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If you haven’t yet updated to 5.8, all WordPress versions since 3.7 have also been updated to fix the following security issue (except where noted otherwise):</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Props to Karim El Ouerghemmi and Simon Scannell of <a href=\"https://www.sonarsource.com/\">SonarSource</a> for disclosing an issue with stored XSS through post slugs.</li><li>Props to Simon Scannell of <a href=\"https://www.sonarsource.com/\">SonarSource</a> for reporting an issue with Object injection in some multisite installations.</li><li>Props to ngocnb and khuyenn from <a href=\"https://giaohangtietkiem.vn/\">GiaoHangTietKiem JSC</a> for working with <a href=\"https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/\">Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative</a> on reporting a SQL injection vulnerability in WP_Query.</li><li>Props to Ben Bidner from the WordPress security team for reporting a SQL injection vulnerability in WP_Meta_Query (only relevant to versions 4.1-5.8). </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the reporters above for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/reporting-security-vulnerabilities/\">privately disclosing the vulnerabilities</a>. This gave the security team time to fix the vulnerabilities before WordPress sites could be attacked. Thank you to the members of the WordPress security team for implementing these fixes in WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information, check out the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-8-3/\">5.8.3 HelpHub documentation page</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"thanks-and-props\">Thanks and props!</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The 5.8.3 release was led by <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>desrosj</a> and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>circlecube</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the security researchers and release squad members mentioned above, thank you to everyone who helped make WordPress 5.8.3 happen:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/xknown/\">Alex Concha</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32/\">Dion Hulse</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ocean90/\">Dominik Schilling</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ehtis/\">ehtis</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/\">Evan Mullins</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/whyisjake/\">Jake Spurlock</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\">Jb Audras</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/iandunn/\">Ian Dunn</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/peterwilsoncc/\">Peter Wilson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/\">Sergey Biryukov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vortfu/\">vortfu</a>, and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zieladam/\">zieladam</a>.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11999\";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:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"The Month in WordPress – December 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:72:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/the-month-in-wordpress-december-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 05 Jan 2022 19:03:59 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Month in 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:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"month in 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:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11972\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:335:\"December was a busy month for the WordPress community. In the latest episode of the WP Briefing podcast, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy shares a carol of thanks and shows her gratitude to all the people who make the WordPress project a success. (&#8230;) I know that we have gotten so much done together [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"rmartinezduque\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13065:\"\n<p>December was a busy month for the WordPress community. In the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/episode-22-a-carol-of-thanks/\"> latest episode of the WP Briefing podcast</a>, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy shares a carol of thanks and shows her gratitude to all the people who make the WordPress project a success.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>(&#8230;) I know that we have gotten so much done together in the last few years. And I am equally sure that we’re going to get so much done in the years to come. And so thank you all so much for your continued work with WordPress and the way that you just bring your best at all times.</p><cite>Josepha Haden, Executive Director of the WordPress project</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>We said goodbye to 2021 with the annual State of the Word, along with the release of WordPress 5.9 Beta 4, among many other exciting updates. Read on to learn more about the latest community achievements.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-5-9-the-first-release-candidate-just-landed\">WordPress 5.9: The first release candidate just landed</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Following the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\"> Beta 3</a> and<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\"> Beta 4</a> releases in December, the first <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-1/\">release candidate for WordPress 5.9</a> is now out and available for testing.</li><li>With less than three weeks to go until the final release, this version continues the work from last year and marks the hard<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze\"> string freeze point</a> of the 5.9 release schedule.</li><li>Follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">5.9 developer notes</a> to learn more about the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/miscellaneous-core-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">changes</a> and updates coming with this release.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Are you interested in contributing to WordPress core?</strong> Join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW\">#core</a> channel, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Core Team blog</a>, and check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/\">team handbook</a>. Also, don&#8217;t miss the Core Team’s weekly developer chat on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\">8 PM</a> UTC.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gutenberg-releases-versions-12-1-and-12-2-are-here\">Gutenberg releases: Versions 12.1 and 12.2 are here</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Core Team launched two new versions of Gutenberg last month. Both come with new features, code quality improvements, and bug fixes.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/08/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-1-8-december/\">Gutenberg 12.1</a> marks the return of the template List View and includes several Navigation block enhancements, new global styles features, an improved developer experience for block themes, and more.</li><li>The<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/\"> Gutenberg 12.2</a> release focuses on user experience improvements and brings the block styles preview to the Widgets Editor, among other new features.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Want to get involved in developing Gutenberg?</strong> Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to Gutenberg on <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/\">GitHub</a>, and join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7\">#core-editor</a> channel in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. Follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/gutenberg-new/\">#gutenberg-new</a> tag for details on the latest updates.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"highlights-from-state-of-the-word-2021\">Highlights from State of the Word 2021</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/highlights-from-state-of-the-word-2021/\">State of the Word 2021</a>, the annual keynote address delivered by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, was livestreamed from New York City on December 14, 2021. The event gathered WordPress enthusiasts at 29 watch parties around the world.</li><li>Matt shared his thoughts on the progress of the WordPress project and made announcements regarding its future in 2022. The presentation was followed by a Question and Answer session.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>If you missed the event’s livestream, you could watch the </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\"><strong>State of the Word recording</strong></a><strong> and the </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\"><strong>Q&amp;A session</strong></a><strong> on WordPress.tv.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"team-updates-2022-major-release-timings-new-team-rep-announcements-and-more\">Team updates: 2022 major release timings, new team rep announcements, and more</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The Core Team opened a discussion on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/17/discussion-2022-major-release-timing/\">the release dates for 2022</a> and the possibility of having four major WordPress releases this year.</li><li>The following teams announced their team representatives for 2022: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/12/03/introducing-new-themes-team-representatives/\">Themes</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/12/agenda-for-the-december-9-support-meeting/\">Support</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/11/08/call-for-polyglots-team-representatives/#comment-293358\">Polyglots</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/01/03/announcement-team-representatives-for-2022/\">Community</a>.</li><li>In 2021, 2572 people contributed to WordPress source code using Trac, including 305 first-timers. Check out <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/29/a-year-in-core-2021/\">A Year in Core – 2021</a> for more interesting stats on WordPress Core contributions.</li><li>The Diverse Speaker Training Group (#WPDiversity) shared its accomplishments from last year in this<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/14/diverse-speaker-training-group-wpdiversity-2021-year-end-report/\"> 2021 year-end report</a>.</li><li>The Training Team<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/12/07/december-2021-team-sprint/\"> planned a sprint</a> to audit and revisit the Learn WordPress content for the WordPress 5.9 release.</li><li>The Design Team summarized some of the key changes behind the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/12/17/redesign-of-openverse/\"> Openverse redesign</a>.</li><li>The December 2021 editions of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/12/20/polyglots-monthly-newsletter-december-2021/\">Polyglots Monthly Newsletter</a> and the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/14/meetup-organizer-newsletter-december-2021/\"> Meetup Organizer Newsletter</a> are out.</li><li>The latest edition of<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/people-of-wordpress-collins-agbonghama/\"> </a>People of WordPress features <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/people-of-wordpress-collins-agbonghama/\">Collins Agbonghama</a> from Nigeria.</li><li>The Core Team <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/proposal-changes-to-javascript-coding-standards-for-full-prettier-compatibility/\">announced a proposal</a> to change the JavaScript coding standards for complete Prettier compatibility.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Are you looking for some 5.9 resources to share with your local community? </strong>Check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/10/wordpress-5-9-talking-points/\">WordPress 5.9 Talking Points for Meetup Organizers</a> post.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"feedback-testing-requests-contribute-by-testing-or-translating-wordpress-5-9\">Feedback/Testing requests: Contribute by testing or translating WordPress 5.9</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Your feedback on WordPress 5.9 release candidates is still needed and appreciated! If you haven’t tried this version yet, you can find instructions on testing 5.9 features <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">in this post</a>.</li><li>Do you speak a language other than English? The Polyglots Team announced that <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/12/16/wordpress-5-9-ready-to-be-translated/\">WordPress 5.9 is also ready to be translated</a>.</li><li>Version 18.9 of WordPress for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/12/14/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-18-9/\"> Android</a> is available for testing.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\"><strong>Share your feedback</strong></a><strong> on WordPress 5.9.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"apply-to-speak-or-host-a-workshop-at-wordcamp-europe-2022\">Apply to speak or host a workshop at WordCamp Europe 2022</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>WordCamp US 2022 is currently looking for<a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/are-you-ready-to-be-a-2022-organizer/\"> organizers</a>.</li><li>The WordPress community celebrated its first in-person WordCamp after 21 months in<a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\"> Sevilla (Spain)</a> on December 11-12, 2021.<a href=\"https://taiwan.wordcamp.org/2021/\"> WordCamp Taiwan</a> was held online the same weekend.</li><li>The Test Team organized the Hallway Hangout titled <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/12/21/hallway-hangout-lets-talk-about-wordpress-6-0/\">Let’s talk about WordPress 6.0</a> on December 21, 2021. The team also shared a wrap-up of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/12/16/fse-program-site-editing-safari-summary/\">Site Editing Safari</a> as part of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/handbook/full-site-editing-outreach-experiment/\">FSE Outreach Program</a>.</li><li>The Training Team hosted several WordPress Social Learning Meetups last month, and there will be many more in <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/\">January 2022</a>.</li><li>Last year the WordPress Foundation made significant progress in its mission to educate the public about open source software. Learn more about it in this <a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/looking-back-at-2021/\">2021 recap</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Don’t miss the following upcoming WordCamps: <a href=\"https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Birmingham, Alabama 2022</a>,<a href=\"https://vienna.wordcamp.org/2022/\"> </a><a href=\"https://geneve.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Genève 2022</a><a href=\"https://vienna.wordcamp.org/2022/\">, WordCamp Vienna 2022</a>, and <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Europe 2022</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>The</strong><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-sponsors/\"><strong> Call For Sponsors</strong></a><strong> and </strong><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/\"><strong>Call For Speakers</strong></a><strong> for WordCamp Europe 2022 are open! </strong>Read <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/a-sneak-peek-at-wceu2022/\">this post</a> to learn more about the Organizing Team&#8217;s plans for the first in-person WordCamp Europe in three years.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Have a story that we could include in the next ‘Month in WordPress’ post? Let us know by filling out </em></strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/\"><strong><em>this form</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to December 2021’s Month in WordPress: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/harishanker/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>harishanker</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/lmurillom/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>lmurillom</a>  <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>meher</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a></em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11972\";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:63:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"WordPress 5.9 RC 1\";s: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://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-1/\";s: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, 04 Jan 2022 20:43:00 +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:8:\"category\";a:3:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11948\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:101:\"The WordPress 5.9 Release Candidate 1 is available. The final release is slated for January 25, 2022.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5481:\"\n<p>The first Release Candidate (RC1) for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">WordPress 5.9</a> is now available!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to everyone who has contributed to reach this important milestone in the community’s progress towards a WordPress 5.9 release.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Release Candidate” means the new version of the software is ready for release. It helps the community check that nothing is missed, given the thousands of plugins and themes and differences in how millions of people use the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 is slated for release on January 25, 2022. This is just three weeks to go&nbsp; &#8211; and there’s still time to help!</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"testing-the-release\">Testing the release</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 release candidate in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"><strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-RC1.zip\"><strong>zip</strong></a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, 3 or 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC1</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC1 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Your help to test the RC1 is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the Beta releases and gave feedback. Testing for bugs is not just a critical part of polishing every release; it is also a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">Help test WordPress 5.9 features</a> &#8211; a guide to how you can take part.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-is-in-wordpress-5-9-release-candidate\">What is in WordPress 5.9 release candidate?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This will be the first release of 2022 and continues the work towards 5.9 from last year. It features the latest advances of the block editor and is the first version of full site editing in Core.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 also brings more refinements to the developer experience. To keep up with the latest updates and discover more about how the community works to continually improve the software, please subscribe to the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a>. In particular, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">developer notes tag</a> will keep you up to date on changes that might affect your products or how you use the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"plugin-and-theme-developers\">Plugin and Theme Developers</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Please test your plugins and themes against WordPress 5.9 and update the <em>Tested up to</em> version&nbsp; to 5.9 in your readme file. If you find compatibility problems, please post to the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">support forums</a>, so volunteers and developers can help you figure them out before the final release.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress 5.9 Field Guide will be out very shortly. It will give you a deeper dive into the major changes.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-help\">How to Help</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you speak a language that is not English? You can <a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev\">help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a> Release Candidate 1 marks the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze\">hard string freeze</a> point of the 5.9 release schedule. Thanks to every locale that is already involved with translations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>If you think you have found a bug</em></strong><em>, you can post to the </em><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta\"><em>Alpha/Beta area</em></a><em> in the support forums.&nbsp; If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can </em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"><em>file one on WordPress Trac</em></a><em>, where you can also check the issue against </em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"><em>a list of known bugs</em></a><em>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a> for the post and to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>davidbaumwald</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>estelaris</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a> for final review. </p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11948\";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:69:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:39:\"People of WordPress: Collins Agbonghama\";s: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:74:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/people-of-wordpress-collins-agbonghama/\";s: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, 30 Dec 2021 22:45:00 +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:8:\"category\";a:5:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Community\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Features\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Interviews\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"Contributor Story\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:19:\"People of 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:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11923\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:130:\"Collins Agbonghama, a web developer from Nigeria, Africa, shares how WordPress gives him a sustainable income and a better 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:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8695:\"\n<p>In this series, we share some of the inspiring stories of how WordPress and its global network of contributors can change people’s lives for the better. This month we feature a website builder from Nigeria, who uses the open source WordPress platform to support his family and to share learning with others in his home country and beyond.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?resize=632%2C318&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Collins Agbonghama\" class=\"wp-image-11919\" width=\"632\" height=\"318\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?resize=1024%2C515&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?resize=300%2C151&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?resize=768%2C386&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?w=1247&amp;ssl=1 1247w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"creating-a-life-in-the-wordpress-ecosystem\"><strong>Creating a life in the WordPress Ecosystem</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins Agbonghama started his journey to becoming a web developer by reading the football news headlines on a friend’s mobile phone. His fascination with development and learning continued to grow, and he now makes a living using WordPress and the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to discover his story, which shows with creativity and determination you can create products and make a living using WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"starting-web-building-on-a-phone\"><strong>Starting web building on a phone</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"350\" height=\"426\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/collins-agbonghama1.jpg?resize=350%2C426&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Collins Agbonghama headshot photo\" class=\"wp-image-11920\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/collins-agbonghama1.jpg?w=350&amp;ssl=1 350w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/collins-agbonghama1.jpg?resize=246%2C300&amp;ssl=1 246w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins began his exploration of the internet while attending Secondary School in Nigeria, or High School as it is known in some other countries.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A friend at the school had a simple mobile phone which could browse the internet. Collins had his first introduction to the World Wide Web through access to this device. He became hooked by reading headlines on a sports site about a famous English Premier League Football Club, Chelsea, a soccer team which he has long supported.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Being a very inquisitive person, I wanted to learn how the web works as well as have my own website. I was able to buy a classic mobile phone through the menial jobs I did after school,” he said.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>His first website was a wapsite or Wireless Application Protocol site optimized for mobile devices.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He took to Google to learn how to actually build a site. He discovered he needed something called an ‘email address’ to sign-up for site builders. Google Search came to the rescue again, and he created the first email account for his first website.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A desire for a website was the catalyst for further learning, starting with HTML and CSS from an online provider. His interest in building sites with more advanced tools grew, and then he came across WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using his savings, he bought the cheapest hosting plan from a local Nigerian web host. He installed WordPress and started writing tutorials for a mobile device platform. He built the site, created the lessons, and started his entry into WordPress all on a mobile phone.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This led to him having the confidence to start building sites for others, and he was able to earn a small income from that.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins said: “I couldn’t go to the university because of my precarious financial situation. I continued to do menial jobs during the day and started learning PHP in the evenings and at night using my mobile phone via online learning platforms.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was later able to get an old laptop, which helped him access ebooks to learn more and practice his coding.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keen to share this learning, he started blogging about what he was learning on his website.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins said: “I later took up a job teaching children at a school primarily because I got tired of the menial jobs and wanted to earn enough to take care of my internet data plan. After a while, I became fairly proficient in PHP and even took up a job to build a school management system.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"using-wordpress-to-make-a-living\"><strong>Using WordPress to make a living</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins’ blog wasn’t making money through advertisements, but he discovered opportunities to write tutorials for other platforms.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I started writing PHP and WordPress development tutorials and got paid a few hundred dollars per article. In Nigeria, that’s quite a lot of money. I was able to improve the life and wellbeing of my family and myself,” he said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After getting into a higher education program to study computer science, his life dramatically changed. He decided to stop writing and began to focus on building and selling WordPress plugins.&nbsp;His first one was a user and profile plugin for WordPress sites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Thankfully, after a year, it started making enough revenue for me to live pretty comfortably here in Nigeria because the cost of living here is relatively low,” he said</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, Collins has several plugins which have given him a sustainable source of income. He’s also a Core and Translation volunteer contributor to the WordPress.org Open Source project. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>I am thankful for WordPress because without it, I’m really not sure I would have been able to live a decent quality life. <br>Who knows what would have become of me?</p><cite>Collins Agbonghama</cite></blockquote></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>“I am also thankful for the community. I have made lots of friends that have been very supportive and helpful in my journey.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added: “I tell people, life won’t give you what you want. You demand from life what you want. You make these demands by being determined and never giving up on your dreams and aspirations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“If you are poor, perhaps because you came from a humble and poor background, it is not your fault. You can’t go back in time to change things. I implore you to be strong, determined, and work hard.” </p>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meet more WordPress community members in our <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/category/interviews/\">People of WordPress series</a>.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"contributors\">Contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Michael Geheren (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/geheren/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>geheren</a>), Abha Thakor (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>), for writing this feature, to @MeherBala (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>meher</a>) for follow-ups and photo-editing, and to Chloe Bringmann (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>) and Nalini Thakor (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a>) for the final proofing. Thank you to Collins Agbonghama (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/collizo4sky/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>collizo4sky</a>) for sharing his Contributor Story.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Thanks to Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp;(@<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">chanthaboune</a>), Topher DeRosia (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/\">@topher1kenobe</a>) and others for their support </em>of this initiative. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on&nbsp;</em><a href=\"https://heropress.com/\"><em>HeroPress.com</em></a><em>, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia, which highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers.&nbsp;</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>#HeroPress #ContributorStory</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11923\";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:66:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 4\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 21 Dec 2021 21:17:58 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:4:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"beta\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11876\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:80:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 released on 21 December 2021 and is available for testing. \";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5052:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site; install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features and get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta4.zip\">zip</a></strong>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, or 3 to Beta 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which is only five weeks away. Your help testing this beta is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\">Beta 3</a>, 20 bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 4:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Bundled Theme: Fixed duplicate CSS rules in Twenty Twenty-One theme (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53605\">#53605</a>).</li><li>Customizer: It&#8217;s possible to switch to a block theme from within Customizer (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54549\">#54549</a>).</li><li>Themes: Provide guidance to users seeking to preview block themes on WordPress versions below 5.9 (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54575\">#54575</a>).</li><li>REST API: The get_theme_item method should respect fields param (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54595\">#54595</a>).</li><li>Editor: Block Patterns: &#8220;Featured&#8221; category &amp; patterns missing from inserter (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54623\">#54623</a>).</li><li>Login and registration: Add a filter to allow to disable the Login screen language dropdown – (#54675).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please post to the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\"> Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums if you find a bug. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\"> bug report</a>, file one on<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"> WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find a list of<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"> known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"got-questions-here-are-some-answers\"><strong>Got questions? Here are some answers</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\"> 5.9-related developer notes</a> that will cover these items in detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;group=component&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;resolution=fixed\">326 tickets and 108 new features and enhancements</a> in WordPress 5.9. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\" target=\"_blank\">@psykro</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" target=\"_blank\">@hellofromtonya</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" target=\"_blank\">@marybaum</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" target=\"_blank\">@webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>costdev</a> and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>meher</a> for contributions to this post.</strong></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11876\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:58:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:7:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:42:\"WP Briefing: Episode 22: A Carol of Thanks\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:64:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/episode-22-a-carol-of-thanks/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 20 Dec 2021 19:22:11 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"wp-briefing\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11880\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:404:\"In this last episode of 2021, Josepha Haden Chomphosy takes the time to appreciate those who make the WordPress project a success and offers a carol of thanks. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor:&#160;Dustin Hartzler Logo:&#160;Beatriz Fialho Production:&#160;Chloé Bringmann Song: [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/WP-Briefing-022.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5720:\"\n<p>In this last episode of 2021, Josepha Haden Chomphosy takes the time to appreciate those who make the WordPress project a success and offers a carol of thanks. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas\">Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas </a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11880\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing. The podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project. Some insight into the community that supports it and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, ages and ages ago, when I first started this podcast, someone basically requested that Matt and I do a duet for the last podcast of the year. A Christmas carol duet; him on the saxophone and me on voice. I obviously did not get that coordinated I don&#8217;t even know why I said obviously. I&#8217;ll tell you right now I did not get that coordinated. I was a very busy lady this year. So I don&#8217;t have a Matt on saxophone. Still, I did think that maybe it might be nice just for me to sing a teensy little Christmas carol for you all just because it seems especially poignant the words this year, especially after the 2020, 2021 COVID, all the things and trying to get back in person. So I&#8217;m going to sing you all one little verse from <em>Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy </strong>01:35 <em>Singing</em>  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let your heart be light</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be out of sight</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make the Yuletide gay</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be miles away</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, my friends, that was from my heart to yours if you happened to listen. If you skipped a few seconds to get through it, which I would totally understand, that is also fine. But I did want to just kind of wrap up the year to let you all know that I am so incredibly grateful for all of the people who show up for the WordPress project to make it a success. I have made so many friends and wonderful acquaintances throughout my time here with the WordPress project. And especially in my three years as the project&#8217;s Executive Director. You all have put a lot of trust in me and a lot of faith. And I know that we have gotten so much done together in the last few years. And I am equally sure that we&#8217;re going to get so much done in the years to come. And so thank you all so much for your continued work with WordPress and the way that you just bring your best at all times. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:32</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One other little thanks I want to give. Over the course of this year, I&#8217;ve had an excellent team that works with me on this podcast. I have editing and design folks and people who&#8217;ve joined me here and there, folks who helped me with my production. So big thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Bea</a>, I realize your name is Beatriz in the actual credits, but I call you Bea, and so thank you. Also, a huge thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé</a>, who does all of our production and wrangling every couple of weeks. A big round of applause and kudos to that tiny but tough team that helps me get this all done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s to go on top of the general thanks to the WordPress project. And if you all are celebrators, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. If you are not celebrators, I hope that you have a wonderful end to your year and that everything you wanted to get done, you did get done, and that you can start 2022 with a fresh slate. Again, this is the WP Briefing. Thank you so much for listening. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in 2022.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11880\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:38:\"Highlights from State of the Word 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:74:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/highlights-from-state-of-the-word-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 16 Dec 2021 01:04:17 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"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:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"WrapUp\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11869\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:60:\"Highlights and the official video for State of the Word 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:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"Anjana Vasan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3653:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/OpiH_P9aGhQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>State of the Word 2021, the annual keynote from WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, happened on December 14. The hybrid event took place in New York City with a small audience (proof of vaccination required). As Matt said, &#8220;we had people join by plane, train, and automobile.&#8221; Those who didn’t make the trek to the live event watched the livestream from wherever they call home, all around the world.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was an exciting moment for the WordPress community which also celebrated its first in-person WordCamp in Sevilla, Spain, after a lengthy hiatus for in-person events.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\">view the full recording</a>, complete with captions and transcripts on WordPress.tv.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was thrilling to see so many meetup organizers host watch parties worldwide. Twenty-eight watch parties were held across eleven countries, with more than 300 RSVPs.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similar to past State of the Word events, Matt covered a broad range of topics. This year was no different. WordPress’ past, present, and future were in the spotlight, with highlights on the growth of the contributors, language translations, recent release milestones, and educational initiatives, to name a few.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Audience members and livestreamers alike viewed product demos showcasing upcoming features that will be the hallmark of WordPress 5.9, such as full site editing, block patterns, global styling options, and enhanced image controls.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt took the opportunity to remind everyone of the WordPress roadmap which includes native multi-lingual support and real-time collaborative site editing. He also pointed out that anyone can contribute to WordPress’ progress through a number of different initiatives ranging from creating new features and testing to helping spread the word and educate others.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt emphasized the way that open source software gets better by reminding everyone that “The more people that use a program like WordPress, the better it gets.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Broader topics covering the tech landscape including web3, merger and acquisition activity, as well as the growth and support of open source software, rounded out the energetic presentation.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The one-hour multimedia presentation was followed by an interactive <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\">question and answer</a> session where Matt fielded questions that were submitted ahead of the event, as well as questions from the livestream and studio audience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discover everything that was covered by <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\">watching the official event recording</a> and join the ongoing <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ILoveWP\">#ILoveWP conversation on Twitter</a>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Special thanks to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/dansoschin/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>dansoschin</a> for review and edits! </em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11869\";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:69:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 14 Dec 2021 20:19:29 +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:8:\"category\";a:5:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"beta\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"development\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11835\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:102:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 3 is now available for testing. Help test to make the release as good as it can be.\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6087:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 3 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site; install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features and get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 3 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta3.zip\">the beta version</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> If you use WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1 or Beta 2 to Beta 3 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta2</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta3 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which gets closer every minute. Your help testing this beta is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-2/\">Beta 2</a>,<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=11%2F30%2F2021..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\"> </a><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=12%2F08%2F2021..12%2F14%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\">14</a> bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 3:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor: Add FSE infrastructure from Gutenberg plugin into Core (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54335\">#54335</a>).</li><li>Formatting: Allow PDFs to embedded as objects (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54261\">#54261</a>)</li><li>Language switcher on the login screen (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43700\">#43700</a>)</li><li>REST API: Add navigation areas REST API endpoint from Gutenberg plugin (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54393\">#54393</a>)</li><li>Themes: Live Preview button bug (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54578\">#54578</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please post to the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\"> Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\"> bug report</a>, file one on<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"> WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"> known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For even more ways to test, you can also refer to<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\"> this official Full Site Editing post from @annezazu</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"got-questions-here-are-some-answers\"><strong>Got questions? Here are some answers</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\"> 5.9-related developer notes</a> that cover these items in detail. So far, contributors have fixed<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;group=component&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;resolution=fixed\"> 316 tickets in WordPress 5.9</a>, including<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;changetime=..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=changetime&amp;col=owner&amp;col=priority&amp;col=keywords&amp;order=changetime\"> 100 new features and enhancements</a>. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\" target=\"_blank\">&nbsp;</a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\" target=\"_blank\">@psykro</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\" target=\"_blank\">@estelaris</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" target=\"_blank\">@hellofromtonya</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" target=\"_blank\">@marybaum</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" target=\"_blank\">@webcommsat</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\" target=\"_blank\">@cbringmann</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>costdev</a>,</em> <em>and&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\" target=\"_blank\">@audrasjb</a></em>&nbsp;<em>for contributions to this post.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Filed under #release, #5.9, #beta</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11835\";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:75:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 07 Dec 2021 22:02:19 +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:8:\"category\";a:7:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"beta\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Beta 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:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"block 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:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"WP releases\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11794\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:125:\"Can you help test the latest software version of WordPress? 5.9 Beta 2 was published on 7 December 2021, help find any bugs. \";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6225:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 2 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site. Instead, install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features to get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 2 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the <strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\">WordPress Beta Tester</a> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta2.zip\"><strong>zip</strong></a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1 to Beta 2 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:<br></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One: </p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta1 </code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two: </p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code> wp core update --version=5.9-beta2 --force </code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which is just seven weeks away. Your help testing this version is a vital part of making this release as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-1/\"> </a><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-9-beta-1/\">Beta 1</a>, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=11%2F30%2F2021..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\">24</a> bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 2:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Block Editor: Remove navigation areas (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54506\">#54506</a>)</li><li>Block Editor: Navigation block view JavaScript error (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54456\">#54456</a>)</li><li>Block Editor: Block template theme error related to child themes (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54515\">#54515</a>)</li><li>General: Fixing existing links to Customizer when the Site Editor is enabled (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54460\">#54460</a>)</li><li>Media: Media library showing only the selected image (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53765\">#53765</a>)</li><li>Media: Fatal error uploading media on PHP8 (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54385\">#54385</a>)</li><li>REST API: Add Global Styles REST API endpoints from Gutenberg into Core (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54336\">#54336</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, note that some users testing 5.9 Beta 1 faced some fatal errors upon upgrade. In turn, these errors revealed the need for some extra work on the filesystem and upgrader.&nbsp;Those fatal errors are no longer a problem, and the enhancements will be part of version 6.0.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please post to the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\">bug report</a>, file one on <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"where-can-i-get-more-information\">Where can I get more information?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">5.9-related developer notes</a> that cover these items in detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;group=component&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;resolution=fixed\">305 tickets in WordPress 5.9</a>, including <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;changetime=..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=changetime&amp;col=owner&amp;col=priority&amp;col=keywords&amp;order=changetime\">110 new features and enhancements</a>. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to</em><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\"><em> </em></a><em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>psykro</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>estelaris</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>davidb</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a>, and </em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbiron/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>pbiron</a><em> for contributions to this post.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11794\";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:63:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"The Month in WordPress – November 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/month-in-wordpress-november-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 02 Dec 2021 11:30:09 +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:8:\"category\";a:3:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Month in 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:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"month in 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:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"the month in 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:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11763\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:334:\"Despite the holiday season being around the corner, the WordPress project didn’t slow down. In a recent episode of WP Briefing, Executive Director Josepha Haden shares the first thing she wants people to notice about WordPress, which is also the heart of this open source project: Now, the first thing I want people to see [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"Anjana Vasan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18257:\"\n<p>Despite the holiday season being around the corner, the WordPress project didn’t slow down. In a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-20-wordpressblogging/\">recent episode</a> of <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/\">WP Briefing</a>, Executive Director <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">Josepha Haden</a> shares the first thing she wants people to notice about WordPress, which is also the heart of this open source project:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Now, the first thing I want people to see on that site is that WordPress has not only 18 years of learned knowledge that every single new user benefits from, but that it also has thousands of really smart people making sure it works and gets better every day.</p><cite>Josepha Haden, Executive Director of the WordPress project</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As always, contributors across various teams are working hard to ensure the upcoming release of WordPress 5.9 doesn’t disappoint. With State of the Word 2021 coming up soon, there are many exciting things in the works. Read the November 2021 edition of the Month in WordPress to learn more about what’s happening.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-5-9-expected-to-release-on-january-25-2022\">WordPress 5.9: Expected to release on January 25, 2022</h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"309\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=632%2C309&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11764\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=1024%2C501&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=300%2C147&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=768%2C376&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=1536%2C752&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?w=1830&amp;ssl=1 1830w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The Core Team announced the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">WordPress 5.9 Revised Release Schedule</a>, and the release is now planned for January 25, 2022.</li><li><strong>WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 was recently released and is available for testing.</strong> This version of the WordPress software is under development. Check out the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-9-beta-1/\">release post</a> to learn more about what’s new in version 5.9 and how you can help testing.&nbsp;</li><li>Check out “<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/a-look-at-wordpress-5-9/\">A Look at WordPress 5.9</a>” for a first peek into the exciting features included in this major release.</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-8-2-security-and-maintenance-release/\">WordPress 5.8.2</a>, a security and maintenance release, was out on November 10, 2021. This release includes two bug fixes and one security fix.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong><strong>Are you interested in contributing to WordPress core?</strong> Join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW\">#core</a> channel, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Core Team blog</a>, and check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/\">team handbook</a>. Also, don&#8217;t miss the Core Team’s weekly developer chat on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\">8 PM</a> UTC.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gutenberg-releases-11-9-and-12-0-are-out\">Gutenberg releases: 11.9 and 12.0 are out</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Two new Gutenberg versions have been released!</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/12/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-9-0-10-november/\">Version 11.9.0</a> brings new Gutenberg blocks for working with post comments, a fullscreen pattern explorer modal, further iterations on the Navigation block, and many other improvements.</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/29/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-0-0-24-november/\">Gutenberg 12.0.0</a>, released on November 24, improves the Block Styles preview and includes featured image block visual enhancements, a site Editor welcome guide, official JSON schema updates, and much more.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Want to get involved in developing Gutenberg? </strong>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 the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/gutenberg-new/\">#gutenberg-new</a> for details on the latest updates.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"state-of-the-word-2021-join-a-watch-party-in-your-local-community\">State of the Word 2021: Join a watch party in your local community</h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"422\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=632%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"State of the Word 2021 Announcement, which will take place on December 14 between 5 pm and 7 pm ET (22 - 00 UTC).\" class=\"wp-image-11766\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">State of the Word 2021</a>, the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg, will be held on December 14, 2021 <a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">between 5 and 7 pm ET/10 pm – 12 am (December 15) UTC</a>. The event will be <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/join-us-for-state-of-the-word-2021-in-person-or-online/\">livestreamed from New York City</a>, and include a Question and Answer session.&nbsp;</li><li>Host or join a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/watch-state-of-the-word-at-a-watch-party-with-your-wordpress-friends/\">State of the Word watch party</a> to enjoy the event with your WordPress friends. Check <a href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\">Meetup</a> to see if a watch party is scheduled to be held in your local community!</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\"><strong>Add the event to your calendar</strong></a><strong> so you don’t miss State of the Word 2021!</strong> Want to ask Matt a question during State of the Word? Please send your questions ahead of time to <a>ask-matt@wordcamp.org</a> or ask them live during the event via YouTube chat.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"team-updates-nominations-for-some-team-representatives-are-still-underway\">Team updates: Nominations for some team representatives are still underway</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/Requests/releases/tag/v2.0.0\">Requests 2.0.0 has been released</a>. This release is fully compatible with PHP 8.0 and 8.1, indicating that a legacy codebase can be modernized, made more stable and secure <em>without</em> breaking backward-compatibility. The Requests project is a dependency of WordPress core, which was adopted into the WordPress organization earlier this year.&nbsp;</li><li>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress.org-2020-Annual-Survey.pdf\">2020 WordPress Annual Survey</a> results are available to be viewed.&nbsp;</li><li>The Core Team added <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/08/new-committers-2021/\">six new committers</a>.</li><li>Last month, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/11/22/2022-team-nominations-for-marketing/\">Marketing Team</a> opened its call for team representatives, joining <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/26/nominations-for-core-team-reps-2022/\">Core</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/10/27/nominations-call-for-the-themes-team-representatives/\">Themes</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/10/30/call-for-team-rep-nominations-3/\">Accessibility</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/10/team-representative-nominations/\">Support</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/hosting/2021/10/30/nominations-for-hosting-team-reps-2022/\">Hosting</a> from October 2021.</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/24/core-team-reps-for-2020-and-beyond-2/\">Core Team announced its new Team Rep for 2022</a> (and beyond).</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/10/08/moving-to-bi-weekly-meetings/\">Design Team</a> and the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/11/19/accessibility-team-meeting-notes-november-19-2021/\">Accessibility Team’s</a> meetings will be held bi-weekly moving forward.</li><li>The Marketing Team published the latest edition of <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/people-of-wordpress-devin-maeztri/\">People of WordPress, featuring Devin Maeztri</a> from Indonesia.</li><li>There’s an open call for suggestions for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/11/05/2022-goals-for-the-community-team-suggestions-invited/\">Global Community Team</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/11/16/team-goal-setting-2022/\">Training Team</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/11/11/2022-polyglots-planning/\">Polyglots</a> goals for 2022. Please drop your ideas by December 6, 2021.</li><li>The Accessibility Team has opened 1-2 <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1637775719355600\">volunteer positions</a> for the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/diverse-speaker-support/\">#diverse-speaker-support</a> channel.</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/11/22/polyglots-monthly-newsletter-november-2021/\">November 2021 edition</a> of the Polyglots monthly newsletter is out.&nbsp;</li><li>The Marketing Team welcomes any help to <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/11/17/help-promote-wordpress-meetups-each-week/\">promote WordPress Meetups</a> on a weekly basis and thus keep the community connected.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>We want to hear from you!</strong> Suggest your 2022 goals for the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/11/05/2022-goals-for-the-community-team-suggestions-invited/\">Global Community Team</a> by December 6, 2021.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"feedback-testing-requests-test-wordpress-5-9-beta-1-take-the-2021-annual-wordpress-survey-to-share-your-experience\">Feedback/Testing requests: Test WordPress 5.9 Beta 1; Take the 2021 Annual WordPress Survey to share your experience</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 is now available for testing and we’d like to hear from you! Testing is vital to ensure the release is as good as it can be—it’s also a great way to contribute. Read the comprehensive guide, “<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">Help test WordPress 5.9 Features</a>,” to learn how to test WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 and report any bugs.</li><li>There’s an open call for testing for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/11/16/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-18-7/\">WordPress iOS 18.7</a> and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/11/16/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-18-7/\">Android 18.7</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>The </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/take-the-2021-wordpress-annual-survey-and-view-the-2020-results/\"><strong>2021 WordPress Annual Survey</strong></a><strong> is out! </strong>Please respond to the survey, so <em>your</em> WordPress experience is reflected in the results.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"keep-an-eye-out-for-wordcamp-taiwan-and-sevilla-along-with-several-wordpress-workshops-in-december-2021\">Keep an eye out for WordCamp Taiwan and Sevilla, along with several WordPress workshops in December 2021</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Several <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/\">WordPress Social Learning Meetups</a> were held in November by the Training Team, and there will be more in December 2021.</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/tuesdaytrainings/\">Tuesday Training</a> sessions are paused until 2022.</li><li><a href=\"https://saopaulo.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp São Paulo</a> was held online on November 27, 2021.</li><li>Get excited for <a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Sevilla 2021</a>, coming up on December 11-12! Sevilla is the first in-person WordCamp happening in over 18 months, since WordCamps moved online in March 2020 due to COVID-19.</li><li>Don’t miss the following upcoming WordCamps: <a href=\"https://taiwan.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Taiwan 2021</a>, <a href=\"https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Birmingham 2022</a>, and <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Europe 2022</a>!</li><li>Check out the latest episodes of WordPress Briefing with Josepha Haden on<ul><li>“<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-21-all-things-block-themes/\">All Things Block Themes!</a>”</li><li>“<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-20-wordpressblogging/\">WordPress=Blogging+</a>”</li><li>“<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-19-the-people-of-wordpress/\">The People of WordPress</a>”</li></ul></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Give back to open source. </strong>Please donate to<a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/give-back-to-open-source-this-giving-tuesday/\"> the WordPress Foundation</a>’s mission this holiday season.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Have a story that we could include in the next ‘Month in WordPress’ post? Let us know&nbsp; by filling out </em></strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/\"><strong><em>this form</em></strong></a><strong><em>.&nbsp;</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to November 2021’s Month in WordPress: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/harishanker/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>harishanker</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/callye/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>callye</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/jrf/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>jrf</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a></em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11763\";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:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 1\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-9-beta-1/\";s: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, 30 Nov 2021 23:35:51 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11584\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:307:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 is now available for testing! This version of the WordPress software is under development. You don’t want to run this version on a production site. Instead, it is recommended that you run this on a test site. This will allow you to test out the new version. You can test the [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10992:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This version of the WordPress software is under development</strong>. You don’t want to run this version on a production site. Instead, it is recommended that you run this on a test site. This will allow you to test out the new version.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Option 1: Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</li><li>Option 2: Direct download the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta1.zip\">beta version here (zip)</a>.</li><li>Option 3: Use WP-CLI to test: <code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta1</code>. <strong><em>Do not use this option if your filesystem is case-insensitive.</em></strong></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release is January 25, 2022, which is just eight weeks away. Your help testing this version is vital to make sure the release is as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">5.9-related developer notes</a> in the coming weeks which will break down all upcoming changes in greater detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help-testing\"><strong>How You Can Help – Testing!</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Testing for bugs is a critical part of polishing the release in the beta stage. It is also a great way to contribute. If you’ve never tested a beta release before, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">this detailed guide will help</a> walk you through what and how to test.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please report it to the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">Alpha/Beta area</a> in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">file one on WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To see every feature in the Gutenberg releases since WordPress 5.8, check out the What’s New In Gutenberg posts for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/10/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-8-9-june/\">10.8</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/24/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-9-23-june/\">10.9</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/09/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-0-0-9-july/\">11.0</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-1-0-21-july/\">11.1</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/\">11.2</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/18/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-3-18-august/\">11.3</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/01/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-4-1-september/\">11.4</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-5-16-september/\">11.5</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/01/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-6-29-september/\">11.6</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-7-october-13th/\">11.7</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/28/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-8-0-27-october/\">11.8</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/12/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-9-0-10-november/\">11.9</a>.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the noted changes, which include 580 enhancements and nearly 450 bug fixes, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\">297 tickets for WordPress 5.9</a>, including <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=owner&amp;col=priority&amp;col=changetime&amp;col=keywords&amp;order=changetime\">110 new features and enhancements</a>. More fixes are on the way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Want to know what’s new in version 5.9? Read on for some highlights.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"full-site-editing\"><strong><strong>Full Site Editing</strong></strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"styles-interface\">The <strong>Styles Interface</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Combine all the features that went live in 5.8 with those making their entrance in 5.9, and you get <strong>Full Site Editing.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Formerly known as Global Styles, the Styles Interface lets you interact directly with your blocks and elements right in the WordPress Admin. From typography to color palettes, this cohesive design interface means a design change—even a dramatic one—can happen without a theme switch. <strong>No code needed.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"theme-json\"><strong>Theme.json</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Introduced in WordPress 5.8, theme.json has been improved to enable features and default styles for your site and its blocks. With 5.9, theme.json can support child themes and the duotone treatment. Coordinate layers of style with theme.json, taking the weight off of your theme’s required CSS.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other features supported by theme.json include: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Border:</strong> color, style, and width augment the border-radius property that landed in 5.8.</li><li><strong>Flex layouts:</strong> Block Gap support, courtesy of spacing.blockGap.</li><li><strong>Typography:</strong> font families, font style, font weight, text decoration, and text transform.</li><li><strong>Images</strong>: Duotones.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"a-new-navigation-block\"><strong>A New Navigation Block</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to the most intuitive way to build navigation: the Navigation Block.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the features that need testing the most:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Responsive menu options you can turn off, have always on, or opt to use only for small screens.</li><li>Built-in keyboard accessibility.&nbsp; For accessibility, for speed, or both.</li><li>Add extra blocks like Search and Site Icon blocks (and customize them to your liking).</li><li>Submenu items with styling options.</li><li>Horizontal or vertical alignment.</li><li>Reusable navigation? Even across themes? Yes. Because the Navigation Block you build gets saved as a custom post type.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"a-better-gallery-block\"><strong>A Better Gallery Block</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>What if you could treat single images in your Gallery Block the same way you treat the Image Block? <strong>Now you can.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p> Make every image in your gallery different from the next, with inline cropping or a duotone and change layouts with the ease of drag and drop. With the improved gallery block, every image is its own Image block.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>One thing to note: </strong>Have you built a plugin or theme on the Gallery Block functionality?<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/20/gallery-block-refactor-dev-note/\"> Be sure to review this Dev Note, which details what you need to do for compatibility</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"focused-template-part-mode\"><strong>Focused Template Part Mode</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Building template parts can take a level of focus all its own because you’re making decisions for the entire site. So WordPress 5.9 adds a focus mode that shows you only the part you’re working on right now (and you can get back to the regular view with a keystroke).&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"block-pattern-directory\"><strong>Block Pattern Directory</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/patterns/\">Pattern Directory</a> offers a range of prebuilt block patterns, from a couple of blocks that show an image and text, to an entire page layout with columns and sections. Since the 5.8 release, the directory has become a hub for exploratory UI and patterns, taking submissions and offering them to the community. So now, your creation can help other people build out their perfect site.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"twenty-twenty-two-default-theme\"><strong>Twenty Twenty-Two Default Theme</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A whole new way of building WordPress themes.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 introduces features that make Full Site Editing possible, including <strong>the first default block theme</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using minimal CSS, theme styles reside in theme.json so that you can configure them in the Styles interface of the WordPress Admin. Make this theme take on its own personality site-wide, with a wide array of color schemes, type combinations, page templates, premade components (forms), and image treatments to choose from.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"more-improvements-and-updates\"><strong>More Improvements and Updates</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Do you love to blog? New tweaks to the publishing flow let you add new posts just seconds after hitting Publish on your latest post.</li><li>List View lets you drag and drop content as easily as you could always cruise through it – and collapse entire sections – so you can concentrate on a task or get the bigger picture.</li><li><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33955\">The Buttons and Social icons blocks now absorb</a> and display their parent block’s toolbar controls.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43700\">Choose your language</a> on the login screen.</li><li>More <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33868\">performance improvements</a> (i.e., speed).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>chanthaboune</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/priethor/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>priethor</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>psykro</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>annezazu</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>davidbaumwald</a>, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a> for their research and copy.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11584\";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:72:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"People of WordPress: Devin Maeztri\";s: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/2021/11/people-of-wordpress-devin-maeztri/\";s: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, 30 Nov 2021 22:21:09 +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:8:\"category\";a:6:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Community\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Interviews\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"Contributor Story\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Indonesia\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:19:\"People of 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:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"Polyglot Contributor\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11678\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:111:\"Devin Maeztri, a campaigner from Indonesia talks about the difference WordPress makes in her life and her work.\";s: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:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:16562:\"\n<p>In this series, we share some of the inspiring stories of how WordPress and its global network of contributors can change people&#8217;s lives for the better. This month we feature a translator and campaigner who uses WordPress to highlight good causes and helps people in her area benefit from the open source platform.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"843\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat.jpg?resize=632%2C843&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Devin pictured with one of her cats\" class=\"wp-image-11690\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>Going to a WordCamp can be a life-changing experience, as Devin Maeztri discovered. Every event she attends is a further step on a journey of discovering the WordPress community and its many opportunities.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>“It is not that hard to fall for WordPress if you have a chance to experience WordPress. For me, it took a WordCamp.”</p><cite>Devin Maeztri</cite></blockquote></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin&#8217;s first experience with camps came when she volunteered impromptu at an Indonesian event, WordCamp Denpasar, Bali in 2016.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, she made a profound discovery: “WordCamps can bring people who will give back to the community, even if they don’t get anything from WordPress directly.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With every WordCamp after that first experience, she became more interested in WordPress and the community.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time, Devin found she wanted to be part of WordPress events more often. She became a regular at Meetups in Ubud and Jakarta, joining as a co-organizer at WordCamp Jakarta in 2017 and 2019. Later, she took on the role of co-organizer for Meetups in Jakarta and Ubud.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smitten by what WordCamps can offer and how they can bring people together across national borders, she joined the organizing team for WordCamp Asia 2020. Sadly, this event was to become the first major WordPress event to be cancelled in the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Naturally, Devin hopes WordCamp Asia will happen someday very soon. Beyond the expected WordPress learning and sharing that event will promote, she believes its very scale will showcase how WordCamps add international tourism and cultural understanding everywhere they take place.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"632\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=632%2C632&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Devin pictured with other WordCamp Asia organizers who attended WordCamp Europe in 2019\" class=\"wp-image-11692\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption>WordCamp Asia 2020 Organizers at WordCamp Europe 2019. Devin is pictured in the front row, second from left. Photo Credit: Abha Thakor</figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"showing-how-wordpress-can-be-used-locally\">Showing how WordPress can be used locally</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After experiencing several events, Devin had questions: “At WordCamps and Meetups, you hear stories about how WordPress powers the web. How it changes the lives of so many people, how it helps dreams come true. It made me think, considering WordPress is that powerful, why are there not even more people in Indonesia using websites, and more using WordPress? Why aren’t more talented Indonesian WordPress users, developers, designers, and business owners taking part in WordPress.org projects? Language, for me, was the main answer.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The solution Devin felt was to make WordPress available in the main local language. She said: “I believe, the more content translated into Indonesian, the more Indonesian WordPress users see WordPress as more than just a blogging platform or a content management system. They will realize it’s a huge open source community that works together to make the web a better place. The more plugins and themes translated, the easier the work of the developer and designer will be. The more people see how WordPress can enhance their life, the better the ecosystem for business owners becomes.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"encouraging-others-to-translate-wordpress\">Encouraging others to translate WordPress</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After talking with others about how WordPress could be even more useful in Indonesia, Devin felt she had to make a personal commitment to reviving the polyglot project in Indonesia. With another volunteer contributor and through promotion, the local polyglot team got bigger and the interest in translation grew. She also took on the responsibility of a General Translation Editor for the language.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"318\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=632%2C318&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Polyglot nominatee - Devin Maeztri\" class=\"wp-image-11706\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=1024%2C515&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=300%2C151&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=768%2C386&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?w=1247&amp;ssl=1 1247w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the efforts of Devin and the other translation editors, Indonesia took part in <a href=\"https://wptranslationday.org/\">WordPress Translation Day</a> in 2020, and in 2021 held sprints and learning sessions spanning the whole 30 days of the event. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her enthusiasm and dedication to helping others translate WordPress locally and promoting the global community were recognized in the Polyglot Appreciation Nominations for 2021. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"helping-to-give-access-to-more-diverse-audiences\">Helping to give access to more diverse audiences</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Through her involvement in translation, Devin noticed there were not many women involved in the WordPress community in Indonesia. Often, she found herself the only woman at an event.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, along with a couple of community members, she started Perempuan WordPress, a local initiative. This group is open for everyone to join, but prioritizes women as event speakers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin has gone on to support the work of the Diversity Speaker Training group in the Community Team, translating materials and promoting initiatives in Indonesia.&nbsp;She is keen to encourage others to get involved with this initiative which helps increase the diversity of presenters at Meetups and WordCamps. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"534\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-at-wc-jakarta2019.png?resize=600%2C534&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11689\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-at-wc-jakarta2019.png?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-at-wc-jakarta2019.png?resize=300%2C267&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption><em>Organizing at WordCamp Jakarta 2019</em></figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>In her professional roles, Devin is an advocate for WordPress as a tool for people with a wide variety of skill sets. She does not code, but uses the platform extensively for her projects. In 2014, she signed up for a free account on WordPress.com to keep and share notes about what she saw or was thinking about as she commuted on public transport to work. This site did not turn into a blog, but instead introduced her to other opportunities and the vast capabilities of the platform.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-can-support-your-skills-and-passions\">WordPress can support your skills and passions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With a background in environmental activism, Devin has worked for international development organizations on everything from policymaking to campaigning.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind the desk, she worked with policymakers and organized conferences and meetings. That meant doing a lot of writing and translating and working with people on the ground who were impacted by the policies. “My work on the ground usually involved researching, movement building and community empowerment,” she noted.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her work with events inspired Devin to get involved in WordCamps and Meetups and share her energy for making things happen. As in her professional work, she felt WordPress was an opportunity to work and share with people about something that can make a positive impact on someone else’s life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“For me, everything comes from the heart. I do things that I feel so strongly about. Things that call me, and things that I am good at but still giving me room to learn and become better at. WordPress can be the perfect place for this.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While she was between jobs, Devin was encouraged to volunteer at WordCamp Denpasar 2016. With some help, she created an online CV. She also learned to manage a WordPress site, navigate the wp-admin, and make the content appeal to potential employers.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She eventually got a job as a campaigner to build a movement online and offline. The brainchild of many university friends in America, who used digital campaigns to go global, the campaign used WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin worked alongside a digital campaigner and helped shape the content, the call to action, and the user experience. She also had to use the wp-admin to make some amendments. As a global movement, it developed its resources in English, so she also reviewed the work of the translators she worked with.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"474\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation.jpg?resize=632%2C474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"One of Devin\'s cats watches the WPTranslationDay 2021 livestreamed events.\" class=\"wp-image-11688\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption>Devin&#8217;s cat became a regular on social media posts about #WPTranslationDay 2021</figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>She left her job as a campaigner at the end of 2018 to concentrate on freelancing – and to spend more of her free time contributing to the WordPress community. She also took up the initiative to help street cats in Jakarta.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin said: “So, I am busy helping these cats but also learning how to fundraise using a website. I’m learning to use online forms, set up a payment service provider, work on SEO, and do other new things I need to learn to grow my initiative. I do have the privilege to learn directly from a personal guru. The same person who convinced me to volunteer at WordCamp Denpasar, and who I married in 2018.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-gives-everyone-a-chance-to-learn\">WordPress gives everyone a chance to learn</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin was so enthused by being a contributor for WordPress, she took part in the video shorts following the Translation Day events.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/VsiQzdmAz8g?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div><figcaption>Devin talks about translating in this short <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsiQzdmAz8g\" target=\"_blank\">video</a> (opens in a new tab on YouTube)</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>She is also active in other Contributor Teams and decided to become a Community Team Deputy to support meetups in new cities across Indonesia and perhaps future WordCamps.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She said: “One of the things that I like about WordPress is that it is very welcoming and open to people like me, who don’t code at all. At the same time, it shows me a different way of looking at the world.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin believes in the power of WordPress to give ‘everyone a chance to learn new things’ and allows her to contribute and share her knowledge and experience. “By contributing, I hope to make a difference in someone’s life. I hope they feel the benefit of using WordPress and want to give back to create a healthier WordPress community.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"contributors\">Contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to Abha Thakor (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">@</a><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">webcommsat</a>) and Mary Baum (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a>) for the interviews and writing this feature, and to Devin Maeztri (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/devinmaeztri/\">@devinmaeztri</a>) for sharing her story. Thanks to Meher Bala (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\">@meher</a>) for work on the images, and to Chloé Bringmann (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">@cbringmann</a>) and Collieth Clarke (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/callye/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>callye</a>) for proofing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp;(@<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">chanthaboune</a>) and Topher DeRosia (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/\">@topher1kenobe</a>) for their support for the series.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on </em><a href=\"https://heropress.com/\"><em>HeroPress.com</em></a><em>, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard. </em>#HeroPress #ContributorStory</p>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11678\";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:55:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:49:\"WP Briefing: Episode 21: All Things Block 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:70:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-21-all-things-block-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 29 Nov 2021 12:07:00 +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:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11636\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:436:\"In episode 21 of the WordPress Briefing, Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, talks all things block themes with developers and theme specialists Maggie Cabrera and Jeff Ong. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor:&#160;Dustin Hartzler Logo:&#160;Beatriz Fialho Production:&#160;Chloé Bringmann Song: Fearless [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WP-Briefing-021.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:26887:\"\n<p>In episode 21 of the WordPress Briefing, Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, talks all things block themes with developers and theme specialists Maggie Cabrera and Jeff Ong.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/17/wordpress-5-9-beta-1-delayed/\">5.9 Beta 1 Delay Announcement </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">5.9 Revised Release Schedule</a></li><li><a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Sevilla 2021</a></li><li>Charitable Giving: <ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/donate/\">WordPress Foundation</a></li><li><a href=\"https://donate.bigorangeheart.org/\">Big Orange Heart</a></li><li><a href=\"https://heropressnetwork.com/support/\">HeroPress</a> <em>(Update: This organization is not a non-profit.)</em></li></ul></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11636\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. See, here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, today, folks, in our podcast, I am joined by a couple of special guests. I know it&#8217;s been a bit since I&#8217;ve had a guest, so I&#8217;m very excited to introduce you to who I have with me today. Today, I have <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/onemaggie/\">Maggie Cabrera</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jffng/\">Jeff Ong</a>. They both are working on themes, and especially the future of themes as we move into this low code, no code block based experience of editing things in WordPress. And there have been so many questions lately about what does the landscape of being a theme developer turns into once we move fully into this excellent promise of user empowerment for Gutenberg? I figured who best to come and talk to us about that than these two. So welcome, Maggie. Welcome, Jeff. I&#8217;m really excited to have this conversation with you today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>01:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for having us. Excited to be here.