


<p>And then, you know, something could do something very cool visually, but if it's just on a bullet list on make.wordpress.org, the public not gonna see that.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, no, I think you're right about that. And that's one of the things I don't know if you've noticed, but in the last year or so the designs and like the visuals that had come with the what's new in Gutenberg posts have definitely been upgraded because of that exact problem is it's like, show me the value, show me how it actually connects, how it makes my life easier.</p>



<p>And there's also a series of posts. I do the core editor improvement posts. Yeah, that also seeks to even highlight that more. And it started out as like highlighting individual things. And recently I've [00:08:00] actually had to switch to not have to, but it actually makes sense to switch to like a collection of improvement.</p>



<p>So I have a post right now that I'm working on with a couple of folks. On like performance at 5.9. So let's talk about the performance enhancements. Let's run through it in one place so you can see it. Yeah.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> You've given me a topic to talk to you about. Thank you. But to some somebody's credit though, and I think when they do the Gutenberg plugin, Release posts.</p>



<p>They do offer him graphics and they've gotten better with videos. I just wish everything was an animated GIF so I could share it. That's a lot easier. Thank you very much. So those existed, but like, I think for what you're doing and for some of the things that I think flying under the radar, you know, that, you know, not again, not the headline features.</p>



<p>I think the there's nothing. Then a short video. Yeah.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> And the connecting the dots. Like I started that connecting the dots series, just kind of on a whim because I found something that I was like, you can do this. If you combine these different tools, you can then do this crazy thing. Like I think [00:09:00] that's also, I actually, that's the series I'm probably most excited about.</p>



<p>Like, it's fun to do these headline, like explore navigation blockers from 5.9 or the query look like that. Those are fun videos to do, but the connecting the dots. It feels more exciting. Like I'm like, gosh, yes, get this major feature in your head. But then also like, let's talk about like the weird things you can do and the cool things you can do when you actually combine these things.</p>



<p>Cause that's, what's really powerful is it's not like cool. We added dimension controls to this thing, but like what does this actually allow me to do? Okay. This.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Practical application right? Yes. Cause those are the videos I'd like to show off from the meetup groups. And a lot of times meet up organizers, just say, this is cool.</p>



<p>And then the media bargain meet up organizers. If they're good meetup organizers say, and this is how it could apply to you person, that's running an agency out of there out of a phone booth or whatever it is you do. Let's transition from weird to WordPress 5.9, because you could say something [00:10:00] happened a little bit weird on that.</p>



<p>Oh yeah. It's supposed to be out or right around this time of rigidly, right? I think it was before the holidays. Yeah. You mean the same date as the state of the word? Really? Yeah. I didn't put those dots. Yeah. That, that, that would yeah, that's a coincidence. So it didn't happen.</p>



<p>Can you tell me a little bit about what happened and what was involved in making the decision? No spoilers, but to push that into charity.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, it's a really tough decision. And I'll preface this by saying I wrote a post that on why I voted to delay it. So I won't go into hyper detail cause there's a lot of detail on that post that I try to make it very practical.</p>



<p>Here's how you can enact a lot of videos and like images being like, this is why. But yeah, this is my first time on a really squad too. So I don't have the historical knowledge that other folks bring to the table, but from my point of view and from my experience. Which program, which really is where I'm coming from too many things were interrelated.</p>



<p>And then we didn't [00:11:00] have enough people. Who were looking across basically is the long and short of it. So, you know, 2022 is relying on you know, certain things get in place with styles, but at the same time, those working on styles aren't necessarily solely focused on 2022. So like, it was kind of, there was a weird tension there of bringing a lot of unrelated things together,</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> ultimately, I'm sorry, was it like the sunny from Philadelphia meme where the chart is. I think it's Charlie, he's looking at the board behind him and then the oldest red strings going everywhere. And he's trying to explain something was a kind of like that a</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> little bit. Yeah. There is a little element of that, but almost imagine. That if you were to remove one of the strings, like that feature wouldn't make as much sense anymore.</p>



<p>So remember how we were just talking about connecting the dots and how things working together is actually where the value like hyper value goes. That's what basically was going on, where it was like, if we ship these things independently, we could in theory, remove some of the stuff. But it's going to be, it's just the value kind of isn't as exponential when they're all together.</p>



<p>And I was [00:12:00] looking at the issues. I test it every day, like, especially leading up to release for 5.8, 5.9. I've been testing every single day in this stuff all the time. And a lot of it was refinements. It was like, there were a couple of things that, some big decisions. So one I can tell. There was stuff around the navigation block, how to reuse it across Wakim's.</p>



<p>So originally there was a thing called navigation areas that was a new block that got reverted. That was I think, the right call. And then there the browsing. So when I talk about browsing, it's like, how do you navigate between your homepage, your templates and your template, parts and styles? Like what does that system look like from an information architecture perspective?</p>



<p>And there was a weird combination of. Technical constraints that came up as well as like design, so design and the technical constraints. We're kind of dancing with each other. And at a certain point, it just got to a place where. Fortunately like a middle ground could be found. And I think the solution they have right now is excellent.</p>



<p>Originally that, that seemed to be not viable. So kind of by having the delay, we've [00:13:00] had like a better solution, I think, than what was originally in place. That's been tested a lot with the outreach program, so it's a lot of it. Yeah.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Am I correct in understanding you that you were the one who initially brought something up?</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I was not necessarily, there was a team.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah, everybody started getting the idea around the same time. Maybe.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, it was one of those where I think enough people kind of paused and like, I can tell you leading up to the release. I was like, okay, are we really feeling good about this? Like, I had some moments, but I also wasn't like confident and being the person to say like, we can't ship this, we can't ship this.</p>



<p>Like, I'm definitely not one of those decision makers, but I mean, I'm filing, I was filing tons of issues and getting, and with the outreach program, obviously, like I'm seeing the complaints, I'm writing a summary post. So like I knew what the pain points were. And then at a certain point, it becomes a decision for the designers.</p>



<p>Like what design direction do we want to go in? And that's kind of where we landed, where it was just like a last minute kind [00:14:00] of Too much to figure out. And a lot of it's like little things too. So I'm talking about these big decisions. If there were a lot of small things that need to be sorted out that thankfully were more refinements.</p>



<p>And so I felt really comfortable delaying and voting to delay because of that, because I was like, the value will be exponential. If we can ship these altogether, everything I'm seeing right now can be figured out like at first. And I think this is where the confusion really started. There was this like long list and it was all seen as blockers.</p>



<p>So originally there was like this get hub issue that Someone did there. I think it was Rob who's, the corridor tech lead, who has been doing an excellent job. All the lease lead folks have been doing amazing work and he wrote all the issues out and gathered all of them that people were flagging.</p>



<p>But they were seeing all his blockers and that wasn't the case. Really from that list, there were like a subset of blockers that were truly like, we need to delay this. And that's part of the chaos of, you know, working remotely. Yes.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> You had a translated into a sound. It would be mostly that. So yeah, I would imagine the [00:15:00] holidays.</p>



<p>It didn't help that the fact that we have this, let's be honest, the last two weeks of the year or the last week of the year, the first week in the new year, however you want to slice it really for me, three weeks, really, or two and a half at best, but sometimes three weeks for everybody to get.</p>



<p>Even if they're staying home, even if they're not traveling, it's your brain is kind of in a reset mode. Yeah. Like I need, listen, I may not be leaving my house, but I'm taking a vacation, so you're not talking to me. Regardless if you celebrate any of the holidays or not, there's enough mass people taking time off visiting family, or just staying at home or away from computers that I would imagine productivity would've hit a dive there and, or you didn't want to, nobody would want it have taken the chance.</p>



<p>You know, we don't want to make Matt Mullenweg into Scrooge because he's to he's the lead. Right. He's the lead. Right. So that would be, yeah, that I'm correctly associating the[00:16:00] fictional character with the appropriate reference. Thank you. Case. I get an email later. So when is a WordPress 5.9 coming up?</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> It's going to be released January 25th. And as you were saying, like originally the beta was only pushed by two weeks, but then we had to add extra time because of the end of the year period and beginning of the year. I mean, it's just a chaotic time. And I think that is also the right call. I don't think it'll hyper disrupt any other releases.</p>



<p>I think there's a ton of stuff for 6.02. It's not like, oh, by delaying, we're going to have a really light 6.0 release. I think it's gonna be. How's that going to change as</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> well? Is that going to be a little bit compressed then in the first part of the year, you think, or is different people working on different things?</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, I think at a certain point it might compress it a bit, meaning like there might be a release in like March or something like that, but they actually didn't release the schedule for 6.0 yet. So I'm not really sure how that's going to impact. Things I will say part of the discussion that's come up amongst score contributors when I've checked in with a lot of them, when this was going on to make sure everyone was doing okay.</p>



<p>And a lot of them were like, man, this is when I wish [00:17:00] we had more releases. Like I wish we could have this like more of a release cadence where it's more frequent. So we're not like needing to do with delay. Cause like the options were not fun, but that's the constraints of the current system. And, you know, ideally in a future world, it isn't as Yeah.</p>



<p>Each release. You can kind of say like, it's okay. We can ship this because we have another release coming in a month rather than like three months.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Is that possible though? I mean, is that possible at least where we stand right now, because we just talked about how. And like how integrated are, how one piece is related to this.</p>



<p>And, you know, you know, maybe this is just one of those junctures in the four stages of Gutenberg or whatever timeline you want to pick where yes, it all is intersecting together. Cause it's full site editing. I mean, it's the words are in there. It's full side. Right. And then maybe down the road with when he gets to collaboration and translation, maybe things will go a bit easier, but regardless it's like.</p>



<p>I know there's so many, there's so many ways you can look at it. I hear about a lot of time in other technology groups, in terms of first, you have people say, well, why [00:18:00] don't you just release every month? It's no worries. Any automatic updates. It's fine. And then that happens. And then you say, why are we getting so many updates?</p>



<p>I have to keep updating.</p>



<p>Yeah. Which, which, you know, is another subject in of itself because in theory, You shouldn't have update fatigue, if you have automatic updates turned on and you know, that's another thing too. You know, in some situations that's not possible. So you're going to have people, whether it's a real problem or something that someone projects into their mind, like some sort of ghost but it's still a legitimate thing to deal with.</p>



<p>So I see. So yeah, you have this, you it's a bunch of. All not the code, but the responsibilities and the dependencies is a bunch of, you know, a bunch of well cooked, fine high quality spaghetti.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> And yeah, it would be really tricky to do. Like, I don't necessarily think that's like a viable thing right now, or I don't, I can't speak to it in the future, but I do [00:19:00] think it is a result of, you know, the circumstances that we're in.</p>



<p>Like we're all impacted by the same constraints. And I think that's one of the things where. You know, for example, there are, I don't think it was fully scoped out even like, what would a dependency plan look like where it's like, or contingency plan? Sorry, look like where if let's say we had to remove some of these things, would we, excuse for example, we could do things like remove browsing entirely, which is one of the things that was, I think, shipped at some point.</p>



<p>We're instead you have, you know, your appearance menu, you have templates, simpler parts, the editor styles. And so you have no sort of browsing in the sidebar. You could also like say, you know what, the navigation block isn't ready or counting it to another release. You could also say like, you know what, you can't actually create new templates.</p>



<p>You can only just view the ones that come with your theme. Like there's a lot of ways that could have been pulled back. But thankfully what shipping is very comprehensive. Like I think that's the good thing with this delays also.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I don't think anybody's looking at it going on, man.[00:20:00]</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah. And I mean, I also think the good news is ultimately these features that we're talking about, which get a lot of attention are going to impact a small subset of people. Like this is not going to be five point where all of a sudden it takes over your site and you have to use it like this is it.</p>



<p>It's very much. So in line with the gradual adoption, where if you want to use these features, you have to literally hyper opt-in. You have to switch your theme. You have to like seek it out. Like it's very much something that. That also gave me confidence where it's like, I know these like full siting and all the collection features that go along with that.</p>



<p>You get a lot of attention. But even if you upgrade, you're not switching to full site editing, you're still gonna get a ton of value in this release. And that, that to me is what's really exciting is it's almost like, because this is a smaller subset. The features are more high impact exponentially when they're working together.</p>



<p>I think it was just the right call, but I'm really excited to see people get their hands on 5.9. And speaking of police health tests, the Tesco lead, I'm like, please help test. It'd be a huge help.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> We'll get through testing in a second, because I [00:21:00] do want to, I do want to get, like, if you had the opportunity.</p>



<p>To make it to make a pitch for you. You did mention 5.0 though. When that first came out, I think there was a there's a number of people that, and you know, that the circumstances behind that you know, around the state of the word time, everybody was busy or give Ghana was one of those. I think it wasn't November.</p>



<p>So, I mean, it was approaching a holiday season or something or something like that, but it was, I would be, I don't know, a lot of people said it was around rough around the edges. I'm not going to argue with him about that when it came out but over time that the improvements on it have been, I think in my opinion, pretty good.</p>



<p>Pretty, pretty tremendous. In fact, do you think and you may, I think you touched on this already, but do you think with a full site editing, we're going to see not what 5.0 is. Cause I think you just said that, but do you feel comfortable with the level of Polish that will be out at the end of January?</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Oh,</p>



<p>that's a great question. There's a lot of nuance here, so it depends [00:22:00] upon someone's skill level. If you were brand new WordPress user, I would, I'd say very beta. So like, I think it's literally going to ship with a beta warning. So in terms of, is it hyper polished? I would call it functional kind of empowering.</p>



<p>But I wouldn't necessarily be like, oh, it's delightful. And you can, it's completely intuitive. Like I think, and I say this partially because especially if someone, maybe if someone was new, they might actually have an easier time, because there's a lot of concepts built within full that are really hard to grasp.</p>



<p>For those of us who've been in WordPress for a long time. Things</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Can they get those videos in there? That would probably help.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, no, I think that's part of, so I actually am also helping with the user support docs for this release. So I'm co testing it and then helping with the user docs. And that's one of the things that's really difficult to communicate simply.</p>



<p>So like, how do you explain to someone, what template parts are. And how do you explain when to use them? So, like one of the, I just opened an issue for this yesterday, but it's like, we probably need to explain the difference [00:23:00] between template parts, reusable, blocks and patterns. And when do you use each? So I probably need to write a doc on that.</p>



<p>So there's a lot to be explained there in a way that's very simple so that people can make good decisions. And right now their, what is being shifted doesn't necessarily have guardrails to nudge someone in the right direction. If that makes sense. So you'd have to have some level of knowledge in order to write.</p>



<p>Put it together, but do I think it's a polished V1 for someone who likes to tinker? Definitely. Like, I, for sure think that's the case. The only I can tell you my major sticking point, which is driving me nuts right now is right now. Are you familiar with the template editing mode?</p>



<p>I launched.</p>



<p>I've played with it.</p>



<p>Yes. Yeah. So right now let's say I have a block theme activated and I'm using 5.98. I can go in and I'm using a theme with template mode. I can go in and I can like add a new post. And then under the posts kind of sidebar, I can select and create any template. And from there I can have a fresh new template that I can then assign to the post.</p>



<p>However, if I'm in [00:24:00] the site editor and I'm navigating through the templates, I cannot create a new generic template. And there's an issue open for this. I can create an archive when I complete a search warrant. I create a new front page one, but there's not a. I want to create a new template and I want to sign this poster page or this category to it.</p>



<p>So there's a lot like that basic infrastructure you can, it's a workflow thing. So it's like in one place, you can do this thing, but in the other place that feels more intuitive. You can't. And then on top of that, obviously for this release, some stuff is constrained. So this was one of the decisions that had to be made.</p>



<p>So you can't have. If you wanted a category to use a specific template, you'd have to actually add it to your blocking files rather than like being able to do it in the interface. So the good news is it'll ship, but then there's some really common. Possibly common use cases where people are going to be like, oh, but I want to do this.</p>



<p>And that's where I think 6.0 6.1, like these future releases will continue to deliver on the promise to pull siding. And I think right now what is in place is really powerful. And I think it'll [00:25:00] actually jumpstart. People's excitement into everything that you can do. But there are just some. I don't know.</p>



<p>I think Justin Tadlock had a good description where he's like, it works, but then as you're getting involved in it, there's like some common things that you're not yet able to do. And I'm like, yeah, that's very true. Like there are some things that I can imagine. I'm like, I would love on my personal site to have a specific template for.</p>



<p>All my posts that are tagged with WordPress resources so that I could just send people there and I could have a different header. I could have a different contact form, like have a completely different experience with that. I think it'd be really cool.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> But you know, I was like, it sounds like something in the old days before Gutenberg, that would be like a WordPress plugin.</p>



<p>You would have to find</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> correct.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Which in the defense of Gutenberg, in terms of that, I mean, You know, you're, it seems like a lot of the, you know, a lot of the major work being done, but also some things that are being done in Gutenberg. Like duotone, for example, maybe it's the one that jumps out at me. It's like, [00:26:00] like before it was just, you had to go find a plugin for that.</p>



<p>I mean, you're you and birds taking off. Lots of cool and interesting things that were before with maybe with, or with maybe with a page builder, with an add on with a page builder or just a plugin that those were just like little thrills that you would just find in the plugin stuff, getting Berg's incorporating this in the course.</p>



<p>So Gutenberg, I mean, it's not just a, it's not just the blocks anymore. You're incorporating all these like, you know, fun stuff that like, maybe. Not even the majority of people might even use some time, unless there's a big, duotone a fan group out there. In other words,</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> the only thing that I think is cool is that you can add it on theme level.</p>



<p>I think that's part of it. It is very much a design tool in that sense. And I think that. To me where I've seen it really come to life is when I've seen some theme authors. I think some automatic female author is released. It's skate park is a theme, but it has like do a twin filters baked in. So like, if you change the [00:27:00] background of your theme, the images were also like a doc, the duo tone.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh no. My F my life is a French film to atone anyway. So I'm full of that. Did you happen to hear. I think when it comes to block themes, Matt said something about wanting 3000 a year or so. Was he exaggerating there a little bit? I</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> think he's serious. And like, I also, this sounds wild, but I think it is very much so, like he actually thought it was interesting that he said it in that way, because how do I explain this?</p>



<p>Like, You could take one block theme, like let's take 20, 22. For example, the announcement post showed this and any announcement posts, it shows like four or five different style theme Jason files and switching between them. And it looks like a completely different theme. And I think that's where it's like, you could literally take the base of one theme with the same patterns, all that sort of stuff, and create.</p>



<p>20 different theme, Jason files to switch [00:28:00] between and have a complete different experience. And to me, that's, what's really cool. And then once you start integrating with the pattern directory even more, I think that unlocks some really cool stuff. So when he says that, I'm like, yeah, I understand what he's saying, but I actually, I think that's a way to connect with like the.</p>



<p>FIM world that we have come to know to last however many years. Yeah. But I think the future with block themes, things are going to be wildly different. I think rich table were asked a question about, you know, could there be a directory for different style? And I'm like, yes, like that to me, I think is a really cool model and there's work being done to enable.</p>



<p>And json switching within a block theme,</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> so definitely would make it competitive with you know, like, like a Wix or Squarespace in terms of like you could have, this is a completely customizable experience. Speaking of customizable, I do have a question for you. When it comes to the full site editing, what happens to the customizer?</p>



<p>There's numerous people that use that there's people that use that and granted they use that for their theme settings and maybe. And [00:29:00] for other things, and in addition to the normal customization, so what's going to happen to the customizer?.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah. So this is actually something that I'm so glad you're asking me this, because this is a thing I've seen, brought up a ton.</p>



<p>I've gotten, especially in the span of like, it felt like two weeks, I was getting a ping, like every other day being like customizer. And I'm like,</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I know like a bot on Twitter about the customizer, but I've figured that ask you.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> So basically the customizer, if a plugin or theme happens to look into it the customizer will be available to actually it'll direct you to it.</p>



<p>So it's not like it's going away forever. Is it removed from the menu item? Yes. If you're using a block theme, you will not see it unless you are using a plugin that somehow hooks into the</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> customizer, but you have to switch to a block theme and then at the official</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> blocking the lose, the customizer only superior.</p>



