


<p>I think it&#8217;s a very good shout out to say, &#8220;Okay, just don&#8217;t take it all, like the weather, it&#8217;s never going to change. You have to adapt.&#8221; It&#8217;s also something that I think the Gutenberg developers are open to a lot of feedback when it comes to extensibility. It might not be the right time when it comes, but it will be definitely open. And thank you for making that shout out there as well. There was a lot of other good stuff in the talk.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah, it was really good to talk. And also I think sometimes people on both sides, you need to hear it. I know when I was creating both Guildenberg, I really just needed to hear and sometimes I didn&#8217;t. You don&#8217;t know what you don&#8217;t know.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Right.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: But also as I kind of said in the podcast, it&#8217;s really easy to think, &#8220;Oh, well if I log it&#8217;s never going to do it.&#8221; I did it the other day. I logged something about short codes. Will it get in? Probably not, but it&#8217;s probably going to start a conversation about that because really, it&#8217;s actually really important for classic to support in some way, something around that because it&#8217;s a problem from classic themes. So it&#8217;s more of saying, &#8220;Hey, this thing is going to prevent whatever, or this thing is blocking me. Is it blocking anyone else?&#8221; It&#8217;s more of those kinds of conversations to have, and I really think it&#8217;s about moving forward.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s really interesting when you start talking to people how complicated their stacks are and how you can think of in simple terms, the middle when you&#8217;re creating the product, but their stacks are complicated and in that podcast it was really curious to say when they&#8217;re creating, they&#8217;re creating the WordPress ecosystem, but they&#8217;re creating an ecosystems in the ecosystem. That&#8217;s the best way to put it, all these different frameworks and product spaces as well. Yeah, it kind of opens your mind a little bit of beyond just core and what core is used for. Yeah.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. We just started the second iteration of the FSE Outreach Program that Anne started three and a half years ago and was actually focused just on the site editor for three and a half years, but now we broaden that up because phase 3 is coming. We need to have adoption of phase 2. And so if you, dear listeners, are interested in what future features will look like, to have a discussion on a higher level, not just on a bug report or something like that. Come to the Outreach channel on the WordPress Slack, now it&#8217;s shortened, it&#8217;s not FSE Outreach experiments. No, it&#8217;s just the outreach part and there are a lot of good people in there and we definitely value any thoughts on future products or features from there?</p>



<p>So we started out talking about you Tammie, and now it&#8217;s again about the community, but I also want our listeners to know about your new site that you have been feeding tips and tricks about the editor on a constant basis for the last four weeks, and there are probably about 25 or 30 tips already there. So how did you come about that? Why?</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah, really it was people, I was sharing the same information the same time. So a good example is, people just didn&#8217;t know how to do the list view or people didn&#8217;t know how to do things that we presumed that everybody knows how to do in the Site Editor or the block editor. And you can really change someone&#8217;s life when you show them how to use the list view or you show them how to do something, it suddenly changes their workflow and you can presume that someone knows that or you can presume that someone finds it in a handbook and you can presume that there&#8217;s no need for it. So I was, &#8220;What could I do to help it?&#8221; And I just kind of thought, &#8220;Hey, maybe there could be a Twitter site.&#8221; It was kind of my original thing. I think it&#8217;s going to end up with literally a search form.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s going to be the best format for it at the moment. It&#8217;s a post that goes out and then the search form is down the bottom. I think the final form, if you&#8217;re talking Pokemon, of this site is probably a search box and some tags because I&#8217;m kind of enjoying queuing up each weekend and then just having them post. That feels good. It&#8217;s really interesting. I want to mix up some of the up and coming stuff as well, because I think that&#8217;s useful because it gets a bit confusing whether someone&#8217;s using the plugin or not. An example is the post page and the post lists could be different for you, might be different, so tagging some things of up and coming as well.</p>