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:45</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m just gonna hop right in, and we will see what happens. The first thing that I want to chat about, I hear so many questions and so much discussion about patterns in a lot of different places. Like obviously, the work that I helped to steward the most is around like the Block Pattern directory and various other user-facing tools. And so I have never really been able to give a really solid answer about like patterns and how they work inside themes. And so I wondered if you all had anything that you could offer to our listeners to help clarify what is the power of patterns inside themes in the future? Implementation of themes?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>02:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can try to start unless, Maggie? Okay. Well, if you take a look at what I&#8217;ve been doing for the last couple of months working on Twenty Twenty-Two. And if you look at that theme, it&#8217;s mostly just the collection of patterns. Patterns. As you know, if you read the description, the theme, it&#8217;s designed to be the most flexible and kind of like flexible theme ever, dare I say ever created.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:04</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think you can dare to say it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>03:03</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, you know, I think a huge part of that is because of the Full Site Editing being launched, introduced in 5.9. And also that theme itself ships with all of these patterns in it that work with the overall design, but really can be configured to your own kind of unique liking and kind of taste and ultimately, what you want to accomplish, whether that&#8217;s I want to make a portfolio, I want to make, you know, a single-page website promoting like my podcast, or there are patterns for that kind of shipping with the theme. And they&#8217;ve all been kind of designed and tailored to work with the typography choices at a baseline level with the color choices at a baseline level, but can very easily be tweaked. And you can kind of rely on them to work with the editor. And I guess, kind of zooming out for a little bit, not just about Twenty-Twenty Two.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>04:04</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But like patterns as this idea that a theme, hopefully, what it is, it&#8217;s a collection of different design options or layout options that are ultimately presented as patterns to the user, the patterns are just a really easy way to basically say &#8220;I want you this layout, like two columns of text or with like some images here.&#8221; Basically, a theme becomes a way of packaging the patterns together in a way that feels like a coherent piece of a coherent website. And I think that&#8217;s a pretty powerful idea. I know that the patterns directory is also opening up making those patterns pretty widely available. But I think a theme you could think of as like a curation of those patterns in a way that makes sense. And I think Twenty-Twenty Two is a really good example. I mean, I&#8217;m biased.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:03</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also think it&#8217;s a good example. Maggie, did you have anything that you wanted to add to that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>05:08</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, What I really like about patterns is how it empowers the user, even if they don&#8217;t really have like a deep knowledge of code, or they&#8217;re not used to the more complex blocks. When the theme developer gives you this pattern about using the query block, for example, it lays out your posts in a very compelling manner. And you can edit it if you want it or just use it out of the box. And you have this dynamic blog that it&#8217;s, like, such a big important part of your website. Like if you want to have a page where you have, you have maybe a podcast website, and you want to showcase your podcasts differently than your regular blog posts. So you can use a different gray pattern for that. And it&#8217;s like, really, really easy to use, even if you&#8217;re not familiar with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:07</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the things that I have found compelling about this new version of themes and kind of the way that themes are planning to look in the future; it&#8217;s going to be like a super throwback, so everyone get ready for me to sound old, my guests and my listeners alike. It reminds me of my original days of blogging on the web. I was not a developer and even though I had this really short stint of working with JavaScript in my career, at some point. Like no one actually would ever look to me and be like, that one is excellent at design and fixing everything with code, like I was just killer at searching for the right pieces of code, right.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:57</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I remember sitting there on Zynga, which is, of course, now powered by WordPress, I absolutely just went out and found bundles of code that are now what we would consider themes and modified the small pieces that I needed to change in order to like really suit what I wanted to have happen on the site at the time. And they&#8217;re like, I knew I could break it all. Really easily. But also, it was, it was not scary to think about breaking it. Like it was clear how I could fix it if I really broke it. The content, like what I had written, was separate from everything to do with the way that it was looking. And so like, I wouldn&#8217;t destroy all of my work, just because I didn&#8217;t put a semicolon in the right place, or whatever it was in that moment. And so like, this future of themes really reminds me of this a lot where someone has curated how it can look how it should look. And you can just like add in modular pieces that will augment what was already intended, but still kind of work. And if it&#8217;s not gonna work, it&#8217;s kind of easy to fix too. So like, I&#8217;m excited. That was a really exciting time in my learning of the web and certainly was formative in my career, as we all now see. And so yeah, I think that&#8217;s really exciting.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:20</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did have actually another question that this conversation has kind of brought up for me. I have, obviously just use the term modular, which no one has ever used in the context of themes for WordPress. And I know that there is a lot there are a lot of terms kind of wandering around about themes right now. And especially as we&#8217;re moving into what themes can look like in the future. There was block based theme as a term for a while. And now it&#8217;s block themes. There was like this floating around the term, universal themes. And now we&#8217;re looking at just like block themes forever. And so I wondered if y&#8217;all could give us a just like a clear understanding of these terms that had been being used and maybe are going out of fashion? Like, are they important for us to keep knowing?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>09:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So yes, the history of terms around themes. And obviously, even my knowledge only goes back so far. But it was around when we started doing the block based themes meeting. And trying to I think that&#8217;s where that term kind of came from is like, oh, let&#8217;s, let&#8217;s start talking about this idea that themes can be completely made up out of blocks. And what does that mean?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>09:33</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think over time, it wasn&#8217;t just block themes, because, you know, previously, there were themes and even default themes that used and took into account the fact that blocks existed. So there was some confusion there. Enough time has gone on where we focus on this idea that themes whose templates are ultimately made out of blocks are block themes. And to me, it&#8217;s kind of as simple as that. Its themes that supply a set of templates that previously in the past were a collection of PHP and various template tags and whatnot is all transitioned to themes made up including other blocks, as well as themes that supply styles through theme.json configuration instead of supplying it in raw CSS. To me this idea is really crystallizing around like this is a block theme, one that is really, at its core, supplying a set of templates, and styles through a language that WordPress understands natively, and can allow it to be configured and customized in a really powerful way. And then maybe someday in the future, they&#8217;ll just be called themes again. If we do a good enough they will just be called themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>10:57</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m gonna, I&#8217;m gonna take us into a philosophical area now that you&#8217;ve just put us in there. You said, someday they&#8217;ll be called Themes. Again, I&#8217;ve talked about this on this podcast a few times. And for anyone who&#8217;s worked with me for any length of time, like you all probably heard this from me as well. But like, adjectives are so frequently the realm of things that are not what you expect, right? Because like you have coffee, and then decaf coffee, no one&#8217;s like caffeinated coffee, because that&#8217;s what you expect out of it. And so when you&#8217;re like themes, and block themes, it makes it look like block themes are secondary, which at the moment, they are, ish. But in the future, I think you&#8217;re probably right, there will be a time when the modifier isn&#8217;t necessary anymore because it will be hopefully a much better way for people to kind of change the way that their themes work and make it more usable for users and people who are, you know, having to manage their own site without necessarily wanting to or being able to, like, have a Maggie in the room to fix everything that they break.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>12:08</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maggie is nowhere near me. And so she&#8217;s never been in the room when I&#8217;ve broken anything. But I believe that Maggie on one occasion, at least, has come in and helped me fix something that I definitely broke. I&#8217;m an excellent breaker of WordPress things. Maggie, did you have anything you wanted to add to that question?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>12:29</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I guess, maybe clarify a bit, what universal themes are because, yeah, maybe some people have heard about the term but they don&#8217;t really know what they are. And maybe just clarify that. The term was born when developing block themes wasn&#8217;t something that you could actually do for production websites like you could build them to test some experiments, but they weren&#8217;t really ready for users to use. So universal themes want to grasp the power of love themes while still being ready for users. So the way they do it is they are block based, like we used to call them in the sense that the templates are made of blocks. But they are also able to be customized using the customizer, which is the old way of customizing themes, instead of using the site editor. So they can have a balance between two worlds between the worlds of classic themes and block themes. But they are, at heart, a temporary concept. They are bound to be blocked themes in the future, but with maybe a foot in the past, where they can actually serve users who are not ready for full-on site editor. But they are bound to be full block themes in the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>14:00</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s a really interesting concept in there. So universal themes, it sounds like are basically kind of like an on-ramp for people who are not really ready to fully commit to this for any number of reasons. Like we never want to say that we know the reason that people would be a little bit shy to get started with this. But like it&#8217;s kind of like an on-ramp, it&#8217;s a safe way to get back to something that they do know, in the event that what they don&#8217;t know, really hinders their progress makes it hard for them to get the work done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>14:31</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think I wouldn&#8217;t say that they are for people shyer to get into new stuff rather than developers who want to embrace the new stuff before it&#8217;s even really ready. They really want to embrace the power of the blocks instead of doing things the old way. But even if it&#8217;s not fully ready.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>14:54</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They still need to support the old way of doing things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>14:58</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like being backward compatible and being ready for any kind of user.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>15:05</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So mostly for developers, everyone who heard me just talking about how it was a great thing for users, ignore it. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>15:12</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s also good for users; If they feel secure in using the customizer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>15:20</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I think that there&#8217;s something important here that we certainly learned with the adoption of Gutenberg in 5.0. Right, which is that there is certainly one method of helping people to adopt things, which is to go like the art of war style, and kind of smash their rice pots and burn all their boats, like, that&#8217;s one way. Which works for a lot of companies in the world, I&#8217;m sure. But WordPress has always had kind of a commitment, not even kind of, has always had a commitment to backward compatibility. And like, we know that a lot of the work on Gutenberg is going to represent some breaking changes around the around workflows and around the user experience the interface, especially like, we know that. But the opportunity to like have a thing that gives you an early taste of what&#8217;s coming but also the ability to keep kind of working in your old space where you need to, I think it&#8217;s an excellent way to bring people forward into the future of things, I have never been a fan of the just like cut off all avenues and hope that they stay with your method because of course, like you can&#8217;t cut off all the methods. You can&#8217;t cut off all the ways people can get away from you. And even if we could, it wouldn&#8217;t be in line with how WordPress hopes to kind of help people through some tough stuff like making your first website is hard. If you are doing it as part of, an overall campaign that&#8217;s supposed to bring in leads for you or generate revenue like you don&#8217;t want to necessarily play with that in a way that could break things and be risky for you in the long term. So I think all the tools that we offer to help people kind of move forward with the technology move forward with the CMS as it&#8217;s moving forward, I think it&#8217;s really smart. And so universal themes are one of those things, but also not around to stay. As we move into non modified themes, just the word themes that happen to be based in blocks. If I&#8217;ve confused anyone, please email me at wpbriefing@wordpress.org. And tell me how I confused you. And I will do a follow-up to unconfuse everyone.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>17:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So speaking of the way that we help people kind of move forward with WordPress and with the technology. So much has been done in the CMS in the past 12 months in the past 18 months to be able to move themes into this same future as the rest of the editor. Right. So like, for folks who have not been listening to me for the last five years, you may not know this. So I&#8217;m going to tell everybody now, like one of the pain points that Gutenberg overall is solving is the fact that you for a long time had to learn five different editing interfaces to get one thing done in WordPress, right. And so like the advent of blocks and moving it into more and more spaces in the CMS is intended to really flatten the editing experience by making the type of user interaction the type of workflow really similar across all of the editing interfaces in the CMS. And so themes are a natural extension of that, where we can take similar user patterns and workflows, and work them out into themes. So over the last 12 months or so probably a little bit more, there&#8217;s been a lot of work on the CMS to move us forward in that that is now enabling the work that we want to be able to do to move things forward ahead. And so, I mean, this is probably our last question. Is there anything that you all want to offer to people who maybe saw themes early on or saw Gutenberg early on and felt like this is just not for me, in that in that context of like, how far it&#8217;s moved ahead in the past 12 months or so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>19:23</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you&#8217;re asking like, what in the last 12 months has maybe like really surprised me or like sticks out to me as something that like, Wow, look how far we&#8217;ve come?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>19:36</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, yeah. So like, if you&#8217;re looking at what is the one thing that you saw in the last 12 months, that changed in the CMS that really enabled something wonderful for themes or from the other side of it. Like if someone had looked at themes or WordPress 18 months ago, and now they&#8217;re looking at it and seeing this new and different way to do things with the look and feel of their site, like what is one thing that they should be aware of? On either side of that question,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>20:05</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think there&#8217;s more than one thing that has really evolved through this last year, year and a half. Like the maturity of some of the blocks is astounding now, like navigation blog, for example, was really bare-bones at the start and now it&#8217;s full potential, and it&#8217;s really looking really great. I would say the same thing about those days or the features on fire, like how basic it was at the start, was full potential. But now it&#8217;s really, really mature in terms of how much you can do with it. Like, I think the example, the perfect example of that is the work that <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/\">Kjell [Reigstad]</a> has done on Twenty-Twenty Two with the alternative theme.json files, where just changing that file basically feels like a new theme, with just the configuration and the styles. And without writing any CSS without changing any templates. It&#8217;s really, really amazing how that can turn into a reality. And it&#8217;s so easy for users to tinker with that if they want to. And it&#8217;s much easier than having to delve deep into CSS and changing everything in like 2000 lines of code.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>21:23</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I probably would echo most of that. What the thing that astounds me is global styles and how the UI can be shipping a theme or default theme with basically like, 20 lines of CSS, and have it be one of them. A beautiful, beautiful, like crisp and sharp, like, experience. It&#8217;s super fast. And it&#8217;s like, what this is a theme, you know, I thought a theme was supposed to supply all the styles like no, like, it&#8217;s just yeah. And workers do for you. Exactly. And like that. That&#8217;s pretty amazing to think in the last 12 months, we can go from, you know, shipping 1000s of lines of CSS to you none, it&#8217;s like, Wow, pretty cool.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>22:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, my friends, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been a really interesting conversation. I hope that all y&#8217;all out listening. Also find it interesting. As I mentioned, if you have any follow-up questions, absolutely. Send them to me via email. And I collect all of my questions that I get through the year for answering at the end of the year, mostly because I don&#8217;t get lots of questions that people want to be answered on this. Everyone just asked me their questions on Twitter and in Slack, which is fine as well.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>22:41</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, Maggie, Jeff, thank you both for joining me. And I&#8217;m sure that we&#8217;ll talk to you all again soon.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>22:56</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That brings us now to our small list of big things. In the last episode, I got all excited about being in the beta phase. But today, I&#8217;m rolling that back a little bit. As part of our usual open source processes, a group of contributors did a deep dive review on the WordPress 5.9 release and found a workflow that needed some refinement. So we are delaying the beta.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>23:19</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since we are in the midst of a major commerce slash/sales season, and of course, a lengthy holiday season, that delay also means that it makes sense to delay WordPress 5.9 final release a little as well. And so we are delaying that all the way into 2022 to January 25. For me, the trade-off works really well there. Every decision that we make in open source, of course, has some balance to it. It&#8217;s great for these aspects, it is less great for these aspects over here. But for myself, the opportunity to make sure that we have a really excellent experience for our users and also an opportunity to kind of avoid all of the chaos and hustle and bustle of the end of the year. Really, it seemed like a no-brainer for me. So in case you want to learn a little bit more about why we made the decision and get some insight into the actual milestones and where they have moved now, I&#8217;ll include some posts in the show notes below in case you want to read more and of course, if you have any additional questions you can always ask.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>24:33</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second small list of big things is that the first back to people WordCamp. I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re calling it. Our first back to people WordCamp is happening in a couple of weeks actually. WordCamp Sevilla is happening in person on December 11. And I&#8217;m so excited I wish I were local, but I&#8217;m not so if you are local stop by their website and pick up your ticket.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>24:55</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the third thing on our smallest a big things is that it is, of course, charitable giving season. I don&#8217;t know if you do your charitable giving at the end of the year or if that&#8217;s even part of your general ways of giving back. But I can think of two or three charitable organizations inside the WordPress ecosystem. There&#8217;s of course the WordPress Foundation, but also Big Orange Heart and HeroPress. If there are others out there, I certainly do want to know about them. WordPress Foundation also does additional giving on behalf of just like the open web and open source as a whole. So if you&#8217;re the sort of person who does their charitable giving at the end of the year, just a reminder that you have some options inside the WordPress ecosystem if you were trying to figure out some new places to donate to in 2021.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>25:42</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that is your small list of big things. Thank you so much for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. Thank you again to our special guests, Maggie and Jeff. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11636\";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:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"Watch State of the Word at a Watch Party with your WordPress Friends\";s: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:104:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/watch-state-of-the-word-at-a-watch-party-with-your-wordpress-friends/\";s: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, 24 Nov 2021 18:30:14 +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:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"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:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11641\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:322:\"State of the Word 2021 is just around the corner!&#160; Although attending State of the Word in person would be ideal, not all WordPress community members get to enjoy the experience of attending the speech live with friends.&#160; This year, as State of the Word is streamed live for the second time, we want to [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20064:\"\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">State of the Word 2021</a> is just around the corner!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although attending State of the Word in person would be ideal, not all WordPress community members get to enjoy the experience of attending the speech live with friends.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, as State of the Word is streamed live for the second time, we want to restore that in person camaraderie through State of the Word watch parties for WordPress Community members around the world.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><strong>We encourage WordPress meetup organizers and community members worldwide to (safely) host State of the Word 2021 watch parties —</strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/\"><strong>read this handbook to learn more</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"why-organize-a-watch-party\">Why organize a watch party?&nbsp;</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>If you are a <a href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\">WordPress meetup</a> organizer, many folks in your meetup may be unaware of the State of the Word, and a watch party could be a great opportunity to introduce or remind them.</li><li>As meetup organizers slowly bid goodbye to a tough year, the watch party could be an excellent opportunity to revitalize your group, especially if you haven’t had many events this year.</li><li>Along with your Meetup group members, you get a platform to ask questions directly to Matt Mullenweg.</li><li>And last but not least, even if you are not a Meetup Organizer, a watch party can be the perfect opportunity to reconnect and have a blast with your WordPress friends!</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-do-i-organize-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party\">How do I organize a State of the Word watch party?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can choose to host a watch party online or in person. Check out <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/#schedule-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party-for-your-meetup\">our handbook</a> for detailed instructions on how to schedule an event (including event templates).</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3 id=\"online\">Online</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The simplest way to organize an online watch party is to schedule an online event for your WordPress group and add the State of the Word YouTube streaming link directly on Meetup.com. Alternatively, you can schedule an online meeting using tools like Zoom and broadcast the live stream over there by screen sharing––thereby facilitating better engagement. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61dca7c944f87 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/#organizing-an-online-watch-party\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Organize an Online Watch Party</a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3 id=\"in-person\">In Person</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If your region meets <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/\">the guidelines for in person events</a> (if vaccines and testing are freely available), you can organize an in person watch party event (for fully vaccinated OR recently tested OR recently recovered folks) for your WordPress Meetup! Group members can hang out together (following local safety guidelines of course) and watch State of the Word live.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61dca7c9453b0 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/#organizing-an-in-person-watch-party\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Plan an In person Watch Party</a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NOTE:</strong> If State of the Word is happening at an odd hour in your timezone, you can still organize a watch party by organizing a replay of live stream, at a date/time that is convenient for your group.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>If your Local WordPress Meetup is organizing an in person watch party, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/request-swag-for-in-person-watch-parties/\"><strong>fill out this form</strong></a><strong> so that we can ship some swag for your group to celebrate!</strong><br>Deadline: November 30, 2021</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-else-do-i-need-to-know-about-organizing-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party\">What else do I need to know about organizing a State of the Word watch party?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Excited? To help you get started, we’ve put together a few resources:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Check out this </strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/\"><strong>handbook</strong></a><strong> for detailed instructions on how to organize a watch party, </strong>be it online or in person.</li><li>Looking for a Zoom Pro account to host your online watch party?&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/getting-started/special-virtual-events-zoom-request/\">Request a community zoom pro account</a>&nbsp;for your event right away!</li><li>We have prepared some <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/email-templates-for-state-of-the-word/\">email templates</a> that Meetup Organizers can use to spread the word in their Meetup groups.</li><li>Don’t forget to share on social media about your watch party events using the hashtag <strong>#StateOfTheWord</strong> so we can join in on the fun!</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><strong>NOTE: </strong> The guidelines in this post are primarily aimed at WordPress Meetup organizers. <strong>However, you do not need to be a Meetup organizer to schedule a watch party!</strong> You can simply hang out together with your friends online or in person (while following local safety guidelines) and catch the event live!</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"join-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party-near-you\">Join a State of the Word Watch Party near you!</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We have compiled a list of State of the Word Watch Parties around the world. If you don&#8217;t see a watch party in your region listed here, <a href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">check this page on Meetup.com</a>  to see if your local WordPress group is organizing one. If not, why don&#8217;t you consider organizing a watch party on your own? <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f642.png\" alt=\"🙂\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC\">WordPress NYC Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC/events/282276960/\" target=\"_blank\">An In Person MeetUp: The State of the Word 2021 is in Manhattan.</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup\">South Jersey WordPress Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup/events/282402090/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Morris County NJ WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group/events/282402069/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Montclair Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup/events/282326195/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv\">WordPress Santa Clarita Valley</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv/events/282056842/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">The Houston WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress/events/282402609/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/\">North East Ohio WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/events/282456476/\">State of Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup\">Birmingham WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup/events/282313212/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Lehigh Valley WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup/events/282304472/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/\">Metro Detroit WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/events/282519538/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp\" target=\"_blank\">Greater Milwaukee Area WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp/events/282598865/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">The East Bay WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup/events/282539457/\">State of the Word 2021 (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress\" target=\"_blank\">Sacramento WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress/events/282593192/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Louisville</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville/events/281858101/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party and Discussion (WP Louisville, KY)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1e8-1f1f4.png\" alt=\"🇨🇴\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Medellín</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin/events/282306436/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021: Discurso de Matt &amp; Fiesta de Comunidad (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ed-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"🇭🇹\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\">Port-au-Prince WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\"></a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup/events/282350488/\" target=\"_blank\">Rejoignez-nous le 14 décembre pour regarder State of the Word 2021 (online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"🇬🇧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Coventry Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry/events/282302051/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"🇬🇧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Exeter</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter/events/282293408/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"🇮🇹\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/\">WordPress Meetup Torino</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/events/282467417/\">State of the Word 2021 Video Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f7-1f1fc.png\" alt=\"🇷🇼\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Kigali WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup/events/282321636/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇳🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Lagos WordPress Community</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇳🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Ijebu-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Ijebu WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇺🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Jinja WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup/events/282637298/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party &#8211; WordPress Community Uganda (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇺🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/\">Kampala WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/events/282678558/\">State of the Word Livestream</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f5-1f1f0.png\" alt=\"🇵🇰\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Meetups Lahore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore/events/282311458/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"🇮🇳\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal\">WordPress Bhopal</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal/events/282470541/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"🇮🇳\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/\">Bengaluru WordPress</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/events/282271921/\">WordPress Meetup &#8211; State of the word -Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f8-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇸🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Singapore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore/events/282296137/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p>If you are planning a watch party for State of the Word, and have questions, please drop us an email to: <a href=\"mailto:support@wordcamp.org\">support@wordcamp.org</a> if you have any questions. We are happy to help you in the best way possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to this post: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>eidolonnight</a> <em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/evarlese/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>evarlese</a></em></em> <em>and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a></em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11641\";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:63:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"A Look at WordPress 5.9\";s: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:59:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/a-look-at-wordpress-5-9/\";s: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, 23 Nov 2021 21:02:02 +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:8:\"category\";a:3:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Design\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Features\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11625\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:322:\"WordPress 5.9 is expected to be a ground-breaking release. It will introduce the next generation of themes with Twenty Twenty-Two joining the fun and over 30 theme blocks to build all parts of your site. In anticipation of the January 25th release, we hope you enjoy this sneak peek of 5.9. New design tools will [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"Kelly Hoffman\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:2987:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/XvEG9XWD4JI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 is expected to be a ground-breaking release. It will introduce the next generation of themes with <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/06/introducing-twenty-twenty-two/\">Twenty Twenty-Two</a> joining the fun and over 30 theme blocks to build all parts of your site. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">In anticipation of the January 25th release</a>, we hope you enjoy this sneak peek of 5.9.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>New design tools will allow you to create exactly what you want, from adding filters to all your images to fine-tuning the border radius on all your buttons. With WordPress 5.9 providing more design control along with streamlined access to patterns, you can easily change the entire look and feel of your site without switching themes<strong>.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter what you’re editing, whether it&#8217;s crafting a new post or working on a header, improvements to List View make it simple to navigate content regardless of complexity. More improvements and features for everyone are to come in this release and we can&#8217;t wait to see what you create with WordPress 5.9! </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"stay-tuned\">Stay Tuned</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay tuned for more updates as the date draws near. If you want to help, the best thing you can do is <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">test everything</a>! For all the details, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">check out this Make Core post</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Video props: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>annezazu</a> (also co-wrote the post) <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/michaelpick/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>michaelpick</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/matveb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>matveb</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>beafialho</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/javiarce/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>javiarce</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/critterverse/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>critterverse</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/joen/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>joen</a>.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11625\";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:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"Join us for State of the Word 2021, in person or online!\";s: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:90:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/join-us-for-state-of-the-word-2021-in-person-or-online/\";s: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, 22 Nov 2021 21:08:15 +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:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"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:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11611\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:297:\"As previously announced, State of the Word will be livestreamed from New York City. That means that you can join the fun either online or in person, on December 14, 2021, between 5 and 7 pm EST! To join State of the Word 2021 online, check your Meetup chapter for a local watch party, or [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1726:\"\n<p>As <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">previously announced</a>, State of the Word will be livestreamed from New York City. That means that you can join the fun either online or in person, on <a href=\"https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?qm=1&amp;lid=5128581,100&amp;h=5128581&amp;date=2021-12-14&amp;sln=17-19&amp;hf=0\">December 14, 2021, between 5 and 7 pm EST</a>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To join State of the Word 2021 online, check your Meetup chapter for a local watch party, or simply visit <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/\">wordpress.org/news</a>, where the livestream will be embedded.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like to participate in person in New York City, please request a seat by filling out the registration form by Sunday, November 28. Not all requests will receive a seat due to venue capacity, but everyone who requests one will receive further notification on Tuesday, November 30.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In person attendees will be asked to show their COVID vaccination card at the venue entrance, and are expected to follow the safety measures in place. Because of these safety measures, there is a maximum of 50 attendees.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61dca7c94eaed wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://wordcampcentral.survey.fm/request-a-seat-sotw-2021\">Request a seat</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you participate in person or online, we are so excited to see you on December 14! Don’t forget, State of the Word will be followed by a Question &amp; Answer session. If you have a question for Matt, you can send your question ahead of time to ask-matt@wordcamp.org, or ask during the event in the YouTube chat.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11611\";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:55:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:44:\"WP Briefing: Episode 20: WordPress=Blogging+\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:64:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-20-wordpressblogging/\";s: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, 15 Nov 2021 12:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11556\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:386:\"In this episode, WordPress&#8217;s Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, answers two recently asked questions. 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Credits [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WP-Briefing-020.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10275:\"\n<p>In this episode, WordPress&#8217;s Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, answers two recently asked questions. Tune in to hear what those questions were and her response, in addition to this week&#8217;s small list of big things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress\">W3Techs WordPress Usage Statistics </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">WordPress 5.9 Development Cycle </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/10/22/team-rep-nominations/\">Call for Team Rep Nomination</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11556\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I was in a meeting recently, which I realize isn&#8217;t saying much for me since I spend a quarter of my time in meetings. But in this particular meeting, I was asked a couple of questions that I absolutely loved. The first question was, “if there were one thing you could change in people&#8217;s minds about WordPress, what would it be?” And my answer, predictable though it may be, was that I want to change the idea that WordPress is just a blogging platform.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:06</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress has grown into a lot more than that. But the idea of a content management system, even now, sometimes gets a mental shorthand where content is a stand-in for the word writing or words. If you&#8217;re using WordPress today in an enterprise context, or as part of a governmental agency, or if you use it in a classroom setting, you know that your content cannot be confined that way. And if you&#8217;re supporting or building anything to hand off to clients, you know that timely, easy-to-ship changes on a site are considered a vital part of any overarching brand and marketing strategy. And when was the last time that any marketing strategy was literally only about the words?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:51</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that was the first question. And also my first answer. There is also this kind of annual, not fear, necessarily, but this annual question that is sort of related that is raised to me and has been asked of me recently, that I&#8217;m just going to give you a small answer to. One annual worry that I get every year around November and December is, &#8220;What are we going to do about the fact that the term blog and blogging are declining in search popularity?&#8221; And I was gonna say it&#8217;s been a while since I answered that in any sort of public format. But I think maybe I&#8217;ve never answered it in a public format at all. And so I&#8217;m just going to answer it here. Because I think maybe a lot of people have that same question.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>02:36</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So number one, I think that the way that people search now is different. There&#8217;s a lot more semantic cognition. This is not the way to answer this &#8212;  search engines are smarter now. So like, it used to be the case with early search engines that yeah, there was a lot of just like, individual search terms that were looked for. But now, people are asking full questions; they have, essentially, an entire sentence that they are searching for. And then, search engines are able to parse that information better and get more high-quality answers and information for them. So like, that&#8217;s one thing that I&#8217;m already not worried about. If people are searching for individual words anymore, it&#8217;s so that they can get a definition of that word. So I&#8217;m not specifically worried about a decline in search volume for the word blog or blogging for that reason. But the answer to my first question, if there is probably the real reason that I&#8217;m not actually super worried about any decline in search volume for the word blog, or blogging, is that WordPress has really moved beyond that. And since we have moved beyond that, then it doesn&#8217;t necessarily make sense for WordPress as an entity for WordPress as a project to get overly hung up on the idea that the term blog has gone out of fashion.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:52</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, now that I did my first question, and the answer, and then an additional question that only ever gets asked in private and is being answered by me for the first time in public, I will tell you now, the second question that I loved, someone asking of me, and that question is this: &#8220;What is one thing you&#8217;d like people to see or experience, right when they first land on wordpress.org?&#8221; Now, I often don&#8217;t get asked questions about the wordpress.org website, like administrative tasks, things that we need to update, move around where they should go. Sure. But like, “Josepha, what&#8217;s the point and purpose of this site?” Never. I&#8217;ve never been asked that, and so I was really excited that someone asked me, and I&#8217;m going to give you a heads up. I think some of you might disagree with my answer.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the primary thing that I want people to see or experience when they first get to wordpress.org, the website is the depth of WordPress. Not which audience segment they should belong to or that we believe they should belong to or raw data about the CMS or even how much we care about the freedoms of open source. Now the first thing I want people to see on that site is that WordPress has not only 18 years of learned knowledge that every single new user benefits from, but that it also has 1,000s of really smart people making sure it works and gets better every day, now.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:19</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress is a Goliath in its field. I know that we cite this bit of context. Frequently, we say that we are 42% of the web. And that is true that is the percentage by usage. But in its field, which is websites that are using a content management system, we actually have a 65% market share. This is very easy to find. It&#8217;s on the W3Techs website: I can put a link in the show notes, but you could find it just by searching for it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:46</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So WordPress is a Goliath in its field of websites that are run using a CMS. Because we have always brought our learnings forward with us with the understanding that knowledge, when shared grows rather than diminishes. But open source, the heart of what defines this project, open source is not a Goliath; it&#8217;s barely even David somedays. Even though the web is built on scads of open source software, there&#8217;s a pervasive public perception that it is built by and for hobbyists or that it is inherently risky, and that if there were if it were worth something, then people would pay something. And I just know that if the first impression of WordPress, we&#8217;re, &#8220;we&#8217;ve got 18 years of experience and learning that brought us to today,&#8221; the rest of the sale to adopt software that protects other people&#8217;s freedoms would take care of itself. And I guess, to quote John Oliver, at this point, &#8220;And now this.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:59</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, that brings us now to our small list of big things. There are actually quite a few big things on this small list today. So number one, we have reached the beta phase for the year&#8217;s final release, which means that WordPress 5.9 beta one is happening tomorrow, Tuesday, November 16. And then seven days later, I believe on the 23rd, if I recall correctly, comes beta two.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:24</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second thing on my list is that team rep nominations are happening all over the project right now. I&#8217;ve got a post that I will share in the notes below that I believe all the team reps have put their team&#8217;s nomination posts on. So if you have had an interest in learning more about that and what it means to help keep teams kind of running in the WordPress project, then this is a great opportunity to check those out.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:49</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the third thing, this last thing actually isn&#8217;t in the next two weeks, but it is very important, nonetheless. Matt&#8217;s annual State of the Word is coming up on December 14. So basically a month from today. It&#8217;s going to join the growing list of in-person events that are on the calendar. It will be in New York City but will also be live-streamed across the world as usual. Keep an eye out for additional updates about that for anyone who, like me, really looks forward to this particular presentation from our project co-founder every year.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:25</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress briefing. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11556\";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:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"State of the Word 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:58:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 13 Nov 2021 00:38:05 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"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:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11567\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:346:\"Howdy, World!&#160; Mark your calendars; it’s almost time for State of the Word 2021! State of the Word is the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg. Every year, the event allows us to reflect on the project’s progress and the future of open source. This year will include that and [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17591:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/OpiH_P9aGhQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Howdy, World!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">Mark your calendars</a>; it’s almost time for State of the Word 2021!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>State of the Word is the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg. Every year, the event allows us to reflect on the project’s progress and the future of open source. This year will include that and more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to the pandemic, we moved the State of the Word online for the first time ever in 2020. This year, the event will be livestreamed from New York City. That will enable us to take as many folks as possible along for the ride!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Join Matt as he provides a retrospective of 2021, discusses the latest trends he’s seeing, celebrates the community’s amazing wins, and explores the future. Expect to hear about a range of topics, from WordPress 5.9 and Openverse to Web3 and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What:</strong> State of the Word 2021</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When:</strong> <a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">December 14, 2021, between 5 and 7 pm ET/10 &#8211; 12 am (December 15) UTC</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How:</strong> If you’re watching from the comfort of your home or <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/watch-state-of-the-word-at-a-watch-party-with-your-wordpress-friends/\">local watch party</a>, the livestream will be embedded on wordpress.org/news.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Have a question for Matt?</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>State of the Word will be followed by a Question &amp; Answer session. If you want to participate, you can either send your question ahead of time to <a href=\"mailto:ask-matt@wordcamp.org\">ask-matt@wordcamp.org</a>, or ask during the event in the livestream chat on YouTube.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re new to State of the Word, the previous years’ recordings (below) will help you get a sense of what the event is about. Check them out:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/state-of-the-word-2020/\">State of the Word 2020 (online)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2019/11/03/2019-state-of-the-word/\">State of the Word 2019 – WordCamp US, St. Louis</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2018/12/27/state-of-the-word-2018/\">State of the Word 2018 – WordCamp US, Nashville</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/\">All recordings</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope to see you online on December 14th!</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"join-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party-near-you\">Join a State of the Word Watch Party near you</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We have compiled a list of State of the Word Watch Parties around the world. If you don&#8217;t see a watch party in your region listed here, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">check this page on Meetup.com</a> to see if your local WordPress group is organizing one.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC\">WordPress NYC Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC/events/282276960/\" target=\"_blank\">An In Person MeetUp: The State of the Word 2021 is in Manhattan.</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup\">South Jersey WordPress Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup/events/282402090/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Morris County NJ WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group/events/282402069/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Montclair Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup/events/282326195/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv\">WordPress Santa Clarita Valley</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv/events/282056842/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">The Houston WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress/events/282402609/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/\">North East Ohio WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/events/282456476/\">State of Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup\">Birmingham WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup/events/282313212/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Lehigh Valley WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup/events/282304472/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/\">Metro Detroit WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/events/282519538/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp\" target=\"_blank\">Greater Milwaukee Area WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp/events/282598865/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">The East Bay WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup/events/282539457/\">State of the Word 2021 (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress\" target=\"_blank\">Sacramento WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress/events/282593192/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Louisville</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville/events/281858101/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party and Discussion (WP Louisville, KY)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1e8-1f1f4.png\" alt=\"🇨🇴\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Medellín</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin/events/282306436/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021: Discurso de Matt &amp; Fiesta de Comunidad (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ed-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"🇭🇹\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\">Port-au-Prince WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\"></a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup/events/282350488/\" target=\"_blank\">Rejoignez-nous le 14 décembre pour regarder State of the Word 2021 (online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"🇬🇧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Coventry Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry/events/282302051/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"🇬🇧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Exeter</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter/events/282293408/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"🇮🇹\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/\">WordPress Meetup Torino</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/events/282467417/\">State of the Word 2021 Video Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f7-1f1fc.png\" alt=\"🇷🇼\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Kigali WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup/events/282321636/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇳🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Lagos WordPress Community</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇳🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Ijebu-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Ijebu WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇺🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Jinja WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup/events/282637298/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party &#8211; WordPress Community Uganda (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇺🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/\">Kampala WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/events/282678558/\">State of the Word Livestream</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f5-1f1f0.png\" alt=\"🇵🇰\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Meetups Lahore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore/events/282311458/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"🇮🇳\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal\">WordPress Bhopal</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal/events/282470541/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"🇮🇳\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/\">Bengaluru WordPress</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/events/282271921/\">WordPress Meetup &#8211; State of the word -Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f8-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇸🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Singapore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore/events/282296137/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p>If you are planning a watch party for State of the Word, and have questions, please drop us an email to: <a href=\"mailto:support@wordcamp.org\">support@wordcamp.org</a> if you have any questions. We are happy to help you in the best way possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Thanks to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>eidolonnight</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a> for their work on this post. The featured image was created by <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>beafialho</a></em>.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11567\";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:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:66:\"Take the 2021 WordPress Annual Survey (and view the 2020 results)!\";s: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:99:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/take-the-2021-wordpress-annual-survey-and-view-the-2020-results/\";s: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, 11 Nov 2021 23:52:12 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Community\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7:\"General\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11551\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:359:\"Each year, members of the WordPress community (users, site builders, extenders, and contributors) provide their valuable feedback through an annual survey. 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Key takeaways and trends that emerge from this survey often find their way into the annual <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/\"><em>State of the Word</em></a> address, are shared in the public project blogs, and can influence the direction and strategy for the WordPress Project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simply put: this survey helps those who build WordPress understand more about how the software is used, and by whom. The survey also helps leaders in the WordPress open source project learn more about our contributors’ experiences.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure that <strong><em>your</em></strong> WordPress experience is represented in the 2021 survey results, <a href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2021-survey-english\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">take the 2021 annual survey now.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61dca7c95b732 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2021-survey-english\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Take the Annual Survey! 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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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:138:\"Gutenberg Times: Gutenberg Changelog #58 – Gutenberg 12.2 and 12.3, WordPress 5.9 RC and DevNotes for Full-Site Editing and Block 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:53:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?post_type=podcast&p=19982\";s: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:89:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-58-devnotes-for-full-site-editing/\";s: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:8336:\"<p>Birgit Pauli-Haack and Grzegorz Ziolkowski  talk about WordPress 5.9 release and DevNotes for Full-site Editing and block themes, and  Gutenberg 12.2 and 12.3.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Music:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://soundcloud.com/xirclebox\">Homer Gaines</a></li><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandy-reed/\">Sandy Reed</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://markuraine.com/\">Mark Uraine</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://paulisystems.net/wordpress-consulting\">Pauli Systems</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-58-devnotes-for-full-site-editing#shownotes\">Show Notes </a>/ <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-58-devnotes-for-full-site-editing#transcript\">Transcript</a></p>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-19982\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Subscribe to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/\">Gutenberg Changelog</a>&nbsp;podcast via your favorite podcast apps!</strong><br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/620NwVKQJGdTupy36zYxvg?mc_cid=4b6c9f88fe\">Spotify</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ndXRlbmJlcmd0aW1lcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0\">Google</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gutenberg-changelog/id1469294475\">iTunes</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https://pca.st/podcast/f8445ec0-7508-0137-f267-1d245fc5f9cf\">PocketCasts</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/show/gutenberg-changelog\">Stitcher</a>&nbsp;|<br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/chi7j-9904a/Gutenberg-Changelog-Podcast\">Pod Bean</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https://castbox.fm/channel/Gutenberg-Changelog-id2173375\">CastBox</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/gutenberg-changelog-878239/\">Podchaser</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/podcast\">RSS Feed</a>&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\" id=\"shownotes\"><strong>Show Notes </strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"listener-questions\">Listener Questions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/jessicalyschik\">Jessica Lyschik</a> (<a href=\"https://twitter.com/jessicalyschik/status/1478785283889971200\">Question tweeted</a>)</p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"paragraph-block-add-font-family-support\"><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37586\">[Paragraph Block] add font family support</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/adityakane\">Aditya Kane</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to Jessica and Aditya for your great questions!</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">If you have questions about Gutenberg, Block Themes or Full-site Editing, email us changelog@gutenbergtimes.com or DM on Twitter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gutenbergtimes\">@gutenbergtimes</a> or WP Slack. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"state-of-the-word-videos-and-q-as\">State of the Word Videos and Q &amp; As</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\">State of the Word 2021 on WordPress.tv</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\">Q &amp; A after State of the Word on WordPress.tv</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://josepha.blog/2022/01/04/state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\">Josepha Haden: State of the Word 2021 | Q&amp;A</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-5-9-release-devnotes\">WordPress 5.9 Release + DevNotes</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>About Themes</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/theme-focused-changes-and-filters-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Theme-focused changes and filters in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/state-of-the-customizer-with-block-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">State of the Customizer with block themes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/bundled-theme-updates-with-wordpress-5-9/\">Bundled theme updates with WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/block-themes-a-new-way-to-build-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Block themes, a new way to build themes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/updates-for-settings-styles-and-theme-json/\">Updates for Settings, Styles, and theme.json</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Block Building and extending Gutenberg</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/new-api-to-access-global-settings-styles/\">New API to access global settings &amp; styles</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/miscellaneous-block-editor-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Miscellaneous block editor changes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/28/take-more-control-over-inner-block-areas-as-a-block-developer/\">Take more control over Inner Block Areas (as a block developer)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\"></a><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\">Using multiple stylesheets per block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/13/posts-post-types-and-taxonomy-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Posts, Post types and Taxonomy changes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/locking-blocks-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Locking Blocks in WordPress 5.9</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>New Blocks</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/the-new-navigation-block/\">The new Navigation block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/20/gallery-block-refactor-dev-note/\">Gallery Block Refactor Dev Note</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you need additional reading or if those are too developer centered for your taste, Birgit collected additional resource to a <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/whats-new-in-wordpress-5-9-a-reading-list-on-full-site-editing-and-block-themes/\">Reading List</a> for developers, designers, site builders and content creators. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-8-3-security-release/\">WordPress 5.8.3 Security Release</a> Update Now! </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gutenberg-plugin-releases-versions-12-2-and-12-3\">Gutenberg Plugin releases versions 12.2 and 12.3</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/\">What’s new in Gutenberg 12.2? (22 December)</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-2-focuses-on-user-experience-improvements\">Gutenberg 12.2 Focuses on User Experience Improvements</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-3-5-january/\">What’s new in Gutenberg 12.3? (5 January)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-3-introduces-new-blocks-design-options-and-a-complete-core-blocks-reference\">Gutenberg 12.3 Introduces New Blocks, Design Options, and a Complete Core Blocks Reference</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>What&#8217;s in the Works or Discussed?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/proposal-changes-to-javascript-coding-standards-for-full-prettier-compatibility/\">Proposal: Changes to JavaScript Coding Standards for Full Prettier Compatibility</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 17, 2022 8 pm ET / 1:00 am UTC</strong> <br /><strong><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BoulderWP/events/282792359\">What&#8217;s coming in WordPress 5.9</a></strong> Panel discussion w/ Brian Gardner, Courtney Robertson and Birgit Pauli-Haack via WordPress Meetup Boulder, Co</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Stay in Touch</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61dca38c593a7 wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<ul><li>Did you like this episode? <a href=\"https://lovethepodcast.com/gutenbergchangelog\"><strong>Please write us a review </strong></a></li><li>Ping us on Twitter or send DMs with questions. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gziolo\">@gziolo </a>and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bph\">@bph</a>.</li><li><em>If you have questions or suggestions, or news you want us to include, send them to <a href=\"mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com\">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a>. </em></li><li><em>Please write us a review on iTunes! <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/itunes/\">(Click here to learn how)</a></em></li></ul>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\" id=\"transcript\"><strong>Transcript</strong></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 08 Jan 2022 20:00:23 +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:19:\"Gutenberg Changelog\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"Gutenberg Times: Block Template for Custom Post Types, Reading list for WordPress 5.9, Grainy Gradient block and so much more – Weekend edition #198\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=19918\";s: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:83:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/block-template-for-custom-post-type-weekend-edition-198/\";s: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:28374:\"<p><strong>Happy New Year!&nbsp;</strong>🎆 🙌 🎉🥂</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope you all had wonderful time over the Holidays and you didn&#8217;t have to work. And if you had to work, that it was quiet time for reflection, catch-up and strategic planning. At Whistler, we encountered -21&nbsp;°C (-5.8&nbsp;°F) weather and this Florida Weather wimp had to put on about 15 pounds (ca. 7 kg) of layered clothes to feel warm enough to go outside. It is easy to forget what Real Winter feels like. I also was pretty amazed how fast one can adapt to anything, given enough time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a day and a half, we were ready to head up to the top of the mountain and all the suffering was definitely worth it. Look at the view! </p>\n\n\n\n<img />Whistler &#8211; View from the Top (Photo by Birgit Pauli-Haack)\n\n\n\n<p>Before I get out of the way of the curated list of fabulous Gutenberg content,  I want to express my wishes for you and the New Year: Good health, stay safe, prosperity, lots of laughter and loads of love for you and yours. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yours, 💕<br />Birgit </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-sortabrilliant-guidepost\"><ul><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#block-editor-related-devnotes-for-wordpress-5-9\">Block Editor related DevNotes for WordPress 5.9 </a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#gutenberg-plugin-12-2-and-12-3\">Gutenberg Plugin 12.2 and 12.3</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#developing-for-gutenberg-and-block-building\">Developing for Gutenberg and Block Building</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#updates-for-designers-and-theme-developers\">Updates for Designers and Theme Developers</a><ul><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#getting-started-with-block-theme-development\">Getting Started with Block Theme development</a></li></ul></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#tools-for-site-builders-and-content-creators\">Tools for Site Builders and content creators</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#upcoming-wordpress-events\">Upcoming WordPress Events</a></li></ul></div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>In the <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/39/\"><strong>39th episode of the Post Status Excerpt Podcast</strong></a> guest <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> talked with <strong>David Bisset</strong> about the delay of WordPress 5.9, Automattic, COVID’s impact on contributors, Full Site Editing, and the future of the Customizer.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s a new <strong>Hallway Chats</strong> episode! <a href=\"https://hallwaychats.com/episodes/episode-156-a-chat-with-tammie-lister/\"><strong>Topher and Cate DeRosia sat with Tammie Lister</strong></a>, Senior Product Designer at XWP, and talked about what it means to be a web designer these days, as well as how Gutenberg and the WordPress editor are changing and growing.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"block-editor-related-devnotes-for-wordpress-5-9\">Block Editor related DevNotes for WordPress 5.9 </h2>\n\n\n\n<p>About Themes</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/theme-focused-changes-and-filters-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Theme-focused changes and filters in WordPress 5.9</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/state-of-the-customizer-with-block-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">State of the Customizer with block themes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/bundled-theme-updates-with-wordpress-5-9/\">Bundled theme updates with WordPress 5.9</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/block-themes-a-new-way-to-build-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Block themes, a new way to build themes in WordPress 5.9</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/updates-for-settings-styles-and-theme-json/\">Updates for Settings, Styles, and theme.json</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Block Building and extending Gutenberg</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/new-api-to-access-global-settings-styles/\">New API to access global settings &amp; styles</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/miscellaneous-block-editor-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Miscellaneous block editor changes in WordPress 5.9</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/28/take-more-control-over-inner-block-areas-as-a-block-developer/\">Take more control over Inner Block Areas (as a block developer)</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\"></a><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\">Using multiple stylesheets per block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/13/posts-post-types-and-taxonomy-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Posts, Post types and Taxonomy changes in WordPress&nbsp;5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/locking-blocks-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Locking Blocks in WordPress 5.9</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>New Blocks</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/the-new-navigation-block/\">The new Navigation block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/20/gallery-block-refactor-dev-note/\">Gallery Block Refactor Dev Note</a> </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Release Candidate was released on Tuesday, January 4th, 2022 and the version is on schedule to be released on January 25, 2022. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a some spare time, <strong>Anne McCarthy </strong>has great instructions and topics on how you can <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">Help test WordPress 5.9 Features</a>. It&#8217;s a huge release and test can help. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/whats-new-in-wordpress-5-9-a-reading-list-on-full-site-editing-and-block-themes/\"><strong>full reading list</strong> </a>about the Block editor updates for WordPress 5.9 for developers, site builders and content creators is in the works. <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/whats-new-in-wordpress-5-9-a-reading-list-on-full-site-editing-and-block-themes/\">You can start reading here.</a></em><br /></p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2022&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. Updated by yours truly.  <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/\"><em>The index 2020 is here</em></a></p>\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gutenberg-plugin-12-2-and-12-3\">Gutenberg Plugin 12.2 and 12.3</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Only Gutenberg features and enhancements until version 11.9 made it into the WordPress 5.9 version. Only Bug and UI fixes to existing features of later Gutenberg plugin version were backported to WordPress 5.9 </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anton Vlasenko </strong>published the release notes: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/\">What’s new in Gutenberg 12.2? (22 December)</a>&nbsp;and points out as highlight the following: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/#seamless-navigation-between-the-site-editor-and-the-template-list\">Seamless navigation between the Site Editor and the Template List</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/#improvements-to-post-comments\">Improvements to post comments</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/#a-new-home-for-border-controls\">A new home for border controls</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/#new-font-sizes-in-the-fontsizepicker-component\">New font sizes in the&nbsp;<code>FontSizePicker</code>&nbsp;component</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/#improved-color-picker\">Improved color picker</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/#preview-for-block-styles-in-the-widget-editor\">Preview for Block Styles in the Widget Editor</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Justin Tadlock gave it a whirl in his post <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-2-focuses-on-user-experience-improvements\"><strong>Gutenberg 12.2 Focuses on User Experience Improvements</strong></a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/luisherranz\"><strong>Luis Herranz</strong></a> released Gutenberg 12.3 and published the release notes on January 5th, 2021: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-3-5-january/\"><strong>What’s new in Gutenberg 12.3? (5 January)</strong></a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Highlighted PRs are listed as follows. </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-3-5-january/#new-blocks-to-build-with\">New blocks to build with</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-3-5-january/#more-controls-to-customize\">More controls</a> for Spacer and Group Blocks</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-3-5-january/#set-your-site-icon-using-the-site-logo-block\">Set your site icon using the Site Logo block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-3-5-january/#restrict-navigation-menu-creation-for-non-admin-users\">Restrict Navigation Menu creation for non-admin users</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-3-5-january/#core-blocks-reference\">Core Blocks Reference</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The last bullet point references the new Handbook page Core Block Reference and it is a big step forward to a complete and updated documentation of the core blocks. The blocks&#8217; block.json information feeds into this page automatically. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> wrote about it in <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-3-introduces-new-blocks-design-options-and-a-complete-core-blocks-reference\"><strong>Gutenberg 12.3 Introduces New Blocks, Design Options, and a Complete Core Blocks Reference</strong></a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</strong> and I recorded the <strong><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-58-devnotes-for-full-site-editing/\">58th Gutenberg Changelog</a></strong> episode on Friday, January 7th, 2022. We talk about WordPress 5.9 release and DevNotes for Full-site Editing and block themes, and Gutenberg 12.2 and 12.3. We also, answered listener questions, this time by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/adityakane\">Aditya Kane</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jessicalyschik\">Jessica Lyschik</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"developing-for-gutenberg-and-block-building\">Developing for Gutenberg and Block Building</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For those among us, who still rely on ACF for site data handling, <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/Joey_Farruggio\">Joey Farruggio</a></strong> built a command line tool to streamline the ACF blocks creation. You can read more about the context and the making of the CLI and what you can delegate to a script. <a href=\"https://github.com/joseph-farruggio/create-acf-block\">The <strong>Create-ACF-Block CLI code</strong> </a>is available on GitHub. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of scaffolding blocks, the <strong>official WordPress create-block</strong> received and update, too. Once you are done with developing your plugin, you can automatically assemble the plugin.zip that you can upload to WordPress or share with other users via the plugin directory. Here is a short blog post about it: <a href=\"https://icodeforapurpose.com/run-plugin-zip-for-create-block/\"><strong>Run plugin.zip for create-block</strong></a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ryanwelcher/status/1478737187738894339\">tweet</a>, <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/ryanwelcher\">Ryan Welcher</a></strong> pointed to the most recent Block Plugin Checker updates. When you submit your single block plugin to the directory, the Plugin Checker now validates against the block.json schema and also has a check for unique plugin namespaces as well. You can read about the details in this trac ticket: <strong><a href=\"https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5303\">Block plugin validation tool UI improvements</a></strong>. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Only tangentially related to the block editor, <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/gziolo\">Grzegorz Ziolkowski</a></strong> published for the Core JavaScript team a proposal on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/proposal-changes-to-javascript-coding-standards-for-full-prettier-compatibility/\"><strong>Changes to JavaScript Coding Standards for Full Prettier Compatibility</strong></a>. Several contributor and developers have already commented. Let you opinion heard. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his post, <a href=\"https://carlosbravo.blog/2021/01/07/how-advanced-custom-fields-handle-blocks/\"><strong>How Advanced Custom Fields handle&nbsp;blocks</strong></a>, <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/c4rl0sbr4v0\">Carlo Bravo</a></strong>, discusses how you can create blocks with ACF (the plugin Advanced Custom Fields), what advantage is has and what downsides are for the users of such blocks. If you try to decide to invest in learning how to create dynamic blocks or ACF Blocks it&#8217;s a great article to start the process. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/CometMarie\"><strong>Marie Comet</strong></a> explains in her post <a href=\"https://mariecomet.fr/en/2021/12/14/adding-options-controls-existing-gutenberg-block/\"><strong>Adding options and controls to an existing Gutenberg block</strong></a>, how to extend core blocks with an additional button in its Toolbar or  more option controls in the sidebar. Sometimes extending existing blocks is faster than recreating features via Custom Blocks. </p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/\">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s main (trunk) branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><img alt=\"GitHub all releases\" src=\"https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total\" /></p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"updates-for-designers-and-theme-developers\">Updates for Designers and Theme Developers</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Apart from the list of developer notes and reading list, <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/angelasjin\">Angela Jin</a></strong> published a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/03/proposal-approving-block-pattern-directory-submissions/\"><strong>Proposal for Approving Block Patterns Submissions to the directory</strong></a>. If you are a designer, or theme developer it might be interesting for you, and you might have an opinion how submissions should be curated on the official WordPress repository. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of the WordPress repository, <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/m_munirkamal\">Munir Kamal</a> </strong>created his idea of a Theme directory via the Gutenberg Hub: <a href=\"https://gutenberghub.com/re-imagined-wordpress-themes-directory/\"><strong>Re-Imagined WordPress themes directory</strong></a>. I really like the way how themes details on color schema, typography, and block styles can be surfaced to a Theme directory page. Kamal was right when he wrote: &#8220;This makes it much easier to find the theme that’s right for you without having to download and test multiple themes.&#8221; </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> at the WPTavern also took a look and wrote: &#8220;In the dawn of the block theme era, the WordPress theme directory could use a reimagining.&#8221; <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-hub-launches-a-block-based-wordpress-theme-directory\">The rest of the article is ready for your purusal</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/carolinapoena\">Carolina Nymark</a>,</strong> write and developer on Fullsiteediting.com has a tutorial for you on <a href=\"https://fullsiteediting.com/lessons/creating-block-templates-for-custom-post-types/\"><strong>how to use a php template to create a block template for Custom Post Type</strong></a>. Given how often I see the question on what about Custom Post Types, this is a very timely tutorial for Theme Developers. Nymark wrote: &#8220;The main pain point is that people are expecting to be able to create this type of template via the new&nbsp;<strong>Site Editor</strong>&nbsp;interface. This is a reasonable expectation, unfortunately&nbsp;<a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/37407\">the feature is not complete yet</a>&nbsp;and not included in WordPress 5.9.0.&#8221;. In her post she shows you a viable workaround, that doesn&#8217;t leave you with too much technical debt. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/carlodaniele\">Carlo Daniele</a></strong> took a <a href=\"https://kinsta.com/blog/twenty-twenty-two-theme/\"><strong>Deep Dive into Twenty Twenty-Two and WordPress Block Themes</strong></a> for Kinsta. The article describes the upcoming new WordPress default theme, that will be the first default block Theme. Kjell Reigstad and Jeff Ong worked on the design and development. The Theme will come out bundled with WordPress 5.9 </p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"getting-started-with-block-theme-development\">Getting Started with Block Theme development</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you like to get started on block theme development, there are a few choices depending on how you want to learn. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Developer Handbook on WordPress.org</strong> hold all the documentation about <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/block-theme-overview/\">Block Themes</a>. You start at the  Overview page, then walk along the <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/create-block-theme/\">Create a Block Theme </a>tutorial to learn more about the templates, template parts, template hierarchy and all necessary files. A primer on theme.json enables you to control the feature set and setting for Global Styles. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Marcus Kazmierczak</strong>&#8216;s Devnote <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/block-themes-a-new-way-to-build-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\"><strong>Block themes, a new way to build themes in WordPress 5.9</strong></a> catches you up on the latest updates. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Another opportunity to is the Twitch live stream series by <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> and <strong>Daisy Olsen Creating a block-based theme</strong>. <a href=\"https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1254807465?t=00h14m32s\">Part 1 is available on Twitch</a>, and will later be posted on  YouTube. The start was a bit wonky with some audio issues that cleared up at the timestamp 14:32. The next session will be next week, Thursday at 10:30 am ET / 15:30 UTC</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>On January 12th, <strong>Daisy Olsen</strong> and <strong>Sarah Snow</strong> present the first installment of another series: &#8220;<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283103474\"><strong>Zero to Block Theme Series: Foundations&#8221;</strong></a> at 1pm ET / 18:00 UTC. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kelly Choyce-Dwan</strong>, core contributor on the meta team,  takes you along her journey while <a href=\"https://ryelle.codes/2021/12/switching-to-a-block-based-theme\"><strong>switching to a block based theme</strong></a>. She shares with you her process and her challenges and how she overcame them. Choyce-Dwan also surfaced a few things that are bugs and some have already been fixed. She also noticed that there is no way to give buttons or links hover state/colors, and CSS is your fallback. In conclusion, she wrote: &#8220;It was a fun experiment to refresh this site, and I really see the promise of block-based themes for easy site building. It’s a new framework to get used to, and sure there are bumps to work through, but it’s going to be great.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"tools-for-site-builders-and-content-creators\">Tools for Site Builders and content creators</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In her latest YouTube video <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5fbGuTdPKw\"><strong>Connecting The Dots: Level up with Query Loop</strong></a> block, <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> is showing off a real-world example of the Query Loop block, and she demonstrates how it saves her time. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his review <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/anariel-design-releases-bricksy-its-third-wordpress-block-theme\"><strong>Anariel Design Releases Bricksy, Its Third WordPress Block Theme</strong></a>, Justin Tadlock gives Ana Segota, designer at Anariel Designs, and her theme high marks on beauty and versatility. It sports 32 Block patterns and also supports WooCommerce. Certainly, worth checking out. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alexandra Yap</strong> introduced you to a new feature from the team at Stackable: Their plugins now gives you the option to start your design process directly in the Site editor. <a href=\"https://wpstackable.com/blog/how-to-wireframe-a-website-using-gutenberg/\"><strong>Learn how you can use Gutenberg to wireframe a website.</strong></a> </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Although the block editor can handle Markdown in and of itself, it&#8217;s not the most convenient Markdown editor. The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/markup-markdown/\"><strong>MarkUp MarkDown</strong></a> plugin seems to change that although it gives me unwanted flashback to pre-block editor times. In his review, <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/new-wordpress-plugin-offers-a-markdown-editor-solution\"><strong>New WordPress Plugin Offers a Markdown Editor Solution</strong></a> Justin Tadlock, is of other opinion, so it was a worth a read for me. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of Flashback, read <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/a-throwback-to-the-past-retro-winamp-block\"><strong>A Throwback to the Past: Retro Winamp Block</strong></a> by <strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> on his take on the block plugin that allows you to embed a Winamp player and skin into your 21st-century website.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/phil_webs\">Phil Webster</a></strong> created the <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/a-throwback-to-the-past-retro-winamp-block\"><strong>Newspaper Column </strong></a>block, and interesting approach to have this block automatically display text  over three or four columns automatically. It works best with paragraph and lists. Webster also plans to work on Accessible Block Collection to offer additional accessibility features for core blocks and build blocks that are missing for instance an Accordion block.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a sidenote, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/phil_webs/status/1479242474304552960\">here</a> is a twitter exchange with Webster about <a href=\"https://twitter.com/phil_webs/status/1479242474304552960\">what is best for the user: Single purpose blocks or bock collections.</a> What has been the better experience been for you? And would you pay for a single block premium plugin? And more. I found it quite insightful. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Good news for site owners looking for high-quality block themes: <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-acquires-brian-gardners-frost-opens-it-to-the-public\"><strong>WP Engine Acquires Brian Gardner’s Frost, Opens It to the Public</strong></a> &#8211; now available for free. <strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> has the skinny for you. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kelly Choyce-Dwan</strong> released &#8216;a souped-up Spacer-type block&#8217;. With the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/grainy-gradient-block/\"><strong>Grainy Gradient Block</strong></a> plugin end-users can decorate the area with various gradient backgrounds and spruce up their content with interesting forms and color combinations. <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/decorating-web-pages-with-the-grainy-gradient-block\">Justin Tadlock took it for a spin</a> and shared ways he experimented with with the block on the WPTavern.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"upcoming-wordpress-events\">Upcoming WordPress Events</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 12, 2022, 1 pm ET / 18:00 UTC</strong><br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283103474\"><strong>Zero to Block Theme Series: FoundationsJoin this space</strong></a> via WordPress Social Learning Spaces<br /><br /><strong>January 14, 2022</strong> <strong>1pm ET / 18:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283051937/\"><strong>Demo: All About Colors with Full Site Editing</strong></a> with Roxy Kohilakis via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 17, 2022 3pm ET / 20:00 UTC</strong><br /><strong><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/282772979\">Advanced Layouts with the Block Editor</a></strong> with Wes Theron via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 17, 2022 8 pm ET / 1:00 am UTC</strong> <br /><strong><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BoulderWP/events/282792359\">What&#8217;s coming in WordPress 5.9</a></strong> Panel discussion w/ Brian Gardner, Courtney Robertson and Birgit Pauli-Haack via WordPress Meetup Boulder, Co</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 20, 2022 &#8211; 7 pm ET / 00:00 UTC</strong><br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/SF-WordPress-Users/events/283096780/\"><strong>WordPress &#8220;Mega Meetup&#8221;: Block Patterns, WordPress 5.9</strong></a><br />South Florida WordPress Meetup Group</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 26, 2022, 6:00 pm ET / 23:00 UTC</strong><br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/282773311/\"><strong>Intro to Templates and Template Parts (Full Site Editing)</strong></a> with Wes Theron via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>\n\n\n\n<form class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait\" action=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/\" method=\"post\"><div class=\"ngl-form-container\"><div class=\"ngl-form-field\"><label class=\"ngl-form-label\" for=\"ngl_email\">Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class=\"ngl-form-input\"><input type=\"email\" class=\"ngl-form-input-text\" name=\"ngl_email\" id=\"ngl_email\" /></div></div><button class=\"ngl-form-button\">Subscribe</button><p class=\"ngl-form-text\">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay\"><div class=\"ngl-message-svg-wrap\"></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay-text\">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"ngl_list_id\" id=\"ngl_list_id\" value=\"26f81bd8ae\" /><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"ngl_double_optin\" id=\"ngl_double_optin\" value=\"yes\" /></form>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 08 Jan 2022 08:50:22 +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:18:\"Birgit Pauli-Haack\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: Microsoft Bing Releases New IndexNow Plugin for 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=128014\";s: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/microsoft-bing-releases-new-indexnow-plugin-for-wordpress?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=microsoft-bing-releases-new-indexnow-plugin-for-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:3501:\"<p>In July 2020, Bing <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/bing-launches-url-submissions-plugin-for-wordpress\">released its first official plugin</a> for WordPress that allowed site owners to submit URLS and get their content indexed immediately, instead of waiting for the search engine to crawl the site. The IndexNow API, which <a href=\"https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/october-2021/IndexNow-Instantly-Index-your-web-content-in-Search-Engines\">debuted in October 2021</a>, is the next evolution of the <a>Bing URL submissions API</a>, created by Microsoft Bing and Yandex. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bing Webmasters has released a new <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/indexnow/\">IndexNow plugin for WordPress</a> sites to take advantage of this new protocol. It makes it possible for websites to notify participating search engines whenever content is created, updated, or deleted, so that the site is indexed faster for updated search results. The Microsoft Bing Webmaster Tools team anticipates that it will minimize the need for crawling:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>IndexNow is an initiative for a more efficient Internet: By telling search engines whether an URL has been changed, website owners provide a clear signal helping search engines to prioritize crawl for these URLs, thereby limiting the need for exploratory crawl to test if the content has changed. In the future, search engines intend to limit crawling of websites adopting IndexNow.</p><p>IndexNow is also an initiative for a more open Internet: By notifying one search engine you will notify all search engines that have adopted IndexNow.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The IndexNow WordPress plugin tracks changes in content and automatically submits the URLS in the background. It comes with a few basic features and configuration options: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Toggle the automatic submission feature.</li><li>Manually submit a URL to IndexNow.</li><li>View list of recent URL submissions from the plugin.</li><li>Retry any failed submissions from the recent submissions list.</li><li>Download recent URL submissions for analysis.</li><li>Status on recent successful and failed submissions</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The IndexNow protocol is supported by Microsoft Bing and Yandex. <a href=\"https://searchengineland.com/google-is-testing-the-indexnow-protocol-for-sustainability-375932\">Google is testing the protocol</a> to see if it makes sense for a more sustainable approach to indexing the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bing Principal Program Manager Fabrice Canel <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52900\">proposed WordPress core integrate the IndexNow protocol</a> but contributors suggested Microsoft keep it as a plugin until it&#8217;s more widely adopted by major search engines and proves that it has a positive effect on reducing the need for crawling. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;By releasing this plugin, we aim not only to benefit right away WordPress websites adopting it, but also learn, tweak as needed to someday release IndexNow in WordPress core to benefit all websites and all existing and upcoming search engines adopting IndexNow,&#8221; Canel said on the ticket.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/indexnow/\">IndexNow plugin</a> already has 800 active installs but it&#8217;s a long road for Microsoft to prove that its API is effective at streamlining indexing for search engines. If Google agrees to support it after testing, the protocol may gain enough momentum to attract other search engines&#8217; support.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 08 Jan 2022 03:14:05 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s: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:3;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: Decorating Web Pages With the Grainy Gradient 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=128020\";s: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/decorating-web-pages-with-the-grainy-gradient-block?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=decorating-web-pages-with-the-grainy-gradient-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:3198:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Yesterday, Kelly Choyce-Dwan released a souped-up Spacer-type block. However, instead of just empty space on the screen, end-users can decorate the area with various gradient backgrounds.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/grainy-gradient-block/\">Grainy Gradient Block</a> is just the type of plugin that I look forward to tinkering with. It is not complex. It stays in its lane. And, it is just plain fun to use.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The block was inspired by the grainy gradient trend <a href=\"https://css-tricks.com/grainy-gradients/\">touted by CSS-Tricks</a> in 2021. Now, users can use them directly in the WordPress editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin&#8217;s single block has four variations, as shown in the following screenshot:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>The variations are:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Default:</strong> Noisy/Grainy texture.</li><li><strong>Horizontal Grain:</strong> Horizontal lines.</li><li><strong>Vertical Grain:</strong> Vertical lines.</li><li><strong>Blob Grain:</strong> An effect similar to lava lamps.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>After far too much time attempting new design ideas with the plugin, I finally landed on something that I liked. I pulled a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/52761c1391/\">sunset image</a> from WordPress Photos by Mark Westguard and used it within a cover block. Then, I applied a couple of different Grainy Gradient blocks over it.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Grainy sunset over a lake.\n\n\n\n<p>The goal was to give it an old, worn painting feel. I was happy with how it and several other variations I worked through turned out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wanted to see what I could do with some real-world art &#8212; I had paintings on my mind at that point. So, I grabbed a photo of a piece I completed a week or two ago and began anew.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This time, I used a similar process. I wrapped everything in a Cover block and applied a duotone filter over the image. Then, I placed the Grainy Gradient block inside and switched it to the Horizontal Grain variation.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Horizontal grain over an image.\n\n\n\n<p>It turned out similar to a poor photocopy of a hand-drawn piece. Essentially, it was better than my original artwork.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do not let my imagination fool you into thinking this plugin is limited to just a handful of ideas. There are 1,000s upon 1,000s of variations users can create. For example, just dropping it in a column next to a text-heavy section can spruce up a page&#8217;s design a bit:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Blob gradient next to text column.\n\n\n\n<p>If I had one request, it would be to add grainy gradient backgrounds to the Group and Cover blocks. Both allow for gradients but not of the <em>grainy</em> variety. The effect is created via an SVG filter, which is how the duotone feature in core works. There seems to at least be some <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35359\">appetite for other filter types</a>. Maybe we will see a more broad list of such options in the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For now, I think I will continue playing around with Grainy Gradient Block.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The development version of the plugin is also <a href=\"https://github.com/ryelle/grainy-gradients\">available via GitHub</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:\"Sat, 08 Jan 2022 00:35:39 +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:4;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"Gutenberg Times: What’s new in WordPress 5.9 – a Reading list on Full-Site Editing and Block 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:35:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=19945\";s: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:107:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/whats-new-in-wordpress-5-9-a-reading-list-on-full-site-editing-and-block-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:10450:\"<p>WordPress 5.9 Release Candidate 1 was released on Tuesday, January 4th, 2022 and the version is on schedule to be released on January 25, 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress 5.9 release mostly introduces Full Site Editing to WordPress user. It&#8217;s the biggest release since the roll-out of the block editor in December 2018.  The umbrella term Full-site Editing covers a multitude of editing features. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This reading list covers the latest publication of Developer Notes and User Documentation related to the Block Editor. </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#block-editor-related-devnotes-for-wordpress-5-9\">DevNotes</a> are for extenders, plugin, and theme developers.</li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#user-documentation-for-site-builders-and-content-creators\">End User documentation</a> is for site builders and content creators.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, see the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/10/wordpress-5-9-field-guide/\"><strong>WordPress 5.9 Field Guide</strong></a> with all DevNotes for the upcoming release. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Table of Content</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-sortabrilliant-guidepost\"><ul><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#block-editor-related-devnotes-for-wordpress-5-9\">Block Editor related DevNotes for WordPress 5.9 </a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#user-documentation-for-site-builders-and-content-creators\">User Documentation for Site Builders and Content Creators</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#block-based-themes-ready-for-full-site-editing\">Block-Based Themes, ready for Full-Site Editing. </a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#social-learning-and-courses\">Social Learning and Courses</a></li></ul></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"block-editor-related-devnotes-for-wordpress-5-9\">Block Editor related DevNotes for WordPress 5.9 </h2>\n\n\n\n<p>About Themes</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/theme-focused-changes-and-filters-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Theme-focused changes and filters in WordPress 5.9</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/state-of-the-customizer-with-block-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">State of the Customizer with block themes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/bundled-theme-updates-with-wordpress-5-9/\">Bundled theme updates with WordPress 5.9</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/block-themes-a-new-way-to-build-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Block themes, a new way to build themes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/updates-for-settings-styles-and-theme-json/\">Updates for Settings, Styles, and theme.json</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Block Building and extending Gutenberg</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/new-api-to-access-global-settings-styles/\">New API to access global settings &amp; styles</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/miscellaneous-block-editor-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Miscellaneous block editor changes in WordPress 5.9</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/28/take-more-control-over-inner-block-areas-as-a-block-developer/\">Take more control over Inner Block Areas (as a block developer)</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\"></a><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\">Using multiple stylesheets per block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/13/posts-post-types-and-taxonomy-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Posts, Post types and Taxonomy changes in WordPress&nbsp;5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/locking-blocks-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Locking Blocks in WordPress 5.9</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>New Blocks</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/the-new-navigation-block/\">The new Navigation block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/20/gallery-block-refactor-dev-note/\">Gallery Block Refactor Dev Note</a> </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about the progress on performance improvement efforts coming to <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/wordpress-5-9-performance-improvements/\">WordPress 5.9 Performance Improvements</a> </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"user-documentation-for-site-builders-and-content-creators\">User Documentation for Site Builders and Content Creators</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/article/site-editor/\">Site editor</a></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is only available to content creators who are using a Block theme. When you are using the Site Editor, most changes here are made across your entire site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/article/block-themes/\"><strong>Block Themes </strong></a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>A block theme is a theme that uses blocks for all parts of a site, including navigation menus, header, content, and site footer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/article/styles-overview/\"><strong>Styles Overview</strong></a>  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a new feature in WordPress 5.9 that comes included in&nbsp;Block themes&nbsp;that allows you to customize your site as much as you’d like with different colors, typography, layouts, and more</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/article/navigation-block/\"><strong>Navigation block</strong></a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<em>Navigation Block</em>&nbsp;is an advanced block in WordPress 5.9 that enables you to edit your site’s navigation menu, both in terms of structure and design. The&nbsp;<em>Navigation block</em>&nbsp;can be used with a&nbsp;block theme&nbsp;or a theme that has support for&nbsp;template editing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/article/template-part-block/\">Template part block</a> </strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<em>Template Part block</em>&nbsp;is an advanced block introduced in WordPress 5.9 that can be used with a block theme or a theme that supports&nbsp;template editing.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"block-based-themes-ready-for-full-site-editing\">Block-Based Themes, ready for Full-Site Editing. </h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ready to Test? To date, you&#8217;ll find 34 block Themes already in the WordPress repository that are prepared for Full-Site Editing. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>I often get the question: &#8220;What are the few themes you like?&#8221; Here is my list: </p>\n\n\n\n<p>I received similar questions at meetup gatherings. Here are the themes of my response.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/tove/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tove by Anders Noren</a></li><li><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/ona/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ona by DeoThemes</a></li><li><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/clove/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Clove by Anariel Design</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All three are from trusted theme designers, and were reviewed by Justin Tadlock at the WPTavern.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/tove-a-block-based-wordpress-theme-by-anders-noren\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tove: A Block-Based WordPress Theme by Anders Norén</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/ona-by-deothemes-just-raised-the-bar-for-wordpress-block-theme-design\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ona by DeoThemes Just Raised the Bar for WordPress Block Theme Design</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/clove-a-showcase-of-block-patterns-by-anariel-design\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Clove: A Showcase of Block Patterns by Anariel Design</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Automattic</strong> also published a set of themes, all focused on blogging and writing: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/quadrat/\">Quadrat&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/geologist/\">Geologist&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/videomaker/\">Videomaker</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/zoologist/\">Zoologist</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/seedlet-blocks/\">Seedlet Blocks</a>&nbsp;</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I am also a huge fan of the first WordPress default block theme, called Twenty-Twenty-Two. Carlo Danielle did a <a href=\"https://kinsta.com/blog/twenty-twenty-two-theme/\"><strong>deep dive into the inner workings</strong></a> for Twenty-Twenty two.  and takes you along for the ride in his post for Kinsta. Designer-developers Kjell Reigstad and Jeff Ong worked on it with other contributors. It will be released with WordPress 5.9. New WordPress site will activate it out of the box. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Share in the comments if you find a block-based theme that you like or built. </em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"social-learning-and-courses\">Social Learning and Courses</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The training team is getting ready to release some courses on Full-site Editing and I will update this post once they are available online. For now here are some Social Learning events around the new features. Register on Meetup.com</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Wednesday, January 12, 2022, 10:00 am (UTC-08:00)<br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283103474\"><strong>Zero to Block Theme Series: FoundationsJoin this space</strong></a></li><li>Friday, January 14, 2022, 10:00 am (UTC-08:00)<br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283051937\"><strong>Demo: All About Colors with Full Site Editing</strong></a></li><li>Wednesday, January 26, 2022, 3:00 pm (UTC-08:00)<br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/282773311/\"><strong>Intro to Templates and Template Parts (Full Site Editing)</strong></a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-accent-background-color has-accent-color is-style-dots\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Featured Image:</strong> <a href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/17751217@N00/2558304478\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Mitchell Library, Sydney (#24)&#8221;</a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/17751217@N00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Christopher Chan</a>&nbsp;is licensed under&nbsp;<a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/2.0/jp/?ref=openverse&atype=rich\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CC BY-NC-ND 2.0</a> found on <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/openverse\">OpenVerse</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, 07 Jan 2022 21:36:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Birgit Pauli-Haack\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"WordCamp Central: Call For Speakers for WordCamp Europe 2022 in Porto is 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:39:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/?p=3143943\";s: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:105:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2022/01/07/call-for-speakers-for-wordcamp-europe-2022-in-porto-is-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:813:\"<p>Call For Speakers for WordCamp Europe (2-4 June, Porto, Portugal) is open and <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/\">we are inviting you to apply</a>!</p>\n<p>Whether you have given thousands of talks in front of a large audience or you have moderate experience in public speaking, if you have the practical knowledge to share — please, do it, <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/\">apply to speak</a>!</p>\n<p>WordCamp Europe organizers will soon be hosting an online Q&amp;A session where you can ask questions and get guidance on how to raise the chance for your application to be selected. Keep an eye out <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022\">on the WCEU website </a>to be notified of the same.</p>\n<p>We look forward to seeing your application soon!</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, 07 Jan 2022 07:32:00 +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:\"Sabrina Zeidan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:76:\"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 40) — Post Status from 2021 to 2022\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=92232\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/40/\";s: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:27913:\"<h3>&#8220;In 2022 at Post Status&#8230; we will be together and make the most of our online experiences.&#8221; —<strong>Cory Miller</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David and Cory chat about the key events for Post Status in 2021, including Cory\'s acquisition of Post Status from Brian in May, <strong>StellarWP</strong>&#8216;s sponsorship of <strong>Post Status Slack</strong> to go pro, and the acquisition tracker. Cory also explains how his understanding of Post Status has changed since acquiring it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also: </strong>David and Cory also discuss what they hope Post Status can become in early 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\">Every week <strong><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">Post Status Excerpt</a></strong> will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what\'s new in WordPress in a flash. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/26a1.png\" alt=\"⚡\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />You can listen to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">past episodes</a> of <strong>The Excerpt</strong>, <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/\">browse all our podcasts</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe on <a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7\">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d\">Castro</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts\">Player.fm</a>, <a href=\"https://pca.st/05rR\">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\">Simplecast</a>, or by <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f3a7.png\" alt=\"🎧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png\" alt=\"🔗\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/acquisitions/\">Post Status Acquisition Tracker</a></li><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/open-web-manifesto/\">Post Status Open Web Manifesto</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Sponsor: <a href=\"http://poststatus.com/godaddy\">GoDaddy Pro</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Manage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-transcript\"><strong>Transcrip</strong>t</h2>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> It may seem like [00:01:00] yesterday, but you know, we started 2021 with Brian\'s still at the helm of Post Status. You were a partner, but that changed in the middle of the year, around may or June and where you are fully acquired Post Status. So you remember that still.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Oh yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vividly. We were just kind of prepared for this. It was just pulling me back and going. It\'s really good to reflect, you know, and review what\'s going on. And I don\'t take enough time for this instead of member huddle, but, you know, we didn\'t really talk about this linking back for posts specifically on, remember how that on some, I\'m glad to do it because.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think if I look back, it was me taking over full-time with Post Status going from what was kind of a part-time gig and a really fun gig to a very busy gig. And because we\'re growing the vision and it just I think there was, you know, if I can look back on the year related to Post Status for me, it was.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This light bulb moment of like, I can do anything. I want, not that I couldn\'t with Brian, it was just like, okay, I\'ve got [00:02:00] full control of this. I don\'t know if a lot of people realize David, but at I themes, I actually wasn\'t the majority owner. And I start when I started in 2008, I met two, my, my two partners and they gave me some initial funding.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To to get started with iThemes. And so, I had partners all along and there\'s many pluses to that, by the way. But this magical moment that happened to me was over that summer and just realizing one day. This is all mine. Not to sound very selfish about it. You know, Dave, because I\'ve tried to be very collaborative and share everything we\'re doing, but I go, I can do anything I want, what do I want to do?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, wow. Like, yeah. And again, not that brian was holding me back at all. It was just, it was this moment of going, this is mine. And then another day, wake it up and go on everything I want to do I can do here. So those are huge light bulb moments for me looking back in this year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I hope everybody can see that my energy, like we\'re we were a [00:03:00] bunch of part-timers David you\'re part time Dan\'s part-time more or less. I was part time. Brian was part-time like, when we all we said, and I gather, we probably have a couple of full-time people here. But this was just different fitting for me this next adventure spirit Post Status.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I\'m, really pumped about it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So obviously you saw potential in Post Status when you first joined Brian, I\'m going to say sometime in 2020.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Yes, January 2020, right before the pandemic. And he came out and we had a lot of cool plans that we\'re now gonna start doing, starting in February. Some of our in-person things, very small groups now with omicron going on and we\'ll see how everything goes, but we\'re going, we\'re pushing forward with our first in-person meetup.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our partner summit in February in Oklahoma city. But yeah, that was pre printed. January, 2020. It\'s crazy to think our fastest.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So you cruise through and then May 2021 you acquired. [00:04:00] So what is the difference between how you\'re looking at Post Status and your goals when you acquired it from Brian then versus now, like what\'s changed in your mind?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What goals have changed? What potential are you realizing?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> You know, being very honest and reflective about all of this David it\'s just going we\'ll maintain cool stuff. That process was already doing. That was the previous mindset. The mindset today is now we\'re going to grow. We\'re going to do 10 times what we\'ve done in the past.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\'re going to take community to a whole new level. We\'re going to really blow out what we\'re doing at post-test and truly become and be, and showcase. We are the professional community of the open web. That WordPress leads in that we, as WordPress leaders are a part of that bigger ecosystem, but the whole point of we are Post Status.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s an energizing, shared vision that rallies all of us together. And that\'s why I\'m so energized about all of this, because it\'s, what I [00:05:00] love to do is help bring people together. And it\'s just funny, the artificial boundaries and barriers we\'ve put on ourselves, but that\'s what I had. Previously, when I took over, I thought I will maintain this awesome community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was my, that was pretty much my vision. I\'ll do cool stuff. Get to work with cool people, get the, hang out with all of my friends. You know, now it\'s even a bigger vision and I\'ve had a lot of. With that Jonathan Wald, yourself, Dan, or editor-in-chief Michelle Frechette. My wife Lindsay is always my number one partner in anything I do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\'s always there to help and support me. Now we have Felicia on full-time to take over operations here. Our first full-time employee. I don\'t know, I guess technically second, because you can count Brian in the past. So, Yeah. It\'s spark. You just got me all excited, just thinking about that, but that was on this truth.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was, as far as I could see at that point, you know, was let\'s make them this cool thing. Let\'s don\'t do anything to break it, [00:06:00]</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> right? Yeah. When you inherit something precious, the first thing I do is like, don\'t break anything. Don\'t don\'t mess up. And then eventually you\'re like, okay, how can I expand this without breaking it?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now I wrote down, you know, Your better journalist and I am, but what I did was I wrote down, I tried to write down the top three Post Status moments of the past year. And frankly, I think palpably, since you took over, I think has before, you know, with everything going on, I can barely remember the last six minutes, let alone six months.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we\'re starting from you, acquiring from may have going forward. So one of those was actually something you touched on before, and I think it caught a few people, maybe not delight, surprise, but something that, what is this. You, you mentioned an open source manifesto, or you talk to, you mentioned about seeing Matt and talking about open source, the open source manifestos on our site right now at poststatus.com/open-web-manifesto.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it says Post Status seeks to grow WordPress economy in three [00:07:00] ways, guide, connect, and elevate. Was this an idea that you and the in the team had, you know, when you acquire Post Status or when did this come into real clear picture? They feel like, oh, I know I\'m going to talk to Matt about it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, I\'m going to, we\'re going to put this together, put on our website and what, you know, what was the, what was, what were you trying to get out of this by posting this Manifesto?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Yeah, that was you know, everything I do it\'s just a collaboration and I try never to take credit for things to that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\'t do I work so much better in a band or an orchestra or whatever, like with other people. And this was a vision that Jonathan Walton. You know, crystallized in my head he shared the vision of the open web, what she\'s talked about and blogged about prolifically on his own site. And then he shared that with me and I asked him questions and clarify, like, okay, what do we mean when we say that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>How does WordPress fit into all of that? And super got energized by that vision shared vision [00:08:00] that, that really is it connects all of us here at Post Status in the bigger ecosystem of WordPress. And so, And I just like, I love building community, a little blood pulling people together. And I know that one way to do that is to have a shared vision that energizes us just like WordPress is the shared vision of democratizing publishing for postage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The open web, we are builders and makers of the Oakland web, you know, crux guard did a shirt like that back in the day. And I thought it was the coolest thing. I\'d seen a, I make the internet or something like that was the shirt that we\'re going to bring back by the way. So this has been, this is not a new vision necessarily.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s a clarification of one, but so much of what we\'re doing today is what was built with the bedrock of what Brian did. And then you David and Dan. And now me and now Michelle, now Jonathan NA AIG. Now all these different people that we\'ve got on our contributing team to build something cool. But the open web manifest is sometimes just want to keep [00:09:00] ringing the bell.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When they think of Post Status. I want them to think open web. We are the makers of the open web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Cause it says here we offer guidance on how to think and where to focus. Businesses, we help our members get connected with each other and we grow businesses or growing businesses need support. And we\'re committed to doing what needs to be done to help our members grow.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that actually fits into something that you mentioned. You\'ve been one message you have been repeating in some form more or less, I\'d say you fully took over in may or June is that Post Status is not a news site. So if somebody came up to you and said, is Post Status a new site, how would you respond to.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> We\'re not there\'s variations of that. We happen to break news. We happen to commentate on these, but I\'m a purist as a journalist and I go, true news is, should be balanced. It should be fair. It should be. Objective as possible within our humans feces about we can be, and that\'s just not what we do here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We serve and support WordPress professionals and WordPress businesses. [00:10:00] That\'s what we do. So we\'re not a journalistic outlet. We are ho what can we do that serves and supports our members and makes our life better? How do we help think ahead for them? How do we think, like one of the stalwarts of post as for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Brian and you and Dan later on, was that too long? Didn\'t read email. I got every week and I would sit and read that and go, okay. I can\'t keep up with drama press sometime. I can just scroll through my email and go &#8220;here\'s the interesting things. I should probably pay attention,&#8221;. And so that\'s the guide part as part of our mission guide connected elevate.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so the we\'ve been doing that for years. That\'s a legacy that Brian has a huge fingerprint on going forward from forever here at Post Statuses. We should give he, I loved his thought analysis pieces his commentary and his insights. And I pushed our team and brought in more contributors to say, don\'t just say this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It doesn\'t, that\'s a headline they can get anywhere. That [00:11:00] doesn\'t help people. It just shoves a headline in your face. But if it says, how does this, what does this mean for me in a couple of lines succinctly, which is hardware, by the way, that\'s what we want to be doing at Post Status is saying the too long didn\'t read. Here we can help you say brain processing power and keep up with all the stuff going on that you can\'t within this amazing ecosystem called WordPress and the open web. So that\'s the way I see our content. What we publish here is everything that just helps our members think about, get ahead, stay ahead of what\'s going on in their world.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah, good. Cause you know, I can\'t stop giving my 2 cents on anything. So that kind of fits well with the analysis part of it. All of it. One of the things we did do that seemed, I mean, I think may have, seemed like news in the beginning, but we kept one of the top three, I think highlights of my personal highlights of post status over the past year is we started the acquisition tracker. You [00:12:00] know, you can look at that as news. I kind of look at it as more of a guide for all of WordPress to look at because now I think whenever there is an acquisition. Either me or Dan get pinged on Twitter or in post that a stock that somebody else randomly reset the calories at the counter or some other podcasts goes, this is where, and you can see now it\'s a very useful tool for now, for me personally, even though we\'re the ones who put it together, that wow, you can look, I was reading article about Matt Mullenweg the other day about his role in trying to push the open web. And in order to do that, he needs he through automatic. For the most part, we\'re making these certain acquisitions in certain categories and you\'re reading the article and you go, well, I, you know, you look at, and then look at the acquisition page and you see all the acquisitions, automatic is put together.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You begin to see, wow, this is starting to make sense. It\'s like, you know, the over not to get into a story about Matt and the acquisitions, but you begin to see. Wow. This particular journalism app has been acquired this particular photo, you know, the creative comments thing has been acquired or [00:13:00] absorbed into the project and you begin to see a grander picture and, you know, embarrassed.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am to probably have read I think it was David Pearce\'s article or something on this, but you can go back and look at a nice orderly list, like the acquisition tracker and we\'ll have more stuff next year, probably to go along with that. So I thought that was a real. Good thing for us post status people to put up because everybody seems to use it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, you know, I like putting up stuff. That\'s actually useful to people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Again, we should be giving those type of tools for people it\'s not about, it\'s not about breaking news. It\'s about which we happen to do with the Pagely announcement. But like, that was a member longstanding member of our community who wanted it of the two that news to be broken through post status, which he in.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lovely wife has, co-founders have supported for years here. And that\'s why we broke that news. But yes, it comes down to those tools. Like how can we help our members? You know, keep up. We have a set of members that are founders here. We want to help them [00:14:00] move up, take the next level and things like that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yeah, that all just kind of gets me excited. Cause that\'s what I want to be doing more and more of here at post status and to</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> be clear our own community is adding. List as well. They\'re not waiting for us to read stuff and update their they\'re just sending us stuff to update. So to me now it\'s more of like a.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Borderline Wiki page at this point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> But this is why I love the word collaboration, because there is no way I can do it by myself, no way. And it\'s so obvious that I love it because then we can say like, I don\'t know whose idea was the tracker, but it wasn\'t mine. And when that, then I was like, yes, we, but when I heard that deal, I was like, absolutely this fits perfectly. We should do that. And then we got it out and it has been a community collaboration because I know we miss things. We\'re not in a news, you know, watch Doug and financial.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> We\'re not a news site as you\'re saying well, so, so here\'s the last thing on my list. And I wanted, I want to talk to you about stellar WP [00:15:00] provided us a sponsorship that allowed our post status slack to be fully upgraded to I guessing the pro version, which means you get access to all of the past conversations and a lots of other bells and whistles as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Weeks before that announcement was made publicly. You were talking about that internally with us as a possibility, and you were very excited about that possibility. Can you tell me why it was so important for you to, with stellar WP to pursue this particular upgrade and what it means for the post status community?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> I had heard from a number of people, you know, this is the hallway track. This is the in between times where we see each other, you know, team. Meet all the time, see each other all the time, but we have so many amazing community members that are on different teams. And hosts has, is the glue is the hub.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I had heard from so many members over the two years of being a part of post status now. And that issue would be [00:16:00] nice. Well, when I asked, I was like, okay, a pressing increase right now is not going to is probably not going to work or fund us, you know, for the foreseeable future. So I valued the preservation of memories and conversations and things like, particularly in the DMS, our stats say it every single week.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s just conversations don\'t happen in public, on Prestos. They haven\'t happened in the DMS and then you lose track of the conversation. You and I might have had five years ago, Dave, and you know, and now we get it back and we can kind of retrace that. I think that\'s valuable because there\'s so many best practices, tips, cool stuff that we share with each other, and it just needed a better way to be preserved.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this is my short term solution. I think, you know, you and I\'ve talked and our team has talked about how. Going forward. When I talked to Matt Mullenweg in San Francisco, a couple in back in where was it? December? Earlier this month when I mentioned we\'re going to paid slack he mentioned an open source project [00:17:00] that I don\'t think is ready for the prime time just yet, but that they were looking to use for the.org project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I was like, okay, that\'s interesting. But really the premise is just maintaining that hub. To connect with each other. That\'s the essence of why we did, why I sought out a sponsorship, but then out into the universe. And then our friends at seller WP said, we\'ll take it. We\'d love to be that sponsor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I\'m so thankful for Hazel and her team and core course, Michelle Frechette and her new role over at seller WP and being a huge part of our culture contributing team here at Post Status is pretty awesome. So synergy, can I use that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> You can use whatever word you want. As long as it\'s family friendly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\'s my only thing for this show. Cause my kids listened to this. Believe it or not. Yeah. They really need to get them a Disney plus subscription they\'re going into from now. well, Olivia, my 17 year old daughter It\'s getting to be more of a [00:18:00] production type oriented type of person, probably a lot more professional than me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So she actually listens and tells me when I mispronounced things and when I could have done better. So what do you, so we\'ve kind of covered what was the quickly the big, exciting moments of post status last year. And I don\'t want to put you too much on the spot, cause I think we can probably.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do a whole other episode about what\'s coming in 2022, but what are you most excited about maybe generally speaking, whether involves post status or not, as we kind of get into the first quarter of 2022 what Scott what\'s on your radar in terms of things that are interesting you the most in this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> For process specifically it\'s small group cohort type meetings that we\'re going to be starting posters. So like we\'ll be starting January 12th. I think it is on the Wednesday, our first 2022 member huddle each week. We\'ll do that on slack. There\'s a channel there for that. So I like more than. We went, you know, finishing the year, getting to be with Matt Mullenweg and [00:19:00] awesome members like Aaron Campbell, and Jordan, Michelle Frechette and a different people in person for state of the word was freaking awesome.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We, we missed the human. We have so much miss that human component in a recognize that in lieu of being able to do that. And we\'re going to try to do that in 2022 is be together, is if we can\'t, you know, in person we\'ll make the most of our online experiences. And so that\'s what I\'m most excited for the first quarter at Post Status.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh, great. I, again, I go back to the manifesto that was published and beyond the open web, again, there, there is a, the post status credo. Is embedded in, into growing the WordPress economy. And then by and by that, we mean growing the businesses that need the support, the individuals too, that also need that support a rising tide lifts all the boats.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So in order for WordPress [00:20:00] to like eventually market share is not going to matter anymore. It\'s either, we\'re going to be able to lose the ability for the reporting of it or something else will take its place or the market share. From a certain metric is going to stop. I\'ve always said that\'s not really a good measure of how WordPress is doing. That\'s just an easy number to pluck off you know, in, in sticking in a sticker or stick it in a headline, stick it in a tweet, but the best way for, to judge the growth of WordPress in my opinion has always been the community, the strength of the community, because you can have software. Without the community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But you can\'t, there\'s not really much, you\'re going to be able to do with it. You\'re not going to enjoy using it. You\'re not going to look forward to using it with other people. And I think what you\'re discussing here is more than just centering around WordPress, the software. Once you have this community and slack and Post Status slack, you\'re talking to people about running your business.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\'re talking to these, all these great people and it\'s just, WordPress becomes just a thinner line that connects everybody into one. Great, huge. Community. And I\'m really looking forward, like you to see [00:21:00] how this expanded slack goes, how this more interactive ability, like some people will use, we use Post Status and just like they\'ll drop into slack, have a few conversation, reads things and leave.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think now, especially going to 2022 is whether or not we\'re trying to judge carefully how to step back into the public, you know, however way that is and wherever we live. We need to be able to take advantage of having this collective community bonding together and meeting together regularly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because sometimes even though you may not feel like it, sometimes you really need to have to talk to someone or be coached by someone or be enlightened, be refreshed, be relaxed by someone. And sometimes being people around that digitally even is better than nothing you don\'t want to be alone. I don\'t think for very long in this space emotionally or.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Financially or business-wise either. So I think that\'s one of the best things of appreciating. Our direction at Post Status. It\'s not just like you said, we\'re not a new site. We\'re offering commentary, but what I\'m most excited, [00:22:00] what I saw you especially talk about is we\'re trying to get people to have conversations together.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, you know, on my end too, I\'m putting out a stage on Twitter spaces. For example, people communicating together their ideas because our community isn\'t going to be strong unless we\'re continuing the exchange of idea. And thoughts and advice. So that\'s awesome. Corey, that your vision, it kind of goes along that same path to.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, I don\'t want to, I mean, it\'s not the, it\'s not the alcohol talking right now because it\'s still too early for that, but I do appreciate what you\'re doing. And so, yeah, so we\'ll, I\'m going to wish you a good year because there\'s only two more days left of it. So I mean, what could possibly go wrong?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\'ll talk next year. Yep. And I\'ll see you then and best to the family.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> You bet. Thanks so much for what you do, David. Your commitment to the WordPress community and also post status</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> and our team and our team. You know, our team deserves our team. The team itself deserves [00:23:00] all the praise we can get, especially in these in these times confusing times.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So yes, we thank them as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Yep.</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, 07 Jan 2022 05:00:07 +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:12:\"David Bisset\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:64:\"WPTavern: New WordPress Plugin Offers a Markdown Editor Solution\";s: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=127968\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:173:\"https://wptavern.com/new-wordpress-plugin-offers-a-markdown-editor-solution?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-wordpress-plugin-offers-a-markdown-editor-solution\";s: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:4955:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Earlier today, a new editor plugin named <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/markup-markdown/\">Markup Markdown</a> landed in the WordPress directory. It replaces both the classic and block editors with a Markdown solution. It is the first plugin by an author simply known as Peter, or @peter202202.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As someone who almost always writes in Markdown, I did not think twice about downloading, installing, and activating it. I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent editor that I enjoyed &#8212; after making a few changes, at least.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin is not complicated to use. If you are familiar with writing in Markdown, you need to only activate it. There are no settings. Markup Markdown replaces the editor for all post types with its own.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Markup Markdown editor.\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin relies on the <a href=\"https://parsedown.org/\">Parsedown</a> PHP library to handle front-end output, turning the Markdown into HTML. On the backend, it uses the <a href=\"https://easy-markdown-editor.tk/\">EasyMDE</a> script for a JS-based editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While I am generally a fan of option-less plugins, this one could use a few. At the very least, users should get to choose which editor they prefer via their profile. On a multi-author site like the Tavern, not having this option means the plugin is a non-starter. I would also like to choose between editors for individual posts. It does not make sense for one already written in blocks to be edited in Markdown.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The biggest issue I ran into with the plugin&#8217;s editor was that the font size was far too small and the content area too wide for comfortable writing. Therefore, I made a few CSS adjustments to make it more to my liking.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Custom CSS adjustments.\n\n\n\n<p>Without these adjustments, I genuinely liked the plugin. However, the older I get, the more crucial readable typography becomes. My eyes prefer the change.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the future, I would like to see the plugin author at least use the theme-defined content width to set the writing area. With <code>theme.json</code> files becoming standard, I would pull typography-related styles in too. It does not need to do much &#8212; no need to try to go for a WYSIWYG experience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>An alternative would be to add a few design options for configuring the editor. A handful of settings would go a long way in creating a more user-friendly experience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the most part, I enjoyed tinkering with Markup Markdown. If this were five years ago, I would already have it on all my sites. And, it is likely an ideal solution for many Markdown lovers today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I still prefer the overall interface of the modern post-editing screen. I feel like I am traveling through time whenever I encounter the classic version. It is jarring enough that I doubt I would seriously use this plugin today. I would prefer a Markdown solution built on top of the block system.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One downside of the plugin is that it may not work alongside some block themes. Some rely solely on <code>theme.json</code>-generated styles at the block level to handle their design. This means that valid HTML output not generated by the block system may be left unaccounted for.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the following <code>&lt;img&gt;</code> (image) tag wrapped inside <code>&lt;p&gt;</code> (paragraph) blows out of the layout when using Twenty Twenty-Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Twenty Twenty-Two fails to contain large image.\n\n\n\n<p>There is nothing wrong with the HTML, and it is the standard way Markdown outputs images. This mistake is from the theme, not the plugin. The design is not accounting for large images when not output by a block. This is something that nearly all classic themes handle.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A theme that covers all its bases will show the following:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Custom theme that contains image.\n\n\n\n<p>I love block themes, but this is something to watch out for if using one alongside this plugin. Most of those I tested did not handle this scenario. This same problem could affect content written in the classic era or custom HTML.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While on the subject of images, the plugin sticks with pure Markdown output. It has a button for pulling up the media library, but there is no way to insert anything but the full-sized image. Alignment classes are not available either.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latter problem could be solved if the plugin bundled <a href=\"https://parsedown.org/extra/\">Parsedown Extra</a>, a Parsedown extension that supports <a href=\"https://michelf.ca/projects/php-markdown/extra/\">Markdown Extra</a>. The specification allows &#8220;special attributes.&#8221; As someone who routinely writes in Markdown, I almost exclusively use this feature to add classes to images.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, the plugin is a solid solution for those looking for a Markdown-based editor. With it being a 1.x release, I look forward to seeing where it goes in the future.</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, 07 Jan 2022 01:11:36 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:47:\"BuddyPress: BuddyPress 10.0.0 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=322784\";s: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://buddypress.org/2022/01/buddypress-10-0-0-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:6063:\"<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61dca8e1c7e88 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-font-size is-style-fill has-medium-font-size\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-background\" href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.10.0.0-RC1.zip\"><strong>Contribute to BuddyPress: Test 10.0.0-RC1</strong></a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Release Candidate&#8221; means that we believe the new version is ready for release, but with more than 200,000 active installs, hundreds of BuddyPress plugins and thousands of WordPress themes, it’s possible we missed something. BuddyPress 10.0.0 is slated for release&nbsp;on&nbsp;<strong>January 17, 2022</strong>, but&nbsp;<em>your</em>&nbsp;help is needed to get there <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" />.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can get the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.10.0.0-RC1.zip\">10.0.0-RC1</a>&nbsp;pre-release package in 4 ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Try the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/bp-beta-tester/\">BP Beta Tester</a>&nbsp;plugin. (This is the easiest way!)</li><li><a href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.10.0.0-RC1.zip\">Download the release candidate here (zip file)</a>.</li><li>Check out our SVN repository:&nbsp;<code>svn co https://buddypress.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/</code></li><li>Clone our read-only Git repository:&nbsp;<code>git clone git://buddypress.git.wordpress.org/</code></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"we-ve-closed-over-70-tickets-in-the-process-of-developing-bp-10-here-are-some-highlights\">We&#8217;ve closed over 70 tickets in the process of developing BP 10. Here are some highlights:</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"site-membership-requests\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f6c2.png\" alt=\"🛂\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Site Membership Requests</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Site Administrators wishing to have more control over who can join their community will be able to enable site membership requests from their BuddyPress Options Administration screen. Once done, BuddyPress sign-ups are transformed into membership requests to be manually reviewed and approved by an administrator to validate new user accounts.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"more-engaging-logging-activities\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f5de.png\" alt=\"🗞\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> More engaging logging activities</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>These simple activities about specific user interactions or events (e.g.: <em>a user became a friend of another user</em>) will be more visually attractive to improve user engagement in your community. The most impressive new activity is that which is generated when a user updates their profile photo: it will include the profile photo that spurred the creation of the activity item, even if it has been updated since <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f4f8.png\" alt=\"📸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" />!</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"wordpress-full-site-editing-compatibility\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f3a8.png\" alt=\"🎨\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> WordPress Full Site Editing compatibility</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;re beta testing <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-1/\">WordPress 5.9</a>: first thank you, second please take a few more minutes to check the improvements we&#8217;ve made to our BP Theme Compatibility API to play nice with themes supporting Full Site Editing such as the next WordPress default theme: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/06/introducing-twenty-twenty-two/\">Twenty Twenty-Two</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"a-new-place-to-easily-discover-our-next-buddypress-add-ons\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/2795.png\" alt=\"➕\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> A new place to easily discover our next BuddyPress Add-ons</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>BuddyPress Add-ons are side projects/projects as features/next BuddyPress blocks maintained by the BuddyPress development team we&#8217;ll soon make more widely available by publishing them on the WordPress plugin directory. When BuddyPress 10.0.0 is released, you&#8217;ll find a new tab to your &#8220;Add Plugins&#8221; Administration screen. On it, you&#8217;ll see a new add-on for a potentially upcoming feature: <a href=\"https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/2021/08/13/bp-rewrites-1-0-0-alpha/\">BP Rewrites</a>. We think this will bring more contributions to the BuddyPress project as a whole.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A detailed changelog will be part of our official release note. In the meantime,&nbsp;you can check the <a href=\"https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/query?group=status&milestone=10.0.0\">10.0.0 milestone changes list from our Trac environment</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\">How you can help</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Translate BuddyPress into your language.</strong> The release candidate also marks the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#string-freeze\">string freeze</a>&nbsp;point of the 10.0.0 release schedule. And we don&#8217;t have much time to update all of the BuddyPress translations. So if you speak a language other than English, please&nbsp;<a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/buddypress/\">help us translate BuddyPress into as many languages as possible!</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you think you’ve found a bug</strong>, you can share it with us replying to this&nbsp;<a href=\"https://buddypress.org/support/topic/buddypress-10-0-0-release-candidate/\">support topic</a>&nbsp;or if you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/\">file one on BuddyPress Trac</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Thanks in advance for your help&#8211;we can&#8217;t build BuddyPress without you! Happy testing!</strong></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 07 Jan 2022 00:41:44 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"David Cavins\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: WordCamp Birmingham Updates COVID-19 Protocols Amid Omicron Surge, WordCamp Europe Still Planning for In-Person Event\";s: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=127922\";s: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/wordcamp-birmingham-updates-covid-19-protocols-amid-omicron-surge-wordcamp-europe-still-planning-for-in-person-event?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordcamp-birmingham-updates-covid-19-protocols-amid-omicron-surge-wordcamp-europe-still-planning-for-in-person-event\";s: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:10042:\"<p>WordCamp organizers are responding to community concerns this week, as the more highly transmissible Omicron variant surges in many locations around the world. With WordCamp Birmingham less than a month away, the event&#8217;s COVID precautions came under greater scrutiny this week, as organizers work to adapt to the changing pandemic landscape. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yesterday, <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20220105003454/https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/faq/\">the event&#8217;s masking policy</a> stated &#8220;Masks are required for entry and preferred throughout the event,&#8221; setting off a heated conversation on Twitter.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I see wordcamp central is following the cdc laissez -faire style of recommendations…. “Masks are required for entry and preferred throughout the event.” Are you freakin kidding?? This is totally irresponsible. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/wpyall?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#wpyall</a></p>&mdash; Lucy Beer (@webtw) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/webtw/status/1478514593399861248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 4, 2022</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp Birmingham has since updated its <a href=\"https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/covid-19-safety-protocols/\">COVID-19 safety protocols</a> to require masks inside the venue except when eating or drinking: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Stay at home if you feel even a tiny bit sick.</li><li>Temperature checks for entry on both days.</li><li>Masks will be required while inside our venue except when actively eating or drinking.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Attendees are also required to be vaccinated, or have recovered from COVID-19 within the last 3 months, or have recently tested negative. It doesn&#8217;t state any specific timeframe for having tested negative.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Our original masking recommendations were published prior to Omicron really taking hold and were based on our local laws, local health regulations, our venue&#8217;s input, and direction from WordPress Community Support,&#8221; WordCamp Birmingham lead organizer Ryan Marks said. &#8220;Since Omicron has become more prevalent, we are monitoring the situation and have evolved our guidelines as a result.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In what seemed to be an attempt to woo vaccine-hesitant Americans, the <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-plans-drop-mask-requirements-fully-vaccinated-people-n1267249\">CDC removed indoor masking requirements</a> for those who were fully vaccinated in May 2021, when vaccines were working well. Since that time, coronavirus variants have emerged that evade both vaccine and virus-induced immunity. However, many gatherings and indoor event organizers have been slow to change their COVID-19 protocols in response to the latest developments. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp Europe tweeted an update recognizing the recent discussions and changeable nature of the current threat, linking to a <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/wordcamp-porto-and-covid-planning/\">post</a> on COVID planning from November 2021.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We see a lot of discussions regarding COVID and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/WCEU?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WCEU</a>. As a lot of things still can change in 5 months, we\'re planning for a safe event. More on this:<a href=\"https://t.co/4K23m5eCk7\">https://t.co/4K23m5eCk7</a></p>&mdash; WordCamp Europe (@WCEurope) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WCEurope/status/1478723175844356096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 5, 2022</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Nilo Velez, one of the lead organizers for <a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Seville</a>, which took place in mid-December 2021, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NiloVelez/status/1478727316679372805\">responded</a> to WCEU organizers with some advice.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been organizing in-person events during the last few months (including WordCamp Sevilla, with zero positives so far),&#8221; Velez said. &#8220;My top two take aways: 1) Airflow is your friend: plan for well-ventilated spaces and use CO2 meters on high people concentration areas.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;2) Enforce the use of face masks indoors, always. Enforce as in &#8216;Put a f*cking mask on or go home&#8217; Excessive? State of the Word proves otherwise.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Velez referenced the recent incident at the State of the Word 2021 event where attendees were not required to wear masks indoors. <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/multiple-state-of-the-word-attendees-test-positive-for-covid-19\">Multiple attendees reported infections</a> following the event, which generated exposure notices for all in attendance. Attendees were left to make their own choices regarding indoor masking, and the resulting lack of masks was alarming to many onlookers as Omicron was spreading rapidly through New York City. Prospective attendees for future in-person WordCamps shared their reservations about the lax protocols on Twitter and said they are reconsidering WordCamps as a result. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In my opinion, masks are not a choice but a must,&#8221; Velez told the Tavern. &#8220;In Seville, the precautions we took were simple:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Absolutely everyone was required to (correctly) wear a mask when indoors. That included, organizers, sponsors, staff&#8230; even the catering workers. The only exception were the speakers and only on stage.</em></li><li><em>No food or drinks were allowed indoors. If you wanted to have a coffee or smoke, you had to get outside</em></li><li><em>The WHO advises 11 square meters of air per person. We had only 100 attendees on a huge room to get 20 square meters per person.</em></li><li><em>We had a very short schedule, only 5 talks with long (outdoor) breaks every hour</em>&#8220;</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Velez said his team had a streaming option for those who aren&#8217;t ready for in-person WordCamps and they were ready to switch to an entirely online event if necessary.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We also have had three in-person meetups with no reported cases so far,&#8221; Velez said. &#8220;Weather helps a lot. Today at noon (5th of January) we were at 20ºC (68ºC). That allows you to stay indoors only during the talks and have all the social activities outside.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp Birmingham attendees have posted about how excited they are to attend the event, no matter what the protocols, after two years away from their WordPress friends. On the other hand, there are others who hold the opinion that organizing any kind of in-person event at this time while, hospitals are becoming overwhelmed, is premature and irresponsible.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Omicron?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Omicron</a> is surfing world-wide. Hospitals are at the breaking point already. Organizing an in-person conference in the next several months is irresponsible and puts not just the attendees but their communities at risk. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/wpyall?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#wpyall</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/C0hcrnvELs\">https://t.co/C0hcrnvELs</a></p>&mdash; Morten Rand-Hendriksen (@mor10) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mor10/status/1478790408482164737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 5, 2022</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>After speaking with WordCamp Europe&#8217;s lead organizers this morning, they are closely monitoring the situation and believe that a safe in-person event is still possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;WordCamp Seville was a successful and safe event,&#8221; co-organizer Bernhard Kau said. &#8220;Some of our organizers went there. Also, the Web Summit in Lisbon with more than 42,000 had excellent measures. Those are events we see as&nbsp; examples.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Organizers are eager to host the first in-person WordCamp Europe in three years but are willing to move to alternatives if new pandemic threats emerge in the next five months.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;At the moment our plan is to go for an in-person event but there will always be a plan B or C,&#8221; WCEU Public Relations team leader Evangelia Pappa said. &#8220;We wouldn’t want people to get in danger in any way. These people are our friends and family. They’re not just attendees or sponsors, speakers, volunteers. Keeping safe means also keeping our beloved safe when we get back home.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pappa said the team plans to follow all local regulations for in-person events with more than 1,000 attendees in a closed space. The regulations keep changing but for now they are requiring the following:  </p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Proof of vaccination AND proof of negative lab test is mandatory when entering Portugal</li><li>Masks are compulsory to enter the venue or remain inside</li><li>Maintain the basic guidelines (1.5 m distance, hand sanitizing, ventilate, face mask)</li></ol>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Since we’re keeping constantly an eye on this, we may enforce other regulations on top of these, but it depends on the gravity of the situation,&#8221; Pappa said. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Our aim is to get back to seeing our people, have a great in-person event, but when everyone goes back home, we’re all safe, our families are safe and we get to remember the WCEU 2022 as an amazing experience.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress&#8217; Community Team has been <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1641471764024000\">discussing new ideas for supporting the safety of in-person events in 2022</a> and plans to share more in a blog post next week. One safety measure suggested is mandatory masks for all attendees (even in regions that do not have a mask mandate at this time). WordCamp Central has agreed to cover the budget for additional safety measures like free masks and hand sanitization stations. Contributors plan to engage this sensitive topic with a larger discussion next week.</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, 06 Jan 2022 22:14:05 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s: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:10;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:52:\"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.8.3 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:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11999\";s: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:68:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-8-3-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:3679:\"<p>This security release features four security fixes. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 3.7 have also been updated.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.8.3 is a short-cycle security release. The next major release will be version <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">5.9</a>, which is already in the Release Candidate stage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can update to WordPress 5.8.3 by downloading from WordPress.org or visiting your Dashboard → Updates and clicking Update Now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have sites that support automatic background updates, they’ve already started the update process.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"security-updates\">Security Updates</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Four security issues affect WordPress versions between 3.7 and 5.8. If you haven’t yet updated to 5.8, all WordPress versions since 3.7 have also been updated to fix the following security issue (except where noted otherwise):</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Props to Karim El Ouerghemmi and Simon Scannell of <a href=\"https://www.sonarsource.com/\">SonarSource</a> for disclosing an issue with stored XSS through post slugs.</li><li>Props to Simon Scannell of <a href=\"https://www.sonarsource.com/\">SonarSource</a> for reporting an issue with Object injection in some multisite installations.</li><li>Props to ngocnb and khuyenn from <a href=\"https://giaohangtietkiem.vn/\">GiaoHangTietKiem JSC</a> for working with <a href=\"https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/\">Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative</a> on reporting a SQL injection vulnerability in WP_Query.</li><li>Props to Ben Bidner from the WordPress security team for reporting a SQL injection vulnerability in WP_Meta_Query (only relevant to versions 4.1-5.8). </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the reporters above for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/reporting-security-vulnerabilities/\">privately disclosing the vulnerabilities</a>. This gave the security team time to fix the vulnerabilities before WordPress sites could be attacked. Thank you to the members of the WordPress security team for implementing these fixes in WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information, check out the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-8-3/\">5.8.3 HelpHub documentation page</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"thanks-and-props\">Thanks and props!</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The 5.8.3 release was led by <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>desrosj</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>circlecube</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the security researchers and release squad members mentioned above, thank you to everyone who helped make WordPress 5.8.3 happen:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/xknown/\">Alex Concha</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32/\">Dion Hulse</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ocean90/\">Dominik Schilling</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ehtis/\">ehtis</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/\">Evan Mullins</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/whyisjake/\">Jake Spurlock</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\">Jb Audras</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/iandunn/\">Ian Dunn</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/peterwilsoncc/\">Peter Wilson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/\">Sergey Biryukov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vortfu/\">vortfu</a>, and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zieladam/\">zieladam</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:\"Thu, 06 Jan 2022 21:02:03 +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:19:\"Jonathan Desrosiers\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:100:\"WPTavern: Gutenberg 12.3 Introduces New Blocks, Design Options, and a Complete Core Blocks Reference\";s: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=127924\";s: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:241:\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-3-introduces-new-blocks-design-options-and-a-complete-core-blocks-reference?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-12-3-introduces-new-blocks-design-options-and-a-complete-core-blocks-reference\";s: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:6363:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The first <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-3-5-january/\">Gutenberg plugin release</a> of the year contains loads of features. Developers should enjoy a completed core blocks reference. Group block spacing controls offer more layout flexibility, and a new Post Author Name block has arrived on the scene. Overall, the site editing experience is shaping up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest release adds a couple of nice-to-have design options. The Group block now <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37456\">supports typography options</a>. This should make it easier for users and theme designers to change the font size, family, and more for all child blocks at once. The Spacer block <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36186\">supports custom units</a>, so users are no longer restricted to pixels. Paragraphs now have a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37586\">font-family option</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Theme authors can now register <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37410\">&#8220;nameless&#8221; font sizes</a> to support the core sizes. They also have new Comments Pagination <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36912\">Previous</a> and <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36562\">Next</a> blocks for handling paged comments.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Users without the <code>edit_theme_options</code> capability (Administrators by default) can <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37454\">no longer create nav menus</a> via the site editor. However, they can select an existing one via the Navigation block. This returns menu creation to its original restrictions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let us dive right into some of the big features.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"complete-blocks-reference\">Complete Blocks Reference</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">While the average user may never look at it, the <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/core-blocks/\">Core Blocks Reference</a> in the editor handbook should be a welcome sight to developers. It is almost impossible to remember all the blocks and everything about them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The data is automatically generated. Each block in the reference displays the following information:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Name</li><li>Category</li><li>Supports</li><li>Attributes</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I would love for WordPress.org to automatically display this for all block plugins in the future. The data is standardized through <code>block.json</code> files, so there is no reason it should not be possible. Otherwise, individual plugin authors would need to recreate this to share their own references.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"use-site-logo-as-favicon\">Use Site Logo as Favicon</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Users can now save the image used for the <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35892\">Site Logo block as their site icon</a> (favicon) via the site editor. This is a step in the right direction now that the customizer is disappearing for block theme users. They will need an easy way to set this.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />New &#8220;Use as site icon&#8221; option.\n\n\n\n<p>There are two downsides to this solution. The first is that this option is enabled by default. If a user does not notice it, they could be overwriting their existing site icon without knowing. Logos and icons do not always match. The WP Tavern website shows a prime example of this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second issue is that we need a dedicated site icon option. Adding it to one of the available settings screens in the admin would be a simple solution. That would give time to figure out how to eventually work it into the site editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"post-author-name-block\">Post Author Name Block</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Gutenberg 12.3 introduces a new <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36001\">Post Author Name block</a>. As its name suggests, it displays a post&#8217;s author.  It is something so seemingly simple, but when you have been waiting ages for it &#8212; well, <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/24952#issuecomment-840994975\">since May 2021</a>, technically &#8212; it feels monumental. To show how happy I am to see this block, I made five custom styles for it.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Tinkering with custom Post Author Name block styles.\n\n\n\n<p>This is a part of an effort to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/35596\">split the original Post Author block</a> into smaller components. Currently, it can display the author name, avatar, bio, and custom byline text. If a theme designer needs just the author text in a one-line meta area, a user enabling those other elements via the site editor usually blows the entire thing up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Separate Post Author Avatar and Post Author Bio blocks are planned. When these next two land, it will give theme authors more flexibility.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"group-block-spacing-control\">Group Block Spacing Control</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">I feel like a kid in a toyshop to see more than one of my long-time gripes taken care of in this release. The Group block now <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37459\">supports the Block Spacing control</a>. This allows users and theme authors to define the margin between its child blocks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the primary use cases for this is collapsing margins between similar elements. For example, a user might want to group three File blocks together without any whitespace between them, as shown in the following screenshot:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Stacked blocks.\n\n\n\n<p>Typically, these blocks would have the standard top margins between each. By setting the block spacing to <code>0</code>, users can wipe them out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Zeroing out&#8221; margins has been one of the most frustrating problems to solve for some themers, especially when dealing with wide or full-aligned blocks. The WordPress editor&#8217;s HTML markup does not match the front-end in those cases. A block spacing control on the Group block solves this issue for several scenarios.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, it is not all about getting rid of margins between blocks. It is also possible to create even more space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When using the Row variation of the Group block, the spacing is horizontal. This should also take care of a lot of theme layout needs.</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, 06 Jan 2022 01:14:17 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s: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:12;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:60:\"WordPress.org blog: The Month in WordPress – December 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:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11972\";s: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/2022/01/the-month-in-wordpress-december-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:13055:\"<p>December was a busy month for the WordPress community. In the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/episode-22-a-carol-of-thanks/\"> latest episode of the WP Briefing podcast</a>, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy shares a carol of thanks and shows her gratitude to all the people who make the WordPress project a success.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>(&#8230;) I know that we have gotten so much done together in the last few years. And I am equally sure that we’re going to get so much done in the years to come. And so thank you all so much for your continued work with WordPress and the way that you just bring your best at all times.</p><cite>Josepha Haden, Executive Director of the WordPress project</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>We said goodbye to 2021 with the annual State of the Word, along with the release of WordPress 5.9 Beta 4, among many other exciting updates. Read on to learn more about the latest community achievements.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-5-9-the-first-release-candidate-just-landed\">WordPress 5.9: The first release candidate just landed</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Following the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\"> Beta 3</a> and<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\"> Beta 4</a> releases in December, the first <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-1/\">release candidate for WordPress 5.9</a> is now out and available for testing.</li><li>With less than three weeks to go until the final release, this version continues the work from last year and marks the hard<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze\"> string freeze point</a> of the 5.9 release schedule.</li><li>Follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">5.9 developer notes</a> to learn more about the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/miscellaneous-core-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">changes</a> and updates coming with this release.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Are you interested in contributing to WordPress core?</strong> Join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW\">#core</a> channel, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Core Team blog</a>, and check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/\">team handbook</a>. Also, don&#8217;t miss the Core Team’s weekly developer chat on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&min=00&sec=0\">8 PM</a> UTC.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gutenberg-releases-versions-12-1-and-12-2-are-here\">Gutenberg releases: Versions 12.1 and 12.2 are here</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Core Team launched two new versions of Gutenberg last month. Both come with new features, code quality improvements, and bug fixes.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/08/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-1-8-december/\">Gutenberg 12.1</a> marks the return of the template List View and includes several Navigation block enhancements, new global styles features, an improved developer experience for block themes, and more.</li><li>The<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/\"> Gutenberg 12.2</a> release focuses on user experience improvements and brings the block styles preview to the Widgets Editor, among other new features.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Want to get involved in developing Gutenberg?</strong> Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to Gutenberg on <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/\">GitHub</a>, and join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7\">#core-editor</a> channel in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. Follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/gutenberg-new/\">#gutenberg-new</a> tag for details on the latest updates.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"highlights-from-state-of-the-word-2021\">Highlights from State of the Word 2021</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/highlights-from-state-of-the-word-2021/\">State of the Word 2021</a>, the annual keynote address delivered by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, was livestreamed from New York City on December 14, 2021. The event gathered WordPress enthusiasts at 29 watch parties around the world.</li><li>Matt shared his thoughts on the progress of the WordPress project and made announcements regarding its future in 2022. The presentation was followed by a Question and Answer session.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>If you missed the event’s livestream, you could watch the </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\"><strong>State of the Word recording</strong></a><strong> and the </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\"><strong>Q&amp;A session</strong></a><strong> on WordPress.tv.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"team-updates-2022-major-release-timings-new-team-rep-announcements-and-more\">Team updates: 2022 major release timings, new team rep announcements, and more</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The Core Team opened a discussion on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/17/discussion-2022-major-release-timing/\">the release dates for 2022</a> and the possibility of having four major WordPress releases this year.