Hello!

WordPress 6.5.3 is expected later today while WordPress 6.6 will be released on July 16. If you can, please help test, offer suggestions and volunteer so that we have a smooth release.

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

Roadmap to 6.6

WordPress 6.6 will be released on July 16, 2024. With a slightly shorter cycle, this release heavily builds on the foundation of the last with some new items. The new minimum supported version of PHP will be 7.2.24.

• WordPress 6.5.3 RC1 is now available: It features 11 fixes in Core as well as 8 fixes for the Block Editor. The final release is expected later today. It will include a new Dashboard notice advising people to refresh after activating a free plugin. This will help with the problem of setup wizards no longer being triggered on activation.
• Data Liberation project plan & updates: The Data Liberation project aims to create a solution that enables users to migrate to WordPress from any platform and export content out, with a prototype expected by early June and final delivery by November 2024. The project involves developing a plugin to facilitate seamless data migration. In the past two months, the Data Liberation project team had collected feedback from various community members.
• Google launches Performance Max for Marketplaces: It lets sellers advertise marketplace products without a website or a Google Merchant Center account. The move acknowledges the growing importance of online marketplaces like Amazon in product discovery.
• New Google Search reputation abuse policy started: Google’s new Search spam policy around reputation abuse – or what SEOs have referred to as “parasite SEO” – will take effect on May 6th. Many sites from across the web took down webpages that could be perceived as hosting third-party content to rank in search engines. Google’s Search Advocate, John Mueller, recently addressed the SEO community’s concerns about site recovery after being impacted by algorithm updates.
• Microsoft makes Copilot available to all advertisers: Microsoft’s AI assistant Copilot is now available for all advertisers across the Microsoft Advertising Platform, a month after they increased the testing pool.

🚨 WEB SECURITY & VULNERABILITIES

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

Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (April 22, 2024 to April 28, 2024)

Last week, there were 282 vulnerabilities disclosed in 220 WordPress Plugins and 22 WordPress Themes.

• Reflected Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability patched in Yoast SEO WordPress plugin: This vulnerability makes it possible for an unauthenticated attacker to craft a request that contains malicious JavaScript. 
• WordPress Vulnerability Report — May 1, 2024: Regular report from SolidWP

🔌 NEW PLUGINS & THEMES

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

Ocean Blues theme

A sleek and professional Under Construction WordPress Theme.

• Humanity theme: The open source Amnesty WordPress theme from Big Bite in partnership with the Amnesty International.
• Newsbreak Magazine theme: An extensive magazine template suitable for diverse purposes like news, blogs, publishing, and review websites.
• Custom Accordion plugin: It allows you to easily create accordions in your WordPress posts, pages, and widget areas. 
• Commentor plugin: A plugin to help you customize WordPress default comments template.
• Serve Static plugin: Serve Static provides a very efficient, simple and fast way of implementing static page caching in WordPress.

💵 INVESTMENTS, ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

• Shutterstock enters into definitive agreement to acquire Envato: Shutterstock is acquiring Envato in a $245M all-cash deal. This move marks the end of Envato’s independence, raising concerns about future changes in leadership, priorities, and the support for code-based creators.
• AccessAlly is joining the Caseproof family of products: AccessAlly will be a part of Syed Balkhi’s WPBeginner Growth Fund. The entire team is staying on board and AccessAlly will retain its brand and independence.
• WPShout unites with CodeinWP: The WPShout and CodeinWP websites have been merged under the WPShout brand. They merged the two databases, and the number of published articles focused on WordPress development and website growth went over 1,400.
• Stack Overflow and OpenAI partner: OpenAI and Stack Overflow are coming together via OverflowAPI access to provide OpenAI users and customers with the accurate and vetted data foundation that AI tools need to quickly find a solution to a problem so that technologists can stay focused on priority tasks. 

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

WordPress.com working on Big Sky

It is the AI website builder for WordPress. You can now join as an early tester and share your feedback.

• WPMU DEV introduced Expert Services: They have unveiled three new premium support services – Proactive Monitoring, Site Speed Optimization, and Malware Removal. It is ideal for agencies and under-resourced web developers looking to streamline and automate their WordPress management processes.
• Elementor AI Copilot officially released: AI Copilot takes on the role of your website-building assistant from wherever you are. It offers suggestions for layouts, wireframes, containers, and even recommends elements within those containers. 
• New Font Library on WordPress.com: Available on WordPress.com sites with the Creator or Entrepreneur plan, the Font Library allows you to manage your site’s typography in one place. 
• New feature in Jetpack to upload images from phone: With Jetpack Mobile app, scan a QR code and quickly upload photos and watch them automatically appear in the editor on your laptop or desktop device.
• TasteWP has reached 1 million sites: To celebrate, they’re offering a 30% discount on all premium plans. Use the discount code 1MILLION on the checkout page.
• TeamWP rebranding to Future of Team: Remkus de Vries is the new co-founder. They are also launching a new podcast with co-hosts James Giroux and Dee Teal and expanding its services to include more people operations.
• SolidWP celebrating World Password Day with a Meme Contest: Create a meme related to passwords, cybersecurity, or online security and post it on your social media profile before May 8th tagging SolidWP.
• Birgit Olzem to crowdfund WCEU travel-related expenses: She will lead the DEIB table at the Contributor Day. She advocates, “It’s time for companies in the WordPress ecosystem to step up and extend travel funds to active contributors, not just speakers.”

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

• 6 Biggest WordPress moves while Mullenweg was on sabbatical: From The WP Minute
• Matt Mullenweg publicly ponders “Year of Iteration”: From James Giroux
• Market share and version control: From Brian Coords
• The WordPress Theme market is heating up: From The WP Minute
• Why I sold KryptoniteWP: From Florian Dee
• 15 Fastest WordPress hosting providers compared: From WPShout
• Bringing some structure into the theme: The Sidebar: From Kau-Boys
• What to know about medium-level WordPress vulnerabilities: From Search Engine Journal
• 3 key observations about the Google March 2024 core update: From Search Engine Land
• The design journey: Bringing WordCamp Asia 2024 to life: From WordCamp Asia
• The Top 5 AI-powered tools for WordPress creatives: From WordPress.com
• What’s new in WP-CLI: From Delicious Brains
• Hello! It’s me! It’s the imposter syndrome! From Post Status
• Guided growth: Cultivating contributors through mentorship: From WordPress.org
• They thought they were joining an accelerator — instead they lost their startups: From TechCrunch
• Salary transparency matters: From Underrepresented in Tech
• Nahuai Badiola on digital sustainability across the whole WordPress project: From WPTavern

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

• Designing with row and stack blocks: From WordPress
• How Speculative Loading can boost your WordPress site’s page speed: From Kinsta
• How to optimize a WordPress site for Core Web Vitals: From WPMarmite
• Building a book review site with Block Bindings, part 1: Custom fields and block variations: From WordPress Developer Blog

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

• WordCamp Sylhet, Bangladesh on May 10-11, 2024: Schedule is out.
• 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 sponsors is live.
• 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 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.
• WordPress Accessibility Day on Oct 9-10, 2024: The call for speakers 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

• 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
• 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 69% 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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