Title: Version 3.8
Published: May 17, 2019

---

# Version 3.8

## In this article

 * [Highlights](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#highlights)
 * [What’s New](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#whats-new)
    - [General](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#general)
    - [Dashboard](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#dashboard)
    - [Appearance](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#appearance)
    - [Themes](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#themes)
    - [Widgets](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#widgets)
    - [Accessibility](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#accessibility)
    - [Multisite](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#multisite)
 * [Under The Hood](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#under-the-hood)
    - [General](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#general-2)
    - [Bug Fixes](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#bug-fixes)
    - [Multisite](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#multisite-2)
    - [Classes](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#classes)
    - [Functions](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#functions)
    - [Actions & Filters](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#actions-filters)
    - [External Libraries](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#external-libraries)
    - [Deprecated](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#deprecated)
    - [Miscellaneous](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#miscellaneous)

[ Back to top](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

On December 12, 2013, WordPress **Version 3.8**, named for Charlie Parker, was released
to the public. For more information on this enhancement and bug-fix release, read
the [WordPress Blog](https://wordpress.org/development), the [Release Post](https://wordpress.org/news/2013/12/parker/),
and see the [Changelog for 3.8](https://codex.wordpress.org/Changelog/3.8).

For **Version 3.8**, the database version (**db_version** in **wp_options**) changed
to 26691, and the [Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/) revision was r26861.

 * [View Closed Tickets](https://trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&milestone=3.8)

## 󠀁[Highlights](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#highlights)󠁿

 * **Introduces a new, modern admin design**
    - A fresh, uncluttered design
    - Clean typography with Open Sans
    - Superior contrast and large, comfortable type
    - Responsive interfaces throughout
    - Refined, theme management
    - Smoother, click-to-add widget management
 * **New Default Theme – [Twenty Fourteen](https://codex.wordpress.org/Twenty_Fourteen)**
    - Easily create a responsive magazine website with a sleek, modern design.
    - Feature your favorite homepage content in either a grid or a slider.
    - Use the three widget areas to customize your website, and change your content’s
      layout with a full-width page template and a contributor page to show off 
      your authors.
 * **For Developers**
    - External Libraries have been updated.
    - Better RTL support

## 󠀁[What’s New](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#whats-new)󠁿

### 󠀁[General](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#general)󠁿

 * Replace PNG-based plugins ratings stars with Dashicons for performance gains
 * Improved help tab text in various screens
 * Clicking “Check Again” on the Updates screen now provides more immediate feedback

### 󠀁[Dashboard](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#dashboard)󠁿

 * Consolidate several Dashboard widgets to improve readability
 * Replace the ‘Right Now’ widget with the new and improved ‘At a Glance’ widget

### 󠀁[Appearance](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#appearance)󠁿

 * Introduce 8 new admin color schemes
 * Improved readability throughout using Open Sans typeface (where supported)
 * Responsive Toolbar for smaller-screen devices
 * Leverage Dashicons instead of icon sprites for crisper experience on all resolutions
 * Big RTL improvements throughout
 * Make the dashboard more usable on any size device with responsive all the things
 * Improve the login screen experience for Internet Explorer 8 users
 * Improve Quick Edit experience for non-English users
 * Improve the Menus experience for mobile users

### 󠀁[Themes](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#themes)󠁿

 * New Default Theme — [Twenty Fourteen](https://codex.wordpress.org/Twenty_Fourteen)
 * Make it possible to check for any post format assigned to a post with [has_post_format()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/has_post_format)
 * Better custom background theme support defaults, can now specify ‘default-repeat’,‘
   default-position-x’, and ‘default-attachment’ arguments for background images.
 * Tags for width changed to layout: responsive-layout, fluid-layout, and fixed-
   layout
 * New tag: accessibility-ready to denote a theme is aware of accessibility best
   practices such as color contrast, keyboard navigation, and form/link focus. See
   [WP theme accessibility guidelines](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/guidelines/guidelines-accessibility/).
 * Theme screenshots’ size have increased from 600 × 450 to 880 × 660.

