a:4:{s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:3:"rss";a:1:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:3:"


";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:7:"version";s:3:"2.0";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:7:"channel";a:1:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:61:"
	
	
	
	




















































";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:1:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"WordPress Planet";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:28:"http://planet.wordpress.org/";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:8:"language";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"en";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:47:"WordPress Planet - http://planet.wordpress.org/";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:"item";a:50:{i:0;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:71:"WPTavern: WordPress Community Team Discusses Return to In-Person Events";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=108398";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:187:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-community-team-discusses-return-to-in-person-events?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-community-team-discusses-return-to-in-person-events";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:6803:"<p>Although the promise of effective COVID-19 vaccines is shining a light at the end of a long tunnel, the world remains firmly in the virus&rsquo; grip until distribution can ramp up to cover at-risk groups as well as the general populace.</p>



<p>As pandemic-weary communities muster the discipline to ride out the next few months under continued restrictions, a new discussion popped up on WordPress.org regarding the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2020/12/01/discussion-how-can-the-wordpress-community-return-to-hosting-safe-in-person-events/">return to in-person events</a>. WordPress has canceled all in-person events through the end of the year and 2021 flagship events have already been designated as online-only. Community organizer Angela Jin cited recent successful vaccine trials as a prompt for discussing how WordPress can safely resume in-person events: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>There has been promising news around some successful trials for vaccines recently! As such, it seems worthwhile to discuss how the WordPress community can return to hosting safe, in-person events.&nbsp;</p><p>Any in-person event would certainly be subject to local laws and any restrictions on gatherings, as they&rsquo;ve always been. Beyond what local health authorities require, the Global Community Team may need to to help organizers identify what additional precautions are necessary to ensure in-person events are safe for participants.&nbsp;</p></blockquote>



<p>Jin offered several examples of &ldquo;additional precautions&rdquo; to ensure events are safe, such as mandatory masks, social distancing, outdoor events, limits on the number of attendees, and no food or drink service. </p>



<p>Although countries like Australia, Taiwan, and New Zealand, seem to have adequately contained the virus, the U.S., Europe, India, and Russia have cases spiraling out of control. The discussion seems oddly timed, as this week the U.S., which is leading the world in deaths, has seen daily deaths climb to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/02/941902471/u-s-hits-100-000-covid-19-hospitalizations-breaks-daily-death-record">2,804</a>, surpassing the previous record of 2,607 reported on April 15, during the first wave of the pandemic.</p>



<p>Several of those commenting mentioned that the discussion opener neglects a critical detail about whether or not in-person events would resume before vaccines are widely distributed.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m surprised I don&rsquo;t see mention of the vaccine being a requirement,&rdquo; Mika Epstein said. &ldquo;I could assume so, but the risk of COVID is human life.</p>



<p>&ldquo;That means that unless WordPress (or any public event) has a way to ensure that no one will contract (and die) of COVID, then they have no business having any event, indoor or outdoor.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Not every country is handling things equally well, and just in the US alone, there are many places where the law says &lsquo;do not have events&rsquo; but the local authorities refuse to intercede, which resulted in 80% of the people attending an outdoor party not too far from me all testing positive.&rdquo; </p>



<p>WordPress is a global community and reliance on local laws may still put event attendees at risk in communities that have been subject to a failure of leadership in protecting citizens.</p>



<p>Cami Kaos, an eight-year WordPress community organizer, echoed these thoughts, saying, &ldquo;The one thing we need to have in place in order to make a safe re-entry into in person events is to have wide spread access to an effective vaccine.&rdquo; She commented on the difficulties of trying to ensure attendees don&rsquo;t inadvertently put each other at risk:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>It&rsquo;s all well and good for us to say you can only organize within the recommendations of your local community, but we have no way of knowing how responsible individuals are being. Of knowing if they have come in from out of town for the event. If a member of their household is a frontline worker who might be exposed daily, if someone in their family is high risk and we could be endangering a life.</p></blockquote>



<p>Without widely distributed vaccines, hosting in-person gatherings with the possibility of attendees traveling from hotspot locations would be unconscionable.</p>



<p>Kaos also commented on how difficult enforcement would be for WordPress community volunteers who would be tasked with making sure individuals wear masks properly, use hand sanitizer, maintain distance, and uphold any other requirements. </p>



<p>&ldquo;All of this would be putting unpaid and uncompensated volunteers at risk unnecessarily,&rdquo; Kaos said.</p>



<p>&ldquo;If people would like to make the choice to see their friends and collaborators in person, that can be their choice. But I don&rsquo;t feel morally comfortable legally and finically supporting in-person gatherings when I think we could prevent even one death by extending our pause on in-person events to wait for a vaccine to be readily available.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Other commenters discussed how to manage the logistics of sponsoring masks and sanitizer for organizers by coordinating with local venues and figuring out a way around slow international shipments.  </p>



<p>&ldquo;This actually opens totally new ways to organize WordPress events!&rdquo; WordCamp organizer Timi Wahalahti said. &ldquo;Why not have a bicycle trip or something similar with your WordPress friends?&rdquo;</p>



<p>Live event recordings are another consideration for hosting events in a way that is accessible to more vulnerable populations. According to WordPress community organizer Andrea Middleton, professional video recording has historically been cost prohibitive at scale.</p>



<p>&ldquo;A year ago focusing on recordings may have sounded in some ways counterproductive to growing in-person events,&rdquo; WordPress core contributor David Ryan said. &ldquo;But I think today they provide a short-term fix to the head count crunch, can help bring/keep folx in-the-fold while making in-person attendance even safer, all while adding long-term value even when travel and gatherings normalize.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The discussion on finding a safe path forward for restarting in-person events will be open until December 16, 2020. Organizers and community members can <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2020/12/01/discussion-how-can-the-wordpress-community-return-to-hosting-safe-in-person-events/">comment on the post</a> for consideration. Angela Jin said the Community Team will continue to support online events in 2021 and beyond, regardless of any decisions resulting from the discussion.</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, 03 Dec 2020 22:10:51 +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:1;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:91:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 9.5 Improves Site Editor and Adds New Options for Cover and Code Blocks";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=108450";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:227:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-9-5-improves-site-editor-and-adds-new-options-for-cover-and-code-blocks?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-9-5-improves-site-editor-and-adds-new-options-for-cover-and-code-blocks";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:4774:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Gutenberg 9.5 <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/12/02/whats-new-in-gutenberg-2-december/">went live today</a>. The development team is continuing forward with work that we will start seeing down the road in WordPress 5.7 and beyond. The big user-facing highlights for this release were the additions of a full-height alignment option for the Cover block, font-size support in the Code block, and improved previews for block patterns.</p>



<p>The majority of users will not see most of the work that went into the 9.5 release. The team addressed dozens of bugs and enhancements for the full-site editing feature. To test them, users must be using a block-based WordPress theme, such as <a href="https://wptavern.com/twenty-twenty-one-blocks-theme-launching-as-a-separate-project">Twenty Twenty-One Blocks</a>, <a href="https://wptavern.com/q-first-fse-wordpress-theme-now-live">Q</a>, or <a href="https://wptavern.com/block-based-bosco-second-full-site-editing-theme-lands-in-the-wordpress-directory">Block-Based Bosco</a>.</p>



<p>We are a long way from seeing a production-ready site editor, but it is nice to see the improvements with each major Gutenberg release, such as the ability to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27224">set a post&rsquo;s featured image</a> if it doesn&rsquo;t exist. The new description, status, and theme <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27156">admin columns for templates and template parts</a> add useful information. And, the developer side of me is happy to see a new <code>wp_theme</code> <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27016">taxonomy for grouping templates</a> under the hood rather than metadata.</p>



<p>The development team has made progress on the Query block. It is probably the most important piece of the full-site editing puzzle, and its current state is still holding back movement on block-based themes. The block now sports a new <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27067">&ldquo;grid view&rdquo; option</a>. There is also a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/26990">Posts List variation</a> that sets up a default of listing blog posts and excluding sticky posts. This block variation is a step toward pushing third-party plugin developers into creating custom variations for their post types in the future, building from the example set by WordPress.</p>



<h2>Full-Screen Cover Block</h2>



<img />Setting the Cover block to full height.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The Gutenberg team added a new <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/26615">Full Height Alignment</a> toolbar option to the Cover block. This is an independent alignment option and does not interfere with the existing horizontal alignments.</p>



<p>When adding the Cover block to a post, users will see a new frame-like button in the toolbar. After clicking, it will automatically set the height setting in the block options to <code>100 vh</code>, which is the full height of the browser viewport. This option is far more flexible than having users set a height with pixel units, which do not automatically adjust based on the visitor&rsquo;s screen size.</p>



<p>By combining this new alignment with full-width alignment, users can create full-screen layouts with the Cover block.</p>



<p>The new toolbar control will likely <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/16385">land in other core blocks</a>. The Media &amp; Text block is another good use case. Plus, third-party plugin developers can integrate it into their blocks. As its use becomes more widespread in blocks, it will offer more robust design options for theme developers too.</p>



<h2>Change Code Block Font Size</h2>



<img />Setting the Code block&rsquo;s font size.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The Code block now has the same <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27294">font-size option</a> as other text-based blocks, such as Paragraph and List. In general, users should probably shy away from adjusting this on a per-post basis and stick to the global default set by their theme or the Global Styles options when they eventually land in WordPress.</p>



<p>However, there are use cases where it makes sense to change the code font-size in particular layouts.  I imagine some development-related site owners will want to highlight or showcase code in some way.</p>



<p>With that in mind, it would be interesting to see other design options brought to Code block. Currently, it does not offer much in the way of customization, but color and background options could allow users to spruce up their code examples a bit without relying on a third-party plugin for that extra bit of pizzazz.</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, 02 Dec 2020 23:45:15 +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: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:2;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:57:"WordPress.org blog: The Month in WordPress: November 2020";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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9283";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:72:"https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/the-month-in-wordpress-november-2020/";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:10892:"<p>November 2020 saw several updates to the WordPress 5.6 release. Read on to follow all the latest news from the WordPress world!</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2>WordPress 5.6 updates</h2>



<p>The Core team released WordPress 5.6 <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/11/wordpress-5-6-beta-3/">Beta 3</a> on Nov. 2, <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/11/wordpress-5-6-beta-4/">Beta 4</a> on Nov. 12, <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/11/wordpress-5-6-release-candidate/">release candidate</a> 1 on Nov. 17, and <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/wordpress-5-6-release-candidate-2/">release candidate 2</a> on Dec. 1. You can test the Beta versions and the release candidates by <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.6-beta2.zip">downloading them from WordPress.org</a> or by using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin. Check out the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/20/wordpress-5-6-field-guide/">WordPress 5.6 field guide</a> to understand the features of WordPress 5.6 and learn how you can incorporate them into your websites. WordPress 5.6 <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-6/">will be out by Dec. 9, 2020</a>. </p>



<p>But our work is never done: You can submit <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/23/wordpress-5-7-whats-on-your-wishlist/">feature suggestions for WordPress 5.7</a> by Dec. 15.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Want to contribute to upcoming WordPress releases? Join the WordPress Core dev chats on Wednesdays at 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. UTC in the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW">#core</a> channel on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">Make WordPress Slack</a>, and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/dev-chat/">catch up with recaps</a> on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">Core team blog</a>. If you would like to help with WordPress 5.6 outreach, contact the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/">WordPress Marketing team</a> on the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0GKJ7TFA">#marketing</a> channel.</p>



<h2>Gutenberg 9.3 and 9.4 are out</h2>



<p>Contributor teams released Gutenberg <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-4-november/">Version 9.3</a> on Nov. 4 and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/19/whats-new-in-gutenberg-18-november-2/">Version 9.4</a> on Nov. 18. Both versions include&nbsp; several improvements to Full Site Editing (FSE) flows, in addition to bug fixes and feature upgrades. Version 9.3 is the first release that isn’t included entirely in WordPress 5.6; the version automatically enables FSE experiments when a block-based theme is active. Version 9.4 introduces some new features like percentage width for button blocks, block variation transformations, social icon support, and font size support for the list block. You can find out more about the Gutenberg roadmap in the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/02/whats-next-in-gutenberg-november-2020/">What’s next in Gutenberg blog post</a>.</p>



<p>Want to get involved in building Gutenberg? Follow <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">the Core team blog</a>, contribute to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/">Gutenberg on GitHub</a>, and join the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7">#core-editor</a> channel in <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">the Making WordPress Slack group</a>.</p>



<h2>Learn WordPress updates</h2>



<p>WordPress contributor teams are all set to launch <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">Learn WordPress</a> in December. Community members can now watch<a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshops"> video workshops</a> to learn about various WordPress topics, <a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/">participate in discussion groups</a>, and use <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plans/">lesson plans</a> for organizing their own workshops. Contributor teams have launched <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2020/11/18/quizzes-are-now-live-on-learn-wordpress/">quizzes</a> and are also working on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2020/11/18/standards-for-learn-wordpress-workshop-content/">setting standards</a> for workshops.<br /></p>



<p>Want to contribute to Learn WordPress? You can now submit a <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop-presenter-application/">workshop application</a> (submissions in languages other than English are welcome!), apply to become a <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/discussion-group-leader-application/">discussion group leader</a>, organize <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/virtual-events/organize-learn-wordpress-discussion-groups-for-your-wordpress-meetup/">discussions for your local WordPress meetup group</a>, or <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2020/11/25/high-priority-items-before-learn-wordpress-org-launch-part-2/">help fix issues with existing lesson plans</a>.</p>



<h2>WordPress 5.6 Translations and Polyglots survey</h2>



<p>WordPress 5.6 is ready to be translated and is now at <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze">hard string freeze</a>. If you would like to contribute, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2020/11/07/wordpress-5-6-ready-to-be-translated/">check out these instructions</a> and ensure that <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/translating/packaging-localized-wordpress/automated-release-packages/">your locale is ready for an automated release</a>. The Polyglots team has also kicked off its <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/polyglots-translator-research">translator research survey</a>. Please <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/polyglots-translator-research">participate in the survey</a>, share the <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/polyglots-translator-research">survey link</a> with members of your locale, and help amplify the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WPTranslationDay/posts/1275404086174610">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/TranslateWP/status/1333342595913834496">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wptranslationday_makewordpress-wordpress-activity-6739110862650523648-fX8R/">LinkedIn</a> posts about it.</p>



<p>Want to help WordPress speak your language? Follow <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots">the Polyglots team blog</a> and join the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RP50LK">#polyglots</a> channel in <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">the Making WordPress Slack group</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2>Further Reading:</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://www.php.net/releases/8.0/en.php">PHP 8</a> is out, and WordPress 5.6 <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/23/wordpress-and-php-8-0/">aims to be &#8220;beta-compatible&#8221; with the latest PHP version</a>.</li><li>Contributor teams have kicked off <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2020/11/18/theme-previews-in-the-time-of-blocks/">an ongoing discussion on starter content for WordPress themes</a>. Starter content for the <a href="http://wp-themes.com/twentytwentyone/">Twenty Twenty One</a>, <a href="http://wp-themes.com/twentytwenty/">Twenty Twenty</a>, and <a href="http://wp-themes.com/twentyseventeen/">Twenty Seventeen</a> themes are now available.</li><li>The Accessibility team is <a href="https://github.com/10degrees/accessibility-statement-plugin">testing a tool</a> to generate the structure of an accessibility statement for WordPress websites based on <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning/statements/generator/#create">W3C standards</a>, and it is <a href="https://github.com/10degrees/accessibility-statement-plugin/issues">requesting feedback from the community</a>.</li><li>The <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/">WordPress Foundation</a> has published a <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/2020/open-source-workshops-november-2020-report/">report on Open Source workshops</a> that were held online in 2020, based on the <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">Learn WordPress</a> platform.</li><li>The Docs team is actively <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2020/11/12/follow-up-on-gutenberg-developer-documentation-restructuring-proposal/">following up</a> on a proposal to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2020/08/13/plan-proposal-for-a-new-better-structured-gutenberg-developer-documentation/">restructure the Gutenberg developer documentation</a>.</li><li>The Community team is back with <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/tuesdaytrainings/">Tuesday Trainings</a>. The team is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2020/11/16/community-team-goals-for-2021-share-your-suggestions/">also inviting suggestions on team goals for 2021</a> with a deadline of Dec. 14.</li><li>The Support team is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/support/2020/11/changing-up-the-forum-front-page/">making changes to the forum page</a> to improve discoverability. </li><li>Two online WordCamps took place in November: <a href="https://finland.wordcamp.org/2020/">WordCamp Finland Online</a> and <a href="https://mexico.wordcamp.org/2020/">WordCamp Mexico Online</a>. You can find Livestream recaps of the events on their websites. Videos will soon be available on WordPress.tv as well.</li><li>The Themes team <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2020/11/11/meeting-notes-tuesday-november-10-2020/">made some changes to WordPress theme requirements</a>. These include removing updated CSS guidelines and a proposed plan to make WordPress themes accessibility-ready. The team is also <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2020/11/19/feedback-requested-resolution-process-for-issues-found-in-live-themes/">requesting feedback</a> on the resolution process for issues found in live themes.</li><li>WordPress 5.6 will feature a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/05/updating-core-jquery-to-version-3-part-2/">major jQuery change</a>, with the bundled jQuery version being updated to Version 3.5.1 and jQuery Migrate being updated to Version 3.3.2.</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/wpdiversity/">Diversity speaker training group</a> of the Community team is requesting feedback on reimagining their work. Please <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2020/11/12/input-requested-re-imagining-the-work-of-the-diverse-speaker-training-group-wpdiversity/">share your feedback as comments on the post</a> by Dec. 18.</li></ul>



<p><em>Have a story that we should include in the next “Month in WordPress” post? Please </em><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/"><em>submit it here</em></a><em>.</em></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, 02 Dec 2020 09:13:48 +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:"Hari Shanker R";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:3;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: New Plugin Adds Google-Doc Style Commenting to Gutenberg Blocks";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=108408";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/new-plugin-adds-google-doc-style-commenting-to-gutenberg-blocks?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-plugin-adds-google-doc-style-commenting-to-gutenberg-blocks";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:3328:"<p><a href="https://www.multidots.com/">Multidots</a>, a development agency and WordPress VIP Agency Partner, has released a plugin that brings content collaboration to the block editor. The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/commenting-feature/">Google-Doc Style Gutenberg Block Commenting</a> plugin landed on WordPress.org in October and is just starting to gain traction.</p>



<p>It adds inline commenting to the editor where users can highlight text or select entire blocks and leave a comment. Other users can leave comments and/or mark the thread as resolved for a collaborative editing experience. Alternatively, the post author can use comments for making notes on sections that need to be improved or reviewed prior to publishing. The features support the following editorial workflow:</p>



<ul><li>Add comments on Gutenberg blocks</li><li>Reply to comment</li><li>Get feedback</li><li>Resolve it</li><li>Get email notification of resolved comments</li></ul>



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



<p>Multidots has a <a href="https://www.multidots.com/gutenberg-commenting-demo/">live demo</a> set up where you can test leaving comments, replies, and marking threads as resolved. The plugin is currently compatible with a range of text-based blocks that are part of a page or post. Commenting can be accessed by highlighting text and then clicking on the dropdown arrow in the toolbar. Inline comments can be displayed or hidden via the icon in the top toolbar.</p>



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



<p>The plugin restricts adding and editing comments to Super Administrators, Administrators, and Editors. These user roles can edit their own comments but cannot edit or delete those added by other users.</p>



<p>Google-Doc Style Gutenberg Block Commenting could be useful for organizations where multiple teams need to review content before publishing. Not having the ability to collaborate using the block editor may even be a deal breaker for some teams that are considering WordPress. When collaborating on posts in the past I have often used Google Docs just for the ability to give inline comments with notifications. This plugin cuts many time-consuming steps out of that process, such as obtaining collaborators&rsquo; Gmail addresses, pasting the most recent version of the post into a document, and ultimately having to paste it all back into the editor. </p>



<p>The plugin&rsquo;s authors consider this a beta version and plan to add more features based on community feedback. After testing it, I found that resolved threads seem to disappear, but it might be helpful to have a lasting record of them. Users cannot comment on images or other types of non-text-based blocks, and this seems somewhat limiting. There are no notifications for comments &ndash; only resolved threads, which makes it difficult to know when content needs further review.</p>



<p>Multidots is planning for the next release to be a more optimized version with enhanced commenting features, including the ability to leave popup suggestions for adding/removing certain text at a specific location and asynchronous commenting. Anyone interested in following the progress or contributing can <a href="https://github.com/multidots/gutenberg_commenting/">find the project on GitHub</a>.</p>



<p></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, 02 Dec 2020 04:40:09 +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:4;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:53:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.6 Release Candidate 2";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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9274";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:69:"https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/wordpress-5-6-release-candidate-2/";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:2247:"<p>The second release candidate for WordPress 5.6 is here!</p>



<p>WordPress 5.6 is slated for release on <strong>December 8, 2020</strong>, and we need <em>your</em> help to get there—if you haven’t tried 5.6 yet, now is the time!</p>



<p>You can test WordPress 5.6 release candidate 2 in two ways:</p>



<ul><li>Try the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (choose the “bleeding edge nightlies” option).</li><li>Or <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.6-RC2.zip">download the release candidate here (zip)</a>.</li></ul>



<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the&nbsp;Beta releases and gave feedback. Testing for bugs is a critical part of polishing every release and a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>



<h2>Plugin and Theme Developers</h2>



<p>Please test your plugins and themes against WordPress 5.6 and update the <em>Tested up to</em> version in the readme file to 5.6. If you find compatibility problems, please be sure to post to the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/">support forums</a>. That way, those can be figured out before the final release. </p>



<p>For a more detailed breakdown of the changes included in WordPress 5.6, check out the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/wordpress-5-6-beta-1/">WordPress 5.6 beta 1 post</a>. The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/20/wordpress-5-6-field-guide/">WordPress 5.6 Field Guide</a> is also out! It’s your source for details on all the major changes.</p>



<h2>How to Help</h2>



<p>Do you speak a language other than English? <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev">Help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a></p>



<p><em><strong>Think you found a bug?</strong> Post it to the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta">Alpha/Beta area</a> in the support forums. We would love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report you can <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/">file one on WordPress Trac</a>. Don&#8217;t forget to check <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major">the list of known bugs</a></em>!</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, 01 Dec 2020 22:09:28 +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:7:"Josepha";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:5;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: Block-Based Bosco, Second Full-Site Editing Theme Lands in the WordPress Directory";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=108321";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:227:"https://wptavern.com/block-based-bosco-second-full-site-editing-theme-lands-in-the-wordpress-directory?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=block-based-bosco-second-full-site-editing-theme-lands-in-the-wordpress-directory";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:5489:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">Fr&auml;nk Klein, a Principal Engineer at Human Made, is now the second theme developer to release a block-based theme to the WordPress theme directory. <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/block-based-bosco/">Block-Based Bosco</a> is a recreation of his <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/bosco/">Bosco</a> theme, which he released in 2014.</p>



<p>Block-based themes, also called FSE (full-site editing) themes, are currently experimental. They require the use of the Gutenberg plugin, which will automatically detect their structure and activate the beta version of the site editor. This system allows users to experience a WordPress install that is comprised entirely of blocks. Widgets, nav menus, and the customizer screens are out. Everything from posts to site headers to navigation is handled through HTML templates, which users can customize via the site editor. It is still a raw experience but continually improves with each update of the Gutenberg plugin.</p>



<p>Just over a month ago, Themes Team representative Ari Stathopoulos <a href="https://wptavern.com/q-first-fse-wordpress-theme-now-live">released the first block-based theme</a>, named Q, to the official theme directory. It was both a milestone in WordPress theming history and an invitation for developers to follow his lead.</p>



<p>We have since seen the initial work toward a <a href="https://wptavern.com/twenty-twenty-one-blocks-theme-launching-as-a-separate-project">block-based version</a> of the upcoming Twenty Twenty-One default theme. It is not yet in the directory, but the community should expect it soon.</p>



<p>Developers like Klein and Stathopoulos are paving the way for others. For those who do not have the time or the inclination to scour the Gutenberg plugin&rsquo;s code or follow dozens of tickets, they can take the easy route. Study the code of people who have done the legwork.</p>



<p>Klein has also written a detailed post titled <a href="https://wpdevelopment.courses/articles/full-site-editing-theme-learnings/">What I Learned Building a Full-Site Editing Theme</a> in which he goes into detail about his experience. Despite his optimism for the future of theming, he does not shy away from the problems he stumbled upon. It is a must-read for any theme author who is preparing to take the plunge into block-based theme building.</p>



<p>One thing that some developers may find surprising or may even make them feel slightly uncomfortable is that Klein spent much of his development time working from the site editor rather than in a code editor. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s likely that this will be the future workflow for creating themes,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;Because not only can you edit a theme visually, but it&rsquo;s also much more practical than writing block markup by hand. Especially because the interface makes it easy to discover the different options offered by blocks, so that you can adjust them as needed for your desired theme design.&rdquo;</p>



<h2>About the Theme</h2>



<img />Block-Based Bosco in the site editor.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Block-Based Bosco is relatively simple. It is a one-column, no-sidebar theme, which is what most block-based themes will look like at the moment.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Full-site editing themes are still missing a lot of essential features,&rdquo; wrote Klein. &ldquo;Therefore it&rsquo;s important to choose a theme design that fits with these constraints. Else you&rsquo;re going to have a very frustrating experience.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Unlike Q, which is a bare-bones theme primarily for testing theme-related features, Block-Based Bosco is based on a design that users might want to actually use on a site, at least someday. Currently, full-site editing is not yet ready for use with production sites. The theme design holds up well for a simple personal blog.</p>



<p>There are things the theme could do better in the short term. Offering support for wide and full alignments would be ideal, particularly for a one-column theme. The editor and front-end content width also do not match, so it is not a perfect what-you-see-is-what-you-get experience. These are not make-or-break features for these types of experimental themes at this point. We are simply in the testing ground stage.</p>



<p>Right now, end-users need to start tinkering with themes like Block-Based Bosco &mdash; please do so on a test install and not a live site &mdash; and offering feedback. They also allow other developers to get more comfortable with a new system before it suddenly feels like it comes crashing down in 2021.</p>



<h2>Opening Up the Theme Directory</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">One thing is obvious at this point. The WordPress theme directory needs to allow theme authors to upload block-based themes without hacks or other workarounds. Block-Based Bosco and similar themes are currently being shipped with dummy files, such as <code>header.php</code> and <code>footer.php</code>, and unnecessary PHP code in <code>functions.php</code> to bypass the Theme Check system. With these extra files and code removed, block-based themes are minuscule in comparison to traditional WordPress themes.</p>



<p>There is an <a href="https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5504">open ticket</a> on the WordPress Meta Trac and a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-check/pull/280">patch for the Theme Check plugin</a>. Someone needs to pull the trigger and make it happen.</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, 01 Dec 2020 21:19:54 +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:6;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:113:"WPTavern: Admin 2020 Version 2 Introduces New Lite Version, Better Plugin Compatibility, and Modular Architecture";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=108302";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:267:"https://wptavern.com/admin-2020-version-2-introduces-new-lite-version-better-plugin-compatibility-and-modular-architecture?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=admin-2020-version-2-introduces-new-lite-version-better-plugin-compatibility-and-modular-architecture";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:5328:"<img />



