Display Widgets, a plugin with more than 200,000 active installs, has been removed from WordPress.org due to its authors inserting malicious code. SEO consultant David Law was the first to bring this issue to the attention of the plugin team after discovering that Display Widgets was inserting content into sites from external servers and also collecting visitor data without permission. …
WordPress.org Adds New Support Rep Role for Plugin Pages
WordPress.org introduced a new feature for plugin pages this week that highlights official support representatives. Plugin authors can now find the UI for adding support reps under the Advanced View on the plugin page. Unlike the contributors and developers role, individual support reps do not have commit access and do not appear on the plugin details page. The new “support …
“The Final Word” Plugin Extends O2 to Pin a Highlighted Comment to the Top of a Thread
“The Final Word” is a new plugin that extends O2 to highlight a comment at the top of a thread. O2 is the plugin successor to P2, Automattic’s group blogging theme that introduced quick posting from the front page with real-time comment updates. The code was released on GitHub in 2015 and it powers the make.wordpress.org blogs. If you use …
Equifax Launches WordPress-Powered Site for Consumers Affected by Security Breach
photo credit: Lock – (license) Equifax has launched a WordPress-powered website to connect with consumers affected by its recent security breach, which compromised 143 million customers’ personal data. The exposed data includes names, birth dates, social security numbers, addresses, credit card numbers, driver’s license numbers, and other sensitive financial information. The equifaxsecurity2017.com site was launched shortly after disclosure to give …
Gutenberg 1.1.0 Adds Autocomplete for Blocks, Developers Elaborate on How New Editor Will Work with Themes
Gutenberg contributors continue marching forward this week on their relentless drive to improve the usability of the controversial new editor that will ship with WordPress 5.0. Meanwhile, discussions about Gutenberg’s timing, implications, UI, architecture, and other aspects of the project continue across the web, as the community grapples with what this new editor will mean for the future of WordPress. …
Jetpack 5.3 Adds PHP 7.1 Compatibility, Better Control for WordAds Placement
Jetpack 5.3 was released with compatibility for PHP 7.1, a task the Jetpack team has been working on since January 2017 after they received multiple reports of failures with PHP 7.1 when opcache was enabled. This interfered with XML-RPC requests and some users reported issues managing their sites from WordPress.com and connecting to third-party apps. Downgrading to PHP 7.0 or …
WordCamp Grand Rapids Attendees Share First Impressions of Gutenberg
While attending WordCamp Grand Rapids I had the opportunity to interview developers and business owners about their first impressions of the new Gutenberg editor. Many attendees I spoke to had not yet heard of the project but were intrigued and decided to install the plugin on a test site. A few attendees were developers who have already contributed to Gutenberg …
WordCamp Grand Rapids 2017 Sells Out, Organizers On Board for 2018 Event
The 4th edition of WordCamp Grand Rapids was held last weekend at Grand Valley State University’s downtown Pew Campus. After a brief hiatus following previous events in 2012, 2013, and 2014, the WordCamp is back in action with first-time lead organizer Cate DeRosia at the helm. Tickets sold out shortly before the event and the vast majority of them were …
Gutenberg 1.0.0 Introduces Drag and Drop for Adding Image Blocks
Gutenberg 1.0.0 was released this week as another iteration in the beta period that will continue on with 1.1 next week. Design lead Tammie Lister said the team decided “not let numbers set expectations” and will carry on at the same pace with weekly releases. One of the most visible UI updates in version 1.0 is the new ability to …
Matt Mullenweg Addresses Concerns About Gutenberg, Confirms New Editor to Ship with WordPress 5.0
Matt Mullenweg published an appeal to WordPress users over the weekend in a post titled “We Called it Gutenberg for a Reason.” In it he offers a better look at his vision for Gutenberg, which he contends will be as transformative for WordPress’ future as the first movable type printing was for Europe’s printing revolution. Mullenweg identified the new Gutenberg …