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";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:7:"version";s:3:"2.0";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:7:"channel";a:1:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:61:"
	
	
	
	




















































";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"WordPress Planet";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"language";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"en";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"WordPress Planet - http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"item";a:50:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:60:"WPTavern: FSE Outreach Round #9: Building a Higher Ed Header";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121395";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:161:"https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-9-building-a-higher-ed-header?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fse-outreach-round-9-building-a-higher-ed-header";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6238:"<p class="has-drop-cap">It feels like it has been ages since the WordPress community has had a call for testing Full Site Editing (FSE) features. The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/handbook/full-site-editing-outreach-experiment/">FSE Outreach Program</a> was on a small hiatus. However, the WordPress 5.8 launch was also underway last month.</p>



<p>The program is an open call for testing various components of FSE. Thus far, volunteers have successfully provided feedback on features that have already landed in core WordPress, such as block-based widgets and template editing. Testers have delved into others that have yet to be released. Each testing round is open to anyone who can spare a little of their free time and share their findings. The goal is to break things and point out problematic areas of the user experience.</p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/08/11/fse-program-testing-call-9-handling-highered-headers/">FSE Outreach #9</a> is a community-driven suggestion that calls for building a Higher Ed site&rsquo;s header. Volunteers are asked to follow a 26-step process using the site editor beta feature in the latest version of the Gutenberg plugin and the TT1 Blocks theme.</p>



<p>I am a fan of this take on testing, and program lead Anne McCarthy seems to favor doing more of it in the future. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;d like to suggest an idea for a call for testing, know it&rsquo;s very welcomed and all ideas will be weighed against current project priorities to figure out what makes the most sense to pursue,&rdquo; she wrote in the announcement.</p>



<p>Since the project was all about Higher Ed, I decided to pay homage to my alma mater and use the colors that I wore proudly around campus for five years &mdash; and still do to this day. The following screenshot is the end result:</p>



<img />



<p>Before going forward, I must admit that I cheated to get that final look. The call for testing asked that we build from the TT1 Blocks theme. I was able to get <em>close</em> to that result, but I had to switch to a custom theme I have been working on to get past a few hurdles.</p>



<p>I went through each stage of testing with TT1 Blocks and will cover the issues I encountered.</p>



<h2>Building a Higher Ed Header</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Just getting off the ground, I ran into my first issue, which turned out to be a non-issue. The internet gods decided to play a trick on me, disallowing me from editing both the Site Title and Site Description blocks. I <em>really</em> wanted my fictional university to be &ldquo;Gutenberg University,&rdquo; but I could not do so without saving my progress and refreshing the browser tab. I was unable to replicate the issue, so I am hoping it was simply a fluke.</p>



<p>Using the Navigation block still seems the most troublesome area of site editing. I know how much work the development team has put behind the user experience for this feature but cannot help but wonder if there is a point where users can opt into managing its content (the links) via the traditional Nav Menus screen in WordPress. The site editor works fine for the design aspect, but I have yet to feel comfortable using it to manage links.</p>



<p>This stage of testing calls for adding multiple page links as both top-level and sub-menu items. When clicking the <code>+</code> button to add a link, my first instinct is to search for the page itself. However, the available field is a block search rather than a page search.</p>



<img />Accidentally searching for link in block search field.



<p>To add an actual link, users must first add the Page Link block. Then, they can search for a specific page. This two-step process gets me every time.</p>



<p>I ran into the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33021">issue for nav menus</a> mentioned in the call for testing where there is no space between items when used inside a Columns block. It pains the purist in me to admit it, but I had to use the Spacer block between each item to fix this. I did not need to do this with my custom theme because, I am guessing, I addressed this somewhere along the way.</p>



<p>The &ldquo;space between items&rdquo; option also failed to work with the Navigation block, ruining one of the early design ideas I had. I decided to go in a different direction.</p>



<p>Using right-alignment with the Search block did not work. Therefore, I used the 100% width option to align it with my right-aligned nav menu.</p>



<p>Time and time again, I needed to rely on the Spacer block to make adjustments. Part of this was because default margins and paddings are inconsistent among different blocks. The still-missing margin controls on nearly every block also played a hand in this. This is not particularly noteworthy. The development team is aware of and working on extending spacing controls &mdash; they just can&rsquo;t get here fast enough for some of us.</p>



<p>A spacing issue is what led me to ditch TT1 Blocks and switch to a custom theme. The following screenshot is my final work with the former. You may notice the gaping green background between the nav menu group and the header image below it.</p>



<img />TT1 Blocks theme version with gap in header.



<p>No amount of tricks or rearrangement of blocks seemed to remove that space, and I simply could not live with that. I had already solved about 90% of Gutenberg&rsquo;s spacing issues with my own theme and did not feel like writing any new CSS to address this. Making the switch also meant that I could get rid of several Spacer blocks I had in place.</p>



<p>Aside from dropping in a header image, one other modification I made was skipping the addition of a Button block for the latest &ldquo;Covid update.&rdquo; I could not bear looking at TT1 Blocks&rsquo; overuse of padding. Instead, I nested a paragraph with a link within a column alongside a Navigation block.</p>



<p>As always, I enjoyed the process. This post is meant to be critical of specific areas in the hopes that it helps build a better WordPress. For all its faults, many other parts offer a solid user experience. Overall, the Gutenberg development team continues to impress.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 12 Aug 2021 03:38:38 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:1;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:93:"WPTavern: Google Site Kit Plugin Ships Hot Fix for Critical Error That Caused Broken Websites";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121388";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:231:"https://wptavern.com/google-site-kit-plugin-ships-hot-fix-for-critical-error-that-caused-broken-websites?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-site-kit-plugin-ships-hot-fix-for-critical-error-that-caused-broken-websites";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2688:"<p>Google published an update to its <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-site-kit/">Site Kit plugin for WordPress</a> this afternoon with a hot fix for a critical issue affecting an unknown number of users. Reports of broken websites were popping up <a href="https://twitter.com/thebclang/status/1425450256905510914">on Twitter</a> and in the plugin&rsquo;s <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-there-has-been-a-critical-error-on-this-website-3/">support forum</a> on WordPress.org. Users affected by the issue reported having a critical error on all sites using Site Kit, which forced deactivation of the plugin in recovery mode. In some cases it prevented them from accessing their dashboards.</p>



<p>&ldquo;On Wednesday, August 11, we identified a fatal error in the Site Kit plugin that could be triggered by other plugins or themes using an unprefixed version of Composer,&rdquo; Google Site Kit Support Lead Bethany Chobanian Lang said in a pinned <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/critical-error-issue-update-to-v1-38-1/">post</a> on the support forum.</p>



<p>Version 1.38.1 contains a hot fix for this issue, since it was critical enough to take down users&rsquo; websites. The plugin&rsquo;s maintainers began <a href="https://github.com/google/site-kit-wp/issues/3830">investigating the issue</a> less than 24 hours ago but are still not sure which plugins&nbsp;trigger the error due to their usage of Composer. </p>



<p>&ldquo;The reports do not include which specific plugins or themes were causing this, but the error message clearly highlighted the code in Site Kit that was the problem,&rdquo; Google Developer Relations Engineer Felix Arntz said. &ldquo;Technically, that problematic code had been in Site Kit since several versions ago (months back), so maybe another plugin/theme recently got updated with new code that exposed the problem.&rdquo;</p>



<p>After looking at popular plugins, Arntz said he hasn&rsquo;t been able to find one so far that would have triggered the problem. Given Site Kit&rsquo;s broad usage, other affected sites are bound to turn up once users realize there is a problem. Google launched the plugin in 2019 and has since amassed more than a million active installations. The majority of the plugin&rsquo;s user base is running older versions, which may or may not be affected by the current issue. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>WordPress.org shows 35.6% of the plugin&rsquo;s users are on version 1.38.x. The hot fix is not backported for older releases, but users running Site Kit version 1.38 with background updates enabled should automatically receive the fix. </p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 12 Aug 2021 02:34:28 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"WPTavern: #6 – Cory Miller on the WordPress Mergers and Acquisitions Landscape";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:48:"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=120673";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:203:"https://wptavern.com/podcast/6-cory-miller-on-the-wordpress-mergers-and-acquisitions-landscape?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=6-cory-miller-on-the-wordpress-mergers-and-acquisitions-landscape";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:65517:"<h2>About this episode.</h2>



<p>So on the podcast today we have Cory Miller.</p>



<p>Cory is likely well known to many of you, he&rsquo;s been a big part of the WordPress community for many years. He founded, grew and sold <a href="https://ithemes.com/">iThemes</a> and is now the owner of <a href="https://poststatus.com/">Post Status</a>, which is a community dedicated to informing WordPress professionals and enthusiasts about the industry.</p>



<p>So the topic of the podcast today is the WordPress Mergers and Acquisitions Landscape, and it&rsquo;s the perfect subject for Cory. He&rsquo;s been on both sides of the equation having sold iThemes to Liquid Web in 2018 and then buying Post Status earlier in 2021.</p>



<p>When we talk about Mergers and Acquisitions in WordPress, it really seems to polarise opinions. Companies are being bought and sold on an almost weekly basis at present.</p>



<p>There are those who worry that we&rsquo;re at a point where larger companies have bought, and continue to buy up, smaller businesses. They see this as a cause for concern; a concern that we&rsquo;re in danger of straying into a future where a few big brands own &lsquo;all-the-things&rsquo;.</p>



<p>On the other hand there are people who see this as a sign of the maturation of the WordPress ecosystem. It&rsquo;s a consequence of the success of the WordPress economy that smaller teams have a pathway to profitability, one in which the possibility of being acquired is an attractive option.</p>



<p>There&rsquo;s a great deal to discuss here, some of it unexpected, and I&rsquo;m sure that you&rsquo;ll have your own opinions.</p>



<p>We try to tackle the subject by going through a list of the &lsquo;good&rsquo; and the &lsquo;bad&rsquo; of WordPress Mergers and Acquisitions. We don&rsquo;t attempt to cover every single angle, but we do try to look at it from both sides.</p>



<p>It&rsquo;s great to get Cory&rsquo;s take on the topic.</p>


Transcript<br /><div><div class="chat-transcript"><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:00:00]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Welcome to the sixth edition of the Jukebox podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley. Jukebox is a podcast all about WordPress and the community surrounding it. Every month, we&rsquo;re bringing you someone from that community to discuss a topic of current importance, and this month is no different. If you like the podcast, I&rsquo;d suggest that you ought to subscribe, and you can do that by going to WP Tavern dot com forward slash feed forward slash podcast. Use your favorite podcast player and click the subscribe or follow button. If you have any thoughts about the podcast, perhaps a suggestion of a guest or an interesting subject, then head over to WP Tavern dot com forward slash contact forward slash jukebox, and use the contact form there because we&rsquo;d certainly welcome your input.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Okay, so on the podcast today, we have Cory Miller. Cory is likely well-known to many of you. He&rsquo;s been a big part of the WordPress community for many years. He founded, grew and sold iThemes and is now the owner of Post Status, which is a community dedicated to informing WordPress professionals and enthusiasts about the industry.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>So the topic of the podcast today is the WordPress mergers and acquisitions landscape, and it&rsquo;s the perfect subject for Cory. You see, he&rsquo;s been on both sides of the equation, having sold iThemes to Liquid Web in 2018 and then buying Post Status earlier this year.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>When we talk about mergers and acquisitions in WordPress, it really seems to polarize opinions. Companies are being bought and sold on an almost weekly basis at present. There are those who worry that we&rsquo;re at a point where larger companies have bought and continue to buy up smaller businesses. They see this as a cause for concern, a concern that we&rsquo;re in danger of straying into a future where a few big brands own &lsquo;all the things&rsquo;.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>On the other hand, there are people who see this as a sign of the maturation of the WordPress ecosystem. It&rsquo;s a consequence of the success of the WordPress economy, that smaller teams have a pathway to profitability. One in which the possibility of being acquired is an attractive option.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>There&rsquo;s a great deal to discuss here, some of it unexpected, and I&rsquo;m sure that you&rsquo;ll have your own opinions. We try to tackle the subject by going through a list of the good and the bad of WordPress mergers and acquisitions. We don&rsquo;t attempt to cover every single angle, but we do try to look at it from both sides. It&rsquo;s great to get Cory&rsquo;s take on this subject.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>If any of the points raised in this podcast, resonate with you, be sure to head over and find the post at wptavern dot com forward slash podcast, and why not leave us a comment there?</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>And so without further delay, I bring you Cory Miller.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>I am here with Cory Miller. Hello Cory.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:03:45]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Hey, Nathan. Good to see your face. And I know this is a podcast, but also hear your voice again.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:03:51]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>I don&rsquo;t think Cory that we need to introduce you in all honesty, I think you are one of those people that goes with no introduction, but nevertheless, just in case there is a handful of people out there who&rsquo;ve not heard of you before or come across you. Would you just take a moment to explain a little bit about your journey with WordPress and how come we&rsquo;re chatting to you on a WordPress podcast?</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:04:11]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Yeah. So my original start with WordPress started in 2006 as a blogger. In 2008, I started a company called iThemes. Ran that for 10 plus years, we did backups security and maintenance for WordPress websites, in addition to in the early days themes, thus the name iThemes. And then in 2018, we were acquired by Liquid Web. 2019 I started on my next chapter in my journey. Currently, I am the&hellip; I don&rsquo;t know what my title is, but Post Status dot com is now I&rsquo;m full owner of it. Brian Krogsgard, the founder, and I partnered up and then he is onto awesome stuff in the crypto software space. And I&rsquo;m now the community lead, I guess, for Post Status, a awesome community of WordPress entrepreneurs and professionals.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:04:59]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>There&rsquo;s an awful lot to unpack there, but regrettably, we don&rsquo;t have time to go through the history too much. But what was highlighted there is that you have been through the very thing that we&rsquo;re going to be talking about because we&rsquo;ve got Cory on the call today to talk about mergers and acquisitions and whether this is potentially for the good or for the bad, whether there&rsquo;s upsides or downsides. And let&rsquo;s go back to your journey. I&rsquo;m sure that things are different now, that is to say, I think things have hotted up since you sold iThemes, probably there&rsquo;s a lot more paperwork going involved and a lot more scrutiny on how things are transferred and so on. But just wondering if you could tell us, what was your journey like, how did you come to sell iThemes? What were the reasons behind it? And what were the options available to you at the time that you sold iThemes? Were there people clamoring at that time, or was it very much we don&rsquo;t know, people don&rsquo;t sell things in the WordPress space. How did it all work out?</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:05:47]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>There had been a couple of acquisitions in the WordPress space, for sure, and I shouldn&rsquo;t say a couple, numerous acquisitions in the space, but it wasn&rsquo;t like the last year. Last year, the space has been on a tear with mergers and acquisitions, but there had been acquisitions before, in fact, at Post Status, we&rsquo;re working on a page to document all that, the acquisitions that happened in WordPress.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>So in 2016 or so I started to think, what does the future look like? It feels like one day somebody at all the hosting companies goes, I wonder how much this thing called WordPress, what kind of footprint is it in our customer base, in our stack and somebody came back and probably said 40%, 50% or something like that, I&rsquo;m sure way back in the day. And it seemingly overnight a bunch of money and attention from particularly the hosting space turned to WordPress and rightfully so, I mean WordPress is a huge CMS and its footprint on the web is enormous. So around that time, I&rsquo;m seeing all these players kind of come in and, big money, start to come in, and we&rsquo;re talking about billion dollar companies or billion dollar valuation companies or companies with private equity in the billions coming into the space and really turning their attention, and I thought, my job as the leader is to fast forward the movie and see where we&rsquo;re going and make sure, you mentioned in our pre-talk about Monopoly, the game Monopoly, and I thought, wow, we are definitely the David versus Goliath now. We&rsquo;ve been bootstrapped from the beginning from 2008 on, and what does the future look like, and our toolset, the software we&rsquo;re offering at the time, it was very utility, backup security, and maintenance. GoDaddy had bought Sucuri, ManageWP. Automattic was already kind of our competition from the beginning anyway, with Jetpack and at one point their backup service VaultPress. And so Jetpack is another behemoth out there. And, I just go, I think it&rsquo;s time for us to figure this out, what&rsquo;s the next step in a big way, and really that ultimately came down to being acquired. We had a partner in Liquid Web. So they were obviously the first people that had been partnered with him for like a year and really appreciated their leadership team. Eventually my friend, Chris Lema joined them and then my friend AJ Morris was the one that put us on the map for Liquid Web. And they were doing some, wanting to really do some big things and WordPress and long story short that just all worked out. But for us, it was like, at what point do you just need to pull up your stakes and tents and move on and see what you can get? And two reasons, one is financial, of course, but the other is my team. You know, we had about 25 people at that time and I want to make sure our team has a place to land and a great career, and that up until that point, it was either Matt Danner and I, and we had to leave for anybody to have upward mobility really well. When we joined a Liquid Web, at the time, they were like 600 people. So there was a lot of opportunity, career opportunity to move within the company. And they were also doing some great stuff. Now, maybe early in my worries, you know, Mark from Wordfence a great founder, co-founder over there told me, he said, great book called only the paranoid survive. I spent about 10 years in paranoia, like insecurity. But it was time it&rsquo;s turned out to be everything Joe Oesterling and the C Suites team over at Liquid Web, everything they said to me, they have been to the letter of their word. I have really great respect for them. And so iThemes is under the leadership now of Matt Danner is killing it. There have been on the acquisition tear in the last year.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:09:16]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>It is amazing because I think there&rsquo;s two sides to look at it. And we&rsquo;ll explore that as the podcast goes on. There are the good sides and there&rsquo;s possibly some downsides to this whole thing. And certainly from your perspective, it sounds like you had a really positive experience. You managed to hook up with a company who delivered on everything that you hoped that they would. So that&rsquo;s great. But then of course, I suppose there&rsquo;s the other side. The customer side, where there may be more concerns about, well, what does this mean for the product going forward? How is this going to affect the thing that I&rsquo;ve deployed on all my websites? Will it still be maintained? Are these people good custodians and so on? So just to unpack this a little bit. Over the last, like you said, maybe a year or something, we seem to have a real landslide of things happening. There&rsquo;s lots and lots of things, to the point where really a week doesn&rsquo;t go by where there is some merger and acquisition news.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:10:07]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Truly.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:10:07]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Yeah. You follow this probably more closely than I do, but it&rsquo;s happening every single week. And some of them are big names, some of them are much smaller names, but there&rsquo;s a story there every week if you choose to go and find it. I&rsquo;m just wondering if you think this is inevitable. And what I mean by that is, was this always going to be the case? A rising tide carries all boats. If WordPress is getting bigger, it&rsquo;s inevitable, all the things which are supporting WordPress and are built on top of it are going to get bigger as well. Did you see this happening all over the place five, ten years ago? Or did you feel yourself to be a slight exception all those years ago?</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:10:45]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>No, no, no, no, no. 10 years ago I was just living my dream as an entrepreneur growing a business. Most of the time, just holding on to the runaway stagecoach and was just loving every day and every week and every month and every year of our journey. I had a five-year commitment when I started the business, because I knew I&rsquo;ve been a career hopper since I was 16. I&rsquo;ve had a job on average about every two years. Until I started iThemes. I knew when I started iThemes, I had to have a five-year commitment minimum just to get the bird off the ground? So when five years came up, I was like, well, do I want to renew and this is about that time that I&rsquo;m talking about. And I was like, heck yeah, I want to re renew. I want to keep renewing these things. I worked with the most amazing people on earth. That were my friends and my coworkers who held my babies when they&rsquo;re born, who&rsquo;ve been in my house for dinners and fun times, and I got to meet their children, because we had a hybrid remote team. And so I just wanted to keep pushing renew, renew, renew, renew. And it was just at the point where I was like, I don&rsquo;t know what the renew button looks like now. I probably got in a little bit of a dark space in my fast forward in the movie to the end, but no 10 years ago, didn&rsquo;t understand the world of all of this M&amp;A stuff.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>But as I&rsquo;ve come to learn, this is a by-product to WordPress&rsquo; success. That&rsquo;s it. First and foremost, it&rsquo;s a by-product that people would go there&rsquo;s money here, there&rsquo;s value to capture all that kind of stuff. And this is what&rsquo;s called we&rsquo;re kind of seeing it, it&rsquo;s call it a roll-up that they say in that kind of a industry, the M&amp;A kind of field. You&rsquo;re just seeing right now, a big roll-up going on. Small players been scooped up adding features or customers or revenue and all that, but I just wanted to keep renewing until I thought, I don&rsquo;t think my chances are very strong to be able to renew, was concern for all parties involved.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:12:31]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>The thing that I find curious is that I was in a forum the other day, and we were talking through this exact topic. It was a real split. Essentially the conversation was fairly polarized. It was, is this a good thing that we&rsquo;ve got all of these acquisitions? Is it a bad thing, you didn&rsquo;t really get to sit on the fence? You were either going to be one or the other and the people on the, this is a good thing side really were talking about the fact that this is what happens. This is a maturing thing. When an ecosystem, an area of business matures, this is what goes on. There is a coagulation that the people who&rsquo;ve been successful, the people that have got the money to buy things, they go out and they shore up the offering that they&rsquo;ve got. So that was the one side. This is just maturation of an industry. And then on the other side, there were the people who didn&rsquo;t see it that way. And they saw it more as it&rsquo;s just the big guys getting bigger, and there&rsquo;s concerns there because that&rsquo;s going to stifle all of the competition and we&rsquo;re terribly concerned about whether or not things that we&rsquo;ve been built with dedication and heart and by an individual are going to be consumed and they&rsquo;re going to lose their focus and they&rsquo;re going to lose their way. So it really split either way. And because of that, because it was so split, I decided that we&rsquo;d take the podcast in that direction and we&rsquo;d talk about the good bits and the bad bits. So let&rsquo;s go with the good, let&rsquo;s start with all the good things. And I actually think the good list, I was able to come up with more good things than bad things, not many more, but more, some of them really unexpected to me.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>So first of all, If you want to espouse all of the things that you think are good, and then I can do my list or I can do my list, and then you can tell me whether or not you agree with it. It&rsquo;s entirely up to you.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:14:15]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Before we dive into that, I wanted to say, if you pushed me to say yes or no on it, I&rsquo;m very conflicted. Given a broad statement, I&rsquo;m very conflicted. And I started to parse out, is it good for the platform, WordPress? Is it good for the entrepreneurs in the space? Is it good for the people doing the acquisitions? That&rsquo;s a firm yes. The firm yes is for the people acquiring. This is a great thing for the people acquiring. Because of WordPress&rsquo; success the entrepreneurs that have built and help build WordPress to what it is today. I&rsquo;m talking specifically the service agencies, the freelancers, the users, the people that built products like me and my team and others out there that have really contributed to the success of 40% or whatever the footprint is to WordPress today.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>That&rsquo;s been a significant contribution by the commercial community, the Post Status type tech community, the people of WordPress. So I wanted to say that first cause I was like, oh, that&rsquo;s interesting, if you forced me to pick, I&rsquo;m really conflicted. But if I parse out some of those, I&rsquo;m like, okay, maybe I can share. It&rsquo;s still a yes here and a no there, yes here, on each audience. So all that to say, you go with your list and we can talk to you that for sure.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:15:25]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Okay. So this list in part came out of conversations that I was having with people who had been in the middle recently of acquisitions, and some of them were unexpected to me. I couldn&rsquo;t have worked them out myself. So imagine you&rsquo;re working in a company, a small company, much like you had at iThemes, 25 employees. Curious thing, better working conditions came out. So that is to say that the people working at the small company are now working at a big company and they were able to make use of all sorts of things that weren&rsquo;t available to them. So that might be heathcare.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:15:59]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Yeah, I would reframe the phrase, working conditions to benefits and the worker benefits, absolutely, at least in my case. Way better PTO policies, way better health insurance. I&rsquo;m still on Liquid Web, we went on what&rsquo;s called Cobra because my wife worked there before we were acquired, by the way she&rsquo;d worked there three or four years or so. And then when she left last year to start Content Journey for her business, we continued on with Cobra. I&rsquo;ve been on Liquid Web health, probably five years, I think, five years now, I want to say. And so absolutely. And most of the other ones, yeah, they can do it at scale. So, yes.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:16:35]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Yeah, you&rsquo;re right. I don&rsquo;t know why the word conditions came into my list of there, but yeah. So job security. Better healthcare and&hellip; the UK, we have a different healthcare system and it doesn&rsquo;t require quite so much money up front if you know what I mean? So those kinds of things don&rsquo;t matter.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:16:50]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Ah, so jealous.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:16:52]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Well, yeah, health insurance and so on. But then, more of the nuts and the bolts. There&rsquo;s obviously more resources to throw the development of the project, because it may be the developer of a particular project. Maybe they were a solo person, or maybe they were working with a small team and they&rsquo;d reached the end game of what it was that they felt that they could achieve. That really, they were running out of runway. They&rsquo;d run out of inspiration, perhaps they were fed up with it and it gave them an opportunity to hand it on. Maybe they&rsquo;re going to carry on the journey. Maybe they&rsquo;ve been acquired as a part of the deal, but it gives them more people to talk to more ideas and more resources to update their plugin, theme or whatever it might be.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:17:32]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>I would say yes, with this caveat, is the direction is no longer in the hands of the original founder, entrepreneurial team, always, there&rsquo;s new owners, they get to decide what the direction is. That&rsquo;s why you got to be really careful what you carve out in your agreements. But, it&rsquo;s a new owners. Yes, I would think for sure, like us going to Liquid Web, we had the resources of a hosting company who owned their own data centers. I want to say that again, hosting company actually owned their own data centers, which I had set foot in and go, wow, this is kind of rare in today&rsquo;s age. So that was exciting for us because we&rsquo;re like, what would happen if we could control the server hosting environment. Wow. Okay. That&rsquo;s awesome. So, yes, I think in theory and most what I&rsquo;ve seen in practice, absolutely more resources in terms of team products, money, even to fund.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:18:26]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Yeah, I guess everything that we raise on one side probably has a flip side, but in this case, I think we can easily understand and pass the good side of that. The other thing of course is that if you bring along your product or service, just to keep it simple, let&rsquo;s say that you are a plugin developer and you brought along a plugin, then you are rolling into a bigger ecosystem of plugins. And so it becomes a more desirable thing. So from the end user&rsquo;s point of view, my point of view, if I can subscribe to one subscription service and get four or five different plugins all rolled into one. That&rsquo;s a real benefit for me. I&rsquo;m getting them from one vendor. I&rsquo;ve got one support channel, one price to pay. And I don&rsquo;t have to worry now about those three or four different plugins, which I&rsquo;m hoping will cobble together and make my website work perfectly. They&rsquo;re now being managed by the one team. And so there&rsquo;s something to be said about the fact that it&rsquo;s all getting rolled in and you might have just one subscription. I mean, obviously you tried to do that and succeeded with that at iThemes, you had a whole bunch of stuff going on, loads of different things and having them all under one subscription was a great offering. And the bigger that subscription gets in the more things that you can feed into it, the better it is.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:19:38]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Yeah. I think the team that probably does this the best that I&rsquo;ve seen is Syed and his team over at Awesome Motive, which has brands of Optin Monster, WP Forms, Monster Analytics, all that. I don&rsquo;t know if I see a lot of cross selling going on, but I see them being able to take products and promote to an ecosystem to expand that. You&rsquo;re right, at iThemes we call it the Toolkit and it was like the treasure chest. I don&rsquo;t know if you ever get to a dentist&rsquo;s office, and there&rsquo;s this big treasure chest, like a pirate treasure chest. And after you get your teeth cleaned or whatever you did, you can go and dig through that. And that&rsquo;s the way I thought about our toolkit. If I fast forward the tape, I want to see a company within the space actually do that.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>I don&rsquo;t know if I see that right now, one subscription to rule them all kind of thing. I get hosting. I get my plugins, maybe themes in there too, but really, hosting and plugins. I want to see a company doing that. Maybe if we get close to that is maybe Jetpack, where they bundled security and backups and maintenance. And now they&rsquo;ve got these, in their whole ecosystem. Jetpack just rolled out their own mobile app. That&rsquo;s really interesting to me where it&rsquo;s like one price, because here&rsquo;s the problem. Nathan, you&rsquo;ve seen this, you know this. Wix, Weebly and Squarespace, when I first started back in 2006 with WordPress and in 2008 with iThemes, we could gobble up all this, what I probably think of as the lowest end of the market, the ones that I just want to buy hosting for five bucks a month, they want to get a domain name and cobble their site together and do it for under a hundred bucks a year or something like that. Wix Weebly Squarespace came on the scene. I can&rsquo;t remember what it was. I want to say 2013, 14, 15, somewhere around that maybe, and started eating at that bottom level. And now as WordPress has gotten more complex and maybe the dashboard hasn&rsquo;t been updated as much as it should have been, Wix, Weebly and Squarespace come in and just provided this complete ecosystem for one price.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>They don&rsquo;t have to go over here and buy a theme or plug in and pull it in, separate recurring fees and all that stuff. I don&rsquo;t have to worry about updates because it&rsquo;s SaaS and they started eating at the bottom of that. Now that affected our theme business in a big way. And that&rsquo;s a dynamic I&rsquo;d love to see like awesome motive can pull it off. GoDaddy can, they&rsquo;ve made some huge strides with their onboarding. It is pretty dang incredible. I think WP Engine has with their Studiopress acquisition is starting to do some of this, pull it in, into their ecosystem. Liquid Web for sure. Now they&rsquo;ve rolled out Stellar WP, which is basically their brain for all their WordPress products, but I want to see it. I want to see it. I don&rsquo;t have to have 15 subscriptions, I can have one. Now somebody smarter than me, with financial engineering is going to have to do all the math and see if that plays out. But I want to see it as a user.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:22:24]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>I feel that that&rsquo;s the inevitable direction of travel and we&rsquo;ll come back to that because I think possibly that has negatives as well as positives, but yeah, good point. Although the promise of one subscription is a nice one. We don&rsquo;t appear to have that.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:22:38]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>You mentioned, here&rsquo;s a subset of this whole conversation is WooCommerce itself. WooCommerce is a platform in itself, even though it&rsquo;s technically a WordPress plugin and all that. But its footprint is enormous. It&rsquo;s the default defacto software e-commerce software on the planet and it&rsquo;s going to be for the foreseeable future. But if you have five ad-ons, you could probably go through the store to do that. Again, somebody had done initially when they rolled everything together, it&rsquo;s like how much you would spend on a WooCommerce store. I have any commerce operation I&rsquo;m partnered in called the vidibars dot com [?] And it&rsquo;s my first physical product and stunt months it&rsquo;s Anna&rsquo;s who runs it, CEO, but we are not going to go with WooCommerce, we&rsquo;re going to go Shopify. We were started on Big Commerce. Because I didn&rsquo;t want to handle the tech stack. I&rsquo;m not a developer. I might seem sometimes like one second at a, you know, a whole interview that I know what I&rsquo;m talking about, technically, but I wanted to relay all that over there. I didn&rsquo;t want to have to worry about separate plugins and updates and potential car crashes. I wanted SaaS for that. So we went Big Commerce, now we&rsquo;re going to move over to Shopify soon, and it&rsquo;s probably going to be cheaper than tagging those together. I think WooCommerce is fantastic, but that&rsquo;s this result of now one company can controls the ecosystem too, which it has all along, but, you start add up these separate things and it&rsquo;s quite a bit of money.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:23:58]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Yeah. So a good example of that would be Stellar, who just recently acquired Iconic. So they&rsquo;ve obviously got the hosting side taken care of, and now they&rsquo;ve got Iconic WP, which is a suite of WordPress plugins specifically for WooCommerce. You feel that that could become an interesting rival for something like shopify in the e-commerce space because you know that those plugins are going to work. Hopefully they&rsquo;ll maintain them. They&rsquo;re going to sell it as a part of a package. Presumably the support will go with it as well. Just feels like that could become a one subscription rival. And then of course you&rsquo;ve got companies which are still independent, people like Yith and so on, who knows maybe by the time this goes out that have been bought. But for now, it remains by itself.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Okay. That&rsquo;s intriguing. The other thing which occurred to me is still on the good, is innovation. The ability to innovate, and grow things. Obviously, if you are a solo developer, you are probably hands down, writing code most of the time, your ability to market is going to be constrained. And I actually see this quite a lot in other things that I do. I get quite a lot of email from people who have been building their own plugin. They&rsquo;re simply asking for a bit of advice and a bit of help. And can you assist me in marketing this and you feel that the quickest way to do that would be if it was sold and then the company who have all the chops, they have a marketing department, they could do that on your behalf. So I saw that as another possible area, the ability to grow it, market it, and just push it out in front of more.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:25:29]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Yes. If the leverage all, when you pull in, let&rsquo;s say in your latest example, Iconic. Pull their customer base and then be able to share that with the Liquid Web, Nexcess customer base. That&rsquo;s awesome. Fantastic. Yes, absolutely. From an innovation standpoint, I will say my commentary on it and you probably have bad where I can say good or whatever, but my thoughts are, you and I root for the little guy, the David or the Sally or whatever, we root for the entrepreneur. I think today, capitalism or entrepreneurship, the ability to go out there, make money by innovating and serving people and their problems. Now I subscribe to the mantra of purpose plus profit is awesome entrepreneurship. It&rsquo;s not just profit. Profit shows, we&rsquo;ve seen so many weak, terrible examples of people bulldozing other people to just make a buck. I don&rsquo;t believe in that kind of entrepreneurship, but the real awesome entrepreneurship when you want to innovate to serve someone&rsquo;s need better, make their life better, that kind, I bet on all day, every day, because that&rsquo;s where I think innovation comes. Not to say that innovation can&rsquo;t come from any of these companies. It can and does, and will like, for instance, in 2015, 16, maybe, people they&rsquo;d ask me, do you think someone can start a theme business in 2016, 15, 16. And I was like, no, I don&rsquo;t think so. I think the likelihood is very small that would be successful. And then you had companies like, even though they&rsquo;re, I guess technically a plugin, Beaver Builder. You had Elementor, even though those we could nuance that and say their plugins and all that stuff, they innovated in the theme space. And I was like, nope, it&rsquo;s done. But see there again, entrepreneurs will prove you wrong. They&rsquo;ll show, I&rsquo;ve got an idea, I&rsquo;ll execute on the idea and innovate for my customers. And I did look at those two companies, Elementor is gigantic. They are a platform in itself just like WooCommerce is a platform within a platform, but they&rsquo;re a platform. So I think innovation happens in the spark from entrepreneurship, but that&rsquo;s my comment there. It will happen at the bigger companies for sure.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:27:42]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Maybe it starts with the smaller companies, that seems to be my experience, certainly over the last 10 years, is that the real fascinating innovation is happening on the solopreneur side or the small team side. And then I wonder maybe it gets stifled a bit, but certainly from a marketing point, you&rsquo;ve got the opportunity to spread your message wider. That&rsquo;s interesting.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:28:03]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>This comes back to our discussion. Overall, our theme is M&amp;A, and let&rsquo;s take a company like Apple. Huge. I mean, insanely profitable on that. The one I think about a lot is Shazam. It started out as an app on the platform where you could hear something, push the button and like me, this is how I learned, finding music is like, I would Shazam it and it would tell me what the song was and then I&rsquo;d go buy it from iTunes.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Well, Apple at some point goes. Wow, this app is big, they have technology we want. I don&rsquo;t know if Apple actually acquired them or how. I think they eventually did. And I don&rsquo;t know what the details were, but think about that big company like Apple known for innovation takes a smaller startup, pulls it up into their platform. That&rsquo;s a great example of how M&amp;A can work, where the smaller people, the innovation labs known as entrepreneurs in my mind get snapped up by the bigger one, that&rsquo;s harder sometimes to innovate on a large scale like that and pulled in and done that. parts of iThemes we&rsquo;re a strategic acquisition for Liquid Web in that we had iThemes Sync, which does software updates, theme plugins for wordPress websites from one dashboard. They wanted to do that in their product. Cool. Now they got to do that with that product. So connecting that back, you see how there&rsquo;s an natural progression of flow, where an industry like a WordPress starts, at least entrepreneurs innovating, putting products out, making money, and then big money comes in and goes or big companies, whatever, and I was like, wow, let&rsquo;s see what we can do. And they start to pull these pieces in. Like Iconic WP. That is a great product set. I know James, he&rsquo;s a member of Post Status, talk to James. I love his products. That&rsquo;ll be a great add on to whatever WooCommerce hosting that Nexcess &ndash; Liquid Web has, you know, to accelerate, I guess, is the word, accelerate their technology.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:29:50]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>The big companies, which as you say are often hosting companies, they get to fill in the gaps as well with their offering. You just described Shazam, it&rsquo;s a perfect way of Apple making more money because you discover it and you go and buy something off iTunes. Nearly said iThemes then. And so it just fills in the gaps. You can acquire things where you feel that you want to be going in this direction as a bigger company, but you don&rsquo;t have that technology, build it yourself, or just buy it out from somebody who&rsquo;s already built and on 90% of the hard work that you need.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>The other option of course, is just from the point of view of the developer, they might want to just move away. They may just wish to have a slightly different life. They want to stop what it is that they&rsquo;re doing and having a bulk injection of cash very quickly and suddenly being able to take a breather and reevaluate what it is that they want to do with their lives. I know that&rsquo;s a bit of a peculiar one, but I&rsquo;m sure, maybe there was a bit of that with what you were doing at iThemes.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:30:40]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>You mentioned that in our pre-talk with Elliot Condon, from Advanced Custom Fields, that&rsquo;s the stories. I don&rsquo;t know him personally, but everything I&rsquo;ve heard and saw written about it was he wanted his startup baby to go to a good company. And it did with Delicious Brains, and Brad Touesnard over there is fantastic, and this whole team. But Elliot was ready for a next chapter and whatever that is, he was ready for the next chapter. When I was going through mine, I will not say Nathan, consciously, it was like, I&rsquo;m ready for my next chapter. I was really in, oh, wow, we got to figure this out. I got to transition our team, make sure they&rsquo;re taken care of. I want to pull value out of the business, that&rsquo;s my 401k. That&rsquo;s my nest egg, was the business. And so all those things needed to happen, but I&rsquo;ll tell you now what, three years after it, I needed a kick in the butt for my next chapter, I would have kept pressing renew and what had happened to me and here&rsquo;s the downside for entrepreneurs is I put, at some point you experienced some success and you&rsquo;re like, oh gosh, this was tough. Maybe I just want to sit back and enjoy the ride for a little bit. But what happened was I put my career, my skills on autopilot and didn&rsquo;t really grow some key skills, cause I didn&rsquo;t have to. What the acquisition did, and when I left was actually put me in the box of like no other torch, you got to. I didn&rsquo;t get live on a beach forever money. And I didn&rsquo;t, I don&rsquo;t want to live on a beach forever. I want to work. I want to do things that makes people&rsquo;s lives better. And in this thing we call video game, we call it entrepreneurship, but I&rsquo;ll tell you, in retrospect, looking back, I needed that, even though I hated, I still miss my team, I still miss my friends. I still get to talk to some of them, but I&rsquo;m like, I miss those people. They were incredible people. They still are. That was the biggest pain of that. The other probably secondary was identity, and, what am I going to do next? I didn&rsquo;t have a plan B. I put all my eggs in one basket.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:32:38]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>It&rsquo;s just a great option though, isn&rsquo;t it? You mentioned Elliot in that particular case, if those were the thoughts going through his head, he could either just walk away from it, and let the product stagnate, or he can move it along to somebody that he, in his case, like you said, Delicious Brains, trust them feels that that&rsquo;s a perfect place for it to go. He&rsquo;s happy. It&rsquo;s going to have a good future. Millions of people are using it and they continue to be happy, but also he gets to do what he wants, which is to take a bit of time out and have a bit of a change of lifestyle, which is really nice.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Okay. That&rsquo;s my list of goods. I don&rsquo;t know if you&rsquo;ve got any that you feel we missed, but we&rsquo;ll move on to the bads if you don&rsquo;t.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:33:16]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>No, let&rsquo;s go.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:33:17]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Okay. Let&rsquo;s do the bads. One of the things which I fear in all of this is the stifling of competition from it. So you get to the point where a particular product has so much reach. It&rsquo;s got so much marketing clout, they&rsquo;ve got all the money to spend on the advertising of it, and it just becomes&hellip; there is no competition. The other thing which I&rsquo;ve seen happen, I won&rsquo;t mention any names, but people who have the money simply buying out the competition and then just letting it go to waste. They literally take out the competition with money so that their own product is the last man standing for want of a better word. So I don&rsquo;t know if you have any thoughts on that, but that was one negative.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:33:58]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Your competition is a very valid point because what happens when there&rsquo;s only four players, right? Which, it may be like four players in a couple of years, four or five, maybe, I don&rsquo;t know. And that&rsquo;s a very fair point that you see these entrepreneurial companies like us. We&rsquo;re scrappy. Every day, we felt like we had to wake up and earn our right to continue to serve our customers because we&rsquo;re not hugely funded and got all the steam in the world to own it. We were ultimately building on another platform and actually two platforms, WordPress and hosting. Whatever the hosting company they were with.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>So I think that&rsquo;s a very fair point, like competition, where you kind of seen that within the managed WordPress hosting industry, look at all the different players. And I won&rsquo;t say about names cause you know them all, but go and just research and look at the prices and the feature sets. They&rsquo;re pretty similar. I know because about six months, eight months ago, I was looking for managed WordPress hosting. I was dismayed. So you see that where I&rsquo;m not saying there&rsquo;s collusion or anything, but you go, well, there&rsquo;s just this many competitors. They&rsquo;re going to all look at each other and see how they can co-exist and outmaneuver each other.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>But I fundamentally believe even though I hated us as an entrepreneur, Nathan, I&rsquo;m never going to tell you otherwise I hate competition as entrepreneur, but it is absolutely essential, for entrepreneurs for our customers because without competition, you&rsquo;re absolutely right. So they&rsquo;re going to be in a monopoly and then you can force any changes out that you want.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>A great example of this is Google. They are dominant. And from the beginning I&rsquo;ve been saying like a broken record, their thing was don&rsquo;t be evil. Well, I want to have a sign up that says Google&hellip; remember&hellip; don&rsquo;t be evil. Remember this are you straying against this, but that&rsquo;s the pressure we put within the environment because all those publicly held companies have stockholders to satisfy that stock price, they manage religiously because it&rsquo;s part of their job security. And unfortunately, this is a system we&rsquo;ve created is that they&rsquo;ll keep pushing down and ultimately become about money. It&rsquo;s a big cycle that I&rsquo;ve seen that I just baffle at. Down here at the bottom, you got people that have 401ks., Like I had at Liquid Web and my team had it and iThemes and all that. Right. And that gets invested into the stock market and you want it to grow. You expect it and demand it to grow. Well, on the other side of this equation are the people that are at these big companies that you&rsquo;ve invested your nest egg into you. And what&rsquo;s the message out? Go increase value, make sure it&rsquo;s whatever percentage, year over year, quarter over quarter, all that stuff.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>And it&rsquo;s a vicious cycle where then they push it back down to the same people contributing to the 401k to say more money, more money. We got to have this money. It&rsquo;s a crappy viscious cycle. Back to your competition thing. That&rsquo;s part of it. I think competition is good for the space and ultimately for the user, particularly the WordPress user, you got my diatribe here.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:37:10]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>No, no, that&rsquo;s good. It&rsquo;s a pleasure to hear it. I guess the flip side of that might be the country argument may be that in a vacuum where the competition has been basically bought up, possibly stifled. The vacuum creates the opportunity for the next round of people who suddenly want to fill up that vacuum with their own plugin, keep saying plugin, it could be anything, but we&rsquo;ll go with plugin.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>So, okay. All of the decent things, decent plugins in the WordPress space have been acquired by these large companies. Now there&rsquo;s space, now I can come in and pivot and of course the question is, whether you&rsquo;ve got the nouse to compete against the giant marketing budgets, but yeah, Google was a great example. It became something gigantic. It became the incumbent. And at some point there&rsquo;s no choice left. If you want to have a decent search, they seem to be the way to go.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Okay. What about this one? The fear that licensing or terms and conditions that you signed up to, maybe changed. So a plugin is acquired by another company. You&rsquo;ve got it as a WordPress website builder or developer, you&rsquo;ve got it on 50 sites spread around the internet and it works, and you read through the terms and conditions. You know what you&rsquo;re expecting, you know, what your license fee is, you know, the tier that you&rsquo;re on that fear that whoa, hang on. This is all going to change. I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen now. All of my websites are in jeopardy. That&rsquo;s a thing.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:38:32]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>I&rsquo;ve seen it happen. You&rsquo;ve seen it happen, Nathan. And I&rsquo;ll tell you. My values are and do right. Do good. And then you do well. If you do right and good in the world, right? And well in the world, or good in the world, you should do well. If you serve people and help them make their lives better, you should do well.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>You should be handsomely rewarded for that. But sadly, I&rsquo;ve seen companies that kind of went back on their word or whatever had been initially agreed. And I would challenge my colleagues and my friends in the space not to do that. Do right. Do good by people, which means honoring your word. And if you did a lifetime deal or you did something like that, you got to honor that because I&rsquo;ll tell you, I think in the future, Nathan, there&rsquo;s going to be a swell of, in the United States back in the early part of 20th century we had unions. They came about because they were needed because workplace conditions were terrible, particularly in manufacturing and these unions sprung up. Now, today, we see some of those professional unions going down, but I think in the future, there&rsquo;s going to be consumer unions. And you talk about one that&rsquo;s like right, for a consumer union, it&rsquo;s called WordPress, the WordPress community, because all the people around there can band together and say, we won&rsquo;t accept what you&rsquo;ve done.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>I think that&rsquo;s going to have to be the way, we the people are going to have to band together and say, no, that&rsquo;s not right, Google, don&rsquo;t be evil. Facebook, don&rsquo;t be evil. We&rsquo;re going to have to band together and put our force. And that&rsquo;s the only way. And the way you do it, as you hit their hot pocket book, we felt like every customer came in with a dollar voted for our business. And if they stop paying, they voted our business out, out of office or whatever you want to call it. And we can do that, Sally is going to have to happen in the future is because there&rsquo;s going to control so much of the space. So much of the key parts of the board that consumers are going to have to band together and say, no entrepreneurs are going to have to rise upand say, here&rsquo;s my innovative solution. Thankfully, we have a little bit of the GPL to cover us maybe downstream. That is one. I&rsquo;ll give it to Matt Mullenweg, he&rsquo;s been the champion of the GPL from the beginning. Keeping products that aren&rsquo;t SaaS, particularly in the WordPress repo, GPL. And I applaud him for that. I haven&rsquo;t always agreed with him, but I&rsquo;ve respected them. And that&rsquo;s one that I think will help ultimately the WordPress user in the future.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:40:54]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Good point. That&rsquo;s one of the things I&rsquo;ve got down, neither in the good, nor the bad side, is that depending on how it goes, somebody with the right skills can just fork, whatever it is that they feel aggrieved about. But it does concern me that the terms and conditions change, we had a really good example of that not so long ago where there was confusion, it would appear. I think it was a tweet or an email or something led people to believe that the licensing terms were going to be changed. And then the social media storm happened. That seems to be the way at the moment to get everybody&rsquo;s voices out and say, we don&rsquo;t want this to happen, please honor what was the case, and in this particular case, you&rsquo;ll probably know what I&rsquo;m talking about. The company said, oh, okay, that&rsquo;s what you want, that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ll give you. And it all resolved itself very quickly, but concern that those kinds of things in the future will happen. Especially if you&rsquo;ve got a plugin, which is used on millions of sites and literally as the underpinnings of your website business, that would be terribly, terribly worrying.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>The other&hellip; an another concern that I&rsquo;ve got is the simple acquisition of the audience. You are buying the plugin. You have no intention to maintain it at all. You are just buying, dare I say it, you&rsquo;re buying the opportunity to put a little advert in people&rsquo;s WordPress admin area, or you are buying an email list or what have you, and I&rsquo;ve seen that happen as well. So that&rsquo;s a point of concern, not often, but I have seen it happen.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Yeah. It&rsquo;s an effect, potentially effect of all this, but that&rsquo;s back to let your voice be known. WordPress is so strong because, it&rsquo;s eclectic, it&rsquo;s so diverse in a good way, but democratize publishing is the WordPress mission. And so like that means have your voice, say your voice, share your voice. Even if I don&rsquo;t like it, I still promote it. WordPress users are going to have to wake up. And I&rsquo;m going to say it again. WordPress users have to wake up. They have to let their voice be known. They have to find the place to let their voice be known and congregate and share and rally.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Now it doesn&rsquo;t mean like a coup all the time. It means, let your voice of displeasure be known. Mostly, I love how WordPress has been built. Obviously I&rsquo;m so thankful for the thousands of contributors that have made WordPress, what it is today, selflessly over the years to build it to what it is today.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>I&rsquo;m so thankful for that legacy and their work, but it&rsquo;s also a meritocracy where when you contribute and we listen to people. By and large, we, the community listen and let the minority voice be heard. And it&rsquo;s one of the great things about our community is you can have a voice in the community if you choose so. WordPress users have to start choosing to do so.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>That is basically my list. There&rsquo;s a few others, but that was my good / bad list. I have a question for you to round us out and it&rsquo;s a peculiar question and it&rsquo;s yes, no, you got a binary choice or I suppose you could try and sit on the fence on this one.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Given the exact same plugin from a big company or a, let&rsquo;s say solo preneur or a small company. So literally if they were the same Who would you buy from?</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:44:04]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Solopreneur every single day.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:44:05]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Really. That&rsquo;s interesting. And is there a reason behind that? So obviously we&rsquo;ve had this discussion, we&rsquo;ve decided there are these merits and there are these drawbacks to both sides of the argument. Why that way?</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:44:15]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>If there&rsquo;s feature parity, both are doing what you need, and you can rely on support and updates and all that, solopreneur every single day. Because I go back to man, I root for the entrepreneur. I am an entrepreneur. I root for the entrepreneur. So I would for sure lend my support to the entrepreneur over the big company every single day.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Like I&rsquo;m going to go for the David over the Goliath. Every single day I&rsquo;m going to root for the underdog. That&rsquo;s what I take a lot of calls I don&rsquo;t get paid for from Post Status members and others asking, hey, how did this acquisition? Can you give us any tech ways? I&rsquo;m always eager to have those calls because I&rsquo;m trying to walk the talk</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>I root for, I believe in the entrepreneurs. I think entrepreneurship as a career vocation in the world is a sacred one. It&rsquo;s a noble one. If done right. If we do the kind of equation. Do good, do right in the world, and you should do well in the world. What happens when it gets poisonous and terrible and all that is when the script gets flipped and people just say, oh no, no, the equation just profit, profit, profit.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Well, I&rsquo;m sorry if you&rsquo;re just in the profit, profit, profit, and you bulldoze people, I hope you fail. You&rsquo;re not in the entrepreneur category, you&rsquo;re a mercenary. Only about profit. So that&rsquo;s why he said, this is binary and I gave you all this commentary, but I root for the entrepreneur and the one that&rsquo;s doing it right, and doing good for people and serving people and taking care of their people, customers and their team. I&rsquo;ll put my money there every single time.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:45:46]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Really interesting. I wonder what the take-up would be from the audience listening to this, which way they would flip on that one. I had a comment, I said earlier that I was, and I&rsquo;ll round it out here. I was in a forum and we were talking about this exact same thing. Somebody in that forum, I won&rsquo;t mention the name in case they didn&rsquo;t want it to be mentioned, but they compared the current marketplace for WordPress to a game of Monopoly. And in that game of Monopoly, we&rsquo;re at the stage where the houses are being slowly replaced with hotels.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"> <div class="chat-text"><p>And what was once a fun game starts to get really serious. And big money starts to move around the board and things blip out of existence with one roll of a dice. It&rsquo;s just struck me as a perfect moment. We are putting hotels on the board, the WordPress board. Fascinating.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"><div class="chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard"><cite class="fn">Cory Miller</cite> [00:46:32]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>That&rsquo;s a very good example or analogy or metaphor, whichever one it is.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>Hey, here&rsquo;s another question. I&rsquo;ll answer. I&rsquo;m going to give you a question and I&rsquo;m going to answer it. If I have a chance between a non WordPress company and a WordPress company, who am I going to buy from? And that includes Automattic. I&rsquo;m going to say WordPress every single time. I&rsquo;m going to go with a WordPress company for sure. I am a customer of all the companies we&rsquo;ve talked about. Including Automattic. I give my money to those. So WordPress company over non-WordPress company, I&rsquo;m sorry. I&rsquo;m biased. I&rsquo;m going to pick WordPress. Just why I live in Oklahoma. I root for every Oklahoma sports team, because this is my home.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2"> <div class="chat-text"><p>WordPress is my home entrepreneurs are my people, which is why I love what I do at Post Status. Cause it&rsquo;s the club. It&rsquo;s the tribe. It&rsquo;s the community of WordPress professionals. So Viva WordPress and viva the entrepreneur.</p>
</div></div><div class="chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1"><div class="chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard"><cite class="fn">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:47:23]</div> <div class="chat-text"><p>Cory Miller. Thanks for joining me on the podcast today.</p>
</div></div></div></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 11 Aug 2021 14:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Nathan Wrigley";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:3;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:112:"WPTavern: Elastic Hits Back at OpenSearch, Making Client Libraries Incompatible with Amazon-led Open Source Fork";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121321";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:267:"https://wptavern.com/elastic-hits-back-at-opensearch-making-client-libraries-incompatible-with-amazon-led-open-source-fork?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elastic-hits-back-at-opensearch-making-client-libraries-incompatible-with-amazon-led-open-source-fork";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7215:"<p>After Elastic, makers of the search and analytic engine&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.elastic.co/what-is/elasticsearch" target="_blank">Elasticsearch</a>, re-licensed its core product so that it was <a href="https://wptavern.com/elasticpress-io-service-considers-next-move-after-elasticsearch-abandons-open-source-licensing">no longer open source</a>, Amazon led a community effort to fork it. In July 2021, contributors to the project <a href="https://opensearch.org/blog/updates/2021/07/opensearch-general-availability-announcement/">announced the first general availability (GA) release of OpenSearch 1.0,</a> an Apache 2.0-licensed fork of Elasticsearch 7.10.2 and Kibana 7.10.2.</p>