<p>But yeah, it was really just, I&#8217;m not training, but I&#8217;ve been going through a lot of helping people with dev and sharing my knowledge because that&#8217;s a beautiful thing to do. And in it just saying, &#8220;Hey, this is my workflow.&#8221; And people go, &#8220;How did you do that?&#8221; And it&#8217;s like, &#8220;Okay, people don&#8217;t actually know how to do this.&#8221; And we have a lot of presumptions, particularly because the editors are a little bit more established or we feel they&#8217;re more established and spoiler, they&#8217;re not for many people.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, no, it&#8217;s a good service and I really like those little tips and tricks that you published there. Thank you for going through that.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: And I would love to know more, so if anyone&#8217;s got any, I want to find a way that I get people&#8217;s tips. I&#8217;m trying to work out how that happens because there&#8217;s got to be ones that I&#8217;m missing as well.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I don&#8217;t know.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: I remember at the beginning when the block editor came out, there was also kind of, &#8220;What&#8217;s the slash command?&#8221; &#8220;Oh, you don&#8217;t have to use it.&#8221;</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah. And so many people when they&#8230; I love that. Because I remember when it was created and it&#8217;s like, &#8220;This really levels up your workflow.&#8221; And it does to this day.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Absolutely.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: &#8230; this view is the same. Yeah, there&#8217;s so many things that unlock powerful commands, copying, discovering the preferences setting for the first time. You&#8217;re like, &#8220;Oh, where was that all my life?&#8221;</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, no, and I didn&#8217;t realize that we actually had in the preferences a switch on custom fields or not. The meta boxes on the bottom.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah. How to turn on and off blocks as well, but people really don&#8217;t discover that for a while.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. Even the blocks that came in with your block collections. Yeah, it&#8217;s a long list. Yeah.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Community Contributions</h3>



<p>So speaking about community contributions, there&#8217;s a proposal on GitHub on discussing through going forward, do we need additional blocks that are maintained by the Gutenberg developers? Should they be in the editor itself or should they just be discoverable through the single block plugin, but they&#8217;re maintained by contributors? So what comes to mind is the time to share block or an accordion block or a card block or a tabs. Are these all things that everybody needs to have or should they just be in a separate plugin and then be installed when they are needed? And it&#8217;s an interesting discussion. Of course we share the links in the show notes. What do you think about that?</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: It&#8217;s interesting you say cards because for me, I think the biggest thing this raises is, &#8220;What is a pattern and what is a block?&#8221; And the big question I find a lot of people when they&#8217;re first exploring it, there&#8217;s not necessarily a right or wrong answer, or what I come to generally, dynamic is where I come down to but then again, that&#8217;s not always a straight answer. But I think a lot of the times when people are making a block, it&#8217;s a pattern. So really thinking about, should these be blocks, should these be patterns? Is something to think about. So when we&#8217;re talking about the cards, maybe if it has options, maybe if it has different settings, yes, it&#8217;s a block, but if it&#8217;s just a pattern of cards, to me, that&#8217;s a card. If it&#8217;s got a loop and it has content, then, yes. So yeah, I love the idea of more.</p>



<p>So accordion is such a good example because I think pretty much every agency has had to make their own accordion block or everyone has had to. So yes, please, let&#8217;s support one. Again, I think Slider, whether we want to or not, but as accessible as we can. I&#8217;m using those words because accessibility in Slider is not necessarily great, but there&#8217;s an opportunity here that we can set some best practices for some awkward blocks and some awkward experiences, that if we don&#8217;t set some best practices, they can be quite wooly and wild. So I think that&#8217;s also something that&#8217;s maybe not getting set here. Setting some of those in would be really nice.</p>



<p>So you learn from core blocks, how to make them, so being able to learn. Having an accordion block you can extend, would be really, really powerful. I again, wonder whether some of these are extending the query block would be some of them or whether they&#8217;re formats. So yeah, I love them, but also I think we have to think of what do we have already? What can be used and do they apply to that more? So yes, but it would be my consideration because hundreds of blocks is really difficult to find what you really want. So as long as we have them documented and have the useful ones, then yeah, but accordion block is such a good example that you said.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, there&#8217;s some concerns about maintainability. If it&#8217;s in the Gutenberg repo, it might get more attention by maintainers, but I&#8217;m not quite sure whether that&#8217;s so valid because some of the core blocks haven&#8217;t had any attention in three years and still have valid blocks.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I think the presumption of maintainability is, I think some of these will get maintained just because they&#8217;re going to be popular and just because they&#8217;re going to be used. So accordion, okay, do we like it or not. Tabs is another one, which is also a companion to an accordion one, right? Tab block, whether we want it or not, products is going to be a really common pattern that people have, tab content. So really having those hidden area blocks, which is one of those ones, is this going to be something that probably?</p>