</li><li>The following teams announced their team representatives for 2022: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/12/03/introducing-new-themes-team-representatives/\">Themes</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/12/agenda-for-the-december-9-support-meeting/\">Support</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/11/08/call-for-polyglots-team-representatives/#comment-293358\">Polyglots</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/01/03/announcement-team-representatives-for-2022/\">Community</a>.</li><li>In 2021, 2572 people contributed to WordPress source code using Trac, including 305 first-timers. Check out <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/29/a-year-in-core-2021/\">A Year in Core – 2021</a> for more interesting stats on WordPress Core contributions.</li><li>The Diverse Speaker Training Group (#WPDiversity) shared its accomplishments from last year in this<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/14/diverse-speaker-training-group-wpdiversity-2021-year-end-report/\"> 2021 year-end report</a>.</li><li>The Training Team<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/12/07/december-2021-team-sprint/\"> planned a sprint</a> to audit and revisit the Learn WordPress content for the WordPress 5.9 release.</li><li>The Design Team summarized some of the key changes behind the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/12/17/redesign-of-openverse/\"> Openverse redesign</a>.</li><li>The December 2021 editions of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/12/20/polyglots-monthly-newsletter-december-2021/\">Polyglots Monthly Newsletter</a> and the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/14/meetup-organizer-newsletter-december-2021/\"> Meetup Organizer Newsletter</a> are out.</li><li>The latest edition of<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/people-of-wordpress-collins-agbonghama/\"> </a>People of WordPress features <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/people-of-wordpress-collins-agbonghama/\">Collins Agbonghama</a> from Nigeria.</li><li>The Core Team <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/proposal-changes-to-javascript-coding-standards-for-full-prettier-compatibility/\">announced a proposal</a> to change the JavaScript coding standards for complete Prettier compatibility.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Are you looking for some 5.9 resources to share with your local community? </strong>Check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/10/wordpress-5-9-talking-points/\">WordPress 5.9 Talking Points for Meetup Organizers</a> post.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"feedback-testing-requests-contribute-by-testing-or-translating-wordpress-5-9\">Feedback/Testing requests: Contribute by testing or translating WordPress 5.9</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Your feedback on WordPress 5.9 release candidates is still needed and appreciated! If you haven’t tried this version yet, you can find instructions on testing 5.9 features <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">in this post</a>.</li><li>Do you speak a language other than English? The Polyglots Team announced that <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/12/16/wordpress-5-9-ready-to-be-translated/\">WordPress 5.9 is also ready to be translated</a>.</li><li>Version 18.9 of WordPress for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/12/14/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-18-9/\"> Android</a> is available for testing.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\"><strong>Share your feedback</strong></a><strong> on WordPress 5.9.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"apply-to-speak-or-host-a-workshop-at-wordcamp-europe-2022\">Apply to speak or host a workshop at WordCamp Europe 2022</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>WordCamp US 2022 is currently looking for<a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/are-you-ready-to-be-a-2022-organizer/\"> organizers</a>.</li><li>The WordPress community celebrated its first in-person WordCamp after 21 months in<a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\"> Sevilla (Spain)</a> on December 11-12, 2021.<a href=\"https://taiwan.wordcamp.org/2021/\"> WordCamp Taiwan</a> was held online the same weekend.</li><li>The Test Team organized the Hallway Hangout titled <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/12/21/hallway-hangout-lets-talk-about-wordpress-6-0/\">Let’s talk about WordPress 6.0</a> on December 21, 2021. The team also shared a wrap-up of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/12/16/fse-program-site-editing-safari-summary/\">Site Editing Safari</a> as part of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/handbook/full-site-editing-outreach-experiment/\">FSE Outreach Program</a>.</li><li>The Training Team hosted several WordPress Social Learning Meetups last month, and there will be many more in <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/\">January 2022</a>.</li><li>Last year the WordPress Foundation made significant progress in its mission to educate the public about open source software. Learn more about it in this <a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/looking-back-at-2021/\">2021 recap</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Don’t miss the following upcoming WordCamps: <a href=\"https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Birmingham, Alabama 2022</a>,<a href=\"https://vienna.wordcamp.org/2022/\"> </a><a href=\"https://geneve.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Genève 2022</a><a href=\"https://vienna.wordcamp.org/2022/\">, WordCamp Vienna 2022</a>, and <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Europe 2022</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>The</strong><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-sponsors/\"><strong> Call For Sponsors</strong></a><strong> and </strong><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/\"><strong>Call For Speakers</strong></a><strong> for WordCamp Europe 2022 are open! </strong>Read <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/a-sneak-peek-at-wceu2022/\">this post</a> to learn more about the Organizing Team&#8217;s plans for the first in-person WordCamp Europe in three years.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Have a story that we could include in the next ‘Month in WordPress’ post? Let us know by filling out </em></strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/\"><strong><em>this form</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to December 2021’s Month in WordPress: <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>anjanavasan</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/harishanker/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>harishanker</a> <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lmurillom/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>lmurillom</a>  <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>meher</a> <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a> <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>webcommsat</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:\"Wed, 05 Jan 2022 19:03:59 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"rmartinezduque\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:74:\"WPTavern: Anariel Design Releases Bricksy, Its Third WordPress Block Theme\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127820\";s: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/anariel-design-releases-bricksy-its-third-wordpress-block-theme?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=anariel-design-releases-bricksy-its-third-wordpress-block-theme\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4675:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Yesterday, Anariel Design&#8217;s third block theme, <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/bricksy/\">Bricksy</a>, went live in the WordPress.org directory. Ana Segota, the co-founder and self-proclaimed &#8220;creative motor&#8221; of the company, has almost become a master at block-based theme design at this point, and this project is just her showing off her skills.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I actually took the theme for a spin over the weekend when I saw it was waiting in the review queue, so I have had a few days to play around with it. Despite a few trivial issues, it has quickly become one of my favorite block themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Bricksy blog page design.\n\n\n\n<p>While I have generally liked Anariel Design&#8217;s two previous block themes, <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/anariel-design-launches-naledi-a-block-based-wordpress-theme\">Naledi</a> and <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/clove-a-showcase-of-block-patterns-by-anariel-design\">Clove</a>, I could not see myself installing them on a real-world project. They were simply not my personal style. However, Bricksy is a theme I would definitely use if I had a project for it at the moment.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my favorite design elements is the cursive handwriting for the site logo, which is also used across various patterns.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Team Alternative pattern with cursive header image.\n\n\n\n<p>The downside is that these are images, so they are not easily recreated by end-users without Photoshop chops. I would like to see the team reconsider using a handwriting-style font &#8212; maybe <a href=\"https://fonts.google.com/?category=Handwriting\">one from Google Fonts</a> &#8212; that allows users to add custom text directly from the editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bricksy has, hands down, some of the most beautifully-designed patterns I have seen in a block theme yet. In total, there are 32.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Bricksy&#8217;s general block patterns.\n\n\n\n<p>It is making an early bid for my favorite theme of 2022, but I will not get ahead of myself. We still have almost an entire 12 months to go before I make that call.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It even includes a custom social links layout. More and more themes are bundling their own takes on this pattern, but Bricksy&#8217;s color scheme and default Cover block image stand out.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Social Links block pattern.\n\n\n\n<p>With 32 patterns, I could dedicate an entire post to them all, but I am limited on time. For the most part, they are layout-focused rather than industry-focused patterns. This means they can be used on a vast range of sites. However, the pricing tables and team sections make sense for small businesses. Bricksy also supports WooCommerce.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most striking thing about each pattern is that they all seem to fit within the theme&#8217;s overall design. Often, when themes include dozens of block patterns, some of them can feel like an additional option simply for the sake of adding one more thing in. And, that never feels like the case with Bricksy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For long-form content, the theme is decent. However, it could be better. Its 720px content width and 18px font size can quickly grow hard to read. Cutting the width anywhere from 80px to 120px makes it much more comfortable. Bumping the font size up a couple of extra pixels works too.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I first activated the theme, I thought it was utterly broken. I had wondered how it managed to slip through the review system. The theme&#8217;s header was outputting seemingly random demo content. But, it was also familiar. I was positive it was a test post from my install.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Nav menu showing a blog post&#8217;s content.\n\n\n\n<p>The issue was tough to hunt down. After everything from deactivating plugins to scrubbing templates from the database, I finally found it. The <code>ref</code> key for the Navigation block in the theme&#8217;s <code>header.html</code> template part was the culprit. Bricksy pointed to a specific post ID in the code:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>&lt;!-- wp:navigation {\"ref\":4790,\"layout\":{\"type\":\"flex\",\"setCascadingProperties\":true,\"justifyContent\":\"right\"}} /--&gt;</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p><code>4790</code> is the ID of a literal post on my test install, so the Navigation block showed its content instead of a menu. Most likely, this was directly copied or exported from the site editor. Theme authors need to watch out for specific ID references in their code when building from the editor, making sure to remove them before shipping.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from a couple of trivial issues and a single <em>OMGBBQ</em> one after activation, I enjoyed using the theme. It has found its place in my recommended-themes list.</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, 04 Jan 2022 23:42:39 +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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: Yoast Moves Outside of Open Source Platforms to Launch SEO App for Shopify\";s: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=127863\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:213:\"https://wptavern.com/yoast-moves-outside-of-open-source-platforms-to-launch-seo-app-for-shopify?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=yoast-moves-outside-of-open-source-platforms-to-launch-seo-app-for-shopify\";s: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:7617:\"<p>After 10 years in the WordPress ecosystem as one of the most popular plugin businesses, Yoast is branching out with a new <a href=\"https://yoast.com/yoast-seo-is-coming-to-shopify/\">SEO app for the Shopify market</a>. The app will offer Shopify merchants a set of optimizations for search results and Google Shopping, automatically add structured data, and allows users to optimize for desired keyphrases. It will launch in the Shopify app store on January 18, 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;An app on the Shopify platform is a huge business opportunity,&#8221; Yoast CEO Thijs de Valk said. &#8220;Shopify is growing fast. It makes sense to build an app and profit from the growth of that specific platform.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shopify is the second-fastest growing CMS, according to <a href=\"https://w3techs.com/blog/entry/web_technologies_of_the_year_2021\">W3Techs&#8217; 2021 data</a>, used on 4.4% of websites, up from 3.2% last year. The next closest contender, Wix, passed up Joomla and Drupal in 2021, furthering a trend of hosted, closed source software platforms burying open source CMS&#8217;s. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>In his biannual <a href=\"https://joost.blog/cms-market-share/\">CMS market share analysis</a>, Yoast founder Joost de Valk observed WordPress&#8217; slowed growth as compared to earlier in the pandemic and commented that the platform does not appear to be heading towards  50% market share as he would have projected based on the numbers a year ago. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Shopify continues to show amazing growth, in some months in the last 6 months it even managed to match the growth of WordPress in absolute numbers,&#8221; de Valk said. &#8220;Similarly, Wix has stepped up the pace and is growing rapidly.&#8221; He projects Shopify&#8217;s market share will be over 5% within the next six months.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img />Joost de Valk&#8217;s <a href=\"https://joost.blog/cms-market-share/\">CMS market share analysis</a> &#8211; December 2021</div>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The growth of Yoast (up until now) has been highly dependent on WordPress,&#8221; Thijs de Valk said. &#8220;That makes us a bit vulnerable. When deciding to build the Shopify&nbsp;app, we were not acquired by&nbsp;Newfold&nbsp;Digital yet. The decision to build that app was also one of risk-diversification. Having an app&nbsp;or plugin&nbsp;on multiple platforms just makes sure that our company can&nbsp;grow sustainably.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Breaking into a new market, de Valk said the experience so far is very different. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Shopify is a different ecosystem, much more commercialized than WordPress,&#8221; he said. Product pricing for the hosted platform is higher than what users might pay monthly for a plugin in the WordPress ecosystem. The <a href=\"https://yoast.com/shopify/apps/yoast-seo/\">Yoast SEO app</a> is starting out on the Shopify App Store at $29/month, which de Valk says is competitively priced.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;That makes the Shopify market attractive to extend to,&#8221; de Valk said. &#8220;We have big dreams to grow our company further (in and outside of WordPress) and success in Shopify would make that a lot easier.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike the WordPress plugin repository, the Shopify App Store doesn&#8217;t publish numbers of users for each app, so it&#8217;s not easy to see who Yoast SEO&#8217;s main competitors will be. <a href=\"https://apps.shopify.com/search?q=SEO\">SEO apps for Shopify</a> are already a someone crowded space and many apps, such as <a href=\"https://apps.shopify.com/seo-king\">SEO King</a>, have more features, a free plan, more competitive pricing, and hundreds of positive reviews already. Yoast SEO will have a challenge ahead, entering a market with many established competitors. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>de Valk said Yoast has not hired any Shopify developers but is relying on the current employees&#8217; skills.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Most of what was needed we already knew, or learned on the job, as we do,&#8221; he said. The company has had internal discussions about the fact that employees are now asked to write closed source software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We’re breaking with our tradition to only release Yoast SEO software to open-source platforms,&#8221; de Valk said. &#8220;Shopify is closed source. We had a lot of conversations about that because at Yoast we’re&nbsp;<a href=\"https://yoast.com/open-source-story/\">open-source fanboys and girls</a>. At the same time,&nbsp;<em>making the web better</em>&nbsp;is also something very dear to our heart. And we think that Shopify is making the web better.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>de Valk confirmed that all Yoast employees were on board with developing closed source software and none of them moved on as a result of the change. The company&#8217;s more nebulous &#8220;making the web better&#8221; mission trumped its commitment to open source software in this case. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2021, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/29/a-year-in-core-2021/\">Yoast was one of the biggest contributors to WordPress core</a> through its <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/pledge/yoast/\">Five for the Future pledge</a>. The company plans to continue its commitments to WordPress and will be expanding its charitable giving  from the expected Shopify profits. Yoast is calling this new initiative &#8220;Five for the web.&#8221; This strikes me as an odd choice, as the intention of the Five for the Future program is to avoid the &#8220;<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons\">tragedy of the commons</a>&#8221; scenario, which affects open access resource systems like open source software. This is clearly outlined on Yoast&#8217;s website in the <a href=\"https://yoast.com/open-source-story/#open-source-or-not\">section on open source</a> where it states, &#8220;At Yoast, it’s at the heart of what we do.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;With the money we make in Shopify, we want to give back as well,&#8221; de Valk said. &#8220;We’re going to give that money back to initiatives that make the entire web better. We’re already doing some things there. Yoast is a member of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.w3.org/\">W3C</a>, and our very own Jono Alderson is in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://amp.dev/\">AMP advisory board</a>.&nbsp;We’re planning to grow our efforts and initiatives to make the web better and give 5% of our Shopify revenue back to the web.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yoast&#8217;s intention to support the <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/amp-has-irreparably-damaged-publishers-trust-in-google-led-initiatives\">controversial AMP project</a> with a portion of its 5% profits is a curious choice, as the initiative is already heavily financially backed by Google and doesn&#8217;t appear to be soliciting donations. When asked what kind of influence or accountability the company is bringing to the AMP Advisory Board, de Valk said their primary goal is to offer advice.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;AMP is just one of the things we do, we also support w3c, we make tools for PHP testing, and we’ll be supporting a lot more,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We put time into the AMP advisory committee with the goal to provide advice to the Technical Steering Committee. And in that way we try, as I said, to make the open web as strong as possible.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yoast will be hosting an <a href=\"https://yoast.com/yoastcon/\">Online Yoastcon – Shopify Edition</a> on January 20, which will kick off with a product demo. The event is free and attendees can expect to hear from SEO industry experts and learn how to improve their online stores. </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, 04 Jan 2022 22:38:07 +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: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:15;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.9 RC 1\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11948\";s: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://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-1/\";s: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:5479:\"<p>The first Release Candidate (RC1) for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">WordPress 5.9</a> is now available!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to everyone who has contributed to reach this important milestone in the community’s progress towards a WordPress 5.9 release.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Release Candidate” means the new version of the software is ready for release. It helps the community check that nothing is missed, given the thousands of plugins and themes and differences in how millions of people use the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 is slated for release on January 25, 2022. This is just three weeks to go&nbsp; &#8211; and there’s still time to help!</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"testing-the-release\">Testing the release</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 release candidate in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"><strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-RC1.zip\"><strong>zip</strong></a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, 3 or 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC1</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC1 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Your help to test the RC1 is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the Beta releases and gave feedback. Testing for bugs is not just a critical part of polishing every release; it is also a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">Help test WordPress 5.9 features</a> &#8211; a guide to how you can take part.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-is-in-wordpress-5-9-release-candidate\">What is in WordPress 5.9 release candidate?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This will be the first release of 2022 and continues the work towards 5.9 from last year. It features the latest advances of the block editor and is the first version of full site editing in Core.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 also brings more refinements to the developer experience. To keep up with the latest updates and discover more about how the community works to continually improve the software, please subscribe to the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a>. In particular, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">developer notes tag</a> will keep you up to date on changes that might affect your products or how you use the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"plugin-and-theme-developers\">Plugin and Theme Developers</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Please test your plugins and themes against WordPress 5.9 and update the <em>Tested up to</em> version&nbsp; to 5.9 in your readme file. If you find compatibility problems, please post to the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">support forums</a>, so volunteers and developers can help you figure them out before the final release.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress 5.9 Field Guide will be out very shortly. It will give you a deeper dive into the major changes.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-help\">How to Help</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you speak a language that is not English? You can <a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev\">help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a> Release Candidate 1 marks the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze\">hard string freeze</a> point of the 5.9 release schedule. Thanks to every locale that is already involved with translations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>If you think you have found a bug</em></strong><em>, you can post to the </em><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta\"><em>Alpha/Beta area</em></a><em> in the support forums.&nbsp; If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can </em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"><em>file one on WordPress Trac</em></a><em>, where you can also check the issue against </em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"><em>a list of known bugs</em></a><em>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Props to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>webcommsat</a> for the post and to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>marybaum</a> <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>hellofromtonya</a> <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>audrasjb</a> <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>davidbaumwald</a> <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>estelaris</a> <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>cbringmann</a> for final review. </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, 04 Jan 2022 20:43:00 +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:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:116:\"WPTavern: WordPress 5.9 to Fix Lazy Loading Performance Regression, Resulting in 30% Faster Page Loads in Some Cases\";s: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=127830\";s: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:273:\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-fix-lazy-loading-performance-regression-resulting-in-30-faster-page-loads-in-some-cases?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-9-to-fix-lazy-loading-performance-regression-resulting-in-30-faster-page-loads-in-some-cases\";s: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:3361:\"<p>WordPress sites may soon see a slight performance improvement on page loads, thanks to a fix for a performance regression in the core lazy loading feature. An <a href=\"https://web.dev/lcp-lazy-loading/\">analysis</a> published in July 2021 showed that lazy loading applied too aggressively can have a negative impact on performance and that it&#8217;s better to eagerly load the images within the initial viewport.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress&#8217; default of lazy loading all images was causing slower performance on the <a href=\"https://web.dev/lcp/\">Largest Contentful Paint metric (LCP)</a> metric, which Google defines as &#8220;the render time of the largest <a href=\"https://web.dev/lcp/#what-elements-are-considered\">image or text block</a> visible within the viewport, relative to when the page <a href=\"https://w3c.github.io/hr-time/#timeorigin-attribute\">first started loading</a>.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Google-sponsored WordPress contributors wrote a fix that avoids lazy-loading images above the fold and thoroughly tested it as part of their efforts to evaluate the impact of various past performance initiatives. The delayed LCP will be fixed in WordPress 5.9.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This can be improved by skipping addition of <code>loading=\'lazy\'</code> for the first content image or iframe, which in the vast majority of cases will appear within the initial viewport,&#8221; Felix Arntz said in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/29/enhanced-lazy-loading-performance-in-5-9/\">dev note</a>. &#8220;WordPress can only make educated guesses around that and not be 100% certain, but an analysis taking into account 50 popular themes showed that the enhancement brought LCP improvements across the board, up to 30% faster page load.&#8221; </p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the future, this implementation may be able to drill down further into the block content on the page and eagerly load whatever images the theme identifies as being within the viewport.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Have you thought about how we could have more precise heuristics going forwards that can take the semantics and structure of blocks into account to get a sense for what is actually deferrable?&#8221; Matias Ventura commented on the ticket in process. &#8220;For example, an image block or a site logo used in a header template part would be strong indicatives of being above the fold. &#8216;The first image of the content&#8217; seems instead like a rudimentary measure, that varies a lot depending on preceding layout. With block themes we should have some ahead-of-time awareness of layout which we can use to produce more meaningful instructions.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Felix Arntz said he already has detecting the header template part on his radar and is willing to refine the implementation as the world of block themes expands.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The refinement of the lazy-loading implementation should notably improve LCP performance for most sites that rely on it, while not having adverse effects for sites where the default heuristics described above do not apply to,&#8221; Arntz said. &#8220;That is only a solid starting point though. In the future, specifically with the more semantic content specification that block-based themes will facilitate, we will be able to further fine tune the lazy-loading implementation by using the available block information.&#8221;</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 04 Jan 2022 03:48:56 +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: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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: Gutenberg Hub Launches a Block-Based WordPress Theme 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=127764\";s: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/gutenberg-hub-launches-a-block-based-wordpress-theme-directory?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-hub-launches-a-block-based-wordpress-theme-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:4808:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In the dawn of the block theme era, the WordPress theme directory could use a reimagining. That is what Munir Kamal set out to do before WordPress 5.9 launches later this month. He <a href=\"https://gutenberghub.com/re-imagined-wordpress-themes-directory/\">announced</a> an <a href=\"https://themes.gutenberghub.com/\">alternative theme directory</a> on the Gutenberg Hub website earlier today. It lists all the block themes that are officially hosted on WordPress.org.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Gutenberg Hub&#8217;s theme directory.\n\n\n\n<p>The interface and experience are similar to the official theme directory and for a good reason. Kamal is pushing for changes on WordPress.org.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I noticed the lack of info the official theme directory provides,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I want to initiate a discussion around this to fix it, and thus created this as a concept/experiment. Now that it&#8217;s an era of the new generation of WP themes (Block Themes), the themes directory needs to be reimagined. Block themes are all about colors, typography, block styles, patterns, and templates. As a WP user, I wish to see all that info related to a theme when I explore themes in the directory. I need to choose without installing and testing multiple themes.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Single theme pages in this reimagined directory include more data than the official directory. Instead of merely a screenshot and description, each page displays the theme&#8217;s color palette, provides typography examples and info, and previews several content blocks.</p>\n\n\n\n<img /><a href=\"https://themes.gutenberghub.com/octane\">Octane</a> theme page.\n\n\n\n<p>One thing that makes modern themes unique is their included <code>theme.json</code> file. This file allows theme authors to register settings and add styles that work in both the editor and the front-end. This level of standardization did not exist until WordPress 5.8 rolled around last year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also allows developers like Kamal to build new tools on top of it. When nearly all the data related to a theme is in a standard format, it is easy to pull out and experiment with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, because there is a specific key in the <code>theme.json</code> file for colors, anyone can grab and display them via code. Gutenberg Hub&#8217;s directory displays these as a palette alongside each theme. Users can even click to copy them.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Copying a theme color.\n\n\n\n<p>This would have been practically impossible in the past because WordPress did not have a way for themes to define something as simple as a color palette.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The directory also auto-generates social images for each of the themes. The following for <a href=\"https://themes.gutenberghub.com/mebae\">Mebae</a> and <a href=\"https://themes.gutenberghub.com/pacer\">Pacer</a> both show their description, fonts, colors, and screenshot.</p>\n\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n\n<p>For years, WordPress.org theme previews have been plagued by sub-par demo system. Today, the live demo can show starter content if a theme provides it. However, there is no current FSE support for the feature. Gutenberg Hub displays the same live preview as shown in the official directory.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kamal has partially addressed this issue by adding a &#8220;Content&#8221; button. Clicking it allows users to see dozens of blocks in action.</p>\n\n\n\n<img /><a href=\"https://themes.gutenberghub.com/tove\">Tove</a> theme content preview.\n\n\n\n<p>This provides a general overview of what the theme looks like, but the preview experience is still lacking. A handful of featured images would add some visual <em>oomph</em> to the home/blog and archive pages.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kamal has plans to incorporate theme templates and patterns into the preview in the future. Those additions would make theme demos more useful.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He does not plan on stopping there. &#8220;Other plans include providing a super useful search and filter functionality that makes it easier to trim down the result to the closest needs of a user,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And maybe a comparison tool that a user can use to compare two themes side-by-side with practical elements to decide between the two, rather than reviews, downloads, etc.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The work Kamal has put in so far looks promising. There is still much that could be improved if we had an entire community effort behind this. With the block theming feature launching with WordPress 5.9, there is no reason to stick to the old theme preview system when so much more is possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-tavern-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p>If I had one extra wish for Gutenberg Hub or WordPress.org, it would be for all child themes to be listed on their parent theme&#8217;s page. But, I will take this redesigned directory first.</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, 03 Jan 2022 23:03:58 +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:18;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:48:\"BuddyPress: BuddyPress 9.2.0 Maintenance 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=322735\";s: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:68:\"https://buddypress.org/2022/01/buddypress-9-2-0-maintenance-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:1616:\"<p>Immediately available is <a href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.9.2.0.zip\">BuddyPress 9.2.0</a>. This maintenance release fixes three bugs, anticipates one issue which appeared while beta testing WordPress 5.9 and prepares the release of our first BuddyPress add-on (a community search block). For details on the changes, please read the <a href=\"https://codex.buddypress.org/releases/version-9-2-0/\">9.2.0 release notes</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Update to BuddyPress 9.2.0 today in your WordPress Dashboard, or by&nbsp;<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/\">downloading from the WordPress.org plugin repository</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"many-thanks-to-9-2-0-contributors\">Many thanks to 9.2.0 contributors&nbsp;<span class=\"dashicons dashicons-heart\"></span></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/josett225/\">josett225</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/needle\">needle</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32\">dd32</a> &amp; <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/imath/\">imath</a></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"happy-2022\">Happy 2022!</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The BuddyPress developers and contributors wish you the best for this new year! Have fun, stay safe and carry on sharing great words &amp; feelings with WordPress and BuddyPress <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f4dd.png\" alt=\"📝\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f917.png\" alt=\"🤗\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;Très belle année à tou·te·s&#8221;</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, 03 Jan 2022 22:22:26 +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: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:19;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:26:\"Matt: Celebrate by Writing\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"https://ma.tt/?p=55257\";s: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:43:\"https://ma.tt/2022/01/celebrate-by-writing/\";s: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:1965:\"<p>My <a href=\"https://ma.tt/category/birthday/\">birthday</a> is coming up soon so it&#8217;s that time of the year when friends start reaching out and asking where they should fly to and how we&#8217;re going to celebrate.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a good run in the post-vaccinated-and-boosted part of 2020 that felt relatively &#8220;normal&#8221;, including traveling almost 200k miles, I&#8217;m going back into a pretty locked-down state of things. Omicron has just been catching too many friends and loved ones, even with fairly careful measures and testing. So what&#8217;s happening on January 11th?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What I&#8217;m asking for my birthday is for people to blog!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether professionally on <a href=\"https://wordpress.com/\">WP.com</a>, socially on <a href=\"https://tumblr.com/\">Tumblr</a>, or privately journaling with <a href=\"https://dayoneapp.com/\">Day One</a>, there&#8217;s never been a better time to stop being a passive consumer of the internet and join the class of creators.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://ma.tt/2014/01/intrinsic-blogging/\">Write for a single person</a>. Share something cool you found. Summarize your year. <a href=\"https://wordpress.com/blog/2021/07/13/blogging-reminders-push-notifications-wordpress-apps/\">Set a blogging goal with reminders</a>. Get a Gutenberg-native theme and play around with building richer posts. Start a nom de plume. <a href=\"https://help.dayoneapp.com/en/articles/3750565-daily-writing-prompts\">Answer daily prompts on Day One</a>. Forget the metaverse, let&#8217;s hang out in the blogosphere. <a href=\"https://wordpress.com/domains/\">Get your own domain</a>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re a close friend that feels intimidated by the software at all or that you don&#8217;t know where to start, I&#8217;m happy to hop on a Zoom to go through everything on a screen share. That will also be a great learning for me for places we can improve things, which is also a fantastic gift!</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:\"Sun, 02 Jan 2022 22:22:35 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"Matt\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:20;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:43:\"WPTavern: WP Tavern’s 2021 Year in Review\";s: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=127766\";s: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:125:\"https://wptavern.com/wp-taverns-2021-year-in-review?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wp-taverns-2021-year-in-review\";s: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:13867:\"<img /><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/94661cc6f3/\">Abstract Lights</a> by <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/author/mkaz/\">Marcus Kazmierczak</a>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">A friend prompted me to fix an issue with the WP Tavern <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/archives\">archives page</a> a few days ago. Not all of 2021&#8217;s posts were visible. As I glanced over the updated list, I realized our team put in a lot of work for the year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the day-to-day mix of things, it is easy to forget how much you have written during the year. Some of the articles are memorable and stick with you for a while. Much passes by in a blur. But, I felt a sense of pride in the work our team has put in as I scrolled through the posts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>These year-in-review posts tend to take about two days&#8217; worth of work, gathering up all of the stats and notes and formatting them so that they are presentable. However, they are always one of my favorite articles to put together every year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We should always take some time to remind ourselves where we have been on this journey. This makes sure we are better informed before taking our next steps. At the Tavern, that means paying attention to what content people are reading and how they are engaging with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, let us just dive right into some of the 2021 highlights.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"the-year-in-wordpress\">The Year in WordPress</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">WordPress <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/happy-18th-birthday-wordpress\">turned 18 years old</a> in 2021. That is a massive feat for any software, especially a CMS that consistently faces competition from newer web technologies.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike last year&#8217;s three, the platform only saw two major releases this year. WordPress 5.9 was initially slated to land in early December, but it was <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-date-confirmed-for-january-25-2022\">postponed until January 25, 2022</a>. This should give contributors more time to smooth out several wrinkles with new features.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-8-tatum-introduces-block-widgets-duotone-media-filters-new-emoji-support-and-more\">WordPress 5.8 &#8220;Tatum&#8221;</a> introduced block widgets, duotone media filters, and new emoji support.</li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-7-introduces-drag-and-drop-for-blocks-and-patterns-streamlined-admin-color-palette-and-one-click-migration-from-http-to-https\">WordPress 5.7 &#8220;Esperanza&#8221;</a> added drag-and-drop for blocks and patterns, a streamlined admin color palette, and one-click HTTPS migration.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Gutenberg plugin was a consistent force, driving new features that would eventually make their way into core WordPress. We have <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/tag/gutenberg\">covered its releases</a> throughout the year here at the Tavern.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt Mullenweg recorded his <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/state-of-the-word-2021-wordpress-passes-43-market-share-looks-to-expand-the-commons-through-openverse\">annual State of the Word</a> before a live audience in New York City in mid-December. The address focused on WordPress&#8217;s growth in the past year, a decentralized web, and version 5.9 features. He also focused on contributing to the commons. He <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/creative-commons-search-is-now-openverse\">introduced Openverse</a>, formerly Creative Commons Search, and noted the beta launch of the <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-photo-directory-is-the-open-source-image-project-we-have-long-needed\">WordPress photo directory.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"favorite-plugin\">Favorite Plugin</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Newsletter Glue&#8217;s theme designer.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">One of the best things about writing for WP Tavern is covering a <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/category/plugins\">range of new plugins</a> every year. Unfortunately, we cannot get to them all. However, there are always a few projects that stand out in the crowded field.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe it was <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/newsletter-glue-pro-my-first-foray-into-journalism-and-new-ideas\">nostalgia for a bygone era</a> of printed family newsletters. Perhaps it is just a neat idea, but my favorite plugin of the year is <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/newsletter-glue/\">Newsletter Glue</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It showcases how a small team can get a complex project off the ground via the block editor. Newsletter Glue is just over a year old, and Lesley Sim and Ahmed Fouad have created a solid product.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"favorite-theme\">Favorite Theme</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Eksell theme homepage\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">This should come as no surprise to Tavern readers. I have touted its <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/compatibility-is-not-enough-the-eksell-wordpress-theme-creates-art-with-blocks\">well-rounded design and architecture</a> on multiple occasions. <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/eksell/\">Eksell</a> by Anders Norén is my favorite theme of the year. Twenty Twenty-Two would be a close second, but it has not officially launched yet. Maybe it will reign in the year to come.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have been on the lookout for a block theme to win this for the entire year, but none of them quite lived up to Eksell. Not even Noren&#8217;s own attempt with Tove.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eksell plays well with blocks, supporting all current, stable advancements in WordPress theming. It is far more modern than many other classic-supported themes. And, it is just beautiful.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wp-tavern-stats\">WP Tavern Stats</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Over the past couple of years, we have increased our content output. Engagement via published comments is down, but &#8220;likes&#8221; continue climbing. The following is a table of the past three years of stats. <em>Note that averages are per post.</em></p>\n\n\n\n\n        <table>\n                <thead>\n                        <tr>\n                                <th class=\"pad\"></th>\n                                <th>2021</th>\n                                <th>2020</th>\n                                <th>2019</th>\n                        </tr>\n                </thead>\n                <tbody>\n                        <tr>\n                                <th>Total Posts</th>\n                                <td>443</td>\n                                <td>406</td>\n                                <td>382</td>\n                        </tr>\n                        <tr>\n                                <th>Total Comments</th>\n                                <td>3,151</td>\n                                <td>3,699</td>\n                                <td>2,864</td>\n                        </tr>\n                        <tr>\n                                <th>Avg. Comments</th>\n                                <td>7.1</td>\n                                <td>9.2</td>\n                                <td>7.5</td>\n                        </tr>\n                        <tr>\n                                <th>Total Likes</th>\n                                <td>4,508</td>\n                                <td>3,589</td>\n                                <td>2,676</td>\n                        </tr>\n                        <tr>\n                                <th>Avg. Likes</th>\n                                <td>10.2</td>\n                                <td>9.0</td>\n                                <td>7.0</td>\n                        </tr>\n                        <tr>\n                                <th>Total Words</th>\n                                <td>324,842</td>\n                                <td>317,231</td>\n                                <td>225,117</td>\n                        </tr>\n                        <tr>\n                                <th>Avg. Words</th>\n                                <td>733</td>\n                                <td>791</td>\n                                <td>589</td>\n                        </tr>\n                </tbody>\n        </table>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, we moderate comments here at WP Tavern. We could let things run wild for a bump in commenting stats, but we want to continue creating an environment where people feel welcome to participate.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am the champion of comments this year with a total of 81. I would still like to engage a bit more. That is something I will work on in the new year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Props to the five people next in line for total comments in 2021:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Miroslav Glavić</li><li>Eric Karkovack</li><li>Andrew Starr</li><li>Steven Gliebe</li><li>Paul Lacey</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Without you and other readers, there would be no Tavern. I hope to see more of you all and others in 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"top-10-most-viewed-stories\">Top 10 Most Viewed Stories</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Sarah Gooding pretty much single-handedly broke our all-time daily views record in January, a record that had stood since 2015. It now stands at 24,887. <em>I contributed a bit</em>, but her coverage of WordPress.com&#8217;s website building service did the heavy lifting. And, it was not even the overall most-viewed story of the year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following are the articles Tavern readers viewed the most in 2021:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wix-takes-a-jab-at-wordpress-with-bewildering-new-marketing-campaign\">Wix Takes a Jab at WordPress with Bewildering New Marketing Campaign</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-com-rattles-freelancer-community-with-new-website-building-service-launch\">WordPress.com Rattles Freelancer Community with New Website Building Service Launch</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/matt-mullenweg-unveils-gutenberg-roadmap-at-wceu-wordpress-agencies-and-product-developers-sprint-to-prepare\">Matt Mullenweg Unveils Gutenberg Roadmap at WCEU, WordPress Agencies and Product Developers Sprint to Prepare</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/disable-over-a-dozen-wordpress-features-with-the-no-nonsense-plugin\">Disable Over a Dozen WordPress Features With the No Nonsense Plugin</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/amp-has-irreparably-damaged-publishers-trust-in-google-led-initiatives\">AMP Has Irreparably Damaged Publishers’ Trust in Google-led Initiatives</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wixs-negative-advertising-campaign-falls-flat-with-wordpress-developers-and-professionals\">Wix&#8217;s Negative Advertising Campaign Falls Flat with WordPress Developers and Professionals</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/biden-white-house-sticks-with-wordpress-for-website-relaunch\">Biden White House Sticks with WordPress for Website Relaunch</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/elementor-raises-eyebrows-with-google-ads-targeting-full-site-editing\">Elementor Raises Eyebrows with Google Ads Targeting Full-Site Editing</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenbergs-faster-performance-is-eroding-page-builders-dominance\">Gutenberg’s Faster Performance Is Eroding Page Builders&#8217; Dominance</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/getting-to-know-the-upcoming-wordpress-5-8-template-editor\">Getting To Know the Upcoming WordPress 5.8 Template Editor</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"top-10-most-commented-stories\">Top 10 Most Commented Stories</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">You would think that our most-read articles are those that receive the most comments. However, that is not always the case. While there is some crossover between the two lists, our readers sometimes need to be vocal on a particular topic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the top 10 most-commented posts of 2021:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/profilepress-rebrands-and-repurposes-wp-user-avatar-now-a-membership-plugin-users-revolt-via-the-wordpress-review-system\">ProfilePress Rebrands and Repurposes WP User Avatar, Now a Membership Plugin, Users Revolt via the WordPress Review System</a> <em>(100 comments)</em></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-classic-editor-support-extended-for-at-least-another-year\">WordPress Classic Editor Support Extended for at Least Another Year</a> <em>(100 comments)</em></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wp-tavern-is-sporting-a-new-website-design\">WP Tavern Is Sporting a New Website Design</a> <em>(50 comments)</em></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/is-wordpress-development-really-all-that-hard-to-get-into-today\">Is WordPress Development Really All That Hard To Get Into Today?</a> <em>(45 comments)</em></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/elementor-to-roll-out-significant-pricing-hike-for-new-customers\">Elementor to Roll Out Significant Pricing Hike for New Customers</a> <em>(41 comments)</em></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenbergs-faster-performance-is-eroding-page-builders-dominance\">Gutenberg’s Faster Performance Is Eroding Page Builders&#8217; Dominance</a> <em>(38 comments)</em></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/why-did-you-start-using-wordpress\">Why Did You Start Using WordPress?</a> <em>(38 comments)</em></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/yes-comments-are-still-relevant-but-we-need-a-better-system\">Yes, Comments Are Still Relevant, But We Need a Better System</a> <em>(37 comments)</em></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/disable-over-a-dozen-wordpress-features-with-the-no-nonsense-plugin\">Disable Over a Dozen WordPress Features With the No Nonsense Plugin</a> <em>(37 comments)</em></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wixs-negative-advertising-campaign-falls-flat-with-wordpress-developers-and-professionals\">Wix&#8217;s Negative Advertising Campaign Falls Flat with WordPress Developers and Professionals</a> <em>(36 comments)</em></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-tavern-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p>I look forward to another year of delivering stories to all of our readers. The Tavern staff will see you all in 2022 for the next steps on this journey.</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, 31 Dec 2021 04:11:06 +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: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:21;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:59:\"WordPress.org blog: People of WordPress: Collins Agbonghama\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11923\";s: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:74:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/people-of-wordpress-collins-agbonghama/\";s: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:7730:\"<p>In this series, we share some of the inspiring stories of how WordPress and its global network of contributors can change people’s lives for the better. This month we feature a website builder from Nigeria, who uses the open source WordPress platform to support his family and to share learning with others in his home country and beyond.</p>\n\n\n\n<img src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?resize=632%2C318&ssl=1\" alt=\"Collins Agbonghama\" class=\"wp-image-11919\" width=\"632\" height=\"318\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"creating-a-life-in-the-wordpress-ecosystem\"><strong>Creating a life in the WordPress Ecosystem</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins Agbonghama started his journey to becoming a web developer by reading the football news headlines on a friend’s mobile phone. His fascination with development and learning continued to grow, and he now makes a living using WordPress and the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to discover his story, which shows with creativity and determination you can create products and make a living using WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"starting-web-building-on-a-phone\"><strong>Starting web building on a phone</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<img width=\"350\" height=\"426\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/collins-agbonghama1.jpg?resize=350%2C426&ssl=1\" alt=\"Collins Agbonghama headshot photo\" class=\"wp-image-11920\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Collins began his exploration of the internet while attending Secondary School in Nigeria, or High School as it is known in some other countries.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A friend at the school had a simple mobile phone which could browse the internet. Collins had his first introduction to the World Wide Web through access to this device. He became hooked by reading headlines on a sports site about a famous English Premier League Football Club, Chelsea, a soccer team which he has long supported.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Being a very inquisitive person, I wanted to learn how the web works as well as have my own website. I was able to buy a classic mobile phone through the menial jobs I did after school,” he said.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>His first website was a wapsite or Wireless Application Protocol site optimized for mobile devices.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He took to Google to learn how to actually build a site. He discovered he needed something called an ‘email address’ to sign-up for site builders. Google Search came to the rescue again, and he created the first email account for his first website.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A desire for a website was the catalyst for further learning, starting with HTML and CSS from an online provider. His interest in building sites with more advanced tools grew, and then he came across WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using his savings, he bought the cheapest hosting plan from a local Nigerian web host. He installed WordPress and started writing tutorials for a mobile device platform. He built the site, created the lessons, and started his entry into WordPress all on a mobile phone.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This led to him having the confidence to start building sites for others, and he was able to earn a small income from that.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins said: “I couldn’t go to the university because of my precarious financial situation. I continued to do menial jobs during the day and started learning PHP in the evenings and at night using my mobile phone via online learning platforms.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was later able to get an old laptop, which helped him access ebooks to learn more and practice his coding.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keen to share this learning, he started blogging about what he was learning on his website.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins said: “I later took up a job teaching children at a school primarily because I got tired of the menial jobs and wanted to earn enough to take care of my internet data plan. After a while, I became fairly proficient in PHP and even took up a job to build a school management system.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"using-wordpress-to-make-a-living\"><strong>Using WordPress to make a living</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins’ blog wasn’t making money through advertisements, but he discovered opportunities to write tutorials for other platforms.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I started writing PHP and WordPress development tutorials and got paid a few hundred dollars per article. In Nigeria, that’s quite a lot of money. I was able to improve the life and wellbeing of my family and myself,” he said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After getting into a higher education program to study computer science, his life dramatically changed. He decided to stop writing and began to focus on building and selling WordPress plugins.&nbsp;His first one was a user and profile plugin for WordPress sites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Thankfully, after a year, it started making enough revenue for me to live pretty comfortably here in Nigeria because the cost of living here is relatively low,” he said</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, Collins has several plugins which have given him a sustainable source of income. He’s also a Core and Translation volunteer contributor to the WordPress.org Open Source project. </p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote><p>I am thankful for WordPress because without it, I’m really not sure I would have been able to live a decent quality life. <br />Who knows what would have become of me?</p><cite>Collins Agbonghama</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>“I am also thankful for the community. I have made lots of friends that have been very supportive and helpful in my journey.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added: “I tell people, life won’t give you what you want. You demand from life what you want. You make these demands by being determined and never giving up on your dreams and aspirations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“If you are poor, perhaps because you came from a humble and poor background, it is not your fault. You can’t go back in time to change things. I implore you to be strong, determined, and work hard.” </p>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meet more WordPress community members in our <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/category/interviews/\">People of WordPress series</a>.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"contributors\">Contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Michael Geheren (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/geheren/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>geheren</a>), Abha Thakor (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>webcommsat</a>), for writing this feature, to @MeherBala (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>meher</a>) for follow-ups and photo-editing, and to Chloe Bringmann (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>cbringmann</a>) and Nalini Thakor (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a>) for the final proofing. Thank you to Collins Agbonghama (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/collizo4sky/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>collizo4sky</a>) for sharing his Contributor Story.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Thanks to Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp;(@<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">chanthaboune</a>), Topher DeRosia (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/\">@topher1kenobe</a>) and others for their support </em>of this initiative. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on&nbsp;</em><a href=\"https://heropress.com/\"><em>HeroPress.com</em></a><em>, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia, which highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers.&nbsp;</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>#HeroPress #ContributorStory</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, 30 Dec 2021 22:45:00 +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:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:83:\"Post Status: Post Status Comments (No. 5) — The First Annual WordPress News Draft\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=91900\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://poststatus.com/comments/5/\";s: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:76553:\"<h3>&#8220;This story reminded me that big company, big money doesn\'t mean just more profit but can also mean big contributions.&#8221; —Aurooba Ahmed</h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It\'s the first-ever Post Status WordPress News Draft! The initial group of news &#8220;avengers&#8221; in this episode are <strong>Aurooba Ahmed</strong>, <strong>Jason Cosper</strong>, <strong>Daniel Schutzsmith</strong>, <strong>Robert Jacobi</strong>, and <strong>Lesley Sim</strong> — with <strong>David Bisset</strong> hosting. In three rounds of draft picks, this group assembled the most noteworthy or influential WordPress news stories of 2021.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also: </strong>There was also a final &#8220;quick link&#8221; round with some interesting choices the guests brought to the table. </p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\"><strong>Post Status Comments</strong> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f4ac.png\" alt=\"💬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> provides a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.<br /><br /><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/comments/\">Browse past episodes</a> and subscribe to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcasts/\">our podcasts</a> on&nbsp; <a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7\">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d\">Castro</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts\">Player.fm</a>, <a href=\"https://pca.st/05rR\">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\">Simplecast</a>, or get them by <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f399.png\" alt=\"🎙\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png\" alt=\"🔗\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-delayed-until-january-2022\">WordPress 5.9 Release</a> (Aurooba Pick #1)</li><li><a href=\"https://wpengine.com/blog/wp-engine-adds-frost-to-open-source-wordpress-project/\">Frost being acquired and made open source</a> (Aurooba Pick #2)</li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/stubbornella/status/1471213109767405568\">Stubbornella utilities classes twitter thread</a> (Aurooba Pick #3)</li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/profilepress-rebrands-and-repurposes-wp-user-avatar-now-a-membership-plugin-users-revolt-via-the-wordpress-review-system\">WP User Avatar &gt; Profile Press Debacle</a> (Daniel Pick #1)</li><li><a href=\"https://thewpminute.com/blocks-boards-fishing-reels-how-gutenberg-has-divided-wordpress/\">Blocks, Boards & Fishing Reels – How Gutenberg has Divided WordPress</a> (Daniel Pick #2)</li><li><a href=\"https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/16/podcast-app-pocket-casts-acquired-by-wordpress%E2%80%A4com-owner-automattic/\">Podcast app Pocket Casts acquired by WordPress․com owner Automattic</a> (Daniel Pick #3)</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/12/proposal-for-a-performance-team/\">WordPress Performance Team</a> (Jason Pick #1)</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/configuring-theme-design-with-theme-json/\">theme.json drops with WordPress 5.8</a> (Jason PIck #2)</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/04/18/proposal-treat-floc-as-a-security-concern/\">Google’s FLoC and WordPress</a> (Jason Pick #3)</li><li><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://yoast.com/exciting-news-yoast-joins-newfold-digital/\">Exciting news: Yoast joins Newfold Digital</a> (Robert Pick #1)</li><li><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/05/welcome-to-openverse/\">Welcome to Openverse</a> (Robert Pick #2)</li><li><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/american-airlines-sues-online-publisher-host-over-fake-website-2021-08-09/\">American Airlines sues online publisher and host over fake website</a> (Robert Pick #3)</li><li><a href=\"https://getellipsis.com/blog/am-marketing-machine/\">AM Marketing Machine</a> (Lesley Pick #1)</li><li><a href=\"https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/6786509/mullenweg-the-past-present-and-future-of-the-internet?tab=transcript\">Founder\'s Field Guide Podcast: Matt Mullenweg &#8211; The Past, Present, and Future of the Internet</a> (Lesley Pick #2)</li><li><a href=\"ttps://www.amazon.com/dp/0578675862/\">Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software, Nadia Eghbal</a> (Lesley Pick #3)</li><li><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.protocol.com/matt-mullenweg\">Can Matt Mullenweg save the internet?</a> (David\'s Pick #1)</li><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/news/awesome-motive-has-acquired-sandhills-development/\">Awesome Motive Has Acquired Sandhills Development </a>(David\'s Pick #2)</li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Sponsor: <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/gravity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow\">Gravity Forms</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Gravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-transcript\"><strong>Transcript</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:00:00] David Bisset: All right. Welcome to the first and maybe even last news draft for post status. My name is David White screen Bisset, I\'ll be your host this evening. We have some great panelists here this evening. Let me explain to you the concept of what\'s going on first. So there are sports drafts where people pick players within a group.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And at the end of the draft, these people pick the players they want, and they form these teams. Well, we are basically doing that except for WordPress news. So we have five panelists plus myself here this evening. There\'ll be introducing themselves in a second. They all have their top WordPress stories of 2021.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I asked what WordPress stories of 2021. They think we\'re the most important or the most influential that meant the most to them. So in a draft, there is an order. We have our order set. The only two rules, I think are one. You obviously can\'t repeat another pick once it\'s out. So you have go to your [00:02:00] alternate picks and you have to be specific in your pick.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it can\'t be just acquisitions. It has to be a specific news story. So X acquired Y and I think there is also one more rule where it\'s about the story, not where it\'s posted from. So if X acquired, Y was taken from the Tavern, the next person can\'t pick the same story just because it was the new story there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The link that they\'re sharing is from another source Post Status. So if we\'re all good on that, let\'s , introduce our panel and the order that was picked by random.org. Ruba, why don\'t we start off with you</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurooba Ahmed: I\'m Aurooba, I\'m a WordPress developer, and I\'m excited to be here,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Daniel, your name, occupation, and rank.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: Daniel\'s Schutzsmith. I\'m a web developer and get to work on things like WP live streams, directory.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yeah. And next is Jason Cosper, not Cooper Cosper.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: Hey, what up everybody? This is Jason Cosper, AKA fat Mullenweg. I am the [00:03:00] WordPress product advocate over at DreamHost and also I cohost WP water cooler with my friends Jason Tucker and Steve Zynga,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Robert Jacoby. You\'re up next. How\'s it going?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: And grade what a wonderful way to end the sort of year Robert Jacobi director of WordPress at cloud ways, a WordPress cloud manage hosting service.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: And you go the way of the clouds last, but certainly not least. Leslie, tell us a little bit about your.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: Hey, it\'s Leslie SIM I\'m co-founder of newsletter glue.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s a WordPress newsletter plugin and also a big Post Status fan.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Oh, okay. Well, that\'s not going to get you anywhere, but the the nice remark is appreciated. All right, let\'s start off with Aurooba, what is your first pick?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurooba Ahmed: I apologize to everyone, but it\'s that 5.9 was delayed. This was really, really big.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I [00:04:00] remember at the beginning of this year, complaining and complaining about 5.8 being released with half-baked features and, for developers who were working on products for clients, this was a really frustrating time. So on 5.9 was delayed because some of the features were not as you know, still needed some issues fixed in them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That felt like we were hurt a little bit. And this was setting a precedent of never doing. A release with half big features and maybe even a president of never doing a release around December holidays. Like maybe this will just shift the whole cycle. That would be really nice. And I mean, I remember someone said that deadlines are not arbitrary and they\'re not, but meeting a deadline for the sake of meeting a deadline is also not a valid approach.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I hope that we can have more discussions around that with WordPress release cycles.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: This was not on my list, but because I only have like five or six items on my list, but I agree that this is a bit of a change. I mean, five nine would have come out. It would have come out. Guess when it [00:05:00] would have come out? On state of the word night.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I don\'t know. It\'s certainly affecting next year somewhat because I think the schedule they\'re trying to talk about next year as a potential four release schedule, or at least two of the four or two of the three we\'ve never had. I don\'t think we\'ve had a release in January. I think that\'s potential.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\'s a very good first round pick. I don\'t know if anybody got that, but so far I\'m safe, but I think that\'s a very good pick. And that\'s one of those picks that\'s going to be by like maybe middle of the year next year, we\'re going to look back on here and say, this is how much this decision made in terms of change.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think it was good decision to . All right. Let\'s see Daniel, you\'re up. What\'s your first pick?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: This happened this year and I didn\'t even realize it was this year was the whole profile press WP user avatar debacle. They had a. 400,000 active installs at the time. And basically I believe what happened was the company got taken over basically and renamed the plug-in [00:06:00] overnight to which it was a bit different than when it used to be.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And for those who didn\'t use WP use avatar, it was basically a kind of a one function type of plugin. But all of a sudden you had this profile press, which was much more involved. And it basically changed the user interface of everything. I had a few clients using it, so it was a bit of a shock. And uh, since then, I\'ve, I believe on all those, we just got rid of it and just did something else instead.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But to me, I was looking back then, you know, what happened in the past year and 2021 and this stuck out right away. Once I realized it did happen in 2021. Yeah. Well, Collins Collins is the owner of profile press and he\'s a developer and owner and really nice guy. There\'s actually a great interview with him over on the WP minute.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was also done around the same time. So it wasn\'t a malicious intent at all. I think it was just, you know, just a misstep basically in in best business practices.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: And just goes to show you the like, I think now as we get further, along in the WordPress ecosystem, how, like, if that would\'ve happened, maybe.[00:07:00]</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe with less users, maybe like four years ago. I think it wouldn\'t have been such a magnified or a focus type of issue. Right. So as WordPress plugins go on, you know, and people have to be really, even more careful because the audiences are getting bigger. The stakes are getting bigger. My headache medications getting bigger.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All right. But that\'s okay. Great. Excellent pick. So profile press debacle, unintended debacle, but debacle was Daniel\'s pick. And thank you very much. So, Jason what\'s your first pick? Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: So, Aruba took my pick naturally. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: We have our first snipe.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is awesome. This is like the first night.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I didn\'t really think we\'d have one tonight.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: Yeah. well, I mean, she\'s in the catbird seat. She is basically you know, there, first up so I applaud you for grabbing that one. So I\'ve got to go with what was going to be my second pick, which is the WordPress performance team.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Ah, [00:08:00] I got sniped.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: Yeah, there we go. So I snipe with a snipe. Perfect. So as somebody who has been focused on WordPress performance through a pretty significant portion of my time in WordPress making WordPress faster, I think that it is great that we are finally seeing a focus for this on core and the people who are throwing their names in till Cruz Henry Helvetica a few other you know, just really amazing people and just the amount of activity that\'s happening in the performance channel or when they have their weekly team meetings is just phenomenal to me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it was kind of a late in the year thing, but I\'m really excited to see it grow in 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: I honestly had doubts in the beginning when I first read it, that it was going to be a thing. It was a proposal when I read it first. And I\'m not saying that nobody cares about performance, but it was just, I don\'t know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:00] It\'s one of those things where I guess maybe it was too good to be true. Right. You know, one of those, one of those deals it\'s being Frank here, my views and opinions don\'t reflect those of any collective or individual Post Status and Post Status team can incorporate. Well, that\'s a great first. Okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\'s a great first pick word, press performance team. And yes, I would. I would admit I was sniped on that. So Robert Jacobi, please leave me with a list I can share</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: with the 2017 first pick the Chicago bears choose Mitch Trubisky.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: That sounds like a great clam chowder too</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Rochelle wrong show.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Oh, that\'s been wrong year. Good Lord. Oh, wrong team.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: I\'m going to snipe. Everyone\'s acquisition. Want to be. Drafts and say that the biggest acquisition news of the year was Yoast being acquired by new fold. Digital</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: hard to ignore that one.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: It\'s I think it\'s important [00:10:00] because everyone knows Yost from like, you know, community hardcore folk to end your end users and users almost got ghosted by Yoast. And I think it really shows what the WordPress economy is evolving into and no opinions here, but it\'s changing. And when you have a huge, acquisition by someone like new fold slash blue host, for all intents and purposes of Yoast I think it really sent up flares economic flares throughout.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress ecosystem</p>\n\n\n\n<p>it very few long old-school WordPress plugin companies left. And that way I think on a lot of people\'s lists was the first one they thought of. Yeah. I\'m not going to mention the other ones, because if I say it three times, maybe like Candyman there\'ll be acquired or they\'re already acquired or they\'re already in the works for all I know for all we know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right. I think it was the suddenness of it too. [00:11:00] That was a quick one. Right. I think with the like advanced custom fields, you could see it a little bit coming, or you wondered in the back of your mind one lazy day on wonder what\'s. I wonder if they\'re ever going to be acquired some day, but I personally never felt that way with Yoast.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s just the yellow steel was approximately nine to 12 months in the works.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yeah. Which, you know, obviously for that good, you keep a secret, right? Yeah. But yeah. So, okay. Well our first acquisition pick off the tape. Fortunately for us, we\'ve got 85,000 more acquisitions on the table. So that may be a popular one, but it\'s not the</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: I\'m following all the acquisitions with that one.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Oh, it\'s going to be a long night. So Leslie, maybe you can what\'s your pick first round?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: So my I\'m going with an acquisition related topic and it\'s extending insight Awesome Motives self-perpetuating marketing machine. So I think like this post was inspired because of Awesome Motives acquisition of [00:12:00] Pippins plugins, but it\'s called something else.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s not called that. And so what I liked about this article was kind of how it mapped out the huge fast SEO machine that Awesome Motive is building and how Sandhills and all their plugins kind of fits into that and how it kind of, yeah, just like creates this big content marketing machine, which is hard to replicate on a smaller scale.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I guess like people often talk about WordPress from a developer point of view. I think like most of you here are, you know, developer centric. And so I wanted to bring in marketing the marketing side of things and, you know, like talk about how begin and WP and all of the automotive blog assets plays such a big part in the WordPress ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like anyone who\'s not a WordPress professional, if they\'re coming into WordPress for the first time, it\'s likely that [00:13:00] Awesome Motives blogs will be the first point of contact into WordPress. And I think like that\'s really interesting to consider and also what that looks like going forward as well for the ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: They have a very good content management strategy I used to work there. So I can tell you if they\'ve got a nice well-oiled machine over there and that in your right. I don\'t, I, you know, maybe it\'s just the circles that I travel with or the circles that allow me to travel with them, if you want to look at it that way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I don\'t think that gets a lot of attention, so, so great job,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: David. I think Syed likes it that way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Let\'s quickly move on to my pick. So this was my first pick and it\'s a pick from the Tavern and it\'s specific it\'s Tavern. It\'s partly the subject material, but also because Sarah Gooding just did an excellent job.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s amp has irreparably damaged publisher\'s trust in Google led incentives. This got on hacker news, which appeals to a broader audience than beyond WordPress, which is one reason why I [00:14:00] picked it. The other is if anybody remembers how amp was I\'m going to say promoted at word camps. And I remember one word camp, it probably it\'s either 2018 one or the 19 one. Like I think it was in giant letters. Google had a huge, and they were advertised. There was other things being promoted there. But I remember all of the discussion and the effort that went into convincing developers to contribute to the amp project. I remember discussions about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, it\'s the old automatic contribution controversy that some people like to bring up, like, you know, like it\'s open source, but there\'s so many people from this company working on it, that they have a certain level of control that is unfair or is unwarranted and so forth. And people made that case for the Google and people again, to, in that project, regardless of where, which site you fell on that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cause I ultimately, in the end, I think that discussion never [00:15:00] really reached an official conclusion or closure. There was a lot of talk and this kind of, regardless of how many developers were aware of what Google was doing, their trust there has been broken and it\'s broken today. It\'s going to take a very long time for Google, I think, to come into the WordPress community and open project or not, and not be looked at with a mark of suspicion, even if the developer, and I\'m not even saying the developers involved with NAMP knew everything that was going on or what, or whatever was brought up. It\'s an excellent article by Sarah on that. And I thought it was fair and it got picked up by a wider audience. And it does address, not just Google, but you know what happens when we have companies, larger companies that are in the news because of the, you know, of antitrust or because of their worker policies or whatever, what far extent do you trust them?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing that not everybody in the [00:16:00] company has the same evil intentions, what you think are evil, but how far do you trust them when it comes to the, you know, WordPress and open source projects? And I think that\'s a good question. And I think everybody has the right to have a different answer. So I thought it was a very thought provoking article.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that was my first pick there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Even if I may, you snipe me. That was my number three pick, but I actually came at it from a different way. It was the Jeremy Keith blog post about resigning from the amp advisory committee.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Okay. That\'s another good one. Yeah. And what did you think about what stood out from you on that one?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'ll throw you a bone.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: That\'s what I think I\'ve been I\'m not an eight amp. Let\'s just call it an amp because that\'s what everyone else calls it. I\'m not an amp fan in the first place. I don\'t like public content being made proprietary. And I think for Justin, all the reasons that he left are the exact reasons no one should be using amp in the first place.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think it\'s bad tech for band.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: It\'s a shame too. Cause I know some people that were, you had some people [00:17:00] for and against it, but in the end that I think that article combined with Sarah\'s excellent evaluation of it. Just really it\'s hard to get a lot of positive. Again, this is my opinion.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not an opinion of anybody else. So that was my pick. I thought it was very thought provoking and it went beyond the WordPress industry. Ruba. What is your second we\'re in the second round pick? What\'s your second pick?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurooba Ahmed: So I had a different second pick, but then something happened today that made me change my second pick.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that was frost being acquired by WP engine. So the reason I had to choose this as my pick is because as a developer and as a person who use WordPress a lot and seeing all these acquisitions happen, I am wary of acquisitions. I wonder how good these bigger companies are going to be as stewards of these plugins and where are they going to take it next?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And when co when plugins and smaller companies get acquired, I tend to think, oh, okay, now this is going to [00:18:00] be more profit heavy, more money-making, less contribution, less being part of the community. But then WP engine did this thing where they acquired a commercial thing and they made it open source.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it reminded me that big company, big money doesn\'t have to mean only more profits and more sales. And in fact you can have big money that brings big contributions back to the community as well. If they choose to. And it made me look at WPS. In a more positive light. So I think that was a great marketing move on their end.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: In fact, I didn\'t have a chance to absorb it a lot, but I know they refunded. Everybody bought a copy, so yeah. Which in all honesty, no, I probably that was jumped, changed the engine, but I think that\'s a Goodwill, both there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Who created frost again?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Brian Gardner</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: and Diego. That\'s it. Where does where\'s Brian work [00:19:00] now</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurooba Ahmed: at WP engine?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: Where does Nick also work now</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: WP engine.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: There\'s something to be said too, though, for Brian Garner has a formula down for doing this because before he had studio press, that also went to</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: WP engine. Oh, and PS. I love Brian Gardner he\'s. He\'s a local. WordPress supergroup because he\'s in the Chicago community. So that\'s amazing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But you know, I don\'t think it\'s an accident that frost followed Brian to WP engine. . If you know Brian up at some other place, frost may have wound up at that other place. That\'s all I\'m saying</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Frost isn\'t even a year old or is it, I think it\'s barely a year old or,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: yeah, I I don\'t if it came out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I thought it came out in 21. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yeah. Okay. Well, good. That\'s another great acquisition picks. So new off the presses. So new and [00:20:00] still at time, Daniel. Let\'s see. What\'s your round two.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: Yeah, mine\'s more an editorial.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Thank goodness. So,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: so this was Paul Lacey had done rather lengthy post about his stance on WordPress, how he was going to leave in the community for a little while.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, I think he\'ll probably come back, but but it was also, you know, truly about his feeling of Gutenberg and the dichotomy between WordPress foundation and automatic and reflections on him, fishing with his father. I mean, it took you for a roller coaster and it\'s probably one of the most beautiful reads I had of the year in the WordPress space, which was really odd because usually we\'re talking about technology more than anything, and this was a little bit more human felt.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it, you know, in, you know, everyone should really take a look at it and he voices some really good concerns. You know, concerns of again, of, what\'s the role of different companies and what we\'re doing, what\'s their own Gutenberg and kind of pushing forward and how that\'s going to reflect, you know, making websites in the future.[00:21:00]</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And how do we bring people into the fold that might be having more difficulty with adopting Gutenberg or, traditionally want to be able to use page builders more often and feel like they\'re getting neglected or pushed out of the community? Personally aside, I mean, I think page builders are here to stay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\'t think it\'s a, this or that. I think it\'s just an added additional kind of quality aspect that people can use, you know, to use an element or use you know, ocean\'s WP or something like that or oxygen. But it was a really good article and it spread like wildfire through the community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you actually saw a lot of people doing blog posts or other posts that were reflecting similar things and, you know, referring back to the specific posts they\'re over on the WP minute.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Okay. Great pick. Yeah. And that\'s why we have the people we have here tonight, because I didn\'t, I w I was hoping to get diverse collection of articles and not just a name, as many acquisitions as we can in the next hour.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, but yeah, it\'s the heart of, and if it impacts you in a heart impacted a [00:22:00] lot of people emotionally, then that\'s definitely a good pick. So, Jason, what\'s your outreach around to here? Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: I\'m maybe gonna pull a Babe Ruth pointed the bleachers and call the shot that round two is going to be pretty Gutenberg heavy because my second pick is a theme dot Jason shipping with WordPress five point eight.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think this is a really a huge deal for folks. I know that you\'re kind of when it comes to custom CSS and stuff like that you can either wear in CSS or json it\'s not really necessarily the easiest switch to make. Like if you present somebody who is a little less experienced with code however I just think that the impact of this or the amount of things that it can control with blocks is going to be massive.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the next few versions of WordPress when five nine finally drops when you know, as [00:23:00] things mature. I just think that theme json really is going to make a huge impact on how themes are built, how child themes are belts, how like all of that basically</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Who\'s doing the theme. I know that more than one person is doing it, but who\'s is David. Somebody is doing the theme .Json generator. Has anybody seen that? Yep. Yeah. David, what\'s the last name I keep forgetting. Yeah. I mean, it\'s looking pretty good, remember when. We had themes and then the underscore generator came out and there was another generator whose name escapes my mind right now, but it seems once we get these generators going, things accelerate.