<p>In what appears to be a slap back at the open source fork, Elastic has begun making its client libraries incompatible with OpenSearch. The Python client was updated to perform an API request that will <a href="https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-py/pull/1623">verify connection to Elasticsearch</a> and raise an error if it doesn&rsquo;t receive the proper response. The PR received 40 &ldquo;thumbs-down&rdquo; reactions from the community and a brief round of criticism before the discussion was shut down.</p>



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing to see this,&rdquo; Invenio product manager Lars Holm Nielsen said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re forcing us as bystanders in a battle to choose sides. We develop an Open Source product that could likely easily work with both Elasticsearch or OpenSearch and then the users can choose for themselves if they want Elasticsearch or OpenSearch. </p>



<p>&ldquo;Now, instead, we likely have to make choice for all our users if we want OpenSearch or Elasticsearch. This and other behaviors from Elastic really does not give me any confidence in Elastic and what you might do in the future. And don&rsquo;t blame it all on Amazon &ndash; you&rsquo;ve already changed the server license, you didn&rsquo;t have to make this move.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Elastic Senior Engineering Manager Philip Krauss responded before turning off comments on the discussion.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Amazon OpenSearch is a different product,&rdquo; Krauss said. &ldquo;And while there is some shared history, there are already many differences that cause real confusion and issues.&rdquo;</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kudos to <a href="https://twitter.com/elastic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elastic</a> for making us all collateral damage in its war with <a href="https://twitter.com/awscloud?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@awscloud</a>. It's my bad for pinning dependencies as &gt;=7.0.0,&lt;8.0.0 and getting this update automatically on a deploy. But still, pretty crappy to break the ES python package for anyone using AWS. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/elasticsearch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#elasticsearch</a> <a href="https://t.co/Vb5VatOXdl">pic.twitter.com/Vb5VatOXdl</a></p>&mdash; Brad Root (@amiantos) <a href="https://twitter.com/amiantos/status/1423063593541541890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>Elastic has also modified its <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-net/pull/5728">.NET Connector</a>&nbsp;for Elasticsearch to include &ldquo;<a href="https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-net/pull/5728">a pre-flight check on first use</a>,&rdquo; which users do not consider to be an enhancement. </p>



<p>Elastic Senior Engineer Steve Gordon said the change is not breaking in supported configurations and that the intent was &ldquo;to make this incompatibility explicit by failing fast to avoid consumers incorrectly assuming they are running in a supported configuration which is not tested and may not function as expected.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Last week, OpenSearch <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/opensource/keeping-clients-of-opensearch-and-elasticsearch-compatible-with-open-source/">responded</a> to Elastic&rsquo;s recent changes that render many clients incompatible, by committing to create a set of new client libraries that make it easy to connect applications to any OpenSearch or Elasticsearch cluster:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Many developers who use Elasticsearch and OpenSearch in their applications also make use of the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/client/index.html" target="_blank">open source client libraries maintained by Elastic</a>, which provide convenient high-level interfaces for several popular programming languages. Over the past few weeks, Elastic added&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-py/pull/1623" target="_blank">new logic</a>&nbsp;to several of these clients that rejects connections to OpenSearch clusters or to clusters running open source distributions of Elasticsearch 7, even those provided by Elastic themselves. While the client libraries remain open source, they now only let applications connect to Elastic&rsquo;s commercial offerings.</p></blockquote>



<p>OpenSearch published a list of a dozen clients for which contributors plan to create forks that will maintain compatibility with all Elasticsearch distributions, even those produced by Elastic.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We do not recommend updating to the latest version of any Elastic-maintained clients, as this may cause applications to break,&rdquo; OpenSearch maintainers urged users in the latest project update.</p>



<p>Elastic&rsquo;s decision to prevent official clients from working with open source forks has further undermined any remaining goodwill the company had after re-licensing Elasticsearch.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Looks like Elastic has sucked all the benefit they could from open source and is now spitting out the bones,&rdquo; OSI Director of Standards and Policy Simon Phipps <a href="https://twitter.com/webmink/status/1424842761887440905">said</a>.</p>



<p>10up, makers of the ElasticPress.io service, one of the most prominent Elasticsearch-powered products in the WordPress ecosystem, is still considering its next move after Elasticsearch abandoned its open source licensing. The company is not in any hurry to choose sides. Vasken Hauri, 10up&rsquo;s VP of Platforms and Systems, said the dispute &ldquo;isn&rsquo;t something that we&rsquo;re concerned about in the near term (the next 2-3 years).&rdquo;</p>



<p>Upgrading past Elasticsearch 7.11+ would require making a choice between continuing on with Elastic&rsquo;s proprietary offering or switching to the open source fork. Hauri said that the company is &ldquo;barely taking advantage of most of the features Elasticsearch offers now&rdquo; and projects that the current roadmap &ldquo;could probably run another couple of years without any need to get new features from Elasticsearch.&rdquo; For the time being, the 6,000+ users of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/elasticpress/">ElasticPress WordPress plugin</a> and customers of the <a href="https://ElasticPress.io">ElasticPress.io</a> service have nothing to worry about as a result of Elastic&rsquo;s renewed war with Amazon.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 11 Aug 2021 05:46:54 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:4;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:82:"WPTavern: Emoji Toolbar Plugin Brings an Emoji Picker Back to the WordPress Editor";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121332";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:209:"https://wptavern.com/emoji-toolbar-plugin-brings-an-emoji-picker-back-to-the-wordpress-editor?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=emoji-toolbar-plugin-brings-an-emoji-picker-back-to-the-wordpress-editor";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3419:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Earlier today, theme.es released its <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/emoji-toolbar/">Emoji Toolbar</a> project to the plugin directory. It is a simple picker that integrates with the WordPress Rich Text toolbar, allowing users to insert emoji directly from the editor interface.</p>



<p>After Nick Hamze pulled his <a href="https://wptavern.com/emoji-conbini-and-the-case-for-a-block-enhancements-directory">Emoji Conbini</a> plugin from WordPress.org last year, there has been an emoji-sized hole in my editor toolbox. The plugin was the perfect implementation for quickly plopping a quick smiley face or any of the other thousands of characters available. Unfortunately, his departure from the WordPress space meant losing one of my favorite block-related plugins &mdash; and several others that I enjoyed.</p>



<p>It was also on par with 10up&rsquo;s <a href="https://wptavern.com/inserting-special-characters-into-the-block-editor">Insert Special Characters</a> plugin, a solution for users missing a similar picker from the classic editor era.</p>



<p>Emoji Toolbar is filling that void and is a solid alternative for those who need a solution. The difference between the two implementations is the location. Emoji Conbini added the picker button directly to the toolbar, and Emoji Toolbar adds it to the &ldquo;more&rdquo; dropdown.</p>



<img />Clicking the Emoji button in the Rich Text toolbar.



<p>Placing the picker button inside of the dropdown makes it a little harder to find. It also requires an additional mouse click to insert emoji. What matters is that the implementation works, but I would love to see it as a top-level toolbar item.</p>



<p>Using the plugin is a simple matter. When in a Rich Text field, which includes blocks like Paragraph, Heading, List, and more, the Emoji Toolbar appears in the block toolbar. After clicking it, the plugin creates a popup of the emoji picker.</p>



<img />Emoji Toolbar popup picker.



<p>From that point, users merely need to click the emoji they want to insert into the post.</p>



<p>The plugin bundles the <a href="https://github.com/missive/emoji-mart">Emoji Mart</a> library, which has quickly become almost a standard for emoji pickers. The component is a Slack-like box that categorizes each of the characters, and it provides a field for searching for that perfect emoji.</p>



<p>There is still at least one emoji inserter alternative. Instead of adding a picker to the block toolbar, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/emoji-autocomplete-gutenberg/">Emoji Autocomplete Gutenberg</a> allows users to type <code>:</code> and use keywords for inserting characters. For those who prefer to work from the keyboard, it is a quicker method.</p>



<p>Emoji Toolbar shines over Emoji Autocomplete Gutenberg and the now-retired Emoji Conbini based on how it formats its output. It inserts the actual characters into the content, but the other plugins insert an <code>&lt;img&gt;</code> tag instead. That method results in output that is not forward-compatible with any changes in the future or alternative libraries. Users who also prefer to disable image output on the front end cannot do so. This is a non-issue with Emoji Toolbar &mdash; it plays well with other solutions.</p>



<p>On the whole, the plugin is solid. It has well-written code and provides an easy-to-use picker for inserting emoji.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 10 Aug 2021 21:10:04 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"WPTavern: Automattic Invests $30M in Titan, a Business Email Startup";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121219";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:177:"https://wptavern.com/automattic-invests-30m-in-titan-a-business-email-startup?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=automattic-invests-30m-in-titan-a-business-email-startup";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4291:"<img />source: <a href="https://titan.email/">Titan.email</a>



<p>Automattic has <a href="https://titan.email/titan-funding-announcement/">invested $30 million in Titan</a>, a professional email suite aimed at businesses and companies offering white-labeled email solutions for customers. At <a href="https://wptavern.com/video-matt-mullenweg-and-josepha-haden-chomphosy-join-wordcamp-india-for-fireside-chat">WordCamp India 2021</a>, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg said that the company had just made &ldquo;a pretty large investment&rdquo; in the India-based startup and stated that it &ldquo;will be a big part of how WordPress.com offers email going forward.&rdquo; The Series A investment in Titan is Automattic&rsquo;s largest to date and values the company at $300 million.</p>



<p>Although Automattic has gained notoriety for its &ldquo;<a href="https://www.inc.com/glenn-leibowitz/meet-the-ceo-running-a-billion-dollar-company-with-no-offices-or-email.html">no offices or email</a>&rdquo; approach to business, most of the working world has not yet transitioned away from relying heavily on email.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I think email is definitely on its way out, between things like P2 and&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="http://slack.com/">Slack</a>, which is a work place chat tool,&rdquo; Mullenweg said on Glenn Leibowitz&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.inc.com/glenn-leibowitz/meet-the-ceo-running-a-billion-dollar-company-with-no-offices-or-email.html">podcast</a> in 2015. &ldquo;Email just has so many things wrong with it. I&rsquo;ve never heard anyone who&rsquo;ve said they love email, they want more of it&ndash;have you?&rdquo; </p>



<p>Six years later, email is still a reliable source of misery for most working people, but Titan aims to transform it into a more meaningful communication channel for businesses with help of Automattic&rsquo;s investment. It includes <a href="https://titan.email/features/">features</a> like scheduled send, follow-up reminders, smart filters and custom folders, email templates, and white labeling with deep integration for various platforms.</p>



<p>WordPress.com&rsquo;s marketing has increasingly been aimed at small businesses over the past few years with a strong push for users to make money by selling things through their websites. It&rsquo;s easy to see how Titan makes sense as a supporting product that legitimizes any business with a <a href="https://wordpress.com/support/add-email/adding-professional-email-to-your-site/">custom branded email address</a>. Customers who have registered, transferred, or mapped a custom domain through WordPress.com are offered a three-month free trial of Titan-powered email services.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Setting up custom branded email addresses separately would be a much more inconvenient process and most customers with custom domains are likely better off rolling email services into their existing WordPress.com setup. This strategically enables WordPress.com to be more of a one-stop shop for business needs. People are often reluctant to change their email providers so Titan has the effect of making WordPress.com&rsquo;s products a more sticky subscription that would require some effort to reproduce elsewhere.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We need an alternative to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GOOGL:US">Google</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/MSFT:US">Microsoft</a>, which have started to monopolize email,&rdquo; Mullenweg told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-03/automattic-values-business-email-startup-titan-at-300-million?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_content=business&utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business">Bloomberg</a>. &ldquo;Of about 6 billion email accounts in the world, only a fraction are small business email accounts and they need a product that&rsquo;s focused on their needs,&rdquo; he said. </p>



<p>After just two years, Titan has more than 100,000 small business customers. In addition to its relationships with WordPress.com, HostGator, NameSilo, and other web providers, Titan aims to grow its customer base by partnering with popular hosting companies, domain registrars, and site builders.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 10 Aug 2021 04:52:31 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"WPTavern: Is WordPress Development Really All That Hard To Get Into Today?";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121083";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:191:"https://wptavern.com/is-wordpress-development-really-all-that-hard-to-get-into-today?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-wordpress-development-really-all-that-hard-to-get-into-today";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9941:"<p>Oh, how easily we forget the WordPress of 10, 15 years ago.</p>



<p>We are spoiled. We are spoiled by the gluttony of documentation and tutorials, a wealth of knowledge created over more than a decade. We are spoiled by our own expertise, built-in our more vigorous youth, now sitting on our haunches as we have aged along with our beloved platform.</p>



<p>We have grown to become the proverbial grumpy old men. &ldquo;Back in my day, we didn&rsquo;t need all these fancy tools to help us write code. We pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps and built everything from scratch.&rdquo;</p>



<p>I kid. Sort of. I count myself among the old-school developers who helped build the WordPress that so many are still nostalgic about &mdash; <em>I think I have earned the right to joke about myself</em>. They were &ldquo;simpler&rdquo; times but not really.</p>



<p>Having been in the community as long as I have, I can remember the backlash each time a new feature landed. I recall the days when there really was non-existent documentation for pretty much everything.</p>



<p>Lately, there has been a growing conversation around the difficulty of overcoming WordPress&rsquo;s current barrier to entry for developers. This has been an ongoing discussion for a few years now, but the latest flare-up comes on the heels of a <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisWiegman/status/1420068080944885767">tweet by Chris Wiegman</a>:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The deeper I get with modern WP dev the more I understand why newer devs don&rsquo;t like to work on it. This is not the same project as it was in the past. The learning curve is now extremely high regardless of past experience.</p></blockquote>



<p>I <a href="https://wptavern.com/taking-the-leap-building-my-first-wordpress-block-plugin">built my first block plugin</a> in a few hours about a month ago. When writing on the experience, I said the barrier to entry was much higher than when I had built my first plugin in 2007. Having had the time to sit back and think about that, I am not sure it was a fair statement. We tend to view the past through rose-colored glasses while forgetting the real struggle.</p>



<p>What I had wanted was to build the plugin in 30 minutes. Had everything been in PHP, that would have been an easy feat for me. Objectively, I am an expert (or close enough) in the language. However, my JavaScript knowledge is 10 years behind.</p>



<p>It had been a while since I had been challenged in that way. That was a distressing experience for someone who had become comfortable in his own skills.</p>



<p>I griped about the docs. But, let&rsquo;s be honest. WordPress has never had the sort of deep documentation that could teach a budding developer everything. I know this because I have written at least a couple hundred tutorials in my career. Nearly every time, I dug into the project&rsquo;s source code to make sense of it, which allowed me to teach other developers how to work with various features. And many other developers in the space did the same.</p>



<p>In time, WordPress.org added more robust developer documentation, but this was not built overnight. It is a constantly evolving project.</p>



<p>I also built my first block type with vanilla JavaScript. No build tools. No React docs open. Just plain ol&rsquo; JS code in my editor. I needed to crawl before I could walk, and getting that first iteration of the code into a workable state was necessary before I jumped into anything more complex.</p>



<p>In the days after, I re-coded it all to use more modern JavaScript and compiled it with webpack. A week after that, I built a second block plugin with more advanced features.</p>



<p><em>Was it hard?</em> Definitely. <em>Was the barrier to entry higher than when I first developed plugins?</em> Probably. Truthfully, I did not struggle as much, but I am also at a different point in my life. At 37, I no longer have quite as much drive and likely less capacity for picking up new skills as quickly as in my late teens and early 20s. However, I have a strong foundation and enough experience to overcome some of the hurdles I encountered.</p>



<p><em>Would a 20-year-old me struggle with this JavaScript landscape more than a strictly PHP-based WordPress?</em> I doubt it. Both had huge learning curves for someone new.</p>



<p>Someone&rsquo;s first introduction to Subversion or Composer can be just as scary as their initial dive into webpack and npm. For a fresh mind, an open canvas that has yet to be painted with over a decade of doing things the &ldquo;WordPress way,&rdquo; I am unsure if the barrier to entry is so much higher.</p>



<p>For us old-schoolers, our world has been flipped upside down. There is no denying that. The Gutenberg project, which is at the core of nearly every new WordPress feature, moves so fast that it is next to impossible to keep up with while also upping your skills. It is easy to get overwhelmed. When this happens to me, I usually take a step back and return when I have had a chance to rest my mind.</p>



<p>Contributing to the WordPress ecosystem has always had one barrier or another. Whether it be the privilege of time, knowledge of PHP, or some other skill, the project has left some people out. That is changing in some ways. Some parts are now available to users that were never accessible before. This is easiest to see from the theming side of things.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I wish people would see that theme development is heading the opposite way,&rdquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/carolinapoena/status/1420220865405497350">tweeted Carolina Nymark</a>. &ldquo;The entry barrier for designers and new developers will be lower. When people get stuck saying, &lsquo;But I can&rsquo;t use my hooks in a block theme,&rsquo; it is because they are looking at what exists today, not ahead.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Having spent more time on the theming side of the block editor than plugin development, I agree wholeheartedly. Theme authors have been given a clean slate, or at least by the time block-based themes are supported in core WordPress, this will be true.</p>



<p>While I could write <em>ad nauseum</em> on the details of how theme development itself is leaps and bounds better, the revolutionary part is how the system welcomes those who had no entryway in the past.</p>



<p>Alongside version 5.8, WordPress.org <a href="https://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-org-block-pattern-directory-now-live">opened the first iteration</a> of its <a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/">pattern directory</a>. Soon, any user will be able to contribute custom block patterns without writing a single line of code. They can simply create layouts from the editor, copy them, and share them with others.</p>



<p>When the site editor lands, it will once again change the game. Non-coders will have the power to essentially create entire front-end designs without any preexisting programming knowledge.</p>



<p>If WordPress must become more complex for developers to provide end-users this much power, I can live with that.</p>



<p>The highest barrier to entry &mdash; as it has always been &mdash; is contributing directly to WordPress. Or at least contributing to the block side of things via Gutenberg.</p>



<p><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/contributors/code/getting-started-with-code-contribution/">The Getting Started With Code Contribution</a> section of the Block Editor Handbook is a dizzying list of installation notes and procedures that can be off-putting to even the most seasoned developer. Because just about everything is a third-party tool, any trouble you run into just setting up your system is likely to land you in support forums or chatrooms outside of WordPress. Even moving past setup, contributing code to Gutenberg is unlike the days of yore.</p>



<p>What is lacking is the history. We had a decade and a half to perfect our systems for classic WordPress. It was often ugly and brutal building the platform and the ecosystem around it to a point where it was a comfortable space for developers. We have had only three years for modern WordPress to feel as natural as in years past.</p>



<p>I am ever the optimist, hoping that in another 15 years&rsquo; time, we are having these same discussions about the new technology stack that WordPress 10.0 has introduced. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing our documentation evolve, our developer community expanding its skillset, and new WordPressers coming along for the journey.</p>



<h2>Continued Reading</h2>



<p>In this discussion, there are no right or wrong answers. The conversation matters because it enriches our knowledge and informs how we build the next version of WordPress and the web.</p>



<p>The following are links related to this topic that helped inform my thoughts. Each is worth a read, listen, or viewing. If I missed any that others have published, feel free to link them in the comments.</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://chriswiegman.com/2021/08/the-changing-wordpress-ecosystem/">The Changing WordPress Ecosystem</a></li><li><a href="https://mkaz.blog/wordpress/modern-wordpress-development/">Modern WordPress Development</a></li><li><a href="https://courtneyengle.com/2021/08/02/wordpress-learning-curve/">WordPress Learning Curve</a></li><li><a href="https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/28/theme-creation-is-now-easier/">Theme creation is now easier</a></li><li><a href="https://wpmainline.com/podcast/wp-mainline-episode-5-contributing-and-developing-for-wordpress-is-not-as-easy-as-it-used-to-be/">WP Mainline Episode 5 &ndash; Contributing and Developing for WordPress Is Not as Easy as It Used to Be</a> (podcast)</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJAje6JveCw&ab_channel=DavidVongries">Is Gutenberg Killing WordPress Themes? Challenges for a Theme Developer in a Gutenberg World.</a> (video)</li></ul>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 09 Aug 2021 22:38:51 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:55:"WordPress.org blog: Widgets in WordPress 5.8 and Beyond";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11115";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/08/widgets-in-wordpress-5-8-and-beyond/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4900:"<p><strong><em>Copy and Design by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/critterverse/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>critterverse</a> </em></strong></p>



<p>WordPress 5.8 brings the power of Gutenberg blocks to widget areas — which means the highly customizable layout and styling options bring you closer to a&nbsp;WYSIWYG editing experience. I made a test site based on the oldie-but-goodie <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/twentysixteen/">Twenty Sixteen theme</a>, with three separate widget areas. In this post, I’ll highlight a few cool things that are now possible to do with your widgets and where things may be heading next.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="1130" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?resize=632%2C1130&ssl=1" alt="A zoomed-out view of a single post with one sidebar widget area and two footer widget areas. The site content is about Marine Park Salt Marsh. A List View of blocks floating next to each widget area shows how the design is constructed." class="wp-image-11116" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>



<h2>Create Interesting Visual Effects With Overlapping Layouts and Duotone Images</h2>



<p>Appearance-wise, users have a lot more control over widget areas than ever before — especially through the use of blocks with customization options like the Cover and Image block. Here’s what I can create in the classic widgets editor (above) versus what I can create in the new block-based widget editor (below).</p>











<h2>Intersperse Widgets and Custom Code Throughout Your Visual Designs</h2>



<p>Container blocks like Cover and Columns make it easy to weave dynamic or interactive elements into your designs. While this is a given for many widgets, the block versions of widgets can be easily wrapped and layered within container blocks to integrate them into your layout more fully.</p>



<p>In the example below, I tried placing a Search block in front of a Cover block, which creates a nice layered effect. I also inserted Custom HTML blocks within a Columns block to display different messaging depending on the time of day. (<a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31242051/show-content-based-on-time-of-day-timing-changes-on-different-days-of-the-week">jQuery script</a>)</p>







<h2>Use Traditional Widget Layouts (Or Not) With Lots of Flexibility Over Title and Structure</h2>



<p>Classic widgets have always had a lockup that includes a widget title. One cool thing about having blocks in widget areas is that you have complete flexibility over how titles appear. For example, you might choose to have a title over every widget, you might only want one title at the top of each widget area, or your design might not need titles at all.</p>



<p>Note: Some themes, like <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/twentytwentyone/">Twenty Twenty-One</a>, are designed to flow content horizontally within widget areas. If you’re having trouble with a theme splitting your layout into columns, you could try keeping the lockup together by containing it within a Group block.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="381" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?resize=632%2C381&ssl=1" alt="Side-by-side comparison of List View of a Sidebar widget area with and without grouped/nested lockups." class="wp-image-11122" /></a></div>



<h2>Copy &amp; Paste Existing Layouts From the WordPress Pattern Directory</h2>



<p>While patterns haven’t been fully integrated into the widget editors yet, one thing you <em>can</em> do is copy and paste patterns from the game-changing new <a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/">WordPress Pattern Directory</a> into your site’s widget areas. I used this <a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/pattern/horizontal-call-to-action/">horizontal call to action</a> pattern from the directory almost exactly as is, with minor color and copy adjustments:</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="389" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?resize=632%2C389&ssl=1" alt="Footer widget area with a black box that reads, “Become a monthly patron” with paragraph text and a “Join now” button in a separate column. A painted image of waves hitting rocks is directly below with no space between them.
" class="wp-image-11123" /></a><br /></div>



<p>FYI: Patterns have not been curated for or integrated into widget areas yet, so you may run into some unexpected behavior — consider this feature to be a preview of what’s coming next for widget editing!</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 09 Aug 2021 12:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Chloe Bringmann";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:100:"Gutenberg Times: Modern WordPress Development is hard, Theme Building and more -Weekend Edition #180";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=18698";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:108:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/modern-wordpress-development-is-hard-theme-building-and-more-weekend-edition-180/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16178:"<p>Howdy, my friend! </p>



<p>Greeting from Germany, where we follow a mask mandate again for buildings, shops, and restaurants. The weather is switching rapidly between cold and rain to clear sky&#8217;s and heat within hours. We learned quite a bit <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/everything-you-need-to-know-about-powerline-networking/">about power line networking</a> while setting up our home office for two at my parent&#8217;s home. </p>



<p>After the break last week, we have plenty of information, discussions, and creative updates for you. Due to vacation time, we didn&#8217;t see a big changelog, though. It&#8217;s all good.  We all can use a breather and catch up on the finer points of Gutenberg development. </p>



<p>Let&#8217;s dive in, <br />Yours, 💕<br />Birgit</p>



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<h2>Gutenberg 11.2 </h2>



<p><strong><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/gutenberg/">Gutenberg 11.2 was released.</a></strong> You can read up about it <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/">on the release post</a>, as mentioned above, there were many small but powerful changes to blocks, site editor.  <strong>Sarah Gooding </strong><a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-11-2-expands-color-support-for-search-and-pullquote-blocks-introduces-experimental-flex-layout-for-group-block">has the skinny for you</a> on the WordPress Tavern. </p>



<p><strong>Grzegorz Ziolkowski </strong>and I recorded the Gutenberg changelog episode #49 yesterday.</p>




<p class="has-large-font-size">📢 <strong>New <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/changelog-49-drag-and-drop-flex-layout/">Episode #49 is now available</a>! </strong>🎙️<br />Birgit Pauli-Haack and Grzegorz Ziolkowski discuss Gutenberg plugin release 11.2, drag and drop, flex layout, core data shortcuts and modern WordPress development.</p>



<p> <strong>Subscribe to the&nbsp;<a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/">Gutenberg Changelog</a>&nbsp;podcast </strong><br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/620NwVKQJGdTupy36zYxvg?mc_cid=4b6c9f88fe">Spotify</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ndXRlbmJlcmd0aW1lcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0">Google</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gutenberg-changelog/id1469294475">iTunes</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://pca.st/podcast/f8445ec0-7508-0137-f267-1d245fc5f9cf">PocketCasts</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/gutenberg-changelog">Stitcher</a>&nbsp;|<br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href="https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/chi7j-9904a/Gutenberg-Changelog-Podcast">Pod Bean</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://castbox.fm/channel/Gutenberg-Changelog-id2173375">CastBox</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/gutenberg-changelog-878239/">Podchaser</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/podcast">RSS Feed</a>&nbsp;</p>



<img />




<h2>Modern WordPress Development is Hard!</h2>



<p>My friend, <strong>Chris Wiegman</strong>, started an interesting, multi-faceted discussion on a <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisWiegman/status/1420068080944885767">changing WordPress ecosystem for developers on Twitter.</a> Others chimed in, like Matias Ventura, Alain Schlesser, Victor Ramirez, Rich Tabor, Mark Wilkinson, Jessica Lyschik and many more. </p>



<ul><li><strong>Chris Wiegman</strong> followed up with a blog post: <strong><a href="https://chriswiegman.com/2021/08/the-changing-wordpress-ecosystem/">The Changing WordPress Ecosystem</a>.</strong> </li><li><strong>Marcus Kazmierczak</strong> wrote <strong><a href="https://mkaz.blog/wordpress/modern-wordpress-development/">Modern WordPress Development</a> </strong>in addition to Chris&#8217; post.</li><li><strong>Courtney Robinson</strong> chimed in from the training aspect, describing the <strong><a href="https://courtneyengle.com/2021/08/02/wordpress-learning-curve/">WordPress Learning Curve</a> </strong>and the need for ongoing learning.  </li></ul>



<p>Since the tweet and the blog post, <strong>Chris Wiegman</strong> wrote another blog post <strong><a href="https://chriswiegman.com/2021/08/learning-react-fast/">“Learn React Fast”</a>,</strong> raving about the <a href="https://ReactForBeginners.com/friend/PAULISYSTEMS">ReactJS for Beginners Course by Wes Bos.</a></p>



<p><strong><a href="https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2021">Stack Overflow</a></strong> published their annual survey results. Here are some numbers. </p>



<ul><li>This year, React.js (40.1%) surpassed jQuery (34.4%) as the most commonly used web framework.</li><li>JavaScript completes its ninth year in a row as the most commonly used programming language.</li><li>Technology: 22.54% of Professional Developers work in PHP, 68.62% work in JavaScript. </li></ul>



<p>It&#8217;s quite reassuring that WordPress is not stuck where it was 10 years ago (<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-3-2/">v 3.2</a> &#8211; <a href="https://w3techs.com/technologies/history_overview/content_management/all/y">w3tech 13.1%</a>). The web has evolved exponentially since then, and so has WordPress and the surrounding community. </p>



<p>I am eagerly awaiting to read through all the various branches of the twitter thread where more developers shared their experiences and their lessons learned.  The discussion is, of course, ongoing. It seems to be coming in waves.</p>




<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2021&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. Updated by yours truly.  <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/"><em>The index 2020 is here</em></a></p>




<h2>Content Creation and #nocode WordPress</h2>



<p>Gutenberg has opened the eco-system to many possibilities that haven&#8217;t been there before, at least not without in-depth knowledge in software programming</p>



<p>Preparing for a talk at a non-WordPress conference, <strong>Chris Lema</strong> published parts of his slidedeck in <a href="https://chrislema.com/using-wordpress-without-writing-any-code/"><strong>Using WordPress Without Writing Any Code</strong></a>. Lema also inspired me to look at <a href="https://automatorplugin.com/">Uncanny&#8217;s Automator for WordPress plugin</a>. </p>



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<p><strong>Tammy Lister</strong> wrote a tutorial on <a href="https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/31/creating-a-page-to-display-content-from-across-multiple-sites/"><strong>Creating a page to display content from across multiple sites</strong></a>. She gives you a tour of the RSS Block, how to add it and combine it with other blocks.  Lister also shows you how to style it via theme.json and how to build  a page template in the new site editor. In conclusion, she wrote: <em>&#8220;Creating a collection of content on a page previously took a lot more to do. You would either have had to know development or used a plugin. Now, you can use a block that core provides, and it has styling out of the box ready to go.&nbsp;&#8220;</em></p>



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<p><strong>B.J. Keeton </strong>of Elegant Themes wrote a tutorial on<strong> <a href="https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/wordpress/how-to-use-the-wordpress-event-block-by-automattic">How to Use the WordPress Event Block by Automattic</a></strong>. There are plenty of occasions, when you don&#8217;t need a big event&#8217;s management plugin to announce and market your events on your website. More often than none, event registration and attendee management is better handled by other SaaS products. With the event block, you can highlight your event and guide the future audience to the right place for more information, registration, and payment. </p>



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<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc_S2lYF9sY">In his latest video</a>, <strong>Nick Diego</strong>, walks us through how to manage the visibility of block content using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-visibility/">Block Visibility WordPress plugin</a>, while making live edits to  the plugin&#8217;s website. </p>



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<p><strong>Chris Wiegman</strong> wrote a comparison theme review: <strong><a href="https://chriswiegman.com/2021/07/blocksy-vs-generatepress/">Blocksy vs GeneratePress</a>.</strong> The article is helpful not only because of those two themes. It&#8217;s a good blueprint, on a  decision-making process for selecting a theme for your site. Wiegman describes clearly the problem to be solved and why he took the approach he took. </p>



<h2>Block-based Theme Development </h2>



<p><strong>Jeff Ong</strong> posted <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/configuring-theme-design-with-theme-json/"><strong>Configuring Theme Design with theme.json</strong></a> on WordPress.org News section. A deep dive into the new method to configure themes and support features of the block editor. </p>



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<p>The state of <strong>Full-Site Editing</strong> was the topic of last month&#8217;s <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/07/30/hallway-hangout-discussion-on-full-site-editing-issues-prs-designs-30-july/"><strong>Hallway Hangout with Anne McCarthy and theme developers around the globe</strong></a>. McCarthy provides a summary of the topic and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-BsJoeT8Qk">recording is available on YouTube</a></p>



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<p><strong>Brian Gardner</strong>, former StudioPress, now building block-based themes at <a href="https://frostwp.com/">Frost.</a> Take a look at the just released <a href="https://frostwp.com/starter-sites/"><strong>Starter Sites.</strong></a> </p>



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<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/critterverse">Channing Ritter</a></strong> of the design team published additional details on block-based <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/07/27/widgets-in-wordpress-5-8-and-beyond/">Widgets in WordPress 5.8 and Beyond</a>.</strong> In this post, Ritter highlighted a few cool things that are now possible with widgets, and she took a look at where things may be heading next.</p>



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<p><strong><a href="https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/28/theme-creation-is-now-easier/">Theme creation is now easier</a>,</strong> found <strong>Tammie Lister</strong> in her post, while <strong>Justin Tadlock </strong>points out the obvious in<strong> </strong>his article: (&#8230;) <a href="https://wptavern.com/theme-creation-will-be-easier-but-we-are-not-there-yet"><strong>we are not there yet</strong></a>. </p>



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<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/jcasabona">Joe Casabona</a> </strong>has joined <em><a href="https://fullsiteediting.com/courses/">Carolina Nymark</a></em> and <em><a href="https://wpdevelopment.courses/courses/">Fränk Klein</a></em> in offering an online course on Full-Site Editing: <a href="https://masterfse.com/"><strong>Master Full-Site Editing</strong></a>. Casabona offers a 50% discount for now.  </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/karks88">Eric Karkovack</a></strong> asked, <strong>&#8220;<a href="https://speckyboy.com/full-site-editing-help-wordpress-themes-potential/">Will Full Site Editing Help WordPress Themes Finally Reach Their Potential?”</a></strong>. He wrote: &#8220;<em>Instead of offering completely rendered designs, a theme might include an array of options for the header, footer, navigation, and content area. From there, a website owner can choose the options that best fit their needs and fill in the blanks with content.</em>&#8220;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Carolina Nymark</strong> updated her <a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=CarolinaNymark.wordpress-block-markup"><strong>Block Markup VSCode extension</strong></a>. It includes autocomplete snippets that helps you add blocks to your templates faster. For the latest update, Nymark included the change from Query Loop to Post template and added the Search Block and Query Pagination. </p>




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s main (trunk) branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge" /></p>




<h2>Building Blocks for Gutenberg</h2>



<p><strong>Alex Standiford </strong>chimes in with <a href="https://www.wpdev.academy/concepts/blocks-have-changed-how-we-approach-building-themes-heres-how/"><strong>&#8220;Blocks Have Changed How We Approach Building Themes – Here’s How.</strong></a> </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Rich Tabor</strong> helps you <a href="https://richtabor.com/todo-list-block/"><strong>Manage WordPress publishing tasks with the Todo List Block</strong></a>. After creating the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/markdown-comment-block/">Markdown Comment plugin</a>, he also created a <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/todo-list-block/">To-Do list block for content creators</a>.  </p>



<p>I list it under the Block Building headline because Tabor has been an early adopter of Gutenberg with <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/coblocks/">CoBlocks</a> which GoDaddy bought even before the Block Editor was merged into WordPress Core in 2018. Studying his code and approach will make you a better block builder. </p>



<p>Tabor has been busy writing tutorials for building and extending blocks on his blog</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://richtabor.com/block-styles/">How to add and remove Gutenberg block styles with JavaScript</a></li><li><a href="https://richtabor.com/gutenberg-block-templates/">The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Block Templates in Gutenberg</a></li><li><a href="https://richtabor.com/build-publish-gutenberg-block-plugins/">How to Build &amp; Publish Gutenberg Block Plugins to the Block Directory</a></li><li><a href="https://richtabor.com/gutenberg-block-plugins/">A Primer on Gutenberg Block Plugins for the WordPress Block Directory</a></li></ul>




<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>



<form class="wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait" action="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/" method="post"><div class="ngl-form-container"><div class="ngl-form-field"><label class="ngl-form-label" for="ngl_email">Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class="ngl-form-input"><input type="email" class="ngl-form-input-text" name="ngl_email" id="ngl_email" /></div></div><button class="ngl-form-button">Subscribe</button><p class="ngl-form-text">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay"><div class="ngl-message-svg-wrap"></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay-text">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type="hidden" name="ngl_list_id" id="ngl_list_id" value="26f81bd8ae" /><input type="hidden" name="ngl_double_optin" id="ngl_double_optin" value="yes" /></form>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 07 Aug 2021 22:18:34 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:9;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"WPTavern: Automattic Releases Quadrat, a Block-Based Podcasting WordPress Theme";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121215";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:201:"https://wptavern.com/automattic-releases-quadrat-a-block-based-podcasting-wordpress-theme?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=automattic-releases-quadrat-a-block-based-podcasting-wordpress-theme";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4914:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">A few weeks ago, Automattic released <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/quadrat/">Quadrat</a> on the WordPress.org theme directory. It is now the company&rsquo;s fourth block theme. Like its predecessors, it is a child of <a href="https://wptavern.com/the-automattic-theme-team-announces-blockbase-its-new-block-parent-theme">Blockbase</a>, a project that serves as a foundation for the work of Automattic&rsquo;s Theme Team.</p>



<p>After spending a couple of months diving deep into the world of block themes, I was beginning to feel a little burned out. When I wasn&rsquo;t sleeping, eating, or doing yard work in my off-duty time, I was building or exploring one project or another. Soon, it all had become a blur. I knew I needed to take a small break, and I have not touched themes for a couple of weeks since, at least not outside of work.</p>



<p>However, Quadrat appealed to the theme developer within me. I am not sure if it was the soothing color scheme or just seeing the work the professional designers had put into it, but it offered a pathway for easing myself back into the block theme world.</p>



<p>Outside of the work by Anariel Design with <a href="https://wptavern.com/anariel-design-launches-naledi-a-block-based-wordpress-theme">Naledi</a> and <a href="https://wptavern.com/clove-a-showcase-of-block-patterns-by-anariel-design">Clove</a>, most block themes have felt more like proof of concepts or starting points. Quadrat can now be added to the list of those with some personality.</p>



<p>It does not push any particular boundaries, but it is a well-designed blogging and podcasting theme. Mostly, I am just a fan of the color scheme &mdash; sometimes you just need something other than black, white, and gray to get yourself out of a funk.</p>



<p>One of the other reasons I have been following the work of the Quadrat theme was because it was the first showcase of header patterns I had seen. <a href="https://themeshaper.com/2021/06/25/theme-patterns-for-the-site-editor/">Kjell Reigstad shared</a> what this system would look like in June.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">

</div>



<p>The goal is to include the patterns shown in the video in core WordPress, so they are not currently included in the theme. However, there is still an open <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/themes/pull/4104">ticket for header patterns</a> in Quadrat.</p>



<p>The only real trouble I ran into with the theme is with fully aligned blocks in the content. There is an overflow issue in version 1.1.1 that creates a horizontal scrollbar.</p>



<img />Horizontal scrollbar appears with full-width Cover block.