<p>Correct. And it would only disappear if you don't have a plugin that happens to look into</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> it as well. Right. I'm sure somebody will come up with that in a few seconds, but</p>



<p>Okay. Then I, you know, initially [00:30:00] here, I mean, I've, haven't had my coffee yet, but it sounds like to me, that makes sense where in terms of, you know, you're not going to need it. You may not need it. Now, if anybody has anything in there, there's probably something developers that have put something in there that shouldn't be in there then, you know, get out, get it out of there.</p>



<p>But okay. That answers that question pretty well, because it makes sense. With a block theme on there shouldn't be anything in the customizer left.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> There is a universal theme. I don't know if you've heard about universal themes, but they're also a combination. So there's like, let's see there's black beans hybrid themes, universal themes, and classic themes is like theme paradigm.</p>



<p>We're about to enter and blockings are like fully built in with full siting. Like you're not, you know, using the customized or anything</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> like that. You don't need the, you don't need the additional CSS. The one thing that sticks out in my mind is the additional CSS thing in the in the customizer and you and I both know.</p>



<p>That if I don't usually use that, I use, I, I add the CSS some other way. It's usually through a plugin or through the style sheet, in the theme [00:31:00] or something like that, whatever. That's the only thing that kind of concerns me a little bit, because I've seen people put CSS in there that relate even to plugin, not even the theme directly, because that's just one place that they're able to put CSS.</p>



<p>They know it they've seen it, or some webpage told them to put it there, that they don't have to like dig into any code to, they can just put the additional CSS. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if some WordPress plugin support people have told people, oh, in order to resolve this issue with our. You just need a CSS tweak with your theme going here.</p>



<p>But again, you're saying that it's still going to be there unless they switched to a block theme. So the only danger there is if you switch to a block theme, but if you're somehow using the plugin, is that, does that, it's just hiding it. It's not removing it.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> It's just hiding it. It's not removing it. So</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> sorry.</p>



<p>I had to work that out. Yeah,</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> no I totally understand. Cause I used to work on Jetpack a lot and that was one of the things. It has an additional CSS part of it. So I understand what you're describing. [00:32:00] Yeah, it's very, I also want to advocate actually for universal themes, because if someone is like, I'm curious about this world, but I don't want to jump in universal themes are basically designed so that you can use blocking functionality, but then also the customizer.</p>



<p>So it basically bridges. Which is why it's called universal</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> either that or the movie company bought you the rights.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Did you not hear about the new acquisition?</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I was going to go to the theme park in Orlando and see all the new Gutenberg blocks, right? The ride, the Gutenberg ride. Oh my God.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> You say that.</p>



<p>But I did. I was getting beer the other day at a store and there was a thing called gluten berg. Which is a form of gluten-free beer. And I was like, oh my God. And I was off work. So I was like, am I tripping right now? Like, what is happening, dude, bird everywhere.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I made a slip on Twitter, I think yesterday morning.</p>



<p>And I said something about like, I'm having a state of the word hangover, a hashtag Gutenberg. And I left it in there and I just said, Gutenberg is just you [00:33:00] trying to contribute to the project, but you haven't figured out yet how to be sustainable. So you're, and you're not above begging. So, you know?</p>



<p>Yeah. So I left Gutenberg and I left good Megan, there let's talk about at least two more things before I leave you to. Fantastic video editing work here. One thing is about testing. What is the number one way? What's the number one? What's number one thing you advocate regarding testing. And you're going to give me symbol links to put in the show notes for this.</p>



<p>So we're not going to worry about that, but how does that work and what do what's the qualifications and what are you looking. In terms of testing.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> It's a great, so like the beta posts on, I'm going to drag people to the beta posts on your research backslash news, because there's actually a link under like a testing instructions to a post that I did that gets very detailed.</p>



<p>So if you just are comfortable testing, go for it. If you're someone who needs more instruction or. Exactly. Like what to test, how to test. I have a post that's it's titled help test 5.9 features, and it [00:34:00] goes step by step through the different features with like a brief description of what they are, how to find.</p>



<p>And as well as like, if you want to get even more detailed steps, a lot of them link out to calls for testing that were done through the outreach program. So you can even get like a step-by-step description of what needs to be done. But yeah, right now, if you can, I highly recommend testing both 5.9 in terms of, without a block.</p>



<p>But then also take the 2022 thing first, then it is a very cool expansive team.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Hey, Matt gave us the bird on Tuesday and my wife looked at me like I was, should report it to the. Yeah, but it's in, that's also another, that's another complication layer too. It's not just the five nine release. It's it's the new default WordPress theme. It looks fantastic. It is the, it looks fantastic.</p>



<p>I'm more excited. I can't remember the last time I've been more excited about like a default theme coming up because it really looks like it's using the art state of the edge [00:35:00] stuff, plus, you know, the birds well, good. Well, thanks for you. Share those links with me. I'll make sure to add them.</p>



<p>I make them in there. So here's one thing that's been. I was scratching my noggin the other day and trying to figure out the best way to describe this. So I've been told by multiple sources that thanks to COVID thanks to the lack of in-person work camps. The contributions contributors have been, they've been low for the past 16, 18 months, two years, something like that.</p>



<p>And then. Do you think that first of all, do you think that's true? And if so of it's true. Do you think it's, is it impacted the project because Matt, I guess I'm just gonna finish my sentence and let you speak at the end, because I don't know when to shut up, but I did see, I saw Matt slides on Tuesday.</p>



<p>He did highlight. I mean, there are lots of circles in the slides, right. And then there was lots of new contributors. Yes. Circles. I work in [00:36:00] shapes. But there were, and there were lots of new contributors to that. We don't know what they worked on. I mean, new contributors, that's awesome in there.</p>



<p>And there was definitely a lot of circles on there, but do you think that COVID has had an impact on the contributions or contributors over the past two years?</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I mean, yes, both. And I will say, I think it's like a. Multi-directional so I think it's everything from, for example, the outreach program, I've given out 70 badges for a test contribution, which is probably more than has been given in a long time, you know?</p>



<p>So it's like, in some ways we've had more contributors, probably in some spaces and have brought in. And I've had the chance to work with folks who have gone out into their local communities or held things online with their local communities to help people test and explore that. So there's like, it's both right.</p>



<p>Like I think in some cases it really burns some people out. I think it burned a lot of folks out were just dealing with like trying to survive day to day. You're probably not going to want to jump into open source and contribute. [00:37:00] But at the same time, I think suddenly the community had to become a lot more accessible.</p>



<p>So actually I started this role in April of 2020, so right when things were really like in the U S it was. Getting really serious, like in lockdown, all this sort of stuff. So it's been very interesting. I, when I first started the job was told like, oh yeah, one of the first things we'd probably do is send you around a bunch of word camps and word cancer, where people get onboarded and like all this sort of stuff.</p>



<p>And I was like, okay, well that's not an option. So what are we going to do about this?</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> And this is where we're all kind of delusional about like, oh, maybe this will pass. And so it's been very interesting and like, I can tell you speaking personally, a very anecdotally I have spoken at probably 10 or 11.</p>



<p>Events, maybe more in the last year I do not like public speaking. If I had to go up on stage and do it, it would be way less successful for me. Like it causes way too much anxiety. And then on top of that, like, you know, I just gave the word camp Taiwan recorded or camp Taiwan keynote at [00:38:00] like one 30 in the morning of my time where like, normally I would have to travel to Taiwan.</p>



<p>I would have to, you know, be jet lagged pregnant. There were a couple of days early, like all this sort of stuff. And then it. Being able to connect with brand new contributors and brand new folks has become way easier. And so I think that's like one of the things that makes me really excited is like, you can travel the world from your apartment.</p>



<p>So I often look@theonlineeventson.org and just see what people were talking about. And we'll just jump in. Either a 5% or 50% meetup</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> group. Oh, I love her. I love virtual stuff. I talked to my kids. That's how I talked to my kids all the time. My kids still live with me, a side note. So do you, so,</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> yes, I do think it's also caused a decrease.</p>



<p>I think there's an over-reliance on On people who are sponsored contributors. And I think, but I think it also, at the same time, new pathways have been built. So I'm both encouraged that like new pathways are being built. New folks are being brought in and things like the photo directory, the pattern directory even blockchains are way easier to build.</p>



<p>[00:39:00] I think we're going to see an influx of more folks coming in.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah.</p>



<p>The onboarding process. Right? I would imagine. Yeah, like you said, it's harder for any individuals with present condition. So I, you know, companies like, like, and Matt was showing those, the other bubble slide where there was automatic.</p>



<p>I imagine there's like you said, you were doing one thing now you're doing another, it sounds like there's automatic made some adjustments there to. I'm not putting words in your mouth, but if it wouldn't surprise me, if some companies made some adjustments to compensate for the fact that, you know, there is less of certain kinds of contributors out there just because of oral conditions.</p>



<p>And we just finished. I don't know if you've been following this log for. She fought with J or something.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Log4jI.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Mean, everybody's talking about it. I mean, nobody's rewriting my software yet. Thank goodness. I'm unpopular now. And it's an advantage but I mean, there, you have, like, I think two people, one [00:40:00] person working on that and the guy had a side job too, and now everybody's kind of relying on it and you know, that makes you sit back and watch.</p>



<p>Well, a lot of people rely on WordPress. Obviously things are going to slip through the cracks, but overall it's nice to have, even if there was a major world event and this has been a major world event, then I think things from a feature standpoint, from a bug standing standpoint, it could, I guess it depends on your experience.</p>



<p>You can either say it's been fantastic that it's managed to be as uninterrupted as it has been over the last two years. Or you can just say, Hey, it could have been worse. It, you know, WordPress runs 43% and the train has to keep moving. The show must go on. And some adjustments, I guess, have to be made.</p>



<p>I'm looking, I do want to see more independent or at least other companies enter into that bubble space. Just like Matt had. I mean, at one point it was a bubble's commercial, but I mean, you know, that second slide with just more independent bubbles on it. So it sounds it's, but it sounds like for [00:41:00] me talking with you here, that of all the challenges that's happened, both ones that I think everybody could imagine in some of the ones that you're not telling me, because we don't want to get into the weeds on it.</p>



<p>It sounds like, from stability-wise I th the decision. To bump it. I think it was only a little bit controversial for a moment. At least from the outside. I can't speak within the inside of a group. I imagine there was a lot of talk and maybe there was some tradition or precedent there, but obviously that would have didn't sound like that lasted very long if there was any, and it was only controversial out here, like, you know, weirdo land where I live, you know, there was news, but it was.</p>



<p>Okay, fine. You're bumping it from December. I think I'd rather have that been bumped. And so it sounds like,</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> And that was part of why I wrote the post to be honest, because I was like, man, this is going to be so confusing and people who aren't just like knee deep in this, like it's going to be seen in a light.</p>



<p>That's like really hard to parse. And so that was really part of my aim and writing [00:42:00] like, Hey, this is why I voted. And this is the details. If you really want to know Of course, Matt, I don't know if you saw Matt's comment where it's like, this is the actually information I want. Like that's a different post that Matt. Like, I can't, I don't want to write it.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Let me do my work. Cool.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I know I got that comment on Sunday and I was like, oh, okay, cool. Like I, where do I need to write out a post about this? I was like no. We have to do a retro for the release. Like, this is a really good, but he's right. I was like, oh man, I should have included some stuff about like, here's what I think we can do going forward.</p>



<p>You know, it was chaotic. I wrote it, I think, within a week of the decision. And it was doing it on top of other stuff. So</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> yeah, next time it's a long story, but next time I have to get you to get him to say banana milkshake and the state of the word I have. If you don't know what it is, I'll try to put a link in the show notes, but anyway.</p>



<p>Yeah. But th the thing about the bingo card is we put some obvious ones there, and then we put some less obvious ones. Like there's like, like NFT. He said NFT. Okay. How about metaverse? You said metaverse.. Okay. Now it's like, everybody's doing bingo. Bingo, and going, oh, crap. I could have made [00:43:00] this harder, except everybody has a one random generated word.</p>



<p>It's like I was saying to myself, what's the antifree square. It's what's on a bingo card. What's one thing he would never say. And then everybody says, well, we can't get bingo. And he says banana milkshake. And I'm like, all right, people put on your big person pants. And we're going to see if we can get someone there.</p>



<p>But anyway, besides that way, we'll edit this all out. It's boring. but anyway, and what you do, but. To end on a good to end on a very good note here, because I'm talking to you and you do very good things. So this is going to be very, it'd be very you're very much appreciated in. And even if the resources, even if the testing, you know, is, you know, we could always use more testing.</p>



<p>We can always use more contributors. I think the job that you're doing, the videos is doing two things really well, everything that you do, it's not just the videos, but the videos, just making things a lot easier to consume. Especially in this Tik TOK world we live in don't do tick. I didn't say the tick-tock</p>



<p>world.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I mean,</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> here, my kids don't either [00:44:00] I'm that I'm not going there, but two it's also about the transparency for something like this, I think because it wasn't such of a talking point, partly was because you and the team were so transparent. And the minute that we read, the minute I read the report, I'm like, yeah, this sounds like the way you're presenting it.</p>



<p>A it's a, no, it sounds like a no-brainer and B we can wait another month. I can wait another month.,</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I really credit folks like Tonja and Mary and Rob. And like, there's a lot of folks who made that transparency. This is tough decisions, Jonathan to Rogers. Who's not even on release squad was like giving advice about timing.</p>



<p>Like it really was a team effort to operate in that way. And I loved seeing the liveliness of the 5.9 release leads channel, and it folks are curious about how our release works. And you can literally watch us talk. And there is no back channel. Like it's like, I have a question I'm going to that channel.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. I need that. I need kind of that for my, from my marriage. Cause it'd be nice to have some texts. You didn't say that will [00:45:00] let me do a little search here. And where are you going to your mother's? Okay. I'll catch you later. All right. So, and tell us where we can find you on the web and where people can reach out to you, especially if they have questions.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I'm at an Zazu and an E Z a Z U on we're personal work slack. And then I have a block like I'm very I know shocking nomad dot block.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Make sure to throw that into the show notes or give that to me and I'll put in the show. Yeah. Yeah,</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I will. And like, I honestly am not, you can find me on LinkedIn, but I'm off of Instagram. I activate and deactivate quite frequently. It's the one that I seem to be, I do too, but that's in</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> real life, but yes.</p>



<p>I know you're not on Twitter and you're sometimes on Instagram. That's why I wanted to get a few links for you because I'm in post out a slack and there's posts at a slack there's WordPress slack. Thank you very much for sitting down and talk to me about this. I think</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> thanks for the opportunity.</p>



<p>There's so much, I feel like we could talk about, which is always such a great feeling is it's like, gosh, I could just talk for hours about these different things, because I think so much about them and you [00:46:00] really hit everything that I want to talk about. So it's awesome.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Why didn't I have this skill when I was young and single, I have no idea.</p>



<p>That gives me food for thought later, but anyway, I really appreciate it. And I will I'll definitely be checking out the betas for 5.9. We can't wait for January.</p>



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Awesome.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 29 Dec 2021 23:18:43 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Olivia Bisset";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:30;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:51:"Akismet: How to Stop Contact Form Spam on WordPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2177";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/29/how-to-stop-contact-form-spam-on-wordpress/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15509:"<p>Are you getting useless contact form emails in your inbox? Contact form spam is a problem every website owner deals with at some point. Spambots target websites of all sizes, regardless of the amount of traffic you get.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Sifting through hundreds of messages to separate spam from genuine inquiries is time-consuming and frustrating. Luckily, there are some easy and effective ways to protect your WordPress site from spam and take advantage of the benefits of contact forms. Let’s discuss!&nbsp;</p>



<span id="more-2177"></span>



<h2 id="what-is-contact-form-spam">What is contact form spam?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Before solving this common issue, you’ll need to understand what contact form spam is and how it affects your website and business.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Contact form spam is exactly what it sounds like:&nbsp;unwanted messages that are submitted through the contact forms on your site. Since these forms have blank fields, an individual spammer (or bot) can fill these out however they’d like.&nbsp;</p>



<p>You might just get one or two occasional messages with irrelevant promotional material or even offensive language and links. Or, you’ll sometimes receive hundreds or even thousands of form submissions to your inbox. You’re left sifting through the spam so that you don’t miss real messages from interested followers or potential customers. Worse yet, all of these submissions can hog server resources,&nbsp;resulting in a slower site or errors when you try to make changes.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Spammers target contact forms in one of two ways:</p>



<h3 id="1-manual-spammers">1. Manual spammers</h3>



<p>Manual spammers are humans who navigate to your website, fill out your forms, and submit them personally. They typically use false information, often copying and pasting to spam your site quickly. In most cases, these spammers are trying to promote specific websites. But they can also spread malware and funnel traffic to malicious sites. Manual contact form spam is more difficult to overcome because spammers can get past many anti-spam solutions like CAPTCHAs.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="2-spambots">2. Spambots</h3>



<p>Spambots are the most common sender of form spam and often the most dangerous. These programs automatically search the internet for forms and, depending on how spammers program the bots, they leave junk text and phishing links that appear in your inbox.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Spambots threaten the integrity of your website when programmed to perform more malicious activities like taking personal information, spreading malware, or taking control of your website. These automated programs can leave a larger number of form submissions at once. But they’re easier to stop because they can’t combat specific anti-spam solutions.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="why-do-bots-and-human-spammers-target-contact-forms">Why do bots and human spammers target contact forms?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>With all the advances in technology and increased security options, it’s hard to think that this type of spam still exists. But bots and human spammers still target contact forms because they can, and it works.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Here are several reasons spammers look for loopholes and vulnerabilities in your website forms:&nbsp;</p>



<ol><li><strong>They want to send you spam.</strong> Most spam includes links to phishing sites or revenue-generating ad sites.</li><li><strong>They want to exploit your contact form to spam others</strong>. Spammers use your contact forms to relay email spam messages to others. When these emails land in people’s inboxes, they typically look like an email you sent. Unaware that it is spam, users open these emails and click links that lead them to another website. This increases website traffic and engagement to that site, rewarding the spammer.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>They’re searching for vulnerabilities to access the backend of your website or server</strong>. This is typically where malicious intent comes into play. When spammers target your contact forms to look for vulnerabilities in your website, they often want to attack it. Spammers can install malware that leaves your website and visitors at risk. They can also steal personal information, a significant risk for eCommerce sites with sensitive customer data.&nbsp;</li></ol>



<h3 id="how-to-identify-contact-form-submission-spam">How to identify contact form submission spam</h3>



<p>Keeping a close eye on your contact form submissions makes it easy to identify spam. Watch out for the following signs that indicate spammers are targeting your website:</p>



<ul><li><strong>Phishing links</strong>. Spammers use phishing URLs to obtain sensitive information for malicious use. This includes usernames, passwords, or banking details. Phishing links appear to direct to a legitimate site, but it’s really a fake one meant to steal this valuable data.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Irrelevant messages</strong>. Another typical indication of spam is unsolicited or irrelevant messages. Spammers send these messages out in large numbers for advertising, phishing, or spreading malware.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Submissions with no real name</strong>. If you get submissions with no real name or a fake name, you’ll want to look into blocking form spam.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Grammatical errors or typos</strong>. Most spammers don’t take the time to proofread their submissions or check for grammatical errors. Instead, they work hard to send as much spam as possible in the shortest amount of time. Therefore, if you notice messages or comments with a significant amount of typos or grammatical errors, your website is likely under attack.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>An offer that’s too good to be true</strong>. Like everything in life, an offer too good to be true also indicates a problem. Don’t fall for this easy trap.&nbsp;</li></ul>



<p>Once you notice a spam issue, it’s vital to find a fast and effective solution. While it’s both annoying and potentially dangerous, spam can also damage your brand reputation. Let’s explore some ways to prevent contact form spam on your website.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="how-to-block-contact-form-spam">How to block contact form spam</h2>



