The WP Minute

The WP Minute

By Matt Report & Matt MedeirosNewsTechnology
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The WP Minute episodes

  • Not so Fast
    One Click Checkout provider Fast, headed by Domm Holland, shut down unexpectedly this week after attempting to secure a down round of funding to deal with their financial obligations. What obligations you might ask? Well, according to their pitch deck, their monthly burn rate was over $10M dollars for their 500 plus employees.
    And to top it off, their company was making about 50,000 dollars a month, or around $1200 per employee. These stats are pretty depressing for a company of that size and certainly must be frustrating to the investors who put in over $100 million over several rounds.
    The news came fast and along with it, a barrage of folks linking to articles that point out Domm’s shady past. In 2010, Domm purchased a domain that would be useful to the Australian airline Qantas and then redirected traffic from it to a direct competitor. By way of threat he sold the squatted domain to Qantas for 1.3 million.
    After that, he started the Uber of Towing and ended up in a $15 million dollar legal dispute about cars no one cared about. Holland threatened to release the private bank account and driver’s license data of 21,000 drivers. When the Supreme Court refused, he shut down the company with no notice to any of its employees and notified them via text message.
    Not content to cause problems in his country, he moved to Silicon Valley and started Fast in 2019, a one-click checkout competitor to Bolt, Apple Pay, Shop Pay and others. He hired a team of contractors from Nigeria to build the initial version of Fast and acquired funding for it. Three months in, he fired all Nigerian contractors and took full credit for their work in subsequent press releases. Again, with no notice.
    These are only some of the stories that came from this very chaotic startup. In the last few months, Domm’s social media account had been uncharacteristically quiet in comparison to last year as they went on a hiring spree. When word leaked about his financial problems, the startup went to an abrupt death spiral and imploded here on Tuesday April 5.
    Some of the 500 employees found out about the troubles while attending the Shoptalk conference in Las Vegas, NV. Salespeople and project managers found their corporate credit cards stopped working mid-conference. As they starting asking coworkers what was happening, the word got out and there was a brief attempt to shop the company to save it.
    Given Domm’s chaotic and troubled history, it’s not surprising he was unable to secure any funding under those circumstances. My heart goes out to the employees who lost their jobs in such a demeaning way.
    Fast’s destruction puts the future of one-click checkout into some doubt. Originally a feature patented by Amazon, once the patent expired a number of competitors have sprung up in the space, including Bolt, Rally and our own WP-based solution PeachPay that has been funded by the good folks at WooCommerce and Automattic.
    In other news, one-click competitor Bolt has acquired a crypto startup for 1.5 billion dollars according to the Wall Street Journal today. This could be a signal of a pivot in the space given Fast’s quick and painful demise. Crypto buyers and sellers both suffer from terrible experiences in the checkout process, from the exchange to using it directly in the real world. This appears to be a step in changing that experience for the better.
    That’s the ecommerce wrap for this week. Have something you want us to cover about ecommerce? Tweet us! This is Dave, signing off until next time.
    6 min
  • Why WordPress MUST Have A Standardized Framework Before We Move Forward With Blocks

    Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute 


    Spencer Forman from WPLaunchify has some important reasons why we should consider HOW we are moving forward with Full Site Editing, Blocks and Themes.

    We are all facing a fork in the road for WordPress, where we can remedy the mistakes of the past and finally create a unified framework to be used by any designers, plugins authors or service providers offering free or paid solutions.

    Look to Legos for an example of how a standardized framework benefits creativity and promotes a gigantic market for innovation.

    Instead of repeating the mistake of incentivizing folks to publish one-use FSE themes and duplicate core blocks, with willy-nilly CSS style sheets…we could instead create a unified framework that anyone could extend to create new design "kits" or plugins or services. This would ensure that all of the new components work together, don't break each other, and provide a clearer understanding of where profitable opportunities exist for a more profitable and easy-to-understand WordPress ecosystem.


    Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/support
    Get the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe

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    5 min
  • Why WordPress MUST Have A Standardized Framework Before We Move Forward With Blocks
    Spencer Forman from WPLaunchify has some important reasons why we should consider HOW we are moving forward with Full Site Editing, Blocks and Themes.
    We are all facing a fork in the road for WordPress, where we can remedy the mistakes of the past and finally create a unified framework to be used by any designers, plugins authors or service providers offering free or paid solutions.
    Look to Legos for an example of how a standardized framework benefits creativity and promotes a gigantic market for innovation.
    Instead of repeating the mistake of incentivizing folks to publish one-use FSE themes and duplicate core blocks, with willy-nilly CSS style sheets…we could instead create a unified framework that anyone could extend to create new design "kits" or plugins or services. This would ensure that all of the new components work together, don't break each other, and provide a clearer understanding of where profitable opportunities exist for a more profitable and easy-to-understand WordPress ecosystem.
    5 min
  • WPDiversity Programs in events and meetups

    Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute 


    News

    Julia Golomb over at make.wordpress.org has posted a new Proposal with Steps to Integrate #WPDiversity into organizing WordPress events. All new WordCamp and meetup organizers would automatically receive an invitation as they are onboarded to make sure the diversity consideration is addressed.

    Could it be lucky #13 for testing FSE (Full Site Editing)? Anne McCarthy over on make.wordpress.org posted that testers are needed and you can follow the instructions to create a template for author pages and learn how to unlock the UI for blocks. You have until April 21, 2022 to provide feedback.

    Anne also answers questions from the FSE Outreach Program. The post provides answers gathered through the program that started on March 16th and ended on March 30th.

    Sarah Gooding over on WPTavern wrote about the most recent changes made on WordPress.com. There were major unannounced pricing changes along with the 500 mb free storage change. It took many by surprise and frustrations were expressed by users on Twitter and other forums.

    WooFunnels, the popular sales funnel and automation plugin was added to the WPBeginner business through their Growth Fund. Syed Balkhi announced that he will be advising the team on how to expand their WordPress Product business.

    WooCommerce

    Beta 1 for the April 2022 release of WooCommerce is available for testing. You can either download it directly from WordPress.org or install it in the WooCommerce Beta Tester Plugin.

    From Our Contributors and Producers

    WP Migrate DB Pro is Now WP Migrate. WP Migrate dropped the “DB Pro” in their plugin to better reflect what the product does. The latest release of WP Migrate 2.3 gives you the choice to include or exclude the database. Migrate just the database, just your files, or both. No more workarounds required.

    David Lockie announced that he has joined the Automattic family as a Web3 Lead in the WooCommerce Transact team. 

    Fast tweeted an announcement that they will be closing their doors. Fast had stood out in the crowded field of one-click checkout startups after it landed a $102 million infusion of cash in a fundraising round last year led by payments giant Stripe. It appears that the product was generating very little revenue. 

    Check out the latest episode of the Matt Report with Joe Howard where we learn you can find someone else to run your business. Joe is stepping aside but is still a majority owner of the business. He is now focused on a new SaaS startup. 

    Eric Karkovack has a blog post on Speckyboy asking the question of whether market share should matter when choosing a CMS. Market share is only one consideration and Eric covers other factors in his article.

    Next up:

    The Creator Clock Minute: Podcast Plugins with Joe Casabona

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

    • Birgit Pauli-Haack
    • Joe Casabona
    • Daniel Shutzsmith
    • Jeff Chandler

    Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/support
    Get the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe

    ★ Support this podcast ★
    6 min
  • WPDiversity Programs in events and meetups
    News
    Julia Golomb over at make.wordpress.org has posted a new Proposal with Steps to Integrate #WPDiversity into organizing WordPress events. All new WordCamp and meetup organizers would automatically receive an invitation as they are onboarded to make sure the diversity consideration is addressed.
    Could it be lucky #13 for testing FSE (Full Site Editing)? Anne McCarthy over on make.wordpress.org posted that testers are needed and you can follow the instructions to create a template for author pages and learn how to unlock the UI for blocks. You have until April 21, 2022 to provide feedback.
    Anne also answers questions from the FSE Outreach Program. The post provides answers gathered through the program that started on March 16th and ended on March 30th.
    Sarah Gooding over on WPTavern wrote about the most recent changes made on WordPress.com. There were major unannounced pricing changes along with the 500 mb free storage change. It took many by surprise and frustrations were expressed by users on Twitter and other forums.
    WooFunnels, the popular sales funnel and automation plugin was added to the WPBeginner business through their Growth Fund. Syed Balkhi announced that he will be advising the team on how to expand their WordPress Product business.
    WooCommerce
    Beta 1 for the April 2022 release of WooCommerce is available for testing. You can either download it directly from WordPress.org or install it in the WooCommerce Beta Tester Plugin.
    From Our Contributors and Producers
    WP Migrate DB Pro is Now WP Migrate. WP Migrate dropped the “DB Pro” in their plugin to better reflect what the product does. The latest release of WP Migrate 2.3 gives you the choice to include or exclude the database. Migrate just the database, just your files, or both. No more workarounds required.
    David Lockie announced that he has joined the Automattic family as a Web3 Lead in the WooCommerce Transact team. 
    Fast tweeted an announcement that they will be closing their doors. Fast had stood out in the crowded field of one-click checkout startups after it landed a $102 million infusion of cash in a fundraising round last year led by payments giant Stripe. It appears that the product was generating very little revenue. 
    Check out the latest episode of the Matt Report with Joe Howard where we learn you can find someone else to run your business. Joe is stepping aside but is still a majority owner of the business. He is now focused on a new SaaS startup.&n
    6 min
  • WordPress and War

    Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute 


    News

    I'm sure you've been paying attention to the war. A pro-Russian war plugin appeared in the WordPress plugin repository resulting in a lot of heated conversation on the Internet. It was finally removed by the plugin team in the WordPress repository.  Heather Burns covers a non-US perspective in her article.

    Weglot, a popular WordPress multilingual plugin, has raised €45M from Partech Partners. Sarah Gooding, over at the WPTavern writes how this is the first time that Weglot has taken outside capital to expand its translation services.

    The WordPress Performance Team has published a feature proposal that would enable WebP images by default into WordPress 6.0 core. The performance team has published their proposal over on make.wordpress.org.

    Events

    WordCamp Asia is tentatively back on the schedule of in-person WordPress events with new dates: February 17-19, 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand. It will begin with a Contributor day, followed by two conference days.

    From Our Contributors and Producers

    There is a technical discussion over on WordPress Gutenberg GitHub on the Dynamic replacement of server-provided content in blocks and in HTML attributes. The proposal uses Dynamic tokens which read like Shortcodes 2.0 but with a much better interface.

    If you need to manage photo/image source attributions and licenses in WordPress go check out the premium version of Image Source Control. This plugin manages and displays image credits which have been an issue for years. If you enjoy founder stories, the article is worth a couple of minutes of your time to read.

    Jamie Marsland submitted his 100th YouTube video on Gutenberg. If you are in search of a charity form for Gutenberg blocks for your site go check out his video.

    Do you want to know how Crocoblock is doing in Ukraine? Lana Miro has a video on YouTube that you should go watch while they continue to work during this frightening time.

    WP Minute Writer Eric Karkovack wrote a new Freelancer’s View: Overcoming the Challenge of Selling Clients on WooCommerce. 

    Listen to the latest podcast on buying a WordPress media property with Rob Howard on the Matt Report. Matt and Rob explore building an agency, how to hire, and Rob’s latest purchase of MasterWP.

    Joe Howard took to Twitter to state that he’s working on a new product that isn’t the company he founded, WP Buffs. Stay tuned to the Matt Report for a full interview. 

    Next up:

    Block Editor Dev Minute by Aurooba Ahmed

    WP Accessibility Minute” by Amber Hinds

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

    • Birgit Pauli-Haack
    • Raquel Landefeld
    • Thomas Maier
    • Matt Cromwell

    Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/support
    Get the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe

    ★ Support this podcast ★
    7 min
  • WordPress and War
    News
    I'm sure you've been paying attention to the war. A pro-Russian war plugin appeared in the WordPress plugin repository resulting in a lot of heated conversation on the Internet. It was finally removed by the plugin team in the WordPress repository.  Heather Burns covers a non-US perspective in her article.
    Weglot, a popular WordPress multilingual plugin, has raised €45M from Partech Partners. Sarah Gooding, over at the WPTavern writes how this is the first time that Weglot has taken outside capital to expand its translation services.
    The WordPress Performance Team has published a feature proposal that would enable WebP images by default into WordPress 6.0 core. The performance team has published their proposal over on make.wordpress.org.
    Events
    WordCamp Asia is tentatively back on the schedule of in-person WordPress events with new dates: February 17-19, 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand. It will begin with a Contributor day, followed by two conference days.
    From Our Contributors and Producers
    There is a technical discussion over on WordPress Gutenberg GitHub on the Dynamic replacement of server-provided content in blocks and in HTML attributes. The proposal uses Dynamic tokens which read like Shortcodes 2.0 but with a much better interface.
    If you need to manage photo/image source attributions and licenses in WordPress go check out the premium version of Image Source Control. This plugin manages and displays image credits which have been an issue for years. If you enjoy founder stories, the article is worth a couple of minutes of your time to read.
    Jamie Marsland submitted his 100th YouTube video on Gutenberg. If you are in search of a charity form for Gutenberg blocks for your site go check out his video.
    Do you want to know how Crocoblock is doing in Ukraine? Lana Miro has a video on YouTube that you should go watch while they continue to work during this frightening time.
    WP Minute Writer Eric Karkovack wrote a new Freelancer’s View: Overcoming the Challenge of Selling Clients on WooCommerce. 
    Listen to the latest podcast on buying a WordPress media property with Rob Howard on the Matt Report. Matt and Rob explore building an agency, how to hire, and Rob’s latest purchase of MasterWP.
    Joe Howard took to Twitter to state that he’s working on a new product that isn’t the company he founded, WP Buffs. Stay tuned to the Matt Report for a full interview. 
    Next up:
    Block Editor Dev Minute by Aurooba Ahmed
    WP Accessibility Minute” by Amber Hinds
    Thanks to all of the members who shared these links today: 
    Birgit Pauli-HaackRaquel LandefeldThomas MaierMatt Cromwell
    7 min
  • WP Minute Rewind episode 1

    Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute 


    Hosts Matt Medeiros and Daniel Schutzsmith recap some of their favorite WordPress news stories from the last month. We'll get a recap of Daniel's #WPTalks Twitter spaces and a possible podcast series.

    Articles mentioned

    • Block Museum
    • Master of WP

    Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/support
    Get the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe

    ★ Support this podcast ★
    30 min
  • WP Minute Rewind episode 1
    Hosts Matt Medeiros and Daniel Schutzsmith recap some of their favorite WordPress news stories from the last month. We'll get a recap of Daniel's #WPTalks Twitter spaces and a possible podcast series.
    Articles mentioned
    Block MuseumMaster of WP
    30 min
  • Open for blockness

    Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute 


    News

    It was announced that the Pattern Directory will be open for submissions from the public on make.WordPress.org. The Pattern Creator page will allow designers and content creators to build, edit, and submit their best block patterns. You can learn more about the pattern directory because the code is public and available on GitHub. Birgit Pauli-Haack tested the submission process and reported that it was a great experience for her in the Gutenberg Times.

    Events

    If you are a Page Builder user you will be happy to know that the Page Builder Summit is back June 20-24. If you want to be the first to know when tickets are available you can register on the website.

    WordCamp US has made the call for speakers up until April 17, 2022. You can submit your application for up to three topics over on their website.

    From Our Contributors and Producers

    The 2022 acquisitions keep happening as predicted. Yith, specializing in developing and selling themes for WordPress and WooCommerce, joined Newfold Digital. 

    Matt Mullenweg treats us to two more appearances on podcasts.

    First, with the Verge. He is interviewed on why he bets on small companies and reveals how WordPress and Tumblr are keeping the internet weird. Second, with Guy Raz on How I Built This, sharing a genesis story of his career & WordPress.

    The US Court affirms it's false advertising to claim software is Open Source when it’s not. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a lower court decision concluding what we’ve always known: that it’s false advertising to claim that software is “open source” when it’s not licensed under an open-source license. Neo4j, Inc. had been through several releases of its software and several license choices along the way, ending with what the court called “the Sweden Software License,” because the licensor was a Swedish subsidiary of the plaintiff. You can check out the details on the open-source initiative.

    Listen to Spencer Forman's latest take on why multilanguage is critical for your WordPress business on our episode here on the WP Minute.

    Next up Joe Casabona and the Creator Clock Minute

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

    • Dave Rodenbaugh
    • Birgit Pauli-Haack
    • Amber Hinds

    Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/support
    Get the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe

    ★ Support this podcast ★
    5 min

About The WP Minute

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The WP Minute brings you news about WordPress in under 5 minutes -- every week! Follow The WP Minute for the WordPress headlines before you get lost in the headlines. Hosted by Matt Medeiros, host of…

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