Issue #228 | July 15, 2025 | Reading time: 18 mins
Hello!
This week on The WP Week Newsletter, we cover the call for volunteers for WordPress 6.9, the phased plugin rollout proposal by Matt Mullenweg, the new WordPress Credits internship program for university students, exciting new projects, and more.
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
🙌 This weekly newsletter is kindly sponsored by Kinsta, Omnisend, and WP Job Openings
🗣️TALK OF THE TOWN
Matt Mullenweg proposed an enhancement to the WordPress Plugin Directory that would allow plugin developers to use phased releases and rollouts, releasing updates to a small, random group of users first, collecting feedback, and then expanding to all users.
📰 WORDPRESS & AROUND
All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies
The call for volunteers for WordPress 6.9, the second major release of 2025, is now open. Beta 1 is scheduled for October 21, and the final release is currently planned for December 2.
- WordPress Credits a new internship program for university students launched: The WordPress Foundation has launched a new internship initiative called WordPress Credits, aimed at helping university students get involved with the WordPress open source project. The program aims to make it easier for students and newcomers to take their first steps into the open-source world by providing mentorship, direction, and real project experience.
- Welcoming new mentors to the Training Team Guide Program: The WordPress Training Team has welcomed a new group of mentors to its Guide Program, Benazeer Hassan, Shubham Sedani, Muddassir Nasim, Jagir Bahesh, Zeel Thakkar, and Rico F. Lüthi.
- Proposal: PHPStan in the WordPress core development workflow: The proposal suggests officially integrating PHPStan, a static analysis tool, into the WordPress core development workflow to improve code quality and catch bugs early.
- Core Committers check-in – July 2025: The July 2025 Core Committers Check-in focused on planning for WordPress 6.9, including finalizing features like the Interactivity API and block bindings, improving the writing and design experience, and exploring early support for a canonical AI-related plugin. Discussions around the wp-admin redesign centered on testing it via the Gutenberg plugin with broader outreach and usability efforts.
- What’s new for developers? (July 2025): Justin Tadlock shares the latest WordPress developer updates, highlighting the upcoming release of WordPress 6.8.2 on July 15, the introduction of custom social icons in Gutenberg 21.1, and a proposal for phased plugin rollouts. He also notes that WordPress has officially dropped security support for versions 4.1–4.6 and so on.
- Plugin Review Team announces name change: The Plugin Review Team has officially rebranded as the Plugins Team to better reflect its expanded responsibilities beyond just reviewing new plugin submissions.
- WooCommerce 10.0 released: This release brings various frontend accessibility improvements, shareable checkout URLs, coupon improvements, and much more. Also, WooCommerce 10.0.1 – 10.0.2 have been released.
- Malware found in official GravityForms plugin indicating supply chain breach: A targeted supply chain attack was discovered in the official Gravity Forms plugin (version 2.9.12), where malware was found in packages obtained via manual downloads and Composer installations. A clean version (2.9.13) has been released, and GravityForms has published a security incident notice, which provides more details.
- 200,000 WordPress sites affected by arbitrary file deletion vulnerability in SureForms WordPress plugin: The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to define arbitrary file paths during form submission, which then get deleted when the form entry is removed. This flaw can be exploited to delete critical files such as wp-config.php, potentially resulting in remote code execution. A new patched version of the plugin has been released to address and fix this issue.
- Google Ads API v18 to sunset Aug. 20: Google Ads API v18 will stop working on August 20, and developers must upgrade to a newer version to avoid disruptions.
- Google clarifies structured data rules for returns & loyalty programs: The updated documentation clarifies that only a limited subset of return policy data is supported at the product level. Google now explicitly states that comprehensive return policies must be defined using the MerchantReturnPolicy type under the Organization markup.
💵 INVESTMENTS, ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERSHIPS
- group.one to acquire SocialPilot: group.one has signed an agreement to acquire SocialPilot Technologies Inc – a trusted platform for social media management tailored to the needs of small businesses and agencies.
👥 COMMUNITY NEWS
Updates and News from the WordPress Community
Quedadas WordPress (Online group of the Spanish-speaking WordPress community), in collaboration with the WordPress Photo Directory, has announced the Summer Photo Contest 2025, encouraging contributors to submit original, summer shots throughout the month of August. The initiative is part of an ongoing effort to grow the open image library that powers WordPress websites. The contest will run from August 1st to 31st.
- Applications now open for the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship: The WordPress Foundation is offering the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship to support travel to WordCamp US 2025. Applications are open through July 25th, 2025.
- WP Accessibility Day Team is looking for translators: WordPress Accessibility Day is a free, 24-hour, non-profit global event dedicated to raising awareness and sharing best practices for building accessible websites using WordPress. The team is now seeking individuals fluent in English and other languages to help translate presentation videos. Both paid and volunteer roles are available.
- Google Site Kit named WordPress’s most trusted plugin: Google Site Kit — Google’s official WordPress plugin built in partnership with the 10up WordPress practice at Fueled has been named the WordPress community’s most trusted plugin.
