WordPress 5.6 is released

Latest WordPress version 5.6 is released on December 2020. WordPress version 5.6 offers below new features.

1. Greater layout flexibility in modern web design
2. More block patterns
3. Video captioning support
4. Auto updates version
5. Beta compatibility for PHP version 8.0
6. Application password support for the REST API
7. Updates to the latest jQuery, U&I and Migrate scrips.
8. Supports 55 languages

You can update to the latest version directly from your WordPress dashboard or by downloading it directly from WordPress.org

How to Update to WordPress 5.6
Wordpress 5.6 have several major changes that could impact your site's operations, themes and plugins.

Note : The upgrade process will affect all files and folders included in the main WordPress installation. This includes all the core files used to run WordPress. If you have made any changes to those files, your changes will be lost.Please take back up of all WordPress files and database before updating new version of WordPress.

1. Download latest version from wordpress.org
2. Take back up of all files and database of your old wordpress version
3. Go to your wordpress Dashboard > Updates screen, and click on one-click button Update Now. You shouldn’t need to do anything else and, once it’s finished, you will be up-to-date. This option is suitable for most people. One-click updates work on most servers. If you have any problems, it is probably related to permissions issues on the filesystem.
Or
3.By manual update process as per as below.You can update wordpress by using FTP. 

• Unpack the zip file that you downloaded.
• Deactivate plugins
• Delete the old wp-includes and wp-admin directories on your web host (through your FTP or shell access).
• Using FTP or your shell access, upload the new wp-includes and wp-admin directories to your web host, in place of the previously deleted directories.
• Upload the individual files from the new wp-content folder to your existing wp-content folder, overwriting existing files. Do NOT delete your existing wp-content folder. Do NOT delete any files or folders in your existing wp-content directory (except for the one being overwritten by new files).
• Upload all new loose files from the root directory of the new version to your existing WordPress root directory.

  NOTE : you should replace all the old WordPress files with the new ones in the wp-includes and wp-admin directories and sub-directories, and in the root directory (such as index.php, wp-login.php and so on). Don’t worry – your wp-config.php will be safe.

  Be careful when you come to copying the wp-content directory. You should make sure that you only copy the files from inside this directory, rather than replacing your entire wp-content directory. This is where your themes and plugins live, so you will want to keep them. If you have customized the default or classic themes without renaming them, make sure not to overwrite those files, otherwise you will lose your changes. (Though you might want to compare them for new features or fixes..)

4. Remove .maintenance file from your WordPress directory using FTP after upgrading manually WordPress 5.6
5. Update your installation by folowing this link  http://example.com/wordpress/wp-admin/upgrade.php on your web browser which updates your wordpress datbase.
6. Clear the cache and cookies in your browser.
7. Enable your Plugins again.