--- title: "Extending Unicode support in email addresses, usernames, and slugs." url: https://daily.dev/posts/extending-unicode-support-in-email-addresses-usernames-and-slugs--6rxtkytaq source_url: https://make.wordpress.org/core/2026/05/22/extending-unicode-support-in-email-addresses-usernames-and-slugs type: article source: "Make WordPress Core" published: 2026-05-22T19:51:03.285Z updated: 2026-05-22T19:51:25.778Z tags: ["php", "wordpress"] reading_time: 6 upvotes: 1 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Extending Unicode support in email addresses, usernames, and slugs. **[Make WordPress Core](https://daily.dev/sources/wordpresscore)** · 6 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A request for comment on extending Unicode support in WordPress for email addresses, usernames, and slugs. WordPress currently restricts email addresses to US-ASCII characters, but modern email providers and standards (RFC 6530) now support full UTF-8. The proposal introduces a new WP_Email_Address class and updated functions (wp_is_unicode_email, wp_sanitize_unicode_email) to handle Unicode email addresses. Key concerns include database compatibility (utf8mb4 required), risks from confusable characters and Unicode normalization, and the need to audit existing plugins and core code that assumes ASCII-only email strings. PHPMailer in WordPress 6.9 already supports sending to Unicode addresses; this proposal focuses on storing and validating them. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Call for Testing: Unicode email addresses.](https://daily.dev/posts/call-for-testing-unicode-email-addresses--sgpfxjvw6) · Make WordPress Core · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Modernizing UTF-8 support in WordPress 6.9](https://daily.dev/posts/modernizing-utf-8-support-in-wordpress-6-9-0xzikhhwj) · Make WordPress Core · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [More-reliable email in WordPress 6.9](https://daily.dev/posts/more-reliable-email-in-wordpress-6-9-8ax1pj7f9) · Make WordPress Core · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Prettier Emails: Supporting Inline Embedded Images](https://daily.dev/posts/prettier-emails-supporting-inline-embedded-images-vi1qw1fvv) · Make WordPress Core · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#php](https://daily.dev/tags/php), [#wordpress](https://daily.dev/tags/wordpress) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/extending-unicode-support-in-email-addresses-usernames-and-slugs--6rxtkytaq)