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";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:7:"version";s:3:"2.0";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:7:"channel";a:1:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:61:"
	
	
	
	




















































";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"WordPress Planet";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"language";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"en";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"WordPress Planet - http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"item";a:50:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"WPTavern: Set Up a Gutenberg Test Site in 2 Minutes with the Gutenberg Nightly Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114098";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:215:"https://wptavern.com/set-up-a-gutenberg-test-site-in-2-minutes-with-the-gutenberg-nightly-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=set-up-a-gutenberg-test-site-in-2-minutes-with-the-gutenberg-nightly-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4142:"<p>WordPress contributors are working towards landing full site editing (FSE) sometime this year, an ambitious plan that will require all hands on deck for testing. A meeting of a small group of core leads on April 14 will start the process of deciding whether FSE will land in version 5.8. In the meantime, the FSE outreach program has <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/25/fse-program-testing-call-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header/">extended the deadline for the fourth round of testing</a> until April 12. </p>



<p>One of the quickest ways to get started doing alpha/beta testing is to install the Gutenberg Nightly plugin, which pulls in the latest build from the Gutenberg project. Ordinarily, to get the latest build one would have to install NodeJS and npm and use the command line to get set up. This process can be prohibitive, along with the dizzying pace of Gutenberg development, for less technical users who want to start testing.</p>



<p>The Gutenberg Nightly plugin, combined with the GitHub Updater plugin completely automates the process of grabbing the latest zip from Gutenberg trunk, and users will be notified when a new nightly is available for updating.</p>



<h2>How to Set Up a Gutenberg Nightly Test Environment</h2>



<p>The first step is to <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/#nightly">download</a> and install the Gutenberg Nightly plugin by uploading the zip file. If you already have the stable version of the Gutenberg plugin, you will be prompted to replace the current version with the one you are uploading. If you want to get updates when a new nightly is available, download and install the <a href="https://github.com/afragen/github-updater/releases/latest">GitHub Updater</a> plugin the same way. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img />Gutenberg Nightly update available</div>



<p>Testing the full-site editing project will require you to install a theme like TT1 Blocks, which has support for the experimental feature. Once you do, you will see the &ldquo;Site Editor (beta)&rdquo; menu item in the dashboard.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>I set up a Gutenberg testing environment in 2 minutes using these plugins. Please note that it&rsquo;s not recommended to use Gutenberg Nightly in production.</p>



<p>Birgit Pauli-Haack, publisher of the <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/">Gutenberg Times</a>, created the plugin in October 2020, to help testers keep up with the rapid pace of Gutenberg development. </p>



<p>&ldquo;On October 19, 2020, there were 250 new commits made since the last release (9.1.1) and before the release of 9.2,&rdquo; Pauli-Haack said. &ldquo;Any issue you might file, might get a response like &lsquo;Could you please try it in master, I think it was already fixed.'&rdquo; This slows down the testing process and can be discouraging to testers.</p>



<p>Pauli-Haack creates the build every day as a volunteer service to facilitate Gutenberg testing. </p>



<p>&ldquo;At the beginning it took a bit longer but now I wrote a small <a href="https://github.com/bph/distribute-nightly">Node CLI script</a> that does the distribution to GitHub and uploads it to the GT site as well, so the button Download gives you the newest version,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;In October, I was a total rookie with an idea.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Pauli-Haack credits Andy Fragen, author of the GitHub Updater plugin, and Riad Benguella, a technical lead on the Gutenberg project, who helped her past some skill gaps in getting the process more automated.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Andy Fragen helped me think through it for making it the easiest for the &lsquo;normal&rsquo; users to get a Test version without to know much about git, node and stuff,&rdquo; she said.</p>



<p>Gutenberg Nightly has facilitated more than 62,000 downloads to date. The repository for the plugin has <a href="https://github.com/bph/gutenberg/discussions/">discussions</a> enabled so users can stay updated with major changes, make feature requests, and <a href="https://github.com/bph/gutenberg/discussions/3">participate in Q&amp;A</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sun, 11 Apr 2021 16:12:53 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:1;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"Gutenberg Times: Full-Site Editing Scope in WordPress 5.8. Weekend (Tiny) Edition #165";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=17473";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:88:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/full-site-editing-scope-in-wordpress-5-8-weekend-edition-165/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8253:"<p>Howdy! </p>



<p>In the last two weeks there was so much was happening around Gutenberg.  To keep you somewhat in the loop, I interrupt my unpacking of way-too-many boxes and share a few links with you.</p>



<p>Next week again in full force. Stay tuned. </p>



<p>Have a great weekend! </p>



<p>Yours, 💕<br />Birgit</p>





<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Grzegorz </strong>(Greg)<strong> Ziółkowsk</strong>i and I published our first episode together, <strong><a href="http://erg-10-3-full-site-editing-mvp/">Episode #41</a></strong>. It is a great episode, and we had a lot of fun. I am delighted having Grzegorz on the show. It&#8217;s now available with show notes and transcript. </p>



<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy </strong>posted <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/04/08/full-site-editing-scope-for-wp5-8/">Full Site Editing Scope for WP5.8</a>&nbsp;(u)</p>



<ul><li>Lesson from Phase 1 roll-out, extenders like plugins developers, site builders and theme authors didn’t have enough time to test their products with the new editor in core.&nbsp;</li><li>Full-Site Editing user experience with Global Styles, Template editing and saving, will not be changing default user experience. It’s opt-in only. There is some confusion on saving template and switch from overall template to content and back. Polishing those will be out of scope for 5.8.&nbsp;</li><li>Also, on the scope list for WordPress 5.8 are: Widget Editor, Navigation Screen and block, refactored Gallery Block and the List View. These&nbsp; components are some of the most complex, and the user experience of them will be key. “They are all high priority to complete (hopefully for WP5.8), but will be punted if they aren’t ready in time for Beta.”&nbsp;</li></ul>



<p><em>Matias Ventura</em> will demo the current state of these features to the release lead team trio of&nbsp; Matt Mullenweg, Josepha Haden Chomphosy and Helen Hou-Sandi. </p>



<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> has the skinny: <a href="https://wptavern.com/will-full-site-editing-land-in-wordpress-5-8-a-decision-is-forthcoming">Will Full Site Editing Land in WordPress 5.8? A Decision Is Forthcoming</a></p>



<p><strong>Hector Prieto</strong> published the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/04/08/whats-next-in-gutenberg-april-2021/">April Focus areas for the Gutenberg team.&nbsp;</a></p>



<p>As expected, it covers Widget, Navigation Screen, and Full-Site Editing with more details. Please see the <strong>“Area to be aware of”</strong> section of the post, for Block and plugin Developers, Designers and Theme builders. We talked about most of them in one or the other episode, but you find them all in one place in Hector’s post.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Kjell Reigstad</strong> published the notes from the <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/04/08/block-themes-meeting-notes-april-7-2021/">Block Theme Meeting </a></strong> They team discussed among other things: </p>



<ul><li>TT1 Blocks update&nbsp;</li><li>Block-based theme updates in&nbsp;Gutenberg&nbsp;10.3 with alignment styles automatically for front and back end and the capability to use theme.json styles for every block. </li><li>New tools for transitioning to Block-based Themes.</li></ul>



<p>The deadline for the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/25/fse-program-testing-call-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header/"><strong>Full Site Editing Testing Call #4</strong></a> has been extended until <strong>April 12th, 2021. </strong></p>




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s master branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge" /></p>




<p>⏰ <strong>Don&#8217;t Miss this! </strong> <br /><strong>Mega-Meetup April 15th, 2021 </strong> 6:30 -8:30 pm EDT / 23:30 UTC with Anne McCarthy, David Bisset and the organizers of six Florida Meetup groups.  All <strong>About Full Site Editing </strong>(Coming in WordPress). <a href="https://www.meetup.com/SF-WordPress-Users/events/277019024/">Register via Meetup.com</a> <a href="https://t.co/36RYiMfivU?amp=1" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"></a></p>



<p>For a more in-depth look on current Gutenberg development,  <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/">the Index page with all the teams&#8217; updates</a> in the Core handbook has the latest. </p>




<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/">The index 2020 is here</a></p>





<p class="has-small-font-size">Featured Image:  <em>Photo by&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/@fran_?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Fran Jacquier</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/lego?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></em></p>





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<p class="has-text-align-left"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>



<form class="wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait" action="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/" method="post"><div class="ngl-form-container"><div class="ngl-form-field"><label class="ngl-form-label" for="ngl_email"><br />Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class="ngl-form-input"><input type="email" class="ngl-form-input-text" name="ngl_email" id="ngl_email" /></div></div><button class="ngl-form-button">Subscribe</button><p class="ngl-form-text">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay"><div class="ngl-message-svg-wrap"></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay-text">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type="hidden" name="ngl_list_id" id="ngl_list_id" value="26f81bd8ae" /><input type="hidden" name="ngl_double_optin" id="ngl_double_optin" value="yes" /></form>



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<p> <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/changelog-41-greg-ziolkowski-gutenberg-10-3-full-site-editing-mvp/"><strong>Episode #41</strong> is now available</a>, with new co-host <strong>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</strong></p>



<p> <strong>Subscribe to the&nbsp;<a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/">Gutenberg Changelog</a>&nbsp;podcast </strong><br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/620NwVKQJGdTupy36zYxvg?mc_cid=4b6c9f88fe">Spotify</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ndXRlbmJlcmd0aW1lcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0">Google</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gutenberg-changelog/id1469294475">iTunes</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://pca.st/podcast/f8445ec0-7508-0137-f267-1d245fc5f9cf">PocketCasts</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/gutenberg-changelog">Stitcher</a>&nbsp;|<br />🎙️&nbsp;<a href="https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/chi7j-9904a/Gutenberg-Changelog-Podcast">Pod Bean</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://castbox.fm/channel/Gutenberg-Changelog-id2173375">CastBox</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/gutenberg-changelog-878239/">Podchaser</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/podcast">RSS Feed</a>&nbsp;</p>



<img />Review by <a href="https://twitter.com/Peter_Ingersoll"><strong>Peter Ingersoll</strong></a> on <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/gutenberg-changelog">Stitcher</a>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 10 Apr 2021 15:24:50 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"WPTavern: Will Full Site Editing Land in WordPress 5.8? A Decision Is Forthcoming";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114870";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:205:"https://wptavern.com/will-full-site-editing-land-in-wordpress-5-8-a-decision-is-forthcoming?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=will-full-site-editing-land-in-wordpress-5-8-a-decision-is-forthcoming";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6679:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Yesterday, Josepha Haden Chomphosy <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/04/08/full-site-editing-scope-for-wp5-8/">announced the roadmap</a> for deciding whether Full Site Editing (FSE) will land in WordPress 5.8. After the launch of Gutenberg 10.4 on April 14, a small group of core leads will participate in a go/no-go demo.</p>



<p>The following people will be on the call:</p>



<ul><li>Matias Ventura &ndash; Gutenberg Project Lead who will host the demo.</li><li>Matt Mullenweg &ndash; WordPress Project Lead.</li><li>Helen Hou-Sand&igrave; &ndash; Lead Developer.</li><li>Josepha Haden Chomphosy &ndash; Executive Director.</li></ul>



<p>The meeting&rsquo;s agenda is simple. Ventura will host the demo, and the group will discuss and cover implementation questions.</p>



<p>If there are no blockers, they will share a plan for merging FSE into WordPress. The more likely outcome is that they will find at least a few items that must be addressed. In that case, they will share these publicly with a plan to tackle them before a second go/no-go date of April 27.</p>



<p>The first beta release of WordPress 5.8 is set for June 8, with a general public release for July 20. The team needs to decide on inclusion early in the release cycle to give theme and plugin developers time to prepare.</p>



<p>While many are on their toes awaiting a final decision, everyone needs to have a little patience at the moment. Everything needs to be carefully weighed by the project leaders. There is a good chance we will not know the outcome until that second, April 27 deadline.</p>



<p>Most of the FSE transition would be a beta run for a subset users. Including these features in core does not mean that WordPress immediately flips the switch and enables everything for 40% of the web. For the overall FSE experience, users must make an explicit choice to install and activate a block-based theme.</p>



<p>With that in mind, the onboarding experience should be a welcoming one that invites users into site editing while letting them know the potential issues. If it is a built-in beta, they <em>really</em> need to understand that improvements are forthcoming.</p>



<p>An in-core beta run like this is also welcome, given the project&rsquo;s launch of the block editor a couple of years ago. Regardless of whether people loved or hated the block editor, the rollout was not smooth for everyone. WordPress dropped end-users into an overhauled system, which was a shocking change for many. The project has a chance to do better this time around by incrementally introducing features to users and allowing others to immerse themselves in the new experience of their own choice.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The most important context to share is that <strong>it isn&rsquo;t shipping as the full, default experience for users</strong>,&rdquo; wrote Chomphosy in the post, noting that the team is growing beyond past mistakes. &ldquo;One of the clearest pieces of feedback from the Phase One merge process was that there wasn&rsquo;t enough time for our extenders (agencies, theme authors, plugin developers, site builders, etc.) to prepare for the upcoming changes.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The decision-makers may also decide to ship some pieces but not others. FSE is a project made up of several components.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The whole full site editing project is sort of an umbrella term for a collection of tools and projects, so it would be possible for some pieces to ship while others don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Haden Chomphosy. &ldquo;There are probably some exceptions to that, as you mentioned, but many of these can ship as they are ready.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The exceptions she was referring to are components that make more sense together. For example, block-based themes via a <code>theme.json</code> config file and most of the site-editing blocks are not as useful when separate.</p>



<p>Of course, there are cases where something like the Query block could be used outside of the site editor. Users might create custom queries within a page without the benefit of the site editor, for example.</p>



<p>My primary concern is not with features related to the site editor but with block-based widgets. It is a transitional tool for users on traditional themes. Along with the new nav menus screen, it is not a part of the block-based themes experience. The goal is to allow users to start using blocks in more places. However, this will result in a broken UX in many cases.</p>



<p>The widgets experience is still <a href="https://wptavern.com/are-block-based-widgets-ready-to-land-in-wordpress-5-6">partially broken</a>, treating each block as a separate widget. Users must learn to put a Heading (widget title) and another block (widget content) into a Group (widget wrapper) for the correct widget-related classes on the front end of the site. For some themes, whether users do this will be a non-issue. For others, it will look ugly at best and break the layout at worst. Putting this responsibility on the shoulders of end-users was <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/25174#issuecomment-708238689">deemed an acceptable solution</a>.</p>



<p>I wanted to focus on this issue because it is one of those things that may simply be flipped on for all users. I am still afraid that transitioning from a functioning system to a potentially broken one will make for a bumpy ride.</p>



<p>The WordPress 5.6 release team <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-6-release-team-pulls-the-plug-on-block-based-widgets">decided not to ship</a> block-based widgets. Hou-Sand&igrave;, as the core tech lead for 5.6, provided a historical account of the decision and why it was not ready for inclusion:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>My question for features that affect the front-end is &ldquo;can I try out this new thing without the penalty of messing up my site?&rdquo; &mdash; that is, user trust. At this current moment, given that widget areas are not displayed anything like what you see on your site without themes really putting effort into it and that you have to save your changes live without revisions to get an actual contextual view, widget area blocks do not allow you to try this new feature without penalizing you for experimenting.</p></blockquote>



<p>While widgets have arguably improved, I still see the answer as being the same as last October. I have not seen enough buy-in from the theme development community to support the block editor itself, much less new block-related features. However, at some point, the project simply needs to move forward. Themers will just need to keep up.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 09 Apr 2021 15:48:25 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:3;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"WPTavern: iThemes Acquires Kadence WP, Plans to Sunset Legacy Themes in 2022";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114848";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:195:"https://wptavern.com/ithemes-acquires-kadence-wp-plans-to-sunset-legacy-themes-in-2022?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ithemes-acquires-kadence-wp-plans-to-sunset-legacy-themes-in-2022";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3957:"<p>iThemes has <a href="https://ithemes.com/kadence-wp-joins-ithemes-family/">acquired Kadence WP</a>, the Missoula-based makers of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/kadence-blocks/">Kadence Blocks</a> plugin and its accompanying <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/kadence/">Kadence theme</a>. Originally founded in 2008 as a themes company, iThemes became more of a plugin-oriented business over the years before it was <a href="https://wptavern.com/liquid-web-acquires-ithemes-in-multi-million-dollar-deal">acquired by Liquid Web in 2018</a>. The company is returning to its roots with this acquisition and plans to make Kadence WP the official theme platform of choice for iThemes.</p>



<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no secret that the &lsquo;themes&rsquo; part of iThemes has been lacking for many years now,&rdquo; iThemes general manager Matt Danner said. &ldquo;While we got our start in WordPress themes in 2008, over the past 10 years, we pivoted to the more obvious needs of our customers (mainly WordPress security, backups, memberships and maintenance) as the theme marketplace got more competitive.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>&ldquo;</em>Joining forces with Kadence WP means that iThemes can once again have an innovative and modern WordPress theme platform.&rdquo;</p>



<p>iThemes announced it will be sunsetting its <a href="https://ithemes.com/purchase/builder-theme/">iThemes Builder theme framework</a> and all of its legacy themes in 2022, in favor of supporting the Kadence theme which already has more than 50,000 active installations. Danner said the older themes &ldquo;are no longer truly compatible with the future direction of WordPress.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Kadence Blocks are even more popular than the accompanying theme, since they can be used in combination with any WordPress theme. The plugin has gained more than 100,000 users after its initial launch in August 2018. Kadence Blocks <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-and-plugin-shops-are-pioneering-the-first-layout-blocks-for-gutenberg">pioneered some of the first full-featured layout blocks</a> in the early days of Gutenberg prior to its inclusion in core.</p>



<p>&ldquo;This last year has marked some ridiculous growth for Kadence WP,&rdquo; co-founder Ben Ritner said. &ldquo;Only one year ago my sister Hannah (many users will know Hannah from our support channels) and I were the entirety of&nbsp;the Kadence WP team. It is hard to gauge user numbers with accuracy because of how many free products we have, but the amount of people using Kadence WP products has roughly quadrupled in the last 10 months! Our new Kadence Theme, which landed on the repo in November (only 160 days ago), now has more than 50,000 active users.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Kadence WP will continue running under its same branding and as a separate company under the iThemes brand. Pricing will remain the same for existing Kadence WP customers. iThemes plans to raise its prices for its Agency Bundle on May 1, 2021, but renewal pricing will remain the same as long as the customers&rsquo; subscriptions auto-renew.</p>



<p>Kadence Blocks is adding dynamic content for its pro version in the next month. The team is also launching a new plugin called Kadence Cloud, which will allow users to create a pre-built cloud of content that they can pull down into any website. Both Kadence Blocks and the theme will also be rolling in many of the top-voted feature requests from its community. A major new product release is planned for Q4 2021.</p>



<p>iThemes will be hosting a <a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8329602538499610384">townhall meeting</a> Friday, April 9 at 11:00 am CST to address any questions or concerns that users and customers may have. They are also running an online training workshop titled &ldquo;<a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/446959587392124432">Learn How to Use Kadence WP</a>&rdquo; on May 5, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. CST.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 09 Apr 2021 05:23:49 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:4;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"WPTavern: Yes, Comments Are Still Relevant, But We Need a Better System";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114628";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:183:"https://wptavern.com/yes-comments-are-still-relevant-but-we-need-a-better-system?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=yes-comments-are-still-relevant-but-we-need-a-better-system";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6116:"<p class="has-drop-cap">More and more, open comments are becoming a thing of the past. Large news organizations have kicked them to the curb. Frustrated bloggers who no longer desire all of the hassles with moderation shut down their forms. The conversations have moved to corporate-controlled social media.</p>



<p>It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment much of the web devolved into chaos. It was probably more of a gradual thing. The tools that we built fostered the darkest side of humanity. Far too often, people let out their worst unfiltered thoughts without regard to decency and kindness. If we dig deep enough, social media is likely the culprit that spawned this growing experience. However, it is also entrenched in the blogging world.</p>



<p>Now, with the ubiquity of mobile phones, everyone has a voice. And, far too often, the vocal minority drives the masses from discussion to ad hominem. Or, maybe the majority was always looking for a justification.</p>



<p>There is a bright side. Commenting on and discussing ideas in an open forum can change hearts and minds. It can lead to discoveries and create life-long friendships &mdash; I still routinely chat with people I met through blogs and their comments from nearly two decades ago.</p>



<p>Ryan McCue, a core contributor to WordPress, said that <a href="https://twitter.com/rmccue/status/1375873040496594946">comments should be a plugin</a>.</p>



<p>There are few things I could think that would hurt the blogging community more. Comments are the lifeblood of many WordPress-built sites. Without them as part of the core experience, how many new users will venture out to find a commenting plugin? Such a change would sign the death warrant for commenting on a large part of the web, moving more discussion away from blogs into the waiting arms of social networks.</p>



<p>McCue&rsquo;s response was to a <a href="https://twitter.com/Krogsgard/status/1375867036102971396">tweet by Brian Krogsgard</a>, the Post Status creator and editor. &ldquo;WordPress should have one singular button that says: Turn off all comments and comment displays. This is so hilariously complicated, it&rsquo;s absurd.&rdquo;</p>



<p>He is not wrong.</p>



<p>The WordPress comment settings screen is so complex that I rarely change anything other than a setting or two, even when I want comments enabled for a site. There are around two dozen individual options on that screen, and none of them just allow users to turn it all off.</p>



<p>Eric Karkovack explores this same topic in his piece for Speckyboy titled <a href="https://speckyboy.com/is-the-wordpress-comment-system-still-relevant/">Is the WordPress Comment System Still Relevant?</a> He concluded:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>So, where does this leave the default comment system? It still offers the basics and can be extended. Yet it seems a bit antiquated when compared to what other services are offering. To remain a compelling option, improvements are in order.</p><p>There&rsquo;s certainly no harm in keeping it around. But, short of a renewed effort to improve the out-of-the-box functionality, perhaps it shouldn&rsquo;t be as front-and-center within WordPress as it is now.</p></blockquote>



<p>WordPress has failed to iterate on its commenting feature in recent years.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Like most things, [Full Site Editing] will change things there,&rdquo; wrote WordPress Themes Team rep Ari Stathopoulos in the Post Status Slack. &ldquo;Want comments? Add the comment-form block in your template. Don&rsquo;t want them? Don&rsquo;t add it.&rdquo;</p>



<p>While that is partly true, it only handles things on the front end of the site. All the commenting-related features would still be there in the admin. However, it is a step in the right direction.</p>



<p>The ability to easily opt in or out of a commenting system is merely one change that needs to happen. Something as basic as an <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/33627">in-context comment list view</a> is a must for easier moderation. The <a href="https://wptavern.com/a-conceptual-wordpress-plugin-by-stephen-cronin-that-makes-comment-moderation-easier">Tavern still uses</a> Stephen Cronin&rsquo;s <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/show-parent-comment/">Show Comment Parent</a> plugin for this. Even a basic JavaScript-based front-end submission form would go a long way toward modernizing the commenting system. Does anyone enjoy a full page reload when leaving a comment?</p>



<p>However, there is more that we could be doing. For a platform that prides itself on democratizing publishing and owning your content, a <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/35435">ticket for supporting webmentions</a> has had virtually no movement in five years.</p>



<p>A Webmention is a standardized protocol for mentions and conversations across the web. It is a part of a goal for a decentralized social &ldquo;network&rdquo; of sorts where everyone owns and controls their content. While the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/webmention/">Webmention plugin</a> by Matthias Pfefferle takes care of this feature, universal adoption would be a far more realistic goal as part of WordPress.</p>



<p>We should also have some serious conversations about what tools publishers need to build thriving communities via their comments. For example, is comment moderation easy enough? If not, what can we do to improve it?</p>



<p>WordPress is more than simply a blogging platform. Users can build any kind of site they want today, with or without the comments. However, commenting is part of the software&rsquo;s history and identity. It is a gateway to discussion &mdash; often as important or even more so than a site&rsquo;s content.</p>



<p>Comments will always be relevant. Whether it is a response to a blog post, tweet, Slack thread, or some new thing we have yet to think of, the web is all about connecting and communicating with others. We should constantly reevaluate whether WordPress is leading the pack, creating the tools to enable more discussion.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 08 Apr 2021 23:11:34 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:11:"
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:51:"HeroPress: Hallway Chats Joins The HeroPress Family";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:29:"https://heropress.com/?p=3524";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:147:"https://heropress.com/hallway-chats-joins-the-heropress-family/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hallway-chats-joins-the-heropress-family";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2413:"<img width="375" height="100" src="https://s20094.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/hallway-chats-logotype-v01.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Original Hallway Chats logo" />
<p>As any parent or pet owner knows, quiet doesn&#8217;t always equal inactivity. And the same is true here at HeroPress.</p>



<h2 id="h-investing-in-a-sustainable-framework">Investing in a sustainable framework</h2>



<p>While we haven&#8217;t said much over the last few months, we&#8217;ve been working with the initial feedback we received to expand HeroPress in the most manageable and sustainable way. Because really, if it&#8217;s not manageable and sustainable, what&#8217;s even the point?</p>



<p>This quest prompted a lot of additional research and active listening, all of which lead the fine folks behind the <a href="http://hallwaychats.com">Hallway Chats</a> podcast to start a conversation with us. </p>



<h2 id="h-hallway-chats-found-us">Hallway Chats found us</h2>



<p>We were considering a podcast, but had moved it down the build list. <a href="https://twitter.com/TaraClaeys">Tara Claeys</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/liamdempsey">Liam Dempsey</a>, while loving the work they&#8217;ve done with Hallway Chats, found life was moving then in different directions, as it does for us all. And as Hallway Chats approached its 150th episode, the decision was made to pass the torch, or microphone as it were.</p>



<p>We&#8217;re thrilled to be able to build on their legacy and continue to grow Hallway Chats through out the community, and we&#8217;re grateful to Tara and Liam that they&#8217;ve entrusted it into our care.</p>



<h2 id="h-embrace-opportunities-that-are-the-right-fit">Embrace opportunities that are the right fit</h2>



<p>A few shifts and changes are inevitable, but the spirit of Hallway Chats will always stand. After all, why change something that so ideally meshes with our own goals?</p>



<p>Listen to the <a href="https://hallwaychats.com/episodes/episode-150-cate-and-topher-derosia/">150th Episode of Hallway Chats</a> where Tara, Liam, Topher, and I talk even more about the direction we&#8217;re all heading.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/hallway-chats-joins-the-heropress-family/">Hallway Chats Joins The HeroPress Family</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 08 Apr 2021 14:55:13 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"WPTavern: Calling All Themers: Design the Next Round of Query Block Patterns";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114777";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:195:"https://wptavern.com/calling-all-themers-design-the-next-round-of-query-block-patterns?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=calling-all-themers-design-the-next-round-of-query-block-patterns";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4621:"<p class="has-drop-cap">The Gutenberg plugin repository currently has an open ticket calling for <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/30508">community-contributed Query block patterns</a>. These would launch alongside Full Site Editing&rsquo;s inclusion in WordPress, which could be as soon as version 5.8 &mdash; no hard decision has been made on that yet. Some may not end up bundled directly in WordPress but could be included in the <a href="https://wptavern.com/first-look-at-initial-designs-for-wordpress-block-pattern-directory">upcoming pattern directory</a>.</p>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-10-2-adds-spacers-to-navigation-lists-lets-users-categorize-template-parts-and-introduces-scoped-patterns">Gutenberg 10.2</a> introduced a new feature called &ldquo;scoped patterns.&rdquo; This system allows developers to build block patterns within a specific context instead of always being available from the inserter. Specifically, the Gutenberg development team created a handful of patterns for the Query block. When inserting the block, users can choose between each of these patterns as a starting point for outputting their posts.</p>



<img />Pattern selections for the Query block in its initial state.



<p>The patterns are far too generic and do not come close to replicating the array of design options in the real world. While the end goal is to not cover every scenario imaginable, WordPress should ultimately give users a little more flexibility as a jumping-off point.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Those were always meant to be temporary to start with,&rdquo; wrote Kjell Reigstad, a core WordPress contributor and Design Director at Automattic, in the GitHub ticket. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s take another look at these, both to replace the current ones for now, but also so that we eventually have a nice set of WordPress community-designed query block patterns to add to the Pattern Directory at launch.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Theme authors will be able to release their own scoped patterns for the Query block too. However, with block-based themes being few and far between at this phase of the project, WordPress needs to set the stage.</p>



<p>This is one of the reasons I was so vocal pre-WordPress 5.5 about the <a href="https://wptavern.com/decision-time-what-block-patterns-should-ship-with-wordpress-5-5">early pattern designs</a>, and it is why I was happy to see them <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-8-7-adds-minor-changes-updates-block-pattern-designs-and-continues-full-site-editing-work">overhauled before the launch</a>. Many users need that bit of inspiration, that push to try out alternate layouts instead of building them on their own. They need options beyond the typical stacked blog posts layouts.</p>



<p>A few well-designed Query patterns do that.</p>



<p>I decided to try my hand at building what I think would be a fun Query pattern to use:</p>



<img />Query block pattern with full-width background image.



<p>I built this using core blocks instead of the Query block with the Eksell theme installed. Side note: let me just reiterate my earlier <a href="https://wptavern.com/compatibility-is-not-enough-the-eksell-wordpress-theme-creates-art-with-blocks">review of Eksell</a>. It is such a well-rounded design that anyone can create all sorts of custom patterns. It makes for an easy-to-use testbed for exploring design concepts.</p>



<p>The idea was based on a pattern that Mel Choyce-Dwan shared in the ticket:</p>



<img /> Query block pattern with background image and centered text. 



