The WP Minute

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After a time formatting bug caused a 24-hour delay, WordPress 6.2, code-named “Dolphy”, was released on March 29th. According to core contributor Jean-Baptiste Audras, 607 people from at least 50 countries were part of the release squad.

Perhaps the biggest development in 6.2 is that the “beta” label has been removed from the Site Editor. The feature was first added in WordPress 5.9 and has undergone steady improvements. A new interface has been implemented this time around.

Other enhancements include a revamped UI for both the Block Inserter and individual block controls. Direct access to Openverse media has also been added, allowing users to search, download, and insert openly-licensed content into their sites.

For a rundown of key features, check out a handy guide from GoDaddy’s Courtney Robertson. 

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

WordPress.com alerted users that its access to the Twitter API was suspended on April 4. No specific reason was provided by Twitter. As Sarah Gooding of WP Tavern reports, the API powers Jetpack’s Social Sharing feature. The situation was in limbo for a few hours, but service was eventually restored. During the outage, users couldn’t automatically tweet out new content from their websites. Ironically (or not), Twitter recently announced a “new era of transparency” at the company.

WordPress core contributor Mario Santos recently posted a proposal outlining the Interactivity API. This would enable developers to build blocks that are interactive on the front end. Santos notes examples including the ability to “heart” a post and performing an instant search. The project is currently experimental. A plugin is available for testing.

The makers of Beaver Builder have announced the launch of Assistant Pro. It’s a cloud storage and community template platform. Free page builder templates available for download. In addition, a marketplace allows users to both buy and sell. Templates can also be stored in the cloud and shared with team members.

A couple of popular commercial plugins have released critical security fixes. Elementor Pro patched a vulnerability that impacted sites running the page builder in conjunction with WooCommerce. Meanwhile, Advanced Custom Fields PRO patched a PHP object injection vulnerability. If you use either plugin, be sure to update to the latest version.

The name iThemes has long been recognizable in the WordPress ecosystem. The maker of popular plugins like BackupBuddy and iThemes Security Pro has undergone a name change. In order to better reflect their products, the company has announced a rebrand to SolidWP. iThemes customers shouldn’t notice any pricing changes or support disruption during the transition.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

WordPress.com alerted users that its access to the Twitter API was suspended on April 4. No specific reason was provided by Twitter. As Sarah Gooding of WP Tavern reports, the API powers Jetpack’s Social Sharing feature. The situation was in limbo for a few hours, but service was eventually restored. During the outage, users couldn’t automatically tweet out new content from their websites. Ironically (or not), Twitter recently announced a “new era of transparency” at the company.

WordPress core contributor Mario Santos recently posted a proposal outlining the Interactivity API. This would enable developers to build blocks that are interactive on the front end. Santos notes examples including the ability to “heart” a post and performing an instant search. The project is currently experimental. A plugin is available for testing.

The makers of Beaver Builder have announced the launch of Assistant Pro. It’s a cloud storage and community template platform. Free page builder templates available for download. In addition, a marketplace allows users to both buy and sell. Templates can also be stored in the cloud and shared with team members.

A couple of popular commercial plugins have released critical security fixes. Elementor Pro patched a vulnerability that impacted sites running the page builder in conjunction with WooCommerce. Meanwhile, Advanced Custom Fields PRO patched a PHP object injection vulnerability. If you use either plugin, be sure to update to the latest version.

The name iThemes has long been recognizable in the WordPress ecosystem. The maker of popular plugins like BackupBuddy and iThemes Security Pro has undergone a name change. In order to better reflect their products, the company has announced a rebrand to SolidWP. iThemes customers shouldn’t notice any pricing changes or support disruption during the transition.

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March 28th was supposed to mark the release of WordPress 6.2. But a date formatting bug has delayed release for a day. The new target is Wednesday, March 29 at 1pm EST.

The issue could potentially impact core features like date-based permalinks. But it might also negatively affect other functionality that relies on the correct date – think event bookings and eCommerce transactions. Over at WP Tavern, Sarah Gooding provided a summary of the issue and the ensuing discussion it stirred among developers.

When WordPress 6.2 is released, you’ll find plenty of new features to experiment with. The Block and Site Editors will receive a boost with the Style Book, support for sticky blocks, and an easier to use Navigation block.

