a:4:{s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:3:"rss";a:1:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:3:"


";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:70:"WPTavern: WordPress.com and Jetpack Launch Story Block for Mobile Apps";s: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=113427";s: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:181:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-com-and-jetpack-adds-story-block-for-mobile-apps?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-com-and-jetpack-adds-story-block-for-mobile-apps";s: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:5217:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Automattic-owned WordPress.com <a href="https://wordpress.com/blog/2021/03/08/introducing-wordpress-stories-a-new-way-to-engage-your-audience/">launched its new Story-publishing feature</a> today. Currently, only users with the WordPress for Android or iOS apps can add stories. Self-hosted users with Jetpack-connected sites can publish via the mobile apps too.</p>



<p>The development team previewed the Story feature in January, <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-for-android-previews-new-story-posts-feature-now-in-public-beta">launching a public beta</a> on the Android app.</p>



<p>Stories are essentially media and text slideshows. They have become popular on the web via sites like Instagram and Facebook. Solutions for Stories already exist in the WordPress space, such as <a href="https://wptavern.com/google-officially-releases-its-web-stories-for-wordpress-plugin">Google&rsquo;s Web Stories</a> and the <a href="https://wptavern.com/makestories-2-0-launches-editor-for-wordpress-rivaling-googles-official-web-stories-plugin">MakeStories</a> plugins, both of which provide a more robust experience than Automattic&rsquo;s offering at the moment.</p>



<p>However, more options and tools do not always create a better overall user experience. WordPress.com&rsquo;s Stories feature has a more streamlined process, allowing users to build Story slides without much fuss.</p>



<p>To create Stories, users must click the &ldquo;New&rdquo; icon from their site&rsquo;s home screen in the mobile app. From there, they should see an option for adding a Story post. First-time users will see a Stories welcome screen.</p>



<ul><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/wpcom-site-home-1.jpg"><img /></a></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/wpcom-story-start-1.jpg"><img /></a></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/wpcom-story-welcome-1.jpg"><img /></a></li></ul>



<p>The user experience in terms of editing slides for a Story was straightforward. I ran into no issues adding images, text, and customizing colors.</p>



<p>Right now, users cannot do much more. They are prompted to upload media when first creating a story. Each chosen media item automatically becomes a slide &mdash; users can add more later.</p>



<p>Font customization options are limited to a handful of presets. Text can be aligned or increased in size. Users can also change the color of the text and its background. For WordPress.com users who want more, they will have to wait. For self-hosted WordPress users, they have other plugin options.</p>



<ul><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/wpcom-story-slide-text-colors-1.jpg"><img /></a></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/wpcom-story-slide-text-edit-1.jpg"><img /></a></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/wpcom-story-publish-1.jpg"><img /></a></li></ul>



<p>I prefer the lighter experience. The learning curve is next to nonexistent, and the team can always tack on features later. The kitchen-sink route of launching with hundreds of options is prone to more errors. It also often include features that are not needed by a majority of the user base. I will take a smaller start with focused iteration any day.</p>



<p>My first attempt at creating Story had its share of issues, introducing speedbumps in the publishing and updating process. Not all of my slides were published. Some of the text I had worked so hard on disappeared. At first, I thought I might have messed something up along the way. It was my first attempt, after all. Following repeated attempts to update, the issues persisted. I re-added the text. Whether it became a part of the published Story was hit or miss. I put new slides in. One randomly duplicated itself, and others disappeared.</p>



<p>It was an hour-long exercise in frustration to publish a basic recipe. Even now, readers cannot learn how to make my Italian-style steamed Chinese pork buns. On the positive side, I did get four likes on my incomplete post.</p>



<p>Determined not to be defeated, I attempted a second Story. Publishing went off without a hitch. For good measure, I updated the Story and added a new slide. Once again, no issues.</p>



<p>I knew the publishing experience could not be that broken after the initial ease of creating the Story slides.</p>



<p>Maybe the development team fixed a bug between my first and second attempts. Maybe something simply broke down on the technological highway. I will chalk my first attempt up to the internet gods playing a cruel trick on me.</p>



<p>The Story feature is technically a <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/jetpack/tree/master/projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/story">block included with Jetpack</a> that can only be edited in the mobile apps. The version I am waiting on is when it works via the browser-based editor. At that point, we will be able to compare it to existing plugins.</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, 09 Mar 2021 22:17:52 +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: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:149:"WPTavern: WordPress 5.7 Introduces Drag-and-Drop for Blocks and Patterns, Streamlined Admin Color Palette, and One-Click Migration from HTTP to HTTPS";s: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=113299";s: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:339:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-7-introduces-drag-and-drop-for-blocks-and-patterns-streamlined-admin-color-palette-and-one-click-migration-from-http-to-https?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-7-introduces-drag-and-drop-for-blocks-and-patterns-streamlined-admin-color-palette-and-one-click-migration-from-http-to-https";s: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:5269:"<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/esperanza/">WordPress 5.7</a> &ldquo;Esperanza&rdquo; was released today, named for Esperanza Spalding, an American jazz bassist who became an accomplished singer, songwriter, and composer in her early 20&rsquo;s. </p>



<p>Versions 9.3 &ndash; 9.9 of the Gutenberg plugin are rolled into this update, bringing hundreds of enhancements and bug fixes that make working in the block editor more efficient and enjoyable. </p>



<p>One of the highlights is the new drag-and-drop capabilities in the block inserter. Users can now drag blocks and block patterns directly into the post content area, making page building even faster. </p>







<p>Many of the user-facing editor enhancements in this release give the user more control when using existing blocks:</p>



<ul><li><strong>Full height alignment</strong>: Blocks such as the Cover block now can have an option to expand to fill the entire viewport.</li><li><strong>Buttons block</strong>: The Buttons block now supports vertical alignments, and you can set the width of a button to a preset percentage.</li><li><strong>Social Icons block</strong>: You can now change the size of the icons in the Social Icons block.</li><li><strong>Font size in more places</strong>: You can now change the font size in the List and Code blocks</li></ul>



<p>This release also improves the UI for block variations to include the icon and description for the variation in the block inspector and a new dropdown to allow for switching between variations. Reusable blocks have been updated to be saved at the same time the post is saved. Quite a few more improvements have been added in <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-10-1-enhances-reusable-blocks-updates-social-icons-spacing-options-and-normalizes-image-block-toolbar#comment-368111">version 10.1</a> of the Gutenberg plugin, which is not yet included core. If you use Reusable blocks frequently, you may want to install the plugin to take advantage of the expanded UI.</p>



<p>In addition to all the editor improvements, WordPress 5.7 introduces a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/23/standardization-of-wp-admin-colors-in-wordpress-5-7/">streamlined color palette for the admin</a>. It standardizes the palette to&nbsp;seven&nbsp;core&nbsp;colors and a range of <a href="https://codepen.io/ryelle/full/WNGVEjw">56 shades</a>. One of the benefits is that all the shades meet the requirements for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/visual-audio-contrast-contrast.html">WCAG 2.0 AA recommended contrast ratio</a>&nbsp;against white or black. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img />New Admin Color Scheme</div>



<p>Theme and plugin developers who want to better match the admin color scheme can easily reference the new standardized shades to make their products more at home in the WordPress admin. WordPress&rsquo; existing core classes have also been updated with the new color palette so plugin authors can use them to work within the new standardized palette.</p>



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



<p>One of the most exciting technical enhancements in 5.7 is a new <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-7-will-make-it-easier-to-migrate-from-http-to-https">one-click migration from HTTP to HTTPS</a>. WordPress can now detect if the user&rsquo;s hosting environment has support for HTTPS and update with the click of a button, handling mixed content rewrites where possible. This feature is available on the Site Health recommendations screen.</p>



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



<p>WordPress 5.7 continues the <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51812">ongoing cleanup after the update to jQuery 3.5.1</a>, which will eventually result in the removal of jQuery Migrate plugin. It fixes numerous jQuery deprecations in external libraries, cleaning up many <code>JQMIGRATE</code>&nbsp;warnings. </p>



<p>Developers may also be interested in the new filter-based <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/49992">Robots API</a> included in 5.7. It enables the central management of the content of the&nbsp;<code>robots</code>&nbsp;meta tag injected into the page, and includes a setting to toggle whether search engines are allowed to display large media from the site. By default, a&nbsp;<code>max-image-preview:large</code>&nbsp;robots directive which will be injected into the&nbsp;<code>robots</code>&nbsp;meta tag based on the new setting.</p>



<p>Version 5.7 also includes native support for <a href="https://wptavern.com/native-lazy-loading-support-for-iframes-coming-to-wordpress-5-7">lazy loading iframes</a>, a follow-up to WordPress&rsquo; support for <a href="https://wptavern.com/native-lazy-loading-support-coming-to-wordpress">lazy loading for images</a> that came in 5.5. This should improve loading for pages that include embeds and other types of iframes. </p>



<p>Check out the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/23/wordpress-5-7-field-guide/">WordPress 5.7 field guide</a> for technical details on everything new in this release. This update is the result of work from 481 volunteer contributors who collaborated on 250 tickets on Trac and more than 950 pull requests 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:"Tue, 09 Mar 2021 21:02:58 +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:49:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.7 “Esperanza”";s: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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9888";s: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:45:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/esperanza/";s: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:39673:"<div class="wp-block-cover"><img width="632" height="327" class="wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-9932" alt="" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/about-header-brushes.png?resize=632%2C327&ssl=1" /><div class="wp-block-cover__inner-container">
<p class="has-text-align-center has-large-font-size"><strong>WordPress 5.7</strong> <strong>&#8220;Esperanza&#8221;</strong></p>



<p class="has-text-align-center">Bringing you fresh colors in the admin, simpler interactions in the editor, and controls right where you need them, WordPress 5.7 lets you focus on the content you create.</p>



<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<p></p>
</div></div>



<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<p>Meet “Esperanza”, the first WordPress release of 2021. “Esperanza” is named in honor of Esperanza Spalding, a modern musical prodigy. Her path as a musician is varied and inspiring—<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanza_Spalding">learn more about her</a> and give her music a listen!</p>



<p>With this new version, WordPress brings you fresh colors. The editor helps you work in a few places you couldn’t before without getting into code or hiring a pro. The controls you use most are right where you need them. Layout changes that should be simple, are even simpler to make.</p>



<h2>Now the new editor is easier to use</h2>



<p><strong>Font-size adjustment in more places:</strong>&nbsp;now, font-size controls are right where you need them in the List and Code blocks. No more trekking to another screen to make that single change!</p>



<p><strong>Reusable blocks:</strong>&nbsp;several enhancements make reusable blocks more stable and easier to use. And now they save automatically with the post when you click the Update button.</p>



<p><strong>Inserter drag-and-drop:</strong>&nbsp;drag blocks and block patterns from the inserter right into your post.</p>







<h2>You can do more without writing custom code</h2>



<p><strong>Full-height alignment:</strong>&nbsp;have you ever wanted to make a block, like the Cover block, fill the whole window? Now you can.</p>



<p><strong>Buttons block:</strong>&nbsp;now you can choose a vertical or a horizontal layout. And you can set the width of a button to a preset percentage.</p>



<p><strong>Social Icons block:</strong>&nbsp;now you can change the size of the icons.</p>



<img src="https://i0.wp.com/s.w.org/images/core/5.7/about-57-cover.jpg?w=632&ssl=1" alt="" />



<h2>A simpler default color palette</h2>



<p>This new streamlined color palette collapses all the colors that used to be in the WordPress source code down to seven core colors and a range of 56 shades that meet the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG2AAA-Conformance">WCAG 2.0 AA recommended contrast ratio</a>&nbsp;against white or black.</p>



<p>Find the new palette in the default WordPress Dashboard color scheme, and use it when you’re building themes, plugins, or any other components. For all the details,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/23/standardization-of-wp-admin-colors-in-wordpress-5-7">check out the Color Palette dev note</a>.</p>



<h2>From HTTP to HTTPS in a single click</h2>



<p>Starting now, switching a site from HTTP to HTTPS is a one-click move. WordPress will automatically update database URLs when you make the switch. No more hunting and guessing!</p>



<h2>New Robots API</h2>



<p>The new Robots API lets you include the filter directives in the robots meta tag, and the API includes the&nbsp;<code>max-image-preview: large</code>&nbsp;directive by default. That means search engines can show bigger image previews, which can boost your traffic (unless the site is marked&nbsp;<em>not-public</em>).</p>



<h2>Lazy-load your iFrames</h2>



<p>Now it’s simple to let iframes lazy-load. By default, WordPress will add a&nbsp;<code>loading="lazy"</code>&nbsp;attribute to iframe tags when both width and height are specified.</p>



<h2>Ongoing cleanup after update to jQuery 3.5.1</h2>



<p>For years jQuery helped make things move on the screen in ways the basic tools couldn’t—but that keeps changing, and so does jQuery.</p>



<p>In 5.7, jQuery gets more focused and less intrusive, with fewer messages in the console.</p>



<h2>Check the Field Guide for more!</h2>



<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/2021/02/23/wordpress-5-7-field-guide">WordPress 5.7 Field Guide.</a></p>



<h2>The Squad</h2>



<p>The WordPress 5.7 release comes to you from a small and experienced release squad:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<ul><li><strong>Release Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Matt Mullenweg (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/matt/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>matt</a>)</li><li><strong>Triage Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Tonya Mork (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>hellofromtonya</a>)</li><li><strong>Release Coordinator:</strong>&nbsp;Ebonie Butler (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/metalandcoffee/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>metalandcoffee</a>)</li><li><strong>Core Tech Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Sergey Biryukov (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>sergeybiryukov</a>)</li><li><strong>Editor Tech Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Robert Anderson (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/noisysocks/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>noisysocks</a>)</li><li><strong>Design Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Tim Hengeveld (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hedgefield/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>hedgefield</a>)</li><li><strong>Accessibility Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Sarah Ricker (@sarahricke<strong>r</strong>)</li><li><strong>Documentation Lead:&nbsp;</strong>Jb Audras (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>audrasjb</a>)</li><li><strong>Test Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Monika Rao (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/monikarao/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>monikarao</a>)</li></ul>



<p>This release is the reflection of the hard work of 481 generous volunteer contributors. Collaboration occurred on nearly 250 tickets on Trac and over 950 pull requests on GitHub.</p>



<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/7studio/">7studio</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aaribaud/">aaribaud</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/technosailor/">Aaron Brazell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aaroncampbell/">Aaron D. Campbell</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/abagtcs/">abagtcs</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/acerempel/">acerempel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/activecoder/">activecoder</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ad7six/">ad7six</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bosconiandynamics/">Adam Bosco</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamsilverstein/">Adam Silverstein</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamboro/">adamboro</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/addiestavlo/">Addison Stavlo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mrahmadawais/">Ahmad Awais</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/engahmeds3ed/">Ahmed Saeed</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aljullu/">Albert Juh&#233; Lluveras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/albertomake/">albertomake</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajlende/">Alex Lende</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alexwoollam/">Alex Woollam</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alex27/">alex27</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chemiker/">Alexander Lueken</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alexstine/">alexstine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/allancole/">allancole</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/allendav/">Allen Snook</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/almendron/">almendron</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/amandariu/">Amanda Riu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ambienthack/">ambienthack</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/amolv/">Amol Vhankalas</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/aduth/">Andrew Duthie</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nacin/">Andrew Nacin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/anevins/">Andrew Nevins</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/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/ankitmaru/">Ankit Panchal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/">Anne McCarthy</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/atimmer/">Anton Timmermans</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/anyssa/">Anyssa Ferreira</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/archon810/">archon810</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aristath/">Ari Stathopoulos</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/passoniate/">Arslan Ahmed</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/artpi/">Artur Piszek</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/maigret/">Aur&#233;lien Denis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ayeshrajans/">Ayesh Karunaratne</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bartosz777/">bartosz777</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/basscan/">basscan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bduclos/">bduclos</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/becdetat/">becdetat</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pixolin/">Bego Mario Garde</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/scruffian/">Ben Dwyer</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/bhanusinghkre/">bhanusinghkre</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/bobbingwide/">bobbingwide</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bonniebeeman/">bonniebeeman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/boonebgorges/">Boone Gorges</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ibdz/">Boy Witthaya</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kraftbj/">Brandon Kraft</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/brentswisher/">Brent Swisher</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/brijeshb42/">brijeshb42</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/burnuser/">burnuser</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/icaleb/">Caleb Burks</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/carloscastilloadhoc/">carloscastilloadhoc</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/carlosgprim/">carlosgprim</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/">Carolina Nymark</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/celendesign/">celendesign</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cenay/">Cenay Nailor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ceyhun0/">ceyhun0</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chexwarrior/">chexwarrior</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/pixelverbieger/">Christian Sabo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/amethystanswers/">Christina Workman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cfinke/">Christopher Finke</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/clayray/">clayray</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/collizo4sky/">Collins Agbonghama</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/copons/">Copons</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/coreyw/">Corey</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cristinasoponar/">cristinasoponar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dam6pl/">Damian Nowak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/danfarrow/">Dan Farrow</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/talldanwp/">Daniel Richards</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mte90/">Daniele Scasciafratte</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dvankooten/">Danny van Kooten</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dariak/">Daria</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nerrad/">Darren Ethier (nerrad)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/drw158/">Dave Whitley</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidanderson/">David Anderson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/">David Baumwald</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/davecpage/">David Page</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbinda/">david.binda</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dbtedg/">dbtedg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32/">dd32</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dkarfa/">Debabrata Karfa</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dekervit/">dekervit</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/denisco/">Denis Yanchevskiy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/denishua/">denishua</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dianeco/">Diane Co</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dilipbheda/">Dilip Bheda</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/dratwas/">dratwas</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/drewapicture/">Drew Jaynes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidszabo/">Dávid Szabó</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/e_baker/">e_baker</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/iseulde/">Ella van Durpe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ellatrix/">Ella van Durpe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/erichmond/">Elliott Richmond</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/enej/">Enej Bajgorić</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/enricocarraro/">Enrico Carraro</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/epicfaace/">epicfaace</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/epiqueras/">epiqueras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ericlewis/">Eric Andrew Lewis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ebinnion/">Eric Binnion</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ericmann/">Eric Mann</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kebbet/">Erik Betshammar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/folletto/">Erin 'Folletto' Casali</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/">Estela Rueda</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/etoledom/">etoledom</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/eventualo/">eventualo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fabiankaegy/">Fabian K&#228;gy</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/mista-flo/">Florian TIAR</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/florianziegler/">Florian Ziegler</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/floriswt/">floriswt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/francina/">Francesca Marano</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/frank-klein/">Frank Klein</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fullofcaffeine/">fullofcaffeine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ecgan/">Gan Eng Chin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/garrett-eclipse/">Garrett Hyder</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/geekzebre/">geekzebre</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/geoffguillain/">Geoff Guillain</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/gkibria69/">gKibria</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/glendaviesnz/">glendaviesnz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gmariani405/">gmariani405</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alinod/">Gord</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/greatsaltlake/">greatsaltlake</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gziolo/">Greg Ziółkowski</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/grzim/">grzim</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gumacahin/">gumacahin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gunnard/">gunnard</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bordoni/">Gustavo Bordoni</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hansjovisyoast/">Hans-Christiaan Braun</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hardeepasrani/">Hardeep Asrani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hareesh-pillai/">Hareesh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hauvong/">hauvong</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hazdiego/">Haz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/helen/">Helen Hou-Sandi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/helmutwalker/">helmutwalker</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tejwanihemant/">Hemant Tejwani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/herregroen/">Herre Groen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nonverbla/">hirasso</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hmabpera/">hmabpera</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/howdy_mcgee/">Howdy_McGee</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hsingyuc7/">hsingyuc7</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/ibiza69/">ibiza69</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/igorradovanov/">Igor Radovanov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ingereck/">ingereck</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/iprg/">iprg</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/ismailelkorchi/">Ismail El Korchi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/iviweb/">iviweb</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jdgrimes/">J.D. Grimes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jadeddragoon/">jadeddragoon</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/whyisjake/">Jake Spurlock</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jakeparis/">jakeparis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jakubtyrcha/">jakub.tyrcha</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jamesgol/">James Golovich</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/macmanx/">James Huff</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/jamesros161/">James Rosado</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/janthiel/">Jan Thiel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jason_the_adams/">Jason Adams</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/madtownlems/">Jason LeMahieu (MadtownLems)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/viablethought/">Jason Ryan</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/jeffr0/">Jeff Chandler</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jfarthing84/">Jeff Farthing</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffpaul/">Jeff Paul</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jmdodd/">Jennifer M. Dodd</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/jeremyyip/">Jeremy Yip</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeroenrotty/">Jeroen Rotty</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jessplease/">Jessica Duarte</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/luminuu/">Jessica Lyschik</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joanrho/">joanrho</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/joelclimbsthings/">joelclimbsthings</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joen/">Joen Asmussen</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/johnjamesjacoby/">John James Jacoby</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnwatkins0/">John Watkins</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonsurrell/">Jon Surrell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jrchamp/">Jonathan Champ</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonathanstegall/">Jonathan Stegall</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/jordesign/">jordesign</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorgefilipecosta/">Jorge Costa</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jomisica/">Jos&#233; Miguel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jose64/">Jose Luis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/accessiblejoe/">Joseph Karr O&#039;Connor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">Josepha Haden</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joshuatf/">joshuatf</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joshuawold/">JoshuaWold</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tai/">JOTAKI, Taisuke</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joyously/">Joy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jsmoriss/">JS Morisset</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jsnajdr/">jsnajdr</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/justinsainton/">Justin Sainton</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jtsternberg/">Justin Sternberg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kafleg/">kafleg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kevin940726/">Kai Hao</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/trepmal/">Kailey (trepmal)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/akabarikalpesh/">Kalpesh Akabari</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/karamcnair/">kara.mcnair</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/gwwar/">Kerry Liu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tmfespresso/">kimdcottrell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kirilzh/">Kiril Zhelyazkov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kburgoine/">Kirsty Burgoine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ixkaito/">Kite</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/">Kjell Reigstad</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/knutsp/">Knut Sparhell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hwk-fr/">Konrad Chmielewski</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/kurtpayne/">Kurt Payne</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kbjohnson90/">Kyle B. Johnson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/notlaura/">Lara Schenck</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/laurelfulford/">laurelfulford</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/laxman-prajapati/">Laxman Prajapati</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/leogermani/">leogermani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/levdbas/">Levdbas</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oellin/">Lih&#228;</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/litemotiv/">litemotiv</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lovor/">lovor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lucasbustamante/">lucasbustamante</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/_luigi/">Luigi Cavalieri</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lpawlik/">Lukas Pawlik</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecarbis/">Luke Carbis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecavanagh/">Luke Cavanagh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/happiryu/">Luke Walczak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/magnuswebdesign/">magnuswebdesign</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mahfuz01/">Mahafuz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/akramipro/">Mahdi Akrami</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/malinajirka/">malinajirka</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mallorydxw/">mallorydxw</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tomdxw/">mallorydxw-old</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/manzoorwanijk/">Manzoor Wani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/manzurahammed/">Manzur Ahammed</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marcelo2605/">marcelo2605</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marcio-zebedeu/">Marcio Zebedeu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/netweblogic/">Marcus</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/">Marcus Kazmierczak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaton666/">Marie Comet</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marijnkoopman/">Marijn Koopman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tyxla/">Marin Atanasov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/clorith/">Marius Jensen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdwolinski/">Mark D Wolinski</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/markhowellsmead/">Mark Howells-Mead</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/markscottrobson/">Mark Robson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mapk/">Mark Uraine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vindl/">Marko Andrijasevic</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/flootr/">Markus</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/">Mary Baum</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mberard/">Mathieu Berard Smartfire</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/mattwiebe/">Matt Wiebe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/maxpertici/">Maxime Pertici</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mayankmajeji/">Mayank Majeji</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdrockwell/">mdrockwell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/megphillips91/">Meg Phillips</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/megabyterose/">megabyterose</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/">Meher Bala</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mehrshaddarzi/">Mehrshad Darzi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mehulkaklotar/">Mehul Kaklotar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/melchoyce/">Mel Choyce-Dwan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mendezcode/">mendezcode</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mgol/">mgol</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/michael-arestad/">Michael Arestad</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mbabker/">Michael Babker</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mcsf/">Miguel Fonseca</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/miinasikk/">Miina Sikk</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikeschroder/">Mike Schroder</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/0mirka00/">mirka</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/daddou/">Mohamed El Amine DADDOU</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/monika/">Monika</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/monikarao/">Monika Rao</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/morenaf/">morenaf</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/mzorz/">mzorz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/naveen17797/">Naveen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/krstarica/">net</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nre/">nicky</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nico23/">Nico</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nico_martin/">Nico Martin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nicolalaserra/">Nicola Laserra</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rahe/">Nicolas Juen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nicolaskulka/">NicolasKulka</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ntsekouras/">Nik Tsekouras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/noahtallen/">Noah Allen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nwjames/">nwjames</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oakesjosh/">oakesjosh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oglekler/">Olga Gleckler</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ovidiul/">ovidiul</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oxyc/">oxyc</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/paaljoachim/">Paal Joachim Romdahl</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/">Pascal Birchler</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbearne/">Paul Bearne</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/pschrottky/">Paul Von Schrottky</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pawki07/">pawki07</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbking/">pbking</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pedromendonca/">Pedro Mendon&#231;a</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gungeekatx/">Pete Nelson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/psmits1567/">Peter Smits</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/peterwilsoncc/">Peter Wilson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pinkalbeladiya/">Pinkal Devani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/boniu91/">Piotrek Boniu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/freewebmentor/">Prem Tiwari</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/presstoke/">presstoke</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/prettyboymp/">prettyboymp</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/princeahmed/">Prince</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pypwalters/">pypwalters</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/itsjonq/">Q</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/r-a-y/">r-a-y</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rafaelgalani/">Rafael Galani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rafhun/">rafhun</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/ratneshk/">ratneshk</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/retrofox/">retrofox</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/reardestani/">Reza Ardestani</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/iamfriendly/">Richard Tape</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/noisysocks/">Robert Anderson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rodrigosprimo/">Rodrigo Primo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/roger995/">roger995</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rolfsiebers/">Rolf Siebers</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/romain-d/">Romain</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/burtrw/">Ronnie Burt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/magicroundabout/">Ross Wintle</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryan/">Ryan Boren</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sebastienserre/">S&#233;bastien SERRE</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/sanketchodavadiya/">Sanket Chodavadiya</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sarahricker/">Sarah Ricker</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sarayourfriend/">sarayourfriend</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wonderboymusic/">Scott Taylor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sebastianpisula/">Sebastian Pisula</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sebsz/">SeBsZ</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/sergiomdgomes/">sergiomdgomes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/shahinsid07/">Shahin Sid</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/slaffik/">Slava Abakumov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/snapfractalpop/">snapfractalpop</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/souri_wpaustria/">souri_wpaustria</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/stevenkword/">Steven Word</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/subrataemfluence/">Subrata Sarkar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/quadthemes/">Sunny</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/t-p/">t-p</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/inc2734/">Takashi Kitajima</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/patopaiar/">Tami</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/karmatosed/">Tammie Lister</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tanvirul/">Tanvirul Haque</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/voboghure/">Tapan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/teamdnk/">TeamDNK</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/utz119/">TeBenachi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tweetythierry/">Thierry Muller</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/thorlentz/">thorlentz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hedgefield/">Tim Hengeveld</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tnolte/">Tim Nolte</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sippis/">Timi Wahalahti</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/timothyblynjacobs/">Timothy Jacobs</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tinodidriksen/">tinodidriksen</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/tz-media/">Tobias Zimpel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tobifjellner/">tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn Fjellner)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/skithund/">Toni Viemer&#246;</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/arcangelini/">Tony A</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/">Tonya Mork</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tonysandwich/">tonysandwich</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/transl8or/">transl8or</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tylertork/">Tyler Tork</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/grapplerulrich/">Ulrich</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/umangvaghela123/">Umang Vaghela</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vandestouwe/">vandestouwe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vcanales/">vcanales</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/webcommsat/">webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webmandesign/">WebMan Design &#124; Oliver Juhas</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wendyjchen/">Wendy Chen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wesselvandenberg/">wesselvandenberg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/westonruter/">Weston Ruter</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wallstead/">Willis Allstead</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/worldedu/">worldedu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wponlinesupport/">WP OnlineSupport</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tikifez/">Xristopher Anderton</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yannkozon/">Yann Kozon</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yoavf/">Yoav Farhi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yscik/">yscik</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fierevere/">Yui</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yuliyan/">yuliyan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zebulan/">Zebulan Stanphill</a>, and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zieladam/">zieladam</a>.



