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Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor:&#160;Dustin Hartzler Logo:&#160;Beatriz Fialho Production:&#160;Chloé Bringmann Song: Fearless First [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2022/01/WP-Briefing-023.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6741:\"\n<p>As we greet a new year, WordPress&#8217; Executive Director writes a letter to the project and community that speaks to the hopes of the year ahead.</p>\n\n\n\n<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>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-12043\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing. The podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and 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>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yesterday marked three years since the WordPress project welcomed me as their executive director. As I start my fourth year, I&#8217;ve spent a bit of time considering what the next five years will bring us. WordPress will turn 19 this year, which means that we will soon be a whopping 20 years old; for some of the people who have been with the project since the beginning, that can represent two-thirds of their whole life. And even if you were not that young when you got here, two decades as an open source project is really a cause for celebration.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am not in that group that has been here forever. I showed up for the first time in 2009, as a community organizer, self-sponsored, and I learned so much about myself as a person and as a leader while I was doing that. So when I arrived as a sponsored contributor in 2015, I already knew exactly what made this work so fulfilling for me was these three things:&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, the ability to lend a hand in those moments where I wish someone had lent a hand.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second is the delight of seeing people&#8217;s first successes and the joy of watching them grow over time.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:48</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the third was a chance to be part of something great, which turned out to be something greater; greater than me or you or a CMS.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:58</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This list is still at the heart of what I feel I get out of the WordPress project. But it has also grown substantially in my seven years as a sponsored contributor. I now also love how we as a community of contributors get to foster a better way to lead and a better way to collaborate. And through those things help people find a way to have a better life. Not just through WordPress, the CMS, but through WordPress, the people, and WordPress, the project.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>02:25</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so when I think of what I want for WordPress in its 19th year, so that we can head with confidence and dignity into our 20th year, it is this:&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>02:35</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I want you to remember that you are not alone here. People come together in the world often because of a shared location. But WordPress fosters this beautiful experience of bringing us together because of what we care about. Whether you care about PHP standards, diversity in technology, helping people with their first big wins, making WordPress more secure. I mean, if what you care about is being able to write the most arcane and complex apps on top of WordPress that the world has ever seen. Then there are others out there who want to do that with you, too. We have so many things to connect about. And fortunately, we support a great piece of software for getting our thoughts out in the world. Take some time to see who else shares your thoughts and potentially learn a bit about the view from the other side.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:26</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And speaking of the other side, I also want us to approach our discussions as the US versus the Problem TM. WordPress may be 20 years old, and we may stand on the shoulders of giants, but right now, the people who are here you, you are explorers and creators and guides toward the best possible future for WordPress. The tension that we witness between teams is always about the best possible answers for the people who use our software. It is about securing the freedoms of the open web for everyone who comes after us whether they know they need those freedoms or not.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:04</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, I want us to expand our reasons for doing this at all. If you are a member of the community of contributors, We frequently talk about how we give back because WordPress gave to us. Or if you are part of a Five for the Future group. You have heard that companies who have experienced success because of WordPress should commit 5% of their resources back to the project to ensure WordPress&#8217; long-term success. But the reason that I keep doing this, and hopefully a new reason for you to keep doing this is that we can take part in securing opportunities for future users of WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:42</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, I want WordPress to be the best CMS. Yes, I want this community to be vibrant and engaged. Yes, I want WordPress to be a shining beacon of how to work remotely. And I want all of that because I know it is our careful and tireless stewardship of this project that lets us continue to lend a hand in those moments where people wish for someone to lend a hand.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those are my hopes for WordPress in 2022 to move us forward into WordPress of the future. I hope you all will come with me and we can continue our journey together.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:23</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks again for listening. I&#8217;m Josepha Haden and this is the WP Briefing. See you again in a couple of weeks.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"12043\";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:66:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"WordPress 5.9 RC 2\";s: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:54:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-2/\";s: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, 11 Jan 2022 20:43:58 +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:8:\"category\";a:4:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"RC2\";s: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=12014\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:117:\"The second Release Candidate (RC2) for WordPress 5.9 is available! The final release is slated for January 25, 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:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4966:\"\n<p>The second Release Candidate (RC2) for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\"> WordPress 5.9</a> is now available!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Release Candidate” means the new version of the software is ready for release. It helps the community check that nothing is missed, given the thousands of plugins and themes and differences in how millions of people use the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to everyone who has contributed thus far towards testing and filing bugs to help make WordPress 5.9 a great release. WordPress 5.9 is slated for release in just two weeks on January 25, 2022. There&#8217;s still time to help! Since RC1 was released, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;time=01%2F05%2F2022..01%2F12%2F2022&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">six</a> bugs have been found and fixed. There were <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/52551\">13 bug fixes backported from Gutenberg.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"testing-the-release\"><strong>Testing the release</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 release candidate in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-RC2.zip\"><strong>zip</strong></a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, 3, 4, or RC1, on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC2</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC2 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Your help to test the second Release Candidate is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the RC1 release and gave feedback. Testing for bugs is not just a critical part of polishing every release, it is also a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-help\"><strong>How to Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">Help test WordPress 5.9 features</a> – a guide to how you can take part.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you write in another language other than English? You can<a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev\"> help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a> Release Candidate 1 marked the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze\"> hard string freeze</a> point of the 5.9 release schedule. Thanks to every locale that is already involved with translations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Developers and those interested in more of the background to the features can find more in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/10/wordpress-5-9-field-guide/\">Field Notes</a>. More developer notes will be added as the release progresses to its final stage. You can also follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">5.9 development cycle</a> and timeline.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>If you think you have found a bug</em></strong><em>, you can post the details to the</em><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta\"><em> </em><em>Alpha/Beta area</em></a><em> in the support forums.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&nbsp;If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can</em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"><em> </em><em>file one on WordPress Trac</em></a><em>, where you can also check the issue against</em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"><em> </em><em>a list of known bugs</em></a><em>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to: </em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>psykro</a> and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a><em>, and </em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a> and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a> <em>for final review.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"12014\";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:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:32:\"WordPress 5.8.3 Security 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-8-3-security-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 06 Jan 2022 21:02:03 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"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:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=11999\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:360:\"This security release features four security fixes. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 3.7 have also been updated. WordPress 5.8.3 is a short-cycle security release. The next major release will be version 5.9, which is already in the Release Candidate stage. You [&#8230;]\";s: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:19:\"Jonathan Desrosiers\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3681:\"\n<p>This security release features four security fixes. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 3.7 have also been updated.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.8.3 is a short-cycle security release. The next major release will be version <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">5.9</a>, which is already in the Release Candidate stage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can update to WordPress 5.8.3 by downloading from WordPress.org or visiting your Dashboard → Updates and clicking Update Now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have sites that support automatic background updates, they’ve already started the update process.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"security-updates\">Security Updates</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Four security issues affect WordPress versions between 3.7 and 5.8. If you haven’t yet updated to 5.8, all WordPress versions since 3.7 have also been updated to fix the following security issue (except where noted otherwise):</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Props to Karim El Ouerghemmi and Simon Scannell of <a href=\"https://www.sonarsource.com/\">SonarSource</a> for disclosing an issue with stored XSS through post slugs.</li><li>Props to Simon Scannell of <a href=\"https://www.sonarsource.com/\">SonarSource</a> for reporting an issue with Object injection in some multisite installations.</li><li>Props to ngocnb and khuyenn from <a href=\"https://giaohangtietkiem.vn/\">GiaoHangTietKiem JSC</a> for working with <a href=\"https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/\">Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative</a> on reporting a SQL injection vulnerability in WP_Query.</li><li>Props to Ben Bidner from the WordPress security team for reporting a SQL injection vulnerability in WP_Meta_Query (only relevant to versions 4.1-5.8). </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the reporters above for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/reporting-security-vulnerabilities/\">privately disclosing the vulnerabilities</a>. This gave the security team time to fix the vulnerabilities before WordPress sites could be attacked. Thank you to the members of the WordPress security team for implementing these fixes in WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information, check out the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-8-3/\">5.8.3 HelpHub documentation page</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"thanks-and-props\">Thanks and props!</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The 5.8.3 release was led by <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>desrosj</a> and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>circlecube</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the security researchers and release squad members mentioned above, thank you to everyone who helped make WordPress 5.8.3 happen:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/xknown/\">Alex Concha</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32/\">Dion Hulse</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ocean90/\">Dominik Schilling</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ehtis/\">ehtis</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/\">Evan Mullins</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/whyisjake/\">Jake Spurlock</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\">Jb Audras</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/iandunn/\">Ian Dunn</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/peterwilsoncc/\">Peter Wilson</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/\">Sergey Biryukov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vortfu/\">vortfu</a>, and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zieladam/\">zieladam</a>.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11999\";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:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"The Month in WordPress – December 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:72:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/the-month-in-wordpress-december-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 05 Jan 2022 19:03:59 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Month in WordPress\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"month in wordpress\";s: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=11972\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:335:\"December was a busy month for the WordPress community. In the latest episode of the WP Briefing podcast, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy shares a carol of thanks and shows her gratitude to all the people who make the WordPress project a success. (&#8230;) I know that we have gotten so much done together [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"rmartinezduque\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13065:\"\n<p>December was a busy month for the WordPress community. In the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/episode-22-a-carol-of-thanks/\"> latest episode of the WP Briefing podcast</a>, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy shares a carol of thanks and shows her gratitude to all the people who make the WordPress project a success.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>(&#8230;) I know that we have gotten so much done together in the last few years. And I am equally sure that we’re going to get so much done in the years to come. And so thank you all so much for your continued work with WordPress and the way that you just bring your best at all times.</p><cite>Josepha Haden, Executive Director of the WordPress project</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>We said goodbye to 2021 with the annual State of the Word, along with the release of WordPress 5.9 Beta 4, among many other exciting updates. Read on to learn more about the latest community achievements.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-5-9-the-first-release-candidate-just-landed\">WordPress 5.9: The first release candidate just landed</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Following the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\"> Beta 3</a> and<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\"> Beta 4</a> releases in December, the first <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-1/\">release candidate for WordPress 5.9</a> is now out and available for testing.</li><li>With less than three weeks to go until the final release, this version continues the work from last year and marks the hard<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze\"> string freeze point</a> of the 5.9 release schedule.</li><li>Follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">5.9 developer notes</a> to learn more about the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/miscellaneous-core-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">changes</a> and updates coming with this release.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Are you interested in contributing to WordPress core?</strong> Join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW\">#core</a> channel, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Core Team blog</a>, and check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/\">team handbook</a>. Also, don&#8217;t miss the Core Team’s weekly developer chat on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\">8 PM</a> UTC.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gutenberg-releases-versions-12-1-and-12-2-are-here\">Gutenberg releases: Versions 12.1 and 12.2 are here</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Core Team launched two new versions of Gutenberg last month. Both come with new features, code quality improvements, and bug fixes.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/08/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-1-8-december/\">Gutenberg 12.1</a> marks the return of the template List View and includes several Navigation block enhancements, new global styles features, an improved developer experience for block themes, and more.</li><li>The<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/\"> Gutenberg 12.2</a> release focuses on user experience improvements and brings the block styles preview to the Widgets Editor, among other new features.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Want to get involved in developing Gutenberg?</strong> Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to Gutenberg on <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/\">GitHub</a>, and join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7\">#core-editor</a> channel in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. Follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/gutenberg-new/\">#gutenberg-new</a> tag for details on the latest updates.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"highlights-from-state-of-the-word-2021\">Highlights from State of the Word 2021</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/highlights-from-state-of-the-word-2021/\">State of the Word 2021</a>, the annual keynote address delivered by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, was livestreamed from New York City on December 14, 2021. The event gathered WordPress enthusiasts at 29 watch parties around the world.</li><li>Matt shared his thoughts on the progress of the WordPress project and made announcements regarding its future in 2022. The presentation was followed by a Question and Answer session.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>If you missed the event’s livestream, you could watch the </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\"><strong>State of the Word recording</strong></a><strong> and the </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\"><strong>Q&amp;A session</strong></a><strong> on WordPress.tv.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"team-updates-2022-major-release-timings-new-team-rep-announcements-and-more\">Team updates: 2022 major release timings, new team rep announcements, and more</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The Core Team opened a discussion on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/17/discussion-2022-major-release-timing/\">the release dates for 2022</a> and the possibility of having four major WordPress releases this year.</li><li>The following teams announced their team representatives for 2022: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/12/03/introducing-new-themes-team-representatives/\">Themes</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/12/agenda-for-the-december-9-support-meeting/\">Support</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/11/08/call-for-polyglots-team-representatives/#comment-293358\">Polyglots</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/01/03/announcement-team-representatives-for-2022/\">Community</a>.</li><li>In 2021, 2572 people contributed to WordPress source code using Trac, including 305 first-timers. Check out <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/29/a-year-in-core-2021/\">A Year in Core – 2021</a> for more interesting stats on WordPress Core contributions.</li><li>The Diverse Speaker Training Group (#WPDiversity) shared its accomplishments from last year in this<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/14/diverse-speaker-training-group-wpdiversity-2021-year-end-report/\"> 2021 year-end report</a>.</li><li>The Training Team<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/12/07/december-2021-team-sprint/\"> planned a sprint</a> to audit and revisit the Learn WordPress content for the WordPress 5.9 release.</li><li>The Design Team summarized some of the key changes behind the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/12/17/redesign-of-openverse/\"> Openverse redesign</a>.</li><li>The December 2021 editions of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/12/20/polyglots-monthly-newsletter-december-2021/\">Polyglots Monthly Newsletter</a> and the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/14/meetup-organizer-newsletter-december-2021/\"> Meetup Organizer Newsletter</a> are out.</li><li>The latest edition of<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/people-of-wordpress-collins-agbonghama/\"> </a>People of WordPress features <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/people-of-wordpress-collins-agbonghama/\">Collins Agbonghama</a> from Nigeria.</li><li>The Core Team <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/proposal-changes-to-javascript-coding-standards-for-full-prettier-compatibility/\">announced a proposal</a> to change the JavaScript coding standards for complete Prettier compatibility.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Are you looking for some 5.9 resources to share with your local community? </strong>Check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/12/10/wordpress-5-9-talking-points/\">WordPress 5.9 Talking Points for Meetup Organizers</a> post.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"feedback-testing-requests-contribute-by-testing-or-translating-wordpress-5-9\">Feedback/Testing requests: Contribute by testing or translating WordPress 5.9</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Your feedback on WordPress 5.9 release candidates is still needed and appreciated! If you haven’t tried this version yet, you can find instructions on testing 5.9 features <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">in this post</a>.</li><li>Do you speak a language other than English? The Polyglots Team announced that <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/12/16/wordpress-5-9-ready-to-be-translated/\">WordPress 5.9 is also ready to be translated</a>.</li><li>Version 18.9 of WordPress for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/12/14/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-18-9/\"> Android</a> is available for testing.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\"><strong>Share your feedback</strong></a><strong> on WordPress 5.9.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"apply-to-speak-or-host-a-workshop-at-wordcamp-europe-2022\">Apply to speak or host a workshop at WordCamp Europe 2022</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>WordCamp US 2022 is currently looking for<a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/are-you-ready-to-be-a-2022-organizer/\"> organizers</a>.</li><li>The WordPress community celebrated its first in-person WordCamp after 21 months in<a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\"> Sevilla (Spain)</a> on December 11-12, 2021.<a href=\"https://taiwan.wordcamp.org/2021/\"> WordCamp Taiwan</a> was held online the same weekend.</li><li>The Test Team organized the Hallway Hangout titled <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/12/21/hallway-hangout-lets-talk-about-wordpress-6-0/\">Let’s talk about WordPress 6.0</a> on December 21, 2021. The team also shared a wrap-up of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/12/16/fse-program-site-editing-safari-summary/\">Site Editing Safari</a> as part of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/handbook/full-site-editing-outreach-experiment/\">FSE Outreach Program</a>.</li><li>The Training Team hosted several WordPress Social Learning Meetups last month, and there will be many more in <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/\">January 2022</a>.</li><li>Last year the WordPress Foundation made significant progress in its mission to educate the public about open source software. Learn more about it in this <a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/looking-back-at-2021/\">2021 recap</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Don’t miss the following upcoming WordCamps: <a href=\"https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Birmingham, Alabama 2022</a>,<a href=\"https://vienna.wordcamp.org/2022/\"> </a><a href=\"https://geneve.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Genève 2022</a><a href=\"https://vienna.wordcamp.org/2022/\">, WordCamp Vienna 2022</a>, and <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Europe 2022</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>The</strong><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-sponsors/\"><strong> Call For Sponsors</strong></a><strong> and </strong><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/\"><strong>Call For Speakers</strong></a><strong> for WordCamp Europe 2022 are open! </strong>Read <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/a-sneak-peek-at-wceu2022/\">this post</a> to learn more about the Organizing Team&#8217;s plans for the first in-person WordCamp Europe in three years.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Have a story that we could include in the next ‘Month in WordPress’ post? Let us know by filling out </em></strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/\"><strong><em>this form</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to December 2021’s Month in WordPress: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/harishanker/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>harishanker</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/lmurillom/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>lmurillom</a>  <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>meher</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a></em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11972\";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:63:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"WordPress 5.9 RC 1\";s: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:54:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-1/\";s: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, 04 Jan 2022 20:43:00 +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:8:\"category\";a:3:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";s: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=11948\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:101:\"The WordPress 5.9 Release Candidate 1 is available. The final release is slated for January 25, 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:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5481:\"\n<p>The first Release Candidate (RC1) for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">WordPress 5.9</a> is now available!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to everyone who has contributed to reach this important milestone in the community’s progress towards a WordPress 5.9 release.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Release Candidate” means the new version of the software is ready for release. It helps the community check that nothing is missed, given the thousands of plugins and themes and differences in how millions of people use the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 is slated for release on January 25, 2022. This is just three weeks to go&nbsp; &#8211; and there’s still time to help!</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"testing-the-release\">Testing the release</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 release candidate in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"><strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-RC1.zip\"><strong>zip</strong></a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, 3 or 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC1</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC1 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Your help to test the RC1 is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the Beta releases and gave feedback. Testing for bugs is not just a critical part of polishing every release; it is also a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">Help test WordPress 5.9 features</a> &#8211; a guide to how you can take part.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-is-in-wordpress-5-9-release-candidate\">What is in WordPress 5.9 release candidate?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This will be the first release of 2022 and continues the work towards 5.9 from last year. It features the latest advances of the block editor and is the first version of full site editing in Core.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 also brings more refinements to the developer experience. To keep up with the latest updates and discover more about how the community works to continually improve the software, please subscribe to the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a>. In particular, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">developer notes tag</a> will keep you up to date on changes that might affect your products or how you use the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"plugin-and-theme-developers\">Plugin and Theme Developers</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Please test your plugins and themes against WordPress 5.9 and update the <em>Tested up to</em> version&nbsp; to 5.9 in your readme file. If you find compatibility problems, please post to the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">support forums</a>, so volunteers and developers can help you figure them out before the final release.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress 5.9 Field Guide will be out very shortly. It will give you a deeper dive into the major changes.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-help\">How to Help</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you speak a language that is not English? You can <a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev\">help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a> Release Candidate 1 marks the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze\">hard string freeze</a> point of the 5.9 release schedule. Thanks to every locale that is already involved with translations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>If you think you have found a bug</em></strong><em>, you can post to the </em><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta\"><em>Alpha/Beta area</em></a><em> in the support forums.&nbsp; If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can </em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"><em>file one on WordPress Trac</em></a><em>, where you can also check the issue against </em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"><em>a list of known bugs</em></a><em>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a> for the post and to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>davidbaumwald</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>estelaris</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a> for final review. </p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11948\";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:69:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:39:\"People of WordPress: Collins Agbonghama\";s: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:74:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/people-of-wordpress-collins-agbonghama/\";s: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, 30 Dec 2021 22:45:00 +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:8:\"category\";a:5:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Community\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Features\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Interviews\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"Contributor Story\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:19:\"People of WordPress\";s: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=11923\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:130:\"Collins Agbonghama, a web developer from Nigeria, Africa, shares how WordPress gives him a sustainable income and a better future.\";s: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:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8695:\"\n<p>In this series, we share some of the inspiring stories of how WordPress and its global network of contributors can change people’s lives for the better. This month we feature a website builder from Nigeria, who uses the open source WordPress platform to support his family and to share learning with others in his home country and beyond.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?resize=632%2C318&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Collins Agbonghama\" class=\"wp-image-11919\" width=\"632\" height=\"318\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?resize=1024%2C515&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?resize=300%2C151&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?resize=768%2C386&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/fimg_collins-agbonghama.jpg?w=1247&amp;ssl=1 1247w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"creating-a-life-in-the-wordpress-ecosystem\"><strong>Creating a life in the WordPress Ecosystem</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins Agbonghama started his journey to becoming a web developer by reading the football news headlines on a friend’s mobile phone. His fascination with development and learning continued to grow, and he now makes a living using WordPress and the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to discover his story, which shows with creativity and determination you can create products and make a living using WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"starting-web-building-on-a-phone\"><strong>Starting web building on a phone</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"350\" height=\"426\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/collins-agbonghama1.jpg?resize=350%2C426&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Collins Agbonghama headshot photo\" class=\"wp-image-11920\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/collins-agbonghama1.jpg?w=350&amp;ssl=1 350w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/collins-agbonghama1.jpg?resize=246%2C300&amp;ssl=1 246w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins began his exploration of the internet while attending Secondary School in Nigeria, or High School as it is known in some other countries.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A friend at the school had a simple mobile phone which could browse the internet. Collins had his first introduction to the World Wide Web through access to this device. He became hooked by reading headlines on a sports site about a famous English Premier League Football Club, Chelsea, a soccer team which he has long supported.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Being a very inquisitive person, I wanted to learn how the web works as well as have my own website. I was able to buy a classic mobile phone through the menial jobs I did after school,” he said.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>His first website was a wapsite or Wireless Application Protocol site optimized for mobile devices.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He took to Google to learn how to actually build a site. He discovered he needed something called an ‘email address’ to sign-up for site builders. Google Search came to the rescue again, and he created the first email account for his first website.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A desire for a website was the catalyst for further learning, starting with HTML and CSS from an online provider. His interest in building sites with more advanced tools grew, and then he came across WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using his savings, he bought the cheapest hosting plan from a local Nigerian web host. He installed WordPress and started writing tutorials for a mobile device platform. He built the site, created the lessons, and started his entry into WordPress all on a mobile phone.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This led to him having the confidence to start building sites for others, and he was able to earn a small income from that.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins said: “I couldn’t go to the university because of my precarious financial situation. I continued to do menial jobs during the day and started learning PHP in the evenings and at night using my mobile phone via online learning platforms.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was later able to get an old laptop, which helped him access ebooks to learn more and practice his coding.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keen to share this learning, he started blogging about what he was learning on his website.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins said: “I later took up a job teaching children at a school primarily because I got tired of the menial jobs and wanted to earn enough to take care of my internet data plan. After a while, I became fairly proficient in PHP and even took up a job to build a school management system.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"using-wordpress-to-make-a-living\"><strong>Using WordPress to make a living</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Collins’ blog wasn’t making money through advertisements, but he discovered opportunities to write tutorials for other platforms.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I started writing PHP and WordPress development tutorials and got paid a few hundred dollars per article. In Nigeria, that’s quite a lot of money. I was able to improve the life and wellbeing of my family and myself,” he said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After getting into a higher education program to study computer science, his life dramatically changed. He decided to stop writing and began to focus on building and selling WordPress plugins.&nbsp;His first one was a user and profile plugin for WordPress sites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Thankfully, after a year, it started making enough revenue for me to live pretty comfortably here in Nigeria because the cost of living here is relatively low,” he said</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, Collins has several plugins which have given him a sustainable source of income. He’s also a Core and Translation volunteer contributor to the WordPress.org Open Source project. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>I am thankful for WordPress because without it, I’m really not sure I would have been able to live a decent quality life. <br>Who knows what would have become of me?</p><cite>Collins Agbonghama</cite></blockquote></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>“I am also thankful for the community. I have made lots of friends that have been very supportive and helpful in my journey.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added: “I tell people, life won’t give you what you want. You demand from life what you want. You make these demands by being determined and never giving up on your dreams and aspirations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“If you are poor, perhaps because you came from a humble and poor background, it is not your fault. You can’t go back in time to change things. I implore you to be strong, determined, and work hard.” </p>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meet more WordPress community members in our <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/category/interviews/\">People of WordPress series</a>.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"contributors\">Contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Michael Geheren (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/geheren/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>geheren</a>), Abha Thakor (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>), for writing this feature, to @MeherBala (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>meher</a>) for follow-ups and photo-editing, and to Chloe Bringmann (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>) and Nalini Thakor (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a>) for the final proofing. Thank you to Collins Agbonghama (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/collizo4sky/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>collizo4sky</a>) for sharing his Contributor Story.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Thanks to Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp;(@<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">chanthaboune</a>), Topher DeRosia (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/\">@topher1kenobe</a>) and others for their support </em>of this initiative. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on&nbsp;</em><a href=\"https://heropress.com/\"><em>HeroPress.com</em></a><em>, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia, which highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers.&nbsp;</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>#HeroPress #ContributorStory</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11923\";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:66:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 4\";s: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:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\";s: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, 21 Dec 2021 21:17:58 +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:8:\"category\";a:4:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"beta\";s: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=11876\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:80:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 released on 21 December 2021 and is available for testing. \";s: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:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5052:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site; install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features and get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta4.zip\">zip</a></strong>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, or 3 to Beta 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which is only five weeks away. Your help testing this beta is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\">Beta 3</a>, 20 bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 4:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Bundled Theme: Fixed duplicate CSS rules in Twenty Twenty-One theme (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53605\">#53605</a>).</li><li>Customizer: It&#8217;s possible to switch to a block theme from within Customizer (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54549\">#54549</a>).</li><li>Themes: Provide guidance to users seeking to preview block themes on WordPress versions below 5.9 (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54575\">#54575</a>).</li><li>REST API: The get_theme_item method should respect fields param (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54595\">#54595</a>).</li><li>Editor: Block Patterns: &#8220;Featured&#8221; category &amp; patterns missing from inserter (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54623\">#54623</a>).</li><li>Login and registration: Add a filter to allow to disable the Login screen language dropdown – (#54675).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please post to the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\"> Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums if you find a bug. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\"> bug report</a>, file one on<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"> WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find a list of<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"> known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"got-questions-here-are-some-answers\"><strong>Got questions? Here are some answers</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\"> 5.9-related developer notes</a> that will cover these items in detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;group=component&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;resolution=fixed\">326 tickets and 108 new features and enhancements</a> in WordPress 5.9. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\" target=\"_blank\">@psykro</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" target=\"_blank\">@hellofromtonya</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" target=\"_blank\">@marybaum</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" target=\"_blank\">@webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>costdev</a> and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>meher</a> for contributions to this post.</strong></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11876\";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:58:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:7:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:42:\"WP Briefing: Episode 22: A Carol of Thanks\";s: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:64:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/episode-22-a-carol-of-thanks/\";s: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, 20 Dec 2021 19:22:11 +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:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"wp-briefing\";s: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=11880\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:404:\"In this last episode of 2021, Josepha Haden Chomphosy takes the time to appreciate those who make the WordPress project a success and offers a carol of thanks. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor:&#160;Dustin Hartzler Logo:&#160;Beatriz Fialho Production:&#160;Chloé Bringmann Song: [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/WP-Briefing-022.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5720:\"\n<p>In this last episode of 2021, Josepha Haden Chomphosy takes the time to appreciate those who make the WordPress project a success and offers a carol of thanks. </p>\n\n\n\n<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>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas\">Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas </a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11880\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing. The podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project. Some insight into the community that supports it and 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>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, ages and ages ago, when I first started this podcast, someone basically requested that Matt and I do a duet for the last podcast of the year. A Christmas carol duet; him on the saxophone and me on voice. I obviously did not get that coordinated I don&#8217;t even know why I said obviously. I&#8217;ll tell you right now I did not get that coordinated. I was a very busy lady this year. So I don&#8217;t have a Matt on saxophone. Still, I did think that maybe it might be nice just for me to sing a teensy little Christmas carol for you all just because it seems especially poignant the words this year, especially after the 2020, 2021 COVID, all the things and trying to get back in person. So I&#8217;m going to sing you all one little verse from <em>Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy </strong>01:35 <em>Singing</em>  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let your heart be light</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be out of sight</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make the Yuletide gay</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be miles away</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, my friends, that was from my heart to yours if you happened to listen. If you skipped a few seconds to get through it, which I would totally understand, that is also fine. But I did want to just kind of wrap up the year to let you all know that I am so incredibly grateful for all of the people who show up for the WordPress project to make it a success. I have made so many friends and wonderful acquaintances throughout my time here with the WordPress project. And especially in my three years as the project&#8217;s Executive Director. You all have put a lot of trust in me and a lot of faith. And I know that we have gotten so much done together in the last few years. And I am equally sure that we&#8217;re going to get so much done in the years to come. And so thank you all so much for your continued work with WordPress and the way that you just bring your best at all times. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:32</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One other little thanks I want to give. Over the course of this year, I&#8217;ve had an excellent team that works with me on this podcast. I have editing and design folks and people who&#8217;ve joined me here and there, folks who helped me with my production. So big thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Bea</a>, I realize your name is Beatriz in the actual credits, but I call you Bea, and so thank you. Also, a huge thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé</a>, who does all of our production and wrangling every couple of weeks. A big round of applause and kudos to that tiny but tough team that helps me get this all done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s to go on top of the general thanks to the WordPress project. And if you all are celebrators, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. If you are not celebrators, I hope that you have a wonderful end to your year and that everything you wanted to get done, you did get done, and that you can start 2022 with a fresh slate. Again, this is the WP Briefing. Thank you so much for listening. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in 2022.