<h3 id="1-install-the-right-wordpress-anti-spam-plugin">1. Install the right WordPress anti-spam plugin</h3>



<p>The easiest and fastest way to combat contact form spam is to install the right <a href="https://akismet.com/">anti-spam WordPress plugin</a>. Anti-spam plugins work independently from your forms by comparing submissions to blocklists of words, names, IP addresses, and email addresses. They use both global and local learning to identify spam. Some also give you the ability to manually mark items as spam (or not spam), so it learns what you like and don’t like on your site.&nbsp;</p>



<p>With several options available, it’s critical to pick the right anti-spam plugin. <a href="https://akismet.com/">Akismet</a> is an excellent option used by millions of websites to filter out hundreds of millions of spam comments and form submissions. It will check all comments and form submissions for spam and filter out any that look suspicious. You can review all filtered submissions directly in the WordPress dashboard.&nbsp;</p>



<p>An option like this frees up your time to focus on the more critical parts of your website. It also gives you the peace of mind that your site, visitors, and reputation are safe. While there aren’t many disadvantages to this method, you’ll need to make sure you update the plugin as recommended to avoid any security issues in the future.&nbsp;</p>



<h4 id="how-to-set-up-an-anti-spam-plugin">How to set up an anti-spam plugin:</h4>



<p>Installing a WordPress plugin is easy. In your WordPress dashboard, go to <strong>Plugins → Add New</strong>. Search for the one you’d like to add, then click <strong>Install → Activate</strong>. Then, follow any specific instructions for the tool that you chose. For example, Akismet provides a great <a href="https://docs.akismet.com/getting-started/activate/">how to activate</a> tutorial with easy-to-follow instructions and visual cues.&nbsp;</p>



<img />



<h3 id="2-add-a-custom-captcha">2. Add a custom CAPTCHA</h3>



<p><a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/23/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/">Custom CAPTCHAs</a> are another way to target and resolve spam problems. You can add a custom, word-based code or random math question to your website that visitors must answer to submit forms successfully. When users attempt to add a comment or submit a form, they’ll need to answer the question or type what they see above the submit button to proceed. You can add several custom word-based questions that users cycle through randomly.&nbsp;</p>



<p>While CAPTCHAs are a great way to combat spambots, they aren’t effective with human spammers. They can also be frustrating and time-consuming for legitimate site visitors who struggle to answer the questions or answer them incorrectly. If you choose to add a CAPTCHA to combat spam, you’ll also need to think about users with limited sight or other challenges.&nbsp;</p>



<h4 id="how-to-implement-a-captcha">How to implement a CAPTCHA:</h4>



<p>To add a CAPTCHA to your website, you’ll need to choose a service provider. Google is the most popular CAPTCHA service, with essential functions offered at no cost to website owners. You can find your options in the <strong>Products</strong> part of the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://developers.google.com/products#r" target="_blank">Google Developers</a> page. Make sure to sign in to your Google account. Next, you’ll read through a short overview before clicking on <strong>Sign up for an API key pair</strong>. You’ll need to fill in your website information and follow the prompts to complete the process.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="3-use-google-recaptcha">3. Use Google reCAPTCHA</h3>



<p>Google’s reCAPTCHA is a more advanced option than custom CAPTCHAs. Initially introduced to overcome the user frustrations of custom CAPTCHAs, reCAPTCHAs require users to answer more straightforward questions to submit forms. reCAPTCHAs also work by detecting user behavior while visitors navigate your site and assigning each user a “spam score” based on what the tool considers suspicious activity.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The most common form of reCAPTCHAs is the picture puzzle you’ve seen on many websites. Instead of typing a word or answering a math question, users answer an image-based question. Visitors must select all the squares in the picture with a specific object like a car or a traffic light. Once all images have been selected, the button switches to allow the user to submit their form response.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Here are some other types of reCAPTCHAs:</p>



<ul><li><strong>Checkbox reCAPTCHA v2 </strong>is a simple box that users must check to submit a form. It’s the popular option you see on many websites accompanied by the “I am not a robot” text.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Invisible reCAPTCHA v2</strong> does not display any visible fields to human users. Instead, it monitors user behavior for suspicious activity to identify potential spammers. Invisible reCAPTCHA also adds an extra field into the code of your form. Since most spambots use code to submit responses, these spammers automatically fill in the fake fields before being flagged. Human users never even notice the spam control as they submit answers directly on the form.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>reCAPTCHA v3</strong> is an advanced option that uses JavaScript to detect human visitors. It is the most advanced form of reCAPTCHA, so you should only use it if you’re a WordPress expert.&nbsp;</li></ul>



<p>reCAPTCHAs can still prevent genuine visitors from submitting forms, but they’ve improved from the earlier custom CAPTCHA options. Most come with the ability to add an audio option for those with visual impairments. The visible option they offer is also a solution for the hearing impaired.&nbsp;</p>



<img />Photo © Google



<h4 id="how-to-implement-google-recaptchas">How to implement Google reCAPTCHAs:</h4>



<p>You’ll add reCAPTCHAs to your website following the same steps listed above for CAPTCHAs. Google reCAPTCHA is also a free service for basic functionality, but you can purchase the Enterprise solution for more advanced options. You’ll need to sign up for an API key pair for your site and follow the prompts to proceed.</p>



<h3 id="4-use-an-ip-access-list">4. Use an IP access list</h3>



<p>If you notice a lot of spambot action on your website coming from specific sources, you can use an IP access list to block spam. With this method, you add IP addresses to a list that restricts access to your website from that location. You’ll do this by adding IPs to the <strong>Comment Blacklist</strong> section of the <strong>Discussion</strong> settings page in the WordPress admin.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Using an IP access list is an excellent option for blocking specific people. But it takes a lot of work to block a more significant number of spammers and requires constant maintenance. You can also accidentally block legitimate form submissions from the IP addresses you list, so make sure you’re confident before using this method.&nbsp;</p>



<img />



<h4 id="how-to-implement-an-ip-access-list">How to implement an IP access list:&nbsp;</h4>



<p>If you want to block an IP address, navigate to <strong>Settings → Discussion → Comment Moderation</strong> in your WordPress dashboard. Then, simply add any IP addresses you want to block and save your settings.</p>



<h3 id="5-take-advantage-of-the-honeypot-method">5. Take advantage of the honeypot method</h3>



<p>If you’re not a fan of CAPTCHAs, try the honeypot method. Honeypots are little bits of code used to catch spambots. The code creates a hidden field in your form that’s invisible to human visitors but visible to spambots who are usually looking at the code of your form. Spambots automatically fill out the hidden field and submit the forms. The additional information flags these submissions and rejects them, saving you time and effort.&nbsp;</p>



<p>One advantage of honeypots is that they stay hidden from human visitors. Your visitors don’t need to deal with the inconvenience of CAPTCHAs. Some WordPress form plugins even allow you to add the honeypot method in their settings.&nbsp;</p>



<h4 id="how-to-implement-honeypot">How to implement honeypot:</h4>



<p>Some plugins allow you to quickly check the option to add honeypot to your forms. But if they don’t, you’ll need to add a hidden field to your form manually. Once you add the form to your site, use the CSS style “display: none !important;” to make the field hidden and tabindex=&#8221;-1&#8243; autocomplete=&#8221;false;&#8221; to ensure the field is empty by default.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="protect-your-wordpress-contact-forms">Protect your WordPress contact forms</h2>



<p>Contact forms are a great tool to connect with your audience and enhance your website’s user experience. But they can also be a problem when spammers attack. Don’t be the target of human spammers and spambots that reduce the effectiveness of your website forms. Use the six steps listed above to successfully stop spam from your WordPress site so you can focus your time and effort on more essential tasks.&nbsp;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 29 Dec 2021 12:28:15 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Simon Keating";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:31;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:75:"WordCamp Central: The first in-person WordCamp Europe in 3 years is coming!";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:39:"https://central.wordcamp.org/?p=3143787";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:102:"https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2021/12/28/the-first-in-person-wordcamp-europe-in-3-years-is-coming/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1047:"<p>WordCamp Europe organizing team has shared what we are planning for <a href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/a-sneak-peek-at-wceu2022/">the first in-person WCEU in 3 years</a>.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s taking place in Porto, Portugal, on 2-4 June 2022.</p>



<p>With all safety measures, our beautiful spacious venue,&nbsp;Super Bock Arena can hold up to 4000 people, and we can&#8217;t wait to welcome you there.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center"><strong><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-sponsors/" target="_blank">Call For Sponsors</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/" target="_blank">Call For Speakers</a> are already open!</strong></p>



<p><a href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/a-sneak-peek-at-wceu2022/#newsletter-form">Subscribe to WordCamp Europe Newsletter</a> to get to know about all WordCamp Europe 2022 updates first!</p>



<img src="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/files/2021/12/WCEU-assortment-pic.jpg" alt="" />";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 28 Dec 2021 12:52:36 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Sabrina Zeidan";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:32;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:25:"Matt: Saving the Internet";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=55240";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:42:"https://ma.tt/2021/12/saving-the-internet/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1935:"<p><a href="https://twitter.com/pierce">David Pierce</a> wrote a deep profile, over 4,000 words, for Protocol and asks the question in the headline, <a href="https://www.protocol.com/matt-mullenweg">Can Matt Mullenweg save the internet?</a></p>



<a href="https://www.protocol.com/matt-mullenweg"><img /></a>



<p>Which brings to mind <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines">Betteridge&#8217;s law of headlines</a> (née Hinchliffe&#8217;s rule), &#8220;Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word&nbsp;<em>no</em>.&#8221;</p>



<p>I can&#8217;t save the internet. But you know who can? A movement. A community of like-minded individuals, unified by a common philosophy, and working together to create <a href="https://wordpress.org/">tools of freedom</a>.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>It&#8217;s a human right to be able to see how that technology works and modify it. It’s as key to freedom as freedom of speech or freedom of religion. So that is what I plan to spend the rest of my life fighting for.</p></blockquote>



<p>Working together we&#8217;ve created something special, unlike anything the internet has seen before, and I&#8217;m excited to continue.</p>



<p>Thank you to David Pierce for taking such an in-depth look at the history of WordPress and Automattic and talking to dozens of sources. Thank you to the people quoted in the article: <a href="https://scottbeale.org/">Scott Beale</a>, <a href="https://om.co/">Om Malik</a>, <a href="https://toni.org/">Toni Schneider</a>, <a href="https://rustyshelf.org/">Russell Ivanovic</a>, Deven Parekh, <a href="https://paulmayne.org/">Paul Mayne</a>, and <a href="https://anildash.com/">Anil Dash</a>. Thank you to <a href="https://arturoolmos.com/">Arturo Olmos</a> for the photos, and <a href="https://www.odilidonaldodita.com/">Odili Donald Odita</a> for the amazing painting behind me.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 13:07:33 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:33;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"WPTavern: Multiple State of the Word Attendees Test Positive for COVID-19";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127655";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:191:"https://wptavern.com/multiple-state-of-the-word-attendees-test-positive-for-covid-19?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=multiple-state-of-the-word-attendees-test-positive-for-covid-19";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6225:"<div class="wp-block-image"><img />State of the Word 2021 in NYC</div>



<p>Matt Mullenweg&#8217;s <a href="https://wptavern.com/state-of-the-word-2021-wordpress-passes-43-market-share-looks-to-expand-the-commons-through-openverse">2021 State of the Word</a> address was held in New York City nine days ago with a live studio audience. On Sunday, December 19, all in-person attendees were notified by email that they were possibly exposed to COVID-19 after one of the attendees tested positive. </p>



<p>Although proof of vaccination was required at the door, multiple people have reported recent infections after traveling home from the event. Aaron Jorbin tweeted about his case today, and four more have been reported in a private channel on Post Status Slack.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I don't know where I actually got infected, State of The Word is just one possibility and it being "swag" is a good joke. A great joke even.</p>&mdash; Aaron Jorbin (@aaronjorbin) <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronjorbin/status/1474074897580277760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>There&#8217;s no way to know for certain whether the attendees who contracted COVID-19 caught the virus at the State of the Word, as many of them traveled from far away places and had meetups with other attendees outside of the main event. </p>



<p>Concerns about the lack of masks and no requirement for rapid tests began popping up prior to the event. From the perspective of <a href="https://youtu.be/OpiH_P9aGhQ">viewing the livestream</a>, masks were scant and attendees were quite close together in a small space. </p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Anyone tracking the COVID cases coming from the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StateOfTheWord?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StateOfTheWord</a> ?<br /><br />Hate to be a downer, but it’s still a raging pandemic and all those people traveling from all over and in groups without masks has my anxiety spiking.</p>&mdash; Pandemically Joshua <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f489.png" alt="💉" class="wp-smiley" /> ³ (@onemorejosh) <a href="https://twitter.com/onemorejosh/status/1470756580551536645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>The day before the event, the WHO warned that evidence suggested the new Omicron variant could escape prior immunity and would lead to surges with a high transmission rate. Studies were already showing reduced effectiveness of existing vaccines against the variant. On December 13, New York governor Kathy Hochul <a href="https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/omicron-coronavirus-variant-12-13-21/index.html">announced a new temporary indoor mask mandate</a> for public spaces, which could be bypassed by requiring vaccines for entrance. </p>



<p>When asked how the State of the Word&#8217;s coordinators decided on the precautions, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy said the event met the local guidelines while allowing attendees to make their own choices for anything beyond the requirements.</p>



<p>&#8220;We followed the guidelines as laid out by the city,&#8221; Haden Chomphosy said. &#8220;Masks and hand sanitizer were liberally available throughout the venue, and we encouraged attendees to make informed decisions about their health.&#8221;</p>



<p>It has been <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html">well-documented</a> that indoor masking can significantly reduce transmission, so it was curious that the event did not require them at this pivotal time when governments are taking more stringent measures to stop the spread of the virus.</p>



<p>Fortunately all those who were recently infected have reported mild illnesses, but the incident raises an important question for onlookers: Is this an indicator of how in-person WordCamps are going to go in 2022? There are already several on the <a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/schedule/">schedule</a>.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Agreed. It has definitely killed any thought I had of attending a WordCamp for a good long while.</p>&mdash; Chris Wiegman (@ChrisWiegman) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisWiegman/status/1474167091372642312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>Whether or not attendees&#8217; infections originated at the State of the Word or in outside gatherings is going to be impossible to pinpoint, but the nominal safety protocols sends a message to all those considering attending in-person events in 2022. </p>



<p>Since receiving the notification of possible exposure, many State of the Word attendees have been monitoring their health with tests. One attendee reported in Post Status Slack that she has had difficulty getting tested and is still waiting for one in the mail. In the meantime, she has opted out of a family gathering for Christmas as a safeguard.</p>



<p>“As someone who wants nothing more than to be able to attend WordCamp Europe or WordCamp US in person next year this doesn’t give me much confidence,&#8221; Gravity Forms CEO and co-founder Carl Hancock said. &#8220;With such a small event the COVID protocols could and should have been super tight to test things out for larger events. The lack of masks and social distancing at an indoor event without added protocols such as rapid testing for entry was disappointing to see.”</p>



<p>WordCamp organizers will need to consider how they can protect attendees beyond simply meeting the basic, local requirements, which may not fully acknowledge the nature of the current threat. They will also need to be responsive to the rapidly changing pandemic landscape and be ready to implement more safety protocols at the last minute, if necessary. If the State of the Word is any indication, future WordCamp organizers will need to have a plan for sending exposure notifications to attendees, in case the events become the source of an outbreak.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 04:38:34 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:34;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:94:"WPTavern: WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 Fixes 20 Bugs, Polishes Workflow for Switching to a Block Theme";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127650";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:231:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-beta-4-fixes-20-bugs-polishes-workflow-for-switching-to-a-block-theme?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-9-beta-4-fixes-20-bugs-polishes-workflow-for-switching-to-a-block-theme";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3004:"<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/">WordPress 5.9 beta 4</a> was released this week with fixes for 20 bugs since beta 3. There are a few important changes to note in this release regarding how the WordPress admin will direct users who are exploring block themes. </p>



<p>Prior to a fix in beta 4, it was possible for users to <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54549">switch to a block theme within the Customizer</a>. This has been changed so that users will see a banner notifying them that the block theme is incompatible, if they try to switch within the Customizer. Here&#8217;s the commit message:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Starting in 5.9, block themes are not compatible with (do not support) Customizer; rather, they use the Site Editor. Viewing installed themes in Customizer, this commit adds an overlay message to alert users and give them a way to activate the block theme. Clicking on the &#8220;Activate&#8221; button activates the block theme and redirects back to the Appearance &gt; Themes interface, where the user can then enter the Site Editor for customization.</p><p>Non-block themes are not affected by this change and continue to work in Customizer.</p></blockquote>



<p>Having themes work only in the site editor or the Customizer, depending on which they support, is likely to be a confusing workflow for users when testing themes. This incompatibility message and redirection is necessary but not ideal for the long term. Streamlining the customization workflow will depend on how quickly the WordPress community is able to produce and adopt block themes. </p>



<p>Some testers also reported that the Site Editor doesn&#8217;t allow users to edit or preview non-active block themes. The preview only works with active themes. This isn&#8217;t necessarily a bug but rather a feature that needs to be discussed for the future. A <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/37201">ticket</a> is open in the Gutenberg repository, recommending the implementation of a Live Preview for non-active block themes.</p>



<p>Featured patterns from the pattern directory should be displayed under Patterns in the the block inserter, but for some reason this wasn&#8217;t included in 5.9. It has been <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54623">backported in beta 4</a>. </p>



<p>This beta also adds a filter that allows developers to disable the login screen language switcher, which is a <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-language-switcher-on-login-screen">new feature coming in 5.9</a>.</p>



<p>The release team has determined that a fifth beta will not be necessary, as of <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/dev-chat-summary-december-22-2021/">yesterday&#8217;s core dev chat</a>. The revised <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/">5.9 release schedule</a> has RC1 shipping on January 4, 2022, and the official release on January 25.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 18:42:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:35;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"WPTavern: WP Engine Acquires Brian Gardner’s Frost, Opens It to the Public";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127547";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:189:"https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-acquires-brian-gardners-frost-opens-it-to-the-public?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wp-engine-acquires-brian-gardners-frost-opens-it-to-the-public";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7120:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">Brian Gardner <a href="https://wpengine.com/blog/wp-engine-adds-frost-to-open-source-wordpress-project/">announced  today</a> that WP Engine has acquired his latest project, <a href="https://frostwp.com/">Frost</a>. In an email sent out to all customers, Gardner said his team had issued refunds to all current customers. The business model is changing, and Frost will be a freely-available project going forward and focus on full site editing.</p>



<p>Frost is a WordPress theme that Gardner released earlier this year as the main product of a new startup business. The original version was shipped as a child theme of Genesis, the StudioPress theme framework he had spent much of his WordPress career working on. <a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-acquires-studiopress">WP Engine acquired StudioPress</a> in 2018, and Gardner <a href="https://wptavern.com/brian-gardner-steps-down-from-studiopress">stepped down from his role</a> in October 2019. It did not take him long to find his way back into the WordPress theme development game, bringing his personal style back to the theming world with Frost. Then, he landed a new job within WP Engine&#8217;s ranks in September.</p>



<p>&#8220;I am leading the WordPress Developer Relations team at WP Engine,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We have a simple mission: Accelerate innovation in WordPress and help the community transition to the block editor and Full Site Editing (né Gutenberg). In addition, we want to cultivate an interactive and immersive community resource that serves as a treasure chest of knowledge and operates as a conduit between the WordPress project and its users.&#8221;</p>



<p>I asked if there was something concrete he could share, maybe what form that would take, but he did not go into any other details. In general, the more resources the development and design community have around the block system, the faster the ecosystem can evolve. Only time will tell what Gardner&#8217;s team within WP Engine creates.</p>



<p>&#8220;When I joined WP Engine in late September, it was evident to me [WP Engine] saw the value in building relationships with designers, developers, and creators &#8212; within our <a href="https://wpengine.com/atlas/">Atlas</a> product line, as well as with WordPress,&#8221; said Gardner. &#8220;While there was interest in Frost when I came on board, it wasn&#8217;t until my vision for our team became clear did an acquisition enter the picture. I recommended bringing Frost into the company and hiring Nick Diego.&#8221;</p>



