Hi!

The voting is now open for the Test Team Reps for 2024 and the 100-year plan from WordPress.com has not seen a sale till now. Also, Sarah Gooding is leaving WP Tavern to take on new challenges.

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

---

Community Sponsors

Omnisend

Boost your sales with email & SMS—without breaking the bank
Check it out  →

WP Job Openings – Easy-peasy Recruitment Plugin.
Create a career page and start recruiting talents in a few minutes
Check it out  →

---

📰 WORDPRESS & AROUND

All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies

State of the Word 2023 – Madrid, Spain

The event that will take place on December 11, 2023, will include a Q&A session with Matt Mullenweg. Interested people can send the questions to [email protected] or ask during the event via the Q&A app Slido.

• WordPress 6.4 retrospective: The post is an open call inviting everyone who contributed to reflect and share their thoughts on the release process to learn, iterate, and improve for future releases.
• Bug scrub schedule for WordPress 6.5: The post outlines the bug scrub schedule planned for the upcoming first major release of 2024.
• Vote for Training Team Rep 2024: The nominees are Courtney Robertson, Jamie Madden, and Laura Adamonis. The voting is open until December 6, 2023.
• Proposal: hosting Learn videos on YouTube: The proposal seeks to transition the video embedding platform for Learn WordPress from WordPress.tv to the WordPress YouTube channel and also outlines the various benefits of doing so.
• Announcement: MakeWP Sustainability Team Representatives 2024: The four new representatives for 2024 are Nahuai Badiola, Nora Ferreirós, Thijs Buijs, and Csaba.
• Announcing the 2023 Annual Meetup Survey: The Annual Meetup Survey is now live and is open till January 14, 2024.
• Zero sales so far for the 100-year plan: Matt Mullenweg via X has provided an update on the sales of the 100-year from WordPress.com and so far it is zero. Right now the plan is to review the shortcomings and try again.
• Matt Mullenweg’s take on the future of non-Gutenberg site builders: Matt strongly feels that as Gutenberg progresses and brings in more features, non-Gutenberg site builders will likely need to continue raising their prices.
• Microsoft hires former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman: Along with Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, OpenAI co-founder, is also joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. Also Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch has announced via X that he has joined OpenAI as the interim CEO.
• Amazon launches ‘AI Ready’ with 8 free AI courses: The program includes free AI courses, scholarships, and collaborations with educational platforms, targeting both current professionals and the next generation.
• Microsoft rebrands Bing Chat as Copilot: Bing Chat has been renamed to Copilot and Microsoft said that the rebrand is to unify the Copilot experience. Also, Microsoft announced significant upgrades to Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise as part of the new Copilot AI Companion, with planned integrations with OpenAI GPTs and plugins.
• OpenAI pauses new subscriptions and upgrades to ChatGPT Plus: OpenAI has paused new ChatGPT Plus subscriptions in the wake of a significant increase in usage. The decision has led to frustration from users stuck with free accounts and developers trying to promote GPTs to new audiences.

🚨 WEB SECURITY & VULNERABILITIES

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

Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (November 6, 2023 to November 12, 2023)

There were 135 vulnerabilities disclosed in 119 WordPress plugins.

• Authenticated stored XSS in WooCommerce and Jetpack plugin: The vulnerability was patched in both the plugins and all users are to update to the latest version immediately.
• PMPro security update 2.12.4: The update fixes an issue where, in some cases, users could upload files at checkout with disallowed file types (e.g. .php files). These files could then be accessed to run arbitrary code on the server.
• Unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability addressed in WP Fastest Cache 1.2.2: The vulnerability was recently patched and users should update to the latest version immediately.
• WordPress vulnerability report — November 15, 2023: Weekly report from SolidWP
• Google investigating reports of declining traffic after updates, discover bug: Publishers report drastic declines in website traffic following Google’s core updates, with some experiencing a complete loss of clicks.

🔌 NEW PLUGINS & THEMES

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

Nexter FSE theme

A theme that is suitable for bloggers, agencies, and anyone looking to create a professional and well-branded website.

• Profily theme: A creative agency block theme for designers, developers, and company owners.
• Crosswinds Framework theme: A multipurpose theme with multiple style variations.
• Testimonial carousel block plugin: The plugin allows users to easily add a testimonials carousel to a WordPress post or page via the new Gutenberg Editor.
• Disclaimify plugin: The plugin allows affiliate marketers, bloggers, and website owners to easily inform their web visitors about potential compensation when purchasing through affiliate links.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

WP Community Collective launches inaugural accessibility fellowship with Alex Stine

WPCC announces the start of its inaugural Fellowship program as the first-ever WPCC Fellow Alex Stine officially begins the Accessibility Fellowship this month as a sponsored contributor with the WPCC.

