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A List View of blocks floating next to each widget area shows how the design is constructed.\" class=\"wp-image-11116\" srcset=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?w=2183&amp;ssl=1 2183w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?resize=168%2C300&amp;ssl=1 168w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?resize=573%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 573w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?resize=768%2C1373&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?resize=859%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 859w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?resize=1145%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1145w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a><figcaption><br><br><br><br></figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Create Interesting Visual Effects With Overlapping Layouts and Duotone Images</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Appearance-wise, users have a lot more control over widget areas than ever before — especially through the use of blocks with customization options like the Cover and Image block. Here’s what I can create in the classic widgets editor (above) versus what I can create in the new block-based widget editor (below).</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video controls src=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/classic-widgets.mov\"></video></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video controls src=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/block-widgets-1.mov\"></video></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2>Intersperse Widgets and Custom Code Throughout Your Visual Designs</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Container blocks like Cover and Columns make it easy to weave dynamic or interactive elements into your designs. While this is a given for many widgets, the block versions of widgets can be easily wrapped and layered within container blocks to integrate them into your layout more fully.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the example below, I tried placing a Search block in front of a Cover block, which creates a nice layered effect. I also inserted Custom HTML blocks within a Columns block to display different messaging depending on the time of day. (<a href=\"https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31242051/show-content-based-on-time-of-day-timing-changes-on-different-days-of-the-week\">jQuery script</a>)</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video controls src=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/custom-html-1.mov\"></video></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2>Use Traditional Widget Layouts (Or Not) With Lots of Flexibility Over Title and Structure</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Classic widgets have always had a lockup that includes a widget title. One cool thing about having blocks in widget areas is that you have complete flexibility over how titles appear. For example, you might choose to have a title over every widget, you might only want one title at the top of each widget area, or your design might not need titles at all.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note: Some themes, like <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/twentytwentyone/\">Twenty Twenty-One</a>, are designed to flow content horizontally within widget areas. If you’re having trouble with a theme splitting your layout into columns, you could try keeping the lockup together by containing it within a Group block.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"381\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?resize=632%2C381&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Side-by-side comparison of List View of a Sidebar widget area with and without grouped/nested lockups.\" class=\"wp-image-11122\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?w=1760&amp;ssl=1 1760w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?resize=300%2C181&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?resize=1024%2C618&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?resize=768%2C463&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?resize=1536%2C927&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Copy &amp; Paste Existing Layouts From the WordPress Pattern Directory</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While patterns haven’t been fully integrated into the widget editors yet, one thing you <em>can</em> do is copy and paste patterns from the game-changing new <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/patterns/\">WordPress Pattern Directory</a> into your site’s widget areas. I used this <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/patterns/pattern/horizontal-call-to-action/\">horizontal call to action</a> pattern from the directory almost exactly as is, with minor color and copy adjustments:</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"389\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?resize=632%2C389&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Footer widget area with a black box that reads, “Become a monthly patron” with paragraph text and a “Join now” button in a separate column. A painted image of waves hitting rocks is directly below with no space between them.\n\" class=\"wp-image-11123\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?w=1656&amp;ssl=1 1656w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?resize=300%2C185&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?resize=1024%2C630&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?resize=768%2C473&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?resize=1536%2C945&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a><figcaption><br></figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>FYI: Patterns have not been curated for or integrated into widget areas yet, so you may run into some unexpected behavior — consider this feature to be a preview of what’s coming next for widget editing!</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:\"11115\";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: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:33:\"The Month in WordPress: July 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/2021/08/the-month-in-wordpress-july-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:\"Tue, 03 Aug 2021 13:53:13 +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: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=11107\";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:\"WordPress is global in reach and open source in nature. And you would assume that what allows the software to be used by anyone would also enable it to be built by anyone. After all, your location doesn’t matter, and who employs you also doesn’t matter. And your relative social standing certainly shouldn’t matter. As [&#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:15215:\"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>WordPress is global in reach and open source in nature. And you would assume that what allows the software to be used by anyone would also enable it to be built by anyone. After all, your location doesn’t matter, and who employs you also doesn’t matter. And your relative social standing certainly shouldn’t matter. As long as you can communicate with the others contributing to the project, there should be no obstacle to your participation.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">That was <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">Josepha Haden</a> on the “<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/episode-13-cherishing-wordpress-diversity/\">Cherishing WordPress Diversity</a>” episode of the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/\">WP Briefing Podcast</a>, speaking about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the fabric of the WordPress project. Her statement captures the spirit of the WordPress open source project, and we hope it resonates with you. Now, let&#8217;s dive in!</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2>Say hello to WordPress 5.8</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/simone/\">version 5.8</a>, “Tatum,” came out on July 20. Version 5.8 is a major release that offers features like block-based widgets, a host of new blocks and patterns, a template editor, a duotone feature to stylize images, theme.json, and support for webP images, to name a few. Read more in the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/tatum/\">release post</a>, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/03/wordpress-5-8-field-guide/\">field guide</a>, and the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/06/18/meetup-group-resources-talking-points-for-wordpress-5-8/\">talking points post for meetup groups</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to contribute to WordPress core?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Join the&nbsp; <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>. Don’t miss the Core Team chats on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=5&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\">5 AM</a> and <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\">8 PM</a> UTC.</li><li><a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/\">Translate WordPress</a> to your local language &#8211; here’s the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/07/09/wordpress-5-8-translation-status-july-9-2020/\">latest translation status</a>.</li><li>Contact the Marketing Team in the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0GKJ7TFA\">#marketing</a> slack channel, if you wish to support <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/07/21/social-media-pack-for-5-8-ongoing-collaborations/\">social media engagement around WordPress 5.8</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>Gutenberg Version 11.0 is released</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Contributor teams released the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/09/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-0-0-9-july/\">11th version</a> of Gutenberg on July 9. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/09/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-0-0-9-july/\">Version 11.0</a>, which focuses heavily on backports and bug fixes, showcases some cool features such as an editing overlay for template parts and reusable blocks, and support for CSS shorthand properties in theme.json and block attributes. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-1-0-21-july/\">Version 11.1</a> was also shipped this month, on July 21. The release adds custom block borders as block supports and adds “drag and drop” to the list view.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to get involved in building Gutenberg? Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/\">Gutenberg on GitHub</a>, and join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7\">#core-editor</a> channel in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. The “<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-next-in-gutenberg-site-editing-status-check-late-july-august-2021/\">What’s next in Gutenberg</a>” post offers more details on the latest updates.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Returning to in-person WordPress events</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Community Team kicked off work to bring back in-person WordPress events. The team <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/01/in-person-meetup-events-for-vaccinated-community-members/#comment-29654\">recently announced</a> that in-person WordPress meetups can be organized in a region if the local public health authority allows in-person events and if the region passes the in-person<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/in-person-meetup-decision-checklist/\"> safety checklist</a>. If the region does not meet guidelines on page one of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/in-person-meetup-decision-checklist/\">safety checklist</a>, organizers can plan events for fully vaccinated, recently tested (negative), or recently recovered community members. Subsequently, the team also <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/27/proposal-how-to-return-to-safe-in-person-wordcamps/\">shared a proposal for the return to in-person WordCamps</a> in places that meet the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/in-person-meetup-decision-checklist/\">safety guidelines and the vaccination/testing requirements</a>. Please share your feedback on the post if you have any thoughts. For more context, check out the “<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/episode-12-wordpress-in-person/\">In Person!</a>” episode of the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/\">WP Briefing Podcast</a>.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to contribute to the Community Team? Follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/\">Community Team</a> blog, or join them in the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X\">#community</a> channel in the Make WordPress Slack.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>BuddyPress 9.0 is out</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The BuddyPress team is busy! Within barely a month of their last major release (<a href=\"https://buddypress.org/2021/06/buddypress-8-0-0-alfano/\">version 8.0)</a>, the team shipped <a href=\"https://buddypress.org/2021/07/buddypress-9-0-0-mico/\">version 9.0</a> on July 19. Key features of the release include widget blocks and updates to the BP REST API.&nbsp; Download it from the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/\">WordPress.org plugin directory</a> or check it out from its <a href=\"https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/branches/9.0\">subversion repository.</a> Want to help build BuddyPress? Follow their <a href=\"https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/\">developer relations blog</a>, check out their <a href=\"https://codex.buddypress.org/participate-and-contribute/contribute-with-code/\">handbook page</a>, or join them in the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBYUG\">#buddypress</a> channel in the Make WordPress Slack.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>WordPress Event updates</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>WordCamp US is coming back on October 1, 2021, <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2021/wordcamp-us-is-back/\">as a daylong online event</a>!</li><li>Free tickets for <a href=\"https://floripa.wordcamp.org/2021/inscricoes/\">WordCamp Florianopolis</a> (August 11-12) are now available.</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/wpdiversity/\">Diverse Speaker Training group</a> of the Community Team announced <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/26/announcement-and-call-for-volunteers-expanding-wpdiversity-to-three-programs/\">three new programs</a> for Meetup and WordCamp organizers. Sign up for the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/30/workshop-august-19-2021-allyship-for-wordpress-event-organizers-amer-emea/\">inaugural allyship program for event organizers</a> on August 19, 2021, at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20210819T1700\">5:00</a> &#8211; <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20210819T1900\">7:00 pm</a> UTC!</li><li>The Polyglots Team is planning a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/tag/wptranslationday/\">month-long translation day celebration in September 2021</a>, with two weeks of “core events” from September 17 to 30. The team will announce more details on the event shortly, and you <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/tag/wptranslationday/\">can follow all the latest updates on their P2</a>.&nbsp;</li><li>Stay updated on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/events/online/\">online WordPress meetups</a> around the world by following the Marketing Team’s <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-wordpress-marketing-team/\">WordPress Meetup roundup</a> every Monday.&nbsp;</li><li><a href=\"https://santaclarita.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Santa Clarita 2021</a> was held online on July 17-18, 2021. The highlight of the event, which had 41 speakers, 19 sponsors, and 672 attendees, was a <a href=\"https://santaclarita.wordcamp.org/2021/schedule/\">dedicated track for WordPress accessibility</a>. Videos of the event will soon be posted on WordPress.tv.</li><li>The Hosting Team organized <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wphosting/events/278295555\">their first meetup</a> in June. Check out the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4UCc1Bze5E&amp;t=702s\">event recording</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>Feedback requests from WordPress contributor teams</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Please help these WordPress contributor teams by answering their research requests:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The Core Team has published a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/28/wordpress-5-8-tatum-retrospective/\">WordPress 5.8 release retrospective</a>. Share your release feedback as <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/28/wordpress-5-8-tatum-retrospective/#respond\">comments on the post</a> or by <a href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSei8fSLjV0um4hk_1JKwgu-8E6mpNwwxF3j43mInW7lnVOTDw/viewform?usp=sf_link\">filling out this form</a> before August 15. The team is also <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/request-for-feedback-updater-proof-of-concept/\">requesting feedback</a> on a “proof of concept” for the new WordPress updater.&nbsp;</li><li>The Training Team wishes to <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/07/30/learn-wordpress-user-survey-focus-groups/\">find what learners and potential learners would like to see</a> in the <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org\">learn.wordpress.org</a> platform. To contribute, please <a href=\"https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LearnWordPress\">fill out an anonymous survey</a> (by August 13) OR <a href=\"https://forms.gle/jdk2qkkvGyszx1SG6\">join a short video call</a> to share feedback (on the week of August 2-6).</li><li>The Polyglots Team <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/07/19/polyglots-training-ready-for-testing/\">announced</a> that “Polyglots Training” (a course to help WordPress translators and communities) is now available for testing. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/07/19/polyglots-training-ready-for-testing/\">Sign up now</a>!</li><li>The Test Team wants to<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/07/30/help-shape-the-future-of-theme-design/\"> hear from theme authors</a> on how they use theme.json in order to shape its future. Help them by <a href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/block-theme-author-feedback\">filling out this survey</a> on or before August 13.</li><li>The Marketing Team is doing research on building engagement around WordPress releases. Please help the team by filling out <a href=\"https://forms.gle/4QFhX8fcNxKAfK8y5\">this quick, two-question survey</a> on how you search for release information. If you have any favorite features from the latest release (WordPress 5.8) let the team know by completing this <a href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_2llymf79-h5sgTiprz7Kw4Gr4cbDHh-AAdAQfiArXlHksg/viewform\">short form</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2>Further reading</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The Meta Team launched the new <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2021/07/20/the-wordpress-pattern-directory-is-live/\">WordPress Pattern Directory</a> alongside the 5.8 release. The Design Team also contributed to this project, working with contributors on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/07/29/initial-patterns-for-the-patterns-directory-launched/\">launching around 85 block patterns in the directory</a>.</li><li>Check out the following blog posts from the Design Team: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/07/13/a-walk-around-the-search-block/\">A Walk Around: The Search Block</a> and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/07/27/widgets-in-wordpress-5-8-and-beyond/\">Widgets on 5.8 and beyond</a>. Join their <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/?s=show+and+tell\">Show and Tell meetings</a> on the last Wednesday of each month to learn about updates on their latest projects and new ideas.</li><li>Check out <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/configuring-theme-design-with-theme-json/\">this blog post</a> to learn how to configure theme design with theme.json.&nbsp;</li><li>The Test Team has put out a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/07/20/test-team-reps-call-for-nominations/\">call for team-rep nominations</a>.</li><li>The Themes Team is in the process of discussing <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/07/20/discussion-request-for-feedback-on-requirement-changes/\">updated theme directory guidelines</a>.</li><li>Version 17.9 of WordPress for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/07/27/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-17-9/\">Android</a> and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/07/28/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-17-9/\">iOS</a> are now available for testing.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Have a story that we should include in the next “Month in WordPress” post? Please </em><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/\"><em>submit it using this form</em></a><em>.&nbsp;</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to July’s Month in WordPress:  <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaion07/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>chaion07</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/jillbinder/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>jillbinder</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></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:\"11107\";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: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:61:\"WP Briefing: Episode 14: The Art and Science of Accessibility\";s:7:\"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://wordpress.org/news/2021/08/episode-14-the-art-and-science-of-accessibility/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 02 Aug 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: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=11096\";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:463:\"In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy discusses the nuances of building accessible software, the differences between access, usability, and accessibility, and how this all applies to the WordPress project. Have a question you’d like answered? You can submit them to&#160;wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor:&#160;Dustin Hartzler Logo:&#160;Beatriz Fialho Production:&#160;Chloé Bringmann Transcription: [&#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/2021/07/WP-Briefing-014.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:17:\"Nicholas Garofalo\";s: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:9393:\"\n<p>In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy discusses the nuances of building accessible software, the differences between access, usability, and accessibility, and how this all applies to the WordPress project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you’d like answered? You can submit them to&nbsp;<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>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>Transcription: <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/\">Nicholas Garofalo</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>References</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/about/accessibility/\">About WordPress Accessibility</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/\">Make WordPress Accessibility Team</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/wpaccessibility\">WordPress Accessibility Team Twitter</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/handbook/best-practices/\">WordPress Accessibility Handbook</a></li><li><a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/coding-standards/wordpress-coding-standards/accessibility/\">Accessibility Coding Standards</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag\">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.a11yproject.com/checklist/\">A11y Checklist</a></li><li><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide\">The Digital Divide</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11096\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p>[contemporary intro music]</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 0:10</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>[musical interlude]</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 0:28</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the second of my big scary topics for this month. I&#8217;ll be talking about accessibility, which much like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI in the last episode, is one of those areas where the work is never finished. Also, like DEI in last episode, I feel strongly about accessibility and the need for accessible experiences in the world, but I&#8217;m aware that this is an area where I&#8217;m still learning.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 1:04</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress has both an accessibility statement and team, which makes a lot of sense given that the software supports so many different people, and industries, and cultures. But if you&#8217;re not quite bought into the idea that software should be accessible, or that accessible software can&#8217;t also be usable, then this is the episode for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 1:25</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before I joined the WordPress project, the majority of my work with accessibility was in the context of the digital divide. Now, when talking about the digital divide, there are three concepts around quote-unquote, &#8220;getting things to people,&#8221; and those are access, usability, and accessibility. Sometimes these words seem interchangeable, but ultimately they have nuanced differences that address different problems. And I like to think of them this way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Access is making sure that someone can obtain something.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Usability is making sure that the user experience is understandable or coherent.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And accessibility is making sure that it&#8217;s usable by the largest number of people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have always considered each as a subset of the one that came before it. So having something everyone can access is good, but easy to access and easy to use is better. Easy to use is good, but easy to use and easily accessible is better.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 2:27</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After joining WordPress, I discovered that accessibility in the context of software building is well, substantially more complicated. There&#8217;s no such thing as perfect accessibility, or a site that is 100% accessible, and many aspects are pretty open to interpretation. It turns out that accessibility, like so many things in WordPress, is a complicated intersection of art and science.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an example, there&#8217;s a rule that says, &#8220;Ensure that links are recognizable as links.&#8221; A fast shorthand to accomplish that, that we see all over the internet, is to underline all links or put that icon next to it that says, &#8220;This opens in a new tab.&#8221; You know that icon that&#8217;s a box with an arrow? That definitely has a name, that I definitely don&#8217;t know? That icon. [laughing] But those solutions don&#8217;t necessarily fit every context that you&#8217;ll find a link in, and that&#8217;s where we see that intersection between the art of communication and the science of necessity.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 3:32</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you came with me earlier on the idea that accessibility is a subset of usability, and it&#8217;s not a far leap to say that the choices around accessibility implementations should always include design and the overall user experience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know that some of you are thinking, &#8220;But we have guidelines! Like, that&#8217;s why we have the guidelines, so that not everything has to be a gray area.&#8221; And on the one hand, yeah, that&#8217;s true. There are a lot of guidelines. There are guidelines for the code, and what the code produces, and the design elements. But I worry that when a solution is driven solely by rules, rather than reasons, we run the risk of throwing out the good along with the bad.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 4:15</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accessibility has been a consistent topic of debate in the project for as long as I can remember, and based on all of this, it&#8217;s really clear why. There are a few big picture questions that still deserve some sort of canonical answer for WordPress, and where possible I dig in and research the positions that everyone has taken in the past. But I also have questions about how to move everything forward, especially as the editing experience gets more and more standardized across the software, which reduces cognitive load, shortens the learning curve, etc.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is the future possibility for having a series of more niche admin interface options?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What would it be like to be able to account for functional limitations in a way that lets site builders select what is needed for their clients or organization, or just individual situations they know their sites would be maintained under?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What more could we do if part of the setup flow of WordPress was to select some bundle of potential add ons for neuro diversity, or colorblindness, or dyslexia, and more?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a really big question I have.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 5:26</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I have to be really transparent here and share that my foundational understanding of accessibility and usability is 10 plus years old, and I learned it in the context of people in education, not software. So a lot of my questions about the future of accessibility and WordPress is the result of old knowledge exploring new spaces, which means they are a little untested. And I&#8217;m so grateful for the contributors who point out what the current research and thinking is, in this incredibly complex field.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 6:00</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I normally like to wrap up the briefing with a tidy takeaway, but this particular topic doesn&#8217;t really lend itself to that. So I&#8217;ll leave you with this. I really believe in WordPress&#8217; mission to democratize publishing. And I, for one, will never stop learning about what gives people more access to the software, and what makes the software more usable, and especially how we can combine usability with accessibility in a way that puts form and function on a level playing field.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[musical interlude]</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 6:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now, that brings us to our small list of big things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thing one, it&#8217;s that time of year where many of our community members take a short break to relax and refresh. I&#8217;ll be taking a bit of a break during the month of August, and so the WP Briefing will return again starting in September.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And thing two, huge thanks to the production crew that helps me make this podcast every couple of weeks, but a special shout out to our editor Dustin Hartzler, who makes quick work of all of my rambling thoughts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> 7:09</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 September.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[contemporary outro music]</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:\"11096\";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: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:40:\"Configuring Theme Design with theme.json\";s:7:\"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:76:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/configuring-theme-design-with-theme-json/\";s: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, 29 Jul 2021 22:26:13 +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:6:\"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:\"\";}i:1;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:2;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:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Gutenberg\";s:7:\"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=11060\";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:368:\"Starting in WordPress 5.8, a new tool — “theme.json” — is available to use in your theme. Maybe you’re hearing about it for the first time, or maybe you’re testing and developing themes with it already. Either way, I&#8217;m glad you&#8217;re here because it&#8217;s an exciting time for WordPress themes. This post provides a quick introduction [&#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:8:\"Jeff Ong\";s: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:21957:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/themejson-1.png?resize=632%2C356&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11082\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/themejson-1.png?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/themejson-1.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/themejson-1.png?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/themejson-1.png?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/themejson-1.png?resize=2048%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/themejson-1.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/themejson-1.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting in <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/tatum/\">WordPress 5.8</a>, a new tool — “theme.json” — is available to use in your theme. Maybe you’re hearing about it for the first time, or maybe you’re testing and developing themes with it already. Either way, I&#8217;m glad you&#8217;re here because it&#8217;s an exciting time for WordPress themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This post provides a quick introduction to this new framework, and describes what’s possible by sharing a few practical tips and examples.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>What’s theme.json?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Technically, theme.json is just a file that lives at the top-level of a theme’s directory.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Conceptually, it’s a major shift in how themes can be developed. Theme authors now have a centralized mechanism to tailor the WordPress experience for site authors and visitors. Theme.json provides theme authors fine-grained control over global styles, block styles, and the block editor settings.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>By providing these settings and controls in a single file, theme.json provides a powerful framework that brings together many aspects of theme design and development. And as the block editor matures and adds more features, theme.json will shine as the backbone for themes and the editor to work <em>together</em> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f4aa.png\" alt=\"💪\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" />. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Why Use it?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It’s the future! But if you’re like me, you might need something more tangible to be convinced. Here are a few reasons why you might use theme.json today:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Control editor settings like color, typography, spacing, and layout, and consolidate where these settings are managed.</li><li>Guarantee that styles apply correctly to blocks and elements across your site.</li><li>Reduce the amount of boilerplate CSS a theme used to provide. Theme.json won&#8217;t replace your stylesheet completely — there will be instances where CSS is needed to give your theme that extra flare (transitions, animations, etc.). But it can greatly reduce the base CSS needed from the theme.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>How do I use it?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The rest of this post demonstrates a few theme.json configurations you can try out. The examples use the tt1-blocks<a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/blob/master/tt1-blocks/theme.json\"> theme.json</a> — <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/tt1-blocks/\">the block-based version of this year’s default theme</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re starting with an existing theme, you might try copying a theme.json from the <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/\">WordPress/theme-experiments repository</a> (for example, <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/theme-experiments/blob/master/fse-tutorial/theme.json\">the fse-tutorial theme</a> by <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/\">@poena</a>) and adding it to the root of your theme’s directory.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Change the typography settings of your site globally</strong></h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code \"><pre class=\"brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate\">\n&quot;settings&quot;: {\n	&quot;typography&quot;: {\n		&quot;fontSize&quot;: &quot;30px&quot;,\n		...\n</pre></div>\n\n\n<p>Making the change above in theme.json would result in the following updates to your theme&#8217;s body typography styles (before and after): </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"398\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?resize=632%2C398&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11062\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11062\" class=\"wp-image-11062\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?resize=1024%2C645&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?resize=300%2C189&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?resize=768%2C484&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?resize=1536%2C968&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?resize=2048%2C1291&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.06.07-AM.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"398\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?resize=632%2C398&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11061\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11061\" class=\"wp-image-11061\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?resize=1024%2C645&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?resize=300%2C189&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?resize=768%2C484&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?resize=1536%2C968&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?resize=2048%2C1291&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.05.40-AM.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li></ul></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Changing the base color settings of your site globally</strong></h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code \"><pre class=\"brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate\">\n&quot;styles&quot;: {\n	&quot;color&quot;: {\n		&quot;background&quot;: &quot;#ffc0cb&quot;,\n		&quot;text&quot;: &quot;#6A1515&quot;\n	},\n	...\n}\n</pre></div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"398\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?resize=632%2C398&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11063\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11063\" class=\"wp-image-11063\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?resize=1024%2C645&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?resize=300%2C189&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?resize=768%2C484&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?resize=1536%2C968&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?resize=2048%2C1291&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.10.03-AM.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"398\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?resize=632%2C398&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11064\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11064\" class=\"wp-image-11064\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?resize=1024%2C645&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?resize=300%2C189&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?resize=768%2C484&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?resize=1536%2C968&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?resize=2048%2C1291&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-23-at-11.08.54-AM.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li></ul></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><strong>Changing spacing / padding settings on specific blocks</strong></strong></h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code \"><pre class=\"brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate\">\n&quot;styles&quot;: {\n	&quot;blocks&quot;: {\n		&quot;core/code&quot;: {\n			&quot;spacing&quot;: {\n				&quot;padding&quot;: {\n					&quot;top&quot;: &quot;3em&quot;,\n					&quot;bottom&quot;: &quot;3em&quot;,\n					&quot;left&quot;: &quot;3em&quot;,\n					&quot;right&quot;: &quot;3em&quot;\n				}\n			}\n		}\n	}\n}\n\n</pre></div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?resize=632%2C356&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11065\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11065\" class=\"wp-image-11065\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-original.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited-1024x576.png?resize=632%2C356&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11066\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11066\" class=\"wp-image-11066\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited.png?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited.png?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited.png?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited.png?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/code-padding-edited.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li></ul></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><strong>Set a custom color palette in the editor for specific blocks like a button </strong></strong></h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code \"><pre class=\"brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate\">\n&quot;settings&quot;: {\n    &quot;blocks&quot;: {\n		&quot;core/button&quot;: {\n			&quot;color&quot;: {\n				&quot;palette&quot;: &#91; \n					{\n						&quot;name&quot;: &quot;Maroon&quot;,\n						&quot;color&quot;: &quot;#6A1515&quot;,\n						&quot;slug&quot;: &quot;maroon&quot;\n					},\n					{\n						&quot;name&quot;: &quot;Strawberry Ice Cream&quot;,\n						&quot;color&quot;: &quot;#FFC0CB&quot;,\n						&quot;slug&quot;: &quot;strawberry-ice-cream&quot;\n					}\n				]\n			}\n		}\n	}\n}\n</pre></div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"444\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?resize=632%2C444&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11069\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11069\" class=\"wp-image-11069\" srcset=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?resize=1024%2C719&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?resize=300%2C211&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?resize=768%2C539&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?resize=1536%2C1079&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?resize=2048%2C1438&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/button-all-colors.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"444\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?resize=632%2C444&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11070\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11070\" class=\"wp-image-11070\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?resize=1024%2C719&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?resize=300%2C211&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?resize=768%2C539&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?resize=1536%2C1079&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?resize=2048%2C1438&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/buttons-custom-palette.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li></ul></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong><strong>Enable and disable typography controls</strong></strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the following example, the ability to supply a custom font size and line height for all heading blocks is disabled:</p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code \"><pre class=\"brush: jscript; title: ; notranslate\">\n	&quot;settings&quot;: {\n		&quot;blocks&quot;: {\n			&quot;core/heading&quot;: {\n				&quot;typography&quot;: {\n					&quot;customFontSize&quot;: false,\n					&quot;customLineHeight&quot;: false\n				}\n			}\n		}\n	}\n</pre></div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"444\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?resize=632%2C444&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11071\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11071\" class=\"wp-image-11071\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?resize=1024%2C719&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?resize=300%2C211&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?resize=768%2C539&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?resize=1536%2C1079&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?resize=2048%2C1438&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-all-options.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"444\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?resize=632%2C444&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"11072\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=11072\" class=\"wp-image-11072\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?resize=1024%2C719&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?resize=300%2C211&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?resize=768%2C539&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?resize=1536%2C1079&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?resize=2048%2C1438&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/heading-no-line-height-custom-size.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></a></figure></li></ul></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2>What&#8217;s Next?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope this gives you a sense of what&#8217;s possible and where themes are going. The above examples just scratch the surface of what kinds of theme design configurations are possible, and I’m very excited to see what theme authors create.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in learning more, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/25/introducing-theme-json-in-wordpress-5-8/\">here&#8217;s the developer note on theme.json</a>, and <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/theme-json/\">here&#8217;s the documentation for theme.json</a> in the handbook.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Thanks to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/\">@kjellr</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">@</a></strong></em><strong><em><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">chanthaboune</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/priethor/\">@priethor</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\">@annezazu</a> for helping with and peer-reviewing this post.</em></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:\"11060\";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: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:19:\"WordPress 5.8 Tatum\";s:7:\"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:41:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/tatum/\";s: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, 20 Jul 2021 17:43:25 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;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:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.8\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10976\";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:277:\"Introducing 5.8 “Tatum”, our latest and greatest release, named in honor of the legendary jazz pianist Art Tatum. This release includes an all new widget editor powered by blocks, major technical tools for building block themes, as well as newly streamlined workflow tools.\";s: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:\"Matt Mullenweg\";s: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:54016:\"\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"422\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/5x8-Album-1.jpg?resize=632%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11042\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Introducing 5.8 “Tatum”, our latest and greatest release now available for&nbsp;<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/download/\">download</a>&nbsp;or update in your dashboard. Named in honor of Art Tatum, the legendary Jazz pianist. His formidable technique and willingness to push boundaries inspired musicians and changed what people thought could be done.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So fire up your music service of choice and enjoy Tatum’s famous recordings of ‘Tea for Two’, ‘Tiger Rag’, ‘Begin the Beguine’, and ‘Night and Day’ as you read about what the latest WordPress version brings to you.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center\">Three Essential Powerhouses</h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"474\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-widgets-blocks.png?resize=632%2C474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"10985\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-widgets-blocks.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=10985\" class=\"wp-image-10985\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-widgets-blocks.png?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-widgets-blocks.png?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-widgets-blocks.png?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-widgets-blocks.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"501\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-query-loop.png?resize=632%2C501&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"10986\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-query-loop.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=10986\" class=\"wp-image-10986\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-query-loop.png?resize=1024%2C811&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-query-loop.png?resize=300%2C238&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-query-loop.png?resize=768%2C608&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-query-loop.