Hello!
This week on The WP Week Newsletter, we cover the discussions revolving the tweet from WordPress.org profile, WordPress 7.0 call for volunteers, launch of Promptless WP, SiNC 2026 WordPress Contributor Funding Program applications, Plugin Jam Hackathon for WordPress builders, 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
🙌 This weekly newsletter is kindly sponsored by Kinsta, ProfilePress and WP Job Openings
🗣️TALK OF THE TOWN
The official X profile of WordPress.org recently retweeted Nicholas Garofalo’s experience with the FAIR plugin and stated, “Looks like the Federated and Independent Repository project is going great. This is clearly going to rock the WordPress world. We don’t know how we’ll continue without these contributors. Maybe they need some REST.”
A lot of community members pointed out how unprofessional it was. Jono Alderson tweeted, “I love WordPress-the-software, but this kind of childish nonsense makes me ashamed and embarrassed to be associated with WordPress-the-brand. What childish, petty, unprofessional, shameful, amateur nonsense. All of these people need firing and replacing with capable grown-ups”. He also raised and discussed the same matter on the marketing channel on Slack.
Jeff Chandler stated, “Nothing positive is gained from using the WordPress social accounts like this. This is distasteful. This helps no one.”
Drate Berry noted, “There are a lot of reasons I left the WordPress world and they all involve petty BS like this. Matt seems to only like open source principles when they benefit him and strengthen his fiefdom.”
📰 WORDPRESS & AROUND
All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies
Planning for WordPress 7.0 is underway, with a proposed release date of April 9, 2026, led by Matt Mullenweg. The call for volunteers is now open, with opportunities to contribute as release coordinators, tech leads, a triage lead, and a test lead.
- WordPress 7.0 will drop support for PHP 7.2 and 7.3: Support for PHP 7.2 and 7.3 will be dropped in WordPress 7.0, currently scheduled for release in April 2026. The minimum recommended version of PHP will remain at 8.3, but the new minimum supported version of PHP will be 7.4.0.
- WordPress Plugins Team member clarifies that plugin reviews do not use AI: An individual contributor from the Plugins Team explained via a Reddit post that plugin reviews are done by humans using manual checks and automated tools, not AI. The only AI use is for checking to see if there are any trademark violations and keyword stuffing, which are clearly labeled.
- Introducing new Themes Team representatives for the 2026: The three new reps are Bijay Yadav, Fahim Murshed, and Justin Tadlock.
- Plugins Team’s recap of 2025: The WordPress Plugins Team reflects on a year of rapid growth, with plugin submissions, reviews, and approvals all increasing significantly in 2025. The post highlights how AI and automation strengthened review workflows, improved tools like the Internal Scanner and Plugin Check Plugin, and helped maintain quality and security as the plugin ecosystem continued to scale.
- 10,000 WordPress sites protected against site reset and privilege escalation vulnerability in Demo Importer Plus WordPress plugin: The vulnerability affects versions 2.0.8 and earlier, which could allow authenticated users to gain administrator access and reset sites. The issue has been patched in version 2.0.9, and users are advised to update to the latest version.
- WordPress Vulnerability Report — January 7, 2026: Since last week, 333 new vulnerabilities have emerged in the WordPress ecosystem, including 253 plugins and 80 themes.
- Matt Mullenweg’s reflections at 42 and looking ahead: He notes a challenging but ultimately uplifting year shaped by community support, daily blogging, personal growth, and learning to ask for help, and looks ahead with optimism toward leadership, creativity, and new goals in 2026.
- Instagram fixed a password reset email issue: The platform resolved a problem that allowed an external party to trigger password reset emails for some users. There was no system breach and accounts remain secure and users can safely ignore the emails.
- Google announces AI Mode Checkout Protocol, Business Agent: Google announced tools that let shoppers complete purchases directly within AI Mode and chat with branded AI agents in Search results.