<p>Six months ago, <a href="https://admintwentytwenty.com/">Admin 2020</a> captured the attention of WordPress users with its fresh approach to skinning the admin screens. <a href="https://admintwentytwenty.com/admin-2-is-here/">Version 2</a> of the plugin has been completely rewritten to support a modular architecture so users can enable or disable features, or selectively enable them&nbsp;by user role or username. Some users prefer the default menu but want to be able to categorize their media into folders with the plugin&rsquo;s CMS-friendly architecture for organizing media and posts. This update significantly improves performance for those who don&rsquo;t require the analytics, admin bar, menu, or other features. </p>



<p>The plugin now has a new settings interface that is less cluttered than the previous version.</p>



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



<p>&ldquo;Admin 2020 started off as a WordPress admin theme, and that was always at the core of the plugin,&rdquo; developer Mark Ashton said. &ldquo;As we grew, we added more and more features on top of that and it became very difficult in its current iteration to separate those feature sets, or disable some features and let others carry on.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Version 2 also greatly improves compatibility with other plugins. Ashton was spending a lot of time adding support for other plugins, which slowed down development. The new approach to compatibility causes fewer styling conflicts and works without having to add custom stylesheets for other plugins. Prior to this version, Admin 2020 disabled 90% of WordPress admin styling and applied its own. </p>



<p>&ldquo;While this gave us complete control over layouts and styling, it was one of the reasons we had to spend a lot of time adding support for other plugins,&rdquo; Ashton said. &ldquo;So for version 2, we kept the WP styling (most of it anyway) and applied a lightweight theme on top&nbsp;of it. The end result is a theme that is more refined, quicker, and the most compatible we have ever put out.<br />Usually the only plugins we have problems with these days are the ones that actively disable non standard WP scripts and styles, which obviously breaks admin 2020&rsquo;s layout.&rdquo;</p>



<p>In the interest of keeping Admin 2020 lightweight, the plugin now uses a custom build of the <a href="https://getuikit.com/">UIkit</a> framework that is more tailored to its specific use case. </p>



<p>&ldquo;Instead of having uikit as a base, and then layering on top of it, we just tailored it to suit the plugin needs and thanks to the wonders of scss it is an incredibly easy framework to modify,&rdquo; Ashton said. &ldquo;Doing this also allowed us to support RTL much easier which was a very common feature request.&rdquo;</p>



<h2>New Admin 2020 Lite Version Offers Basic Features, Coming to WordPress.org in 2021</h2>



<p>Admin 2020 is now available on the plugin&rsquo;s website in a Lite version for free. In recognition of WordPress.org&rsquo;s undeniable force as a distribution channel, Ashton is considering changing his previous strategy of pursuing a fully commercial model to embrace the idea of marketing a free plugin with a paid upgrade. </p>



<p>&ldquo;Admin 2020 has grown so much since we launched in May this year and it&rsquo;s no longer just an admin theme,&rdquo; Ashton said. &ldquo;In fact, we see it as more of an admin extension now that also has a theme. Because of this, we felt there are now enough features to be able to offer the lite and pro versions.&rdquo;</p>



<p>With the new modular system in version 2, the free and commercial versions are the same plugins, except the lite version has the paid modules removed.</p>



<p>&ldquo;This means the development of the two versions is synched and updates,&nbsp;new features and bug&nbsp;fixes all rollout at the same time,&rdquo; Ashton said. &ldquo;For the time being we are going to stick to our own distribution&nbsp;channel just to keep everything streamlined, but releasing through&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://wordpress.org/" target="_blank">wordpress.org</a>&nbsp;is something we have planned for next year.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Launching a new business during a pandemic is no easy feat but Ashton has grown Admin 2020&rsquo;s user base to 3,642 active installations and is still looking to hire someone to assist in developing and maintaining the plugin.</p>



<p>&ldquo;This has grown dramatically since the release of version 2 and will likely be around 5,000 or more in a week due to the sales from the Black Friday/Cyber Monday event,&rdquo; he said. </p>



<p>Next up on the roadmap, Admin 2020 users can expect more customization options and deeper integration with WooCommerce. Ashton is currently working on the custom admin pages feature set that will allow users to create admin pages using the block editor and some of the more popular page builders. </p>



<p>&ldquo;We are also working on expanding our WooCommerce integration with the idea of having a full suite of cards and data available on the overview page to help better visualize your business and sales,&rdquo; Ashton said. &ldquo;We are also going to be changing admin 2020&rsquo;s name towards the end of the year but I won&rsquo;t say what to just yet.&rdquo;</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, 30 Nov 2020 23:36:50 +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:7;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:97:"WPTavern: Block Navigation Plugin Provides Missing Context-Based Outline for the WordPress Editor";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=108323";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:239:"https://wptavern.com/block-navigation-plugin-provides-missing-context-based-outline-for-the-wordpress-editor?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=block-navigation-plugin-provides-missing-context-based-outline-for-the-wordpress-editor";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:4596:"<p class="has-drop-cap">&Aacute;lvaro Garc&iacute;a wrote the first code for his <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-navigation">Block Navigation</a> plugin back in November 2018. It is one of those hidden gems that I wish I had known about two years ago as I began using the block editor. It has been available. I simply did not know about it until blindly stumbling upon it in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/gutenberghub/permalink/2844169185815585/">discussion</a> in the WordPress Gutenberg Community group on Facebook.</p>



<p>The goal of the plugin is to provide an alternative to the editor&rsquo;s current navigation. For the most part, it excels. WordPress has set the bar so low that any improvement seems like a godsend.</p>



<p>The plugin adds a new sidebar panel titled Block Navigation. That panel then lists each block with the added context needed to understand what block it is associated with in the content. For example, a Paragraph block in the navigation list will display its first few words. Other blocks do the same. Images and galleries in the list display their respective thumbnails. It handles nested blocks too.</p>



<p>All users must do is search for and click on the block they want to jump to in the content.</p>



<img />Navigating to  specific paragraph in the document.



<p>The plugin is packed with several other features. Users can shift blocks up and down from the navigation panel. They can also move blocks anywhere in the document with the click of a button or remove them altogether.</p>



<p>One of the more interesting features of the Block Navigation plugin is its ability to log a block&rsquo;s data to the console. For developers, this could be a handy feature to quickly look up information for a block. While I doubt the average user would use it, there might be some potential applications for support requests, particularly with third-party block plugins.</p>



<img />Console log of a block&rsquo;s data.



<p>The downside of the plugin is that it does not provide a color scheme that simply matches the default WordPress color palette. However, it does provide a dozen color options for users to choose from. The Banana (light) scheme seemed the least out of place.</p>



<p>With the navigation being handled in the sidebar, it could interfere with some users&rsquo; workflows. For users who prefer to keep the block options sidebar available at all times, they will need to switch back and forth between sidebars. The plugin does provide a button for switching to each block&rsquo;s setting via its submenu (vertical ellipsis icon) in the navigation list.</p>



<p>The thing that would make this plugin better would be putting it into the editor toolbar, replacing the current Outline dropdown.</p>



<h2>It Should Be a Core WordPress Feature</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The block editor&rsquo;s Outline dropdown is lackluster at best. For short posts, it is unnecessary. For long posts, there is no context for any of the blocks in the list. The goal is to be able to jump to specific points in the document without scrolling. However, unless you know the exact location in the block you want to jump to, it can sometimes be impossible to use the feature.</p>



<img />Outline dropdown.



<p>The Document Outline section of the Details dropdown provides some much-needed context. It displays the post&rsquo;s headings. However, this outline does not allow users to click on an item and jump to its associated block.</p>



<img />Details dropdown.



<p>Paal Joachim Romdahl proposed a fix for the Outline dropdown in October 2018. &ldquo;What about just using the icon and then showing some of the text in the beginning of the paragraph?&rdquo; he asked in a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/11010">GitHub ticket</a> that has seen no discussion for nearly a year.</p>



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



<p>There is currently an <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/14956">open pull request</a> on GitHub to merge the Details and Outline dropdowns in the toolbar. The original proposal added a tabbed interface. However, an alternative patch without the tabs proposed in the same ticket would merge the best of both worlds by adding the more-detailed structural outline while linking to the blocks in the document.</p>



<p>The only question left now is whether I can still update my <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-7-wish-list-save-block-editor-settings-per-user">WordPress 5.7 wish list</a> to include this feature.</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, 30 Nov 2020 23:03:20 +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: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:8;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:61:"BuddyPress: BuddyPress 6.4.0 Maintenance and Security Release";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:32:"https://buddypress.org/?p=315780";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:81:"https://buddypress.org/2020/11/buddypress-6-4-0-maintenance-and-security-release/";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:1569:"<p><a href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.6.4.0.zip">BuddyPress 6.4.0</a>&nbsp;is now available. This is a security and maintenance release. All BuddyPress installations are strongly encouraged to upgrade as soon as possible.</p>



<p>The 6.4.0 release addresses one security issue: non-capable users could add a style attributes to “span” and “p” elements in possible rich text fields of their profile page. The vulnerability has been fixed.</p>



<p>Version 6.4.0 also fixes 7 bugs, including compatibility updates to welcome <a href="https://www.php.net/releases/8.0/en.php?lang=en">PHP 8.0 release</a> (Congratulations to all PHP 8.0 contributors!).</p>



<p>For complete details, visit the&nbsp;<a href="https://codex.buddypress.org/releases/version-6-4-0/">6.4.0 changelog</a>.</p>



<p>Update to BuddyPress 6.4.0 today in your WordPress Dashboard, or by&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/">downloading from the WordPress.org plugin repository</a>.</p>



<h2>Many thanks to 6.4.0 contributors&nbsp;<span class="dashicons dashicons-heart"></span></h2>



<p><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnjamesjacoby">John James Jacoby (johnjamesjacoby)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zeldatea/">Zeldatea</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32/">Dion Hulse</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/r-a-y/">Ray (r-a-y)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dcavins/">David Cavins (dcavins)</a> &amp; <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/imath/">Mathieu Viet (imath)</a>.</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, 27 Nov 2020 22:32:16 +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:"Mathieu Viet";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:9;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:65:"WordPress Foundation: Open Source Workshops: November 2020 report";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:41:"https://wordpressfoundation.org/?p=150204";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:80:"https://wordpressfoundation.org/2020/open-source-workshops-november-2020-report/";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:3597:"<p>The WordPress Foundation has been organizing <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/2018/open-source-training-events-announced/">Introduction to Open Source workshops</a>, as part of our continuing efforts to educate the public about WordPress and related open-source software (OSS). In 2019, as part of our goal of organizing workshops in parts of the world with less participation in open source, we held <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/2019/successful-open-source-workshops-in-bhutan-india-pakistan-and-angola/">four successful workshops</a> in India, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Thimphu.&nbsp;</p>



<p>By March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had engulfed the world, forcing community organizers to cancel all in-person events. Unfazed by these challenges, our community organizers pivoted to online events by organizing <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/2020/charity-hackathons-august-2020-report/">four successful online charity hackathons</a> in <a href="https://doaction.org/ja/event/japan-2020/">Japan</a>, <a href="https://doaction.org/event/south-africa-2020/">South Africa</a>, <a href="https://doaction.org/event/india-2020/">India</a>, and <a href="https://doaction.org/event/nigeria-2020/">Nigeria</a>, so far. The Introduction to Open Source workshops have also moved online. The <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/introduction-to-open-source/">workshop</a> is now available online as part of <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">Learn WordPress</a>, which is a brand new initiative from WordPress contributor teams to help people learn how to use, build for, and contribute to WordPress. Community members across the world can now<a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/introduction-to-open-source/"> learn about Open-Source</a> safely from the comfort of their homes and test their knowledge using <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/quiz/introduction-to-open-source/">the embedded quiz</a>. The workshops are also followed by <a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/">discussion groups</a>, where participants can discuss their learnings in real-time and find answers to their questions.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>As of November 2020, the Introduction to Open-source workshop video has been viewed 757 times. Three online discussion group events with over 152 RSVPs were also held successfully. Sign-ups are open for two more discussion groups that are listed below:</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/events/274841875/">Tuesday, December 8 2020, at 6:00 AM UTC</a></li><li><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/events/274841881/">Wednesday, December 16 2020, at 4:00 PM UTC</a></li></ul>



<p>You can watch the <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/introduction-to-open-source/">workshop video</a> and participate in these discussion groups to learn about open-source software and find answers to your questions on open-source.</p>



<p>In addition to these scheduled discussion groups, community organizers can organize <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/virtual-events/organize-learn-wordpress-discussion-groups-for-your-wordpress-meetup/">their own online discussion groups</a> or hold online watch parties for the <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/introduction-to-open-source/">Introduction to Open-Source workshop</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Given the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, WordPress Foundation events are likely to be held online in 2021. We will be announcing our plans for 2021 events later this year.</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, 27 Nov 2020 09:05:16 +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:"Hari Shanker";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:10;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:38:"WPTavern: Something To Be Thankful For";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=108221";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:121:"https://wptavern.com/something-to-be-thankful-for?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=something-to-be-thankful-for";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:4328:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">Over the past several weeks, I have received around four dozen emails, texts, PMs, and other messages related to Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Last year, we ran a <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-black-friday-sales-roundup">roundup of deals</a> happening throughout the WordPress ecosystem.  However, we are not running such a post this year. It took a solid week to compile and piece together the previous article. It was a lot of work for what was a statistical dud. Readership tends to wane around holidays as people spend more time offline and with their families.</p>



<p>Plus, I firmly believe that our readers would rather see what we have to say about a particular product than simply scroll through a list of offers that are already widely shared on Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere.</p>



<p>As George Olaru, the CEO of Pixelgrade, wrote in <em><a href="https://pixelgrade.com/upstairs/discounts/">I discount, you discount, we both lose</a></em>, software is not a perishable food item. It is not at risk of spoilage in a few days, and if it is, we have a real problem. On the flip side, some small businesses rely on this holiday to generate a large portion of their yearly revenue. However, we should all have some serious conversations about whether it is healthy for discounted software to permeate the WordPress plugin and theme markets every time a holiday rolls around. Whatever your stance, Olaru&rsquo;s piece is worth reading and thinking on.</p>



<p>It is also tough to get into the holiday spirit this year. With Covid-19, the Black Friday markets have changed, which is probably not a bad thing on the whole &mdash; <em>do we all really need to pile into stores to fight over the latest gadgets?</em> The pandemic has also meant that families have had to make hard decisions about gatherings. The Tadlock family decided to cancel our pre-Thanksgiving/reunion we have in early November. We host it early because the doctors and nurses in the family often have to work on the holiday, and they agreed that a large gathering was not ideal. Fortunately, we live in an era where we can connect with each other in moments and from vast distances.</p>



<p>No, it did not feel right to do a sales roundup this year. Instead, I wanted to get back to the root of the Thanksgiving holiday, at least what I was taught the holiday was supposed to be about.</p>



<p>While tomorrow&rsquo;s Thanksgiving holiday is an American tradition, I am certain our readers abroad can join in the celebration. It is a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the previous year. In times past, this has often meant being thankful for the harvest and having food on the table. Today, it still means the same to many. However, the holiday is all about counting our blessings, and that is something we should all take time to do.</p>



<p>This year, the thing I am most thankful for is the community, the people who all band together to create the most used CMS on the web, the people who evangelize the platform, and the people who continually take part in this grand experiment.</p>



<p>One of the things I attempt to do when writing is to share exciting things happening in our little corner of the world. Yes, I am often critical too. This is because I want to see people and companies strive to create better themes, plugins, and other products. For those times when I stretch to hyperbole or perhaps lean toward the negative, know that it comes from a place that is hoping for your success. It is hard to balance at times, but I am thankful that I can do this day in and day out.</p>



<p>After writing for the Tavern for over a year now, I feel like I am on a wondrous journey with so many of you. Whether it is a random message just to say hello or a ping about a new product, I look forward to seeing it all.</p>



<p>These human-to-human connections were not something I was expecting as I began this gig. Thank you to everyone who has made that possible.</p>



<p>Let&rsquo;s all take a day and share some of the WordPress-related things we are thankful for this year &mdash; <em>we can all save our block editor criticisms for tomorrow</em>. It has been a rough year. We could all really use some positivity right now.</p>



<p>What are you thankful for?</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, 25 Nov 2020 19:51:56 +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:11;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:67:"WPTavern: Getting Your WordPress Plugins and Themes Ready for PHP 8";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=108160";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:179:"https://wptavern.com/getting-your-wordpress-plugins-and-themes-ready-for-php-8?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=getting-your-wordpress-plugins-and-themes-ready-for-php-8";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:7380:"<p>On Monday, WordPress core contributor Jonathan Desrosiers published a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/23/wordpress-and-php-8-0/" target="_blank">detailed post</a> on the Make WordPress Core blog about the upcoming PHP 8 release and how it affects WordPress.</p>



<h2>PHP 8 Is Coming</h2>



<p>Scheduled for release on <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://wiki.php.net/todo/php80" target="_blank">November 26, 2020</a>, PHP 8 is the next major update to our favorite scripting language. While previous PHP releases have not had too much of an adverse effect on the WordPress ecosystem, this update has some breaking changes that could affect backward compatibility. It should also be noted that many features that were deprecated in PHP 7.x will now be removed in PHP 8.</p>



<h2>The Status of WordPress Core</h2>



<p>In his post, Desrosiers highlights the work that has been done to keep the core software up to date.  &ldquo;WordPress Core aims to be compatible with PHP 8.0 in the 5.6 release (currently scheduled for December 8, 2020),&rdquo; he wrote. </p>



<p>However, this does not mean it is safe to upgrade to PHP 8 when WordPress 5.6 is released.  WordPress is rarely run just on its own and usually relies on at least one theme and a collection of plugins to function as a blog or web site. As such, he points out, &ldquo;The state of PHP 8 support within the broader ecosystem (plugins, themes, etc.) is impossible to know. For that reason, WordPress 5.6 should be considered &lsquo;beta compatible&rsquo; with PHP 8<strong>.</strong>&ldquo;</p>



<p>What this means, essentially, is that until most major themes and plugins are PHP 8 compatible, WordPress cannot be considered fully compatible.</p>



<h2>Understand How PHP 8 Could Affect Your Plugin or Theme</h2>



<p>Companies like Yoast have been preparing for this for a little while now. In late October, Yoast CTO Omar Reiss, along with fellow contributors Juliette Reinders Folmer, maintainer of the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress-Coding-Standards" target="_blank">WordPress Coding Standards Sniffs for PHPCS</a>, and Yoast DevOps manager Herre Groen, compiled and published a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://developer.yoast.com/blog/the-2020-wordpress-and-php-8-compatibility-report/" target="_blank">comprehensive WordPress/PHP 8 compatibility report</a>. </p>



<p>While I highly recommend you take the time to read through the entire report, it does outline the main reason that the PHP 8 upgrade could have such a drastic effect on large WordPress sites, especially the plugin and theme ecosystem.</p>



<p>&ldquo;However, PHP 7.* versions have seen a far larger set of deprecations than previous versions of PHP. Where PHP 5.6 to PHP 7 was a relatively simple migration, going from 7.x to 8 could be very painful, especially for very old codebases, like WordPress and many of the plugins that are available for it. For well-typed codebases or codebases which have stayed up-to-date with the latest PHP versions, there isn&rsquo;t a big problem.&rdquo;</p>



<p>As a maintainer of a few plugins, some built on code dating back eight years, it is worrisome that this upgrade could cause sites to break.</p>



<img />PHPCompatibility repository.



<h2>How to Prepare Yourself</h2>



<p>I asked Reiss and Folmer what plugin and theme developers can do to get ready, and they shared some pointers.</p>



<p>First and foremost, developers should inform themselves about the changes coming in PHP 8: read <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/23/wordpress-and-php-8-0/" target="_blank">the Make post about PHP 8</a>, read the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://developer.yoast.com/blog/the-2020-wordpress-and-php-8-compatibility-report/" target="_blank">Yoast PHP8 Compatibility</a> report, read the &ldquo;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/23/wordpress-and-php-8-0/" target="_blank">Migrating from PHP 7.4 to PHP 8.0</a>&rdquo; section of the PHP manual, and potentially dig deeper by reading the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/PHP-8.0/UPGRADING" target="_blank">UPGRADING doc in the PHP 8 branch</a> and the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://wiki.php.net/rfc#php_80" target="_blank">RFCs for PHP 8</a>.</p>



<p>Some available tools can be used to help look for incompatibilities:</p>



<ul><li>Run PHP lint on PHP 8 over their code, either via the &nbsp;<code>php -l</code>&nbsp;command (making sure to iterate over all files) or by using <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://github.com/php-parallel-lint/PHP-Parallel-Lint" target="_blank">PHP Parallel Lint</a>.</li><li>Run <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://github.com/PHPCompatibility/PHPCompatibility" target="_blank">PHPCompatibility</a> over their code: it should be noted that nearly all PHP 8 related sniffs are in the as-of-yet-not-yet-released version 10.0.0 of PHPCompatibility, so people would need to use the&nbsp;<code>develop</code>&nbsp;branch or via Composer&nbsp;<code>dev-develop</code>&nbsp;for the time being, until version 10.0.0 is released. </li><li>Run the unit/integration tests for the plugin or theme on PHP 8 and fix anything which that comes up as an error. This will often mean that the test suite first needs to be made compatible with PHPUnit 9.3+. The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://github.com/Yoast/PHPUnit-Polyfills" target="_blank">PHPUnit Polyfills</a> package and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://github.com/Yoast/wp-test-utils" target="_blank">WP Test Utils</a> package (both published under the Yoast GitHub organization) can help with this. It&rsquo;s also important to note a considerable test coverage is needed to make this reliable.</li><li>Run the WordPress <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/automated-testing/phpunit/" target="_blank">unit tests</a> and WordPress <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/06/27/introducing-the-wordpress-e2e-tests/" target="_blank">e2e tests</a> with your plugin activated, and fix any issues that arise.</li><li>Check whether the (strict) code coverage of said tests is high enough and if not, add more tests, making sure both happy and unhappy paths are covered.</li><li>If there are no tests, test everything manually, focusing especially on the &ldquo;unhappy paths&rdquo;, and expect to receive bug reports for the foreseeable future. At the same time, this is probably a good time to look into implementing unit/integration tests for your plugin or theme.</li></ul>



<h2>There Is Still Time, But It Is Running Out</h2>



<p>As Desrosiers pointed out in the Make post, WordPress is only officially aiming to be PHP 8 ready by the time 5.6 is released in early December. Potentially, this means that many WordPress-focused hosting companies will only consider offering upgrades to their customers once WordPress core is compatible. So as plugin and theme developers, we have some time to test our products and get them ready, but that window is closing fast. </p>



<p>Fortunately for us, the knowledge and tools to get up to date are out there.  We merely need to put them into action.</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, 25 Nov 2020 17:03:54 +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:12;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 5.7 Wish List: Save Block Editor Settings Per User";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=108176";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:183:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-7-wish-list-save-block-editor-settings-per-user?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-7-wish-list-save-block-editor-settings-per-user";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:4651:"<p class="has-drop-cap">WordPress 5.6 development is winding down as we begin to close out the beta testing round, inching toward the final release on December 8. That means it is time to think about what WordPress 5.7 will look like. This is one of my favorite times of the WordPress development cycle because I get to see what others want to be added to the core platform. I also get to share a feature request of my own.</p>



<p>Francesca Marano <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/23/wordpress-5-7-whats-on-your-wishlist/">opened the discussion</a> on the Make Core blog. She asks that people link to a specific ticket, which can be from WordPress Trac or the Gutenberg repository.</p>



<p>One consideration for everyone&rsquo;s wish list is that 2021 will potentially see <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/11/21/tentative-release-calendar-2020-2021/">four major WordPress releases</a> rather than the typical three. WordPress 5.7 is tentatively scheduled to land on March 9, 2021. The team has scheduled future releases in three-month intervals. While the dates are not written in stone, it could mean each release&rsquo;s feature set might need to be scaled back to some small degree.</p>



<p>Most features that land in WordPress 5.7 will be items that are already under development. Enhancements like <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-6-release-team-pulls-the-plug-on-block-based-widgets">block-based widgets</a> and <a href="https://wptavern.com/navigation-screen-sidelined-for-wordpress-5-6-full-site-editing-edges-closer-to-public-beta">nav menus</a> that were punted from the 5.6 release should land early and be ready for a full three months of testing. The development team will also focus heavily on pushing an early/beta version of the site editor into core WordPress.</p>



<p>There is still room for other things to land, and now is the time for everyone to make their case for their pet feature.</p>



<p>Unlike past wish-list discussions, I am going to take a step back and control myself. Instead of asking for one of those big-ticket items that I know is unlikely to happen &mdash; <em>hello, <a href="https://wptavern.com/open-call-for-wordpress-5-5-tickets-whats-on-your-wish-list">completed post type API</a> and <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-6-wish-list-homepage-post-type-selection-and-block-management">homepage post type selection</a></em> &mdash;, I will simply ask for something more practical.</p>



<p>In WordPress 5.7, I want the block inspector tabs and some block option defaults to remain the same each time I write a new post.</p>



<p>One of my biggest pet-peeves is with the image block in particular. Each time I add an image, I first close the Styles tab in the sidebar. I do not use it often, so it is not important enough to always be open. Then, I must switch the Image Size setting to Full Size from its default Large. I typically format my images for display before uploading and simply want to use the image at the size I uploaded. These are small things, but they break my workflow. As a daily writer, it has become a nuisance over time.</p>



<img />Configuring image block settings.



<p>These should be per-user settings. Each user&rsquo;s workflow is different, so WordPress likely needs to handle this as user metadata or a similar method.</p>



<p>I was unable to track down an open ticket for saving the tab state. There are over 2,600 currently-open issues. Maybe I did not nail down the right search terminology. Or, it may be a non-issue for other users.</p>



<p>However, there is a two-year-old ticket for <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/8663">remembering the last image size</a> used. I was happy to find like-minded peers who share my frustration in this case. There is also a more recent ticket about <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/20269">storing the default image size</a> on a per-user basis. The feedback in the tickets shows a clear and present need for WordPress to fix this problem.</p>



<p>A representative of Feast Design Co. noted in the first ticket, &ldquo;Every time somebody inserts an image they have to change the image size. This seems small but at 10 seconds per image x 5 images per post x 2 posts per week x 52 weeks per year, this is 86 minutes per year.&rdquo; I believe I can manage it in a little less than 10 seconds per image, but it stills knocks me out of my flow each time. It is a seemingly trivial issue, but the time wastage adds up for those who add many images to posts throughout the year.</p>



<p>What is on your wish list for WordPress 5.7?</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, 24 Nov 2020 21:43:47 +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:13;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: Genesis Block Theme Beta, StudioPress Pursuing a Block-First Future";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=108147";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:197:"https://wptavern.com/genesis-block-theme-beta-studiopress-pursuing-a-block-first-future?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=genesis-block-theme-beta-studiopress-pursuing-a-block-first-future";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:5740:"<p class="has-drop-cap">On November 11, StudioPress <a href="https://studiopress.blog/genesis-block-theme-beta/">announced an open beta</a> for its Genesis Block Theme. This is a pivotal moment, or at least one moment in a series of significant moments, for adoption of the block editor. Feel free to call me on this in a year or two if it does not pan out.</p>



<p>The original Genesis theme is the foundational tool that 1,000s of developers use to build many 1,000s more websites across the web. Over the past decade, StudioPress has remained one of the top-tier commercial WordPress theme companies, and it has done so on the back of its Genesis product. It has also remained an important part of the company&rsquo;s offering since <a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-acquires-studiopress">WP Engine acquired it in 2018</a>.</p>



<p>While WP Engine and StudioPress have bet big on the block editor with products like <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/genesis-blocks">Genesis Blocks</a>, the Genesis Block Theme will be a game-changer when it launches as a finished product, likely sometime next year.</p>



<p>This is not necessarily because StudioPress will offer a better product than what many others are creating. It is about one of the largest theme development companies shifting toward a block-first approach. Others will fall in line. Or be left behind.</p>



<p>WP Engine and StudioPress have done this slowly and strategically, thoughtfully transitioning their user base into the block world. With WP Engine&rsquo;s <a href="https://wptavern.com/atomic-blocks-rebranded-to-genesis-blocks-migration-path-to-new-plugin-coming-soon">acquisition of Atomic Blocks</a> (now Genesis Blocks) and <a href="https://wptavern.com/block-lab-team-joins-wp-engine-looks-to-the-future-of-block-building">bringing on the Block Lab team</a> earlier this year, the company is setting itself up to continue pushing what developers and users can do with WordPress&rsquo;s block system. The Genesis Block Theme is the next step in what I am assuming is a long list of product ideas the company is pursuing.</p>



<img />Using the Genesis Blocks plugin with the Genesis Block Theme beta.