<p></p>



<div class="wp-block-group has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container">
<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<p class="has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-large-font-size"><strong>Code is poetry.</strong></p>
</div></div>



<p></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, 09 Mar 2021 20:52:32 +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: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:83:"WPTavern: WordPress Considers Dropping Support for IE 11 After Usage Falls Below 1%";s: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=113384";s: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/wordpress-considers-dropping-support-for-ie-11-after-usage-falls-below-1?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-considers-dropping-support-for-ie-11-after-usage-falls-below-1";s: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:5345:"<p>A new proposal on WordPress.org explores the ramifications of <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/04/discussion-dropping-support-for-ie11/">dropping support for Internet Explorer 11 (IE11</a>). H&eacute;ctor Prieto summarized the current state of IE usage among WordPress users, citing three metrics that demonstrate declining usage that is now cumulatively below ~1%: </p>



<ul><li>0.71% from&nbsp;<a href="https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-version-partially-combined-market-share#monthly-202001-202101">StatCounter&rsquo;s GlobalStats</a></li><li>1.2% from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.w3counter.com/trends">W3 Counter</a></li><li>0.46% from&nbsp;WordPress.com</li></ul>



<p>StatCounter&rsquo;s GlobalStats record IE11 having dipped below 1.0% for the first time in August 2020, and it has continued declining steadily since then. </p>



<p>The numbers cited in the proposal are similar to those contributors used when WordPress 4.8 officially <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-8-will-end-support-for-internet-explorer-versions-8-9-and-10">dropped support for IE versions 8, 9, and 10</a> in 2017. These types of browser support decisions are always carefully considered, as they affect more users than one might guess, given the scale of a software project with more than <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-passes-40-market-share-of-alexa-top-10-million-websites">40% market share of all websites</a>. </p>



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s important to keep in mind that when viewing these statistics in the context of WordPress, these percentages represent tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of users that could potentially be left behind if support for IE11 is dropped,&rdquo; Prieto said. </p>



<p>Most of the people still using IE11 are doing so because of forces outside their control. They may not have the ability to simply download an alternative browser. This is more common for users working inside major institutions like banking, government, and education.</p>



<p>At this point in WordPress&rsquo; history, the benefits for the web seem to heavily outweigh the negative impacts on a small percentage of users who might be affected by lack of IE11 support. Improving the performance of the editor is one driving factor in this decision. Prieto shared stats from <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27685">an exploration by Gutenberg developer Riad Benguella</a>, where he measured the impact of dropping IE11 support, demonstrating an 84.9 kB (7%)&nbsp;reduction in Gutenberg JavaScript build files.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Dropping support would result in smaller scripts, lower maintenance burden, and decrease build times,&rdquo; Prieto said. </p>



<p>&ldquo;The smaller downloads would positively impact all users, especially those on slower networks, or computing devices. We expect a result of dropping IE11 support to improve performance for the vast majority of users.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Most of those participating in the discussion on WordPress.org are strongly in favor of dropping support for IE11, but a few cautioned that it must be done in a controlled way, with an EOL date announced months in advance. There are some institutions that selected WordPress for their projects based solely on the fact that it offers IE11 support, and they need time to plan a transition.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I can see the crowd cheering for finally getting rid of IE and trust me I&rsquo;ll be the first to pop champagne when that day has finally come,&rdquo; WordPress developer Thomas Kr&auml;ftner said. &ldquo;Still I believe we need to make sure this is done in a slow, controlled and careful way so the effort saved for not supporting IE doesn&rsquo;t backfire with extra, even more hellish work for those that don&rsquo;t yet have the choice to drop IE.&rdquo; </p>



<p>Approximately 16 months ago, Riad Benguella <a href="https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/4863">proposed</a> WordPress add a notice to discourage Internet Explorer usage. Shortly thereafter, the Browse Happy API was updating to consider all versions of Internet Explorer as insecure. In the most recent conversation on WordPress.org, contributors suggested taking it a step further and change the notice to state that IE11 support will be dropped in WP-Admin&nbsp;by the end of year. Many shared additional benefits not outlined in the proposal.</p>



<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s lots of things we can&rsquo;t use right now because of the IE11 constraint:&nbsp;CSS&nbsp;Variables, CSS grid, Modern&nbsp;JS&nbsp;are just the 1st things that come to mind,&rdquo; Ari Stathopoulos commented. &ldquo;We would be able to ship smaller files to 40% of the web, so the environmental impact of this change would be quite big, a huge win for our sustainability efforts! 99% of WP&rsquo;s userbase has suffered enough already because of the IE limitation, and removing support for it can really make a dent and urge the few remaining IE users to use a better/newer browser.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Prieto said the initial <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/04/discussion-dropping-support-for-ie11/">proposal</a> was just to get the conversation started and was not meant to go into technical implementation details. WordPress contributors are invited to offer feedback about the proposal in the comments before March 18.</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, 09 Mar 2021 05:34:37 +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:54:"WordPress.org blog: People of WordPress: Olga Gleckler";s: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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9875";s: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:69:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/people-of-wordpress-olga-gleckler/";s: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:16620:"<p><em>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 that are lesser-known.</em></p>



<p><strong>From a natural interest in computers and fixing things as a young woman, Olga Gleckler from St Petersburg, Russia, found WordPress took her on a journey to becoming a successful female tech entrepreneur. On International Women’s Day, we share her story.&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></p>



<img src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/WCEU-2020-online.jpg?resize=580%2C768&ssl=1" alt="Olga with a WordCamp Vienna t-shirt" class="wp-image-9878" width="580" height="768" />



<h2><strong>Finding your path can take longer than you expect</strong></h2>



<p>From the age of 15, Olga found herself under pressure to find a free place for her professional studies. She said: “I didn’t know how high or low my chances were even if I had very good marks. I could have been just the biggest fish in a small pond. But anyway, I made up my mind to go to technical school.”</p>



<p>On leaving school in St Petersburg with her certificate, Olga felt her knowledge of opportunities was very narrow. She had pictured being an ecologist or guide translator based on the subjects she had been taught at school. There was also an advertising boom in Russia and she began to explore this as a career avenue. She had developed her computer skills and found opportunities to practise by helping her teachers with administrative work.</p>



<p>Though she did not have access to any formal career advice, her journey led her into programming. She said: “The range of technical schools was not wide. I spent four years studying transistor markings, soldering and drawing PCB layouts. Programming courses using Pascal didn&#8217;t do anything useful with it.”</p>



<p>A lack of suitable access to English-language courses made things harder for Olga. She was determined that she would master the language later in her life. In the meantime, she left technical school with an honors degree and improved typing skills.</p>



<p>“I faced it was a wild, unfriendly market. I didn’t know how to recognize a genuine job offer or how to avoid the bad ones. It was difficult and I don’t know how long I would’ve looked for work without help.”</p>



<h2><strong>Think differently to find where you belong</strong></h2>



<p>Olga&#8217;s father worked in an IT company and was able to give her some advice and help with potential introductions. When she was still studying, he suggested her strong technical skills might be useful as a substitute typist. When she finished her studies, he helped her apply for a job updating a legal system on clients’ computers.<br /><br />Six months later, she got a full-time job in the same service department. She liked her position and her clients. However, she was given friendly advice that without a university degree she would not be able to have any further promotions.</p>



<p>At this time, Olga was trying to study PHP from a book. She found it very exciting at first, but a lot of their functions did not give her explanations on how to build something useful. She found when she tried to build practical items from book reading, it did not always make sense and the solutions would often fail.&nbsp;</p>



<p>She said: “It was hard to admit a failure even to myself and it was nagging me for a long time. I had to choose something I could handle, that I was interested in and could afford. It turned out to be advertising.”</p>



<p>She spent most of the family’s holidays on learning sessions during the next six years. Olga recalled: “It was tricky for my husband to make me leave a computer, once I was glued to it, so he bought me my first laptop. English was still hard for me, I got high marks through just memorizing all the words in a textbook and how they should sound.”</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><strong>Doubting your professional skills can happen when you are at home isolated looking after children. Keeping up your interests is important.</strong></p></blockquote>



<p>Olga’s life took a change after having a new baby and she spent three years doubting her professional skills and her chances of getting a good job. She tried to get back into other interests through studying, baking and drawing, but found ‘the pram was pulling me back’. She found she became very isolated and felt less able to contribute as the family was relying on her husband’s income as she tried to focus on looking forward.</p>



<p>She said: “I was convinced (and saw) that not too many companies wanted a woman in the office, who with a small baby might need lots of leave.”</p>



<p>She finished her education when she returned to work after three years caring for her son. She secured a promotion but with changes in the company’s staffing, things were tense. She found the difficulties there had become more heightened and felt that young female colleagues were treated as ‘pieces of furniture’ by one manager. She did not want to stay in this environment and in a few months time decided to leave.</p>



<h2><strong>Your next chapter may be nearby</strong></h2>



<p>Determined to not repeat this type of experience, Olga looked at the brighter side. She said: “I wanted to be a marketer. Knowing how tricky it is to sell intangibles, I wanted a solid product to work with.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>It turned out to be more difficult to find a job outside traditional IT as a young mother. Some human resource officers advised her to remain within the technology arena.</p>



<p>Olga remained hopeful and continued to study hard. She had many learning experiences along the way, which she hopes others can learn from too. One was setting a low bar to employers. She said: “Companies I worked in wanted to get all publicity and sales increases achieved through deductions from my salary.” This happened once and the next time she was in this situation she asked specifically about the budget before signing up. &#8220;I was assured this would not be the case, but again I found the budget for publicity came out of my wages. It was a tough period of disappointments. So when I was offered a part-time administrative job with basic sick leave, I took it gladly as a reprieve.”</p>



<p>The job was far from home and involved a lot of travelling. Olga spent two to three hours a day on buses with Harry Potter audio books for company. “In these traffic jams, I started to feel English at last and loved it. It gave me a freedom no money can buy. Life was getting better.” </p>



<p>Though the job did not pay highly, it gave her something valuable &#8211; a working website. After her boss and the developer parted company, she was asked to maintain the site. Through some studying and reverse engineering, she discovered how it worked and it gave her an insight into how to write simple websites from scratch.</p>



<p>Olga’s first encounter with JavaScript wasn’t easy: “My first JavaScript calculator almost made me crazy, but I pursued it.”</p>



<p>Quickly she started to get small tasks from friends and relatives, usually to solve some urgent problems and started to meet popular content management systems. One of the first she met with was WordPress. There was an issue in a website theme used by a website which had been changed and not maintained. It took a whole weekend to solve, but she was determined to work it out. Back then, WordPress was ‘just a system’. She didn’t know then how much it was to become part of her life.</p>



<p>Olga spent the next two years in this role. As time went on, she started to feel worried and less satisfied with the work. The last straw for her was a negative statement from her boss, who was not a programmer and who hadn’t seen any of the work done on the website. She felt the approach was unfair as she had done extensive work on the site. She recalls: “I became angry, but it was exactly what I needed to move jobs.”</p>



<p>When Olga was job hunting, she didn&#8217;t feel she had the courage to apply for a developer’s role, despite the learning and work she had already done. So instead she started working on projects where she felt she was more like a ‘seller of box-ready websites’. It was another tough half a year for her with a lot of work, low payment and plans not turning out as she had hoped. On top of long hours, she ended up with pneumonia. She said: “I see now that I was doing a disservice to customers, websites are not a microwave meal &#8211; quick, cheap and dummy. There was no life in the sites without a lot of work which no one was willing to buy. Most of the sites I sold back then died after the first year and they never were truly alive and useful.”</p>



<h2><strong>You need to be brave and have courage</strong></h2>



<img src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Berlin-2019.jpg?resize=632%2C422&ssl=1" alt="Olga in Berlin wearing the WordPress Code is Poetry lanyard and a WordCamp t-shirt" class="wp-image-9879" width="632" height="422" />



<p>Olga really wanted a developer job but seeking jobs of this type was very frustrating. From the job adverts she found, it felt like most IT companies were asking for geniuses who already knew a lot of technologies and frameworks. She found this very demotivating.</p>



<p>She then found a job offer on a website outside the most popular job portals  and it seemed like a perfect fit. They wanted someone with experience to write from scratch, understand someone else’s code and maintain it, with an ability to translate technical documentation and articles, and make simple designs for printing products. After completing a trial task, she was taken on, and enjoyed a better salary, in a calm environment with good colleagues and without the requirement for a lot of extra hours.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The advert turned out to be a direct ad from one of the sales departments in a technology company. By succeeding in the  task set, Olga had bypassed the Human Resources team which she felt&nbsp;would not normally have considered her.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Her boss agreed to her working remotely most of the time. It solved any potential leave problems which Olga had thought may be an obstacle.&nbsp;</p>



<p>For Olga it had been 14 years since the original decision to become a programmer and it was only the beginning.&nbsp;</p>



<p>After a few years at what she describes as an ‘amazing experience’ in this workplace, Olga felt able to move on to her next challenge as a developer.</p>



<h2><strong>Decision-making can benefit from wider knowledge</strong></h2>



<p>After working with different systems Olga became sure that WordPress is the best CMS for developers and clients. But she was disappointed to find that the ease of use meant that good code was not always a priority for some of the sites she looked at.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“The biggest flaw of WordPress &#8211; it’s so easy to make things work that some may feel they don’t need to bother to do things right, but this becomes a problem later.”</p>



<p>In custom themes for a site, she also saw sites being made and clients left without any further support, or items hard coded when clients actually needed more control to change regularly.</p>



<p>Olga used to rely on examples she could easily find, documentation and search engines to improve her understanding in using WordPress. She discovered that just by searching for a specific feature or a solution, you can miss the whole picture.&nbsp;</p>



<p>She turned to online courses to get more comprehensive knowledge and then started to attend WordPress events, firstly online and then by foot, trains and planes! She discovered a worldwide community that was very much alive. She didn’t know when she started studying online materials and attending discussions that she would end up contributing herself to the <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">Learn WordPress</a> platform a few years later.</p>



<p>WordCamps and contributor days became a big part of her life. From her early days attending events and starting out contributing to WordPress, she is an active member of the WordPress.org Global Marketing and Polyglots Teams, and supported the recent WordPress release. She is just beginning her first WordCamp organiser experience, joining WordCamp Europe 2021 on the Contribute Team. </p>



<img src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/St-Petersburg-2018.jpg?resize=632%2C602&ssl=1" alt="Olga next to a banner of WordCamp St Petersburg 2018" class="wp-image-9883" width="632" height="602" />



<p>Olga said: “Through the wider WordPress community, I knew not only where to look but also whom to ask. Most importantly, I found allies who don’t think I’m going crazy by speaking with delight about work, and with whom I share a passion and fondness for WordPress. This is what matters.</p>



<p>“Now, after more than seven years of full time development, I am still enjoying endless learning, frequent discoveries, mistakes and an impassioned wish to do better.”</p>



<p>This and a desire to help others use WordPress.org is part of Olga’s continued contribution to its Support and Marketing Teams, and led her to be involved in the Release Marketing questions and answers in 2020.</p>



<h2><strong>There is no chequered flag on the way</strong></h2>



<img width="632" height="946" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Berlin-2019-1.jpg?resize=632%2C946&ssl=1" alt="Olga at WordCamp Europe in Berlin in 2019" class="wp-image-9881" />



<p>The road to freedom and becoming her own boss has not been easy for Olga. It is the path that got her where she is today, and she continues to find joy in it. She retains the lessons she’s learned and is always hungry to learn more.</p>



<p>&nbsp;“I travelled through a very uneven path, with a lot of obstacles and noise, but for me it’s like a kaleidoscope where a little turn presents a new picture, a new “ah-ha” moment, new excitement after seemingly pointless efforts.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>She added: “When in doubt I remind myself about David Ogilvy (generally considered the Founding Father of the modern advertising industry) who tried a lot of things before he struck gold with advertising, and maybe that’s why he did.”</p>



<p>Finally, she learned not only to keep a good spirit and try different things, but also to dare as you move forward.</p>



<h2><strong>Contributors</strong></h2>



<p>Thanks to Abha Thakor (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/">@webcommsat</a>), Nalini Thakor (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a>), Larissa Murillo (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lmurillom/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>lmurillom</a>), Meher Bala (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>meher</a>), Josepha Haden (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">@chanthaboune</a>), Chloé Bringmann (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>cbringmann</a>) and Topher DeRosia (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/">@topher1kenobe</a>). Thank you to Olga Gleckler (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oglekler/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>oglekler</a>) for sharing her #ContributorStory.</p>



<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Y3odYTyvSfJbVxUxUWEgKxOprox2zxVwhk7_vdW-AIs4IlE-jK0Zt1itCj867x0dIAbIiK-VeuTLMZr6BjNEY0fkTf--4dT1hkLbnGtsPFNfyrVBYIN59IirTkNnqiQgqxk6E1MI" alt="HeroPress logo" />



<p><em>This post is based on an article originally published on HeroPress.com, a community initiative created by </em><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/"><em>Topher DeRosia</em></a><em>. 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</a> series.</em></p>



<p><em>#ContributorStory #HeroPress</em></p>



<p></p>



<p><em>Photo credits: 2nd and 4th Pablo Gigena, Berlin, 2019</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, 08 Mar 2021 22:30:00 +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: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: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:76:"WPTavern: Proposal and Steps To Dual-License Gutenberg Under the GPL and MPL";s: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=113368";s: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:197:"https://wptavern.com/proposal-and-steps-to-dual-license-gutenberg-under-the-gpl-and-mpl?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=proposal-and-steps-to-dual-license-gutenberg-under-the-gpl-and-mpl";s: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:7122:"<p class="has-drop-cap">The GPL is so embedded into WordPress that it is not just the license the platform is under but a part of the community&rsquo;s culture. Friends have been gained and lost over discussions of it. Bridges burned. Battles waged. People cast out to the dark corners of the web that &ldquo;we don&rsquo;t talk about.&rdquo; There was even a time when one could expect a fortnightly GPL dust-up in which the inner WordPress world argued the same points over and over, <em>ad nauseam</em>.</p>



<p>It might be hard to imagine a world where &mdash; outside of third-party libraries &mdash; direct contributions to the software are under anything other than the GPL. However, the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/05/dual-licensing-gutenberg-next-steps/">wheels are now in motion</a>. The Gutenberg project, which is the foundation of WordPress going forward, may soon be under both the GNU General Public License (GPL) v2 and the Mozilla Public License (MPL) v2.0.</p>



<p>The goal is to allow Gutenberg to be used in proprietary applications, particularly in the mobile space, where it can be a hurdle to ship GPL code.</p>



<p>Mobile Team contributor Maxime Biais <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/23651">proposed the change in July 2020</a>. &ldquo;Gutenberg supports two main platforms, the web and the native mobile apps. The GPL v2.0 license is a blocker for distributing the Gutenberg library in proprietary mobile apps.&rdquo;</p>



<p>At the moment, the WordPress for Android and WordPress for iOS apps use Gutenberg. Both of these apps are also licensed under the GPL, so it is a non-issue for them. However, it is uncommon for mobile apps to use the GPL. Thus, it limits Gutenberg&rsquo;s potential reach.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Rich text editor libraries in the mobile space are lacking,&rdquo; wrote Biais. &ldquo;There is no well known open source rich text editor for Android or iOS. We believe that Gutenberg could be a key library for many mobile apps, but that will never happen with the GPL v2.&rdquo;</p>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-mobile-engineers-propose-dual-licensing-gutenberg-under-gpl-v2-0-and-mpl-v2-0">The proposal</a> was <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/09/21/proposal-dual-licensing-gutenberg-under-gpl-v2-0-and-mpl-v2-0/">announced on the Make Core blog</a> in September 2020. It garnered three comments. WordPress project lead Matt Mullenweg was in favor of the change, pointing out that it could help Gutenberg become a cross-CMS standard.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Right now it&rsquo;s easy to distribute Gutenberg with web apps that aren&rsquo;t GPL, due to the way browsers link and bundle things, but embedding Gutenberg inside a native app on desktop, iOS, Android, or beyond is not possible unless the entire application is also GPL,&rdquo; <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/09/21/proposal-dual-licensing-gutenberg-under-gpl-v2-0-and-mpl-v2-0/#comment-39803">he wrote</a>. &ldquo;Allowing people the option to embed Gutenberg under the MPL I think will increase its usage outside of WordPress, bring more contributors to the core experience, and continue the Cambrian explosion of blocks that will give Gutenberg users more tools to fully express their creativity and vision.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The problem with switching licenses is that Gutenberg needs permission from every contributor who has added code to the project to make this change. The GitHub repository lists <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/graphs/contributors">721 individual contributors</a> since the project began in 2016. To change licenses, each one must consent because they still own the copyright to their code.</p>



<p>Some of these people may not be involved any longer and not respond to the consent request. Others may refuse &mdash; as is their right. In either case, the Gutenberg team will need to either remove or rewrite the code.</p>



<p>The proposal outlines four stops on the timeline before Gutenberg can be officially dual-licensed:</p>



<ul><li><strong>March 19:</strong> All future contributions will be under both the GPL and MPL.</li><li><strong>April 2:</strong> Seek consent via GitHub from past contributors and contributors from open pull requests.</li><li><strong>Three months later:</strong> Begin removing or rewriting code that cannot be relicensed.</li><li><strong>Future:</strong> Once all removed or rewritten code is squared away, update Gutenberg as a whole to a GPL/MPL dual license.</li></ul>



<p>For a licensing discussion, only a few people have chimed in. However, some have brought up concerns.</p>



<p>&ldquo;WordPress has historically strongly believed in the GPL,&rdquo; wrote core WordPress contributor Aaron Jorbin <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/05/dual-licensing-gutenberg-next-steps/#comment-40851">in the comments</a>. &ldquo;It has gone so far as to call the Four Freedoms of the GPL it&rsquo;s &lsquo;<a href="https://wordpress.org/about/philosophy/">Bill Of Rights</a>.&rsquo; And now what is being said is that only sometimes do you get these freedoms. Anyone is welcome to take the code and remove these freedoms. Instead of empowering users, this move is empowering the removal of freedom. To me, this feels like a very pro-business move and a very anti-user one.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The MPL is <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/MPL/2.0/FAQ/#virality">not considered <em>viral</em></a> in the same way as the GPL. Applications built with GPL-licensed code must allow for the same freedoms or more. App developers can distribute MPL-licensed code as long as it is in a separate file from their proprietary code. This lets businesses restrict parts of the codebase. Users might not have the freedom to use, fork, modify, and share all of an application&rsquo;s code.</p>



<p>Most who have commented on the official threads so far have been excited or OK with the proposal. It can open Gutenberg to a new market. If developers in the mobile space begin using it for their apps, it could bring in fresh talent to the WordPress project as a whole.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Our app sorely lacks a WYSIWYG editor,&rdquo; <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/23651#issuecomment-653512920">wrote Radek Pietruszewski</a>, the tech lead for Nozbe Teams, on the GitHub ticket in July 2020. &ldquo;We had a working implementation on web, but we decided to scrap it because there was no way to port it on iOS and Android. There are pretty much no viable rich text editors for iOS or Android, let alone both. But even then, shipping three completely separate, but somehow compatible editors would be a vast amount of work. And you know yourself, making a good rich text editor from scratch is incredibly hard. It&rsquo;s not something we could do ourselves. Gutenberg could solve this problem for us if it wasn&rsquo;t for the licensing.&rdquo;</p>



<p>How things move forward comes down to the 700+ contributors. Will the Gutenberg team be rewriting swaths of code? Or, will most developers sign off on the license change?</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, 08 Mar 2021 22:03:16 +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: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:94:"Post Status: Angela Jin on WordCamp US 2020 Cancellation and the Future of WordPress Education";s: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:31:"https://poststatus.com/?p=81417";s: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:69:"https://poststatus.com/future-of-wordcamp-us-and-wordpress-education/";s: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:1689:"<p>In this episode of Post Status Draft, David Bisset talks with Angela Jin. Angela joined Automattic in 2018 and is one of the community organizers for the WordPress open source project. She has been helping organize, start conversations, and setting policies for WordCamps over the last few years. </p>



<p>David recorded this interview around the time that WordCamp US 2020 would have normally taken place in St. Louis, Missouri. WordCamp US organizers decided to cancel the event months before it would have taken place due to COVID-19. There were questions about what led to that decision. Why didn't it become a virtual conference, like WordCamp Europe? What are organizers planning for future WordCamp US events and WordPress education in general? </p>



<p>David sat down with Angela to get a better understanding of the WordPress community and its needs during a pivotal time of change.  Join us as we discuss what the future holds for the conferences, meetups, and other social gatherings we've enjoyed in the past.</p>







<h3 id="h-links">Links</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/angelasjin?lang=en">Angela Jin</a> (Twitter)</li><li><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2020/">WordCamp US 2020 Official Cancellation Notice</a></li><li><a href="http://learn.wordpress.org">Learn WordPress</a></li></ul>



<h3>Sponsor: Pagely</h3>



<p><a href="https://pagely.com/">Pagely</a>&nbsp;offers best-in-class managed WordPress hosting, powered by Amazon's Cloud, the Internet’s most reliable infrastructure.&nbsp;Pagely&nbsp;helps big brands scale WordPress.Thank you to&nbsp;<a href="https://pagely.com/">Pagely</a>&nbsp;for being a Post Status partner!</p>



<p></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, 05 Mar 2021 23:45:06 +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:12:"David Bisset";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:80:"WPTavern: User-Friendly Methods for Testing Gutenberg Enhancements and Bug Fixes";s: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=113280";s: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/user-friendly-methods-for-testing-gutenberg-enhancements-and-bug-fixes?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=user-friendly-methods-for-testing-gutenberg-enhancements-and-bug-fixes";s: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:4068:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Living on the bleeding edge of Gutenberg&rsquo;s development is not particularly easy for everyone. There is a ton of work and know-how involved with getting everything set up. You have to clone a Git repository, grab pull requests, and run a build process. Non-developers may find themselves facing an overwhelming learning curve. It can be rough for developers who like to keep things simple too.</p>



<p>There are times when it makes sense to simply download a ZIP file, upload it to a WordPress site, and test things out. The most straightforward way is to wait until the development team officially releases an update. You can snag a copy from its <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/gutenberg/">WordPress.org plugin page</a> or via the plugins screen in the WordPress admin interface. However, how do you test features between releases?</p>



<p>Gutenberg Times has a page for <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">grabbing a nightly-created ZIP</a> of the plugin. This includes the latest features and bug fixes that have been merged into the project. For users who want to test the plugin and provide feedback to the development team, this is the easiest way to get started.</p>



<p>There are also times when you might want to test changes that are not yet available in the nightly build. Gutenberg currently has 589 pull requests (PRs) &mdash; this number changes daily. They are new enhancements and fixes with the potential to be merged into the codebase. Each of these PRs needs a review and feedback. Not all of them will make it in.</p>



<p>For the average user, PR testing is not a reasonable expectation. Even working through Git lingo can be a minefield. However, solutions exist for skipping the intricacies of a developer-only space and hopping into the fray.</p>



<p>One option is <a href="http://gutenberg.run/">Gutenberg.run</a>, a web-based install for testing PRs. The site runs the latest stable release of WordPress and activates a copy of the Gutenberg plugin with the changes from a user-entered PR number. </p>



<p>This is a quick way to test a potential change without spinning up a test install. However, checking out a PR related to Full Site Editing is a no-go. The site has no way to test the site editor, which requires a block-based theme like <a href="https://wptavern.com/blocked-based-version-of-twenty-twenty-one-nearing-readiness-for-the-theme-directory">TT1 Blocks</a>.</p>



<p>Core WordPress contributor Paal Joachim Romdahl <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/03/03/testing-a-gutenberg-pull-request-pr/">outlined a method for testing PRs via a ZIP file</a>. The process is simple, but it is not easy to find if you do not know what you are looking for.</p>



<ul><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img />Find a PR.</li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img />Click the Checks tab.</li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img />Build Gutenberg Plugin ZIP</li></ul>



<p>After finding a PR that you want to try, you must click on the &ldquo;Checks&rdquo; tab for it on GitHub. Once on the new screen, you can scroll through the left sidebar until you find the &ldquo;Build Gutenberg Plugin ZIP&rdquo; link.</p>



<p>From that point, it is a matter of clicking it and downloading the ZIP file &mdash; <em>note that it has a ZIP within a ZIP</em>. This download will include the latest version of the plugin with the included PR code applied.</p>



<p>Romdahl has a thorough walkthrough in the following video:</p>



<div>

</div>Video walkthrough to get a ZIP for a PR (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIMj4CYSAxU&ab_channel=OODeveloper">Italian version available</a>).



<p>He has also opened a ticket for helping others more easily <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/28881">access a testing ZIP for PRs</a>. The discussion is ongoing. It is currently leaning toward adding an automated comment that outputs a link to the PR build&rsquo;s ZIP file. This type of exposure should open testing to a wider group of people.</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, 05 Mar 2021 16:54:43 +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: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:49:"WordCamp Central: WordCamp India 2021 – A recap";s: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:39:"https://central.wordcamp.org/?p=3136611";s: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:73:"https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2021/03/05/wordcamp-india-2021-a-recap/";s: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:13116:"<p><a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WordCamp India 2021 (Online)</a> was held across three weekends. The event kicked off on January 30th and wrapped up on February 14th. Looking back, organizing the event was a one-of-a-kind experience, and as members of the organizing team, we would like to share our experience.</p>
<p>WordCamp India has some history &#8211; the <a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/india.wordcamp.org/2009/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first edition of the event was held in 2009</a>, but back then, the WordPress Community in India was in a nascent stage. Ever since, the community has grown, and now we have several active meetup groups and local WordCamps. The idea of a full-fledged WordCamp India has always been the dream of all Indian community organizers. In 2020, as the COVID-19 Pandemic hit us hard, WordPress events moved online and regional online WordCamps were encouraged. As a result, WordCamp India got a new lease of life &#8211; former <a href="https://mumbai.wordcamp.org/">WordCamp Mumbai</a> organizer &#8211; <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gounder/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexander Gounder</a>, kicked-off the efforts by sending in an application, and soon WordCamp India was born.</p>
<p>Inspired by the Community team blog post on <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2020/07/13/reimagining-online-events/">reimagining online events</a></strong>, and excited about the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2020/08/12/learn-wordpress-is-live/">announcement of the Learn WordPress initiative</a> &#8211; we decided to shake things up a bit. Our co-organizer <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/adityakane" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aditya Kane</a> came up with the <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/why-is-wordcamp-india-happening-over-3-weekends-format-explainer/">idea of a three-weekend WordCamp</a>. We would have Multilingual WordPress workshops for beginners on week 1, our contributor event on week 2, and finally our sessions on week 3. We kicked-off with a plan to hold the event around November-December 2020. Within no time, our design team burned the midnight oil and <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/wordcamp-india-logo-design-evolution/">released the WordCamp India logo and the design language</a>.</p>
<p>It was ambitious and exciting! However, we underestimated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on our organizing team. Many members of our organizing team had to step back due to personal challenges, which were exacerbated by the global pandemic. With a mounting number of tasks associated with a regional WordCamp and a dwindling organizing team, we decided to postpone the event to January &#8211; February 2021. After a lot of groundwork, by late November 2020, WordCamp India <a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-india-online/">found a place in the WordCamp Central schedule</a>, with dates of January 30-31 (workshops), February 6-7 (contributor day), and February 13-14 (Sessions).</p>
<p>The months of December 2020 &#8211; January 2021 saw the organizing team on overdrive to make the event happen. Even as we continued to lose organizers, we found support in the form of enthusiastic volunteers who stepped in. We also pivoted from a plan to do video production on our own, to hire an external vendor to help us with pre-production, stitching, and some post-production work &#8211; which significantly helped us.</p>
<p>As a result, we successfully kicked off our WordCamp with Introduction to WordPress workshops on January 30-31. The event was spread out across two tracks on each day. These workshops were on basic WordPress topics, such as Introduction to WordPress, Block Editor basics, site hosting basics, and Introduction to WooCommerce. The highlight was that we had these workshops delivered in several Indian languages &#8211; Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, and Tamil. We premiered recorded workshops in YouTube, and each workshop was followed by a live Q&amp;A with the workshop presenter. The workshop track was a grand success! Participants loved the workshops, which are still being watched by folks outside the event. WordCamp India workshops are <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/workshops/">available for viewing in our website</a>, and have already been <a href="https://wordpress.tv/event/wordcamp-india-2021/">uploaded to WordPress.tv</a>. The workshops are also being uploaded to Learn WordPress &#8211; and our Introduction to WordPress workshops in <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/introduction-to-wordpress-malayalam/">Malayalam</a> and <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/introduction-to-wordpress-kannada/">Kannada </a>are already live!</p>
<div id="attachment_3136614" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2021/03/Screenshot-2021-03-05-at-8.05.44-PM.png"><img /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3136614" class="wp-caption-text">Suresha N Speaking at a WordCamp India workshop in Kannada</p></div>
<p>The second weekend was noted by the <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/contributor-days/">contributor day event</a> which was held on February 6-7. The event had contributors from the Community, Core, Design, Marketing, Meta, Polyglots, Support, and Training teams. We had all contributors assembled in a large zoom room, with breakout rooms assigned to each team. The event was planned in a freewheeling format, where teams introduced, supported, and onboarded new contributors. Many times also had some great discussions on ongoing topics concerning the respective team. In short, attendees got to experience a wholesome WordPress contribution experience.</p>
<div id="attachment_3136616" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2021/03/Screenshot-270.png"><img /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3136616" class="wp-caption-text">A snap from the WordCamp India contributor day event.</p></div>
<p>We had the best of them all scheduled for the third and last weekend &#8211; our sessions! We did face some unexpected difficulties there, when two of our speakers backed out at the last minute. However, members of our community surprised us by stepping up at the last minute and by delivering excellent sessions in their absence. Most of the WordCamp India sessions were recorded and premiered at the event. After each session, there would be a live Q&amp;A with the speaker joining an emcee on a YouTube live video, to answer questions from the audience that was asked in the form of YouTube chat. We had two tracks, on each day, with each track having its on YouTube playlist in the order of the session (with a mix of premiered and live videos). We also had a large zoom room, where watercooler chats, extended &#8220;hallway hangout&#8221; style discussions with speakers, sponsor booths, and a dedicated sponsor area in breakout rooms. The idea was to give the attendees one place to hang out and hop-in and out between sponsor rooms. Some of our notable sessions at WordCamp India include:<a href="https://youtu.be/iVOmYgNcw6c"> A Fireside chat with Matt Mullenweg and Josepha Haden</a>, A <a href="https://youtu.be/T0Bu1AaJLC8">Live Q&amp;A with Josepha Haden and Shilpa Shah</a>, a <a href="https://youtu.be/yH6XmbV07Qg">Panel Discussion on Future of WordPress translations in India</a>, and <a href="https://youtu.be/U7Cu4Wenoes">&#8220;Outrank your competition with a great content SEO strategy&#8221; by Marieke van de Rakt.</a> WordCamp India sessions can be <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/watch-now/">viewed in our website</a>, and will soon be available on WordPress.tv.</p>