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11880\";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:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:38:\"Highlights from State of the Word 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:74:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/highlights-from-state-of-the-word-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 16 Dec 2021 01:04:17 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Events\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"WrapUp\";s: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=11869\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:60:\"Highlights and the official video for State of the Word 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:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"Anjana Vasan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3653:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/OpiH_P9aGhQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>State of the Word 2021, the annual keynote from WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, happened on December 14. The hybrid event took place in New York City with a small audience (proof of vaccination required). As Matt said, &#8220;we had people join by plane, train, and automobile.&#8221; Those who didn’t make the trek to the live event watched the livestream from wherever they call home, all around the world.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was an exciting moment for the WordPress community which also celebrated its first in-person WordCamp in Sevilla, Spain, after a lengthy hiatus for in-person events.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\">view the full recording</a>, complete with captions and transcripts on WordPress.tv.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was thrilling to see so many meetup organizers host watch parties worldwide. Twenty-eight watch parties were held across eleven countries, with more than 300 RSVPs.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similar to past State of the Word events, Matt covered a broad range of topics. This year was no different. WordPress’ past, present, and future were in the spotlight, with highlights on the growth of the contributors, language translations, recent release milestones, and educational initiatives, to name a few.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Audience members and livestreamers alike viewed product demos showcasing upcoming features that will be the hallmark of WordPress 5.9, such as full site editing, block patterns, global styling options, and enhanced image controls.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt took the opportunity to remind everyone of the WordPress roadmap which includes native multi-lingual support and real-time collaborative site editing. He also pointed out that anyone can contribute to WordPress’ progress through a number of different initiatives ranging from creating new features and testing to helping spread the word and educate others.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt emphasized the way that open source software gets better by reminding everyone that “The more people that use a program like WordPress, the better it gets.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Broader topics covering the tech landscape including web3, merger and acquisition activity, as well as the growth and support of open source software, rounded out the energetic presentation.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The one-hour multimedia presentation was followed by an interactive <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\">question and answer</a> session where Matt fielded questions that were submitted ahead of the event, as well as questions from the livestream and studio audience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discover everything that was covered by <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\">watching the official event recording</a> and join the ongoing <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ILoveWP\">#ILoveWP conversation on Twitter</a>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Special thanks to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/dansoschin/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>dansoschin</a> for review and edits! </em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11869\";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:69:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 3\";s: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:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\";s: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, 14 Dec 2021 20:19:29 +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:8:\"category\";a:5:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"beta\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"development\";s: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=11835\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:102:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 3 is now available for testing. Help test to make the release as good as it can be.\";s: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:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6087:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 3 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site; install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features and get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 3 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta3.zip\">the beta version</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> If you use WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1 or Beta 2 to Beta 3 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta2</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta3 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which gets closer every minute. Your help testing this beta is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-2/\">Beta 2</a>,<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=11%2F30%2F2021..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\"> </a><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=12%2F08%2F2021..12%2F14%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\">14</a> bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 3:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor: Add FSE infrastructure from Gutenberg plugin into Core (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54335\">#54335</a>).</li><li>Formatting: Allow PDFs to embedded as objects (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54261\">#54261</a>)</li><li>Language switcher on the login screen (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43700\">#43700</a>)</li><li>REST API: Add navigation areas REST API endpoint from Gutenberg plugin (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54393\">#54393</a>)</li><li>Themes: Live Preview button bug (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54578\">#54578</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please post to the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\"> Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\"> bug report</a>, file one on<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"> WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"> known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For even more ways to test, you can also refer to<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\"> this official Full Site Editing post from @annezazu</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"got-questions-here-are-some-answers\"><strong>Got questions? Here are some answers</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\"> 5.9-related developer notes</a> that cover these items in detail. So far, contributors have fixed<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;group=component&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;resolution=fixed\"> 316 tickets in WordPress 5.9</a>, including<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;changetime=..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=changetime&amp;col=owner&amp;col=priority&amp;col=keywords&amp;order=changetime\"> 100 new features and enhancements</a>. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\" target=\"_blank\">&nbsp;</a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\" target=\"_blank\">@psykro</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\" target=\"_blank\">@estelaris</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" target=\"_blank\">@hellofromtonya</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" target=\"_blank\">@marybaum</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" target=\"_blank\">@webcommsat</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\" target=\"_blank\">@cbringmann</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>costdev</a>,</em> <em>and&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\" target=\"_blank\">@audrasjb</a></em>&nbsp;<em>for contributions to this post.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Filed under #release, #5.9, #beta</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11835\";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:75:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 2\";s: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:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-2/\";s: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, 07 Dec 2021 22:02:19 +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:8:\"category\";a:7:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"beta\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Beta 2\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"block 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:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"WP releases\";s: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=11794\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:125:\"Can you help test the latest software version of WordPress? 5.9 Beta 2 was published on 7 December 2021, help find any bugs. \";s: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:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6225:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 2 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site. Instead, install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features to get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 2 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the <strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\">WordPress Beta Tester</a> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta2.zip\"><strong>zip</strong></a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1 to Beta 2 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:<br></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One: </p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta1 </code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two: </p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code> wp core update --version=5.9-beta2 --force </code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which is just seven weeks away. Your help testing this version is a vital part of making this release as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-1/\"> </a><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-9-beta-1/\">Beta 1</a>, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=11%2F30%2F2021..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\">24</a> bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 2:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Block Editor: Remove navigation areas (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54506\">#54506</a>)</li><li>Block Editor: Navigation block view JavaScript error (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54456\">#54456</a>)</li><li>Block Editor: Block template theme error related to child themes (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54515\">#54515</a>)</li><li>General: Fixing existing links to Customizer when the Site Editor is enabled (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54460\">#54460</a>)</li><li>Media: Media library showing only the selected image (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53765\">#53765</a>)</li><li>Media: Fatal error uploading media on PHP8 (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54385\">#54385</a>)</li><li>REST API: Add Global Styles REST API endpoints from Gutenberg into Core (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54336\">#54336</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, note that some users testing 5.9 Beta 1 faced some fatal errors upon upgrade. In turn, these errors revealed the need for some extra work on the filesystem and upgrader.&nbsp;Those fatal errors are no longer a problem, and the enhancements will be part of version 6.0.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please post to the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\">bug report</a>, file one on <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"where-can-i-get-more-information\">Where can I get more information?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">5.9-related developer notes</a> that cover these items in detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;group=component&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;resolution=fixed\">305 tickets in WordPress 5.9</a>, including <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;changetime=..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=changetime&amp;col=owner&amp;col=priority&amp;col=keywords&amp;order=changetime\">110 new features and enhancements</a>. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to</em><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\"><em> </em></a><em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>psykro</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>estelaris</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>davidb</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a>, and </em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbiron/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>pbiron</a><em> for contributions to this post.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11794\";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:63:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"The Month in WordPress – November 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/month-in-wordpress-november-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 02 Dec 2021 11:30:09 +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:8:\"category\";a:3:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Month in WordPress\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"month in wordpress\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"the month in wordpress\";s: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=11763\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:334:\"Despite the holiday season being around the corner, the WordPress project didn’t slow down. In a recent episode of WP Briefing, Executive Director Josepha Haden shares the first thing she wants people to notice about WordPress, which is also the heart of this open source project: Now, the first thing I want people to see [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"Anjana Vasan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18257:\"\n<p>Despite the holiday season being around the corner, the WordPress project didn’t slow down. In a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-20-wordpressblogging/\">recent episode</a> of <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/\">WP Briefing</a>, Executive Director <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">Josepha Haden</a> shares the first thing she wants people to notice about WordPress, which is also the heart of this open source project:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Now, the first thing I want people to see on that site is that WordPress has not only 18 years of learned knowledge that every single new user benefits from, but that it also has thousands of really smart people making sure it works and gets better every day.</p><cite>Josepha Haden, Executive Director of the WordPress project</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As always, contributors across various teams are working hard to ensure the upcoming release of WordPress 5.9 doesn’t disappoint. With State of the Word 2021 coming up soon, there are many exciting things in the works. Read the November 2021 edition of the Month in WordPress to learn more about what’s happening.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-5-9-expected-to-release-on-january-25-2022\">WordPress 5.9: Expected to release on January 25, 2022</h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"309\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=632%2C309&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11764\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=1024%2C501&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=300%2C147&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=768%2C376&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=1536%2C752&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?w=1830&amp;ssl=1 1830w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The Core Team announced the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">WordPress 5.9 Revised Release Schedule</a>, and the release is now planned for January 25, 2022.</li><li><strong>WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 was recently released and is available for testing.</strong> This version of the WordPress software is under development. Check out the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-9-beta-1/\">release post</a> to learn more about what’s new in version 5.9 and how you can help testing.&nbsp;</li><li>Check out “<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/a-look-at-wordpress-5-9/\">A Look at WordPress 5.9</a>” for a first peek into the exciting features included in this major release.</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-8-2-security-and-maintenance-release/\">WordPress 5.8.2</a>, a security and maintenance release, was out on November 10, 2021. This release includes two bug fixes and one security fix.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong><strong>Are you interested in contributing to WordPress core?</strong> Join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW\">#core</a> channel, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Core Team blog</a>, and check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/\">team handbook</a>. Also, don&#8217;t miss the Core Team’s weekly developer chat on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\">8 PM</a> UTC.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gutenberg-releases-11-9-and-12-0-are-out\">Gutenberg releases: 11.9 and 12.0 are out</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Two new Gutenberg versions have been released!</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/12/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-9-0-10-november/\">Version 11.9.0</a> brings new Gutenberg blocks for working with post comments, a fullscreen pattern explorer modal, further iterations on the Navigation block, and many other improvements.</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/29/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-0-0-24-november/\">Gutenberg 12.0.0</a>, released on November 24, improves the Block Styles preview and includes featured image block visual enhancements, a site Editor welcome guide, official JSON schema updates, and much more.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Want to get involved in developing Gutenberg? </strong>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 the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/gutenberg-new/\">#gutenberg-new</a> for details on the latest updates.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"state-of-the-word-2021-join-a-watch-party-in-your-local-community\">State of the Word 2021: Join a watch party in your local community</h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"422\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=632%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"State of the Word 2021 Announcement, which will take place on December 14 between 5 pm and 7 pm ET (22 - 00 UTC).\" class=\"wp-image-11766\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">State of the Word 2021</a>, the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg, will be held on December 14, 2021 <a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">between 5 and 7 pm ET/10 pm – 12 am (December 15) UTC</a>. The event will be <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/join-us-for-state-of-the-word-2021-in-person-or-online/\">livestreamed from New York City</a>, and include a Question and Answer session.&nbsp;</li><li>Host or join a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/watch-state-of-the-word-at-a-watch-party-with-your-wordpress-friends/\">State of the Word watch party</a> to enjoy the event with your WordPress friends. Check <a href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\">Meetup</a> to see if a watch party is scheduled to be held in your local community!</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\"><strong>Add the event to your calendar</strong></a><strong> so you don’t miss State of the Word 2021!</strong> Want to ask Matt a question during State of the Word? Please send your questions ahead of time to <a>ask-matt@wordcamp.org</a> or ask them live during the event via YouTube chat.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"team-updates-nominations-for-some-team-representatives-are-still-underway\">Team updates: Nominations for some team representatives are still underway</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/Requests/releases/tag/v2.0.0\">Requests 2.0.0 has been released</a>. This release is fully compatible with PHP 8.0 and 8.1, indicating that a legacy codebase can be modernized, made more stable and secure <em>without</em> breaking backward-compatibility. The Requests project is a dependency of WordPress core, which was adopted into the WordPress organization earlier this year.&nbsp;</li><li>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress.org-2020-Annual-Survey.pdf\">2020 WordPress Annual Survey</a> results are available to be viewed.&nbsp;</li><li>The Core Team added <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/08/new-committers-2021/\">six new committers</a>.</li><li>Last month, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/11/22/2022-team-nominations-for-marketing/\">Marketing Team</a> opened its call for team representatives, joining <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/26/nominations-for-core-team-reps-2022/\">Core</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/10/27/nominations-call-for-the-themes-team-representatives/\">Themes</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/10/30/call-for-team-rep-nominations-3/\">Accessibility</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/10/team-representative-nominations/\">Support</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/hosting/2021/10/30/nominations-for-hosting-team-reps-2022/\">Hosting</a> from October 2021.</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/24/core-team-reps-for-2020-and-beyond-2/\">Core Team announced its new Team Rep for 2022</a> (and beyond).</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/10/08/moving-to-bi-weekly-meetings/\">Design Team</a> and the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/11/19/accessibility-team-meeting-notes-november-19-2021/\">Accessibility Team’s</a> meetings will be held bi-weekly moving forward.</li><li>The Marketing Team published the latest edition of <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/people-of-wordpress-devin-maeztri/\">People of WordPress, featuring Devin Maeztri</a> from Indonesia.</li><li>There’s an open call for suggestions for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/11/05/2022-goals-for-the-community-team-suggestions-invited/\">Global Community Team</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/11/16/team-goal-setting-2022/\">Training Team</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/11/11/2022-polyglots-planning/\">Polyglots</a> goals for 2022. Please drop your ideas by December 6, 2021.</li><li>The Accessibility Team has opened 1-2 <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1637775719355600\">volunteer positions</a> for the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/diverse-speaker-support/\">#diverse-speaker-support</a> channel.</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/11/22/polyglots-monthly-newsletter-november-2021/\">November 2021 edition</a> of the Polyglots monthly newsletter is out.&nbsp;</li><li>The Marketing Team welcomes any help to <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/11/17/help-promote-wordpress-meetups-each-week/\">promote WordPress Meetups</a> on a weekly basis and thus keep the community connected.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>We want to hear from you!</strong> Suggest your 2022 goals for the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/11/05/2022-goals-for-the-community-team-suggestions-invited/\">Global Community Team</a> by December 6, 2021.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"feedback-testing-requests-test-wordpress-5-9-beta-1-take-the-2021-annual-wordpress-survey-to-share-your-experience\">Feedback/Testing requests: Test WordPress 5.9 Beta 1; Take the 2021 Annual WordPress Survey to share your experience</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 is now available for testing and we’d like to hear from you! Testing is vital to ensure the release is as good as it can be—it’s also a great way to contribute. Read the comprehensive guide, “<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">Help test WordPress 5.9 Features</a>,” to learn how to test WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 and report any bugs.</li><li>There’s an open call for testing for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/11/16/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-18-7/\">WordPress iOS 18.7</a> and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/11/16/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-18-7/\">Android 18.7</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>The </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/take-the-2021-wordpress-annual-survey-and-view-the-2020-results/\"><strong>2021 WordPress Annual Survey</strong></a><strong> is out! </strong>Please respond to the survey, so <em>your</em> WordPress experience is reflected in the results.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"keep-an-eye-out-for-wordcamp-taiwan-and-sevilla-along-with-several-wordpress-workshops-in-december-2021\">Keep an eye out for WordCamp Taiwan and Sevilla, along with several WordPress workshops in December 2021</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Several <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/\">WordPress Social Learning Meetups</a> were held in November by the Training Team, and there will be more in December 2021.</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/tuesdaytrainings/\">Tuesday Training</a> sessions are paused until 2022.</li><li><a href=\"https://saopaulo.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp São Paulo</a> was held online on November 27, 2021.</li><li>Get excited for <a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Sevilla 2021</a>, coming up on December 11-12! Sevilla is the first in-person WordCamp happening in over 18 months, since WordCamps moved online in March 2020 due to COVID-19.</li><li>Don’t miss the following upcoming WordCamps: <a href=\"https://taiwan.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Taiwan 2021</a>, <a href=\"https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Birmingham 2022</a>, and <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Europe 2022</a>!</li><li>Check out the latest episodes of WordPress Briefing with Josepha Haden on<ul><li>“<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-21-all-things-block-themes/\">All Things Block Themes!</a>”</li><li>“<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-20-wordpressblogging/\">WordPress=Blogging+</a>”</li><li>“<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-19-the-people-of-wordpress/\">The People of WordPress</a>”</li></ul></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Give back to open source. </strong>Please donate to<a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/give-back-to-open-source-this-giving-tuesday/\"> the WordPress Foundation</a>’s mission this holiday season.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Have a story that we could include in the next ‘Month in WordPress’ post? Let us know&nbsp; by filling out </em></strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/\"><strong><em>this form</em></strong></a><strong><em>.&nbsp;</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to November 2021’s Month in WordPress: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/harishanker/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>harishanker</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/callye/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>callye</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/jrf/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>jrf</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a></em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11763\";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:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 1\";s: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:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-9-beta-1/\";s: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 Nov 2021 23:35:51 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";s: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=11584\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:307:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 is now available for testing! This version of the WordPress software is under development. You don’t want to run this version on a production site. Instead, it is recommended that you run this on a test site. This will allow you to test out the new version. You can test the [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10992:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This version of the WordPress software is under development</strong>. You don’t want to run this version on a production site. Instead, it is recommended that you run this on a test site. This will allow you to test out the new version.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Option 1: Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</li><li>Option 2: Direct download the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta1.zip\">beta version here (zip)</a>.</li><li>Option 3: Use WP-CLI to test: <code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta1</code>. <strong><em>Do not use this option if your filesystem is case-insensitive.</em></strong></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release is January 25, 2022, which is just eight weeks away. Your help testing this version is vital to make sure the release is as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">5.9-related developer notes</a> in the coming weeks which will break down all upcoming changes in greater detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help-testing\"><strong>How You Can Help – Testing!</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Testing for bugs is a critical part of polishing the release in the beta stage. It is also a great way to contribute. If you’ve never tested a beta release before, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">this detailed guide will help</a> walk you through what and how to test.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please report it to the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">Alpha/Beta area</a> in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">file one on WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To see every feature in the Gutenberg releases since WordPress 5.8, check out the What’s New In Gutenberg posts for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/10/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-8-9-june/\">10.8</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/24/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-9-23-june/\">10.9</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/09/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-0-0-9-july/\">11.0</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-1-0-21-july/\">11.1</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/\">11.2</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/18/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-3-18-august/\">11.3</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/01/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-4-1-september/\">11.4</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-5-16-september/\">11.5</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/01/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-6-29-september/\">11.6</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-7-october-13th/\">11.7</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/28/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-8-0-27-october/\">11.8</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/12/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-9-0-10-november/\">11.9</a>.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the noted changes, which include 580 enhancements and nearly 450 bug fixes, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\">297 tickets for WordPress 5.9</a>, including <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=owner&amp;col=priority&amp;col=changetime&amp;col=keywords&amp;order=changetime\">110 new features and enhancements</a>. More fixes are on the way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Want to know what’s new in version 5.9? Read on for some highlights.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"full-site-editing\"><strong><strong>Full Site Editing</strong></strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"styles-interface\">The <strong>Styles Interface</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Combine all the features that went live in 5.8 with those making their entrance in 5.9, and you get <strong>Full Site Editing.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Formerly known as Global Styles, the Styles Interface lets you interact directly with your blocks and elements right in the WordPress Admin. From typography to color palettes, this cohesive design interface means a design change—even a dramatic one—can happen without a theme switch. <strong>No code needed.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"theme-json\"><strong>Theme.json</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Introduced in WordPress 5.8, theme.json has been improved to enable features and default styles for your site and its blocks. With 5.9, theme.json can support child themes and the duotone treatment. Coordinate layers of style with theme.json, taking the weight off of your theme’s required CSS.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other features supported by theme.json include: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Border:</strong> color, style, and width augment the border-radius property that landed in 5.8.</li><li><strong>Flex layouts:</strong> Block Gap support, courtesy of spacing.blockGap.</li><li><strong>Typography:</strong> font families, font style, font weight, text decoration, and text transform.</li><li><strong>Images</strong>: Duotones.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"a-new-navigation-block\"><strong>A New Navigation Block</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to the most intuitive way to build navigation: the Navigation Block.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the features that need testing the most:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Responsive menu options you can turn off, have always on, or opt to use only for small screens.</li><li>Built-in keyboard accessibility.&nbsp; For accessibility, for speed, or both.</li><li>Add extra blocks like Search and Site Icon blocks (and customize them to your liking).</li><li>Submenu items with styling options.</li><li>Horizontal or vertical alignment.</li><li>Reusable navigation? Even across themes? Yes. Because the Navigation Block you build gets saved as a custom post type.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"a-better-gallery-block\"><strong>A Better Gallery Block</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>What if you could treat single images in your Gallery Block the same way you treat the Image Block? <strong>Now you can.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p> Make every image in your gallery different from the next, with inline cropping or a duotone and change layouts with the ease of drag and drop. With the improved gallery block, every image is its own Image block.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>One thing to note: </strong>Have you built a plugin or theme on the Gallery Block functionality?<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/20/gallery-block-refactor-dev-note/\"> Be sure to review this Dev Note, which details what you need to do for compatibility</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"focused-template-part-mode\"><strong>Focused Template Part Mode</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Building template parts can take a level of focus all its own because you’re making decisions for the entire site. So WordPress 5.9 adds a focus mode that shows you only the part you’re working on right now (and you can get back to the regular view with a keystroke).&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"block-pattern-directory\"><strong>Block Pattern Directory</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/patterns/\">Pattern Directory</a> offers a range of prebuilt block patterns, from a couple of blocks that show an image and text, to an entire page layout with columns and sections. Since the 5.8 release, the directory has become a hub for exploratory UI and patterns, taking submissions and offering them to the community. So now, your creation can help other people build out their perfect site.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"twenty-twenty-two-default-theme\"><strong>Twenty Twenty-Two Default Theme</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A whole new way of building WordPress themes.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 introduces features that make Full Site Editing possible, including <strong>the first default block theme</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using minimal CSS, theme styles reside in theme.json so that you can configure them in the Styles interface of the WordPress Admin. Make this theme take on its own personality site-wide, with a wide array of color schemes, type combinations, page templates, premade components (forms), and image treatments to choose from.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"more-improvements-and-updates\"><strong>More Improvements and Updates</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Do you love to blog? New tweaks to the publishing flow let you add new posts just seconds after hitting Publish on your latest post.</li><li>List View lets you drag and drop content as easily as you could always cruise through it – and collapse entire sections – so you can concentrate on a task or get the bigger picture.</li><li><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33955\">The Buttons and Social icons blocks now absorb</a> and display their parent block’s toolbar controls.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43700\">Choose your language</a> on the login screen.</li><li>More <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33868\">performance improvements</a> (i.e., speed).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>chanthaboune</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/priethor/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>priethor</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>psykro</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>annezazu</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>davidbaumwald</a>, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a> for their research and copy.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11584\";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:72:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"People of WordPress: Devin Maeztri\";s: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/2021/11/people-of-wordpress-devin-maeztri/\";s: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 Nov 2021 22:21:09 +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:8:\"category\";a:6:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Community\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Interviews\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"Contributor Story\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Indonesia\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:19:\"People of WordPress\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"Polyglot Contributor\";s: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=11678\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:111:\"Devin Maeztri, a campaigner from Indonesia talks about the difference WordPress makes in her life and her work.\";s: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:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:16562:\"\n<p>In this series, we share some of the inspiring stories of how WordPress and its global network of contributors can change people&#8217;s lives for the better. This month we feature a translator and campaigner who uses WordPress to highlight good causes and helps people in her area benefit from the open source platform.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"843\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat.jpg?resize=632%2C843&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Devin pictured with one of her cats\" class=\"wp-image-11690\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>Going to a WordCamp can be a life-changing experience, as Devin Maeztri discovered. Every event she attends is a further step on a journey of discovering the WordPress community and its many opportunities.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>“It is not that hard to fall for WordPress if you have a chance to experience WordPress. For me, it took a WordCamp.”</p><cite>Devin Maeztri</cite></blockquote></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin&#8217;s first experience with camps came when she volunteered impromptu at an Indonesian event, WordCamp Denpasar, Bali in 2016.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, she made a profound discovery: “WordCamps can bring people who will give back to the community, even if they don’t get anything from WordPress directly.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With every WordCamp after that first experience, she became more interested in WordPress and the community.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time, Devin found she wanted to be part of WordPress events more often. She became a regular at Meetups in Ubud and Jakarta, joining as a co-organizer at WordCamp Jakarta in 2017 and 2019. Later, she took on the role of co-organizer for Meetups in Jakarta and Ubud.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smitten by what WordCamps can offer and how they can bring people together across national borders, she joined the organizing team for WordCamp Asia 2020. Sadly, this event was to become the first major WordPress event to be cancelled in the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Naturally, Devin hopes WordCamp Asia will happen someday very soon. Beyond the expected WordPress learning and sharing that event will promote, she believes its very scale will showcase how WordCamps add international tourism and cultural understanding everywhere they take place.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"632\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=632%2C632&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Devin pictured with other WordCamp Asia organizers who attended WordCamp Europe in 2019\" class=\"wp-image-11692\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption>WordCamp Asia 2020 Organizers at WordCamp Europe 2019. Devin is pictured in the front row, second from left. Photo Credit: Abha Thakor</figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"showing-how-wordpress-can-be-used-locally\">Showing how WordPress can be used locally</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After experiencing several events, Devin had questions: “At WordCamps and Meetups, you hear stories about how WordPress powers the web. How it changes the lives of so many people, how it helps dreams come true. It made me think, considering WordPress is that powerful, why are there not even more people in Indonesia using websites, and more using WordPress? Why aren’t more talented Indonesian WordPress users, developers, designers, and business owners taking part in WordPress.org projects? Language, for me, was the main answer.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The solution Devin felt was to make WordPress available in the main local language. She said: “I believe, the more content translated into Indonesian, the more Indonesian WordPress users see WordPress as more than just a blogging platform or a content management system. They will realize it’s a huge open source community that works together to make the web a better place. The more plugins and themes translated, the easier the work of the developer and designer will be. The more people see how WordPress can enhance their life, the better the ecosystem for business owners becomes.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"encouraging-others-to-translate-wordpress\">Encouraging others to translate WordPress</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After talking with others about how WordPress could be even more useful in Indonesia, Devin felt she had to make a personal commitment to reviving the polyglot project in Indonesia. With another volunteer contributor and through promotion, the local polyglot team got bigger and the interest in translation grew. She also took on the responsibility of a General Translation Editor for the language.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"318\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=632%2C318&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Polyglot nominatee - Devin Maeztri\" class=\"wp-image-11706\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=1024%2C515&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=300%2C151&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=768%2C386&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?w=1247&amp;ssl=1 1247w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the efforts of Devin and the other translation editors, Indonesia took part in <a href=\"https://wptranslationday.org/\">WordPress Translation Day</a> in 2020, and in 2021 held sprints and learning sessions spanning the whole 30 days of the event. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her enthusiasm and dedication to helping others translate WordPress locally and promoting the global community were recognized in the Polyglot Appreciation Nominations for 2021. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"helping-to-give-access-to-more-diverse-audiences\">Helping to give access to more diverse audiences</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Through her involvement in translation, Devin noticed there were not many women involved in the WordPress community in Indonesia. Often, she found herself the only woman at an event.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, along with a couple of community members, she started Perempuan WordPress, a local initiative. This group is open for everyone to join, but prioritizes women as event speakers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin has gone on to support the work of the Diversity Speaker Training group in the Community Team, translating materials and promoting initiatives in Indonesia.&nbsp;She is keen to encourage others to get involved with this initiative which helps increase the diversity of presenters at Meetups and WordCamps. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"534\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-at-wc-jakarta2019.png?resize=600%2C534&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11689\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-at-wc-jakarta2019.png?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-at-wc-jakarta2019.png?resize=300%2C267&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption><em>Organizing at WordCamp Jakarta 2019</em></figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>In her professional roles, Devin is an advocate for WordPress as a tool for people with a wide variety of skill sets. She does not code, but uses the platform extensively for her projects. In 2014, she signed up for a free account on WordPress.com to keep and share notes about what she saw or was thinking about as she commuted on public transport to work. This site did not turn into a blog, but instead introduced her to other opportunities and the vast capabilities of the platform.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-can-support-your-skills-and-passions\">WordPress can support your skills and passions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With a background in environmental activism, Devin has worked for international development organizations on everything from policymaking to campaigning.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind the desk, she worked with policymakers and organized conferences and meetings. That meant doing a lot of writing and translating and working with people on the ground who were impacted by the policies. “My work on the ground usually involved researching, movement building and community empowerment,” she noted.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her work with events inspired Devin to get involved in WordCamps and Meetups and share her energy for making things happen. As in her professional work, she felt WordPress was an opportunity to work and share with people about something that can make a positive impact on someone else’s life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“For me, everything comes from the heart. I do things that I feel so strongly about. Things that call me, and things that I am good at but still giving me room to learn and become better at. WordPress can be the perfect place for this.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While she was between jobs, Devin was encouraged to volunteer at WordCamp Denpasar 2016. With some help, she created an online CV. She also learned to manage a WordPress site, navigate the wp-admin, and make the content appeal to potential employers.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She eventually got a job as a campaigner to build a movement online and offline. The brainchild of many university friends in America, who used digital campaigns to go global, the campaign used WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin worked alongside a digital campaigner and helped shape the content, the call to action, and the user experience. She also had to use the wp-admin to make some amendments. As a global movement, it developed its resources in English, so she also reviewed the work of the translators she worked with.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"474\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation.jpg?resize=632%2C474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"One of Devin\'s cats watches the WPTranslationDay 2021 livestreamed events.\" class=\"wp-image-11688\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption>Devin&#8217;s cat became a regular on social media posts about #WPTranslationDay 2021</figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>She left her job as a campaigner at the end of 2018 to concentrate on freelancing – and to spend more of her free time contributing to the WordPress community. She also took up the initiative to help street cats in Jakarta.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin said: “So, I am busy helping these cats but also learning how to fundraise using a website. I’m learning to use online forms, set up a payment service provider, work on SEO, and do other new things I need to learn to grow my initiative. I do have the privilege to learn directly from a personal guru. The same person who convinced me to volunteer at WordCamp Denpasar, and who I married in 2018.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-gives-everyone-a-chance-to-learn\">WordPress gives everyone a chance to learn</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin was so enthused by being a contributor for WordPress, she took part in the video shorts following the Translation Day events.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/VsiQzdmAz8g?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div><figcaption>Devin talks about translating in this short <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsiQzdmAz8g\" target=\"_blank\">video</a> (opens in a new tab on YouTube)</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>She is also active in other Contributor Teams and decided to become a Community Team Deputy to support meetups in new cities across Indonesia and perhaps future WordCamps.