<p>Diego is the creator of the <a href="https://wptavern.com/from-ecommerce-integration-to-location-based-controls-block-visibility-pro-expands-upon-its-free-version">Block Visibility</a> and <a href="https://wptavern.com/add-custom-svgs-via-the-icon-block-wordpress-plugin">Icon Block</a> plugins. He also began working on Frost in late September.</p>



<p>&#8220;In alignment with WP Engine&#8217;s core value of &#8216;Committed to Give Back,&#8217; Frost is transitioning from a paid product to a free one,&#8221; said Gardner. &#8220;Given the change in business model, we issued full refunds to all active customers. By open-sourcing Frost and focusing on Full Site Editing, we hope to encourage a community of builders to experiment with the expanding capabilities of the block editor. We believe in its potential and look forward to helping it grow.&#8221;</p>



<p>Frost is open to everyone <a href="https://github.com/wpengine/themes/tree/trunk/frost">via the WP Engine themes repository</a> on GitHub.</p>



<h2 id="leaping-into-block-theming">Leaping into Block Theming</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">When Gardner sold StudioPress in 2018, several factors played a part in the decision. Among them were the uncertainty around the Gutenberg project and WordPress&#8217;s future.</p>



<p>&#8220;It took some time for me to put the pieces together, but when I did, I saw just how powerful the block editor has become,&#8221; he said. &#8220;In particular, I am excited about block patterns, global styles, and building themes that folks can use to create beautiful websites with little effort.&#8221;</p>



<p>The result of his newfound enthusiasm around the block system was Frost. I have had the opportunity to tinker around with the theme. It has Gardner&#8217;s signature minimalist design style, a focus on readable typography, and ample breathing room for the content.</p>



<p>Simpler designs almost feel par for the course with any block theme these days, regardless of the theme author. What is likely to set Frost apart is its <a href="https://frostwp.com/patterns/">block patterns</a>. It currently ships with 38 of them. The layouts should allow users to quickly set up their sites, along with the theme&#8217;s custom block styles.</p>



<p>&#8220;I am a huge fan of block patterns and see their potential when paired with the growing support of design/style elements within <code>theme.json</code>,&#8221; said Gardner of the things he is excited about. &#8220;Additionally, the site editor is something I feel, once mature, will be a game-changer for WordPress and those who build for it.&#8221;</p>



<p>The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-pattern-explorer/">Block Pattern Explorer</a> plugin was initially a part of the Frost library plugin, but Gardner and Diego pulled it out and make it available to everyone. They also wanted to serve the Frost patterns through it. The hope is that the enhancements already in place via the plugin find their way into core WordPress.</p>



<img />Frost theme patterns via Block Patterns Explorer



<p>The design is a bit more polished than core. It includes category types, a feature the theme uses to separate its own pattern categories from others. The experimental explorer plugin allows users to preview patterns via desktop, tablet, and mobile views. And, it has a clear &#8220;Add Pattern&#8221; button for inserting a block pattern into the post.</p>



<p>Eventually, they plan to sunset the plugin once its features make their way into WordPress.</p>



<p>WordPress theming has come a long way since Gardner first dove in over a decade ago. Back then, users had to open template files to customize bits and pieces of their homepage. As we move toward WordPress 5.9, users will have that same power. However, they will modify Frost via the WordPress site editor instead of PHP files.</p>



<p>&#8220;Yes, I feel we are circling back to some degree,&#8221; he said. It was in response to a question of his early days designing themes for WordPress in comparison to now.</p>



<p>&#8220;While WordPress will never be solely a blogging platform ever again, it seems like the software is shedding its skin. The irony here is that we see WordPress used in sophisticated ways that &#8212; to be honest &#8212; I never thought would be possible. As for me, I believe in the power of simplicity. That has become my north star for everything I create and has allowed me to navigate the ebbs and flows of an ever-changing software and industry.&#8221;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 15:35:47 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:36;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"Akismet: Do CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA Protect WordPress Sites from Bots?";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2164";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:95:"https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/23/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:17231:"<p>If you’ve used the internet anytime in the last decade, chances are you’ve had to pass a CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA test. You may have done so many of these little quizzes that you groan just seeing one on a form.</p>



<p>There are quite a few different versions, but they all can help protect your WordPress website from spambots and make your life simpler.</p>



<p>In this post, we’ll cover the evolution of CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA. We’ll also go over the different versions and the pros and cons of each one. Then, we’ll show you how to enable reCAPTCHA on WordPress and explore additional security measures you should implement.</p>



<span id="more-2164"></span>



<h2 id="what-are-captcha-and-recaptcha">What are CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA?</h2>



<p>CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA serve the same purpose: protecting your website against bots and other security threats. They’re typically found on contact, comment, login, and password reset forms. But there are some key differences between the two safety checks. Let’s take a look at each one in detail.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="what-is-captcha">What is CAPTCHA?</h3>



<p>The acronym <a href="https://support.google.com/a/answer/1217728?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CAPTCHA stands for</a> Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. It’s a mouthful, but the name says it all —&nbsp;it can decipher the difference between a human and a computer operator. Still, the specifics are important.</p>



<p>In the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/CAPTCHA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">early 2000s</a>, when it was created, CAPTCHA used a distorted text (letters and numbers) test to prevent bots from compromising websites.</p>



<p>When faced with a CAPTCHA, users needed to decipher broken text correctly to prove that they were, in fact, human. If they couldn’t identify the letters and numbers, the test wouldn’t submit their requests.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This was revolutionary because most humans could pass it easily, but computers couldn’t solve it themselves.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="what-is-recaptcha">What is reCAPTCHA?</h3>



<p>reCAPTCHA follows a similar principle, but instead of just utilizing meaningless text to see if the user is a real human, it was designed to help computers digitize old books and newspapers. The test was essentially split into two parts shown side-by-side —&nbsp;one traditional CAPTCHA to determine the humanity of the user, and a second image of letters from a piece of text the computer was trying to digitize. If the human could pass the first part, it would accept the user&#8217;s input for the second part as an accurate translation.&nbsp;</p>



<img /><em>Photo from <a href="http://www.captcha.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://www.captcha.net/</a></em>



<p>The point is that reCAPTCHA added a second part to the test to put millions of human users to work —&nbsp;a few seconds at a time —&nbsp;to digitize historical text for ongoing record keeping. Now sites were protected from bots and users weren’t totally wasting their time.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Google <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/luis-von-ahn-creator-of-duolingo-recaptcha-2014-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">purchased the technology in 2009</a> and improved upon it over the years. You see, artificial intelligence (AI) eventually became sophisticated enough to read and decipher even the most challenging text with <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2014/12/are-you-robot-introducing-no-captcha" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">99.8 percent accuracy</a>. By doing so, they could pass the test and trick it into thinking bots were humans.&nbsp;</p>



<p>To deal with this new issue, reCAPTCHA made things even more challenging, introducing new options like the famous “I’m not a robot” check box.&nbsp;</p>



<img />



<p>Today, reCAPTCHA is a widely-used security measure that protects websites from various spambots and cybercriminals by helping to ensure that comments on blog posts or in forums, and submissions on forms come from real people.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="what-are-the-different-versions-of-recaptcha">What are the different versions of reCAPTCHA?</h2>



<p>There are technically four different types of active <a href="https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/docs/versions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reCAPTCHAs</a>. Instead of text, some tests may use images, audio, or even math equations. They also utilize some variation of&nbsp; “<a href="https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2014/12/are-you-robot-introducing-no-captcha#:~:text=reCAPTCHA%20protects%20the%20websites%20you%20love%20from%20spam%20and%20abuse.&text=We're%20calling%20it%20the,having%20to%20solve%20a%20CAPTCHA." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA</a>”, which determines whether a user is suspicious simply based on their behavior on a site.</p>



<p>If you’re setting up <a href="https://jetpack.com/features/security/">WordPress website security</a>, you may have the option to choose between different reCAPTCHA types. For example, you can select a checkbox or background verification:</p>



<img />



<p>Here are the different types of reCAPTCHA:</p>



<ul><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v2 (“I’m not a robot” checkbox):</strong> This is the simplest and easiest test to add with limited coding knowledge. Sometimes it passes or approves users right away and prompts them to check a box. Other times, it asks them to verify that they’re human with a puzzle challenge.</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v2 (Invisible reCAPTCHA badge):</strong> For this version, there’s usually no checkbox. It simply uses an existing button on your site or a JavaScript API call for verification. You’ll see a badge that says <em>Protected by reCAPTCHA</em>. Essentially, verification happens in the background. Only the strangest behavior will prompt a test.</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v2 (Android):</strong> This version utilizes a reCAPTCHA Android library that’s part of Google Play’s <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://developer.android.com/training/safetynet" target="_blank">SafetyNet APIs</a>. This validates requests from within an Android app, so it’s not the right choice to use for a WordPress site.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v3:</strong> This is the most advanced and discreet of all the versions. Visitors won’t even know it’s happening. It uses a JavaScript API and automatically assigns a score to each user to approve or deny them. This version also gives more advanced developers extended flexibility for integrations with other security measures to dictate the level of site security.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA Enterprise:</strong> Like v3, this runs in the background. It gives each site visitor a score based on their behavior. If a visitor is deemed suspicious, it may require them to verify their identity through custom options determined by each site —&nbsp;two-factor authentication or email verification. As its name implies, this is typically for enterprise-level sites and requires advanced customization.</li></ul>



<h2 id="what-should-i-consider-when-choosing-a-recaptcha-version">What should I consider when choosing a reCAPTCHA version?</h2>



<p>Since reCAPTCHA Enterprise is reserved for larger companies, it’s safe to say that most websites will need either reCAPTCHA v2 or reCAPTCHA v3. Still, it’s important to know what you’re getting into with each one.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-recaptcha-v2">What are the pros and cons of reCAPTCHA v2?&nbsp;</h3>



<p>The most significant advantage of reCAPTCHA v2 is that, whether you choose to include the “I’m not a robot” checkbox or leave it discreetly running in the background, it protects you from spam while offering humans the opportunity to prove that they’re real.&nbsp;</p>



<p>With the invisible version, if it detects suspicious behavior, it will require a test. If it doesn’t, the user can proceed none the wiser.&nbsp;</p>



<p>However, any reCAPTCHA v2 test can seriously hurt the user experience for site visitors. To combat increasingly smart AI technology, tests have become so tricky that many real humans have trouble passing.</p>



<p>The test’s difficulty may leave users frustrated, wondering why they fail when they are actual humans. In fact, the situation has become so bad that popular tech magazines <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/im-not-a-robot-why-captchas-hard-to-solve" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">give people tips</a> on passing these tests.</p>



<p>Plus, it’s also important to consider <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/turingtest/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the accessibility of reCAPTCHAs</a>. A graphical puzzle, for example, would be inaccessible for people who have vision impairments. So, if you do decide to use reCAPTCHA v2, it’s important to present other options, like audio or text-based tests.</p>



<h3 id="what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-recaptcha-v3">What are the pros and cons of reCAPTCHA v3?</h3>



<p>reCAPTCHA v3 was specifically designed to improve the user experience. With no verification tests to complete, it’s seamless. Website visitors are happily unaware of the entire process.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It also gives administrators much more control. With reCAPTCHA v3, you have advanced options to customize your interaction with Google’s API to adjust scoring thresholds and define what is considered suspicious behavior.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Some may consider this added control a good thing, while others may find it a weighty and cumbersome responsibility. Additionally, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90369697/googles-new-recaptcha-has-a-dark-side" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">some critics believe</a> that reCAPTCHA v3 may pose a privacy risk because it provides Google with too much data.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In addition, reCAPTCHA v3 can deter good bots from doing important work. People tend to remember the villains like spambots, but forget about their positive counterparts. Good bots deal with things like SEO and performance monitoring. If you get in their way, your overall website success could suffer.&nbsp;</p>



<p>A final downside is that, since spam scoring happens in the background, there’s no alternative test provided to suspicious users (like with the invisible reCAPTCHA v2 badge). Visitors who are wrongly flagged as bots don’t have an opportunity to prove their legitimacy. This means that you could turn away real customers, clients, and followers.</p>



<h2 id="can-bots-bypass-recaptcha">Can bots bypass reCAPTCHA?</h2>



<p>This is the big question. Unfortunately, the answer may not be straightforward or definitive.</p>



<p>The many versions of reCAPTCHA are evidence that malicious spambots evolve quickly.</p>



<p>They’re constantly adapting to outsmart reCAPTCHA. When the original CAPTCHA was introduced, it was revolutionary in its ability to decipher between real users and bots. But it didn’t take long before the bots caught on. People have even started <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/augustinefou/2020/09/19/you-didnt-know-bots-solve-captchas-and-do-pharming-with-humans/?sh=706e34951a4d" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">using human labor</a> to get past tests manually.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Computer scientists are regularly working to increase the effectiveness of reCAPTCHA, however. Some have <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/1/18205610/google-captcha-ai-robot-human-difficult-artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">proposed new challenges</a>, like puzzles that require a user to maneuver pieces or nursery rhyme completion games based on the location of site visitors.</p>



<p>That’s one major reason tests have become so frustrating for real users —&nbsp;difficulty has had to increase to stay ahead of computer learning. Unfortunately, it seems we’re at a point where to continue to outsmart computers, we have to make tests that are sometimes too difficult for real users to solve&nbsp;— a major problem.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It’s gotten so bad that <a href="https://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&S1=9767263.PN.&OS=PN/9767263&RS=PN/9767263" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon now owns a patent</a> for a new kind of CAPTCHA-esque test that is so difficult to solve that only a computer can do it. Meaning… if you pass, you’ve actually failed because you’ve proven that you can’t possibly be human.&nbsp;</p>



<h4 id="so-can-recaptcha-stop-bots">So can reCAPTCHA stop bots?&nbsp;</h4>



<p>Yes, it can stop many of them. But it can’t stop them all. And the percentage of bots that make it through is increasing by the day. This means you can’t simply rely on reCAPTCHA to prevent spam submissions. You’d be signing up for a highly imperfect, temporary system that’s only going to get less effective.&nbsp;</p>



<p>So what <em>should</em> you do?&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="other-security-measures-to-protect-your-website-from-spambots">Other security measures to protect your website from spambots</h2>



<h3 id="1-lock-down-your-comment-forms">1. Lock down your comment forms</h3>



<p>The best place to start is by configuring your WordPress comments in a way that protects your site against bots. Navigate to <strong>Settings → Discussion</strong> in your site dashboard and and consider requiring:</p>



<ul><li>Comment authors to submit a name and email</li><li>Users to be registered and logged in to comment</li><li>Comments to be manually approved before publication</li><li>Authors to have a previously approved comment to submit a new one</li></ul>



<p>In the <strong>Comment Moderation</strong> box, you can also flag a comment that contains a certain number of links —&nbsp;lots of links is a common indication of spam. Or, if you’re getting a lot of spam that contains certain words, email addresses, IP addresses, and other characteristics, you can ban them entirely.</p>



<h3 id="2-protect-your-login-forms">2. Protect your login forms</h3>



<p>To lock down your login forms without using a CAPTCHA, you can implement <a href="https://jetpack.com/features/security/secure-authentication/">two-factor authentication</a>. This requires a user to have both login details <em>and </em>a physical device to access your site. When someone logs in, they’ll have to enter a username and password as well as a one-time code that’s sent to the mobile device on file. This is virtually impossible for bots to get past.</p>



<h3 id="3-use-honeypot">3. Use honeypot</h3>



<p>Honeypots are an option for protecting contact forms. Think of them as a mouse trap for bots. They essentially create a hidden field in your forms that isn’t visible to site visitors but that can be seen by spambots. If the field is filled out, the bot is stopped in its tracks.</p>



<p>Many contact form plugins allow you to implement this feature in their default settings.</p>



<h3 id="4-protect-your-comment-and-contact-forms-with-akismet">4. Protect your comment and contact forms with Akismet</h3>



<p>Akismet is hands-down the best way to eliminate the headaches of bots (or even real humans) spamming your comments or sending unwanted messages through forms on your site.&nbsp;</p>



<p>With millions of users, Akismet has blocked over 500,000,000,000 spam submissions at the time of writing this article. With each one, it learns a bit more. So while bots might have AI to get past reCAPTCHAs, Akismet’s AI is working to protect your site in an entirely different way.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Akismet can accurately identify spammy behavior and keeps a blocklist of words, IP addresses, names, and emails to prevent pests. Plus, it gives you control to provide feedback about any spam it misses or real comments that it accidentally flagged. Then, it customizes its spam-fighting solution just for your site. Amazing.&nbsp;</p>



<img />



<p>You can get a <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/">free version of Akismet</a> for your personal blog. In addition, there are three <a href="https://akismet.com/plans/">paid plans</a> for commercial sites starting at just $10 per month.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="win-the-fight-against-spam-bots">Win the fight against spam bots</h2>



<p>Spam bots and less-than-ethical cyber actors are always trying to take advantage of visitors and the sites they love (like yours!). They can cause annoyance or even do real-world damage.</p>



<p>CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA have evolved many times over the years and continue to be one trusted way to prevent bots from flooding sites. But these solutions aren’t perfect, and sites need other measures to prevent spam from causing trouble. Consider protecting login forms with two-factor authentication, deploying WordPress best-practices, and using <a href="https://akismet.com/">Akismet</a> to filter comment and contact form submissions automatically.&nbsp;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 10:25:20 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Simon Keating";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:37;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 38) — In Person For State of the Word";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"https://poststatus.com/?p=91657";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:34:"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/38/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:38726:"<h2>&#8220;I believe our community can make significant contributions to Gutenberg and the Block Editor.&#8221; —Cory Miller</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory shares his experience among the 30+ individuals who attended the State of the Word in New York in person. David and Cory talk about how Matt presented himself, his views on the necessary ratio of community contributions to open source projects, Five for the Future, the next generation of leaders, and what it means to give back to the community and WordPress core.</p>



<p><strong>Also: </strong>Cory hints at what Post Status will be doing in 2022 when it comes to giving back — along with how Post Status will encourage and assist people in contributing to the WordPress community.</p>







<p class="has-background">Every week <strong><a href="https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/">Post Status Excerpt</a></strong> will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/26a1.png" alt="⚡" class="wp-smiley" /><br /><br />You can listen to <a href="https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/">past episodes</a> of <strong>The Excerpt</strong>, <a href="https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/">browse all our podcasts</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d">Castro</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts">Player.fm</a>, <a href="https://pca.st/05rR">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href="https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/">Simplecast</a>, or by <a href="https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P">RSS</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f3a7.png" alt="🎧" class="wp-smiley" /></p>



<h3 id="h-mentioned-in-the-show"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png" alt="🔗" class="wp-smiley" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpiH_P9aGhQ&feature=emb_title">YouTube: State Of The Word 2021</a></li><li><a href="https://www.godaddy.com/garage/state-of-the-word-2021">GoDaddy Review And Timeline of State of the Word 2021</a></li><li><a href="https://thewpminute.com/state-of-the-word-2021/">The WP Minute (Audio + Transcript)</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/nathaningram">Cory Miller (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/post_status" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>



<h3><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png" alt="🙏" class="wp-smiley" /> Sponsor: <a href="https://poststat.us/pagely" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow">Yoast SEO</a></h3>



<p><strong>Yoast</strong> is SEO for everyone. Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support and extra features like internal linking, social previews, a redirect manager, tutorial videos, and integration with Google Webmaster Tools. Get on board today with the premiere SEO plugin for WordPress — <strong>Yoast</strong>.</p>



<h2 id="h-transcript"><strong>Transcript</strong></h2>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> [00:00:00] Since I wasn't there because as I was telling somebody earlier, I couldn't, hurt my Twitter game by being there. I had to be in front of my computer with with my keyboards and making a bingo games and hashtag&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> that's my fondest memories of you, David is like going to these events and somebody live tweeting.</p>