<p>Again, I think making sure that they&#8217;re documented, making sure that they have clear paths of contribution. There may even just be people that just contribute to them, which could be a way that agencies contribute. And I kind of am curious if this is an onboard way that just some agencies just see contribution and that could be really awesome, that they just do contribution through these blocks.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, right.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: There got to be some of these blocks already existing out there that could be pivoted in, rather than reinventing the wheel because everybody has these blocks already as well. So I think we&#8217;re going to move on to Anne. Anne in her post, she wrote a post called Overlapping Problems. This addresses a complexity that arises when multiple issues coexist. It&#8217;s really good and it kind of builds on from this Twitter thread by Brian, and there&#8217;s also going to be a Hallway Hangout and it&#8217;s called, Let&#8217;s Chat about the overlapping problems in the Site Editor, on the 27th of February at 17:00 UTC.</p>



<p>All of it kind of is the effects of those, I&#8217;m calling them paper cut problems, those little problems that stack up and those need for adaptive problem solving, Anne gives some great examples. There is a giant Twitter X, whatever you want to call it. I&#8217;m really curious what you think about this? My own personal feelings are that I think we&#8217;ve just got to do a lot of listening and move into that space and I&#8217;m really excited to hear the Hallway Hangout, but what do you think?</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, I think there are some interesting problems to solve that are once you use it, that might come a little bit more obvious and then they run into it, especially when you work with agencies. It&#8217;s hard to decide if you change something for the entire site or just for the block. So do we put it in theme.json or do we let the user handle whatever color it is, that&#8217;s one thing. But it does not really, I have sometimes the decision-making paralysis, so where do I tackle that? And also I don&#8217;t like it, where did I set this so I can fix it later on? It&#8217;s kind of a lot of places where I can get lost, and I think that&#8217;s one of the things that a lot of users have. Also, what hasn&#8217;t been yet solved for an enlightened experience is the navigation. There&#8217;s a lot of experimentation going on.</p>



<p>There&#8217;s a lot of, oh, there was in the last two years, and I think we&#8217;re getting there and it has been great work being done, but it&#8217;s also something to think about, lean back and say, &#8220;Okay, we have a new user, how do they perceive it and all that.&#8221; I think also one of the biggest problems that I see is, and I had this discussion again two or three weeks ago, was the difference between template editing and page editing and people getting lost and creating their own site with new templates instead of new pages, which then bring some other problems with it. So I think listening is definitely something that is a good skill set here when we talk with agencies, also to really hear the underlying problem.</p>



<p>One I had just on a call on Hallway Hangout on the intrinsic design was that, although there are no view ports or simple breakpoints tools there, but there are hard coded view ports in Gutenberg that you can change as an agency developer, you need to walk around that quite extensively. And that is certainly something I wasn&#8217;t really aware of, but knowing that that&#8217;s happening, hard coded things are not really good for flexibility, what&#8217;s the next step forward to kind of get this out?</p>



<p>So yeah. Certainly, I set out to collect some of the things and find the strategic places to tackle them. We also worked on the extensibility, triage issues, triaging kind of thing. So there are a lot of activities and initiatives going on and I love those, they are now happening, when really the vision has been materialized of the Site Editor and the block editor. Many people come around and say, &#8220;Wow, I didn&#8217;t know how that kind of shook out.&#8221; But now tackling those overlapping problems is definitely something to set out for 6.6. Yeah.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I think people are also learning that they don&#8217;t have to or what they can turn on, and I think that that&#8217;s the message, it&#8217;s on or off is, you don&#8217;t have to do that and learning where you can turn on but it&#8217;s still really tricky, with that and those controls. And you just made a really good point about, you have to know so well the experience, the variables and the components to be able to make some of those stress cases, edge cases because they cause you stress, decisions that there&#8217;s a certain level you are going to make because you&#8217;ve had to use it already. So there&#8217;s almost like, it&#8217;s really difficult to get the space to do that whilst you&#8217;re trying to also keep up with clients and you&#8217;re trying to do stuff.</p>



<p>So it really is about just the experiments we&#8217;re seeing, the explorations we&#8217;re seeing, and just having these conversations on both sides with listening and open and just on the implementation side, which agency freelancers, people building from products, from everything, all perspectives are really, really key here is, &#8220;Hey, I&#8217;m trying to do this thing. I can&#8217;t do this thing. I can&#8217;t do it because of.&#8221; And sharing that, quite simply is incredibly powerful. It&#8217;s just being able to have those real cases of how does that person do that and okay, 10, 20 other people want to do that, as you&#8217;re saying with extensibility. So yeah, it&#8217;s one of those just collecting how many are trying to do it and it&#8217;s not by numbers because it might just be like it&#8217;s one really, really critical thing that we can fix, but it&#8217;s important.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: So just want to reiterate, the Hallway Hangout, it&#8217;s an informal discussion among contributors, is taking place February 27th at 17:00 UTC. Yeah, they&#8217;re going to share the Zoom link in the core editor channel just so you know where to go. Of course, also share the invitation and Anne&#8217;s blog post in the show notes.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What’s Released &#8211; WordPress 6.5 Beta 1 and 2</h3>



