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";s:7:"attribs";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:7:"version";s:3:"2.0";}}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:1:{s:7:"channel";a:1:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:61:"
	
	
	
	




















































";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"WordPress Planet";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"language";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"en";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"WordPress Planet - http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"item";a:50:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"WPTavern: Gutenberg 13.8 Introduces Fluid Typography Support and Revamped Quote Block";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=136772";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-13-8-introduces-fluid-typography-support-and-revamped-quote-block";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4354:"<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/#fluid-typography-support">Gutenberg 13.8</a> was released last week with some major enhancements that should delight block theme authors and users alike. The long-awaited fluid typography support landed in this version. It provides smooth scaling between smaller and larger viewports, adapting in a fluid way to varying widths.</p>



<p>Release lead George Mamadashvili demonstrated how this works in a video: </p>







<p>&#8220;Contrast that idea with font sizes that&nbsp;<em>respond</em>&nbsp;to specific viewport sizes, such as those defined by&nbsp;<a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Media_Queries/Using_media_queries">media queries</a>, but do nothing in between those sizes,&#8221; Automattic developer Ramon Dodd said in the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/39529">fluid type PR</a>.</p>



<p>&#8220;Theme.json already allows authors to insert their own fluid font size values. This won&#8217;t change, but this PR offers it to folks who don&#8217;t want to worry about the implementation details.&#8221;</p>



<p>Theme developers who want to opt into fluid typography need only set <code>typography.fluid</code>&nbsp;to be&nbsp;<code>true</code> in theme.json and add <code>fluid</code> to each of the <code>settings.typography.fontSizes</code> with <code>min</code>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<code>max</code>&nbsp;values.</p>



<p> Gutenberg contributors are requesting feedback from theme developers on this first iteration, as it is an experimental new feature. In the future, the feature may be configurable for users through the Global Styles UI.</p>



<p>&#8220;The intention is to garner feedback on the formulae and API, before we think about any editor UI and, beyond that, introducing fluidity to other properties such as spacing,&#8221; Dodd said.</p>



<p>Theme authors have already started updating to use the new fluid typography. Brian Gardner<a href="https://twitter.com/bgardner/status/1556636761228513283"> updated his Frost Theme</a> to use the feature, and Rich Tabor updated his Wei and Wabi&nbsp;themes.</p>



<p>&#8220;As one of the bigger efforts towards making publishing beautifully rich pages in WordPress, fluid typography is a pretty big experience win for both the folks building with WordPress —&nbsp;and those consuming the content,&#8221; Tabor said in a tutorial on <a href="https://richtabor.com/fluid-typography-block-themes/">adding support for fluid typography in block themes</a>.</p>



<p>&#8220;It’s also a part of making WordPress more powerful, while not more complicated (which we all know is quite the challenge).&#8221;</p>



<p>Gutenberg 13.8 also includes a<a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/25892"> revamped Quote block</a> that is capable of nesting other blocks inside. Previously, the Quote block did not allow inner blocks, but users have often requested the ability to add lists or headings inside of them.</p>



<img />Quote block with nested blocks



<p>Other user-facing improvements in 13.8 include the following:</p>



<ul><li>Template part UX improvements that make specific template part variations available in the block inserter</li><li>Border controls for image blocks</li><li>Post Comments and Comments blocks <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/41807">merged</a> into a single block – Comments</li><li>New <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/42309">content size and wide size controls</a> in Global Styles, under &#8220;Layout&#8221; allows users to override content dimensions defined by a theme</li><li>Accessibility enhancements &#8211; improved and labels and tooltips across the editors, added more keyboard-friendly clickable elements in the “Add template” modal</li><li>New WhatsApp icon added to the Social Icon block</li></ul>



<p>This update erased performance gains from previous updates in both the post and site editor but future improvements may be able to chisel the times back into the range of previous benchmarks.</p>



<p>Check out the 13.8 <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/#fluid-typography-support">release post</a> for the full changelog and more details on all the enhancements and bug fixes.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 08 Aug 2022 20:28:15 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:1;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:90:"Gutenberg Times: Layouts and Wide Alignments in WordPress: Then, Now, and Upcoming Changes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=21803";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:98:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/layouts-and-wide-alignments-in-wordpress-then-now-and-upcoming-changes/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6232:"<p>For most of WordPress&#8217; history, the platform accepted a single layout width, defined by the active theme&#8217;s global <code>$content_width</code> variable. Theme authors were required to handle the CSS for it and any other sizes they wanted on output.</p>



<p>When WordPress 5.0 launched the block editor, it introduced the concept of wide and full alignments (technically, they are &#8220;widths&#8221; or &#8220;sizes,&#8221; but let&#8217;s jump past this oddity of pigeon-holing sizing into the existing alignment system). Themes could add support via <code>add_theme_support( 'align-wide' )</code> to allow users to select these additional widths for blocks, which would expand beyond the content area:</p>



<img />Full-width group with nested content with no width set in Twenty Twenty-One.



<p>The solution was a groundbreaking first step. However, once again, theme authors were mostly left to figure out how this worked on their own. The flagship Twenty Twenty-One theme had dozens of lines of CSS to cover various scenarios to get it to work. WordPress had yet to include a standardized layout system at that point.</p>



<p>Fast forward to the WordPress 5.9 release in early 2022. The update added a global settings and styles feature, which included a layout system for handling wide sizes. Theme authors merely needed to define <code>settings.layout.contentSize</code> and <code>settings.layout.wideSize</code> in a <code>theme.json</code> file, as shown in the following code snippet:</p>


<pre class="wp-block-code"><div><code class="hljs language-json shcb-code-table shcb-line-numbers shcb-wrap-lines"><span class="shcb-loc"><span>{
</span></span><span class="shcb-loc"><span>        <span class="hljs-attr">"version"</span>: <span class="hljs-number">2</span>,
</span></span><span class="shcb-loc"><span>        <span class="hljs-attr">"settings"</span>: {
</span></span><span class="shcb-loc"><span>                <span class="hljs-attr">"layout"</span>: {
</span></span><span class="shcb-loc"><span>                        <span class="hljs-attr">"contentSize"</span>: <span class="hljs-string">"38rem"</span>,
</span></span><span class="shcb-loc"><span>                        <span class="hljs-attr">"wideSize"</span>: <span class="hljs-string">"64rem"</span>
</span></span><span class="shcb-loc"><span>                }
</span></span><span class="shcb-loc"><span>	}
</span></span><span class="shcb-loc"><span>}
</span></span></code></div><small class="shcb-language" id="shcb-language-1"><span class="shcb-language__label">Code language:</span> <span class="shcb-language__name">JSON / JSON with Comments</span> <span class="shcb-language__paren">(</span><span class="shcb-language__slug">json</span><span class="shcb-language__paren">)</span></small></pre>


<p>This meant that developers could remove most (all in some cases) of their custom CSS around content, wide, and full-width layouts. Compared to the previous default theme, Twenty Twenty-Two only had a handful of CSS workarounds for issues related to full-width alignments and root-level padding.</p>



<p>The new layout system came with new &#8220;rules&#8221; for aligning nested children of container-type blocks, such as Group. And, WordPress would only show the wide and full options if they were allowed. This caused some compatibility issues for classic theme adoption of <code>theme.json</code>, which we will get to. However, overall the system was finally coming together.</p>



<img />A full-width group with nested content-width text and a wide image.



<p>Users had a standard system that was cross-theme compatible (at least those with <code>theme.json</code> support), and theme authors only had to plug in a few configuration values.</p>



<h2>A Problem with Classic Theme Layout Support</h2>



<p>The introduction of WordPress&#8217; built-in layout system made for a lot less hassle coping with the multitude of page designs that users might attempt. It gave theme authors a much-needed standard that core could build atop in the future. However, the new system broke compatibility with some scenarios in classic themes.</p>



<p>For classic theme authors who adopted <code>theme.json</code>, they began <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33374">noticing two primary issues</a>:</p>



<ol><li>When using a wide container block in classic themes, most themes defaulted to automatically showing nested blocks at the content width. However, in the new <code>theme.json</code>-based system, child blocks fill the width of their parent.</li><li>In classic, users could assign a wide/full width to any block, regardless of its container. The new system only supports wide/full alignments on children if the parent supports it, such as when the Group block sets nested blocks to inherit the default (content) width.</li></ol>



<p>The default user experience changed and broke compatibility for classic themes that adopted <code>theme.json</code> after the WordPress 5.9 release. The mere existence of this file moves the user to the new layout system, regardless of whether <code>settings.layout</code> is explicitly set. Developers have no mechanism for opting out of it. This makes it a blocker for gradually adopting FSE components.</p>



<p>For this reason, I recommend classic theme authors temporarily postpone adopting <code>theme.json</code> if they have an existing userbase. For new projects, adding support should be a non-issue.</p>



<p>There is good news in store. First,  I (along with others) <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/Documentation-Issue-Tracker/issues/392">updated the layout documentation</a> to provide a <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/theme-json/#layout">warning in the Theme Handbook</a> about this issue.</p>



<p>However, a more permanent fix may be on the way. There is an open pull request to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/42763">create a new content width layout type</a>. It would also make this the default setting for newly-created Group blocks, returning the user experience to the original behavior. There is no set-in-stone deadline for this, but I hope it lands in WordPress 6.1.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sun, 07 Aug 2022 06:05:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:113:"Gutenberg Times: Gutenberg Changelog #71 – Gutenberg 13.8, Fluid Typography, updates to the  Block API and more";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:53:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?post_type=podcast&p=21815";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-71-fluid-typography-block-api/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4147:"<p>Grzegorz Ziolkowski subbed for Mary Job as co-host with Birgit Pauli-Haack. They discuss Gutenberg 13.8, Fluid Typography, updates to Block APIs and WordPress 6.1 Planning. </p>



<p><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-69-gutenberg-releases-wordpress-6-0-1-the-create-block-theme/#shownotes">Show Notes</a> / <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-69-gutenberg-releases-wordpress-6-0-1-the-create-block-theme/#transcript">Transcript</a></p>



<ul><li>Music:&nbsp;<a href="https://soundcloud.com/xirclebox">Homer Gaines</a></li><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandy-reed/">Sandy Reed</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href="https://markuraine.com/">Mark Uraine</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href="https://icodeforapurpose.com">Birgit Pauli-Haack</a></li></ul>



<p class="has-larger-font-size" id="shownotes"><strong>Show Notes</strong></p>



<h2>Announcements</h2>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/26/wordpress-6-1-planning-roundup-v2/">WordPress 6.1 Planning Roundup v2</a></p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/19/proposal-a-new-kind-of-default-theme/">Proposal: A new kind of default theme</a></p>



<p>Proposal: <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/01/moving-core-block-styling-to-json/">Moving Core block styling to JSON</a></p>



<p>PR in 13.5 <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34180">Prototype: merge block CSS with theme.json styles</a></p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/08/04/design-exploration-encourage-editor-configuration-during-on-boarding/">Design Exploration: Encourage editor configuration during on-boarding</a></p>



<h2>Community Contributions</h2>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/giving-fse-a-more-user-friendly-name/">Giving FSE a More User Friendly Name</a>&nbsp;</p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2022/08/03/fse-program-category-customization-summary/">FSE Program Category Customization Summary</a></p>



<h2>What’s released</h2>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/">What’s new in Gutenberg 13.8? (3 August)</a></p>



<p><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/39529">Block supports: Add fluid typography</a></p>



<p><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/data/data-core-blocks/">New examples for Block Types Data (core/blocks package</a></p>



<h2>What&#8217;s in active development and discussed</h2>



<p><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/41236">Block API: Tracking issue</a></p>



<p><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33542">Blocks: Further improve assets handling for blocks</a></p>



<p><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/42430">Reference PHP file necessary for the block from block.json. It could be a new setting render_template</a></p>



<p><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/42485">Injecting dynamic data to block HTML markup in PHP</a></p>



<p><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/38167#issuecomment-1203474520">Updated: Tracking: Add a Style Engine to manage rendering block styles</a></p>



<p class="has-large-font-size">Stay in Touch</p>



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<ul><li>Did you like this episode? <a href="https://lovethepodcast.com/gutenbergchangelog"><strong>Please write us a review </strong></a></li><li>Ping us on Twitter or send DMs with questions. <a href="https://twitter.com/gziolo">@gziolo </a>and <a href="https://twitter.com/bph">@bph</a>.</li><li><em>If you have questions or suggestions, or news you want us to include, send them to <a href="mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a>. </em></li><li><em>Please write us a review on iTunes! <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/itunes/">(Click here to learn how)</a></em></li></ul>
</div></div>



<p class="has-larger-font-size"><strong>Transcript</strong></p>



<p><em>The transcript is in the works</em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 06 Aug 2022 21:00:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:19:"Gutenberg Changelog";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:3;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:103:"Gutenberg Times: Fluid typography, Gutenberg 13.8, Moving block styling to JSON – Weekend Edition 225";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=21775";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:108:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/fluid-typography-gutenberg-13-8-moving-block-styling-to-json-weekend-edition-225/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:27494:"<p>Howdy, </p>



<p>Greetings from Berlin with a view of The Cube near the main station of  Berlin. My husband and I connected with family and did some sightseeing of the German capital. I also visited the Museum Barbarini in Potsdam and thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition: <a href="https://www.museum-barberini.de/en/ausstellungen/4785/the-shape-of-freedom-international-abstraction-after-1945">The Shape of Freedom. International Abstraction after 1945</a>. Interestingly, enough, &#8216;Abstraction&#8217; is also a topic for software makers. And that&#8217;s enough distraction.  Let&#8217;s catch up together on two weeks of WordPress and Gutenberg news. </p>



<p>As mentioned before, you don&#8217;t have to read it all in one sitting. You can always come back gain to read more. It&#8217;s summer time in the Northern hemisphere. Hope you can stay cool. </p>



<p>Yours, 💕<br /><em>Birgit</em></p>






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<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>



<div class="wp-block-sortabrilliant-guidepost"><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#0-word-press-release-information">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</a><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#1-gutenberg-13-8-is-now-available">Gutenberg 13.8 is now available</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#3-si">Site owners and nocode site builders using the Block editor</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor. </a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#5-b">Block editor and block themes at WordCamp US</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#5-s">Upcoming WordPress events</a><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#6-word-camps-around-the-world">WordCamps around the World</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#1-l">Learn WordPress Online Meetups</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
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<h2 id="0-word-press-release-information">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</h2>



<p>Various team published new initiatives and updates. </p>



<p>Always seeing the bigger picture, <strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong>, executive directory of the WordPress open-source project, ask for you help to <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/giving-fse-a-more-user-friendly-name/">Giving FSE a More User Friendly Name</a>.</strong> Not all commenters are convinced that there needs to be a name change. I also wasn&#8217;t thrilled by the outlook to update lots of post, documentation etc, after discussion Full-Site Editing for over 2.5 years, but I must admit, it&#8217;s more the resistance to let go of something I am used to, then a good reason to not try for a more user-friendly name. Some commenters are delighted because they feel it doesn&#8217;t translate well into other languages and they already started shortening it to something like site editor or layout editor. I favor something that ends in &#8216;designer&#8217;, like Layout designer, or template designer. The comments are still open.  Chime in with your opinion. </p>



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<p><strong>Hector Prieto </strong>published <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/26/wordpress-6-1-planning-roundup-v2/">WordPress 6.1 Planning Roundup v2</a>&nbsp;</strong>with the updated release schedule and the release squad. Feature Freeze and Beta 1 are scheduled for September 20, 2022, Release Candidate 1 for October 11, 2022 and final release will make WordPress 6.1 available on November 1, 2022. </p>



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<p>For the WordPress design team, <strong>Channing Ritter </strong>posted <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/27/project-update-wordpress-org-homepage-and-download-page-mockups/"><strong>Project Update: WordPress.org Homepage and Download page mockups</strong></a>. I am excited about this new look of the WordPress open-source project on the Internet. What do you think? Share your comment on the post. </p>



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<p><strong>James Koster,</strong> also on the WordPress Design team published about his <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/08/04/design-exploration-encourage-editor-configuration-during-on-boarding/"><strong>Design Exploration: Encourage editor configuration during on-boarding</strong></a>. It shows a bigger Welcome guide that also help the user make decisions on several settings and features when they first start using the block editor. </p>



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<p><strong>Ben Dwyer</strong> outlines in his post <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/01/moving-core-block-styling-to-json/">Moving Core block styling to JSON</a>&nbsp;</strong>the reasoning behind an effort to enable styling of block via the block.json file rather then via css styling. This will have to standardize and streamline ways themes can override 3rd party plugins styling. It will also enable the user to modify the look and feel withouth the need to dive into CSS syntax and language. </p>



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<p>In her article, <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-contributors-experiment-with-custom-labeling-of-blocks-in-list-view"><strong>Gutenberg Contributors Experiment with Custom Labeling of Blocks in List View</strong></a>, <strong>Sarah Gooding</strong> explains the exploratory efforts by developers to allow users to name sections of their page/site to better find them in the List View. <strong>Dave Smith</strong> create the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/42605">PR ready for review</a>. If you haven&#8217;t tested a PR before the merge, I would recommend following <strong>Paal Joachim Romdahl</strong>&#8216;s <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/03/03/testing-a-gutenberg-pull-request-pr/">Testing a Gutenberg Pull Request (PR)</a></p>



<h3 id="1-gutenberg-13-8-is-now-available">Gutenberg 13.8 is now available</h3>



<p>George Mamadashvili was the release lead for the Gutenberg plugin v 13.8 release. In his post <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/">What’s new in Gutenberg 13.8? (3 August)</a>, he highlighted: </p>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/#fluid-typography-support">Fluid typography support</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/#revamped-quote-block-leveraging-inner-blocks">Revamped Quote block leveraging inner blocks</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/#template-part-ux-improvements">Template part UX improvements</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/#border-controls-for-image-blocks">Border controls for Image blocks</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/#accessibility-enhancements">Accessibility enhancements</a></li></ul>



<p>Fluid typography has been requested by theme developers for quite some time. It&#8217;s only available to theme developers/designer via the theme.json for now. Before the settings can be made available via the Global Styles interface, this first iteration could use some thorough testing. </p>



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<p>This week, <strong>Grzegorz Ziolkowski</strong> and I discussed the Gutenberg 13.8 release, changes to the Block API and so much more for the next episode of the <strong>Gutenberg Changelog</strong> (episode 71). It will arrive at your favorite podcast player over the weekend. </p>



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<p><strong>🎙️ </strong> New episode: <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-71-fluid-typography-block-api/">Gutenberg Changelog #71 – Gutenberg 13.8, Fluid Typography, updates to the  Block API and more</a> &#8211; with co-hosts Grzegorz Ziolkowski and Birgit Pauli-Haack </p>
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							<div class="ngl-article-featured"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/classic-widgets-in-fse-3d-cut-out-image-open-source-theme-designs-and-more-weekend-edition-221/" target="_blank" rel=""><img src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Tanvir-Rahman-Hridoy-Comailla-Bangladesh-web.jpg?w=652&ssl=1" /></a></div><div class="ngl-article-title"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/classic-widgets-in-fse-3d-cut-out-image-open-source-theme-designs-and-more-weekend-edition-221/" target="_blank" rel=""><span>Classic Widgets in FSE, 3D Cut-out Image, Open-Source Theme Designs and more &#8211; Weekend Edition 221</span></a></div><div class="ngl-article-excerpt">Howdy, Some great Block themes resources are now available. And if you haven&#8217;t yet, consider joining the Full-Site-Editing Outreach program channel on WordPress Slack. Anne McCarthy always invites members to&hellip; <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/classic-widgets-in-fse-3d-cut-out-image-open-source-theme-designs-and-more-weekend-edition-221/" class="ngl-article-read-more" target="_blank">Read more.</a></div>							</div>
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							<div class="ngl-article-featured"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/conditionally-registering-patterns-in-themes-with-third-party-blocks/" target="_blank" rel=""><img src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/unsupported-block-in-pattern.jpg?w=652&ssl=1" /></a></div><div class="ngl-article-title"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/conditionally-registering-patterns-in-themes-with-third-party-blocks/" target="_blank" rel=""><span>Conditionally Registering Patterns in Themes with Third-Party Blocks</span></a></div><div class="ngl-article-excerpt">What happens when a theme registers a pattern with a third-party block? If the user has the block plugin installed, it appears as it should. WordPress also does a good&hellip; <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/conditionally-registering-patterns-in-themes-with-third-party-blocks/" class="ngl-article-read-more" target="_blank">Read more.</a></div>							</div>
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							<div class="ngl-article-featured"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/live-q-a-block-first-approach-at-pew-research-center/" target="_blank" rel=""><img src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Screen-shot-Pew-Research-Center-july-0222-.png?w=652&ssl=1" /></a></div><div class="ngl-article-title"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/live-q-a-block-first-approach-at-pew-research-center/" target="_blank" rel=""><span>Live Q &#038; A: Block-First Approach at Pew Research Center</span></a></div><div class="ngl-article-excerpt">On July 22, 2022, Michael Piccorossi, Head of Digital Strategy and Seth Rubenstein, Lead Developer at Pew Research Center talked to co-hosts Anne McCarthy, WordPress Product Liason and Birgit Pauli-Haack,&hellip; <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/live-q-a-block-first-approach-at-pew-research-center/" class="ngl-article-read-more" target="_blank">Read more.</a></div>							</div>
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<h2 id="2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</h2>



<p><strong>Carolina Nymark</strong> updates instructions on how to implement <a href="https://fullsiteediting.com/lessons/theme-json-typography-options/#h-fluid-typography-with-gutenberg">Fluid Typography via Theme.json</a> that are now available via 13.8. It&#8217;s part of the Typography lesson on of her Theme builder course for developers. </p>



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<p><strong>Daisy Olsen</strong> held a workshop on Learn. WordPress that is now available on WordPressTV:  <a href="https://wordpress.tv/2022/08/04/theme-development-workflows-for-different-types-of-developers/"><strong>Theme Development Workflows For Different Types of Developers. </strong></a>During this workshop, Daisy Olsen discussed the different workflows that someone might use in the creation of block themes. Discover the best development workflow that is right for you.</p>



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<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2022&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. Updated by yours truly.  <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/"><em>The index 2020 is here</em></a></p>




<p><strong>Anne McCarty</strong> published <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2022/08/03/fse-program-category-customization-summary/">FSE Program Category Customization Summary</a> </strong>of the 15th call for testing. It&#8217;s an interesting read to learn what people struggle with and also what they appreciate when creating category templates and interact with patterns for custom post types. </p>



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<p><strong>Ari Stathopoulos</strong>, from the WordPress Themes team, details how themes submitted to teh themes directory are to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2022/07/28/using-locally-hosted-google-fonts-in-themes/">Use locally-hosted Google fonts in themes</a> and answer frequently asked questions. </p>



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<p>Shout-out for the theme.json feature of block themes by <strong>Daniel Schutzsmith</strong> via <a href="https://www.therepository.email/?mailpoet_router&endpoint=view_in_browser&action=view&data=WzE1NywiOTE1NWJlYmMwYmViIiw1NTYsIjFqb2g0ZGtiNnZmbzh3NG9vb3dnNG9zODhnazA0czR3IiwzNzAsMF0">The Repository</a> under <em>A concept worth understanding</em><strong> </strong>he wrote. &#8220;As a developer, I&#8217;ve been playing with the new theme.json concept and I can easily say it is something we all should be adopting as we create new websites. The concept of using a JSON file to set up the common styles used throughout WordPress core works well, especially in a traditional version control workflow on a team. It&#8217;s worth digging into&nbsp;<a href="https://www.therepository.email/?mailpoet_router&endpoint=track&action=click&data=WyI1NTYiLCIxam9oNGRrYjZ2Zm84dzRvb293ZzRvczg4Z2swNHM0dyIsIjM3MCIsImQ2MGExZjZlZDBlYiIsZmFsc2Vd" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fullsiteediting.com</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.therepository.email/?mailpoet_router&endpoint=track&action=click&data=WyI1NTYiLCIxam9oNGRrYjZ2Zm84dzRvb293ZzRvczg4Z2swNHM0dyIsIjM3MCIsIjA4NjI3ZjQ1YjQzZiIsZmFsc2Vd" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">learn.wordpress.org</a>. Both of these resources provide some terrific materials to make it all easier to understand.&#8221;</p>



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<p><strong>Sean Blakeley</strong> was a guest on the WP Tavern Jukebox podcast and talked with Nathan Wrigley on <a href="https://wptavern.com/podcast/36-sean-blakeley-on-transitioning-a-large-agency-over-to-gutenberg"><strong>Transitioning a Large Agency Over to Gutenberg</strong></a>. &#8220;After years of experiments with different approaches and collaborations between designers and developers, their team has begun to rely heavily on block patterns, and they’ve found it is greatly increasing their productivity. It’s fair to say that block patterns have revolutionised the team’s approach to the entire design process.&#8221; Wrigley sumarizes. </p>



<p><strong>Sean Blakeley</strong> also talked about <a href="https://wordpress.tv/2022/06/27/sean-blakeley-the-block-pattern-revolution/"><strong>Block Pattern Revolution at WordCamp Europe.</strong></a> The talk is available on WordPressTV. </p>



<h2 id="3-si">Site owners and nocode site builders using the Block editor</h2>



<p>In his post and video , <a href="https://wptuts.co.uk/im-switching-to-gutenberg-for-wordpress-and-you-should-too-probably/">I’m Switching to Gutenberg For WordPress | And YOU SHOULD Too (Probably!)</a>, Paul Charlton of <a href="https://twitter.com/WPTutz"><strong>WPTutz</strong></a> talks about his reason, why he sticks with WordPress&#8217; core block editor, plus 3rd party plugins to extend the features set to his needs, mostly more controlas for animation and grid block layouts. What are some of the tools you are using to augment the WordPress block editor? </p>



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<p><strong>Vikas Singhal</strong> announced a new plugin <strong><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/newsletter-block-by-gutena/">Newsletter Block</a></strong> and Jamie Marsland reviewd it on his YouTube Channel and called it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idy5H0TziBA">The Best WordPress Gutenberg Block for Mailchimp</a></p>



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<p>In his video on WordPressTV, <strong>Ben Evans</strong> introduces you to <a href="https://wordpress.tv/2022/08/05/an-introduction-to-the-9-design-blocks/">Nine Design Blocks</a>. He shows you how these blocks  behave differently on different screen sizes and let&#8217;s you take part on how he experiments making different layouts using these blocks. </p>



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<p><strong>Wes Theron</strong> shows you the steps necessary to <strong><a href="https://wordpress.tv/2022/08/04/creating-a-landing-page-with-a-block-theme/">Create a landing page with a block&nbsp;theme</a></strong>. You&#8217;ll learn how to create a custom template and build two landing pages using different methods.</p>



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<p><strong>Nick Diego</strong>&#8216;s part 2 of <strong><a href="https://wordpress.tv/2022/08/02/nick-diego-builder-basics-lets-build-a-custom-theme-no-coding-required-part-2/">Let’s Build a Custom Theme (No Coding Required)</a></strong> is now available on WordPress TV. <a href="https://wordpress.tv/2022/06/16/nick-diego-builder-basics-lets-build-a-custom-theme-no-coding-required/">Part 1 is also online</a></p>



<h2 id="3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor. </h2>



<p><strong>Berhard Kau</strong> helps fellow developers to creata <a href="https://kau-boys.com/3121/wordpress/a-first-simple-block-with-some-es6-code-its-not-as-scary-as-it-sounds"><strong>A first simple block with some ES6 code – it’s not as scary as it sounds</strong></a>. It&#8217;s a follow-up post on creating a block via React. Kau suggests relying on the official scaffolding tool for block creation, tool called  &#8216;create block&#8217; that is available from the Gutenberg repository. </p>



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<p><strong>Nick Diego</strong> helps you to <strong><a href="https://wpengine.com/builders/block-locking-api/">Unlock the Power of the Block Locking API</a></strong>. In this article, Diego explored the block locking API, how to implement locking in a real-world example, and discussed ways to extend this functionality by restricting&nbsp;<em>who</em>&nbsp;can lock and unlock blocks. Coincidently, Core contributores also update the documentation with a new page in the handbook: <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/curating-the-editor-experience/"><strong>Curating the Editor Experience</strong></a></p>



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<p><strong>Jonathan Bossenger</strong>&#8216;s session on <a href="https://wordpress.tv/2022/08/05/lets-code-an-introduction-to-block-development/"><strong>Let’s Code: An Introduction to Block Development </strong></a>is now available on WordPressTV. In this session, Bossenger walks you through the software required to develop blocks, and how to set it all up. Then he shows a tool called create-block to create our first block, and then looks at the code that this generates and what each piece does.</p>



<h2 id="5-b">Block editor and block themes at WordCamp US</h2>



<p>The organizer at WordCamp US published the <a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/schedule/">schedule of talks.</a> it&#8217;s a great line-up of speakers. Below list might make it onto your calendar. The WordCamp will livetstream the sessions. </p>



<p><strong>Friday, Septemberg 9, 2022 </strong></p>



<p><em>A series of 15-minute talks:</em></p>



<p>4 pm EDT / 20:00 UTC <br /><strong><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/session/customizing-core-blocks-for-clients/">Customizing Core Blocks for Clients</a> </strong>with <strong>Alex Ball</strong></p>



<p>5 pm EDT/ 21:00 UTC <br /><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/session/lets-build-a-custom-block-in-15-minutes/"><strong>Let’s Build a Custom Block in 15 Minutes</strong></a> with <strong>Nick Diego</strong></p>



<p>5:15 pm EDT / 21:15 UTC <br /><strong><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/session/fse-for-the-win/">FSE For the Win</a> with Evan Mullins</strong></p>



<p><strong>Saturday, September 10, 2022</strong></p>



<p>12:15 PM EDT / 16:15 UTC <br /><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/session/build-your-first-block-theme/"><strong>Build Your First Block Theme</strong></a> with Daisy Olsen, a 2 hrs Workshop</p>



<p>4 pm EDT / 20:00 UTC <br /><strong><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/session/a-new-era-of-wordpress-themes-is-here-block-themes/">A New Era of WordPress Themes is Here: Block Themes</a></strong> wtih <strong>Rich Tabor</strong> (45 min) </p>



<p>5pm EDT / 21:00 UTC <br /><strong><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/session/the-future-of-themes-designing-for-the-block-editor-and-beyond/">The Future Of Themes: Designing for the Block Editor and Beyond</a></strong> with <strong>Michelle Schlup</strong> (45 min)</p>




<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s master branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge" /></p>




<h2 id="5-s">Upcoming WordPress events</h2>



<p><strong>November 18, 2022</strong><br /><a href="https://www.wordfest.live/2022/november/"><strong>WordFest Live 2022</strong></a><br />Call for speakers ends August 15, 2022</p>



<h3 id="6-word-camps-around-the-world">WordCamps around the World</h3>



<p>September 2 + 3, 2022<br /><strong><a href="https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/">WordCamp Jinja 2022</a></strong>, about 2 hrs West of Kampala, Uganda. Calls for sponsors, speakers, and volunteers are open now.</p>



<p>September 3 + 4, 2022<br /><a href="https://kathmandu.wordcamp.org/2022/"><strong>WordCamp Kathmandu</strong></a>, Nepal</p>



<p>September 9 – 11, 2022<br /><strong><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/">WordCamp US</a></strong>&nbsp;in San Diego</p>



<p>September 15 + 16, 2022<br /><a href="https://netherlands.wordcamp.org/2022/"><strong>WordCamp Netherlands</strong></a>&nbsp;at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.burgerszoo.com/">Royal Burger’s Zoo</a>&nbsp;in Arnhem</p>



<p>September 24 + 25, 2022<br /><a href="https://pontevedra.wordcamp.org/2022"><strong>WordCamp Pontevedra</strong></a></p>



<p>February 17 – 19, 2023<br /><strong><a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2023/">WordCamp Asia</a></strong>, Bangkok, Thailand<br /><a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2023/call-for-speakers/">Call for speaker was just published</a>. Deadline: September 15th, 2022 (UTC +7)<br />Contributor Day is planned for February 17, 2023 (Day 1)</p>



<h3 id="1-l">Learn WordPress Online Meetups</h3>



<p>August 10, 2022 &#8211; 3 pm EDT / 19:00 UTC <br /><strong><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-online-workshops/events/287622279/">Block Theme Builders: Design With Figma</a></strong> w/ Damon Cook &amp; Sarah Snow</p>



<p>August 16, 2022 &#8211; 5 pm EDT / 21:00 UTC <br /><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-online-workshops/events/287388518/"><strong>Showcasing Content with Query Loops</strong> </a>with Wes Theron</p>



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<p>Featured Image: The Cube at the main train station in Berlin, Germany. Photo by Birgit Pauli-Haack</p>



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<p class="has-text-align-left"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>



<form class="wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait" action="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/" method="post"><div class="ngl-form-container"><div class="ngl-form-field"><label class="ngl-form-label" for="ngl_email"><br />Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class="ngl-form-input"><input type="email" class="ngl-form-input-text" name="ngl_email" id="ngl_email" /></div></div><button type="submit" class="ngl-form-button">Subscribe</button><p class="ngl-form-text">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay"><div class="ngl-message-svg-wrap"></div><div class="ngl-message-overlay-text">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type="hidden" name="ngl_list_id" id="ngl_list_id" value="26f81bd8ae" /><input type="hidden" name="ngl_double_optin" id="ngl_double_optin" value="yes" /></form>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide" />";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 05 Aug 2022 19:52:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Birgit Pauli-Haack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:4;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:55:"Post Status: Post Status Picks for the Week of August 1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=103948";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:42:"https://poststatus.com/post-status-8-1-22/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3763:"<div class="has-background has-theme-palette-7-background-color wp-block-post-excerpt"><p class="wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt">Adam Silverstein on Performance in large plugins, GDPR and accessibility, World Wide Web Day in the global WordPress community, Jonathan Wold on partnerships, women in software, and Michelle Frechette on building communities.  </p></div>


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<h2 id="h-post-status-podcast-picks">Post Status Podcast Picks <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f399.png" alt="🎙" class="wp-smiley" /></h2>



<ul><li><strong>Woo Dev Chat: Adam Silverstein</strong>, part of the performance team for WordPress core, <a href="https://dothewoo.io/wordpress-core-performance-with-adam-silverstein/">talks about performance</a> for large plugins like <strong>WooCommerce</strong>.</li><li><strong>WP Builds</strong>: <a href="https://wpbuilds.com/2022/07/28/289-legal-stuff/">Some legal issues to consider</a> when building sites, including <strong>GDPR</strong> and accessibility.</li><li><strong>WP Briefing</strong>: For World Wide Web Day, nearly a dozen <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/08/episode-37-the-world-of-wordpress-on-world-wide-web-day/">short clips from people around the world</a> reflecting on how WordPress has changed their understanding of the web.</li><li><strong>WP Tavern Jukebox</strong>: <strong>Jonathan Wold</strong> <a href="https://wptavern.com/podcast/37-jonathan-wold-on-how-partnerships-might-help-your-wordpress-business">on partnerships</a> and what they offer your WordPress business in today's economy.</li><li><strong>Syntax.fm</strong>: If you're looking for a way to <a href="https://syntax.fm/show/491/how-to-spark-your-imagination-and-get-excited-about-coding">spark your imagination and get excited about coding again</a>, this episode explains how to lower your “time to first smile” (TTFS).</li><li><strong>Delicious Brainwaves</strong>: <strong>Sanjucta Ghose</strong> and <strong>Sam Munoz</strong> <a href="https://podcast.deliciousbrains.com/podcasts/12445/episodes/episode-13-women-in-wordpress-and-development">discuss their experiences</a> as women in the software industry.</li><li><strong>Themeisle Interviews</strong>: <strong>Michelle Frechette</strong> talks about <a href="https://themeisle.com/blog/michelle-frechette-interview/">building a quality community</a>.</li></ul>



<h2>Video Pick:</h2>



<ul><li><strong>The Gamechangers</strong>: <a href="https://twitter.com/chrislubkert" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chris Lubkert</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/arturgrabo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Artur Grabowski</a> from <strong>Extendify</strong> explain <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_K-PuF-9Hc">how WordPress founders can build a network</a> of potential buyers early on to enhance the sellability of their product for a future exit.</li></ul>



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<div class="wp-container-1 wp-block-group has-theme-palette-8-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container">
<p><strong>Get our weekly WordPress community news digest</strong> — Post Status' <a href="https://poststatus.com/news-and-insights/week-in-review/">Week in Review</a> — also available in <a href="https://poststatus.com/newsletter">our newsletter</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f48c.png" alt="💌" class="wp-smiley" />  </p>



<p>And don't miss <strong>the latest updates from the people making WordPress</strong>. We've got you covered with <a href="https://poststatus.com/make-wordpress/">This Week at WordPress.org</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/2699.png" alt="⚙" class="wp-smiley" /></p>
</div></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 05 Aug 2022 14:41:51 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Dan Knauss";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:61:"Do The Woo Community: WooBits: Do the Woo 4.0 Coming Your Way";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=72586";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:59:"https://dothewoo.io/woobits-do-the-woo-4-0-coming-your-way/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:329:"<p>The next big version of Do the Woo is on the road map.</p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io/woobits-do-the-woo-4-0-coming-your-way/">WooBits: Do the Woo 4.0 Coming Your Way</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce Builder Community</a>	.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 05 Aug 2022 10:40:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"WordPress.org blog: The Month in WordPress – July 2022";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=13306";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/08/the-month-in-wordpress-july-2022/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14623:"<p>July 2022 brought a lot of exciting announcements and proposals for the WordPress project, from an updated timeline for the WordPress 6.1 release, to design updates on WordPress.org. Read on to learn more about the latest news from the community.</p>



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<h2>WordPress 6.1 development cycle is now published</h2>



<p>Mark your calendars! The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/6-1/">WordPress 6.1 development cycle</a> has been published along with its release team. The <strong>expected release date</strong> has been updated to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/26/wordpress-6-1-planning-roundup-v2/"><strong>November 1, 2022</strong></a>, to incorporate feedback received on the first proposed schedule.</p>



<p>In the meantime, you can upgrade WordPress to version 6.0.1. This maintenance release became <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/07/wordpress-6-0-1-maintenance-release/">available for download</a> on July 12, 2022, and includes several updates since WordPress 6.0 in May 2022.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-extra-large-font-size">
<p>Want to get more involved with WordPress? Join Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy, as she guides you through the five stages of contribution in a <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/07/episode-36-beginners-guide-to-contributions-2-0/">recent episode of WP Briefing</a>.</p>
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<h2>A new look for the WordPress Homepage and Download page</h2>



<p>Following the revamp of <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/">WordPress.org/News</a> and the <a href="https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/">Gutenberg page</a>, further design updates are coming to WordPress.org to create a fresh and modern user experience that reflects the future of WordPress.</p>



<p>The WordPress.org home and download pages will be the next pieces to get a refreshed look and feel. The redesign project <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/08/project-kickoff-wordpress-org-homepage-and-download-page-redesign/">kicked off</a> on July 8, 2022, and the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2022/08/01/developing-the-redesigned-home-and-download-pages/">development work</a> is already underway.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-extra-large-font-size">
<p>Take a look at the design mockups and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/27/project-update-wordpress-org-homepage-and-download-page-mockups/">join the conversation</a>.</p>
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<h2>Gutenberg versions 13.6, 13.7, and 13.8 are here</h2>