<a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2021/03/05/wordcamp-india-2021-a-recap/screenshot-2021-03-05-at-8-07-49-pm/"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2021/03/Screenshot-2021-03-05-at-8.07.49-PM-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="AMA with Shilpa Shah and Josepha Haden" /></a>
<a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2021/03/05/wordcamp-india-2021-a-recap/screenshot-2021-03-05-at-8-07-11-pm/"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2021/03/Screenshot-2021-03-05-at-8.07.11-PM-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="Matt Mullenweg speaking at WordCamp India" /></a>

<h3>Tools we used</h3>
<ul>
<li>StreamYard Pro Account ($49/mo) (for helping many speakers record their sessions, and for facilitating Live Q&amp;As)</li>
<li>2 x Zoom Pro accounts (For pre-event planning Q&amp;As)</li>
<li>1 x 1000 Zoom Large meeting add-on (For our large zoom rooms on all three weekends)</li>
<li>Free Slack Instance (for event planning. Organizing teams had private channels, we invited our speakers into a dedicated channel as well).</li>
<li>A WordPress.com P2 (For long-form communications and task management)</li>
<li>Trello board (for task management and sponsor tracking)</li>
<li>The India@wordcamp.org Google Workspace account provided by WordCamp Central (We used Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs/Sheets/Slides extensively for our event)</li>
<li>YouTube for streaming our event (We used a refurbished legacy account from one of our organizers which had streaming embed capabilities)</li>
</ul>
<h3>FINANCES</h3>
<p>All our funds were handled by WordCamp Central directly.</p>
<ul>
<li>Revenue: We raised $6000 in sponsorship revenue ($700 x 6 from Exhibitor sponsors) + ($150 x 12 from Corporate sponsors)</li>
<li>Expenses: $1006.33 ($246.33 for Zoom + StreamYard) and ~$760/INR 55,0000 (Video vendor expenses)</li>
<li>Cost per person per day: USD$ 0.10 (INR 8)</li>
<li>Variance (Leftover funds with WordCamp Central): USD $4,993.67</li>
</ul>
<h3>SOME PLANNING TIPS FOR OTHER WORDCAMPS</h3>
<ul>
<li>In case you don&#8217;t have a strong video production team, consider hiring a vendor for video production &#8211; it will reduce your efforts significantly. Even if you are not able to hire a vendor to do all the tasks, outsourcing at least some, could be very helpful. <strong>Do not underestimate the importance of video production &#8211; start thinking about it from day 1!</strong></li>
<li>Organizing an online WordCamp might seem easier than an in-person event. The number of tasks involved most definitely is &#8211; but please don&#8217;t underestimate it! At least two months of planning and tasks are involved for a successful online event &#8211; especially if it is regional.</li>
<li>Anticipate organizer burnout &#8211; it is no one&#8217;s fault; these are difficult times and everyone is struggling. Check-in with your organizing team constantly and make sure that they have the bandwidth to do what they want.</li>
<li>Make sure all the tasks are well-laid-out, and all the deadlines are clear. Having some sort of project/task management tool is extremely important. It is recommended that each team (speakers, sponsors) has its own tool.</li>
<li>If you are broadcasting your event on YouTube, make sure that your YouTube account supports video embedding for livestreams (it is disabled for newer YT accounts &#8211; including the G Suite-linked accounts provided by WordCamp Central). In case you don&#8217;t have a YouTube account that supports Livestreaming, you can always use the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWQnu9XpK3ze10STZv9ORLg">WordCamp Central YouTube account</a>.</li>
<li>Organizing an online WordCamp offers a lot of flexibility. Consider experimenting with the event format as much as possible! Provided you have a solid plan, you could have some fun online activities that attendees could make the most out of!</li>
<li><strong>Finally: Remember &#8211; as an organizer your goal is not to match an in-person WordCamp experience with your online event. Your goal is to provide a unique online WordPress event experience for online participants from all across the world. </strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Looking back, WordCamp India 2021 was a unique experience by its own right. We are proud of all that we were able to achieve despite the challenges we faced. We would like to thank all our <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/sponsors">sponsors</a>, <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/speakers/">speakers</a>, and <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/volunteers/">volunteers</a> who supported us and helped us in making the event happen.</p>
<p>However, our biggest achievement from WordCamp  India is that we were able represent the idea of India with more local language content &#8211; especially on our workshop tracks. Our biggest success lies in the fact that were able to bring community members together and kick-off a positive sentiment of excitement in our very resilient WordPress community. As Community organizers, it remains to be seen how we can utilize this sentiment to rekindle enthusiasm in our local communities, in 2021!</p>
<p>With regards,<br />
<a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/organizers/">The WordCamp India 2021 organizing team</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:"Fri, 05 Mar 2021 14:54:04 +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:"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: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:123:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 10.1 Enhances Reusable Blocks, Updates Social Icons Spacing Options, and Normalizes Image Block Toolbar";s: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=113244";s: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:287:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-10-1-enhances-reusable-blocks-updates-social-icons-spacing-options-and-normalizes-image-block-toolbar?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-10-1-enhances-reusable-blocks-updates-social-icons-spacing-options-and-normalizes-image-block-toolbar";s: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:6430:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Gutenberg 10.1 <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/02/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-1-3-march/">landed yesterday</a> with several new features, many of which focused on improvements to the interface and user experience. Users can now control the justification of items in the Social Icons block. The new release also enhances the UX for creating reusable blocks, groups the Image block toolbar controls, and introduces categorized template parts in the site editor.</p>



<p>The development team corrected two dozen bugs for this release. As usual, they continued to polish the site-editing experience, which should land in WordPress later this year.</p>



<p>One of the better improvements to the UX is with the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/28676">dragging performance for the focal point picker</a>. Users can test the Cover or Media &amp; Text blocks to see it in action.</p>



<h2>Spacing Options for Social Icons and Buttons</h2>



<img />Adding space between items in the Social Icons block.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The Gutenberg development team <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/28980">added the justification toolbar</a> control to the Social Icons block. This allows users to determine how they want their social links to display. The following are the current justification options:</p>



<ul><li>Justify items left</li><li>Justify items center</li><li>Justify items right</li><li>Space between items</li></ul>



<p>The Buttons block now has the space-between option, which gives it and Social Icons the same flexibility as the Navigation block.</p>



<p>The Social Icons block still has left, right, and center alignment options too. This is separate from the justification setting. In comparison, the Buttons and Navigation blocks only have wide and full alignments if the active theme supports them. However, the Social Icons block does not have those options. These blocks&rsquo; alignments should all have parity unless I am missing some crucial reason for the difference.</p>



<h2>Reusable Blocks Updates</h2>



<img />Modal for naming, saving, or canceling a reusable block.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The development team continues to refine the reusable blocks feature. Version 10.1&rsquo;s highlight is a new modal that <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29040">pops up when first creating a reusable block</a>. It has a simple title field along with buttons for canceling or saving. The cancel feature is also a new addition.</p>



<p>This modal clears up a problem <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-9-7-improves-user-experience-updates-reusable-blocks-and-brings-page-templates-to-fse-themes">introduced in Gutenberg 9.7</a>. That release moved the title field for the reusable block into the sidebar panel. If users did not have that panel open, they could easily overlook it.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Based on these changes, the UI for reusable blocks is most likely going to see some iterations in the upcoming weeks,&rdquo; said Gutenberg developer Riad Benguella at the time. The team has delivered on this promise.</p>



<p>Gutenberg also uses this new modal as <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29108">part of its template creation flow</a> in the site editor.</p>



<p>The editor toolbar now displays a reusable block&rsquo;s name when it is selected in the content canvas. This adds clarity and helps users better see what they are editing. Users can also update the name of a reusable block from within the editor sidebar.</p>



<p>One issue I still have with reusable blocks is when using wide or full-aligned elements. Once a block is saved, it displays at the regular content width, making it less of a WYSIWYG experience. There is an <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/17640">open ticket</a> for this bug. However, it has seen little movement as of late.</p>



<h2>Semantic Toolbar for Images</h2>



<img />Grouped sections in the Image block toolbar.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The Image block&rsquo;s toolbar received an upgrade. Its <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29205">controls are grouped</a>, with each group separated by a border. The toolbar follows a specific order: meta, block-level, inline-level, and more options. The goal is for controls on every block to use this order, which translates to a standard UI that users can follow.</p>



<p>This improvement for the Image block brings enough clarity that I already want this across the board. There is an open ticket to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/25983">normalize the toolbar</a> for all blocks.</p>



<h2>Categorized Template Parts</h2>



<img />&ldquo;General&rdquo; template parts category.



<p class="has-drop-cap">For the experimental site editor, a new patch to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29030">group template parts</a> landed in the latest release. The UI change separates parts into four categories: headers, footers, sidebars, and general.</p>



<p>I could not get this feature to work. There are no clear instructions for theme authors to follow. Header templates named <code>header-one.html</code> went to the general category. Template parts in sub-folders, such as <code>header/one.html</code>, also failed. Even just plain <code>header.html</code> did not get grouped.</p>



<p>While there is obviously a bug, I am excited about the prospect of categorized template parts. It is a preemptive step toward decluttering the interface.</p>



<p>The problem with the current approach is that it is unnecessarily limiting. It assumes that headers, footers, and sidebars are the only specific categories of template parts needed. By defining them in core, we lose all flexibility. In past themes, I have built more content-related template parts than I have for those three groups. Under this system, all of these would be tossed into a &ldquo;general&rdquo; category with every other template.</p>



<p>This is not an argument for WordPress to have a category to meet my needs. Instead, put this into the hands of theme authors to make the best decision for their theme. Create a way for end-users to categorize their custom template parts as a next step.</p>



<p>Sure, create some defaults like headers, footers, and sidebars. That makes sense. Just hand over some of the control.</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, 04 Mar 2021 22:54:10 +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:57:"WordPress.org blog: The Month in WordPress: February 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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9842";s: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:72:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/the-month-in-wordpress-february-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:15743:"<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>You don’t have to be rich to have an online presence. You don’t have to find loopholes in proprietary platforms and hope that they never change their terms of service. You own all of the content that you create on a WordPress site and have the liberty to move it to a new host if you need to, or switch your theme if it fits your mood.</p></blockquote>



<p class="has-drop-cap">That was Josepha Haden Chomphosy on <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-is-freedom/">WordPress is Free(dom) episode</a> of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/">WP Briefing Podcast</a>, speaking about the four freedoms of open-source software. Those four freedoms are core to how WordPress is developed. A lot of the updates we bring you this month will resonate with those freedoms.</p>



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



<h2>WordPress now powers 40% of the web</h2>



<p>W3Techs reported that <a href="https://w3techs.com/blog/entry/40_percent_of_the_web_uses_wordpress">WordPress now powers 40% of the top 10 million websites in the world</a>! Every two minutes, a new website using WordPress says, <em>“Hello world”</em>! For the top 1000 sites, the market share is even higher at 51.8%. Over the past 10 years, the growth rate has increased, which is reflected by the fact that 66.2% of all new websites use WordPress!</p>



<h2>WordPress release updates</h2>



<p>February was an eventful month for WordPress releases!</p>



<ul><li>WordPress maintenance releases — <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-6-1-maintenance-release/">version 5.6.1</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-6-2-maintenance-release/">version 5.6.2</a> — came out this in February. Update to the latest version directly from your WordPress dashboard or by <a href="https://wordpress.org/download/">downloading</a> it from WordPress.org.</li><li>Members of the Core team are working hard on WordPress 5.7, due in March. <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-7-beta-1/">Beta 1</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-7-beta-2/">Beta 2</a>, and <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-7-beta-3/">Beta 3</a> versions of WordPress 5.7 launched in February. The <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-7-release-candidate/">first</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/wordpress-5-7-release-candidate-2/">second</a> release candidates of WordPress 5.7 are also out! You can test the Beta versions and the release candidate by <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.6-beta2.zip">downloading them from WordPress.org</a> or using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin. To know more about WordPress 5.7, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/02/22/wordpress-5-7-ready-to-be-translated/">check out its field guide</a>.&nbsp;</li></ul>



<p>Want to contribute to upcoming WordPress releases? Join the WordPress <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW">#core</a> channel in the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">Make WordPress Slack</a> and follow the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">Core team blog</a>. The Core team hosts weekly 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. You can also contribute to WordPress 5.7 <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/02/22/wordpress-5-7-ready-to-be-translated/">by translating it into your local language</a>. Learn more on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/03/02/wordpress-5-7-translation-status-march-2-2020/">translation status post</a>.</p>



<h2>Gutenberg celebrates its 100th release with version 10</h2>



<p>The 100th release of the Gutenberg plugin — <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-0-february/">Version 10</a>,&nbsp; launched on February 17th, more than four years after the project was first announced at WordCamp US 2016. <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/reflecting-on-gutenbergs-100th-release/">Matias Ventura’s post</a> offers a bird’s eye view of the project over the last four years. Version 10 adds the basic pages block and makes the parent block selector visible in the block toolbar. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-9-9-5-february/">Version 9.9</a> of Gutenberg — coincidentally, the 99th release of the plugin, which is also the latest Gutenberg release that will be featured in WordPress 5.7, also came out in February. Key highlights of the release include custom icons and background colors in social icons, a redesigned options modal for blocks (which is now called block preferences), and text labels in the block toolbar.&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 <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">the Making WordPress Slack group</a>.</p>



<h2>Full Site Editing updates</h2>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/handbook/focuses/full-site-editing/">Full Site Editing (FSE)</a> is an exciting new WordPress feature that allows you to use blocks outside the post or page content. The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/01/21/big-picture-goals-2021/">main focus</a> of the Core team for 2021 is to merge FSE into WordPress core. Here’s the latest on the Full Site Editing project:&nbsp;</p>



<ul><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/02/18/fse-program-testing-call-2-build-a-homepage-with-site-editing-blocks/">second call for testing</a> as part of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/12/11/the-fse-outreach-program-is-officially-starting/">Full Site Editing outreach program</a> is out! To participate, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/02/18/fse-program-testing-call-2-build-a-homepage-with-site-editing-blocks/">check out the second testing call</a> on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/">Make/Test blog</a> and join the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/fse-outreach-experiment/">#fse-outreach-experiment</a> Slack channel. Deadline: March 5, 2021.</li><li>In case you missed participating in the FSE outreach program, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/02/04/fse-program-test-fse-anytime/">you can now test FSE anytime</a> —check out <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/handbook/full-site-editing-outreach-experiment/how-to-test-fse/">this handbook page on testing FSE</a> to learn more.</li><li>Contributor teams are asking for help&nbsp; from local WordPress Communities to support the FSE Project.<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/02/05/fse-program-connecting-with-local-communities/"> Learn more on how you can contribute</a>.</li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/tag/fse-answers/">Check out these answers</a> for the most common FSE questions on the Make/Test blog.</li><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>chanthaboune</a> has provided an update on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/01/full-site-editing-and-themes-where-things-are/">current status of the FSE and themes</a>.</li></ul>



<h2>Decision-making checklist for in-person meetups</h2>



<p>The Community Team <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/02/16/announcement-decision-making-checklist-for-in-person-meetups-now-available/">has published handbook pages and a decision-making checklist for organizers</a> to restart in-person meetups at areas where it is safe to do so (e.g., countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and Taiwan, where there are lower COVID-19 risks). However, WordPress meetups and WordCamps in most parts of the world will remain online due to COVID-19.</p>



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



<h2>Further Reading</h2>



<ul><li>The Polyglots team has <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/02/09/proposal-call-for-volunteers-polyglots-training-working-group/">kicked-off a proposal to create a working group of contributors </a>to develop training resources for translation contributors.</li><li>The Meta team is actively <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2021/02/01/call-for-feedback-automated-theme-testing/">working on a tool</a> to help the Themes team automate the theme testing process. The team has already shipped a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-review-action">proof-of-concept of the Theme Review Action tool</a> to test the process and is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2021/02/01/call-for-feedback-automated-theme-testing/">looking for feedback</a>. The Meta team is also working on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2021/02/19/reducing-the-plugin-review-teams-workload-through-automation/">reducing the Plugin team’s workload by improving the code scanner tool</a> used for scanning plugins.</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/02/24/meeting-notes-matt-josepha-and-theme-review-team/">Themes team met with the WordPress project leadership team (Matt Mullenweg and Josepha Haden)</a> about improving the Theme directory. They decided to reframe the theme review process by adding “review guard rails” with automated tooling.</li><li>The Plugin Review Team reiterated that <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/plugins/2021/02/16/reminder-forked-premium-plugins-are-not-permitted/">forked premium plugins are not allowed in the Plugin directory.</a>&nbsp;</li><li>After three weekends of celebrating WordPress, <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp India 2021</a> concluded on February 15. <a href="https://prague.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp Prague 2021</a> took place on February 27. WordCamp India <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/watch-now/">videos are already available</a>, and videos of both camps will soon be uploaded to WordPress.tv.&nbsp;</li><li>Several online WordCamps were scheduled this month. <a href="https://centroamerica.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp Centroamérica</a>, <a href="https://greece.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp Greece</a>, and <a href="https://neo.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp North East Ohio</a> are scheduled for April 2021. <a href="https://japan.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp Japan</a> takes place in June and has opened-up their <a href="https://japan.wordcamp.org/2021/call-for-speakers-is-now-open/">call for speakers in English and Japanese</a>. Meanwhile, the inaugural <a href="https://cochabamba.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp Cochabamba (Bolivia)</a> runs in July!.</li><li>The Community Team wants <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/02/25/proposal-to-improve-the-organizing-experience-for-online-wordcamps/">feedback on how to improve online WordCamps</a>. The team has also announced a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/02/18/proposal-2021-global-community-sponsorship-program/">revamped 2021 Global Community sponsorship program</a> to support online events.</li><li>The Design Team is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/02/03/review-feedback-request-ux-for-learn-wordpress-org/">reviewing the user experience</a> for <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">learn.wordpress.org</a>. Please share any <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/02/03/review-feedback-request-ux-for-learn-wordpress-org/">design-feedback that you have as comments on the post</a>.</li><li>The Accessibility Team is working on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/02/28/accessibility-team-meeting-notes-february-26-2021/">publishing the updated accessibility standards document </a>(with regard to WCAG 2.1 changes) alongside the WordPress version 5.7 release. The team has also <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/02/28/accessibility-teams-goals-for-wordpress-5-8-and-beyond/">started brainstorming goals for WordPress 5.8</a> and beyond.&nbsp;</li><li>The Support Team is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/02/rethinking-the-master-list/">rethinking the use of the master list</a> used for troubleshooting recurring issues. The team is also <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/02/removing-plugin-and-theme-names-used-as-topic-tags-on-the-forums/">removing plugin/theme names used as topic tags</a> in forums.</li><li>The Training Team has <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/03/02/march-2021-sprint-planning/">kicked off their March 2021 sprint planning</a> to work on their goals.</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/feature-notifications/">WP Notify project</a> working group (which is working toward a better notification system for&nbsp; WordPress) has completed the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/wp-notify/wiki/Requirements-(v1)">first version of the requirements document</a>, and officially kicked off <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/09/wp-notify-meeting-notes-february-8-2021/">active development of the feature plugin</a>. Contact the team in the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C2K1C71FE">#feature-notifications</a> Slack channel if you would like to contribute. You can start by reviewing the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/wp-notify/issues">list of the current issues</a>.</li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/people-of-wordpress-pooja-derashri/">Pooja Derashri of India</a> was featured in February&#8217;s <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/category/heropress/">People of WordPress</a> series. A cross-team initiative led by the Marketing Team with support from <a href="https://heropress.com/">HeroPress</a>, the series aims to highlight lesser-known stories of WordPress contributors. The Contributor Story series is collecting new features. If you are an active contributor to a WordPress.org team or a local WordCamp, contact the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/">Marketing Team</a> in the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0GKJ7TFA">#marketing</a> Slack channel for more information.</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>.</em></p>



<p><em>The Month in WordPress post series is a collective effort, and it would not be possible without contributions from different members of the WordPress Community. Starting this month, we would like to credit and thank all individuals that support this effort with their contributions. I would like to thank the following folks for their contributions to February&#8217;s Month in WordPress: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/adityakane/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>adityakane</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaion07/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>chaion07</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/courtneypk/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>courtneypk</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kristastevens/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>kristastevens</a></em> <em>and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>psykro</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:"Wed, 03 Mar 2021 16:00:41 +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: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:84:"WPTavern: Recreating the Music Artist WordPress Theme Homepage With the Block 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=113164";s: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:213:"https://wptavern.com/recreating-the-music-artist-wordpress-theme-homepage-with-the-block-editor?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=recreating-the-music-artist-wordpress-theme-homepage-with-the-block-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:7940:"<p class="has-drop-cap">One of my favorite activities each week is to peruse the latest themes to land in the WordPress theme directory. Often, there are intriguing design concepts. However, much of the time, I am disappointed to learn that homepage designs of many rely on theme options instead of the block editor.</p>



<p>While the editor has several design limitations, theme authors have tons of room to explore. It has enough power to pull off some of these custom homepage designs with far less code work.</p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/music-artist/">Music Artist</a> was one of the latest themes to catch my eye. I loved the large hero area and several elements of the theme&rsquo;s design. After installing it, I realized the homepage layout was handled through theme options. However, the theme author could have built this page entirely out of blocks and wrapped each section or even the entire design into block patterns.</p>



<p>This is all doable with the block editor.</p>



<p>So that I am practicing what I am preaching, I took a couple of hours and recreated the homepage demo for the theme directly from the block editor. No code required. There were a few tricky pieces, which I will get into. However, it was not that hard to build and could have been made easier if the theme supported the block editor.</p>



<p>The plan was to replicate the custom page with the Music Artist theme installed. However, the theme&rsquo;s lack of block support meant that some things were fundamentally broken. Instead, I activated a theme with design similarities, such as fonts and colors. Because I already knew <a href="https://wptavern.com/ariele-lite-is-a-fun-and-refreshing-theme-for-wordpress-bloggers">Ariele Lite worked with the block editor</a>, it made sense to see if I could build with it. It proved to be a solid foundation.</p>



<p>The following is a comparison of the original Music Artist theme homepage (first) and a recreation using blocks via the <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/ariele-lite/">Ariele Lite</a> theme (second):</p>



<ul><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/music-artist-original-scaled.jpg"><img /></a>Original Music Artist Homepage</li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ariel-music-artist-scaled.jpg"><img /></a>Block-Designed Homepage</li></ul>



<p>There are obviously differences in spacing, colors, typography, and other elements. Much of this comes down to stylistic choices by the theme designers. Given more time and modifications via a plugin like <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorplus/">Editor Plus</a>, I could have adjusted this enough to get a closer replica. However, my goal was to stick as close as possible as I could to core WordPress. Technically, I have the latest version of the Gutenberg plugin installed, so there might be a few items that have yet to land in WordPress.</p>



<p>For this experiment, I used:</p>



<ul><li>WordPress 5.7 Beta</li><li>Gutenberg 10.1 Beta</li><li>Ariele Lite 1.0.8</li><li>Editor Plus 2.6</li></ul>



<p>I only needed Editor Plus to make a couple of margin adjustments on the Group block. I could have left it alone, but I wanted to reduce some of the spacing between sections on the page to get a closer recreation. In the future, we will see more spacing controls in WordPress, so I considered this a fair trade-off.</p>



<p>This experiment is to show theme authors that they can build their custom designs with the block system. Dropping old-school theme options means a lot less code work for developers, allowing them to focus more on styling. End-users also benefit from more flexibility, such as adding custom elements or removing parts they do not want. That does not even include the style options on the individual block level.</p>



<p>The secondary purpose is to show users that they can create some of these homepages without code. The block editor and a well-rounded, block-ready theme can get you pretty far.</p>



<h2>Recreating the Music Artist Homepage</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Starting with a base of Ariele Lite meant that the design was boxed. However, the theme has a custom &ldquo;Blank Canvas&rdquo; page template that lets users design the entire page.</p>



<p>There were elements I could not recreate entirely because of limitations with the block editor. Other parts were issues or design choices coming from the theme.</p>



<p>The following is a general overview of how I accomplished building out each section of the homepage. I will skip over parts like adding colors and changing font sizes while focusing on the layout-related concepts.</p>



<h3>Hero Section</h3>



<img />



<p>WordPress&rsquo;s Cover block remains one of my favorite blocks. It allows users to create hero sections without much work. I grabbed the background image from the original demo and plopped it in. I had taken the first real step down this journey.</p>



<p>Then, I added a Heading block, adjusting its size a bit. I followed it with a Spacer and Social Icons block.</p>



<p>I immediately hit two snags. The first was that WordPress does not include an iTunes social icon. I was unable to find an open issue on the Gutenberg repository for this. Perhaps it is not an oft-requested feature. The second issue was that the Social Icons block does not output the social network labels, so I could not replicate that part of the design.</p>



<h3>Discography Section</h3>



<img />



<p>There are a few ways to handle this section. Assuming the albums listed are a custom post type, whatever plugin these albums came from would ideally have a custom block for outputting them. Users could also use the Latest Posts block if these are blog posts or the upcoming Query block.</p>



<p>For simplicity, I decided to add a Columns block and drop three linked images in.</p>



<h3>Media and Text Section</h3>



<img />



<p>My plan for this section was to use the core Media &amp; Text block. However, it only supports self-hosted media. There was no way for me to embed a YouTube video.</p>



<p>Instead, I went with a Columns block. In the left column, I dropped a YouTube video URL. On the right, I added Heading, Paragraph, and Buttons blocks.</p>



<h3>Videos Section</h3>



<img />



<p>This was a relatively simple section to recreate. For the layout, it took only a Heading block followed by a Columns block. Then, I grabbed a couple of video links from YouTube and pasted the URLs into the editor.</p>



<h3>Latest Posts Section</h3>



<img />



<p>This was the part of the layout that I had the most trouble with. WordPress provides the Latest Posts block, which can be set in a grid. However, Ariele Lite did not correctly handle the columns.</p>



<p>So, I cheated a bit.</p>



<p>I switched to a block-based theme that supports the upcoming Full Site Editing feature. Then, I dropped in a Query block to get more control over the columns of posts. Afterward, I switched back to the Ariele Lite theme.</p>



<p>The original design could be done with the current Latest Posts block, so this is not a block-editor problem.</p>



<h3>Footer Sidebar Section</h3>



<img />



<p>Technically, the footer sidebar is outside the scope of the homepage design. It is a part of the theme&rsquo;s footer across the entire site. However, I decided to add it since I was already on a roll.</p>



<p>This section requires the Columns block. From that point, it is a matter of dropping in a Heading block for each column. I added a Paragraph, Calendar, and Gallery block to recreate the three &ldquo;widgets.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Ariele Lite&rsquo;s Calendar block design works better on a light-colored background. It was a small pain point that I overlooked. In the long term, WordPress should provide design controls on blocks that are missing them.</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, 02 Mar 2021 22:52:15 +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:53:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.7 Release Candidate 2";s: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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9829";s: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:69:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/wordpress-5-7-release-candidate-2/";s: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:2677:"<p>The second release candidate for WordPress 5.7 is now available! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f389.png" alt="🎉" class="wp-smiley" /></p>



<p>You can test the WordPress 5.7 release candidate in two ways:</p>



<ul><li>Try the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a>&nbsp;plugin (choose the “Bleeding edge” channel and Beta/RC Only” stream options)</li><li>Or&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.7-RC2.zip">download the release candidate here (zip)</a>.</li></ul>



<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the Beta/RC releases and gave feedback. Testing for bugs is a critical part of polishing every release and a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>



<h2>Plugin and Theme Developers</h2>



<p>Please test your plugins and themes against WordPress 5.7 and update the&nbsp;<em>Tested up to</em>&nbsp;version in the readme file to 5.7. If you find compatibility problems, please be sure to post to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/">support forums</a>,&nbsp;so those can be figured out before the final release.</p>



<p>The&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/23/wordpress-5-7-field-guide">WordPress 5.7 Field Guide</a>&nbsp;will give you a more detailed dive into the major changes.</p>



<h2>How to Help</h2>



<p>Do you speak a language other than English?&nbsp;<a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev">Help us translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a></p>



<p><em><strong>If you think you’ve found a bug</strong>, you can post to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta">Alpha/Beta area</a>&nbsp;in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/">file one on WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find&nbsp;<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major">a list of known bugs</a>.</em></p>



<p><em>Props to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecarbis/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>lukecarbis</a> for the haiku and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>audrasjb</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>hellofromtonya</a> for peer reviewing!</em></p>



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



<p><em>Five-seven next week<br />So test your plugins and themes<br />Update your readme</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, 02 Mar 2021 20:49:55 +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:"Ebonie Butler";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:71:"Akismet: Version 4.1.9 of the Akismet WordPress Plugin is 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:31:"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2112";s: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://blog.akismet.com/2021/03/02/version-4-1-9-of-the-akismet-wordpress-plugin-is-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:544:"<p>Version 4.1.9 of <a href="http://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/">the Akismet plugin for WordPress</a> is now available. It contains the following changes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Improvements to how Akismet handles checking pingbacks in XML-RPC multicall requests.</li>
</ul>
<p>To upgrade, visit the Updates page of your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions. If you need to download the plugin zip file directly, links to all versions are available in <a href="http://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/">the WordPress plugins directory</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, 02 Mar 2021 18:13:51 +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:17:"Christopher Finke";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:65:"WPTavern: Editor Plus 2.6 Adds Block Pattern and Template Library";s: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=113093";s: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/editor-plus-2-6-adds-block-pattern-and-template-library?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=editor-plus-2-6-adds-block-pattern-and-template-library";s: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:6226:"<p class="has-drop-cap">A couple of weeks ago, Munir Kamal released version 2.6 of his <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorplus/">Editor Plus</a> WordPress plugin. The latest version does not add a slew of features as its users have seen in the past. However, it introduces one major upgrade. The new version lets users insert templates from <a href="https://gutenberghub.com/">Gutenberg Hub&rsquo;s</a> growing library directly from the block editor.</p>



<p>I first asked Kamal whether he would include a template inserter in his plugin in July 2020. &ldquo;I will possibly include a direct inserter for templates and blocks in the Editor Plus plugin,&rdquo; he said at the time, not giving away too much.</p>



<p>He had just launched <a href="https://wptavern.com/copy-and-paste-editor-blocks-via-gutenberghubs-block-library">Gutenberg Hub&rsquo;s block library</a> (<em>really, something more akin to block patterns</em>). The system was useful but far from perfect. Users could copy a JSON code snippet and import it via Editor Plus. This was a slight improvement over copying separate block HTML and CSS snippets from an earlier iteration of a <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-hub-launches-collection-of-100-block-templates">block template system</a> he had launched last March. It was still not an ideal system, but anyone paying attention could see the possibilities.</p>



<p>Over the months since that launch, Kamal continued to build more tools into Editor Plus. He launched a separate <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-hub-launches-landing-page-templates-directory">landing page template directory</a>. And, he continued adding more items to Gutenberg Hub&rsquo;s library.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I am already working on adding a Template Inserter in my EditorPlus plugin,&rdquo; he said when we talked in September. &ldquo;It will allow users to browse and insert these templates directly from Gutenberg without leaving the website.&rdquo;</p>



<p>I had already been hounding him for months, and he knew that I would ask. He was looking for feedback, not wanting to push something out before he felt that it worked.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Earlier, I created a template inserter similar to other blocks plugins, but later I changed my mind and thought that I should integrate with the Gutenberg Patterns API and load the templates into the &lsquo;patterns&rsquo; panel in the block inserter,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But, I am having a few issues and thinking about going back to the original idea to have a Templates button on the top toolbar that opens a popup window to browse and filter templates that users can insert on a click.&rdquo;</p>



<p>It was an almost methodical process toward building a massive body of work in a year. As is often the case with Kamal&rsquo;s work, he quietly pushed out version 2.6 of his plugin. Even without much fanfare, he has managed to surpass 4,000 active installs, doubling its number in the past few months.</p>



<p>Now all of the plugin&rsquo;s users have direct access to Gutenberg Hub&rsquo;s section patterns and landing page templates.</p>



<h2>The Template Library</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Editor Plus 2.6 adds a new &ldquo;Library&rdquo; button to the block editor&rsquo;s post header toolbar. It pops up a simple overlay of the plugin&rsquo;s layout choices.</p>



<p>Users can insert a &ldquo;Pattern&rdquo; or a &ldquo;Template,&rdquo; as they are called through the plugin&rsquo;s UI. Patterns are pre-designed sections that end-users can use to piece together larger page layouts. Templates are full-blown page designs, ready for deployment after content customization. Many of the patterns are present in the templates. It all comes down to how users want to build their pages &mdash; piecemeal vs. having everything in place.</p>



<img />Modal showing block templates.



