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#272 – WC US 2026 Website Sparks Discussion, Branding Concerns Raised, Liquid Web Consolidates Portfolio

Issue #272   |   May 19, 2026   |   Reading time: 22 mins

Hello!

This week on The WP Week Newsletter, we cover Liquid Web’s major restructuring of its portfolio, Leadership changes for the Core AI Team, an update on the WP Engine v Automattic legal case, brand naming concerns, the WC US 2026 website design sparking discussion, 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

Liquid Web has announced a major restructuring of its WordPress software business, consolidating its sprawling portfolio of plugins and tools into four core products. The move effectively ends the standalone sales model for several well-known WordPress brands, including SolidWP, IconicWP, Restrict Content Pro, and MemberDash.

Several community members, like Chris Lema, Carl Hancock and Katy Boykin, also expressed their take on the situation.

📰  WORDPRESS & AROUND

All the updates around WordPress and its closely related technologies

Jason Adams is taking over leadership as co-leads James LePage and Felix Arntz step back after a year. Also, James LePage has announced that he has left Automattic and will be shifting his focus beyond WordPress to work on a new venture that he plans to reveal soon, while remaining involved in an advisory role.

  • WordPress 7.0 Release Candidate 4 released: It is now available for download and testing. The WordPress 7.0 Field Guide has also been published, and we are just hours away from the first major release of this year.
  • What’s new for developers? (May 2026): The roundup covers the latest Gutenberg and WordPress 7.0 developments, including the upcoming May 20 release, the removal of real-time collaboration from 7.0, and major progress on new features like the experimental content types system, expanded revisions support, and the new @wordpress/grid package.
  • WordPress AI Plugin v0.9.0 released: The release introduces new comment moderation and content resizing features, along with new developer mode settings toggle and much more.
  • WooCommerce 10.8: What’s coming for developers: Scheduled for release on May 19, the upcoming version introduces a range of developer-focused improvements, including stricter Orders REST API validation, a new product.published webhook, performance optimizations, and so on. Also, WooCommerce 10.9, scheduled for June 23, 2026, will introduce canonical WooCommerce abilities for products and orders. Also at Stripe Sessions, Woo Artistic Director Beau Lebens spoke on a panel about agentic commerce, focusing on what it takes to implement AI-powered shopping systems.
  • Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (May 4, 2026 to May 10, 2026): There were 75 vulnerabilities disclosed in 59 plugins and 2 themes.
  • 200,000 WordPress sites at risk from critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Burst Statistics plugin: The vulnerability that lets unauthenticated attackers impersonate a known administrator in REST API requests by using a valid username with any password via Basic Authentication. In severe cases, it could even allow the creation of a new admin account without prior authentication. The issue has been patched, and all users are to update to the latest version immediately.
  • Introducing WordPress Workspace for Mac: It is a new desktop app that brings WordPress tools like the Agent, AI assistance, voice dictation, screenshots, and media uploads into one unified workspace on macOS. It is included in all WordPress.com plans during beta, requires macOS 11 or later, and works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.
  • DreamHost requests court to keep documents under seal in WP Engine v. Automattic case: In a filing to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, non-party DreamHost, LLC asked to keep under seal documents produced in response to a third-party subpoena in the WP Engine v. Automattic litigation, citing confidential business negotiations, pricing-related information, and employee personal data.

🔧 TIP OF THE WEEK

Avoid Hardcoding URLs

Tip: Always use:

get_template_directory_uri()
home_url()
site_url()

💵 INVESTMENTS, ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

  • Relevanssi has been acquired by comesio solutions GmbH: Relevanssi is a search plugin for WordPress, and now, with the acquisition, creator Mikko Saari is continuing as lead developer and guiding the plugin’s direction. The partnership aims to bring faster feature development, improved support, better scalability, and long-term stability while keeping existing licenses, updates, and support unchanged.
  • WPBakery and One Accessibility announce partnership: The partnership is aimed at improving web accessibility, with a shared focus on making well-designed websites usable for everyone.