<p>Three new versions of Gutenberg have been released since last month’s edition of The Month in WordPress:</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/07/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-6-6-july/"><strong>Gutenberg 13.6</strong></a> shipped on July 6, 2022. It includes 26 bug fixes and accessibility enhancements. This release also builds on previous work to expand theme.json and to allow you to create a cohesive design across blocks.</li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/20/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-7-20-july/"><strong>Gutenberg 13.7</strong></a> brings an updated modal design, the ability to apply block locking to inner blocks, and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/21/core-editor-improvement-deeper-customization-with-more-template-options/">new template types</a>, to name a few highlights. It was released on July 20, 2022.</li><li>The latest Gutenberg release, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/"><strong>version 13.8</strong></a>, went live on August 3, 2022. It comes with ​​fluid typography support among other enhancements, a new feature that will allow you to define text size that can scale and adapt to changes in screen size.</li></ul>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-extra-large-font-size">
<p>Follow the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/gutenberg-new/">“What’s new in Gutenberg”</a> posts to stay on top of the latest updates.</p>
</blockquote>



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<h2>Team updates: WordPress mobile app changes, pattern previews, Five for the Future improvements</h2>



<ul><li>The Mobile Team announced last week that it will be <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/27/refocusing-the-wordpress-app-on-core-features/">refocusing the WordPress mobile app on core features</a>. To better serve the needs of all app users and reduce confusion, the Jetpack and WordPress.com features will be moved to a separate app in a gradual process targeted for completion later this year.</li><li>The Community Team is<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/07/08/call-for-supporters-reactivating-wordpress-meetups-around-the-world/"> looking for supporters</a> to help reactivate WordPress meetups around the world.</li><li>As part of the ongoing efforts to improve the <a href="https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/">Five for the Future</a> (5ftF) initiative, the Meta Team added automated recognition for a number of non-code contributions. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/project/2022/07/28/updates-on-the-five-for-the-future-program-and-proposed-improvements/">Check out this post</a> to learn more about other proposed improvements to the program.</li><li>The WordPress.org Theme Directory introduced a new feature that allows visitors to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2022/07/21/pattern-previews-for-themes-in-the-directory-beta/">preview patterns bundled in a theme</a> without requiring installation.</li><li>The Design Team proposed to release <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/19/proposal-a-new-kind-of-default-theme/">a curated set of style variations</a> designed by the community (instead of a new default theme) for WordPress 6.1.</li><li>Josepha Haden Chomphosy reflected on progress towards the 2022 goals of the WordPress project in this <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/07/25/a-mid-year-year-look-at-2022-goals/">mid-year review</a>.</li><li>Over the past few months, the Training Team published six tutorials along with a variety of lesson plans and online workshops. See what&#8217;s new in this <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/07/15/whats-new-on-learnwp-in-july-2022/">summary post</a>.</li><li>Curious about how the WordPress 6.0 release process went? Read this <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/07/wordpress-6-0-retrospective-recap/">WordPress 6.0 retrospective recap</a> for insights.</li><li>The Themes Team shared a follow-up post to address questions about the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2022/07/28/using-locally-hosted-google-fonts-in-themes/">use of locally-hosted Google fonts in themes</a>.</li><li>There is an open <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2022/07/15/call-team-rep-nomination-july-2022/">call for a new Accessibility Team Representative</a>.</li><li>The Performance Team has a new dedicated Make blog. Follow updates on their work and proposals at <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/performance">make.wordpress.org/performance</a>.</li><li>The July 2022 edition of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2022/07/22/polyglots-monthly-newsletter-july-2022/">Polyglots Monthly Newsletter</a> is live.</li><li>The latest edition of People of WordPress highlights <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/07/people-of-wordpress-carla-doria/">Carla Doria</a>, a customer support specialist from South America.</li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/07/22/july-meetup-organizer-newsletter/">July’s Meetup Organizer Newsletter</a> features several tips and tools for engaging and growing your community.</li></ul>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-extra-large-font-size">
<p>WP Briefing celebrated <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/08/episode-37-the-world-of-wordpress-on-world-wide-web-day/">World Wide Web Day 2022 with a special episode</a>!<strong> </strong>Tune in to hear contributors from the community reflect on how WordPress impacts their world.</p>
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<h2>Feedback &amp; testing requests</h2>



<ul><li>Josepha Haden Chomphosy suggested giving Full Site Editing (FSE) a more user-friendly name. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/giving-fse-a-more-user-friendly-name/">Share your thoughts in this post</a>.</li><li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/21/request-for-feedback-feature-notifications-proof-of-concept/">WordPress Notifications Feature project</a> is ready to begin collecting feedback. Efforts to help test the feature plugin and comments are welcome.</li><li>The Training Team kicked off a discussion to gather feedback on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/07/11/exploring-wordpress-certifications/">how WordPress certifications should be approached</a>.</li><li>The Performance Team shared a few proposals to integrate new features targeting the WordPress 6.1 release. You can help by testing, reporting bugs, or contributing fixes and ideas:<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/13/proposal-persistent-object-cache-and-full-page-cache-site-health-checks/">Proposal: Persistent Object Cache and Full Page Cache Site Health Checks</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/21/proposal-add-a-dominant-color-background-to-images/">Proposal: Add a dominant color background to images</a></li></ul></li><li>Version 20.4 of WordPress for <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/26/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-20-4/">Android</a> and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/25/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-20-4/">iOS</a> is available for testing.</li></ul>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-extra-large-font-size">
<p>The Community Team is calling on all meetup members and organizers to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/08/02/announcing-the-2021-2022-annual-meetup-survey/">complete the 2021-2022 Annual Meetup Survey</a>. Your feedback will help strengthen the WordPress meetup program for years to come. Please respond and help spread the word.</p>
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<h2>WordCamp updates</h2>



<ul><li>WordCamp US is only five weeks away! The organizing team announced the <a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/2022-kim-parsell-memorial-scholarship-recipients/">Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship recipients</a> for this year. Congratulations to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/margheweb/">Margherita Pelonara</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/simo70/">Simona Simionato</a>, and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webtechpooja/">Pooja Derashri</a>!</li><li><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/underrepresented-speaker-supporters/">20 organizations</a> have stepped forward to support underrepresented speakers from all over the world to get to WordCamp US 2022. Visit the <a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/underrepresented-speaker-support/">Underrepresented Speaker Support page</a> to donate to the fund or ask for support if you are part of an underrepresented group.</li><li>WordCamp Asia 2023 opened a new <a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2023/call-for-speakers-is-now-open/">Call for Speakers</a> and <a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2023/call-for-media-partners/">Media Partners</a>. The deadline for speaker applications is September 15, 2022. The organizing team also shared more details on the <a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2023/wordcamp-asia-2023-ticket-release-timeline/">ticket release timeline</a>.</li><li>Don’t miss these upcoming WordCamps:<ul><li><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png" alt="🇺🇬" class="wp-smiley" /> <a href="https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/">WordCamp Jinja</a>, Uganda on September 2-3, 2022</li><li><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1f5.png" alt="🇳🇵" class="wp-smiley" /> <a href="https://kathmandu.wordcamp.org/2022/">WordCamp Kathmandu</a>, Nepal on September 3-4, 2022</li><li><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png" alt="🇺🇸" class="wp-smiley" /> <a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/">WordCamp US</a> in San Diego, California on September 9-11, 2022</li><li><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1f1.png" alt="🇳🇱" class="wp-smiley" /> <a href="https://netherlands.wordcamp.org/2022/">WordCamp Netherlands</a>, The Netherlands on September 15-16, 2022</li><li><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f1ea-1f1f8.png" alt="🇪🇸" class="wp-smiley" /> <a href="https://pontevedra.wordcamp.org/2022/">WordCamp Pontevedra</a>, Spain on September 24-25, 2022</li></ul></li></ul>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-extra-large-font-size">
<p>Join #WPDiversity with a free, online speaker workshop for Indian women in the WordPress community. The event will take place on September 24-25, 2022. <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speaker-workshop-for-indian-women-in-the-wordpress-community-sept-24-25-tickets-348466712317">Sign up now</a>!</p>
</blockquote>



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<p><strong><em><strong><em><strong><em>Have a story that we should include in the next issue of The Month in WordPress? Let us know by filling out </em></strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/"><strong><em>this form</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></em></strong></em></strong></p>



<p><em><em>The following folks contributed to this edition of The Month in WordPress: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaion07/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>chaion07</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/laurlittle/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>laurlittle</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mysweetcate/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>mysweetcate</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sereedmedia/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>sereedmedia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dansoschin/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>dansoschin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>rmartinezduque</a>.</em></em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 05 Aug 2022 08:57:12 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"rmartinezduque";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:105:"Post Status: Building and Sustaining the WordPress Community Through Mentorship — Post Status Draft 123";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=103831";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:90:"https://poststatus.com/building-and-sustaining-the-wordpress-community-through-mentorship/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7362:"<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Mentor someone. Today! Don't wait. Start today! Talk to people. Connect with them. Go on Twitter. Just 15 minutes a day. Tell them why this community is great. Make them want to join!</p><cite>Nyasha Green</cite></blockquote>



<div class="wp-container-3 wp-block-group has-theme-palette-8-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container"><div class="has-background has-theme-palette-8-background-color wp-block-post-excerpt"><p class="wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt">For Nyasha Green, a healthy tech community prioritizes mentoring. She credits her mentors with helping her find her place in WordPress. How well does your part of the WordPress ecosystem support mentorship? Can we make mentoring a key way people contribute to WordPress's future?  </p></div>


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<p class="yoast-reading-time__wrapper"><span class="yoast-reading-time__icon"></span><span class="yoast-reading-time__spacer"></span><span class="yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text">Estimated reading time:  </span><span class="yoast-reading-time__reading-time">1</span><span class="yoast-reading-time__time-unit"> minute</span></p>
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<p class="has-drop-cap">In this episode of Post Status Draft, <strong>Nyasha Green</strong> joins <strong>Dan Knauss</strong> to tell her story  about joining the WordPress community relatively recently. Ny is a Software Developer at <strong>Howard Development and Consulting</strong> as well as the Editorial Director for <strong>MasterWP</strong>. Ny credits <strong>Ken Elliot</strong> and <strong>Shambi Broome</strong> as mentors who got her into WordPress. Together they're getting two new WordPress Meetups up and running in Columbia, SC and Charlotte, NC.</p>



<p>Picking up on one of <strong>Kim Lipari</strong>&#8216;s comments last week (<a href="https://poststatus.com/not-a-small-village-anymore-kim-lipari/">“We're not a small village anymore.” A Conversation with Kim Lipari</a> — <strong>Post Status Draft 121</strong>), Nyasha shares her thoughts on the ways the WordPress community can better embrace growth and change by enlarging its circles of leadership, innovation, and talent. For Ny, a culture that prioritizes mentoring relationships is essential. She sees value in paid internships at WordPress companies, intentional programming at <strong>Meetups</strong> and <strong>WordCamps</strong>, and the continued use of travel scholarships to welcome new people to an increasingly inclusive WordPress community.</p>



<p>Finally, we also talk about dealing with grief, loss, and emotional health in tech, how social media hurts and helps, and resources like <strong>Big Orange Heart</strong> that are there for you <a href="https://www.patientsrising.org/what-is-spoonie/">when you're all out of spoons</a>.</p>







<div class="wp-container-6 wp-block-columns has-theme-palette-8-background-color has-background" id="WP-Engine">
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<h3><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f64f.png" alt="🙏" class="wp-smiley" /> Sponsor: <a href="https://poststat.us/a2-hosting">A2 Hosting</a></h3>



<p><strong>A2Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable.</strong> WordPress can be easily deployed on <em>ANY</em> web hosting plan from A2: Shared, VPS, or Dedicated. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at <a href="http://a2hosting.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a2hosting.com</a> today!</p>
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<div class="wp-container-5 wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center"><div class="wp-block-image">
<img width="304" height="304" src="https://cdn.poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/88b63da0-f90b-11e6-bc40-730c4553c727.png" alt="A2 Hosting" class="wp-image-101225" title="WP Engine" /></div></div>
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<h3 id="h-mentioned-in-the-show"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f517.png" alt="🔗" class="wp-smiley" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/kennethspeaks">Ken Elliot</a>  (Twitter)</li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/webgyrl2">Shambi Broome</a> (Twitter)</li><li><a href="https://poststatus.com/not-a-small-village-anymore-kim-lipari/">“We're not a small village anymore.” A Conversation with Kim Lipari </a>— Post Status Draft 121</li><li><a href="https://poststatus.com/barriers-to-contributing/">Barriers to Contributing</a> (to 5ftF for freelancers, small teams, and agencies.)</li><li><a href="https://poststatus.com/what-does-five-for-the-future-mean-to-you-2/">Mentorship as a form of contribution</a> (5ftF) </li><li><a href="https://howarddc.com/">Howard Development and Consulting</a></li><li><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/support-underrepresented-speakers-at-wordcamp-us/">Supporting Underrepresented Speakers at WCUS</a></li><li><a href="https://winstinahughes.com/reducing-barriers-to-the-full-inclusion-of-underrepresented-minority-speakers/">Sponsor Inclusion in Tech</a> (<a href="https://winstinahughes.com/">Winstina Hughes</a>)</li><li><a href="https://www.underrepresentedintech.com/">Underrepresented in Tech</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bigorangeheart.org/">Big Orange Heart</a> and <a href="https://wpandup.slack.com/archives/CM8N8J9UK">#spoonies</a></li><li><a href="https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/">Spoon Theory</a></li><li>There's even <a href="https://cmt.blog/about/#this-isn-t-a-private-blog-anyone-can-join">a Spoonie Wapuu</a>&#8230;of course. </li></ul>



<h3 id="h-you-can-follow-nyasha-and-dan-on-twitter"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f426.png" alt="🐦" class="wp-smiley" /> You can follow Nyasha and Dan on Twitter:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/Ny_The_Creator">Nyasha Green</a> (Twitter)</li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/dan_knauss">Dan Knauss</a> (Twitter)</li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/post_status">Post Status</a> (Twitter)</li></ul>



<p class="has-background">The <strong>Post Status Draft</strong> podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f4dd.png" alt="📝" class="wp-smiley" /><br /><br /><a href="https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Browse our archives</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Simplecast</a>, or <a href="https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P">RSS</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f3a7.png" alt="🎧" class="wp-smiley" /></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 04 Aug 2022 22:15:09 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Olivia Bisset";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:59:"Post Status: WP.events — Find out what’s happening next";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=103894";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:63:"https://poststatus.com/wp-events-find-out-whats-happening-next/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14254:"<p>Have you recently thought it would be nice to have one comprehensive source for all WordPress community events? </p>



<p>Thanks to <strong>The Events Calendar</strong> and some nice people at <strong>StellarWP</strong> — <strong>Hazel Quimpo</strong>, <strong>Zach Tirrell</strong>, and <strong>Michelle Frechette</strong> — there's a great new place to go exactly for that: <a href="https://wp.events/">WP.events</a>! </p>



<p><strong>Javier Casares</strong>&#8216; wonderful wpcalendar.io has been deeply missed, as he covered all the meetups happening around the world. Maybe it will be back one day&#8230; <a href="https://www.casares.blog/about-wpcalendario/">Sounds like he needs time and maybe some help to revamp it</a>. There's only so much you can do with RSS though.</p>



<p>Still, it's a wonderful open web technology&#8230;</p>



<h2 id="h-wp-events">WP.events</h2>


<ul class="is-grid columns-3 has-dates has-excerpts alignleft wp-block-rss"><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/rochester-wordpress-meetup-pagebuilders/">Rochester WordPress Meetup: Pagebuilders</a></div>September 12, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">We’re going to talk about Page Builders – with attention to Kadence and Kadence blocks. [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/wordcamp-us/">WordCamp US</a></div>September 9, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp US 2022 will take place in San Diego, California! Tickets are sold out. The [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/wordcamp-kathmandu/">WordCamp Kathmandu</a></div>September 3, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">The post WordCamp Kathmandu appeared first on wp.events.</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/wordcamp-jinja/">WordCamp Jinja</a></div>September 2, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp Jinja 2022 (Friday 2nd– Saturday 3rd September 2022) will be a major community event in Jinja [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/santa-cruz-wordpress-meetup-helpdesk/">Santa Cruz WordPress Meetup Helpdesk</a></div>August 18, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">A great opportunity to network with other WordPress users, get questions answered, share ideas and [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/native-stripe-payments-integration-for-managed-wordpress/">Native Stripe Payments Integration for Managed WordPress</a></div>August 17, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">It’s a fact that each plugin you add to your WordPress site comes with a [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/wordpress-security-ssl-hsts-htaccess-and-more/">WordPress Security – SSL, HSTS, htaccess and more</a></div>August 16, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordPress is a complex and one of the most popular CMS platforms in use today. [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/how-to-fix-bugs-in-php-faster-with-the-ray-debugger/">How to fix bugs in PHP faster with the Ray debugger</a></div>August 10, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">Learn how to implement Ray into your PHP/Laravel development workflow to understand what exactly went [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/meet-learndash-live-walkthrough-tuesday-session/2022-08-09/">Meet LearnDash Live Walkthrough – Tuesday Session</a></div>August 9, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">Are you trying to decide if LearnDash is the right learning management system to build [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wp.events/event/list-building-school-3/">List Building School 3</a></div>August 8, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">Go behind the scenes with 20+ email marketing experts to grow an email list with [&hellip;]</div></li></ul>


<h2 id="h-wordcamp-central">WordCamp Central</h2>


<ul class="is-grid columns-3 has-dates has-excerpts alignleft wp-block-rss"><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-valencia/">WordCamp Valencia</a></div>July 28, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">Dates: October 21, 2022 &#8211; October 22, 2022 Location: Valencia, Spain Venue: Complejo deportivo y [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-gresik-east-java-indonesia/">WordCamp Gresik, East Java, Indonesia</a></div>May 25, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp Gresik will be the first WordCamp in Gresik, and in Indonesia since 2019. Gresik [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-kathmandu-bagmati-nepal-2/">WordCamp Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal</a></div>April 5, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">Namaste, everyone! We’re so happy to announce that WordCamp Kathmandu 2022 is officially on the [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-jinja-2022/">WordCamp Jinja</a></div>March 28, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp Jinja 2022 (Friday 2nd– Saturday 3rd September 2022) will be a major community event [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-netherlands-2/">WordCamp Netherlands</a></div>February 9, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">After six years, WordCamp The Netherlands is back with a physical event! And in a [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-warsaw-poland-3/">WordCamp Warsaw, Poland</a></div>February 3, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">Mamy przyjemność ogłosić i zaprosić na długo wyczekiwane, WordPressowe wydarzenie w Polsce. 11-12 czerwca 2022 [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-bangkok-thailand-wordcamp-asia/">WordCamp Asia</a></div>December 17, 2021 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">The wait is over – WordCamp Asia is finally happening! The first flagship WordCamp in [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-pontevedra-pontevedra-spain-2/">WordCamp Pontevedra</a></div>December 11, 2021 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp Pontevedra is going to be the third physical WordCamp in Galicia, a well-known region [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-seville-spain/">WordCamp Sevilla</a></div>December 9, 2021 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">La WordCamp de Sevilla de este año tiene como objetivo dar un paso atrás y [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-geneve-suisse/">WordCamp Genève</a></div>November 25, 2021 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">[EN] The WordCamp Genève is a conference day about WordPress. Developers, designers, web professionals, and [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-athens-attica-greece-2022/">WordCamp Athens</a></div>November 15, 2021 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">We’re happy to announce that WordCamp Athens 2022 is officially on the calendar! We can’t [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/wordcamps/wordcamp-us-2022/">WordCamp US</a></div>November 4, 2021 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp U.S. is the flagship WordPress event in the Western Hemisphere. This annual, three-day event [&hellip;]</div></li></ul>


<h2 id="h-wp-tavern-event-news">WP Tavern Event News</h2>


<ul class="is-grid columns-3 has-dates has-excerpts alignleft wp-block-rss"><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-accessibility-day-2022-opens-call-for-speakers-and-sponsors">WordPress Accessibility Day 2022 Opens Call for Speakers and Sponsors</a></div>July 22, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordPress Accessibility Day, a free, 24-hour virtual event, is set for November 2-3, 2022. The [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-asia-2023-opens-call-for-speakers">WordCamp Asia 2023 Opens Call for Speakers</a></div>July 16, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">After years of planning and one canceled event, WordCamp Asia 2023 is just seven months [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-times-to-showcase-the-pew-research-centers-block-first-approach-in-a-live-qa-on-july-22-2022">Gutenberg Times to Showcase the Pew Research Center’s “Block First Approach” in a Live Q&A; on July 22, 2022</a></div>July 7, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">The Gutenberg Times will be hosting representatives from the Pew Research Center in its Live [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-us-2022-tickets-now-on-sale-limited-to-650-attendees">WordCamp US 2022 Tickets Now On Sale: Limited to 650 Attendees</a></div>June 30, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp US will be hosting its first in-person event since 2019 in San Diego this [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/community-team-removes-red-tape-from-regional-wordcamp-applications">Community Team Removes Red Tape From Regional WordCamp Applications</a></div>May 26, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">After a lengthy discussion, the Community Team has decided to make it easier for organizers [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/online-meetup-wordpress-nyc-to-host-series-on-modern-privacy-respecting-analytics-and-leveraging-first-party-data">Online Meetup: WordPress NYC to Host Series on Modern, Privacy-Respecting Analytics and Leveraging First-Party Data</a></div>May 17, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">One of the positive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is local meetups are more frequently [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordsesh-2022-kicks-off-monday-may-16-featuring-a-world-class-speaker-lineup-and-hands-on-workshops">WordSesh 2022 Kicks Off Monday, May 16, Featuring a World-Class Speaker Lineup and Hands-On Workshops</a></div>May 13, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordSesh 2022, the live, virtual conference for WordPress professionals, is right around the corner. The [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-us-trials-new-program-connecting-underrepresented-speakers-with-sponsors-for-travel-and-lodging-costs">WordCamp US Trials New Program Connecting Underrepresented Speakers with Sponsors for Travel and Lodging Costs</a></div>April 22, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp US, scheduled for September 9-11 in San Diego, is trialing a new program that [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-updates-covid-19-guidelines-for-in-person-events-masks-strongly-recommended">WordPress Updates COVID-19 Guidelines for In-Person Events: Masks Strongly Recommended</a></div>April 21, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">In-person WordPress events are ramping up again, with in-person meetups happening all over the world [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-europe-publishes-schedule-for-upcoming-event-in-porto">WordCamp Europe Publishes Schedule for Upcoming Event in Porto</a></div>April 14, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp Europe published its schedule today, to the delight of prospective attendees around the world. [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-asia-2023-tentatively-set-for-february-17-19-in-bangkok-thailand">WordCamp Asia 2023 Tentatively Set For February 17-19 in Bangkok, Thailand</a></div>March 28, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">WordCamp Asia is tentatively back on the schedule of in-person WordPress events with new dates: [&hellip;]</div></li><li class="wp-block-rss__item"><div class="wp-block-rss__item-title"><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-community-team-reconsiders-guidelines-for-in-person-regional-wordcamps">WordPress Community Team Reconsiders Guidelines for In-Person Regional WordCamps</a></div>March 19, 2022 <div class="wp-block-rss__item-excerpt">The pandemic has dramatically slashed the number of in-person WordPress events that volunteers are organizing [&hellip;]</div></li></ul>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 04 Aug 2022 17:50:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Dan Knauss";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:9;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"Do The Woo Community: WordPress Core Performance with Adam Silverstein";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=72577";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"https://dothewoo.io/wordpress-core-performance-with-adam-silverstein/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:422:"<p>Adam Silverstein talks about WordPress core performance and how it ties into the performance of larger plugins like WooCommerce.</p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io/wordpress-core-performance-with-adam-silverstein/">WordPress Core Performance with Adam Silverstein</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce Builder Community</a>	.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 04 Aug 2022 10:18:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:10;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:94:"Post Status: Free Rider Problem, JSON Core Block Styling, Redesigned Home &amp; Download Pages";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=103568";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:97:"https://poststatus.com/free-rider-problem-json-core-block-styling-redesigned-home-download-pages/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16340:"<h2 id="h-this-week-at-wordpress-org-august-2-2022">This Week at WordPress.org (August 2, 2022)</h2>


<div class="has-background has-theme-palette-8-background-color wp-block-post-excerpt"><p class="wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt">Have you seen the new home page demo? 
Is there a problem with Free Riders?
Do you want block styling standardized?  </p></div>


<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<div id="kt-info-box_03177a-50" class="wp-block-kadence-infobox"><div class="kt-blocks-info-box-link-wrap kt-blocks-info-box-media-align-left kt-info-halign-left"><div class="kt-blocks-info-box-media-container"><div class="kt-blocks-info-box-media kt-info-media-animate-none"><div class="kadence-info-box-icon-container kt-info-icon-animate-none"><div class="kadence-info-box-icon-inner-container"><span class="kt-info-svg-icon kt-info-svg-icon-fe_home"></span></div></div></div></div><div class="kt-infobox-textcontent"><h2 class="kt-blocks-info-box-title">Resigning the Home and Download Pages</h2><p class="kt-blocks-info-box-text"><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/wporg-main-2022/">Development work is already underway</a> on a block-based theme implementing a new design. A recent copy of the theme is running on a <a href="https://wordpress.org/main-test/">temporary staging site</a>. </p></div></div></div>



<h2 id="h-news">News</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/08/the-month-in-wordpress-july-2022/">The Month in WordPress – July 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/08/episode-37-the-world-of-wordpress-on-world-wide-web-day/">WP Briefing: Episode 37: The World of WordPress on World Wide Web Day</a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/07/people-of-wordpress-carla-doria/">People of WordPress: Carla Doria</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/27/project-update-wordpress-org-homepage-and-download-page-mockups/">Project Update: WordPress.org Homepage and Download page mockups</a></li></ul>



<div class="wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-_598f7a-1a"><div class="kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center"><hr class="kt-divider" /></div></div>



<div class="wp-container-13 wp-block-columns">
<div class="wp-container-11 wp-block-column">
<h2 id="h-accessibility"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility">Accessibility</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2022/07/15/call-team-rep-nomination-july-2022/">Call for Team Rep Nomination – July 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2022/08/05/accessibility-team-meeting-notes-july-15-2022/">Accessibility Team Meeting Notes: July 15, 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-community">Community</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/08/04/community-team-meeting-agenda-4-aug-2022/">Community Team Meeting Agenda 4 Aug 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/08/02/announcing-the-2021-2022-annual-meetup-survey/">Announcing the 2021-2022 Annual Meetup Survey!</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/07/22/report-inclusion-and-diverse-speaker-workshops-june-2022/">Report: Inclusion and Diverse Speaker Workshops June 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/07/22/july-meetup-organizer-newsletter/">July Meetup Organizer newsletter</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/07/22/deputy-feedback-wanted-streamlining-wordcamp-phases/">Deputy Feedback Wanted: Streamlining WordCamp Phases</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-core"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core">Core</a> </h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/04/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-8-3-august/">What’s new in Gutenberg 13.8? (3 August)</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/01/moving-core-block-styling-to-json/">Moving Core block styling to JSON</a></li><li>FEEDBACK REQUESTED: <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/42485">WP_HTML_Walker: Inject dynamic data to block HTML markup in PHP</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/giving-fse-a-more-user-friendly-name/">Giving FSE a More User-Friendly Name</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/01/a-week-in-core-august-1-2022/">A Week in Core – August 1, 2022</a></li></ul>



<h3 id="h-meetings">Meetings</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/02/editor-chat-agenda-3-august-2022/">Editor Chat Agenda: 3 August 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/editor-chat-summary-27-july-2022/">Editor chat summary: 27 July 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/devchat-agenda-july-27-2022/"></a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/03/devchat-agenda-august-3-2022/">Devchat agenda, August 3, 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/devchat-agenda-july-27-2022/"></a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/02/devchat-summary-july-27-2022/">Dev chat summary, July 27, 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-design"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design">Design</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/08/04/design-exploration-encourage-editor-configuration-during-on-boarding/">Design Exploration: Encourage editor configuration during on-boarding</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/08/01/design-share-july-18-29/">Design Share: July 18–29</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/19/proposal-a-new-kind-of-default-theme/">Proposal: A new kind of default theme</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-docs"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/docs">Docs</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2022/08/03/summary-of-docs-team-biweekly-meeting-august-2-2022/">Summary of Docs Team Biweekly Meeting August 2, 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/08/01/documentation-team-update-august-1-2022/">Documentation Team Update – August 1, 2022</a></li></ul>



<h3 id="h-developer-docs">Developer Docs</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/block-patterns/">Block patterns</a></li></ul>



<h2><a href="https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/">Five for the Future</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/five-for-the-future/issues/207">Expand inactivity notifications to more teams</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-marketing"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing">Marketing</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2022/07/27/agenda-global-wordpress-marketing-meeting-july-27-2022/">Agenda: Global WordPress Marketing Meeting, July 27, 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2022/07/25/notes-global-marketing-team-meeting-20-july-2022/">Notes: Global Marketing Team Meeting, 20 July, 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-meta"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta">Meta</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2022/08/01/developing-the-redesigned-home-and-download-pages/">Developing the redesigned Home and Download Pages</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2022/07/21/pattern-previews-for-themes-in-the-directory-beta/">Pattern Previews for Themes&nbsp;in the Directory – Beta</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-mobile"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile">Mobile</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/27/refocusing-the-wordpress-app-on-core-features/">Refocusing the WordPress App on Core Features</a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/12/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-20-3/"></a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/07/28/mobile-team-update-july-28th-2/">Mobile Team Update – July 28th</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-openverse"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/openverse">Openverse</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/openverse/2022/08/03/openverse-prioritization-meeting-2022-08-10/">Openverse Prioritization Meeting 2022-08-10</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/openverse/2022/07/27/community-meeting-recap-27-july-2022/">Community Meeting Recap (27 July 2022)</a></li></ul>
</div>



<div class="wp-container-12 wp-block-column">
<h2 id="h-performance"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/performance/">Performance</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/26/performance-team-meeting-summary-26-july-2022/"></a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/02/performance-team-meeting-summary-2-august-2022/">Performance team meeting summary 2 August 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/21/proposal-add-a-dominant-color-background-to-images">Dominant color proposal</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/performance/issues/445">Regenerate Existing Images for non-technical users</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-plugins"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/plugins">Plugins</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/08/01/plugin-review-team-1-aug-2022-%f0%9f%90%b0/">Plugin Review Team: 1 Aug 2022&nbsp;<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f430.png" alt="🐰" class="wp-smiley" /></a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-project"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/project">Project</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/project/2022/08/01/open-source-and-the-free-rider-problem/">Open Source and the Free Rider Problem</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/project/2022/07/28/updates-on-the-five-for-the-future-program-and-proposed-improvements/">Updates on the Five for the Future program, and proposed improvements</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-test"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test">Test</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2022/07/11/fse-program-testing-call-15-category-customization/"></a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2022/08/03/fse-program-category-customization-summary/">FSE Program Category Customization Summary</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/07/27/test-team-update-26-july-2022/">Test Team Update: 26 July 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-themes"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes">Themes</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2022/07/28/using-locally-hosted-google-fonts-in-themes/">Using locally-hosted Google fonts in themes</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/08/02/themes-team-update-august-02-2022/">Themes team update August 02, 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-training"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training">Training</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/08/02/training-team-meeting-recap-july-26-28/">Training Team Meeting Recap – July 26 & 28</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/07/27/july-2022-faculty-meeting-recap/">July 2022 Faculty Meeting Recap</a></li></ul>



<h3 id="h-video-tutorials">Video Tutorials</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/tutorial/building-a-home-page-with-a-block-theme/">Building a home page with a block theme</a></li></ul>



<h3 id="h-online-workshops">Online Workshops:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=introducing-domains">Introducing… Domains!</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=lets-code-an-introduction-to-block-development">Let’s Code! An Introduction to Block Development</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=%e3%83%96%e3%83%ad%e3%83%83%e3%82%af%e3%82%a8%e3%83%87%e3%82%a3%e3%82%bf%e3%83%bc%e3%81%a7%e3%83%9b%e3%83%bc%e3%83%a0%e3%83%9a%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b8%e3%82%92%e4%bd%9c%e3%82%8d%e3%81%86%ef%bc%81-2">ブロックエディターでホームページを作ろう！</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=%e3%83%96%e3%83%ad%e3%83%83%e3%82%af%e3%82%a8%e3%83%87%e3%82%a3%e3%82%bf%e3%83%bc%e3%81%a7%e3%83%9b%e3%83%bc%e3%83%a0%e3%83%9a%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b8%e3%82%92%e4%bd%9c%e3%82%8d%e3%81%86%ef%bc%81">ブロックエディターでホームページを作ろう！</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=the-wide-world-of-wordpress-events">The Wide World of WordPress Events</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=an-introduction-to-the-9-design-blocks">An introduction to the 9 Design blocks</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=the-creative-side-of-blocks">The Creative Side of Blocks</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=showcasing-content-with-query-loops-3">Showcasing Content with Query Loops</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=creating-a-landing-page-with-a-block-theme">Creating a landing page with a block theme</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=lets-code-common-apis-shortcodes">Let’s code! Common APIs: Shortcodes</a><a href="https://github.com/courtneyr-dev/make-wp/#test"></a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-wordcamp-central">WordCamp Central</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2022/07/wordcamp-jinja-diverse-speaker-sessions-web-design-hackathon-teachers-workshop-and-fun-at-the-nile-source/">WordCamp Jinja: Diverse Speaker Sessions, Web Design Hackathon, Teachers Workshop and Fun at the Nile Source!</a></li></ul>



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<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:59:16 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Courtney Robertson";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:11;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"WPTavern: #37 – Jonathan Wold on How Partnerships Might Help Your WordPress Business";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:48:"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=136733";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:100:"https://wptavern.com/podcast/37-jonathan-wold-on-how-partnerships-might-help-your-wordpress-business";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:39237:"<p>On the podcast today we have <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sirjonathan/">Jonathan Wold</a>.</p>



<p>Jonathan joined the WordPress community seventeen years ago, and he’s been here ever since.</p>



<p>He likes to think about WordPress as an operating system for creating on the open web, and invests his time and energy into growing the WordPress ecosystem.</p>



<p>With that in mind he gave a talk at the recent WordCamp Europe called &#8220;Growing in WordPress through partnerships&#8221;, in which he laid out his thoughts on how WordPress companies can enable greater growth by joining with other, like minded companies.</p>



<p>There’s a lot of WordPress products out there, and whilst building a product can be a challenge, getting that product into the market, gaining growth and recognition can be another hurdle altogether.</p>



<p>Jonathan talks today about how strategic partnerships can, in some cases, make the job of selling a product easier and more rewarding.</p>



<p>We talk about how the WordPress ecosystem has grown over time, and how discoverability of your product is harder now that it used to be.</p>



<p>We discuss the fact that WordPress has a heritage of solopreneurs who might not be as good at marketing as they are at coding, and how joining forces with partners can make it easier to succeed in the marketplace.</p>



<p>Are partnerships for everyone, or are they only for a subset of companies? How do you go about finding a partner and what are the ways that you can ensure that you’re working with the companies which offer the most benefit to you and your customers?</p>



<p>Typically, when we record the podcast, there’s not a lot of background noise, but that’s not always the case with these WordCamp Europe interviews. We were competing against crowds and the air-conditioning. Whilst the podcasts are more than listenable, I hope that you understand that the vagaries of the real world were at play.</p>



Transcript<div>
<p>[00:00:00] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Welcome to the Jukebox podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley. Jukebox is a podcast, which is dedicated to all things WordPress. The people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case, creating partnerships to grow your WordPress business.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast player of choice. Or by going to WP Tavern dot com forward slash feed forward slash podcast. And you can copy that URL into most podcast players.</p>



<p>If you have a topic that you&#8217;d like us to feature on the podcast, I&#8217;m keen to hear from you, and hopefully we can get you or your idea featured on the show. Head over to WP Tavern dot com forward slash contact forward slash jukebox. And use the contact form there.</p>



<p>So on the podcast today we have Jonathan Wold. Jonathan joined the WordPress community 17 years ago. And he&#8217;s been here ever since. He likes to think about WordPress as an operating system for creating on the open web, and invests his time and energy into growing the WordPress ecosystem.</p>



<p>With that in mind, he gave a talk at the recent WordCamp Europe called growing in WordPress through partnerships, in which he laid out his thoughts on how WordPress companies can enable greater growth by joining with other like-minded companies.</p>



<p>There&#8217;s a lot of WordPress products out there. And whilst building a product can be a challenge, getting that product into the market, gaining growth and recognition can be another hurdle all together.</p>



<p>Jonathan talks today about how strategic partnerships can, in some cases, make the job of selling a product easier and more rewarding. We talk about how the WordPress ecosystem has grown over time, and how discoverability of your product is harder now than it used to be. We discussed the fact that WordPress has a heritage of solopreneurs who might not be as good at marketing as they are at coding. And how joining forces with partners can make it easier to succeed in the marketplace.</p>



<p>Are partnerships for everyone, or are they only for a subset of companies? How do you go about finding a partner and what are the ways that you can ensure that you&#8217;re working with the companies which offer the most benefit to you and your customers?</p>



<p>Typically when we record the podcast there&#8217;s not a lot of background noise. But that&#8217;s not the case with these WordCamp Europe interviews. We were competing against crowds and the air conditioning, and whilst the podcasts are more than listenable. I hope that you understand that the vagaries of the real world we&#8217;re at play.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;re interested in finding out more, you can find all of the links in the show notes by heading over to WP Tavern dot com forward slash podcast, where you&#8217;ll find all of the other episodes as well. And so, without further delay, I bring you Jonathan Wold.</p>



<p>I am joined on the podcast by Jonathan Wold. Hello?</p>



<p>[00:03:43] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Hey Nathan, how are you?</p>



<p>[00:03:44] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Oh, you sound truly excellent on this microphone.</p>



<p>[00:03:47] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> We have an awesome little set here.</p>



<p>[00:03:49] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yes. Well, we&#8217;re in the bowels of the Super Bock Arena in the most undiscoverable bit, but you&#8217;ve managed to find me. It&#8217;s early morning. It&#8217;s the first day. We&#8217;re you here yesterday?</p>



<p>[00:03:59] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Yeah, contributor day was fantastic. It&#8217;s so good to see so many faces, including faces that I thought I&#8217;d seen before, but hadn&#8217;t. You find out that people are taller or shorter than you expected.</p>



<p>[00:04:09] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That&#8217;s right. Over Zoom over the last couple of years, you&#8217;ve basically been reduced to a postage stamp.</p>



<p>[00:04:13] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong>Yes.</p>



<p>[00:04:14] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> And people actually have legs. Yeah. So what did you contribute to, what was your bit?</p>



<p>[00:04:18] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> I floated around. Mostly trying to support other folks. There are a lot of first time contributors yesterday, which is fantastic. It&#8217;s so good to see that. So I did what I could to support them.</p>



<p>[00:04:26] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> My understanding was that it was about 60% of people who showed up today will be first timers.</p>



<p>[00:04:33] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Yeah I think that&#8217;s fantastic. Like it&#8217;s so good to see so many returning faces, but really we want to see the new people coming in.</p>



<p>[00:04:40] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> You&#8217;re doing a talk we&#8217;re gonna talk about that I think. Tell us what the premise of the talk is.</p>



<p>[00:04:45] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> The talk is focused on this idea of growing in WordPress through partnerships. I&#8217;ve had the privilege working with a lot of product businesses over the years and, I&#8217;ve seen this recurring theme of frustration where a product business, they&#8217;ll have a good product, they&#8217;ll get some good market validation. Maybe some customers that really love the product. And then this frustration where they can&#8217;t seem to tap into the larger ecosystem, like WordPress is huge. Or even just take a sub ecosystem like WooCommerce. There are millions of WooCommerce installs and for a product business, oh, we&#8217;re gonna serve WooCommerce customers.</p>