<p>Of course, everything is editable. Users can insert a template then proceed to removing the bits they do not need and adding custom blocks of their choosing.</p>



<p>The overlay that appears after clicking the Library button allows users to select a pattern or template. This method is becoming increasingly common among block-related plugins. Where the Gutenberg project has <a href="https://wptavern.com/proposal-to-create-an-expanded-view-or-overlay-for-the-block-patterns-inserter">fallen behind in its patterns UI</a>, plugin authors are filling the gaps and creating better user experiences. Genesis Blocks, for example, adds a similar <a href="https://wptavern.com/genesis-block-theme-beta-studiopress-pursuing-a-block-first-future">overlay for choosing layouts</a>. Patterns, templates, layouts, or whatever-you-want-to-call-them all need room to breathe instead of being relegated to a width-restrained flyout. What makes sense on mobile does not always create an ideal experience on larger screens.</p>



<img />Viewing a photography template.



<p>Once a user finds a pattern or template to insert, they can click on it to view a larger version. If they are satisfied, they merely need to click the &ldquo;Add&rdquo; button to insert it into the content canvas.</p>



<p>An important caveat is that what you see in the library is not <em>exactly</em> what you will get. The library uses screenshots to showcase the patterns and templates. These images are created while using a different theme than what a particular user has installed on their site. Things like fonts will match whatever theme is installed. Generally speaking, the overall designs should match up fine.</p>



<p>In the future, perhaps Editor Plus will handle the pattern and template previews with live instances instead of screenshots.</p>



<img />Cafe-type full landing template.



<p>The plugin breaks its library down into 15 categories, such as Arts &amp; Entertainment, Photography, and Real Estate. It is almost a bit excessive. Some contain only one or two templates. Combining categories like Home Services, Professional Services, and Retail into an all-encompassing Business group could help curb the dizzying effects of <em>too much choice</em>.</p>



<p>The new library in Editor Plus 2.6 is a welcome addition. Overall, it worked well in testing.</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, 01 Mar 2021 21:35:12 +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:79:"WPTavern: Elementor Raises Eyebrows with Google Ads Targeting Full-Site Editing";s: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=112932";s: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/elementor-raises-eyebrows-with-google-ads-targeting-full-site-editing?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elementor-raises-eyebrows-with-google-ads-targeting-full-site-editing";s: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:6143:"<p>WordPress&rsquo; <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-passes-40-market-share-of-alexa-top-10-million-websites">growing market share</a> is fueling a continual influx of new users but also a higher level of scrutiny around advertising. Companies with large advertising budgets target this segment of consumers, because many who are new to WordPress need help hosting and creating their websites.</p>



<p>Last week Bluehost pulled an advertisement that <a href="https://wptavern.com/bluehost-misuses-wordpress-trademark-reigniting-controversy-over-recommended-hosts-page">misused WordPress&rsquo; trademark</a>. The company&rsquo;s PR department has not responded to our request for comment, but onlookers have noted that this isn&rsquo;t the first time Bluehost has floated questionable ads. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=all&country=ALL&view_all_page_id=235969756424648&sort_data%5Bdirection%5D=desc&sort_data%5Bmode%5D=relevancy_monthly_grouped">Multiple Facebook campaigns</a>, dating back several years, include trademark abuses, as well as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCURv2b4zbEiwN626-T321HQ">active campaigns</a> on YouTube in various markets. </p>



<p>In another advertising-related matter, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/elementor/">Elementor</a>, a popular page builder used by more than five million websites, has caught some attention recently for its Google ads that target &ldquo;full-site editing.&rdquo; Birgit Pauli-Haack, publisher of the <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/">Gutenberg Times</a>, pointed out the ads last week in the <a href="https://poststatus.com/">Post Status</a> Slack community. </p>



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



<p>&ldquo;I have no trouble if Elementor and Beaver Builder duke it out on the Google Ads,&rdquo; Pauli-Haack said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s certainly fair game. Why I think it&rsquo;s shady in regards to WordPress? It&rsquo;s the searcher&rsquo;s intent diverted, in a misleading way. <a href="https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/07/17/google-advertising#SEO%20vs%20PPC">30% of Google Searchers</a> do not know that the first results are paid ads and are led astray. Information about Full Site Editing has people already confused and worried. It doesn&rsquo;t help if someone hijacks the new feature&rsquo;s keyword. WordPress is also an easy target because the Foundation certainly doesn&rsquo;t have any money to throw at the problem to bid higher on the keywords.&rdquo;</p>



<p>At first glance the keyword targeting may appear to skirt the line of ethical advertising, but Elementor representative Ben Pines claims the company is simply advertising for <a href="https://elementor.com/help/full-site-editing/">a feature set of the same name</a>. It enables customers to edit the header, footer, archive and single templates, and page or post content on the same screen.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Our google ads vary to provide the most value for users in the search,&rdquo; Pines said. &ldquo;This one is no different. This doesn&rsquo;t represent any new strategy. We released full site editing back in March 2020.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Pines referenced a <a href="https://github.com/elementor/elementor/issues/10718">beta release post</a> dated March 1, 2020, which referred to Elementor&rsquo;s &ldquo;groundbreaking&nbsp;Full Site Editing&nbsp;feature.&rdquo; WordPress&rsquo; Full-Site Editing project predates this release by at least a year. </p>



<p>&ldquo;Full site editing is a very generic industry name and is a fundamental capability in website building tools, searched by many of our users,&rdquo; Pines said.</p>



<p>When asked if Elementor is considering changing the name to avoid confusion with the core WordPress project, Pines said, &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t see any potential confusion. Elementor&rsquo;s capabilities and ads are clear.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Others involved in the conversation on Post Status Slack said this type of advertising seems to be standard practice in the world of ad buying, since they are buying based on relevant keywords. Competitors also routinely purchase each other&rsquo;s keywords. </p>



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



<p>&ldquo;Instead of supporting, it is undermining the project,&rdquo; Pauli-Haack said. </p>



<p>She and other participants in the conversation about the ads found it hard to believe that the strategy is not intentional. Some were also irked by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=political_and_issue_ads&country=US&id=471775237521825&view_all_page_id=1595730204071266">other Elementor ads</a> running on Google and Facebook that attempt to capitalize on users&rsquo; frustration with WordPress.</p>



<p>Elementor&rsquo;s advertising appears to be a self-preservation strategy, as Gutenberg&rsquo;s full site editing capabilities will inevitably ring the death knell for page builders that don&rsquo;t build on top of the core standard. Third-party page builders will need to overcome severe <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenbergs-faster-performance-is-eroding-page-builders-dominance">performance deficiencies</a> in order to remain competitive.</p>



<p>Understanding where full-site editing is heading is critical for WordPress site owners who are adopting new tools and workflows that will be future-proof with core changes. During this transition many will likely be googling for solutions that will enable them to be on the ground running when core introduces its full-site editing MVP in WordPress 5.8.</p>



<p>Participants in the conversation noted that the Elementor team is not very involved in contributing to the open source project. This may be why the team claims they cannot see any confusion in targeting Google ads at users searching &ldquo;full-site editing.&rdquo;  </p>



<p>&ldquo;We actively contribute to WP and its ecosystem through sponsoring events, translations, accessibility tools and more,&rdquo; Pines said. &ldquo;We are looking to further our contribution even more this year and are on the look out for a dedicated team member.&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:"Mon, 01 Mar 2021 21:06:52 +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: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:56:"WPTavern: Chrome is Testing a Follow Button for 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=112943";s: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:157:"https://wptavern.com/chrome-is-testing-a-follow-button-for-websites?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chrome-is-testing-a-follow-button-for-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:2322:"<p><a href="https://www.google.com/chrome/canary/">Chrome Canary</a>, the browser&rsquo;s nightly build for developers, has been testing a new Follow button, as spotted on Android by the publishers of <a href="https://www.chromestory.com/2021/02/chrome-follow-button/"><em>Chrome Story</em></a>. The button appears on the homepage of a site, as well as in the browser menu:</p>



<ul><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img /></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img /></li></ul>



<p>Chrome Story speculates that it may be integrated with Google&rsquo;s Discover feature, allowing sites to be easily added to that feed. Others speculated more broadly that Google may be building a replacement for Google Reader.</p>



<p>Any whisper of Google Reader being resurrected always causes a bit of a stir, as many loyal users are still in mourning for the beloved RSS reader, which was discontinued in 2013. Linking this new Follow feature with Discover may be the closest Google gets to bringing it back. A full-featured RSS reader will likely still be a better option to have full control of your feeds and how they display. However, it may be possible for developers to build tools that fetch and aggregate feeds captured by the Follow button.</p>



<p>Before the explosion of social media sites, RSS buttons were prominently featured on WordPress blogs. Having the ability to follow a site for new updates, without having to check back manually, was an important feature if you wanted to be found in the nascent blogosphere. RSS is still alive and well, even if following a curated list of sites isn&rsquo;t the primary way people get their news today. Many internet users don&rsquo;t know the first thing about subscribing to feeds but Google&rsquo;s new Follow feature might make the idea more approachable.</p>



<p>Canary is unstable, but if want to check out features on the bleeding edge of Chrome development, you can install <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chrome.canary&hl=en_GB&gl=US">Canary for Android</a> alongside your regular browser and choose when you launch it. At the time of publishing, the Follow button was not in the latest build but Google sometimes puts features in and pulls them out while they are in development. We will be following to see how this takes shape.</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, 27 Feb 2021 02:40:49 +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: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:68:"WPTavern: Ask the Bartender: What Happens When Block Markup Changes?";s: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=112921";s: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/ask-the-bartender-what-happens-when-block-markup-changes?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ask-the-bartender-what-happens-when-block-markup-changes";s: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:6837:"<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>I&rsquo;m a developer that has started developing with Gutenberg recently. There are a bunch of amazing benefits and features, but there are also a ton of drawbacks, inconsistencies, as well as absolutely awful and outdated documentation.</p><p>One of the worst aspects of Gutenberg from a developer perspective has been block validation. Consider the following scenario. I build a custom (non-dynamic) JavaScript-based block, and a CMS editor adds the block to thousands of pages. What happens when or if I need to update the markup of the block?</p><p>By default, all of the blocks will enter a state of invalidation and not reflect on the front-end of the site. The CMS editor would have to go into thousands of pages and manually click the button which allows the block to be recovered.</p><p>Block deprecations have been suggested as a way to resolve this, but the API is poorly documented, confusing, and seems like it would become unmaintainable in the long term with more than a few deprecations.</p><p>Shouldn&rsquo;t there either be a way for block developers to opt-out of the validation process or a global way to recover blocks?</p><cite>PJ</cite></blockquote>



<p>You are certainly not holding anything back, PJ. While much of this is a bit more technical than I typically like to cover here at the Tavern, I decided to reach out to Riad Benguella, one of the lead Gutenberg developers, for more insight into the situation.</p>



<p>Before diving into his response, I have given one aspect of your question some thought. There are times when developers need to deprecate old markup and move onto something new. However, this should not happen often. Generally, it is a sign of poor architecture if the HTML needs to be overhauled regularly. This also leads to other issues, such as a third party not being able to maintain stylistic changes.</p>



<p>When developing blocks or any type of application that outputs front-end code, you need to think about what that should look like today and in 10 years. What happens if a user adds some custom CSS to style your block and the block&rsquo;s HTML structure has changed? From their perspective, your block update has broken their site. The same could be said for another plugin that extends your plugin in some way.</p>



<p>Ask any theme author how frustrating it is any time Gutenberg/WordPress changes its block output. While it has improved in the last couple of years, styling blocks for the editor and front-end has often been a maintenance nightmare.</p>



<p>As a developer, I have always tried to think through any real-world consequences of making these changes from a user&rsquo;s perspective. That should happen from Day #1, not after you have released your project.</p>



<p>Doing this adds time to the early project when you are just trying to get it out the door and into users&rsquo; hands. This is where taking a pre-release step back helps. Get away from the computer. Go on a walk. Think about the architecture of your project and whether it is ideal for the long term.</p>



<p>&ldquo;For the block versioning/updates, it&rsquo;s indeed one of the areas of the Gutenberg APIs where we needed to make architectural tradeoffs, and we decided to favor the user experience over the developer&rsquo;s,&rdquo; said Benguella.</p>



<p>Regardless of your development method, following the project&rsquo;s approach of a user-first experience will help in the long term.</p>



<p>&ldquo;To understand the problem properly, one needs to understand how blocks work and are edited,&rdquo; said Benguella. &ldquo;Block instances are a JSON object, and the editor UI manipulate that JSON, but in order to stay backward compatible, to ensure the preservation of user&rsquo;s content in the most readable format, and to embrace web standards as much as possible, the block editor doesn&rsquo;t store the JSON object but an HTML serialization of it in <code>post_content</code>.&rdquo;</p>



<p>That serialization is parsed and converted to JSON when the editor reloads the content to edit again. In the final stages of parsing, it is up to the block author to decide how to save and parse the object.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Now, imagine if a user altered the saved HTML (serialization) and just put any random content there,&rdquo; said Benguella. &ldquo;The block might not be able to parse the HTML properly because it doesn&rsquo;t match its expectations (what has been defined by the block author), which means recreating that JSON object in order to be manipulated won&rsquo;t be possible at this point.&rdquo;</p>



<p>When this happens, the block editor provides the user with an interface to make an informed decision. They can attempt to &ldquo;force parse&rdquo; the block JSON or convert it to an HTML or Classic block.</p>



<img />Invalid block after altering the markup.



<p>This same type of invalidation can happen when a plugin developer updates their block. However, instead of the saved HTML changing, the developer changed the &ldquo;expectations&rdquo; of the block &mdash; altering how it gets saved and parsed.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Which is why we ask block developers to provide block deprecations representing the old markup of the same block,&rdquo; said Benguella. &ldquo;Deprecations can also be thought of as valid, alternate sources for the same block. This allows the editor to parse the old markup when loaded and save the new markup back if an update is made to the block.&rdquo;</p>



<p>WordPress has <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/developers/block-api/block-deprecation/">block deprecation documentation</a>. However, it is not thorough. The best source of seeing real-world deprecations is looking through Gutenberg&rsquo;s <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/tree/HEAD/packages/block-library/src">block library</a>. Deprecated blocks have a <code>deprecated.js</code> file.</p>



<p>Benguella said that this system can be frustrating for block authors. This is especially evident in a development environment when making changes. This has lead developers to ask for a method of disabling the validation algorithm.</p>



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we don&rsquo;t want to provide at the moment because, as explained above, the validation is also important when markup changes for another reason (external edit, another editor, etc.),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So it may cause content loss for users without them being aware of anything. The preference right now is given to user awareness.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The team has improved the validation system over time, allowing for small changes that do not break the block state. There is also an <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/21703">open ticket for improvements</a> in the future.</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, 26 Feb 2021 16:53:12 +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: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:79:"WPTavern: The Gutenberg WordPress Plugin To Introduce a Table of Contents 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=112826";s: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/the-gutenberg-wordpress-plugin-to-introduce-a-table-of-contents-block?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-gutenberg-wordpress-plugin-to-introduce-a-table-of-contents-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:4589:"<p class="has-drop-cap">What was once likely viewed as plugin territory is now a reality as part of the Gutenberg project. Yesterday, the team <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/21234">merged a pull request for a Table of Contents</a> (TOC) block into the plugin&rsquo;s codebase. It was a contribution driven by developer Zebulan Stanphill, starting nearly a year ago.</p>



<p>The TOC block may feel a bit niche. However, there is obviously a need for it. There are at least two standalone block plugins to handle the feature, and several block library plugins cover it. Last week, a <a href="https://wptavern.com/ask-the-bartender-frustrations-and-finding-the-right-wordpress-block-plugins">reader asked about such a solution</a>. Soon, the Gutenberg plugin and, eventually, WordPress will have him and others covered.</p>



<p>The block is not currently available in the plugin on WordPress.org. It has not officially shipped yet. To test it, users will either need to clone the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg">Gutenberg GitHub repository</a> or grab a ZIP file of the <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">nightly beta</a>. It should land in Gutenberg 10.1 in the coming weeks for those who want to wait.</p>



<p>Including these more-niche blocks is a good direction for the project &mdash; a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/28261">Footnotes block</a> is also a possibility. While it can feel like stepping on the toes of plugin developers, WordPress needs to branch out. There is plenty of room for third-party devs to build other blocks. The experience is degraded when users have to sift through multitudes of plugins to find something core to their writing process. There are limits on what blocks should ultimately be included in the platform. However, WordPress is publishing software. Advanced writing features, such as TOCs and footnotes, belong firmly in the default setup.</p>



<h2>The Table of Contents Block</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">This block is a bit different than other blocks users are accustomed to. A TOC is a list of all the headings in a document. In the case of WordPress and webpages in general, a TOC links to those headings. This allows users to jump around the page. The block depends on other blocks in the content, a slightly new concept for the block editor.</p>



<p>When first adding the block to an empty page, it will display a helper message.</p>



<img />Initial TOC block when no Heading blocks are present.



<p>Users must begin adding Heading blocks in their post to make use of the TOC block. Once they are added, each Heading is shown as a list item. The block also properly nests list items for sub-headings &mdash; an H3 goes into a sub-list under an H2, for example.</p>



<img />Headings become list items in the TOC block.



<p>This is the moment things become more complex. On the web, a TOC needs to link to those headings so that readers can jump to the section they want to view. Right now, this does not happen automatically. Perhaps it will do so in the future, but users must manually add HTML anchors to make the linking part work. <em>Ideally, the initial helper message would link to the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/page-jumps/">documentation page</a> on how to do this for new users.</em></p>



<p>Adding HTML anchors is easy. However, it could be a ton of work for long posts with dozens of headings.</p>



<p>To add the anchor, users must click on each Heading and navigate to the block options panel. Under the Advanced tab, enter a unique ID. It is easiest to name this after the text itself. A Heading block with &ldquo;A New World&rdquo; gets an anchor of <code>a-new-world</code>. This also helps when others are deep linking into posts, creating prettier URLs, such as <code>yoursite.com/blog/post-name/#a-new-world</code>.</p>



<img />Adding anchors to Heading blocks.



<p>The TOC block does not have any design settings. If users need to change the colors or other design-related elements, it is best to wrap it inside another block, such as Group or Cover.</p>



<img />Wrapping the TOC into a Group block.



<p>If adding a heading for the Group block or before the TOC block, it will be added to the list. It is best to use the Paragraph block as a <em>faux</em> heading and change the font size.</p>



<p>Overall, the block works well. Except for the manual insertion of anchors, it is a welcome addition. Perhaps a plugin author will come along and write the code to make it automatic.</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, 25 Feb 2021 21:49:20 +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:98:"WPTavern: Bluehost Misuses WordPress Trademark, Reigniting Controversy Over Recommended Hosts Page";s: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=112479";s: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:239:"https://wptavern.com/bluehost-misuses-wordpress-trademark-reigniting-controversy-over-recommended-hosts-page?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bluehost-misuses-wordpress-trademark-reigniting-controversy-over-recommended-hosts-page";s: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:12680:"<p><a href="https://www.bluehost.com/">Bluehost</a> was called out this week for misusing WordPress&rsquo; trademark, as the WordPress Foundation prohibits its use in advertising. The company has been featured on <a href="https://wordpress.org/hosting/">WordPress&rsquo; recommended hosting</a> page for the past 16 years, as one of a handful of hosts that have been arbitrarily selected based on an incomplete list of criteria.</p>



<p>The wording of the ad in this instance,<em> &ldquo;There is a reason WordPress officially recommends Bluehost more than any other hosting service,&rdquo;</em> was a visceral reminder to the hosting community of being excluded from the benefits that listing confers. </p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"We do not allow the use of the trademark in advertising, including AdSense/AdWords."<br />&ndash; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordPress?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WordPress</a> Foundation Trademark Policy <a href="https://t.co/0pO0z6uAdp">https://t.co/0pO0z6uAdp</a> <a href="https://t.co/NTNShWI2yg">pic.twitter.com/NTNShWI2yg</a></p>&mdash; Morten Wears a Mask (@mor10) <a href="https://twitter.com/mor10/status/1363967590733729793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>In response to the issue, WordPress&rsquo; Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy <a href="https://twitter.com/JosephaHaden/status/1364308731991781376">scheduled a call</a> with Bluehost to find a resolution. She provided the following statement after the call:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>This was flagged to me on Twitter, and I immediately reached out to learn more. Bluehost removed the ad proactively, and they scheduled a call with me and a representative of Automattic&nbsp;to understand the concerns being raised. As Matt <a href="https://robertjacobi.com/wordpress-org-hosting-and-trademark-rumors-answered.html">mentioned</a>, commercial use of the WordPress trademark is permitted, and Automattic can sub-license that use.</p></blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>From a WordPress project standpoint, Bluehost was swift to respond to this issue, and took immediate steps to better understand how the trademark and logo are allowed to be used. When mistakes like this happen, we ask companies to keep us informed about how the issue is resolved, and Bluehost has agreed to do that.</p></blockquote>



<p>Bluehost has not yet responded to our request for comment.</p>



<p>In the meantime, the incident reignited the controversy that has plagued <a href="https://wordpress.org/hosting/">WordPress&rsquo; recommended hosting page</a> for years. Continuing the conversation that started on Twitter, members of the <a href="https://poststatus.com/">Post Status</a> community pressed for more clarification in the club&rsquo;s #hosting channel.</p>



<p>In response to claims that inclusion on the page is a closed process, and that the selected hosts haven&rsquo;t changed in three years, Matt Mullenweg offered what is perhaps the most forthcoming response the community has seen on this topic: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>When the list is open, anyone can apply. I take 100% responsibility for the editorial, though in the past and future will have people help with testing hosts, and collating all the threads in the forums. I also get a fair number of people emailing me directly feedback about the hosts listed, and how the host follows up is part of my evaluation.</p><p>It&rsquo;s true the list of hosts hasn&rsquo;t been changed in a while. The current list is all in good standing. I stand by the long-term behavior and service of every company linked on that page. It is past-due for open applications again, but I have prioritized other work on .org.</p><p>No one can pay to be on the page, and there are no affiliate payments made for customers sent from that page. It&rsquo;s free, opinionated, and editorially driven. I do believe it drives many millions of year in business, which is why the potential for things like bribery or conflict is high if it were open to a larger group deciding who&rsquo;s on there.</p></blockquote>



<p>The hosting recommendations page exists to reduce barriers for new users looking to get started with WordPress without having to shop around among thousands of hosts. WordPress.org is not transparent about who makes the decisions regarding recommended hosts or what criteria is used. Because it benefits a select few very large companies who have dominated the recommendations for years with few changes, rumors abound. </p>



<p>Mullenweg&rsquo;s response confirms that currently there is no &ldquo;pay-to-play&rdquo; type of arrangement, but he did not say if this has always been the case. In the beginning, this page was called &ldquo;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050410080902/http://wordpress.org/hosting/">WordPress Hosting Partners</a>&rdquo; and included the following text: <em>&ldquo;Signing up through this page will help us finance WordPress.org&rsquo;s operations through partner deals.</em>&rdquo; That wording was changed in April 2005 to remove the reference to partners. However, previous versions of the page from years ago include what appear to be tracking or affiliate links for the hosts listed. For example, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070807011316/http://wordpress.org/hosting/">a version of the page from 2007</a> includes the following links:   </p>



<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070807011316/http://www.bluehost.com/track/wp/one">http://www.bluehost.com/track/wp/one</a></li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070807011316/http://www.anhosting.com/wordPress.aff.redirect.trk">http://www.anhosting.com/wordPress.aff.redirect.trk</a></li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070807011316/http://secure.hostican.com/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=wordpress&campaign=three">http://secure.hostican.com/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=wordpress&amp;campaign=three</a></li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070807011316/http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?automattic">http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?automattic</a></li></ul>



<p>According to the Internet Archive, 2009 was the last year that tracking ID&rsquo;s were appended to the links on the recommended hosts page. A few <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090701093034/http://wordpress.org/hosting/">examples from that year</a> include:</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090701093034/http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?automattic">http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?automattic</a></li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090701093034/http://mediatemple.net/go/ref/?affkey=YWZmaWxpYXRlPTIyUDNkSVFPeXU">http://mediatemple.net/go/ref/?affkey=YWZmaWxpYXRlPTIyUDNkSVFPeXU</a></li><li><a href="https://www.godaddy.com/hosting/wordpress-hosting.aspx?isc=wordpress2">https://www.godaddy.com/hosting/wordpress-hosting.aspx?isc=wordpress2</a></li></ul>



<p>The copy on the page hasn&rsquo;t changed much over recent years. It currently gives the following criteria to be listed but it doesn&rsquo;t specify why only three companies meet these standards:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>We&rsquo;ll be looking at this list several times a year, so keep an eye out for us re-opening the survey for hosts to submit themselves for inclusion. Listing is completely arbitrary, but includes criteria like: contributions to WordPress.org, size of customer base, ease of WP auto-install and auto-upgrades, avoiding GPL violations, design, tone, historical perception, using the correct logo, capitalizing WordPress correctly, not blaming us if you have a security issue, and up-to-date system software. </p></blockquote>



<p>With such a diverse hosting ecosystem supporting WordPress users around the world, it&rsquo;s difficult to understand why there aren&rsquo;t more companies included among these listings. The era when tracking links were included on this page was a different time before many things were formalized, but the community could stand to receive a transparent history of this page.  </p>



<p>&ldquo;To my knowledge, no one has ever paid to be on that page, and certainly no one has ever approached me about doing so,&rdquo; Josepha Haden Chomphosy said when asked about the process for getting listed.</p>



<p>Thousands of volunteer contributors are continually building and improving this software. It&rsquo;s only natural that the community is curious about who is benefiting from the project&rsquo;s hosting recommendations and the nature of those arrangements. Mullenweg estimates the impact of that page as &ldquo;many millions per year in business,&rdquo; but the process surrounding the selection of hosts is closed and not clearly outlined.</p>



<p>Following the incident with Bluehost, Mullenweg briefly elaborated on why Bluehost retains its position on the page despite some people reporting poor service:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Regarding Bluehost or other large hosts, there is an aspect of&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/">WordPress Utilitarianism</a>, any business will have some unhappy people, but a small % gets to a high absolute number at scale. I try to look at hosts that are doing the most good for the most number of people. Will definitely keep an eye on if anything with their approach to WP customers post-merger, but they also have a lot of good karma built up over a very long period of time. Bluehost, for example, does the best job I&rsquo;m aware of in keeping the largest number of WPs on the latest version, and deploying updates incredibly fast. (If another host does more, please let me know! GD I think has more sites, but fewer on latest version.)</p></blockquote>



<p>Another point of contention that regularly pops up is Automattic&rsquo;s exclusive commercial license for using the WordPress trademark. Mullenweg clarified why the company is in possession of this exclusive right after <a href="https://ma.tt/2010/09/wordpress-trademark/">Automattic donated it to the foundation</a>. He confirmed that Bluehost was not given permission to run the ad with the trademark:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>A common misunderstanding is that there is no commercial use of the WordPress trademark allowed. As some know, the trademark was originally held by Automattic, which donated it to the Foundation, and in return got an exclusive commercial license back. That commercial use can be sub-licensed by Automattic, and has been in the past. The ad that is bugging everyone was not approved, as far as I&rsquo;m aware, and that will resolve once everyone has had a chance to talk to each other. Automattic can lose its commercial license to the trademark if it is not a good steward. This license is a bit of an accident of history, but also an entirely fair criticism of Automattic having a special privilege to commercial use of the WordPress trademark (because it&rsquo;s true, vs most of what the company gets accused of). This&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://ma.tt/2010/09/wordpress-trademark/#comment-485223">happened in 2010</a>, and the growth of WP and the WP ecosystem has been incredibly strong since then so I think the idea of a for-profit and non-profit complementing each other has proven successful, and I think better than either would have done on their own. </p></blockquote>



<p>Mullenweg seems to recognize the friction that trademark matters can create in the community and said that he would change the naming of WordPress.com if he could go back in time.</p>



<p>&ldquo;If I could wave a magic wand and go back to 2004, though, it would be nice if .com and .org had distinct names &lsquo;before the dot,&rsquo; as it can be a source of confusion,&rdquo; he said.</p>



<p>These things can certainly be changed in the present but not without a severe blow to the benefits of Automattic&rsquo;s special privilege of commercial use. It would also impact the company&rsquo;s millions of users who call WordPress.com their home on the web. </p>



<p>In the interest of eliminating some of the confusion regarding conflicts of interest and commercial use of the trademark, a continual movement towards transparency will be required. WordPress.org&rsquo;s recommended hosts page is overdue for an update. Ideally, this page will provide clear guidelines about the process and criteria for inclusion before opening up applications again. </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, 25 Feb 2021 04:06:15 +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:78:"WPTavern: Build a Full WordPress Site via Block Patterns With the Hansen 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=112498";s: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/build-a-full-wordpress-site-via-block-patterns-with-the-hansen-theme?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=build-a-full-wordpress-site-via-block-patterns-with-the-hansen-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:5538:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">Earlier today, the WordPress theme directory welcomed its fourth block-based theme. Built by UXL Themes, <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/hansen/">Hansen</a> is one of the more stylish projects capable of working with the site editor in the Gutenberg plugin. The theme author also stepped it up a notch and included several block patterns.</p>



<p>I have written about how <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-7-7-ships-refreshed-ui-and-first-iteration-of-block-patterns">patterns will be a game-changer</a>. I have talked about the need for a <a href="https://wptavern.com/proposal-to-create-an-expanded-view-or-overlay-for-the-block-patterns-inserter">UI overhaul</a> to better expose them to users. And I have proposed that theme authors use the <a href="https://wptavern.com/armando-wordpress-theme-provides-insight-into-the-current-state-of-full-site-editing">pattern system instead of templates</a>, allowing users to build out full sections of their sites at the click of a button.</p>



<p>UXL Themes has done just that. Most patterns that we have seen thus far have been built primarily for post or page content. The Hansen theme takes that idea a step further and creates patterns for different site sections.</p>



<p><em>Want to try a different look for the header?</em> Just remove the old one and swap in another header pattern.</p>



<img />Inserting the dark header pattern.



