WordPress 6.8 packs a wide range of performance fixes and enhancements to speed up everything from editing to browsing.
100+ accessibility fixes and enhancements touch a broad spectrum of the WordPress experience.
The Style Book is available in some classic themes, this gives you an overview of the standard styles in classic themes in the Site Editor style book. It is read only for our classic themes. Accessed via the Appearance -> Design section of the dashboard.
You can also access patterns for classic sites in the Design section, this allows you to add & edit patterns easily. Usefull if you have repeated content or repeat a type of content. Patterns are used in the block editor.
Block, images, you can set any image to site featured images.
The Full Site Editor
The FSE see some improvements. Especially in the views of Navigation, styles, Pages & Templates in the Editor.
Style Editor
The Style Book has a new, structured layout and clearer labels, to make it even easier to edit colors, typography—almost all your site styles—in one place
Pages in the Editor
Pages listed & can be edited in the Appearance-> Editor section of the dashboard.
This release contains a couple of improvements and some general updated.
Additional CSS
We have restored the ability to add additional CSS in the customiser and the Styles of the Site editor. You can again edit the styles of your site. Read more on the new CSS page.
New Plugin: Contact Form Block
We have added a new contact form with Google reCatcha v3 to Block themes. The Jetpack contact forms did not work in the block editor. You can now use this plugin in Block Theme sites. Read more about the plugin & other form options on the Contact Form page.
A few quick tips and some information that might help at the start of this new session.
Check Your Blogs
The Glow Blogs housekeeping has started.
All staff and pupils who administrate blocks shoud check them .
It is getting near to the 28 August 2025 date when unused blogs will be deleted from the system. These have already been archived. If you have a blog that you have not used for a few years but still value please check it, if you see an archived notice you can tell your Key Contact before the 21 August 2025 if you need it restored. More information.
No one in school can access a blog (perhaps staff have moved or retired)
You need to get your Local Authority to raise a call with the RM help desk.
Make sure you include the usernames you want added to a blog and the URL of the blog.
I can log on to Glow but I can’t access a blog where I have a role.
If you have just be added to the blog, get an admin for the blog check you have been added in the right way. If you are showing as NOT LOGGED IN YET, see this tip. If that doesn’t help you need to get your Local Authority to raise a call with the RM help desk.
Make sure you include your username and the URL of the blog.
We now recommend using The Blocks Editor to create posts & pages on your sites. Itis a newer way to edit posts and pages. It allows a lot more flexibility as to content and layout. We have a blog that explains more: Using the Blocks Editor in Glow Blogs.
Site Editor
The site editor is a new way to edit the look and design of your site. It goes much further than changing themes. More improvements should come to Glow Blogs in the session, when we wil provide more information.
H5PH5P
H5P is a plugin that allows you to create & display on your site a whole range of interactive content, from quizzes, multi-choice and close exercises all the way to 360 tours. H5p examples.
Accessibility
Accessibility they are new ways to make you sites accessibly to different visitors. Accessibility is becoming even more important in web design and should be considered for all public blogs.
We have changed the way users can control cookies with the civic cookie plugin. This allows visitors and users to set the cookies they will accept from Glow Blogs. You can change this at any time by editing your cookie preferences. These are accessed from the icon that will appear at the bottom right of every page.
Civic Cookie Setting iconCivic Cookies Settings Click to expand.
You can choose to accept or reject cookies in different categories. We have also an new Glow Blogs Cookies Policy page.
Other Plugins
The Following plugins have been updated to the latest versions:
WP Draw Attention, Akismet, Jetpack, Civic Control Cookie, WP Accessibility, MegaMenu, 3D Flipbook and You Tube embed.
A Reminder – Housekeeping
Check your sites & tell your Key Contact before the 21 August 2025 if you need any restored.
It is getting near to the 28 August 2025 date when unused blogs will be deleted from the system. If you have a blog that you have not used for a few years but still value please check:
it is getting near to the 28 August 2025 date when unused blogs will be deleted from the system. If you have a blog that you have not used for a few years but still value please check it out.
Do you have a Glow Blog? Most likely the answer is yes! Glow Blogs is one of the most popular services in Glow with hundreds of new blogs created each month.
This is fantastic news and we want to make sure Glow keeps performing well to support your blogs. To help with this we’re carrying out a housekeeping exercise to remove older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a while.
On 1 May 2025 we archived older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a number of years. Following this, commencing 28 August 2025, we will permanently delete these from the system to free up space and help improve overall performance.
This will affect; blogs with no users and no updates in the past 3 years, private blogs with users but no updates in the last 3 years and e-portfolios with or without users that have not been updated since 2017. Please note there are a small number of blogs and e-portfolios that have updates in the past three years that are also being archived as they have no users and do not use a home theme. If you have any questions regarding this then please speak to your local Glow Key Contact.
If your Glow Blog is archived but you want to continue using it you have the opportunity to restore it back to the live environment. Simply email your Glow Key Contact before 21 August 2025 and they will raise a service call on your behalf. Otherwise there’s nothing you need to do.
it is getting near to the 28 August 2025 date when unused blogs will be deleted from the system. If you have a blog that you have not used for a few years but still value please check it out.
Do you have a Glow Blog? Most likely the answer is yes! Glow Blogs is one of the most popular services in Glow with hundreds of new blogs created each month.
This is fantastic news and we want to make sure Glow keeps performing well to support your blogs. To help with this we’re carrying out a housekeeping exercise to remove older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a while.
On 1 May 2025 we archived older Glow Blogs that haven’t been used for a number of years. Following this, commencing 28 August 2025, we will permanently delete these from the system to free up space and help improve overall performance.
This will affect; blogs with no users and no updates in the past 3 years, private blogs with users but no updates in the last 3 years and e-portfolios with or without users that have not been updated since 2017. Please note there are a small number of blogs and e-portfolios that have updates in the past three years that are also being archived as they have no users and do not use a home theme. If you have any questions regarding this then please speak to your local Glow Key Contact.
If your Glow Blog is archived but you want to continue using it you have the opportunity to restore it back to the live environment. Simply email your Glow Key Contact before 21 August 2025 and they will raise a service call on your behalf. Otherwise there’s nothing you need to do.
The Following Plugins were updated. Jetpack, Syntax Highlighter, WP Accessibility, Mega Menu, H5P, Youtube Embed , 3D Flipbook, Userway Accessibility, WP Draw Attention.
The Plugin updates in the main as small fixes and compatibility with the latest version of WordPress.
Jetpack
Fixed: A problem with the Jetpack icon not being visitable in the dashboard. Access to turn on and off the jetpack modules has been restored to the dashboard. The interface has changed a little. The Modules have been split into tabbed sections in the Setting screen.
You can access the older simpler interface by using the Modules link in the settings or Dashboard.
H5P
Fixed: Various problems with the H5P plugin. You now can install all of the H5P content types.
You may see a problem with installing some content types. In particular the Games Map, Interactive Video and other large content types. The libraries are large and need other libraries to be installed. You may occasionally see a 503 error but refreshing the page will show the content type installed and ready to use. We would recommend installing the interactive Video content type before adding the Game Map, Branching Scenario or Column types.
The Glow Team are looking for feedback on Glow Blogs.
As part of our ongoing effort to support education staff and students with a platform that truly works for you, we’re inviting a moment of reflection on the Glow Blogs service.