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think that\'s a really great pick because obviously theme .json is something that can be turned into a builder or tool or a companion there\'s so much you can do because Jason\'s practically human readable. That\'s the point of it. So I think that\'s, yeah, I think that\'s an excellent technological we\'ll, we\'ll look back in a couple of years and say, is it, you know, if we [00:24:00] have a thousand themes or variations, is it because of the theme .json and I would venture a guess.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s going to have a heck of a lot to do with it. So that\'s an excellent.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: And it\'s also setting itself up for good expansion in the future, too, of what the capabilities will be</p>\n\n\n\n<p>like.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: So it could have been hopefully extensibility. Yeah, because it could have been that could have gone a different way and not a easily readable editable, text file kind of way either.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So in fact, there\'s probably some things in Gutenberg that are, you know, that you have to know some deep knowledge on that. I wish they could just make it like that magically somehow as easy as adding a file. So. Excellent. Excellent pick. Okay, Robert, you\'re up. What\'s your round number two pick.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: I\'m going with the, I want to extend the extensibility with open verse.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to the open verse. Now we\'re not adding just the code. We\'re extending all the media that comes in contact with work. And the acquisition [00:25:00] technically by automatic of CC search. I think part of the state Matt\'s state of the word is going to insanely impact what every single, you know, day-to-day user can do with audio video and who knows what else will wind up in the open verse?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Okay. So what is the difference between for our listeners and for maybe me, but our listeners? What is the difference between open verse and wordpress.org/photos?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: wordpress.org/photos will be a curated, subset of open verse. As I understand it from the state of the word and that\'ll, you know, have audio and video at some point, but let\'s not say it\'s going to be tomorrow.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that\'ll be. Family-friendly the open-source friendly, the community friendly version of what open verse is because open verse will probably encapsulate a lot more content than probably wp.org can. [00:26:00]</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Well, yeah, it\'s spot from creative comments. Right? So creative commons looks like they didn\'t have the support financially or structurally to be able to have that library automatic acquired it, brought it into the open source.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Correct. So the library technically still exists. The creative comments, it\'s the whole search engine and all the infrastructure around that, because that\'s the hard part. Right. I could have a billion photo albums that are creative commons license zero. But if you can\'t find the folder, you\'re looking for, if you\'re looking for that flower or that bird, you know, you can\'t find it unless there\'s a tool to do it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\'s the one that takes all the you know, the hit on performance. Yeah, just getting stuff done. So, I mean, that\'s the bigger deal at the end of the day. And I think that\'s where they were creative commons was having problems running that on a day-to-day basis. And you know, I\'m going to give automatic and frankly, Matt kudos for that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, I think that really changes the conversation [00:27:00] about what open source means. Now it\'s not a geeky code thing, like GPL this GPL that now it\'s like, oh, I can put up a website and I can click the photos button and I\'m not going to get sued for, you know, this picture of a walrus.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurooba Ahmed: Keep in mind that creative con open verse still has non CC zero images as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\'s the difference between slash photos and open verse because the one on photos will only have</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: CTCs. Exactly. Thanks so much Aruba. Yup. Yup. I mean, that\'s a huge difference. So yeah, on the open verse side, Deal with the licensing voodoo, whereas photos that\'s done, you can use it. Commercial pers personal edit, no attribution, whatever.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. You can do whatever you want with it. So it\'s become the free version of of Getty for all intensive purposes. Oh,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: and we all know how the, how another site that rhymes with bee splash started that. And Matt likes to, [00:28:00]</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: the good part is it\'s not being called WP slash</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Unsplash.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: I trust Matt and automatic with what he said, state of the word, you know, about making sure open is open</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: and automatic had to be involved because they\'re the ones with the money in the infrastructure.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So automated the actual acquisition. And I think they had to, because it\'s not, it can\'t be just mad. It has to be in it. It needs to be a company privately.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Well, there is a WordPress foundation, but they don\'t have the money to acquire anything.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Then you\'re starting to get into, there\'s probably reasons why legally and why it did, why I did what I had to do, but I\'m just glad it\'s back the word they just said it was contributing it back to the, you know, they use the words contributing back to the open source project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, for all intents and purposes, I like you, I trust Matt and I trust them that the fact is they\'re not trying to make a buck off of this. They\'re not trying to take what Getty did with that certain website and turn it into something it wasn\'t originally intended for.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Oh no, everyone\'s going to make a buck out of this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the best part about of [00:29:00] even photos. It\'s the fact that any one can integrate this. It\'s Matt said it stated the word. It is open. It\'s an open API. Wix can use this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Careful. We can only say that three times.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: What if I use the alternative, if I say Squarespace and Weebly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Oh crap. There, it goes two more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>No, but you\'re right. Anybody can use, and they are the ones, but it\'s not it\'s like creative commons, like you said, they can do anything with it. They\'re just ones to maintaining the database. So I can\'t wait to see what like with apple, I can\'t wait to see what your, what you\'ll do with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I just feel the only thing I don\'t like about open versus that it sounds like something else, but Matt Mullenweg thought of the name probably before mark Zuckerberg did announced it anyway.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So anyway, Leslie let\'s get to your number two pick. We\'ve got some great choices here. I have you been sniped.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: I have not I feel like I actually picked my picks to avoid being sniped. So I hope</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: your\'e so [00:30:00] smug, I like that, it\'s going to be easier to take you down next round.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: So my next pick is a podcast. It\'s called the founder\'s field guide and they interview met Mellon wig. The host is Patrick O\'Shaughnessy. And it\'s it\'s just I\'m not sure how many, sorry. I\'m like flipping between zoom and the sites. I don\'t know if any of you listen to the podcast, but it\'s super cool.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it talks. So, basically it\'s an hour long interview and we learn about Matt\'s kind of approach to WordPress. And, you know, he\'s talked a lot about this in the past, but it was nice to just kind of hear it in one hour long podcast. He talks about one day to work on WordPress for the rest of his life and his approach to making WordPress the open source platform or operating platform that also happens to be open source for the web and how he sees, you know, kind of the law [00:31:00] of platforms being.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a company that\'s building a platform, you can only profit 5% off of the platform being built. And that\'s kind of like a good gauge of a thriving platform. So he uses Microsoft as an example, like he says that Microsoft benefits 5% and the platform that they built, you know, everyone else that builds on top of it gets the 95% yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Profit. And I thought that was a really cool approach. I never heard him talk about that before and that, and you know, it really kind of expands your mind in terms of what he thinks is possible and what he wants, you know, like it\'s not going to be a cash grab, you know, at the end of the day, which and that kind of, I guess, leads into what he\'s doing with open verse and what we just talked about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It really, you know, Makes you feel like you can trust the future of WordPress because he\'s trying to build it towards this 5%. I\'m trying not to like [00:32:00] add into many different you know, the salsas as well, because then I\'m going to accidentally snake other people. But you know, he\'s always talking about avoiding the tragedy of the comments and he\'s always talking about Firefox for the future and how you know, he wants more people to contribute.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think understanding that this is kind of where he\'s coming from, like wanting work has to be a platform I want to only ever have take 5% of the profit of the platform. I think that\'s like, yeah, just like a really good once you understand that you can make a lot of business decisions from there and be comfortable in those decisions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Didn\'t he say and say to the word that ratio is that 5% ratio is how five of the future was five. I got that. I- if we accidentally sniped someone\'s specific article on that specific mention of the ratio, then I guess we\'ve done that. But, there\'s, if somebody still has something to share for five for the future I\'ll I\'ll hear it, but that\'s yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that\'s a great pick two and I haven\'t [00:33:00] had a chance to listen to the podcast, man. To do now, if everybody\'s comfortable with it, I\'d like to go through one more quick round, which means share your pick and maybe give a minute explanation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then once we go through that, we\'re basically we\'re basically at that point going to just share real quickly in a fourth round, just basically throwing out. At that point, you don\'t need to explain them. They were just going to blow through it. So we\'re going ever perpetually faster toward the singularity rubella.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\'re up next? What is, what quick now is your third and third pick and real quick, why?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurooba Ahmed: Oh, okay. This is not from a news place, but it\'s something that made a really big impact on me. I\'m going to post this. It\'s a Twitter thread by Nicole Sullivan, where she\'s talking about how she doesn\'t want to be erased when talking about a utility classes and you know, tailwind, for example, is like a library of utility classes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it made me think about in our own community and we\'re press who we choose to [00:34:00] amplify who are the kinds of people that we choose to listen to and share more from and how that impacts. What we understand about the kind of work everyone\'s doing. So for example, Nicole is talking about this because people were asking, Hey, who started this whole trend?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And people are playing to all these men. And it\'s like, hi, I was doing this before the men, but nobody went, nobody\'s sharing that because lots of people chose to amplify the men and not the women doesn\'t mean the women aren\'t doing good work. It means that they\'re just not being amplified. It made me think a lot about like, there was a thread also on Twitter about, Hey, who are all the people like involved in all of these acquisitions?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\'t remember who put out this post Leslie matting but it was like all men. It\'s like, you know, there\'s women involved in this situation too. Let\'s talk about and be more mindful of who we\'re thinking of and who we\'re involving and sharing about. And that\'s you know, it\'s a topic close to [00:35:00] heart.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cool.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: So two things first you gave out a Twitter thread. I did not think of that. I\'m we\'re going to go for it. It\'s it\'s I think Twitter is news it\'s okay. Twitter is news. And second of all, I forgot about me. I skipped myself. So real quick, remember I was at the world with that,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Dave. We\'re all good.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yes. But like my wife, you still have to endure me so real quick.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'m just going backwards a little bit. I actually have a brand new pick that actually has been ma it\'s only been online since December 21st. So it\'s only been online for two days and it actually took an acquisition. I had an acquisition pick ready, but it\'s moved it down in terms of it\'s. It\'s a thought piece.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s actually, I think it\'s a thought piece. Cause I don\'t he did talk with Matt, but it\'s not an interview. It is from protocol written by David Pierce called, and this has a click baity title, but it\'s the only thing that I didn\'t like about the article. It was. Can Matt Mullenweg [00:36:00] save the internet?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think it\'s a really catchy I can see now probably the more I get into it, like sometimes writers don\'t get to pick their titles. Sometimes the editors or whatever\'s do. I thought it was a little click baity. Dan David responded by Twitter. He says, yeah, that\'s I, you know, I\'ll take that judgment then that\'s fine.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But as you go through that, this is not just another profile on Matt Mullenweg. At least I don\'t think so. The more I get into it, it is about, it does start in the beginnings where Matt was a young guy, they have a photo of him. He did upgrade parties instead of whatever kids his age were doing at that time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And which I thought was really cool, but it really kind of lays the impression that, you know, we\'re in this phase right now of such closed walled gardens from Google, from Apple, from Microsoft, from all the big players, right. And even the stuff that is coming up front of all the web three technologies and the promises of that being open and ownership, there\'s still some controversy in that regarding how that\'s going.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I didn\'t, you know, once you realize [00:37:00] that automatic has been buying, basically one of everything it\'s been acquiring it, I\'m going to forget some names here because I\'m being put on. I didn\'t put, I put myself on the spot, but it\'s acquired that journal app. It is a quiet. Yep. It has. We talked about already how the creative comments things was basically acquired slowly, but surely it seems like Matt through automatic is acquiring one, like one piece of something that should always remain open source from various different kinds of categories.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'m trying to remember, there\'s an analytics. If you go to poststatus.com/acquisition, she could probably just look at the automatic parsley. Yeah. So that\'s an acquisition type of fleet. So it looks like he, if you look at it and this article mentions that, but it hides it in like a history and talks about Matt and how he uses WordPress and how he will continue to use WordPress for his full-time career, or at least that\'s how he hopes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But once you start reading this, you begin to realize what, and I [00:38:00] think Matt\'s state of the word kind of hinted that more this year than any other year, In terms of where WordPress is like Gutenberg, he says going to be bigger than he considers Gutenberg bigger than WordPress. Not just because it\'s a product, but because of the openness at other people can use it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gutenberg in of itself is in my mind. Now I\'m thinking of it more like a parsley or more day one is a day one, the app I\'m thinking of, it\'s another piece of this family of products that kind of cover what you would want to maintain an open presence on the web. Maybe social network is one thing that it hasn\'t been touched yet maybe, but I think maybe wordpress.org could be that too.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Who knows? But if you, so anyway, that was my more lengthier number to pick. I think that if you give it a good and fair read sometimes articles really put Matt on a pedestal in terms of things. But I think if you take a step back and realize the and tumbler too. Yes. Somebody mentioned tumbler.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes. That\'s a big one too. And we may not see all of the pieces right away, but once you read this and appreciate the acquisitions automatic [00:39:00] has been doing, I think it starts to give you at least a little bit of a different perspective. And that\'s why I liked it. It wasn\'t just another interview piece about Matt.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was really well done. So anyway, that was my number two, epic. Sorry I got skipped. Daniel, what\'s your quickie number three? Oh, God, don\'t get it. Don\'t take that out of context either. All right, thanks. Sorry, go ahead.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: I gotta tell you, you\'re making me nervous. I\'m sweating bullets over here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cause he just started rattling off all the different acquisitions. Oh no, we got a good one. I think I got a good one.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: You can mention some</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: pocket casts being acquired by automatic. To me, this was a pretty big one. This was actually on the nine to five Mac blog slash easing. That\'s just, you know, podcasts is a great podcast application kind of a competitor to apple podcasts and things like that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, you know, that\'s literally what I listen to on my podcast, but but they have a nice web interface to which most don\'t have. And so that\'s really, you know, been a key thing for me, being able to kind of listen to those while I\'m working and during the day.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Okay. Yeah. And that\'s another thing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, [00:40:00] like you said, that\'s just adding to all these, like the article I was previously talking about. Yeah. That even adds even more to it. Robert, which. At this point,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Mr. Cassper is ahead of me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Oh, I\'m sorry. I\'m sorry. Jason, do you switched zoom? I had my zoom windows set appropriately. Go ahead, sir. I mean,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: I had to mute my video for a second to get my standout and on my apple watch.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: I\'m very sorry. Oh God, we\'re going through hell right now, sir, but what\'s your quickie?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: So yeah the quick one I have is Google\'s flock and the federated learning of cohorts. Yeah. So, flock was a fairly large thing back in. I wanna say April may that had the electronic frontier foundation up in arms, a lot of privacy advocates up in arms.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically like we\'re replacing cookies with this like federated learning cohorts. There\'ve been a few other proposals as well. But [00:41:00] the interesting and the WordPress spin on this is that there was a post up on the make blog about basically like, Hey, let\'s treat flock. Like it\'s a security concern.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We, we don\'t want people who visit our sites to be tracked. So, it seems like Google took its foot off the gas a little bit in part because of large projects like WordPress saying, Hey, hold</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: up. Yeah. And WordPress, I mean, that decision is not made by one person. Right. So Google would have, or at least Google views that as a decision made by a committee or a party or the project or the contributors.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it\'s kind of hard to predict if that will go through. It\'s kind of hard to push that through. Right. So, yeah, I think that\'s an XII I\'ve actually forgotten about that. I forgotten about flock. How can I forget such an acronym? It was a long year it\'s. Okay, man. I had some flock last night with my chicken was delicious, but to Google\'s flux just [00:42:00] doesn\'t need to go.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert, what is your, what\'s your quickie three.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Gosh. I\'m so like jealous of Jason\'s pick for flock. I even wrote about this in April and I, how did I miss that one? I called it flock. Is cash a centralized analytics of segmented humans because that\'s really what it was. It was just another, no, I gotta write that</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: down.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: My number three is. It\'s technically not a WordPress thing. Oh, that\'s a loud, I\'m gonna, you know, upset the apple cart. I want to talk about the American airlines lawsuit of open source matters and an associated hosting company open source matters is the holding company for JeWella. As we know from the state of the word, the second largest, and really the only other top five content management system [00:43:00] you know, that\'s being really utilized out there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>American airlines ha earlier this year, sued open source matters because someone slash someone, created a fishing site with a joomla.com name. Because that was being light. You know, it gets an all into all that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Am I drawing a blank on this? Oh my goodness.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Oh, that\'s, you know, draw, it happens, you know, the WordPress space, but</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: my medication, it\'s not a hundred percent,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: but this is a big deal actually, because this will impact how, you know, I think at the end of the day, what happens when you license a domain name to a third party to utilize for revenue or whatever, and this is where this comes to.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So yeah, this happened the lawsuit was announced in August of this year, but actually I think some of the nitty-gritty was happening much earlier.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Wow. That\'s an, oh, well, I\'ll be reading this right [00:44:00] afterwards. This is news. If I saw this man, I went right by it. This is pretty, very good pick. Very good pick.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Well, I\'ll be doing a deep dive of it next week.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Okay. Well, come up for air. Let me know when you come up for air, let\'s save Leslie. You\'re at the bottom of the three here bef before me anyway, what\'s your third quickie. I got to stop saying that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: My pick is broadly the introduction of the F S E outreach program that started this year. I think it was talked about last year, but it started for reals this year. And yeah, and McCarthy\'s been doing an amazing job. One of the things that I find constantly interesting and maybe a tiny bit irritating is how many millions of people use WordPress, but like, think of WordPress as something that happens to them, like</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: a traffic accident?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: Like, you know, like when Gutenberg comes up and they\'re like, oh, I hit it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, this [00:45:00] sucks and all that. Right. But like it\'s open source so everyone can have their say even, I mean, I get the people who have their essay and then get ignored. But the people who just kind of sit back and just wait for Gutenberg to happen to them or for stuff to happen to them. I\'m not such a fan of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I like the FSE outreach program because it kind of goes out and tries to get people involved. It does a much better job at communicating the things that are happening next. It encourages people to do testing, like the amount of times I\'ve seen and kind of reach out to different people in different platforms.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just trying to get someone, anyone to come and test the next video. This is like, I don\'t ever want to do her job. And I\'m always constantly surprised by how few people come and help tests. I think 10, definitely under 20 people is the kind of typical number which is, [00:46:00] it said right. So, so hopefully, you know, me talking about this gets more people interested in going to do it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But yeah it\'s a cool thing. I like Alex seeing the livestream she\'s been doing and like, seeing it, like she puts out the first time I tried to do on the tests following all the instructions was it was tough. Like I realized it wasn\'t actually that easy to test. And I think like that\'s gotten better over time as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yeah, so it\'s just kind of a cool project that I hope to see it continue next year as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Great. Well, I agree. I, like I said, I\'d like to see more testing as well. So my third quickie pick is actually an acquisition one. Very quick. It was basically Awesome Motive acquired</p>\n\n\n\n<p>sorry, dribble. I\'m sorry. Do a blank. I wanted to make sure I got this right. It got easy digital downloads some out of acquired WP, simple pay affiliate WP. And it basically grabbed all those assets and I\'m dropping the actual article is from DVB beginner, but there\'s also another article. A few there\'s few people covered this as well, but [00:47:00] I thought it was just if I had to pick one acquisition, I think this was the biggest one.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think Sand Hills development, I know was another with bread not on Pippin, sorry. With Pippin basically short term retiring and or another old school, one there all of those products going to automotive I thought was probably the biggest shift. If I had to pick one acquisition that had a big shift, that would be definitely in my top three.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Somebody already picked one and somebody probably will also pick the other one I have in mind too. So, yeah, a lot of products underneath one, one company. I thought that was significant on multiple levels, which I won\'t have time to go into. So that was my third round pick. Now comes our last round, which has been called by other podcasts and I\'ll stick with it and see if it sticks for our first round here, it\'s called the, bring out your dead round, where we are not going to give any explanations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just simply read what you have left and let us know if anybody, if including, if you got sniped by anybody else, if you haven\'t mentioned already Ruba, what have you got left [00:48:00] real quick listed out for us.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurooba Ahmed: I got a snipe when you talked about Pippin retiring. The other thing I had was MailChimp\'s sail and the public draft release of cascade layers, which is going to be really big in CSS.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The gravity forms 2.5 release, which was, and ECF being acquired by delicious brains and the element tours, pricing update.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Oh, yeah, you got lots of good ones in there. I can\'t pick just one to critique on Daniel. What is your-</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: element or cloud or whatever they\'re calling it today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: Let\'s see. I got sniped on the protocol article about Matt. Also got sniped on the uh amped thing there. The ones I had left were let me just bring it up. Yeah. Oh, I got snapped on the frost one too. That\'s right. And the man I got,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: you got sniped a lot for being somebody who was number two on the list.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: I do have a good one here though, which was our future together at post status, which was coordinator\'s post about taking over post status. And I had just joined Post Status, I think maybe a month before that. [00:49:00] And so that was a pretty transitional thing for me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Right. Pretty good. Yeah. That obviously had impact for me for me as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That seemed like so long ago, but a yes, at the beginning of this year, Brian Cross guard was still owner of Post Status. So, Jason, I have, I think you\'re up next.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: That\'s correct. Yeah. So, let\'s just get through my small handful of other articles automatic acquiring frontier. And having their founders working full-time on Gutenberg, like, Hey fantasy, like, you know, you\'re a cool looking project, but get out of here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We need you for Gutenberg.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yeah. They gave up their rest. They gave up what they were working on to the open source community, which basically means this is your problem then.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: Yeah. It dead.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Well, I\'m not going to say dead. Well, I mean, they gave it up to the open source community. It\'s kind of like leaving food out for the bears.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s like, just don\'t look back and you\'ll just pretend the bears had a. [00:50:00]</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: Well, I guess to keep in the theme with the, bring out your dead it\'s, I\'m not dead yet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurooba Ahmed: It\'s just a fresh of stewards and they\'re gone and there\'s no transitioning team. It\'s dead.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: So, also dropping support for internet Explorer 11 that happened this year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wow. Yeah. Out of self-interest WP, watercooler turned nine years old this year. 400 episodes. You know, we\'ve been at it for awhile. I came along within the past, like four or five years. So I\'ve only been a row along for part of that ride, but you know, it\'s just you run into a lot of WordPress podcasts that don\'t stick around that maybe only put out like 10 or 20 episodes</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: or 300 episodes is only that much, but yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: And the last one, a weird pick Matt Mullenweg backing open insulin open source insulin back in July. And he kind of, put his money behind [00:51:00] that. And I think that is, I mean, it\'s not necessarily a WordPress thing for the people who are in the WordPress community affected by type one diabetes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s a huge thing. But just the fact that he did that I thought was super cool.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yeah. I think I remember hearing about that, but yeah I, it just, so went along with Matt personality and his view of the open web, that it wasn\'t a surprise when I heard about it, even if it wasn\'t WordPress related, but it is so nice to hear something when it comes to man, and it\'s not WordPress related because sometimes that\'s rare when it comes to our radar.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert bring out your dead.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: I\'m going to lead with open source is broken by Christine. Daughdrill this, I liken the shaking the up and down nods of approval on this one. It I\'ve been in the open source space for almost 20 years. And I know that open [00:52:00] source contributors are treated less than dirt until something completely explodes, cough log for J.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then the folks all like four of them who are supporting this thing for free get yelled at for destroying the internet for like three days. And that\'s ridiculous. What is the, you know, the mindset of, you know, folks who have worked their tails off to make this stuff. And yeah, it\'s their fault because no one wants to pay them to make sure that, you know, there\'s, you know, syntax error somewhere keeps running.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. So look at it, look at our lives, everyone here, certainly on this calls. And certainly everyone listening to this is wholly dependent on a million billion pieces of code written by [00:53:00] folks who did it for fun for dinner, for, you know, testing the bounds of tech trying to solve a bigger puzzle, WordPress Linux, Apache, DNS, every, I mean, we could go on and on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the support for these communities is crap and yeah, that, you know, that\'s going to be. Whether it\'s the it\'s a story that no one cares about because if they cared about they\'d already paying into it. So yeah. Support your open source project. Yeah, I like it. Cause it runs every minute of your day.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: I got, when I tweeted something, once it was about like a company saying we have, we make tons of money off open source. We linked to support the open source community and the open source community says pay us. And the company says, but not like that. I like that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Yeah. I mean that, that\'s the problem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: All right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, very good. We\'ll just, I\'ll put a pour one out for the open source contributors tonight, ladies and gentlemen, [00:54:00] as we move to our final. Leslie, what\'s your bring out your deads or mostly dead.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: So I\'m going to piggyback on what Robert just talked about. So one of my picks is Nadia. I\'m going to pronounce her last name, wrong her book called working in public, the making and maintenance of open source software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that might have come out last year, but let\'s pretend the chemo this year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. So it\'s kind of, the same as what Robert talked about. It looks into open source, how it\'s all structured, the, you know, tiny bits of code that, that run so much of our platforms today. And interestingly, it talks also about the communities that maintain it and how different open source projects have different, have evolved to have different styles.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So for example, some. Some [00:55:00] maintainers like to be contacted on Twitter, for example, and others such as WordPress express, the city don\'t ever contact us on Twitter because that\'s not how we\'re able to communicate. And it just talks to about the size and the scale and the scope of open source projects and how they\'re all so different.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it, it kind of actually sent us around, get hub and talks also about how much get hub has changed, how open source is run and operated any team these days. So yeah, a really good book. How do you recommend it? So that\'s one of my picks and I\'d quickly just go through the other two. The next one is Wix.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: The second one here, second mention. The</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: WP Tevin article title is &#8220;Wix takes a jab at WordPress with bewildering new marketing campaign,&#8221;.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: I got you. Snake me, sniped him. One of my, when my, my, one of my dead ones here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: Yeah. So wix going taking a snipe at [00:56:00] WordPress. It\'s those army headphones though in know a bunch of people who\'ve got them and we were just really confused.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the last pick that I had was the white house. So I\'m not American, but the white house.gov website being rebuilt in like crazy short amount of time maybe a month and completely rebuilt going from Jupiter back to WordPress and being built in Gutenberg, which I thought was really cool.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So yeah, those are my picks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yeah. And Helen actually gave a pretty good presentation of how all that went down during the word camp Europe know WordCamp US a couple of months ago she gave the full story. Well, as much as she can reveal, and the fact that they turned it around that fast was mind-boggling. That was also a snipe.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You, you pretty much slept the rest of my dad. Leslie there I had white house runs on WordPress. I also had things like proposed WordPress performance team gets Greenlight that was also taken I had the Wix one as [00:57:00] well, the marketing campaign. How could you forget that? I think the only one I have left that wasn\'t touched by anybody here is the WordPress economy drives more than half a trillion revenue, which was a report reported, or it was a report authored by WP engine.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And since our WordPress market share Alexa is being not the Alexa the device, but Alexa company, they supply the numbers for w three texts, market share numbers, which is where we get all of our 43%, 40%, were a little over 43% right now that shuts down in may. So if that shuts down, our ability for that market share number is going to be, I don\'t know if anything will take its place, but in my opinion, relying on the market share number, especially when it\'s going to stop.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually at some point it\'s not a good way to, it\'s not a good, real quick way to tell WordPress is a success in terms of growth, in terms of all of this, we ha we relied on that number because of as easy. And, but I think what we should start doing now is looking at other places [00:58:00] to determine the strength of a WordPress the community and all of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And one of it is money. I thought this article really kind of, it was the first time I\'ve think I\'ve seen half a trillion in revenue in terms of the entire WordPress space, not just somebody like Automattic is we\'re 7.4. Or some which also I think was news this year. So I thought that was a pretty critical article that other people now can start to build off of and, or add to their collection of how they can tell how the WordPress ecosystem is moving along because market share, it was kind of a poor metric to begin with.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it\'s, you know, the closer you get, the higher you go up, whether we\'re presses growth slows or not in terms of market share, it\'s kind of like the iPhone market share doubled every year. You know, I phoned for so more than all the I-phones previous years put together iPhone five, the same thing, but eventually that iPhone market share slowed.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it\'s still making record profits. It\'s still doing all of these wonderful things today. And I think that\'s where the WordPress economy [00:59:00] is going to be. You won\'t see that market share number, go up, even if we have a market share number, but you\'re going to see all these other factors. And that\'s why I think the.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Article from WP engine is a good article to start thinking like that. Well, that was fantastic. Thank you everybody. I I think we had a very wonderful, diverse set. Some surprises, some things I never even read before. Let me see if I can look in slack right now. This may be Barra, edit something out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay. So if you can go ahead right now and just paste the, I only need the top three. I\'ll get the others later. If you haven\'t put your top three in slack, just all you need to do is just drop the link. I\'ll be able to figure it out from there. And then what I\'ll do is I\'ll go through everyone, read it off, and then we\'ll be done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since I\'m editing this part out anyway, and I\'m waiting for Jason and Daniel, you put it in there. So we\'re rating waiting on Robert. Leslie. Ruba needs to just update slack real quick. This podcast episode will probably be out next [01:00:00] week. It\'s hard to say near the end of the year, cause we have a lot of end of year stuff going on, but I\'ll let you know about that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I need a picture from every one of you at some point in the next couple of days to put in graphics for promotion for this. And I\'ll try to keep you updated in terms of anything else I might need from you. But I think that\'s basically it because we should have all the links in slack. I can order them and all of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If this goes well, we were hoping to get a second episode out of this with some other people who couldn\'t make it for this time zone too, but you are the first congratulations, no longer a draft versions, as they say, well, I should probably shouldn\'t use that word. Okay. Strike it. New word, newbs noobs.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There we go. This is why I have, this is why I have producers. They have poo-pooed my ideas so often. And I didn\'t really, I didn\'t say poopoo in the beginning, but they told me to say that word instead. I\'m calling</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Corey right now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Oh, you can come, please. It probably thinks of</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: you. Oh, also too. If you want to spice [01:01:00] up the podcast, you should throw in some more combat stuff like bonus round</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: finish. Well, that\'s why you, we should deal with the end. We should just finish it. Alright. Let\'s see what we got. All right. Jeff is still alive that he\'s only in slack. We should\'ve just brought him on. He could have just listened. All right. So here we go. Running through the top three here. Ruba.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yours is up there we go. Yours was the WordPress 5.9 release. It was frost being acquired and made open source and stubborn Nella utilities classes, Twitter thread. That was your three picks. Excellent picks. Daniel, your picks were you w the WP user avatar tobacco with profile press.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was how Gutenberg has divided WordPress. That\'s what the article was titled. Remind me of the author again on that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Let</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: me see. I</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: don\'t remember. It\'s a long night. I\'ll edit this. Hopefully [01:02:00] don\'t worry. It\'s from the WP minute. I\'m just remembering who policy. Okay. Thank you very much. He deserves the credit and then finally podcast app podcast acquired by automatic again, another great one of those. Acquisitions that you may not have thought of at first in 2021, but I think definitely fits into a grand scheme of things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\'s see Jason, your top three, the WordPress performance team. That was an excellent one. The theme digests on another great one with 5.8 and Google\'s flock and WordPress they\'re pretty good. Solid picks. Robert yours were the Yoast joins the new phone, digital acquisition, the open verse announcement and the American airlines, Susan sues online publisher and host over fake website involving Joomla, which is something I\'ll be reading right after this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And Leslie you\'re top three was the marketing machine blog post from the get elliptics.com. It was the the article about the past, the present of the future with Matt mullenweg\'s. And that was from my [01:03:00] podcast. Joined Colossus that the name of the podcast, or that\'s at least the URL where we\'re pointing out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then your last pick was the waking of, excuse me, working in public, the making in maintenance of open source software. I won\'t try to pronounce the author\'s name, but it is a book on amazon.com published in August of 2020. I thought that was a very excellent pick as well on our first book pick. So,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: and also the FSC outreach program.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yes. And that too, I don\'t know. I can\'t remember if that was in your quickies or your deads definitely need to be renamed. My, my final three or my big three was the amp was, has a rapidly damaged publisher\'s trust. And half of the credit goes to the subject matter. Half of it goes to Sarah Gooding\'s writing on that piece.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ken saved the internet from the David from the protocol. Article written by David Pierce and the acquisition of automotives acquisition of easy digital downloads, [01:04:00] WP, simple pay affiliate WP, and all of that stuff from Sandhills development as well. I think that was my one acquisition pick, which I I\'m surprised nobody got to Pagely, but that\'s fine.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They\'ll they? I managed</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: chat, but it\'s just, you know, it happened so recently. And there\'s just so many other things that</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: I have to say it once, because it\'ll show up in the transcript. It\'ll just make everybody feel good. Yeah. We\'ve only said Wix twice. Oh, crap.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: Well, let\'s say go daddy mode. What happens when you say GoDaddy three times?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: I get a coupon in the, in my email for free months. I was thinking, so why do so ever? I know what I do on the first of.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: It\'s like a Sinatra. I\'m going to give him a shout out for that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: It should, he should. It\'s a lots of companies did a lot of hard work this year. I will. So I want to thank my panelists and I\'m going to go on the order of which they were delivered.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And please let me know as you\'re closing off here, where people can find you on the internet, let\'s start with Aurooba.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurooba Ahmed: I\'m a [01:05:00] Aurooba.com or twitter.com/aurooba, Aurooba. Thanks for having me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: No, thank you for having us. I think you were one of the first people that said yes. It\'s very rare. Yes. When it comes to this podcast.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes. At least anyway Daniel where people can find you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daniel Schutzsmith: Yeah. Danielschutzsmith.com. You know, I do a lot of different projects, but really just find me on Twitter. So it\'s S C H U T Z S M I T H.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Great. And Jason Cosper, where can we find you? Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason Cosper: You can find me at Jason.Cosper.ME or on Twitter at B as in boy, O G as in girl, a H</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: like, Ooh.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, it sounds like I, yeah, something I should yell in the middle of the Costco\'s and see what happens. Robert trying</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: to spell Jason\'s Twitter handle. Hold on. I\'ll be there. I\'ll be back in a minute. When I figure out all</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: the letters well, admire your a mustache in the meantime. [01:06:00] Go ahead.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: You can always reach me somewhere at cloudways.com but on Twitter at Robert Jacobi spelled like it\'s sounds except it\'s an I at the end and Robertjacobi.com.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, there\'s Jason, you know, we\'ve got triple J who\'s got the Jacoby with the.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yes. Yes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert Jacobi: It\'s really supposed to be an eye.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: I\'m just telling you, we don\'t want to get you too mixed up. That\'s right. Definitely not different facial hair at the very least. And finally, Leslie, my darling, Leslie, where can people find you?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lesley Sim: You can find me on Twitter. I\'m there too much. I\'m only second to you. And your means stated you can find me on Twitter at lesley_pizza, L E S L E Y underscore pizza. And you can find my plugin at newsletters new.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Bisset: Yes, that\'s right. And if you need a newsletter and a plugin form, put her on the list and definitely I [01:07:00] want to thank you all for coming this evening.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was the first time we did this first time I\'ve done this. I think it went really well. I, we there\'s a lot of people doing into the year roundups. In about two weeks, you\'ll see everybody doing the predictions for 2020 twos. That\'s your, if I\'ll be able to do anything differently there, but I wanted to close out the year what our best picks were in a format.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was we\'ll show these off on post status.com as our, as kind of like our teams, you know, this is, these are the picks that represent us and what we thought. And I think we got a really great mixture. Thank you for not turning this into acquisition. Allie, really appreciate that. I probably will be our invite by five VCs on next time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, you know, I\'ll just sit here and just, you know, watch Seinfeld or something while they rattle off all their acquisition acquisitional hires. But thank you very much for coming. And I hope you guys have a good night and I wait a minute. Let\'s back up. Let me re edit that. I hope all you people have a good [01:08:00] night.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All right. Thank you.</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, 30 Dec 2021 17:30:17 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Olivia Bisset\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:23;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:42:\"WordPress Foundation: Looking back at 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:41:\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/?p=206345\";s: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:63:\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/looking-back-at-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:6647:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">As 2021 is coming to an end, it is time to look back at the year that was. 2021 was a challenging year for the world due to the continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite all the challenges, the WordPress Foundation was able to make excellent progress in its mission of educating the public about open source software and serving the public good &#8211; thanks to our global team of spirited volunteers and contributors.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to find out about our various programs in 2021.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"do-action-charity-hackathons\">do_action charity hackathons</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of our focuses this year was to <a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/do_action-hackathons-and-open-source-workshops-in-2021/\">revamp our do_action program</a>. Thanks to our hard work, do_action organizers now have a dedicated <code>location@doaction.org</code> email ID powered by Google Workspace for Non profits, which will help them in their initiatives. We also kick-started discussions to organize a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/09/01/proposal-centralized-global-do_action-charity-hackathons/\">global do_action charity hackathon held fully online</a>, and we are all set to execute this idea in 2022. We also announced <a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/announcement-in-person-do_action-hackathons-are-back/\">the return of in-person do_action hackathons</a> after nearly 18 months of online events!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We had two do_action charity hackathons planned this year: <a href=\"https://doaction.org/event/karnataka-2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">do_action Karnataka </a>and <a href=\"https://doaction.org/event/nigeria-2021/\">do_action Nigeria</a>. do_action Karnataka was held in August 2021, where 12 volunteers worked hand-in-hand to create websites for three non profits. You can read more about the event here: </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/do_action-karnataka-2021-a-report/\">do_action Karnataka 2021: A report</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>While <a href=\"https://doaction.org/event/nigeria-2021/\">do_action Nigeria had to be canceled</a> due to unforeseen circumstances, the local WordPress community &#8211; led by WordPress Community Deputy <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mariaojob\">Mary Job</a>, is doing a phenomenal job on the ground by uplifting women and children <a href=\"https://uwani.org/\">through their own charitable initiatives</a> using WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"introduction-to-open-source-workshops\">Introduction to Open source workshops</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we <a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2020/open-source-workshops-november-2020-report/\">brought back</a> our <a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2018/call-for-organizers-introduction-to-open-source-workshops-for-2018/\">Introduction to Open source workshops</a> as a way to re-engage the community and to reinforce our core mission of promoting open source software to the community. At the start of this year, we <a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/do_action-hackathons-and-open-source-workshops-in-2021/\">announced our plans to continue these workshops in 2021</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time of writing this post, we have had 11 Global Introduction to Open source workshops, which have had a total of 233 RSVPs so far. We also have our <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/282952546/\">final Introduction to Open source workshop</a> for the year scheduled for tomorrow (December 31) as well!</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"learn-wordpress\">Learn WordPress</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn WordPress (<a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org\">learn.wordpress.org</a>) &#8211; a cross-team initiative led by the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/\">Make WordPress Training team</a> was launched in December 2020. The initiative serves to democratize and support WordPress learning by providing high-quality WordPress learning content in different formats. At the time of publishing this post, the platform had published the following content in 2021 alone:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>39 <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/workshops/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video workshops</a></li><li>2 new text/video based <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/courses/\">courses</a></li><li>20 <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plans/\">lesson plans</a></li><li>134 <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/social-learning/\">social learning spaces</a></li><li>4367 RSVPs for <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/social-learning/\">social learning spaces</a>. </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The contributor teams working on this project have some amazing plans for the project, and the WordPress Foundation will continue to support their work in the best way possible. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Several individuals contributed generously to the WordPress foundation this year. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to <a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/donors/\">all our donors</a> who supported us in sustaining the foundation this year. Special mention to the following individuals who went above and beyond in supporting us in 2021:</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3 id=\"sustainer-1000-per-year\">Sustainer &#8211; $1000 per year</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>10up</li><li>Human Made</li><li>Jetpack</li><li>Matt Mullenweg</li><li>Multidots, Inc</li><li>Sujay Pawar</li><li>Wordfence</li><li>InMotion Hosting</li></ul>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3 id=\"sustainer-200-per-year\">Sustainer &#8211; $200 per year</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Donavon Guyot</li><li>Eric Kuznacic</li><li>Ellen and Karl Olinger</li><li>Pippin Williamson</li><li>W4</li><li>René Hermenau / WP Staging</li></ul>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress Foundation has several ambitious plans for 2022, none of which would be possible without your help. If you would like to support the WordPress Foundation and contribute to our mission of serving the public good and educating the public about open source software, please consider donating to the WordPress Foundation. Your donation goes a long way in keeping the web open. Please use the link below to donate. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/donate/\">Donate</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for your continued support of the WordPress Foundation. Here&#8217;s wishing you all an excellent holiday season and a happy 2022!</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 30 Dec 2021 12:48:59 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s: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:24;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"WPTavern: A Throwback to the Past: Retro Winamp 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=127752\";s: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:149:\"https://wptavern.com/a-throwback-to-the-past-retro-winamp-block?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-throwback-to-the-past-retro-winamp-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:4112:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In mid-November, I happened upon a block plugin called <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/retro-winamp-block/\">Retro Winamp Block</a>. As many of our readers know, I am always on the lookout for those WordPress extensions that remind me of the era when I first started using computers and exploring the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin seemed to fit the bill. It had &#8220;retro&#8221; in the title, so it had already piqued my interest without even installing it. It had been years since I used Winamp. The media player was first released in 1997 for Microsoft Windows and grew in popularity through the early 2000s. By the time I arrived on the scene, it had already built a massive user base. It was the best option available for creating music playlists at the time, and it was skinnable.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Winamp was popular back when the world wide web felt more alive. I still look upon it as the golden era of user creation and the blossoming of fandom. Where else could you find a collection of Brad Pitt skins for your computer&#8217;s media player? Or, <em>One Piece</em>? Even <em>Super Mario</em>?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did not hesitate to install this throwback plugin. Unfortunately, it errored out whenever I attempted to add an audio file. So, I set it aside with a note to look at it down the road.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few weeks later, I read WordPress lead developer Helen Hou-Sandí&#8217;s <a href=\"https://helen.blog/2021/12/its-so-hard-to-say-goodbye-to-yesterday/\">goodbye announcement to 10up</a>, the company she had been with for a decade. With the help of Mel Choyce, co-workers Jeff Paul, Darin Kotter, and Tung Du created the Retro Winamp Block in her honor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I checked back in on the plugin. There was an update, and the change log noted a fix for the error I had encountered. In minutes, I was able to once again experience the glory of one of the first media players I had used on my old Gateway laptop.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Retro Winamp Block in the editor.\n\n\n\n<p>Retro Winamp Block has does not have many options. Actually, it only has one customization that users will be interested in: the player skin. They can enter any URL for it, and over 83,000 are available via the <a href=\"https://skins.webamp.org/\">Winamp Skin Museum</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Winamp Skin Museum.\n\n\n\n<p>The museum is hosted by <a href=\"https://github.com/captbaritone/webamp\">Webamp</a>, a project that implements an HTML5 and JavaScript of the old Winamp 2.9. 10up used it for its own Retro Winamp Block plugin.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since installing the latest version 1.0.1 of the plugin, I have only hit one issue. The live preview in the editor is partially broken. The player floats in the same spot instead of scrolling with the page..</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I had one wish for this plugin, it would be to see the addition of Milkdrop, the popular Winamp visualizer add-on.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Winamp with Milkdrop add-on.\n\n\n\n<p>Mostly, I simply enjoyed this jaunt down memory lane. I even went as far as installing the latest Winamp on my computer. The original player still has a thriving community if its forums are any indication. The UI is practically unusable on my laptop, so I dropped it after listening to an old Ashlee Simpson album.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While I enjoyed the nostalgia of the old player, I want to see modern-day implementations of these types of features for WordPress. Instead of a throwback to Winamp, where is the skinnable audio block?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I put together a quick pattern to test out some ideas (<a href=\"https://gist.github.com/justintadlock/a38e129326dfdbeff4498999130aeee8\">code on Gist</a>):</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Cover + Audio + Social block pattern.\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/63161c1f1d/\">background is by Jeff Golenski</a> from WordPress Photos (this directory is already coming in handy). A few adjustments later, I had a custom-styled audio layout. However, I could not modify the audio player itself. It is just the browser default. There is no equalizer, track info, or visual flair. Just a clean, boring player that longs for someone to sprinkle a little pizazz on it.</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, 30 Dec 2021 02:43:25 +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:25;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 39) — WordPress 5.9: Delays, the Customizer, and Contributing\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=91867\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/39/\";s: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:59922:\"<h3>&#8220;Too many things were interrelated and we didn’t have enough people who were looking across…&#8221; —<strong>Anne McCarthy</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David has an informative chat with <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong>. Anne is a <strong>Developer Relations Wrangler</strong> for <strong>Automattic</strong> and (among other things) has been responsible for many of the recent videos showcasing the features of <strong>Full Site Editing</strong> and <strong>WordPress 5.9</strong>. David and Anne talk about what decisions led to the delay of WordPress 5.9, her start with <strong>Automattic</strong>, COVID\'s effect on core contributions, and how polished Full Site Editing might be by the end of January 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also: </strong>David asks Anne what the future of the WordPress Customizer will be in a world of Full Site Editing.</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\">Every week <strong><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">Post Status Excerpt</a></strong> will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what\'s new in WordPress in a flash. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/26a1.png\" alt=\"⚡\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />You can listen to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">past episodes</a> of <strong>The Excerpt</strong>, <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/\">browse all our podcasts</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe on <a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7\">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d\">Castro</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts\">Player.fm</a>, <a href=\"https://pca.st/05rR\">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\">Simplecast</a>, or by <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f3a7.png\" alt=\"🎧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png\" alt=\"🔗\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">WordPress 5.9 Revised Release Schedule</a></li><li><a href=\"https://nomad.blog/2021/11/23/why-i-voted-to-delay-wordpress-5-9/\">Why I Voted To Delay WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Sponsor: <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/gravity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow\">Gravity Forms</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Gravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-transcript\"><strong>Transcript</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I didn\'t go to the state of the word, obviously, w it was, it would take too much time away from me, tweeting fun, little memes and remarks. So I decided to stay home and it hurt your</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Twitter</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> game. Yeah. Twitter didn\'t ban me. So, you know, I must be on the good list. But yeah, it was, I thought it was you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you did you watch it?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I did watch it, but I will admit that I was helping with the slides that day. So what I did actually watch, I was pretty fried by the time I actually watched it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> How did you help with the slides?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Just from afar. There were some demos that needed some voiceovers and designers had done two wonderful demos, but there was just no con like voiceover to explain what was actually happening.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I jumped in to do some of those and just kind of fill filling gaps with the</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> bar.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I knew that voice sounded familiar.I mean, not every voice cause I\'m like, wow, you must have had a lot of cigarettes that day for that for that voice. But no I forget his name, but we, there was a voice that I remember for one of the [00:02:00] demos that previously did, like a whole bunch of WordPress demos and he has an accent and I can\'t think of his name right now, but I will later&#8230;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Oh, you\'re probably thinking Michael Peck.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yes, that\'s probably</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> yes, he did the 5.9 voiceover demo. And that\'s actually like, I don\'t know if you\'ve seen a YouTube video, but there\'s a awesome YouTube video. That group has worked on. A WordPress YouTube channel. And he did the voice over for that. And it\'s like a really cool kind of throwback to the early days where he would do release videos and he like knocked it out of the park.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pretty sure.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> What does he do besides does all he do is voiceovers. What does he do?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> No, he works for automatic. Now. He\'s mainly focused, I think on a combination of probably. Brand and design stuff or a purse.com. So</p>\n\n\n\n<p>we got them on loan.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I said, he must have, you must have been in some virtual cafeteria, regular cafeteria back then in the here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you\'re like, oh, that voice, I must have that voice.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> It\'s very impressive. I have a friend who has a really good radio voice. I\'m always really [00:03:00] jealous. I want him to record my voicemail at some point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh yes. Anybody with an accident? I wanted to be good. I want it on mine. My parents said I always had a great face and voice for books.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So let\'s talk about, let\'s actually talk a little bit, the videos. How did the I know you\'re involved in them now. I, you seem to be in the. We\'re going to have our IC a video. Most of the time, outside of the state of the word, it looks like you, that you are pushing them. Are you primarily the one that makes those.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, for the YouTube videos. I have some on my personal channel that I do, I did help with the 5.9 video, mainly from a logistics wrangling, like figuring out script actually did an initial voiceover that got nixed and be like, Michael police come in here. I was very sick and Michael very graciously hopped it at the last minute, but mainly I just kind of help out in terms of.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coming up with ideas. So sometimes with learn WordPress folks, I\'ll also share some like review what they\'re working on, but a lot of the YouTube videos on my channel are [00:04:00] just things that I find interesting or that I anticipate with the next release. We just need to get some content out there and I\'m fortunate to be so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the project that I can share things early and from there I can then send them to folks who actually have real followings and be like, Hey, I know you\'re probably going to create content, but the navigation block, here\'s like a rundown of all the features. Here\'s how I\'m presenting it, like do your thing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it actually started that way where I was just creating content as a way to actually demonstrate something for other people to kind of just. Get the word out about something new that was coming and it was easier to communicate, especially from afar using videos. I had no aspiration. It helps a lot.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. And I have zero aspirations to be like a YouTuber. I just like, I don\'t think I\'m, you know, have the equipment or the ability to be very good at it. Like some folks are in the WordPress community, but it is fun. It\'s cool. I guess to have it\'s very visual.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s very visual. I know a lot of people really appreciate the, like, just give me the heads up [00:05:00] in two to three minutes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cause I remember when I think after Gutenberg was launched, we really appreciated those two or three minute demos that was at Marcus did during the state of the words or during presentations at work camp us or something like that, where you sat down in two minutes or three minutes when you got basically.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All you needed to know. And it was, there was a wow factor there. They, you know, they look at time and space by doing this. I think that\'s a very good idea and I hope you continue. Yeah, I plan to, so</p>\n\n\n\n<p>yeah, I appreciate that because I\'ve got a lot of encouragement from Paul AC and Nathan Wrigley, and they were both like, you should do it, but you\'d be fine.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I was like, I don\'t know, like, I don\'t think I have the time or I don\'t think it\'s like saying that I would be very good at. And I\'ve gotten good feedback where people are kind of like what you\'re saying was like, I need to see the visual and also. Who is so close to the project on a day-to-day basis.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s like, give me the little details. Like, I don\'t want to just see it at a high level. Give me the like bells and [00:06:00] whistles. So it\'s kind of a, it\'s a cool, neat way to connect with folks too. I\'ve gotten this just this week. I had like three or four people reach out and my contact form, like, Hey, I watched your video about this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like, can you help me with facts?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh great, I\'m a support person now! Yeah. Now. But it\'s, you know, in the beginning was so easy to see the mess because there were massive changes or adjustments happening to Gutenberg, but, and there still are, but now things are being tweaked and being refined. And over a post status, Courtney produces like every week she produced.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So this is the list of things that are happening in core. And of course, a lot of it\'s Gutenberg related. Yeah. And, you know, share, feel free to share with me your thoughts on this is it. I think it\'s becoming a little bit harder now to gauge a lot, unless it\'s a big headline feature and full site editing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can get into that unless it\'s a headlined feature that you\'ve been hearing about. I think, you know, when I do the summaries and do the post for post status and what little time I have to review the text, which is in a [00:07:00] make.wordpress.org document. It\'s kind of hard to visualize a lot of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And therefore it\'s kind of hard for anyone outside of maybe two or three dozen people to really communicate and train, you know, translate that excitement to other people or to show how much progress is being made. Because you read a bullet list and it\'s, you don\'t know, you don\'t know how much work is happening behind those bullet lists for starters.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then, you know, something could do something very cool visually, but if it\'s just on a bullet list on make.wordpress.org, the public not gonna see that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, no, I think you\'re right about that. And that\'s one of the things I don\'t know if you\'ve noticed, but in the last year or so the designs and like the visuals that had come with the what\'s new in Gutenberg posts have definitely been upgraded because of that exact problem is it\'s like, show me the value, show me how it actually connects, how it makes my life easier.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And there\'s also a series of posts. I do the core editor improvement posts. Yeah, that also seeks to even highlight that more. And it started out as like highlighting individual things. And recently I\'ve [00:08:00] actually had to switch to not have to, but it actually makes sense to switch to like a collection of improvement.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I have a post right now that I\'m working on with a couple of folks. On like performance at 5.9. So let\'s talk about the performance enhancements. Let\'s run through it in one place so you can see it. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> You\'ve given me a topic to talk to you about. Thank you. But to some somebody\'s credit though, and I think when they do the Gutenberg plugin, Release posts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They do offer him graphics and they\'ve gotten better with videos. I just wish everything was an animated GIF so I could share it. That\'s a lot easier. Thank you very much. So those existed, but like, I think for what you\'re doing and for some of the things that I think flying under the radar, you know, that, you know, not again, not the headline features.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think the there\'s nothing. Then a short video. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> And the connecting the dots. Like I started that connecting the dots series, just kind of on a whim because I found something that I was like, you can do this. If you combine these different tools, you can then do this crazy thing. Like I think [00:09:00] that\'s also, I actually, that\'s the series I\'m probably most excited about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like, it\'s fun to do these headline, like explore navigation blockers from 5.9 or the query look like that. Those are fun videos to do, but the connecting the dots. It feels more exciting. Like I\'m like, gosh, yes, get this major feature in your head. But then also like, let\'s talk about like the weird things you can do and the cool things you can do when you actually combine these things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cause that\'s, what\'s really powerful is it\'s not like cool. We added dimension controls to this thing, but like what does this actually allow me to do? Okay. This.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Practical application right? Yes. Cause those are the videos I\'d like to show off from the meetup groups. And a lot of times meet up organizers, just say, this is cool.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then the media bargain meet up organizers. If they\'re good meetup organizers say, and this is how it could apply to you person, that\'s running an agency out of there out of a phone booth or whatever it is you do. Let\'s transition from weird to WordPress 5.9, because you could say something [00:10:00] happened a little bit weird on that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh yeah. It\'s supposed to be out or right around this time of rigidly, right? I think it was before the holidays. Yeah. You mean the same date as the state of the word? Really? Yeah. I didn\'t put those dots. Yeah. That, that, that would yeah, that\'s a coincidence. So it didn\'t happen.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you tell me a little bit about what happened and what was involved in making the decision? No spoilers, but to push that into charity.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, it\'s a really tough decision. And I\'ll preface this by saying I wrote a post that on why I voted to delay it. So I won\'t go into hyper detail cause there\'s a lot of detail on that post that I try to make it very practical.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\'s how you can enact a lot of videos and like images being like, this is why. But yeah, this is my first time on a really squad too. So I don\'t have the historical knowledge that other folks bring to the table, but from my point of view and from my experience. Which program, which really is where I\'m coming from too many things were interrelated.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then we didn\'t [00:11:00] have enough people. Who were looking across basically is the long and short of it. So, you know, 2022 is relying on you know, certain things get in place with styles, but at the same time, those working on styles aren\'t necessarily solely focused on 2022. So like, it was kind of, there was a weird tension there of bringing a lot of unrelated things together,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> ultimately, I\'m sorry, was it like the sunny from Philadelphia meme where the chart is. I think it\'s Charlie, he\'s looking at the board behind him and then the oldest red strings going everywhere. And he\'s trying to explain something was a kind of like that a</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> little bit. Yeah. There is a little element of that, but almost imagine. That if you were to remove one of the strings, like that feature wouldn\'t make as much sense anymore.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So remember how we were just talking about connecting the dots and how things working together is actually where the value like hyper value goes. That\'s what basically was going on, where it was like, if we ship these things independently, we could in theory, remove some of the stuff. But it\'s going to be, it\'s just the value kind of isn\'t as exponential when they\'re all together.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I was [00:12:00] looking at the issues. I test it every day, like, especially leading up to release for 5.8, 5.9. I\'ve been testing every single day in this stuff all the time. And a lot of it was refinements. It was like, there were a couple of things that, some big decisions. So one I can tell. There was stuff around the navigation block, how to reuse it across Wakim\'s.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So originally there was a thing called navigation areas that was a new block that got reverted. That was I think, the right call. And then there the browsing. So when I talk about browsing, it\'s like, how do you navigate between your homepage, your templates and your template, parts and styles? Like what does that system look like from an information architecture perspective?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And there was a weird combination of. Technical constraints that came up as well as like design, so design and the technical constraints. We\'re kind of dancing with each other. And at a certain point, it just got to a place where. Fortunately like a middle ground could be found. And I think the solution they have right now is excellent.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Originally that, that seemed to be not viable. So kind of by having the delay, we\'ve [00:13:00] had like a better solution, I think, than what was originally in place. That\'s been tested a lot with the outreach program, so it\'s a lot of it. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Am I correct in understanding you that you were the one who initially brought something up?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I was not necessarily, there was a team.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah, everybody started getting the idea around the same time. Maybe.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, it was one of those where I think enough people kind of paused and like, I can tell you leading up to the release. I was like, okay, are we really feeling good about this? Like, I had some moments, but I also wasn\'t like confident and being the person to say like, we can\'t ship this, we can\'t ship this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like, I\'m definitely not one of those decision makers, but I mean, I\'m filing, I was filing tons of issues and getting, and with the outreach program, obviously, like I\'m seeing the complaints, I\'m writing a summary post. So like I knew what the pain points were. And then at a certain point, it becomes a decision for the designers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like what design direction do we want to go in? And that\'s kind of where we landed, where it was just like a last minute kind [00:14:00] of Too much to figure out. And a lot of it\'s like little things too. So I\'m talking about these big decisions. If there were a lot of small things that need to be sorted out that thankfully were more refinements.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I felt really comfortable delaying and voting to delay because of that, because I was like, the value will be exponential. If we can ship these altogether, everything I\'m seeing right now can be figured out like at first. And I think this is where the confusion really started. There was this like long list and it was all seen as blockers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So originally there was like this get hub issue that Someone did there. I think it was Rob who\'s, the corridor tech lead, who has been doing an excellent job. All the lease lead folks have been doing amazing work and he wrote all the issues out and gathered all of them that people were flagging.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But they were seeing all his blockers and that wasn\'t the case. Really from that list, there were like a subset of blockers that were truly like, we need to delay this. And that\'s part of the chaos of, you know, working remotely. Yes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> You had a translated into a sound. It would be mostly that. So yeah, I would imagine the [00:15:00] holidays.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It didn\'t help that the fact that we have this, let\'s be honest, the last two weeks of the year or the last week of the year, the first week in the new year, however you want to slice it really for me, three weeks, really, or two and a half at best, but sometimes three weeks for everybody to get.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if they\'re staying home, even if they\'re not traveling, it\'s your brain is kind of in a reset mode. Yeah. Like I need, listen, I may not be leaving my house, but I\'m taking a vacation, so you\'re not talking to me. Regardless if you celebrate any of the holidays or not, there\'s enough mass people taking time off visiting family, or just staying at home or away from computers that I would imagine productivity would\'ve hit a dive there and, or you didn\'t want to, nobody would want it have taken the chance.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, we don\'t want to make Matt Mullenweg into Scrooge because he\'s to he\'s the lead. Right. He\'s the lead. Right. So that would be, yeah, that I\'m correctly associating the[00:16:00] fictional character with the appropriate reference. Thank you. Case. I get an email later. So when is a WordPress 5.9 coming up?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> It\'s going to be released January 25th. And as you were saying, like originally the beta was only pushed by two weeks, but then we had to add extra time because of the end of the year period and beginning of the year. I mean, it\'s just a chaotic time. And I think that is also the right call. I don\'t think it\'ll hyper disrupt any other releases.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think there\'s a ton of stuff for 6.02. It\'s not like, oh, by delaying, we\'re going to have a really light 6.0 release. I think it\'s gonna be. How\'s that going to change as</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> well? Is that going to be a little bit compressed then in the first part of the year, you think, or is different people working on different things?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, I think at a certain point it might compress it a bit, meaning like there might be a release in like March or something like that, but they actually didn\'t release the schedule for 6.0 yet. So I\'m not really sure how that\'s going to impact. Things I will say part of the discussion that\'s come up amongst score contributors when I\'ve checked in with a lot of them, when this was going on to make sure everyone was doing okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And a lot of them were like, man, this is when I wish [00:17:00] we had more releases. Like I wish we could have this like more of a release cadence where it\'s more frequent. So we\'re not like needing to do with delay. Cause like the options were not fun, but that\'s the constraints of the current system. And, you know, ideally in a future world, it isn\'t as Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each release. You can kind of say like, it\'s okay. We can ship this because we have another release coming in a month rather than like three months.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Is that possible though? I mean, is that possible at least where we stand right now, because we just talked about how. And like how integrated are, how one piece is related to this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, you know, you know, maybe this is just one of those junctures in the four stages of Gutenberg or whatever timeline you want to pick where yes, it all is intersecting together. Cause it\'s full site editing. I mean, it\'s the words are in there. It\'s full side. Right. And then maybe down the road with when he gets to collaboration and translation, maybe things will go a bit easier, but regardless it\'s like.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know there\'s so many, there\'s so many ways you can look at it. I hear about a lot of time in other technology groups, in terms of first, you have people say, well, why [00:18:00] don\'t you just release every month? It\'s no worries. Any automatic updates. It\'s fine. And then that happens. And then you say, why are we getting so many updates?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have to keep updating.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. Which, which, you know, is another subject in of itself because in theory, You shouldn\'t have update fatigue, if you have automatic updates turned on and you know, that\'s another thing too. You know, in some situations that\'s not possible. So you\'re going to have people, whether it\'s a real problem or something that someone projects into their mind, like some sort of ghost but it\'s still a legitimate thing to deal with.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I see. So yeah, you have this, you it\'s a bunch of. All not the code, but the responsibilities and the dependencies is a bunch of, you know, a bunch of well cooked, fine high quality spaghetti.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> And yeah, it would be really tricky to do. Like, I don\'t necessarily think that\'s like a viable thing right now, or I don\'t, I can\'t speak to it in the future, but I do [00:19:00] think it is a result of, you know, the circumstances that we\'re in.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like we\'re all impacted by the same constraints. And I think that\'s one of the things where. You know, for example, there are, I don\'t think it was fully scoped out even like, what would a dependency plan look like where it\'s like, or contingency plan? Sorry, look like where if let\'s say we had to remove some of these things, would we, excuse for example, we could do things like remove browsing entirely, which is one of the things that was, I think, shipped at some point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\'re instead you have, you know, your appearance menu, you have templates, simpler parts, the editor styles. And so you have no sort of browsing in the sidebar. You could also like say, you know what, the navigation block isn\'t ready or counting it to another release. You could also say like, you know what, you can\'t actually create new templates.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can only just view the ones that come with your theme. Like there\'s a lot of ways that could have been pulled back. But thankfully what shipping is very comprehensive. Like I think that\'s the good thing with this delays also.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I don\'t think anybody\'s looking at it going on, man.[00:20:00]</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah. And I mean, I also think the good news is ultimately these features that we\'re talking about, which get a lot of attention are going to impact a small subset of people. Like this is not going to be five point where all of a sudden it takes over your site and you have to use it like this is it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s very much. So in line with the gradual adoption, where if you want to use these features, you have to literally hyper opt-in. You have to switch your theme. You have to like seek it out. Like it\'s very much something that. That also gave me confidence where it\'s like, I know these like full siting and all the collection features that go along with that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You get a lot of attention. But even if you upgrade, you\'re not switching to full site editing, you\'re still gonna get a ton of value in this release. And that, that to me is what\'s really exciting is it\'s almost like, because this is a smaller subset. The features are more high impact exponentially when they\'re working together.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think it was just the right call, but I\'m really excited to see people get their hands on 5.9. And speaking of police health tests, the Tesco lead, I\'m like, please help test. It\'d be a huge help.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> We\'ll get through testing in a second, because I [00:21:00] do want to, I do want to get, like, if you had the opportunity.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make it to make a pitch for you. You did mention 5.0 though. When that first came out, I think there was a there\'s a number of people that, and you know, that the circumstances behind that you know, around the state of the word time, everybody was busy or give Ghana was one of those. I think it wasn\'t November.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, I mean, it was approaching a holiday season or something or something like that, but it was, I would be, I don\'t know, a lot of people said it was around rough around the edges. I\'m not going to argue with him about that when it came out but over time that the improvements on it have been, I think in my opinion, pretty good.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pretty, pretty tremendous. In fact, do you think and you may, I think you touched on this already, but do you think with a full site editing, we\'re going to see not what 5.0 is. Cause I think you just said that, but do you feel comfortable with the level of Polish that will be out at the end of January?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Oh,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>that\'s a great question. There\'s a lot of nuance here, so it depends [00:22:00] upon someone\'s skill level. If you were brand new WordPress user, I would, I\'d say very beta. So like, I think it\'s literally going to ship with a beta warning. So in terms of, is it hyper polished? I would call it functional kind of empowering.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I wouldn\'t necessarily be like, oh, it\'s delightful. And you can, it\'s completely intuitive. Like I think, and I say this partially because especially if someone, maybe if someone was new, they might actually have an easier time, because there\'s a lot of concepts built within full that are really hard to grasp.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those of us who\'ve been in WordPress for a long time. Things</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Can they get those videos in there? That would probably help.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah, no, I think that\'s part of, so I actually am also helping with the user support docs for this release. So I\'m co testing it and then helping with the user docs. And that\'s one of the things that\'s really difficult to communicate simply.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So like, how do you explain to someone, what template parts are. And how do you explain when to use them? So, like one of the, I just opened an issue for this yesterday, but it\'s like, we probably need to explain the difference [00:23:00] between template parts, reusable, blocks and patterns. And when do you use each? So I probably need to write a doc on that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So there\'s a lot to be explained there in a way that\'s very simple so that people can make good decisions. And right now their, what is being shifted doesn\'t necessarily have guardrails to nudge someone in the right direction. If that makes sense. So you\'d have to have some level of knowledge in order to write.