<p>It's like, here's this dimension media person. And it's like, holy crap.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. They used to call me dementia media. So.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Signature though is still in the lodge waiting. And I remember when Twitter kind of first came out and it was a thing to live tweet a lot. And but I always like yours because you always summarize what.</p>



<p>The takeaway is like you're starring the cool quotes along the way. And that's part of what we're trying to do at post status is give you the too long, didn't read content, the inside analysis commentary for the stuff that matters to you. So that's your claim to fame or friend?&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Yeah.</p>



<p>Well, that's how I took notes and I really didn't care who listened. I that's how I just took [00:01:00] notes. It kind of knocked off a couple of killed a couple birds with one stone, but enough about me. Let's. Let's talk about you being there in person. And can you tell me where this place w what was this place like?</p>



<p>Was it in like a tall building or like, I hear it was tumblers all the offices or something.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> So my understanding was it's the automatics new event space in New York city. And of course, some of their investors in New York city and things like that. And it was incredible space. I would try to guess how big of a space it was.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I couldn't tell, the camera angles were just, they did the camera angles just right. So you never got a true dimension of the room on the live stream</p>



<p>&nbsp;yeah, that's&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> what I just said. I do more tell me I bet you it's about 15,000 to 20,000 square feet in there that I saw really great space. And it's a whole floor of a billion is my understanding, but it was gorgeous.</p>



<p>And then there's the sunset of New York city out the window rep for state of the word. And it was really good, but I. I, you know, I got to see [00:02:00] Matt about a month ago and San Francisco, we got to talk and he mentioned inviting you David, to stay the word. And also he'd love to have Post Status there. So I was like, yes, we're going to make that happen.</p>



<p>I know you had things that come up, you couldn't be there. But you know, I want to guess there's about 25 30 people there in person. And it was a really nice night. I mean, automatic. Rolled out the carpet for all of us, which is super nice. Matt as always is a charming, elegant presenter and host and did a fantastic job.</p>



<p>I thought it was normal. You know, I want to give him kudos, but like, he's really good on stage.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Well he was different this time and I realized I wasn't in the room, but I almost had, I have a 30 inch monitor. So I saw a lot of him and I saw a lot of his facial expressions pretty clearly. There was there was something different about them in a good way.</p>



<p>And I can't, I think he, you know, not just not to put emotions on a person, I'm pretty sure he was nervous in some regard. I think anybody is nervous to some extent of public speaking, but he definitely had some sort of [00:03:00] energy that he was releasing. And you know, me, I record animated gifs all the time.</p>



<p>I decided not to post, I don't know what I decided to post, but in the very beginning before he was kind of. He was almost dancing a jig right before way before the state of the word started up on stage. So he was really excited and really, you know, anxious maybe, but you could just see the energy even before he spoke anything.</p>



<p>You could just see the pent up energy that he had, which was reflected later, by the way.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> And not trying to speak for him, but if for me, I go, I haven't done this in two years. There's some cool people here that I have invited to be here and I'm talking about the thing that I want to spend all of my life doing.</p>



<p>And so. Yeah, totally. I spoke a couple of weeks ago at our three recurring revenue retreat. And I remember getting feeling nervous cause I'm like I was rusty, you know? And there was this quote and I'm trying to remember what it was, but it's basically turning fear, the anxiety into [00:04:00] energy and excitement.</p>



<p>And that's what I tried to do is like channel that's now Matt doesn't need my public speaking tips, but those are my thoughts. What I. As long as I've known him. And it goes back to 2008, where camp DFW in Frisco, Texas. There's one thing that's always standard with Matt and that is his passion for the WordPress open source project.</p>



<p>Yeah. So, you know, and it just has never wavered. And I think he mentioned on state of the word that he wants to spend the rest of his life. He's 38 rest of this. On WordPress project. And I totally believe this. This is his contribution to humidity, you know, and at Post Status makers of the open web WordPress, this 42% of this big number that he shared out there, I think we should all take a moment, take a big deep breath and go.</p>



<p>The web is still in its infancy. I don't know, life-stage wise where it would be comparatively to like a human, but it's still early, like in history of all that's going to happen in this world. In the future, the web is [00:05:00] still kind of an infant. And if you think about it, our place is WordPress makers.</p>



<p>People that build on WordPress, extend WordPress, teach WordPress, all that stuff people have. Post-test the business to WordPress is this is historic and what we've been doing. I started with WordPress, my first blog in 2006. That was just me using this amazing platform called WordPress, but, you know, history historically sake and going through.</p>



<p>42%, that number, it just keeps getting bigger. And that's exciting for us, those of us that make our living with on for WordPress.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah, he did. I got a couple of quotes out of them and it was, you know, livestream is a little bit easier. Cause you can pause and rewind a little bit just to make sure, because you want to get it as close as possible. Regarding the The WordPress space.</p>



<p>He did say the court word press belongs. Just, you know, just to anybody it's not just you or me it's regardless of economic or political situations. And he said something about WordPress can't be [00:06:00] created by just one company and people adding a line of code is like giving that, give a penny, take a penny and I feel like there's quite a number of people that thanks to five for the future that are giving that he was, he actually said he actually gave a quote or something about, I don't know if you caught it. He was studying other CMSs. And he said for every dollar that has made $20 has made in the ecosystem.</p>



<p>And that's ratio is how they came up with the five for the future. Did you know that. I did not.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> You know, I don't know how long, far, because the future has been out, but there's two things I wanted to highlight. Part of State of the Word you've just put a square in this one, which is contributing back to core five for the future.</p>



<p>I don't know how long that's been going, but, you know, I know our Post Status members. I mentioned this to Matt. They, you know, like me and I themes, we had, let's say at her height, I want to say 27, 28 people or something like that. And you go, okay, how do we, excuse me, our team or company contribute to core.</p>



<p>We don't have the profit bandwidth, all that stuff to take a full-time dev for instance&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> right</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> [00:07:00] off. And I mentioned this because I know there's so many giving hearts in WordPress and founders and entrepreneurs and people that lead companies. That benefit from WordPress that want to do five for the future.</p>



<p>It's tough. I get it from your standpoint of how do we meaningfully contributed, even though we believe we are contributing to the ecosystem or what we're doing. And I grant that a hundred percent, what we want to do at Post Status though I did tag on the contributions that push to continue to contribute to core.&nbsp;</p>



<p>I think that's the reflective I dunno, KPI for the ecosystem too, by the way. But, and I know there's companies that do it, even if it doesn't fall under the strict banner of farm from feature or whatever it is that like, they're doing it just like, we felt like we were contributing to WordPress for years.</p>



<p>What I want to do is translate that help that better for our Post Status crowd to, to actually meaningfully contribute. So Courtney Robertson on our team, who is also great, awesome person at Go Daddy pro is really [00:08:00] taking the banner for the contributor days for post status. So next year, we're going to be talking about enrolling out contributor days, but that's one thing to say, we're going to do a contributor day, right?</p>



<p>That's nothing new. This is where Courtney's idea was. Let's go to the team leads and ask for their wishlist. Things they would love for people of post status to contribute. And from that gives us something that we can go. Let's say we take that day eight hours. And we're going to show up for contributor today. at Post Status, were gonna, make it a contribute and then pick something off the board.</p>



<p>So we're already trying to help you do a little thinking in the stuff that's going to be most valuable to the core team, core teams that are doing things, and then say pick one off the list and try to get as far as you can. You know, and I'm excited about that. I know it's very meaningfully and for good reason to Matt, both as CEO of automatic, but also the leader of the WordPress open source project.</p>



<p>And that was one thing that for sure came out, you know, to me in that call.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. There, [00:09:00] there was quite a bit talk about, there was talk about the contributors earlier in the live stream. And then afterwards it was how to get new and especially young people involved and you know, young people, they have so many distractions these days, but they have more time and they more energy.</p>



<p>Then we do cause we were running, families were running businesses and so forth like that. And I liked the question that Allie posed about. How can these people learn WordPress? But contributing I, you know, I, I lost my thought there for a second, but I really wanted to. I was hoping that the five for the future was going to spark some more ideas.</p>



<p>And I think it will, because if you have people that are, if companies are being sponsored or sponsoring people to work on contributing and there should be. Like an on-ramp in there somewhere for people who want to get into it too, because you know, like many people have pointed out. You have to, unless you're a young person within, [00:10:00] with an inordinate amount of time, you don't have the time to do that.</p>



<p>So even for a couple of hours, and I think part of five for the future, and some people have brought this, you know, written about it after state of the word. And about that five for the future, maybe someday five for the future can be expanded a bit to help some people not only contribute, but also kind of help them find people are willing to cover them so they can contribute whether that's financially or some other means.</p>



<p>Or maybe it's just some sort of internship if somebody is brand new and needs to be exposed to anything in WordPress. So I think five for the future is a great thing now, and I think it has got room to grow, but you know, it needs that it needs. Momentum of support right now and whether that's the repost status and all these other methods, I think we're still seeing the early stages of a comprehensive program for contributing.</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> And I understand the apprehensions from companies and founders and leaders. You know, you have to make a [00:11:00] profit for sure. And you're like, okay, I want to give back, but I, can't just, I'm not a nonprofit, I'm a profit in enterprise and everything, and I want to help with them and contribute to these.</p>



<p>But something you mentioned just a second ago was pinged for my second thought. And when you said next generation, the no, our intern Here and has helping to post that by the way. But I also know your passion, heart for next generation with WordPress too. And it, that just brings up, well, one Sandy Edwards work with kids camp.</p>



<p>Talk to her about that a couple of weeks ago at our three, how post-test wants to contribute to that. But the other thing, the second theme is Gutenberg. You know, you can't probably talk to Matt about WordPress without hearing Gutenberg and for good reason, here's the thing. I was not a vocal advocate at all of ruling out Gutenberg in the way we did&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I like how politically, that was so eloquently put, but yes.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Yeah, I thought it was way early and everything, and it took me a year or two to finally [00:12:00] okay. You know, use Gutenberg and but it here's the reality situation, no matter what, the way we feel about the past, it is here and it's not going away.</p>



<p>So you hear this over and over from Matt and for good reasons, there's some cool stuff coming. That he talked about the styles, some of the typical libraries. I see that as a very similar innovation and direction, that themes as a whole went when I started, I think back in 2008, There's so much innovation to do.</p>



<p>So first and foremost, it's here. We've got to accept it and move on. And I think what his plea here was too, and again, probably my nuance. It's not, I'm not going to play, but I'm just saying my nuances. It's not going away. We should accept it and embrace it. And then the question becomes, how do we improve that?</p>



<p>And I think our community can make considerable contribution. To the conversation and the actual implementation of Gutenberg, the block editor for WordPress. I'll tell ya, I'm looking, I'm going to redo my [00:13:00] personal site cause I want to start blogging every day. And I say blogging, it's going to be just sharing my thoughts.</p>



<p>Not just on Twitter, but you know, my site and I'm probably going to pig blank canvas. I'm still up in the air and I want to use. And I want to really like embrace using it and see what I, what my takeaways are. And I did that back in August with the click publish. I want to use Gutenberg because I've criss cross the threshold.</p>



<p>And for me, I'll tell you the big benefit David was used to because no one even believes I'm ever been a developer. I'm not, but I was like&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Don't be ashamed. I'm a programmer. I do websites. I do plug-ins. I do all of that. And what does Matt say to everybody that I am during state of the word?</p>



<p>I tweet a lot. So that's my claim to fame. That'll be on my tombstone where the developer, but you're not a developer, but&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> I was looking for, I wanted to do a buy now button or something. You know, I just wanted to button and I can't, I can [00:14:00] figure it out. I mean, I don't want to figure out how to write a button coordination, or, CSS or whatever.</p>



<p>So I, what I normally would have done is went look for a plugin. I can't remember. I want to say max plugins or something was that max buttons was out there as a plug in. Well, and I can't remember what might've been AGA again. But it was like, that's a block that was a game changer for me to go.</p>



<p>You don't have to get something extra to do things you want to do in the post. That was pretty cool turning point for me. It's not there. It's getting better, this awesome people working on it. And I think we should. We can and should contribute to the conversation and the implementation once it gets going, because it's not going away.</p>



<p>And back to your point about next generation Syed Balkhi that if you WP Beginner and awesome motive, I remember asking him a couple of years about Gutenberg. I was like I kind of expect he's going to get on the bandwagon. Let me it's like, we don't like it. It shouldn't be out there. And Syed was like, I love it.</p>



<p>I was like why? And he goes, because the next generation look at how people are [00:15:00] publishing today and it's changed from what you and I learned now. He's like, he's over 10 years, 15 years younger than me. But like even young kids like Olivia and like the platforms have changed in the way to express yourself change.</p>



<p>And that always stuck with me what Syed said. And so I really have high hopes for Gutenberg. Yeah, again, now that I am in strong, like of it.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So another thing Matt talked about which I'm actually a little bit surprised he did bring it up. I'm wondering who, by the way, Tuesday was when WordPress 5.9 was supposed to be out before they pushed it to January. So I talked to Anne McCarthy today. And first of all, I mentioned to her, like you mentioned, like 5.0 release when Gutenberg first came up, was rough around the edges. And she has assured me that the full site editor coming out in January with 5.9 is it may not have the entire kitchen sink, but it is very stable and doable. So I can't wait to share that [00:16:00] interview with everybody, but Matt did call out acquisitions and I like, and I thought is this one of the things that if 5.9 was out, would he gone over more quickly? I don't know, but they got on one slide. He started with 42 logos. And I thought there were more acquisitions than that.</p>



<p>I'll have to go back to our Post Status tracker. But he had 42 logos up there and then he proceeded with, and I'm not a finance person. I'm just going to take his word for it. , his charts were taken from other people's analysis. He gave proper credit to them, but he says the number of the deals that are happening in the tech space, he says there were 10,000 transactions in the first nine months of 2021 alone.</p>



<p>Which is up 24% over the last year. And then he brought out another chart that was called inflows to stocks. And I couldn't even, I don't even know what that was. I was, but all I know is there was a big bar at the end with the, with our year in it though. And I guess what he was trying to prove is that [00:17:00] don't panic.</p>



<p>The acquisition space is not unique to the WordPress space right now. This is all going, you know, bonkers. And it's not just WordPress. So I, you know, with you being a business person, how did you feel, do you feel that was properly delivered or delivered? Well, do you think he got the message.</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> But the question I think about that is what prompted him to even do the slides, you know, and that's the bigger question we always want to be thinking about here, you know, for our people is what is the founder co-founder of WordPress, the movement of open source project. Fill the need to say that. And we have some sense of the people that are like change sucks.</p>



<p>Nobody likes change, you know, and the fact of the matter, if you bullet down these acquisitions, why would anybody even care? It's because it could potentially change something that I'm used to doing. And I'm not saying it's good, right? Bad, wrong indifferent. I'm just saying, you know, I think change is [00:18:00] tough and I've heard some sentiment from the WordPress community about, I don't even recognize it anymore and all this stuff.</p>



<p>And then I just go down, like, here's my comparison for it is when I left.iThemes and started this new journey and Post Status . It was over a year before I became a partner and it was probably nine months before Brian and I even started talking about me becoming a partner. There was a big gap there and I was like, I didn't know what I was going to do next and trying to figure that out.</p>



<p>But I did one simple thing, which was, I'm never going to say publicly privately, I'm leaving WordPress. I joked all the time. I'm going to be a WordPress user a blogger, which I was still am. But the important thing is I didn't want to lose or even think all the amazing friendships I've made over 15 years being in the space.</p>



<p>To say, I'm saying goodbye to you. That's not it. You heard Pippin Williamson when he left Sandhill dev that he was like, I'm not saying about a difference, but I need to step away from the project. [00:19:00] And I just go that sentiment to me comes back to this acquisition. Like things are changing, all that stuff.</p>



<p>I, I totally get that. I'm not trying to change your emotion. My way of thinking about it though, is the people are still here and that's what matters. I've known you David for God. Has it been 10 years since&nbsp;</p>



<p>I've known you for 10 years?&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Since the first conference in Arizona whose name is escaping my. I think that's where we may have known.</p>



<p>We may have known each other prior to that. That's the first time we met in person, I think officially,&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> but you know, the premise of all, this is like, the people are still here, for the most part. Now you're always going to get people leaving the ecosystem, leaving it, you know, and coming in new people, coming in, who I met, one of our post-test members was when Stina and I'd love to hear her story.</p>



<p>She was there. Got invited to State of the Word we got to talk Post Status member and That's a new person, I didn't know, a year ago or two years ago, you [00:20:00] know? And so some may leave and you're always going to have that in some, and cause there was even a picture. I think one of those slides, David of Kim. Oh, you know, and you think about people who have left and for instance, this world Kim back in the day but I saw her picture on one of those slides, you know, and it made me smile, but all that to say, WordPress is not about code it's about the people.</p>



<p>And that is what I hang on. I'm not trying to change your heart, your feelings, but I'm just saying, if you think about it, go it's about the people. No matter if it's a team, if it's outside of WordPress, whatever it is, it's like, what matters are the people there? And are we growing together and all that?</p>



<p>So that's the way I think about that, but that the merger is that it's I it's right for people to go and question what's what the heck's going on here. Things are changing on that space, but I still go the Michelle Frechette. Actually as a team member of people, some of my best friends and my former team and I themes now, is that interesting?</p>



<p>Well, I've known Michelle for a long time and now she's a part of the scene. That's cool. You know, that, that change happened where gives, [00:21:00] got by. And cellar rolled out and she moved over roles and now we get to work with her Post Status too. And again, I just call back to, if you're worried about that, just go back to the people now there's other worries, but I just, the heart of it is about people.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. And&nbsp;</p>



<p>I also, I have also have a motto too, in terms of you don't let the people that are leaving a community, distract you from who is coming into the community or who they should, or who should be invited into the community and vice versa. But don't let one side distract you from who's coming in versus who's going out and that sort of thing.</p>



<p>And I think we're doing a pretty good job with that. What happened after state of the word after it ended what happened.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Well, so there was about, I can't remember how many, but at least 20 of us, I could probably adapt touch straight back to Post Status and we all kind of stayed at the same hotel and had a little, two day fun before the event and all that stuff.</p>



<p>And so a bunch of us went back to our hotel and we're at the restaurant, the hotel restaurant bar, [00:22:00] and just kinda talking, you know, and I got to meet great people. I've just met in like Robert. Who runs OSTP training there? I got to see again for the third time, Robert Jacoby of cloud waves. The hero press couple Kate, and Tofor, I'm trying to think of othersAC Morse was there? Gravity forms.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Aaron Campbell was there.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> The Aaron and I laughed. He lives in Oklahoma. Like me, he's literally an hour away. I bet it'd take me 45 minutes to be on his doorstep and vice versa. And we're like, we had to laugh. So we're sitting in New York city Soho, somewhere in the coffee shop. We're like, isn't it funny how we have to either go out of the country or to go across the states to see each other when we live like that close to each other.</p>



<p>And I love Aaron. He has such a great. For WordPress, all things WordPress and I love what he's doing.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Bob was there too. Of course, he traveled by train. He traveled by training the width of the Wu train clan. And it was, I think one of the best moments of the night was when he got up to ask the question and he had the simplest of questions, which was like, he [00:23:00] like, what's up for WooCommerce or in the next year I traveled 2000 miles to ask this question.</p>



<p>And how did Matt respond&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> that's all the bingo card and slack Post Status slack light up because Bob asked it, you know, finally he got the invoke. Woo. Yeah. I love Bob. Bob does and has been around for a long time too. And what I said about him personally at the vent was the one thing I admire about him is he has just consistently showed up.</p>



<p>And get work in this space and has mad respect from everybody because of it. So we sponsored his train trip out because we wanted to I mean, Bob is such a vital member of the WordPress community and then specifically WooCommerse. So Bob did all of that kind of community logistic, wrangling there, in addition to being like, and he was trying to record, he set up a studio in his room and I got to be with Robbie and Robert and Bob and</p>



