Title: Beta/Nightly
Author: WordPress.org
Published: July 3, 2018
Last modified: July 11, 2023

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# Beta/Nightly

## Unstable Beta Versions

If you are comfortable with PHP and would like to participate in the testing portion
of our development cycle and [report bugs you find](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket),
beta releases might be for you.

By their nature these releases are unstable and should not be used any place where
your data is important. Please [backup your database](https://wordpress.org/support/article/backing-up-your-database/)
before upgrading to a beta release. To hear about the latest beta releases your 
best bet is to watch [the development blog](https://make.wordpress.org/core/) and
[the beta forum](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/).

You can find the latest beta releases on the [Beta Releases](https://wordpress.org/download/releases/#betas)
page.

## Nightly Builds

Development of WordPress moves fairly quickly and day-to-day things break as often
as they are fixed. This high churn is part of our development process that aims 
to produce the most stable releases possible.

If you would like to be part of this process, the best place to start is the [Beta Testing Handbook](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta/).

[Download the latest nightly release](https://wordpress.org/nightly-builds/wordpress-latest.zip)