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She said: “One of the things that I like about WordPress is that it is very welcoming and open to people like me, who don’t code at all. At the same time, it shows me a different way of looking at the world.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin believes in the power of WordPress to give ‘everyone a chance to learn new things’ and allows her to contribute and share her knowledge and experience. “By contributing, I hope to make a difference in someone’s life. I hope they feel the benefit of using WordPress and want to give back to create a healthier WordPress community.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"contributors\">Contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to Abha Thakor (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">@</a><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">webcommsat</a>) and Mary Baum (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a>) for the interviews and writing this feature, and to Devin Maeztri (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/devinmaeztri/\">@devinmaeztri</a>) for sharing her story. Thanks to Meher Bala (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\">@meher</a>) for work on the images, and to Chloé Bringmann (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">@cbringmann</a>) and Collieth Clarke (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/callye/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>callye</a>) for proofing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp;(@<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">chanthaboune</a>) and Topher DeRosia (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/\">@topher1kenobe</a>) for their support for the series.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on </em><a href=\"https://heropress.com/\"><em>HeroPress.com</em></a><em>, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard. </em>#HeroPress #ContributorStory</p>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11678\";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:55:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:49:\"WP Briefing: Episode 21: All Things Block Themes!\";s: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/2021/11/episode-21-all-things-block-themes/\";s: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 Nov 2021 12:07:00 +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:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11636\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:436:\"In episode 21 of the WordPress Briefing, Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, talks all things block themes with developers and theme specialists Maggie Cabrera and Jeff Ong. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor:&#160;Dustin Hartzler Logo:&#160;Beatriz Fialho Production:&#160;Chloé Bringmann Song: Fearless [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WP-Briefing-021.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:26887:\"\n<p>In episode 21 of the WordPress Briefing, Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, talks all things block themes with developers and theme specialists Maggie Cabrera and Jeff Ong.</p>\n\n\n\n<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>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/17/wordpress-5-9-beta-1-delayed/\">5.9 Beta 1 Delay Announcement </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">5.9 Revised Release Schedule</a></li><li><a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Sevilla 2021</a></li><li>Charitable Giving: <ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/donate/\">WordPress Foundation</a></li><li><a href=\"https://donate.bigorangeheart.org/\">Big Orange Heart</a></li><li><a href=\"https://heropressnetwork.com/support/\">HeroPress</a> <em>(Update: This organization is not a non-profit.)</em></li></ul></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11636\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. See, here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, today, folks, in our podcast, I am joined by a couple of special guests. I know it&#8217;s been a bit since I&#8217;ve had a guest, so I&#8217;m very excited to introduce you to who I have with me today. Today, I have <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/onemaggie/\">Maggie Cabrera</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jffng/\">Jeff Ong</a>. They both are working on themes, and especially the future of themes as we move into this low code, no code block based experience of editing things in WordPress. And there have been so many questions lately about what does the landscape of being a theme developer turns into once we move fully into this excellent promise of user empowerment for Gutenberg? I figured who best to come and talk to us about that than these two. So welcome, Maggie. Welcome, Jeff. I&#8217;m really excited to have this conversation with you today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>01:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for having us. Excited to be here.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:45</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m just gonna hop right in, and we will see what happens. The first thing that I want to chat about, I hear so many questions and so much discussion about patterns in a lot of different places. Like obviously, the work that I helped to steward the most is around like the Block Pattern directory and various other user-facing tools. And so I have never really been able to give a really solid answer about like patterns and how they work inside themes. And so I wondered if you all had anything that you could offer to our listeners to help clarify what is the power of patterns inside themes in the future? Implementation of themes?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>02:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can try to start unless, Maggie? Okay. Well, if you take a look at what I&#8217;ve been doing for the last couple of months working on Twenty Twenty-Two. And if you look at that theme, it&#8217;s mostly just the collection of patterns. Patterns. As you know, if you read the description, the theme, it&#8217;s designed to be the most flexible and kind of like flexible theme ever, dare I say ever created.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:04</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think you can dare to say it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>03:03</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, you know, I think a huge part of that is because of the Full Site Editing being launched, introduced in 5.9. And also that theme itself ships with all of these patterns in it that work with the overall design, but really can be configured to your own kind of unique liking and kind of taste and ultimately, what you want to accomplish, whether that&#8217;s I want to make a portfolio, I want to make, you know, a single-page website promoting like my podcast, or there are patterns for that kind of shipping with the theme. And they&#8217;ve all been kind of designed and tailored to work with the typography choices at a baseline level with the color choices at a baseline level, but can very easily be tweaked. And you can kind of rely on them to work with the editor. And I guess, kind of zooming out for a little bit, not just about Twenty-Twenty Two.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>04:04</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But like patterns as this idea that a theme, hopefully, what it is, it&#8217;s a collection of different design options or layout options that are ultimately presented as patterns to the user, the patterns are just a really easy way to basically say &#8220;I want you this layout, like two columns of text or with like some images here.&#8221; Basically, a theme becomes a way of packaging the patterns together in a way that feels like a coherent piece of a coherent website. And I think that&#8217;s a pretty powerful idea. I know that the patterns directory is also opening up making those patterns pretty widely available. But I think a theme you could think of as like a curation of those patterns in a way that makes sense. And I think Twenty-Twenty Two is a really good example. I mean, I&#8217;m biased.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:03</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also think it&#8217;s a good example. Maggie, did you have anything that you wanted to add to that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>05:08</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, What I really like about patterns is how it empowers the user, even if they don&#8217;t really have like a deep knowledge of code, or they&#8217;re not used to the more complex blocks. When the theme developer gives you this pattern about using the query block, for example, it lays out your posts in a very compelling manner. And you can edit it if you want it or just use it out of the box. And you have this dynamic blog that it&#8217;s, like, such a big important part of your website. Like if you want to have a page where you have, you have maybe a podcast website, and you want to showcase your podcasts differently than your regular blog posts. So you can use a different gray pattern for that. And it&#8217;s like, really, really easy to use, even if you&#8217;re not familiar with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:07</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the things that I have found compelling about this new version of themes and kind of the way that themes are planning to look in the future; it&#8217;s going to be like a super throwback, so everyone get ready for me to sound old, my guests and my listeners alike. It reminds me of my original days of blogging on the web. I was not a developer and even though I had this really short stint of working with JavaScript in my career, at some point. Like no one actually would ever look to me and be like, that one is excellent at design and fixing everything with code, like I was just killer at searching for the right pieces of code, right.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:57</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I remember sitting there on Zynga, which is, of course, now powered by WordPress, I absolutely just went out and found bundles of code that are now what we would consider themes and modified the small pieces that I needed to change in order to like really suit what I wanted to have happen on the site at the time. And they&#8217;re like, I knew I could break it all. Really easily. But also, it was, it was not scary to think about breaking it. Like it was clear how I could fix it if I really broke it. The content, like what I had written, was separate from everything to do with the way that it was looking. And so like, I wouldn&#8217;t destroy all of my work, just because I didn&#8217;t put a semicolon in the right place, or whatever it was in that moment. And so like, this future of themes really reminds me of this a lot where someone has curated how it can look how it should look. And you can just like add in modular pieces that will augment what was already intended, but still kind of work. And if it&#8217;s not gonna work, it&#8217;s kind of easy to fix too. So like, I&#8217;m excited. That was a really exciting time in my learning of the web and certainly was formative in my career, as we all now see. And so yeah, I think that&#8217;s really exciting.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:20</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did have actually another question that this conversation has kind of brought up for me. I have, obviously just use the term modular, which no one has ever used in the context of themes for WordPress. And I know that there is a lot there are a lot of terms kind of wandering around about themes right now. And especially as we&#8217;re moving into what themes can look like in the future. There was block based theme as a term for a while. And now it&#8217;s block themes. There was like this floating around the term, universal themes. And now we&#8217;re looking at just like block themes forever. And so I wondered if y&#8217;all could give us a just like a clear understanding of these terms that had been being used and maybe are going out of fashion? Like, are they important for us to keep knowing?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>09:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So yes, the history of terms around themes. And obviously, even my knowledge only goes back so far. But it was around when we started doing the block based themes meeting. And trying to I think that&#8217;s where that term kind of came from is like, oh, let&#8217;s, let&#8217;s start talking about this idea that themes can be completely made up out of blocks. And what does that mean?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>09:33</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think over time, it wasn&#8217;t just block themes, because, you know, previously, there were themes and even default themes that used and took into account the fact that blocks existed. So there was some confusion there. Enough time has gone on where we focus on this idea that themes whose templates are ultimately made out of blocks are block themes. And to me, it&#8217;s kind of as simple as that. Its themes that supply a set of templates that previously in the past were a collection of PHP and various template tags and whatnot is all transitioned to themes made up including other blocks, as well as themes that supply styles through theme.json configuration instead of supplying it in raw CSS. To me this idea is really crystallizing around like this is a block theme, one that is really, at its core, supplying a set of templates, and styles through a language that WordPress understands natively, and can allow it to be configured and customized in a really powerful way. And then maybe someday in the future, they&#8217;ll just be called themes again. If we do a good enough they will just be called themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>10:57</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m gonna, I&#8217;m gonna take us into a philosophical area now that you&#8217;ve just put us in there. You said, someday they&#8217;ll be called Themes. Again, I&#8217;ve talked about this on this podcast a few times. And for anyone who&#8217;s worked with me for any length of time, like you all probably heard this from me as well. But like, adjectives are so frequently the realm of things that are not what you expect, right? Because like you have coffee, and then decaf coffee, no one&#8217;s like caffeinated coffee, because that&#8217;s what you expect out of it. And so when you&#8217;re like themes, and block themes, it makes it look like block themes are secondary, which at the moment, they are, ish. But in the future, I think you&#8217;re probably right, there will be a time when the modifier isn&#8217;t necessary anymore because it will be hopefully a much better way for people to kind of change the way that their themes work and make it more usable for users and people who are, you know, having to manage their own site without necessarily wanting to or being able to, like, have a Maggie in the room to fix everything that they break.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>12:08</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maggie is nowhere near me. And so she&#8217;s never been in the room when I&#8217;ve broken anything. But I believe that Maggie on one occasion, at least, has come in and helped me fix something that I definitely broke. I&#8217;m an excellent breaker of WordPress things. Maggie, did you have anything you wanted to add to that question?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>12:29</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I guess, maybe clarify a bit, what universal themes are because, yeah, maybe some people have heard about the term but they don&#8217;t really know what they are. And maybe just clarify that. The term was born when developing block themes wasn&#8217;t something that you could actually do for production websites like you could build them to test some experiments, but they weren&#8217;t really ready for users to use. So universal themes want to grasp the power of love themes while still being ready for users. So the way they do it is they are block based, like we used to call them in the sense that the templates are made of blocks. But they are also able to be customized using the customizer, which is the old way of customizing themes, instead of using the site editor. So they can have a balance between two worlds between the worlds of classic themes and block themes. But they are, at heart, a temporary concept. They are bound to be blocked themes in the future, but with maybe a foot in the past, where they can actually serve users who are not ready for full-on site editor. But they are bound to be full block themes in the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>14:00</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s a really interesting concept in there. So universal themes, it sounds like are basically kind of like an on-ramp for people who are not really ready to fully commit to this for any number of reasons. Like we never want to say that we know the reason that people would be a little bit shy to get started with this. But like it&#8217;s kind of like an on-ramp, it&#8217;s a safe way to get back to something that they do know, in the event that what they don&#8217;t know, really hinders their progress makes it hard for them to get the work done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>14:31</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think I wouldn&#8217;t say that they are for people shyer to get into new stuff rather than developers who want to embrace the new stuff before it&#8217;s even really ready. They really want to embrace the power of the blocks instead of doing things the old way. But even if it&#8217;s not fully ready.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>14:54</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They still need to support the old way of doing things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>14:58</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like being backward compatible and being ready for any kind of user.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>15:05</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So mostly for developers, everyone who heard me just talking about how it was a great thing for users, ignore it. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>15:12</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s also good for users; If they feel secure in using the customizer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>15:20</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I think that there&#8217;s something important here that we certainly learned with the adoption of Gutenberg in 5.0. Right, which is that there is certainly one method of helping people to adopt things, which is to go like the art of war style, and kind of smash their rice pots and burn all their boats, like, that&#8217;s one way. Which works for a lot of companies in the world, I&#8217;m sure. But WordPress has always had kind of a commitment, not even kind of, has always had a commitment to backward compatibility. And like, we know that a lot of the work on Gutenberg is going to represent some breaking changes around the around workflows and around the user experience the interface, especially like, we know that. But the opportunity to like have a thing that gives you an early taste of what&#8217;s coming but also the ability to keep kind of working in your old space where you need to, I think it&#8217;s an excellent way to bring people forward into the future of things, I have never been a fan of the just like cut off all avenues and hope that they stay with your method because of course, like you can&#8217;t cut off all the methods. You can&#8217;t cut off all the ways people can get away from you. And even if we could, it wouldn&#8217;t be in line with how WordPress hopes to kind of help people through some tough stuff like making your first website is hard. If you are doing it as part of, an overall campaign that&#8217;s supposed to bring in leads for you or generate revenue like you don&#8217;t want to necessarily play with that in a way that could break things and be risky for you in the long term. So I think all the tools that we offer to help people kind of move forward with the technology move forward with the CMS as it&#8217;s moving forward, I think it&#8217;s really smart. And so universal themes are one of those things, but also not around to stay. As we move into non modified themes, just the word themes that happen to be based in blocks. If I&#8217;ve confused anyone, please email me at wpbriefing@wordpress.org. And tell me how I confused you. And I will do a follow-up to unconfuse everyone.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>17:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So speaking of the way that we help people kind of move forward with WordPress and with the technology. So much has been done in the CMS in the past 12 months in the past 18 months to be able to move themes into this same future as the rest of the editor. Right. So like, for folks who have not been listening to me for the last five years, you may not know this. So I&#8217;m going to tell everybody now, like one of the pain points that Gutenberg overall is solving is the fact that you for a long time had to learn five different editing interfaces to get one thing done in WordPress, right. And so like the advent of blocks and moving it into more and more spaces in the CMS is intended to really flatten the editing experience by making the type of user interaction the type of workflow really similar across all of the editing interfaces in the CMS. And so themes are a natural extension of that, where we can take similar user patterns and workflows, and work them out into themes. So over the last 12 months or so probably a little bit more, there&#8217;s been a lot of work on the CMS to move us forward in that that is now enabling the work that we want to be able to do to move things forward ahead. And so, I mean, this is probably our last question. Is there anything that you all want to offer to people who maybe saw themes early on or saw Gutenberg early on and felt like this is just not for me, in that in that context of like, how far it&#8217;s moved ahead in the past 12 months or so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>19:23</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you&#8217;re asking like, what in the last 12 months has maybe like really surprised me or like sticks out to me as something that like, Wow, look how far we&#8217;ve come?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>19:36</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, yeah. So like, if you&#8217;re looking at what is the one thing that you saw in the last 12 months, that changed in the CMS that really enabled something wonderful for themes or from the other side of it. Like if someone had looked at themes or WordPress 18 months ago, and now they&#8217;re looking at it and seeing this new and different way to do things with the look and feel of their site, like what is one thing that they should be aware of? On either side of that question,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>20:05</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think there&#8217;s more than one thing that has really evolved through this last year, year and a half. Like the maturity of some of the blocks is astounding now, like navigation blog, for example, was really bare-bones at the start and now it&#8217;s full potential, and it&#8217;s really looking really great. I would say the same thing about those days or the features on fire, like how basic it was at the start, was full potential. But now it&#8217;s really, really mature in terms of how much you can do with it. Like, I think the example, the perfect example of that is the work that <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/\">Kjell [Reigstad]</a> has done on Twenty-Twenty Two with the alternative theme.json files, where just changing that file basically feels like a new theme, with just the configuration and the styles. And without writing any CSS without changing any templates. It&#8217;s really, really amazing how that can turn into a reality. And it&#8217;s so easy for users to tinker with that if they want to. And it&#8217;s much easier than having to delve deep into CSS and changing everything in like 2000 lines of code.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>21:23</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I probably would echo most of that. What the thing that astounds me is global styles and how the UI can be shipping a theme or default theme with basically like, 20 lines of CSS, and have it be one of them. A beautiful, beautiful, like crisp and sharp, like, experience. It&#8217;s super fast. And it&#8217;s like, what this is a theme, you know, I thought a theme was supposed to supply all the styles like no, like, it&#8217;s just yeah. And workers do for you. Exactly. And like that. That&#8217;s pretty amazing to think in the last 12 months, we can go from, you know, shipping 1000s of lines of CSS to you none, it&#8217;s like, Wow, pretty cool.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>22:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, my friends, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been a really interesting conversation. I hope that all y&#8217;all out listening. Also find it interesting. As I mentioned, if you have any follow-up questions, absolutely. Send them to me via email. And I collect all of my questions that I get through the year for answering at the end of the year, mostly because I don&#8217;t get lots of questions that people want to be answered on this. Everyone just asked me their questions on Twitter and in Slack, which is fine as well.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>22:41</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, Maggie, Jeff, thank you both for joining me. And I&#8217;m sure that we&#8217;ll talk to you all again soon.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>22:56</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That brings us now to our small list of big things. In the last episode, I got all excited about being in the beta phase. But today, I&#8217;m rolling that back a little bit. As part of our usual open source processes, a group of contributors did a deep dive review on the WordPress 5.9 release and found a workflow that needed some refinement. So we are delaying the beta.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>23:19</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since we are in the midst of a major commerce slash/sales season, and of course, a lengthy holiday season, that delay also means that it makes sense to delay WordPress 5.9 final release a little as well. And so we are delaying that all the way into 2022 to January 25. For me, the trade-off works really well there. Every decision that we make in open source, of course, has some balance to it. It&#8217;s great for these aspects, it is less great for these aspects over here. But for myself, the opportunity to make sure that we have a really excellent experience for our users and also an opportunity to kind of avoid all of the chaos and hustle and bustle of the end of the year. Really, it seemed like a no-brainer for me. So in case you want to learn a little bit more about why we made the decision and get some insight into the actual milestones and where they have moved now, I&#8217;ll include some posts in the show notes below in case you want to read more and of course, if you have any additional questions you can always ask.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>24:33</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second small list of big things is that the first back to people WordCamp. I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re calling it. Our first back to people WordCamp is happening in a couple of weeks actually. WordCamp Sevilla is happening in person on December 11. And I&#8217;m so excited I wish I were local, but I&#8217;m not so if you are local stop by their website and pick up your ticket.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>24:55</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the third thing on our smallest a big things is that it is, of course, charitable giving season. I don&#8217;t know if you do your charitable giving at the end of the year or if that&#8217;s even part of your general ways of giving back. But I can think of two or three charitable organizations inside the WordPress ecosystem. There&#8217;s of course the WordPress Foundation, but also Big Orange Heart and HeroPress. If there are others out there, I certainly do want to know about them. WordPress Foundation also does additional giving on behalf of just like the open web and open source as a whole. So if you&#8217;re the sort of person who does their charitable giving at the end of the year, just a reminder that you have some options inside the WordPress ecosystem if you were trying to figure out some new places to donate to in 2021.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>25:42</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that is your small list of big things. Thank you so much for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. Thank you again to our special guests, Maggie and Jeff. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11636\";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:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"Watch State of the Word at a Watch Party with your WordPress Friends\";s: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:104:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/watch-state-of-the-word-at-a-watch-party-with-your-wordpress-friends/\";s: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 Nov 2021 18:30:14 +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:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Events\";s: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=11641\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:322:\"State of the Word 2021 is just around the corner!&#160; Although attending State of the Word in person would be ideal, not all WordPress community members get to enjoy the experience of attending the speech live with friends.&#160; This year, as State of the Word is streamed live for the second time, we want to [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20064:\"\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">State of the Word 2021</a> is just around the corner!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although attending State of the Word in person would be ideal, not all WordPress community members get to enjoy the experience of attending the speech live with friends.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, as State of the Word is streamed live for the second time, we want to restore that in person camaraderie through State of the Word watch parties for WordPress Community members around the world.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><strong>We encourage WordPress meetup organizers and community members worldwide to (safely) host State of the Word 2021 watch parties —</strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/\"><strong>read this handbook to learn more</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"why-organize-a-watch-party\">Why organize a watch party?&nbsp;</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>If you are a <a href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\">WordPress meetup</a> organizer, many folks in your meetup may be unaware of the State of the Word, and a watch party could be a great opportunity to introduce or remind them.</li><li>As meetup organizers slowly bid goodbye to a tough year, the watch party could be an excellent opportunity to revitalize your group, especially if you haven’t had many events this year.</li><li>Along with your Meetup group members, you get a platform to ask questions directly to Matt Mullenweg.</li><li>And last but not least, even if you are not a Meetup Organizer, a watch party can be the perfect opportunity to reconnect and have a blast with your WordPress friends!</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-do-i-organize-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party\">How do I organize a State of the Word watch party?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can choose to host a watch party online or in person. Check out <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/#schedule-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party-for-your-meetup\">our handbook</a> for detailed instructions on how to schedule an event (including event templates).</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3 id=\"online\">Online</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The simplest way to organize an online watch party is to schedule an online event for your WordPress group and add the State of the Word YouTube streaming link directly on Meetup.com. Alternatively, you can schedule an online meeting using tools like Zoom and broadcast the live stream over there by screen sharing––thereby facilitating better engagement. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61e58cfe57695 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/#organizing-an-online-watch-party\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Organize an Online Watch Party</a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3 id=\"in-person\">In Person</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If your region meets <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/\">the guidelines for in person events</a> (if vaccines and testing are freely available), you can organize an in person watch party event (for fully vaccinated OR recently tested OR recently recovered folks) for your WordPress Meetup! Group members can hang out together (following local safety guidelines of course) and watch State of the Word live.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61e58cfe579af wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/#organizing-an-in-person-watch-party\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Plan an In person Watch Party</a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NOTE:</strong> If State of the Word is happening at an odd hour in your timezone, you can still organize a watch party by organizing a replay of live stream, at a date/time that is convenient for your group.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>If your Local WordPress Meetup is organizing an in person watch party, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/request-swag-for-in-person-watch-parties/\"><strong>fill out this form</strong></a><strong> so that we can ship some swag for your group to celebrate!</strong><br>Deadline: November 30, 2021</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-else-do-i-need-to-know-about-organizing-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party\">What else do I need to know about organizing a State of the Word watch party?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Excited? To help you get started, we’ve put together a few resources:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Check out this </strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/\"><strong>handbook</strong></a><strong> for detailed instructions on how to organize a watch party, </strong>be it online or in person.</li><li>Looking for a Zoom Pro account to host your online watch party?&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/getting-started/special-virtual-events-zoom-request/\">Request a community zoom pro account</a>&nbsp;for your event right away!</li><li>We have prepared some <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/email-templates-for-state-of-the-word/\">email templates</a> that Meetup Organizers can use to spread the word in their Meetup groups.</li><li>Don’t forget to share on social media about your watch party events using the hashtag <strong>#StateOfTheWord</strong> so we can join in on the fun!</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><strong>NOTE: </strong> The guidelines in this post are primarily aimed at WordPress Meetup organizers. <strong>However, you do not need to be a Meetup organizer to schedule a watch party!</strong> You can simply hang out together with your friends online or in person (while following local safety guidelines) and catch the event live!</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"join-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party-near-you\">Join a State of the Word Watch Party near you!</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We have compiled a list of State of the Word Watch Parties around the world. If you don&#8217;t see a watch party in your region listed here, <a href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">check this page on Meetup.com</a>  to see if your local WordPress group is organizing one. If not, why don&#8217;t you consider organizing a watch party on your own? <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f642.png\" alt=\"🙂\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC\">WordPress NYC Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC/events/282276960/\" target=\"_blank\">An In Person MeetUp: The State of the Word 2021 is in Manhattan.</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup\">South Jersey WordPress Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup/events/282402090/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Morris County NJ WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group/events/282402069/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Montclair Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup/events/282326195/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv\">WordPress Santa Clarita Valley</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv/events/282056842/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">The Houston WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress/events/282402609/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/\">North East Ohio WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/events/282456476/\">State of Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup\">Birmingham WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup/events/282313212/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Lehigh Valley WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup/events/282304472/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/\">Metro Detroit WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/events/282519538/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp\" target=\"_blank\">Greater Milwaukee Area WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp/events/282598865/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">The East Bay WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup/events/282539457/\">State of the Word 2021 (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress\" target=\"_blank\">Sacramento WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress/events/282593192/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Louisville</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville/events/281858101/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party and Discussion (WP Louisville, KY)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1e8-1f1f4.png\" alt=\"🇨🇴\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Medellín</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin/events/282306436/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021: Discurso de Matt &amp; Fiesta de Comunidad (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ed-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"🇭🇹\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\">Port-au-Prince WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\"></a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup/events/282350488/\" target=\"_blank\">Rejoignez-nous le 14 décembre pour regarder State of the Word 2021 (online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"🇬🇧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Coventry Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry/events/282302051/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"🇬🇧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Exeter</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter/events/282293408/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"🇮🇹\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/\">WordPress Meetup Torino</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/events/282467417/\">State of the Word 2021 Video Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f7-1f1fc.png\" alt=\"🇷🇼\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Kigali WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup/events/282321636/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇳🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Lagos WordPress Community</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇳🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Ijebu-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Ijebu WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇺🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Jinja WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup/events/282637298/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party &#8211; WordPress Community Uganda (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇺🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/\">Kampala WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/events/282678558/\">State of the Word Livestream</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f5-1f1f0.png\" alt=\"🇵🇰\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Meetups Lahore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore/events/282311458/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"🇮🇳\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal\">WordPress Bhopal</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal/events/282470541/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"🇮🇳\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/\">Bengaluru WordPress</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/events/282271921/\">WordPress Meetup &#8211; State of the word -Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f8-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇸🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Singapore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore/events/282296137/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p>If you are planning a watch party for State of the Word, and have questions, please drop us an email to: <a href=\"mailto:support@wordcamp.org\">support@wordcamp.org</a> if you have any questions. We are happy to help you in the best way possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to this post: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>eidolonnight</a> <em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/evarlese/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>evarlese</a></em></em> <em>and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a></em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11641\";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:63:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"A Look at WordPress 5.9\";s: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:59:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/a-look-at-wordpress-5-9/\";s: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 Nov 2021 21:02:02 +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:8:\"category\";a:3:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Design\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";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:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Features\";s: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=11625\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:322:\"WordPress 5.9 is expected to be a ground-breaking release. It will introduce the next generation of themes with Twenty Twenty-Two joining the fun and over 30 theme blocks to build all parts of your site. In anticipation of the January 25th release, we hope you enjoy this sneak peek of 5.9. New design tools will [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"Kelly Hoffman\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:2987:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/XvEG9XWD4JI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 is expected to be a ground-breaking release. It will introduce the next generation of themes with <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/06/introducing-twenty-twenty-two/\">Twenty Twenty-Two</a> joining the fun and over 30 theme blocks to build all parts of your site. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">In anticipation of the January 25th release</a>, we hope you enjoy this sneak peek of 5.9.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>New design tools will allow you to create exactly what you want, from adding filters to all your images to fine-tuning the border radius on all your buttons. With WordPress 5.9 providing more design control along with streamlined access to patterns, you can easily change the entire look and feel of your site without switching themes<strong>.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter what you’re editing, whether it&#8217;s crafting a new post or working on a header, improvements to List View make it simple to navigate content regardless of complexity. More improvements and features for everyone are to come in this release and we can&#8217;t wait to see what you create with WordPress 5.9! </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"stay-tuned\">Stay Tuned</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay tuned for more updates as the date draws near. If you want to help, the best thing you can do is <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">test everything</a>! For all the details, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">check out this Make Core post</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Video props: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>annezazu</a> (also co-wrote the post) <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/michaelpick/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>michaelpick</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/matveb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>matveb</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>beafialho</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/javiarce/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>javiarce</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/critterverse/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>critterverse</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/joen/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>joen</a>.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11625\";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:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"Join us for State of the Word 2021, in person or online!\";s: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://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/join-us-for-state-of-the-word-2021-in-person-or-online/\";s: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 Nov 2021 21:08:15 +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:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Events\";s: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=11611\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:297:\"As previously announced, State of the Word will be livestreamed from New York City. That means that you can join the fun either online or in person, on December 14, 2021, between 5 and 7 pm EST! To join State of the Word 2021 online, check your Meetup chapter for a local watch party, or [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1726:\"\n<p>As <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">previously announced</a>, State of the Word will be livestreamed from New York City. That means that you can join the fun either online or in person, on <a href=\"https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?qm=1&amp;lid=5128581,100&amp;h=5128581&amp;date=2021-12-14&amp;sln=17-19&amp;hf=0\">December 14, 2021, between 5 and 7 pm EST</a>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To join State of the Word 2021 online, check your Meetup chapter for a local watch party, or simply visit <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/\">wordpress.org/news</a>, where the livestream will be embedded.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like to participate in person in New York City, please request a seat by filling out the registration form by Sunday, November 28. Not all requests will receive a seat due to venue capacity, but everyone who requests one will receive further notification on Tuesday, November 30.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In person attendees will be asked to show their COVID vaccination card at the venue entrance, and are expected to follow the safety measures in place. Because of these safety measures, there is a maximum of 50 attendees.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61e58cfe5f6b8 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://wordcampcentral.survey.fm/request-a-seat-sotw-2021\">Request a seat</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you participate in person or online, we are so excited to see you on December 14! Don’t forget, State of the Word will be followed by a Question &amp; Answer session. If you have a question for Matt, you can send your question ahead of time to ask-matt@wordcamp.org, or ask during the event in the YouTube chat.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11611\";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:55:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:44:\"WP Briefing: Episode 20: WordPress=Blogging+\";s: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:64:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-20-wordpressblogging/\";s: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, 15 Nov 2021 12:00:00 +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:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11556\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:386:\"In this episode, WordPress&#8217;s Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, answers two recently asked questions. 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Credits [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WP-Briefing-020.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10275:\"\n<p>In this episode, WordPress&#8217;s Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, answers two recently asked questions. Tune in to hear what those questions were and her response, in addition to this week&#8217;s small list of big things.</p>\n\n\n\n<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>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress\">W3Techs WordPress Usage Statistics </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">WordPress 5.9 Development Cycle </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/10/22/team-rep-nominations/\">Call for Team Rep Nomination</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11556\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and 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>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I was in a meeting recently, which I realize isn&#8217;t saying much for me since I spend a quarter of my time in meetings. But in this particular meeting, I was asked a couple of questions that I absolutely loved. The first question was, “if there were one thing you could change in people&#8217;s minds about WordPress, what would it be?” And my answer, predictable though it may be, was that I want to change the idea that WordPress is just a blogging platform.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:06</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress has grown into a lot more than that. But the idea of a content management system, even now, sometimes gets a mental shorthand where content is a stand-in for the word writing or words. If you&#8217;re using WordPress today in an enterprise context, or as part of a governmental agency, or if you use it in a classroom setting, you know that your content cannot be confined that way. And if you&#8217;re supporting or building anything to hand off to clients, you know that timely, easy-to-ship changes on a site are considered a vital part of any overarching brand and marketing strategy. And when was the last time that any marketing strategy was literally only about the words?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:51</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that was the first question. And also my first answer. There is also this kind of annual, not fear, necessarily, but this annual question that is sort of related that is raised to me and has been asked of me recently, that I&#8217;m just going to give you a small answer to. One annual worry that I get every year around November and December is, &#8220;What are we going to do about the fact that the term blog and blogging are declining in search popularity?