<p>I do not think it is currently possible to build this Query pattern idea with the site editor. Unless I am mistaken, there is no way to use the post featured image as a background or within the Cover block, a common layout design.</p>



<p>Eventually, the site editor should get to the point where theme authors can move at least a hair beyond the basics. It will take some time for the tooling to catch up, but we are approaching the point where designers can build more complex things. That is another reason theme authors should be involved with this discussion. It needs input and ideas from themers who are out there dealing with users in real-world settings. The Gutenberg team cannot know everything it needs to build without this vital community source.</p>



<p>Choyce-Dwan shared several other patterns in the ticket that are worth exploring. Along with Reigstad, Beatriz Fialho and Paal Joachim Romdahl have contributed pattern ideas.</p>



<p>If you fancy yourself a theme designer, now is as good a time as any to contribute.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 07 Apr 2021 22:45:38 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"Matt: Wix and Their Dirty Tricks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=53999";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:39:"https://ma.tt/2021/04/wix-dirty-tricks/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3651:"<p>Wix, the website builder company you may remember from <a href="https://ma.tt/2016/10/wix-and-the-gpl/">stealing WordPress code and lying about it</a>, has now decided the best way to gain relevance is attacking the open source WordPress community in a <a href="https://wptavern.com/wix-takes-a-jab-at-wordpress-with-bewildering-new-marketing-campaign">bizarre set of ads</a>. They can&#8217;t even come up with original concepts for attack ads, and have tried to rip-off of Apple&#8217;s Mac vs PC ads, but tastelessly personify the WordPress community as an absent, drunken father in a therapy session. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f914.png" alt="🤔" class="wp-smiley" /></p>



<p>I have a lot of empathy for whoever was forced to work on these ads, including the actors, it must have felt bad working on something that&#8217;s<strong> like Encyclopedia Britannica attacking Wikipedia</strong>. WordPress is a global movement of hundreds of thousands of volunteers and community members, coming together to make the web a better place. The code, and everything you put into it, belongs to you, and its open source license ensures that you&#8217;re in complete control, now and forever. WordPress is free, and also gives you freedom. </p>



<p>Wix is a for-profit company with a valuation that peaked at around 20 billion dollars, and whose business model is getting customers to pay more and more every year and making it difficult to leave or <a href="https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.wix.com?aspects=refund">get a refund</a>. (Don&#8217;t take my word for it, look at their investor presentations.) They are so insecure that they are also the only website creator I&#8217;m aware of that doesn&#8217;t allow you to export your content, so they&#8217;re like a roach motel where you can check in but never check out. Once you buy into their proprietary stack you&#8217;re locked in, which even their support documentation admits:</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p><strong>So if we&#8217;re comparing website builders to abusive relationships, Wix is one that locks you in the basement and doesn&#8217;t let you leave.</strong> I&#8217;m surprised consumer protection agencies haven&#8217;t gone after them.</p>



<p>Philosophically, I believe in open source, and if WordPress isn&#8217;t a good fit for you there are other great open source communities like Drupal, Joomla, Jekyll, and Typo3. We also have a great relationship with some of our proprietary competitors, and I have huge respect for the teams at Shopify and Squarespace, and even though we compete I&#8217;ve always seen them operate with integrity and I&#8217;d recommend them without hesitation. </p>



<p>I have to believe that users will care about that in the long run, and maybe that&#8217;s <a href="https://w3techs.com/technologies/history_overview/content_management/all/y">why Squarespace just passed up Wix in market share</a>. They <a href="https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206566687-Exporting-your-site">natively support exporting into WordPress&#8217; format</a> and don&#8217;t have to resort to dirty tricks to be successful. I expect Squarespace&#8217;s upcoming IPO will be a great one.</p>



<p>Wix, though, continues to show their true colors. Regardless of their product, I hope people consider the behavior of companies in the world they support with their dollars. Wix really wants you to see their new campaign though, so let&#8217;s take the bait and watch the creepy, misleading way they are trying to represent themselves.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">

</div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 07 Apr 2021 17:34:36 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:102:"WPTavern: Wix’s Negative Advertising Campaign Falls Flat with WordPress Developers and Professionals";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114772";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:243:"https://wptavern.com/wixs-negative-advertising-campaign-falls-flat-with-wordpress-developers-and-professionals?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wixs-negative-advertising-campaign-falls-flat-with-wordpress-developers-and-professionals";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5971:"<p>Wix has launched a negative advertising campaign targeting WordPress, following a <a href="https://wptavern.com/wix-takes-a-jab-at-wordpress-with-bewildering-new-marketing-campaign">bizarre marketing stunt</a> where the company shipped out Bose headphones to influential WordPress community members. Recipients were puzzled, because it appeared the company was wasting its marketing budget on people who were not likely to be swayed by the campaign. Wix seems oblivious to the <a href="https://twitter.com/danyork/status/1379128016387866624">negative </a><a href="https://twitter.com/wesbos/status/1379570402347864066">responses</a> to its headphones marketing ploy.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Like, these are nice headphones, but I want to know if there is a proprietary CMS that is willing to pay to replace the outdoor condenser thing for my A/C within the next 12 months or not before making my decision.</p>&mdash; Josh Pollock (@Josh412) <a href="https://twitter.com/Josh412/status/1379470244968857600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>Subsequent advertisements in this new &ldquo;You Deserve Better&rdquo; campaign are markedly more negative than the <a href="https://www.secret-update.com/from-wp">launch video</a> sent to recipients of the headphones, packed with tasteless and tired motifs. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Wix representative Maya Gril said the campaign is part of the company&rsquo;s &ldquo;initiative to connect with an audience that doesn&rsquo;t think or know that Wix applies to their needs.&rdquo; </p>



<p>When asked what message they are intending to send with the videos, Gril likened using WordPress to being stuck in a bad relationship.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The campaign shows in a clever way that WordPress users don&rsquo;t need to be stuck in a bad relationship with their platform and they should consider the alternative which allows them to focus on their actual work,&rdquo; Gril said. &ldquo;Each video in the campaign revolves around user pain points, which also highlight Wix&rsquo;s strengths.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Morten Rand-Hendriksen, who received a pair of the headphones, characterized the campaign as &ldquo;<a href="https://twitter.com/mor10/status/1379513577619394563">nuclear troll-marketing</a>.&rdquo; Instead of emphasizing any new, innovative features of the Wix platform, the ads come across as short, petulant narratives with no clear objective. </p>



<p>&ldquo;I guess they&rsquo;re trying to provoke us into responding?&rdquo; WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg <a href="https://twitter.com/photomatt/status/1379217014472896512">tweeted</a> in response to discussion on the campaign. &ldquo;I agree it comes off as creepy and misleading to impersonate &lsquo;WordPress&rsquo; this way.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t tell if trying to get a cease and desist letter is part of their strategy to try and drum up press. Unethical, tacky behavior from an unethical, tacky company. Good reminder: I really appreciate the integrity, principles, and ethics of WordPress ecosystem companies.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Wix&rsquo;s new video ads seem more geared at professional developers with references that are likely outside of regular users&rsquo; experience with the software. The company may have failed to attract professionals in the past, which might explain why it opted to send thousands of dollars worth of headphones to influential WordPress users who fall within that demographic. </p>



<p>In 2019, Wix began shifting its marketing budget away from TV advertisements and added products that targeted agencies, developers, and designers. The company spent $55 million in marketing in the first quarter of 2019, according to reports shared with <a href="https://digiday.com/marketing/wix-com-using-linkedin-target-designers-engineers-agencies/">Digiday</a>. Wix became more active on LinkedIn&nbsp;and Twitter in pursuit of professionals who would bring more customers to its platform.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We want to make it clear that we have everything a professional needs,&rdquo; Maya Gril said. &ldquo;Our product is mature and constantly evolving. We&rsquo;re broadening our target audience and we want all new, existing and prospective users to know that Wix is the ultimate web creation platform to help them create, manage and grow online.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Unfortunately, Wix is lacking one very important feature for catering to &ldquo;professional needs&rdquo; &ndash; data portability.  When asked for his thoughts on the campaign, Mullenweg added that Wix is the only CMS in the world that doesn&rsquo;t allow export &ndash; even Facebook does. The <a href="https://support.wix.com/en/article/exporting-or-embedding-your-wix-site-elsewhere">Wix support center</a> states: Y<em>our Wix site and all of its content is&nbsp;<a href="https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-site-hosting">hosted</a>&nbsp;exclusively on Wix&rsquo;s servers, and cannot be exported elsewhere.</em></p>



<p>Having content that is locked in and cannot be easily exported to other platforms or hosts does not appeal to professionals. No amount of extravagant spending on marketing stunts will convince developers to bring their customers to a proprietary CMS that also locks in your content. </p>



<p>This is why their marketing doesn&rsquo;t appeal to the group of people who received the headphones. Many of them build WordPress as long-time contributors or run WordPress product businesses. </p>



<p>Wix fundamentally misunderstands why people use WordPress and what makes them stay. It&rsquo;s for reasons not found in their overly simplified list of differentiators played out in the new video ads. The desperate marketing tactics, which are geared more towards developers and power users, serve only to reinforce the platform&rsquo;s underdog status and lack of market awareness.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 07 Apr 2021 07:10:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:9;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"WPTavern: Twentig Now Upgrades the Twenty Twenty-One Theme Experience";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114785";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:183:"https://wptavern.com/twentig-now-upgrades-the-twenty-twenty-one-theme-experience?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=twentig-now-upgrades-the-twenty-twenty-one-theme-experience";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6098:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Twentig, the brainchild of sibling co-founders Diane and Yann Collet, now supports the Twenty Twenty-One theme. The developers originally built the plugin, which is <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/twentig/">hosted on WordPress.org</a>, around the idea of &ldquo;supercharging&rdquo; Twenty Twenty. After its initial success, they have turned their sights onto the most recent default theme, adding a slew of new features over the past few months.</p>



<p>The plugin still supports Twenty Twenty. It has merely added features for the latest default theme to its repertoire. The duo behind the plugin does not plan to stop there either.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Yes, we&rsquo;ll definitively continue this with the future default themes,&rdquo; said Yann Collet. &ldquo;It will be exciting to see what we can do with Full Site Editing and the next block-based theme. With FSE coming, the opportunity is immense, making us confident that we can help people building better websites.&rdquo;</p>



<p>When I <a href="https://wptavern.com/supercharge-the-default-wordpress-theme-with-twentig-a-toolbox-for-twenty-twenty">last covered it</a>, Twentig had a mere 4,000 active installations. All 34 of its reviews were five stars. Today, the plugin has accumulated over 10,000 installs and 75 five-star reviews. It did garner its first four-star rating, bringing the average down a tad. Nevertheless, its user base clearly loves what the plugin developers are doing.</p>



<p>The team has created 10 <a href="https://twentig.com/demos/">website demos</a> and 8 single-page examples for inspiration, each on top of the Twenty Twenty-One theme.</p>



<ul><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img />Orlando</li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img />Kyoto</li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img />Letuce</li></ul>



<p>One of the great things about the plugin is that it essentially treats the default themes as a bit of a foundation, a framework. Users do not have to search around for a new theme when they tire of their current look. They can simply mix things up with Twentig.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The goal is to showcase the power and flexibility of Twentig, the default theme, and the block editor,&rdquo; said the team. &ldquo;And ultimately inspire people to be creative with blocks. It&rsquo;s incredibly fun and fast to build directly inside the block editor with our block patterns instead of using a prototyping tool like Figma.&rdquo;</p>



<h2>Extending the Block Editor</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The Twentig plugin&rsquo;s strength is in how it extends the block editor. Users are first presented with a custom sidebar panel with a plethora of patterns and full-page layouts. The plugin then further provides options for individual blocks.</p>



<p>Unlike many other block-related plugins, Twentig does not register its own blocks. It uses the core WordPress blocks, except for Contact Form 7 integration, by mixing and matching them in various ways. If a user needs a call-to-action section, the plugin offers 11 patterns. If a user wants to spruce up their galleries, they have plenty of choices.</p>



<img />Inserting a single page layout.



<p>The plugin&rsquo;s page layouts and patterns all work with both the Twenty Twenty and Twenty Twenty-One themes. Since Twentig relies primarily on core blocks, it is just a matter of making sure its custom CSS works.</p>



<p>Some blocks get an extra setting or two through the plugin. However, the bulk of customization options happen through the Twentig &ldquo;CSS Library.&rdquo; This is a setting under the Advanced tab for most blocks that users can access by clicking the &ldquo;+&rdquo; icon next to the Additional CSS Classes option. It allows users to tick off checkboxes for numerous classes &mdash; each has an explanation of what it does. These are merely a set of utilities that change the block&rsquo;s output in some way.</p>



<img />Picking Heading block classes via the Twentig CSS Library.



<p>Twentig&rsquo;s CSS classes system follows the road paved by utility class frameworks like Tailwind. WordPress does a little of this but does not take a holistic approach to it. I have argued that WordPress <a href="https://wptavern.com/themes-of-the-future-a-design-framework-and-a-master-theme">should build a design framework</a> in the past. A standardized class system would play well with block options, giving the development team a foundation for creating a better user experience across themes.</p>



<p>The drawback is that the two extra stylesheets on top of Twenty Twenty-One&rsquo;s CSS add a bit of heft to the page. This could give pause to users who want to keep things lightweight. However, it has a smaller footprint than when using it with the older Twenty Twenty.</p>



<h2>Customizer Options and More</h2>



<img />Customizing Twenty Twenty-One&rsquo;s design.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The plugin packages dozens of settings under the &ldquo;Twentig Options&rdquo; customizer panel. It also extends other sections, such as adding more color options. Users who care more about modifying the overall design than blocks will find nearly anything they need to put their own spin on their sites.</p>



<p>Everything from fonts to site layouts to what post metadata to show is covered. Users can also switch between stacked and grid-style blog posts designs while further customizing based on their choices.</p>



<p>The biggest downside to the plugin&rsquo;s customizer integration is that it does not utilize the live preview functionality with most of its options. Making a change means a frame refresh to see its effects. A little bit of custom JavaScript and a few partials for server-side changes would go a long way toward making the experience better.</p>



<p>Ultimately, future versions of Twentig will rely less on or not at all on the customizer. If Twenty Twenty-Two is a block-based, FSE theme, such customization will happen in the upcoming site editor. The plugin developers will need to change tactics and find ways to extend the experience in new ways.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 06 Apr 2021 22:36:37 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:10;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"WPTavern: Wix Takes a Jab at WordPress with Bewildering New Marketing Campaign";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114714";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:201:"https://wptavern.com/wix-takes-a-jab-at-wordpress-with-bewildering-new-marketing-campaign?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wix-takes-a-jab-at-wordpress-with-bewildering-new-marketing-campaign";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5921:"<p>Wix is taking direct aim at WordPress in a new cryptic marketing campaign that began over the weekend with shipments of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bose-Cancelling-Wireless-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B07Q9MJKBV/">Bose noise-canceling headphones</a> landing in the mailboxes of prominent WordPress users. At the end of December, 2020, Wix sent out the following Twitter DM to a group of people it deemed &ldquo;influencers from the tech industry,&rdquo; soliciting their addresses in order to deliver a box: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>In the last few months, my team and I have been working on a new innovative concept. We have packed this concept into a free, no strings attached box that we&rsquo;d love to share with you as one of our selected influencers from the Tech industry. </p><p>I know the information I have provided you is basic, but the reason is that I do not want to ruin your experience (and let&rsquo;s be honest, what&rsquo;s more fun than being surprised on the holidays?)</p></blockquote>



<ul><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img /></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img /></li></ul>



<p>Recipients were instructed to scan a QR code to view a one-minute <a href="https://www.secret-update.com/from-wp">video</a> where a man acts as a personified &ldquo;WordPress&rdquo; making bizarre claims:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>&ldquo;Apparently, Wix is coming out with a campaign trashing me. I just want you to know that it&rsquo;s totally fake news, completely bogus. They&rsquo;re just spreading lies because they&rsquo;re jealous of our relationship.&rdquo; </p><cite><a href="https://www.secret-update.com/from-wp">www.secret-update.com/from-wp</a></cite></blockquote>



<p>The message of the video is not clear and it ends with a few snide jabs referencing &ldquo;exhausted memory&rdquo; and WordPress&rsquo; market share. </p>



<div><img /></div>



<p>The most common reaction to the surprise headphones was confusion. Many recipients had no idea what Wix was trying to communicate with the gift.</p>



<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I don't understand their goal. Am I supposed to start using their service because they sent me some headphones I don't want?</p>&mdash; Michael Torbert (@michaeltorbert) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeltorbert/status/1379125464917237763?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>A few people perceived the video to be cheeky and humorous. WordPress contributor Aaron Campbell found it off-putting. </p>



<p>&ldquo;The video takes some odd snipes at WordPress, but the whole overall feel is a bit shady/dirty. Not a great look for Wix in my opinion,&rdquo; Campbell said after receiving the headphones in the mail. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;d be fine with it if it weren&rsquo;t signed as &lsquo;From WP&rsquo; and &lsquo;Yours, WP.&rsquo; By the time I got to watching the video I already had that bad taste in my mouth.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Some speculated that it may be the first act in a strange marketing saga of Wix targeting WordPress. Others were inadvertently convinced the headphones were actually from WordPress, since the advertisement uses WordPress&rsquo; trademark in the video. This may be a violation of the WordPress Foundation&rsquo;s <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/trademark-policy/">trademark policy</a>, but this has not yet been confirmed. Wix was not printed anywhere in the message, except on the shipping label. </p>



<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ok thank you to whoever at <a href="https://twitter.com/WordPress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordPress</a> sent me this, I don&rsquo;t remember giving you my address but these are cool headphones and you definitely got me not-using-Wix if that was your goal &hearts;&#65039;<br /><br />(i also have not used WP in like 10 years but now it will be in/around my head, dammit) <a href="https://t.co/l1xA7FvAiw">pic.twitter.com/l1xA7FvAiw</a></p>&mdash; swyx (@swyx) <a href="https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1378268509910622211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>This isn&rsquo;t the first time WordPress and Wix have been at odds. In 2016, Matt Mullenweg&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://wptavern.com/mullenweg-takes-aim-at-wix-over-gpl-abuses-wix-response-fails-to-address-licensing-issue" target="_blank">called out Wix for copying GPL code</a>&nbsp;from the WordPress mobile app and distributing it in its&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wixcom-launches-wix-app-providing-a-powerful-mobile-operating-system-for-small-business-owners-store-owners-hoteliers-and-bloggers-around-the-world-300339448.html" target="_blank">proprietary app</a>.&nbsp;This rendered the entire app in violation of the GPL. Instead of complying with the GPL, Wix responded by <a href="https://wptavern.com/wix-removes-gpl-licensed-wordpress-code-from-mobile-app-forks-original-mit-library">removing the GPL-licensed code</a> and forking the original MIT-licensed library that the WordPress mobile app code was built upon. The fork was relicensed under an absurd modification of the MIT that prohibits the code&rsquo;s redistribution under any copyleft license. </p>



<p>In October 2020, Wix passed Drupal as 4th <a href="https://w3techs.com/technologies/history_overview/content_management">most popular CMS</a>, according to W3Techs. Since that time, Squarespace has grown to overtake Wix, pushing the CMS back into 5th place with 2.4% of the market. It&rsquo;s only natural that Wix would want to target WordPress, the market leader at 40.9%. However, the strategy of misrepresenting WordPress, while sending headphones to influential users and contributors, was perplexing and unsavory. Wix has not yet responded to my request for comment on its new marketing campaign.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 06 Apr 2021 06:09:31 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:11;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:88:"WPTavern: The Michelle WordPress Theme Launches With Dozens of Block Patterns and Styles";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114708";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:221:"https://wptavern.com/the-michelle-wordpress-theme-launches-with-dozens-of-block-patterns-and-styles?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-michelle-wordpress-theme-launches-with-dozens-of-block-patterns-and-styles";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6534:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Oliver Juhas recently released his sixth theme to the WordPress community for free. <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/michelle/">Michelle</a> is a block-ready theme. However, it also supports Beaver Builder, Elementor, and other page-building plugins.</p>



<p>It is a multipurpose theme, which is often an immediate turn-off for me. I prefer to see a purpose-driven design with a unique take on a niche. However, it is hard not to love the personality of Michelle. Juhas did not shy away from putting his brand of styling on the project, which is evident in his past <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/author/webmandesign/">free themes</a>.</p>



<p>Juhas is marketing Michelle as an accessibility-ready theme. However, it has yet to receive an accessibility review for the theme directory, which would allow it to be tagged as such. From a quick scan for common issues, everything seems to be in order. It will likely pass its review like some of his past free themes. And, &ldquo;inclusive, disabilities friendly, and barrierless&rdquo; are at the forefront of his branding for <a href="https://www.webmandesign.eu/">WebMan Design</a>.</p>



<p>As has become common for block-ready themes, Michelle packages a &ldquo;Content Only&rdquo; template. This is a post/page template that allows end-users to use the block editor as a page builder by not displaying anything other than the post content.</p>



<p>The theme is yet another showcase of what is possible with the block editor. A couple of weeks after Anders Nor&eacute;n&rsquo;s <a href="https://wptavern.com/eksell-portfolio-theme-now-available-in-wordpress-themes-directory">Eksell landed in the directory</a>, Juhas has presented the community with another quality theme. The two are entirely different in style and approach, but they both make the block system shine in their own ways.</p>



<img />Portfolio designed using multiple blocks.



<p>Users can read more about the theme and peruse several demos via the <a href="https://www.webmandesign.eu/portfolio/michelle-wordpress-theme/">theme&rsquo;s official page</a>.</p>



<h2>Block Patterns and Styles</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Michelle may be the only free theme in existence with 67 patterns. And, no, you did not misread that. It literally registers 67 block patterns. Yeah, that is a lot.</p>



<p>It has a little bit of everything. From team galleries to logos, from hero headers to contact cards, it is hard not to find something you need. There was no way that I could realistically test all of them. However, for the dozen or so that I did try, they worked well and offered an easy one-click option for end-users.</p>



<img />Variable gallery with description pattern.



<p>I always knew the day would come when a theme author would push the limits on the number of patterns it should offer. While 67 seems a bit excessive, I know from experience that we will see a day when patterns number in the 100s.</p>



<p>I hate to continue beating a dead horse, but WordPress needs to use an <a href="https://wptavern.com/proposal-to-create-an-expanded-view-or-overlay-for-the-block-patterns-inserter">overlay system for block patterns</a>, at least for desktop users. Michelle makes it more apparent than ever that a small slide-out panel will not cut it.</p>



<p>If the theme&rsquo;s array of patterns is not enough to whet users&rsquo; appetites, its two dozen block styles just might.</p>



<img />Hiding a Heading block for everyone but screen-readers.



<p>The options range from light and dark text shadows to variable galleries. It even has an &ldquo;accessibly hidden&rdquo; style for Heading blocks, which hides the text from the screen but makes it available to screen readers.</p>



<h2>Block-Ready Footer and 404 Page</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">The theme allows end-users to build their footer and 404 error pages via the block system. Considering that the site editor is not available yet and the block editor is limited to post content, Juhas had to think outside the box a little to make this possible. He made use of the reusable blocks system. This is the sort of ingenuity that happens when theme authors are not burdened by too many rules.</p>



<p>In the customizer, users can select the Theme Options &gt; Content section. From there, they are directed to pick a reusable block for their footer and 404 pages. Or they can simply opt out of it. The customizer section also links to the semi-secret admin page to create reusable blocks.</p>



<img />Select reusable blocks for the 404 and footer content.



<p>In the past, I have used a similar technique for 404 views. Instead of going the reusable block route, theme users could select a private page. Either option is acceptable for allowing users to modify content they may not have been able to customize in the past.</p>



<h2>Starter Content</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Michelle makes extensive use of the WordPress starter content feature. This allows new WordPress users to see what their site could look like with pre-loaded content. The theme creates Home, About, Blog, Services, FAQ, and Contact pages.</p>



<img />Homepage starter content.



<p>The feature has languished in recent years. Many theme authors had hoped they would eventually be able to use the feature for non-new installs too. However, Helen Hou-Sand&iacute; <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-to-combine-its-long-neglected-theme-previewer-with-starter-content">got the ball rolling again in November 2020</a>, breathing new life into an old idea. WordPress.org would begin displaying theme starter content via the theme preview system. Only the Twenty Twenty-One, Twenty Twenty, and Twenty Seventeen themes received this treatment last year. It now seems that it is being rolled out for others.</p>



<p>This is a welcome change in the directory. Users can now <a href="https://wp-themes.com/michelle/">get a feel of the Michelle theme</a> without tracking down the author&rsquo;s demo. It is a better experience than the old-school demo content.</p>



<p>One issue is that the previewer uses the first sentence of the theme description for the demo&rsquo;s tagline. This can make for a long and unusual bit of text. It can also mess up a theme&rsquo;s layout as it is doing with Michelle. I hope this will be addressed from WordPress&rsquo;s end soon.</p>



<p>Other theme authors should note that starter content could factor into whether a user skips over or downloads their theme.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 05 Apr 2021 23:21:38 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:12;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:20:"Matt: Doctorow on IP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=53979";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"https://ma.tt/2021/04/doctorow-on-ip/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:655:"<p>It&#8217;s not every day you see noted writer Cory Doctorow refer to a column as &#8220;the piece I&#8217;m most proud of,&#8221; and <a href="https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/">his essay in Locus Magazine on IP doesn&#8217;t disappoint</a>, connecting the free software movement and the evolution of the term &#8220;author&#8217;s monopolies&#8221; to &#8220;intellectual property.&#8221;</p>



<p>The essay on DRM and Apple, <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/22/gandersauce/#petard">available on his WP-powered blog</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1374020143316004864">or Twitter</a>, is also worth reading.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sun, 04 Apr 2021 02:42:24 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:13;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:54:"WordPress.org blog: The Month in WordPress: March 2021";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=10084";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/04/the-month-in-wordpress-march-2021/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9799:"<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>This way of iterating improves WordPress and ties back to one of my favorite open-source principles. The idea that with many eyes, all bugs are shallow. To me, that means that with enough people looking at a problem, someone is bound to be able to see the solution.</p></blockquote>



<p class="has-drop-cap">These words from <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">Josepha Haden Chomphosy</a> on the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/how-wordpress-improves/">How WordPress Improves</a> episode of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/">WP Briefing Podcast</a> point to the factors that differentiate building software in an open-source environment. Our updates this month are closely tied to the philosophy behind those core principles of open source software.&nbsp;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2>WordPress 5.7 released</h2>



<p>WordPress <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/esperanza/">version 5.7</a> “Esperanza,” came out on March 9. The release offers fresher admin colors, several improvements to the block editor, single-click HTTP to HTTPS migration, and a new Robots API. Read more about it in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/esperanza/">release post</a>, the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/02/23/wordpress-5-7-field-guide/">field guide</a>, and the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/03/12/meetup-group-resources-talking-points-for-wordpress-5-7/">talking points post for meetup groups</a>. The Core Team has also <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/30/5-8-pre-planning/">started work on WordPress 5.8 pre-planning</a>.</p>



<p>Want to contribute to WordPress 5.8? Join the WordPress <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW">#core</a> channel in the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">Make WordPress Slack</a> and follow the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">Core Team blog</a>. The Core Team hosts weekly chats on Wednesdays at <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=5&min=00&sec=0">5 AM</a> and <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&min=00&sec=0">8 PM</a> UTC.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>Gutenberg Version 10.1 and 10.2 are out</h2>



<p>Contributor teams released Gutenberg <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/02/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-1-3-march/">Version 10.1</a> on March 3 and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-2-17-march/">Version 10.2</a> on March 17.</p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/02/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-1-3-march/">Version 10.1</a> showcases significant improvements to reusable blocks, a clearer image toolbar, and spatial options for the social media block. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-2-17-march/">Version 10.2</a> offers block pattern options to display contents from the query block and removes writing prompts from empty paragraphs in the editor. It also adds width adjustment for spacer blocks in horizontal parent blocks and the ability to transform media and text blocks into columns.</p>



<p>Want to get involved in building Gutenberg? Follow <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/">Gutenberg on GitHub</a>, and join the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7">#core-editor</a> channel in <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">the Make WordPress Slack</a>. The “<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/08/whats-next-in-gutenberg-march-2021/">What’s next in Gutenberg</a>” post offers more details on the latest updates. Don’t miss the monthly Gutenberg tutorial on <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/so-you-want-to-make-block-patterns/">How to make block patterns</a>!</p>



<h2>Full Site Editing updates</h2>



<p>March saw a plethora of updates to the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/full-site-editing/">Full Site Editing</a> project!</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>chanthaboune</a> published a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/03/12/full-site-editing-pre-merge-overview/">Full Site Editing pre-merge overview</a>. She shares the project’s current status, go/no-go dates for core merge, communication plans, and challenges.&nbsp;</li><li>March saw two calls for testing as part of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/handbook/full-site-editing-outreach-experiment/">Full Site Editing outreach program</a>. The first test of the month — <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/09/fse-program-testing-call-3-create-a-fun-custom-404-%20page/">creating a custom 404 page</a>,&nbsp; wrapped up successfully.&nbsp; Participate in the latest testing initiative — <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/25/fse-program-testing-call-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header/">&nbsp;build a restaurant-themed website header</a> to help improve the future of WordPress! Deadline: April 8.&nbsp;</li><li>You can also find <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/16/high-level-feedback-from-the-fse-program-march/">high-level feedback on the FSE Program</a> in this March 2021 post.</li></ul>



<h2>Proposal launched for a WordPress contributor handbook</h2>



<p>A proposal has been kicked off on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/03/16/proposal-a-wordpress-project-contributor-handbook/">building a project-wide WordPress contributor handbook</a>. The handbook will have content around the WordPress project’s underlying philosophies and commitments, along with shared expectations on working together and building products. It will also contain modern open source best practices for WordPress.&nbsp;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2>Further Reading</h2>



<ul><li>You can now schedule office hours with Matt Mullenweg and Josepha Haden as part of their <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/12/q2-listening-hours-april-7th-2021/">Q2 Quarterly listening hours initiative</a>. This quarter’s listening session is scheduled for April 7th, 2021, from <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20210407T2200">22:00</a>&#8211;<a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20210408T0000">24:00</a> UTC. Slots are still available — <a href="https://calendly.com/mmullenweg/team-lead-office-hours?month=2021-04&date=2021-04-08">sign up now</a>!&nbsp;</li><li>The Themes Team is working on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/03/17/next-steps-on-themes-and-reviews/">automating the theme review process</a>. The team has shared a detailed post on these changes and is requesting feedback.</li><li>The Core Team has <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/05/dual-licensing-gutenberg-next-steps/">kicked-off plans</a> on dual licensing Gutenberg under GPL and MPL.</li><li><a href="https://buddypress.org/2021/03/buddypress-7-2-1-security-release/">Version 7.2.1</a> of BuddyPress (security release) is out! Update all your BuddyPresses!</li><li>The Docs Team shipped the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2021/03/07/wordpress-documentation-style-guide-google-season-of-docs-2020-project-report-tacitonic/">WordPress documentation style guide</a> as part of its Google Season of Docs 2020 effort. The team has also kicked off work on applying for <a href="https://href.li/?https://make.wordpress.org/docs/tag/season-of-docs-2021/">Google Season of Docs 2021</a>!</li><li>The Polyglots Team is making <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/03/26/polyglots-training-working-group-update-2/">significant progress on building their contributor training program</a>. The team is also requesting feedback on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/03/30/request-for-feedback-polyglots-team-stats-dashboard/">building their dashboard</a>.</li><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>chanthaboune</a> shared an <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/03/19/experiment-coordinating-sponsored-contributor-teams/">experiment to coordinate sponsored contributors</a> by adding them to a private Slack channel to offer them better support.</li><li>The Community Team announced its revamped <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021-wordpress-global-community-sponsorship-program/">2021 Global Sponsorship Program</a>. The team also published a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/03/12/2021-financial-update-for-the-wordpress-community/">financial update for WP Communities in 2021</a>.</li><li>The Core Team is moving ahead to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/04/discussion-dropping-support-for-ie11/">drop support for Internet Explorer 11</a> for upcoming versions of WordPress.</li><li>The Design Team shared <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/03/30/wordpress-org-patterns-directory/">initial designs for the Block pattern directory</a>.</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">Make WordPress Slack</a> workspace briefly went down on March 30 due to a Slack ToS issue, which was subsequently resolved. More details on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/03/30/journal-entry-wordpress-slack-workspace-unavailability/">this explainer post</a>.</li></ul>



<p><em>Have a story that we should include in the next “Month in WordPress” post? Please </em><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/"><em>submit it using this form</em></a><em>.</em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 03 Apr 2021 16:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Hari Shanker R";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:14;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:104:"WPTavern: FSF Doubles Down on Stallman Reinstatement, WordPress Does Not Support His Return to the Board";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114565";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:251:"https://wptavern.com/fsf-doubles-down-on-stallman-reinstatement-wordpress-does-not-support-his-return-to-the-board?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fsf-doubles-down-on-stallman-reinstatement-wordpress-does-not-support-his-return-to-the-board";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9079:"<p>The <a href="https://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> (FSF) is hemorrhaging board members and management following the <a href="https://wptavern.com/free-software-community-condemns-richard-stallmans-reinstatement-to-fsf-board-of-directors">reinstatement of Richard Stallman</a>. The GPL author and founder of the FSF announced last week that he had rejoined the board and is not planning to resign a second time. An <a href="https://rms-open-letter.github.io/">open letter</a> signed by more than 3,000 people called&nbsp;for the removal of Stallman from all leadership positions, including the GNU project, and removal of the entire Board of the FSF. So far it has gained support from Red hat, Mozilla, Outreachy, the Software Conservancy project, and many other high profile organizations.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We are long past the point where we can pretend that the most important thing about software freedom is the software,&rdquo; Mozilla Engineering Community Manager Michael Hoye said in signing support for the open letter. &ldquo;We cannot demand better from the internet if we do not demand better from our leaders, our colleagues and ourselves.&rdquo; </p>



<p>In addition to the resignation of former FSF board member Kat Walsh, the organization&rsquo;s executive director, deputy director, and chief technology officer have also resigned. They published a joint <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/executive-director/management-team-members-resigning">statement</a>, reaffirming their commitment to the mission of free software, despite their departure:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p></p><p>As members of FSF management, we have decided to resign, with specific end dates to be determined. We believe in the importance of the FSF&rsquo;s mission and feel a new team will be better placed to implement recent changes in governance. Free software and copyleft are critical issues of our time, and the FSF is, and should continue to be, the organization leading this movement. FSF staff have our utmost respect, support, and appreciation, and it has been a privilege to work with you all. Our team&rsquo;s mutual goal is to ensure a smooth transition while supporting the necessary renovation of the foundation&rsquo;s governance.</p></blockquote>



<p>An oddly-timed <a href="https://twitter.com/fsf/status/1376714994721689601">tweet</a> announced a new published statement the FSF board voted on, which &ldquo;condemns misogyny, racism, and other bigotry as well as defamation, intimidation, and unfair attacks on free thought and speech.&rdquo; The statement was met with ridicule and outrage on Twitter, as it hints at the defense Stallman used when he <a href="https://wptavern.com/gpl-author-richard-stallman-resigns-from-free-software-foundation">resigned as the FSF board director</a>, claiming he had been subject to &ldquo;a series of misunderstandings and mischaracterizations.&rdquo;</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">While our primary mission is freedom for software users, we want to be clear, the FSF board unanimously condemns misogyny, racism,and other bigotry as well as defamation, intimidation, and unfair attacks on free thought and speech.</p>&mdash; Free Software Fndn. (@fsf) <a href="https://twitter.com/fsf/status/1376714994721689601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>Recent statements published to the FSF website indicate that its leadership is doubling down on the decision to reinstate Stallman:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><a href="https://fsf.org/about/staff-and-board">Some of our colleagues in the FSF</a>&nbsp;have decided to resign. We are grateful for the good work they have done for so long, and we will miss them. We regret losing them; we regret the situation that has motivated them to leave.</p><p>We appreciate their strong commitment to free software and we want to find replacements with a similar competence and commitment. We are open to suggestions and applications for these positions.</p><p>Finally, we would like to thank the numerous friends across the free software movement who have recently joined as well as those who have left and provided suggestions for helping us through this difficult time.</p></blockquote>



<p>The FSF seems to be counting the resignations as an acceptable loss, as funds from donors are evaporating. Several organizations have discontinued financial support for the organization. Most notably, Red Hat, a long-time donor with hundreds of contributors who have submitted millions of lines of code to projects stewarded by the FSF, publicly <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/red-hat-statement-about-richard-stallmans-return-free-software-foundation-board">discontinued support</a> for the organization and any of its events. In addition to $708,016 in membership dues, the FSF received $1,383,003 in contributions, gifts, and grants, which makes up the bulk of its annual revenue, according to a recent <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=8557#accountability-transparency-performance-metrics">report</a> on Charity Navigator.</p>



<p>Stallman is synonymous with the FSF and his reinstatement puts many free software advocates in a difficult position. Some cannot easily write off the entire organization, as it is engaged in important work. The FSF publishes the GPL, LGPL, and FDL licenses. It also holds copyrights to defend free software from those who would seek to make it proprietary and has the power to enforce the GPL. As part of its <a href="https://www.fsf.org/licensing">Free Software Licensing and Compliance Lab</a>, the organization works to ensure that free software distributors respect their obligations to pass on the user freedoms that these licenses are meant to convey. </p>



<p>The Fedora Council cited the FSF&rsquo;s important function when publishing a <a href="https://fedoramagazine.org/fedora-council-statement-on-richard-stallman-rejoining-fsf-board/">statement</a> on why it is pulling funding from the organization:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Along with many in the free and open source software world, the Fedora Council was taken aback that the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has allowed Richard Stallman to rejoin their Board of Directors given his history of abuse and harassment. The Fedora Council does not normally involve itself with the governance of other projects. However, this is an exceptional case due to the FSF&rsquo;s stewardship of the GPL family of licenses, which are critical for the work we do.</p></blockquote>



<p>The council will not provide funding or attend any FSF-sponsored events where Stallman is a featured speaker or exhibitor, and stated that this also applies to any organization where he has a leadership role.</p>



<h2>WordPress Responds to Stallman&rsquo;s Reinstatement</h2>



<p>Up until today, WordPress had not published an official statement on Stallman&rsquo;s reinstatement to the FSF board. <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/">The WordPress Foundation</a> website lists the Free Software Foundation as one of the project&rsquo;s inspirations. WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg was also among the FSF&rsquo;s list of patrons in previous years. </p>



<p>After asking WordPress&rsquo; executive director Josepha Haden Chomphosy for a comment regarding the matter, she published a <a href="https://josepha.blog/2021/04/02/on-recent-news-about-the-fsf-board-of-directors/">statement</a>: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>In short, I do not support his return as a board member.&nbsp;</p><p>It makes me proud that the WordPress project embodies the best traditions of open source and retires outdated traditions, or shibboleths, that do not have a place in our mission: to democratize publishing and grow the open web. For years, this community has been committed to championing underrepresented voices and maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for those we rarely see in open source.&nbsp;</p></blockquote>



<p>Although the statement is published on her personal blog, Haden Chomphosy confirmed that this is the WordPress project&rsquo;s official stance on Stallman&rsquo;s reinstatement. The statement quietly calls out Stallman&rsquo;s lack of accountability and the fact that he has not publicly acknowledged how harmful his behavior has been to the free software community:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The high standards for welcoming behavior are held across the board. WordPress contributors lead with accountability, acknowledgment of error, and a genuine desire to grow based on feedback. Under the guidance of many thoughtful leaders, WordPress makes space for those who are committed to growth.&nbsp;</p></blockquote>



<p>The message is more focused on the positive aspects of the WordPress community and its values but is clear in the first paragraph: WordPress does not support Stallman&rsquo;s return as an FSF board member.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 02 Apr 2021 18:57:11 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"WPTavern: Disable the WordPress Block Editor’s Fullscreen Mode With a Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114659";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:195:"https://wptavern.com/disable-the-wordpress-block-editors-fullscreen-mode-with-a-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=disable-the-wordpress-block-editors-fullscreen-mode-with-a-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3173:"<p class="has-drop-cap">On Wednesday, Johan Jonk Stenstr&ouml;m released <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/fullscreen-mode-b-gone/">Fullscreen Mode B Gone</a> to the WordPress plugin directory. As the catchy title implies, it gets rid of the block editor&rsquo;s fullscreen mode.</p>



<p>As anyone who prefers to opt-out of fullscreen mode knows, there are moments when you log into WordPress and hop over to the post editor only to find it is not in the state you last left it. It is a slight annoyance but enough to dampen the user experience.</p>



<p>Nearly two years ago, Andrew Duthie opened a ticket for storing <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/15105">users&rsquo; editor preferences to the database</a> instead of their browser&rsquo;s local storage. This includes basic settings like toggling whether fullscreen mode should be enabled. Local storage is not considered sticky, at least not permanently. It can be cleared in a variety of ways. This means that users must deal with disabling the default fullscreen editor more often than they should. It is also not stored when switching browsers, using private tabs, or when working on multiple sites across the same network.</p>



<p>The ultimate goal should be to persistently save preferences on a per-user basis. There has been little movement on that ticket in the past year. Most comments have come in the form of closed duplicates.</p>



<p>In the meantime, users must look for alternative solutions. That&rsquo;s where plugins like Fullscreen Mode B Gone offer some assistance.</p>



<p>The plugin is simple. It toggles the block editor&rsquo;s fullscreen mode off. Regardless of whether users have switched browsers, cleared their local storage, or anything else, they can safely enter the editor without being bombarded by a different editing experience.</p>



<img />New post with fullscreen mode disabled.



