Last checked and updated on April 16, 2026What Is New in WordPress 4.7
WordPress 4.7, "Vaughan", introduces a modernized content creation experience, developer-focused APIs, and significant improvements to the customizer. This release makes building and designing sites more intuitive.
| Category | Key Changes |
|---|---|
| New Features | Twenty Seventeen Theme, Custom CSS in the Customizer, PDF Thumbnail Previews, Video Headers |
| Developer APIs | REST API Content Endpoints, Post Type Templates, WP_Hook, Custom Bulk Actions |
| Improvements | User Admin Language Options, Editor Font Size Buttons, Live Theme Preview Shortcuts |
| Security | Hardening for WP_Query, WP_Comment_Query, and WP_User_Query |
What makes the new Twenty Seventeen theme special?
Twenty Seventeen is a business-focused theme designed for showcasing content on front pages and blogs. It supports video headers and uses a multi-panel design that works well for both businesses and bloggers.
In practice, the theme's customizer integration is seamless. You can assign custom content to different sections of the front page, making it highly flexible without needing to touch template files.
How does the Custom CSS feature work in the customizer?
The customizer now includes a dedicated section for adding site-specific CSS. This CSS is live-previewed alongside other customizer changes and saves alongside your theme mods.
This matters because it centralizes design tweaks. Instead of relying on a separate plugin or a child theme's style.css, you can now make and test visual adjustments directly in the admin interface.
What do the REST API content endpoints provide?
WordPress 4.7 ships with the core REST API content endpoints enabled by default. This provides native wp-json/wp/v2 endpoints for posts, pages, comments, terms, and users.
This is a foundational shift. It turns WordPress into a fully-featured headless CMS out of the box, enabling developers to build decoupled applications using React, Vue, or native mobile apps.
What are post type templates and how do I use them?
Theme developers can now assign specific template files to entire post types. By adding a template for single-{post_type}.php, you can control the display for all posts of that type.
This streamlines theme development for custom post types. You no longer need to write complex conditional logic in single.php; the template hierarchy automatically handles it.
What security improvements were made to database queries?
The core query classes (WP_Query, WP_Comment_Query, WP_User_Query) received hardening to prevent potential SQL injection attacks through carefully crafted meta queries.
This change is mostly under the hood, but it's critical. It protects sites from a class of vulnerabilities that could be exploited by plugins or themes with insufficient data sanitization.
FAQ
Does the new REST API replace the existing admin-ajax.php system?
Not necessarily. The REST API is a modern, standards-based alternative for front-end interactions, but admin-ajax.php is still fully supported for backwards compatibility with existing plugins and themes.
Can I use the Custom CSS feature alongside a child theme?
Yes. The custom CSS is loaded after the theme and child theme stylesheets, so its rules will take precedence due to CSS specificity rules.
What is the WP_Hook class introduced in this version?WP_Hook is a refactored internal implementation of the WordPress plugin API. It makes the filter and action system more maintainable and debuggable, though its public API remains unchanged.
How do the new editor font size buttons work?
The editor now includes buttons to apply predefined font sizes to paragraph blocks. This provides more consistent typographic control without needing to manually write inline CSS.
Are there any changes to how theme updates are handled?
Yes, the process for live-previewing theme changes in the customizer was improved. You can now switch themes and customize them without publishing the changes immediately.