👥 COMMUNITY NEWS

Updates and News from the WordPress Community

WordCamp US 2026 website design sparks discussions

 Mike McAlister and Kevin Geary question the WordCamp US 2026 website, criticizing its design and perceived lack of effort for a flagship industry conference happening in a few months. Mike later shares an update that a site refresh is already underway and confirms he has joined the WCUS web team to assist with improvements, thanking Raquel Karina for making the connection.

  • EventKoi Tickets Lifetime Deal: The sale has started and will run till June 18, 2026, and includes exclusive waitlist offers, including 20 single-site lifetime deals priced at $99 and an additional 20% discount on 3, 10, and 50-site licenses for the first 50 customers.
  • Carl Hancock raises branding concerns: Carl said he was confused after previously coming across FluentWiz, wondering if it was connected to GravityWiz, and argued that the newly launched FluentKit name similarly overlaps with established WordPress brands like GravityKit and GravityWiz. He said the similarities caused real marketplace confusion. Responding publicly, WPManageNinja founder Md Shahjahan Jewel clarified that FluentKit is only an internal addon plugin for managing Fluent products inside WordPress and not a standalone business, while also noting that FluentWiz is owned by a separate company and that he plans to discuss the concerns with both teams.
  • Large WPML query draws community attention: Alberto Ticote highlights a large query generated by the WPML plugin in WordPress, noting that while it may look like a virus at first glance, it is actually part of the plugin’s functionality.
  • Modular DS Connect is happening today: It’s a free global online event tied to the launch of Modular DS 3.0, scheduled for today. The event will feature sessions from Oliver Sild, CEO and Founder of Patchstack, on WordPress security, Jack Cao from Rank Math on AI search strategies, and Matt Tutorials discussing agency workflows and using Modular DS. Attendees will also get an early look at Modular DS 3.0, including new features, roadmap updates, and live Q&A sessions.
  • WordCamp Europe 2026 highlights AI-focused sessions: The sessions will cover topics including a panel on WordPress 7.0 and its AI capabilities, the new Abilities API for smarter plugin permissions, agentic AI workflows, AI search and discovery, practical AI use in marketing, building AI-powered plugins, AI-driven spam and bot detection, and creating AI-first WordPress websites optimized for visibility and citations.
  • AI website builder statistics 2026 by Hostinger: AI website builders are rapidly becoming mainstream in 2026, with the global market projected to reach $3.24 billion this year and grow to $17.43 billion by 2035. Rising AI adoption among small businesses, faster AI-powered website creation tools, and growing demand from first-time website creators are driving the shift.
  • Rareview has open-sourced their starter theme: This is a Gutenberg-ready theme with global style variables, one-command Figma sync, and an interactive setup that renames and configures everything automatically.
  • Divi 5 beta phase has ended: The new Divi 5.5 update introduces image tools, automated sizing and color system generators, expanded AI powered features, and dozens of fixes and stability improvements as Divi 5 officially moves beyond its beta phase.
  • Setary expands beyond WooCommerce with full WordPress bulk editing: Setary now supports bulk editing for all WordPress post types, including posts, pages, media, and custom post types, allowing users to manage content, custom fields, and taxonomies from a spreadsheet style interface.
  • Uncanny Automator launches Uncanny Agent for WordPress: It is a conversational AI agent that lets users interact with their site through natural language. It can access site data and settings to handle tasks such as workflow automation, operational support, and business insights directly from the dashboard.
  • WordPress 0.71-gold, an experimental project: The project by Kazuto Takeshita merges a modern development environment (PHP 8.3, MySQL 8, Docker, a block editor, CLI / env / playground tooling) into the oldest WordPress release, 0.71-gold (2003), leaving the 2003 code itself untouched.
  • WPFolks has launched Folks TV: The new feature brings together WordPress videos from YouTube and WordPress.tv with features like chapters, notes, playlists, series, watch progress syncing, and curated browsing. The platform is designed to make WordPress educational content easier to discover, organize, and revisit.
  • WPMU DEV launches managed EmDash hosting: WPMU DEV has added one-click managed EmDash hosting to its Unlimited Hosting platform, bringing features like backups, domain management, SSO access, security tools, and plugin support alongside regular WordPress sites.
  • Smart Sale Scheduler for WooCommerce Pro version launched: The plugin allows users to schedule multiple WooCommerce product sales with precise start/end times. The free version is available in the repository, and the Pro version includes new features such as a sale scheduler dashboard, sale price management, import and export sale data, and global price adjustments.
  • Noted! V2 has been released: The new version includes new page-level notes, block-level notes, the ability to pin most important notes to keep them at the top, role-based access, and so much more.
  • ZipWP MCP Server launched: Users can now connect Claude Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, and other MCP-compatible agents to ZipWP via MCP, enabling them to build, manage, and launch complete WordPress websites through simple conversational prompts.
  • Elementor 4.1 Beta is now live: The release expands the Atomic Editor with Angie AI-powered workflows, improved design system management, enhanced Atomic Forms capabilities, and support for larger reusable styling systems. They have also launched a new Knowledge Hub.
  • WP Career Board 1.2.0 is here: The update introduces workflow-focused improvements, including a single-page job posting form, a redesigned application management screen, smarter candidate filtering, and much more.
  • Novamira Pro v1.1.0 released: The new version introduces dedicated AI agent support for popular WordPress field plugins, enabling more efficient management of field groups, custom post types, taxonomies, and related data with reduced token usage.
  • FluentCRM 3.0 is now available: The update brings new AI-powered workflows, SMS marketing, a redesigned dashboard, and a Gutenberg native email builder, alongside major performance and usability improvements.
  • BuddyBoss 3.0 is now live: It introduces a fully rebuilt admin experience with faster performance, modular loading, tile-based settings, global search, side panel help, and auto save features.
  • Tutor LMS 4.0 RC available for testing: This brings an improved live class section on the homepage, better compatibility with Yoast SEO and Rank Math SEO, full compatibility update with the Twenty Twenty-Five theme, and more.
  • Plugin Jam is back: The next hackathon event will start this week on May 22, and Nik has announced on X that the prompt for the upcoming hackathon will push creativity further than usual.
  • MarkBricks initial version showcased: Developed by Aki Hamano, this is a visual Markdown editor powered by the WordPress block editor.
  • Noeline Nandago receives the Yoast Care fund for her contribution to the WordPress community: Noeline Nandago, a member of the WordPress community is the latest recipient of the Yoast Care fund.
  • Peter Wilson reflects on 10 years as a WordPress core committer: He recalled the unexpected offer that changed his career and how he has grown over time to contribute to major features like Real-Time Collaboration.
  • Automattic launches a new page listing its full product lineup: The page brings together a full list of Automattic products in one place, showcasing the company’s broader ecosystem beyond WordPress.com and WooCommerce.
  • Acquia Fair Trade Initiative: The initiative directs 2% of every deal closed by an Acquia partner to the Drupal Association in the partner’s name, helping fund Drupal’s infrastructure and long-term growth.
🚀 NEW PROJECTS
“The name carries two ideas. In French, un bloc means “one block”, the core architecture. In English, unblock means freeing the editor from its limits.“

