Hello!

A new proposal has been put forth to merge various changes to perform rollbacks when fatal errors occur during attempted plugin auto-updates by default. WP Includes has launched a Gender Equality in WordPress Businesses Survey and is now live. Also, Automattic has introduced a new affiliate 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

How WordPress is creating a faster web

Felix Arntz has provided an overview of the performance upgrades that WordPress has achieved compared to last year.

• Merge Proposal: Rollback auto-update: The proposal seeks to merge various changes to perform rollbacks when fatal errors occur during attempted plugin auto-updates by default.
• The Pattern Directory gets a refresh and is now powered by blocks: The Pattern Directory has received a design revamp. Besides a design change, the Pattern Directory also utilizes the Interactivity API for many user interactions as explained by Nick Diego. Earlier the WordPress.org homepage and Forums were also redesigned.
• Apply for the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship for WordCamp US 2024: The Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to one WordPress contributor who is a woman, has not previously attended WordCamp US, and requires financial assistance to attend WordCamp US 2024.
• Automattic announces new Affiliate Program: The program allows users to promote one or more brands including WordPress.com hosting, WordPress.com domain registration, Woo, WooExpress, Woo Marketplace, Jetpack, and Sensei, all without having to sign up for separate affiliate programs.
• Meta integrates Google & Bing search results into AI assistant: Meta’s AI assistant, powered by the new Llama 3 model, will now incorporate real-time search results from Google and Bing.
• Google on diagnosing A deindexed WordPress site: Google’s John Mueller answered a question about a WordPress site that was completely deindexed from Google Search after changing to a different web hosting platform. Mueller’s answer shows where to start investigating the reasons why that happens.
• Google strengthens Search Console security with token removal tools: Google rolls out Search Console enhancements allowing owners to remove, verify unused ownership tokens for improved security.
• Google Ads to retire customizers for text ads: Google to stop serving ad customizers for text ads and dynamic search ads, pushing marketers to responsive search ads.
• Brave unveils new privacy-focused AI Answer Engine: Answer with AI is the only large real-time answer engine that puts privacy first and does not rely on big tech search engines.

🚨 WEB SECURITY & VULNERABILITIES

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

WordPress vulnerability report — April 17, 2024

Weekly vulnerability report from SolidWP.

• Privilege escalation vulnerability patched in User Registration WordPress plugin: The vulnerability that makes it possible for an authenticated attacker to grant themselves administrative privileges by updating the default user role was patched recently.
• SQL injection vulnerability patched in WP Activity Log Premium WordPress plugin: The vulnerability that can be leveraged to extract sensitive data from the database, such as password hashes, was patched and users are to update to the latest version immediately.
• WPScan 2023 Website Threat Report: According to the report, the most reported vulnerability types in 2023 were Cross‑Site Scripting, Cross‑Site Request Forgery, Authorization Issues, and SQL Injection vulnerabilities.
• Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (April 8, 2024 to April 14, 2024): There were 202 vulnerabilities disclosed in 185 plugins, 21 themes, and one in WordPress Core.

🔌 NEW PLUGINS & THEMES

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

Ron theme

A minimalist blogging theme.

• Vermeer theme: A profile theme.
• Fontaine theme: A portfolio/profile theme designed for visual designers.
• Awesome Timeline with block plugin: This plugin allows users to create dynamic timelines that beautifully display key events or project milestones.
• WooCommerce Wishlist plugin: The plugin allows customers to add products to their wishlist and buy them later.

💵 INVESTMENTS, ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

• Omnisend announces partnership with Ecwid: Omnisend has announced a partnership with Ecwid by Lightspeed an e-commerce platform.
• GoDaddy partners up with Upwork: In an effort to increase work opportunities for web designers and developers, GoDaddy has joined the new Upwork Partners program as the first web presence partner.
• Ghost joins ActivityPub: Ghost is joining ActiviytPub to become part of the world’s largest publishing network. This will allow all Ghost publishers to distribute their work across to the largest decentralized network in the world.
• Atarim announces partnership with Dollie: Atarim has partnered up with Dollie, the WordPress growth platform.
• AdTribes is joining the Rymera Web Co family: AdTribes, the creator of the popular Product Feed Pro plugin has been acquired by the Rymera Web Co family.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

‘WP Includes’ launches Gender Equality in WordPress Businesses Survey

 This is the first survey of its kind, and its scope is to “gain critical insights into the gender composition of leadership teams, the experiences of women and gender-diverse leaders and employees, and the challenges and barriers to their career success.”