<p>Both an upside and a downside of the plugin is that it resets fullscreen mode each time the user opens the editor. It does not address the sticky issue. For users like me who prefer to always have fullscreen mode disabled or only turn it on once in a while, this is ideal. However, for users who want WordPress to remember the last state, it is best to skip this plugin. The default experience is better suited to what you need.</p>



<p>One of the things I dislike about how the editor works is that it requires JavaScript for plugins to make changes like this. Even if it is merely a few lines of code, it still calls for one more HTTP response just to alter a default setting. At least with PHP, a simple filter would have sufficed.</p>



<p>This is not Stenstr&ouml;m&rsquo;s first editor-related plugin. He has a plugin titled <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/fatso/">Fatso</a>, which widens the content canvas for users who prefer more space when writing. Also, continuing with the &ldquo;B Gone&rdquo; branding, he released <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/welcome-to-the-block-editor-b-gone/">Welcome To the Block Editor B Gone</a> a week ago. Similar to his current plugin, it disables the block editor welcome message permanently.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 02 Apr 2021 16:38:20 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:16;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:115:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 10.3 Supports Default Image Sizes, Continues Normalizing Toolbars, and Categorizes Theme Blocks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114610";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:271:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-10-3-supports-default-image-sizes-continues-normalizing-toolbars-and-categorizes-theme-blocks?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-10-3-supports-default-image-sizes-continues-normalizing-toolbars-and-categorizes-theme-blocks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6241:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Version 10.3 of the Gutenberg plugin landed yesterday. Users can now define a default Image block size. The development team also continued work on normalizing block toolbars, created a &ldquo;theme&rdquo; block category, and added a padding option to the Verse block.</p>



<p>Contributors fixed over 30 bugs. However, the bulk of work went toward Full Site Editing (FSE) with over 70 commits. It is an impressive effort toward the looming WordPress 5.8 deadline and an upcoming decision on whether FSE will land in the release.</p>



<p>The team included a few additional blocks for FSE. The new <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29766">Login/out block</a> displays a login or logout link, depending on whether the user is logged out or in, respectively. The block also has an option for displaying a login form. A <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29428">Query Title block</a> was included with an Archive Title variation, which will automatically output the current title on archive views. The team also added a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29613">Term Description block</a> for displaying category, tag, and custom taxonomy term descriptions on archives.</p>



<p>Of course, as has become ritual at this point, I am now writing in an editor that looks different than it did a day ago. In version 10.2, all of our Paragraph blocks were shifted to the left.  In 10.3, none of our theme&rsquo;s width constraints are applying to the content canvas.   I still optimistically envision a day in which a Gutenberg update does not affect theme styles.</p>



<h2>Default Image Sizes</h2>



<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">One of the features I have been patiently awaiting has finally arrived &mdash; <em>sort of.</em> We all have pet-peeves when it comes to the block editor, and not being able to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29966">set the default image size</a> when using the Image block has been high on my list.</p>



<p>A recently-added feature uses the core WordPress <code>image_default_size</code> option to handle this. When set, any new Image blocks added will default to this chosen size. While it is a welcome enhancement, there are two problems with the solution.</p>



<p>The first issue is that this option is not exposed in the WordPress admin interface. That is unless you know how to get to the secret <code>/wp-admin/options.php</code> page. There are no links to it, but users can directly enter the URL, scroll down to find the <code>image_default_size</code> option, and manually type in the size handle (e.g., <code>full</code>, <code>large</code>, etc.) that they want before saving.</p>



<p>The second issue is that it solves the problem on a site-wide level but not on a user level. For publications like WP Tavern with multiple authors, we all have our own preferred workflows. For me, I like to pre-crop all of my images before uploading, which often means that I want to use the full-sized image in the post. However, other writers may want to go a different route. The default image size should be a user preference, falling back to the site setting.</p>



<p>Nevertheless, I am happy to see some progress. I can skip that extra step of setting the image size every time I add an image to a post.</p>



<p>Next, let&rsquo;s make this happen for image alignment. Or, how about we let users set defaults for many more block options to help them streamline their workflows?</p>



<h2>Normalizing Block Toolbar Groupings</h2>



<img />Semantic groupings for the Paragraph block.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Building off <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-10-1-enhances-reusable-blocks-updates-social-icons-spacing-options-and-normalizes-image-block-toolbar">work that started in version 10.1</a>, the development team continued <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/25983">normalizing the block toolbar</a>. Over a dozen blocks received the new treatment.</p>



<p>The end goal is to create semantic groupings of the toolbar buttons for all blocks. This will make it easier for end-users to find options and for developers to know where to place buttons in the future. The order in the toolbar, broken down into four groups, is as follows:</p>



<ul><li>Meta</li><li>Block Level</li><li>Inline Level</li><li>More Options</li></ul>



<p>The toolbar separates each grouping with a border. With the Paragraph block, for example, the text alignment option is on the block level. However, the bold, italic, and link settings are inline.</p>



<p>Developers creating custom blocks should follow the best practices under the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/blob/trunk/docs/how-to-guides/designers/block-design.md">block design documentation</a>.</p>



<h2>Theme Block Category</h2>



<img />Theme category with Template Part, Header, and Footer blocks.



<p class="has-drop-cap">When using a block-based theme, which enables FSE mode, Gutenberg 10.3 introduces a new <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/30020">&ldquo;Theme&rdquo; category in the inserter</a>. It currently includes the Template Part, Header, and Footer blocks. The goal for the enhancement is to indicate that they are the building blocks of themes.</p>



<p>The enhancement could be better if the category was not so tough to find in the inserter&rsquo;s long list of blocks. I am still arguing that we bring back the original accordion in the UI. In the site editor, it would be better to shift the Theme category to the top, which is primarily for editing theme-related things.</p>



<h2>Padding Option for the Verse Block</h2>



<img />Adding horizontal padding to the Verse block.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Users can now set the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29820">padding for the Verse block</a>. The setting feels a bit out of place right now without any other stylistic options. Background and border options will make padding more relevant in the long term. </p>



<p>For now, it is nice to see more blocks getting spacing options. It just happened to land on what, I&rsquo;d wager, is the least-used block for WordPress users.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 01 Apr 2021 22:21:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:17;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:99:"WPTavern: FSE Outreach Round #4: Building a Restaurant-Themed Header With Gutenberg’s Site Editor";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114578";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:233:"https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header-with-gutenbergs-site-editor?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fse-outreach-round-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header-with-gutenbergs-site-editor";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6069:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Anne McCarthy <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/25/fse-program-testing-call-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header/">announced the fourth round of testing</a> for the Full Site Editing (FSE) Outreach program last week. This testing phase calls for users to build a restaurant-themed header via the Gutenberg plugin&rsquo;s site editor. Testing is open to anyone, and participants should leave feedback by April 8.</p>



<p>The testing process is broken down into 24 steps with both setup and testing instructions. Those participating will need to activate the latest version of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tt1-blocks/">TT1 Blocks</a> theme and the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/gutenberg">Gutenberg</a> plugin.</p>



<p>The more people who leave feedback, the better it is for the project. The program provides that direct link between the user and the developer team that has often been missing in the past. If you have an hour or so of spare time, jump right in.</p>



<h2>Building a Custom Header</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">I want to push the site editor beyond its limits, creating move advanced layouts. However, the site builder is so fundamentally limiting &mdash; and broken in some cases &mdash; that it is easy to become frustrated. And, depending on which version of Gutenberg you are using, such as the latest dev vs. stable version, you can get wildly different results.</p>



<p>This propensity to jump ahead of the lesson is something I have done my entire life. In school, I frustrated more than a few teachers. I would be working on stuff from the end of the chapter when they were still explaining the basics to the rest of the class a half-hour later. I have always wanted to get to the &ldquo;good stuff.&rdquo; Of course, I did so by blazing past the boring fundamentals. I also dropped out of software engineering twice in college because building calculators was neither exciting nor challenging.</p>



<p>Like always, I jumped ahead with Round #4 of the FSE Outreach Program. I came to the realization that attempting to do anything remotely advanced with the site editor was simply not going to happen.</p>



<p>I want Full Site Editing to be successful, but we are mere weeks away from the deadline that determines whether it will land in the next version of WordPress. Somehow this experience felt like a step back from where the plugin was a few weeks ago as I built a custom homepage as part of the <a href="https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-round-2-building-a-custom-homepage-with-gutenbergs-site-editor">second round</a> of the FSE Outreach testing program. I do not know whether the problems stemmed directly from Gutenberg, the TT1 Blocks theme, or both. As someone who prides himself on near-infinite patience, Round #4 sought to crack me.</p>



<p>I wanted to recreate several elements from the UK-based <a href="https://www.phocafe.co.uk/">Pho Cafe</a> page header. I knew the site editor could not yet manage a one-to-one replication.  I still thought I could pull in parts of it but utterly failed.</p>



<img />Pho Cafe website page header.



<p>I appreciate the need for controlled circumstances. Step-by-step testing puts everyone on the same page, makes it easier to gather data, and allows others to reproduce issues. I am just bad at it.</p>



<h2>Following the Rules</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">I restarted from scratch. I followed the rules. And, for the most part, the testing round was successful. I built a restaurant website header from the instructions and put my own spin on it.</p>



<img />Custom beachside caf&eacute; header design.



<p>Of course, I hit a few snags. That is what the testing program is all about &mdash; identifying pain points.</p>



<p>The most problematic issue is that what I saw in the editor was not what I got on the front end. I have played around with it enough to know in my mind what it <em>might</em> look like on the front end to make adjustments without previewing the changes. However, that is not the user experience that WordPress is shooting for.</p>



<img />Editor view of the restaurant website header.



<p>Admittedly, on the front end, I tidied up the padding for the Group block and bottom margin for the Columns block for the &ldquo;Order Online&rdquo; strip across the top of the header. I thought about making the button smaller too. However, I stuck with the TT1 Blocks theme default. Ultimately, padding, margin, and other types of sizing/spacing should be customizable by the end-user.</p>



<p>Wide and full block alignments completely disappeared after activating TT1 Blocks. I am unsure if this was a recent change in the Gutenberg plugin or the theme. Nevertheless, they were gone, which was one reason I had trouble recreating pieces of the original page header I wanted to build.</p>



<p>The TT1 Blocks theme also has a hardcoded font-size for the site title link. This means that users cannot change the size of the Site Title block. I wanted to bump this up a little to make it more prominent.</p>



<p>Like the first design I was shooting for, I wanted my Navigation items to look like individual buttons, each with a bit of whitespace in between. However, the Navigation block does not currently support adding backgrounds to each nav item. Even if it did, it also does not have a horizontal margin setting to add the spacing. And, I outright refuse to use a <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-10-2-adds-spacers-to-navigation-lists-lets-users-categorize-template-parts-and-introduces-scoped-patterns">Spacer block between items</a>.</p>



<p>I did want to spruce my restaurant page header up a bit with a custom background. To do that, I added the primary elements inside a Cover block. Currently, the only way to do that is to copy all of the blocks, delete the old ones, and paste them into a new Cover block. A welcome enhancement to the editor would be an option for &ldquo;grouping&rdquo; blocks into a Cover like what is possible with the Group block.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 31 Mar 2021 22:07:52 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:18;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"WPTavern: First Look at Initial Designs for WordPress’ Block Pattern Directory";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114531";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:199:"https://wptavern.com/first-look-at-initial-designs-for-wordpress-block-pattern-directory?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=first-look-at-initial-designs-for-wordpress-block-pattern-directory";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3268:"<p>WordPress contributors began <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-launching-an-official-block-pattern-directory">discussing</a> the possibility of a block pattern directory in October 2020, an idea that garnered enthusiastic support. The directory would offer a place to browse user-submitted patterns, as well as one-click installation of patterns from the block inserter inside the editor. </p>



<p>Interface designer Shaun Andrews <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/03/30/wordpress-org-patterns-directory/">published</a> the initial designs for the pattern directory yesterday. Patterns will be displayed in a masonry-style grid that can be sorted by category, which works well for pattern thumbnails of varying heights. Users can search the directory and sort by featured, newest, and most popular. </p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<a href="https://cloudup.com/cK4jSz1Fx9c"><img src="https://cldup.com/HiaWY_zXIf.gif" alt="Masonry grid" width="1024" height="535" /></a>
</div>



<p>The idea is that a user will be able to copy a single pattern to their clipboard while visiting the directory and paste it directly into the block editor. Users will also be able to &ldquo;favorite&rdquo; patterns from the directory and access them inside the editor.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<a href="https://cloudup.com/czovcau6B_D"><img src="https://cldup.com/OYhRf1SQz9.gif" alt="Copy pattern flow" width="1024" height="757" /></a>
</div>



<p>One of the most exciting aspects of the plan is that anyone will be able to create and submit a pattern without having a lot of technical knowledge. Andrews shared a quick landing page mockup to explain what patterns are and how to submit one. Prospective pattern authors would be able to create a pattern on WordPress.org using a hosted instance of the block editor with a few tweaks specific to describing and categorizing the pattern.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Users who submit patterns will have a new &ldquo;My Patterns&rdquo; screen listing all of their patterns, ones they have favorited, information about how many people have favorited their submitted patterns, and status updates for patterns still in review.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>&ldquo;This is a big opportunity for designers to contribute to the overall WordPress ecosystem without having to know how to code a&nbsp;plugin&nbsp;or a theme,&rdquo; Andrews said. It opens up a new avenue of design contribution that would not have been possible with the same scale of distribution in the days of the previous editor.</p>



<p>There are still many unanswered questions, such as how &ldquo;featured&rdquo; patterns would be chosen, how drafts work, if the patterns can only include core blocks, how users will browse and manage favorite patterns in the editor, who approves the patterns, how pattern authors can edit existing patterns, and more. If you want to help out on the project, check out the Pattern Directory repository on <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/pattern-directory">GitHub</a>. The work is broken down into smaller projects in the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/pattern-directory/issues">issues</a>. </p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 31 Mar 2021 17:12:32 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:19;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"WPTavern: GoDaddy Pro Will Kick off 2-Day Expand Event on April 27";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114518";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:177:"https://wptavern.com/godaddy-pro-will-kick-off-2-day-expand-event-on-april-27?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=godaddy-pro-will-kick-off-2-day-expand-event-on-april-27";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5095:"<p class="has-drop-cap">GoDaddy Pro is launching its first <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/pro/expand">virtual Expand event</a> on April 27. The <a href="http://events.godaddy.com/expand">free-to-attend conference</a> will focus on web professionals and will last until April 28.</p>



<p>In February, GoDaddy <a href="https://wptavern.com/godaddy-launches-the-hub-a-new-site-project-and-client-management-experience-for-web-professionals">re-launched GoDaddy Pro</a> as a formal sub-brand of the company. The &ldquo;Pro&rdquo; branding was not a new outing. However, it was a fresh take on an old idea. As part of this launch, they introduced a re-engineered interface named the Hub. The experience was geared toward website designers and developers, providing them with a central location to manage their client projects. More than simply a new set of tools, the company created a dedicated branding experience for GoDaddy Pro.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We are committed to, passionate about, and truly in awe of web designers and developers,&rdquo; said Adam Warner, the Global Field Marketing Sr. Manager at GoDaddy. &ldquo;It has been a pleasure supporting this audience, but it&rsquo;s now our mission to up the ante and deepen our commitment. Our goal with GoDaddy Pro is to empower web pros with a unified tool that helps them create outsize efficiency for their operation, deliver incredible results for their clients, grow their skills and operation, and connect and inspire by fostering community.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The Expand 2021 event is a continuation of that goal. The target audience is described as &ldquo;web designers and developers who identify as eager side hustlers or website freelancers.&rdquo; The conference&rsquo;s sessions are meant to provide instructions, resources, and connections to help developers grow their businesses.</p>



<p>The event will begin with an opening keynote from GoDaddy&rsquo;s Aman Bhutani, the CEO; Tara Wellington, the Senior Director of Product Management; and Warner. It will feature eight sessions, split evenly between each day. The event&rsquo;s schedule will fit into a small window between 10 am and 12:30 pm <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/time/zones/pt">Pacific Time</a> on both days.</p>



<p>By some conference standards, even virtual ones, this may seem like a small event. However, the tighter focus could be a welcome one for people suffering from <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-us-2020-canceled-due-to-pandemic-stress-and-online-event-fatigue">online event fatigue</a>. Each session is scheduled to last around 30 minutes.</p>



<p>The sessions will focus on a wide span of topics like client management, eCommerce, creating a project starter stack, website security, and scaling a freelance business with care plans.</p>



<h2>The History Behind GoDaddy Pro Expand</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Spearheading the first Expand conference, Warner avoided talking about target audiences, performance indicators, or budgetary concerns in an internal memo sent throughout GoDaddy. The effort is about creating a series of GoDaddy Pro Expand events globally in the coming months and years that help the community.</p>



<p>The idea for a conference had been in the making since 2018. Warner described the purpose of GoDaddy Pro, Expand 2021, and meetups as empowering and inspiring the next generation of web designers and developers to deliver for their clients and create self-sustaining freelance businesses.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Expand 2021 is, in some way, my Opus for giving back to the community that raised me and giving the new generation a head start in following their own passions. It&rsquo;s the culmination of my years exploring and creating on the internet. My first time on the internet was in 1993. I was in my third year of college, working at Hungry Howie&rsquo;s Pizza in small-town Michigan. A co-worker had some of us to her house, and her boyfriend logged us on to a Bulletin Board System (BBS). We chatted in a dull, orange text late into the night to people around the world.</p><p>I was amazed then, and that sense of wonder and possibility stayed with me as I started to learn HTML and build simple websites a few years later. Then came my discovery of WordPress in early 2005 and the incredible global community of users willing to lift each other up for collective success.</p><p>It was at that moment, I knew I had to find a way to make websites and WordPress my career.</p></blockquote>



<p>Now, 28 years later, Warner is taking the next step in organizing his first event from scratch along with over 40 others. He wanted to build a conference that was devoid of &ldquo;talking heads touting theoretical advice.&rdquo; Instead, to offer an experience with actionable knowledge that web professionals can use immediately.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The real purpose of Expand 2021 is to &lsquo;pay it forward&rsquo; by advising and inspiring the next generation of web designers and developers, enabling them to take the next steps in their paths,&rdquo; said Warner.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 30 Mar 2021 20:16:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:20;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:55:"WordPress.org blog: So you want to make block patterns?";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:34:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=9995";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/so-you-want-to-make-block-patterns/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12967:"<img width="632" height="356" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Block-Patterns.jpg?resize=632%2C356&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-9998" />



<p>If you&#8217;ve ever built something for the WordPress block editor — a theme or a plugin — you may have also heard about <strong>block patterns</strong>. </p>



<p>Looking at the patterns that come bundled with WordPress, I thought it would be nice to dedicate to them a short post. They&#8217;re pretty nice, useful shortcuts when you know them, but there&#8217;s a good chance you may not know what they are or why you might want to use them.</p>



<h2>What&#8217;s a block pattern?</h2>



<p>Patterns are&nbsp;<strong>collections of pre-arranged blocks</strong>&nbsp;that can be combined and arranged in many ways making it easier to create beautiful content. They act as a head-start, leaving you to plug and play with your content as you see fit and be as simple as single blocks or as complex as a full-page layout.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img width="632" height="414" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/block-library.png?resize=632%2C414&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10021" /></div>



<p>They live in a tab in the block library. You can click or drag and you&#8217;re able to preview them with your site&#8217;s styles.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img width="632" height="413" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/block-pattern.png?resize=632%2C413&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10022" /></div>



<p>Basically, a block pattern is just a bunch of blocks put together in advance:</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>	&lt;!-- wp:group --&gt;
&lt;div class="wp-block-group"&gt;&lt;div class="wp-block-group__inner-container"&gt;&lt;!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-default"} --&gt;
&lt;hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/&gt;
&lt;!-- /wp:separator --&gt;
&lt;!-- wp:image {"align":"center","id":553,"width":150,"height":150,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none","className":"is-style-rounded"} --&gt;
&lt;div class="wp-block-image is-style-rounded"&gt;&lt;figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"&gt;&lt;img src="https://blockpatterndesigns.mystagingwebsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/StockSnap_HQR8BJFZID-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-553" width="150" height="150"/&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;!-- /wp:image --&gt;
&lt;!-- wp:quote {"align":"center","className":"is-style-large"} --&gt;
&lt;blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large"&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Contributing makes me feel like I'm being useful to the planet."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;cite&gt;— Anna Wong, &lt;em&gt;Volunteer&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/cite&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;!-- /wp:quote --&gt;
&lt;!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-default"} --&gt;
&lt;hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/&gt;
&lt;!-- /wp:separator --&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;!-- /wp:group --&gt;</code></pre>



<p>That&#8217;s also how you create them: just use the block editor to configure a smattering of blocks to your liking, and the hard part&#8217;s over.</p>



<h2>How do I get them in the block library?</h2>



<p>There&#8217;s <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/developers/block-api/block-patterns/">more documentation in the handbook</a>, but what it boils down to is this:</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>&lt;?php 
/*
Plugin Name: Quote Pattern Example Plugin
*/

register_block_pattern(
	'my-plugin/my-quote-pattern',
	array(
		'title'       =&gt; __( 'Quote with Avatar', 'my-plugin' ),
		'categories'  =&gt; array( 'text' ),
		'description' =&gt; _x( 'A big quote with an avatar".', 'Block pattern description', 'my-plugin' ),
		'content'     =&gt; '&lt;!-- wp:group --&gt;&lt;div class="wp-block-group"&gt;&lt;div class="wp-block-group__inner-container"&gt;&lt;!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-default"} --&gt;&lt;hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:separator --&gt;&lt;!-- wp:image {"align":"center","id":553,"width":150,"height":150,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none","className":"is-style-rounded"} --&gt;&lt;div class="wp-block-image is-style-rounded"&gt;&lt;figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"&gt;&lt;img src="https://blockpatterndesigns.mystagingwebsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/StockSnap_HQR8BJFZID-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-553" width="150" height="150"/&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:image --&gt;&lt;!-- wp:quote {"align":"center","className":"is-style-large"} --&gt;&lt;blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large"&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Contributing makes me feel like I\'m being useful to the planet."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;cite&gt;— Anna Wong, &lt;em&gt;Volunteer&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/cite&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:quote --&gt;&lt;!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-default"} --&gt;&lt;hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:separator --&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:group --&gt;',
	)
);

?&gt;</code></pre>



<p><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f446.png" alt="👆" class="wp-smiley" /> That&#8217;s a snippet of PHP, which means you can drop it in a WordPress plugin, or perhaps more simply, paste it into the <strong>functions.php</strong> file from your theme. Done:</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img width="632" height="430" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Quote.jpg?resize=632%2C430&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10047" /></div>



<p>For patterns that include images, it&#8217;s worth thinking about where those are stored. The <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tt1-blocks/">TT1 Blocks theme</a> (which is a fancy name for &#8220;TwentyTwentyOne Blocks&#8221;) stores images in the theme library.</p>



<h2>Now what?</h2>



<p>The thing about a block pattern is, as soon as you insert it from the block library, it stops being <em>a cohesive unit</em> — now it&#8217;s just a smattering of blocks, detached from the pattern you created and meant to be customized to your liking. It&#8217;s a <em>shortcut</em>, not a <em>template</em>. That also means you don&#8217;t have to worry about switching themes or deactivating pattern plugins: the blocks you already inserted won&#8217;t go anywhere.</p>



<p>That being said, if you like this one pattern so much you want to use it again and again, with no customization at all, you can make it into a <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/gutenberg-tutorial-reusable-blocks/">reusable block</a>:</p>







<p>Reusable blocks are created, as the name implies, to be reused. The feature is a great way to store small bits of commonly used snippets that you can edit in one place to update in all. &#8220;<strong>Follow me on Twitter</strong>,&#8221; &#8220;<strong>Article series</strong>,<strong>&#8220;</strong> or <strong>&#8220;Subscribe to my podcast&#8221;</strong> are great examples of that.</p>



<h2>What makes a good block pattern?</h2>



<p>Patterns, as they ship today, are limited by the features available. If the block editor doesn&#8217;t allow you to customize letter-spacing, your block pattern can&#8217;t either. While the Global Styles project will expand what&#8217;s to blocks, in the meantime, we have to work with the available tools.</p>



<p>Even then, with the most basic ingredients — color, photography, typography — it is possible to do a lot:</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/W3RKCu5c7ONKnmuLdChmOhD40iZAFseq30i-qGwqFaq0dPTj_U5b1JXhhRR96-jRvJvKgC8BBZA4p_-EBYF-WoMRPoDLgCX8FG3RIWQhv6zX6-H7xBj4FZGGRm7cl_qdVgRy9G8q" alt="" />Three columns with images and text<br /></div>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img width="632" height="397" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Media-and-text-with-image-on-the-right-1.png?resize=632%2C397&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10036" />Media and text with image on the right</div>



<p>I designed these patterns to potentially land in WordPress core, which all have a few properties in common:</p>



<h3><strong>They share a theme.</strong></h3>



<p>You can think of a pattern as a section of a website: it is meant to be part of a whole, and so it works best when it can exist in the context of other patterns that share the same theme. There are a few sharing a Nature theme in the patterns above, a few sharing an Art theme, and others sharing an Architecture theme. When seen together, it becomes easier to see how you might be able to piece together multiple pages of your site, one page at a time.</p>



<ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="406" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Large-header-with-text-and-a-button.png?resize=632%2C406&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10033" /></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="405" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Media-text-with-image-on-the-right.png?resize=632%2C405&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10034" /></li></ul>



<h3><strong>They share a minimalist color palette.</strong></h3>



<p>By being parts of a whole, patterns will inevitably land in a context that uses different colors. With a reduced color palette, there&#8217;s both a better chance of fitting in and less to customize to make it just right.</p>



<ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="535" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Heading-and-a-paragraph.jpg?resize=632%2C535&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10042" /></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><img width="632" height="271" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Media-text-in-a-full-height-container.jpg?resize=632%2C271&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10043" /></li></ul>



<h3><strong>The best patterns <strong>do things you might have not done otherwise</strong>.</strong></h3>



<p>Whether that&#8217;s images offset to create a unique silhouette, or just using less visible features (like fixed positioning in the Cover block), it&#8217;s a way to surface creativity.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><em>Tip: You can use any block in your patterns, including blocks that came from a plugin. And if that block is in the block directory, it will prompt you to install it with one click if it&#8217;s missing from your self-hosted WordPress:</em></p></blockquote>







<h2>Here’s a plugin for you</h2>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>&lt;?php 
/*
Plugin Name: Quote Pattern Example Plugin
*/

register_block_pattern(
	'my-plugin/my-quote-pattern',
	array(
		'title'       =&gt; __( 'Quote with Avatar', 'my-plugin' ),
		'categories'  =&gt; array( 'text' ),
		'description' =&gt; _x( 'A big quote with an avatar".', 'Block pattern description', 'my-plugin' ),
		'content'     =&gt; '&lt;!-- wp:group --&gt;&lt;div class="wp-block-group"&gt;&lt;div class="wp-block-group__inner-container"&gt;&lt;!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-default"} --&gt;&lt;hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:separator --&gt;&lt;!-- wp:image {"align":"center","id":553,"width":150,"height":150,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none","className":"is-style-rounded"} --&gt;&lt;div class="wp-block-image is-style-rounded"&gt;&lt;figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"&gt;&lt;img src="https://blockpatterndesigns.mystagingwebsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/StockSnap_HQR8BJFZID-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-553" width="150" height="150"/&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:image --&gt;&lt;!-- wp:quote {"align":"center","className":"is-style-large"} --&gt;&lt;blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large"&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Contributing makes me feel like I\'m being useful to the planet."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;cite&gt;— Anna Wong, &lt;em&gt;Volunteer&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/cite&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:quote --&gt;&lt;!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-default"} --&gt;&lt;hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:separator --&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- /wp:group --&gt;',
	)
);

?&gt;</code></pre>



<p>In case you want to make patterns, this example plugin features two of the patterns you saw above. Drop it in your plugins folder and they should show up in your block library.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img width="632" height="966" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/03/Captura-de-ecra-2021-03-30-as-11.00.39.png?resize=632%2C966&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-10062" />Installed pattern under &#8220;Text&#8221; Category</div>



<p>Feel free to tweak it, customize it, and make it yours. It’s GPL, after all!</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><em>Thank you <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joen/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>joen</a> for the help writing this post.</em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 30 Mar 2021 17:01:10 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Beatriz Fialho";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:21;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:112:"WPTavern: Open Collective Launches Funds to Help Companies Streamline Donations to Multiple Open Source Projects";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114400";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:269:"https://wptavern.com/open-collective-launches-funds-to-help-companies-streamline-donations-to-multiple-open-source-projects?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=open-collective-launches-funds-to-help-companies-streamline-donations-to-multiple-open-source-projects";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4141:"<p>Open Collective has launched <a href="https://blog.opencollective.com/funds-for-open-source/">Funds</a>, a new funding infrastructure for funneling contributions to open source projects. Any open source project can receive contributions from a Fund, even those that are not listed on Open Collective due to having their own foundation or working with another fiscal host. The new feature was added to Open Collective&rsquo;s existing non-profit funding platform that serves more than 2,500 projects. </p>



<p>Funds were designed to mitigate the friction between corporations and open source projects, cutting out the excessive bureaucracy that can sometimes stifle funding for smaller projects. Companies can use the feature to support multiple projects that are crucial to their business efforts and underlying tech.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Funds facilitates a relationship between maintainers and organizations on their own terms,&rdquo; Open Collective co-founder Pia Mancini said. &ldquo;No contracts, no promises, no agendas. We take on the work of administrating payments to projects and of ensuring companies have what they need in their procurement processes.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Traditionally, if you wanted to work on an open source project full time, you would most likely need to be sponsored by a company. Although WordPress&rsquo; &ldquo;<a href="https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/">Five for the Future</a>&rdquo; campaign isn&rsquo;t perfect, it has brought some stability, enabling the project to drive important efforts forward even in leaner times of contribution from unpaid volunteers. Some open source projects aren&rsquo;t able to thrive this way, especially those that are categorized as simple utilities.</p>



<p>Critical dependencies can sometimes be grossly underfunded when supported by only a handful of individuals who may not have steady employment to buoy their maintainership efforts. The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://heartbleed.com/" target="_blank">Heartbleed Bug</a> that was disclosed in 2014 put a spotlight on the immense economic challenges of funding open source work. In the aftermath of this global fiasco, the tech industry turned its attention towards brainstorming different initiatives that might create a more healthy ecosystem.</p>



<p>Open Collective&rsquo;s Funds feature aims to make &ldquo;working for an open source project a legitimate alternative to a career working for a for-profit corporation.&rdquo; Prior to launching the new feature, the platform quietly tested a number of Funds with Airbnb, Indeed, Salesforce, and other companies with successful outcomes for maintainers.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Airbnb&rsquo;s investment in webpack has enabled groundbreaking advancements in web compiler technology, paved the way for the last 2 major versions, and enabled us to devote entire teams to ecosystem management, CLI, docs, and infrastructure,&rdquo; webpack core team member Sean Larkin said. </p>



<p>Airbnb received so many reports of the positive impact of its Fund that the company decided to expand its open source sustainability commitment by 50% to $150,000.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Donations from Airbnb have made it possible for ESLint to pay core contributors for work,&rdquo; ESLint creator Nicholas Zakas said. &ldquo;As a result, contributors are able to spend more time pushing forward large projects that weren&rsquo;t possible when we relied solely on volunteering.&rdquo;</p>



<p>As open source projects are becoming less self-contained and more interdependent, maintaining the health of the overall ecosystem is a priority. When smaller utilities that everyone depends on are underfunded, it can have a ripple effect that slows down progress throughout the vast web of projects that rely on the dependency. </p>



<p>Open Collective&rsquo;s Funds feature is one solution that helps companies streamline their donations and keep track of their contributions to multiple projects in one place. Companies interested in creating a new Fund can get in touch with the organization via its <a href="https://www.oscollective.org/contact">contact form</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 30 Mar 2021 06:39:15 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:22;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"WPTavern: Creating Tiled, Masonry, and Other Image Layouts With Meow Gallery";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114473";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:193:"https://wptavern.com/creating-tiled-masonry-and-other-image-layouts-with-meow-gallery?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=creating-tiled-masonry-and-other-image-layouts-with-meow-gallery";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4546:"<p class="has-drop-cap">I am uncertain of how I first came across the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/meow-gallery/">Meow Gallery</a> WordPress plugin. It was a pinned tab in my browser for a while, but it has recently become one of those projects that I keep coming back to. I delight in the imagery of the Meow Apps brand, created by Japan-based software developer Jordy Meow. It has the sort of fun and artistic visuals that are often missing in the WordPress business ecosystem. This creativity also comes across in the Meow Apps plugins.</p>



<p>The problem with WordPress gallery plugins is that I find a new one I want to use every other week. It is a bit of an obsession. There are so many different options that it is tough to grow comfortable with a solution before finding something new and shiny to tinker with.</p>



<p>Such is the case with Meow Gallery. From the simplicity of its options to the range of layouts that the plugin provides, it has found its way onto my ever-growing list of favorite gallery-related plugins.</p>



<p>I also prefer the decoupled, modular nature of what Meow Apps is doing with its plugins. Meow Gallery keeps a tight focus on the gallery layout itself.  Users can select an image lightbox/overlay extension separately. <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/meow-lightbox/">Meow Lightbox</a> is recommended, of course. However, both are developed to work alongside third-party gallery or lightbox plugins. It is the sort of building-block solution that more developers in the community should embrace, ultimately offering end-users more freedom.</p>



<p>Meow Gallery is straightforward to use. It works similarly to the core Gallery block. When first adding images, users can drag-and-drop them directly into it or select from their media library. From that point, the experiences begin to diverge.</p>



<img />Tiled gallery with 10px gutter.