- The ActivityPub for WordPress 2025 roadmap: The 2025 roadmap for the ActivityPub plugin outlines the team’s vision to make WordPress a fully integrated part of the Fediverse. Key goals include adding support for following, a reader experience, direct messaging, advanced moderation tools, and full profile deletion.
- Newsletter Glue 4.0 released: The latest release introduces an Ad Inserter block that lets you drag and drop ads from Broadstreet Ads and WP Advanced Ads directly into newsletters, no code needed, and a few other enhancements.
- Patchstack managed VDP report forwarding: Patchstack has introduced an automated report forwarding feature for its Managed Vulnerability Disclosure Program (mVDP), allowing WordPress plugin vendors to easily handle mis-reported security issues by simply forwarding emails, screenshots, or PDFs.
- Introducing the Wordfence Vulnerability Management Portal for WordPress Vendors: Wordfence unveiled the Vulnerability Management Portal, a free tool designed to streamline and improve the responsible disclosure process for WordPress plugin and theme vendors. This new portal is part of the broader Wordfence Intelligence suite and builds on their previous offerings like the vulnerability database, free APIs, webhooks, and a bug bounty program.
- Kim Coleman reflects on 14 years of building Paid Memberships Pro (PMPro): After helping thousands via the WordPress plugin repository, PMPro was voluntarily removed from .org in 2024 due to growing misalignment with its centralized control. Today, PMPro thrives independently, staying true to its values while continuing to serve nonprofits, solopreneurs, and small teams.
- New milestone for UiChemy: UiChemy which allows users to convert Figma Designs to Elementor websites and edit in WordPress, has crossed 50,000+ active users.
- Idris Nfongang Tabi receives the Yoast Care fund for his contribution to the WordPress community: Idris Nfongang Tabi, a valued member of the WordPress Community, is the latest recipient of the Yoast Care fund.
🚀 NEW PROJECTS
- Introducing the Gutenberg Block Development course: The course, created by Misha Rudrastyh, covers how to build custom WordPress blocks from scratch. It covers everything from setting up your development environment and creating simple editable blocks to adding images, colors, and advanced features like custom block variations, query loops, and so on.
- Well-Known File Manager plugin: The plugin, created by Jono Alderson, allows users to manage their website’s .well-known files with ease.
- Local Twemoji plugin:This is a WordPress plugin to serve fallback emoji images from your own site URL rather than the WordPress.org CDN.
- AI Alt Writer plugin: The plugin, created by, Bone Kirov and Artan Bajrami will automatically generate SEO-optimized alt text and titles for your images using ChatGPT.
- OttoKit’s MCP Server is now live: The MCP server allows users to connect their AI to thousands of apps in the library and perform actions without needing to build or maintain the integrations themselves.
- StarShop.dev launching in private beta: This is an upcoming managed WooCommerce platform, and those interested in the private beta can contact Vedanshu Jain for the invite.
🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS
More posts and podcasts from the WordPress Community you don’t want to miss
- Community + Code with Sè Reed: Chris Reynolds conversed with Sè Reed about her introduction to WordPress and the community as well as the beginnings of the WP Watercooler podcast, her time on the WordPress Consumer Growth Council and much more. From Community + Code.
- In conversation with Donata Stroink-Skillrud: Bud interviews Donata Stroink-Skillrud, a privacy law expert who earned her law degree at just 21. They discuss her fast-tracked education, early life in Lithuania, and career journey starting with challenges in landing law firm jobs to eventually co-founding Termageddon, a company that helps businesses stay compliant with privacy laws. From Seriously, Bud?
- Héctor de Prada on the power of local WordPress meetups in community building: In this episode, Héctor de Prada shares his experience co-organizing the WordPress Meetup in León, Spain, and highlights the role local meetups play in building strong, inclusive tech communities. From WP Tavern Jukebox.
- WordPress community growth through alternative gatherings and new event formats: This episode explores the rise of independently organized events that run alongside flagship WordPress gatherings, such as Alt Ctrl Org, Color Code, and PressConf, and discuss how these gatherings create space for alternative voices, open conversations, and underrepresented perspectives in the community. From OpenChannels.fm.
- Perspectives with Lesley Sim: Jonathan and Luke catch up with Lesley Sim to explore her experience creating products in the WordPress ecosystem, starting with Newsletter Glue, and now EventKoi. They discuss her and Ahmed’s approach to building EventKoi as an ecosystem plugin and their thinking about early decisions. From Crossword.fm.
- Jonathan Desrosiers recaps his 12 years of contributing to WordPress: Jonathan Desrosiers recaps his 12-year journey contributing to WordPress Core, beginning with his first props in version 3.7. Since then, he’s been credited in 27 of 33 releases, including 22 consecutive ones since version 4.7. From Jonathan Desrosiers.
- Tammie Lister on her first props and contribution journeys: Tammie Lister reflects on her early contribution journey to WordPress, emphasizing how pivotal those first moments of recognition, like receiving props can be. From Tammie Lister.
- From Gaza to WCEU 2025 Basel – Abdalsalaam Halawa’s journey as a WordPress developer from war to community: Abdalsalaam Halawa shared his powerful journey from a refugee camp in Gaza to attending WordCamp Europe 2025 in Basel. Amid war, loss, and forced displacement, he found resilience through coding, community support, and the freedom remote work offers. From HeroPress.
