WordPress 5.6 “Simone” Update December 2020 will make the jQuery Helper plugin useless which means that some websites may break again. Here, we are going to discuss the WordPress 5.6 “Simone” Update December 2020.
WordPress 5.5 update was released in August 2020, and after the update, millions of websites across the Internet were broken. Now, get ready for the new WordPress 5.6 update in December 2020, which could do the same as the WordPress 5.5 update did.
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One of the WordPress plugin developers behind the jQuery Migrate Plugin gives an update in a support thread that the plugin will become useless once the new WordPress 5.6 update is rolled out. Anyone who is depending on it, in December they will experience the new WordPress 5.6 update on their websites.

Why WordPress 5.6 Break some websites
WordPress is planning three phases of Modernization of the use of jQuery.jQuery is a set of scripts that give different functionalities to websites, like animations, provide interactive elements to the website pages, and are helpful in creating Plugins and themes because jQuery handles common features of websites and manipulates the CSS with it.

Previous jQuery versions are still in use in many themes and plugins. Older jQuery libraries contain XSS (Cross-site Scripting) and DoS (Denial of Service)vulnerabilities, which can be dangerous for those websites that are using the older version of jQuery.
The WordPress 5.5 update was the first step of modernization by WordPress, forcing the whole WordPress ecosystem to update its code to the latest and secure version of jQuery.
The first step of the WordPress update journey was to remove or end the jQuery Migrate 1.x library.
jQuery Migrate Library Enabler Plugin is a code that allows a website to work with those plugins that use old versions of jQuery. Because it makes a WordPress website backward compatible with themes and plugins that run or use an older version of jQuery.
When WordPress 5.5 is released in August 2020, millions of websites will stop working properly. Some of the website owners were locked out of their websites and they couldn’t log in to their WordPress website admin panel. And many other publishers saw their whole websites stop displaying.
WordPress 5.6 December 2020 update will roll out step 2 of modernizing the use of jQuery by updating the jQuery Migrate library to the latest and updated version 3.3.1.
The purpose of doing that is that websites that are relying on the “Enable jQuery Migrate Helper” to keep their website from falling apart are going to suffer all over again after the new update of WordPress 5.6.

All the functionalities of all websites that are still relying on the Enable jQuery Migrate Helper Plugin to keep their website functioning, These websites will face the break-in their functionalities.
On the support forum of WordPress, Enable jQuery Migrate helper, someone asked the following Question.
Question: “When the WordPress 5.6 version update arrives, will Enable jQuery Migrate Helper plugin still work?”
The WordPress plugin developer answered:
Answer: “So the short of it is that no, it will not help once WordPress 5.6 version comes around, as the jQuery library in WordPress is planned to be upgraded, and that would leave this helper useless.”
Will WordPress 5.6 Update December 2020 Break your Website?
If you are currently using the Enable jQuery Migrate Helper plugin, when you log in to your WordPress admin panel, you will get error messages, then yes, you may experience unexpected behavior of your website when your WordPress is updated to WordPress 5.6 version.
On the other hand, if the Enable jQuery Migrate Helper is not reporting any errors, it means your themes and plugins have updated their jQuery libraries, and your website should work well.
Updates/Improvements For Developers
REST API authentication with Application Passwords
Thanks to the API’s new Application Password authorization feature in WordPress 5.6 update version, now third-party apps can connect to your website securely. This new REST API feature lets you check which apps are connecting to your website and what they control.
PHP8 Support
WordPress 5.6 “Simone” Version took the first step towards WordPress Core support for PHP 8. Now is a great time to start planning how your WordPress products, services, and websites can support the latest PHP 8.
For more Updates and information read the PHP 8 developers note.
jQuery
jQuery Updates in WordPress take place across three WordPress new version releases: 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7.
Now we are in the midpoint of this process, run the update test plugin to check your WordPress websites for errors by installing the Test jQuery Updates Plugin.
If you face any kind of issue, like your website is stuck in terms of (Slider is not working, the button is stuck, this type of issue), then install the latest version of the jQuery Migrate plugin.
Note: Read about the latest version 5.6 “Simone” of WordPress in this guide.
Conclusion
Now, as we see, WordPress 5.6 “Simone” Update December 2020 is coming soon, and this update occurs to modernize the jQuery of WordPress themes and plugins; otherwise, many websites will face issues, like the website will stop working or go down due to the new WordPress 5.6 Update. It’s time to update our Themes and Plugins jQuery according to the update of WordPress 5.6 by implementing a new jQuery script code in our Plugins and Themes to avoid this issue that can occur in our websites after the release of WordPress 5.6 December Update.

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