<p>And then it&#8217;s this challenge of how do you get to &#8217;em? There&#8217;s not this like one central place. You could work with WooCommerce, certainly, but even if you do a partnership with WooCommerce, that doesn&#8217;t guarantee that you get in front of all their audience. So it becomes very challenging and frustrating for product businesses, because of how decentralized our ecosystem is. Of which there are many benefits and things that we enjoy.</p>



<p>It can be challenging to say, okay, how do we navigate this? Who do we talk to? Where are all the customers? There&#8217;s some good reasons for that. So in my talk today, I&#8217;m trying to kind of unpack that. Give some perspective, especially to folks who are coming from outside the immediate ecosystem. There&#8217;s a lot of SaaS businesses that have built great products that work well with WordPress. They come in though, and they hit these roadblocks where they&#8217;re like, okay, what do we do? Like, how does this community work?</p>



<p>Where do we go? How do we act? Where do we focus our energies? And I think it&#8217;s a lot harder right now than it needs to be. Like growth in WordPress is difficult if you don&#8217;t know where to go. And I think that hurts all of us. So, my intent anyway is to try and demystify some of that and then give a clearer path to like, hey, if you wanna grow a product business in the WordPress space, partnerships today is probably your best way of doing so, and here&#8217;s how to do that.</p>



<p>[00:06:32] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Do you think this is a function of personality a bit? And what I mean by that is, if you are a born coder and you spend your time in your room and you&#8217;re extremely good at that, this comes out of personal experience. I&#8217;ve encountered lots of people who are extremely good at that side of things. And then they build the thing and the thing is brilliant, but they are not the person to make it go out into the ecosystem.</p>



<p>Because they code and then they struggle with that piece of getting it recognized. So they contact podcast owners. They write to blog vendors and so on and so forth. But, it&#8217;s very difficult because you have to be that effervescent, outgoing marketing type of person.</p>



<p>[00:07:09] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> That is part of it, but it&#8217;s also a timing thing because the coder, if you will, was able to pull it off before. If you think about how WordPress has grown over the past 18 plus years. In the early days, that was enough. You could build a great product and other people would do it for you.</p>



<p>Right? You go to a meetup, oh, you gotta use this plugin. That worked, and I think there are folks now who will look at that and like, why isn&#8217;t it working for me as well? Well, that worked more because of just where WordPress was and it&#8217;s life cycle at the time And it doesn&#8217;t work anymore. It&#8217;s just because of how big it is. Or rather it can still work. You can still absolutely grow something by word of mouth.</p>



<p>You&#8217;re gonna hit a ceiling though. And if your ambitions are greater, if you&#8217;re wanting to create something that&#8217;s more ubiquitous that solves needs for a much larger swath of the ecosystem, that&#8217;s not gonna be enough. You&#8217;re] gonna have to do the work and get in front of the audience.</p>



<p>[00:07:58] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Is it a product of geography as well? Where you are in the world?</p>



<p>[00:08:02] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> That&#8217;s always a factor in that it can limit who you&#8217;re connected to. Because someone who&#8217;s a great coder, maybe they&#8217;re introverted and, but they&#8217;ve gone to their local WordCamps, and that&#8217;s where they make connections and other folks do the recommendations for them. And so yeah, in that sense, geography could be a limiting factor if you haven&#8217;t had the chance to go all the way around.</p>



<p>[00:08:19] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So I was thinking of an example, let&#8217;s say that you live in North America or something. There&#8217;s hundreds of different events that you could attend and there&#8217;s conferences and there&#8217;s countless things where you could present your face. Whereas if you live in a different part of the world where the community just isn&#8217;t there, that&#8217;s gonna be a, a bit of a struggle.</p>



<p>[00:08:33] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> It is, and from my point of view, the struggle existing doesn&#8217;t fit with the ethos of WordPress and it&#8217;s international nature. And that&#8217;s why I think at least in my experience so far and where I&#8217;ve seen product companies have success, like they&#8217;ll be something that very few folks will know about. And then they begin to do the partnership work and approach it in the WordPress way, and then they can build success on that.</p>



<p>[00:08:55] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So map out for us what you actually mean by partnership. Obviously everybody gets what that word is basically, but tell us what is it that you are gonna be advising somebody who wants to make hay out of their brand new plugin, theme, block, whatever.</p>



<p>[00:09:07] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> The way that I think about it, and at least I found most helpful is to start with the audience. You&#8217;re building a product. What audience are you focusing on? Who has a problem that you&#8217;re trying to solve? Be really clear who that is. You could say, oh, small business. Well, small business is still very broad and general. Maybe you have a specific type of small business, whatever that may be.</p>



<p>Start with that audience of like, okay, we&#8217;re gonna build a product or maybe you have a product already. And some folks will maybe have a product, they&#8217;re not sure what audience it&#8217;s for, but let&#8217;s just set that aside for a moment. But once you, as the product owner have a clear audience in mind, then it&#8217;s like, okay, who else is already serving that audience?</p>



<p>One of the common mistakes I&#8217;ve seen folks make is they&#8217;ll make a product, and they&#8217;re like, okay, we need partnerships and they&#8217;ll go partner with, uh, a hosting company for instance, but that serves a different audience. Because it&#8217;s like once you know who your audience is, you find a potential partner where you can work together on it.</p>



<p>Then all you&#8217;re really doing is say, okay, what&#8217;s the mutual win. Like how can we together provide more value to that audience? Where I see most partnerships fall apart is where it&#8217;s an audience mismatch. Or maybe they got the right audience, but they still don&#8217;t have a clear value proposition for that audience. The ones that work really well are, same audience or very similar, nice overlap. And then they&#8217;re just providing them value in a way that benefits all the parties involved.</p>



<p>[00:10:26] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I feel like a lot of the stuff that you&#8217;re saying makes perfect sense to you, you know, find the audience and so on and so forth. You&#8217;ve probably been through this many, many times. Those kind of processes aren&#8217;t necessarily obvious because you, you might just think I&#8217;ve got a plug in. It&#8217;s for every body, and the whole ecosystem can use this. What is the actual process? I mean, are you literally pen on paper? Have you got like a spreadsheet that you fill out or.</p>



<p>[00:10:47] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> So, it&#8217;s a good point to bring up the, all the audience. I actually love working on plugins and with authors that are going for all of WordPress. It&#8217;s a smaller subset in general, right? Because like, one of the things I love about how we approach core development in WordPress is, what are the things that serve the 80%. Because WordPress, we&#8217;re not trying to, in the core solve for everyone. And in similar vein, there are product businesses that can be wildly successful that aren&#8217;t trying to do it for everyone in WordPress, right.</p>



<p>So I think that&#8217;s worth calling out. There&#8217;s still a lot of opportunity to go for ubiquity in the ecosystem. Be clear though on whether that, whether or not that&#8217;s actually your intention. So let&#8217;s say for instance, you are not going for all of WordPress, you&#8217;re going for a, just a sub ecosystem. WooCommerce for instance, a smaller part of WordPress and within WooCommerce you could go for small businesses. You could go for mid-market. You could go for enterprise. Let&#8217;s say you went small business WooCommerce. This is the audience that we wanna work on. They do less than a million dollars a year in revenue, and we have a specific problem we&#8217;re solving for them.</p>



<p>So in just this example, most folks I talk to, if they&#8217;re that clear, they&#8217;re more than halfway there, right. They&#8217;re often not though where it&#8217;s like, oh, we want to do this for everyone, right. It&#8217;s very difficult. And especially when it comes to partnerships where it&#8217;s like, we&#8217;ll work with everyone. In some cases that might be the play, but it&#8217;s often not. Does that make sense?</p>



<p>[00:12:06] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah for me, it&#8217;s the actual going through the process. Like, I usually need a form to fill out. Firstly, do this. Secondly, do this. And then, you know, it might be creating the customer avatar and giving them a name and trying to figure out what industry they&#8217;re in and so on. And having that structure, something to hang it on works for me. But it may not be the kind of thing that you would advise people to do when, when going out to get partnerships.</p>



<p>[00:12:27] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Yeah It&#8217;s a good question. It&#8217;s a good question, because I guess I am making the assumption that someone&#8217;s clear on who they want to serve.</p>



<p>[00:12:33] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, and that&#8217;s difficult.</p>



<p>[00:12:34] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> It can be difficult, because there&#8217;s an inherent choice in who you&#8217;re not gonna serve, right? And again, it&#8217;s worth calling out that when I think about positioning for a product company, to say who, okay, this is who we&#8217;re gonna serve. Doesn&#8217;t mean that you can&#8217;t also serve others who come to you. It&#8217;s not that you have to turn them away. It&#8217;s making a choice though, on who you&#8217;re gonna focus your energies and your messaging, your positioning on.</p>



<p>And that, it is hard. And it&#8217;s often hard because of that fear of what you&#8217;re gonna miss out on. But when it comes to your marketing efforts, your even your, like your product development, and then in this case, partnerships, if you&#8217;re not clear on who you&#8217;re serving, it&#8217;s very hard to find ways to reach them.</p>



<p>[00:13:13] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Okay. So let&#8217;s assume that we&#8217;ve got that piece of the puzzle nailed down, and we know who we&#8217;re trying to serve. What&#8217;s the next step? What does a partner look like? How much are you giving away of your company? How do you contact these people? How do you give the pitch? In a way, trying to find a partner is perhaps equally as difficult as trying to find a customer.</p>



<p>[00:13:31] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Well, so it&#8217;s a fair point on what does it mean to partner. In general, what I&#8217;m talking about with these strategic partnerships would pretty much never involve any, like giving away part of the company. It&#8217;s more a transaction of like, hey, you have this audience, we have this product, how can we work together to serve them, right? And sure there are a lot of ways that could work. In some cases you might take investment from the partner that you&#8217;re working with.</p>



<p>There&#8217;s lots of ways you can approach it. Which is, in my mind a key is to not go into these conversations with everything figured out, but to say, okay, how can we together provide more value to the audience? I sometimes I see folks jump too quickly to like, okay, what are the commercials?</p>



<p>And saying, that&#8217;s a little bit of the cart before the horse, right? Where&#8217;s the value we can provide for the audience. If we&#8217;re not both really clear on that value, it&#8217;s gonna make negotiations difficult, and ultimately probably not be as successful for either party. I&#8217;ve seen product companies do distribution deals with hosting companies, for instance, that are pretty terrible. Where it&#8217;s like, okay, we wanna get our product in front of all your customers. And they&#8217;re like, okay, well, here you go. And it&#8217;s not a good deal.</p>



<p>[00:14:36] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Are events like this, like WordCamp Europe, are events like this a great way to sort of short circuit the whole finding a partner thing? There&#8217;s thousands of people in this case, all in one room. A proportion of those are they&#8217;re playing that game. They wanna find partners and they&#8217;re looking for people to hook up with. I mean, you&#8217;re in a room it&#8217;s difficult. There&#8217;s no sort of your head saying, I want to partner. So, is that a part of the jigsaw puzzle of an event like this?</p>



<p>[00:14:59] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> It is, and this is perhaps where personality is more of a factor. I would not advise someone to approach events like this as okay, we&#8217;re gonna go get partners. This is really in my mind more about context development and connecting with folks. Like, yeah, you might have folks, this is someone who I&#8217;d like to work with. And WordCamp can be a great place to build some shared context.</p>



<p>In general, for instance, I would see a WordCamp more as adding personal context to a conversation that&#8217;s already happening. You could certainly meet new folks, but I guess what I&#8217;m trying to say is like, I would hate to see someone put too much pressure on themself. To like attend a WordCamp and like try to get all this stuff done. That&#8217;s not really the vibe of it. It&#8217;s more about building context. If someone&#8217;s new to the space, it&#8217;s like go to contributor day first. Just soak it up a bit. Like one of the mistakes that I&#8217;ll see product companies from outside the ecosystem make, is just be really off on their messaging and positioning. Or being overly aggressive.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s like, no. That stuff is fine. Like it&#8217;s good to see the ambition. Take some time though, to understand the ecosystem, and WordCamps to me are really good for that. So it&#8217;s more about go in curious, and see what you can learn and don&#8217;t make assumptions. And yes, you&#8217;ll probably find some really good opportunities. In general though, it&#8217;s like, if you had a list of folks that you want to connect with, be talking to them already before WordCamp, and WordCamp is more about just seeing them in person.</p>



<p>[00:16:19] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So everything that you&#8217;ve just said, I totally identify with, and I do see people not doing that, and I see people showing up and they&#8217;ve clearly got the laundry list of people they want to contact. And it all feels a bit clumsy. Is that a unique thing about the WordPress ecosystem? And what I mean by that is the whole FOSS thing, the free open software. For example, if I was to attend, I don&#8217;t know, a conference about podcasting or something. Is the same audience there?</p>



<p>Are there different rules at play here? And it feels a little bit like you&#8217;ve got to be a bit more restrained. You&#8217;ve gotta do your homework a bit more because there&#8217;s trip wires everywhere, and sometimes even just etiquette and the things that you mentioned about just don&#8217;t overstep the line, we don&#8217;t know each other yet. We&#8217;re not ready for that bit, but maybe if you are a different kind of an event, that stuff is, I&#8217;m open for it.</p>



<p>[00:17:05] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> In my experience, yes, but most of it&#8217;s hearing that relayed from a software as a service companies, for instance, who are used to other industries where it&#8217;s lot more, not business oriented, but yeah, perhaps more transactional. And it&#8217;s a bit of a system shock to come to a WordCamp. Or even just the idea of how involved volunteers are. Many of us, like if we&#8217;re involved, I&#8217;m helping organize WordCamp US this year. I&#8217;m doing it as a volunteer.</p>



<p>And that idea of volunteers is kind of an odd one for folks coming from outside. And I think that well typifies, like this is different. People are here because they really want to be here, at least from what I hear. And the other events I attend, it is a very different vibe. Which is why it&#8217;s like, yeah, you can prepare for it, but the starting point is just be open and put out your preconceived notions and take a deep breath. It&#8217;s gonna be okay.</p>



<p>[00:17:52] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> The whole partnerships thing, is that a piece of what you do when you&#8217;re not at a WordCamp? Is that part of your business life?</p>



<p>[00:17:59] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> It is, mostly from like an advising perspective. Part of the challenge that I&#8217;m personally trying to see us solve is, I don&#8217;t like that there&#8217;s and it&#8217;s getting better, but having just a handful of folks who do partnerships work in the ecosystem is not good for the ecosystem. It&#8217;s something that I&#8217;d like us to see, just become a lot more professionalized and this is just how to do it. I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s healthy to have it locked up in just a few people who do it.</p>



<p>So yes, I&#8217;ll help folks do it. I&#8217;m much more interested though in seeing us open source, like how should this get done? How do we professionalize this aspect of our ecosystem? There&#8217;s a lot more of it starting to happen, but I feel like the advantage in our ecosystem is, has been more to like the few hosting companies who are better at it than others, or the product companies that are better at it than others. Where really, if we can all get better at it, I think the ecosystem as a whole benefits.</p>



<p>[00:18:49] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So is this more that for the last decade or so, we&#8217;ve had a lot of people who&#8217;ve had a cottage industry for want better word for their job, and the ecosystem, I&#8217;m gonna use the word matured. I dunno the right word, but the ecosystem has matured. It&#8217;s become more professional, so the people who had the cottage industry need to up their game and figure out what the rules are, how to piece that jigsaw together.</p>



<p>[00:19:10] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Yes. There&#8217;s a few factors to it. There&#8217;s the folks who&#8217;ve come up through it, like upping their game, which is hard. Well, what&#8217;s happening is that there are a lot of folks, software as a service companies, for instance, wake up and say, hey, more than 30% of our customers are on WordPress. Like 40% of our customers are on WordPress. We need to have a strategy. We need to have an approach. Even just to serve our existing customers better.</p>



<p>The company that wakes up and says, we need to have an integration. We need to have our own plugin. And there&#8217;s them serve their customers better, which is good for all of us. But then many of them will say, hey, we can grow through WordPress. Like there&#8217;s opportunities here to grow our audience.</p>



<p>So it&#8217;s a bit of a clash where what&#8217;ll happen sometimes is these companies from outside will look in and they&#8217;ll see existing behavior and think that&#8217;s how it should be done. But they&#8217;re watching the cottage industry approach. And it&#8217;s like, no, we all need to grow here. The folks who have been in it this whole time, we need to get better at how we do this.</p>



<p>And then the folks who are coming from outside need to take a cue and say, okay, well, how do you change and, and work within this culture? It&#8217;s challenging. I&#8217;m encouraged with the progress that I&#8217;m seeing, but it&#8217;s not enough.</p>



<p>[00:20:15] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It feels like you&#8217;re a bit worried that if we leave this whole partnership thing unchecked, a decade from now there&#8217;ll be a few major players. There&#8217;ll just be this pyramid structure with a&#8230;</p>



<p>[00:20:24] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Yeah, that&#8217;s part of it. And I think it&#8217;s just not healthy for the ecosystem as whole. A great example is contribution to core, right? What I love about all these new folks coming in. I&#8217;ve talked to some of them where they&#8217;ll explicitly call out, like it&#8217;s intimidating to go into like one of the core with thousands of people. And put a reference to a ticket or something. Yeah, it&#8217;s intimidating. And that&#8217;s why we have days like this to sit alongside someone and help them feel comfortable.</p>



<p>If we&#8217;re gonna continue to grow as an ecosystem, we have to be welcoming to new ideas, new input, and we have to make it accessible for them. And I think partnerships is just a good example of that. Right now, because we&#8217;re so decentralized and may it ever be so, you have to do that work to make the connections happen. And I just, I see a lot of opportunity for that to become professionalized.</p>



<p>[00:21:11] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That&#8217;s a really interesting point because when I started building websites, basically you built a website. You found a client, you built a website, you passed it on.</p>



<p>And then as the industry matured, the job of an SEO expert came along and the job of a copywriter came along. All these little jobs in, WordPress came along. And it feels like you are advocating for a job of some kind of partner interface career. That&#8217;s the job. You need people like that. You need little, little businesses that are set up to figure out how to get plugin company, a theme company, a hooked up with other company B.</p>



<p>[00:21:40] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Yep.</p>



<p>[00:21:41] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So that they can figure out a way to move forward.</p>



<p>[00:21:43] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> I&#8217;m sure I&#8217;m exaggerating, but if there were only 50 people like really doing this professionally today in the ecosystem, there needs to be a thousand. And this is not a new thing. Partnership management, like business development is not new. It&#8217;s well established, but the folks who, what I&#8217;ve noticed is folks will have those roles in software as a service companies. And just not know how to navigate our ecosystem because they didn&#8217;t grow up in it.</p>



<p>So I think for the folks from the outside coming in, it&#8217;s figuring out how to do that same work, the WordPress way. And for us in, it&#8217;s like, how do you embrace that, and learn, okay, well, how do we have to think about this? Like where do we have to grow up? And I think we are more than big enough. And I think that that idea, if there&#8217;s 50 today, there should be a thousand next year.</p>



<p>[00:22:26] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> If somebody was thinking, actually, do you know what I would like to pivot and become that person? I wanna become some sort of partnership company, whatever it may be. What would be some sort of key things that you think they should be doing today in order to set that business up, you know, move away from whatever it is that they&#8217;re doing and stray into partnerships.</p>



<p>[00:22:42] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> To me, these types of roles always start with curiosity. Being someone who&#8217;s curious, and really looking for the wins. At its simplest level, it&#8217;s a mutual win between three parties. The customer first, like the audience that you&#8217;re trying to create value for. And then the two other parties that serve that same audience. There will tend to be common patterns of what that looks like. For instance, a product company is often looking for distribution. Like they want to get in front of a bigger audience. And hosting companies often have the distribution.</p>



<p>So there, there&#8217;ll be some common patterns. Yet, I think there&#8217;s a lot of room for creativity, especially in these earlier days. And it&#8217;s just being open and curious and staying focused on who are we serving and what problem can we solve for them, and letting that kind of direct how you go.</p>



<p>[00:23:26] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> We&#8217;ve got a few minutes left. So I&#8217;m gonna pivot the conversation just for a few minutes. We&#8217;re gonna go to acquisitions and mergers. Some interesting news over the last few days that a company that I&#8217;m sure many of us have heard of called Delicious Brains has just recently sold to WP Engine with kind of looks like 90% of their product suite, which is really interesting. But over the last couple of years, lots and lots and lots.</p>



<p>Are you sanguine about this? Is this a good thing on the whole? Does it concern you that a lot is being bought by the same few companies? And at some point we&#8217;re gonna be left with, well, if you wanna do anything with WordPress, you&#8217;re gonna have to go with this hosting company or this other company.</p>



<p>[00:24:00] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> I&#8217;m, very optimistic by nature. So in general, it&#8217;s like, yeah, I think that&#8217;s all great. There are always trade offs with things I like this in particular. WP Engine they&#8217;ve made some great acquisitions. We could have a whole discussion on the strategy behind this because I think, I think you&#8217;re gonna have less if we just sort of continue as we are, you&#8217;re gonna have, there&#8217;s not that many more Delicious Brains left, no pun intended.</p>



<p>So it makes sense at a high level. Advanced Custom Fields fits their narrative, like the nature of some of the plugins and their suite fits the WP Engine narrative, this focus on developer tools, what they&#8217;re doing with Atlas. At a high level, it makes sense.</p>



<p>Also, I wasn&#8217;t surprised and it makes sense to see Spinup separated from that, right. That&#8217;s what they said they wanna focus on. So I like it. In terms of concerns or thinking about the ecosystem broadly, one of the limiting factors I think we have right now is that it is difficult for folks from outside the ecosystem to invest in the ecosystem.</p>



<p>I think it also comes to a bit to that, like professionalizing. There is plenty of capital out there and, I&#8217;ll talk to founders who don&#8217;t know how to get to it. Like they&#8217;re building a WordPress business. And so there&#8217;s an interesting disconnect right now where if you&#8217;re from outside the ecosystem, they might not get it. Like, what is this WordPress thing? Like, how does this work? They&#8217;ll hear the market share stuff. And it&#8217;s like, okay, we wanna invest, but where do we do that? How do we do that? There&#8217;s some curious gaps at the moment.</p>



<p>I&#8217;ll put it this way. WordPress businesses in general, in my experience are quite undervalued. If you compare a typical WordPress business to a SaaS, the SaaS will get multiples of value, quite higher than the WordPress business. Where the WordPress business, if you look at it objectively is a stronger investment. So there&#8217;s a disconnect there where the reality is there&#8217;s a lot of opportunity for investors, and the challenge for them is like, how do we navigate this?</p>



<p>[00:25:43] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Curiously, it feels to me like the more things that are acquired, the more need there will be for partnerships.</p>



<p>[00:25:50] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Yeah.</p>



<p>[00:25:50] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It kind of feels like the two go hand in hand, if there&#8217;s hosting company X over there, who&#8217;s acquired all the things. And you&#8217;ve got a rival of one of their things. Fighting their marketing machine is gonna difficult.</p>



<p>[00:26:00] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> It&#8217;s gonna be difficult.</p>



<p>[00:26:01] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So need a partner that can help you get through that. Yeah,</p>



<p>[00:26:04] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Put one way the downside of too much consolidation is that you risk losing the innovation and the market is way more than big enough for new players to be coming in. There&#8217;s lots of sub ecosystems. I think in general, folks just need more help navigating and, as long as we keep seeing new folks come in, we&#8217;re gonna be just fine.</p>



<p>[00:26:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Very last question and a curious little bit of a curve ball. You were talking about the market. The watch word there seems to be growth, growth, growth, the market&#8217;s growing. And yet very interestingly over the last month or so we had some sort of interesting data. This first data point where the market just took a tiny little bit of a dive, not 0.2% or something like that. Any thoughts in your head that the curve is beginning to go in the other way? The seesaw has finally tipped.</p>



<p>[00:26:44] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> We have different sources of data.</p>



<p>[00:26:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That&#8217;s right.</p>



<p>[00:26:45] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> So there&#8217;s a whole discussion first about you know, what&#8217;s our basis for data. I think we could have an interesting discussion if we felt confident that that was the case. I&#8217;m working with, um, the HTTP archive on the Web Almanac project this year. And we&#8217;re about to have a new set of data in the next month or so. No particular thoughts. I think, sometimes we overreact. While I am an optimist, we will hit a point at some point.</p>



<p>I&#8217;m much more interested right now in focusing on like for that big swath of market we already have, how can we serve them better?</p>



<p>Because that&#8217;s really where the growth is gonna come from. Is how do we help more people have success in WordPress? Because in general, there&#8217;s a lot of frustration, like lots of success, lots of things that are going well. When it&#8217;s not working though, where are people going? And they&#8217;re tending to go to the proprietary platforms. Which is fine, but at the end of the day, if we want a healthy open web, we need a healthy WordPress ecosystem. And there&#8217;s still plenty of work to do, regardless of what the numbers are saying.</p>



<p>[00:27:41] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Jonathan Wold. Thank you very much for talking to me today.</p>



<p>[00:27:44] <strong>Jonathan Wold:</strong> Thanks for having me.</p>
</div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 03 Aug 2022 14:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Nathan Wrigley";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:12;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"HeroPress: Life At The End Of Your Comfort Zone";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=4658";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:146:"https://heropress.com/essays/life-at-the-end-of-your-comfort-zone/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=life-at-the-end-of-your-comfort-zone";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7014:"<img width="1024" height="512" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/080322-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: WordPress is big enough for everyone to thrive." />
<p>It is often said that life, adventure, challenge, growth, etc, begins at the end of your comfort zone. Like all much-abused aphorisms, that is both true and not. Yes, growth comes from outside your comfort zone, but then your comfort zone just becomes bigger.</p>



<p>Before I get ahead of myself though, I should introduce myself. Hi, my name is Akshat, and I am the founder of BlogVault, MalCare, WP Remote, MigrateGuru and AirLift. I have spent 12 years on a rollercoaster WordPress journey, building these solutions for high performance WordPress sites.</p>



<p>Today, I am going to tell you about my comfort zone. If you are wondering what WordPress has to do with my comfort zone, you’re about to find out.</p>



<h3 id="h-but-first-a-little-context">But first, a little context</h3>



<p>In the pre-BlogVault world, I was working at Citrix, doing kernel hacking for a product called NetScaler. This is as far removed from WordPress as you can possibly imagine. I was about to discover my new path rather abruptly.</p>



<p>One fine day, The Coding Horror blog crashed. In case you are unfamiliar with this stalwart of the programming world, it is Jeff Atwood’s blog. Jeff Atwood is the founder of StackOverflow, another keystone of the programming community. If Jeff Atwood’s blog didn’t have backups, I thought, what about the legions of sites out there?</p>



<p>Thus, BlogVault was born; its siblings mentioned above soon to follow.</p>



<h3 id="h-stage-1-products-for-problems">Stage 1: Products for problems</h3>



<p>When I created BlogVault, I wasn’t thinking about building for people. I saw a problem that I could fix, and created a solution for it. In fact, I understood so little about how people purchase products that every time someone bought a subscription, I thought it was a miracle.</p>



<p>Obviously, magic wasn’t part of the equation, so I figured that I would have to actually meet people in WordPress. I needed to understand them, and why they were buying my product at all. This was a big step out of my comfort zone, by the way. I do not excel at meeting new people. That may be the understatement of the year.</p>



<h3 id="h-hello-strangers">Hello strangers!</h3>



<p>Enter WordCamps.</p>



<p>Now, everyone knows that WordCamps are events of inclusion, bringing people from all walks of life together. I didn’t at the time, and attending my first few conferences was me actively putting myself out there. I volunteered at a few, and spoke at others. None of this came easily or naturally, because it was innately difficult to interact with strangers.</p>



<blockquote><p>Over a few events, the discomfort became less and less, till it has gone entirely.</p></blockquote>



<p>I met wonderful people and built lasting friendships. For instance, I attended a WordCamp Europe in Spain one year, and got in touch with a friend who lived in the country. We’d never met before, but we’d corresponded a few times. He and his wife came to pick me up, and they showed me around for 2 days. It is incredible that someone can have so much generosity for a virtual stranger.</p>



<h3 id="h-stage-2-products-for-people">Stage 2: Products for people</h3>



<p>Once I crossed the hurdle of interacting with strangers, I started to understand that building a product cannot be done in a vacuum. It is important to consider the people who are going to use it, why they would use it, and how it solves their problems.</p>



<p>The WordPress community helped me reframe our products in terms of value propositions. Our marketing evolved to be about creating and showcasing value, and solving issues. I also learned how to use the right metrics to measure interaction. I found myself moving towards a more analytical mindset.</p>



<p>This was in stark contrast to how I started: with a gut-based approach and the joy of making. I pivoted quickly to add people into the mix. It feels great—almost romantic—to say we build for the joy of making, but it is not a viable business model unless you factor in people.</p>



<h3 id="h-the-courage-to-be-imperfect">The courage to be imperfect</h3>



<p>BlogVault is a great backup product, even if I do say so myself. MalCare is too. MigrateGuru is the stuff of dreams, even. But. BUT. AirLift isn’t. Not yet, anyway.</p>



<p>These are all products that we have made for WordPress, and have continued to improve over the years. It took us ages after we built MalCare to actually release it. </p>



<blockquote><p>It wasn’t perfect, how could we possibly release it?</p></blockquote>



<p>Eventually, I realized that this wasn’t the way to grow. And, I’m not going to lie, it took a lot to overcome this mindset. There were unexpected cheerleaders in every corner, and bit by bit, we were emboldened to take a leap of faith. Customers who loved our existing products encouraged us to let them try our new ones.</p>



<p>Slowly I developed the courage to be imperfect, and trust in the process. We moved forward with the certainty that we would make it better.</p>



<h3 id="h-a-fair-field-and-no-favor">A fair field and no favor</h3>



<p>WordPress has been around for decades, and there are competitors on every level. This knowledge contributed to the desire to perfect our product. How will something that is less-than compete with established products in the market? I needed to develop a competitive mindset!</p>



<p>Not quite. WordPress is big enough for everyone to thrive. But more than that, it isn’t a dog-eat-dog world. </p>



<blockquote><p>The community doesn’t have a win-at-all-costs mentality. </p></blockquote>



<p>People here have a lifestyle approach to business, without the hyper competitive spirit. It is a wholesome and largely ethical ecosystem.</p>



<p>I discovered that the competitive spirit I thought I needed to develop—which didn’t come naturally—wasn’t necessary. I could succeed and make a mark, without that trample-to-get-ahead mentality.</p>



<p>(If only I could stop using trite-but-true phrases as adjectives as easily.)</p>



<h3 id="h-the-wheel-has-come-full-circle">The wheel has come full circle</h3>



<p>12 years ago, I started my entrepreneurial journey with BlogVault, a definite outsider to WordPress. While I have encountered the boundaries of my comfort zone many times over the years, WordPress has helped me push past them. Today, I can proudly claim to not only be part of this amazing community, but contribute to it in a meaningful way. It is now my comfort zone.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/essays/life-at-the-end-of-your-comfort-zone/">Life At The End Of Your Comfort Zone</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 03 Aug 2022 02:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"Akshat Choudhary";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:13;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:37:"Post Status: Barriers to Contributing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=103614";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:48:"https://poststatus.com/barriers-to-contributing/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3377:"<h2 id="h-small-teams-face-frustrating-barriers-trying-to-make-their-contributions-count">Small teams face frustrating barriers trying to make their contributions count</h2>



<p class="has-theme-palette-8-background-color has-background"><strong>TL;DR:</strong> Small teams have common barriers to contributing to Five for the Future. Making efficient use of their time and team members is hard when tooling and communication can soak up the hours. Learning how to contribute — and keeping up with WordPress core — makes it hard to get started and sustain effective contributions. How much of this has to do with Trac/SVN and the Make WordPress Slack &#8220;firehose,&#8221; I wonder? </p>



<p>In Post Status Slack last month, Cory <a href="https://poststatus.slack.com/archives/C038426SA/p1658527463090219">got a number of responses when he asked</a>, </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>&#8220;As a manager or owner of a WordPress company (or a WP professional), what are your obstacles/frustrations/challenges for contributing to Five for the Future?&#8221;</p></blockquote>



<p>A helpful pattern emerged in the responses, which I hadn't considered previously.</p>



<h2>Direction and Feedback Needed</h2>



<p><strong>Patrick Garman</strong> asked for clarity on what's wanted and what's actually being done for 5ftF. He also shared how tasking a dedicated staff member with a half day to contribute each week was far more effective than spreading it around his team on a totally voluntary basis. Sharing best practices for efficient contribution widely would be valuable.</p>



<h2>A Sustainable Model of Contribution for Small Teams</h2>



<p><strong>Justin Sainton</strong> agreed that &#8220;sustainable&#8221; contribution for a 1-10 person agency needs a good working model, and he hasn't found one yet. Barriers &#8220;include infrastructural issues&#8221; on both ends — the contributor and project.</p>



<p><strong>Timi Wahalahti</strong> also spoke to time management challenges in a small 8-person agency.</p>



<h2>Just Keeping Up Takes a Lot of Time</h2>



<p><strong>Thomas Maier</strong> noted the challenges of keeping up with the firehose of WordPress core communication and information: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Keeping up to date with something happening in a team I am interested in working in already needs more than 5% of my and my companies time. That’s the burden for us. I don’t feel that there is a chance to make contributions that count to the project that only need 1-2 hours per week. Assuming that publishing code on GitHub or blogging about solutions don’t officially &#8220;count.&#8221;</p></blockquote>



<h2>Trying to Make the Most of a Few Hours</h2>



<p><strong>Brian Coords</strong> also related to feeling like a few hours a week is not helpful or accomplishing much. He also opined that many employers might rather just donate money to a non-profit at arm's length from any interested parties in the WordPress community.</p>



<p>One takeaway here for me is that learning/teaching how to contribute and keeping up with WordPress core is hard enough to make it feel like you can barely get to square one as a contributor with a few hours a week. </p>



<p>How much of this has to do with things like Trac/SVN and the WordPress Slack &#8220;firehose,&#8221; I wonder? </p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 02 Aug 2022 22:03:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Dan Knauss";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:14;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"Post Status: Laura Nelson on WordPress and Email Marketing — Post Status Draft 122";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=101223";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"https://poststatus.com/laura-nelson-on-wordpress-and-email-marketing/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3230:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Laura is the Content Marketer at WooCommerce — a popular email marketing plugin for WordPress. She’s been working in the WordPress space for the past eight years, with experience in both agency and in-house marketing teams.</p>



<p><strong>Laura Nelson and Cory Miller talk about creating content for email marketing.</strong></p>







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<p><strong><a href="https://poststat.us/gravity">Gravity Forms</a></strong> is a powerful form builder for WordPress and the #1 choice for businesses and web professionals across the globe. Its vast array of features, intuitive drag-and-drop form editor, and extensive ecosystem of add-ons, ensure customers can design beautiful, intelligent, and accessible forms for any project requirement.</p>
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<h3 id="h-mentioned-in-the-show"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f517.png" alt="🔗" class="wp-smiley" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/corymiller303">Cory Miller (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/laura_nelson_">Laura Nelson (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/post_status">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>



<p class="has-background">The <strong>Post Status Draft</strong> podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f4dd.png" alt="📝" class="wp-smiley" /><br /><br /><a href="https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Browse our archives</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Simplecast</a>, or <a href="https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P">RSS</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f3a7.png" alt="🎧" class="wp-smiley" /></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 02 Aug 2022 21:15:07 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Olivia Bisset";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:87:"Do The Woo Community: What is a WordPress Developer with Ebonie, Lisa, Kathy and Robbie";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=72557";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:50:"https://dothewoo.io/defining-a-worpress-developer/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:391:"<p>Defining the parameters of what a WordPress or WooCommerce developer is has never been cut and dry.</p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io/defining-a-worpress-developer/">What is a WordPress Developer with Ebonie, Lisa, Kathy and Robbie</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce Builder Community</a>	.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 02 Aug 2022 09:43:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:16;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"Post Status: Does “Full-Site Editing” Need a New, “User-Friendly” Name?";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=103515";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"https://poststatus.com/does-full-site-editing-need-a-new-user-friendly-name/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1821:"<p class="has-drop-cap">I've been thinking about this question and the others related to it that <strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/giving-fse-a-more-user-friendly-name/">posted last week</a>. There's been a strong comment discussion so far, and I discovered <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/giving-fse-a-more-user-friendly-name/#comment-43537">what my view on it is now</a> by noticing what is going on in the grammar of &#8220;Editing&#8221; versus &#8220;Editor.&#8221;  </p>



<p>&#8220;Full Site Editing&#8221; ends with a gerund, which is a verb that's used like a noun, <a href="https://theeditorsblog.net/2018/03/07/talk-about-gerunds/">but even more specifically</a>: &#8220;a gerund names or identifies actions, states of being, and states of mind rather than people, places, things, and ideas.&#8221;</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>A gerund isn’t a verb showing what someone or something is doing; it is the thing itself that’s doing something or being something or having something done to it.</p></blockquote>



<p>&#8220;The &#8230; Editor&#8221; is a noun describing a thing that is also a place. You can &#8220;go into the editor.&#8221; But you &#8220;go into editing mode&#8221; — a change of state, not a different place. You acquire different capabilities. </p>



<p>Maybe eventually full site editing mode in some WordPress themes will mean you can edit layout (presentation) and content comprehensively. Maybe there will still need to be an option to zero in and focus on one piece of content. Currently, these are two distinct things that feel very different even in FSE themes. Complicating matters, classic, block, and hybrid themes without FSE are totally different user experience contexts.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 02 Aug 2022 03:38:53 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Dan Knauss";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:17;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:89:"WordPress.org blog: WP Briefing: Episode 37: The World of WordPress on World Wide Web Day";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:53:"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=13198";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:91:"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/08/episode-37-the-world-of-wordpress-on-world-wide-web-day/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:23622:"<p>In the thirty-seventh episode of the WordPress Briefing, WordPress users and contributors reflect on how WordPress has changed their understanding of the web as we celebrate World Wide Web Day.</p>



<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href="mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>



<h2>Credits</h2>



<p>Editor:&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/">Dustin Hartzler</a><br />Logo:&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/">Beatriz Fialho</a><br />Production:&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/santanainniss/">Santana Inniss</a> &amp; <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloé Bringmann</a><br />Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</p>



<p>Guests: </p>



<ul><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/awarner20/">Adam Warner</a></li><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aliceorru/">Alice Orrù</a></li><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/thewebprincess/">Dee Teal</a></li><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/femkreations/">Femy Praseeth</a></li><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jillbinder/">Jill Binder</a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/users/mariaojob/">Mary Job</a></li><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/onealtr/">Oneal Rosero</a></li><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/iamsirotee/">Theophilus Adegbohungbe</a></li><li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ugyensupport/">Ugyen Dorji</a></li></ul>



<h2>References</h2>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/diversity-speaker-training-workshop/">Diverse Speaker Training Group</a></p>



<p><a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/support-underrepresented-speakers-at-wordcamp-us/">Support Underrepresented Speakers at WordCamp US</a></p>



<p><a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2023/call-for-speakers/">Call of Speakers &#8211; WordCamp Asia 2023</a></p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/27/refocusing-the-wordpress-app-on-core-features/">Refocusing the WordPress App on Core Features</a></p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/08/project-kickoff-wordpress-org-homepage-and-download-page-redesign/">WordPress.org Homepage and Download Redesign </a></p>



<h2>Transcript</h2>



<span id="more-13198"></span>



<p><strong>[Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:00:00]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>Hello, everyone! And welcome to the WordPress Briefing: the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>



