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#250- WordPress 7.0 Roadmap, Responsive Editing, Troy for WP Plugin Distribution

Issue #250   |   December 16, 2025   |   Reading time: 23 mins

Hello!

A big thank you to all our readers for supporting us on this journey as we reach our 250th edition.

This week on The WP Week Newsletter, we cover the WordPress 7.0 development roadmap, the preview of responsive editing in the block editor, Community Team Rep nominations, Troy Project for plugin distribution, State of Enterprise 2025 report, 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.

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See you next week!

Team WP-CONTENT.CO

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🗣️TALK OF THE TOWN

Matias Ventura outlines the early planning for WordPress 7.0, detailing areas where contributors are actively working or needed. Key focuses include collaboration features, admin improvements, block editor enhancements, responsive editing, new blocks, and customizable APIs. The post serves as a central hub for contributors to coordinate work, explore feature ideas, and prepare for future development, while noting that not all proposed features are guaranteed to ship in 7.0.

📰  WORDPRESS & AROUND

All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies

WordPress 6.9, released on December 2, has seen limited issues affecting a small number of sites. After reviewing bug reports, core contributors decided a maintenance release would come no earlier than January. In the meantime, temporary fixes are available as plugins for users uncomfortable editing code.

  • Preview into responsive editing in WordPress: Matías Ventura, Lead Architect of Gutenberg, shared a work-in-progress preview of a new responsive editing mode for the block editor, demonstrating how users will be able to hide blocks on specific devices (desktop, tablet, or mobile) directly within the editor.
  • 2026 Global Partner Program announcement: The Program invites organizations to support the WordPress community through a single, streamlined global sponsorship. Sponsors gain worldwide visibility, simplified administration, direct communication with WordPress teams, regular event updates, and flexible branding options, while providing stable funding that helps WordPress events grow and thrive globally. The Global Leader tier is priced at $180,000, followed by the Regional Powerhouse at $110,000 and the Community Builder at $60,000.
  • Community Team Rep Nominations for 2026 now open: Two new reps will be elected, joining two or three continuing reps from the previous year. Nominations are open from December 11, 2025, to January 9, 2026, with voting scheduled from January 12 to January 30, 2026. Results will be announced in early February 2026.
  • WordPress Credits Mentor huddles – notes and next steps: The WordPress Credits program has launched regular mentor huddles on Slack to improve mentorship and student engagement. Key discussions focused on student onboarding, communication, language support, mentorship structure, mentor training improvements, and strategies for retaining graduates in the WordPress community. Starting in 2026, cohorts will follow fixed monthly onboarding schedules, and mentor huddles will continue monthly to share feedback and enhance the program.
  • AI as a WordPress Fundamental: Jason Adams proposes making AI a fundamental part of WordPress, like the database, enabling developers to easily build AI-powered features using tools like the WP AI Client and Workflows API. Hosts play a key role by providing AI models within managed hosting, giving sites built-in AI capabilities. Together, developers and hosts can drive innovation, reduce friction for users, and position WordPress for its next phase of growth.
  • What’s new for developers? (December 2025): The December 2025 update highlights WordPress 6.9 “Gene,” featuring new tools and improvements for developers. Key additions include the AI Experiments plugin, experimental breadcrumbs and tabs blocks, updates to themes and block libraries, and plugin enhancements like WordPress Coding Standards 3.3.0.
  • WooCommerce 10.4.1 -10.4.2: Dot release: WooCommerce 10.4.2 is a patch release that includes fixes from 10.4.1, improving stability and compatibility. Key updates address fatal errors with deleted products, PHP 8.4 support for WooCommerce Helper, WordPress 6.9 Abilities API compatibility, and crashes in the block-based Product Editor. Additionally, the MCP adapter was updated to v0.3.0.
  • Privilege Escalation vulnerability in Soledad theme affecting 50k+ sites: A critical privilege escalation vulnerability was discovered in versions 8.6.9 and below allowed any logged-in user to change global site settings via an AJAX action, potentially granting Administrator access and full site control. The issue has been patched in version 8.6.9.1
  • WordPress auto-login backdoor disguised as JavaScript data file: The Sucuri team uncovered the backdoor, which automatically logs attackers into administrator accounts by hijacking existing sessions, avoiding the creation of new accounts, and blending in with normal site behavior. The malware gives full admin control, bypasses security plugins, and is extremely stealthy. Site owners should remove the malicious file, audit users, reset credentials, and ensure all plugins, themes, and WordPress core are up to date.
  • Matt Mullenweg responds to Fizzy’s open source nature: He criticises David Heinemeier Hansson and 37signals for describing their new product, Fizzy, as open source despite it being released under a proprietary license. It argues that while the license allows access to source code and some freedoms, restrictions such as prohibiting competition violate the widely accepted Open Source definition. Dries Buytaert also reflected on the debate between David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) and Matt Mullenweg about what constitutes “open source.”
  • Google hit by EU probe into unfair use of online content: The European Commission has launched an antitrust inquiry into Google to determine whether the company has violated EU competition rules, partly focusing on whether Google has used creator and publisher content in ways that leave publishers unable to refuse such use without risking their search traffic.