🔧 TIP OF THE WEEK
Use Template Hierarchy Properly
Avoid template confusion by knowing which file loads automatically in WordPress:
single.php→ Loads for a single post (default for any post type if no specific template exists).single-{post-type}.php→ (e.g., single-service.php) → Loads for a single custom post type (CPT).archive-s{post-type}.php→ (e.g., archive-service.php) → Loads for the archive page of a CPT.home.php→ Loads for the blog posts index page (when “Posts page” is set in Settings → Reading).front-page.php→ Loads for the site’s homepage (when “Front page” is set in Settings → Reading).
If a more specific template exists, WordPress will prioritize it over a generic one. For example, single-service.php will override single.php for the “service” CPT.
Understanding this hierarchy ensures your theme loads the correct template every time.
💵 INVESTMENTS, ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERSHIPS
- WP Engine Acquires Big Bite: WP Engine has acquired Big Bite, a leading enterprise agency. The move brings Big Bite’s expertise in improving editorial workflow in newsroom platforms and advanced editorial tools into WP Engine’s ecosystem.
- Seahawk Media Partners with Patchstack: Seahawk Media has partnered with Patchstack to enhance WordPress security for its clients.
👥 COMMUNITY NEWS
Updates and News from the WordPress Community
Support Inclusion in Tech (SiNC) has opened applications for its Contributor Funding program for 2026, offering direct financial support to WordPress contributors to help cover the real costs of open-source participation. The program is open to WordPress and FAIR contributors of all demographics, with applications accepted from contributors residing in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
- WPBakery joins WP Credits in support of WordPress and new contributors: WPBakery has joined the WP Credits program to support WordPress education and help onboard new contributors through mentorship and hands-on participation. As part of the initiative, WPBakery is providing a mentor and free licenses to students, contributing to the growth of the WordPress open source community.
- Try Airo by GoDaddy for free: Users can now try Airo, the AI-powered platform, for free, provided they have a GoDaddy account.
- FireBox pricing update: The yearly plan prices will increase starting in February 1, 2026, with €59 for Basic, €79 for Pro, and €129 for Growth.
- The Founding Partner Lifetime Deal is now open for the eBook Crafter plugin: Founding Partners receive lifetime updates and a license, priority support, early access to new features, private Discord access, and a money-back guarantee. The sale will run till January 31st, 2026.
- Patchstack expands partner tools and security programs in 2026: The new product updates include a new API key management for partners, “Managed by” mode for agencies and partners, a Default policy manager for Patchstack settings, and much more. Along with product updates, they have also introduced new bug bounty rules for 2026 and new crypto payouts for the Patchstack bug bounty.
- WB Polls 4.5.0 released: This release transforms the plugin into a standalone, professional polling solution for any WordPress site, removing the BuddyPress dependency while adding flexible poll types, developer tools, stronger security, and improved usability.
- Tutor LMS v3.9.5 released: This version adds new admin and instructor controls, PHP 8.4 support, and several Pro feature improvements, along with important security updates, payment fixes, and UI refinements to improve overall stability and course management.
- FluentCart 1.3.4 released: This version adds product bundles, Razorpay integration, and new currency support and much more.
- SureForms 2.3.0 is now available: This version introduces easier form management with one-click duplication, preselected field options, password-protected forms, and new premium integrations like Google Sheets and major CRMs, along with usability improvements and key bug fixes.
- Nexter Extensions has updated its code snippets module: Now the snippets are stored as files instead of in the database, boosting reliability, reducing queries, and simplifying migrations. Integration with WDesignKit allows snippets to be reused across sites, while the updated interface aligns with Nexter’s unified dashboard for a cleaner, more manageable experience.
- Powder 2.0 is here: This release introduces a complete design foundation for designers and agencies, featuring Google Sans as the core typeface with Condensed and Expanded widths, a simplified color palette, and a modular pattern library via the Powder Pro plugin.
- Atomic Tabs and Entrance Interactions Arrive in the Elementor Editor: Elementor introduces Atomic Tabs and the first phase of Entrance Interactions as part of its move toward Editor V4.
- Siobhan McKeown takes on new role at Patchstack: Siobhan has transitioned from her previous role as VP of Operations to take on the position of Chief Operating Officer.