<p><strong>[Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:00:39]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>Today is one of my favorite niche holidays &#8211; World Wide Web Day &#8211; which serves to raise awareness about the origins of the World Wide Web project. WordPress, as part of Web 2.0, only ever had a chance to exist because the web, as we have come to know it exists. So in order to mark this nerdy day on the WP Briefing, I invited a number of community members to share a bit about how WordPress has been a part of their lives.</p>



<p>But first, let&#8217;s do some introductions.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Adam Warner 00:01:07]</strong></p>



<p>My name is <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/awarner20/">Adam Warner</a>, and I&#8217;m originally from a small town in west Michigan, now residing in Orlando, Florida.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Alice Orrù 00:01:15]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>My name is <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aliceorru/">Alicia Orrù</a>. I&#8217;m Italian. I was born in the beautiful island of Sardinia, but I&#8217;ve been living in Spain in the province of Barcelona for 10 years.</p>



<p><strong>[Dee Teal 00:01:26]</strong></p>



<p>My name is <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/thewebprincess/">Dee Teal</a>; Dee is short for Denise. I&#8217;m from New Zealand, but I live In Melbourne.</p>



<p><strong>[Femy Praseeth 00:01:33]</strong></p>



<p>Yeah, my name is <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/femkreations/">Femy Praseeth</a>. I was born and raised in India and now live in San Jose, California, with my family and cuddly Doodle.</p>



<p><strong>[Jill Binder 00:01:41]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>My name is <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jillbinder/">Jill Binder</a>, and I&#8217;ve just moved back to Vancouver, Canada.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Mary Job 00:01:47]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>My name is <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/users/mariaojob/">Mary Job</a>. I&#8217;ve been using WordPress since 2015, and I&#8217;m from Nigeria. I&#8217;m from the Western part of Nigeria. Ijebu precisely.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Oneal Rosero 00:01:57]</strong></p>



<p>Yes. My name is <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/onealtr/">Oneal Rosero</a>. I am from the Philippines and I&#8217;ve been using WordPress since 2007.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Theophilus Adegbohungbe</strong> <strong>00:02:06]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>Thank you. My name is <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/iamsirotee/">Theophilus Adegbohungbe</a> . And I&#8217;m from Ilesa, Osun State in Nigeria. </p>



<p><strong>[Ugyen Dorji 00:02:14]</strong></p>



<p>My name is <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ugyensupport/">Ugyen Dorji</a> and I&#8217;m from Bhutan. And I&#8217;m working with WordPress for more than five years.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:02:22]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>One of the things I enjoy the most about being part of any community is being able to see how people change and grow over time as they learn and gain confidence in their own expertise. So a favorite early question is naturally, ‘How has WordPress changed your World?’</p>



<p><strong>[Alice Orrù 00:02:37]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>WordPress changed my world in many ways. But, uh, starting from the moment, it allowed me to become part of a global connected and welcome community. I started using WordPress as a blogger many, many years ago, but it was in 2015 that I started working behind the scenes of WordPress with a plugin company.</p>



<p>And that was the moment when everything changed, basically, because I realized that WordPress was much more than a CMS for creating websites. It was a world full of opportunities for networking, making new friends and walking a new professional path as well.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Ugyen Dorji 00:03:15]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>During one interview, I was asked many questions about WordPress and although I had a basic understanding of WordPress, I struggled to give detailed answers.</p>



<p>After that interview, I resolved to develop my skills and learn as much about WordPress as possible. A few months passed and I received a call from ServeMask In, [who] had developed a plugin called All-in-One WP Migration plugin. They offered me a position which fulfilled my wish to work with WordPress full time.</p>



<p>And because of that, I am now an active contributor to the WordPress community as bread and butter, with the best career in the world.</p>



<p><strong>[Theophilus Adegbohungbe 00:04:03]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>If you are very familiar with my country, Nigeria things here, it&#8217;s not as smooth as it is in other parts of the world. That is, when you are done in school in my university, you have to find means of surviving yourself.&nbsp; There is nothing like the government have work for you. There is nothing like you finish our institution and you get job instantly. So it&#8217;s very tough here. And, year by year, schools keep producing graduates with no companies to employ them and no government job again as well.</p>



<p>So I personally, I was able to gain freedom from this with the help of WordPress.</p>



<p><strong>[Femy Praseeth 00:04:51]</strong></p>



<p>WordPress completely changed my work life. I started working independently. I started freelancing with agencies and designers and, uh, building websites from their web designs. And this was around the time my son was born. Actually, he was in elementary school and I think this was around 2014 or so. I started working remotely when remote was not even a thing.</p>



<p>And there were very few companies that let you work from home and remote was not a mainstream thing at all, but with WordPress, I could set my own working hours while my son was in school.</p>



<p><strong>[Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:05:29]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>And of course, my preferred follow-up question of, ‘How did you hear about us?’ or ‘How did you connect to this global community?’</p>



<p><strong>[Oneal Rosero 00:05:36]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>Yes, actually what I love about WordPress is that it&#8217;s a community. It&#8217;s not a business. It&#8217;s not a company. It&#8217;s a community. It&#8217;s a community that&#8217;s always ready to help support, teach and encourage people. That&#8217;s how I felt when I joined the community. There&#8217;s always somebody who has your back.</p>



<p>There&#8217;s always somebody who&#8217;s going to guide you. There&#8217;s always an expert who will take your hand and lead you into the beauty that is WordPress.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Adam Warner 00:06:05]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>The way that I connect with the global community these days are one, of course, is .org Slack. Another of course is Twitter as there&#8217;s a very active WordPress community there.</p>



<p>And then with WordCamps all over the globe. I&#8217;m lucky enough to have been able to travel to several hundred WordCamps through the years in the US and abroad. And that&#8217;s one of the most rewarding parts is meeting people from all over the world and you see really how small and the world really is and how similar we really all are.</p>



<p><strong>[Theophilus Adegbohungbe 00:06:39]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>So, not until 2020. I don’t know if you know this lady, a very vibrant lady in WordPress. She&#8217;s from Nigeria; her name is Mary Job, and she&#8217;s really promoting WordPress here. So it was through her that I got to know about the community. Yes.</p>



<p><strong>[Jill Binder 00:06:54]</strong></p>



<p>My work is the global WordPress community. So we hold our three programs for the global WordPress community, and we are always trying to reach more and more countries. For quite a while, it was very North America-heavy, and then I made some efforts to expand. And it&#8217;s very exciting that this year, some contributors in our team have actually launched an Asia Pacific branch of our group.&nbsp;</p>



<p>And so we have two meetings every other week where we have the America/Europe and the APAC, and we&#8217;ve also been able to reach other countries as well, but we typically reach something like between 20 and 50 countries a year, depending on the year. So a hundred percent global. Yes.</p>



<p><strong>[Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:07:39]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>How has WordPress, either the CMS or the project, made you feel more connected? And are there any surprising connections that came from WordPress?</p>



<p><strong>[Dee Teal&nbsp; 00:07:47]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>I guess the surprising connections I think that have come from WordPress have been the fact that I feel like I&#8217;ve got friends all over the world. And a lot of those have come out of community involvement and from contributing. That I could go to a, a meetup pretty much anywhere in the world and probably find somebody I know, or at least a second degree connection of somebody that I haven&#8217;t, you know, that I might not have met, but know somebody that I know. And certainly that happens fairly regularly.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Mary Job 00:08:13]</strong></p>



<p>WordPress. The WordPress project, the community, has made me feel connected in a huge way, because I am literally surrounded by everything WordPress. So I like how, when you meet somebody who does WordPress, there&#8217;s this instant, ‘Oh, we&#8217;re brothers,’ or&nbsp; ‘Oh, we&#8217;re sisters!’ You know? There&#8217;s that feeling? That&#8217;s how I feel.&nbsp;</p>



<p>So when I see somebody who does WordPress, as I do, I&#8217;m like, ‘Oh yeah, we&#8217;re, kin.’ You know? We are family. That&#8217;s how I feel when I meet people who do WordPress. And I&#8217;ve met quite a number of people who do WordPress from like around the world. Like I have a friend here, he&#8217;s from the Benin Republic, and we host started a dinner on Friday night and one of my guests was asking me, ‘How did you guys meet?’</p>



<p>I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we work in the same WordPress ecosystem.’ He attended our WordCamp, we became friends, and we just literally became really good friends. So I have tons of people that I&#8217;ve met like that I hold in high esteem.</p>



<p><strong>[Ugyen Dorji 00:09:12]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>WordPress Meetups are the seeds that lead to the growth of WordPress communities. WordCamp is a platform for plugin and theme developers to meet WordPress users and website developers. It&#8217;s a great environment where many incredible discussions about WordPress takes place. With each WordCamp there is a &#8220;tribe&#8221; meeting, where I think people [can] get more connected. It&#8217;s a fantastic opportunity for aspiring computer engineers, generators and get to showcase their talent and meet each other.</p>



<p><strong>[Alice Orrù 00:09:51]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>On the project level, it has given me the opportunity to feel like an active part of a global project. The idea that I can give my contribution to making the web a better place &#8211; it’s amazing. And I do so with the Translation team, so making WordPress accessible to all the people that use the core plugins and themes in Italian, and prefer to do that in Italian.</p>



<p><strong>[Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:10:18]</strong>&nbsp;</p>



<p>What area of the WordPress world is most important to you?</p>



<p><strong>[Jill Binder 00:10:21]</strong></p>



<p>I have a little bit of a passion for diversity in tech and diversity in WordPress, specifically around events. And so, here&#8217;s a chance to name the three programs that we&#8217;ve been working on this year. So as mentioned a few times, we have our <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/diversity-speaker-training-workshop/">Diverse Speaker Workshop</a> that helps people go from not even having the thought that people could step up on stage.</p>



<p>And then the second program is because of the pandemic. There was no longer the straight path from taking our workshop to speaking, because we used to hold them or people used to hold them for their WordCamps and meetups. And so it was like, okay, you&#8217;ve taken. Apply for our next WordCamp or meetup. But during the pandemic, that wasn&#8217;t a thing.</p>



<p>So we have this amazing channel that we welcome everyone to join, allies and people from underrepresented groups who are interested in speaking or interested in supporting people and speaking. And that&#8217;s the Diverse Speaker channel <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C028SE81N3H">diverse-speaker-support</a> channel on the Make WordPress slack.</p>



<p>And the third program is, and we, we went through a name change recently. So I&#8217;ll try to remember the new change it&#8217;s Organizing Inclusive and Diverse WordPress Events. And this is for WordCamp and meetup organizers to learn. We&#8217;ve learned over the last couple years, how important it is to create inclusive spaces and be good allies.</p>



<p>But how do we actually do that? And a few of us created a very action oriented workshop in 2019 for WCUS, and that is now the basis of the work that we are bringing to people and people are loving it.. We&#8217;ve had people report a 40%, self-report 40%, increase in feeling prepared to create an inclusive event from before and after taking that workshop, which is super cool.</p>



<p>Yeah. So, that’s my passion.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Oneal Rosero 00:12:13]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>I really love helping the WP Diversity team. I love running the workshops. I love running the workshops for myself, because I used to do training for software back before the pandemic. I used to train up to a thousand people a year in person, sometimes like 500 people in a room at once.</p>



<p>But of course I had to shift. I had to pivot to online training, which is what the training team has brought for me. And the focus on the diversity. I like running the workshops. I like running workshops for different groups, different countries, because it&#8217;s nice to meet new people. It&#8217;s nice to hear about their culture, about the limitations that people have in Africa with connectivity.</p>



<p>So they, they resort to using WhatsApp on their phone in order to do a meetup. That&#8217;s how they do their, their meetings, their discussions. It&#8217;s unlike other countries where we can do video calls. They have to use their mobile phones because connectivity isn&#8217;t accessible.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Places like in the Philippines that get affected when it starts to rain a little bit, we lose our internet. So we have backups and our backups have backups. So there are many things that you learn that are different when you&#8217;re living in the city, when you&#8217;re living in the provinces, in the country. So it&#8217;s so many things that you learn about people and how they&#8217;re able to adapt.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Adam Warner 00:13:35]</strong>&nbsp;</p>



<p>Enabling end users to reach their goals. And whether that means participating in contributing to the software, to the Core software itself, in terms of UI/UX usability. That can include participating in the community and sharing your knowledge proactively with users who may be new to the platform, or have used WordPress for a while, but now want to step up their game, get a little deeper into using their websites as a tool for growth, for whatever business that they&#8217;re in. So, I mean, overall, the, the most important part of the WordPress world to me are the end users. And, you know, there, there is this quote unquote inner circle of WordPress community people. People who are involved in .org, people who contribute to the software, people who contribute to the 20 plus make.wordpress.org teams.</p>



<p>Those we have to keep in mind, are not the average user by and far. They are not the typical user that hears the word WordPress and then goes out and searches it and then has to figure out how to use it. So I think user experience is probably the most important part for me and making sure that any of that innate knowledge that we have in that inner circle of WordPress because many of us have been using it for so long, keeping in mind that is not the norm. And it&#8217;s not the scale at which WordPress is used and, and making sure we translate complex concepts down to a layperson&#8217;s terms that might not be as familiar.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>[Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:15:17]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>One of the things that I have always found so fascinating about the web and WordPress’ role in it is how it has made the world simultaneously smaller and bigger. By giving voices to the voiceless we help each other find our community niches regardless of where they are in the world. Some of your closest friends could be people you would never meet in your own neighborhood. Well, let’s hear what some of our community members had to say about that.</p>



<p><strong>[Dee Tea 00:15:42]</strong></p>



<p>I think the thing that has been most empowering is, is coming into the project either in terms of contributing time and efforts to the community, which is where most of my contribution has been &#8211; has always been about this is a really cool thing, and I really want to build this.</p>



<p>And so I&#8217;ll put my time and efforts into building WordPress. Not for me, but because I see its value and I see its community and I see that the contribution that it&#8217;s making to the world and I, and that&#8217;s really important. But finding that on the other side of that was a huge amount of personal benefit for me in my career, in the friendships that I&#8217;ve made.</p>



<p>But I feel like if I had been approaching the community with, I want a better career, I wanna meet all of these people and I want, and I want all of this. From, “I want” for me, instead of, I want for this project, for the community and effectively for the world with that, you know, that whole democratized, the democratizing of publishing is this thing that serves the world.</p>



<p>I think that&#8217;s been the key for me is that I absolutely have reaped amazing benefits from it, but it came out of that sense of, I see this value here and I want to contribute to that because it&#8217;s gonna have value, not just for me, but for a whole slew of people. And so, uh, you know, for much, much bigger impact than just on me.</p>



<p>And so I think that&#8217;s the important thing for me is that sense of, if you approach it with that attitude of what can I do to help? It&#8217;s amazing what you will find yourself helped with in return.</p>



<p><strong>[Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:17:24]&nbsp;</strong></p>



<p>I hope that you enjoyed this tour of WordPress in the World Wide Web. I want to share a big thank you to all of the folks who contributed to our little WordPress Briefing celebration of World Wide Web Day today.</p>



<p>And that brings us now to our small list of big things. So firstly, we&#8217;ve got a couple of updates from our upcoming flagship events. WordCamp US has announced a speaker support fund specifically for historically underrepresented speakers at the event. You can donate to the fund on the page if you&#8217;d like, and there are also directions on how to request support, if you are part of an underrepresented group.&nbsp;</p>



<p>From the folks over at WordCamp Asia, the call for speakers is live. That&#8217;s taking place in February, 2023. But it&#8217;s never too early to brush up those presentations and get them submitted.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Next big thing is that there are some changes coming to the WordPress mobile app. A lot of the Jetpack functionality will be removed from it, so this is going to have a little bit of an effect on daily users of the app, but it will also have an effect on regular contributors. I&#8217;ll have a link to the full write up in the show notes so that you don&#8217;t have to guess or hold it all in your memory.&nbsp;</p>



<p>And finally, this excellent design that you see on wordpress.org/news is finally making its way out to the next parts of the wordpress.org website. Before you know, it, there will be a fresh looking homepage as well as few other pages and then… to infinity and beyond (or something like that).&nbsp;</p>



<p>And that, my friends, is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. And next up I&#8217;ll be taking just a mid-year break from the podcast. And so the next time that I actually see you again, will be in September.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 01 Aug 2022 23:15:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Chloe Bringmann";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:18;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:92:"Do The Woo Community: dev_life snippet: Back-end, Front-end WooCommerce Performance Insights";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=72483";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:72:"https://dothewoo.io/back-end-front-end-woocommerce-performance-insights/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:436:"<p>When it comes to performance on a WooCommerce site, without proper diagnostics, you're wasting your time quite often.</p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io/back-end-front-end-woocommerce-performance-insights/">dev_life snippet: Back-end, Front-end WooCommerce Performance Insights</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce Builder Community</a>	.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 01 Aug 2022 09:42:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:19;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:52:"WordPress.org blog: People of WordPress: Carla Doria";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=13201";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/07/people-of-wordpress-carla-doria/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10299:"<p><strong>In this series, we share some of the inspiring stories of how WordPress and its global network of contributors can change people’s lives for the better. This month we feature Carla Doria, a customer support specialist from South America on how WordPress opened up a new world for her, and gave her the ability to help the local community</strong>.</p>



<p>For Carla, working with WordPress is a vital part of her life. It gave her a career and a community, in which she she would organize the first WordCamp in her city, Cochabamba, and the first in Bolivia.</p>



<p>Carla studied industrial engineering and has a master’s degree in environmental studies.<br />Her first experience with WordPress was when she decided to start a small business designing and selling cushions and bedclothes.&nbsp;While Carla sat in the small store she had rented, hoping that people stopping at the shop windows would step in to buy something, she decided she needed to create a website.</p>



<h2><strong>First steps with WordPress</strong></h2>



<p>Carla had no budget to hire somebody, but she felt confident&nbsp; she could learn things on her own.&nbsp;</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>“Learning to use WordPress requires no code skills or a technical background. It needs an adventurous and playful spirit.” </p><cite>Carla Doria</cite></blockquote>



<p>She had always been studious, and decided she would figure out how to build a website herself. Carla ended up building a simple blog with WordPress. At the time, she didn’t even have a budget to buy a custom domain, so she used a free subdomain.<br /><br />“Learning to use WordPress is easy. It requires no code skills or a technical background at all. It only needs an adventurous and playful spirit,” said Carla</p>



<p>There were no profits, and any income mainly went to pay the store’s rent. At the time, her previous company contacted her for a job opening that matched her profile. Carla needed that income and decided to closed the store and forget about being an entrepreneur.</p>



<p>Back in employee mode, Carla started her new job as a technical writer for a software development company. Since Carla had completed her master’s degree in the UK, she was proficient in English. Her close affinity for computers and technology made it easy for her to translate complex software jargon into simple tutorial steps.</p>



<p>As Carla got more interested in technical writing and started to improve her writing skills. This reconnected her with her previous enthusiasm for writing, and she decided to channel that interest into a blog.</p>



<h2><strong>Diving deep</strong></h2>



<p>Creating her blog helped her become more familiar with WordPress and building websites. In 2015, Carla blogged about writing, her thoughts, book reviews, and everything that came to mind.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Through looking for answers to specific issues using her WordPress blog, Carla found the support forums a useful place to go. Soon she realized that she could also help answer other people’s questions.</p>



<img width="600" height="900" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/07/carla-doria-2.jpg?resize=600%2C900&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-13189" />



<p>Carla began checking the forums as a hobby. She liked that she was able to help people and learn more while doing so. </p>



<p>Instead of surfing social media during her work breaks, Carla focused on checking the WordPress forums. Through this she learnt about a support job in one of the global firms.</p>



<p>She felt the job was made for her and was excited to support people in building their websites with WordPress. The role offered the possibility to work remotely and travel while still working.</p>



<p>After three years as a technical writer, her career felt stuck. She was certain she did not want to return to any job related to industrial engineering. </p>



<p>Carla did not get through the selection process the first time. But after nearly 18 months between three applications and learning HTML and CSS, Carla finally secured a support job in 2016. With this job, WordPress became her main source of income.</p>



<h2><strong>Leading a local WordPress community</strong></h2>



<p>On the job, Carla learned about the WordPress communities around the world and WordCamps. But when somebody asked about the WordPress community where Carla lived, she didn’t know what to say. Was there a community?</p>



<p>She discovered no local group existed, so she researched what was needed to setup a meetup. Carla discussed the idea with others, but hesitated as she thought it would require an expert WordPress developer to organize.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>But after trying to gauge interest, Carla realized that the only way to find community members was to start a community. In 2017, the <a href="https://www.meetup.com/Cochabamba-WordPress-Meetup/">WordPress community in Cochabamba</a> was born.</p>



<img width="684" height="391" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/07/Comunidad_WP_Cochabamba_FSE_event2022.jpg?resize=684%2C391&ssl=1" alt="The theme preview screen in the WordPress Cochabamba meeting on creating your website with blocks." class="wp-image-13236" /><em>WordPress meeting in Cochabamba explored creating your website with blocks</em>



<p>The group has had ups and downs, probably similar to any other community. Although Cochabamba is not a big city, they had issues finding a location that was free and available to anyone who wanted to join. People came with different levels of knowledge, from people with&nbsp;vast experience with WordPress to people with no experience but who wanted to learn.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The community grew during the pandemic, as meetups went online and people from other cities in Bolivia were able to attend. After restrictions were lifted, there was a lot of excitement amongst members to meet each other in person.</p>



<h2><strong>Giving back through speaking</strong></h2>



<img width="600" height="900" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/07/carla-doria-1.jpg?resize=600%2C900&ssl=1" alt="Carla reading a book under a tree" class="wp-image-13191" />



<p>The community also helped Carla to develop a new skill in public speaking. She applied to be a speaker at WordCamp Mexico <a href="https://mexicocity.wordcamp.org/2019/">2019</a> and <a href="https://mexicocity.wordcamp.org/2020/">2020</a>, <a href="https://guayaquil.wordcamp.org/2019/">WordCamp Guayaquil 2019</a>, and <a href="https://colombia.wordcamp.org/2020/">WordCamp Colombia in 2020</a>. Her confidence grew while she enjoyed connecting with other communities and meeting people who were on similar pathways. Not all of them were developers, as she had presumed. Many, like her, started out as bloggers.</p>



<img width="977" height="419" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/07/WCC.png?resize=977%2C419&ssl=1" alt="WordCamp Cochabamba's logo with blue and grey lettering and a hat" class="wp-image-13228" />



<p>Finally, after three years, Carla applied to organize her first WordCamp in 2021 in <a href="https://cochabamba.wordcamp.org/2021/">Cochabamba</a>. She had never imagined organizing any WordCamp, and through this having the experience to talk to sponsors and contact companies, and lead a group of people with different talents and backgrounds. Carla felt she had learnt so much from the experience.</p>



<p>Thanks to WordPress, Carla found a job she enjoyed, was able to work remotely, and help build something in her community to help people learn skills and find career opportunities.</p>



<p>Carla feels grateful for all she has been able to do thanks to WordPress. She said: “WordPress has led me to find good jobs. It also has allowed me to contribute to a community of friends that love learning about WordPress.”  </p>



<p></p>



<h2>Share the stories</h2>



<p>Help share these stories of open source contributors and continue to grow the community. Meet more WordPressers in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/category/newsletter/interviews/">People of WordPress series</a>.</p>



<h2>Contributors</h2>



<p>Thanks to Alison Rothwell (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpfiddlybits/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>wpfiddlybits</a>), Abha Thakor (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>webcommsat</a>), Larissa Murillo (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lmurillom/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>lmurillom</a>), Meher Bala (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>meher</a>), Chloe Bringmann (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>cbringmann</a>), and Surendra Thakor (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sthakor/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>sthakor</a>) for work on this feature, and to all the contributors who helped with the series recently. Thank you too to Carla Doria (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/carlisdm/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>carlisdm</a>) for sharing her experiences.</p>



<p>Thank you to Josepha Haden (@chantaboune) and Topher DeRosia (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>topher1kenobe</a>) for their support of the People of WordPress series.</p>



<div class="wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-center"><img width="180" height="135" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2020/03/heropress_logo_180.png?resize=180%2C135&ssl=1" alt="HeroPress logo" class="wp-image-8409 size-full" /><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<p class="has-small-font-size"><em>This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on </em><a href="https://heropress.com/"><em>HeroPress.com</em></a><em>, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard. </em>#HeroPress </p>
</div></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sun, 31 Jul 2022 19:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Meher Bala";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:20;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:87:"WPTavern: Gutenberg Contributors Experiment with Custom Labeling of Blocks in List View";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=136428";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:98:"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-contributors-experiment-with-custom-labeling-of-blocks-in-list-view";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3384:"<p>It&#8217;s easy to get lost among a sea of Cover, Group, and Paragraph blocks while navigating the block editor&#8217;s List View. Clicking around wildly will generally surface the block you&#8217;re seeking, but it&#8217;s not efficient or intuitive. Gutenberg contributors have some ideas and prototypes aimed at giving the List View more context.</p>



<p>Rich Tabor <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33583">proposed</a> a solution where users can double-click to rename a block within the list, giving it a unique identifier. Gutenberg developer Dave Smith created <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/42605">an experimental PR</a> that adds custom labeling/naming of blocks in the List View. It currently works for Group blocks only. Tabor posted a demo to Twitter and the response was overwhelmingly positive.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's coming → <a href="https://t.co/A9sbjIzYmL">https://t.co/A9sbjIzYmL</a> <a href="https://t.co/FHEhqOxjZL">pic.twitter.com/FHEhqOxjZL</a></p>&mdash; Rich Tabor (@richard_tabor) <a href="https://twitter.com/richard_tabor/status/1550155092837470208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>&#8220;Custom block labels in the List view is a must-have,&#8221; Chris Bell <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/33583#issuecomment-938557620">commented</a> on the original proposal. &#8220;It improves productivity and adds psychological order/control over the layout.</p>



<p>&#8220;I think popovers should only be used for extra long edge-case custom labels as I imagine most labels will be 2-3 words max.&#8221; He posted an example of what that might look like.</p>



<img />



<p>Extra long labels would simply be truncated to maintain the width of the List View:</p>



<img />



<p>Smith posted a list of questions regarding the technical implementation he proposed:</p>



<ul><li>Is&nbsp;<code>alias</code>&nbsp;attribute the best place to store the data?</li><li>Should the custom label be local to the editor or should it be attached to the block?</li><li>Can we add a means to &#8220;reset&#8221; the custom label and go back to the standard label?</li><li>Do we need a &#8220;submit&#8221; button as well as the&nbsp;<code>ENTER</code>-to-submit mechanic?</li></ul>



<p>Contributors are currently testing and weighing in on these questions. Smith recommended progress on the feature wait to align with the solution in another active <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/40393">ticket</a> that seeks to add a metadata attribute to blocks, allowing section naming and future semantic meta information. Once that is resolved, custom labeling for blocks in the List View will have a more straightforward technical solution.</p>



<p>In the meantime, Gutenberg 13.7 added a related <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/41855">update</a> as a first step that improves navigation in the List View. It will now automatically display Heading content for the button label text when available. </p>



<img />



<p>If you are using the Gutenberg plugin, this is available right now in the most recent update. Custom labels will be coming next to provide a clearer overview of other types of blocks and make page building/editing much easier.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 29 Jul 2022 20:23:29 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:21;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:54:"Post Status: Post Status Picks for the Week of July 25";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=103385";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:54:"https://poststatus.com/post-status-picks-july-25-2022/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2581:"<div class="has-background has-theme-palette-7-background-color wp-block-post-excerpt"><p class="wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt"><strong>Syntax.fm</strong> has an interview with <strong>Syed Balkhi</strong> about <strong>Awesome Motive</strong>, how <strong>WordPress</strong> and <strong>PHP</strong> are viewed by developers, and his charity efforts. <strong>The WP Minute</strong> features <strong>Amber Hinds</strong> on <strong>Equalize Digital</strong>’s first exit. <strong>Sean Blakeley</strong> <a href="https://wptavern.com/podcast/36-sean-blakeley-on-transitioning-a-large-agency-over-to-gutenberg">talks about transitioning a large agency</a> over to <strong>Gutenberg</strong> at the <strong>WP Tavern</strong>&#8216;s <strong>Jukebox</strong>. </p></div>


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<h2 id="h-post-status-podcast-picks">Post Status Podcast Picks <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f399.png" alt="🎙" class="wp-smiley" /></h2>



<ul><li><strong>Syntax.fm</strong>: <a href="https://syntax.fm/show/490/supper-club-syed-balkhi-and-wordpress">An interview with</a> <strong>Syed Balkhi</strong> about <strong>Awesome Motive</strong>, how <strong>WordPress</strong> and <strong>PHP</strong> are viewed by developers, and his charity efforts.</li><li><strong>The WP Minute:</strong> <strong>Amber Hinds</strong> <a href="https://thewpminute.com/selling-wp-conference-schedule/">shares her point of view</a> on <strong>Equalize Digital’s</strong> first “exit.”</li><li><strong>WP Tavern</strong>: <strong>Sean Blakeley</strong> <a href="https://wptavern.com/podcast/36-sean-blakeley-on-transitioning-a-large-agency-over-to-gutenberg">talks about transitioning a large agency</a> over to Gutenberg.</li></ul>



<div class="wp-container-23 wp-block-group has-theme-palette-8-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container">
<p><strong>Get our weekly WordPress community news digest</strong> — Post Status' <a href="https://poststatus.com/news-and-insights/week-in-review/">Week in Review</a> — also available in <a href="https://poststatus.com/newsletter">our newsletter</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f48c.png" alt="💌" class="wp-smiley" />  </p>



<p>And don't miss <strong>the latest updates from the people making WordPress</strong>. We've got you covered with <a href="https://poststatus.com/make-wordpress/">This Week at WordPress.org</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/2699.png" alt="⚙" class="wp-smiley" /></p>
</div></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 29 Jul 2022 17:48:55 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Dan Knauss";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:22;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:60:"WPTavern: WebP by Default Merged Into Core for WordPress 6.1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=136600";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://wptavern.com/webp-by-default-merged-into-core-for-wordpress-6-1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4981:"<p>WebP, an image format developed by Google, which is intended to replace JPEG, PNG, and GIF file formats, will soon be generated by default for new JPEG image uploads in WordPress and used for website content. The main work for this feature was <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/53751">committed</a> to core for inclusion in the upcoming WordPress 6.1 release.</p>



<p>The initial proposal was <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-performance-team-revises-proposal-for-webp-by-default">revised after significant critical feedback</a>. The most notable changes include automatically generating WebP versions of only core image sizes, keeping secondary (WebP) sub-sizes only if they are smaller than the primary MIME type, and only generating WebP images for image sizes that are intended for use in user-facing front-end content.</p>



<p>Despite a raft of revisions, and filters to control or disable WebP uploads, the proposal remained controversial. Contributors continue to report issues after testing. Many still have reservations about whether this should be opt-in or on by default.</p>



<p>&#8220;When converting medium-resolution photographs (approx 1600px – 2500px on the long edge), WebP files are often larger than the JPEG equivalent,&#8221; WordPress developer Mark Howells-Mead <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55443#comment:14">commented</a> on the main ticket for WebP work. &#8220;(In my tests using my own photography, in around 60% of cases.) This change might make the &#8216;modern image format&#8217; test of Page Speed Insights happy, but enforcing WebP by default on sites which use a lot of photography will often cause longer image loading times.&#8221;</p>



<p>Some developers are supportive of the change but prefer for it to be off by default when it is first rolled out, to allow the ecosystem to prepare for the change.</p>



<p>&#8220;I definitely see it as a big advantage to add Core support for additional MIME types for sub-sized image files,&#8221; Matthias Reinholz <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55443#comment:40">said</a>.  &#8220;But I can&#8217;t see adding conversion to a specific other file format as preferred behavior. This may help to optimize the market position of WebP but it will also be a serious threat to plugin authors and existing larger websites that do not pay attention to this change.</p>



<p>&#8220;Therefore, I&#8217;m questioning why this functionality should be activated by default at this stage. <strong>IMHO, it should be opt-in only.</strong> Plus ideally, we would already start to think about adding further image formats to be supported by this feature.&#8221;</p>



<p>NerdPress founder Andrew Wilder created a separate <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/56263">ticket</a> urging contributors to consider making the feature opt-in, but the ticket was closed and conversation directed back to the main ticket so as not to splinter the discussion.</p>



<p> &#8220;Making these new features opt-in instead of opt-out would be the best way to be cautious about potential impacts,&#8221; Wilder <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55443#comment:44">said</a>.</p>



<p>&#8220;There have been many requests for this to be opt-in (as well as some asking for a setting on the Media page, rather than only a filter for developers). So far there hasn&#8217;t been any open conversation about why that&#8217;s not being taken into consideration.&#8221;</p>



<p>The notion that WebP by default should be opt-in was summarily dismissed and the conversation was not revisited before the changes were committed.</p>



<p>&#8220;The feature will have widespread benefits for users by opting in core sizes (to start) &#8211; if it were entirely opt-in it would have little impact &#8211; or benefit,&#8221; Google-sponsored Core Committer Adam Silverstein <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55443#comment:62">said</a> in response to opponents.</p>



<p>In response to suggestions that this feature ship with a UI for enabling it on the media page, Silverstein said, &#8220;We have discussed both suggestions in chats and issues with mixed responses. Project <a href="https://wordpress.org/about/philosophy/">philosophy</a> is regularly mentioned as aligning with the current approach.&#8221; </p>



<p>The <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55443#comment:69">ticket</a> remains open awaiting patches for a few loose threads on the technical implementation. Contributors have continued to chime in with additional concerns.</p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/performance/2022/07/26/welcome-to-the-performance-team-blog/">The Performance team has a new blog</a> where people can follow updates on their current projects and proposals. Now that the main WebP work has been committed, the next steps will discussed in future meetings with notes posted to the new Core Performance blog.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 29 Jul 2022 17:47:47 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:23;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:113:"Post Status: “We’re not a small village anymore.” A Conversation with Kim Lipari — Post Status Draft 121";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=103274";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"https://poststatus.com/not-a-small-village-anymore-kim-lipari/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4561:"<div class="wp-container-25 wp-block-group has-theme-palette-8-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container"><div class="has-background has-theme-palette-8-background-color wp-block-post-excerpt"><p class="wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt">WordPress as an economy or ecosystem is big, but the community and culture at its heart still feel small. Have we taken the time to really absorb the change that's come over the past decade? What questions should we be asking about what got us here and where we're going or want to go? </p></div>


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<p class="yoast-reading-time__wrapper"><span class="yoast-reading-time__icon"></span><span class="yoast-reading-time__spacer"></span><span class="yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text">Estimated reading time:  </span><span class="yoast-reading-time__reading-time">1</span><span class="yoast-reading-time__time-unit"> minute</span></p>
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<p class="has-drop-cap"><strong>Kim Lipari</strong> is our guest for this episode of Post Status Draft. Kim started building her career in WordPress over ten years ago, and her agency, <strong>Valet</strong>, is almost that old. WordPress isn't a small village community anymore, says Kim, but we still talk about it as if it is. That tightly knit community is still there because — not in spite of — incredible growth. </p>



<p>But what does the fact of growth mean for a small village culture? Can it turn into an enclave or cult? Is the language of a small village still an appropriate language for leadership? Do we need to act more like we're a busy city — and make an effort to get to know our newer neighbors' stories? Can we keep (let alone scale) the values, culture, and kindness of a healthy small community as we grow?</p>







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<p><strong>WP Engine</strong> is <a href="https://poststat.us/wpengine/">the WordPress Digital Experience Platform that drives your business forward faster</a>. WP Engine makes WordPress easier and faster. It does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your core business and win online.</p>
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<h3 id="h-mentioned-in-the-show"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f517.png" alt="🔗" class="wp-smiley" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/kimberlylipari">Kim Lipari (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/dan_knauss">Dan Knauss (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/post_status">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>



<p class="has-background">The <strong>Post Status Draft</strong> podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f4dd.png" alt="📝" class="wp-smiley" /><br /><br /><a href="https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Browse our archives</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Simplecast</a>, or <a href="https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P">RSS</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f3a7.png" alt="🎧" class="wp-smiley" /></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 29 Jul 2022 03:17:09 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Olivia Bisset";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:24;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"WPTavern: WordPress Theme Authors Are Moving to Host Fonts Locally";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=135783";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-authors-are-moving-to-host-fonts-locally";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5235:"<img />



<p>The WordPress Themes team is poised to change its guidelines on remote hosting Google Fonts and is once again strongly urging theme authors to host their fonts locally. Yoast-sponsored contributor Ari Stathopoulos published an <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2022/07/28/using-locally-hosted-google-fonts-in-themes/">update</a> today to answer some questions the team has been receiving about fonts in themes:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Historically, WordPress themes hosted in the&nbsp;<a href="https://w.org/themes">w.org themes repository</a>&nbsp;were not allowed to use third-party resources. This included images,&nbsp;javascript&nbsp;files,&nbsp;CSS&nbsp;files, webfonts, and other assets loaded from a remote server.</p><p>Google fonts was an exception to this rule because, at the time, there was no reliable way to implement locally-hosted webfonts, and typography is an integral part of a theme’s design.</p><p>Google fonts, however, can no longer be considered an exception to this guideline because of the GDPR and privacy implications.</p></blockquote>



<p>The team is responding to a recent German court case, which&nbsp;<a href="https://wptavern.com/german-court-fines-website-owner-for-violating-the-gdpr-by-using-google-hosted-fonts">fined a website owner for violating the GDPR by using Google-hosted webfonts</a>. This case spurred a few other threats against website owners and many questions for the Themes team.</p>



<p>What was previously a strong <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-strongly-urges-theme-authors-to-switch-to-locally-hosted-webfonts">recommendation</a> from WordPress.org is now a warning that guidelines will be changing imminently. </p>



<p>&#8220;A theme should not be allowed to use external resources,&#8221; Stathopoulos said. &#8220;The guidelines right now allow for remote Google fonts, but that will probably change soon. If the theme is using external assets, then yes, it should call a privacy function and ensure that these assets don’t get loaded without the user’s explicit consent.&#8221;</p>



<p>A <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55985">ticket</a> for updating WordPress&#8217; default themes to load Google fonts locally has a patch but the milestone is set for WordPress 6.1. This will make all the core themes GDPR compliant but will not arrive until October.</p>



<p>Some theme authors saw the writing on the wall a few weeks ago and have been working to update their themes to load fonts locally. </p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I spent the day updating all* of my WordPress themes to replace Google Fonts with locally hosted font files, given the recent policy change on the theme directory. <a href="https://t.co/yp6ZHduHjI">https://t.co/yp6ZHduHjI</a><br /><br />(*Chaplin excluded – it supports disabling them in the Customizer.) <a href="https://t.co/eKyRFT4wGm">pic.twitter.com/eKyRFT4wGm</a></p>&mdash; Anders Norén (@andersnoren) <a href="https://twitter.com/andersnoren/status/1542126387078864901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve decided to do this too,&#8221; Rough Pixels founder André Jutras said. &#8220;Although a few themes have a font-choosing option in the Customizer with the full Google selection. This is going to be hard to change with existing users that use it. My new theme will definitely have local fonts.&#8221;</p>



<p>Offering font selection for users inside the theme is not as straightforward as simply including one or two fonts bundled with the theme.</p>



<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been trying to do the same with Blockbase,&#8221; Automattic developer Jason Crist said. &#8220;But Blockbase ships with a LOT of fonts to choose from so it&#8217;s been a bit of a unique challenge.&#8221;</p>



<p>In 2020, the Themes team <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2020/09/25/new-package-to-allow-locally-hosting-webfonts/">created a package</a> that helps theme authors host their webfonts locally. It was created in anticipation of removing Google Fonts as the exception to the rule prohibiting the use of CDNs to load assets. </p>