<p>Typical Genesis-based child themes, at least those directly sold by the StudioPress team, have always catered to those who prefer a more minimalist-get-out-of-the-user&rsquo;s-way approach to design. Many of them should make an easy transition to the block editor. Add a few style adjustments here, make a few tweaks there, and, you have a theme that is fully capable of handling the block editor. It is a testament to the company&rsquo;s design chops when it does not really matter what WordPress is doing under the hood. The theme designs hold up regardless.</p>



<p>Times are changing, however. The StudioPress team is looking at WordPress 5.7, which is expected to land in the spring of 2021, and getting ready to handle the launch of the WordPress site editor.</p>



<p>David Vogelpohl, the VP of Growth for WP Engine, left specific instructions on how to test the Genesis Block Theme beta in the announcement. One of the key items in that list is to skip modifying the theme directly or using the customizer settings. The goal is to identify pain points when approaching site design via blocks. It is good to start shifting how the Genesis user base approaches building sites in general.</p>



<p>He also asks testers to install the Genesis Blocks plugin. It is a library of various blocks, sections, and layouts for building block-based content. This will help both developers and users become more accustomed to the shift in building with the company&rsquo;s key product.</p>



<p>Vogelpohl <a href="https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-launches-genesis-pro-add-on-for-customers-more-features-in-the-works">teased a &ldquo;Genesis X&rdquo; project</a> in May that would focus on pushing the boundaries of the block editor and, eventually, full-site editing. Deciding against launching a separate product, the team has been pushing features from this project into Genesis Blocks. Three weeks ago, StudioPress <a href="https://studiopress.blog/collections-for-genesis-blocks/">launched its new Collections feature</a>, which was born from Genesis X.</p>



<p>&ldquo;You can think of Collections like a theme&rsquo;s block-based demo content, but available on-demand as you build out content vs. only during one-click-theme-setup features within the framework today,&rdquo; said Vogelpohl.</p>



<img />The Slate Collection from the Genesis Blocks plugin.



<p>Collections are essentially categorized page sections or entire layouts that share a similar design aesthetic. Genesis Blocks currently has one Collection titled Slate available for free. In practice, a user can already build out nearly an entire site with just this single Collection. This seems to be the direction that Genesis and its line of products are heading. Everything is pretty much plug-and-play. Select a few layouts for various pages. Click a few buttons. Customize the content. And, voil&agrave; &mdash; a turnkey system for building websites.</p>



<p>StudioPress must wait for the site editor to land in WordPress 5.7 before it can handle everything. Site headers, footers, and sidebars still require customization outside of the block editor.</p>



<p>Right now, the Genesis Block Theme beta is nothing out of the ordinary. It is essentially a base theme that allows the accompanying Genesis Blocks plugin to shine. It will also allow the development team to test ideas based on user feedback in the coming weeks and months.  Vogelpohl said they will eventually tackle full-site editing based on what they learn from the beta run&rsquo;s feedback.</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, 23 Nov 2020 22:11:11 +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: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:14;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:46:"BuddyPress: BuddyPress 7.0.0 Release Candidate";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:32:"https://buddypress.org/?p=315640";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:66:"https://buddypress.org/2020/11/buddypress-7-0-0-release-candidate/";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:2972:"<p>Hi BuddyPress community members!</p>



<p>The first <a href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.7.0.0-RC1.zip">release candidate for BuddyPress 7.0.0</a> is ready for a last round of testing!</p>



<p>This is an important milestone as we progress toward the BuddyPress 7.0.0 final release date. “Release Candidate” means that we think the new version is ready for release, but with more than 200,000 active installs, hundreds of BuddyPress plugins, thousands of WordPress themes, and many possible specific WordPress configurations it’s possible we missed one or more details.</p>



<p><strong>BuddyPress 7.0.0 is slated for release on December 9th, 2020</strong>. Do you want to help us get there? Here&#8217;s how you can:</p>



<ol><li>This release candidate also marks the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#string-freeze">string freeze</a> point of the 7.0.0 release schedule, so if you you speak a language other than English, please <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/buddypress/">help us translate BuddyPress into many languages!</a></li><li>You are a BuddyPress Plugin and/or Theme developer? You should test your code against BuddyPress 7.0.0. If you find compatibility problems, please report a ticket on our <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/">Trac environment</a>.</li><li>You are using BuddyPress and can easily set up a staging environment? Please use <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/bp-beta-tester/">our Beta Tester plugin</a> or <a href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.7.0.0-RC1.zip">directly install the Release Candidate</a> on your staging site to make sure everything works as expected for you. If not: tell us what&#8217;s wrong on <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/messages/buddypress">Slack</a> or reply to this specific <a href="https://buddypress.org/support/topic/buddypress-7-0-0-release-candidate/">support topic</a> with a detailed explanation of your trouble.</li><li>You are a WordPress news writer? We&#8217;d love you to share this post with your readers: the more testers, the better!</li></ol>



<p><strong>It&#8217;s always best to anticipate than having a bad surprise after updating the plugin from your WordPress Dashboard</strong>: <strong><a href="https://codex.buddypress.org/participate-and-contribute/">get involved</a>!</strong></p>



<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h2>What to expect from BuddyPress 7.0.0</h2>



<p>First, note that <strong>BP 7.0.0 will require at least version 4.9 of WordPress</strong>. Then, read an overview of its top features in the post we published to announce the <a href="https://buddypress.org/2020/10/buddypress-7-0-0-beta1/">first beta of 7.0.0</a>. If you would like more detail, you can read our <a href="https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/category/development-notes/7-0/">7.0.0 developer notes</a>.</p>



<p>Thanks in advance for your contributions!</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, 20 Nov 2020 22:15:06 +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:"Mathieu Viet";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:15;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:79:"WPTavern: Build Editor Blocks for Clients With the Genesis Custom Blocks 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=108109";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:203:"https://wptavern.com/build-editor-blocks-for-clients-with-the-genesis-custom-blocks-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=build-editor-blocks-for-clients-with-the-genesis-custom-blocks-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:4956:"<p class="has-drop-cap">In early September, WP Engine <a href="https://wpengine.com/blog/introducing-genesis-custom-blocks/">announced the launch</a> of <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/genesis-custom-blocks/">Genesis Custom Blocks</a>, a block-creation plugin made possible by its StudioPress team. The concept should feel familiar to developers who have made use of Advanced Custom Fields and similar plugins. However, the focus of this new plugin is entirely on blocks.</p>



<p>The plugin is more of a framework than a plug-and-play extension for WordPress. It requires some PHP knowledge to handle the front-end output. The goal is to make it easy for developers to create custom blocks without JavaScript knowledge. It allows them to render blocks on the server-side via custom templates.</p>



<p>Genesis Custom Blocks handles all the dirty work on the backend while leaving the basic PHP, HTML, and CSS of the front end completely up to developers.</p>



<p>The plugin seemed to slip through the cracks of the plugin directory&rsquo;s guideline against frameworks &mdash; the Plugin Review Team started <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/plugins/2016/03/01/please-do-not-submit-frameworks/">disallowing new framework-type plugins</a> in 2016. Team rep Mika Epstein confirmed that the plugin should not have been approved. She also said that she would talk to the developers, explain why it&rsquo;s not good, and see about finding a path forward.</p>



<p>Setting guideline issues aside, the plugin is a nice addition to the toolbox of any developer who needs to quickly knock out custom blocks for clients.</p>



<h2>How the Plugin Works</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Genesis Custom Blocks is currently a lightweight field manager for custom blocks. It provides an admin interface for creating, editing, and managing those blocks. Developers use this interface to essentially create block options in which a user can configure via the editor.</p>



<p>The free version of the plugin includes 13 standard form fields, such as text, image, URL, color, and more. The <a href="https://www.studiopress.com/genesis-custom-blocks/">commercial version</a> includes an additional six field types and allows users to import or export their custom blocks.</p>



<img />Editing the test block included with the plugin.



<p>For the block to output anything on the front end, the developer must create custom templates and use the Genesis Custom Blocks API. This template will render the output in the editor too, at least until the user clicks on the block, which takes them into editing mode.</p>



<img />Inserting and editing a custom block in the editor.



<p>Without anything other than a cursory reading of <a href="https://developer.wpengine.com/genesis-custom-blocks/">the docs</a>, I was able to build a custom block and its associating template in minutes. What makes the plugin stand out is the simplicity of its system. It does not try to do too much. It provides enough basic fields for most developers to create the custom blocks they need for clients. I am certain that many of them will get a ton of mileage out of it.</p>



<p>It also does the extra things that developers should expect from a StudioPress-caliber product like allowing developers to create custom block categories, pick an icon, and set up keywords for each block.</p>



<p>One missing element is the ability to set custom blocks to full and wide-width. Developers may need to write custom CSS for both the editor and front end to handle such use cases. They can create custom inspector (block options sidebar) controls for width or alignment too. However, it would be a nice bonus if the plugin handled the standard WordPress alignments.</p>



<h2>The Big Problem</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The plugin commits the greatest sin of WordPress development. It fails to <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/plugin-basics/best-practices/#avoid-naming-collisions">prefix or namespace</a> its custom functions. It is a mistake that is expected of rookie developers. However, for a seasoned company such as StudioPress to create <code>block_field()</code>, <code>block_value()</code>, and similarly-named functions in the global namespace is almost unforgivable.</p>



<p>The problem this creates, particularly given the size of the Genesis development community, is that it is basically stealing potential function names from WordPress. If the core platform ever decides to add these functions, fatal errors will ensue on 1,000s of sites.</p>



<p>If the functions were limited in scope to the plugin itself, it would be an easy fix. However, these functions are meant for direct use by developers who are building with the plugin.</p>



<p>Given the plugin&rsquo;s short time out in the wild, I hope the development team reconsiders their naming scheme and transitions it to something that does not run the risk of a future fatal error.</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, 20 Nov 2020 19:46:22 +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:16;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:95:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 9.4 Introduces Button Width Selector and Typography Controls for List Block";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=108056";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:235:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-9-4-introduces-button-width-selector-and-typography-controls-for-list-block?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-9-4-introduces-button-width-selector-and-typography-controls-for-list-block";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:3978:"<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/19/whats-new-in-gutenberg-18-november-2/">Gutenberg 9.4.0</a> was released this week with many small improvements to existing features, while work on full site editing continues. This release will not be included in the upcoming WordPress 5.6 release but those who are using the Gutenberg plugin will have access to the improvements right away. </p>



<p>The button block now has a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/25999">width selector</a>, which allows the user to set the button to 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of the parent container. By default, a button&rsquo;s width is determined by the size of its content. If you like bigger buttons, this update will give you more flexibility. Button margins are also <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/26781">included in the width calculations</a>, so users can create multiple buttons in a row, or a grid of buttons, and have them properly fit together and aligned. </p>



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



<p>Making a button is easier than it has ever been before. Gone are the days of using shortcodes or hunting for the correct CSS class to apply in order to match the theme. Button creation used to be so needlessly difficult with a fragmented, unfriendly workflow, but the block editor continues to chip away at the complexity with each new release.</p>



<p>Version 9.4 also introduces typography controls for the list block. Gutenberg contributors have been discussing <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/8171">adding color and text size customizations to all text-based blocks</a> since 2018, and the list block is finally getting some font size controls.</p>



<img />



<p>Social icons can also be resized now. Users can select from several preset sizes, including small, normal, large, and huge.</p>



<p>The 9.4 update adds support for &lt;kbd&gt; tags with a new button in the overflow rich text menu. These tags are useful for displaying content in the browser&rsquo;s default monospace font, which helps when writing documentation or articles with inline code.</p>



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



<p>This release lays the groundwork for handling block variation transformations. Block variations are essentially the same block with registered variations that appear as a separate block in the block inserter. For example, the navigation block has horizontal and vertical variations. The editor now introduces a&nbsp;<code>transform</code>&nbsp;option for&nbsp;the <code>scope</code>&nbsp;field in block variations, so developers can control how to handle these transformations.</p>



<p>Enhancements in this release add polish to many aspects of the UI, including the&nbsp;inserter search, custom select menu styles, the link interface, Search block styling, shortcode block styling, and reduces the UI on hover (an optional setting in preferences).</p>



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



<p>One handy new feature for writing is that users can now add a header by typing <code>/h1</code>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<code>/h6</code>&nbsp;followed by enter/return. While I like the idea of this, it seems unintuitive to have to use enter/return to change the block to a header. This feature would be easier to remember if it mimicked the existing feature that allows users to add a header by typing&nbsp;<code>###</code>&nbsp;followed by a space. Changing the trigger action to a space instead of a return would make more sense here.</p>



<p>Version 9.4 also includes a great deal of progress behind the scenes on experiments, including the full site editing framework, FSE blocks, the site editor, and global styles. Check out the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/19/whats-new-in-gutenberg-18-november-2/">changelog</a> for a full list of bug fixes and enhancements.</p>



<p></p>



<ul class="wp-block-social-links"></ul>



<div class="wp-block-buttons"></div>";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, 20 Nov 2020 07:00:42 +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:17;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:86:"WPTavern: WordPress To Combine Its Long-Neglected Theme Previewer With Starter Content";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=108035";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:217:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-to-combine-its-long-neglected-theme-previewer-with-starter-content?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-to-combine-its-long-neglected-theme-previewer-with-starter-content";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:5669:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Six weeks ago, WordPress 5.6 release lead Helen Hou-Sand&iacute; breathed new life into two almost-forgotten features around the WordPress website and platform. The idea was to take the starter content feature, which themes can optionally add for new installs, and apply it to the WordPress.org theme preview system. It was not a new idea. However, it finally had some teeth because a core lead was making it a priority.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m revisiting this in the context of 5.6 and Twenty Twenty-One &mdash; could we possibly consider a combination of starter content (the core feature) and the existing theme unit test data (with room for more later)?&rdquo; <a href="https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/30#comment:66">wrote Hou-Sand&iacute; in a ticket</a> that seemed to be going nowhere after seven years. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;d want to have just starter content, as that should ideally be a much more limited amount of content pieces, but unifying somewhat would help with the overall goal of aligning the demo with what users can actually accomplish on their sites.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Yesterday, Hou-Sand&iacute; formally <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2020/11/18/theme-previews-in-the-time-of-blocks/">announced the launch</a> of the project. Currently, the <a href="http://wp-themes.com/twentytwentyone/">Twenty Twenty-One</a>, <a href="http://wp-themes.com/twentytwenty/">Twenty Twenty</a>, and <a href="http://wp-themes.com/twentyseventeen/">Twenty Seventeen </a>demos display their respective starter content.</p>



<img />Block-based starter content in the Twenty Twenty-One theme preview.



<p>The initial goal was to turn the feature on selectively, testing it with a few default themes. This would give the meta team time to iron out any bugs. It would also give the Themes Team time to decide on any additional guidelines considerations before opening it to everyone.</p>



<p>The Themes Team reps do not seem to think there will be any need for new guidelines, so there should not be much to do on their end.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m up for having a discussion about it but I do think that, in general, guidelines already cover it (we might need to reword the guideline about excluding advertising for clarity), but theme devs aren&rsquo;t gonna want to give a bad impression in their public-facing previews,&rdquo; said Themes Team representative William Patton. &ldquo;We probably want to just check the guidelines to make sure they cover things here, but from my perspective, I think guidelines already cover things quite well.&rdquo;</p>



<p>This is the sort of thing that could get theme authors excited again. Themers can sometimes feel like they are second-class citizens. More often than not, plugin authors get the shiny, new toys long before &mdash; if they ever &mdash; roll out to the theme directory. It is always an exciting time when themes are shown a little love.</p>



<p>Hou-Sand&iacute; pointed out that the theme previewer changes would not be forever limited to a handful of core themes. This is merely the first step.</p>



<p>The big question: <em>why now?</em></p>



<p>There is no doubt that the theme previewer has been a problem area for years. Users have complained about it. Theme authors and reviewers have relentlessly discussed it and called for a change. Some authors have even attempted various, hacky workarounds, sometimes finding themselves on the shortlist for banishment. At the end of the day, most people just want to see themes in all their glory. They are the face of WordPress. As Hou-Sand&iacute; wrote in the announcement, &ldquo;The theme previewer site in today&rsquo;s context does a serious disservice to themes.&rdquo;</p>



<p>To answer the <em>why now</em> question, the block system has a lot to do with it. Internally, the system opens up a world of possibilities that are much easier to implement. Whether it is starter content or custom front page templates, blocks will be a huge part of the equation going forward.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I also believe that between blocks, block patterns, and eventually full site editing, it is more important than ever to the broad success of the WordPress project for themes to showcase their ideal states and make it easier for users to achieve the same thing on their sites,&rdquo; wrote Hou-Sand&iacute;. &ldquo;Starter content, introduced in 4.7, was a step in this direction, but has languished for quite some time.&rdquo;</p>



<p>It is also part of an ongoing rethinking of what should happen with starter content. On October 6, she <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/06/revisiting-starter-content-on-org-and-beyond/">opened a discussion</a> for feedback on the feature&rsquo;s future. The post received a few useful responses. However, it could still use feedback from a wider range of people involved with the WordPress project, particularly theme authors.</p>



<p>I also explored some possibilities in response to that post in <a href="https://wptavern.com/the-future-of-starter-content-wordpress-themes-need-a-modern-onboarding-and-importing-tool">The Future of Starter Content: WordPress Themes Need a Modern Onboarding and Importing Tool</a>.</p>



<p>The biggest concern at this point should be whether theme authors consider this <em>too little too late</em>. There is a little excitement brewing from a few short conversations I have seen in theming circles. However, this is a time for theme authors to jump on board, provide feedback, and pitch in. This is the first step in gaining the sort of control over theme previews that many have long sought.</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, 19 Nov 2020 21:40:18 +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: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:18;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:65:"WPTavern: Local 5.9.2 Adds Image Optimization via New Free Add-On";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=107997";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:175:"https://wptavern.com/local-5-9-2-adds-image-optimization-via-new-free-add-on?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=local-5-9-2-adds-image-optimization-via-new-free-add-on";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:2426:"<p>Local 5.9.2 was <a href="https://localwp.com/releases/">released</a> this month with a new image optimization feature. The Pro version of Flywheel&rsquo;s local WordPress development product got a revamp four months ago, bringing in a new collection of pre&#8209;launch&nbsp;tools. While image optimization falls into that category, the company decided to make this new feature available to both free and pro tiers via an optional <a href="https://localwp.com/add-ons/local-addon-image-optimizer">add-on</a>. </p>



<p>Users can install the new add-on directly in the app and then navigate to Tools &rsaquo; Image Optimizer. After enabling the add-on and relaunching the app, Local will be able to scan the installation for image files and compress them offline, without using cloud-based services. The add-on allows users to navigate away from an active optimization session and carry on with development while it works in the background.</p>



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



<p>Before proceeding, users can also navigate to the Image Optimizer settings and elect to strip the metadata (i.e. focal length, date, time, and location) to further reduce the file size and, as a byproduct, remove potentially identifying data. The default optimization simply reduces file size and does not strip metadata.</p>



<p>After optimization is complete, an overview of the total reductions and disk space saved will be displayed.</p>



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



<p>The add-on currently uses <a href="https://github.com/danielgtaylor/jpeg-archive#jpeg-recompress">jpeg-recompress</a> to optimize images, a utility from the open source <a href="https://github.com/danielgtaylor/jpeg-archive">JPEG Archive</a> project. Here is how it works: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Compress JPEGs by re-encoding to the smallest JPEG quality while keeping&nbsp;<em>perceived</em>&nbsp;visual quality the same and by making sure huffman tables are optimized. This is a&nbsp;<strong>lossy</strong>&nbsp;operation, but the images are visually identical and it usually saves 30-70% of the size for JPEGs coming from a digital camera, particularly DSLRs.&nbsp;</p></blockquote>



<p>Local&rsquo;s development team plans to expand this in the future to add more options like lossless compression. Version 5.9.2 also fixes several bugs with the UI and adds improvements to make it more consistent. </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, 19 Nov 2020 03:19:57 +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:19;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:"WPTavern: Should WordPress Notify Users of Plugin Ownership Changes?";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=107875";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:179:"https://wptavern.com/should-wordpress-notify-users-of-plugin-ownership-changes?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=should-wordpress-notify-users-of-plugin-ownership-changes";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:4409:"<img />Potential idea for showing plugin ownership change.



<p>That is the question posed by Ian Atkins in a <a href="https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5509">recent ticket</a> for WordPress.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve experienced a few plugins change ownership, and it&rsquo;s really not clear as a user, developer, and maintainer of sites when that has happened,&rdquo; he wrote in the ticket. &ldquo;Whilst having a plugin continue to be developed is admirable &mdash; I do think it would be wise to inform users of that change.&rdquo;</p>



<p>For full disclosure, the ownership change that prompted Atkins to create the ticket was from the Members plugin. I am the former owner of the plugin and sold it to the MemberPress team in 2019 (I was a full-time plugin and theme developer before joining WP Tavern). Having been both a plugin author and user in this scenario before helps mold my viewpoint.</p>



<p>I agree with the idea. WordPress should have some mechanism for notifying users of changes of ownership. The more transparency that exists in the ecosystem, the healthier it is for all.</p>



<p>As a plugin author who was letting go of a project that I had worked nearly a decade on, it was tough to say goodbye. I had built friendships and trusted users who walked beside me on my journey. I posted on the company blog, Twitter, Facebook, and the WordPress support forums. I replied to emails, PMs, and more. I wanted to be as transparent with my plugin users as possible. When the plugin was out of my hands, there was no way for me to reach out to the 1,000s of users who did not follow me on social media or the blog. The new owner was as transparent.  Even today, a year later, some users are just now realizing someone else is running the show.</p>



<p>In hindsight, perhaps there was more we could have done. Maybe there was more WordPress could have also done and can do in the future. There are valid concerns from users.</p>



<p>Atkins lists three primary reasons for his proposal:</p>



<ul><li>There might be privacy policy changes that have impacts on what data is shared and how it is shared. Legally, depending on location, this may have to be communicated to end-users (under GDPR, etc.).</li><li>The plugin may change direction or add features that were not originally included or required under the stewardship of the prior owner.</li><li>The plugin may have changed hands to a developer or development house that a user knows isn&rsquo;t as reliable as the previous owner.</li></ul>



<p>He also asked whether the plugin team reviewed ownership changes. <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-org/plugin-developer-faq/#how-do-i-change-the-plugin-owner">Changing owners</a> is a simple task, and these changes are tracked internally.</p>



<p>Mika Epstein, a Plugin Review Team representative, said that the team could make such changes public. The biggest flaw with that system is that it is not always possible to know when a plugin&rsquo;s owner changes. Sometimes, an entire company is sold, which would include ownership of the WordPress.org account. She also cited situations where serviceware plugins change hands in unobvious ways.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I want to be clear, I&rsquo;m not against this!&rdquo; she said in a follow-up response. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m for this! I just want to be clear that we&rsquo;re going to get MAYBE half of the changes.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Half would be better than none. An automated system may work to create notices in some situations. However, an addition to the plugin review guidelines may also be part of the solution.</p>



<p>Plugin authors could also take it upon themselves to implement an ownership-change notification. This may be one of those use cases for the much-maligned admin notices that is worth exploring.</p>



<p>At this point, we are just asking the question of whether WordPress should create a system in which users are notified of plugin ownership changes. What would you like to see in terms of solutions?</p>



<p>I want to see continued progress on the transparency front. Atkins&rsquo; first list item is the most important. If there are privacy policy changes or a plugin deals with personal data in any way, users need to know when the plugin has a new owner. They should be able to make a decision about their continued use of the plugin with all the facts laid bare.</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, 18 Nov 2020 17:09:30 +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:20;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:11:"
	
	
	
	
	
";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:1:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:60:"HeroPress: Final Day to Apply to Speak at WordFest Live 2021";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:29:"https://heropress.com/?p=3416";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:165:"https://heropress.com/final-day-to-apply-to-speak-at-wordfest-live-2021/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=final-day-to-apply-to-speak-at-wordfest-live-2021";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:1008:"<p>Friends across the globe, today is your last chance to get in your talk for WordFest Live. You only have until midnight tonight, UTC, so don&#8217;t delay!</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content"><a href="https://www.wordfest.live/call-for-speakers/">Call for Speakers</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>If you&#8217;re interested but not sure which talk to choose, learn more here: <a href="https://www.wordfest.live/2020/11/speaking-at-wordfest-live-2021/">https://www.wordfest.live/2020/11/speaking-at-wordfest-live-2021/</a></p>



<p>Share your knowledge across this 24 hour global celebration of WordPress. Support the team at Big Orange Heart by being involved. Let&#8217;s continue to go farther together!</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/final-day-to-apply-to-speak-at-wordfest-live-2021/">Final Day to Apply to Speak at WordFest Live 2021</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</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, 18 Nov 2020 16:10:21 +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:"";}}}}}i:21;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.com Gives Conservative Treehouse the Boot, Citing TOS Violations";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=107926";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:211:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-com-gives-conservative-treehouse-the-boot-citing-tos-violations?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-com-gives-conservative-treehouse-the-boot-citing-tos-violations";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:4931:"<p>The Conservative Treehouse, a political publication hosted on WordPress.com for the past 10 years, is <a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/11/15/the-treehouse-is-deplatformed/">moving to a new host</a> after receiving a notice from Automattic regarding violations of its Terms of Service. The site&rsquo;s owner, previously identified as Florida resident Mark Bradman, claims to have a 500,000 &ndash; 1,000,000 unique readers per day. He has been ordered to find a new hosting provider and migrate the site away from WordPress.com by December 2, 2020.</p>