<p>Next up is what&#8217;s released and that we are in hot, hot release cycle for WordPress 6.5, Beta 1 was released last week, Beta 2 was released this week and it&#8217;s really, really timed, dear listeners, to test your plugins themes sites to see if they&#8217;re compatible or if there are any issues before they happen and do bug reports. Whatever can be fixed in the release cycle does not get rolled out to millions of people.</p>



<p>So there&#8217;s a big, big call for testing and the test team has a list of things how to do this and what to test. But I also have some numbers, so the highest average number of enhancement per Gutenberg release is 68 and the second highest average total PRs per Gutenberg release is 198, so similar to 6.4 with 67 and 192. But, however, 6.4 only included 6 Gutenberg versions, while 6.5 now includes 10 Gutenberg versions. So even those that are end of year releases were really big. So it&#8217;s really interesting, huge numbers. The amount of total PRs in the cycle was 1,892.</p>



<p>Yeah, that&#8217;s just some numbers, some people like numbers. And they were on the Gutenberg side for the edit for WordPress 6.5, there were 25 new contributors who submitted PRs to the cycle. So that&#8217;s also really cool. Well, there is a source of truth coming out. The field guide is coming out with Release Candidate 1 that is scheduled for March 4th, so Beta 3 is next week and then in two weeks is Release Candidate, that&#8217;s where also the dev notes come out.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Gutenberg 17.6</h3>



<p>And we are going to talk about Gutenberg 17.6 now and 17.7 because those were the big, big push to get all the great features in, especially those that offered developers to extend things. So yeah, first up 17.6.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: So the first one we have in the future is the interactivity API. I&#8217;m going to kind of list a couple of things, but they&#8217;re, I&#8217;m going to get onto the examples because those are two very big words. That I always feel with the interactivity API, it&#8217;s good to have examples because it feels quite abstract, if that makes sense. So there&#8217;s been adding things and just a maturing of it, that&#8217;s the best way that you can see it.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Right.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: So it exists and it&#8217;s there, is the best way to put it. But there&#8217;s also been, so Mario, Ryan and Josepha discussed it on the 73rd episode. Wow, 73rd of the WP Briefing podcast, and there will be a link in show links. But also really exciting is Nick has just done a working example, he&#8217;s going to document mega menus, very excited about that. Using the interactivity API and why I&#8217;m excited about that is it&#8217;s opening up possibilities of things to be able to do and the whole point that we&#8217;ve been having this discussion, there&#8217;s a theme, of people needing open and tools and things, and this is just that to me. I&#8217;d love your input, but it just shows examples of things that you&#8217;d be like, &#8220;Oh, well I can&#8217;t do that so therefore, I can&#8217;t use the Site Editor or therefore, I can&#8217;t use these aspects of the new things.&#8221; But now we are starting to be able to see working examples of where maybe you can&#8217;t use it in production, but you could start to be able to use it.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: And what this example from Nick Diego is doing, is using two features that are coming with WordPress 6.51. One is to actually add your custom block to a navigation block. And the second one is the interactivity API becoming a public API, for developers to use. So we will have in the show notes a small blog post and also the link to the GitHub repo where you can look at the code of the custom block that enables a mega menu. But I think what I also read was that a lot of people are waiting for the mega menu, but it&#8217;s such an individual site-related need that I think it&#8217;s going to be really hard to make it a 80%, 20% kind of thing, to have it in core.</p>