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"411\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-template.png?resize=632%2C411&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"10987\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-template.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=10987\" class=\"wp-image-10987\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-template.png?resize=1024%2C666&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-template.png?resize=300%2C195&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-template.png?resize=768%2C499&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-template.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></li></ul></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3>Manage Widgets with Blocks</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After months of hard work, the power of blocks has come to both the Block Widgets Editor and the Customizer. Now you can add blocks both in widget areas across your site and with live preview through the Customizer. This opens up new possibilities to create content: from no-code mini layouts to the vast library of core and third-party blocks. For our developers, you can find more details in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/29/block-based-widgets-editor-in-wordpress-5-8/\">Widgets dev note</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Display Posts with New Blocks and Patterns</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Query Loop Block makes it possible to display posts based on specified parameters; like a PHP loop without the code. Easily display posts from a specific category, to do things like create a portfolio or a page full of your favorite recipes. Think of it as a more complex and powerful Latest Posts Block! Plus, pattern suggestions make it easier than ever to create a list of posts with the design you want.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Edit the Templates Around Posts</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You can use the familiar block editor to edit templates that hold your content—simply activate a block theme or a theme that has opted in for this feature. Switch from editing your posts to editing your pages and back again, all while using a familiar block editor. There are more than 20 new blocks available within compatible themes. Read more about this feature and how to experiment with it in the release notes.</p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:32px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center\">Three Workflow Helpers</h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"496\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-list-view.png?resize=632%2C496&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"10988\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-list-view.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=10988\" class=\"wp-image-10988\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-list-view.png?resize=1024%2C803&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-list-view.png?resize=300%2C235&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-list-view.png?resize=768%2C602&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-list-view.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"343\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-pattern-suggestions.png?resize=632%2C343&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"10989\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-pattern-suggestions.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=10989\" class=\"wp-image-10989\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-pattern-suggestions.png?resize=1024%2C555&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-pattern-suggestions.png?resize=300%2C163&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-pattern-suggestions.png?resize=768%2C416&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-pattern-suggestions.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"517\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-duotone.png?resize=632%2C517&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"10990\" data-full-url=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-duotone.png\" data-link=\"https://wordpress.org/news/?attachment_id=10990\" class=\"wp-image-10990\" srcset=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-duotone.png?resize=1024%2C837&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-duotone.png?resize=300%2C245&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-duotone.png?resize=768%2C628&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-duotone.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></li></ul></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3>Overview of the Page Structure</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes you need a simple landing page, but sometimes you need something a little more robust. As blocks increase, patterns emerge, and content creation gets easier, new solutions are needed to make complex content easy to navigate. List View is the best way to jump between layers of content and nested blocks. Since the List View gives you an overview of all the blocks in your content, you can now navigate quickly to the precise block you need. Ready to focus completely on your content? Toggle it on or off to suit your workflow.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Suggested Patterns for Blocks</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting in this release the Pattern Transformations tool will suggest block patterns based on the block you are using. Right now, you can give it a try in the Query Block and Social Icon Block. As more patterns are added, you will be able to get inspiration for how to style your site without ever leaving the editor!</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Style and Colorize Images</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Colorize your image and cover blocks with duotone filters! Duotone can add a pop of color to your designs and style your images (or videos in the cover block) to integrate well with your themes. You can think of the duotone effect as a black and white filter, but instead of the shadows being black and the highlights being white, you pick your own colors for the shadows and highlights. There’s more to learn about how it works in the documentation.</p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:32px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center\">For Developers to Explore</h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"378\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-theme-json-2x.png?resize=632%2C378&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10992\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-theme-json-2x.png?resize=1024%2C613&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-theme-json-2x.png?resize=300%2C179&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-theme-json-2x.png?resize=768%2C459&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-theme-json-2x.png?resize=1536%2C919&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-theme-json-2x.png?resize=2048%2C1225&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-theme-json-2x.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/07/about-theme-json-2x.png?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h3>Theme.json</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Introducing the Global Styles and Global Settings APIs: control the editor settings, available customization tools, and style blocks using a theme.json file in the active theme. This configuration file enables or disables features and sets default styles for both a website and blocks. If you build themes, you can experiment with this early iteration of a useful new feature. For more about what is currently available and how it works,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/25/introducing-theme-json-in-wordpress-5-8/\">check out this dev note</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3>Dropping support for IE11</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Support for Internet Explorer 11 has been dropped as of this release. This means you may have issues managing your site that will not be fixed in the future. If you are currently using IE11, it is strongly recommended that you&nbsp;<a href=\"https://browsehappy.com/\">switch to a more modern browser</a>.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3>Adding support for WebP</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>WebP is a modern image format that provides improved lossless and lossy compression for images on the web. WebP images are around 30% smaller on average than their JPEG or PNG equivalents, resulting in sites that are faster and use less bandwidth.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3>Adding Additional Block Supports</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Expanding on previously implemented block supports in WordPress&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/18/block-supports-in-wordpress-5-6/\">5.6</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/24/changes-to-block-editor-components-and-blocks/\">5.7</a>, WordPress 5.8 introduces several new block support flags and new options to customize your registered blocks. More information is available in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/25/block-supports-api-updates-for-wordpress-5-8/\">block supports dev note</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h3>Check the Field Guide for more!</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out the latest version of the WordPress Field Guide. It highlights developer notes for each change you may want to be aware of:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/03/wordpress-5-8-field-guide/\">WordPress 5.8 Field Guide.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<h2>The Squad</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress 5.8 release was led by <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/matt/\">Matt Mullenweg</a>, and supported by this highly enthusiastic release squad:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Release Co-Coordinator:</strong>&nbsp;Jeffrey Paul (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffpaul/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>jeffpaul</a>)</li><li><strong>Release Co-Coordinator:</strong>&nbsp;Jonathan Desrosiers (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>desrosj</a>)</li><li><strong>Editor Tech Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Riad Benguella (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/youknowriad/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>youknowriad</a>)</li><li><strong>Marketing and Communications Lead:</strong> Josepha Haden Chomphosy (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>chanthaboune</a>)</li><li><strong>Documentation Lead:</strong> Milana Cap (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/milana_cap/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>milana_cap</a>)</li><li><strong>Test Lead:</strong>&nbsp;Piotrek Boniu (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/boniu91/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>boniu91</a>)</li><li><strong>Support Lead:&nbsp;</strong>Mary Job (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/mariaojob/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>mariaojob</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This release is the reflection of the hard work of 530 generous volunteer contributors. Collaboration occurred on over <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?milestone=5.8&amp;group=component&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=priority&amp;order=priority\">320 tickets on Trac</a> and over <a href=\"https://github.com/wordpress/gutenberg/compare/v10.0.0...v10.7.0\">1,500 pull requests on GitHub</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/5ubliminal/\">5ubliminal</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ninetyninew/\">99w</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/9primus/\">9primus</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorbin/\">Aaron Jorbin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aaronrobertshaw/\">aaronrobertshaw</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/abderrahman/\">abderrahman</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">Abha Thakor</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/abhijitrakas/\">Abhijit Rakas</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/achbed/\">achbed</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamsilverstein/\">Adam Silverstein</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zieladam/\">Adam Zielinski</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/addiestavlo/\">Addie</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aduth/\">aduth</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaion07/\">Ahmed Chaion</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/engahmeds3ed/\">Ahmed Saeed</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajitbohra/\">Ajit Bohra</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/schlessera/\">Alain Schlesser</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/alanjacobmathew/\">Alan Jacob Mathew</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aljullu/\">Albert Juh&#233; Lluveras</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aleperez92/\">Alejandro Perez</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/xknown/\">Alex Concha</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/akirk/\">Alex Kirk</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajlende/\">Alex Lende</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/alexstine/\">alexstine</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/firewatch/\">allilevine</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/amandariu/\">Amanda Riu</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/amarinediary/\">amarinediary</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gadgetroid/\">Amogh Harish</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/afercia/\">Andrea Fercia</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/andraganescu/\">Andrei Draganescu</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/azaozz/\">Andrew Ozz</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/andrewserong/\">Andrew Serong</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rarst/\">Andrey \"Rarst\" Savchenko</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nosolosw/\">André Maneiro</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/afragen/\">Andy Fragen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/apeatling/\">Andy Peatling</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/andy/\">Andy Skelton</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpgurudev/\">Ankit Gade</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/annalamprou/\">annalamprou</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\">Anne McCarthy</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/anotherdave/\">anotherdave</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/anotia/\">anotia</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/antpb/\">Anthony Burchell</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/antonlukin/\">Anton Lukin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vanyukov/\">Anton Vanyukov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/antonisme/\">Antonis Lilis</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/apedog/\">apedog</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/apokalyptik/\">apokalyptik</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/arena/\">arena</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lephleg/\">Argyris Margaritis</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aristath/\">Ari Stathopoulos</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ariskataoka/\">ariskataoka</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/arkrs/\">arkrs</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aruphi/\">Armand</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/arnaudban/\">ArnaudBan</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/arthur791004/\">Arthur Chu</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/arunsathiya/\">Arun a11n</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aspexi/\">Aspexi</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/atjn/\">atjn</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aurooba/\">Aurooba Ahmed</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/filosofo/\">Austin Matzko</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ayeshrajans/\">Ayesh Karunaratne</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/barry/\">Barry</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bartkalisz/\">bartkalisz</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pixolin/\">Bego Mario Garde</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/utz119/\">Benachi</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/benoitchantre/\">Benoit Chantre</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bernhard-reiter/\">Bernhard Reiter</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bernhard reiter/\">Bernhard Reiter</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/birgire/\">Birgir Erlendsson (birgire)</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bph/\">Birgit Pauli-Haack</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/blobfolio/\">Blobfolio</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bmcculley/\">bmcculley</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/boblinthorst/\">Bob Linthorst</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bobbingwide/\">bobbingwide</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bogdanpreda/\">Bogdan Preda</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gitlost/\">bonger</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/boonebgorges/\">Boone Gorges</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bradt/\">Brad Touesnard</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kraftbj/\">Brandon Kraft</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/brechtvds/\">Brecht</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/brentswisher/\">Brent Swisher</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/brettshumaker/\">Brett Shumaker</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ribaricplusplus/\">Bruno Ribaric</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/burhandodhy/\">Burhan Nasir</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cameronjonesweb/\">Cameron Jones</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cvoell/\">Cameron Voell</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/carike/\">Carike</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/carlalexander/\">Carl Alexander</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/carlomanf/\">carlomanf</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/carlosgprim/\">Carlos Garcia Prim</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/\">Carolina Nymark</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/caseymilne/\">Casey Milne</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cenay/\">Cenay Nailor</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ceyhun0/\">Ceyhun Ozugur</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nhuja/\">Chandra M</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chetan200891/\">Chetan Prajapati</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chintan1896/\">Chintan hingrajiya</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chipsnyder/\">Chip Snyder</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chouby/\">Chouby</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chrisvanpatten/\">Chris Van Patten</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chriscct7/\">chriscct7</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vimes1984/\">Christopher Churchill</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryno267/\">Chuck Reynolds</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/claytoncollie/\">Clayton Collie</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/codeamp/\">Code Amp</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/design_dolphin/\">CodePoet</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\">Colin Stewart</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/collizo4sky/\">Collins Agbonghama</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/copons/\">Copons</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/coreymckrill/\">Corey McKrill</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cr0ybot/\">Cory Hughart</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/courane01/\">Courtney Engle Robertson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/crazycoders/\">crazycoders</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/critterverse/\">critterverse</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/czapla/\">czapla</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidszabo/\">D&#225;vid Szab&#243;</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/daisyo/\">Daisy Olsen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/damonganto/\">damonganto</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/danfarrow/\">Dan Farrow</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/diddledan/\">Dani Llewellyn</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/talldanwp/\">Daniel Richards</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/danieldudzic/\">danieldudzic</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mte90/\">Daniele Scasciafratte</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vetyst/\">Danny</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/davilera/\">David Aguilera</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidanderson/\">David Anderson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dartiss/\">David Artiss</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/\">David Baumwald</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbinda/\">David Biňovec</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dpcalhoun/\">David Calhoun</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dlh/\">David Herrera</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidkryzaniak/\">David Kryzaniak</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/get_dave/\">David Smith</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dekervit/\">dekervit</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/devle/\">devfle</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/devrekli/\">devrekli</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dhruvkb/\">dhruvkb</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dianeco/\">Diane Co</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dingdang/\">dingdang</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32/\">Dion Hulse</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/djbu/\">djbu</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ocean90/\">Dominik Schilling</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/donmhico/\">donmhico</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/donnapep/\">Donna Peplinskie</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dougwollison/\">Doug Wollison</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dpik/\">dpik</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dragongate/\">dragongate</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/drebbitsweb/\">Dreb Bits</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/drewapicture/\">Drew Jaynes</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/eatsleepcode/\">eatsleepcode</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/metalandcoffee/\">Ebonie Butler</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ediamin/\">Edi Amin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/itsjusteileen/\">Eileen Violini</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ellatrix/\">Ella van Durpe</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aliveic/\">Emil E</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/emarticor/\">Emilio Martinez</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/manooweb/\">Emmanuel Hesry</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/empatogen/\">empatogen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/enej/\">Enej Bajgorić</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nrqsnchz/\">Enrique S&#225;nchez</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/epiqueras/\">epiqueras</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kebbet/\">Erik</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/etoledom/\">etoledom</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/fabiankaegy/\">Fabian K&#228;gy</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/fabianpimminger/\">Fabian Pimminger</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gaambo/\">Fabian Todt</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/felipeelia/\">Felipe Elia</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/flixos90/\">Felix Arntz</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/felixbaumgaertner/\">felixbaumgaertner</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/femkreations/\">Femy Praseeth</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/fijisunshine/\">fijisunshine</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/florianbrinkmann/\">Florian Brinkmann</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mista-flo/\">Florian TIAR</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/francina/\">Francesca Marano</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bueltge/\">Frank Bueltge</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/frosso1/\">frosso1 (a11n)</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/fullofcaffeine/\">fullofcaffeine</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gab81/\">gab81</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/galbaras/\">Gal Baras</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kafleg/\">Ganga Kafle</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/garrett-eclipse/\">Garrett Hyder</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/garyj/\">Gary Jones</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pento/\">Gary Pendergast</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/geekpress/\">GeekPress</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/soulseekah/\">Gennady Kovshenin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/geoffrey1963/\">Geoffrey</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/revgeorge/\">George Hotelling</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mamaduka/\">George Mamadashvili</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/georgestephanis/\">George Stephanis</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/geriux/\">geriux</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/glendaviesnz/\">glendaviesnz</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/grantmkin/\">Grant M. Kinney</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gziolo/\">Greg Ziółkowski</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gregorlove/\">gRegor Morrill</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/priethor/\">H&#233;ctor Prieto</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hannahmalcolm/\">Hannah Malcolm</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/happiryu/\">happiryu</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hareesh-pillai/\">Hareesh</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hazdiego/\">Haz</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hedgefield/\">hedgefield</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/helen/\">Helen Hou-Sandí</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hermpheus/\">Herm Martini</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/herregroen/\">Herre Groen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/herrvigg/\">herrvigg</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/htmgarcia/\">htmgarcia</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/iandunn/\">Ian Dunn</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ianmjones/\">ianmjones</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/icopydoc/\">icopydoc</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ipstenu/\">Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/isabel_brison/\">Isabel Brison</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dragunoff/\">Ivaylo Draganov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/wphound/\">Ivete Tecedor</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jdgrimes/\">J.D. Grimes</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jacklenox/\">Jack Lenox</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/whyisjake/\">Jake Spurlock</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jamesbonham/\">James Bonham</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jameskoster/\">James Koster</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jnylen0/\">James Nylen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pondermatic/\">James Richards</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jamesros161/\">James Rosado</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jamil95/\">jamil95</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/janak007/\">janak Kaneriya</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/janwoostendorp/\">janw.oostendorp</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jsnjohnston/\">Jason Johnston</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/javiarce/\">Javier Arce</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jaymanpandya/\">Jayman Pandya</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\">Jean-Baptiste Audras</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jffng/\">Jeff Ong</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffpaul/\">Jeff Paul</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffikus/\">Jeffrey Pearce</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jdy68/\">Jenny Dupuy</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremyfelt/\">Jeremy Felt</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeherve/\">Jeremy Herve</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremyyip/\">Jeremy Yip</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremy80/\">jeremy80</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeroenreumkens/\">JeroenReumkens</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeryj/\">jeryj</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jillebehm/\">jillebehm</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jipmoors/\">Jip Moors</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sephsekla/\">Joe Bailey-Roberts</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/joedolson/\">Joe Dolson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/joemcgill/\">Joe McGill</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/joen/\">Joen Asmussen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonkastonka/\">Johan Jonk Stenstr&#246;m</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/goaroundagain/\">Johannes Kinast</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnbillion/\">John Blackbourn</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnny5/\">John Godley</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnjamesjacoby/\">John James Jacoby</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bhwebworks/\">John Sundberg</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jb510/\">Jon Brown</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonsurrell/\">Jon Surrell</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/spacedmonkey/\">Jonny Harris</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonoaldersonwp/\">Jono Alderson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/joostdevalk/\">Joost de Valk</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/koke/\">Jorge Bernal</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorgefilipecosta/\">Jorge Costa</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/joseeyoast/\">Josee Wouters</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">Josepha Haden</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dkampdesign/\">JoshuaDoshua</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/joyously/\">Joy</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jsnajdr/\">jsnajdr</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/juanfra/\">Juan Aldasoro</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jrf/\">Juliette Reinders Folmer</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/juliobox/\">Julio Potier</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/justinahinon/\">Justin Ahinon</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/k3nsai/\">k3nsai</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kaavyaiyer/\">kaavyaiyer</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kevin940726/\">Kai Hao</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/akabarikalpesh/\">Kalpesh Akabari</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kapilpaul/\">Kapil Paul</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vyskoczilova/\">Karolina Vyskocilova</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryelle/\">Kelly Choyce-Dwan</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kellychoffman/\">Kelly Hoffman</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gwwar/\">Kerry Liu</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kishanjasani/\">Kishan Jasani</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ixkaito/\">Kite</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kittmedia/\">KittMedia</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/\">Kjell Reigstad</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/klevyke/\">klevyke</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/knutsp/\">Knut Sparhell</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vdwijngaert/\">Koen Van den Wijngaert</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/obenland/\">Konstantin Obenland</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/xkon/\">Konstantinos Xenos</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/devnel/\">Kyle Nel</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lakrisgubben/\">lakrisgubben</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/notlaura/\">Lara Schenck</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lmurillom/\">Larissa Murillo</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/laxman-prajapati/\">Laxman Prajapati</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lewiscowles/\">LewisCowles</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lifeforceinst/\">lifeforceinst</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/linux4me2/\">linux4me2</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lovor/\">Lovro Hrust</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/displaynone/\">Luis Sacrist&#225;n</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/infolu/\">Luiz Ara&#250;jo</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecarbis/\">Luke Carbis</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/m0ze/\">m0ze</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/maedahbatool/\">Maedah Batool</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/onemaggie/\">Maggie Cabrera</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/travel_girl/\">Maja Benke</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mciampini/\">Marco Ciampini</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/\">Marcus Kazmierczak</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marekhrabe/\">Marek Hrabe</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tyxla/\">Marin Atanasov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/clorith/\">Marius L. J.</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/markjaquith/\">Mark Jaquith</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/markparnell/\">Mark Parnell</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/markoheijnen/\">Marko Heijnen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/m-e-h/\">Marty Helmick</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\">Mary Baum</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mariaojob/\">Mary Job</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marylauc/\">marylauc</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/imath/\">Mathieu Viet</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/matveb/\">Matias Ventura</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mattchowning/\">Matt Chowning</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/matt/\">Matt Mullenweg</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/maxpertici/\">Maxime Pertici</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mblach/\">mblach</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/immeet94/\">Meet Makadia</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\">Meher Bala</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/melchoyce/\">Mel Choyce-Dwan</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meloniq/\">meloniq</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mensmaximus/\">mensmaximus</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mbabker/\">Michael Babker</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tw2113/\">Michael Beckwith</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mcsf/\">Miguel Fonseca</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/simison/\">Mikael Korpela</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikehansenme/\">Mike Hansen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikejolley/\">Mike Jolley</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mike_cowobo/\">Mike Martel</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikeschroder/\">Mike Schroder</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mihdan/\">Mikhail Kobzarev</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dimadin/\">Milan Dinić</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/milana_cap/\">Milana Cap</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkdgs/\">mkdgs</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mmuyskens/\">mmuyskens</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mmxxi/\">mmxxi</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/daddou/\">Mohamed El Amine DADDOU</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mohamedfaragallah/\">Mohammed Faragallah</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/monikarao/\">Monika Rao</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mor10/\">Morten Rand-Hendriksen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mrjoeldean/\">mrjoeldean</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mukesh27/\">Mukesh Panchal</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/munyagu/\">munyagu</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/m_uysl/\">Mustafa Uysal</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mweichert/\">mweichert</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/assassinateur/\">Nadir Seghir</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\">Nalini Thakor</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/naoki0h/\">Naoki Ohashi</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nao/\">Naoko Takano</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nayanchamp7/\">Nazrul Islam Nayan</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dway/\">nderambure</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/krstarica/\">net</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nicegamer7/\">nicegamer7</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/\">Nicholas Garofalo</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/celloexpressions/\">Nick Halsey</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ntsekouras/\">Nik Tsekouras</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ninanmnm/\">ninanmnm</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pianist787/\">Noah Allen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/nvartolomei/\">nvartolomei</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/oguzkocer/\">oguzkocer</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/olafklejnstrupjensen/\">olafklejnstrupjensen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/olgabulat/\">Olga Bulat</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/oglekler/\">Olga Gleckler</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/otshelnik-fm/\">Otshelnik-Fm</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/oxyrealm/\">oxyrealm</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ozh/\">Ozh</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/paaljoachim/\">Paal Joachim Romdahl</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/palmiak/\">palmiak</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/paaggeli/\">Panagiotis Angelidis</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/paragoninitiativeenterprises/\">Paragon Initiative Enterprises</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/\">Pascal Birchler</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/fantasy1125/\">Pascal Knecht</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/patkemper/\">Pat</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/patricklindsay/\">patricklindsay</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbiron/\">Paul Biron</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pabline/\">Paul Bunkham</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/paulschreiber/\">Paul Schreiber</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/paulstonier/\">Paul Stonier</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pschrottky/\">Paul Von Schrottky</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psrpinto/\">Paulo Pinto</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pavelvisualcomposer/\">Pavel I</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mrpauloen/\">Paweł</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/peterwilsoncc/\">Peter Wilson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/walbo/\">Petter Walbø Johnsgård</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/phena109/\">phena109</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/philipmjackson/\">Philip Jackson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/strategio/\">Pierre SYLVESTRE</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/wppinar/\">Pinar</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/boniu91/\">Piotrek Boniu</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mordauk/\">Pippin Williamson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ptahdunbar/\">Pirate Dunbar</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/promz/\">Pramod Jodhani</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/presskopp/\">Presskopp</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/presstoke/\">presstoke</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pwallner/\">pwallner</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/pyronaur/\">pyronaur</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/itsjonq/\">Q</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rachelbaker/\">Rachel Baker</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rafhun/\">rafhun</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rkradadiya/\">Rajesh Radadiya</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ramiy/\">Rami Yushuvaev</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rahmohn/\">Ramon Ahnert</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ramonopoly/\">ramonopoly</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jontyravi/\">Ravi Vaghela</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ravipatel/\">ravipatel</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rellect/\">Refael Iliaguyev</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/renehermi/\">Rene Hermenau</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/retrofox/\">retrofox</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/reynhartono/\">reynhartono</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/youknowriad/\">Riad Benguella</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rianrietveld/\">Rian Rietveld</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rima1889/\">Rima Prajapati</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rinatkhaziev/\">Rinat</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rnaby/\">Rnaby</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/robdxw/\">robdxw</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/noisysocks/\">Robert Anderson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/miqrogroove/\">Robert Chapin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rogertheriault/\">Roger Theriault</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rogerlos/\">rogerlos</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/roo2/\">roo2</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lev0/\">Roy</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/geekstreetwp/\">Russell Aaron</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmccue/\">Ryan McCue</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/welcher/\">Ryan Welcher</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergiomdgomes/\">S&#233;rgio Gomes</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/soean/\">S&#246;ren Wrede</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/stodorovic/\">Sa&#353;a</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sabrinazeidan/\">Sabrina Zeidan</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sahilmepani/\">Sahil Mepani</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/solarissmoke/\">Samir Shah</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/otto42/\">Samuel Wood (Otto)</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sandipmondal/\">Sandip Mondal</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sannevndrmeulen/\">Sanne van der Meulen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sarahricker/\">sarahricker</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sarayourfriend/\">sarayourfriend</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sasagar/\">SASAPIYO</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/satrancali/\">satrancali</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/savicmarko1985/\">savicmarko1985</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gmagicscott/\">Scott Lesovic</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/coffee2code/\">Scott Reilly</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/scottconnerly/\">scottconnerly</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/scruffian/\">scruffian</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sean212/\">Sean Fisher</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/seanchayes/\">Sean Hayes</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sebbb/\">sebbb</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/\">Sergey Biryukov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/yakimun/\">Sergey Yakimov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergioestevao/\">SergioEstevao</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/shaunandrews/\">shaunandrews</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/shital-patel/\">Shital Marakana</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/silb3r/\">silb3r</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/siobhyb/\">Siobhan</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sirstuey/\">SirStuey</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/snapfractalpop/\">snapfractalpop</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/spikeuk1/\">spikeuk1</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/spytzo/\">spytzo</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/stacimc/\">stacimc</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/khromov/\">Stanislav Khromov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/deustron/\">Stefan H&#252;sges</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/stefanjoebstl/\">stefanjoebstl</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryokuhi/\">Stefano Minoia</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hypest/\">Stefanos Togoulidis</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sabernhardt/\">Stephen Bernhardt</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/netweb/\">Stephen Edgar</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dufresnesteven/\">Steve Dufresne</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/stevegrunwell/\">Steve Grunwell</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/stevehenty/\">Steve Henty</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/stevenkword/\">Steven Word</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/subrataemfluence/\">Subrata Sarkar</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sumaiyasiddika/\">Sumaiya Siddika</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sumanm/\">Suman</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sumitsingh/\">Sumit Singh</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/5um17/\">Sumit Singh</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/quadthemes/\">Sunny</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sushmak/\">sushmak</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cybr/\">Sybre Waaijer</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/synchro/\">Synchro</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/szaqal21/\">szaqal21</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tamlyn/\">tamlyn</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/karmatosed/\">Tammie Lister</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tellyworth/\">Tellyworth</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/terriann/\">Terri Ann</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/wildworks/\">Tetsuaki Hamano</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/themes-1/\">them.es</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kraftner/\">Thomas Kr&#228;ftner</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/thomasplevy/\">Thomas Patrick Levy</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/thomas-vitale/\">Thomas Vitale</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tigertech/\">tigertech</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/timothyblynjacobs/\">Timothy Jacobs</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/timotijhof/\">TimoTijhof</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tkama/\">Tkama</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tmatsuur/\">tmatsuur</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tmdk/\">tmdk</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tz-media/\">Tobias Zimpel</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tobiasbg/\">TobiasBg</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tobifjellner/\">tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn Fjellner)</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tjnowell/\">Tom J Nowell</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/skithund/\">Toni Viemer&#246;</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\">Tonya Mork</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/toro_unit/\">Toro_Unit (Hiroshi Urabe)</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/torres126/\">torres126</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zodiac1978/\">Torsten Landsiedel</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/toru/\">Toru Miki</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/travisnorthcutt/\">Travis Northcutt</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/trejder/\">trejder</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desaiuditd/\">Udit Desai</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/grapplerulrich/\">Ulrich</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/utsav72640/\">Utsav tilava</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vcanales/\">Vicente Canales</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vipulc2/\">Vipul Chandel</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vladytimy/\">Vlad T</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/wangql/\">wangql</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webdragon/\">WebDragon</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/wendyjchen/\">Wendy Chen</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/westonruter/\">Weston Ruter</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/earnjam/\">William Earnhardt</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/williampatton/\">williampatton</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/xavivars/\">Xavi Ivars</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tikifez/\">Xristopher Anderton</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/y_kolev/\">Y_Kolev</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/yansern/\">Yan Sern</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/fierevere/\">Yui</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/yuliyan/\">Yuliyan Slavchev</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/yvettesonneveld/\">Yvette Sonneveld</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zackkrida/\">Zack Krida</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zebulan/\">Zebulan Stanphill</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zkancs/\">zkancs</a>, and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sunxiyuan/\">孙锡源</a>.