<p>do the woo podcasts there. So, it was a great time for that on the note of getting people together. And Post Status [00:24:00] specifically we're right now getting our in person. Camps together for Post Status Brian and intended to do it last year. And you know what, two years ago, and you know what happened, right.</p>



<p>But this year we're putting some plans in place to get together in a small way to talk shop, to do life together as a community. I would love for everybody to be there next. December 22nd for, it's going to&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> say, as we wrap up here, what is the schedule look like for our post status members?</p>



<p>What do they, pay attention to?</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> So we're doing a year in, remember huddle. We're going to be doing these next year, by the way, in which I'll be talking about, but our member huddle you're in next Wednesday, December 22nd, 11:00 AM central time. There'll be zoom links in slack and all that.</p>



<p>And so. We're going to do our, that member huddle. How-to it's going to be one part like reflective review last year, thinking about next year. So look back, look forward, and then we're going to do some fun stuff. I want you to meet the Post Status team. All the people that are doing all this crazy awesome [00:25:00] stuff behind the scenes that you don't all see.</p>



<p>And then talk about some of the things we got in store for our Post Status community. A couple of times I've heard people say energy with post status and it is, and it ain't just me, by the way, it's people like David who had been here faithfully for years, Michelle Frechette, Courtney Robertson, Taleesha, you'll get to meet her.</p>



<p>She's our new director of operations and all kinds of people in between. I can't wait to do that. And then laugh together. Our theme for the ongoing, I hesitate to say it's going to be 2022, because I just want it to be forever is give. Together.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> What was that again?</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Give, grow together. It's part of what I want to be our member mantra.</p>



<p>The thing we come to post to us and say, I'm here to give of myself my time, talent, treasure, all that stuff. Not true necessarily, but like give up myself in the spirit of open source to the commuity. To each other. Second is I'm here to grow. I want to grow myself. I want to grow my business.</p>



<p>I want to grow my career. We've got specific plans for the growth side and then together, it's [00:26:00] just the thing that wraps everything together. It's not I. It's not you. It's always, we at Post Status. It's not just me. I happen to be on, you know, I had my face out there and stuff like that. But if this is truly a community and truly a team too, and I want us to just emphasize those three things, give in spirit of WordPress, same thing, just give to each other in the community business of WordPress second is to grow commit. You want to be here, let's grow yourself, grow professionally, grow your business, whatever it is, come here to grow. And then to do it together do it all of us together. So, even our products, like, as you will know David is called and that's a Portuguese word for probably mispronounced it, but together we're together.</p>



<p>So it's been a theme of my life even before clinical campaigns and the COVID time. But I really mean it next year as I'm going to do these things from in-person camps, how we do slack, how we do some of the cohorts, we're going to be rolling out. And I hope you'll show up next week and we can talk more about that and get your feet.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> What was the date again?</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> [00:27:00] December 22nd.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So December 22nd, Wednesday, are we going to see any sign of a state of post status with you in a suit? Is that something we can look forward to?&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> You're probably not the second&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> the people that are listening for the people that are listening at home.</p>



<p>Cory shook his head so quickly that I thought his neck was about to snap.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Yeah, I think we should do these types of things where as our leader of post, as getting in front listing talk, discuss, put things out there that help you learn and grow and all that with postdocs, for sure. And I always want to get to Canada.</p>



<p>So maybe to the first to the second one, the suit, you know, I mean, I've got two suits. I probably don't fit currently. So. I think you're more likely to see me in a Chewbacca outfit than a suit, but no shady. Anybody else? It's just,&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> no, you have to stand up. You gotta make yourself stand out with all these other state of the blah-blah-blah.</p>



<p>I mean, if Matt does a [00:28:00] suit, I think. Any, if you're going to wear a hairy Chewbacca outfit, I think that's a good countermove. But anyway,&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Somebody is gonna remember this and come back and say, Cory memory, you say you do that.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh, people will remember it. I might have a little bit of a night terror about it. I've got a thing against Wookiees. But other than that, I think it's a fantastic idea. Well, it sounds like you had a blast and it was a blast watching. I see you in some of the photos. Sometimes you're in the background You're in the background photo bombing. It's fantastic. I'm glad that this happened and I'm glad to see Matt so open.</p>



<p>Maybe it was because it was a smaller venue or it was the fact that there wasn't a word campy west surrounding Matt. You know how draining that is even to, just to be at a work camp us and then, and that WordCamp us with a talk in front of a thousand, 2000 people, it would look like a really nice event with a ton of energy, but.</p>



<p>Personable intimate. And I'm glad you all in this, in the few got to experience that. And I, of course, next year though, [00:29:00] or next time this happens, hopefully it will be under different circumstances and we'll have more people. In fact, think he said, if all goes well, San Diego is going to be the work camp spot for 20, 22.</p>



<p>Have you ever been to Sandy? Oh, really? I've never been. So it'll be interesting for me. Was there anything else that you wanted to share? I think we, it was good seeing you. It was good seeing you. I'm glad you're home safe. And then it sounded like they do all the safety precautions and everything, which was fantastic.</p>



<p>I'm glad they did that. And it was good to see Josepha and the others there as well representing so great. So next time. Let's it sounds like we're going to talk about wrapping up our thoughts about the year with the biggest news stories that you think Corey or the most influential to you personally.</p>



<p>And we've asked the same question to our post status members, this awesome service zip message. I want to say zap message, but that sounds more painful. Zip message. It's zip message. And we're encouraging people [00:30:00] to go in there and just leave a brief clip about what story to them was the most influential for WordPress this year.</p>



<p>And to them personally, and maybe by the time we talk next time, we will have a couple of us to talk about and share our own as well.</p>



<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Thanks, david. And thanks everybody.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 04:32:17 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"David Bisset";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:38;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 12.2 Focuses on User Experience Improvements";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127612";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:173:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-2-focuses-on-user-experience-improvements?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-12-2-focuses-on-user-experience-improvements";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5854:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Some Gutenberg plugin releases feel like heavy-hitters with new user-facing features. Others, such as <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/">today&#8217;s version 12.2 update,</a> smooth over problems and create a more well-rounded experience.</p>



<p>Switching between the site editor and templates is smoother. The color picker is no longer a hot mess. And, border controls now <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34061">use the tools panel</a> approach of allowing users to enable or disable the options they want.</p>



<p>Contributors have made progress on updating the Comments Query Loop block, which will eventually be the backbone of displaying comments in block themes. One of the tallest hurdles was <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36065">making nested comments work</a>. With that now fixed, moving forward with other comment-related components should be less problematic. The latest release also introduced the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36890">Comments Pagination Numbers block</a> for handling paginated comment lists.</p>



<h2 id="view-templates-without-a-page-reload">View Templates Without a Page Reload</h2>



<img />Templates view in the site editor.



<p class="has-drop-cap">When <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-1-fixes-block-appender-layout-shift-adds-template-list-views-and-enhances-global-styles">Gutenberg 12.1</a> launched two weeks ago, I was happy to see the new and much improved slide-out panel in the site editor for viewing templates. My primary complaint: it was slow. Switching between the editor and template view required a page reload.</p>



<p>In the latest 12.2 release, this has all changed. Thanks to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36488">client-side routing in the site editor</a>, the transition between the editor and templates feels fast and smooth.</p>



<p>Changes like this are one of the reasons I have welcomed the postponement of WordPress 5.9 until late January. Some of these little wrinkles needed ironing before showing the site editor to the world.</p>



<h2 id="improved-color-picker">Improved Color Picker</h2>



<img />Color picker popup.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Gutenberg 12.2 introduces a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37067">much-improved color picker</a>. The previous iteration was unwieldy, bulky to the point of being an annoyance. Users would have to scroll and scroll and scroll some more just to jump between changing a block&#8217;s text color and its link color. This was especially true if the theme showed both its colors and those from core.</p>



<p>The latest iteration tightens up the UI to the point where users can see the text, background, and link color options all at once. If they want to customize any of them, they can click on one to pull up the color picker popup.</p>



<p>Perhaps this change will open the door for other color options in the future, such as one for link hover/focus. It would have been far too messy in the old UI. However, the new minimalist design leaves ample room.</p>



<p>I would love to see the border-color control get the same treatment. However, there is a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/35602">separate ticket</a> that offers more fine-tuned control.</p>



<h2 id="font-size-ui-change">Font Size UI Change</h2>



<img />Numbered-style font-size selector.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The font size control for supported blocks looks much different. It shows a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37038">list of numbered buttons</a> for themes with five or fewer custom sizes. The font-size name appears when one is selected. Otherwise, it is simply a list of numbers with no context.</p>



<p>I have generally liked the progress made toward updating the block options UI. But, I am not a fan of this change. As a user, what do these numbers even mean? Is the &#8220;1&#8221; size small or medium? There is no way of knowing without testing it. Plus, the context will change from theme to theme. A UI change like this may have been OK on the back of a standardized naming scheme. However, that will be tough to implement after three years of usage.</p>



<p>In general, clicking a single button feels like a better experience than clicking a dropdown, followed by a second click of making a selection. I am just not sure that it works here. However, I am open to seeing where it goes upon further iteration.</p>



<p>There is also no visible way to clear the current selection and return to the default size. If the theme supports custom sizes, users can switch to the &#8220;Custom&#8221; field and clear it out. This is not obvious unless you stumble upon it. Users could also hit the &#8220;Reset All&#8221; button, but doing so resets all typography options.</p>



<p>The easiest way to avoid this UI change is for theme authors to register at least six custom font sizes. The option will automatically revert to its former dropdown select field. Fortunately, I have 13 in the theme I primarily work on, so it is a non-issue for me.</p>



<h2 id="block-template-part-hooks">Block Template Part Hooks</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Theme and plugin developers now have <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36884">additional action hooks</a> around the block template part system. These should be handy for debugging or other complex use cases.</p>



<ul><li><code>render_block_core_template_part_post</code> fires when a part is found from the database.</li><li><code>render_block_core_template_part_file</code> fires when a part comes from a theme file.</li><li><code>render_block_core_template_part_none</code> fires when no part is located.</li></ul>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 01:19:05 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:39;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"WPTavern: WordPress Contributors Discuss the Possibility of 4 Major Releases in 2022";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127550";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:213:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-the-possibility-of-4-major-releases-in-2022?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-contributors-discuss-the-possibility-of-4-major-releases-in-2022";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6344:"<img />



<p>Last week, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/17/discussion-2022-major-release-timing/">opened a discussion</a> on how many releases the project will aim for in 2022. </p>



<p>&#8220;Given that we have a release in January already, I wonder if we might be able to use 2022 to attempt four releases,&#8221; Haden Chomphosy said. She proposed three different release schedules: </p>



<ul><li>Quarterly releases: January, April, July, October</li><li>Trimester-ly releases: January, May, September</li><li>Known release and then evenly spaced targets?: January, May, August, November</li></ul>



<p>When she <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW/p1639001383392000">brought it up in the #core Slack channel</a>, a few contributors said they would like to see the project move towards more frequent releases. They were optimistic that it can be done, since a January release is already on the schedule.</p>



<p>Responses to the post on make.wordpress.org were markedly different. A few commented that they would be comfortable with a quarterly releases as long as they avoid major holidays. Several participants in the conversation have urged WordPress to slow down to two or three releases. Others suggested WordPress simply wait to release new features until they are ready, with no schedule. This particular suggestion makes it difficult for various stakeholders, like hosting companies, agencies, and WordPress product businesses, to plan effectively.</p>



<p>In 2021, WordPress released version 5.7 in March and 5.8 in July. A third major release planned for December was postponed due to critical blockers and decreased volunteer availability. A jump to four releases next year seems overly ambitious without a change in processes.</p>



<p>&#8220;Is it realistic to plan four releases for 2022 right after three releases per year plan was not fulfilled?&#8221; Oleg Kharchenko asked in the comments. &#8220;I don’t get what’s the benefit of having more releases just for the sake of number. It looks good in business reports but it has no real value for WordPress users as frequent releases lead to half-baked features which are hard to use. </p>



<p>&#8220;Also plugin and theme authors will have to put more time into testing instead of their product development. Finally, there are many tickets on Trac with &#8216;early&#8217; keyword which are punted for years just because everybody is too busy to find time to include these tickets in the upcoming release, making the release schedule tighter would worsen this situation even more.&#8221;</p>



<p>Jessica Lyschik, a developer and an active member of the German WordPress community, said she would prefer two releases for the future.</p>



<p>&#8220;As several people already mentioned, planning more releases did not work out in the past, so why should it work now?&#8221; Lyschik asked. &#8220;5.9 got postponed to have refined features included so it can be actually used. The complexity of the new features is huge and trying to split that up in smaller releases is not something I see to work in the future.&#8221;</p>



<p>The roadmap for 2021 originally planned for four major releases but was <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-scaling-back-releases-4-major-releases-is-not-a-viable-plan-in-2021">scaled back to three in February</a>. At that time Haden Chomphosy cited a lack of automation and the necessary personnel to execute the plan without risking contributor burnout and update fatigue.</p>



<p>WordPress core committer John Blackbourn commented on the discussion, urging Haden Chomphosy to elaborate on why she is proposing the potential of more frequent releases. He also requested she summarize the original list of challenges and needed changes and the progress that has been made towards improving them.</p>



<p>In a post titled &#8220;<a href="https://nomad.blog/2021/11/23/why-i-voted-to-delay-wordpress-5-9/">Why I Voted to Delay WordPress 5.9</a>,&#8221; Anne McCarthy explained a few of the factors and blockers that caused the release to be postponed to January 2022. </p>



<p>&#8220;What I’d like to understand better is what are we going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?&#8221; WordPress 5.9 release lead Matt Mullenweg commented. &#8220;There could always be more polish, more bugs fixed, and I would challenge you to pick a year in the past decade that didn’t have its share of human issues. I’d like us to really understand and agree what went wrong, particularly in the first months of 5.9, and what we’re starting now to make sure 6.0 is effortlessly on time.&#8221;</p>



<p>McCarthy responded, citing the following reasons: </p>



<ul><li>lack of contingency plans around the interrelated features </li><li>lack of clarity around scope for various individual features (particularly the browsing feature) </li><li>lack of a comprehensive check in early enough ahead of feature freeze </li><li>a need for more decision makers who have a high level view of where the work is headed</li></ul>



<p>&#8220;Personally, I’d love to see the Go/No Go meeting overhauled to be less aspirational and more concrete as to where things stand as I think that’ll set the tone early enough in the release cycle to avoid some of these problems again,&#8221; McCarthy said. </p>



<p>A few of these challenges with 5.9 correspond to the items Haden Chomphosy identified in February as needing to change in order to make WordPress releases easier and more frequent: better testing, more seasoned core developers available with time focused on core, better handoff in design/dev iterations, and shifts in collective philosophies towards continuous development.</p>



