Jetpack 8.5 was released today with a new podcast player block for sharing audio content. Configuring the block is as simple as entering the podcast RSS feed URL. This will automatically bring in the cover art and recent episodes. Block options allow for further customization of the display, including the number of episodes, colors, and the ability to show/hide cover …
Find My Blocks Plugin Shows All Blocks in Use on a WordPress Site
How do you know what blocks are in use on a WordPress site? I recently saw a tweet asking this question in regards to knowing whether it is safe to turn off a plugin. This seems like it could become a common question, especially for those who have hundreds or thousands of blog posts as well as those using WordPress …
FOSS Responders Group Brings Financial Help to Open Source Ecosystem Affected by COVID-19
The pandemic has caused economic hardships and upheaval in nearly every industry. Open source communities and contributors have been affected in a myriad of ways – whether it’s a loss of donations, the burden of nonrefundable travel expenses for canceled conferences, or severely diminished business and fundraising opportunities. FOSS Responders is a working group of volunteers that aims to future-proof …
WordCamp US 2020 Goes Online, Cancels In-Person Event
WordCamp US 2020 organizers have cancelled the in-person event in favor of hosting it as an online-only conference. With more than a million confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. today, 63,000+ deaths, and 31 states set to partially reopen this weekend, the pandemic’s trajectory throughout the country has become increasingly uncertain. Many statewide stay-at-home orders are expiring tomorrow, despite no …
WordPress 5.4.1 Addresses 7 Security Issues and Fixes Several Bugs
WordPress 5.4.1, a security and maintenance release, dropped today. The release addresses seven security issues, which were all responsibly disclosed to the WordPress security team. Core developers also included several fixes for code regressions in the previous version 5.4 release and ported bug fixes to the block editor from the Gutenberg plugin. End-users with automatic updates enabled should begin seeing …
Tectonic Shifts in Retail Industry are Creating Unprecedented Opportunities for Independent Stores
Major retailers that are part of the critical infrastructure for distributing household essentials, healthcare items, and shelf-stable food, are raking in the cash during this pandemic. While consumer spending at bars, restaurants, and places of entertainment has dropped precipitously, spending at Amazon and Walmart has increased considerably in the past few weeks. The companies cannot hire workers fast enough to …
WordCamp Europe 2020 Online Registration Now Open: Tickets are Free
WordCamp Europe 2020 is just 37 days away. Organizers announced in April that the event, which was supposed to be hosted in Porto, is moving to be 100% online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WCEU will kick off with a virtual Contributor Day on June 4, followed by two half days of talks and workshops broadcasted via livestream. …
Watch the Women of React Conference for Free on Saturday, April 25
While much of the world is in lockdown, public gatherings and conferences have been cancelled, leaving a void in the lives of people who enjoy meeting their fellow open source contributors and colleagues in person throughout the year. Virtual events, which were already on the rise, are enjoying a bit of a renaissance by necessity. On Saturday, April 25, the …
Chatterbox Plugin Uses WordPress Blocks to Show Conversations
Chatterbox is a new plugin with a fun and creative use for the block editor. It displays chat or text threads using blocks that are styled as conversations. Users can type in a record of a chat, including timestamps, with a live preview in the editor. Since written conversations are essentially little blocks of text and media, the block editor …
Frontity Raises €1M with Automattic and K Fund
Frontity, a free, open source framework for building WordPress themes with React, has raised €1M in funding in a round led by K Fund, with Automattic covering 22%. The team behind the framework officially made it open source in May 2019, after battle testing it internally. In one year the framework has more than 12,700 npm downloads and has built …




