Hi!

WordPress 6.3 RC1 is now available for download and testing. Also, a community discussion regarding a wishlist surrounding WordPress 6.4 is also live.

Last week we hit yet another milestone, as our amazing sponsor, WP Job Openings has crossed 30k+ active installations.

You can also subscribe and listen to the podcast version of this newsletter on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Until next week,

Bye!

Team WP-CONTENT.CO

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📰 WORDPRESS & AROUND

All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies

Chorus and WordPress

Matt Mullenweg responds to Vox Media dropping their own CMS and migrating to WordPress.

• WordPress 6.4: What’s on your wishlist?: Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the Executive Director of the WordPress Project is asking the community to share their wishlist items for WordPress 6.4.
• Bundled themes dropping Internet Explorer scripts and styles: Since the usage of IE has gone down drastically, and the fact that WordPress no longer supports this browser, the default themes have removed some IE-specific scripts and styles.
• Mojeek search engine adds WordPress’ Openverse to image search: Mojeek, a popular UK-based privacy-oriented search engine has added Openverse to its image search alongside Pixabay.
• WordPress contributors demand transparency and objective guidelines for listings on recommended hosting page: Currently, only the minimum criteria are made public, and the process for being listed and de-listed is not.
• Rumored ‘Apple GPT’ AI Chatbot to compete with big tech rivals: If reports are true, it seems like Apple is also joining the AI race. Their AI chatbot is rumored to be built on an AI framework called “Ajax”.
• Twitter is being rebranded as X: The new logo for Twitter is here and it will replace the existing bird logo. The change is all part of the rebranding process led by Elon Musk.
• Twitter to launch job listings for verified organizations:  The feature that was hinted at two months ago is possibly nearing its official launch. This would allow verified organizations to post job listings directly on their Twitter profiles.
• Meta and Microsoft introduce the next generation of Llama: Llama 2, the next generation of open source large language model from Meta and Microsoft is here and is free for research and commercial use.
• Microsoft doubles down on AI to transform how people work & search: Microsoft has brought new AI features to its various platforms with the aim to improve user experience and productivity.

🗣️ TALK OF THE TOWN

🔥 WordPress 6.3 Updates

• WordPress 6.3 field guide: The field guide for WordPress 6.3 is now available.
• WordPress 6.3 Release Candidate 1 is now available: The second major release of 2023 has entered its RC phase and is now available for download and testing.
• WordPress 6.3 Release Candidate Phase: As WordPress 6.3 has entered the RC phase, the post summarises the various policies that are now active.
• Call for volunteers to help with 6.3 end-user documentation: The Documentation team needs volunteers to complete the pending end-user documentation for the upcoming major WordPress release.
• 6.3 Live product demo Q&A:  The post is a quick recap of the question-and-answer segment of the 6.3 Live Product Demo.
• Miscellaneous editor changes in WordPress 6.3: Dev notes for all the minor changes in WordPress 6.3 is now live.
• Miscellaneous developer changes in WordPress 6.3: The post outlines various developer changes in the upcoming WordPress version.
• WordPress 6.3 accessibility improvements: A quick overview of all the accessibility improvements that will soon roll out with WordPress 6.3 has been published.

🚨WEB SECURITY & VULNERABILITIES

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

Unauthenticated stored cross-site scripting vulnerability exposed in 14 email logging plugins

Wordfence Threat Intelligence team discovered an Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in 14 different email logging plugins.

• Site wide reflected XSS in Freemius WordPress SDK affecting millions of sites: A site wide reflected XSS vulnerability was recently patched and users are advised to update to the latest version.
• WordPress Vulnerability Report – July 19, 2023: Weekly vulnerability report from ithemes.
• Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (July 10, 2023 to July 16, 2023): 69 vulnerabilities were disclosed in 68 WordPress Plugins and in 1 WordPress theme.

🔌 NEW PLUGINS & THEMES

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

Grainy theme

 A block theme with nine style variations.

• BlockVerse theme: A multipurpose block theme with 15 patterns and 3 style variations.
• Extol theme: A theme that offers a wide range of customizable blocks, templates, and styling options.
• X3P0: Breadcrumbs plugin: A breadcrumbs WordPress block plugin.
• Variation gallery simplified plugin: The plugin allows users to add a different variation image gallery to show on the product page.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from WordPress Community

Introducing MainWP Browser extension – Track updates from your browser!

MainWP has introduced its all-new Browser Extension. The Browser Extension tracks the number of updates and non-MainWP changes across all your connected websites, eliminating the need to log in to your MainWP Dashboard thereby keeping users informed right from the browser.

