OpenUK, a WordPress-powered not-for-profit company, has released its State of the Open report with data from the UK in 2021. The company advocates for open source software, open source hardware, and open data, while providing a central point of collaboration for people working in the open sectors. The State of the Open report offers a broad overview of the UK’s …
Query Loop: The Ins and Outs of One of WordPress 5.8’s Most Powerful Features
WordPress 5.8 is on deck for July 20, just a mere 10 days from now. The release is geared up to be the most feature-packed update the community has seen in a while. Block-based widgets, the pattern directory, WebP image support, template-editing mode, and many more tools are nearly ready to ship to the masses. However, one of the most …
How to Build a Profitable Online Personality in 2021
In the era of social media, the audience is one of the biggest factors in a new business’s success. View original post at Entrepreneur…
Awesome Motive Acquires SearchWP
Awesome Motive, the company behind MonsterInsights, OptinMonster, WPForms, and several other popular products, has acquired SearchWP, a commercial plugin that enhances WordPress’ search functionality. No changes have been announced for the plugin and Awesome Motive CEO Syed Balkhi says it will be “business as usual” for current customers. “We have built a lot of internal tools to improve our website …
How To Update PHP To The Suggested WordPress Version
Using an outdated version of WordPress core, plugins, or themes puts your site at risk. PHP is no different. While WordPress technically works with some older versions of PHP, you’re sacrificing performance and compatibility, while opening yourself up to security vulnerabilities by using these. For safety and stability, always aim to use the WordPress recommended versions of PHP. In this …
Private Note-Taking and Journaling With the Hypernotes WordPress Plugin
Ella van Durpe, a core WordPress contributor and software engineer at Automattic, released a note-taking plugin earlier today. Hypernotes is a simple custom post type that allows end-users to take private notes or serve as a journaling tool. I have seen similar plugins in the past. I even began building one years ago before ultimately abandoning it for a simple …
WordPress 5.8 Adds Support for New Emoji Introduced in Twemoji 13.1.0
In the upcoming 5.8 release, WordPress is updating its version of Twemoji, Twitter’s open source emoji library that supports the latest Unicode emoji specification. Version 13.1.0 introduces five new smileys and emotions, including heart on fire, mending heart, face with spiral eyes, face in clouds, and face exhaling. Version 13.1 adds mixed skin tone support for all variations of the “Kiss” …
Taking the Leap: Building My First WordPress Block Plugin
Like most years, I spent this U.S. Independence Day cooped up with my furry friends. I closed all the windows, shuttered the blinds, switched on a couple of fans for white noise, and clicked the television on. My cats and I relaxed. It is my job to keep them calm while my — usually drunken — compatriots burn hundreds of …
Castos Picks Up $756K in Funding from Automattic and Joost de Valk to Expand Services in the Private Podcasting Market
Castos, a WordPress-powered podcast hosting provider, announced a $756K pre-seed fundraising round today from Automattic, Joost de Valk, founder of Yoast SEO, and other individuals. The company raised money from all the investors in this round via a SAFE note, which founder and CEO Craig Hewitt said is a fairly standard investment vehicle for companies at Castos’ stage of growth. …
WordPress Green Lights In-Person Meetup Events for Vaccinated Attendees
After considerable discussion, the WordPress Community Team is lifting the requirements of the in-person meetup safety checklist for meetups that gather fully-vaccinated attendees. The checklist is still applicable to all meetup groups but in places where vaccines are freely available, meetup organizers can now forego its requirements if they limit gatherings to those self-reporting as fully vaccinated. When Andrea Middleton …