Hello!

We hope all of you had an amazing time at WordCamp Asia 2024. Unfortunately, our team missed the event this year. Please share with us your stories.

The Font Library has been approved for WordPress 6.5, whereas the Sycned Pattern overrides will not be arriving with the upcoming release. The RC1 is now available for testing and we can expect the RC2 to be released later today.

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

Community Sponsor

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

WordPress 6.5 Release Candidate 1

The RC1 is now available for download and testing. We can expect RC2 later today.

• WordPress 6.5 Release Candidate phase: An overview of the policies that are in place as WordPress 6.5 has entered the RC phase.
• New feature: The Block Bindings API: An in-depth explanation of all the new block blindings API feature coming in WordPress 6.5.
• Unblocking WP6.5 – Font Library and Synced Pattern overrides: After a lengthy discussion, it has been decided that the Font Library will indeed arrive with WordPress 6.5. However, the Synced Patterns overrides will not be available with the upcoming release.
• Miscellaneous developer changes in WordPress 6.5: A roundup of the various developer changes in the upcoming WordPress version.
• Miscellaneous editor changes in WordPress 6.5: Dev notes for smaller changes to the editor in WordPress 6.5.
• Introducing Plugin Dependencies in WordPress 6.5: The Plugin Dependencies feature aims to make the process of installing and activating addons (dependents) and the plugins they rely on (dependencies) consistent and easy.
• Asia meetup revival project 2024: The team aims to revive some meetup groups in big cities that are inactive or help the local WordPress community that are not yet part of the Meetup Chapter Program to join the program.
• Test Team profile badge – Your feedback needed!: The various criteria to earn a Test Team and Contributor badge have been outlined. A call for feedback is also open till Friday, 22 March 2024.
• The month in WordPress – February 2024: A quick recap of everything that happened in the WordPress community in February.
• Matt Mullenweg to deliver State Of The Word 2024 from Tokyo, Japan: WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg announced at the Q&A session of WordCamp Asia 2024 that he would deliver the 2024 State Of The Word from Tokyo, Japan on December 16. This marks a significant moment for the WordPress community, as it’s only the second time the annual address is delivered outside of North America. Last year, the event took place in Madrid, Spain.
• WordCamp Asia 2025 scheduled for next February in Manila, Philippines: WordCamp Asia has unveiled its host city for 2025 – Manila, Philippines. After Bangkok and Taiwan, it is Manila’s turn to take center stage as the venue for the flagship event, tentatively slated for February 2025.
• Google releasing massive search quality enhancements in March 2024 core update and multiple spam updates: The Google helpful content update is now part of the core update, all of this leading to a 40% reduction in unhelpful content within search.
• Google launches privacy-focused measurement tool for advertisers: Meridian, an open-source Marketing Mix Model (MMM), is available now to select marketers and data scientists.
• Google’s website cache is still available (For now): Google’s updated cache documentation reflects that the cache is still available in search (while also gone as a menu option).

🚨 WEB SECURITY & VULNERABILITIES

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

Unauthenticated stored XSS vulnerability patched in Ultimate Member WordPress plugin

The vulnerability that can be leveraged to inject malicious web scripts was recently patched. All users are to update to the latest version immediately.

• The open-source version of Radio Station on the plugin repository has been closed due to a security vulnerability: Tony Zeoli alerted the community via X, that the Radio Station plugin on the repository is unavailable due to a security vulnerability. It will be available once the vulnerability has been patched.
• WordPress vulnerability report — March 6, 2024: Weekly report from SolidWP.
• Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (February 26, 2024 to March 3, 2024): There were 119 vulnerabilities disclosed in 86 Plugins and 3 themes.

🔌 NEW PLUGINS & THEMES

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

Storemate theme

An e-commerce theme.

• One Page Blocks theme: A theme suitable for businesses, portfolios, or personal projects.
• Osom Business theme: A theme ideal for business companies.
• UiChemy – Figma to WordPress plugin: The plugin converts Figma designs into live WordPress websites in seconds.
• Sticky Comment plugin: The plugin allows users to pin their favorite comments on top.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

Introducing the Bluehost Cloud

Bluehost Cloud is a managed cloud hosting platform that can handle sudden spikes in traffic, ensuring faster page load time, and better performance, even during peak seasons. This is built atop WP Cloud’s best-in-class infrastructure.