• Introducing Beyond The Code: Beyond The Code, a brand new podcast series brought to you by CodeMonk, which will discuss topics related to product development, tech hiring, AI, remote work, and more is here to revolutionize your tech insights and discussions.
• All new Press Navigator: Tammie Lister announced her new project Press Navigator via X. It is a new service suitable for individuals, teams, agencies, and product creators to attain their WordPress goals.
• Plugin Madness 2024 winner announced: Advanced Custom Fields is the 2024 Plugin Madness winner. ACF has won it earlier in 2023 and 2016. The Plus Addons for Elementor won it in 2022.
• Clicky Blocks powered by the Interactivity API: Phil Webster on X announced a new matching game using the Interactivity API.
• WPBakery Page Builder’s 13th Birthday Sale: On the occasion of WPBakery Page Builder turning 13th, from April 22nd to May 5th, users can get up to 30% off on all lifetime multisite licenses.
• Brian Gardner takes on a new role at WP Engine: Brian Gardner has announced that he is taking on new responsibilities at WP Engine as he steps into his new role as a WordPress Advocate.
• Ari Stathopoulos will no longer be contributing to the Gutenberg Project: Ari Stathopoulos has decided to no longer contribute to Gutenberg as he no longer understands the code and will be shifting his focus to the WordPress core instead. He is hoping someone could take up his pending PRs and bring them to a closure.
• Women Who Code announces closure due to financial challenges: In an unforeseen development, Women Who Code has announced its closure, effective April 18, 2024, citing financial difficulties. The move comes after the organization posted a loss of $190,822 in 2022.

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

• Registering Custom Post Types in the WordPress Admin: Our CloudFest Hackathon report: From WordPress.com
• Let’s talk about data liberation: From WordPress Briefing
• Shaping WordPress #001: From Rich Tabor
• 10 tips for an awesome and SEO-friendly blog post: From Yoast
• WordPress file permissions – The complete guide: From Patchstack
• Thoughts on the light that could be WordCamp India: From Aditya Kane
• Jonathan Desrosiers on the challenges and rewards of contributing to WordPress: From WP Tavern Jukebox
• How do we market WordPress to the masses?: From The WP Minute
• WordPress vs Webflow: From The WP Minute
• The ultimate WooCommerce REST API handbook: From Kinsta
• cPanel: Features and how to use this interface for your WordPress site: From WPMarmite
• WordPress maintenance: Tasks & best practices: From Sucuri
• Google Discover optimization: A complete guide: From Search Engine Land

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

• Creating an external project template for create-block: From WordPress Developer Blog
• How to allow remote access to MySQL through phpMyAdmin: From Melapress
• How to easily fix a slow-loading WordPress dashboard: From Rank Math

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

• WordPress YouthCamp Kozhikode on April 27-28, 2024: The tickets are now available.
• WordCamp Buffalo, NY USA on May 4-5, 2024: The call for speakers and sponsors is now open.
• WordCamp Sylhet, Bangladesh on May 10-11, 2024: The call for sponsors is now open.
• Networking at WordCamps on May 13, 2024: This event by Support Inclusion in Tech will help you make the most of your WordCamp experience. Ticket sales go to 1 local SiNC speaker applicant.
• Page Builder Summit on May 20-24, 2024: The speaker lineup has been published.
• WordCamp Europe on 13-15 June 2024: The call for speakers, volunteers and sponsors is live. The call for photographers is now open.
• 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 now live.
• WordCamp Canada on July 11-13, 2024: The call for speakers, 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.
• 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

• 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
• 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

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