\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to these contributors, many thanks to all of the community volunteers who contribute in the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/\">support forums</a>. They answer questions from people across the world, whether they are using WordPress for the first time, or they’ve been around since the first release all the way back in 2003. These releases are as successful as they are because of their efforts!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, thanks to all the community translators who help make WordPress available in over 200 languages for every release. 80 languages have translated 80% or more WordPress 5.8 and our community translators are hard at work ensuring more languages are on their way. If contributing to WordPress appeals to you, it’s easy to learn more. Check out&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/\">Make WordPress</a>&nbsp;or the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">core development blog</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:\"10976\";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:55:\"WP Briefing: Episode 13: Cherishing WordPress Diversity\";s:7:\"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:77:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/episode-13-cherishing-wordpress-diversity/\";s: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, 19 Jul 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: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=10949\";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:357:\"In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy discusses the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to the fabric of the WordPress project and how we can move from a place of welcoming it to cherishing it. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. 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/2021/07/WP-Briefing-013.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:14890:\"\n<p>In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy discusses the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to the fabric of the WordPress project and how we can move from a place of welcoming it to cherishing it.</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>Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Editor: <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Logo: <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Production: <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>References</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/diversity-speaker-training-workshop/\">Diverse Speaker Training Workshop</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://josepha.blog/2020/12/23/a-wordpress-dinner-party/\">A WordPress Dinner Party</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://josepha.blog/2018/11/06/the-burden-of-proof/\">The Burden of Proof</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://josepha.blog/2021/03/05/leading-at-any-level/\">Leadership At Any Level</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://josepha.blog/2019/03/02/building-a-culture-of-safety/\">Building a Culture of Safety</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://josepha.blog/2020/03/27/leadership-basics-ethics-in-communication/\">Leadership Basics: Ethics in Communication</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-6/\">WordPress 5.6</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bonus resource: <a href=\"https://allienimmons.com/how-to-be-a-wordpress-ally/\">How to Be a WordPress Ally</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-10949\"></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. And before we get started, I have to be honest with you all, this episode and the next one have made me feel really anxious. This one is about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in open source, and especially in WordPress. And the next one is about accessibility in WordPress. And I feel like there&#8217;s just so much to do, and we don&#8217;t do enough, but we do what we can. And still, we will never be done with that work. And if you don&#8217;t know what I mean by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, you can kind of think of it this way. Diversity is bringing in people with different viewpoints and lived experiences. Equity is making sure everyone has what they need to get a fair chance of success, which is different from equality. And Inclusion is making sure that the environment is built to not only tolerate diverse groups but to celebrate them as well. So remember this as you listen to what I have to say here. We are never where we want to be in either of those spaces. But that shouldn&#8217;t stop us from looking at the things we have done to get us in the right direction. All right. Here we go.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:54</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I say a lot that we are a project that serves a majority collection of minority voices. WordPress is global in reach and open source in nature. And you would assume that what allows the software to be used by anyone would also enable it to be built by anyone. After all, your location doesn&#8217;t matter, and who employs you also doesn&#8217;t matter. And your relative social standing certainly shouldn&#8217;t matter. As long as you can communicate with the others contributing to the project, there should be no obstacle to your participation. The mission of the WordPress project is to democratize publishing, right? It&#8217;s to get the ability to have a website tap into passive income on your web presence. I mean, the job is to level the playing field for everyone. However, it&#8217;s my experience that bringing in new voices takes a lot of proactive work on behalf of leaders and contributors. It&#8217;s not enough to say, &#8220;Hey, I&#8217;m having a party,&#8221; you also have to say, &#8220;I&#8217;m having a party, and I&#8217;d like you to be there.&#8221; It&#8217;s not enough to think people will make their own space at this table. You have to make sure that you have table settings for everyone. And even beyond the basics of directing people to you.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:12</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And on toward the next steps, you have to be honest about the fact that open source contribution requires a fair amount of privilege. By privilege, I mean the luxury of extra time or extra funding or just an understanding employer. WordPress supports 41% of the web. I think it&#8217;s 42% of the web right now. But less than 1% of people who use WordPress show up to help maintain it. And that 1% that does show up skews toward people who already have a pretty high level of representation and technology. And so, when you look at who is building it versus who is using it, it doesn&#8217;t always match. And since what we build so frequently reflects who we are, sometimes what we build doesn&#8217;t match the needs of the people who are using what we have.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what has WordPress done to be proactive on the question of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion? There are quite a few unseen things that have gone into this over the years and a few pretty visible things. This is a very long list. And it has a whole lot of just reference material. And so the show notes today will come in handy for people, and there will be just a laundry list of linked resources for everyone.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the first thing that WordPress has done is that we have accepted the burden of proof. I&#8217;m going to share a post about this in the show notes. That means we accept that it&#8217;s not the job of underrepresented folks to figure out if they are welcome. It&#8217;s up to us to make it clear that they are. So, there are three big little things that the community has done over the years. One is that many teams open their text-based meetings with an explanation of what is done in the meeting, who comes to the meetings, where to find help if you&#8217;re lost in the meeting, and for teams that have a specific type of requests that comes into those channels that aren&#8217;t handled in those channels. They also will share where people can go to get those requests taken care of. Many teams have also updated their team handbooks to have good beginner docs, limited use of inside jokes or jargon, and good first bugs. And also, there is a code of conduct in the community declaring that everyone is welcome and clarifies what to do if you see folks being unwelcoming.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:51</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A second big thing that folks in the WordPress community have done is written down what was unwritten. Having things clearly documented unlocks institutional knowledge that you&#8217;d otherwise have to know someone to get. Clarity and process and the structure help anyone engage with your organization, not just the people who have extra time to figure things out. What that looks like in the WordPress project is that many teams have documented their workflows and their working spaces and just their general team norms. Many teams have also started defining what it means to be a team rep and holding open processes to choose those team reps. Many other community leaders and I have written down countless unspoken rules, guidelines, and philosophical underpinnings so that people don&#8217;t have to guess what we&#8217;re doing or why we&#8217;re doing things, or where we want to do them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:46</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the more visible thing that the WordPress project has been doing is that we found ways to invite people in, and they&#8217;re not failsafe; they’re not foolproof, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. The first one is an ongoing, diverse speaker training initiative. And I&#8217;ll include a link to that in the show notes as well. It is run by Jill Binder and a fantastic group of contributors that collaborate with her. And I really have loved watching that particular program grow and flourish and help WordPress make a difference where we absolutely can.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:27</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second thing that was pretty visible about how we invited people in was at the end of 2020, and we had an all-women and nonbinary release squad for our biggest release of the year; WordPress 5.6. I had a group of probably 70 women and nonbinary identifying folx who joined in the process and joined in learning more about the process. Some of them have continued in the project. Others have stepped away for various reasons. But all of them are welcome to return. And I encourage everyone to return to contribution when time and resources make that possible for you.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:09</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then the third thing that we&#8217;ve done, which I have talked about a lot, is the revival of the testing and triage practices. That has been work that&#8217;s been ongoing for a number of years. And it happens across multiple teams. It is not always immediately clear to people why the testing work. And the triage work is identifiable for me as a way to invite people into this process. And so I&#8217;ll be briefly clear about it right now. So testing as a practice brings in the users that otherwise don&#8217;t have a lot of spare time and that extra privilege to like, figure out what&#8217;s going on with WordPress, and contribute their own fixes to problems. They can give back to this project by being co-developers with us, co-creators with our entire process of making WordPress real and usable for the largest number of people that we can because we now support 42% of the web. And then, the triage practice invites in a diverse voice of people. Because you don&#8217;t necessarily always need to know everything about a project to help with triage. And when you&#8217;re helping with triage, you get active learning through participating in the process. But you also get passive learning from the people who already know huge amounts about the project and the process and everything that goes into it. And so it&#8217;s a low key low stress way to get your feet wet and start building that knowledge that sometimes is hard to come by unless you are actively working in it. So the testing practices, the triage practices, I really to the core of my being believe that those are active and ongoing ways for us to invite people who otherwise wouldn&#8217;t have a chance to get their voices heard in an open source project. And y&#8217;all, as I said at the start, y’all, there&#8217;s nothing about this list that I just shared, which makes me feel like our work on this is done. Just like any muscle, you don&#8217;t fight to peak fitness, and then hit the big stop button on time and say, &#8220;Now, I never have to work out again.&#8221; If we did, the world would be a very different place probably. But it does then lead us to the next steps for fostering a community culture that&#8217;s as broad as the people who use this software. If you believe in leadership at any level, as I do, there are a ton of things that you can do right now. But I&#8217;ll boil them down into three big chunks of things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>10:54</p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, check your community area, or whatever community you want to apply this to, for things that need a little more proactive work. I will share a post called<em> Building A Culture of Safety</em> that will take you through a list of good first steps. And it is not as hard as it looks. When you say build a culture of safety, there are many really clear-cut minor changes that you can ask people to make and, in like, four or five different areas that can help your community be more welcoming and more open.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>11:30</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second thing that you can do is know that small changes add up over time and commit to making those changes where you can. If you are elite at any level, you know that supporting people and processes is the responsibility of everyone in the group. And if you can make your own autonomous decisions and commit to making small changes that make a big difference over time, you will be part of that solution. And that is not specific to any one group that we have in our communities. You can be an ally for anyone, whether they look like you, whether they have your same experiences, or not. And sometimes, it&#8217;s as easy as just holding space for the people who haven&#8217;t had a chance to talk yet. And on the subject of holding space and the way that we communicate.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>12:22</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The third thing that I think is incredibly important is that you can take on as a foundational personal practice the concept of ethical communication. I&#8217;ll share a post about that as well in the show notes, but the core of it is that you have to know that what you say and don&#8217;t say what you do and don&#8217;t do has an impact on others and embrace that responsibility. All right, so you made it all the way through, and I am so proud of you. I&#8217;m sure you have questions about this. And I encourage you to share those. You can email them to me at wp briefing@wordpress.org.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>13:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This brings us to our small list of big things. I&#8217;ve got two things for you today. First and foremost, WordPress 5.8 gets released tomorrow. It&#8217;s a big release, and lots of people have been working on it. So get your update processes ready and keep an eye on wordpress.org/news for the announcement post. Second, and still pretty important, team reps have been working on their quarterly check-ins so that all other teams can get an idea of what&#8217;s happening around the WordPress office. Keep an eye out for that post on make.wordpress.org/updates. And that is your smallest of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. I&#8217;m your host Joseph Hayden 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:\"10949\";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: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:33:\"WordPress 5.8 Release Candidate 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:69:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/wordpress-5-8-release-candidate-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:\"Wed, 14 Jul 2021 01:09:26 +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: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:\"5.8\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10933\";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:303:\"The third release candidate for WordPress 5.8 is now available! 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If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">file one on WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">a list of known bugs</a>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong><em>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>chanthaboune</a>, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a> for peer-reviewing!</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><em>Code is poetry<br>Jazz is improvisation<br>Both are forms of art<br><br></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:\"10933\";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: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:33:\"WordPress 5.8 Release Candidate 2\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:69:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/wordpress-5-8-release-candidate-2/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 07 Jul 2021 01:12:57 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s: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:\"5.8\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10912\";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:305:\"The second release candidate for WordPress 5.8 is now available! 🎉 WordPress 5.8 is slated for release on July 20, 2021, and we need your help to get there—if you have not tried 5.8 yet, now is the time! 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If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">file one on WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">a list of known bugs</a>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong><em>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecarbis/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>lukecarbis</a> for the haiku, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a> and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a> for peer reviewing!</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><em>Five-eight in two weeks<br>So test your plugins and themes<br>Update your readme</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:\"10912\";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: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:49:\"WP Briefing: Episode 12: WordPress – In Person!\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:66:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/episode-12-wordpress-in-person/\";s: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, 05 Jul 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: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=10889\";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:384:\"In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy talks about WordPress &#8211; In Person! 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The WordPress events that provide the dark matter of connection that helps sustain the open source project.</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>Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Editor:<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\"> Dustin Hartzler</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Logo:<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\"> Beatriz Fialho</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Production:<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/\"> </a><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>References</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons\">The tragedy of the commons</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-release-candidate/\">WordPress 5.8 Release Candidate announcement </a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Transcript </h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-10889\"></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. Here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today we&#8217;re talking about one of my favorite parts of the project &#8211; WordPress events. The in-person component of the project is the dark matter that helps us build resilience and thrive as a group. A lot of what I&#8217;m going to share applies to every WordPress event, whether it&#8217;s a meetup or workshop, a contributor day, any other sort of format. But I&#8217;ll be focused on WordCamps. It&#8217;s been a while since we had any in-person WordCamps. Our last two were WordCamp Malaga in Spain and WordCamp Greenville in the US. But that hasn&#8217;t stopped anyone from gathering people together online. Which honestly makes a lot of sense for WordPress. Because there are many reasons we gather, the main three reasons are connecting, inspiring, and contributing. It&#8217;s true. It says so right in our documentation, &#8220;paper rustling.&#8221; All WordPress events should connect WordPress users, inspire people to do more with WordPress, and contribute to the WordPress project. As an aside, I&#8217;ll tell you that some groups also get to collaborate and educate in there, but connect, inspire, contribute. Those are the big three. And that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m talking about today. And if you subscribe to this podcast for the back office deep cuts, I&#8217;ll also have a few of those for you. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:57</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, so first up, connect. WordCamps are generally annual-ish gatherings organized by local WordPress meetup groups. They&#8217;re not meant to be big or fancy. The definition of the minimum viable product for WordCamp is 50 people gathered all day to talk about WordPress. They are intentionally affordable to allow people from all walks of life to attend, meet, share and learn. This is made possible by donations and sponsorships from local businesses and larger businesses in the WordPress ecosystem. And this helps us get people connected to those in their community that works with or are sustained by WordPress. That connection feeds into the overall health of the global WordPress project. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>02:45</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next up is inspire. WordCamps do not discriminate. They are open to any WordPress users, developers, designers, or other enthusiasts, regardless of their level of experience. And because of this, sessions generally span a variety of formats. So presentations or live demos to workshops or panels, any other format you can think of. But that also means that there are a variety of skill levels represented. There&#8217;s always content about how to use WordPress. That’s a given. But you can also count on content that inspires people to do more with their own dreams and aspirations. When I was still organizing WordCamps, my favorite thing was seeing people who came back year after year, putting into practice something that they learned the year before. It is that <em>Choose Your Own Adventure</em> aspect to WordCamps that lets people see the edge of their ideas and then expand that just a little bit further. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:42</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, contribute. WordCamps often have a contribution component to them. Sometimes it&#8217;s just a talk telling you how you can get more involved in the WordPress project. But sometimes, it&#8217;s a whole contributor day. And those range in size from single focus, like everyone, will show up and learn how to review a theme or a focus from every team that we have, like at the big flagship events where we gather hundreds of people into a room just to contribute to WordPress and all of the teams that go with it. Getting started with contributing can be daunting, but it is also essential to avoid something called the Tragedy of the Commons, an economic concept. So I&#8217;ll share a link to that in the show notes below. But the most important thing, the most important thing to remember, is that WordPress is open source. And we asked people to help us keep this great tool running by giving back a little bit of their time if they have gotten any benefit from the WordPress project or CMS over the course of their careers.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that&#8217;s it. The three big things you can get from a WordCamp. I know that I can&#8217;t wait to get back to them myself because while a lot of these things can still happen online and do, it&#8217;s really hard to replace the dark matter of in-person connections for open source projects. And since we&#8217;re talking dark matter anyway, let&#8217;s dig into it a little.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:01</p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the start of the section, I mentioned that WordCamps are local, locally organized, and people are encouraged to attend locally. But I am part of a group that ends up traveling to a lot of WordCamps. If you don&#8217;t know about the unseen work of WordPress, this raises eyebrows. So here is some clarification around the back office work that some of these traveling WordCampers often do. When I listed these out, there were about 20 different tasks, 20 different jobs, which was, frankly, a bit overwhelming when I listed them that way. So I&#8217;ve grouped them into kind of two genres, each with a group of current versus future types of work. So my two big buckets, big picture stuff, and then community stewardship.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:50</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The big picture stuff, our first big genre here, when you&#8217;re looking at current topics, current issues kind of information, when we&#8217;re working on big picture stuff, you get the clarification of the mission or vision of WordPress, the sharing of open source methods or processes that we use in the WordPress project, and also sometimes those goal-setting conversations that you have to have both because we have a bunch of teams and team reps, that have a lot of really great ideas about what can be done in their teams to help WordPress succeed. But then also, because when you are working, when you&#8217;re contributing to a single team in the project, it can sometimes be hard to know how your work relates to the overall goals and visions of WordPress. And so that&#8217;s part of the work that gets done that I do there.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:43</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And when you&#8217;re looking at future topics, future issues, the second part of this genre, that stuff like starting conversations or discussions around what the future holds for WordPress, and that&#8217;s the project as well as the technology or hearing from people about big things coming up for them. And any content that can support it, anything that I can provide to support those big things. It&#8217;s also a good time for me and others to identify trends based on what I see in presentations or what I hear from people at social functions. Really, it&#8217;s just a huge opportunity for information gathering to make sure that I know what everyone else in the project is trying to do and if they understand what the project is trying to do.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:32</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then the second big genre of things that happen in that dark matter kind of work at WordCamps is what I call community stewardship—so taking care of the community itself for the project itself. And a lot of that work is actually incident response kind of work. So conflict resolution, mediation often happens at in-person events, but also uncovering the shared foundations, the shared understanding for upcoming changes. So a lot of really, in the weeds kind of change management work. And for me, it&#8217;s certainly doing my best as a cultural liaison when I do see that there has been some miscommunication or gathering context for the latest disagreement that people are having with me so that I can clarify anything that was misunderstood from what I said. And also a little bit of policy clarification, just explaining why we do things and the way we do them. So for community stewardship, that&#8217;s kind of the current stuff that we look at. And that I do when I&#8217;m traveling for WordCamps. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:36</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then for the future tasks that we do with community stewardship in the project, that stuff like training, and that&#8217;s training team reps, community deputies, or new contributors like it&#8217;s, it&#8217;s not really one type of training, necessarily. But then also, all of the checking in with our organizers, team reps, volunteers, sponsors, everyone like that, to make sure that what we have in the project and what&#8217;s happening in the project, the tools that we have, the experience that contributors have while they are working here, and WordPress is good, and is what they need. We&#8217;ve got a lot of tools to get things done in WordPress, and we can always make them better. And so checking in with people to kind of see how those processes are, how the tools are making sure that I have an idea of where our holes are and what needs to be patched, and how we can patch them in the long run. So that&#8217;s all of the future planning kind of work and topic stuff, just you know, making sure that WordPress has what it needs to survive long into the future and long after I&#8217;m doing anything with it, and long after you&#8217;re doing anything with it either.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>09:56</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, lots and lots of unseen work being done at our in-person events. But folks who keep a keen eye on the online global work of WordPress will probably recognize that a lot of that work is also done routinely on make.wordpress.org and within the making WordPress Slack. There’s just, I don&#8217;t know, there&#8217;s just something different about receiving information from a human being with a face rather than an avatar with a photo. So I guess at the end of the day, that means the dark matter that keeps open source together is really an issue of communication. And you&#8217;ll get no arguments for me there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>10:44</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That brings us now to our small list of big things. And there&#8217;s really just one big thing. And that&#8217;s WordPress 5.8. We are about two weeks away from this big release; the community has been working tirelessly on it. And it&#8217;s shaping up to be one of the most tested releases that we&#8217;ve had in a long time. Myself, I&#8217;m grateful to see so much activity before the release. Since 5.8 and 5.9 releases represent such monumental shifts in our software, I&#8217;m incredibly grateful to see so much activity prior to the release, especially in the beta period. We&#8217;ve been testing everything for it feels like six or eight months, and we&#8217;re really starting to see the positive benefits of that. And I think that we, the WordPress community, should be really proud of everything that we&#8217;re going to ship in 2021. Okay, so that was less of a small list of big things and really like one big thing with a generous garnish of encouragement, but you deserve it. So 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:\"10889\";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: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:33:\"The Month in WordPress: June 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/2021/07/the-month-in-wordpress-june-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:\"Fri, 02 Jul 2021 15:11:24 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:1:{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:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10896\";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:\"Once you step into contribution time, your main concern is the users of WordPress, or new contributors, or the health of the WordPress ecosystem as a whole or the WordPress project. So you get all this subject matter expertise from competitive forces, collaborating in a very “us versus the problem” way. And when you do [&#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:11608:\"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Once you step into contribution time, your main concern is the users of WordPress, or new contributors, or the health of the WordPress ecosystem as a whole or the WordPress project. So you get all this subject matter expertise from competitive forces, collaborating in a very “us versus the problem” way. And when you do that, you’re always going to find a great solution.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In the “<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/episode-11-wordcamp-europe-2021-in-review/#more-10837\">WordCamp Europe 2021 in Review</a>” episode of the WP Briefing podcast, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">Josepha Haden</a> talks about the importance of collaboration, which is vital in building WordPress. This edition of The Month in WordPress covers exciting updates that exemplify this philosophy.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2>Updates on WordPress 5.8</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Get excited, folks! The beta versions and the first release candidate of WordPress 5.8 are out. <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-1/\">Beta 1</a> came out on June 9, followed by <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-2/\">Beta 2</a> on June 15, <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-3/\">Beta 3</a> on June 23, and <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-4/\">Beta 4</a> on June 25. The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-release-candidate/\">first release candidate</a> of WordPress 5.8 was published on June 30. You can test the beta versions and the release candidates by <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/download/releases/#betas\">downloading them from WordPress.org</a> or by using the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin. WordPress 5.8 <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-8/\">will be out by July 20, 2021</a>, and is also <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/06/28/wordpress-5-8-ready-to-be-translated/\">ready to be translated</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to contribute to WordPress core? Check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/\">Core Contributor Handbook</a>. Don’t forget to join the WordPress <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW\">#core</a> channel in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a> and follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Core Team blog</a>. The Core Team hosts weekly chats on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=5&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\">5 AM</a> and <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\">8 PM</a> UTC. Help us promote WordPress 5.8 by <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/06/18/meetup-group-resources-talking-points-for-wordpress-5-8/\">organizing meetups about the release</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/06/30/help-produce-social-media-materials-for-5-8-release/\">producing social media marketing materials for 5.8</a>, or <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/06/30/help-test-wordpress-5-8s-fse-features/\">testing the release</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Gutenberg versions 10.8 and 10.9 are out</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We said hello to Gutenberg <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/10/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-8-9-june/\">version 10.8</a> and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/24/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-9-23-june/\">version 10.9</a> this month. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/10/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-8-9-june/\">Version 10.8</a> adds rich URL previews, enhancements to the list view, and an updated block manager. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/24/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-9-23-june/\">Version 10.9</a> offers several performance enhancements, along with more block design tools and template editor enhancements.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to get involved in building Gutenberg? Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/\">Gutenberg on GitHub</a>, and join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7\">#core-editor</a> channel in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. The “<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/04/whats-next-in-gutenberg-june-2021/\">What’s next in Gutenberg</a>” post offers more details on the latest updates.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>WordCamp Europe 2021 concludes</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the biggest and most exciting WordPress events, <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Europe 2021</a>, was held from June 7-9, 2021. A team of 40 members organized the event, which had 3200+ registrations, 42 speakers, and 43 sponsors. What a success! You will find more details <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/a-recap-on-wceu-2021/\">in the event recap</a>. One highlight was a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/gutenberg-highlights/\">Gutenberg demo</a> hosted by <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/matveb/\">Matías Ventura</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/matt/\">Matt Mullenweg</a>. You can <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaYQGYDpXpU4A17kxN-AgJQ/featured\">watch the event recording on the WordCamp Europe YouTube channel</a>, and videos <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/event/wordcamp-europe-2021/\">are now available on WordPress.tv</a> as well. The team has announced <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Europe 2022</a>, which is being planned as an in-person event in Porto, Portugal. Want to be a part of the 2022 WCEU organizing team? Their <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-organisers/\">call for organizers is now open</a>. Apply now!</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Full Site Editing updates</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Don’t miss the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/06/24/call-for-testing-thrive-with-theme-json/\">latest Full Site Editing (FSE) Outreach program testing call: &#8220;Thrive with theme.json&#8221;</a>, which is aimed at a developer-centric audience. The deadline is July 14. Also don’t miss a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/06/24/call-for-testing-thrive-with-theme-json/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/06/24/call-for-testing-thrive-with-theme-json/\">hallway hangout on testing theme.json on July 7 at 5 PM UTC</a>. The team has published a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/06/24/fse-program-polished-portfolios-summary/\">recap of the Published Portfolios testing call</a>, which shares some interesting results.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>BuddyPress 8.0 is out!</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first major BuddyPress release of 2021, <a href=\"https://buddypress.org/2021/06/buddypress-8-0-0-alfano/\">version 8.0</a> “Alfano,” came out on June 6. The short-cycle release offers features such as the ability to recruit new members, an improved registration experience, and profile field types. Download it from the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/\">WordPress.org plugin directory</a> or check it out from its <a href=\"https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/branches/8.0\">Subversion repository.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2>Further reading</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://japan.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Japan 2021</a> was held from June 20- 26. The weeklong event, which had two session days followed by five contributor days, sold 1300+ tickets, with 45 speakers and 23 sponsors. Catch the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/wordcampjapan\">event recording on YouTube</a>!</li><li>Josepha Haden <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/06/03/announcing-make-wordpress-org-project/\">announced</a> a new Make site — <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/project\">make.wordpress.org/project</a> — for project-wide announcements, which will no longer be posted to Make/Updates. Check out the latest post on that site on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/project/2021/06/17/the-metrics-of-contributions/\">the metrics of contributions</a>.</li><li>The Community Team announced that <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/07/01/in-person-meetup-events-for-vaccinated-community-members/\">in-person meetups can be organized for fully vaccinated people</a>, in places where vaccines are freely available.</li><li>The Core Team added<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/21/bundled-themes-changes-in-wordpress-5-8/\"> block patterns and improvements</a> to all legacy default themes. The team also shared a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/22/extending-the-site-health-interface-in-wordpress-5-8/\">feature request</a> that will allow developers to modify and extend the Site Health feature in Core.</li><li>The Design Team shared an update on the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/06/23/update-initial-patterns-for-the-patterns-directory/\">block pattern directory</a>; the team is continuing to review suggestions and has offered some guidelines in this post.</li><li>The Design Team is also <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/a-new-design-is-coming-to-wordpress-news/\">working on redesigning this blog</a> (wordpress.org/news). Catch a sneak peek of the blog&#8217;s new look <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/06/03/redesign-of-wordpress-org-news/\">in this Make/Design blog post</a>.</li><li>The Accessibility Team shared the <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/coding-standards/wordpress-coding-standards/accessibility/\">updated WordPress Accessibility coding standards</a>.</li><li>The Polyglots Team proposed a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/06/03/proposal-month-long-translation-day-2021-celebration/\">monthlong translation day celebration in September</a>.</li><li><span style=\"color: initial;, sans-serif\">The Support Team </span><a style=\", sans-serif\" href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/06/new-irc-server-for-support/\">moved their IRC chat server from Freenode to Libera</a><span style=\"color: initial;, sans-serif\">.</span></li><li>The Documentation Team is<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2021/06/06/writing-documentation-for-wordpress-release/\"> working hard on updating our docs</a> for WordPress 5.8.&nbsp;</li><li>The Themes Team has decided to <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2021/06/06/writing-documentation-for-wordpress-release/\">automatically set theme updates live for old themes</a> instead of routing them through the review queue.</li><li>The <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/Requests\">WordPress Requests library</a> has a new release: <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/Requests/releases/tag/v1.8.1\">version 1.8.1</a>.&nbsp;</li><li><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ujwal_Thapa\">Ujwal Thapa</a> &#8211; co-founder of the Nepal WordPress community <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/ujwal-thapa-co-founder-of-the-wordpress-nepal-community-passes-away\">passed away due to COVID-19</a>. Our community deeply mourns his loss and is thankful for his contributions.</li><li>The latest edition of “<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/category/heropress/\">People of WordPress</a>” features <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/people-of-wordpress-tijana-andrejic/\">Tijana Andrejic from Serbia.</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Have a story that we should include in the next “Month in WordPress” post? Please </em><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/\"><em>submit it using this form</em></a><em>.&nbsp;</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:\"10896\";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: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:31:\"WordPress 5.8 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:67:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 30 Jun 2021 03:47:48 +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: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:\"5.8\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10873\";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:364:\"The first release candidate for WordPress 5.8 is now available! 🎉 Please join us in celebrating this very important milestone in the community&#8217;s progress towards the final release of WordPress 5.8! “Release Candidate” means the new version is ready for release, but with thousands of plugins and themes and differences in how the millions of [&#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:\"Jeffrey Paul\";s: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:4776:\"\n<p>The first release candidate for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-8/\">WordPress 5.8</a> is now available! <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f389.png\" alt=\"🎉\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please join us in celebrating this very important milestone in the community&#8217;s progress towards the final release of WordPress 5.8!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Release Candidate” means the new version is ready for release, but with thousands of plugins and themes and differences in how the millions of people use WordPress, it is possible something was missed.  WordPress 5.8 is slated for release&nbsp;on&nbsp;<strong>July 20, 2021</strong>, but <em>your</em>&nbsp;help is needed to get there—if you have not tried 5.8 yet,&nbsp;<strong>now is the time</strong>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.8 release candidate in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Install and activate the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\">WordPress Beta Tester plugin</a> (select the <code>Bleeding edge</code> channel and then <code>Beta/RC Only</code> stream)</li><li>Directly download the release candidate version <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.8-RC1.zip\">(zip)</a></li><li>Using WP-CLI to test: <code>wp core update --version=5.8-RC1</code></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the&nbsp;Beta releases and gave feedback.  Testing for bugs is a critical part of polishing every release and a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>What is in WordPress 5.8?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The second release of 2021 continues to progress on the block editor towards the promised future of full site editing with these updates:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Manage Widgets with Blocks</li><li>Display Posts with New Blocks and Patterns</li><li>Edit Post Templates</li><li>Overview of the Page Structure</li><li>Suggested Patterns for Blocks</li><li>Style and Colorize Images</li><li><code>theme.json</code></li><li>Dropping support for IE11</li><li>Adding support for WebP</li><li>Adding Additional Block Supports</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/05/27/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-7-26-may/\">Version 10.7</a> of the Gutenberg plugin</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.8 also has lots of refinements to enhance the developer experience.  To learn more, subscribe to the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> and pay special attention to the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-8+dev-notes/\">developer notes tag</a> for updates on those and other changes that could affect your products.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Plugin and Theme Developers</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Please test your plugins and themes against WordPress 5.8 and update the&nbsp;<em>Tested up to</em>&nbsp;version in the <code>readme</code> file to 5.8.  If you find compatibility problems, please be sure to post to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">support forums</a>,&nbsp;so those can be figured out before the final release.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress 5.8 Field Guide, due to be published very shortly, will give you a deeper dive into the major changes.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>How to Help</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you speak a language other than English? &nbsp;<a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev\">Help us translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a>&nbsp; This release also marks the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze\">hard string freeze</a>&nbsp;point of the 5.8 release schedule.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>If you think you have found a bug</strong>, you can post to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta\">Alpha/Beta area</a>&nbsp;in the support forums. We would love to hear from you!  If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">file one on WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">a list of known bugs</a>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong><em>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbiron/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>pbiron</a> for copy suggestions and final review.</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><em>We are almost there,<br>WordPress 5.8 comes next month.<br>We need your help: test!