Automatic Theme and Plugin Updates Slated for WordPress 5.5

Automatic updates column on the plugin management screen. Today, Jean-Baptiste Audras announced the WordPress Auto-updates feature plugin. The project seeks to bring automatic plugin and theme updates to WordPress version 5.5. It was originally slated as a feature project in 2019, but it was later bumped to the 2020 roadmap. The WordPress Auto-updates plugin is available for beta testing in …

After the Acquisition: Flywheel in the New Year

Some WordPress developers and agencies were caught off guard when WP Engine announced it had acquired Flywheel in June last year. Flywheel had quickly become a trusted web hosting company for many that specifically catered to the needs of developers and agencies. For some, they questioned whether such a buyout would change the company culture and whether the good things …

Goodbye Featured Themes, For Now

Front page of the theme directory, featuring popular themes. Yesterday, the featured themes page was quietly removed from the WordPress theme directory. Previously, it was the primary page users would see when visiting the directory. It has now been replaced with the popular themes list. This change is only reflected on the WordPress.org website and not directly in the WordPress …

Publishing Break

The Tavern is taking a break for the week as both of its authors are out. We’re happy about expanding families, and saying “boo” to the flu. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite WordPress-powered sites that I follow and learn from: Tim Ferriss is back to blogging and it’s great. Seth Godin never stopped blogging and stays …

WooCommerce Partners With Square to Expand Services for CBD Merchants

WooCommerce, the open-source eCommerce platform developed and supported by Automattic, announced a partnership with Square payment solutions yesterday. The partnership expands services for merchants who are selling CBD products online. While it is a small step toward making it easier to sell CBD products, there are still many restrictions and pitfalls that merchants must overcome. Cannabidiol, known as CBD, was …

WordPress 5.4 Beta 1 Ready for Testing and Feedback

Release coordinator Francesca Marano announced the release of WordPress 5.4 Beta 1 on February 11. Most of the work has centered on the block editor. However, at the moment, contributors have closed another 258 tickets for the 5.4 milestone. A second beta release is scheduled for February 18, according to the 5.4 release schedule, along with follow-up betas and release …

WordCamp Asia 2020 Canceled Over COVID-19 Concerns

Matt Mullenweg announced this morning that he made the call to cancel the first WordCamp Asia amid concerns surrounding COVID-19, the recent coronavirus strain with over 42,000 reported cases. The virus has caused over 1,000 deaths to date. WordCamp Asia was scheduled to run from February 21-23 in Bangkok, Thailand. “I’ve arrived at the difficult decision to cancel the inaugural …

EditorsKit Tackles Typography With First Premium Add-On

Jeffrey Carandang released the EditorsKit Typography Add-On today, the first commercial extension to his EditorsKit WordPress plugin. The plugin provides page and block-level typography options. It works with Google Fonts, includes preset font combinations, and allows users to create custom typography rules. Unlike many other block editor plugins that offer a library of blocks, EditorsKit does not add custom blocks. …