<p><a href="https://fonts.bunny.net/">Bunny Fonts</a> are are an alternative to Google Fonts that some plugin authors have on their radar now that some European jurisdictions are cracking down on Google-hosted fonts. It is an open-source, privacy-first web font platform with no tracking or logging and is fully GDPR compliant. Bunny Fonts is compatible with the Google Fonts CSS v1 API so it can function as a drop-in replacement to Google Fonts by just switching the hostname. If the Themes Team was to add any service to its exception list, Bunny Fonts would be a more privacy respecting option than Google Fonts.</p>



<p>The Themes Team is waiting on core to implement <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/46370">better support for loading local fonts</a> before making a sweeping requirement for themes hosted in the directory. In the meantime, WordPress theme authors have the time to update their themes to load Google Fonts locally before a requirement is put in place.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 28 Jul 2022 20:01:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:25;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"Do The Woo Community: When You Really Do the Woo with Ronald Gijsel";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=72536";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:46:"https://dothewoo.io/woocommerce-ronald-gijsel/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:362:"<p>Co-host Ronald shares his experience so far having joined the WooCommerce team at Automattic. </p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io/woocommerce-ronald-gijsel/">When You Really Do the Woo with Ronald Gijsel</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce Builder Community</a>	.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 28 Jul 2022 08:59:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:26;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:127:"WordCamp Central: WordCamp Jinja: Diverse Speaker Sessions, Web Design Hackathon, Teachers Workshop and Fun at the Nile Source!";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:39:"https://central.wordcamp.org/?p=3151988";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:148:"https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2022/07/wordcamp-jinja-diverse-speaker-sessions-web-design-hackathon-teachers-workshop-and-fun-at-the-nile-source/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13466:"<a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2022/07/image.png"><img /></a>



<p><em><a href="https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/">WordCamp Jinja 2022</a> (Fri 2nd– Sat 3rd Sept 2022) will be a major community event in Jinja City, Uganda, where WordPress developers, website designers, online publishers, students and teachers will converge to share comprehensive knowledge and experiences, and to meet other WordPress users. Its going to be a great networking event that will also attract guests from all over Uganda and beyond. The main host venue will be <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Innovation+Village+-+Jinja/@0.4241821,33.2067269,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipOQ2B4MxWlVvX3YXh2TrPo-KBaUlEwA1KYOsPBX!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOQ2B4MxWlVvX3YXh2TrPo-KBaUlEwA1KYOsPBX%3Dw114-h86-k-no!7i4608!8i3456!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x177e7b8c49a3ea9b:0xea6213d867b205e!2sThe+Innovation+Village+-+Jinja!8m2!3d0.4241821!4d33.2067269!3m4!1s0x177e7b8c49a3ea9b:0xea6213d867b205e!8m2!3d0.4241821!4d33.2067269">The Innovation Village, Plot 5 Main Street, Jinja City</a>.</em></p>



<p><em>There will be something for everyone – beginner’s training, inspirational talks, showcases, best practices, latest trends, plus an after party with lots of fun and camping at the Source of the Nile in Jinja!</em></p>



<h2><strong>Planned Activities</strong></h2>



<ol><li><strong>Diverse Speaker Presentations</strong> will be delivered on various topics ranging from what&#8217;s new in the WordPress ecosystem, show cases, website optimization (SEO, security, performance), developer tools and best practices, contributing to open source and the WordPress project, web business and professionalism, digital marketing, etc.</li><li><strong>Web Design Hackathon</strong> will connect volunteer developers with local startups in need of websites. There will be a dev challenge for Websites to be setup and a showcase of work-done be presented on the last day of the WordCamp! The Hackathon will also serve as an opportunity for meeting and working with new people! More details about the hackathon in <a href="https://twitter.com/WordPressJinja/status/1551111250544939008">this tweet</a>.</li><li><strong>Teachers Workshop</strong> will explore the integration of WordPress in the local education curriculum. Teachers will be trained on how to introduce WordPress to their students for web design topic in O-level computer studies exam, for project work and world of work assessment. Vital teaching and learning resources such as the lesson plans at <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org">learn.wordpress.org</a> will be shared. Teachers will also be inspired to take on Web Design as a side business to earn extra income alongside their school salaries! Registration of teachers and students is being done by the ICT Teachers Association via this link: <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTKI37jKRIULq1hbBgovtDV1_WsQMDNFzySsKJSn0OdW4rGQ/viewform">bit.ly/wordcampjinja</a>.</li><li><strong>A visit to the Source of the Nile</strong> &#8211; Jinja city is nestled on the shores of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, and is deeply rooted in colorful history. The city is home to the source of the Nile, the longest river in the world. River Nile is one of the major geographic superlatives on the earth and from time immemorial, and it has been an outstanding natural land feature worth mentioning in historical books including the holy bible. The New Iconic Nile Bridge is the gateway to Jinja City. WordCamp Jinja will be wrapped up in style with a group photo and fun at the Source of Nile!</li></ol>



<p>Full <a href="https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/schedule/">schedule </a>of activities will be published soon.</p>



<p><strong>Accommodation</strong> For those coming to Jinja for their first time, there are several hotels and guest houses where you can reside. Check through this listing by booking.com: bit.ly/jinjahotels. You can also contact the WordCamp team at jinja@wordcamp.org for more inquiries and guidance.</p>



<h2><strong>Get Involved</strong></h2>



<p>There are several ways to get involved! Check out the details below:</p>



<ul><li><strong>Purchase Attendee Tickets:</strong> <a href="https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/tickets/">https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/tickets/</a></li><li><strong>Call for Sponsors:</strong> <a href="https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-sponsors/">https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-sponsors/</a></li><li><strong>Call for Speakers:</strong> <a href="https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/">https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/</a></li><li><strong>Call for Volunteers:</strong> <a href="https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-volunteers/">https://jinja.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-volunteers/</a></li></ul>



<h2>Join the discussion via #WordCampJinja hashtag on Twitter</h2>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Preparations for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordCampJinja?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WordCampJinja</a> are in high gear! Visit <a href="https://t.co/BwFGg9CSyL">https://t.co/BwFGg9CSyL</a> to apply as speaker, volunteer or sponsor! <a href="https://twitter.com/TheVillageUG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheVillageUG</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/bluehost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bluehost</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jetpack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jetpack</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mrkwordpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mrkwordpress</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/nexcess?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nexcess</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/weglot?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@weglot</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WooCommerce?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WooCommerce</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/wordpressdotcom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wordpressdotcom</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/techrtblog?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@techrtblog</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ictteachersug?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ictteachersug</a>  <a href="https://twitter.com/WordPressKLA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordPressKLA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WordcampEntebbe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordcampEntebbe</a> <a href="https://t.co/PFKwQgPZGp">pic.twitter.com/PFKwQgPZGp</a></p>&mdash; WordPress Jinja Meetup (@WordPressJinja) <a href="https://twitter.com/WordPressJinja/status/1549326219027644416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Proud ICT Teacher @ <a href="https://t.co/A2YS8cBmH4">https://t.co/A2YS8cBmH4</a> ready to attend the WordCamp 2022 at <a href="https://twitter.com/TheVillageUG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheVillageUG</a> Jinja. <a href="https://twitter.com/WordPressJinja?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordPressJinja</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveUG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SteveUG</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ICTClubsUg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ICTClubsUg</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MatovuHermanJo1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MatovuHermanJo1</a> <a href="https://t.co/huCnYTguLa">pic.twitter.com/huCnYTguLa</a></p>&mdash; Kibuuka Simon Peter (@SimonKibuuka2) <a href="https://twitter.com/SimonKibuuka2/status/1551487870070042624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking forward to WordCamp Jinja in Uganda Africa Great things are happening in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Africa?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Africa</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LoveBuiltLife?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LoveBuiltLife</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/myquesttoteach?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@myquesttoteach</a> excited about another awesome WordCamp in Africa<a href="https://twitter.com/WordcampEntebbe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordcampEntebbe</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/wordcampegypt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wordcampegypt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WordCampAfrica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordCampAfrica</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WordCampKE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordCampKE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WordCampLagos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordCampLagos</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/wordcampnigeria?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wordcampnigeria</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WordCampMsa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordCampMsa</a> <a href="https://t.co/eNHahBPnsn">https://t.co/eNHahBPnsn</a></p>&mdash; Wm Jackson, M.Ed 33yrs Teaching; SCSU Grad (@wmjackson) <a href="https://twitter.com/wmjackson/status/1550465693358952448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am so looking forward to what may be my first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordCamp?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WordCamp</a> post-covid &amp; the after-party at the Source of the Nile<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f973.png" alt="🥳" class="wp-smiley" />! &#8211; at <a href="https://twitter.com/WordPressJinja?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WordPressJinja</a> &#8211; speaker &amp; volunteer applications are open &#8211; sponsors are also welcome, please<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f60a.png" alt="😊" class="wp-smiley" /><br /><br />Get your tickets at <a href="https://t.co/b1yQxad2LZ">https://t.co/b1yQxad2LZ</a><br /> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordCampJinja?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WordCampJinja</a> <a href="https://t.co/yjm6HyJHHG">pic.twitter.com/yjm6HyJHHG</a></p>&mdash; Mary Job (@maryojob) <a href="https://twitter.com/maryojob/status/1551177175704944647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f310.png" alt="🌐" class="wp-smiley" />Volunteer developers will offer  <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreeWebDesign?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FreeWebDesign</a> and support during the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hackerthon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hackerthon</a> session on day one of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordCampJinja?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WordCampJinja</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TheVillageUG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheVillageUG</a><br /><br /><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f310.png" alt="🌐" class="wp-smiley" />Interested? Here's the Website data collection form: <a href="https://t.co/x8UZL5HsMV">https://t.co/x8UZL5HsMV</a> <br /><br /><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f310.png" alt="🌐" class="wp-smiley" />Call for volunteer web developers: <a href="https://t.co/llyCAUfd80">https://t.co/llyCAUfd80</a> <a href="https://t.co/aDLs9ESaYI">pic.twitter.com/aDLs9ESaYI</a></p>&mdash; WordPress Jinja Meetup (@WordPressJinja) <a href="https://twitter.com/WordPressJinja/status/1551111250544939008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Watch: Listen in to testimonies from some teachers as they share past WordCamp experiences: <a href="https://t.co/IQwzCIU1T6">https://t.co/IQwzCIU1T6</a><br /><br />This year's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordCampJinja?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WordCampJinja</a> is your chance to be transformed FOREVER! Register with us via <a href="https://t.co/VEocuou0JJ">https://t.co/VEocuou0JJ</a> or buy general ticket at <a href="https://t.co/uK4a0qXd5O">https://t.co/uK4a0qXd5O</a></p>&mdash; ICT Teachers Association of Uganda (ITAU) (@ictteachersug) <a href="https://twitter.com/ictteachersug/status/1549632060414894087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We're excited to sponsor WordCamp Jinja at <a href="https://twitter.com/TheVillageUG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheVillageUG</a> on September 2-3, 2022. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f389.png" alt="🎉" class="wp-smiley" /><br /><br />Join us and the Ugandan <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordPress?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WordPress</a> community as we learn from and support each other. We'd <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f49c.png" alt="💜" class="wp-smiley" /> to see you there – get your ticket today at the link below. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f447.png" alt="👇" class="wp-smiley" /><a href="https://t.co/lpQhWmdxWV">https://t.co/lpQhWmdxWV</a></p>&mdash; WooCommerce (@WooCommerce) <a href="https://twitter.com/WooCommerce/status/1549363522957705216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<p>Looking forward to a wonderful WordCamp at the Nile Source! </p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 28 Jul 2022 08:00:10 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Mukalele Rogers";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:27;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:41:"Post Status: EMEA and AMER Member Huddles";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=103136";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:52:"https://poststatus.com/emea-and-amer-member-huddles/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1516:"<h2 id="h-new-post-status-member-huddles">NEW: Post Status <a href="https://poststatus.com/huddles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Member Huddles</a> ›</h2>



<p>We are hosting <a href="https://poststatus.com/huddles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>Two Weekly Post Status Member Huddles</strong></a> now.<strong> </strong>Huddles open time and space for our community of peers designed for<strong> camaraderie and connection for all WordPress Professionals, </strong><em>even if you're not a member yet.</em><br /><br /><strong>Sign up</strong> for one of our current Huddles:</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcuf-uprT0oGdx2Pg91t1eADl5JOow2YwLR" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wednesdays @ 9am Central (-6) / 4pm Paris (+2)</a> — Hosted by PS members <strong>Jason Rouet </strong>and<strong> Evangelia Pappa</strong></li><li><a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEldeGtrjgsHNZEvzSYTIxv8vHmZb7T_3Tn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wednesdays @ 11am Central (-6) / 6pm Paris (+2)</a> — Hosted by PS teammates <strong>Michelle Frechette </strong>and<strong> Cory Miller</strong></li></ul>



<p><a href="https://poststatus.com/huddles/#survey" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>What Days/Times Work Best To Join a Huddle?</strong></a><strong> — </strong>We’re looking to expand our Member Huddles offerings with new days/times to support our global community and need host/facilitators.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 28 Jul 2022 01:18:53 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Dan Knauss";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:28;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"WPTavern: WordPress Contributors Consider Renaming Full-Site Editing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=136635";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-consider-renaming-full-site-editing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3425:"<p>WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/giving-fse-a-more-user-friendly-name/">proposing</a> contributors rename the terms &#8220;full-site editing&#8221; and &#8220;full-site editor&#8221; to something more user friendly. The terms came into use as WordPress moved into the Customization phase and are still used to differentiate the work being done on site editing as opposed to content editing in the block editor.</p>



<p>Haden Chomphosy has identified two issues with using the term “full-site editing:&#8221;</p>



<ul><li>It was already possible to edit every part of a WordPress site using code. The term “full site editing” differentiated between phases of a project, rather than a new capability in the CMS.</li><li>To us, “full site editing” implies the use of blocks, but for new users there’s no reason for them to expect anything else. The term isn’t descriptive of what makes it unique.</li></ul>



<p>Contributors who work in WordPress every day may not be fully aware of how specialized some of these terms are and how little they mean to a newcomer. Haden Chomphosy proposes WordPress adopt a new term that is &#8220;immediately meaningful for new users of our software, while also being an easy to reference term for all of us building and supporting the software.&#8221;</p>



<p>She opened a conversation today on updating our shared lexicon to use a new term for this aspect of editing and asked for feedback on additional contexts that need to be considered.</p>



<p>Ideas are already pouring in as it&#8217;s much easier to name something than to build it. &#8220;Site Editor&#8221; has been one of the must popular suggestions so far, but participants in the discussion have also suggested &#8220;Template Editor&#8221; and &#8220;Theme Builder,&#8221; as well as &#8220;Builder&#8221; and &#8220;Site Builder.&#8221;</p>



<p>&#8220;Future view, looking back from collaborative editing, what I would want to tell a user: The Editor,&#8221; Rob Glidden said. &#8220;In the WordPress editor you and your team can edit posts, pages and themes in the same, consistent user interface.&#8221;</p>



<p>WP Engine developer advocate Nick Diego suggested it&#8217;s too late to unring the bell on full-site editing and that WordPress should stick with the term. </p>



<p>&#8220;Many still refer to the Editor as&nbsp;Gutenberg,&#8221; Diego said. &#8220;I would be hesitant to introduce a new name when &#8216;Full Site Editing,&#8217; now that it has been so publicly talked about, will likely live on for years and years to come.</p>



<p>&#8220;I kind of like the term &#8216;Full Site Editing.&#8217; For new users in WordPress, it implies that they will be able to edit their entire site, which is true. Of course, there are many Classic themes and page builders that also allow you to do the same thing, but a theme that supports FSE differentiates it from traditional Classic themes.&#8221;</p>



<p>The discussion was just opened today and the community is invited to participate with comments on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/giving-fse-a-more-user-friendly-name/">post</a>. Those who have knowledge of what users, clients, and people outside of WordPress call the editor in the context of full-site editing should also weigh in to help contributors get a better picture.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 27 Jul 2022 21:46:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:29;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:107:"Post Status: PHP 8.2 Compatibility, Renaming FSE, Custom Template Options, WP Feature Notifications Project";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=102947";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:115:"https://poststatus.com/php-8-2-compatibility-renaming-fse-custom-template-options-wp-feature-notifications-project/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16930:"<h2 id="h-this-week-at-wordpress-org-july-27-2022">This Week at WordPress.org (July 27, 2022)</h2>


<div class="has-background has-theme-palette-8-background-color wp-block-post-excerpt"><p class="wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt">Getting Ready for PHP 8.2, Rebooting Feature Notifications, Additional Custom Template Options,  and Renaming Full Site Editing. </p></div>


<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<div id="kt-info-box_03177a-50" class="wp-block-kadence-infobox"><a class="kt-blocks-info-box-link-wrap info-box-link kt-blocks-info-box-media-align-left kt-info-halign-left"><div class="kt-blocks-info-box-media-container"><div class="kt-blocks-info-box-media kt-info-media-animate-none"><div class="kadence-info-box-icon-container kt-info-icon-animate-none"><div class="kadence-info-box-icon-inner-container"><span class="kt-info-svg-icon kt-info-svg-icon-fas_paint-brush"></span></div></div></div></div><div class="kt-infobox-textcontent"><h2 class="kt-blocks-info-box-title">Custom Template Options</h2><p class="kt-blocks-info-box-text">In WordPress 6.1 you'll be able to add custom post type or taxonomy templates. Watch how this area evolves as we anticipate it improving the 3rd party plugin support for Full Site Editing.</p></div></a></div>



<h2 id="h-news">News</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/project/2022/07/28/updates-on-the-five-for-the-future-program-and-proposed-improvements/">Updates on the Five for the Future program, and proposed improvements</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/27/giving-fse-a-more-user-friendly-name/">Giving FSE a More User Friendly Name</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2022/07/11/fse-program-testing-call-15-category-customization/">FSE Program Testing Call #15: Category Customization</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/07/25/a-mid-year-year-look-at-2022-goals/">A Mid-Year Look at 2022 Goals</a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/07/episode-36-beginners-guide-to-contributions-2-0/">WP Briefing: Episode 36: Beginner’s Guide to Contributions 2.0</a></li><li><a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/56009">Prepare for PHP 8.2</a></li><li><a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/56034">PHP 8.2: proposal for handling unknown dynamic properties deprecations</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/27/project-update-wordpress-org-homepage-and-download-page-mockups/">Project Update: WordPress.org Homepage and Download page mockups</a></li></ul>



<div class="wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-_598f7a-1a"><div class="kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center"><hr class="kt-divider" /></div></div>



<div class="wp-container-33 wp-block-columns">
<div class="wp-container-31 wp-block-column">
<h2 id="h-accessibility"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility">Accessibility</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2022/07/15/call-team-rep-nomination-july-2022/">Call for Team Rep Nomination – July 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-community">Community</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/07/22/july-meetup-organizer-newsletter/">July Meetup Organizer newsletter</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/07/22/deputy-feedback-wanted-streamlining-wordcamp-phases/">Deputy Feedback Wanted: Streamlining WordCamp Phases</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/07/20/recap-of-the-diverse-speaker-training-group-wpdiversity-amer-emea-on-july-13-2022/">Recap of the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) AMER/EMEA on July 13, 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2022/07/22/report-inclusion-and-diverse-speaker-workshops-june-2022/">Report: Inclusion and Diverse Speaker Workshops June 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-core"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core">Core</a> </h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/26/wordpress-6-1-planning-roundup-v2/">WordPress 6.1 Planning Roundup v2</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/21/proposal-add-a-dominant-color-background-to-images/">Proposal: Add a dominant color background to images.</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/21/request-for-feedback-feature-notifications-proof-of-concept/">[Request for feedback] Feature Notifications Proof of Concept</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/21/core-editor-improvement-deeper-customization-with-more-template-options/">Core Editor Improvement: Deeper customization with more template options</a><ul><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/42007">Pre-populating new templates</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/25/a-week-in-core-july-25-2022/">A Week in Core – July 25, 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/26/editor-chat-agenda-27-july-2022-2-2/">Editor chat agenda: 27 July 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-design"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design">Design</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/07/19/proposal-a-new-kind-of-default-theme/">Proposal: A new kind of default theme</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-docs"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/docs">Docs</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/07/25/documentation-team-update-july-25-2022/">Documentation Team Update – July 25, 2022</a></li></ul>



<h3 id="h-support-articles"><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/articles">Support Articles:</a></h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/comment-author-name-block/">Comment Author Name Block</a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/comment-date-block/">Comment Date Block</a></li></ul>



<h3 id="h-developer-articles">Developer Articles:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/data/data-core-keyboard-shortcuts/">The Keyboard Shortcuts Data</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/data/data-core-customize-widgets/">Customize Widgets</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/data/data-core-block-directory/">Block directory</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/data/data-core-edit-site/">Edit Site</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/data/data-core-rich-text/">Rich Text</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/data/data-core-edit-widgets/">Edit Widgets</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/data/data-core-preferences/">Preferences</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/data/data-core-reusable-blocks/">Reusable blocks</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-marketing"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing">Marketing</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2022/07/20/agenda-global-marketing-team-meeting-20-july-2022/">Agenda: Global Marketing Team Meeting, 20 July 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-meta"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta">Meta</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2022/07/21/pattern-previews-for-themes-in-the-directory-beta/">Pattern Previews for Themes&nbsp;in the Directory – Beta</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2022/07/01/exploration-improving-devhub/">Exploration: improving DevHub</a> (Developer Docs)</li></ul>



<h2 id="h-mobile"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile">Mobile</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/27/refocusing-the-wordpress-app-on-core-features/">Refocusing the WordPress App on Core Features</a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/12/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-20-3/"></a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/26/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-20-4/">Call for Testing: WordPress for Android 20.4</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/12/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-20-3/"></a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/25/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-20-4/">Call for Testing: WordPress for iOS 20.4</a></li></ul>
</div>



<div class="wp-container-32 wp-block-column">
<h2 id="h-openverse"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/openverse">Openverse</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/openverse/2022/07/14/community-meeting-recap-12-july-2022/">Community Meeting Recap (12 July 2022)</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/openverse/2022/07/13/check-in-meeting-idea/">Check-in meeting idea</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-performance"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/performance/">Performance</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/19/performance-team-meeting-summary-19-july-2022/"></a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/26/performance-team-meeting-summary-26-july-2022/"></a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/07/26/performance-team-meeting-summary-26-july-2022/">Performance team meeting summary 26 July 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55443">Create WebP sub-sizes and use for output</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/performance/issues/445">Regenerate Existing Images for non-technical users</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-plugins"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/plugins">Plugins</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/07/25/plugin-review-team-update-25-july-2022/">Plugin Review Team Update: 25 July 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-test"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test">Test</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2022/07/11/fse-program-testing-call-15-category-customization/">FSE Program Testing Call #15: Category Customization</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-themes"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes">Themes</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2022/07/28/using-locally-hosted-google-fonts-in-themes/">Using locally-hosted Google fonts in themes</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2022/07/27/gutenberg-13-6-themes/">Gutenberg 13.6 + Themes</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2022/07/25/themes-team-meeting-agenda-for-july-26-2022/">Themes team meeting agenda for July 26, 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/07/26/themes-team-update-july-26-2022/">Themes team update July 26, 2022</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-training"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training">Training</a></h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/07/15/whats-new-on-learnwp-in-july-2022/">What’s new on LearnWP in July 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/07/19/proposal-to-merging-lesson-plans-video-tutorials-and-slides/">Proposal: Merging Lesson Plans, Video Tutorials, and Slides</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/07/21/summary-update-courses-currently-in/">Summary Update: Courses Currently in…</a></li></ul>



<h3 id="h-lesson-plans">Lesson Plans:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/locking-blocks-in-the-full-site-editor/">Locking Blocks in the Full Site Editor</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/create-a-basic-child-theme-for-block-themes/">Create a Basic Child Theme for Block Themes</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/webp-images-in-wordpress/">WebP images in WordPress</a></li></ul>



<h3 id="h-video-tutorials">Video Tutorials</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/tutorial/wordpress-filter-hooks/">WordPress Filter Hooks</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/tutorial/horizontal-pyramid-gallery/">Horizontal Pyramid Gallery</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/tutorial/wordpress-action-hooks/">WordPress Action Hooks</a></li></ul>



<h3 id="h-online-workshops">Online Workshops:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=theme-development-workflows-for-different-types-of-developers">Theme Development Workflows for Different Types of Developers</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=lets-code-creating-your-first-wordpress-plugin">Let’s code! Creating your first WordPress Plugin</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=19634">[CANCELED – Moved to July 28] Theme Development Workflows for Different Types of Developers</a></li><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=power-up-with-free-wireframe-templates-and-advanced-blocks">Power Up With Free Wireframe Templates And Advanced Blocks</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-wordcamp-central">WordCamp Central</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2022/07/wordcamp-jinja-diverse-speaker-sessions-web-design-hackathon-teachers-workshop-and-fun-at-the-nile-source/">WordCamp Jinja: Diverse Speaker Sessions, Web Design Hackathon, Teachers Workshop and Fun at the Nile Source!</a></li></ul>



<h2 id="h-wptv">WPTV</h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.tv/category/year/2022/">Latest WordPress TV videos</a></li></ul>
</div>
</div>



<h2><a href="https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/">Five for the Future</a></h2>



<p>What's happening specific to Five for the Future? Provide your feedback on these posts:</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/five-for-the-future/pull/206">Send notification emails when contributors are inactive</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/five-for-the-future/issues/205">Outreach: emails to send to individuals who are dormant/inactive/etc</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/five-for-the-future/issues/204">Handle duplicate activities &#8211; added as a presenter activity (and other activities?)&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/five-for-the-future/issues/203">Noting milestones in contributions</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/five-for-the-future/issues/202">Charting corporate contributions over time</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/five-for-the-future/issues/201">New options in sponsored contributor profiles to show non-sponsored contributions too</a></li></ul>



<p class="has-theme-palette-7-background-color has-background">Thanks for reading our WP dot .org roundup! Each week we are highlighting the news and discussions coming from the good folks making WordPress possible. If you or your company create products or services that use WordPress, you need to be engaged with them and their work. Be sure to share this resource with your product and project managers. <br /><br /><strong>Are you interested in giving back and contributing your time and skills to WordPress.org?</strong> <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f64f.png" alt="🙏" class="wp-smiley" /> <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/contributing-to-wordpress/">Start Here ›</a><br /><br /><strong>Get our weekly WordPress community news digest</strong> — Post Status' <a href="https://poststatus.com/news/week-in-review/">Week in Review</a> — covering the WP/Woo news plus significant writing and podcasts. It's also available in <a href="https://poststatus.com/newsletter">our newsletter</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f48c.png" alt="💌" class="wp-smiley" /></p>



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<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 27 Jul 2022 19:58:21 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Courtney Robertson";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:30;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"Post Status: Refocusing the WordPress Mobile App on the Core User Experience — without Jetpack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://poststatus.com/?p=102985";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:87:"https://poststatus.com/refocusing-the-wordpress-mobile-app-on-the-core-user-experience/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12305:"<h2 id="h-jetpack-s-mobile-app-will-absorb-outgoing-features">Jetpack's mobile app will absorb outgoing features</h2>



<div class="wp-container-29 wp-block-group has-theme-palette-8-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container"><div class="has-background has-theme-palette-8-background-color wp-block-post-excerpt"><p class="wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt">The boundaries between WordPress .com and .org have never been very clear. That may change as the WordPress mobile app sheds features the Jetpack app will gain. </p></div>


<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<ul><li><strong>The WordPress mobile app will be dedicated to self-hosted WordPress.org sites without Jetpack-enabled services or core features enabled by the WordPress.com REST API.</strong></li><li><strong>The Jetpack mobile app will be possible to use with any WordPress site, with or without the Jetpack plugin installed.</strong></li><li><strong>Users and core contributors will face fewer blurred lines between community-owned features and third-party hosted services.</strong></li></ul>



<p class="yoast-reading-time__wrapper"><span class="yoast-reading-time__icon"></span><span class="yoast-reading-time__spacer"></span><span class="yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text">Estimated reading time:  </span><span class="yoast-reading-time__reading-time">7</span><span class="yoast-reading-time__time-unit"> minutes</span></p>
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<p class="has-drop-cap">Today, Paul Von Schrottky, a core contributor and WordPress Mobile/iOS Engineer at Automattic <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/27/refocusing-the-wordpress-app-on-core-features/">announced some big changes</a> on the Make WordPress Mobile blog. Currently in its 20.3 release, the mobile app has been part of the WordPress project since 2008 in the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQC4LY">#Mobile team</a>&#8216;s care. </p>



<p>According to Paul's Make blog post, the WordPress app's features and user experience will be simplified this year to reflect the WordPress core experience — by removing its WordPress.com and Jetpack-enabled features. Core features enabled by the WordPress.com REST API will be removed from the WordPress app as well. Everything that's being removed from the WordPress mobile app will be added to the Jetpack counterpart app, which <a href="https://jetpack.com/blog/jetpack-mobile-app/">debuted in 2021</a> for iOS and Android. </p>



<div class="wp-container-30 wp-block-group has-theme-palette-7-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container">
<h3 id="h-what-s-moving-from-the-wordpress-app-to-the-jetpack-app"><strong>What's moving from the WordPress app to the Jetpack app:</strong> </h3>



<p><strong>Stats</strong>, <strong>Activity Log</strong>, <strong>Backup</strong>, <strong>Sharing</strong> (Jetpack Social), <strong>Reader</strong>, <strong>Notifications</strong>, <strong>Jetpack Blocks</strong> (Gutenberg Editor), <strong>@-Mentions</strong>, <strong>Crossposting</strong> (Gutenberg Editor) — and potentially more features.</p>
</div></div>



<blockquote><p>Everything being removed will be added to the WordPress app's Jetpack counterpart, which debuted in 2021 for iOS and Android.</p></blockquote>



<p>The Jetpack app recently saw its <a href="https://jetpack.com/blog/jetpack-11-1-under-the-hood-improvements-for-your-site/">11.1 release</a> and the first stages of <a href="https://jetpack.com/blog/build-your-own-jetpack-now-with-individual-plugins/">decoupling its major features into standalone plugins</a>. Currently, the Backup, Boost, Protect, Social, Search, and CRM  add-ons for Jetpack <a href="https://jetpack.com/blog/meet-jetpack-11-0-and-our-new-individual-plugins/">can be downloaded separately</a> from <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/jetpack/">the WordPress.org directory</a>. As mobile app features, they will become exclusively available through the Jetpack app.  </p>



<p>Additionally, People, Themes, and Menus are features in the WordPress mobile app that rely on the WordPress.com API and will be moved to the Jetpack app to refocus the WordPress app on core-provided APIs.</p>



<img width="752" height="414" src="https://cdn.poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/multiple-devices-space-752x414.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-102986" />Automattic's mobile app for Jetpack.



<h2 id="h-a-response-to-user-login-confusion">A Response to User Login Confusion</h2>



<p>One significant influence motivating these changes comes from user feedback in app reviews and support requests. These channels often &#8220;indicate confusion around which username and password people should use&#8221; to log into the app and their sites. Since it's possible to log into individual WordPress sites or use a WordPress.com account across multiple sites, it's not clear which should be used. Worse, &#8220;Using the wrong credentials can lead to vastly different experiences within the app, or frustrating experiences when creating a new account or resetting a password.&#8221; </p>



<blockquote><p>We’d like this change to help make those boundaries clear going forward. Jetpack powers WordPress.com as well as millions of self-hosted sites. For people that use Jetpack on a self-hosted site or via a WordPress.com site, the Jetpack app will be the best experience.                                                        </p><cite>Automattic's Jetpack Team</cite></blockquote>



<p>Eventually, the goal for the WordPress app is to ask only for user credentials on the site being logged into. It's hoped this clearer distinction between Automattic properties (WordPress.com and Jetpack) and any particular WordPress site will foster greater community contribution to the WordPress mobile app. The WordPress mobile app hasn't been clearly represented as a community-owned part of the WordPress.org project for quite some time, so this is a needed and welcome clarification. </p>



<p>It's not going to be an overnight transition, however. Paul's Make WordPress blog post notes user authentication is &#8220;a trickier challenge and something [the Mobile team is] still figuring out.&#8221; It's likely to take a longer time to transition .com logins out of the WordPress app to avoid stranding .com users who have been using it.</p>



<h2 id="h-a-response-to-app-store-confusion">A Response to App Store Confusion</h2>



<p>Another reason for differentiating the WordPress mobile apps is that the Apple App Store and Google Play naturally focus on in-app purchases because they take a cut of those sales. In the past, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/21/21396316/apple-wordpress-in-app-purchase-tax-update-store" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple rejected the WordPress app</a> because it wanted a 30% cut of non-existent sales in this free app without in-app purchases! To issue updates to the WordPress app, it <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2020/08/22/apple-agrees-to-allow-wordpress-app-on-the-app-store-without-in-app-purchases-after-update/">had to take in some paid features</a> to comply with Apple's rules. Now the Jetpack app will have the freemium model in the app store while the WordPress app will go back to being free without upselling anything to its users.</p>



<img width="752" height="376" src="https://cdn.poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/wordpress-com-vs-org-what-is-the-difference-header-752x376.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-103002" />The differences and boundaries between WordPress .com and .org have always been difficult to identify.



<h2 id="h-clarifying-the-boundaries">Clarifying the Boundaries</h2>



<p>A large part of the problem for WordPress that Jetpack may help mitigate but can't address all by itself has been Automattic's branding and messaging. The differences between the WordPress.com and .org brands have always been indistinct. For example, the &#8220;WordPress mobile app&#8221; has been (and still is) identified as a &#8220;WordPress.com app&#8221; at <a href="https://apps.wordpress.com/mobile/">apps.wordpress.com/mobile</a> — but it's also the .org app. Referring to all instances of WordPress other than .com as &#8220;.org&#8221; is awkward too, and only WordPress community insiders are likely to be familiar with that term and its meaning. </p>



<p>Fortunately, more consistent naming across Automattic properties is in the works, according to Sean Marier. Sean told me &#8220;references to the WordPress app will be updated as part of these changes. It’s worth noting that this may not be immediate but is part of an overall transition plan that the team will be working on in the coming months.&#8221; </p>



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<h2 id="h-what-about-akismet">What about Akismet? </h2>



<p>Akismet has long been a standalone, mostly donation-based, virtually unmonetized plugin and a part of Jetpack, as well as fresh WordPress installs. It's not going anywhere amid all these other changes to the mobile apps. Akismet will remain everywhere, and based on current hiring at Automattic for a <a href="https://automattic.com/work-with-us/job/director-of-product-marketing-jetpack/">Director of Product Marketing for Jetpack</a>, it looks like Akismet will have a place alongside Jetpack, WPScan, and VideoPress as mid-market products. We can expect to see them introduced with a new pricing structure in the near future.</p>
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<h2 id="h-changing-perceptions">Changing Perceptions</h2>



<p>I asked the team rolling out all these changes to the mobile apps how they hope Jetpack will be viewed by WordPress users who have looked at it with suspicion because of the blurred boundaries. Their answer:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>&#8220;We’d like this change to help make those boundaries clear going forward. Jetpack powers WordPress.com as well as millions of self-hosted sites. For people that use Jetpack on a self-hosted site or via a WordPress.com site, the Jetpack app will be the best experience.&#8221;</p><cite>Automattic's Jetpack.com team via Chenda Ngak, head of communications for WordPress.com</cite></blockquote>



<p>These changes to the WordPress and jetpack mobile apps definitely take big steps in the direction of better boundaries where the community and commercial editions of WordPress are clearly delineated. It's important this is happening with a focus on decentralization, core contributors, and the unique ways SaaS and self-hosted WordPress can work together to mutual benefit, as I wrote <a href="https://poststatus.com/an-operating-system-for-the-web/">a few weeks ago</a>. </p>



<blockquote><p>In an increasingly competitive market, WordPress can uniquely embrace the strengths of an open platform, taking form as either a SaaS or self-hosted platform — or a mix of both.  </p></blockquote>



<p>Jetpack is available now as an all-in-one plugin or an à la carte mix of freemium add-ons that allow any WordPress site to leverage WordPress.com's services and infrastructure. That's quite a step <em>forward</em> by going <em>back</em> to the product's original promise. Given sufficient clarity on the boundaries between the free .org community code and freemium .com features, this might be a good and needed model for others. In an increasingly competitive market, WordPress can uniquely embrace the strengths of an open platform, taking form as either a SaaS or self-hosted platform — or a mix of both.  </p>



<div class="wp-container-33 wp-block-group has-theme-palette-7-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container">
<h3 id="h-what-are-your-thoughts-and-questions-leave-a-comment">What are your thoughts and questions? <a href="https://poststatus.com/planet/feed/#comments">Leave a comment</a>.</h3>



<div class="wp-container-32 wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container">
<p>Can the WordPress and Jetpack mobile apps help clarify the boundaries of the WordPress .org and .com brands and services — and improve the WordPress community's view of Jetpack?</p>
</div></div>
</div></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 27 Jul 2022 17:00:12 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Dan Knauss";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:31;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:95:"WPTavern: Automattic Is Removing WordPress.com Features from the Official WordPress Mobile Apps";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=136516";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:106:"https://wptavern.com/automattic-is-removing-wordpress-com-features-from-the-official-wordpress-mobile-apps";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6188:"<p>The WordPress mobile team <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2022/07/27/refocusing-the-wordpress-app-on-core-features/">announced</a> today that it will be pulling all the Jetpack and WordPress.com features from the official WordPress mobile apps. They will be moved into the Jetpack app through a gradual process that is anticipated to conclude by the end of this year.</p>



<p>&#8220;Over the years, the WordPress app has evolved to meet a diverse range of site administration needs and use cases,&#8221; Automattic mobile engineer Paul Von Schrottky said. &#8220;Features like Stats, Reader, and Notifications were introduced with the hope of meeting some of these needs. However, these features require the Jetpack plugin or a WordPress.com account to function and can make the app overwhelming for folks who want a simpler experience.</p>



<p>&#8220;For the sake of clarity and closer-to-core experience, the mobile team will be working to refocus the app on staple features you&#8217;d find with a fresh download of WordPress.&#8221;</p>



<p>The following features will be removed and relocated to the Jetpack app:</p>



<ul><li>Stats</li><li>Activity Log</li><li>Backup</li><li>Sharing (Jetpack Social)</li><li>Reader</li><li>Notifications</li><li>Jetpack blocks (Gutenberg Editor)</li><li>@-Mentions and Crossposting (Gutenberg Editor)</li><li>More features as the team goes about this effort</li></ul>



<p>Automattic&#8217;s products in the official WordPress apps have been <a href="https://wptavern.com/matt-mullenweg-on-ensuring-the-future-of-wordpress">a source of controversy</a> for nearly a decade. Two years ago, when <a href="https://wptavern.com/automattic-tangles-with-apple-over-lack-of-in-app-purchases-in-the-wordpress-for-ios-app">Automattic tangled with Apple over a lack of in-app purchases in the WordPress for iOS App</a>, the community renewed its call for the company to separate its commercial interests from the official apps. Because Automattic has heavily subsidized the apps&#8217; development, it has been able to add WordPress.com and Jetpack-specific features without contest, but these pose a conflict of interest and are unnecessary for many self-hosted site owners.</p>



<p>In 2014, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg <a href="https://wptavern.com/matt-mullenweg-on-ensuring-the-future-of-wordpress">said</a> the goal with the mobile apps was to get more mobile app users, which included developing things that Automattic deemed most compelling on mobile &#8211; notifications, stats, and the reader. The company has now changed its stance on this, citing &#8220;less user confusion&#8221; as a primary motivator for the upcoming change.</p>