</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:\"10873\";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: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:20:\"WordPress 5.8 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/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-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:\"Fri, 25 Jun 2021 17:14:06 +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: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:\"5.8\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10855\";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:331:\"WordPress 5.8 Beta 4 is now available for testing! 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Consider setting up a test site to play with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.8 Beta 4 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Install/activate the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (select the&nbsp;<code>Bleeding edge</code>&nbsp;channel and the&nbsp;<code>Beta/RC Only</code> stream).</li><li>Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.8-beta4.zip\">zip</a>).</li><li>Using WP-CLI to test: <code>wp core update --version=5.8-beta4</code></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release is July 20, 2021. That’s less than <strong>four weeks away</strong>, so we need your help to make sure the final release is as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-3/\" data-type=\"post\">Beta 3</a>, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=06%2F24%2F2021..06%2F26%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">18</a> bugs have been fixed. Most tickets focused on polishing existing default themes, fixing bugs in the new block Widget screen, and squashing Editor bugs collected during beta.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-8+dev-notes/\">5.8-related developer notes</a> in the coming weeks, which will break down these and other changes in greater detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=..06%2F25%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">254 tickets in WordPress 5.8</a>, including <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;changetime=..06%2F25%2F2021&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">91 new features and enhancements</a>, and more bug fixes are on the way.</p>\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 a vital part of polishing the release during the beta stage and a great way to contribute. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/2728.png\" alt=\"✨\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /></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. We would love to hear from you! 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><em>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>desrosj</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/clorith/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>clorith</a> for reviews and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>chanthaboune</a> for final edits!</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><em>Releasing software<br>Is complex when open source<br>Yet WordPressers do</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:\"10855\";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: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 5.8 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/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-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:\"Wed, 23 Jun 2021 02:36:26 +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: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=10843\";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:331:\"WordPress 5.8 Beta 3 is now available for testing! This software is still in development,&#160;so it is not recommended to run this version on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with it. You can test the WordPress 5.8 Beta 3 in three ways: Install/activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select [&#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:5777:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.8 Beta 3 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software is still in development,</strong>&nbsp;so it is not recommended to run this version on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.8 Beta 3 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Install/activate the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (select the&nbsp;<code>Bleeding edge</code>&nbsp;channel and the&nbsp;<code>Beta/RC Only</code> stream).</li><li>Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.8-beta3.zip\">zip</a>).</li><li>Using WP-CLI to test: <code>wp core update --version=5.8-beta3</code></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release is July 20, 2021. That’s just <strong>four weeks away</strong>, so we need your help to make the final release is as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-2/\" data-type=\"post\">Beta 2</a>, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=06%2F16%2F2021..06%2F23%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">38</a> bugs have been fixed. Here is a summary of some of the included changes:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Block Editor: Move caching to endpoint for unique responses. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53435\">#53435</a>)</li><li>Bundled Themes: Improve display of blocks in widget areas. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53422\">#53422</a>)</li><li>Coding Standards: Bring some consistency to HTML formatting in <code>wp-admin/comment.php</code>. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52627\">#52627</a>)</li><li>Editor: Include Cover block in the list of block types registered using metadata files. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53440\">#53440</a>)</li><li>Editor: Include Cover block in the list of block types registered using metadata files. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53440\">#53440</a>)</li><li>Media: Add new functions to return the previous/next attachment links. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/45708\">#45708</a>)</li><li>Media: Improve upload page media item layout on smaller screens. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51754\">#51754</a>)</li><li>Media: Update total attachment count when media added or removed. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53171\">#53171</a>)</li><li>REST API: Decode single and double quote entities in widget names and descriptions. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53407\">#53407</a>)</li><li>Twenty Nineteen: Update margins on full- and wide-aligned blocks in the editor. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53428\">#53428</a>)</li><li>Widgets: Add editor styles to the widgets block editor. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53344\">#53344</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-8+dev-notes/\">5.8-related developer notes</a> in the coming weeks, which will break down these and other changes in greater detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=..06%2F23%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">254 tickets in WordPress 5.8</a>, including <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;changetime=..06%2F23%2F2021&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">91 new features and enhancements</a>, and more bug fixes are on the way.</p>\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 a vital part of polishing the release during the beta stage and a great way to contribute. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/2728.png\" alt=\"✨\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /></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. We would love to hear from you! 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><em>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffpaul/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>jeffpaul</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>desrosj</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbiron/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>pbiron</a> for reviews and final edits!</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><em>Esperanza first.<br>Want to know the next jazzer?<br>Then please test 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:\"10843\";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: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:55:\"WP Briefing: Episode 11: WordCamp Europe 2021 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:77:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/episode-11-wordcamp-europe-2021-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 21 Jun 2021 12:33:22 +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: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=10837\";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:364:\"In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy does a mini deep dive into WordCamp Europe 2021, specifically the conversation between the project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg, and Brian Krogsgard formerly of PostStatus. Tune in to hear her take and for this episode’s small list of big things. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them [&#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/2021/06/WP-Briefing-011.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:10500:\"\n<p>In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy does a mini deep dive into WordCamp Europe 2021, specifically the conversation between the project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg, and Brian Krogsgard formerly of PostStatus. Tune in to hear her take and for this episode’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>Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Editor:<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\"> Dustin Hartzler</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Logo:<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\"> Beatriz Fialho</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Production:<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/\"> </a><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>References </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/gutenberg-highlights/\">Gutenberg Highlights&nbsp;</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-IvKy3322k&amp;t=12428s\">Matt Mullenweg in conversation with Brian Krogsgard&nbsp;</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-8/\">5.8 Development Cycle</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://japan.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Japan</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/a-recap-on-wceu-2021/\">A recap on WCEU 2021</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-10837\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:10</strong></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 insights 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 00:40</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>A couple of weeks ago, we hosted WordCamp Europe and had the double pleasure of a demo that showed us a bit about the future of WordPress and an interview that looked back while also looking a bit forward. If you haven&#8217;t seen the demo, it was beautiful. And I&#8217;ve included a link to it in the show notes. And if you haven&#8217;t heard the interview, there were a few specific moments that I&#8217;d like to take the time to delve into a little more. Brian Krogsgard, in his conversation with Matt Mullenweg, brought up three really interesting points. I mean, he brought up a lot of interesting points, but there were three that I would particularly like to look into today. The first was about balance. The second was about cohesion. And the third was about those we leave behind.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy 01:24</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>So first is this question of balance. Brian brought this up in the context of the overall economic health of the WordPress ecosystem. And in that particular moment, he talked about companies that are coming together, companies that are merging. And in Matt&#8217;s answer, the part that I found the most interesting was when he said, &#8220;the point at which there is the most commercial opportunity is also the point at which there is the most opportunity for short-termism. He went on to talk about the importance of long-term thinking and collective thinking about what makes us, and us here means probably the WordPress project, more vibrant and vital in 10 or 20 or 30 years. One of the things that he specifically called out in that answer was the responsibility of larger companies in the ecosystem. For instance, like Automattic, to commit fully to giving back, there are many ways now that companies can give back to WordPress so that we all replenish the Commons. They can pay for volunteer contributors&#8217; time; they can create and sponsor entire teams through the Five for the Future program. They can contribute time through our outreach program. And they can even contribute to WordPress&#8217;s ability to own our own voice by engaging their audience&#8217;s awareness of what&#8217;s next in WordPress, or whatever. And I know this balance, this particular balance of paid contributors or sponsored contributors, compared to our volunteer contributors or self-sponsored contributors; I know that this balance is one that people keep an eagle eye on. I am consistently on a tight rope to appropriately balanced those voices. But as with so many things where balance is key, keeping an eye on the middle or the long-distance can really help us get it right.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy 03:23</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second question was one of cohesion and specifically cohesion over the competition. Brian asked how, if people feel disadvantaged, you can foster a feeling of cohesion rather than competition? And Matt&#8217;s first answer was that competition is great. Specifically, he said that competition is great as long as you consider where your collaboration fits into the mission. And he also spent some time exploring how competitors in the ecosystem can still work from a community-first mindset. I personally cannot agree enough about some of the benefits of collaboration alongside your competitors. I remind sponsored contributors from time to time, and I think it&#8217;s true for any contributor that you are an employee of your company first and a contributor to WordPress second. However, once you step into contribution time, your main concern is the users of WordPress, or new contributors, or the health of the WordPress ecosystem as a whole or the WordPress project. So you get all this subject matter expertise from competitive forces, collaborating in a very us versus the problem way. And when you do that, you&#8217;re always going to find a great solution. It may not be as fast as you want it to build things out in the open in public. And so sometimes we get it wrong and have to come back and fix it but still, given time, we&#8217;re going to come out with the best solution because we have so many skilled people working on this.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy 05:01</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then the third question that I wanted to really touch on is the question of those we leave behind. Brian asked Matt if he thought mid-sized agencies and mid-sized consultants were being squeezed out with the block editor. Matt&#8217;s high-level answer was no, and I tend to agree with him. It&#8217;s not all mid-sized anything any more than it&#8217;s all small-sized anything. His answer continued to look at what stands to change for users with the block editor and who really can stand to benefit. It made me think back to my WordPress 5.0 listening tour. We launched WordPress 5.0, which was, in case anyone forgets, the first release with the block editor in it. I took a six-month-long tour to anywhere that WordPressers were so I could hear their main worries, what Brian is saying in there, and what Matt is saying to really came up all the time in those conversations. And basically, it was that this update takes all the power away from people who are building websites. And in these conversations, and Matt and Brian&#8217;s conversation, it was really focused on our freelancers and consultants. But at the same time, all of them heard that this update gives power back to all of the people who could build websites.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy 06:28</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>I could not shake the feeling at the time. And honestly, I can&#8217;t shake it now that no high-end consultants, or freelancers, or any other developer or site creator sit around just longing for maintenance work. After six months of talking to people, I didn&#8217;t hear anyone say, &#8220;you know, I just love making the same author card over and over and over.&#8221; Or, &#8220;updated the footer every week, this month. And that&#8217;s why I got into this business.&#8221; And more than the feeling that there just wasn&#8217;t anyone who just loved maintenance, I got a feeling that there were real problems that needed to be solved for these clients and that they wanted to solve them. And that they also would gladly trade updating footers for the much more interesting work of creating modern and stylish business hubs based on WordPress for the clients who trust them so much. All of that, I guess, is to say that, yes, the block editor does give power back to our clients again, but not at the expense of those who have to build the sites in the first place. I think it stands to restore everyone&#8217;s sense of agency more than we truly realize. So that&#8217;s my deep dive on WordCamp Europe; I included links to the demo and the talk below, just in case you haven&#8217;t seen them yet. And you want to get a little bit of insight into the full context of the conversations that I just did a bit of a deep dive into.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy 08:15</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now it&#8217;s time for our smallest of big things. All right, I have three things for you today. Number one, tomorrow, we package WordPress 5.8 beta three. If you&#8217;ve never had a chance to stop by the core channel in slack for the past packaging process, I really encourage you to stop by; we call them release parties. It&#8217;s a bunch of people who stand around and help get it done. So you can also see how it gets done. And if you&#8217;re feeling brave, you can even try your hand at testing out one of the packages as soon as it&#8217;s ready. The second thing is that a week from tomorrow, we reach our first release candidate milestone. So if you have meant to submit any bugs or patches or if you&#8217;ve been procrastinating on documentation, or dev notes, right now is the time so that we can have a chance to get everything into the release by the time we reach the release candidate milestone on the 29th. And the third thing is that we are currently right in the middle of WordCamp Japan. That is a great opportunity to meet some contributors and maybe even get started with contributions yourself. So stop by if you haven&#8217;t had a chance to check it out already. I will leave a link in the show notes. And that, my friends, is your small list of big things. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>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:\"10837\";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: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 5.8 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/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-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, 15 Jun 2021 18:34:31 +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=10808\";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:344:\"WordPress 5.8 Beta 2 is now available for testing! This software is still in development,&#160;so it’s not recommended to run this version on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with it. You can test the WordPress 5.8 Beta 2 in two ways: Install/activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the Bleeding [&#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: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:\"\";}}}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:6174:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.8 Beta 2 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software is still in development,</strong>&nbsp;so it’s not recommended to run this version on a production site. Consider setting up a test site to play with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.8 Beta 2 in two ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Install/activate the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (select the <code>Bleeding edge</code> channel and the <code>Beta/RC Only</code> stream)</li><li>Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.8-beta2.zip\">zip</a>).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release is July 20, 2021. That’s just <strong>five weeks away</strong>, so your help is vital to ensure that the final release is as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-1/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"10733\">Beta 1</a>, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=06%2F09%2F2021..06%2F15%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">26</a> bugs have been fixed. Here is a summary of some of the included changes:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Block Editor: Remove bundled block patterns and support the patterns directory. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53246\">#53246</a>)</li><li>Block Editor: Add a type property to allow Core to identify the source of the editor styles. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53175\">#53175</a>)</li><li>Build/Test Tools: Adds some tests for Quick Draft section in Dashboard. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52905\">#52905</a>)</li><li>Build/Test Tools: Replaced <code>@babel/polyfill</code> with <code>core-js/stable</code>. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52941\">#52941</a>)</li><li>Coding Standards: Further update the code for bulk menu items deletion to better follow WordPress coding standards. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/21603\">#21603</a>)</li><li>External Libraries: Update Underscore to version 1.13.1. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/45785\">#45785</a>)</li><li>General: A number of block editor, template mode and widget screen related fixes. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/51149\">#51149</a>)</li><li>Login and Registration: Improve the unknown username error message. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52915\">#52915</a>)</li><li>Media: Restore AJAX response data shape in media library. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/50105\">#50105</a>)</li><li>Site Health: Display a list of file formats supported by the GD library. (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53022\">#53022</a>)</li><li><span style=\"color: initial;, sans-serif\">Twemoji: It&#8217;s the new one! (</span><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52852\">#52852</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-8+dev-notes/\">5.8-related developer notes</a> in the coming weeks, which will break down these and other changes in greater detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=..06%2F15%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">214 tickets in WordPress 5.8</a>, including <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;changetime=..06%2F15%2F2021&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">87 new features and enhancements</a>, and more bug fixes are on the way.</p>\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 a vital part of polishing the release during the beta stage and a great way to contribute. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/2728.png\" alt=\"✨\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /></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. We would love to hear from you! 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><em>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>chanthaboune</a> for revision, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/youknowriad/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>youknowriad</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorbin/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>jorbin</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/felipeelia/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>felipeelia</a> , and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffpaul/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>jeffpaul</a> for proofreading, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a> for final edits!</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><em>Install won’t you please<br>WordPress 5-8 Beta 2?<br>We need your help: test!</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:\"10808\";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: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:\"Gutenberg Highlights\";s:7:\"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/2021/06/gutenberg-highlights/\";s: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, 11 Jun 2021 11:03:04 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;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:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"WordCamp\";s:7:\"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=10779\";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:\"During WordCamp Europe this past Wednesday Matt and I gathered to discuss the latest developments of Gutenberg and to share a video with some of the current and upcoming highlights. The video is wonderfully narrated by @beafialho and it was a great opportunity to celebrate all the incredible work that contributors are doing around 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:14:\"Matias Ventura\";s: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:1401:\"\n<p>During <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Europe</a> this past Wednesday Matt and I gathered to discuss the latest developments of Gutenberg and to share a video with some of the current and upcoming highlights. The video is wonderfully narrated by <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>beafialho</a> and it was a great opportunity to celebrate all the incredible work that contributors are doing around the globe to improve the editing and customization experience of WordPress. For those that weren&#8217;t able to attend live it&#8217;s now available for watching online.</p>\n\n\n\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/a1Sf7PxfmLQ?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>Matt also opened a thread for questions <a href=\"https://ma.tt/2021/06/wceu-open-thread/\">on his blog</a>, so be sure to chime in there if you have any!</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:\"10779\";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: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:20:\"WordPress 5.8 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/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-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:\"Wed, 09 Jun 2021 02:47:48 +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: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:\"5.8\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10733\";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:50:\"WordPress 5.8 Beta 1 is now 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:12:\"Jeffrey Paul\";s: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:10110:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.8 Beta 1 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software is still in development,</strong>&nbsp;so it is not recommended to run this version on a production site. Instead, we recommend that you run this on a test site to play with the new version.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.8 Beta 1 in two ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Install and activate the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\">WordPress Beta Tester</a>&nbsp;plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and &#8220;Beta/RC Only&#8221; stream).</li><li>Direct download the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.8-beta1.zip\">beta version here&nbsp;(zip)</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release is July 20, 2021.  This is just&nbsp;<strong>six weeks away</strong>, so your help is vital to ensure this release is tested properly and as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep your eyes on the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-8+dev-notes/\">5.8-related developer notes</a>&nbsp;in the coming weeks, breaking down these and other changes in greater detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what&#8217;s new in this 5.8?  Let&#8217;s start with some highlights.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Highlights</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3>Powerful Blocks</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Discover several new blocks and expressive tools, including blocks for&nbsp;<em>Page Lists</em>,&nbsp;<em>Site Title</em>,&nbsp;<em>Logo</em>, and&nbsp;<em>Tagline</em>. A powerful&nbsp;<em>Query Loop</em>&nbsp;block offers multiple ways for displaying lists of posts and comes with new block patterns that take advantage of its flexibility and creative possibilities.</li><li>Interacting with nested blocks has been made easier with a permanent toolbar button for selecting a parent. Block outlines are shown when hovering or focusing on the different block type buttons. Block handles are now also present for drag and drop when in “select” mode.</li><li>Introduces the&nbsp;<strong>List View</strong>, a panel that can be toggled and helps navigate complex blocks and patterns.</li><li>Reusable blocks have an improved creation flow and support for history revisions. </li><li>A cool new duotone block adds images effects which can be used in media blocks or supported in third-party blocks. Color presets can also be customized by the theme.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Handpicked Patterns</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Patterns can now also be recommended and selected during block setup, offering powerful new flows. Pattern transformations are also possible and allow converting a block or a collection of blocks into different patterns.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>New collection of Patterns and an initial integration with the upcoming Pattern Directory on WordPress.org.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Better Tools</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><span style=\"color: initial;, sans-serif\">New template editor that allows creating new custom templates for a page using blocks.</span></li><li>Themes can now control and configure styling with a theme.json file, including layout configuration, block supports, color palettes, and more.</li><li>New design tools and enhancements to existing blocks, including more color, typography, and spacing options, drag and drop for Cover backgrounds, additions to block transformation options, ability to embed PDFs within the File block, and more.</li><li>Includes improvements to how the editor is rendered to more accurately resemble the frontend.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Internet Explorer 11</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Support for Internet Explorer 11 is ending in WordPress this year. In this release, most of those changes are being merged so use the Beta and RC periods to test!</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Blocks in Widgets Area</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>You can now use any block in your theme’s widget areas using the all new Widgets screen and updated Customizer.</li><li>Existing third party widgets continue to work via the <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/widgets/legacy-widget-block/\">Legacy Widget block</a>.</li><li>Not quite ready for a full switch? To ease the transition, users can use the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-widgets/\">Classic Widgets plugin</a> and themes can call <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/widgets/opting-out/\">remove_theme_support( &#8216;widgets-block-editor&#8217; )</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Looking for a change and can&#8217;t find it? There are more improvements listed after the break.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<h3>Do some testing!</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Testing for bugs is an important part of polishing the release during the beta stage and a great way to contribute.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please post to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">Alpha/Beta area</a>&nbsp;in the support forums. We would love to hear from you! If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">file one on WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks for joining us, and happy testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><span><i>Props to </i></span><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/youknowriad/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>youknowriad</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>annezazu</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/matveb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>matveb</a>, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>desrosj</a><span><i> for </i>editing/proof reading</span> this post, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>chanthaboune</a> for final review.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<p><em>Full Site Editing<br>Coming at the end of year<br>But first, Beta 1</em></p>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-10733\"></span>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Improvements in this Release</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Improvements to Reusable blocks, Cover block, Table block, List View, Rich text placeholder, Template Editing Mode, Block Inserter, and Top Toolbar</li><li>Query loop block that uses a query/filter to create a flexible post list based on templates. Best used with patterns.</li><li>Parity refinement between editor and frontend, Standardization to block toolbars organization</li><li>Block widgets in the Customizer</li><li>Introducing the Global Styles and Global Settings APIs: control the editor settings and available customization tools and style blocks using a theme.json file.Template editor opens inside an iframe to more accurately resemble the front end.</li><li>Ability to transform Media and Text into Columns</li><li>Embedded PDFs within File block</li><li>Spacing options for Social Links and Buttons, Spacer block width adjustments</li><li>Twemoji has been updated to version 13.1, bringing you many new Emoji.</li><li>Editor performance improvements</li><li>Hide writing prompt from subsequent empty paragraphs</li><li>More descriptive publishing UI</li><li>Added capability to set the default format for image sub-sizes as well as WebP support</li><li>Added widgets block editor to widgets.php and customize.php</li><li>Added block patterns to default themes</li><li>Added ability to mark a plugin as unmanaged</li><li>Enable revisions for the reusable block custom post type</li><li>Enqueue script and style assets only for blocks present on the page</li><li>Abstracted block editor configuration by deprecating existing filters and introducing replacements that are context-aware</li><li>New sidebars, widget, and widget-types REST API endpoints</li><li>Added support for modifying the term relation when querying posts in the REST API</li><li>Site Health now supports custom sub-menus and pages</li><li>Themes now display the number of available theme updates in the admin menu</li><li>Speed up cached <code>get_pages()</code> calls</li><li>Underscore updates from 1.8.3 to 1.9.1</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To see all of the features for Gutenberg release in detail check out these posts: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-0-february/\">10.0</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/02/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-1-3-march/\">10.1</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-2-17-march/\">10.2</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/04/02/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-3-31-march/\">10.3</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/04/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-4-14-april/\">10.4</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/04/30/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-5-28-april/\">10.5</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/05/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-6-12-may/\">10.6</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/05/27/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-7-26-may/\">10.7</a>. In addition to those changes, contributors have fixed&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">215 tickets in WordPress 5.8</a>, including&nbsp;<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.8&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\">88 new features and enhancements</a>, with more bug fixes on the way.</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:\"10733\";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: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:57:\"WP Briefing: Episode 10: Finding the Good In Disagreement\";s:7:\"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://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/episode-10-finding-the-good-in-disagreement/\";s: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, 07 Jun 2021 12:22:06 +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: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=10424\";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:408:\"To Agree, disagree, and everything in-between. In this episode, Josepha talks about forming opinions and decision-making in the WordPress project. 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: Dustin Hartzler Logo: Beatriz Fialho Production: Chloé Bringmann Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod [&#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/2021/06/WP-Briefing-010.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:12068:\"\n<p>To Agree, disagree, and everything in-between. In this episode, Josepha talks about forming opinions and decision-making in the WordPress project.</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>Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Editor:<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\"> Dustin Hartzler</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Logo:<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\"> Beatriz Fialho</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Production:<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/\"> </a><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>References</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.oprah.com/spirit/suzy-welchs-rule-of-10-10-10-decision-making-guide/all\">10/10/10 Rule</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_management#The_Eisenhower_Method\">The Eisenhower Matrix&nbsp;</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimax\">The Maximin Strategy&nbsp;</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Europe</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://japan.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Japan</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-8/\">WordPress 5.8 Development Cycle</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-10424\"></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 some of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project and the community around it, as well as get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Joseph 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>For anyone who has ever organized something, whether it&#8217;s a social event, a school project, or an annual family gathering, you know that there are many different opinions. The more opinions you have, the more likely people don&#8217;t see eye to eye. And before you know it, you&#8217;ve got some disagreements. Some things make disagreements worse, like imbalance of information, lack of showing your work, and sometimes just “too many cooks in the kitchen,” to use a regional phrase. Frankly, sometimes it seems like the second you have more than one cook in your kitchen, you&#8217;re going to get some disagreements. But I think that&#8217;s a healthy thing. WordPress is huge. And there are huge numbers of people contributing to WordPress or any other open source project you want to name. So there&#8217;s a lot of stuff available to disagree about. If we never saw anyone pointing out an area that wasn&#8217;t quite right, there would probably be something wrong. If you, like me, think that a healthy tension of collaborative disagreement can be useful when approached thoughtfully, then this quick start guide is for you.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Step one, prepare to host a discussion. This is, by the way, just the hardest step out there. You have to take a little time to figure out what problem you&#8217;re solving with the solution you&#8217;re suggesting, any goals that it relates to, and then figure out what the bare minimum best outcome would be and what the wildest dreams magic wand waving outcome would be. And you have to be honest with yourself.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Step two, host the discussion. The venue will be different for different discussions, but you see a lot of these on team blogs or within the actual tickets where work is being done. Wherever you&#8217;re hosting it, state the problem, state your idea for the solution and ask for what you missed. If you&#8217;re hosting a discussion in person, like in a town hall format, this can be hard. And generally, hosting discussions in an in-person or voice call or zoom call kind of way is hard. So if you have an opportunity to start doing this in text first and level your way up to in person, that&#8217;s my recommendation.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Step three is to summarize the discussion and post a decision if possible. So organizing a big discussion into main points is a really good practice for the people you&#8217;re summarizing it for and yourself. It helps you to confirm your understanding, and it also gives you the chance to pair other solutions with the problem and goals you outlined in step one. If a different solution solves the same problem but with less time or effort, it&#8217;s worth taking a second look with less time or effort. There’s something that I say to WordPress contributors frequently, and that is there are a lot of yeses. There are a lot of right ways to do things and only a few clear wrong ways to do things. So be open-minded about whether or not someone else&#8217;s right way to do things could still achieve the goals you&#8217;re trying to accomplish with your solution. A note on step three where I said, “and post the decision if possible.” Sometimes you&#8217;re the person to make that decision, but sometimes you are not the person who can give something the green light, and so you&#8217;re preparing a recommendation. Whether you&#8217;re making a decision or a recommendation, sometimes you may experience a little decision-making paralysis. I know I do. So here are a few of the tools that I use.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re avoiding the decision, use the 10/10/10 rule; it can help you figure out if you&#8217;re stuck on a short-term problem. If there are too many good choices, use the Eisenhower Matrix that can help you to prioritize objectively. If there are too many bad choices, use the Maximin strategy. It can help you to identify how to minimize any potential negative impacts.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, so you&#8217;ve considered your position. You’ve discussed everything. You summarized the big points. Maybe you also worked your way through to a recommendation or a decision. What about everyone who disagreed with the decision? Or have you made a recommendation, and it wasn&#8217;t accepted? How do you deal with that? That&#8217;s where “disagree and commit” shows up. This phrase was made popular by the folks over at Amazon, I think. But it first showed up, I believe at Sun Microsystems as this phrase, “agreeing, commit, disagree and commit or get out of the way.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Disagree and commit as a concept works pretty well when everyone agrees on the vision and the goals, but not necessarily how to get to those goals. We&#8217;ve had moments in recent history where folks we&#8217;re not able to agree, we’re not able to commit, and so then left the project. I hate when that happens. I want people to thrive in this community for the entire length of their careers. But I also understand that situation shows up in the top five learnings of open source when you no longer have interest in the project and handed it off to a competent successor. So there it is &#8211; disagreements in open source in WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As with so many of the things I discuss on this podcast, this is incredibly complex and nuanced in practice. Taking an argument, distilling facts from feelings, and adjusting frames of reference until the solution is well informed and risk-balanced. That is a skill set unto itself. But one that increases the health of any organization. I’ll share that list of references and general materials in the show notes, including a link explaining each of those decision-making tools that I shared. I&#8217;m also going to include the contributor training module on decision-making in the WordPress project. It&#8217;s got excellent information. It&#8217;s part of a series of modules that I asked team reps to take and sponsored contributors. I don&#8217;t require it from anyone, but I do hope that it is useful for you. Also, speaking of useful for you, if you are just here for leadership insights, I included some hot takes after the outro music for you. It&#8217;s like an Easter egg, but I just told you about it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:33</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that brings us to our small list of big things! First off, WordCamp Europe is happening this we; I hope that everybody has an opportunity to attend. If you still haven&#8217;t gotten your tickets, they are free, and I think there are still a few left. I will include a link in the show notes as well. There&#8217;s going to be a little demo with Matt Mullenweg and Matias Ventura on the WordPress 5.8 release that&#8217;s coming up. And then kind of a retrospective discussion between Matt and Brian Krogsgard. I encourage you to join; I think it&#8217;s going to be very interesting.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s also WordCamp, Japan coming up June 20 through 26th. I mentioned it last time &#8211;&nbsp; it has a big section of contributing and contribution time. So if you&#8217;re looking to get started, some projects are laid out, and I encourage you to take a look at that as well.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new thing on this list, and I don&#8217;t know how new It is, in general, I hope it&#8217;s not too new to you, is that WordPress 5.8 release is reaching its beta one milestone on June 8th, so right in the middle of WordCamp Europe. I encourage every single theme developer, plugin developer that we have, agency owners that we have to really take a look at this release and dig into testing it. It&#8217;s a gigantic release. And I have so many questions about what will work and will not work once we get it into a broader testing area. We&#8217;ve been doing a lot of testing in the outreach program. But it&#8217;s always helpful to get people who are using WordPress daily in their jobs to really give a good solid test to the beta product to the beta package. And put it all through its paces for us.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, that my friends, 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\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>10:09</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hey there, you must be here because I told you about this totally not hidden easter egg about my hot takes on organizational health; I have three for you. And if you&#8217;ve ever worked with me, none of this will surprise you. But if you haven&#8217;t worked with me, hopefully, it kind of gives you some idea about how I approach all of this a bit differently. So, number one, critical feedback is the sign of a healthy organization. And I will never be dissuaded from that opinion. A complete lack of dissent doesn&#8217;t look like “alignment.” To me, that looks like fear. And it goes against the open source idea that many eyes make all bugs shallow.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tip number two, a bit of tension is good, a bit of disagreement is good. The same thing that I say about women in tech, we&#8217;re not all the same. And if we were, then we wouldn&#8217;t need to collaborate anyway. But diversity, whether that&#8217;s the diversity of thought or of a person or of experience, just doesn&#8217;t happen without some misunderstandings. It&#8217;s how we choose to grow through those misunderstandings that make all the difference for the type of organization we are.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And hot take number three, changing your mind isn&#8217;t flip-flopping or hypocritical. I think that&#8217;s a sign of growth and willingness to hear others. I like to think of my embarrassment at past bad decisions &#8211; as the sore muscles of a learning brain. And I, again, probably won&#8217;t be dissuaded from that opinion. Although, you know, if I&#8217;m sticking true to changing your mind some flip-flopping or hypocritical, maybe I will, but you can always try to, to give me the counter-argument for that, and we&#8217;ll see how it goes. Thank you for joining me for my little public easter egg.</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:\"10424\";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: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:36:\"People of WordPress: Tijana Andrejic\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:71:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/people-of-wordpress-tijana-andrejic/\";s: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, 07 Jun 2021 12:01:00 +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:4:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"heropress\";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:16:\"ContributorStory\";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:\"HeroPress\";s:7:\"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=10427\";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:178:\"This month to coincide with WordCamp Europe, we feature Tijana Andrejic from Belgrade, Serbia, about her journey from fitness trainer to the opportunities in the WordPress world.\";s: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:14291:\"\n<p><strong>WordPress is open source software, maintained by a global network of contributors. There are many examples of how WordPress has changed people’s lives for the better. In this monthly series, we share some of the amazing stories.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>This month to coincide with WordCamp Europe, we feature Tijana Andrejic from Belgrade, Serbia, about her journey from fitness trainer to the WordPress world, with the freelance and corporate opportunities it introduced. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"387\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/06/2021-07-Tijana-Andrejic_Featured-Img_1.jpg?resize=632%2C387&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Tijana - portrait picture\" class=\"wp-image-10713\" srcset=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/06/2021-07-Tijana-Andrejic_Featured-Img_1.