<p>Bradman followed up with Automattic to inquire about the specific infractions that put the site in violation of <a href="https://wordpress.com/automattic-ads-tos/">Automattic Ads Terms of&nbsp;Service</a>. A representative from WordPress.com referred him to Section 5&rsquo;s guidelines on &ldquo;Prohibited Content,&rdquo; and the prohibition against calls to violence in <a href="https://wordpress.com/support/user-guidelines/">WordPress.com&rsquo;s User Guidelines</a>. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img />Source: <a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/11/16/update-from-wordpress-automattic-on-treehouse-deplatforming/">The Conservative Treehouse</a></div>



<p>The Conservative Treehouse was characterized by <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/meet-the-conservative-treehouse-the-blog-thats-ground-zero-for-insane-trump-sht">The Daily Beast</a> as &ldquo;Patient Zero for a number of hoaxes that have percolated through [the] right-wing media ecosystem&rdquo; after President Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1270333484528214018?s=20">tweeted</a> a conspiracy theory that originated on the site. Trump referenced an incident in Buffalo where police officers shoved an elderly protestor during the anti-police brutality protests that happened in June. The notion that the protester was an &ldquo;ANTIFA provacateur&rdquo; was originally seeded by an <a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/06/06/buffalo-officials-duped-by-professional-antifa-provocateur-arrest-and-charge-two-police-officers-righteous-police-team-stand-together-and-walk-out/">article</a> on The Conservative Treehouse.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. <a href="https://twitter.com/OANN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OANN</a>  I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?</p>&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1270333484528214018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>A cursory review of the past several months of posts on the anonymous blog shows it is home to a steady stream of misinformation. <a href="https://www.newsguardtech.com/">NewsGuard</a>, an organization that assigns trust ratings based on transparent <a href="https://www.newsguardtech.com/ratings/rating-process-criteria/">criteria</a>, recommends readers proceed with caution because the website &ldquo;severely violates basic journalistic standards.&rdquo; The Conservative Treehouse gets a rating of <a href="https://www.newsguardtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ConservativeTreeHouse-1.pdf">30/100</a> due to publishing false information and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories on numerous topics:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Because The Conservative Treehouse has published false and misleading claims, including about the COVID-19 pandemic, NewsGuard has determined that the website repeatedly publishes false content and does not gather and present information responsibly.</p></blockquote>



<p>Bradman said he received the notification about the website being removed after publishing his post on what he calls &ldquo;<a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/11/13/covid-19-is-the-agenda-biden-is-merely-the-delivery-vehicle/">the COVID-19 agenda</a>.&rdquo; The conclusion of the article includes an image of a knife with the word &ldquo;resist&rdquo; written on it, followed by the words &ldquo;whatever it takes.&rdquo; The site&rsquo;s comments are home to a &ldquo;Rag Tag Bunch of Conservative Misfits,&rdquo; as the tagline suggests, and there are more than 1,800 comments on the post announcing its upcoming move to a new host.</p>



<p>Despite the publication&rsquo;s poor reputation, the site ranks #3,294 in the US, according to Alexa, with a largely American audience. Its owner claims to have more than 200,000 subscribers.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We will take this challenge head-on and we will use this attack against our freedom as fuel to launch CTH 2.0, a new version of The Conservative Treehouse,&rdquo; Bradman said.</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, 18 Nov 2020 05:24:33 +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: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:22;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:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.6 Release Candidate";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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9258";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:67:"https://wordpress.org/news/2020/11/wordpress-5-6-release-candidate/";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:3347:"<p>The first release candidate for WordPress 5.6 is now available!</p>



<p>This is an important milestone in the community’s progress toward the final release of WordPress 5.6.</p>



<p>“Release Candidate” means that the new version is ready for release, but with millions of users and thousands of plugins and themes, it’s possible something was missed. WordPress 5.6 is slated for release&nbsp;on&nbsp;<strong>December 8, 2020</strong>, but we need&nbsp;<em>your</em>&nbsp;help to get there—if you haven’t tried 5.6 yet,&nbsp;<strong>now is the time</strong>!</p>



<p>You can test the WordPress 5.6 release candidate in two ways:</p>



<ul><li>Try the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (choose the “Bleeding edge&#8221; channel and Beta/RC Only” stream options)</li><li>Or <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.6-RC1.zip">download the release candidate here (zip)</a>.</li></ul>



<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the&nbsp;Beta releases and gave feedback. Testing for bugs is a critical part of polishing every release and a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>



<h2>What’s in WordPress 5.6?</h2>



<p>The final release of 2020 continues the annual tradition of a new default theme that is custom built to showcase the new features and functionality of the software. Continued progress on the block editor is especially clear in this release, which brings more blocks to more places, and fewer clicks to implement your layouts.</p>



<p>WordPress 5.6 also has lots of refinements to polish the developer experience. To learn more, subscribe to the&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">Make WordPress Core blog</a>&nbsp;and pay special attention to the&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-6+dev-notes/">developer notes</a>&nbsp;tag for updates on those and other changes that could affect your products.</p>



<h2>Plugin and Theme Developers</h2>



<p>Please test your plugins and themes against WordPress 5.6 and update the&nbsp;<em>Tested up to</em>&nbsp;version in the readme file to 5.6. If you find compatibility problems, please be sure to post to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/">support forums</a>,&nbsp;so those can be figured out before the final release.</p>



<p>The&nbsp;WordPress 5.6 Field Guide, due very shortly, will give you a more detailed dive into the major changes.</p>



<h2>How to Help</h2>



<p>Do you speak a language other than English?&nbsp;<a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev">Help us translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a>&nbsp;This release also marks the&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze">hard string freeze</a>&nbsp;point of the 5.6 release schedule.</p>



<p><em><strong>If you think you’ve found a bug</strong>, you can post to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta">Alpha/Beta area</a>&nbsp;in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/">file one on WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find&nbsp;<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major">a list of known bugs</a>.</em></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, 17 Nov 2020 22:43:50 +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:7:"Josepha";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:23;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:88:"WPTavern: Proposal to Create an Expanded View or Overlay for the Block Patterns Inserter";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=107663";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:221:"https://wptavern.com/proposal-to-create-an-expanded-view-or-overlay-for-the-block-patterns-inserter?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=proposal-to-create-an-expanded-view-or-overlay-for-the-block-patterns-inserter";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:5954:"<p class="has-drop-cap">The &ldquo;version 1.0&rdquo; launch of block patterns in WordPress 5.5 was overall successful. However, it was easy to overlook the problems while waiting for this feature to land after months of anticipation. Now that we have had a couple of months of seeing the block pattern system baked into core WordPress, it is time to address issues that are becoming more evident.</p>



<p>As much as I love block patterns as a feature, I cannot say the same for the user interface and overall experience. The pattern category dropdown <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-9-1-adds-patterns-category-dropdown-and-reverts-block-based-widgets-in-the-customizer">added in Gutenberg 9.1</a> was a marked improvement over the endless list of patterns. However, it did not go far enough in presenting them in a user-friendly way.</p>



<p>WordPress has long had a habit of sticking too much into a tiny panel &mdash; many theme authors never felt like the customizer panel <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-now-requires-theme-authors-to-use-the-customizer-to-build-theme-options#comment-68451">offered enough space</a>, for example. The same seems to be the case for the block editor&rsquo;s inserter panel. It is good enough for allowing end-users to pick and choose blocks. However, patterns are much larger than the smaller block icons. When users start scrolling through dozens of patterns at a time in the coming months and years, it will become a usability nightmare.</p>



<p>Paal Joachim Romdahl is <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/26905">proposing an alternative</a>. His idea is to add an &ldquo;expander&rdquo; icon/button that would allow users to view more patterns at once via an overlay. At least this would be the case for larger screen sizes, such as desktop users.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Viewing a lot of patterns in the small inserter panel does not work too well,&rdquo; he wrote in the GitHub ticket. &ldquo;It gets tiring needing to scroll one pattern at a time. Having a larger view will help the user to compare multiple patterns at once.&rdquo;</p>



<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/5323259/99002124-46249480-253c-11eb-83bd-7524790f3b66.gif" alt="Preview of how the current pattern overlay proposal would work." />Current pattern overlay proposal.



<p>Romdahl has also created a <a href="https://www.figma.com/proto/TuDKX6ckaecNARP2B8NWp4/Expand-to-view-patterns-in-a-larger-overlay-window?node-id=3%3A49&scaling=min-zoom">Figma prototype</a> for people to test what the system would look like in a live demo. The UI is not polished, but it looks like a promising start.</p>



<p>He created the proposal after reading the Tavern&rsquo;s recent coverage of WordPress.com&rsquo;s <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-com-drops-over-100-block-patterns-carving-a-path-the-design-community-should-follow">launch of over 100 block patterns</a>. Some of the pattern categories are easy to work through and find the right layout. Others, such as the Text and Call to Action categories, may have 20 or more patterns to scroll through.</p>



<img />Inserting a block pattern on WordPress.com.



<p>If WordPress creates an official block pattern directory, which is <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-launching-an-official-block-pattern-directory">currently under consideration</a>, adding new patterns could be as simple as clicking a button. It would be an easy way to rack up dozens of patterns in moments, particularly if a user is trying out various layouts and does not uninstall unused patterns afterward.</p>



<p>Not many users are exposed to the hundreds of patterns WordPress.com&rsquo;s users have access to. We should move forward with this proposal before they are.</p>



<p>An overlay for inserting patterns and templates is not a new concept. It is common in the WordPress development community. Plugin and theme developers solved this problem ages ago.</p>



<p>The Redux plugin <a href="https://wptavern.com/redux-framework-relaunches-focuses-efforts-on-gutenberg-templates">handles hundreds of templates</a> with an overlay:</p>



<img />Viewing templates from the Redux library.



<p>The Layout block from the <a href="https://wptavern.com/atomic-blocks-rebranded-to-genesis-blocks-migration-path-to-new-plugin-coming-soon">Genesis Blocks plugin</a> is essentially just a custom pattern inserter with a much nicer UI than WordPress:</p>



<img />Overlay created by the Layout block from Genesis Blocks.



<p>Mikael Korpela <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/21080#issuecomment-710055158">added similar thoughts</a> to a ticket related to the next steps for the inserter. He proposed a full-screen experience for browsing patterns.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The patterns sidebar is great if you just want to keep it open while you modify your page, but it&rsquo;s harder for browsing because of limited space, especially when you&rsquo;ve registered a lot of patterns,&rdquo; he wrote in the ticket.</p>



<p>He shared an image of how Sections on Squarespace are handled:</p>



<img />Selecting a Section on the Squarespace website.



<p>An overlay might also help drive the pattern directory proposal. It would be easy enough at that point to create a new tab in the overlay interface, hook into the WordPress.org API, and allow users to browse through installable patterns &mdash; no need to leave the comfort of the block editor.</p>



<p>Another common feature that many of these types of systems share is a way to save patterns as favorites. This makes them easy to locate in the future. Paul Lacey makes the same argument in <a href="https://youtu.be/0nT_41mxTsw?t=3047">episode #136</a> of the WP Builds Weekly WordPress News podcast. He wants his clients to have easy access to their most-used block patterns. This would be a nice bonus to help clean up the block patterns user experience.</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, 17 Nov 2020 21:02:45 +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:24;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:82:"WPTavern: WPGraphQL 1.0 Released, Now Available in WordPress.org Plugins Directory";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=107827";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:207:"https://wptavern.com/wpgraphql-1-0-released-now-available-in-wordpress-org-plugins-directory?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wpgraphql-1-0-released-now-available-in-wordpress-org-plugins-directory";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:4075:"<p><a href="https://www.wpgraphql.com/2020/11/16/announcing-wpgraphql-v1/">Version 1.0</a> of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-graphql/">WPGraphQL plugin</a> is now available in the official plugins directory on WordPress.org. This is the first stable version recommended for use in production, landing nearly four years from when the project started in November 2016. </p>



<p>In an effort to keep WPGraphQL in line with WordPress&rsquo; commitment to preserving backwards compatibility, Jason Bahl, the creator and maintainer, held it off from a 1.0 release until he could minimize the potential for breaking changes.</p>



<p>&ldquo;WPGraphQL turning 1.0 isn&rsquo;t a statement that there will never be breaking changes, instead it&rsquo;s a statement of stability and long term support,&rdquo; Bahl said.</p>



<p>WPGraphQL has already had quite a bit of real world usage ahead of its first stable release. The plugin is in use on high profile sites like <a href="https://qz.com/">QZ.com</a>,  <a href="https://denverpost.com/">DenverPost.com</a>, and <a href="https://apollographql.com/blog">ApolloGraphQL.com</a>. Installs of WPGraphQL grew from 50,000 in June 2020, to 71,573 installs in November 2020, according to <a href="https://packagist.org/packages/wp-graphql/wp-graphql">Packagist.org</a>. Having the plugin available on WordPress.org will make it easier for users to install it and keep it updated.</p>



<p>&ldquo;One of the big reasons I didn&rsquo;t want WPGraphQL on the .org repo was that the nature of it being an API could expose sites to potential security vulnerabilities,&rdquo; Bahl said. &ldquo;As we worked on stabilizing the plugin I wanted it to be a pretty conscious decision to add a GraphQL API to your WordPress site. Leaving the plugin on Github meant that the audience finding it and installing it was a more technical audience and could do at least some of the technical vetting to make sure it made sense for their project.&rdquo;</p>



<p>In September, <a href="https://www.gatsbyjs.com/">Gatsby</a>, the company that sponsors Bahl&rsquo;s time on WPGraphQL&rsquo;s development and maintenance, hired Pen Test Partners to perform an audit of the plugin and has resolved all the issues they discovered. The full report and resolutions will be published to the project&rsquo;s website soon.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Now that the plugin is stable and secure, we&rsquo;re happy to have it on the WordPress.org repo where users will be able to find it by searching for plugins in the repo and take advantage of some new features of WordPress such as auto-updates,&rdquo; Bahl said.</p>



<p>The 1.0 release does not contain any technical changes &ndash; it simply bumps the version number. The project has been publishing pre-1.0 releases leading up to this, logging 33 <a href="https://github.com/wp-graphql/wp-graphql/releases">releases</a> in the past 12 months. Bahl said the biggest difference between 1.0 and pre-1.0 is the new <a href="https://www.wpgraphql.com/">WPGraphQL.com</a> website. Previously, the project&rsquo;s documentation was hosted on a subdomain but it is now been rolled into the main site.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Previously, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://t.co/s062Bpz09o?amp=1" target="_blank">WPGraphQL.com</a> was a traditional WordPress site with the front-end using the classic WordPress theme layer,&rdquo; Bahl said. &ldquo;The new site is built with WordPress as the CMS, Gutenberg as the content editor, Gatsby as the front-end, and WPGraphQL as the layer that allows Gatsby and WordPress to communicate with each other. We&rsquo;re dogfooding our own technology.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The project has also added close to 300 pages of new documentation. It includes a <a href="https://www.wpgraphql.com/developer-reference/">Developer Reference</a> section with documentation on Actions, Filters, and Functions for customizing and extending WPGraphQL, along with a new <a href="https://www.wpgraphql.com/recipes/">Recipes</a> section with code snippets for implementing solutions faster.</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, 16 Nov 2020 23:40:26 +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:25;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:61:"WPTavern: The Plus Addons for Gutenberg Plugin to Launch Soon";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=106267";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:167:"https://wptavern.com/the-plus-addons-for-gutenberg-plugin-to-launch-soon?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-plus-addons-for-gutenberg-plugin-to-launch-soon";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:6548:"<p class="has-drop-cap">WordPress development company POSIMYTH is getting set to announce its venture into block development in the coming days.  The new plugin, <a href="https://theplusaddons.com/gutenberg/">The Plus Addons for Gutenberg</a>, is a collection of blocks, templates, and additional features for building sites with the block editor. The plugin is currently awaiting review for inclusion in the WordPress.org plugin directory. I was able to snag a test version and have been using it for around a week.</p>



<p>The POSIMYTH team began working as an outsourcing agency in 2013. Since then, it has worked on over 1,000 projects. The company eventually began building WordPress themes and plugins for the Envato Marketplace. It has continued to grow and currently serves more than 50,000 customers.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Being an outsourcing company in the past, we have always felt the need for one-stop solutions for agencies and freelancers,&rdquo; said Sagar Patel, the founder and director at POSIMYTH Innovations. &ldquo;We have built many Gutenberg field components from scratch as well as in-depth options in blocks, which will not just be for simple tasks, it will be for complex layouts and options as well.&rdquo;</p>



<p>One of the company&rsquo;s most-used products is its <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/the-plus-addons-for-elementor-page-builder/">The Plus Addons for Elementor</a> plugin. The free version currently has over 9,000 active installations. Patel describes it as a &ldquo;complete package&rdquo; for building Elementor-based websites.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Our Gutenberg version will be kind of a recreation of our Elementor version, but on top of that, we are adding more options and features based on our feedback from Elementor users,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Some blocks are completely revamped and made with a unique concept, but some are just a recreation of the Elementor version. For example, our Popup Builder, Countdown, Global Features, and some others are completely made from scratch with a new structure.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The company recently surveyed over 1,000 its users. One of the points they noted is that many of those users wanted to use WordPress&rsquo;s built-in block editor. However, they were unable to find reliable options for building complex websites. The results of this survey are one of the primary reasons the company is building this plugin.</p>



<h2>The Plugin</h2>



<img />TP Row block for building columns.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The free version of The Plus Addons for Gutenberg will launch with 29 blocks, 16 of which are free and 13 <em>freemium</em> ones with commercial upgrades. The commercial/pro version of the plugin will add an extra 11 blocks along with several shapes, tooltips, effects, and other options. Pricing is expected to start at $39 per year for its lowest tier.</p>



<p>The plugin also has global color and typography options. These should not be confused with WordPress&rsquo;s upcoming Global Styles system. The two features work similarly. However, the plugin&rsquo;s system only works with its blocks instead of the entire website.</p>



<p>The terminology could pose some confusion for users. There will also be some crossover between the two systems, both handling the same needs. Patel said he is aware of this and will always work to make sure the plugin respects WordPress&rsquo;s built-in Global Styles system. &ldquo;We will always keep that in sync with our global options,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s still in the initial stage. We will keep on updating based on feedback from users and as per the updates of the Gutenberg team.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Many of the block options are similar to what <a href="https://wptavern.com/editorplus-introduces-its-first-blocks-and-adds-a-custom-block-creator">Editor Plus</a> is doing for the core WordPress blocks. However, the options are for the plugin&rsquo;s custom blocks only. The UI feels polished enough that you feel like the design team has been here before and knows what it is doing. Some plugins do not get to that point until version 2 or 3. I was able to navigate the block options with ease.</p>



<p>However, some blocks were out of place. For example, the Style Lists block could have simply been custom options tacked onto the WordPress List block. Adding list items in the block sidebar is not as natural as in the editor&rsquo;s content area. The end-goal is to simply make a standard list. Everything else is simply eye-candy. Ideally, the plugin would relegate those options to the core block.</p>



<p>The same could be said of the Blockquote, TP Button, TP Image, and others. These could be extensions of the core WordPress blocks. Other blocks like the TP Heading, TP Paragraph, and Testimonials might be better served as custom patterns.</p>



<img />Adding a testimonial from the plugin to the editor.



<p>The concept of building custom, in-house blocks seems to be more prevalent each day as more plugin companies release block libraries. The trend will likely continue. The block system is reasonably extendable. <em>Recreating the wheel</em> is unnecessary.</p>



<p>The Plus Addons for Gutenberg&rsquo;s blocks are well done, and it is hard to fault a plugin for having a consistent experience across its custom blocks.</p>



<p>Overall, the plugin does not offer any groundbreaking ideas for new blocks. Most of these are available in other, similar block libraries. What sets this plugin apart is the development team&rsquo;s work on packing a ton of block options into an easy-to-use interface.</p>



<p>Patel said he does not consider the team to be in competition with anyone else in the market. &ldquo;We are on a mission to provide a one-stop solution for all needs of WordPress website designers and developers.&rdquo; The goal is to make it easy for freelancers and agencies to build complex layouts in the block editor without writing code.</p>



<p>The project&rsquo;s website currently touts the availability of predesigned templates. The team decided not to include this feature in its initial free version, focusing on the other features in the plugin instead. Patel wants to assure users that templates will be available in both the free and pro versions of the plugin.</p>



<p>&ldquo;[Templates] will be available in a couple of months or early after the initial free version&rsquo;s launch,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We will have UI blocks, homepage templates, as well as full-site demos with multiple pages in that.&rdquo;</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, 16 Nov 2020 22:32:26 +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:26;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:69:"WPTavern: Google Webmasters Central Rebrands to Google Search Central";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=107724";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:183:"https://wptavern.com/google-webmasters-central-rebrands-to-google-search-central?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-webmasters-central-rebrands-to-google-search-central";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:2395:"<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Twenty years ago, every aspect of developing a website and putting it online was more complex than it is today &ndash; an enchantment of Merlin&rsquo;s wand to most common folks. The term &ldquo;webmaster&rdquo; hasn&rsquo;t aged well, but it was commonly used in a different era when tech wizards were the only people creating and managing websites. The term has become outmoded as online publishing and website building has become more user-friendly.</p>



<p>Google recently ran a study that showed usage of the term webmaster is in sharp decline, as web professionals now prefer more specialized terms, such as blogger, developer, SEO, or online marketer. In recognition of this change, the company is <a href="https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2020/11/goodbye-google-webmasters.html">rebranding</a> &ldquo;Google Webmasters Central&rdquo; to &ldquo;Google Search Central.&rdquo; The change will be rolled out to Google&rsquo;s websites and social media within the next couple days.</p>



<p>In addition to the rebranding, Google is also centralizing its help information on one site and consolidating its blogs:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Moving forward, the&nbsp;<a href="https://support.google.com/webmasters">Search Console Help Center</a>&nbsp;will contain only documentation related to using Search Console. It&rsquo;s also still the home of our help forum, newly renamed from &ldquo;Webmasters Help Community&rdquo; to &ldquo;<a href="https://support.google.com/webmasters/community">Google Search Central Community</a>&ldquo;. The information related to how Google Search works, crawling and indexing, Search guidelines, and other Search-related topics are moving to&nbsp;<a href="https://developers.google.com/search">our new site</a>, which previously focused only on web developer documentation.&nbsp;</p></blockquote>



<p>The Google Webmasters blog and 13 other localized blogs are being moved to the new site for better discovery and easier language switching. Google is going to redirect current RSS and email subscribers to the new blog URL, so readers only need to update their bookmarks.</p>



<p>Google is also introducing a new jumping spider bot to accompany its Googlebot mascot in crawling the internet. The creature doesn&rsquo;t yet have a nickname, but the company is soliciting suggestions.</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, 13 Nov 2020 22:46:32 +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:27;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 5.6 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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9249";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/2020/11/wordpress-5-6-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:5476:"<p>WordPress 5.6 Beta 4 is now available for testing!</p>



<p><strong>This software is still in development,</strong>&nbsp;so we recommend that you run this version on a test site.</p>



<p>You can test the WordPress 5.6 beta in two ways:</p>



<ul><li>Try the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (choose the “bleeding edge nightlies” option).</li><li>Or <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.6-beta4.zip">download the beta here (zip)</a>.</li></ul>



<p>The current target for the final release is December 8, 2020. This is just over<strong> three weeks away</strong>, so your help is needed to ensure this release is tested properly.</p>



<p>Thank you to all of the contributors that tested the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/11/wordpress-5-6-beta-3/">beta 3</a> development release and provided feedback. Testing for bugs is an important part of polishing each release and a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>



<h2><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>



<p>Since beta 3, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&changetime=11%2F04%2F2020..11%2F12%2F2020&milestone=5.6&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=component&col=version&order=priority">42 bugs</a> have been fixed. Here is a summary of a few changes included in beta 4:</p>



<ul><li>There was a change to the auto-updates implementation for new installations of the software (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/50907">#50907</a>). <em><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/10/upgrade-install-component-meeting-summary-november-10-2020/">Next steps</a>, and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/10/wp5-6-auto-update-implementation-change/">rationale</a> are both available.</em></li><li>Added better handling of unexpected values in Site Health (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/50145">#50145</a>).</li><li>Added a way for developers to filter the available authors list in Quick Edit (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/47685">#47685</a>).</li><li>More accessible handling of the tag cloud widget (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51455">#51455</a>).</li><li><a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&changetime=11%2F04%2F2020..11%2F12%2F2020&component=Media&milestone=5.6&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=component&col=version&order=priority">Multiple improvements in the Media component</a>.</li><li><a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&changetime=11%2F04%2F2020..11%2F12%2F2020&component=Build%2FTest+Tools&milestone=5.6&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=component&col=version&order=priority">Multiple improvements in the Build/Test Tools component</a>.</li></ul>



<p><em>To see all of the features for each Gutenberg release in detail, check out the release posts: <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/07/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-july-22/">8.6</a>, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-august-5/">8.7</a>, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/08/19/whats-new-in-gutenberg-august-19/">8.8</a>, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/09/03/whats-new-in-gutenberg-2-september/">8.9</a>, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/09/16/whats-new-in-gutenberg-16-september/">9.0</a>, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/01/whats-new-in-gutenberg-30-september/">9.1</a>, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-october/">9.2</a>, and <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/releases/tag/v9.3.0-rc.1">9.3</a>.</em></p>



<h2 id="block-76156b2b-0a52-4502-b585-6cbe9481f55b">Developer notes</h2>



<p id="block-3fe5e264-0a95-4f12-9a18-0cb9dc5955d1">WordPress 5.6 has lots of refinements to the developer experience. To keep up, subscribe to the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">Make WordPress Core blog</a> and pay special attention to the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-6+dev-notes/">developers’ notes</a> for updates on those and other changes that could affect your products.</p>



<h2 id="block-bc89fd56-47b0-439f-8e2c-4a642c80a616">How to Help</h2>



<p id="block-9d871099-ec49-446c-8322-9e49b7498c10">If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/">Alpha/Beta area</a>&nbsp;in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you!</p>



<p id="block-bd71c1d3-39d9-4b2a-8193-3486497b45fd">If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket">file one on WordPress Trac</a>,&nbsp;where you can also find a list of&nbsp;<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=new&milestone=5.6&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=component&col=version&order=priority">known bugs</a>.</p>



<p><em>Props to @tonyamork, @audrasjb for technical notes and @angelasjin,<em> </em><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yvettesonneveld/">@yvettesonneveld</a><em>, </em><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cguntur/">@cguntur</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>cbringmann</a> for final review.</em></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, 12 Nov 2020 23:49:45 +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:7:"Josepha";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:28;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:150:"WPTavern: Envato Passes $1 Billion in Community Earnings While Continuing to Aggressively Market Its Elements Subscription Against Marketplace Authors";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=107668";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:343:"https://wptavern.com/envato-passes-1-billion-in-community-earnings-while-continuing-to-aggressively-market-its-elements-subscription-against-marketplace-authors?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=envato-passes-1-billion-in-community-earnings-while-continuing-to-aggressively-market-its-elements-subscription-against-marketplace-authors";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:16409:"<p>Envato has <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/we-ve-reached-1-billion-in-community-earnings/340756">passed $1 billion in community earnings</a> after 14 years in business. The company reached the goal a year earlier than anticipated, thanks to the contributions of 81,000 different creators around the globe and millions of customers who have purchased products from <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://themeforest.net/" target="_blank">Envato Market</a>,&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://studio.envato.com/" target="_blank">Envato Studio</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://tutsplus.com/">Envato Tuts+</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://elements.envato.com/">Envato Elements</a>.</p>