<p>&#8220;By attempting to cater to such a diverse range of users and needs, there are flows in the app that present many options to users,&#8221; Von Schrottky said. &#8220;An example of this is the current login flow. User feedback (via the app reviews) and support channels indicate confusion around which username and password people should use when authenticating.&#8221;</p>



<p>Historically, the mobile apps have had almost zero contributions from people outside of Automattic. Improving the contributor experience is one of the goals in decoupling Automattic&#8217;s commercial interests from the official apps.</p>



<p>&#8220;Although everything is open source, new contributors need to understand the blurred line between community-owned features and 3rd-party hosted services if all they want is to contribute to one or the other,&#8221; Von Schrottky said. &#8220;Also, it can be challenging to understand what functionality and which features are available based on the user’s authentication.&#8221;</p>



<p>The user confusion and contributor complexities have been evident for years. Providing a more straightforward experience for users has just now become an actionable priority. It appears that this is because Automattic is planning to add more paid features. At this point, the more principled move is to expand commercial features in the Jetpack app, instead of bombarding self-hosted users with upgrade prompts.</p>



<p>&#8220;The mobile team has been trying for years to provide a solid, modern experience on mobile, with the goal of helping all users start their WordPress adventure,&#8221; Von Schrottky said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve learned from the diversity and evolving needs of the app user base. In addition to the confusion caused by the current arrangement, the team found that user expectations are confounded by a lack of paid features, such as domain purchases. To better serve the needs of both self-hosted and Jetpack/WordPress.com users in the future, the team is now convinced that adding these specific features in a separate app is the way forward.&#8221;</p>



<p>Automattic plans to continue maintaining the official mobile apps, advancing the block editor development, and will be listed as the publisher in the store listings for the apps. Once the Jetpack features are removed, users will still be able to do everything included in the core publishing experience, as well as manage settings.</p>



<p>&#8220;With this change, we plan for the WordPress app to be a more focused companion to the WordPress.org open source project, leaving the Jetpack app to complement the WordPress.com experience,&#8221; Von Schrottky said. &#8220;This is more straightforward for users of the WordPress open source project and simplifies the relationship between the WordPress app and platform owners like Apple and Google.&#8221;</p>



<p>Von Schrottky said Automattic is not considering renaming the Jetpack app at this time. WordPress.com users will be able to access the Reader and other .com platform-specific features there. The transition will happen in phases and the mobile team will soon start introducing messages in the app to inform users about which features will be moved.</p>



<p>&#8220;The team is still working out the details of the plan as explained in the post, but this will be followed up with other relevant communications to make this change as frictionless as possible for users,&#8221; Von Schrottky said.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 27 Jul 2022 15:32:51 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:32;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"WPTavern: #36 – Sean Blakeley on Transitioning a Large Agency Over to Gutenberg";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:48:"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=136608";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:95:"https://wptavern.com/podcast/36-sean-blakeley-on-transitioning-a-large-agency-over-to-gutenberg";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:38714:"<p>On the podcast today we have <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sean-blakeley/">Sean Blakeley</a>.</p>



<p>Sean works for a large agency called <a href="https://www.americaneagle.com/">Americaneagle.com</a>, a platform agnostic organisation working with enterprise clients on a wide variety of projects.</p>



<p>After years of experiments with different approaches and collaborations between designers and developers, their team has begun to rely heavily on block patterns, and they’ve found it is greatly increasing their productivity. It’s fair to say that block patterns have revolutionised the team&#8217;s approach to the entire design process.</p>



<p>In case you’ve not explored block patterns, they are collections of blocks which can be built by anyone. With thoughtful design, these blocks can be repurposed across pages and even different websites. Build once, deploy everywhere.</p>



<p>We talk about how and why Sean’s team decided to jump in early with block patterns. When they did, this was a somewhat risky strategy. There was no guarantee that patterns would begin to be widely adopted, but this strategy is now starting to bear fruit. It’s allowing their team to work with their clients in new and unexpected ways.</p>



<p>Clients are now working more closely with the American Eagle team in what Sean describes as less ‘impress us’ and more ‘collaborate with us’. It’s fostering a closer relationship with clients which encourages them to use the block editor and patterns and have some ownership in the process.</p>



<p>It’s an interesting episode, and if you’re curious about how you can start to use blocks and patterns with your clients, there’s sure to be something here for you.</p>



<p>Typically, when we record the podcast, there’s not a lot of background noise, but that’s not always the case with these WordCamp Europe interviews. We were competing against crowds and the air-conditioning. Whilst the podcasts are more than listenable, I hope that you understand that the vagaries of the real world were at play.</p>



<h2>Useful links.</h2>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/">Block Patterns Directory</a></p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/new-pattern/">Create a new pattern</a></p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/openverse/">Openverse</a></p>



Transcript<div>
<p>[00:00:00] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Welcome to the Jukebox podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley. Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress. The people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case, the adoption of block patterns.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast, player of choice, or by going to WPTavern.com forward slash feed forward slash podcast. And you can copy and paste that URL into most podcast players. If there&#8217;s anything you&#8217;d like us to feature on the podcast, I&#8217;d love to hear from you, and hopefully get you or your idea featured on the show. Head to WPTavern.com forward slash contact forward slash jukebox. And use the contact form there.</p>



<p>So on the podcast today, we have Sean Blakeley. Sean works for a large agency called American Eagle. A platform agnostic organization working with enterprise clients on a wide variety of projects. After years of experiments with different approaches and collaborations between designers and developers, their team has begun to rely heavily on block patterns. And they found it&#8217;s greatly increasing their productivity. It&#8217;s fair to say that block patterns have revolutionized the team&#8217;s approach to the entire design process.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;ve not explored block patterns, they&#8217;re collections of blocks, which can be built by anyone. With thoughtful design, these blocks can be repurposed across pages and even different websites. Build once deploy everywhere.</p>



<p>We talk about how and why Sean&#8217;s team decided to jump in early with block patterns. When they did, this was a somewhat risky strategy. There was no guarantee that patterns would begin to be widely adopted. But this strategy is now starting to bear fruit. It&#8217;s allowing their team to work with their clients in new and unexpected ways.</p>



<p>Clients and are working more closely with the American Eagle team, in what Sean describes as, less impress us and more collaborate with us. It&#8217;s fostering a closer relationship with clients, which encourages them to use the block editor and patterns and have some ownership in the process.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s an interesting episode. And if you&#8217;re curious about how you can start to use blocks and patterns with your clients, there&#8217;s sure to be something here for you.</p>



<p>Typically when we record the podcast, there&#8217;s not a lot of background noise, but that&#8217;s not always the case with these WordCamp Europeans have use. We were competing against crowds and the air conditioning. And whilst the podcasts are more than listenable, I hope that you understand that the vagaries of the real world we&#8217;re at play.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;re interested in finding out more, you can find all the links in the show notes by heading over to WPTavern.com forward slash podcast. And you&#8217;ll find all of the other episodes there as well.</p>



<p>And so without further delay, I bring you. Sean Blakeley.</p>



<p>I am joined on the podcast today by Sean Blakeley. How are you doing Sean?</p>



<p>[00:03:48] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> I&#8217;m doing very well. Thank you, Nathan.</p>



<p>[00:03:49] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Sean and I have just been chatting for a few minutes and I think we&#8217;re going to be good friends.</p>



<p>[00:03:53] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> I think you&#8217;re right.</p>



<p>[00:03:54] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So you&#8217;re at WordCamp Europe. We&#8217;re currently sitting in the basement having a chat, but you did a presentation, which you are now very relieved to have done. It&#8217;s behind you now. What was it about?</p>



<p>[00:04:05] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> I mean, it was a wonderful, it&#8217;s a wonderful feeling to have been the post talk feeling. Uh, it was about block patterns. The block pattern revolution. I was talking about how we&#8217;re using block patterns in our creative process. How we are evolving and adapting our creative process. Bringing together the designers and the developers, and we&#8217;re finding that block patterns is opening up all sorts of opportunities. Explore and adapt the collaborative space between designers and developers. So, I was really talking about those exciting opportunities that we see today.</p>



<p>[00:04:38] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> You&#8217;re working at the helm, maybe the helm&#8217;s the wrong word, but you&#8217;re near the helm of a very large agency. So I guess making that transition to block patterns was, is a big deal. You got a lot riding on that. Tell us a little bit about the company that you work for.</p>



<p>[00:04:54] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> So I work for a company called American Eagle. American Eagle are 700 strong. It&#8217;s a large organization. It&#8217;s platform agnostic. Obviously there are dedicated teams to a number of sort of key platforms, including Sitecore and Sitefinity, but also of course WordPress. And that&#8217;s how it&#8217;s really reached that scale. What it tends to focus on is those big enterprise engagements and it, it&#8217;s able to address those kind of cross platform, those big digital transformation pieces, those big integrations.</p>



<p>And so you&#8217;re quite right that, you know, as we talk about transitions in organizations of that size, it can very challenging. But because we are, as we are building the WordPress enterprise team, we&#8217;re able to explore some of these different technologies and keep pushing at the boundaries of what we&#8217;re doing.</p>



<p>We have this incredible opportunity to keep exploring. Exploring WordPress at scale, and I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;ll talk in a minute about the sort of headness and composable kind of paradigm, but it enables us to keep exploring, to keep pushing these boundaries, and block patterns increasingly feel like they&#8217;re part of that journey and are beginning to become an important part of that journey.</p>



<p>[00:06:07] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I would imagine that if we asked a typical WordPress user, how do you build your website? I think there&#8217;s gonna be a significant proportion who, maybe do it the old fashioned way, but I feel that&#8217;s dwindling. Template files and all that.</p>



<p>And then there&#8217;ll be a proportion of people probably still I&#8217;m guessing the majority who are using page builders, the commercial page builders. There does seem to be, especially very recently, by that, I mean maybe in the last six months, it does feel like there&#8217;s a lot more chatter about blocks and patterns and almost like, okay, this is a thing now. The time has come, we&#8217;re gonna shift over in that direction.</p>



<p>But, what would you say are the key benefits? The things that you identified in your business which made you say, oh, actually this is worthwhile now. We&#8217;ll stop doing it the way we used to do it, and we&#8217;re gonna start doing it with blocks. What were the key metrics that you judged that worthwhile against?</p>



<p>[00:06:52] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> So, the commercial metrics is a kind of separate piece. And we&#8217;ll come back to that, because it is an interesting question. But from a technical or an implementation sort of perspective, it always felt jarring when we were bringing software, proprietary software, be it a page builder or some other service into the WordPress platform.</p>



<p>It always felt like we were introducing something that we would either have to be pulling out of WordPress at a later date, or we&#8217;re then tying our clients to this particular tool that we had chosen, or, or maybe us as an agency, you know, we preferred a particular page builder. And so that&#8217;s the one that our clients got because that was our preferred approach. And that always felt jarring.</p>



<p>It felt like there wasn&#8217;t, you know, we weren&#8217;t developing for the longevity. That we were slightly tunnel vision and, and narrow focused in terms of our needs as the agency, And so it always felt like we should be coming as close to core as we can. Moving our dependency to WordPress itself, rather than this sort of separate proprietary software. And it&#8217;s been a challenging journey at times as we&#8217;ve, we were early adopters for Gutenberg and, you know, we felt some of the pain that, that all of us, or many of us in the community have felt. Some of the challenges around creating custom blocks back in the day.</p>



<p>But it was very clear that this felt like the right journey, and it was the right journey to go on. And as we thought about, and talked to our clients about their experience, and their experience for creating content, That goal to move from shortcodes and the abstraction of dropdowns and filling in an input box. And then that leap of faith, as you hope something has changed on the front of your website, and it&#8217;s gonna work in the way that you hoped it would.</p>



<p>Well, that WYSIWYG experience has been something that we&#8217;ve been asked for for years, and of course that&#8217;s where the page builder space came from. But to be able to fulfill that in a drag and drop within the WordPress editor itself is, it&#8217;s a great thing to be able to provide our clients with that experience, that true WYSIWYG experience. And so the goals are so clear as we&#8217;re on this journey together.</p>



<p>And so, and we&#8217;ll come back to that final point around the commercial decision in terms of investing our, our efforts as a technical team. I mean, it was very clear that this is, this is the longevity. This is where we are empowering our clients to own their UI, their UI components. They can start to build out some of their own UI components as well as custom blocks that we might build. And there isn&#8217;t a dependency. If they wanna move to, you know, they wanna change their implementations. They can keep WordPress exactly the same.</p>



<p>And that, that notion of switching a theme, and a theme should be easy to change. Your styling, you know, re styling, making small design changes should be relatively easy. Yeah, that&#8217;s becoming true within the Gutenberg paradigm. That we can offer that longevity of, of architecture of platform. And that they can iterate in terms of a design on top of that.</p>



<p>So that&#8217;s been a hugely empowering journey, that incidentally that we&#8217;re, we&#8217;re still on. But we&#8217;re thoroughly enjoying the journey and it&#8217;s, you know, every step that we take can be daunting at times. But, we&#8217;ve found the value in each and every of those steps that we&#8217;ve been on so far as the community, working with Gutenberg.</p>



<p>[00:10:03] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So at the point where you made the decision to hop on, presumably you&#8217;ve not just said, okay, everything from now on will be based upon Gutenberg. Maybe some clients are embedded in something in the WordPress space, like a proprietary page builder. Maybe you&#8217;re gonna carry that on, maybe not, I don&#8217;t know. But there must have been a lot of retraining, process changes, every which way for your staff. Just talk us through what that was, because obviously if you&#8217;re working within your company and building websites, you want to know, what&#8217;s the education piece? How am I gonna learn all of this stuff? What&#8217;s my company gonna provide for me to make sure that I&#8217;m skilled? Was there a lot of that, that had to be put into place?</p>



<p>[00:10:39] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> There was a huge amount. There&#8217;s a kind of duality here that the first challenge was to enable developers to feel confident within React. And so feeling confident within a modern JavaScript framework. And we found that that was a hugely valuable first step to sort of, you know, allow them to ease them into familiarity with React.</p>



<p>Once we did that, we then moved into Gutenberg specifically and sort of eased our developers into Gutenberg. And we did it some ways from the interface. So getting familiarity with the interface, but of course, things, and we&#8217;re talking maybe two or three years ago now, things were moving so quickly that actually, it was, it was often easier to actually go from the backend forward.</p>



<p>And so look at, the anatomy of a block. How a block fits together and, we had some really curious developers and developers that were often looking under the bonnet and seeing how these things were constructed and it added to that sense, less of intimidation and more of awe that we&#8217;re on a journey together. And actually, you know, we can be part of this dialogue.</p>



<p>We can be part of this journey and, exploring the how we can evolve our processes. And I think that early, understanding the value that Gutenberg, this journey was gonna provide. Even when we were hesitant to put it into production, but it always felt like this was the direction we wanted to go in. We wanted to provide that extraordinary editorial, content creation experience. And then of course, you know, the value that we can give to end users as well.</p>



<p>[00:12:14] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I&#8217;m imagining that if you had clients that were on the classic editor, There&#8217;s just no downside to that. One thing is nothing like the other, so a big boost. But I&#8217;m wondering about the clients who may be, were on those page builders. How are they coping, regardless of all that, how are they coping with the UI? Because even though it is a WYSIWYG, it&#8217;s kind of got some quirk still hasn&#8217;t it?</p>



<p>The UI is a bit funky in places and things don&#8217;t quite match up on the back as they do in the front. I&#8217;m just wondering how your clients and, you&#8217;re a big agency, there must be a lot of feedback coming in. How are they adopting it? Are they welcoming of it?</p>



<p>[00:12:48] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> Yes, so they are in&#8230;</p>



<p>[00:12:50] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That sounded like aqualified yes.</p>



<p>[00:12:52] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> Well, it is a qualified yes. There is hesitation there at times, because as you&#8217;re quite right to point out, there are some rough edges in the implementation. We try and make sure that we are very transparent. That this is an exciting yet evolving part of the WordPress ecosystem. You know, don&#8217;t consider this as fully finished. It&#8217;s still evolving and adapting. But what we&#8217;re increasingly doing is focusing on a opt in approach.</p>



<p>So, the dashboard of blocks can be very intimidating. You know, there is a huge list, particularly if you include the embed options as well. That&#8217;s a huge list. If you happen to be running plugins on your site that are also introducing blocks, you can be talking about many dozens in that interface and you, and I might know the difference with a, a media and text block, but our clients aren&#8217;t going to know that unless we take them on that journey, unless we educate them.</p>



<p>So what we find ourselves doing increasingly is, is white listing blocks. So actually removing, and, and increasingly this is, this is often a principle in enterprise when you&#8217;re working with large scale projects that, it&#8217;s actually putting the guardrails in place, you know. It&#8217;s, it&#8217;s having your brand library or implementation, maybe your UI components. But you are limiting the ability of the editorial team to kind of work within those guidelines, that framework. And that&#8217;s how we treat Gutenberg, is that we provide those atomic building blocks, you know, those core blocks, and maybe a few custom blocks as well. We then put limitations in.</p>



<p>So those are your design system, essentially. Those are the UI, the library of UI components that our clients can use. And that&#8217;s really attractive then, because becomes very clear what the tools are that they can use to tell their stories, to tell their narratives to their users.</p>



<p>And it&#8217;s not this self serve mentality where you are kind of building from the atoms and trying to build everything from scratch. Actually they&#8217;re, they&#8217;re sort of pre-baked for you, and you are just going down and, and selecting the ones that you want.</p>



<p>[00:14:53] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> In WordPress 6.0, we&#8217;ve got, maybe it&#8217;s not the most fleshed out of block locking features, but does something, it puts a padlock icon there anyway, and you can unlock it. That feels like that would be a, a nice direction to go in as well. That particular feature, you know, the client can access this bit, but not that bit. And they can edit this bit, which our team have built. And if they don&#8217;t like the text, they can just go in and do it themselves. And it&#8217;s kind of empowering people to edit their own stuff, but not edit this piece.</p>



<p>[00:15:18] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> We absolutely love this feature. And interestingly, we&#8217;re actually on a huge project at the moment, a huge headless project. And we were looking at our own custom solution for doing exactly this. So what we&#8217;re doing is, we&#8217;re bringing in quarter of a million programmatically generated pages, that we&#8217;re injecting into Gutenberg blocks.</p>



<p>So we&#8217;re kind of generating these Gutenberg blocks. We&#8217;re creating these slot in between the blocks to enable them to insert custom content. But essentially we&#8217;re programmatically generating that content. And then we&#8217;re locking down certain aspects. It&#8217;s almost like a, it&#8217;s a programmatically generated templated page, if you like, which is locked. And then they can add in between these sort of sections or indeed update some of the images. And there are certain areas that we allow them to update and some not so. And so that feature of locking blocks has been already incredibly valuable for us.</p>



<p>And exactly, as you say, it chimes with that notion of guidelines, of having a brand language. Of having that visual rhythm, your design system, and then you are working within those confines of your visual language.</p>



<p>[00:16:33] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> The reason I was talking about it being fairly basic is it can be unlocked by anybody. Doesn&#8217;t matter who you are, you just click the button and you&#8217;ve unlocked it, but, maybe in the future there&#8217;ll be a more granular permissions model that, it doesn&#8217;t matter how many times you click the button, you&#8217;re not unlocking it. That will be nice, you know, so the editor can edit this, and the subscriber could edit this, and the administrator can obviously edit everything. That was a much needed feature, I think.</p>



<p>[00:16:54] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> And I think you&#8217;re right. And incidentally, as we talk about maybe block patterns forming that kind of notion of templates that maybe you and I are gonna create a custom post type. And as we click into that custom post type, we&#8217;ve got these pre-baked templates that we can select from and using block patterns to do that.</p>



<p>You&#8217;re exactly right that actually we can even allow editors to edit those templates, but we do have the challenge of permissions. And so we need to think about who has that meta level, almost like the super admin we could think of in terms of multisite. You know, who has that top level, that they can edit the template? And then who are the editorial level can just edit implementations of reflections of that.</p>



<p>[00:17:34] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Really interesting. So let&#8217;s get into the whole block pattern thing. I would be staggered if anybody listening to this, hadn&#8217;t heard of them at least. But nevertheless, there&#8217;s probably some who haven&#8217;t. So let&#8217;s just address that. Tell us about block patterns. What are they? They&#8217;re in use, I think more and more. As each day goes by, there&#8217;s gonna be more and more use of them. But just tell us what they are briefly.</p>



<p>[00:17:54] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> In the simplest terms, block patterns are a contain for blocks. They&#8217;re a kind of vessel, that contain these, whichever blocks you want to allow to be within this pattern. But that&#8217;s deceptively simple. And what I talk about, the analogy that I like to use is that there are a finite number of musical notes, and so whatever your piece of music, your chosen interest is, be it Pixie&#8217;s Debasser, or Mozart or Beethoven, they&#8217;re still utilizing that finite number of notes. And yet they can create truly extraordinary, original compositions from those finite number of notes.</p>



<p>And I think for us Gutenberg are our notes, and the patterns are our favorite songs. Are those extraordinary compositions that we can create.</p>



<p>[00:18:42] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Here&#8217;s an interesting thought. If you have a Spotify account, there&#8217;s more songs than you can ever listen to. Block patterns, so in the same way, we&#8217;ve got plugins 50,000, 60,000, whatever the number is. There&#8217;s loads of plugins. If you want a form plugin, go and pick out of the 40 over there.</p>



<p>Is there gonna be overload? If everybody&#8217;s got hundreds and thousands and possibly millions in the future, of patterns. The impediment to creating patterns is so low. The impediment to creating a plugin is quite high. So it&#8217;s contained at roughly 50,000. But if block patterns are gonna be really, really easy to create, which they are, especially with things like the pattern creator tool. Then the library, the way that we download these is, presumably at some point gonna be deluged. Your clients may be faced with this atrophy of, I have no idea where to begin. There are 748,000 in there. And I do not even know where to start.</p>



<p>[00:19:33] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> I think you&#8217;re quite right. That sort of paralysis, choice paralysis will undoubtedly be an issue that we need to deal with, but less like limiting the ability of people to create these block patterns. And really what we need to do is, is have a way of rating those block patterns or seeing those patterns, the popularity of those patterns. The one that seemed to be solving problems that maybe are achieving conversions in a greater way in your particular sector or your area.</p>



<p>And it&#8217;s, it&#8217;s having that validation. I think right now are in the, the wild west of we&#8217;re just so excited, and as you say, the friction is so low for creating block patterns. But that in and of itself, isn&#8217;t the goal. You know, and that&#8217;s not where we want to be. Where we want to be is creating truly original and amazing patterns that we can then validate against the use cases for our clients. The way that they want to introduce them into their sites. But yes, we will have a huge number of block patterns very soon.</p>



<p>[00:20:34] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> There is some editorial on the back of that. It&#8217;s not like you submit a block pattern and it&#8217;s just immediately in the library. There will be a team there looking and inspecting, and hopefully if your block pattern, I can&#8217;t remember what the exact reasons for dismissal were, but it was things along the lines of, if it&#8217;s not really using more than one block, if it&#8217;s not doing something innovative, for example, something along those lines. But given all of that, there could be this problem of just too many things to pick from.</p>



<p>[00:20:58] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> I think you&#8217;re absolutely right. And then, trying to decide which patterns solve which problems and which to use. That choice paralysis will undoubtedly be an issue that as a community, we then need to start thinking about what&#8217;s the value, what&#8217;s the added value that block patterns are bringing and find a way of communicating that. Both to us as technologists, but also to our clients.</p>



<p>[00:21:18] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> One of the interesting ancillary bits of block patterns or blocks or WordPress in general. I don&#8217;t know if you&#8217;ve followed this thing, but the Openverse. The idea that you can submit block patterns that have all of the images already in, they&#8217;re probably placeholders. You probably won&#8217;t end up using them, but I do find that&#8217;s quite an interesting piece. For the first time you&#8217;ll be able to download these block patterns and you can actually stick with it. You can use that thing forever and a day, and there&#8217;ll be no license that you are treading on.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s totally usable. And I think that&#8217;s really interesting. I&#8217;ve actually been taking tons of photos this week with the intention of, as soon as I get home and I&#8217;ve got a reliable internet, it&#8217;s just to stick them onto Openverse, then people can see pictures of Porto for free.</p>



<p>[00:22:02] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> Beautiful. Definitely, and I think it then raises an interesting question about reusable blocks and how block patterns interact with reusable blocks. And if we have these that you can really just drop in and they&#8217;re instantly displaying those images or instantly sort of showing that you really, you don&#8217;t change, you just drop those in. Whether that&#8217;s more the direction that reusable blocks will go in. Those kind of global blocks. So global entities that we use repeatedly. Or whether block patterns will actually evolve into a version of that. That rather than just being templates, UI components that we reuse, maybe they will evolve into something equally like an opportunity to be global. So, there&#8217;s definitely areas to explore there.</p>



<p>[00:22:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> When you agreed to have a podcast with me, it sounds subtle, but when I was thinking about it, the more I thought about it, the more I thought, actually, this is fairly seismic. You said that your design process in your agency, as a result of using patterns and the block editor had moved away, I&#8217;ll quote, you said it has moved the expectation, and I&#8217;m guessing we&#8217;re talking about the clients expectation.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s moved the expectation from impress us, to collaborate with us. And I think that&#8217;s really interesting because that is a big change. But it sounds like a really subtle one on the face of it. But so you are now it&#8217;s almost like do it, it&#8217;s not DIY, it&#8217;s more like do it with us.</p>



<p>[00:23:23] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> It&#8217;s a profound change. You&#8217;re absolutely right .From being a passive consumer of that process.</p>



<p>[00:23:32] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Taking it off the shelf, the website&#8217;s off the shelf. There it is. It&#8217;s a commodity.</p>



<p>[00:23:37] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> Exactly that, but also, when we&#8217;ve struggled through a design process and we present that design and we&#8217;ve often got that big gamble moment when it&#8217;s sort of Tada, and hoping fingers cross the client likes the designs that we&#8217;ve created.</p>



<p>That&#8217;s what we&#8217;re trying to address is, want to move away from these big gamble moments. These big, almost waterfall by designers. We&#8217;re doing big design stages and then big build processes. And so Bringing the clients in closer. Often I feel that we solve thousands of micro problems in the course of the design process and the course of the development process, but we kind of hide that away.</p>



<p>We&#8217;re not very good at being communicative and transparent about all of those problems that we&#8217;ve solved on that journey. And as we try and bring clients in closer, we want them to own the outcomes. We want them to be on that journey of, here&#8217;s some problems, like framing the problem and, and helping them to go on that journey of, okay, there&#8217;s some compromises here and there&#8217;s some reasoning here that maybe we need to be more mindful of.</p>



<p>And so when they&#8217;ve been part of that process, when they reach the outcomes, when we present that design, it&#8217;s no longer a Tada moment where there&#8217;s surprise, actually they become champions of that design because they have a sense of ownership. That they&#8217;ve bought into it, because they&#8217;ve been part of that ideation session and part of those sessions.</p>



<p>And so, they go into their organizations and they defend those designs. They can answer any questions about what&#8217;s the reasoning behind this? Or, or why is this like this? Well, well they know, they&#8217;ve been part of those processes.</p>



<p>Now, that&#8217;s when it works beautifully, and I&#8217;m not gonna pretend for one moment that we&#8217;ve found the unicorn, that we can all rest happy in our beds, that we&#8217;ve solved design and development, project builds. But with the right client and that right collaboration spirit, we are seeing huge value from this approach to design and development.</p>



<p>[00:25:37] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I&#8217;m really curious as to what that actually looks like on the ground. In other words, presumably there was a transition over to this during the pandemic. Was this, like okay, we&#8217;re gonna screen share on Zoom, and we&#8217;re gonna show you what we&#8217;re doing and you are gonna interrupt us and tell us what you want us to do. Is it literally that? That they are contributing as they watch you do things and learning the process? Or is there more kind of instructional things that you are sending out to them and they approve one as opposed to the other? I&#8217;m just curious what the process really, really looks like.</p>



<p>[00:26:09] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> So there&#8217;s no one size fits all. We tend to kind of move with the needs of the client and some clients are more collaborative than others. It sort of bubbled up to two approaches. So one might be that we are providing more regular feedback and regular check-ins. It&#8217;s worth mentioning because it&#8217;s, often designers work in sort of isolation and they, they don&#8217;t like to show their workings out. They don&#8217;t like to show the rough edges. They want to show something that&#8217;s beautiful that they&#8217;ve, worked very hard to create.</p>



<p>So it&#8217;s often quite hard to get them to actually be more transparent in terms of that process. In terms of their building up of ideas and their iterative, internal iterative approach. And so we&#8217;re increasingly encouraging that. And sometimes that might be the collaboration is that they&#8217;re seeing things much earlier.</p>



<p>But, with the right type of client, we can go much deeper. And so what we do is, and I think Nathan, you were kind of alluding to, this is actually we create collaboration sessions. We jump on zoom or equivalent, and we get the designers, we get the developers there, we open up Codepen or something similar.</p>



<p>And really we start like through the conduit, we kind of play what Dan Mall calls the kind of hot potato process where, you know, maybe the designer is center stage for a moment as we are looking at some typography and maybe some color elements, maybe we&#8217;ve already got a palette established from the guidelines from a brand existing brand guidelines.</p>



<p>And then the developer using Tailwind, or again, something similar, you know, there&#8217;s that friction to getting something on the screen is very low. We can start to explore and collaborate together. And, and this is where the client&#8217;s opinion can start to come in, you know? Well, well, what do you think about the use of, this color in, in this formation. Or, what do you feel about the interplay of these different elements?</p>



<p>And so what we&#8217;ve found is that trying to do that at the meta level, trying to do that in a kind more old fashioned template driven design. That&#8217;s really challenging. Because that, that doesn&#8217;t really work until you see the whole, and the interplay of all of those components. It&#8217;s, it&#8217;s hard to kind of break it down.</p>



<p>If you are truly component driven. Well then you can break off, let&#8217;s work on the hero component. And what&#8217;s incredibly valuable about these sessions is the client can tell you instantly that, oh no, we can&#8217;t do that because the marketing team must have a dot, dot dot. Or actually we sell a bit of, we get some, a revenue stream from one of those. It has to be a carousel because we get a revenue stream from one of their slides.</p>



<p>Now that minutiae insight is very hard to unfold in a discovery and definition process. That complexity emerges over time. But if you are in that space, if you are collaborating in real time, you get those insights. You get the business objective insights, coming right into the design and development process.</p>



<p>[00:28:58] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> How do you feel about, I&#8217;m pretty sure that I know that you don&#8217;t use any of these, but just as a sort of short circuit. How do you feel about these pattern libraries, which have popped up in the last year or so. Where you can go and you can discover template libraries and block pattern libraries. And so these are not the free open source ones that you can get through WordPress, but the proprietary ones.</p>



<p>Have you embedded and explored any of those and decided to use them. A minute ago, you were talking about the fact that you were free of all of that with Gutenberg. And I just wondered if you&#8217;d strayed into any of that or had any thoughts.</p>



<p>[00:29:32] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> So I felt a for a long time that I don&#8217;t like to bring proprietary software into WordPress. As we should all be very mindful of creating dependencies. And that was always true of page builders. It was always a concern that we&#8217;re creating a dependency, a future dependency for our clients, you know, whatever our choice of page builder may have been.</p>



<p>And so the exact principle, the same principle applies here, that we are really creating a dependency. And exactly, as you say, Nathan, this is a young and evolving and adapting area, and maybe we back the wrong horse. You know, maybe the one that we choose is the one that just deprecates into GitHub.</p>



<p>And then we&#8217;ve suddenly got this dependency in one or two of our sites that we have to maintain. And, you know, the support desk need to learn this particular implementation. So, you know, it&#8217;s always interesting to explore. It&#8217;s always interesting to see what the community are creating both in terms of commercial offerings as well as open source.</p>



<p>But I&#8217;m very mindful that we are, it&#8217;s an infinite game. We&#8217;re not looking for those quick shortcuts in terms of implementing something today. And then we are thinking about that partnership with our clients, that life cycle of a platform, you know, of a, a true solution to their needs.</p>



<p>And that almost invariably means trying to stay as close to core as we can. We&#8217;re trying to reduce dependencies. We&#8217;re trying to reduce any sort of proprietary dependencies. With those sort of parameters in mind, it&#8217;s not really been part of our journey and I don&#8217;t, as yet, you know, we haven&#8217;t seen something that has bubbled up that has, has seemingly been so good that we feel like it&#8217;s worthy, worth taking in that compromise.</p>



<p>[00:31:12] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Sean Blakeley, thank you for joining me on the podcast.</p>



<p>[00:31:16] <strong>Sean Blakeley:</strong> Thank you.</p>
</div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 27 Jul 2022 14:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Nathan Wrigley";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:33;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"Do The Woo Community: What Storytelling Means to a WooCommerce Product Builder";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=72465";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"https://dothewoo.io/storytelling-for-woocommerce-product-builders/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:436:"<p>A story, to be effective, has to have certain components to help people understand that story and to reach and to be moved by that story.</p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io/storytelling-for-woocommerce-product-builders/">What Storytelling Means to a WooCommerce Product Builder</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce Builder Community</a>	.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 27 Jul 2022 08:09:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:34;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"Gutenberg Times: Conditionally Registering Patterns in Themes with Third-Party Blocks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=21723";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/conditionally-registering-patterns-in-themes-with-third-party-blocks/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8608:"<p><em>What happens when a theme registers a pattern with a third-party block?</em> If the user has the block plugin installed, it appears as it should. WordPress also does a good job at handling the flipside of this scenario:  the user does not have the block installed.</p>



<p>When users attempt to use such a pattern in the editor, they will see an error like the following for self-closing blocks:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Your site doesn&#8217;t include support for the &#8220;pluginslug/test&#8221; block. You can leave this block intact or remove it entirely.</p></blockquote>



<p>If the block encompasses some HTML, the user will see a different message sitting above the HTML output:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Your site doesn&#8217;t include support for the &#8220;pluginslug/test&#8221; block. You can leave this block intact, convert its content to a Custom HTML block, or remove it entirely.</p></blockquote>



<p>On the front end, self-closing blocks are simply not shown. However, if the block has HTML, its output will appear. This system is better than something like a fatal PHP error on the front end. However, it is often not ideal.</p>



<p>Last week, WordPress.org <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2022/07/21/pattern-previews-for-themes-in-the-directory-beta/">began showing pattern previews</a> in the theme directory, as shown in the following screenshot from the <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/bright-mode/">Bright Mode</a> theme page:</p>



<img />



<p>This change is a huge win in showing off a theme&#8217;s design.  In the past, users could not see the patterns without manually installing and testing. </p>



<p>However, it brought back that original question about dealing with third-party blocks in patterns. WordPress.org&#8217;s preview system does not have these blocks installed, so it has no way of showing them. There is currently an <a href="https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6420">open Meta ticket</a> to address this issue, and the ideal solution would be for the theme directory to simply not attempt to preview patterns for unsupported blocks.</p>



<p>Regardless of how things are handled in the theme directory, WordPress theme authors have control over whether their patterns appear. Plus, it is generally good practice to not clutter the UI with patterns that do not work.</p>



<p>The easiest way to disable a pattern, keeping it from showing in the UI, is by checking if a particular plugin is active. All you need to know is a function or class name from the plugin.</p>



<p>Themes can register patterns either via the <code>register_block_pattern()</code> function or by placing headered files into the <code>/patterns</code> subfolder.  I will cover each scenario in this tutorial. Then, I will offer a couple of alternative solutions that may work, depending on the scenario.</p>



<h2>When Registered via register_block_pattern()</h2>



<p>If registering a pattern via the <code>register_block_pattern()</code> function, you should only need to check if a plugin is active before calling the function. The simplest way to do this is to conditionally check for the plugin via <code>function_exists()</code> or <code>class_exists()</code>.</p>


<pre class="wp-block-code"><div><code class="hljs language-php">add_action( <span class="hljs-string">'init'</span>, <span class="hljs-function"><span class="hljs-keyword">function</span><span class="hljs-params">()</span> </span>{
    <span class="hljs-keyword">if</span> ( function_exists( <span class="hljs-string">'pluginslug_some_function'</span> ) ) {
        register_block_pattern( <span class="hljs-string">'themeslug/pattern-abc'</span> );
    }
} );</code></div><small class="shcb-language" id="shcb-language-5"><span class="shcb-language__label">Code language:</span> <span class="shcb-language__name">PHP</span> <span class="shcb-language__paren">(</span><span class="shcb-language__slug">php</span><span class="shcb-language__paren">)</span></small></pre>


<p>This method is no different from classic PHP-based themes when calling a function or class from a third-party plugin.</p>



<h2>When Registered via the /patterns Folder</h2>



<p>Patterns housed in the <code>/patterns</code> folder are auto-registered by WordPress on the <code>init</code> action hook. There is currently no filter to short-circuit this process. This method requires unregistering the pattern instead.</p>



<p>Once again, you must conditionally check if a function or class exists. If not, unregister the pattern:</p>


<pre class="wp-block-code"><div><code class="hljs language-php">add_action( <span class="hljs-string">'init'</span>, <span class="hljs-function"><span class="hljs-keyword">function</span><span class="hljs-params">()</span> </span>{
    <span class="hljs-keyword">if</span> ( ! function_exists( <span class="hljs-string">'pluginslug_some_function'</span> ) ) {
        unregister_block_pattern( <span class="hljs-string">'themeslug/pattern-abc'</span> );
    }
} );</code></div><small class="shcb-language" id="shcb-language-6"><span class="shcb-language__label">Code language:</span> <span class="shcb-language__name">PHP</span> <span class="shcb-language__paren">(</span><span class="shcb-language__slug">php</span><span class="shcb-language__paren">)</span></small></pre>


<h2>An Alternative: Conditionally Adding Blocks to Patterns</h2>



<p>It is possible to register a pattern while conditionally supporting a particular block. For example, suppose your theme supports a contact form block named <code>pluginslug/contact</code> that you want to display in a &#8220;Contact&#8221; pattern. Further suppose that the contact form only makes up one section of the pattern but isn&#8217;t necessarily a requirement for the layout to work.</p>



<p>This method allows all users to make use of the pattern but does not require the third-party block to be installed. It will simply not be a part of the pattern if the user doesn&#8217;t have it.</p>



<p>Since we have access to PHP when building patterns, we can do the same conditional check within the pattern itself. The following is an example of a such a pattern:</p>


<pre class="wp-block-code"><div><code class="hljs language-php"><span class="hljs-meta">&lt;?php</span>
<span class="hljs-comment">/*
 * Title: Contact
 * Slug: themeslug/contact
 */</span>
<span class="hljs-meta">?&gt;</span>
&lt;!-- some core WordPress blocks --&gt;

<span class="hljs-meta">&lt;?php</span> <span class="hljs-keyword">if</span> ( function_exists( <span class="hljs-string">'pluginslug_some_function'</span> ) ) : <span class="hljs-meta">?&gt;</span>
	&lt;!-- wp:pluginslug/contact /--&gt;
<span class="hljs-meta">&lt;?php</span> <span class="hljs-keyword">endif</span> <span class="hljs-meta">?&gt;</span>

&lt;!-- some other core WordPress blocks --&gt;</code></div><small class="shcb-language" id="shcb-language-7"><span class="shcb-language__label">Code language:</span> <span class="shcb-language__name">PHP</span> <span class="shcb-language__paren">(</span><span class="shcb-language__slug">php</span><span class="shcb-language__paren">)</span></small></pre>


<p>This method can grow complex quickly for themes that require multiple third-party blocks in a pattern or need to perform checks in dozens of pattern files. It is more suited to simple or one-off uses. Otherwise, it may become a management headache.</p>



<h2>Alternative to function/class_exists()</h2>



<p>It is also possible to check if a specific block is registered instead of relying on a plugin function/class name. However, this only works if the block is registered on the server-side.</p>



<p>WordPress does not have a dedicated <code>is_block_type()</code> or <code>is_registered_block_type()</code> helper function, but the <code>WP_Block_Type_Registry</code> class does have a public <code>is_registered()</code> method that you can use to check if a block exists:</p>


<pre class="wp-block-code"><div><code class="hljs language-php"><span class="hljs-keyword">if</span> ( WP_Block_Type_Registry::get_instance()-&gt;is_registered( <span class="hljs-string">'pluginslug/test'</span> ) ) {
    register_block_pattern( <span class="hljs-string">'themeslug/pattern-abc'</span> );
}</code></div><small class="shcb-language" id="shcb-language-8"><span class="shcb-language__label">Code language:</span> <span class="shcb-language__name">PHP</span> <span class="shcb-language__paren">(</span><span class="shcb-language__slug">php</span><span class="shcb-language__paren">)</span></small></pre>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 27 Jul 2022 08:01:28 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Justin Tadlock";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:35;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:40:"HeroPress: Finding My Place In The World";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=4641";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:132:"https://heropress.com/essays/finding-my-place-in-the-world/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=finding-my-place-in-the-world";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22222:"<img width="1024" height="512" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/072622-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: The experience was so great and the community so warm, that it pulled me all the way in." />
<p><a href="https://heropress.com/feed/#finnish">Tämä kirjoitus on luettavissa myös suomeksi.</a></p>



Here is Timi reading his own story aloud.



