#219- Media Corps Closure, WP Campus Connect Now Official

Issue #219 | May 13, 2025 | Reading time: 19 mins

Hello!

This week on The WP Week Newsletter, we cover the closure of WordPress Media Corps Experiment, WP Campus Connect becoming an official event, the release of WooCommerce 9.8.4, new projects, and more.

Don’t forget to subscribe and listen to the podcast version of this newsletter, 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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🗣️TALK OF THE TOWN

Ending the WordPress Media Corps Experiment

The WordPress Media Corps experiment, launched in March 2024 to support independent WordPress media and marketers, is ending due to persistent challenges. Despite early engagement, the initiative struggled with scalability, timely information delivery, and declining participation.

📰 WORDPRESS & AROUND

All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies

WordPress Campus Connect is now an official event

WordPress Campus Connect, initially launched in October 2024 as a pilot program, has now been formally established as an official event series due to its resounding success. The call for designers to create a logo has also been published.

The Community Team is checking in with event and program supporters: The team will check in with all active event and program Supporters and the goal is to understand each person’s current involvement, confirm activity levels, offboard inactive members, and identify areas for improvement or growth.
WP-CLI v2.12.0 release notes: The latest release includes pluck & patch commands for caches and transients, post lists can now handle complex query flags, post meta can be forced to only return a single value, full compatibility with PHP 8.4, and so on.
Critical RomethemeKit for Elementor Plugin vulnerability patched: An authenticated Arbitrary Plugin Installation/Activation to RCE vulnerability was recently patched, and users are to update to the latest version immediately.
10,000 WordPress sites affected by arbitrary file read vulnerability in Eventin WordPress plugin: The vulnerability, which makes it possible for an unauthenticated attacker to read arbitrary files on the server, which can contain sensitive information, was recently patched.
82,000 WordPress sites affected by arbitrary file upload vulnerability in TheGem WordPress theme: The vulnerability that allowed authenticated attackers with at least subscriber-level access to upload arbitrary files to the affected site, which can lead to remote code execution, often resulting in full site compromise, was fully patched recently.
WooCommerce 9.8.5: Dot release: This release makes the new React-based Payments Settings page the default for all stores while improving CSV import capabilities with S3 support and fixing issues related to block patterns and shipping during checkout.
WooCommerce 9.9: Pre-release updates: The upcoming version will introduce Blueprints that will allow users to export and import store settings, the option to hide shipping rates, automatic database updates, and more. Nadir Seghir provided a demo of conditional Checkout fields, written in PHP via JSON schema set to arrive with WooCommerce 9.9. Also, address autocomplete is also coming to WooCommerce as highlighted by Rodolfo Melogli.
Developer advisory: Subscriptions core code moving into WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin: The underlying “core” code that powers the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin is now being managed directly within the same repository as the main plugin. Previously, this functionality lived in a separate codebase that was publicly available. Moving forward, it will live directly within the Subscriptions plugin that is distributed via WooCommerce.com.
Automattic asks court to dismiss class action filed by WP Engine customer: Automattic has challenged Ryan Keller’s class action, arguing his claims are without merit and WP Engine customers weren’t harmed when the company was blocked from accessing WordPress.org.
Gravtar introduces new AI Profile Builder: Gravatar has introduced an AI Profile Builder that turns your digital profile into a portable identity for AI tools.
ChatGPT leads AI search race while Google & others slip, data shows: ChatGPT leads the AI search market with an 80% share, while traditional search engine use reportedly declines.
Google launches AI Max for search campaigns: Google introduces AI Max for Search, expanding query reach, adaptive creative, and better controls to boost performance while maintaining transparency for advertisers.
Apple says Google searches down on Safari & Google says searches are up: Apple’s Eddy Cue mentioned that, for the first time in 22 years, Google searches through Safari declined last month. However, Google later responded, stating that overall search queries from Apple devices and platforms had actually increased.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

Workshop registration now open for WordCamp Europe 2025

The registrations are now open and will cover topics such as Interactivity API, Playground, and so on.