- Thierry Muller Joins WP Engine as VP of Product: After seven years at Google, Thierry Muller is taking on a new role at WP Engine as VP of Product to lead AI initiatives.
- XML-RPC – WordPress security explained in 60 Seconds by Wordfence: XML RPC is a legacy WordPress feature that allows external apps to interact with a site, but it also remains a frequent attack vector. If not required, leaving it enabled can expose sites to brute force attacks, unauthorized actions, pingback abuse, and DDoS activity, making it an ongoing security risk despite modern mitigations.
- Tailwind lays off most of its team after AI AI-driven adoption shift: Tailwind laid off 75 percent of its team after AI coding agents drove massive usage while bypassing its documentation. Because users no longer visited the docs where paid products were promoted, and the company saw a major traffic decline and a corresponding loss in revenue.
- Marc J. Schmidt moves to closed source as AI breaks open source monetization: He has announced a shift to closed source, arguing that AI coding agents have broken traditional OSS business models. As agents bypass documentation and human recognition, attention-based monetization has collapsed, hurting projects like Tailwind and pushing maintainers to charge directly for access instead of relying on open distribution.
🚀 NEW PROJECTS
| “After managing 12,000 redirects for a client, I realized: there’s no simple tool to find homepage redirects, chains, and loops that kill SEO. So I built one.” –Aleksandr Samokhin about developing the Redirect Cleanup plugin. |
- Redirect Cleanup: Created by Aleksandr Samokhin, this plugin scans for SEO-harming redirects like homepage redirects, chains, and loops, and helps you fix them quickly.
- All new Interviews, a voice agent for WordPress research: Developed by Rich Tabor, this is a voice agent that interviews WordPress users and turns their real experiences into structured insights.
- Introducing Plugin Jam: A new project by Nik McLaughlin, featuring hackathons and jam sessions for WordPress builders. Interested folks can sign up, and the first session is scheduled for January 23, 2026.
- Founder-Led Marketing for WordPress Plugin Founders: The new initiative by Ben Pines aims to help WordPress plugin founders grow their business by turning technical expertise into authority and scalable marketing.
- Promptless WP launched: Breon Williams has launched Promptless WP, which instantly converts Word documents into polished WordPress pages, no prompts or manual formatting needed.
- Priority Plus Navigation: Created by Troy Chaplin, the plugin adds Priority Plus pattern to core Navigation block and moves overflow items into responsive “More” dropdown as the users viewport narrows.
- Sandbox by ServerAvatar: The platform allows users to create disposable WordPress environments instantly. Perfect for quick tests, temporary client demos, and short-term projects with zero commitment.
- Kanoa theme: Developed by Roman Fink, the theme included 59 patterns, 20 color styles, and 7 homepage designs.
🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS
More posts and podcasts from the WordPress Community you don’t want to miss
- Jamie Marsland reflects on his 2025 through a simple numbers-driven recap, breaking down a year of building, writing, teaching, and shipping across WordPress, products, and creative projects.
- In this episode of Seriously, Bud?, Bud Kraus conversed with Mark Szymanski to talk about growing up in a sports-obsessed city, finding his way into WordPress, and how community, family values, and a serious work ethic shape both his career and his outlook on life.
- In this episode of the Melapress Live Show, Robert Abela sits down with Rahul Bansal, Founder & CEO of rtCamp, to unpack what actually changes when WordPress is used at enterprise level and why many projects struggle long after launch.
- In this episode of WP Tavern Jukebox, Brian Coords from WooCommerce shares insights on how WooCommerce and WordPress are evolving amid rapid changes in the tech landscape.
- Robert Abela, founder of Melapress, shares the story behind his new website, a personal space built as an experiment, outlet, and AI-assisted project.
- Eric Karkovack explores the concept of a WordPress website rehab, showing how updating themes, plugins, and performance can improve a site without a full redesign, saving clients money while extending the site’s lifespan and usability.
- Joost de Valk examines how AI disrupted Tailwind CSS’s once-successful business model.