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Put it together, but do I think it\'s a polished V1 for someone who likes to tinker? Definitely. Like, I, for sure think that\'s the case. The only I can tell you my major sticking point, which is driving me nuts right now is right now. Are you familiar with the template editing mode?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I launched.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'ve played with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes. Yeah. So right now let\'s say I have a block theme activated and I\'m using 5.98. I can go in and I\'m using a theme with template mode. I can go in and I can like add a new post. And then under the posts kind of sidebar, I can select and create any template. And from there I can have a fresh new template that I can then assign to the post.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, if I\'m in [00:24:00] the site editor and I\'m navigating through the templates, I cannot create a new generic template. And there\'s an issue open for this. I can create an archive when I complete a search warrant. I create a new front page one, but there\'s not a. I want to create a new template and I want to sign this poster page or this category to it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So there\'s a lot like that basic infrastructure you can, it\'s a workflow thing. So it\'s like in one place, you can do this thing, but in the other place that feels more intuitive. You can\'t. And then on top of that, obviously for this release, some stuff is constrained. So this was one of the decisions that had to be made.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you can\'t have. If you wanted a category to use a specific template, you\'d have to actually add it to your blocking files rather than like being able to do it in the interface. So the good news is it\'ll ship, but then there\'s some really common. Possibly common use cases where people are going to be like, oh, but I want to do this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\'s where I think 6.0 6.1, like these future releases will continue to deliver on the promise to pull siding. And I think right now what is in place is really powerful. And I think it\'ll [00:25:00] actually jumpstart. People\'s excitement into everything that you can do. But there are just some. I don\'t know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think Justin Tadlock had a good description where he\'s like, it works, but then as you\'re getting involved in it, there\'s like some common things that you\'re not yet able to do. And I\'m like, yeah, that\'s very true. Like there are some things that I can imagine. I\'m like, I would love on my personal site to have a specific template for.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All my posts that are tagged with WordPress resources so that I could just send people there and I could have a different header. I could have a different contact form, like have a completely different experience with that. I think it\'d be really cool.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> But you know, I was like, it sounds like something in the old days before Gutenberg, that would be like a WordPress plugin.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You would have to find</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> correct.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Which in the defense of Gutenberg, in terms of that, I mean, You know, you\'re, it seems like a lot of the, you know, a lot of the major work being done, but also some things that are being done in Gutenberg. Like duotone, for example, maybe it\'s the one that jumps out at me. It\'s like, [00:26:00] like before it was just, you had to go find a plugin for that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, you\'re you and birds taking off. Lots of cool and interesting things that were before with maybe with, or with maybe with a page builder, with an add on with a page builder or just a plugin that those were just like little thrills that you would just find in the plugin stuff, getting Berg\'s incorporating this in the course.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So Gutenberg, I mean, it\'s not just a, it\'s not just the blocks anymore. You\'re incorporating all these like, you know, fun stuff that like, maybe. Not even the majority of people might even use some time, unless there\'s a big, duotone a fan group out there. In other words,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> the only thing that I think is cool is that you can add it on theme level.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that\'s part of it. It is very much a design tool in that sense. And I think that. To me where I\'ve seen it really come to life is when I\'ve seen some theme authors. I think some automatic female author is released. It\'s skate park is a theme, but it has like do a twin filters baked in. So like, if you change the [00:27:00] background of your theme, the images were also like a doc, the duo tone.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh no. My F my life is a French film to atone anyway. So I\'m full of that. Did you happen to hear. I think when it comes to block themes, Matt said something about wanting 3000 a year or so. Was he exaggerating there a little bit? I</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> think he\'s serious. And like, I also, this sounds wild, but I think it is very much so, like he actually thought it was interesting that he said it in that way, because how do I explain this?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like, You could take one block theme, like let\'s take 20, 22. For example, the announcement post showed this and any announcement posts, it shows like four or five different style theme Jason files and switching between them. And it looks like a completely different theme. And I think that\'s where it\'s like, you could literally take the base of one theme with the same patterns, all that sort of stuff, and create.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>20 different theme, Jason files to switch [00:28:00] between and have a complete different experience. And to me, that\'s, what\'s really cool. And then once you start integrating with the pattern directory even more, I think that unlocks some really cool stuff. So when he says that, I\'m like, yeah, I understand what he\'s saying, but I actually, I think that\'s a way to connect with like the.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>FIM world that we have come to know to last however many years. Yeah. But I think the future with block themes, things are going to be wildly different. I think rich table were asked a question about, you know, could there be a directory for different style? And I\'m like, yes, like that to me, I think is a really cool model and there\'s work being done to enable.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And json switching within a block theme,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> so definitely would make it competitive with you know, like, like a Wix or Squarespace in terms of like you could have, this is a completely customizable experience. Speaking of customizable, I do have a question for you. When it comes to the full site editing, what happens to the customizer?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\'s numerous people that use that there\'s people that use that and granted they use that for their theme settings and maybe. And [00:29:00] for other things, and in addition to the normal customization, so what\'s going to happen to the customizer?.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Yeah. So this is actually something that I\'m so glad you\'re asking me this, because this is a thing I\'ve seen, brought up a ton.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'ve gotten, especially in the span of like, it felt like two weeks, I was getting a ping, like every other day being like customizer. And I\'m like,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I know like a bot on Twitter about the customizer, but I\'ve figured that ask you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> So basically the customizer, if a plugin or theme happens to look into it the customizer will be available to actually it\'ll direct you to it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it\'s not like it\'s going away forever. Is it removed from the menu item? Yes. If you\'re using a block theme, you will not see it unless you are using a plugin that somehow hooks into the</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> customizer, but you have to switch to a block theme and then at the official</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> blocking the lose, the customizer only superior.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Correct. And it would only disappear if you don\'t have a plugin that happens to look into</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> it as well. Right. I\'m sure somebody will come up with that in a few seconds, but</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay. Then I, you know, initially [00:30:00] here, I mean, I\'ve, haven\'t had my coffee yet, but it sounds like to me, that makes sense where in terms of, you know, you\'re not going to need it. You may not need it. Now, if anybody has anything in there, there\'s probably something developers that have put something in there that shouldn\'t be in there then, you know, get out, get it out of there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But okay. That answers that question pretty well, because it makes sense. With a block theme on there shouldn\'t be anything in the customizer left.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> There is a universal theme. I don\'t know if you\'ve heard about universal themes, but they\'re also a combination. So there\'s like, let\'s see there\'s black beans hybrid themes, universal themes, and classic themes is like theme paradigm.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\'re about to enter and blockings are like fully built in with full siting. Like you\'re not, you know, using the customized or anything</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> like that. You don\'t need the, you don\'t need the additional CSS. The one thing that sticks out in my mind is the additional CSS thing in the in the customizer and you and I both know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That if I don\'t usually use that, I use, I, I add the CSS some other way. It\'s usually through a plugin or through the style sheet, in the theme [00:31:00] or something like that, whatever. That\'s the only thing that kind of concerns me a little bit, because I\'ve seen people put CSS in there that relate even to plugin, not even the theme directly, because that\'s just one place that they\'re able to put CSS.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They know it they\'ve seen it, or some webpage told them to put it there, that they don\'t have to like dig into any code to, they can just put the additional CSS. In fact, it wouldn\'t surprise me if some WordPress plugin support people have told people, oh, in order to resolve this issue with our. You just need a CSS tweak with your theme going here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But again, you\'re saying that it\'s still going to be there unless they switched to a block theme. So the only danger there is if you switch to a block theme, but if you\'re somehow using the plugin, is that, does that, it\'s just hiding it. It\'s not removing it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> It\'s just hiding it. It\'s not removing it. So</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> sorry.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had to work that out. Yeah,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> no I totally understand. Cause I used to work on Jetpack a lot and that was one of the things. It has an additional CSS part of it. So I understand what you\'re describing. [00:32:00] Yeah, it\'s very, I also want to advocate actually for universal themes, because if someone is like, I\'m curious about this world, but I don\'t want to jump in universal themes are basically designed so that you can use blocking functionality, but then also the customizer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it basically bridges. Which is why it\'s called universal</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> either that or the movie company bought you the rights.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Did you not hear about the new acquisition?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I was going to go to the theme park in Orlando and see all the new Gutenberg blocks, right? The ride, the Gutenberg ride. Oh my God.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> You say that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I did. I was getting beer the other day at a store and there was a thing called gluten berg. Which is a form of gluten-free beer. And I was like, oh my God. And I was off work. So I was like, am I tripping right now? Like, what is happening, dude, bird everywhere.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I made a slip on Twitter, I think yesterday morning.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I said something about like, I\'m having a state of the word hangover, a hashtag Gutenberg. And I left it in there and I just said, Gutenberg is just you [00:33:00] trying to contribute to the project, but you haven\'t figured out yet how to be sustainable. So you\'re, and you\'re not above begging. So, you know?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. So I left Gutenberg and I left good Megan, there let\'s talk about at least two more things before I leave you to. Fantastic video editing work here. One thing is about testing. What is the number one way? What\'s the number one? What\'s number one thing you advocate regarding testing. And you\'re going to give me symbol links to put in the show notes for this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we\'re not going to worry about that, but how does that work and what do what\'s the qualifications and what are you looking. In terms of testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> It\'s a great, so like the beta posts on, I\'m going to drag people to the beta posts on your research backslash news, because there\'s actually a link under like a testing instructions to a post that I did that gets very detailed.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you just are comfortable testing, go for it. If you\'re someone who needs more instruction or. Exactly. Like what to test, how to test. I have a post that\'s it\'s titled help test 5.9 features, and it [00:34:00] goes step by step through the different features with like a brief description of what they are, how to find.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And as well as like, if you want to get even more detailed steps, a lot of them link out to calls for testing that were done through the outreach program. So you can even get like a step-by-step description of what needs to be done. But yeah, right now, if you can, I highly recommend testing both 5.9 in terms of, without a block.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then also take the 2022 thing first, then it is a very cool expansive team.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Hey, Matt gave us the bird on Tuesday and my wife looked at me like I was, should report it to the. Yeah, but it\'s in, that\'s also another, that\'s another complication layer too. It\'s not just the five nine release. It\'s it\'s the new default WordPress theme. It looks fantastic. It is the, it looks fantastic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'m more excited. I can\'t remember the last time I\'ve been more excited about like a default theme coming up because it really looks like it\'s using the art state of the edge [00:35:00] stuff, plus, you know, the birds well, good. Well, thanks for you. Share those links with me. I\'ll make sure to add them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I make them in there. So here\'s one thing that\'s been. I was scratching my noggin the other day and trying to figure out the best way to describe this. So I\'ve been told by multiple sources that thanks to COVID thanks to the lack of in-person work camps. The contributions contributors have been, they\'ve been low for the past 16, 18 months, two years, something like that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then. Do you think that first of all, do you think that\'s true? And if so of it\'s true. Do you think it\'s, is it impacted the project because Matt, I guess I\'m just gonna finish my sentence and let you speak at the end, because I don\'t know when to shut up, but I did see, I saw Matt slides on Tuesday.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He did highlight. I mean, there are lots of circles in the slides, right. And then there was lots of new contributors. Yes. Circles. I work in [00:36:00] shapes. But there were, and there were lots of new contributors to that. We don\'t know what they worked on. I mean, new contributors, that\'s awesome in there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And there was definitely a lot of circles on there, but do you think that COVID has had an impact on the contributions or contributors over the past two years?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I mean, yes, both. And I will say, I think it\'s like a. Multi-directional so I think it\'s everything from, for example, the outreach program, I\'ve given out 70 badges for a test contribution, which is probably more than has been given in a long time, you know?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it\'s like, in some ways we\'ve had more contributors, probably in some spaces and have brought in. And I\'ve had the chance to work with folks who have gone out into their local communities or held things online with their local communities to help people test and explore that. So there\'s like, it\'s both right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like I think in some cases it really burns some people out. I think it burned a lot of folks out were just dealing with like trying to survive day to day. You\'re probably not going to want to jump into open source and contribute. [00:37:00] But at the same time, I think suddenly the community had to become a lot more accessible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So actually I started this role in April of 2020, so right when things were really like in the U S it was. Getting really serious, like in lockdown, all this sort of stuff. So it\'s been very interesting. I, when I first started the job was told like, oh yeah, one of the first things we\'d probably do is send you around a bunch of word camps and word cancer, where people get onboarded and like all this sort of stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I was like, okay, well that\'s not an option. So what are we going to do about this?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> And this is where we\'re all kind of delusional about like, oh, maybe this will pass. And so it\'s been very interesting and like, I can tell you speaking personally, a very anecdotally I have spoken at probably 10 or 11.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Events, maybe more in the last year I do not like public speaking. If I had to go up on stage and do it, it would be way less successful for me. Like it causes way too much anxiety. And then on top of that, like, you know, I just gave the word camp Taiwan recorded or camp Taiwan keynote at [00:38:00] like one 30 in the morning of my time where like, normally I would have to travel to Taiwan.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would have to, you know, be jet lagged pregnant. There were a couple of days early, like all this sort of stuff. And then it. Being able to connect with brand new contributors and brand new folks has become way easier. And so I think that\'s like one of the things that makes me really excited is like, you can travel the world from your apartment.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I often look@theonlineeventson.org and just see what people were talking about. And we\'ll just jump in. Either a 5% or 50% meetup</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> group. Oh, I love her. I love virtual stuff. I talked to my kids. That\'s how I talked to my kids all the time. My kids still live with me, a side note. So do you, so,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> yes, I do think it\'s also caused a decrease.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think there\'s an over-reliance on On people who are sponsored contributors. And I think, but I think it also, at the same time, new pathways have been built. So I\'m both encouraged that like new pathways are being built. New folks are being brought in and things like the photo directory, the pattern directory even blockchains are way easier to build.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:39:00] I think we\'re going to see an influx of more folks coming in.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The onboarding process. Right? I would imagine. Yeah, like you said, it\'s harder for any individuals with present condition. So I, you know, companies like, like, and Matt was showing those, the other bubble slide where there was automatic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I imagine there\'s like you said, you were doing one thing now you\'re doing another, it sounds like there\'s automatic made some adjustments there to. I\'m not putting words in your mouth, but if it wouldn\'t surprise me, if some companies made some adjustments to compensate for the fact that, you know, there is less of certain kinds of contributors out there just because of oral conditions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And we just finished. I don\'t know if you\'ve been following this log for. She fought with J or something.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Log4jI.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Mean, everybody\'s talking about it. I mean, nobody\'s rewriting my software yet. Thank goodness. I\'m unpopular now. And it\'s an advantage but I mean, there, you have, like, I think two people, one [00:40:00] person working on that and the guy had a side job too, and now everybody\'s kind of relying on it and you know, that makes you sit back and watch.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, a lot of people rely on WordPress. Obviously things are going to slip through the cracks, but overall it\'s nice to have, even if there was a major world event and this has been a major world event, then I think things from a feature standpoint, from a bug standing standpoint, it could, I guess it depends on your experience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can either say it\'s been fantastic that it\'s managed to be as uninterrupted as it has been over the last two years. Or you can just say, Hey, it could have been worse. It, you know, WordPress runs 43% and the train has to keep moving. The show must go on. And some adjustments, I guess, have to be made.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'m looking, I do want to see more independent or at least other companies enter into that bubble space. Just like Matt had. I mean, at one point it was a bubble\'s commercial, but I mean, you know, that second slide with just more independent bubbles on it. So it sounds it\'s, but it sounds like for [00:41:00] me talking with you here, that of all the challenges that\'s happened, both ones that I think everybody could imagine in some of the ones that you\'re not telling me, because we don\'t want to get into the weeds on it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It sounds like, from stability-wise I th the decision. To bump it. I think it was only a little bit controversial for a moment. At least from the outside. I can\'t speak within the inside of a group. I imagine there was a lot of talk and maybe there was some tradition or precedent there, but obviously that would have didn\'t sound like that lasted very long if there was any, and it was only controversial out here, like, you know, weirdo land where I live, you know, there was news, but it was.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, fine. You\'re bumping it from December. I think I\'d rather have that been bumped. And so it sounds like,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> And that was part of why I wrote the post to be honest, because I was like, man, this is going to be so confusing and people who aren\'t just like knee deep in this, like it\'s going to be seen in a light.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\'s like really hard to parse. And so that was really part of my aim and writing [00:42:00] like, Hey, this is why I voted. And this is the details. If you really want to know Of course, Matt, I don\'t know if you saw Matt\'s comment where it\'s like, this is the actually information I want. Like that\'s a different post that Matt. Like, I can\'t, I don\'t want to write it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Let me do my work. Cool.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I know I got that comment on Sunday and I was like, oh, okay, cool. Like I, where do I need to write out a post about this? I was like no. We have to do a retro for the release. Like, this is a really good, but he\'s right. I was like, oh man, I should have included some stuff about like, here\'s what I think we can do going forward.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, it was chaotic. I wrote it, I think, within a week of the decision. And it was doing it on top of other stuff. So</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> yeah, next time it\'s a long story, but next time I have to get you to get him to say banana milkshake and the state of the word I have. If you don\'t know what it is, I\'ll try to put a link in the show notes, but anyway.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. But th the thing about the bingo card is we put some obvious ones there, and then we put some less obvious ones. Like there\'s like, like NFT. He said NFT. Okay. How about metaverse? You said metaverse.. Okay. Now it\'s like, everybody\'s doing bingo. Bingo, and going, oh, crap. I could have made [00:43:00] this harder, except everybody has a one random generated word.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s like I was saying to myself, what\'s the antifree square. It\'s what\'s on a bingo card. What\'s one thing he would never say. And then everybody says, well, we can\'t get bingo. And he says banana milkshake. And I\'m like, all right, people put on your big person pants. And we\'re going to see if we can get someone there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But anyway, besides that way, we\'ll edit this all out. It\'s boring. but anyway, and what you do, but. To end on a good to end on a very good note here, because I\'m talking to you and you do very good things. So this is going to be very, it\'d be very you\'re very much appreciated in. And even if the resources, even if the testing, you know, is, you know, we could always use more testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can always use more contributors. I think the job that you\'re doing, the videos is doing two things really well, everything that you do, it\'s not just the videos, but the videos, just making things a lot easier to consume. Especially in this Tik TOK world we live in don\'t do tick. I didn\'t say the tick-tock</p>\n\n\n\n<p>world.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I mean,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> here, my kids don\'t either [00:44:00] I\'m that I\'m not going there, but two it\'s also about the transparency for something like this, I think because it wasn\'t such of a talking point, partly was because you and the team were so transparent. And the minute that we read, the minute I read the report, I\'m like, yeah, this sounds like the way you\'re presenting it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A it\'s a, no, it sounds like a no-brainer and B we can wait another month. I can wait another month.,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I really credit folks like Tonja and Mary and Rob. And like, there\'s a lot of folks who made that transparency. This is tough decisions, Jonathan to Rogers. Who\'s not even on release squad was like giving advice about timing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like it really was a team effort to operate in that way. And I loved seeing the liveliness of the 5.9 release leads channel, and it folks are curious about how our release works. And you can literally watch us talk. And there is no back channel. Like it\'s like, I have a question I\'m going to that channel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. I need that. I need kind of that for my, from my marriage. Cause it\'d be nice to have some texts. You didn\'t say that will [00:45:00] let me do a little search here. And where are you going to your mother\'s? Okay. I\'ll catch you later. All right. So, and tell us where we can find you on the web and where people can reach out to you, especially if they have questions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I\'m at an Zazu and an E Z a Z U on we\'re personal work slack. And then I have a block like I\'m very I know shocking nomad dot block.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Make sure to throw that into the show notes or give that to me and I\'ll put in the show. Yeah. Yeah,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> I will. And like, I honestly am not, you can find me on LinkedIn, but I\'m off of Instagram. I activate and deactivate quite frequently. It\'s the one that I seem to be, I do too, but that\'s in</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> real life, but yes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know you\'re not on Twitter and you\'re sometimes on Instagram. That\'s why I wanted to get a few links for you because I\'m in post out a slack and there\'s posts at a slack there\'s WordPress slack. Thank you very much for sitting down and talk to me about this. I think</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> thanks for the opportunity.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\'s so much, I feel like we could talk about, which is always such a great feeling is it\'s like, gosh, I could just talk for hours about these different things, because I think so much about them and you [00:46:00] really hit everything that I want to talk about. So it\'s awesome.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Why didn\'t I have this skill when I was young and single, I have no idea.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That gives me food for thought later, but anyway, I really appreciate it. And I will I\'ll definitely be checking out the betas for 5.9. We can\'t wait for January.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy:</strong> Awesome.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 29 Dec 2021 23:18:43 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Olivia Bisset\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:26;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:51:\"Akismet: How to Stop Contact Form Spam on WordPress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2177\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:79:\"https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/29/how-to-stop-contact-form-spam-on-wordpress/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15509:\"<p>Are you getting useless contact form emails in your inbox? Contact form spam is a problem every website owner deals with at some point. Spambots target websites of all sizes, regardless of the amount of traffic you get.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sifting through hundreds of messages to separate spam from genuine inquiries is time-consuming and frustrating. Luckily, there are some easy and effective ways to protect your WordPress site from spam and take advantage of the benefits of contact forms. Let’s discuss!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-2177\"></span>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-is-contact-form-spam\">What is contact form spam?&nbsp;</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before solving this common issue, you’ll need to understand what contact form spam is and how it affects your website and business.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact form spam is exactly what it sounds like:&nbsp;unwanted messages that are submitted through the contact forms on your site. Since these forms have blank fields, an individual spammer (or bot) can fill these out however they’d like.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might just get one or two occasional messages with irrelevant promotional material or even offensive language and links. Or, you’ll sometimes receive hundreds or even thousands of form submissions to your inbox. You’re left sifting through the spam so that you don’t miss real messages from interested followers or potential customers. Worse yet, all of these submissions can hog server resources,&nbsp;resulting in a slower site or errors when you try to make changes.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spammers target contact forms in one of two ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"1-manual-spammers\">1. Manual spammers</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Manual spammers are humans who navigate to your website, fill out your forms, and submit them personally. They typically use false information, often copying and pasting to spam your site quickly. In most cases, these spammers are trying to promote specific websites. But they can also spread malware and funnel traffic to malicious sites. Manual contact form spam is more difficult to overcome because spammers can get past many anti-spam solutions like CAPTCHAs.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"2-spambots\">2. Spambots</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Spambots are the most common sender of form spam and often the most dangerous. These programs automatically search the internet for forms and, depending on how spammers program the bots, they leave junk text and phishing links that appear in your inbox.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spambots threaten the integrity of your website when programmed to perform more malicious activities like taking personal information, spreading malware, or taking control of your website. These automated programs can leave a larger number of form submissions at once. But they’re easier to stop because they can’t combat specific anti-spam solutions.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"why-do-bots-and-human-spammers-target-contact-forms\">Why do bots and human spammers target contact forms?&nbsp;</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With all the advances in technology and increased security options, it’s hard to think that this type of spam still exists. But bots and human spammers still target contact forms because they can, and it works.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are several reasons spammers look for loopholes and vulnerabilities in your website forms:&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><strong>They want to send you spam.</strong> Most spam includes links to phishing sites or revenue-generating ad sites.</li><li><strong>They want to exploit your contact form to spam others</strong>. Spammers use your contact forms to relay email spam messages to others. When these emails land in people’s inboxes, they typically look like an email you sent. Unaware that it is spam, users open these emails and click links that lead them to another website. This increases website traffic and engagement to that site, rewarding the spammer.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>They’re searching for vulnerabilities to access the backend of your website or server</strong>. This is typically where malicious intent comes into play. When spammers target your contact forms to look for vulnerabilities in your website, they often want to attack it. Spammers can install malware that leaves your website and visitors at risk. They can also steal personal information, a significant risk for eCommerce sites with sensitive customer data.&nbsp;</li></ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"how-to-identify-contact-form-submission-spam\">How to identify contact form submission spam</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Keeping a close eye on your contact form submissions makes it easy to identify spam. Watch out for the following signs that indicate spammers are targeting your website:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Phishing links</strong>. Spammers use phishing URLs to obtain sensitive information for malicious use. This includes usernames, passwords, or banking details. Phishing links appear to direct to a legitimate site, but it’s really a fake one meant to steal this valuable data.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Irrelevant messages</strong>. Another typical indication of spam is unsolicited or irrelevant messages. Spammers send these messages out in large numbers for advertising, phishing, or spreading malware.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Submissions with no real name</strong>. If you get submissions with no real name or a fake name, you’ll want to look into blocking form spam.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Grammatical errors or typos</strong>. Most spammers don’t take the time to proofread their submissions or check for grammatical errors. Instead, they work hard to send as much spam as possible in the shortest amount of time. Therefore, if you notice messages or comments with a significant amount of typos or grammatical errors, your website is likely under attack.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>An offer that’s too good to be true</strong>. Like everything in life, an offer too good to be true also indicates a problem. Don’t fall for this easy trap.&nbsp;</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you notice a spam issue, it’s vital to find a fast and effective solution. While it’s both annoying and potentially dangerous, spam can also damage your brand reputation. Let’s explore some ways to prevent contact form spam on your website.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-block-contact-form-spam\">How to block contact form spam</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"1-install-the-right-wordpress-anti-spam-plugin\">1. Install the right WordPress anti-spam plugin</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest and fastest way to combat contact form spam is to install the right <a href=\"https://akismet.com/\">anti-spam WordPress plugin</a>. Anti-spam plugins work independently from your forms by comparing submissions to blocklists of words, names, IP addresses, and email addresses. They use both global and local learning to identify spam. Some also give you the ability to manually mark items as spam (or not spam), so it learns what you like and don’t like on your site.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With several options available, it’s critical to pick the right anti-spam plugin. <a href=\"https://akismet.com/\">Akismet</a> is an excellent option used by millions of websites to filter out hundreds of millions of spam comments and form submissions. It will check all comments and form submissions for spam and filter out any that look suspicious. You can review all filtered submissions directly in the WordPress dashboard.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>An option like this frees up your time to focus on the more critical parts of your website. It also gives you the peace of mind that your site, visitors, and reputation are safe. While there aren’t many disadvantages to this method, you’ll need to make sure you update the plugin as recommended to avoid any security issues in the future.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-set-up-an-anti-spam-plugin\">How to set up an anti-spam plugin:</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Installing a WordPress plugin is easy. In your WordPress dashboard, go to <strong>Plugins → Add New</strong>. Search for the one you’d like to add, then click <strong>Install → Activate</strong>. Then, follow any specific instructions for the tool that you chose. For example, Akismet provides a great <a href=\"https://docs.akismet.com/getting-started/activate/\">how to activate</a> tutorial with easy-to-follow instructions and visual cues.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"2-add-a-custom-captcha\">2. Add a custom CAPTCHA</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/23/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/\">Custom CAPTCHAs</a> are another way to target and resolve spam problems. You can add a custom, word-based code or random math question to your website that visitors must answer to submit forms successfully. When users attempt to add a comment or submit a form, they’ll need to answer the question or type what they see above the submit button to proceed. You can add several custom word-based questions that users cycle through randomly.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While CAPTCHAs are a great way to combat spambots, they aren’t effective with human spammers. They can also be frustrating and time-consuming for legitimate site visitors who struggle to answer the questions or answer them incorrectly. If you choose to add a CAPTCHA to combat spam, you’ll also need to think about users with limited sight or other challenges.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-implement-a-captcha\">How to implement a CAPTCHA:</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>To add a CAPTCHA to your website, you’ll need to choose a service provider. Google is the most popular CAPTCHA service, with essential functions offered at no cost to website owners. You can find your options in the <strong>Products</strong> part of the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://developers.google.com/products#r\" target=\"_blank\">Google Developers</a> page. Make sure to sign in to your Google account. Next, you’ll read through a short overview before clicking on <strong>Sign up for an API key pair</strong>. You’ll need to fill in your website information and follow the prompts to complete the process.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"3-use-google-recaptcha\">3. Use Google reCAPTCHA</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Google’s reCAPTCHA is a more advanced option than custom CAPTCHAs. Initially introduced to overcome the user frustrations of custom CAPTCHAs, reCAPTCHAs require users to answer more straightforward questions to submit forms. reCAPTCHAs also work by detecting user behavior while visitors navigate your site and assigning each user a “spam score” based on what the tool considers suspicious activity.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most common form of reCAPTCHAs is the picture puzzle you’ve seen on many websites. Instead of typing a word or answering a math question, users answer an image-based question. Visitors must select all the squares in the picture with a specific object like a car or a traffic light. Once all images have been selected, the button switches to allow the user to submit their form response.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some other types of reCAPTCHAs:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Checkbox reCAPTCHA v2 </strong>is a simple box that users must check to submit a form. It’s the popular option you see on many websites accompanied by the “I am not a robot” text.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Invisible reCAPTCHA v2</strong> does not display any visible fields to human users. Instead, it monitors user behavior for suspicious activity to identify potential spammers. Invisible reCAPTCHA also adds an extra field into the code of your form. Since most spambots use code to submit responses, these spammers automatically fill in the fake fields before being flagged. Human users never even notice the spam control as they submit answers directly on the form.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>reCAPTCHA v3</strong> is an advanced option that uses JavaScript to detect human visitors. It is the most advanced form of reCAPTCHA, so you should only use it if you’re a WordPress expert.&nbsp;</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>reCAPTCHAs can still prevent genuine visitors from submitting forms, but they’ve improved from the earlier custom CAPTCHA options. Most come with the ability to add an audio option for those with visual impairments. The visible option they offer is also a solution for the hearing impaired.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Photo © Google\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-implement-google-recaptchas\">How to implement Google reCAPTCHAs:</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You’ll add reCAPTCHAs to your website following the same steps listed above for CAPTCHAs. Google reCAPTCHA is also a free service for basic functionality, but you can purchase the Enterprise solution for more advanced options. You’ll need to sign up for an API key pair for your site and follow the prompts to proceed.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"4-use-an-ip-access-list\">4. Use an IP access list</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you notice a lot of spambot action on your website coming from specific sources, you can use an IP access list to block spam. With this method, you add IP addresses to a list that restricts access to your website from that location. You’ll do this by adding IPs to the <strong>Comment Blacklist</strong> section of the <strong>Discussion</strong> settings page in the WordPress admin.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using an IP access list is an excellent option for blocking specific people. But it takes a lot of work to block a more significant number of spammers and requires constant maintenance. You can also accidentally block legitimate form submissions from the IP addresses you list, so make sure you’re confident before using this method.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-implement-an-ip-access-list\">How to implement an IP access list:&nbsp;</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to block an IP address, navigate to <strong>Settings → Discussion → Comment Moderation</strong> in your WordPress dashboard. Then, simply add any IP addresses you want to block and save your settings.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"5-take-advantage-of-the-honeypot-method\">5. Take advantage of the honeypot method</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re not a fan of CAPTCHAs, try the honeypot method. Honeypots are little bits of code used to catch spambots. The code creates a hidden field in your form that’s invisible to human visitors but visible to spambots who are usually looking at the code of your form. Spambots automatically fill out the hidden field and submit the forms. The additional information flags these submissions and rejects them, saving you time and effort.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One advantage of honeypots is that they stay hidden from human visitors. Your visitors don’t need to deal with the inconvenience of CAPTCHAs. Some WordPress form plugins even allow you to add the honeypot method in their settings.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-implement-honeypot\">How to implement honeypot:</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Some plugins allow you to quickly check the option to add honeypot to your forms. But if they don’t, you’ll need to add a hidden field to your form manually. Once you add the form to your site, use the CSS style “display: none !important;” to make the field hidden and tabindex=&#8221;-1&#8243; autocomplete=&#8221;false;&#8221; to ensure the field is empty by default.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"protect-your-wordpress-contact-forms\">Protect your WordPress contact forms</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact forms are a great tool to connect with your audience and enhance your website’s user experience. But they can also be a problem when spammers attack. Don’t be the target of human spammers and spambots that reduce the effectiveness of your website forms. Use the six steps listed above to successfully stop spam from your WordPress site so you can focus your time and effort on more essential tasks.&nbsp;</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 29 Dec 2021 12:28:15 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Simon Keating\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:27;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:75:\"WordCamp Central: The first in-person WordCamp Europe in 3 years is coming!\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:39:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/?p=3143787\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:102:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2021/12/28/the-first-in-person-wordcamp-europe-in-3-years-is-coming/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1047:\"<p>WordCamp Europe organizing team has shared what we are planning for <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/a-sneak-peek-at-wceu2022/\">the first in-person WCEU in 3 years</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s taking place in Porto, Portugal, on 2-4 June 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With all safety measures, our beautiful spacious venue,&nbsp;Super Bock Arena can hold up to 4000 people, and we can&#8217;t wait to welcome you there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-sponsors/\" target=\"_blank\">Call For Sponsors</a> and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/\" target=\"_blank\">Call For Speakers</a> are already open!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/a-sneak-peek-at-wceu2022/#newsletter-form\">Subscribe to WordCamp Europe Newsletter</a> to get to know about all WordCamp Europe 2022 updates first!</p>\n\n\n\n<img src=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/files/2021/12/WCEU-assortment-pic.jpg\" alt=\"\" />\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 28 Dec 2021 12:52:36 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Sabrina Zeidan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:28;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:25:\"Matt: Saving the Internet\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"https://ma.tt/?p=55240\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:42:\"https://ma.tt/2021/12/saving-the-internet/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1935:\"<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/pierce\">David Pierce</a> wrote a deep profile, over 4,000 words, for Protocol and asks the question in the headline, <a href=\"https://www.protocol.com/matt-mullenweg\">Can Matt Mullenweg save the internet?</a></p>\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https://www.protocol.com/matt-mullenweg\"><img /></a>\n\n\n\n<p>Which brings to mind <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines\">Betteridge&#8217;s law of headlines</a> (née Hinchliffe&#8217;s rule), &#8220;Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word&nbsp;<em>no</em>.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can&#8217;t save the internet. But you know who can? A movement. A community of like-minded individuals, unified by a common philosophy, and working together to create <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/\">tools of freedom</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>It&#8217;s a human right to be able to see how that technology works and modify it. It’s as key to freedom as freedom of speech or freedom of religion. So that is what I plan to spend the rest of my life fighting for.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Working together we&#8217;ve created something special, unlike anything the internet has seen before, and I&#8217;m excited to continue.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to David Pierce for taking such an in-depth look at the history of WordPress and Automattic and talking to dozens of sources. Thank you to the people quoted in the article: <a href=\"https://scottbeale.org/\">Scott Beale</a>, <a href=\"https://om.co/\">Om Malik</a>, <a href=\"https://toni.org/\">Toni Schneider</a>, <a href=\"https://rustyshelf.org/\">Russell Ivanovic</a>, Deven Parekh, <a href=\"https://paulmayne.org/\">Paul Mayne</a>, and <a href=\"https://anildash.com/\">Anil Dash</a>. Thank you to <a href=\"https://arturoolmos.com/\">Arturo Olmos</a> for the photos, and <a href=\"https://www.odilidonaldodita.com/\">Odili Donald Odita</a> for the amazing painting behind me.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 13:07:33 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"Matt\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:29;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:73:\"WPTavern: Multiple State of the Word Attendees Test Positive for COVID-19\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127655\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:191:\"https://wptavern.com/multiple-state-of-the-word-attendees-test-positive-for-covid-19?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=multiple-state-of-the-word-attendees-test-positive-for-covid-19\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6225:\"<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img />State of the Word 2021 in NYC</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt Mullenweg&#8217;s <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/state-of-the-word-2021-wordpress-passes-43-market-share-looks-to-expand-the-commons-through-openverse\">2021 State of the Word</a> address was held in New York City nine days ago with a live studio audience. On Sunday, December 19, all in-person attendees were notified by email that they were possibly exposed to COVID-19 after one of the attendees tested positive. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although proof of vaccination was required at the door, multiple people have reported recent infections after traveling home from the event. Aaron Jorbin tweeted about his case today, and four more have been reported in a private channel on Post Status Slack.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I don\'t know where I actually got infected, State of The Word is just one possibility and it being \"swag\" is a good joke. A great joke even.</p>&mdash; Aaron Jorbin (@aaronjorbin) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/aaronjorbin/status/1474074897580277760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 23, 2021</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s no way to know for certain whether the attendees who contracted COVID-19 caught the virus at the State of the Word, as many of them traveled from far away places and had meetups with other attendees outside of the main event. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Concerns about the lack of masks and no requirement for rapid tests began popping up prior to the event. From the perspective of <a href=\"https://youtu.be/OpiH_P9aGhQ\">viewing the livestream</a>, masks were scant and attendees were quite close together in a small space. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Anyone tracking the COVID cases coming from the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/StateOfTheWord?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#StateOfTheWord</a> ?<br /><br />Hate to be a downer, but it’s still a raging pandemic and all those people traveling from all over and in groups without masks has my anxiety spiking.</p>&mdash; Pandemically Joshua <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f489.png\" alt=\"💉\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> ³ (@onemorejosh) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/onemorejosh/status/1470756580551536645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 14, 2021</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>The day before the event, the WHO warned that evidence suggested the new Omicron variant could escape prior immunity and would lead to surges with a high transmission rate. Studies were already showing reduced effectiveness of existing vaccines against the variant. On December 13, New York governor Kathy Hochul <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/omicron-coronavirus-variant-12-13-21/index.html\">announced a new temporary indoor mask mandate</a> for public spaces, which could be bypassed by requiring vaccines for entrance. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked how the State of the Word&#8217;s coordinators decided on the precautions, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy said the event met the local guidelines while allowing attendees to make their own choices for anything beyond the requirements.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We followed the guidelines as laid out by the city,&#8221; Haden Chomphosy said. &#8220;Masks and hand sanitizer were liberally available throughout the venue, and we encouraged attendees to make informed decisions about their health.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has been <a href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html\">well-documented</a> that indoor masking can significantly reduce transmission, so it was curious that the event did not require them at this pivotal time when governments are taking more stringent measures to stop the spread of the virus.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately all those who were recently infected have reported mild illnesses, but the incident raises an important question for onlookers: Is this an indicator of how in-person WordCamps are going to go in 2022? There are already several on the <a href=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/schedule/\">schedule</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Agreed. It has definitely killed any thought I had of attending a WordCamp for a good long while.</p>&mdash; Chris Wiegman (@ChrisWiegman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChrisWiegman/status/1474167091372642312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 23, 2021</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether or not attendees&#8217; infections originated at the State of the Word or in outside gatherings is going to be impossible to pinpoint, but the nominal safety protocols sends a message to all those considering attending in-person events in 2022. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since receiving the notification of possible exposure, many State of the Word attendees have been monitoring their health with tests. One attendee reported in Post Status Slack that she has had difficulty getting tested and is still waiting for one in the mail. In the meantime, she has opted out of a family gathering for Christmas as a safeguard.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“As someone who wants nothing more than to be able to attend WordCamp Europe or WordCamp US in person next year this doesn’t give me much confidence,&#8221; Gravity Forms CEO and co-founder Carl Hancock said. &#8220;With such a small event the COVID protocols could and should have been super tight to test things out for larger events. The lack of masks and social distancing at an indoor event without added protocols such as rapid testing for entry was disappointing to see.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp organizers will need to consider how they can protect attendees beyond simply meeting the basic, local requirements, which may not fully acknowledge the nature of the current threat. They will also need to be responsive to the rapidly changing pandemic landscape and be ready to implement more safety protocols at the last minute, if necessary. If the State of the Word is any indication, future WordCamp organizers will need to have a plan for sending exposure notifications to attendees, in case the events become the source of an outbreak.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 24 Dec 2021 04:38:34 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:30;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:35:\"BuddyPress: BuddyPress 10.0.0-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=322588\";s: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:55:\"https://buddypress.org/2021/12/buddypress-10-0-0-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:3714:\"<p>Hello BuddyPress community!</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f3b6.png\" alt=\"🎶\" class=\"wp-smiley\" />  <em>All BuddyPress wants for Christmas</em><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f9d1-200d-1f384.png\" alt=\"🧑‍🎄\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> <em>is you</em> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f3b5.png\" alt=\"🎵\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> &#8230; to <strong>test this new pre-release</strong>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you haven’t tested our first&nbsp;<a href=\"https://buddypress.org/2021/12/buddypress-10-0-0-beta1/\">10.0.0 beta release</a>, here’s another opportunity to help us put the final touches on our next major release so that we make sure it will fit perfectly into your WordPress-/ BuddyPress-specific configuration.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beta testing is very important, and we need you all, whether you’re a novice or an advanced user, a theme designer or a plugin author. <strong>Please contribute</strong> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" />.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61dca8e1cbc57 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.10.0.0-beta2.zip\">Try BuddyPress 10.0.0-beta2</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-has-changed-in-10-0-0-beta2\">What has changed in 10.0.0-beta2?</h2>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Custom Group Extensions: if you activated one or more plugins adding a new tab to your groups or if you built one or more plugins playing with the <a href=\"https://codex.buddypress.org/developer/group-extension-api/\">Group Extension API</a>. It&#8217;s very important you take some time to make sure everything is working as expected in this area.</li><li>Contribute to <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\">WordPress 5.9 beta tests</a> as well! Let&#8217;s all check that BuddyPress pages are getting along well with Twenty Twenty-Two, the next WordPress default theme.</li><li>The Private Messages component just got a new feature: <strong>messages thread exit</strong>. Users can now remove themselves from a conversation.</li></ol>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-get-10-0-0-beta2\">How to get 10.0.0-beta2?</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Try the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/bp-beta-tester/\">BP Beta Tester</a>&nbsp;plugin.</li><li><a href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.10.0.0-beta2.zip\">Download the beta here</a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.8.0.0-beta1.zip\" target=\"_blank\">&nbsp;(zip file)</a>.</li><li>Check out our SVN repository:&nbsp;<code>svn co https://buddypress.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/</code></li><li>Clone our read-only Git repository:&nbsp;<code>git clone git://buddypress.git.wordpress.org/</code></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<p>The final release is slated for early January and <strong>we need your help to get there</strong>: please test <a href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.10.0.0-beta2.zip\">10.0.0-beta2</a>. If you find a bug, please <a href=\"https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">report it on our Trac</a> or as a reply to this <a href=\"https://buddypress.org/support/topic/buddypress-10-0-0-beta2/\">forum topic</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The BuddyPress core team is wishing you all: <strong>Merry Christmas</strong> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f384.png\" alt=\"🎄\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 22:14:17 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:94:\"WPTavern: WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 Fixes 20 Bugs, Polishes Workflow for Switching to a Block Theme\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127650\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:231:\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-beta-4-fixes-20-bugs-polishes-workflow-for-switching-to-a-block-theme?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-9-beta-4-fixes-20-bugs-polishes-workflow-for-switching-to-a-block-theme\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3004:\"<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\">WordPress 5.9 beta 4</a> was released this week with fixes for 20 bugs since beta 3. There are a few important changes to note in this release regarding how the WordPress admin will direct users who are exploring block themes. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to a fix in beta 4, it was possible for users to <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54549\">switch to a block theme within the Customizer</a>. This has been changed so that users will see a banner notifying them that the block theme is incompatible, if they try to switch within the Customizer. Here&#8217;s the commit message:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Starting in 5.9, block themes are not compatible with (do not support) Customizer; rather, they use the Site Editor. Viewing installed themes in Customizer, this commit adds an overlay message to alert users and give them a way to activate the block theme. Clicking on the &#8220;Activate&#8221; button activates the block theme and redirects back to the Appearance &gt; Themes interface, where the user can then enter the Site Editor for customization.</p><p>Non-block themes are not affected by this change and continue to work in Customizer.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Having themes work only in the site editor or the Customizer, depending on which they support, is likely to be a confusing workflow for users when testing themes. This incompatibility message and redirection is necessary but not ideal for the long term. Streamlining the customization workflow will depend on how quickly the WordPress community is able to produce and adopt block themes. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some testers also reported that the Site Editor doesn&#8217;t allow users to edit or preview non-active block themes. The preview only works with active themes. This isn&#8217;t necessarily a bug but rather a feature that needs to be discussed for the future. A <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/37201\">ticket</a> is open in the Gutenberg repository, recommending the implementation of a Live Preview for non-active block themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Featured patterns from the pattern directory should be displayed under Patterns in the the block inserter, but for some reason this wasn&#8217;t included in 5.9. It has been <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54623\">backported in beta 4</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This beta also adds a filter that allows developers to disable the login screen language switcher, which is a <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-language-switcher-on-login-screen\">new feature coming in 5.9</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The release team has determined that a fifth beta will not be necessary, as of <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/dev-chat-summary-december-22-2021/\">yesterday&#8217;s core dev chat</a>. The revised <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">5.9 release schedule</a> has RC1 shipping on January 4, 2022, and the official release on January 25.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 18:42:46 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:32;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:76:\"WPTavern: WP Engine Acquires Brian Gardner’s Frost, Opens It to the Public\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127547\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:189:\"https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-acquires-brian-gardners-frost-opens-it-to-the-public?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wp-engine-acquires-brian-gardners-frost-opens-it-to-the-public\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7120:\"<img />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Brian Gardner <a href=\"https://wpengine.com/blog/wp-engine-adds-frost-to-open-source-wordpress-project/\">announced  today</a> that WP Engine has acquired his latest project, <a href=\"https://frostwp.com/\">Frost</a>. In an email sent out to all customers, Gardner said his team had issued refunds to all current customers. The business model is changing, and Frost will be a freely-available project going forward and focus on full site editing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frost is a WordPress theme that Gardner released earlier this year as the main product of a new startup business. The original version was shipped as a child theme of Genesis, the StudioPress theme framework he had spent much of his WordPress career working on. <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-acquires-studiopress\">WP Engine acquired StudioPress</a> in 2018, and Gardner <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/brian-gardner-steps-down-from-studiopress\">stepped down from his role</a> in October 2019. It did not take him long to find his way back into the WordPress theme development game, bringing his personal style back to the theming world with Frost. Then, he landed a new job within WP Engine&#8217;s ranks in September.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I am leading the WordPress Developer Relations team at WP Engine,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We have a simple mission: Accelerate innovation in WordPress and help the community transition to the block editor and Full Site Editing (né Gutenberg). In addition, we want to cultivate an interactive and immersive community resource that serves as a treasure chest of knowledge and operates as a conduit between the WordPress project and its users.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I asked if there was something concrete he could share, maybe what form that would take, but he did not go into any other details. In general, the more resources the development and design community have around the block system, the faster the ecosystem can evolve. Only time will tell what Gardner&#8217;s team within WP Engine creates.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When I joined WP Engine in late September, it was evident to me [WP Engine] saw the value in building relationships with designers, developers, and creators &#8212; within our <a href=\"https://wpengine.com/atlas/\">Atlas</a> product line, as well as with WordPress,&#8221; said Gardner. &#8220;While there was interest in Frost when I came on board, it wasn&#8217;t until my vision for our team became clear did an acquisition enter the picture. I recommended bringing Frost into the company and hiring Nick Diego.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Diego is the creator of the <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/from-ecommerce-integration-to-location-based-controls-block-visibility-pro-expands-upon-its-free-version\">Block Visibility</a> and <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/add-custom-svgs-via-the-icon-block-wordpress-plugin\">Icon Block</a> plugins. He also began working on Frost in late September.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In alignment with WP Engine&#8217;s core value of &#8216;Committed to Give Back,&#8217; Frost is transitioning from a paid product to a free one,&#8221; said Gardner. &#8220;Given the change in business model, we issued full refunds to all active customers. By open-sourcing Frost and focusing on Full Site Editing, we hope to encourage a community of builders to experiment with the expanding capabilities of the block editor. We believe in its potential and look forward to helping it grow.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frost is open to everyone <a href=\"https://github.com/wpengine/themes/tree/trunk/frost\">via the WP Engine themes repository</a> on GitHub.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"leaping-into-block-theming\">Leaping into Block Theming</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">When Gardner sold StudioPress in 2018, several factors played a part in the decision. Among them were the uncertainty around the Gutenberg project and WordPress&#8217;s future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It took some time for me to put the pieces together, but when I did, I saw just how powerful the block editor has become,&#8221; he said. &#8220;In particular, I am excited about block patterns, global styles, and building themes that folks can use to create beautiful websites with little effort.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The result of his newfound enthusiasm around the block system was Frost. I have had the opportunity to tinker around with the theme. It has Gardner&#8217;s signature minimalist design style, a focus on readable typography, and ample breathing room for the content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simpler designs almost feel par for the course with any block theme these days, regardless of the theme author. What is likely to set Frost apart is its <a href=\"https://frostwp.com/patterns/\">block patterns</a>. It currently ships with 38 of them. The layouts should allow users to quickly set up their sites, along with the theme&#8217;s custom block styles.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I am a huge fan of block patterns and see their potential when paired with the growing support of design/style elements within <code>theme.json</code>,&#8221; said Gardner of the things he is excited about. &#8220;Additionally, the site editor is something I feel, once mature, will be a game-changer for WordPress and those who build for it.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-pattern-explorer/\">Block Pattern Explorer</a> plugin was initially a part of the Frost library plugin, but Gardner and Diego pulled it out and make it available to everyone. They also wanted to serve the Frost patterns through it. The hope is that the enhancements already in place via the plugin find their way into core WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Frost theme patterns via Block Patterns Explorer\n\n\n\n<p>The design is a bit more polished than core. It includes category types, a feature the theme uses to separate its own pattern categories from others. The experimental explorer plugin allows users to preview patterns via desktop, tablet, and mobile views. And, it has a clear &#8220;Add Pattern&#8221; button for inserting a block pattern into the post.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, they plan to sunset the plugin once its features make their way into WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress theming has come a long way since Gardner first dove in over a decade ago. Back then, users had to open template files to customize bits and pieces of their homepage. As we move toward WordPress 5.9, users will have that same power. However, they will modify Frost via the WordPress site editor instead of PHP files.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Yes, I feel we are circling back to some degree,&#8221; he said. It was in response to a question of his early days designing themes for WordPress in comparison to now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;While WordPress will never be solely a blogging platform ever again, it seems like the software is shedding its skin. The irony here is that we see WordPress used in sophisticated ways that &#8212; to be honest &#8212; I never thought would be possible. As for me, I believe in the power of simplicity. That has become my north star for everything I create and has allowed me to navigate the ebbs and flows of an ever-changing software and industry.&#8221;</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 15:35:47 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:33;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"Akismet: Do CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA Protect WordPress Sites from Bots?\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2164\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:95:\"https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/23/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17231:\"<p>If you’ve used the internet anytime in the last decade, chances are you’ve had to pass a CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA test. You may have done so many of these little quizzes that you groan just seeing one on a form.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are quite a few different versions, but they all can help protect your WordPress website from spambots and make your life simpler.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, we’ll cover the evolution of CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA. We’ll also go over the different versions and the pros and cons of each one. Then, we’ll show you how to enable reCAPTCHA on WordPress and explore additional security measures you should implement.</p>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-2164\"></span>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-are-captcha-and-recaptcha\">What are CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA serve the same purpose: protecting your website against bots and other security threats. They’re typically found on contact, comment, login, and password reset forms. But there are some key differences between the two safety checks. Let’s take a look at each one in detail.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-is-captcha\">What is CAPTCHA?</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The acronym <a href=\"https://support.google.com/a/answer/1217728?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CAPTCHA stands for</a> Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. It’s a mouthful, but the name says it all —&nbsp;it can decipher the difference between a human and a computer operator. Still, the specifics are important.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the <a href=\"https://www.britannica.com/technology/CAPTCHA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">early 2000s</a>, when it was created, CAPTCHA used a distorted text (letters and numbers) test to prevent bots from compromising websites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When faced with a CAPTCHA, users needed to decipher broken text correctly to prove that they were, in fact, human. If they couldn’t identify the letters and numbers, the test wouldn’t submit their requests.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was revolutionary because most humans could pass it easily, but computers couldn’t solve it themselves.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-is-recaptcha\">What is reCAPTCHA?</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>reCAPTCHA follows a similar principle, but instead of just utilizing meaningless text to see if the user is a real human, it was designed to help computers digitize old books and newspapers. The test was essentially split into two parts shown side-by-side —&nbsp;one traditional CAPTCHA to determine the humanity of the user, and a second image of letters from a piece of text the computer was trying to digitize. If the human could pass the first part, it would accept the user&#8217;s input for the second part as an accurate translation.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img /><em>Photo from <a href=\"http://www.captcha.net/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http://www.captcha.net/</a></em>\n\n\n\n<p>The point is that reCAPTCHA added a second part to the test to put millions of human users to work —&nbsp;a few seconds at a time —&nbsp;to digitize historical text for ongoing record keeping. Now sites were protected from bots and users weren’t totally wasting their time.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Google <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/luis-von-ahn-creator-of-duolingo-recaptcha-2014-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">purchased the technology in 2009</a> and improved upon it over the years. You see, artificial intelligence (AI) eventually became sophisticated enough to read and decipher even the most challenging text with <a href=\"https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2014/12/are-you-robot-introducing-no-captcha\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">99.8 percent accuracy</a>. By doing so, they could pass the test and trick it into thinking bots were humans.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To deal with this new issue, reCAPTCHA made things even more challenging, introducing new options like the famous “I’m not a robot” check box.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Today, reCAPTCHA is a widely-used security measure that protects websites from various spambots and cybercriminals by helping to ensure that comments on blog posts or in forums, and submissions on forms come from real people.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-are-the-different-versions-of-recaptcha\">What are the different versions of reCAPTCHA?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are technically four different types of active <a href=\"https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/docs/versions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reCAPTCHAs</a>. Instead of text, some tests may use images, audio, or even math equations. They also utilize some variation of&nbsp; “<a href=\"https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2014/12/are-you-robot-introducing-no-captcha#:~:text=reCAPTCHA%20protects%20the%20websites%20you%20love%20from%20spam%20and%20abuse.&text=We\'re%20calling%20it%20the,having%20to%20solve%20a%20CAPTCHA.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA</a>”, which determines whether a user is suspicious simply based on their behavior on a site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re setting up <a href=\"https://jetpack.com/features/security/\">WordPress website security</a>, you may have the option to choose between different reCAPTCHA types. For example, you can select a checkbox or background verification:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the different types of reCAPTCHA:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v2 (“I’m not a robot” checkbox):</strong> This is the simplest and easiest test to add with limited coding knowledge. Sometimes it passes or approves users right away and prompts them to check a box. Other times, it asks them to verify that they’re human with a puzzle challenge.</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v2 (Invisible reCAPTCHA badge):</strong> For this version, there’s usually no checkbox. It simply uses an existing button on your site or a JavaScript API call for verification. You’ll see a badge that says <em>Protected by reCAPTCHA</em>. Essentially, verification happens in the background. Only the strangest behavior will prompt a test.</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v2 (Android):</strong> This version utilizes a reCAPTCHA Android library that’s part of Google Play’s <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://developer.android.com/training/safetynet\" target=\"_blank\">SafetyNet APIs</a>. This validates requests from within an Android app, so it’s not the right choice to use for a WordPress site.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v3:</strong> This is the most advanced and discreet of all the versions. Visitors won’t even know it’s happening. It uses a JavaScript API and automatically assigns a score to each user to approve or deny them. This version also gives more advanced developers extended flexibility for integrations with other security measures to dictate the level of site security.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA Enterprise:</strong> Like v3, this runs in the background. It gives each site visitor a score based on their behavior. If a visitor is deemed suspicious, it may require them to verify their identity through custom options determined by each site —&nbsp;two-factor authentication or email verification. As its name implies, this is typically for enterprise-level sites and requires advanced customization.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-should-i-consider-when-choosing-a-recaptcha-version\">What should I consider when choosing a reCAPTCHA version?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since reCAPTCHA Enterprise is reserved for larger companies, it’s safe to say that most websites will need either reCAPTCHA v2 or reCAPTCHA v3. Still, it’s important to know what you’re getting into with each one.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-recaptcha-v2\">What are the pros and cons of reCAPTCHA v2?&nbsp;</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The most significant advantage of reCAPTCHA v2 is that, whether you choose to include the “I’m not a robot” checkbox or leave it discreetly running in the background, it protects you from spam while offering humans the opportunity to prove that they’re real.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the invisible version, if it detects suspicious behavior, it will require a test. If it doesn’t, the user can proceed none the wiser.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, any reCAPTCHA v2 test can seriously hurt the user experience for site visitors. To combat increasingly smart AI technology, tests have become so tricky that many real humans have trouble passing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The test’s difficulty may leave users frustrated, wondering why they fail when they are actual humans. In fact, the situation has become so bad that popular tech magazines <a href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/im-not-a-robot-why-captchas-hard-to-solve\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">give people tips</a> on passing these tests.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plus, it’s also important to consider <a href=\"https://www.w3.org/TR/turingtest/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the accessibility of reCAPTCHAs</a>. A graphical puzzle, for example, would be inaccessible for people who have vision impairments. So, if you do decide to use reCAPTCHA v2, it’s important to present other options, like audio or text-based tests.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-recaptcha-v3\">What are the pros and cons of reCAPTCHA v3?</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>reCAPTCHA v3 was specifically designed to improve the user experience. With no verification tests to complete, it’s seamless. Website visitors are happily unaware of the entire process.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also gives administrators much more control. With reCAPTCHA v3, you have advanced options to customize your interaction with Google’s API to adjust scoring thresholds and define what is considered suspicious behavior.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some may consider this added control a good thing, while others may find it a weighty and cumbersome responsibility. Additionally, <a href=\"https://www.fastcompany.com/90369697/googles-new-recaptcha-has-a-dark-side\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some critics believe</a> that reCAPTCHA v3 may pose a privacy risk because it provides Google with too much data.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, reCAPTCHA v3 can deter good bots from doing important work. People tend to remember the villains like spambots, but forget about their positive counterparts. Good bots deal with things like SEO and performance monitoring. If you get in their way, your overall website success could suffer.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A final downside is that, since spam scoring happens in the background, there’s no alternative test provided to suspicious users (like with the invisible reCAPTCHA v2 badge). Visitors who are wrongly flagged as bots don’t have an opportunity to prove their legitimacy. This means that you could turn away real customers, clients, and followers.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"can-bots-bypass-recaptcha\">Can bots bypass reCAPTCHA?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the big question. Unfortunately, the answer may not be straightforward or definitive.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The many versions of reCAPTCHA are evidence that malicious spambots evolve quickly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They’re constantly adapting to outsmart reCAPTCHA. When the original CAPTCHA was introduced, it was revolutionary in its ability to decipher between real users and bots. But it didn’t take long before the bots caught on. People have even started <a href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/augustinefou/2020/09/19/you-didnt-know-bots-solve-captchas-and-do-pharming-with-humans/?sh=706e34951a4d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">using human labor</a> to get past tests manually.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Computer scientists are regularly working to increase the effectiveness of reCAPTCHA, however. Some have <a href=\"https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/1/18205610/google-captcha-ai-robot-human-difficult-artificial-intelligence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposed new challenges</a>, like puzzles that require a user to maneuver pieces or nursery rhyme completion games based on the location of site visitors.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That’s one major reason tests have become so frustrating for real users —&nbsp;difficulty has had to increase to stay ahead of computer learning. Unfortunately, it seems we’re at a point where to continue to outsmart computers, we have to make tests that are sometimes too difficult for real users to solve&nbsp;— a major problem.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It’s gotten so bad that <a href=\"https://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&S1=9767263.PN.&OS=PN/9767263&RS=PN/9767263\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon now owns a patent</a> for a new kind of CAPTCHA-esque test that is so difficult to solve that only a computer can do it. Meaning… if you pass, you’ve actually failed because you’ve proven that you can’t possibly be human.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"so-can-recaptcha-stop-bots\">So can reCAPTCHA stop bots?&nbsp;</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, it can stop many of them. But it can’t stop them all. And the percentage of bots that make it through is increasing by the day. This means you can’t simply rely on reCAPTCHA to prevent spam submissions. You’d be signing up for a highly imperfect, temporary system that’s only going to get less effective.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what <em>should</em> you do?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"other-security-measures-to-protect-your-website-from-spambots\">Other security measures to protect your website from spambots</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"1-lock-down-your-comment-forms\">1. Lock down your comment forms</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The best place to start is by configuring your WordPress comments in a way that protects your site against bots. Navigate to <strong>Settings → Discussion</strong> in your site dashboard and and consider requiring:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Comment authors to submit a name and email</li><li>Users to be registered and logged in to comment</li><li>Comments to be manually approved before publication</li><li>Authors to have a previously approved comment to submit a new one</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In the <strong>Comment Moderation</strong> box, you can also flag a comment that contains a certain number of links —&nbsp;lots of links is a common indication of spam. Or, if you’re getting a lot of spam that contains certain words, email addresses, IP addresses, and other characteristics, you can ban them entirely.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"2-protect-your-login-forms\">2. Protect your login forms</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To lock down your login forms without using a CAPTCHA, you can implement <a href=\"https://jetpack.com/features/security/secure-authentication/\">two-factor authentication</a>. This requires a user to have both login details <em>and </em>a physical device to access your site. When someone logs in, they’ll have to enter a username and password as well as a one-time code that’s sent to the mobile device on file. This is virtually impossible for bots to get past.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"3-use-honeypot\">3. Use honeypot</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Honeypots are an option for protecting contact forms. Think of them as a mouse trap for bots. They essentially create a hidden field in your forms that isn’t visible to site visitors but that can be seen by spambots. If the field is filled out, the bot is stopped in its tracks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many contact form plugins allow you to implement this feature in their default settings.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"4-protect-your-comment-and-contact-forms-with-akismet\">4. Protect your comment and contact forms with Akismet</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Akismet is hands-down the best way to eliminate the headaches of bots (or even real humans) spamming your comments or sending unwanted messages through forms on your site.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With millions of users, Akismet has blocked over 500,000,000,000 spam submissions at the time of writing this article. With each one, it learns a bit more. So while bots might have AI to get past reCAPTCHAs, Akismet’s AI is working to protect your site in an entirely different way.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Akismet can accurately identify spammy behavior and keeps a blocklist of words, IP addresses, names, and emails to prevent pests. Plus, it gives you control to provide feedback about any spam it misses or real comments that it accidentally flagged. Then, it customizes its spam-fighting solution just for your site. Amazing.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>You can get a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/\">free version of Akismet</a> for your personal blog. In addition, there are three <a href=\"https://akismet.com/plans/\">paid plans</a> for commercial sites starting at just $10 per month.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"win-the-fight-against-spam-bots\">Win the fight against spam bots</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Spam bots and less-than-ethical cyber actors are always trying to take advantage of visitors and the sites they love (like yours!). They can cause annoyance or even do real-world damage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA have evolved many times over the years and continue to be one trusted way to prevent bots from flooding sites. But these solutions aren’t perfect, and sites need other measures to prevent spam from causing trouble. Consider protecting login forms with two-factor authentication, deploying WordPress best-practices, and using <a href=\"https://akismet.com/\">Akismet</a> to filter comment and contact form submissions automatically.&nbsp;</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 10:25:20 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Simon Keating\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:34;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:77:\"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 38) — In Person For State of the Word\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=91657\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/38/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:38726:\"<h2>&#8220;I believe our community can make significant contributions to Gutenberg and the Block Editor.&#8221; —Cory Miller</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory shares his experience among the 30+ individuals who attended the State of the Word in New York in person. David and Cory talk about how Matt presented himself, his views on the necessary ratio of community contributions to open source projects, Five for the Future, the next generation of leaders, and what it means to give back to the community and WordPress core.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also: </strong>Cory hints at what Post Status will be doing in 2022 when it comes to giving back — along with how Post Status will encourage and assist people in contributing to the WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\">Every week <strong><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">Post Status Excerpt</a></strong> will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what\'s new in WordPress in a flash. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/26a1.png\" alt=\"⚡\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />You can listen to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">past episodes</a> of <strong>The Excerpt</strong>, <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/\">browse all our podcasts</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe on <a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7\">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d\">Castro</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts\">Player.fm</a>, <a href=\"https://pca.st/05rR\">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\">Simplecast</a>, or by <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f3a7.png\" alt=\"🎧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png\" alt=\"🔗\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpiH_P9aGhQ&feature=emb_title\">YouTube: State Of The Word 2021</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.godaddy.com/garage/state-of-the-word-2021\">GoDaddy Review And Timeline of State of the Word 2021</a></li><li><a href=\"https://thewpminute.com/state-of-the-word-2021/\">The WP Minute (Audio + Transcript)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"http://twitter.com/nathaningram\">Cory Miller (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Sponsor: <a href=\"https://poststat.us/pagely\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow\">Yoast SEO</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yoast</strong> is SEO for everyone. Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support and extra features like internal linking, social previews, a redirect manager, tutorial videos, and integration with Google Webmaster Tools. Get on board today with the premiere SEO plugin for WordPress — <strong>Yoast</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-transcript\"><strong>Transcript</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> [00:00:00] Since I wasn\'t there because as I was telling somebody earlier, I couldn\'t, hurt my Twitter game by being there. I had to be in front of my computer with with my keyboards and making a bingo games and hashtag&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> that\'s my fondest memories of you, David is like going to these events and somebody live tweeting.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s like, here\'s this dimension media person. And it\'s like, holy crap.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. They used to call me dementia media. So.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Signature though is still in the lodge waiting. And I remember when Twitter kind of first came out and it was a thing to live tweet a lot. And but I always like yours because you always summarize what.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The takeaway is like you\'re starring the cool quotes along the way. And that\'s part of what we\'re trying to do at post status is give you the too long, didn\'t read content, the inside analysis commentary for the stuff that matters to you. So that\'s your claim to fame or friend?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, that\'s how I took notes and I really didn\'t care who listened. I that\'s how I just took [00:01:00] notes. It kind of knocked off a couple of killed a couple birds with one stone, but enough about me. Let\'s. Let\'s talk about you being there in person. And can you tell me where this place w what was this place like?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Was it in like a tall building or like, I hear it was tumblers all the offices or something.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> So my understanding was it\'s the automatics new event space in New York city. And of course, some of their investors in New York city and things like that. And it was incredible space. I would try to guess how big of a space it was.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I couldn\'t tell, the camera angles were just, they did the camera angles just right. So you never got a true dimension of the room on the live stream</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;yeah, that\'s&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> what I just said. I do more tell me I bet you it\'s about 15,000 to 20,000 square feet in there that I saw really great space. And it\'s a whole floor of a billion is my understanding, but it was gorgeous.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then there\'s the sunset of New York city out the window rep for state of the word. And it was really good, but I. I, you know, I got to see [00:02:00] Matt about a month ago and San Francisco, we got to talk and he mentioned inviting you David, to stay the word. And also he\'d love to have Post Status there. So I was like, yes, we\'re going to make that happen.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know you had things that come up, you couldn\'t be there. But you know, I want to guess there\'s about 25 30 people there in person. And it was a really nice night. I mean, automatic. Rolled out the carpet for all of us, which is super nice. Matt as always is a charming, elegant presenter and host and did a fantastic job.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I thought it was normal. You know, I want to give him kudos, but like, he\'s really good on stage.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Well he was different this time and I realized I wasn\'t in the room, but I almost had, I have a 30 inch monitor. So I saw a lot of him and I saw a lot of his facial expressions pretty clearly. There was there was something different about them in a good way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I can\'t, I think he, you know, not just not to put emotions on a person, I\'m pretty sure he was nervous in some regard. I think anybody is nervous to some extent of public speaking, but he definitely had some sort of [00:03:00] energy that he was releasing. And you know, me, I record animated gifs all the time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I decided not to post, I don\'t know what I decided to post, but in the very beginning before he was kind of. He was almost dancing a jig right before way before the state of the word started up on stage. So he was really excited and really, you know, anxious maybe, but you could just see the energy even before he spoke anything.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You could just see the pent up energy that he had, which was reflected later, by the way.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> And not trying to speak for him, but if for me, I go, I haven\'t done this in two years. There\'s some cool people here that I have invited to be here and I\'m talking about the thing that I want to spend all of my life doing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so. Yeah, totally. I spoke a couple of weeks ago at our three recurring revenue retreat. And I remember getting feeling nervous cause I\'m like I was rusty, you know? And there was this quote and I\'m trying to remember what it was, but it\'s basically turning fear, the anxiety into [00:04:00] energy and excitement.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\'s what I tried to do is like channel that\'s now Matt doesn\'t need my public speaking tips, but those are my thoughts. What I. As long as I\'ve known him. And it goes back to 2008, where camp DFW in Frisco, Texas. There\'s one thing that\'s always standard with Matt and that is his passion for the WordPress open source project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. So, you know, and it just has never wavered. And I think he mentioned on state of the word that he wants to spend the rest of his life. He\'s 38 rest of this. On WordPress project. And I totally believe this. This is his contribution to humidity, you know, and at Post Status makers of the open web WordPress, this 42% of this big number that he shared out there, I think we should all take a moment, take a big deep breath and go.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The web is still in its infancy. I don\'t know, life-stage wise where it would be comparatively to like a human, but it\'s still early, like in history of all that\'s going to happen in this world. In the future, the web is [00:05:00] still kind of an infant. And if you think about it, our place is WordPress makers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>People that build on WordPress, extend WordPress, teach WordPress, all that stuff people have. Post-test the business to WordPress is this is historic and what we\'ve been doing. I started with WordPress, my first blog in 2006. That was just me using this amazing platform called WordPress, but, you know, history historically sake and going through.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>42%, that number, it just keeps getting bigger. And that\'s exciting for us, those of us that make our living with on for WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah, he did. I got a couple of quotes out of them and it was, you know, livestream is a little bit easier. Cause you can pause and rewind a little bit just to make sure, because you want to get it as close as possible. Regarding the The WordPress space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He did say the court word press belongs. Just, you know, just to anybody it\'s not just you or me it\'s regardless of economic or political situations. And he said something about WordPress can\'t be [00:06:00] created by just one company and people adding a line of code is like giving that, give a penny, take a penny and I feel like there\'s quite a number of people that thanks to five for the future that are giving that he was, he actually said he actually gave a quote or something about, I don\'t know if you caught it. He was studying other CMSs. And he said for every dollar that has made $20 has made in the ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\'s ratio is how they came up with the five for the future. Did you know that. I did not.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> You know, I don\'t know how long, far, because the future has been out, but there\'s two things I wanted to highlight. Part of State of the Word you\'ve just put a square in this one, which is contributing back to core five for the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\'t know how long that\'s been going, but, you know, I know our Post Status members. I mentioned this to Matt. They, you know, like me and I themes, we had, let\'s say at her height, I want to say 27, 28 people or something like that. And you go, okay, how do we, excuse me, our team or company contribute to core.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We don\'t have the profit bandwidth, all that stuff to take a full-time dev for instance&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> right</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> [00:07:00] off. And I mentioned this because I know there\'s so many giving hearts in WordPress and founders and entrepreneurs and people that lead companies. That benefit from WordPress that want to do five for the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s tough. I get it from your standpoint of how do we meaningfully contributed, even though we believe we are contributing to the ecosystem or what we\'re doing. And I grant that a hundred percent, what we want to do at Post Status though I did tag on the contributions that push to continue to contribute to core.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that\'s the reflective I dunno, KPI for the ecosystem too, by the way. But, and I know there\'s companies that do it, even if it doesn\'t fall under the strict banner of farm from feature or whatever it is that like, they\'re doing it just like, we felt like we were contributing to WordPress for years.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What I want to do is translate that help that better for our Post Status crowd to, to actually meaningfully contribute. So Courtney Robertson on our team, who is also great, awesome person at Go Daddy pro is really [00:08:00] taking the banner for the contributor days for post status. So next year, we\'re going to be talking about enrolling out contributor days, but that\'s one thing to say, we\'re going to do a contributor day, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\'s nothing new. This is where Courtney\'s idea was. Let\'s go to the team leads and ask for their wishlist. Things they would love for people of post status to contribute. And from that gives us something that we can go. Let\'s say we take that day eight hours. And we\'re going to show up for contributor today. at Post Status, were gonna, make it a contribute and then pick something off the board.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we\'re already trying to help you do a little thinking in the stuff that\'s going to be most valuable to the core team, core teams that are doing things, and then say pick one off the list and try to get as far as you can. You know, and I\'m excited about that. I know it\'s very meaningfully and for good reason to Matt, both as CEO of automatic, but also the leader of the WordPress open source project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that was one thing that for sure came out, you know, to me in that call.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. There, [00:09:00] there was quite a bit talk about, there was talk about the contributors earlier in the live stream. And then afterwards it was how to get new and especially young people involved and you know, young people, they have so many distractions these days, but they have more time and they more energy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then we do cause we were running, families were running businesses and so forth like that. And I liked the question that Allie posed about. How can these people learn WordPress? But contributing I, you know, I, I lost my thought there for a second, but I really wanted to. I was hoping that the five for the future was going to spark some more ideas.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think it will, because if you have people that are, if companies are being sponsored or sponsoring people to work on contributing and there should be. Like an on-ramp in there somewhere for people who want to get into it too, because you know, like many people have pointed out. You have to, unless you\'re a young person within, [00:10:00] with an inordinate amount of time, you don\'t have the time to do that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So even for a couple of hours, and I think part of five for the future, and some people have brought this, you know, written about it after state of the word. And about that five for the future, maybe someday five for the future can be expanded a bit to help some people not only contribute, but also kind of help them find people are willing to cover them so they can contribute whether that\'s financially or some other means.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or maybe it\'s just some sort of internship if somebody is brand new and needs to be exposed to anything in WordPress. So I think five for the future is a great thing now, and I think it has got room to grow, but you know, it needs that it needs. Momentum of support right now and whether that\'s the repost status and all these other methods, I think we\'re still seeing the early stages of a comprehensive program for contributing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> And I understand the apprehensions from companies and founders and leaders. You know, you have to make a [00:11:00] profit for sure. And you\'re like, okay, I want to give back, but I, can\'t just, I\'m not a nonprofit, I\'m a profit in enterprise and everything, and I want to help with them and contribute to these.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But something you mentioned just a second ago was pinged for my second thought. And when you said next generation, the no, our intern Here and has helping to post that by the way. But I also know your passion, heart for next generation with WordPress too. And it, that just brings up, well, one Sandy Edwards work with kids camp.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Talk to her about that a couple of weeks ago at our three, how post-test wants to contribute to that. But the other thing, the second theme is Gutenberg. You know, you can\'t probably talk to Matt about WordPress without hearing Gutenberg and for good reason, here\'s the thing. I was not a vocal advocate at all of ruling out Gutenberg in the way we did&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I like how politically, that was so eloquently put, but yes.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Yeah, I thought it was way early and everything, and it took me a year or two to finally [00:12:00] okay. You know, use Gutenberg and but it here\'s the reality situation, no matter what, the way we feel about the past, it is here and it\'s not going away.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you hear this over and over from Matt and for good reasons, there\'s some cool stuff coming. That he talked about the styles, some of the typical libraries. I see that as a very similar innovation and direction, that themes as a whole went when I started, I think back in 2008, There\'s so much innovation to do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So first and foremost, it\'s here. We\'ve got to accept it and move on. And I think what his plea here was too, and again, probably my nuance. It\'s not, I\'m not going to play, but I\'m just saying my nuances. It\'s not going away. We should accept it and embrace it. And then the question becomes, how do we improve that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think our community can make considerable contribution. To the conversation and the actual implementation of Gutenberg, the block editor for WordPress. I\'ll tell ya, I\'m looking, I\'m going to redo my [00:13:00] personal site cause I want to start blogging every day. And I say blogging, it\'s going to be just sharing my thoughts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not just on Twitter, but you know, my site and I\'m probably going to pig blank canvas. I\'m still up in the air and I want to use. And I want to really like embrace using it and see what I, what my takeaways are. And I did that back in August with the click publish. I want to use Gutenberg because I\'ve criss cross the threshold.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And for me, I\'ll tell you the big benefit David was used to because no one even believes I\'m ever been a developer. I\'m not, but I was like&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Don\'t be ashamed. I\'m a programmer. I do websites. I do plug-ins. I do all of that. And what does Matt say to everybody that I am during state of the word?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I tweet a lot. So that\'s my claim to fame. That\'ll be on my tombstone where the developer, but you\'re not a developer, but&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> I was looking for, I wanted to do a buy now button or something. You know, I just wanted to button and I can\'t, I can [00:14:00] figure it out. I mean, I don\'t want to figure out how to write a button coordination, or, CSS or whatever.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I, what I normally would have done is went look for a plugin. I can\'t remember. I want to say max plugins or something was that max buttons was out there as a plug in. Well, and I can\'t remember what might\'ve been AGA again. But it was like, that\'s a block that was a game changer for me to go.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You don\'t have to get something extra to do things you want to do in the post. That was pretty cool turning point for me. It\'s not there. It\'s getting better, this awesome people working on it. And I think we should. We can and should contribute to the conversation and the implementation once it gets going, because it\'s not going away.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And back to your point about next generation Syed Balkhi that if you WP Beginner and awesome motive, I remember asking him a couple of years about Gutenberg. I was like I kind of expect he\'s going to get on the bandwagon. Let me it\'s like, we don\'t like it. It shouldn\'t be out there. And Syed was like, I love it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was like why? And he goes, because the next generation look at how people are [00:15:00] publishing today and it\'s changed from what you and I learned now. He\'s like, he\'s over 10 years, 15 years younger than me. But like even young kids like Olivia and like the platforms have changed in the way to express yourself change.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that always stuck with me what Syed said. And so I really have high hopes for Gutenberg. Yeah, again, now that I am in strong, like of it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So another thing Matt talked about which I\'m actually a little bit surprised he did bring it up. I\'m wondering who, by the way, Tuesday was when WordPress 5.9 was supposed to be out before they pushed it to January. So I talked to Anne McCarthy today. And first of all, I mentioned to her, like you mentioned, like 5.0 release when Gutenberg first came up, was rough around the edges. And she has assured me that the full site editor coming out in January with 5.9 is it may not have the entire kitchen sink, but it is very stable and doable. So I can\'t wait to share that [00:16:00] interview with everybody, but Matt did call out acquisitions and I like, and I thought is this one of the things that if 5.9 was out, would he gone over more quickly? I don\'t know, but they got on one slide. He started with 42 logos. And I thought there were more acquisitions than that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'ll have to go back to our Post Status tracker. But he had 42 logos up there and then he proceeded with, and I\'m not a finance person. I\'m just going to take his word for it. , his charts were taken from other people\'s analysis. He gave proper credit to them, but he says the number of the deals that are happening in the tech space, he says there were 10,000 transactions in the first nine months of 2021 alone.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which is up 24% over the last year. And then he brought out another chart that was called inflows to stocks. And I couldn\'t even, I don\'t even know what that was. I was, but all I know is there was a big bar at the end with the, with our year in it though. And I guess what he was trying to prove is that [00:17:00] don\'t panic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The acquisition space is not unique to the WordPress space right now. This is all going, you know, bonkers. And it\'s not just WordPress. So I, you know, with you being a business person, how did you feel, do you feel that was properly delivered or delivered? Well, do you think he got the message.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> But the question I think about that is what prompted him to even do the slides, you know, and that\'s the bigger question we always want to be thinking about here, you know, for our people is what is the founder co-founder of WordPress, the movement of open source project. Fill the need to say that. And we have some sense of the people that are like change sucks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nobody likes change, you know, and the fact of the matter, if you bullet down these acquisitions, why would anybody even care? It\'s because it could potentially change something that I\'m used to doing. And I\'m not saying it\'s good, right? Bad, wrong indifferent. I\'m just saying, you know, I think change is [00:18:00] tough and I\'ve heard some sentiment from the WordPress community about, I don\'t even recognize it anymore and all this stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then I just go down, like, here\'s my comparison for it is when I left.iThemes and started this new journey and Post Status . It was over a year before I became a partner and it was probably nine months before Brian and I even started talking about me becoming a partner. There was a big gap there and I was like, I didn\'t know what I was going to do next and trying to figure that out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I did one simple thing, which was, I\'m never going to say publicly privately, I\'m leaving WordPress. I joked all the time. I\'m going to be a WordPress user a blogger, which I was still am. But the important thing is I didn\'t want to lose or even think all the amazing friendships I\'ve made over 15 years being in the space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To say, I\'m saying goodbye to you. That\'s not it. You heard Pippin Williamson when he left Sandhill dev that he was like, I\'m not saying about a difference, but I need to step away from the project. [00:19:00] And I just go that sentiment to me comes back to this acquisition. Like things are changing, all that stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I, I totally get that. I\'m not trying to change your emotion. My way of thinking about it though, is the people are still here and that\'s what matters. I\'ve known you David for God. Has it been 10 years since&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'ve known you for 10 years?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Since the first conference in Arizona whose name is escaping my. I think that\'s where we may have known.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We may have known each other prior to that. That\'s the first time we met in person, I think officially,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> but you know, the premise of all, this is like, the people are still here, for the most part. Now you\'re always going to get people leaving the ecosystem, leaving it, you know, and coming in new people, coming in, who I met, one of our post-test members was when Stina and I\'d love to hear her story.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She was there. Got invited to State of the Word we got to talk Post Status member and That\'s a new person, I didn\'t know, a year ago or two years ago, you [00:20:00] know? And so some may leave and you\'re always going to have that in some, and cause there was even a picture. I think one of those slides, David of Kim. Oh, you know, and you think about people who have left and for instance, this world Kim back in the day but I saw her picture on one of those slides, you know, and it made me smile, but all that to say, WordPress is not about code it\'s about the people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that is what I hang on. I\'m not trying to change your heart, your feelings, but I\'m just saying, if you think about it, go it\'s about the people. No matter if it\'s a team, if it\'s outside of WordPress, whatever it is, it\'s like, what matters are the people there? And are we growing together and all that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that\'s the way I think about that, but that the merger is that it\'s I it\'s right for people to go and question what\'s what the heck\'s going on here. Things are changing on that space, but I still go the Michelle Frechette. Actually as a team member of people, some of my best friends and my former team and I themes now, is that interesting?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I\'ve known Michelle for a long time and now she\'s a part of the scene. That\'s cool. You know, that, that change happened where gives, [00:21:00] got by. And cellar rolled out and she moved over roles and now we get to work with her Post Status too. And again, I just call back to, if you\'re worried about that, just go back to the people now there\'s other worries, but I just, the heart of it is about people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. And&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also, I have also have a motto too, in terms of you don\'t let the people that are leaving a community, distract you from who is coming into the community or who they should, or who should be invited into the community and vice versa. But don\'t let one side distract you from who\'s coming in versus who\'s going out and that sort of thing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think we\'re doing a pretty good job with that. What happened after state of the word after it ended what happened.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Well, so there was about, I can\'t remember how many, but at least 20 of us, I could probably adapt touch straight back to Post Status and we all kind of stayed at the same hotel and had a little, two day fun before the event and all that stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so a bunch of us went back to our hotel and we\'re at the restaurant, the hotel restaurant bar, [00:22:00] and just kinda talking, you know, and I got to meet great people. I\'ve just met in like Robert. Who runs OSTP training there? I got to see again for the third time, Robert Jacoby of cloud waves. The hero press couple Kate, and Tofor, I\'m trying to think of othersAC Morse was there? Gravity forms.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Aaron Campbell was there.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> The Aaron and I laughed. He lives in Oklahoma. Like me, he\'s literally an hour away. I bet it\'d take me 45 minutes to be on his doorstep and vice versa. And we\'re like, we had to laugh. So we\'re sitting in New York city Soho, somewhere in the coffee shop. We\'re like, isn\'t it funny how we have to either go out of the country or to go across the states to see each other when we live like that close to each other.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I love Aaron. He has such a great. For WordPress, all things WordPress and I love what he\'s doing.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Bob was there too. Of course, he traveled by train. He traveled by training the width of the Wu train clan. And it was, I think one of the best moments of the night was when he got up to ask the question and he had the simplest of questions, which was like, he [00:23:00] like, what\'s up for WooCommerce or in the next year I traveled 2000 miles to ask this question.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And how did Matt respond&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> that\'s all the bingo card and slack Post Status slack light up because Bob asked it, you know, finally he got the invoke. Woo. Yeah. I love Bob. Bob does and has been around for a long time too. And what I said about him personally at the vent was the one thing I admire about him is he has just consistently showed up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And get work in this space and has mad respect from everybody because of it. So we sponsored his train trip out because we wanted to I mean, Bob is such a vital member of the WordPress community and then specifically WooCommerse. So Bob did all of that kind of community logistic, wrangling there, in addition to being like, and he was trying to record, he set up a studio in his room and I got to be with Robbie and Robert and Bob and</p>\n\n\n\n<p>do the woo podcasts there. So, it was a great time for that on the note of getting people together. And Post Status [00:24:00] specifically we\'re right now getting our in person. Camps together for Post Status Brian and intended to do it last year. And you know what, two years ago, and you know what happened, right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this year we\'re putting some plans in place to get together in a small way to talk shop, to do life together as a community. I would love for everybody to be there next. December 22nd for, it\'s going to&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> say, as we wrap up here, what is the schedule look like for our post status members?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What do they, pay attention to?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> So we\'re doing a year in, remember huddle. We\'re going to be doing these next year, by the way, in which I\'ll be talking about, but our member huddle you\'re in next Wednesday, December 22nd, 11:00 AM central time. There\'ll be zoom links in slack and all that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so. We\'re going to do our, that member huddle. How-to it\'s going to be one part like reflective review last year, thinking about next year. So look back, look forward, and then we\'re going to do some fun stuff. I want you to meet the Post Status team. All the people that are doing all this crazy awesome [00:25:00] stuff behind the scenes that you don\'t all see.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then talk about some of the things we got in store for our Post Status community. A couple of times I\'ve heard people say energy with post status and it is, and it ain\'t just me, by the way, it\'s people like David who had been here faithfully for years, Michelle Frechette, Courtney Robertson, Taleesha, you\'ll get to meet her.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\'s our new director of operations and all kinds of people in between. I can\'t wait to do that. And then laugh together. Our theme for the ongoing, I hesitate to say it\'s going to be 2022, because I just want it to be forever is give. Together.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> What was that again?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Give, grow together. It\'s part of what I want to be our member mantra.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The thing we come to post to us and say, I\'m here to give of myself my time, talent, treasure, all that stuff. Not true necessarily, but like give up myself in the spirit of open source to the commuity. To each other. Second is I\'m here to grow. I want to grow myself. I want to grow my business.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I want to grow my career. We\'ve got specific plans for the growth side and then together, it\'s [00:26:00] just the thing that wraps everything together. It\'s not I. It\'s not you. It\'s always, we at Post Status. It\'s not just me. I happen to be on, you know, I had my face out there and stuff like that. But if this is truly a community and truly a team too, and I want us to just emphasize those three things, give in spirit of WordPress, same thing, just give to each other in the community business of WordPress second is to grow commit. You want to be here, let\'s grow yourself, grow professionally, grow your business, whatever it is, come here to grow. And then to do it together do it all of us together. So, even our products, like, as you will know David is called and that\'s a Portuguese word for probably mispronounced it, but together we\'re together.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it\'s been a theme of my life even before clinical campaigns and the COVID time. But I really mean it next year as I\'m going to do these things from in-person camps, how we do slack, how we do some of the cohorts, we\'re going to be rolling out. And I hope you\'ll show up next week and we can talk more about that and get your feet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> What was the date again?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> [00:27:00] December 22nd.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So December 22nd, Wednesday, are we going to see any sign of a state of post status with you in a suit? Is that something we can look forward to?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> You\'re probably not the second&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> the people that are listening for the people that are listening at home.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cory shook his head so quickly that I thought his neck was about to snap.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Yeah, I think we should do these types of things where as our leader of post, as getting in front listing talk, discuss, put things out there that help you learn and grow and all that with postdocs, for sure. And I always want to get to Canada.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So maybe to the first to the second one, the suit, you know, I mean, I\'ve got two suits. I probably don\'t fit currently. So. I think you\'re more likely to see me in a Chewbacca outfit than a suit, but no shady. Anybody else? It\'s just,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> no, you have to stand up. You gotta make yourself stand out with all these other state of the blah-blah-blah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, if Matt does a [00:28:00] suit, I think. Any, if you\'re going to wear a hairy Chewbacca outfit, I think that\'s a good countermove. But anyway,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Somebody is gonna remember this and come back and say, Cory memory, you say you do that.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh, people will remember it. I might have a little bit of a night terror about it. I\'ve got a thing against Wookiees. But other than that, I think it\'s a fantastic idea. Well, it sounds like you had a blast and it was a blast watching. I see you in some of the photos. Sometimes you\'re in the background You\'re in the background photo bombing. It\'s fantastic. I\'m glad that this happened and I\'m glad to see Matt so open.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe it was because it was a smaller venue or it was the fact that there wasn\'t a word campy west surrounding Matt. You know how draining that is even to, just to be at a work camp us and then, and that WordCamp us with a talk in front of a thousand, 2000 people, it would look like a really nice event with a ton of energy, but.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personable intimate. And I\'m glad you all in this, in the few got to experience that. And I, of course, next year though, [00:29:00] or next time this happens, hopefully it will be under different circumstances and we\'ll have more people. In fact, think he said, if all goes well, San Diego is going to be the work camp spot for 20, 22.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever been to Sandy? Oh, really? I\'ve never been. So it\'ll be interesting for me. Was there anything else that you wanted to share? I think we, it was good seeing you. It was good seeing you. I\'m glad you\'re home safe. And then it sounded like they do all the safety precautions and everything, which was fantastic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'m glad they did that. And it was good to see Josepha and the others there as well representing so great. So next time. Let\'s it sounds like we\'re going to talk about wrapping up our thoughts about the year with the biggest news stories that you think Corey or the most influential to you personally.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And we\'ve asked the same question to our post status members, this awesome service zip message. I want to say zap message, but that sounds more painful. Zip message. It\'s zip message. And we\'re encouraging people [00:30:00] to go in there and just leave a brief clip about what story to them was the most influential for WordPress this year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And to them personally, and maybe by the time we talk next time, we will have a couple of us to talk about and share our own as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Thanks, david. And thanks everybody.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 04:32:17 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"David Bisset\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:35;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:64:\"WPTavern: Gutenberg 12.2 Focuses on User Experience Improvements\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127612\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:173:\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-2-focuses-on-user-experience-improvements?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-12-2-focuses-on-user-experience-improvements\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5854:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Some Gutenberg plugin releases feel like heavy-hitters with new user-facing features. Others, such as <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/\">today&#8217;s version 12.2 update,</a> smooth over problems and create a more well-rounded experience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Switching between the site editor and templates is smoother. The color picker is no longer a hot mess. And, border controls now <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34061\">use the tools panel</a> approach of allowing users to enable or disable the options they want.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contributors have made progress on updating the Comments Query Loop block, which will eventually be the backbone of displaying comments in block themes. One of the tallest hurdles was <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36065\">making nested comments work</a>. With that now fixed, moving forward with other comment-related components should be less problematic. The latest release also introduced the <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36890\">Comments Pagination Numbers block</a> for handling paginated comment lists.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"view-templates-without-a-page-reload\">View Templates Without a Page Reload</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Templates view in the site editor.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">When <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-1-fixes-block-appender-layout-shift-adds-template-list-views-and-enhances-global-styles\">Gutenberg 12.1</a> launched two weeks ago, I was happy to see the new and much improved slide-out panel in the site editor for viewing templates. My primary complaint: it was slow. Switching between the editor and template view required a page reload.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the latest 12.2 release, this has all changed. Thanks to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36488\">client-side routing in the site editor</a>, the transition between the editor and templates feels fast and smooth.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Changes like this are one of the reasons I have welcomed the postponement of WordPress 5.9 until late January. Some of these little wrinkles needed ironing before showing the site editor to the world.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"improved-color-picker\">Improved Color Picker</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Color picker popup.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Gutenberg 12.2 introduces a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37067\">much-improved color picker</a>. The previous iteration was unwieldy, bulky to the point of being an annoyance. Users would have to scroll and scroll and scroll some more just to jump between changing a block&#8217;s text color and its link color. This was especially true if the theme showed both its colors and those from core.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest iteration tightens up the UI to the point where users can see the text, background, and link color options all at once. If they want to customize any of them, they can click on one to pull up the color picker popup.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps this change will open the door for other color options in the future, such as one for link hover/focus. It would have been far too messy in the old UI. However, the new minimalist design leaves ample room.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would love to see the border-color control get the same treatment. However, there is a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/35602\">separate ticket</a> that offers more fine-tuned control.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"font-size-ui-change\">Font Size UI Change</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Numbered-style font-size selector.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The font size control for supported blocks looks much different. It shows a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37038\">list of numbered buttons</a> for themes with five or fewer custom sizes. The font-size name appears when one is selected. Otherwise, it is simply a list of numbers with no context.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have generally liked the progress made toward updating the block options UI. But, I am not a fan of this change. As a user, what do these numbers even mean? Is the &#8220;1&#8221; size small or medium? There is no way of knowing without testing it. Plus, the context will change from theme to theme. A UI change like this may have been OK on the back of a standardized naming scheme. However, that will be tough to implement after three years of usage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, clicking a single button feels like a better experience than clicking a dropdown, followed by a second click of making a selection. I am just not sure that it works here. However, I am open to seeing where it goes upon further iteration.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is also no visible way to clear the current selection and return to the default size. If the theme supports custom sizes, users can switch to the &#8220;Custom&#8221; field and clear it out. This is not obvious unless you stumble upon it. Users could also hit the &#8220;Reset All&#8221; button, but doing so resets all typography options.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest way to avoid this UI change is for theme authors to register at least six custom font sizes. The option will automatically revert to its former dropdown select field. Fortunately, I have 13 in the theme I primarily work on, so it is a non-issue for me.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"block-template-part-hooks\">Block Template Part Hooks</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Theme and plugin developers now have <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36884\">additional action hooks</a> around the block template part system. These should be handy for debugging or other complex use cases.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><code>render_block_core_template_part_post</code> fires when a part is found from the database.</li><li><code>render_block_core_template_part_file</code> fires when a part comes from a theme file.</li><li><code>render_block_core_template_part_none</code> fires when no part is located.</li></ul>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 01:19:05 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:36;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:84:\"WPTavern: WordPress Contributors Discuss the Possibility of 4 Major Releases in 2022\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127550\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:213:\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-the-possibility-of-4-major-releases-in-2022?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-contributors-discuss-the-possibility-of-4-major-releases-in-2022\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6344:\"<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Last week, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/17/discussion-2022-major-release-timing/\">opened a discussion</a> on how many releases the project will aim for in 2022. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Given that we have a release in January already, I wonder if we might be able to use 2022 to attempt four releases,&#8221; Haden Chomphosy said. She proposed three different release schedules: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Quarterly releases: January, April, July, October</li><li>Trimester-ly releases: January, May, September</li><li>Known release and then evenly spaced targets?: January, May, August, November</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When she <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW/p1639001383392000\">brought it up in the #core Slack channel</a>, a few contributors said they would like to see the project move towards more frequent releases. They were optimistic that it can be done, since a January release is already on the schedule.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Responses to the post on make.wordpress.org were markedly different. A few commented that they would be comfortable with a quarterly releases as long as they avoid major holidays. Several participants in the conversation have urged WordPress to slow down to two or three releases. Others suggested WordPress simply wait to release new features until they are ready, with no schedule. This particular suggestion makes it difficult for various stakeholders, like hosting companies, agencies, and WordPress product businesses, to plan effectively.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2021, WordPress released version 5.7 in March and 5.8 in July. A third major release planned for December was postponed due to critical blockers and decreased volunteer availability. A jump to four releases next year seems overly ambitious without a change in processes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Is it realistic to plan four releases for 2022 right after three releases per year plan was not fulfilled?&#8221; Oleg Kharchenko asked in the comments. &#8220;I don’t get what’s the benefit of having more releases just for the sake of number. It looks good in business reports but it has no real value for WordPress users as frequent releases lead to half-baked features which are hard to use. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Also plugin and theme authors will have to put more time into testing instead of their product development. Finally, there are many tickets on Trac with &#8216;early&#8217; keyword which are punted for years just because everybody is too busy to find time to include these tickets in the upcoming release, making the release schedule tighter would worsen this situation even more.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jessica Lyschik, a developer and an active member of the German WordPress community, said she would prefer two releases for the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;As several people already mentioned, planning more releases did not work out in the past, so why should it work now?&#8221; Lyschik asked. &#8220;5.9 got postponed to have refined features included so it can be actually used. The complexity of the new features is huge and trying to split that up in smaller releases is not something I see to work in the future.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The roadmap for 2021 originally planned for four major releases but was <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-scaling-back-releases-4-major-releases-is-not-a-viable-plan-in-2021\">scaled back to three in February</a>. At that time Haden Chomphosy cited a lack of automation and the necessary personnel to execute the plan without risking contributor burnout and update fatigue.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress core committer John Blackbourn commented on the discussion, urging Haden Chomphosy to elaborate on why she is proposing the potential of more frequent releases. He also requested she summarize the original list of challenges and needed changes and the progress that has been made towards improving them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a post titled &#8220;<a href=\"https://nomad.blog/2021/11/23/why-i-voted-to-delay-wordpress-5-9/\">Why I Voted to Delay WordPress 5.9</a>,&#8221; Anne McCarthy explained a few of the factors and blockers that caused the release to be postponed to January 2022. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;What I’d like to understand better is what are we going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?&#8221; WordPress 5.9 release lead Matt Mullenweg commented. &#8220;There could always be more polish, more bugs fixed, and I would challenge you to pick a year in the past decade that didn’t have its share of human issues. I’d like us to really understand and agree what went wrong, particularly in the first months of 5.9, and what we’re starting now to make sure 6.0 is effortlessly on time.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCarthy responded, citing the following reasons: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>lack of contingency plans around the interrelated features </li><li>lack of clarity around scope for various individual features (particularly the browsing feature) </li><li>lack of a comprehensive check in early enough ahead of feature freeze </li><li>a need for more decision makers who have a high level view of where the work is headed</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Personally, I’d love to see the Go/No Go meeting overhauled to be less aspirational and more concrete as to where things stand as I think that’ll set the tone early enough in the release cycle to avoid some of these problems again,&#8221; McCarthy said. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few of these challenges with 5.9 correspond to the items Haden Chomphosy identified in February as needing to change in order to make WordPress releases easier and more frequent: better testing, more seasoned core developers available with time focused on core, better handoff in design/dev iterations, and shifts in collective philosophies towards continuous development.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the absence of a comprehensive 5.9 retrospective, it may be difficult to plan the next year&#8217;s release schedule based on the reality of what contributors experienced most recently. Moving to four major releases will be a tough sell after closing out a year where WordPress could not post three major releases. It will require significant changes to how the work is scoped and managed as it is in process. The topic will be up for discussion again during today&#8217;s weekly core dev chat at 20:00 UTC.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 22 Dec 2021 19:50:40 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:37;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:72:\"HeroPress: Living Well and Enabling Success For Others Through WordPress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=4328\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:196:\"https://heropress.com/essays/living-well-and-enabling-success-for-others-through-wordpress/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=living-well-and-enabling-success-for-others-through-wordpress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12420:\"<img width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/122121-min.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Pull Quote: Success is a life well lived.\" /><p>From a very young age, I can remember dreaming about a business I would one day own. It would be a restaurant named “The Comfy Chair.” Serving mainly breakfast and light lunch, I pictured a funky space with a mix of unique, comfortable chairs. Patrons could choose the chair that fit their mood of the day.</p>\n<blockquote><p>I’m sorry to report that my childhood dream never came true.</p></blockquote>\n<p>Instead, I now lead a 15-person remote team that develops open source software on WordPress, our primary product is the membership plugin <a href=\"https://www.paidmembershipspro.com\">Paid Memberships Pro</a>.</p>\n<p>The road that led me to WordPress didn’t begin with a passion for the web, or democratizing publishing, or coding, or anything technology-related.</p>\n<p>I began my career in WordPress through my passion for entrepreneurship. A passion to control my earnings, “be my own boss,” and maybe more specifically, work when I want, on what I want, and for the price I choose.</p>\n<blockquote><p>That is the most kickass thing about WordPress—people can enter our community and leverage WordPress for free, from anywhere, anytime, for any reason.</p></blockquote>\n<h2>From Craigslist to Plugins</h2>\n<p>Throughout college, I freelanced doing simple brochure websites, graphic design, and a lot of print work. I used Craigslist and word of mouth to get projects, taking nearly any job that a) paid and b) I could handle on my own or with some help from my “high school sweetheart, husband, co-founder, and best friend” Jason.</p>\n<p>After graduation, my parents were cautiously enthusiastic about my decision to start a web design business. I knew I had many months of runway and felt it was a no brainer. Starting a business is a risk. The bigger risk was missing the opportunity to create my own business in the “carefree” days of youth.</p>\n<p>Business ownership teaches you a ton—I was learning not just about emerging web technologies like WordPress. I had to learn every aspect of small business: sales and marketing, project scoping, invoicing and accounts receivable, taxes, healthcare…everything.</p>\n<p>In Fall 2006, Jason left his job at Accenture and joined me full time. I had my projects and clients, Jason had his. He led the projects that were more development-focused, I led the more design-focused projects.</p>\n<p>By 2007, we started doing WordPress sites almost exclusively. WordPress was about four years old at the time. The community was starting to take shape. Meetups and WordCamps were becoming a thing, but the events were very different back then.</p>\n<p>I didn’t identify with the early WordPress community. Events were primarily attended by developers and coders, who were primarily male. So I stayed on the periphery of the community.</p>\n<p>Jason and I continued operating Stranger Studios as a two-person team. In an agency, there are two main ways to grow revenue: charge more per hour or bill more hours (grow the team). I couldn’t picture myself <i>managing other people</i>. Life and business was good just the way it was. So we regularly raised rates, focused on high value clients, and tried our best not to keep too many clients on maintenance plans.</p>\n<blockquote><p>The WordPress “CMS” helped us increase the number of clients we could serve by giving them more independence in managing their own sites.</p></blockquote>\n<p>Then, life decided to push me into my next chapter with an event that happened when we had our first child, Isaac.</p>\n<h2>A Building Block For Change</h2>\n<p>Isaac had a rough start to life 13 years ago and needed surgery a day after his birth. We are endlessly grateful to St. Christopher’s Hospital and The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House for supporting us through his first two weeks.</p>\n<p>And while going through those heartbreaking, chaotic, and hopeful weeks, <i>we still had to work</i>. I remember waiting in our hotel room for Jason to wrap up an urgent call with a client so we could go see our days-old baby. It’s a ridiculous scene to reflect on.</p>\n<p>I thought I was living life my way. In reality, I was financially tying myself to a handful of long-term clients. And what’s worse: there was no one to hand things off to when my personal life needed attention.</p>\n<blockquote><p>Consulting work felt like being on call 24/7.</p></blockquote>\n<p>That event changed my life in more ways than I could ever put into words. For the intention of this essay, let’s just say that our business needed to change dramatically, quickly.</p>\n<p>When I talk with other entrepreneurs and business owners, we often break down the differences between a services company and a product company. You may have heard a WordPress talk on this very topic: the move from “consulting to products”.</p>\n<p>It’s an appealing path for many WordPressers. And now that I’m on the other side of the transition, I can’t deny it is an awesome space to be in—even with the product space going through some major shifts with all the acquisition activity. But that’s a topic for another conversation entirely…</p>\n<p>The biggest turning point in my WordPress journey was the decision to create a product. By moving to a product company, I could make more money without working 24 hours a day or (immediately) having to hire people and grow as an agency.</p>\n<p>But what kind of product should we build? What untapped market could we serve? What was missing in the WordPress ecosystem?</p>\n<p>We found the answer by looking at our history of proposals and projects.</p>\n<p>A growing number of our freelance projects had a “membership-type” component. People wanted to protect access to features of their site (content, tools, applications). People wanted to get paid through their WordPress site. More specifically, they wanted to “make money while they sleep” and get paid on a recurring basis. Sell once, get paid over and over again.</p>\n<p>Jason and I recognized this trend and the lack of a leading WordPress plugin for memberships. We focused only on freelance projects for “membership-type” sites built on WordPress. These projects helped us bootstrap the development of what is now Paid Memberships Pro.</p>\n<h2>Open Source Products Are Better Products</h2>\n<blockquote><p>I believe in open source. I believe open source products are better products.</p></blockquote>\n<p>We release all of our products with an open source license, just like WordPress. We make our code publicly available on GitHub in a format that removes barriers to collaboration for internal and external contributors. And we make a very good living for ourselves and our team by building a business on top of our open source products.</p>\n<p>The decision to be open source has made an overwhelmingly positive impact on the growth of our business. But there’s another major reason why we’ve made it in the WordPress product space.</p>\n<blockquote><p>Paid Memberships Pro is a success in large part because we release the full version for free in the WordPress.org Plugins repository.</p></blockquote>\n<p>Putting my beliefs in OSS aside, the repo makes your plugin available for every WordPress site. That’s <a href=\"https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress\">43.1% of websites</a> that exist today. The repo is an amazing resource for every site <i>using</i> WordPress and also for every <i>business</i> building a WordPress product. Not only does the repo facilitate installs and updates, it also builds in a layer of security for WordPress users.</p>\n<p>I am deeply grateful for the WordPress community members (the Plugins team) that maintains, reviews, and supports the repository. Without you, I wouldn’t be sitting here today writing an essay about my WordPress journey.</p>\n<h2>Building a Team That’s Diverse In Many Ways</h2>\n<p>I’ve always been a woman business owner in a male-dominated field. But I can’t say that my being a woman was something that limited or, on the flip side, catapulted my career forward.</p>\n<p>I say this because there are many people in the WordPress community that speak intelligently and openly about important topics like diversity, inclusion, and the serious problem of underrepresentation. I have not devoted enough time to educate myself on their efforts.</p>\n<p>But as a person who has interviewed and hired people for a variety of roles, I do have some perspective on the value diversity has brought to our team.</p>\n<p>Nearly half of our team are women. And we are diverse in other ways including age, geography, physical ability, and experience.</p>\n<p>I value diversity as I value any other positive trait that an employee brings to the table.</p>\n<p>When I am interviewing another woman, I recognize that they bring a woman&#8217;s perspective to the team, which is valuable. When I am interviewing someone with very little experience, I recognize that I can teach anyone that’s willing to learn and grow, which is valuable. When I am interviewing someone that lives a 20-hour plane ride away, I know that we work remotely and don’t have to overlap for our entire work day.</p>\n<p>The diversity in our team has changed my worldview. I have learned endless things about other cultures, such as the troubling issues that a Nigerian mother has faced to find a safe and enriching school for her daughter. I’ve learned about the lasting effects of apartheid in South Africa, about the progess has been made to unify the country and where there is work to be done.</p>\n<p>As a parent of “tweens”, I’ve learned valuable lessons from people with adult children. And on the flip side, I’ve shared my stories with people at an earlier stage in the parenting journey.</p>\n<p>WordPress is an open, free, accessible tool used by the whole world. Getting involved in WordPress doesn’t require a special form of education, grasp of the English language, or boatloads of money.</p>\n<p>I wouldn’t have been able to build a diverse team if the WordPress community, itself, wasn’t diverse.</p>\n<h2>Live Your Way</h2>\n<blockquote><p>Live your life your way. Do more of the things you want. Do less of the things you don’t want.</p></blockquote>\n<p>I am extremely grateful that I am safe, comfortable, and able to live my life, my way. I know that many people are in a place where this type of thinking is not possible.</p>\n<p>But even people with everything can have a feeling that something is missing. For me, that feeling is influenced by what <i>other people want for me</i>, when I feel pressure to live out <i>someone else’s dream</i>.</p>\n<p>Jason tells me (and others) that my skills are wasted on this product. He boosts me up with encouragement and praise. He says that I am capable of bigger, grander things.</p>\n<p>The message I take from this is that I can do anything. So I will do what I want to do. I will do more of the things I like to do, and less of the things I don’t.</p>\n<p>In work, that looks like filling senior roles on our team to do things I am currently responsible for. Freeing up my time to nurture the next big product. Or, freeing up my time to spend in ways that my kids need me. Or, I could get another dog.</p>\n<p>What I want to leave you with here is that you don’t have to feel pressured to go after someone else’s dream. I’ve watched companies like mine get acquired. Their founders take extended vacations and are living semi-retired lives. I think “is this what I’m supposed to do next?”</p>\n<p>Then I join my team on a call and I think “I never want to stop working with these people. This is my family.”</p>\n<p>I’ve had opportunities to swing for the fences. To push harder. To get bigger, faster. To be wildly successful.</p>\n<p>This is a monetary measure of success. This is feeling successful because other people think you are.</p>\n<p>To me, success isn’t measured by dollars or ego. Success is a life well lived. I want to energetically pursue living well. I want to build products that help people find this success. I want to grow a team that has the same freedoms in life that I humbly enjoy.</p>\n<p>I want to keep pursuing success with WordPress.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 22 Dec 2021 13:00:21 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Kim Coleman\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:38;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:76:\"WPTavern: Ask the Bartender: Will It Become Easier To Create Block Patterns?\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127545\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:193:\"https://wptavern.com/ask-the-bartender-will-it-become-easier-to-create-block-patterns?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ask-the-bartender-will-it-become-easier-to-create-block-patterns\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4048:\"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Do you know if WordPress FSE is working to make it easier to create block patterns? Templates and Parts need to just click a button to download them. But patterns are very manual, and you need to register all of them programmatically.</p><cite>Thiago</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">You are not the first person to ask this question, and it is something that I have been mulling over for a while. With <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/the-next-generation-of-wordpress-theme-authors-will-design-from-the-site-editor\">theme development quickly encroaching</a> a point where it could almost exclusively be done via the site editor, it makes sense that block patterns follow along with their template counterparts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The feature has not been given any sort of official green light. I am not aware of a specific ticket for it, but it seems like it will be a part of the natural evolution of themes and patterns. I encourage opening a new ticket via the Gutenberg GitHub directory.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two core features need to precede it:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>A standard folder for storing patterns in themes.</li><li>A way to save patterns in the database.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, there are tickets for both of these. Last month, Gutenberg lead Matías Ventura opened a new issue for <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/36548\">standardizing how themes are organized</a>. WordPress 5.9 will see the introduction of <code>/templates</code> and <code>/parts</code> folders for templates and template parts, respectively. These will be the officially-supported locations in block themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That same ticket proposes future enhancements of a <code>/styles</code> folder for global style variations and <code>/patterns</code> for block patterns. Having a standard location for these things is vital because the exporter in the site editor needs to know where to put them in the exported ZIP file.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A side benefit of this feature is that theme authors would no longer be required to register their custom patterns via PHP. They could merely drop the files into their <code>/patterns</code> folders and move on. The format of this is nowhere near official at this point. There is an <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36751\">unmerged pull request</a> that implements this by searching file headers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second piece of solving this issue is figuring out how to allow users to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/31298\">save patterns via the UI</a> similarly to reusable blocks. This is a more complex issue. There are existing plugins that already do this, such as my own <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-pattern-builder/\">Block Pattern Builder</a>, which sorely needs updating, and <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/blockmeister/\">BlockMeister</a>, a more robust solution. <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/reusable-blocks-extended/\">Reusable Blocks Extended</a> even allows users to convert reusable blocks into patterns. So, there are already folks who are trying to solve the problem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are still questions about the implementation before it can be officially supported. Are saved patterns a subtype of <code>wp_block</code>, which is currently the post type for reusable blocks? Are they something separate? Then, the project must also decide whether it wants to allow custom pattern categories via a new taxonomy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are also other considerations before adding another feature into core, such as <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/32682\">adding a design library</a> for components in the global space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are not quite to the point where you want, but we are on the path. The <code>/patterns</code> folder alone would remove the code-writing requirement. If it lands in WordPress, you could copy and paste block HTML over. It is not the same as exporting them alongside templates, but I hope the platform arrives at that destination one day.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 22 Dec 2021 01:36:04 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:39;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.9 Beta 4\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11876\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5038:\"<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site; install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features and get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta4.zip\">zip</a></strong>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, or 3 to Beta 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which is only five weeks away. Your help testing this beta is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\">Beta 3</a>, 20 bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 4:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Bundled Theme: Fixed duplicate CSS rules in Twenty Twenty-One theme (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53605\">#53605</a>).</li><li>Customizer: It&#8217;s possible to switch to a block theme from within Customizer (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54549\">#54549</a>).</li><li>Themes: Provide guidance to users seeking to preview block themes on WordPress versions below 5.9 (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54575\">#54575</a>).</li><li>REST API: The get_theme_item method should respect fields param (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54595\">#54595</a>).</li><li>Editor: Block Patterns: &#8220;Featured&#8221; category &amp; patterns missing from inserter (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54623\">#54623</a>).</li><li>Login and registration: Add a filter to allow to disable the Login screen language dropdown – (#54675).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please post to the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\"> Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums if you find a bug. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\"> bug report</a>, file one on<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"> WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find a list of<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"> known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"got-questions-here-are-some-answers\"><strong>Got questions? Here are some answers</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\"> 5.9-related developer notes</a> that will cover these items in detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&group=component&milestone=5.9&resolution=fixed\">326 tickets and 108 new features and enhancements</a> in WordPress 5.9. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Props to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\" target=\"_blank\">@psykro</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" target=\"_blank\">@hellofromtonya</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" target=\"_blank\">@marybaum</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" target=\"_blank\">@webcommsat</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>costdev</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>meher</a> for contributions to this post.</strong></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 21 Dec 2021 21:17:58 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:70:\"WPTavern: WordPress 5.9 to Introduce Language Switcher on Login Screen\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127496\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:185:\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-language-switcher-on-login-screen?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-language-switcher-on-login-screen\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:2867:\"<p>More than half of all WordPress sites (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/about/stats/\">50.5%</a>) are using translations for non-English speaking locales. It&#8217;s only natural that these users would want the ability to register, log in, and reset their passwords in their own languages. A new language switcher on the login screen has finally made its way into core, four years after the <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43700\">ticket</a> was opened.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 will introduce a new dropdown on the login screen that will display all the languages that are currently installed. (New languages can be added under the <strong>Settings > General</strong> screen in the admin.)</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>In a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/20/introducing-new-language-switcher-on-the-login-screen-in-wp-5-9/\">dev note</a> for the new features, WordPress Core Committer Jb Audras demonstrated how developers can filter the default arguments for the languages dropdown.  This might be useful for sites that have dozens of languages installed where administrators only wish to display a handful in the dropdown.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\">WordPress 5.9 beta 3</a> was released last week. In addition to the new language switcher, the latest beta also includes the following:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor: Add FSE infrastructure from Gutenberg plugin into Core (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54335\">#54335</a>).</li><li>Formatting: Allow PDFs to embedded as objects (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54261\">#54261</a>)</li><li>REST API: Add navigation areas REST API endpoint from Gutenberg plugin (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54393\">#54393</a>)</li><li>Themes: A fix for the Live Preview button bug (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54578\">#54578</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>RC1 is expected January 4, 2022, which will bring a code freeze for both Gutenberg and core and a hard string freeze. Contributors are also aiming to have the field guide with dev notes published at this time. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have time to contribute during the upcoming holiday weeks, the 5.9 release team welcomes more <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">testing for bugs</a>. Anne McCarthy has published a detailed guide to <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">testing the full-site editing features</a> that are anticipated in 5.9. Testers should check against the list of <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">known issues</a> before <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">reporting bugs on Trac </a>or in the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">Alpha/Beta</a> forums.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 21 Dec 2021 04:23:18 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:41;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:92:\"WPTavern: The WordPress Photo Directory Is the Open-Source Image Project We Have Long Needed\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127492\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:229:\"https://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-photo-directory-is-the-open-source-image-project-we-have-long-needed?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wordpress-photo-directory-is-the-open-source-image-project-we-have-long-needed\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6333:\"<img />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In last week&#8217;s annual <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/state-of-the-word-2021-wordpress-passes-43-market-share-looks-to-expand-the-commons-through-openverse\">State of the Word address</a>, WordPress project lead Matt Mullenweg announced the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/\">WordPress.org photo directory</a>. Officially, it has not yet &#8220;fully launched.&#8221; However, it is live on the site, and anyone with an account can submit their photos.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus far, the directory has 103 submissions and are under the CC0 license. Unfortunately, there is only a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/21761b9297/\">single photo of a house cat</a>. <em>Perhaps I will need to contribute to the commons that this project has made possible.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a separate project from <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/creative-commons-search-is-now-openverse\">Openverse</a>, a search engine for finding open-source media, launched before the State of the Word event. Eventually, images from WordPress Photos should be discoverable via the Openverse search.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, I was already envisioning <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/openverse-why-this-project-is-good-for-wordpress-and-the-web\">what Openverse could be</a>. However, what I really wanted was a WordPress photo directory. Actually, I wanted a WordPress media directory, but starting with images is easier:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Openverse must become more than a media search engine. It needs to be a project where the Average Joe can upload a nice nature picture he took over the weekend barbecue. A place where Average Jane can share a video clip of the ocean waves hitting the shoreline from her beach trip. And a place where professionals can pay it forward to the world.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>When Jeff Chandler of WP Mainline <a href=\"https://wpmainline.com/2021/12/17/submitted-my-first-photo-to-the-wordpress-cc-0-photo-directory/\">shared his first photo</a>, I quickly turned it into a block pattern that wrapped the image in a wooden frame (pattern and image links <a href=\"https://gist.github.com/justintadlock/86251f6641c0f3110f7682e1644b28c9\">available via Gist</a>). When the WordPress pattern directory opens its submission process, I would love to submit it or some variation.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Wooden frame block pattern around Chandler&#8217;s image.\n\n\n\n<p>My customization was not anything special. I wanted to showcase how vital CC0 photos are to those building WordPress extensions like patterns and themes. Having a reliable image resource is invaluable to our creator community. It also gives non-developers another way to contribute to the project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also like seeing the faces of people I know listed in the directory. It very much feels like a photo directory made by the people of WordPress. One of my favorites is this <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/13461c0ff9/\">one from Topher DeRosia</a> (he has already submitted five):</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Single image posts provide additional photo information, categories, and tags. Each photo also has multiple download sizes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The front page and search could still use a little work. Being able to at least search for images based on orientation (e.g., landscape vs. portrait) would be helpful. A nav menu with all of the categories would be handy too.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"the-space-needed-disruption\">The Space Needed Disruption</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The stock imagery space needed to be turned upside down. More and more, creators from the WordPress community have stepped away from some of the sites they once loved.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/unsplash-responds-to-image-licensing-concerns-clarifies-reasons-for-hotlinking-and-tracking\">Unsplash.</a> <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2018/11/29/pexels-images-are-no-more-allowed/\">Pexels.</a> <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2019/01/13/pixabay-images-are-not-allowed/\">Pixabay.</a> They have all had an opportunity to become the most significant open-source photo website in the world. They are places for snagging a quick photograph for free. And, for the most part, they have allowed people to give back with their art.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, these stock photo sites that previously distributed images in the public domain began adding restrictive licensing terms. It <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2017/06/30/theme-review-meeting-summary-june-27-2017/\">started with Unsplash</a> in 2017. Pexels soon followed, and Pixabay was in lock-step with the others by 2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of these restrictions disallow users to build similar &#8220;collection sites&#8221; with those same images, essentially creating a competing service. However, they all have other restrictive terms on selling photos, especially unaltered ones. <em>Note: Pexels still allows its contributors to choose between the Pexels License and CC0 (public domain).</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many photo-sharing sites built their empires on top open source, only to turn their backs on it down the road. The open-source spirit embraces competing websites. The art itself is meant to be shared. That is kind of the point. To be fair, the aforementioned were not the only such sites. They were just the most prevalent in the WordPress ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress theme authors were often champions of those sites in years prior. However, they saw service after service disappear before their eyes as they were banned from use on WordPress.org. Themers could not distribute the images because the users who downloaded them would not have the same freedoms as promised by the GPL. It was a loss for open-source.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that WordPress has a pattern directory, the issue has become more evident. In the coming months and years, creators will need high-quality photos to showcase their patterns.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest path was to leverage the millions of people who use WordPress and build our own thing. WordPress Photos could very well become the <em>de facto</em> standard of open photos on the web, and that is something we should all welcome with open arms.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The project is necessary. WordPress.org has the resources to make something remarkable: a photo-sharing site that is 100% open and will never change.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 21 Dec 2021 01:43:34 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:62:\"WordPress.org blog: WP Briefing: Episode 22: A Carol of Thanks\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11880\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:64:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/episode-22-a-carol-of-thanks/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5718:\"<p>In this last episode of 2021, Josepha Haden Chomphosy takes the time to appreciate those who make the WordPress project a success and offers a carol of thanks. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas\">Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas </a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11880\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing. The podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project. Some insight into the community that supports it and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, ages and ages ago, when I first started this podcast, someone basically requested that Matt and I do a duet for the last podcast of the year. A Christmas carol duet; him on the saxophone and me on voice. I obviously did not get that coordinated I don&#8217;t even know why I said obviously. I&#8217;ll tell you right now I did not get that coordinated. I was a very busy lady this year. So I don&#8217;t have a Matt on saxophone. Still, I did think that maybe it might be nice just for me to sing a teensy little Christmas carol for you all just because it seems especially poignant the words this year, especially after the 2020, 2021 COVID, all the things and trying to get back in person. So I&#8217;m going to sing you all one little verse from <em>Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy </strong>01:35 <em>Singing</em>  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let your heart be light</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be out of sight</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make the Yuletide gay</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be miles away</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, my friends, that was from my heart to yours if you happened to listen. If you skipped a few seconds to get through it, which I would totally understand, that is also fine. But I did want to just kind of wrap up the year to let you all know that I am so incredibly grateful for all of the people who show up for the WordPress project to make it a success. I have made so many friends and wonderful acquaintances throughout my time here with the WordPress project. And especially in my three years as the project&#8217;s Executive Director. You all have put a lot of trust in me and a lot of faith. And I know that we have gotten so much done together in the last few years. And I am equally sure that we&#8217;re going to get so much done in the years to come. And so thank you all so much for your continued work with WordPress and the way that you just bring your best at all times. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:32</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One other little thanks I want to give. Over the course of this year, I&#8217;ve had an excellent team that works with me on this podcast. I have editing and design folks and people who&#8217;ve joined me here and there, folks who helped me with my production. So big thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Bea</a>, I realize your name is Beatriz in the actual credits, but I call you Bea, and so thank you. Also, a huge thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé</a>, who does all of our production and wrangling every couple of weeks. A big round of applause and kudos to that tiny but tough team that helps me get this all done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s to go on top of the general thanks to the WordPress project. And if you all are celebrators, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. If you are not celebrators, I hope that you have a wonderful end to your year and that everything you wanted to get done, you did get done, and that you can start 2022 with a fresh slate. Again, this is the WP Briefing. Thank you so much for listening. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in 2022.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 20 Dec 2021 19:22:11 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"Chloe Bringmann\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:43;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:93:\"Gutenberg Times: Charts &amp; Memes Blocks, State of the Word,  and more Weekend Edition #197\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=19863\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:94:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/charts-memes-blocks-state-of-the-word-and-more-weekend-edition-197/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12746:\"<p>Howdy,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wow, this is already the fourth year-end message, I send out with this newsletter. There isn&#8217;t much, I have been doing so consistently then this weekly newsletter.  It&#8217;s been such an inspiring journey, thanks to you and the WordPress contributors, extenders and users. Your creations, questions, comments have been wonderful, especially when in-person contact have been sparse and zoom-fatigue set in. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Gutenberg, the block editor the best is yet to come.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\"><strong>State of the Word presentation</strong></a>, Matt Mullenweg mentioned for next year Full-Site Editing in WordPress 5.9, which he called the MVP, minimal viable product, Openverse and WordPress Photos, maybe four WordPress releases and in-person meetings. Work on Phase 3, Collaborative editing, won&#8217;t come until 2023. This was not all and below you&#8217;ll find an array of Recap posts and media for your perusal. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is my last edition of the year 2021. I wish you a great time with family and friends and a Happy New Year. I am excited to connect with you again around January 9th with the next weekend edition.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yours, 💕<br />Birgit</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>PS: 2129 users voted at the <strong><a href=\"https://thewpweekly.com/awards/\">WPAwards</a> </strong>produced by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/idavinder\">Davinder Si ngh Kainth</a>. It&#8217;s all in good spirit and a fun activity. In the category of Page builders, Gutenberg landed on second place behind Elementor and before Beaver Builder. 🙂  Thank you, for those who voted for the Gutenberg Times and the Gutenberg Changelog. Seems we need to do some more community outreach and lobbying next time around. 🤔</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>PPS: To bridge the gap until the next edition, I sprinkled some Gutenberg highlights of the year sprinkles among the links below: starting with the recordings of Gutenberg talks from <strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/event/wordcamp-us-2021/\">WordCamp US 2021 on WordPress.TV</a></strong>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-dots\" />\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-sortabrilliant-guidepost\"><ul><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#state-of-the-word-and-q-and-a\">State of the Word and Q and A</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#building-custom-blocks-and-developing-for-gutenberg\">Building Custom Blocks and developing for Gutenberg</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#block-themes-for-theme-developers\">Block Themes for Theme developers</a></li></ul></div>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2021&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. Updated by yours truly.  <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/\"><em>The index 2020 is here</em></a></p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"state-of-the-word-and-q-and-a\">State of the Word and Q and A</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My longtime Webdev friend, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/redcrew\"><strong>Deborah Edwards-Onoro</strong></a> shared her thoughts in <strong><a href=\"https://www.lireo.com/takeaways-from-state-of-the-word-2021/\">Takeaways from State of the Word 2021</a></strong>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Posts Status</strong> team collected voices from the community after the State of the Word &amp; Q &amp; Two ways.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/post-status-team-responses-to-the-state-of-the-word-2021/\"><strong>Responses to the State of the Word 2021</strong></a> &#8211; Openverse. Diversity. Training. Future generations. A whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. These are our quick takes on SOTW ’21.</li><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/comments/4/\"><strong>Comments (No. 4) — State of the Word 2021 Analysis</strong></a> The recording of the Twitter Spaces with held after the State of the Word event, moderated by <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\">David Bisset</a></strong></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/courtneyr_dev\">Courtney Robertson</a></strong>, WordPress Training team, sponsored by GoDaddy, also wrote a <a href=\"https://www.godaddy.com/garage/state-of-the-word-2021/\"><strong>Recap of both Mullenweg&#8217;s presentation and the Q &amp; A</strong></a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>The Feedback for the 11th Call for testing from the FSE program is in, and <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> published the <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/12/16/fse-program-site-editing-safari-summary/\">Site Editing Safari Summary</a>.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;As folks dug in, there were numerous enhancements that quickly came to mind as awesome nice to haves. These desired enhancements not only underscores the potential of various full site editing pieces when put together, but also highlights the frustration around the current limitations&#8221; McCarthy wrote. She also created a list of GitHub Issue for those feature requests. Check them out and comment if you are interested in those features as well. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"building-custom-blocks-and-developing-for-gutenberg\">Building Custom Blocks and developing for Gutenberg</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you start thinking about building a custom block, read <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/karmatosed\">Tammie Lister</a></strong>&#8216;s <a href=\"https://extendify.com/block-patterns-are-better-than-blocks/\"><strong>Block patterns are better than blocks</strong></a>, published on the <strong>Extendify</strong>&#8216;s blog.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Team at Learn.WordPress.org has two workshops for developers and more are coming. </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/registering-block-patterns/\">Registering Block Patterns</a> with Daisy Olsen</li><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/intro-to-gutenberg-block-development/\">Intro to Gutenberg Block Development</a> with Jonathan Bossenger</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ari Stathopoulos</strong> posted a WordPress 5.9 DevNote on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\"><strong>Using multiple stylesheets per block</strong></a> </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Blocks will now be able to register multiple stylesheets, and load styles from other blocks when needed. Themes will be able to add styles on a per-block basis instead of loading monolithic stylesheets that are force-loaded anywhere. This has a greater impact on block themes where stylesheets loading is optimized based on the page &amp; layout contents, but can also be used by classic themes.&#8221;, Stathopoulos wrote.   </p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continued: &#8220;This change can benefit both block developers and theme developers, further reducing the total page-weight by only loading styles for blocks that exist on a page.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Justin Tadlock reviewed a new plugin providing chart blocks in this post: <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/hello-charts-launches-a-native-chart-building-experience-for-the-block-editor\"><strong>Hello Charts Launches a Native Chart-Building Experience for the Block Editor</strong></a>. In the article, he also lists other block plugins that allow you to create charts. There are actually four: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/sb-chart-block/\">SB Charts</a> by WordPress plugin developer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/herb_miller\"><strong>Herb Miller</strong></a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/chart-block/\">Chart Block</a> by the bPlugins Team from Bangladesh</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/charts-blocks/\">Charts Blocks for Gutenberg </a>by Sandip Mondal, and</li><li><a href=\"https://hellocharts.co/\">Hello Charts</a>, by Luke Carbis, Rob Stinson and Byron Keet. </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello Charts is not available in the WordPress repository,<a href=\"https://hellocharts.co/\"> only from their website</a>. It&#8217;s the first block-based product site, I noticed, that sells single block features.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his last stream before the holidays, <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> took his viewer through extending the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bE3J64brps\">meme block he created last week</a>, to use images from the Media library. You can watch it on YouTube: <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTT_ZIpU-Fk\"><strong>Expanding the Meme Generator plugin</strong></a>. <br />If you prefer not to watch the programming part and just look at the code, you can see <a href=\"https://github.com/ryanwelcher/twitch\">all code from the Twitch stream on GitHub.