<p>From a young age, I’ve been interested in computers. That probably comes from our family tree, as my grandad was a home appliance repairer and father has had a career related to the Internet since the early 2000s dot-com boom.</p>



<p>I remember looking at schematics of different household appliances at our grandad’s repair shop. Thinking how on earth the television game shows, where you could send a text message to “throw” a ball towards the goal on the virtual background behind the host, do work. Spending time at the computer, going thru different websites and being impressed by those. Father being head of e-commerce for a hairdressing industry chain and seeing the growth of e-commerce during the mid-2000s.</p>



<p>At that time I was in primary school and didn’t understand much of what all that was about. And surely wouldn’t have even guessed that someday I would have a career in IT.</p>



<h2 id="h-getting-familiar-with-the-internet">Getting familiar with the Internet</h2>



<p>Sure, back in the days, you had MySpace, virtual horse stables, guestbooks, IRC-Galleria, and different “website builders”… everyone explored the possibilities of these tools and technologies. You almost weren’t cool if you didn’t. So of course I built a few websites mainly just for fun, like almost everyone else of my age at that time. I also purchased my first domains and made a few sites public. One of those, for a scout group, was “coded” with excel. That’s how I started learning HTML and CSS.</p>



<p>When secondary school started, I did get really interested in sewing, and light-and-audio equipment for live productions. And politics.</p>



<blockquote><p>Copyright, patent law, freedom of information and net neutrality were hot topics around that time in Finland. </p></blockquote>



<p>I felt that the Internet I had grown with, was threatened. The Pirate Party movement had just landed in Finland and they were defending everything I believed in: open access to information and people’s online rights. Despite my young age, they welcomed me, so I got involved with registering the party for elections and in general.</p>



<p>They used IRC for all the communications, and soon I became frustrated because of missed conversations due to shutting off the computer and thus signing off from IRC as well. That led me to assemble, install and run my first home server so I would always have IRC on. Of course, the new server intrigued me and almost invited to try out hosting the websites myself. That way I learned the basics about Linux, Apache, PHP and MySQL. My interest in these things was understood by only a few classmates and for everyone else, I was a bit of a weirdo. Because of that, I didn’t make many friends from the same age group with me – and that stays true to this day.</p>



<h2 id="h-finding-wordpress">Finding WordPress</h2>



<p>At some point in all this, I found WordPress. It was around 2009 and version 2.8 when I installed WordPress for the first time. I immediately started looking for ways to modify and extend the website. One thing lead to another. Soon I had installed WordPress quite a few more times, and even helped one of my friends to set up a website for their parliamentary election campaign. For getting the timeline right in this post, I looked up my old websites and found out that in 2010 I had published a guide on how to translate WordPress into Finnish and even offered some theme translations to download.</p>



<p>And yet I still didn’t think that IT, servers, websites or WordPress could be my career. When secondary school ended, I applied to study live production. Like audio and lights in concerts and all that stuff. Didn’t get selected for that school, because of the low numbers on the diploma. That was devastating.</p>



<p>But little did I know. The third school I applied to, selected me and there I was, going to study multimedia for three years. Photography, video editing, design and a little bit of web development.</p>



<h2 id="h-the-most-inspiring-and-toughest-times-of-life-at-the-same-time">The most inspiring and toughest times of life at the same time</h2>



<p>Looking back, this was one of the most pivotal points in my life. Three years in that school taught me how to be creative with design and boosted my self-confidence in coding skills. Starting almost from the first web development classes, teachers saw my skills and encouraged me to continue coding. I started helping other students during the classes, as most of the web development stuff was already familiar to me. I really enjoyed the print design classes, photography and school in general after a long time.</p>



<p>I had also become active in running one of the few Internet cafes in Helsinki that were left in the early 2010s. At the time, we were one of the few places which served only vegetarian food, had open wifi and laptops available for customers. As I was interested in tech and some knowledge, the natural thing was to be involved with maintaining those laptops and the website for the cafe.</p>



<p>Some same founders of that cafe cooperative had founded another cooperative in the early 2000s, to offer reasonably priced hosting and email services for associations and other NGOs. After some time, they invited me to join and soon I started helping with server upkeep and customer service. I would also make a number of websites with WordPress for our clients. </p>



<blockquote><p>For the first time in my life, I was getting some money from doing things on the Internet.</p></blockquote>



<p>I started to feel that I had found what I want to do in my life.</p>



<p>Then my partner at the time did get severely ill mentally. That started to affect me as well, and the last year of school with one half at on-the-job training and another half at school doing a bigger final project was very emotional and filled with deep worry. During that year we broke up and that led to depression.</p>



<p>I didn’t go to school. I didn’t answer the emails or phone calls from my teachers. For a good few months, my life was filled with going out to nightclubs and doing the cooperative work for which I felt a responsibility.</p>



<p>One day, when one of the teachers was calling yet again, I gathered myself and picked up the phone. It was only a month before graduation and I had some courses and a final project to complete before that. Somehow we managed to arrange everything and with the support of all my teachers, the last course was accepted as completed two days before the graduation ceremony.</p>



<h2 id="h-not-finding-a-job-in-the-industry">Not finding a job in the industry</h2>



<p>Right after graduation, I started looking for a job in the web industry. Tens of applications lead to few interviews, but nobody wanted to hire a newly graduated 18-year-old. I had some experience working in the kitchen from summer jobs, so I started applying to those types of openings, from fast-food chains to being a dishwasher at restaurants in need of income. </p>



<blockquote><p>Finally, one small school kitchen hired me to do the salads and desserts and help with dishwashing.</p></blockquote>



<p>A few months passed, and even though the school kitchen work was nice, I knew that it was something I didn’t want to do for too long. Finland has mandatory military or civil service for all adult males, so I started planning to complete my service soon with the hopes of finding a job in web development after that.</p>



<p>Only a few weeks before my civil service was due to start, one of the companies I had applied to reached out to me and offered a job. Being thrilled about finally getting a job offer in the industry, I did take that offer right away to learn that I would be a sole developer. At the age of 19. At a company with multiple seriously big clients and custom systems written in PHP.</p>



<h2 id="h-finding-wordpress-community">Finding WordPress community</h2>



<p>During that time, I also learned about the WordPress community in Finland and attended a few very early unofficial meetups. A bit earlier, I had met <a href="https://rolle.design/">Rolle</a> online, who happened to found a WordPress agency around the same time we started offering WordPress websites, on my initiative, at the company I was working for. At its best, we chatted daily and helped each other with our work.</p>



<p>Fast-forward a year. I was hired by a newly founded digital agency whose owners previously used me as a freelancer. It was really inspiring. I learned a lot and submitted my first patch to WordPress core during that employment. But something was missing. The owners didn’t really see the value in the community and, in fact, denied me from attending the first WordCamp in Finland.</p>



<p>Being very stubborn at that age and really interested in the community based on meetups, I cheated a little and booked train tickets to WordCamp Finland 2015. Ignoring the fact that my bosses haven’t allowed using one workday for that.</p>



<p>It was worth it and a second pivotal point in my life. I finally met Rolle in person and many other Finnish WordPress’ers I looked up to. Including Daniel, who was responsible for Finnish translations for years and Mikko, who was considered a WordPress guru.</p>



<h2 id="h-growing-in-the-wordpress-community">Growing in the WordPress community</h2>



<p>The experience was so great and the community so warm, that it pulled me all the way in. I started attending official meetups and over the years first became a volunteer at WordCamp, then organiser and lead the organiser. I also moved to another city and was the first hire in Rolle’s company.</p>



<p>Nowadays, multiple years later, I’m a partner in the very same company called <a href="https://www.dude.fi/">Dude</a>. A Community Deputy and a WordCamp mentor. Our company sponsors my time partially for the WordPress project. I’ve built WordPress websites for Finnish government agencies and big corporates. Mentored WordCamp Europe. Helped numerous WordPress’ers around the world in various ways.</p>



<p>And found my place in the world. From an industry and community, I could not have predicted, but to which the journey is quite obvious when looking back. A community that does not only share the same ideology that is still important to me, the freedom of information, but helps to make it true. A community whose members I consider close friends, some even as an extended family.</p>



<p>For those who are interested in my journey in WordPress Community, there’s a post titled “<a href="https://sipp.is/12-years-with-wordpress/">12 years with WordPress</a>” in my personal blog waiting for you.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<p>&nbsp;</p>



<h1>Miten löysin paikkani maailmassa</h1>



Timi lukee tässä tarinansa ääneen.



<p>Olin kiinnostunut tietokoneista ja nuoresta iästä lähtien. Sukurasite todennäköisesti, vaari kun oli kodinkonekorjaaja ja isä luonut uraa Internetin parissa 2000-luvun huumasta lähtien.</p>



<p>Muistan ihmetelleeni eri kodinkoneiden korjauskaavioita vaarin pajalla. Miettineeni miten television peliohjelmat, joissa pystyit “heittämään” palloa tekstarilla virtuaalisen taustan edessä kekkuloivan juontajan iloksi, voi toimia. Kuluttaneeni aikaa tietokoneella selaten läpi Internetiä. Näheeni valtakunnallisen kampaamoketjun verkkokauppapäällikön, isäni, kautta verkkokaupan kasvun 2000-luvun puolivälissä.</p>



<p>Tuohon aikaan olin ala-asteella enkä ymmärtänyt isommassa mittakaavassa mitä ympärilläni tapahtui. Enkä olisi koskaan osannut edes arvata, että joku päivä olisin IT-alalla.</p>



<h2 id="h-tutustuminen-internetiin-alkaa">Tutustuminen Internetiin alkaa</h2>



<p>Toki MySpace, virtuaalitallit, erilaiset vieraskirjat, IRC-Galleria, Suntuubi ja vastaavat oli tuohon aikaan pienimuotoinen juttu. Kaikki kokeilkivat ja testailivat näitä uusia työkaluja sekä tekniikoita. Et lähestulkoon ollut cool, jos et testaillut. Niinpä minkäkin rakensin ensimmäisiä verkkosivujani, kuten moni oman ikäiseni noihin aikoihin. Hankin myös muutaman ensimmäisen verkkotunnukseni ja laitoin sivuja julkiseksi. Yksi noista oli partiolippukunnalle excelillä “koodattu” sivusto. Tällä tavoin aloin oppimaan HTML:ää sekä CSS:ää.</p>



<p>Ylä-asteen alkaessa kiinnostuin todella ompelusta sekä livetuotantojen ääni- ja valotekniikasta. Ja politiikasta.</p>



<p>Noihin aikoihin tekijänoikeusasiat, patenttilaki, tiedon vapaus ja nettineutraliteetti olivat tapetilla suomessa. Tunsin, että Internet jonka kanssa olin kasvanut oli uhattuna. Piraattiliike oli juuri saapunut suomeen ja he puolustivat kaikkea mihin uskoin: vapaata pääsyä tietoon sekä ihmisten oikeuksia Internetissä. Nuoresta iästäni huolimatta minut toivotettiin tervetulleeki ja näin osallistuin Piraattipuolueen puoluerekisteriin saamiseen.</p>



<p>Piraattipuolueessa käytettiin IRC:iä kaikkeen kommunikointiin, ja pian turhauduinkin kun menetin chattilokeja tietokoneen sammuttamisen takia. Näin päädyin rakentamaan, asentamaan ja pyörittämään ensimmäistä kotipalvelintani – jotta voisin pitää IRC:iä päällä koko ajan. Luonnollisesti tämä houkutti ja lähes kutsui minua testaamaan nettisivujen hostaamista itsekkin. Näin aloin oppimaan perusteita Linuxista, Apachesta, PHP:sta aj MySQL:ästä. Ainoastaan muutama luokkakaverini ymmärsi kiinnostukseni näihin asioihin, muille olin hieman outolintu. Ehkä siksi en saanutkaan kovin montaa ystävää oman ikäisistäni – asia joka muuten pätee edelleen.</p>



<h2 id="h-wordpressin-loytamisen-hetki">WordPressin löytämisen hetki</h2>



<p>Jossain kohtaa kaikkea tätä löysin WordPressin. Se oli joskus vuonna 2009 ja version 2.8 paikkeilla, kun asensin WordPressin ensimmäistä kertaa. Välittömästi aloin tutkia tapoja muokata sekä laajentaa luomaani nettisivua. Yksi asia johti toiseen. Pian olinkin asentanut WordPressin jo useampaan kertaan ja jopa auttanut ystävääni luomalla hänen eduskuntavaalikampanjasivuston. Tutkistekin tätä kirjoitusta varten vanhoja sivustojani, ja huomasin että 2010 olen julkaissut ohjeen miten saada WordPress suomeksi ja tarjosin jopa muutaman teeman käännöstä ladattavaksi.</p>



<p>Silti en vieläkään uskonut, että IT, palvelimet, nettisivut tai WordPress voisi olla joskus ura minulle. Peruskoulun lähestyessä loppuaan, hain opiskelemaan livetuotantojen tekniikkaa. En tullut valituksi päättötodistuksen huonojen arvosanojen takia. Olin lannistunut.</p>



<p>Mutta vähänpä tiesin. Pääsin kolmanteen hakuvaihtoehtooni ja siinä minä olin, aloittamassa media-assistentin opinnot. Valokuvausta, videoiden editointia, suunnittelua ja vähän nettisivujen tekemistä.</p>



<h2 id="h-elamani-inspiroivimmat-ja-haastavimmat-ajat-samaan-aikaan">Elämäni inspiroivimmat ja haastavimmat ajat samaan aikaan</h2>



<p>Taaksepäin katsoen tämä oli yksi elämäni käännekohdista. Kolme vuotta ammattikoulussa opetti minulle luovuutta ja vahvisti itsetuntoani koodaustaidoistani. Melkein ensimmäisistä tunneista lähtien, opettajat huomasivat kykyni ja kannustivat jatkamaan. Aloin auttamaan muita oppilaita verkkoviestinnän tunneilla, koska lähes kaikki mitä opiskelimme koodaamiseen liittyen oli jo tuttua minulle. Nautin printtimateriaalien suunnittelusta, valokuvauksesta ja pitkästä aikaa koulusta.</p>



<p>Noihin aikoihin olin myös ryhtynyt aktiiviseksi yhdessä Helsingin ainoista jäljellä olevista internetkahviloista. Tuohon aikaan osuuskuntamme oli yksi harvoista, joilla oli täysin lihaton valikoima, vapaasti käytettävissä oleva langaton verkko sekä läppäreitä lainaan asiakkaille. Luonnollisesti, koska olin kiinnostunut teknologiasta ja jonkin verran kokenut, päädyin auttamaan näiden läppäreiden sekä kahvilan nettisivujen ylläpitämisessä.</p>



<p>Samat perustajat olivat perustaneet toisen osuuskunnan 2000-luvun alussa, tarjotakseen järkevästi hinnoiteltuja verkkopalveluita yhdistyksille sekä yhteisöille. Tulin kutsutuksi mukaan tuohon osuuskuntaan ja pian aloin auttamaan palvelinten ylläpidossa sekä asiakaspalvelussa. Tein myös jonkin verran WordPress-sivustoja asiakkaillemme. Ensimmäistä kertaa elämässäni sain rahaa siitä, että tein asioita Internetissä.</p>



<p>Alkoi tuntumaan, että olen löytänyt sen mitä haluan tehdä elämässäni.</p>



<p>Sitten silloinen kumppanini sairastui mielenterveydeltään vakavasti. Se alkoi vaikuttaa myös minuun ja viimeinen vuosi koulussa, toinen puolisko työssäoppimassa ja toinen lopputyön parissa, täyttyi vahvoilla tunteilla sekä syvällä huolella. Erosimme tuon vuoden aikana, ja masennuin.</p>



<p>En mennyt kouluun. En vastannut opettajien puheluihin tai sähköposteihin. Muutaman kuukauden ajan elämäni täyttyi yökerhoissa käymisellä sekä osuuskunnan töillä, joihin koin velvollisuutta.</p>



<p>Eräs päivä, kun yksi opettajista soitti jälleen, keräsin itseni ja vastasin. Oli noin kuukausi valmistumiseen ja minulla oli muutama kurssi suoritettavana sekä lopputyö kesken. Jollain tavalla saimme asiat järjestynään opettajieni tuella, ja viimeinen kurssi merkittiin suoritetuksi kaksi päivää ennen valmistujaisia.</p>



<p>Välittömästi valmistumisen jälkeen aloin etsimään töitä. Kymmenet hekmukset johtivat muutamaan haastatteluun, mutta kukaan ei halunnut palkata 18 vuotiasta vastavalmistunutta. Olin saanut kesätöistä jonkin verran koemusta keittiössä työskentelemisestä, joten rahan tarpeessa aloin hakemaan työpaikkoja mistä tahansa ravintola-alalta, pikaruokaketjuista aina ravintoloiden tiskariksi. Lopulta eräs pienempi koulukeittiö palkkasi minut auttamaan salaattien, jälkiruokien sekä tiskien kanssa.</p>



<p>Jokunen kuukausi kului ja vaikka työ oli mukavaa, tiesin etten halua tehdä sitä turhan pitkään. Niinpä aloin suunnittelemaan siviilipalvelukseen astumista ja toivoin, että löytäisin sen jälkeen oman alan töitä.</p>



<p>Vain muutama viikko ennen palvelukseen astumista, eräs yrityksistä joihin olin hakenut palasi asiaan ja tarjosi töitä. Olin innoissani, eikä tarvinnut miettiä pitkään paikan vastaanottamista. Pian kuitenkin opin, että tulisin olemaan yrityksen ainoa koodari. 19 vuoden ikäisenä. Yrityksessä jolla oli isoja asiakkuuksia ja lukuisia itse kehitettyjä PHP-sovelluksia.</p>



<h2 id="h-wordpress-yhteison-loytaminen">WordPress-yhteisön löytäminen</h2>



<p>Noihin aikoihin tulin myös tietoiseksi suomen WordPress-yhteisöstä ja osallistuin muutamaan ensimmäisistä epävirallisista tapaamisista. Hieman aiemmin, olin tustunut netissä <a href="https://rolle.design/">Rolleen</a>, joka sattui perustamaan WordPress-toimiston samoihin aikoihin kuin meidän yritys alkoi tarjoamaan WordPress-sivustoja aloitteestani. Parhaimmillaan juttelimme päivittäin ja autoimme toisiamme työssämme.</p>



<p>Pikakelataan vuosi. Olin palkattu vastaperustettuun digitoimistoon, joiden omistajille olin tehnyt joitain vuosia aiemmin hommia freelancerina. Tuo aika oli todella inspiroivaa. Opin paljon uutta ja lähetin jopa ensimmäisen pienen korjaukseni WordPressin ytimeen. Mutta jotain puuttui. Omistajat eivät oikein nähneet arvoa yhteisössä, ja itseasiassa kielsivät osallistumasta suomen enimmäiseen WordCamp-tapahtumaan.</p>



<p>Jääräpäinen kun olin, ja erittäin kiinnostunut yhteisöstä, huijasin hieman ja varasin junaliput osallistuaakseni WordCamp Finland 2015 -tapahtumaan. Huolimatta siitä, että minua oli kielletty kuluttamasta työpäivää siihen.</p>



<p>Osallistuminen oli sen arvoista ja toinen käännekohdista elämässäni. Tapasin vihdoin Rollen ensimmäistä kertaa livenä, sekä muita suomen WordPress-maailman hahmoja joita ihailin. Mukaanlukien Daniel joka vastasi suomenkielisistä käännöksistä pitkään sekä Mikon, jota pidettiin lähes WordPress-guruna.</p>



<h2 id="h-wordpress-yhteisossa-kasvaminen">WordPress-yhteisössä kasvaminen</h2>



<p>Kokemus oli niin mahtava ja yhteisö niin lämmin, että se veti heti mukaansa. Aloin osallistumaan virallisiin WordPress meetuppeihin säännöllisesti ja vuosien aikana ilmoittauduin ensin vapaaehtoiseksi WordCamppiin, sitten järjestäjäksi ja lopulta pääjärjestäjäksi. Muutin toiseen kaupunkiin ja olin Rollen perustaman firman ensimmäinen palkkaus.</p>



<p>Nykyään, vuosia myöhemmin, olen osakas tuossa samassa firmassa nimeltään Dude. Osa kansainvälistä yhteisötiimiä ja mentoroin WordCamppeja. Firma sponsoroi osan työajastani WordPress yhteisön hyväksi. Olen ollut mukana tekemässä nettisivuja valtionhallionhallinnolle ja isoille korporaatioille. Mentoroinut maailmans suurinta WordCampia. Auttanut lukuisia WordPressin käyttäjiä ympäri maailman.</p>



<p>Ja löytänyt paikkani maailmassa. Alalta ja yhteisöstä jota en olisi voinut koskaan ennustaa, mutta johon matka on selkeästi nähtävissä kun katsoo taaksepäin. Yhteisössä, joka ei ainoastaan jaa kanssani samaa ideologiaa joka on edelleen minulle tärkeä, tiedon vapaus, vaan myös auttaa tekemään siitä totta. Yhteisössä, jonka jäsenet ovat tärkeitä ystäviä ja osa jopa melkein kuin perhettä.</p>



<p>Matkastani WordPress-yhteisössä kiinnostuneille, henkilökohtaisesta blogistani löytyy kirjoitus “<a href="https://sipp.is/12-years-with-wordpress/">12 years with WordPress</a>”.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com/essays/finding-my-place-in-the-world/">Finding My Place In The World</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 27 Jul 2022 08:00:29 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Timi Wahalahti";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:36;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:91:"WPTavern: Akismet 5.0 Adds New Spam Detection Feature That Analyzes How Comments Are Posted";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=136573";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:102:"https://wptavern.com/akismet-5-0-adds-new-spam-detection-feature-that-analyzes-how-comments-are-posted";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2157:"<p>For years, the vast majority of Akismet releases have been centered around bug fixes and improving compatibility with various plugins. <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2022/07/26/version-5-0-of-the-akismet-wordpress-plugin-is-now-available/">Version 5.0</a> was released today, following 4.2.5 earlier this month, with a <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2022/07/26/spambots-theyre-not-just-like-us-introducing-akismets-newest-spam-fighting-feature/">new feature</a> that should improve Askismet&#8217;s ability to detect spam comments.</p>



<p>Akismet engineer Christopher Finke explained how the plugin will now analyze how a comment is posted, in addition to analyzing what is posted:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>A typical human commenter on the Web takes about 40 seconds to read a blog post and another 40 seconds to write and submit a comment. Their typing speed varies significantly throughout the creation of their comment, and they regularly use their mouse to click around the page. An automated spambot (even one programmed to act like a person) doesn’t act so human-like: its typing speed and mouseclick speed are superhumanly consistent. It doesn’t spend time “reading” blog posts. Its mouse usage is sparse.</p></blockquote>



<p>This new feature can detect spam that is posted in a machine-like fashion, even if the spambot is attempting to post a comment with content identical to one that has already been approved. </p>



<p>&#8220;The Akismet plugin will begin observing these behaviors so that they can be used as part of the spam-checking process,&#8221; Finke said. &#8220;None of this data is personally identifiable, and it won’t be used for any purpose other than identifying spam.&#8221;</p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet">Akismet</a> is bundled with WordPress and is active on more than 5 million sites. More than 62% of users are running on 4.2.x and ~38% are on version 4.1 or older. WordPress users who are having a lot of spam breaking through Akismet&#8217;s protection will want to upgrade to take advantage of the new spambot detection features in version 5.0. </p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 26 Jul 2022 18:26:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:37;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"Akismet: Version 5.0 of the Akismet WordPress Plugin is Now Available";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2408";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:97:"https://blog.akismet.com/2022/07/26/version-5-0-of-the-akismet-wordpress-plugin-is-now-available/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:614:"<p>Version 5.0 of <a href="http://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/">the Akismet plugin for WordPress</a> is now available. This update contains one main improvement: <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/?p=2398">a new feature that helps stop spambots</a> by observing how they interact with the page, not just what content they submit.</p>



<p>To upgrade, visit the Updates page of your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions. If you need to download the plugin zip file directly, links to all versions are available in <a href="http://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/">the WordPress plugins directory</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 26 Jul 2022 16:16:15 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:17:"Christopher Finke";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:38;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:102:"Akismet: Spambots: They’re (Not) Just Like Us. Introducing Akismet’s Newest Spam-fighting Feature.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2398";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:119:"https://blog.akismet.com/2022/07/26/spambots-theyre-not-just-like-us-introducing-akismets-newest-spam-fighting-feature/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2153:"<p>For years, Akismet has improved life on the Web by analyzing comment form and contact form submissions and comparing them against millions of pieces of real-time content to catch and stop spam. This has gone well (533,000,000,000 times and counting), but it could be going even better.</p>



<p>Starting with <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2022/07/26/version-5-0-of-the-akismet-wordpress-plugin-is-now-available/">version 5.0 of the Akismet plugin for WordPress</a>, Akismet will begin analyzing <strong><em>how</em></strong> the content was posted in addition to <strong><em>what</em></strong> content is posted. What does this mean?</p>



<p>A typical human commenter on the Web takes about 40 seconds to read a blog post and another 40 seconds to write and submit a comment. Their typing speed varies significantly throughout the creation of their comment, and they regularly use their mouse to click around the page. An automated spambot (even one programmed to act like a person) doesn&#8217;t act so human-like: its typing speed and mouseclick speed are superhumanly consistent. It doesn&#8217;t spend time &#8220;reading&#8221; blog posts. Its mouse usage is sparse. </p>



<p>The differences in these behaviors between people and people-impersonating bots can be used to stop spam &#8212; even if <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2007/11/27/it-really-is-spam/">a spambot is posting a comment identical to that of a real person</a>, the way it does it is uniquely machine-like.  The Akismet plugin will begin observing these behaviors so that they can be used as part of the spam-checking process. (None of this data is personally identifiable, and it won&#8217;t be used for any purpose other than identifying spam.)</p>



<p>To ensure that this latest anti-spam technology is being used to protect your website, upgrade to <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2022/07/26/version-5-0-of-the-akismet-wordpress-plugin-is-now-available/">Akismet 5.0</a> by visiting the Updates page of your WordPress admin dashboard or by downloading it directly from <a href="http://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/">the WordPress plugins directory</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 26 Jul 2022 16:15:27 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:17:"Christopher Finke";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:39;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"Do The Woo Community: The Twists and Turns to Becoming a Developer with Carmen Maymo";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=72529";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"https://dothewoo.io/the-developer-journey-that-twists-and-turns/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:420:"<p>Carmen Maymo started out as an artist, and following a twisted path, ended up a WordPress and WooCommerce developer. </p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io/the-developer-journey-that-twists-and-turns/">The Twists and Turns to Becoming a Developer with Carmen Maymo</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce Builder Community</a>	.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 26 Jul 2022 09:59:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:95:"WPTavern: Review Signal Publishes 2022 WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting Performance Benchmarks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=136533";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:106:"https://wptavern.com/review-signal-publishes-2022-wordpress-and-woocommerce-hosting-performance-benchmarks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7716:"<p>Kevin Ohashi from Review Signal has published the <a href="https://wphostingbenchmarks.com/">2022 WordPress and WooCommerce hosting performance benchmarks</a>. These benchmarks are some of the most trusted review sources in the hosting industry due to Ohashi&#8217;s transparent <a href="https://wphostingbenchmarks.com/methodology/">methodology</a>. No hosting company sponsors the work. Instead, Ohashi charges a standard, publicly documented fee for participation that covers the cost of the tests.</p>



<p>In 2022, Ohashi tested 33 companies with 79 different plans across seven different price tiers, including the WooCommerce tier.</p>



<p>If speed is one of your chief concerns when selecting a hosting company, these performance reviews may be of interest. The benchmarks include a Load Storm test designed to simulate real users visiting the site, logging in, and browsing (uncached performance). They also test cached performance, SSL, WP queries per second, performance on some computational and database operations, and a WebPageTest that fully loads the homepage and records how long it takes from 12 different locations around the world.</p>



<p>The results are easy to examine at a glance. Top Tier (Full Star) status is given to hosts that perform well under the battery of tests:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><strong>Top Tier WordPress Hosting (Full Star)</strong></p><p>This is awarded to companies who maintain 99.9% uptime throughout the entire testing and show little to no performance degradation during load testing, primarily focused on error rate and consistent response times. Error rates above 0.1% and response times above 1000ms* will keep a company away from achieving Top Tier marks.</p></blockquote>



<p>In the budget &lt;$25/Month category, the 2022 Top Tier winners included 20i, 34SP, EasyWP by Namecheap, Eco Web Hosting, GreenGeeks, HostXNow, ICDSoft, LightningBase, MechanicWeb, Pressable, SiteGround, and WPX.</p>



<img />



<p>On the other end of the spectrum, in the <a href="https://wphostingbenchmarks.com/benchmark/2022-enterprise-wordpress/">Enterprise tier ($500+/month)</a>, there were far fewer participants but the majority of them achieved Top Tier status, including Performant Websites, Presslabs, Scaleforce powered by Virtuozzo, Servebolt (Scale + ACD), Servebolt, and WordPress VIP.</p>



<img />



<p>This is the second year Ohashi has performed WooCommerce hosting reviews. The tests are performed on a WooCommerce dummy website with Storefront set as the theme and <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/master/sample-data/sample_products.xml">sample products</a> loaded.</p>



<p>Top Tier winners for WooCommerce hosting include GreenGeeks, Pressable, Servebolt, and WordPress.com.  Two others achieved Honorable Mentions &#8211; ICDSoft and SiteGround. </p>



<img />



<p>Clicking on &#8220;View full results&#8221; for any of the tiers will show a detailed breakdown of all the tests with comparison charts and summaries for each host participating.</p>



<h3>WordPress Hosting Is Getting Faster</h3>



<p>&#8220;I think the most remarkable trend is how fast things are getting,&#8221; Ohashi said. &#8220;For example if we look at the enterprise tier from 2021 vs 2022, the fastest average response time (Static test) was 9ms and 6.4ms and p95 was 41ms to 20ms. The 3rd fastest p95 last year was 65ms which would be 7th (out of 9) fastest this year if you moved it.</p>



<p>&#8220;Despite the numbers already being staggeringly fast already, the whole cohort accelerated even faster.</p>



<p>&#8220;And it&#8217;s not just at the high end, at the &lt;25 tier, on the Static test there was 1 company with under 100ms p95 last year (CynderHost &#8211; 61ms). This year you have three &#8211; Pressable (18ms), SiteGround (67ms), WPX (89ms).</p>



<p>&#8220;At the slow end, the slowest &lt;25 Static average response time was 267ms, last year there were 5 companies with equal or slower averages (max being over 1200ms).&#8221;</p>



<p>Ohashi said there may be some selection bias as companies who do badly may not want to participate again and filter themselves out. </p>



<p>&#8220;But some of those companies improved quite a bit like GoDaddy was 295ms to 234ms which is a 61ms improvement,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I want to call out the companies who have sometimes struggled on these tests, and keep participating. I respect them and it makes me happy to see them making continuous improvements. </p>



<p>&#8220;While I do give awards for companies who do well, I think it&#8217;s important to recognize that not doing as well isn&#8217;t a failure, it&#8217;s about what the companies do with that information and how they improve their services. Overall, it seems everyone is improving and that&#8217;s a win for hosts and consumers alike.&#8221;</p>



<p>Ohashi said one of his goals for 2022 is talking with the companies to explain the value of participating. Beyond the value of the benchmarks themselves, these reviews help the ecosystem push for better performance. One of Ohashi&#8217;s testing policies is a big driver for this: </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>&#8220;The hosting packages are as close to default as possible. In some circumstances where turning on performance enhancements is very simple, e.g. clicking an option to turn on caching, this will be done. These changes must be obvious or communicated clearly in the welcome email so that every user is guaranteed to at least be presented the option. Otherwise everything is as-is for new customers upon sign up to avoid, as much as possible, the extra benefit of companies knowing they are being tested.&#8221;</p></blockquote>



<p>Companies that do well in these tests are those that have embraced performance by default, so that any performance improving technology is already turned on or presented proactively to customers. </p>



<p>&#8220;One of the things I got a degree in is economics and we talk about opt-in vs opt-out policies like organ donation and how defaults can drastically influence outcomes,&#8221; Ohashi said. &#8220;By forcing opt-in performance improvements, I don&#8217;t know how many thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of sites have been positively impacted by these benchmarks without ever being aware because hosting companies are forced to enable better defaults.&#8221;</p>



<p>Ohashi also works with the companies on things that do not make it into the benchmarks, such as pointing out issues with onboarding/UI/UX experience and reporting bugs.</p>



<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve probably used more different WordPress hosting companies than anyone else in the world at this point (I have to be in the top 10 doing these benchmarks for a decade right?),&#8221; he said. &#8220;If I cannot figure out how to do something in your system, it&#8217;s probably your system, not me. I truly want to see everyone do better, because everyone wins in that scenario and I will try to help as much as I can to make that happen.&#8221;</p>



<p>Check out the <a href="https://wphostingbenchmarks.com/">2022 WordPress Hosting Performance Benchmarks</a> for a more detailed breakdown of all the different pricing tiers and a full explanation of the testing methodology. Past years&#8217; benchmarks are also available on the website. This year Load Storm went out of business, so Ohashi replicated the tests into k6. All of his load testing scripts are open source and <a href="https://github.com/ReviewSignal/k6-WordPress-benchmarks">available on GitHub</a>, so others are welcome to use them for testing their own sites or building their own testing suites.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 26 Jul 2022 02:40:37 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:41;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"WPTavern: SiteCare Acquires Maintainn from WebDevStudios";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=136520";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"https://wptavern.com/sitecare-acquires-maintainn-from-webdevstudios";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2720:"<p>More consolidation is happening in the WordPress maintenance services space, as SiteCare <a href="https://sitecare.com/blog/sitecare-acquires-maintainn/">announced</a> it has acquired <a href="https://maintainn.com/">Maintainn</a>, a long-time competitor, from WebDevStudios.</p>



<p>&#8220;As we’ve grown and our clientele has grown [with] definitely more of a focus on the enterprise and big business, we’ve simply kind of grown away where that side of the house wasn’t really in line with the web dev side of the house in terms of the clients we&#8217;re working with,&#8221; WebDevStudios CEO Brad Williams said in an interview with <a href="https://thewpminute.com/wordpress-support-company-sitecare-acquires-maintainn-from-webdevstudios/">The WP Minute</a>.</p>



<p>&#8220;So it’s been a bit of a, struggle in terms of how best to support those clients, because of course we want to take care of our clients and they are a big reason why we’re here. That’s why, Lisa, my partner, and myself, kind of took a step back and said, maybe this doesn&#8217;t make sense for WebDev, where we&#8217;re at, where we&#8217;re continuing to go.&#8221;</p>



<p>As WebDevStudios began focusing more on taking on larger, more technical projects that run WordPress at scale for clients like The Wall Street Journal, Starbucks, Microsoft, Viacom, and the NBA, the company struggled to effectively market Maintainn with messaging that conveyed its distinction from WebDevStudios&#8217; enterprise development offerings.</p>



<p>&#8220;Struggle of the message, the marketing message to say, hey, we can support, blogs, SMB all the way up to, enterprise and Microsoft is a hard message to get across,&#8221; Williams said. </p>



<p>&#8220;We knew that the marketing of that would be almost impossible for us to, to nail. It really just came from the separation of where WebDev was kind of growing more towards the enterprise and Maintainn was primarily supporting more of that SMB to to mid-tier.&#8221;</p>



<p>Maintainn&#8217;s current maintenance plan customers, which range from $49-$249/month, will remain at the same pricing for one year. SiteCare may reevaluate these pricing tiers in the future. Customers are promised the same level of service as their current plan but may also receive some enhanced benefits that they had not received before. In addition to maintenance services, SiteCare also offers its customers a range of digital marketing services.</p>



<p>This is SiteCare&#8217;s second acquisition of a WordPress site management company after acquiring WP Site Care in 2018. The company will take on all of Maintainn&#8217;s assets but the employees will remain with WebDevStudios.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 25 Jul 2022 18:47:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"Gutenberg Times: Live Q &amp; A: Block-First Approach at Pew Research Center";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=21696";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/live-q-a-block-first-approach-at-pew-research-center/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67881:"<p>On July 22, 2022, Michael Piccorossi, Head of Digital Strategy and Seth Rubenstein, Lead Developer at Pew Research Center talked to co-hosts Anne McCarthy, WordPress Product Liason and Birgit Pauli-Haack, WordPress Developer advocate and curater at Gutenberg Times, on they use a mixture of Core and Custom Blocks to streamline their publishing process, and to create powerful charts and quizzes for the Pew Research Center.</p>



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<h2>Resources</h2>



<p><a href="https://github.com/sethrubenstein/gutenberg-times-livestream-examples">Seth Rubenstein&#8217;s Example Code Repo</a> (GitHub) </p>



<p><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/37943">Issue: Allow usage of block based &#8220;template parts&#8221; without using block based &#8220;templates&#8221;</a>: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbGFDbmN0Y3ViaFFBU1RHM0xtYkZ4cVV5RGgyZ3xBQ3Jtc0tsSGRKTzhCRGJQc3Bpd3kzc1A5cVo0dmM4WThacVJyLXhCa1NDSllzckwtLUNxSTlKajZDTmtKUFhfN3h2TXdNb29ESkh5MVczNVZGNE03WnlldDdDM09uNUlxZ3BEZTlBYTNPTGNNWlFEMHJyV3cwVQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3aWn55a&v=bvQYPa5vxVk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://bit.ly/3aWn55a</a> (GitHub) </p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/comparing-patterns-template-parts-and-reusable-blocks/">Comparing Patterns, Template Parts, and Reusable Blocks</a> (WordPress Support) </p>



<p><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/24934">Tracking issue: Missing Query block functionality</a> (GitHub) </p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2022/07/11/fse-program-testing-call-15-category-customization/">FSE Program Testing Call #15: Category Customization</a> (WordPress Make Blog)</p>