- BdThemes, LifterLMS, rtCamp, FlyWP, and Wpmet shared the details about their 2025 journey.
- Ionut Neagu reflected on a steadier 2025, leading AI adoption, product refreshes, and plugin acquisitions while growing Masteriyo’s MRR.
- The 2025 Annual Spam Report highlights a major shift in web spam, with residential proxy networks enabling large-scale, hard-to-trace attacks and a sharp rise in card testing fraud targeting eCommerce checkouts, especially WooCommerce, signaling that traditional IP based defenses are no longer enough.
🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE
Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle
- How to create a photography website and sell your photos with Infinite Uploads: From Infinite Uploads
- Using .htaccess to lock down the WordPress admin and block hacking attempts: From David McCan
- AI crawlers explained: How AI bots interact with your WordPress site: From Kinsta
- Launch WooCommerce Playground Sites with a Single Keystroke: From James Kemp
📆 SAVE THE DATES
Do not miss a WordPress event ever again
- WordCamp Nepal 2026 on January 23-24: The early bird tickets are now available, and the call for sponsors is now open.
- WordCamp Zaragoza on January 24, 2026: The tickets are now available.
- WordCamp Kolhapur 2026 on 31 Jan – 1 Feb 2026: The tickets are now available. Registrations for the History Photo Walk at New Palace are now open
- WordCamp Pune on February 08, 2026: The call for sponsors and facilitators is now open. The tickets are also now available.
- WordPress DevDay on February 21, 2026: The tickets are now available.
- WordCamp Nice on March 06, 2026: The call for sponsors and volunteers is now open.
- WordCamp Madrid on March 06-07, 2026: The call for sponsors, speakers, and volunteers is now open. The tickets are also available now.
- WordCamp Asia 2026 on April 9-11: The call for Wapuu designs and sponsors is now open. The tickets are still available, and visa information details have been published.
- SomeConf 2026 on April 22-23: The tickets are now available.
- Checkout Summit 2026 on April 23-24, 2026: The call for sponsors is now open. The early bird tickets are now available.
- WordCamp Europe 2026 on June 4-6: The call for speakers, sponsors, and media partners is now open. The tickets are also now available.
- WordCamp US, Phoenix on August 16 -19 2026: The event is in the early planning stages.
🎁 WORDPRESS DEALS OF THE WEEK
Again, these are the best deals of the week, handpicked by yours!
EXCLUSIVE DEALS
- 4 Months free offer on hosting plans of WP Engine (Coupon Code- FREEDOMTOCREATE)
- 10% off on monthly & annual plans at SureTriggers (Coupon Code- WPCONTENT10)
- Up to 84% off at Hostinger (Code NYSALE for an extra 10% off)
- 15% off yearly plans at Videvo (Coupon Code – WPV15)
MORE DEALS
- 30% off for 4 months on Cloudways + 10 Free migrations ( Promo code- TREAT25).
- Up to 50% off on BookingPress plugin
- Up to 50% off on Paid Membership Pro plans.
- Up to $100 OFF Essential Blocks PRO plugin.
- 50% off 3 months on Liquid Web’s Bare Metal server hosting
- 20% off for Constellation plugin
- 28.65% off for the lifetime plan for the Modern Cart for WooCommerce plugin.
- 33% off for the Uncanny Automator plugin.
This weekly newsletter is kindly sponsored by awesome WordPress Companies 🦸♂️🙌
Last but not least, updates from WP-CONTENT.CO 👇
WordCamp Kolhapur 2026 has launched the Zeel Thakkar Community Scholarship, providing 20 free tickets to girls and women…
Support Inclusion in Tech (SiNC) has opened applications for its Contributor Funding program for 2026, offering direct financial…
WP Engine has acquired Big Bite, a leading enterprise agency. The move brings Big Bite’s expertise in improving…
A Contributor Dashboard Pilot Project is currently underway and seeks to respond to ongoing community feedback around understanding…
Team WP-CONTENT.CO
This weekly newsletter is kindly sponsored by Kinsta, ProfilePress, and WP Job Openings
Built with Newsletter Glue.