<p>Quadrat includes nine custom patterns. The focus for most is on podcasting, but some are general-purpose enough for other use cases, such as &ldquo;Media and text with button&rdquo;:</p>



<img />Media and text with button pattern.



<p>The development team missed a prime opportunity with its podcast-related patterns. Instead of integrating with a podcasting solution, they are simple, static blocks from core WordPress.</p>



<p>For example, the Latest Episodes pattern is a two-column layout that features Image, Heading, and Paragraph blocks. That is acceptable as a base pattern for users without a podcasting plugin. However, it may be practically useless for those with one enabled. Or, it creates unnecessary work because users must manually update their page content anytime they publish a new episode.</p>



<img />Latest Episodes block pattern



<p>Given Automattic&rsquo;s recent bet on Castos as part of a <a href="https://wptavern.com/castos-picks-up-756k-in-funding-from-automattic-and-joost-de-valk-to-expand-services-in-the-private-podcasting-market">$756K pre-seed fundraising round</a>, it would make sense to integrate with the podcasting company&rsquo;s plugin, Seriously Simple Podcasting (SSP).</p>



<p>If the development team wanted to take the Latest Episodes pattern to the next level, they would create it with the Query Loop block and display the latest podcast episodes from the plugin.  For users without SSP installed, simply fall back to the current pattern. Or, offer both. Right now, it is little more than eye candy and not nearly as useful as it could be for real-world use cases.</p>



<p>I often talk about the need for theme authors to <a href="https://wptavern.com/it-is-time-for-wordpress-theme-authors-to-step-up-their-block-pattern-game">elevate their game</a>. Not only would such integration be beneficial to podcasters, but it would also showcase the power and flexibility of the block system.</p>



<p>All of this is to say: If you are going to build a podcasting theme, <em>build a podcasting theme</em>. Quadrat appears to be one. However, when you peek behind the curtain, it is just a well-designed blogging theme. It has the potential to be so much more.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 07 Aug 2021 03:20:31 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:10;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:131:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 11.2 Expands Color Support for Search and Pullquote Blocks, Introduces Experimental Flex Layout for Group Block";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121142";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:305:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-11-2-expands-color-support-for-search-and-pullquote-blocks-introduces-experimental-flex-layout-for-group-block?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-11-2-expands-color-support-for-search-and-pullquote-blocks-introduces-experimental-flex-layout-for-group-block";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4610:"<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/">Gutenberg 11.2.0</a> was released today with expanded color support for the Search and Pullquote blocks. Historically, customizing these elements has been out of reach for most users if their themes didn&rsquo;t include them as options. This release introduces <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/32416">color support</a> and <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/31783">border color support</a> for the search button.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Pullquotes are getting a similar treatment with <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/30951">border and color support</a>, enabling some creative design options for those who enjoy taking the reins on customization.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>It&rsquo;s these kinds of minute style changes that web developers would have been paid to perform back in the earlier days of theme customization gigs. Now the block editor enables anyone to jump in and do it themselves.</p>



<p>These color support additions are part of a larger effort to improve the editor&rsquo;s design tools to provide consistent application across blocks.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Another important goal of design tools is ensuring a wide range of exquisitely crafted patterns are possible; that best practices are not only possible but encouraged; and that customizing blocks is a consistent and natural experience,&rdquo; Gutenberg Lead Architect Matias Ventura said in the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33447">ticket tracking design tool tasks</a>.</p>



<p>Gutenberg 11.2 also introduces support for a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33359">new experimental flex layout</a>. The need for additional layouts was described by Rick Banister in a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/24473">ticket</a> submitted a year ago, requesting a &ldquo;display horizontal&rdquo; option for the Group block:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>When building patterns or trying to achieve a layout with multiple elements arranged horizontally it would help to have a parent block that would automatically arrange its children on a single line. Columns can be used to arrange things side-by-side, but they add quite a lot of extra nesting if you only need to arrange one set of blocks.</p><p>We could leverage the Group block and add a &lsquo;display horizontally&rsquo; or &lsquo;act as a row&rsquo; option to it. It would wrap its children and act as a &lsquo;flex container&rsquo; (<code>display:flex; flex-direction:row;</code>). Further&nbsp;<code>flex</code>&nbsp;parameters could be optional to align and distribute objects.</p></blockquote>



<p>A flex layout option has the potential to remove some of the complexity in nesting blocks. This early prototype shows a rough, unfinished UI for a layout switcher. It shows the difference between a flex layout and the default &ldquo;flow&rdquo; layout, which displays children one after the other vertically without any specific styles. The PR included in Gutenberg 11.2 makes it possible for <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33359">blocks to support multiple layouts</a>. Gutenberg engineer Riad Benguella said the plan is to introduce more layouts, such as &ldquo;grid&rdquo; and &ldquo;absolute positioning container.&rdquo;</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Adding &ldquo;flex&rdquo; layout support for the group block is the first step towards proving how multi-layout options can work in the block editor. </p>



<p>&ldquo;In the previous WordPress release, we introduced the&nbsp;<code>layout</code>&nbsp;config and the&nbsp;<code>__experimentalLayout</code>&nbsp;prop for inner blocks,&rdquo; Benguella said. &ldquo;The initial reason for these was to make alignments and content widths more declarative for themes. While this was an ambitious goal on its own and a hard one to achieve for the default layout, the goal has always been to absorb and support more kinds of layouts in the editor than the regular vertical list of blocks.&rdquo;</p>



<p>This experimental flex layout support can be useful for theme developers and makes sense in certain use cases with the Cover block, headers, social icons, columns, and other applications. The layout switcher UI is hidden in this release while the Gutenberg team <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33687">works on a better design</a> and wording for the feature.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 06 Aug 2021 03:59:26 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:11;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:75:"WPTavern: First Commercial Content Pack for Launch With Words Now Available";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121149";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:195:"https://wptavern.com/first-commercial-content-pack-for-launch-with-words-now-available?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=first-commercial-content-pack-for-launch-with-words-now-available";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4571:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Marketing consultant Bridget Willard announced the first commercial content pack for her <a href="https://bridgetwillard.com/launch-with-words/">Launch With Words</a> project. Last week, she released a set of 12 blog <a href="https://bridgetwillard.com/downloads/launch-with-words-roofing-content-pack/">posts for roofing contractors</a>, but there are more on the way for industry-specific content.</p>



<p>In January, alongside Ronald Huereca of MediaRon, Willard <a href="https://wptavern.com/jump-start-a-years-worth-of-content-via-the-launch-with-words-plugin"><em>launched</em> the Launch With Words plugin</a>. The initial project supported a single &ldquo;starter pack&rdquo; of draft blog posts to prompt website owners to publish something new each month to build their brand. The plugin itself is primarily an importer.</p>



<p>For the developer crowd, Huereca has a post that <a href="https://mediaron.com/developer-diaries-launch-with-words/">covers the technical details</a> of the project. It is well worth a read to see how he approached building the plugin.</p>



<p>The idea was unique. Willard had written starter content for both the default Twenty Nineteen and Twenty Twenty WordPress themes. She then asked why no one was doing the same for post content. Thus, a new product was born.</p>



<p>The roofing content pack carries a price tag of $497. Companies can publish the posts directly on their sites or customize the content for their locale.</p>



<p>The imported content is a set of 12 blog posts specific to the roofing industry, each set as a draft that users can publish on their own schedule. Each is around 500+ words and includes headings, links, and quotes.</p>



<img />Preview of a daft post.



<p>&ldquo;So many roofing contractors don&rsquo;t address the frequently asked questions from property owners,&rdquo; said Willard. &ldquo;These blog posts address 12. Having content that is turnkey ready allows them to have more content to share on social media as well as helping their SEO efforts.&rdquo;</p>



<p>She has been writing about the construction industry for over 20 years, so this was an easy jumping-in point. The challenge was creating this first pack while also publishing two new books and wrangling client work. With things settling down a bit, she thinks monthly pack releases are a more realistic target.</p>



<h2>Future Content and Starter Packs</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Willard is already working on a new content pack that focuses on general contractors, which she may split into two products between residential and commercial. She plans to have at least one ready by the end of the month.</p>



<p>The long-term goal is to hire other writers to cover industries where she has less knowledge. First, she needs a few more sales to bring others on board.</p>



<p>She may also create some industry-specific blogging prompts similar to the starter pack that is available for free. These would also come at a lower price point of around $97.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The starter pack (blog prompts) aren&rsquo;t mutually exclusive with the premium packs,&rdquo; said Willard. &ldquo;They can be used together. Ideally, they should be used together. Because the content packs are JSON files, and the posts are imported as drafts, they can be written (prompts) or localized (premium) and scheduled. It&rsquo;s the best of both worlds.&rdquo;</p>



<h2>Writing, Writing, and More Writing</h2>



<p>&ldquo;Writing is the way I can teach and solidify my legacy,&rdquo; said Willard. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s super important for me to create a life worth living. Sadly, I found this out after a mental health emergency in February of 2020.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Her most recent book is <em>The Only Online Marketing Book You Need for Your Nonprofit</em>, co-authored by Warren Laine-Naida. Adrian Tobey, the founder of Groundhogg.io, also contributed an extra chapter.</p>



<p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t create unless you consume,&rdquo; said Willard when asked how she kept up her pace and the creative juices flowing. &ldquo;I prioritize reading fiction and nonfiction, watching documentaries, taking walks in my neighborhood, going to a museum or a park alone to think and reflect and spend time with my friends laughing and playing card games.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The best thing for a writer to do is to write. Don&rsquo;t worry about whether other people already talked about your subject. Don&rsquo;t worry about what people will say. This is why we love WordPress. Start publishing.&rdquo;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 06 Aug 2021 01:09:16 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:12;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:115:"WPTavern: From eCommerce Integration to Location-Based Controls, Block Visibility Pro Expands Upon Its Free Version";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121122";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:273:"https://wptavern.com/from-ecommerce-integration-to-location-based-controls-block-visibility-pro-expands-upon-its-free-version?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=from-ecommerce-integration-to-location-based-controls-block-visibility-pro-expands-upon-its-free-version";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5198:"<p class="has-drop-cap">It has been several months <a href="https://wptavern.com/show-and-hide-content-via-the-block-visibility-wordpress-plugin">since I last dived</a> into Nick Diego&rsquo;s <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-visibility/">Block Visibility</a> plugin, and it is now one year since the initial release. Recently moved on from his past job into the WordPress product space, he has been building one of the best context-based plugins for showing or hiding content.</p>



<p>In January, Diego touted some of the ideas he had for a yet-to-be-released <a href="https://www.blockvisibilitywp.com/pro/">Block Visibility Pro</a>. He was already fulfilling user needs, but there was so much left to be explored.</p>



<p>&ldquo;As Block Visibility grows, there will be advanced and/or niche functionality that will be useful for certain users,&rdquo; he said at the time. &ldquo;Think integrations with other third-party plugins. There will always be a free version of the plugin but some of these additional features will ultimately be provided by a premium (paid) add-on called Block Visibility Pro.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Diego quietly released the pro add-on in June, which does not take away from the free version. Everything in it is a pure value-add and helps specific sets of users.</p>



<p>Last week, he released Block Visibility Pro 1.1.0, and I managed to get a test copy to play around with. In short, I am more impressed than I was when I first covered the free version in January.</p>



<h2>Pro Additions</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Early versions of the free plugin had visibility controls for all visitors, user roles, and start-and-stop dates. Since then, Diego has beefed up the options to include screen size, logged-in status, and user accounts. It also integrates with Advanced Custom Fields and WP Fusion. That is more than many other content-visibility solutions will offer before needing to upgrade to a commercial or pro version.</p>



<p>The current pro version includes conditional controls for the following:</p>



<ul><li>Location (Query and Post)</li><li>Time-based and day of week</li><li>WooCommerce</li><li>Easy Digital Downloads</li><li>Browser and Device</li><li>URL Path</li><li>Referral Source</li></ul>



<p>The Location controls are what I have found myself tinkering with the most. They are handy at the moment but will offer more power when used in conjunction with WordPress&rsquo;s upcoming site editor.</p>



<img />Location, query-based visibility controls.



<p>The Location controls are essentially query-based visibility options. Users can choose to show or hide blocks based on post type, taxonomy, and more. Everything from individual post attributes to the archive type is available. Users can also create multiple rule sets, combining various location-based options.</p>



<p>For shop owners, the WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads integrations are extensive. Users can display blocks based on shopping cart content, customer metrics, and product metrics. This could come in handy for promotions, coupons, and similar features.</p>



<p>One of my favorite features, which is also included in the free version, is a popup option for selecting which visibility settings should appear in the sidebar.</p>



<img />Toggling visibility controls in the Visibility tab.



<p>This feature reduces the footprint of the plugin&rsquo;s Visibility tab in the block sidebar panel while giving users control over which options they would like to use.</p>



<p>It looks <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/27331">similar to a current proposal</a> for the Gutenberg plugin that would allow users to toggle specific controls:</p>



<img />Proposal for toggling block typography controls.



<p>The differences between the two are in the location of the &ldquo;ellipsis&rdquo; button to open the popup. The Gutenberg proposal has it at the top of the tab. Block Visibility adds it as a control within its Visibility tab. However, the concept is the same, and the plugin provides a real-world test of how the feature could work. Thus far, I am happy with the result. It allows me to hide options that I would rarely use. I am eager for something similar to eventually work its way into core WordPress.</p>



<h2>From Developer to Developer</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">If I am being honest, I am a bit envious of the work Diego has done. Many do not know this, but I also built a similar solution to Block Visibility in 2019. It was before I joined the staff here at WP Tavern. Before seeing that project mature, I handed it over as part of a larger IP sale.</p>



<p>I point this out because I understand the complexities of building a solution that works from a technical standpoint while also being user-friendly. It is not easy, but Block Visibility seems to hit the right balance.</p>



<p>And I do not say this often, but Diego&rsquo;s work far exceeds anything I had built or even had in the pipeline. It is on another level, so a part of me is glad that he and I are not competing in this space. At the same time, I wish I could go back and implement some of these ideas on my former project.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 05 Aug 2021 02:15:57 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:13;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"HeroPress: My Life Before &amp; After WordPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=4001";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:134:"https://heropress.com/essays/my-life-before-after-wordpress/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-life-before-after-wordpress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7202:"<img width="1024" height="512" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/080321-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: The WordPress community has made me a firm believer in the power of open-source software." /><h3>Early Days</h3>
<p>I have always had a knack for technology. I still remember the summer of 2006 when I bought a PC for the first time. I would try to install Windows XP many times so to make Windows work smoothly but without any luck. It was those stubborn viruses, which would only be removed by running a virus scan, not a fresh Windows install, something I figured out later.</p>
<p>Although, it took me another decade – right after my MBA in 2015 – to turn my curiosity for technology into a passion after I stumbled upon web technologies from the development perspective. It is when I started learning WordPress while still working in an administrative and support capacity at an organization in my hometown.</p>
<h3>Daydreaming</h3>
<p>Being an introvert in nature, the thought of working remotely providing value using technology with the freedom to choose my own work hours has always fascinated me. While becoming a digital nomad exploring nature felt like touching the sky. I knew it was quite possible after finding real stories online but I had no path to follow to turn my dream into a reality.</p>
<h3>The Challenge</h3>
<p>After spending tons of time online, figuring out the way was the easy step. Now that I look back during my initial days when I was getting started, the biggest challenge I have come to realize was to stay motivated as being all alone with the Imposter Syndrome – which I am sure every developer has faced during their careers – did take a toll on me.</p>
<p>I think it is not easy to stay motivated when there aren’t immediate rewards for the hard work we do. Sometimes, weeks would go by for me to not do anything but try to stay motivated and don’t just give up.</p>
<h3>Humble Beginnings</h3>
<p>I could easily recall the evening of my last MBA exam day when I started exploring web technologies. Even just before that, I spent a good 2-3 months learning and then finding projects for web design on <a href="https://99designs.com/profiles/ihtishamzahoor/about">99Designs</a> until I realized that I am not very passionate about becoming a designer.</p>
<p>I started learning HTML, CSS, basic JavaScript with jQuery but learning these technologies alone could only go so far without a clear path. I was looking for a tool that could help me build a website from scratch and for that, I explored many tools and technologies along the way including WordPress.</p>
<p>While celebrating the 68th independence day of Pakistan online I came across <a href="https://ahmadawais.com/what-every-beginner-is-doing-wrong-as-a-web-developer/">this amazing article</a> by Ahmad Awais (big props) which really helped me to make a definite decision to choose WordPress over other online publishing tools.</p>
<p>After basic learning, I started right away working as a WordPress Power User, mostly delivering theme customizing projects for the clients in the local market while still working a day job.</p>
<h3>All the Way WordPress</h3>
<p>It took me another two years to finally choose WordPress as my full-time career. I moved to the capital and after many failed attempts at getting hired and desperate moments followed afterward, I finally received an offer letter from a digital agency, <a href="https://centangle.com/">Centangle Interactive</a>, where I joined as a Web Developer focused on the WordPress platform.</p>
<p>I consider joining Centangle as one of the best decisions of my life as it helped me with my professional growth by becoming familiar with the whole WordPress ecosystem in a supportive environment. I was being valued for my opinions in the web projects I was involved with. I was also appreciated and encouraged for the open-source work I did for the company.</p>
<p>During the pandemic last year, I joined a startup viz. <a href="https://uptek.com/">UPTEK</a>. The company provides web development services to its international clientele. I have been trusted with the opportunity to work on some of the premium freelancing platforms on behalf of the company.</p>
<p>While apart from the developer role at the company, I am also involved in client communication and project management which has been an exciting journey for me so far with lots of learning almost every day.</p>
<h3>WordPress Community</h3>
<p>WordPress introduced me to the world of open-source software and the WordPress community itself. WordPress community connects WordPress enthusiasts via monthly Meetups, annual WordCamps, virtual collaborations like contributions to the WordPress project, and a whole lot more.</p>
<p>The WordPress community made me a firm believer in the power of open-source software and an enthusiast who enjoys a great deal to contribute back to the WordPress community via <a href="https://codexspot.com/">writing</a>, speaking, and helping organize meetups.</p>
<p>Over the years, I have had the opportunity to write open-source software for the WordPress platform and feel humbled to contribute to the WordPress core. I have also had the privilege to <a href="https://islamabad.wordcamp.org/2018/speaker/ihtisham-zahoor/">speak</a> as well as help organize the monthly WordPress Meetups and the annual <a href="https://islamabad.wordcamp.org/2019/organizers/">WordCamp(s)</a> for the Islamabad/Rawalpindi WordPress community.</p>
<p>I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to help start the<a href="https://www.meetup.com/Elementor-Islamabad/"> Elementor Community Islamabad Chapter</a> – which organizes monthly Elementor Meetups. Yet that is not it, I have met some really humble people over the years, whom I proudly call my besties. I met these fine folks on a train on my way to WordCamp Karachi 2018 which was the very first WordCamp in Pakistan. It is all made possible by WordPress and its community and for that, I am forever grateful.</p>
<p>Now fast forward to the present, I have been traveling and exploring every corner of the country almost every other month with my train buddies by fulfilling my dream of traveling.</p>
<h3>Takeaway</h3>
<p>If anything, one of the main takeaways, why I shared my story, is to stay persistent. I know it is hard to stay motivated and break into this industry. But if you are determined, then WordPress will surely reward you as It can’t be said in any better words than by the words of the very Chris Lema himself:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;WordPress will change your life if you let it&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>So, if you are starting out then get yourself a clear <a href="https://ihtishamzahoor.com/a-learning-path-for-newbies-in-wordpress-development/">path</a> and just dive in doing WordPress as things will get better for you over time as they were for me, I promise. Good Luck!</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/essays/my-life-before-after-wordpress/">My Life Before &#038; After WordPress</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 04 Aug 2021 03:00:18 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Ihtisham Zahoor";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:14;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:93:"WPTavern: Full Page Patterns Are Still the Missing Piece of Block WordPress Theme Development";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120067";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:231:"https://wptavern.com/full-page-patterns-are-still-the-missing-piece-of-block-wordpress-theme-development?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=full-page-patterns-are-still-the-missing-piece-of-block-wordpress-theme-development";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6251:"<p class="has-drop-cap">It was the early days of the Gutenberg project. Many on the Theme Review Team and those in design circles were trying to wrap their heads around this new concept called blocks. In particular, we wanted to know how it could be applied to theme development. There were many discussions on the pros and cons of the early editor. Overall, there was a bit of cautious excitement in the air, our optimism tempered by a buggy version of alpha-level software.</p>



<p>The block system could potentially solve one of the biggest hurdles of theme development: inserting default/demo content for a full page into the editor.</p>



<p>I cannot remember who initially explained the idea, but it was a lightbulb moment for many at the time. The general concept was pre-building a custom homepage or any page design that users could choose visually. It would all be done through a standardized block system, and we would no longer need to rely on piecemeal theme options, third-party plugins, or attempt to work around the review team&rsquo;s &ldquo;do not create content&rdquo; guideline.</p>



<p>No one really knew how this would work in practice, but we understood the theory of how it would make the life of a theme developer much simpler.</p>



<p>In October 2019, Automattic developer Jorge Bernal opened a ticket titled <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/18055">Starter Page Templates</a>. His team was working on a template selector for mobile apps, and the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/full-site-editing/">WordPress.com Editing Toolkit</a> already had the feature. The goal was to bring it to the core platform, allowing third-party theme designs to build on top of it.</p>



<img />Starter page templates idea initially shared in the ticket.



<p>Because the term &ldquo;template&rdquo; is overused in the WordPress space, I will refer to these as &ldquo;page patterns.&rdquo; This naming <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/18055#issuecomment-659791288">convention was coined by Noah Allen</a>, a software engineer for Automattic, in the ticket. It makes sense because we are actually talking about a page&rsquo;s content rather than the wrapping template.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/genesis-blocks/">Genesis Blocks</a> plugin is one of the best ways to understand the page pattern concept. It has a Layouts button at the top of the editor that, when clicked, creates an overlay of designs to choose from.</p>



<img />Selecting a full-page layout from Genesis Blocks.



<p>These designs are split between sections and layouts. Sections are the same thing as patterns in core WordPress: small, reusable pieces of starter content. Layouts are full-page starting points for users to create various types of pages.</p>



<p>The StudioPress/Genesis team was not the first to market this concept. However, they have created a well-rounded user experience on top of the WordPress editor.</p>



<p>You will find similar experiences via <a href="https://wptavern.com/inside-look-at-godaddys-onboarding-process-for-managed-wordpress-hosting">GoDaddy&rsquo;s onboarding process</a> for its managed hosting service. The <a href="https://wptavern.com/redux-framework-relaunches-focuses-efforts-on-gutenberg-templates">Redux Framework</a> allows much the same, and <a href="https://wptavern.com/extendify-acquires-editor-plus-introduces-commercial-templates-in-its-plan-to-improve-block-editing">Editor Plus</a> offers templates and patterns from the Extendify library.</p>



<p>That initial excitement has waned a bit. It felt like that early promise was a dream that would never be a reality.</p>



<p>Theme authors, especially in the commercial space, have long offered home-brewed solutions for the one-click insertion of full-page content. Whether via a ThemeForest project or a popular theme on WordPress.org, there are endless examples of everyone solving the same problem. One might even argue that these custom inserters are so ingrained into theme agency systems that anything WordPress offers at this point will not appeal to those who have already brought their solutions to market. Where the core platform has failed to meet user demands, our development community has stepped up.</p>



<p>Some of you may be thinking that the current block patterns system works for this. Yes, and no. Theme authors could shoehorn full-page designs into it, but the user experience is lacking compared to third-party solutions. Patterns today are one of the best theming tools available, but they fall short of what is needed to see this thing through.</p>



<p>The foundation of this feature exists via the <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/block-api/block-patterns/">Patterns API</a>. From the theme author&rsquo;s perspective, they merely need a method for flagging a pattern as a full-page layout, separate from the others. However, the UI and UX flow need an overhaul. The flyout panel for the current inserter does not cut it, especially on large screens. A fullscreen overlay has become the <em>de facto</em> standard among other systems.</p>



<p>Users should also have another option between selecting from an existing page pattern or starting empty upon creation.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I think this would be so useful to have in the core,&rdquo; wrote Ana Segota of Anariel Design in a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/18055#issuecomment-880530295">recent comment on the ticket</a>. &ldquo;I created 2 FSE themes so far and also our latest premium theme is made with block patterns and this is exactly what I thought and talked with few people about. It would be great when a user opens a new page, to chose design/page patterns however we called it and it starts editing it right away. Most of the users just want to add a page, choose a layout and start adding their content.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Of course, this is not a revelation to the average theme author who works with end-users daily. Inserting or importing entire page designs into WordPress is one of the most common requests. WordPress is almost there with its current patterns system. We just need to take it to the next level.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 03 Aug 2021 22:49:30 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:53:"WordPress.org blog: The Month in WordPress: July 2021";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11107";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/08/the-month-in-wordpress-july-2021/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15193:"<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>WordPress is global in reach and open source in nature. And you would assume that what allows the software to be used by anyone would also enable it to be built by anyone. After all, your location doesn’t matter, and who employs you also doesn’t matter. And your relative social standing certainly shouldn’t matter. As long as you can communicate with the others contributing to the project, there should be no obstacle to your participation.</p></blockquote>



<p class="has-drop-cap">That was <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">Josepha Haden</a> on the “<a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/episode-13-cherishing-wordpress-diversity/">Cherishing WordPress Diversity</a>” episode of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/">WP Briefing Podcast</a>, speaking about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the fabric of the WordPress project. Her statement captures the spirit of the WordPress open source project, and we hope it resonates with you. Now, let&#8217;s dive in!</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2>Say hello to WordPress 5.8</h2>



<p>WordPress <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/simone/">version 5.8</a>, “Tatum,” came out on July 20. Version 5.8 is a major release that offers features like block-based widgets, a host of new blocks and patterns, a template editor, a duotone feature to stylize images, theme.json, and support for webP images, to name a few. Read more in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/tatum/">release post</a>, the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/03/wordpress-5-8-field-guide/">field guide</a>, and the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/06/18/meetup-group-resources-talking-points-for-wordpress-5-8/">talking points post for meetup groups</a>. </p>



<p>Want to contribute to WordPress core?&nbsp;</p>



<ul><li>Join the&nbsp; <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW">#core</a> channel, follow the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">Core Team blog</a>, and check out the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/">team handbook</a>. Don’t miss the Core Team chats on Wednesdays at <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=5&min=00&sec=0">5 AM</a> and <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&min=00&sec=0">8 PM</a> UTC.</li><li><a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/">Translate WordPress</a> to your local language &#8211; here’s the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/07/09/wordpress-5-8-translation-status-july-9-2020/">latest translation status</a>.</li><li>Contact the Marketing Team in the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0GKJ7TFA">#marketing</a> slack channel, if you wish to support <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/07/21/social-media-pack-for-5-8-ongoing-collaborations/">social media engagement around WordPress 5.8</a>.</li></ul>



<h2>Gutenberg Version 11.0 is released</h2>



<p>Contributor teams released the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/09/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-0-0-9-july/">11th version</a> of Gutenberg on July 9. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/09/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-0-0-9-july/">Version 11.0</a>, which focuses heavily on backports and bug fixes, showcases some cool features such as an editing overlay for template parts and reusable blocks, and support for CSS shorthand properties in theme.json and block attributes. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-1-0-21-july/">Version 11.1</a> was also shipped this month, on July 21. The release adds custom block borders as block supports and adds “drag and drop” to the list view.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Want to get involved in building Gutenberg? Follow <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/">Gutenberg on GitHub</a>, and join the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7">#core-editor</a> channel in the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">Make WordPress Slack</a>. The “<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-next-in-gutenberg-site-editing-status-check-late-july-august-2021/">What’s next in Gutenberg</a>” post offers more details on the latest updates.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>Returning to in-person WordPress events</h2>



<p>The Community Team kicked off work to bring back in-person WordPress events. The team <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/01/in-person-meetup-events-for-vaccinated-community-members/#comment-29654">recently announced</a> that in-person WordPress meetups can be organized in a region if the local public health authority allows in-person events and if the region passes the in-person<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/in-person-meetup-decision-checklist/"> safety checklist</a>. If the region does not meet guidelines on page one of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/in-person-meetup-decision-checklist/">safety checklist</a>, organizers can plan events for fully vaccinated, recently tested (negative), or recently recovered community members. Subsequently, the team also <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/27/proposal-how-to-return-to-safe-in-person-wordcamps/">shared a proposal for the return to in-person WordCamps</a> in places that meet the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/in-person-meetup-decision-checklist/">safety guidelines and the vaccination/testing requirements</a>. Please share your feedback on the post if you have any thoughts. For more context, check out the “<a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/episode-12-wordpress-in-person/">In Person!</a>” episode of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/">WP Briefing Podcast</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Want to contribute to the Community Team? Follow the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/">Community Team</a> blog, or join them in the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X">#community</a> channel in the Make WordPress Slack.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>BuddyPress 9.0 is out</h2>



<p>The BuddyPress team is busy! Within barely a month of their last major release (<a href="https://buddypress.org/2021/06/buddypress-8-0-0-alfano/">version 8.0)</a>, the team shipped <a href="https://buddypress.org/2021/07/buddypress-9-0-0-mico/">version 9.0</a> on July 19. Key features of the release include widget blocks and updates to the BP REST API.&nbsp; Download it from the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/">WordPress.org plugin directory</a> or check it out from its <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/branches/9.0">subversion repository.</a> Want to help build BuddyPress? Follow their <a href="https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/">developer relations blog</a>, check out their <a href="https://codex.buddypress.org/participate-and-contribute/contribute-with-code/">handbook page</a>, or join them in the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBYUG">#buddypress</a> channel in the Make WordPress Slack.</p>



<h2>WordPress Event updates</h2>



<ul><li>WordCamp US is coming back on October 1, 2021, <a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2021/wordcamp-us-is-back/">as a daylong online event</a>!</li><li>Free tickets for <a href="https://floripa.wordcamp.org/2021/inscricoes/">WordCamp Florianopolis</a> (August 11-12) are now available.</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/wpdiversity/">Diverse Speaker Training group</a> of the Community Team announced <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/26/announcement-and-call-for-volunteers-expanding-wpdiversity-to-three-programs/">three new programs</a> for Meetup and WordCamp organizers. Sign up for the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/30/workshop-august-19-2021-allyship-for-wordpress-event-organizers-amer-emea/">inaugural allyship program for event organizers</a> on August 19, 2021, at <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20210819T1700">5:00</a> &#8211; <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20210819T1900">7:00 pm</a> UTC!</li><li>The Polyglots Team is planning a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/tag/wptranslationday/">month-long translation day celebration in September 2021</a>, with two weeks of “core events” from September 17 to 30. The team will announce more details on the event shortly, and you <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/tag/wptranslationday/">can follow all the latest updates on their P2</a>.&nbsp;</li><li>Stay updated on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/events/online/">online WordPress meetups</a> around the world by following the Marketing Team’s <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-wordpress-marketing-team/">WordPress Meetup roundup</a> every Monday.&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://santaclarita.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp Santa Clarita 2021</a> was held online on July 17-18, 2021. The highlight of the event, which had 41 speakers, 19 sponsors, and 672 attendees, was a <a href="https://santaclarita.wordcamp.org/2021/schedule/">dedicated track for WordPress accessibility</a>. Videos of the event will soon be posted on WordPress.tv.</li><li>The Hosting Team organized <a href="https://www.meetup.com/wphosting/events/278295555">their first meetup</a> in June. Check out the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4UCc1Bze5E&t=702s">event recording</a>.</li></ul>



<h2>Feedback requests from WordPress contributor teams</h2>



<p>Please help these WordPress contributor teams by answering their research requests:</p>



<ul><li>The Core Team has published a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/28/wordpress-5-8-tatum-retrospective/">WordPress 5.8 release retrospective</a>. Share your release feedback as <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/28/wordpress-5-8-tatum-retrospective/#respond">comments on the post</a> or by <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSei8fSLjV0um4hk_1JKwgu-8E6mpNwwxF3j43mInW7lnVOTDw/viewform?usp=sf_link">filling out this form</a> before August 15. The team is also <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/request-for-feedback-updater-proof-of-concept/">requesting feedback</a> on a “proof of concept” for the new WordPress updater.&nbsp;</li><li>The Training Team wishes to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/07/30/learn-wordpress-user-survey-focus-groups/">find what learners and potential learners would like to see</a> in the <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org">learn.wordpress.org</a> platform. To contribute, please <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LearnWordPress">fill out an anonymous survey</a> (by August 13) OR <a href="https://forms.gle/jdk2qkkvGyszx1SG6">join a short video call</a> to share feedback (on the week of August 2-6).</li><li>The Polyglots Team <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/07/19/polyglots-training-ready-for-testing/">announced</a> that “Polyglots Training” (a course to help WordPress translators and communities) is now available for testing. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/07/19/polyglots-training-ready-for-testing/">Sign up now</a>!</li><li>The Test Team wants to<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/07/30/help-shape-the-future-of-theme-design/"> hear from theme authors</a> on how they use theme.json in order to shape its future. Help them by <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/block-theme-author-feedback">filling out this survey</a> on or before August 13.</li><li>The Marketing Team is doing research on building engagement around WordPress releases. Please help the team by filling out <a href="https://forms.gle/4QFhX8fcNxKAfK8y5">this quick, two-question survey</a> on how you search for release information. If you have any favorite features from the latest release (WordPress 5.8) let the team know by completing this <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_2llymf79-h5sgTiprz7Kw4Gr4cbDHh-AAdAQfiArXlHksg/viewform">short form</a>.</li></ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2>Further reading</h2>



<ul><li>The Meta Team launched the new <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2021/07/20/the-wordpress-pattern-directory-is-live/">WordPress Pattern Directory</a> alongside the 5.8 release. The Design Team also contributed to this project, working with contributors on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/07/29/initial-patterns-for-the-patterns-directory-launched/">launching around 85 block patterns in the directory</a>.</li><li>Check out the following blog posts from the Design Team: <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/07/13/a-walk-around-the-search-block/">A Walk Around: The Search Block</a> and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/07/27/widgets-in-wordpress-5-8-and-beyond/">Widgets on 5.8 and beyond</a>. Join their <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/?s=show+and+tell">Show and Tell meetings</a> on the last Wednesday of each month to learn about updates on their latest projects and new ideas.</li><li>Check out <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/configuring-theme-design-with-theme-json/">this blog post</a> to learn how to configure theme design with theme.json.&nbsp;</li><li>The Test Team has put out a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/07/20/test-team-reps-call-for-nominations/">call for team-rep nominations</a>.</li><li>The Themes Team is in the process of discussing <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/07/20/discussion-request-for-feedback-on-requirement-changes/">updated theme directory guidelines</a>.</li><li>Version 17.9 of WordPress for <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/07/27/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-17-9/">Android</a> and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/07/28/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-17-9/">iOS</a> are now available for testing.</li></ul>



<p><em>Have a story that we should include in the next “Month in WordPress” post? Please </em><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/"><em>submit it using this form</em></a><em>.&nbsp;</em></p>



<p><em>The following folks contributed to July’s Month in WordPress:  <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>webcommsat</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaion07/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>chaion07</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jillbinder/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>jillbinder</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lmurillom/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>lmurillom</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>meher</a></em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 03 Aug 2021 13:53:13 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Hari Shanker R";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:16;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:107:"WPTavern: Termly Acquires GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner, Turns Free Plugin Into a Commercial SaaS Product";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=121058";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:257:"https://wptavern.com/termly-acquires-gdpr-ccpa-cookie-consent-banner-turns-free-plugin-into-a-commercial-saas-product?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=termly-acquires-gdpr-ccpa-cookie-consent-banner-turns-free-plugin-into-a-commercial-saas-product";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5330:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Company A sells its plugin. Company B picks it up and moves forward with an overhauled version that looks and feels much different than the original. Users are outraged by the changes. It seems to be a repeating theme in 2021, almost as a rule rather than an exception.</p>



<p>Last month, Termly <a href="https://termly.io/wordpress-plugin/">announced its acquisition</a> of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/uk-cookie-consent/">GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner</a> plugin. The plugin was a simple tool for adding and styling a consent banner for the front end. It is now a SaaS (Software as a Service) product that requires a Termly account to operate.</p>



<p>According to the team&rsquo;s blog post, such changes were necessary. &ldquo;Termly&rsquo;s products, including the cookie consent management platform, are designed to cover the EU GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive, UK GDPR, and the CCPA. These laws require more than just a cookie consent banner to be compliant. Termly can help you build a privacy policy, create a Data Subject Access Request form, and comply with other privacy law requirements.&rdquo;</p>



<p>In the past couple of weeks, users have taken to the WordPress.org review system, <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/uk-cookie-consent/reviews/?filter=1">handing out 21 </a>of the plugin&rsquo;s 29 total one-star ratings. The project has over 200,000 users, so more should be expected if the general consensus is that this was a poor move by the company.</p>



<p>One of the complaints from users is the commercialization of the plugin. In the past, it was completely free to use. While there is still a free tier, users are limited to a mere 100 monthly unique visitors on a single domain. After hitting that limit, the banner will stop collecting consent records. The next level up costs <a href="https://app.termly.io/user/products">$15 per month</a> if paid annually.</p>



<img />New pricing options for the Termly service.



