The third Release Candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta). (“RC3”) for WordPress 7.1 is ready 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’s recommended that you evaluate RC3 on a test server and site.

Reaching this phase of the release cycle is an important milestone. While release candidates are considered ready for release, testing remains crucial to ensure that everything in WordPress 7.1 is the best it can be.

You can test WordPress 7.1 RC3 in four ways:

Plugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party.	Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin on a WordPress install. (Select the “Bleeding edge The latest revision of the software, generally in development and often unstable. Also known as trunk.” channel and “Beta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process./RC One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta). Only” stream).
Direct Download	Download the RC3 version (zip) and install it on a WordPress website.
Command Line	Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=7.1-RC3
WordPress Playground	Use the 7.1 RC3 WordPress Playground instance to test the software directly in your browser without the need for a separate site or setup.

The scheduled final release date for WordPress 7.1 is August 19, 2026. The full release schedule can be found here. Your help testing RC versions is vital to making this release as stable and powerful as possible.

Please continue checking the Make WordPress Core blog for 7.1-related posts for more updates and information.

What’s in WordPress 7.1 RC3?

WordPress 7.1 RC3 contains more than 90 updates and fixes since the RC1 release, including 37 in the Editor and 57 in Core.

Want to look deeper into the details and technical notes for this release? Take a look at the WordPress 7.1 Field Guide. For technical information related to issues addressed since WordPress 7.1 RC1 release, you can browse the following links:

• Gutenberg commits for 7.1 since August 05
• Closed WordPress Core Trac tickets since August 05

How you can contribute

WordPress is open source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is crucial to the development of any software. It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute. 

Your help testing the WordPress 7.1 RC3 version is key to ensuring that the final release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 7.1.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. report.  You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs. 

Curious about testing releases in general?  Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Update your theme or plugin

For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.

Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 7.1 beta releases. If you haven’t yet, make sure to conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 7.1

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.

Test on your hosting platforms

Web hosts provide vital infrastructure for supporting WordPress and its users. Testing on hosting systems helps inform the development process while ensuring that WordPress and hosting platforms are fully compatible, free of errors, optimized for the best possible user experience, and that updates roll out to customer sites without issue.

Want to test WordPress on your hosting system? Get started with configuring distributed hosting tests here. 

Help translate WordPress

Do you speak a language other than English? ¿Español? Français? Русский? 日本語? हिन्दी? বাংলা? मराठी? ಕನ್ನಡ?  You can help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages. This release milestone (RC3) also marks the hard string freeze point of the 7.1 release cycle.

An RC3 haiku

Small cracks catch the light,
We polish, not propose—
Almost ready now.

Props to @benjamin_zekavica, @amykamala, @wildworks and @annezazu for proofreading and review.

#7-1, #development, #release