<p>In the absence of a comprehensive 5.9 retrospective, it may be difficult to plan the next year&#8217;s release schedule based on the reality of what contributors experienced most recently. Moving to four major releases will be a tough sell after closing out a year where WordPress could not post three major releases. It will require significant changes to how the work is scoped and managed as it is in process. The topic will be up for discussion again during today&#8217;s weekly core dev chat at 20:00 UTC.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 22 Dec 2021 19:50:40 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:72:"HeroPress: Living Well and Enabling Success For Others Through WordPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=4328";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:196:"https://heropress.com/essays/living-well-and-enabling-success-for-others-through-wordpress/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=living-well-and-enabling-success-for-others-through-wordpress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12420:"<img width="1024" height="512" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/122121-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: Success is a life well lived." /><p>From a very young age, I can remember dreaming about a business I would one day own. It would be a restaurant named “The Comfy Chair.” Serving mainly breakfast and light lunch, I pictured a funky space with a mix of unique, comfortable chairs. Patrons could choose the chair that fit their mood of the day.</p>
<blockquote><p>I’m sorry to report that my childhood dream never came true.</p></blockquote>
<p>Instead, I now lead a 15-person remote team that develops open source software on WordPress, our primary product is the membership plugin <a href="https://www.paidmembershipspro.com">Paid Memberships Pro</a>.</p>
<p>The road that led me to WordPress didn’t begin with a passion for the web, or democratizing publishing, or coding, or anything technology-related.</p>
<p>I began my career in WordPress through my passion for entrepreneurship. A passion to control my earnings, “be my own boss,” and maybe more specifically, work when I want, on what I want, and for the price I choose.</p>
<blockquote><p>That is the most kickass thing about WordPress—people can enter our community and leverage WordPress for free, from anywhere, anytime, for any reason.</p></blockquote>
<h2>From Craigslist to Plugins</h2>
<p>Throughout college, I freelanced doing simple brochure websites, graphic design, and a lot of print work. I used Craigslist and word of mouth to get projects, taking nearly any job that a) paid and b) I could handle on my own or with some help from my “high school sweetheart, husband, co-founder, and best friend” Jason.</p>
<p>After graduation, my parents were cautiously enthusiastic about my decision to start a web design business. I knew I had many months of runway and felt it was a no brainer. Starting a business is a risk. The bigger risk was missing the opportunity to create my own business in the “carefree” days of youth.</p>
<p>Business ownership teaches you a ton—I was learning not just about emerging web technologies like WordPress. I had to learn every aspect of small business: sales and marketing, project scoping, invoicing and accounts receivable, taxes, healthcare…everything.</p>
<p>In Fall 2006, Jason left his job at Accenture and joined me full time. I had my projects and clients, Jason had his. He led the projects that were more development-focused, I led the more design-focused projects.</p>
<p>By 2007, we started doing WordPress sites almost exclusively. WordPress was about four years old at the time. The community was starting to take shape. Meetups and WordCamps were becoming a thing, but the events were very different back then.</p>
<p>I didn’t identify with the early WordPress community. Events were primarily attended by developers and coders, who were primarily male. So I stayed on the periphery of the community.</p>
<p>Jason and I continued operating Stranger Studios as a two-person team. In an agency, there are two main ways to grow revenue: charge more per hour or bill more hours (grow the team). I couldn’t picture myself <i>managing other people</i>. Life and business was good just the way it was. So we regularly raised rates, focused on high value clients, and tried our best not to keep too many clients on maintenance plans.</p>
<blockquote><p>The WordPress “CMS” helped us increase the number of clients we could serve by giving them more independence in managing their own sites.</p></blockquote>
<p>Then, life decided to push me into my next chapter with an event that happened when we had our first child, Isaac.</p>
<h2>A Building Block For Change</h2>
<p>Isaac had a rough start to life 13 years ago and needed surgery a day after his birth. We are endlessly grateful to St. Christopher’s Hospital and The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House for supporting us through his first two weeks.</p>
<p>And while going through those heartbreaking, chaotic, and hopeful weeks, <i>we still had to work</i>. I remember waiting in our hotel room for Jason to wrap up an urgent call with a client so we could go see our days-old baby. It’s a ridiculous scene to reflect on.</p>
<p>I thought I was living life my way. In reality, I was financially tying myself to a handful of long-term clients. And what’s worse: there was no one to hand things off to when my personal life needed attention.</p>
<blockquote><p>Consulting work felt like being on call 24/7.</p></blockquote>
<p>That event changed my life in more ways than I could ever put into words. For the intention of this essay, let’s just say that our business needed to change dramatically, quickly.</p>
<p>When I talk with other entrepreneurs and business owners, we often break down the differences between a services company and a product company. You may have heard a WordPress talk on this very topic: the move from “consulting to products”.</p>
<p>It’s an appealing path for many WordPressers. And now that I’m on the other side of the transition, I can’t deny it is an awesome space to be in—even with the product space going through some major shifts with all the acquisition activity. But that’s a topic for another conversation entirely…</p>
<p>The biggest turning point in my WordPress journey was the decision to create a product. By moving to a product company, I could make more money without working 24 hours a day or (immediately) having to hire people and grow as an agency.</p>
<p>But what kind of product should we build? What untapped market could we serve? What was missing in the WordPress ecosystem?</p>
<p>We found the answer by looking at our history of proposals and projects.</p>
<p>A growing number of our freelance projects had a “membership-type” component. People wanted to protect access to features of their site (content, tools, applications). People wanted to get paid through their WordPress site. More specifically, they wanted to “make money while they sleep” and get paid on a recurring basis. Sell once, get paid over and over again.</p>
<p>Jason and I recognized this trend and the lack of a leading WordPress plugin for memberships. We focused only on freelance projects for “membership-type” sites built on WordPress. These projects helped us bootstrap the development of what is now Paid Memberships Pro.</p>
<h2>Open Source Products Are Better Products</h2>
<blockquote><p>I believe in open source. I believe open source products are better products.</p></blockquote>
<p>We release all of our products with an open source license, just like WordPress. We make our code publicly available on GitHub in a format that removes barriers to collaboration for internal and external contributors. And we make a very good living for ourselves and our team by building a business on top of our open source products.</p>
<p>The decision to be open source has made an overwhelmingly positive impact on the growth of our business. But there’s another major reason why we’ve made it in the WordPress product space.</p>
<blockquote><p>Paid Memberships Pro is a success in large part because we release the full version for free in the WordPress.org Plugins repository.</p></blockquote>
<p>Putting my beliefs in OSS aside, the repo makes your plugin available for every WordPress site. That’s <a href="https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress">43.1% of websites</a> that exist today. The repo is an amazing resource for every site <i>using</i> WordPress and also for every <i>business</i> building a WordPress product. Not only does the repo facilitate installs and updates, it also builds in a layer of security for WordPress users.</p>
<p>I am deeply grateful for the WordPress community members (the Plugins team) that maintains, reviews, and supports the repository. Without you, I wouldn’t be sitting here today writing an essay about my WordPress journey.</p>
<h2>Building a Team That’s Diverse In Many Ways</h2>
<p>I’ve always been a woman business owner in a male-dominated field. But I can’t say that my being a woman was something that limited or, on the flip side, catapulted my career forward.</p>
<p>I say this because there are many people in the WordPress community that speak intelligently and openly about important topics like diversity, inclusion, and the serious problem of underrepresentation. I have not devoted enough time to educate myself on their efforts.</p>
<p>But as a person who has interviewed and hired people for a variety of roles, I do have some perspective on the value diversity has brought to our team.</p>
<p>Nearly half of our team are women. And we are diverse in other ways including age, geography, physical ability, and experience.</p>
<p>I value diversity as I value any other positive trait that an employee brings to the table.</p>
<p>When I am interviewing another woman, I recognize that they bring a woman&#8217;s perspective to the team, which is valuable. When I am interviewing someone with very little experience, I recognize that I can teach anyone that’s willing to learn and grow, which is valuable. When I am interviewing someone that lives a 20-hour plane ride away, I know that we work remotely and don’t have to overlap for our entire work day.</p>
<p>The diversity in our team has changed my worldview. I have learned endless things about other cultures, such as the troubling issues that a Nigerian mother has faced to find a safe and enriching school for her daughter. I’ve learned about the lasting effects of apartheid in South Africa, about the progess has been made to unify the country and where there is work to be done.</p>
<p>As a parent of “tweens”, I’ve learned valuable lessons from people with adult children. And on the flip side, I’ve shared my stories with people at an earlier stage in the parenting journey.</p>
<p>WordPress is an open, free, accessible tool used by the whole world. Getting involved in WordPress doesn’t require a special form of education, grasp of the English language, or boatloads of money.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t have been able to build a diverse team if the WordPress community, itself, wasn’t diverse.</p>
<h2>Live Your Way</h2>
<blockquote><p>Live your life your way. Do more of the things you want. Do less of the things you don’t want.</p></blockquote>
<p>I am extremely grateful that I am safe, comfortable, and able to live my life, my way. I know that many people are in a place where this type of thinking is not possible.</p>
<p>But even people with everything can have a feeling that something is missing. For me, that feeling is influenced by what <i>other people want for me</i>, when I feel pressure to live out <i>someone else’s dream</i>.</p>
<p>Jason tells me (and others) that my skills are wasted on this product. He boosts me up with encouragement and praise. He says that I am capable of bigger, grander things.</p>
<p>The message I take from this is that I can do anything. So I will do what I want to do. I will do more of the things I like to do, and less of the things I don’t.</p>
<p>In work, that looks like filling senior roles on our team to do things I am currently responsible for. Freeing up my time to nurture the next big product. Or, freeing up my time to spend in ways that my kids need me. Or, I could get another dog.</p>
<p>What I want to leave you with here is that you don’t have to feel pressured to go after someone else’s dream. I’ve watched companies like mine get acquired. Their founders take extended vacations and are living semi-retired lives. I think “is this what I’m supposed to do next?”</p>
<p>Then I join my team on a call and I think “I never want to stop working with these people. This is my family.”</p>
<p>I’ve had opportunities to swing for the fences. To push harder. To get bigger, faster. To be wildly successful.</p>
<p>This is a monetary measure of success. This is feeling successful because other people think you are.</p>
<p>To me, success isn’t measured by dollars or ego. Success is a life well lived. I want to energetically pursue living well. I want to build products that help people find this success. I want to grow a team that has the same freedoms in life that I humbly enjoy.</p>
<p>I want to keep pursuing success with WordPress.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 22 Dec 2021 13:00:21 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11:"Kim Coleman";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:41;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"WPTavern: Ask the Bartender: Will It Become Easier To Create Block Patterns?";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127545";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:193:"https://wptavern.com/ask-the-bartender-will-it-become-easier-to-create-block-patterns?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ask-the-bartender-will-it-become-easier-to-create-block-patterns";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4048:"<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Do you know if WordPress FSE is working to make it easier to create block patterns? Templates and Parts need to just click a button to download them. But patterns are very manual, and you need to register all of them programmatically.</p><cite>Thiago</cite></blockquote>



<p class="has-drop-cap">You are not the first person to ask this question, and it is something that I have been mulling over for a while. With <a href="https://wptavern.com/the-next-generation-of-wordpress-theme-authors-will-design-from-the-site-editor">theme development quickly encroaching</a> a point where it could almost exclusively be done via the site editor, it makes sense that block patterns follow along with their template counterparts.</p>



<p>The feature has not been given any sort of official green light. I am not aware of a specific ticket for it, but it seems like it will be a part of the natural evolution of themes and patterns. I encourage opening a new ticket via the Gutenberg GitHub directory.</p>



<p>Two core features need to precede it:</p>



<ul><li>A standard folder for storing patterns in themes.</li><li>A way to save patterns in the database.</li></ul>



<p>Fortunately, there are tickets for both of these. Last month, Gutenberg lead Matías Ventura opened a new issue for <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/36548">standardizing how themes are organized</a>. WordPress 5.9 will see the introduction of <code>/templates</code> and <code>/parts</code> folders for templates and template parts, respectively. These will be the officially-supported locations in block themes.</p>



<p>That same ticket proposes future enhancements of a <code>/styles</code> folder for global style variations and <code>/patterns</code> for block patterns. Having a standard location for these things is vital because the exporter in the site editor needs to know where to put them in the exported ZIP file.</p>



<p>A side benefit of this feature is that theme authors would no longer be required to register their custom patterns via PHP. They could merely drop the files into their <code>/patterns</code> folders and move on. The format of this is nowhere near official at this point. There is an <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36751">unmerged pull request</a> that implements this by searching file headers.</p>



<p>The second piece of solving this issue is figuring out how to allow users to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/31298">save patterns via the UI</a> similarly to reusable blocks. This is a more complex issue. There are existing plugins that already do this, such as my own <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-pattern-builder/">Block Pattern Builder</a>, which sorely needs updating, and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/blockmeister/">BlockMeister</a>, a more robust solution. <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/reusable-blocks-extended/">Reusable Blocks Extended</a> even allows users to convert reusable blocks into patterns. So, there are already folks who are trying to solve the problem.</p>



<p>There are still questions about the implementation before it can be officially supported. Are saved patterns a subtype of <code>wp_block</code>, which is currently the post type for reusable blocks? Are they something separate? Then, the project must also decide whether it wants to allow custom pattern categories via a new taxonomy.</p>



<p>There are also other considerations before adding another feature into core, such as <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/32682">adding a design library</a> for components in the global space.</p>



<p>We are not quite to the point where you want, but we are on the path. The <code>/patterns</code> folder alone would remove the code-writing requirement. If it lands in WordPress, you could copy and paste block HTML over. It is not the same as exporting them alongside templates, but I hope the platform arrives at that destination one day.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 22 Dec 2021 01:36:04 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:40:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.9 Beta 4";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11876";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5038:"<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 is now available for testing!</p>



<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site; install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features and get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>



<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 in three ways:</p>



<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>



<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<strong><a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta4.zip">zip</a></strong>).</p>



<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, or 3 to Beta 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>



<p>Command One:</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4</code></pre>



<p>Command Two:</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4 --force</code></pre>



<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which is only five weeks away. Your help testing this beta is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>



<h2 id="some-highlights"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>



<p>Since <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/">Beta 3</a>, 20 bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 4:</p>



<ul><li>Bundled Theme: Fixed duplicate CSS rules in Twenty Twenty-One theme (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53605">#53605</a>).</li><li>Customizer: It&#8217;s possible to switch to a block theme from within Customizer (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54549">#54549</a>).</li><li>Themes: Provide guidance to users seeking to preview block themes on WordPress versions below 5.9 (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54575">#54575</a>).</li><li>REST API: The get_theme_item method should respect fields param (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54595">#54595</a>).</li><li>Editor: Block Patterns: &#8220;Featured&#8221; category &amp; patterns missing from inserter (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54623">#54623</a>).</li><li>Login and registration: Add a filter to allow to disable the Login screen language dropdown – (#54675).</li></ul>



<h2 id="how-you-can-help"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>



<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Please post to the<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/"> Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums if you find a bug. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/"> bug report</a>, file one on<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket"> WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find a list of<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major"> known bugs</a>.</p>



<h2 id="got-questions-here-are-some-answers"><strong>Got questions? Here are some answers</strong></h2>



<p>In the coming weeks, follow the<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/"> 5.9-related developer notes</a> that will cover these items in detail.</p>



<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&group=component&milestone=5.9&resolution=fixed">326 tickets and 108 new features and enhancements</a> in WordPress 5.9. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>



<p><strong>Props to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/" target="_blank">@psykro</a>, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/" target="_blank">@hellofromtonya</a>, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/" target="_blank">@marybaum</a>, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/" target="_blank">@webcommsat</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>costdev</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>meher</a> for contributions to this post.</strong></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 21 Dec 2021 21:17:58 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Jonathan Bossenger";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:43;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"WPTavern: WordPress 5.9 to Introduce Language Switcher on Login Screen";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127496";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:185:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-language-switcher-on-login-screen?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-language-switcher-on-login-screen";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2867:"<p>More than half of all WordPress sites (<a href="https://wordpress.org/about/stats/">50.5%</a>) are using translations for non-English speaking locales. It&#8217;s only natural that these users would want the ability to register, log in, and reset their passwords in their own languages. A new language switcher on the login screen has finally made its way into core, four years after the <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43700">ticket</a> was opened.</p>



<p>WordPress 5.9 will introduce a new dropdown on the login screen that will display all the languages that are currently installed. (New languages can be added under the <strong>Settings > General</strong> screen in the admin.)</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>In a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/20/introducing-new-language-switcher-on-the-login-screen-in-wp-5-9/">dev note</a> for the new features, WordPress Core Committer Jb Audras demonstrated how developers can filter the default arguments for the languages dropdown.  This might be useful for sites that have dozens of languages installed where administrators only wish to display a handful in the dropdown.</p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/">WordPress 5.9 beta 3</a> was released last week. In addition to the new language switcher, the latest beta also includes the following:</p>



<ul><li>Editor: Add FSE infrastructure from Gutenberg plugin into Core (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54335">#54335</a>).</li><li>Formatting: Allow PDFs to embedded as objects (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54261">#54261</a>)</li><li>REST API: Add navigation areas REST API endpoint from Gutenberg plugin (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54393">#54393</a>)</li><li>Themes: A fix for the Live Preview button bug (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54578">#54578</a>)</li></ul>



<p>RC1 is expected January 4, 2022, which will bring a code freeze for both Gutenberg and core and a hard string freeze. Contributors are also aiming to have the field guide with dev notes published at this time. </p>



<p>If you have time to contribute during the upcoming holiday weeks, the 5.9 release team welcomes more <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/">testing for bugs</a>. Anne McCarthy has published a detailed guide to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/">testing the full-site editing features</a> that are anticipated in 5.9. Testers should check against the list of <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major">known issues</a> before <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket">reporting bugs on Trac </a>or in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/">Alpha/Beta</a> forums.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 21 Dec 2021 04:23:18 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:44;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:92:"WPTavern: The WordPress Photo Directory Is the Open-Source Image Project We Have Long Needed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127492";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:229:"https://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-photo-directory-is-the-open-source-image-project-we-have-long-needed?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wordpress-photo-directory-is-the-open-source-image-project-we-have-long-needed";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6333:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">In last week&#8217;s annual <a href="https://wptavern.com/state-of-the-word-2021-wordpress-passes-43-market-share-looks-to-expand-the-commons-through-openverse">State of the Word address</a>, WordPress project lead Matt Mullenweg announced the <a href="https://wordpress.org/photos/">WordPress.org photo directory</a>. Officially, it has not yet &#8220;fully launched.&#8221; However, it is live on the site, and anyone with an account can submit their photos.</p>



<p>Thus far, the directory has 103 submissions and are under the CC0 license. Unfortunately, there is only a <a href="https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/21761b9297/">single photo of a house cat</a>. <em>Perhaps I will need to contribute to the commons that this project has made possible.</em></p>



<p>This is a separate project from <a href="https://wptavern.com/creative-commons-search-is-now-openverse">Openverse</a>, a search engine for finding open-source media, launched before the State of the Word event. Eventually, images from WordPress Photos should be discoverable via the Openverse search.</p>



<p>Earlier this year, I was already envisioning <a href="https://wptavern.com/openverse-why-this-project-is-good-for-wordpress-and-the-web">what Openverse could be</a>. However, what I really wanted was a WordPress photo directory. Actually, I wanted a WordPress media directory, but starting with images is easier:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Openverse must become more than a media search engine. It needs to be a project where the Average Joe can upload a nice nature picture he took over the weekend barbecue. A place where Average Jane can share a video clip of the ocean waves hitting the shoreline from her beach trip. And a place where professionals can pay it forward to the world.</p></blockquote>



<p>When Jeff Chandler of WP Mainline <a href="https://wpmainline.com/2021/12/17/submitted-my-first-photo-to-the-wordpress-cc-0-photo-directory/">shared his first photo</a>, I quickly turned it into a block pattern that wrapped the image in a wooden frame (pattern and image links <a href="https://gist.github.com/justintadlock/86251f6641c0f3110f7682e1644b28c9">available via Gist</a>). When the WordPress pattern directory opens its submission process, I would love to submit it or some variation.</p>



<img />Wooden frame block pattern around Chandler&#8217;s image.



<p>My customization was not anything special. I wanted to showcase how vital CC0 photos are to those building WordPress extensions like patterns and themes. Having a reliable image resource is invaluable to our creator community. It also gives non-developers another way to contribute to the project.</p>



<p>I also like seeing the faces of people I know listed in the directory. It very much feels like a photo directory made by the people of WordPress. One of my favorites is this <a href="https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/13461c0ff9/">one from Topher DeRosia</a> (he has already submitted five):</p>



<img />



<p>Single image posts provide additional photo information, categories, and tags. Each photo also has multiple download sizes.</p>



<p>The front page and search could still use a little work. Being able to at least search for images based on orientation (e.g., landscape vs. portrait) would be helpful. A nav menu with all of the categories would be handy too.</p>



<h2 id="the-space-needed-disruption">The Space Needed Disruption</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The stock imagery space needed to be turned upside down. More and more, creators from the WordPress community have stepped away from some of the sites they once loved.</p>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/unsplash-responds-to-image-licensing-concerns-clarifies-reasons-for-hotlinking-and-tracking">Unsplash.</a> <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2018/11/29/pexels-images-are-no-more-allowed/">Pexels.</a> <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2019/01/13/pixabay-images-are-not-allowed/">Pixabay.</a> They have all had an opportunity to become the most significant open-source photo website in the world. They are places for snagging a quick photograph for free. And, for the most part, they have allowed people to give back with their art.</p>



<p>However, these stock photo sites that previously distributed images in the public domain began adding restrictive licensing terms. It <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2017/06/30/theme-review-meeting-summary-june-27-2017/">started with Unsplash</a> in 2017. Pexels soon followed, and Pixabay was in lock-step with the others by 2019.</p>



<p>Most of these restrictions disallow users to build similar &#8220;collection sites&#8221; with those same images, essentially creating a competing service. However, they all have other restrictive terms on selling photos, especially unaltered ones. <em>Note: Pexels still allows its contributors to choose between the Pexels License and CC0 (public domain).</em></p>



<p>Many photo-sharing sites built their empires on top open source, only to turn their backs on it down the road. The open-source spirit embraces competing websites. The art itself is meant to be shared. That is kind of the point. To be fair, the aforementioned were not the only such sites. They were just the most prevalent in the WordPress ecosystem.</p>



<p>WordPress theme authors were often champions of those sites in years prior. However, they saw service after service disappear before their eyes as they were banned from use on WordPress.org. Themers could not distribute the images because the users who downloaded them would not have the same freedoms as promised by the GPL. It was a loss for open-source.</p>



<p>Now that WordPress has a pattern directory, the issue has become more evident. In the coming months and years, creators will need high-quality photos to showcase their patterns.</p>



<p>The easiest path was to leverage the millions of people who use WordPress and build our own thing. WordPress Photos could very well become the <em>de facto</em> standard of open photos on the web, and that is something we should all welcome with open arms.</p>



<p>The project is necessary. WordPress.org has the resources to make something remarkable: a photo-sharing site that is 100% open and will never change.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 21 Dec 2021 01:43:34 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:45;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"WordPress.org blog: WP Briefing: Episode 22: A Carol of Thanks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:53:"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11880";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/episode-22-a-carol-of-thanks/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5718:"<p>In this last episode of 2021, Josepha Haden Chomphosy takes the time to appreciate those who make the WordPress project a success and offers a carol of thanks. </p>



<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href="mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>



<h2 id="credits">Credits</h2>



<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>



<h2 id="references">References </h2>



<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas">Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas </a></p>



<h2 id="transcript">Transcript</h2>



<span id="more-11880"></span>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>



<p>Hello everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing. The podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project. Some insight into the community that supports it and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:39</p>



<p>So, ages and ages ago, when I first started this podcast, someone basically requested that Matt and I do a duet for the last podcast of the year. A Christmas carol duet; him on the saxophone and me on voice. I obviously did not get that coordinated I don&#8217;t even know why I said obviously. I&#8217;ll tell you right now I did not get that coordinated. I was a very busy lady this year. So I don&#8217;t have a Matt on saxophone. Still, I did think that maybe it might be nice just for me to sing a teensy little Christmas carol for you all just because it seems especially poignant the words this year, especially after the 2020, 2021 COVID, all the things and trying to get back in person. So I&#8217;m going to sing you all one little verse from <em>Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas</em>.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy </strong>01:35 <em>Singing</em>  </p>



<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>



<p>Let your heart be light</p>



<p>From now on our troubles</p>



<p>Will be out of sight</p>



<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>



<p>Make the Yuletide gay</p>



<p>From now on our troubles</p>



<p>Will be miles away</p>



<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>



<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>



<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>



<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>



<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>



<p>If the fates allow</p>



<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>



<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>



<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>



<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>



<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>



<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>



<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>



<p>If the fates allow</p>



<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>



<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:34</p>



<p>Alright, my friends, that was from my heart to yours if you happened to listen. If you skipped a few seconds to get through it, which I would totally understand, that is also fine. But I did want to just kind of wrap up the year to let you all know that I am so incredibly grateful for all of the people who show up for the WordPress project to make it a success. I have made so many friends and wonderful acquaintances throughout my time here with the WordPress project. And especially in my three years as the project&#8217;s Executive Director. You all have put a lot of trust in me and a lot of faith. And I know that we have gotten so much done together in the last few years. And I am equally sure that we&#8217;re going to get so much done in the years to come. And so thank you all so much for your continued work with WordPress and the way that you just bring your best at all times. </p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:32</p>



