Hello!

WordPress 6.5 which was expected today has been postponed to next week. The new release date is April 2, 2024. A new proposal has also been put forth for the creation of WordPress Media Corps.

Don’t forget to subscribe and listen to the podcast version of this newsletter on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, where you can hear more details and discussions about these topics and more.

See you next week!

Team WP-CONTENT.CO

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📰 WORDPRESS & AROUND

All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies

WordPress 6.5 release delayed

The release of WordPress 6.5 will be delayed by one week and is now scheduled for release on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024.

• WordPress 6.5 Release Candidate 3: The RC3 is now available for download and testing.
• WordPress 6.5 release day process: Akshaya Rane, the release coordinator has shared the release process for the WordPress 6.5 release. 
• Understanding and testing Font Library feature with block editor theme: A detailed testing guide for the upcoming Font Library feature in WordPress 6.5.
• Making a WordPress Media Corps: Josepha Haden Chomphosy has put forth a proposal to create a WordPress Media Corps. What this would result in as per the proposal is that qualified media partners would be made aware of the updates regarding the progress of the various projects, upcoming dates, and so on.
• Hallway Hangout: Using site editor in production for client sites:  The upcoming Hallway Hangout scheduled on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, will focus on how agencies and freelancers adjust their workflow and tooling to provide a consistent experience for their clients.
• The WPCC searching for a new fiscal home amidst OCF’s dissolution: The WPCC is in search of a new fiscal host to continue its work as a 501(c)(3) organization after the dissolution of OCF. The Open Collective Foundation (OCF) will be dissolved effective December 31, 2024.
• Google starts testing AI overviews from SGE in main Google search interface: Google is now testing AI overviews in the main Google Search results, even if you have not opted into the Google Search Generative Experience labs feature.
• Google completes March spam update, core update continues: Google has completed its spam update rollout, which targeted AI-generated content, expired domain misuse, and authority abuse. The core update, incorporating the “Helpful Content” evaluation into the core algorithm, is still ongoing and will take a few more weeks to complete.
• Google unifies conversion reporting across ads & analytics: Google Analytics 4 update unifies conversion reporting across Ads and Analytics, introducing ‘key events’ and privacy-first measurement solutions.

🚨 WEB SECURITY & VULNERABILITIES

A collection of web security and vulnerability news and updates for the past week

Critical vulnerabilities patched in WordPress Automatic plugin

Multiple critical vulnerabilities that could allow any unauthenticated user to read local files and gain a full-scale SQL query execution on the WordPress site were recently patched. All users are to update to the latest version immediately.

• Sign1 Malware: Analysis, campaign history & indicators of compromise: Detailed report by Sucuri on the Sign1 malware that has infected over 39000 websites.
• Interesting cross-site request forgery to local JS file inclusion vulnerability patched in File Manager WordPress plugin: The vulnerability was patched and users are advised to update to the latest version.
• SQL injection vulnerability patched in Tutor LMS WordPress plugin: An authenticated SQL injection vulnerability that can be leveraged to extract sensitive data from the database, such as password hashes was patched recently.
• WordPress vulnerability report — March 20, 2024: Weekly report from SolidWP.
• Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress vulnerability report (March 11, 2024 to March 17, 2024): There were 159 vulnerabilities disclosed in 123 plugins and 1 theme.

🔌 NEW PLUGINS & THEMES

Be one of the first ones to explore some fresh plugins and themes

Fewer theme

A theme suitable for portfolios and blogs.

• Blockwave theme: A multipurpose theme.
• MonoWP theme: A monochrome theme
• Simple Custom Fields for WooCommerce blocks checkout plugin:This plugin allows users to add custom fields to the new blocks checkout on WooCommerce.
• Forever Auto Updated Copyright Year Footer Note plugin: It will set the automated current year and also allow you to add and customize the footer copyright text and year.
• RoadMapWP plugin: A new roadmap plugin.

💵 INVESTMENTS, ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

• “Do the Woo” finds its home at WordPress.com: Bob Dunn, the founder of the Do the Woo podcast, and WordPress.com have partnered up. Do the Woo started in 2016 as a WooCommerce-focused podcast.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

Can Everyone Use, a new accessibility check tool

 A new project led by Anne-Mieke Bovelett, which is useful for checking the accessibility score of components in various frameworks.