<p>As Pattaya Web Services <a href="https://twitter.com/Pattaya_Web/status/1419258930941685761">pointed out via Twitter</a>, &ldquo;GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner for #Wordpress has been purchased by #Termly and will now cost most website owners $180 per year.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Termly must get a return on its investment. The company has developers to pay, and they have families to feed. But, I suspect the average user will not warm up to the so-limiting-that-it-is-free-in-name-only introduction level. Having to pay for features that have been free for years will not sit well with many.</p>



<p>Of course, there is always the option of using the old version, but Termly has no plans of maintaining it or ensuring that it meets compliance. The only alternative for small site owners who cannot afford to pay is to opt for another solution.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I guess GDPR Cookie Consent banner, now operated by @Termly_io didn&rsquo;t learn anything from [the] fiasco with WP User Avatar plugin reported by @wptavern earlier this year,&rdquo; wrote user Gennady Kurushin <a href="https://twitter.com/gkurushin/status/1421789652411879425">on Twitter</a>.</p>



<p>I believe they did. There are differences, and Termly&rsquo;s handling of this showed a willingness to be transparent.</p>



<p>And, I cannot stress this enough: the new plugin is not an entirely different one unrelated to its core purpose. It was overhauled and turned into a SaaS product. At the end of the day, it is still a cookie consent management plugin &mdash; just different and costs a lot more for most users.</p>



<p>Unlike <a href="https://wptavern.com/dark-mode-plugin-repurposed-and-renamed-to-wp-markdown-editor-change-leaves-users-confused">Dark Mode</a> and <a href="https://wptavern.com/profilepress-rebrands-and-repurposes-wp-user-avatar-now-a-membership-plugin-users-revolt-via-the-wordpress-review-system">ProfilePress</a>, Termly did not make the changes in the dead of night. At least the company was upfront about everything. The team included an announcement in a point release two weeks before sending out the overhauled version. It disabled automatic updates so that users would not accidentally upgrade without being aware of what was coming. It even published a public blog post detailing what was happening.</p>



<img />Prior notice of upcoming changes in 3.0 and disabled auto-updates.



<p>If anything, Termly took just about all the necessary steps it could have taken to prepare its user base. If a &ldquo;right&rdquo; way existed for a complete and utter makeover of a plugin, the company did as much.</p>



<p>That level of honesty is a bit more than we have seen in the past. The changes may still leave a bitter taste in the mouths of many users, but Termly should at least get a few points for making them in the light of day.</p>



<p>The result may be the same: fundamental changes in how the plugin operates, but users had a chance to ditch it or continue using the old version before anything went into effect. For some users, it may not be much, but that&rsquo;s worth something.</p>



<p>I won&rsquo;t be breaking out my pitchfork today, but I do not use the plugin. As more and more users upgrade to 3.0+ and realize they are essentially on the line for $180 per year, the reviews could get ugly.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 02 Aug 2021 22:04:23 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:17;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"WordPress.org blog: WP Briefing: Episode 14: The Art and Science of Accessibility";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:53:"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11096";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/08/episode-14-the-art-and-science-of-accessibility/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9391:"<p>In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy discusses the nuances of building accessible software, the differences between access, usability, and accessibility, and how this all applies to the WordPress project.</p>



<p><em><strong>Have a question you’d like answered? You can submit them to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>



<h2>Credits</h2>



<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Transcription: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/">Nicholas Garofalo</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>



<h2>References</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/about/accessibility/">About WordPress Accessibility</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/">Make WordPress Accessibility Team</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/wpaccessibility">WordPress Accessibility Team Twitter</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/handbook/best-practices/">WordPress Accessibility Handbook</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/coding-standards/wordpress-coding-standards/accessibility/">Accessibility Coding Standards</a></li><li><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.a11yproject.com/checklist/">A11y Checklist</a></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide">The Digital Divide</a></li></ul>



<h2>Transcript</h2>



<span id="more-11096"></span>



<p>[contemporary intro music]</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 0:10</p>



<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go.</p>



<p>[musical interlude]</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 0:28</p>



<p>This is the second of my big scary topics for this month. I&#8217;ll be talking about accessibility, which much like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI in the last episode, is one of those areas where the work is never finished. Also, like DEI in last episode, I feel strongly about accessibility and the need for accessible experiences in the world, but I&#8217;m aware that this is an area where I&#8217;m still learning.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 1:04</p>



<p>WordPress has both an accessibility statement and team, which makes a lot of sense given that the software supports so many different people, and industries, and cultures. But if you&#8217;re not quite bought into the idea that software should be accessible, or that accessible software can&#8217;t also be usable, then this is the episode for you.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 1:25</p>



<p>Before I joined the WordPress project, the majority of my work with accessibility was in the context of the digital divide. Now, when talking about the digital divide, there are three concepts around quote-unquote, &#8220;getting things to people,&#8221; and those are access, usability, and accessibility. Sometimes these words seem interchangeable, but ultimately they have nuanced differences that address different problems. And I like to think of them this way.</p>



<p>Access is making sure that someone can obtain something.</p>



<p>Usability is making sure that the user experience is understandable or coherent.</p>



<p>And accessibility is making sure that it&#8217;s usable by the largest number of people.</p>



<p>I have always considered each as a subset of the one that came before it. So having something everyone can access is good, but easy to access and easy to use is better. Easy to use is good, but easy to use and easily accessible is better.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 2:27</p>



<p>After joining WordPress, I discovered that accessibility in the context of software building is well, substantially more complicated. There&#8217;s no such thing as perfect accessibility, or a site that is 100% accessible, and many aspects are pretty open to interpretation. It turns out that accessibility, like so many things in WordPress, is a complicated intersection of art and science.</p>



<p>As an example, there&#8217;s a rule that says, &#8220;Ensure that links are recognizable as links.&#8221; A fast shorthand to accomplish that, that we see all over the internet, is to underline all links or put that icon next to it that says, &#8220;This opens in a new tab.&#8221; You know that icon that&#8217;s a box with an arrow? That definitely has a name, that I definitely don&#8217;t know? That icon. [laughing] But those solutions don&#8217;t necessarily fit every context that you&#8217;ll find a link in, and that&#8217;s where we see that intersection between the art of communication and the science of necessity.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 3:32</p>



<p>If you came with me earlier on the idea that accessibility is a subset of usability, and it&#8217;s not a far leap to say that the choices around accessibility implementations should always include design and the overall user experience.</p>



<p>I know that some of you are thinking, &#8220;But we have guidelines! Like, that&#8217;s why we have the guidelines, so that not everything has to be a gray area.&#8221; And on the one hand, yeah, that&#8217;s true. There are a lot of guidelines. There are guidelines for the code, and what the code produces, and the design elements. But I worry that when a solution is driven solely by rules, rather than reasons, we run the risk of throwing out the good along with the bad.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 4:15</p>



<p>Accessibility has been a consistent topic of debate in the project for as long as I can remember, and based on all of this, it&#8217;s really clear why. There are a few big picture questions that still deserve some sort of canonical answer for WordPress, and where possible I dig in and research the positions that everyone has taken in the past. But I also have questions about how to move everything forward, especially as the editing experience gets more and more standardized across the software, which reduces cognitive load, shortens the learning curve, etc.</p>



<p>What is the future possibility for having a series of more niche admin interface options?</p>



<p>What would it be like to be able to account for functional limitations in a way that lets site builders select what is needed for their clients or organization, or just individual situations they know their sites would be maintained under?</p>



<p>What more could we do if part of the setup flow of WordPress was to select some bundle of potential add ons for neuro diversity, or colorblindness, or dyslexia, and more?</p>



<p>It&#8217;s a really big question I have.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 5:26</p>



<p>And I have to be really transparent here and share that my foundational understanding of accessibility and usability is 10 plus years old, and I learned it in the context of people in education, not software. So a lot of my questions about the future of accessibility and WordPress is the result of old knowledge exploring new spaces, which means they are a little untested. And I&#8217;m so grateful for the contributors who point out what the current research and thinking is, in this incredibly complex field.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 6:00</p>



<p>I normally like to wrap up the briefing with a tidy takeaway, but this particular topic doesn&#8217;t really lend itself to that. So I&#8217;ll leave you with this. I really believe in WordPress&#8217; mission to democratize publishing. And I, for one, will never stop learning about what gives people more access to the software, and what makes the software more usable, and especially how we can combine usability with accessibility in a way that puts form and function on a level playing field.</p>



<p>[musical interlude]</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 6:40</p>



<p>And now, that brings us to our small list of big things.</p>



<p>Thing one, it&#8217;s that time of year where many of our community members take a short break to relax and refresh. I&#8217;ll be taking a bit of a break during the month of August, and so the WP Briefing will return again starting in September.</p>



<p>And thing two, huge thanks to the production crew that helps me make this podcast every couple of weeks, but a special shout out to our editor Dustin Hartzler, who makes quick work of all of my rambling thoughts.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 7:09</p>



<p>And that is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in September.</p>



<p>[contemporary outro music]</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 02 Aug 2021 12:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:17:"Nicholas Garofalo";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:18;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"WPTavern: Open Survey for WordPress Theme Authors on JSON Files and Block Themes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120949";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:205:"https://wptavern.com/open-survey-for-wordpress-theme-authors-on-json-files-and-block-themes?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=open-survey-for-wordpress-theme-authors-on-json-files-and-block-themes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11356:"<p class="has-drop-cap">WordPress 5.8 <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/configuring-theme-design-with-theme-json/">introduced an opt-in system for themes</a> to configure block settings, styles, templates, and more. It is done through a new <code>theme.json</code> file that authors can put at the root of their theme folders. Anne McCarthy, the lead of the FSE Outreach Program, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/07/30/help-shape-the-future-of-theme-design/">announced a survey</a> earlier today to get feedback from developers on this feature.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Since this new mechanism is an early step towards a comprehensive style system for the future of WordPress, it&rsquo;s important to hear from everyone who is currently using <code>theme.json</code> to learn more about how folks are using this tool and what might make sense to include in Core going forward,&rdquo; she wrote in the announcement.</p>



<p>The survey is open to all theme authors who have used <code>theme.json</code>, giving them a chance to put in some early feedback and help steer the ship going forward.</p>



<p>Because I have worked extensively with this system over the past few months, I had a few things to say. Plus, I just like participating in WordPress-related surveys. I also decided it would be an opportunity to share some of my unfiltered thoughts from a development perspective on the current state of <code>theme.json</code>.</p>



<p>What follows are my responses to the survey&rsquo;s questions &mdash; well, the tidied-up version.</p>



<p><strong>Note:</strong> <em>This is a developer-centric post that might not universally appeal to all of our readers. I have attempted to explain some things in user-friendly terminology, but some prerequisite knowledge of theme development may be necessary.</em></p>



<h2>Experience</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The first question of the survey is pretty cut-and-dry. It asks what your experience is with building block themes or using <code>theme.json</code>. It provides four choices (and an &ldquo;other&rdquo; option):</p>



<ul><li>I have built and launched block themes.</li><li>I have experimented with building block themes.</li><li>I have explored using <code>theme.json</code> with a classic theme.</li><li>I have used a block theme, but I have not built one yet.</li></ul>



<p>I chose the first option because I have already built two block themes for family and friends. These were simple personal sites that I already maintain for free &mdash; <em>honestly, I need to start charging</em>. I am also working on a theme that I hope to release publicly.</p>



<h2>How It Started and How It&rsquo;s Going</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The second question asks how one got started with block themes and <code>theme.json</code>. The choices are between forking an existing theme, using the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/tree/master/emptytheme">Empty Theme</a>, or starting from scratch.</p>



<p>Again, this is one of those things where I have experimented with each direction, but I cannot remember the exact starting point. The bulk of my work has come from forking a theme that I last worked on in 2019.</p>



<p>I plan to release this as a new theme for free at some point. I am mostly waiting on the following:</p>



<ul><li>Navigation block development to settle down</li><li>The Post Author block to be split into smaller blocks</li><li>A robust set of comment-related blocks</li><li>Post Featured Image block to have a size option</li></ul>



<p>I think I could realistically release a use-at-your-own-risk beta version of my theme today if those items were addressed.</p>



<h2>Templates and Template Parts</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The survey asked which templates and template parts themers always include in their block-based themes. There was a freeform comment field &mdash; <em>steps upon soapbox&hellip;</em></p>



<p>I have a love/hate relationship with block templates at the moment. The static nature of HTML templates reminds me of simpler times when theme development was less complicated. However, this also presents a problem in a dynamic system.</p>



<p>I cannot remember the last time I have built a traditional, PHP-based theme with more than one top-level template: <code>index.php</code>. The dynamic pieces have always been the guts of the thing, which are template parts. With PHP, it is easy to set some variable or use a function call to contextually load the templates parts necessary for whichever page a visitor is currently viewing on a site.</p>



<p>The block template system does not work like that. It essentially forces developers into breaking the Don&rsquo;t Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle.</p>



<p>For example, if a designer wanted to display a different header template part for pages and posts, they would only need to create a <code>header-page.php</code> or <code>header-post.php</code> template in traditional themes. However, because the block template system is different, they must now create two top-level templates, <code>single.html</code> (post) and <code>page.html</code>, to accomplish the same thing.</p>



<p>This is a &ldquo;bad thing&rdquo; because theme authors must duplicate all the other code in each of the top-level templates. There is no way to contextually load different template parts.</p>



<p>To answer the question: I am using almost all of the possible top-level templates out of necessity.</p>



<p>I also answered the second part of the question and listed my most commonly used template parts (broken down by hierarchy):</p>



<ul><li>Header</li><li>Content<br />&ndash; Loop<br />&ndash; Sidebar</li><li>Footer</li></ul>



<p>The <code>content-*.html</code> and <code>loop-*.html</code> template parts are those with the most variations.</p>



<h2>Defining Colors</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The next section of the survey asks how theme authors define their color palette slugs in <code>theme.json</code>. Believe it or not, <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/29568">naming colors</a> may be the most controversial topic in the theming world in years. The only two things generally agreed upon are &ldquo;background&rdquo; and &ldquo;foreground&rdquo; colors.</p>



<p>Morten Rand-Hendriksen <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/7553">opened a ticket in 2018</a> for standardizing a theme color naming scheme. It was not the first discussion and has not been the last. The problem it was meant to address was the slugs for colors in the system, which is how themes define their palettes. Once a user makes use of a preset color, the slug is hardcoded into their content. Switch to another theme with different slugs, and the old colors disappear and do not automatically change to the new theme&rsquo;s colors.</p>



<p>I use semantic names that follow something that closely resembles the Tailwind CSS framework&rsquo;s <a href="https://tailwindcss.com/docs/customizing-colors#naming-your-colors">shading system</a>. Instead of <code>red-medium</code> (descriptive), I would use <code>primary-500</code> (semantic), for example. A semantic approach would allow theme authors to define a set of colors that are updated each time a user switches themes.</p>



<p>Of course, there are other schools of thought, and even everyone who prefers semantic naming does not agree on the same system. I have <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/29568#issuecomment-851579180">described my approach</a> in more detail in a more recent GitHub ticket and have a <a href="https://gist.github.com/justintadlock/0003b82a1fc753b8bae54fad5b8cfd55"><code>theme.json</code> Gist</a> for others who might want to try it.</p>



<h2>Other Theme JSON Settings</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Outside of colors and typography, the survey asks what other settings theme authors have used. This is another scenario where I typically use everything &mdash; if there is an option for it, I am defining it.</p>



<p>One use case that WordPress does not currently have a preset for is global spacing. Most theme authors use a single value for most vertical margins (whitespace between blocks and elements). It is also often used for default vertical and horizontal padding.</p>



<p>I am unsure if I want a preset because I do not know how WordPress will use it. It is something that <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/27315">others have asked for</a>, and it is nearly ubiquitous in use. Defining an entire system around it could cause headaches down the road, but I would still like to see some discussion around implementing at least a standard global spacing preset.</p>



<h2>Per-Block Settings and Styles</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">This survey section was a yes/no question, simply asking if theme authors included per-block settings or styles in their <code>theme.json</code> files. Of course, I left some additional comments later in the optional comment section.</p>



<p>I am happy with the system when it comes to settings, which allows themers to define which features are enabled globally or on a per-block basis. However, I am not sold on adding styles via <code>theme.json</code>.</p>



<p>Writing CSS in JSON, essentially what we are talking about, feels wrong on so many levels. Currently, it is limited to merely a few configurable styles, so anything beyond that requires diving into an actual CSS file anyway. That is problematic because half of the theme&rsquo;s CSS code is divided between <code>theme.json</code> and a separate CSS file. From a development standpoint, it makes the codebase harder to maintain.</p>



<p>Initially, I started down the path of configuring per-block and element styles from <code>theme.json</code>. However, I have since moved my styling back to CSS files. It feels more natural, and I have the added benefit of all the tooling I am accustomed to. Right now, I cannot imagine a scenario where I would move back.</p>



<p>Besides saving a few bytes of code, I have not seen many benefits to adding styles for most things via JSON. Maybe that will change in the future, and I will be a convert. For now, I am sticking primarily with CSS.</p>



<h2>Other Feedback: A PHP Layer</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">I have <a href="https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-8-a-developer-centric-call-for-testing-theme-json-configuration#comments">said it before</a>, but it bears repeating. We need a PHP layer for this <code>theme.json</code> configuration system. There is currently an <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33367">open ticket</a> for addressing this.</p>



<p>There are two main benefits to such a system. Having a PHP API for piecing together configuration will feel far more natural to traditional theme developers. I look at it as a bit of an olive branch, a show of good faith that the core/Gutenberg developers recognize that many theme authors will have an easier time easing into FSE features via a familiar programming language.</p>



<p>The second advantage is that there is an untold number of plugin ideas to extend global styles, site editing, and more if there is an easy way to hook into the theme JSON system and overwrite things. A simple filter hook would make this painless.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 31 Jul 2021 03:03:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:19;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:52:"WPTavern: PublishPress Adopts Organize Series Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120910";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:149:"https://wptavern.com/publishpress-adopts-organize-series-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=publishpress-adopts-organize-series-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3043:"<p>PublishPress, makers of the PublishPress and PublishPress Blocks plugins, have <a href="https://publishpress.com/blog/publishpress-news/organize-series/">adopted the Organize Series plugin</a> from <a href="http://www.unfoldingneurons.com/">Darren Ethier</a>. Organize Series is a 15-year-old plugin for organizing and displaying posts in a series, useful for novel writers, educators, magazine sites, and anyone breaking their longer content up into a series. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img />image credit: PublishPress</div>



<p>PublishPress is also adopting <a href="https://organizeseries.com/extensions/">seven extensions</a> for the plugin that add features like custom post type support, shortcodes, the ability to add a post to multiple series, bulk publishing, and more.</p>



<p>Ethier, who works as an engineer at Automattic, <a href="https://organizeseries.com/2021/a-new-season-for-organize-series/">said</a> he began losing interest in maintaining the plugin and knew it was time to search for a new owner.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Most of you have noticed that I haven&rsquo;t been actively contributing to Organize Series or it&rsquo;s extensions for some time now and it&rsquo;s been bugging me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been gradually losing interest in maintaining the plugin as I&rsquo;ve expanded my developer horizons and as a result, I&rsquo;ve struggled with making the time to work on it.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Ethier connected with PublishPress by describing his situation in a post on the Post Status community and agreed to transfer his plugin and extensions in exchange for a donation to a charity.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Darren asked us to make a charitable donation as part of the handover,&rdquo; PublishPress founder Steve Burge said. &ldquo;We chose the <a href="https://www.theajp.org/">American Journalism Project</a>. Over 2,100 communities in the U.S. have lost their local newspaper since 2004. The AJP is trying to reverse that trend. It is a non-profit that is investing in local news. Their goal is to help grow newsrooms that hold the powerful accountable, combat disinformation, and deepen civic participation.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Burge assured current users that the free version of Organize Series will remain <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/organize-series/">free on WordPress.org</a> with all of its current features and some improvements. The company will also keep the extensions <a href="https://github.com/publishpress/?q=organize&type=&language=&sort=">freely available on GitHub</a> but Burge said they plan to release a commercial version with updated versions of the extensions.</p>



<p>With the adoption of Organize Series, PublishPress now has nine plugins available in its niche collection of publishing extensions as part of its mission to &ldquo;help WordPress publishers succeed.&rdquo; In the near future, Organize Series&rsquo; website content will be transferred over and the company will be changing the plugin&rsquo;s name to &ldquo;PublishPress Series.&rdquo;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 30 Jul 2021 21:54:22 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:20;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:82:"WPTavern: Refined.blog: A Curated List of RSS Feeds for Software Engineering Blogs";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120771";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:207:"https://wptavern.com/refined-blog-a-curated-list-of-rss-feeds-for-software-engineering-blogs?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=refined-blog-a-curated-list-of-rss-feeds-for-software-engineering-blogs";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7197:"<p>In one of the most apropos uses of a .blog domain, <a href="https://refined.blog/">Refined.blog</a> is a new website that promotes personal blogging with a curated list of software engineering blogs. It&rsquo;s a simple site with an index of blogs, their Hacker News scores, tags, and a link to each blog&rsquo;s RSS feed. The search function is very fast and applies to all columns in the index (with the exception of the feed URL). Columns can be ordered alphabetically, by tag, or by HN points.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>&ldquo;Experience is gold,&rdquo; Refined.blog creator Musa &Uuml;nal&nbsp;wrote in the site&rsquo;s introduction. &ldquo;There are many different social media platforms on the internet but we need&nbsp;personal blogs&nbsp;again. It&rsquo;s hard to find blogs so let&rsquo;s create this blog list together!&rdquo;</p>



<p>It&rsquo;s true &ndash; discovering new blogs isn&rsquo;t easy. If you&rsquo;re not following the right people on Twitter or don&rsquo;t happen to be around when a person links to their posts on social media, then you are usually out of luck. Personal blogs are often not very well optimized for search and can get lost in the haystack. </p>



<p>Google Search doesn&rsquo;t provide a way to narrow results to personal blogs. The <a href="https://wiby.org/">Wiby</a> search engine is about the closest you can get for searching these types of websites, although it seems to be limited to older style pages that are based on one subject of interest. Wiby uses Microsoft Bing&rsquo;s search results combined with Wiby.me results without sending your IP and user agent to Microsoft. Wiby&rsquo;s about page explains the problem that sites like Refined.blog are aiming solve:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>In the early days of the web, pages were made primarily by hobbyists, academics, and computer savvy people about subjects they were personally interested in. Later on, the web became saturated with commercial pages that overcrowded everything else. All the personalized websites are hidden among a pile of commercial pages. Google isn&rsquo;t great at finding them, its focus is on finding answers to technical questions, and it works well; but finding things you didn&rsquo;t know you wanted to know, which was the real joy of web surfing, no longer happens. In addition, many pages today are created using bloated scripts that add slick cosmetic features in order to mask the lack of content available on them. Those pages contribute to the blandness of today&rsquo;s web.</p><p>The Wiby search engine is building a web of pages as it was in the earlier days of the internet.</p></blockquote>



<p>Refined.blog brings more exposure to some of these single-person curated websites. Its creator, Musa &Uuml;nal, is considering branching out from an index of software engineering blogs to separate indexes for different topics.</p>



<p>&ldquo;For example, I am big fan of history bloggers, but it&rsquo;s very hard to find these kinds of blogs,&rdquo; he said in response to a question on Hacker News. &ldquo;If you know such of blogs, please contribute to the project. If we have enough bloggers listed, we can create subdomains like history.refined.blog or art.refined.blog.&rdquo; </p>



<p>Hacker News <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27973836">comments</a> on the project range from people discovering RSS for the first time and looking for reader recommendations, to people returning to RSS to get their news after becoming jaded by news algorithms and social media platforms. Other commenters shared that they, too, maintain their own lists of <a href="https://collection.mataroa.blog/">curated blogs</a>. Refined.blog used some existing <a href="https://github.com/kilimchoi/engineering-blogs">Engineering</a> and <a href="https://github.com/kaizensoze/security-blogs">Security</a> blog lists as sources for the index. </p>



<p>&ldquo;I love this,&rdquo; one person <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27975389">commented</a> on Hacker News. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m in the ultrarunning community and I love reading everyone&rsquo;s blog posts/trip reports/race reports/adventures. But everyone stopped updating them over the past 5 years or so. Now that sort of thing is just an Instagram photo with a paragraph or two. The depth and character of those old blog posts have been lost. I wish in depth blog posts would come back, but in reality, I don&rsquo;t think they are.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Another commenter echoes the sentiments of others who have given up on promoting their blogs in the age of social media: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>I&rsquo;ve completely given up on promoting my stuff. It used to be very easy and straightforward. Like minded folks could find new stuff without a problem. Nowadays, there&rsquo;s just way too much content, the vast majority of very low effort, and you get lost in the noise immediately.</p><p>For example, I have an old blog post that got featured in podcasts, on dailyjs, HN, is linked to from MDN, etc. When I wrote it in 2014 I pretty much just submitted it to Reddit, that&rsquo;s it. Nowadays I couldn&rsquo;t recreate that exposure &mdash; or even a tiny fraction of it &mdash; if my life depended on it.</p></blockquote>



<p>Regardless of whether the site takes off or not, I think it&rsquo;s important to catalog these attempts to restore the magic of that earlier era where websites offered a real window into people&rsquo;s knowledge and interests. It may not look the same as many of us remember the old school &ldquo;vintage&rdquo; internet, but the blogosphere will continue to evolve as long as bloggers at heart keep experimenting with projects like this. So much of this style of writing has gone to email newsletters, but content that lives publicly on the web has a longer life cycle that can be rejuvenated through linked conversations. Writers can and should be able to embrace both methods of distribution.</p>



<p>Refined.blog is hosted on GitHub and is open to feature suggestions and contributions. One person submitted an issue, suggesting the site <a href="https://github.com/m8/refined.blog/issues/18">add one or more OPML feed links</a> so people can subscribe to all or some of the blogs at once. &Uuml;nal said he is working on making an OMPL export for selected blogs. </p>



<p>If you&rsquo;re looking to beef up your RSS reader with active software engineering blogs, Refined.blog might be a good place to search. There are no blogs referencing WordPress development yet, but the site does have several that focus on tooling, JavaScript, React, PHP, and other technologies that WordPress developers use. The index is specifically designated for personal blogs and company blogs are not permitted. Anyone can submit a blog for inclusion by following the instructions on the main&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://github.com/m8/refined.blog">Github project repo</a> or by filling out the Google <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFjdjOK33Nj4IMnN3pqm___tEL_LX2dmMdK3s6n3Z6jtMU0g/viewform">form</a> with the same information.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 30 Jul 2021 02:58:57 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:21;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"WPTavern: TeslaThemes Rebrands, Shifts Focus to Real Estate Market";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120849";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:175:"https://wptavern.com/teslathemes-rebrands-shifts-focus-to-real-estate-market?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teslathemes-rebrands-shifts-focus-to-real-estate-market";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4961:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Earlier this month, TeslaThemes <a href="https://wprealestate.com/blog/teslathemes-is-now-wprealestate/">announced that it was rebranding</a> to WPRealEstate. The company wanted to focus its efforts on a single niche in the theming market and cut back on the library of projects it was maintaining.</p>



<p>In 2017, <a href="https://wptavern.com/imagely-acquires-teslathemes-is-seeking-other-acquisition-opportunities">Imagely acquired TeslaThemes</a>. The shop was created in 2013 and had grown its library to 68 themes. Last year, <a href="https://www.imagely.com/new-chapter/">Imagely was acquired</a>, and Nathan Singh was named CEO of the company.</p>



<p>Eric Danzer, the founder and former CEO of Imagely, continued running TeslaThemes and its sister site ShowThemes since the acquisition. He is now ready to turn the page and jump into the next chapter of running a successful WordPress business.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve decided that, as a business, we&rsquo;ll do better focusing our energy on a specific niche rather than trying to be all things to all people,&rdquo; he said.</p>



<p>After several years of running a generic theme shop, the company ran into a brick wall that so many others in the industry I have talked to had hit. It is the realization that maintaining so many disparate projects puts an almost insurmountable burden on the development and support teams.</p>



<p>&ldquo;TeslaThemes has historically tried hard to serve a lot of small niches,&rdquo; wrote Danzer in the announcement post. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had themes for real estate, recipes, musicians, eCommerce stores, photographers, event management, local business listings, and many other use cases. For each of those, we were embedding plugin-level functionality in each separate theme. That created a highly complicated product line that&rsquo;s difficult to maintain and keep up to date.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The team had run into the Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none problem. Tightening the focus would allow the company to focus on and become one of the best in a specific niche. Thus, the shift to real estate.</p>



<p>&ldquo;As I move on from Imagely, I wanted another big project to focus on,&rdquo; Danzer added in a personal note. &ldquo;I wanted it to be something I&rsquo;m passionate about. I&rsquo;m passionate about nearly every aspect of real estate. I own multiple rental properties, and I&rsquo;m working toward a real estate license.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The company had already been doing well in the real estate market with its previous Realtor theme. It was one of its most popular options.</p>



<p>&ldquo;On the market side, the real estate market is large enough to sustain a great theme shop,&rdquo; wrote Danzer. &ldquo;Yet, it&rsquo;s also a unique niche &mdash; real estate professionals have specific, challenging, hard-to-solve needs.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Existing TeslaThemes customers will continue receiving support and have access to any products purchased in the past. They will also be able to get the new real estate plugin and theme.</p>



<p>The legacy themes, those created before the 2017 acquisition, are no longer under active development. The company replaced those in November 2020 with the Tesla Pro framework, which Danzer said his team plans to maintain and support for at least another year.</p>



<h2>WPRealEstate Plugin and Theme</h2>



<img />Map, search, and listings blocks in a theme demo.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The team built the plugin on top of the block editor. They also created it alongside the <a href="https://www.reso.org/reso-web-api/">RESO Web API</a>, a modern standard for transporting data in the real estate world.</p>



<p>While there is no public demo of the backend or even any editor screenshots, a peek under the hood reveals several custom blocks. The theme previews <a href="https://demos.wprealestate.com/broker/listings/">showcase map, search, and listings solutions</a>. They also seem to blend the output with the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/kadence-blocks/">Kadence Blocks plugin</a>.</p>



<p>Instead of launching multiple themes, the company will focus on building a single project with several design options out of the box. Users can import prebuilt content and data as part of the onboarding process.</p>



<p>Danzer said that the new WPRealEstate theme is still a traditional, customizer-based theme. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll start working on a new FSE theme almost immediately though.  Between the work needed and waiting for FSE core functionality to mature, I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;d release that until sometime in 2022.&rdquo;</p>



<p>As far as I am aware, there are few, if any, robust block-based real estate solutions for WordPress at the moment. Custom post types and metadata serve as the foundation. However, a well-designed layer of blocks on top of that system could make it far easier for agents to build their sites.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 30 Jul 2021 01:44:52 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:22;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:60:"WordPress.org blog: Configuring Theme Design with theme.json";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11060";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/configuring-theme-design-with-theme-json/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9733:"<img width="632" height="356" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/themejson-1.png?resize=632%2C356&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11082" />



<p>Starting in <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/tatum/">WordPress 5.8</a>, a new tool — “theme.json” — is available to use in your theme. Maybe you’re hearing about it for the first time, or maybe you’re testing and developing themes with it already. Either way, I&#8217;m glad you&#8217;re here because it&#8217;s an exciting time for WordPress themes.</p>



<p>This post provides a quick introduction to this new framework, and describes what’s possible by sharing a few practical tips and examples.</p>



<h2>What’s theme.json?</h2>



<p>Technically, theme.json is just a file that lives at the top-level of a theme’s directory.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Conceptually, it’s a major shift in how themes can be developed. Theme authors now have a centralized mechanism to tailor the WordPress experience for site authors and visitors. Theme.json provides theme authors fine-grained control over global styles, block styles, and the block editor settings.</p>



<p>By providing these settings and controls in a single file, theme.json provides a powerful framework that brings together many aspects of theme design and development. And as the block editor matures and adds more features, theme.json will shine as the backbone for themes and the editor to work <em>together</em> <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f4aa.png" alt="💪" class="wp-smiley" />. </p>



<h2>Why Use it?</h2>



<p>It’s the future! But if you’re like me, you might need something more tangible to be convinced. Here are a few reasons why you might use theme.json today:</p>



<ul><li>Control editor settings like color, typography, spacing, and layout, and consolidate where these settings are managed.</li><li>Guarantee that styles apply correctly to blocks and elements across your site.</li><li>Reduce the amount of boilerplate CSS a theme used to provide. Theme.json won&#8217;t replace your stylesheet completely — there will be instances where CSS is needed to give your theme that extra flare (transitions, animations, etc.). But it can greatly reduce the base CSS needed from the theme.</li></ul>



<h2>How do I use it?</h2>



<p>The rest of this post demonstrates a few theme.json configurations you can try out. The examples use the tt1-blocks<a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/blob/master/tt1-blocks/theme.json"> theme.json</a> — <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tt1-blocks/">the block-based version of this year’s default theme</a>. </p>



<p>If you&#8217;re starting with an existing theme, you might try copying a theme.json from the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/">WordPress/theme-experiments repository</a> (for example, <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/blob/master/fse-tutorial/theme.json">the fse-tutorial theme</a> by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/">@poena</a>) and adding it to the root of your theme’s directory.</p>



<h3><strong>Change the typography settings of your site globally</strong></h3>


<div class="wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code "><pre class="brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate">
"settings": {
	"typography": {
		"fontSize": "30px",
		...
</pre></div>


<p>Making the change above in theme.json would result in the following updates to your theme&#8217;s body typography styles (before and after): </p>



<ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="398" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?resize=632%2C398&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11062" /></a></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="398" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?resize=632%2C398&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11061" /></a></li></ul>



<h3><strong>Changing the base color settings of your site globally</strong></h3>


<div class="wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code "><pre class="brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate">
"styles": {
	"color": {
		"background": "#ffc0cb",
		"text": "#6A1515"
	},
	...
}
</pre></div>


<ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="398" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?resize=632%2C398&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11063" /></a></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="398" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?resize=632%2C398&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11064" /></a></li></ul>



<h3><strong><strong>Changing spacing / padding settings on specific blocks</strong></strong></h3>


<div class="wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code "><pre class="brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate">
"styles": {
	"blocks": {
		"core/code": {
			"spacing": {
				"padding": {
					"top": "3em",
					"bottom": "3em",
					"left": "3em",
					"right": "3em"
				}
			}
		}
	}
}

</pre></div>


<ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="356" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?resize=632%2C356&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11065" /></a></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="356" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited-1024x576.png?resize=632%2C356&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11066" /></a></li></ul>



<h3><strong><strong>Set a custom color palette in the editor for specific blocks like a button </strong></strong></h3>


<div class="wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code "><pre class="brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate">
"settings": {
    "blocks": {
		"core/button": {
			"color": {
				"palette": &#91; 
					{
						"name": "Maroon",
						"color": "#6A1515",
						"slug": "maroon"
					},
					{
						"name": "Strawberry Ice Cream",
						"color": "#FFC0CB",
						"slug": "strawberry-ice-cream"
					}
				]
			}
		}
	}
}
</pre></div>


<ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="444" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?resize=632%2C444&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11069" /></a></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="444" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?resize=632%2C444&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11070" /></a></li></ul>



<h3><strong><strong>Enable and disable typography controls</strong></strong></h3>



<p>In the following example, the ability to supply a custom font size and line height for all heading blocks is disabled:</p>


<div class="wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code "><pre class="brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate">
	"settings": {
		"blocks": {
			"core/heading": {
				"typography": {
					"customFontSize": false,
					"customLineHeight": false
				}
			}
		}
	}
</pre></div>


<ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="444" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?resize=632%2C444&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11071" /></a></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?ssl=1"><img width="632" height="444" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?resize=632%2C444&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11072" /></a></li></ul>



<h2>What&#8217;s Next?</h2>



<p>I hope this gives you a sense of what&#8217;s possible and where themes are going. The above examples just scratch the surface of what kinds of theme design configurations are possible, and I’m very excited to see what theme authors create.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;re interested in learning more, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/25/introducing-theme-json-in-wordpress-5-8/">here&#8217;s the developer note on theme.json</a>, and <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/theme-json/">here&#8217;s the documentation for theme.json</a> in the handbook.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><em><strong>Thanks to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/">@kjellr</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">@</a></strong></em><strong><em><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">chanthaboune</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/priethor/">@priethor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/">@annezazu</a> for helping with and peer-reviewing this post.</em></strong></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 29 Jul 2021 22:26:13 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"Jeff Ong";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:23;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"Gutenberg Times: Join the WordPress Full-Site Editing Outreach program";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=18636";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/join-the-wordpress-full-site-editing-outreach-program/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8136:"<p>Anne McCarthy, developer relations wrangler for the open-source WordPress project, spearheads the <strong>Full-Site Editing experimental Outreach program</strong>. </p>



<p>The goal of the program is to get all the new tools for full-site editing that are coming to WordPress in the near future into the hands of site builders and implementers for testing and feedback. </p>



<blockquote class="has-text-color has-body-background-color"><p>Given enough eyeballs, all <em>bugs</em> are <em>shallow</em>!</p><cite>Linus&#8217; Law by Eric S. Raymond</cite></blockquote>



<p>In this short video, McCarthy explains the program and answer a few questions. </p>



<p>The hope is that you, dear reader and listener, will seize the opportunity to contribute and get a look behind the scenes and share your experiences with the Gutenberg developer team. </p>



<p>I joined a few calls for testing. It was great fun to learn more how the new <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/site-editor-demo-sotw/">Site Editor</a> works and push the limits of the user interface.  Sometimes it felt  a little rough around the edges and I got lost a few times. I found my struggles and confusions, in the feedback summaries and quite a few bugs were found and squashed because of the people testing. </p>



<p><em>Use the comment section below, to let us know what you think or if you have questions we can answer. </em></p>



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<p><strong>Transcript: </strong></p>



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-rounded"><img />Anne McCarthy</div>



<p>Howdy. My name is Anne McCarthy. I’m a Developer Relations Wrangler working for Automattic. I want to share a bit today about the Full Site Editing outreach program. </p>



<p>This is a program that I’m currently working on building out, so I hope by the end you feel compelled to join in on the fun. But let’s jump into some big picture questions, and know, I welcome questions as well in the comments below. I’ll also link to some resources. </p>



<h2>What is the Full-Site Editing Outreach program?</h2>



<p>So to start what is it? As the name suggests, it’s a program focused on Full Site Editing. Full Site Editing is a major part of phase two of Gutenberg right now. </p>



<p>Currently, it’s in the form of a Slack channel in the <a target="_blank" href="http://wordpress.org/" rel="noreferrer noopener">wordpress.org</a> slack community with </p>



<ul><li>Curated calls for testing, </li><li>feedback summary posts, and </li><li>various educational opportunities, like </li><li>live streams of people building block themes or </li><li>hallway hangouts, where we talk about Full Site Editing related issues. </li></ul>



<h2>What is the Goal of the FSE Outreach Program?</h2>



<p>The goal is to ultimately help improve the Full Site Editing experience by gathering feedback from people who use WordPress, specifically WordPress site builders. But while the group was originally started solely to focus on this feedback loop, there’s actually a really neat education component in place where people can join in to start building your own awareness and understanding of what’s to come as well as share what they’re working on and what problems they’re running into. </p>



<h2>Why was it started? </h2>



<p>It was started originally in May 2020, with about 100 people who signed up to participate. It was intended to help create better engagement with users to get better feedback to developers more seamlessly, especially for change as big as those being brought on with Full Site Editing, it felt important to create a new pathway. And this was also a big lesson that was learned with WordPress 5.0 that we wanted to make better. </p>



<h2>What happens in the Program? </h2>



<p>As mentioned, there are calls for testing that happen every couple of weeks, followed by a summary post, which I’ll share links to later. And interspersed between that there are things like calls for questions where we’ll do a call for questions, people can submit their questions, and then I’ll go through and find answers for all of them to share the answers openly. </p>



<p>And there’s also some hallway hangouts. There’s also some different educational opportunities and opportunities to give ad-hoc feedback. So for example, launching soon is going to be a survey asking folks who have built things with theme.json to share what they’d like to see in the future. </p>



<h2>Do I need to be technical to join?</h2>



<p>So this is something I hear a lot is what level of technical ability do I need to have in order to participate in this? So to kind of give you a lay of the land, this is what we typically need for each testing flow. </p>



<ul><li>You need to be able to set up a test site, </li><li>you need to be able to be using the latest version of WordPress, so you know how to update things and keep things up to date, </li><li>you need to use the Gutenberg plugin, which is just a matter of installing and activating the plug in, and </li><li>you need to use the TT1 blocks theme. </li></ul>



<p>Otherwise, you don’t need to be hyper technical to join this, we will not be going into code most of the time. </p>



<p>Most calls for testing are very much end user-friendly and site builder friendly. So if this resonates, this feels like something you can do, I highly encourage you to join in. </p>



<h2>How to join? </h2>



<p>So it’s very simple, you dive into <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">Make Slack</a> and head to the FSE outreach experiment channel <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C015GUFFC00" target="_blank">#fse-outreach-experiment</a>, which you can see here. And from there, you’re all set. </p>



<p>You just pay attention to pings from yours truly. </p>



<p>And if you’d like you can subscribe to the Make Test blog is that’s where I post both the calls for testing and any other sorts of check ins. </p>



<p>So let’s say you want to learn more and kind of actually see some of the stuff that we’ve done. </p>



<h2>Resources to learn more</h2>



<p>Here are the different links that you can follow. And I’ll drop these in the description of this video. But there’s the testing calls and summaries, the hallway hangouts, and the Q and A’s. </p>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/tag/fse-testing-call/">Testing Calls (#1 &#8211; #8)</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/tag/fse-testing-summary/">Feedback Summaries</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/tag/fse-hallway-hangout/">Hallway Hangouts</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/tag/fse-answers/">Q &amp; As </a></li><li>WordPress Handbook: <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/handbook/full-site-editing-outreach-experiment/">Full-Site Editing Outreach Program</a></li></ul>



<h2>Stay connected!</h2>



<p>Finally, if you want to stay connected with me, I’m <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U02S2V0TP">@annezazu</a> You can also find me at <a href="https://nomad.blog/">nomad.blog.</a> </p>



<p><em>I really hope you join</em> the program if this resonated at all and if you are someone who uses WordPress on a regular basis to build sites for yourself or others. </p>



<p><em>I really hope you join</em> because we do need your feedback to make this a success. </p>



<p>And WordPress is all about the community, and I’d love to continue to grow that community. Hope to hear from you soon and hope to see you join.</p>



<p><em>Note: Feel free to leave your questions in the comment section below. I will get them to Anne McCarthy for answers. &#8212; Birgit</em></p>



<p>Featured Image: <a href="https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header-with-gutenbergs-site-editor">Justin Tadlock&#8217;s exploration</a> for the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/25/fse-program-testing-call-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header/">FSE Call for Testing #4</a></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 29 Jul 2021 20:46:05 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:24;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:65:"WPTavern: Theme Creation Will Be Easier, But We Are Not There Yet";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120793";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:173:"https://wptavern.com/theme-creation-will-be-easier-but-we-are-not-there-yet?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=theme-creation-will-be-easier-but-we-are-not-there-yet";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6523:"<p>&ldquo;The way that themes have evolved within WordPress has made creating them easier,&rdquo; wrote Tammie Lister in the opening line of her article titled <a href="https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/28/theme-creation-is-now-easier/">Theme creation is now easier</a>. &ldquo;That feels like a bold statement, but it&rsquo;s true.&rdquo;</p>



<p>It is not a stretch to say that many would be asking for this secret-sauce recipe of easy theme creation. If anything, WordPress theming is at its most complex stage in history. It is a weird mix of APIs and years upon years of legacy baggage. Jumping into traditional theme development today carries with it a high barrier to entry, especially if you want to build anything grander in scope than any of the default Twenty* themes.</p>