Loïc Blascos about creating the Unblock.
  • Unblock: A new plugin by Loïc Blascos designed to extend the Gutenberg editor for an enhanced page-building experience by mapping each block to an HTML element and allowing users to control styling, edit CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and work with dynamic data right within the native editor.
  • KudosBlock: The plugin allows users to create testimonial, reviews, & social proof sections directly inside the WordPress block editor. It works completely offline with zero external dependencies.
  • Pressmind:  An experimental WordPress plugin by Fatih Kadir Akın as part of Radical Speed month that turns natural language prompts into real Gutenberg blocks. It reads the post context, streams model output in the editor, and replaces the prompt block with generated content.
  • Telegram bot integration with Studio app: As part of Radical Speed Month, Gergely Csécsey shares progress on a project with Rob Roy that connects a Telegram bot to the local Studio app. After two weeks of development, the feature is well underway, with a public release planned soon.
  • WordPress Site Generator: A project by Chris Huber, built around Reusable Data Machine bundles that generate static HTML and CSS sites such as commerce storefronts, blogs, local businesses, and portfolios, and use them to iterate on the WordPress Static Site Importer stack within CI.
  • Uno LMS: A new LMS plugin by Pascal Claro, which is currently in the pre-alpha stage.
  • Block Bits: The plugin by Seth Rubenstein lets users insert dynamic content such as icons, copyright text, and social sharing links directly inside paragraphs, headings, and other RichText blocks in WordPress.
  • Keystone: This is a new internal knowledge base plugin developed by Sean Davis. It includes role-based access, email notifications, reports, search and favorites, topic filtering, and much more.
  • Wapuu Studio: A Radical Speed Month project by Antonio Sejas, it allows users to create Wapuu by describing its mood, outfit, theme, colors, or small adventure, which is then turned into an adorable character illustration.
  • Slug Automator: Created by Hiroshi Urabe, the plugin automatically generates slugs from WordPress post titles using the AI Client introduced in WordPress 7.0.
  • CommerceGurus Turbo plugin: It’s an upcoming performance optimization plugin for WooCommerce stores.
  • Etch Drawer: A gesture-driven drawer component by Nicholas Arce for EtchWP. It supports swipe-to-close, nested stacking, non-modal notifications, and four directions.
  • ProfileSwitch Lite: The plugin by David Parker enables a single login for families, teams, or organizations while keeping each user’s profile, data, and activity separate. It essentially turns one account into multiple profiles.