• WP Umbrella is a victim of a phishing attempt:  Aurelio Volle, the CEO at WP Umbrella alerted the community via X about the presence of a phishing website under the domain names wp-umbrelia.info and wp-umbrelia.pro. The attacker has also successfully created a fake landing page to target the users’ credentials. 
• QuickWP has been open-sourced: QuickWP is an AI-powered site builder from Themeisle and recently they have open-sourced the code base thereby allowing users to learn from it along with creating websites.
• The latest version, 2.5.9 of Radio Station (Free) by netmix is now available on the repository: The plugin was temporarily closed on March 7th to resolve two security issues and has now been relaunched with the vulnerabilities patched.
• WordPressCS 3.1.0 released: This release contains three new sniffs and several updates for the upcoming WordPress 6.5 release.
• Elementor version 3.20 released: The latest update brings forth several performance and accessibility improvements such as a faster TTFB, DOM optimization, and improvements to various display conditions.
• Launching soon: Alt Kid AI: Andrew Palmer has announced via X his new project called, Alt Kid AI, which is an alternative text AI generator for WordPress and Chrome.
• Noel Tock has shared an important chart regarding the growth of WordPress market share: In this short but informative X thread, Noel Tock explores WordPress’ growth to 43% market share in the last two decades with an informative chart focusing on demand and supply.
• A new milestone achieved by 20i: 20i has reached a major milestone as they are now hosting over 1 million websites.
• 20 Years SiteGround: 20 Lessons from two decades in business: A huge milestone for SiteGround as they completed 20 years in the field of web hosting. As a part of the milestone, they have shared 20 valuable lessons from 20 years in business.
• WordCamp Asia 2024 interesting fact: Regan Khadgi one of the organizers of WordCamp Asia 2024 shared an interesting fact about the recently concluded event. The program team decided to mark International Women’s Day on March 8 by having all sessions on both conference days opened by female speakers and emcees.

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

More blog posts and podcasts from WordPress Community you don’t want to miss

• On Cloudfest, hosts and WordPress: From Post Status
• Low-cost accessibility remediation in 2 days: A Case Study: From Equalize Digital
• Should the “Page” in WordPress be the new default?: From Brian Coords
• Building and optimizing progressive web apps (PWA) with WordPress: From Kinsta
• I installed WordPress on Raspberry Pi: My experience and findings: From CodeinWP
• What is an EULA & why must software products have them?: From Freemius
• WordPress block themes explained in 250 seconds: From WordPress.com
• WordCamp Asia 2024 unwrapped: From WordPress Briefing
• WordPress media w/ Jonathan Denwood: From The WP Minute
• Miriam Schwab on balancing WordPress success and family life: From WP Tavern Jukebox
• WordCamp Asia 2024: Building the future of WordPress: From Hostinger
• WP-CLI packages: Supercharge your WordPress development: From Delicious Brains
• The power of community: WordCamp Asia recap: From WPMotivate
• Website security: How to secure & protect your site in 2024: From Jetpack
• AI spam sites beat Google’s March 2024 spam update: From Search Engine Journal

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

• Pattern design tips and tricks for developers: From WordPress Developer Blog
• Drop shadow updates in WordPress 6.5: From WordPress Developer Blog
• Exploring the Block Hooks API in WordPress 6.5: From WordPress Developer Blog
• How to backup your site: From WordPress TV
• Managing spam on your website: From WordPress TV

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

• Webinar on Bluehost Cloud scheduled for March 28, 2024: Registration is now open.
• WordCamp Europe on 13-15 June 2024: The call for speakers, volunteers and sponsors is live. The call for photographers is now open.
• WordCamp Canada on July 11-13, 2024: The call for speakers, volunteers, and sponsors is now open.
• WordCamp US on 17-20 September 2024: The tickets are now available.
• WordCamp Asia on February 2025: The event is in the early planning stages and the call for organizers is now open.

🎁 WORDPRESS DEALS OF THE WEEK

Just the best deals of the week, again, handpicked by yours truly!

EXCLUSIVE DEALS

• 4 Months free offer on hosting plans of WP Engine (Coupon Code- FREEDOMTOCREATE)
• 15% off yearly plans at Videvo (Coupon Code – WPV15)

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• 30% off for 3 months + $1000 migration package for free on Email marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend (Coupon Code- ONLYWOO)
• 40% off for 4 months on all hosting plans + 40 free migrations at Cloudways  (Coupon Code – BFCM4040)
• 53% off for NordLocker
• Up to 75% off on plugins, themes and hosting at WP Hive
• 60% off on the Thrive Suite yearly plan.
• 50% off Web Hosting Packages at StableHost (Coupon Code – 50OFFYEAR1)
• 80% off for plugins at WPPool
• Up to 77% off hosting plans at HostPapa
• 50% off for Advanced Giftcards for WooCommerce plugin
• Upto 55% off hosting plans at Nexcess
• 86% off at AtlasVPN
• 20% off for Fluent Forms plugin
• 50% off at Formidable Forms
• 20% off for FluentCRM plugin
• 50% off for WP Social Ninja plugin 
• Upto 95% off for PitchGround products 
• Upto 75% off WordPress Hosting plans at InMotion Hosting
• 83% off hosting plans at SiteGround
• 60% off at Hostgator India (Coupon Code- SUNSHINE)
• Up to 74% off at Liquid Web
• 52% off on Managed Dedicated Server Hosting at Liquid Web

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