<p>But Lister is talking about the WordPress of the future, a platform that will render its front-end output via blocks.</p>



<p>The thing about blocks is that they put this veil over a lot of the messy legacy stuff, creating a new standard where anyone who wants to build a theme does not have to worry about a lot of the history that got us from Point A to Point B. That is a <em>Good Thing</em>. Standardization of the system was long overdue, but we are still in the process of making that final leap forward. It is a tough time to be a developer. It can also be an exciting new adventure if we stop thinking about themes from a traditional mindset.</p>



<p>Lister made sure to point out the difference between theme &ldquo;creation&rdquo; and &ldquo;development.&rdquo; In almost two decades of WordPress, we have only ever had WordPress theme developers. Only those with the minimum knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP, and [sometimes] JavaScript could build a theme. And, that is absolutely still true today.</p>



<p>However, it will not be true tomorrow.</p>



<p>The act of front-end design does not have to be an all-or-nothing affair. Creators can build custom patterns and soon be able to submit them to the official <a href="https://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-org-block-pattern-directory-now-live">pattern directory</a>. WordPress 5.8 launched the template editor, so anyone can dip their toes into the shallow end of the template-creation pool. Global styles, a feature yet to be released, carries with it the promise of customizing fonts, colors, backgrounds, borders, and much more.</p>



<p>From a developer&rsquo;s perspective, some of these features can seem limiting. We dive into code and see the world around us changing. Nothing is like the WordPress of old. There are moments when things are more complicated &mdash; sometimes by magnitudes.</p>



<p>However, for people who have never written a line of code in their lives, there is something magical brewing. WordPress is lowering the barrier to entry to almost nothing for the &ldquo;regular&rdquo; folks.</p>



<p>I remember how empowering it was to create my first personal blog design on top of WordPress. It was a fork of a theme by Tung Do, the former owner of the now-defunct WP Designer blog. I knew enough HTML and CSS to hack my way through most of it and just enough PHP to break my site several dozen times. It was a life-changing experience for me that played no small part in launching my career.</p>



<p>However, I also think about all the people who never got to build their own site designs because they did not have the prerequisite knowledge, the available time, or ran into some other blocker that disallowed their entry into the experience. WordPress is positioned to change that with new tools, building a runway that allows more people to become a part of our collective design community.</p>



<p>It is not <em>only</em> about building personal blog designs. It is about allowing anyone who wants to contribute to this open-source experiment, founded on the idea that we can share with our neighbors.</p>



<p>The pattern directory, which is only a few days old, is an early example of that. As we continue removing barriers for non-developers, it opens an entire world of possibilities and, perhaps, allows some who did not previously have the privilege of contributing an opportunity to do so.  Or, it could even be the launchpad of a new business for some.</p>



<p>There is also a two-year-old ticket on <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/18055">starter page templates</a> that is picking up steam. It is a sort of companion to block patterns, tackling entire pages instead of sections. The initial goal would be for themers to bundle these in their themes, but I envision a future where users can create and share these freely with their peers via WordPress.org.</p>



<p>But, it is rough going for theme authors today &mdash; plugin developers too, but we&rsquo;ll save that for another post.</p>



<p>Traditional themes carry all the legacy baggage mentioned earlier, and some of the new block-related tools have added to the load. The current phase often breaks classic projects or forces developers into mixing compounds and waiting to see if the amalgamation explodes.</p>



<p>And, the promised future of easy theming with blocks is still in its infancy. The moment developers get into anything slightly more &ldquo;advanced&rdquo; than a simple blog, there are hurdles and pitfalls aplenty. For example, if you want to use different image sizes and orientations in various sections of a front-page template, that is impossible with the Post Featured Image block.</p>



<p>Or, maybe you have a theme user who wants to put a dynamic profile/account link for registered users on their own site. It is not happening without building a plugin or finding one to handle the job. It can also be a tough sell when four lines of PHP code worked just fine in the past.</p>



<p>These are merely simple examples of an array of issues that theme authors deal with on a day-to-day basis. They are problem-solvers for the masses, but they do not yet have a robust enough set of tools. Foundationally, the block system can handle most problems and even provide better solutions in some cases, but not all of the necessary blocks or options are in place yet.</p>



<p>As we continue solving these problems and adding the missing pieces, theme creation will be easier for everyone from the weekend tinkerer to the million-dollar theme shop. It will be a bit before we get there, but I find it hard not to look at what is upcoming and not be excited about the prospect of theming in the next few years.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 29 Jul 2021 02:18:45 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:25;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:36:"HeroPress: From WordPress to Freedom";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=3984";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:124:"https://heropress.com/essays/from-wordpress-to-freedom/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=from-wordpress-to-freedom";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3775:"<img width="1024" height="512" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/072721-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: Learn, build, and show the world what you have." /><p>Hello there! Do you know that having a WordPress knowledge can change your life for good? Yes! It can.</p>
<p>In the last half of 2020 which of course can be said as the pandemic year, I made more than $750 (<em>₦</em>300,000) creating websites with WordPress. Perhaps I could have made more even as a beginner, but I also had a full time job which didn’t make it easy for me as a beginner at that time. I didn’t quit my job at that time and I still haven’t cos WordPress is now easier and I started managing both ends well enough after few months.</p>
<h3><b>How I Started</b></h3>
<p>I was already a graduate of Computer Science and finished my service year by October 2019 but as regards employability I only had a beginner knowledge in HTML and CSS, of course I had pages created with that but I couldn’t make them really interactive cos I didn’t know enough JavaScript and I also had little knowledge of PHP. Here in my country, no one really hires Junior developers with no JS knowledge, then I needed money to keep myself learning.</p>
<p>The bail out, I understood I needed to be skilled, so I began to see what I can do. One morning in May/June 2020 I decided to rearrange my workspace, then I found an old jotter of mine. Going through it, I found my jottings from watching a video on 4 professions you can learn on your own and get skilled with it (Note -not exactly the video title). On the list was WordPress, I went online and started searching on becoming a WordPress developer as a beginner. At this time, I already had a job, the pay was low which is also why I was thinking of learning new skills, meanwhile, pandemic also joined.</p>
<blockquote><p>The most helpful resource for me during my search then and till now is the <a href="https://www.wpbeginner.com/">WP Beginner</a> website.</p></blockquote>
<p>With the little internet/data I had, I started reading, learning and practicing. I learnt how to register a domain, get a host and build with WordPress. I saved some money, registered 2 imaginary domain names, hosted them and built them with WordPress and Elementor, this was already early 2020.</p>
<p>What next, I had to show people what I knew and what I have done with what I knew, cos no one would know if I didn’t show it. I posted the 2 websites on twitter, got some likes and comments, then got some messages to create 3 websites for some clients, I kept building and showing it, and the rest as they say is history.</p>
<p>By the end of 2020, I already created about 10 websites and since then I have been making some side income as a Website creator aside my full-time job as a stock/store manager.</p>
<h3><b>My challenges </b></h3>
<p>No active WordPress community here to support, and sometimes I have a block as to what to learn next and how to get clients.</p>
<p>I solve what to learn with trying new things or interests, I recently enrolled in a UI/UX design class and I can say I really explored, cos I will be finishing an online internship this week of writing in July, 2021.</p>
<p>In summary, learning about WordPress is something you can turn to a skill, a full time job, a side hustle and other cool things. Learn, build and show the world what you have.</p>
<blockquote><p>With WordPress, you can create amazing things and earn more.</p></blockquote>
<p>Thank you for reading.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/essays/from-wordpress-to-freedom/">From WordPress to Freedom</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 28 Jul 2021 07:00:50 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Yusuf Omotoso";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:26;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:124:"WPTavern: WordCamp US Online Set for October 1, 2021, as Community Team Weighs Proposal for Returning to In-Person WordCamps";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120610";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:289:"https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-us-online-set-for-october-1-2021-as-community-team-weighs-proposal-for-returning-to-in-person-wordcamps?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordcamp-us-online-set-for-october-1-2021-as-community-team-weighs-proposal-for-returning-to-in-person-wordcamps";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4996:"<p><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2021/wordcamp-us-is-back/">WordCamp US</a> will be held online this year on October 1, 2021. Organizers are planning a free, one-day event that will feature networking opportunities, speaker sessions, and workshops. Michelle Frechette, one of the organizers, said the team is planning on hosting a contributor day and will add more information to the event&rsquo;s website over the next few weeks. In August, WCUS will send out the calls for speakers, sponsors, and volunteers. </p>



<p>Planning for the 2020 virtual WCUS ended up as somewhat of a debacle after organizers decided to <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-us-2020-canceled-due-to-pandemic-stress-and-online-event-fatigue">cancel due to pandemic stress and online event fatigue</a>. The cancellation came after volunteers had already invested hundreds of hours of free time in planning the unfortunately timed event. Outbreaks in the US were worsening and political tensions were at an all-time high ahead of what went down as one of the most contentious presidential elections in US history. </p>



<p>Bringing back WordPress&rsquo; flagship WordCamp as an online event was a necessity in 2021, as COVID-19 cases rise and ICU&rsquo;s are filling up in US hot spot regions where vaccination rates are lower. The delta variant has thrown the world another curve ball in what has become one of the most stressful and traumatic 18 months in recent memory. </p>



<p>Despite the continued public health crisis, the WordPress community is eager to restart in-person events. Rocio Valdivia published a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/27/proposal-how-to-return-to-safe-in-person-wordcamps/">proposal </a>today, summarizing the Community Team&rsquo;s discussions on how to establish a path for returning to in-person WordCamps. The proposal is based on using the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/#can-i-organize-in-person-events-for-my-wordpress-meetup">current guidelines for&nbsp;meetups</a> with a few additional guidelines pertinent to WordCamps. It uses the same decision-making flow chart that applies to green lighting in-person meetups: </p>



<img />



<p>After these guidelines for meetups were announced in early July, in-person meetups have been held in six countries, including Russia, US, New Zealand, Uganda, Australia and the Netherlands.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Resetting expectations for WordCamps may be necessary, as the world has changed significantly,&rdquo; Valdivia said in the proposal. &ldquo;This is a great opportunity to rebuild the program by restarting locally, and then building back up to the levels we had in 2019.&rdquo;</p>



<p>WordCamps had mostly fallen into a fairly predictable format before the pandemic, but the Community Team is now keen on organizers experimenting with new formats and content. One example suggested in the proposal is delivering WordCamp content entirely online, followed by an in-person social gathering, for a more inclusive experience that makes it possible for those who cannot attend to participate in the educational aspects of the event.</p>



<p>The Community Team is embracing the current hardships as an opportunity to improve WordCamps and rekindle the community spirit after such a lengthy absence from in-person events:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Additionally, the normal WordCamp application process requires that there be an active local community in place.&nbsp;As the community has faced many changes this year, Deputies are thinking about how to handle this requirement. One possibility could&nbsp; be more flexibility with WordCamp applications, allowing communities that had a meetup pre-COVID to host a WordCamp, even if they weren&rsquo;t as active in the last year, to help build excitement and restart community activity again.</p></blockquote>



<p>The proposal includes a list of more practical considerations, such as securing fully-refundable venues, providing individually-packaged food instead of buffets, and limiting capacity to provide for social distancing. It also notes that WordCamps taking place during this transitional period would need to be prepared to cover 100% of their expenses, as WordCamps are currently <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021-wordpress-global-community-sponsorship-program/">exempt from the 2021 Global Sponsorship Program</a>. Inclusion in the Global Sponsorship Program will be reconsidered once WordPress returns to in-person camps in all regions.</p>



<p>The Community Team is inviting feedback on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/27/proposal-how-to-return-to-safe-in-person-wordcamps/">proposal</a>, which is still under active discussion. If you have ideas that you think should be included in the guidelines or suggestions for this transition period for in-person WordCamps, leave a comment on the proposal.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 28 Jul 2021 02:39:52 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:27;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"WPTavern: Create a Publishing Task List With the Todo List Block";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120470";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:173:"https://wptavern.com/create-a-publishing-task-list-with-the-todo-list-block?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=create-a-publishing-task-list-with-the-todo-list-block";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4615:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Rich Tabor, the Senior Product Manager of WordPress Experience at GoDaddy, has been on a bit of a publishing productivity and workflow kick as of late. The co-creator of the Iceberg Editor plugin released a <a href="https://wptavern.com/add-editor-only-notes-via-the-markdown-comment-block-wordpress-plugin">Markdown Comments</a> block last month, allowing users to write editor-only notes. Last week, he launched the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/todo-list-block/">Todo List Block plugin</a>.</p>



<p>The latest plugin is yet another simple, editor-only tool. The goal is to allow publishers to create and keep track of tasks on a per-post basis. It is essentially a way to create a publishing checklist directly in the editor&rsquo;s content canvas.</p>



<img />Adding a Todo List to a post.



<p>For solo writers, it should work well as a standalone plugin. Larger teams might consider coupling it with a plugin like <a href="https://wptavern.com/upgrade-your-publishing-flow-with-the-post-descriptions-wordpress-plugin">Post Descriptions</a> for a more robust solution.</p>



<p>One annoyance when using the block is that clicking the <code>Enter</code> button twice on the keyboard does not break you out of the Todo List. This is how lists work in core WordPress, allowing users to create a new paragraph or add a different block. I am not sure how to move out of the Todo List via the keyboard.</p>



<p>The issue could be related to how the plugin builds the list. Technically, it creates two separate blocks. The Todo List block is a wrapper for individual Todo Items. However, I am generally a fan of this approach because it allows developers to create block options for each item (e.g., different colors for each), a feature I have needed on occasion with the core List block.</p>



<h2>Plugin + Theme Integration</h2>



<img />Theme JSON integration.



<p class="has-drop-cap">One of the hardest things about developing plugins in past years was having no standardized method for themes to style plugin output. Every plugin author had their own system, which would often change from version to version, and theme authors had to keep up.</p>



<p>Tabor may have just struck the perfect balance with the Todo List block. It defines its own styles but leans on the new <code>theme.json</code> standard <a href="https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-8-a-developer-centric-call-for-testing-theme-json-configuration">available since WordPress 5.8</a>.</p>



<p>Almost anything a theme designer might want to style is easily configurable via JSON, and the plugin has an <a href="https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/todo-list-block/tags/0.1.1/src/theme.json">example bundled within it</a>. Theme authors can simply copy the code wholesale, paste it, and modify it to suit their design. Or, they can just use the bits they want. I only wanted to change the text color, so it was as simple as plugging in a single custom value.</p>



<p>This is the sort of forward-thinking that we need in this new era of blocks. And, this solution might just be the standard that other plugin authors should follow. It provides themers with an uncomplicated method for customizing plugin output and does not require nested styles to overwrite rules with high specificity.</p>



<h2>A Checklist Block Type in WordPress</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">My initial interest in the Todo List Block plugin was its similarity to checklists (also called task lists). Essentially, these are unordered lists with a checkbox input for each item.</p>



<p>For transparency, I mostly just want to build a recipe block pattern with a checklist. This would let readers check each step in the instructions as complete.</p>



<img />Creating a task list of recipe instructions.



<p>It is a relatively standard feature in Markdown editors to be able to create checklists by typing something like the following:</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>- [ ] Incomplete task.
- [x] Completed task</code></pre>



<p>There is a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/15005">ticket to bring a similar feature</a> to the Gutenberg plugin. It was opened in 2019. However, other than a few people chiming in, it has not seen much traction in the two years since.</p>



<p>Gutenberg project lead Mat&iacute;as Ventura shared a concept he had tried out early in the ticket:</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">

</div>



<p>Given the similarity with the Todo List block, maybe we can give Tabor a little nudge and have him bring a checklist solution to the masses.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 27 Jul 2021 23:08:40 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:28;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:117:"WPTavern: Colorado Becomes First State to Require State and Local Government Websites to Meet Accessibility Standards";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120625";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:279:"https://wptavern.com/colorado-becomes-first-state-to-require-state-and-local-government-websites-to-meet-accessibility-standards?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=colorado-becomes-first-state-to-require-state-and-local-government-websites-to-meet-accessibility-standards";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4046:"<p>Today marks the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights law passed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against people with physical or mental impairments that substantially limit a major life activity. The legislation continues to help disabled people gain equal access to employment, schools, transportation, government services, and public accommodations. </p>



<p>In a speech at the Rose Garden today, President Joe Biden announced guidance that would extend the ADA protections to COVID-19 long haulers who experience lingering symptoms that qualify as a disability. </p>



<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re bringing agencies together to make sure Americans with long COVID who have a disability have access to the rights and resources that are due under the disability law,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Which includes accommodations and services in the workplace and school, and our health care system, so they can live their lives in dignity and get the support they need as they continue to navigate these challenges.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The Biden administration is continuing its commitment to accessibility which was first declared publicly on WhiteHouse.gov. When Biden took office, the site relaunched on WordPress with an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/accessibility/">accessibility statement</a>, highlighting its ongoing accessibility efforts towards conforming to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1, level AA criteria.</p>



<p>Last week, Colorado became the first US state to <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_1110_signed.pdf">require state and local government websites to meet accessibility standards</a> as established by the state&rsquo;s Chief Information Officer. The bill states that the accessibility standards are to be identified using &ldquo;<em>the most recent web content accessibility guidelines promulgated and published by the world wide web consortium web accessibility initiative or the international accessibility guidelines working group.</em>&rdquo; </p>



<p>Each state agency in Colorado is required to submit an accessibility plan to the office before July 1, 2022. The office will review the plan and work collaboratively to set an implementation methodology. State agencies are required to fully implement the plan before July 1, 2024. Any agency not in full compliance will be considered in violation of laws that prevent discrimination against individuals with a disability. The bill also makes it easier for an individual with a disability to bring a civil suit against noncompliant agencies and the agency&rsquo;s $3,500 statutory fine would be payable to the plaintiff.</p>



<p>&ldquo;This bill will give our local governments the resources to make sure they&rsquo;re complying with the ADA,&rdquo; Julie Reiskin, Executive Director of the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, told <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2021/06/03/colorado-government-websites-disability-accessible/">Colorado Public Radio</a>. &ldquo;Particularly after the year we just had. People who were blind couldn&rsquo;t sign up for vaccines, get information online, sign language interpreters weren&rsquo;t widely available. Failing to fund this says people with disabilities don&rsquo;t matter.&rdquo;</p>



<p>WordPress web developers responsible for Colorado state or local websites should be ready to deliver accessible websites on the timeline laid out in the bill. It applies to any department, agency, special district, or other instrumentality. All of the <a href="https://www.colorado.gov/state-agencies-panel">state agency websites</a> are currently running on Drupal 7, but the state has more than <a href="https://dola.colorado.gov/lgis/lgActiveAlpha.jsf;jsessionid=QkARFgGTesFZquJAxABrnKoqXpzUmhMfdDHBk_xf.dolaapp12">4,268 active local governments</a>. Many of them use WordPress and those responsible for these local sites will need to begin the process of creating a plan to ensure they are accessible before July 1, 2024.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 27 Jul 2021 03:59:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:29;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:105:"WPTavern: Block Widgets, Template Editing, Media, and More: Enabling and Disabling WordPress 5.8 Features";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120605";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:247:"https://wptavern.com/block-widgets-template-editing-media-and-more-enabling-and-disabling-wordpress-5-8-features?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=block-widgets-template-editing-media-and-more-enabling-and-disabling-wordpress-5-8-features";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6051:"<p class="has-drop-cap">WordPress 5.8 was one of the most <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-tatum-introduces-block-widgets-duotone-media-filters-new-emoji-support-and-more">feature-packed updates</a> that the community has seen in ages. There was just about a little something for everyone. And, there were plenty of things that some users would rather live without.</p>



<p>Big releases on the CMS that powers 40% of the web mean that some users will want or need to disable new features. Whether it is turning on classic widgets, bringing back infinite scrolling in the media library, or enabling the template editor, there is bound to be a solution. Some say there is a plugin for everything, so we are about to test that theory against the WordPress 5.8 features list.</p>



<h2>Enable the Template Editor</h2>



<img />Creating a landing page in the template editor.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The <a href="https://wptavern.com/getting-to-know-the-upcoming-wordpress-5-8-template-editor">template editor</a> is one of the highlights of WordPress 5.8, but the majority of users cannot use it right now. Weeks before the latest update, the release team decided to make this an opt-in feature. This put the responsibility on theme authors to test their themes and enable it. However, users could be waiting for weeks, months, or even longer to see if their theme author switches the feature on.</p>



<p>Not every theme will work well with the template editor. Much of this comes down to how each was designed. However, many will work just fine with the new feature even if the theme author has not yet sent out an update that enables it. The only way most users can know is to turn it on and test it themselves.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/template-editor/">Template Editor plugin</a> by Webd Ltd does just this. There are no settings; just activate and give it a test run.</p>



<p>Keep in mind that results may vary. If template editing does not work out, just disable the plugin.</p>



<h2>WebP and Controlling Image Formats</h2>



<img />Modern Images WP settings.



<p class="has-drop-cap">WordPress 5.8 introduced <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-introduces-support-for-webp-images">support for WebP images</a>. This image type could reduce file sizes by 25-34%, depending on the original format. While WordPress supports WebP, it does not automatically change it upon upload. However, it now has the <code>image_editor_output_format</code> hook that plugin authors can filter.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/modern-images-wp/">Modern Images WP</a> plugin by Adam Silverstein builds on top of that hook. It allows users to decide how their uploaded images are formatted on a case-by-case basis via the Media Settings screen. For example, users can transform their JPEG images to WebP or leave it as the default format.</p>



<h2>Classic Widgets</h2>



<img />Block widgets screen in WordPress 5.8.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Square peg, meet round hole. That is how I have often described the <a href="https://wptavern.com/diving-into-wordpress-5-8s-new-widgets-screen">block-based widgets system</a> introduced in WordPress 5.8. It is meant as a temporary transitional phase between classic and block themes. For many, myself included, it is one best avoided.</p>



<p>Block widgets simply do not work with all themes, and some people just want the traditional widgets experience. Whatever the case, there is no shortage of options:</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-widgets/">Classic Widgets</a> (core plugin)</li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-editor-and-classic-widgets/">Classic Editor and Classic Widgets</a> by WPGrim</li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/restore-classic-widgets/">Restore and Enable Classic Widgets</a> by Bill Minozzi</li></ul>



<p>For users who would still rather simply avoid all things related to blocks, the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/disable-gutenberg/">Disable Gutenberg</a> plugin by Jeff Starr is your best bet. It is the most robust solution available, allowing site owners to fine-tune the experience.</p>



<h2>Enable Infinite Scrolling for the Media Library</h2>



<img />Media library with load more button.



<p class="has-drop-cap">WordPress 5.8 <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-media-library-changes-you-should-know-about">replaced infinite scrolling</a> in the media library in favor of an Ajax-powered load more button. This change limited each &ldquo;page&rdquo; of images and other media to 40 items. This was a necessary change for keyboard users attempting to reach content appended to the screen and those who rely on audible feedback for navigation. Infinite loading was also a performance issue for those on slower connections.</p>



<p>Accessibility and performance should always trump bells and whistles, but the WordPress development team provided a <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/media_library_infinite_scrolling/">filter hook</a> for plugin authors to tap into and reenable the feature.</p>



<p>The change was slated for the WordPress 5.7 release but did not quite make the cut.  David Baumwald released the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/media-library-enable-infinite-scrolling/">Media Library Enable Infinite Scrolling</a> plugin months ago in anticipation of it. The plugin still works great with WordPress 5.8 and is the solution for those who want to load images in the media library without clicking a button.</p>



<p>The one missing plugin would let users control the number of media items displayed. For some, they are OK dropping infinite scrolling but want to bump up that 40-item limit. There is currently no way for plugin developers to hook in and change this, at least until <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53787">an open ticket</a> works its way through the system.</p>



<p>Maybe there is not a plugin for everything yet, but it is close enough.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 26 Jul 2021 21:11:14 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:30;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"WordPress Foundation: Announcement: Online do_action hackathons in India and Nigeria";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:41:"https://wordpressfoundation.org/?p=191803";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:99:"https://wordpressfoundation.org/2021/announcement-online-do_action-hackathons-in-india-and-nigeria/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5036:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Following the success of <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/2020/open-source-workshops-november-2020-report/">online do_action events worldwide in 2020</a>, the WordPress Foundation is doubling down on <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/">its mission</a> by supporting more charity hackathons in 2021. Even as COVID-19 continues to wreck havoc around the world, our community organizers in India and Nigeria are working hard to empower local non profits by helping them build a stellar online presence. We are excited to announce <a href="https://doaction.org/event/karnataka-2021/">do_action Karnataka 2021</a> and <a href="https://doaction.org/event/nigeria-2021/">do_action Nigeria 2021</a>!</p>



<h3>do_action Karnataka (India) 2021</h3>



<p>do_action Karnataka will be a week-long online hackathon which is being planned on: 07 – 15 Aug 2021. WordPress enthusiasts in the state of Karnataka, India are coming together to organize this event, and the efforts are led by the <a href="https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/">WordPress Bengaluru meetup group</a>. Bengaluru, the capital city of Karnataka, has already seen a <a href="https://doaction.org/event/bengaluru-2019/">successful do_action event in 2019</a>.</p>



<a href="https://i0.wp.com/wordpressfoundation.org/content/uploads/2019/09/bengaluru-2560.jpg?ssl=1"><img /></a>A snapshot from do_action Bengaluru 2019



<p>The hackathon has shortlisted three Non-profits: Luv Kush Foster Home (a foster home that aims to care for animals in need), Peacespark Foundation (which aims to support the education of underprivileged children), and Vridhi Foundation (Women and children welfare). The event has also put forth its call for participants/volunteers &#8211; if you would like to support non-profits by helping them build websites, simply <a href="https://doaction.org/event/karnataka-2021/">fill up the form on the event website</a>. Read the <a href="https://doaction.org/participants-guide/">participant&#8217;s guide</a> for more details on what is expected of you when you sign up. You can also support the event by signing up as a sponsor. Please email the organizers at: <a href="mailto:bengaluru@doaction.org">karnataka@doaction.org</a> if you are interested in sponsoring the event.</p>



<p>You can find more details about the event in their website: </p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content"><a href="https://doaction.org/event/karnataka-2021/">Karnataka 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<h3>do_action Nigeria 2021</h3>



<p>Following the spectacular success of <a href="https://doaction.org/event/nigeria-2020/">do_action Nigeria 2020</a>, the vibrant WordPress community of Nigeria is back once again to organize an online do_action charity hackathon from October 25 through October 31, 2021! For the last three years, local communities in Nigeria have organized in-person do_action WordPress Charity Hackathons in several cities, where they had spent an entire day building brand new websites for a selection of local charities and NGOs. This year, for the second annual regional do_action Nigeria event, the team aims to repeat the same in an online format, for a handful of charitable organizations! </p>



<a href="https://i0.wp.com/wordpressfoundation.org/content/uploads/2019/09/lagos-2560.jpg?ssl=1"><img /></a>Participants are building websites for non-profits at do_action Lagos 2019.



<p>do_action Nigeria has currently opened up its call for non-profits. If you represent a non-profit based out of Nigeria which does not have an online presence, please submit the application <a href="https://doaction.org/event/nigeria-2021/">on the event website</a>. Applications close on the 15th September 2021. You can also support the event by sponsoring the event, please visit the <a href="https://doaction.org/event/nigeria-2021/">do_action Nigeria website</a> for more details. You can also email the organizers at: <a href="mailto:nigeria@doaction.org">nigeria@doaction.org</a> if you would like to support the event.<br /></p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content"><a href="https://doaction.org/event/nigeria-2021/">Nigeria 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<h3>Organize a do_action charity hackathon in your region</h3>



<p>Are you excited about these upcoming do_action events? Would you like to support your local community by organizing a do_action event for your region? <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/do_action-event-application/">Send in your application</a> right away! You can read more about do_action in the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/">event handbook</a>. Don’t&nbsp; hesitate to ask any questions you may have in the comments.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Thank you for all that you do to empower the global community through WordPress!</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 26 Jul 2021 15:32:45 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Hari Shanker";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:31;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:128:"Gutenberg Times: Releases Galore in WordPress open-source projects, Business Case of Gutenberg and more — Weekend Edition #179";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=18564";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:133:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/releases-galore-in-wordpress-open-source-projects-business-case-of-gutenberg-and-more-weekend-edition-179/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15404:"<p>Howdy, friend! </p>



<p>Today&#8217;s weekend edition is a double-feature, so to speak. I&#8217;ll skip next week because of traveling overseas. First trip in 20 months. I am so excited and also busy to get ready. I will be back into your inbox on August 7th, 2021. </p>



<p>This week was an exciting week for the WordPress open-source project and its many hundreds of contributors. One release after another! Just wow! Let&#8217;s dive right in. </p>



<p>Stay well and keep safe! </p>



<p>Yours, 💕<br />Birgit</p>





<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<h2>WordPress open-source project Releases in July 2021</h2>



<h3>WordPress 5.8</h3>



<p>Five hundred thirty awesome contributors worked on <strong><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/tatum/">WordPress 5.8</a> </strong>and the release team let it loose on Tuesday as Tatum, after Art Tatum, a renown American jazz pianist. </p>



<p>Need to catch up on all the features in this new version? </p>



<ul><li><strong>Milana Cap</strong> assembled all the Developer Notes into the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/03/wordpress-5-8-field-guide/">WordPress 5.8 Field Guide</a></li><li><a href="https://kinsta.com/blog/wordpress-5-8/">Carlo Daniele published a comprehensive run down on Kinsta</a>, </li><li><a href="https://www.godaddy.com/garage/what-wordpress-5-8-means-for-your-clients-websites/">Courtney Robertson on GoDaddy</a> wrote about what the release means for your clients&#8217; sites. </li></ul>



<h3>BuddyPress 9.0</h3>



<p>In time for the block-based widget editor, the <strong><a href="https://buddypress.org/2021/07/buddypress-9-0-0-mico/">BuddyPress</a></strong> team released their block widgets in their 9.0 version this week.  The new BP Widget Blocks are Legacy Widgets, rebuilt as BP Blocks.  You can also access them in the Block Editor for use in your posts or pages!</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://wptavern.com/buddypress-9-0-scheduled-for-short-development-cycle-to-ship-block-based-widgets-ahead-of-wordpress-5-8">Sarah Gooding has the background on the planning of this update</a>. </li><li>Gooding also wrote <a href="https://wptavern.com/buddypress-9-0-0-transforms-legacy-widgets-into-blocks">BuddyPress 9.0.0 Transforms Legacy Widgets Into Blocks</a></li></ul>



<h3>WordPress Pattern Directory</h3>



<p>The Meta Team has been collaborating with the Design team and designers in the community on the first version of the <strong><a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/">WordPress Pattern Directory</a></strong>.  They <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2021/07/20/the-wordpress-pattern-directory-is-live/">released it officially</a> on Tuesday night. <a href="https://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-org-block-pattern-directory-now-live">Justin Tadlock has the skinny</a>.</p>



<p>I found a few to add to my favorites.  What are your favorite block patterns?  These initial 80+ patterns are also a great inspiration for theme builders who look to include themes styled patterns in their themes. </p>



<p>If you are interested in creating block patterns from scratch, browse through <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/the-wordpress-block-patterns-resource-list/">this list of resources around block patterns.</a></p>



<h3>Gutenberg Plugin Version 11.1</h3>



<p>The Gutenberg Team released another version of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-1-0-21-july/"><strong>Gutenberg plugin, version 11.1.</strong></a> </p>



<p>Grzegorz Ziolkowski and I discussed its many of the changes on <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/changelog-48-wordpress-pattern-directory-gutenberg-11-1/">48th episode of the Gutenberg Changelog</a> </p>



<p>Justin Tadlock wrote: <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-11-1-adds-drag-and-drop-support-for-list-view-and-upgrades-block-borders">Gutenberg 11.1 Adds Drag-and-Drop Support for List View and Upgrades Block Borders</a></p>




<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2021&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. Updated by yours truly.  <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/"><em>The index 2020 is here</em></a></p>




<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<h2>Theme building for Full-Site Editing</h2>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/karmatosed"><strong>Tammie Lister</strong></a> shares here theme design journey on the site Ephemeral Themes. This week, she posted <a href="https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/19/tips-for-creating-in-the-site-editor/">&#8220;Tips for creating a theme in the site editor&#8221;</a> and explained <a href="https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/23/the-importance-of-testing-early-and-often/">the importance of testing early and often</a>. Well worth your time! </p>




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s main (trunk) branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge" /></p>



<p></p>




<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Kjell Reigstad</strong> has the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/07/23/gutenberg-themes-week-of-july-19-2021/">weekly round-up of issues, updates and discussions around <strong>Gutenberg and Themes</strong></a> for you. In this post Reigstad covered the most recent PR on FSE Blocks, General theme building and Global Styles. The list of overview issues is a great start if you need to catch up on the overall concepts and ideas. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Carolina Nymark</strong>, team rep on the Theme Review Team, ask for your comments on the newly proposed <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/07/20/discussion-request-for-feedback-on-requirement-changes/"><strong>Theme requirements for inclusion into the Theme directory on WordPress.org</strong></a>. You can also read them in more details on <a href="https://github.com/WPTT/Theme-Requirements/issues/12">GitHub issue #12 </a>on the Theme Requirements repository of the Theme Review team. </p>



<p>Deadline for the first round of comments is July 26th, 2021. </p>



<p>On July 28th, 2pm CET. The team will conduct a Zoom interview with theme authors about the requirements. Spots are already full. Hopefully, the interviews will be recorded to educate more than a few theme developers about the requirements. </p>



<p><strong>Justin Tadlock </strong>provides background and more context as to the initiative via his post <strong><a href="https://wptavern.com/next-phase-of-the-wordpress-theme-review-overhaul-open-meeting-and-call-for-feedback">Next Phase of the WordPress Theme Review Overhaul</a>. </strong></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Rich Tabor</strong> published <a href="https://richtabor.com/gutenberg-block-templates/"><strong>The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Block Templates in Gutenberg</strong></a> and provides a comprehensive tutorial on how block-based theme template fit into WordPress template hierarchy and how they help WordPress users controls their site. Tabor also provided details instructions on how to build block-based templates and leverage them in your theme. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>In his post <a href="https://themeshaper.com/2021/07/12/universal-themes-customization/"><strong>Universal Themes: Customization</strong></a> on ThemeShaper, <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/scruffian">Ben Dwyer</a></strong> explored about how to make Global Styles and the Customizer work together. Dwyer looks at how to use classic WordPress tools (in this case the Customizer) to customize a block theme, while saving these changes in Global Styles – making a universal theme!</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<h2>Developing Blocks and Plugins for the block editor</h2>



<p>Last month, <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/dmtrmrv">Dmitry Mayorov</a></strong>, Senior Front-End Engineer at 10up, published <a href="https://css-tricks.com/a-crash-course-in-wordpress-block-filters/"><strong>a crash-course in WordPress Block Filters</strong></a>. Mayorov shows you how to extend core blocks with filters. He also helps you with the decision between extending a core or build a custom block instead. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/laroymike"><strong>Michael LaRoy</strong></a> wrote a <a href="https://mikelaroy.ca/blog/wordpress-blocks-advanced-custom-fields"><strong>tutorial on creating blocks with Advanced Custom Fields.</strong></a> He wrote: &#8220;By providing a PHP solution to block creation, a developer already familiar with ACF can efficiently create new custom blocks without writing any JavaScript.&#8221;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/BillErickson">Bill Erickson</a></strong> has a tutorial on <a href="https://www.billerickson.net/innerblocks-with-acf-blocks/"><strong>how to use Inner Blocks with ACF Blocks</strong></a>, to expand on the usefulness of the plugin for more complex layouts. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/AlexStandiford"><strong>Alex Standiford</strong></a> explained in his post <a href="https://www.wpdev.academy/concepts/how-gutenberg-blocks-work/"><strong>&#8220;How Gutenberg Blocks Work</strong></a> the basic concepts of how the block-editor stores content, why HTML comments and how is it rendered. </p>



<h2>Business Case for Gutenberg</h2>



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/ArturGrabo">Artur Grabowski</a></strong>, co-founder of <strong>Extendify</strong>, a Gutenberg first product start-up, was <strong>Joe Howard</strong>&#8216;s guest on episode 153 of WPMRR Podcast: <a href="https://wpmrr.com/podcast/artur-grabowski-extendify/"><strong>Going Big by Solving WordPress’ Biggest Roadblock</strong></a>.  Grabowski, like many other business development people in the WordPress space, regards the missing new user onboarding experience as the biggest roadblock for even bigger growth of the WordPress ecosystem. Howard and Grabowski had an honest and nuanced conversation about the business case for Gutenberg First approach to WordPress products. </p>



<p>Grabowski took a historic view to the ongoing debate about Gutenberg being the right path for WordPress. Back in 2016, while working with Adobe and its product Spark, Grabowski became aware of many innovative web building tools. They were all block-based. It is only a fairly new concept for WordPress. “There is a lot less unknown here about the end state than some people realize.” If you are interested in the WordPress product space, I recommend you follow the link and dive into the details of things. </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed.</p><cite>Artur Grabowski</cite></blockquote>



<p>Incidentally, <strong>Cory Miller</strong>, Post Status partner and <strong>Jeff Meziere</strong> talked to <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/chrislubkert">Chris Lubkert</a></strong>, also co-founder of Extendify, on their Webinar for the Business Value Academy. <a href="https://businessvalueacademy.com/webinar-mergers-acquisitions-with-chris-lubkert/"><strong>Webinar: Mergers &amp; Acquisitions with Chris Lubkert</strong></a></p>



<p><em>Before co-founding Extendify, Chris Lubkert and Artur Grabowski worked in the Merger &amp; Aquisitions department of Automattic. <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/karmatosed">Tammie Lister</a></strong> also joined Extendify as their head of design.</em> <em><a href="https://twitter.com/extendifyinc"><strong>Extendify</strong></a> is the new home for a series of block-editor plugins and tools:  <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorplus/">Editor Plus</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/redux-framework/">Redux Framework</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-options/">Editors Kit</a>, <a href="https://gutenberghub.com/">Gutenberg Hub</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/forms-gutenberg/">Gutenberg Forms</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/acf-blocks/">ACF Blocks</a>, and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-slider/">Block Slider</a> to name a few. </em></p>




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/changelog-48-wordpress-pattern-directory-gutenberg-11-1/">Episode #48 is now available</a> with transcript. <br />Next recording August 6th, 2021 </strong></p>



<p> <strong>Subscribe to the&nbsp;<a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/">Gutenberg Changelog</a>&nbsp;podcast </strong><br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/620NwVKQJGdTupy36zYxvg?mc_cid=4b6c9f88fe">Spotify</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ndXRlbmJlcmd0aW1lcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0">Google</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gutenberg-changelog/id1469294475">iTunes</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://pca.st/podcast/f8445ec0-7508-0137-f267-1d245fc5f9cf">PocketCasts</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/gutenberg-changelog">Stitcher</a>&nbsp;|<br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href="https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/chi7j-9904a/Gutenberg-Changelog-Podcast">Pod Bean</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://castbox.fm/channel/Gutenberg-Changelog-id2173375">CastBox</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/gutenberg-changelog-878239/">Podchaser</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/podcast">RSS Feed</a>&nbsp;</p>



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<p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>



<form class="wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait" action="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/" method="post"><div class="ngl-form-container"><div class="ngl-form-field"><label class="ngl-form-label" for="ngl_email">Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class="ngl-form-input"><input type="email" class="ngl-form-input-text" name="ngl_email" id="ngl_email" /></div></div><button class="ngl-form-button">Subscribe</button><p class="ngl-form-text">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay"><div class="ngl-message-svg-wrap"></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay-text">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type="hidden" name="ngl_list_id" id="ngl_list_id" value="26f81bd8ae" /><input type="hidden" name="ngl_double_optin" id="ngl_double_optin" value="yes" /></form>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 24 Jul 2021 18:42:16 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:32;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:95:"WPTavern: Next Phase of the WordPress Theme Review Overhaul: Open Meeting and Call for Feedback";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120311";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:233:"https://wptavern.com/next-phase-of-the-wordpress-theme-review-overhaul-open-meeting-and-call-for-feedback?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=next-phase-of-the-wordpress-theme-review-overhaul-open-meeting-and-call-for-feedback";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7104:"<p class="has-drop-cap">The WordPress.org Themes Team <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/07/20/discussion-request-for-feedback-on-requirement-changes/">announced an open discussion and date</a> for a Zoom meeting with theme authors. The team is proposing a new set of guidelines that reduces and simplifies what is currently in place. Comments on the proposal are open through July 26, and the meeting is set for July 28, 2 pm CET.</p>



<p>This is the next step in an ongoing plan to revamp the review system and make it easier for the WordPress community to submit themes. It comes after months of waiting to see the results of earlier discussions unfold.</p>



<p>In January, the state of the theme review system seemed to have reached a crossroads. The Themes Team, a group of gatekeepers that oversees submissions to the official WordPress.org theme directory, had been making strides in the previous couple of years. Its members had cleaned up most of the submissions backlog, but they still had a lot of work ahead to smooth out the review process. On the whole, a series of incremental improvements seemed to be working at the time, albeit slowly.</p>



<p>Then, WordPress project lead Matt Mullenweg <a href="https://wptavern.com/upsells-barriers-and-the-end-beginning-of-the-quality-free-themes-era">dropped a bombshell</a> via the Post Status Slack:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The .org theme directory is particularly bad when you compare it to any half-decent commercial theme marketing page, or the designs available on other site building services or Themeforest directories. The .org theme directory rules and update mechanism have driven out creative contributions, it&rsquo;s largely crowded out by upsell motived contributions.</p></blockquote>



<p>It was an age-old discussion of whether the theme review guidelines were too high of a barrier for entry into the directory.</p>



<p><em>Were WordPress users missing out on the best themes because the most innovative theme authors were not playing in the .ORG sandbox? If so, were the rules driving them away?</em></p>



<p>No one can know if a more lenient, free-for-all atmosphere would have unleashed a mountain of creativity paralleling or besting commercial theme producers. But, perhaps if the team opened things up, it would test the theory.</p>



<p>That initial post led to a series of discussions and a <a href="https://wptavern.com/upcoming-changes-and-steps-for-an-overhauled-wordpress-theme-review-system">decision to overhaul the system</a>. However, the Themes Team would need some help from the Meta Team to implement more automation of its grunt work, such as security and other code checks. Behind the scenes, pieces of that system have been put into place in the months since.</p>



<h2>Guidelines Proposal and Questions</h2>



<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">Themes Team representative Carolina Nymark listed a set of 13 overarching guidelines, each with sub-guidelines of their own. The proposal significantly simplifies the current rules for submission into the directory.</p>



<p>She asks that theme authors review the proposal and answer the following questions in the comments ahead of the meeting:</p>



<ul><li>Will the updated requirements make it easier for you to submit themes?<br />&ndash; If no, what is making it difficult for you to submit themes?</li><li>Will the updated requirements make it easier for you to review submitted themes?<br />&ndash; If no, what is making it difficult for you to review themes?</li><li>Are there requirements that need to be removed, and why?</li><li>Is there anything in the list of requirements that is unclear? Describe the issue.</li><li>Can the formatting of the page be improved to make it easier to read?</li></ul>



<p>The current proposal is more expansive than the shortlist of guardrails WordPress executive director Josepha Haden Chomphosy mentioned in a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/03/17/next-steps-on-themes-and-reviews/">post that laid out the next steps.</a> Most of these were not meant as blockers for submission.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Rather we should use the list to flag themes that have/don&rsquo;t have each thing and show them in results accordingly,&rdquo; she wrote. &ldquo;Likely exceptions to this would be proper licensing, adherence to fair use of the trademark, and a ban on child pornography or other images of anyone unable to provide consent.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The goal was to put more responsibility into the hands of users, granting them privileges to say whether a theme was working or not. This would take a lot of the work off the shoulders of the review team.</p>