<p>But I think one of the purposes of the interactivity API coming into core is to open it up for developers to bring their site needs to WordPress and solve them with their own code. But what the interactivity API also brings, and that was very clear in the briefing, is also that now interactivity, every developer solved it themselves in an agency or for a block plugin, but there is no standard and the interactivity API brings the standards. So now something that was done by an agency that works together with a plugin, actually the blocks can talk to each other.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Cool.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; yeah. So in that area, and that I think is really opening up the whole ecosystem quite a bit.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I&#8217;m really excited. It&#8217;s interesting you mentioned, I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s one way to solve for the mega menus either. I know templates have been talked about, yes. We&#8217;ve also even got the tiny blocks, we&#8217;ve got all these options, but again, it comes down to having this functionality in these tools, which is super exciting.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Totally, totally. And so I bring us a little bit down because the next thing I wanted to, it&#8217;s not a big thing, it&#8217;s a small thing, but we add default font sizes option to the theme.json files. So themes can now create default font sizes and make them available to their users for that and add them to their spectrum there.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: And that brings in the font library as well because the font library is coming in. So that kind of ties in and I will say, the font defaults that you now have in theme.json available, any defaults make it so much easier to create from. There&#8217;s a number of times you had to set defaults and not that you will use the defaults all the time, but having things like default font sizes, having things like default spacings and spacing settings to give you shadows, give you a good or maybe, that you could use and also allow you to have some sketch places. So moving on from that, we have custom fields and block editor. So again, add effects for box shadow tools to block inspector. And then we move on to enhancements, which I&#8217;ll let you kind of take.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, and I wanted to say the box shadow tools were available for a while already in the Gutenberg plugin, but then now come in also to WordPress 6.5, so users can actually apply drop shadows to certain blocks. It&#8217;s only available to four blocks, the button, the image and the columns block, just to see if there&#8217;s other needs that need to be built into it. But I really like it already because the little tool that shows you not only the default block shadows that core comes with, it also if a theme decided to add some presets for that, they&#8217;ll also show up in this little box where you can select those, those shadows.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: It&#8217;s really fun to make the shadows and even you can really do presets and your own presets pretty easily, in theme.json. I&#8217;ve been playing with that.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, Justin Tadlock did a great article on that a while ago actually, on the developer blog and we&#8217;ll reference that in the show notes. And I&#8217;m actually working on an update on that just for the user interface of that and how that all works together. In the enhancements, there&#8217;s a lot of things happening and with, I don&#8217;t know, 160 or 170 PRs, we are not going to read all of them. And yeah, you definitely want to look through the Changelog on the what&#8217;s new posts, but I like that the theme now has a color on wrapper. I wanted to point that out for the theme developers. So there is a foreground color for the theme component, so you can set that. And interactivity API has received a ton of PRs and I think we need to wait for the dev notes to really talk about that, otherwise it&#8217;s going to be a two-hour podcast today. Is there anything that you are looking for?</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: So on the block library, there&#8217;s some interesting stuff. Footnotes support for other custom post types, word quote block has padding and margin support, which again, this is part of when something&#8217;s put out, you do a best guess when a core block is put out, a lot of these are best guess, and we also talked earlier about, there&#8217;s so many blocks already getting back around to them. So the word quote block, I don&#8217;t think it has had some work for a while, but really adding some padding and margin, that&#8217;s probably something that, I know it&#8217;s going to be something that a lot of people have been putting in their theme.json or have been putting in custom siding quite a while.</p>



<p>So now being able to have that is really, really important. And aspect ratio remove support on the group block for now, so that&#8217;s obviously something that maybe wasn&#8217;t working as well. So there were all these kind of things that are put out there and iterated on, which I think is part of this, is looking at each core block as still a work in progress, which I think is really, really important as we maintain them, still really having those as well.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, the aspect ratio is actually available for the color block, but for the group block because all the additional blocks in there that kind of didn&#8217;t work out.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah, it&#8217;s really messy.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. And just to call that out, that if you have tried working with it, it&#8217;s also not working, so they pulled it out from that.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: And we use group block, so grid is coming or grid is there in experimental, and I think group block is a stop gap block, that&#8217;s one of the ways that I see it. And other times where we will be using other tools at some point and because of that, some of the tools that it will have eventually or should have eventually, don&#8217;t work. We shouldn&#8217;t to use it for stop gap. There&#8217;s many a time I use group block, probably wouldn&#8217;t in the future.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: So yeah. Yeah, probably. Yeah, unless it&#8217;s a pattern, then you&#8217;re probably good with putting it in a group block so it has…</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah, but who knows? They may have a pattern wrap, I don&#8217;t know.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; pattern wrap?</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah, we may to, right, because group block is kind of like our default, put it in a group block, right? Which that may also be&#8230; We are deviating, but that also is something that if you have a block with certain functionality that doesn&#8217;t necessarily always work for it because it&#8217;s on its own. It&#8217;s a really useful block, but it&#8217;s not necessarily adaptable in those senses. It kind of works, but it kind of doesn&#8217;t. Color block had that problem for a very long time. We used to even use, I remember trying to use color block as a background for my whole entire page because that was the only way that you could get background images, back in the day.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: But now you can get it in a group block.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: You can, and I was so glad when you could get that, but it literally was the only way you get forward. So all these changes are coming over time and that also shows how things have adapted as well.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, and what is now in 17.6 as well as in 17.7 are the final touches on the data views, which enable the grid layout for templates and parts, as well as adding the bulk actions to the page views. Bulk actions are edit or delete. Yeah, I think that those are the two. But the data views, they&#8217;re coming to WordPress 6.5, but only in the Site Editor except for, well they&#8217;re coming in the Site Editor also for pages but not for posts. So that&#8217;s kind of the only place where you have to get out of the editor and come through that. So it&#8217;s really interesting and I like them. Some interfaces are a little bit overlapping, that kind of confused me, but yeah, I&#8217;m easily confused. So it&#8217;s like you move into a new neighborhood and all of a sudden, all the sounds are kind of in your face and by the time you get settled in two weeks, you don&#8217;t hear the trauma anymore, you don&#8217;t hear the…</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: But it&#8217;s existing UI patterns, so it&#8217;s not based on patterns that we have, like in uncommon applications, so it has its roots in familiarity at least.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; yeah, absolutely. Yeah.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: So moving on, we have site editor, we have group templates and a sidebar list, anytime that you have the ability to group things. I&#8217;m very excited because we have giant lists in our sidebar, so this is kind of awesome I think.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; exactly, exactly. Yeah, there are quite a few other things as well that the global site changes, yeah, it&#8217;s added to the safe flow. And then what I overlooked was that there is now a live preview on the theme that has been in there since 6.4 and in the plugin, but there is now you can also activate it in the modal, so there&#8217;s an activation place in there, so it streamlines that process.&nbsp;</p>



