Year: 2020

  • Matt Mullenweg and Jamstack Community Square Off, Making Long-Term Bets on the Predominant Architecture for the Web

    Matt Mullenweg and Jamstack Community Square Off, Making Long-Term Bets on the Predominant Architecture for the Web

    Over the past two weeks, Matt Mullenweg and Jamstack community leaders have forged a new rivalry, after Mullenweg told The New Stack that he sees Jamstack as “a regression for the vast majority of the people adopting it.” “The usability and functionality is actually lower,” Mullenweg said to Richard MacManus in an email. “Even rebuilding…

  • Matt Mullenweg Clarifies Jamstack Remarks

    Matt Mullenweg Clarifies Jamstack Remarks

    Two weeks ago, Matt Mullenweg made some pointed remarks in an article from The New Stack, calling Jamstack “a regression for the vast majority of the people adopting it.” In preparation for an upcoming article that will include comments from leaders across both the WordPress and Jamstack communities, I asked Mullenweg if he stands by…

  • Gutenberg’s Custom Spacing Should Be Theme Controlled

    Gutenberg’s Custom Spacing Should Be Theme Controlled

    When Gutenberg 9.0 landed earlier this week, it came with an experimental padding control for the Group block. Most users will not see it unless their theme has opted into supporting the feature using the experimental-custom-spacing flag. This was not the first that we have seen of the padding option on a block. Gutenberg 8.3…

  • GoDaddy Acquires SkyVerge, Creator of Over 60 WooCommerce Add-Ons

    GoDaddy Acquires SkyVerge, Creator of Over 60 WooCommerce Add-Ons

    On September 14, GoDaddy announced it had acquired SkyVerge, a major WooCommerce-focused development company, for an undisclosed amount. At the moment, GoDaddy is playing it close to the vest in terms of its future plans. It has not publicly announced anything beyond a continued commitment to current customers. The initial announcement makes note that SkyVerge’s…

  • Gutenberg 9.0 Brings Major Improvements to Navigation Screen and Query Block

    Gutenberg 9.0 Brings Major Improvements to Navigation Screen and Query Block

    If you haven’t played around with Gutenberg’s experiments lately, the Navigation block is getting some exciting updates. Version 9.0 was released today with drag-and-drop support added to the list view of navigation items. Contributors have been working through several different prototypes aimed at unifying the controls and simplifying the menu building process. The Navigation screen…

  • Upcoming API Change Will Break Facebook and Instagram oEmbed Links Across the Web Beginning October 24

    Upcoming API Change Will Break Facebook and Instagram oEmbed Links Across the Web Beginning October 24

    In an extraordinarily inconvenient API change, Facebook and Instagram will be dropping unauthenticated oEmbed support on October 24, breaking content across millions of websites. The change will force users to generate an app ID with a developer account in order to continue embedding links via oEmbed: Changes to tokenless access for User Picture and FB/IG OEmbed endpoints: By October…

  • Digging Into Recipe Card Blocks, WPZOOM’s Solution for Recipe Bloggers

    Digging Into Recipe Card Blocks, WPZOOM’s Solution for Recipe Bloggers

    After publishing a post about the new Recipe Block plugin last week, several people were quick to point out that WPZOOM had released a recipe-related block plugin two years ago. Among them, was the plugin author, Pavel Ciorici. I had previously tested the Recipe Card Blocks plugin and thought it fit into that “overly complex”…

  • Podcasting During the Pandemic: Castos Sees 300% Growth in New Podcasters

    Podcasting During the Pandemic: Castos Sees 300% Growth in New Podcasters

    Podcasting, like many other industries during the pandemic, is seeing a strong shift over the past six months, which has resulted in more shows and fewer listeners. While some avid podcast fans have taken solace in listening to their favorite shows to stay connected, many listeners who previously had podcasts built into their routines have…

  • Plugin Authors Can Opt Into Email Confirmation for WordPress Plugin Updates

    Plugin Authors Can Opt Into Email Confirmation for WordPress Plugin Updates

    Overnight, the Meta Team for WordPress.org flipped the switch for a new plugin author feature in the official directory. It allows plugin authors to opt into confirming plugin updates via email. Release confirmations will strengthen security and make sure any updates sent in are intentional. Dion Hulse opened the original ticket six weeks ago with…

  • WordPress Themes Directory Adds New “Delist” Status for Non-Compliant Themes

    WordPress Themes Directory Adds New “Delist” Status for Non-Compliant Themes

    In August, following the suspension of the popular Astra theme, WordPress Meta contributors opened a ticket to add a new “delisting” status for non-compliant themes. Astra’s infraction, breaking the directory’s ban on affiliate links, put more than a million users at risk of not getting theme updates just as WordPress 5.5 was on deck for…

  • AMP Plugin 2.0 Adds Onboarding Wizard and Expanded Reader Mode

    AMP Plugin 2.0 Adds Onboarding Wizard and Expanded Reader Mode

    The official AMP plugin for WordPress recently crossed the 2.0 milestone, a major release that closed 141 issues and merged 174 pull requests. The release was originally planned for v1.6 but due to the number of major changes the team decided to bump it to 2.0. One of the most significant updates in this release…

  • Start a Recipe Blog With the Recipe Block WordPress Plugin

    Start a Recipe Blog With the Recipe Block WordPress Plugin

    “Organize your quarantine-inspired baking blog with a ‘Recipe’ block!” read the opening description of Kelly Choyce-Dwan’s new plugin, Recipe Block. That was enough to pique my interest. I love food. I love baking — mostly pizza and bread. Food-related plugins and themes almost inspire me to spin up a recipe blog of my own. Almost.…

  • Deque Systems to Host Axe-Con Virtual Accessibility Conference, March 10-11, 2021

    Deque Systems to Host Axe-Con Virtual Accessibility Conference, March 10-11, 2021

    Deque Systems, a widely respected accessibility firm that has contributed to setting up automated accessibility testing for WordPress core, will be hosting a new “Axe-con” virtual conference focusing on digital accessibility. Axe-con is named for the company’s axe-core project, an open source library and accessibility testing engine that can be customized to integrate with all…

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