The 4.3 version is a minor release for WooCommerce, who’s trying to adapt to the pandemic
As it was announced on June 26th, WooCommerce 4.3 arrived a few days ago. This is a minor release. However, the 4.3 version has the particularity of its historical context: in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, online commerce has reached an unprecedented level of importance.
Since going (physically) shopping has become impossible in many parts of the world, e-commerce has evolved from comfort into need in many cases, to clients as well as to vendors. This urgency is not something that WooCommerce developers have missed.
Expected improvements and unexpected news
WooCommerce 4.3 brings news about its Blocks (like the “Draft” category for orders, or a wider set of options to filter products by features or price), twenty one new hooks and other general improvements, such as fixed add-to-cart links, or a new tool for database checking. You can see here the full registry of changes.
A new version for those loyal to WordPress and WooCommerce
But let’s head right into the main course of this update: the Home Page. Every new e-commerce website will have this updated Home Page. As to existing sites, it’s up to their runners to choose when to start using it (through their Setting options), since it is disabled by default. The new WooCommerce’s Home Page brings three main characteristics that we’ll explain further down, but the main goal of those novelties is to make the management of your site more centralized, more intuitive, and therefore, easier and more efficient. These are said characteristics:
- A new Inbox. This feature was already available in previous versions, but now is directly there on the Home Page, so you don’t have to switch pages. It also includes a “Dismiss” option, to avoid messy screens.
- Stats Overview. You can personalize the parameters (up to six of them). That way you’ll always have a general overview of how your numbers are going, and reports at hand.
- Shortcuts for Store Management. Access the most important areas of the store without ever leaving the Home Page.
The eternal question about updating: WooCommerce 4.3 is compatible
The WooCommerce team has decided to eliminate the compatibility warning for minor releases, and leave it exclusively for major ones. In exchange, they guarantee compatibility with previous versions.
Just like we told you when WooCommerce 4.0 came out, sometimes it’s better to wait when a big launch has recently happened, but this is a version that has arrived to stay.