During this week’s WordPress.org Theme Review Team meeting Chip Bennett opened the floor to discuss the “grey areas” of presentation vs. functionality distinctions in themes. The hotly debated topic concerns what is permissible in terms of “content creation” for themes that are hosted in the official directory. “We know that CPTs and custom taxonomies are…
Earlier today, I watched a free presentation on how to use the WordPress REST API by Rachael Baker via WPSessions. If you missed it, you can watch the recording for $9. As I watched the presentation, it was clear that no matter how many tutorials I read, WordCamp sessions I attend, and videos I watch,…
Nothing makes a BuddyPress site seem more active or more colorful than when members upload their own unique avatars. Unfortunately, not all users have the motivation to follow through with adding a profile picture. You could use a plugin to add avatar upload to registration, or even force BuddyPress users to upload a profile photo…
Kyle Newsome, creator of Postcard, announced over the weekend that the project will be discontinued. The free social sharing app for iOS launched in February of 2014 with the aim to make it easy to share content from your phone to multiple social networks, including your own website. Postcard’s chief selling point was the idea…
If you’re looking to bring your blog’s design back to the bare bones of pure content without distractions, then the new Cover theme may be a good option. Cover brings blogging minimalism to a new level. After less than a month on WordPress.org, it has already been downloaded more than 2,500 times. Cover was created…
Hello Security is a new plugin developed by Michele Butcher that displays security tips and reminders in the WordPress backend. It’s a fork of Hello Dolly and Butcher’s first plugin submitted to the plugin directory. Security best practices include PASSWORD is never a good password, backup all the things, and only give users the access…
In light of Automattic’s recent acquisition of WooCommerce (and all of WooThemes), estimated to be in the range of $30M, WordPress business owners have been infused with a fresh perspective of the value and potential in creating strong GPL-licensed products. Automattic’s acquisition of Woo, colloquially referred to as the “WooMattic” deal, is the company’s first…
In this episode of WordPress Weekly, Marcus Couch and I break down Automattic’s acquisition of WooThemes and discuss the future of WooCommerce. We discuss how the Japanese WordPress community influences WordPress development. Last but not least, we debate the merits of using an honor system for commercial plugins. Stories Discussed: Automattic Acquires WooThemes WordPress.org is…
Last April, Christopher Sanford launched Hookr, a WordPress hook/API reference for developers. He initially wrote the parser/indexer for his own use, to improve efficiency in his work, and was inspired to make it a public resource. “I have been professionally working with WordPress since 2.8, but most of which I would describe as ‘superficial development,’”…
Happy Joe, a 501 c3 non-profit organization that helps U.S. veterans with entrepreneurship and employment opportunities using WordPress, has announced a new round of sponsorships and dates to upcoming boot camps. When I talked to James Dalman, founder of Happy Joe in late 2014, he emphasized how important financial assistance is to the organization, “We…
One trend at recent WordCamps is that any session on the WP REST API will undoubtedly pack the room with attendees eager to learn more about using it. This was certainly the case at WordCamp London 2015 where more than 200 people crammed into a small room to hear Jack Lenox’s presentation on Building Themes…
The WordPress community is filled with resources to learn about WordPress but finding them can be difficult. WordPress is developed around the clock and locating material that keeps pace can also be a challenge. Lynda.com is an online learning center devoted to teaching topics such as, business, technology, design, and photography. For more than five…
WordPress.org is making strides towards fully localizing the project’s official theme and plugin directories. Dion Hulse posted this morning that he has enabled localized theme directories for all Rosetta sites. For example, the Romanian themes directory is available at: ro.wordpress.org/themes/. Theme filters, directory sub-navigation, info and download buttons, and other aspects of the details page…
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg announced today that the company has acquired WooCommerce, WordPress’ most popular e-commerce platform. The plugin recently passed seven million downloads and stats from BuiltWith show that WooCommerce is dominating global e-commerce platforms, powering roughly 30% of all online stores. This is Automattic’s largest acquisition to date, bringing 55 new employees into…
Last August, the WordPress Cape Town meetup group experimented with hosting its first charity hackathon to benefit local charities. The do_action( ‘wordpress-charity-hackathon’ ); event was so successful in 2014 that organizers were inspired to make it an annual event. The 2015 hackathon is scheduled for June 20th from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. “With a…