### 󠀁[Widgets](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#widgets)󠁿

 * New click-to-add interface for adding widgets to sidebars
 * Improved interface for devices of all resolutions
 * Better drag-and-drop experience

### 󠀁[Accessibility](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#accessibility)󠁿

 * Make list table row actions keyboard accessible
 * Improve color contrast throughout the admin

### 󠀁[Multisite](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#multisite)󠁿

 * Improved performance when deleting users in Multisite

## 󠀁[Under The Hood](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#under-the-hood)󠁿

### 󠀁[General](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#general-2)󠁿

 * Heartbeat performance and API improvements
 * A $taxonomy argument was added to each of the adjacent post functions.
 * Define $is_nginx in vars.php
 * Apply [capital_P_dangit()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/capital_P_dangit)
   to the wp_title filter
 * Make sure ajaxurl is defined in the Customizer
 * [validate_active_plugins()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/validate_active_plugins&action=edit&redlink=1)
   now checks the manage_network_plugins capability instead of [is_super_admin()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/is_super_admin)
 * Allow passing false for the meta_box_cb argument in [register_taxonomy()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/register_taxonomy)
   to turn off the meta box display entirely
 * Make it easier to target video shortcodes by adding a wp-video class to the parent
   container
 * Add CSSMin, SASS, CSSJanus, and jsHint to build tools for core development

### 󠀁[Bug Fixes](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#bug-fixes)󠁿

 * Fix bug where top-level categories were only redirecting if they had no children
 * Fix bug in wp_get_object_terms() where returned were strings not integers
 * Fix a bug where passing a null value to meta_query resulted in wonkiness with
   the comparison operator
 * Fix “‘wp_signups’ already exists for query” error after updating a Multisite 
   network
 * Fix bug in [get_bookmarks()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/get_bookmarks)
   caused by missing parentheses
 * Fix comment_notification_recipients filter behavior so that it is still respected
   even on comments left by the post author
 * Fix a date comparison error in [dashboard_relative_date()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/dashboard_relative_date&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * Fix keyboard accessibility for row actions in list tables.
 * Fix no-js and accessibility modes in in the Widgets screen
 * Fix a bug where menus could still be assigned to a non-existent theme location
 * Silence jQuery Migrate errors in the General settings page

### 󠀁[Multisite](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#multisite-2)󠁿

### 󠀁[Classes](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#classes)󠁿

 * Introduce [WP_Screen::remove_option()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Screen)
 * Introduce [WP_Screen::remove_options()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Screen)
 * Introduce [WP_Screen::get_options()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Screen)

### 󠀁[Functions](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#functions)󠁿

 * Introduce [wp_dashboard_quick_press()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_quick_press&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * Introduce [wp_dashboard_site_activity()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_site_activity&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * Introduce [wp_dashboard_recent_posts()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_recent_posts&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * Introduce [wp_dashboard_recent_comments()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_recent_comments&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * Introduce [wp_dashboard_primary_output()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_primary_output&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * Introduce [wp_heartbeat_set_suspension()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_heartbeat_set_suspension&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * Introduce [wp_star_rating()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_star_rating)
 * Introduce [get_theme_update_available()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/get_theme_update_available&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * Introduce [wp_prepare_themes_for_js()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_prepare_themes_for_js&action=edit&redlink=1)

### 󠀁[Actions & Filters](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#actions-filters)󠁿

#### 󠀁[Actions](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#actions)󠁿

 * Introduce [automatic_updates_complete](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Plugin_API/Action_Reference/automatic_updates_complete&action=edit&redlink=1)

#### 󠀁[Filters](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#filters)󠁿

 * Introduce [automatic_updates_debug_email](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Plugin_API/Filter_Reference/automatic_updates_debug_email&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * Introduce [wp_prepare_themes_for_js](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Plugin_API/Filter_Reference/wp_prepare_themes_for_js&action=edit&redlink=1)

### 󠀁[External Libraries](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#external-libraries)󠁿

 * Add a copyright notice to zxcvbn (password strength meter) script

### 󠀁[Deprecated](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#deprecated)󠁿

 * [screen_icon()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/screen_icon)
 * [get_screen_icon()](https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/get_screen_icon)
 * [wp_dashboard_incoming_links_output()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_incoming_links_output&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * [wp_dashboard_secondary_output()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_secondary_output&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * [wp_dashboard_incoming_links()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_incoming_links&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * [wp_dashboard_incoming_links_control()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_incoming_links_control&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * [wp_dashboard_plugins()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_plugins&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * [wp_dashboard_primary_control()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_primary_control&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * [wp_dashboard_recent_comments_control()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_recent_comments_control&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * [wp_dashboard_secondary()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_secondary&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * [wp_dashboard_secondary_control()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/wp_dashboard_secondary_control&action=edit&redlink=1)
 * [no_update_actions()](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Function_Reference/no_update_actions&action=edit&redlink=1)

### 󠀁[Miscellaneous](https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-3-8/?output_format=md#miscellaneous)󠁿

 * Many unused images were removed from core. See [the full list](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/26821)

First published

May 17, 2019

Last updated