New logo for WordCamp Canada 2025 unveiled: The new logo blends the spirit of Canadian tech with the timeless energy of campus life, and was designed by Alleanna Barrera. Also, the call for speakers is now open.
Hostinger’s 2024 Sustainability Report: The 2024 Sustainability Report highlights Hostinger’s progress in three key areas: environmental impact, knowledge sharing, and people development. The company achieved 100% renewable energy usage across its data centers, significantly cutting Scope 2 emissions. It continued to support entrepreneurs by sharing internal tools and frameworks, and participated in 44 knowledge-sharing events.
Introducing Rapyd Cloud 2.0: The update includes multiple site plans, agency partnership programs, and a new dashboard for smart management.
New milestone for Imunify Security WordPress Plugin: The plugin now has over 50,000+ active installs.
WPBakery Turns 14: Celebrate with up to 50% off: To celebrate this milestone, they are offering up to 50% off on their multisite and bulk licenses, support, and hosting offering via their Indystack partnership. The offer is valid till May 26, 2025. WPBakery has also launched a new subscription-based support offering called WPBakery Support Plus, which offers all the benefits of the previous Premium Support product, but with higher priority support, access to the ticketing system, and more.
Ollie Pro 2.0 launching this week: Mike McAlister made the announcement on X and has stated that this release will mark the beginning of a new approach to building with WordPress.
Blockstudio 6.0 launched: Blockstudio 6.0 has been released with major updates, including infrastructure modernization, new features, and breaking changes. Key highlights include the discontinuation of lifetime licenses for new purchases as of June 1st, 2025, the removal of the Timber library, and a revamped context engine for InnerBlocks. The required version is now PHP 8.2 or higher, and significant enhancements have been made to libraries, including Tailwind CSS and SCSS.
Studio receives workflow updates: The latest update adds new preferences for customizing your local development workflow. Developers can now set their preferred code editor and terminal application within Studio.
Inline editing coming to ACF Blocks: The demo showcased the upcoming inline editing feature and how users can edit the content with this feature.
WebDevStudios COO Lisa Sabin-Wilson steps down after 13 years: After 13 impactful years, Lisa Sabin-Wilson has stepped down as Partner and COO of WebDevStudios. She led several major initiatives, most notably a company-wide shift to full site editing (FSE) and block theme workflows.
Kinsta is now sponsoring Prashant Baldha contributions to WordPress: Kinsta is now supporting Prashant’s ongoing open-source work in the WordPress ecosystem through official sponsorship.
Hanifah Nabayinda receives the Yoast Care fund for her contribution to the WordPress community: Hanifah Nabayinda, a member of the WordPress community, is the latest recipient of the Yoast Care fund.

🚀 NEW PROJECTS

rtCamp launches GoDAM: GoDAM is a WordPress-focused digital assets management platform. It automatically transcodes videos into multiple resolutions (from 240p to 2160p) and delivers them via CDN with adaptive bitrate streaming, ensuring smooth playback across devices and network conditions. It also comes with built-in analytics.
StellarSites has been launched: StellarSites, a fully-managed WordPress platform which includes high-performance hosting, premium themes, essential plugins, and proactive support, is now available to everyone.
Introducing Human in the Loop – a new core app in OttoKit: With this, you can bring real-time human approvals into any part of your workflows, making sure critical steps don’t move forward without oversight.
10Web launches new AI Website Builder API: This allows users to create websites from text prompts, which are hosted on 10Web’s hosting platform.
All new Fullworks Support Diagnostics plugin: The plugin, created by Alan, allows plugin developers to troubleshoot issues by automatically collecting diagnostic information and providing powerful debugging tools.
Introducing ThemeSwitcher Pro: The plugin created by WebDevStudios that allows users to run multiple themes on the same site at the same time, based on custom conditions.
MCP server boilerplate for vibe coders: Ian Nuttal has created an MCP server boilerplate, a starter kit designed to help you quickly create and deploy your own remote MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. It includes features like Cloudflare deployment, user authentication (Google/GitHub), and Stripe payment integration.
Kaspars Dambis has created a single markdown file with all of WordPress developer handbooks: The file is now available, and folks can add it to their project for AI context. A standalone repo has also been created.