🔧 TIP OF THE WEEK
Use ACF or Block Editor for Dynamic Layouts

If your pages have many sections:

  • Use ACF Flexible Content
  • Or create Custom Gutenberg Blocks

This makes theme layouts cleaner and gives clients drag-and-drop control.

💵 INVESTMENTS, ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

  • WordPress plugin for sale by Vikas Singhal: The plugin for sale has 80,000 active installations for the free version. The Pro version generates $5,000 per month. Interested buyers can reach out via direct message for more details.
  • WooCommerce partners with Mastercard to expand digital payments in EMEA: The partnership is aimed at improving digital checkout experiences for e-commerce merchants across EMEA. Through access to Mastercard Merchant Cloud, merchants can offer faster, more secure payments, expanded fraud protection, and a wider range of local and global payment options, helping them scale internationally while giving customers more choice and convenience at checkout.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

Sybre Waaijer, founder of The SEO Framework, has released Troy, an open-source system that lets WordPress developers distribute and update their plugins without relying on the centralized WordPress.org plugin directory.

  • AI Ready Webinar by Human Made: The webinar highlighted that AI adoption is considered vital or important by 94% of enterprise digital leaders, but readiness lags behind ambition. Only 22% report having fully structured CMS architectures, while 65% say their systems are only partially structured, limiting AI’s impact and so on.
  • State of Enterprise 2025 Report: The report highlights key findings based on the response from participants, such as around 28% of organisations run WordPress sites with more than 10 million monthly unique visitors, 79% of organisations have used WordPress for more than five years, 83% use it on a daily basis, 36% use WordPress as a Headless CMS, and much more.
  • CMS Conf 2026 announced: Maciek Palmowski has announced CMS Conf, a new conference uniting creators and developers from different CMS communities. It will take place in Gdynia, Poland, from November 12–14, 2026, featuring at least two tracks and a workshop day. More details will be shared soon.
  • The Cloudflare Radar 2025 Year in Review: The review provides insights into the Internet’s patterns and trends as observed through Cloudflare’s global network. The analysis of 5000 top domains revealed that WordPress tops the CMS list with 47% followed by Adobe Experience Manager at 16%, Contentful at 8% and Drupal at 4.7%. Mat Mullenweg also highlighted it and stated, “ I think this might be the first time we have Open Source at the majority of the top 5,000 sites, which is a big win.”
  • Betting On Open Source: Inside the Agentic AI Foundation: This virtual fireside chat on December 16 marks the launch of the Agentic AI Foundation and explores the industry’s growing commitment to building agentic AI on open standards rather than closed platforms. The session brings together key architects of the emerging open agent ecosystem, including contributors from Anthropic, Block, and OpenAI, to discuss why major technology companies are aligning around open source approaches.
  • Stripe launches Agentic Commerce Suite: The new solution that helps businesses easily sell products through AI agents using a single integration. It makes products discoverable to AI agents, simplifies checkout and order processing, enables secure agent-driven payments, and provides fraud protection all while letting merchants keep control of their customer relationships and existing commerce systems. Also, WooCommerce is a launch partner for Stripe’s Agentic Commerce Suite.
  • Google MCP GitHub repo: This repository contains a list of Google’s official Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, guidance on how to deploy MCP servers to Google Cloud, and examples to get started.
  • BuddyBoss surprise renewal and no refund situation: A Reddit user pointed out that BuddyBoss unexpectedly charged $465 for subscription renewal without any prior reminder or notification. When the user contacted customer support, BuddyBoss refused to issue a full refund, stating that renewals are non-refundable and that their 14-day refund policy applies only to new purchases. They offered only a 50% refund as an “exception” and warned that disputing the charge with the bank would result in permanent account blacklisting. Brad Williams also highlighted the issue on X, stating, “ Why would a renewal be non-refundable if you request it immediately after it happens?”
  • Sybre Waaijer on how SureRank SEO copied code from Rank Math without attribution, violating the GPL license: He also pointed out that Rank Math previously copied code from Yoast SEO without attribution, an issue Rank Math later acknowledged and addressed. Sujay Pawar, CEO of Brainstorm Force, replied to Sybre and stated, “ We will review this internally, dig deeper, and will be more than happy to give proper attribution if needed!”
  • Hostinger Reach has 150000 customers in just six months: The platform has simplified email marketing with AI powered creation, automation, and personalization. Adoption across major global markets has accelerated, with users now sending more than one million emails every week through the platform.
  • BigScoots introduces self-service AI bot control for publishers: The newly launched Cloudflare AI Crawl Control inside its client portal gives publishers granular, self-service control over which verified AI bots can crawl their content. Available to Cloudflare Enterprise clients at no extra cost. The feature lets publishers allow or block specific AI crawlers, monitor AI traffic, and prepare for future pay per crawl monetization.