<p>Instead of selecting the number of columns, whether to crop, or the image size, the Meow Gallery block automatically handles this based on the type of layout chosen.  Options may change based on the layout too. The following are available:</p>



<ul><li>Tiles</li><li>Masonry</li><li>Justified</li><li>Square</li><li>Cascade</li><li>Carousel (pro only)</li><li>Map (pro only)</li></ul>



<p>The block also offers a handful of basic animations, link options, and more. However, the gutter setting provides more control over the output. The gutter is the horizontal and vertical space between images. Users can choose between 0 and 100. Gutter spacing is the one option from the plugin that WordPress should adopt, allowing theme authors to opt-into a default and users to customize.</p>



<img />Square-layout gallery with no gutter.



<p>The plugin also has <a href="https://meowapps.com/plugin/meow-gallery/">commercial features</a>, but they are value-added upsells instead of necessary functionality. The pro version includes extras like more layouts, new animations, and infinite scrolling for galleries with many images.</p>



<p>The one off-putting issue with Meow Gallery is that it creates a custom block. Having already seen solutions from other plugin authors that extend the default Gallery block, I was hoping this plugin would go in the same direction. Extending the core block makes it easier for end-users to switch gallery plugins at any point. However, users can transform Meow Gallery blocks into Gallery blocks and vice versa.</p>



<p>Keep in mind that the WordPress Gallery block is also undergoing drastic changes. Currently, the plan is to make it more of a container block that houses nested Image blocks. By not extending the core block, plugin users will miss out on some of the advantages this change brings. Of course, the plugin developer could follow suit and add the same features to the project.</p>



<p>Meow Gallery relies on the WordPress <code>gallery</code> shortcode. Therefore, it will continue working regardless of whether users deactivate the plugin in the future. As a fallback, it is not a perfect solution. Users of the block editor would likely rather have it revert to the core Gallery block &mdash; the shortcode and block are not remotely the same. However, it is a bit of a compromise between showing a working gallery or nothing at all.</p>



<p>I suspect the reliance on the shortcode is for historical reasons. Meow Gallery existed in the pre-block era. However, the developer has managed to keep up with the times, offering support for both the block and classic editor.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 29 Mar 2021 21:26:37 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:23;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:55:"WordPress.org blog: WP Briefing: How WordPress Improves";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:52:"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=9980";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:58:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/how-wordpress-improves/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10224:"<p>In this episode, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">Josepha Haden Chomphosy</a> explores the WordPress release process. Tune in and learn the phases of a release and catch this week’s small list of big things.</p>



<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href="mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>



<h2><strong>Credits</strong></h2>



<ul><li>Editor:<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/"> Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/"> Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/"> </a><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>



<h2>References</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/esperanza/">WordPress 5.7 “Esperanza” </a></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanza_Spalding">Esperanza Spalding</a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/gutenberg-tutorial-reusable-blocks/">Gutenberg Tutorial: Reusable Blocks</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/">make.wordpress.org/test</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/contribute/git/">GitHub repository </a></li></ul>



<h2>Transcript</h2>



<span id="more-9980"></span>



<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of some of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project and the community around it, as well as get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>



<p>All right, so last week, we wrapped up and shipped the WordPress 5.7 release. The release team this time around was smaller than we&#8217;ve had in the last couple of years. By the numbers, it looks really good: 66 enhancements or feature requests went in, 127 bugs were fixed, and seven versions of a Gutenberg plugin were merged and backported. If you use WordPress, you are probably aware that we have new releases throughout the year, but you probably don&#8217;t know much about the release process. There&#8217;s not really a reason to know unless you&#8217;re actively contributing to a release. For those interested in knowing more about how we improve WordPress, this week&#8217;s exploration is for you.</p>



<p>We&#8217;re gonna take a look at what goes into WordPress releases and just kind of zoom our way in from the highest level. At the highest level, there are three major WordPress releases a year, plus the minor releases, plus Gutenberg releases. So if you&#8217;re following current WordPress work and future WordPress work, that&#8217;s going to get you to probably around <strong>30 releases a year</strong>. If we zoom in one level to the release itself, a single release of WordPress takes four to five months from start to the day that we ship, and an additional four to six weeks on support and translations, and minor releases after that. If you&#8217;re looking from my vantage point, you&#8217;ll see that WordPress releases have essentially five parts, some of which happen kind of simultaneously.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The first part is planning and includes the project lead, lead developers, design; groups like that. The second phase is the creation phase when we&#8217;re actually building the things that have to go into the CMS that involves the design, core, editor, mobile, and other teams. Then there&#8217;s this phase that I like to refer to as the distribution phase. This is mostly done by the teams that make sure that WordPress is widely distributable; the polyglots team work on translations, accessibility does some work, docs make sure that everything is documented, and training, of course, gets things ready for when we have to be able to tell people how to use the release.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Then there is the fourth phase; I really don&#8217;t think they go sequentially or in a waterfall format. The fourth-ish phase that I include, and that I tend to see, is this extending and iteration phase. It&#8217;s the phase where we see our theme authors and our plugin authors, folks who are doing support, show up and help us to make sure that WordPress is available not only widely but broadly to ensure that their audiences as theme authors and plugin authors are covered in the features that they need based on what they are using WordPress for. The fifth phase is the part of our communication that involves the community team, especially marketing, WordPressTV, and learn.wordpress.org. Basically, anyone who&#8217;s showing up to make sure that we all share what happened in the release, the features that are coming, and how that affects the users is involved in that particular phase. So five big phases of what happens over those four to five months, and then for the month or month and a half afterward.&nbsp;</p>



<p>If we zoom in a bit more on the creation phase, each release has people who lead the work and coordinate contributor efforts during the course of the release. For any given release, hundreds of people contribute and receive credit for moving the WordPress project forward. Okay, hold on a second. Let&#8217;s pump the brakes and zoom in a bit on that. Hundreds of people work on every major release for a project that powers over 40% of the web that feels like a small number. But for the people who process the contributions in preparation for release, it&#8217;s actually pretty substantial. For every release, there is a small team of leaders who asked the hard questions. Is this a usable feature? Does this make WordPress better overall? And, of course, is this ready to ship?&nbsp; Some of those leaders, a smaller subset of even the leaders that we have already, are committers who actually prep and merge patches to the CMS; they don&#8217;t do all the work to create a design or write all the code. This tiny group of people processes hundreds and hundreds of bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements that have been submitted over the course of months and sometimes years. As a side note, that whole process is a little smaller, a little faster in the Gutenberg featured plugin, but the basic parts are still there. Alright, so we&#8217;ve zoomed from the big picture way into some of the finer details, and it really looks like any other project cycle. So now, I&#8217;m going to layer in the filter of open source to that process.</p>



<p>There are a couple of things that make building software in an open source environment so different. The first is that the code is readily available. If you have a basic understanding of the languages, you can see the code, learn from it, and make suggestions about improving it. Second, you consider the user a co-developer in the process, which means that as long as people use your product, they will have opinions on what you shipped. This way of iterating improves WordPress and ties back to one of my favorite open source principles. The idea that with many eyes, all bugs are shallow. To me, that means that with enough people looking at a problem, someone is bound to be able to see the solution.</p>



<p>This brings us to our community highlight, the segment where I share a note about contributors who have helped others along the way or a WordPress success story. This week&#8217;s highlight is from Nok in our Bangkok community. When asked to help her find her way into the WordPress community, she said, “@shinichiN who started the WordPress community in Bangkok and encouraged me to contribute, and also @mayukojpn has introduced me to the WP community team to join as a deputy. “ Thank you for sharing those two inspiring people with us. And if you, listener, have any stories that you would like to share of your own WordPress success or people that you have been so grateful to help you find your way in the project, you can feel free to email those to me at <a href="mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>.</p>



<p>That brings us to our final segment of the WP Briefing, the small list of big things. I only have three things to share with you this week. The first one is that about a week ago, we had our first release of 2021. It was the WordPress 5.7 release, titled Esperanza. If you have not yet seen it, go ahead and update your website or check with your host and make sure that they have updated you if you&#8217;re on a managed host. And then take a listen to the artists that it&#8217;s named after.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The second thing that I want you to keep an eye out for is wordpress.org/news. We are starting a new series of content that gets at the heart of some of Gutenberg’s basic parts; there’s a lot of change coming up in the next few releases of WordPress. And the most important thing to me is that you understand what we&#8217;re trying to change and where those changes are primarily taking place. There will be a couple of tutorials that go up there over the course of the of the next few weeks. The third item on the small list of big things is to remind you of our call for testing. As I mentioned earlier in the podcast, the users of any open source software are the code developers; the software built is supposed to make your life and work easier. When you test things and find interactions that can use a little bit of refinement or features that are not working exactly as expected, it&#8217;s incredibly helpful for us to have that information to always make sure that we&#8217;re solving problems instead of accidentally creating them. If you want to participate in the Current call for testing, you can head over to make.wordpress.org/test. Or, if you&#8217;ve been doing your own testing, you can also submit any bugs you have found in the GitHub repo, which I will share in the show notes below. So that, my friends, is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress briefing. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks!</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 29 Mar 2021 15:15:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7:"Josepha";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:24;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"WordPress.org blog: WP Briefing: My Typical Day as WordPress’s Executive Director";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:52:"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=9825";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/my-typical-day-as-wordpresss-executive-director/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9925:"<p>In this episode, Josepha Haden Chomphosy speaks to her role as the Executive Director of WordPress. Learn about the day-to-day of her role and how it supports the mission of WordPress.</p>



<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href="mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>



<h2><strong>Credits</strong></h2>



<ul><li>Editor:<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/"> Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/"> Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/"> </a><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>



<h2>References</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/">Five for the Future</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/arunaswp/status/1339344702466887686">Contributor Highlight&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core">WordPress Core</a>&nbsp;</li></ul>



<h2>Transcript</h2>



<span id="more-9825"></span>



<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of some of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project and the community around it, as well as get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>



<p>I&#8217;ve been asked many times what the day-to-day work looks like for the Executive Director of the WordPress project. I don&#8217;t really think I&#8217;ve done a great job of answering that question. My default answer is either too broad, and I say, “I helped turn the WordPress vision into reality by supporting the community of contributors,” or way too narrow, and I start telling people what&#8217;s on my calendar. Probably no one cares about each entry on my calendar, and almost every contributor is covered by “I get things done by helping people.” So today, I invite you to join me in exploring the type of work required and the balance it takes to keep WordPress working.</p>



<p>First, some context on the weekly activity I see in WordPress, on average, 1,800 to 2,000 contributors a week, participate in conversations and tickets across the entire WordPress project in our entire ecosystem. There are about 20 volunteer teams that are each led by two to three team reps. Each of those teams actually has smaller groups that work on specific things; all told, it&#8217;s probably about 50 distinct teams. And probably quite a few more if you are very generous in your counting about what makes up a team for us.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Among those teams, a minimum of about 35 meetings a week are held, plus more for working groups. That doesn&#8217;t take into account the things most people are aware of externally.&nbsp; It doesn&#8217;t take into account the big quarterly or annual activity things like WordPress software releases or any of our events. When those sorts of things do happen, there&#8217;s a bit of an increase in our activity.</p>



<p>&nbsp;I work 40 to 60 hours a week on WordPress, depending on what&#8217;s going on, to make sure that I know what&#8217;s happening now; so that I have insight into what the next three to five years will bring. All of that is in support of <strong>the WordPress community, which I define as anyone who has ever interacted with WordPress ever</strong>, regardless of whether they know it or not. In case you&#8217;re feeling a bit lost right now, we can shorthand that entire context as this is really big and really complex.</p>



<p>Given that giant scope, it makes sense that people wonder what the work looks like. So I&#8217;ll talk about it in three big chunks: what I focus my time on, what I focus my attention on, and what helps me balance my decisions.&nbsp;</p>



<p>So first, what I focus my time on. I spend about a quarter of my time in meetings, mostly with current contributors, project leadership, and community members. I spend another quarter of my time in WordPress community outreach, checking in with current folks, reaching out to future WordPressers, and checking in with people that I haven&#8217;t heard from in a long time to make sure that I know what they need and if there&#8217;s anything that I can do to help. After that, I spend a bit under 15% of my time each on writing/communications work or ad hoc project work. I then spend 10% of my time reviewing proposals, editing, communication drafts for others, and determining my stances on discussions that we&#8217;re having in tickets and elsewhere. I spend all of my remaining time planning for various goals, projects, initiatives and personally working to remove blockers for our volunteer contributors. So the bulk of my time, about 50% or more, is spent in calls with people, which makes sense if you&#8217;ve ever worked with me; personal connections with the community have been the best part of my job for a long time. Since the community is what makes WordPress so great, it&#8217;s only natural that I want to stay connected.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The second big chunk is what I focus my attention on. I pay attention to four big pillars of work in the project. The first one is the WordPress CMS itself. So that&#8217;s the core team, accessibility, design, and many, many others. The second one is the WordPress community. And that&#8217;s the training team, everybody who is working on the Learn initiative, and the actual community team as well.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The third big pillar that I focus on is the WordPress contributor experience, which is mostly the meta team but&nbsp; includes all of the teams they work with: plugins, themes, polyglots, etc. The fourth big pillar that I turn my attention to is our communication; what I am saying about the WordPress project to people outside of it and what I am helping our team reps to say about the work that we&#8217;re accomplishing for the WordPress project inside the project. In general, we have to make sure that we coordinate a big group of contributors around a common idea or a common practice as we move forward.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Now, the way I focus both my time and attention probably isn&#8217;t quite right if you&#8217;re focused on a single feature or team. And it&#8217;s definitely not right if you aren&#8217;t spending 40 hours a week in the project; what that probably looks like for you is more like an hour in a team meeting, 30 minutes or so on clarifying conversations, and any remaining time that you are able to contribute focused on the feature that you&#8217;re actually contributing to. And so, there you have it all my time and attention. That is WordPress in a nutshell.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This brings us to the third chunk, the balance part. You might be wondering, how do I make sure I am fair and balanced in decisions that I have to make. That is something that I think about all the time, and I take very seriously. It&#8217;s hard to make decisions that might affect 2,000 people. It&#8217;s even harder when those decisions might affect 40% of the web. I know that I don&#8217;t have all the answers. And I&#8217;m fortunate enough to have 50 or 60 people in the community who offer me advice and guidance every single week. I&#8217;m in constant contact with the project lead, of course, but I also prioritize messages and concerns raised from team reps. And I always strive to understand before I try to problem solve. I don&#8217;t always get it right, but I do always work to get better. And that is the day-to-day work of a WordPress executive director.</p>



<p>That brings us to our community highlight. I tweeted out into the community asking for excellent examples of Freelancer success stories, and today I&#8217;m going to share a story from <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ideag/">Arūnas Liuiza</a>. Their story goes like this:&nbsp;</p>



<p class="has-text-align-justify">“For almost a decade, freelance WordPress gigs allowed me to support myself and my family and keep my full-time teaching position at the local college, which was paying peanuts but was an awesome, meaningful, and fulfilling. I am sincerely grateful for that.”</p>



<p>That brings us to our final segment of this brief podcast. The small list of big things to keep an eye out for in the next two weeks in WordPress. I only have two things this week. The first one is daylight saving time. It is that time of year where daylight saving time starts or stops at various parts in the globe. If you are a team rep here at WordPress, don&#8217;t forget to talk to your teams in your meetings in the next few weeks to decide what you&#8217;re going to do. You can move your team meeting if you want, and you can keep it where it is and see what new voices show up when it moves around for various people. Either way, make sure that you chat it out with your team and make sure that everybody understands what is and isn&#8217;t moving on your calendar. That will also be relevant to any of our brand new work-from-home folks in the middle of this global pandemic.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The second thing to share is that there is a major release of WordPress coming up that&#8217;s going to happen on March 9th. It’s WordPress 5.7; it&#8217;s going to be a good release. We&#8217;ve been working on it since December or maybe a little bit earlier. So keep an eye out for announcements about that here on wordpress.org/news, or if you want to follow more about the developer details and the process details you can head on over to wordpress.org/core. That, my friends, is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress briefing. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks!</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 29 Mar 2021 15:15:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7:"Josepha";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:25;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"WordPress.org blog: WP Briefing: Talking Full Site Editing with Matías Ventura";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:53:"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=10013";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/03/talking-full-site-editing-with-matias-ventura/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31292:"<p>In this episode, Josepha is joined by Matías Ventura, also known as “the spark behind the vision of Gutenberg.” Josepha and Matías discuss full site editing and answer your questions, from “is full site editing a standalone plugin?” to “will full site editing break my current site?”</p>



<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href="mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>



<h2><strong>Credits</strong></h2>



<ul><li>Editor:<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/"> Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/"> Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/"> </a><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>



<h2>References</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tt1-blocks/">Twenty Twenty One theme</a></li><li><a href="https://centroamerica.wordcamp.org/2021/">Word Camp Central America </a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/12/q2-listening-hours-april-7th-2021/">2021 Second Quarter Listening Hours with Matt Mullenweg and Josepha Haden Chomphosy</a></li></ul>



<h2>Transcript</h2>



<span id="more-10013"></span>



<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of some of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project and the community around it, as well as get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>



<p>Josepha [0:41]: This month, we have a bonus briefing, so I&#8217;ve asked my dear friend and colleague <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/matveb/">Matías Ventura</a> to join me. Matías was recently called “the spark behind the vision of Gutenberg.” With full site editing coming our way in 202, I asked if he would join me for a quick Q&amp;A. Welcome, Matías.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Matías [0:56]: Hello, hello! Thanks for inviting me. It&#8217;s a pleasure to be here.</p>



<p>Josepha [1:00]: Well, I&#8217;m delighted to have you. And I think that we have a lot of excellent questions. All right, so Matías, we actually ended up with questions in about three different groupings. And so I&#8217;m going to start with the “what is it about full site editing,” sorts of questions that people had. We&#8217;re gonna work our way into “what are we doing with it?” and then “how are we planning on getting this out the door?” Then, a couple of big picture questions that people asked. We&#8217;re just gonna leap right in this full site editing part of the Gutenberg plugin, or is it a standalone plugin?</p>



<p>Matías [1:39]: Okay, we&#8217;ll start with the basics. Full site editing is part of the Gutenberg plugin right now. I think it&#8217;s important to mention that full site editing is like an umbrella for several projects that we&#8217;re working on. They are all aiming to bring blocks into more parts of your site so that editing becomes easier and more expressive, and so on. So full site editing right now encompasses adding a ton of new blocks. I think we have around 20 new blocks coming in, including navigation query, site, title, logo, etc. There&#8217;s also the interface to interact with templates outside of the content; that&#8217;s another big part of the full site editing project. We also have a lot of new design tools included, many of these have been released in previous major releases, but they still comprise a strong part of what full site editing is. We also have something called Global Styles, which aims to allow people to configure the visual aspects of blogs across the entire site, not just on any individual blog. And of course, then there&#8217;s a whole layer of how we utilize these tools. It can get complex because there are many layers and projects that need to come together. So yeah, all of these are accessible through the Gutenberg plugin right now.</p>



<p>Josepha [3:07]: Yeah. So it&#8217;s not a standalone plugin. If you wanted to check out full site editing the site editor experience as it is now, you would just have to make sure you had the Gutenberg plugin on your site. Right?</p>



<p>Matías: Yes, correct.</p>



<p>Josepha:&nbsp; So a couple of the questions related to this are how exactly do I enable it on my site? And what is the easiest and safest way to try this on my site? And I think the answer is, is right in there. It&#8217;s in the Gutenberg plugin. And so if you have that plugin, you don&#8217;t need the testing plugin or anything else to make that work, right?</p>



<p>Matías [3:51]:&nbsp; No, you like, you might need to install a theme like Twenty Twenty One blocks that unlock some of these new interfaces that we just talked about. Like other of these pieces are available for anything. But some of these, like the interface to edit templates, right now only talk with things that know how to express their desire.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Josepha [4:14]: And I think we have less than 10 themes right now that do that, but I&#8217;ll leave some links to at least 2021 blocks in the show notes. And then, if there are another one or two themes that I can find, I can add those in there as well.&nbsp;</p>



<p>So you have to have the Gutenberg plugin; you have to have a theme that works with that site editor kind of experience. And then you&#8217;re safe to try everything out. It shows up in your left toolbar just like any other thing, like if you were working with plugins, or if you were adding a post or anything else, right?</p>



<p>Matías [4:51]: Yes, correct. And so, some of these details are being worked on right now. Like how and where you access things, and so on. These things are subject to change, but right now, you have this site editor beta in the sidebar when both you have the plugin running and a theme that&#8217;s capable.</p>



<p>Josepha [5:10]: Yeah. Excellent note. If you are running this on a production website, I would recommend you not do that unless you are very, very good with WordPress. It&#8217;s a really safe and easy thing to test and try out. But because it is still in beta, I recommend always putting it on a test site. I have a couple of different test sites that I run on myself. Another question that I had was, “will full site editing slow down my site?” And I think we have some refreshed performance tests coming out about that. And maybe they&#8217;ll be out by the time we publish this podcast.</p>



<p>Matías [5:49]: Yeah, I mean, like the performance has been one of the major focuses for the whole project. In many cases, it should speed up things because we&#8217;re like, I think one of the big pieces that these projects bring into the picture, especially for themes, is that it allows only the necessary assets to be loaded on the front end. For example, if for a given page, there are, I don&#8217;t know, 10-15 blocks being used, you would only get the CSS and scrapes and so on related to those blocks. This can cut down on a lot a ton of CSS that themes used to end queue on a side, particularly if you were trying to customize many widgets and so on, like a lot of themes have the full styles or multiple widgets, even third party plugins, and so on. So one of the advantages of having this blog system is that we can know at the time of rendering what blogs are being used and only load those assets.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Josepha [6:50]: Excellent. Another big question that we have is, “does full site editing work with the classic editor? And does it work with other builders?” I think that&#8217;s a really big answer if you&#8217;re going to get super deep into it. But I think that the short answer is yes, it does. Is that fair?</p>



<p>Matías [7:08]: Yeah, I don&#8217;t think it touches a bit on that full site editing is not like a single thing. There are multiple projects around it. So again, like the template editor that only deals with blogs, it doesn&#8217;t have a lot to do with a classic editor. But the classic editor use for both doesn&#8217;t change anything at all; like the same way that when the block editor was introduced, it didn&#8217;t change how you could still write posts in the classic editor. You will still be able to do that.</p>



<p>Josepha [7:41]: And if you are brand new to WordPress person, or, I mean, I guess at this point, you don&#8217;t have to be super brand new. If you&#8217;re fairly new to WordPress person and have no idea what we&#8217;re talking about when we say the classic editor, you don&#8217;t really have to worry about it either. You don&#8217;t have to go and find out what that is; the block editor that you have right now works perfectly for what you&#8217;re trying to do. So if you don&#8217;t know what I mean when I say classic editor, don&#8217;t worry about chasing it down either.&nbsp;</p>



<p>I think that this last question we accidentally answered earlier, but I&#8217;m going to go ahead and ask it anyway since I received it. “I keep hearing that you can use the site editor with the 2021 theme. But I don&#8217;t seem to be able to. What am I missing?” I think the answer is that there&#8217;s the Twenty Twenty One theme shipped with the WordPress release 5.6. And then there is the Twenty Twenty One blocks theme; those are two different themes. The link to the Twenty Twenty One block theme is going to be in our show notes this time around. And so, if you have been trying to use the full site editor with Twenty Twenty One and not succeeding, try the link to the one below. And I bet that that will work for you.</p>



<p>Matías [8:50]: Yes, that&#8217;s correct.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Josepha [8:51]: All right, excellent. Well, that brings us kind of into our second set of questions, which is about how we are doing it. The first one that folks have is “will full site editing be on by default in the next release. In this context, the next release is WordPress 5.8. But I think it&#8217;s a safe question to ask if full site editing will be on by default in the release that it&#8217;s planned for.</p>



<p>Matías [9:15]: Yeah, and for this, I need to go back to the same principle of many projects because there are many pieces of full site editing, and we have been merging them in major releases, particularly like the blocks and the design tools. There are more coming in that we want to make accessible as soon as possible. The full experience that requires a theme to opt-in to templates using blogs won’t be by default; it requires a specific theme running. A lot of these details we&#8217;re still like determining exactly what projects are ready to be merged and so on. But yeah, if you have a theme right now that works the way you want, it doesn&#8217;t change anything there. If anything, it adds some more capabilities and more customization tools, and so on. And the theme can also regulate how much they want to incorporate.</p>



<p>Josepha [10:13]: Matías, you&#8217;ve mentioned a couple of times in this podcast so far like this is a really complex and really complicated part of this work. And just for anyone out there who&#8217;s either encountering Gutenberg or full site editing or this podcast for the first time, I think a tiny bit of context that&#8217;s worth having here is that Matías and I have been working on this together in various capacities for like, five years. And Matías has probably been working on this for practically a decade. So, when we say that this is a really complicated problem, and when we say that this is a complex set of issues that we&#8217;re working with like, it is all that we have been thinking about for I want to say at least the last three or four years, but certainly it&#8217;s all that we have been trying to untangle for quite a bit of time before that as well. So we don&#8217;t take it lightly when we&#8217;re like, “this is complicated;” we mean it. It&#8217;s really complicated. And we&#8217;re trying our hardest over here as WordPress.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The next big question, since we&#8217;re all stuck in the “it&#8217;s very complicated,” part of things is the question, “will this update break my current site?” Like, if I have a site that is updated and ready, and it&#8217;s exactly as I wanted it to be, and it took me two years to get there will full site editing, whichever release it&#8217;s in. Currently, 5.8 is what we&#8217;re planning for. Will that break anything on my site as I know it right now?</p>



<p>Matías [11:44]: No, not at all. One of the major things that the WordPress team, the WordPress community, always cares so much about, never to break things. Many of these things are stepping stones that you can adopt, as we&#8217;ve talked about full site editing. But for example, we also have a few concurrent projects around the widget screen and the navigation screen that are meant to bring blocks into existing interfaces. So again, the theme doesn&#8217;t need to change, and a lot of care is being put into making this more like you&#8217;re unlocking new features, and nothing really breaks or falls apart.</p>



<p>Josepha [12:23]: This update, like all the other updates, should have minimal, minimal impact on what you have to actively fix on your site. Every once in a while, a bug is gonna get by. We can&#8217;t say that we&#8217;re 100% perfect with not breaking things. But also, we always and I and I know that we&#8217;re planning on this for our remaining releases for the rest of the year. At the very least, I can&#8217;t imagine we&#8217;d ever change it. But after every major release, we always make a plan to have a minor release within the next one or two weeks. Because we know that a broken thing on a site is really incredibly impactful, even if you&#8217;re only 1% of the sites that had that happen to it. And so I think that&#8217;s true in this case, too. And getting that feedback back from all of the people who are actually using WordPress is the thing that makes us be able to kind of move quickly when we do see those problems.&nbsp;</p>



<p>One of the questions that we have been getting is, “can I see a live preview without saving the changes that I made?” When I got this question, I didn&#8217;t actually understand it. And so I went and looked at a site without the Gutenberg plugin on it, and then a site with the Gutenberg plugin on it. And of course, on sites without Gutenberg, without the block editor, without full site editing, when you are looking to preview, you have the option to open up your preview in a new window. And you don&#8217;t have that with Gutenberg because it&#8217;s supposed to be a true WYSIWYG editor. A true what you see is what you get, editor. I think that the answer to this is, yes, you can see a live preview without actually saving the changes on the front end of your site. But you don&#8217;t actually have to reload anything. You don&#8217;t have to open it up in a new window. You don&#8217;t have to, like, actively click “please show me a preview” because what you see in your editing screen should be what you see at the end of your app as an end-user.</p>



<p>Matías [14:28]: Yeah, that&#8217;s the sort of the main gist to it. Yes, the site editor is built so that it always reflects the front end as truly as possible, so that&#8217;s one layer. Also, the preview tools should allow you to see in different devices like mobile breakpoints, and I don&#8217;t know if they will have breakpoints and stuff like that. There are a lot of things in the current interface that is just not enabled. There are some challenges in the sidebar. Because the site editor is not just focused on a single post, it&#8217;s focused on the entire site. So, there can be many, many changes that need to be shadowed for the site.&nbsp;</p>