<p>&ldquo;To this day, we&rsquo;re very proud that our community earns more money than our company does,&rdquo; Envato co-founder Collis Ta&rsquo;eed said. Last month Ta&rsquo;eed stepped down from his position as CEO to pursue a new ethical chocolate e-commerce <a href="https://heytiger.com.au/">venture</a>. He was replaced by former HotelsCombined.com CEO, Hichame Assi. </p>



<p>Due to the pandemic, the Australian tech company recently transitioned to all employees working from home during the global lockdown.&nbsp;Along with the announcement of Ta&rsquo;eed&rsquo;s exit, Envato delivered a 20% profit share payout, totaling $3.75m AUD, to its 630-person workforce. The company reported that this is an increase on the 10% allocation from the previous financial year. </p>



<p>&ldquo;Profit share has become an integral part of Envato and helps connect the team with a share of the success they create through their efforts,&rdquo; Ta&rsquo;eed said. </p>



<p>During the past several years, the company has focused heavily on driving profits through Envato Elements, its subscription service. Ta&rsquo;eed said the business is now &ldquo;more subscription oriented than at any time in our history.&rdquo;</p>



<p>One WordPress plugin author, who sells on Codecanyon, <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/we-ve-reached-1-billion-in-community-earnings/340756/18">commented</a> on the milestone post, urging Envato to renew its focus on the marketplaces. </p>



<p>&ldquo;Please focus on the marketplaces as well,&rdquo; FWDesign said. &ldquo;In the past 2-3 years, you guys focused on Elements, cannibalizing the marketplace, is time to give us something back. Personally, I feel forgotten.&rdquo; </p>



<p>While the community earnings have allowed creators to improve their lives in various ways &ndash; from paying family medical bills to buying apartments &ndash; the increase in focus on Envato Elements has been highly controversial. Envato&rsquo;s forums are replete with complaints about Elements &ldquo;poaching clients from existing marketplaces,&rdquo; after many authors <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/what-are-envatos-plans-for-themeforest/66598/216">spoke out</a> about Envato advertising Elements on authors&rsquo; marketplace product pages. </p>



<p>Authors employ various marketing channels to bring traffic to their items, such as Facebook ads or Adwords, and have complained for years that potential customers were whisked away from their product pages by Elements ads. Many authors reported declining sales on individual products as a result. </p>



<p>In May 2018, Envato rolled out a <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/changes-to-wordpress-and-after-effects-on-elements/172885/12">critical change</a> that made all items across all item types available to all subscribers (monthly and annual). This was particularly controversial for WordPress theme authors and many reported significant decreases in sales as a direct result.</p>



<p>At that time, former Envato employee James Giroux responded to authors&rsquo; concerns, characterizing the new subscription service as &ldquo;a long-term play:&rdquo;</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>&ldquo;With Elements, you are buying into a revenue stream rather than a one-time transaction. So, when you compare the value of a Market customer vs an Elements subscriber, you may see less from the subscriber in the first month, but more in their cumulative lifetime revenue.&rdquo;</p></blockquote>



<p>Elements may not be the right choice for every Envato creator, but the company&rsquo;s investment in the service is now pulling in <a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/envato-profits-halve-but-every-staffer-ever-gets-spoils-20190407-p51btb">$40 million in annual recurring revenue</a> as of 2018-2019, accounting for 35% of Envato&rsquo;s $113M in revenue for 2019. </p>



<p>&ldquo;This year we continued to reinvent ourselves as a subscription company, with a major uptick in subscribers across Envato,&rdquo; Ta&rsquo;eed said in <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/2019-envato-annual-public-impact-statement/272986">Envato&rsquo;s 2019 Annual Public Impact Statement</a>. However, this new business model is coming at the expense of authors who sell exclusively through the marketplaces.</p>



<p>Envato authors have begged the company&rsquo;s leadership to <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/call-for-collis-ta-eed-envato-founder-please-separate-elements/216716/4">take down the banners</a> that boost Elements&rsquo; sales by siphoning customers off the marketplace, but the aggressive push towards subscriptions prevails. The frustration is palpable in numerous threads across the company&rsquo;s various marketplaces.</p>



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



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one thing to advertise Elements on the web or wherever Envato likes, but to have this banner on all of our item pages is actively poaching potential customers away when they are moments away from buying our items,&rdquo; AudioJungle author Alister Bunclark said.</p>



<p>Many authors have seen a decline in sales that is outside their control. No amount of marketing traffic to their own portfolios can make up for the $16.50 &ldquo;all you can eat&rdquo; offer that is plastered to the top of every page. The banner for the in-house competitor even appears directly in the cart for customers who are trying to checkout with products from non-Elements authors.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The fact that we are even having to request that Envato stop relentlessly promoting a competing, lower-priced alternative to our portfolios (many of which are exclusively offered at AudioJungle) &ndash; on the marketplace where our portfolios are &ndash; is discouraging,&rdquo; one author <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/call-for-collis-ta-eed-envato-founder-please-separate-elements/216716/16">said</a>.</p>



<p>WordPress authors selling on Themeforest are also frustrated with the banners. In 2019, Envato sold an item every 5 seconds, with WordPress accounting for <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Rj1J4FEihZAuzL87P5bh18w2dEIA66iDFIrJbnNuECM/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000&slide=id.g793418c9c6_0_155">a third of sales.</a> The company claims to be the &ldquo;market leader for themes and templates for WordPress,&rdquo; despite the marketplace&rsquo;s overall poor reputation among WordPress professionals.</p>



<p>One byproduct of Elements including WordPress products in the subscription is that it tends to encourage the use of outdated themes and plugins. Users can download thousands of products but the WordPress themes do not come with support. Many users are <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/envato-elements-outdated-problem/141799">not aware</a> of this when they purchase their subscriptions. Users can get updates only while their subscriptions are active, but they have to be downloaded manually. </p>



<p>&ldquo;Despite tons of complaints from authors (who made this place what it is in the first place) it is even pointless to promote your items elsewhere to attract some &lsquo;buyers&rsquo; because they see the Elements promotions everywhere, even on our own product pages,&rdquo; Themeforest Elite author Bedros <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/two-days-without-sales/287149/6">said</a>.</p>



<p>When authors took to the forums to report no sales or declining sales, one user <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/two-days-without-sales/287149/10">responded</a>, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t panic. They killed the market with Elements.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Certain marketplaces, like AudioJungle and WordPress themes, are disproportionately impacted by Elements, given the significant time investment to create these types of products. </p>



<p>&ldquo;I wonder what&rsquo;s the point, in these circumstances, to spend months (in some cases even a year) to build a decent WordPress theme to sell on Envato,&rdquo; Bedros <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/two-days-without-sales/287149/5">said</a>. Another author on the same thread reported working on a theme for 16 months and had only 17 sales two months after it was approved.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The big buyers (ad agencies and the like) will see an immediate savings on the subscription plan opposed to buying the products individually,&rdquo; AudioJungle author Daniel Warneke <a href="https://www.quora.com/Is-Envato-killing-their-marketplace-with-Envato-elements">said</a>. &ldquo;This pulls the high volume purchasers out of the individual market.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Envato hand picks the authors that have products in Envato Elements, so it stands to reason that they selected a broad range of the most popular products. This would make the service the most appealing.&rdquo; </p>



<h2>Envato Reports 0.18% CTR on Elements Banner Ads But Will Not Remove Them</h2>



<p>In the responses to <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/2019-envato-annual-public-impact-statement/272986">Envato&rsquo;s 2019 Annual Public Impact Statement</a>, Collis Ta&rsquo;eed confirmed that market sales are declining. He blames the &ldquo;movement of the industry&rdquo; towards other business models as the reason for the decline: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>To your question on Market sales, they&rsquo;re holding up better than we&rsquo;d hoped, though they are down year on year. Internally we look at the combination of Market and Elements both in gross revenue (which is up) and in authors earnings (which is up). But Market itself is down a few percent on this time last year, and that looks like an ongoing trend (though one that&rsquo;s not as steep as my worst fears at times!)</p><p>It&rsquo;s tempting to think the driver of Market&rsquo;s changes are Elements, especially as we drive subscription customers over. But we&rsquo;d been mapping the trend of the sales curve for years prior to the launch of Elements and had been seeing changes before we ever launched into subscriptions, because of the movement of the industry, first to &lsquo;bundles&rsquo; and then to &lsquo;subscriptions&rsquo; and &lsquo;free&rsquo;. From what I can tell the bigger forces on Market are actually industry ones.</p></blockquote>



<p>Despite the vast undervaluing of their individual products, authors in general do not seem to be opposed to Elements entirely but rather they are opposed to Envato&rsquo;s aggressive advertisements on their portfolios. The same question surfaces every year and the company&rsquo;s leadership continues to dance around it.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Can you explain to authors why they should spend money on advertising their products when as soon as they land on the landing page they see a great big dirty banner saying they can get everything unlimited for a monthly fee?&rdquo; template author Patchesoft <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/2019-envato-annual-public-impact-statement/272986/39">commented</a>. &ldquo;I feel like this question came up last year and we got a &lsquo;we&rsquo;ll see what we can do about it&rsquo; and yet here we are a year later.&rdquo; </p>



<p>Ta&rsquo;eed <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/2019-envato-annual-public-impact-statement/272986/78">responded</a>, characterizing the banners as a cross-promotion of traffic between Market and Elements. He claimed that after the company performed some tests, removing the banner &ldquo;had negligible impact on sales at a daily level.&rdquo;</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Definitely I know that the header bar on Market is up there amongst the most annoying things to authors. But at the same time, it&rsquo;s important for us to be transparent about the different offerings we have for customers so they can choose what&rsquo;s best for their needs. While it&rsquo;s pretty annoying, the traffic diverted from Market item pages is minimal (0.18% of visitors actually click through). That said we&rsquo;re exploring ways to let customers better know about Elements (and Placeit).</p></blockquote>



<p>Authors are not buying this justification for the banner ads, and object to the use of the term &ldquo;cross-promotion,&rdquo; when the promotion only goes one way. Meanwhile, Elements, which enables non-exclusive sales, is treated like an ad-free, exclusive library.</p>



<p>&ldquo;&rsquo;Annoying&rsquo; is not the correct word,&rdquo; AudioJungle member Purple Fog <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/2019-envato-annual-public-impact-statement/272986/81">said</a>. &ldquo;You gotta understand it&rsquo;s much, much more than that. It&rsquo;s infuriating, it&rsquo;s a betrayal, it&rsquo;s you flipping us the finger.</p>



<p>&ldquo;If it&rsquo;s so important for you to let buyers know what all their options are, then why isn&rsquo;t there a top banner on Elements telling them they can also get the item for a one off fee, in case they don&rsquo;t want to subscribe?</p>



<p>&ldquo;That 0.18% is pretty far from the figure you previously gave us (around 2%), and is even harder to believe. Do you mean that you are willing to antagonize the vast majority of authors just for 0.18% CTR? Makes little sense. It&rsquo;s also hard to believe when there are countless threads opened by buyers who felt they were tricked by that infamous banner. Either your people are lying to you, or you didn&rsquo;t set up the analytics properly, but in any case, something doesn&rsquo;t add up here.&rdquo;</p>



<h2>Envato&rsquo;s Transformation Into a Subscription Company Comes at the Expense of Its Exclusive Market Authors</h2>



<p>Envato continues to write its own rules due to its early success and has now amassed a vast labor force who depend on the company&rsquo;s offerings for their livelihoods. Those who are willing to devalue their work for inclusion in a subscription product (that is guaranteed to sell with a more compelling pricing point) are allowed to continue as cogs in a much more profitable machine.</p>



<p>It&rsquo;s not wrong for Envato to pivot towards becoming a subscription company. To do so at the expense of market authors is unfair. These authors are paying to advertise for a competing library with lost sales from their own products. It exploits the marketplace authors who were hoping to make a sale, since their higher prices are now just a prop for making Elements look more attractive. Their portfolios become a gateway to the subscription service.</p>



<p> Unless Envato changes how it advertises Elements, the company will remain at odds with exclusive market authors&rsquo; interests. This is especially true for creators in markets where having their work available to more customers doesn&rsquo;t instantly translate into more payments.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Many authors have chosen to set up shop here exclusively and have supported and promoted this marketplace for years,&rdquo; AudioJungle author Promosapien said in a <a href="https://forums.envato.com/t/call-for-collis-ta-eed-envato-founder-please-separate-elements/216716/121">thread</a> where authors called on the CEO to remove the banner ads.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Envato is presently making strategic choices that they obviously feel strongly about and feel are necessary for their own viability. Unfortunately, those choices are diminishing the benefits of being an exclusive author here.</p>



<p>&ldquo;In fact, you could probably make a good argument that there has never been a worse time to be an exclusive author at a marketplace &ndash; when that marketplace is actively and continually using its considerable promotional resources to move website visitors away from your portfolio to a newer, cheaper licensing platform (Elements subscription).&rdquo; </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, 12 Nov 2020 23:47:14 +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:29;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: Do Not Build Theme-Specific Block Plugins for WordPress, Please";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=107722";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/do-not-build-theme-specific-block-plugins-for-wordpress-please?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=do-not-build-theme-specific-block-plugins-for-wordpress-please";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:5141:"<p class="has-drop-cap">A few days ago, I came across a small library of blocks. As always, I was interested in seeing what this new plugin brought to the table. Would it surprise me with a block that has not been done before? Would it present a new take on some old ideas? Or, would it be the same old set of blocks that every other block bundle has? Regardless of what it offered, I was excited to try it all the same.</p>



<p>As I clicked on the description to find out more, I was immediately let down. The plugin specifically stated that it was built for only one theme.  I could not use it with my preferred theme.</p>



<p>This was not the first time I had run across this issue. Other theme authors have built their own block bundles in the past. The plugin was not bringing anything particularly new to the WordPress community. It had less than a handful of blocks that had already been done before in numerous other plugins.</p>



<p>The problem was that this felt all too familiar.</p>



<p>Over the years, the WordPress community has created a set of unwritten rules regarding what belongs in a theme vs. what belongs in a plugin. Custom post types, taxonomies, and shortcodes are <em>plugin territory</em>. To an extent, widgets should also be exclusive to plugins. However, because of the way they are handled under the hood, there was always an argument that it was OK for themes to register them.</p>



<p>This theme vs. plugin argument has been ongoing for at least a decade. Because of how themes work, such arguments have been a losing battle. Except in a few edge cases, themes could do everything that a plugin could do. However, there was always supposed to be a clear-cut distinction between the two. Themes were meant to handle the front-end design of a website. Plugins were for everything else.</p>



<p>Today, the WordPress project and its block system are making progress toward solidifying that distinction.</p>



<p>Because of WordPress&rsquo;s legacy of having various parts that did not all quite fit together in the past, it has created a culture of developers building in-house solutions. Nearly every large theme development company has its own plugins for overcoming the platform&rsquo;s shortcomings. Most of the blame for this lies with the WordPress project. However, the project&rsquo;s move to blocks is creating a standardized system that handles everything from a paragraph to the overall site container. With standardization across the board, there will be less and less need for these custom solutions from every theme company.</p>



<p>The block system set a clear line in the sand. It removed the need for shortcodes &mdash; good riddance &mdash; and will soon phase out widgets. Blocks should be putting those old questions to bed.</p>



<p>For clarity, there is little difference between bundling blocks with a theme and building a separate plugin that only works with a specific theme. The end result is the same. Such a plugin would lock a user into sticking with that theme if they relied on the plugin at all.  Few people maintain the same front-end design forever.</p>



<p>The goal is to allow users to switch themes at will while having access to their content and blocks.</p>



<p>These theme-specific block plugins are thinking about blocks in the wrong way. When a user installs a block plugin, the expectation is that they can use those blocks regardless of their theme.</p>



<p>The solution for themes is to use block <strong>patterns</strong> or <strong>styles</strong>. Suppose that you wanted to create a slider or carousel as a theme author. There are multiple solutions for this. The first and easiest is to simply recommend a plugin to users or build a plugin of your own that works with any theme. You could also easily add a slider style for the Gallery block. When the user selects it, it transforms the gallery into a slider.</p>



<p>Or, suppose your theme needed to offer a big hero section with a call-to-action button. There is no need for a custom block in this situation. Theme authors can almost exclusively do this by building a custom pattern with existing blocks.</p>



<p>The solution is not to bundle the block in the theme or create a plugin that only works with that one theme.</p>



<p>The beauty of the block system is that most of the pieces are already in place, and they can be rearranged, grouped, and styled in unlimited ways.</p>



<p>Today, there are hundreds of theme-specific plugins in existence. Part of that is because themers were working around the WordPress.org theme review guidelines. Part of that is because some developers did not think creatively enough about solutions. But, the biggest part of it has been because WordPress has not standardized how to build things across the entire platform. Much of that has changed and will continue to change as full-site editing crosses the horizon in 2021. There will be clear paths for themes and plugins.</p>



<p>However, if theme companies continue building theme-specific blocks, we are just lugging along the baggage that the block system is meant to leave behind.</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, 12 Nov 2020 21:58:57 +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: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:34:"BuddyPress: BuddyPress 7.0.0-beta2";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:32:"https://buddypress.org/?p=315529";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:54:"https://buddypress.org/2020/11/buddypress-7-0-0-beta2/";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:3225:"<p>First of all, we&#8217;d like to thank all the contributors who tested the <a href="https://buddypress.org/2020/10/buddypress-7-0-0-beta1/">first beta</a> of our next major release. Beta testing is very important to us as it&#8217;s a good way to check the improvements we brought to BuddyPress are behaving as expected on your WordPress/BuddyPress configurations.</p>



<p><a href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.7.0.0-beta2.zip">BuddyPress 7.0.0-beta2</a> is now available for testing, and we&#8217;d love to have your feedbacks about it!</p>



<p>Since 7.0.0 beta1:</p>



<ul><li>We fixed some issues about the newly introduced features (BP Activity Embed block : <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12763">12763</a> ; BP Types Admin UI : <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12764">12764</a>, <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12767">12767</a>, <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12775">12775</a>, <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12776">12776</a> &amp; <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12777">12778</a>).</li><li>We improved the performance of the BP xProfile component : <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12768">12768</a> &amp; <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12781">12781</a>.</li><li>We changed Member Types to behave more like Group Types: <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12765">12765</a>, <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12767">12767</a> &amp; <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12778">12778</a>.</li><li>We gave a default avatar to the BP Blogs on multisite configurations : <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12772">12772</a> &amp; <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12779">12779</a>.</li><li>We fixed issues with the BP Nouveau Template pack : <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12773">12773</a> &amp; <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12774">12774</a>.</li><li>We improved the BP Invitations feature : <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/12771">12771</a>.</li></ul>



<p>We&#8217;ve also updated the 7.0.0 release schedule : <strong>the 7.0.0 final release is now scheduled to December 9</strong>.</p>



<p>And <strong>we need you to get there</strong>: do test the 7.0.0-beta2 release so that we can eventually solve issues you might find with your plugins, themes or specific WordPress/BuddyPress configurations.</p>



<p>You can test BuddyPress 7.0.0-beta2 in 4 ways :</p>



<ul><li>Try the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/bp-beta-tester/">BP Beta Tester</a> plugin.</li><li><a href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.7.0.0-beta2.zip">Download the beta here (zip file)</a>.</li><li>Check out our SVN repository: <code>svn co https://buddypress.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/</code></li><li>Clone our read-only Git repository: <code>git clone git://buddypress.git.wordpress.org/</code></li></ul>



<p>Thanks in advance for your contributions <span class="dashicons dashicons-heart"></span></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, 11 Nov 2020 23:15:06 +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:"Mathieu Viet";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:101:"WPTavern: Themes Team Removes Outdated CSS Guidelines, Adds Stricter Requirement for Links in Content";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=107659";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:245:"https://wptavern.com/themes-team-removes-outdated-css-guidelines-adds-stricter-requirement-for-links-in-content?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=themes-team-removes-outdated-css-guidelines-adds-stricter-requirement-for-links-in-content";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:6537:"<p class="has-drop-cap">In yesterday&rsquo;s twice-monthly meeting, the WordPress Themes Team made a couple of important <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2020/11/11/meeting-notes-tuesday-november-10-2020/">changes to the official theme directory guidelines</a>. They removed a requirement of some CSS classes that have long been sitting on the chopping block. They also implemented the third stage in their long-term plan to make all WordPress themes accessibility-ready.</p>



<p>For years, theme authors have needed to either style several WordPress classes via CSS or add empty, unused selectors. It was a bit irritating for authors who fell in the latter group. The list includes several classes like <code>.sticky</code> (for sticky posts) and <code>.bypostauthor</code> (for post author comments).  Now, styling these classes are optional.</p>



<p>The one question mark in this decision is probably around the classes for handling left, right, and center alignment. While the newer block editor stylesheet does support these classes on the front end, it could leave end-users in the dust if they are using the classic editor and a theme author decides to drop support. Any images in posts could become misaligned. Theme authors should test this and consider any problems before deciding to remove these from their stylesheets. For the other classes, those are mostly design decisions.</p>



<p>This change will not be official until the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-check/issues/282">Theme Check plugin is updated</a> to allow themes without these classes through the system.</p>



<p>The second big change is the reignition of the push toward creating more accessible themes in the directory. All themes in the directory are now required to distinguish links in &ldquo;content&rdquo; areas via an underline.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/required/#links-within-content-must-be-underlined">full guideline</a> is as follows:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>When links appear within a larger body of block-level content, they must be clearly distinguishable from surrounding content (Post content, comment content, text widgets, custom options with large blocks of texts).</p><p>Links in navigation-like contexts (e.g., menus, lists of upcoming posts in widgets, grouped post meta data) do not need to be specifically distinguished from surrounding content.</p><p>The underline is the only accepted method of indicating links within content. Bold, italicized, or color-differentiated text is ambiguous and will not pass.</p></blockquote>



<p>While this is a simple change, it is a bold one. Thus far, there has not been any pushback from theme authors on the announcement post or in the team meeting.  However, some may be expected as the news trickles through the theme design community.</p>



<p>The one question that arose about the requirement was whether theme authors could add an option to allow end-users to opt-out of this behavior. The team said this was allowed as long as the underlined links were enabled by default.</p>



<h2>The Road to Accessibility</h2>



<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">In July 2019, the <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-review-team-initiates-new-long-term-plan-to-make-all-wordpress-org-themes-accessible">Themes Team made a commitment</a> to push theme authors to make their themes more accessible. It was not a switch they were going to flip overnight. Instead, the team made a goal of implementing a new accessibility-related requirement every two months or so. These periods would give both theme authors and reviewers ample time to familiarize themselves with each change.</p>



<p>This is the third requirement added to the guidelines since the team implemented the plan. The team started with some low-hanging fruit and added a requirement that themes ship with a skip-to-content link. That guideline addition went over relatively smoothly. The team quickly added a new guideline requiring that visitors be able to navigate menus via keyboard.</p>



<p>That second guideline landed in August 2019. From the outside looking in, the project was initially going well. However, until yesterday, the team had not added any new accessibility guidelines. Over a year had passed, and the plan seemed to be grinding to a halt. Accessibility advocates were probably wondering what happened.</p>



<p>In a <a href="https://wptavern.com/why-accessibility-matters-for-wordpress-themes-and-their-users">discussion with the Themes Team reps</a> a few months ago, they were not sure when they would implement the next guideline. The project was not going as planned.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We have not added anything else above that because theme authors are still not releasing themes with working implementations of skip links and usable keyboard navigation,&rdquo; said team representative William Patton at the time. &ldquo;When those two things become habitual it will be time to introduce another aspect as a requirement. The fact that this has taken so long for authors to get this right probably indicates that we need to do better at guiding them to resources to learn how to do it and why it is important. Perhaps that is a better avenue to pursue than looking to implement additional asks of them.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Team rep Carolina Nymark shared similar sentiments. She mentioned that underlined links were up next on the list. However, they did not have a deadline in mind yet.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Skip links and keyboard navigation are still a headache to some extent for some authors,&rdquo; said Ganga Kafle, a team representative. He said that theme authors who regularly submit themes are doing so with these requirements in mind. However, keyboard navigation remains the biggest pain point, particularly on mobile views.</p>



<p>&ldquo;But almost all the themes we get are with skip links working properly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That is a good thing so far. The new requirement is not so huge and tough. And I think we need to add such small things in a timely manner.&rdquo;</p>



<p>For now, the team seems to be picking up where they left off. There is still a long path to go before the project is complete.</p>



<p>The best thing that theme authors can do right now is to follow all of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/accessibility/">optional accessibility guidelines</a>. This will prepare them for a future in which they are all required.</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, 11 Nov 2020 18:10:12 +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: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:77:"WPTavern: Google Search to Add Page Experience to Ranking Signals in May 2021";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=107594";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/google-search-to-add-page-experience-to-ranking-signals-in-may-2021?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-search-to-add-page-experience-to-ranking-signals-in-may-2021";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:6228:"<p>Six months ago, Google announced its plans to&nbsp;<a href="https://wptavern.com/google-search-to-introduce-new-page-experience-ranking-signal-in-2021">introduce a new ranking signal</a>&nbsp;for Search, based on page experience as measured by&nbsp;<a href="https://web.dev/vitals/#core-web-vitals">Core Web Vitals</a>&nbsp;metrics. At that time, Google promised to give site owners at least six months notice before rolling out the update so they can improve their scores on the metrics before the update. The company reports a 70% increase in users engaging with <a href="https://web.dev/vitals-tools/#lighthouse">Lighthouse</a>, <a href="https://web.dev/vitals-tools/#pagespeed-insights">PageSpeed Insights</a>, and Search Console&rsquo;s Core Web Vitals report in preparation for the update.</p>



<p>Today Google confirmed that it will roll out the new page experience signals in May 2021. The search engine also plans to introduce a new visual indicator for pages that fully comply with the page experience requirements:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>On results, the snippet or image preview helps provide topical context for users to know what information a page can provide. Visual indicators on the results are another way to do the same, and we are working on one that identifies pages that have met all of the page experience criteria. We plan to test this soon and if the testing is successful, it will launch in May 2021 and we&rsquo;ll share more details on the progress of this in the coming months.</p></blockquote>



<p>There are no additional details on what that will look like but AMP&rsquo;s lightning bolt is a good example of how small graphics can have a meaningful impact on users&rsquo; behavior when navigating through search results.</p>



<h2>Are WordPress Websites Ready for Page Experience as a Ranking Signal?</h2>



<p>The page experience signals Google plans to roll out will include Core Web Vitals (Loading, Interactivity, and Visual Stability metrics), combined with existing search signals for&nbsp;<a href="https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.html">mobile-friendliness</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/09/more-safe-browsing-help-for-webmasters.html">safe-browsing</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/11/heres-to-more-https-on-web.html">HTTPS-security</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/08/helping-users-easily-access-content-on.html">intrusive interstitial guidelines</a>. Based on where the web is now, in terms of delivering a good page experience (as defined by Google), site owners will undoubtedly need the next six months lead time to become aware of the new ranking signal and prepare.</p>



<p>Google&rsquo;s Core Web Vitals assessment gives a pass or fail rating, with a &ldquo;pass&rdquo; requiring a good result in all three metrics. A cursory test using Page Speed Insights on a few of the websites for the largest companies, hosts, and agencies in the WordPress space shows most of them do not currently meet these requirements.</p>



