WordPress 4.3 is right around the corner with beta 1 released and ready for testing. According to the 4.3 project schedule, there will be no more commits for new enhancements or feature requests from this point on. Contributors are now focusing on bug fixes and documentation ahead of August 18th, the target release date. With…
In this episode of WordPress Weekly, Marcus Couch and I are joined by Chip Bennett, Jose Castaneda, Tammie Lister, and Edward Cassie who are members of the WordPress Theme Review Team. We learn why the team exists, its goals, and what the process is for getting a theme into the official directory. The team clarified…
One of the small hurdles to hosting a plugin on WordPress.org is the fact that you have to use SVN to ship your updates. Most developers are far more familiar with Git. It’s not difficult to learn how to use SVN for the sake of WordPress.org plugins, but many find it to be inconvenient. Ship…
When Matt Mullenweg put out the call to cities interested in hosting WordCamp US, we learned the criteria they would have to meet in order to qualify. Venues would need to seat approximately 1,000-2,00 people, have hotels within 3 miles of the venue, hotel costs for a range of budgets, and average flight costs from…
Tom McFarlin published a thoughtful piece on what he perceives to be the sad state of the WordPress community. Too many people are participating in behavior that is embarrassing from the outside looking in. It’s a long read, but it highlights the need for members of the WordPress community to stop and reflect on our…
WordPress 4.3 is on track to include a new site icons feature, which will allow administrators to easily upload an image to be used as the favicon and app icons for a site. Favicons have traditionally been handled by WordPress themes or plugins, but the new core support means that users no longer have to…
WordPress for iOS 5.3 is available on iTunes and has a few new features. Post listings display more content making them easier to browse. A search feature has been added to the post listing screen that displays results as you type. I tested the search feature on two different sites. The first site is on…
WordPress 4.3 will introduce menu management via the customizer, providing live previews on the frontend for adding, deleting, and ordering menu items. Although users still have the option to manage menus using the admin interface, developers who are not keen on the feature are searching for an easy way to disable the customizer and remove…
After five years of selling themes and support, UpThemes is branching out into the managed WordPress hosting business. Last week the company announced the new hosting venture and partnership with Aesop Interactive: We are excited to announce UpThemes Hosting, a managed WordPress hosting solution that includes 40+ premium WordPress themes including our entire theme library,…
One of the most difficult tasks for new WordPress users is choosing a good webhost. The process can involve getting recommendations from friends, searching Google for reviews, and taking advantage of trial offers. Since 2005, WordPress.org has had a recommended hosts page featuring companies that meet certain criteria. Over the years, new companies would rarely…
Steven Gliebe asked 21 WordPress professionals what they use to generate backups for their personal sites and published the results on the Pro Plugin Directory blog. The results are split into two groups of people – writers and developers. All of the writers mentioned VaultPress as their go-to backup solution. Some of the developers use…
Justin Tadlock, creator of Theme Hybrid, announced today that the seven year old theme club is experimenting with a radical change in club pricing. Club membership is now free for anyone who wants to sign up. Although Theme Hybrid’s plugins and themes have always been free, standard club membership (which includes access to the support…
The local WordPress community in Seville welcomed a diverse group of attendees to WordCamp Europe 2015 over the weekend. WordPress enthusiasts and professionals from Europe and beyond made strategic connections, contributed, found jobs and employees, and enjoyed presentations from a selection of world class speakers. Seville has got the imaginative juices flowing and led to…
One of the most persistent underlying causes of stress in the digital age is the feeling of drowning in communication. Nearly every Monday on Twitter begins with a litany of complaints from friends about the sheer volume of email that is waiting to be answered. Notifications for all the apps that were supposed to make…
Automattic is celebrating its 10th year in business this week. WordPress.com opened its doors in the summer of 2005 and is now closing in on a globally distributed team of 400 employees. Against all odds, CEO Matt Mullenweg, a college dropout with no initial startup funding, built a company that is now valued at $1.2…
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