#192 - WP Engine Files Injunction, Multiple Contributors Pause Contribution

Issue #192 | October 22, 2024 | Reading time: 19 mins

Hello!

WP Engine has filed an injunction order against Matt Mullenweg and Automattic and the Community Code of Conduct has also been updated. Also, Automattic responded to WP Fusion’s cease and desist letter.

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

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📰 WORDPRESS & AROUND

All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies

Expanding our code of conduct to protect private conversations

The Community Code of Conduct has been updated to include ‘publishing private messages without consent’ as unacceptable behavior.

Several members of the community including former Incident Response Team member Megan Rose and former Head of Programs & Contributor Experience at Automattic Angela Jin have shared their thoughts on this development. WP Tavern has more details.

Access to WP-org Slack now requires a WP-org login: With the recent change to Making WordPress Slack channel, it now requires a WordPress.org login which also requires users to tick the not affiliated with WP Engine checkbox to complete the process.
Matt explains the reasons behind the recent implementation of SSO at Making WordPress: He explained on Slack that this is due to WP Engine’s C&D, lawsuit, and injunction—lawfare.
WP Engine promotions & coupons: The post highlights various specials and promotions from several hosts for WP Engine customers looking to migrate to a host that has great relations with WordPress.org.
WordPress thanks Salesforce: The contribution from Slack, now owned by Salesforce, has been invaluable but unrecognized. To correct this, WordPress will publicly acknowledge Salesforce’s support and offer them top sponsor slots at major WordCamp events and also update the Five for the Future program to reflect contributions such as Salesforce’s going forward.
New plugin template registration API in WordPress 6.7: WordPress 6.7 introduces a new API that will significantly simplify the process for plugins to register their own block templates. To enable this, two new functions have been introduced: register_block_template() for registering a block template and unregister_block_template() for unregistering it.
Auto sizes for lazy loaded images in WordPress 6.7: WordPress 6.7 adds sizes=”auto” for lazy-loaded images which allows the browser to use the rendered layout width of the image when selecting a source from the srcset list, since lazy loaded images don’t load until after the layout is known.
Extending the preview dropdown menu in WordPress 6.7: The upcoming version introduces a new API that allows developers to extend the Preview dropdown menu in the post/page editor which enables plugin developers to integrate custom preview options seamlessly into the editor.
Post editor iframing with meta boxes in WordPress 6.7: A split view is implemented that supports both editor content and meta boxes being visible together. This change ensures consistent WYSIWYG experience between the Editor and front-end views.
Updates to Block Hooks in WordPress 6.7: The changes will allow to insert a hooked block as a Template Part block’s first or last child, and respect “multiple”: false in hooked blocks.
Block Bindings: Improvements to the editor experience in 6.7: The improvements include a new Block Bindings UI, a new Post Meta Label Attribute, and more.
Internationalization improvements in 6.7: Various internationalization (i18n) improvements are in WordPress 6.7 such as a new has_translation() function, warnings if translations are loaded too early, and so on.
New block type registration APIs to improve performance in WordPress 6.7: WordPress 6.7 introduces a new function wp_register_block_metadata_collection() which allows plugins to improve the performance of registering their block types, especially for plugins that register multiple block types.
Subscribe to changes in the Interactivity API state and context on client-side navigation in 6.7: The post outlines the various changes to the Interactivity API set to arrive with the upcoming WordPress version.
Miscellaneous block editor changes in WordPress 6.7: Fabian Kägy has published the dev notes for smaller changes to the editor in WordPress 6.7.
Updates to user-interface components in WordPress 6.7: This post lists notable changes to the @wordpress/components package for the WordPress 6.7 release.
Updates to the HTML API in 6.7: The updates include changes such as full HTML support, a full-parser mode in the HTML Processor, and more.
WordPress 6.7 source of truth: Anne McCarthy has published the source of truth for WordPress 6.7, which allows the community to get the latest information about the upcoming version quickly. This time the Source of Truth has been published in Gutenberg Times so as to reach more content creators, educators, and general WordPress enthusiasts who want to know every detail of the latest & greatest of WordPress.
2024 WordPress Foundation meeting minutes: The participants included WordPress Foundation Directors: Mark Ghosh, Matt Mullenweg, and Chele Chiavacci Farley. The guests/observers were Harmony Romo, Isotta Peira, and Sarah Glenn. The WordPress Foundation’s Cash Position is currently at $264,680. The meeting also covered topics related to Meetup.com fees and bank strategy.
Introducing: Test Team reps for 2024 – 2025:The new reps for the Test Team are Olga Gleckler and Krupa Nanda.
WordPress Foundation donates $100,000 to Internet Archive: The Board of Directors is hopeful that this donation will make a significant impact, given the recent challenges faced by the organization.
Google Analytics adds new segment sharing feature: This change allows users with Editor or higher permissions to save segments that can be accessed by all users within a property.