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



<p>In August, Screaming Frog, a search marketing agency, published a lengthy <a href="https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/passing-the-cwv-assessment/">report</a> on tests that found only&nbsp;12% of Mobile&nbsp;and&nbsp;13% of Desktop&nbsp;results passed the Core Web Vitals assessment. Screaming Frog used the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/user-guide/configuration/#pagespeed-insights-integration">PageSpeed Insights API</a> to test 20,000 websites, which were selected through scraping the first-page organic results from 2,500 keywords across 100 different topics. The report highlighted a few important findings:</p>



<ul><li>First Input Delay (FID) on Desktop is negligible with&nbsp;<strong>99% of URLs</strong>&nbsp;considered good. And&nbsp;<strong>89% for Mobile</strong>.</li><li><strong>43% of Mobile</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>44% of Desktop</strong>&nbsp;URLs had a good Largest Contentful Paint (LCP).</li><li><strong>46% of Mobile</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>47% of Desktop</strong>&nbsp;URLs had a good Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).</li><li>URLs in&nbsp;<strong>Position 1</strong>&nbsp;were<strong>&nbsp;10% more likely</strong>&nbsp;to pass the CWV assessment than URLs in&nbsp;<strong>Position 9</strong>.</li></ul>



<p>These results suggest that most website owners still have a good deal of work ahead of them in meeting the requirements for passing the Core Web Vitals assessment. Unsurprisingly, Google suggests AMP as the preferred vehicle to get there, but even AMP is not a magic bullet. </p>



<p>At AMP Fest last month, the project reported that <a href="https://blog.amp.dev/2020/10/13/meet-amps-page-experience-guide/">60% of AMP domains pass the&nbsp;Core Web Vitals&nbsp;metrics</a> (meaning 75% of pages on the domain passed), compared to 12% of non-AMP domains passing based on the same criteria.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Looking ahead to Google Search&rsquo;s upcoming rollout of using&nbsp;page experience signals&nbsp;in ranking, we challenged ourselves to consider how we could better support the AMP community and reach a point where we are able to guarantee that&nbsp;all&nbsp;AMP domains meet the criteria included in the page experience ranking signal,&rdquo; AMP Product Manager Naina Raisinghani said. </p>



<p>Those who are already using AMP are encouraged to check out the <a href="http://amp.dev/page-experience">AMP Page Experience Guide</a>, a diagnostic tool that helps developers improve their page experience metrics with practical advice.</p>



<p>AMP is not required, however, if developers feel confident delivering the kind of performance metrics necessary to pass the Core Web Vitals assessment. Along with the new ranking signal, Google also plans to roll out another promised change that allows non-AMP content to become eligible for placement in the mobile Top Stories feature for Search. Starting in May 2021, sites that can deliver decent page experience metrics will be prioritized, regardless of whether they were built with AMP or through some other means.</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, 11 Nov 2020 05:00:55 +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: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:75:"WPTavern: WordPress 5.6 Beta 4 Delayed, Auto-Updates Implementation Changed";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=107592";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/wordpress-5-6-beta-4-delayed-auto-updates-implementation-changed?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-6-beta-4-delayed-auto-updates-implementation-changed";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:4446:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Earlier today, release lead Josepha Haden announced the team was <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/10/wordpress-5-6-beta-4-delayed-from-november-10th-to-november-12th-2020/">pushing back the release of WordPress 5.6 Beta 4</a> to Thursday, November 12. The beta release was slated to go live today. Questions around the readiness of the auto-updates feature held the beta update back. However, those questions are now resolved.</p>



<p>Haden followed up the Beta 4 announcement with a more in-depth picture of <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/10/wp5-6-auto-update-implementation-change/">how auto-updates will change</a> for WordPress 5.6. She summarized the current concerns, laid out a path for version 5.6 and 5.7, and discussed plans for the future. The auto-updates feature is not something that will be complete overnight or in just one release. There are complex technical hurdles that must be jumped and a need for a dedicated focus in upcoming releases.</p>



<p>Much of her post focuses on the tactics going forward. However, she mentioned in our chat that she does not want the community to lose sight of the big-picture, vision-setting aspects of the project.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The subject of auto-updates has resulted in many complicated discussions,&rdquo; she wrote. &ldquo;As I reminded the release squad, decisions like these require us to remember that we&rsquo;re contributing to over 30% of the web, and we have to balance our immediate needs with long term planning.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The short-term plan is to allow current WordPress users to opt-in to major updates while enabling auto-updates for both minor and major releases for new installations. Some changes to the auto-updates UI are also in the works along with a plan to revise based on feedback in WordPress 5.6.1.</p>



<p>In WordPress 5.7, which is several months away, the goal is to add a nudge on the Site Health screen for anyone opted out of major updates. We could also see a setting to opt-into updates as part of the WordPress installation flow for new sites.</p>



<p><em>The big picture that Haden is talking about?</em> That is to make sure that all WordPress installations are receiving auto-updates, that these updates are seamless, and that users are running a secure version of WordPress.</p>



<p>Nearly two years ago, WordPress project lead Matt Mullenweg outlined <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2018/12/08/9-priorities-for-2019/">nine goals for 2019</a>. One of those goals was to provide users a method of opting into automatic updates of major releases. It has taken WordPress a while to get there, but it is on the cusp of launching this feature that many have looked forward to.</p>



<p>Haden also further clarified that goal. She said that the long-term plan for both Mullenweg and the other original feature contributors was to always have auto-updates for major releases enabled by default.</p>



<p>Apart from those who already prefer to opt-out of any sort of automatic updates, some users&rsquo; trust in the system eroded a couple of weeks ago. The WordPress auto-update system <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-auto-update-system-misfires-updating-live-sites-to-an-alpha-release">updated sites to version 5.5.3-alpha</a> instead of 5.5.2 &mdash; WordPress currently automatically updates only minor releases. While there was no difference between the two versions and the core team quickly resolved the problem, the damage to user trust was already done.</p>



<p>This was not an ideal leadup to the December launch of auto-updates for major releases.</p>



<p>However, one hiccup &mdash; one that was effectively not an issue &mdash; seven years after WordPress 3.7 launched with security and maintenance updates is not too bad. The system has been a boon to making the web a more secure place. Ultimately, that is what auto-updates are all about. The big goal is to make sure that all WordPress sites are running on the most secure version available.</p>



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s important that whatever we implement isn&rsquo;t taking us further away from our long term goals of having seamless, auto-updates across the project,&rdquo; wrote Haden. &ldquo;Auto-updates can help us have a more secure WordPress ecosystem, and in turn can help change the public perception of WordPress being an unsecure choice for users of any skill level.&rdquo;</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, 10 Nov 2020 21:29:47 +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:34;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:11:"
	
	
	
	
	
";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:1:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"HeroPress: Don’t Miss Your Chance to Speak at WordFest Live 2021";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:29:"https://heropress.com/?p=3409";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:171:"https://heropress.com/dont-miss-your-chance-to-speak-at-wordfest-live-2021/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dont-miss-your-chance-to-speak-at-wordfest-live-2021";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:1905:"<img width="960" height="536" src="https://s20094.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/WordFest-Purple-Banner-1024x572.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="a banner for WordFest - a festival of inclusive events" />
<p>As part of the growth of HeroPress, we&#8217;re looking at ways to support other community-focused initiatives, and here&#8217;s an excellent place to start: </p>



<p>Looking for something new in the new year? Kick off 2021 by being a part of <a href="http://wordfest.live">WordFest Live</a>. The team at Big Orange Heart is pulling together the first ever global event focused around 24 hours of celebrating WordPress.</p>



<p>They need sponsors and attendees, but most timely right now is the call for speakers.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;d like to apply to speak, head over to <a href="https://www.wordfest.live/call-for-speakers/?fbclid=IwAR2JnzHaxZw1irDWQv7m4viLkE-vc0idPSe94Drh_yP_UpFaZSUG_MDFNq4" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://www.wordfest.live/call-for-speakers/</a> The event is looking for speakers from all over the world to share their WordPress knowledge. </p>



<p>Want to learn more? <a href="https://www.wordfest.live/2020/11/speaking-at-wordfest-live-2021/">This article</a> gives you a feel for the event, answers some questions, provides some topics to help guide you if you&#8217;re stuck, and explains what makes this a festival instead of &#8220;just&#8221; a conference. </p>



<p>The event is FREE with donations going to support <a href="https://www.bigorangeheart.org/">Big Orange Heart</a>. <strong>Speaker submissions close 18 November, 2020</strong>.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/dont-miss-your-chance-to-speak-at-wordfest-live-2021/">Don&#8217;t Miss Your Chance to Speak at WordFest Live 2021</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</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, 10 Nov 2020 20:55:27 +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:"";}}}}}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:63:"WPTavern: Biden-Harris Transition Website Launches 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:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=107503";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:171:"https://wptavern.com/biden-harris-transition-website-launches-on-wordpress?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=biden-harris-transition-website-launches-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:4112:"<p>The Biden-Harris presidential transition team has launched <a href="https://twitter.com/Transition46">a new Twitter account</a> and a website powered by WordPress. <a href="https://buildbackbetter.com/">BuildBackBetter.com</a> is hosted by <a href="https://automattic.com/">Automattic</a> and is zippy fast, thanks to Jetpack, Cloudflare CDN, and a lot of other performance optimizations. It <a href="https://tools.pingdom.com/#5d6c07d844800000">loads in 333 ms</a>, performing just 19 requests.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image shadow-none"><img /></div>



<p>The site was created by Ben Ostrower&rsquo;s team at <a href="https://wideeye.co/">Wide Eye</a>, an 11-year old agency based in Washington, D.C., and the same team behind <a href="https://wideeye.co/case-study/kamala-harris-for-the-people/">Kamala Harris&rsquo; 2020 presidential campaign website</a>. Their work on Harris&rsquo; site won recognition as a finalist in <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90547945/graphic-design-innovation-by-design-2020">Fast Company&rsquo;s 2020 Innovation by Design Awards</a> in the Graphic Design category.</p>



<p>In anticipation of winning the election, the Biden-Harris Transition team uploaded the content for the website in October, based on the image URLs. It uses a custom theme called Transition. Peeping under the hood, it looks like the site is using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/ninja-forms/">Ninja Forms</a> plugin for the email signup and contact forms, as well as Google Tag Manager for analytics. The language switcher is powered by <a href="https://multilingualpress.org/">MultilingualPress</a>. </p>



<p>Wide Eye paid particular attention to the multilingual and accessibility features of the site with beautifully implemented toggles for contrast and font size. The high contrast toggle (dark mode) creates an elegant and natural transition between modes, without compromising the quality of the design. </p>



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



<p>The transition site also has an official <a href="https://buildbackbetter.com/accessibility-statement/">accessibility statement</a> regarding the team&rsquo;s commitment to working towards WCAG 2.1 AA standards compliance:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Our on-going accessibility effort works towards conforming to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1, level AA criteria. These guidelines not only help make web content accessible to users with sensory, cognitive and mobility disabilities, but ultimately to all users, regardless of ability.</p></blockquote>



<p>Visitors are encouraged to email <a href="mailto:accessibility@bidentransition.org">accessibility@bidentransition.org</a> with feedback on how to provide a better experience.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">la web de Biden y Harris "de transici&oacute;n" (como lo llaman ellos) dice mucho de sus intenciones<br /><br />&#10145;&#65039; Est&aacute; hecha con WordPress (c&oacute;digo abierto)<br />&#10145;&#65039; Es multiling&uuml;e (espa&ntilde;ol e ingl&eacute;s)<br />&#10145;&#65039; Es MUY accesible (me da entre un 80 y 90% en tests)<a href="https://t.co/vY2Peb8BJ4">https://t.co/vY2Peb8BJ4</a></p>&mdash; Manu Quiroga &#127880; (@Manuls) <a href="https://twitter.com/Manuls/status/1325459089607024645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>The Biden-Haris transition team is focused on building the necessary infrastructure for providing a smooth transfer of power from the current administration with a focus on critical matters, such as public health policy and national recovery plans. The website publishes updates on the leadership being assembled to tackle these challenges.</p>



<p>Both the current administration&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/">whitehouse.gov</a> and <a href="https://joebiden.com/">JoeBiden.com</a> are also running on WordPress. If the Biden-Harris transition website is any indication, the next edition of whitehouse.gov may also relaunch on 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:"Tue, 10 Nov 2020 04:24:03 +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: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:66:"WPTavern: WordPress 5.6 Will Ship With Another Major jQuery Change";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=107508";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:177:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-6-will-ship-with-another-major-jquery-change?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-6-will-ship-with-another-major-jquery-change";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:5137:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">WordPress 5.6 will ship with the latest jQuery library next month. This is a major update that all plugin and theme developers should begin testing against. Last week, Marius Jensen <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/05/updating-core-jquery-to-version-3-part-2/">announced the change</a> on the Make Core blog.</p>



<p>The following jQuery-related libraries are expected to ship in the update (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/50564">WordPress Trac ticket</a>):</p>



<ul><li>jQuery 3.5.1</li><li>jQuery Migrate 3.3.2</li><li>jQuery UI 1.12.1</li></ul>



<p>This change is not surprising. Lead developer Andrew Ozz announced the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/06/29/updating-jquery-version-shipped-with-wordpress/">original three-phase transition</a> to update the jQuery library earlier this June. The end goal is for WordPress to bundle the most up-to-date version and keep it updated going forward. WordPress has fallen behind and relied on an older version for several release cycles. As a result, much of the plugin and theme ecosystem has relied on outdated features.</p>



<p>The three steps of the process are as follows:</p>



<ul><li><strong>WordPress 5.5:</strong> Remove the jQuery Migrate 1.x script.</li><li><strong>WordPress 5.6:</strong> Update to the latest jQuery, jQuery UI, and jQuery Migrate scripts.</li><li><strong>WordPress 5.7:</strong> Remove the jQuery Migrate script.</li></ul>



<p>If the removing, adding, and once again removing jQuery Migrate sounds confusing, it is because it can be. jQuery Migrate is essentially a helper script that allows developers to &ldquo;migrate&rdquo; to newer versions of jQuery. It is a backward-compatibility fix. The version of jQuery Migrate being re-added in WordPress 5.6 corresponds to newer versions of jQuery. It is being added as a temporary fix to give plugin and theme developers time to update their code. The hope is that developers will no longer rely on it by the time WordPress 5.7 ships.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Following the best practices and the recommendations of the jQuery team, Migrate should be used as a helper tool, not as a permanent backwards compatibility solution,&rdquo; said Ozz in our <a href="https://wptavern.com/major-jquery-changes-on-the-way-for-wordpress-5-5-and-beyond">discussion a few months ago</a>. &ldquo;Ideally, WordPress will be able to do this.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Whether jQuery Migrate is removed in WordPress 5.7 remains to be seen. Right now, it is a tentative goal. Thus far, the process is still on track. Much of this also depends on how smooth the WordPress 5.6 ship sails. The <a href="https://wptavern.com/enable-jquery-migrate-helper-plugin-passes-10k-active-installs">5.5 release sunk</a>, at least for many users. This is a result that we do not want to repeat.</p>



<p>Navigating all of this is no small feat for end-users. They rely on WordPress, plugin, and theme developers to keep things running smoothly. With a month left before the launch of WordPress 5.6, plugin and theme authors need to start testing to make sure their projects work with the latest version of WordPress.</p>



<p>Expecting some issues with WordPress 5.5, the WordPress development team created the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/enable-jquery-migrate-helper/">Enable jQuery Migrate Helper</a> plugin to ease the transition for users on WordPress 5.5. In the first week, the plugin had over 10,000 active installations. Today, it has over 200,000 users. This number is not necessarily indicative of plugins and themes with outdated code. Presumably, some percentage of these users no longer need the plugin because their extensions have been updated while they have yet to deactivate it. There is no public data on who is using the plugin and why.</p>



<p>The plugin is still useful right now. It logs deprecation notices and makes them available to users. If the plugin does not log any notices after a week or two, users are encouraged to deactivate the plugin. If they are still seeing notices, they should contact their theme or plugin developers, depending on what is triggering the notices. When users update to WordPress 5.6, they should no longer need the plugin.</p>



<p>We will be six months into this process for the next major release. Developers have had ample time to make adjustments. Let this be a friendly reminder to test plugins and themes during the 5.6 beta cycle.</p>



<p>Plugin and theme authors should test with the <code>SCRIPT_DEBUG</code> constant enabled in their <code>wp-config.php</code> files. More information is available via the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/debugging-in-wordpress/">Debugging in WordPress</a> documentation.</p>



<p>Jensen has published a guide on <a href="https://clorith.net/updating-jquery-code-in-your-unmaintained-wordpress-plugin-or-theme/">updating jQuery in unmaintained themes or plugins</a>.  It is primarily geared toward end-users who are comfortable enough going the DIY route.  However, developers can find some useful information in the tutorial too.</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, 09 Nov 2020 21:31:57 +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: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:80:"WPTavern: Editor Plus 2.1 Overhauls Block Controls UI and Adds Lottie Animations";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=107421";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:205:"https://wptavern.com/editor-plus-2-1-overhauls-block-controls-ui-and-adds-lottie-animations?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=editor-plus-2-1-overhauls-block-controls-ui-and-adds-lottie-animations";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:4629:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Yesterday, Munir Kamal released version 2.1 of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorplus/">Editor Plus</a> plugin. The biggest change is a complete overhaul of its design controls. The developer also added a new Lottie animation block.</p>



<p>I probably sound like a broken record after covering the last several releases of the plugin, but Kamal is doing some amazing things with the block editor. He is pushing limits and experimenting in areas that few others have yet to attempt. I am beginning to wonder if he has some secret, never-ending checklist of feature ideas in which he ticks off a few boxes every couple of weeks.</p>



<p>The plugin has only 1,000+ active installs at the moment. However, it has maintained growth of over 11% since the midway point in 2020. I expect this to accelerate in the coming year as Kamal continues placing individual pieces of the larger puzzle, which includes the free blocks, patterns, and templates at <a href="https://gutenberghub.com/">Gutenberg Hub</a>. He has laid the groundwork and now has one of the largest block editor resources on the web.</p>



<h2>Design Controls Overhaul</h2>



<img />More compact block design controls.



<p class="has-drop-cap">My biggest complaint about Editor Plus has always been how overwhelming some of the block options have felt. Too many choices can be blinding, and they make it tough to figure out where to start when customizing blocks.</p>



<p>In our last discussion a couple of weeks ago, Kamal said that &ldquo;other UI improvements are yet to come.&rdquo; He was already working on tightening up controls, creating what he referred to as a more compact UI. He was drawing inspiration from the Figma and Sketch design tools.</p>



<p>On the whole, this update creates that cleaner UI that he was shooting for. Some of the biggest improvements come from moving controls and labels inline with one another. The change means that users must do less scrolling to go through a multitude of options.</p>



<p>There are still areas that could be cleaned and made more intuitive. Right now, Editor Plus adds custom block options tabs where WordPress already has the same tabs. For example, the plugin creates its own &ldquo;+ Typography&rdquo; tab. Instead, it should mount its custom options on the existing core Typography tab. From a purely user-experience perspective, it is confusing to see the similarly-named tabs. This would also create a more compact list of top-level tabs. The plugin has other tabs or controls with the same issue.</p>



<h2>Lottie Animation Block</h2>



<img />Still shot of the <a href="https://lottiefiles.com/37722-bouncy-car">Bouncy Car</a> Lottie animation.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Kamal added the plugin&rsquo;s first seven blocks in the <a href="https://wptavern.com/editorplus-introduces-its-first-blocks-and-adds-a-custom-block-creator">last plugin update</a>. His primary goal is to stretch what the default WordPress blocks can do. However, he needed to create some new blocks to handle some of the layouts that were not possible with core alone. The latest update adds a Lottie animation block, which allows users to link to or upload a JSON file for a Lottie animation.</p>



<p>Created by Airbnb, Lottie is a library that parses Adobe After Effects animations that are exported as JSON with Bodymovin. It then renders them natively on mobile devices or the web. The file sizes are smaller than many other options, and the animations can be scaled up or down without pixelation.</p>



<p><a href="https://lottiefiles.com/">LottieFiles</a> is one of the largest libraries of free Lottie animations on the web. It has 1,000s of animations for users to choose from.</p>



<p>Kamal has already begun making use of the new Lottie animation block in Gutenberg Hub&rsquo;s <a href="https://gutenberghub.com/template-category/patterns/">section patterns library,</a> which houses block code that users can copy and paste into the editor, provided they have the Editor Plus plugin installed. Thus far, he has added three Lottie patterns with Black Friday animations &mdash; just in time for the shopping season.</p>



<img />Still shot of an animated <a href="https://gutenberghub.com/templates/lottie-2/">Black Friday pattern</a>.



<p>While the Lottie animation JSON files are small, the script to play the animations is not. The JavaScript file comes in at a whopping 294 kb. This file is only loaded if the Lottie block is in use. The size may be a deal-breaker for some users. However, for animation-heavy websites, it might be worth considering.</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, 06 Nov 2020 22:03:01 +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: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:97:"WPTavern: WooCommerce Patches Vulnerability that Allowed Spam Bots to Create Accounts at Checkout";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=107352";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:239:"https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-patches-vulnerability-that-allowed-spam-bots-to-create-accounts-at-checkout?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=woocommerce-patches-vulnerability-that-allowed-spam-bots-to-create-accounts-at-checkout";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:4502:"<p><a href="https://developer.woocommerce.com/2020/11/05/woocommerce-4-6-2-fix-release/">WooCommerce 4.6.2</a> was released yesterday with a fix for a vulnerability that allowed account creation at checkout, even when the &ldquo;Allow customers to create an account during checkout&rdquo; setting is disabled.&nbsp;The WooCommerce team discovered it after several dozen users <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/failed-orders-fake-information/">reported</a> their sites were receiving spam orders, or &ldquo;failed orders&rdquo; where the payment details were fake.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img />Source: <a href="https://developer.woocommerce.com/2020/11/05/developer-advisory-spam-orders-and-accounts-from-bots/">WooCommerce Developer Advisory</a></div>



<p>WooCommerce developer Rodrigo Primo described how the bot is attacking stores: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The gist of it is that the bot is able to create a user when placing an order exploiting the bug fixed by 4.6.2. After creating the user, the bot tries to find vulnerabilities in other plugins installed on the site that require an unprivileged authenticated account.</p></blockquote>



<p>WooCommerce recommends users update to 4.6.2 to stop bots from creating users at checkout and then remove any accounts the bot previously created. This will not stop the bots from creating fake orders so store owners are advised to <a href="https://woocommerce.com/search/?q=spam&categories=WooCommerce+Extensions&collections=product">install additional spam protection</a> from the WooCommerce Marketplace. Some users in the support forum are trying free plugins like <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-nocaptcha-recaptcha/">Advanced noCaptcha &amp; Invisible Captcha</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/woo-blocker-lite-prevent-fake-orders-and-blacklist-fraud-customers/">Fraud Prevention Plugin for WooCommerce</a>.</p>



<p>The first <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/failed-orders-fake-information/">logged instance</a> happened nine days before WooCommerce was able to issue a fix. In the meantime, some users reported having their site&rsquo;s URL changed and other hacking attempts. Dave Green, WordPress engineer at <a href="https://www.makedo.net/">Make Do</a>, used log files to determine that the script relies on exploiting other vulnerabilities in order to gain access to the database. </p>



<p>&ldquo;That script is creating the order, and is also likely to be exploiting whatever vulnerability is available to bypass customer account settings and create a new user; it may or may not be relying upon other exploits for this,&rdquo; Green <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/failed-orders-fake-information/page/8/#post-13611713">said</a>.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Assuming it has successfully gained access to the system, it then tries to update the DB. It either fails and leaves you with nuisance orders, or succeeds and points your site to the scam URL.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The WooCommerce team has also fixed this same bug in <a href="https://developer.woocommerce.com/2020/11/05/woocommerce-blocks-3-7-1-release-notes/">WooCommerce Blocks 3.7.1</a>, preventing  checkout from creating accounts when the related setting is disabled. </p>



<p>WooCommerce did not publish the names of any of extensions that have vulnerabilities being exploited by this script. However, some one user <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/failed-orders-fake-information/page/2/#post-13592568">reported</a> an attack that coincided with the fake orders:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>I had a failed order yesterday with similar info to the OP as well.</p><p>At the exact same time that failed order came in, my WAF blocked two attempted attacks from the same user/IP (bbbb bbbb) for &ldquo;TI WooCommerce Wishlist &lt; 1.21.12 &ndash; Authenticated WP Options Change&rdquo;</p></blockquote>



<p>The script may have been probing for a vulnerability in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/ti-woocommerce-wishlist/">TI WooCommerce Wishlist</a> plugin, which was <a href="https://blog.nintechnet.com/critical-zero-day-vulnerability-fixed-in-wordpress-ti-woocommerce-wishlist-plugin/">patched</a> approximately two weeks ago. The plugin is active on more than 70,000 WordPress sites.</p>



<p>The WooCommerce team is still researching the origin and impact of this vulnerability and will publish more information as it becomes available.</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, 06 Nov 2020 20:37:02 +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: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:104:"WPTavern: WordPress.com Drops Over 100 Block Patterns, Carving a Path the Design Community Should Follow";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=107332";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:251:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-com-drops-over-100-block-patterns-carving-a-path-the-design-community-should-follow?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-com-drops-over-100-block-patterns-carving-a-path-the-design-community-should-follow";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:5024:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Automattic <a href="https://wordpress.com/blog/2020/10/28/introducing-patterns/">released over 100 block patterns</a> to its users on WordPress.com last week. Patterns are a set of blocks that users can insert into their posts or pages for predefined yet customizable sections of content. Most of WordPress.com&rsquo;s new patterns are general enough in design to cover a range of uses. However, the choices also cover some niches like restaurants.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The WordPress Editor is a powerful tool that can help bring your design ideas to life but one of the best parts is, you don&rsquo;t have to start from scratch,&rdquo; wrote Ian Stewart, the WordPress.com Design Team Lead, in the announcement. &ldquo;Building sophisticated designs can be as easy as picking Patterns from our growing library, and snapping them together to create beautiful-looking posts and pages.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Aside from the work that Gutenberg Hub has done with its <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-hub-launches-collection-of-100-block-templates">template library</a>, this is one of the largest dumps of block patterns from anyone in the WordPress community at once. The big question right now is whether the larger WordPress community will see them in some form.</p>



<p>&ldquo;No immediate plans to bring those out to the larger community outside of WordPress.com just yet,&rdquo; said Stewart in a quick chat. &ldquo;I expect us to contribute in some fashion to the potential block pattern directory but no immediate plans there yet either.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Admittedly, I was a little disappointed in the response. I bought into the idea of block patterns from day one and have been patiently awaiting an explosion of layouts from the development community. As a former theme business owner, I see the dozens of problems that patterns would have solved for me five, six, or seven years ago. And, this is a feature that could win over some holdouts who are waiting for the block editor to mature enough to build more advanced layouts.</p>



<img />Grouping Quote, Spacer, and Columns creates custom Quote pattern.