<p>If you&#8217;re changing the site title, some of the global styles, aspects, and so on need to be orchestrated. So, to see in the previewing new window, there are some challenges there to integrate. Again, the interface is not final yet; a lot of these things are still being tweaked and improved. There are many things from the regular post editor that are not enabled yet. But they will be enabled. So yeah, it&#8217;s a, I guess, it&#8217;s not a simple thing to answer. Because, again, the idea of previewing the site that&#8217;s core to the whole project is that you&#8217;re always interacting in the same way that when you&#8217;re in the customizer, you&#8217;re seeing the preview all the time. That&#8217;s the main scope of this project,</p>



<p>Josepha [15:54]: Excellent. Changes like that changes to your workflow can be really hard to get your mind around, especially if part of that existing workflow was there to create some confidence in what you&#8217;re seeing with your users. And so I understand. Now that I&#8217;ve researched that question a bit, I see where that&#8217;s coming from. Based on existing workflows and existing patterns that we have for ourselves in WordPress, will we need to have a theme to use the full site editor?</p>



<p>Matías [16:33]: I think we&#8217;ve already covered some of these. And again, they are tools that can work on any existing theme. There is other stuff that needs space-specific themes to opt-in into these tools, like blog templates and so on.</p>



<p>Josepha [16:50]: Yes, I think the question that we have next, because I see that the literal next question I have is actually something we have covered; just because we&#8217;re being pretty conversational about it, not because anyone already asked the question. So I&#8217;m actually going to skip to the last question of this section that I received. I got this next one via Twitter. The question is, “how do you view the role of themes once full site editing is fully rolled out and all the page elements (content, headers, widgets, footers, etc.) and all the views are managed via blocks and block patterns? Will things become typographic and block styles?”</p>



<p>Matías [17:28]: I think this is a great question because it goes to the heart of, why are we doing all this. One of the main reasons is to empower users more. WordPress has been democratizing publishing for a while; this is another step into allowing themes to get more customization tools and more control over their site if they want to. I think the recent call for testing has focused on the 404 page, for example. That&#8217;s something that forever has been locked away from users. And it&#8217;s also something that, as a theme developer, and I used to develop themes a long time ago, that was one of the things where you decide what sort of approach you take for the 404 page. Maybe sometimes you want to have something more whimsical. Sometimes you need something more serious. And committing to one when you can have such a diverse and broad user base can be challenging. With these, it becomes as easy as offering a few different patterns for that template. Then the user will always be able to change the copy and modify something. So again, it opens up a lot of these things that used to be locked down. However, from a theme perspective, I think this doesn&#8217;t reduce the theme at all. If anything, it allows the theme to focus less on coding and functions and more on design expression and aesthetics. I don&#8217;t think that would ever be exhausted. That will always remain as diverse as humans are interacting with WordPress. And so it&#8217;s not that I don&#8217;t see it&#8217;s just as like, typographic and block styles. How do you express a template, how do you express the structure, what choices you quote, what choices you make as a theme builder? And of course, there are many degrees of control there. Because a site maintainer may not want the 404 template to be editable, that sort of control will always be present.</p>



<p>Josepha [19:38]: Yeah. And really fast. I have to add a caveat to a thing that you said in there. For anyone who&#8217;s listening keenly, you may have heard Matías say that the users can update any of the content there &#8211; any of the copy. In this context, we&#8217;re talking about users as in the people who are maintaining the site, not people who are visiting your site. Visitors to your site will not be able to change any copy on your page unless you&#8217;ve done something very interesting with your WordPress site, which is also fine if that&#8217;s what you prefer to do. By default, your visitors can&#8217;t change everything on your website, which is good news, frankly.</p>



<p>So I&#8217;ve got one logistics question, which I&#8217;m happy to take. And then one is kind of a big picture question that I also got from Twitter. “What about the classic editor block; what is going to happen to that? And when will we know?” So ages and ages ago, before COVID? I think so. Probably maybe a couple of years ago, Matt said that the classic editor plugin would be supported through the end of 2021. And that is still the case; there will be active support on that through the end of 2021. After that, it will not be actively supported anymore. It won&#8217;t be removed from any place that you can get access to right now. In a “this is the end of its lifecycle” sort of way, we just won&#8217;t have anyone who is currently committed to maintaining that plugin anymore. So that&#8217;s what&#8217;s happening at the end of the year. And yeah, at the end of 2021. The big question that we have is, “why is full site editing being so rushed?” I think this is a bit of a loaded question.</p>



<p>Matías [21:32]: Yeah, I think I think it&#8217;s still a fair question, though. I think we&#8217;re dealing with two things here. And one is ensuring that we release things in the best state possible. And also, some of the urgency is to offer tools that we know that people lack right now and that could really benefit from. Making that determination is very tricky. The full site editing project has been in the works for the last couple of years. If we count the initial phase of Gutenberg, that&#8217;s four to five years. We&#8217;ve been doing many calls for testing, which I think have been super useful to catch issues and reflect as a community on where things are going; how do we integrate with these? How do we use it? What are the shortcomings? What do we need to do? Based on all of these, we&#8217;ll continue to make decisions on when things become ready. We&#8217;re not committed to releasing something that&#8217;s not in a good state. And I think we will always be very careful about that. There are these two competing senses of the urgency &#8211; of getting some of these tools out, and because it also benefits from the feedback loops. I always say that, in many ways, the initial phase of Gutenberg, to me, is not finished. We took the initial two years to do the 5.0 release, the initial block editor, and so on. But, it&#8217;s still being improved at a very fast pace, among all the recent major releases improvements to the editor were included; that will continue to be the case. In many ways, phase one is not finished. And the moment we choose to release some of these tools or editing tools, it won&#8217;t be finished either. They will need to continue to grow, mature, and incorporate a lot of the feedback. Even the things that the ecosystem is building around. I&#8217;ve seen a few themes already that are incorporating a blank canvas template so that you can use them in some pages and take over and do everything with blocks. So even the community and ecosystem as a whole is also sort of paving the way for what needs to come.</p>



<p>Josepha [24:06]: I think from my perspective, and of course, I&#8217;m on the people side of things, the communication side of things, the logistics side of things; I have a frequently a very different view from what a lot of other folks are seeing. And so from my side of things, I have to say, I&#8217;m communicating about this change in a really broad way, which has not been happening since 2019 when we started the work. We&#8217;ve been communicating broadly with the WordPress community, but not with everybody who uses WordPress. So, I think that for a lot of people, this looks like a project that we started really actively working on in the last six months or so. And now we&#8217;re just racing toward a finish line. I think that there&#8217;s, there&#8217;s not been a lot of awareness of everything that&#8217;s gone into it. And so, on the one hand, it feels a little less rushed to me knowing the full length of the history on this. But also, as you said, I really think that this gets a bunch of tools to people who otherwise have not been able to accomplish these things in WordPress or otherwise. I am so anxious to get something to people who really can benefit from this change the most. And it&#8217;s the nature of the open source, right that like, one, as long as you have users, you&#8217;re going to have stuff you have to fix in your software. So we&#8217;re never really, really going to be done with this; there&#8217;s not going to be like a done point of WordPress. And the second thing is, I think it&#8217;s generally true that you don&#8217;t really start getting full user feedback until after you have launched your major release. I think that we see that a lot in open source software; you can bring in as many people as you think you can in your user tests heading up to it. And in your accessibility tests. And, in general, quality assurance tests. You can bring in a lot of people and still not have gotten the full understanding of the various niche use cases that your users will bring to you. Because at this point, we&#8217;re like 40% of the web. And that means that we&#8217;re serving this majority collection of increasingly minority voices and niche voices in the space. And so, a little bit I feel a sense of urgency; I feel a bit of anxiousness about trying to get this out there for one, to get the tools in the hands of the people who can benefit the most from them, but also so that we can start really getting the full stress test of this software out and get that feedback in so that we can really build something responsive to what our users need our long tail, “anyone who ever uses WordPress ever,” definition of users. And so, that&#8217;s why I feel a sense of urgency around it. Even though you know, as I said, you and I have been working on this for like five years, and you&#8217;ve been working on it for a decade or something. I actually don&#8217;t know how long it&#8217;s been worked on.</p>



<p>Matías [27:35]: Now that makes me feel a bit old.</p>



<p>Josepha [27:40]: Nobody makes Matías feel old. He is a lovely, wonderful colleague. Sorry, Matías, If I made you feel old.</p>



<p>Matías [27:46]: No, that&#8217;s totally fine. I also want to add that full site editing is not like a single toggle that&#8217;s going to drop into a major release. So I think that&#8217;s important to consider, I think this entire year is going to see a lot of these tools being, and sometimes the sort of the end-user is not the, again, the site maintainer. Still, you can also be the theme developer; I think there are many tools that would be empowering for theme developers to use. Again, we mentioned there are like five to ten themes, block themes right now. That needs to grow a lot, and that only grows through these sorts of feedback loops. And the theme community pushing things forward and seeing where things can lead to. I&#8217;m very excited about the pattern directory integration because I think that can also combine with blog themes in very powerful ways. Imagine if, I don&#8217;t know many of these patterns that are very common on the web and very needed, that if we can refine them together with a second community and make them available across themes, you can combine a header from one theme with a content of another; all these sorts of mixtures could happen. All of this needs exploration, the creativity of the entire community, and so on. In that sense, getting all these tools, even if it doesn&#8217;t immediately change anything for like the site itself, starts to unlock a lot of things.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Josepha [29:27]: I&#8217;m going to take a bit of your answer from there and tie it all the way back to your first answer that we had when you joined me today. And say, I think you&#8217;re absolutely right. We have a set of users in our theme authors and our plugin developers as well that we desperately need to get looking at this set of tools. I hope that what we are shipping in the first iteration of this serves as an opportunity for all of those theme authors and agency owners, plugin authors, WordPress site configurers freelancers. Like, I really hope that this puts it into a really accessible, easy-to-access space for them so that they can do those experiments based on what they know their users need the most. They are the group that has the closest access to site maintainers. And what they need compared to, for instance, me or a potential you like we have a lot of information, you and I, we do a lot of tests, we have a strong sense of what is needed at the moment, but we don&#8217;t have as a close connection that our theme and agency and plugin folks all have. And so that&#8217;s another part of why I&#8217;m so excited to get this out in the current iteration of it.</p>



<p>Josepha [31:04]: That was a lot of questions in a little bit of time. This is going to be officially my longest WordPress briefing. Matías, I am so glad that you were able to join me today. And I think that everyone&#8217;s going to be really, really excited to hear your answers to these questions.</p>



<p>Matías [31:23]: Thank you for having me.</p>



<p>Josepha [31:25]: All right, my friends. That brings us into our small list of big things. I&#8217;m going to skip our community highlight today just because we had a slightly longer word press briefing in our bonus iteration today. But the small list of big things. The first thing is WordCamp Central America is coming up on April 15; there is a registration link in the show notes that you can access your tickets with. I recommend that you go; we&#8217;ve got a lot of excellent speakers coming up there and a lot of good content and good training and learning for y&#8217;all. The second thing is that Matt Mullenweg and I have listening hours coming up with the community in the first week of April. I&#8217;ll add the link to register for those in the show notes as well; it&#8217;s just a few minutes for you all to stop by, check-in, see what&#8217;s going on, and share some celebrations or concerns with us. And I hope that I see you there.&nbsp;</p>



<p>So that my friends is your small list of big things. Thank you for joining in today for the WordPress briefing. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks!</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 29 Mar 2021 15:05:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Chloe Bringmann";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:26;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"Gutenberg Times: New Gallery Block, Convert Blocks, Business News and more  Weekend Edition #164";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=17347";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/gallery-block-convert-blocks-business-weekend-edition-164/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:21372:"<p>Howdy, </p>



<p>Despite the new spread of the coronavirus in Europe and the problems around vaccinations, I am  quite hopeful to be able to travel again in the second half of the year and visit the homeland after two years. Patience is a virtue. </p>



<p>Today, we have a full roster of content for developers, content creators, theme authors, implementers and contributors.  Again I am awed by the astonishing creativity in the WordPress space! </p>



<p>Remember, you don&#8217;t need to read it all in one sitting. It&#8217;ll keep the whole week!  </p>



<p><strong>Yours 💕<br />Birgit </strong></p>





<div class="wp-block-sortabrilliant-guidepost"><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#0-full-site-editing-themes">Full-Site Editing + Themes</a><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#1-refactor-of-the-gallery-block-using-image-blocks">Refactor of the Gallery Block, using image blocks. </a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#2-block-editor-for-content-creators">Block editor for content creators</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#3-should-you-switch-to-the-block-editor">Should you switch to the block editor? </a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#4-business-news-around-gutenberg">Business News around Gutenberg</a><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#5-extendify">Extendify</a><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#6-plugins-now-owned-by-extendify">Plugins now owned by Extendify: </a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#7-people-behind-extendify">People behind Extendify</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#8-go-daddy">GoDaddy</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#9-developing-for-the-block-editor">Developing for the block editor</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#10-meta-charset-utf-8-word-press-events">&lt;meta charset=&#8221;utf-8&#8243;>WordPress Events</a></li></ul></div>



<h2 id="0-full-site-editing-themes">Full-Site Editing + Themes</h2>



<p>WPTavern has a podcast again! The WordPress Juke Box. For the inaugural episode host Nathan Wrigley interviewed. Among other things, <strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> talked about her benchmark for the Go/NoGo decision to merge Full-Site Editing into core for the 5.8 release in July. Find additional thoughts in my post: <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/full-site-editing-mvp-can-i-build-a-landing-page/"><strong>Full-site Editing MVP: Can I Build a Landing Page?</strong></a></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> posted the fourth call for testing: <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/25/fse-program-testing-call-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header/">Building a restaurant themed header</a></strong>, with instructions to use columns, navigation block and other features for the header template part. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>There is a lot of movement on the Gutenberg Repo and the Themes Team keeps a list of relevant issues and discussions for theme developers. <a href="https://twitter.com/one_maggie"><strong>Maggie Cabrera</strong></a> published the round-up post <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/03/26/gutenberg-themes-week-of-march-25-2021/">Gutenberg + Themes: Week of March 25, 2021</a></strong>. It&#8217;s an excellent reading list if you need to dive deeper in the upcoming changes for your theme or your customer. One of the issues caught my eye: the discussion and work around block alignment settings for themes. The current way predates the revamp of the Inner Blocks. There is some work to be done, streamlining the styling for themes. <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/29506">Join the discussion on GitHub</a>. </p>




<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/">The index 2020 is here</a></p>




<h3 id="1-refactor-of-the-gallery-block-using-image-blocks">Refactor of the Gallery Block, using image blocks. </h3>



<p>If you love to take a sneak peek at the new version of the Gallery block, heed the call for testing by <a href="https://twitter.com/glendaviesnz"><strong>Glen</strong></a><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/glendaviesnz"> </a></strong><a href="https://twitter.com/glendaviesnz"><strong>Davies</strong>:</a> <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/23/gallery-block-update-call-for-testing/"><strong>Gallery Block Update – Call for Testing</strong></a>. The refactored version is now using single image blocks inside the Gallery block. You can us all the great features: individual links per image, block styles, choices for size and editing capabilities. If you also use a plugin with your site, like CoBlocks, you can still apply the great filters and animations to your gallery block. In his post, Davies walks you through the few features and asked to test all the many facets of the new Gallery block. </p>



<p>On the WPTavern, <strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> explains how this new change can make a lot of difference on how gallery layouts will be built. Among other ideas, he pictures that among images, a Pull Quote block could be added. <a href="https://wptavern.com/refactoring-gutenbergs-gallery-block-to-support-nested-images">Refactoring Gutenberg’s Gallery Block To Support Nested Images</a>.</p>



<p>I posted <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/23/gallery-block-update-call-for-testing/#comment-40962">my first impression as a comment</a> and created <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/30250">a bug report on GitHub</a> when my images lost all their styling when I added the gallery block to a group. I suggested making it possible to apply block styles to more than one image at a time, and that the gallery block / image block copies the respective Alt texts from the media library. Both suggestions made it into the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/projects/56#card-57737540">project board.</a></p>



<h2 id="2-block-editor-for-content-creators">Block editor for content creators</h2>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/liamdempsey"><strong>Liam Dempsey</strong></a> asked his Twitter followers for recommendation of Block plugins. He collected all the suggestions in this blog post: <strong><a href="https://liamdempsey.com/community-recommendations-for-gutenberg-blocks-in-wordpress/">Community Recommendations for Gutenberg Blocks in WordPress</a>.</strong> </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Amie Suzan</strong> at at <a href="https://twitter.com/virfice"><strong>Virfice</strong></a> reviewed the <strong>Blocksy Theme and gives 18 <a href="https://www.virfice.com/blocksy-wordpress-theme-review/">Unavoidable Reasons to Build Sites With It</a></strong>. The theme received some attention after Chris Lema revamped his site using the block editor it <a href="https://chrislema.com/this-site-now-runs-on-the-blocksy-theme/">now runs on the Blocksy theme</a>. Justin Tadlock at the WPTavern also found the <a href="https://wptavern.com/blocksy-wordpress-theme-provides-a-solid-block-editor-experience">Blocksy theme to provide a solid block editor experience</a></p>



<p>🌐  <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/blocksy/">WPRepo</a> | <a href="https://creativethemes.com/blocksy/">Website</a></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/andersnoren">Anders&nbsp;Norén</a></strong> published a new free theme in the WordPress Repository, named <strong>Eskell</strong>, inspired by the Swedish graphic designer&nbsp;Olle Eksell. In his <strong>introduction to the theme</strong>, Andres wrote: &#8220;(&#8230;) <em>the star of the show in Eksell is the archive page, which features a masonry grid of posts and a category filter that updates the grid with posts from the selected category without a hard reload.&#8221;</em> In includes full color settings and dark mode for devices that support it. He continues: <em>&#8220;The Blank Canvas Template hides everything on the page except the blocks you add to the Block Editor content. That gives users the freedom to create entirely custom pages, with whatever blocks they want. It feels like a little preview of what we’ll be able to do once Full Site Editing is merged into WordPress Core.&#8221;</em></p>



<p> <strong>Justin Tadlock </strong>published a review <a href="https://wptavern.com/compatibility-is-not-enough-the-eksell-wordpress-theme-creates-art-with-blocks">Eksell theme creates art with blocks</a> and <a href="https://wptavern.com/eksell-portfolio-theme-now-available-in-wordpress-themes-directory">a follow-up article</a> on the WPTavern. </p>



<p>🌐 <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/eksell/">WPRepo</a> | <a href="https://www.andersnoren.se/teman/eksell-wordpress-theme/">Website</a> | <a href="https://andersnoren.se/themes/eksell/">Demo</a></p>



<h2 id="3-should-you-switch-to-the-block-editor">Should you switch to the block editor? </h2>



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/bfintal">Benjamin Intal</a></strong> from Stackable posted <strong><a href="https://wpstackable.com/blog/why-you-should-switch-to-the-gutenberg-wordpress-editor/">Why You Should Switch to the Gutenberg WordPress Editor</a></strong>. He wrote: <em>&#8220;In this article, we enumerate some reasons why the Gutenberg WordPress editor might be your new primary choice for page building. Read on, and we might just convince you to give Gutenberg another shot.&#8221;</em></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>WordPressVIP post takes us <strong><a href="https://wpvip.com/case-studies/behind-the-scenes-of-news-uks-rampant-speed-to-value/">Behind the scenes of News UK’s rampant speed to value</a></strong>. News UK is the powerhouse behind some of the UK’s most famous news, media, and lifestyle brands. Its reach ranges from the highly respected the London Times to the hugely popular Sun. In the more detailed case study, you&#8217;ll learn from the editor&#8217;s perspective how the usage of the block editor has streamlined content production, increased productivity and fosters a culture of innovation between teams. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>On the WPBuild podcast <strong>A-Z of WordPress</strong> this week, <strong>Nathan Wrigley </strong>and <strong>David Walmsley</strong> tackled the letter  <a href="https://wpbuilds.com/2021/03/25/222-g-is-for-gutenberg/"><strong>G &#8211; Gutenberg</strong></a>. If the early controversy in 2018 had you shy away from trying it out,  but now you heard so much positive about it, this episode will give you an update on how people are using the block-editor now and what&#8217;s in store for 2021. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>Let <a href="https://twitter.com/allie_nimmons"><strong>Allie Nimmons</strong></a> of WPBuffs tell you <strong><a href="https://wpbuffs.com/why-and-how-to-use-the-wordpress-block-editor/">Why and How to use the WordPress block editor.</a> </strong> It&#8217;s an excellent introduction and tutorial with dozens of links to learn more. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>For those of us who are worried about migrating a ton of content from classic editor and short codes to block editor, <a href="https://twitter.com/_dsawardekar"><strong>Darshan Sawardekar</strong></a>, lead web engineer at the web agency 10up, has good news. This week, he announced <a href="https://10up.com/blog/2021/convert-to-blocks/"><strong>the release of the Convert to Blocks plugin.</strong></a> Convert to Blocks converts your content to blocks on the fly and those changes will be saved when you update the post. It&#8217;s not a Bulk Converter, it only converts content once it is opened in the block editor. </p>



<p>🌐 <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/convert-to-blocks/">WPRepo</a> | <a href="https://github.com/10up/convert-to-blocks">GitHub</a></p>



<p>A couple of months ago, the WPTavern published the article <strong><a href="https://wptavern.com/ask-the-bartender-how-to-bulk-convert-classic-wordpress-posts-to-blocks">How To Bulk Convert Classic WordPress Posts To Blocks?</a></strong>. Justin Tadlock listed two more plugins for the purpose: <a href="https://bulkconverttoblocks.com/">Bulk Convert to Blocks</a> (still in development) and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/bulk-block-converter/">Bulk Block Converter</a>, last updated a year ago. We used it at a recent project and it worked very well. </p>



<h2 id="4-business-news-around-gutenberg">Business News around Gutenberg</h2>



<h3 id="5-extendify">Extendify</h3>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/extendify-acquires-editor-plus-introduces-commercial-templates-in-its-plan-to-improve-block-editing">WPTavern has the scoop:  <em>Extendify</em> recently aquired plugin EditorPlus</a> and joined forces with Munir Kamal and his team around Gutenberg Hub. Back in November 2020, they also acquired Redux Framework, and hired its creator, <a href="https://twitter.com/dovyp">Dōvy Paukstys</a>, part-time. </p>



<h4 id="6-plugins-now-owned-by-extendify">Plugins now owned by Extendify: </h4>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorplus/">Editor Plus,</a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/acf-blocks/">ACF Blocks</a>,</li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/forms-gutenberg/">Gutenberg Forms</a>,</li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/redux-framework/">Redux Framework</a>,</li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/ml-slider/">MetaSlider</a>,&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-slider/">Block Slider</a>. </li></ul>



<h4 id="7-people-behind-extendify">People behind Extendify</h4>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/chrislubkert"><strong>Chris Lukbert</strong></a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/arturgrabo"><strong>Artur Grabowski</strong></a>, co-founders of <a href="https://extendify.com/">Extendify</a>, are former Automattic employees. So is <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/karmatosed">Tammie Lister,</a></strong> Extendify&#8217;s Head of Design. Lister has been a major WordPress contributor on the Gutenberg block-editor as co-lead since  the beginning in 2017. She participated in one of our first Live Q &amp; As in  <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/episode-6-creating-gutenberg-live-q-a-w-leads-tammie-lister-joen-asmussen-and-matias-ventura/">November 2018 </a>with her Gutenberg co-leads  Joen Asmussen and Matias Ventura. You can also read more about Lister on <a href="https://heropress.com/essays/discovering-your-place/">HeroPress: Discovering Your Place</a>. </p>



<h3 id="8-go-daddy">GoDaddy</h3>



<p>GoDaddy is sponsoring <a href="https://twitter.com/Mamaduka"><strong>George Mamadashvili</strong></a> to contribute on the WordPress Gutenberg project full-time. Mamadashvili was one of the developers behind the cool blocks published under the brand of SortaBrilliant in 2018 and 2019. Recently, he released <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/toggles/">Toggles</a>, an accordion block for FAQs, and other use cases. You can also use it to hide spoilers in Movie or Book reviews. </p>



<h2 id="9-developing-for-the-block-editor">Developing for the block editor</h2>



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/mattwatsoncodes">Matt Watson</a></strong> published his 5th tutorial <a href="https://wholesomecode.ltd/guides/create-customizer-panel-wordpress-gutenberg-components/">Create a Customizer Panel using Gutenberg Components</a> for developers. You should read his previous posts before tackling this one. </p>



<ul><li><a href="https://wholesomecode.ltd/guides/creating-plugin-wordpress-gutenberg/">Creating a Plugin for the Block Editor</a></li><li><a href="https://wholesomecode.ltd/guides/options-settings-data-wordpress-gutenberg/">Using Options to Store Data in the Block Editor</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://wholesomecode.ltd/guides/entry-points-wordpress-create-block-script/">Add Entry Points to the Create-Block Script</a></li><li><a href="https://wholesomecode.ltd/guides/create-settings-page-wordpress-gutenberg-components/">Create a Settings Page using Gutenberg Components</a></li></ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>On <strong>WordPressTV</strong> you&#8217;ll find <strong>Chris van Patten</strong>&#8216;s <a href="https://wordpress.tv/2020/04/02/chris-van-patten-the-ultimate-beginners-guide-to-the-gutenberg-data-api/">The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to the Gutenberg Data&nbsp;API</a>. The Data API is how you get data in and out of Gutenberg, track changes across blocks, and execute events around the editor.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>The <strong>WordCamp India</strong> presentation by <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/gziolo">Grzegorz &#8220;Greg&#8221; Ziółkowski</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQwHsk27HMQ">Block</a></strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQwHsk27HMQ"><strong> Development with scaffolding</strong></a> helps you get started building a single block plugin with the <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@wordpress/create-block">create-block-script</a>. </p>



<p></p>




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s master branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge" /></p>




<h2 id="10-meta-charset-utf-8-word-press-events">WordPress Events</h2>



<p><strong>April 6, 2021 9 am EDT / 14:00 UTC</strong><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAIlY3lTAos"><strong>WPCafe: Building the Twenty Twenty-One</strong> </a>with Caroline Nymark and Mel Dwan-Choyce, live on YouTube</p>



<p><strong>April 6, 2021 9 am EDT / 14:00 UTC</strong><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAIlY3lTAos"><strong>WPCafe: Building the Twenty Twenty-One</strong> </a>with Caroline Nymark and Mel Dwan-Choyce, live on YouTube</p>



<p><strong>April 15, 2021 6:30 pm EDT / 23:30 UTC</strong><br /><strong><a href="https://www.meetup.com/SF-WordPress-Users/events/277019024/">South Florida Mega Meetup</a></strong> &#8220;New Site Builder Edition&#8221;</p>



<p><strong>April 15 &#8211; 17, 2021</strong><br /><a href="https://centroamerica.wordcamp.org/2021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WordCamp Centroamérica 2021</a></p>



<p><strong>April 27 and 28th</strong><br /><a href="https://www.godaddy.com/pro/expand"><strong>Expand 2021</strong></a> &#8211;&nbsp;a virtual event hosted by GoDaddy that brings the web design and developer community together to share ideas and experiences, make connections and support each other.</p>



<p><strong>May 24 &#8211; 27. 2021</strong><br /><strong><a href="https://wordsesh.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WordSesh 2021</a> </strong><br /><a href="https://wordsesh.com/speak/">Speaker submissions are </a>due on Monday! (March 29th)! </p>



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<p id="block-7cb87457-965b-4235-ab43-168b3a78f4ee">On the<a href="https://wpcalendar.io/online/">&nbsp;<strong>Calendar for WordPress Online Events</strong></a> you&#8217;ll find a list of the upcoming WordPress Meetups, around the world, including WooCommerce, Elementor, Divi Builder and Beaver Builder meetups.</p>






<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p class="has-text-align-left"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>



<form class="wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait" action="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/" method="post"><div class="ngl-form-container"><div class="ngl-form-field"><label class="ngl-form-label" for="ngl_email"><br />Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class="ngl-form-input"><input type="email" class="ngl-form-input-text" name="ngl_email" id="ngl_email" /></div></div><button class="ngl-form-button">Subscribe</button><p class="ngl-form-text">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay"><div class="ngl-message-svg-wrap"></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay-text">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type="hidden" name="ngl_list_id" id="ngl_list_id" value="26f81bd8ae" /><input type="hidden" name="ngl_double_optin" id="ngl_double_optin" value="yes" /></form>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 27 Mar 2021 20:30:55 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:27;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:75:"WPTavern: WordPress to Drop Support for IE11 in Upcoming 5.8 or 5.9 Release";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114416";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:195:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-to-drop-support-for-ie11-in-upcoming-5-8-or-5-9-release?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-to-drop-support-for-ie11-in-upcoming-5-8-or-5-9-release";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3258:"<p>In early March, WordPress contributors began discussing the possibility of <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-considers-dropping-support-for-ie-11-after-usage-falls-below-1">dropping support for IE11</a> in the near future after usage fell below ~1%. This week, the discussion&rsquo;s facilitator, H&eacute;ctor Prieto, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/25/discussion-summary-dropping-support-for-ie11/">confirmed</a> the majority of participants are in agreement to move forward and set a timeline for discontinuing support. Contributors are now considering either the 5.8. or 5.9 release.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The argument for dropping in 5.8 is to realize the change and improvement quicker, while others are inclined to wait until 5.9 to provide a longer window between the official announcement and the effective date,&rdquo; Prieto said. The final call is up the the 5.8 release team, which has not yet been identified.</p>



<p>The release scope and schedule hinges on whether or not the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/03/12/full-site-editing-pre-merge-overview/">April go/no-go conditions</a> are met for including full-site editing in the merge for 5.8 (July 2021) or 5.9 (December 2021). Teams for 5.8 will be finalized in April/May, and they will decide how to proceed for discontinuing IE11.</p>



<p>Jb Audras suggested that if 5.8 release leads elect to drop support for IE11,  he could work with other contributors to update the BrowseHappy notice in one of the upcoming minor versions.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Even if the BrowseHappy notice can be updated independently from&nbsp;Core&nbsp;releases, I think it&rsquo;s better to update alongside a release, to give better visibility to this change,&rdquo; Audras said.</p>



<p>Microsoft 365 apps and services will no longer support IE11 <a href="https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/microsoft-365-apps-say-farewell-to-internet-explorer-11-and/ba-p/1591666">beginning August 17, 2021</a>. Drupal recently went through a similar process of deciding to drop IE11 support with the upcoming Drupal 10 release, anticipated in June 2022. Those who have to use IE11 retain the option to remain on Drupal 9&rsquo;s LTS release until the end of 2023. Participants in the <a href="https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/3155358">discussion</a> cited many of the same considerations now facing WordPress contributors.</p>



<p>Matt Mullenweg <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/04/discussion-dropping-support-for-ie11/#comment-40870">commented</a> on the preliminary discussion to suggest giving IE11 users a path forward if they land on wp-admin using an unsupported browser: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Supportive of dropping support, and if someone visits on an explicitly dropped browser like IE11 showing them a friendly message saying why wp-admin&nbsp;is not accessible and next steps they can take.</p></blockquote>



<p>The technical implementation is being discussed in the <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/48743">ticket</a> Riad Benguella created to discourage IE11 usage and WordPress&rsquo; projects and teams will begin examining the practical implications of dropping support.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 26 Mar 2021 23:32:33 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:28;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:95:"WPTavern: 10up Creates Classic Post Migration Route With Its Convert to Blocks WordPress Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114406";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:235:"https://wptavern.com/10up-creates-classic-post-migration-route-with-its-convert-to-blocks-wordpress-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=10up-creates-classic-post-migration-route-with-its-convert-to-blocks-wordpress-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3803:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Yesterday, 10up officially announced <a href="https://10up.com/blog/2021/convert-to-blocks/">Convert to Blocks</a>, a WordPress plugin for transforming classic posts into blocks. The goal is to provide users with a safe migration route for old content while removing the burdens of other options in the space.</p>



<p>I briefly mentioned this plugin in an <a href="https://wptavern.com/ask-the-bartender-how-to-bulk-convert-classic-wordpress-posts-to-blocks">article covering bulk conversion</a> in the Ask the Bartender series. However, I could not recommend it to most users because it was <a href="https://github.com/10up/convert-to-blocks">hosted on GitHub</a>, a site that is geared toward developers. With it now officially in the WordPress plugin directory, it is a much more user-friendly option.</p>



<p>Most conversion options either convert posts in bulk or through a manual process, such as the user clicking a button. Bulk converters can be problematic at a large scale simply because there is no reliable way for users to check the success of each post&rsquo;s conversion to blocks. Of course, users could check these posts individually, but that is impractical when dealing with more than a few dozen posts.</p>



<p>Bulk converters are also done so in conjunction with a database backup. It is sensible to do this when altering large amounts of content at once just to be on the safe side.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We saw a space for a third way &mdash; a solution that eliminates editors stumbling upon Classic blocks and needing to know how to convert them, while also holding back on content transformation until content needs to be modified &mdash; at which point it is also, typically, checked again on the front end of the site,&rdquo; <a href="https://10up.com/blog/2021/convert-to-blocks/">wrote Darshan Sawardekar</a>, a 10up lead web engineer, in the announcement.</p>



<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s where the idea for Convert to Blocks came into play. It began as a creative engineering solution to mitigate risk and improve content mapping. Its success inspired the development and public release of the plugin to help others facilitate safe content migrations to the WordPress block editor.&rdquo;</p>



<p>10up&rsquo;s solution is a bit of a middle ground. It only converts a post when a user enters the editing screen for it. From that point, the user can check whether the conversion looks correct, fix any problems if they arise, and save the post.</p>



<img />Converted gallery post.



