#238 - Core Program Team, WP Credits Call For Mentors, IPV6 Support

Issue #238 | September 23, 2025 | Reading time: 16 mins

Hello!

This week on The WP Week Newsletter, we cover the new Core Program Team, call for mentors for the WordPress Credits Program, IPV6 support in WordPress, host city application for WordCamp Asia 2027, 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

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🗣️TALK OF THE TOWN

Core Program Team launched to streamline WordPress contributions

Mary Hubbard announced the launch of the Core Program Team, an expansion of the approach first introduced with the Core AI Team. The new team is designed to improve coordination across Core so as to make it easier for contributors to work together.

📰 WORDPRESS & AROUND

All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies

Call for Mentors: Join WordPress Credits

The mentors are expected to dedicate at least two hours per week for the duration of a cohort, which currently spans between 13 and 18 weeks. Mentors will guide up to five students, offering weekly check-ins, asynchronous support through tools such as Slack or email, and regular feedback on student progress and final projects.

Core Committer Meeting notes from WordCamp US 2025: The meeting focused on supporting new contributors, reviewing outdated WordPress coding standards, improving decision-making processes, and handling large AI-generated PRs.
An update from the Documentation Team regarding the stepping away of a team member: The WordPress Documentation team has asked Jenni McKinnon to step away temporarily after her comments regarding release squad changes conflicted with team intentions.
WordPress.org now has full IPV6 support: The eight-year-old trac ticket was closed recently, and WordPress.org services now have support for IPV6.
WordPress 6.9 will make the search engines discouraged message more visible: The ticket was opened by Jeff Chandler, and he suggested making the notice more visible, like an admin notice. Now the upcoming version will introduce a new Site Health test under the Privacy category to alert site owners if search engines are discouraged from indexing their site. It highlights the issue with a recommended status, adds a red alert icon in the dashboard widget, and provides a direct link to the Reading Settings page to adjust the option.
Unauthenticated broken authentication vulnerability in the WordPress Jobmonster theme: The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to bypass authentication controls, gaining elevated access to protected functionality or accounts without the need for valid credentials. All users are to update to the latest version immediately.
WooCommerce 10.2.1: Dot release: WooCommerce 10.2.1 marks the first stable release of the 10.2 cycle with essential fixes for WordPress 6.9 compatibility, AMP plugin conflicts, RTL price display, and update script handling of refunded orders.
DOJ seeks Google ad manager break up as remedies trial begins: DOJ is asking a court to force Google to divest its Ad Manager. Google has proposed a solution to make its services more interoperable.
Google modifies search results parameter, affecting SEO tools: Google appears to have disabled the &num=100 results parameter, disrupting rank trackers and prompting a rethink of desktop impressions.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

Host city applications for WordCamp Asia 2027 are now open

The deadline to apply is on November 1, 2025 and the next host city reveal announcement will be made during the closing remarks at WordCamp Asia 2026 in Mumbai.

San Diego WordPress Meetup is back: The meetup is relaunching after several years of pause. Originally known as Advanced WordPress and focused on developers, the group later joined the WordPress Meetup Chapter Program to welcome all skill levels. The first in-person meetup is set for next month, featuring networking, lightning talks, and community activities, marking a new chapter for WordPress enthusiasts in San Diego.
WPBakery Loyalty Program for Support Plus subscribers: The program offers a 5% renewal discount for each consecutive year of active auto-renewal, up to a maximum of 50%.
Experimentation with Telex remains ongoing within the community: Nick Hamze has created a scratch-off block, Marko has created several interactive icons, and JuanMa Garrido has created a mermaid diagram block.
Vikas Singhal is looking for potential buyers for his plugin: He is open to selling his Gutena Forms plugin, which makes about $200+/mo and has 20k active installations as of now.
Jamie Marsland on experimenting with enhancements to the Cover Block: He has provided a preview of the enhancement and has asked the community whether he should release the enhanced cover block package as a free plugin.
Jonathan Bossenger hits a new milestone: He just uploaded his 200th video to WordPress.tv.
CookieAdmin reaches a new milestone: The plugin now has over 100,000 active installs on the repository.
Rino shared his experience after testing free Gutenberg Block themes and plugins: He found the experience to be messy due to lack of standardization in WordPress. He asks professional users which paid Gutenberg stack they rely on, suggesting that using a single paid stack is necessary for a manageable workflow.
Awesome DevTools: A curated list of awesome developer tools and services, from cloud platforms and IDEs to AI-powered coding assistants and productivity utilities.
Nikunj Hatkar receives the Yoast Care fund for his contribution to the WordPress community: Nikunj Hatkar, a valued member of the WordPress Core Team is the latest recipient of the Yoast Care fund.

🚀 NEW PROJECTS

Airo Site Designer by GoDaddy: This is an AI-powered tool for WordPress that helps businesses create professional websites in minutes instead of months and is available exclusively to GoDaddy Managed WordPress Hosting customers.
Introducing Content Publisher by Pantheon: The new offering allows users to draft, preview, and publish straight from Google Docs to your Drupal, WordPress, or Next.js site.
Post Calendar plugin: The plugin developed by Corey Maass transforms your post list into an organized calendar view. It lets you quickly reschedule posts, drag and drop drafts, and manage your publishing schedule at a glance.
All new GravityMCP: This free MCP server connects AI assistants like Claude to Gravity Forms, allowing you to manage forms and entries through natural language commands.
ZenCommunity plugin launching soon: Academy LMS is launching ZenCommunity plugin that combines community building, group chats, private messaging, support tickets, and live chat.
ZiziCache plugin: An advanced WordPress plugin designed for comprehensive website performance optimization.
All new API Press: This plugin makes it simple to connect any external API to WordPress. Define API endpoints directly in the admin, add parameters, headers, or authentication, and preview responses instantly.
Pong Block: The plugin created by Jeffrey Paul, brings the classic arcade game to your WordPress site! This block lets users play a single-player game of Pong against a computer opponent, with full accessibility, responsive controls, and extensive customization.
Infinite Logo Carousel Block: This block allows users to display their logos in an elegant, infinitely scrolling carousel.
Self-hosting WordPress course by Karl Kubelet: This course teaches you how to fully self-host a WordPress site, giving you complete control over server specs, themes, plugins, backups, and performance.