<p>&ldquo;The team&rsquo;s current focus is on making great-looking WordPress.com patterns and contributing back to the Gutenberg Project when we see potential for improvement with the tools for creating them,&rdquo; said Stewart. &ldquo;I think, like you, we&rsquo;re pretty excited about the potential for Patterns and improved design controls in the Block Editor. So we&rsquo;re plugging away at that right now. There&rsquo;s a lot of exciting designs that can be made today and even more that we&rsquo;ll be able to make in the future.&rdquo;</p>



<p><em>Not now</em> is not a <em>no</em>, however. Automattic has a gluttony of talented designers. If a <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-launching-an-official-block-pattern-directory">block pattern directory emerges</a> from recent discussions (it&rsquo;s still an early idea), I have little doubt that individuals from the company would submit patterns. Users of the WordPress software will also see new patterns in themes that the design team releases publicly, such as those within <a href="https://wptavern.com/exploring-seedlet-automattics-block-first-wordpress-theme">Seedlet</a>.</p>



<img />Heading, Paragraph, Spacer, and YouTube blocks create this pattern.



<p>The great thing about patterns is that they are easy to recreate. Even if the WordPress.com design team decides to keep them in-house for the foreseeable future, they can offer inspiration to theme authors who are looking to dive into this feature. Most of the patterns use only the core WordPress blocks. However, some of the contact-related patterns use the Form block, which is available via the Jetpack plugin.</p>



<p>Other patterns make use of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/layout-grid/">Layout Grid block</a>, which is in the official plugin directory. This is one area that the block editor still lags a bit behind in, so it is necessary to use a plugin to make some of the more complex pattern designs work. However, there is an <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/16271">open discussion on a grid system</a> for core. Tavern readers seemed to be <a href="https://wptavern.com/should-the-block-editor-have-a-grid-system">receptive to the idea</a> earlier this year too.</p>



<img />Grids within grids &mdash; nesting for a complex layout.



<p>The design team put together an extensive array of call-to-action patterns. With over 20 to choose from in this category alone, just about any site owner who wants to sell a product, service, or content should be able to find something that suits them.</p>



<img />Call to Action block pattern for shops.



<p>For now, those using WordPress.com can fully enjoy one of the better parts of the block editor. As for theme authors who are building for the open-source WordPress platform, remember that <em>great artists steal</em>.</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, 05 Nov 2020 23:09:27 +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: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:45:"WPTavern: Frontity Inks Partnership with 10up";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=106861";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:135:"https://wptavern.com/frontity-inks-partnership-with-10up?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=frontity-inks-partnership-with-10up";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:4280:"<img />photo credit: <a href="https://stocksnap.io/photo/laptop-desk-2BJQISGWND">Matt Moloney</a>



<p><a href="https://frontity.org/">Frontity</a> has launched a <a href="https://frontity.org/partners/">partnership program</a> to support the maintenance of its open source framework for building React-based WordPress sites. <a href="https://10up.com/">10up</a>, a large agency that provides&nbsp;headless solutions to&nbsp;enterprise customers, is the first partner to join in support of the project.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Since we launched Frontity Framework last year, dozens of WordPress publishers have asked our team about consulting services and for help on their migration to Frontity,&rdquo; Frontity communications director Reyes Mart&iacute;nez said. &ldquo;It was great to see an increasing interest in using Frontity at an enterprise-level but, unfortunately, we didn&rsquo;t have an efficient way to help them all and fulfill the custom requirements these projects usually need.&rdquo;</p>



<p>This partnership allows Frontity to funnel requests for consulting to 10up and other future agency partners. Reyes said the partnership does not have a monetary aspect but rather 10up is supporting the project by maintaining and extending the framework through contributions. </p>



<p>Prior to this arrangement, the agency had already contributed to the core framework, most notably by developing the <a href="https://github.com/frontity/frontity/pull/507">Link Component</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/frontity/frontity/pull/518">Auto-Prefetching</a>&nbsp;features. 10up also  created the&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/10up/frontity-packages/tree/develop/packages/elasticpress">ElasticPress package</a>, which improves search for sites using Elasticsearch.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Frontity provides an easy to use package management interface that enables us to quickly extend the platform &mdash; similar to how plugins work in the WordPress ecosystem,&rdquo; 10up VP of Engineering Taylor Lovett <a href="https://10up.com/blog/2020/10up-frontity-partnership/">said</a>, explaining why the company formalized a partnership with the framework&rsquo;s creators. &ldquo;It includes features that typically require custom engineering, such as Google Analytics integration, routing, and integration with plugins (like SEO tools).&rdquo;</p>



<p>Earlier this year Frontity raised &euro;1M in funding in a round led by&nbsp;<a href="https://kfund.co/">K Fund</a>, with&nbsp;<a href="https://automattic.com/">Automattic</a>&nbsp;covering 22%. This funding keeps the maintainers free to focus on the open source project. Frontity recently <a href="https://runacap.com/ross-index/">ranked #9</a> on Runa Capital&rsquo;s Open Source Startup (ROSS) Index, which ranked the top 20 startups by Github star growth for Q3 2020.</p>



<p>The project&rsquo;s partnership program is an interesting and somewhat uncommon approach to sustaining the framework&rsquo;s growth. It redirects a steady stream of leads for custom work to partners, helping potential users find expertise, while ensuring the project is well maintained. As the WordPress ecosystem demonstrates increasing interest in building React-powered websites, Frontity is turning the growing demand for custom work into an opportunity to bolster the open source project and ensure the framework&rsquo;s future.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Some companies are aware of the advantages of a decoupled React front-end and contact us because they are interesting in using Frontity, but don&rsquo;t have the team or the internal resources to build or migrate a project from scratch,&rdquo; Reyes said. &ldquo;Others that have the resources and already tried (or know) Frontity, contact us because they still want a freelancer or agency to help with the development, design or maintenance of the project.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Frontity is in conversation with some agencies from the WordPress VIP Agency Partner Program and other hosting companies but could not share more details at this time. The basic qualifications for partners include previous experience with enterprise customers in the WordPress space, expertise with headless WordPress and React frontends, and willingness to actively contribute to the Frontity framework.</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, 05 Nov 2020 03:18:00 +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: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: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:127:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 9.3 Provides Indicator of Where Full-Site Editing Is Going, a Future Without Widgets and Customizer Screens";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=107286";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:297:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-9-3-provides-indicator-of-where-full-site-editing-is-going-a-future-without-widgets-and-customizer-screens?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-9-3-provides-indicator-of-where-full-site-editing-is-going-a-future-without-widgets-and-customizer-screens";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:7817:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Version 9.3 of the Gutenberg plugin <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-4-november/">dropped earlier today</a>. It is the first version of the plugin during the WordPress 5.6 release cycle that will not see its new features land in the core platform. However, bug fixes have been backported to WordPress 5.6 beta 2 and 3. Much of the work for the release focused on full-site editing (FSE) features and fixes. However, some minor enhancements outside of the site editor landed in the update.</p>



<p>The Social Links block now supports Patreon, Telegram, and Tiktok, which brings the total number of social icons to 43. The Buttons block also has an overhauled alignment option.</p>



<p>Overall, the release mostly adds polish to existing areas. The development team fixed over 20 bugs and has continued pushing forward with improvements to the site editor.</p>



<h2>Removal of Widgets and Customizer Screens</h2>



<img />Widgets and Customizer no longer under Appearance menu.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The biggest story around Gutenberg 9.3 is not in measurable code or user-facing design changes. Instead, it is within a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/26594">discussion on a ticket</a> about removing the Customizer and Widgets screens when a user has FSE enabled.</p>



<p>Version 9.3 hides the Widgets and Customizer items from the WordPress admin menu. However, they are still accessible by directly going to the URL or lingering links within various parts of the WordPress admin like on the Themes screen. This change could have implications for the future of those screens.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I think it would be a bad move to hide them now without clearly communicating to the WordPress community what the future of widgets and the customizer is,&rdquo; <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/26594#issuecomment-720260197">wrote Carolina Nymark</a>, a Themes Team representative, in the ticket. &ldquo;Hiding them is going to lead to more questions from worried users and developers. I think hiding them without answering these questions publicly is a bad idea. I&rsquo;m not asking you to answer me in this pull request, I am asking that &lsquo;WordPress,&rsquo; be it the core-editor team or someone else, presents the long term plan for these core features.&rdquo;</p>



<p>She lists several questions that should be answered by project leaders. Most of them boil down to the central question of what role the customizer will play in the long term:</p>



<ul><li>Even if the menu item is hidden, the customizer can still be accessed, will the options still work?</li><li>What role will the customizer have with FSE themes?</li><li>Will it be deprecated, how and when? If it is not going to be deprecated, why hide them?</li><li>Will it also be deprecated for non-FSE themes? How and When?</li><li>How do I convert existing customizer options for my updated theme?</li><li>What about the WordPress options that are only available in the customizer, like the site icon?</li></ul>



<p>&ldquo;The idea here is that since FSE themes don&rsquo;t have widget areas, the widgets screen is useless,&rdquo; <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/26594#issuecomment-720347060">responded Riad Benguella</a>. &ldquo;For the customizer, it&rsquo;s a duplicate of the Site Editor screen (similar capabilities), so we need to make sure the Site Editor fills the gaps left by the Customizer. Global styles and Site blocks address most of the site options required for FSE themes and making the switch (hiding the customizer) will allow us to discover gaps we&rsquo;re missing.&rdquo;</p>



<p>That FSE themes will not have widget areas does leave one to wonder why so much work has been put into converting the sidebar/widgets system to use blocks over the past year. It was also a planned feature for WordPress 5.6 that <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-6-release-team-pulls-the-plug-on-block-based-widgets">did not make the cut</a>.</p>



<p>Benguella&rsquo;s thoughts seem to be in line with 5.6 release lead Josepha Haden&rsquo;s recent comments. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of interest in reducing the number of workflows, and I&rsquo;m hopeful that we can consolidate down to just one beautiful, intuitive interface,&rdquo; she said in response to pulling the plug on widgets for 5.6.</p>



<p>Benguella&rsquo;s comment is also one of the first public indications that I have seen about what such a consolidation would look like. Presumably, there will be no need for the Nav Menus, Widgets, or Customizer screens as WordPress progresses in the coming releases.</p>



<p>I still question whether the work that the team is putting into making those screens handle blocks is worth it. Traditional themes should simply use traditional nav menus, widgets, and customizer options. New block-based themes should use the site editor when it lands.</p>



<p>There are still some unanswered questions from Nymark&rsquo;s list. We will need to wait for further feedback from someone in the know. She is right about the need for clear and public communication.</p>



<h2>Automatic Switching to FSE</h2>



<img />Notice given to users when they are using an FSE-capable theme.



<p class="has-drop-cap">One of the biggest improvements, particularly for people testing FSE, is that Gutenberg now <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/26500">automatically enables FSE</a> when a user activates an FSE-capable theme. It will also disable FSE when switching back to a traditional theme.</p>



<p>Some good themes to test FSE with are <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/q/">Q</a>, <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/tree/master/twentytwentyone-blocks">Twenty Twenty-One Blocks</a>, and <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/themes/tree/trunk/seedlet-blocks">Seedlet Blocks</a>.</p>



<p>Users can also no longer enable FSE via the Gutenberg Experimental settings screen. Using a block-based theme is now a requirement to test this part of the Gutenberg experience. This is probably a good call at this stage. Despite being clearly labeled as experimental, thousands of users run Gutenberg in a production environment and may enable it. Plus, it keeps people from testing a broken experience when their theme does not support it.</p>



<h2>Buttons Block Content Alignment</h2>



<img />New inner content alignment option for the Buttons block.



<p class="has-drop-cap">For theme authors who do not rely on the Gutenberg base styles, they may need to update their theme stylesheets to handle content-alignment classes on the Buttons block. However, they will also need to continue supporting the old classes for backward compatibility.</p>



<p>This change means that users can use wide and full-width alignment on the block while separately aligning the block&rsquo;s content.</p>



<p>The update <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/23168">adds a content justification option</a> to the editor toolbar for the Buttons block. It makes sense to use this method because the Buttons block is technically a container. It merely houses one or more inner Button blocks. The previously-used alignment system is meant for aligning the entire block rather than the block&rsquo;s content.</p>



<p>In past versions of the block editor, the Buttons block used the traditional <code>align*</code> classes for left, right, and center alignment. This Gutenberg update switches the classes to <code>is-content-justification-*</code>.</p>



<p>The editor will automatically transition the Buttons block to the new classes when a user edits a specific post with the block. Otherwise, they will still have the old <code>align*</code> classes.</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, 04 Nov 2020 20:36:03 +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:122:"WPTavern: WordPress 5.6 to Add UI for Enabling Major Version Auto-Updates, Contributors Discuss Adding a Filter to Hide It";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=107214";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:287:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-6-to-add-ui-for-enabling-major-version-auto-updates-contributors-discuss-adding-a-filter-to-hide-it?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-6-to-add-ui-for-enabling-major-version-auto-updates-contributors-discuss-adding-a-filter-to-hide-it";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:4409:"<p>WordPress 5.6 is set to add <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/02/introducing-auto-updates-interface-for-core-major-versions-in-wordpress-5-6/">a UI that allows users to opt into auto-updates for major versions</a> of core. Previously, developers could turn these updates on by setting the&nbsp;<code>WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE</code>&nbsp;constant to&nbsp;<code>true</code>&nbsp;or by using the&nbsp;<code>allow_major_auto_core_updates</code>&nbsp;filter. Version 5.6 exposes this setting in the UI to make it more accessible for users. </p>



<img />



<p>Jb Audras posted a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/02/introducing-auto-updates-interface-for-core-major-versions-in-wordpress-5-6/">dev note</a> on the feature yesterday with instructions for how developers can extend it to add more options.</p>



<p>A previous version of this UI specified that the setting refers to major versions: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Keep my site up-to-date with regular feature updates (major versions).</p></blockquote>



<p>This was <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/49285">changed</a> 11 days ago to remove the wording that tells users which versions the setting controls. </p>



<p>&ldquo;The idea was to make the wording more general, and maybe easier to understand,&rdquo; Jb Audras said. &ldquo;As minor updates are already automatically updated (since 3.7), new users may not understand what is behind the &lsquo;major versions&rsquo; term.&rdquo;</p>



<p>This new wording makes the setting unclear. Users may not understand what &ldquo;major versions&rdquo; are but &ldquo;feature updates&rdquo; is even less clear. Does it include updates to existing features? Or only the introduction of brand new features? A better option might be to link &ldquo;major versions&rdquo; to documentation on HelpHub.</p>



<p>In the current climate, where <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-2019-survey-results-show-professionals-slow-to-adopt-block-editor-2020-survey-now-open">positive sentiment regarding auto-updates is declining</a>, shipping the new UI with a nebulous term like &ldquo;feature updates&rdquo; is not going to inspire as much confidence as explicitly identifying what updates the setting controls.</p>



<p>Audras said he is open to having the wording changed but that so far those testing the beta don&rsquo;t seem to have a problem with it. String freeze is scheduled for November 10, and after that no more wording updates can be committed. </p>



<p>Contributors are also discussing adding a filter that would allow developers to <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51698">hide the auto-updates UI for major versions</a>. Mike Schroder noted that this would be especially useful for hosting companies that are handling updates in a different way. Some developers or agencies may want to use the filter to prevent their clients from turning auto-updates on for major versions.</p>



<p>Core Committer Jonathan Desrosiers <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51698#comment:5">said</a> he is not in favor of using a filter to hide the UI on a page that is not likely to be accessed by users who have the ability to update core:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>If that change is made (disabling the form when the constant is defined or&nbsp;<code>allow_major_auto_core_updates</code>&nbsp;filter is used), then I am not sure the UI should ever be hidden. As raised by&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aaroncampbell">@aaroncampbell</a>&nbsp;in today&rsquo;s weekly meeting, the update page is only accessible to those with the&nbsp;<code>update_core</code>&nbsp;capability (trusted users). While there may be valid use cases for wholesale hiding the new feature, I haven&rsquo;t seen one yet. To me, disabling the form and explaining why the form cannot be used to update the desired behavior is more valuable to the site owner, as they would be better equipped to make an adjustment.</p></blockquote>



<p>If you want to contribute to the conversation, check out the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/02/introducing-auto-updates-interface-for-core-major-versions-in-wordpress-5-6/">dev note</a> on the new auto-updates interface for major versions and the Trac <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51698">ticket</a> for a filer that would hide the UI.</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, 03 Nov 2020 23:32:51 +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: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:103:"WPTavern: Automattic Releases Spearhead, a Seedlet Child Theme Aimed at Podcasters and Content Creators";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=107225";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:249:"https://wptavern.com/automattic-releases-spearhead-a-seedlet-child-theme-aimed-at-podcasters-and-content-creators?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=automattic-releases-spearhead-a-seedlet-child-theme-aimed-at-podcasters-and-content-creators";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:5128:"<img />Spearhead theme blog/posts page.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Last Thursday, Automattic announced its <a href="https://wordpress.com/blog/2020/10/29/spearhead/">new Spearhead theme</a> to WordPress.com users, which primarily focuses on podcasters. However, the team has marketed it toward content creators in general. It is a child theme of the company&rsquo;s recently-released <a href="https://wptavern.com/exploring-seedlet-automattics-block-first-wordpress-theme">Seedlet theme</a>. Cece Yu originally created the design for the <a href="https://spearhead.co/">Spearhead</a> podcast, which is currently in use on the website.</p>



<p>Spearhead is not just a theme for WordPress.com users. Self-hosted WordPress users can expect availability in the future. &ldquo;Adding Spearhead to the themes directory is on our to-do list,&rdquo; said Jeff Ong, a designer at Automattic. &ldquo;Just haven&rsquo;t gotten round to it yet.&rdquo;</p>



<p>For self-hosted users who want to give the child theme a spin right now, Automattic hosts all of its free themes in a <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/themes">GitHub mono-repository</a>. The Spearhead theme is located in its own <code>/spearhead</code> sub-directory.</p>



<p>The announcement post said that the theme is fully block powered. This would be better reworded to say that it is a block-first WordPress theme. When full-site editing lands in core WordPress, we can start saying that themes are fully powered by blocks. Until then, it is just the content that is made of blocks. And, Spearhead&rsquo;s parent theme is a prime example of a solid block-first theme. I imagine it will be the springboard of many upcoming themes from Automattic&rsquo;s theme designers, whether that is in the form of a building child themes or using it as a starter.</p>



<p>Given Spearhead&rsquo;s podcast roots, the development team wrote a small function to locate an Audio block from the post content and present it on the blog and other archive-type pages below the excerpt. In the past, this sort of feature was difficult to achieve because of little-to-no standardization on audio output. However, the block system makes it possible with just a few lines of code.</p>



<h2>Automatic Dark Mode Support</h2>



<img />Light vs. dark modes based on OS settings.



<p class="has-drop-cap">One of the more interesting aspects of Spearhead is its support for users who are browsing the web in dark mode. This setting is located in various locations based on the user&rsquo;s operating system. However, when enabled by the user, the theme automatically detects this and switches its color scheme.</p>



<p>This system uses the <code>prefers-color-scheme</code> <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/prefers-color-scheme">CSS media feature</a> to style for dark mode. This feature is generally <a href="https://caniuse.com/?search=prefers-color-scheme">supported</a> by most modern web browsers. For browsers and operating systems without dark/light mode support, users will see the default light color scheme for the theme.</p>



<p>I generally prefer light color schemes, but this is one of the few dark color schemes that is at least comparable or maybe better than the light one. Far too often, I find dark schemes unreadable for long-form content, but the development team took care to select a palette that works well for whatever the site visitor chooses.</p>



<h2>Custom Block Patterns</h2>



<img />Inserting the Podcast Links block pattern.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Spearhead removes the three patterns registered by the Seedlet parent theme. It then registers four of its own patterns:</p>



<ul><li>Related Posts</li><li>Archive Page</li><li>Podcast Links</li><li>Podcast Links List</li></ul>



<p>The Related Posts pattern requires the Jetpack plugin to be installed. Currently, the theme does not check if the plugin is active before registering the pattern. Presumably, this is because Jetpack features are available on all WordPress.com sites. However, the development team will need to address this before submitting it to the WordPress.org theme directory.</p>



<p>The Archive pattern allows users to create an archive page on their site. It displays a search form, the latest posts, and the site&rsquo;s categories. It is not quite as fully featured as a complete archive plugin. However, it does replace what is often the traditional archive page template shipped with many themes. The use of a pattern is a nice shift that gives users more flexibility to change the output than what is possible with page templates. </p>



<p>It will be interesting to see if more theme authors follow suit and reevaluate their theme&rsquo;s page templates. Transitioning to a block pattern may be a better option in many cases.</p>



<p>The Podcast Links pattern outputs a Navigation block with links to sites that host podcasts. End-users will want to update the link URLs. The Podcast Links List pattern is similar. Surprisingly, it is not actually a list. It is a paragraph of links and does not have the same prefix text.</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, 03 Nov 2020 22:24:24 +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: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:107:"WPTavern: WordPress 2019 Survey Results Show Professionals Slow to Adopt Block Editor, 2020 Survey Now Open";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=106946";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:257:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-2019-survey-results-show-professionals-slow-to-adopt-block-editor-2020-survey-now-open?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-2019-survey-results-show-professionals-slow-to-adopt-block-editor-2020-survey-now-open";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:7439:"<p>WordPress has opened its <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/take-the-2020-wordpress-annual-survey-and-view-the-2019-results/">2020 Annual Survey</a>, a short set of questions designed to collect more information on how different groups of people are using the software. It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and all data is anonymized. </p>



<p>WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy <a href="https://twitter.com/JosephaHaden/status/1321227911462936576">said</a> she uses the results from the survey to inform her plans and recommendations all year long. In addition to providing valuable information for WordPress&rsquo; leadership, the results will also be shared with the wider community. </p>



<p>The Community Team has prepared a report with results from the 2015 and 2019 surveys, which had not been previously published. The <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FI7eEvSB5SHTSILIBpwOmH9rBffgD6mFnnqSkrEScYo/edit">2019 results</a> are summarized in a set of Google slides and are also <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bq62sficymopgos/AAA-wx73cDviVG84NSCTgjNDa?dl=0">available as a PDF or PPT</a>. </p>



<p>Despite 2019 being the first year that the survey was translated into five different languages, it only received 6,203 respondents, as compared to nearly 46,000 in 2015. The highest number of responses came from Europe (62%) and Asia (12%), while North American engagement has declined drastically to just 10%. Unchanged from previous years, most WordPress users identify as male (79%).</p>



<h2>2019 NPS Results: Detractors are Steadily Shrinking</h2>



<p>The 164-page report has a lot of information to digest but one of the highlights is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). It is a loyalty metric derived from users&rsquo; responses to the question of how likely they are to recommend WordPress to friends, colleagues, or clients. It provides an informal measurement of user satisfaction or perception.</p>



<p>WordPress&rsquo; 2019 NPS was 54, an increase from previous scores of 50 and 52. Promoters remain static while Detractors are steadily shrinking. This score, however, is skewed towards representing those who have a favorable enough opinion of WordPress to take the time to respond to the survey. The software&rsquo;s truest detractors have likely already moved on to following other tech communities and may be underrepresented in the NPS score.</p>



<img />



<p>More than 75% of respondents have been using WordPress for three years or more. Results indicated the project&rsquo;s open source community is an important driver for why people use the software:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>&ldquo;Nearly six-in-ten (59%) of survey respondents choose WordPress because it&rsquo;s what they know best. Half (50%) say they enjoy its open source community. Nearly half (48%) say WordPress has the features they need.&rdquo;</p></blockquote>



<p>This indicates that the WordPress community provides a factor of &ldquo;stickiness&rdquo; equal to that of the features the software offers. Improving and maintaining a healthy community is an important consideration for user retention, since a user sticking with WordPress is just as important as attracting new users. </p>



<h2>CMS Usage on the Rise Among Professionals, Blogging Is Declining</h2>



<p>The 2019 survey found that 76% of professionals are using WordPress as a  CMS, with slightly higher numbers (79%) for the WordPress Company Pros segment (those who work for a company that designs/develops websites). Blogging usage among professionals is consistently declining. </p>



<img />



<p>In the segment of respondents reporting as Users, blogging is also on the decline, with 49% using WordPress as a personal blog in 2019 vs. 63% in previous years (2015-2017).</p>



<h2>WordPress Professionals Slow to Adopt the Block Editor</h2>



<p>One noteworthy section in the 2019 results includes data on block editor adoption. When asked &ldquo;Which editor do you currently use?&rdquo;, 53% of respondents who identified as professionals said they are using the Classic Editor. This indicates the block editor is still finding its footing among professionals. An increasing percentage of these professionals are also self-employed (44% in 2019 vs 36% in 2016).</p>



<p>Another question asked, &ldquo;Have you or your team built blocks for the new editor?&rdquo; Less than half of those using the new editor confirmed they have new blocks added for using it, and 17% were not sure. If more than half of professionals have yet to adopt the new editor, it seems the market for block-based products has a great deal of room to grow.</p>



<img />



<p>Block editor adoption among Users could be as low as 36% or as high as 56%, but a large portion of users (20%) are unsure which editor they are using. This is not a bad thing, as most new users will have no prior knowledge of the Classic editor. Results from the 2020 survey should be useful for tracking adoption of the block editor over a longer period of time since its debut in WordPress 5.0 (2018.)</p>



<img />



<p>Attendance at WordPress community events, such as meetups and WordCamps, seemed to be on the rise, as well as submitting bug reports and contributing to documentation. However, 2019 saw a sharp decline in the percentage of those who report having created their own theme (61% to 42%) or plugin (50% to 38%), when compared with previous years. The percentage of core contributors (5%) has remained steady. This might mean that creating themes and plugins is becoming more difficult or less rewarding, or perhaps the survey attracted more of a different type of user than it did in previous years. There are any number of explanations but this may be a trend to continue watching.</p>



<img />



<h2>WordPress Users Remain Uneasy about Auto-Updates, Positive Sentiment is Declining</h2>



<p>In light of the incident last week where <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-auto-update-system-misfires-updating-live-sites-to-an-alpha-release">WordPress&rsquo; auto-update system misfired</a>, updating live sites to an alpha version, the survey includes valuable data about how users are feeling about this feature. The data from 2019 indicates that positive sentiments regarding auto-updates were already on the decline since 2015. </p>



<img />



<p>Those reporting that they loved auto-updates declined from 41% to 35%. The percentage of those who would like to see auto-updates for major releases of WordPress declined from 24% to 15%. Positive sentiment regarding theme and plugin auto-updates also decreased. Meanwhile, awareness of auto-updates increased in 2019, and slightly more users reported the feature makes them nervous or that they hate it.</p>



<p>These are just a few major highlights from the 2019 survey results, but the report includes much more detailed data regarding contributor satisfaction, time spent contributing, contributors&rsquo; experiences, and other topics. Check out all the summaries in the Google docs <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FI7eEvSB5SHTSILIBpwOmH9rBffgD6mFnnqSkrEScYo/edit#slide=id.g71a4c4edc6_3_232">presentation</a>, and make sure to <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/take-the-2020-wordpress-annual-survey-and-view-the-2019-results/">take the 2020 survey</a> to improve the representation of WordPress users this year. </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, 02 Nov 2020 23:12:46 +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: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:71:"WPTavern: Full-Site Editing Is Not the End of Artistic WordPress Themes";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=106872";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:187:"https://wptavern.com/full-site-editing-is-not-the-end-of-artistic-wordpress-themes?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=full-site-editing-is-not-the-end-of-artistic-wordpress-themes";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:7258:"<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>These plain canvas-like themes have until now been a choice for those who prefer it (those who like to design their own thing), but this article makes it sound like these types of themes should be the only choice in the future of WP.</p><p>This is worrisome to me as a non-designer who looks for themes specifically based on things like attractive button styles.</p><p>FSE sounds bad for people like me, who aren&rsquo;t artistic, can&rsquo;t coordinate colors, and want themes to do the artistic stuff.</p></blockquote>



<p>This was the <a href="https://wptavern.com/q-first-fse-wordpress-theme-now-live#comment-350166">response by a Tavern reader</a> named Isabel on the recent <a href="https://wptavern.com/q-first-fse-wordpress-theme-now-live">coverage of the Q theme</a>, an experimental project for the upcoming full-site editing (FSE) feature of WordPress. More specifically, she was worried about a thought that Ari Stathopoulos, the theme designer, had made asking that theme authors not get too opinionated with their default styles for things like buttons and so on. His view seemed to lean more toward creating open and customizable themes. However, it is not the only valid opinion on what themes should look like.</p>



<p>This is not much different than what we have experienced over the previous decade or more. Some theme authors build open canvasses for users to customize. Other theme authors build intricately-designed layouts with unique textures, shapes, and forms.</p>



<p>This is not going to change when FSE lands in core WordPress. Themes are merely the expression of the designer&rsquo;s vision for what a site could look like, and not all theme authors think about design in the same ways.</p>



<p>The Q theme is meant as a starting point or testbed for FSE. There will be many open-canvas themes. These types of themes are already wildly popular, particularly when used in conjunction with a page builder. Astra has over a million installs. Hello Elementor has surpassed 400,000. GeneratePress has over 300,000. There is big money in this segment of the theme market. FSE will undoubtedly help to increase the competition.</p>



<p>However, that is not all that themers are giving us. The recently-released <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/photofocus/">PhotoFocus</a> theme by Catch Themes is on the upward trend, inching its way into the popular themes list on WordPress.org. And, there are hundreds of other options that go beyond the plain ol&rsquo; open, black-text-on-white-background themes built for customization by the end-user.</p>



<p>I simply do not see the current trends shifting too much. Yes, those trends already lean heavily toward open-canvas themes.  FSE will allow developers to build those types of themes for core WordPress instead of page builders much more easily. </p>



<p>However, this is also an opportunity for those who want to experiment with more artistry to do so.</p>



<p>Stathopoulos did say:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>It&rsquo;s tempting to add extremely opinionated styles, for buttons for example, but more and more things get added every day to the editor like a border-radius setting for buttons.</p></blockquote>



<p>But, we must put that into the context of his followup remarks:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Theme authors should avoid the trap of designing an FSE theme having in mind what the editor currently does. Instead, theme authors should strive to build something having in mind a vision of what the editor will eventually become.</p></blockquote>



<p>He is not saying that every theme needs to be plain and boring. He is not saying that theme authors should be reluctant to put a unique spin on the Button block, for example. He is saying that theme authors need to evaluate how they approach design based on what block options are available for end-users.</p>



<p>Buttons are a good example of this. With the border-radius option that allows end-users to control rounded corners for buttons, he means that theme authors should not overwrite border-radius styles in their CSS. Users should have the <em>option</em> to control it if they want. He is also talking about using the eventual Global Styles system to set up defaults. If theme authors want rounded buttons by default, they should use the system that WordPress provides rather than writing the CSS. He wants theme authors to be aware of the current block options and styles while preparing for new options in the future.</p>



<p>This upcoming era of theming changes how theme authors work with the system. It does not mean they cannot branch out in terms of design.</p>



<p>Here&rsquo;s where the block editor project makes things more interesting for those users who want things like &ldquo;attractive button styles&rdquo; but lack some of the artistic skills expected from the theme&rsquo;s designer. The block system is set up for unlimited variations on what themes can provide to end-users.</p>



<p>Sticking with the Button block example, users can already see two block styles named Fill and Outline in WordPress as shown in the following screenshot.</p>



<img />Using the Outline block style.



