Have I mentioned how excited I am about the potential of block patterns? For regular Tavern readers, I may sound like a broken record at this point, but I am going to continue evangelizing this upcoming feature for WordPress. With no social plans or other important things requiring my attention this past weekend, it made for a good moment to …
BuddyPress 6.0 Beta Introduces Group and Member Blocks
The team behind BuddyPress dropped the first version 6.0 beta release of the plugin yesterday. One of the most important features is the introduction of the new member and group blocks for the WordPress editor. The plugin now requires at least PHP 5.6 and WordPress 4.8 (5.0 to use the new blocks). “I think it’s exciting times,” said John James …
WordPress 5.4 “Adderley” Includes Improved Editor, New Blocks, and Developer APIs
WordPress 5.4 “Adderley”, named in honor American jazz musician Nat Adderley, was released today and is now available for download. The update includes new social icons and buttons blocks, usability improvements to the block editor, and new APIs for developers to use in plugins and themes. This release saw contributions from 168 new volunteers. There were 552 contributors in total. …
Proposal to Update the WordPress Coding Standards for Modern PHP
WordPress is a dinosaur. If you are a PHP programmer and have had the opportunity to work outside of WordPress in the past 10 years, there are likely one or two or a few dozen things that frustrate you when diving back into the project’s 16-year-old codebase. At a time when WordPress is gifting JavaScript programmers with the latest and …
Font Awesome Releases New COVID-19 Awareness Icons
COVID-19 awareness icons added to Font Awesome. On Monday, the Font Awesome team launched a new set of icons to promote awareness around COVID-19. The solid icons available in the Font Awesome 5.13 update are all available for free and are open-source. The regular, light, and duotone versions of the icons are a part of the pro package. The goal …
Gutenberg 7.8 Adds Patterns API and Continues Interface Cleanup
Version 7.8 of the Gutenberg plugin landed yesterday. The team continues to improve the editor with the refreshed interface work that began in version 7.7. The most useful feature with this update of the plugin is the inclusion of the Patterns API for plugin and theme developers. This release is not the massive feature release that we experienced with some …
Finding Balance in These Uncertain Times: Remote Work and Sharing Our Struggles
There is a popular saying, which has been used in several memes, among my developer and remote-working friend groups. It goes something like the following: Government and Doctors: Practice physical distancing during this pandemic. Remote Workers: I’ve been preparing my whole life for this moment. I got this. The truth is that we don’t “got this,” at least I know …
Yoast Publishes Free Online Training Course for the Block Editor
Yoast, the company behind the popular Yoast SEO plugin, launched its free block editor training course today. The course is available to anyone by signing up for Yoast Academy, which also includes multiple other free and paid courses. Users can learn everything from SEO and copy writing to basic WordPress skills. The Academy team’s latest course promises to get first-time …
Block Patterns Will Change Everything
Book sales section from a custom theme. It was about a year ago. I was happily designing a theme for aspiring novelists. I wanted to get ahead of the competition and market a theme specifically to writers who would be attempting the National Novel Writing Month 2019 challenge. NaNoWriMo, for short, is a whirlwind of a month where 1,000s of …
Still No Wood Grain: WP Tavern Design Update
WP Tavern homepage design. It has been a bit of a slow news week in the land of WordPress with the COVID-19 pandemic reaching across the globe. Most people are hunkering down or getting accustomed to a change in their daily lives. For some people, that has meant figuring out a way to work with children at home. For others, …