🔖 INTERESTING READS & PODCASTS

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

  • On this episode of Seriously, BUD?, Bud talks with Kevin MacGillivray about books, music, travel, AI, and the WordPress community, tracing Kevin’s journey from telecommunications and Shopify to becoming CMO at Pressable.
  • Kurt Von Ahnen and Toby Cryns on The WP Minute’s Agency Action podcast discussed common agency ownership challenges like burnout, communication, leadership, client management, and more.
  • On this episode of WP Tavern Jukebox, Matt Schwartz continues his conversation on how WordPress agencies can thoughtfully integrate AI into their workflows, focusing on practical use cases like knowledge sharing, QA automation, and internal tool building.
  • Danny van Kooten explained why he has moved his personal site back to WordPress after 12 years of experimenting with static site generators like Ghost, Jekyll, Hugo, and Astro.
  • Moses Cursor Ssebunya reflects on how the WordPress community and the Open Horizons Scholarship helped him travel from Uganda to India for WordCamp Asia 2026.
  • Lesley Sim shares how delaying EventKoi’s Tickets feature by a year helped the team build a more stable, refined plugin shaped by real user feedback.
  • Jos Velasco on what he learned mentoring his first WP Credits cohort, following three students as they navigated their first open-source contributions.
  • Ronak Vanpariya provided a technical breakdown explaining why real-time collaboration was removed from WordPress 7.0.
  • Kathy Zant argues that trust is lost not from breaches themselves but from delayed or unclear communication. She stresses early, honest disclosure, clear impact details, and ongoing updates as key to maintaining customer trust.
  • Jack Arturo argues that modern AI tools and cloud platforms like Cloudflare are making legacy software increasingly unnecessary, sharing how his team replaced parts of their WordPress, WooCommerce, and accounting workflows with cheaper, self-hosted, open-source alternatives.

🛠 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!

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

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

ProfilePress – Create membership sites & sell subscriptions on WordPress Check it out  →

Always-on, always-fast WordPress Hosting you’ll fall in love with. Check it out  →

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

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

WP Grid Builder Founder Launches Unblock Plugin, an AI-Powered Gutenberg Builder

Unblock is a new WordPress plugin by Loïc Blascos (founder of WP Grid Builder) designed to extend the…

Read more

DreamHost Requests Court to Keep Documents Under Seal in WP Engine v. Automattic Case

In a filing to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, non-party DreamHost, LLC asked…

Read more

Avada Builder Plugin Patches Critical Vulnerabilities Affecting One Million Sites

The Avada Builder plugin, with more than 1 million active installations, was found to be vulnerable to arbitrary…

Read more

Liquid Web Consolidates WordPress Software Portfolio, Retires Standalone Brands Including Kadence and StellarWP

Liquid Web has announced a major restructuring of its WordPress software business, consolidating its sprawling portfolio of plugins and…

Read more

Team WP-CONTENT.CO

Issue #272   |   May 19, 2026   |   Reading time: 22 mins

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