<p>Essentially, it works the same as the default convert-to-blocks options in WordPress without the manual step.</p>



<p>For many users, this is the ideal solution. Because classic content works the same as it always has on the front end, it is unnecessary to convert it unless the need to edit the post also arises.</p>



<p>Convert to Blocks also adds a new column to the manage posts screen named &ldquo;Editor.&rdquo; It lists whether the post content was created with either the block or classic editor, providing users with an at-a-glance look without checking posts individually.</p>



<img />Additional &ldquo;Editor&rdquo; column on the manage posts screen.



<p>Like other plugins, Convert to Blocks uses the core transformation feature, which is an imperfect solution. Depending on the content of the post, the conversion will sometimes throw an error. That is why bulk solutions are often problematic. With this plugin, users will know immediately upon editing a post if there is an issue.</p>



<p>Given the plugins available today for converting classic posts to blocks, this would be my top choice. It focuses on transforming to blocks where it matters &mdash; during the editing process &mdash; and removes some manual work for the user.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 26 Mar 2021 16:01:52 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:29;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:103:"WPTavern: Free Software Community Condemns Richard Stallman’s Reinstatement to FSF Board of Directors";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114253";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:245:"https://wptavern.com/free-software-community-condemns-richard-stallmans-reinstatement-to-fsf-board-of-directors?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=free-software-community-condemns-richard-stallmans-reinstatement-to-fsf-board-of-directors";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7505:"<p>GPL author Richard Stallman <a href="https://streamable.com/nzthxn">announced</a> this week that he has rejoined the board of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), which he established in 1985, and is not planning to resign a second time:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>&ldquo;I have an announcement to make. I&rsquo;m now on the Free Software Foundation Board of Directors once again. We were working on a video to announce this with, but that turned out to be difficult, we didn&rsquo;t have experience doing that sort of thing so it didn&rsquo;t get finished but here is the announcement. Some of you will be happy at this, and some might be disappointed, but who knows? In any case, that&rsquo;s how it is, and I&rsquo;m not planning to resign a second time.&rdquo;</p></blockquote>



<p>In 2019, Stallman <a href="https://wptavern.com/gpl-author-richard-stallman-resigns-from-free-software-foundation">resigned</a> as director of the board and president of the FSF, and was subsequently <a href="https://wptavern.com/gnu-project-maintainers-move-to-oust-richard-stallman-from-leadership">ousted by GNU project maintainers</a> from his position as head of the project. Calls for his removal were precipitated by Stallman&rsquo;s controversial remarks on rape, assault, and child sex trafficking, along with two decades of <a href="https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman">behaviors and statements</a> that many have found to be disturbing and offensive. His return came as a shock to the free software community, though some suspect he never really left.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I did not support the decision to reinstate RMS,&rdquo; former FSF board member Kat Walsh <a href="https://twitter.com/mindspillage/status/1374448587388588037">said</a> after resigning from the board yesterday. &ldquo;I made my arguments and placed my opposing vote; while I was glad I was able to do that I regret not being able to turn the decision the other way.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I wish the organization well; my departure is not a rejection of the ideas of free software, only a belief that my role in the organization was no longer the best way to put them forward into the world.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Stallman&rsquo;s reinstatement came with a staggering lack of transparency from FSF&rsquo;s board of directors and has triggered a cascade of condemnation from individuals and organizations across the tech industry. Among the many critical responsibilities it maintains, the FSF currently&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation#History" target="_blank">holds the copyrights to enforce the GPL</a>.</p>



<p>The Open Source Initiative published a <a href="https://opensource.org/OSI_Response">statement</a> this week, calling for Stallman&rsquo;s removal from FSF&rsquo;s leadership:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The Open Source Initiative calls upon the Free Software Foundation to hold Stallman responsible for past behavior, remove him from the organization&rsquo;s leadership and work to address the harm he caused to all those he has excluded: those he considers less worthy, and those he has hurt with his words and actions. We will not participate in any events that include Richard M. Stallman and we cannot collaborate with the Free Software Foundation until Stallman is removed from the organization&rsquo;s leadership. &nbsp;</p></blockquote>



<p>Red Hat <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/red-hat-statement-about-richard-stallmans-return-free-software-foundation-board?sc_cid=701f2000000tyBjAAI">announced</a> that it is suspending all funding of the FSF and any FSF-hosted events. Mozilla <a href="https://twitter.com/mozilla/status/1374513444838199304">joined</a> the Open Source Diversity Community, Outreachy, and the Software Conservancy project in supporting an <a href="https://rms-open-letter.github.io/">open letter</a> that calls for the removal of the entire Board of the Free Software Foundation, along with the removal of Stallman from all leadership positions, including the GNU Project. The letter states that the undersigned do not acknowledge Stallman&rsquo;s leadership of the FSF and do not condone his actions and opinions:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>There has been enough tolerance of RMS&rsquo;s repugnant ideas and behavior. We cannot continue to let one person ruin the meaning of our work. Our communities have no space for people like Richard M. Stallman, and we will not continue suffering his behavior, giving him a leadership role, or otherwise holding him and his hurtful and dangerous ideology as acceptable.</p></blockquote>



<p> The petition has been signed by more than 2400 free software advocates. Notable signatories include Molly de Blanc (Debian Project, GNOME Foundation), Elana Hashman (Debian Technical Committee Member, Open Source Initiative Director, Kubernetes SIG Instrumentation Chair), Neil McGovern (GNOME Foundation Executive Director, Former Debian Project Leader), and Luis Villa (Former Director of the Open Source Initiative and the GNOME Foundation; contributor to the GPL v3 drafting process).</p>



<p>The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) published a <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/statement-re-election-richard-stallman-fsf-board">statement</a> urging the voting members&nbsp;of the FSF board to call a special meeting to reconsider Stallman&rsquo;s reinstatement, in support of the &ldquo;long-term viability of the free software movement:&rdquo;</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Free software is a vital component of an open and just technological society: its key institutions and individuals cannot place misguided feelings of loyalty above their commitment to that cause. The movement for digital freedom is larger than any one individual contributor, regardless of their role. Indeed, we hope that this moment can be an opportunity to bring in new leaders and new ideas to the free software movement.</p></blockquote>



<p>Stallman still has many staunch supporters, as more than 2,000 people have signed an <a href="https://rms-support-letter.github.io/">open letter</a> in support of him and his leadership. They contend that removing RMS &ldquo;will hurt FSF&rsquo;s image and will deal a significant blow to the momentum of the free software movement.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Stallman is still listed among the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/about/staff-and-board">FSF&rsquo;s board of directors</a>, but the board appears to be reorganizing. A preliminary <a href="https://www.fsf.org/news/preliminary-board-statement-on-fsf-governance">statement</a> on upcoming changes to the board&rsquo;s governance said they are moving to adopt a transparent, formal process for identifying candidates and appointing new board members. The board intends to require existing board members to submit to this process as well &ldquo;to decide which of them remain on the board,&rdquo; with a deadline of 30 days to complete the changes.</p>



<p>By allowing Stallman to resume his position, the FSF squandered the opportunity it had to redefine itself following his resignation in 2019. The organization missed the chance to carve out a new future that would be free from his damaging influence. If the board doesn&rsquo;t act in the best interests of the greater community, by remedying its lack of transparency and accountability, it may permanently resign the organization to irrelevance.</p>



<p></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 26 Mar 2021 05:46:39 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:30;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"Gutenberg Times: Full-site Editing MVP: Can I Build a Landing Page?";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=17337";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/full-site-editing-mvp-can-i-build-a-landing-page/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6562:"<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> was the featured guest on the <a href="https://wptavern.com/podcast/1-josepha-haden-chomphosy-on-the-past-present-and-future-of-wordpress">inaugural episode of the WPTavern Jukebox podcast</a>, hosted by <strong>Nathan Wrigley</strong>. In their conversation, they covered a lot of ground. The show is definitely worth your 40 minutes of listen. </p>



<p>Around minute 23 of the audio they talked a bit more about Full-Site Editing and its merge into the core. Chomphosy said she knows &#8216;this summer&#8217; is an ambitions goal, and she also assured the listeners that the team won&#8217;t release something that&#8217;s not functional and usable. </p>



<h2>Go/NoGo Mid to End of April</h2>



<p>The Core release and Gutenberg teams will make the Go/NoGo decision to merge Full-Site Editing for the next WordPress release in July (5.8)  on April 17 or on April 23.  In other words, the state of Full Site editing in Gutenberg plugin version 10.4 and 10.5.  If it doesn&#8217;t get merged into 5.8, Full-Site Editing will be merged in WordPress 5.9 to be released in December 2021</p>



<p>Chomphosy also shared her &#8211; unofficial &#8211; benchmark of what should be possible with the prototype of the Site Editor by April: Can you &#8211; without writing code &#8211; create a landing page with Full-site editing tools. She calls it &#8220;the smallest viable sentence. The I-AM of websites.&#8221;</p>



<h2>A Landing page is the smallest viable unit</h2>



<p>This single web page consists of a header, a footer, a hero image with a button, some text, a form or a call to action.  This narrows the focus of the MVP, the prototype, considerably. It also increases the probability that the first low-key, opt-in version of Full-Site editing might actually make it into the next WordPress version. A narrow scope will also help content creators, teachers and developers get started working on their discovery of the new WordPress feature. As soon as it is merged into WordPress core, plugin developer and theme builders can test their ideas against it and get familiar with the underlying concepts. </p>



<p>It&#8217;s a good way to ease-in content creators, too. When you are not dealing with the header and footer of a big site, but just for a single page, it’s not so critical if you get lost on the way from content editing to template part (header, footer) editing and back again. It&#8217;s all on the same page, literally. </p>



<p>This transition was one of the major causes of confusion during the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/16/high-level-feedback-from-the-fse-program-march/">first few testing calls for the FSE outreach program</a> and the developers are working on making it less confusing. With this unofficial benchmark of a single landing page creation, the team will have additional time and input on how to better handle that switch between editing a template that is used for many pages and the content of a single post or page content.</p>



<p>A very tangible goal, &#8220;Can I build a landing page with the tools available?&#8221; makes it straightforward for WordPress contributors who work on the parts that make that are not code, like documentation, marketing, training and testing.</p>



<h2>Call For Testing: Create a Header</h2>



<p>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/25/fse-program-testing-call-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header/">4th call for testing</a> via the WordPress FSE-Outreach program asks you to<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/25/fse-program-testing-call-4-building-a-restaurant-themed-header/"> create a header for a Restaurant</a>. <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> has detailed instructions for you as well as video if you are in a testing mood. Your input is definitely wanted!</p>



<p>Chomphosy also added that Matias Ventura, the technical lead for Gutenberg,  might have different benchmarks for the MVP. I am curious, and <a href="https://twitter.com/JosephaHaden/status/1371956586516606977">answer Josepha&#8217;s call for questions</a> on Full-Site Editing for her next episode of the WPBriefing podcast when Matias will be her guest. </p>



<p>Full-Side Editing project encompasses a lot more than the Site Editor with template parts. There are Global Styles, Widgets in Customizer, a new Navigation and Widget screen, block-based themes with a theme.json file and query block. Some of it will work its way into the MVP. We will see how far the team progresses on their journey, that will only begin once Full-Site editing comes to Millions of WordPress users. No Fear, though. It will all be opt-in. Nothing will break. </p>



<p class="has-white-color has-secondary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-large-font-size">&#8220;Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow&#8221; &#8212; Eric Raymond&#8217;s Linus&#8217; Law</p>



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<p class="has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-huge-font-size"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/full-site-editing/">Full-Edit Editing </a></p>



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</div></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 26 Mar 2021 04:34:22 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:31;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:110:"WPTavern: Extendify Acquires Editor Plus, Introduces Commercial Templates in Its Plan To Improve Block Editing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114307";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:263:"https://wptavern.com/extendify-acquires-editor-plus-introduces-commercial-templates-in-its-plan-to-improve-block-editing?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=extendify-acquires-editor-plus-introduces-commercial-templates-in-its-plan-to-improve-block-editing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6447:"<p class="has-drop-cap">With the release of <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorplus/">Editor Plus 2.7</a> in recent weeks, <a href="https://extendify.com/">Extendify</a> stamped its brand name on the plugin. The company officially acquired the plugin months ago. However, this was its first public outing as the new owner of a project that has seen a steady uptick in its popularity, recently surpassing 5,000 active installations.</p>



<p>Extendify was busy in late 2020. The company quietly purchased the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/redux-framework/">Redux Framework</a> in November. D&#333;vy Paukstys, the creator, remained on board part-time with the financial backing needed to continue the project. In December, Extendify joined forces with Munir Kamal and his team behind Editor Plus and Gutenberg Hub.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Our mission is to turn WordPress into a superpower for entrepreneurs around the world,&rdquo; said Extendify co-founder Chris Lubkert. &ldquo;As you know, despite its unrivaled popularity, many users still struggle to use WordPress to create the site they need. We see tremendous potential to empower WordPress users to create a Gutenberg-native website in a few clicks. By bringing together Redux, Editor Plus, and Gutenberg Hub, we have the foundational pieces to create a world-class onboarding and site-building experience.&rdquo;</p>



<p>There are no plans to build a &ldquo;super&rdquo; plugin that combines Editor Plus and Redux. Gutenberg Hub will continue providing resources to help users leverage the block editor.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Currently, the Redux template library and the library in Editor Plus are separate,&rdquo; said Lubkert. &ldquo;But we are heavily investing in making the Extendify library the best solution for users and eventually plan to introduce this to the Redux user base as well.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Extendify&rsquo;s first public act as Editor Plus&rsquo;s owner was not to introduce new features in its recent major-release, version 2.7. Instead, users were presented with a limitation on features they previously had access to for free.</p>



<p>Version 2.7 limits the template and pattern inserter, <a href="https://wptavern.com/editor-plus-2-6-adds-block-pattern-and-template-library">introduced in 2.6</a>, to three imports. Beyond that, users must upgrade to one of the Extendify Pro paid tiers. The single-site option is $99 per year with an introductory rate of $49. The unlimited sites tier is $299, and it currently has a $149 limited-time offer.</p>



<img />Template and pattern inserter.



<p>At first glance, it seemed like a cash grab from new owners. There were no public announcements or explanations for the change outside of a minor note in the plugin&rsquo;s change log &mdash; just new ownership and upsells. Lubkert said he plans to rectify this by publishing an announcement post next week.</p>



<p>Extendify had already been involved with new feature development for months. The API behind the template inserter was coming from their server in Editor Plus 2.6. It was the groundwork for Extendify Pro, but it was also still under development.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a small, nimble team, and it was a development timing issue,&rdquo; said Lubkert. &ldquo;We finished the library approximately three weeks before we finished paid plans, and we certainly didn&rsquo;t want to delay users getting their hands on the library while we finished up work on Extendify Pro.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Users will not lose any previously-imported templates. However, importing anything beyond three additional templates in Editor Plus 2.7 or newer will require a purchase of Extendify Pro for an API key.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We are now offering an added layer of value for users who want to benefit from the power of Editor Plus but may not be in a position to use it to create their site from scratch,&rdquo; said Lubkert. &ldquo;For those users, we are creating the most beautiful and effective Gutenberg-native templates, built with Editor Plus, as part of the Extendify Pro template library. As you know, we launched the initial beta version a few weeks ago. A subscription is required for unlimited access to the library, but all users can import any three templates or patterns for free.&rdquo;</p>



<p><em>With the launch of the template inserter in 2.6, there was no public mention of it being a beta version.</em></p>



<p>Templates and patterns from Gutenberg Hub remain free. Users can still browse the site, copy a template code snippet, and paste it into the block editor.</p>



<p>The team removed the custom blocks extension in Editor Plus 2.7.1, released earlier today. This feature allowed end-users to copy blocks from the Gutenberg Hub block library, paste them into the plugin, and save them for use on the site. Users could also add custom blocks via this settings screen.</p>



<img />Removed custom block feature.



<p>&ldquo;The custom block feature in Editor Plus was an experiment that was pretty cool, actually,&rdquo; said Lubkert. &ldquo;However, [Kamal] suggested removing it from Editor Plus since it is now very similar to the reusable block functionality in core. We want Editor Plus to push the envelope of what is possible with Gutenberg, and having a duplicate feature that is available in core doesn&rsquo;t add real, incremental value for our users.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Updating to 2.7+ will also likely deactivate the plugin for end-users. The primary plugin filename changed from <code>index.php</code> to <code>editorplus.php</code>. Developers should generally avoid doing this because WordPress uses this filename to determine if a plugin is active.</p>



<p>I remain optimistic about Editor Plus&rsquo;s future now that it has the financial backing it deserves. Having been an early supporter of the project, I knew this day would come. Nearly every time I spoke with Kamal in the past, I asked him about plans for monetizing the product. It had grown beyond what one developer could reasonably handle and scale without a business plan in place.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We agree with your sentiment that WordPress projects need to generate revenue in order to fund the development of truly transformational experiences,&rdquo; said Lubkert. &ldquo;We have been investing in our team as well. Tammie Lister joined us as Head of Design. We&rsquo;ve also added engineering, support, and QA team members.&rdquo;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 25 Mar 2021 21:44:32 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:32;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:91:"WordPress Foundation: 5 tips for organizing a successful online do_action charity hackathon";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:41:"https://wordpressfoundation.org/?p=182733";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:107:"https://wordpressfoundation.org/2021/5-tips-for-organizing-a-successful-online-do_action-charity-hackathon/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6491:"<p>In 2020, unfazed by the COVID-19 pandemic, <a href="https://wordpressfoundation.org/2020/charity-hackathons-august-2020-report/">community organizers rallied together and worked hard to give a WordPress-powered web presence for charities</a> through <a href="https://doaction.org/">online charity hackathons</a>. Our passionate and resilient community members are pulling out all stops this year to continue the good work. We already have two applications for do_action events in the queue, with more in the pipeline! This post aims to encourage all our zealous organizers with tips on how best to organize successful <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/organising-an-online-do_action-event/">online do_action charity hackathons</a>.</p>



<ol><li><strong>Recruit a core team and prepare an event plan</strong><br />Enlist a team of 5-10 members to wrangle the event. Much like a WordCamp, organizers need to plan do_action events down to the last detail. Make sure you have a plan for the entire event lifecycle &#8211; including <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/gathering-non-profits/">selecting nonprofits</a>, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/getting-particpants/">finding volunteers</a>, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/finding-sponsors/">finding sponsors</a>, task management, and execution. For inspiration, check out how the <a href="https://github.com/doactionjp/do_action_guideline">do_action Japan team came up with a plan for the event beforehand</a>! Having a solid communication strategy and setting deadlines is equally important. Finding answers to questions like: “<em>When do volunteer teams meet?”,  “How often should there be check-ins?”,  “How do we track tasks?”,  “How do we measure progress?” </em>and<em> “ What deadlines do we need to meet?” </em>for instance, will help in devising a strategy.</li><li><strong>Finding non-profits and volunteers </strong><br /><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/gathering-non-profits/">Finding eligible non-profits</a> for your event could be a challenge. When your event publishes the call for non-profits, share it widely on social media. Since this is a charitable event, we have noticed that getting PR from local news media outlets is a lot easier. You might also want to reach out to Non-profit organizations and offer assistance proactively. You can follow the same approach for volunteer recruitment too.</li><li><strong>Fix your collaboration tools and communication strategy<br /></strong>Since this will be an online event, you will need the right collaboration tools to make the event successful. <strong>Please note: A doaction.org G Suite/Google Workspace account will be provided to all do_action event organizers in 2021 and beyond! Feel free to use that account for all your needs. Check out </strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/google-workspace-account-for-do_action-events/"><strong>the handbook page for more information</strong></a><strong>.</strong> Here are some tools that you can use for your event:<ul><li>doaction.org website (call for nonprofits &amp; hackathon participants)</li><li>Slack (overall event prep, communication on the event days) &#8211; A free plan will be sufficient.</li><li>Zoom (event organizer &amp; inter-team meetings, opening/closing remarks) &#8211; <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/getting-started/special-virtual-events-zoom-request/">WordPress Community zoom accounts</a> can be used. </li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/google-workspace-account-for-do_action-events/">Google Workspace tools</a> (provided to all 2021 organizers in the <a href="mailto:location@doaction.org">location@doaction.org</a> format) &#8211; Gmail (inquiries &amp; sponsor communication), Google Forms (call for organizers &amp; sponsors, post-event survey), Google Sheets (task &amp; data management), Google Docs (collaborative editing of documents, Google Drive (for storage needs),  and Google Slides (opening/closing remarks presentation)</li><li>WordPress.com P2 &#8211; for task management</li><li>Trello &#8211; for task management.</li><li>Figma (design)</li></ul></li><li><strong>Finding sponsors<br /></strong>For online do_action events, organizers need not worry about venue or catering expenses. Hence, sponsorship benefits for these events can be passed along directly to non-profits. Most WordPress companies are passionate about supporting non-profits, and providing product/service licenses is a cost-effective way for them to support the community. Consider reaching out to specific companies as per your needs. Sponsorship benefits that do_action events in 2020 had availed include:<ul><li>Free domain and web hosting for non-profits</li><li>Sponsored premium plugins and themes (Only 100% GPL Compliant themes and plugins are allowed)</li><li>Sponsored website services (backups, caching, security, optimization, etc.)</li></ul></li><li><strong>Find a way to offer post-event support for non-profit websites<br /></strong>Make sure that once the event is over, each non-profit is trained on how to use and update the site. Perhaps a few volunteers could provide post-event support for a short while (while ensuring that the right expectations are set on both sides). Offering post-event support as a sponsorship benefit could also be a solution to that problem.</li></ol>



<p>Does all of this sound exciting? Would you like to support your local community by organizing a do_action event? <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/do_action-event-application/">Send in your application</a> right away! You can read more about do_action in the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/do_action-charity-hackathon/">event handbook</a>. Thank you for all that you do to support the global community through WordPress.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 25 Mar 2021 03:50:25 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Hari Shanker";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:33;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:102:"WPTavern: Insert Font Awesome Icons Into the Block Editor via the JVM Gutenberg Rich Text Icons Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114315";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:249:"https://wptavern.com/insert-font-awesome-icons-into-the-block-editor-via-the-jvm-gutenberg-rich-text-icons-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=insert-font-awesome-icons-into-the-block-editor-via-the-jvm-gutenberg-rich-text-icons-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3071:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Joris van Montfort, a freelance WordPress developer, released the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/jvm-rich-text-icons/">JVM Gutenberg Rich Text Icons</a> plugin over the weekend. The goal was simple: allow users to insert icons nearly anywhere in the block editor at the click of a button.</p>



<p>The plugin uses version 4.7 of the Font Awesome library out of the box. However, developers can modify this to include custom icon sets.</p>



<p>Like many of the most useful plugins, it stays in its lane, performing a simple task and doing it well. The plugin presents users with a &ldquo;flag&rdquo; button in the editor toolbar whenever they edit a Rich Text field.</p>



<img />Inserting an icon into a Heading block.



<p>Rich Text is a block editor component for entering text. Anywhere users can type in the editor canvas is fair game for inserting an icon. This includes paragraphs, headings, image captions, and more. It also extends to blocks from other plugin developers. If they employ a Rich Text field anywhere, the &ldquo;flag&rdquo; button will appear, and users can plop an icon in it.</p>



<p>Icons inserted through the plugin automatically inherit the surrounding text size. If you stick it in a Heading block, it will grow larger. If you stick it in a Button block, it will match up with the Button text. The same is true for the colors too.</p>



<img />Inserting icons in various blocks at different sizes and colors.



<p>Because it is impossible to match each theme&rsquo;s design perfectly, some minor spacing or alignment adjustments may be needed. For the most part, the icons looked good when I tested them with various themes. However, there were a couple of one-pixel-off issues and minor alignment miscues with some blocks. On the whole, I did not run into any design-breaking issues. The plugin displayed its icons as it should.</p>



<p>One usability issue I encountered was being unable to delete an icon via the <code>Backspace</code> or <code>Delete</code> keys on my keyboard in use with the Buttons block. It worked well with other blocks. The solution for this was to click on the inserted icon. Then, select the &ldquo;flag&rdquo; icon in the toolbar to reopen the inserter. After choosing no replacement, the old one disappeared.</p>



<p>The plugin developer provided filter hooks for third-party developers to implement icon sets other than Font Awesome via a custom JSON file. Instructions are outlined in the plugin&rsquo;s readme. There are also hooks for uploading or overwriting the stylesheet and classes.</p>



<p>While I like the plugin&rsquo;s execution, I dislike that it loads its own Font Awesome stylesheet. If using another plugin or theme that does the same, its inclusion increases the page load size for end-users by loading multiple copies of the same code. This is not the fault of the plugin developer. It is a limitation created by WordPress&rsquo;s lack of a dependency system. However, users who give the plugin a try should be mindful of this potential issue.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 24 Mar 2021 23:07:30 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:34;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"WPTavern: Chrome 90 to Use HTTPS by Default in the Address Bar";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114269";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:169:"https://wptavern.com/chrome-90-to-use-https-by-default-in-the-address-bar?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chrome-90-to-use-https-by-default-in-the-address-bar";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2895:"<p>Chrome&rsquo;s upcoming <a href="https://blog.chromium.org/2021/03/a-safer-default-for-navigation-https.html">version 90</a> will use&nbsp;<em>https://</em>&nbsp;by default in the address bar, bringing a significant improvement to security and loading speed. HTTPS adoption has shot up significantly over the past six years after Google&nbsp;<a href="https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal.html">announced</a>&nbsp;in 2014 that HTTPS would be used as a ranking signal in search results. </p>



<p>In February 2021, W3Techs found that <a href="https://w3techs.com/blog/entry/fact_20210202">82.2% of websites use a valid SSL certificate</a>. Today, more than <a href="https://transparencyreport.google.com/https/overview?hl=en">98% of pages loaded in Chrome</a> use HTTPS as the default protocol, making this change to using HTTPS as the default for navigations long overdue. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Firefox Telemetry charts HTTPS adoption at <a href="https://letsencrypt.org/stats/#percent-pageloads">more than 84%</a> of web pages for all users and 92% for traffic originating in the USA.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Currently, anytime a user puts a site into the address bar without specifying the protocol, such as &ldquo;example.com,&rdquo; Chrome uses HTTP by default and then has to retry for HTTPS. </p>



<p>The update in Chrome 90 is good news for Chrome users, because it improves the loading speed for sites that support HTTPS by cutting out the redirection loop after the initial load. A gif on the Chromium blog illustrates this in a nice way: </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Those who are using Chrome Canary can access experiments to try it out ahead of the version 90 release. Navigate to the following URL to mark the experimental feature as enabled:</p>



<p><strong><em>chrome://flags/#omnibox-default-typed-navigations-to-https</em></strong></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>WordPress site owners will want to make sure their sites are using HTTPS in order to take advantage of the speed boost this change introduces. Fortunately, for those who haven&rsquo;t migrated over yet, the latest <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-7-will-make-it-easier-to-migrate-from-http-to-https">5.7 release makes it easy to update with the click of a button</a>. WordPress can detect if the site&rsquo;s hosting environment supports HTTPS and then offers a one-click update process via the Site Health screen. It even handles mixed content rewrites where possible, so site owners will not have to worry about having a bunch of broken links after migrating. </p>



<p>Chrome 90 went into beta in mid-March. The stable release is <a href="https://www.chromestatus.com/features/schedule">scheduled</a> for 20 days following beta on April 13, 2021.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 24 Mar 2021 17:28:10 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:35;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:54:"HeroPress: My Journey From Freelancer To Product Maker";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=3513";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:160:"https://heropress.com/essays/my-journey-from-freelancer-to-product-maker/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-journey-from-freelancer-to-product-maker";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9826:"<img width="960" height="480" src="https://s20094.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/032321-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: The WordPress community is integral for its success and I can't thank it enough." /><p>Like many others in our industry, my WordPress journey started a while ago.</p>
<p>I built my first website using GeoCities when I was 14 years old, 21 years ago (boy am I getting old). At the time I was obsessed with skateboarding, the website was for friends I used to hang out and ride around with from school. I remember how excited I felt when I could see that my website was online and I would literally show it to everyone I could, even though looking back at it now it was extremely brightly coloured and scrappy!</p>
<p>Back then, with my family&#8217;s 56k connection, whenever I connected to the internet it would take over the landline, so I was only allowed to go online for an hour per day. So I spent the days fiddling with Front Page, just waiting for my 1 hour to upload the code and share the updates with my MIRC friends (kinda like a Stone Age version of Slack).</p>
<p>That’s about the time I also picked up a guitar for the first time&#8230;.</p>
<h3>Music, business and websites</h3>
<p>To start I borrowed a super cheap electric guitar from a friend to learn how to play, and impress a girl I liked. After playing all evening, I felt so inspired that the guitar ended up next to me while I slept in bed. It was love at first chord.</p>
<p>Because I was so obsessed, I couldn’t stop practicing and quickly I became pretty good (for a kid). So much so that I formed a band with some friends and started performing wherever we could. For the next decade, I focused on becoming the best rock musician I could.</p>
<p>I didn’t want to just play the guitar in a band that was performing at local events and school, I wanted us to go places and started treating it as a business. I began studying business by reading every book I could, which led me to take courses and become a certified business and digital consultant.</p>
<p>During my studies, I learned WordPress and the entire Adobe suite. This was my first introduction to WordPress and it made me love designing and developing websites even more than I already did.</p>
<p>I had fun during this time, but they were some tough years and despite all of my efforts, my band wasn’t doing very well.</p>
<blockquote><p>After everything I had put into it, I thought I’d have my own episode on MTV Cribs already!</p></blockquote>
<p>We decided the band needed a change.</p>
<p>We rebranded, wrote new stuff, this time in English to maximise our reach, and did an online launch using everything I learned.</p>
<p>Within a month of the launch, my local band from a small town in Israel was signed to release an album worldwide through a British label.</p>
<p>We were stoked!</p>
<p>We decided to drop everything, come to the UK and start touring Europe. And so we did!</p>
<p>Starting from scratch, we began building our audience at small venues and pubs, while really pumping things up online, using WordPress to build our website and promote!</p>
<p>We went from playing to sometimes less than 10 people to hundreds, then thousands. Playing with some of the artists we grew up listening to.</p>
<p>It was pretty amazing, but I was still broke surprisingly!</p>
<p><a href="https://s20094.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/image1.jpg"><img /></a></p>
<p>Luckily though, from my efforts in promoting the band using our website and designs on social media, my work began to get noticed and I started to attract clients.</p>
<p>With little to no money in my bank account, I started freelancing out the back of our tour van and built clients websites while touring Europe. Free McDonalds WiFi became my best friend and no matter where we went, there was always one nearby.</p>
<p>While I drew in more clients and started generating revenue for myself, unfortunately my band ended up splitting up. It was unavoidable and in the end, it was the best thing that could have happened to me (even though it was devastating at the time).</p>
<p>I then thought, “you know what, I’m going to start taking this freelancing thing seriously.”</p>
<blockquote><p>I started building my own business, using my rediscovered passion for the web and WordPress in particular.</p></blockquote>
<p>As I got deeper into building websites, I began to insert myself more into the WordPress community, which filled the void of being “the band guy”. As my time now wasn’t being taken up by touring, I employed my first designer and this is where my agency took off.</p>
<p>We managed to pull in 6 figures within the first year, and we kept growing!</p>
<p><a href="https://s20094.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/image2.jpg"><img /></a></p>
<p>Within a few years, my agency grew to 12 employees. As I acquired more clients, I realized there was something holding me back.</p>
<h3>From Agency To Product Maker</h3>
<p>As we began dealing with more and more clients day-to-day, it became blindingly apparent that we simply did not have the correct tools to deal with the volume efficiently.</p>
<p>So, I went on the hunt for a platform or tool that could help organize and deal with client requests quickly and easily. We already had a ticketing system in place, while using emails, phone calls and face to face meetings, but it was just all a mess.</p>
<p>There are solutions to the problems of project management BUT I struggled to find a purely dedicated platform that was for a web design agency.</p>
<blockquote><p>I arranged a meeting with my team and we decided, let’s just build our own solution.</p></blockquote>
<p>We had the designers and developers to make it happen, so&#8230;we did! We developed a simple WordPress plugin that we could use to take requests from our clients across all of their websites, and after it was implemented, it worked like a dream.</p>
<p>Being the person I am though, I didn’t stop there. I thought, “other people should be using this” and that’s where my product, Atarim, was born. I reached out to the WordPress community wherever I could and got a bunch of beta testers to try it out with their own clients.</p>
<p>The feedback was so positive that we developed the plugin even further and started charging monthly and annual plans for other agencies and freelancers to start using it. We are now a fully fledged agency management platform serving thousands of freelancers and agencies and helped deliver tens of thousands of website projects. In just short of two years.</p>
<p>Now we only deal with a couple of legacy clients who have been with us for a while, and we use our own platform to manage them.</p>
<h3>The WP Community</h3>
<p>I’ve been part of the WordPress community for a long time now, and I’m humbled and honored to say that without it, my product would not be where it is today.</p>
<p>Before COVID, I was a regular at every event I could get to, whether it was in London (where I live) or another country.</p>
<blockquote><p>I’ve made some lifelong friends within the community and it has made working day-to-day an absolute blast</p></blockquote>
<p>…(obviously with some major stresses in between, but hey you aren’t doing it right if you aren’t stressed most of the time!).</p>
<p>Because of COVID though, I was driven to creating our own event online. Last year we had our first and we are currently gearing up for the second one to go live very soon!</p>
<p>The Atarim Web Agency Summit was born out of love for the WordPress Community. An online event that spans 4 days where we can all come together and listen to some of the greatest minds in our industry talk about their craft and how we can improve our agencies and freelance businesses.</p>
<p>We managed to develop the summit into the biggest online event in the WordPress space and it was incredibly humbling to partner with some of the largest companies and famous speakers. Companies that have products I myself have been using for years, and speakers that I used to watch on YouTube!</p>
<p>Also, the feedback we received from our initial beta test and the feedback we continue to get from our current users, helps shape the product every single day. The WordPress community is integral for it’s success and I can’t thank it enough.</p>
<p>I love that our platform is helping agencies and freelancers that are experiencing the exact same stresses and problems I was facing when growing my agency. This is what drives my team and I to continue working and evolving Atarim, until it is the only way to manage website projects.</p>
<h3>What’s Next?</h3>
<p>Next, I want to make our platform accessible on any type of website, whether it’s WordPress, Drupal, Shopify or built purely from custom HTML &amp; CSS. I want Atarim to be accessible to any type of agency owner and freelancer so they can implement our platform and reap the benefits.</p>
<p>I’m continuing to build the team as our product gets more and more users, so we can up development on a weekly basis and release updates that enhance the experience for our current and bring in new users.</p>
<p>As for me personally, I’m learning new and exciting things every day, attending courses and webinars where I can to ensure that I’m doing the best I can to steer Atarim in the right direction. I’ve been at this for nearly 2 years now, the plan is to go for another 8 years and re-evaluate from there.</p>
<p>I’m excited for the future!</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/essays/my-journey-from-freelancer-to-product-maker/">My Journey From Freelancer To Product Maker</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 24 Mar 2021 08:01:45 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Vito Peleg";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:36;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"WPTavern: Eksell Portfolio Theme Now Available in WordPress Themes Directory";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114120";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:197:"https://wptavern.com/eksell-portfolio-theme-now-available-in-wordpress-themes-directory?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eksell-portfolio-theme-now-available-in-wordpress-themes-directory";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2805:"<p>Anders Nor&eacute;n&rsquo;s new <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/eksell/">Eksell theme</a> is now available for download from the WordPress Themes directory. Eksell was inspired by Swedish graphic designer <a href="http://olleeksell.se/">Olle Eksell</a>. It arrives a year and a half after Nor&eacute;n&rsquo;s popular Chaplin theme was released.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Last week Justin Tadlock published a <a href="https://wptavern.com/compatibility-is-not-enough-the-eksell-wordpress-theme-creates-art-with-blocks">preview</a> of the theme while it was still making its way through the review system. Since that time, Nor&eacute;n has added to the five block patterns he originally submitted with the theme. There are now 12 block patterns that help users create stacked galleries, calls to action, multiple columns with pullquotes, and more. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Eksell also includes a unique &ldquo;<a href="https://andersnoren.se/themes/eksell/blank-canvas/">Blank Canvas</a>&rdquo; page template that only displays content added in the block editor, which Nor&eacute;n said offers a preview of what users will be able to do once Full Site Editing (FSE) is merged into core.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://www.andersnoren.se/introducing-eksell/">Eksell announcement post</a> is a sobering reminder of the uncertainty facing even the most experienced theme developers with changes coming later this year. Nor&eacute;n said he is not planning to update his existing 20 themes to support FSE:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>My current belief is that I won&rsquo;t update my existing themes to take advantage of Full Site Editing. Not because I don&rsquo;t buy into the vision of Full Site Editing, but because I don&rsquo;t think anyone would be well-served by six year old themes (like Hoffman) very much not built for FSE being updated to sorta-kinda support it. I would rather spend that time on themes built from the ground up to take advantage of the new tools Full Site Editing gives us.</p></blockquote>



