Automattic Responds to WP Engine’s Cease and Desist with Legal Action

After the incidents at WordCamp US 2024, WP Engine sent a “cease and desist” letter to Automattic demanding that Automattic and its CEO, Matt Mullenweg, retract and stop making false, harmful, and disparaging statements about WP Engine. Automattic Confirms Legal Action  Matt Mullenweg has confirmed that they have officially initiated legal action against WP Engine for the “Unauthorized Use of …

WordPress.com Offers 1,000 Free Premium Websites to University Students

WordPress.com announced that it is giving away 1,000 free premium websites exclusively to university students. This offer is a fantastic opportunity for students to build their online presence. The first thousand students who sign up will receive a premium WordPress.com website for one year, complete with a free custom domain name, SSL certificate, 13 GB of storage, access to premium …

Experimental Health Dashboards to Track WordPress Team Progress and Stats

Hari Shanker and Courtney Robertson have introduced experimental WordPress contribution health dashboards designed to monitor the performance of various WordPress teams. They also presented the pilot dashboards developed for the Make/WordPress Core, Community, and Training teams, along with key statistics from the WordPress 6.6 release. History and Challenges The concept of performance dashboards dates back to 2021 when Community Gardener …

WooSesh 2024 Scheduled for October 29 and 30

WooSesh, the virtual conference specifically designed for WooCommerce store builders, is scheduled for October 29-30, 2024, and promises an exciting experience. WooSesh 2024 will feature 33 speakers and 22 sessions packed with valuable insights, case studies, and tutorials on building customer-centric eCommerce experiences. One of the best parts about WooSesh is that every presentation is recorded and published on WPSessions …

Five for the Future Site Relaunched with a Block-Based Design

After revamping the WordPress.org homepage, Theme Directory, Plugin Directory, Pattern Directory, and HelpHub, the Meta team has now updated the Five for the Future site. Members of the Meta, Design, and Community teams collaborated to redesign and launch the site in time for WordCamp US 2024. A Fresh New Look Developer Relations Advocate Nick Diego shared, “ This visual update …

Gutenberg 19.2 Released with Enhancements and Bug Fixes

Gutenberg 19.2 was released on September 11, 2024. This latest release includes notable changes such as Block Bindings UI, enhancements to the Zoom Out mode, an experimental client-side media processing feature, and some bug fixes. Here’s a rundown of the key features and changes: Block Bindings UI Moving Out of the Experimental Phase One of the most significant updates in …

WordPress 6.6.2 Released with 26 Bug Fixes

WordPress 6.6.2, released on September 10, 2024, brings 15 bug fixes to Core and 11 to the Block Editor. Led by Tonya Mork and Vicente Canales, with Aaron Jorbin mentoring the team, this is a short-cycle maintenance release ahead of WordPress 6.7, scheduled for November 12, 2024. Core Fixes  This update addresses 15 Core issues, including CSS specificity changes in …

WordPress Community Team to Close Inactive Meetup Groups by September 16, 2024

Automattic’s Community Engagement Specialist, Devin Maeztri, has announced that the WordPress Community Team will close all inactive meetup groups by September 16, 2024. Over the past month, the team has been working hard to reactivate recently inactive WordPress Meetups. “This project comes in response to recent data revealing that nearly half of our groups are currently inactive—a statistic that underscores …

WordPress.org Introduces New Security Measures for Plugin and Theme Authors

Starting October 1st, 2024, WordPress.org will roll out new security measures aimed at enhancing the safety of accounts with commit access to plugins and themes. This was announced by the Automattic-sponsored developer Dion Hulse. Mandatory Two-Factor Authentication Beginning next month, WordPress.org will make two-factor authentication (2FA) mandatory for all plugin and theme authors. Authors can configure 2FA by visiting their …