<p>One other little thanks I want to give. Over the course of this year, I&#8217;ve had an excellent team that works with me on this podcast. I have editing and design folks and people who&#8217;ve joined me here and there, folks who helped me with my production. So big thank you to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/">Dustin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/">Bea</a>, I realize your name is Beatriz in the actual credits, but I call you Bea, and so thank you. Also, a huge thank you to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloé</a>, who does all of our production and wrangling every couple of weeks. A big round of applause and kudos to that tiny but tough team that helps me get this all done.</p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:10</p>



<p>That&#8217;s to go on top of the general thanks to the WordPress project. And if you all are celebrators, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. If you are not celebrators, I hope that you have a wonderful end to your year and that everything you wanted to get done, you did get done, and that you can start 2022 with a fresh slate. Again, this is the WP Briefing. Thank you so much for listening. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in 2022.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 20 Dec 2021 19:22:11 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Chloe Bringmann";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:46;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:93:"Gutenberg Times: Charts &amp; Memes Blocks, State of the Word,  and more Weekend Edition #197";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=19863";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:94:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/charts-memes-blocks-state-of-the-word-and-more-weekend-edition-197/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12746:"<p>Howdy,</p>



<p>Wow, this is already the fourth year-end message, I send out with this newsletter. There isn&#8217;t much, I have been doing so consistently then this weekly newsletter.  It&#8217;s been such an inspiring journey, thanks to you and the WordPress contributors, extenders and users. Your creations, questions, comments have been wonderful, especially when in-person contact have been sparse and zoom-fatigue set in. </p>



<p>For Gutenberg, the block editor the best is yet to come.  </p>



<p>In his <a href="https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/"><strong>State of the Word presentation</strong></a>, Matt Mullenweg mentioned for next year Full-Site Editing in WordPress 5.9, which he called the MVP, minimal viable product, Openverse and WordPress Photos, maybe four WordPress releases and in-person meetings. Work on Phase 3, Collaborative editing, won&#8217;t come until 2023. This was not all and below you&#8217;ll find an array of Recap posts and media for your perusal. </p>



<p>This is my last edition of the year 2021. I wish you a great time with family and friends and a Happy New Year. I am excited to connect with you again around January 9th with the next weekend edition.</p>



<p>Yours, 💕<br />Birgit</p>



<p><em>PS: 2129 users voted at the <strong><a href="https://thewpweekly.com/awards/">WPAwards</a> </strong>produced by <a href="https://twitter.com/idavinder">Davinder Si ngh Kainth</a>. It&#8217;s all in good spirit and a fun activity. In the category of Page builders, Gutenberg landed on second place behind Elementor and before Beaver Builder. 🙂  Thank you, for those who voted for the Gutenberg Times and the Gutenberg Changelog. Seems we need to do some more community outreach and lobbying next time around. 🤔</em></p>



<p><em>PPS: To bridge the gap until the next edition, I sprinkled some Gutenberg highlights of the year sprinkles among the links below: starting with the recordings of Gutenberg talks from <strong><a href="https://wordpress.tv/event/wordcamp-us-2021/">WordCamp US 2021 on WordPress.TV</a></strong>.</em></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-dots" />




<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>



<div class="wp-block-sortabrilliant-guidepost"><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#state-of-the-word-and-q-and-a">State of the Word and Q and A</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#building-custom-blocks-and-developing-for-gutenberg">Building Custom Blocks and developing for Gutenberg</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#block-themes-for-theme-developers">Block Themes for Theme developers</a></li></ul></div>





<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2021&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. Updated by yours truly.  <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/"><em>The index 2020 is here</em></a></p>




<h2 id="state-of-the-word-and-q-and-a">State of the Word and Q and A</h2>



<p>My longtime Webdev friend, <a href="https://twitter.com/redcrew"><strong>Deborah Edwards-Onoro</strong></a> shared her thoughts in <strong><a href="https://www.lireo.com/takeaways-from-state-of-the-word-2021/">Takeaways from State of the Word 2021</a></strong>. </p>



<p>The <strong>Posts Status</strong> team collected voices from the community after the State of the Word &amp; Q &amp; Two ways.</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://poststatus.com/post-status-team-responses-to-the-state-of-the-word-2021/"><strong>Responses to the State of the Word 2021</strong></a> &#8211; Openverse. Diversity. Training. Future generations. A whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. These are our quick takes on SOTW ’21.</li><li><a href="https://poststatus.com/comments/4/"><strong>Comments (No. 4) — State of the Word 2021 Analysis</strong></a> The recording of the Twitter Spaces with held after the State of the Word event, moderated by <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia">David Bisset</a></strong></li></ul>



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/courtneyr_dev">Courtney Robertson</a></strong>, WordPress Training team, sponsored by GoDaddy, also wrote a <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/garage/state-of-the-word-2021/"><strong>Recap of both Mullenweg&#8217;s presentation and the Q &amp; A</strong></a>. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>The Feedback for the 11th Call for testing from the FSE program is in, and <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> published the <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/12/16/fse-program-site-editing-safari-summary/">Site Editing Safari Summary</a>.</strong></p>



<p>&#8220;As folks dug in, there were numerous enhancements that quickly came to mind as awesome nice to haves. These desired enhancements not only underscores the potential of various full site editing pieces when put together, but also highlights the frustration around the current limitations&#8221; McCarthy wrote. She also created a list of GitHub Issue for those feature requests. Check them out and comment if you are interested in those features as well. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<h2 id="building-custom-blocks-and-developing-for-gutenberg">Building Custom Blocks and developing for Gutenberg</h2>



<p>Before you start thinking about building a custom block, read <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/karmatosed">Tammie Lister</a></strong>&#8216;s <a href="https://extendify.com/block-patterns-are-better-than-blocks/"><strong>Block patterns are better than blocks</strong></a>, published on the <strong>Extendify</strong>&#8216;s blog.</p>



<p>The Team at Learn.WordPress.org has two workshops for developers and more are coming. </p>



<ul><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/registering-block-patterns/">Registering Block Patterns</a> with Daisy Olsen</li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/intro-to-gutenberg-block-development/">Intro to Gutenberg Block Development</a> with Jonathan Bossenger</li></ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Ari Stathopoulos</strong> posted a WordPress 5.9 DevNote on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/"><strong>Using multiple stylesheets per block</strong></a> </p>



<p>&#8220;Blocks will now be able to register multiple stylesheets, and load styles from other blocks when needed. Themes will be able to add styles on a per-block basis instead of loading monolithic stylesheets that are force-loaded anywhere. This has a greater impact on block themes where stylesheets loading is optimized based on the page &amp; layout contents, but can also be used by classic themes.&#8221;, Stathopoulos wrote.   </p>



<p>He continued: &#8220;This change can benefit both block developers and theme developers, further reducing the total page-weight by only loading styles for blocks that exist on a page.&#8221;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>Justin Tadlock reviewed a new plugin providing chart blocks in this post: <a href="https://wptavern.com/hello-charts-launches-a-native-chart-building-experience-for-the-block-editor"><strong>Hello Charts Launches a Native Chart-Building Experience for the Block Editor</strong></a>. In the article, he also lists other block plugins that allow you to create charts. There are actually four: </p>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/sb-chart-block/">SB Charts</a> by WordPress plugin developer <a href="https://twitter.com/herb_miller"><strong>Herb Miller</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/chart-block/">Chart Block</a> by the bPlugins Team from Bangladesh</li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/charts-blocks/">Charts Blocks for Gutenberg </a>by Sandip Mondal, and</li><li><a href="https://hellocharts.co/">Hello Charts</a>, by Luke Carbis, Rob Stinson and Byron Keet. </li></ul>



<p>Hello Charts is not available in the WordPress repository,<a href="https://hellocharts.co/"> only from their website</a>. It&#8217;s the first block-based product site, I noticed, that sells single block features.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>In his last stream before the holidays, <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> took his viewer through extending the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bE3J64brps">meme block he created last week</a>, to use images from the Media library. You can watch it on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTT_ZIpU-Fk"><strong>Expanding the Meme Generator plugin</strong></a>. <br />If you prefer not to watch the programming part and just look at the code, you can see <a href="https://github.com/ryanwelcher/twitch">all code from the Twitch stream on GitHub.</a> Be aware they are educational and not meant to be used in production. </p>




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s main (trunk) branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total" /></p>




<h2 id="block-themes-for-theme-developers">Block Themes for Theme developers</h2>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/one_maggie">Maggie Cabrera</a> published the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/12/17/gutenberg-themes-week-of-december-13th-2021/"><strong>Gutenberg + Themes Digest</strong></a> for this week. She highlights  PRs and discussions on four topics: </p>



<ul><li>Typography supports for group and row blocks</li><li>Nameless font sizes</li><li>Approach to global padding</li><li>Default font sizes renamed</li><li>Template parts in child themes</li></ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>I suffered from serious flashbacks, when I noticed that <strong>Riad Benguella</strong> recreated the <strong>Kubrick Theme as a block theme</strong>. Matias Ventura <a href="https://twitter.com/matias_ventura/status/1471114929012891658">tweeted a short video</a> on how to change the header color gradient with the site editor. You can study the <a href="https://github.com/youknowriad/kubrick2">block theme on GitHub</a>. It might even show up in the WordPress repository.</p>



<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> also has a few more thoughts and screenshots <a href="https://wptavern.com/yes-a-block-based-version-of-the-kubrick-wordpress-theme-exists"><strong>Yes, a Block-Based Version of the Kubrick WordPress Theme Exists</strong></a></p>



<img />




<p><strong>Post&#8217;s Featured Image: </strong><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00/46694369234" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Building blocks, color, abstract, international, global, corporate, colorful&#8221;</a> by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wonderlane</a> is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/?ref=openverse&atype=rich" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CC0 1.0</a></p>





<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>



<form class="wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait" action="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/" method="post"><div class="ngl-form-container"><div class="ngl-form-field"><label class="ngl-form-label" for="ngl_email">Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class="ngl-form-input"><input type="email" class="ngl-form-input-text" name="ngl_email" id="ngl_email" /></div></div><button class="ngl-form-button">Subscribe</button><p class="ngl-form-text">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay"><div class="ngl-message-svg-wrap"></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay-text">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type="hidden" name="ngl_list_id" id="ngl_list_id" value="26f81bd8ae" /><input type="hidden" name="ngl_double_optin" id="ngl_double_optin" value="yes" /></form>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 18 Dec 2021 06:11:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"WPTavern: Disable Over a Dozen WordPress Features With the No Nonsense Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127402";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:199:"https://wptavern.com/disable-over-a-dozen-wordpress-features-with-the-no-nonsense-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=disable-over-a-dozen-wordpress-features-with-the-no-nonsense-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3429:"<p class="has-drop-cap">One of the best things about WordPress is the hundreds of ways of turning things off. There are likely dozens of plugins for disabling various items, each with its own unique set of options. <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/no-nonsense/">No Nonsense</a> is no different. It is a plugin that allows users to control whether they want to use over a dozen features.</p>



<p>The plugin was developed by <a href="https://room34.com/">Room 34</a>, a Minneapolis-based web development and creative consulting studio. No Nonsense is the team&#8217;s 11th free plugin available through the WordPress.org plugin directory.</p>



<p>The team&#8217;s plugin caught my eye because it has options for features that I routinely disable on WordPress site builds, such as emoji JavaScript, individual dashboard widgets, and the toolbar. Today&#8217;s update (version 1.2) even added an option to permanently remove the Hello Dolly plugin.</p>



<p>Before anyone asks &#8212; someone always asks &#8212;, the plugin does not disable the block editor. However, it does have an option for turning off the block-based widgets editor.</p>



<p>Room 34 released the plugin on Tuesday, so it has fewer than 10 active installs at the moment. It also does not have any reviews. I suppose this post will suffice as the first. Based on my experience and a peek at its code, the plugin looks solid.</p>



<img />Plugin settings screen.



<p>I tested each feature and did not find any issues, so it gets a 5/5 for doing what it says on the tin. I would love to see a few more options.  One example that immediately comes to mind is the the &#8220;Posts&#8221; screen.  Since users can remove the &#8220;Comments&#8221; section in the admin, it makes sense to have a similar setting for posts. Both are related to blogging, and not all WordPress websites need them.</p>



<p>No Nonsense includes one of my favorite admin-access limitations. It can redirect logged-in users to the homepage when accessing anything other than their user profile in the WordPress admin.</p>



<p>Its toolbar options are all things I have lying around in my code toolbox. The plugin has settings for hiding it for users without editing access, removing the WordPress logo, and ditching the &#8220;Howdy&#8221; text.</p>



<p>The plugin includes options for many commonly-disabled features, but a new one that I had not thought about was the core update email. When managing sites for several family and friends, those &#8220;your site has updated to WordPress x.x.x&#8221; emails can become irritating. The plugin allows you to disable those except in cases of an error.</p>



<p>If someone has not already done so, I would love to see a <em>deactivation plugin to end all deactivation</em> plugins. It would feature a complete list of things that a site owner can turn off, disable, deactivate, remove, or whatever you want from a WordPress website.</p>



<p>No Nonsense looks like a good starting place, but there are always other things that I might remove from an install. I almost always give the ax to the theme and plugin editors. As well as the plugin works, there&#8217;s always just a little something more I need to get rid of, depending on the site in question. So, I am still looking for that behemoth plugin that gives me that one-click access to disable anything. For now, I can see myself deploying this on a few sites.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 18 Dec 2021 00:20:59 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:48;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"WPTavern: Free Software Foundation Adds a Code of Ethics for Board Members";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=127388";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:193:"https://wptavern.com/free-software-foundation-adds-a-code-of-ethics-for-board-members?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=free-software-foundation-adds-a-code-of-ethics-for-board-members";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4441:"<p>The Free Software Foundation (FSF) <a href="https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-adopts-new-governance-framework-for-board-members">announced</a> it is implementing a new <a href="https://www.fsf.org/about/board-member-agreement">Board Member Agreement</a> and  <a href="https://www.fsf.org/about/board-of-directors-code-of-ethics">Code of Ethics</a> that is meant to guide members in their responsibilities, decision-making, and activities. The documents, which FSF says were &#8220;designed to help make FSF governance more transparent, accountable, ethical, and responsible,&#8221; were created as part of a six-month long consultant-led review.</p>



<p>In March, FSF founder and GPL author, Richard Stallman, announced that he was returning to the board, after <a href="https://wptavern.com/gpl-author-richard-stallman-resigns-from-free-software-foundation">resigning</a> as director of the board and president of the FSF in 2019. His resignation followed a series of controversial remarks on rape, assault, and child sex trafficking, along with two decades of <a href="https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman">behaviors and statements</a> that many have found to be disturbing and offensive. He was subsequently <a href="https://wptavern.com/gnu-project-maintainers-move-to-oust-richard-stallman-from-leadership">ousted by GNU project maintainers</a> from his position as head of the project.</p>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/free-software-community-condemns-richard-stallmans-reinstatement-to-fsf-board-of-directors">Stallman&#8217;s controversial return</a> was supported by the majority of FSF&#8217;s board, with the exception of board member Kat Walsh who resigned after voting against his reinstatement. The organization’s executive director, deputy director, and chief technology officer also resigned in protest. </p>



<p>At that time, the FSF&#8217;s board published a statement saying they &#8220;take  full responsibility for how badly we handled the news of his election to a board seat. We had planned a flow of information that was not executed in a timely manner or delivered in the proper sequence.&#8221; His reinstatement took FSF&#8217;s staff by surprise, as they were not informed or consulted.</p>



<p>Mozilla, the Open Source Initiative, Red Hat, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and other prominent tech organizations also opposed the decision in published statements and removed their support for FSF and critical funding.  </p>



<p><a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/">The WordPress Foundation</a>, which previously listed FSF among the project’s inspirations, quietly removed the link from the website following the controversy. WordPress’ executive director Josepha Haden Chomphosy published a <a href="https://josepha.blog/2021/04/02/on-recent-news-about-the-fsf-board-of-directors/">statement</a>, saying she did not support Stallman&#8217;s return as a board member, and confirmed to the Tavern that this is also the WordPress project’s official stance.</p>



<p>In what appears to be an attempt to claw its way back to a semblance of accountability, FSF&#8217;s newly approved <a href="https://www.fsf.org/about/board-of-directors-code-of-ethics">Code of Ethics</a> is targeted at preempting future incidents of board members acting on behalf of the organization without permission. A few relevant ethics in the document include the following:</p>



<ul><li><em>Members of the board of directors will not undertake an activity that substantially hurts the FSF. When acting as board members, they will work toward the success of the FSF.</em></li><li><em>Board members shall all avoid placing&#8211;and the appearance of placing&#8211;one&#8217;s own self interest or any third-party interest, including the interests of associate members, above that of the organization as a whole.</em></li><li><em>Board members shall not speak on behalf of the FSF unless given explicit permission. Directors must not represent that their authority as board members extends any further than it actually extends. The board speaks as a whole, not as individuals.</em></li></ul>



<p>New governance is a positive step towards transparency and accountability, but after all the damage done during the botched rollout of Stallman&#8217;s reinstatement, it&#8217;s not likely that opposing organizations will settle for anything less than his removal from the board. </p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 17 Dec 2021 21:45:36 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:49;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:75:"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 37) — WordPress Community In Africa";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"https://poststatus.com/?p=89996";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:34:"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/37/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3639:"<h2>&#8220;You shouldn't be the one to always take, you want to be the one to always give.&#8221; —Mary Job</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David chats with special guest <strong>Mary Job</strong>. Mary is a remote, &#8220;nomad&#8221; worker in Africa who travels from city to city. She is an engineer with <strong>Paid Memberships Pro</strong> but also spends a large amount of time growing and stimulating the African WordPress community. Mary has helped start <strong>WP Africa</strong>, a site devoted to the community of WordPress users on the continent. She talks about challenges they face, compares the WordPress presence with <strong>Google</strong> in Africa, and looks forward to the day when there can be a <strong>WordCamp Africa</strong>.</p>



<p><strong>Also: </strong>Mary shares how she got involved in WordPress, and how appreciative she is of the giving nature of the WordPress community. David will have to figure out how to get Mary's invite to Matt.</p>







<p class="has-background">Every week <strong><a href="https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/">Post Status Excerpt</a></strong> will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/26a1.png" alt="⚡" class="wp-smiley" /><br /><br />You can listen to <a href="https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/">past episodes</a> of <strong>The Excerpt</strong>, <a href="https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/">browse all our podcasts</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d">Castro</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts">Player.fm</a>, <a href="https://pca.st/05rR">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href="https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/">Simplecast</a>, or by <a href="https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P">RSS</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f3a7.png" alt="🎧" class="wp-smiley" /></p>



<h3 id="h-mentioned-in-the-show"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png" alt="🔗" class="wp-smiley" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://wpafrica.org/">WP Africa</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/nathaningram">Mary Job</a><a href="http://twitter.com/maryojob"> (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/post_status" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>



<h3><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png" alt="🙏" class="wp-smiley" /> Sponsor: <a href="https://poststat.us/pagely" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow">Pagely</a></h3>



<p>You need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites.&nbsp;Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today!</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 17 Dec 2021 13:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"David Bisset";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:"type";i:128;s:7:"headers";O:42:"Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary":1:{s:7:"*data";a:8:{s:6:"server";s:5:"nginx";s:4:"date";s:29:"Wed, 12 Jan 2022 09:39:59 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Wed, 12 Jan 2022 09:30:08 GMT";s:15:"x-frame-options";s:10:"SAMEORIGIN";s:4:"x-nc";s:9:"HIT ord 2";s:16:"content-encoding";s:4:"gzip";}}s:5:"build";s:14:"20211216142404";}