- Why Headless (or decoupled) WordPress isn’t the silver bullet you were sold: Ben May argues that headless (or decoupled) WordPress is often oversold as a one-size-fits-all solution. While it promises performance, flexibility, and future-proofing, the reality is that it frequently introduces unnecessary complexity, especially for content-heavy brands like publishers. From The Code Company.
- What is the European Accessibility Act and why should you care?: Ivana Ćirković explains that the European Accessibility Act (EAA), effective June 28, 2025, requires digital products and services including websites and apps to be accessible to people with disabilities across the EU. From Indystack.
- Matt Mullenweg says WP Engine fight came after “a lot of community feedback”: On the Decoder podcast, Automattic CEO says “community feedback” led to decision to go after WP Engine, defends his control of WordPress.org, and says he’s learned to talk less during lawsuits. From The Repository.
- The mess that is ownership and licensing of WordPress contributions: Sam Sidler dives into the complex and unclear ownership and licensing structure of WordPress contributions. It highlights that while code contributions remain owned by individual contributors under the GPL, content contributions across WordPress.org are inconsistently licensed, with some lacking any clear terms. From Delta.
- WPEngine v Automattic, and King Pyrrhus of Epirus: The latest update on the lawsuit confirms that a July 2025 settlement conference ended without resolution. The court urged both parties to involve key decision-makers for further talks to avoid a full trial. The article compares the situation to a Pyrrhic victory, where even a win could come at great cost potentially harming both companies and the broader WordPress ecosystem. From WP and Legal Stuff.
- Feedback is a gift: In this post, Taco Verdonschot highlights the lack of a strong feedback culture in WordCamp sessions compared to the rigorous review process in WordPress code contributions. While the community values friendliness and encouragement, speakers often receive only praise missing the chance to improve. From Progress Planner.
- David McCan reviews FluentComments & User Toolkit plugins: FluentComments is a plugin that enhances and helps secure default core comments, and User Toolkit provides some features for managing a membership site.
- Navigating the noise: A look at bot traffic on Pantheon: Pantheon is addressing the growing challenge of bot traffic, which has surged by 96% in the past year. Pantheon currently excludes well-known bots from billable traffic and is working on platform-wide and advanced solutions through its Global CDN. From Pantheon.
- Contributor Day: Large vs small — Which one to choose?: Raitis Sevelis reflects on his experience with WordCamp Contributor Days, comparing large events like WordCamp Europe with smaller, local ones. From Raitis Sevelis.
🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE
Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle
- 9 time-saving CSS tips for WordPress users: From Kinsta
- How to add JavaScript to a WordPress page (+ Debugging tips): From WP Rocket
- How to refactor your outdated WordPress code with AI: From Speckyboy
📆 SAVE THE DATES
Do not miss a WordPress event ever again
- WPCampus 2025 on July 23–25, 2025: The call for proposals is now open.
- WordCamp US on August 26-29, 2025: The call for organizers and sponsor applications is now open.
- LoopConf 2025 on September 25: The registration is now open.
- SomeConf 2025: The event is in the early planning stages. The call for sponsors and speakers is now live.
- WP Suomi 2025 on October 10: The call for speakers is now open.
- WordCamp Canada on October 16-17 2025: The call for sponsors is now open.
- WordCamp Asia 2026: It is tentatively planned for early February 2026 and the call for organizers is now open.
- WordCamp Europe 2026 on June 4-6: The call for organizers is now open.
🎁 WORDPRESS DEALS OF THE WEEK
Again, these are the best deals of the week, handpicked by yours!
EXCLUSIVE DEALS
- 4 Months free offer on hosting plans of WP Engine (Coupon Code- FREEDOMTOCREATE)
- 10% off on monthly & annual plans at SureTriggers (Coupon Code- WPCONTENT10)
- 15% off yearly plans at Videvo (Coupon Code – WPV15)
MORE DEALS
- Up to 50% off on BookingPress plugin
- Up to 70% off on Shared Hosting plans at InMotion Hosting (Till May 29, 2025)
- 50% off for the first 6 months on all monthly standard plans at Kinsta
- 50% off 3 months on Liquid Web’s Bare Metal server hosting
- 20% off for Constellation plugin
- 60% off for the lifetime plan for the Modern Cart for WooCommerce plugin.
This weekly newsletter is kindly sponsored by awesome WordPress Companies 🦸♂️🙌
Last but not least, updates from WP-CONTENT.CO 👇
The WordPress Developer Blog is seeking contributors to write posts on articles covering React best practices, block testing,…
Enqueue is a new one-day conference for WordPress professionals, set to take place in Sydney this November. It’s…
Starting July 2025, the WordPress Security Team will no longer provide updates for WordPress versions 4.1 through 4.6….
In response to ongoing concerns about inconsistent translation quality, a new structured workflow has been proposed by Jesús…
Team WP-CONTENT.CO
Issue #228 | July 15, 2025 | Reading time: 18 mins
This weekly newsletter is kindly sponsored by Kinsta, Omnisend, and WP Job Openings
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