<p>Once FSE is released, Nor&eacute;n said themes not updated to support it will immediately feel outdated &ldquo;much like Classic Editor themes felt in the spring of 2019.&rdquo; Theme developers don&rsquo;t yet know what shape themes will take or how difficult it may be to update them once FSE is in core. </p>



<p>Nor&eacute;n is considering updating Eksell to bridge the gap between the world before FSE and whatever themes look like after it lands in core, but reserved the right to leave it behind with the others. For the time being, it is one of the best themes around for the block editor, but it may be the last of the truly classic themes before the dawn of a new era in theming.  </p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 24 Mar 2021 01:28:23 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:37;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"WPTavern: Refactoring Gutenberg’s Gallery Block To Support Nested Images";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114179";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:187:"https://wptavern.com/refactoring-gutenbergs-gallery-block-to-support-nested-images?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=refactoring-gutenbergs-gallery-block-to-support-nested-images";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4957:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Like many others, I often have pinned tabs of all sorts of things in my browser. Some of them linger there for months. Others for years, I shamefully admit. Of the handful of Gutenberg-related browser tabs I have had <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/25940">pinned since late 2020</a>, one of them finally had the sort of movement I have been waiting on. The Gallery block was finally getting the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/23/gallery-block-update-call-for-testing/">much-needed refactor</a> it needed.</p>



<p>A gallery is essentially a container with nested images. The concept of nested blocks has existed and has been in use for a long while now. However, the core Gallery block does not make use of this capability. This means that users have no access to existing Image block features.</p>



<p><em>Want to customize the link for individual images?</em> No can do with the Gallery block. Instead, users must use Columns and drop Image blocks in. It is such a fundamentally broken part of the user experience there is little wonder that users have looked outside of core WordPress for alternative solutions. And it has been a problem since the introduction of galleries via the shortcode system in WordPress 2.5.</p>



<p><em>Want to alternate styles for each image in the gallery?</em> That has traditionally been impossible too. However, when each image is an Image block, users can alternate between square and round styles, for example.</p>



<img />Alternating Image block styles in a Gallery.



<p>Users can even use a plugin like Editor Plus with its extended Image block styles to create a Gallery of &ldquo;image blobs&rdquo; or animate them individually.</p>



<img />Individual images with &ldquo;blob&rdquo; shapes via Editor Plus.



<p>This change could open some layout possibilities where users control the positioning of each item in the grid. And, why stop with images? There is no reason that core could not open the block up to other types of nesting in the future, such as videos, quotes, and more.</p>



<img />Gallery of images with a quote.



<p>The downside to this new feature is that it could require more work from developers who have already built on top of the Gallery block. That is why it is fundamental that they test this change now.</p>



<p>Testers can see the change by switching to the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/25940">gallery refactor branch</a> via GitHub or grab a <a href="https://glendaviesnz.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/gutenberg-gallery-refactor-1.zip">ZIP file</a> of the build. It adds a new &ldquo;Gallery Refactor&rdquo; option to Gutenberg&rsquo;s Experimental setting screen, which must be enabled.</p>



<p>Only newly-added Gallery blocks will use the new format. Nothing changed about it at first glance. However, by selecting an individual image, users can use the typical Image block settings. The two exceptions are the align and resize options, removed because they would break the layout. New galleries also do not work in the site editor yet.</p>



<p>&ldquo;While the expectation is nothing changes in terms of output, this is a pretty major change on a technical level for a very popular block, so it&rsquo;d be a huge help to gather as much testing feedback as possible,&rdquo; wrote Glen Davies in the announcement post.</p>



<p>This statement could be misleading. There are fundamental, backward-incompatible changes to the markup output with the new implementation.</p>



<p>In previous iterations of the gallery, it had a wrapper container (<code>&lt;div&gt;</code>) and an unordered list (<code>&lt;ul&gt;</code>) of images. The proposed change would remove the list entirely, dropping the Image blocks as direct children of the containing element. This will break custom theme styles and potentially plugin integration.</p>



<p>On a technical level, I do not see the need to change the outer markup galleries. It is only the image part of the equation that needs to change. If this is because of limitations with the <code>InnerBlocks</code> system (nested blocks feature), perhaps it is not robust enough to meet developers&rsquo; needs.</p>



<p>With continual breaking changes to markup and CSS in the core block system, coding the entirety of a site&rsquo;s CSS from scratch is probably a thing of the past. This is not the first instance of such breakage and will undoubtedly be the last, a rarity in the pre-block era. The best course of action is for theme authors to leave core styles in place and extend them, even if it means some bloat for page loads. It is not a fool-proof plan, but it lightens the burden.</p>



<p>Overall, I welcome the Gallery block enhancement, even it breaks a few things. It potentially opens a world of possibilities and is necessary if the project ever wants to provide end-users with anything other than super basic functionality.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 23 Mar 2021 17:39:49 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:38;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:49:"WPTavern: Ulysses 22 Adds WordPress Post Updating";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114118";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:143:"https://wptavern.com/ulysses-22-adds-wordpress-post-updating?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ulysses-22-adds-wordpress-post-updating";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1429:"<p><a href="https://ulysses.app/">Ulysses</a>, the writing app for Mac, iPad and iPhone, released <a href="https://blog.ulysses.app/ulysses-22/">version 22</a> this week with support for updating WordPress posts as the headline feature. The app aims to provide a distraction-free writing experience and has offered the ability to export to WordPress for years. </p>



<p>Ulysses began alpha testing the highly requested WordPress post updating feature in early February. Updating an existing post is as simple as making a change and clicking &lsquo;Publish&rsquo; again. It&rsquo;s important to note that users can only update a post from the same device where it was originally published, due to a technical issue with iCloud syncing. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>The Ulysses development team is working on syncing the publishing state across devices and plans to add post updating for other services in the future. Version 22 introduces a new integration with the <a href="https://Micro.blog">Micro.blog</a> service.</p>



<p>One improvement to document management in the app is the ability to add color to the icons in the document library. Users now have the option to add large headers in the editor. Version 22 also includes a host of UI updates that make navigating panels and sheets easier. Check out the <a href="https://blog.ulysses.app/ulysses-22/">release post</a> for a full rundown.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 23 Mar 2021 16:36:45 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:39;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:90:"WPTavern: New Private Slack Channel Created for Full-Time Sponsored WordPress Contributors";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=114088";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:225:"https://wptavern.com/new-private-slack-channel-created-for-full-time-sponsored-wordpress-contributors?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-private-slack-channel-created-for-full-time-sponsored-wordpress-contributors";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5360:"<p>As part of an experiment designed to improve coordination of contributor teams, WordPress has <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/03/19/experiment-coordinating-sponsored-contributor-teams/">launched</a> a new Slack channel for full-time sponsored contributors. Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the project&rsquo;s executive director, announced the new closed Slack channel on Friday evening in a post that drew critical feedback from contributors who pushed for more clarification.</p>



<p>&ldquo;2020 was filled with hardships for many of us in the WordPress community, and we saw a predictable downturn in the level of volunteer contributions,&rdquo; Haden Chomphosy said. She noted that during difficult times WordPress relies on these company-sponsored contributors to keep the project going:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>In the near future, you will see a few more sponsored contributors around to make sure we are keeping up with the necessary tasks, from marketing professionals to backend developers. To assist in coordinating, I have created an experimental&nbsp;Slack&nbsp;channel for contributors who are sponsored for 32 hours or more.&nbsp;</p></blockquote>



<p>Haden Chomphosy hints at more sponsored contributors being added to the pipeline but didn&rsquo;t specify where they are coming from. The announcement did not identify a specific reason for the formation of the new channel but briefly outlined its purpose as follows:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>It is primarily an opportunity for those who are contributing full-time to WordPress to gain valuable knowledge of how we lead with a global mindset and how WordPress applies open source methodologies in a broader context than software development.</p></blockquote>



<p>Since the new channel is limited to full-time sponsored contributors, the enculturation process she described would exclude those who are not fortunate enough to be sponsored by a company. Traditionally, the WordPress community has worked towards transparency in decision-making as much as possible and in all aspects of development. This channel has the potential to create an imbalance between those with full-time status and those who can only volunteer part-time.</p>



<p>&ldquo;It can be difficult to&nbsp;<strong>not</strong>&nbsp;start making decisions wherever there is a discussion while working on WordPress,&rdquo; WordPress core contributor Jeremy Felt commented on the post. &ldquo;In some ways, every decision made in private can make it harder for future contributors who were not able to see the conversation. We are historically (core&nbsp;team, IMO) not good about documenting the&mdash;high bandwidth, in person&mdash;decisions that happen at WordCamps and other meetups. I think we can sometimes also be not so great at more permanently documenting decisions that are made in public chats.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Felt suggested WordPress consider making the channel read-only for non-participants or publish the chat log as a way to improve the documentation for private discussions.</p>



<p>Joost de Valk requested the goal be more specific so participants can understand what falls within the scope of the private channel vs a discussion that should be public.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m honestly kind of radical about transparency and think there&rsquo;s too much secrecy already, but I also understand the need to be able to discuss without being interrupted,&rdquo; de Valk said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a hard balance. I wish&nbsp;Slack&nbsp;had the equivalent of &lsquo;voice&rsquo; of IRC, so we could make some of these types of channels public but not allow everyone to post in them.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The most critical feedback on the announcement came from WordPress Community Deputy Timi Wahalahti, who said he doesn&rsquo;t necessarily oppose the experiment but felt strongly that it was &ldquo;a bad call to start the experiment with just notification without any prior public discussion about it.&rdquo; He also said the explanation in the announcement doesn&rsquo;t adequately justify the need for the channel.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Where was this proposed and discussed?&rdquo; Wahalahti said. &ldquo;To my knowledge, WordPress as a project lives from proposals, discussions and transparency. I&rsquo;m quite sure it&rsquo;s not the intention, but the project executive director making this kind of big decision that potentially impacts the transparency without transparent proposal and discussion looks like disparaging the project principles.&rdquo; </p>



<p>Wahalahti asked what kind of discussion Haden Chomphosy envisions for the channel. He suggested that since these contributors already belong to multiple teams in the project, it might be &ldquo;more important to improve the conversational connection between sponsored and volunteer contributors,&rdquo; instead of focusing on strengthening the bond between full-time sponsored contributors.</p>



<p>The matter of hosting the experiment seems to be settled already but Haden Chomphosy is open to circling back to review the channel&rsquo;s efficacy after the next major release of WordPress.</p>



<p>&ldquo;I will revisit the implementation post-WP5.8 to make sure it&rsquo;s useful, focused, avoiding black box decisions, and committing to transparency,&rdquo; Haden Chomphosy.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 22 Mar 2021 19:48:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:106:"WPTavern: WebARX Rebrands To Patchstack, Combines Services To Focus on WordPress Plugin and Theme Security";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=113659";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:255:"https://wptavern.com/webarx-rebrands-to-patchstack-combines-services-to-focus-on-wordpress-plugin-and-theme-security?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=webarx-rebrands-to-patchstack-combines-services-to-focus-on-wordpress-plugin-and-theme-security";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5680:"<p class="has-drop-cap">In 2018, WebARX launched the first version of its security platform and grew to 3,000 users. Earlier this month, the company decided to <a href="https://patchstack.com/why-did-we-rebrand-from-webarx-to-patchstack/">rebrand to Patchstack</a>. Outside of customers getting the name wrong, the company had grown beyond its original SaaS product, providing other services like PlugBounty, an open-source bug-hunting platform. Earlier this year, they also acquired ThreatPress, a WordPress security service provider. Combining the three created an opportunity to relaunch the brand.</p>



<p><a href="https://patchstack.com/">Patchstack</a> is a website security company. Instead of focusing directly on the core WordPress software, it dives into the world of third-party extensions. For WordPress, that means monitoring and patching vulnerabilities in plugins, themes, and any other components users might install. The service&rsquo;s primary audience includes developers and digital agencies. It helps them to identify issues and provides almost real-time patching to eliminate threats.</p>



<p>Oliver Sild, Patchstack founder and CEO, already had the PlugBounty idea back in 2018. &ldquo;I realized it&rsquo;s impossible to tackle the security issues in the WordPress ecosystem if we don&rsquo;t have a big and strong community behind security as there is behind plugin/theme developers. I created a platform where security researchers can quickly put together a detailed security report for any WordPress plugin and which then will be delivered to the plugin developer.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The new <a href="https://patchstack.com/red-team/">Patchstack Red Team</a> was what was previously the PlugBounty project. His company and other WordPress ecosystem members contribute to the &ldquo;prizepool,&rdquo; cash paid out monthly to the top security researchers based on scores from their contributions. All findings are also made publicly available for free through the <a href="https://patchstack.com/database/">Patchstack Database</a>.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We manage the triage process by following a strict responsive disclosure policy and make sure the information reaches the right person and that the vulnerability will get properly fixed,&rdquo; said Sild.</p>



<p>Patchstack had already kept an internal database to compare customer software versions. After adding PlugBounty to the mix, it needed a public database to give credit to the community of security researchers.</p>



<p>&ldquo;We had discussions with different database vendors in the ecosystem, but the vision really clicked with ThreatPress,&rdquo; said Sild. &ldquo;The founder of ThreatPress also joined our team and is now running the Patchstack Database and Patchstack Red Team operations. Patchstack Database will be providing information about security vulnerabilities in the WordPress ecosystem and will remain free to use for the public. We also have API which hosting companies can use to notify their customers about vulnerabilities within the websites.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Sild said that approximately 95% of security vulnerabilities in the WordPress ecosystem are from third-party code. &ldquo;The best thing you could do is making sure you have your websites updated,&rdquo; he said when asked about the low-hanging fruit that any site owner could take care of.</p>



<img />Oliver Sild, Patchstack founder and CEO.



<p>&ldquo;The second big issue is the pirated and nulled plugins &mdash; keep in mind that if you found a premium plugin/theme for free, then there is a reason behind this,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a trap many people fall into, and without their knowledge, they infect their own website with malware and backdoors. And how can I not mention passwords? Please use password management tools such as LastPass, KeePass, and try to enable two-factor authentication on all your accounts.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Free versions of commercial plugins and themes that are secure and up to date are possible to find. However, the average end-user would have no way of knowing if that was the case.</p>



<p>Patchstack is a SaaS product. Once users create an account through its system, it will guide them to connect their website with the Patchstack WordPress plugin.</p>



<p>&ldquo;Once the website is connected, it sends environment details (plugin, theme, core, PHP, etc. versions) to Patchstack,&rdquo; said Sild. &ldquo;Patchstack then compares all the versions with known security issues and notifies the user if outdated/vulnerable code is detected.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Patchstack has different security modules, which can be enabled or disabled from the settings screen. One that is on by default is WordPress Virtual Patches. This feature detects if a vulnerable plugin is in use on the site and sends virtual patches immediately.</p>



<p>The service has a cloud-based dashboard, allowing users to access details for all of their sites in one place.</p>



<img />Patchstack dashboard.



<p>&ldquo;Patchstack allows you to create custom security alerts and send them on emails and Slack channels when vulnerable or outdated plugins are detected,&rdquo; said Sild. &ldquo;It provides a central overview on all the different security issues across an unlimited number of sites, and you can export a monthly PDF report for each website if needed. Additionally, to how many vulnerabilities and security issues you have on your websites &mdash; the Patchstack dashboard is also telling you when any of the vulnerable plugins/themes on your websites have been attacked, and you&rsquo;ll have granular details about each threat that has been blocked.&rdquo;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 22 Mar 2021 18:36:18 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:41;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:111:"Gutenberg Times: Building Forms with Blocks, Work w/ Blocks via GraphQL API,  and more – Weekend Edition #163";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=17282";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/weekend-edition-163/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16804:"<p>Howdy, </p>



<p>It&#8217;s another month, until we know if the Full-site editing experience is good enough for the merge into core. It still has many moving parts that need to fit neatly together to make it a good user experience and allow site owners to design their site within the boundaries of their block-based theme. </p>





<p>Discover two plugins to build forms with the editor and read two articles  on how to work with blocks in decoupled (also called headless) WordPress via GraphQL. Some developers might find it as exciting as I do. </p>



<p>Enjoy the plugins shared and check out the upcoming WordPress events. </p>



<p>Yours 💕<br />Birgit </p>





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<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/">The index 2020 is here</a></p>




<p><strong>Gutenberg team released version 10.2 of the plugin. </strong><br /><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-2-17-march/">Release notes by Bernhard Reiter</a><br />WPTavern post: <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-10-2-adds-spacers-to-navigation-lists-lets-users-categorize-template-parts-and-introduces-scoped-patterns">Gutenberg 10.2 Adds Spacers To Navigation Lists, Lets Users Categorize Template Parts, and Introduces Scoped Patterns</a></p>



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<p><strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> shared <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/16/high-level-feedback-from-the-fse-program-march/"><strong>high level feedback from the FSE Program.</strong></a></p>



<p>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/09/fse-program-testing-call-3-create-a-fun-custom-404-page/">3rd Call for Testing</a> is only open until March 23, 2021. If you have about 20 minutes, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/03/09/fse-program-testing-call-3-create-a-fun-custom-404-page/"><strong>build a fun 404 page</strong> via the new Site Editor</a> in WordPress. <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> has some very details instructions. Please share your experience as a comment on the post. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>Monday started with <a href="https://news.wpbuilds.com/issues/154/"><strong>This Week in WordPress live show #154</strong></a>, a podcast by <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/wpbuilds">Nathan Wrigley</a></strong> and <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/wp_paullacey">Paul Lacey</a></strong>. This week <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jcasabona"><strong>Joe Casabona</strong> </a>were on the show as guests, and they covered the new features in WordPress 5.7 and more Full-Site Editing. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUrJHhv1InQ">Head on over to YouTube</a>!</p>




<p> <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/changelog-40-full-site-editing-rollout-gutenberg-10-2-farewell-to-mark-uraine/"><strong>Episode #40</strong> is now available</a>!</p>



<p> <strong>Subscribe to the <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/">Gutenberg Changelog</a> podcast </strong><br />🎙️ <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/620NwVKQJGdTupy36zYxvg?mc_cid=4b6c9f88fe">Spotify</a> | <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ndXRlbmJlcmd0aW1lcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0">Google</a> | <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gutenberg-changelog/id1469294475">iTunes</a> | <a href="https://pca.st/podcast/f8445ec0-7508-0137-f267-1d245fc5f9cf">PocketCasts</a> | <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/gutenberg-changelog">Stitcher</a> |<br />🎙️ <a href="https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/chi7j-9904a/Gutenberg-Changelog-Podcast">Pod Bean</a> | <a href="https://castbox.fm/channel/Gutenberg-Changelog-id2173375">CastBox</a> | <a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/gutenberg-changelog-878239/">Podchaser</a> | <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/podcast">RSS Feed</a> </p>



<img />Review by <a href="https://twitter.com/Peter_Ingersoll"><strong>Peter Ingersoll</strong></a> on <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/gutenberg-changelog">Stitcher</a>




<h2>Plugins for the Block Editor</h2>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/formality/"><strong>Formality</strong></a> is an all-in-one WordPress form plugin for the block editor. <a href="https://twitter.com/michelegiorgi"><strong>Michele Giorgi</strong></a>, who built it for fun and <em>&#8220;because he hates the gym.&#8221;</em> I definitely can relate to the sentiment, although, I get cranky when I skip our lunch runs for too many days. The plugin comes with 12 blocks that include usual form elements, multi-steps layout, and ratings. You&#8217;ll also find 24 templates with backgrounds from Unsplash and corresponding color palettes. For developers, there are hooks and filter to extend it for your needs. <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/benswrite">Ben Townsend</a></strong> of LayerWP reviewed it on<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjnDb_4bXeM"> YouTube.</a></p>



<p class="has-small-font-size">🌐 <a href="https://formality.dev/">Website</a> | <a href="https://github.com/michelegiorgi/formality">GitHub</a> | <a href="https://gist.github.com/michelegiorgi/56fe4489b922cf2af4704b79d4f56bb6">Gist</a> | <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/formality/">WPRepo</a></p>



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<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/forms-gutenberg/"><strong>Gutenberg Forms</strong></a> is another block editor only plugin to create forms for your page and post. The author, <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/m_munirkamal">Munir Kamal</a></strong>, also created add-ons for <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/guten-forms-mailchimp/">Mailchimp</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/guten-forms-mailpoet/">Mailpoet</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/guten-forms-akismet/">Akismet</a>. All his code it open-source, and maybe he inspires you to create your special integration as well. You can also read <a href="https://wptavern.com/build-forms-via-the-block-editor-with-gutenberg-forms">Justin Tadlock&#8217;s review</a> from last summer</p>



<p class="has-small-font-size">🌐  <a href="https://docs.gutenbergforms.com">Docs</a> | <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/forms-gutenberg/">WPRepo</a> | <a href="https://gutenbergforms.com/">Website</a> | <a href="https://github.com/gutenberghub/gutenberg-forms">GitHub</a></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>The plugin <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/full-screen-galleries/"><strong>Full Screen Galleries</strong></a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/NickHalsey_"><strong>Nick Halsey</strong></a> creates an automatic full-screen slideshow mode for images on your page or post. It works on both, block editor and classic editor. It&#8217;s designed to work with any theme out of the box. See the plugin page for code snippets to add custom styling and a launch button. It&#8217;s a focused way to showcase travel photos or art work. This week, <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/justintadlock">Justin Tadlock</a></strong> of WPTavern published <a href="https://wptavern.com/automatically-create-image-slideshows-with-the-full-screen-galleries-plugin">a review</a>.</p>



<p class="has-small-font-size">🌐 <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/full-screen-galleries/">WPRepo</a> | <a href="https://celloexpressions.com/photography/2020/02/raindance-ranch-winter-2020/">Demo</a> </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/k2-blocks/">K2 Blocks </a></strong>is one of the Block collections extending the core block editor with additional blocks. The most interesting to me would be the Counter and Time blocks as well as the  Magic Image block. The <a href="https://twitter.com/PookiDevsTech"><strong>PookiDevs</strong></a> team from Islamabad <a href="https://pookidevs.com/2021/02/23/using-k2-blocks-to-make-gutenberg-blocks/">posted screenshots and more details.</a></p>



<p class="has-small-font-size">🌐 <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/k2-blocks/">WPRepo</a> | <a href="https://k2plugins.com/">Website</a></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s master branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge" /></p>




<h2>Gutenberg for Developers</h2>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/rmccue"><strong>Ryan McCue</strong></a>, director of product at the agency HumanMade, shared some experimentation with the navigation components in Gutenberg and created a new WP-Admin navigation bar outside the editor. He &#8220;<em>based this stand-along plugin on existing work in WooCommerce.&#8221;</em> You can <a href="https://twitter.com/rmccue/status/1369312175513296908">follow the discussion on Twitter</a>.. The <a href="https://github.com/rmccue/experimental-navigation">code is available on GitHub</a> for your perusal.</p>



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<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/JustinFerriman">Justin Ferriman</a></strong> of LearnDash shared how they leveraged Gutenberg to make a <a href="https://www.learndash.com/certificate-builder-has-arrived/">Certificate Builder in LearnDash</a>. You can see short demos on how it works. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>As an alternative to <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/jasonbahl">Jason Bahl</a>&#8216;s</strong> work with <a href="https://www.wpgraphql.com/2021/03/09/gutenberg-and-decoupled-applications/">Gutenberg and WordPress decoupled</a> sites a couple of weeks ago, <a href="https://twitter.com/losoviz">Leo Losoviz</a> published <a href="https://graphql-api.com/blog/proposing-a-new-approach-for-gutenberg-and-decoupled-applications/">his proposal on how to handle blocks with a decoupled WordPress</a> and GraphQL site. The two different approaches are a deep dive into both plugins that provide GraphQL APIs for WordPress. </p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-graphql/">WPGraphQL</a>  and <a href="https://github.com/GraphQLAPI/graphql-api-for-wp">GraphQL API for WordPress</a></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>Speaking of Headless or Decoupled: <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/3binco">Michal Trykoszko</a></strong> started a three-part series of blog posts: <strong>Headless WordPress Gutenberg &amp; NextJS </strong>with <a href="https://trykoszkom.medium.com/headless-wordpress-gutenberg-next-js-part-1-3-creating-a-block-with-react-e8d69e8460d4">Creating a block with React</a>.</p>



<h2>WordPress Events</h2>



<p><strong>March 23 &#8211; 26th, 2021</strong><br /><a href="https://atarim.io/summit/"><strong>Atarim Web Agency Summit</strong></a></p>



<p><strong>March 24, 2021 &#8211; 10 AM EDT / 14:00 UTC</strong><br /><strong><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/events/276945655/">Intro to Publishing with the Block Editor</a></strong> (<strong><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/events/276945655/">Demo + Discussion group</a></strong>) with contributors of Learn. WordPress program</p>



<p><strong>March 26, 2021 &#8211; 10 AM EDT / 15:00 UTC</strong><br /><strong><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-discussions/events/277036759/">Creating and Registering Block Patterns (Demo + Discussion group)</a></strong> with Daisy Olsen from via Learn WordPress program<br />If you want to come prepared with questions, watch the workshops <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/intro-to-block-patterns/">Intro to Block Patterns</a> and <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/registering-block-patterns/">Registering Block Patterns</a></p>



<p><strong>April 6, 2021 9 am EDT / 14:00 UTC</strong><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAIlY3lTAos"><strong>WPCafe: Building the Twenty Twenty-One</strong> </a>with Caroline Nymark and Mel Dwan-Choyce, live on YouTube</p>



<p><strong>April 15, 2021 6:30 pm EDT / 23:30 UTC</strong><br /><strong><a href="https://www.meetup.com/SF-WordPress-Users/events/277019024/">South Florida Mega Meetup</a></strong> &#8220;New Site Builder Edition&#8221;</p>



<p><strong>April 15 &#8211; 17, 2021</strong><br /><a href="https://centroamerica.wordcamp.org/2021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WordCamp Centroamérica 2021</a></p>



<p><strong>April 27 and 28th</strong><br /><a href="https://www.godaddy.com/pro/expand"><strong>Expand 2021</strong></a> &#8211;&nbsp;a virtual event hosted by GoDaddy that brings the web design and developer community together to share ideas and experiences, make connections and support each other.</p>



<p><strong>May 24 &#8211; 27. 2021</strong><br /><strong><a href="https://wordsesh.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WordSesh 2021</a> </strong><br /><a href="https://wordsesh.com/speak/">Speaker submissions are </a>due on March 29! </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p>On the<a href="https://wpcalendar.io/online/">&nbsp;<strong>Calendar for WordPress Online Events</strong></a> you&#8217;ll find a list of the upcoming WordPress Meetups, around the world, including WooCommerce, Elementor, Divi Builder and Beaver Builder meetups.</p>




<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide" />



<p class="has-text-align-left"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>



<form class="wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait" action="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/" method="post"><div class="ngl-form-container"><div class="ngl-form-field"><label class="ngl-form-label" for="ngl_email"><br />Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class="ngl-form-input"><input type="email" class="ngl-form-input-text" name="ngl_email" id="ngl_email" /></div></div><button class="ngl-form-button">Subscribe</button><p class="ngl-form-text">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay"><div class="ngl-message-svg-wrap"></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay-text">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type="hidden" name="ngl_list_id" id="ngl_list_id" value="26f81bd8ae" /><input type="hidden" name="ngl_double_optin" id="ngl_double_optin" value="yes" /></form>



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<p></p>



<p><em>Featured image: Photo by&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/@glencarrie?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Glen Carrie</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/lego-blocks?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></em></p>



<p></p>




<h3>Thank you to our in-kind Sponsors!</h3>


<div id="wp-sponsors" class="clearfix grid"><div class="sponsor-item default current-sponsors"><a href="https://pantheon.io/?utm_medium=OnlineAdvertising&utm_source=GutenbergTimes&utm_content=Homepage&utm_campaign=Home" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><img width="300" height="111" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Sponsored-by-Pantheon.png?fit=300%2C111&ssl=1" class="attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image" alt="Sponsored by Pantheon" /></a></div><div class="sponsor-item default current-sponsors"><a href="https://www.paulisystems.net/wordpress-consulting" rel="nofollow"><img width="300" height="77" src="https://i2.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/cropped-paulisystems-trademark-no-tagline.gif?fit=300%2C77&ssl=1" class="attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image" alt="Pauli Systems" /></a></div><div class="sponsor-item default current-sponsors"><a href="https://brand24.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><img width="300" height="64" src="https://i2.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/logo_brand24_black_small.png?fit=300%2C64&ssl=1" class="attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image" alt="" /></a></div></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 20 Mar 2021 18:18:36 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"WPTavern: Upcoming Changes and Steps for an Overhauled WordPress Theme Review System";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=112892";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:213:"https://wptavern.com/upcoming-changes-and-steps-for-an-overhauled-wordpress-theme-review-system?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=upcoming-changes-and-steps-for-an-overhauled-wordpress-theme-review-system";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6299:"<p class="has-drop-cap">On Wednesday, WordPress executive director Josepha Haden Chomphosy posted <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/03/17/next-steps-on-themes-and-reviews/">the next steps forward</a> for themes and reviews for the official theme directory. In the post, she describes the tools and types of access the Themes Team needs. She also laid out some other goals for the system. The timeline is to have much of this in place by early 2022.</p>



<p>Two months ago, <a href="https://wptavern.com/upsells-barriers-and-the-end-beginning-of-the-quality-free-themes-era">things were coming to a head</a>. Project lead Matt Mullenweg saw much of what we have all been seeing. Creative contributions to the free directory were few and far between, many of the submissions merely being stripped-down &ldquo;lite&rdquo; themes with commercial interests.</p>