For more details on WordPress 6.2, check out the official Field Guide, and a handy reference provided by Dan Knauss over at iThemes.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

WordPress developers are starting to implement artificial intelligence (AI) into their products and using it to write code. That has raised a few concerns. Last week, we reported on the WordPress Plugin Review Team’s reminder that AI-generated code must be GPL compatible. Sarah Gooding recently dove further into the subject at WP Tavern. Even though we’re in the early stages of this AI revolution, Gooding says “it’s not too early to establish some best practices for using code generators.”

The ever-popular Yoast SEO plugin is looking to reduce the web’s carbon footprint. This week they integrated their crawl optimization feature into the free version of the plugin. The WP Minute’s Eric Karkovack spoke with Yoast’s Taco Verdonschot about the feature and how bot traffic negatively impacts the environment.

MasterWP’s Rob Howard published a look at WordPress plugin pricing over a six month period. Howard tracked a handful of popular plugins by taking daily screenshots of their pricing pages. The report shows that some plugins may be using deceptive pricing practices. For instance, stating that a product is on sale when it may have never been sold at the quoted “regular” price. Howard also shared some disagreement with The WP Minute’s recent editorial regarding tactics used by development firm Awesome Motive.

WordPress Developer and core contributor Nick Diego recently announced that his Block Visibility plugin is now completely free. As of version 3.0, all premium features have been merged into the free version. Be on the lookout for more coverage of this story from The WP Minute.

Classifieds listings buy yours

• BuddyBoss Brace yourself for an exciting update to WordPress! Big changes are coming, and you won’t want to miss it. Stay tuned for the big reveal!
• CastAsync Too Busy to produce audiobooks, podcasts, or any audio content? With CastAsync, you can do it by spending only 5 minutes per day.

From the Grab Bag

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

• Gutenberg project head Matias Ventura has outlined the next phase of development: collaboration.
• Development firm iThemes is set for a rebrand. They recently posted a teaser video on Twitter and are set to make an announcement in the near future.
• The WordPress Community Team has shared highlights from its Contributor Working Group Inaugural Mentorship Chat. The group’s focus is to develop a project-wide mentorship program.
• Looking for a new block theme to experiment with? Mike McAlister of tutorial site Ollie has released a free theme of the same name.

New Members This Week

• Anne-Mieke Bovelett, follow @Bovelett

If you’re not a member yet, go to thewpminute.com/support/ to join.

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

• Jeff Chandler
• Courtney Robertson

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In this episode Matt shares his opinion on the recent Awesome Motive irritation witnessed within the vocal minority of the WordPress community. Click here for the full article.

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well-represented. Over at WP Tavern, Sarah Gooding reports that a Hackathon event has led to some innovative WordPress projects.

For instance, there’s an in-browser development environment that uses the VS Code editor and allows developers to see changes in real-time. Meanwhile, the Wapuugotchi project uses the familiar Wapuu character to display notifications and unlock features. On the more serious side, Eco-mode for WordPress aims to reduce outgoing server traffic, thus saving energy.

But that’s not all. March 20 saw the first-ever WordPress Day event. Several presentations were given on topics ranging from security and performance, to “The Automattic advantage”.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

Organizational changes are underway at SEO development firm Yoast. CEO Thijs de Valk announced that he has stepped down from the role, effective March 16. de Valk has been with the company since 2012 and is leaving to pursue “other dreams”. The search for the next CEO has begun.

A few weeks ago, we reported on ThemeKraft's open letter critiquing the WordPress plugin review process. This time around, WordPress developer Alan Fuller has posted a letter thanking plugin reviewers for their “hard work and dedication in reviewing new plugins and ensuring the security of WordPress websites”. Fuller also points out steps that plugin developers can take to ensure a smoother process, while acknowledging the challenges reviewers face.

Mika Epstein of the WordPress Plugins team posted a reminder regarding the use of AI-generated code. Any code hosted on the official plugin repository, regardless of how it was written, still needs to be GPL compatible. As more developers are using tools like ChatGPT to generate plugins, this is becoming a relevant issue. Epstein noted that AI tools may simply be copying code from an existing plugin without crediting the original author.