<p>Another part of the original proposal was to mark themes with &ldquo;quality tags&rdquo; that went above and beyond the baseline for approval. For example, internationalization (i18n) and accessibility (A11Y) are items that do not stop a theme from <em>technically</em> working. Instead of making these requirements, themes would merely be tagged if they met those standards.</p>



<p>Presumably, there would be incentives for taking those extra steps for theme authors, such as higher search rankings, the ability to be featured, and more. It is not that i18n and A11Y standards are unimportant, but they are sometimes hindrances to first-time authors. And, they definitely fall within the range of things that end-users can dock themes for in the ratings.</p>



<p>Many will take a hard stance on i18n and A11Y, but they are merely examples. A less controversial guideline might be the one that proposes that themes can only recommend plugins directly hosted on WordPress.org. <em>Why should that be a blocker for inclusion in the directory?</em> Some will say there is no good reason for it since themes are disallowed from installing plugins anyway. There are no technical issues with allowing such recommendations.</p>



<p>It is these sorts of rules that have plagued the theme review process over the years. Often, it moves discussions into ideological territory that most users do not care about. They just want themes that work.</p>



<p>Under the new proposal, moving to 100% blocks would further reduce requirements for developers. Currently, classic themes have a more extensive list of rules they must adhere to. Many of these are unnecessary for block themes, essentially cutting everything back to including a few required files. Most of this can and should be automated in the long term since they are necessary for a functioning theme.</p>



<p>Right now, the 13 guidelines (and their sub-guidelines) are only a proposal. Theme authors have a voice, but they must use it. As is so often the case, decisions are made by those who show up. Far too often, the team is shouting into the void, awaiting a response that rarely comes.</p>



<p>For theme authors who are invested in the future of the WordPress theme directory, that July 28 meeting is a <em>can&rsquo;t miss</em> opportunity. Early responses via the comments on that post will also help shape the conversation.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 24 Jul 2021 02:20:53 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:33;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:87:"WPTavern: WooCommerce 5.5.2 Fixes Performance Issues Found After Forced Security Update";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120467";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:219:"https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-5-5-2-fixes-performance-issues-found-after-forced-security-update?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=woocommerce-5-5-2-fixes-performance-issues-found-after-forced-security-update";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3187:"<p>WooCommerce has shipped <a href="https://developer.woocommerce.com/2021/07/23/woocommerce-5-5-2-fix-release/">version 5.5.2</a> as a follow-up to the forced security update that <a href="https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-patches-critical-vulnerability-sending-forced-security-update-from-wordpress-org">patched a SQL Injection vulnerability</a> last week. The vulnerability impacted versions 3.3 to 5.5 of the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://woocommerce.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2c1434dc56f9506bf3c3ecd21&id=8ff0a5345f&e=0110b26bc5" target="_blank">WooCommerce</a>&nbsp;plugin, as well as versions 2.5 to 5.5 of the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/woo-gutenberg-products-block/">WooCommerce Blocks</a>&nbsp;feature plugin. The team created a patch for more than 90 releases, which was sent as a forced security update from WordPress.org, due to the potential severity of impact for millions of WooCommerce installations.</p>



<p>Shortly after the automatic update rolled out, many store owners started reporting serious performance issues on both WordPress.org and GitHub. Some users <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/5-5-1-security-patch-causing-database-issues/">reported database crashes</a> after receiving the automatic security patch in 5.5.1. One user <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/endless-query-after-upgrading-from-4-x-to-5-4-1/">reported a painfully slow, endless query</a> that was &ldquo;crippling to our operations,&rdquo; with similar reports on GitHub of this same query &ldquo;<a href="https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce-admin/issues/7358#issuecomment-880949834">causing the entire server to go down</a>.&rdquo; </p>



<p>Those with a large number of products in their databases were impacted more frequently. &ldquo;We run a fairly big DB &ndash; 17k products,&rdquo; one user <a href="https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce-admin/issues/7358#issuecomment-881869091">said</a>. &ldquo;This has been a nightmare.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Store owners affected by this issue had resorted to downgrading to the previous releases at WooCommerce&rsquo;s recommendation. They shared temporary workarounds to disable the query while WooCommerce investigated the issue. The problem was reported so frequently that it became a high priority for the team to fix. </p>



<p>A week ago, WooCommerce developer Adrian Duffell <a href="https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce-admin/issues/7358#issuecomment-881808031">reported</a> back that they had determined the cause was twofold: </p>



<ol><li>A slow SQL query used to retrieve the products that are low in stock. This SQL has been in WooCommerce for a number of releases.</li><li>A REST API request, which executes this SQL query, is called more frequently in WooCommerce 5.5 than in previous versions.</li></ol>



<p>A combination of these factors was causing the degraded server performance when users updated to WooCommerce 5.5. A fix was released in WooCommerce Admin 2.4.4 three days ago, and the fix was also added to core today in 5.5.2. Users who had put workarounds in place are advised to remove them after updating to the latest release.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 24 Jul 2021 01:13:07 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:34;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:82:"WPTavern: Revisions Extended Plugin Lets Users Schedule Updates to Published Posts";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=119935";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:209:"https://wptavern.com/revisions-extended-plugin-lets-users-schedule-updates-to-published-posts?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=revisions-extended-plugin-lets-users-schedule-updates-to-published-posts";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3972:"<p>WordPress has long had the ability to schedule content to be published in the future, but it can only make immediate changes to posts that are already published. If you want to schedule changes to published content, a plugin is necessary. Corey McKrill, a full-time sponsored contributor to the WordPress.org Meta team, has developed a plugin, with the help of contributor Steven Dufresnethat, which is now in use on WordPress.org.</p>



<p><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/revisions-extended">Revisions Extended</a> allows users to schedule revisions, or updates, for posts that have already been published. It extends WordPress&rsquo; revision system to include a &ldquo;future&rdquo; post status as a revision post type. McKrill recorded a gif to demonstrate the UI:</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://cloudup.com/cOHLm_77ECk
</div>



<p>Although there are existing plugins which already perform this functionality, McKrill said they were either inadequate for WordPress.org&rsquo;s needs or add extra functionality that they don&rsquo;t need. Revisions Extended supports the following for any post type that supports revisions:</p>



<ul><li>From the&nbsp;block&nbsp;editor, make changes to an already-published post and schedule those changes to go live at a later date.</li><li>In the block editor&nbsp;UI&nbsp;as well as other admin screens, indicate when a post has a scheduled update.</li><li>View a list of all scheduled updates</li><li>Delete a scheduled update or trash/unpublish a post with a scheduled update</li><li>Edit scheduled updates, including the content and the future publish date.</li><li>Compare scheduled update content to the current published content.</li></ul>



<p>The ability to schedule updates is especially useful for ensuring that software documentation is updated when a new release is available or when API changes go into effect. </p>



<p>The plugin entered the testing phase in March and is now used on multiple sites across the WordPress.org network. It makes it easier to schedule updates to lesson plans on the&nbsp;<a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">Learn WordPress</a>&nbsp;site after a new version of WordPress is released. It also makes updates to <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/">HelpHub</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/">DevHub</a>&nbsp;more efficient.</p>



<p>&ldquo;If you need to schedule updates for published WordPress post/page/CPT without changing what&rsquo;s already published (nor switching to draft), this is something we recently started using at the WordPress Docs Team and it&rsquo;s a game changer,&rdquo; contributor Milana Cap <a href="https://twitter.com/DjevaLoperka/status/1415003637278027776">said</a>.</p>



<p>Revisions Extended is currently being developed on GitHub. McKrill said it may be be submitted to the official plugin directory someday when it is more ready for that level of exposure.</p>



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a possibility,&rdquo; McKrill said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a bit more functionality I think should be added first, namely the ability to create updates in a &lsquo;draft or &lsquo;pending&rsquo; status to go alongside the current &lsquo;future&rsquo; status. Adding it to the plugin directory would allow a lot more people to try it out and give feedback, but it might also greatly increase the support and maintenance burden. So that has to be part of the calculation when deciding if/when to add it.&rdquo;</p>



<p>McKrill believes Revisions Extended could be a useful addition to core but there is not currently an active plan to bring it into WordPress. </p>



<p>&ldquo;Something like this might get traction during Gutenberg Phase 3, which will focus on collaboration tools,&rdquo; McKrill said.</p>



<p>For now, those who are interested to use <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/revisions-extended">Revisions Extended</a> can download it and/or contribute to its development on GitHub.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 23 Jul 2021 03:02:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:35;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:92:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 11.1 Adds Drag-and-Drop Support for List View and Upgrades Block Borders";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120386";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:229:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-11-1-adds-drag-and-drop-support-for-list-view-and-upgrades-block-borders?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-11-1-adds-drag-and-drop-support-for-list-view-and-upgrades-block-borders";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6299:"<p class="has-drop-cap">The Gutenberg plugin continues to march forward. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-1-0-21-july/">Yesterday&rsquo;s release</a>, coming merely a day after the launch of <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-tatum-introduces-block-widgets-duotone-media-filters-new-emoji-support-and-more">WordPress 5.8</a>, brings several new features and nearly three dozen bug fixes. The big-ticket items are drag-and-drop blocks in the list view and a much-needed upgrade for border support.</p>



<p>Theme authors should enjoy the ability to control the Columns block&rsquo;s stacking on mobile and some updated design controls for nav menus. While labeled an &ldquo;enhancement,&rdquo; themers should also check their designs against a breaking change to the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33294">RSS block&rsquo;s updated styles</a>.</p>



<h2>Drag and Drop Blocks in List View</h2>



<img />Dragging a block around in list view.



<p class="has-drop-cap"><em>Drumroll, please.</em> The moment we &mdash; or at least many of us &mdash; have been waiting for has finally arrived. The editor&rsquo;s list view has become a powerhouse for managing long documents with many blocks. Over the past dozen or so releases, the development team has continued to tack on necessary feature after necessary feature.</p>



<p>In version 11.1, users can <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33320">drag and drop blocks</a> from within the list view to order and organize content. However, users are not merely limited to moving things around within the list view itself. They can drag blocks from the list over into the content canvas and vice versa.</p>



<p>I do not often use emoji, but sometimes I like to dole out a slow clap for a job well done. &#128079; &#128079;</p>



<h2>Border Support</h2>



<img />Adding a dashed border to a Group block.



<p class="has-drop-cap">I have already been having a bit of fun with the new border options. Lately, I have been in the holiday spirit because I was getting ahead and buying my Christmas tree in July (when you find the good deals). This inspired me to create a coupon code block pattern, and the Group block&rsquo;s border support was perfect for this.</p>



<p>Gutenberg 11.1 refines the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/31585">user experience for border options</a>. The development team tightened the UI and placed the settings into logical groupings.</p>



<p>Only the following core blocks have partial or complete border support:</p>



<ul><li>Button</li><li>Group</li><li>Image</li><li>Search</li><li>Table</li></ul>



<p>Users can also define individual corners with the border-radius option in this update. I would love to see the same treatment for the top, right, bottom, and left borders in the future. I also would not mind seeing a double-border style.</p>



<h2>Columns Block: Stack on Mobile</h2>



<img />Adding post metadata to an unstacked set of columns.



<p class="has-drop-cap">By default, individual Column blocks will stack on top of each other in mobile views. However, users <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/31816">can now disable this</a> via the parent Columns block on a case-by-case basis. This has also been one of the missing pieces for more layout control in block themes.</p>



<p>One of the primary use cases for a Columns block that does not break on mobile devices is post metadata sections that should be inline. For example, theme authors often want to align the post author, date, and comments link in a single row below the post title.</p>



<p>This toggle switch <em>sort of</em> moves us in that direction. However, it is a stopgap solution that does not afford theme designers the flexibility they are accustomed to with CSS (this is not generally a complicated affair).</p>



<p>Before block themes and the site editor are rolled into core WordPress, theme developers will need fine-tuned responsive control over the Columns block and, perhaps, some type of row/inline/flex block to go along with it.</p>



<p>Theme authors who need to target the Columns block based on whether mobile stacking is disabled can use the <code>.is-not-stacked-on-mobile</code> class.</p>



<h2>Post Terms and Tag Clouds</h2>



<img />Controlling the number of tags output.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The development team has crossed one of my months-long pet peeves off the list. In past releases of the plugin, the Post Terms block (variations of Post Tags and Post Categories) has displayed a pipe (<code>|</code>) separator between individual items by default. It now <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/32812">shows a comma</a>, followed by a space.</p>



<p>Theme authors can change this in their block templates, and users can customize it from the editor. The setting is located under the &ldquo;Advanced&rdquo; tab in the block options sidebar.</p>



<p>The Tag Cloud block got a small but much-needed upgrade. Users can now <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/32201">set a limit</a> on the number of tags to display. By default, it is set to show 45 tags.</p>



<h2>Navigation Submenu Colors</h2>



<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">The Gutenberg development team added two new <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/31149">color options for the Navigation block</a>. Aside from its existing text and background colors, users can now change the text and background colors for submenu items.</p>



<p>The Navigation block, while improved, still seems to be one of the trickiest pieces of the site-editing puzzle. It is trying to be the Jack of all trades, mastering few &mdash; if any &mdash; solutions. And, there is already a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33278">ticket gaining traction</a> that would allow users to stuff a wider range of inner blocks into it.</p>



<p>But, we have submenu text and background colors, which is a win. Only, they are named &ldquo;Overlay Text&rdquo; and &ldquo;Overlay Background.&rdquo; I am unsure whether it works as part of the mobile responsive menu. Gutenberg seems to have once again failed to bundle its front-end navigation JavaScript.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 23 Jul 2021 02:03:50 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:36;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:65:"WPTavern: Stockfish Contributors Sue ChessBase for GPL Violations";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120248";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:175:"https://wptavern.com/stockfish-contributors-sue-chessbase-for-gpl-violations?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stockfish-contributors-sue-chessbase-for-gpl-violations";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7065:"<img />image credit: <a href="https://stocksnap.io/author/34749">Sebastian Voortman</a>



<p>A legal reckoning is brewing in the world of open source chess engines. Stockfish, a GPL-licensed chess engine widely recognized as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Chess_Engine_Championship#Tournament_results_%28TCEC%29">one of the strongest</a> in the world, has <a href="https://stockfishchess.org/blog/2021/our-lawsuit-against-chessbase/">filed a lawsuit against ChessBase</a>.  The German-based company makes and sells chess software that relies heavily on the Stockfish engine, maintains a prominent chess news site, and runs a chess server for online games. </p>



<p>Stockfish&rsquo;s announcement, published this week on International Chess Day, claims that ChessBase has violated the GPL by not releasing the corresponding modifications of its products that are derivative works:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>We have come to realize that ChessBase concealed from their customers Stockfish as the true origin of key parts of their products. Indeed, few customers know they obtained a modified version of Stockfish when they paid for Fat Fritz 2 or Houdini 6 &ndash; both Stockfish derivatives &ndash; and they thus have good reason to be upset. ChessBase repeatedly violated central obligations of the GPL, which ensures that the user of the software is informed of their rights. These rights are explicit in the license and include access to the corresponding sources, and the right to reproduce, modify, and distribute GPLed programs royalty-free.</p></blockquote>



<p>In 2020, Stockfish added support for NNUE (Efficiently Updatable Neural Networks). ChessBase&rsquo;s Fat Fritz 2 product includes a neural network that the company has not released. Stockfish&rsquo;s previous <a href="https://stockfishchess.org/blog/2021/statement-on-fat-fritz-2/">statement on Fat Fritz 2</a> identifies these net weights as a derivative:</p>



<p>&ldquo;This chess engine is a Stockfish derivative, with a few lines of code modification (engine name, authors list and a few parameters), and a new set of NNUE net weights considered proprietary,&rdquo; current Stockfish maintainer Joost VandeVondele said. &ldquo;ChessBase&rsquo;s communication on Fat Fritz 2, claiming originality where there is none, has&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/tordr/status/1359428424255823875">shocked our community</a>. Furthermore, the engine Fat Fritz 2 fails to convince on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sp-cc.de/">independent rating lists</a>, casting doubt on the usefulness of those modifications. Indeed, we feel that customers buying Fat Fritz 2 get very little added value for money. Claims to the contrary appear misleading.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The GPLv3 permits ChessBase to sell its chess engine but requires the company to make its modifications available, along with all information needed to build the program. Stockfish informed Albert Silver, author of the neural net in Fat Fritz 2, of the license violation, resulting in ChessBase releasing its C++ sources but not the net weights. &ldquo;Obviously, we condemn the approach taken,&rdquo; VandeVondele said.</p>



<p>Stockfish contributors have been working with a certified&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jbb.de/">copyright and media law attorney</a>&nbsp;in Germany to enforce their license and were able to force a recall of the Fat Fritz 2 DVD and the termination of the sales of Houdini 6. They are now pursuing the Termination clause of the GPL that would shut down ChessBase&rsquo;s ability to distribute Stockfish in its products.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Due to Chessbase&rsquo;s repeated license violations, leading developers of Stockfish have terminated their GPL license with ChessBase permanently,&rdquo; the Stockfish team said in the most recent statement. &ldquo;However, ChessBase is ignoring the fact that they no longer have the right to distribute Stockfish, modified or unmodified, as part of their products.&rdquo;</p>



<p>In a post titled, &ldquo;<a href="https://lichess.org/blog/YCvy7xMAACIA8007/fat-fritz-2-is-a-rip-off">Fat Fritz 2 is a rip-off,</a>&rdquo; published earlier this year, the Stockfish, Leela Chess Zero, and Lichess teams called out the product as a Stockfish clone, repackaged with a different neural network and &ldquo;<a href="https://github.com/official-stockfish/Stockfish/compare/550fed3343089357dc89ecf78ce8eb4b35bcab88...DanielUranga:faef72afbf10273ca8688a4ba1c7863426c93c6e">minimal changes</a>&nbsp;that are neither innovative nor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sp-cc.de/">appear</a>&nbsp;to make the engine stronger.&rdquo;</p>



<p>&ldquo;It is sad to see claims of innovation where there has been none, and claims of improvement in an engine that is weaker than its open-source origins,&rdquo; the teams wrote. &ldquo;It is also sad to see people appropriating the open-source work and effort of others and claiming it as their own.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Lichess, a free and open-source Internet chess server run by a non-profit organization that also <a href="https://lichess.org/blog/YOCx7hIAACUAgsUo/stockfish-14-has-arrived">uses Stockfish as a critical part of its infrastructure</a>, has published multiple posts in support of Stockfish revoking ChessBase&rsquo;s license to sell derivatives of the popular engine. Lichess also <a href="https://lichess.org/source">publishes the source code</a> of everything they create using Stockfish so its users can see, modify, and redistribute it.</p>



<p>Even if you&rsquo;re not a connoisseur of chess drama, Lichess&rsquo; most recent <a href="https://lichess.org/blog/YPc7GREAACgAevs5/fat-fritz-is-not-the-only-ripoff-and-now-chessbase-is-getting-sued">statement</a> of support for Stockfish identifies why this case is important to the greater open source community:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Free open-source software offers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html#four-freedoms">essential freedoms</a>&nbsp;that benefit developers and users alike, and those freedoms should have been extended to users of Fat Fritz 1, 2, and Houdini. Failing that, free-software licenses are only meaningful if they are enforced, making this an important case not only for Stockfish, but also for the open source community as a whole. We are happy that the Stockfish developers have the will and means to take action.</p></blockquote>



<p>Stockfish&rsquo;s lawsuit may become an important landmark case for proving that the GPL can be enforced. It will also be interesting to see whether the courts regard the neural network weights that ChessBase trained as a derivative work that must be released as source code in order to be in compliance with the GPL. </p>



<p>Stockfish has gained broad support from the project&rsquo;s maintainers and developers who have stated they &ldquo;have the evidence, the financial means, and the determination to bring this lawsuit to a successful end.&rdquo; The team has promised to update their statement once the case makes progress.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 22 Jul 2021 04:30:45 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:37;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:63:"WPTavern: The WordPress.org Block Pattern Directory Is Now Live";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120264";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:165:"https://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-org-block-pattern-directory-now-live?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wordpress-org-block-pattern-directory-now-live";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4519:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Yesterday, the <a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/">WordPress pattern directory</a> went live to the world as the development team behind it put the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/pattern-directory/milestone/1?closed=1">finishing touches</a> on the project. It will work similarly to the theme and plugin directories in time. Along with WordPress 5.8, users can browse and use block patterns directly from the post editor.</p>



<p>Officially, the pattern directory shipped as part of the <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-tatum-introduces-block-widgets-duotone-media-filters-new-emoji-support-and-more">WordPress 5.8 release</a>. The Tavern did not include this in its coverage yesterday because it was still listed as an &ldquo;in-progress&rdquo; project until several hours later. The team was still wrapping up several issues yesterday for the initial launch.</p>



<img />Pattern directory homepage.



<p>The current patterns in the directory are a curated list of designs from over 20 volunteers. The team <a href="https://wptavern.com/open-invitation-to-contribute-to-the-wordpress-block-pattern-directory">called upon the community</a> in early June, and it answered. To date, there are over 70 patterns across six categories to choose from:</p>



<ul><li>Buttons</li><li>Columns</li><li>Gallery</li><li>Header</li><li>Images</li><li>Text</li></ul>



<p>Thus far, translations are <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/patterns/core/">complete for 12 languages</a>. Others are at varying completion percentages, but there are dozens more that are incomplete. This would be an easy entry point for anyone who wants to give something back to the WordPress project.</p>



<p>I had a hand in building the <a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/pattern/about-me-cards/">About Me Cards</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/pattern/team-social-cards/">Team Social Cards</a> patterns, but I cannot take all the credit. Kjell Reigstad and Mel Choyce-Dwan took my initial ideas and ran with them. It was a rewarding experience just peaking a bit into how other designers work. I only wish I could have put in more time during the initial submission window.</p>



<ul><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img /></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img /></li></ul>About Me Columns (left) and Team Social Cards (right) patterns



<p>I look forward to submitting more patterns when submissions are open to everyone, the project&rsquo;s next phase.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Work is now beginning on the next milestone, which will enable patterns to be submitted by anyone, similar to the Theme and Plugin Directories,&rdquo; wrote Kelly Choyce-Dwan <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2021/07/20/the-wordpress-pattern-directory-is-live/">in the announcement</a>.</p>



<p>I am excited to see where the overall community can take the directory. Submissions have been limited and held to a specific aesthetic that will not be universally appealing. It may be hard for some users to look beyond centuries-old artwork, flowers, and the current fling with offset columns to see how a specific layout would work for their site. For others, it is perfect.</p>



<p>Even I struggle with this. I can see the structure beneath the default images and text, but I am not inspired to use most of the patterns because they simply do not fit my personal style. When selecting one, I want to feel like the designer was building something just for me. I suspect that will play a part in winning over more users and bringing some holdouts over to the block system.</p>



<img />Gallery-categorized patterns.



<p>One limitation of the pattern directory is the  imagery. Now that services like Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay have put limitations on their licensing, it can be tough to find photos and artwork that meet the guidelines for submissions to WordPress.org. However, that could open up a bit with the potential integration of <a href="https://wptavern.com/openverse-why-this-project-is-good-for-wordpress-and-the-web">Openverse</a>, formerly the Creative Commons search engine. Making it easier for pattern designers to find the perfect images to build out their visions would improve the overall quality.</p>



<p>What will eventually make the pattern directory a worthwhile venture is when the best designers from the WordPress ecosystem step up and begin competing. I eagerly await a breadth of authors putting their own stylistic spin on submissions.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 21 Jul 2021 22:37:53 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:38;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:40:"HeroPress: More Than Just Joost’s Wife";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=3965";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:126:"https://heropress.com/essays/more-than-just-joosts-wife/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=more-than-just-joosts-wife";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18682:"<img width="1024" height="512" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/071921-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: WordPress is the most inviting, equal community I know." /><p><a href="https://heropress.com/feed/#dutch">Dit essay is ook beschikbaar in het Nederlands.</a></p>
<p>My WordPress story is closely entangled with my Love story. Joost de Valk &#8211; my husband- led me to WordPress and the WordPress Community. And, while I love being Joost’s wife, I am much more than <b>just</b> Joost’s wife. My story on how I found my way in WordPress is also a story on how I stepped out of the shadows of Joost, without stepping away from (or on top of the toes of) my husband. It’s a story about my journey and my struggles in growing towards a leadership role. And, it’s a story about the wonderful inviting and inclusive world that WordPress is. But, there’s always room for some improvement!</p>
<h3>The early days &#8211; Marieke before Yoast</h3>
<p>I am extremely competitive and ambitious. Always have been. I was a highly competitive teenager, wanting to be the best at everything. I was president of the student council, editor of the school newspaper, and participated in debate clubs (that’s where I met Joost). After graduating high school (cum laude), I began studying Sociology and Communication Science. I obtained two bachelors and did a Masters in Sociology (all of it cum laude). And then, I decided to do my PhD in Criminology. I wrote my own research proposal and got funding to do my PhD. I was pretty keen on a scientific career. One year after I started my PhD I got pregnant…</p>
<p>Joost and I were shocked by my pregnancy, but almost immediately decided that we wanted to have this baby. Joost quit his job and found a job closer to our home. This was his first job as an SEO consultant, a rather significant career move :-). He was working 4 days a week, as was I, which allowed us both to spend time and take care of our son Tycho. Joost and I got married.</p>
<blockquote><p>The pregnancy changed me. And it changed how people looked at me.</p></blockquote>
<p>All of a sudden, I wasn’t the high potential anymore. I was the girl that got pregnant during her PhD. I tried my best to prove that I could still do the same amount of work. But with a baby that was hardly sleeping and work piling up, I collapsed. I was diagnosed with burnout and depression. But I got better. I finished my PhD at a slightly slower pace. We decided that I wanted another baby and gave birth to our daughter Wende. I started to work as a teacher and a researcher. We had another son, Ravi. Yes, we really like children ;-). And Joost started his own business- Yoast.</p>
<p>Joost was heavily involved in WordPress. His plugins had over one million users. He was speaking at all these conferences in the WordPress world and the SEO world. He was also doing consultancy. I helped him with his planning. I brainstormed with him about new business ideas. As of 2012, Joost started hiring people to work for him. He started working from an office. I helped with hiring. I did some research at Yoast. I liked being at the office. Thinking of ways to get a fun company culture.</p>
<h3>Finding my place at Yoast</h3>
<p>In 2013, I decided to join Yoast. I was having more fun at the Yoast offices than in my job as a teacher. It was a good decision, although it meant leaving my scientific career behind. That was hard. I started writing at Yoast. Writing about writing, about content SEO. I wrote an eBook, I launched Yoast Academy and I came up with the idea for a readability analysis within Yoast SEO. We had our fourth child, another son -Borre-, in 2015. At the same time I was doing a lot of work in setting up an inclusive and fun company culture for Yoast, inspired heavily by the WordPress community.</p>
<p>At Yoast, I really was Joost’s wife for the first time. I felt that not everyone would take me seriously. People outside of Yoast often assumed that I was Joost’s assistant or his secretary. That never happened to me before. I struggled with those prejudices. My resume clearly showed that I had some brains, but some people did not seem to look beyond my marital status. People working within Yoast sometimes questioned my expertise too. Within Yoast, over time, that really changed. As I worked at Yoast for a longer period of time, people started to judge me on my track record within the company.</p>
<h3>Taking a leadership role</h3>
<p>In 2015, I started talking at conferences. At Yoast, I got my own team. I became a manager. A leader. That was new for me, uncomfortable even. Giving feedback, explaining to people what needed improvement or what I wanted different, that is challenging for me. Even today. I have a strong desire for people to like me. And, I was really insecure about my own skills. Who was I to tell people how to do their work? In my first years as a manager, I was super nervous whenever I needed to correct people. And, I often did not do that well. I was afraid of the confrontation, would postpone it and eventually addressed the issue when it had become this whole big thing. For everyone who worked with me and recognizes this: I am so sorry.</p>
<blockquote><p>Over time, I got more comfortable and less insecure. I was more confident that I knew what I was doing.</p></blockquote>
<p>Working hard and studying a lot pays off. I became an SEO expert. I felt comfortable talking about it on stage. As I became an expert in SEO and in marketing, it became more natural to give feedback or to ask coworkers to do something for me.</p>
<p>I did a lot of the architecture of our company culture, our benefits and our HR plans.The WordPress community is well known for its diversity, for the openness and the acceptance. These are things that are really important within Yoast as well. Yoast breathes WordPress. Our core values are inspired by the WordPress community.</p>
<h3>Becoming CEO in a big WordPress organisation</h3>
<p><a href="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/image3-min.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-3968" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/image3-min.jpg" alt="Marieke bhind a podium at WCEU" width="500" height="667" /></a>In 2019, I became CEO of Yoast. Once again, I was faced with the prejudice of only getting the job because I am Joost’s wife. That threw me off my game a little bit. I felt like I had proved myself having enough capabilities to fill the role of CEO. I had founded Yoast Academy, written so many blog posts, talked at so many big conferences. I had designed the entire company culture and came up with a few really important product ideas. I didn’t feel like an imposter myself. I was shocked to find out that other people did see me as a puppet on a string.</p>
<p>When I began as CEO, I was the only woman in our board and in our management team. I wanted to change that. I promised myself that I would change that. I began an inhouse coaching program for women that wanted to grow. And, we did our best to recruit more senior women. I succeeded.</p>
<blockquote><p>Nowadays, half of our management team consists of women. The board of directors (5 people) now consists of 3 men and 2 women. We are getting there.</p></blockquote>
<p>Also, we were trying our best to hire more people from traditionally underrepresented groups. We have a lot to learn and improve there. We launched a diversity fund to sponsor diversity at WordCamps.</p>
<p>For me, having half of our management-team consisting of women seemed like something all companies are heading towards. However, being a CEO of a rather large WordPress company taught me otherwise. The number of women I encounter on my many partnership calls is really, really low. It often makes me uncomfortable being the only woman on a call yet again.</p>
<p>WordPress is the most inviting, equal community I know. It’s the best! I know a lot of companies care about diversity. But that level of diversity is not yet reached at the level of management teams in WordPress companies. And that matters! Female leadership within WordPress means more than having women talk at WordCamps. We need to have more female leaders in WordPress companies as well. So, that’s my new mission ;-)!</p>
<h3>What a place to work!</h3>
<p>I love working in the WordPress world. I love working at Yoast. Most of the time, I enjoy being a leader, although I also struggle with the role. There’s a lot to gain in terms of diversity (and that’s more than gender of course) in the boardrooms of WordPress companies. And, although I struggle with being judged by my marital status, I wouldn’t dream of ever changing that. Joost has been a terrific ally in helping me with my struggles. We run Yoast together and we run our family together. I wouldn’t want it any other way.</p>
<h1 id="dutch">Meer dan de vrouw van Joost.</h1>
<p>Mijn WordPress verhaal en mijn liefdesleven lopen flink in elkaar over. Joost de Valk- mijn man- is degene die mij kennis heeft laten maken met WordPress en de WordPress community. Ik hou ontzettend veel van mijn man en ik vind het fantastisch om met hem getrouwd te zijn. Tegelijkertijd ben ik meer dan alleen maar de vrouw van Joost. Mijn WordPress verhaal is een verhaal van hoe ik uit de schaduw van Joost ben gestapt, zonder op zijn tenen te gaan staan of hem te moeten verlaten. Het is ook een verhaal over de moeite die het me heeft gekost om een leiderschapsrol te pakken. En het is een verhaal over hoe mooi open en inclusief de WordPress community is. Maar dat er tegelijkertijd nog werk aan de winkel is.</p>
<h3>Het begin: Marieke voor Yoast</h3>
<p>Ik wil altijd de beste zijn. Ik ben super ambitieus. Dat is altijd al zo geweest. Als middelbare scholier was ik voorzitter van de leerlingenraad, eindredacteur van de schoolkrant en deed ik mee aan het Europees Jongeren Parlement (daar heb ik Joost ook ontmoet). Na het behalen van mijn VWO diploma (cum laude) heb ik Sociologie en Communicatiewetenschappen gestudeerd. Ik heb beide bachelors gedaan en de master in Sociologie (alles cum laude). Daarna wilde ik gaan promoveren in de Criminologie. Mijn onderzoeksvoorstel kreeg NWO-subsidie, mijn wetenschappelijke carrière stond in de startblokken. En toen raakte ik zwanger…</p>
<p>Dat was flink schrikken voor Joost en voor mij. Toch besloten we eigenlijk direct dat we heel graag een kindje wilden. Joost zocht een nieuwe baan dichterbij huis. Een baan als SEO consultant, wat achteraf een belangrijke carrière-switch is gebleken. Joost en ik gingen beiden 4 dagen in de week werken en zorgden gezamenlijk voor onze zoon Tycho. Een paar jaar later trouwden we.</p>
<blockquote><p>De zwangerschap en het moederschap was heftig voor mij. Ik veranderde erdoor.</p></blockquote>
<p>Maar het veranderde ook heel erg hoe andere mensen mij zagen, hoe andere mensen mij benaderden. Ik was ineens dat meisje dat ongepland zwanger was geworden. Ik was niet meer dat meisje met die hoge cijfers die altijd alles ‘volgens het boekje’ deed. Ik werkte keihard om niet onder te doen voor mijn collega’s en probeerde hetzelfde werktempo aan te houden als voordat ik moeder werd. Dat lukte niet. Tycho sliep heel slecht en alle veranderingen braken me op. Ik kreeg een depressie en een flinke burnout. Maar ik herstelde daarvan. Ik besloot het wat rustiger aan te doen. Maar ik maakte mijn proefschrift wel af en Joost en ik kregen nog een kindje, een dochter, Wende. Ik ben op het HBO gaan werken als onderzoeker en docent. Daarna kregen we nog een kindje, onze zoon Ravi (ja, wij houden dus erg van kinderen). Joost begon voor zichzelf en startte Yoast.</p>
<p>Joost was enorm betrokken bij WordPress. Al vanaf 2006. Zijn plugins hadden ondertussen miljoenen gebruikers. Hij sprak op allerlei conferenties, zowel in de WordPress wereld, maar ook in de SEO wereld, waar hij inmiddels een grote naam was geworden. Hij deed een heleboel consultancy werk. Ik hielp hem. Ik hielp hem met zijn planning, ik brainstormde met hem over nieuwe business ideeën. Vanaf 2012 begon Joost ook mensen aan te nemen en vanuit een kantoor te werken. Ik hielp met de sollicitaties, ik deed ook wat onderzoek bij Yoast en schreef wat posts. Ik vond het heel erg leuk om op kantoor te zijn en om de bedrijfscultuur vorm te geven.</p>
<h3>Mijn plek bij Yoast vinden</h3>
<p>Het werken bij Yoast was eigenlijk leuker dan mijn werk op het HBO. In 2013 besloot ik om echt fulltime bij Yoast te gaan werken. Dat betekende dus dat ik mijn wetenschappelijke carrière afbrak. Dat was best heftig. Maar bij Yoast ging ik iets doen wat ik altijd heel erg leuk heb gevonden. Ik begon met schrijven. Ik ging schrijven over ‘hoe moet je nou eigenlijk schrijven’ en deed veel onderzoek naar content SEO. Ik schreef een eBook, ik lanceerde Yoast Academy en ik bedacht de readability analyse voor Yoast SEO. Joost en ik kregen nog een zoon, Borre, in 2015. Bij Yoast was ik ook druk met het opzetten van een leuke en inclusieve bedrijfscultuur. Daarvoor is de WordPress community een enorme inspiratiebron geweest.</p>
<p>Toen ik bij Yoast kwam werken, werd ik voor het eerst ook echt ‘Joost zijn vrouw’. Voor mijn gevoel werd ik niet door iedereen serieus genomen. Mensen buiten Yoast gingen er ontzettend vaak vanuit dat ik Joost zijn assistent was, of zijn secretaresse. Dat was me nooit eerder overkomen. Ik vond dat mega ingewikkeld. Uit mijn CV blijkt toch dat ik capaciteiten heb? Sommige mensen lijken niet verder te kijken dan mijn burgerlijke staat. Ook binnen Yoast overkwam het me dat mensen twijfelden aan mijn expertise. Dat is echt wel veranderd in de afgelopen tijd. Nu ik langer bij Yoast werk, beoordelen mensen me gewoon op het werk dat ik bij Yoast heb gedaan.</p>
<h3>Een leiderschapsrol</h3>
<p>Gaandeweg kreeg ik een grotere rol. Ik ging spreken op conferenties en ik werd manager van een eigen marketing team. Ik werd een leider. Dat vond ik spannend. Feedback geven of vertellen tegen mensen wat anders moet is iets wat ik ingewikkeld vind. Nog steeds. Ik wil gewoon graag dat mensen me aardig vinden. En, ik was lange tijd heel erg onzeker over mijn eigen capaciteiten. Wie was ik om mensen te vertellen hoe ze hun werk moesten doen? In die eerste jaren als een manager was ik echt heel onzeker als ik mensen feedback moet geven. Ik vond confrontaties vaak te moeilijk en ging die dan uit de weg. Dan liet ik dingen uit de hand lopen en was het heel groot geworden voordat ik de feedback besprak. Voor iedereen die met me heeft gewerkt en zich daarin herkent: super sorry!</p>
<blockquote><p>Ik wende aan mijn leiderschapsrol en werd gaandeweg veel minder onzeker. Ik kreeg vertrouwen in mezelf, in mijn eigen capaciteiten.</p></blockquote>
<p>Door mijn deep dive in content SEO ben ik ook echt een SEO expert geworden. Ik werd gevraagd voor allerlei talks. Daarmee werd het ook veel natuurlijker voor mij om feedback aan collega’s te geven.</p>
<p>Een groot deel van de bedrijfscultuur, onze arbeidsvoorwaarden en onze HR plannen komen uit mijn koker. De dingen die belangrijk zijn voor WordPress: diversiteit, openheid en inclusiviteit zijn ook de dingen die belangrijk zijn voor ons bedrijf. Yoast ademt WordPress. Onze core values zijn heel erg geinspireerd op de waarden in de WordPress community.</p>
<h3>CEO worden in een groot WordPress bedrijf</h3>
<p><a href="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/image3-min.jpg"><img /></a>En toen in 2019 werd ik CEO van Yoast. Wederom waren er mensen die zich afvroegen of ik die baan alleen had gekregen omdat ik Joost zijn vrouw ben. Dat kwetste me destijds. Ik had het idee dat ik me nu echt wel bewezen had. Ik had Yoast Academy gelanceerd, zoveel blog posts geschreven en op ontelbare conferenties gesproken. Ik ben verantwoordelijk voor de gehele bedrijfscultuur en ik heb ook een heel aantal belangrijke productideeën geïnitieerd. Ik had zelf geeneens meer last van een imposter syndroom en toch hadden mensen het idee dat ik een soort marionet van Joost zou zijn. Dat was even een tegenvaller.</p>
<p>Maargoed, ik begon aan de taak als CEO en had al snel een extra missie te pakken. Toen ik CEO werd in 2019 was ik de enige vrouw in de directie van Yoast en ook de enige vrouw is ons MT. Ik wilde dat veranderen. Ik begon een inhouse coachingsprogramma voor vrouwen bij Yoast &#8211; het empowerwoment-project. Maar we gingen ook beter ons best doen in ons sollicitatieproces. En dat heeft echt gewerkt! We hebben nu 2 vrouwen in onze directie en de helft van ons MT bestaat uit vrouwen. Er is meer werk aan de winkel wat betreft het aannemen van mensen uit traditioneel onder gepresenteerde groepen. Daar moeten we bij Yoast nog meer mee aan de slag! In de WordPress wereld hebben we het diversity fund geïnitieerd wat voor nog meer diversiteit op WordCamps en in de WordPress community moet zorgen.</p>
<p>Ik was altijd onder de indruk dat het belang dat wij bij Yoast aan diversiteit hangen iets is dat alle WordPress bedrijven onderschrijven. En misschien is dat wel zo, maar dat zie ik niet terug in de meeste boardrooms. Nu ik CEO van een groot WordPress bedrijf ben, merk ik dat ik heel vaak de enige vrouw in de vergadering ben. Dat vind ik nog steeds lastig. Ik voel me erg ‘anders’.</p>
<p>WordPress is zo’n ontzettende open, uitnodigende cultuur om in te werken voor vrouwen. En ik weet dat heel veel bedrijven het belang van diversiteit zien en belangrijk vinden. Leiderschap door vrouwen betekent echter wel meer dan alleen veel vrouwelijke sprekers op WordCamps. We hebben die directeuren ook nodig! Dus dat wordt nu mijn nieuwe missie :-).</p>
<h3>Zo’n gave plek om te werken!</h3>
<p>Het is zo gaaf om met WordPress te werken! Het is geweldig om met de WordPress mensen te werken! En het is echt fantastisch om bij Yoast te werken! En ik vind het meestal ook heel leuk om een leider in de WordPress wereld te zijn, hoewel ik het ook vaak moeilijk vindt. Er is nog veel te verbeteren in die boardrooms van al die grote WordPress bedrijven en daar wordt ik enthousiast van!</p>
<p>En, hoewel het getrouwd zijn met Joost soms iets is waar ik soms wat mee worstel, zou ik het echt niet anders willen. Joost is mijn bondgenoot en heeft mij zo geholpen met alle stappen in mijn carrière. Samen met hem run ik Yoast, samen met hem run ik ons fantastische gezin. I wouldn’t want it any other way!</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/essays/more-than-just-joosts-wife/">More Than Just Joost’s Wife</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 21 Jul 2021 06:00:06 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:19:"Marieke van de Rakt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:39;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"WPTavern: BuddyPress 9.0.0 Transforms Legacy Widgets Into Blocks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120209";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:173:"https://wptavern.com/buddypress-9-0-0-transforms-legacy-widgets-into-blocks?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=buddypress-9-0-0-transforms-legacy-widgets-into-blocks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2305:"<p><a href="https://buddypress.org/2021/07/buddypress-9-0-0-mico/">BuddyPress 9.0</a> was released one day before <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-tatum-introduces-block-widgets-duotone-media-filters-new-emoji-support-and-more">WordPress 5.8</a>. As all major BuddyPress releases are named for pizza joints, this one has been dubbed &ldquo;Mico&rdquo; in honor of Pizz&eacute;ria Chez Mico, a small restaurant on the French riviera, where you just may find capers and anchovies on your pie.</p>



<p>This short release cycle was laser focused on getting all of the BP component widgets ready to be used as blocks to ensure that they work with WordPress 5.8&rsquo;s new block widgets experience. BuddyPress 9.0 introduces 10 new BuddyPress blocks to be used in place of the legacy widgets.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img />New BuddyPress Blocks in 9.0.0</div>



<p>This release also enables users to transform legacy widgets into a block with two clicks, while preserving all of their settings and automatically importing them. The availability of these new blocks is an important milestone that BP contributing developer David Cavins said is &ldquo;the first step toward the progressive retirement&rdquo; of BuddyPress widgets.</p>



<p>All this functionality that used to only be available in widgetized areas can now easily be used as blocks inside content areas. The blocks vastly expand BuddyPress&rsquo; flexibility, enabling site owners to do many things that used to require custom development. Designing unique landing pages for communities is now easier than it has ever been.</p>



<p>&ldquo;My coworkers are pretty excited to have these new BP blocks,&rdquo; Cavins said during a chat in the BuddyPress development channel on Slack. &ldquo;For instance, with the login form block, you can pretty well replace login form customization plugins and put the form in your landing page with ease.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The release also includes a new Sitewide Notices endpoint for the BP REST API that will enable site admins to create, edit, or delete notices and let users fetch the active notice. For a full list of the improvements and bug fixes included in 9.0.0, check out the <a href="https://codex.buddypress.org/releases/version-9-0-0/">release notes</a> in the codex.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 21 Jul 2021 02:56:01 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:112:"WPTavern: WordPress 5.8 “Tatum” Introduces Block Widgets, Duotone Media Filters, New Emoji Support, and More";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120192";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:251:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-tatum-introduces-block-widgets-duotone-media-filters-new-emoji-support-and-more?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-8-tatum-introduces-block-widgets-duotone-media-filters-new-emoji-support-and-more";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7541:"<p class="has-drop-cap">WordPress 5.8 &ldquo;Tatum,&rdquo; named in honor of jazz pianist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Tatum">Art Tatum</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/tatum/">landed earlier today</a>. It is the second major release in 2021. It includes duotone media filters, block-based widgets, theme-related blocks, template editing, and theme JSON file support.</p>



<p>The release also ships tons of other notable features, such as <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-adds-support-for-new-emoji-introduced-in-twemoji-13-1-0">support for new Emoji</a> and an <a href="https://wptavern.com/no-more-accidental-custom-plugin-overrides-wordpress-5-8-to-allow-developers-to-set-plugin-hostname">Update URI field</a> for plugin authors to offer custom updates. The latest update also <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-to-drop-support-for-ie11-in-upcoming-5-8-or-5-9-release">drops support for IE11</a>, saying goodbye to the era of Internet Explorer.</p>



<p>Matt Mullenweg led the WordPress 5.8 release, which saw contributions from 530 volunteers. The entire release team closed 320 Trac tickets and over 1,500 GitHub pull requests.</p>



<p>The official release squad members were:</p>



<ul><li>Release Co-Coordinator: Jeffrey Paul</li><li>Release Co-Coordinator: Jonathan Desrosiers</li><li>Editor Tech Lead: Riad Benguella</li><li>Marketing and Communications Lead: Josepha Haden Chomphosy</li><li>Documentation Lead: Milana Cap</li><li>Test Lead: Piotrek Boniu</li><li>Support Lead: Mary Job</li></ul>



<h2>Duotone and Media Improvements</h2>



<img />Duotone filter + gradient overlay on a Cover block.<br />



<p class="has-drop-cap">The Image and Cover blocks received a <a href="https://wptavern.com/duotone-filters-wordpress-5-8-puts-a-powerful-image-editing-tool-into-users-hands">new duotone feature</a>. It is a filter that allows users to lay two colors over their media, creating unique effects. The colors overwrite the shadows and highlights of the image or video. Users can use WordPress&rsquo;s defaults, theme-defined colors, or create their own mixes.</p>



<p>WordPress 5.8 also introduces several <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-media-library-changes-you-should-know-about">upgrades to the media library</a>. The development team replaced infinite scrolling with a &ldquo;load more&rdquo; button, improving the experience for screen-reader and keyboard users. End-users can now copy media file URLs from the Add New media screen.</p>



<p>The latest release offers <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-introduces-support-for-webp-images">WebP image format</a> support for the first time, and developers have a new <code>image_editor_output_format</code> filter hook to fine-tune the experience.</p>



<h2>Block Widgets</h2>



<img />Widgets screen with a Gallery block in the Footer sidebar.<br />



<p class="has-drop-cap">For the first time since the block system launched with WordPress 5.0 nearly three years ago, blocks are no longer confined to the post content editor. Users can now use them <a href="https://wptavern.com/diving-into-wordpress-5-8s-new-widgets-screen">in any available sidebar</a>. This is a stepping stone in the Full Site Editing experience that will eventually lead to block themes and the site editor. In the meantime, it is a way for users to begin trying out blocks in new ways.</p>



<p>However, those experiences may vary, depending on the active theme. Some older projects may not hold up well with this system. Authors may need to opt-out of the feature. Users who do not want to use block widgets or run into trouble can install the <a href="https://wptavern.com/classic-widgets-plugin-disables-wordpress-5-8s-upcoming-block-based-widgets-system">Classic Widgets plugin</a>.</p>



<h2>Query Loop and Theme Blocks</h2>



<img />Query Loop pattern inserter: carousel view.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The power to create lists, grids, and other designs around a group of posts has long been solely in the wheelhouse of developers. Users had to rely on their themes or specialized plugins to make such changes. This is no longer the case. Users will have the power to create almost any type of post list they want from now and far into the future with the <a href="https://wptavern.com/query-loop-the-ins-and-outs-of-one-of-wordpress-5-8s-most-powerful-features">Query Loop block</a>.</p>



<p>And, this is just the beginning. WordPress 5.8&rsquo;s new block is merely an introduction to what will eventually be one of the foundational elements to Full Site Editing in the coming years. As more and more blocks continue to mature, users and theme authors will continue building all sorts of layouts from this simple starting point.</p>



<p>The Query Loop block will also be the first introduction of the pattern inserter to many users. This is a new tool that allows users to scroll through block patterns, choose one, and customize. In the future, it will become a more prominent feature.</p>



<p>Inserting lists of posts is just scratching the surface. WordPress 5.8 ships a new &ldquo;Theme&rdquo; category of blocks for users to play around with. Many of these are primarily for use within the Query Loop, such as the <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-beta-1-released-new-blocks-new-widgets-screen-and-pattern-directory-on-deck">Post* blocks</a>. However, others like Site Title and Site Tagline will be handy in the template editor.</p>



<h2>Template Editor</h2>



<img />Creating a custom landing page template.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The new <a href="https://wptavern.com/getting-to-know-the-upcoming-wordpress-5-8-template-editor">template editor</a> provides users with a method of creating reusable templates. And, they do not need a 100% block theme to do it. The feature opens an overlay from the content-editing screen for users to customize their page header, footer, and everything in between.</p>



<p>This is essentially a scaled-back version of the upcoming site editor. With 5.8, its primary use case will be for creating custom landing pages. It is a lot of power in the hands of the average user. And, it helps WordPress inch closer to its goal of not only democratizing publishing but also design.</p>



<p><em>The downside to this feature?</em> It is currently opt-in. The active theme must declare support for users to access it. Many will not see it until developers submit updates.</p>



<h2>Developers: theme.json Support</h2>



<img />Real-world theme.json file.