  • Unified licensing across all Honors WP plugins announced: The update ensures seamless auto-updates, consistent license key structures, and improved PHP compatibility. Users can now manage licenses and updates through a new Honors WP Settings tab in the WordPress admin, with options for both automatic and manual updates.
  • Suggerence Gutenberg plugin now available: This is an AI assistant for WordPress’ Gutenberg editor that helps users create and edit content faster. While it was previously in near-release and available via a waitlist, it can now be installed directly on any website, with users receiving 2 free credits per month. These credits can be used flexibly for up to 100 assistant messages, 33 image generations, or 5 custom block creations.
  • Ollie Pro has launched Class Manager: The new extension brings CSS class management directly into the WordPress block editor. It lets users create, manage, and apply custom classes with an intuitive interface, built-in support for hover, focus, and active states, visual access to design tokens, and smart CSS loading.
  • ClassicPress Version 2.6.0 released: This release centers on improving compatibility with modern technologies, adding support for PHP 8.5, a new strategy parameter for wp_enqueue_script(), inline attachments in wp_mail, and an update to Twemoji v16. It also adds the ability to delete revisions for posts and pages.
  • SureCart 3.17.0 released: This release adds greater control over product variants, letting store owners override tax, shipping, weight, and purchase limits per variant. It also introduces ZIP/postcode–based shipping restrictions, autoplay and loop for product page videos, and improved product sorting in the admin.
  • WordPress Studio update notification bug has been resolved: A bug in WordPress Studio version 1.6.x prevented users from seeing in app notifications when new updates were released. This issue has now been fixed in version 1.6.7.
  • Oxygen 6.0 Beta 5 is now available: This update adds new Grid alignment icons, inline editing for Text Link, and CSS variable support for Opacity. It also resolves issues with fonts not loading in Classes, Components not working correctly when reused, and several other fixes.
  • New milestone for WP Umbrella: The plugin now has over 60k active installs.
  • ManageWP releases early access UI refresh: ManageWP has launched a visual refresh in Early Access, updating the dashboard for improved readability, accessibility, and comfort. The update includes a dark sidebar matching WordPress admin, higher contrast color palettes meeting WCAG 2.2 standards, and numerous small refinements to reduce visual clutter and enhance usability.
  • WordCamp Asia 2026 first round of speakers announced: The first four speakers announced are Adeline Dahal (Outpace), JC Palmes (WebDevStudios), Rahul Bnasal (rtCamp) and Takayuki Miyoshi (Rock Lobster Inc).
  • Second round of speakers announced for Checkour Summit 2026: The three new speakers are Jessica Risch (Woosa), Rémi Corson (SEOPress), and Karolína Vyskočilová (Kybernaut). Each brings extensive experience in WooCommerce, WordPress development, and AI-powered workflows.
  • The WP Weekly Awards 2025 winners announced: The top 5 winners are ACF in the Dynamic Data Plugins category, WooCommerce in the e-commerce tools category, The Admin Bar in the WordPress Community, Elementor in the Page Builders category, and RankMath SEO in the SEO plugins category.
  • WooCommerce placeholder image URL change: Rodolfo Melogli highlighted that the default WooCommerce placeholder image URL has changed in recent releases. The placeholder image is now served as a WEBP file, whereas in previous releases it was served as a PNG file.
  • Miriam Schwab reflects on Cursor’s new drag-and-drop editor: She argues that Cursor’s new drag-and-drop, AI-adapted editor isn’t revolutionary but a return to familiar web dev patterns. She says AI alone can’t replace creators’ need for direct control, and visual editors still matter.
🚀 NEW PROJECTS
“I’ve spent over a decade helping others learn to develop, create plugins, and extend #WordPress. But I’d never actually published my own plugin. That changed last week with something that drew me to contributing to the WP Training Team & #LearnWP years ago.”
–Courtney Robertson about developing the Post Formats for Block Themes.
  • Post Formats for Block Themes: The plugin developed by Courtney Robertson brings the beloved post format functionality from classic WordPress themes to modern block themes, with intelligent pattern insertion, automatic format detection, and a streamlined editing experience that makes creating formatted content effortless.
  • Custom Emoji: The plugin by James LePage adds :shortcode: autocomplete in the block editor, supports custom emoji uploads (SVG/images), includes Simple Icons slugs, and offers export/import tools.
  • Remind Me: The plugin developed by Dave Grey, helps users to keep on track of their renewals/premium plugin usage, all from your WordPress dashboard.
  • SaveTo Wishlist Lite: The plugin released by Josh Kohlbach lets customers save products they like for later. It provides customizable “Save to Wishlist” buttons, multiple wishlist support, guest and registered user functionality, and so on.
  • LaunchWP now live: A modern WordPress server control, to manage, host and install WordPress in a VPS or Cloud provider, without writing a single line of code or command.
  • WPCS MCP Server: A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that integrates WordPress Coding Standards (WPCS) with Claude AI. Developed by Varun Dubey with this users can check and fix their WordPress plugin/theme code to meet WordPress.org standards.