&#8221; And I was gonna say it&#8217;s been a while since I answered that in any sort of public format. But I think maybe I&#8217;ve never answered it in a public format at all. And so I&#8217;m just going to answer it here. Because I think maybe a lot of people have that same question.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>02:36</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So number one, I think that the way that people search now is different. There&#8217;s a lot more semantic cognition. This is not the way to answer this &#8212;  search engines are smarter now. So like, it used to be the case with early search engines that yeah, there was a lot of just like, individual search terms that were looked for. But now, people are asking full questions; they have, essentially, an entire sentence that they are searching for. And then, search engines are able to parse that information better and get more high-quality answers and information for them. So like, that&#8217;s one thing that I&#8217;m already not worried about. If people are searching for individual words anymore, it&#8217;s so that they can get a definition of that word. So I&#8217;m not specifically worried about a decline in search volume for the word blog or blogging for that reason. But the answer to my first question, if there is probably the real reason that I&#8217;m not actually super worried about any decline in search volume for the word blog, or blogging, is that WordPress has really moved beyond that. And since we have moved beyond that, then it doesn&#8217;t necessarily make sense for WordPress as an entity for WordPress as a project to get overly hung up on the idea that the term blog has gone out of fashion.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:52</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, now that I did my first question, and the answer, and then an additional question that only ever gets asked in private and is being answered by me for the first time in public, I will tell you now, the second question that I loved, someone asking of me, and that question is this: &#8220;What is one thing you&#8217;d like people to see or experience, right when they first land on wordpress.org?&#8221; Now, I often don&#8217;t get asked questions about the wordpress.org website, like administrative tasks, things that we need to update, move around where they should go. Sure. But like, “Josepha, what&#8217;s the point and purpose of this site?” Never. I&#8217;ve never been asked that, and so I was really excited that someone asked me, and I&#8217;m going to give you a heads up. I think some of you might disagree with my answer.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the primary thing that I want people to see or experience when they first get to wordpress.org, the website is the depth of WordPress. Not which audience segment they should belong to or that we believe they should belong to or raw data about the CMS or even how much we care about the freedoms of open source. Now the first thing I want people to see on that site is that WordPress has not only 18 years of learned knowledge that every single new user benefits from, but that it also has 1,000s of really smart people making sure it works and gets better every day, now.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:19</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress is a Goliath in its field. I know that we cite this bit of context. Frequently, we say that we are 42% of the web. And that is true that is the percentage by usage. But in its field, which is websites that are using a content management system, we actually have a 65% market share. This is very easy to find. It&#8217;s on the W3Techs website: I can put a link in the show notes, but you could find it just by searching for it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:46</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So WordPress is a Goliath in its field of websites that are run using a CMS. Because we have always brought our learnings forward with us with the understanding that knowledge, when shared grows rather than diminishes. But open source, the heart of what defines this project, open source is not a Goliath; it&#8217;s barely even David somedays. Even though the web is built on scads of open source software, there&#8217;s a pervasive public perception that it is built by and for hobbyists or that it is inherently risky, and that if there were if it were worth something, then people would pay something. And I just know that if the first impression of WordPress, we&#8217;re, &#8220;we&#8217;ve got 18 years of experience and learning that brought us to today,&#8221; the rest of the sale to adopt software that protects other people&#8217;s freedoms would take care of itself. And I guess, to quote John Oliver, at this point, &#8220;And now this.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:59</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, that brings us now to our small list of big things. There are actually quite a few big things on this small list today. So number one, we have reached the beta phase for the year&#8217;s final release, which means that WordPress 5.9 beta one is happening tomorrow, Tuesday, November 16. And then seven days later, I believe on the 23rd, if I recall correctly, comes beta two.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:24</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second thing on my list is that team rep nominations are happening all over the project right now. I&#8217;ve got a post that I will share in the notes below that I believe all the team reps have put their team&#8217;s nomination posts on. So if you have had an interest in learning more about that and what it means to help keep teams kind of running in the WordPress project, then this is a great opportunity to check those out.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:49</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the third thing, this last thing actually isn&#8217;t in the next two weeks, but it is very important, nonetheless. Matt&#8217;s annual State of the Word is coming up on December 14. So basically a month from today. It&#8217;s going to join the growing list of in-person events that are on the calendar. It will be in New York City but will also be live-streamed across the world as usual. Keep an eye out for additional updates about that for anyone who, like me, really looks forward to this particular presentation from our project co-founder every year.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:25</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress briefing. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11556\";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:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"State of the Word 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:58:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 13 Nov 2021 00:38:05 +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:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Events\";s: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=11567\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:346:\"Howdy, World!&#160; Mark your calendars; it’s almost time for State of the Word 2021! State of the Word is the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg. Every year, the event allows us to reflect on the project’s progress and the future of open source. This year will include that and [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17591:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/OpiH_P9aGhQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Howdy, World!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">Mark your calendars</a>; it’s almost time for State of the Word 2021!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>State of the Word is the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg. Every year, the event allows us to reflect on the project’s progress and the future of open source. This year will include that and more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to the pandemic, we moved the State of the Word online for the first time ever in 2020. This year, the event will be livestreamed from New York City. That will enable us to take as many folks as possible along for the ride!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Join Matt as he provides a retrospective of 2021, discusses the latest trends he’s seeing, celebrates the community’s amazing wins, and explores the future. Expect to hear about a range of topics, from WordPress 5.9 and Openverse to Web3 and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What:</strong> State of the Word 2021</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When:</strong> <a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">December 14, 2021, between 5 and 7 pm ET/10 &#8211; 12 am (December 15) UTC</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How:</strong> If you’re watching from the comfort of your home or <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/watch-state-of-the-word-at-a-watch-party-with-your-wordpress-friends/\">local watch party</a>, the livestream will be embedded on wordpress.org/news.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Have a question for Matt?</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>State of the Word will be followed by a Question &amp; Answer session. If you want to participate, you can either send your question ahead of time to <a href=\"mailto:ask-matt@wordcamp.org\">ask-matt@wordcamp.org</a>, or ask during the event in the livestream chat on YouTube.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re new to State of the Word, the previous years’ recordings (below) will help you get a sense of what the event is about. Check them out:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/state-of-the-word-2020/\">State of the Word 2020 (online)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2019/11/03/2019-state-of-the-word/\">State of the Word 2019 – WordCamp US, St. Louis</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2018/12/27/state-of-the-word-2018/\">State of the Word 2018 – WordCamp US, Nashville</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/\">All recordings</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope to see you online on December 14th!</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"join-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party-near-you\">Join a State of the Word Watch Party near you</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We have compiled a list of State of the Word Watch Parties around the world. If you don&#8217;t see a watch party in your region listed here, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">check this page on Meetup.com</a> to see if your local WordPress group is organizing one.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC\">WordPress NYC Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC/events/282276960/\" target=\"_blank\">An In Person MeetUp: The State of the Word 2021 is in Manhattan.</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup\">South Jersey WordPress Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup/events/282402090/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Morris County NJ WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group/events/282402069/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Montclair Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup/events/282326195/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv\">WordPress Santa Clarita Valley</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv/events/282056842/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">The Houston WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress/events/282402609/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/\">North East Ohio WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/events/282456476/\">State of Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup\">Birmingham WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup/events/282313212/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Lehigh Valley WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup/events/282304472/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/\">Metro Detroit WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/events/282519538/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp\" target=\"_blank\">Greater Milwaukee Area WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp/events/282598865/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">The East Bay WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup/events/282539457/\">State of the Word 2021 (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress\" target=\"_blank\">Sacramento WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress/events/282593192/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"🇺🇸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Louisville</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville/events/281858101/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party and Discussion (WP Louisville, KY)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1e8-1f1f4.png\" alt=\"🇨🇴\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Medellín</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin/events/282306436/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021: Discurso de Matt &amp; Fiesta de Comunidad (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ed-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"🇭🇹\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\">Port-au-Prince WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\"></a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup/events/282350488/\" target=\"_blank\">Rejoignez-nous le 14 décembre pour regarder State of the Word 2021 (online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"🇬🇧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Coventry Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry/events/282302051/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"🇬🇧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Exeter</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter/events/282293408/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"🇮🇹\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/\">WordPress Meetup Torino</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/events/282467417/\">State of the Word 2021 Video Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f7-1f1fc.png\" alt=\"🇷🇼\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Kigali WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup/events/282321636/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇳🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Lagos WordPress Community</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇳🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Ijebu-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Ijebu WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇺🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Jinja WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup/events/282637298/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party &#8211; WordPress Community Uganda (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇺🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/\">Kampala WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/events/282678558/\">State of the Word Livestream</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f5-1f1f0.png\" alt=\"🇵🇰\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Meetups Lahore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore/events/282311458/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"🇮🇳\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal\">WordPress Bhopal</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal/events/282470541/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"🇮🇳\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/\">Bengaluru WordPress</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/events/282271921/\">WordPress Meetup &#8211; State of the word -Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f8-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"🇸🇬\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Singapore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore/events/282296137/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p>If you are planning a watch party for State of the Word, and have questions, please drop us an email to: <a href=\"mailto:support@wordcamp.org\">support@wordcamp.org</a> if you have any questions. We are happy to help you in the best way possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Thanks to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>eidolonnight</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a> for their work on this post. 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So when I arrived as a sponsored contributor in 2015, I already knew exactly what made this work so fulfilling for me was these three things:&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, the ability to lend a hand in those moments where I wish someone had lent a hand.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second is the delight of seeing people&#8217;s first successes and the joy of watching them grow over time.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:48</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the third was a chance to be part of something great, which turned out to be something greater; greater than me or you or a CMS.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:58</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This list is still at the heart of what I feel I get out of the WordPress project. But it has also grown substantially in my seven years as a sponsored contributor. 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Earlier this week, I  was sitting outside chatting with my girlfriendsin Naples, FL, squinting into the setting sun. After sunset all we needed was a normal sweater to keep us comfortable as opposed to the 15 pounds of clothes, I had to put on in Whistler to spend five minutes outside. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alas, the break is over. It&#8217;s down to the wire. We are a little over a week away from the WordPress 5.9 release on January 25th, 2022. If you haven&#8217;t caught up with all the new features, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/10/wordpress-5-9-field-guide/\">Field Guide</a>  is now available on WordPress.org.  Last week, I also published <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/whats-new-in-wordpress-5-9-a-reading-list-on-full-site-editing-and-block-themes/\"><strong>a reading list on block themes and full site editing</strong></a> for End-users, site builders and theme developers/designers. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>The training team around Learn.WordPress released a ton of additional Social Learning events, that should make it easier for users to learn more about the Site editor, the Theme Blocks and the Styles interface. You&#8217;ll find the list of 12 upcoming event at the end of the newsletter. Big Thank you to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheeDestinyWP\">Destiny Fox Kanno</a>, for researching and compiling the list! </p>\n\n\n\n<p>With that I leave you to the rest of the news around the Block editor. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yours, 💕<br />Birgit</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>PS: <strong>Join us on Monday night </strong>at the <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BoulderWP/events/282792359\">virtual WordPress Meetup Boulder event</a> about What&#8217;s new in WordPress 5.9 and a panel discussion with Brian Garnder, Courtney Robertson and yours truly. </em></p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-sortabrilliant-guidepost\"><ul><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#general-information-on-wordpress-block-editor\">General Information on WordPress&#8217; Block Editor </a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#tools-for-site-builders-and-content-creators\">Tools for Site Builders and Content Creators</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#theme-building-for-full-site-editing\">Theme building for Full Site Editing. </a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#extending-the-block-editor-and-building-custom-blocks\">Extending the Block editor and building Custom Blocks</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#12-wordpress-social-learning-events-and-meetups\">12 WordPress Social Learning Events (and Meetups)</a></li></ul></div>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"general-information-on-wordpress-block-editor\">General Information on WordPress&#8217; Block Editor </h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The founders of WPExperts.io, <strong>Saad Iqbal</strong> and <strong>Ahmed Salah</strong>, put on their magic hats and explained in their post &#8220;<a href=\"https://wpexperts.io/blog/gutenberg-revolutionize-the-wordpress-industry/\"><strong>How Gutenberg will revolutionize the WordPress industry in 2022</strong></a>&#8220;.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> joined <strong>DocPop</strong> and <strong>Nick Diego</strong> on the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPCw2hf1SMM\"><strong>Torque Social Hour</strong></a>. They discussed WordPress 5.9 delay of the release, about accessibility, locking Blocks and also how the customizer is to work for with block themes or not. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>On the WPTavern, Justin Tadlock gave an overview of <strong><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/what-are-block-themes-what-you-need-to-know-before-wordpress-5-9\">What Are Block Themes? What You Need To Know Before WordPress 5.9</a></strong> for those WordPress users, who only heard recently about Block Themes and Full site editing. It&#8217;s a great post to share with your clients, and users, that are just now getting interested in the WordPress 5.9 features. </p>\n\n\n\n\n<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 2022&#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. Updated by yours truly.  <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/\"><em>The index 2020 is here</em></a></p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"tools-for-site-builders-and-content-creators\">Tools for Site Builders and Content Creators</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Justin Tadlock at WPTavern reviewed <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/automattics-livro-is-a-minimal-block-theme-for-writers\"><strong>Automattic’s Livro Is a Minimal Block Theme for Writers</strong></a>. Is a minmalistic block theme. It also is a bit opinionated on certain features and designs, but nothing that wasn&#8217;t possible to fix within the new site editor. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jamie Marsland</strong> was a guest at the latest <em>Do The Woo Podcast</em> and discussed with Anne Maria Radu and Bob Dunn BobWP <a href=\"https://dothewoo.io/woocommerce-product-pages-blocks-and-full-site-editor-customizations/\"><strong>Woo Product Pages wtih Blocks and Full Site Editing customizations</strong></a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Also, in <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/customizer-will-disappear-for-some-block-theme-users-with-wordpress-5-9\"><strong>Customizer Will Disappear for Some Block Theme Users With WordPress 5.9</strong></a>, Tadlock outlines how the Customizer is not going to go away. <br />Only when you activate a Block Theme. And only if you don&#8217;t have plugins installed that tap into the Customizer for additional feature settings. If you don&#8217;t change your theme, all your customization will stay in place and you won&#8217;t loose any Custom CSS code. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>The first FSE course is live on Lean.WordPress.org: <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/course/simple-site-design-with-full-site-editing/\"><strong>Simple Site Design with Full Site Editing</strong></a>. &#8220;This course will review the interconnected features that make up full site editing (FSE) and how they are going to help you create beautiful site designs without needing to use any code.&#8221; Check it out!</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In her post&nbsp;<a href=\"https://extendify.com/what-to-expect-in-wordpress-5-9-from-gutenberg/\"><strong>What to expect in WordPress 5.9 from Gutenberg</strong></a>, <strong>Tammie Lister</strong> gives you a high-level overview of the features that make up Full Site Editing and will arrive at a WordPress instance near you, provided you activate a Block Theme. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In this video <strong><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA09cW8Qv-I\">WooCommerce and Full Site Editing</a></strong><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA09cW8Qv\"> </a><strong>Jamie Marsland </strong>gives you a first look at what the team at  PootlePress has been working on for the past two months. You get a sneak peak of the Single Product template that comes with the WooCommerce Blocks plugin. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Extendify</strong>&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/extendify/\">launched a new pattern library plugin by the same name</a>.</strong> It&#8217;s theme agnostic and includes a &#8220;library of reusable website patterns and full page layouts can be assembled to rapidly build beautiful websites.&#8221; <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/extendify-launches-new-pattern-library-plugin\">You can read a longer review on the WPTavern site </a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/abrightclearweb\">Claire Brotherton</a></strong> published post <a href=\"https://www.abrightclearweb.com/gutentor/\"><strong>Gutentor: A Popular and Powerful WordPress Page Builder Plugin</strong></a>. She reviewed building full page layouts with this plugin for various purposes and explains their screens. You can try the plugin yourself for free and install it <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/gutentor/\">directly from the WordPress plugins repository</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Between the holidays, <strong>Anne McCarthy </strong>expanded her Connecting the Dot YouTube Series  with <strong>the video </strong><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5fbGuTdPKw\"><strong>Level up with Query Loop block</strong></a>.  This video focuses on how using the Query Loop block can both help you level up your content and streamline your workflows, depending on what you&#8217;re trying to accomplish. &#8220;In this case, I recreated a page from a site I run letslifechat.com/lifechat-starters/ and showed off some of the neat things you can do to customize what I created further. &#8221; McCarthy wrote. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Justin Tadlock reviewed in his post <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/creating-speech-balloons-with-the-wordpress-block-editor\"><strong>Creating Speech Balloons With the WordPress Block Editor</strong></a> the Liquid Speech Balloon plugin available in the WordPress repository. Its feature help you create conversations or quotes mimicking the text message interfaces. It&#8217;s a neat little add-in to the block editor. Tadlock offers a lot of detail and use cases. <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/creating-speech-balloons-with-the-wordpress-block-editor\"><em>Check out his review</em></a></p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/\">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s main (trunk) 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>\n\n\n\n<p><img alt=\"GitHub all releases\" src=\"https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total\" /></p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"theme-building-for-full-site-editing\">Theme building for Full Site Editing. </h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The recording of the first session <strong><a href=\"https://youtu.be/NX_7P2lvuwU\">Creating a block-based theme</a> with Daisy Olsen </strong> and <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> is now up on YouTube. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Topics covered: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Theme.json &#8211; <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_7P2lvuwU&t=658s\">00:10:58</a> </li><li>Parts/Templates/Patterns &#8211; <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_7P2lvuwU&t=780s\">00:13:00</a> </li><li>Starting the theme + theme.json &#8211; <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_7P2lvuwU&t=1380s\">00:23:00</a> </li><li>Creating our first template + custom page template &#8211; <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_7P2lvuwU&t=1770s\">00:29:30</a> </li><li>Defining a color palette,  available fonts, Default font &#8211; <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_7P2lvuwU&t=3759s\">01:02:39</a>  </li><li>Finding CSS variables defined by theme.json &#8211; <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_7P2lvuwU&t=4550s\">01:15:50</a> </li><li>Setting the site background color + primary text color- <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_7P2lvuwU&t=4710s\">01:18:30</a> </li><li>Styling elements &#8211; <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_7P2lvuwU&t=5168s\">01:26:08</a> </li><li>Talking about the Query Block &#8211; <a href=\"https://youtu.be/NX_7P2lvuwU?t=5379\">0:1:29:43</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6D-mnq0bpxP1nWu2OQbcVVScEgC5rpZM\"><em>Bookmark the playlist</em></a>, session 2 and 3 follow. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dave Smith</strong> gave a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFl_6I5_AZk\"><strong>technical overview for the new Navigation block</strong></a>, that will be released with WordPress 5.9. Specifically he covered how the block saves its data and how decoupling this from the block&#8217;s presentation helps to make the block more powerful. You&#8217;ll find <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/the-new-navigation-block/\">full details in the DevNote</a>, also composed by Dave Smith. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Carolina Nymark</strong> updated her post on <a href=\"https://fullsiteediting.com/lessons/adding-full-site-editing-features-to-classic-themes/\"><strong>how to add full site editing features to classic themes</strong></a> with the latest information and tools. &#8220;The only two features not available to classic themes are the site editor and the global styles interface. You can add template editing to the theme and keep widgets and the customizer.&#8221; she wrote. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"extending-the-block-editor-and-building-custom-blocks\">Extending the Block editor and building Custom Blocks</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/fabiankaegy\">Fabian Kägy</a></strong>, developer with 10up, core contributor and friend of the Gutenberg Times, published a proposal on GitHub Discussions <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/discussions/37448\"><strong>Proposal for opening the editor interface to more extensibility</strong></a> and asked for our input ideas and insights. Kägy list examples for suitable extensions,  like allowing Posts without titles, allowing for semantic settings next to core settings or greater controls for the placement of panels in the sidebar of the editor.  I learned quite a bit from Riad Benguella&#8217;s comment, especially about the fact that any extensibility feature built now also has to promised backwards compatibility for the future and that might hold the current development and explorations of the editor back. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are a plugin developer, it would be great if you could chime in on the GitHub discussion especially if you haven&#8217;t found a way to tap into the code base of the block editor as you used to with the Classic Editor. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/jasonbahl\">Jason Bahl</a></strong> walks you through the latest update of his work on supporting <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF_IZNBBTpk\"><strong>Gutenberg Blocks in WPGraphQL</strong></a> and demos in his video the Query on post and block data. The code for the new WPGraphQL Block Editor <a href=\"https://github.com/wp-graphql/wp-graphql-block-editor\">integration can be found on GitHub.</a>  As Bahl mentiones in his video, this integration is in very early stages but he will explore some more to support Gutenberg blocks for Headless WordPress. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>A long-standing request for an API that allows for locking blocks and patterns is now coming to WordPress 5.9. Read more from <strong>Sarah Gooding</strong> in here post <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-new-api-for-locking-blocks\"><strong>WordPress 5.9 to Introduce New API for Locking Blocks</strong></a> with links to DevNote and documentation. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In the post<a href=\"https://webdevstudios.com/2022/01/11/react-for-wordpress-developers/\"><strong> React For WordPress Developers</strong></a>, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/laxmariappan\"><strong>Lax Mariappan</strong></a> recounts his story learning ReactJS, the Why of the investment of time and about the resources that are available. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"12-wordpress-social-learning-events-and-meetups\">12 WordPress Social Learning Events (and Meetups)</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 17, 2022 3 pm ET / 20:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/282772979\"><strong>Advanced Layouts with the Block Editor</strong></a> with Wes Theron via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 17, 2022 8 pm ET / 1:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BoulderWP/events/282792359\"><strong>What’s coming in WordPress 5.9</strong></a> Panel discussion with Brian Gardner, Courtney Robertson, and Birgit Pauli-Haack via WordPress Meetup Boulder, Co</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 19, 2022 3:00 PM ET / 20:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283227591/\"><strong>Zero to Block Theme Series #2: theme.json</strong></a><strong> </strong>with Daisy Olsen and Sarah Snow<strong> </strong>via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 20, 2022 – 7 pm ET / 00:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/SF-WordPress-Users/events/283096780/\"><strong>WordPress “Mega Meetup”: Block Patterns, WordPress 5.9</strong></a> <br />South Florida WordPress Meetup Group</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 21, 2022 – 7 pm ET / 00:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283206029/\"><strong>Breaking it Down: Blocks, Patterns, And Templates</strong></a> with Roxy Kohilakis via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 23, 2022 – 4 pm ET / 21:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup/events/283253433/\"><strong>WordPress: the Next Generation</strong></a> with Sallie Goetsch via The East Bay WordPress Meetup Group</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 24, 2022, 6 pm ET / 23:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressHartford/events/283118120/\"><strong>What Will WordPress 5.9 Mean for You?</strong></a> with Ray and Peter Ingersoll via WordPress Hartford, CT</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 26, 2022, 6 pm ET / 23:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/282773311/\"><strong>Intro to Templates and Template Parts (Full Site Editing)</strong></a> with Wes Theron via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 28, 2022, 3 pm ET / 20:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283227922/\"><strong>Demo: Build Your Homepage Using Full Site Editing</strong></a> with Roxy Kohilakis via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>February 4, 2022, 3 pm ET / 20:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283228078/\"><strong>Beginner&#8217;s Guide to Full Site Editing</strong></a><strong> </strong>with Roxy Kohilakis via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>February 11, 2022 – 3 pm ET / 20:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283228209/\"><strong>Breaking it Down: Blocks, Patterns, And Templates with Full Site Editing</strong></a> with Roxy Kohilakis via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>February 14, 2022 – 4 pm ET / 21:00 UTC </strong><br /><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283237147/\"><strong>Exploring Theme Blocks</strong></a><strong> </strong>with Wes Thoren via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>\n\n\n\n<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\">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>\n\n\n\n<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, 15 Jan 2022 02:47:00 +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: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:3;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: WordCamp Birmingham Postponed Due to Rising Local COVID-19 Infection Rates\";s: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=128301\";s: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/wordcamp-birmingham-postponed-due-to-rising-local-covid-19-infection-rates?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordcamp-birmingham-postponed-due-to-rising-local-covid-19-infection-rates\";s: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:6797:\"<p>WordCamp Birmingham&#8217;s organizers <a href=\"https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/wordcamp-birmingham-postponed-until-spring/\">announced</a> today that the in-person event planned for the first week in February is now postponed until April or May. Organizers had been planning the event since August 2021 and had just announced the last group of speakers a week ago.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In the last 30 days, our local COVID-19 numbers have risen dramatically as a result of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant,&#8221; lead organizer Ryan Marks said in the announcement.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The WordPress community is bigger than any single WordCamp. We cannot in good conscience continue forward with our event, given the current risk, since this decision could negatively impact other in-person WordCamps currently in the planning stages.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marks said all attendees will be automatically refunded within the next few days. WordPress Community Support administrator Angela Jin has prepared an <a href=\"https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/files/2022/01/WC-Cancellation-Travel-Letter.pdf\">official letter</a> for those who need proof of cancellation for getting travel refunded.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp Birmingham organizers are looking at dates in April or May, 2022, but said that rescheduling will depend on local infection rates and venue availability. Their contract with the Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema allowed organizers to cancel without any loss of deposit as long as they gave more than seven days notice.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The event&#8217;s COVID-19 safety protocols, which were written before Omicron was spreading in the area, came under greater scrutiny a week ago. Shortly thereafter, organizers <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-birmingham-updates-covid-19-protocols-amid-omicron-surge-wordcamp-europe-still-planning-for-in-person-event\">updated the guidelines</a> to have a more rigid masking requirement, but some attendees and sponsors had already decided not to attend due to current conditions. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I’m still considering whether to go to Birmingham Alabama <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordCamp?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WordCamp</a> in February. I’m a community sponsor with <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TrustedLogin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TrustedLogin</a>.<br /><br />But I DEFINITELY won’t go to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wpyall?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wpyall</a> unless 2+ vaccinations are required. Negative tests or prior COVID isn’t enough.<a href=\"https://t.co/GCqIC2crDN\">https://t.co/GCqIC2crDN</a><a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordPress?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WordPress</a></p>&mdash; Zack Katz (@zackkatz) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/zackkatz/status/1479804454681645058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 8, 2022</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>While WordCamp Birmingham organizers worked to update the COVID-19 safety protocols, more concerned community members <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mor10/status/1478790408482164737\">condemned the gathering as &#8220;irresponsible&#8221;</a> at a time when hospitals have been pushed to the brink. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Organizers continued to monitor the situation, hoping for the opportunity to hold a safe event. After assessing the timing of the event and the level of community spread, they unanimously decided to that it was necessary to postpone. They had also reached the point where some of their payments would have been nonrefundable and needed to act in stewardship of their funds.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We knew that being the first in-person US WordCamp was both a risk and a responsibility,&#8221; lead organizer Ryan Marks said. &#8220;If we could do it safely, other WordCamps in the US could do the same. If lots of people got sick, we&#8217;d set back US WordCamps such as Montclair, NJ, and Buffalo, NY, and possibly the global program as a whole from moving toward having safe in-person WordCamps. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We saw news reports and estimates indicating Omicron cases would be peaking right as we were hosting WordCamp. That was sufficient for our organizing team to make the call to postpone. Pushing the event a couple months could mean a much safer event for everyone.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alabama has the second lowest percentage of vaccinated residents in the US, with just <a href=\"https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-tracker\">48.1%</a> fully vaccinated. The state currently has an average positive test rate of 37.4%. More than 25% of Alabama students have shifted to remote learning as more school systems have had to close due to record-breaking COVID rates.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Our problem is we just don’t have enough adults to safely and effectively operate the school…in some cases, now we’re seeing up to 35% of the faculty report that they have COVID, or they’re close contact,&#8221; Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey told <a href=\"https://www.al.com/news/2022/01/1-in-4-alabama-students-back-to-remote-learning-as-covid-spreads.html\">AL.com</a>. The local mitigation efforts are not working to slow the spread of Omicron in the Birmingham area right now.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img />Mayo Clinic data for <a href=\"https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/map/alabama\">Alabama COVID-19 Average Positive Test Rate</a></div>\n\n\n\n<p>Many attendees communicated their disappointment about the postponed WordCamp on social media but were supportive of the organizers&#8217; decision.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Really bummed about this, but I totally understand the decision. I\'m grateful for the organizing team and their dedication to put on this event, and their willingness to make tough decisions like this one. <a href=\"https://t.co/iPImv8f0LQ\">https://t.co/iPImv8f0LQ</a></p>&mdash; Cory Webb (@corywebb) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/corywebb/status/1482068776220860426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 14, 2022</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>When WordCamp Birmingham&#8217;s organizers began planning in August, they had no idea that a new more transmissible variant would be making its way across the world just as the in-person event was set to kick off. The timing is unfortunate, and the stakes are too high to risk pushing forward.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp Birmingham&#8217;s previously selected speakers will be invited to speak at the rescheduled event, pandemic conditions permitting. The 200 people who signed up to attend will need to buy their tickets again and reschedule their accomodations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Our goal is to have the same great event we have currently planned, just a bit later,&#8221; Marks said.</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, 15 Jan 2022 01:32:59 +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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: Wicked Plugins Launches UI-Based WordPress Block Builder\";s: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=125721\";s: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/wicked-plugins-launches-ui-based-wordpress-block-builder?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wicked-plugins-launches-ui-based-wordpress-block-builder\";s: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:5170:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Last week, Wicked Plugins launched version 1.0 of its <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wicked-block-builder/\">Wicked Block Builder</a>. I have kept my eye on this plugin since its November 2021 beta release. The project promised that developers would be able to &#8220;effortlessly build custom blocks,&#8221; and I was finally ready to put that to the test.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the past two months, I have activated the plugin every so often. I knew a review of it would take me a while, and I would deactivate it before diving in. I kept feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of it &#8212; <em>there are tons of settings to configure</em>. The holiday season did not help either. I wanted to sit down with a clear head and decide whether this plugin was something developers in the WP Tavern audience should put in their toolbox.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The short answer: yes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, at least you should give it a spin to see how it compares to similar plugins. This is a version 1.x project, so there are still some missing pieces. However, it will make client builds easier to put together without writing anything more than CSS for custom blocks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I first began using the plugin, I seemed to hit issue after issue. Like always, I was trying to run before I could walk. I like to test new plugins at full speed and often forget to stop and <em>RTFM</em>. With complex projects like Wicked Block Builder, I must remind myself that it is OK to seek help from the docs.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin has a bit of a learning curve if you want to do anything advanced. My suggestion is to do the opposite of what I did. Start with a simple use case.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, the plugin development team has a tutorial video that will have you building custom blocks in less than five minutes. I recommend following along when creating your first.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Once I hopped over that initial hurdle, using the plugin was a breeze.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin allows developers to add blocks, block categories, patterns, and pattern categories. I primarily focused on block creation. The plugin worked in much the same way as other pattern builders.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following along with the tutorial video, I created a Resource Card block. It included an image, title, summary, and button.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Building the editor view for a custom block.\n\n\n\n<p>There are multiple tabs for developers to build out their blocks. Aside from the primary Settings tab, most of the work will happen under Attributes and Editor View. The Front-end View is only necessary if the block&#8217;s output does not match what it looks like in the editor. The screen also has a Styles panel for adding custom CSS, which is loaded for the editor and front-end.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UI seems mostly straightforward when following along with the tutorial. However, there are tons of options, and it is easy to get lost once you start digging into them all.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once I pieced together my custom block, it correctly appeared in the inserter. I also tested a slash command for <code>/resource card</code> to ensure it worked.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Inserting custom block into the editor.\n\n\n\n<p>A couple of missing features I immediately noticed once inserting my block was a custom icon and example/preview. Both are relatively simple to add when creating a block type from code, so I hope they are on the agenda for a future version.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While searching for the custom block type via the inserter worked, I would also welcome an option to create custom keywords.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I filled in the details of the Resource Card block and saved it.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Block content customized.\n\n\n\n<p>To my surprise, I did not break anything. I began wondering, <em>Could creating blocks be this easy?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>I ran through a few other simple block ideas, and the experience was enjoyable. While I no longer work with clients, I could see how this could save hours. Pairing it with <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/block-api/block-templates/#locking\">template locking</a> would also be a routine use case so that clients would only need to plug in their content and publish.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are some <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/block-api/block-supports/\">block-supported features</a> that I would like to see added. The plugin currently allows devs to enable alignment and wide alignment. However, others like spacing, typography, and color would be easy wins.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I tested the free version of the Wicked Block Builder. For simple blocks, it worked well. For more complex use cases, developers will need to upgrade to the <a href=\"https://wickedplugins.com/plugins/wicked-block-builder/\">pro version</a>. It runs between $49 and $299 per year, depending on the number of supported sites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While I have not tested the pro version, it does offer post and term selects, repeater fields, conditional logic, and inner-block support. After exhausting the basics, these will likely be necessary on some projects. However, the free version can still get you pretty far.</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, 15 Jan 2022 00:42:46 +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:5;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: Creating Speech Balloons With the WordPress Block 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=128271\";s: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/creating-speech-balloons-with-the-wordpress-block-editor?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=creating-speech-balloons-with-the-wordpress-block-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:4215:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">I do not know how I overlooked <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/liquid-speech-balloon/\">LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON</a>. The plugin is less than a month shy of being three years old, and I follow block-related projects religiously. This one slipped through the cracks, at least until I haphazardly stumbled upon it when searching for something else entirely.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is also relatively popular for a single-block plugin. There are not that many with more than 10,000 active installs. I had to know what it was doing to draw such a crowd.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/automattics-livro-is-a-minimal-block-theme-for-writers#comment-412254\">comments on yesterday&#8217;s post</a> about Automattic&#8217;s Livro theme, Nick Hamze wanted to know where all the fun theme designs were. Perhaps it was fortuitous timing that I also happened to be playing around with a plugin that might fit the bill. Sure, it is not a theme, but it can definitely be used to spruce up an otherwise boring or plain design.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, I spun up a few Speech Balloon blocks and just had fun creating a chat with a some cartoon animals:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Inserting and customizing multiple Speech Balloon blocks.