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/06/2021-07-Tijana-Andrejic_Featured-Img_1.jpg?resize=300%2C184&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/06/2021-07-Tijana-Andrejic_Featured-Img_1.jpg?resize=768%2C470&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As a professional manager with a college degree in Organizational Science and a certified fitness instructor, Tijana is nothing if not driven and goal-oriented.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following her time as a fitness trainer, Tijana moved to work in IT around 2016. She first explored content creation and design before focusing on SEO and becoming an independent specialist.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tijana was hired as a Customer Happiness Engineer for a hosting company, where she discovered the benefits of having a team. She realized that having close working relationships with colleagues is helpful for business success and accelerates personal growth.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tijana hopes that by sharing her story, she can help others who are either starting their career or are moving roles. She describes the opportunities she discovered in the WordPress community as ‘a huge epiphany’, especially in the world of freelancing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She highlights <strong>5 things that helped her to start a new freelancing career</strong>. Let’s dive into them.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>What motivates me?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>“Why am I doing this?” is the first question that Tijana asks herself before starting anything new. This self-review and honesty, she feels, allows her to determine her priorities. She also benchmarks options around her motivations of wanting a flexible schedule and to grow professionally.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She lists the reasons to make a particular choice, like being a freelancer, to help her choose the right job, pathway, or identify alternatives.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She recommends that others can take a similar approach. If freelancing is still the best solution after examining all their goals and motivations, Tijana believes a good next step would be to learn WordPress-related skills.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cdHeIL-H_mE6QFCUxUT-gfKS2GzizRHtn4iCENoaWOimC82BfModRJh44QbhvHPW0GNVP5eUPhgxQteDRbA_9EUzpssTXMGWje1hUuKyrfXUgGhCnvXQdraaUQiaGBjFr73dNYxr\" alt=\"WordCamp Europe 2019 group picture\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2>Develop WordPress related skills</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The next question you may ask: “Why WordPress?”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress is used by more than 40% of websites in some form and offers various roles, many of which are not developer-specific. Tijana highlights a few:&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>web developer (coding websites, themes, and plugins)</li><li>web implementor (creating websites from existing themes without coding)</li><li>web designer (designing website mock-ups, editing images, or creating online infographics)</li><li>client support professional (helping people with their websites)</li><li>website maintenance (WordPress, themes, and plugins are maintained and backed up regularly)</li><li>WordPress trainer (helping clients with how to use the platform or teaching other web professionals)</li><li>content writer</li><li>accessibility specialist (making sure standards are met and suggesting solutions for accessibility barriers)</li><li>SEO consultant (improving search outcomes and understanding)</li><li>statistics consultant, especially for web shops</li><li>WordPress assistant (adding new content and editing existing posts)</li><li>website migration specialist (moving websites from one server to another)</li><li>web security specialist</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/16XExYT_P4R4PX3orOaWbueDfkBIA6PFQ-CuYEXdeN9AvUIuIF33aIjT1DpdnFCqhrijWv1f68OR2Qh14xGT9REHGJ-MqK-OxJ9XcrhZ3IkcW8DBI7nVAtvFcCnCHL0woka_FV6t\" alt=\"WCBGD group picture\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tijana emphasized: “Another reason why WordPress is great for freelancers is the strong community that exists around this content management system (CMS).&#8221; WordCamps and Meetups are a way to get useful information and meet people from a large and very diverse community and get answers to many questions straight away.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the past year, these events have been primarily online. However, the contributors who run them continue to make an effort to provide an experience as close to in-person events as possible. The biggest advantage to online events is that we can attend events from across the world, even if sometimes during these difficult times, it is difficult to get enough time to deeply into this new experience. Since Tijana’s first Meetup, she has attended many WordPress community events and volunteered as a speaker.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Plan in advance</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Becoming a freelancer takes time. For Tijana, success came with proper planning and following her plan to ‘acquire or improve relevant skills that will make you stand out in the freelance market.’ She strongly believes that learning and growing as a professional opens more business opportunities.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are considering a freelance career, she advises improving relevant skills or developing new skills related to your hobbies as ‘there is nothing better than doing what you love.’ In cases where no previous experience and knowledge can be used, she suggests choosing ‘a job that has a shorter learning curve and builds your knowledge around that.’</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tijana started as a content creator and learned to become an SEO expert. However, she highlights many alternative paths, including starting as a web implementer and moving to train as a developer.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She suggests to others: “It would be a good idea to analyze the market before you jump into the learning process.” She also recommends people check the latest trends and consider the future of the skills they are developing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visit the new <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/\">Learn WordPress.org</a> to see what topics are of interest to you. In this newly established resource, the WordPress community aggregates workshops to support those who want to start and improve their skills, provides lesson plans for professional WordPress trainers and helps you create personal learning to develop key skills. There is also material on helping you be part of and organize events for your local community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tijana highlights that there are many places for freelancers to find clients. For example, the WordPress Community has a place where companies and individual site owners publish their job advertisements&nbsp; &#8211; <a href=\"https://jobs.wordpress.net/\">Jobs.WordPress.net</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Hurray, it’s time to get a first freelancing job</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As a pragmatic person, Tijana recommends: “Save money before quitting your job to become a full-time freelancer. Alternatively, try freelancing for a few hours per week to see if you like it. Although some people do benefit when taking a risk, think twice before you take any irreversible actions.”&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She shared some possible next steps:&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>use a freelancing platform</li><li>triple-check your resume</li><li>professionally present yourself</li><li>fill up your portfolio with examples</li><li>use video material</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>“By using video material, your clients will not see you like a list of skills and previous experiences, but as a real person that has these skills and experiences and that provides a certain service for them.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She adds: “Have a detailed strategy when choosing your first employer. Choose your first employer wisely, very wisely. I can’t emphasize enough how important this is”.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Tijana took her first freelancing job, she considered the following:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>how was the employer rated by other freelancers who worked for him previously</li><li>how does the employer rate other freelancers</li><li>how much money had they already spent on the platform</li><li>the number of open positions for a specific job and the number of freelancers that have already applied&nbsp;</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>“The first job is not all about the money. Don’t get greedy on your first job. If you get good recommendations, your second job can pay two to three times more. And your third job can go up to five times more. That was my experience.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Take responsibility as a freelancer</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Tijana reminds us: “Freedom often comes with responsibility; individual responsibility is key when it comes to freelancing.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She advises others not to take a job if you can not make a deadline and have someone reliable who can help you.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Missing deadlines will cost your client money and affect the review the client will be willing to leave about your job, and this can have a big impact on your future opportunities or freelance jobs.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She adds: “This can start a downward spiral for your career. However, we are all humans, and unpredictable things can happen. If for some reason you are not able to complete your work in a timely manner, let your client know immediately so they can have enough time to hire someone else”.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tijana emphasizes the importance of making expectations clear before accepting a job, both what the client is expecting and what you can expect from the client.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, she points out that if you are working from home, your friends and family should treat you the way they would if you were in an office. She advises: “Let them know about your working schedule.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She hopes that these basic guidelines will be useful in launching freelance careers, as they did her, even though there is no universal recipe for all.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tijana highlights: “It’s just important to stay focused on your goals and to be open to new opportunities.” Freelancing wasn’t the only way she could have fulfilled her goals, but it was an important part of her path, and it helped her be confident in her abilities to make the next big step in her life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a freelancer, she was missing close relationships with colleagues and teamwork, which she has now found in her current firm. Her colleagues describe her as a: “walking-talking bundle of superpowers: sports medicine and fitness professional, SEO expert, blogger, designer and a kitty foster mum”.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/PIGT9R6FmtEHsNBvWzyViW5htRAm156asTOsohOGOUwfsWjW1TuDhUI9yuZnjIe-1eFHfFUWPULPtw82P3YYXHa0bsY_jA5keelmDHfSkTdd3xUsVZTmG9KvdE8XTojvU3LxYCsi\" alt=\"Conference reception\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are considering starting your career as a freelancer, take the courses offered at <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/\">learn.wordpress.org,</a> reach out to companies that you would be interested in working with, and remember that there are a whole host of opportunities in the WordPress project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/\">The WordPress.org Teams</a> &#8211; what they do, when and where they meet</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/\">Learn WordPress resource</a> &#8211; free to use to expand your knowledge and skills of using the platform and learning about the community around it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 3-day <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Europe 2021</a> online event begins on 7 June 2021. You can discover more about being a contributor in its live sessions and <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/contribute-to-wordpress/\">section on ways to contribute to WordPress</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Olga Gleckler (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/oglekler/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>oglekler</a>), Abha Thakor (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">@webcommsat</a>), Chloé Bringmann (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>), Surendra Thakor (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/sthakor/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>sthakor</a>), and Meher Bala (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>meher</a>) for working on this story. Josepha Haden (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">@chanthaboune</a>) and also to Topher DeRosia (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/\">@topher1kenobe</a>) who created HeroPress. Thank you to Tijana Andrejic (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/andtijana/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>andtijana</a>) for sharing her #ContributorStory</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/FEZ2FQJ0vQ311YoPfh6ny15NXh8saTLH_RjyDO4pUOuEGBTa-Czk63PGoWL04FawKviRfNx0QXePx-goK04X12ry1BR_WXh-kVPIfsEeItPAX6reN5fHS96q6-8dUI506ZO38Z0G\" alt=\"HeroPress logo\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This post is based on an article originally published on HeroPress.com. 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It is quite a helpful resource, that could be integrated into the Block editor handbook  </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/mikachan_\"><strong>Sarah Norris</strong></a> provided this week&#8217;s (number 60) round-up post from the Themes team around Gutenberg &amp; Themes. Check it out to learn about the discussion FSE, Themes, and Global Styles. Norris also share a few tracking issues to keep you updates. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>The team of Metabox published <strong><a href=\"https://metabox.io/full-site-editing-fse-p1-overview/\">&#8220;Full Site Editing (FSE) &#8211; All You Need To Know&#8221;</a> </strong>for WordPressers, who need to catch up around the FSE discussion. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/darioohead\">Dario Jazbec Hrvatin</a></strong> of Toolset team posted <strong><a href=\"https://toolset.com/2021/08/full-site-editing-future-of-wordpress-and-what-it-means-for-you/\">Full Site Editing Future Of WordPress And What It Means For You. </a></strong> He shared what he learned talking to authors behind Astra, Page Builder Framework, and Sydney Pro themes!</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?style=for-the-badge\" /></p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2>WordPress Development is hard (Part 2)</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week, I also missed listing the Mainline podcast episode <strong>&#8220;<a href=\"https://wpmainline.com/podcast/wp-mainline-episode-5-contributing-and-developing-for-wordpress-is-not-as-easy-as-it-used-to-be/\">Contributing and Developing for WordPress Is Not as Easy as It Used to Be</a>&#8220;</strong> with Jeff Chandler, John James Jacobi and Chris Wiegman. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Video: <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJAje6JveCw\">&#8220;Is Gutenberg Killing WordPress Themes? Challenges for a Theme Developer in a Gutenberg World.&#8221;</a> by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MapSteps\"><strong>David Vongries</strong></a>, who shares the hard time a theme developer can have when keeping pace with Gutenberg development. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>My advice for people depending on themes for their revenue and who don’t have an army of developers keeping up with the new thing:  Keep doing what you are doing until things settle with the next two or three releases.  </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://dbushell.com/2021/08/03/wordpress-has-a-gutenberg-problem/\"><strong>Does WordPress Have a Gutenberg Problem?</strong></a> Asked <strong>David Bushell </strong>listing a few problems building blocks cause in creating sites for customers. It&#8217;s comes across like the other rant of a developer who is fighting change. However, Bushell touches on recurring themes we hear before and outlines the hurdles for WordPress developer when starting to switch to Gutenberg for their development: </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Opinionated styling of core blocks</em> is another pain point for WordPress developers. The mechanism to control this via theme.json has now arrived but of course its not yet completely develop.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Deprecation of static blocks: </strong>How can post that have earlier version of particular blocks stored be updated to a new rendering. There isn&#8217;t a good answer yet, and many developers mostly develop dynamic blocks, rendered in PHP consistently no matter when the block was added to a post. If a new version is available, it&#8217;ll get the new design/styling. Or skip native block development altogether and rely on Blocks created via Advanced Custom Fields Pro.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A dynamic block was my first block, too, and I haven&#8217;t had the time to experiment with JavaScript blocks and the versioning for static blocks. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/is-wordpress-development-really-all-that-hard-to-get-into-today\"><strong>Is WordPress Development Really All That Hard To Get Into Today?</strong></a> Asked <strong>Justin Tadlock </strong>in his opinion post on the WordPress Tavern, that collected over 40 comments from the site&#8217;s Community, many share great resources to get over initial hurdles, too. </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, 14 Aug 2021 16:25:22 +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: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:82:\"WPTavern: Early WordPress 5.9 Look: The Road Toward Deeper Responsive Block 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:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=121486\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:207:\"https://wptavern.com/early-wordpress-5-9-look-the-road-toward-deeper-responsive-block-design?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=early-wordpress-5-9-look-the-road-toward-deeper-responsive-block-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:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6231:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Gutenberg project lead Mat&iacute;as Ventura announced the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/13/preliminary-road-to-5-9/\">Preliminary Road to 5.9</a> on the Make Core blog earlier today. He covered several <em>big picture</em> items, including several sub-points for each. He also linked to a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33094\">GitHub issue </a>with specific tasks and tickets that need work.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The post covers notes on block patterns, navigation menus, the <code>theme.json</code> interface (global styles), design tools, and editing flows for block themes. There is a lot of information to take in and enough areas to cover various interests.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most exciting focus of 5.9 might just be going deeper into responsive design at the block level, whether this is under-the-hood code or block options available via the UI.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;One of the biggest points of friction for pattern and theme builders are the lack of responsive tools available at a block level,&rdquo; wrote Ventura. &ldquo;This needs to be solved in a way that doesn&rsquo;t disproportionally increase interface complexity.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Intrinsic Web Design With Blocks</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Mobile design patterns shared by Ventura.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It is easy to become disgruntled at the slow progress toward responsive block options over the last few years. I am not entirely unhappy with it because I want the team to be methodical and approach this in a future-proof way, at least to the extent that it can.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Far too often, what we have seen with requests and even third-party plugins is the use of viewport-based media queries for controlling how blocks respond to different devices (e.g., desktop, tablet, and mobile). While such controls can sometimes be the right tool for the job, they are not always the correct path for component-based design.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Media queries tend to favor holistic design methodologies. However, component-based design is the modern face of the web. Blocks are just another component, and because developers or even users can place them anywhere in the overall design, we must approach how they respond to their surroundings more so than the browser viewport.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;The block model is a good case to apply some intrinsic design principles, since a block can occupy a place in many different layouts and containers, for which prescriptive media queries that don&rsquo;t take context into account are inflexible,&rdquo; wrote Ventura.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A simple example to look at is the core WordPress Columns block. We could easily add media query options for when each inner Column block breaks. <em>However, how should the typography respond for three columns vs. four and at different widths?</em> That is a function of the container&rsquo;s size rather than the viewport.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>And, how do such media queries work when Columns are nested within another Column?</em> This becomes a more complex problem to solve if you are putting layout controls into the hands of users. Pushing the fast-forward button on responsive block options might feel good at the moment, but it could also create legacy baggage that will be hard to drop when a better solution rolls around.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even something as seemingly simple as a basic website header can become complex when designing for user input. For theme designers, there is no way to know how many characters are in the site title, for example, or how many items are in the nav menu. The block system can complicate that further by allowing end-users to drop in other unknowns.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Each block area should be intrinsically responsive allowing blocks to compose together, wrap, stack, and organize themselves to fit the different spaces and screens,&rdquo; wrote Ventura. &ldquo;For this to work well, container blocks need to absorb more layout controls.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also mentioned <a href=\"https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_Container_Queries\">container queries</a> as a possible expansion point when they are fully supported by browsers in the future. Chrome Canary currently has a support flag to enable the feature.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Container queries are a bit of a Holy Grail for designers. As web designer Ethan Marcotte <a href=\"https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/on-container-queries/\">wrote four years ago:</a></p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Maybe I&rsquo;ll start here: in the last few years, my design work has focused much more on patterns, and less on &ldquo;pages.&rdquo; Instead of treating a responsive design as a holistic, unified thing, where every part of the layout changes and adapts at the same rate, it&rsquo;s more helpful to break a responsive layout down into smaller, reusable bits of design, including things like &ldquo;masthead,&rdquo; &ldquo;footer,&rdquo; &ldquo;image caption,&rdquo; and so on.</p><p>In other words, my design process involves looking at a responsive design as a network of small layout systems. Each of those components are basically little responsive designs themselves, with their own sets of breakpoints.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sound familiar?</em> Yes, the WordPress block system is built on that same foundation of small layout components.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anything that WordPress does today at the UI level needs to account for the container queries of the future. Or, at least make use of existing tools that could replicate the feature in some ways, such as the <code>min()</code>, <code>max()</code>, and <code>clamp()</code> CSS functions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trouble is figuring out which features should be exposed as block options vs. being handled under the hood. The development team must strike a balance between the user experience and flexibility for designers. Some things should &ldquo;just work&rdquo; out of the box, and others should be configurable on a case-by-case basis.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This should be one of the more interesting, complex, frustrating, and rewarding problems to solve in the WordPress 5.9 cycle. For those looking for a challenge, it might be the <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33447\">perfect entry point</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, 14 Aug 2021 00:31:24 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i: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:73:\"WPTavern: Wordfence and WPScan Publish Mid-Year WordPress Security Report\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=121383\";s:7:\"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/wordfence-and-wpscan-publish-mid-year-wordpress-security-report?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordfence-and-wpscan-publish-mid-year-wordpress-security-report\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5532:\"<p>WPScan is on track to post a record-breaking year for WordPress plugin vulnerabilities submitted to its database, according to <a href=\"https://wpscan.com/2021-Mid-Year-WordPress-Security-Report.pdf\">a collaborative mid-year security report</a> the company published with Wordfence. In the first half of 2021, WPScan has recorded 602 new vulnerabilities, quickly surpassing the 514 reported during all of 2020.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report is based on attack data from Wordfence&rsquo;s platform and data from WPScan&rsquo;s vulnerability database, providing a more comprehensive picture of the current state of WordPress security than either company could present alone.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the trends highlighted in the report is the increase in password attacks. Wordfence blocked more than 86 billion password attack attempts in the first half of 2021. Attackers use a variety of methods to gain access to WordPress sites, including testing sites against lists of compromised passwords, dictionary attacks, and more resource intensive brute force attacks. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img />Source: <a href=\"https://wpscan.com/2021-Mid-Year-WordPress-Security-Report.pdf\">2021 Mid-Year WordPress Security Report</a></div>\n\n\n\n<p>Wordfence found the standard login to be the primary password attack target for 40.4% of attempts, followed by XML-RPC (37.7%). Since these attacks seem to be increasing, the report recommends that site owners use 2-factor authentication on all available accounts, use strong secure passwords unique to each account, disable XML-RPC when not in use, and put brute force protection in place.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Data from Wordfence&rsquo;s Web Application Firewall shows more than 4 billion blocked requests due to vulnerability exploits and blocked IP addresses. The report includes a breakdown of the percentage of requests blocked by firewall per firewall rule. Directory Traversal accounts for 27.1% of requests. This is when an attacker attempts to access files without being authorized and perform an action such as reading or deleting a site&rsquo;s /wp-config.php file, for example. This breakdown also highlights the fact that certain older vulnerabilities are still frequently targeted by attackers.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img />Source: <a href=\"https://wpscan.com/2021-Mid-Year-WordPress-Security-Report.pdf\">2021 Mid-Year WordPress Security Report</a></div>\n\n\n\n<p>The vast majority of the vulnerabilities you hear about in the WordPress ecosystem come from plugins, with themes making up a much smaller portion. The report notes that only three of the 602 vulnerabilities catalogued by WPScan in the first half of this year were found within WordPress core. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>In analyzing vulnerabilities by type, WPScan found that Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities accounted for more than half of all them (52%), followed by Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) at 16%, SQL Injection (13%), Access Control issues (12%), and File Upload issues (7%). Using scores from the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), WPScan found that 17% of reported vulnerabilities were critical, 31% high, and 50% medium in severity.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Wordfence and WPScan claim that the greater number of vulnerabilities reported this year is indicative of the growth of the WordPress ecosystem and a maturing, healthy interest in security. Themes and plugins aren&rsquo;t getting more insecure over time but rather there are more people interested in discovering and reporting vulnerabilities.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;First and foremost, we aren&rsquo;t seeing a lot of newly introduced vulnerabilities in plugins and themes but rather we are seeing a lot of older vulnerabilities in older plugins and themes being reported/fixed that just weren&rsquo;t detected until now,&rdquo; Wordfence Threat Analyst Chloe Chamberland said.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Vulnerabilities aren&rsquo;t being introduced as frequently and more vulnerabilities are being detected simply due to the higher activity of researchers which is in turn positively impacting the security of the WordPress ecosystem. Considering it isn&rsquo;t newly introduced vulnerabilities that are being frequently discovered, I feel confident in saying that the increase in discoveries doesn&rsquo;t indicate that the ecosystem is getting less secure at all but rather getting more secure.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chamberland also said she believes there is a domino effect when vulnerabilities are disclosed to vendors and they learn from their accidents, causing them to develop more secure products in the future. &nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Speaking from experience as I spend a lot of my time looking for vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins, things have definitely been getting more secure from my perspective,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Today, I frequently find capability checks and nonce checks in all the right places along with proper file upload validation measures in place, and all the good stuff. It&rsquo;s become harder to find easily exploitable vulnerabilities in plugins and themes that are being actively maintained which is a great thing!&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mid-year report is available as a PDF to <a href=\"https://wpscan.com/2021-Mid-Year-WordPress-Security-Report.pdf\">download</a> for free from the WPScan website. WPScan founder and CEO Ryan Dewhurst said he expects there will be an end of the year report for 2021. He has not yet discussed it with Wordfence but the companies are brainstorming about other ways they can collaborate.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 13 Aug 2021 04:14:10 +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:96:\"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 20) — Yoast Acquired, Businesses Need To Allow More Play\";s:7:\"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=85143\";s:7:\"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/20/\";s: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:3984:\"<h2 id=\"h-allowing-time-to-goof-off-or-pursuing-a-passion-improves-team-connections\">Allowing time to goof off or pursuing a passion improves team connections.</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><a href=\"http://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/people/jane-dutton/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Professor Jane Dutton</a> from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business suggests &#8220;four ways to build high-quality workplace connections&#8221; — respectful engagement, support, trust — and <em>play</em>. Play is what Cory and David focus on in this episode — why should companies set aside time for time to explore, goof off, or entertain each other with no particular outcome in mind?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also covered in this episode: </strong>Only an hour before recording this, <strong>Yoast</strong> <a href=\"https://yoast.com/exciting-news-yoast-joins-newfold-digital/\">announced</a> it is being acquired by <strong>Newfold Digital</strong> — formerly known at least in part as <a href=\"https://robertjacobi.com/goodbye-endurance-hello-newfold-digital.html\">Endurance International Group</a> (EIG). David and Cory share their initial thoughts with more analysis still to come.</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\">Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what\'s new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡<br /><br /><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Browse our archives</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe via <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Simplecast</a>, or <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. 🎧</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\">🔗 Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/corymiller303\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cory Miller (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.slack.com/archives/CHNM7Q7T8/p1628787774152400\">Joost\'s Announcement In Post Status Slack</a></li><li><a href=\"https://yoast.com/exciting-news-yoast-joins-newfold-digital/\">Exciting news: Yoast joins Newfold Digital</a></li><li><a href=\"https://joost.blog/yoast-joins-newfold/\">Joost\'s Personal Blog Post On Acquistion</a></li><li><a href=\"https://newfold.com/newsroom/clearlake-and-siris-backed-newfold-digital-acquires-yoast\">Clearlake and Siris-Backed Newfold Digital Acquires Yoast to Help Customers Get Found Online</a></li><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/acquisitions/\">WordPress Acquisitions and Investments</a></li><li><a href=\"https://leadpositively.com/4-ways-to-build-high-quality-workplace-connections/\">4 Ways to Build High-Quality Workplace Connections</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>🙏 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. <strong>Pagely</strong> offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with <strong>Pagely</strong>. 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:\"Thu, 12 Aug 2021 23:55:36 +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: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: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:60:\"WPTavern: Yoast Joins Newfold Digital, Team To Stay in Place\";s:7:\"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=121446\";s:7:\"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:163:\"https://wptavern.com/yoast-joins-newfold-digital-team-to-stay-in-place?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=yoast-joins-newfold-digital-team-to-stay-in-place\";s: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:4181:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Earlier today, Yoast CEO Marieke van de Rakt announced the company had been <a href=\"https://yoast.com/exciting-news-yoast-joins-newfold-digital/\">acquired by NewFold Digital</a>. Yoast and its SEO-related business are expected to continue operating as usual with its current team and maintaining its product line.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Newfold Digital is a global web solutions provider that serves small-to-medium businesses. The <a href=\"https://newfold.com/brands\">company has many brands</a> under its umbrella, such as Network Solutions, Bluehost, and more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Yoast never had any funding before, it grew organically into a company with 140 employees maintaining a plugin with over 12 million active installs,&rdquo; wrote van de Rakt in the announcement. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to stop there! We&rsquo;re planning to grow and improve even further! Joining Newfold Digital provides us with the freedom to build and iterate on ideas to further our mission.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are no plans to change the team or the culture around Yoast. One of the goals during the acquisition was to keep everyone in place, continuing work on their product line.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Of course, some things change,&rdquo; said Yoast founder and CPO Joost de Valk. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll integrate into their systems (HR and finance). We&rsquo;ll work on special offers for customers from Newfold. Our company changed so much over the five years, so it will change no matter what. I do feel that this opens up more security for growth and for developing new ideas.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Yoast does not plan to change its 140-person team, it is still bringing in fresh talent. The company has been hiring a lot lately and expects that trend to continue with <a href=\"https://yoast.com/jobs/\">19 current job openings</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As host Nathan Wrigley and guest Cory Miller discussed on the <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/podcast/6-cory-miller-on-the-wordpress-mergers-and-acquisitions-landscape\">latest episode of the Jukebox</a>, acquisitions can be a welcome change for all parties. It can provide more financial stability and backing for the acquired company. It may allow the team to explore new features or new products that were not possible before. This can also work in the user&rsquo;s favor in the long term.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Marieke and I felt ever since this Covid pandemic hit that we needed a partner or some more financial backing,&rdquo; said Joost de Valk. &ldquo;Being totally bootstrapped was getting to us. We worried about the exchange rate of the dollar, for instance. We got risk-averse, and all around us other companies got financial injections.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The husband-and-wife duo thought about selling part of their stock for additional funding but was worried about potential consequences. One such downside may have been the need to grow fast to keep investors happy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;We wanted to find a place to keep Yoast SEO growing and to keep working on WordPress,&rdquo; said de Valk. &ldquo;We had help from RBC, a company that helps with these types of acquisitions. They introduced us to Newfold, and we had a really good connection right from the start.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He remained tight-lipped about any new products or features in the pipeline, only saying that a lot is coming and things will speed up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Newfold is the owner of several high-profile hosting brands, including Bluehost and HostGator &mdash; both offer a managed WordPress service. It would not be unheard of to see a company mix and match its various products to draw in more customers. Nor would it be surprising to eventually see Yoast SEO or even some of the commercial Yoast offerings as part of packaged hosting deals. WP Engine fully integrates StudioPress products, for example, into its packages. However, de Valk said they have yet to discuss anything on that front.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re absolutely right that the things you&rsquo;re proposing here make perfect sense,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So, I think we&rsquo;ll work on those deals and, at the same time, team Yoast will work independently on their products.&rdquo;</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 12 Aug 2021 20:25:37 +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: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:60:\"WPTavern: FSE Outreach Round #9: Building a Higher Ed Header\";s:7:\"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=121395\";s:7:\"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:161:\"https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-9-building-a-higher-ed-header?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fse-outreach-round-9-building-a-higher-ed-header\";s: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:6238:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It feels like it has been ages since the WordPress community has had a call for testing Full Site Editing (FSE) features. The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/handbook/full-site-editing-outreach-experiment/\">FSE Outreach Program</a> was on a small hiatus. However, the WordPress 5.8 launch was also underway last month.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The program is an open call for testing various components of FSE. Thus far, volunteers have successfully provided feedback on features that have already landed in core WordPress, such as block-based widgets and template editing. Testers have delved into others that have yet to be released. Each testing round is open to anyone who can spare a little of their free time and share their findings. The goal is to break things and point out problematic areas of the user experience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/08/11/fse-program-testing-call-9-handling-highered-headers/\">FSE Outreach #9</a> is a community-driven suggestion that calls for building a Higher Ed site&rsquo;s header. Volunteers are asked to follow a 26-step process using the site editor beta feature in the latest version of the Gutenberg plugin and the TT1 Blocks theme.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am a fan of this take on testing, and program lead Anne McCarthy seems to favor doing more of it in the future. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;d like to suggest an idea for a call for testing, know it&rsquo;s very welcomed and all ideas will be weighed against current project priorities to figure out what makes the most sense to pursue,&rdquo; she wrote in the announcement.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the project was all about Higher Ed, I decided to pay homage to my alma mater and use the colors that I wore proudly around campus for five years &mdash; and still do to this day. The following screenshot is the end result:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Before going forward, I must admit that I cheated to get that final look. The call for testing asked that we build from the TT1 Blocks theme. I was able to get <em>close</em> to that result, but I had to switch to a custom theme I have been working on to get past a few hurdles.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I went through each stage of testing with TT1 Blocks and will cover the issues I encountered.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Building a Higher Ed Header</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Just getting off the ground, I ran into my first issue, which turned out to be a non-issue. The internet gods decided to play a trick on me, disallowing me from editing both the Site Title and Site Description blocks. I <em>really</em> wanted my fictional university to be &ldquo;Gutenberg University,&rdquo; but I could not do so without saving my progress and refreshing the browser tab. I was unable to replicate the issue, so I am hoping it was simply a fluke.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the Navigation block still seems the most troublesome area of site editing. I know how much work the development team has put behind the user experience for this feature but cannot help but wonder if there is a point where users can opt into managing its content (the links) via the traditional Nav Menus screen in WordPress. The site editor works fine for the design aspect, but I have yet to feel comfortable using it to manage links.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This stage of testing calls for adding multiple page links as both top-level and sub-menu items. When clicking the <code>+</code> button to add a link, my first instinct is to search for the page itself. However, the available field is a block search rather than a page search.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Accidentally searching for link in block search field.\n\n\n\n<p>To add an actual link, users must first add the Page Link block. Then, they can search for a specific page. This two-step process gets me every time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I ran into the <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33021\">issue for nav menus</a> mentioned in the call for testing where there is no space between items when used inside a Columns block. It pains the purist in me to admit it, but I had to use the Spacer block between each item to fix this. I did not need to do this with my custom theme because, I am guessing, I addressed this somewhere along the way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The &ldquo;space between items&rdquo; option also failed to work with the Navigation block, ruining one of the early design ideas I had. I decided to go in a different direction.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using right-alignment with the Search block did not work. Therefore, I used the 100% width option to align it with my right-aligned nav menu.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Time and time again, I needed to rely on the Spacer block to make adjustments. Part of this was because default margins and paddings are inconsistent among different blocks. The still-missing margin controls on nearly every block also played a hand in this. This is not particularly noteworthy. The development team is aware of and working on extending spacing controls &mdash; they just can&rsquo;t get here fast enough for some of us.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A spacing issue is what led me to ditch TT1 Blocks and switch to a custom theme. The following screenshot is my final work with the former. You may notice the gaping green background between the nav menu group and the header image below it.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />TT1 Blocks theme version with gap in header.\n\n\n\n<p>No amount of tricks or rearrangement of blocks seemed to remove that space, and I simply could not live with that. I had already solved about 90% of Gutenberg&rsquo;s spacing issues with my own theme and did not feel like writing any new CSS to address this. Making the switch also meant that I could get rid of several Spacer blocks I had in place.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from dropping in a header image, one other modification I made was skipping the addition of a Button block for the latest &ldquo;Covid update.&rdquo; I could not bear looking at TT1 Blocks&rsquo; overuse of padding. Instead, I nested a paragraph with a link within a column alongside a Navigation block.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As always, I enjoyed the process. This post is meant to be critical of specific areas in the hopes that it helps build a better WordPress. For all its faults, many other parts offer a solid user experience. Overall, the Gutenberg development team continues to impress.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 12 Aug 2021 03:38:38 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\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:\"WPTavern: Google Site Kit Plugin Ships Hot Fix for Critical Error That Caused Broken Websites\";s:7:\"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=121388\";s:7:\"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/google-site-kit-plugin-ships-hot-fix-for-critical-error-that-caused-broken-websites?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-site-kit-plugin-ships-hot-fix-for-critical-error-that-caused-broken-websites\";s: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:2688:\"<p>Google published an update to its <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-site-kit/\">Site Kit plugin for WordPress</a> this afternoon with a hot fix for a critical issue affecting an unknown number of users. Reports of broken websites were popping up <a href=\"https://twitter.com/thebclang/status/1425450256905510914\">on Twitter</a> and in the plugin&rsquo;s <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-there-has-been-a-critical-error-on-this-website-3/\">support forum</a> on WordPress.org. Users affected by the issue reported having a critical error on all sites using Site Kit, which forced deactivation of the plugin in recovery mode. In some cases it prevented them from accessing their dashboards.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;On Wednesday, August 11, we identified a fatal error in the Site Kit plugin that could be triggered by other plugins or themes using an unprefixed version of Composer,&rdquo; Google Site Kit Support Lead Bethany Chobanian Lang said in a pinned <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/topic/critical-error-issue-update-to-v1-38-1/\">post</a> on the support forum.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Version 1.38.1 contains a hot fix for this issue, since it was critical enough to take down users&rsquo; websites. The plugin&rsquo;s maintainers began <a href=\"https://github.com/google/site-kit-wp/issues/3830\">investigating the issue</a> less than 24 hours ago but are still not sure which plugins&nbsp;trigger the error due to their usage of Composer. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;The reports do not include which specific plugins or themes were causing this, but the error message clearly highlighted the code in Site Kit that was the problem,&rdquo; Google Developer Relations Engineer Felix Arntz said. &ldquo;Technically, that problematic code had been in Site Kit since several versions ago (months back), so maybe another plugin/theme recently got updated with new code that exposed the problem.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After looking at popular plugins, Arntz said he hasn&rsquo;t been able to find one so far that would have triggered the problem. Given Site Kit&rsquo;s broad usage, other affected sites are bound to turn up once users realize there is a problem. Google launched the plugin in 2019 and has since amassed more than a million active installations. The majority of the plugin&rsquo;s user base is running older versions, which may or may not be affected by the current issue. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress.org shows 35.6% of the plugin&rsquo;s users are on version 1.38.x. The hot fix is not backported for older releases, but users running Site Kit version 1.38 with background updates enabled should automatically receive the fix. </p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 12 Aug 2021 02:34:28 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\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:80:\"WPTavern: #6 – Cory Miller on the WordPress Mergers and Acquisitions Landscape\";s:7:\"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:48:\"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=120673\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:203:\"https://wptavern.com/podcast/6-cory-miller-on-the-wordpress-mergers-and-acquisitions-landscape?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=6-cory-miller-on-the-wordpress-mergers-and-acquisitions-landscape\";s: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:65517:\"<h2>About this episode.</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So on the podcast today we have Cory Miller.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cory is likely well known to many of you, he&rsquo;s been a big part of the WordPress community for many years. He founded, grew and sold <a href=\"https://ithemes.com/\">iThemes</a> and is now the owner of <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/\">Post Status</a>, which is a community dedicated to informing WordPress professionals and enthusiasts about the industry.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the topic of the podcast today is the WordPress Mergers and Acquisitions Landscape, and it&rsquo;s the perfect subject for Cory. He&rsquo;s been on both sides of the equation having sold iThemes to Liquid Web in 2018 and then buying Post Status earlier in 2021.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we talk about Mergers and Acquisitions in WordPress, it really seems to polarise opinions. Companies are being bought and sold on an almost weekly basis at present.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are those who worry that we&rsquo;re at a point where larger companies have bought, and continue to buy up, smaller businesses. They see this as a cause for concern; a concern that we&rsquo;re in danger of straying into a future where a few big brands own &lsquo;all-the-things&rsquo;.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand there are people who see this as a sign of the maturation of the WordPress ecosystem. It&rsquo;s a consequence of the success of the WordPress economy that smaller teams have a pathway to profitability, one in which the possibility of being acquired is an attractive option.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&rsquo;s a great deal to discuss here, some of it unexpected, and I&rsquo;m sure that you&rsquo;ll have your own opinions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We try to tackle the subject by going through a list of the &lsquo;good&rsquo; and the &lsquo;bad&rsquo; of WordPress Mergers and Acquisitions. We don&rsquo;t attempt to cover every single angle, but we do try to look at it from both sides.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&rsquo;s great to get Cory&rsquo;s take on the topic.</p>\n\n\nTranscript<br /><div><div class=\"chat-transcript\"><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:00:00]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Welcome to the sixth edition of the Jukebox podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley. Jukebox is a podcast all about WordPress and the community surrounding it. Every month, we&rsquo;re bringing you someone from that community to discuss a topic of current importance, and this month is no different. If you like the podcast, I&rsquo;d suggest that you ought to subscribe, and you can do that by going to WP Tavern dot com forward slash feed forward slash podcast. Use your favorite podcast player and click the subscribe or follow button. If you have any thoughts about the podcast, perhaps a suggestion of a guest or an interesting subject, then head over to WP Tavern dot com forward slash contact forward slash jukebox, and use the contact form there because we&rsquo;d certainly welcome your input.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Okay, so on the podcast today, we have Cory Miller. Cory is likely well-known to many of you. He&rsquo;s been a big part of the WordPress community for many years. He founded, grew and sold iThemes and is now the owner of Post Status, which is a community dedicated to informing WordPress professionals and enthusiasts about the industry.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>So the topic of the podcast today is the WordPress mergers and acquisitions landscape, and it&rsquo;s the perfect subject for Cory. You see, he&rsquo;s been on both sides of the equation, having sold iThemes to Liquid Web in 2018 and then buying Post Status earlier this year.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>When we talk about mergers and acquisitions in WordPress, it really seems to polarize opinions. Companies are being bought and sold on an almost weekly basis at present. There are those who worry that we&rsquo;re at a point where larger companies have bought and continue to buy up smaller businesses. They see this as a cause for concern, a concern that we&rsquo;re in danger of straying into a future where a few big brands own &lsquo;all the things&rsquo;.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>On the other hand, there are people who see this as a sign of the maturation of the WordPress ecosystem. It&rsquo;s a consequence of the success of the WordPress economy, that smaller teams have a pathway to profitability. One in which the possibility of being acquired is an attractive option.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>There&rsquo;s a great deal to discuss here, some of it unexpected, and I&rsquo;m sure that you&rsquo;ll have your own opinions. We try to tackle the subject by going through a list of the good and the bad of WordPress mergers and acquisitions. We don&rsquo;t attempt to cover every single angle, but we do try to look at it from both sides. It&rsquo;s great to get Cory&rsquo;s take on this subject.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>If any of the points raised in this podcast, resonate with you, be sure to head over and find the post at wptavern dot com forward slash podcast, and why not leave us a comment there?</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>And so without further delay, I bring you Cory Miller.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>I am here with Cory Miller. Hello Cory.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:03:45]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Hey, Nathan. Good to see your face. And I know this is a podcast, but also hear your voice again.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:03:51]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>I don&rsquo;t think Cory that we need to introduce you in all honesty, I think you are one of those people that goes with no introduction, but nevertheless, just in case there is a handful of people out there who&rsquo;ve not heard of you before or come across you. Would you just take a moment to explain a little bit about your journey with WordPress and how come we&rsquo;re chatting to you on a WordPress podcast?</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:04:11]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Yeah. So my original start with WordPress started in 2006 as a blogger. In 2008, I started a company called iThemes. Ran that for 10 plus years, we did backups security and maintenance for WordPress websites, in addition to in the early days themes, thus the name iThemes. And then in 2018, we were acquired by Liquid Web. 2019 I started on my next chapter in my journey. Currently, I am the&hellip; I don&rsquo;t know what my title is, but Post Status dot com is now I&rsquo;m full owner of it. Brian Krogsgard, the founder, and I partnered up and then he is onto awesome stuff in the crypto software space. And I&rsquo;m now the community lead, I guess, for Post Status, a awesome community of WordPress entrepreneurs and professionals.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:04:59]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>There&rsquo;s an awful lot to unpack there, but regrettably, we don&rsquo;t have time to go through the history too much. But what was highlighted there is that you have been through the very thing that we&rsquo;re going to be talking about because we&rsquo;ve got Cory on the call today to talk about mergers and acquisitions and whether this is potentially for the good or for the bad, whether there&rsquo;s upsides or downsides. And let&rsquo;s go back to your journey. I&rsquo;m sure that things are different now, that is to say, I think things have hotted up since you sold iThemes, probably there&rsquo;s a lot more paperwork going involved and a lot more scrutiny on how things are transferred and so on. But just wondering if you could tell us, what was your journey like, how did you come to sell iThemes? What were the reasons behind it? And what were the options available to you at the time that you sold iThemes? Were there people clamoring at that time, or was it very much we don&rsquo;t know, people don&rsquo;t sell things in the WordPress space. How did it all work out?</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:05:47]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>There had been a couple of acquisitions in the WordPress space, for sure, and I shouldn&rsquo;t say a couple, numerous acquisitions in the space, but it wasn&rsquo;t like the last year. Last year, the space has been on a tear with mergers and acquisitions, but there had been acquisitions before, in fact, at Post Status, we&rsquo;re working on a page to document all that, the acquisitions that happened in WordPress.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>So in 2016 or so I started to think, what does the future look like? It feels like one day somebody at all the hosting companies goes, I wonder how much this thing called WordPress, what kind of footprint is it in our customer base, in our stack and somebody came back and probably said 40%, 50% or something like that, I&rsquo;m sure way back in the day. And it seemingly overnight a bunch of money and attention from particularly the hosting space turned to WordPress and rightfully so, I mean WordPress is a huge CMS and its footprint on the web is enormous. So around that time, I&rsquo;m seeing all these players kind of come in and, big money, start to come in, and we&rsquo;re talking about billion dollar companies or billion dollar valuation companies or companies with private equity in the billions coming into the space and really turning their attention, and I thought, my job as the leader is to fast forward the movie and see where we&rsquo;re going and make sure, you mentioned in our pre-talk about Monopoly, the game Monopoly, and I thought, wow, we are definitely the David versus Goliath now. We&rsquo;ve been bootstrapped from the beginning from 2008 on, and what does the future look like, and our toolset, the software we&rsquo;re offering at the time, it was very utility, backup security, and maintenance. GoDaddy had bought Sucuri, ManageWP. Automattic was already kind of our competition from the beginning anyway, with Jetpack and at one point their backup service VaultPress. And so Jetpack is another behemoth out there. And, I just go, I think it&rsquo;s time for us to figure this out, what&rsquo;s the next step in a big way, and really that ultimately came down to being acquired. We had a partner in Liquid Web. So they were obviously the first people that had been partnered with him for like a year and really appreciated their leadership team. Eventually my friend, Chris Lema joined them and then my friend AJ Morris was the one that put us on the map for Liquid Web. And they were doing some, wanting to really do some big things and WordPress and long story short that just all worked out. But for us, it was like, at what point do you just need to pull up your stakes and tents and move on and see what you can get? And two reasons, one is financial, of course, but the other is my team. You know, we had about 25 people at that time and I want to make sure our team has a place to land and a great career, and that up until that point, it was either Matt Danner and I, and we had to leave for anybody to have upward mobility really well. When we joined a Liquid Web, at the time, they were like 600 people. So there was a lot of opportunity, career opportunity to move within the company. And they were also doing some great stuff. Now, maybe early in my worries, you know, Mark from Wordfence a great founder, co-founder over there told me, he said, great book called only the paranoid survive. I spent about 10 years in paranoia, like insecurity. But it was time it&rsquo;s turned out to be everything Joe Oesterling and the C Suites team over at Liquid Web, everything they said to me, they have been to the letter of their word. I have really great respect for them. And so iThemes is under the leadership now of Matt Danner is killing it. There have been on the acquisition tear in the last year.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:09:16]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>It is amazing because I think there&rsquo;s two sides to look at it. And we&rsquo;ll explore that as the podcast goes on. There are the good sides and there&rsquo;s possibly some downsides to this whole thing. And certainly from your perspective, it sounds like you had a really positive experience. You managed to hook up with a company who delivered on everything that you hoped that they would. So that&rsquo;s great. But then of course, I suppose there&rsquo;s the other side. The customer side, where there may be more concerns about, well, what does this mean for the product going forward? How is this going to affect the thing that I&rsquo;ve deployed on all my websites? Will it still be maintained? Are these people good custodians and so on? So just to unpack this a little bit. Over the last, like you said, maybe a year or something, we seem to have a real landslide of things happening. There&rsquo;s lots and lots of things, to the point where really a week doesn&rsquo;t go by where there is some merger and acquisition news.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:10:07]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Truly.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:10:07]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Yeah. You follow this probably more closely than I do, but it&rsquo;s happening every single week. And some of them are big names, some of them are much smaller names, but there&rsquo;s a story there every week if you choose to go and find it. I&rsquo;m just wondering if you think this is inevitable. And what I mean by that is, was this always going to be the case? A rising tide carries all boats. If WordPress is getting bigger, it&rsquo;s inevitable, all the things which are supporting WordPress and are built on top of it are going to get bigger as well. Did you see this happening all over the place five, ten years ago? Or did you feel yourself to be a slight exception all those years ago?</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:10:45]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>No, no, no, no, no. 10 years ago I was just living my dream as an entrepreneur growing a business. Most of the time, just holding on to the runaway stagecoach and was just loving every day and every week and every month and every year of our journey. I had a five-year commitment when I started the business, because I knew I&rsquo;ve been a career hopper since I was 16. I&rsquo;ve had a job on average about every two years. Until I started iThemes. I knew when I started iThemes, I had to have a five-year commitment minimum just to get the bird off the ground? So when five years came up, I was like, well, do I want to renew and this is about that time that I&rsquo;m talking about. And I was like, heck yeah, I want to re renew. I want to keep renewing these things. I worked with the most amazing people on earth. That were my friends and my coworkers who held my babies when they&rsquo;re born, who&rsquo;ve been in my house for dinners and fun times, and I got to meet their children, because we had a hybrid remote team. And so I just wanted to keep pushing renew, renew, renew, renew. And it was just at the point where I was like, I don&rsquo;t know what the renew button looks like now. I probably got in a little bit of a dark space in my fast forward in the movie to the end, but no 10 years ago, didn&rsquo;t understand the world of all of this M&amp;A stuff.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>But as I&rsquo;ve come to learn, this is a by-product to WordPress&rsquo; success. That&rsquo;s it. First and foremost, it&rsquo;s a by-product that people would go there&rsquo;s money here, there&rsquo;s value to capture all that kind of stuff. And this is what&rsquo;s called we&rsquo;re kind of seeing it, it&rsquo;s call it a roll-up that they say in that kind of a industry, the M&amp;A kind of field. You&rsquo;re just seeing right now, a big roll-up going on. Small players been scooped up adding features or customers or revenue and all that, but I just wanted to keep renewing until I thought, I don&rsquo;t think my chances are very strong to be able to renew, was concern for all parties involved.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:12:31]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>The thing that I find curious is that I was in a forum the other day, and we were talking through this exact topic. It was a real split. Essentially the conversation was fairly polarized. It was, is this a good thing that we&rsquo;ve got all of these acquisitions? Is it a bad thing, you didn&rsquo;t really get to sit on the fence? You were either going to be one or the other and the people on the, this is a good thing side really were talking about the fact that this is what happens. This is a maturing thing. When an ecosystem, an area of business matures, this is what goes on. There is a coagulation that the people who&rsquo;ve been successful, the people that have got the money to buy things, they go out and they shore up the offering that they&rsquo;ve got. So that was the one side. This is just maturation of an industry. And then on the other side, there were the people who didn&rsquo;t see it that way. And they saw it more as it&rsquo;s just the big guys getting bigger, and there&rsquo;s concerns there because that&rsquo;s going to stifle all of the competition and we&rsquo;re terribly concerned about whether or not things that we&rsquo;ve been built with dedication and heart and by an individual are going to be consumed and they&rsquo;re going to lose their focus and they&rsquo;re going to lose their way. So it really split either way. And because of that, because it was so split, I decided that we&rsquo;d take the podcast in that direction and we&rsquo;d talk about the good bits and the bad bits. So let&rsquo;s go with the good, let&rsquo;s start with all the good things. And I actually think the good list, I was able to come up with more good things than bad things, not many more, but more, some of them really unexpected to me.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>So first of all, If you want to espouse all of the things that you think are good, and then I can do my list or I can do my list, and then you can tell me whether or not you agree with it. It&rsquo;s entirely up to you.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:14:15]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Before we dive into that, I wanted to say, if you pushed me to say yes or no on it, I&rsquo;m very conflicted. Given a broad statement, I&rsquo;m very conflicted. And I started to parse out, is it good for the platform, WordPress? Is it good for the entrepreneurs in the space? Is it good for the people doing the acquisitions? That&rsquo;s a firm yes. The firm yes is for the people acquiring. This is a great thing for the people acquiring. Because of WordPress&rsquo; success the entrepreneurs that have built and help build WordPress to what it is today. I&rsquo;m talking specifically the service agencies, the freelancers, the users, the people that built products like me and my team and others out there that have really contributed to the success of 40% or whatever the footprint is to WordPress today.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>That&rsquo;s been a significant contribution by the commercial community, the Post Status type tech community, the people of WordPress. So I wanted to say that first cause I was like, oh, that&rsquo;s interesting, if you forced me to pick, I&rsquo;m really conflicted. But if I parse out some of those, I&rsquo;m like, okay, maybe I can share. It&rsquo;s still a yes here and a no there, yes here, on each audience. So all that to say, you go with your list and we can talk to you that for sure.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:15:25]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Okay. So this list in part came out of conversations that I was having with people who had been in the middle recently of acquisitions, and some of them were unexpected to me. I couldn&rsquo;t have worked them out myself. So imagine you&rsquo;re working in a company, a small company, much like you had at iThemes, 25 employees. Curious thing, better working conditions came out. So that is to say that the people working at the small company are now working at a big company and they were able to make use of all sorts of things that weren&rsquo;t available to them. So that might be heathcare.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:15:59]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Yeah, I would reframe the phrase, working conditions to benefits and the worker benefits, absolutely, at least in my case. Way better PTO policies, way better health insurance. I&rsquo;m still on Liquid Web, we went on what&rsquo;s called Cobra because my wife worked there before we were acquired, by the way she&rsquo;d worked there three or four years or so. And then when she left last year to start Content Journey for her business, we continued on with Cobra. I&rsquo;ve been on Liquid Web health, probably five years, I think, five years now, I want to say. And so absolutely. And most of the other ones, yeah, they can do it at scale. So, yes.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:16:35]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Yeah, you&rsquo;re right. I don&rsquo;t know why the word conditions came into my list of there, but yeah. So job security. Better healthcare and&hellip; the UK, we have a different healthcare system and it doesn&rsquo;t require quite so much money up front if you know what I mean? So those kinds of things don&rsquo;t matter.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:16:50]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Ah, so jealous.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:16:52]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Well, yeah, health insurance and so on. But then, more of the nuts and the bolts. There&rsquo;s obviously more resources to throw the development of the project, because it may be the developer of a particular project. Maybe they were a solo person, or maybe they were working with a small team and they&rsquo;d reached the end game of what it was that they felt that they could achieve. That really, they were running out of runway. They&rsquo;d run out of inspiration, perhaps they were fed up with it and it gave them an opportunity to hand it on. Maybe they&rsquo;re going to carry on the journey. Maybe they&rsquo;ve been acquired as a part of the deal, but it gives them more people to talk to more ideas and more resources to update their plugin, theme or whatever it might be.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:17:32]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>I would say yes, with this caveat, is the direction is no longer in the hands of the original founder, entrepreneurial team, always, there&rsquo;s new owners, they get to decide what the direction is. That&rsquo;s why you got to be really careful what you carve out in your agreements. But, it&rsquo;s a new owners. Yes, I would think for sure, like us going to Liquid Web, we had the resources of a hosting company who owned their own data centers. I want to say that again, hosting company actually owned their own data centers, which I had set foot in and go, wow, this is kind of rare in today&rsquo;s age. So that was exciting for us because we&rsquo;re like, what would happen if we could control the server hosting environment. Wow. Okay. That&rsquo;s awesome. So, yes, I think in theory and most what I&rsquo;ve seen in practice, absolutely more resources in terms of team products, money, even to fund.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:18:26]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Yeah, I guess everything that we raise on one side probably has a flip side, but in this case, I think we can easily understand and pass the good side of that. The other thing of course is that if you bring along your product or service, just to keep it simple, let&rsquo;s say that you are a plugin developer and you brought along a plugin, then you are rolling into a bigger ecosystem of plugins. And so it becomes a more desirable thing. So from the end user&rsquo;s point of view, my point of view, if I can subscribe to one subscription service and get four or five different plugins all rolled into one. That&rsquo;s a real benefit for me. I&rsquo;m getting them from one vendor. I&rsquo;ve got one support channel, one price to pay. And I don&rsquo;t have to worry now about those three or four different plugins, which I&rsquo;m hoping will cobble together and make my website work perfectly. They&rsquo;re now being managed by the one team. And so there&rsquo;s something to be said about the fact that it&rsquo;s all getting rolled in and you might have just one subscription. I mean, obviously you tried to do that and succeeded with that at iThemes, you had a whole bunch of stuff going on, loads of different things and having them all under one subscription was a great offering. And the bigger that subscription gets in the more things that you can feed into it, the better it is.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:19:38]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Yeah. I think the team that probably does this the best that I&rsquo;ve seen is Syed and his team over at Awesome Motive, which has brands of Optin Monster, WP Forms, Monster Analytics, all that. I don&rsquo;t know if I see a lot of cross selling going on, but I see them being able to take products and promote to an ecosystem to expand that. You&rsquo;re right, at iThemes we call it the Toolkit and it was like the treasure chest. I don&rsquo;t know if you ever get to a dentist&rsquo;s office, and there&rsquo;s this big treasure chest, like a pirate treasure chest. And after you get your teeth cleaned or whatever you did, you can go and dig through that. And that&rsquo;s the way I thought about our toolkit. If I fast forward the tape, I want to see a company within the space actually do that.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>I don&rsquo;t know if I see that right now, one subscription to rule them all kind of thing. I get hosting. I get my plugins, maybe themes in there too, but really, hosting and plugins. I want to see a company doing that. Maybe if we get close to that is maybe Jetpack, where they bundled security and backups and maintenance. And now they&rsquo;ve got these, in their whole ecosystem. Jetpack just rolled out their own mobile app. That&rsquo;s really interesting to me where it&rsquo;s like one price, because here&rsquo;s the problem. Nathan, you&rsquo;ve seen this, you know this. Wix, Weebly and Squarespace, when I first started back in 2006 with WordPress and in 2008 with iThemes, we could gobble up all this, what I probably think of as the lowest end of the market, the ones that I just want to buy hosting for five bucks a month, they want to get a domain name and cobble their site together and do it for under a hundred bucks a year or something like that. Wix Weebly Squarespace came on the scene. I can&rsquo;t remember what it was. I want to say 2013, 14, 15, somewhere around that maybe, and started eating at that bottom level. And now as WordPress has gotten more complex and maybe the dashboard hasn&rsquo;t been updated as much as it should have been, Wix, Weebly and Squarespace come in and just provided this complete ecosystem for one price.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>They don&rsquo;t have to go over here and buy a theme or plug in and pull it in, separate recurring fees and all that stuff. I don&rsquo;t have to worry about updates because it&rsquo;s SaaS and they started eating at the bottom of that. Now that affected our theme business in a big way. And that&rsquo;s a dynamic I&rsquo;d love to see like awesome motive can pull it off. GoDaddy can, they&rsquo;ve made some huge strides with their onboarding. It is pretty dang incredible. I think WP Engine has with their Studiopress acquisition is starting to do some of this, pull it in, into their ecosystem. Liquid Web for sure. Now they&rsquo;ve rolled out Stellar WP, which is basically their brain for all their WordPress products, but I want to see it. I want to see it. I don&rsquo;t have to have 15 subscriptions, I can have one. Now somebody smarter than me, with financial engineering is going to have to do all the math and see if that plays out. But I want to see it as a user.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:22:24]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>I feel that that&rsquo;s the inevitable direction of travel and we&rsquo;ll come back to that because I think possibly that has negatives as well as positives, but yeah, good point. Although the promise of one subscription is a nice one. We don&rsquo;t appear to have that.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:22:38]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>You mentioned, here&rsquo;s a subset of this whole conversation is WooCommerce itself. WooCommerce is a platform in itself, even though it&rsquo;s technically a WordPress plugin and all that. But its footprint is enormous. It&rsquo;s the default defacto software e-commerce software on the planet and it&rsquo;s going to be for the foreseeable future. But if you have five ad-ons, you could probably go through the store to do that. Again, somebody had done initially when they rolled everything together, it&rsquo;s like how much you would spend on a WooCommerce store. I have any commerce operation I&rsquo;m partnered in called the vidibars dot com [?] And it&rsquo;s my first physical product and stunt months it&rsquo;s Anna&rsquo;s who runs it, CEO, but we are not going to go with WooCommerce, we&rsquo;re going to go Shopify. We were started on Big Commerce. Because I didn&rsquo;t want to handle the tech stack. I&rsquo;m not a developer. I might seem sometimes like one second at a, you know, a whole interview that I know what I&rsquo;m talking about, technically, but I wanted to relay all that over there. I didn&rsquo;t want to have to worry about separate plugins and updates and potential car crashes. I wanted SaaS for that. So we went Big Commerce, now we&rsquo;re going to move over to Shopify soon, and it&rsquo;s probably going to be cheaper than tagging those together. I think WooCommerce is fantastic, but that&rsquo;s this result of now one company can controls the ecosystem too, which it has all along, but, you start add up these separate things and it&rsquo;s quite a bit of money.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:23:58]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Yeah. So a good example of that would be Stellar, who just recently acquired Iconic. So they&rsquo;ve obviously got the hosting side taken care of, and now they&rsquo;ve got Iconic WP, which is a suite of WordPress plugins specifically for WooCommerce. You feel that that could become an interesting rival for something like shopify in the e-commerce space because you know that those plugins are going to work. Hopefully they&rsquo;ll maintain them. They&rsquo;re going to sell it as a part of a package. Presumably the support will go with it as well. Just feels like that could become a one subscription rival. And then of course you&rsquo;ve got companies which are still independent, people like Yith and so on, who knows maybe by the time this goes out that have been bought. But for now, it remains by itself.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Okay. That&rsquo;s intriguing. The other thing which occurred to me is still on the good, is innovation. The ability to innovate, and grow things. Obviously, if you are a solo developer, you are probably hands down, writing code most of the time, your ability to market is going to be constrained. And I actually see this quite a lot in other things that I do. I get quite a lot of email from people who have been building their own plugin. They&rsquo;re simply asking for a bit of advice and a bit of help. And can you assist me in marketing this and you feel that the quickest way to do that would be if it was sold and then the company who have all the chops, they have a marketing department, they could do that on your behalf. So I saw that as another possible area, the ability to grow it, market it, and just push it out in front of more.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:25:29]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Yes. If the leverage all, when you pull in, let&rsquo;s say in your latest example, Iconic. Pull their customer base and then be able to share that with the Liquid Web, Nexcess customer base. That&rsquo;s awesome. Fantastic. Yes, absolutely. From an innovation standpoint, I will say my commentary on it and you probably have bad where I can say good or whatever, but my thoughts are, you and I root for the little guy, the David or the Sally or whatever, we root for the entrepreneur. I think today, capitalism or entrepreneurship, the ability to go out there, make money by innovating and serving people and their problems. Now I subscribe to the mantra of purpose plus profit is awesome entrepreneurship. It&rsquo;s not just profit. Profit shows, we&rsquo;ve seen so many weak, terrible examples of people bulldozing other people to just make a buck. I don&rsquo;t believe in that kind of entrepreneurship, but the real awesome entrepreneurship when you want to innovate to serve someone&rsquo;s need better, make their life better, that kind, I bet on all day, every day, because that&rsquo;s where I think innovation comes. Not to say that innovation can&rsquo;t come from any of these companies. It can and does, and will like, for instance, in 2015, 16, maybe, people they&rsquo;d ask me, do you think someone can start a theme business in 2016, 15, 16. And I was like, no, I don&rsquo;t think so. I think the likelihood is very small that would be successful. And then you had companies like, even though they&rsquo;re, I guess technically a plugin, Beaver Builder. You had Elementor, even though those we could nuance that and say their plugins and all that stuff, they innovated in the theme space. And I was like, nope, it&rsquo;s done. But see there again, entrepreneurs will prove you wrong. They&rsquo;ll show, I&rsquo;ve got an idea, I&rsquo;ll execute on the idea and innovate for my customers. And I did look at those two companies, Elementor is gigantic. They are a platform in itself just like WooCommerce is a platform within a platform, but they&rsquo;re a platform. So I think innovation happens in the spark from entrepreneurship, but that&rsquo;s my comment there. It will happen at the bigger companies for sure.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:27:42]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Maybe it starts with the smaller companies, that seems to be my experience, certainly over the last 10 years, is that the real fascinating innovation is happening on the solopreneur side or the small team side. And then I wonder maybe it gets stifled a bit, but certainly from a marketing point, you&rsquo;ve got the opportunity to spread your message wider. That&rsquo;s interesting.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:28:03]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>This comes back to our discussion. Overall, our theme is M&amp;A, and let&rsquo;s take a company like Apple. Huge. I mean, insanely profitable on that. The one I think about a lot is Shazam. It started out as an app on the platform where you could hear something, push the button and like me, this is how I learned, finding music is like, I would Shazam it and it would tell me what the song was and then I&rsquo;d go buy it from iTunes.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Well, Apple at some point goes. Wow, this app is big, they have technology we want. I don&rsquo;t know if Apple actually acquired them or how. I think they eventually did. And I don&rsquo;t know what the details were, but think about that big company like Apple known for innovation takes a smaller startup, pulls it up into their platform. That&rsquo;s a great example of how M&amp;A can work, where the smaller people, the innovation labs known as entrepreneurs in my mind get snapped up by the bigger one, that&rsquo;s harder sometimes to innovate on a large scale like that and pulled in and done that. parts of iThemes we&rsquo;re a strategic acquisition for Liquid Web in that we had iThemes Sync, which does software updates, theme plugins for wordPress websites from one dashboard. They wanted to do that in their product. Cool. Now they got to do that with that product. So connecting that back, you see how there&rsquo;s an natural progression of flow, where an industry like a WordPress starts, at least entrepreneurs innovating, putting products out, making money, and then big money comes in and goes or big companies, whatever, and I was like, wow, let&rsquo;s see what we can do. And they start to pull these pieces in. Like Iconic WP. That is a great product set. I know James, he&rsquo;s a member of Post Status, talk to James. I love his products. That&rsquo;ll be a great add on to whatever WooCommerce hosting that Nexcess &ndash; Liquid Web has, you know, to accelerate, I guess, is the word, accelerate their technology.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:29:50]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>The big companies, which as you say are often hosting companies, they get to fill in the gaps as well with their offering. You just described Shazam, it&rsquo;s a perfect way of Apple making more money because you discover it and you go and buy something off iTunes. Nearly said iThemes then. And so it just fills in the gaps. You can acquire things where you feel that you want to be going in this direction as a bigger company, but you don&rsquo;t have that technology, build it yourself, or just buy it out from somebody who&rsquo;s already built and on 90% of the hard work that you need.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>The other option of course, is just from the point of view of the developer, they might want to just move away. They may just wish to have a slightly different life. They want to stop what it is that they&rsquo;re doing and having a bulk injection of cash very quickly and suddenly being able to take a breather and reevaluate what it is that they want to do with their lives. I know that&rsquo;s a bit of a peculiar one, but I&rsquo;m sure, maybe there was a bit of that with what you were doing at iThemes.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:30:40]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>You mentioned that in our pre-talk with Elliot Condon, from Advanced Custom Fields, that&rsquo;s the stories. I don&rsquo;t know him personally, but everything I&rsquo;ve heard and saw written about it was he wanted his startup baby to go to a good company. And it did with Delicious Brains, and Brad Touesnard over there is fantastic, and this whole team. But Elliot was ready for a next chapter and whatever that is, he was ready for the next chapter. When I was going through mine, I will not say Nathan, consciously, it was like, I&rsquo;m ready for my next chapter. I was really in, oh, wow, we got to figure this out. I got to transition our team, make sure they&rsquo;re taken care of. I want to pull value out of the business, that&rsquo;s my 401k. That&rsquo;s my nest egg, was the business. And so all those things needed to happen, but I&rsquo;ll tell you now what, three years after it, I needed a kick in the butt for my next chapter, I would have kept pressing renew and what had happened to me and here&rsquo;s the downside for entrepreneurs is I put, at some point you experienced some success and you&rsquo;re like, oh gosh, this was tough. Maybe I just want to sit back and enjoy the ride for a little bit. But what happened was I put my career, my skills on autopilot and didn&rsquo;t really grow some key skills, cause I didn&rsquo;t have to. What the acquisition did, and when I left was actually put me in the box of like no other torch, you got to. I didn&rsquo;t get live on a beach forever money. And I didn&rsquo;t, I don&rsquo;t want to live on a beach forever. I want to work. I want to do things that makes people&rsquo;s lives better. And in this thing we call video game, we call it entrepreneurship, but I&rsquo;ll tell you, in retrospect, looking back, I needed that, even though I hated, I still miss my team, I still miss my friends. I still get to talk to some of them, but I&rsquo;m like, I miss those people. They were incredible people. They still are. That was the biggest pain of that. The other probably secondary was identity, and, what am I going to do next? I didn&rsquo;t have a plan B. I put all my eggs in one basket.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:32:38]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>It&rsquo;s just a great option though, isn&rsquo;t it? You mentioned Elliot in that particular case, if those were the thoughts going through his head, he could either just walk away from it, and let the product stagnate, or he can move it along to somebody that he, in his case, like you said, Delicious Brains, trust them feels that that&rsquo;s a perfect place for it to go. He&rsquo;s happy. It&rsquo;s going to have a good future. Millions of people are using it and they continue to be happy, but also he gets to do what he wants, which is to take a bit of time out and have a bit of a change of lifestyle, which is really nice.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Okay. That&rsquo;s my list of goods. I don&rsquo;t know if you&rsquo;ve got any that you feel we missed, but we&rsquo;ll move on to the bads if you don&rsquo;t.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:33:16]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>No, let&rsquo;s go.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:33:17]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Okay. Let&rsquo;s do the bads. One of the things which I fear in all of this is the stifling of competition from it. So you get to the point where a particular product has so much reach. It&rsquo;s got so much marketing clout, they&rsquo;ve got all the money to spend on the advertising of it, and it just becomes&hellip; there is no competition. The other thing which I&rsquo;ve seen happen, I won&rsquo;t mention any names, but people who have the money simply buying out the competition and then just letting it go to waste. They literally take out the competition with money so that their own product is the last man standing for want of a better word. So I don&rsquo;t know if you have any thoughts on that, but that was one negative.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:33:58]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Your competition is a very valid point because what happens when there&rsquo;s only four players, right? Which, it may be like four players in a couple of years, four or five, maybe, I don&rsquo;t know. And that&rsquo;s a very fair point that you see these entrepreneurial companies like us. We&rsquo;re scrappy. Every day, we felt like we had to wake up and earn our right to continue to serve our customers because we&rsquo;re not hugely funded and got all the steam in the world to own it. We were ultimately building on another platform and actually two platforms, WordPress and hosting. Whatever the hosting company they were with.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>So I think that&rsquo;s a very fair point, like competition, where you kind of seen that within the managed WordPress hosting industry, look at all the different players. And I won&rsquo;t say about names cause you know them all, but go and just research and look at the prices and the feature sets. They&rsquo;re pretty similar. I know because about six months, eight months ago, I was looking for managed WordPress hosting. I was dismayed. So you see that where I&rsquo;m not saying there&rsquo;s collusion or anything, but you go, well, there&rsquo;s just this many competitors. They&rsquo;re going to all look at each other and see how they can co-exist and outmaneuver each other.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>But I fundamentally believe even though I hated us as an entrepreneur, Nathan, I&rsquo;m never going to tell you otherwise I hate competition as entrepreneur, but it is absolutely essential, for entrepreneurs for our customers because without competition, you&rsquo;re absolutely right. So they&rsquo;re going to be in a monopoly and then you can force any changes out that you want.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>A great example of this is Google. They are dominant. And from the beginning I&rsquo;ve been saying like a broken record, their thing was don&rsquo;t be evil. Well, I want to have a sign up that says Google&hellip; remember&hellip; don&rsquo;t be evil. Remember this are you straying against this, but that&rsquo;s the pressure we put within the environment because all those publicly held companies have stockholders to satisfy that stock price, they manage religiously because it&rsquo;s part of their job security. And unfortunately, this is a system we&rsquo;ve created is that they&rsquo;ll keep pushing down and ultimately become about money. It&rsquo;s a big cycle that I&rsquo;ve seen that I just baffle at. Down here at the bottom, you got people that have 401ks., Like I had at Liquid Web and my team had it and iThemes and all that. Right. And that gets invested into the stock market and you want it to grow. You expect it and demand it to grow. Well, on the other side of this equation are the people that are at these big companies that you&rsquo;ve invested your nest egg into you. And what&rsquo;s the message out? Go increase value, make sure it&rsquo;s whatever percentage, year over year, quarter over quarter, all that stuff.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>And it&rsquo;s a vicious cycle where then they push it back down to the same people contributing to the 401k to say more money, more money. We got to have this money. It&rsquo;s a crappy viscious cycle. Back to your competition thing. That&rsquo;s part of it. I think competition is good for the space and ultimately for the user, particularly the WordPress user, you got my diatribe here.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:37:10]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>No, no, that&rsquo;s good. It&rsquo;s a pleasure to hear it. I guess the flip side of that might be the country argument may be that in a vacuum where the competition has been basically bought up, possibly stifled. The vacuum creates the opportunity for the next round of people who suddenly want to fill up that vacuum with their own plugin, keep saying plugin, it could be anything, but we&rsquo;ll go with plugin.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>So, okay. All of the decent things, decent plugins in the WordPress space have been acquired by these large companies. Now there&rsquo;s space, now I can come in and pivot and of course the question is, whether you&rsquo;ve got the nouse to compete against the giant marketing budgets, but yeah, Google was a great example. It became something gigantic. It became the incumbent. And at some point there&rsquo;s no choice left. If you want to have a decent search, they seem to be the way to go.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Okay. What about this one? The fear that licensing or terms and conditions that you signed up to, maybe changed. So a plugin is acquired by another company. You&rsquo;ve got it as a WordPress website builder or developer, you&rsquo;ve got it on 50 sites spread around the internet and it works, and you read through the terms and conditions. You know what you&rsquo;re expecting, you know, what your license fee is, you know, the tier that you&rsquo;re on that fear that whoa, hang on. This is all going to change. I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen now. All of my websites are in jeopardy. That&rsquo;s a thing.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:38:32]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>I&rsquo;ve seen it happen. You&rsquo;ve seen it happen, Nathan. And I&rsquo;ll tell you. My values are and do right. Do good. And then you do well. If you do right and good in the world, right? And well in the world, or good in the world, you should do well. If you serve people and help them make their lives better, you should do well.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>You should be handsomely rewarded for that. But sadly, I&rsquo;ve seen companies that kind of went back on their word or whatever had been initially agreed. And I would challenge my colleagues and my friends in the space not to do that. Do right. Do good by people, which means honoring your word. And if you did a lifetime deal or you did something like that, you got to honor that because I&rsquo;ll tell you, I think in the future, Nathan, there&rsquo;s going to be a swell of, in the United States back in the early part of 20th century we had unions. They came about because they were needed because workplace conditions were terrible, particularly in manufacturing and these unions sprung up. Now, today, we see some of those professional unions going down, but I think in the future, there&rsquo;s going to be consumer unions. And you talk about one that&rsquo;s like right, for a consumer union, it&rsquo;s called WordPress, the WordPress community, because all the people around there can band together and say, we won&rsquo;t accept what you&rsquo;ve done.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>I think that&rsquo;s going to have to be the way, we the people are going to have to band together and say, no, that&rsquo;s not right, Google, don&rsquo;t be evil. Facebook, don&rsquo;t be evil. We&rsquo;re going to have to band together and put our force. And that&rsquo;s the only way. And the way you do it, as you hit their hot pocket book, we felt like every customer came in with a dollar voted for our business. And if they stop paying, they voted our business out, out of office or whatever you want to call it. And we can do that, Sally is going to have to happen in the future is because there&rsquo;s going to control so much of the space. So much of the key parts of the board that consumers are going to have to band together and say, no entrepreneurs are going to have to rise upand say, here&rsquo;s my innovative solution. Thankfully, we have a little bit of the GPL to cover us maybe downstream. That is one. I&rsquo;ll give it to Matt Mullenweg, he&rsquo;s been the champion of the GPL from the beginning. Keeping products that aren&rsquo;t SaaS, particularly in the WordPress repo, GPL. And I applaud him for that. I haven&rsquo;t always agreed with him, but I&rsquo;ve respected them. And that&rsquo;s one that I think will help ultimately the WordPress user in the future.