🗣️TALK OF THE TOWN

WP Engine files injunction, Automattic responds to WP Fusion’s cease and desist letter

WP Engine files injunction against Matt and Automattic: The ongoing battle has now led to WP Engine filing the injunction order and Matt has responded to it. He said, “What they’re trying to do is ask a judge to curtail my First Amendment rights” and he has also decided to refrain from commenting on the WP Engine case until the injunction is sorted out.
WP Fusion Lite plugin removed from WordPress.com following a cease and desist letter: Automattic has responded to WP Fusion’s cease and desist letter and has agreed to remove the WP Fusion Lite Plugin from WordPress.com.
WP Engine implements new update mechanisms: Brian Gardner on X notified users that the free plugins and themes from WP Engine will use an update mechanism that interacts with their update service rather than WordPress.org.

Some writings/discussions on the subject:
Why I’m a bloomer, not a doomer: The future of WordPress: From Devin Walker

Farewell to the WordPress community: From Bjørn Johansen

🚨WEB SECURITY & VULNERABILITIES

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

Critical vulnerabilities in Ultimate Membership Pro plugin

An unauthenticated privilege escalation and an unauthenticated PHP object injection vulnerability were recently patched. All users are to update to the latest version immediately.

WordPress WooCommerce Plugin <= 9.0.2 is vulnerable to content injection: The vulnerability was patched and all users are to update to the latest version immediately.
WordPress vulnerability report — October 16, 2024: Weekly report from SolidWP.
Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (October 7, 2024 to October 13, 2024): There were 103 vulnerabilities disclosed in 94 plugins.

🔌 NEW PLUGINS & THEMES

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

Kawaii-Chan theme

A simple theme with a minimal set of templates.

Zummo theme: A dark and modern multipurpose theme
Eliot theme: A theme made for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and bloggers.
Easy Export Single Post and Page plugin: This allows users to easily export individual posts or pages in various formats for seamless sharing and backup.
dig Breadcrumb plugin: This generates breadcrumb navigation for all posts, pages, custom post types, categories, and taxonomies on WordPress. The breadcrumbs are fully customizable and support structured data formats such as Microdata and JSON-LD for better SEO.
Make Me Static, Static Site Generator for Git publication plugin: This plugin is a static site generator and aims to create and maintain a static copy of your WordPress website within a Git repository.

💵 INVESTMENTS, ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

Semrush acquires Search Engine Land: Leading SaaS platform Semrush acquired Search Engine Land, SMX, and all of the sibling publications. Ako Stark highlighted on X that the community is unhappy with this development and provided an overview of their concerns.
Permira completes Squarespace acquisition: Website builder Squarespace is no longer a publicly traded company, after private equity firm Permira procured all remaining common stock in the firm.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

Rocket.net launches Agency Partner Program

The Agency Partner Program is powered by an easy-to-use commission platform and provides agencies with an impressive 15% lifetime recurring monthly referral commission.