<p>There was some disagreement on <em>why</em> the directory was not producing the high-quality projects users should expect from an official source. Mullenweg cited the rules and update mechanism as problem areas.</p>



<p>However, others like Joost de Valk, the CPO of Yoast, said the reality of the situation is that money is now a part of the equation. Producing high-quality products, maintaining them, and supporting them is not sustainable without the financial resources in place. Because WordPress.org provides no path for developers to make money directly, upsell-motived themes are the result. Eric Karkovack expanded upon this in his piece for Speckyboy, <a href="https://speckyboy.com/are-high-quality-free-wordpress-themes-a-thing-of-the-past/">Are High-Quality Free WordPress Themes a Thing of the Past?</a></p>



<p>Some of the Themes Team members disagreed that the rules were the problem. At the heart of the team&rsquo;s handbook is the idea that themes should be GPL-compatible, secure, and not break things.</p>



<p>The problem is not necessarily specific guidelines but the process. Mullenweg wanted to switch to a post-commit strategy that would see themes move into the directory more quickly. The goal is to be a little more like the plugin directory and let users guide others through the star-rating review system.</p>



<p>However, themes and plugins are different beasts. Themes must follow some standard patterns and do some specific things to actually work. The best way to make that happen is with automated tools performing the grunt work that humans have been doing for the past decade. Many guidelines could become a line of code in a script. Each new line would lighten the burden on volunteers.</p>



<p>The Themes Team agreed with his assessment of the theme quality. However, some did feel like the theme system was the oft-forgotten stepchild who received all the hand-me-downs from its preferred sibling, the plugin directory. They needed resources from the community to drive any sort of change. Team members had little power outside of their gatekeeping responsibilities and were short on volunteers.</p>



<h2>Changing Hearts and Minds</h2>



<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">Haden Chomphosy <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/02/24/meeting-notes-matt-josepha-and-theme-review-team/">published notes on the meeting</a> in February. The post detailed the ideas and what took place. However, much of it seemed vague in terms of actionable items. It was the groundwork phase.</p>



<p>In a private discussion with one of the Themes Team reps, they said the meeting was productive not because of action taking place but through the changing of outlooks. More of the team reps warmed to the idea of reducing the requirements and moving forward with a change. The meeting was more about winning hearts and minds, which was a necessary first step.</p>



<p>This changed outlook did not mean throwing caution to the wind and flipping the switch overnight. The team wanted to set some guardrails in place, particularly surrounding high-priority issues like proper licensing.</p>



<p>&ldquo;In the meeting, we discussed the need to change the review process,&rdquo; said team rep Ari Stathopoulos. &ldquo;All guidelines have a reason they exist. They were all added after some things got abused. But the process followed had an unfortunate side-effect; the rules that were added to avoid abuse by a few bad apples are the same rules that hinder innovation and deter people from submitting a theme in the repository.&rdquo;</p>



<p>He brought up the universal rules of not doing evil things, disrespecting others, or abusing the system. Citing them as the foundation of what the guidelines should be. &ldquo;But then, of course, everyone has a different definition of evil, disrespect, and abuse, so something a bit more verbose may be needed but obviously not as verbose as the dozens upon dozens of guidelines we currently have.&rdquo;</p>



<h2>The Next Steps: Tools and a User-First Strategy</h2>



<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">The first goal is to have access to a functional meta environment for testing. One of the team reps currently has this. However, others would need access in the long term. Moderator tools are also on the list for reviewers, likely similar to what the Plugin Review Team has.</p>



<p>Those are some of the baseline things. The next item will be more automation. Dion Hulse is currently working on automated security checks, which should help with a consistent problem area. Steve Dufresne is working on an automated code-scanning solution.</p>



<p>One idea for a post-commit strategy is flagging themes with &ldquo;quality tags.&rdquo; These include items like Gutenberg-ready, security, last updated, translation-ready, and accessibility. It is not clear how this system would work, but it could be a way to surface themes in the directory that meet standards. <em>Perhaps a new featured-theme algorithm should be in the works?</em></p>



<p>The last piece of the proposal introduces the concept of a yes/no voting mechanism for end-users. These would be &ldquo;trust tags&rdquo; that allowed users to mark themes as updated, visually broken, and more. The goal is to hand over much of the gatekeeping responsibility to users, putting them in the driver&rsquo;s seat of what they want out of the theme directory.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 19 Mar 2021 16:16:28 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:43;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:127:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 10.2 Adds Spacers To Navigation Lists, Lets Users Categorize Template Parts, and Introduces Scoped Patterns";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=113984";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:295:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-10-2-adds-spacers-to-navigation-lists-lets-users-categorize-template-parts-and-introduces-scoped-patterns?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-10-2-adds-spacers-to-navigation-lists-lets-users-categorize-template-parts-and-introduces-scoped-patterns";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6487:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Yesterday, version 10.2 of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-2-17-march/">Gutenberg WordPress plugin landed</a>. Users can now add a Spacer block between Navigation items, categorize custom template parts, and pick between patterns when inserting the Query block.</p>



<p>The user experience continues to improve in some areas. The Media &amp; Text block, one of the few holdouts, can now be <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29415">transformed into Columns</a>. The transformation results in two columns with the media and the text separated. This is a one-way transform, however. It is a necessary enhancement for users who write out their text column to realize they can only add uploaded media instead of something like a YouTube embed to the Media &amp; Text block. Making a quick switch over to Columns solves the issue.</p>



<p>The &ldquo;Start writing or type / to choose a block&rdquo; prompt only <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/28275">appears for the first empty paragraph</a> when there are subsequent paragraphs. It is a trivial change, but it removed a minor annoyance.</p>



<p>The development team squashed 30 bugs for Gutenberg 10.2. They also continued work toward improving experimental features such as the site editor, global styles, and block-based nav menus. Full Site Editing is shaping up, but it will still be a while before we know whether it will be ready for inclusion in WordPress 5.8.</p>



<p>As I write this post, I am also doing so in a broken editor.  Gutenberg 10.2, yet again, changed either its markup or CSS, which means I will have to do some digging to find out why all of our paragraphs are misaligned in the editor.  But, that is a job for tomorrow.  This should be a theme-specific fix and an isolated issue.</p>



<h2>Nesting Spacer Blocks Within Navigation Lists</h2>



<img />Inserting a Spacer into a Navigation list.



<p class="has-drop-cap">In one of the worst ideas the Gutenberg project has brought us, users can now <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29133">insert spacer blocks</a> between horizontal Navigation block items. And they can increase or decrease the space in pixels. The idea of spacing is not in and of itself bad, but the solution used is.</p>



<p>As far as I know, the <code>&lt;div&gt;</code> tag is not allowed as a direct child of <code>&lt;ul&gt;</code>. That is where <code>&lt;li&gt;</code> elements go. Maybe it is my old-school HTML upbringing, but it does not feel right to throw other things in the mix. List items are the children of lists.</p>



<p>Fortunately, there are solutions for this sort of horizontal spacing that have been available to web designers for decades: margin and padding.</p>



<p>The Spacer block has never felt right since it was introduced into Gutenberg. I always assumed it was an unfortunate stopgap solution for vertical spacing until we got proper margin and padding block options. I never imagined we would find new and inventive ways to use it for defiling a site&rsquo;s markup.</p>



<h2>Template Part Categories</h2>



<img />Selecting an area for a template part.



<p class="has-drop-cap">Users can now <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/29159">save template parts to a specific category</a> or &ldquo;area,&rdquo; as they are called in the site editor UI. In <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-10-1-enhances-reusable-blocks-updates-social-icons-spacing-options-and-normalizes-image-block-toolbar">Gutenberg 10.1</a>, the development team introduced a new categorization system for theme authors that would automatically place template parts into the Header, Footer, Sidebar, or General categories. The same system is now open for user-created template parts.</p>



<p>When saving a template part via the site editor, users must open the &ldquo;Advanced&rdquo; block tab. There is a new &ldquo;Area&rdquo; option. The Sidebar category is missing in this release. Nevertheless, it is a welcome step toward template-part management.</p>



<h2>Query Block Patterns</h2>



<img />Pattern selections for the Query block in its initial state.



<p class="has-drop-cap">The Query block is at the heart of Full Site Editing. It will eventually be one of the primary components both developers and users interact with as they build sites.</p>



<p>The development team introduced a new concept for end-users when first inserting the Query block. In the past, users saw several block variations. Now, they can <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/28891">choose between patterns</a> that are specific to the block.</p>



<p>Out of the box, there are Large, Medium, and Small patterns. Users can also opt to start from a blank slate.</p>



<p>For developers, this change introduces scoped patterns. It is a new layer to the Block Patterns API that should offer a ton of flexibility in the long run. While the feature only works with the Query block right now, theme and plugin authors could create predefined layouts for blocks that users can choose from in the future.</p>



<p>Imagine having several different styles of post loops that you want to offer to your users. With a few lines of code, you could register each of these as selectable Query patterns.</p>



<p>The new part of the API adds a <code>scope</code> argument that looks like:</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>'scope' =&gt; [
        'inserter' =&gt; false, // Whether to show in the main block inserter.
        'block'    =&gt; [ 'core/query' ] // The container block for the pattern.
]</code></pre>



<p>This is still in the experimental stage, so things could change as the feature is further developed.</p>



<p>Following the core example, I created a quick Query pattern with the following code:</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>add_action( 'init', function() {

	register_block_pattern(
		'tavern-query',
		[
			'title'  =&gt; 'Tavern Query',
			'scope'  =&gt; [
				'inserter' =&gt; false,
				'block'    =&gt; [ 'core/query' ],
			],
			'content' =&gt;
                '&lt;!-- wp:post-title {"isLink":true} /--&gt;
				&lt;!-- wp:post-featured-image {"isLink":true,"align":"wide"} /--&gt;
				&lt;!-- wp:post-excerpt /--&gt;
				&lt;!-- wp:separator --&gt;
				&lt;hr class="wp-block-separator"/&gt;
				&lt;!-- /wp:separator --&gt;
				&lt;!-- wp:post-date /--&gt;'
		]
	);
} );</code></pre>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 18 Mar 2021 22:45:55 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:44;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"WPTavern: Elementor Patches XSS Vulnerabilities Affecting 7 Million WordPress Sites";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=113940";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:211:"https://wptavern.com/elementor-patches-xss-vulnerabilities-affecting-7-million-wordpress-sites?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elementor-patches-xss-vulnerabilities-affecting-7-million-wordpress-sites";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3889:"<p>Elementor users who haven&rsquo;t updated recently will want to get on the latest version 3.1.4 as soon as possible. Researchers at Wordfence disclosed&nbsp;a set of stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in the plugin to its authors in February, which was partially patched at that time and additional fixes were released the second week of March. </p>



<p>Wordfence summarized the vulnerabilities in a <a href="https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2021/03/cross-site-scripting-vulnerabilities-in-elementor-impact-over-7-million-sites/">post</a> published yesterday, accompanied by a detailed walkthrough of how an attacker might compromise sites using Elementor:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>These vulnerabilities allowed any user able to access the Elementor editor, including contributors, to add JavaScript to posts. This JavaScript would be executed if the post was viewed, edited, or previewed by any other site user, and could be used to take over a site if the victim was an administrator.</p></blockquote>



<p>Many of the plugin&rsquo;s &ldquo;elements,&rdquo; or components, accept an <code>html_tag</code>&nbsp;parameter, which was output without escaping and could be set to execute a script. A few of the vulnerable elements include the column, accordion, heading, divider, icon box, and image box.</p>



<p>At the time of publishing, less than half of all Elementor installs are running on version 3.1.x, leaving millions of sites still vulnerable. Wordfence confirmed this morning that they are not currently seeing active exploits against these vulnerabilities.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>&ldquo;Due to the privileges required, we expect it to be used primarily in targeted attacks rather than widespread attempts,&rdquo; Wordfence security researcher Ram Gall said.&nbsp;&ldquo;That is, it is likely to be used for privilege escalation once an attacker has been able to get a foot in the door, rather than a complete start-to-finish exploit chain. This is going to be more of a concern for sites that have many contributor or author users, as this means a wider attack surface. The main reason this is a concern is the sheer number of installations.&rdquo;</p>



<p>Gall, who discovered the vulnerabilities, described a scenario in which they are most easily exploited. A contributor on the site re-uses a password that has been in a data breach. The attacker finds that password, logs in, and adds a post with malicious code. The administrator sees the post from the contributor in the admin. Visiting that post will run the malicious JavaScript in the browser, which Gall said could infect the site with new rogue admin accounts or code to take over the site.</p>



<p>Apart from a brief mention in the changelog, Elementor did not alert its users to the security issues on the product&rsquo;s blog or social media accounts: </p>



<ul><li>Fix: Hardened allowed options in the editor to enforce better security policies</li><li>Fix: Removed&nbsp;<code>html</code>&nbsp;option in Lightbox module to prevent security issues</li></ul>



<p>&ldquo;Elementor was very responsive initially, though they didn&rsquo;t keep us updated about the patches after the initial report,&rdquo; Wordfence representative Kathy Zant said. &ldquo;They do have a security contact listed on their site, which is always helpful. Often, security researchers have a difficult time identifying and contacting the right person with whom to share vulnerability proof-of-concepts, so we&rsquo;re always grateful when we&rsquo;re able to easily start those discussions.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The latest version 3.1.4 contains the patches for these vulnerabilities, along with fixes for other less severe bugs in the plugin. Elementor users are advised to update as soon as possible to avoid the vulnerabilities being used for site takeover.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 18 Mar 2021 17:41:12 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:45;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:90:"WPTavern: Work on the Twenty Twenty-Two Default WordPress Theme Should Already Be Underway";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=113906";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:225:"https://wptavern.com/work-on-the-twenty-twenty-two-default-wordpress-theme-should-already-be-underway?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=work-on-the-twenty-twenty-two-default-wordpress-theme-should-already-be-underway";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5806:"<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>[The Eksell theme] does such a great job of selling a block editor-driven WordPress. It was a missed opportunity to not pair something of this quality with the block editor when WordPress 5.0 was released.</p><p>It&rsquo;s responsive! I&rsquo;m amazed this stands out as a highlight for me, but, as the official theme, Twenty Twenty-One breaks in pretty basic ways in multiple places for different screen widths. I think this visual approach is also probably more approachable as &ldquo;good design&rdquo; for the average person than Twenty Twenty-One&rsquo;s attempt at a more typographical approach&hellip;</p><cite>Daniel</cite></blockquote>



<p class="has-drop-cap">In hindsight, it is easy to look back at past default themes and find fault. There is always something better around the corner. However, Daniel makes some good points <a href="https://wptavern.com/compatibility-is-not-enough-the-eksell-wordpress-theme-creates-art-with-blocks#comment-369254">in his comment </a>on our recent <a href="https://wptavern.com/compatibility-is-not-enough-the-eksell-wordpress-theme-creates-art-with-blocks">review of the Eksell theme</a>. The theme does sell the idea of blocks to the user far more so than many others.</p>



<p>It would be hard to convince me that launching a great block-ready theme with 5.0 would have been feasible, given that so much about the new block editor was changing at a lightning-quick pace. <em>But, a year or two later?</em> Probably.</p>



<p>Twenty Nineteen, which launched with WordPress 5.0 and its block editor, is the worst-rated (3.5 stars) default theme in history. Twenty Twenty was a decent block-ready outing. It also happened to be forked from Chaplin, a theme built by Eksell&rsquo;s designer, Anders Nor&eacute;n. While I still believe that Twenty Twenty-One was a refreshing shift and a fun experiment at the time, my fondness for it has waned in the last few months.</p>



<p>None make a convincing case for the block editor. If we are being honest, there are not that many third-party themes in the official directory making it either.</p>



<p>I may have already said it thousand times, so once more will not hurt. Themes are the face of WordPress. They are often a new user&rsquo;s first introduction to our beloved platform and blogging in general. And, the default themes are the first they see.</p>



<p>The defaults also have another role they need to play today. They need to showcase blocks to all the old-timers among us who have clung to the classic editor and page builders we have used over the years.</p>



<p>It is no doubt a tough job working on a default theme. We have world-class developers and designers putting in the hours to create something that needs to work on millions of websites. However, part of the toughness of the job is in the process.</p>



<p>Each of the last three default themes was announced in September or October of the year before a November &ndash; December release. While I am not privy to any private discussions or work that went on beforehand, the bulk of the theme-building and testing process has happened in a small window. WordPress has also forked at least the last two themes from existing projects, presumably because of the time constraints.</p>



<p>In 2021, the community should expect its fourth default theme, Twenty Twenty-Two, in the block era. It is time we begin thinking about what that should be instead of waiting until the 11th hour.</p>



<p>We are in mid-March. WordPress 5.9 is currently scheduled for December 2021, which should coincide with the Twenty Twenty-Two theme launch.</p>



<p>By starting the research phase now, it gives us the head-start we lacked in years past. The development team would also not need to fork an existing theme. Forks are not necessarily bad, but starting early means the team can go down the from-scratch route if preferred. It is an opportunity to rethink the approach to default themes and do more community outreach before laying down the first code.</p>



<p>What are the trending features this year?</p>



<p>Which types of themes are most popular?</p>



<p>What has the community been asking for that we have yet to deliver?</p>



<p>Will this be the first block-based default theme to showcase Full Site Editing?</p>



<p>There are tons of questions we should be asking, and more-seasoned designers are better suited to the task than I am.</p>



<p>Like Daniel said in the comments, we are not asking for Eksell to be ported to default-theme status. However, something with that design-quality level is what the community should expect. Make us believe; make us passionate; make us want to build our sites with it.</p>



<p>High-quality themes meant for public release are not built overnight. Except in the rarest cases, they are not created in a month. Client projects can often move faster because they are typically under controlled settings with fewer edge cases. Publicly-released themes do not have the same benefit because they need to handle everything users will throw at it and work alongside untold numbers of plugins. While all designers and developers have different processes and work at different paces, three months is easily the minimum amount of time to code and test a well-rounded theme for modern sites. Some of the best theme authors I know spend upwards to half a year fine-tuning their creations.</p>



<p>We need research, followed by a decision about what type of theme we are building. We need an outline of the goals it should achieve and its primary audience. Rounds of mockups before the code hits a repository. A real community effort.</p>



<p>Three months ago was the best time to begin planning for Twenty Twenty-Two. The second best time is today.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 17 Mar 2021 22:20:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:46;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"Post Status: Chris Hardie on WP Lookout, WordPress updates and information flows";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"https://poststatus.com/?p=81771";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:90:"https://poststatus.com/chris-hardie-on-wp-lookout-wordpress-updates-and-information-flows/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2819:"<p>Chris Hardie has been a web developer since the late 1990s. In this episode of the Post Status Draft podcast, Chris talks with Brian Krogsgard about his career as a deep generalist. Chris has worked as a writer, journalist, political candidate, and consultant, as well as a technologist and web developer. </p>



<p>This conversation touches on the challenges of winding down an agency and handling clients. Chris also talks about his experiences with the Special Projects team at Automattic, running for local office, being a journalist, and now launching WP Lookout to help site owners and developers safely update WordPress websites.  </p>



<h2 id="h-safe-wordpress-updates"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/261d.png" alt="☝" class="wp-smiley" /> Safe WordPress Updates</h2>



<p>Automatic updates are great, but what if you could get critical information about potentially breaking changes to WordPress core? What if you could get notified about changes to the plugins and themes you and your clients rely on? </p>



<p>WP Lookout is a new service that monitors WordPress core, plugin, and theme updates so you can apply them safely. You can subscribe to get notices about potentially breaking changes to the software you and your business depend on.&nbsp;</p>







<h3 id="h-topics-mentioned-in-the-show"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png" alt="🔗" class="wp-smiley" /> Topics mentioned in the show</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://chrishardie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chris Hardie</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/chrishardie" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@chrishardie</a>)</li><li><a href="https://wplookout.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WP Lookout</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/lookoutwp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@LookoutWP</a>)</li><li><a href="https://wpspecialprojects.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Automattic Special Projects</a></li></ul>



<h3><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f44d.png" alt="👍" class="wp-smiley" /> Sponsor: <a href="https://poststat.us/bluehost" rel="sponsored nofollow">Bluehost</a></h3>



<p>Everything your website needs — from start-up to success story — is at <a href="https://poststat.us/bluehost" rel="sponsored nofollow">Bluehost</a>.&nbsp;Whether you're looking to create a website, blog, or online store, <a href="https://poststat.us/bluehost" rel="sponsored nofollow">Bluehost</a> will get you started with an all-in-one website platform tailored to your specific needs. Get a free domain name in your first year, free 24/7 lifetime support, and total design freedom with WordPress at <a href="https://poststat.us/bluehost" rel="sponsored nofollow">Bluehost</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 17 Mar 2021 20:54:12 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Dan Knauss";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"WPTavern: WooCommerce Live Africa to Host First Online Meetup Event, March 18, 2021";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=113837";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:207:"https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-live-africa-to-host-first-online-meetup-event-march-18-2021?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=woocommerce-live-africa-to-host-first-online-meetup-event-march-18-2021";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2421:"<p><a href="https://www.meetup.com/woocommerce-live-africa/">WooCommerce Live Africa</a> is hosting its first online meetup on Thursday, March 18, 2021, from 5:30 PM&nbsp;to&nbsp;7:00 PM GMT+1. The new regional group is part of the <a href="https://www.meetup.com/pro/woocommerce/">WooCommerce network</a> of more than 100 meetups with nearly 30,000 members across 40 countries. Events will be focused on topics pertinent to store owners and entrepreneurs with a focus on making it easy for anyone to get started with e-commerce.</p>



<p>Mary Job and Sunday Ukafia will be hosting the first event, titled &ldquo;<a href="https://www.meetup.com/woocommerce-live-africa/events/276460743/">Getting Started in eCommerce</a>&rdquo; that will guide new store owners from idea to first customer. No technical knowledge is required to join the session, since it&rsquo;s aimed at absolute beginners. Topics include basic business concepts:</p>



<p>1. Choosing an audience<br />2. Finding a problem to solve<br />3. Selling your product before you make it<br />4. Creating the product<br />5. Choosing an operating system<br />6. Delivering the product to your customer<br />7. Creating happy customers</p>



<p>&ldquo;What inspired the new group is the zeal to help every individual succeed in their eCommerce venture, connect with Woo individuals and businesses to learn more about how they use Woo and how we can all help each other overcome challenges and succeed,&rdquo; Mary Job said.</p>



<p>In Nigeria, where Job is located, many store owners are using WooCommerce but most tend to focus on selling more via social media channels. Job said she hopes the group can help merchants be as successful with their WooCommerce stores as they already are with Whatsapp, Telegram, and social media.</p>



<p>&ldquo;The local entrepreneur community is pretty optimistic, despite the environmental challenges that comes with doing business in our country,&rdquo;  Job said. &ldquo;Add to that the irregular and inconsistent government policies (speaking for Nigeria alone here), can&rsquo;t speak precisely for other African nations.&rdquo;</p>



<p>The organizing team plans to focus future sessions on a range of skill levels from beginner to advanced. <a href="https://www.meetup.com/woocommerce-live-africa/events/276460743/">Registration</a> is free and the link to the online event will be visible after you sign up.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 17 Mar 2021 17:39:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:48;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"HeroPress: Empowered To Make A Change";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=3502";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:126:"https://heropress.com/essays/empowered-to-make-a-change/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=empowered-to-make-a-change";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9244:"<img width="960" height="480" src="https://s20094.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/031621-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: WordPress made this world smaller, and empowered me to make a change." /><p>The good part; When writing this, I am working with the top companies in the WooCommerce ecosystem, partnering with creative minds, making things happen that can make a massive difference to many users, or even an essential lifeline to their business survival due to a lockdown. As a partnership manager at YITH, I also had* the privilege of traveling worldwide and attended various WordCamps and WordPress events. I’ve co-organized WordCamps, Meetups, and with 28 WooCommerce London Meetups in 2020 alone.<br />
<small>* We are still in a local lock down due to covid at the time of writing this.</small></p>
<p>The rubbish part; Okay, nine years ago, life was not great, my daughter passed away, and I was stuck as a restaurant owner, working hard and not making much money, plus soon after, I started a court case against my landlord. Maybe this was the year I lost most of my hair, and it also caused my flare-up of UC… so hopefully, you get it, it was not a good time of my life, and I probably had every reason to find ‘the bottle’ more attractive.</p>
<h3>From The Rubbish To The Good Part</h3>
<p>When bad things happen to people, some will hide and go downhill, whereas others use this negative energy into something positive. I can’t say, I fall in either camp, but having been influenced by the right people around me, decisions I made, and by chance, I was being drawn towards the latter one.</p>
<p>Soon after our daughter died, my wife, Nihan enrolled in the open university to finish her Computer Science degree. I have massive admiration for Nihan’s strong determination, and I wholeheartedly supported her in this decision. We managed to finance this with an adult learning grant and working as a chef in various local pubs.</p>
<p>My wife’s coursework interested me a lot, and very soon, we started following the lectures together, plus extra course work I was practicing myself too.</p>
<p>Then came the idea of affiliate commission earnings through blogging, which I started out using Joomla as a CMS platform. Creating websites was slowly becoming a passion for me, and in these first few years, I enjoyed every part of the steep learning curb tackling the basics to more advanced coding and designs.</p>
<h3>Diving Into The Web</h3>
<p>After reducing hours as a chef, I followed various online courses in coding and e-commerce, SEO, and online marketing. One of the training courses I signed up for was a lifetime deal for OSTraining. The lessons came in particularly useful when I applied for a job as a WordPress designer. Please note that at this time, I had heard of WordPress and used it as a blogging platform but not played with it as a designer. One of the tutors on OSTraining became my absolute savior in the next two weeks before my interview for a new WordPress job. His name is Topher, also well-known for being the founder of HeroPress.</p>
<p>Having binge-watched various WP development topics and getting familiar with the structures, I was rather lucky to have been given the job. Still, this was only the beginning of my journey into the world of WordPress.</p>
<p>A year later, my boss asked me whether I would consider taking over the business and clients. Together with my wife, we started a new brand and company that we then build up over the years. This path naturally leads us into a niche of working with WooCommerce in combination with Online marketing.</p>
<blockquote><p>As I often say to people, WordPress is just one of the tools in my box, just like a carpenter can’t do without a hammer.</p></blockquote>
<p>The skill in using it efficiently comes over time and even then, there are different techniques. We all look back at projects and think: “ouch, why did I do it that way?” I often hear the term ‘imposter syndrome.’ I don’t believe in this, as I think whoever progresses and explores is eager to learn and wants to improve. It is frankly in human nature to drive ourselves forward. WordPress has evolved in so many branches that require different skills, and thank goodness for that, or we’d all be in competition. Instead, there are 100’s of areas of expertise, roles, and jobs that complement WordPress to make it what it is. A big part of that is each person’s personal background complements their skillsets. Think about it, who you are and what you do is influenced by what you have done and learned. Cherishing this, adding your culture, language, and experience and you suddenly find yourself more than qualified. And often these are not skills or certificates you list on a CV as they might be good and also bad experiences.</p>
<h3>Joining A Business</h3>
<p>The next part of this chapter was my dealings with YITH. As a long-term customer and having met some of the team at WordCamp London, I got into discussions to represent them at events held in the UK. This soon went global with me attending WordCamps in 3 other countries… and this was the moment I realized I could do much more with my connections and create meaningful partnerships. Within a few weeks, I crafted my dream job and sent a proposal to Nando, the CEO of YITH.</p>
<blockquote><p>It is not easy to pitch yourself with an idea hoping that someone, I never met or spoken, understands this vision.</p></blockquote>
<p>The doubts went through my head; “do I give up my business and work for the benefit of another company? What if I don’t get on? After all, I met 2 out of a team of 40 only three years ago… What do I do with my customers? Thinking of which, they have been demanding and not paying us on time. Plus, they annoy me when I want to be on holiday, not just that, they cause arguments between my wife and me. Because what is more important, family time or a site down and a business that is not earning enough money? Okay, this could work out, and I will try it for a year; if not, I can pick up my business again while my wife continues running it.” That was my thought process every day for months…</p>
<p>Then we agreed, and I was not sure if I should be happy or not. A year later, I can only say that working for Nando at YITH has been the best choice. He has been my mentor, supporter, devil’s advocate, and friend, but not a ‘boss.’ He has never told me what to do, but instead, asked questions to make me realize what is achievable, or even better, simply suggests me to read a book and come to my conclusions. YITH is an organization without hierarchy based on a holacratic structure.</p>
<p><a href="https://s20094.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DSC5927-scaled.jpg"><img /></a>The Yith Team</p>
<h3>Looking Back</h3>
<p>I often think back to the moment my daughter passed away. She only lived for a few days, but ask any bereaved parent; it is often the thought of: ‘what could have been.’ It will have been nine years, and every day, I wonder how events would have unfolded if she had survived. So, maybe her memory lives on in every decision I make and the paths I decide to take. But did I make the right decisions? I would have said yes, though only last week, my wife suggested she never really processed the events nine years ago. The path ahead will not always be straight, but whatever the next turning is, I hope I can nudge it in the right direction. After all, I have big and exciting plans ahead!</p>
<p>Is this story helpful to someone? Maybe it is for one of two reasons.</p>
<blockquote><p>If you struggle to change your career, you can do this, though it might take a couple of years of a transitional period.</p></blockquote>
<p>Only looking back do I realize that each small step slowly made a difference in my life. I am no guru or dare-devil entrepreneur that will tell you how to do things. No, I am an ordinary person with dreams and aspirations, just like there are so many in the world. But as I write this, it was WordPress that made this world smaller and empowered me to make a change. Learning from someone on the other side of the world and even getting work and customers from companies and people I never met before. Feeling welcomed into the WordPress community through Meetups and WordCamps added this human dimension and confidence that I can do ‘this’ too.</p>
<p>For those who had a personal tragedy, I hope that I can give you hope and strength to try and put your energy into something else that can lead to more significant changes in your life. Our minds are mighty and the tiny small decisions of: ‘if I do this then that, and if this then that’ &#8211; you see life is like a game of chess and you can influence the outcome a lot… I accept, not always, but take it as one positive decision at a time.</p>
<p><a href="https://s20094.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/PXL_20200912_144823691.MP_-scaled.jpg"><img /></a></p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/essays/empowered-to-make-a-change/">Empowered To Make A Change</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 17 Mar 2021 08:13:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Ronald Gijsel";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:49;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"WPTavern: Automatically Create Image Slideshows With the Full Screen Galleries Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=113770";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:215:"https://wptavern.com/automatically-create-image-slideshows-with-the-full-screen-galleries-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=automatically-create-image-slideshows-with-the-full-screen-galleries-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2946:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Earlier today, core WordPress contributor Nick Halsey released <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/full-screen-galleries/">Full Screen Galleries</a>, a plugin that automatically creates a full-screen slideshow when site visitors click on an image. The plugin works with all images, regardless of whether they are in a gallery block. It also supports both the classic and block editors.</p>



<p>Lightbox-type plugins are a dime a dozen. It is tough to wade through them to find the perfect solution. However, sometimes the simplest solution is the way to go. Halsey&rsquo;s plugin has no settings screen, post metadata, or block options. It is plug-and-play.  The only configuration is in activating the plugin itself.</p>



<p>Full Screen Galleries creates a slideshow-style overlay for all images located on a post or page. When a visitor clicks on one, the full-screen slideshow takes over the page.</p>



<img />Slideshow overlay from Full Screen Galleries.



<p>Halsey has a <a href="https://celloexpressions.com/photography/2020/02/raindance-ranch-winter-2020/">demo page on his site</a> where potential users can see the plugin in action.</p>



<p>There are more advanced options out there. Some show EXIF data, create transition effects and other types of animation, and offer a boatload of customizable settings. However, I prefer the simplicity of something that I can activate and forget. Over the years, I have come to appreciate these types of plugins more and more. They let me get back to focusing on the parts of my sites that I care about.</p>



<p>Full Screen Galleries also figures out the full-sized image URL automatically. If a gallery uses thumbnail-sized images and links to the attachment page, the slideshow will still display it in full.</p>



<p>Each slide outputs forward and back arrows to scroll between the images. In the top left corner is an exit button. In the top right, the plugin outputs a northeast arrow button that links to the original image. It also displays the image caption if it is available.</p>



<p>For many users, this is all they need. I am particularly interested in it because it works well with classic content. Many of the sites I am involved with have years of galleries from the pre-block era.</p>



<p>One of the downsides is that the plugin relies on jQuery. The plugin&rsquo;s code has a small footprint, but jQuery has grown into a bit of a beast over the years and is becoming less and less relevant with more recent features of modern JavaScript. For many WordPress sites, this may be a non-issue because their theme or some other plugin is already loading the jQuery library. This plugin will be a lightweight addition. For others who are keeping it lean, they might want to seek out alternative solutions.</p>



<p>Regardless, this plugin is going into my toolbox, ready to pull out when I need it. Overall, it is a dependable version 1.0.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 16 Mar 2021 22:41:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:"type";i:128;s:7:"headers";a:10:{s:6:"server";s:5:"nginx";s:4:"date";s:29:"Mon, 12 Apr 2021 04:35:03 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:14:"content-length";s:6:"393252";s:10:"connection";s:5:"close";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Mon, 12 Apr 2021 04:15:07 GMT";s:15:"x-frame-options";s:10:"SAMEORIGIN";s:4:"x-nc";s:9:"HIT ord 2";s:13:"accept-ranges";s:5:"bytes";}s:5:"build";s:14:"20130911040210";}