<p><em>How about changing the look of your blog posts page?</em> The theme comes with two and three-column patterns for outputting the latest posts.</p>



<img />Inserting a two-column blog posts pattern.



<p>It also packages a Content and Sidebar pattern that is more suitable for single posts and pages.</p>



<p>I am still undecided on whether the patterns or template parts system is the ideal solution for this. Right now, patterns have a cleaner UI overall and can be categorized. Template parts might be easier to switch, but there is no way to group them (e.g., header templates, footer templates, etc.). Regardless of what becomes the <em>de facto</em> standard in the long term, we need more theme authors like UXL Themes experimenting with these concepts, seeing what works, and gathering user feedback.</p>



<p>The theme does not add much in the way of content patterns. However, it does include one named &ldquo;2 Columns of Text and a Full-Width Cover.&rdquo; While it is a bit of a mouthful, the name does fully describe what it does. This is also the pattern in use for the homepage in the <a href="https://uxlthemes.com/demo/hansen/">theme&rsquo;s demo</a>. However, the demo has a slight modification, adding a custom latest posts section.</p>



<img />Hansen content-related pattern.



<p>Hansen is more than just its patterns. The theme generally looks pretty good too. It has a bit more pizazz than we have seen from some other block-based experiments. Like the <a href="https://wptavern.com/phoenix-a-block-based-wordpress-theme-with-a-sidebar">recently-released Phoenix theme</a>, developers are becoming more comfortable moving beyond the bare-bones block-based designs from previous months.</p>



<p>These themes are obviously not on par with what one could build on more mature systems. However, Gutenberg&rsquo;s FSE system is inching forward. The theme authors who are experimenting now are paving the way for the next generation of themes, which I am excited to see.</p>



<p>The Hansen theme also includes several block styles. Most are geared toward blocks that users would typically use in the site editor. I have not seen such an approach in previous block-based themes.</p>



<p>Two of the styles are for mobile navigation. The Mobile Friendly style displays a horizontal nav menu on desktop while switching to a hamburger-flydown on mobile devices. The Mobile Style alternative retains the mobile layout on all screen sizes.</p>



<p>There is a Box Shadow style for the Query Loop block, which adds a shadow to each post. In the future, I hope to see WordPress provide box-shadow options for this instead of themes relying on block styles. Nevertheless, it is a welcome addition for the moment.</p>



<img />Box Shadow style for the Query Loop block.



<p>The No Bottom Margin style allows users to remove bottom margin from Columns. I assume the theme author used this to address the common issue of nested blocks and their bottom margins adding on top of each other. I do not like this as a style because it gives the user the responsibility of fixing a design issue that should be taken care of under the hood. Generally, the problem stems from tackling spacing in design using a bottom margin instead of a top margin. It can be corrected in either case, but going with a top-margin approach is easier.</p>



<p>Outside of that one stylistic issue, the other downside to the theme is that it is not well-suited to long-form content out of the box. The content area stretches too wide for the default font size, making for uncomfortable reading. The theme includes a Narrow Width style for the Group block that corrects this. However, it would ideally be the reverse, with the content defaulting to a narrower width. Whenever a user wants to write a long-form blog post, they would need to wrap it in a Group block and apply the Narrow Width style. The more common use case should be the default.</p>



<p>Overall, I love the experimentation. Hansen is one of the best themes for playing around with the site editor in Gutenberg right now.</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, 24 Feb 2021 22:21:09 +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: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:55:"WordPress.org blog: Did You Know About Reusable 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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9777";s: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:70:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/gutenberg-tutorial-reusable-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:6430:"<p><strong><em>Created by Joen Asmussen, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joen/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>joen</a></em></strong></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/02/Reusable-Blocks-featured.png?resize=585%2C329&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-9803" width="585" height="329" /></div>



<p>The WordPress block editor (a.k.a. Gutenberg) comes with a feature called &#8220;reusable blocks.” They are blocks, saved for later, edited in one place.</p>



<p>Have you ever wanted to:</p>



<ul><li>Re-use the same snippet of text across posts and pages?</li><li>Save complex layouts to spare you having to copy/paste from one post to another?</li></ul>



<p>Reusable blocks can do these things.</p>



<h2>Like templates, you mean?</h2>



<p>Not quite. Think of reusable blocks as snippets of globally synchronized content that are personal to you. You can edit all your reusable blocks in one place, and any post or page you inserted that block into, get the updated version as well.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Where you might use templates to structure your website, you can use reusable blocks to structure your content. For example:</p>



<ul><li>A testimonial on your homepage and your product page.</li><li>A &#8220;this post is part of a series&#8221; box that you insert part-way through your article.</li><li>A &#8220;Follow me on social media&#8221; section you can weave into the prose of your popular article.</li><li>Complex but static blocks, such as a &#8220;Subscribe to my newsletter&#8221; box, a contact form, a survey, quiz, or polls.</li></ul>



<p>Key properties are that reusable blocks are unbeatable when you want to reuse a snippet of content, edit it in one place, and have the changes propagate to every instance.</p>



<h2>Show me how</h2>



<p>To create a reusable block, open the block editor and create the content you want to reuse:</p>







<p>Now select the content you want to turn into a reusable block, then click the three-dot &#8220;More&#8221; menu and choose &#8220;Add to Reusable blocks.”</p>







<p>Voilà, you’ve now created a reusable block. From now on, you can find this block, and any other you create, in the &#8220;Reusable blocks&#8221; tab in the block library:</p>







<p>This is also where you can insert the newly created block on any of your posts or pages.</p>



<h2>Where do I edit my existing reusable blocks?</h2>



<p>To edit a reusable block, select it and make your edits. When you make an edit, the Publish button will have a little dot indicator:</p>







<p>This dot indicates you’ve made a global change that potentially affects posts beyond just the one you’re editing, the same as when you’re editing templates. This lets you confirm the change was intentional.</p>



<p><strong>Another way to edit your reusable blocks</strong> is to click the global three-dot &#8220;More&#8221; menu and selecting &#8220;Manage all reusable blocks&#8221;:</p>







<p>This takes you to a section letting you edit, rename, export, or delete every reusable block you created.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>What else can I do?</h2>



<p>Here are a couple of tips and tricks you can leverage to get the most out of reusable blocks.</p>



<h3>Give them a good name</h3>



<p>When you name a reusable block, you are essentially choosing your search terms, as the name is what you search for in the block library (or when you use the &#8220;slash command,” typing / in an empty paragraph):</p>







<p>Avoid names such as &#8220;Gallery&#8221; or &#8220;Image,” as that’ll be annoying when you just want to insert one of those. You can avoid that with a unique name, such as &#8220;My author biography.”</p>



<h3>Insert in the best place of your content flow</h3>



<p>One obvious benefit of reusable blocks is that they are just blocks, just like everything else in the block editor. That means you can insert it anywhere in your content. You might want your rich author biography to sit at the top or bottom of the post, but <em>This post is part of a series</em> box that might sit well two or three paragraphs not to disrupt the reading flow.</p>







<h3>A design shortcut</h3>



<p>Maybe you created a complex layout you&#8217;re happy with, a call to action with the right image and buttons, and it took a while to get it just right. Go on and save it as a reusable block: even if you mean to insert it only to convert it to a regular block, it might still save you a minute.&nbsp;</p>



<p>To convert a reusable block to regular (blocks, select it and click the &#8220;Convert to regular blocks&#8221;:</p>



<p></p>







<p><em>Design by </em><a href="https://beatrizfialho.com/"><em>Beatriz Fialho</em></a><em>.</em></p>



<p><strong>Tip:</strong> You can also find some nice patterns on <a href="https://gutenberghub.com/">Gutenberg Hub</a> or <a href="https://shareablock.com/">ShareABlock</a>.</p>



<h3>Take it with you</h3>



<p>Need to move to another site? You can both export and import reusable blocks. Go to the <em>Manage all reusable blocks</em> section from the global three-dot &#8220;More&#8221; menu, hover over the block you want to export, and click &#8220;Export as JSON&#8221;:</p>







<p>The downloaded file can be imported on any WordPress 5.0 or newer website.</p>



<h2>Try it</h2>



<p>Create a draft post and play around with Reusable Blocks to see how you might start using them. You can always delete them when you’re done playing.</p>



<p>You can test importing and using a small reusable block I created as an example. It&#8217;s a &#8220;Further reading&#8221; block that shows the four latest posts from the category &#8220;Featured&#8221;:</p>



<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/33_L1WQrTxNiidm8IKcSfn7_nYjcpq5zpSzycmKliDnGzFI_hLu7yLPV1vnqWgCS7H6JtFAGEXz-AVkNBLtQQEM80VA6KUfcmj1JAoVZ5ZNMavVzlGzBPEiqiD3-eUzZSvOTYm_E" alt="" />



<p>It might work well as a highlight in an article, giving the reader something new to read or awareness of your other content.</p>



<p><em><strong>The videos in this post show the reusable blocks flow in the upcoming WordPress 5.7.</strong></em></p>



<p><a href="https://gist.github.com/jasmussen/53cb51dcd9a2bb561893aa7c5e126cdf"><strong>Download the block from this gist</strong></a>, import it to your WordPress site, then customize to make it yours.</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, 24 Feb 2021 19:17:20 +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: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:69:"WPTavern: WordPress 5.7 Lets Administrators Send Password Reset Links";s: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=112409";s: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:183:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-7-lets-administrators-send-password-reset-links?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-7-lets-administrators-send-password-reset-links";s: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:3479:"<p>It&rsquo;s that time in the release cycle when all the dev notes are rolling out ahead of the next major update. These notes include technical summaries of all the goodies coming in the next release. If you haven&rsquo;t been paying close attention, there are always a few happy surprises in there that pop up as conclusions to tickets that contributors have been working on for years. </p>



<p>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/22/send-reset-password-links-in-wordpress-5-7/">new password reset feature</a> coming in WordPress 5.7 allows administrators to manually send a password reset link to users, resolving a five-year old <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/34281">ticket</a>. Instead of having to instruct a user about where to go to click on the lost password link and follow the steps, this new feature lets administrators push a button in the admin to send the link. If you have ever had to support clients or a community of users who may not be very technically inclined, this new password reset feature will save lots of time in helping users regain access to their accounts.</p>



<p>The &ldquo;Send password reset&rdquo; link is available in several places. Administrators can find the link on the Users screen, as well as in the bulk actions dropdown menu. </p>



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



<p>It is also available on the individual user screen with a button and a note clarifying that this action will not change the user&rsquo;s password or force the user to change it.</p>



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



<p>The password reset email notification includes the site name, username, a password reset link, and the IP address where the request originated: </p>



<p><em>This password reset request originated from the IP address [IPADDRESS].</em></p>



<p>There is an open discussion on the original <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/34281">ticket</a> regarding whether this email notification should include the administrator&rsquo;s IP address. </p>



<p>&ldquo;The IP address (while fraught with privacy concerns) is the only thing validating that this email came from the website and is not a phishing email,&rdquo; contributor Gabriel Mariani said. &ldquo;Unless there is a better way to validate the authenticity of the email I&rsquo;d say it would be worthwhile to keep it.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Others see the IP address as useful only if a user is attempting to verify that it is their own IP address or collecting the information to prevent a phishing attack. Giving out the administrator&rsquo;s IP address doesn&rsquo;t seem pertinent to either of those concerns.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I could use my phone to send a reset, and I would have no idea what my IP was,&rdquo; Mika Epstein said. &ldquo;And that can easily be faked. Omitting the IP actually reduces the data being sent out that could be used by bad-actors.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s more likely we&rsquo;d have a savvy bad actor than end users who would need to ask for a password reset but also know what a valid IP is and how to ask about it.&rdquo;</p>



<p>This part of the email text may be iterated on in subsequent patches or future releases of WordPress. Check out the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/22/send-reset-password-links-in-wordpress-5-7/">dev note</a> for more discussion on this feature, along with information about further customizing the notification email.</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, 23 Feb 2021 22:38:44 +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: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:51:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.7 Release Candidate";s: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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9773";s: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:67:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-7-release-candidate/";s: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:3768:"<p>The first release candidate for WordPress 5.7 is now available! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f389.png" alt="🎉" class="wp-smiley" /></p>



<p>Please join us in celebrating this very important milestone in the community&#8217;s progress towards the final release!</p>



<p>“Release Candidate” means that the new version is ready for release, but with millions of users and thousands of plugins and themes, it’s possible something was missed. WordPress 5.7 is slated for release&nbsp;on&nbsp;<strong>March 9, 2021</strong>, but <em>your</em>&nbsp;help is needed to get there—if you haven’t tried 5.7 yet,&nbsp;<strong>now is the time</strong>!</p>



<p>You can test the WordPress 5.7 release candidate in two ways:</p>



<ul><li>Try the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a>&nbsp;plugin (choose the “Bleeding edge” channel and Beta/RC Only” stream options)</li><li>Or&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.7-RC1.zip">download the release candidate here (zip)</a>.</li></ul>



<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the&nbsp;Beta releases and gave feedback. Testing for bugs is a critical part of polishing every release and a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>



<h2>What’s in WordPress 5.7?</h2>



<ul><li>Robots API and Media Search Engine Visibility</li><li>Detect HTTPS support</li><li>Lazy-load iframes</li><li>jQuery migrate-related Deprecation notice clean-up</li><li>Admin color palette standardization</li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-9-9-5-february/">Version 9.9</a> of the Gutenberg plugin.</li></ul>



<h2>Plugin and Theme Developers</h2>



<p>Please test your plugins and themes against WordPress 5.7 and update the&nbsp;<em>Tested up to</em>&nbsp;version in the readme file to 5.7. If you find compatibility problems, please be sure to post to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/">support forums</a>,&nbsp;so those can be figured out before the final release.</p>



<p>The&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/23/wordpress-5-7-field-guide">WordPress 5.7 Field Guide</a>&nbsp;will give you a more detailed dive into the major changes.</p>



<h2>How to Help</h2>



<p>Do you speak a language other than English?&nbsp;<a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev">Help us translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a>&nbsp;This release also marks the&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze">hard string freeze</a>&nbsp;point of the 5.7 release schedule.</p>



<p><em><strong>If you think you’ve found a bug</strong>, you can post to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta">Alpha/Beta area</a>&nbsp;in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/">file one on WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find&nbsp;<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major">a list of known bugs</a>.</em></p>



<p><em>Props to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>audrasjb</a> for copy suggestions and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>davidbaumwald</a> for final review.</em></p>



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



<p><em>Test this test that <br />Catch everything that you can<br />Before it&#8217;s live&#8230;</em><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f92f.png" alt="🤯" class="wp-smiley" /></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, 23 Feb 2021 21:07:23 +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:13:"Ebonie Butler";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:90:"WPTavern: FSE Outreach Round #2: Building a Custom Homepage With Gutenberg’s Site 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=112446";s: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:215:"https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-2-building-a-custom-homepage-with-gutenbergs-site-editor?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fse-outreach-round-2-building-a-custom-homepage-with-gutenbergs-site-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:7876:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Anne McCarthy announced the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/02/18/fse-program-testing-call-2-build-a-homepage-with-site-editing-blocks/">second round of testing</a> for the Full Site Editing (FSE) Outreach program. The call for testing asks that users build a homepage from the Gutenberg plugin&rsquo;s site editor. Feedback is open until March 5.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://wptavern.com/help-steer-the-future-of-wordpress-via-the-fse-outreach-program">first round of testing</a> began in December 2020 and ended last month. Testers were able to <a href="https://wptavern.com/first-round-of-the-fse-outreach-program-concludes-identifies-template-editing-mode-problems">identify several pain points</a> with template-editing mode from the block editor. The program created actionable items that Gutenberg developers could work to improve.</p>



<p>This second round is similar. However, testing covers a much larger and more complex area. Users will be leaving the familiar block editor and moving to the site editor, which is still months away from being a viable product.</p>



<p>McCarthy listed a 22-step process for building out a homepage. While I followed it for the most part, I got bored before finishing. This is one of the reasons I make for a poor test subject. I like to explore and see what is possible on my own. If I have an idea, I want to attempt its execution. I primarily stuck to the overall script, even if it was a bit out of order.</p>



<p>Eventually, I created a custom homepage for a restaurant called The Grilled Cheese &mdash; <em>I would definitely open this restaurant in the real world if I ever leave the WordPress community.</em></p>



<img />Custom restaurant homepage with sidebar.



<p>It is reasonably simple. All told, it took me around two hours of playing around with various concepts before arriving at this stage. To build something I would be happy with would have taken a few more hours.</p>



<p>Overall, I felt limited in laying out my ideal homepage. Each step was an uphill battle against the tools. I could have built this in less than half the time with HTML and CSS. I could do the same and more with other modern page builder plugins for WordPress.</p>



<p>Before diving into the results of my test, I have some brutal honesty. TT1 Blocks, which is the theme used for FSE Outreach testing, is not up to snuff. The theme does not reliably handle the multitude of possibilities the site editor sets in the hands of end-users. This entire experience could be made smoother with a better theme. However, the choices are limited, and I am not sure if there is a better block-based theme to work with at this point.</p>



<p>There were so many inconsistencies between the site editor and the front end that there is little point in listing them all. Spacing was grossly off. I generally see that as a theme issue. I spent much of my time in trial-and-error mode, making an adjustment in the editor and refreshing to see the front-end result. Rinse. Repeat.</p>



<h2>Identifying Pain Points</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">While this post is critical of the site editor, it does not mean the experience was altogether poor. Seeing the improvement every week gives me hope that WordPress will have a site editor that rivals anything on the market. Eventually. However, my goal here is to provide real feedback that the team can use.</p>



<p>Outside of the general spacing issues mentioned earlier, I identified several stumbling blocks while building a custom homepage.</p>



<h3>Maximum Widths</h3>



<p>When designing a full-site page via the site editor, one problem stood out more than most. WordPress lacks a well-rounded &ldquo;max-width&rdquo; system. As a user, I was left with few choices in setting the width of the content area of my homepage. Currently, theme authors can set custom content, wide, and full widths. However, this system is horribly limiting. There is not much theme authors can do with this, and this problem directly limits what users can do in both the block and site editors.</p>



<p>I have previously written about the <a href="https://wptavern.com/themes-of-the-future-a-design-framework-and-a-master-theme">need for a design framework</a>, one that is customizable by theme authors. Tailwind CSS has a <a href="https://tailwindcss.com/docs/max-width">max-width system</a> that offers a boatload of flexibility. WordPress needs to start borrowing ideas from these modern design frameworks.</p>



<h3>Add Block Icon</h3>



<p>Getting the &ldquo;Add Block&rdquo; icon to appear when hovering in between elements in the default content area was rough. I had to position my mouse in a perfect position for it to appear. It was an exercise in frustration where even the slightest movement caused the icon to once again disappear.</p>



<img />Locating the &lsquo;Add Block&rsquo; icon.



<p>Switching to Top Toolbar mode made this far easier. I am assuming the default block toolbar was hiding it to some degree. The problem with switching to this mode is that my toolbar-choice was not saved. Each time I returned to the site editor, I had to enable it once again.</p>



<h3>Query Block</h3>



<p>The most frustrating aspect of listing posts on a custom homepage was setting a limit. I wanted to set the number to three. However, the Query block has no option for doing this. Eventually, I created a <em>faux</em> limit using the category filter, choosing one that had just a couple of posts.</p>



<p><strong>Update:</strong> It is possible to set a limit as noted by <a href="https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-2-building-a-custom-homepage-with-gutenbergs-site-editor#comment-366562">Nick in the comments</a>. There is a &ldquo;settings&rdquo; icon in the toolbar for setting the number of posts per page, an offset, and max number of pages. I am unsure why these particular query settings are separate from the others in the sidebar.  It makes more sense for them to be grouped together.</p>



<img />Limiting posts by using the Query block&rsquo;s category filter.



<p>Another confusing aspect of the Query block is the keyword filter. As far as I am aware, WordPress has never used the &ldquo;keyword&rdquo; terminology. Outside of SEO plugins, there does not seem to be any context for what this filter does. I am guessing it works like a search keyword.</p>



<h3>Global Styles for All Blocks</h3>



<p>When switching over to the Global Styles panel, I noticed that some blocks were missing when applying styles on the block level. In particular, I wanted to adjust styles for the Latest Comments block.</p>



<p>I suppose that only blocks with typography, colors, and other design-related options appear in the list. This will likely confuse end-users when the site editor lands in WordPress. All blocks should have style options that users can customize.</p>



<h3>No Full-Width Columns</h3>



<p>For the content of my homepage, I attempted to create a full-width Columns block. However, the two individual columns were limited in size despite taking up 66.67% and 33.33%, respectively.</p>



<img />Full-width columns not spanning the full area.



<p>This seems like it is a theme issue. I would also argue that this is one of those times where having more direct control over the max-width would have helped. I really wanted something that was between the theme&rsquo;s full and wide widths.</p>



<h3>Featured Images</h3>



<p>There is no way to set the size of the image output by the Post Featured Image block. The only way to get a uniform size at the moment is to pre-crop the images before uploading them to WordPress.</p>



<p>There is no reason this should not essentially be a variation of the Image block. The only thing featured images need that is different is the option to link to the post.</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, 23 Feb 2021 20:47:30 +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: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:66:"WordPress Foundation: The Basic principles of Open-source Software";s: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=181046";s: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:82:"https://wordpressfoundation.org/2021/the-basic-principles-of-open-source-software/";s: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:4995:"<p>The WordPress Foundation aims to educate the public about WordPress and related open-source software (OSS). Towards that end, the WordPress Foundation created the <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/tag/intro-to-open-source/">Introduction to Open-source workshops</a>, which shed more light on the potential of open-source software, particularly in countries where there is less participation in OSS projects. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/2020/open-source-workshops-november-2020-report/">these workshops have moved online</a>. The WordPress Foundation hopes to see more open-source workshops held online this year to help spread awareness about the importance of open-source software.</p>



<p><strong>What are open-source software and Free Software?</strong></p>



<p>Open-source software is software whose source code is available for anyone to view, modify and enhance. Free software refers to software that complies with “four essential freedoms” &#8211; to use, study, modify and distribute software for any purpose without legal restraint. Open-source software is characterized by the public accessibility of its code, while free software focuses on the capabilities for using and sharing the software.<br /></p>



<p><strong>Advantages of Free and Open-source Software over Proprietary software</strong></p>



<p>Proprietary software is distributed in executable files where the source code is encrypted and not available. Free and Open-source software enables users to read and modify the code, thus allowing a host of advantages such as little (or no) cost, faster distribution, greater customization, and easy availability of bugs and security patches, to name a few.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The Introduction to Open-source workshops cover the difference between different software types, the history of open-source software, its advantages over proprietary software, and how this applies to WordPress. The workshop also explains the differences between free and Open-source software and highlights the different types of software licenses.&nbsp;</p>



<h3>Want to learn more about Free and Open-source software? Participate in an Introduction to Open-source workshop!</h3>



<p>There are four ways you can participate in an Introduction to Open-source workshop!&nbsp;</p>



<ol><li>You can attend the Introduction to WordPress workshop from the comfort of your home! Learn WordPress now features an <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/introduction-to-open-source/">Introduction to Open-source video workshop</a> that you can watch at your convenience.&nbsp;</li><li>Community members can also now host or participate in <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/introduction-to-open-source/">Introduction to Open-source workshop</a> discussion groups in the <a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/">Learn WordPress meetup group</a> for a global audience. Sign-ups are now open for the following two discussion groups:</li></ol>



<ul><li><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/events/276520738/">Thursday, February 25, 2021, at 4:00 PM UTC</a></li><li><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/events/276536997/">Tuesday, March 2, 2021, at 10:00 AM UTC</a></li></ul>



<p><em>If you would like to host an Introduction to Open-source discussion group for a global audience, please </em><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/discussion-groups/"><em>apply to become a discussion group </em></a><em>facilitator.</em>&nbsp;</p>



<ol start="3"><li>WordPress Meetup groups worldwide are also encouraged to<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/virtual-events/organize-learn-wordpress-discussion-groups-for-your-wordpress-meetup/"> organize an Introduction to WordPress watch party + discussion group</a> (based on the Learn WordPress workshop on <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/introduction-to-open-source/">Introduction to Open-source</a>) as part of their meetup (it does not need any prior approval). </li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/what-is-open-source/">Lesson plans</a> for the Introduction to Open-source workshops are available! Meetup group organizers can plan their live open-source workshop based on the lesson plans. </li></ol>



<p>The WordPress Foundation invites community members across the world to join these open-source workshops and to organize workshops and discussion groups in their communities to help spread <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/philosophy/">our mission</a> of serving the public good with the help of Open-source software.</p>



<p class="has-background">Meetup groups organizing Introduction to Open-source workshops will be featured on this website. All you need to do is to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/contact/">reach out to us</a> with a brief write-up about your workshop along with pictures, and we&#8217;ll publish them here! </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, 23 Feb 2021 12:58:09 +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: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:46:"Matt: Invest Like the Best and Building Worlds";s: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:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=53759";s: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:63:"https://ma.tt/2021/02/invest-like-the-best-and-building-worlds/";s: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:1736:"<a href="https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/6786509/mullenweg-the-past-present-and-future-of-the-internet"><img /></a>



<p><a href="https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/6786509/mullenweg-the-past-present-and-future-of-the-internet">On a Founder&#8217;s Field Guide episode with Patrick O&#8217;Shaughnessy</a> we had an interesting conversation that covered a lot new ground, including an idea I&#8217;ve been playing around with on, as Patrick <a href="https://twitter.com/patrick_oshag/status/1360338056809754630">put it</a>:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The idea from <a href="https://twitter.com/photomatt">@photomatt</a> that the best companies are those that build intricate worlds (in the same way that J. R. R. Tolkien came up with the elvish language) will always stick with me. </p></blockquote>



<p>We also covered the pendulum of centralization and decentralization, current challenges facing the internet, and being a connoisseur of things overlooked. You can check out the episode on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/matt-mullenweg-past-present-future-internet-founders/id1154105909?i=1000508583385">Apple</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbnZlc3RsaWtldGhlYmVzdC5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw/episode/ZGI0MjlkYjgtMDUwYy00NDIwLTkwODUtZjVlZTgwNTFkZDIx?hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwjj_KuQnf_uAhWbWM0KHYJUCW4QieUEegQICBAL&ep=6">Google</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xwHc7ZUvwJmSUNUssRi2M?si=XSqGqlhjQcOZkL33b8QzpQ">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://overcast.fm/+Lzu0ZSQ_M">Overcast</a>, and <a href="https://pca.st/o8cpe4i8">Pocket Casts</a>.</p>



<p>I&#8217;ve been impressed by the audience of this podcast, a lot of people I admire reached out after this episode.</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, 23 Feb 2021 05:10:36 +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:4:"Matt";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:73:"WPTavern: Native Lazy Loading Support for iframes Coming To WordPress 5.7";s: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=112383";s: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/native-lazy-loading-support-for-iframes-coming-to-wordpress-5-7?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=native-lazy-loading-support-for-iframes-coming-to-wordpress-5-7";s: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:5031:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Felix Arntz, a WordPress core committer and developer programs engineer at Google, announced upcoming support for <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/19/lazy-loading-iframes-in-5-7/">lazy loading iframes</a>. The feature is included in the latest WordPress 5.7 beta and will officially ship next month to the larger community.</p>



<p>WordPress has supported <a href="https://wptavern.com/native-lazy-loading-support-coming-to-wordpress">lazy loading for images</a> since version 5.5. However, support for iframes was not included in the initial feature set. Browser support for iframes was widespread at the time. However, it had not yet been formalized as part of the HTML Living Standard. Soon thereafter, it was <a href="https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/iframe-embed-object.html#attr-iframe-loading">added to the HTML spec</a>, and discussion began anew for <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/50756">adding support</a> into WordPress.</p>



<p>Unlike images, many users are likely unaware that they are using iframes. The primary use case for iframes is with embed blocks or the auto-embed system for users who are on the classic editor. For example, whenever a user adds a YouTube video to their blog post, the underlying code outputs an iframe.</p>



<img />Source code of YouTube embed shows iframe.



