ElasticPress 4.4.0 Adds New Status Report Page and Instant Results Template Customization

10up has released version 4.4.0 of ElasticPress, its enhanced search plugin that speeds up searching while reducing the load on WordPress sites. The plugin is based on Elasticsearch and is used by customers of the ElasticPress.io service (a SaaS solution), as well as those who are hosting their own Elasticsearch instance. This update adds a … Read more

Gutenberg 14.6 Adds List View for Editing Navigation Block, Introduces New Automatic Color Palette Generator

WordPress Planet14.6 was released last week with a long list of small but impactful refinements to core blocks and the full-site editing experience. One of the most practical enhancements included in this update is the new list view for editing the Navigation block. WordPress Planetcontributor Fabian Kägy published a quick video that helps to visualize … Read more

New Tool Checks If Google Fonts Are Hosted Locally

Earlier this year, WordPress’ Themes Team began urging theme authors to switch to locally hosted fonts after a German court case decision, which fined a website owner for violating the GDPR by using Google-hosted webfonts. Since that ruling, German website owners have continued to receive threats of fines for not having their fonts hosted locally. The … Read more

WordPress Launches Developer Blog In Beta

WordPress.org will soon be launching a blog for developers. The blog went into beta at the end of last week and resides on a subdomain of the main site. It is sporting a design similar to WordPress’ general News blog. One of the big picture goals that WordPress’ Executive Director Josepha Haden-Chomphosy identified for 2022 … Read more

Block Art, MindMap block, Slotfills, Patterns and more – Weekend Edition #236

Howdy, I am so excited about next week! Finally, there will be another Six-a-side Festival at the Sarasota International Cricket Club. I’ll be there Saturday and Sunday. I am excited to see all the friends again, most I haven’t seen in three years. If you are in the area, come on by. It’s a lot … Read more

Divi 5.0 Aims to Bring Greater Compatibility with Gutenberg

Divi, the popular commercial WordPress theme and page builder created by Elegant Themes, has announced major changes coming in version 5.0 that constitute a complete rewrite of Divi’s core technologies. The update, which is expected to be released in beta next year, will focus on performance, stability, scalability, and extendability, but it will not introduce … Read more

Loudness: A New Block Theme from Automattic

Automattic has released a new block theme called Loudness that is available on both WordPress.com and WordPress.org. It’s an artistic and opinionated theme based on the company’s Block Canvas starter theme. Although Loudness’ brief description suggests the theme was created for “music and learning,” the design and custom patterns lend themselves to a variety of different … Read more

WordCamp Asia 2023 Announces Speakers, Unveils Wapuu Mascot

WordCamp Asia 2023, the first flagship event to take place in Asia, is just a few months away, scheduled for February 17-19, 2023, in Bangkok, Thailand. Organizers have announced the first round of speakers, a diverse selection of WordPress professionals from Asia and across the globe. The event has also unveiled its wapuu mascot. After … Read more

Meetup.com Raises Concerns with New Accessibility Overlay

Meetup.com raised some concerns with the WordPress community (and the broader community of accessibility professionals) this week after it added an accessibility overlay to its website. The overlay, powered by EqualWeb, displays a list of settings that can be toggled, ostensibly to address various accessibility needs. I'm super disappointed @Meetup added an #a11y overlay. Time … Read more

Introducing WPCode – Easy WordPress Code Manager to Future-Proof Your Website Customizations

Have you ever wanted to reduce the number of WordPress plugins you’re using on your website? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easy way that allowed you to add future-proof WordPress customizations through code snippets WITHOUT breaking your website? If you’re like me and most other smart website owners, then you have at … Read more