From the Grab Bag

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

• The final countdown to WordPress 6.2 is underway. The last scheduled Release Candidate (#3) is now available for testing.
• Congratulations to WordPress community member Michelle Frechette on being named as a finalist for the RochesterFirst.com Remarkable Women awards. Frechette holds many roles, including the Director of Community Engagement at StellarWP, along with co-founder of Underrepresented in Tech.
• As part of WordPress’ 20th anniversary celebration, volunteers have been busy triaging old Trac tickets. You’re invited to take part in the next session, happening on Thursday, March 23.
• The WordPress Documentation team needs your help writing docs for WordPress 6.2. A call for volunteers has been published that details how to get involved.
• Talent recruitment website The Org recently published its list of the 50 Most Transparent Companies. WordPress.com owner Automattic was included at #27.
• Developer Nico Mercado wrote an opinion piece on the complex relationship between WordPress and PHP. Mercado opines that WordPress is a driver of PHP’s market share, but may not be providing the best developer experience.
• How hard should it be to cancel a WordPress plugin subscription? WebDevStudios CEO Brad Williams tweeted a product flowchart that might just blow your mind.
• Is WordPress giving too much layout control to end-users? There’s a lively debate on Reddit worth checking out.
• Building a successful WordPress product team is challenging. TeamWP’s James Giroux joined the Do the Woo podcast to discuss the subject.
• ChatGPT's new GPT-4 model can pass standardized tests. But does that make it any closer to replacing human professionals? Not so fast, says one essay.

The WP Minute+ Interview: Zack Katz

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Zack Katz of GravityKit & TrustedLogin joins the show to talk about running multiple products in the WordPress space. The conversation explores the ups-and-downs of doing a product rebrand, plus, what it's like to build a business in the Gravity Forms (and WordPress!) ecosystem.

Listen at:
https://wpminuteplus.transistor.fm/episodes/gravitykit-rebranding-a-wordpress-product

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Blocks are now a key part of the WordPress experience. But what if they were platform-agnostic? That’s the idea behind the Block Protocol. Founded in 2022, the organization recently released a WordPress plugin.

In its initial release, the Block Protocol plugin adds over a dozen new blocks to WordPress. Included in the package you’ll find blocks to display common items such as addresses, how-to lists, and countdown timers. There are also AI-powered blocks for generating images and text.

The blocks work on any platform that supports the Block Protocol. And additional blocks are in the works.

To learn more, The WP Minute’s Eric Karkovack sat down with HASH CEO David Wilkinson to discuss the project, along with its potential to enhance WordPress and other platforms.

 https://youtu.be/oY2-lBUrz9o 

Next up (listen to the podcast for more): Amber Hinds of Equalize Digital discusses the pre-seed investment her company received from Emilia Capital and what it means for their Accessibility Checker plugin.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

Artificial Intelligence is increasing its presence within WordPress. Last week, we reported that OpenAI has made its API available to developers wanting to integrate ChatGPT into their applications. It didn’t take long for the WordPress community to dive in. One example: the recent launch of DocsBot AI. The product allows you to create a custom chatbot based on your website’s content and documentation. It’s free to try, with paid plans also available.

Meanwhile, an open-source alternative called OpenChatKit has also been announced.

Speaking of ChatGPT, The WP Minute’s Eric Karkovack recently used the AI tool to build a simple WordPress plugin. He wrote about the experience and the unexpected lesson he learned.

WordPress security is getting better. According to Patchstack’s State of WordPress Security In 2022 report, 328% more security bugs were reported year over year. The firm opines that, because more vulnerabilities are being reported and patched, the ecosystem is becoming more secure. They also note that 93% of security flaws originate from plugins. Thus, keeping your installs up to date is as important as ever.

Automattic is increasing its presence in the Fediverse. The company has purchased the ActivityPub plugin, which allows WordPress websites to integrate with Mastodon and other decentralized platforms. Sarah Goo

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If you’re a WordPress professional, it can be hard to know where you fit into the bigger picture. Online community The Admin Bar aims to provide a glimpse into the market with its annual WordPress Professional Survey. Web designer Kyle Van Deusen interviewed 667 professionals and reported on a range of topics.

Among the highlights:

• 77% of respondents consider themselves to be full-time;
• Over half of respondents have been in business for 10 years or less, while the majority have started up within the past 5;
• Solo freelancing is still popular, as 59% of respondents work alone;
• WordPress professionals are generally optimistic about the future of the software and agencies;
• The average hourly rate charged by respondents is $96.00;

That’s just a small sampling of what’s included. There’s plenty more to explore and the full data set is also available for download.

 https://youtu.be/1axiJSTDmK4 

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

OpenAI has announced that APIs for their Chat GPT and Whisper products are now available. This step will allow developers to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their own products. Expect the WordPress community to take advantage.