\n\n\n\n<p>I tend to gravitate toward clean, open-canvas themes because they allow me to add all the fun elements via the post content. That is why I love finding plugins like LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON. They add that visual flair to pages that can sometimes be boring.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the plugin&#8217;s Speech Balloon block is straightforward. It presents users with a single section for inserting rich text content.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Default Speech Balloon block.\n\n\n\n<p>In the block options sidebar, users can choose an avatar. They can also make several design adjustments, including background and text colors.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The block is falling slightly behind the times, though.  Since the plugin&#8217;s release nearly three years ago, WordPress has added several new design components that could be used to make its block even better, such as padding, border, and typography controls.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin can also be used for testimonials or other types of reviews. It works well enough for more business-friendly layouts if that is the sort of thing you are after.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Creating testimonials with the Speech Balloon block.\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin&#8217;s biggest failure is in how it handles avatars. It is also why it does not make for the best option for testimonials. Users cannot add avatars directly via the block. Instead, they must register them via an entirely separate admin screen. Then, they can select from their saved avatars list within the block.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the Settings &gt; LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON page, the plugin presents users with several rows of fields. They can add a name and image URL for each avatar.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Plugin&#8217;s avatar settings.\n\n\n\n<p>This is where the user experience falls apart a bit. There is no way to upload avatars on this screen. Instead, users must upload them via their media library, copy the URL, and paste it into the image URL field.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin provides the necessary documentation and links to work through this process. The overall experience is simply lackluster.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, if users only need a limited number of avatars, the system works well enough once everything is uploaded. The images are always available whenever inserting the Speech Bubble block &#8212; no need to search through the media library or upload a new one.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am not sure if this will go in my plugin toolbox. Outside of a few stylistic elements, such as the speech bubble&#8217;s tail, users could readily recreate something similar with a few blocks, as shown in the following screenshot:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Custom speech bubbles pattern.\n\n\n\n<p>Within a few minutes, I created this with what is already available in core WordPress, and I actually had several more design choices by doing so. I could see keeping a block pattern on hand for such a layout in the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those who want a quick and easy solution without all the fuss of mixing and matching blocks, LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON would be the better option.</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, 14 Jan 2022 02:22:38 +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:6;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"WPTavern: Automattic’s Livro Is a Minimal Block Theme for Writers\";s: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=128178\";s: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:173:\"https://wptavern.com/automattics-livro-is-a-minimal-block-theme-for-writers?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=automattics-livro-is-a-minimal-block-theme-for-writers\";s: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:4992:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Sometimes the sweetest things in life are the simplest. Automattic&#8217;s latest block theme <a href=\"https://themes.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/110931\">landed in the review queue</a> yesterday, and I had to give it a spin. What I found was a minimally-elegant design that I fell in love with.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Really</em>. I even dedicated an entire demo post on my install to it:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Single post with gallery and pull-quote.\n\n\n\n<p>Well, that and Valentine&#8217;s Day is a mere month away. It felt like the right time to mix up my install&#8217;s test content anyway.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me preface the rest of this review by saying that I hate dark themes with a fiery passion. However, every now and again, one comes along that makes me rethink my position. Livro is one such theme. I may dislike it in a week, but I have genuinely loved using it for two days.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The theme&#8217;s most impressive feat was using a single font family, <a href=\"https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Newsreader\">Newsreader</a>, across the entire design. It never felt like it needed anything else to separate body copy, secondary text, and headings.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Livro will not meet everyone&#8217;s needs &#8212; not by a long shot. However, it is the sort of theme that will appeal to those who do not like any bells and whistles whatsoever. The type where content reigns supreme, where a few words and pictures are all that is necessary to make a point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did not immediately hop on this whirlwind affair with Livro at first sight. Things started a bit rocky. The theme managed to implement my top three pet-peeves:</p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>It displays post content instead of excerpts on blog/archive pages.</li><li>It shows the featured image at the top of the page on single posts, creating duplicate image output when that same image is used in the content.</li><li>Its navigation menu lists all of my site&#8217;s pages by default. All 90+ of them.</li></ol>\n\n\n\n<p>One extra issue I noticed with the post content on the blog and archive pages was that wide and full-aligned blocks were the same width as normal content. I do not know if that is a WordPress or theme-specific issue. Since I planned on switching to excerpts, I did not look too deeply into the code.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Navigation block issue is, in part, a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/37340\">problem with WordPress</a> itself. It will fall back to the core Page List block in specific scenarios. However, theme authors can also address this via the <code>block_core_navigation_render_fallback</code> hook, introduced in Gutenberg 12.1.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, all of these issues are dead simple to correct in the world of block themes. The site editor is just a click away, and users are no longer bound to the oddities of otherwise solid theme designs. In moments, I was able to customize how things looked.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Removing featured image from single posts via site editor.\n\n\n\n<p>The theme bundles 15 block patterns in total. Eight of them are for headers, and five are for footers. Most of these are variations on the same concept, primarily changing the position of the default elements.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was a little disappointed to not see more variety for page or general-use patterns. The theme ships one for an  About page and another for a Contact page. They both use an offset-column design that I hope one day gets dropped into the black hole where other web design trends go to die.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>The nav menu&#8217;s &#8220;x&#8221; close button is on the far right edge of the screen, but the open icon is on the far left. This is more of a problem with WordPress&#8217;s handling of the Navigation block than the theme. Nevertheless, it is still irritating trying to find the close button. Ideally, the open and close buttons would always be in the same place.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One way to mitigate this issue is to use the &#8220;Header with site title on left and button on right&#8221; pattern &#8212; <em>yes, all the short names were taken on header-pattern naming day</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Using a pattern to change the header design.\n\n\n\n<p>Users can switch it by modifying the Header template in the site editor. It puts the nav menu open button on the right side of the page. The close button will still be slightly off, but it is a better experience than the default.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a theme that I claim to love, I did focus on its downsides in this review. Part of that is to show that such issues need not always be the reason to overlook a block-based theme. If they are relatively minor problems, it does not take a programmer to make those adjustments. All of the design elements that I enjoyed about the theme were already there. It just needed some coaxing to make it perfect for me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would still like to see the Automattic Theme Team add a few patterns to the mix. Livro&#8217;s clean canvas seems to invite a mashup of media and text blocks.</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, 13 Jan 2022 01:46:22 +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: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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"WPTavern: Extendify Launches New Pattern Library 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=128175\";s: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:155:\"https://wptavern.com/extendify-launches-new-pattern-library-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=extendify-launches-new-pattern-library-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:4062:\"<p>Extendify has simplified access to its pattern library with a new <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/extendify/\">plugin</a> that offers patterns and full-page layouts for WordPress sites using Gutenberg-friendly themes. The company has high expectations for the product, publishing it under the name &#8220;Extendify&#8221; as its flagship free plugin in the official directory. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although a different version of the pattern library is included in Extendify&#8217;s popular <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/redux-framework/\">Gutenberg Template Library &amp; Redux Framework</a> plugin, which has more than a million active installs, this new plugin is focused simply on site design tools. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If you’ve tried out the Extendify Library previously, then you’ll find this new version is completely refreshed,&#8221; Extendify&#8217;s Head of Product Rich Tabor said. &#8220;We rebuilt the library, and all our patterns/layouts, from the ground up — with a focus on augmenting the editing experience of both existing and new themes.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Extendify functions as a SaaS connector plugin that uses a custom API to fetch block patterns and page layouts from the company&#8217;s servers. Once installed, the plugin has no separate settings page. Extendify adds a &#8220;Library&#8221; button at the top of the editor to launch a modal with patterns and layouts.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you haven&#8217;t selected a &#8220;Site Type&#8221; in the sidebar of the modal, all the patterns and layouts will be black and white. Selecting a Site Type will update the previews to show insert industry-specific copy and pictures with color. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you find a page layout that you like, it&#8217;s easy to get a beautifully designed page in a matter of seconds. However, the way it is set up at the moment, free users only have access to five imports. Subscribers can get unlimited imports for <a href=\"https://extendify.com/pricing/\">$49.50/year</a> for one site. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Users who are not planning to upgrade must be judicious about the patterns and layouts they choose to preview on the page. The plugin will warn free users about the remaining number of imports before proceeding. This mode of limitation may slow the plugin&#8217;s adoption, because users have to be careful about trying too many patterns and layouts on their sites. The plugin&#8217;s FAQs state that &#8220;Each user receives a limited number of imports completely free&#8221; but users would be better served by knowing that it&#8217;s a total of five imports before installing.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>One of the good things about the plugin is that it is theme-agnostic and the patterns and layouts should still work nicely, even if you decide to change themes. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;All our patterns and layouts are built completely with core blocks, infused with a clever utility design system (which lets us have neat patterns <a href=\"https://library.extendify.com/library/hero-grid-images/\">like this one</a> and are built to be Full Site Editing / Block Theme first &#8211; although we support most themes that support Gutenberg properly),&#8221; Tabor said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Previously, Extendify&#8217;s pattern library was only available as an SDK inside the company&#8217;s other related Gutenberg projects. This plugin makes it more accessible for site builders who only need the pattern/layout capabilities.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This effort was geared towards lowering that barrier and bringing the best of what we have to offer to anyone interested in building sites with the block editor,&#8221; Tabor said. &#8220;The new Extendify plugin is really the first big push in this direction, but we’re also leaning in on other ways to augment the editing experience to better empower both small business owners and site builders alike.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Block themes are where the future is and we’re aiming for the pole position with this newest effort.&#8221;</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, 12 Jan 2022 23:16:22 +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: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:8;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: Impossibly Knotted Together: Meditations on the WordPress Community\";s: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=92470\";s: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:55:\"https://cdn.poststatus.com/impossibly-knotted-together/\";s: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:10926:\"<h2 id=\"h-what-might-wordpress-community-4-0-look-like\">What might “<a href=\"https://poststatus.com/wordpress-community-40/\">WordPress Community 4.0</a>” look like?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This article is part of a conversation we\'d like you to join. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>What were the good and bad features of the first three versions of the WordPress community? What were the major bugs? What should the Post Status community look like in 2022 — and beyond? What should leadership in this space look like? What are the principles that should drive it? What are your own questions and What Ifs?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can leave a comment here or <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/contact/\">get in touch</a> on any Post Status channel, on or off the record. Blog about it. Tweet about it. Write for us. <strong>Help start this needed conversation.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator logo is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-wordpress-friends\">WordPress Friends</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><strong>I first meet J as she’s staffing a table at a WordCamp.</strong> We talk about what brought us there, what we did before being involved in the WordPress community, what we hope to get from the day. There’s a problem she’s working through and I mention someone who has been through something similar, in case it helps. She tells me about a resource I hadn’t heard of, and I’m excited to check it out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years that follow, J and I remain WordPress friends. At various times we encounter each other at events, in elevators, at receptions, across hallways, during meals, in Slack. The conversation picks back up where it left off. “How’d that thing go?” “You did an awesome job navigating that conflict!” “How’s your new team at work?” “Congrats on that cool thing you launched!” Being a part of the WordPress community gives J and me an anchor point, a foundation, and we build on it from there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many WordPress friends. I may not encounter them for months or years, and the connections may not always be as wide or deep as other friendships, but they have a special place in my heart. I smile when I notice them, online or in person. I celebrate their successes. I cherish our shared experience of building something together.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator logo is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-elders\">Elders</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><strong>We have to talk more about the role of elders in our community. </strong>Definitely not elder as in “old entitled men” but elder as in “someone with life experience and wisdom who can be looked to for guidance as the community evolves.” We are old enough as a community to have elders, whether we see them as such or not.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As communities go through transitions and face challenges, it’s often the elders who ground us and guide us. Not by wielding their power to keep order or fighting for the status quo, but by helping us weave the stories of our origins and past into our dreams for the future. This can happen in code, in community conversations, in documentation, or anywhere else.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elders can help us build relationships and connections across different parts of the community, promoting mutual respect and welcoming newcomers. Elders can pass down knowledge, teaching, and modeling cultural traditions and beliefs. Elders can deal with discrimination and oppression, using their standing to call out problematic behavior. Elders can help build sustainable infrastructure, making sure there are tools and services in place for the challenges we will face. Elders can help protect our identity while also helping us to adapt and evolve.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do WordPress community elders see themselves and their role? If they aren’t being celebrated for committing the latest hotness to an upcoming release or giving an exciting WordCamp talk, do we let them just fade into the background? If they branch out into other interests beyond WordPress, do we still find ways to harness their experiences and wisdom? Do we take care of them as they take care of us?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do our elders even know they are elders? Are you a WordPress community elder?</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator logo is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-a-recipe-for-community\">A Recipe for Community</h2>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">Small enough that you can make a difference\nBig enough that you can grow\nComfortable enough that you feel supported\nChallenging enough that you stay flexible\nFilled with people who want the best for you\nIntentional places and spaces for celebrating\nJust enough certainty to create a sense of purpose\nJust enough uncertainty to keep us humble\nNorms, ground rules and accountability\nPatience and respect built on safety and care\nCreative, kind and loving acts at the heart\nWhen people get a taste, they wonder\nWho created this, and how can I be a part of it? </pre>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator logo is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-matt-factor\">The Matt Factor</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><strong>I was a WordPress user and developer for 10 years before I knew who Matt Mullenweg is.</strong> I’d bet that most WordPress users still don’t know who he is. And yet conversations about what Matt wants, what Matt thinks, what Matt is going to do sometimes play an outsized role in our community. People can worry when they think a thing they love or depend on is too much in the hands of forces they don’t know or understand. Nobody wants a broken heart.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a time I ended up working for Matt, reporting to Matt. I discovered that he has a superpower: he can see around corners and beyond horizons in ways that few other people can. I’d suspect time travel is involved if I didn’t know better. Sometimes he has trouble bringing the rest of us along, like trying to show a 19th-century carpenter the schematics for a space station. Other times, I think it’s just too many hearts and hopes and dreams for one person to carry gently. But on the whole, Matt is responsible for leading us to some amazing milestones.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When things go well, Matt usually credits people in the community. When things aren’t going well, Matt usually gets or takes the blame. When we challenge him thoughtfully, he usually welcomes the growth and learning that goes with it. But Matt knows that WordPress and the WordPress community are bigger than him. I think he’s happy to be a part of building a thing that will outlive him, and probably all of us. He’s made it his life’s work. We can honor and celebrate that legacy without reservation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a community, we can also build for a future that does not depend on any one person. We can make sure there’s a plan for maintaining our “commons.” There are other superpowers out there; I bet you have at least one to contribute. If we do it right, a shared vision for our community’s future will come from everyone who loves or benefits from WordPress in some way.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator logo is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-resilience\">Resilience</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">When <a href=\"https://www.ic.org\">intentional communities</a> form in the real world, their members think about the characteristics that will make their community resilient, sustainable, and able to thrive. These characteristics might include:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Human scale</li><li>Control, influence, trust</li><li>Connection</li><li>Shared purpose</li><li>Continuity</li><li>Diversity</li><li>Collaboration</li><li>Welcoming and supportive</li><li>Clear decision-making processes</li><li>Knowledge sharing</li><li>Respect and pride</li><li>Safety</li><li>Good communication</li><li>Cooperative</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We can’t always choose our fellow community members and software that powers a huge chunk of the web is hard to make small and local again. But what can we learn from intentional communities? When you examine the physical places and spaces in your world that feel most welcoming, thriving, and sustainable, what do you notice?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do we want to create community experiences that are not so small as to preclude diversity, space, and freedom, but small enough to be accessible and not overwhelming? How can we make the daily experience of being in the WordPress community more personal, meaningful, and accessible?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If real-world communities have a distinct center, defined boundaries, smaller sub-centers of activity, and open areas flowing all around, what does that look like for the WordPress community? How can we make sure our community spaces evolve to support interactive and supportive social structures?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As pandemics and climate crises and polarization and uncertainty circle around us, what would it mean to feel grounded and safe in a resilient WordPress community?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Adapted in part from Chapter 4 of Norwood and Smith’s “Rebuilding Community in America” (1995).</em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-we-are-at-the-beginning\">We Are at the Beginning</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Even with its wonderful diversity and global reach, I don’t think we’ve even begun to explore the WordPress community niches that exist out there.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You could probably have a gathering for Canadian WordPress developers under 40 who specialize in funeral home websites and get a solid showing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There could be an entire weekly newsletter devoted to tips for pet adoption and rescue organizations who use WordPress to help animals find their forever homes, and someone would still suggest it needs to come out daily.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trials and tribulations of the Restaurants On WordPress scene are waiting to be chopped apart, lightly sauteed and served up with a side of Food Blogger Business Models.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are WordPress sub-communities and sub-cultures and niches and nooks and crannies that would take a lifetime to begin uncovering and exploring. There are so many stories to tell, and so many of them are nothing like our own. If we are to appreciate the beauty of the WordPress community as a whole, we have to seek them out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beware anyone who tells you that they fully understand the WordPress community, or that they have their finger on the pulse of all things WordPress. Some of us have made more stops than others, but we are all travelers in a wonderful vastness that has no end.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator logo is-style-default\" />\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></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, 12 Jan 2022 23:00:13 +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:\"\";}}}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:9;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:46:\"Akismet: How to Stop Comment Spam in WordPress\";s: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:\"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2188\";s: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:74:\"https://blog.akismet.com/2022/01/12/how-to-stop-comment-spam-in-wordpress/\";s: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:23916:\"<p>Comment sections can be goldmines for engaging with your audience. Yet unmoderated comments can quickly descend into chaos. If you don’t <a href=\"https://docs.akismet.com/general/spam-facts/\">keep an eye out for spam</a>, it may overrun every comment section on your website. These messages can scare real readers away, and prevent them from interacting with other users (and with you).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In most cases, spam is easy to recognize. Users or guests will leave links to other websites without explaining why, or start talking about products and services that have nothing to do with your content. If you put measures in place to stop these messages, you can keep your comment sections protected and valuable to your audience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this article, we’re going to take a good look at how spam appears in a comment section. We’ll show you how to identify spam comments on your WordPress websites, and talk about how they negatively affect your website. Finally, we’ll show you eight ways to prevent comment spam in WordPress. Let’s get to it!</p>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-2188\"></span>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-is-comment-spam\">What is comment spam?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you use the internet, you’re already familiar with spam. You probably get dozens of emails per week advertising fraudulent products and offers. But spam messages don’t just come in the shape of emails — they’re everywhere on the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spammers tend to gravitate towards comment sections because they offer the opportunity to target a broad audience. On popular blogs, it’s not uncommon to have comment sections with dozens of users engaging in discussion. A single spam comment pointing to another website can easily get a few clicks, and even more so if it blends into the conversation.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Generally speaking, comment spam is any content with the sole purpose of pointing visitors towards other websites. Spam commenters may be trying to get people to buy or sign up for something, phish sensitive information from visitors, or install malware on their device. <em>Occasionally</em> you’ll see legitimate comments that point readers towards third-party websites, but these links have to make sense in the context of the discussion.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can be tempting to simply ignore comment spam, but that can have a negative impact on your website. If you visit a site and you see that its comment sections are overrun with spam messages, you might not trust its content or the business that owns it. We’ll touch on other ways that spam can affect your site, but first let’s talk about how to spot this type of comment.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-identify-comment-spam\">How to identify comment spam</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Spam comments tend to be very easy to spot. In a lot of cases, bots — not actual people — are behind them. These bots are programmed to target comment sections that don’t require any type of verification and post messages that will lead readers to third-party websites.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re ever on the fence about whether a comment is spam or not, there are several signs that you can check for. Signs of comment spam include:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The comment comes from a guest account or one with a generic name</li><li>The user doesn’t have an avatar</li><li>The comment includes links to third-party websites</li><li>There are mentions of products, services, and benefits to readers</li><li>The comment has little or nothing to do with the discussion at hand</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"trolls-vs-spam\">Trolls vs spam</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, you might get comments in poor taste or that don’t add anything to the discussion. Those commenters may be genuine in their opinions and honestly think that they’re contributing to the community, or they may be trolling. But those comments are not necessarily spam.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a couple of key differences between trolls and spam. Trolls are real people and spam is most often spread by bots. Also, a troll’s main goal is to disrupt discussion, sow division, and elicit emotional responses from other individuals. The main goal of spam is usually some kind of financial gain, whether it’s an unethical (but genuine) marketing tactic, or an attempt to scam people.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"why-are-comment-spam-bots-targeting-your-website\">Why are comment spam bots targeting your website?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re working on your first WordPress website, you may think that spam bots have it out for you. Unfortunately, comment spam is something that almost <em>every </em>website has to deal with (unless you turn comments off entirely).&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bots crawl the web looking for comment sections that they can target. They don’t differentiate between sites that are and are not relevant to the websites, products, and services that they’re promoting. For spammers, it’s all a matter of numbers. If they leave thousands of comments across many different websites, at least <em>some </em>readers will take the bait.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of those users will go on to share personal information or even payment details that spammers can steal. In some cases, spammers might benefit directly from making sales to users who aren’t aware of their underhanded practices.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Comment sections can be an incredible source for engaging discussions and ideas within your website. They can encourage users to look out for new posts and build relationships with other commenters. On the other hand, the price that you pay for having a comment section is needing to deal with spam.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luckily, WordPress empowers you with several tools and features that make dealing with spam comments that much easier. We’ll explore those in a second, but for now let’s talk about the rest of the ways that spam comments can affect your website.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"four-ways-that-spam-comments-negatively-affect-your-website\">Four ways that spam comments negatively affect your website</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"1-spam-comments-diminish-trust\">1. Spam comments diminish trust&nbsp;</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you come across a website that looks credible, but it’s full to the brim with spam comments, you might believe that the site is abandoned. At the very least, you’ll tell yourself that its owners might not care about cleaning up their comment sections, or that they don’t pay attention to comments at all.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The more obvious the spam is, the more negatively it will impact your website’s image.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Tech-savvy users might not judge you too harshly for having spam on your website, since they understand where it comes from. But not all of your audience will know that they should ignore spam comments.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some users will see spam and think that since it’s on your website, you’re endorsing it or promoting the offers the comments include. If that translates to them making a scam purchase or sharing personal information online, it will diminish their trust in you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a website with a comment section, it’s your responsibility to keep it clean, and not just so that your site looks better. You have to consider that some of your audience doesn’t have the technical know-how to differentiate spam offers from real content, and it’s your job to ‘protect’ them while they’re on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"2-real-comments-can-get-lost-among-spam-entries\">2. Real comments can get lost among spam entries</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re a user trying to have a real discussion in a comment section, navigating spam can be frustrating. Genuine replies to the topic at hand can easily get lost as bots overrun the comment section.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That frustration can lead to users deciding that commenting on your content is simply not worth it. Comments can be a great source for critical discussion about your posts, questions that can lead to new content, and even users simply thanking you for your efforts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you allow spam to run unchecked on your website, you lose out on a lot of the value that comment sections can provide. At that point, you might be better off disabling comments altogether.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"3-spam-can-impact-your-website-s-search-engine-optimization-seo\">3. Spam can impact your website’s search engine optimization (SEO)</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Getting a website to rank well on search engines takes a lot of time and effort. Often, it can take months or even years to grow a website to the point where it’s getting decent traffic from search results. That process involves dozens of SEO tasks, tweaking your pages and posts so they&#8217;re well-optimized, and publishing better content than your competitors.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, spam comments can <a href=\"https://www.semrush.com/blog/content-spam/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">negatively impact your SEO</a> if you leave them unchecked. Most spam includes links to external websites, and search engines can’t differentiate between those links and the ones that you include within your content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the search engine’s perspective, all they see is that your website suddenly includes a lot of ‘low-value’ links. Since links are one of the many signals that search engines use to determine rankings, spam comments can cause your site to plummet in the results.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Considering how critical search engine traffic is to most websites’ growth, you can’t allow spam comments to linger on your site. That’s why you need to put measures in place to prevent spam, and to weed it out if it makes it past your defenses.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"4-spam-can-slow-down-your-website\">4. Spam can slow down your website</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re getting a lot of spam bots attempting to submit comments, these requests can affect your website’s performance. If your site is having to handle thousands of spam submissions a day, that can use up a lot of your site’s resources —&nbsp;especially if you’re on a budget hosting plan. Additionally, if you let spam comments pile up, you may end up with some serious database bloat, further slowing your site’s load times.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your readers have to wait a long time for your pages to render, they’re less likely to stick around to read your content, let alone leave a comment (unless it’s to complain about how slow your site is).</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-prevent-comment-spam-in-wordpress\">How to prevent comment spam in WordPress</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At this point, we wouldn’t blame you if you’re very concerned. Spam causes a lot of problems, and it’s almost guaranteed that bots will try and post these types of messages on your site. So what can you do about it?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is that WordPress offers a variety of ways in which you can prevent and filter spam comments from your WordPress website. In this section, we’ll explore all of the approaches that you can take to prevent spam and protect your comment sections.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"1-use-a-plugin-to-filter-spam-comments\">1. Use a plugin to filter spam comments</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The best way to deal with spam is to use a plugin that can automatically detect which comments are legitimate and which ones aren’t. That’s a lot to ask from a plugin, but it’s precisely what <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/\">Akismet</a> does.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>When you use Akismet, the plugin analyzes each comment that visitors submit on your website. It accesses Akismet’s global database and checks to see if the comments match other known spam entries and sources.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of that happens in the background, in a matter of seconds. If Akismet marks a comment as spam, it’s flagged and it doesn’t get published. Fortunately, you can also review these comments manually, to double-check that no real entries get flagged by mistake.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to approve a comment, you can mark it for publication and it will show up on your website. But you save a lot of time by focusing only on the comments that Akismet flags versus reviewing every comment submission manually.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a free version of the plugin, which is perfect for most websites. On the other hand, if you’re running a commercial site or get a large volume of traffic, you’ll want to look into <a href=\"https://akismet.com/plans/\">premium plans</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"2-disable-wordpress-comments-altogether\">2. Disable WordPress comments altogether</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to stop spam altogether, you can disable comments throughout your website. This is an extreme approach, so we only recommend that you disable comments if you’re certain that they won’t contribute anything to your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/article/comments-in-wordpress/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disable comments in WordPress</a>, access your dashboard and go to <strong>Settings <em>→ </em>&nbsp;Discussion</strong>. Look for the section that reads <strong>Default post settings</strong><em> </em>at the top of the screen, and uncheck the <strong>Allow people to submit comments on new posts</strong><em> </em>option:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>That setting will disable comments for every post that you publish from now on. But comments will remain active for old posts and pages. To disable those comment sections, go into the <strong>Posts</strong><em> </em>or <strong>Pages</strong><em> </em>tab. Select a post or page, and click on <strong>Quick edit</strong><em> </em>below its name. You’ll see an option that reads <strong>Allow Comments</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>If that option is checked, disable it. Repeat this process for every page and post where you want to disable comments.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Depending on the type of website you’re running, disabling comments altogether might cost you some user engagement. Fortunately, there are other ways to reduce spam.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"3-force-users-to-register-before-they-can-comment\">3. Force users to register before they can comment</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the best ways to reduce comment spam in WordPress is to make it more difficult for bots to make submissions. Forcing bots to register and log in before they can comment can go a long way towards reducing spam entries on your posts and pages.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress enables you to do that by checking a single setting on your website. Go to <strong>Settings </strong><strong>→ </strong><strong>Discussion</strong><em> </em>and scroll down to the <strong>Other comment settings</strong><em> </em>section. Tick the box for the setting that reads <strong>Users must be registered and logged in to comment</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>By enabling that setting, you force spammers and bots to go through the registration process if they want to submit anything on your website. In a lot of cases, that can be enough to deter spammers. But since spam user registration does happen, you may have to implement a few more preventative measures.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"4-hold-comments-for-approval-before-publishing-them\">4. Hold comments for approval before publishing them</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>By default, WordPress publishes comments as soon as users submit them. It also comes with a moderation queue where you can review comments and approve or reject them before they go live.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can configure WordPress so that your website requires you to approve every comment manually. To do so, go to <strong>Settings </strong><strong>→ </strong><strong>Discussion</strong><em> </em>and scroll down to the <strong>Before a comment appears section</strong>. Enable the setting that reads <strong>Comment must be manually approved</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>There’s also another setting that tells WordPress it can automatically publish comments if<em> </em>you’ve already approved submissions from the same user. That setting can save you a lot of time, as you’ll only have to review submissions from each user once.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To access pending comments, click on the chat box icon in the top menu within the dashboard. That icon should display a number to its right, which shows the number of pending comments in the queue.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>From this screen, you can review comments one by one and approve those that aren’t spam. If you see a spam comment, you can delete it permanently.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"5-flag-comments-that-include-links-and-specific-terms\">5. Flag comments that include links and specific terms</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Generally speaking, there aren’t many situations where it makes sense for legitimate comments to include links. Your readers might want to point each other towards relevant content, but usually, comments that include links tend to fall into the spam category.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress offers an elegant solution to that problem by enabling you to configure how many links a comment can include before it gets flagged as spam. You can find that setting on the <strong>Settings </strong><strong>→ </strong><strong>Discussion </strong>page under the <strong>Comment Moderation</strong><em> </em>section.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>By default, WordPress will flag any comment that includes two or more links within its body. If you want to play it safe, you can reduce that number to one link. This means any comments that include links will go into the moderation queue to await your approval.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This section also enables you to set keywords that WordPress will use to flag comments. If it detects those words within new comments, WordPress will hold them in the moderation queue. Some common keywords that you can set include:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Buy/sell</li><li>Make/earn money</li><li>Offer</li><li>Stock and shipment</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All of those keywords are pretty good indicators of spam comments. You can be as aggressive as you want when it comes to choosing what terms to filter, but keep in mind that this means you’ll need to spend more time approving comments manually.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than deciding what keywords to ‘blocklist’ on your own, you can also benefit from the collective experience of the WordPress community. For example, you might download the recommended <a href=\"https://github.com/splorp/wordpress-comment-blacklist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Comment Blacklist for WordPress</a> that’s featured on GitHub.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"6-add-a-captcha-to-your-comment-sections\">6. Add a CAPTCHA to your comment sections</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You may have noticed that a lot of comment sections force you to solve a CAPTCHA before you can submit an entry. <a href=\"https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/23/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/\">CAPTCHAs are simple tests</a> designed to stop bots from posting and ensure that you’re a human.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress doesn’t include CAPTCHA functionality out of the box. The good news is that you can easily add this feature using a plugin like <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-captcha/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reCaptcha</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This plugin enables you to add CAPTCHAs to multiple elements within your website. You can add them to comment sections, registration and login forms, contact forms, and more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If visitors (or bots) can’t solve the CAPTCHAs, they won’t be able to submit comments. But CAPTCHAs don’t always catch every spam comment. Bots become smarter each day and often find ways around even the trickiest of puzzles.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"7-use-a-third-party-comment-system\">7. Use a third-party comment system</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress comment system works seamlessly and includes a lot of features to make your life easier. Yet it lacks things like social media integration and the ability for visitors to reply using images or GIFs, emoticons, and other options.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to give your audience access to that type of functionality, you can replace the default WordPress comment system with a different one altogether. There are plenty of WordPress plugins that enhance your comment section:</p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpdiscuz/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>wpDiscuz</strong></a><strong>: </strong>This plugin extends the native WordPress comment system and adds new options like custom layouts, live notifications, responsive comment sections, and more.&nbsp;</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/gs-facebook-comments/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>WP Social Comments</strong></a><strong>: </strong>With this plugin, visitors will be able to use their Facebook account to leave comments on your website.</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/super-socializer/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Super Socializer</strong></a><strong>: </strong>This plugin enables you to use the Facebook commenting system in WordPress and lets users log in with their social media accounts.</li><li><a href=\"https://jetpack.com/features/discussion/comments/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Jetpack Comments</strong></a>: Visitors can log in using their social media accounts, like other people’s comments, and receive a notification when another user replies.</li></ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Comment plugins that include social media components offer a fantastic way to reduce spam in WordPress. By forcing users to log in through social media to comment, you make it harder for spammers to submit fake entries on your website.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"8-set-up-a-web-application-firewall-waf\">8. Set up a web application firewall (WAF)</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Using a WAF can help you prevent attackers from accessing your website. WAFs enable you to configure rules that govern who can use your site. That means you can block IP addresses, visitors from specific regions, bots that try to access your site repeatedly in short amounts of time, and more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’ve ever run into a website that uses <a href=\"https://www.cloudflare.com/waf/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cloudflare</a> or <a href=\"https://sucuri.net/website-firewall/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sucuri</a>, then you’ve already seen WAFs in action. Most content delivery networks (CDNs) offer WAF functionality, since it helps them protect their users against malicious traffic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using a CDN will also help you improve load times throughout your website. Depending on which service you use, you might also get access to features like automatic image optimization, denial of service (DDoS) protection, and more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some CDNs will help protect your website against known bots and spammers. Simply enabling the CDN will block those known agents from accessing your website and being able to leave comments.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"spam-is-unavoidable-but-it-can-be-defeated\">Spam is unavoidable, but it can be defeated</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have comment sections on your website, you’re going to be faced with spam. Spam bots are <em>everywhere</em>, and if you ignore them, they can quickly overrun your comment sections with links to other websites and offers that will scare some of your real visitors away.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, WordPress offers a number of ways to deal with comment spam. You can use built-in settings to make it harder for spammers to submit responses to your posts and pages. You can also use plugins that automatically filter out easily recognizable WordPress comment spam, add CAPTCHAs to your comment sections, or require visitors to log in using their social media accounts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want a simple but effective solution, you can begin by <a href=\"https://akismet.com/plans/\">setting up Akismet</a>. This plugin will automatically filter spam comments on your WordPress website, so you don’t have to spend time going over your entire moderation queue manually. Akismet also integrates with some of WordPress’ most popular plugins like Jetpack, Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, Formidable Forms, and others.