VersionPress 4.0 Tentatively Scheduled to Ship in September

Nealy a year ago, VersionPress 3.0 was released. This version added new search capabilities, bulk undo, and a number of bug fixes. It was the first release since it became a free, open source project. In a post on the project’s development blog, Borek Bernard, co-founder of VersionPress, describes what the team is focusing on for 4.0 which includes a tentative release …

Shopify Discontinues Its Official Plugin for WordPress

Shopify’s official plugin for WordPress was removed from the plugin directory this week. The plugin allowed users to create “Buy Buttons” for products from their Shopify stores and insert them into WordPress posts and pages using a shortcode. It was built by WebDevStudios and had approximately 9,000 active installations before it was removed. Shopify’s documentation says the plugin has been …

Embed Mastodon Statuses in WordPress

After the controversial changes to Twitter’s @reply feature, which no longer counts usernames towards the 140-character limit, Mastodon registrations rose sharply. Mastodon is a free, open source, decentralized network that has many similarities to Twitter. The software, named in honor of its creator’s favorite metal band, was launched in October and registered 24,000 users in the first six months. A …

WordPress Plugin Directory Restores Tabbed Interface

photo credit: Jeffrey Betts Last month the WordPress Plugin Directory relaunched with a new design and improvements to the search algorithm. The new design replaced the plugin pages’ previous tabbed interface with a wall of text, truncated by numerous “read more” links. The outpouring of negative community feedback on the new design overshadowed many of the helpful improvements. Removal of …

Jetpack 4.8 Introduces Settings Redesign, Adds Global WordPress.com Toolbar

Jetpack 4.8 was released this week with a settings redesign that is a continuation of the React.js-powered admin interface introduced last September. The new settings screen has been completely rearranged under a more simplified menu. “We went through every setting on WordPress.com and Jetpack to make sure it was necessary to keep around, and to find a good, logical home …