WPWeekly Episode 299 – 2017 Year in Review

In this episode, John James Jacoby and I review the WordPress news that made headlines on the Tavern in 2017. Among the stories we talk about more in-depth was Headway Themes, WP-CLI becoming a WordPress.org sanctioned project, and Disqus being acquired. We also talked about the future of comments in WordPress and what circumstances could lead to Intense Debate being relevant again.

Last but not least, we offered up our thoughts for the New Year. Shout out to Kevin Hoffman who submitted a five-star review for WP Weekly on iTunes. Thank you to all of the listeners who have and continue to listen to WordPress Weekly.

Stories Discussed:

January

WP-CLI Gets Official WordPress.org Support
WordPress 4.7.1 Fixes Eight Security Issues
Automattic Releases Free Plugin for Exporting Photos from Lightroom to WordPress
Aaron D. Campbell Replaces Nikolay Bachiyski as WordPress’ Security Czar
Postmatic Basic Rebrands as Replyable, Moves Two-Way Email Commenting to SaaS Product
Jetpack 4.5 Expands Monetization with WordAds Integration
Obama Foundation Launches New Website Powered by WordPress
Wix Removes GPL-Licensed WordPress Code from Mobile App, Forks Original MIT Library

February

10up Unveils ElasticPress.io: Elasticsearch as a Service for WordPress Sites
Matt Mullenweg Responds to Security Rant: Digital Signatures for WordPress Updates Are Important but Not a Priority
BuddyPress 2.8 Boosts Minimum PHP Requirement, Adds Twenty Seventeen Companion Stylesheet
WordPress Core Editor Team Publishes UI Prototype for “Gutenberg,” an Experimental Block Based Editor
Zerif Lite Returns to WordPress.org after 5-Month Suspension and 63% Decline in Revenue
Cloudflare Memory Leak Exposes Private Data
Freemius Launches Insights for WordPress Themes
HackerOne Launches Free Community Edition for Non-Commercial Open Source Projects

March

Web Annotations are Now a W3C Standard, Paving the Way for Decentralized Annotation Infrastructure
WordPress 4.7.3 Patches Six Security Vulnerabilities, Immediate Update Advised
WeFoster Launches Hosting Platform Catered to Online Communities
Jetpack Introduces Theme Installation from WordPress.com, Sparks Controversy with Alternative Marketplace for Free Themes
PressShack Forks Edit Flow to Create PublishPress, Aims to Improve Multi-User Editorial Workflow in WordPress
Yoast SEO 4.5 Urges Users to Upgrade to PHP 7
Foxhound Is the First REST API Powered Theme on WordPress.org
GoDaddy Acquires Sucuri
WordPress Relaunches Plugin Directory with New Design and Improved Search Algorithm
Poopy.life Lets You Create Free, Unlimited WordPress Test Installs
WordPress Community Support Shuts Down WordCamp Netherlands in Favor of City-Based WordCamps

April

WooCommerce 3.0 Brings Major Improvements to Product Gallery, Introduces CRUD Classes and a New CLI
Jetpack 4.8 Introduces Settings Redesign, Adds Global WordPress.com Toolbar
Yoast SEO’s PHP Upgrade Nag is Producing a Significant Increase in Sites Upgrading to PHP 7
BuddyPress 2016 Survey Results Show 54% of Respondents are on PHP 7.0+
WordPress 4.7.4 Fixes 47 Issues
Headway Themes Appears to be Dying a Slow Death
Shopify Discontinues Its Official Plugin for WordPress

May

10up Releases WP Docker, an Open Source Docker Configuration for Local WordPress Development
Jetpack 4.9 Introduces EU Cookie Law Banner Widget
Weglot Multilingual Plugin Closes €450K in Seed Funding
WordPress Is Now on HackerOne, Launches Bug Bounties
Hookr Plugin Rebrands as WP Inspect, Project to Shift to a Module-Based Architecture
WordPress 4.7.5 Patches Six Security Issues, Immediate Update Recommended
Storefront 2.2.0 Released, Includes Design Refresh and Major Improvements to New User Experience
Rainmaker Digital to Partner with Nimble Worldwide
WordPress Removes HHVM from Testing Infrastructure
WP-CLI 1.2.0 Released, Project Unveils New Logo