</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, 12 Jan 2022 10:09:46 +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:\"Simon Keating\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: What Are Block Themes? What You Need To Know Before WordPress 5.9\";s: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=127927\";s: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/what-are-block-themes-what-you-need-to-know-before-wordpress-5-9?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-are-block-themes-what-you-need-to-know-before-wordpress-5-9\";s: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:7228:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">WordPress 5.9 is set to launch on January 25, and many users will be in for a surprise. The upcoming release will be the most monumental shift in how the platform works since the introduction of the block-based content editor in 5.0. Block themes, global styles, and the site editor will kick-start a new future for WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the average WP Tavern reader, this is not news. We have covered block themes here for over a year. For those out of the loop, there is a lot to catch up on within the next two weeks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the complaints with the launch of the block editor in 2018 was that users could only opt-out of using it by installing Classic Editor or a related plugin. This is not the case for the new features in 5.9. Users can keep on using their current setup without any changes at all. Accessing the site editor and global styles is an opt-in process. It requires the activation of a block theme.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The upcoming changes will affect two primary groups of users. The first are those who prefer to run the latest default WordPress theme. The second will be those ready to try out the new system.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, there are <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/tags/full-site-editing/\">35 block themes in the directory</a> on WordPress.org, with more in the review queue. That limits the available options for now. </p>\n\n\n\n<img />Block themes from WordPress.org.\n\n\n\n<p>After WordPress 5.9 launches and developers become more familiar with building on the new system, I expect that we will see a noticeable uptick in block themes in the coming months.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Note:</strong> <em>this post focuses on user-facing changes. If you are a developer who wants to get started with block theme design, read Marcus Kazmierczak&#8217;s overview of <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/block-themes-a-new-way-to-build-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">building block themes for WordPress 5.9</a></em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"twenty-twenty-two\">Twenty Twenty-Two</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Twenty Twenty-Two theme about page template.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The latest default WordPress theme, Twenty Twenty-Two, will launch alongside version 5.9. While I have a few nit-picks about it, it might just be my all-time favorite default theme ever created.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-2/\">WordPress 5.9 RC 2</a> was released earlier today. Now is as good a time as any to give it a test run. Twenty Twenty-Two is already bundled with this version.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As is often the case with default themes, it is likely to become the <em>de facto</em> standard in which developers build their own projects. It uses all the latest features and is one of the most up-to-date themes out there. This makes it the ideal starting point for users who want to test the new system.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The theme is merely one component of a broader system. For users, it can be something they set and forget. Or, they can take it to the next level and customize their front end until their heart is content.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"site-editor-and-global-styles\">Site Editor and Global Styles</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Block themes are different than many traditional themes. In the classic era, users activated a theme and customized whatever options the developer made available. It was a rigid system that often did not give users much flexibility unless they knew how to write code.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Users can access a boatload of new features after activating a block theme. This is done via the site editor, located under the Appearance > Editor admin screen. Users can modify their theme templates directly on the canvas and customize their design through the global styles panel.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Site editor with global styles panel open (right).\n\n\n\n<p>The first experience with the site editor can be overwhelming. Some might prefer diving right in, while others take a different approach. Regardless of how you learn, I recommend going through the <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/course/simple-site-design-with-full-site-editing/\">Simple Site Design with Full Site Editing</a> course from Learn WordPress. The Training team has created a 15-lesson plan that walks you through everything you need to know. They also have a six-minute <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/how-to-style-your-site-with-global-styles/\">workshop on using global styles</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the site editor can be fun, but it can also be frustrating. This is essentially a &#8220;version 1.0&#8221; of the feature. It will not meet everyone&#8217;s needs with its launch in two weeks. It will take some time to mature and for theme authors to build on top of it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I spent over a decade building themes professionally. One of the most common questions I got was, &#8220;How do I change the post meta area?&#8221; Users would want to remove the author, move the category list, and do numerous other things. No amount of theme options covered every scenario. I often resorted to walking non-coders through making changes to their theme templates.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Except in the most complex cases, this problem no longer exists. Through the site editor, users can choose what appears.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Custom post byline/meta.\n\n\n\n<p>I wish we had such a system a decade ago. It would have saved me hours of support work.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, this is a simple example of what is possible with the site editor. Everything from changing bits of a template to creating an entire custom color palette is mere mouse-clicks away from reality.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the possibilities are not boundless. There are limitations that users will undoubtedly run into as they get more and more advanced with design ideas. Contributors have taken massive strides to get this first version ready for WordPress 5.9. And, there will be more to come.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"customizer-widgets-and-nav-menus\">Customizer, Widgets, and Nav Menus</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The most shocking thing for those who have been out of the loop will likely be the disappearance of the customizer, widgets, and nav menus admin screens. These components are replaced by the site editor when using a block theme.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are some known issues related to the customizer, such as no custom CSS option, live previews, or site icon setting. I covered this in <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/customizer-will-disappear-for-some-block-theme-users-with-wordpress-5-9\">more detail in a previous post</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nav menus are now handled via the Navigation block:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Selecting a nav menu.\n\n\n\n<p>It could take some getting used to. While I am a fan of the block system, I, admittedly, still prefer managing menus via the classic screen. However, I am starting to come around. The contributors who have been working on the block have made the experience far better than it was just a few months ago.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for dynamic sidebars and widgets, they are gone, at least in the traditional sense. Everything is a block now. Theme authors can create columns or containers that look like sidebars of the past, but they are all managed via the site editor. And, users can stick any block they want anywhere.</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, 12 Jan 2022 02:11:06 +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:11;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:63:\"WPTavern: WordPress 5.9 to Introduce New API for Locking 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=128129\";s: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:171:\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-new-api-for-locking-blocks?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-new-api-for-locking-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:2675:\"<p>The advent of block themes delivers more creative power into the hands of users, but there are times when theme authors may want to lock down key elements of a design and its designated content areas. First <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-11-6-introduces-new-api-for-locking-blocks\">introduced in Gutenberg 11.6</a>, the upcoming WordPress 5.9 release will include a new API for locking blocks. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Template level locking has been available in Gutenberg for a few years, allowing developers to lock the template on the UI so that users can&#8217;t manipulate the blocks. This new API offers more granular control that can be applied on the block level and override template locking.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Instead of applying a lock to all inner blocks, you can apply it selectively to individual blocks via the <code>lock</code> attribute,&#8221; Marcus Kazmierczak said in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/locking-blocks-in-wordpress-5-9/\">dev note</a>. &#8220;The block level locking would supersede the inherited <code>templateLock</code> value. You can choose to lock moving or removing a block.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the primary use cases for locking individual blocks, cited in the <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/29864\">ticket</a> proposing the new API, is where one might lock the &#8220;post-content&#8221; block of a <code>single</code> template so users can&#8217;t remove it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Another use case that we&#8217;re building for is having a Checkout Block with different blocks that act as fundamental steps, we don&#8217;t want people to delete or move those steps since they&#8217;re fundamental and their order is also important, but we want to allow people to select them, access settings, and insert blocks in between them,&#8221; WooCommerce engineer Seghir Nadir said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kazmierczak&#8217;s dev note demonstrates how developers can lock a specific block in a pattern and explained how block level locking is not inheritable.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If a block is locked from being removed, its children can still be removed,&#8221; Kazmierczak said. &#8220;If you want to apply locking on children as well, add <code>templateLock</code> to the inner block component, or <code>templateLock</code> attribute to supporting blocks.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on the new locking mechanism, check out the <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/block-api/block-templates/#locking\">Block Editor Handbook</a> and the code examples in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/locking-blocks-in-wordpress-5-9/\">dev note</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, 11 Jan 2022 21:01:50 +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: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:12;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:38:\"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.9 RC 2\";s: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=12014\";s: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:54:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-9-rc-2/\";s: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:4916:\"<p>The second Release Candidate (RC2) for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\"> WordPress 5.9</a> is now available!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Release Candidate” means the new version of the software is ready for release. It helps the community check that nothing is missed, given the thousands of plugins and themes and differences in how millions of people use the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to everyone who has contributed thus far towards testing and filing bugs to help make WordPress 5.9 a great release. WordPress 5.9 is slated for release in just two weeks on January 25, 2022. There&#8217;s still time to help! Since RC1 was released, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&milestone=5.9&time=01%2F05%2F2022..01%2F12%2F2022&group=component&max=500&col=id&col=summary&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=component&col=version&order=priority\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">six</a> bugs have been found and fixed. There were <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/52551\">13 bug fixes backported from Gutenberg.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"testing-the-release\"><strong>Testing the release</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 release candidate in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-RC2.zip\"><strong>zip</strong></a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, 3, 4, or RC1, on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC2</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-RC2 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Your help to test the second Release Candidate is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the contributors who tested the RC1 release and gave feedback. Testing for bugs is not just a critical part of polishing every release, it is also a great way to contribute to WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-help\"><strong>How to Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">Help test WordPress 5.9 features</a> – a guide to how you can take part.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you write in another language other than English? You can<a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev\"> help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages!</a> Release Candidate 1 marked the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze\"> hard string freeze</a> point of the 5.9 release schedule. Thanks to every locale that is already involved with translations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Developers and those interested in more of the background to the features can find more in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/10/wordpress-5-9-field-guide/\">Field Notes</a>. More developer notes will be added as the release progresses to its final stage. You can also follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">5.9 development cycle</a> and timeline.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>If you think you have found a bug</em></strong><em>, you can post the details to the</em><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta\"><em> </em><em>Alpha/Beta area</em></a><em> in the support forums.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&nbsp;If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can</em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"><em> </em><em>file one on WordPress Trac</em></a><em>, where you can also check the issue against</em><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"><em> </em><em>a list of known bugs</em></a><em>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to: </em><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>psykro</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>webcommsat</a><em>, and </em><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>hellofromtonya</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>cbringmann</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>marybaum</a> <em>for final review.</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, 11 Jan 2022 20:43:58 +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:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:97:\"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 41) — WordPress Community Versions: Past, Present, Future\";s: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=92231\";s: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:34:\"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/41/\";s: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:68552:\"<h3>&#8220;The Hippie times are going to end at some point.&#8221; —<strong>Bob Dunn</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David has an honest and deep dive with Bob Dunn into the &#8220;versions&#8221; of the WordPress community — something Bob <a href=\"https://bobwp.com/are-we-in-wordpress-community-version-3-0/\">covered in a recent blog post</a> that has gotten some attention recently. They discuss what each &#8220;version&#8221; was like, how money can make a community act differently, and how people position themselves, for better or worse, in reaction to changes in the community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also: </strong>David asks Bob if certain changes are unavoidable once a community gets to a certain size and asks what is missing from the WordPress community today that existed in the early days.</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\">Every week <strong><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">Post Status Excerpt</a></strong> will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what\'s new in WordPress in a flash. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/26a1.png\" alt=\"⚡\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />You can listen to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">past episodes</a> of <strong>The Excerpt</strong>, <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/\">browse all our podcasts</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe on <a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7\">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d\">Castro</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts\">Player.fm</a>, <a href=\"https://pca.st/05rR\">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\">Simplecast</a>, or by <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f3a7.png\" alt=\"🎧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png\" alt=\"🔗\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://bobwp.com/are-we-in-wordpress-community-version-3-0/\">Are We in WordPress Community Version 3.0?</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia/status/1476956055448006656\">Twitter Poll About WordPress Version/Generations</a></li><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.slack.com/archives/CHNM7Q7T8/p1640797603256400\">Conversation At Post Status</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Sponsor: <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/planet/feed/poststatus.com/godaddy\">GoDaddy Pro</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Manage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-transcript\"><strong>Transcript</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> [00:00:00] So as soon as I saw this particular post, which you did on November 23rd, it\'s called, are we in WordPress community version 3.0, as soon as I read this, first of all clicked with me and I knew I was going to talk to you about it, but you start off. It\'s a very simple post. It takes a minute to read it. If you are listening to this, now you should pull over to the side of the road, you know, stop watching your children.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stop paying attention to the world. Take five minutes to read this and then come back to this because this is basically all we\'re discussing. So I\'m going to allow you to, in your own words, to explain, I think the easiest would be version 1.0,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> you know, as I thought about this and I\'ll just preface it a little bit.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was after listening to Cory Miller and Josh Strebel. Talk about the acquisition of Pagely so I\'ve listened to the podcast and they were talking about community. And I started thinking through, because I had thought about this before, so right away, I thought what version are, where app, because</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> and [00:01:00] version.You think version because we\'re into software, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> I even do a change log for my website. I\'ve gotten into change logs. Cause I think they\'re so cool. And they can be more than four erotic</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I do change logs for my kids, but I mean, that\'s another subject, but yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah. And I love that it\'s so I thought, okay, the version, the first version is, yeah, it\'s when WordPress, it was before my time, you know, cause I didn\'t get into it till 2017, but I thought there was app time that WordPress was new and it was doing its thing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was you know, the little bit of glitter in Mullenweg\'s Eye. And you know, that was it. It was just as simple as that version. 1.0, is those first few years as this kind of found its legs</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> that would cover the years from about 2004, I think to about 2009. Yeah. Based on yours. And I use 2004. I don\'t know if anybody wants to go back earlier, but that\'s when [00:02:00] WordPress 1.0 was released 2004 to 2009 was the first generation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I can tell you that I was, I came into WordPress maybe around 20, like encountering the software itself around the version when themes came out. So I\'m a little fuzzy on that. I was three, 1.3, 1.4. Maybe I\'m going to say 2005, maybe 2006, somewhere around there. And my dates could be off. So whatever I wasn\'t in the community, I was just by myself and I really didn\'t get into the community until maybe 2000.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I am kind of in the middle of that version 1.0, because word camp Miami was started. Like we got together in 2008, me, John James Jacoby, who was down here and a few other people got together 2008 is when we started rearing up WordCamp Miami, there was no foundation or anything like that. So version 1.0 was there was no WordPress foundation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was maybe a couple of word camps going on at the end of 2009 work. Our first WordCamp Miami [00:03:00] would have been over by then, but we had no rules. We had people nationally would come because there were just so few word camps existing at the time. And you just expected the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It wa it was that where it\'s like, are you going? It\'s basically there\'s nothing else to do for this month. Let me, let\'s get, let\'s go down to Miami. That\'s how I remember the WordPress community at the time. I remember any of the big contributors. There were very few names that you associate with WordPress contributions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was mark Jake with um, he was a big name that you would talk about during contributorship at that time, but it was a really big pioneering days. I remember WP candy. I don\'t know if you remember WP candy, Brian, I believe I remember they covered our first WordCamp Miami, and they were just a bunch of people typing on laptops in the back.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I didn\'t know that I, if I, man, if I knew him at the time. And our first work in Miami actually had a lot of people from the internet community involved like people, you would probably not no longer see it eventual WordCamps because [00:04:00] it was just generally about blogging customization. I did my.first BuddyPress talk, but it was just a room, maybe of 50 people listening to my presentation, but there was the WordPress community at a time that was just so new young, you would probably anybody you saw at that camper, the fewer there\'s at that time, that was the WordPress community. In a nutshell, anyone else that was doing WordPress at the time was just fiddling with it. You could go up and literally ask someone about a core ticket and it would only be melt maybe a half a dozen people that you would go up to a recognize and ask about a core ticket.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And they were co and there wasn\'t like a big committee back then, or a big, there was a team back then, but basically you\'re the, most of the team was sitting in the same room as you. There was no com contribution. There are no contributor days or anything. The people were actually committing code, I think, to WordPress during the conference, during the talks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that\'s how like fly by the seat of the pants. It was. So that to me was word, press version 1.0. [00:05:00] Everybody kind of knew everybody else. It was like one giant meetup. Yeah. And a lot of the rules, the red tape or whatever it is you want to call it just simply didn\'t exist. Social didn\'t exist. Social networking really didn\'t exist.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Friendster, I think was the hottest thing in social media at the time. And then in the iPhone, didn\'t come out 2007. One of the biggest things was just seeing your website on an iPhone or a mobile device back then, too. So that to me was version one. And thank you for allowing me to indulge you, Bob, because I thought you were part of that and I just didn\'t see you because I\'ve just taken it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'ve just assumed you\'ve always been around. I\'ve been feels that way. So version two, there is, so version two, according to your posts takes you from 2010 to 2018, and this is your Jen. This is your version, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Right. He is because when, so I started dabbling in WordPress in 2017 and. So I was coming from having run [00:06:00] a business, or I was still running a business.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was in the, I think 15th year of it, a marketing design business. And I was looking at WordPress for blogging, for creating sites, you know, building sites. Cause I wasn\'t a developer during that time. So I was involved with like the business community in those years, which was in real life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, you lived in the community and you related with other businesses. And in the early around that same time, there was a online site called dot com and it no longer exists, but it was a very unique one of the first endeavors in bringing people online and it started in Seattle and it actually grew nationally and was a bit international and it did a mix of in-person and online events and you\'d network and you\'d, you know, comment and talk to each other on it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it grew quite a bit. Yeah, I\'m not getting the whole story of that, but that was where I started to learn more about, or actually delve more into [00:07:00] the online community. WordPress just segwayed into my life easily. Cause I was already, you know, thinking community, you know, there\'s some kind of community wherever you go, of course, open source is very different to me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it was very embracing and it was like, wow, this is cool. You know, people are so different because it\'s not these chamber of commerce meetings. It\'s just a different feel to it. And I, you know, me I just started diving into it and by 2010 I said, okay, Totally closed down our other business and I\'m going to create this other brand that came up with Bob WP, which, you know, some people looked at me at that time said, you know, can I, why are you doing that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> It\'s like getting a tattoo. Right? It\'s like, listen, it seems cool now, but have you thought five years ahead?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> And you know, I, when I [00:08:00] started WordPress I started WordPress at the age of 50. So I was kind of different, you know, I mean, I had a different perspective cause I was later on in life. So I was looking at something new and exciting.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think that time I look back at it and I didn\'t realize it until later on in the years when I would talk to a lot of people that had been in the space at the same time. And I realized that they all were saying, yeah, you know, when I really got involved with WordPress was around 2009, 2010, or that\'s when I started.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, there\'s all the big, you know, Yoast, gravity forums, all these ones that started around that period of time. And it just seemed like it was a time I came in at a prime time where there was this open innovation in WordPress where people were doing a lot of stuff and things are coming out left and right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it was just, it was fascinating and themes were, you know, growing more and more. And [00:09:00] it just, I just dove into it and I thought I\'ve got to get into this community because it\'s just seems cool. I mean, the people, you know, who I\'ve related to. So I think my first, I don\'t know if I did a word camp in 2010 by now I was in Chicago in 2011 and I spoke at that and I, again, just went full force into it and went to these, the first word camp, I word camp, and thought, wow, this is really cool.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being able to, you know, meet these people. And there was such a natural I don\'t know what you want to call it, but everybody seemed together. It was like,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> don\'t worry, we\'ll flesh it out. We\'ll flesh it out because this is part of the reason why I want to get into this overall, because I mean, I don\'t, you know, we\'ll go into each, we\'ll go into a little bit more depth on each one.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was just trying to make, you know, for somebody who hasn\'t read the post is not listening to me and reading this first. We have, so, and here\'s also about that time period of two. When we say [00:10:00] version two was around 2010 right before 2010 is when Sandhills development. Awesome motive started 2009 is actually when WP beginner was launched by Syed.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So like we say, 2010. And I think that was a good cutoff time because I think in 2009, It needed a little bit of ramping up it didn\'t and a lot of other companies too, I\'m just picking -. It\'s amazing Sandhills and Awesome Motive and WP beginner started around that time in late, I think, late 2009s.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So version 2.0, started in 2010. According to your post, it ran for about eight years, till 2018, which we\'ll get to why in a second. And between that time, like I said, it\'s when those companies that we, that the mergers that were acquisitions that we\'re hearing about today from quote unquote, big companies, a lot of them got their start at the beginning of the 2.0 era.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, exactly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> And yeah, so I think that\'s, that was a perfect time in your blog post to kind of, you know, make 2009, 2010, the next cutoff [00:11:00] point, because I think like earlier, when we just talked about everybody was just. If you had a problem with WordPress and people, weren\'t really starting to build really good businesses around WordPress in version 1.0, if you were building websites and if you were making good money, you usually just a big, good agency or you\'re just building websites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then 2.0 era started with the companies actually building commercial products with plugins or for tutorial sites. And that\'s how I think, that\'s how I saw reflecting back because I was too ignorant to realize what was going on at the time. How 2.0 started in that kind of, like you said, when you got into the game 2016, 2017 near the closing of that particular era, it was going full force by then.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, there weren\'t really a lot of acquisitions happening in this era. It was just a lot of businesses being created.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right. And there was a lot of people that I\'ve met that weren\'t necessarily, you know, like. Doing the big business or doing the big [00:12:00] products, but they, I was still amazing. How many? Yeah, I started my agency around 2009, 2010.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that, just that number kept coming back at me and I thought, wow, I made a lot of sense because it\'s how I felt when I got into it. It was like, okay, something\'s happened in here, you know, and I seem to got into this at a really prime point in time</p>\n\n\n\n<p>that, that period too probably saw the biggest or maybe most noticeable jump in WordPress market share.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also at the same time you had web 2.0, kind of take off in that same time period. So between the social between the boom and like the overall span of tech and I think this was when other competition from WordPress started to get a little further in the rear view mirror too. I think movable type was by this time period, probably.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fading in terms, I believe, I can\'t remember exactly when they changed their business model, but I believe it was early during this time period where you had this other, you had your choices in Joomla and Drupal were still very strong in this era, but they were becoming, [00:13:00] it was becoming the big three in terms of CMS.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As in, at that time they were all the top three, they were open source. So that\'s and WordCamps to exploded. I think once we got to 2012, 2013, that\'s when you saw a lot of first-time WordCamps, startup and WordCamp, I think by the time that WordCamp Miami got to its fourth or fifth year, that\'s when we had to start coordinating with other word camps, you know, around the same time period to make sure we didn\'t have the lap and all of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, and we had buddy camps and we had our first kids camp, I think it was in 2015 or something like that. So by the time that happened, And I forget what WordCamp Arizona. I think I went to my first word camp in Arizona was working in Phoenix. I believe that was in 2013. Maybe. I don\'t know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have to Google ice Luiz WordCamp and figure out what I\'m really. I know. So that was 2.0, from 2010 to 2018. So Bob, when, tell us about what transition from version 2.0 to [00:14:00] 3.0 and your blog posts made you land on 2018.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> You know, I think it was, there was a lot of, I mean, it revolved around, but we\'re pressing was doing technically, I mean, you know, Gutenberg 5.0, all that stuff, because there was that huge shift at that point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that people just started, I don\'t know. The climate changed and how people looked at it. And there was a little bit more, you know, yeah, people were anti this or they were, you know, reluctant of this. And is this changing for the best? I feel like things were changing in WordPress that affected the community in a lot of ways positively.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in some ways people were a little bit reluctant and things were starting to get more into that mix of at, you know, not the boom, like it is now with the acquisitions, but. We were starting to see, you know, let me explain it this way. And this is kind of a strange way to [00:15:00] explain it. Maybe people won\'t really get it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I always say I used to work in the real business world and that was outside of WordPress. And I\'m, it\'s a little bit of sarcasm there, but it\'s how, you know, regular business works, how it runs, how, you know, people get acquired corporations, all that stuff. I\'ve dealt with it in the past. I felt like that was a time that WordPress matured and thus the community had to start to accept that in the sense of this is becoming big business.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, you know, this is becoming a bigger thing then. Sure. It\'s open source still. There\'s that community there\'s everything that WordPress is, but now more and more people are taking note of WordPress more and more people are wanting to get into WordPress and it just. From the, around that time, I think it\'s just as grown more and more that attitude, the you know, and it is it\'s a [00:16:00] lot of people have pivoted or changed their mind on WordPress during that time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you saw more of that, I think, and maybe it always was happening, but it was just vocalized more as far as, you know, oh, I don\'t like the direction it\'s going now or, you know, I don\'t agree with it. And the, and that was cool. That was fine. I mean, everybody\'s got a right to, you know, do that. And also the other thing I think is this was when you think of all those people that started in 2009, 2010, that really started, this might be the moment they start thinking of different transitions as well, because they\'ve been in it for a while and that transition may be do an acquisition. They may be getting out of the space entirely moving on with their life in another direction. However, so I think we saw that bunch of people that were so in our view and in our, you know, that we saw them a day [00:17:00] in and day out, maybe after, you know, this period of eight years or nine years or whatever, they were ready to start slipping things a little bit in their own business or how they approach WordPress or how they approach their business.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Well, we\'re going to get into the community now more now that we know where, when we talk, we say version one, version two, version three, again, version one was from the beginning up to 2009 version. Two\'s kind of like 2010 to 2018 when Gutenberg was launched. And then version three is pretty much present quote unquote, present day.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right. And who knows we may talk about another version. We\'ll see what. I\'m going to open up our post status conversation we had in here, like a day or two ago too. But so let\'s talk about the community a little bit in terms of, and it sounds like to me, when you, when we, both of us are kind of old timers a little bit we\'re both remembering back when the businesses were just starting to get off the ground.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Would you define version 3.0 [00:18:00] as, as basically more commercial,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> you know, in a sense it is, and it\'s probably viewed as more commercial because of the nature of open source. So bringing bigger businesses, bringing the model of, you know, business growth, acquisitions, how normal, I almost say normal, but how businesses in the real world that exists and how they.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get together and how they merge now. They, you know, whatever direction they go. I think it\'s become a little bit more commercial, but I don\'t know if that\'s the exact word it\'s because it\'s, I think some people would say that I really think they would define maybe that and they would define it in the sense of a negative connotation to that commercial is become too commercial.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\'s kind of in the eyes of the viewer, you know, before, [00:19:00]</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> let me play devil\'s advocate for a second, because once money gets involved, it\'s like, whenever it\'s, how do I explain this? Like, if I have a good friend, I, and if I have a laptop, I\'ll give him the laptop. I won\'t sell him the laptop. Why?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because he\'s my friend and I, if there\'s something goes wrong, I don\'t want anything to damage that relationship. So when money comes into the picture, closer relationships tend to get a little bit more complex in my experience. That\'s just my experience. So do you think part of the, and we\'ll get into the good old days slogan in a second here, but do you think part of the resistance or part of the, maybe just general uncomfortableness of this new version that you call it is because it is more commercial, therefore money, you know, money hiring acquisitions, all of that is together.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So therefore when you go up and talk to someone at a WordCamp, or you don\'t, you know, you have to be careful what you say. You have to be careful of how you talk outside of a conference room. You [00:20:00] don\'t want to say the wrong thing or be viewed as this type of person, which makes it a little more awkward, which makes limits it a little bit of your freedom, which makes, again, goes back to you being a little bit more comfortable.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you think that has anything to do with some people reactions?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> You know, I think you, I think that\'s a. I think it\'s pretty spot on because it is it\'s, you know, there is that level of walking the thin line. Sometimes you don\'t want to, you know, you maybe felt you didn\'t have to walk that so much before you could be a little bit more open and now there\'s too many buyers that could ignite, I think the money.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. When people see now, I don\'t remember ever back the valuation or what you would think of, you know, we don\'t know often what, how much these businesses are being bought for, but the reality is, yeah. Now we\'re seeing that there is some tied dollar value to these businesses that have done amazing stuff for, you know, close to a decade or less.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:00] And yeah, that money kind of gets you like, whoa, you know, this is all feeling, not the same, you know, and it can be for some that it can be kind of a creepy feeling. You know, they feel like money is corporate and money is commercial and, you know, money talks and that\'s what drives everything.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, lots of people are doing their businesses and that what drives them is to actually make a Duff to survive and have a decent life</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> or because, or somebody on stage talking about a certain subject because they have some sort of financial gain indirectly, perhaps, but even there. So sometimes I feel like some people don\'t take, I\'m trying to find the right words here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I swear, I\'m not going to edit this part out because I want people to hear the awkwardness in this conversation. Exactly. It\'s well, that person is doing that or broadcasting that because they have a business to run or their business is doing this in the WordPress space. And you know, that.[00:22:00]</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, that can be understandable in other industries, but for WordPress, I think it\'s kind of new if you\'ve been around it a long if you\'ve been in since version one or the early days since version two I don\'t know. I\'ve heard it. We\'ll talk about offhand comments in a little bit, but I pieced together some of the comments from Twitter, some things I hear over my shoulder word camps and, you know, and it\'s a very fine and respectable group still, but I know that, you know, I put on working at Miami for years and sometimes I get questions, like, why is this person on at this time?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes it\'s purely coincidental often it\'s purely coincidental, but I get asked, you have to be more conscious of that back now than you were 10 years ago. And because I think it all boils down to money and companies and expansion and all of that but, you know, and which kind of leads me to my next question for you, Bob, in terms of money, just, you know, even if you put money in.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, we\'re both community managers not just with not just with me with [00:23:00] WordCamps, but you know, w my, my, my daughter and my wife, they hold other communities and I\'ve seen communities grow over the years. I handle the local meetups along with a few other people too. I\'ve seen things grow.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'m also, I here\'s a side note for you. I use apple pro I use apple products. I wouldn\'t consider myself an apple super fan, but I\'ve used apple products for a long time. Like since I was in high school. And I\'ve done PC and windows over the years, but I mainly, I\'ve mainly been an apple person, but I\'ve noticed through the years, even before the iPhone came about, this was way before the iPhone apple came out with the iPhone when they were almost a bankrupt company, I\'ve been with them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I noticed over the past decade as the company has gotten bigger, and this happens with other companies too, but in particular with apple, my experience they\'ve gotten, people have gotten more outspoken. More bold in their comments and click baity to an opinionated and whether or not that some of that is based on truth and you know, apple like any other company is not perfect, but [00:24:00] it seems like the bigger you get, the more criticism gets thrown at you in, regardless of what I can\'t think of a company that has gotten bigger over, you know, given enough time over the last 10 years, it has not had criticism leveled at them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I feel that once you get to a certain size from a community standpoint, not really from a business company standpoint market share, but that obviously has a factor into it too. Once you get to, once a community gets to a certain size and grows and you start to see bad actors just because maybe it\'s the scale and it\'s, and maybe when it\'s smaller, they were always there, but there was just harder to see for them to blend into the mass.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, and we\'ll take this, we\'ll take this as an example, bad actors. What do you mean by bad actors? There\'s always people that want to scam other people or users and in when the WordPress was in version one very few times, have you saw people trying to scam other people? Because the community was so small, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The, it didn\'t seem to happen [00:25:00] very often. And in same thing for like apple and WordPress community, didn\'t seem to be a lot of people trying to take advantage of trying to steal this. And, you know, cause you know, windows was the big one durability. You want it to target cause a lot of people used it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I, so here\'s my question for you. Do you believe that any community wants to reaches a certain size is going to have certain problems? Like not just bad actors that want to scan, but just critics that just maybe feel like they need to, they feel like their job is to probably call. Accompany once it gets to a certain size, what do you think about that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Oh, I think that\'s right on, I mean, is it\'s so obvious because it\'s like success breeds.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\'t know if there\'s actually a saying, but success breeds craziness or something</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I\'m gonna use that quote</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> yeah. Yeah. Success breeds crazy days because it does, the more you become the bigger you become, the more of a tar more touch points you have and [00:26:00] you become that target. You do. And more people are going to be attracted.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cause there\'s some people that they live for, that they live for the big names or the, they want to be in the limelight in that community, but in a different limelight as a backnet bad actor, because that is it just, you know, Reproduces itself is going to, it\'s going to attract people and all it takes us, you know, a few to start it and more and more are going to enter it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\'s what know, I I\'ve thought over the years is this is growing into what probably every community does grow into. It\'s huge. How can we not avoid? I think of, I could step back to the time when I was, you know, not online. I was in a business community that was a real life community town.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And as that town grew bigger and bigger, more businesses moved in and there were more that early. [00:27:00] That were running businesses and we\'d come in and they would always be there at whatever meeting or something criticizing something. So it\'s not anything new. I think it\'s very, I don\'t want, I hate to use the word natural, but I think there\'s no way around it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think with growth, you\'re just going to, that\'s going to happen and you have to know, the best you can do is it\'s, you know, as, as long as we, and you don\'t want to ignore, but you don\'t want to, I want to fire.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Right. And I want to make a good distinction here because not everything I say, negative things about WordPress all the time, too.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, I have created memes around certain things in WordPress. That\'s still annoying me to this very day. And you know, you know, like the number of admin notices on a dashboard has gotten me more likes on Twitter than I probably know what to do with. So. What, one of the natural things that comes when you, when your community grows is [00:28:00] that there is more to criticize.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So there is, you know, it goes perfectly along with, yes, a lot of the criticism that\'s leveled against WordPress is legitimate. And everybody has different viewpoints in they\'re coming at it from certain angles. Somebody from this industry is obviously gonna feel stronger than someone who comes from this industry and so forth like that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I just think that part of this, I think what has been a staple I\'ve I think in the version 3.0 is just the, has been maybe a little bit more cynicism than that I saw in the previous two versions. Exactly. Yeah. And as much, and like I told you, I think that comes with, I write that off as scale.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like I said, when you\'re dealing with. In terms of like, you know, they were just a bunch of people, friendly people helping each other out on forums and all of that back in the day, just like we were like in the very early days of WordPress. And now there are so many people and because I guess a lot of people [00:29:00] have so much writing on WordPress too, that sometimes naturally it does come off as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If my entire business of my entire life is running off of WordPress or companies like automatic that in my mind influence WordPress to a certain degree, then I should be the one or I should be in a position to say what I want or be critical of this or that in terms of leadership and ownership and all of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I\'m not saying leadership and ownership, isn\'t a bad stuff in and of themselves, but it\'s not something that we saw in previous versions of WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Right. And I think we also look at WordPress where it came along in the, in history. I mean, you know, short history, but we are, if you think of back from 2010 to now, how social has brought on the aspect of being able to vocalize yourself and it has brought out peoples that wouldn\'t normally, you know, you would, I mean, I could [00:30:00] look back at again, I\'ll go back to way back, you know, at a chamber of commerce meeting, we\'re all sitting around in person, nobody\'s going to jump up from different table to table say, Hey, you know, that business sure does suck.