Hello!

WordCamp Europe 2024 is just hours away! Please let us know if you are going. Unfortunately, we are unable to make it this year. Don’t forget to share your experience with us. Check out their Torino Travel Guide to get the best experience. Let the countdown begin!

WordPress 6.6 Beta 1 is now available for testing. Please test it and report the bugs so that the issues can be ironed out before the final release. WordPress 6.5.4 – a minor release is now available and Automattic has unveiled a new agency program.

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 6.5.4 maintenance release

 This is a minor release and changes the AJAX activation handler to restore auto-redirect after plugin activation allowing the browser to navigate to the URL in the Activate button’s href. This change retains the AJAX functionality while restoring the native behavior of the button’s href. This release also ensures dependency detection for newly installed plugins and reverts 6.5.3 changes that displayed an admin notice upon successful plugin activation. Other fixes in this release include, removing the `version` from `docker-compose.yml` file and pinning the highest supported PHP version in `.env` for 6.5 branch.

• WordPress 6.6 Beta 1 released: The Beta 1 is now available for testing. Also, WordPress 6.6 Beta 2 is set to be released later today.
• Help test WordPress 6.6: With the release of WordPress 6.6 Beta 1, testing opportunities are now open. Anne McCarthy has provided a brief overview of how to set up the testing environment and key features to test.
• JSX in WordPress 6.6: WordPress 6.6 introduces the possibility for developers to use the new React JSX transform that was first released in React 17.
• Preparation for React 19 upgrade: WordPress 6.6 will ship with version 18.3 of the React library, which is identical to 18.2 but adds warnings for deprecations and other changes to help developers prepare for the React 19 upgrade once it becomes stable.
• Proposal: Bits as dynamic tokens: A proposal for starting to introduce Bits (dynamic tokens/placeholders) into WordPress.
• What is new in Gutenberg 18.5: The latest version introduces a new custom shadow feature, section styling with extended block style variations, and more.
• Hallway Hangout: Theme Building with Playground, Create-block-theme plugin, and GitHub: The upcoming Hallway Hangout scheduled for June 19, 2024, will see Core contributors and theme builders at Automattic, discussing and sharing a workflow that combines open-source WordPress tools: Create Block Theme plugin and WordPress Playground.
• Automattic for Agencies:  A new agency program that allows access to agency pricing, referral earnings, premier support, and cutting‑edge tooling for agencies using WordPress.com, Pressable, WooCommerce, Jetpack, and more.
• New hosting dashboard from WordPress.com: WordPress.com has introduced a new unified dashboard that allows users to manage and view the sites and domains from one place.
• Google Ads API v17 released with new features, changes: Google Ads API v17 comes with new features and changes that impact resource usage policies, batch processing, reporting capabilities, and more.
• Google launches Accelerate with Google resource hub for advertisers: Accelerate with Google is a new educational hub with customized resources to help marketers build expertise using AI.
• Google sued by publishers over alleged pirate textbook promotion: Major educational publishers — Cengage, Macmillan Learning, McGraw Hill, and Elsevier — have filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing it of promoting pirated copies of their textbooks.
• Microsoft Ads to allow Google conversion goal imports: Microsoft Advertising is launching a feature that allows advertisers to import Google Ads conversion goals, aiming to streamline workflows.

🚨WEB SECURITY & VULNERABILITIES

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

Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (May 27, 2024 to June 2, 2024)

There were 100 vulnerabilities disclosed in 82 plugins.

• Multiple vulnerabilities in WooCommerce Amazon Affiliates plugin: According to Patchstack, the plugin plugin suffers from multiple vulnerabilities. All of the vulnerabilities were tested on version 14.0.10 of the plugin and there is still no known patched version. These vulnerabilities also could possibly be impacting versions >= 14.0.20 of the plugin.
• BuddyPress 12.5.1 security release: This release addresses a security issue where the Members block was vulnerable to a Stored Cross-Site Scripting. This vulnerability was impacting BuddyPress branches from 9.0 to 12.0. Please update your  BuddyPress installations.
• WP Rocket experienced a massive DDoS attack today: Thousands of IPs are making loop requests to the WP Rocket website, overloading the servers and network. The team has implemented a fix and is currently monitoring the results.
• 40,000 WordPress sites affected by vulnerability that leads to privilege escalation in Login/Signup Popup WordPress plugin: The vulnerability that could be used by authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to update arbitrary options which can easily be leveraged for privilege escalation was patched recently. All users are to update to the latest version immediately.
• WordPress vulnerability report — June 5, 2024: Weekly report from SolidWP.

🔌 NEW PLUGINS & THEMES

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

Inversum theme

A theme suitable for blog sites.

