WebMan Design owner Oliver Juhas released the first version of the Abs – Additional block styles plugin on Monday. Unlike many block-related extensions, it does not offer any blocks of its own. Instead, it registers custom styles to enhance those packaged with core WordPress. In total, the plugin adds 18 styles. Some are specific to…
WP Migrate DB, a popular WordPress site migration plugin by Delicious Brains, has rebranded to WP Migrate with its latest version 2.3 release. The original name was always a bit of a mouthful but also became a less accurate representation of the plugin’s full capabilities as they grew over time. “This plugin has been capable…
Gutenberg 12.9 landed in the WordPress.org plugin directory today, and it is a beefy release, packed with a little something for everyone. Even after tinkering with new features over the last few days, I have yet to explore everything as much as I would like. Given the practical limitation of time, I will not be…
In the early days after the block editor landed in WordPress, block collection plugins exploded on the scene and were quick to rack up hundreds of thousands of users. Plugins like CoBlocks, Kadence Blocks, and Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg offer dozens of blocks in one package, focusing mostly on blocks not offered in core. WordPress.org’s…
WordPress’ Performance Team has published a feature proposal that would enable WebP images by default, expanding core support for the modern image format. In July, 2021, WordPress 5.8 introduced WebP support, allowing users to upload and use WebP images in their content. If the proposal is approved, version 6.0 will generate WebP images by default…
Yesterday, Ella van Durpe merged a long-awaited feature into the Gutenberg plugin that allows users to select and modify text across multiple Rich Text blocks. It should land in version 13.0 of the plugin and WordPress 6.0 in May. Users can currently select text across multiple blocks, but the editor automatically adjusts that selection to…
WordCamp Asia is tentatively back on the schedule of in-person WordPress events with new dates: February 17-19, 2023, in Bangkok, Thailand. It will begin with a Contributor day, followed by two conference days. Asia’s inaugural flagship WordCamp was originally scheduled for March 2020 but was the first international WordPress event to be cancelled due to…
The WordPress pattern directory finally opened its gates to the entire community today. Anyone with a WordPress.org account can log in, go to the pattern creator, and start designing. For some of us, this has felt like an unbearably long wait. In reality, it took the development team less than a year since the directory…
WooCommerce announced today that its new Store API is now stable after two years in development. It powers the plugin’s new block-based cart and checkout experience as well as all products blocks. The Store API is a public, unauthenticated API, that provides REST API endpoints for cart, checkout, and product functionality. WooCommerce core developer Mike…
One of the features I liked about Automattic’s Archeo theme that I reviewed earlier this week was its split-screen single post header. I loved that an author was doing a little something different with the Featured Image block, giving users some variety. The design was simple. It is a two-column section with an image on…
Weglot, a popular WordPress multilingual plugin, has raised €45M from Partech Partners. This is the first time the Paris-based company has taken outside capital since it closed €450K in seed funding from SIDE Capital in 2017. Since that initial round Weglot has expanded its offerings to include more translations and integrations for other platforms. Weglot co-founder…
The day has finally arrived when a block theme does something interesting with the featured image on single post views. One of my biggest pet peeves is when themers simply dump it at the top of the content and call it a day. I nearly always bolt straight for the site editor to remove the…
After considerable pushback from the Plugin Review team, WordPress.org has removed a plugin called Zamir, which was created by a Russian developer to display the Z symbol in support of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The plugin gained attention after Gravity Forms founder and CEO Carl Hancock noticed that it was listed under the “New”…
WordPress managed hosting company WP Engine has joined Acquia, Fastly, Gatsby, Netlify, and Pantheon to begin booting Russian companies off their platforms. In addition to the joint protest, each organization has also pledged support to the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), a non-profit that documents internet censorship around the world. “As part of that…
Over the weekend, web developer Marie Comet released the Lock Reusable Blocks plugin. Since then, she has published a couple of more updates that polish that initial release. The extension blocks users from directly editing reusable blocks from the post-editing screen. Reusable blocks allow users to group one or more blocks in the post editor,…