<p class="has-drop-cap">WordPress 5.8 lets theme authors begin tapping into global styles and settings configuration via the new <a href="https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-8-a-developer-centric-call-for-testing-theme-json-configuration"><code>theme.json</code> system</a>. In the coming years, this will be the foundation of how themers build their projects.</p>



<p>Essentially, the new file is a bridge between themes, WordPress, and users, a standardized method of communication that puts them all on the same page. Theme authors define which settings it supports and its default styles. WordPress reflects these via the editing interfaces and on the front end. And, users can overwrite them on a per-block basis or, eventually, through the Global Styles feature.</p>



<p>Right now, it is an opt-in feature that both traditional and block themes can utilize. Themers will want to start moving their projects over to using it now that WordPress 5.8 is on the doorstep.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 20 Jul 2021 19:56:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:41;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:39:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.8 Tatum";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10976";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:41:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/tatum/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:48451:"<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<img width="632" height="422" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/5x8-Album-1.jpg?resize=632%2C422&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11042" />



<p>Introducing 5.8 “Tatum”, our latest and greatest release now available for&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/download/">download</a>&nbsp;or update in your dashboard. Named in honor of Art Tatum, the legendary Jazz pianist. His formidable technique and willingness to push boundaries inspired musicians and changed what people thought could be done.&nbsp;</p>



<p>So fire up your music service of choice and enjoy Tatum’s famous recordings of ‘Tea for Two’, ‘Tiger Rag’, ‘Begin the Beguine’, and ‘Night and Day’ as you read about what the latest WordPress version brings to you.</p>



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<h2 class="has-text-align-center">Three Essential Powerhouses</h2>



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<ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="474" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-widgets-blocks.png?resize=632%2C474&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10985" /></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="501" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-query-loop.png?resize=632%2C501&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10986" /></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="411" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-template.png?resize=632%2C411&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10987" /></li></ul>



<h3>Manage Widgets with Blocks</h3>



<p>After months of hard work, the power of blocks has come to both the Block Widgets Editor and the Customizer. Now you can add blocks both in widget areas across your site and with live preview through the Customizer. This opens up new possibilities to create content: from no-code mini layouts to the vast library of core and third-party blocks. For our developers, you can find more details in the&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/29/block-based-widgets-editor-in-wordpress-5-8/">Widgets dev note</a>.</p>



<h3>Display Posts with New Blocks and Patterns</h3>



<p>The Query Loop Block makes it possible to display posts based on specified parameters; like a PHP loop without the code. Easily display posts from a specific category, to do things like create a portfolio or a page full of your favorite recipes. Think of it as a more complex and powerful Latest Posts Block! Plus, pattern suggestions make it easier than ever to create a list of posts with the design you want.</p>



<h3>Edit the Templates Around Posts</h3>



<p>You can use the familiar block editor to edit templates that hold your content—simply activate a block theme or a theme that has opted in for this feature. Switch from editing your posts to editing your pages and back again, all while using a familiar block editor. There are more than 20 new blocks available within compatible themes. Read more about this feature and how to experiment with it in the release notes.</p>



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<h2 class="has-text-align-center">Three Workflow Helpers</h2>



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<ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="496" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-list-view.png?resize=632%2C496&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10988" /></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="343" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-pattern-suggestions.png?resize=632%2C343&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10989" /></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="517" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-duotone.png?resize=632%2C517&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10990" /></li></ul>



<h3>Overview of the Page Structure</h3>



<p>Sometimes you need a simple landing page, but sometimes you need something a little more robust. As blocks increase, patterns emerge, and content creation gets easier, new solutions are needed to make complex content easy to navigate. List View is the best way to jump between layers of content and nested blocks. Since the List View gives you an overview of all the blocks in your content, you can now navigate quickly to the precise block you need. Ready to focus completely on your content? Toggle it on or off to suit your workflow.</p>



<h3>Suggested Patterns for Blocks</h3>



<p>Starting in this release the Pattern Transformations tool will suggest block patterns based on the block you are using. Right now, you can give it a try in the Query Block and Social Icon Block. As more patterns are added, you will be able to get inspiration for how to style your site without ever leaving the editor!</p>



<h3>Style and Colorize Images</h3>



<p>Colorize your image and cover blocks with duotone filters! Duotone can add a pop of color to your designs and style your images (or videos in the cover block) to integrate well with your themes. You can think of the duotone effect as a black and white filter, but instead of the shadows being black and the highlights being white, you pick your own colors for the shadows and highlights. There’s more to learn about how it works in the documentation.</p>



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<h2 class="has-text-align-center">For Developers to Explore</h2>



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<img width="632" height="378" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-theme-json-2x.png?resize=632%2C378&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10992" />



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<h3>Theme.json</h3>



<p>Introducing the Global Styles and Global Settings APIs: control the editor settings, available customization tools, and style blocks using a theme.json file in the active theme. This configuration file enables or disables features and sets default styles for both a website and blocks. If you build themes, you can experiment with this early iteration of a useful new feature. For more about what is currently available and how it works,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/25/introducing-theme-json-in-wordpress-5-8/">check out this dev note</a>.</p>



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<div class="wp-block-columns">
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<h3>Dropping support for IE11</h3>



<p>Support for Internet Explorer 11 has been dropped as of this release. This means you may have issues managing your site that will not be fixed in the future. If you are currently using IE11, it is strongly recommended that you&nbsp;<a href="https://browsehappy.com/">switch to a more modern browser</a>.</p>
</div>



<div class="wp-block-column">
<h3>Adding support for WebP</h3>



<p>WebP is a modern image format that provides improved lossless and lossy compression for images on the web. WebP images are around 30% smaller on average than their JPEG or PNG equivalents, resulting in sites that are faster and use less bandwidth.</p>
</div>
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<h3>Adding Additional Block Supports</h3>



<p>Expanding on previously implemented block supports in WordPress&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/18/block-supports-in-wordpress-5-6/">5.6</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/24/changes-to-block-editor-components-and-blocks/">5.7</a>, WordPress 5.8 introduces several new block support flags and new options to customize your registered blocks. More information is available in the&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/25/block-supports-api-updates-for-wordpress-5-8/">block supports dev note</a>.</p>



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<h3>Check the Field Guide for more!</h3>



<p>Check out the latest version of the WordPress Field Guide. It highlights developer notes for each change you may want to be aware of:&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/03/wordpress-5-8-field-guide/">WordPress 5.8 Field Guide.</a></p>



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<h2>The Squad</h2>



<p>The WordPress 5.8 release was led by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/matt/">Matt Mullenweg</a>, and supported by this highly enthusiastic release squad:</p>



<ul><li><strong>Release Co-Coordinator:</strong>&nbsp;Jeffrey Paul (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffpaul/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>jeffpaul</a>)</li><li><strong>Release Co-Coordinator:</strong>&nbsp;Jonathan Desrosiers (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>desrosj</a>)</li><li><strong>Editor Tech Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Riad Benguella (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/youknowriad/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>youknowriad</a>)</li><li><strong>Marketing and Communications Lead:</strong> Josepha Haden Chomphosy (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>chanthaboune</a>)</li><li><strong>Documentation Lead:</strong> Milana Cap (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/milana_cap/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>milana_cap</a>)</li><li><strong>Test Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Piotrek Boniu (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/boniu91/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>boniu91</a>)</li><li><strong>Support Lead:&nbsp;</strong>Mary Job (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mariaojob/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>mariaojob</a>)</li></ul>



<p>This release is the reflection of the hard work of 530 generous volunteer contributors. Collaboration occurred on over <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?milestone=5.8&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=milestone&col=owner&col=type&col=status&col=priority&order=priority">320 tickets on Trac</a> and over <a href="https://github.com/wordpress/gutenberg/compare/v10.0.0...v10.7.0">1,500 pull requests on GitHub</a>.</p>



<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/5ubliminal/">5ubliminal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ninetyninew/">99w</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/9primus/">9primus</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorbin/">Aaron Jorbin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aaronrobertshaw/">aaronrobertshaw</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/abderrahman/">abderrahman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/">Abha Thakor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/abhijitrakas/">Abhijit Rakas</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/achbed/">achbed</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamsilverstein/">Adam Silverstein</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zieladam/">Adam Zielinski</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/addiestavlo/">Addie</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aduth/">aduth</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaion07/">Ahmed Chaion</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/engahmeds3ed/">Ahmed Saeed</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajitbohra/">Ajit Bohra</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/schlessera/">Alain Schlesser</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alanjacobmathew/">Alan Jacob Mathew</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aljullu/">Albert Juh&#233; Lluveras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aleperez92/">Alejandro Perez</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/xknown/">Alex Concha</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/akirk/">Alex Kirk</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajlende/">Alex Lende</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alexstine/">alexstine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/firewatch/">allilevine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/amandariu/">Amanda Riu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/amarinediary/">amarinediary</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gadgetroid/">Amogh Harish</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/afercia/">Andrea Fercia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/andraganescu/">Andrei Draganescu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/azaozz/">Andrew Ozz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/andrewserong/">Andrew Serong</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rarst/">Andrey "Rarst" Savchenko</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nosolosw/">André Maneiro</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/afragen/">Andy Fragen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/apeatling/">Andy Peatling</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/andy/">Andy Skelton</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpgurudev/">Ankit Gade</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/annalamprou/">annalamprou</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/">Anne McCarthy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/anotherdave/">anotherdave</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/anotia/">anotia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/antpb/">Anthony Burchell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/antonlukin/">Anton Lukin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vanyukov/">Anton Vanyukov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/antonisme/">Antonis Lilis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/apedog/">apedog</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/apokalyptik/">apokalyptik</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/arena/">arena</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lephleg/">Argyris Margaritis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aristath/">Ari Stathopoulos</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ariskataoka/">ariskataoka</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/arkrs/">arkrs</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aruphi/">Armand</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/arnaudban/">ArnaudBan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/arthur791004/">Arthur Chu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/arunsathiya/">Arun a11n</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aspexi/">Aspexi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/atjn/">atjn</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aurooba/">Aurooba Ahmed</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/filosofo/">Austin Matzko</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ayeshrajans/">Ayesh Karunaratne</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/barry/">Barry</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bartkalisz/">bartkalisz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/">Beatriz Fialho</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pixolin/">Bego Mario Garde</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/utz119/">Benachi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/benoitchantre/">Benoit Chantre</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bernhard-reiter/">Bernhard Reiter</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bernhard reiter/">Bernhard Reiter</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/birgire/">Birgir Erlendsson (birgire)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bph/">Birgit Pauli-Haack</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/blobfolio/">Blobfolio</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bmcculley/">bmcculley</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/boblinthorst/">Bob Linthorst</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bobbingwide/">bobbingwide</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bogdanpreda/">Bogdan Preda</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gitlost/">bonger</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/boonebgorges/">Boone Gorges</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bradt/">Brad Touesnard</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kraftbj/">Brandon Kraft</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/brechtvds/">Brecht</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/brentswisher/">Brent Swisher</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/brettshumaker/">Brett Shumaker</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ribaricplusplus/">Bruno Ribaric</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/burhandodhy/">Burhan Nasir</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cameronjonesweb/">Cameron Jones</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cvoell/">Cameron Voell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/carike/">Carike</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/carlalexander/">Carl Alexander</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/carlomanf/">carlomanf</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/carlosgprim/">Carlos Garcia Prim</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/">Carolina Nymark</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/caseymilne/">Casey Milne</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cenay/">Cenay Nailor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ceyhun0/">Ceyhun Ozugur</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nhuja/">Chandra M</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chetan200891/">Chetan Prajapati</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chintan1896/">Chintan hingrajiya</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chipsnyder/">Chip Snyder</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloé Bringmann</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chouby/">Chouby</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chrisvanpatten/">Chris Van Patten</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chriscct7/">chriscct7</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vimes1984/">Christopher Churchill</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryno267/">Chuck Reynolds</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/claytoncollie/">Clayton Collie</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/codeamp/">Code Amp</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/design_dolphin/">CodePoet</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/">Colin Stewart</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/collizo4sky/">Collins Agbonghama</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/copons/">Copons</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/coreymckrill/">Corey McKrill</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cr0ybot/">Cory Hughart</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/courane01/">Courtney Engle Robertson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/crazycoders/">crazycoders</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/critterverse/">critterverse</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/czapla/">czapla</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidszabo/">D&#225;vid Szab&#243;</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/daisyo/">Daisy Olsen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/damonganto/">damonganto</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/danfarrow/">Dan Farrow</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/diddledan/">Dani Llewellyn</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/talldanwp/">Daniel Richards</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/danieldudzic/">danieldudzic</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mte90/">Daniele Scasciafratte</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vetyst/">Danny</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davilera/">David Aguilera</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidanderson/">David Anderson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dartiss/">David Artiss</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/">David Baumwald</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbinda/">David Biňovec</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dpcalhoun/">David Calhoun</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dlh/">David Herrera</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidkryzaniak/">David Kryzaniak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/get_dave/">David Smith</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dekervit/">dekervit</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/devle/">devfle</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/devrekli/">devrekli</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dhruvkb/">dhruvkb</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dianeco/">Diane Co</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dingdang/">dingdang</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32/">Dion Hulse</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/djbu/">djbu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ocean90/">Dominik Schilling</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/donmhico/">donmhico</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/donnapep/">Donna Peplinskie</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dougwollison/">Doug Wollison</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dpik/">dpik</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dragongate/">dragongate</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/drebbitsweb/">Dreb Bits</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/drewapicture/">Drew Jaynes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/eatsleepcode/">eatsleepcode</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/metalandcoffee/">Ebonie Butler</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ediamin/">Edi Amin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/itsjusteileen/">Eileen Violini</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ellatrix/">Ella van Durpe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aliveic/">Emil E</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/emarticor/">Emilio Martinez</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/manooweb/">Emmanuel Hesry</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/empatogen/">empatogen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/enej/">Enej Bajgorić</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nrqsnchz/">Enrique S&#225;nchez</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/epiqueras/">epiqueras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kebbet/">Erik</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/etoledom/">etoledom</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fabiankaegy/">Fabian K&#228;gy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fabianpimminger/">Fabian Pimminger</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gaambo/">Fabian Todt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/felipeelia/">Felipe Elia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/flixos90/">Felix Arntz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/felixbaumgaertner/">felixbaumgaertner</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/femkreations/">Femy Praseeth</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fijisunshine/">fijisunshine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/florianbrinkmann/">Florian Brinkmann</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mista-flo/">Florian TIAR</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/francina/">Francesca Marano</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bueltge/">Frank Bueltge</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/frosso1/">frosso1 (a11n)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fullofcaffeine/">fullofcaffeine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gab81/">gab81</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/galbaras/">Gal Baras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kafleg/">Ganga Kafle</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/garrett-eclipse/">Garrett Hyder</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/garyj/">Gary Jones</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pento/">Gary Pendergast</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/geekpress/">GeekPress</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/soulseekah/">Gennady Kovshenin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/geoffrey1963/">Geoffrey</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/revgeorge/">George Hotelling</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mamaduka/">George Mamadashvili</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/georgestephanis/">George Stephanis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/geriux/">geriux</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/glendaviesnz/">glendaviesnz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/grantmkin/">Grant M. Kinney</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gziolo/">Greg Ziółkowski</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gregorlove/">gRegor Morrill</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/priethor/">H&#233;ctor Prieto</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hannahmalcolm/">Hannah Malcolm</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/happiryu/">happiryu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hareesh-pillai/">Hareesh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hazdiego/">Haz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hedgefield/">hedgefield</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/helen/">Helen Hou-Sandí</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hermpheus/">Herm Martini</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/herregroen/">Herre Groen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/herrvigg/">herrvigg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/htmgarcia/">htmgarcia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/iandunn/">Ian Dunn</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ianmjones/">ianmjones</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/icopydoc/">icopydoc</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ipstenu/">Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/isabel_brison/">Isabel Brison</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dragunoff/">Ivaylo Draganov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wphound/">Ivete Tecedor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jdgrimes/">J.D. Grimes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jacklenox/">Jack Lenox</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/whyisjake/">Jake Spurlock</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jamesbonham/">James Bonham</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jameskoster/">James Koster</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jnylen0/">James Nylen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pondermatic/">James Richards</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jamesros161/">James Rosado</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jamil95/">jamil95</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/janak007/">janak Kaneriya</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/janwoostendorp/">janw.oostendorp</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jsnjohnston/">Jason Johnston</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/javiarce/">Javier Arce</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jaymanpandya/">Jayman Pandya</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/">Jean-Baptiste Audras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jffng/">Jeff Ong</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffpaul/">Jeff Paul</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffikus/">Jeffrey Pearce</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jdy68/">Jenny Dupuy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremyfelt/">Jeremy Felt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeherve/">Jeremy Herve</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremyyip/">Jeremy Yip</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremy80/">jeremy80</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeroenreumkens/">JeroenReumkens</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeryj/">jeryj</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jillebehm/">jillebehm</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jipmoors/">Jip Moors</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sephsekla/">Joe Bailey-Roberts</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joedolson/">Joe Dolson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joemcgill/">Joe McGill</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joen/">Joen Asmussen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonkastonka/">Johan Jonk Stenstr&#246;m</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/goaroundagain/">Johannes Kinast</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnbillion/">John Blackbourn</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnny5/">John Godley</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnjamesjacoby/">John James Jacoby</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bhwebworks/">John Sundberg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jb510/">Jon Brown</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonsurrell/">Jon Surrell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/spacedmonkey/">Jonny Harris</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonoaldersonwp/">Jono Alderson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joostdevalk/">Joost de Valk</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/koke/">Jorge Bernal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorgefilipecosta/">Jorge Costa</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joseeyoast/">Josee Wouters</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">Josepha Haden</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dkampdesign/">JoshuaDoshua</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joyously/">Joy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jsnajdr/">jsnajdr</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/juanfra/">Juan Aldasoro</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jrf/">Juliette Reinders Folmer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/juliobox/">Julio Potier</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/justinahinon/">Justin Ahinon</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/k3nsai/">k3nsai</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kaavyaiyer/">kaavyaiyer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kevin940726/">Kai Hao</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/akabarikalpesh/">Kalpesh Akabari</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kapilpaul/">Kapil Paul</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vyskoczilova/">Karolina Vyskocilova</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryelle/">Kelly Choyce-Dwan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kellychoffman/">Kelly Hoffman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gwwar/">Kerry Liu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kishanjasani/">Kishan Jasani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ixkaito/">Kite</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kittmedia/">KittMedia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/">Kjell Reigstad</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/klevyke/">klevyke</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/knutsp/">Knut Sparhell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vdwijngaert/">Koen Van den Wijngaert</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/obenland/">Konstantin Obenland</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/xkon/">Konstantinos Xenos</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/devnel/">Kyle Nel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lakrisgubben/">lakrisgubben</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/notlaura/">Lara Schenck</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lmurillom/">Larissa Murillo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/laxman-prajapati/">Laxman Prajapati</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lewiscowles/">LewisCowles</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lifeforceinst/">lifeforceinst</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/linux4me2/">linux4me2</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lovor/">Lovro Hrust</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/displaynone/">Luis Sacrist&#225;n</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/infolu/">Luiz Ara&#250;jo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecarbis/">Luke Carbis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/m0ze/">m0ze</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/maedahbatool/">Maedah Batool</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/onemaggie/">Maggie Cabrera</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/travel_girl/">Maja Benke</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mciampini/">Marco Ciampini</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/">Marcus Kazmierczak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marekhrabe/">Marek Hrabe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tyxla/">Marin Atanasov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/clorith/">Marius L. J.</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/markjaquith/">Mark Jaquith</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/markparnell/">Mark Parnell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/markoheijnen/">Marko Heijnen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/m-e-h/">Marty Helmick</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/">Mary Baum</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mariaojob/">Mary Job</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marylauc/">marylauc</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/imath/">Mathieu Viet</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/matveb/">Matias Ventura</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mattchowning/">Matt Chowning</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/matt/">Matt Mullenweg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/maxpertici/">Maxime Pertici</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mblach/">mblach</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/immeet94/">Meet Makadia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/">Meher Bala</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/melchoyce/">Mel Choyce-Dwan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meloniq/">meloniq</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mensmaximus/">mensmaximus</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mbabker/">Michael Babker</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tw2113/">Michael Beckwith</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mcsf/">Miguel Fonseca</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/simison/">Mikael Korpela</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikehansenme/">Mike Hansen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikejolley/">Mike Jolley</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mike_cowobo/">Mike Martel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikeschroder/">Mike Schroder</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mihdan/">Mikhail Kobzarev</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dimadin/">Milan Dinić</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/milana_cap/">Milana Cap</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkdgs/">mkdgs</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mmuyskens/">mmuyskens</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mmxxi/">mmxxi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/daddou/">Mohamed El Amine DADDOU</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mohamedfaragallah/">Mohammed Faragallah</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/monikarao/">Monika Rao</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mor10/">Morten Rand-Hendriksen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mrjoeldean/">mrjoeldean</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mukesh27/">Mukesh Panchal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/munyagu/">munyagu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/m_uysl/">Mustafa Uysal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mweichert/">mweichert</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/assassinateur/">Nadir Seghir</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/">Nalini Thakor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/naoki0h/">Naoki Ohashi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nao/">Naoko Takano</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nayanchamp7/">Nazrul Islam Nayan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dway/">nderambure</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/krstarica/">net</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nicegamer7/">nicegamer7</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/">Nicholas Garofalo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/celloexpressions/">Nick Halsey</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ntsekouras/">Nik Tsekouras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ninanmnm/">ninanmnm</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pianist787/">Noah Allen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nvartolomei/">nvartolomei</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oguzkocer/">oguzkocer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/olafklejnstrupjensen/">olafklejnstrupjensen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/olgabulat/">Olga Bulat</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oglekler/">Olga Gleckler</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/otshelnik-fm/">Otshelnik-Fm</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oxyrealm/">oxyrealm</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ozh/">Ozh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/paaljoachim/">Paal Joachim Romdahl</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/palmiak/">palmiak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/paaggeli/">Panagiotis Angelidis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/paragoninitiativeenterprises/">Paragon Initiative Enterprises</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/">Pascal Birchler</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fantasy1125/">Pascal Knecht</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/patkemper/">Pat</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/patricklindsay/">patricklindsay</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbiron/">Paul Biron</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pabline/">Paul Bunkham</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/paulschreiber/">Paul Schreiber</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/paulstonier/">Paul Stonier</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pschrottky/">Paul Von Schrottky</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/psrpinto/">Paulo Pinto</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pavelvisualcomposer/">Pavel I</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mrpauloen/">Paweł</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/peterwilsoncc/">Peter Wilson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/walbo/">Petter Walbø Johnsgård</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/phena109/">phena109</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/philipmjackson/">Philip Jackson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/strategio/">Pierre SYLVESTRE</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wppinar/">Pinar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/boniu91/">Piotrek Boniu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mordauk/">Pippin Williamson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ptahdunbar/">Pirate Dunbar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/promz/">Pramod Jodhani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/presskopp/">Presskopp</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/presstoke/">presstoke</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pwallner/">pwallner</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pyronaur/">pyronaur</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/itsjonq/">Q</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rachelbaker/">Rachel Baker</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rafhun/">rafhun</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rkradadiya/">Rajesh Radadiya</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ramiy/">Rami Yushuvaev</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rahmohn/">Ramon Ahnert</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ramonopoly/">ramonopoly</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jontyravi/">Ravi Vaghela</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ravipatel/">ravipatel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rellect/">Refael Iliaguyev</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/renehermi/">Rene Hermenau</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/retrofox/">retrofox</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/reynhartono/">reynhartono</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/youknowriad/">Riad Benguella</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rianrietveld/">Rian Rietveld</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rima1889/">Rima Prajapati</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rinatkhaziev/">Rinat</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rnaby/">Rnaby</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/robdxw/">robdxw</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/noisysocks/">Robert Anderson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/miqrogroove/">Robert Chapin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rogertheriault/">Roger Theriault</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rogerlos/">rogerlos</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/roo2/">roo2</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lev0/">Roy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/geekstreetwp/">Russell Aaron</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmccue/">Ryan McCue</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/welcher/">Ryan Welcher</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergiomdgomes/">S&#233;rgio Gomes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/soean/">S&#246;ren Wrede</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/stodorovic/">Sa&#353;a</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sabrinazeidan/">Sabrina Zeidan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sahilmepani/">Sahil Mepani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/solarissmoke/">Samir Shah</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/otto42/">Samuel Wood (Otto)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sandipmondal/">Sandip Mondal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sannevndrmeulen/">Sanne van der Meulen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sarahricker/">sarahricker</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sarayourfriend/">sarayourfriend</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sasagar/">SASAPIYO</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/satrancali/">satrancali</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/savicmarko1985/">savicmarko1985</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gmagicscott/">Scott Lesovic</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/coffee2code/">Scott Reilly</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/scottconnerly/">scottconnerly</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/scruffian/">scruffian</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sean212/">Sean Fisher</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/seanchayes/">Sean Hayes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sebbb/">sebbb</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/">Sergey Biryukov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yakimun/">Sergey Yakimov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergioestevao/">SergioEstevao</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/shaunandrews/">shaunandrews</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/shital-patel/">Shital Marakana</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/silb3r/">silb3r</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/siobhyb/">Siobhan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sirstuey/">SirStuey</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/snapfractalpop/">snapfractalpop</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/spikeuk1/">spikeuk1</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/spytzo/">spytzo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/stacimc/">stacimc</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/khromov/">Stanislav Khromov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/deustron/">Stefan H&#252;sges</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/stefanjoebstl/">stefanjoebstl</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryokuhi/">Stefano Minoia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hypest/">Stefanos Togoulidis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sabernhardt/">Stephen Bernhardt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/netweb/">Stephen Edgar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dufresnesteven/">Steve Dufresne</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/stevegrunwell/">Steve Grunwell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/stevehenty/">Steve Henty</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/stevenkword/">Steven Word</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/subrataemfluence/">Subrata Sarkar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sumaiyasiddika/">Sumaiya Siddika</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sumanm/">Suman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sumitsingh/">Sumit Singh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/5um17/">Sumit Singh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/quadthemes/">Sunny</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sushmak/">sushmak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cybr/">Sybre Waaijer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/synchro/">Synchro</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/szaqal21/">szaqal21</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tamlyn/">tamlyn</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/karmatosed/">Tammie Lister</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tellyworth/">Tellyworth</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/terriann/">Terri Ann</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wildworks/">Tetsuaki Hamano</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/themes-1/">them.es</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kraftner/">Thomas Kr&#228;ftner</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/thomasplevy/">Thomas Patrick Levy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/thomas-vitale/">Thomas Vitale</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tigertech/">tigertech</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/timothyblynjacobs/">Timothy Jacobs</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/timotijhof/">TimoTijhof</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tkama/">Tkama</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tmatsuur/">tmatsuur</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tmdk/">tmdk</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tz-media/">Tobias Zimpel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tobiasbg/">TobiasBg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tobifjellner/">tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn Fjellner)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tjnowell/">Tom J Nowell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/skithund/">Toni Viemer&#246;</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/">Tonya Mork</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/toro_unit/">Toro_Unit (Hiroshi Urabe)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/torres126/">torres126</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zodiac1978/">Torsten Landsiedel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/toru/">Toru Miki</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/travisnorthcutt/">Travis Northcutt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/trejder/">trejder</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/desaiuditd/">Udit Desai</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/grapplerulrich/">Ulrich</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/utsav72640/">Utsav tilava</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vcanales/">Vicente Canales</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vipulc2/">Vipul Chandel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vladytimy/">Vlad T</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wangql/">wangql</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webdragon/">WebDragon</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wendyjchen/">Wendy Chen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/westonruter/">Weston Ruter</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/earnjam/">William Earnhardt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/williampatton/">williampatton</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/xavivars/">Xavi Ivars</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tikifez/">Xristopher Anderton</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/y_kolev/">Y_Kolev</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yansern/">Yan Sern</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fierevere/">Yui</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yuliyan/">Yuliyan Slavchev</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yvettesonneveld/">Yvette Sonneveld</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zackkrida/">Zack Krida</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zebulan/">Zebulan Stanphill</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zkancs/">zkancs</a>, and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sunxiyuan/">孙锡源</a>.



<p></p>



<p>In addition to these contributors, many thanks to all of the community volunteers who contribute in the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://wordpress.org/support/">support forums</a>. They answer questions from people across the world, whether they are using WordPress for the first time, or they’ve been around since the first release all the way back in 2003. These releases are as successful as they are because of their efforts!</p>



<p>Finally, thanks to all the community translators who help make WordPress available in over 200 languages for every release. 80 languages have translated 80% or more WordPress 5.8 and our community translators are hard at work ensuring more languages are on their way. If contributing to WordPress appeals to you, it’s easy to learn more. Check out&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://make.wordpress.org/">Make WordPress</a>&nbsp;or the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">core development blog</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 20 Jul 2021 17:43:25 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Matt Mullenweg";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:41:"WPTavern: Makers of TinyMCE Acquire Setka";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120116";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:127:"https://wptavern.com/makers-of-tinymce-acquire-setka?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=makers-of-tinymce-acquire-setka";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3035:"<p>Tiny, the makers of TinyMCE, have <a href="https://www.tiny.cloud/blog/tiny-acquires-the-setka/">acquired Setka</a>, a content design and editing platform, for an undisclosed amount. Founders Katya Bazilevskaya, Alexey Ametov, Vasily Esmanov, Roman Khudonogov, and the rest of the Setka team will join Tiny as part of the agreement. </p>



<p>Tiny has been tracking an increasing developer demand for rich text editing components, citing 8.1 million TinyMCE downloads (up 77%) and 106 million  downloads of rich text editing components in general from NPM in the last 12 months (up 53% YoY).</p>



<p>&ldquo;TinyMCE has typically focused on the average business user or knowledge worker; someone familiar with Microsoft Word or Google Docs,&rdquo; Tiny founder and CEO Andrew Roberts said.&nbsp;</p>



<p>&ldquo;With Setka, we can now serve professional content creators and designers who want more advanced options.&rdquo;</p>



<p>TinyMCE is used by millions of WordPress users, most visibly in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-editor/">Classic Editor</a> plugin as well as the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/tinymce-advanced/">Advanced Editor Tools</a> plugin, previously known as TinyMCE Advanced. Advanced Editor Tools adds a &ldquo;Classic Paragraph&rdquo; block to the block editor that gives access to the TinyMCE editor with configurable rows and buttons. It provides a stepping stone for those who are not quite ready to switch to the block editor.</p>



<p>While Tiny is a widely recognized leader in rich text editing, <a href="https://setka.io/">Setka</a> allows for more interactive content creation with design capabilities for arranging text, images, and other visual elements. It allows users to create and save post templates and easily reuse design elements throughout the WYSIWYG design process. Tiny plans to merge TinyMCE and Setka for a combined platform that will offer more than either product alone.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Modern day content creators are much more ambitious, and Setka allows us to meet more demanding use cases,&rdquo; Roberts said.&nbsp;</p>



<p>&ldquo;Over time, we envisage a combined editor platform that is both easy to use and powerful.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Setka currently offers integrations for several CMS&rsquo;s, document management tools, and CRMs, including WordPress, Drupal, Magento, Ghost, Microsoft Sharepoint, and Hubspot. The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/setka-editor/">Setka WordPress plugin</a> integrates with the block editor and provides its own content block that can work together with other blocks on the page.</p>



<p>Former CEO Kate Bazilevskaya, who will be assuming the role of director of business development and partnerships at Tiny, said the team intends to focus on the CMS space.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Through an array of integrations, we hope to make this visual building technology more accessible to businesses who already have a CMS in place, yet want more power in their editing tools,&rdquo; Bazilevskaya said.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 20 Jul 2021 04:39:28 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:43;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:87:"WPTavern: WPBeginner Releases a Comment Moderator Solution Often Needed for Large Teams";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120195";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:219:"https://wptavern.com/wpbeginner-releases-a-comment-moderator-solution-often-needed-for-large-teams?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wpbeginner-releases-a-comment-moderator-solution-often-needed-for-large-teams";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3607:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Last week, WPBeginner released <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/comment-moderation-role/">Comment Moderation Role</a> to the WordPress plugin directory. The plugin does a simple job of creating a single user role that can only moderate comments.</p>



<p>The most common use case for such a role &mdash; named &ldquo;WPB Comment Moderator&rdquo; in the admin &mdash; is for larger teams that need a separate user account to tackle moderation. WordPress has no built-in way of handling this. For one of the most extendable CMSs on the planet, this is one area where it has always fallen short.</p>



<p>It almost feels like yesterday. In reality, it was <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/12104#comment:17">10 years ago</a> when I stumbled upon a (then) year-old <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/12104">ticket for a bug</a> that was a breaking point in a project I was working on. I needed to grant specific users on a WordPress site permission to moderate comments but not allow them to edit other things in the admin.</p>



<p>Some of you may be thinking that the <code><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/roles-and-capabilities/#moderate_comments">moderate_comments</a></code> capability should allow that. And, you would be correct in thinking that it <em><strong>should</strong></em>. However, that is not how it works at all. For users to edit comments, they must also be able to edit posts. It is a bit of a convoluted mess if you do a deep dive into the core code only to find hard-coded permissions checks that are impossible to override without rewriting large chunks of code.</p>



<p>I would run into the same issue multiple times in the years since. I have built a few hacky, one-off workarounds for specific projects, but they were never ideal. And, I was never interested in maintaining a plugin that solved this problem because I knew it had the potential to be a bit of a pain.</p>



<p>While I have seen a few other solutions, each fundamentally flawed, I am happy to see someone tackling this without exposing permissions issues.</p>



<p>WPBeginner&rsquo;s Comment Moderation Role plugin works in the same way that I think such a plugin should work, at least with the roadblocks that WordPress currently puts in the way.</p>



<p>Site administrators can add WPB Comment Moderator to any account via the user management admin screen. The process is the same as adding or removing any other role in WordPress.</p>



<img />Granting the WPB Comment Moderator role to a user.



