Hi!

The roadmap for WordPress 6.3, the next major release of this year has been published and will mark the closure of Gutenberg Phase 2. A new proposal has also been put forward to retire older default themes and attackers are actively probing to find vulnerable websites that still haven’t updated the Essential Addons for Elementor to patch a security flaw.

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Until next week,

Bye!

Team WP-CONTENT.CO

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📰 WordPress & Around

All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies

Roadmap to WordPress 6.3

WordPress 6.3 is in its early development stages and will mark the closure of Gutenberg Phase 2 when it ships out. Anne McCarthy, the Editor Triage Co-Lead for WordPress 6.3 has officially published the roadmap for the next version. The areas of focus will be polishing the Site Editor, iterating on blocks, expanding the patterns, enhancing design tools, and various other improvements.

• WordPress 6.3 Planning Roundup: The proposed timeline for the next major release of WordPress has been published. As per the official announcement, WordPress 6.3 is set to be released on August 8, 2023.
• WordPress 6.2.1 maintenance & security release: This is a short cycle release and fixes 5 security flaws 20 bug fixes in Core and 10 bug fixes for the block editor. This release was followed by a quick minor release to fix an issue with the shortcode support.
• WordPress 6.2.1 disrupts the shortcode support in Block themes: A lof users were left frustrated and baffled as the update broke the shortcode support in Block themes.
• WordPress 6.2.2 security release: This is a minor release and fixes the shortcode issue that was shipped out with WordPress 6.2.1 and also includes one security fix.
• What’s new in Gutenberg 15.8?: The latest update includes improvements to the site editor, added revisions UI to the global styles interface, new theme previews for block themes, and various other enhancements.
• Proposal: retiring older default themes: WordPress Core team member, Jonathan Desrosiers has put forth a proposal to retire older default themes. The proposal puts forth two criteria to retire default themes and if they are implemented immediately, only 6 default themes will be actively maintained compared to 13.
• Command center: request for feedback: WordPress in the future may introduce an all-new command center for quick and efficient access to all the features. A glimpse into the prototype has been showcased and the API is available in the Gutenberg trunk. The team is open to feedback from the community regarding this project.
• Plugin review team update: The plugin review team now includes five new members who are going through the onboarding stages and the team has been reviewing the existing documentation thoroughly. Also, Meta team members are working on tooling enhancements to help make plugin reviews more efficient and “portable.
• WordPress contributor mentorship program: pilot program proposal: The first draft of the project-wide mentorship program has been published. The program focuses on helping and inspiring participants to make contributions to the WordPress project, explaining the different areas they can contribute to, providing guidance and community interaction, and also improving their careers through open-source contributions.
• Hallway Hangout: Curating the editor and building block themes for clients: Automattic-sponsored contributors Nick Diego and Justin Tadlock will be hosting a casual conversation about building block themes for clients and ways you can curate the Editor experience in WordPress. The Hallway Hangout will happen on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at 12:00 PM CST (17:00 UTC). The meeting link will be shared through the Learn WordPress Meetup group.
• Theme handbook overhaul: Phase 2 (Creating Content): The proposed outline for Phase 2 for the theme handbook is now live and the project is expected to be completed by the end of Quarter 3 of 2023.
• FSE program testing call #23: rapid revamp: The goal is to test some of the upcoming features that are in the works to upgrade and polish the experience of using the Site Editor.
• WordPress community team discussion #9: The next generation of WordCamps: All the community members are invited to attend the upcoming online meeting to voice their opinion and feedback on the next generation of WordCamps.
• Neeva, the competitor to Google has announced its closure officially: Founders of Neeva have announced that they will be shutting down their search engine in the coming weeks. Their next step will be to focus on AI and LLMs.
• ChatGPT launches app for iOS: An all-new app is available for iOS users to use ChatGPT on the go. As of now, it is available to everyone in the US, and in the coming weeks, it will roll out to all users across the globe.

🚨WEB SECURITY & VULNERABILITIES

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

CSRF to wp-admin site wide XSS in UpdraftPlus plugin

 A CSRF vulnerability that could lead to a stored site wide XSS on the wp-admin area was recently patched. All the users are advised to update to the latest version 1.23.4.

• Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (May 8, 2023 to May 14, 2023): 139 vulnerabilities were disclosed in 105 WordPress Plugins and 2 WordPress themes.
• WordPress Vulnerability Report – May 17, 2023: Weekly vulnerability report from ithemes.
• PSA: Attackers actively exploiting critical vulnerability in Essential Addons for Elementor: Even though the vulnerability has been patched, attackers are still probing for vulnerable websites that are yet to update the plugin.
• W3 Eden addresses authenticated stored XSS vulnerability in Download Manager WordPress plugin: The vulnerability enables threat actors with contributor-level permissions or higher to inject malicious web scripts into pages using the plugin’s shortcode. All users are advised to update to the latest version which is 3.2.71.
• Websites defaced with Belarusian bottled water company content: Sucuri researchers have uncovered a new website defacement that has affected a total of 50 websites.