</a> Be aware they are educational and not meant to be used in production. </p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/\">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s main (trunk) branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><img alt=\"GitHub all releases\" src=\"https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total\" /></p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"block-themes-for-theme-developers\">Block Themes for Theme developers</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/one_maggie\">Maggie Cabrera</a> published the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/12/17/gutenberg-themes-week-of-december-13th-2021/\"><strong>Gutenberg + Themes Digest</strong></a> for this week. She highlights  PRs and discussions on four topics: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Typography supports for group and row blocks</li><li>Nameless font sizes</li><li>Approach to global padding</li><li>Default font sizes renamed</li><li>Template parts in child themes</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>I suffered from serious flashbacks, when I noticed that <strong>Riad Benguella</strong> recreated the <strong>Kubrick Theme as a block theme</strong>. Matias Ventura <a href=\"https://twitter.com/matias_ventura/status/1471114929012891658\">tweeted a short video</a> on how to change the header color gradient with the site editor. You can study the <a href=\"https://github.com/youknowriad/kubrick2\">block theme on GitHub</a>. It might even show up in the WordPress repository.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> also has a few more thoughts and screenshots <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/yes-a-block-based-version-of-the-kubrick-wordpress-theme-exists\"><strong>Yes, a Block-Based Version of the Kubrick WordPress Theme Exists</strong></a></p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Post&#8217;s Featured Image: </strong><a href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00/46694369234\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Building blocks, color, abstract, international, global, corporate, colorful&#8221;</a> by <a href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wonderlane</a> is licensed under <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/?ref=openverse&atype=rich\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CC0 1.0</a></p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>\n\n\n\n<form class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait\" action=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/\" method=\"post\"><div class=\"ngl-form-container\"><div class=\"ngl-form-field\"><label class=\"ngl-form-label\" for=\"ngl_email\">Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class=\"ngl-form-input\"><input type=\"email\" class=\"ngl-form-input-text\" name=\"ngl_email\" id=\"ngl_email\" /></div></div><button class=\"ngl-form-button\">Subscribe</button><p class=\"ngl-form-text\">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay\"><div class=\"ngl-message-svg-wrap\"></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay-text\">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"ngl_list_id\" id=\"ngl_list_id\" value=\"26f81bd8ae\" /><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"ngl_double_optin\" id=\"ngl_double_optin\" value=\"yes\" /></form>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 18 Dec 2021 06:11:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Birgit Pauli-Haack\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:44;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:77:\"WPTavern: Disable Over a Dozen WordPress Features With the No Nonsense Plugin\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127402\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:199:\"https://wptavern.com/disable-over-a-dozen-wordpress-features-with-the-no-nonsense-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=disable-over-a-dozen-wordpress-features-with-the-no-nonsense-plugin\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3429:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">One of the best things about WordPress is the hundreds of ways of turning things off. There are likely dozens of plugins for disabling various items, each with its own unique set of options. <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/no-nonsense/\">No Nonsense</a> is no different. It is a plugin that allows users to control whether they want to use over a dozen features.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin was developed by <a href=\"https://room34.com/\">Room 34</a>, a Minneapolis-based web development and creative consulting studio. No Nonsense is the team&#8217;s 11th free plugin available through the WordPress.org plugin directory.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team&#8217;s plugin caught my eye because it has options for features that I routinely disable on WordPress site builds, such as emoji JavaScript, individual dashboard widgets, and the toolbar. Today&#8217;s update (version 1.2) even added an option to permanently remove the Hello Dolly plugin.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before anyone asks &#8212; someone always asks &#8212;, the plugin does not disable the block editor. However, it does have an option for turning off the block-based widgets editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Room 34 released the plugin on Tuesday, so it has fewer than 10 active installs at the moment. It also does not have any reviews. I suppose this post will suffice as the first. Based on my experience and a peek at its code, the plugin looks solid.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Plugin settings screen.\n\n\n\n<p>I tested each feature and did not find any issues, so it gets a 5/5 for doing what it says on the tin. I would love to see a few more options.  One example that immediately comes to mind is the the &#8220;Posts&#8221; screen.  Since users can remove the &#8220;Comments&#8221; section in the admin, it makes sense to have a similar setting for posts. Both are related to blogging, and not all WordPress websites need them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>No Nonsense includes one of my favorite admin-access limitations. It can redirect logged-in users to the homepage when accessing anything other than their user profile in the WordPress admin.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its toolbar options are all things I have lying around in my code toolbox. The plugin has settings for hiding it for users without editing access, removing the WordPress logo, and ditching the &#8220;Howdy&#8221; text.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin includes options for many commonly-disabled features, but a new one that I had not thought about was the core update email. When managing sites for several family and friends, those &#8220;your site has updated to WordPress x.x.x&#8221; emails can become irritating. The plugin allows you to disable those except in cases of an error.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If someone has not already done so, I would love to see a <em>deactivation plugin to end all deactivation</em> plugins. It would feature a complete list of things that a site owner can turn off, disable, deactivate, remove, or whatever you want from a WordPress website.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>No Nonsense looks like a good starting place, but there are always other things that I might remove from an install. I almost always give the ax to the theme and plugin editors. As well as the plugin works, there&#8217;s always just a little something more I need to get rid of, depending on the site in question. So, I am still looking for that behemoth plugin that gives me that one-click access to disable anything. For now, I can see myself deploying this on a few sites.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 18 Dec 2021 00:20:59 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:45;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:74:\"WPTavern: Free Software Foundation Adds a Code of Ethics for Board Members\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127388\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:193:\"https://wptavern.com/free-software-foundation-adds-a-code-of-ethics-for-board-members?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=free-software-foundation-adds-a-code-of-ethics-for-board-members\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4441:\"<p>The Free Software Foundation (FSF) <a href=\"https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-adopts-new-governance-framework-for-board-members\">announced</a> it is implementing a new <a href=\"https://www.fsf.org/about/board-member-agreement\">Board Member Agreement</a> and  <a href=\"https://www.fsf.org/about/board-of-directors-code-of-ethics\">Code of Ethics</a> that is meant to guide members in their responsibilities, decision-making, and activities. The documents, which FSF says were &#8220;designed to help make FSF governance more transparent, accountable, ethical, and responsible,&#8221; were created as part of a six-month long consultant-led review.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In March, FSF founder and GPL author, Richard Stallman, announced that he was returning to the board, after <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gpl-author-richard-stallman-resigns-from-free-software-foundation\">resigning</a> as director of the board and president of the FSF in 2019. His resignation followed a series of controversial remarks on rape, assault, and child sex trafficking, along with two decades of <a href=\"https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman\">behaviors and statements</a> that many have found to be disturbing and offensive. He was subsequently <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gnu-project-maintainers-move-to-oust-richard-stallman-from-leadership\">ousted by GNU project maintainers</a> from his position as head of the project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/free-software-community-condemns-richard-stallmans-reinstatement-to-fsf-board-of-directors\">Stallman&#8217;s controversial return</a> was supported by the majority of FSF&#8217;s board, with the exception of board member Kat Walsh who resigned after voting against his reinstatement. The organization’s executive director, deputy director, and chief technology officer also resigned in protest. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>At that time, the FSF&#8217;s board published a statement saying they &#8220;take  full responsibility for how badly we handled the news of his election to a board seat. We had planned a flow of information that was not executed in a timely manner or delivered in the proper sequence.&#8221; His reinstatement took FSF&#8217;s staff by surprise, as they were not informed or consulted.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mozilla, the Open Source Initiative, Red Hat, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and other prominent tech organizations also opposed the decision in published statements and removed their support for FSF and critical funding.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/\">The WordPress Foundation</a>, which previously listed FSF among the project’s inspirations, quietly removed the link from the website following the controversy. WordPress’ executive director Josepha Haden Chomphosy published a <a href=\"https://josepha.blog/2021/04/02/on-recent-news-about-the-fsf-board-of-directors/\">statement</a>, saying she did not support Stallman&#8217;s return as a board member, and confirmed to the Tavern that this is also the WordPress project’s official stance.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In what appears to be an attempt to claw its way back to a semblance of accountability, FSF&#8217;s newly approved <a href=\"https://www.fsf.org/about/board-of-directors-code-of-ethics\">Code of Ethics</a> is targeted at preempting future incidents of board members acting on behalf of the organization without permission. A few relevant ethics in the document include the following:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Members of the board of directors will not undertake an activity that substantially hurts the FSF. When acting as board members, they will work toward the success of the FSF.</em></li><li><em>Board members shall all avoid placing&#8211;and the appearance of placing&#8211;one&#8217;s own self interest or any third-party interest, including the interests of associate members, above that of the organization as a whole.</em></li><li><em>Board members shall not speak on behalf of the FSF unless given explicit permission. Directors must not represent that their authority as board members extends any further than it actually extends. The board speaks as a whole, not as individuals.</em></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>New governance is a positive step towards transparency and accountability, but after all the damage done during the botched rollout of Stallman&#8217;s reinstatement, it&#8217;s not likely that opposing organizations will settle for anything less than his removal from the board. </p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 17 Dec 2021 21:45:36 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:46;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:75:\"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 37) — WordPress Community In Africa\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=89996\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/37/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3639:\"<h2>&#8220;You shouldn\'t be the one to always take, you want to be the one to always give.&#8221; —Mary Job</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David chats with special guest <strong>Mary Job</strong>. Mary is a remote, &#8220;nomad&#8221; worker in Africa who travels from city to city. She is an engineer with <strong>Paid Memberships Pro</strong> but also spends a large amount of time growing and stimulating the African WordPress community. Mary has helped start <strong>WP Africa</strong>, a site devoted to the community of WordPress users on the continent. She talks about challenges they face, compares the WordPress presence with <strong>Google</strong> in Africa, and looks forward to the day when there can be a <strong>WordCamp Africa</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also: </strong>Mary shares how she got involved in WordPress, and how appreciative she is of the giving nature of the WordPress community. David will have to figure out how to get Mary\'s invite to Matt.</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\">Every week <strong><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">Post Status Excerpt</a></strong> will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what\'s new in WordPress in a flash. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/26a1.png\" alt=\"⚡\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />You can listen to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">past episodes</a> of <strong>The Excerpt</strong>, <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/\">browse all our podcasts</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe on <a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7\">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d\">Castro</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts\">Player.fm</a>, <a href=\"https://pca.st/05rR\">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\">Simplecast</a>, or by <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f3a7.png\" alt=\"🎧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png\" alt=\"🔗\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wpafrica.org/\">WP Africa</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"http://twitter.com/nathaningram\">Mary Job</a><a href=\"http://twitter.com/maryojob\"> (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Sponsor: <a href=\"https://poststat.us/pagely\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow\">Pagely</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites.&nbsp;Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today!</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 17 Dec 2021 13:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"David Bisset\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:74:\"WPTavern: Yes, a Block-Based Version of the Kubrick WordPress Theme Exists\";s: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=127153\";s: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/yes-a-block-based-version-of-the-kubrick-wordpress-theme-exists?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=yes-a-block-based-version-of-the-kubrick-wordpress-theme-exists\";s: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:4464:\"<img />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It is literally the one thing that no one was asking for, but we can all collectively agree is kind of cool. A <a href=\"https://github.com/youknowriad/kubrick2\">block-based version of the old-school Kubrick WordPress theme</a> exists.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gutenberg lead Matías Ventura tweeted a quick video of it in action yesterday. Fellow Automattic engineer Riad Benguella had put the theme together.</p>\n\n\n\n<div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Wait, what? <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f92f.png\" alt=\"🤯\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />(I had no part in this, all credit goes to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/riadbenguella?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@riadbenguella</a>.) <a href=\"https://t.co/2WF8HShvSa\">pic.twitter.com/2WF8HShvSa</a></p>&mdash; Matías Ventura (@matias_ventura) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/matias_ventura/status/1471114929012891658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 15, 2021</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>I am always on the lookout for those nostalgic plugins and themes that harken back to my early days on the web, the early-to-mid 2000s, the golden age of blogging. And, there is nothing that embodies that more than Kubrick, WordPress&#8217;s second default theme. It was literally named &#8220;Default&#8221; and represented the platform for over half a decade.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even today, <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/default/\">Kubrick/Default</a> still has over 10,000 active installs. I wonder whether it is running on now-defunct sites or if the number represents still-active bloggers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The theme was the face of WordPress during its rise to dominance as a CMS. Theme authors owe more credit to it than any others. It was copied, forked, repackaged, and redistributed more times than most of us will likely ever know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kubrick 2, as it is named in the GitHub repository, is still a work in progress. There are still a few kinks, such as single posts showing the excerpt instead of the full content. However, it is a working theme.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The shocking thing about it is how little code it took to recreate Kubrick with the block system. The original theme, last updated in 2020 and now at version 1.7.2, falls short of 11 kb of CSS. I cannot remember the last time I saw a classic WordPress theme with so little code. The block-based version currently uses a handful of <code>theme.json</code> settings and has no CSS.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, it did not take me long to dive into the site editor and start customizing. The most recognizable design aspect of Kubrick was its gradient-blue header. It was also one of the pieces that users from around the blogging world would customize to make their site feel like their own. They would decorate it with custom colors, gradients, and even images.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, with the block editor, that is far simpler than a decade and a half ago. Plus, there are more options.</p>\n\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n\n<p>With such power in my hands back in 2005, I am not sure if I would have pursued theme development at all. I probably could have done everything I needed to do within the WordPress admin. Kubrick was one of my first introductions to theme design, and I owe an unpayable debt to it. It is nice to know that its legacy continues to live on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For old time&#8217;s sake, I spent a few minutes making modifications via the site editor &#8212; ever so slightly modernizing it. However, I did not want to lose the flavor of the original work.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>I am as comfortable as anyone can be in the editor. I know most of its pain points, but this somehow felt more natural than usual. Maybe it was the simplicity of a theme from a bygone era. Perhaps the site editor and I were just seeing eye to eye today. Or, it might simply have been in the cards. I had a lot of fun venturing down memory lane.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I doubt Kubrick 2 sees a lot of action in the real world. Maybe a few folks who are as nostalgic as I am will install it when it is ready for production.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Much like Ian Stewart did with <a href=\"https://themeshaper.com/2010/01/06/new-default-theme-wordpress-kirby/\">Kirby in 2010,</a> maybe some adventurous theme author will take it upon him or herself to build a modern-day successor to Kubrick. One that both leans into the block system and has readable typography. I am getting older and blinder. A 13px font size is not as easy on the eyes these days.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 17 Dec 2021 00:29:48 +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:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:48;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"Post Status: Matt on Acquisitions and Work in WordPress — An interview with Michelle\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=91488\";s: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://poststatus.com/matt-on-mergers-and-acquisitions/\";s: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:751:\"<p>Following the 2021 State of the Word, Michelle Frechette spoke with Matt Mullenweg about the wave of mergers and acquisitions in the WordPress space this year and their implications for employment and the product ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can read <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/post-status-team-responses-to-the-state-of-the-word-2021/\">Michelle\'s and the rest of the Post Status team\'s takes on this year\'s SOTW</a>. We\'ve also got a<a href=\"https://poststatus.com/comments/4/\"> community discussion hosted by David Bisset</a> following Matt\'s address for you to listen to, and we rounded up <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/post-status-team-responses-to-the-state-of-the-word-2021/\">reactions to the event</a> from the whole Post Status team.</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, 16 Dec 2021 18:20:06 +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:10:\"Dan Knauss\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:77:\"Post Status: Post Status Comments (No. 4) — State of the Word 2021 Analysis\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=91445\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://poststatus.com/comments/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:77750:\"<h2 id=\"h-members-of-the-wordpress-community-on-their-takeaways-from-sotw\">Members of the WordPress Community on Their Takeaways from SOTW</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">This episode of <strong>Post Status Comments</strong> features a live conversation in <strong>Twitter Spaces</strong> that was recorded right after <strong>Matt Mullenweg</strong>&#8216;s <strong>State of the Word 2021</strong> broadcast on December 14th. <strong>Bet Hannon</strong>, <strong>Eric Karkovack</strong>, <strong>Maciek Palmowski</strong>, and <strong>Rae Morey</strong> joined David to share their reactions. Others from the audience join in, including <strong>Jeff Chandler</strong>, <strong>Ryan Marks</strong>, <strong>Hazel Quimpo</strong>, <strong>Scott Kingsley Clark</strong>, <strong>Jason Taylor</strong>, and<strong> Amber Hinds</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Among the questions discussed:</strong> What stood out in the State of the Word for each of our guests? What did they think of Matt Mullenweg\'s take on <strong>web3</strong>, <strong>NFT</strong>s, and ownership? Was there agreement about Matt\'s points on WordPress market share, acquisitions, and contributions to WordPress core teams?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This engaging conversation went on for a little over an hour. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bonus:</strong> Michelle Frechette caught Matt for <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/matt-on-mergers-and-acquisitions/\">a brief interview</a> after the SOTW address, and we rounded up <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/post-status-team-responses-to-the-state-of-the-word-2021/\">reactions to the event</a> from the whole Post Status team.</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\"><strong>Post Status Comments</strong> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f4ac.png\" alt=\"💬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> provides a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.<br /><br /><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/comments/\">Browse past episodes</a> and subscribe to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcasts/\">our podcasts</a> on&nbsp; <a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7\">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d\">Castro</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts\">Player.fm</a>, <a href=\"https://pca.st/05rR\">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\">Simplecast</a>, or get them by <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f399.png\" alt=\"🎙\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator logo is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png\" alt=\"🔗\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpiH_P9aGhQ&feature=emb_title\">YouTube: State Of The Word 2021</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.godaddy.com/garage/state-of-the-word-2021\">GoDaddy Review And Timeline of State of the Word 2021</a></li><li><a href=\"https://thewpminute.com/state-of-the-word-2021/\">The WP Minute (Audio + Transcript)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator logo is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Sponsor: <a href=\"https://poststat.us/wplookout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow\">Pagely</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today!</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator logo is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h3>Transcript</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> [00:00:00] Uh, my name is David Bisset. I am one of the people at post status. Um, if you\'re not familiar, go to post status.com. It\'s a great community. In fact, they might as well be sponsoring this whole thing. What we do is we record, we do Twitter spaces every once in a while we record them and we make them available as podcasts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, um, a few rules before we get started here, as we still get a few more people coming in, um, just we\'ll make it very simple, prove a code of conduct. Just pretend this is a work camp. Be nice. You try to be family friendly in terms of your language and your feedback and your comments. And be be advised that this is a public space and you will likely be recorded and used later in a podcast or something like that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are listening on your mobile app, you have the opportunity to request, um, feedback. We would like to, uh, like to ask if you could limit your questions or feedback to at least 30 or 60 seconds at a time. Initially that [00:01:00] way we are only planning for maybe 30 minutes or so of discussion this evening may be a little bit longer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we\'ll try to get to everyone. And I know people are still digesting what Matt spoke about tonight as well. I didn\'t get a chance to hear everything he said either. So we\'re hoping if we don\'t bring up some things that were covered. And if you feel like something was important that stood out into night\'s state of the word, then please feel free to bring it up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\'re also watching the post status slack right now on the club channel. If you feel like typing rather than talk. So anyway, um, there is a distinction just once again, we had some confusion on this last month, you can listen to Twitter spaces on the desktop that does work, but you will not be able to raise your hand or talk as far as I know you need the mobile app for that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you feel like you want to contribute, switch over to the mobile app. Okay. So we have with start off with our initial four, um, speakers for tonight. [00:02:00] Um, Eric, can you tell us just a few seconds of, can you unmute yourself first of all, Eric, and tell us, um, who you are in the WordPress space in 30 seconds or less.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> I\'m Eric Karch, evac. I\'m a web designer and writer for specie boy.com. And I\'ve been using WordPress for well over a decade. And this is my 25th year in the industry overall.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Um, Ray, is this the F, is that your first? Am I doing that? Right? There was only three letters, but I feel like, okay. Where, where are you from right now in the world?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rae Morey:</strong> Um, I\'m based in Melbourne Australia. It\'s currently just after 11:00 AM here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I am so stinking jealous, but go ahead. What, what published, what publication are you from?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rae Morey:</strong> I published the repository. It\'s a weekly newsletter that, um, takes a bit of a deep dive into the news each week and, and kind of picks apart [00:03:00] with the headlines and what people are saying about&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> oh, excellent. We\'ll be look forward to hearing some of your comments. Um, Mr. Palomo Palomo whiskey. I think I butchered that like some fine beef.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uh, can you, uh, unmute yourself and tell us a few things about.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maciek Palmowski:</strong> Yes, you did a bit. Uh and, uh, well of course, when you say it that fast, it sounds better, but go ahead. Yeah. Uh, yeah, you know, Polish is, is, is very hard. So English is hard for me, but yes, but if you\'re from another publication as well. Yes. Uh, I am from WP owls, uh, which let\'s say I do at night because, uh, during the day I am a hundred percent Basadur at body and, uh, w P owls.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uh, we also try to find some interesting things that are happening in the WordPress space. Uh, we try to [00:04:00] focus a bit more on the things that happens for developers, but of course, we also find all the news and try to share everything with this interests. Hmm. Here at night. WPLS I S I see the connection.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> All right. Finally, that Hannon welcome to the program.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bet Hannon:</strong> Hi, David I\'m Ben and I live in central Oregon and the USA. I run an agency that designs and develops WordPress does manage hosting for WordPress. So we have a specialization with accessibility. So we do a lot of things with accessibility, and I\'m also a local meetup organism.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So we, uh, we have a little bit of a diverse bunch here in terms of, at least we have at least an agency owner. We have a couple of people from the news we have, and there\'s a lot more interesting people that hopefully we\'ll get to meet in the audience as well. So Eric, why don\'t we start with you from maybe a developer perspective, but from any perspective, what\'s the biggest thing that jumped out at you that Matt talked about tonight?[00:05:00]&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> Well, first of all, I was glad that he, he kind of explained, uh, you know, the whole web series. Um, topic that, you know, we weren\'t quite sure what he was going to say on that. Uh, we weren\'t sure if maybe he was going to introduce NFTs to a WordPress somehow. Uh, so I was glad he kind of, um, spoke about how that already fits in with work.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress, WordPress is already doing it. It is a decentralized platform. It is, um, you know, something that you own the content of your site. So I was really happy about that. And I think the other thing that really, um, interested me was when he was actually talking about his youth a little bit about his time building B2, um, those things kind of stood out to me because he started out much the same way I did no, you know, formal education and it just did it because he was passionate about it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think that\'s something we don\'t always hear from Matt. So I thought that was, um, [00:06:00] really great to hear.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> He seemed to be a little more personable. I mean, I don\'t mean, I, you know, I guess I\'ll go next and a little bit in terms of what I thought overall. Um, we\'ll, I\'ll let you all handle the technical, but overall, maybe it was the smaller stage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe it was the fact that he hadn\'t spoken in front of people maybe in two years, I think he said, or maybe he, or at least in front of a WordPress crowd, he seemed to like be more happy or at least like a little bit more. And he seemed to be a little bit more, um, I don\'t know. I can\'t really put a word on it of personable or, um, maybe nervous too, maybe a little bit of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe it could have been the most nervous. I\'ve seen Matt out of state of the word in a long time and maybe that was because of the proximity or because of COVID or whatever. Um,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bet Hannon:</strong> I think it\'s really different when you\'re speaking to a small. Based versus thousands, you know, thousands of people in a big auditorium, it just feels really different when you\'re in front of a small audience since we, you, since we have you bet, why [00:07:00] don\'t you tell us what, what\'s the one thing that probably stood out to you the most now?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. Yeah. You know, it\'s actually a thing that kind of surfaces again and again for me, and it\'s a little bit of a push Paul. And so, uh, uh, on the one hand, I really celebrate all the ways that we are, um, making customization so much apart. And we\'re giving so much ability for people with little or no coding skills to be able to do these amazing things with their sites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an agency owner, you know, I have clients who have, you know, five or 10 or 15 content creators, and they don\'t want to give that kind of, they don\'t want their content creators necessarily going off brand for example. And so there\'s, uh, I\'m always kind of trying to think about, uh, you know, balancing that out or, uh, thinking about how will we help our clients work with their content creators, amid [00:08:00] all of this amazing ability to customize.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> As an, as an agency owner where you overall satisfied with what was presented tonight.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bet Hannon:</strong> Oh yeah. You know, uh, it\'s always great to hear how things are going, looking. Uh, I thought it was really interesting the, um, the perspective that Matt was giving on some of the acquisitions, but it\'s a, it\'s not just happening in WordPress, that there\'s a much broader kind of, um, you know, that\'s happening at a much larger scale and all across many industries.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, um, so yeah, no, I, I really was pleased.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So, um, our, our WP gals and our repository people here, they cover the news. They cover acquisitions as far as everything else. I\'ll let you decide which one of you wants to go first, but again, same question. What was the biggest thing that stood out to you during maths?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Talk the seat.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rae Morey:</strong> I\'m happy to jump in. Um, I think, um, [00:09:00] one of the big things for me, I think, which you\'ve kind of already touched on is the energy of the address today. Um, it was very obvious that Matt was really happy just to be around like-minded people who, like he said, I got him dancing, a jig as an animator, which he also pointed out or your case, but it was really nice seeing him so happy he\'s been there and vocal about how uncomfortable he was last year during the prerecording.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it was nice to see him in front of a crowd again. Um, but I, I guess just the energy of seeing things moving forward again, after a bit of a, not a stagnant past couple of years, but things have been a bit slower with contributors being involved, I guess in WordPress has been, um, a bit of a slow down in number of people contributing to the project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, And I, he was feeding off the energy in the room, as bet said. Um, I guess one of the other takeaways for me was, um, just, uh, you know, uh, [00:10:00] we didn\'t know what he was going to talk about, um, around web three. And, and if T\'s, it was, uh, you know, there a bit of speculation around what he was going to say, few ideas floating around, but it was really nice to see or to hear him talk about, you know, basically WordPress is already leading the way when it comes to web three to centralization of the web and, and ownership over content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it was really nice for him to address that and, and talk about where WordPress fits into that space. Um, you know, as well as the focus on open verse and, um, you know, where that\'s going to go in, in 2022 is, is really exciting.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh, and Mr. Owl, I feel like I need to ask you something about the Tootsie roll pop, but I don\'t think the kids today will get that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maciek Palmowski:</strong> So, um, for me, uh, there were two things that really stood out. First of all, uh, when he mentioned the number of, uh, people doing translations and the languages in the repository, uh, because [00:11:00] I am a non native English speaker, which probably you can hear with my thick accent.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I think it\'s cool.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maciek Palmowski:</strong> Thank you. Uh, but um, I know how many people in Poland, for example, need to see their CMS in, in Polish because English, it\'s not something they want to, they want to read some, some of my clients that I had don\'t even knew English or just didn\'t felt comfortable with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, um, the, the growing number of polyglots, this is really something great. And this is really a thing that, uh, Um, that will really make WordPress bigger and bigger. Uh, w when we confronted with, uh, other CMS is out there because most of them are still mostly created and maintained [00:12:00] in English. So this is something very important.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And there was one sentence that was also very intriguing for me. Maybe I, um, I misheard it, but I thought that Matt, at some point mentioned something about breaking a bit, uh, how he called it, that backward compatibility. Yeah, he did. I remember him talking about that, what specifically thinking of exactly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this is, um, I know that he mentioned it, uh, in the, in the context of, uh, in the context of themes, maybe, maybe, and this is. A bigger step to some bigger changes in, in inside of core, inside of, uh, uh, of, of, uh, of the coal tooling and stuff like this. So, uh, really Matt saying, let\'s break the [00:13:00] backwards compatibility.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is something huge.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Did he say that though? Break? I remember I may have missed that quote.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maciek Palmowski:</strong> You mentioned something. I mean, it wasn\'t, uh, as the size, if it\'s let\'s break that backwards compatibility, but in terms of WordPress, when we, I would say we have a bit paranoid, backward compatibility, which is great in some cases, um, Talking about breaking any backward compatibility is something.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Matt did quote, this was a quote in this again, take, take in context and keep in mind that, you know, we\'ll listen to this again. And again, probably a few times to get a better understanding of what was said, but he did say in the presentation that a theme that was created with like an early version of WordPress, will it be like 1, 2 0 1, 5 or something like that would work with WordPress 5.9 next month.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is what he said. And that\'s his, and that he said, quote, that\'s how serious we are about backwards compatibility. [00:14:00] Um, but like we said, that I would have to go back and listen, but I know, I know at least currently has strengthened backwards. Compatibility seemed pretty strong, at least from that statement now, whether or not it stays that way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maciek Palmowski:</strong> Um, but I think it was a sentence before, when he mentioned that. The developers should move from the old editor to the new one. So we should update. So this is something, uh, but, uh, yes, I, like I said, I wasn\'t sure about this, but, uh, it caught my attention. So I think that, uh, yeah, I will have to relisten it once again to, to make sure.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So we\'ll let, we\'ll let that, uh, bet chime in here and then I\'m going to open before you start that. I\'m good. Then after you, I\'m going to open the floor a little bit of a few other people who are going to raise their hands and we\'re going to keep everyone on stage though. So you can keep interjecting back and forth.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\'re not kicking anybody off. I\'m sorry. Go ahead.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bet Hannon:</strong> I might be wrong, but I think that Matt was referring to the breaking the backward compatibility in terms of the introduction of Gutenberg that the Gutenberg would break a [00:15:00] backward. That that would not be backward compatible as we move forward with blocks. Well, I might be wrong.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Well, I don\'t know about you, but some of my old themes won\'t work with flux gear guaranteed. Yeah. And, and the old editor things in the old adage that use that tiny MCE editor are not going to work. And so there\'s some backward compatibility that is broken with the introduction of blocks. So, um, all right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uh, Jeff, welcome to the show. Welcome on stage. Um, Eric Ray, Brett, and Mr. Owl. I\'m going to refer to him as, um, are still on stage with us and are going to interact with anybody we bring up. Can you hear us, Jeff? Uh, absolutely I can. And Ray, you have an awesome accent. Thanks for that. She has, she\'s also in the morning too, so she\'s got that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perkiness that currently very few of us have right now, but oh, I have a coffee. So I\'m doing well, sorry. You\'re not making me [00:16:00] like you in any more, right. Uh, so Jeff, what for the, for us up here on stage and for the rest of the audience, what would you like to share about what you heard.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Chandler:</strong> Um, I, you know, I think people on the, in a web three space might look at what Matt said on stage as him maybe Disney web three.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think what he did was he cautiously tiptoed around the subject. He brought it up, he skimmed the surface. So I think at the very least people know that he\'s aware of it. He\'s going to keep his eye on it. And it may come up again in next year\'s state of the word, but I don\'t, I think you did a good job with bringing it up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But one of the things I also enjoyed that he brought up, I\'m glad that he brought up was when he went over the market share numbers. And this is something that Yoast EVOC did in his CMS market analysis posts is that he talked about how software as a service company is Wix Squarespace. And, uh, some of the other ones they\'re all rapidly growing and all of the open source solutions minus WordPress are losing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I was glad that he brought [00:17:00] that up and that\'s something that we should keep an eye on. Uh, here in the next few years,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> He also said something interesting too. About, and this was in a different part of the presentation, but regarding Drupal and Joomla, I got him quoted as saying he thought they would be more successful if they had apps, which I thought was interesting.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Chandler:</strong> I, I thought, I thought they had the apps, but if they don\'t, I think that\'s a very valid point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah, that\'s true. So market share was definitely something that, that brought up 43%. And I won\'t go into it now because it\'s not relevant to the state of the word precisely, but wean very soon because of an Amazon shutting down, Alexa, we may not have the privilege or the opportunity to have percentage of market share numbers like we do today, so that, you know, examining this information now for Matt, I think during the state of the word is very important because without those are W3C texts, numbers are based on Alexa and Alexa is shutting down in, I think may of next year, Amazon shutting it down, not that Alexa, [00:18:00] the other Alexa, and I\'m just turned on a bunch of Alexis and people\'s houses.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Chandler:</strong> And one of the last things I\'ll say here before I get off, is that I think it\'s obvious that 20, 22 is going to be the year of the open verse.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I, I can\'t, I, every time I think of open verse, I think of something else and I hate myself every time. I think of that associate, thank you very much, Jeff, for, for sharing with us, Scott.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, let\'s see. We\'re inviting Scott upstage or SKC. I think he likes to, I think that\'s his rap name.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Scott Kingsley:</strong> Hey, what\'s up?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> What\'s up?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Scott Kingsley:</strong> Let\'s say Casey, you know me?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh God. He started her up already quickly before, before he does tell us what you thought of tonight.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Scott Kingsley:</strong> Uh, the&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>lack of banana milkshake representation, it was kind of a disappointment, but, and wanted to run that operation banana milkshake failed.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> It was fine. Nobody knows what we\'re talking about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Scott Kingsley:</strong> Oh, one out, but, uh, availed on asking the question. [00:19:00] So, cause he got up right near the end. I was like, oh, come on. You can get, you can get the question in there. But uh, I thought it was really interesting. Um, well obviously. I think web three is a whole thing, but I\'m really glad that he brought it more towards like reminding people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You need to remain cautiously optimistic about things and keep things open. Um, especially from the perspective of making sure things are, are done right. And you\'re not watching hucksters and stuff, but, um, but I think maybe the part I really liked the most was probably all around how, um, collaboration is phase three and we\'re, I know we\'re still a year out now, but, uh, if we could have gotten to that in 2022, I think that would have been a pretty big thing because there\'s so much about the collaboration idea of just like going into, um, uh, Figma or Google docs and you seeing everyone else were working together and, and just that collaboration aspect of things could make things so much easier, especially on the open web, we\'re trying to replace something like Google docs, [00:20:00] having an experience like that inside of WordPress and being able to collaborate like that would be pretty, pretty.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah, I wish I knew more about it in terms of, um, he did say he was going to talk about web three and he did say NFTs in his blog post, but I don\'t think he said much about it unless I missed that part. I think he was just putting a bunch of keywords together. Um, yeah. Um, but he did make it a point to kind of bring up the larger issue about what those individual things stood for, at least from a philosophy philosophy standpoint, what you hear on the web in terms of, um, ownership.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I\'m drawing a blank on the other things right now, but he did really kind of go into why WordPress was representing those things. And he did make a point that you can overlook some of the things that are the WordPress has four freedoms can be overlooked if you focus too much into some of the, I don\'t think he used the word hype, but I think he meant something like it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So [00:21:00] there\'s a danger there overlooking what he thinks are the critical freedoms to WordPress. Eric, did you have.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> Yeah, I think he was also talking about decentralization a little bit with that. Um, just the basic idea that, you know, you can take your WordPress website with you to any host. Um, maybe it doesn\'t fit in exactly with like something like blockchain.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, but it does kind of speak to, you know, the danger of going with, uh, you know, his favorite, uh, competitor Wix. I think he said that WordPress grew by two Weeks\'s over the last year, which was kind of a good line. Might have been my favorite of the night. I, I have a, I have a little chalkboard up here and every time he made a mark a comment about Wix, I drew a line and I\'ve got a couple of lines here on the board, but yes, he did make that comparison.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Go ahead.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> Okay. I just going to say, I think that, that, um, you know, having that ability to move content from place to place is what\'s going to [00:22:00] separate. WordPress from everything else right now. I mean, as we see Joomla and Drupal dropping down well, WordPress is kind of like the last bastion of hope for open source at this moment.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe. I don\'t know, like see what other people think about that&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> You need to write a transformers movie.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;That was excellent.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> Well, I, I think, you know, if, if, if that\'s the case, then you know, that\'s going to be the big selling point. Um, I actually had someone in my family wanted to start a blog this week and I pushed him to WordPress and not to Squarespace or Wix, because if you don\'t like the service, you\'re not going to be able to just take the website with you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It doesn\'t work that way.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So let me let, speaking of that, um, let me ask a broader question. Cause I get a feeling we\'re going to boomerang back to the web three stuff anyway. Matt said, and this question goes for everybody on stage or anybody in the audience. Matt did say a quote later on in his, um, I think in his Q and a about, he said that, um, [00:23:00] 85% or some big percent of the web doesn\'t really care about it was either open source or owning your own content or something along those lines that most that WordPress would have in order to be usable.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress would have to be a great user experience and WordPress will be invisible to those people. And that\'s okay. Does, what does anybody think about that? Do you agreed, or do you, do you think that number is larger or smaller or does that seem to gel with your philosophies and your observation?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bet Hannon:</strong> That\'s true for a lot of people, they think they just, you know, uh, they just want to get the website up and they\'re really, uh, a little more platform agnostic. They want to know. Is it going to be hard? Right. They want to know about ease of use. They don\'t, but they don\'t really care that it\'s open source for not.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Jeff, what do you [00:24:00] think?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Chandler:</strong> Uh, I think for a lot of people that way, he said in terms of like maybe one or 2% of the people who understand TPO and its freedoms and what they mean, uh, those are the people, very, very small percentage of people. Uh, you know, it be an open source is not the concern. It\'s how to get the aid to be the fastest and the easiest.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you, that pretty much explains why a Shopify and somebody software as a service solutions are growing a market share because they\'re providing a great user experience for a lot of people out there to get from a to B quickly and easily. So I think it was a nice for Matt to bring it up and saying, you know, if we\'re going to, uh, become the dominant player and get open for some more hands that even if it means that we\'re presses invisible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> That\'s okay. Yeah. I think that\'s reasonable. I think that\'s a little hard for some of us to like we accept on the surface, but I think some of us have to kind of dig down a little bit and realize that some of the things that we\'re passionate about us, not what 99% of most people passionate about. You know, they want something that works.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ray Ray, uh, did [00:25:00] you have something to say, and then I\'m going to bring in a new speaker?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rae Morey:</strong> Yeah, no, I\'d absolutely agree if you\'re running a small business, you know, like my hairdresser, for example, she just built a website recently to support her new business and she\'s, um, using, um, GoDaddy, um, and they\'re, you know, website builder, and she built a site in an afternoon really easily with WordPress and, you know, people like that, they don\'t want to muck around with something that\'s really tricky to, to work with.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They, they wanna drop in their images or their content and have their website up and running with in her case. E-commerce as well, really quickly. And, um, you know, it\'s important. Um, platforms like, you know, it\'s not all about, um, WordPress being the center of attention in, in that space. It\'s, it\'s about elevating the user experience and making sure that users, um, can, um, have the tools they need to run their business without WordPress necessarily being front and center.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maciek Palmowski:</strong> And, um, [00:26:00] I wanted to mess one more thing because when the whole COVID madness started, many people realized that their business needs a website. Right. And you all remember that this was the moment. Uh, workers had a much bigger amount of downloads. WooCommerce was downloaded the biggest amount of, uh, of times.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this was because first of all, workers was kind of popular. So people were able to find materials about how to insulate, how to create their first e-commerce. So they could, so their business could work during the pandemic. And it seems that WordPress was easy enough for them to just start to make their business round during those, uh, those hard times.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And probably during the process, [00:27:00] they started to. More and more things, how to optimize some things. And some of them learned probably a finger to about, uh, about C, about search engine optimization about performance and stuff like this, but still, uh, we saw how many businesses started their websites on WordPress, because it was easy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was free.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Free. In fact, a real Aruba hope. I probably butchered your name in the chat. She says, I think for a lot of folks open source means free in that vein for some folks, open source also means hard to install. And she says, when I pitched WP, I rarely talk about the open source aspect. I talk about the ease of use security, constant updates, et cetera.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, you know, playing to the strong, playing to the strong points there. If it\'s okay with you, Mr. Owl, I liked to switch over to Hazel. Who\'s been waiting patiently. Hopefully she\'s not mad at me.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hazel Quimpo:</strong> Hi. I don\'t get mad. Um, [00:28:00] quick. No, I mean, I think I\'m on the same page with a lot of the folks is like, I don\'t know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think of like travel agents, right? And I feel like we\'re at this stage where, you know, you used to go to a travel agent to get all your stuff. And I think if you have a really small website, you don\'t need to even go to like your cousin. Who\'s a WordPress developer. Well, you might need to today. But I think that the expectation is you shouldn\'t have to.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, and I like from the lay person who doesn\'t know about WordPress, who doesn\'t know what, whatever they think they should be able to go and set up their website and frankly they can. And I think that\'s where we need to realize that\'s where the people, I was recently looking at tons of web hosts. And so many of them tout like image compression.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And do you know how many people I know that start businesses every day, who care about image compression? Like zero to say a lot, but I guess I was way wrong</p>\n\n\n\n<p>for touting these things. Expect. And I think we need to realize some of that when we do WordPress stuff is like, cool. Like we do believe in the open source nature of the things we believe in [00:29:00] owning your content. But I view it a lot of the way. Like, you know, my doctor tells me to drink less and eat healthier, and I think that\'s a good idea, but I don\'t care that much.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think that\'s how the rest of the world is right. And Hazel, for as long as we have you in the living, as long as we have you in the living world.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Thank you for, thank you for that. Um, I\'m gonna put, I\'m gonna put you back into the audience, but for the love of God, please don\'t disappear right away cause you\'re scaring me now. Um, stick around please in the world that we\'re living and in our, in our little chat room here, Dave, Ryan, um, you\'re onstage. Welcome to whatever we\'re calling this little freak show. How are you? Apparently Dave\'s a quiet person. That\'s fine.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dave:</strong> Sorry, Twitter space is cut out there for a second.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> No problem. Real quick. Tell us what you thought of that. What, what stood out to you or what did you, or maybe you\'re responding to someone else\'s comment?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dave:</strong> Well, I guess on the current topic, I think of WordPress. You know, if we look at [00:30:00] automobiles, there\'s a lot of different ways to get where you want to go, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But WordPress is ideally these sort of Toyota Camry, the undeniable, you know, lay person, car that anyone, you know, that almost just blends into the background, but is everywhere. And you live where I live with. But also, you know, like the Ford transit van, if we\'re looking at blue commerce, the thing that every business needs to get, where it needs to go and, you know, it can be customized.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, I guess the one thing that really stood out to me about the presentation today is just kind of the talk about the open verse photo directories, digital art, the project doesn\'t really have an apparatus today to do content moderation at scale. And I\'m not sure that that\'s something that volunteers could really easily be asked to do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, you know, once you create a way for people to easily express themselves, you also open up, you know, copyright [00:31:00] issues, uh, hate, um, questions about what\'s decent and what isn\'t, and you have to navigate a global web of legal frameworks or. So I think as excited as I am about those ideas, and I think it\'s a great opportunity.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also think that Twitter and Facebook have proven that money and AI don\'t necessarily solve those problems. And so I\'m just curious how the project that going forward.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> That\'s uh, I would, I would say that too, Adam attempted to ask that toy. He did ask it, um, or attempted to address that as well. And I\'m, I\'ll, I\'ll be honest with you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\'t know much about now there was a distinction between the open verse project and the, what was the other thing? Was the WordPress photo project or photo library? Something, um, I\'ll admit. I admit I, I\'m not really good in depth on both of those, by the way. Did I mention, I worked for post tennis? Um, But I, yeah, so there was definitely talk of like, if you uploaded a [00:32:00] photo somewhere with that data, some of the data that sticks to it, you know, like how you upload a photo, like if you upload a photo to Twitter, for example, from your phone on your phone, there\'s metadata attached to that photo.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And when you upload it to Twitter, it\'s gone. Um, but that\'s just, that\'s just one level. And what you\'re talking about is the, what hits the news a lot, like in terms of, you know, you could be posting photos without people\'s permission, or you could be posting hate speech or that sort of thing. So, and we all know that\'s a moderation nightmare, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guest:</strong> I think today, the ways that we contribute to WordPress have a steep enough curve and our barrier to entry that we don\'t deal with as much of that. But I think the big question is going forward as we make it radically easier to contribute, how are we going to tackle the problem that all these other networks have had to deal with once they scale.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> That\'s an excellent question. I feel like I\'m still at the Q and a part of State of the Word. I really, yeah. Subtly we should, [00:33:00] we should get that question in front of Matt and some other, some other people\'s. So I think that\'s an excellent question. Dale has decided they don\'t have a really good answer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A thought about that. Thank you though, for, for speaking up. Um, so one of the other things that was spoken about here, and I get a feeling this was in, in an inescapable gravitational force in 2021 was acquisitions. And we mentioned this briefly. Um, do you agree, does the, is there anybody here that maybe sees Matt\'s point, but has a different opinion in terms of this is I think it\'s, I think the point he was getting across was this is happening everywhere.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s not just in the WordPress space. Is that, is that generally something that you would agree to? Um, the way he presented it, especially with lots of nice old charts. Does anybody have an opinion on his take on acquisitions?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if I can take a silence as a yes. If anybody wants to, [00:34:00] I, I can, uh, chime in, I guess.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Chandler:</strong> Um, I think one of the things he mentioned, he mentioned Yost by name, and I think he also talked about, you know, the number of employees and what they\'re doing and kind of extrapolating the impact that, that accompany like that has like all the millions and millions of websites that are like, just for example, running Yoast right now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, and I think he\'s what he\'s kind of getting at is that there\'s a lot of responsibility in that. And for a lot of smaller entrepreneurs who started out with these plugins. You know, maybe that\'s just getting to be to a point where they\'re just not able to do it anymore. I know that was part of the, the case with advanced custom fields from they, they were sold, um, you know, it was a one man operation with a user base in the millions and, you know, kind of how do [00:35:00] you, how do you manage that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you continue to, to support it and build the product at that scale? When, you know, you\'re just a small group of people or even just an individual. Um, so it\'s, it\'s a matter of WordPress is growing so radically big and you can\'t be a one person team, especially on something that large sure. Seems like it these days.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, I I\'m, I don\'t doubt that, you know, individuals are still gonna come up with amazing things, but to compete at the level of a Yoast or an AC. I don\'t know how that\'s sustainable for a long period for such a small group of people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Well, I think that also, and not to get off track here because this isn\'t, I think Matt didn\'t mention this at some point directly cause he ma he brought up the CD comic about, um, about it there\'s I tweeted [00:36:00] it, but I\'m looking, I\'m trying to look at the picture right now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s basically about picture a all modern digital infrastructure being a giant castle. And there\'s this one little piece of the bottom that says a random, some random person in Nebraska, thankfully maintaining a project since 2003. Um, that, that is kind of also the same problem, in my opinion, in terms of like, it is this, there is a strength of open source and yet there\'s this weakness.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think this week two, if anybody\'s been following the news about the Java exploit that came out on Friday, who\'s named now, I\'m not remembering logs. Um,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guest:</strong> log4j</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> yes, that\'s, that\'s it. So we\'re beginning to see these things happening outside of WordPress and open source that we\'ve been kind of contemplating now for quite some time, whether it\'s bugs, whether it\'s something that needs to be addressed in terms of open source manpower, or woman power human power, or it\'s a, like you said, Eric, it\'s an acquisition thing you absorb, somebody gets [00:37:00] acquired because they can\'t physically maintain it on the same scale anymore.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, did that did accurately that I accurately represent you there? Eric didn\'t mean to?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> Oh yeah, absolutely.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Okay, great. I\'ve got uh, oh, Ooh. We\'ve got an entire company on the line right now. It\'s Pagely so this, this should be interesting. Pagely uh, who specifically inside page?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dave from Pagely:</strong> It\'s Dave struggle as I\'m probably having dinner right now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Bless his heart. Go ahead, sir.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dave from Pagely:</strong> Well, it\'s great to see us on the big board with the acquisitions. It\'s been quite a month for us. We\'ve been part of GoDaddy now for a little over four weeks, and I want to dovetail something that was said earlier, which I tweeted a Jeffer a second ago. Um, we should be concerned about closed source platforms gaining in popularity, um, because none of us want to see the depth of the open web, right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it\'s great to see or press with the market share that it has. And you know, when everyone kind of says we need to get online, what\'s the first thing I think of is usually [00:38:00] WordPress, which is great. Um, Well, we\'ve been brought in to build with GoDaddy is this next generation of, of an open source commerce product on top of WooCommerce.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that gets us excited because that is open source. That\'s going to be built upon this platform and not, you know, going the way of, you know, Wix or Squarespace or any of that. So, you know, we\'re, we\'re still kind of committed to that, making sure everything is open source and that the open web doesn\'t go away.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Hmm. Okay. Well, send a thank you very much and thank you for being a recognizable P avatars. I could quickly point around right here. Thank you. I mean, oh, sorry. Sorry. Going through a tunnel, going through a tunnel right now. Sorry, I can\'t hear you. No, we\'ll, we\'ll keep you on. We\'ll keep you on the stage a little longer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, Ryan, welcome to the party. Do you, did you have a comment for the group, Ryan? I [00:39:00] think that\'s Ryan mark. It is. Yes. Okay. Ryan, welcome. Welcome to the show.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ryan Marks:</strong> Oh, well, thanks. Uh, the, the graphic that you were talking about and the person in Nebraska reminded me of the recent news with the PHP foundation and the fact that there was a bus factor of two, uh, with respect to how many people actually knew the code base, according to articles.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, um, I just thought that was somewhat similar, right?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So, yeah, so I\'m, so this was all coming to the original, um, me bringing up the acquisitions part of it. And some of it is the acquisitions that especially, I think it absorbed the one or two people. The small companies are, are probably doing WordPress a favor in some regards in the long run, because otherwise, like you get hit by a bus, what happens to advanced custom fields, which a lot of people rely on, uh, I think Matt presented that pretty well in terms [00:40:00] of, um, the numbers and some people, some people have different opinions about what is happening in the WordPress space, but there is some validation or some validity of taking a step back and looking at the largest.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was one bar graph and I\'ll be honest with you. I\'m not really that business oriented again. I work at post status. Thank you very much that on 2021, a bar graph just like shot the way the heck up. I think it was the, um, think it was, it was, it was something about the money that was, that was being transferred at hand-to-hand or something along those lines.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, it\'s just 20, 21 just basically exploded for the rest of the tech industry. And WordPress is a part of that tech industry. So it\'s not just WordPress and, but at the same time, I think WordPress has its own valid reasons for why it\'s happening. There were 42 logos on Matt\'s slide. At one point we have a WordPress acquisition tracker.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I posted a sock hops last acquisition. So I\'ll have to go back later and see if all those logos are. Otherwise, I\'m not doing my job. Um, what [00:41:00] else did we, oh, bet. Did you have a common rule?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bet Hannon:</strong> Well, I was just gonna say, I think some of the acquisitions or, you know, the pandemic really caused people to just stop and think a lot more about quality of life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, uh, you know, I think sometimes you stop and you take a look around and you say, I think I want to move on and do some other things, or I think I\'ve done what I can do here for now. And so some of that can be there. And so I think in 2021, you know, that that\'s a piece of more, more broadly. A lot of those acquisitions happening is just people thinking differently about what they want to do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> There was a good comment made on another podcast of there was, um, if you look at the big tech, big tech companies, now that started maybe 10 years ago, um, Amazon\'s founder is no longer with the company he\'s off on rocket ships or something. Um, there\'s the, the original founders of Microsoft are long, no longer there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The founders of Google are no longer there. Apple\'s obviously [00:42:00] had new leadership. The only person I think running the same ship they have for awhile has been mark Zuckerberg at Facebook. So all of these people have moved on after a certain period of time and they\'ve done it all within a relatively short period of time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think Twitter has been the latest one where Jack Dorsey just basically stepped completely away and he\'s off following his next adventure. Other people have just basically retired. So it\'s not just about the money in the, in the, in the acquisitions, but it sounds like to me, people, you know, you can, if you, if you\'re really successful, you have the opportunity after 5, 6, 7, 8 years to say, maybe I want to do something different.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe. All right. Um, Jeff, can you, what do you, what are your thoughts?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Chandler:</strong> I, in and talking about the acquisitions for a little bit, there is kind of like two separate topics for getting conflated with each other, between the five for the future and an acquisition. I dunno, I was getting little confused, but I think [00:43:00] the whole fight for the future initiative, I think is going to take on even more important as we go forward.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we look at open source maintainers and the bus factor of two and open source is seen as something that\'s free, but there\'s people behind it. There were people putting in time and work and effort and the passion, and it can only go so far and somebody is going to have to flip the bill. And I\'m looking forward to ma maybe putting like an executive director or somebody in charge of the five for the future initiative and get that out into the public\'s eye more often because outside of web dev studios, uh, advertising what they\'re doing and how they\'re contributing, and then some efforts from GoDaddy and 10 up, I mean, it\'s kind of like a behind the scenes thing, and I\'d like to see more effort on making the whole fight for the future thing, uh, initiative, go more public, get more people involved and get more people to know about, especially companies.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh, okay. Sounds good. Sorry, [00:44:00] Jeff. A bucket, a bucket of chicken wings just went by my field of view and I got distracted for a second. Courtney, um, Robertson, let me add you as a speaker here. Um, after this, I want to talk about the next generation of WordPress users, which was part of the Q and a at the end there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, and what we might think might be our thoughts on bringing in, or people attracted to WordPress for the first time, especially the next generation, but Courtney, what do you got for us?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Courtney Robertson:</strong> Hey there. So, um, one, we saw Andrea and Middleton lurking in the crowd, and I just have to say, I am so glad to see your face popping up and we all miss you as we\'re talking about five for the future,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> let\'s do a show just about her.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that would drive her. I think that she would love it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Courtney Robertson:</strong> I think so. So did anybody else notice piggybacking off of what Jeff just said, but the very last thing that Andrea wrote to the WordPress community, aside from a fantastic series of posts on her own site, you [00:45:00] head over, if you head over to make.wordpress.org/project suggested iterations for the five for the future program and the tool, um, and ways that we can perhaps reinvision what five for the future could look like from this point, moving forward, how to.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do a fantastic job at connecting the five for the future initiative, with the various teams. Um, there are things in Andrea\'s post on the project about the pledges to the different teams and ways to get more connected, partnering up the talents of those that are able to contribute with five for the future, with those in the teams that need to have stuff happen to get work done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, I wanna say that I participated in a number. I want to say five probably contributor days over the past year on behalf of the training team, all of these being virtual summit attached to a word camp, [00:46:00] some as part of the translator day, which was really a month and a few other kinds of things. Yoast did a fantastic job at partnering the various folks with different sets.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And reaching out to the various make teams and saying, w we have this day coming up, we\'re going to break into, um, a hybrid partially online, partially in person break into different groups and get to work on different things. What are some of the tasks that we can look at? I think when we look at five for the future, um, you know, my employer go, daddy has been amazing at helping fund through five for the future fund.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Part of the word camp events that we see happen, um, sponsoring some other great places like post status and other things, too. But as we\'re, as we\'re looking to the future, I really am excited around doing contributor days through post status, inviting all folks that are in [00:47:00] post status and the wider community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To get connected and similar to how Yost has done it. And perhaps in conjunction with Yoast, we\'ll see in the very near future. Um, but connecting with the various team reps and connecting with the teams that have needs and saying, let\'s match up these skill sets of the talent that we\'ve got in our company and the things that need to happen.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And also simultaneously open that thing up by calling in the wider WordPress community, because across the teams, teams are really hurting during COVID not only can we seen the attendance of things like bird camps and all of the setback, uh, you know, a number of years comparatively in the stats, but across the teams were hurting to have.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contributors that are showing up to actually do some of the work on the teams. And there\'s a lot of talent and a lot of interest in what\'s going on. So, um, I just, I love the posts that Andrea left us with. I love that Andrea is in the room right now. I loved the, [00:48:00] we could do a five for the future contributor day series through post status.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So quarterly ones that will probably be hybrid. I welcome anyone that would like to help organize something like that, um, to connect with me over in post status. Oh, well, thank you very much. And, um, I\'m sure Andrea is very honored. Um, I\'ll speak for her a little bit here. Um, yeah, so obviously I\'m a little bit biased.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Cause my daughter was mentioned. I don\'t think she\'ll be in the witness protection program anytime soon. Thanks to tonight. But she was absolutely absolutely thrilled, but she\'s not like, but I don\'t. I want her to be more like blending into a larger crowd of younger people that are running their own hackathons or they\'re doing their own thing within the comforts of, you know, being even mildly associated with the pro WordPress community. Even if they\'re not sitting down to crew to quote unquote directly contribute. Um, um, Amir, I think, do we have you [00:49:00] back on now? Can you say something, let us know that you\'re still alive.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We might be having some difficulties, maybe your Mike\'s not on or something. I try and again here. Um, yep. Oh, you\'re muting yourself on and off. Are you, is it Morris code? I see a blinking. Nope. All right. I\'m going to leave you on speaker for a second and then I\'ll let Ryan cut into here, Ryan</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ryan Marks:</strong> . Um, so I had a question for those that do pledge five for the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you feel that you do it primarily with people man hours, or do you do it with dollars or is it a mix? Do you feel like you actually get the 5%, if anything, or is it more, we try to get something close. I think that has her hand, right? So we do fight for the future. Um, I don\'t know that we calculate it, but you know, certainly, um, you know, [00:50:00] I contribute my time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bet Hannon:</strong> Um, and then our, our agency subsidizes our people as they, you know, they can, they can put in, uh, you know, time that they\'re doing community work and get, um, get paid for that. Um, as a way that we try to support the wider community, I think that\'s just a part of, you know, my wife is an economist, so I understand that tragedy, the commons, uh, example really well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I want to make sure that the ecosystem stays supported. And so that\'s, that\'s a really, you don\'t have to be really big to do those things right. To, um, to, to make a difference. Uh, but I just feel like that\'s an important part of what we do is for the community.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> All right. So as we start to run down here, cause.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did promise, uh, it promise someone I would be home in time for bed. I do. I want lot of stall all us to think about a maybe if, if there\'s any final comments you had about what Matt talked about or Matt\'s comments about uni questions or about how that [00:51:00] fits in with your version of WordPress in the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While you\'re thinking about that, let me quickly get, um, Olivia on. I think she wanted to make a quick comment.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\'re muted. Olivia,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>maybe we have a maximum number here. Maybe it\'s why this isn\'t working. Let me remove a speaker.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Olivia Bisset:</strong> I can speak</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Sorry, go ahead. What\'s your comment listener.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Olivia Bisset:</strong> Okay. So with five for the future, I don\'t know what, but it just got the general vibe that that\'s starting to head towards, like, okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, we got people now, but like youth, I feel like there was more of a youth focus. This state is a word, especially with the question from Allie and others. I don\'t know. That\'s my 2 cents.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I thought Allie gave an excellent question and [00:52:00] that was followed up by others as well. Um, and we\'ll have to go back and review that because my memory is beginning to fade a little bit, but I thought she had a very excellent question about what Matt thought the youth, um, what his advice to you would be regarding how to use WordPress for the next generation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, um, let\'s um, let\'s take one more comment from the audience here and then we\'ll see if we go around. Anybody has any final thoughts, Aaron Edwards, um, welcome to whatever we\'re calling this. What, what do you have to share?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aaron Edwards:</strong> Uh, hi, I\'m the co-founder of web three WP. So of course we are very interested in what Matt had to say about web three.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I thought it was a good kind of balance, like opinion, like, like Jeff Rose said, um, just the fact comparing WordPress to kind of some of the ideals, uh, web three, I think that was kind of a good tact that he took, but it was interesting just discussing in our community. It\'s like, it does follow like those ideals of data [00:53:00] ownership when you\'re the site owner, but it doesn\'t really address the site users, which is something that web three is kind of known for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It basically allows you, WordPress allows you to create your own data silo, you know, to maybe compete with the Facebooks or whatever centralized apps there are, but it doesn\'t necessarily empower users to continue to have your site on their own data. So that\'s kind of a interesting take that I heard in our community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Interesting take at that sounded like I haven\'t heard that take exactly like that before. Uh, well, I kind of wrote that same thing on our website, but, oh, would you mind sending a link to that in post at a slack or wherever your finest links are sold?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aaron Edwards:</strong> Yeah. The web three wp.com pages talking about WordPress being, um, kind of along those ideals, but definitely it was, it was interesting to, to hear his take in that, uh, another thing he kind of made a joke about dowels and [00:54:00] domains, um, which kind of seemed like disingenuous to me personally, because I\'ve had experiences where I\'ve had domain registrars, uh, shut down my domain because someone filed a false abuse report, you know?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it\'s like that\'s renting. That\'s not really owning. As he kind of made it out to be okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I can see that point. Absolutely. And hopefully I won\'t have anything shut down on my side Verde, but thanks. Thanks for sharing and feel free to ping me in post status or on Twitter. I\'d like to get that link from you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All right. So, um, it\'s been about an hour. Um, so I wanted to, um, I did make, uh, wanted to see if anybody else has any last comments. Um, either somebody who hasn\'t spoken yet are part of our, um, ongoing panels here, um, that I know you wanted to share. Something felt like a last lot quickly with us, and then I\'ll nail a few other people that didn\'t sound right in my head.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But go ahead and you under, do you [00:55:00] please take it, please take the mic from me.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bet Hannon:</strong> Yes. Um, so I\'m a little disappointed that Matt didn\'t say more about accessibility. And the times when he talked about accessibility, he really meant it in the terms of just making things available to people, uh, like features available.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, but you know, we didn\'t talk about web accessibility and we we\'ve had some issues with that. Um, in the past, things are better than they were, but we still have a long way to go for web accessibility, especially in the WP admin side, in the dash, in the backend side. So Amber Heinz tried to call out Matt earlier in the week, uh, just to try and get him to speak a little bit more about accessibility, but he didn\'t so well, his slides were probably already written by then too.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I don\'t, I\'m not going to speak for them&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They said they were editing them&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bet Hannon:</strong> up to the last minute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I know what that\'s probably true too. 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Um, speaking of Amber, I think we said her name three times.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\'s appeared. Um, we\'ll get right before we get to Ryan. Um, Amber, did you want to share something with us? I\'m guessing you want to share something that starts with the letter a and it\'s not your first name.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Amber:</strong> Uh, not Amber, uh, accessibility. Yeah, I think, I think the thing that\'s interesting too, I [00:57:00] actually got a couple of messages from, um, some users after they read, you know, the thread and conversations and in process.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think maybe the contribution to core accessibility, the people on the accessibility team, particularly maybe some people that have disabilities that are part of the accessibility team. Probably I think there are some of them that feel like it\'s still not as positive or as central of a focus as it as maybe Matt kind of thinks that it is.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Um, I think it still is a lot of an afterthought and really that\'s, you know, one of my hopes that I\'m really would love to see more. Thinking about accessibility as something you do at the beginning, not something that you do wait around at the end of the process, whether it\'s in core or whether it is, you know, in plugins or themes or on the front end of the end websites, [00:58:00] let\'s start at the beginning, not in the middle of the end.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> It\'s like how I should do most things in my life, especially the chores around the house. Thank you, Emery. We did see a lot of this stuff in accessibility mentioned in post status too. So we\'ve been following that as well. And thanks for speaking up here today. Really appreciate it. Okay. Let\'s let\'s go through the rest here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\'re going to be ending shortly, but Ryan, you are up next. Um, what closing remarks do you have for us?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ryan Marks:</strong> So three things caught my attention. Uh, and then I\'ll hang up and let you guys talk about, we\'ll just pretend you\'re not here. I can remove you as a speaker.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> You don\'t have to hang up, but we can ignore you easily, but go ahead.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ryan Marks:</strong> Um, I thought that there was an open invitation for up to 50 people. So I tend to stand in the word, but then later it seemed like there were about 30 people there, there were all five for the future. And I thought that was just, that was an interesting change. Maybe a two, I thought the idea of a query block was something new and I liked it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:59:00] And there was a lot of focus on multi-lingual at the beginning and towards the end. And I\'m really interested to see how that will pan out. Me too. I don\'t think Matt was in it. It seemed like Matt wasn\'t in a position to quote a lot about phase four and rightly so, because not even phase three is happening next year officially, but I think we\'re, can\'t be aware of me maybe a little strange, a little bit more out of them, but I\'m looking forward to the language aspect as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> In fact, I\'m kind of surprised I was at the phase four at the four phases when he first announced it a couple of years ago. Um, Um, let\'s see who, uh, who else we got here? I think we have, um, let\'s see. I think we, Eric, I think it\'s down to you now. Um, you might, you might be closing here. I know no big pressure.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> For baseball fans during this lockout, I\'ll try to be the closer here. Get on the mound and pitches to a victory here,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> not a sports person, but tackle, go and tackle and hit a fuel. Go right through the goalposts for me, please.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> Okay. I\'ll shoot it into the [01:00:00] net for you. All right. So my bedroom aside, I think one thing I\'m interested to watch is the, um, the growth of block themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt talked about, you know, hoping to have 3000 available, uh, at the next state of the word. That\'s going to be interesting because. I haven\'t seen like the commercial theme market takeoff for that yet. Um, there\'s a few opportunities there. I\'m seeing some, you know, some new ones come out. So it\'ll be very interesting to see in 2022, how much, uh, adoption rate there is for block themes and full site editing and what number of themes we actually get to buy the next state of the word.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> What do you think? What\'s your guess?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> I\'m going to say somewhere around a thousand, that\'ll just be my completely uneducated guests. I think there\'s so many theme authors that are still kind of hanging to the classic theme, uh, you know, style and way of [01:01:00] building. Um, and it\'s probably going to be a little bit slower adoption than maybe Matt hopes, but, uh, you know, I may be very wrong on that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Do you think it has to do with just being, not familiar and trying to stick with what works as long as possible?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eric Karkovack:</strong> I think so. I think it\'s. 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And 3000 I think is easily doable and there\'s going to be a bunch of them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bunch of themes created from these generators. That\'s my take.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So we\'re thinking, we\'re thinking the themes did themes really take off after the underscore S generator or a discourse came about? Is that, is that where you\'re considering more or less the equal the, was it underscore?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Chandler:</strong> Uh, I don\'t underscore is just like a starter theme, but you know, what, what I\'m seeing from the theme.json theme by theme generators nowadays seems to be just makes the theme generation process so much easier.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, if you\'re, if you\'re a theme developer and you\'re not excited about what\'s coming down the pike in 2022, what is wrong with you?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Well, wow. I mean, people ask what\'s wrong with me and I, they don\'t literally have the, I don\'t have the time to tell them all day. Um, okay, well, good. Yeah. So generator, we\'ll put that down as something for 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jason, did you have something to share before [01:04:00] we close out here or did I accidentally pushed the wrong.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jason:</strong> No, you didn\'t accidentally push the wrong button. Hi everyone.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Hi Jason.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jason:</strong> Hello. Well, there was a lot to, uh, digest and, um, the state of the word think it was interesting. 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Have fun!</p>\n<!-- /wp:paragraph -->','Sample Page','','publish','closed','open','','sample-page','','','2022-01-10 21:47:45','2022-01-10 21:47:45','',0,'https://ahaddad.42.fr/?page_id=2',0,'page','',0),(3,1,'2022-01-10 21:47:45','2022-01-10 21:47:45','<!-- wp:heading --><h2>Who we are</h2><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong class=\"privacy-policy-tutorial\">Suggested text: </strong>Our website address is: https://ahaddad.42.fr.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading --><h2>Comments</h2><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong class=\"privacy-policy-tutorial\">Suggested text: </strong>When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor&#8217;s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. 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These cookies will last for one year.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select &quot;Remember Me&quot;, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. 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