<p>Theme authors can add all sorts of style variations today, and some have already done so. Block styles offer a lot of variety, and WordPress allows users to further customize these if they wish to do so.</p>



<p>WordPress also offers two different block patterns that utilize the Buttons block. They are basic two and three-button layouts. However, theme authors can use the Patterns API to create any number of layout options using buttons.</p>



<img />Inserting the &ldquo;two buttons&rdquo; block pattern into the editor.



<p>Stathopoulos&rsquo;s comments on not being too opinionated should also be taken in the context of the upcoming Global Styles system, which is currently being tested in the Gutenberg plugin. This system allows theme authors to set up global, default options for everything. They can also drill down and set up default options for individual blocks. For example, a theme author can set a default background gradient, rounded corners, and any other options available for the Button block. These default options can span the width of the spectrum, from a simple and understated square button to a rounded button with a vibrant gradient background and a drop-shadow. The more block options that WordPress&rsquo;s editor offers in the future, the more flexible theme authors can be with their designs.</p>



<img />Experimental, per-block global styles in the site editor (feature not finished).



<p>Isabel&rsquo;s concern is valid. It is tough to keep up with all the changes happening and those that are on the feature list of the future. The Gutenberg project moves fast, and when we write about features or experimental themes, it is easy to overlook some of those questions that the average user might have.</p>



<p>To put some users&rsquo; minds at ease, future WordPress themes will undoubtedly offer a breadth of artistic designs that are suitable for all sorts of websites. Designers and non-designers alike should look forward to the months and years ahead.</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, 02 Nov 2020 22:12:58 +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: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: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:40:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.6 Beta 3";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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9234";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/2020/11/wordpress-5-6-beta-3/";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:5120:"<p>WordPress 5.6 Beta 3 is now available for testing!</p>



<p><strong>This software is still in development,</strong>&nbsp;so we recommend that you run this version on a test site.</p>



<p>You can test the WordPress 5.6 beta in two ways:</p>



<ul><li>Try the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a>&nbsp;plugin (choose the “bleeding edge nightlies” option).</li><li>Or&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.6-beta3.zip">download the beta here&nbsp;(zip)</a>.</li></ul>



<p>The current target for the final release is December 8, 2020. This is just&nbsp;<strong>five weeks away</strong>, so your help is needed to ensure this release is tested properly.</p>



<p>Thank you to all of the contributors that tested the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/wordpress-5-6-beta-2/">beta 2&nbsp;</a>development release and provided feedback. Testing for bugs is an important part of polishing each release and a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>



<h2><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>



<p>Since&nbsp;beta 2,&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&changetime=10%2F28%2F2020..11%2F03%2F2020&milestone=5.6&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=component&col=version&order=priority">20 bugs</a>&nbsp;have been fixed. Here is a summary of a few changes included in beta 3:</p>



<ul><li>Added block patterns for Twenty Twenty (see&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51098">#51098</a>) and Twenty Nineteen (see&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51099">#51099</a>) themes.</li><li>Added theme support for navigation-widgets (see&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51445">#51445</a>).</li><li>Fixed incorrect slashes in the URL if the parent is empty for REST API (see&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/44745">#44745</a>).</li><li>Added a test to Site Health to verify that the&nbsp;<code>Authorization</code>&nbsp;header is working as expected for Application Passwords (see&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51638">#51638</a>).</li><li>10 additional bugs fixed in the block editor (see&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/26588">#26588</a>).</li></ul>



<p>To see all of the features for each Gutenberg release in detail, check out the release posts:&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/07/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-july-22/">8.6</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-august-5/">8.7</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/08/19/whats-new-in-gutenberg-august-19/">8.8</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/09/03/whats-new-in-gutenberg-2-september/">8.9</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/09/16/whats-new-in-gutenberg-16-september/">9.0</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/01/whats-new-in-gutenberg-30-september/">9.1</a>, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-october/">9.2</a>, and <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/releases/tag/v9.3.0-rc.1">9.3</a>.</p>



<h2 id="block-76156b2b-0a52-4502-b585-6cbe9481f55b">Developer notes</h2>



<p id="block-3fe5e264-0a95-4f12-9a18-0cb9dc5955d1">WordPress 5.6 has lots of refinements to the developer experience as well. To keep up, subscribe to the&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">Make WordPress Core blog</a>&nbsp;and pay special attention to the&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-6+dev-notes/">developers’ notes</a>&nbsp;for updates on those and other changes that could affect your products.</p>



<h2 id="block-bc89fd56-47b0-439f-8e2c-4a642c80a616">How to Help</h2>



<p id="block-9d871099-ec49-446c-8322-9e49b7498c10">If you think you’ve found a bug, you can post to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/">Alpha/Beta area</a>&nbsp;in the support forums. We’d love to hear from you!</p>



<p id="block-bd71c1d3-39d9-4b2a-8193-3486497b45fd">If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket">file one on WordPress Trac</a>,&nbsp;where you can also find a list of&nbsp;<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=new&milestone=5.6&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=component&col=version&order=priority">known bugs</a>.</p>



<p><em>Props to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>hellofromtonya</a> for help and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>chanthaboune</a>  for final review.</em></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, 02 Nov 2020 21:23:07 +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: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:56:"WordPress.org blog: The Month in WordPress: October 2020";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:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9225";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:71:"https://wordpress.org/news/2020/11/the-month-in-wordpress-october-2020/";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:11859:"<p>October 2020 was a notable month for WordPress lovers, thanks to the release of several products and updates. Read on to keep up with all the latest news!</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2>The 2020 WordPress Annual Survey is out</h2>



<p>The team published the <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2020-survey-english">2020 WordPress Annual survey</a> —&nbsp; to help those who build WordPress to understand more about our software usage and our contributors’ experience. The Annual Survey will be open for at least 6 weeks and is available in <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2020-survey-french">French</a>, <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2020-survey-german">German</a>, <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2020-survey-japanese">Japanese</a>, <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2020-survey-russian">Russian</a>, and <a href="https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2020-survey-spanish">Spanish</a>. The survey results (once complete) will be posted on <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/">WordPress.org/news</a>. The<a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/take-the-2020-wordpress-annual-survey-and-view-the-2019-results/"> 2019 survey results</a> have also been released and can now be viewed as <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FI7eEvSB5SHTSILIBpwOmH9rBffgD6mFnnqSkrEScYo/edit">slides</a> or downloaded in <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bq62sficymopgos/AAA-wx73cDviVG84NSCTgjNDa?dl=0">PDF format</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>WordPress Translation celebrations spanned four weeks</h2>



<p>The last week of September and most of October were focused on recruiting and encouraging polyglot contributors to the WordPress translation project. What was originally envisioned as a single-day event lasted 24 days! The Polyglots and Marketing Teams are exploring how future mini-events can be supported to continue building the momentum. Recordings of the live talks and interviews with contributors are available <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCVEqsAbLfffK5WzOT9BhPsh82HgM8vj1">on YouTube</a>. Write-ups from the different events are <a href="https://wptranslationday.org/">on the WPTranslationDay website</a>. </p>



<p>Want to help WordPress speak your own language? Follow <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots">the Polyglots team blog</a> and join the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RP50LK">#polyglots</a> channel in <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">the Making WordPress Slack group</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>WordPress maintenance and beta releases</h2>



<p>The Core team released <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/30/wordpress-5-5-3-release-some-technical-details/">WordPress 5.5.3 on Oct. 31</a>, following the release of Version <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/wordpress-5-5-2-security-and-maintenance-release/">5.5.2 on Oct. 29</a>. Both releases fix several bugs and security issues with WordPress. You can update to the latest version directly from your WordPress dashboard or <a href="https://wordpress.org/download/">download</a> it now from WordPress.org.&nbsp; The team also released WordPress 5.6 <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/wordpress-5-6-beta-1/">Beta 1</a> on Oct. 20, followed by <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/wordpress-5-6-beta-2/">Beta 2 </a>on Oct. 27. When ready, the final release will include improvements to the editor, auto-updates for major releases, PHP 8 support, and the Twenty Twenty One theme. You can test the Beta versions by <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.6-beta2.zip">downloading them from WordPress.org</a> or using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin.<br /></p>



<p>Want to be involved in the next release? Follow WordPress 5.6 updates on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-6/">development cycle</a> and sign-up for the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/22/code-review-commit-office-hours-for-5-6/">code review/commit office hours</a>. You can help build WordPress Core by following<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/"> the Core team blog</a> and joining the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW">#core</a> channel in <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">the Making WordPress Slack group</a>. If you would like to help out with WordPress 5.6 outreach, contact the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/">WordPress Marketing team</a> on the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0GKJ7TFA">#marketing</a> channel.</p>



<h2>Gutenberg 9.2 is released</h2>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-october/">Version 9.2</a> of the Gutenberg plugin came out on Oct. 21. This release offers support for video subtitles, the ability to transform selected blocks into the columns block, background patterns in cover blocks, along with several exciting features such as improvements to the widget screen, as well as bug fixes. You can find out more about the Gutenberg roadmap in the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/01/whats-next-in-gutenberg-october/">What’s next in Gutenberg blog post</a>.</p>



<p>Want to get involved in building Gutenberg? Follow <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">the Core team blog</a>, contribute to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/">Gutenberg on GitHub</a>, and join the #core-editor channel in <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">the Making WordPress Slack group</a>.</p>



<h2>Learn WordPress is gearing up for launch</h2>



<p>The <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">Learn WordPress</a> initiative, which offers <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshops/">WordPress video workshops</a> followed by <a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/">interactive discussions</a>, is aiming to put out two courses by the end of the year as part of its full launch. The team is working on creating courses and is requesting feedback from community members on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2020/10/23/learn-wordpress-course-planning/">planned list of courses</a>.<br /><br />Want to contribute to Learn WordPress? You can now submit a <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop-presenter-application/">workshop application</a> (submissions in non-English languages are welcome), apply to become a <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/discussion-group-leader-application/">discussion group leader</a>, organize <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/virtual-events/organize-learn-wordpress-discussion-groups-for-your-wordpress-meetup/">discussions for your local WordPress meetup group</a>, or <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2020/10/14/call-for-screenshots-contributors/">update screenshots</a> on existing <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plans/">lesson plans</a>.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2>Further Reading:</h2>



<ul><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2020/10/20/quarterly-updates-q3-2020/">Q3 2020 update</a> from the WordPress project is now out!</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/">WordPress Marketing team</a> has put together a list of <a href="https://github.com/wpmarketingteam/WP5.5">WordPress 5.5 marketing resources</a> consisting of video presentations, slides, questions &amp; answers, social media posts, and more &#8211; aimed at both developers and non-developers. The team has also prepared a list of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCVEqsAbLffcS1Rx-COZ5CZBOmXZJEe6k">captioned screen-recordings</a> in several languages to aid new contributors. Contact the team on the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0GKJ7TFA">#marketing</a> channel if you would like to contribute to these and upcoming projects.&nbsp;</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core">WordPress Core team</a> has <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/09/23/proposal-rest-api-authentication-application-passwords/">announced a proposal</a> to introduce application passwords for REST API integrations.</li><li>Five online WordCamps took place in October: <a href="https://2020.rochester.wordcamp.org/">WordCamp Rochester, NY</a>, <a href="https://austin.wordcamp.org/2020/">WordCamp Austin, TX</a>, <a href="https://2020.italia.wordcamp.org/">WordCamp Italia Online</a>, <a href="https://la.wordcamp.org/2020/">WordCamp Los Angeles, CA</a>, and <a href="https://bulgaria.wordcamp.org/2020/">WordCamp Bulgaria Online</a>. You can find livestream recaps of these camps on their websites. The camps are also in the process of uploading their videos to <a href="https://wordpress.tv/">WordPress.tv</a>. Check out the <a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/schedule/">WordCamp Schedule</a> to catch up with upcoming online WordCamps.</li><li>Contributor teams have started work on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/22/twenty-twenty-one-dark-mode-discussion/">adding dark mode support for the Twenty Twenty One theme</a>. Additionally, the development of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2020/10/23/developing-the-full-site-editing-version-of-twenty-twenty-one/">Full Site Editing version of Twenty Twenty One</a> has also kicked-off in the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/tree/master/twentytwentyone-blocks">Theme Experiments GitHub repository</a>.</li><li><a href="https://buddypress.org/2020/10/buddypress-7-0-0-beta1/">BuddyPress 7.0 beta</a>, which comes with new administration screens, blocks, and improved CLI support &#8211; is now available!&nbsp;</li><li>The Core team is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/06/revisiting-starter-content-on-org-and-beyond/">revisiting starter content for WordPress themes</a> as part of the 5.6 release. The team also decided not to ship the widgets screen in WordPress 5.6 and have started discussions on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/29/discussion-align-the-wordpress-release-cycle-with-the-industry-standard/">aligning the WordPress release cycle with industry standards</a>.</li><li>WordPress Accessibility enthusiasts all over the world joined hands for the first ever 24 hour <a href="https://wpaccessibilityday.org/">WP Accessibility day</a> event on Oct. 2. You can find the recorded livestream of the event on its <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCes9XCUZd51CAigbBEGlfNg/featured?view_as=subscriber">YouTube channel</a>.</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta">Meta</a> team has <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2020/10/27/block-pattern-directory-ideas-and-discussion/">kicked off a discussion</a> on setting up a <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/developers/block-api/block-patterns/">Block pattern</a> directory (similar to the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/block-directory/">existing block directory</a>).&nbsp;</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes">Themes</a> team has published a post clarifying <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2020/10/07/block-based-themes-and-wordpress-5-6/">how Block based themes will work with WordPress 5.6</a>. Check out the <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/tutorials/block-based-themes/">block-based theme tutorial</a> and its <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/blob/master/docs/designers-developers/developers/themes/block-based-themes.md">documentation</a> to learn how to build block-based themes.&nbsp;</li></ul>



<p><em>Have a story that we should include in the next “Month in WordPress” post? Please </em><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/"><em>submit it here</em></a><em>.</em></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, 02 Nov 2020 18:14:00 +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:14:"Hari Shanker R";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:88:"WPTavern: WordPress Auto-Update System Misfires, Updating Live Sites to an Alpha Release";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=107076";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:219:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-auto-update-system-misfires-updating-live-sites-to-an-alpha-release?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-auto-update-system-misfires-updating-live-sites-to-an-alpha-release";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:6634:"<p>WordPress&rsquo; Core systems team had an eventful Friday when an error in the auto-update system caused sites to update to WordPress 5.5.3-alpha-49449, including live production sites with no auto-update constants defined. </p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I just had a random production site auto-update itself to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordPress?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WordPress</a> 5.5.3-alpha &#128552; Anyone else seeing this?</p>&mdash; Mark Root-Wiley (@MRWweb) <a href="https://twitter.com/MRWweb/status/1322199942333526018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>Those who received an email about the update logged into their sites to see the message:&nbsp;&ldquo;BETA TESTERS: This site is set up to install updates of future beta versions automatically.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Shaun Rieman logged the first ticket about <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51679">sites being updated to 5.5.3-alpha-49449</a>, which was also incidentally his first WordPress trac ticket. More users and developers confirmed the issue.</p>



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s worth noting that there&rsquo;s no functional difference between 5.5.2 and 5.5.3-alpha, so there&rsquo;s no need to worry in that regard,&rdquo; core committer John Blackbourn said. </p>



<p>Sites that were accidentally updated also installed all the default themes released over the last decade, as well as Akismet. Developers will need to manually delete the bundled themes that they don&rsquo;t need.</p>



<p>In under an hour, all affected sites were automatically returned to 5.5.2, but the incident has eroded trust and damaged confidence in the auto-update system. Several commenting on the ticket asked how they can explicitly disable development updates.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The worrying thing is that a single developer can do this, seemingly without any checking or confirmation by other developers,&rdquo; UK-based developer Paul Stenning said. &ldquo;This is a serious security concern as a rogue developer could push out malicious code in an update that nobody else checks.&rdquo;</p>



<p>WordPress agency owner Rob Migchels, who had approximately 50 websites affected, tracked 18 minutes between the the trac ticket (<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51679">#51679</a>) and receiving the fix. </p>



<p>&ldquo;The 5.5.3-alpha issue is a side effect of another issue that occurred on 5.5.2,&rdquo; WordPress engineer and 5.6 Triage release lead Tonya Mork said. Jake Spurlock published an official statement regarding the incident as part of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/wordpress-5-5-3-maintenance-release/">5.5.3 release notes</a>:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>&ldquo;Earlier today &mdash; between approximately 15:30 and 16:00 UTC &mdash; the auto-update system for WordPress updated some sites from version 5.5.2 to version 5.5.3-alpha. This auto-update was due to an error in the Updates API caused by the 5.5.3 release preparations.&rdquo;</p></blockquote>



<p>Spurlock elaborated on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/10/30/wordpress-5-5-3-release-some-technical-details/">technical details</a> in a separate post on the WordPress development blog:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>While work was being done to prepare for WordPress 5.5.3, the release team attempted to make 5.5.2 unavailable for download on WordPress.org to limit the spread of the issue noted in the section above, as the error only affected fresh installations. This action resulted in some installations being updated to a pre-release &ldquo;5.5.3-alpha&rdquo; version.</p></blockquote>



<p>In a situation like this, where users who haven&rsquo;t elected to run their live sites on beta releases are getting a forced update, site owners might wonder whether this update is actually arriving from WordPress, or if the system has been hijacked. </p>



<p>Security researcher Slavco Mihajloski, who <a href="https://wptavern.com/loginizer-plugin-gets-forced-security-update-for-vulnerabilities-affecting-1-million-users">commented</a> last week on the lack of transparency regarding how automatic updates are tested and performed, said this incident highlights the need for more openness surrounding the process.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Why is transparency important? Because procedure will become public and when public, the community will be able to contribute in order to improve it,&rdquo; Mihajloski said. &ldquo;At the moment it is more than obvious that this process and the whole security at WP.dot org lacks QA and QC. Each task is left to an individual or closed group. Imagine the following: what if an automatic security update could be pushed only if: &ndash; X out of Y (where X &lt; Y) authorities agree that update is fine &ndash; have a pilot update on let&rsquo;s say 100 different servers (I hope .org could afford this) where regression tests will be fired against each one. The current problems would not occur.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Automatic background updates for minor releases have saved developers thousands of hours in updating sites. A UI for allowing users to opt into automatic updates for major releases is on the roadmap for WordPress 5.6, expected in early December. </p>



<p>This particular accidental update has betrayed for many developers what was already a somewhat fragile trust in the auto-update system. It doesn&rsquo;t shore up more confidence for selling the idea of core updates when 5.6 is released, but it doesn&rsquo;t mean that auto-updates are not a good idea. WordPress.org will need to put better processes in place in order to win back users&rsquo; trust.</p>



<p>The incident affected more than 100 sites for WordPress agency owner Robert Staddon. He reports that they all displayed the &ldquo;Update now&rdquo; button with the confusing and incorrect text seen below. Staddon said the incident has not yet caused him to change his approach to allowing clients to receive auto-updates. </p>



<img />



<p>&ldquo;I was very grateful for the extraordinarily fast response time to get the problem fixed,&rdquo; Staddon said. &ldquo;However, it did shake my confidence in the WordPress auto-update process. Considering the number of websites using WordPress, a mistake of this magnitude could end up having a rather catastrophic effect around the web. I would hope that the core team would be able to evaluate how this happened and consider putting some checks in place to make sure it doesn&rsquo;t happen again.&rdquo;</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, 30 Oct 2020 22:57:16 +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:72:"WPTavern: Twenty Twenty-One Blocks Theme Launching as a Separate Project";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=107065";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/twenty-twenty-one-blocks-theme-launching-as-a-separate-project?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=twenty-twenty-one-blocks-theme-launching-as-a-separate-project";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:4519:"<img />Twenty Twenty-One in the Gutenberg site editor.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Last Friday, Themes Team representative Carolina Nymark announced the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2020/10/23/developing-the-full-site-editing-version-of-twenty-twenty-one/">Twenty Twenty-One Blocks </a>theme project. It is a block-based version of the Twenty Twenty-One default theme that is shipping along with WordPress 5.6. It will work with the site editor available in the Gutenberg plugin. Developers will work on the two themes as separate projects.</p>



<p>The original plan was to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/09/23/introducing-twenty-twenty-one/">explore support for full-site editing</a> after the WordPress Beta 1 release for Twenty Twenty-One. Some had hoped that support would land in the theme itself. However, a second theme could be a better path in the long run.</p>



<p>As I wrote in my <a href="https://wptavern.com/first-look-at-twenty-twenty-one-wordpresss-upcoming-default-theme">original coverage of Twenty Twenty-One</a>, it did not seem likely that full-site editing would be far enough along in development for it to be a primary feature for the theme. Since the feature will not be in WordPress 5.6, it makes sense to develop for it outside of the primary theme for the time being.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Twenty Twenty-One Blocks is an experimental theme created as an example to highlight what is possible with Full Site Editing,&rdquo; wrote Nymark in the announcement. &ldquo;The theme will need Gutenberg and the Full Site Editing experiment to be enabled. It will not be part of Core, but once complete it will be available in the theme directory.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Currently, there are no plans to integrate the two themes down the road. They will be maintained as separate projects. This sounds like a smart strategy for this theme. It will allow developers to work on the Blocks theme as a separate entity in the coming months without having to worry about potential problems with merging.</p>



<p>I am excited about this project because it means we get a somewhat official, though not technically a default, theme that supports full-site editing. Otherwise, the community would have had to wait another year for the Twenty Twenty-Two theme, which will presumably be 100% built with blocks.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://wptavern.com/q-first-fse-wordpress-theme-now-live">Q theme</a> by Ari Stathopoulos, a Themes Team representative, is a little farther along at the moment. It is a solid starting point and learning tool. However, there should be a theme project coming from core WordPress developers that is leading the way for other theme authors. There is a sense of trust, particularly for first-time theme authors, when picking apart an officially-supported theme that it is built to current standards. That is why Twenty Twenty-One Blocks is important.</p>



<p>Thus far, little work has gone into the theme, much of it coming from the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/pull/57">original pull request</a> to kick off development from Kjell Reigstad. The theme is currently stored in the WordPress <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/tree/master/twentytwentyone-blocks">Theme Experiments repository</a>. Ideally, the team will split this theme into its own GitHub repository since it will be added to the theme directory and not merely an experiment.</p>



<p>For theme authors who want to cut their teeth on building block-based themes, this would be a good place to begin taking those initial steps. Or, it will at least be a good project to follow because this is as close to an &ldquo;official&rdquo; theme that supports full-site editing that we will see for a while.</p>



<p>At this point, the theme does not do a lot. It is minimal and nowhere near a block-based equivalent of Twenty Twenty-One. However, it works as well as most other themes supporting Gutenberg&rsquo;s site editor.</p>



<p>For now, template parts do not seem to be working on the front end. However, template parts have been hit or miss in my tests for a while, sometimes seemingly working only by some randomly magical force that rears its head when I close in on the limits of my frustration &mdash; it will likely begin working immediately after publishing this post. That is often the nature of testing alpha-level software. Nevertheless, I am excited about following the development of this theme in the coming weeks and months.</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, 30 Oct 2020 20:35:28 +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:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}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:"Fri, 04 Dec 2020 04:32:15 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Fri, 04 Dec 2020 04:30:07 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:"20200501142607";}