🔌 NEW PLUGINS & THEMES

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

Poema theme

A minimalist theme with a white and black color scheme utilizing serif font.

• MrWriter theme: A minimalist theme for bloggers and writers with 12 style variations.
• Porcupine theme: A multipurpose block theme with premade block templates and is translation ready.
• Maxi Blocks plugin: A new page builder and Gutenberg template library plugin.
• Checkout upsell for WooCommerce plugin: This plugin allows users to create one-click upsell offers, checkout upsells, WooCommerce Order Bumps, and more.
• Cookies GDPR plugin: A plugin to display cookies popup for GDPR compliance with consent.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from WordPress Community

Crocoblock Evolution: History & Innovations

Crocoblock is celebrating its 5-year anniversary milestone and they have explained their journey from the start and all the trials and tribulations they faced and overcome.

• Brizy Academy courses to enhance site building: With the help of Brizzy Academy, users can now learn how to create stunning websites with Brizzy builder through the courses that are offered. All the tutorials and lessons are free and even a complete beginner can master the site-building process.
• Elementor 3.13 released with new features: The latest update introduces a CSS grid container, new styling capabilities in the menu widget, dynamic content options for Post excerpts, and various other improvements.
• jQuery 3.7.0 released: staying in order: The new release comes with bug fixes, performance improvements, a new method, and also dropped the selector engine Sizzle.
• Introducing: new Stackable UI: Stackable has finally launched its new UI after a successful beta program. The UI introduces a completely new inspector organization, enhancements to the control panel, the addition of visual guides, and Lightbox.
• Gravity Forms launches a new podcast: Breakdown, the all-new podcast from Gravity Forms hosted by Matt Mederios is now live.
• InstaWP gearing up to launch InstaStore: InstaStore will allow designers to sell their website templates to potential customers across the globe.
• Sjored Bloom, Global lead of WCEU2023 has apologized for his behavior: A discussion on Twitter about the speaker diversity at WordCamp Europe had initiated quite a stir, and Sjored Bloom has apologized for the way he reacted.

🔖INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

• Is WordPress really free? The costs of running a WordPress site: From Torque
• Bot traffic: What it is and why you should care about it: From Yoast
• Fact check: Will WordCamp Europe speakers be ‘mostly men,’ again?: From MasterWP
• What is security automation?: From Astra Security
• The future of SEO and why it’s not dying: From Search Engine Land
• What is a Command Injection?: From ithemes
• What Is AWS vulnerability management?: From Astra Security
• Alex Standiford on how WordPress and the Fediverse can be combined: From WP Tavern Jukebox
• How to create a winning social media content calendar for 2023: From Jetpack
• Exploring the Future of WordCamps With Angela Jin: From The WP Minute
• WordPress at 20: some secrets to its success: From ithemes
• The 22 different types of social media content: From Jetpack
• WordPress’ 20th Anniversary, a mini Series. Episode 1 with Sarah Gooding, Aurooba Ahmed, Masestro Stevens and Jess Frick: From WP Tavern Jukebox
• 5 ways to set the stage for a successful SEO engagement: From Search Engine Land
• CVEs: What they are, and ways to mitigate their impact: From Akamai
• Ways that AI can enhance your website: From Speckyboy

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

• Jekyll tutorial: How to create a static website: From Kinsta
• How to easily add images in WordPress: From RankMath
• Introduction to WordPress multisite networks: From Learn WordPress
• How to install SSL certificate on WordPress: From Patchstack
• Mastering React conditional rendering: A deep dive: From Kinsta
• useEntityRecords: an easier way to fetch WordPress data: From WordPress Developer Blog
• How to add a blog or news page to any WordPress website: From Learn WordPress

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

• WordCamp Europe 2023 on June 8-10, 2023: Tickets are available now.
• Call for Mentors – WordCamp Europe 2023 on June 8-10, 2023: Call for speaker mentors is out.
• The WordPress Community Summit on August 22-23, 2023: In the early planning stages, the Community Summit is an “unconference,” without slides, selected speakers, or planned presentations. 
• WordCamp US 2023 on Aug 24-26, 2023: Call for sponsors is now open.

🎁 WORDPRESS DEALS OF THE WEEK

Just the best deals of the week, again, handpicked by yours truly!

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• Up to 75% off on plugins, themes and hosting at WP Hive
• 50% off Web Hosting Packages at StableHost (Coupon Code – 50OFFYEAR1)
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• 40% off at OceanWP
• Up to 75% off hosting plans at HostPapa
• 50% off for Advanced Giftcards for WooCommerce plugin
• 33% off for Annual Hosting plans at Nexcess
• 83% 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 
• 10% Store Wide Discount for PitchGround products (Coupon Code – PG-D7WCAD75F)
• 68% off WordPress Hosting plans at InMotion Hosting
• 73% off hosting plans at SiteGround
• 60% off at Hostgator India
• 75% off VPS Monthly Plans at Liquid Web
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