive styles, check how the new Tablet and Mobile breakpoints in theme.json interact with them.
3. If a project was waiting for the Table of Contents block or real-time collaboration, keep the current plugin or workflow, because neither is in this release.
4. If a plugin talks to AI services, check whether streaming or the new Connectors authentication options simplify it.
5. Re-test image uploads in more than one browser, since the in-browser processing is not used in Firefox and Safari.

The takeaway

A release is more than its headline features. What shipped is a set of practical tools: icons, bindings, request batching and responsive controls. What did not ship is just as useful to know when you plan client work.

Which change in 7.1 will you use first?

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I'm Vijay Mishra, a WordPress developer. I work on production WordPress sites, and you can find my services, case studies and blog at expertwebdeveloper.in.

Sources: Raidboxes, Wordify, Make WordPress Core: Roadmap to 7.1.