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, you know, why are they doing that? Or why did they buy them? Why is this all going on now? We\'re to a point where we\'re all</p>\n\n\n\n<p>behind journalists,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>we all got an opinion. And we got to, we got a place to make that opinion. So that has grown just historically in technology. I mean, you know, that has happened.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that then right along with it, WordPress has grown. So it\'s almost like this. There are both on the same level. Yeah, more people are able to get online and say exactly how they feel are most people are not shy about doing it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what do you think here\'s a thinking question for your Bible. What do you think the WordPress community has today that it didn\'t have back in the early days?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Boy, that\'s a, wow. That\'s a good question. I think there\'s [00:31:00] just more,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wow. That\'s a tough one because I think it has okay to two things. One is it has more voices in it and I\'m not seeing voices as far as negative and positive and neutral voices. I\'m talking about voices, worldwide diversity countries, all the different cultures that are coming in. I think that. Really has changed things. And I think it\'s changed for the better obviously.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And again, kind of historically, you know, hopefully getting where there\'s more, you know, things are a little bit more equal. I know they\'re far from being equal, but</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> yeah, there\'s a table, right. Everybody gets to come to the table and hopefully that table has grown in size with more chairs available to fit.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Exactly. Yeah. I think it\'s that. And I think innovation, I think is just, I think people feel, even though sometimes we feel that it\'s, there\'s so much stuff go, you know, there\'s so many plug-ins how can we do more [00:32:00] plugins? How can we do this? But again, naturally over time, I think we have a lot more at our disposal as far as.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be more innovative with WordPress then, you know, back then, and that again is not necessarily the word press or the community is just how technology has evolved. So I think we, I think WordPress benefits from the time it\'s in, because of everything that keeps turning and sure we there\'s changes. And maybe some we don\'t like, and some we do, like, I think, you know, in the end they\'re still all going in the right direction.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now those changes are technically within WordPress should hopefully reflect on the community and they feel like, okay, we\'re going in the right direction because we got to continue to grow.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Okay. Was it, you said two things, was that both of them or do you remember?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> It\'s really, it\'s kind of that feel of the community and the [00:33:00] diversity and that, and then it\'s an actual, more of innovation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think the technology now we have the, I really feel like the opportunities are. More open to everybody in the WordPress space, even though, you know, we think it may be overcrowded. I think there\'s still a lot.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Okay. So here, I asked myself that same question in the shower for unluckily for me, it was a 45 minute shower cause I wasn\'t leaving until I got an answer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think the communication from the quote unquote, the source has gotten better over the years. Unless you heard Matt Mullenweg speak from a word camp or in his blog, sometimes you were a bit, a little bit confused in the very on maybe late version 1.0 early 2.0 days in terms of heck maybe even further on to 2.0 days, what was happening with the project or what was happening with the direction of WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this was before Gutenberg. You know, there were improvements. You could talk to people on contribute, you know, charter contributors and all of that. And there were new [00:34:00] sites keeping up. But I think once we started getting into what you call the version three, once Gutenberg ramped up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think, especially, I think maybe I\'ll say six months, it seemed like six months after Gutenberg was launched. It seemed like the communication was improving. I think Josepha, I\'m not sure when she became, she took her role and Incorrectly state her role here, because I don\'t want to do that. But she is, she has acted like a director or a pro like an overall project manager.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'m not saying that\'s her role, but she\'s been acting like that. She has been part of for a key part of the communication. Now for a while, in terms of trying to translate what the WordPress project is, the general direction of where it\'s going. And, you know, Matt did do that to a certain extent, but I don\'t think it was as often or as regular and as consistent as they\'re doing it now with the blog posts and Josepha, and there\'s even podcasts now with Josepha on them and so forth.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So for me the communication and the openness about especially about [00:35:00] core is what we, I think we have today that really wasn\'t there too much in the early days, because there just wasn\'t enough time to talk about it. Now don\'t hate me. Oh, wait. There\'s a podcast is still young here. I\'m going to flip the question around.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what do you think is missing today from the WordPress community? But one looks back in the early days and say, oh, wow, that existed there. Or I even missed that. Fill in the blank. I</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> need a long shower for that one.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> This is going to be weird. Intermission music, but sure, sure. So by, so maybe stalling you a little bit here, you know, when you buy a car and you get that new car smell.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. Okay. So it\'s gone and then your car can still be exciting. It can be wonderful. There\'s that honeymoon period. But what, and I\'m not pushing you into a negative or positive territory here, [00:36:00] but what do you think was existed in the early days that you can remember the works community that you don\'t see.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That you don\'t see today as much.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> I miss a little bit of the and that I want to say it\'s the warm and fuzzy feeling. Cause that\'s not fair to say. It\'s kind of a little bit of the tighter community that was there when I first got into it. And what I mean by that is, and let me give you an example.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was very interesting and I get to bring up the, say the word smaller group. And I saw Matt Mullenweg in a different lens. At that event. He was walking around. I mean, it was a smaller group and he was really interacting with people and laughing. And he was kind of more in his element because he was with his eye.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sounds weird with his peeps. I mean, instead of this huge, you know, multi hundred or a thousand person conference, and sometimes I [00:37:00] miss that. And it\'s not an exclusive thing either, but those smaller times, I go back to a meetup. I remember the meetups I used to do in Seattle in the early two thousands.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\'d get like 70, 80 people and everybody was so happy and energized and it was fun. And you were meeting new people and there was this just constant energy that was going. And I think is just like probably anything in it\'s younger. I mean, even us as humans,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> every time you go to a WordCamp, you\'d meet a ton of new people, a ton.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, you do. And I kind, kinda miss that and maybe it\'s, you know, it\'s just that smaller. I miss the meetups. Like they used to be. I, and I know that is just, I, and not even this put us COVID aside. It\'s not even that it\'s just that I miss that [00:38:00] smaller local community that used to thrive. I think a lot more, that\'s got segmented and it\'s been segmented just because of the growth and because of the community is so big.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And there\'s so many people you\'re meeting, you know, another countries across the globe. There\'s a little bit of that I miss now, whether that could really come back. That\'s the thing, that\'s a big question. I don\'t know if it\'s really necessary to be needed, right. Again, but some I wish there was some way to still have those smaller groups and they don\'t have to be, you know, WordCamps on, I don\'t even know what they are, you know, and that would, of course would have to be, you know, when the time comes that you can actually do that, but there was something that was just a little bit different. That part of it, I miss, and I don\'t know there was there was the energy, maybe that was it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> It\'s kind of hard to put into words. You\'ve attempted to do that two days ago. I\'m going to share a link in the show notes for a slack conversation we [00:39:00] had. And I put up on purpose prior to this both Eric and Natalie said something about 2008, 2009, 2010. There was definitely. Definitely those were big years.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was some generations based on what people came into the community and what they were doing there. And then you said something around 2010 or so was very generational. There was huge pivots in the space around space, around growth during that time. And then someone responded and says that time was very unique.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It felt like anyone with the ambition and drive could learn to create something special with WordPress. It wasn\'t something reserved for only a small group of corporations. And it looks like Eric made that comment there. So I guess it was you know, it was a gold rush period, but not just to make money, but also to make like relationships.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And here\'s the key when you said that earlier and forgive me if I\'m mispronouncing your name. Dave is David Lutes who says, yep. The hippie times are over. And it\'s not meant in a bad way. In my opinion, this is him still talking quote. It already has started a few years before Gutenberg, when more and [00:40:00] more sponsored contributors raised up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also people became paid from day one when they stepped brand new into the WordPress community. And like he said, it\'s not bad. It\'s an evolution. It\'s got all the way to it\'s. He says it\'s all got gotten. Translating here, all gotten too big to handle, and I have tremendous respect for the pure volunteers out there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So hippie times are over or according to Dave loots here. And we\'ll put all of those links in the show notes. And by the way, just to remind you what you said, a response, you said you could be very well, right? The last decade could easily have pushed out three instead of two versions when you get down to the nitty gritty.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, yeah. Wow. Yeah. Hippie times are over. So like I\'m always never, I\'m not that old to appreciate the hippie times of the sixties, but I\'ve read about it enough and I can see where there was a time I\'ve heard that phrase repeated elsewhere in terms of, okay, the hippie era is over and now I actually have to have a real job and a real business.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that whole time of peace and love was great, but we were young. And [00:41:00] do you think maybe that\'s part of what maybe is missing a little bit from WordPress</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> and it\'s that, yeah, it is that time of having that. It a freedom. I mean, and especially if you had the experience of it, you know, if you did, you were, you came in at some point there, it is nostalgic and I\'d love Dave\'s, everything you said in there because it\'s true.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s like anything. I mean, hippie times never, you know, except for some people that are stuck being hippies for their entire life or something they\'re going to end at some point and they\'re nostalgic and they\'re good. And you probably know it, won\'t go back to that. You know, you know that in your heart, but</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> seems like the harder you fight it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. The change is inevitable. And I think for the rest of those, I think for the rest of the lifetime of WordPress, there\'s going to be a healthy dose of criticism that follows it. So w so as WordPress grows is going to be scrutinized by some people for how it grows [00:42:00] and when the market share stops. Or there\'s less contributions or something noticeable starts to slow down.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\'ll be another round of WordPress criticism problem. You know, like the apple is doomed or WordPress is doomed by probably those same people. Right. Do you think people should accept the generational changes in the WordPress community? Or how should they look at it?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, I think it\'s really, I hate to say it\'s both ways.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, you got to accept it as globally. You got to accept that this is, you know, if he can\'t be a bit flux flexible, then you shouldn\'t be in any part of the tech space. You know, you got to have some flexibility and you\'ve got to not become the old grumpy man and saying, this is how it was and why we\'ll never be that way again, you know, so globally you need to accept it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In your own community, because how we\'re all defining communities is going to be different. How you define it. Maybe one way somebody else defines another way. Somebody may [00:43:00] have 200 people they think of as this is my WordPress community. You can still make changes within the smaller community that can blossom out into different ways into the bigger community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, you\'re not, you know, if we\'re talking WordPress community, every builder, then that\'s a lot, every builder and user, then that\'s an exponentially a lot. So I think that you can make small changes and I don\'t think you should ever say, I\'m just going to roll over. And you know, if I don\'t think this is right, you know, you don\'t have to nag and moan and groan on Twitter day after day, but you can fight.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Creative and useful ways to try to work towards, you know, if something really, if you think it needs to be changed, I would never say people should back down you know, unless it\'s really detrimental to the community, then that\'s maybe when you want to step back. Okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I, a lot of times the, [00:44:00] if there are people that rubbed me a little bit, the wrong way and listen, it\'s be honest.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, there are people that do that. It\'s human nature, right? It\'s not what they say is sometimes their approach to it. And I have a lot of experience sometimes working and talking with people because we\'re cam Miami has allowed me to be like, sometimes I would deliberately put people in WordCamp, Miami lineups to offer those opinions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And sometimes. It\'s just their personal nature. Sometimes it is you know, I, if I run a, if I wanted to write a tell all book, just on what I know about certain people on working in Miami, it would be controversial. A lot of people probably wouldn\'t like me, but that\'s fine. But there are some people that like, feel their message is so important.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They, it boosts their ego or it boosts their, like, they feel like this message is so important. They need to get outside the lines to be able to tell it whether how effective that is or whether that strikes the right chords or not. I mean, go you do you, you know, that\'s not really my, you know, I\'m not in charge of WordPress messaging.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But you know, if you want to, if you [00:45:00] feel something so important that you communicate it, I mean, as long as you\'re not hurting others, I mean, feel free to give it a shot, just watch on any reaction or reaction to that. But it\'s also funny too, that some people, when we talk about the WordPress community, some people says I\'m leaving WordPress, I\'m leaving the WordPress committee.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or they stop or stop using WordPress oftentimes in my experience, and this is over 10 years, this is not any particular case, but over the 10 years where people have said that you still see them on Twitter, or you still see them in the WordPress community, talking with the same people, almost like nothing ever happened.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I, and sometimes I think these people, whether the legitimate reasons or not you know, they\'re trying to make a statement. It says I\'m leaving WordPress, but they\'re not really leaving WordPress. WordPress is the community and of itself, regardless of like, maybe you\'re not using the software or you put your pretty much, nothing else has changed.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you\'re using it to make a statement, whether you\'re using WordPress or not, congratulations, you\'ve made. Or maybe you\'re taking a break, you know, those people that make the big announcements, I\'m taking a break from Twitter and they\'re making a big hoo ha about it. Like maybe celebrities or something like [00:46:00] that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you\'re like, okay, maybe you\'ll be back. Okay. You know, once, once it\'s died down or whatever, but I think some people like to have their cake and eat it too, where like, I\'m making this big statement, but I can\'t really, I don\'t really want to leave the community because there\'s some good things in it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> exactly. And I think they\'re trying to stand up there. They think that, you know, it gives a, it shows the side of their strength. They want everybody to think that, oh yeah, they\'ve been there standing up for what they\'re really, you know, they\'ve kind of walking the talk. Finally, they\'d been saying all this, but then like you said, you see, oh yeah, they\'re still wandering around bed in there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I still see them popping up here and there. And it\'s like, you know, you\'re just. Kind of toned down a little bit maybe,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> and you know what that is within the right to there. Like I said, however you want to get that message out is however you do. But I just think that\'s so interesting that the community of it itself is more, is stronger sometimes than the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Oh, it is. It is. And I think that\'s what most, I [00:47:00] agree with you with a lot of people saying, you know, oh I\'m going to leave the community, but you know, I couldn\'t quite leave this part of it or this part of it. And they\'re not saying they\'re not literally saying that, but they\'re doing that through actions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can see that they\'ve gained a lot of great relationships with some people and they can\'t let go of that. And that relationship in turn still connects him with WordPress. So they, and connects them with the community. So, yeah it\'s interesting human. Nature\'s</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> interesting. Yeah. And of course there\'s always legitimate reasons.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like if there\'s, if you like, you\'ve people have felt like legitimately they\'ve been neglected, abused, all of that stuff. That\'s not really taking care of that part cause that\'s kind of a toll different, totally different ballgame. So yeah. So do you feel, so here comes, our, here comes as we close out this conversation, which has been fantastic by the way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think we only mentioned WooCommerce only a few times. I haven\'t said it enough for something like WooCommerce to appear in a mirror or something like that [00:48:00] instead of three times, probably yet. But here\'s the two remaining questions I wanted to jam with you about one. What do you think version four would be?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Has it happened? Is it happening now or do you think we\'re not, we haven\'t seen that yet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> You know, that\'s weird because I know you had warned me that you might ask about that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. And I have pondered on it a bit and I thought, you know, yeah, maybe I could have some, a wishlist of what I\'d like to see, but you know, I think it\'s going to be.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where this commercial part we\'ve talked about, becomes a little bit more leveled out. I think four is where we don\'t get all excited and, you know, acquisitions no longer are like the biggest news in WordPress. They Almaz say they become everyday normal things and people will still talk about them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think those moves that we\'ve been [00:49:00] making to where we see that it\'s becoming a bigger thing. And I also see that 4.0 is, and it\'s already, maybe it is already happening. I see a lot of attraction even more so I\'m more visibly from outside. Businesses, you know, that say, I want a piece of WordPress. I want a piece of WooCommerce.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, I get this a lot through conversations and companies that reach out to me, you know, they want to get in on it. They want to get in on the action. So that\'s almost like an, and however people view that, you know, that they view that as positive or negative is not really the point that, but I think that is becoming people are companies are being a bit more visible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think this will be part of 4.0 is in their interest in WordPress where it used to be WordPress is [00:50:00] open source and you know, it\'s not that big of a deal and stuff. And now it\'s like, they\'re flat out saying, Hey, we want in, how do we get in? We want to be, because</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> it\'s like we said, it\'s a little hot about the money.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Exactly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Once you see these aquifers, I think, you know, like once you start seeing bigger acquisitions, they\'re taking headlights now in tech crunch, all these other things, people are starting to, I guess, pay attention. Oh wow. There is money to be made here. So I\'m yeah. I mean, I want to I, wouldn\'t thinking about the same thing and I don\'t have a year in mind yet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, if I did, I\'d probably play the lottery or something, but what I see are four potential factors for version four, if you want to call it that, and maybe they all are playing. One, I think we\'re in, I think we\'re version three still includes the acquisitions craze that we\'re going through right now, because I think the acquisitions, if you look back a little bit far enough after Gutenberg, I think launched. To me, it just seemed a lot more common.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s really exploded the last couple of years. I don\'t think it\'s over, but I still think we\'re in the same general [00:51:00] time period acquisitions were happening before Gutenberg came out, but I think Gutenberg probably has triggered a lot of companies, smaller companies for, to be acquired by hosting companies and others because of the blocks, the themes and all of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And of course, we\'re not even going to talk about theme, you know, WordPress themes at all, or we\'re not even about WooCommerce or e-commerce, I\'m not even going to talk about that stuff cause that\'s too much. But I think if I was to guess what a version four would be, and this is commute, this it\'s sad because I\'m not talking much about the community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'m just thinking of the, community\'s going to react to these things. And that becomes version for the community outside investments. How we react to that outside investments might mean more people coming in from the outside, even if it\'s just from a business standpoint, but they would be part of the community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think too, it\'s possible than an aversion for maybe near the end of that. We will see acquisitions, maybe become normal, more normal. But I think we\'re also going to see market share eventually [00:52:00] level off. And that could be years from now. It\'s going to be hard to calculate it because they\'re shutting down Alexa, not that Alexa, the other Alexa next year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And we don\'t know exactly how we\'re going to be able to determine them at the market share metric because we\'ve kind of taken advantage and abuse it over the years. But I tend to see a general acquisitions being more of the norm market share, not as explosive as it used to be, because quite it\'s kind of like apple.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s kind of, again, I go back to apple, they were selling iPhones one year. That would, their total sales of iPhones for one year would be all of the sales for the previous years combined. And they had that kind of explosive growth. Then it stopped because you couldn\'t sell that many phones anymore. But look at them today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They\'re doing just fine. They\'re doing just fine. So I think that\'s going to be the way with WordPress. We\'re going to see market share slowed down because quite far, I mean, whether it gets to 50% or not, I don\'t care. It could be beyond that. It could be years from now, but eventually the market share has to slow down.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then I\'ll ask you a [00:53:00] question about market share in a second. I think acquisitions nor market share slows down. We\'re going to get more, you know, outside investments. We\'ll see those. And then I think matt\'s master plan. Maybe I\'m not sure what you would call this his plan of an open web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you looked at the acquisitions and I\'m not sure if you had the read the piece by David Pierce yet on ma on mat, it was a click baity title. It was can Matt Mullenweg save the internet if you haven\'t read it because it basically folk you would think, oh, it\'s a piece about Matt WordPress and yes it is, but it goes along also the acquisitions automatic has taken over the past couple of years and individually by themselves were like, oh, that\'s neat. They have this little thing. But if you add them together, Matt is slowly accumulating like a collection of these technologies and these corners of the internet that I think needs to be maintained as open, like a diary app and a photos on creative commons.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And there\'s analytics, statistics company that they acquired that I can\'t remember the name of, but it\'s like, he\'s collecting almost one of each or automatic is collecting one of each of [00:54:00] everything. And I think that is going to change. Maybe it\'s making the community more open source minded than WordPress minded maybe, but I think there\'s a cat there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\'s going to be some change. There may be an, a version four, maybe a version five. However you want to split it where we\'re going to see, like we\'re going to be so more fighting for the open source or the open web. And WordPress is just going to be part of that. In fact, I think didn\'t Matt say that Gutenberg is going to be bigger than WordPress. Yeah. Yeah. That\'s a state of the word. So if I had to guess that\'s my version for, I don\'t know, that\'s it. And the</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> only other thing I\'d add, and this is more around the people side of things. I\'m really curious that by version four, if we will have a bigger turnover in who you really notice in the WordPress space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, we got all these people that I\'ve, you know, kind of are the faces we\'ve been around forever. We\'ve seen them, is there going to be a new generation and a kind of influx of newer [00:55:00] people stepping up and taking over the roles in the bigger WordPress community. And some of the other people that have been in a while might be at that point in time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And maybe again, we can\'t get 4.0 will start, but will they be stepping back and maybe doing other things with their lives? And it\'ll be this. This whole new kind of, even though each one has been a generation in its own, that might be a more pivotable generation. That with, when you look at the kids and what your kids are doing, I mean, what so many of them are doing that they could come in and just, you know, barnstormed the place and ,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>, but you see it, like how many P how many original people of the original tech companies are still around Microsoft?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>No bill gates has gone even his can\'t remember his name now developers, guy has gone. The original owners are starters of Google aren\'t there anymore. All of in fact, I think an apple of course, has a leader. They\'ll probably transition like, like the only person left is Zuckerberg is still a [00:56:00] Facebook.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone else has had one or two leadership changes. Very recently, Jack is no longer Twitter. So we\'re seeing that, but also in the WordPress space you know, the advanced custom fields, Sandhill development these people that have been like the starters from day one, they\'re moving on, whether they\'re moving on retiring or they\'re moving on to other projects or other companies through acquisitions is up for debate or whether it\'s, they\'re doing, but we\'re seeing the same thing happen in the global tech community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So exactly. So, yeah, I, wow. This has been a really deep conversation about community, but I didn\'t think, but it was all because of your all because of your blog posts really. And that\'s really</p>\n\n\n\n<p>right. I wrote it and I wrote the, I titled it in a question because I thought, okay, this is just a little snap, a snapshot in my brain.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I want people to think about this and I love that you did this. And I loved hearing on slack and hopefully, you know, this might. Inspire some some blog posts, cause I\'d love to hear other ideas and stuff. [00:57:00] So, so, it did its job and that, that\'s what I wanted it to do. Get people thinking about</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> it. I know I\'ve taken too much of your time already talking about this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s like, what else am I going to do? And we got to go out and do, let me direct you to one last thing earlier today, because I don\'t plan enough far enough in advance for half of our conversations. I put up a Twitter poll and that\'s going to run for another two days. So, while we\'ve been talking about here, strangely enough, we\'ve had at least 10 people vote on it and it\'s only been.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Three or four hours since I put the vote up has been over 40 votes on it so far, but for a Twitter poll for me, that\'s on a new year\'s Eve. That\'s pretty good. So I asked based on your post, where do people feel they belong in terms of what WordPress generation and I we\'ve listed the version one version two, version three, and then whatever, if there\'s other than replying, the comments nobody\'s replied other yet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So they pick one or two or three. So after 41 votes, let\'s see, just making sure I got my numbers, right. [00:58:00] 41 votes. So 39% responded version one. This is 36% version two. So that\'s 2010 from 2018 and 24% said two to 2018 and above for version three. Interesting. So it\'s, you know, it\'s only 40 votes if it was more evenly split between thirds the last time I saw it, but you are getting a little bit more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A slightly older people are older versions. Yeah. So I just thought that was interesting. We\'ll link to this in the in the show notes as well. So by the time you hear this recording, this poll would have ended long ago. It should be interesting to see what it ends up being. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\'s fantastic. Was there anything else that we didn\'t cover about that post that you think we should have?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> No, I think we, we dove into a deep, yeah, we</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> killed, we deep dive and killed it, buried it. We used every part of the Buffalo. Yeah. Bobby could be</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> and now, everybody else can chime in and create their own posts and create their own tweets.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And [00:59:00] then talk about this. Yeah. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> You know, besides Bob, other than my wife, you\'re the only adult I\'ve spoken to in the last couple of days. Anyway. So maybe it\'s nice to have a good conversation. We don\'t have WordCamps anymore. This is the type of conversations I\'d love to have. Right at word camps.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it\'s the parts that, that I miss the most, but we can still do them up to this point. And I\'m looking forward to that time where you and I can sit together and talking you know what? Version three is coming to a close, or maybe we\'ll say it probably a year after it\'s happened. Cause you know, retrospect is Einstein sights, 2021.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, Bob tell us where people can find you or version two, but on the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Okay. I\'m version two. Best place I hang out a lot of on Twitter, you can either @BobWP or @dothewoo depending on what you want to do. Bob wp.com is I\'ve kind of revived that blog. I took all the WooCommerce stuff off and I\'m basically just talking about community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So these kinds of little thoughts come to me and that\'s what I\'m going to be putting there. And if you want [01:00:00] to, you know, again, woo commerce do the blue dot on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Okay, great. Yeah, and like I said, check the show notes for this episode. We will throw Bob\'s link to his blog post in there, specifically this Twitter poll that I did and a few other tidbits as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob, it has been awesome. Thank you very much for sharing all this thoughts with us. And I really hope this at least brings a couple of ideas and thoughts into people\'s heads, not just ones that have come into the WordPress community recently, but also the ones that have been around with it since version one, maybe, or version two, we\'ll see where the poll ends up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Cool. Thanks, David. This has been a blast. Thank you.</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, 11 Jan 2022 04:55:34 +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:12:\"David Bisset\";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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:107:\"WPTavern: WordPress Community Team Proposes Stricter COVID-19 Safety Protocols for In-Person Events 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=128077\";s: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:259:\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-community-team-proposes-stricter-covid-19-safety-protocols-for-in-person-events-in-2022?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-community-team-proposes-stricter-covid-19-safety-protocols-for-in-person-events-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:6953:\"<p>Mounting concerns about <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-birmingham-updates-covid-19-protocols-amid-omicron-surge-wordcamp-europe-still-planning-for-in-person-event\">loose safety protocols at upcoming WordPress events</a>, and the prevalence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, have prompted the Community Team to be more explicit in its COVID-19 safety guidelines. The team is <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/01/10/proposal-mandatory-safety-measures-for-in-person-wordpress-events-in-2022/\">proposing additional measures</a> previously not required.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, in-person attendees are required to be fully vaccinated, recently tested negative, or recently recovered from COVID-19. Every one of these requirements is vague and open to multiple interpretations. Recent spikes in infection in both vaccinated and unvaccinated populations has caused the Community Team to propose the following: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Mandatory masks for all attendees (even in regions that do not have a mask mandate at this time).&nbsp;</li><li>More prominent messaging in&nbsp;WordCamp&nbsp;websites, emails, and social media posts about COVID-19 safety guidelines.</li><li>Mandatory temperature checks for all attendees at the event (if permitted by local authorities).</li><li>Accessible hand sanitizing stations in the venue.</li><li>Maintaining social distancing practices during the event (Larger meeting rooms and seating arrangements with good spacing can be a good way to implement this).</li><li>Having a plan for contact tracing measures in case of infections (can be done using WordCamp registration data,&nbsp;meetups&nbsp;are a bit tricker).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the concerns with imposing more mandatory safety measures is enforcement. WordPress events are generally hosted by volunteers who would now need to go beyond simply facilitating an event to being ready to confront and remove those who don&#8217;t comply with safety protocols. In a community of people with diverse convictions, what happens if some members decide that WordCamp is a good place to protest pandemic restrictions? </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I appreciate very much the heart behind wanting to keep the community safe, but have significant issue with how this is being proposed, and how it would be enforced, and how it shifts the burden of health and safety to a volunteer team of organizers who are not in any way trained or equipped to handle making medical decisions,&#8221; Ben Meredith said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Further, there are many jurisdictions where the proposed changes (like a mask mandate) are specifically prohibited by local law or executive order.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Trying to make a policy from the international level (WordCamp central) that applies fairly and equitably to all local jurisdictions is a fool’s errand. What works in Los Angeles probably wont in Louisiana or Lagos. That’s why organizers are local.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the WordPress community is fixed on hosting events at this time, then there are many more responsibilities organizers are now obligated to assume in order to ensure the safety of attendees. Participants in the discussion on the proposal raised dozens of questions about how these new safety measures might be implemented. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;On temp checks, if someone reads high ( they may not even be aware) would we then refund their ticket to the event assuming we are talking a WordCamp?&#8221; Laura Byrne asked.</p>\n\n\n\n<p> WordCamp organizer and speaker David Ryan raised questions about masks, will the requirements outline what qualifies as a mask? (<em>&#8220;Does a plastic face shield qualify as a mask? Are masks with ventilation valves acceptable? A bandana?&#8221;</em>) Does the requirement include speakers while they are speaking? &#8220;This should be clear in advance for both speakers and attendees to make informed choices without surprises day-of,&#8221; Ryan said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also asked if the masking policies extend to other venues, such as the official event hotel and after parties, the way the Code of Conduct applies.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Refunds are another consideration. Will WordCamps refund people who test positive right before the event? Will the event refund if people arrive and are not comfortable or are asked to leave for not complying with the safety measures?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In addition to these proposed guidelines, I also recommend that we remove our existing guideline of allowing recent-recovered community members from attending a WordPress event <a href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron\">since new COVID variants like Omicron are known to cause reinfection</a>,&#8221; Automattic-sponsored WordPress Community Wrangler Hari Shanker said in the proposal.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laura Byrne urged the Community Team to clearly define this guideline.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We are in for a boatload of trouble with the word &#8216;recent,\'&#8221; Byrn said. &#8220;In other words, something along the lines of, &#8216;anyone who has tested positive for COVID may not attend a WordPress event until X days after they are no longer testing positive.\'&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some participants in the discussion see the additional safety measures as an overreach for WordPress events. It&#8217;s easier and more straightforward to recommend organizers stick with local requirements for anything related to health safety. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Surely I’m not the only one thinking that the foundation shouldn’t be setting health guidelines at all?&#8221; Cameron Jones said. &#8220;Compliance with local regulations should be the only requirement.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The problem with this is that many locations and regions do not have any kind of precautions in place, due to political differences, or are slow in recognizing emerging threats. Lax local guidelines for large gatherings may leave the WordPress community vulnerable to outbreaks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;As a WordCamp organizer and speaker, and more personally as a recent cancer survivor and immunocompromised person, State of the Word was a troubling event to observe,&#8221; David Ryan said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Local legal requirements were met, but not proven event practices that eliminated or greatly-reduced positivity rate at larger gatherings in 2021 compared to the results of SOTW (namely, masks and testing). Planning, day-of and response afterwards didn’t inspire confidence this community was prepared to run safer and inclusive events — so this is an encouraging step towards remedying concerns many have expressed.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Comments on the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/01/10/proposal-mandatory-safety-measures-for-in-person-wordpress-events-in-2022/\">proposal</a> are open until January 22, 2022. The Community team plans to assess the feedback and finalize the updated guidelines in time to publish them to the handbook in early February 2022.</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, 11 Jan 2022 04:27:12 +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:15;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: Customizer Will Disappear for Some Block Theme Users With WordPress 5.9\";s: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=128089\";s: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/customizer-will-disappear-for-some-block-theme-users-with-wordpress-5-9?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=customizer-will-disappear-for-some-block-theme-users-with-wordpress-5-9\";s: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:5712:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Nine years ago, the customizer had a rocky start among theme authors and users. Despite this, it has become the standard for modifying the look and feel of a website. Developers have become comfortable with the API. Users have grown accustomed to adjusting colors, fonts, and even internal WordPress options through it. However, it will disappear for many once a block theme is activated.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I began writing this post on the upcoming block-based theme system and site editor. However, I spent so much time explaining the customizer changes that I thought it best to focus on that aspect to let users know their options if they run into a snag.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is also a follow-up to a <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/ask-the-bartender-what-happens-to-the-customizer-when-a-block-theme-is-active\">post I published in October 2021</a> on the same subject. Since then, some things have changed.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 will launch with several of the final components of Full Site Editing. The centerpiece of these features will be a new theme system, which allows themers to build designs entirely out of blocks. Once such a theme is active, users can edit their site&#8217;s front end via the site editor and global styles system.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The site editor is, essentially, the next iteration of what the customizer aimed to do. The difference is that users can now customize every aspect of their site&#8217;s front-end and not just configure the options their theme author made available.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For many block theme users, the disappearance of the customizer will be a non-issue. However, three missing options have no exact equivalent:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>A partial site icon (favicon) solution exists but not for every scenario.</li><li>The custom CSS box is not available.</li><li>There is no draft process before switching to block theme.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Technically, the customizer is available via <code>/wp-admin/customize.php</code>. Even though no links to it are shown in the admin, any user with the requisite permissions can access it via that URL. At the very least, the first two issues can be mitigated by editing options in this way. It is not ideal, but it will work in a pinch.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Site Logo block has a &#8220;use as site icon&#8221; option. This is a quick and easy way to update the logo and favicon via the new site editor, assuming they use the same image.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />New “Use as site icon” option.\n\n\n\n<p>If they are different images or if the user does not use a logo, the only built-in way to change the site icon directly is through the <code>customize.php</code> URL trick mentioned above. The Site Logo block also adds a link to the customizer option.  Users can also opt for one of the dozens of <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/favicon/\">favicon plugins</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A custom CSS solution in core WordPress is unlikely to be reimplemented in the site editor. The global styles panel and per-block design options are the future of styling. This makes many of the most common stylistic tasks much easier for non-coders. In the context of block-based themes, the average user is unlikely to need the CSS editor in the customizer.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Custom CSS section in the customizer.\n\n\n\n<p>However, there are situations where custom CSS is necessary. Again, the easy answer is to access <code>customize.php</code> once again. For a more dedicated solution, there are <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/custom+css/\">numerous plugins available</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is currently no solution for live previewing and customizing inactive block themes. With classic ones, users can test customizations before activation. In the customizer, block themes will appear with a warning message.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Theme details with warning about customizer support.\n\n\n\n<p>Once a block theme is activated from the customizer, WordPress will return the user to the Appearance &gt; Themes page in the admin. They can then modify their site via the site editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this can be problematic for some sites. Just about any theme change will mean there is at least some customization work in order, and most people will not want their visitors to see an unfinished site. Working from a dev or staging site before migrating the changes is ideal. However, that option is not always available or even easy to figure out for everyone.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another solution is to install a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/maintenance+mode/\">maintenance-mode plugin</a> if working on a live site. This way, visitors will at least know some changes are happening under the hood and that they can return later. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is an open ticket for <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/37201\">previewing and editing</a> inactive block themes. As ticket creator Anton Vlasenko wrote as the proposed solution, &#8220;It&#8217;s simple: we need to implement that feature.&#8221;  In the long term, this is a must-have feature.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is one situation where the customizer will still be accessible via the admin menu and toolbar. WordPress will <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35877\">automatically detect</a> when a plugin or theme hooks into the customizer and make links to it available.  I like to think that my first post covering block themes and the customizer <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/30496#issuecomment-948276503\">raised awareness</a> of this issue. At the very least, we now have a fix in place.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Assuming there are no other changes in the next two weeks, this is how the customizer will function when paired with an active block 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:\"Tue, 11 Jan 2022 00:22:10 +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:\"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:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:138:\"Gutenberg Times: Gutenberg Changelog #58 – Gutenberg 12.2 and 12.3, WordPress 5.9 RC and DevNotes for Full-Site Editing and Block Themes\";s: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://gutenbergtimes.com/?post_type=podcast&p=19982\";s: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:89:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-58-devnotes-for-full-site-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:60515:\"<p>Birgit Pauli-Haack and Grzegorz Ziolkowski  talk about WordPress 5.9 release and DevNotes for Full-site Editing and block themes, and  Gutenberg 12.2 and 12.3.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Music:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://soundcloud.com/xirclebox\">Homer Gaines</a></li><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandy-reed/\">Sandy Reed</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://markuraine.com/\">Mark Uraine</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://paulisystems.net/wordpress-consulting\">Pauli Systems</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-58-devnotes-for-full-site-editing#shownotes\">Show Notes </a>/ <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-58-devnotes-for-full-site-editing#transcript\">Transcript</a></p>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-19982\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Subscribe to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/\">Gutenberg Changelog</a>&nbsp;podcast via your favorite podcast apps!