• Announcing Ploogins: Javi Guembe via X announced Ploogins, which is the first search engine for WordPress plugins powered by AI. Currently, the project is in the beta phase.
• Introducing ListedWP: A new project by Davinder Singh Kainth created for selling and buying WordPress domains and plugins.
• The future of Cwicly: Louis-Alexander Désiré, the founder has shared that users will get support only till 2024, and from 2025 onwards, they will offer maintenance plans for those who wish to continue to benefit from Cwicly updates but no new features will be introduced.
• Kadence Cloud is now  Kadence Pattern Hub: The transition from “Kadence Cloud” to “Kadence Pattern Hub” was motivated by the need for clearer communication. The new name, “Kadence Pattern Hub,” more aptly describes the tool’s capability to centralize and distribute pattern libraries.
• The State of CMS 2024: A research project from Storyblok where they polled over 1,700 respondents from 5 countries to figure out how organizations worldwide use their content management systems.
• Voting is now open for Plugin Madness 2024!: The voting is now open and the final result can be expected on April 15, 2024.

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

• Kickstart (or level-up) your contributor journey: From WordPress Briefing
• WordCamp Asia 2024: Matt Mullenweg Q&A: From WordPress
• The brittle WordPress business: From The WP Minute
• WordCamp Asia 2024 slide deck: From Jonathan Desrosiers
• Is SEO turning into a scam?: From Mike Ginley
• Playground blueprint builder: From Joost de Valk
• Matt Mullenweg on the challenges and successes of building a remote-first company: From Freemius
• WordCamp Asia 2024: Recapping our time in Taipei: From GoDaddy
• SEO basics: SEO fact or fiction?: From Yoast
• How to write SEO product descriptions in 2024: From IconicWP
• WordCamp Asia 2024 – An unforgetable experience: From Deluxe Blog Tips
• Composing with patterns: From Rich Tabor
• Day in the life of a software engineer: Exploring remote vs hybrid work: From CodeinWP
• Here’s why you should always log out of WordPress: From Speckyboy
• Which WP theme is best? Fun with theme download stats: From WP Tavern
• Automattic doubles down on the developer community: From WP Tavern
• Secure WordPress database: 13 MySQL security best practices: From Melapress
• Customizing WooCommerce account pages without code: A step-by-step guide: From Convesio
• OpenAI and Elon Musk: From OpenAI
• Google Business Profile suspended? Here’s how to get reinstated: From Search Engine Journal

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

• Introducing Block Bindings, part 2: Working with custom binding sources: From WordPress Developer Blog
• How to test WordPress beta release?: From Learn WordPress
• Testing WordPress 6.5: From WordPress TV
• Custom post type data: From WordPress TV
• How to create & manage block patterns in WordPress: From Speckyboy
• How to: Configure WordPress coding standards: From Tanner Record
• Export GitHub issues to CSV or JSON files: From Kestrel
• Two ways to create custom WordPress Blocks: From Delicious Brains
• Installing setup data for a WordPress plugin: From Kinsta
• How to create a child theme in WordPress: From RankMath

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

• WPEngine Decode 2024: The registrations are now open and the event will take place on March 19 in the U.S. and March 21 in EMEA.
• WordCamp Europe on 13-15 June 2024: The call for speakers, volunteers and sponsors is live. The call for photographers is now open.
• WordCamp Canada on July 11-13, 2024: The call for speakers, volunteers, and sponsors is now open.
• WordCamp Asia on February 2025: The event is in the early planning stages and the call for organizers is now open.

🎁 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

• 30% off for 3 months + $1000 migration package for free on Email marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend (Coupon Code- ONLYWOO)
• 40% off for 4 months on all hosting plans + 40 free migrations at Cloudways  (Coupon Code – BFCM4040)
• 53% off for NordLocker
• Up to 75% off on plugins, themes and hosting at WP Hive
• 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
• 86% off at AtlasVPN
• 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 75% 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

---

Team WP-CONTENT.CO

Built with Newsletter Glue.