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

Why WordPress lost the cool kids (And how to win them back): WordPress powers 43% of the web, but among designers it’s seen as outdated and uncool compared to tools like Webflow and Framer. The problem isn’t its tech, it’s perception. Issues like the PHP stigma, messy admin UI, plugin-related security fears, and its “amateur” reputation overshadow its real strengths. From Iconick.
What’s coming in WordPress 6.9: Jamie Marsland explored some of his favourite features that are currently on the roadmap of WordPress 6.9, scheduled for release on December 22, 2025.
WooCommerce consumer data reveals financial confidence slump driving shift to intentional shopping: A new global survey by Woo and Klaviyo of 6,000+ shoppers reveals that financial uncertainty is driving more intentional, cross-platform shopping in 2025. Consumers increasingly research products across multiple platforms, validate purchases through reviews, and prioritize trust, quality, and relevance over convenience. From WooCommerce.
In conversation with Amber Hinds: Amber Hinds, a web designer based in Texas, shares her journey balancing family life with a career in accessible web design. Alongside her husband, she co-founded Equalize Digital, creating the Accessibility Checker plugin to ensure websites are usable for everyone. From Seriously, Bud?
Interview with Lesley Sim of EventKoi: Matt Medeiros interviews Lesley Sim, who, after selling Newsletter Glue, launched EventKoi, a WordPress events plugin. From The WP Minute.
Mary Ann Aschenbrenner on switching clients from classic to block themes: Mary Ann Aschenbrenner, President of Waterlink Web, shares her expertise on switching clients from classic WordPress themes to modern block-based themes. She offers practical advice, discusses challenges, and shares experiences from client site conversions. From WP Tavern Jukebox.
Running a successful WordPress Membership site: Adi Spiac and Robert Abela to discussed what you need to consider before setting up your membership website, how to manage existing membership sites more effectively, and tactical things like performance considerations, content moderation and best-practices for handling payments and subscriptions. From Melapress.
The site speed frontier with Performance Lab and beyond: Weston Ruter’s WordCamp US 2025 presentation focused on how various performance plugins introduced by the Core Performance Team impacted the speed of a stock WordPress site running the Twenty Twenty-Five default theme, using Core Web Vitals benchmarks and Lighthouse scores. From Weston Ruter.
WordPress’ flagship WordCamp strategy is a mess, and 2026 will be hell: Taco Verdonschot warns that WordPress’s 2026 flagship WordCamp schedule with Asia, Europe, and US events packed into just four and a half months will create major challenges. Organizers, sponsors, speakers, and attendees will face logistical pressures, high costs, and limited participation due to tight timing, summer vacations, and extreme weather (like Phoenix in August). From Progress Planner.
WordCamp Vršac 2025 recap: Ivana Cirkovic recaps WordCamp Vršac 2025, the first-ever event in the city, which brought together over 200 WordPress enthusiasts. Highlights included talks on client-focused site building, accessibility, UX best practices, and AI-driven content creation. From WPBakery.
WordPress product marketers must embrace systems thinking: History tells us why: Casey Burridge argues that WordPress product marketers need to adopt systems thinking, viewing their products within the broader ecosystem rather than focusing on isolated tactics. From Casey Burridge.
They say WordPress is outdated. But is it really?: Rino de Boer challenges the outdated stereotype of WordPress by showcasing seven modern, visually stunning websites built with today’s tools.
Yorker episode by Crossword: Jonathan and Luke discuss their nervousness going in to their recording with Matt Mullenweg. They share the preparation process, the questions they wrestled with, the approach they decided to take, and how the experience went. From Crossword.
How people are using ChatGPT: Largest study to date of consumer ChatGPT usage shows demographic gaps shrinking, economic value being created through both personal and professional use. From OpenAI.

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

How to set up Claude Code with WordPress (in under 3 minutes): From WordPress.com
REST API Authentication: From JuanMa Garrido

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

LoopConf 2025 on September 25: The full schedule is now available.
WordCamp Gdynia 2025 on September 26–28: The tickets are now available, and the full schedule has also been published.
WP Suomi 2025 on October 10: The tickets are now available.
WP Agency Forum on Oct 15, 2025: The tickets are now available.
WordCamp Canada on October 16-17 2025: The call for sponsors is now open. The first round of the speaker list has been published, and the tickets are also now available.
WordCamp Nepal 2026 on January 23-24: The early bird tickets are now available, and the call for speakers is now open.
WordCamp Asia 2026 on April 9-11: The venue has been announced. The call for speakers is now open.
SomeConf 2026 on April 22-23: The tickets are now available.
Checkout Summit 2026 on April 23-24, 2026: The call for sponsors is now open. The early bird tickets are now available.
WordCamp Europe 2026 on June 4-6: The event is in the early planning stages, and the venue will be the ICE Kraków Congress Centre Kraków, Poland.

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