<p>On the patterns, we have a few items that are, in terms of the pattern overrides, I don&#8217;t think we talk about the pattern overrides here at the podcast. So that&#8217;s a new way to work with sync patterns. It&#8217;s an added feature that you can create a pattern and then with maybe a heading and a paragraph and an image, and then you can style it, you save it and then you can go to each one of those content blocks and say, &#8220;Allow overrides.&#8221; In the advanced section in the sidebar.</p>



<p>And then when somebody or your editor uses that pattern, they can change the picture, they can change the headline or the paragraph. But when you decide for each instance and when you decide as a site owner or a theme developer or agency developer to say, &#8220;Okay, I want to change the design of that pattern.&#8221; Then you can change the original and there&#8217;s an interface for that and then those changes propagate overall those instances where it was used. So if you change the background, the background has changed for all of them. So that&#8217;s the pattern overrides idea. And they are available to four blocks, and that&#8217;s the image block, the heading block, a paragraph and button block. That&#8217;s where you can decide on pattern overrides as a user for your patterns. So now you can use the site editor to build patterns, pattern overrides and sync patterns, content lock patterns, they all have the same words, patterns.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: So I guess the big one to move on to is a font library and there&#8217;s a lot listed here. I&#8217;m going to list out some stuff and then I&#8217;d love for you to maybe describe a bit about the workflow because you&#8217;re really good at stuff like that. And I&#8217;d love to kind of hear in your own words that. There&#8217;s update, update, update is what we have listed here and refactor because it&#8217;s ready and it&#8217;s there. So we have the modal, we have the ability to disable if you want, using a PHP filter, which is super important because if something exists, having the ability to turn it off is also important. Improving the font collection, rest controller, making notices more consistent, update the font families. But I&#8217;d love for you to maybe describe some of the workflow and features and what you think of this?</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: So the font library. Oh yeah, I get the hard part. All right. Okay. So the font library is, think of it as similar to the media library. So it has the function that you can upload fonts and then you can enable the fonts and you can use the fonts in your further design of the site. But you as a site owner are not dependent on the theme developer to make decisions on your font. You can do it yourself and there are font foundries out there. Well, the biggest one is the Google fonts, but there are also Adobe fonts there.</p>