June

WPForms Acquires WP Mail SMTP Plugin
VersionPress Launches VersionPress.com to Fund Open Source Project
WordPress 4.8 “Evans” Released Featuring Nearby WordPress Events, New Media Widgets, and Link Boundaries
Imagely Acquires TeslaThemes, Is Seeking Other Acquisition Opportunities
9seeds Acquires Web Savvy Marketing’s Genesis Theme Store
WordCamp Europe 2017 Draws 1900 Attendees from 79 Countries
WooCommerce Drops 50% Renewal Discount on Subscriptions
WPShout Updates and Acquires WPHierarchy.com
WordPress’ New Gutenberg Editor Now Available as a Plugin for Testing
Automattic to Renew Efforts on Underscores, Retire Components Starter-Theme Generator
WooCommerce 3.1 Adds New CSV Product Importer/Exporter, Improves Extension Management
Clef Shuts Down

July

Jesse Petersen, Founder of Genesis The.me Passes Away
WangGuard Plugin Author Shuts Down Splog Hunting Service Due to Trauma and Death Threats
Let’s Encrypt Passes 100 Million Certificates Issued, Will Offer Wildcard Certificates in January 2018
10up Acquires Lift UX
AJ Morris Acquires iThemes Exchange
React Users Petition Facebook to Re-license React.js after Apache Software Foundation Bans BSD+Patents License in Dependencies
SiteLock Acquires Patchman’s Malware and Vulnerability Detection Technology, Expands WordPress Customer Base to 4 Million
Adobe to Discontinue Flash Support and Updates in 2020
.blog Passes 100,000 Registrations, 66.5% of Purchased Domains are in Use

August

Jetpack 5.2 Brings Major Improvements to the Contact Form Module
WordPress Polyglots Team Fuels International Community Growth with 3rd Global Translation Day
WordPress 4.8.1 Released, Adds Custom HTML Widget
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Dismisses Automattic’s Trademark Dispute Against Chris Pearson
WordPress.com’s Business Plan Gives Subscribers a Way to Tap into WordPress.org’s Third-party Ecosystem
maekit Acquires WP Remote, Plans to Add Cloud-Based Backup Services
WordPress.org Now Allows Plugin Authors to Specify a Minimum PHP Version Requirement
Gutenberg 1.0.0 Introduces Drag and Drop for Adding Image Blocks

September

Jetpack 5.3 Adds PHP 7.1 Compatibility, Better Control for WordAds Placement
WordPress.org Adds New Support Rep Role for Plugin Pages
WordPress Abandons React due to Patents Clause, Gutenberg to be Rewritten with a Different Library
WordPress 4.8.2 Patches Eight Security Vulnerabilities
Apply Filters Podcast to be Retired after 83 Episodes
WordPress.com Adds Google Photos Integration, Available Now for Jetpack-Enabled Sites

October

Poopy.life Launches Pro Version at WPsandbox.io Aimed at Theme and Plugin Developers
Disqus Data Breach Affects 17.5 Million Accounts
GitLab Raises $20 Million Series C Round, Adds Matt Mullenweg to Board of Directors
WooCommerce 3.2 Adds Ability to Apply Coupons in the Admin, Introduces Pre-Update Version Checks for Extensions
Postman SMTP Plugin Forked after Removal from WordPress.org for Security Issues
WooCommerce Retires Canvas Theme, Recommends Customers Migrate to Storefront Theme
Firebug is Retired

November

WordPress 4.8.3, A Security Release Six Weeks in the Making
Press This Removed from WordPress 4.9 in Favor of a Plugin
Bianca Welds Awarded Kim Parsell Travel Scholarship
Jetpack 5.5 Removes Syntax Highlighting and Gallery Widget for Compatibility
WordPress 4.9 Released with Major Improvements to Customizer Workflow, Updated Code Editors, and New Core Gallery Widget
Tailor Page Builder Plugin Discontinued, Owners Cite Funding, Gutenberg, and Competition
WordPress 4.9.1 Released, Fixes Page Template Bug
WPWeekly Episode 296 – Gutenberg, Telemetry, Calypso, and More With Matt Mullenweg

December

Storify to Close May 16, 2018, WordPress Plugin Discontinued
Jetpack 5.6.1 Increases Security of the Contact Form Module
WP Site Care Acquires WP Radius

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Next Episode: Wednesday, January 3rd at 3:00 P.M. Eastern

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