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

Business is personal: At PressConf 2025, Taco Verdonschot expected to learn about running a WordPress business, but instead found something more meaningful, personal stories and human connections. The event focused less on revenue tactics and more on real-life struggles and experiences shared by business leaders. From Progress Planner.
5 real-world WooCommerce snippets inspired by merchant support requests: The team has shared five real-world snippets created by their Happiness Engineer, Shameem Reza, to solve specific merchant problems. From WooCommerce.
How 8,336 lines of code could future-proof WordPress: Jamie Marsland introduces the Feature API, a powerful new system that could future-proof WordPress by making its vast plugin ecosystem discoverable and AI-friendly. From Pootlepress.
The future of AI + WordPress? A look at the experimental Feature API: Elliott Richmond explores the new Feature API, such as what the WordPress Feature API can do and much more.
Toxic users: The unforgiven and the danger of unbanning: In this post, Mika Epstein explains why banning users on WordPress.org is necessary to protect the safety, integrity, and legal standing of the community. She strongly criticizes the recent move to unban previously banned users, warning that it puts volunteers and contributors at risk, especially those who have faced harassment or threats. From Mika Epstein.
In conversation with Tim Monner: In this episode, Tim Monner shares his journey from being a high school musician to a seasoned marketing and IT professional. He reflects on his academic path, transition from print to tech, and role at Big Scoots in WordPress hosting. From Seriously, Bud?
Aaron Jorbin’s March And April in WordPress: In these two months, he contributed to 80 tickets on trac, made 28 commits to core, received 16 props, led one minor release, wrote 2 make/core posts, and led four bug scrubs.
The life of a WordPress Community Program Manager, whatever that may be: Juan Hernando reflects on his journey from organizing local WordCamps to mentoring and eventually managing global community programs, highlighting the intense, often invisible work behind WordPress events.
“At The Core” with Birgit Pauli-Haack and Fabian Kaegy: Birgit and Fabian the highlights of the new WordPress 6.8 release, using Birgit’s “source of truth” document to pick out the key updates. From WP Builds.
Engaging with the WordPress Community Post-Sabbatical: Anne McCarthy shares her intent to re-engage with the WordPress community after a sabbatical. She’s eager to gain firsthand experience as a non-sponsored contributor to better understand and support others in the same position.
WordPress handoffs: Because ‘figure it out’ is not a client strategy: The article outlines the core components of a WordPress-specific handoff document and how to avoid common pitfalls. From Delicious Brains.
PublishPress Podcast, Why the most successful media companies use WordPress, with Ben May: In this episode of the PublishPress Podcast, the focus is on Ben’s journey in the Australian publishing industry, the evolution of WordPress, and the importance of community engagement. From PublishPress.
Post Status Cache up with Kyle Van Deusen: In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette interviews Kyle Van Deusen, and they discuss the 2025 WordPress Professional Survey, which Kyle conducted to gather insights from web professionals. From Post Status.
PressConf 2025: Real conversations, real people, real impact: Matt Medeiros provides his highlights and experiences of the recently concluded PressConf 2025. From The WP Minute.
How to discuss price increases with your freelance clients: Eric Karkovack guides freelancers on how to effectively communicate price increases to clients. As web tools and services become more expensive, passing on those costs is often necessary, but it must be done thoughtfully. From The WP Minute.
An inside look at StellarSites: In this episode of the WP Minute+, Matt sits down with Matt Cromwell to discuss the newly launched StellarSites, a major initiative from StellarWP that repositions the brand as a direct-to-customer platform provider. From The WP Minute.
Hari Shanker on understanding and showing WordPress contributions: Hari Shanker discusses the evolving landscape of WordPress contributions and the challenges of making them more visible and understandable. He introduces the WordPress Contribution Health Dashboards, aimed at tracking and visualizing contribution data to better support contributors and project leaders. From WP Tavern Jukebox.
Top WordPress technologies to learn in 2025: Trends and expert opinions: The article explores the top WordPress technologies to learn in 2025, based on insights from experienced agency owners and developers. Experts like Mark Szymanski, Philip Levine, and Ryan Logan share their preferred tech stacks, which emphasize performance, security, and flexibility. From GravityKit.
How to use AI to enhance your WordPress blog: Eric Karkovack highlights how bloggers can use AI tools to enhance their WordPress blogs, such as for support tasks like brainstorming blog topics, creating featured images, summarizing posts, correcting grammar, and translating content. From Speckyboy.

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

Mastering custom block styles in WordPress: 6 Methods for theme and plugin developers: From WordPress.com
Deploying your WordPress plugin’s “tested up to” version bump in isolation: From Felix Arntz
Unit tests (with Jest) for WordPress blocks: From JuanMa Garrido
Seven tasks to a custom block theme: Anders Norén’s weekend workflow: From Gutenberg Times
Automating WordPress Playground screenshots with Node.js and Playwright: From I code for a purpose
Implement interactivity, scheduling, and monitoring in Slackbots for managing WordPress sites: From Kinsta
How to get started with the Interactivity API: From Codeable
How to build blocks with WooCommerce: From WooCommerce

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

WordCamp Lisboa 2025 on May 16-17, 2025: Tickets are now available.
WordCamp Europe on 5-7 June 2025: Tickets are now available.
WPCampus 2025 on July 23–25, 2025: The call for proposals is now open.
WordCamp US on August 26-29, 2025: The call for organizers is now open.
SomeConf 2025: The event is in the early planning stages. The call for sponsors and speakers is now live.
WordCamp Canada on October 16-17 2025: The call for sponsors is now open.
WordCamp Asia 2026: It is tentatively planned for early February 2026 and the call for organizers is now open.

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