WordCamp Dhaka (Bangladesh) 2023 has been cancelled by The WordPress Community Team due to concerns of corporate influence on the community decision-making process. The camp was scheduled for August 5, and organizers had already secured a venue and progressed on moving the camp forward. The Community Team published a statement on the event’s website, which cited the interference of corporate …
WordPress Plugin Review Team Adds 6 New Sponsored Volunteers, Opens Applications
A new era has begun for WordPress.org’s Plugin Review Team. Mika Epstein, who has served for the past decade, is stepping down, but not before launching a new crew of volunteers. The team is responsible for approving newly submitted plugins, maintaining the Plugin Reviewer Handbook, as well as investigating any reported security issues and guideline violations. Historically, the Plugin Review …
Gutenberg 16.1 Introduces Pattern Creation and Library, Adds Distraction Free Mode to Site Editor
Gutenberg 16.1 was released this week, debuting of the Pattern Library, which coincides with reusable blocks getting renamed to synced patterns. Users can now create and manage their own patterns that will also show up in the block inserter. Custom patterns are saved to the new Library alongside custom template parts. This release also adds a new Distraction Free mode …
WordPress 6.3 Beta 2 Released, Ready for Testing
WordPress 6.3 hit a major milestone today with the release of Beta 2. The release leads opted to skip Beta 1, which was delayed yesterday after some technical issues with packaging the release, and have moved straight on to Beta 2. As WordPress 6.3 is set to be the last major release of the Gutenberg project’s Phase 2 focus on …
WordPress 6.3 Will Introduce A Command Palette
Last week Gutenberg contributors were engaged in a spirited debate regarding a proposal to rename the new Command Center to Wayfinder. The feature, designed to be an extensible quick search and command execution tool, will land in WordPress 6.3. The majority of participants in the discussion were strongly against calling it Wayfinder, as the term doesn’t translate well, nor does …
Reusable Blocks Renamed to Patterns with Synced and Non-Synced Options
There has always been some confusion and overlap between reusable blocks and patterns. The difference was that reusable blocks can be created and edited in the block editor and then reused in other places – inserted into posts or pages. Block patterns, once inserted, can be edited and are not synced. They give users the ability to apply the same …
Really Simple SSL Plugin Adds Free Vulnerability Detection
Really Simple SSL, a popular plugin used on more than five million sites for installing SSL certificates, handling website migrations, mixed content, redirects, and security headers, has added a new feature in its most recent major update. Version 7.0.0 introduces vulnerability detection as part of a partnership with WP Vulnerability, an open source, free API created by Javier Casares with …
WordPress.com Makes Monetization Features Available for Free
WordPress.com has been known to experiment with its pricing from time to time, and the platform announced another major change today. Users on the Free plan are now able to use monetization features without upgrading. In the past, WordPress.com users who wanted to earn money on their websites by collecting donations, creating a newsletter, or selling items or subscriptions, had …
Blocknotes App Runs WordPress Natively on iOS, Now in Public Beta
Blocknotes is a new experimental app that runs WordPress natively on the iPhone. It was created by WordPress core committer Ella van Durpe and is powered by WordPress Playground, a project that runs the software in the browser without a PHP server. “WordPress’ ecosystem can now run anywhere – desktop, mobile, web, even fenced ecosystems,” WordPress Playground creator Adam Zieliński said, sharing a …
WordPress Confirms 8 Pilot Events to Launch the Next Generation of WordCamps in 2023
In May 2023, WordPress’ Community Team announced that it would be evolving the WordCamp format to promote adoption, training, and networking for professionals, leaving the flagship events to focus more on connection and inspiration. This major shift opens the door for more experimentation through varied formats. In a recent update, the team shared that progress on the discussions has generated …