<p>These iframes add weight to the page size and hamper loading time.</p>



<p>The opposite of lazy loading is eager loading. This is the default on the web, which loads all resources in bulk. This also often leads to slow-loading webpages when they contain many images or iframes. Lazy loading only loads the image and iframe sources when they appear in a site visitor&rsquo;s viewport. This speeds up the initial load time of pages.</p>



<p>WordPress will only add the <code>loading="lazy"</code> attribute if an explicit width and height are set for the iframe. This is to avoid the page-shifting effect that happens when the iframe comes into view. Arntz wrote about this effect extensively when he <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/07/14/lazy-loading-images-in-5-5/">announced support for image lazy loading</a>. The same issue applies to iframes.</p>



<p>&ldquo;A common user experience problem in modern websites is so-called layout shifting, often caused by slow-loading media resources like images,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;By default, only after an image is loaded, the browser can layout the page correctly, which results in the content e.g. below the image to shift. This issue can be easily resolved by providing <code>width</code> and <code>height</code> attributes on <code>img</code> tags, as the browser will use them to determine the aspect ratio of the image so that it can infer the page layout ahead of actually loading the image.&rdquo;</p>



<p>There are cases where WordPress will not add the loading attribute, even for oEmbed providers that it supports. The iframe content is not supplied by WordPress. The third-party providers create the HTML and send it back to the individual WordPress site. It is up to those third parties to follow best practices for adding width and height attributes.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Since WordPress cannot guess the dimensions of the embedded resource, the <code>loading="lazy"</code> attribute will only be added if the oEmbed <code>iframe</code> tag comes with both dimension attributes present,&rdquo; wrote Arntz.</p>



<p>Currently, the filter applies to the post content, excerpt, and text widgets. Perhaps WordPress will extend this to comment text one day.</p>



<h2>Potential Problems With Ads</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">MaAnna Stephenson, the owner of BlogAid, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/19/lazy-loading-iframes-in-5-7/#comment-40740">brought up a concern</a> for users who display ads on their site. There may be scenarios where lazy loading is banned in advertising terms or has a technical conflict.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Has this been tested with folks who run ads on their site using an ad agency like Mediavine and AdThrive?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;They cannot have iframes lazy loaded, as the ads use iframes and they have their own lazy load mechanism for delivery.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The problem is that there is no ideal way to exclude every advertising service and to distinguish them from other types of iframes. From a technical standpoint, it needs to be an all-or-nothing feature.</p>



<p>Handling ads falls squarely into plugin territory. Arntz covered such use cases in the post. Developers can disable lazy loading for iframes wholesale or target specific iframes with basic PHP. It would only take a few lines of code to build a plugin for specific ad services.</p>



<p>Jeff Starr also has a plugin for disabling lazy loading altogether named <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/disable-lazy-loading/">Disable Lazy Load</a>. That could serve as a stopgap solution until something more specific to users&rsquo; needs comes along.</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, 22 Feb 2021 22:44:47 +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: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:55:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.6.2 Maintenance Release";s: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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9764";s: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/2021/02/wordpress-5-6-2-maintenance-release/";s: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:5042:"<p>WordPress 5.6.2 is now available!</p>



<p>This maintenance release includes&nbsp;<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&milestone=5.6.2&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=milestone&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&order=priority">5 bug fixes</a>. These bugs affect WordPress version 5.6.1, so you’ll want to upgrade.</p>



<p>You can&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.6.2.zip">download WordPress 5.6.2 directly</a>, or visit the<strong>&nbsp;Dashboard → Updates</strong>&nbsp;screen&nbsp;and click&nbsp;<strong>Update Now</strong>. If your sites support automatic background updates, they’ve already started the update process.</p>



<p>WordPress 5.6.2 is a small maintenance release focused on fixing user-facing issues discovered in 5.6.1. The next major release will be&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-7/">version 5.7</a>, currently scheduled for release on March 9, 2021.</p>



<p>To see a full list of changes, you can browse the&nbsp;<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&milestone=5.6.2&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=milestone&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&order=priority">list on Trac</a>, read the&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/17/wordpress-5-6-2-rc1/">5.6.2 RC1</a>&nbsp;post, or visit the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-6-2/">5.6.2 documentation page</a>.</p>



<h2>Thanks and props!</h2>



<p>The 5.6.2 release was led by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>desrosj</a>. Special props to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/isabel_brison/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>isabel_brison</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/talldanwp/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>talldanwp</a> for helping to prepare the block editor related fixes, and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>audrasjb</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>sergeybiryukov</a> for helping with other release related tasks.</p>



<p>Props to everyone who helped make WordPress 5.6.2 happen:</p>



<p><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aaronrobertshaw/">aaronrobertshaw</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/addiestavlo/">Addie</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nosolosw/">André Maneiro</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/archon810/">archon810</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aristath/">Ari Stathopoulos</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bartosz777/">bartosz777</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bernhard-reiter/">Bernhard Reiter</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/talldanwp/">Daniel Richards</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidanderson/">David Anderson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dbtedg/">dbtedg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/glendaviesnz/">glendaviesnz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hmabpera/">hmabpera</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ibiza69/">ibiza69</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/isabel_brison/">Isabel Brison</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/viablethought/">Jason Ryan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/">Jb Audras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jrf/">Juliette Reinders Folmer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kevin940726/">Kai Hao</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gwwar/">Kerry Liu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hwk-fr/">Konrad Chmielewski</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorgefilipecosta/">Jorge Costa</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/magnuswebdesign/">magnuswebdesign</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/clorith/">Marius L. J.</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mattwiebe/">Matt Wiebe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mukesh27/">Mukesh Panchal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/paaljoachim/">Paal Joachim Romdahl</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/freewebmentor/">Prem Tiwari</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/itsjonq/">Q</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/youknowriad/">Riad Benguella</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/noisysocks/">Robert Anderson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/roger995/">roger995</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/sterndata/">Steven Stern (sterndata)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/inc2734/">Takashi Kitajima</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tonysandwich/">tonysandwich</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/worldedu/">worldedu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fierevere/">Yui</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:"Mon, 22 Feb 2021 15:35:53 +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:19:"Jonathan Desrosiers";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:61:"WordPress.org blog: Reflecting on Gutenberg’s 100th Release";s: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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9750";s: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:74:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/reflecting-on-gutenbergs-100th-release/";s: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:3693:"<div class="juxtapose"><img id="9751" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/02/gutenberg_past_3.png?resize=632%2C336&ssl=1" alt="" width="632" height="336" class="image-compare__image-before" /><img id="9752" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/02/gutenberg_today_4.png?resize=632%2C336&ssl=1" alt="" width="632" height="336" class="image-compare__image-after" /></div>1.0 to 10.0



<p>Gutenberg 10.0 released this week, February 17, 2021, marking the 100th release of the Gutenberg plugin; the 100th release of a journey that started more than four years ago when Matt announced the project at WordCamp US 2016.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>Where We Started</h2>



<p>The past four years have not always been an easy journey. Shipping something this impactful is not easy, and there was precedent for keeping the editor as it was: WordPress had already tried to replace TinyMCE a couple of times already. What would be different this time around? The worry was “not much” and initially, very few people actively joined the project.</p>



<p>Six months later came WordCamp Europe 2017 and the first release of the plugin. The editor was nowhere close to being usable, but it “clicked” for some. The reactions to <a href="https://wordpress.tv/2017/07/01/interview-and-qanda-with-matt-mullenweg/">the presentation</a> were hopeful, but afterward, there was a lot of pushback.</p>



<p>Gutenberg was (and is) an audacious project. With a project this big it attracted a lot of attention, and it became difficult to discern constructive debate from mere opposition. We each come with our context, and some people had a fixed idea about what they wanted for the project. Some wanted to reuse an existing page builder, others wanted to revive the Fields API project, some wanted it to be front-end-first, others wanted it just to replace the classic editor’s content area, some wanted it to be in Vue.JS, others wanted no change at all. With a product used by 40% of the web, you hope to find consensus, and when compromises have to be made, it can be difficult for those involved to avoid feeling that their voice is being ignored.</p>



<p>We have also made quite a few mistakes: stability wasn’t great in some releases, performance suffered in others, and accessibility as well. But we kept pushing forward, using feedback to improve the editor and the project in all aspects until its first inclusion in WordPress 5.0, and we’re still working to improve it today.</p>



<h2>Where We Are</h2>



<p>It’s a delight to see some people who strongly disagreed with the initial vision or approach to Gutenberg gradually come to enjoy using the editor and join the project to carry on its vision. Others might still not like it; some won’t ever use it. One thing is certain; we’ll continue doing our best to push forward, improve what’s already shipped, and ship new exciting features. We’ll continue making mistakes and hopefully continue learning from them.</p>



<p>Wednesday marked the 100th release of Gutenberg, and while that looks remarkable on the outside, the release itself holds what all the other releases did. It holds improvements to the existing features, it fixes bugs that users reported, adds new features, and it highlights experiments with new ideas.</p>



<p>What is remarkable about the release is the people. The ones who were with us from the start, the ones who were with us but left, the ones who joined in our journey, everyone who helped along the way, everyone who provided feedback, everyone who got their hands dirty, and everyone who tried to use this editor, extend it and provide ideas.</p>



<p>Thank you all.</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, 19 Feb 2021 18:34:06 +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:14:"Riad Benguella";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:113:"WPTavern: Taking on the Major Players, Plausible Analytics Offers an Alternative, Privacy-Conscious Stats Service";s: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=112168";s: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/taking-on-the-major-players-plausible-analytics-offers-an-alternative-privacy-conscious-stats-service?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=taking-on-the-major-players-plausible-analytics-offers-an-alternative-privacy-conscious-stats-service";s: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:8061:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Plausible Analytics is not new on the scene. The two-person, EU-based team behind the company has been trying to carve its slice of the analytics pie against players like Google Analytics and WordPress.com Stats for nearly two years.</p>



<p>The self-funded and bootstrapped company is starting to gain a small foothold. It has been an uphill climb to get to usage on over 10,000 websites. Now, it is reaching out directly to the WordPress community with its <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/plausible-analytics/">Plausible Analytics plugin</a>.</p>



<p>&ldquo;<a href="https://plausible.io/">Plausible Analytics</a> is a simple, open-source, lightweight (&lt; 1 KB), and privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics,&rdquo; said co-founder Marko Saric. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t use cookies or track any personal data, but we still aim to give you as a site owner interesting and useful insights so you can improve your efforts.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The company&rsquo;s service is built on an open-source philosophy, possibly making it an ideal partner for WordPress. The source code for the analytics service is licensed under the AGPL version 3.0 and is <a href="https://github.com/plausible/analytics">publicly available on GitHub</a>.</p>



<p>Users have two options for running Plausible Analytics. The first route is to use the company&rsquo;s cloud-based service, similar to other stats-based services. The other is to self-host the code.</p>



<p>For the cloud service, there is a monthly, tier-based fee. Up to 10,000 pageviews runs $6 per month. Each level increases based on the number of views a site &mdash; you can also hook up multiple sites &mdash; receives. Users can knock 33% off the price by paying yearly, which puts the starting tier at $4 per month. Plausible also offers a 30-day free trial.</p>



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a challenge to go against free products and a product as dominant as Google Analytics, but it does feel like the times are changing,&rdquo; said Saric. &ldquo;An increasing number of people are becoming aware that free means that you may be paying with something else such as the data of your visitors in the case of Google Analytics.</p>



<p>&ldquo;With Plausible, you own your site data. We don&rsquo;t share it with any third parties, and we don&rsquo;t use it for any other purpose. As we don&rsquo;t make money by selling your data, we need to charge a subscription fee to pay our costs and salaries so we can continue working on the product. We have tried to keep the prices as fair and affordable as possible starting at $4/month. We do have a free as in beer self-hosted version too for those who like to manage their own server infrastructure.&rdquo;</p>



<p>For the self-hosted version, which might appeal to the DIY crowd in the WordPress world, Plausible is designed to run via Docker. Saric said you should have a basic understanding of the command-line and networking. The server must have a CPU with x86_64 architecture and support for SSE 4.2 instructions.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Everything else really depends on how popular your site is and how much traffic you get,&rdquo; said Saric. &ldquo;But you should be able to run Plausible for a site that gets tens of thousands of monthly visitors even on the lowest Digital Ocean droplet.&rdquo;</p>



<p>As of the latest plugin release, self-hosted support is built directly into it too.</p>



<h2>How Plausible Analytics Works</h2>



<img />Realtime stats from Plausible Analytics.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The service is much like any other analytics product. You sign up. The site gives you a JavaScript snippet, which you place in your site&rsquo;s header. Of course, this is automatically taken care of via the plugin.</p>



<p>The service feels much like a stepping stone between what you might get between WordPress.com Stats and Google Analytics. It is a middle ground that shows promise for a young product. However, the interface feels easier to navigate and make sense of than either service. Plausible has plenty of room for growth, which makes it promising to see what the team has accomplished at this stage.</p>



<p>End-users can enjoy the typical stats they are accustomed to seeing and break them down by time frame. Referrer, page, country, and device data are all there. Users can also set up goals, get email reports, and hook up to the Google Search Console.</p>



<p>The downside to the Plausible Analytics WordPress plugin is that it is a bit bare-bones at the moment. It is merely a settings screen and integration layer between the site and service.</p>



<img />Plugin settings screen.



<p>It is missing the make-or-break feature of a built-in analytics page. Many users are accustomed to accessing their stats directly from within WordPress.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Yes, that&rsquo;s the main thing we want to fix with the WordPress plugin,&rdquo; said Saric. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve introduced several features to make the plugin useful for WordPress sites, such as excluding admin users from being counted by default, the option to track 404 error pages, and clicks on external links. We also have an easy way to run our script as a first-party connection from your subdomain, so you get more accurate stats compared to Google Analytics which is blocked by many browsers and extensions.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The team is currently working on an API for Plausible and on an embedded mode. Before introducing stats into the WordPress UI, they must complete these features.</p>



<h2>Privacy-First Solution</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Website owners and visitors are becoming much more privacy-conscious than in years past. In light of the GDPR and related legislation from around the world, companies like Plausible Analytics must navigate this new landscape while still providing the data that users need.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Plausible was built as a response to GDPR, other privacy regulations, and cultural changes over the last few years,&rdquo; said Saric. &ldquo;Our mission is to reduce corporate surveillance by providing an alternative web analytics tool which doesn&rsquo;t come from the ad-tech world.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Plausible Analytics does not track individuals, and its data is aggregate-only said Saric. The service also does not rely on cookies or local storage, and there is no cross-site or cross-device tracking.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We minimize any data collection in general, and whatever we do track is kept fully secured, encrypted, and hosted on a server in the European Union to ensure it is being covered by the strict laws on data privacy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re very transparent in all the data we collect. We have an in-built feature that we recommend site owners use to open up their stats to the public and share it on their site to be fully transparent so their visitors and anyone else can view the data that they have access to.&rdquo;</p>



<h2>The Future of Plausible Analytics</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The team recently introduced UTM tag support and custom events, allowing users to track whatever they want. Saric said that it is now possible to follow the full journey from an ad-click all the way to conversion on users&rsquo; sites.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The next step for the WordPress plugin is to add the default out-of-the-box integration with popular third-party plugins to support event tracking for things such as contact forms and eCommerce,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This will make it a more convenient experience for WordPress users so they can get started tracking custom events without any manual configuration being required.&rdquo;</p>



<p>All other features are done in the open on the project&rsquo;s GitHub repository and its <a href="https://github.com/plausible/analytics/projects/1">roadmap</a>. The plugin is also open to community involvement on a <a href="https://github.com/plausible/wordpress">separate repo</a>. Saric credits community member and WordPress developer Mehul Gohil with help on the plugin.</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, 19 Feb 2021 17:03:29 +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: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:65:"WPTavern: WordPress.org Removes Fake Reviews for AccessiBe 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=112241";s: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/wordpress-org-removes-fake-reviews-for-acessibe-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-org-removes-fake-reviews-for-acessibe-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:4672:"<p>After noticing suspicious review activity for the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/accessibe/">AccessiBe</a> plugin, accessibility consultant Joe Dolson <a href="https://www.joedolson.com/2021/02/accessibe-the-fake-wordpress-plug-in-reviews/">reported</a> the fake reviews to WordPress.org&rsquo;s plugin team. The reviews were removed in under 48 hours, thanks to Dolson&rsquo;s detailed research.</p>



<p>At the time of reporting, Dolson found 31 five-star reviews, 2 four-star reviews, and 2 one-star reviews. After putting these into a spreadsheet, he found certain correlations among the first 11 five-star reviews:</p>



<ol><li>&ldquo;<em>All eleven user accounts I viewed had a common pattern of registration and use: between zero and 3 support topics raised and 4-7 reviews over the last 18 months.</em></li><li>&ldquo;<em>Every one of these eleven accounts had at least one point of overlap with another user in that group. That is, for each plug-in or theme interacted with by one of the accounts, at least one of the other accounts also interacted with that plug-in or theme.</em></li><li>&ldquo;<em>Multiple accounts had submitted one-star reviews on another plug-in, and in a quick assessment of other one-star reviews on that plug-in, I quickly found another account that had also submitted a five-star review on AccessiBe.</em></li></ol>



<p>Approximately 33 reviews were removed from the AccessiBe plugin&rsquo;s page after the report. Plugin team member Mika Epstein <a href="https://twitter.com/Ipstenu/status/1362218304262180868">said</a> that the team &ldquo;passes the reports to a volunteer who is amazing at hunting down VPNs and IPs for that.&rdquo; She also recognized Dolson&rsquo;s legwork and reporting as being instrumental in this particular case.</p>



<p>Dolson allowed me to view his spreadsheet, where he logged URLs for each suspected fake review, along with dates and reviews left on other plugins. These were not saved to the Internet Archive, but Dolson said they were all &ldquo;pretty generic,&rdquo; and that each one was a one-sentence review. The user profiles still appear to be there but do not have any activity listed.</p>



<p>&ldquo;As a WordPress plugin author myself, I find the investment in falsifying positive reviews irritating,&rdquo; Dolson said. &ldquo;What some of us work for, they are simply buying &ndash; the appearance of a good product without the labor of winning customer opinion. </p>



<p>&ldquo;I found the evidence of a hatchet job conducted systematically against another plugin chilling, however.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The AccessiBe plugin is active on approximately 3,000 sites.  Accessibility advocates have long held a certain amount of animosity towards the way its creators market the plugin as a quick fix solution, claiming it helps &ldquo;mitigate the risk of lawsuits.&rdquo; AccessiBe also has a well-documented history of <a href="https://adrianroselli.com/2020/06/accessibe-will-get-you-sued.html#Paid">paying for positive press</a>. Dolson and others deeply involved in WordPress accessibility keep tabs on the plugin, which is how he came across the suspicious activity. </p>



<p>Soliciting paid or fake reviews is not a new infraction, and it has been explicitly forbidden in the directory&rsquo;s <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-org/detailed-plugin-guidelines/">guidelines</a> for years. This falls under guideline #9<em>: Developers and their plugins must not do anything illegal, dishonest, or morally offensive</em>, which includes &ldquo;<em>Creating accounts to generate fake reviews or support tickets (i.e. sockpuppeting)</em>.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Fake and paid reviews are a blight on any marketplace, and pop up now and then on the theme and plugin directories due to the power of WordPress.org as a distributions channel for freemium products. It makes it more difficult for the consumer to get an accurate understanding of the quality of the the product, but it&rsquo;s not always easy to identify who commissioned the fake reviews.</p>



<p>Any user can help ensure the plugin directory has fair and honest reviews by flagging those that look suspicious. In the sidebar of individual review posts, logged-in users can flag a post for consideration. WordPress.org doesn&rsquo;t often announce when it takes action to remove reviews but should confirm having received the report. In a rare case like this, Dolson&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.joedolson.com/2021/02/accessibe-the-fake-wordpress-plug-in-reviews/">writeup</a> gives the wider community a glimpse into what it takes to track down fake reviews and get them cleaned up.</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, 18 Feb 2021 23:10:54 +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: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:89:"WPTavern: GermanThemes Releases Block-Ready GT Basic WordPress Theme With Custom Patterns";s: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=112276";s: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:223:"https://wptavern.com/germanthemes-releases-block-ready-gt-basic-wordpress-theme-with-custom-patterns?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=germanthemes-releases-block-ready-gt-basic-wordpress-theme-with-custom-patterns";s: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:5100:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">Today, <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/gt-basic/">GT Basic</a> became the second theme from GermanThemes to go live in the WordPress theme directory. Like the company&rsquo;s previous theme, <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/gt-ambition/">GT Ambition</a>, it is built around the block editor. It also introduces several custom block patterns.</p>



<p>The theme will not knock anyone&rsquo;s socks off with its artistic merit. GT Basic is very much <em>business in the front and business in the back</em>, so it will not immediately appeal to everyone. However, it has everything you need and none of the things you don&rsquo;t for setting up a WordPress website.</p>



<p>Out of the box, it is an architecturally-sound business theme. Its layout, structure, and typography make for a well-rounded design applicable to nearly any site. With a few modifications via the customizer, users can personalize it.</p>



<p>Its open-canvas feel gives ample room for using the entire content area for building custom page layouts, which is what business site owners should be looking for. The theme&rsquo;s typography is on-point, creating a comfortable reading atmosphere for long-form content. It could serve well for a general blogging theme.</p>



<p>The theme is ripe for the possibility of child themes. These types of well-designed themes from a purely structural standpoint leave plenty of room for customization. GT Basic has just the right amount of visual options for users to put their unique spins on it. However, there is a lot of room for design-savvy people to do more.</p>



<h2>About the Theme</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">GT Basic is, well, a <em>basic</em> theme. It is kind of there in the name. However, it includes enough options to make it more visually palatable. A few color and font changes could spice things up &mdash; the theme offers a range of system and Google font-family choices.</p>



<img />Modifying the theme&rsquo;s typography and colors.



<p>The theme also manages to not make a complete and utter mess of the customizer. GT Basic neatly tucks all of its options under a custom panel named Theme Options. Even its &ldquo;theme links&rdquo; section is in there. It is refreshing to see a theme not regurgitate pro links and single-use sections across the entire customizer controls frame. You will rarely see me use emoji, but the theme author deserves one on this point alone: &#128079;.</p>



<p>Where the theme gets things right is its support of the block editor. It does not try to do too much, relying on the core block styles as a foundation. It then tacks on a mere 46kb of additional CSS, unminifed, which is almost unheard of in today&rsquo;s theme market.</p>



<img />Block design in the <a href="https://demo.germanthemes.de/?demo=gt-basic-bakery">cafe demo</a> for the theme.



<p>GT Basic is one of the few themes I have seen that adds a custom block editor sidebar panel. Instead of going the page template route, it adds a full-width option, a method I have preferred over the years. It also has settings for users to disable the title and remove white space at the end of the content area.</p>



<p>The biggest downside to the theme is that the blog/posts page and archives display the full post instead of excerpts. It is one of my pet-peeves with theme design. Users should at least have the option to switch to an excerpt view.</p>



<p>The other cringe-worthy feature is the automatic output of the featured image alongside the full post content. This creates the dreaded double featured-image effect if the user also uses the same image within their post content. Again, a simple option to disable this would suffice.</p>



<h2>Block Patterns</h2>



<img />Inserting GT Basic&rsquo;s portfolio block pattern.



<p class="has-drop-cap">I am a sucker for block patterns. Throw a few in any theme, and I will install it and see what I can build. The pattern system remains one of my favorite features of WordPress. It is also one of the areas where business themes can make their mark.</p>



<p>GT Basic includes four patterns for users:</p>



<ul><li>Hero Section</li><li>Services</li><li>Call to Action</li><li>Portfolio</li></ul>



<p>It does not take much to create unique layouts by mixing and matching two or more of them.</p>



<p>Thomas Weichselbaumer, the founder of GermanThemes, <a href="https://germanthemes.de/en/2020/08/28/introducing-block-patterns-in-our-themes/">announced the adoption of block patterns</a> in August 2020. He introduced block patterns across GermanThemes&rsquo; product line shortly after WordPress 5.5 introduced the feature.</p>



<p>GT Basic&rsquo;s patterns would be more appealing if they included imagery and a spectrum of colors. The pattern layouts are designed well, but they lack the visual <em>umph</em> that inspires users. This is a missed opportunity to showcase how useful the patterns are. However, the theme author has <a href="https://germanthemes.de/themes/gt-basic/">built a few demos</a> that could serve as inspiration.</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, 18 Feb 2021 22:52:15 +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: Ask the Bartender: Frustrations and Finding the Right WordPress Block Plugins";s: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=112071";s: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:217:"https://wptavern.com/ask-the-bartender-frustrations-and-finding-the-right-wordpress-block-plugins?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ask-the-bartender-frustrations-and-finding-the-right-wordpress-block-plugins";s: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:9141:"<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Hello. I always supported the idea of a WordPress block editor as a whole, but lately, I&rsquo;m a bit frustrated in that there are some blocks I need with urgency to work on a (non-visitor editable) wiki-like site (mostly a Tabs block, a Countdown block, an Accordion/Toggle block, a Table of contents block and a Footnotes block) and have not had luck finding appropriate plugins. I can name a long list of the specific problems I have with the ones available right now&hellip;</p><p>Andr&eacute;s</p></blockquote>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Andr&eacute;s&rsquo; question spanned another 400 words or so. The following summarizes the problems he has run into:</p>



<ul><li>Block collection plugins cover some but not all use cases.</li><li>Seemingly suitable blocks have too few or too many options.</li><li>Few blocks can be converted to other block types.</li><li>Many block plugins have not been updated in a while, causing fear of abandonment.</li><li>No way to batch convert blocks if a better plugin is found.</li><li>Need a footnotes block.</li></ul>



<p>I do not necessarily see most of these as block-related problems. It can be tough to find that sweet spot, fine-tuning your WordPress site with <em>just</em> the right tools.</p>



<p>When I first began using WordPress in 2005, I hit these same sorts of problems. And they were problems throughout my career as a developer. I would find a plugin that would do almost what I wanted. I would find another that would add way too many unnecessary features. Often, nothing seemed to exist that was perfect for my needs. This was the sole reason I jumped into development &mdash; <em>if you want something done right, do it yourself</em>. I wanted my WordPress site to work according to my own strict specifications. No one else would do it for me, and I was a starving college student who could not afford to hire a developer. It left me little choice other than putting in the time and effort to make it happen.</p>



<p>While I am not suggesting that you must go down the path that I once did, it is always an option worth exploring. Many great developers began with this same type of frustration. They had a problem and needed a fix for it.</p>



<p>Open-source is about giving and taking. When you cannot pay it forward in terms of code, feedback is always welcome. That is one reason I like to highlight these questions. Even when I do not have the answer, maybe someone else will. Perhaps your requests will spark an idea for one of the many developers who read WP Tavern.</p>



<p>I definitely do not have all the answers to this laundry-list of questions. It is a broad subject that will take a community to solve.</p>



<p>Many of your issues might be handled by nothing more than having a conversation with the developers behind the block collection plugins you are using. Step one is to start a dialogue with them. I bet most are willing to listen to your ideas on how they can improve their products as long as you address them constructively.</p>



<h2>Try One-Off Block plugins</h2>



<img />Installing a single-use block from the editor.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The future of using blocks is going to be far more about finding and installing individual blocks rather than collections. WordPress has done its users a disservice by not actively promoting these one-off block plugins. We are over two years into the block editor and still do not have a <a href="https://wptavern.com/version-1-prototype-of-the-wordpress-admin-block-directory-announced">block directory and management screen</a> built directly into the software. Sure, users can search via the block inserter directly from the editor, but it does not replace a full management experience.</p>



<p>This missing feature has helped spur massive library plugins, which have become the <em>de facto</em> method that most users find new blocks. Far too many plugin developers are following the Jetpack model of packaging them all together. Without full block management baked into core, this trend will only continue. At this point, it may be hard to break from the mold.</p>



<p>However, you can still find a listing of available single-use blocks from the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/browse/block/">block directory on WordPress.org</a>, at least the ones that plugin authors have appropriately tagged.</p>



<img />WordPress block directory.



<p>I recommend testing these blocks before diving into a library-type plugin. There is always the risk of developer abandonment &mdash; there is nothing you can really do about that when it comes to any type of plugin other than supporting the authors.</p>



<p>The block directory&rsquo;s problem is that it has only a little over 120 blocks &mdash; <em>like I said, WordPress has not done enough to promote it</em>. This means there is not enough competition to drive innovation and bring clear winners to the forefront. Some of the blocks are hit-or-miss projects. I know this does not breed confidence, but I can say from experience that I always loved user feedback as a developer. It is the lifeblood of any project. Give the plugins a test. Even if you do not like or use them, send your feedback over to the developers.</p>



<p>The following is a short, not comprehensive, list of some single-use blocks that may be appropriate for you:</p>



<ul><li><strong>Table of Contents:</strong><br />&ndash; <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/table-of-contents-block/">Table of Contents Block</a> by WPDeveloper<br />&ndash; <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/table-of-contents/">Table of Contents</a> by Achal Jain</li><li><strong>Countdown:</strong><br />&ndash; <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-countdown-block/">WP Countdown Block</a> by Achal Jain<br />&ndash; <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/countdown-block/">Countdown Block</a> by WPDeveloper</li><li><strong>Accordion/Toggle:</strong><br />&ndash; <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/accordion-blocks/">Accordion Blocks</a> by Phil Buchanan<br />&ndash; <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/accordion-toggle/">Accordion Toggle</a> by WPDeveloper<br />&ndash; <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/details-summary-block">Details Summary Block</a> by Denis &#381;oljom<br />&ndash; <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/hot-accordion/">Hot Accordion</a> by HotThemes</li></ul>



<h2>Footnotes Block Plugin</h2>



<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">I feel your frustration about footnotes. WordPress lacks this feature that any decent desktop-level writing software has. From past experience earning my B.A. in English, footnotes were a core part of the experience. It baffles me that the most-used CMS in the world has yet to add even a basic version of footnotes to its toolset.</p>



<p>Fortunately, other like-minded people want to see footnotes in WordPress. Ella van Durpe has a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/28261">draft of a footnotes feature</a> on the Gutenberg repository. This is an ongoing, <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/1890">three-year discussion</a>. There is no reason to believe it will be baked into core soon, but it is reason enough to be hopeful.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/academic-bloggers-toolkit/">Academic Blogger&rsquo;s Toolkit</a> plugin supports footnotes. It has not been updated in a year and could be overkill for what you need. However, it would not hurt to give it a test run.</p>



<p>Several <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/footnotes/">footnote plugins in the directory</a> should work fine with the block editor. The standard method employed by many of them uses a <code>((double-parentheses))</code> to add footnotes from within the editor. Those notes are then parsed before being displayed on the front end.</p>



<p>That is not my style. I prefer the visual separation of the references and the footnotes in both the editor and the front end. The great thing about the block editor is that you can manually build footnotes without a plugin. Or, at least you can create <em>almost-footnotes</em>.</p>



<p>Cathy Meder-Dempsey, a genealogist and blogger for Opening Doors in Brick Walls, has an <a href="https://openingdoorsinbrickwalls.wordpress.com/2020/10/23/adding-footnotes-to-your-wordpress-posts-using-block-editor/">exhaustive tutorial</a> on manually adding references and a footnotes section with the block editor. It is not a perfect solution and works best when you have only a few footnotes. This is because the reference links jump to the overall footnotes section rather than the individual notes. It is a quick solution in a pinch.</p>



<p class="is-style-highlight has-white-color has-blue-700-background-color has-text-color has-background text-white bg-blue-700">This post is a part of the <a href="https://wptavern.com/tag/ask-the-bartender">Ask the Bartender</a> series.  If you have a question about WordPress, feel free to <a href="https://wptavern.com/contact-me/ask-the-bartender">shoot it over.</a>  Your question could be featured next.</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, 17 Feb 2021 22:34:43 +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: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:56:"WPTavern: Gutenberg Plugin Marks 100th Release with 10.0";s: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=112179";s: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:157:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-plugin-marks-100th-release-with-10-0?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-plugin-marks-100th-release-with-10-0";s: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:5374:"<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-0-february/">Gutenberg 10.0</a> was released today as the 100th iteration of the block editor since the project began four years ago. Although 10.0 may seem like a big number, it&rsquo;s just another incremental step forward in terms of new features, improvements, and bug fixes. </p>



<p>Version 10.0 introduces a new dynamic <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/28265">pages block</a> for building navigation menus. It can be added inside a Navigation block or used on its own.</p>



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



<p>Sometimes when you&rsquo;re clicking around inside block editor content, it&rsquo;s hard to select the parent block with nested blocks. This release makes the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/28598">parent block selector visible</a> and offset in the block toolbar. An easier way to select the parent block will become even more important as the quote block is on track to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/25892">get nesting support</a> with paragraph, heading, list, and code blocks allowed as children.</p>



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



<p>Version 10.0 adds a darker social links state for dark themes, brings block patterns to the inserter for template parts and other non-root level positions, and improves keyboard navigation in the block patterns inserter. The plugin also introduced dozens of improvements and new features to the experiments in progress for the site editor, full-site editing architecture and blocks, as well as the navigation and block-based widgets screens. </p>



<p>Riad Benguella marked the 100th release milestone with a few reflections from his unique vantage point as a technical lead on the project. He commented on the friction and pushback that contributors had to navigate in Gutenberg&rsquo;s earlier days:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>With all the attention that the project received, it became difficult to discern constructive debate from mere opposition. We each come with our own context, and some people had a fixed idea about what they wanted for the project. Some wanted to just reuse an existing page builder, others wanted to revive the Fields&nbsp;API&nbsp;project, some wanted it to be front-end-first, others wanted it to just replace the content area of the classic editor, some wanted it to be in Vue.JS, others wanted no change at all. With a product used by 40% of the web, we need to find consensus, and when we make compromises it can be so difficult for those involved to avoid the feeling that their voice is being ignored.</p></blockquote>