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

  • In this episode of Seriously, Bud?, June Liu shares her experiences navigating life, travel, and work through language, culture, and community. From her early years in Taiwan to her journey in the WordPress ecosystem, June explores the importance of authenticity, mental health, and meaningful connections in both personal and professional life.
  • In this episode of The WP Minute’s Agency Action podcast, Toby Cryns and Kurt von Ahnen dive into essential strategies for boosting agency sales. They highlight the significance of closing that initial sale and the difficulties agencies face when navigating discovery conversations with prospects.
  •  Eric Karkovack, on this episode of The WP Minute+ podcast speaks with freelance web designer Cami McNamara, where they discuss her journey into web design, the importance of client relationships, and how to adapt to changes in the industry, and much more.
  • Johanne Courtright discussed her evolution from classic agency WordPress development to enhancing Gutenberg with custom, agency-focused blocks and modular themes. She shares insights on building responsive designs, improving Core limitations, managing client work, and her open-source project Groundworx, in an episode of the WP Tavern Jukebox podcast.
  • David McCan shared the top 10 WordPress products from Black Friday 2025, based on a survey of over 6,200 site builders in the WPLTDS Facebook Group.
  • In this episode of WP Builds, Nathan Wrigley talks with Anne-Mieke Bovelett about her journey into digital accessibility, her work in the WordPress ecosystem, and the role of empathy, technology, and incentives in creating more inclusive websites.
  • In this year-end episode of Open Web Conversations from Open Channels FM, Zach Stepek and Carl Alexander reflect on the moments that defined their 2025. From hackathons and industry events to business milestones, health journeys, and lessons in gratitude, the conversation blends honest personal insights with thoughtful takes on the evolving WordPress and open web landscape.
  • WP Engine’s 2025 Hackathon brought employees together to create practical projects focused on improving reliability, scalability, and performance. In just three days, teams delivered AI driven tools, deployment improvements, and accessibility focused ideas.

🛠 GUIDE ZONE – HOWTO’S and MORE

Handpicked fresh guides from WordPress circle

📆 SAVE THE DATES

Do not miss a WordPress event ever again

🎁 WORDPRESS DEALS OF THE WEEK

Again, these are the best deals of the week, handpicked by yours!

EXCLUSIVE DEALS
  • Black Friday and Cyber Monday WordPress Deals 2025 are now live.
  • 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

This weekly newsletter is kindly sponsored by awesome WordPress Companies 🦸‍♂️🙌

Create a career page and start recruiting talents in a few minutes Check it out  →

Kinsta – Highest-rated managed WordPress hosting provider on G2 Check it out  →

Last but not least, updates from WP-CONTENT.CO 👇

WordPress AI Team Announces First Public Release of AI Experiments Plugin

The WordPress AI team has released version 0.1.0 of its new AI Experiments plugin, marking the first public…

Read more

The WPCC and GoDaddy Launch 2025 Contributor Day Table Lead Appreciation Campaign

The WP Community Collective (WPCC), in collaboration with GoDaddy, has launched the 2025 Contributor Day Table Lead Appreciation…

Read more

WooCommerce Launches Reddit Ads Integration to Expand Merchant Reach

WooCommerce has introduced Reddit for WooCommerce, a new integration that gives merchants a streamlined way to reach Reddit’s…

Read more

The 10 Best WordPress Donation Plugins

Raising funds online has never been easier, thanks to WordPress donation plugins. Whether be it for a nonprofit,…

Read more

Team WP-CONTENT.CO

Issue #250   |   December 16, 2025   |   Reading time: 23 mins

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