<p>Connect on Twitter </p>



<ul><li>Michael Piccorossi <a href="https://twitter.com/mpiccorossi">@mpiccorossi</a></li><li>Seth Rubenstein <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbFYwNDRSQ2gzdEtDNUhYcFhLY0F5QmtrQlZEQXxBQ3Jtc0trVEdjY25XR1dFOWNWY3BvYS1vX0I0elcwbjlWeVhLaVFMRkM2T3hzWk1yV1g5QUxWeHlKbHMwX1R4bjR3Sm5lLUpEQlVaaUVqRno2TnpkcEJTbG9hUUdzaXJ6VWg1ckptSHRCTUtKTVJDNzVrZ3Jjcw&q=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSethRubenstein&v=bvQYPa5vxVk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@SethRubenstein</a></li><li>Pew Research <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbVBuZ09tWjB1Nms5OVEyRUlsS3J5eEdfQVZNZ3xBQ3Jtc0tubXkzMkUxTDBsQ2FyQ2xma3dsYmRydkxldzlmUTZSMVJSZjZSSVZMdGMzbXVKbnNpdXhDeXVqQ2tQM3E4MU1kQzMyVi1tNmNxU3QteHg2VTNmMkc1ckJNOXZNVS1OUkJtLVJhRFJ6aWhVbWJTX2VMZw&q=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fpewresearch&v=bvQYPa5vxVk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@pewresearch</a></li></ul>



<h2>Speaker information</h2>



<div class="wp-container-11 is-nowrap wp-block-group alignwide">
<div class="wp-container-9 is-vertical wp-block-group">
<img /><strong>Michael Pioccorossi, Director of Digital Strategy</strong>



<p>Michael Piccorossi is the Director of Digital Strategy at the Pew Research Center where he leads a multidisciplinary team that includes web development, design, product, user experience, analytics, social media and video. He has extensive experience with all phases of digital product and audience development. Before Pew Research, he was Director of Online Operations at U.S. News &amp; World Report. </p>
</div>



<div class="wp-container-10 is-vertical wp-block-group">
<img /><strong>Seth Rubenstein, Lead Develope</strong>r



<p>Seth Rubenstein is the Lead Developer at the Pew Research Center, where he leads a team of 3 developers. He has 12 years of experience in developing enterprise level WordPress applications. Before joining Pew Research, he was the Senior WordPress Developer at the Center for American Progress.</p>
</div>
</div>



<h2>Transcript of Live Q &amp; A</h2>



<p> </p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Welcome to our 32nd live Q&amp;A on Gutenberg Times. It&#8217;s a great way to connect with people who are using Gutenberg and we have an excellent show today for you. My name is Birgit Pauli-Haack, and I&#8217;m the host of and the publisher of Gutenberg Times. Thanks for joining everybody. With me is a co-host, Anne McCarthy, who&#8217;s the WordPress Product Liaison. Howdy, Anne, thank you for being here.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: Thanks for having me. I&#8217;m very excited to introduce how we&#8217;re going to talk to folks in the Pew Research Center about how they use a mixture of core and custom blocks to streamline their publishing process and to create a lot of the stuff that you know and love from them, with their charts and quizzes and all that good stuff. So with me here today, Seth Rubenstein, lead developer&#8230; Rubenstein. Apologies, lead developer and Michael Piccorossi Director of Digital Strategy. Thank you both so much for coming Seth and Michael apologies if I completely ruined both your last names and thank you so much for taking the time to just talk about all the cool stuff you&#8217;re doing at the WordPress block editor. I know it&#8217;s going to inspire a lot of folks. How are you both doing today? We&#8217;ll start with Seth.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Oh, I&#8217;m doing fine. I&#8217;m living in the middle of a post-home renovation construction zone, but other than that I&#8217;m doing great.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: Amazing. Minor details, Michael, how are you doing?</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: I&#8217;m doing great. Thanks. Thanks for having us. We&#8217;re really excited to talk about the work that we&#8217;re doing and how we might help other people with what they&#8217;re trying to do. So, thanks.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. So I&#8217;m so happy. Totally thrilled. I couldn&#8217;t wait because we were talking about this since end of May and now it&#8217;s end of June. I had to wait two months, but we do proper introduction in less than a minute, but I have a few housekeeping notes. So please use the chat feature to let us know where you are watching from.</p>



<p>Then for the question process, for those who are watching on YouTube livestream, use the chat bot next to the video player for your questions. Here on Zoom, use the Q&amp;A button on the bottom of the screen for your questions and the chat bubble to share your thoughts and comments.</p>



<p>A little reminder, yes, please be kind even if you disagree. This is a family-friendly endeavor.</p>



<p>So before we head first into the behind-the-scenes tour we are going to get, I want to ask both of you to tell us briefly about your WordPress story and how long have you been using it. Seth first, and then Michael.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Sure. I&#8217;ll go first. I mean, I&#8217;ve been using WordPress for, I don&#8217;t know, 18 years or something like that now? I started using WordPress in college. I was responsible for all the school&#8217;s clubs and newspaper, websites and all that stuff. So that&#8217;s when I started to learn WordPress.</p>



<p>Then I just went successively from one job to the next, building out different WordPress products. I think I built one of the first learning management systems in WordPress many, many years ago, in my first job. Then I started at Pew in 2015 and they were doing some interesting stuff with WordPress and WordPress Multisite and we just went from there. I&#8217;m excited to show you what we have built over the last couple of years.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Well, that&#8217;s a great career and a lot of nonprofit and going from Drupal to WordPress must have been a major switch of culture as well. So, Michael, how about you? What is your story?</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: Yeah, I&#8217;ve been doing digital stuff for more than 20 years, more years than I like to admit sometimes. Prior to Pew Research, I managed a team at U.S. News &amp; World Report. We built a custom-based, a Python-based CMS and e-commerce system. That was back like in 2006. So I&#8217;ve been doing a lot of different content management things.</p>



<p>I started at Pew Research in 2009. When I got here, we had four different CMSs, none of them WordPress, 2 DotNet, Drupal, custom PHP so it was really kind of a mess. One of my first hires after I got here was another person you may know from the WordPress community, Russ Heimlick. He was our first web developer and he and I talked about where we should take this organization and we decided that WordPress was the right way to go.</p>



<p>So we ran a custom-hosted version out of a data center in Virginia for a while and then Seth joined us, as he said in 2015. For a couple of years, we were managing on our own AWS infrastructure and then we moved over to WordPress VIP in 2018, and we&#8217;ve been really happy working in that environment ever since. So we&#8217;ve really never been happier and we&#8217;re really committed to the platform.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: I love this. This is very cool. I&#8217;m going to later have a question so just tuck this away for now, around why you chose WordPress, especially with what seems to be more of an emphasis on the data side of things. I&#8217;ve read books about how for humanity&#8217;s sake, we need to find ways to preserve data for the long term. So I&#8217;m curious, that played into part of, for human knowledge sake of, what platform can we choose that will have the most longevity and sustainability into the future? So I&#8217;m fascinated by that entire concept when it comes to this kind of work and research, but just tuck that away for later. I just had to mention it for now.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: Sure.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: Oh, Birgit, you&#8217;re muted. Sorry.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; to type some things. I apologize, our chat was disabled for a few minutes here and now you can all tell us where you&#8217;re watching from. I&#8217;m sorry about that, but it seems to be that Zoom is changing the default settings all the time, and I had this set up. Well anyway, so Michael, so what do you exactly do at the Pew Research Center?</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: Sure, sure. So me personally, I&#8217;m the director of Digital Strategy. It&#8217;s really product and strategy and like I said, I&#8217;ve been here for 13 years now. So I oversee a larger team of 20 people. In addition to the web dev, I also oversee the design team, video products, social, email, user experience, and audience measurement. So basically I&#8217;m the chief cat hurder.</p>



<p>I think we&#8217;re similar to a lot of news organizations. So I really describe us as, we&#8217;re news adjacent. So, the work of the center is, if you&#8217;re not familiar with it, we are a nonpartisan, non-advocacy, public opinion polling, demographic analysis and a variety of other social science research. Historically, the roots of the center is in survey research and polling, but in the last five years, we&#8217;ve really made a strategic shift to seek new ways of measuring public opinion and that facilitated us starting our data labs team. They&#8217;re doing data science and computational social science so that&#8217;s a new area of research for us.</p>



<p>Our core product, as is baked into our name is, nonpartisan, non-advocacy research. So these authoritative, data-driven reports, they&#8217;re big things, they&#8217;re multi chapter, and those are still really in many ways, one of our core products, but we also do shorter but equally rigorous and authoritative data-rich blog posts and things like that.</p>



<p>But the digital team here also, in addition to doing all of the regular day-to-day publishing, we&#8217;ll publish in a given year maybe 40 or 50 data-driven features based on center research. And they run the gamut from D3 visualizations to interactive maps, data lookup tools, essays, and quizzes. And I don&#8217;t want to overlook the fact that we&#8217;ll publish about 2,500 static charts in a given year and it&#8217;s really an important part of how we get our information out there. So shout out to our design team, I think they&#8217;re the best in the business and I think they do great stuff. So it just doesn&#8217;t have to be interactive to be important to us.</p>



<p>I think in general, one of our real special sauce for these features that we do is, allowing users to see themselves in our data. So Anne mentioned some of our quizzes and things like that. That&#8217;s really in terms of broad reach, we know that for the public, that&#8217;s what they want to see. So that&#8217;s it.</p>



<p>So, like I said, we are really similar to a news organization and we&#8217;re involved in a lot of the same communities as news orgs, Online News Association, NYCAR, the News Product Alliance, those are sort of the people we hang out with.</p>



<p>In addition to being a pointing head and middle manager, I&#8217;m really a product guy at heart so I really do spend a lot of time in WordPress. So that&#8217;s my story.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Right. Well, thank you, Michael. I had no idea about the full scope of the Pew Research Center. I only have been an avid reader of the internet research since the early 90s, I think because that was the one research where you knew who&#8217;s online and who&#8217;s online where, and especially then with the advent of user-generated content, social media, it was really nice. Yeah. It was the one authority about internet usage, especially in America. So I&#8217;m really happy that I know now more about it. So Seth, what do you do at Pew Research Center?</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Well, I am the lead developer. So when I started at Pew, there were a few developers, but there wasn&#8217;t a defined dev team and there wasn&#8217;t modern dev team practices. So a lot of the challenge was getting that spun up in the first couple of years.</p>



<p>Now, we have three other developers beside myself. We have two developers that focus on these digital features that Michael alluded to maps, interactives, we call them scrolly teleinteractives. You scroll through and different things happen. Then another developer and myself, we manage the majority of the WordPress app and especially now, the Gutenberg infrastructure.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. I just want to go through the chat. Hi to Washington DC. Heimlich is here. No. Nice, wonderful. Bud is here. Hi Bud. Henrietta, Matt and well, yeah, Ann is online the chat and thank you for greeting everybody.</p>



<p>So the Genesis of this live Q&amp;A is actually that I, around the Web 6.0 release, Seth tweeted the following, &#8220;For all its naysayers, Gutenberg is a gamechanger for digital and news apps. It&#8217;s a force multiplier for your team and we&#8217;ve spent about the last three years going all-in, in block development.&#8221; Then in the thread, you shared quite a few videos of examples and it was really interesting. I jumped at it and DMed you if you and your team come on the show. So what is it that you&#8217;re going to show us today?</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Sure. So I have a couple of examples from that kind of thread. I think we&#8217;ll dive in and I&#8217;ll show you how we can build out homepages, that&#8217;s one thing, how we are using Gutenberg in a quasi full-site editing method to edit taxonomy archive pages, as well as a couple examples of how we build out digital features like quizzes, like charts and interactives now, some of these scrolly tele things I&#8217;ve told you about.</p>



<p>We also have this other concept of a quote sorter, where we get quotes from the public and we sort them into different groups and things so you can browse that information. We&#8217;ve just created the ability for this, and it&#8217;s not launched yet, to build those out in Gutenberg. So let me share my screen here.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, that would be lovely. Well to the audience, if you have questions, just put it in the chat and after the demo, well, Anne and I get the privilege of first questions and then we&#8217;ll go through your questions and have Seth and Michael answer them.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Sure.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Go ahead, Seth.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; So the first thing that you see when you hit pewresearch.org is this page here. In the past, this might have been something built out with God knows how many short codes, if that was even possible at all. So now, and I&#8217;ll just kind of, I have a couple tabs lined up here, now, it&#8217;s very simple for an editor to come in and build out a homepage, especially with things like block patterns. We&#8217;ve established some of these basic sections of the homepage that you can just drag and drop in.</p>



<p>So let&#8217;s see, I&#8217;ll just throw one together real quick and maybe we&#8217;ll do that. So the first block that we built in our journey on Gutenberg was what we call story item block. It&#8217;s definitely our most used block. It&#8217;s our most custom, the most developed out block. With it, you can just drop in a story and we have a couple of different variations. We&#8217;re using block variations throughout our block library for quick shortcuts to…</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: It&#8217;s so cool you&#8217;re using variations for this, I just have to say. I&#8217;m like&#8230; I&#8217;m already seeing the pieces and like this is amazing.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Yeah. And using WordPress REST API and all of the WordPress components to build these things out. So let me just type in a post. I&#8217;m running this on my local dev so it will be a little bit slower. An editor can just search for a post or they can drop in either a live link or another feature that they requested, which I think has come in handy is the edit URL for like an article that&#8217;s not been published yet, so we can go try to grab some information about that.</p>



<p>Then once in here, this block is using block context as well. We have found block context to be extremely important to our efforts, to guide producers into how things should be set up and set restrictions on how things should work. So for example, we have our own grid block as well. If I were redoing it today, I probably would stick with the core column blocks, but this was years ago and there were some features and stuff and we didn&#8217;t know how to tap into core blocks the way we do now. So we just went through and made our own grid block.</p>



<p>The column block passes down through block context, the width of the column so that, for example, a story item block, when you&#8217;re choosing the image position can say, &#8220;Oh, you can&#8217;t do left or right position because this column is not large enough.&#8221; So this is great because this makes sure that, once again, I go back to shortcuts because this is how it used to be. With shortcuts, you really could place those restrictions on the interface that maybe had to happen on the back end and an editor would go and drop in a short code and they will, &#8220;This doesn&#8217;t look the way I wanted it to look. I didn&#8217;t know about these restrictions.&#8221;</p>



<p>So now an editor can come in here and do all this visually. They could set an image size, enable different features, like bulleted items underneath here. They can include links in here, whatever.</p>



<p>Then we are also using the query block. This is one of our more recent core block modifications. I&#8217;ll actually get rid of this to show you how that works. So you can drop in a query block and we are registering through the block API, our own variation here. We&#8217;ve got all the basic query block things, but we&#8217;ve added our own thing, which will drop in the default settings for the story item block.</p>



<p>This, I think also alludes to what I was describing in that thread of our block first approach. Everything is a block in the site, or at least everything&#8217;s moving in that direction, to be a block in the site. To give you an idea of what that looks like, lets just save this real quick.</p>



<p>Another important thing and probably the most important thing about Gutenberg is the fact that what you build here, hopefully is how it&#8217;s going to look on the front end. We&#8217;re still dealing with some typography stuff. I think when we go in all-in a full-site editing, that&#8217;ll be more one-to-one. But now if I come over to our new homepage&#8230; Come on. What I&#8217;ve built out here is exactly as you&#8217;re going to see it on the front so there should be no mistakes, there should be no, this doesn&#8217;t look how I thought it was going to look like, all that stuff is visible in the back end.</p>



<p>On the front end here, in the query block, obviously, I&#8217;m sure most people aren&#8217;t aware the nuts and bolts on how the query block works, but on the back end, obviously there&#8217;s a block called post template block and that is rendering out your blocks using PHP on the backend. This is a story in a block, basically being rendered out in PHP on the backend. These aren&#8217;t actually static blocks. These are dynamic. So the query block gets the information. It says, &#8220;There&#8217;s a post type we want a query,&#8221; then it outputs all that using the story item block as a template. So that&#8217;s homepages.</p>



<p>I think the other thing I wanted to dive into was the taxonomy pages. Where do I have that? So this is an example of a taxonomy page for us, our most important taxonomy topic.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Sorry, but so what I&#8217;m hearing is, that you are actually way ahead of the Gutenberg team. You have build query blocks and templates all before it actually went to the plugin.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; We did build out our own query block originally, because when we first started looking at doing query blocks in places, the query block did not have taxonomy support, or at least very, very minimal taxonomy support. That&#8217;s since changed so we have now moved over to the core query block, but there were a lot of cases where we had to build out stuff before it was ready in Gutenberg, and then come back later and figure out if we were going to use the core block that Gutenberg had built out. In the most cases we do, we do end up going with whatever the core block is.</p>



<p>So this is, I think, our best example of our approach to full-site editing before we got full-site editing. So this is your standard taxonomy archive page, but we have two positions, one we call menu and the other we&#8217;re called top. Actually, we have another one at the bottom called bottom. These link up to a post type that we&#8217;re calling taxonomy block area, which is not super creative, but it describes what it does. There&#8217;s a taxonomy for that for location, menu, top, bottom. So you can go into here and you can say, edit the menu, edit the top, whatever and just like on the homepage, you can build out these featured content areas in Gutenberg using whatever block you want, in this case story item. We also have a promo block we built out on our own MailChimp block and that&#8217;s what you get.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi:</em> Yeah.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Then&#8230; Yeah, go ahead.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: I just wanted to add, yes. So last summer we launched a site redesign with a whole new information architecture and a multi-level content taxonomy. As Seth pointed out, these topic pages were really the central component of that entire redesign. Being able to manage these in the ways that he&#8217;s discussing has really been transformational for us. One of the things I like is, you can create one of these topic blocks and assign it to multiple pages if they&#8217;re the same. We can also create these pages in a very short period of time, literally in minutes. Usually, it&#8217;s more the editorial decisions that take longer than any of the actual production stuff.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; So yeah. Yeah. The other nice thing is that you can schedule these, because we are ostensibly, a news site. We, I think we, Mike alluded to, like to think of ourselves as being a resource for the news rather than being an actual news service, but we post things that are on the topics of the day and so we can change these. We can schedule changes out. We can schedule tomorrow&#8217;s homepage, we can schedule next week&#8217;s big release of some report we have, we can schedule the topic page changes that&#8217;ll happen for that, because this is just a post-type. So we just create a new post, slot it into this topic in the top location and schedule it for next Wednesday to publish at 10:00 AM. This will change at 10:00 AM. So that&#8217;s also, I think been a really great feature and that of course applies to homepages and any of these full-site editing things that we&#8217;re doing.</p>



<p>Then the other thing is that we&#8230; This is one of the things that we&#8217;re going to have to struggle with in the next couple months is, we also built out our own navigation block. When I say we built out, we forked the early efforts of the Gutenberg team&#8217;s navigation block and we went a little bit further with how we needed it to work. So a lot of that change was making these different menu links that would point to topic pages specifically, and stuff like this and the ability to have a sub menu and that would follow our CSS and stuff like that. So that&#8217;s taxonomy pages, that&#8217;s full-site editing.</p>



<p>The other thing I wanted to show was quizzes. We might not have enough time to show us some of these other interactive, but the quizzes stuff, this we launched last fall in order to support what is by far, our most popular product. I mean, it blows our analytics out of the water every year. That is our political typology quiz. It&#8217;s definitely one of our complex interactives too. If you haven&#8217;t taken this, you should, it&#8217;s pretty fun. People will enjoy it.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: I&#8217;ve taken this with friends, like at a bar years ago. We&#8217;re like, &#8220;Let&#8217;s all take the quiz and we can talk about it.&#8221; Yes. This is really fun.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; And we have a group feature too. So if you sign up for an account on our website, you get a little login and you can go create your own little community group. So you can say, here&#8217;s how this group of people is responding to this, which is fun. So here&#8217;s what it looks like. Go through, ask questions, to answer them, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.</p>



<p>Before, we were using Gravity Forms for this. Before that, there was a completely homegrown system. That was, we were finding, kind of taking down the site under load. So we switched to Gravity Forms pretty quickly when I started just to get things stable. We could have stayed there, right? We could have kept iterating on that Gravity Forms built system that we had, but we want everything to be a block, we want everything to be under Gutenberg. So we built our quiz builder in Gutenberg.</p>



<p>To give you an idea of how that works, this is a framework that we&#8217;ve played around with, to great success. I&#8217;m just calling it the controller block paradigm. So here we have one parent level block, the controller. All it does is, it stores some attributes. It doesn&#8217;t really do anything, at least on the back end here and it&#8217;s just a way for us to contain inside blocks or inner blocks.</p>



<p>Then within that, we have a pages block that controls the pages and a results block that controls the results. Then in each of these, you can insert any of the core blocks, headings, images, whatever, but we also have a question block and then an answer block. As you go through here, you just type out what the answer is or what the question is. You can set an image, question type, all these sort things. This is way more visual than we had, and what you build out here is what you see.</p>



<p>I have a smaller example that I can show you a little bit more of what&#8217;s going on in the back end. For example, this quiz. This is a pretty simple quiz for us. This is what we call it knowledge quiz, as opposed to typology quiz, meaning there are correct answers here. So as you go through, you just click the little smiley face to determine that&#8217;s the correct answer, not correct answer. But then when we get down to the bottom here, I think this is the most exciting part, or the best example of block context, is, the results block. So here, an editor can drop in all the different things that you might see in a results page, &#8220;You scored X out of whatever, share your score.&#8221; You can build out some horizontal bar chart blocks that we&#8217;ve built out, all this sort of stuff.</p>



<p>Then we have a general response table block. Let me just run through this quiz real quick and show you how that works. So when you hit the quiz, at first, what we do is, on the back end in PHP, we&#8217;re pulling out all of the question and the answer blocks and we&#8217;re formatting it out so that you get the correct layout. None of these are going to be right. I&#8217;m going to get a terrible score, but just click through some of these.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: We&#8217;re not here to judge.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; No. Might have missed one. That&#8217;s okay.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: You won&#8217;t be graded.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Okay. So then you submit your quiz. When you submit the quiz, we store your results as an archetype rather than each individual entry. So we say, &#8220;Here&#8217;s all the possible combinations of answers. Here&#8217;s what you gave. Let&#8217;s store that.&#8221; That way, the next person that gives that possible combination of answers, we&#8217;re not duplicating database space for no reason. We just store that archetype of answers.</p>



<p>When you hit the quiz page again, with URL rewrite here for this archetype query bar, we go to the database, we grab that. Then through block context, we pass that through the controller block as your score. So that means that all of the blocks put in the results block, grab that context from the controller block, what the score is, and they can change accordingly. Maybe the bar chart changes to match what your score is. This thing changes to whatever your score is. Then of course the table response goes through and it gets the database entry and returns all this stuff through block context to the table block.</p>



<p>So that was really exciting for us. That proved out the concept that we could do interactive things. We could build out little mini web apps, basically, for users and they could interact with them and we could construct a data model around that. So that&#8217;s our quizzes. What else do I have for you?</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Those are pretty neat, yeah.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Chart builder. This is definitely one of the more exciting things we&#8217;ve been working on lately. We launched this in the spring and it&#8217;s a twofold project for us. One there&#8217;s the backend charting library and then there is the WordPress plugin part of it.</p>



<p>Let me get this load again. As I mentioned, we have three developers on our team. One other developer is working with me on all this stuff. This is from one of our other developers, Ben Wormald. He spearheaded this project and it came out just fantastic. Not only did we gain the ability for editors to come in and make charts, but using the Gutenberg PHP API, we are using this in a more static database, which I&#8217;ll show you in a moment, to generate charts for that. So it provides us one endpoint for accessing charts and creating charts.</p>



<p>So it starts off with a table. This one has a lot of data, just an example I threw together. We&#8217;re using block transforms here, so we can target the table block and say-</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: You are using everything, you have the you have the transforms, you have-</p>



<p>Seth Rubenstein:&nbsp; We&#8217;re using the whole kitchen sink. Yes.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: Yeah, it&#8217;s amazing. This is really, really cool.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; So you can start off with the chart builder block and that&#8217;ll have a table in there and you can fill that information, or you can just start out with a table and convert that to a chart. So I&#8217;ll do that now.</p>



<p>So once again, the concept here is, you have a controller block, the builder controller, you have your table for your data. Then if we come down to the bottom here, you&#8217;ve got your chart. As you edit data, let me just see if I can change this, you&#8217;ll see that this stuff updates in real time, which is fantastic.</p>



<p>Then in the chart itself&#8230; Oops, I think this data&#8217;s not formatted for that, you can customize pretty much all the visual aspects, spacing, what type of chart it is, colors, et cetera, et cetera. Let me let this load again one more time.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: So fond of live demos.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Isn&#8217;t it? Isn&#8217;t it great.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: I was doing some the other day where I was like, &#8220;Let me make this really dramatic,&#8221; and then it broke and I was like, &#8220;Got it. Okay, cool. I found the edge.&#8221;</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: Seth, this is independent of whatever charting library you want to use, correct?</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; That&#8217;s correct. Yeah. I spoke about this in the thread that I posted to Twitter. Some people were asking questions about it. And that we do intend to open source the block at some point so you&#8217;ll gain the ability to convert tables to charts and then pick all your different settings that you might have, but it will be up to you to create the middleware to link that to your own charting library. We won&#8217;t be open sourcing our charting library.</p>



<p>So let me just see. I mean, we have a lot of options here. I&#8217;m not going to go through all of these. Let me just tweak some of the visual stuff for better effect. So you can tweak this however you want. We&#8217;re also using the resizing component so that you could do that visually in real time if you&#8217;d like. You can go in and give this title, test charts or a subtitle, whatever you want. So best chart builder, there&#8217;s a lot more complex things you can do with it. This is a very simple chart. To give you an idea of once again, our whole block process, let me just go to this page real quick.</p>



<p>This is a database that we run. It&#8217;s very exhaustive, called the religious landscape study. It has a lot of information about all the various religious groups in the United States, populations, things like this. In those, we have a lot of charts. Maps are not part of it yet, but all of these charts, all the bar charts, pie charts, and things like that, you might see that in this product are actually rendering out a block via PHP. So this is just the chart builder block being manually rendered through PHP on the back end. That way, any updates we make to chart builder for editors also get applied here to this product.</p>



<p>I think that&#8217;s another important part to make about Gutenberg is that it&#8217;s not just in the Gutenberg editor, anything you make there, any block you make there you can also do in PHP. I think that&#8217;s important for maybe the PHP-only developers in the WordPress community to know is that, this doesn&#8217;t have to be just a JavaScript-only thing. You can utilize this using PHP as well. So that&#8217;s chart builder.</p>



<p>I think that&#8217;s all the demos I have for right now. I do have a repo I was going to share of some of the modifications that we&#8217;ve done to core blocks. So like I walk through those real quick. Let me just pull open a post, because I think that&#8217;s probably the best example of this.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: I would just one add one thing on chart builder. Since we do so many charts, it&#8217;s unlikely that we&#8217;re going to do all of our charts using chart builder, but for really custom-lead charts, or these data-driven acts like Seth just showed it, it&#8217;s really fantastic and we&#8217;d like to be able to use more of it when it&#8217;s appropriate for the content.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Yeah. No not every chart will be this, so it&#8217;s right. Yeah. Sometimes it&#8217;s just the fidelity that you go with a static chart that we just can&#8217;t achieve. I don&#8217;t know that we&#8217;d ever be able to achieve in Wizzy Wig drag-and-drop builder.</p>



<p>So this is an example of a post for us. Once again, what you see here is what you get. This is another block that we built out, the collapsible block. We use these at the top of all of our posts. What else was I going to show about that? Let this load.</p>



<p>One of the other things that we had to build out with Gutenberg, one of the other things that Gutenberg gives you is, I think a great UI library that we&#8217;ve never really had in WordPress, with WordPress components and with inspector controls and advanced panels and stuff like this.</p>



<p>So another part of our Gutenberg journey was not just the blocks, but how are we going to utilize this editor to its fullest extent for our publishing platform? Part of that is, we&#8217;ve built out some controls for the stuff that you might see here in the sidebar. So the report PDF, top line promo, you can change these things around, you can drag and drop them just in a more visual way than you were able to before.</p>



<p>In the past, we used advanced custom fields for all this stuff, and that was great and all, but once again, there was only so much you could do to customize how that looked, how it worked. It had to fit in that ACF framework, but here, we&#8217;re given all those tools by Gutenberg through components to build out exactly what we want.</p>



<p>One of the things here is, this is a block. The table contents is a block that&#8217;s being rendered out in PHP on the back end. What that also means is, that if you build out an essay or something and you want to throw a table of contents in, you can. You can just throw the table of contents block in the editor. But one of the core customizations that we had to do, we&#8217;ve done a number, is, add support to the heading block to support our table of contents block. So when you&#8217;re going through here, let&#8217;s go to&#8230; Well, actually this is using an older version of that block, not a good example, but I&#8217;ll change it out.</p>



<p>When you&#8217;re going through here, you can type in a heading block, right? Just, and we&#8217;ve added a little icon. Not much is going on here. We&#8217;ve added one attribute called is chapter, and then we&#8217;ve added an icon to toggle that on or off. So I&#8217;m going to toggle that on. Then this might freak out because of the variety of blocks from this older post and it didn&#8217;t show up, but each of these is one of our older blocks called the chapter block, another thing we had to build out before we could figure out how we were going to book into core blocks.</p>



<p>The way that works is&#8230; This is a high level, I&#8217;ll share this link in the chat so people can take a look at these examples. I&#8217;ve got two examples here. One is how we&#8217;ve added chapter support to headings and how we&#8217;ve added an alternate mobile background for the cover block. So that when you&#8217;re on mobile, maybe you get a different sized image for your cover block than you might get on desktop.</p>



<p>So the heading block is comprised of two things obviously. One is using the PHP API that Gutenberg affords is adding an attribute in. It can be very easy to do. You can just use the block type metadata filter to change a lot of things, but specifically you can splice in new attributes in this case this chapter, which is just a bullion yes or no. Then you can affect the rendering of it using the render block filter. We&#8217;re doing this in a lot of places with the core blocks. We say if you do have the chapter attribute and it&#8217;s true, then we just add a little data attribute to the H element. So that&#8217;s a very simple example. People can take a look at this and use this.</p>



<p>Another part of that obviously is the actual little toolbar icon itself. Once again, this is pretty simple too, using the filters, the JavaScript filters in Gutenberg. So you intercept the editing block. You say, Hey, if this isn&#8217;t the heading block, just give what was already there. Otherwise, we put in a little toolbar button and click it. Sets the attribute or unsets it. Then also have a variation which I alluded to. We use variations a lot as shortcuts. So you could just type in slash chapter if you wanted to and that would insert a heading with the chapter already selected. So it&#8217;s pretty easy to actually take a core block and give it completely new functionality that it didn&#8217;t have before, which I think is great. We&#8217;re trying to get more of our stuff into using core blocks.</p>



<p>I don&#8217;t have any examples of this, but probably our most modified core block is the group block. We&#8217;ve added the ability to make it sticky, so that a group will stick to the top of the pages you scroll. We&#8217;ve added the ability to set a responsive threshold. When you reach set threshold, then it will move itself to this div or this idea or something that so that editors can change things around the page based on whether you&#8217;re on mobile or not.</p>



<p>The other example is, in the cover block, we are adding another media field, or actually I guess, more of an ID field so that you can associate an image ID so that when you go to mobile, the cover block, we use a different version of the image. Same thing here. Intercept the block edit. You say, if you&#8217;re not the cover, just go ahead and return to what you&#8217;re doing.</p>



<p>Otherwise, we have a little panel that we insert into the editor and a component that we&#8217;ve written. It&#8217;s a riff on a variety of different things in core for a drop zone for media. That&#8217;s also in this example if people want to use it. On the back end, it&#8217;s pretty simple here too. We&#8217;re using jetpack_is_mobile to detect if someone&#8217;s on mobile. If so, we get the image ID and splice it in, replace the image with that. So these are pretty easy, simple core block customizations, but I think if people dive in here, they might get a feel for what is possible for taking core blocks and making your own block library out of that basically.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: Thanks so much for putting that in GitHub too.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Yeah, no problem. No problem.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: Yeah. That&#8217;s awesome.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; But also just one last thing, this is a story in a block being rendered out in PHP. This is actually one of those full-site editing template block areas I told you about before. So we&#8217;re going to have something at the end of our sidebar. We have a little block area there that people can go into Gutenberg and drop this stuff out. Michael manages this most popular list using every usable block so that I can show up on the homepage or the sidebar anywhere else and we added it in one place and it edits everywhere. Yeah. So I think that&#8217;s all of my demos today.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: Yeah. We use reusable blocks in a couple of different contexts so, there&#8217;s&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. We use them at the end of posts as well for various promos, newsletter signups, this sort of things.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: This was an awesome demonstration. Thank you so much. I&#8217;m totally thrilled that you brought some code examples that we can share with the developers that are watching and also maybe come back to in the recorded version and want to follow up on, on some of the things.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Sure. No problem. Sure.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. So what are our first questions here?</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: I&#8217;ll just say I&#8217;m itching to ask a bunch of questions.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. Go ahead.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: Yeah. Can I jump in?</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Oh, absolutely.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: I want to just drop this GitHub issue in that I think will be of interest. This is like hyper practical, but just around allowing usage of block-based template parts without actually accessing the whole template. A lot of what you&#8217;re describing with the taxonomy pages fuels very similar to that, where you can create template areas and then have access to just edit those. So that&#8217;s something I really look forward to and I see as a huge way&#8230; I&#8217;ve heard from a lot of different page agencies and organizations that&#8217;s what they&#8217;d love to have access to. It&#8217;s like we can define a template area and just allow people to edit that, that would be huge rather than opening up the whole gamut.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. Yeah.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: So I wanted to put that out there. And I definitely think you could have some really cool insights in helping shape this going forward so I want to encourage, be like, bring all your insights and all your experience of maybe what has tripped up users or what features you&#8217;d want to see.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Oh, absolutely.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: &#8230; all that good stuff. Yeah. I&#8217;d love to go back to the original, why WordPress? Was it part of wanting to rely on the open web? Was it what made you want to adopt Gutenberg? Is that also related to data consistency over time and not in the migrate stuff? I&#8217;m very curious with all the work that you do and the value brand.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Sure. I think I could touch on the why Gutenberg stuff real quick and I think maybe Michael can touch on the why word WordPress stuff. I&#8217;m sure that the audience here knows why WordPress. It&#8217;s, we&#8217;re all fans of it, but at the why Gutenberg front, I think that it was just kind of, I don&#8217;t know, kismet that we were looking to redo these topic pages. We were looking to make all these big editorial changes to the site and the question was, how are we going to manage all this? How are people going to slot in these different stories to these templates and so on and so forth? I think I had gone to a word camp for publishers in Chicago-</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: Oh yeah.</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; &#8230; a couple years back, and I really didn&#8217;t know much about Gutenberg. I knew it was coming and I really hadn&#8217;t tried it out. I think I was resistant to it. I think a lot of WordPress devs were and part of the reason I made the thread is, because I think some people still are, because it really is a complete sea change for WordPress. I&#8217;m a self-taught WordPress developer and I&#8217;m only a self-taught WordPress developer because when I started in WordPress, there were frameworks, there were guidelines, coding standards, there was the WordPress way to do things so that made it easy to get in.</p>



<p>Now, we&#8217;re dealing with something entirely new and a completely new paradigm with blocks. So the guidelines aren&#8217;t there yet, the frameworks aren&#8217;t there yet, the Gutenberg way isn&#8217;t really well defined yet. I&#8217;m hoping that what we show here and what we give back to the community in the next couple of months as we open source more of this stuff and review more code is, we can help shape what is the Gutenberg way of doing things.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi:</em> Yeah, and if-</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; &#8230; yeah, it was just fortuitous that we stumbled upon it at the right time.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: Yeah. Going back to the earlier times, as I mentioned, when I got here, we were running every different type of CMS except for WordPress. And actually Russell and I at the time, did an analysis. And kudos to Russell too, because he really sort of pushed me in this direction, but it was open web, was part of it. We liked the open source ethos. We liked the fact that we weren&#8217;t getting charged a per user license or anything like that. So, a lot of it was commitment to opensource and it really was I think a really smart decision for us and it got us into the WordPress ecosystem. Then when Russell moved on and I was looking for a new developer, the community was really strong and we were able to find Seth and it just has always been a really good, a good fit for us.</p>



<p>One thing on the Gutenberg thing, I think Seth has been really great about, we don&#8217;t try to swallow the ocean at one time. As you pointed out, we dealt with the topic pages first and we roll out one little component of this thing to this one little portion of our site. As he mentioned, we&#8217;re about to bring a medium blog in-house and I think that&#8217;s going to be the first time we take our next big step with this full-site editing. So, really doing it incrementally is, I think, a really smart product ethos for us so that&#8217;s how it&#8217;s worked great for us.</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: That&#8217;s really neat. It&#8217;s amazing to hear about both historically and just at the right time and working for publishers, folks should definitely check them out. I think two years ago went and talked to them about full siting, in the early, early, early days. So it&#8217;s neat to hear them mentioned as a way in.</p>



<p>I&#8217;m curious too, because I know some folks have, I was talking to someone else this week who&#8217;s from Agencyland and how much the workflow has changed as people have adopted Gutenberg. I&#8217;m curious if that is the case with editors or people you&#8217;re working with, or it&#8217;s both a technology change and a workflow change. That&#8217;s the piece that I think often gets overlooked as people just talk about the technological change and mean to do things like learn JavaScript deeply or dig into blocks. But then I think there&#8217;s also a very real organizational way of how do you train people up in this new way or potentially have design look at things after the fact or before, and switching around the workflow. So I&#8217;d be curious to know what that&#8217;s been like.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: I was&#8230; Do you mind?</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; Go ahead definitely.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: One thing, I actually think to be candid, I think that&#8217;s an area we&#8217;re making sure that everybody&#8217;s on the same page, it&#8217;s an area where we&#8217;re always striving to do better. There is this tension between innovation and making sure that your editors understand what&#8217;s going on. I&#8217;m sure they would probably plus one on this. So I would say that it&#8217;s not something that we&#8217;ve really solved the problem. I think it&#8217;s common in most organizations like, so I think-</p>



<p><em>Anne McCarthy</em>: You&#8217;re definitely not alone there.</p>



<p><em>Michael Piccorossi</em>: Yeah. I think it&#8217;s one thing I think we&#8217;re aspire to is doing a better job at making sure that everybody&#8217;s up to speed as we roll stuff out, but I think we do what we can. So Seth, do you want to add to that or?</p>



<p><em>Seth Rubenstein</em>:&nbsp; I think that that is still a struggle for us, for anyone. I was listening to a Gutenberg podcast, it might have been Gutenberg Changelog or something like that a while back. There was some guest on. I think he&#8217;s the head of Florida&#8217;s state&#8217;s web properties or something. He had mentioned that what they did when they brought on Gutenberg was, they recorded a bunch of videos and snuck it into the help menu. I thought that was really clever. That&#8217;s something that we&#8217;re going to look to do by the end of the year, too.</p>



<p>It has been a struggle to get people to understand Gutenberg and not just the editor interface, but the concept of blocks and inner blocks and how they&#8217;ll nest together and stuff like that. We have a lot of blocks and we&#8217;ve tried a bunch of different ideas as far as interface and how you interact with these things. I think we&#8217;re finally settling on a good practice. We try to keep things in the block toolbar if you need them a lot, otherwise we hide them away in panels. There&#8217;s a fine line of when to use a block style, when should that just be a toggle on an attribute or something. That stuff&#8217;s hard to figure out and I don&#8217;t know that anyone has the right answer yet, but we&#8217;re trying.</p>