• Toy Store FSE theme: A theme designed specifically for kids toys and toy store websites.
• Vadan theme: A multipurpose theme.
• Onclick to Top plugin: The plugin allows users to return to the top of any page or post, eliminating the need for tedious scrolling.
• Progress Planner plugin:  The plugin introduces an interactive approach to website management with badges and achievements to collect.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

Introducing: Enterprise-grade identity and access management for Rocket.net customers

Rocket.net has launched an all-new identity and access management (IAM) system. This allows Rocket.net to easily offer SAML-based SSO for Enterprise clients who need to leverage their own identity providers for their staff logins at Rocket.net.

• New AI website creator from Bluehost: Bluehost has unveiled a new AI website creator to enrich its WonderSuite offering.
• ConvertKit is being rebranded to Kit: Nathan Barry, Founder, and CEO of ConvertKit announced via X about the rebranding. This is not just a name change as they are going further with various other updates. Also, there was another rebranding attempt in the past where ConvertKit was to be renamed to Seva but was later abandoned.
• A Thriving WordPress Minute: Matt Medeiros of the WP Minute unveiled The Thriving Tee and throughout the month of June, 20% of all profits will be donated to the WordPress Foundation.
• A free lesson course for designers from Dave Martin: Dave Martin, who is a Product Lead at Automattic announced on X, his latest side project, Better Design Feedback, which is a free 43-lesson course that shares everything he has learned about gathering design feedback over the past 20+ years.
• Alex Stine is taking a step back from contributing to WordPress: Alex Stine a member of the WordPress Accessibility Team won’t be contributing to the project for some time. He has joined as a Sr. Accessibility Specialist at JPMC and has stated, “ The truth is, now that I am working in accessibility full time, I just can’t continue to fight for accessibility in WordPress as well.
• Felix Arntz has made his MU plugin open-source: Felix Arntz has made his MU plugin now open-source and they’re mostly about WP Admin UI enhancements, block editor tweaks, disabling some core features, and more.
• BerthaAI prices slashed: BerthaAI has reduced its pricing to $10 a month and $96 a year. They have also announced that all users who signed up to a higher price can cancel the current account and sign up to the new pricing.
• Jevilyn Fajardo receives the Yoast Care fund for her contribution to the WordPress community: Jevilyn Fajardo, a member of the WordPress Community Team 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

• WordPress speed build challenge – Rich Tabor vs Jonathan Jernigan: From Jamie Marsland
• What is “modern” WordPress development?: From Brian Coords
• 50 WordPress statistics for 2024 you cannot afford to miss: From InstaWP
• Teaser: Vladimir vs hosting industry: From Vladimir Smitka
• Plugins: It’s the wild wild west: From Half-Elf on Tech
• It’s your first WordCamp? Welcome!: From WordPress Briefing
• We’re halfway through 2024: 7 Agency marketing trends you need to know: From CallRail
• Jamie Marsland on the WordCamp Europe speed building challenge: From WP Tavern Jukebox
• WordPress isn’t immune to clickbait: From The WP Minute
• A script for generating links to WordPress profiles: From Aaron Jorbin
• Why WordPress product makers are aggressively exploring Envato alternatives: From Freemius
• Your essential guide to thriving at WordCamps: tips, tricks, and must-haves: From Kinsta
• Study: 96% of sites in Google’s top 10 positions have 1,000+ links from unique domains: From Search Engine Land

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

• Building a book review site with Block Bindings, part 2: Queries, patterns, and templates: From WordPress Developer Blog
• Testing your theme: From WordPress.tv
• How to change the prefix of the database tables on WordPress: From WPMarmite
• Customizing WooCommerce account pages without code: A Step-by-Step Guide: From Convesio
• Fix “error establishing a database connection” in WordPress: From Melapress

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

• WordCamp Europe on 13-15 June 2024: The organizers have arranged for a free workshop for children during Contributor Day. Check out their Torino Travel Guide to get the best experience.
• Uganda Website Projects Competition 2024 on July 5th, 2024: Organized under the theme, “Problem Solving With WordPress”, it is a dynamic next-gen event that brings together high school and university students. The call for sponsors and projects is out.
• WordCamp Canada on July 11-13, 2024: The call for volunteers, and sponsors is now open.
• Stellar Spark on July 19, 2024: A free online event with a focus on growth, creativity, collaboration, and more. The call for speakers is now open.
• WordCamp US on 17-20 September 2024: The tickets are now available.
• WordPress Accessibility Day on Oct 9-10, 2024: The call for speakers is now open.
• WordCamp Asia on February 20-22, 2025: The venue will be the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila, Philippines

🎁 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)
• 53% off for NordLocker
• Up to 50% off on EchoRewards PRO.
• Up to 75% off on plugins, themes and hosting at WP Hive
• 50% 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
• 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 69% 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

Latest from WP-CONTENT.CO

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Team WP-CONTENT.CO

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