</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>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\" id=\"shownotes\"><strong>Show Notes </strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"listener-questions\">Listener Questions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/jessicalyschik\">Jessica Lyschik</a> (<a href=\"https://twitter.com/jessicalyschik/status/1478785283889971200\">Question tweeted</a>)</p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"paragraph-block-add-font-family-support\"><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37586\">[Paragraph Block] add font family support</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/adityakane\">Aditya Kane</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to Jessica and Aditya for your great questions!</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">If you have questions about Gutenberg, Block Themes or Full-site Editing, email us changelog@gutenbergtimes.com or DM on Twitter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gutenbergtimes\">@gutenbergtimes</a> or WP Slack. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"state-of-the-word-videos-and-q-as\">State of the Word Videos and Q &amp; As</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\">State of the Word 2021 on WordPress.tv</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\">Q &amp; A after State of the Word on WordPress.tv</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://josepha.blog/2022/01/04/state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\">Josepha Haden: State of the Word 2021 | Q&amp;A</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-5-9-release-devnotes\">WordPress 5.9 Release + DevNotes</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>About Themes</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/theme-focused-changes-and-filters-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Theme-focused changes and filters in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/state-of-the-customizer-with-block-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">State of the Customizer with block themes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/bundled-theme-updates-with-wordpress-5-9/\">Bundled theme updates with WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/block-themes-a-new-way-to-build-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Block themes, a new way to build themes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/updates-for-settings-styles-and-theme-json/\">Updates for Settings, Styles, and theme.json</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Block Building and extending Gutenberg</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/new-api-to-access-global-settings-styles/\">New API to access global settings &amp; styles</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/miscellaneous-block-editor-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Miscellaneous block editor changes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/28/take-more-control-over-inner-block-areas-as-a-block-developer/\">Take more control over Inner Block Areas (as a block developer)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\"></a><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\">Using multiple stylesheets per block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/13/posts-post-types-and-taxonomy-changes-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Posts, Post types and Taxonomy changes in WordPress 5.9</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/locking-blocks-in-wordpress-5-9/\">Locking Blocks in WordPress 5.9</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>New Blocks</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/07/the-new-navigation-block/\">The new Navigation block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/20/gallery-block-refactor-dev-note/\">Gallery Block Refactor Dev Note</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you need additional reading or if those are too developer centered for your taste, Birgit collected additional resource to a <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/whats-new-in-wordpress-5-9-a-reading-list-on-full-site-editing-and-block-themes/\">Reading List</a> for developers, designers, site builders and content creators. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-8-3-security-release/\">WordPress 5.8.3 Security Release</a> Update Now! </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gutenberg-plugin-releases-versions-12-2-and-12-3\">Gutenberg Plugin releases versions 12.2 and 12.3</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/\">What’s new in Gutenberg 12.2? (22 December)</a> </li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-2-focuses-on-user-experience-improvements\">Gutenberg 12.2 Focuses on User Experience Improvements</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-3-5-january/\">What’s new in Gutenberg 12.3? (5 January)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-3-introduces-new-blocks-design-options-and-a-complete-core-blocks-reference\">Gutenberg 12.3 Introduces New Blocks, Design Options, and a Complete Core Blocks Reference</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>What&#8217;s in the Works or Discussed?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/05/proposal-changes-to-javascript-coding-standards-for-full-prettier-compatibility/\">Proposal: Changes to JavaScript Coding Standards for Full Prettier Compatibility</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 17, 2022 8 pm ET / 1:00 am UTC</strong> <br /><strong><a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BoulderWP/events/282792359\">What&#8217;s coming in WordPress 5.9</a></strong> Panel discussion w/ Brian Gardner, Courtney Robertson and Birgit Pauli-Haack via WordPress Meetup Boulder, Co</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Stay in Touch</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61e57eb3bbc62 wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<ul><li>Did you like this episode? <a href=\"https://lovethepodcast.com/gutenbergchangelog\"><strong>Please write us a review </strong></a></li><li>Ping us on Twitter or send DMs with questions. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gziolo\">@gziolo </a>and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bph\">@bph</a>.</li><li><em>If you have questions or suggestions, or news you want us to include, send them to <a href=\"mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com\">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a>. </em></li><li><em>Please write us a review on iTunes! <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/itunes/\">(Click here to learn how)</a></em></li></ul>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\" id=\"transcript\"><strong>Transcript</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Hello, and welcome to our 58th episode of the Gutenberg Changelog podcast, the first podcast of 2022. Happy New Year, everyone.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In today&#8217;s episode, we will talk about Gutenberg 12.2, 12.3 and even more features to customize sites, WordPress 5.9 release candidate and the available Gutenberg related developer notes for the upcoming release, and probably more. I&#8217;m Birgit Pauli-Haack curator of the Gutenberg times and developer advocate at Automattic. And I&#8217;m here with my co-host Grzegorz Ziółkowski, JavaScript developer at Automattic and WordPress School contributor. Happy new year to you, Grzegorz. How are you today?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Happy new year, Birgit. I wish you and all of our listeners a lot of exciting experiences with the Gutenberg blog during the 2022 year. I personally immensely enjoyed the slower pace at work in the last weeks when so many more WordPress contributors took well deserved, extended time off. And you were one of them. How was your vacation?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Well, yeah, I&#8217;ve been very well spending the holidays with dear friends in Vancouver, and a short trip to Whistler in British Columbia. We had -21 degrees Celsius and beautiful weather in Whistler on the second day. So we went up with the gondola to the mountain peak and yeah, what breathtaking view. It&#8217;s not something we see ever in Florida, where the highest peak is the I-75 overpass. I&#8217;m so glad to talk to you again, dear listeners, and Grzegorz. It&#8217;s been almost four weeks and we have a great show for you. Let&#8217;s dig in.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, there is a lot to cover today, so let&#8217;s start right away.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"listener-questions-1\"><strong>Listener Questions</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. We first have listener questions that we picked up on Twitter and from the email. Jessica Lyschick is a German front end developer and was part of the WordPress 5.6 release squad, tweeted the other day, &#8220;Is it correct that in WordPress 5.9, it is still not possible to change the font family for a paragraph on a per-block basis? I know it&#8217;s possible in the styles and theme JSON, but only globally and not for the individual block.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well our answer, indeed. Yes, it&#8217;s not yet possible with WordPress 5.9, but it&#8217;s already available in Gutenberg 12.3. It&#8217;s the PR 37586 in our change log today, if you want to look it up. The change helps site owners and content creators to handle paragraph-related topography and font family. One caveat is that the theme needs to provide a list of allowed font families, otherwise the settings will just follow back on the system font. Jessica, thank you so much for your question. And when you get a moment, play around with it, we&#8217;ll have the Gutenberg 12.3 plugin, and see if that matches your needs. And if there&#8217;s something quirky, please let the developers know via GitHub Issue, or just ping me again on Twitter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, I think we will also cover the changes to the group block, which also added the same functionality. So that will give you a fuller depth. So if you have several paragraphs and you don&#8217;t want to change every one of them one by one, you&#8217;ll be able to do it in the Gutenberg plugin on the group level.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Oh, that&#8217;s awesome. Yeah, I haven&#8217;t seen that yet. Thanks putting that in.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. And we have a second question from Aditya Kane and she wrote, &#8220;While full site editing is already very exciting and we are looking at some cool things happening around it, and I do think it will start to become a viable product to pitch to clients after WordPress 5.9 release. But at what point do you see it measuring to the level where WordPress agencies could feel more comfortable pitching it to very large enterprise-level clients? Are there any great resources or places someone should watch or follow other than of course, Gutenberg Times?&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Well hi, Aditya. Thank you for sending us your question. Yes, it&#8217;s a very good one and it gets the obligatory &#8220;it depends&#8221; answer. So from what I see, the foundations for full site editing are in. That means the minimally viable product with a user interface, it&#8217;s only in the first version. I would not start pitch until 6.0 is out. That hopefully settles the interface quirks some more. I probably would even wait building sites based on FSE until the fourth quarter of 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, and I have been known to be a risk taker, so take this with a grain of salt, but however, if your clients don&#8217;t need site editing interface for most of their workflows, the theme JSON improvement for controlling the theme and the block editor is solid. And it allows for disabling many, many features a client might, with many members on the editorial staff, definitely won&#8217;t need, or don&#8217;t want. And you should be able to start working with it in the second quarter in 2022, considering that large projects have a long on-ramp time. So by the time you&#8217;re finished, maybe in late 2022, or even early 2023, it might have a much more solid base for you. So yeah, take it with a grain of salt. I think it&#8217;s moving fast, but it&#8217;s also something that everybody needs to get accustomed to. Grzegorz, what do you think?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, I&#8217;m still processing that, because full site editing means a lot of things. And as you already mentioned, theme JSON and all the capability gives to the site owners or even content creators. So definitely you will see a lot of new blocks if you enable a block theme. However, if you only are concerned about editing content, you still will receive a lot of enhancement and new features to all blocks. Like this global styles, this is something that you can control on the block level. And with the theme JSON you mentioned, you can fine tune to your needs.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So definitely you should check out those global styles features on the block level first and see how that works for you. And wait maybe a couple of weeks to, and I&#8217;m talking about enterprise, which is like, we talk about big money here. So in that case, it&#8217;s better to wait a few weeks and see how the committee responds to that. And definitely in the meantime you should try block themes that are showing up, and every week we see something new, exciting, and you will follow it closely and you definitely will have a recommendation for people if they want.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, yeah. I mean, it&#8217;s very exciting and I&#8217;m personally more optimistic and I don&#8217;t think that we need to wait so long for everything, but I&#8217;m a developer and I like to live on the bleeding edge of technology, so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. So yeah, I really like that. So you got two optimists on that answer. Take it on a grain of salt, Aditya. Thank you for your question. And you had a second question in there, is where to follow along with all the changes. It definitely is the Make Blog Core where all the updates will show up with the release notes for every Gutenberg plugin. It definitely will help you gauge all the good things if you follow along with Gutenberg plugin and test things out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, thank you for the shout on the Gutenberg Times. We&#8217;ll keep you up to date on any changes that are significant for agencies and others. You will also find a few shout outs to plugin developers that also work on the workflows for site builders. Yeah, and also there is a series going on that Ryan Welcher and Daisy Olson, they are just starting with their live streams, taking a theme from zero to block. And that&#8217;s certainly something. And of course we will have the links in the show note. That&#8217;s certainly something to watch and share with your developers so they can get accustomed to it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, listeners, if you have questions about Gutenberg blocks or full site editing, feel free to connect with us on Twitter, the WordPress slack, or via email. It&#8217;s <a href=\"mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com\">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a>. It&#8217;s changelog@gutenbergtimes.com. We&#8217;ll answer right away if we know the answer. And if we don&#8217;t, we&#8217;ll find someone who knows the answer and we will share the question and answer with all our listeners. So don&#8217;t be shy. We know that if you have a question, that many others might want to hear the answer as well, as they have secretly asked themselves the same question. So it&#8217;s definitely worth doing it and it helps us be a little bit more, or even more streamlined for your needs. That&#8217;s what we all want to do. Yeah. It&#8217;s kind of help you with the Gutenberg adoption.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of Q&amp;A…</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"announcements\"><strong>Announcements</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, so if you missed it, the new State of the Word talk by Matt Mullenweg and the live Q&amp;A recording are now up on the WordPress TV. And Josepha Haden, the executive director of the open source project also posted on her blog answers to questions they didn&#8217;t get to during the event. You will also find the array of questions people sent in or posted in the YouTube livestream. Not all have answers yet, but the comments are filling up. And we will share all the links, of course, in the show notes. And yeah, now let&#8217;s go to the committee contributions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Which we don&#8217;t have.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Oh, yeah. Right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: So let&#8217;s go to What&#8217;s Released, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-s-released\"><strong>What’s Released</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: And with that, let&#8217;s go the What&#8217;s Released section. Birgit, can you share the updates?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yes. So there were quite a few things going on. So WordPress release candidate 1 for 5.9 was released on Tuesday, January 4th. And that signaled a hard string freeze. That&#8217;s when the translators go to work and prepare the release for hundreds of languages. It&#8217;s also the time to where developers start publishing the developer notes for the new version. And the block related dev notes are….</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: There is a lot of them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: There&#8217;s a lot of them, yeah. It&#8217;s about the block theme, and it&#8217;s about new APIs. Even miscellaneous block editor changes that are not going into a full post. There&#8217;s a very interesting dev notes also on how to control the inner block areas for the block editor, on how to use multiple styles each for blocks, the post type and taxonomy changes. One dev note that has already been published in August is the gallery block refactor. Dev notes were listed again. And there are still dev notes in the works.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, at least today just before we started recording, there was a navigation block in WordPress 5.9 post published with all the explanations. And I think there are two more coming, and you should know more about them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. It&#8217;s the theme related changes and the updated for the setting styles on theme JSON. But also I found in the Make Blog a post about WordPress 5.9 performance improvements. Do you want to talk briefly about that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Oh yeah, sure. So that&#8217;s something that summarizes the work that was done over several WordPress major releases. So the post was by Anne McCarthy, but it was contributed by many more people from the community. And it was mostly about the performance related to the block editor, but also so related to how that translates to the front end. And there is an interesting table there that shows the features of the block editor and how all those metrics changes starting from WordPress 5.6, up to the upcoming WordPress 5.9 release. And in many of these places, we can see significant improvements. And with the highest peak, for instance, for the inserter opening that is faster. Like the metrics that has been reduced by over 70%, which is like mind blowing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But yeah, the goal of the post is just to show that it&#8217;s something that is constantly on the radar. And the goal is to arrive in future releases at even lower numbers. So it&#8217;s not like a one-time initiative. It&#8217;s something that we strive for the better future and for the better performance of websites. And definitely some of the dev notes we mentioned about, one of them is, for instance, about style sheets. And so there are multiple projects that are interconnected.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So one of the things that with the block themes that come to WordPress 5.9, we have now this way of serving only CSS for the blocks that are actually rendered on the page, which was never a possibility. Like theme authors, they could add CSS styles and you wouldn&#8217;t say if that is needed or not, but it had to be always included. Now we can control that, and that&#8217;s another great improvement that the block paradigm allows. So definitely check this post to see how many benefits the Gutenberg Project brings. And all the work that people are doing on this, which is like&#8230; I would like to thank everyone for getting involved in the work and do that, and for all the people that help to summarize all that, which is like a lot of work.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. I imagine it was a lot of work. Speaking of a lot of work for Anne McCarthy, she just posted this week ahead of the release, user documentation for end users about the new features so you can share them with your team, clients and content creators, about the new features that come in and can read up about how they&#8217;re supposed to function. Sometimes iteration misleads us, and sometimes we need to take up the manual.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>At our household, we have a two-prong approach. Every time we get a new device, my husband disappears with the manual and I start pressing buttons. And sooner or later I&#8217;ve come to the end of my knowledge because, yeah, there is a whole new feature there that I don&#8217;t even know how it&#8217;s supposed to work. So having the user end documentation is a huge step forward. And we didn&#8217;t see that in the last four years. End user documentation was always behind the fast paced releases on the block editor. But for this release, there was this urgent need, and I&#8217;m so glad that it happened. That we have some of the end user documentation already there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All right. So that&#8217;s, for now, all we have for you around the upcoming WordPress 5.9 release. The reading list is quite long for everyone and we are probably just 90 minutes ahead of you. But we had another release, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, there is more. So I think it was yesterday, or on Wednesday, right? On Wednesday. So on Wednesday we had WordPress security release. So we have now WordPress 5.8.3, which is the latest version. And the same changes were applied back to WordPress 3.7, which is what happens usually. And I checked the changes in the release. I didn&#8217;t notice anything related to the block editor, but there were a couple of changes fix it. So yeah, make sure you update your website to the latest one. I hope you already have auto-updates enabled because we asked you for it for so many times.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. And if you don&#8217;t patch your site as soon as possible, we urge you. It&#8217;s a security release, so it&#8217;s definitely urgent that you do that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, there were also two Gutenberg plugin releases during the holiday break. WordPress never sleeps. So we are all going to talk about it now. It&#8217;s not going into WordPress 5.9. Only features from Gutenberg plugins up until 11.9 made it into WordPress 5.9. And only a few bug and interface fixes from later versions have been back-ported to the WordPress 5.9 release. So when we talk about features and new blocks and everything, it&#8217;s not going to be in 5.9. It will be in 6.0. So Grzegorz take us into Gutenberg 12.2. I know you also worked on the new post comment blocks, a major feature to complete the blocks available for themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"gutenberg-12-2\"><strong>Gutenberg 12.2</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, that&#8217;s right. So first let me say that the Gutenberg 12.2, it was released on December 22 and the release was led by Antoine Vlasenko. And as you mentioned already, there is ongoing work on the still experimental comments query block. And in that release, we added support for pagination, which is the same concept that if you are familiar with the query block, that allows you to display a list of posts. So here it&#8217;s the same concept and it brings the pagination so you can split here. Or if you have a lot of comments, you can split them into pages, and then the navigation. The numbers are just the way of navigating between pages.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the other work that was done for the same blog was adding support for nested comments, which some sites they can decide whether you can have threaded responses to comments, to have more granular discussions on some topics. So in general, this feature is now also included, which is the major difference between the query loop, which is just a simple list. And yeah, that&#8217;s something that was added and….</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Mm-hmm. I really like that that is now coming to WordPress, because comments, there was no granular control ever for a site owner for the comments except a few features on and off, and the bad word list kind of thing. But how to handle it with the pagination, with the nested or non-nested way, it definitely gives more control to the site owner that&#8217;s never been there for WordPress before. So thank you for working on that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. So there&#8217;s a full team working actually. They are a team, so the component that they work on their own framework. All those great folks, they are now working on bringing the interactivity for comments into the WordPress Core, which is amazing. They are doing great job.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And one more thing that I wanted to mention in here is that you mentioned that the styling for comment, that was really hard. And extending them. There are a lot of filters and functions and helpers, but the way I see that everything, they had to redo it from scratch, and like write their own PHP implementation. And it will give a lot of flexibility for creators.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Excellent. So another feature was that the team refactored the handling of the padding for the group and the columns blocks, which it&#8217;s a major improvement, especially for designers and theme developers, because now this refactor kind of lowers the&#8230; It&#8217;s a little bit technical, I&#8217;m sorry, but I think it&#8217;s helpful for the theme developers who are looking at using groups and column blocks in patterns. It lowers the specificity for the CSS, and now you can control padding for both blocks very easily by overriding the CSS in your theme. And an example of that is in the PR. It&#8217;s the PR 37356, if you want to look it up. 37356. The specificity for blocks CSS has always been one of the pain points of nested blocks and more complex blocks, so this definitely reduce it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, there is also, if you talk technical, there is a change to the template part and there are now filters that allow you to change the loading behavior. Because as you know, like for template part, you can provide with the theme an HTML file, but it&#8217;s something that you can also override so it&#8217;s stored in the database. So this allows plugging authors to change how it behaves and provide their own workarounds, or like improvements.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. And it seems that those hooks are also back-ported to 5.9. So that&#8217;s one of the features that made it into the release because it started very, very early in the release.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All right. The next thing we want to talk about, and believe me, there is a lot of port requests in the changes, so we are really cherry picking things. So the border controls are now how displayed in the tool panel to make it available to the site editor to control all the borders around things. And with this release, switching it to the tools panel, it makes it easier to put it into&#8230; The tool panels were introduced in Gutenberg in 11.3 and they offer a so-called progressive discovery options for all the block supports features. And they&#8217;re still working on improving the user experience. And I like it that it&#8217;s now not all in one display, but you can have sections. So one is the border controls, one is the typography, the other one is appearance or colors. And then there&#8217;s a slide out that gives you then the additional controls for that. So it&#8217;s a much better experience and you are not looking at all the controls all the time. Only when you need them. So that&#8217;s certainly part of it. And the border controls were wanted for so long from the community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yes. And they also changed the font size picker. So this component has so many enhancements over time. I think like a fifth version of how it behaves. So now we have a change if there is like a bigger number of labels, it shows now numbers. Like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and it&#8217;s like when you hover over it, then it shows the name. But the idea is that you can now simplify changing between them because you just move between numbers and just, you see how it looks like. And yeah, I don&#8217;t know how you feel about that as like something you need to test and see how it works for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. I think it&#8217;s important to have end users or content creators look at that again and send us the feedback, because at one point it&#8217;s certainly easier to say, &#8220;Okay, I want the first level, second level, third level, fourth level, fifth level,&#8221; kind of in a&#8230; But it has, the numbers have nothing to do with the size of it in the pixel size. But it&#8217;s definitely easier to understand the hierarchy than the earlier ones with &#8220;small, large, huge, very large,&#8221; kind of where the labels were a bit arbitrary, but the hierarchy wasn&#8217;t really particularly clear. Yeah. It&#8217;s definitely a work in progress and it could use some user feedback there, definitely. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another feature enhancement was that most components are now iterated in getting to reducing the sidebar clutter, also in the tools panel includes now the custom color implementation that takes advantage of the new dropdown-based color picker. And it seems to be improving the UI quite a bit. And I like it very much. And now many of the components, many of the blocks are actually using that. And so we&#8217;ll see about that. That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s released in the plugin and not yet in WordPress, because the developers definitely need some user feedback in if it makes life easier and how to improve it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. There are also some changes to the site editor. And if you weren&#8217;t aware, so when you have the block theme enabled, then you won&#8217;t see the customizer link in the appearance menu. However, there are some plugins that require that feature. Like woo commerce is one of them. So the change was to detect that case and show back this link to the customizer when it&#8217;s very necessary. I&#8217;m not sure if that was a big part of the WordPress 5.9. Yeah. I commented on the PR, so we&#8217;ll find out about that soon. But yeah, it seems like something that was missed in the process.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other change is that before when you would like to switch between templates when being undecided. So for instance, when you were on the single post template and you wanted to go to the home template, then you would have to click and go to like have a full page refresh, go to another page, then load the list of templates, pick your template, it will refresh again, reload everything. Now it was vastly improved because it uses a client-side routine, so everything happens with JavaScript, which like speeds up the process a lot and is much more user friendly, in my opinion, at the moment.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, thank you. And so there was also a change in the scripts to enact fast refresh for the block development. I saw that and I thought that was also part of the changing how re-render from upon changes the components and the block editor work. Is that a fair assessment or am I missing something?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: No, it&#8217;s purely for blog development and that is still not published to NPM to the WordPress scripts tool and should happen in the upcoming days. But the idea is, because this is the feature that was implemented for react, which basically it&#8217;s a mix of few techniques. And the idea is that when you change something in your source code and you have built in the watch mode, so that means that it picks up all your changes from the code when they are saved. This allows you to, in the browser, to update the code on the fly and you don&#8217;t have to refresh anything. You will see all the changes immediately. And that applies to JavaScript, but also to CSS, which brings a really nice experience that, blog developers should take advantage of in the new future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So yeah, I&#8217;m really excited about that one. And yeah, I can see for the feedback from people and how they like it, and how it should evolve.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Excellent. Yeah. So increasing the developer experience is definitely a good way to, now that all the foundations are in, to get that even more prominent.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"bug-fixes\"><strong>Bug Fixes</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>And then there were a ton of bug fixes in the release 12.2. And we only wanted to point out one that is coming to the query loop, or that came to the query loop, that uses a used block preview component. And that fixes the alignment of the query loop block editor. So the block preview is that when you hover over the patterns in the placeholder, that you actually see how it all works and it&#8217;s now implemented for the query loop.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: So yeah, but this is something like, this is a place where there was a code reuse. The feature is excerpt from the inserter, but also in other places. And this particular it&#8217;s the query loop, so when you have a list of posts. And the issue was that sometimes when you had multiple inner blocks and that selecting them would have some bad side effects. In this particular, the alignment wouldn&#8217;t be properly applied. So when you would like pick for your query loop, wide alignment, but the parent alignment would be different, it didn&#8217;t quite work well. So that&#8217;s fixed now and this is going to be in the WordPress 5.9 release as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Oh good. Good, good.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Actually, there&#8217;s one more thing I want to talk about, which is in the site editor, there was an issue with the order of including templates. In the case when you would have a child theme, so it became a bit complex because you could have the case when your parent theme would have HTML template in the block theme, but your child theme would override that with a PHP file, like in the classic theme. So now it&#8217;s fixed that if your theme defines this PHP file, it will take precedence over the HTML, which is like, when you have a block theme, it&#8217;s the opposite. Like the HTML take precedence. So it&#8217;s like some complex edge case, but fortunately it was fixed sometime.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. Excellent. Yeah. Thanks for pointing that out. And then I think there&#8217;s another one in the block editor where the team fixed the content loss when ungrouping template parts or reusable blocks. So there was some edge cases where content was lost when you changed the order of blocks, or make a group block disseminated into the single blocks. The same with reusable blocks. So that is definitely fixed and a lot of users will probably issue a sigh of relief for that, finally.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. You could always use undo button, but it&#8217;s always the worst experience when your content disappears suddenly and you don&#8217;t know why.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. It&#8217;s heart attack inducing. Yeah. Or at least adrenalin shots. Yeah. There was quite a few documentation updates. Nothing really stood out, but definitely go through the list. If you are missing some documentation, it might have been already issued. And I&#8217;m just only skipping over that because we have another release to go to and we are pressed for time in this.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah I think we can go.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: There is so big. I think we can go to Gutenberg 12.3, because we could spend a lot more time on that.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"gutenberg-12-3\"><strong>Gutenberg 12.3</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, definitely. And so Gutenberg 12.3 was released on Wednesday, January 5th and the release was led by Luis Herranz. And he also published a new post. And I know that you were also working more on the Gutenberg 12.3, Grzegorz. Do you want to start out with the new features there?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, sure. So this release was much smaller, mostly because as I mentioned at the beginning, so many people were away from keyboard, enjoying some time with friends and family. But still there was a couple of interesting features added. So some of them you know already, if you are listening to our podcasts. So to the group block, which also has the variation for the row, there was added gap support. Which gap support is the space that you can control between several blocks that are inside this block.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the other feature is typographic support that I mentioned when we were answering the questions. So yeah, that is now possible. It&#8217;s quite nice. I like that. Especially the typographic ones. Like you can like change the typography for a couple of blocks and that applies not only to paragraphs, but to other things that support typography.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. And one note is that the new gap setting is also available to the row variation of the group block, which was added in 11.5. But it&#8217;s added horizontally instead of vertically, so it gives you a lot more options to customize your layout. Then there was a new block. It&#8217;s the new author name block, and it&#8217;s part of the effort to split the post author block and to separate blocks to allow even more granular layout options for themes. And theme developers were kind of complaining that there wasn&#8217;t enough flexibility there, and it now has been released. This means you have extra options to customize the author name to your liking.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. And there is a plan to add author bio and author avatar, so that will give like more options. And this one was also inspired by the implementation of the comments query block, which got another two blocks which are related to the pagination. And one of them is next, and obviously the other one is previous. Although they might be renamed to &#8220;older&#8221; and &#8220;newer&#8221; because this is how you usually see them in the existing classic themes. And that was a very exciting milestone because that means that all blocks that were planned for this block are already in place and you can test all of them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, I just want to mention that it&#8217;s still experimental. It means that some of the features, especially for settings for the sites that exist already in WordPress are still being applied. And it&#8217;s quite complex task, so I expect that it might take some more time. However, it&#8217;s like the most important part, which is how to style those blocks is already there. So definitely check it out. If you don&#8217;t like the block that it&#8217;s called post comments block that is already there, that eventually will be replaced with the new one.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Excellent. Yeah. Yeah, there is also a tracking issue available on GitHub with the upcoming changes. So there is the new and older that you mentioned name for the pagination blocks, forwards and backwards. And then also how the pagination is handled with comments with replies, that&#8217;s still in the works. There&#8217;s also something in the works for the block placeholders that will be created similar to the query loop. So you have different combinations that you can get out of the box. And a few bug fixes. So yeah, it&#8217;s definitely the first version. It&#8217;s a working version, but nothing is perfect and it can always be improved on.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"enhancements\"><strong>Enhancements</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So in the 12.3, there were also enhancements to the block library. And I want to point out the one for the site logo. And the site logo block now has an option to also set the site icon from the site logo block settings. That&#8217;s one of the features that actually were coming through the customizer and it&#8217;s very important to get some parity with it. Site icons, just in case you&#8217;re not aware of it, all the little icons that you see in browser bookmarks, or in tabs, or within the mobile app. So it&#8217;s quite of identify the site in open tabs. Which I have now open, I don&#8217;t know, 30 per window, and now having a site icon definitely helps me find the right one.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, this one is a little bit surprising for me the way it&#8217;s implemented, because this is a toggle button that is inside the sidebar. So when Luis was working on the release post, we discussed that one because we couldn&#8217;t quite understand how it works exactly. I mean, it makes a lot of sense how it ended up being implemented. But the confusing part was that when someone changes the site icon in a different place and that&#8217;s&#8230; You need to refresh the page to see that it&#8217;s no longer set as the default one. So that&#8217;s something that might confuse some people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. Yeah, I can see that that&#8217;s happening. It&#8217;s always the time when you have the synchronization issues kind of….</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, between the classic and the new block editor. And I think there&#8217;s a similar problem, I would say, with the navigation block. When you have existing menus that coming into the navigation block, when you change them, it&#8217;s not going to change the existing one. It&#8217;s creating a new record and all that. I think there is no really good way to do this, but it will be at first a little bit confusing to some users. The same when you go back from block editor to classic editor in your post. It doesn&#8217;t work switching back and forth. So once you decide going one way, might want to stick to it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. But because like, from my perspective, the biggest challenge is that when you see toggle, you expect that once you toggle it, it will remain like in this state, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Mm-hmm.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: However, it&#8217;s not the case here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. Yeah. And you can change it through the customizer again, and then it&#8217;s not showing up on the side logo block. Yeah, that is a disconnect there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next feature, we already talked about. That&#8217;s the paragraph to add font family support. Again, shout out to Jessica who raised the question on Twitter. And I was so happy that we could point to this pull request.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then the next one is the comments template now has also comments pagination. That&#8217;s all part of the comments query block in a template. So there&#8217;s, I don&#8217;t think more to talk about that what you already told us.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah, I think when you insert the comments query loop, it&#8217;ll just show you all the available inner blocks. That&#8217;s the biggest change here. And in the future, I would expect that it&#8217;ll look more like the query loop, that you have this option to pick one of the existing quick templates, or just go to the pattern selector and just see whatever is there and pick the one that suits you best.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, that&#8217;s wonderful. Thank you. And then one of the most popular blocks is the spacer block, and it now has custom units for height and width. So you can do it in EMs, in REMs. You can do it in viewport width and viewport heights. So a lot of people asked for that, especially theme builders or site builders that control their site through the interface and are not working with code.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: I&#8217;m curious what&#8217;s the future of this block, because now we have all those spacing options that you could pick like top margin or bottom margin, and then this block might not have the future at all.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Well, I think it does because it&#8217;s an easy way to, so you don&#8217;t have to space out both of it. Yeah, you&#8217;re just going to put a space and continue working on your content. Just because when you&#8217;re having two blocks bump up against each other, you don&#8217;t have to think about which one do I have to change, and where do I change it? So you just going to put the space out block in there. It has a default of I think 40 pixels. You can change the default to 20 pixels, and then every time you use the spacer block, it&#8217;s the same.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I think it has a future for fast power users that got accustomed to it. The custom units for height and width definitely help you also for the theme JSON to have default values for that. But other than that, a content creator definitely seems to love that because they&#8217;re not always in control of the theme. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: I know that is highly popular block. Like when I saw some stats a few months back, it was on the seventh place from the most popular blocks. Which was quite surprising, but now I get your point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. I was surprised when I saw that too, but that has been for the last four years. So it definitely is good that padding and margin controls are in, but they only came in in 2021. So that&#8217;s where also a lot of muscle memory is in there to use the spacer block just instead.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"bug-fixes-1\"><strong>Bug Fixes</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So, there are quite a few other enhancements. We will, however, jump over them and go to one of the bug fixes that restrict the navigation permission and show the UI warning if it cannot create it. So there was one in the testing of WordPress 5.9 that came out that the navigation block or menu is actually restricted for non-admin users, but the block editor wouldn&#8217;t behave well for that. And now it&#8217;s definitely clear that only admins can create navigation menus. And there is, instead of just a loading spinner that doesn&#8217;t go anywhere, it now has a UI warning that the permissions are not the right ones. So that&#8217;s definitely&#8230; and that was also patched back to WordPress 5.9, if I&#8217;m not mistaken.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. It would give you a false feeling that you can do too much, but it looks like&#8230; And more like the approach they took, that it only allows you to pick one of the existing menus is pretty nice.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. Yeah. What else do we want to pick out from there? So there is an update in the multi-editing saving. Do you have any more information about that? On the post editor?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: No.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Oh, when the publish button was clicked and not always the multi-editing. When multi-editing saving needs to happen, it wouldn&#8217;t then go further to the post publish panel to actually publish a post. It would just save the multi-editing, but not publish a post. I think that was a problem. Or when you want to switch off saying, &#8220;Oh, I changed the header. I didn&#8217;t want to do this.&#8221; And then you check it off in the multi-editing saving, and still wanted to publish it. I think that was a problem.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"documentation\"><strong>Documentation</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. And that brings us to the documentation section. And here we have a new page that was other than that one is for Core block. So now we have a new tool in place that generates some basic characteristics for all Core blocks that exist there. So that&#8217;s good for theme authors because now they can check all the blocks, and they can easily look for the features they have. Like all these block supports, like typography, spacing, borders, whatever. And yeah, I expect that this page will get much better over time, because this is just the beginning. But now that we have, feedback from everyone would be very much appreciated because it will help to shape that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. And I can see that it&#8217;s not only usable for theme developers. Plugin developers are absolutely happy about that too, because they also see all the attributes that come with each block and can decide right there how the extensions would work if they want to extend existing blocks. And can have a complete, and I think that&#8217;s the operating, or the executive kind of word there. Complete block reference of all the Core blocks coming from the block JSON file in the block. So it&#8217;s definitely an improvement of the documentation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. Now that we have that, it also would be great to include that information when block was included in WordPress Core. So people can have a good expectation, because some of those blocks are still in experimental phase. Some of them, they&#8217;re becoming new WordPress 5.9. And some of them exist from the very beginning.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Exactly. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. And there was also a change in the handbook. So there is a lot of code examples, and so far they had two versions. One of them was called ES.Next and the other one was called ES5. And that has changed now, because the distinction that existed before was mostly because IE 11, it could support only older version of JavaScript. And these days, all the browsers that work with supports, they work with ES.Next, so this wasn&#8217;t working well. So now the distinction is between JSX, which also translates to the code examples that require a build step. And then other one is called plain, which basically you can copy and paste into your browser some of those examples, and they should just work. So, yeah.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Excellent. Yeah. So it lowers the barrier of entry for someone who&#8217;s not yet completely familiar or comfortable with JSX to see other code examples here. But JSX is mostly coming from the React framework, but you can also write blocks in plain vanilla JavaScript, as it&#8217;s called. I think that was the name I was trying to find. Okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I think that concludes our dive into the change log of the 12.3 Gutenberg plugin release from this week.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-s-in-active-development-or-discussed\"><strong>What’s in Active Development or Discussed</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re coming to the section of what&#8217;s in active development. And I just wanted to give a shout to your proposal, Grzegorz, on changing&#8230; You were the one who published the proposal, but of course it comes from the Core JavaScript group, on changing the JavaScript coding standards. So Prettier, and can be used also out of the box instead of using the WordPress own version of it. Do you want to explain a little bit more about that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</em>: Yeah. So first of all, Prettier, this is the tool that we use in the Gutenberg project to format the code so it looks the same no matter what your style preference is. So that helps us a lot to decrease the number of changes in the PRs that were purely about wide spaces or stuff like that. And also improve the speed of code review because now you can focus on the code. And, the thing is that it was, I think two years ago, when we introduced this tool. We couldn&#8217;t use the official one that is big open source project and is widely used by the JavaScript community because Wo