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The WordPress plugin ecosystem has been a big topic of discussion recently. WP Mayor’s Mark Zahra started things off with an in-depth article regarding deceptive marketing practices. Zahra provides specific examples of questionable tactics used by WordPress plugin developers. He also calls on the community - himself included - to think about the potential harm to WordPress’ reputation.

Zahra didn’t stop there. He also noted that the WordPress.org plugin repository has removed the active install growth chart. This feature allowed plugin developers to gauge how their products performed over time. Over at WP Tavern, Sarah Gooding reports that there’s been no clear indication of why the metric was pulled. Zahra also expanded on the topic over at MasterWP.

And if you’re interested in learning how to monetize your own WordPress product, be sure to listen to Kim Coleman and Matt Cromwell’s WP Product Talk Twitter Space.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

The WordPress themes team has decided to delay the inclusion of locally-hosted Google fonts in legacy default themes until version 6.2. As Sarah Gooding reports at WP Tavern, the move was originally scheduled for version 6.1. This has some community members concerned, as a German court recently ruled that remotely-hosted fonts are a violation of the European Union’s GDPR laws.

The 2022 Web Almanac was released by HTTP Archive. The report aims to point out trends in the industry. As you may have guessed, WordPress once again has the top spot in CMS usage, with a reported 35% market share.

Last week’s story covering the controversial, racially-tinged remarks on a now-removed episode of the WP-Tonic podcast continues to spark discussion. WP Watercool took on the topic of microagression, while Allie Nimmons and Michelle Frechette of Underrepresented in Tech looked at the idea of reverse racism.

From the Grab Bag

Now it’s time to take a look at some other interesting topics shared by our contributors.

• WordPress 6.1 Beta 3 is now available for testing.
• WordCamp Phoenix has been scheduled for March 24-25, 2023. Outside of WordCamp US, it's the only stateside camp confirmed for 2023.
• Jonathan Wold discusses Using The Loop To Grow A WordPress Product Company
• Dan Knauss at Post Status asks WooCommerce vs. Shopify: Why Do We Make It So Hard?
• WP Motivate explores Finding Inspiration in the Compost
• The WP Trends newsletter makes a triumphant comeback
• GoDaddy Pro hosted a Twitter Space on the Future of Contributing to WordPress

New Members This Week

• Nev Harris, follow @thenevharris

If you’re not a member yet, go to buymeacoffee.com/mattreport to join.

Thanks to all of the members who shared these links today: 

• Mark Zahra
• Cameron Jones
• Eric Karkovack
• Daniel Schutzsmith
• Paul Lacey
• Michelle Frechette
• Raquel Landefeld
• Abha Thakor