<p>He admits that the project made a few mistakes along the way with sub-par stability on some releases, and performance and accessibility issues. In spite of all the difficulties contributors encountered, they have been able to win over many users who were initially not excited about the block editor.</p>



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a delight to see some people who had very strongly disagreed with the initial vision or approach to Gutenberg gradually come to enjoy using the editor and join the project to carry on its vision,&rdquo; Benguella said. &ldquo;Others might still not like it, some won&rsquo;t ever use it. One thing is certain though, we&rsquo;ll continue doing our best to push forward, improve what&rsquo;s already shipped and ship new exciting features; we&rsquo;ll continue making mistakes and hopefully continue learning from them.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The block editor has opened up a whole new category of tools for people building WordPress sites, even before full-site editing makes its debut. In the comments of the release post, Gutenberg users mentioned the themes and plugins that have helped them ramp up into delivering sites built 100% with the block editor.</p>



<p>&ldquo;When I first looked at&nbsp;Gutenberg&nbsp;I hated it,&rdquo; web developer John Brown said. &ldquo;Now, two years on, do a mix of Gutenberg and Kadence Theme and blocks and you can build virtually anything.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The sites we have converted from other page builders to Gutenberg work just fine and we get great statistics on GTMetrix, Pingdom and Google Page Speeds.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I will say, you need to learn how to use it, but when you get your head around it, you can make anything that a client needs.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Another user who adopted the editor in the early stages said he has reached the point where he can build sites without having to use a lot of extra tools.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I started using&nbsp;Gutenberg&nbsp;at 2.0 and never looked back since then,&rdquo; software engineer Orlando Alonzo said. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m starting to produce full sites with nothing more than GeneratePress Premium and Gutenberg.&rdquo; </p>



<p>Version 10.0 marches forward with the same pioneering experimentation in the full-site editing (FSE) project that has brought the editor to the stable state it&rsquo;s in today. Contributors are aiming for an MVP for FSE in April, with version 1 in core in WordPress 5.8, expected June 2021. Check out the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-0-february/">10.0 release post</a> for the full details on FSE progress and other improvements to the editor.</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, 17 Feb 2021 21:43:45 +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: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:48:"BuddyPress: BuddyPress 7.2.0 Maintenance Release";s: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:32:"https://buddypress.org/?p=317263";s: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://buddypress.org/2021/02/buddypress-7-2-0-maintenance-release/";s: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:921:"<p>Immediately available is <a href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.7.2.0.zip">BuddyPress 7.2.0</a>. This maintenance release fixes six bugs mainly related to issues when the BP Nouveau Template Pack is used with the Twenty Twenty-One WordPress theme. For details on the changes, please read the <a href="https://codex.buddypress.org/releases/version-7-2-0/">7.2.0 release notes</a>.</p>



<p>Update to BuddyPress 7.2.0 today in your WordPress Dashboard, or by&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/">downloading from the WordPress.org plugin repository</a>.</p>



<h2>Many thanks to 7.2.0 contributors&nbsp;<span class="dashicons dashicons-heart"></span></h2>



<p><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/iamthewebb">iamthewebb</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vapvarun/">vapvarun</a>&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/imath/">imath</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, 17 Feb 2021 20:01:56 +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:"Mathieu Viet";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:63:"WPTavern: Phoenix, a Block-Based WordPress Theme With a Sidebar";s: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=112133";s: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:169:"https://wptavern.com/phoenix-a-block-based-wordpress-theme-with-a-sidebar?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=phoenix-a-block-based-wordpress-theme-with-a-sidebar";s: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:5013:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Earlier today, the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/pull/155">Phoenix theme was merged</a> into the WordPress Theme Experiments repository on GitHub. Like all themes in the repo, it is not meant for use on a live site. It is a project to test new ideas for the upcoming Full Site Editing (FSE) system.</p>



<p>Imran Sayed of Codeytek Academy created the theme and is hosting a <a href="https://phoenix.codeytek.com/">live demo</a>.  Those who want to give it a test drive can grab the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/tree/master/phoenix">code from GitHub</a>.</p>



<p>Until now, every block-based theme I have seen has been missing a left or right sidebar. I am a fan of the open-canvas format that focuses on content, hiding the often-frivolous widgets that only detract from the important bits. However, sidebars are sometimes useful and even necessary.</p>



<p>When I refer to a &ldquo;sidebar,&rdquo; I am not talking about the dynamic sidebar system of widgets that we have all come to love or hate since WordPress 2.2. That system <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-9-3-provides-indicator-of-where-full-site-editing-is-going-a-future-without-widgets-and-customizer-screens">no longer exists in the world of FSE</a>. The site editor merely has a concept of templates and template parts, which are containers for blocks. It is up to the theme author to give some default structure, even building template parts that work like sidebars.</p>



<p>A sidebar in the Phoenix theme literally means a block area on the side of the page.</p>



<p>It is such a simple idea, one that is nearly as old as blogs. It hardly seems something worth getting excited about, but I have been waiting a while to see a block-based theme with a sidebar. The feature further legitimatizes the path that WordPress is heading down. The greater theme development community needs to see these simple architectural ideas put into action. They need to see someone saying, &ldquo;Hey, here&rsquo;s how you do this simple thing you&rsquo;ve been doing for a decade in this new system.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Phoenix only adds a sidebar on the front page, but this is a start.</p>



<p>The theme is also more ambitious than some previous attempts by mixing static and dynamic features on the front page. Phoenix includes a header area with the standard site title and a nav menu. Below that, it adds a static hero section that users can customize.</p>



<img />Front page hero section.



<p>It then uses the Columns block to split the content and sidebar. On the left, the theme uses the Query block to list the latest posts. On the right, it adds a sidebar template part.</p>



<img />Latest blog posts section next to sidebar.



<p>The footer design is also bold in comparison to some other block-based themes so far. It has a full-width Cover block, which is followed by a group of columns, which is basically what a footer <em>sidebar</em> is.</p>



<img />Large footer area with columns.



<p>Again, these are basic concepts that theme authors have been doing for ages. The idea behind many of these experimental themes is to start testing how to make them a reality using blocks. By the time the site editor lands in WordPress, theme authors can build upon these initial techniques and create more complex layouts.</p>



<p>This is especially the case with front-page design. If there is one area that has created roadblock upon roadblock when developing traditional themes, it has been the front page. Whether through custom options pages, the theme customizer, widgets, or a host of other solutions, nothing has stuck for well over a decade now. While the single post template is arguably the most important view on a WordPress website, it is the front page design that draws in the average user. It is also one of the biggest points of failure after users install a theme. That carefully-crafted front page in the demo looks nothing like what the users see on their own sites.</p>



<p>Phoenix is a step in the right direction because it shows how to mix these basic elements. Because it is a block-based theme, end-users have instant visual feedback in the site editor if they want to customize it.</p>



<p>The next step is for more themers to get involved in the Theme Experiments project. Start exploring more complex ideas and layouts. Use this moment to share knowledge and build upon the work that so few others are doing right now.</p>



<p>Phoenix is by no means a perfect theme. The front end and the site editor are not a one-to-one match at this point. Everything that looks wrong with it in the editor highlights just how far we have left to go.</p>



<p>I am carefully maintaining hope while being a realist about where FSE will be in 2021. This is a year for exploration. Perhaps we will have a few breakout themes that push the envelope toward the end of the year, but it all starts with experimental projects like Phoenix.</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, 16 Feb 2021 23:07:07 +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: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: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:55:"WPTavern: Easy Digital Downloads 3.0 Now in Public Beta";s: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=112130";s: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:155:"https://wptavern.com/easy-digital-downloads-3-0-now-in-public-beta?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=easy-digital-downloads-3-0-now-in-public-beta";s: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:2646:"<p><a href="https://easydigitaldownloads.com/">Easy Digital Downloads</a> (EDD) is coming up on a major milestone with version 3.0 in active development, a huge undertaking spanning nearly three years. The <a href="https://easydigitaldownloads.com/development/2021/02/16/edd-3-0-beta1/">first beta</a> was released today with one of the most extensive and technically detailed beta testing guides I&rsquo;ve seen for a major plugin update. </p>



<p>Version 3.0 will migrate the bulk of EDD data out of WordPress core tables to custom database tables. During the lifespan of this nearly 10-year old plugin, practices have changed regarding the use of custom tables and the coming update will bring improvements to performance and data structures. Testers can <a href="https://github.com/easydigitaldownloads/easy-digital-downloads/releases/download/3.0-beta1/easy-digital-downloads.zip">download it from GitHub</a> and go through the data migration process. The beta testing guide specifies a list of seven tables to check after migration to ensure there are no issues with data transfer or backwards compatibility.</p>



<p>The release post noted that the order refund functionality is still in development and will not yet be ready for testing until the beta 2 release.</p>



<p>EDD first came on the scene in 2012. Inspired by Jigoshop and WooCommerce&rsquo;s successes with the &ldquo;extensions marketplace&rdquo; business model, EDD creator Pippin Williamson has <a href="https://wptavern.com/pippin-williamson-on-building-a-community-around-your-open-source-project">prioritized extensibility</a> from the beginning. There are now more than 102 official extensions and themes, and hundreds more <a href="https://easydigitaldownloads.com/3rd-party-extensions/">third-party extensions</a>. Anytime EDD core moves forward with major changes, the wide community of extensions is a critical consideration.</p>



<p>For this reason, EDD is pursuing a strategy of releasing a series of updates to as many extensions as possible that contain compatibility with 3.0. The announcement lists eight extensions, including Stripe Gateway, Software Licensing, PDF Invoices, Commissions, and others which have been updated and can be used in testing.</p>



<p>EDD is also encouraging third-party developers to check out the 3.0 code base and ensure compatibility ahead of the official release.  WordPress freelancers and agencies who have clients using EDD will want to test out the 3.0 beta 1 ahead of time to find any concerns with data migration that would prevent their clients from having a smooth transition when the official release drops.</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, 16 Feb 2021 23:03:13 +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: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: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:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.7 Beta 3";s: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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9727";s: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:56:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-7-beta-3/";s: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:4753:"<p>WordPress 5.7 Beta 3 is now available for testing! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f5e3.png" alt="🗣" class="wp-smiley" /></p>



<p><strong>This software is still in development,</strong>&nbsp;so it’s not recommended to run this version on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with it.</p>



<p>You can test the WordPress 5.7 Beta 3 in two ways:</p>



<ul><li>Install/activate the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (select the&nbsp;<code>Bleeding edge</code>&nbsp;channel and the&nbsp;<code>Beta/RC Only</code> stream)</li><li>Direct download the beta version here (<a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.7-beta3.zip">zip</a>).</li></ul>



<p>The current target for final release is March 9, 2021. That’s just <strong>three weeks away</strong>, so your help is vital to making sure that the final release is as good as it can be.</p>



<h2><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>



<p>Since <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-7-beta-2/">Beta 2</a>, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&changetime=02%2F10%2F2021..02%2F17%2F2021&milestone=5.7&group=component&max=500&col=id&col=summary&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=component&col=version&order=priority">27</a> bugs have been fixed. Here is a summary of some of the included changes:</p>



<ul><li>Adjusted color contrast on various admin buttons to improve accessibility and readability (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52402">#52402</a>)</li><li>Several fixes for the Twenty Twenty-One theme (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52287">#52287</a>, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52377">#52377</a>, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52431">#52431</a>, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52500">#52500</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/feed/#52502">#5</a><a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52502">2</a><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/feed/#52502">502</a>, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52412">#52412</a>)</li><li>Replaced editor typeface with system fonts to improve privacy and performance (<a href="https://wordpress.org/news/feed/#46169">#46169</a>)</li><li>Added i18n support to <code>register_block_type_from_metadata</code> function (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52301">#52301</a>)</li><li>Media upload errors are now more accessible (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/47120">#47120</a>)</li><li>New filter to modify how pagination links are rendered when using <code>paginate_links</code> function (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/44018">#44018</a>)</li></ul>



<h2><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>



<p>Watch the Make WordPress Core blog for 5.7-related developer notes in the coming weeks, which will break down these and other changes in greater detail.</p>



<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&changetime=..02%2F16%2F2021&milestone=5.7&group=component&max=500&col=id&col=summary&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=component&col=version&order=priority">171 tickets in WordPress 5.7</a>, including <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&status=reopened&changetime=..02%2F16%2F2021&type=enhancement&type=feature+request&milestone=5.7&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=type&col=status&col=milestone&col=changetime&col=owner&col=priority&col=keywords&order=changetime">64 new features and enhancements</a>, and more bug fixes are on the way.</p>



<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/">Testing for bugs</a> is a vital part of polishing the release during the beta stage and a great way to contribute. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/2728.png" alt="✨" class="wp-smiley" /></p>



<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please post to the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/">Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums. We would love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, file one on <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket">WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major">known bugs</a>.</p>



<p><em>Props to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/">@audrasjb</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecarbis/">@lukecarbis</a> for your peer revisions.</em></p>



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



<p><em>Finish line ahead<br />Defects in focus<br />We are almost there&#8230;</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, 16 Feb 2021 21:25:34 +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:13:"Ebonie Butler";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:97:"WPTavern: Video: Matt Mullenweg and Josepha Haden Chomphosy Join WordCamp India for Fireside Chat";s: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=112036";s: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:237:"https://wptavern.com/video-matt-mullenweg-and-josepha-haden-chomphosy-join-wordcamp-india-for-fireside-chat?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=video-matt-mullenweg-and-josepha-haden-chomphosy-join-wordcamp-india-for-fireside-chat";s: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:4002:"<p>If you are living in part of the world where the polar vortex has plunged the weather into record-cold temperatures, you might enjoy this fireside chat from <a href="https://india.wordcamp.org/2021/">WordCamp India 2021</a>. The event was held online over the span of three weekends from Jan 30 to Feb 14. Matt Mullenweg and Josepha Haden Chomphosy joined organizers over the weekend for an invigorating conversation about India and the global WordPress community. </p>



<p>One of the opening questions from the audience was about the growth of newsletter services like <a href="https://substack.com/">Substack</a>, which seem no different from a WordPress-powered blog with emailing features. The audience asked how WordPress can help people who want to start their own newsletter service. </p>



<p>Mullenweg said that although &ldquo;pretty much everything is possible in WordPress,&rdquo; some things require putting together many different plugins and might have a higher barrier to entry:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>I think there&rsquo;s two ways we can address that. One is by education. People can actually get through a lot steps if there is a good guide. A great guide around how to build something just like Substack on your WordPress blog where you own everything would be really valuable and popular. Second, when we make that guide we will probably see some steps that we could eliminate or smooth, friction points which we could make easier for people to get through. Whenever we see something like a Substack pop up on the market, I think it&rsquo;s a great moment for reflection to see where can that educate us to where we can improve our own product, plugins, and educational material.</p></blockquote>



<p>Mullenweg also shared that Automattic has just made &ldquo;a pretty large investment&rdquo; in <a href="https://titan.email/">Titan</a>, a company based in India, which he said will be a big part of how WordPress.com offers email going forward.</p>



<p>Josepha Haden Chomphosy gave an update on what&rsquo;s next for in-person events, which may resume later in 2021 if things go well:  </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>In the short term, the future of WordCamps is very careful. There&rsquo;s an ongoing conversation about how we can bring everybody back together in a way that keeps us connected and provides all of that normal WordPress feeling but also is incredibly safe. It&rsquo;s hard. There&rsquo;s a lot of unknown stuff, but the success with the vaccinations we have seen so far is really heartening. Fingers crossed we can start allowing quite small in-person events starting in Q3 of 2021. </p></blockquote>



<p>Haden Chomphosy also indicated that hybrid events may be here to stay, streaming to an online audience with captioning and translation available when possible, to make in-person events more accessible:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>We can, with a little bit of pre-planning and with a little bit of intention, make sure that our events, even if they are in person, have an online component that helps to make sure the education that we&rsquo;re trying to provide there gets to as many people as possible without having that barrier to entry of having to physically go to a place and pay your time to get there and pay your money to get there. I&rsquo;m hoping that we see a little more consistent planning about that in our in person events so we can keep offering a more global mindset to our events overall.</p></blockquote>



<p>She touched on the topic of training and education, noting that WordPress&rsquo; 0-101 level content is somewhat lacking. This critical &ldquo;make or break&rdquo; onboarding stage could be improved for many users.</p>



<p>They also discussed the need for attracting a younger generation of contributors that WordPress veterans can mentor to infuse new life into the project. Check out the recording below.</p>



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

</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:"Tue, 16 Feb 2021 03:11:43 +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:73:"WPTavern: Newspack Newsletters Now Live in the WordPress Plugin Directory";s: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=112065";s: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/newspack-newsletters-now-live-in-the-wordpress-plugin-directory?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=newspack-newsletters-now-live-in-the-wordpress-plugin-directory";s: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:6576:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Automattic released its <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/newspack-newsletters/">Newspack Newsletters</a> project to the WordPress plugin directory earlier today. It is the first Newspack-related plugin the company has made available outside of GitHub or its custom platform.</p>



<p><a href="https://newspack.pub/">Newspack</a> is primarily a service geared toward small and medium-sized publications. Its goal is to work with news industry leaders to create a platform for bringing WordPress to more newsrooms worldwide. El Soberano, a Chilean news publication, became the <a href="https://wptavern.com/chilean-news-publication-el-soberano-first-to-launch-on-newspack">first site to launch</a> on the service in October 2019. Earlier this month, Newspack <a href="https://wptavern.com/newspack-publishes-showcase-with-60-newsrooms-launched">showcased 60 sites</a> running on the platform.</p>



<p>The platform is more than one theme, plugin, or service. The code is open-source, <a href="https://github.com/Automattic?q=newspack">available on GitHub</a>, and free for anyone to use via self-hosted WordPress. Each plugin is built based on feedback between publishers and the Newspack development team to solve real-world problems for publications.</p>



<p><em>The downside?</em> Until now, the various Newspack plugins have all been hosted on GitHub, which is a developer-centric platform.</p>



<p>Small newsrooms may not have an onboard developer or IT team. The discoverability of necessary plugins will often happen through WordPress.org. With Newspack Newsletters landing in the plugin directory, it could be an indication of things to come.</p>



<p>The Newspack team should not stop with their first plugin. The entire suite of tools should be available through the plugin directory. The <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/newspack-blocks">Newspack Blocks</a> plugin could have uses outside of news sites. Many users might find value in its Post Carousel block or various patterns. The <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/newspack-content-converter">Newspack Content Converter</a> bulk-converts classic WordPress posts to the block system. Even the <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/newspack-theme">Newspack theme</a> and its child themes should have a home on the official WordPress theme directory.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We are planning to release the Newspack Content Converter on WordPress.org next, which is expected to happen in the next two months,&rdquo; said Newspack lead Jeff Rabb. &ldquo;Newspack has used this plugin on nearly every site we&rsquo;ve launched to convert massive archives to Gutenberg, and we suspect this functionality will be very useful to the community. Several of Newspack&rsquo;s blocks are already available on WordPress.org through the WordPress.com Editing Toolkit. The toolkit plugin includes the Blog Posts and Post Carousel blocks, both of which originate from the Newspack Blocks plugin. We&rsquo;ll continue to examine whether other products our team is developing may be of wider use to the community, and release on WordPress.org as appropriate.&rdquo;</p>



<h2>How the Plugin Works</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Newspack Newsletters <a href="https://newspack.pub/2020/07/14/newspack-offers-free-plugin-that-builds-a-mailchimp-newsletter-without-leaving-wordpress/">launched in July 2020</a>. The plugin initially integrated with Mailchimp. However, the team has since added Constant Contact support. It also requires integration with <a href="https://mjml.io/">Mailjet Markup Language (MJML)</a> for transforming the HTML from WordPress into responsive markup for email clients.</p>



<p>After installing the plugin, users must set up the API keys from the third-party services they are using. Steve Beatty has a complete walkthrough of the process in the following YouTube video:</p>



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

</div>



<p>The plugin adds a new post type for managing newsletters. It works much the same way as any other post or page. When adding a newsletter, users are initially presented with four layout options:</p>



<ul><li><strong>Breaking News:</strong> Displays the latest blog post and a message afterward.</li><li><strong>Daily/Weekly:</strong> Lists the latest posts from the blog and a section for sharing curated links from around the web.</li><li><strong>Daily/Weekly (No Images):</strong> An alternate version of the Daily/Weekly layout without post featured images.</li><li><strong>Support:</strong> A template for asking readers to support the publication.</li></ul>



<p>Of course, these are only starting points. Users can begin from any of these four templates or wholly from scratch. The plugin also provides an option for saving newsletters as custom layouts.</p>



<img />Selecting a layout from the newsletter screen.



<p>While the plugin works similarly to posts and pages, it does limit the available blocks to those more suitable for emails. This subset includes text-based blocks like Paragraph, Heading, Quote, and List. It also supports few design-type blocks, images, and the plugin&rsquo;s Post Inserter block.</p>



<p>The user experience is straightforward. Newsletter-specific settings are in the sidebar panel. One of the simple-but-useful features is a &ldquo;Styling&rdquo; tab that allows users to make wholesale font and color changes for a single newsletter.</p>



<img />Creating and sending a test newsletter.



<p>Users can even send a test email before publishing to make sure everything is in order. This feature also makes it easy to test on a local machine before deciding if the plugin is worth using in production.</p>



<img />Newsletter viewed via Gmail.



<p>Usage of the ads system was not immediately apparent. It was not until I ran a test email from the Edit Newsletter screen that I realized that the ad I had created was attached to the end of the email. Even after figuring this out, I still felt a disconnect between how ads worked for newsletters. There is a sidebar setting for disabling ads on the Edit Newsletter screen. Perhaps I am missing something, but ad placements should be a block the user can insert into the content canvas.</p>



<p>Despite feeling at odds with the ads system in the plugin, the overall experience was mostly smooth. The plugin is not overly complex, which can sometimes be the case when a developer attempts to add too many features. Newspack Newsletters has managed to hit that Goldilocks zone that should go over well with the average end-user.</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, 15 Feb 2021 23:17:03 +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: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:115:"WPTavern: WordPress Contributors Discuss Scaling Back Releases: “4 Major Releases Is Not a Viable Plan in 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:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=111915";s: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:261:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-scaling-back-releases-4-major-releases-is-not-a-viable-plan-in-2021?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-contributors-discuss-scaling-back-releases-4-major-releases-is-not-a-viable-plan-in-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:4763:"<p>WordPress contributors are considering scaling back the planned number of releases in 2021. In a post titled &ldquo;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/11/making-wordpress-releases-easier/">Making WordPress Releases Easier</a>,&rdquo; WordPress&rsquo; Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy summarized three years of research on reducing the effort required to have a successful WordPress release:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>From my research, the work to automate what we can (and potentially get the project ready for more releases per year) would take 3-4 dedicated developers who are proficient in our backend tools/infrastructure, at least a project manager, 1-2 internal communications people, and probably a year or more of work (if we had all the resources, and they were working at full capacity). <strong>This means that 4 major releases is not a viable plan in 2021.</strong></p></blockquote>



<p>Haden Chomphosy cited a number of challenges, including update fatigue, risk of contributor burnout, a lengthy onboarding process for contributors skilled at doing the administrative work required during a release, and a lack of seasoned core developers to keep the process moving efficiently. She identified a few improvements that could be made in the short-term to improve the experience (mentorship, triage, feature proposals, and better product/processes) but other necessary updates to automation and scaling contributors could take a year or more of work. </p>



<p>The post is open for feedback but the decision to scale back the releases seems to have already been made. Ryan McCue, Director of Product at Human Made, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/11/making-wordpress-releases-easier/#comment-40660">commented</a> with concerns about altering the predictability of WordPress releases and introducing what seems like a last minute change:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The predictability of the release calendar was a major step forward for the project, and for companies and teams (including mine) building on top of&nbsp;core. We have intentionally planned and structured our year ahead with this calendar in mind. Obviously, due to the tentative nature, we weren&rsquo;t expecting dates to be final, but the overall picture seemed to be fairly clear with smaller shifts expected.</p><p>Whether WordPress does one release or twelve a year doesn&rsquo;t matter hugely to me, but ensuring it&rsquo;s predictable matters hugely for our planning, communication with clients, and for our day-to-day processes. Seeing this change pretty last moment is not encouraging, and is going to have real repercussions for us.</p><p>I sympathise with and understand the limitations of capacity and overhead of releasing more often, but changing this plan needs to be clearly communicated upfront, and with a clear plan that isn&rsquo;t going to change again.</p></blockquote>



<p>Haden Chomphosy responded with clarification on the conclusion communicated in her post. Without in-person events, contributors have struggled to keep the project moving at the same pace as before. She said the previous schedule had been made without much input from the contributors who are the most impacted. </p>



<p>&ldquo;Perhaps the more appropriate way to have stated my conclusion would have been: &lsquo;Barring any major changes to the available contributors and global circumstances, I don&rsquo;t see how we can ship four releases this year without creating undue strain on the team who currently runs those processes,'&rdquo; Haden Chomphosy said.</p>



<p>Component maintainers and theme/plugin developers participating in the conversation also confirmed that WordPress&rsquo; frequent updates have posed a challenge and that the risk of burnout is real. Entering into year two of a global pandemic has undeniably impacted contributors&rsquo; availability and momentum, and Haden Chomphosy&rsquo;s post seeks feedback on a way forward that will avoid putting WordPress&rsquo; dedicated contributors under additional strain.</p>



<p>After this post was published, the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/11/21/tentative-release-calendar-2020-2021/">release schedule for 2020/2021</a> was updated to show that release dates for WordPress 5.8 and beyond are yet to be confirmed.</p>



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



<p>Some stakeholders will undoubtedly be disappointed with the current lack of certainty on release dates for the upcoming year, but the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/11/making-wordpress-releases-easier/">conversation</a> is still open and changes will be communicated as soon as contributors find an acceptable way forward.</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, 12 Feb 2021 23:09:21 +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: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:67:"WPTavern: Design Lab Releases Artpop, a Block-Ready 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=111904";s: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/design-lab-releases-artpop-a-block-ready-wordpress-theme?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=design-lab-releases-artpop-a-block-ready-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:4950:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Perhaps the fates have stepped in to prove a point. After I wrote a 2,000-word piece on the <a href="https://wptavern.com/upsells-barriers-and-the-end-beginning-of-the-quality-free-themes-era">lack of quality themes</a> in the theme directory, they decided to send a message. Not once, but twice this week, a new WordPress theme has managed to catch my eye. My rational mind knows that it was just a weird twist of timing, but I am not discounting the supernatural.</p>



<p>Design Lab&rsquo;s sixth theme, <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/artpop/">Artpop</a>, went live in the theme directory this week. It is marketed as a block-ready WordPress theme for blogs, portfolios, businesses, and WooCommerce shops. For the most part, it has a clean and open design that provides users a lot of wiggle room to build out pages with the block editor.</p>



<p>Simplicity is the name of the game, and Artpop has it in spades. It adds just enough small touches to make some elements pop. Of course, I am a fan of the blockquote style, which is one area that theme authors can leave their signature:</p>



<img />Blockquote design.



<p>The theme is not without a few design issues. The typography does not lend itself well to long-form content, despite being pushed as a blogging theme. With a 760px-wide content area and 16px font-size, comfortable reading is thrown out the window. Sure, it looks good in <a href="https://www.designlabthemes.com/preview/artpop/">the demo</a>, but it is not practical in the real world.</p>



<p>Where the theme gets things right is its coverage of block styles. End-users can put together custom layouts that do not look broken. After two years of the block editor being in core, this should be the <em>standard</em> experience with all themes, but I cannot stress how much it isn&rsquo;t.</p>



<p>I even recreated the <a href="https://demo.designlabthemes.com/artpop-pro/homepage-creative/">&ldquo;creative&rdquo; homepage design</a> that ships with the pro version of the theme to see how easy it was. If you would rather work with premade layouts, the <a href="https://www.designlabthemes.com/artpop-pro-wordpress-theme/">upgrade</a> is a mere $30. However, if you know your way around the block editor, you can definitely build the layouts yourself.</p>



<img />Editing creative-style Artpop Pro homepage design.



<p>This is the direction that theme design should be going. Provide all the capabilities in the free product. Upsell the added value of having all these extra layouts/patterns premade and available at the click of the button.</p>



<p>By default, the homepage displays a five-post grid. A large featured post sits in the middle while the others are aligned on either side of it. This unique layout was what immediately drew me into the theme.</p>



<img />Grid-style featured posts.



<p>Users can also choose a carousel of featured posts instead of the grid via the customizer. I am typically not a fan of slider-like sections. However, carousels, where it is clear there are extra posts to view, are sometimes an exception to the rule.</p>



<img />Carousel-style featured posts.