<p>And you as a designer probably know more. It&#8217;s a little bit hard to find how to get to the font management space. And that is in the style sidebar, on the right hand side, above the fonts section, there&#8217;s a little icon that has two dots and a few lines. It&#8217;s not a cog for work tools, but it still shows some management features there. And then it opens up a modal where you can see which fonts are installed already and then you get an upload button and then you can upload your fonts with all the fonts collection or how do you call it, the different styles of the fonts. So it&#8217;s the semi-bold or bold or these kinds of variations.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Variations, yeah.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. And then you have options to turn them off. So if you have a font that has 16 variations, you only use three of them, you can switch off all the other ones. So this is really good, it&#8217;s pretty comprehensive as a feature already. So yeah, test it out and find the break it because it has been really in development for what, four major releases?</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: A while, yeah.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: A while, yeah.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: You mentioned the positioning. I think if you are using the create block theme, always get that wrong, plugin, you&#8217;re kind of trained a certain place to go to, theme font management. So yes, it is in a different place. So your furniture has moved, but your furniture is still there. It is a feature that is the missing feature of styling. We have color management, we have media management, so font management is, and you did beautifully with that description, I knew you would. So it is the missing one. Yeah, it is going to be really exciting what people have. And back to your point about good ways to do things in standardization, I think this is also, it&#8217;s one of those ways that it&#8217;s easy to add fonts the wrong way when you don&#8217;t know how to do it the right way. And when you know how to do it the right way, you don&#8217;t have a problem.</p>



<p>Absolutely, so this tool maybe isn&#8217;t for someone that has that in their workflow, that absolutely has pre-packaging fonts, who uses whatever they use in their workflows. This is quite often probably for people that don&#8217;t know how to do that and want that flexibility. And it&#8217;s a great way to be able to have control on your site without having to have yet another bit of custom code from a random site and trusting and all those kinds of things. So yeah, it is a really easy way to just do things right, from the right start and know that you&#8217;re being performant as well.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. And I think lots of freedom sometimes is not always a good thing, but for many people, they want the freedom to kind of figure out what they actually want. Sometimes you don&#8217;t know what you want until you see…</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: A lot of people aren&#8217;t going to turn this on because papyrus and…</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; yeah, for many agencies, the piece that we have highlighted is the most important part is, the disabled fonts library UI, using a PHP filter, that&#8217;s going to be in your theme functions code for some of them.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: That&#8217;s really good that we&#8217;ve got that from the start because quite often, that shows from the start having these features to turn off. When we first had some features because it was harder to do or these features wouldn&#8217;t always turn off a bulb so easily. So definitely from the start making sure, particularly these really styling opinionated features, they are from the start having these PHP filters that&#8217;s recognizing this work flow that you are going to have a PHP, you now can turn it off. So I think that&#8217;s great, that couldn&#8217;t be better having that. So yeah.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: No, the font library is opening up in the site editor for theme developers or theme designers who are not developers because they get all the tools in one place.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister:</em> And I use it, sorry, I always go back to the Dreamweaver analogy because that&#8217;s what I do. I pretty much a couple of hours a day, I&#8217;ll be sketching in the Site Editor on a vocal site and that&#8217;s how I come up with new designs now. It&#8217;s like, maybe do some styling, but it is as Dreamweaver, that&#8217;s when I use it as my sketchbook because that&#8217;s how you come up with the ideas and how you explore things now.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, I know you have a lot of work to do and you have a lot of irons in fires, but I think what would be really cool would be a live stream where you just kind of sketch out a theme and design a theme for a few minutes.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I use Dreamweaver, it&#8217;s super fun.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Using Dreamweaver and the Site Editor of WordPress or something like that.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Because also you make decisions there and there. And sometimes I&#8217;ll be doing it for a couple of hours and you make decisions there and then with the blocks, and I mean you make some really bad code spaghetti, you really do, but then you unpick the code in your Visual Studio is my editor. Because the export button, the best thing in the world, you hit export and then you have your mess, like your sketchbook, and then you can refine it. That&#8217;s the best way I can describe my workflow for creating the theme. It&#8217;s not everybody&#8217;s, but that&#8217;s mine.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: But it would be interesting to see it from…</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah, I will. I should do that. Thank you.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; absolutely, yeah. So the next thing is extensibility part, and we talked about it briefly when we talked about Nick&#8217;s mega menu that is now an update for the navigation block that can render hooked inner blocks. So you can have your custom block go in there or other blocks to go into the navigation block. That opens us up for not only the allowed ones, which was, I think the search block was one of them, and page list block was one of them, but now you can just have anyone in there, any block in there. And there was another, in 17.7, there was a bug fix that also does the lineups in the order list. Yeah, it&#8217;s all the same styling there and have it all in an order list. Right, yeah.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: So we have new APIs, we have two which are block API, and they are block bindings, API ad block bindings, PHP, registration mechanisms and post MetaSource and the experimental flag. Say that fast. And the block bindings API refactor logic into block binding&#8217;s class and singleton pattern. Oh, that&#8217;s the term, singleton pattern.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: That&#8217;s a different pattern, I&#8217;m telling you.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I know.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: And singleton? Is there something like a simpleton?</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I don&#8217;t know.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: I don&#8217;t know but something&#8217;s that really hard.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: To me, this just shows refinement of it. I&#8217;m curious what you think as well?</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. Well the block bindings API is really exciting. API coming and in 17.6 it was under the experimental flag, but 17.7 it was open up for public consumption. So it will come to WordPress 6.5 and that is, that you can connect a block to a, for instance, post meta custom field. So you can have a paragraph that uses the custom field of weather and every day when you do an entry, you say in the custom field, &#8220;Okay, the weather is rainy and windy and under 25 degrees.&#8221; And then you have a place on the template where you can output that particular custom field with a block. And of course right now, the block binder is the first iteration in WordPress, but it&#8217;s mostly for developers.</p>