• Introducing new Ultra Smush: 5x image compression boost with minimal quality loss: WPMU DEV has introduced an all-new image optimization feature which is an improvement over the already existing super smush feature. It is a new compression feature that reduces load times without sacrificing image quality.
• Scoop: Vox Media drops its own CMS: Vox Media has reportedly stopped using its in-house CMS, Chorus, and will migrate all its websites to WordPress VIP.
• An update on the block theme stats in the themes repository: Hendrik Luehrsen has yet again provided an update on the status of block themes and their growth in the repository, exactly a year after he did it the first time.
• WooCommerce and TikTok invite merchants to TikTok Shop beta program in the US: The new development will allow WooCommerce merchants in the U.S. to sell directly on TikTok.
• In pursuit of a more intuitive onboarding experience: An all-new onboarding wizard is expected to ship out with the Ollie block theme in the near future. This new onboarding wizard will help the users when it comes to setting up the site when using the upcoming Ollie block theme.

🔖INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

• WordPress 6.3 source of truth: From Anne McCarthy
• WordPress 6.3 explained in 240 seconds: From Jamie Marsland
• WP Perspectives issue 18: The current state of WordPress builders: From David McCan
• The not-so-nice side of the WordPress community: From The WP Minute
• Is the WordPress block editor right for enterprise websites?: From The WordPress Edge
• 10 years of contributing to WordPress: From Jonathan Desrosiers
• WordPress 6.3, Gutenberg 16.2 and Phase 3 collaboration: From Gutenberg Changelog
• Birgit Pauli-Haack: Fostering community spirit through knowledge sharing: From Hostinger
• Aaron Reimann on WordPress’ first twenty years: From WP Tavern Jukebox
• Ecommerce merchandising: What it is and how to improve it in 2023: From Iconic WP
• Hire a membership manager: 24 Repeatable tasks anyone can do to help run your membership site: From Paid Memberships Pro
• WordPress hosting vs web hosting: Key differences explained: From Jetpack
• Shared hosting vs Managed WordPress hosting: Which is best?: From Jetpack
• Being a WordPress Educator with Bud Kraus: From Press This
• AI presents many challenges for Web designers: From Speckyboy
• What the end of Adobe XD says about the state of design tools: From Speckyboy
• How to create a shipping policy (+ examples): From ithemes
• Reflecting on 20 years of WordPress with the CEO of WooCommerce: From Search Engine Journal
• How to use ChatGPT to uncover keyword variations other tools miss: From Search Engine Land
• An SEO guide to understanding user intent: From Search Engine Land
• Should you trust an AI detector?: From Search Engine Journal
• What’s less harmful: 301 redirect or “404 error pages”?: From Search Engine Journal

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

• How to improve First Input Delay (FID) on your WordPress site: From Torque
• How to sell online — Your all-in-ne Guide: From WooCommerce
• Beyond block styles, part 1: using the WordPress scripts package with themes: From WordPress Developer Blog
• Installing Node.js and npm for local WordPress development: From Learn WordPress
• Builder Basics: Goodbye reusable blocks—Hello synced patterns (and more): From WordPress TV
• Common WordPress APIs: responsive images: From WordPress TV
• How to improve Google core web vitals on WordPress: From Jetpack

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

• WordCamp Bengaluru on July 29, 2023: Call for speakers and sponsors is now open.
• WordCamp Kampala on August 5-6, 2023: Tickets are out.
• The WordPress Community Summit on August 22-23, 2023: The Community Summit is an “unconference,” without slides, selected speakers, or planned presentations. 
• WordCamp US 2023 on Aug 24-26, 2023: Contributor day signup is now open.
• WordCamp Kathmandu on September 8-9, 2023: Call for sponsors is now open.
• WordCamp Rochester on September 30, 2023: Call for speakers and sponsors is now open.
• WordCamp Masaka on October 6-7, 2023: Tickets are available now.
• WordCamp Deutschland 2023 on Oct 19-21, 2023: Call for speakers 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)

OTHER DEALS

• 10% off on Crazydomains WooCommerce online store (Coupon Code- BUILDURSTORE)
• 50% discount on yearly and lifetime plans on Variable Inspector Pro
• Up to 50% off on plugins & PHP scripts at CodeCanyon
• Up to 40% off for CartFlows
• Up to 75% off on plugins, themes and hosting at WP Hive
• 50% off Web Hosting Packages at StableHost (Coupon Code – 50OFFYEAR1)
• 80% off for plugins at WPPool
• Up to 75% off hosting plans at HostPapa
• 50% off for Advanced Giftcards for WooCommerce plugin
• 55% off for Annual Hosting plans at Nexcess
• 85% off at AtlasVPN 
• 30% 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 65% off WordPress Hosting plans at InMotion Hosting
• 73% off hosting plans at SiteGround
• 60% off at Hostgator India
• Up to 85% off on VPS plans at Liquid Web (Coupon Code – SUMMER85VPS)
• 50% off on Managed Dedicated Server Hosting at Liquid Web

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