<p>After adding the role to a user, that user can access the Comments admin screen. They can also see both the Dashboard and their own Profile in the admin. Except in the cases where they have another role added via a different plugin, they will not have permission to access other screens.</p>



<img />Comments admin screen for user with the WPB Comment Moderator role



<p>Because of core WordPress&rsquo;s hard-coded permissions check, the plugin must create its own comments management screen. Most users will not notice this because it is all under the hood. The plugin only adds it when necessary, and it does not look or function any differently than the default screen. It is just a lot of code work and duplication to fix an 11-year-old reported bug in WordPress.</p>



<p>Until the foundational issue is addressed in core WordPress, Comment Moderation Role is the best plugin for this job. After extensive testing, I can now say that it is now nestled firmly in my toolbox, ready to pull out when needed for a project.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 19 Jul 2021 22:13:22 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:44;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"Gutenberg Times: List of WordPress Themes for Full-Site Editing and Resources";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=18502";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:88:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/list-of-wordpress-themes-for-full-site-editing-and-resources/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8014:"<p>A few people ask about WordPress Themes that are already working with the Full-Site Editing system and the new Site Editor. Here is a List as of July 2021.  </p>



<p>The Themes are all built while Full-Site Editing is under active development and many features are experimental. Do not use in production or live site. Expect the themes to be wonky at times, until developers have a chance to update the themes for new Gutenberg plugin version. In short: There will be Dragons! 🐉</p>



<p>Oh, yes. You also need to <a href="https://wordPress.org/plugins/gutenberg">install the Gutenberg plugin</a>. </p>



<p>For the lastest updates pre-release, use the <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Gutenberg Nightly</a></p>



<h2>Themes for Full-Site Editing in the WordPress repository</h2>



<p>I only used TT1 Blocks Theme for FSE-Testing. I rely mostly on Justin Tadlock  or others to provide more insights on the various themes. The articles are linked with the theme header. </p>



<h3><strong><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/armando/">Armando</a>&nbsp;by Carolyn Newmark</strong></h3>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/armando-wordpress-theme-provides-insight-into-the-current-state-of-full-site-editing">Armando WordPress Theme Provides Insight Into the Current State of Full Site Editing</a></p>



<h3><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/blockbase/">Block Base</a>&nbsp;by Automattic</h3>



<p><a href="https://themeshaper.com/2021/06/07/using-blockbase-for-a-theme-experiment/">Using Blockbase for a theme&nbsp;experiment</a> (ThemeShaper) by Kjell Reigstad</p>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/the-automattic-theme-team-announces-blockbase-its-new-block-parent-theme">The Automattic Theme Team Announces Blockbase, Its New Block Parent Theme</a> (WordPress Tavern) by Justin Tadlock</p>



<p><a href="https://themeshaper.com/2021/05/27/blockbase-a-parent-theme-for-block-themes/">Blockbase: A parent theme for block&nbsp;themes</a> (ThemeShaper) by Ben Dwyer</p>



<h4>Child themes of Block Base </h4>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/mayland-blocks/">Mayland Blocks</a> by Automattic </p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/seedlet-blocks/">Seedlet Blocks</a> by Automattic</p>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/automattic-launches-mayland-blocks-its-second-fse-theme-on-wordpress-org">Automattic Launches Mayland Blocks, Its Second FSE Theme on WordPress.org</a></p>



<h3><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/block-based-bosco/">Block-Based Bosco</a>&nbsp;by Fränk Klein</h3>



<p><a href="https://wpdevelopment.courses/articles/full-site-editing-theme-learnings/">What I Learned Building a Full-Site Editing Theme</a></p>



<p><a href="https://wpdevelopment.courses/articles/global-styles-in-block-based-bosco/">Implementing Global Styles in Block-Based Bosco</a></p>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/block-based-bosco-second-full-site-editing-theme-lands-in-the-wordpress-directory">Block-Based Bosco, Second Full-Site Editing Theme Lands in the WordPress Directory</a></p>



<h3><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/clove/">Clove </a>by Anariel Design</h3>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/clove-a-showcase-of-block-patterns-by-anariel-design">Clove: A Showcase of Block Patterns by Anariel Design</a> (WPTavern)</p>



<h3><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/hansen/">Hansen</a>&nbsp;by Uxl Themes</h3>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/build-a-full-wordpress-site-via-block-patterns-with-the-hansen-theme">Build a Full WordPress Site via Block Patterns With the Hansen Theme</a></p>



<h3><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/naledi/">Naledi&nbsp;</a>by Anariel Design</h3>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/anariel-design-launches-naledi-a-block-based-wordpress-theme">Anariel Design Launches Naledi, a Block-Based WordPress Theme</a> (WordPress Tavern)</p>



<h3><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/q/">Q&nbsp;</a>by Ari Stathopoulos</h3>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/exploring-full-site-editing-with-the-q-wordpress-theme">Exploring Full-Site Editing With the Q WordPress Theme</a></p>



<h3><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/rick/">Rick</a> by WPEntire </h3>



<h3><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tt1-blocks/">TT1 Blocks</a>&nbsp;by WordPress contributors</h3>



<p>This is the FSE sibling of the Twenty-Twenty-One Theme</p>



<p><em>If you find any theme missing in this list, <a href="mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com">let me know.</a></em></p>



<h2>WordPress Themes team resources</h2>



<p>The themes team <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments">share their experiments on GitHub</a>. Some listed themes made it as stand-alone theme into the repository listed above. </p>



<p>Contributors also included a script to <strong>generate a theme</strong> with the minimum necessary to build your own block theme: <code>php new-empty-theme.php</code>.</p>



<p>Every other week, the <strong>themes team meets discussion Block-based themes</strong>: 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 15:00 UTC (11am EDT) wp-slack channel #themereview</p>



<p>Every week, the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/tags/gutenberg-themes-roundup/">Themes team published a <strong>roundup post </strong></a>about newly merged changes, and what is discussed on the GitHub repo for Gutenberg. The post also has a few overview issues so you can always catch up on what is in the works. <em>Follow the #gutenberg-themes-roundup tag on the make-blog/themes</em></p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy</strong>, developer relations and program manage for the FSE outreach published a post on ThemeShaper with more <a href="https://themeshaper.com/2021/07/13/resources-for-block-theme-development/">Resources for block theme&nbsp;development</a></p>



<h2>DevNotes for WordPress 5.8 </h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/25/introducing-theme-json-in-wordpress-5-8/">Introducing theme.json in WordPress 5.8</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/29/on-layout-and-content-width-in-wordpress-5-8/">On layout and content width in WordPress 5.8</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/16/introducing-the-template-editor-in-wordpress-5-8/">Introducing the template editor in WordPress 5.8</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/01/block-styles-loading-enhancements-in-wordpress-5-8/">Block-styles loading enhancements in WordPress 5.8</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/29/blocks-in-an-iframed-template-editor/">Blocks in an iframed (template) editor</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/21/bundled-themes-changes-in-wordpress-5-8/">Bundled themes changes in WordPress 5.8</a></li></ul>



<h2>Developer Documentation </h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/block-theme-overview/">Block Theme Overview</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/create-block-theme/">Create a Block Theme</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/theme-json/">Global Settings (theme.json)</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/theme-support/">Theme Support</a></li></ul>



<h2>Courses and Tutorials</h2>



<ul><li>Caroline Nymark: <a href="https://fullsiteediting.com/courses/full-site-editing-for-theme-developers/">Full-site editing For Developers</a></li><li>Fränk Klein: <a href="https://wpdevelopment.courses/courses/building-block-based-themes/">Building Block-Based Themes</a></li><li>Tammie Lister: <a href="https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/17/creating-a-theme/">Creating a Theme</a></li><li>Rich Tabor: <a href="https://richtabor.com/gutenberg-block-templates/">The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Block Templates in Gutenberg</a></li></ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>U<em>pdated 7/21 to add Rich Tabor&#8217;s article on Block Templates </em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 19 Jul 2021 12:31:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:45;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:75:"WordPress.org blog: WP Briefing: Episode 13: Cherishing WordPress Diversity";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:53:"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=10949";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/episode-13-cherishing-wordpress-diversity/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14888:"<p>In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy discusses the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to the fabric of the WordPress project and how we can move from a place of welcoming it to cherishing it.</p>



<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href="mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>



<h2>Credits</h2>



<p>Editor: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/">Dustin Hartzler</a></p>



<p>Logo: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/">Beatriz Fialho</a></p>



<p>Production: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloé Bringmann</a></p>



<p>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</p>



<h2>References</h2>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/diversity-speaker-training-workshop/">Diverse Speaker Training Workshop</a></p>



<p><a href="https://josepha.blog/2020/12/23/a-wordpress-dinner-party/">A WordPress Dinner Party</a></p>



<p><a href="https://josepha.blog/2018/11/06/the-burden-of-proof/">The Burden of Proof</a></p>



<p><a href="https://josepha.blog/2021/03/05/leading-at-any-level/">Leadership At Any Level</a></p>



<p><a href="https://josepha.blog/2019/03/02/building-a-culture-of-safety/">Building a Culture of Safety</a></p>



<p><a href="https://josepha.blog/2020/03/27/leadership-basics-ethics-in-communication/">Leadership Basics: Ethics in Communication</a></p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-6/">WordPress 5.6</a></p>



<p>Bonus resource: <a href="https://allienimmons.com/how-to-be-a-wordpress-ally/">How to Be a WordPress Ally</a></p>



<h2>Transcript</h2>



<span id="more-10949"></span>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>



<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. And before we get started, I have to be honest with you all, this episode and the next one have made me feel really anxious. This one is about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in open source, and especially in WordPress. And the next one is about accessibility in WordPress. And I feel like there&#8217;s just so much to do, and we don&#8217;t do enough, but we do what we can. And still, we will never be done with that work. And if you don&#8217;t know what I mean by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, you can kind of think of it this way. Diversity is bringing in people with different viewpoints and lived experiences. Equity is making sure everyone has what they need to get a fair chance of success, which is different from equality. And Inclusion is making sure that the environment is built to not only tolerate diverse groups but to celebrate them as well. So remember this as you listen to what I have to say here. We are never where we want to be in either of those spaces. But that shouldn&#8217;t stop us from looking at the things we have done to get us in the right direction. All right. Here we go.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:54</p>



<p>I say a lot that we are a project that serves a majority collection of minority voices. WordPress is global in reach and open source in nature. And you would assume that what allows the software to be used by anyone would also enable it to be built by anyone. After all, your location doesn&#8217;t matter, and who employs you also doesn&#8217;t matter. And your relative social standing certainly shouldn&#8217;t matter. As long as you can communicate with the others contributing to the project, there should be no obstacle to your participation. The mission of the WordPress project is to democratize publishing, right? It&#8217;s to get the ability to have a website tap into passive income on your web presence. I mean, the job is to level the playing field for everyone. However, it&#8217;s my experience that bringing in new voices takes a lot of proactive work on behalf of leaders and contributors. It&#8217;s not enough to say, &#8220;Hey, I&#8217;m having a party,&#8221; you also have to say, &#8220;I&#8217;m having a party, and I&#8217;d like you to be there.&#8221; It&#8217;s not enough to think people will make their own space at this table. You have to make sure that you have table settings for everyone. And even beyond the basics of directing people to you.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:12</p>



<p>And on toward the next steps, you have to be honest about the fact that open source contribution requires a fair amount of privilege. By privilege, I mean the luxury of extra time or extra funding or just an understanding employer. WordPress supports 41% of the web. I think it&#8217;s 42% of the web right now. But less than 1% of people who use WordPress show up to help maintain it. And that 1% that does show up skews toward people who already have a pretty high level of representation and technology. And so, when you look at who is building it versus who is using it, it doesn&#8217;t always match. And since what we build so frequently reflects who we are, sometimes what we build doesn&#8217;t match the needs of the people who are using what we have.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:10</p>



<p>So what has WordPress done to be proactive on the question of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion? There are quite a few unseen things that have gone into this over the years and a few pretty visible things. This is a very long list. And it has a whole lot of just reference material. And so the show notes today will come in handy for people, and there will be just a laundry list of linked resources for everyone.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:39</p>



<p>But the first thing that WordPress has done is that we have accepted the burden of proof. I&#8217;m going to share a post about this in the show notes. That means we accept that it&#8217;s not the job of underrepresented folks to figure out if they are welcome. It&#8217;s up to us to make it clear that they are. So, there are three big little things that the community has done over the years. One is that many teams open their text-based meetings with an explanation of what is done in the meeting, who comes to the meetings, where to find help if you&#8217;re lost in the meeting, and for teams that have a specific type of requests that comes into those channels that aren&#8217;t handled in those channels. They also will share where people can go to get those requests taken care of. Many teams have also updated their team handbooks to have good beginner docs, limited use of inside jokes or jargon, and good first bugs. And also, there is a code of conduct in the community declaring that everyone is welcome and clarifies what to do if you see folks being unwelcoming.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:51</p>



<p>A second big thing that folks in the WordPress community have done is written down what was unwritten. Having things clearly documented unlocks institutional knowledge that you&#8217;d otherwise have to know someone to get. Clarity and process and the structure help anyone engage with your organization, not just the people who have extra time to figure things out. What that looks like in the WordPress project is that many teams have documented their workflows and their working spaces and just their general team norms. Many teams have also started defining what it means to be a team rep and holding open processes to choose those team reps. Many other community leaders and I have written down countless unspoken rules, guidelines, and philosophical underpinnings so that people don&#8217;t have to guess what we&#8217;re doing or why we&#8217;re doing things, or where we want to do them.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:46</p>



<p>And the more visible thing that the WordPress project has been doing is that we found ways to invite people in, and they&#8217;re not failsafe; they’re not foolproof, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. The first one is an ongoing, diverse speaker training initiative. And I&#8217;ll include a link to that in the show notes as well. It is run by Jill Binder and a fantastic group of contributors that collaborate with her. And I really have loved watching that particular program grow and flourish and help WordPress make a difference where we absolutely can.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:27</p>



<p>The second thing that was pretty visible about how we invited people in was at the end of 2020, and we had an all-women and nonbinary release squad for our biggest release of the year; WordPress 5.6. I had a group of probably 70 women and nonbinary identifying folx who joined in the process and joined in learning more about the process. Some of them have continued in the project. Others have stepped away for various reasons. But all of them are welcome to return. And I encourage everyone to return to contribution when time and resources make that possible for you.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:09</p>



<p>And then the third thing that we&#8217;ve done, which I have talked about a lot, is the revival of the testing and triage practices. That has been work that&#8217;s been ongoing for a number of years. And it happens across multiple teams. It is not always immediately clear to people why the testing work. And the triage work is identifiable for me as a way to invite people into this process. And so I&#8217;ll be briefly clear about it right now. So testing as a practice brings in the users that otherwise don&#8217;t have a lot of spare time and that extra privilege to like, figure out what&#8217;s going on with WordPress, and contribute their own fixes to problems. They can give back to this project by being co-developers with us, co-creators with our entire process of making WordPress real and usable for the largest number of people that we can because we now support 42% of the web. And then, the triage practice invites in a diverse voice of people. Because you don&#8217;t necessarily always need to know everything about a project to help with triage. And when you&#8217;re helping with triage, you get active learning through participating in the process. But you also get passive learning from the people who already know huge amounts about the project and the process and everything that goes into it. And so it&#8217;s a low key low stress way to get your feet wet and start building that knowledge that sometimes is hard to come by unless you are actively working in it. So the testing practices, the triage practices, I really to the core of my being believe that those are active and ongoing ways for us to invite people who otherwise wouldn&#8217;t have a chance to get their voices heard in an open source project. And y&#8217;all, as I said at the start, y’all, there&#8217;s nothing about this list that I just shared, which makes me feel like our work on this is done. Just like any muscle, you don&#8217;t fight to peak fitness, and then hit the big stop button on time and say, &#8220;Now, I never have to work out again.&#8221; If we did, the world would be a very different place probably. But it does then lead us to the next steps for fostering a community culture that&#8217;s as broad as the people who use this software. If you believe in leadership at any level, as I do, there are a ton of things that you can do right now. But I&#8217;ll boil them down into three big chunks of things.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>10:54</p>



<p>First, check your community area, or whatever community you want to apply this to, for things that need a little more proactive work. I will share a post called<em> Building A Culture of Safety</em> that will take you through a list of good first steps. And it is not as hard as it looks. When you say build a culture of safety, there are many really clear-cut minor changes that you can ask people to make and, in like, four or five different areas that can help your community be more welcoming and more open.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>11:30</p>



<p>The second thing that you can do is know that small changes add up over time and commit to making those changes where you can. If you are elite at any level, you know that supporting people and processes is the responsibility of everyone in the group. And if you can make your own autonomous decisions and commit to making small changes that make a big difference over time, you will be part of that solution. And that is not specific to any one group that we have in our communities. You can be an ally for anyone, whether they look like you, whether they have your same experiences, or not. And sometimes, it&#8217;s as easy as just holding space for the people who haven&#8217;t had a chance to talk yet. And on the subject of holding space and the way that we communicate.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>12:22</p>



<p>The third thing that I think is incredibly important is that you can take on as a foundational personal practice the concept of ethical communication. I&#8217;ll share a post about that as well in the show notes, but the core of it is that you have to know that what you say and don&#8217;t say what you do and don&#8217;t do has an impact on others and embrace that responsibility. All right, so you made it all the way through, and I am so proud of you. I&#8217;m sure you have questions about this. And I encourage you to share those. You can email them to me at wp briefing@wordpress.org.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>13:10</p>



<p>This brings us to our small list of big things. I&#8217;ve got two things for you today. First and foremost, WordPress 5.8 gets released tomorrow. It&#8217;s a big release, and lots of people have been working on it. So get your update processes ready and keep an eye on wordpress.org/news for the announcement post. Second, and still pretty important, team reps have been working on their quarterly check-ins so that all other teams can get an idea of what&#8217;s happening around the WordPress office. Keep an eye out for that post on make.wordpress.org/updates. And that is your smallest of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. I&#8217;m your host Joseph Hayden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 19 Jul 2021 12:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Chloe Bringmann";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:46;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:110:"Gutenberg Times: Theme creation, Block plugin development and the Future of WordPress – Weekend Edition #178";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=18531";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:114:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/theme-creation-block-plugin-development-and-the-future-of-wordpress-weekend-edition-17/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12172:"<p>Howdy, my friends! </p>





<p>WordPress 5.8 will be release next week. Are you ready? Well, if you didn&#8217;t get any chance to test things, you should still be alright. If you know your customers will be fiddling with their site&#8217;s widget section, do yourself a favor and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-widgets/">install the Classic Widget plugin</a>, so there are no surprises. </p>



<p>For last-minute testing, use the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/15/wordpress-5-8-release-candidate-4/">Release Candidate number 4</a>. The final release is scheduled for Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/03/wordpress-5-8-field-guide/">Field Guide </a>covers all changes. </p>



<p>Wishing you all the best for the upgrade! Holler if you need any help! </p>



<p>Yours, 💕<br />Birgit</p>



<h2>Gutenberg and the Future of WordPress</h2>



<p>In this week&#8217;s Jukebox episode, host <strong>Nathan Wrigley</strong> discussed with <strong>Robert Jacobi</strong> the Future of WordPress in the era of Gutenberg. <strong><a href="https://wptavern.com/podcast/5-robert-jacobi-on-why-hes-putting-gutenberg-first">Jacobi explained why he is persuing a Gutenberg first approach.</a> </strong>You can listen on WordPress Tavern or your favorite podcast app. </p>



<p><em>From the section “Neither Gutenberg nor WordPress News&#8221;: I am excited about the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/16/22580023/automattic-pocket-casts-podcast-app-tumble-wordpress">acquisition of Pocket Casts by Automattic</a>. I tested many other podcast apps, but Pocket Casts has been my favorite for many, many years.</em>  </p>



<p><strong>Nathan da Silva</strong>, founder of Silva Web Designs, wrote about <a href="https://silvawebdesigns.com/the-future-of-wordpress-page-builders/">the Future of Page Builders</a> and concludes, there are still pieces missing before Gutenberg makes 3rd Party page builders obsolete. Da Silva mentions, Full-Site Editing is not there yet and there are not as many add-on available as Elementor or Beaver Builder provide for their site builders workflow. </p>




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/changelog-47-developing-block-plugins-wordpress-5-8/">Episode #47 is now available</a> with transcript. <br />Next recording July 23, 2021 </strong></p>



<p> <strong>Subscribe to the&nbsp;<a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/">Gutenberg Changelog</a>&nbsp;podcast </strong><br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/620NwVKQJGdTupy36zYxvg?mc_cid=4b6c9f88fe">Spotify</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ndXRlbmJlcmd0aW1lcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0">Google</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gutenberg-changelog/id1469294475">iTunes</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://pca.st/podcast/f8445ec0-7508-0137-f267-1d245fc5f9cf">PocketCasts</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/gutenberg-changelog">Stitcher</a>&nbsp;|<br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href="https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/chi7j-9904a/Gutenberg-Changelog-Podcast">Pod Bean</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://castbox.fm/channel/Gutenberg-Changelog-id2173375">CastBox</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/gutenberg-changelog-878239/">Podchaser</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/podcast">RSS Feed</a>&nbsp;</p>



<img />




<h2>Block-editor for Content Creators</h2>



<p>On July 29th, 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. UTC. <strong>WordPress VIP</strong> will hold  a webinar with the title <a href="https://wpvip.com/resource/gutenberg-full-site-editing-webinar/"><strong>Gutenberg Full-Site Editing: Unlocking Agility for Enterprise WordPress</strong></a>. James Proctor will share lessons from the cutting edge of implementation. “By taking Gutenberg blocks beyond the post editor, these new features allow content creators unprecedented agility and control over the entire site experience.&nbsp;“ Any site owner and agency will be able to take advantage of the knowledge shared at scale.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/redcrew">Deborah Edwards-Onoro</a></strong> posted a great tutorial on how to <a href="https://www.lireo.com/quick-tip-manage-your-wordpress-block-editor-preferences/">Manage your Block Editor preferences</a> and increase productivity and comfort. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>WordPress 5.8 brings Duotone Filters to images of the block editor. <strong>Justin Tadlock </strong>takes you on a tour of this fabulous new feature: <a href="https://wptavern.com/duotone-filters-wordpress-5-8-puts-a-powerful-image-editing-tool-into-users-hands">Duotone Filters: WordPress 5.8 Puts a Powerful Image-Editing Tool Into Users’ Hands</a>&#8216;.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<h2>Developing Plugins for the Block Editor</h2>



<p>After the <a href="https://richtabor.com/gutenberg-block-plugins/">Primer</a> last week, <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/richard_tabor">Rich Tabor</a></strong> posted <strong><a href="https://richtabor.com/build-publish-gutenberg-block-plugins/">How to Build &amp; Publish Gutenberg Block Plugins to the WordPress Block Directory.</a></strong> Tabor guides you through the process from <code>create block</code> scaffolding and running the block plugin checker to uploading your block to WordPress repository and get it approved for the Block Directory. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/mkaz">Marcus Kazmierczak</a></strong> wrote a series of posts on how to <a href="https://mkaz.blog/wordpress/conditionally-load-block-assets/"><strong>Conditionally Load Block Assets</strong></a> when building block plugins. There are quite a few different ways to skin that proverbial cat. <a href="https://mkaz.blog/wordpress/conditionally-load-block-assets-part-3/">Start at the latest post</a>, explaining the new WordPress 5.8 way to handle this. Kazmierczak also provides a video walk through. </p>



<p>This helped me to understand the feature <strong>Ari Stathopoulos</strong> worked on and described in his Dev Note: <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/01/block-styles-loading-enhancements-in-wordpress-5-8/">Block-styles loading enhancements in WordPress 5.8</a></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/riadbenguella">Riad Benguella</a></strong> has a few more<strong> <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/12/miscellaneous-block-editor-api-additions-in-wordpress-5-8/">Miscellaneous block editor API additions in WordPress 5.8</a> &#8211; it covers: </strong></p>



<ul><li>Contextual patterns for easier creation and block transformations</li><li>Pattern Registration API</li><li>BlockControls group prop</li></ul>




<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2021&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. Updated by yours truly.  <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/"><em>The index 2020 is here</em></a></p>




<h2>Gutenberg and Themes</h2>



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/jcristpbking">Jason Crist</a> </strong>published this week&#8217;s <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/07/16/gutenberg-themes-week-of-july-16-2021/"><strong>Gutenberg + Themes</strong></a> roundup. Two issues caught my eye:  </p>



<ul><li>Should it be possible to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33367">overwrite properties via PHP </a>or should the properties in the theme.json come after PHP properties are set. What do you think?</li><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/32939">Is there a case for dynamic template parts?</a> Discuss! </li></ul>



<p>There is of course, much more going on. Another great round-up post from the Theme Team! </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> shared <a href="https://themeshaper.com/2021/07/13/resources-for-block-theme-development/"><strong>Resources for block theme&nbsp;development</strong></a> on ThemeShaper. She wrote: &#8220;Whether you’re just starting out or already deep in the block theme world, the following resources should help you be aware of what’s to come and how to get involved in shaping the future.&#8221;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/karmatosed">Tammie Lister</a></strong> published here process on <a href="https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/17/creating-a-theme/"><strong>how to create a theme</strong></a> and what she encountered. She wrote: &#8220;I am still like many discovering how I create themes using site editing, but I wanted to share my current process and some observations I’ve made along the way.&nbsp;&#8220;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/nickmdiego"><strong>Nick Diego</strong> </a>collected three small fixes to his theme to  change the breakpoint for the column block to become responsive, how to change the order of the mobile columns and how to disable responsive columns completely. For the latter, Diego uses a solution by Andy Serong, that is already merged to Gutenberg and will be released with the plugin version 11.2 on July 21st, 2021. Details in <a href="https://nickdiego.com/disable-responsive-columns-in-gutenberg-and-other-tips/"><strong>Disable Responsive Columns in Gutenberg and Other Tips</strong></a></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/rob_stino">Rob Stinson</a></strong> posted about <strong><a href="https://studiopress.blog/wordpress-5-8-widgets-changes-and-how-they-impact-the-genesis-framework/">WordPress 5.8 Widgets Changes and How they Impact the Genesis Framework</a>.</strong> He wrote: &#8220;To help navigate this for the 100,000’s of sites that run on the Genesis Framework we have implemented an&nbsp;<em>opt-in</em>&nbsp;experience in version 3.3.4 for whenever anyone updates to WordPress 5.8.&#8221;</p>




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s main (trunk) branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge" /></p>



<p></p>





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<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 17 Jul 2021 23:19:47 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"WPTavern: Identify and Select Blocks via the Wayfinder WordPress Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120070";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:187:"https://wptavern.com/identify-and-select-blocks-via-the-wayfinder-wordpress-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=identify-and-select-blocks-via-the-wayfinder-wordpress-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6962:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Christopher John, a Seattle-based designer and UX engineer, released his first project to the plugin directory yesterday. <a href="https://twitter.com/theMOLITOR/status/1415744294414000128">Announced via Twitter</a> to high praise, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wayfinder/">Wayfinder</a> is a block outline solution for the WordPress editor.</p>



<p>Like similar plugins, the goal is to make it easier for end-users to select nested blocks, which can sometimes be tough to pin down. Wayfinder outlines each block in the editor on hover. It then displays the block name at the upper left of the box.</p>



<p>My favorite feature that you will not find elsewhere is the addition of each block&rsquo;s classes at the bottom right of the box. This makes it easy for designers or users who want to quickly find a class for styling.</p>



<img />Outline of a Heading block.



<p>Users can also enable or disable the pieces of the UI they want to appear via the plugin&rsquo;s setting screen. However, any changes affect all of the site&rsquo;s user experiences. Currently, there are no per-user settings.</p>



<p>At first glance, the plugin seemed to work great. The hover outline experience felt smooth, and I did not need to change the default options. Wayfinder almost seemed to be everything one might look for in a block-outline solution. It was besting existing plugins in nearly every way.</p>



<p>However, things soon began rolling downhill when writing a typical blog post with nothing other than Heading, Paragraph, and Image blocks. I first noticed that I could not type the same number of words as usual on one line. My perfectly-tuned typography was breaking sooner than it should have. Spacing between paragraphs seemed a bit too large. My wide-aligned images were just a little smaller than usual.</p>



<p>The user experience still felt good until this point, but the little oddities were stacking up. Something was not right. The plugin had been showered with praise on Twitter and already received three five-star reviews in its first 24 hours. Maybe my custom theme was the issue. However, similar problems arose when testing several others, such as Twenty Twenty-One, Nutmeg, and Eksell &mdash; each a well-rounded theme catered to the block editor.</p>



<p>As clean as the plugin&rsquo;s UI is, it more often than not wrecks the theme&rsquo;s default block spacing. This becomes more noticeable as users begin adding nested layers of blocks.</p>



<p>The problem is the plugin adds 18 pixels of padding around every block via its stylesheet.</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>.wp-block:not(.block-list-appender) {
    position: relative;
    outline: 1px dashed transparent;
    <strong>padding: 18px;</strong>
    overflow: visible !important;
}</code></pre>



<p>To the untrained eye, this may not be a visible issue in many cases. It will affect each site differently, but 18 pixels of extra padding on every block will undoubtedly mess things up to some degree unless the theme itself uses that exact same spacing in its design.</p>



<p>The more noticeable issues are seen with blocks like Social Icons:</p>



<img />Holy moly! Those are some gigantic social icons!



<p>But, even something as basic as a List block can be misaligned:</p>



<img />List block shifted out of alignment.



<p>Theme authors can write custom CSS to overrule the plugin&rsquo;s padding. However, the last thing the WordPress community needs is a specificity war between themes and plugins. Themers already have to do this enough to wrangle blocks now.</p>



<p>Removing that one <code>padding</code> rule from the plugin&rsquo;s <code>editor-style.css</code> killed 99% of its issues. Afterward, things were running like a well-oiled machine.</p>



<p>As a developer, I would explore <code><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/outline-offset">outline-offset</a></code> for spacing between the block and its outline, maybe cutting that <code>18px</code> down a bit. Because outlines are not a part of the CSS box model, it would not affect spacing. Adjustments may be necessary on a per-block basis, especially when those blocks are nested or small (e.g., Social Icons, Navigation). It would carry its own challenges but should be a less destructive course.</p>



<p>To a lesser extent, the plugin&rsquo;s <code>overflow</code> rule breaks the theme design from time to time. Its <code>position</code> and <code>outline</code> rules could overrule some edge-case block styles too, but they are necessary for the plugin to actually do its job. In particular, I could see positioning being problematic with sticky headers as we get into site editing.</p>



<p>The only other issue might be themes that use <code>::before</code> and <code>::after</code> pseudo-elements on blocks, but the plugin also needs to overwrite those to display the block name and classes list. This is likely another edge case.</p>



<p>Despite the issues, the plugin is ahead of the pack at this point.</p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/editor-blocks-border/">Gutenberg Editor Full Width Blocks Border</a> (<em>a bit of a mouthful</em>), another recent plugin to offer similar functionality, breaks custom theme design across the board. It does accomplish the job of making blocks easier to select, but the sacrifice of a WYSIWYG is not worth it.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/editor-block-outline/">Editor Block Outline</a> plugin has been my <a href="https://wptavern.com/navigate-the-content-canvas-with-the-block-editor-outline-wordpress-plugin">go-to recommendation</a> for a while. It has a few design issues of its own, but some of those are adjustable on a per-user basis. However, as of late, it has made the editor feel sluggish. Plus, its misuse of the WordPress admin notice system for Twitter followers makes it something I&rsquo;d prefer to steer clear of.</p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-options/">EditorsKit</a> has a similar &ldquo;block guidelines&rdquo; feature that uses a box-shadow instead of padding and an outline. It does not muck up most theme layouts with that technique. However, I have hit other style conflicts with the plugin. Plus, EditorsKit is overkill for users who simply want just one feature.</p>



<p>That leaves us with Wayfinder. Warts and all, it is the best standalone option right now. Maybe that&rsquo;s not saying much, but it is saying something. This is a feature that is hard to nail down.  I do not envy the developers who are trying to make miracles happen.</p>



<p>It is sure to please many who have been on the lookout for a block outline solution. It is in a position to pull farther ahead of the competition with its relatively solid first outing. With more thorough theme testing and a bit of adjustment to its approach, it could be even better. I am eager to test future iterations.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 17 Jul 2021 01:56:53 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:48;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"WordPress.org blog: People of WordPress: Tijana Andrejic";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10427";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/people-of-wordpress-tijana-andrejic/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13617:"<p><strong>WordPress is open source software, maintained by a global network of contributors. There are many examples of how WordPress has changed people’s lives for the better. In this monthly series, we share some of the amazing stories.</strong></p>



<p>This month to coincide with WordCamp Europe, we feature Tijana Andrejic from Belgrade, Serbia, about her journey from fitness trainer to the WordPress world, with the freelance and corporate opportunities it introduced. </p>



<img width="632" height="387" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/06/2021-07-Tijana-Andrejic_Featured-Img_1.jpg?resize=632%2C387&ssl=1" alt="Tijana - portrait picture" class="wp-image-10713" />



<p>As a professional manager with a college degree in Organizational Science and a certified fitness instructor, Tijana is nothing if not driven and goal-oriented.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Following her time as a fitness trainer, Tijana moved to work in IT around 2016. She first explored content creation and design before focusing on SEO and becoming an independent specialist.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Tijana was hired as a Customer Happiness Engineer for a hosting company, where she discovered the benefits of having a team. She realized that having close working relationships with colleagues is helpful for business success and accelerates personal growth.</p>



<p>Tijana hopes that by sharing her story, she can help others who are either starting their career or are moving roles. She describes the opportunities she discovered in the WordPress community as ‘a huge epiphany’, especially in the world of freelancing.</p>



<p>She highlights <strong>5 things that helped her to start a new freelancing career</strong>. Let’s dive into them.</p>



<h2>What motivates me?</h2>



<p>“Why am I doing this?” is the first question that Tijana asks herself before starting anything new. This self-review and honesty, she feels, allows her to determine her priorities. She also benchmarks options around her motivations of wanting a flexible schedule and to grow professionally.&nbsp;</p>



<p>She lists the reasons to make a particular choice, like being a freelancer, to help her choose the right job, pathway, or identify alternatives.&nbsp;</p>



<p>She recommends that others can take a similar approach. If freelancing is still the best solution after examining all their goals and motivations, Tijana believes a good next step would be to learn WordPress-related skills.</p>



<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cdHeIL-H_mE6QFCUxUT-gfKS2GzizRHtn4iCENoaWOimC82BfModRJh44QbhvHPW0GNVP5eUPhgxQteDRbA_9EUzpssTXMGWje1hUuKyrfXUgGhCnvXQdraaUQiaGBjFr73dNYxr" alt="WordCamp Europe 2019 group picture" />



<h2>Develop WordPress related skills</h2>



<p>The next question you may ask: “Why WordPress?”</p>



<p>WordPress is used by more than 40% of websites in some form and offers various roles, many of which are not developer-specific. Tijana highlights a few:&nbsp;</p>



<ul><li>web developer (coding websites, themes, and plugins)</li><li>web implementor (creating websites from existing themes without coding)</li><li>web designer (designing website mock-ups, editing images, or creating online infographics)</li><li>client support professional (helping people with their websites)</li><li>website maintenance (WordPress, themes, and plugins are maintained and backed up regularly)</li><li>WordPress trainer (helping clients with how to use the platform or teaching other web professionals)</li><li>content writer</li><li>accessibility specialist (making sure standards are met and suggesting solutions for accessibility barriers)</li><li>SEO consultant (improving search outcomes and understanding)</li><li>statistics consultant, especially for web shops</li><li>WordPress assistant (adding new content and editing existing posts)</li><li>website migration specialist (moving websites from one server to another)</li><li>web security specialist</li></ul>



<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/16XExYT_P4R4PX3orOaWbueDfkBIA6PFQ-CuYEXdeN9AvUIuIF33aIjT1DpdnFCqhrijWv1f68OR2Qh14xGT9REHGJ-MqK-OxJ9XcrhZ3IkcW8DBI7nVAtvFcCnCHL0woka_FV6t" alt="WCBGD group picture" />



<p>Tijana emphasized: “Another reason why WordPress is great for freelancers is the strong community that exists around this content management system (CMS).&#8221; WordCamps and Meetups are a way to get useful information and meet people from a large and very diverse community and get answers to many questions straight away.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In the past year, these events have been primarily online. However, the contributors who run them continue to make an effort to provide an experience as close to in-person events as possible. The biggest advantage to online events is that we can attend events from across the world, even if sometimes during these difficult times, it is difficult to get enough time to deeply into this new experience. Since Tijana’s first Meetup, she has attended many WordPress community events and volunteered as a speaker.</p>



<h2>Plan in advance</h2>



<p>Becoming a freelancer takes time. For Tijana, success came with proper planning and following her plan to ‘acquire or improve relevant skills that will make you stand out in the freelance market.’ She strongly believes that learning and growing as a professional opens more business opportunities.&nbsp;</p>



<p>If you are considering a freelance career, she advises improving relevant skills or developing new skills related to your hobbies as ‘there is nothing better than doing what you love.’ In cases where no previous experience and knowledge can be used, she suggests choosing ‘a job that has a shorter learning curve and builds your knowledge around that.’</p>



<p>Tijana started as a content creator and learned to become an SEO expert. However, she highlights many alternative paths, including starting as a web implementer and moving to train as a developer.&nbsp;</p>



<p>She suggests to others: “It would be a good idea to analyze the market before you jump into the learning process.” She also recommends people check the latest trends and consider the future of the skills they are developing.</p>



<p>Visit the new <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">Learn WordPress.org</a> to see what topics are of interest to you. In this newly established resource, the WordPress community aggregates workshops to support those who want to start and improve their skills, provides lesson plans for professional WordPress trainers and helps you create personal learning to develop key skills. There is also material on helping you be part of and organize events for your local community.</p>



<p>Tijana highlights that there are many places for freelancers to find clients. For example, the WordPress Community has a place where companies and individual site owners publish their job advertisements&nbsp; &#8211; <a href="https://jobs.wordpress.net/">Jobs.WordPress.net</a>.</p>



<h2>Hurray, it’s time to get a first freelancing job</h2>



<p>As a pragmatic person, Tijana recommends: “Save money before quitting your job to become a full-time freelancer. Alternatively, try freelancing for a few hours per week to see if you like it. Although some people do benefit when taking a risk, think twice before you take any irreversible actions.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>She shared some possible next steps:&nbsp;</p>



<ul><li>use a freelancing platform</li><li>triple-check your resume</li><li>professionally present yourself</li><li>fill up your portfolio with examples</li><li>use video material</li></ul>



<p>“By using video material, your clients will not see you like a list of skills and previous experiences, but as a real person that has these skills and experiences and that provides a certain service for them.”</p>



<p>She adds: “Have a detailed strategy when choosing your first employer. Choose your first employer wisely, very wisely. I can’t emphasize enough how important this is”.</p>



<p>When Tijana took her first freelancing job, she considered the following:</p>



<ul><li>how was the employer rated by other freelancers who worked for him previously</li><li>how does the employer rate other freelancers</li><li>how much money had they already spent on the platform</li><li>the number of open positions for a specific job and the number of freelancers that have already applied&nbsp;</li></ul>



<p>“The first job is not all about the money. Don’t get greedy on your first job. If you get good recommendations, your second job can pay two to three times more. And your third job can go up to five times more. That was my experience.”</p>



<h2>Take responsibility as a freelancer</h2>



<p>Tijana reminds us: “Freedom often comes with responsibility; individual responsibility is key when it comes to freelancing.”</p>



<p>She advises others not to take a job if you can not make a deadline and have someone reliable who can help you.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Missing deadlines will cost your client money and affect the review the client will be willing to leave about your job, and this can have a big impact on your future opportunities or freelance jobs.</p>



<p>She adds: “This can start a downward spiral for your career. However, we are all humans, and unpredictable things can happen. If for some reason you are not able to complete your work in a timely manner, let your client know immediately so they can have enough time to hire someone else”.</p>



<p>Tijana emphasizes the importance of making expectations clear before accepting a job, both what the client is expecting and what you can expect from the client.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Lastly, she points out that if you are working from home, your friends and family should treat you the way they would if you were in an office. She advises: “Let them know about your working schedule.”</p>



<p>She hopes that these basic guidelines will be useful in launching freelance careers, as they did her, even though there is no universal recipe for all.</p>



<p>Tijana highlights: “It’s just important to stay focused on your goals and to be open to new opportunities.” Freelancing wasn’t the only way she could have fulfilled her goals, but it was an important part of her path, and it helped her be confident in her abilities to make the next big step in her life.</p>



<p>As a freelancer, she was missing close relationships with colleagues and teamwork, which she has now found in her current firm. Her colleagues describe her as a: “walking-talking bundle of superpowers: sports medicine and fitness professional, SEO expert, blogger, designer and a kitty foster mum”.</p>



<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/PIGT9R6FmtEHsNBvWzyViW5htRAm156asTOsohOGOUwfsWjW1TuDhUI9yuZnjIe-1eFHfFUWPULPtw82P3YYXHa0bsY_jA5keelmDHfSkTdd3xUsVZTmG9KvdE8XTojvU3LxYCsi" alt="Conference reception" />



<p>If you are considering starting your career as a freelancer, take the courses offered at <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">learn.wordpress.org,</a> reach out to companies that you would be interested in working with, and remember that there are a whole host of opportunities in the WordPress project.</p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/">The WordPress.org Teams</a> &#8211; what they do, when and where they meet</p>



<p><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">Learn WordPress resource</a> &#8211; free to use to expand your knowledge and skills of using the platform and learning about the community around it.</p>



<p>The 3-day <a href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp Europe 2021</a> online event begins on 7 June 2021. You can discover more about being a contributor in its live sessions and <a href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/contribute-to-wordpress/">section on ways to contribute to WordPress</a>.</p>



<h2>Contributors</h2>



<p>Thanks to Olga Gleckler (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oglekler/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>oglekler</a>), Abha Thakor (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/">@webcommsat</a>), Chloé Bringmann (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>cbringmann</a>), Surendra Thakor (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sthakor/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>sthakor</a>), and Meher Bala (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>meher</a>) for working on this story. Josepha Haden (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">@chanthaboune</a>) and also to Topher DeRosia (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/">@topher1kenobe</a>) who created HeroPress. Thank you to Tijana Andrejic (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/andtijana/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>andtijana</a>) for sharing her #ContributorStory</p>



<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/FEZ2FQJ0vQ311YoPfh6ny15NXh8saTLH_RjyDO4pUOuEGBTa-Czk63PGoWL04FawKviRfNx0QXePx-goK04X12ry1BR_WXh-kVPIfsEeItPAX6reN5fHS96q6-8dUI506ZO38Z0G" alt="HeroPress logo" />



<p><em>This post is based on an article originally published on HeroPress.com. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories would otherwise go unheard.</em></p>



<p><em>Meet more WordPress community members in our <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/category/heropress/">People of WordPress series</a>.</em></p>



<p><em>#ContributorStory #HeroPress</em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 16 Jul 2021 22:45:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:49;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:42:"WPTavern: Automattic Acquires Pocket Casts";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=120114";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:129:"https://wptavern.com/automattic-acquires-pocket-casts?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=automattic-acquires-pocket-casts";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3288:"<p>Automattic has <a href="https://wordpress.com/blog/2021/07/16/popular-podcast-app-pocket-casts-joins-automattic/">acquired Pocket Casts</a>, a popular podcast listening, search, and discovery app for Android and iOS. Australian co-founders Russell Ivanovic and Philip Simpson are staying on to continue leading Pocket Casts as a part of the acquisition. </p>



<p>The app allows users to keep all of their podcast subscriptions together in one place and sync between platforms. Previously a commercial-only app, Pocket Casts has been free since it switched to the freemium model in September 2019. Its creators have been monetizing the app through its Pocket Cast Plus tier, which gives users access to desktop apps, cloud storage, watch playback, and themes and icons for $9.99/year.</p>



<p>In May 2018, Pocket Casts was acquired by public media organizations NPR, WNYC Studios, WBEZ Chicago, and This American Life. BBC Studios also held a small ownership stake in the platform prior to Automattic&rsquo;s acquisition. </p>



<p>Despite being widely regarded as one of the best podcasting apps available, NPR&rsquo;s <a href="https://media.npr.org/documents/about/statements/fy2020/National%20Public%20Radio%20-%20Consolidated%20Financial%20Statements%202020.pdf">financial statements and auditor&rsquo;s report from 2020</a> shows a net loss of more than $800K. The board governing the company met in December 2020 and agreed to sell Pocket Casts.</p>



<p>No financial details of the acquisition were disclosed but Automattic may have gotten a bargain on Pocket Casts if its other owners were also losing money. After acquiring <a href="https://wptavern.com/automattic-acquires-tumblr-plans-to-rebuild-the-backend-powered-by-wordpress">Tumblr</a> and <a href="https://wptavern.com/automattic-acquires-day-one-journaling-app">Day One</a>, Automattic is starting to gain a reputation for buying up apps that people love to use and giving them a fighting chance at financial stability and longevity. The company has also demonstrated a growing interest in podcasting-related technologies with its  recent <a href="https://wptavern.com/castos-picks-up-756k-in-funding-from-automattic-and-joost-de-valk-to-expand-services-in-the-private-podcasting-market">investment in Castos</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.com/blog/2021/02/22/turn-your-wordpress-com-blog-into-a-podcast-with-anchor/">partnership with Spotify&rsquo;s Anchor</a> podcast creation platform.</p>



<p>Acquisition announcements often include assurances of no changes for current customers but Automattic&rsquo;s post made no promises and did not share many details regarding its plans for Pocket Casts. Integration with WordPress.com may be on the horizon but it&rsquo;s currently in the exploration stage. </p>



<p>&ldquo;As part of Automattic, Pocket Casts will continue to provide you with the features needed to enjoy your favorite podcasts (or find something new),&rdquo; Automattic&rsquo;s Head of Apps Eli Budelli said.&nbsp;&ldquo;We will explore building deep integrations with WordPress.com and Pocket Casts, making it easier to distribute and listen to podcasts. We&rsquo;re thrilled that we can continue to give our users a multitude of ways to tell and engage with stories that matter.&rdquo;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 16 Jul 2021 22:39:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:"type";i:128;s:7:"headers";O:42:"Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary":1:{s:7:"*data";a:8:{s:6:"server";s:5:"nginx";s:4:"date";s:29:"Thu, 12 Aug 2021 14:27:17 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Thu, 12 Aug 2021 14:00:11 GMT";s:15:"x-frame-options";s:10:"SAMEORIGIN";s:4:"x-nc";s:9:"HIT ord 1";s:16:"content-encoding";s:2:"br";}}s:5:"build";s:14:"20201017025008";}