Development agency ThemeKraft have published an open letter describing their concerns with the WordPress plugin review team. The letter details their experience when collaborating to fix a security issue with one of their products. With that being said, it’s also worth mentioning that the plugin review team consists of volunteers and has noted a backlog of work. This letter details one developer’s view and we’re sharing it as such.

With the upcoming release of WordPress 6.2, project core contributor Anne McCarthy has published an extensive guide to what’s new. If you’re looking for all the details regarding new features and important changes, this is a one-stop resource.

To get a first-hand look at WordPress 6.2, you’ll also want to check out the live demo hosted by McCarthy, Rich Tabor, and Nathan Wrigely. The video highlights new features and includes a Q&A session.

From the Grab Bag

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

• There’s another WordPress-related acquisition to report. This time around, ad revenue optimization service MonitizeMore announced that it has acquired the Advanced Ads WordPress plugin. The plugin has free and commercial versions, with over 100,00 active installations.
• Meanwhile, plugin developer SnapOrbital has been put up for sale. The shop specializes in premium add-ons for LearnDash.
• With tightening privacy regulations, it’s recommended that WordPress themes host Google Fonts locally. Several WordPress legacy default themes (from Twenty Twelve to Twenty Seventeen) are following suit, thanks to the efforts of contributors.
• The first-ever WordCamp Asia has left a lasting impression on attendees. Hidekazu Ishikawa spoke at the event and also launched a website detailing his experience.
• It’s no secret that AI tool ChatGPT is seeing a lot of use. But what does that mean in terms of its environmental impact? One estimator says that, in January 2023, it may have used as much electricity as 175,000 homes.

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

• Justin Ferriman
• Courtney Robertson

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WordPress 6.2 is slated for release on March 28. Among its most impactful new features will be the integration of the Openverse media search. This will allow users to add images, audio, and video that are available via a Creative Commons license.

While Openverse integration adds a layer of convenience, there was some debate about how the feature initially worked. As Sarah Gooding of WP Tavern reports, the first iteration (released in version 15.1 of the Gutenberg plugin) simply hotlinked to images, rather than uploading files to the user’s website by default.

Users had the option to upload the image via the WordPress Media Library. However, the default hotlinking behavior meant that some users would inevitably leave things as they are. This could run afoul of privacy regulations like GDPR in the European Union.

Meanwhile, WordPress core contributor Jeremy Herve created a ticket that called attention to the potential issue. Others have since raised questions regarding usage rights - including the right to crop or otherwise modify media.

The debate has led to a change in plans. WordPress contributors reacted swiftly and now the feature will upload Openverse images by default. A fallback has also been implemented that warns users when an image couldn’t be uploaded. Check out WP Tavern’s follow up for more details on how things evolved.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

There are more acquisitions to report in the WordPress space. First, Caseproof, makers of the MemberPress plugin, have acquired rival MemberMouse. In the announcement, MemberPress Creator and CEO Blair Williams says both products have different audiences and thus will remain separate offerings.

Next up, Syed Balkhi announced that tutorial service WP101 has been acquired by Awesome Motive. Balkhi notes that the acquisition furthers his goal of creating the “best class-room style WordPress training videos to help WordPress grow in enterprise, government agencies, as well as at the school and collegiate level.”

The democratization of publishing is a stated goal of WordPress. To see proof of it in action, look no further than the Prison Journalism Project. Sarah Gooding profiled the organization and its use of WordPress to help incarcerated writers to connect with the outside world.

From the Grab Bag

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

• The popular All in One SEO plugin recently patched two security vulnerabilities. It’s recommended that users upgrade to the latest version as soon as possible. Security firm Wordfence provided further detail on their blog.
• Back in July 2022, we reported that WordPress blog WPLift was sold to an undisclosed buyer. It’s been revealed to The WP Minute that Boston-based agency UnlimitedWP is the new owner.
• A new proposal aims to display more topic-based meetups in the WordPress News & Events dashboard widget.
• Take in the sights of the recent WordCamp Asia with BobWP’s recap of the event.
• With so many recent changes to WordPress content creation and theming, web designers need to adjust. Justin Tadlock explored the topic on the WordPress Developer Blog.
• Speaking of themes, developer Anders Norén announced that his collection of free block themes are now compatible with features added in WordPress 6.1.
• If you’re looking for some inspirational stories, People of WordPress has you covered. Recent profiles Hauwa Abashiya and Daniel Kossmann are worth a read.

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

• Jeff Chandler
• Amber Hinds
• Abha Thakor

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It’s the WP Minute!

