A wp_kses() bug that corrupts valid CSS background-image: url() declarations is among the 17 tickets addressed in WordPress 7.0.1 Release Candidate 1, now open for community testing ahead of a Thursday, July 9 general release. The full RC1 announcement is available on Make WordPress Core.
The update targets issues introduced during the 7.0 development cycle or intentionally deferred before 7.0 shipped — no new features are included. The final release is scheduled for Thursday, July 9, 2026, though that date could shift if testing uncovers significant problems. The release is led by @jorbin, @cbravobernal, @estelaris, and @masteradhoc, with coordination happening in the WordPress.org Slack channels #7-0-release-leads and #core.
Seventeen core tickets are included in RC1, ranging from the wp_kses() CSS corruption bug to admin UI problems introduced with the WordPress 7.0 reskin. You can browse the full list on Trac report 4 or the 7.0.x editor tasks board. A few of the more impactful fixes include:
- wp_kses() corrupting valid CSS
background-image: url()declarations into broken inline styles - Form elements not standardized in the mobile admin viewport
- The global-styles-inline-css stylesheet becoming impossible to dequeue since 7.0
- Emoji detection script not printing correctly in the admin
- Accessibility issues in the Visual History revisions interface
- A broken header logo on the network credits page
Fourteen Gutenberg pull requests are also bundled, covering accessibility improvements to the revisions slider and visual diff view, and a fix for the Custom HTML block’s scrollbar becoming non-functional after tab switching. A separate patch restores block_core_navigation_submenu_render_submenu_icon() as a deprecated compatibility shim for themes relying on that function.
There are three ways to test RC1. The WordPress Beta Tester plugin works if you select the Point Release channel and the Nightlies stream. Alternatively, WP-CLI users can run wp core update https://wordpress.org/wordpress-7.0.1-RC1.zip, or download the RC1 zip directly from WordPress.org. If you find a bug during testing, report it on WordPress Trac for core issues or the Gutenberg GitHub repository for block editor issues; testing discussion also takes place in the #core Slack room. Any changes to the 7.0 branch require the dev-reviewed workflow — meaning two committers must sign off before any change merges to the branch.