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:40:54]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Good point. That&rsquo;s one of the things I&rsquo;ve got down, neither in the good, nor the bad side, is that depending on how it goes, somebody with the right skills can just fork, whatever it is that they feel aggrieved about. But it does concern me that the terms and conditions change, we had a really good example of that not so long ago where there was confusion, it would appear. I think it was a tweet or an email or something led people to believe that the licensing terms were going to be changed. And then the social media storm happened. That seems to be the way at the moment to get everybody&rsquo;s voices out and say, we don&rsquo;t want this to happen, please honor what was the case, and in this particular case, you&rsquo;ll probably know what I&rsquo;m talking about. The company said, oh, okay, that&rsquo;s what you want, that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ll give you. And it all resolved itself very quickly, but concern that those kinds of things in the future will happen. Especially if you&rsquo;ve got a plugin, which is used on millions of sites and literally as the underpinnings of your website business, that would be terribly, terribly worrying.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>The other&hellip; an another concern that I&rsquo;ve got is the simple acquisition of the audience. You are buying the plugin. You have no intention to maintain it at all. You are just buying, dare I say it, you&rsquo;re buying the opportunity to put a little advert in people&rsquo;s WordPress admin area, or you are buying an email list or what have you, and I&rsquo;ve seen that happen as well. So that&rsquo;s a point of concern, not often, but I have seen it happen.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Yeah. It&rsquo;s an effect, potentially effect of all this, but that&rsquo;s back to let your voice be known. WordPress is so strong because, it&rsquo;s eclectic, it&rsquo;s so diverse in a good way, but democratize publishing is the WordPress mission. And so like that means have your voice, say your voice, share your voice. Even if I don&rsquo;t like it, I still promote it. WordPress users are going to have to wake up. And I&rsquo;m going to say it again. WordPress users have to wake up. They have to let their voice be known. They have to find the place to let their voice be known and congregate and share and rally.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Now it doesn&rsquo;t mean like a coup all the time. It means, let your voice of displeasure be known. Mostly, I love how WordPress has been built. Obviously I&rsquo;m so thankful for the thousands of contributors that have made WordPress, what it is today, selflessly over the years to build it to what it is today.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>I&rsquo;m so thankful for that legacy and their work, but it&rsquo;s also a meritocracy where when you contribute and we listen to people. By and large, we, the community listen and let the minority voice be heard. And it&rsquo;s one of the great things about our community is you can have a voice in the community if you choose so. WordPress users have to start choosing to do so.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>That is basically my list. There&rsquo;s a few others, but that was my good / bad list. I have a question for you to round us out and it&rsquo;s a peculiar question and it&rsquo;s yes, no, you got a binary choice or I suppose you could try and sit on the fence on this one.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Given the exact same plugin from a big company or a, let&rsquo;s say solo preneur or a small company. So literally if they were the same Who would you buy from?</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:44:04]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Solopreneur every single day.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:44:05]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Really. That&rsquo;s interesting. And is there a reason behind that? So obviously we&rsquo;ve had this discussion, we&rsquo;ve decided there are these merits and there are these drawbacks to both sides of the argument. Why that way?</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:44:15]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>If there&rsquo;s feature parity, both are doing what you need, and you can rely on support and updates and all that, solopreneur every single day. Because I go back to man, I root for the entrepreneur. I am an entrepreneur. I root for the entrepreneur. So I would for sure lend my support to the entrepreneur over the big company every single day.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Like I&rsquo;m going to go for the David over the Goliath. Every single day I&rsquo;m going to root for the underdog. That&rsquo;s what I take a lot of calls I don&rsquo;t get paid for from Post Status members and others asking, hey, how did this acquisition? Can you give us any tech ways? I&rsquo;m always eager to have those calls because I&rsquo;m trying to walk the talk</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>I root for, I believe in the entrepreneurs. I think entrepreneurship as a career vocation in the world is a sacred one. It&rsquo;s a noble one. If done right. If we do the kind of equation. Do good, do right in the world, and you should do well in the world. What happens when it gets poisonous and terrible and all that is when the script gets flipped and people just say, oh no, no, the equation just profit, profit, profit.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Well, I&rsquo;m sorry if you&rsquo;re just in the profit, profit, profit, and you bulldoze people, I hope you fail. You&rsquo;re not in the entrepreneur category, you&rsquo;re a mercenary. Only about profit. So that&rsquo;s why he said, this is binary and I gave you all this commentary, but I root for the entrepreneur and the one that&rsquo;s doing it right, and doing good for people and serving people and taking care of their people, customers and their team. I&rsquo;ll put my money there every single time.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:45:46]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Really interesting. I wonder what the take-up would be from the audience listening to this, which way they would flip on that one. I had a comment, I said earlier that I was, and I&rsquo;ll round it out here. I was in a forum and we were talking about this exact same thing. Somebody in that forum, I won&rsquo;t mention the name in case they didn&rsquo;t want it to be mentioned, but they compared the current marketplace for WordPress to a game of Monopoly. And in that game of Monopoly, we&rsquo;re at the stage where the houses are being slowly replaced with hotels.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>And what was once a fun game starts to get really serious. And big money starts to move around the board and things blip out of existence with one roll of a dice. It&rsquo;s just struck me as a perfect moment. We are putting hotels on the board, the WordPress board. Fascinating.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-corymiller vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Cory Miller</cite> [00:46:32]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>That&rsquo;s a very good example or analogy or metaphor, whichever one it is.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Hey, here&rsquo;s another question. I&rsquo;ll answer. I&rsquo;m going to give you a question and I&rsquo;m going to answer it. If I have a chance between a non WordPress company and a WordPress company, who am I going to buy from? And that includes Automattic. I&rsquo;m going to say WordPress every single time. I&rsquo;m going to go with a WordPress company for sure. I am a customer of all the companies we&rsquo;ve talked about. Including Automattic. I give my money to those. So WordPress company over non-WordPress company, I&rsquo;m sorry. I&rsquo;m biased. I&rsquo;m going to pick WordPress. Just why I live in Oklahoma. I root for every Oklahoma sports team, because this is my home.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-2\"> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>WordPress is my home entrepreneurs are my people, which is why I love what I do at Post Status. Cause it&rsquo;s the club. It&rsquo;s the tribe. It&rsquo;s the community of WordPress professionals. So Viva WordPress and viva the entrepreneur.</p>\n</div></div><div class=\"chat-stanza chat-row chat-speaker-1\"><div class=\"chat-author chat-author-nathanwrigley vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\">Nathan Wrigley</cite> [00:47:23]</div> <div class=\"chat-text\"><p>Cory Miller. Thanks for joining me on the podcast today.</p>\n</div></div></div></div>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 11 Aug 2021 14:00:00 +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:14:\"Nathan Wrigley\";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:112:\"WPTavern: Elastic Hits Back at OpenSearch, Making Client Libraries Incompatible with Amazon-led Open Source Fork\";s:7:\"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=121321\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:267:\"https://wptavern.com/elastic-hits-back-at-opensearch-making-client-libraries-incompatible-with-amazon-led-open-source-fork?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elastic-hits-back-at-opensearch-making-client-libraries-incompatible-with-amazon-led-open-source-fork\";s: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:7215:\"<p>After Elastic, makers of the search and analytic engine&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.elastic.co/what-is/elasticsearch\" target=\"_blank\">Elasticsearch</a>, re-licensed its core product so that it was <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/elasticpress-io-service-considers-next-move-after-elasticsearch-abandons-open-source-licensing\">no longer open source</a>, Amazon led a community effort to fork it. In July 2021, contributors to the project <a href=\"https://opensearch.org/blog/updates/2021/07/opensearch-general-availability-announcement/\">announced the first general availability (GA) release of OpenSearch 1.0,</a> an Apache 2.0-licensed fork of Elasticsearch 7.10.2 and Kibana 7.10.2.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In what appears to be a slap back at the open source fork, Elastic has begun making its client libraries incompatible with OpenSearch. The Python client was updated to perform an API request that will <a href=\"https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-py/pull/1623\">verify connection to Elasticsearch</a> and raise an error if it doesn&rsquo;t receive the proper response. The PR received 40 &ldquo;thumbs-down&rdquo; reactions from the community and a brief round of criticism before the discussion was shut down.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing to see this,&rdquo; Invenio product manager Lars Holm Nielsen said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re forcing us as bystanders in a battle to choose sides. We develop an Open Source product that could likely easily work with both Elasticsearch or OpenSearch and then the users can choose for themselves if they want Elasticsearch or OpenSearch. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Now, instead, we likely have to make choice for all our users if we want OpenSearch or Elasticsearch. This and other behaviors from Elastic really does not give me any confidence in Elastic and what you might do in the future. And don&rsquo;t blame it all on Amazon &ndash; you&rsquo;ve already changed the server license, you didn&rsquo;t have to make this move.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elastic Senior Engineering Manager Philip Krauss responded before turning off comments on the discussion.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Amazon OpenSearch is a different product,&rdquo; Krauss said. &ldquo;And while there is some shared history, there are already many differences that cause real confusion and issues.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kudos to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/elastic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@elastic</a> for making us all collateral damage in its war with <a href=\"https://twitter.com/awscloud?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@awscloud</a>. It\'s my bad for pinning dependencies as &gt;=7.0.0,&lt;8.0.0 and getting this update automatically on a deploy. But still, pretty crappy to break the ES python package for anyone using AWS. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/elasticsearch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#elasticsearch</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/Vb5VatOXdl\">pic.twitter.com/Vb5VatOXdl</a></p>&mdash; Brad Root (@amiantos) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/amiantos/status/1423063593541541890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2021</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Elastic has also modified its <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-net/pull/5728\">.NET Connector</a>&nbsp;for Elasticsearch to include &ldquo;<a href=\"https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-net/pull/5728\">a pre-flight check on first use</a>,&rdquo; which users do not consider to be an enhancement. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elastic Senior Engineer Steve Gordon said the change is not breaking in supported configurations and that the intent was &ldquo;to make this incompatibility explicit by failing fast to avoid consumers incorrectly assuming they are running in a supported configuration which is not tested and may not function as expected.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week, OpenSearch <a href=\"https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/opensource/keeping-clients-of-opensearch-and-elasticsearch-compatible-with-open-source/\">responded</a> to Elastic&rsquo;s recent changes that render many clients incompatible, by committing to create a set of new client libraries that make it easy to connect applications to any OpenSearch or Elasticsearch cluster:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Many developers who use Elasticsearch and OpenSearch in their applications also make use of the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/client/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">open source client libraries maintained by Elastic</a>, which provide convenient high-level interfaces for several popular programming languages. Over the past few weeks, Elastic added&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-py/pull/1623\" target=\"_blank\">new logic</a>&nbsp;to several of these clients that rejects connections to OpenSearch clusters or to clusters running open source distributions of Elasticsearch 7, even those provided by Elastic themselves. While the client libraries remain open source, they now only let applications connect to Elastic&rsquo;s commercial offerings.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>OpenSearch published a list of a dozen clients for which contributors plan to create forks that will maintain compatibility with all Elasticsearch distributions, even those produced by Elastic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;We do not recommend updating to the latest version of any Elastic-maintained clients, as this may cause applications to break,&rdquo; OpenSearch maintainers urged users in the latest project update.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elastic&rsquo;s decision to prevent official clients from working with open source forks has further undermined any remaining goodwill the company had after re-licensing Elasticsearch.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Looks like Elastic has sucked all the benefit they could from open source and is now spitting out the bones,&rdquo; OSI Director of Standards and Policy Simon Phipps <a href=\"https://twitter.com/webmink/status/1424842761887440905\">said</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>10up, makers of the ElasticPress.io service, one of the most prominent Elasticsearch-powered products in the WordPress ecosystem, is still considering its next move after Elasticsearch abandoned its open source licensing. The company is not in any hurry to choose sides. Vasken Hauri, 10up&rsquo;s VP of Platforms and Systems, said the dispute &ldquo;isn&rsquo;t something that we&rsquo;re concerned about in the near term (the next 2-3 years).&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Upgrading past Elasticsearch 7.11+ would require making a choice between continuing on with Elastic&rsquo;s proprietary offering or switching to the open source fork. Hauri said that the company is &ldquo;barely taking advantage of most of the features Elasticsearch offers now&rdquo; and projects that the current roadmap &ldquo;could probably run another couple of years without any need to get new features from Elasticsearch.&rdquo; For the time being, the 6,000+ users of the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/elasticpress/\">ElasticPress WordPress plugin</a> and customers of the <a href=\"https://ElasticPress.io\">ElasticPress.io</a> service have nothing to worry about as a result of Elastic&rsquo;s renewed war with Amazon.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 11 Aug 2021 05:46:54 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s: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: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:82:\"WPTavern: Emoji Toolbar Plugin Brings an Emoji Picker Back to the WordPress Editor\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=121332\";s:7:\"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:209:\"https://wptavern.com/emoji-toolbar-plugin-brings-an-emoji-picker-back-to-the-wordpress-editor?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=emoji-toolbar-plugin-brings-an-emoji-picker-back-to-the-wordpress-editor\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3419:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Earlier today, theme.es released its <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/emoji-toolbar/\">Emoji Toolbar</a> project to the plugin directory. It is a simple picker that integrates with the WordPress Rich Text toolbar, allowing users to insert emoji directly from the editor interface.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After Nick Hamze pulled his <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/emoji-conbini-and-the-case-for-a-block-enhancements-directory\">Emoji Conbini</a> plugin from WordPress.org last year, there has been an emoji-sized hole in my editor toolbox. The plugin was the perfect implementation for quickly plopping a quick smiley face or any of the other thousands of characters available. Unfortunately, his departure from the WordPress space meant losing one of my favorite block-related plugins &mdash; and several others that I enjoyed.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was also on par with 10up&rsquo;s <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/inserting-special-characters-into-the-block-editor\">Insert Special Characters</a> plugin, a solution for users missing a similar picker from the classic editor era.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Emoji Toolbar is filling that void and is a solid alternative for those who need a solution. The difference between the two implementations is the location. Emoji Conbini added the picker button directly to the toolbar, and Emoji Toolbar adds it to the &ldquo;more&rdquo; dropdown.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Clicking the Emoji button in the Rich Text toolbar.\n\n\n\n<p>Placing the picker button inside of the dropdown makes it a little harder to find. It also requires an additional mouse click to insert emoji. What matters is that the implementation works, but I would love to see it as a top-level toolbar item.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the plugin is a simple matter. When in a Rich Text field, which includes blocks like Paragraph, Heading, List, and more, the Emoji Toolbar appears in the block toolbar. After clicking it, the plugin creates a popup of the emoji picker.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Emoji Toolbar popup picker.\n\n\n\n<p>From that point, users merely need to click the emoji they want to insert into the post.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin bundles the <a href=\"https://github.com/missive/emoji-mart\">Emoji Mart</a> library, which has quickly become almost a standard for emoji pickers. The component is a Slack-like box that categorizes each of the characters, and it provides a field for searching for that perfect emoji.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is still at least one emoji inserter alternative. Instead of adding a picker to the block toolbar, <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/emoji-autocomplete-gutenberg/\">Emoji Autocomplete Gutenberg</a> allows users to type <code>:</code> and use keywords for inserting characters. For those who prefer to work from the keyboard, it is a quicker method.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Emoji Toolbar shines over Emoji Autocomplete Gutenberg and the now-retired Emoji Conbini based on how it formats its output. It inserts the actual characters into the content, but the other plugins insert an <code>&lt;img&gt;</code> tag instead. That method results in output that is not forward-compatible with any changes in the future or alternative libraries. Users who also prefer to disable image output on the front end cannot do so. This is a non-issue with Emoji Toolbar &mdash; it plays well with other solutions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the whole, the plugin is solid. It has well-written code and provides an easy-to-use picker for inserting emoji.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 10 Aug 2021 21:10:04 +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: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:68:\"WPTavern: Automattic Invests $30M in Titan, a Business Email Startup\";s:7:\"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=121219\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:177:\"https://wptavern.com/automattic-invests-30m-in-titan-a-business-email-startup?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=automattic-invests-30m-in-titan-a-business-email-startup\";s: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:4291:\"<img />source: <a href=\"https://titan.email/\">Titan.email</a>\n\n\n\n<p>Automattic has <a href=\"https://titan.email/titan-funding-announcement/\">invested $30 million in Titan</a>, a professional email suite aimed at businesses and companies offering white-labeled email solutions for customers. At <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/video-matt-mullenweg-and-josepha-haden-chomphosy-join-wordcamp-india-for-fireside-chat\">WordCamp India 2021</a>, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg said that the company had just made &ldquo;a pretty large investment&rdquo; in the India-based startup and stated that it &ldquo;will be a big part of how WordPress.com offers email going forward.&rdquo; The Series A investment in Titan is Automattic&rsquo;s largest to date and values the company at $300 million.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Automattic has gained notoriety for its &ldquo;<a href=\"https://www.inc.com/glenn-leibowitz/meet-the-ceo-running-a-billion-dollar-company-with-no-offices-or-email.html\">no offices or email</a>&rdquo; approach to business, most of the working world has not yet transitioned away from relying heavily on email.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;I think email is definitely on its way out, between things like P2 and&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://slack.com/\">Slack</a>, which is a work place chat tool,&rdquo; Mullenweg said on Glenn Leibowitz&rsquo;s <a href=\"https://www.inc.com/glenn-leibowitz/meet-the-ceo-running-a-billion-dollar-company-with-no-offices-or-email.html\">podcast</a> in 2015. &ldquo;Email just has so many things wrong with it. I&rsquo;ve never heard anyone who&rsquo;ve said they love email, they want more of it&ndash;have you?&rdquo; </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Six years later, email is still a reliable source of misery for most working people, but Titan aims to transform it into a more meaningful communication channel for businesses with help of Automattic&rsquo;s investment. It includes <a href=\"https://titan.email/features/\">features</a> like scheduled send, follow-up reminders, smart filters and custom folders, email templates, and white labeling with deep integration for various platforms.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress.com&rsquo;s marketing has increasingly been aimed at small businesses over the past few years with a strong push for users to make money by selling things through their websites. It&rsquo;s easy to see how Titan makes sense as a supporting product that legitimizes any business with a <a href=\"https://wordpress.com/support/add-email/adding-professional-email-to-your-site/\">custom branded email address</a>. Customers who have registered, transferred, or mapped a custom domain through WordPress.com are offered a three-month free trial of Titan-powered email services.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>Setting up custom branded email addresses separately would be a much more inconvenient process and most customers with custom domains are likely better off rolling email services into their existing WordPress.com setup. This strategically enables WordPress.com to be more of a one-stop shop for business needs. People are often reluctant to change their email providers so Titan has the effect of making WordPress.com&rsquo;s products a more sticky subscription that would require some effort to reproduce elsewhere.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;We need an alternative to&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GOOGL:US\">Google</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/MSFT:US\">Microsoft</a>, which have started to monopolize email,&rdquo; Mullenweg told <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-03/automattic-values-business-email-startup-titan-at-300-million?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_content=business&utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business\">Bloomberg</a>. &ldquo;Of about 6 billion email accounts in the world, only a fraction are small business email accounts and they need a product that&rsquo;s focused on their needs,&rdquo; he said. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>After just two years, Titan has more than 100,000 small business customers. In addition to its relationships with WordPress.com, HostGator, NameSilo, and other web providers, Titan aims to grow its customer base by partnering with popular hosting companies, domain registrars, and site builders.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 10 Aug 2021 04:52:31 +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: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:74:\"WPTavern: Is WordPress Development Really All That Hard To Get Into Today?\";s:7:\"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=121083\";s:7:\"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/is-wordpress-development-really-all-that-hard-to-get-into-today?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-wordpress-development-really-all-that-hard-to-get-into-today\";s: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:9941:\"<p>Oh, how easily we forget the WordPress of 10, 15 years ago.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are spoiled. We are spoiled by the gluttony of documentation and tutorials, a wealth of knowledge created over more than a decade. We are spoiled by our own expertise, built-in our more vigorous youth, now sitting on our haunches as we have aged along with our beloved platform.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have grown to become the proverbial grumpy old men. &ldquo;Back in my day, we didn&rsquo;t need all these fancy tools to help us write code. We pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps and built everything from scratch.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I kid. Sort of. I count myself among the old-school developers who helped build the WordPress that so many are still nostalgic about &mdash; <em>I think I have earned the right to joke about myself</em>. They were &ldquo;simpler&rdquo; times but not really.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having been in the community as long as I have, I can remember the backlash each time a new feature landed. I recall the days when there really was non-existent documentation for pretty much everything.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lately, there has been a growing conversation around the difficulty of overcoming WordPress&rsquo;s current barrier to entry for developers. This has been an ongoing discussion for a few years now, but the latest flare-up comes on the heels of a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChrisWiegman/status/1420068080944885767\">tweet by Chris Wiegman</a>:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>The deeper I get with modern WP dev the more I understand why newer devs don&rsquo;t like to work on it. This is not the same project as it was in the past. The learning curve is now extremely high regardless of past experience.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/taking-the-leap-building-my-first-wordpress-block-plugin\">built my first block plugin</a> in a few hours about a month ago. When writing on the experience, I said the barrier to entry was much higher than when I had built my first plugin in 2007. Having had the time to sit back and think about that, I am not sure it was a fair statement. We tend to view the past through rose-colored glasses while forgetting the real struggle.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What I had wanted was to build the plugin in 30 minutes. Had everything been in PHP, that would have been an easy feat for me. Objectively, I am an expert (or close enough) in the language. However, my JavaScript knowledge is 10 years behind.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It had been a while since I had been challenged in that way. That was a distressing experience for someone who had become comfortable in his own skills.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I griped about the docs. But, let&rsquo;s be honest. WordPress has never had the sort of deep documentation that could teach a budding developer everything. I know this because I have written at least a couple hundred tutorials in my career. Nearly every time, I dug into the project&rsquo;s source code to make sense of it, which allowed me to teach other developers how to work with various features. And many other developers in the space did the same.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In time, WordPress.org added more robust developer documentation, but this was not built overnight. It is a constantly evolving project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also built my first block type with vanilla JavaScript. No build tools. No React docs open. Just plain ol&rsquo; JS code in my editor. I needed to crawl before I could walk, and getting that first iteration of the code into a workable state was necessary before I jumped into anything more complex.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the days after, I re-coded it all to use more modern JavaScript and compiled it with webpack. A week after that, I built a second block plugin with more advanced features.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Was it hard?</em> Definitely. <em>Was the barrier to entry higher than when I first developed plugins?</em> Probably. Truthfully, I did not struggle as much, but I am also at a different point in my life. At 37, I no longer have quite as much drive and likely less capacity for picking up new skills as quickly as in my late teens and early 20s. However, I have a strong foundation and enough experience to overcome some of the hurdles I encountered.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Would a 20-year-old me struggle with this JavaScript landscape more than a strictly PHP-based WordPress?</em> I doubt it. Both had huge learning curves for someone new.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Someone&rsquo;s first introduction to Subversion or Composer can be just as scary as their initial dive into webpack and npm. For a fresh mind, an open canvas that has yet to be painted with over a decade of doing things the &ldquo;WordPress way,&rdquo; I am unsure if the barrier to entry is so much higher.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For us old-schoolers, our world has been flipped upside down. There is no denying that. The Gutenberg project, which is at the core of nearly every new WordPress feature, moves so fast that it is next to impossible to keep up with while also upping your skills. It is easy to get overwhelmed. When this happens to me, I usually take a step back and return when I have had a chance to rest my mind.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contributing to the WordPress ecosystem has always had one barrier or another. Whether it be the privilege of time, knowledge of PHP, or some other skill, the project has left some people out. That is changing in some ways. Some parts are now available to users that were never accessible before. This is easiest to see from the theming side of things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;I wish people would see that theme development is heading the opposite way,&rdquo; <a href=\"https://twitter.com/carolinapoena/status/1420220865405497350\">tweeted Carolina Nymark</a>. &ldquo;The entry barrier for designers and new developers will be lower. When people get stuck saying, &lsquo;But I can&rsquo;t use my hooks in a block theme,&rsquo; it is because they are looking at what exists today, not ahead.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having spent more time on the theming side of the block editor than plugin development, I agree wholeheartedly. Theme authors have been given a clean slate, or at least by the time block-based themes are supported in core WordPress, this will be true.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While I could write <em>ad nauseum</em> on the details of how theme development itself is leaps and bounds better, the revolutionary part is how the system welcomes those who had no entryway in the past.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alongside version 5.8, WordPress.org <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-org-block-pattern-directory-now-live\">opened the first iteration</a> of its <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/patterns/\">pattern directory</a>. Soon, any user will be able to contribute custom block patterns without writing a single line of code. They can simply create layouts from the editor, copy them, and share them with others.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the site editor lands, it will once again change the game. Non-coders will have the power to essentially create entire front-end designs without any preexisting programming knowledge.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If WordPress must become more complex for developers to provide end-users this much power, I can live with that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The highest barrier to entry &mdash; as it has always been &mdash; is contributing directly to WordPress. Or at least contributing to the block side of things via Gutenberg.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/contributors/code/getting-started-with-code-contribution/\">The Getting Started With Code Contribution</a> section of the Block Editor Handbook is a dizzying list of installation notes and procedures that can be off-putting to even the most seasoned developer. Because just about everything is a third-party tool, any trouble you run into just setting up your system is likely to land you in support forums or chatrooms outside of WordPress. Even moving past setup, contributing code to Gutenberg is unlike the days of yore.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is lacking is the history. We had a decade and a half to perfect our systems for classic WordPress. It was often ugly and brutal building the platform and the ecosystem around it to a point where it was a comfortable space for developers. We have had only three years for modern WordPress to feel as natural as in years past.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am ever the optimist, hoping that in another 15 years&rsquo; time, we are having these same discussions about the new technology stack that WordPress 10.0 has introduced. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing our documentation evolve, our developer community expanding its skillset, and new WordPressers coming along for the journey.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Continued Reading</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In this discussion, there are no right or wrong answers. The conversation matters because it enriches our knowledge and informs how we build the next version of WordPress and the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following are links related to this topic that helped inform my thoughts. Each is worth a read, listen, or viewing. If I missed any that others have published, feel free to link them in the comments.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://chriswiegman.com/2021/08/the-changing-wordpress-ecosystem/\">The Changing WordPress Ecosystem</a></li><li><a href=\"https://mkaz.blog/wordpress/modern-wordpress-development/\">Modern WordPress Development</a></li><li><a href=\"https://courtneyengle.com/2021/08/02/wordpress-learning-curve/\">WordPress Learning Curve</a></li><li><a href=\"https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/28/theme-creation-is-now-easier/\">Theme creation is now easier</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wpmainline.com/podcast/wp-mainline-episode-5-contributing-and-developing-for-wordpress-is-not-as-easy-as-it-used-to-be/\">WP Mainline Episode 5 &ndash; Contributing and Developing for WordPress Is Not as Easy as It Used to Be</a> (podcast)</li><li><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJAje6JveCw&ab_channel=DavidVongries\">Is Gutenberg Killing WordPress Themes? Challenges for a Theme Developer in a Gutenberg World.</a> (video)</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:\"Mon, 09 Aug 2021 22:38:51 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s: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:55:\"WordPress.org blog: Widgets in WordPress 5.8 and Beyond\";s:7:\"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=11115\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:71:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/08/widgets-in-wordpress-5-8-and-beyond/\";s: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:4900:\"<p><strong><em>Copy and Design by <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/critterverse/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>critterverse</a> </em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.8 brings the power of Gutenberg blocks to widget areas — which means the highly customizable layout and styling options bring you closer to a&nbsp;WYSIWYG editing experience. I made a test site based on the oldie-but-goodie <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/twentysixteen/\">Twenty Sixteen theme</a>, with three separate widget areas. In this post, I’ll highlight a few cool things that are now possible to do with your widgets and where things may be heading next.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?ssl=1\"><img width=\"632\" height=\"1130\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/site-long-1x.png?resize=632%2C1130&ssl=1\" alt=\"A zoomed-out view of a single post with one sidebar widget area and two footer widget areas. The site content is about Marine Park Salt Marsh. A List View of blocks floating next to each widget area shows how the design is constructed.\" class=\"wp-image-11116\" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Create Interesting Visual Effects With Overlapping Layouts and Duotone Images</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Appearance-wise, users have a lot more control over widget areas than ever before — especially through the use of blocks with customization options like the Cover and Image block. Here’s what I can create in the classic widgets editor (above) versus what I can create in the new block-based widget editor (below).</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2>Intersperse Widgets and Custom Code Throughout Your Visual Designs</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Container blocks like Cover and Columns make it easy to weave dynamic or interactive elements into your designs. While this is a given for many widgets, the block versions of widgets can be easily wrapped and layered within container blocks to integrate them into your layout more fully.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the example below, I tried placing a Search block in front of a Cover block, which creates a nice layered effect. I also inserted Custom HTML blocks within a Columns block to display different messaging depending on the time of day. (<a href=\"https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31242051/show-content-based-on-time-of-day-timing-changes-on-different-days-of-the-week\">jQuery script</a>)</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2>Use Traditional Widget Layouts (Or Not) With Lots of Flexibility Over Title and Structure</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Classic widgets have always had a lockup that includes a widget title. One cool thing about having blocks in widget areas is that you have complete flexibility over how titles appear. For example, you might choose to have a title over every widget, you might only want one title at the top of each widget area, or your design might not need titles at all.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note: Some themes, like <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/twentytwentyone/\">Twenty Twenty-One</a>, are designed to flow content horizontally within widget areas. If you’re having trouble with a theme splitting your layout into columns, you could try keeping the lockup together by containing it within a Group block.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?ssl=1\"><img width=\"632\" height=\"381\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/grouped.jpg?resize=632%2C381&ssl=1\" alt=\"Side-by-side comparison of List View of a Sidebar widget area with and without grouped/nested lockups.\" class=\"wp-image-11122\" /></a></div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Copy &amp; Paste Existing Layouts From the WordPress Pattern Directory</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While patterns haven’t been fully integrated into the widget editors yet, one thing you <em>can</em> do is copy and paste patterns from the game-changing new <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/patterns/\">WordPress Pattern Directory</a> into your site’s widget areas. I used this <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/patterns/pattern/horizontal-call-to-action/\">horizontal call to action</a> pattern from the directory almost exactly as is, with minor color and copy adjustments:</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?ssl=1\"><img width=\"632\" height=\"389\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/08/footer.jpg?resize=632%2C389&ssl=1\" alt=\"Footer widget area with a black box that reads, “Become a monthly patron” with paragraph text and a “Join now” button in a separate column. A painted image of waves hitting rocks is directly below with no space between them.\n\" class=\"wp-image-11123\" /></a><br /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>FYI: Patterns have not been curated for or integrated into widget areas yet, so you may run into some unexpected behavior — consider this feature to be a preview of what’s coming next for widget editing!</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 09 Aug 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: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: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:100:\"Gutenberg Times: Modern WordPress Development is hard, Theme Building and more -Weekend Edition #180\";s:7:\"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=18698\";s:7:\"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:108:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/modern-wordpress-development-is-hard-theme-building-and-more-weekend-edition-180/\";s: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:16178:\"<p>Howdy, my friend! </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Greeting from Germany, where we follow a mask mandate again for buildings, shops, and restaurants. The weather is switching rapidly between cold and rain to clear sky&#8217;s and heat within hours. We learned quite a bit <a href=\"https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/everything-you-need-to-know-about-powerline-networking/\">about power line networking</a> while setting up our home office for two at my parent&#8217;s home. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the break last week, we have plenty of information, discussions, and creative updates for you. Due to vacation time, we didn&#8217;t see a big changelog, though. It&#8217;s all good.  We all can use a breather and catch up on the finer points of Gutenberg development. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s dive in, <br />Yours, 💕<br />Birgit</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<h2>Gutenberg 11.2 </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/gutenberg/\">Gutenberg 11.2 was released.</a></strong> You can read up about it <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/\">on the release post</a>, as mentioned above, there were many small but powerful changes to blocks, site editor.  <strong>Sarah Gooding </strong><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-11-2-expands-color-support-for-search-and-pullquote-blocks-introduces-experimental-flex-layout-for-group-block\">has the skinny for you</a> on the WordPress Tavern. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Grzegorz Ziolkowski </strong>and I recorded the Gutenberg changelog episode #49 yesterday.</p>\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">📢 <strong>New <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/changelog-49-drag-and-drop-flex-layout/\">Episode #49 is now available</a>! </strong>🎙️<br />Birgit Pauli-Haack and Grzegorz Ziolkowski discuss Gutenberg plugin release 11.2, drag and drop, flex layout, core data shortcuts and modern WordPress development.</p>\n\n\n\n<p> <strong>Subscribe to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/\">Gutenberg Changelog</a>&nbsp;podcast </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<img />\n\n\n\n\n<h2>Modern WordPress Development is Hard!</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My friend, <strong>Chris Wiegman</strong>, started an interesting, multi-faceted discussion on a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChrisWiegman/status/1420068080944885767\">changing WordPress ecosystem for developers on Twitter.</a> Others chimed in, like Matias Ventura, Alain Schlesser, Victor Ramirez, Rich Tabor, Mark Wilkinson, Jessica Lyschik and many more. </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Chris Wiegman</strong> followed up with a blog post: <strong><a href=\"https://chriswiegman.com/2021/08/the-changing-wordpress-ecosystem/\">The Changing WordPress Ecosystem</a>.</strong> </li><li><strong>Marcus Kazmierczak</strong> wrote <strong><a href=\"https://mkaz.blog/wordpress/modern-wordpress-development/\">Modern WordPress Development</a> </strong>in addition to Chris&#8217; post.</li><li><strong>Courtney Robinson</strong> chimed in from the training aspect, describing the <strong><a href=\"https://courtneyengle.com/2021/08/02/wordpress-learning-curve/\">WordPress Learning Curve</a> </strong>and the need for ongoing learning.  </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the tweet and the blog post, <strong>Chris Wiegman</strong> wrote another blog post <strong><a href=\"https://chriswiegman.com/2021/08/learning-react-fast/\">“Learn React Fast”</a>,</strong> raving about the <a href=\"https://ReactForBeginners.com/friend/PAULISYSTEMS\">ReactJS for Beginners Course by Wes Bos.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2021\">Stack Overflow</a></strong> published their annual survey results. Here are some numbers. </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>This year, React.js (40.1%) surpassed jQuery (34.4%) as the most commonly used web framework.</li><li>JavaScript completes its ninth year in a row as the most commonly used programming language.</li><li>Technology: 22.54% of Professional Developers work in PHP, 68.62% work in JavaScript. </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s quite reassuring that WordPress is not stuck where it was 10 years ago (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-3-2/\">v 3.2</a> &#8211; <a href=\"https://w3techs.com/technologies/history_overview/content_management/all/y\">w3tech 13.1%</a>). The web has evolved exponentially since then, and so has WordPress and the surrounding community. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am eagerly awaiting to read through all the various branches of the twitter thread where more developers shared their experiences and their lessons learned.  The discussion is, of course, ongoing. It seems to be coming in waves.</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 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>Content Creation and #nocode WordPress</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Gutenberg has opened the eco-system to many possibilities that haven&#8217;t been there before, at least not without in-depth knowledge in software programming</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Preparing for a talk at a non-WordPress conference, <strong>Chris Lema</strong> published parts of his slidedeck in <a href=\"https://chrislema.com/using-wordpress-without-writing-any-code/\"><strong>Using WordPress Without Writing Any Code</strong></a>. Lema also inspired me to look at <a href=\"https://automatorplugin.com/\">Uncanny&#8217;s Automator for WordPress plugin</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tammy Lister</strong> wrote a tutorial on <a href=\"https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/31/creating-a-page-to-display-content-from-across-multiple-sites/\"><strong>Creating a page to display content from across multiple sites</strong></a>. She gives you a tour of the RSS Block, how to add it and combine it with other blocks.  Lister also shows you how to style it via theme.json and how to build  a page template in the new site editor. In conclusion, she wrote: <em>&#8220;Creating a collection of content on a page previously took a lot more to do. You would either have had to know development or used a plugin. Now, you can use a block that core provides, and it has styling out of the box ready to go.&nbsp;&#8220;</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>B.J. Keeton </strong>of Elegant Themes wrote a tutorial on<strong> <a href=\"https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/wordpress/how-to-use-the-wordpress-event-block-by-automattic\">How to Use the WordPress Event Block by Automattic</a></strong>. There are plenty of occasions, when you don&#8217;t need a big event&#8217;s management plugin to announce and market your events on your website. More often than none, event registration and attendee management is better handled by other SaaS products. With the event block, you can highlight your event and guide the future audience to the right place for more information, registration, and payment. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc_S2lYF9sY\">In his latest video</a>, <strong>Nick Diego</strong>, walks us through how to manage the visibility of block content using the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-visibility/\">Block Visibility WordPress plugin</a>, while making live edits to  the plugin&#8217;s website. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chris Wiegman</strong> wrote a comparison theme review: <strong><a href=\"https://chriswiegman.com/2021/07/blocksy-vs-generatepress/\">Blocksy vs GeneratePress</a>.</strong> The article is helpful not only because of those two themes. It&#8217;s a good blueprint, on a  decision-making process for selecting a theme for your site. Wiegman describes clearly the problem to be solved and why he took the approach he took. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Block-based Theme Development </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong</strong> posted <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/configuring-theme-design-with-theme-json/\"><strong>Configuring Theme Design with theme.json</strong></a> on WordPress.org News section. A deep dive into the new method to configure themes and support features of the block editor. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>The state of <strong>Full-Site Editing</strong> was the topic of last month&#8217;s <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/07/30/hallway-hangout-discussion-on-full-site-editing-issues-prs-designs-30-july/\"><strong>Hallway Hangout with Anne McCarthy and theme developers around the globe</strong></a>. McCarthy provides a summary of the topic and the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-BsJoeT8Qk\">recording is available on YouTube</a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Brian Gardner</strong>, former StudioPress, now building block-based themes at <a href=\"https://frostwp.com/\">Frost.</a> Take a look at the just released <a href=\"https://frostwp.com/starter-sites/\"><strong>Starter Sites.</strong></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/critterverse\">Channing Ritter</a></strong> of the design team published additional details on block-based <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/07/27/widgets-in-wordpress-5-8-and-beyond/\">Widgets in WordPress 5.8 and Beyond</a>.</strong> In this post, Ritter highlighted a few cool things that are now possible with widgets, and she took a look at where things may be heading next.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://ephemeralthemes.com/2021/07/28/theme-creation-is-now-easier/\">Theme creation is now easier</a>,</strong> found <strong>Tammie Lister</strong> in her post, while <strong>Justin Tadlock </strong>points out the obvious in<strong> </strong>his article: (&#8230;) <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/theme-creation-will-be-easier-but-we-are-not-there-yet\"><strong>we are not there yet</strong></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/jcasabona\">Joe Casabona</a> </strong>has joined <em><a href=\"https://fullsiteediting.com/courses/\">Carolina Nymark</a></em> and <em><a href=\"https://wpdevelopment.courses/courses/\">Fränk Klein</a></em> in offering an online course on Full-Site Editing: <a href=\"https://masterfse.com/\"><strong>Master Full-Site Editing</strong></a>. Casabona offers a 50% discount for now.  </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/karks88\">Eric Karkovack</a></strong> asked, <strong>&#8220;<a href=\"https://speckyboy.com/full-site-editing-help-wordpress-themes-potential/\">Will Full Site Editing Help WordPress Themes Finally Reach Their Potential?”</a></strong>. He wrote: &#8220;<em>Instead of offering completely rendered designs, a theme might include an array of options for the header, footer, navigation, and content area. From there, a website owner can choose the options that best fit their needs and fill in the blanks with content.</em>&#8220;</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Carolina Nymark</strong> updated her <a href=\"https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=CarolinaNymark.wordpress-block-markup\"><strong>Block Markup VSCode extension</strong></a>. It includes autocomplete snippets that helps you add blocks to your templates faster. For the latest update, Nymark included the change from Query Loop to Post template and added the Search Block and Query Pagination. </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?style=for-the-badge\" /></p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2>Building Blocks for Gutenberg</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alex Standiford </strong>chimes in with <a href=\"https://www.wpdev.academy/concepts/blocks-have-changed-how-we-approach-building-themes-heres-how/\"><strong>&#8220;Blocks Have Changed How We Approach Building Themes – Here’s How.</strong></a> </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rich Tabor</strong> helps you <a href=\"https://richtabor.com/todo-list-block/\"><strong>Manage WordPress publishing tasks with the Todo List Block</strong></a>. After creating the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/markdown-comment-block/\">Markdown Comment plugin</a>, he also created a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/todo-list-block/\">To-Do list block for content creators</a>.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>I list it under the Block Building headline because Tabor has been an early adopter of Gutenberg with <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/coblocks/\">CoBlocks</a> which GoDaddy bought even before the Block Editor was merged into WordPress Core in 2018. Studying his code and approach will make you a better block builder. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tabor has been busy writing tutorials for building and extending blocks on his blog</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://richtabor.com/block-styles/\">How to add and remove Gutenberg block styles with JavaScript</a></li><li><a href=\"https://richtabor.com/gutenberg-block-templates/\">The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Block Templates in Gutenberg</a></li><li><a href=\"https://richtabor.com/build-publish-gutenberg-block-plugins/\">How to Build &amp; Publish Gutenberg Block Plugins to the Block Directory</a></li><li><a href=\"https://richtabor.com/gutenberg-block-plugins/\">A Primer on Gutenberg Block Plugins for the WordPress Block Directory</a></li></ul>\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, 07 Aug 2021 22:18:34 +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: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: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:79:\"WPTavern: Automattic Releases Quadrat, a Block-Based Podcasting WordPress 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=121215\";s:7:\"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:201:\"https://wptavern.com/automattic-releases-quadrat-a-block-based-podcasting-wordpress-theme?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=automattic-releases-quadrat-a-block-based-podcasting-wordpress-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:4914:\"<img />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">A few weeks ago, Automattic released <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/quadrat/\">Quadrat</a> on the WordPress.org theme directory. It is now the company&rsquo;s fourth block theme. Like its predecessors, it is a child of <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/the-automattic-theme-team-announces-blockbase-its-new-block-parent-theme\">Blockbase</a>, a project that serves as a foundation for the work of Automattic&rsquo;s Theme Team.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After spending a couple of months diving deep into the world of block themes, I was beginning to feel a little burned out. When I wasn&rsquo;t sleeping, eating, or doing yard work in my off-duty time, I was building or exploring one project or another. Soon, it all had become a blur. I knew I needed to take a small break, and I have not touched themes for a couple of weeks since, at least not outside of work.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Quadrat appealed to the theme developer within me. I am not sure if it was the soothing color scheme or just seeing the work the professional designers had put into it, but it offered a pathway for easing myself back into the block theme world.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outside of the work by Anariel Design with <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>, most block themes have felt more like proof of concepts or starting points. Quadrat can now be added to the list of those with some personality.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It does not push any particular boundaries, but it is a well-designed blogging and podcasting theme. Mostly, I am just a fan of the color scheme &mdash; sometimes you just need something other than black, white, and gray to get yourself out of a funk.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the other reasons I have been following the work of the Quadrat theme was because it was the first showcase of header patterns I had seen. <a href=\"https://themeshaper.com/2021/06/25/theme-patterns-for-the-site-editor/\">Kjell Reigstad shared</a> what this system would look like in June.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>The goal is to include the patterns shown in the video in core WordPress, so they are not currently included in the theme. However, there is still an open <a href=\"https://github.com/Automattic/themes/pull/4104\">ticket for header patterns</a> in Quadrat.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only real trouble I ran into with the theme is with fully aligned blocks in the content. There is an overflow issue in version 1.1.1 that creates a horizontal scrollbar.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Horizontal scrollbar appears with full-width Cover block.\n\n\n\n<p>Quadrat includes nine custom patterns. The focus for most is on podcasting, but some are general-purpose enough for other use cases, such as &ldquo;Media and text with button&rdquo;:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Media and text with button pattern.\n\n\n\n<p>The development team missed a prime opportunity with its podcast-related patterns. Instead of integrating with a podcasting solution, they are simple, static blocks from core WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the Latest Episodes pattern is a two-column layout that features Image, Heading, and Paragraph blocks. That is acceptable as a base pattern for users without a podcasting plugin. However, it may be practically useless for those with one enabled. Or, it creates unnecessary work because users must manually update their page content anytime they publish a new episode.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Latest Episodes block pattern\n\n\n\n<p>Given Automattic&rsquo;s recent bet on Castos as part of a <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/castos-picks-up-756k-in-funding-from-automattic-and-joost-de-valk-to-expand-services-in-the-private-podcasting-market\">$756K pre-seed fundraising round</a>, it would make sense to integrate with the podcasting company&rsquo;s plugin, Seriously Simple Podcasting (SSP).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the development team wanted to take the Latest Episodes pattern to the next level, they would create it with the Query Loop block and display the latest podcast episodes from the plugin.  For users without SSP installed, simply fall back to the current pattern. Or, offer both. Right now, it is little more than eye candy and not nearly as useful as it could be for real-world use cases.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I often talk about the need for theme authors to <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/it-is-time-for-wordpress-theme-authors-to-step-up-their-block-pattern-game\">elevate their game</a>. Not only would such integration be beneficial to podcasters, but it would also showcase the power and flexibility of the block system.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of this is to say: If you are going to build a podcasting theme, <em>build a podcasting theme</em>. Quadrat appears to be one. However, when you peek behind the curtain, it is just a well-designed blogging theme. It has the potential to be so much more.</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, 07 Aug 2021 03:20:31 +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: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:94:\"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 19) — How Can New Developers Get Started 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:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=85055\";s:7:\"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/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:3131:\"<h2 id=\"h-the-first-step-to-getting-started-might-not-be-technical\">The first step to getting started might not be technical.</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">As new people come into Post Status looking for some guidance, there is a tendency among old hands to say things used to be much easier. Although it was a simpler time ten years ago, getting started in WordPress development presented challenges to new developers much as web development generally does today for seasoned developers. With a mature WordPress ecosystem now, new and experienced developers should set their expectations about business success carefully.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also covered in this episode:</strong> David remembers that a decade ago, even though the web and WordPress were less complex, development in many ways wasn\'t any less challenging. Remember WordPress MU (Multisite)?</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\">Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what\'s new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡<br /><br /><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Browse our archives</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe via <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Simplecast</a>, or <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. 🎧</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\">🔗 Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/corymiller303\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cory Miller (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2012/01/26/ron-andrea-rennick-wordpress-multisite/\">Ron & Andrea Rennick: WordPress Multisite (WordPress.tv from 2011)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>🙏 Sponsor: <a href=\"https://poststat.us/ithemes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow\">Wordfence</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Who can afford downtime, a black mark on their brand’s reputation, or the SEO impact of getting hacked? That’s why so many WordPress sites rely on the real-time protection provided by Wordfence Premium. Now, <strong>Wordfence</strong> Central offers Premium subscribers a powerful and efficient dashboard to manage security for all their sites from one central location. Try <strong>Wordfence</strong> 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, 06 Aug 2021 11:40:33 +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: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: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:131:\"WPTavern: Gutenberg 11.2 Expands Color Support for Search and Pullquote Blocks, Introduces Experimental Flex Layout for Group 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=121142\";s:7:\"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:305:\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-11-2-expands-color-support-for-search-and-pullquote-blocks-introduces-experimental-flex-layout-for-group-block?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-11-2-expands-color-support-for-search-and-pullquote-blocks-introduces-experimental-flex-layout-for-group-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:4610:\"<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/\">Gutenberg 11.2.0</a> was released today with expanded color support for the Search and Pullquote blocks. Historically, customizing these elements has been out of reach for most users if their themes didn&rsquo;t include them as options. This release introduces <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/32416\">color support</a> and <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/31783\">border color support</a> for the search button.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>Pullquotes are getting a similar treatment with <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/30951\">border and color support</a>, enabling some creative design options for those who enjoy taking the reins on customization.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>It&rsquo;s these kinds of minute style changes that web developers would have been paid to perform back in the earlier days of theme customization gigs. Now the block editor enables anyone to jump in and do it themselves.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>These color support additions are part of a larger effort to improve the editor&rsquo;s design tools to provide consistent application across blocks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Another important goal of design tools is ensuring a wide range of exquisitely crafted patterns are possible; that best practices are not only possible but encouraged; and that customizing blocks is a consistent and natural experience,&rdquo; Gutenberg Lead Architect Matias Ventura said in the <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33447\">ticket tracking design tool tasks</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gutenberg 11.2 also introduces support for a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33359\">new experimental flex layout</a>. The need for additional layouts was described by Rick Banister in a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/24473\">ticket</a> submitted a year ago, requesting a &ldquo;display horizontal&rdquo; option for the Group block:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>When building patterns or trying to achieve a layout with multiple elements arranged horizontally it would help to have a parent block that would automatically arrange its children on a single line. Columns can be used to arrange things side-by-side, but they add quite a lot of extra nesting if you only need to arrange one set of blocks.</p><p>We could leverage the Group block and add a &lsquo;display horizontally&rsquo; or &lsquo;act as a row&rsquo; option to it. It would wrap its children and act as a &lsquo;flex container&rsquo; (<code>display:flex; flex-direction:row;</code>). Further&nbsp;<code>flex</code>&nbsp;parameters could be optional to align and distribute objects.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>A flex layout option has the potential to remove some of the complexity in nesting blocks. This early prototype shows a rough, unfinished UI for a layout switcher. It shows the difference between a flex layout and the default &ldquo;flow&rdquo; layout, which displays children one after the other vertically without any specific styles. The PR included in Gutenberg 11.2 makes it possible for <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33359\">blocks to support multiple layouts</a>. Gutenberg engineer Riad Benguella said the plan is to introduce more layouts, such as &ldquo;grid&rdquo; and &ldquo;absolute positioning container.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding &ldquo;flex&rdquo; layout support for the group block is the first step towards proving how multi-layout options can work in the block editor. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;In the previous WordPress release, we introduced the&nbsp;<code>layout</code>&nbsp;config and the&nbsp;<code>__experimentalLayout</code>&nbsp;prop for inner blocks,&rdquo; Benguella said. &ldquo;The initial reason for these was to make alignments and content widths more declarative for themes. While this was an ambitious goal on its own and a hard one to achieve for the default layout, the goal has always been to absorb and support more kinds of layouts in the editor than the regular vertical list of blocks.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This experimental flex layout support can be useful for theme developers and makes sense in certain use cases with the Cover block, headers, social icons, columns, and other applications. The layout switcher UI is hidden in this release while the Gutenberg team <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33687\">works on a better design</a> and wording for the feature.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 06 Aug 2021 03:59:26 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i: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:75:\"WPTavern: First Commercial Content Pack for Launch With Words Now Available\";s:7:\"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=121149\";s:7:\"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:195:\"https://wptavern.com/first-commercial-content-pack-for-launch-with-words-now-available?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=first-commercial-content-pack-for-launch-with-words-now-available\";s: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:4571:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Marketing consultant Bridget Willard announced the first commercial content pack for her <a href=\"https://bridgetwillard.com/launch-with-words/\">Launch With Words</a> project. Last week, she released a set of 12 blog <a href=\"https://bridgetwillard.com/downloads/launch-with-words-roofing-content-pack/\">posts for roofing contractors</a>, but there are more on the way for industry-specific content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In January, alongside Ronald Huereca of MediaRon, Willard <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/jump-start-a-years-worth-of-content-via-the-launch-with-words-plugin\"><em>launched</em> the Launch With Words plugin</a>. The initial project supported a single &ldquo;starter pack&rdquo; of draft blog posts to prompt website owners to publish something new each month to build their brand. The plugin itself is primarily an importer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the developer crowd, Huereca has a post that <a href=\"https://mediaron.com/developer-diaries-launch-with-words/\">covers the technical details</a> of the project. It is well worth a read to see how he approached building the plugin.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea was unique. Willard had written starter content for both the default Twenty Nineteen and Twenty Twenty WordPress themes. She then asked why no one was doing the same for post content. Thus, a new product was born.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The roofing content pack carries a price tag of $497. Companies can publish the posts directly on their sites or customize the content for their locale.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The imported content is a set of 12 blog posts specific to the roofing industry, each set as a draft that users can publish on their own schedule. Each is around 500+ words and includes headings, links, and quotes.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Preview of a daft post.\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;So many roofing contractors don&rsquo;t address the frequently asked questions from property owners,&rdquo; said Willard. &ldquo;These blog posts address 12. Having content that is turnkey ready allows them to have more content to share on social media as well as helping their SEO efforts.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She has been writing about the construction industry for over 20 years, so this was an easy jumping-in point. The challenge was creating this first pack while also publishing two new books and wrangling client work. With things settling down a bit, she thinks monthly pack releases are a more realistic target.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Future Content and Starter Packs</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Willard is already working on a new content pack that focuses on general contractors, which she may split into two products between residential and commercial. She plans to have at least one ready by the end of the month.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The long-term goal is to hire other writers to cover industries where she has less knowledge. First, she needs a few more sales to bring others on board.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She may also create some industry-specific blogging prompts similar to the starter pack that is available for free. These would also come at a lower price point of around $97.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;The starter pack (blog prompts) aren&rsquo;t mutually exclusive with the premium packs,&rdquo; said Willard. &ldquo;They can be used together. Ideally, they should be used together. Because the content packs are JSON files, and the posts are imported as drafts, they can be written (prompts) or localized (premium) and scheduled. It&rsquo;s the best of both worlds.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Writing, Writing, and More Writing</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;Writing is the way I can teach and solidify my legacy,&rdquo; said Willard. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s super important for me to create a life worth living. Sadly, I found this out after a mental health emergency in February of 2020.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her most recent book is <em>The Only Online Marketing Book You Need for Your Nonprofit</em>, co-authored by Warren Laine-Naida. Adrian Tobey, the founder of Groundhogg.io, also contributed an extra chapter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t create unless you consume,&rdquo; said Willard when asked how she kept up her pace and the creative juices flowing. &ldquo;I prioritize reading fiction and nonfiction, watching documentaries, taking walks in my neighborhood, going to a museum or a park alone to think and reflect and spend time with my friends laughing and playing card games.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;The best thing for a writer to do is to write. Don&rsquo;t worry about whether other people already talked about your subject. Don&rsquo;t worry about what people will say. This is why we love WordPress. Start publishing.&rdquo;</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 06 Aug 2021 01:09:16 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s: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:115:\"WPTavern: From eCommerce Integration to Location-Based Controls, Block Visibility Pro Expands Upon Its Free Version\";s:7:\"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=121122\";s:7:\"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/from-ecommerce-integration-to-location-based-controls-block-visibility-pro-expands-upon-its-free-version?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=from-ecommerce-integration-to-location-based-controls-block-visibility-pro-expands-upon-its-free-version\";s: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:5198:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It has been several months <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/show-and-hide-content-via-the-block-visibility-wordpress-plugin\">since I last dived</a> into Nick Diego&rsquo;s <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-visibility/\">Block Visibility</a> plugin, and it is now one year since the initial release. Recently moved on from his past job into the WordPress product space, he has been building one of the best context-based plugins for showing or hiding content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In January, Diego touted some of the ideas he had for a yet-to-be-released <a href=\"https://www.blockvisibilitywp.com/pro/\">Block Visibility Pro</a>. He was already fulfilling user needs, but there was so much left to be explored.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;As Block Visibility grows, there will be advanced and/or niche functionality that will be useful for certain users,&rdquo; he said at the time. &ldquo;Think integrations with other third-party plugins. There will always be a free version of the plugin but some of these additional features will ultimately be provided by a premium (paid) add-on called Block Visibility Pro.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Diego quietly released the pro add-on in June, which does not take away from the free version. Everything in it is a pure value-add and helps specific sets of users.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week, he released Block Visibility Pro 1.1.0, and I managed to get a test copy to play around with. In short, I am more impressed than I was when I first covered the free version in January.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Pro Additions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Early versions of the free plugin had visibility controls for all visitors, user roles, and start-and-stop dates. Since then, Diego has beefed up the options to include screen size, logged-in status, and user accounts. It also integrates with Advanced Custom Fields and WP Fusion. That is more than many other content-visibility solutions will offer before needing to upgrade to a commercial or pro version.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The current pro version includes conditional controls for the following:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Location (Query and Post)</li><li>Time-based and day of week</li><li>WooCommerce</li><li>Easy Digital Downloads</li><li>Browser and Device</li><li>URL Path</li><li>Referral Source</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Location controls are what I have found myself tinkering with the most. They are handy at the moment but will offer more power when used in conjunction with WordPress&rsquo;s upcoming site editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Location, query-based visibility controls.\n\n\n\n<p>The Location controls are essentially query-based visibility options. Users can choose to show or hide blocks based on post type, taxonomy, and more. Everything from individual post attributes to the archive type is available. Users can also create multiple rule sets, combining various location-based options.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For shop owners, the WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads integrations are extensive. Users can display blocks based on shopping cart content, customer metrics, and product metrics. This could come in handy for promotions, coupons, and similar features.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my favorite features, which is also included in the free version, is a popup option for selecting which visibility settings should appear in the sidebar.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Toggling visibility controls in the Visibility tab.\n\n\n\n<p>This feature reduces the footprint of the plugin&rsquo;s Visibility tab in the block sidebar panel while giving users control over which options they would like to use.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It looks <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/27331\">similar to a current proposal</a> for the Gutenberg plugin that would allow users to toggle specific controls:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Proposal for toggling block typography controls.\n\n\n\n<p>The differences between the two are in the location of the &ldquo;ellipsis&rdquo; button to open the popup. The Gutenberg proposal has it at the top of the tab. Block Visibility adds it as a control within its Visibility tab. However, the concept is the same, and the plugin provides a real-world test of how the feature could work. Thus far, I am happy with the result. It allows me to hide options that I would rarely use. I am eager for something similar to eventually work its way into core WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>From Developer to Developer</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">If I am being honest, I am a bit envious of the work Diego has done. Many do not know this, but I also built a similar solution to Block Visibility in 2019. It was before I joined the staff here at WP Tavern. Before seeing that project mature, I handed it over as part of a larger IP sale.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I point this out because I understand the complexities of building a solution that works from a technical standpoint while also being user-friendly. It is not easy, but Block Visibility seems to hit the right balance.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I do not say this often, but Diego&rsquo;s work far exceeds anything I had built or even had in the pipeline. It is on another level, so a part of me is glad that he and I are not competing in this space. At the same time, I wish I could go back and implement some of these ideas on my former project.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 05 Aug 2021 02:15:57 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i: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:47:\"HeroPress: My Life Before &amp; After 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=4001\";s:7:\"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:134:\"https://heropress.com/essays/my-life-before-after-wordpress/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-life-before-after-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:7202:\"<img width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/080321-min.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Pull Quote: The WordPress community has made me a firm believer in the power of open-source software.\" /><h3>Early Days</h3>\n<p>I have always had a knack for technology. I still remember the summer of 2006 when I bought a PC for the first time. I would try to install Windows XP many times so to make Windows work smoothly but without any luck. It was those stubborn viruses, which would only be removed by running a virus scan, not a fresh Windows install, something I figured out later.</p>\n<p>Although, it took me another decade – right after my MBA in 2015 – to turn my curiosity for technology into a passion after I stumbled upon web technologies from the development perspective. It is when I started learning WordPress while still working in an administrative and support capacity at an organization in my hometown.</p>\n<h3>Daydreaming</h3>\n<p>Being an introvert in nature, the thought of working remotely providing value using technology with the freedom to choose my own work hours has always fascinated me. While becoming a digital nomad exploring nature felt like touching the sky. I knew it was quite possible after finding real stories online but I had no path to follow to turn my dream into a reality.</p>\n<h3>The Challenge</h3>\n<p>After spending tons of time online, figuring out the way was the easy step. Now that I look back during my initial days when I was getting started, the biggest challenge I have come to realize was to stay motivated as being all alone with the Imposter Syndrome – which I am sure every developer has faced during their careers – did take a toll on me.</p>\n<p>I think it is not easy to stay motivated when there aren’t immediate rewards for the hard work we do. Sometimes, weeks would go by for me to not do anything but try to stay motivated and don’t just give up.</p>\n<h3>Humble Beginnings</h3>\n<p>I could easily recall the evening of my last MBA exam day when I started exploring web technologies. Even just before that, I spent a good 2-3 months learning and then finding projects for web design on <a href=\"https://99designs.com/profiles/ihtishamzahoor/about\">99Designs</a> until I realized that I am not very passionate about becoming a designer.</p>\n<p>I started learning HTML, CSS, basic JavaScript with jQuery but learning these technologies alone could only go so far without a clear path. I was looking for a tool that could help me build a website from scratch and for that, I explored many tools and technologies along the way including WordPress.</p>\n<p>While celebrating the 68th independence day of Pakistan online I came across <a href=\"https://ahmadawais.com/what-every-beginner-is-doing-wrong-as-a-web-developer/\">this amazing article</a> by Ahmad Awais (big props) which really helped me to make a definite decision to choose WordPress over other online publishing tools.</p>\n<p>After basic learning, I started right away working as a WordPress Power User, mostly delivering theme customizing projects for the clients in the local market while still working a day job.</p>\n<h3>All the Way WordPress</h3>\n<p>It took me another two years to finally choose WordPress as my full-time career. I moved to the capital and after many failed attempts at getting hired and desperate moments followed afterward, I finally received an offer letter from a digital agency, <a href=\"https://centangle.com/\">Centangle Interactive</a>, where I joined as a Web Developer focused on the WordPress platform.</p>\n<p>I consider joining Centangle as one of the best decisions of my life as it helped me with my professional growth by becoming familiar with the whole WordPress ecosystem in a supportive environment. I was being valued for my opinions in the web projects I was involved with. I was also appreciated and encouraged for the open-source work I did for the company.</p>\n<p>During the pandemic last year, I joined a startup viz. <a href=\"https://uptek.com/\">UPTEK</a>. The company provides web development services to its international clientele. I have been trusted with the opportunity to work on some of the premium freelancing platforms on behalf of the company.</p>\n<p>While apart from the developer role at the company, I am also involved in client communication and project management which has been an exciting journey for me so far with lots of learning almost every day.</p>\n<h3>WordPress Community</h3>\n<p>WordPress introduced me to the world of open-source software and the WordPress community itself. WordPress community connects WordPress enthusiasts via monthly Meetups, annual WordCamps, virtual collaborations like contributions to the WordPress project, and a whole lot more.</p>\n<p>The WordPress community made me a firm believer in the power of open-source software and an enthusiast who enjoys a great deal to contribute back to the WordPress community via <a href=\"https://codexspot.com/\">writing</a>, speaking, and helping organize meetups.</p>\n<p>Over the years, I have had the opportunity to write open-source software for the WordPress platform and feel humbled to contribute to the WordPress core. I have also had the privilege to <a href=\"https://islamabad.wordcamp.org/2018/speaker/ihtisham-zahoor/\">speak</a> as well as help organize the monthly WordPress Meetups and the annual <a href=\"https://islamabad.wordcamp.org/2019/organizers/\">WordCamp(s)</a> for the Islamabad/Rawalpindi WordPress community.</p>\n<p>I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to help start the<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Elementor-Islamabad/\"> Elementor Community Islamabad Chapter</a> – which organizes monthly Elementor Meetups. Yet that is not it, I have met some really humble people over the years, whom I proudly call my besties. I met these fine folks on a train on my way to WordCamp Karachi 2018 which was the very first WordCamp in Pakistan. It is all made possible by WordPress and its community and for that, I am forever grateful.</p>\n<p>Now fast forward to the present, I have been traveling and exploring every corner of the country almost every other month with my train buddies by fulfilling my dream of traveling.</p>\n<h3>Takeaway</h3>\n<p>If anything, one of the main takeaways, why I shared my story, is to stay persistent. I know it is hard to stay motivated and break into this industry. But if you are determined, then WordPress will surely reward you as It can’t be said in any better words than by the words of the very Chris Lema himself:</p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;WordPress will change your life if you let it&#8221;</p></blockquote>\n<p>So, if you are starting out then get yourself a clear <a href=\"https://ihtishamzahoor.com/a-learning-path-for-newbies-in-wordpress-development/\">path</a> and just dive in doing WordPress as things will get better for you over time as they were for me, I promise. Good Luck!</p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://heropress.com/essays/my-life-before-after-wordpress/\">My Life Before &#038; After WordPress</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://heropress.com\">HeroPress</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 04 Aug 2021 03:00:18 +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:15:\"Ihtisham Zahoor\";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:93:\"WPTavern: Full Page Patterns Are Still the Missing Piece of Block WordPress Theme 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:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=120067\";s:7:\"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/full-page-patterns-are-still-the-missing-piece-of-block-wordpress-theme-development?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=full-page-patterns-are-still-the-missing-piece-of-block-wordpress-theme-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:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6251:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It was the early days of the Gutenberg project. Many on the Theme Review Team and those in design circles were trying to wrap their heads around this new concept called blocks. In particular, we wanted to know how it could be applied to theme development. There were many discussions on the pros and cons of the early editor. Overall, there was a bit of cautious excitement in the air, our optimism tempered by a buggy version of alpha-level software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The block system could potentially solve one of the biggest hurdles of theme development: inserting default/demo content for a full page into the editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I cannot remember who initially explained the idea, but it was a lightbulb moment for many at the time. The general concept was pre-building a custom homepage or any page design that users could choose visually. It would all be done through a standardized block system, and we would no longer need to rely on piecemeal theme options, third-party plugins, or attempt to work around the review team&rsquo;s &ldquo;do not create content&rdquo; guideline.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>No one really knew how this would work in practice, but we understood the theory of how it would make the life of a theme developer much simpler.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In October 2019, Automattic developer Jorge Bernal opened a ticket titled <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/18055\">Starter Page Templates</a>. His team was working on a template selector for mobile apps, and the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/full-site-editing/\">WordPress.com Editing Toolkit</a> already had the feature. The goal was to bring it to the core platform, allowing third-party theme designs to build on top of it.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Starter page templates idea initially shared in the ticket.\n\n\n\n<p>Because the term &ldquo;template&rdquo; is overused in the WordPress space, I will refer to these as &ldquo;page patterns.&rdquo; This naming <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/18055#issuecomment-659791288\">convention was coined by Noah Allen</a>, a software engineer for Automattic, in the ticket. It makes sense because we are actually talking about a page&rsquo;s content rather than the wrapping template.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/genesis-blocks/\">Genesis Blocks</a> plugin is one of the best ways to understand the page pattern concept. It has a Layouts button at the top of the editor that, when clicked, creates an overlay of designs to choose from.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Selecting a full-page layout from Genesis Blocks.\n\n\n\n<p>These designs are split between sections and layouts. Sections are the same thing as patterns in core WordPress: small, reusable pieces of starter content. Layouts are full-page starting points for users to create various types of pages.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The StudioPress/Genesis team was not the first to market this concept. However, they have created a well-rounded user experience on top of the WordPress editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will find similar experiences via <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/inside-look-at-godaddys-onboarding-process-for-managed-wordpress-hosting\">GoDaddy&rsquo;s onboarding process</a> for its managed hosting service. The <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/redux-framework-relaunches-focuses-efforts-on-gutenberg-templates\">Redux Framework</a> allows much the same, and <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/extendify-acquires-editor-plus-introduces-commercial-templates-in-its-plan-to-improve-block-editing\">Editor Plus</a> offers templates and patterns from the Extendify library.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That initial excitement has waned a bit. It felt like that early promise was a dream that would never be a reality.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Theme authors, especially in the commercial space, have long offered home-brewed solutions for the one-click insertion of full-page content. Whether via a ThemeForest project or a popular theme on WordPress.org, there are endless examples of everyone solving the same problem. One might even argue that these custom inserters are so ingrained into theme agency systems that anything WordPress offers at this point will not appeal to those who have already brought their solutions to market. Where the core platform has failed to meet user demands, our development community has stepped up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of you may be thinking that the current block patterns system works for this. Yes, and no. Theme authors could shoehorn full-page designs into it, but the user experience is lacking compared to third-party solutions. Patterns today are one of the best theming tools available, but they fall short of what is needed to see this thing through.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The foundation of this feature exists via the <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/block-api/block-patterns/\">Patterns API</a>. From the theme author&rsquo;s perspective, they merely need a method for flagging a pattern as a full-page layout, separate from the others. However, the UI and UX flow need an overhaul. The flyout panel for the current inserter does not cut it, especially on large screens. A fullscreen overlay has become the <em>de facto</em> standard among other systems.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Users should also have another option between selecting from an existing page pattern or starting empty upon creation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&ldquo;I think this would be so useful to have in the core,&rdquo; wrote Ana Segota of Anariel Design in a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/18055#issuecomment-880530295\">recent comment on the ticket</a>. &ldquo;I created 2 FSE themes so far and also our latest premium theme is made with block patterns and this is exactly what I thought and talked with few people about. It would be great when a user opens a new page, to chose design/page patterns however we called it and it starts editing it right away. Most of the users just want to add a page, choose a layout and start adding their content.&rdquo;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, this is not a revelation to the average theme author who works with end-users daily. Inserting or importing entire page designs into WordPress is one of the most common requests. WordPress is almost there with its current patterns system. We just need to take it to the next level.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 03 Aug 2021 22:49:30 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i: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:53:\"WordPress.org blog: The Month in WordPress: July 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=11107\";s:7:\"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/2021/08/the-month-in-wordpress-july-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:15193:\"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>WordPress is global in reach and open source in nature. And you would assume that what allows the software to be used by anyone would also enable it to be built by anyone. After all, your location doesn’t matter, and who employs you also doesn’t matter. And your relative social standing certainly shouldn’t matter. As long as you can communicate with the others contributing to the project, there should be no obstacle to your participation.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">That was <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">Josepha Haden</a> on the “<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/episode-13-cherishing-wordpress-diversity/\">Cherishing WordPress Diversity</a>” episode of the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/\">WP Briefing Podcast</a>, speaking about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the fabric of the WordPress project. Her statement captures the spirit of the WordPress open source project, and we hope it resonates with you. Now, let&#8217;s dive in!</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2>Say hello to WordPress 5.8</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/simone/\">version 5.8</a>, “Tatum,” came out on July 20. Version 5.8 is a major release that offers features like block-based widgets, a host of new blocks and patterns, a template editor, a duotone feature to stylize images, theme.json, and support for webP images, to name a few. Read more in the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/07/tatum/\">release post</a>, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/03/wordpress-5-8-field-guide/\">field guide</a>, and the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/06/18/meetup-group-resources-talking-points-for-wordpress-5-8/\">talking points post for meetup groups</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to contribute to WordPress core?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Join the&nbsp; <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>. Don’t miss the Core Team chats on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=5&min=00&sec=0\">5 AM</a> and <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&min=00&sec=0\">8 PM</a> UTC.</li><li><a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/\">Translate WordPress</a> to your local language &#8211; here’s the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/07/09/wordpress-5-8-translation-status-july-9-2020/\">latest translation status</a>.</li><li>Contact the Marketing Team in the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0GKJ7TFA\">#marketing</a> slack channel, if you wish to support <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/07/21/social-media-pack-for-5-8-ongoing-collaborations/\">social media engagement around WordPress 5.8</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>Gutenberg Version 11.0 is released</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Contributor teams released the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/09/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-0-0-9-july/\">11th version</a> of Gutenberg on July 9. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/09/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-0-0-9-july/\">Version 11.0</a>, which focuses heavily on backports and bug fixes, showcases some cool features such as an editing overlay for template parts and reusable blocks, and support for CSS shorthand properties in theme.json and block attributes. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-1-0-21-july/\">Version 11.1</a> was also shipped this month, on July 21. The release adds custom block borders as block supports and adds “drag and drop” to the list view.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to get involved in building Gutenberg? Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/\">Gutenberg on GitHub</a>, and join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7\">#core-editor</a> channel in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. The “<a href=\"