Support independent WordPress news like this, join the Slack membership, or purchase a classified listing in the weekly newsletter at thewpminute.com/support 

And now a word from our sponsor.

You know how it goes, everything I mention here will be linked up in the newsletter and the blog post. Check out thewpminute.com for the links.

Most Impactful

The first-ever WordCamp Asia wrapped up on February 19. The event took place in Bangkok, Thailand and brought together attendees from all over the globe, along with a live streaming audience.

Global Lead Naoko Takano posted a thank you to attendees and volunteers. And there’s also an attendee survey available to help organizers gain feedback.

Among the highlighted events was a Q&A with WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg. If you missed the session, the video is available on YouTube. You can also check out a recap of the session written by David Bisset.

Next year’s event is already being planned. It’s scheduled to be held in Taipei, Taiwan in March 2024.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

The glut of layoffs in the tech industry has started to impact WordPress professionals. As Sarah Gooding of WP Tavern reports, the trend has hit companies of varying sizes. Large companies like GoDaddy and DigitalOcean have made cuts, as have smaller firms like Human Made and XWP.

Back in November 2022, the WordPress community raised concerns about meeting platform Meetup.com’s use of an accessibility overlay. The company pledged to work with advocates to improve their user experience. They recently released an assessment that lists 700+ improvements to be made and shared a plan for action. The WordPress Accessibility Team posted more details on the process, while WP Tavern provides more background regarding the issue.

Should Gutenberg-related features be treated differently when it comes to how they’re merged into beta versions of WordPress? Project Lead Developer Andrew Ozz has proposed a method to make it easier to merge these changes after a WordPress beta 1 version “feature freeze”. The idea has generated a robust debate in the proposal’s comment section.

From the Grab Bag

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

• 
  Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is now available for your WordPress.org account. Access can be verified via a third-party app on a mobile device, such as Authy or Google Authenticator.
• Developers Olivia and David Bisset have launched wpfront.page, a curated collection of WordPress news, opinions, and social media posts.
• The team behind WordCamp London have announced that the event is in the early planning stages and will take place in September 2023. They’ve also posted a survey to collect attendee input.
• As WordPress becomes more focused on JavaScript development, some developers are feeling left out. Jamie Reevior wrote a short essay on why he’s feeling “betrayed” by the project.
• The WordPress mobile app is changing, and some features are being moved over to Jetpack’s new app. WordPress.com has published a guide to help users understand the differences.
• Hey.com CEO and Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson says his company will save money by exiting the cloud and building their own data centers.
• If you’re a content creator interested in how a “headless” WordPress configuration might benefit you, WP Engine is hosting a webinar on February 23.

New Members This Week

• Remkus de Vries, follow @remkusdevries
  
  

If you’re not a member yet, go to thewpminute.com/support/ to join.

Video of the week

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This week, The WP Minute takes InstaWP for a spin. This service allows you to create a new WordPress install with just a few clicks.

https://youtu.be/oNVHjYJwf3M

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

• Jeff Chandler
• Sam Munoz
• Courtney Robertson
• Daniel Schutzsmith
• Abha Thakor

Outro

Thanks to you, dear listener, for tuning in to your favorite 5-minutes of WordPress news every Wednesday.

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That’s it for today’s episode, if you enjoyed it, please share it wherever you do social media and jump on the mailing list at thewpminute.com.

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It’s no secret that tools boasting Artificial Intelligence are popping up all over the place. That most certainly includes WordPress. And now Auttomattic’s WordPress.com is running an experiment to see how the technology might benefit users.

As reported by blogger JenT at WPcomMaven, the managed hosting service quietly added two AI-powered blocks to the Block Editor. The AI Image and AI Paragraph blocks are aimed at helping content creators.

As the name suggests, the AI Image block allows users to generate an image that can be inserted into a post. And the AI Paragraph block will “read” your post’s content and generate follow up text.

Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg confirmed the new features on Twitter, but made no promises regarding how long they’ll stick around.

Meanwhile, Automattic engineer Artur Piszek published a brief post introducing the blocks and answering questions in the WordPress.com support forums. Based on the conversation, it looks as though this could be a commercial add-on in the future.

The technology is being branded as “Jetpack AI”, and was built in conjunction with OpenAI.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

The first-ever WordCamp Asia is set to take place from February 17-19 in Bangkok, Thailand. If you’re not able to attend in person, you can still watch a live stream of the event. Recordings of each session will also be posted on WordPress.tv at a later date.