<p>After working with block-based themes and the site editor so much over the past few months, these customizer settings feel ancient &mdash; both from a developer and end-user viewpoint. It reminds me to applaud theme authors for the years of work they have put into non-optimal systems. There will be a day when adding these types of layouts do not require nearly as much effort.</p>



<p>The one annoyance with the homepage options is that the theme author created a separate &ldquo;Homepage&rdquo; panel, which can easily be confused with the existing core &ldquo;Homepage Settings&rdquo; section. There is no good reason to not combine these two and free up some room in the customizer.</p>



<p>I would also like to see just a general cleanup of the theme&rsquo;s customizer integration. The theme does not have many options, but it has nearly a dozen top-level sections, consuming precious real estate in the customizer.</p>



<p>The biggest downside to the theme is that it adds a customizer control that prints &ldquo;Try Artpop Pro / Need more options?&rdquo; to every section it adds. This is in addition to its two top-level upsell sections. The thing that makes it worse, however, is that it is broken. The &ldquo;Try Artpop Pro&rdquo; text is meant to be linked, but the theme has a bug that outputs the text followed by a broken link tag, which is only visible in the source code.</p>



<p>There really is no need for 10 upsell links in the customizer, even if eight of them are broken. The theme is nice enough on its own. The links just degrade it.</p>



<p>Aside from a few annoyances, the theme is worth exploring for those in the market for something new. While it is a freemium product, users can get a lot of mileage out of it without upgrading.</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, 12 Feb 2021 18:49:30 +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: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:74:"WPTavern: Elementor to Roll Out Significant Pricing Hike for New Customers";s: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=111909";s: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:193:"https://wptavern.com/elementor-to-roll-out-significant-pricing-hike-for-new-customers?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elementor-to-roll-out-significant-pricing-hike-for-new-customers";s: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:5799:"<p>Earlier this week, Elementor <a href="https://elementor.com/blog/announcing-new-pro-plans/">announced</a> a significant pricing hike coming in March 2021 for new customers:  </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>On March 9th, 2021, Elementor will be adding new Studio and Agency Pro subscription plans and adapting the Expert plan, to best accommodate users&rsquo; growing needs. These changes will only apply to new purchases.&nbsp;<strong>If you&rsquo;re on an existing active subscription plan, nothing changes for you.</strong></p></blockquote>



<p>The most radical change is coming to the Expert plan, which previously offered 1,000 sites for $199/year. The plan has been pared back to support 25 sites. Users who need support for 1,000 websites will need to purchase the Agency plan at $999/year, a 400% increase on the price for what was previously offered under the Expert plan.</p>



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



<p>Elementor emphasized that customers with an existing active subscription will not be affected by the pricing changes. The company is also giving customers a chance to purchase the current Expert plan ($199/year for 1,000 sites) before it is discontinued before March 9, 2021. Existing customers on the Expert plan have the option to upgrade to the Agency plan at a 50% discount (valid from March 9, 2021 until June 9, 2021).</p>



<p>Over the past 48 hours, Elementor&rsquo;s announcement has received 270 comments primarily from disgruntled customers. Some of them are opposed to the pricing hikes and others are unclear about what it means for their subscriptions long term. Elementor representatives&rsquo; responses to questions on renewal have been studiously unclear.</p>



<p>One customer points out that the announcement does not explicitly say that existing subscriptions will retain the legacy pricing past the end of the billing period for this year. It does not state that existing active subscriptions will remain at the same price indefinitely, nor does it specify a term after which the pricing will go up. </p>



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



<p>Elementor Evangelist Ben Pines, head of the company&rsquo;s web creator program, has left the question regarding renewals open, saying he &ldquo;cannot see into the future.&rdquo; Customers were left wondering whether the lack of clarity on the future of renewals is a foreshadowing of prices going up after the current billing year. </p>



<p>&ldquo;No one can predict the future, and offering a lifetime price guarantee is irresponsible for any future-facing company,&rdquo; Pines told the Tavern. &ldquo;What we can guarantee for sure is the extent to which we value user loyalty. This is why they have never experienced any price change in 4.5 years. We value our users&rsquo; trust, and have taken every step to ensure that our loyal users&rsquo; active subscriptions are not affected.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The company has not confirmed whether existing active subscriptions will be guaranteed the lower pricing forever and reserves the right to eliminate legacy pricing at any point in the future. </p>



<p>In the announcement, Pines said the pricing model for Elementor Pro has hardly changed since it was introduced in 2016 and that it is time to update it to best accommodate customers&rsquo; evolving needs. Elementor is now installed on more than 7 million websites and caters to a wide community of users with varying levels of expertise. The new plans have access to 24/7 live chat support and a handful of other benefits, but many customers participating in the comments said they do not require chat support.</p>



<p>The upcoming pricing hike has heightened tensions for customers who feel the dramatic increase is unjustified for the software in its current state. They cited usability issues, persistent bugs, and performance problems that remain unfixed. Additional support features do not make the higher prices more compelling for this segment of the company&rsquo;s customers.</p>



<p>Some who were disturbed by the radical price increase called for the company to consider creating a middle ground offering for the updated Expert tier.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I agree that 1,000 websites for $199 is low,&rdquo; one customer commented. &ldquo;Many small people will never create 1,000 websites. What bothers me is $199 for 25. Would it be more reasonable if it was $199 for 50, to have some middle ground? Or maybe you do not want the little people around any more.&rdquo;</p>



<p>A handful of customers commenting were unfazed, noting that anyone who builds 1,000 websites using Elementor and cannot afford $1 per work order should reconsider their business model.</p>



<p>Pricing changes can be a major source of friction for existing customers, as GitLab recently discovered when <a href="https://wptavern.com/gitlab-drops-bronze-starter-tier-in-pricing-update">dropping its Bronze/Starter Tier</a> and imposing a 5x price increase on those features in a higher tier. Although the immediate impact of pricing increases will primarily hit new customers, it&rsquo;s the existing customers who have been paying for subscriptions for years who have the strongest opinions on the changes. </p>



<p>Raising prices to introduce more value for customers or to account for the increased support burden is a natural evolution for companies that experience rapid growth over a short period of time. Getting existing customers to lock in their auto-renewals by offering legacy pricing is also a strategy for ensuring a more predictable financial future for the company. But Elementor&rsquo;s lack of clarity regarding term length for the discounted renewal pricing is the primary reason for all the agitation in the comments on the announcement.</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, 12 Feb 2021 04:58:16 +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: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: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:68:"WPTavern: WP Feedback Rebrands To Atarim, Moves To a Full SaaS Model";s: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=110579";s: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:179:"https://wptavern.com/wp-feedback-rebrands-to-atarim-moves-to-a-full-saas-model?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wp-feedback-rebrands-to-atarim-moves-to-a-full-saas-model";s: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:5872:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Earlier this week, WP Feedback founder Vito Peleg announced the company was <a href="https://atarim.io/blog/introducing-atarim/">changing its brand to Atarim</a>. After 18 months since its launch, it would also be moving toward a complete Saas (Software as a Service) model.</p>



<p>WP Feedback was created as a standalone plugin. The goal was to provide a visual feedback tool that agencies and developers could use to communicate with clients rather than spending time deciphering unclear emails, chat messages, and phone calls.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Starting as a freelancer and then an agency owner myself, it was always a huge pain to get clients to provide me with the content and design feedback I needed,&rdquo; said Peleg. &ldquo;And this led to us building a tool for us that worked extremely well with our workflow, which led to the decision to take this to the market.&rdquo;</p>



<p>However, over time, the product evolved into something bigger.</p>



<p>&ldquo;As we started gaining traction, I always kept a pulse on our users (now with over 5,000 freelancers and agencies), and it became clear that a standalone plugin, while it did do the trick, was simply not enough &mdash; especially for those that manage multiple websites and clients at the same time,&rdquo; said Peleg. &ldquo;It solved a huge part of the problem, but not the workflow in its entirety. There was a clear demand for us to build a centralized area to gather all feedback so we then created our Agency Dashboard &mdash; a cloud-based application that allowed our users to gather all the requests from different clients and websites to manage them in a single place.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Peleg said the Agency Dashboard revealed a more complex problem in the industry. Agencies were patching together several different tools to provide various aspects of their services. These tools were leading to unnecessary friction and slowing down jobs, often adding weeks of additional time.</p>



<p>The team tackled more than they had initially bargained for. In 18 months, they added over 150 features to the WP Feedback platform. Peleg said the project has helped agencies and developers reduce between 50% and 80% of the previous time delivering projects and supporting clients.</p>



<p>In 2020, the WP Feedback&rsquo;s users marked over 100,000 tasks as complete. Peleg calculates this has saved the industry over five years of unnecessary back and forth.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The name WP FeedBack continued to position us as what version 1.0 was &mdash; a basic visual feedback plugin,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So along with version 2.0 that is releasing this week, I decided it&rsquo;s a great opportunity to revamp the whole experience with a rebrand, repositioning, and a whole bunch of new ways that users can use our software to improve their lives.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Peleg said that nothing is really changing for existing customers other than having access to more tools. It should be a smooth transition for them. The goal now is to attract new customers.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I also hope that this transition will allow our industry to see the new reality we&rsquo;re creating for delivering website projects and why it&rsquo;s insane that a 5-6 days project still takes 6-8 weeks to complete,&rdquo; he said.</p>



<h2>How the Service Works</h2>



<img />Atarim Agency Dashboard.



<p class="has-drop-cap">There are two sides to Atarim. One is a client-interface plugin installed on each project website; the other is the Agency Dashboard.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The plugin&rsquo;s role is to provide a simple experience for clients to provide the content you need, approve the designs and request ongoing support,&rdquo; said Peleg. &ldquo;Allowing to visually click any part of the website (including in the wp-admin screens) and just leave a comment. The agency will get an automated screenshot, the screen size, browser version, and a button that will take them directly to the request, logged in, with one click.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Freelancers or agencies work from within the Agency Dashboard. This serves as a central location for all of the work that happens around client websites.</p>



<p>Technically, WP Feedback has already been a SaaS product with an accompanying plugin since launching its central dashboard early in the product&rsquo;s history. Version 2.0 completes the transition from a plugin to a full-on SaaS. Feedback and other data are no longer saved to the client websites. Instead, they are hosted via Atarim.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Over time, we noticed that it created unwanted bloat to the websites that were using our tools extensively, so off-loading all the data and loading it from our side, was the natural route,&rdquo; said Peleg. &ldquo;But since this is how the platform was initially built, this was a massive undertaking that I&rsquo;m very happy that we finally completed.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The client-interface plugin is built for WordPress. However, the technology stack behind the new Atarim Agency Dashboard is on Laravel and React. The team thought it would be the best framework for speed and to work with as the company continues to scale.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been using WordPress myself for more than a decade &mdash; so it really comes naturally to me by now,&rdquo; said Peleg. &ldquo;The SaaS world is a different animal.&rdquo;</p>



<p>&ldquo;One of the biggest challenges was transitioning everything we have built, to be pulled from the cloud as opposed to being stored locally on the client&rsquo;s site. The &lsquo;cloud migration&rsquo; project, as we called it internally, has been a year-long endeavor that, whilst it was developed constantly, was pushed back by our need to support our existing users, our growth, COVID-19, and all the other fires that happen when you&rsquo;re running a startup.&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:"Thu, 11 Feb 2021 21:54:18 +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: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: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:55:"WordPress.org blog: People of WordPress: Pooja Derashri";s: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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9652";s: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:70:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/people-of-wordpress-pooja-derashri/";s: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:9701:"<p><em>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 that are lesser-known.</em></p>



<img width="632" height="331" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/02/pic1.jpg?resize=632%2C331&ssl=1" alt="Pooja standing in a banner " />



<p>Pooja Derashri shares the story of how she went from being an introvert from a small village in India to becoming a developer and working on international projects, thanks to the WordPress community.&nbsp;</p>



<p>As her interest grew, Pooja started following some WordPress-based groups on Facebook, where she first heard about conference-style WordPress events known as WordCamps. She later joined her first WordCamp in Ahmedabad, India. This three day event in 2017 opened up a new world—the WordPress community—and what would become a life changing moment. “WordCamp Ahmedabad has one of the best WordPress communities in India,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and everyone, including organizers and attendees were so humble and welcoming.”</p>



<img src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/02/pooja600x600.jpg?w=500&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-9654" />



<h2><strong>The thirst for learning</strong></h2>



<p>A fascination with how things worked and a desire never stop learning were traits that shone through in Pooja from a young age. She moved from Banera, a rural village in India, to a nearby city, where she lived with her uncle while completing her higher education. With her enthusiasm for learning, she decided to become an engineer. When thinking back on that time she says, “Being from a rural background, people in my village tended not to be keen on the idea of sending their girl child to another city for further studies. Fortunately, that was not the case for me because my parents were immensely supportive of me and my interests. They’ve always encouraged me to believe in myself and fulfill my dreams. With their support, I pursued my engineering in electronics and communication.”</p>



<h2><strong>Discovering the opportunities in web development&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>On completing her engineering training, Pooja was not sure what to do next. One of her friends suggested that she should explore web development. The idea intrigued her, and she sought out learning resources to study. She also secured an internship as a PHP Developer to give herself the chance to learn alongside professionals in the field.</p>



<h2><strong>Getting started with WordPress</strong></h2>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center"><p><strong>“I found WordPress surpassed other platforms. The vast knowledge base made it easy for me to learn.” &#8211; Pooja</strong></p></blockquote>



<p>This internship led Pooja to her first job where she discovered a range of content management systems. Her view of the opportunities offered by these systems changed when the manager assigned her a small project using the WordPress platform.&nbsp;</p>



<p>She recalls: “I found WordPress surpassed other platforms I had worked on earlier. The vast knowledge base made it easy for me to learn.” She soon became comfortable managing WordPress, working with plugins and themes, and wanted to learn it more in-depth.</p>



<p>Pooja soon joined WPVibes as its first team member. Being part of a new startup gave her a lot of experience and a chance to be involved in new processes. As the company expanded they started providing custom plugin development services per the client’s requirement and created some free and paid plugins. Pooja said, &#8220;We found it very exciting and productive. Today, we are a team of 10.”</p>



<h2><strong>Encouragement from the WordPress community</strong></h2>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center"><p><strong>Contributing to WordPress increases your knowledge</strong></p></blockquote>



<p>At the event, she was able to listen to speakers from India and abroad, many of whom shared their journey with WordPress and how it had changed their lives. “One of the most inspiring sessions was by Rahul Bansal,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He talked about contributing to WordPress and giving back to the community. He also explained how contributing to WordPress can help you to enhance your knowledge. It inspired me to contribute to WordPress.”</p>



<p>The WordPress community of Ahmedabad continued to inspire Pooja and her husband Anand Upadhyay, and they later started a Meetup group in their home city of Ajmer as part of their contribution to the community. They continue to be involved in supporting local users through the <a href="https://www.meetup.com/ajmer-wordpress-meetup/">Ajmer Meetup</a>.</p>



<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/KmA8iDgGrRar_cgD2jp2ThrzPxuzGTSI7SWkxDdHKyN4p2iNoj0e-VdOxO0xa1TtH56Uci9wEfYYfnW8DYji8c1HuaI7L-xhNqXyXt_kdchWtVxe_PnSea2knlWhP_O7qqG0Quju" alt="Pooja with a WordCamp Ahmedabad badge" width="500" />



<p>At the next WordCamp Pooja attended, she joined its contributor day, which brings users together to give back to the open source platform and global community. Most of the contributors she met were interested in giving time to the WordPress CMS. She decided to venture into a different path and took her first steps by joining the WordPress TV group, where you can explore videos from WordPress events across the world. She also discovered the joy of translating into her local language, and is a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/">Polyglot</a> contributor for the Hindi language.</p>



<p>In 2019, she was selected as a volunteer for WordCamp Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, and it became an impetus to become even more involved with the community. She was very excited about this role, and to be part of her first WordCamp outside India. Sadly, due to the global COVID pandemic, the event had to be cancelled. Her enthusiasm has not diminished and she is eagerly waiting to support in-person WordCamps in the future and meet even more members of the global community.</p>



<p>Her determination to be part of making WordPress and sharing skills has only increased, which has led to contribute to the WordPress Training team. This team manages lesson plans and prepares content to support people who are training others to use WordPress. The team recently joined a few other teams to <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/introducing-learn-wordpress/">launch Learn WordPress</a>, which brings learning materials together for users of all levels, and Pooja contributed to two different teams during the project.</p>



<h2><strong>Message to the WordPress Community</strong></h2>



<p>Pooja is eager to share her belief in the power for good in the WordPress community. “There is a huge community to help you with your learning, so start learning and try to give back to the community. It doesn’t matter if you are not comfortable with programming, there are many different ways in which you can contribute.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>“What I have learned in my life is that it doesn’t matter from where you came and what background you have. All that matters is your hard work and positive attitude towards life.”</p>



<p>Read more stories in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/category/heropress/">People of WordPress series</a>.</p>



<h2>Contributors</h2>



<p><em>Thanks to Abha Thakor (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/">@webcommsat</a>) and Nalini Thakor (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a>) for writing this story, and to Surendra Thakor (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sthakor/">@sthakor</a>), Josepha Haden (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">@chanthaboune</a>), Meher Bala (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/">@meher</a>), Chloé Bringmann (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">@cbringmann</a>), Olga Glekler (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oglekler/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>oglekler</a>), Christopher Churchill (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vimes1984/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>vimes1984</a>), Larissa Murillo (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lmurillom/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>lmurillom</a>), and Yvette Sonneveld (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yvettesonneveld/">@yvettesonneveld</a>) for work on the series this month. Thank you also to Pooja Derashri (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webtechpooja/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>webtechpooja</a>) for sharing her #ContributorStory.</em></p>



<div class="wp-block-columns">
<div class="wp-block-column">
<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/E9y8t1dTqeOylNc4mkC0KeQfmCisFLy4790Idt2DYwWdKSEwCh7RlsAmTcnRYuTb7jqXzwtYVjPRsXDVTh_HREDUWAbB-sOOXuC7HEZR-uEeV046dl8X3eU9kG6fpIXkRn0SbDcT" alt="HeroPress logo" /><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<p><em>This post is based on an article originally published on HeroPress.com, an initiative focused around people in the WordPress community created by </em><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/"><em>Topher DeRosia</em></a><em>.</em></p>



<p><em>Meet more WordPress community members in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/category/heropress/">People of WordPress</a> series.</em></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:"Thu, 11 Feb 2021 21:30:03 +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: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:76:"WPTavern: WordPress Passes 40% Market Share of Alexa Top 10 Million 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=111831";s: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/wordpress-passes-40-market-share-of-alexa-top-10-million-websites?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-passes-40-market-share-of-alexa-top-10-million-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:3647:"<p>WordPress has passed 40% market share of all websites, up from 35.4% in January 2020, as measured by <a href="https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress">W3Techs</a>. These numbers are derived from  the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alexa.com/">Alexa</a>&nbsp;top 10 million websites, along with the&nbsp;<a href="https://tranco-list.eu/">Tranco</a>&nbsp;top 1 million list. By W3Techs&rsquo; estimates, every two minutes, another top 10m site starts using WordPress. </p>



<p>Among&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://w3techs.com/technologies/breakdown/cm-wordpress/ranking">top 1,000 sites</a>, WordPress&rsquo; market share is even higher at 51.8%, and captures a staggering 66.2% for new sites. In tracking the growth rate over the past 10 years, W3Techs shows WordPress sloping steadily upwards.</p>



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



<p> Matthias Gelbmann, CEO of W3Techs parent company&nbsp;Q-Success, <a href="https://w3techs.com/blog/entry/40_percent_of_the_web_uses_wordpress">explained</a> the reasons behind this methodology:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The reason why we don&rsquo;t count all the websites, is because there are so many domains that are unused or used for dubious purposes. We want to exclude the many millions of parked domains, spam sites and sites that simply have no real content. We are convinced that including all trash domains would make our statistics a lot less useful, as millions of them just run some software stack that auto-generates useless content.</p></blockquote>



<p>In order to measure the &ldquo;meaningful web,&rdquo; W3Techs&rsquo; methodology excludes sites with default content pages displayed by Apache, Plesk, and cPanel, expired domains, and account suspended pages. It also excludes sites with the default WordPress message (<em>&ldquo;Hello world! Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!&rdquo;</em>).</p>



<p>In January, <a href="https://w3techs.com/technologies/comparison/cm-drupal,cm-squarespace,cm-wix">Squarespace overtook Drupal and Wix</a> to become the 4th most popular CMS with 2.5% market share, trailing Joomla (3.4%), Shopify (5.3%), and WordPress (64.3%). Although most open source CMS&rsquo;s are now in a gradual decline with proprietary competitors rising, WordPress remains a beacon of free software that continues to sustain its incredible growth. </p>



<p>In a time when some projects are abandoning open source principles when convenient for their business models, WordPress&rsquo; success has proven that an unwavering commitment to user freedoms does not have to be at odds with a thriving commercial ecosystem. These user freedoms are fiercely protected by the project&rsquo;s leadership and passionate community of contributors. As a result, WordPress&rsquo; GPL licensing now underpins a multi-billion dollar economy of services, hosting companies, and entrepreneurs who have built their livelihoods using WordPress. </p>



<p>Every year I wonder when the project&rsquo;s growth might slow down, but end up refreshing W3Techs&rsquo; site obsessively for a week in anticipation of another major milestone, as WordPress hovered at 39.9%. Naysayers love to claim that hordes of people will stop using WordPress when major, ambitious changes are proposed. But if W3Techs&rsquo; growth tracking is any indication, new website creators and those climbing the ranks to the Alexa top 10 million have not yet gotten tired of being greeted by the message: <em>&ldquo;Hello world! Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!&rdquo;</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:"Thu, 11 Feb 2021 04:38:01 +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: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:111:"WPTavern: GoDaddy Launches the Hub, a New Site, Project, and Client Management Experience for Web Professionals";s: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=111717";s: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:261:"https://wptavern.com/godaddy-launches-the-hub-a-new-site-project-and-client-management-experience-for-web-professionals?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=godaddy-launches-the-hub-a-new-site-project-and-client-management-experience-for-web-professionals";s: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:5308:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">On Monday, GoDaddy officially <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/garage/what-is-new-godaddy-pro/">launched the Hub by GoDaddy Pro</a>, a dashboard that brings together all of its products, pro-specific tools, and solutions. The experience is geared toward website developers and designers, creating a central location to manage their client work.</p>



<p>GoDaddy Pro is not a new service by GoDaddy. The hosting company launched its <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/garage/introducing-the-godaddy-pro-beta/">initial beta in 2015</a>. However, GoDaddy Pro is now offering a fresh experience powered by the Hub. According to Adam Warner, the Global Field Marketing Sr. Manager at GoDaddy, the Hub is being built in collaboration with real-world web designers and developers from their Customer Advisory Board.</p>



<p>The Hub is at <a href="https://hub.godaddy.com">hub.godaddy.com</a>. Existing GoDaddy Pro users can opt-in to the new Hub experience. However, they may continue using the legacy experience at <a href="https://pro.godaddy.com">pro.godaddy.com</a>. They can also jump between both as needed. Eventually, the Hub will completely replace the legacy experience.</p>



<img />The Hub home screen.



<p>&ldquo;You can manage all your client projects, sites, and GoDaddy products from within the Hub,&rdquo; said Warner. &ldquo;Your clients&rsquo; WordPress sites don&rsquo;t have to be hosted at GoDaddy. The Hub works with all web hosts. You can run one-click WordPress updates, security checks, backups, and other bulk site maintenance work within the Hub. We&rsquo;ve seen users save an average of three hours per month, per site.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The Hub allows web developers to access their clients&rsquo; GoDaddy products without needing to pass around credentials. Developers can also send a pre-loaded shopping cart or purchase products on their clients&rsquo; behalf.</p>



<p>&ldquo;This makes it easier, and faster, to get a new project up and running,&rdquo; said Warner. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have to worry about your client buying the wrong hosting plan or domain. Project management is integrated into the Hub, so you can keep track of client communications and ensure you&rsquo;re delivering projects on time.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Part of this journey began when GoDaddy acquired ManageWP and brought its team over in 2016. The <a href="https://wptavern.com/godaddy-acquires-wordpress-site-management-service-managewp">acquisition was anything but popular</a> at the time.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We built the first version of our GoDaddy Pro site management tools on top of ManageWP Orion,&rdquo; said Warner. &ldquo;We added new GoDaddy-specific features, like allowing clients to grant delegated access to manage their GoDaddy products. We also included some premium addons for free on GoDaddy-hosted websites. Just like with ManageWP, sites managed in the Hub can be hosted anywhere, not just at GoDaddy.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The Hub has an interface that feels more Average Joe than tech savant. I half expected to see call-to-action buttons littering the screen, funneling users to every conceivable GoDaddy product, but none were found. Expectations from the GoDaddy of 10 years ago still linger and die hard. However, the company continues to move beyond its old reputation with its free tools and more recent willingness to give back to the open-source community, including its contribution to <a href="https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/pledge/godaddy/">Five for the Future</a>.</p>



<img />Running a site security check.



<p>&ldquo;My goal in joining GoDaddy in 2018 was, and still is, to continue my participation in the WordPress and wider web designer and developer (WD&amp;D) communities in order to listen and return feedback internally on how we can best support freelancers in starting, growing, and streamlining their businesses,&rdquo; said Warner. &ldquo;GoDaddy Pro (the legacy tool) already existed when I joined GoDaddy, and my mission was to spread the word and offer suggested enhancements based on real-world conversations with freelancers and their specific needs.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Creating clients, projects, and sites from within the interface is simple. Performance and security checks went well for the one site I have connected. The tests seemed to be spot on in comparison to other tools I have used.</p>



<img />Site performance check.



<p>GoDaddy Pro membership is free. However, the Hub will have premium site <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/help/premium-site-maintenance-tools-in-the-hub-40384">maintenance tools in the future</a>. Automated security checks, performance checks, backups, and uptime monitoring are currently free. There is no timetable on when they will be behind a paywall. Some of the premium features will have a downgraded free option when the switch is flipped.</p>



<p>&ldquo;While some adjacent programs (e.g. GoDaddy Reseller program, Pro subscription) may have associated costs or fees, GoDaddy Pro&rsquo;s integrated project management, site management, and client management tools are free,&rdquo; said Warner.</p>



<p>The commitment to offering the management tools for free is undoubtedly a good thing. Thus far, I like what I am seeing with the new Hub experience.</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, 10 Feb 2021 22:31:33 +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:96:"WPTavern: Gatsby Launches New WordPress Integration, Expanding Support for Headless Architecture";s: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=111778";s: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:235:"https://wptavern.com/gatsby-launches-new-wordpress-integration-expanding-support-for-headless-architecture?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gatsby-launches-new-wordpress-integration-expanding-support-for-headless-architecture";s: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:4035:"<p>The <a href="https://www.gatsbyjs.com/plugins/gatsby-source-wordpress/">Gatsby source WordPress plugin</a>, Gatsby Cloud&rsquo;s official WordPress integration, has been marked stable as of v4 and has been released to the public. The plugin sources data from WordPress for headless setups that use Gatsby on the frontend. It is a complete rewrite of Gatsby&rsquo;s previous source plugin and works in combination with the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-gatsby/">WPGatsby</a>&nbsp;plugin to integrate content preview and incremental builds from Gatsby Cloud.&nbsp;</p>



<p>After going into public beta last year, the new source plugin was updated to enable the following: </p>



<ul><li>Users add a WPGraphQL-enabled endpoint to gain access to WordPress content in Gatsby&rsquo;s data layer for use in React templates</li><li>Optimizes links and images within the content HTML with gatsby-image and gatsby-link</li><li>Restricts image processing and optimization to images referenced in published content, so large media libraries don&rsquo;t slow down build times</li><li>Automatically enables access to data from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wpgraphql.com/extensions">any WPGraphQL extension</a>, integrating the site with other WordPress plugins</li></ul>



<p>WPGraphQL is required as part of the setup. It turns any site into a GraphQL server, making the content easier to fetch. For the past 18 months, Gatsby has supported the development and maintenance of WPGraphQL to a stable 1.0 release. WP Engine recently hired its maintainer, Jason Bahl, to continue funding the project and <a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-invests-in-headless-wordpress-hires-wpgraphql-maintainer">expand on its own headless WordPress initiatives</a>. This ensures that WPGraphQL will continue to have a strong future for use in decoupled projects. </p>



<p>&ldquo;During the beta period, we were excited to see developer teams we admire adopt the Gatsby WordPress integration for their projects,&rdquo; Gatsby marketing manager Hashim Warren said. &ldquo;Teams from Facebook, Bluehost, and Apollo used Gatsby&rsquo;s WordPress integration to create accessible, scalable, and easy-to-update web experiences.&rdquo; All of these sites and more were using Gatsby + WPGraphQL in production before the new Gatsby Source WordPress plugin was officially stable, so it has been tested extensively during the beta period.</p>



<p>The rewritten plugin is better at bridging the gap to make Gatsby frontends less of a trade-off for developers who are working with editorial teams. It <a href="https://twitter.com/tylbar/status/1359228717533302790">improves build times</a> to be <a href="https://willit.build/details/type/blog/source/wordpress/page-count/4096">under 10 seconds</a> for medium-sized sites. </p>



<p>The complexity of editing and rebuilding Gatsby sites has been one of the chief deterrents for content creators adopting headless architecture. It imposes a more complicated workflow that the Gatsby Cloud product is designed to fix. This is how Gatsby monetizes its WordPress integration &ndash; by making the workflow more like what traditional WordPress provides out of the box.</p>



<p>In recruiting potential headless customers, Gatsby emphasized the lower hosting costs of its stack. <a href="https://gatsbyjs.com/pricing/">Gatsby Cloud</a> is free for small, personal sites but limits users to 100 Real-Time Edits/month. In fact, all of the commercial plans have upper limits on the number of editors and how many times users can perform real-time edits. </p>



<p>Decoupled architecture still falls squarely within the realm of developers. Gatsby&rsquo;s Cloud product is one way that developers who choose Gatsby for the frontend can make their sites more user-friendly for editorial teams. Developers who are interested in exploring the new integration can get a quick start by checking out <a href="https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby-starter-wordpress-blog">Gatsby&rsquo;s official WordPress starter</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, 09 Feb 2021 23:52:28 +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: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:67:"WPTavern: Embed Any URL Into WordPress With the Bookmark Card 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=111798";s: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:179:"https://wptavern.com/embed-any-url-into-wordpress-with-the-bookmark-card-block?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=embed-any-url-into-wordpress-with-the-bookmark-card-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:4117:"<p class="has-drop-cap">George Mamadashvili&rsquo;s <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/bookmark-card/">Bookmark Card</a> block is the sort of simple plugin that is easy to overlook. It is one of those plugins that suffers from the lack of block discoverability in WordPress at the moment. Like many other one-off blocks, you don&rsquo;t know you need it until you need it.</p>



<p>The plugin is essentially an embed block, but it is not specific to one website or service like Twitter and YouTube. Instead, it allows users to add a &ldquo;card&rdquo; for any URL in their content.</p>



<p>Mamadashvili has previously worked as a developer on several blocks for the Sorta Brilliant brand, which sported some of my <a href="https://wptavern.com/the-wacky-world-of-sorta-brilliants-sorta-fun-block-plugins">favorite block-related plugins</a>, such as <a href="https://wptavern.com/emoji-conbini-and-the-case-for-a-block-enhancements-directory">Emoji Conbini</a>. Unfortunately, those plugins are no longer in the WordPress directory at the request of the owner, Nick Hamze.</p>



<p>However, Mamadashvili has continued building separately. Yesterday, he launched <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/toggles/">Toggles</a>, a block for creating FAQs, hiding spoilers, and adding simple accordion elements..</p>



<p>I have had his Bookmark Card block literally <em>bookmarked</em> for a few months, just now finally giving it the overdue trial run that it deserves.</p>



<p>The name of the plugin brings me back a few years. There was once a time when bookmarks were a common feature of the web. Entire sites were dedicated to managing them, and some people created their own bookmark pages on their WordPress sites. Some were mere blogrolls. Others were more advanced galleries with images. Even the &ldquo;link&rdquo; post format archive in WordPress has served as a bookmark system.</p>



<p>The idea of bookmarks is about preserving pieces of the web that interests us. So, I opened my dusty old recipe folder in Chrome and started putting together a recipes page for fun, hoping for some inspiration in my culinary pursuits.</p>



<img />Horizontal-style Bookmark Card blocks.



<p>I enjoy this recipe page a lot more than the plain links hidden away in my Google bookmarks. I suppose I could get even more creative and break everything down by category on different pages.</p>



<p>The Bookmark Card block currently ships with two styles. The horizontal style, shown above, places the image to the right of the card content. The default style, shown below, adds the image at the top. Users can also try combinations with other blocks for unique looks, such as adding cards to the Columns block.</p>



<img />Columns of Bookmark Card blocks.



<p>The plugin can be useful in many contexts. Users can add URLs that are not supported via the regular embed blocks.  They may also enjoy the shared card style for all of their embedded links.</p>



<h2>Future Ideas for the Plugin</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The simplicity of Bookmark Card is part of its allure. However, it is also overly simple in some respects. The only option it provides is the choice between a vertical and horizontal card style. This limits its potential, especially if the default design does not match the user&rsquo;s theme.</p>



<p>The plugin does not need a plethora of options. However, it could use some basics. Text and background colors are a must. Base typography options, such as selecting the font size, would be nice-to-have features. Integration with the Gutenberg plugin&rsquo;s newer border-radius component would work well with this type of block. Like all blocks I test or use, I also ask that plugin developers add support for wide and full-width alignments.</p>



<p>A few additional styles or layout options would help. For example, a horizontal style that moves the image to the left of the card content would be a good option.</p>



<p>The plugin, which is currently at version 1.0, is a good starting point. However, it could be much better with just a handful of extras in future updates.</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, 09 Feb 2021 22:50:56 +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:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}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:"Wed, 10 Mar 2021 04:28:42 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Wed, 10 Mar 2021 04:15:08 GMT";s:15:"x-frame-options";s:10:"SAMEORIGIN";s:4:"x-nc";s:9:"HIT ord 2";s:16:"content-encoding";s:4:"gzip";}}s:5:"build";s:14:"20201209034801";}