• Astra Pro Site Builder released: The latest release comes with a new site builder, a quick view background color option in WooCommerce’s product catalog, and various other improvements and fixes.
• Meet Wallet Plus from The Events Calendar: Wallet Plus allows users to save their tickets to digital wallets, like Apple Wallet or PassWallet, and download PDF tickets to have them with them at any time.
• Announcing Jotform for beginners volume 2: The newest e-book picks up where Volume 1 left off, detailing versatile automation that will help you manage your data and put it to use.
• Inter version 4.0 released: Rasmus Andersson has announced via X that the latest version of Inter is now available.
• WooCommerce 8.3.0 released: The release brings cart, checkout, and order confirmation blocks as the default checkout experience for new installations, market place search improvements, and more.
• InstaWP VSCode extension: The extension allows users to edit WordPress sites on InstaWP natively.
• Another milestone has been reached for Kadence Blocks: The Kadence Blocks now has over 400,000+ active installs and the Black Friday sale is also offering a 40% discount.
• Elementor Pro announces pricing updates: The new updates to the Elementor Pro Essential subscription plan will come into effect on Dec 4th, 2023. This change will result in certain features being available only with higher plans. But not everyone is happy with the price change and several users posted about it on X.
• Automattic is sponsoring the Open Core Summit: This year’s Open Core Summit will take place from Dec 6-7 and the tickets are now available.
• Sarah Gooding bids farewell to WP Tavern after 10 years: Sarah Gooding is leaving WP Tavern to take on new challenges in the world of tech. Also, Matt Mullenweg has published a new post to invite applications so as to find a new writer.
• Birgit Olzem receives the Yoast Care fund for her contribution to the WordPress community: Birgit Olzem who single-handedly proposed and kicked off the WordPress DEIB working group is the latest recipient of the Yoast Care fund.

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

• Matt Mullenweg & Spencer Forman discuss the future of WordPress: From WPLaunchify
• Looping links with the WP HTML Processor: From Half-Elf on Tech
• AI ethics in focus: Addressing bias, privacy, and transparency challenges: From Human Made
• Epic tales of spectacular fails: Lessons from leading WordPress entrepreneurs: From Freemius
• Pooja Derashri: Improving others, improving ourselves: From Hostinger
• Vikas Singal: Why InstaWP goes all in with WaaS: From The wildcloud podcast
• Press This: A journey through web accessibility with Amber Hinds: From Torque
• Matthias Pfefferle on ActivityPub, WordPress and decentralised social networks: From WP Tavern Jukebox
• Advocating open source solutions: From WordPress Briefing
• Exploring Woo Express: From WP News, Product Reviews, and More by Devin Walker
• Advice for WordPress beginners: From WebDevStudios
• A coder considers the waning days of the craft: From The New Yorker
• Ruby vs Ruby on Rails: What’s the difference?: From Kinsta
• Do a few companies have a monopoly on the search results?: From Yoast
• Content planning for a (growing) blog: 6 easy-to-use tips: From Yoast
• How to protect WordPress against brute force attacks: From Patchstack
• Penetration testing: A 20-step guide by top security experts: From WPScan
• Block Themes: The key to full site editing in WordPress: From Jetpack

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

• Getting started with the Command Palette API: From WordPress Developer Blog
• Filter the URLs in Gutenberg social link block: From Brian Coords
• How to create a menu with the navigation block: From Learn WordPress
• Customizing the Block Editor for client projects: From WordPress TV
• Troubleshooting WordPress: How to fix the white screen of death: From Sucuri
• Getting started with end‑to‑end performance testing in WordPress: From Pascal Birchler
• Build an advanced reporting app for your WooCommerce store: From Kinsta
• Mastering on-page SEO: A comprehensive guide for beginners: From RankMath
• How to use Bard to get ahead of Google algorithm updates: From Search Engine Land
• How to ‘un-ruin’ the internet: The ultimate guide for SEOs: From Search Engine Land

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

• WordCamp Udaipur on November 25, 2023: The call for speakers and sponsors is now open.
• WordCamp Ahmedabad on December 9, 2023: The second batch of tickets will be out on Oct 25th.
• Kolkata CareerCamp 2024: The event will take place on 6th January, Saturday, 2024.
• NextGen Jakarta 2024: The event will take place on 27 January 2024. The call for volunteers is now open.
• WordCamp Asia on March 7-9, 2024: The third batch of tickets was released yesterday and are still available. WordCamp Asia is also searching for its 2025 location.

🎁 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

• 40% off for 4 months on all hosting plans + 40 free migrations at Cloudways  (Coupon Code – BFCM4040)
• 70% off for NordLocker
• 45% off for HappyAddons
• 50% off for FluentBooking‘s Early Bird Lifetime License Deal
• 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)
• 85% off for plugins at WPPool
• Up to 85% off hosting plans at HostPapa
• 60% off for Advanced Giftcards for WooCommerce plugin
• Upto 75% off hosting plans at Nexcess
• 86% off at AtlasVPN 
• 40% off for Fluent Forms plugin
• 65% off at Formidable Forms
• 40% off for FluentCRM plugin
• 60% off for WP Social Ninja plugin 
• Upto 95% off for PitchGround products 
• Upto 65% off WordPress Hosting plans at InMotion Hosting
• 77% off hosting plans at SiteGround
• 70% off at Hostgator India
• Up to 85% off at Liquid Web
• 68% off on Managed Dedicated Server Hosting at Liquid Web

Latest from WP-CONTENT.CO

---

Team WP-CONTENT.CO

Built with Newsletter Glue.