FlyingPress ranks #1 in Chrome UX report for Core Web Vitals: As per the report, FlyingPress is the top performer followed by NitroPack, WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, and W3TC.
The State of CSS 2024 survey is now open: The survey will take around 10- 15 minutes to complete and the goals are to measure awareness of new HTML features and browser APIs, and help developers keep track of how their usage is evolving.
Liquid Web unveils high-performance GPU hosting for AI: This offers up to 15% better GPU performance over virtualized environments at equal or lower costs with on-demand NVIDIA-powered servers for seamless AI/ML deployment.
Cloudways has a new web application firewall: Cloudways has announced the integration of Imunify360’s server-level firewall which offers several features such as IP & country blocking, automated threat detection, DoS protection (SSH + HTTP), and more.
Introducing SnippetNest: A collection of code snippets and tutorials for ACF, Beaver Builder, Fluent Forms, WP Grid Builder, and SEO plugins like Yoast and SEOPress.
Announcing Solid Backups: Solid Backups- NextGen is a cloud-first solution for backing up WordPress sites, with backups initiated from SolidWP cloud servers.
All-new ColorMagic: An AI color palette generator created by Tim Bennetto. With this users can enter any keyword and generate a matching color palette.
Node v23.0.0 released: This version will replace Node.js 22 as the ‘Current’ release line when Node.js 22 enters long-term support (LTS) later this month. They have also released a new package that checks if your Node.js installation is vulnerable to known security vulnerabilities.
The latest Release Candidate for WooCommerce 9.4 is now available: The upcoming version will include improved product collection blocks, improvements to remote error logging, and more.
The PHP Foundation has successfully completed the first of four projects commissioned by Sovereign Tech Fund in 2024: The first project completed for Sovereign Tech Fund is the Web Services Tool for PHP-FPM, which is a command-line tool developed to test PHP-FPM across different configurations and under production-like loads.
Takis Bouyouris’s proposal of four points to WP Engine, WordPress, WordPress.com, and Matt Mullenweg: The four-point proposal suggests that WPEngine pledges a substantial number of contributors and makes sure the trademark is respected, all legal actions, lawsuits, and ceases and desists stop, Matt allows the WordPress foundation to run with more people on the board, people who will come from the community via a collective process, people who we trust and hold in high regard and services on WordPress dot org will be redesigned to allow to be run in mirrors. No single company should be the sole provider of such services to the community.
Sam Suresh has decided to step away from the WordPress project: Sam Suresh, a member of the WordPress Community Team and the Incident Response Team, is stepping away from WordPress after nine years of involvement.
Javier Casares is back to contributing to the WordPress Community: Javier Casares on X announced that it is a personal and professional decision and his contribution will be limited to certain tasks such as continuing to act as Hosting Team Rep, continuing to contribute to / manage the Advanced Admin Handbook and so on.
Tonya Mork has paused contributions to the WordPress.org project: Tonya Mork has also paused her contributions as she is concerned about the well-being & eroding trust of contributors & users.
Colin Stewart announces changes to his WordPress contribution flow: Colin Stewart, the maintainer of the Upgrade/Install and Filesystem API components, has stepped back from contributing to Core and WordPress.org properties. He also outlined several adjustments he had made to his contribution flow.
Daniel Iser compares hosting contributions to WP Core to their annual revenue: The comparison reveals that Hostinger has the highest contribution ratio and GoDaddy has the least.
Brian Gardner’s themes have been removed from WordPress.org: As a result of not having access to his WordPress.org account, he earlier made a request to remove his two themes Powder and Powder Zero from the themes repository, which has now been approved.

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

Reflecting on eight years of Local: From WP Engine
On community code of conducts: From Angela Jin
Christy Nyiri and Mike Straw on Automattic’s special projects team: From WP Tavern Jukebox
Future investments from WooCommerce: What to expect: From Doo the Woo
Security implications of WordPress repository access restrictions and plugin closures: From Patchstack
Speaking experience at WordCamp US 2024: From Jonathan Desrosiers
How I commit to WordPress Core: From Jonathan Desrosiers
A brief history of the WordPress YouTube Channel: From Nicholas Garofalo
A developer’s overview of Twenty Twenty-Five, the next default WordPress theme: From Kinsta
Master wp-config.php: A comprehensive guide: From SolidWP
12 reasons your page won’t rank – even though it’s optimized: From Yoast
The ultimate guide to HTTP headers for SEO: From Search Engine Land

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

Mastering theme.json: You might not need CSS: From WordPress Developer Blog
How to simplify client editing in WordPress: From WordPress YouTube
How to use the WordPress beta tester plugin: From WebTNG
Local WordPress with Herd, DBngin, and WP-CLI: From Brian Coords

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

WordCamp Youth Hackathon Skopje on October 19, 2024: An exciting event designed to inspire young people aged 14 to 17 in the world of WordPress.
Baking High-Performance Websites Tips with WPBakery on October 30, 2024: A live event on Facebook where a panel of experts will share essential tips and strategies for building fast and high-performing WordPress websites.
Rome Core Days on November 8-9, 2024: This will be a two-day event dedicated to WordPress Core developers with round tables, open discussions, and contribution rooms. The schedule is out.
WordCamp Kerala on November 9, 2024: The call for sponsors, speakers and volunteers is out.
WordCamp Romania on November 14-15, 2024: Tickets are out.
WordCamp Malaysia on November 22-23, 2024: Tickets are out.
WordCamp Netherlands on 29-30 November 2024: The call for sponsors is out.
WordCamp Asia on February 20-22, 2025: The venue will be the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila, Philippines.
WordCamp Europe on 5-7 June 2025: The event will be held at Basel – Switzerland’s Capital for Art and Culture.
WordCamp US 2025 on August 26-29, 2025: The event is in the early planning stages.

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4 Months free offer on hosting plans of WP Engine (Coupon Code- FREEDOMTOCREATE)
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