Last month’s Twitter outage gave Mastodon a boost, as the company also announced unpopular changes to its API access. People from the WordPress community continue to trickle into the fediverse, with many going so far as to shutter their Twitter accounts. A fledgling community of WordPress users on Mastodon has made the network home and are reporting more quality interactions …
Gutenberg 15.2 Introduces Revisions for Template Editing
Gutenberg 15.2 is now available with support for revisions when editing templates and template parts. The Site Editor can be an intimidating place if you’re new to making changes there. A few clicks can make a drastic impact and some users won’t know how to return to where they started. Surfacing the revisions panel gives users a safety net. The …
WordPress 6.2 Openverse Integration Hotlinks Images, Contributors Propose Uploading to Media Library as a Better Default
WordPress 6.2 is set to introduce an integration with Openverse that allows users to quickly insert free, openly-licensed media into their content. It was not readily apparent when the feature made its debut in version 15.1 of the Gutenberg plugin that the inserted images are hotlinked. WP Engine developer Phil Johnston brought up this issue in the #core-editor channel on …
Automattic Releases Bibimbap, a Free Block Theme for Restaurants
Automattic has a new theme in the WordPress Themes Directory. Bibimbap, named for a beloved Korean comfort food, is a restaurant theme. It is described as “simple and fun” but does not come with a live demo, so users will need to be prepared to work with patterns to get their restaurant sites put together. The home page pictured in …
Museum of Block Art Calls for Submissions Celebrating WordPress’ 20th Anniversary
The Museum of Block Art (MOBA), a project launched in 2022 featuring art created using the block editor’s design tools, is calling for submissions celebrating WordPress’ upcoming 20th anniversary. In a short amount of time, the museum has collected more than three dozen works of block art, creative pieces that leave the viewer wondering how they were made using only …
New Proposal Seeks to Update WordPress Release Process for Merging Gutenberg Features After Beta 1 Feature Freeze
WordPress lead developer Andrew Ozz has published a proposal for the addition of a new “gutenberg-merge” ticket type that would formalize the latitude Gutenberg contributors have been given for committing code after Feature Freeze during the release cycle. Ordinarily, any new features and enhancements landing in the release are required to be committed before Beta 1 so they can be …
Meetup.com Follows Through on Commitment to Improve Website Accessibility
In November 2022, Meetup.com raised concerns with the WordPress community (and the broader community of accessibility professionals) after it added an accessibility overlay to its website, powered by EqualWeb. Accessibility advocates and professionals unequivocally discourage the use of overlays as they are often marketed as a quick fix for making websites ADA compliant and immune from legal action when the …
Industry-Wide Tech Layoffs Impacting WordPress Professionals
Most WordPress professionals managed to escape 2022’s round of tech layoffs, which primarily affected venture capital-funded startups and larger companies that had overhired during the economic upswing that came with pandemic precautions being lifted in many places. Mass layoffs hit Meta, Peleton, Stripe, Carvana, and more during the last half of 2022. Tech layoffs have continued relentlessly in 2023, with …
WordPress Unveils Commemorative 20th Anniversary Wapuu
The global WordPress community is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the software’s first release on May 27, 2023. Two decades ago, WordPress made its debut featuring Texturize, XHTML 1.1, manual excerpts, and a new admin interface. An official anniversary website is publishing updates about how the community can get involved in the upcoming celebration plans. Organizers and participants will be …
Watch WordCamp Asia 2023 via Livestream February 17-19
WordPress enthusiasts from around the world are beginning their journeys to attend the inaugural WordCamp Asia, which is happening in Bangkok, Thailand, February 17-19. Organizers are expecting 1,500 attendees at this new flagship event. For those who cannot attend in-person, there will be a livestream broadcasting the sessions from the conference days after Contributor Day, which kicks off on Day …