Proposing New Characters

Q: How can I propose a new character for the Unicode Standard?

Please see Submitting Successful Character and Script Proposals.

Q: Is there any advance information available for future versions of Unicode?

Yes, there is always summary information posted in The Pipeline. As proposed characters for future versions are accepted by the committees for the Unicode Standard and for ISO/IEC 10646, they are listed there. As characters get closer to final standardization, they will also be listed in more detail in preliminary charts, as those become available. Links to many proposal documents can also be found via the Unicode roadmaps. You may also wish to follow changes in Public Review Issues and monitor the Unicode Mail List for information on beta releases and other announcements.

Q: Where do I find the information on how to use newly encoded characters for the Unicode Standard?

The specification for the latest version of the Unicode Standard provides information about how to use the newly encoded characters, and gives a short summary of what has changed in the latest version. See Versions of the Unicode Standard for details about earlier versions.

Q: Where do I find information on how to use proposed characters for future versions of the standard?

Those characters are not yet standardized. Implementers must be very cautious about trying to implement tentatively accepted characters before their final publication. However, information about the proposed characters is generally available in the working proposal documents. Anyone can browse the UTC Document Register which contains new character proposals. Additional public proposal documents can also be found at the JTC1/SC2/WG2 site hosted by the Unicode Consortium. Links to many proposal documents can also be found via the Unicode roadmaps.

Q: Will there be public review for future proposed characters?

Yes. There are announced alpha and beta reviews, for public review of preliminary charts and the accompanying data files of the Unicode Character Database, before final release of a version of the standard. These reviews are posted on the Public Review Issues page. You can periodically monitor that page and watch for changes.

Q: Is there a beta review underway now?

See https://www.unicode.org/versions/beta.html for information.

Q: When will the next version of Unicode be published?

Publication dates are announced on the Unicode website. New major versions are scheduled for annual release, with the publication of the core specification simultaneous with the publication of the Unicode Character Database and the Unicode Standard Annexes for that version.

Q: Is the latest version of Unicode also published as a book?

Yes. The latest version of the core specification is available for purchase as a print-on-demand (POD) publication. Future print-on-demand publications may appear shortly after the online publication of each new version of the Unicode Standard.