WordPress.org has kicked off a monthly feature called “What’s new for developers?” Written by Justin Tadlock, February’s post outlines several key changes that impact theme and plugin authors. You’ll also find links to the site’s latest educational materials. This resource looks like a win for the WordPress developer community.

Cost cutting measures have continued to hit the tech industry hard. Domain registrar and hosting giant GoDaddy is among the latest to announce staff cuts. In a February 8 letter to employees, CEO Aman Bhutani said the company would cut approximately 8% of its workforce. 

The devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have impacted millions - including members of the WordPress community. Developer Baris Ünver shared his story of survival on HeroPress and provided several ways to help those in need. The WP Minute would like to take this opportunity to share our support for everyone who has been affected.

From the Grab Bag

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

• 
  WordPress 6.2 Beta 2 has been released. This version includes 292 enhancements and 354 bug fixes.
• According to security firm Sucuri, nearly 11,000 WordPress websites have been infected by malware that redirects users to scam sites. At last report, no specific vulnerability had been found.
• The team behind popular plugin iThemes Security have announced that they’re teaming up with security research firm Patchstack. The company will provide vulnerability details within the plugin’s site scan feature.
• Matt Cromwell has announced that new episodes of the WP Product Talk podcast will be starting up again this week. Katie Keith of Barn2 Plugins will join on as a co-host.
• What would WordPress’ 20th birthday celebration be without an appearance from Wapuu? A commemorative version of the virtual mascot is now available for download.
• The WordPress Design Team has released mockups for a planned redesign of the Block Pattern Library. It’s the latest in a series of design revamps for the site.
• Internet Explorer is dead again, sort of. An update to Windows 10 will finally disable access to the since-retired browser. But not so fast - a few versions of the OS will still keep the app around for the time being.

Video of the week

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Join The WP Minute as we take you on a tour of the new AI-powered Image and Paragraph blocks at WordPress.com.

https://youtu.be/D9LYfjnHMdw

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

• Matt Cromwell
• Birgit Pauli-Haack

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WordPress 6.2 is scheduled for release on March 28, 2023. But it’s never too early to start preparations. Therefore, you may want to check out the first beta release, which is now available for testing.

The first major release of 2023 brings a plethora of enhancements to the Site and Block Editors. Some features, such as color coded template parts within the Site Editor, focus on improved usability. But there are a few big picture changes as well.

For one, the ability to search and download Openverse images will be included in the Block Editor. This allows anyone to grab Creative Commons licensed media from within their website. Also included are a revamped Navigation block, a Style Book feature for creating custom styles, and sticky blocks.

To see what else is new, GoDaddy Pro's Courtney Robertson has published a detailed guide on WordPress 6.2.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

When it comes to WordPress core, newer doesn’t always mean faster. Core committer Adam Silverstein has submitted a proposal to change that. According to a report from WP Tavern, Silverstein’s proposal calls for automated performance monitoring. The goal is to catch potential problems before they reach the average user.

Last December, we reported on the WP Community Collective (WPCC). The not-for-profit organization aims to financially support contributions to the WordPress project. This week it was announced that Alex Stine has been selected as the first WPCC Fellow. Stine is currently a member of the WordPress Accessibility team and will continue in that role. The WPCC is still looking for donations in order to fully fund Stine’s fellowship.

Twitter recently announced that free access to its API will no longer be available as of February 9, 2023. That’s likely to impact both WordPress plugin developers and end users. Core contributor Mika Epstein posted a notice about the change and asked developers to investigate what this new policy means for their products.

From the Grab Bag

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

• The “freemium” product model is a popular one within the WordPress ecosystem. MasterWP’s Nyasha Green and Rob Howard discussed their experiences with building freemium products on a recent episode of the Press the Issue podcast.
• Applications to attend the 2023 WordPress Community Summit are now being accepted. The invitation-only event for project contributors will take place from August 22-23 in National Harbor, MD, prior to WordCamp US.
• Is there anything ChatGPT can’t do? ZDNet’s David Gewirtz recently wrote about his successful attempt at using the AI tool to build a WordPress plugin.
• Speaking of AI, Microsoft has announced that its Bing search engine and Edge browser will be enhanced by OpenAI technology. A limited preview is underway for Bing, with an expansion due in the coming weeks.
• The WordPress Training team is looking for feedback regarding user learning preferences. Fill out their individual learner survey to let the team know your thoughts.

Video of the week

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The WP Minute takes a closer look at

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