<p>Justin Tadlock already published on the developer blog an introduction to the block bindings API to connect it to custom fields. And he has the example of having an image and an old tag for the image stored in a custom field. I just published a rather, almost no code example, using the good old meta boxes to edit custom fields because this iteration doesn&#8217;t have a use of interface yet, to add or edit custom fields. So because that&#8217;s a little bit tricky, not so much for the text fields, but when you go into select boxes, when you go into radio buttons or checkboxes or these kinds of things, you need some underlying developer registration there. But yeah, I share both articles in the show notes because it kind of helps you with the 6.5, what is it doing? And even if you are a developer, it&#8217;s really interesting to see how you can. Because it actually will take care of some of the little blocks that we used to create to just get the content out of a post meta field, and that is streamlining the whole thing.</p>



<p>So I think that was it for 17.6. I&#8217;m just scrolling fast through and I&#8217;m getting a little motion sickness here going on. Yeah, I highlighted two more overrides thing, but it&#8217;s just what we already talked about. Oh, and 17.6 also brings a great drag and drop feature. The drag and drop was actually a big push to make that easier to do, and now you can create rows and galleries with just dragging and dropping things. So if you have a picture on your canvas in the block editor and then you drag another picture next to that image, it will create automatically a gallery. So that&#8217;s really-</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I have seen people try to do that with the editor.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack: &#8230; now they can actually.</em></p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah. But it&#8217;s why would they not try and do that? Of course.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; yeah. Right, right, right. Yeah. And that&#8217;s certainly something for your editor tips maybe, when 6.5 is out. For documentation, there is now a video demonstration for the quick starter guide. So the quick start guide for block development was revamped and has a nice example and walks us through all the steps. But it now also supports a video that it&#8217;s like, if somebody explains it to you and shows it to you, it&#8217;s easier to grasp than just reading a wall of text and that&#8217;s kind of in there. So we are definitely looking out for that. It was actually 17.6 where the block binding experimental flag was removed so people could show and run. That was it, that was good works, 17.6.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Gutenberg 17.7</h3>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Okay, we on 17.7 now, I feel like?</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yes, we&#8217;re going right into it.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah, attacking everything.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Attacking everything. Yeah.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister:</em> So I&#8217;m going to go through, there&#8217;s some enhancements there. So we have in data views, diving straight into, and of course in the show notes, it&#8217;s going to be a kind of link to this as well, in 17.7. I assume we&#8217;re going to go through this quite lightly because it&#8217;s just that included in 16.5, but it&#8217;s worth remembering that we have delete bulk action to patterns, really useful deleting bulk. And selection and bulk action to grid view, again super useful. And add primary filter, API, I&#8217;ve forgotten how to use words apparently. Again, it&#8217;s all these ads and removes, it&#8217;s that refinement, which I think is really important to say. And showing the sync status filter by default, again, it&#8217;s these little things you&#8217;re like, &#8220;Whoa, they would be useful.&#8221; The tips, right? Yeah, over to you.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah, definitely. But the database is really, there was a major push for the block library. I&#8217;m just pointing out two things. Social icons now have the updated Patreon icon, so if your website uses that, you now get the new icon for that. And in 17.7 there was the block shadow support added to the columns and image block, which we talked about a bit. And 17.7 was actually the major push for the drag and drop, also to dragging from the inserter, all from the desktop to template parts and allowing moving things within the template parts. And so that is really cool. Yeah.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah. And we&#8217;ve got in the block editor, we&#8217;ve got add block UI for nav, block link UI and imprinting new UX invoking which text link UI. Again, links are really, navigation thorny problem, linking in navigation, thorny problem, the interface. I worked on that for a while myself, I know how complicated linking really is to get right and feel okay. And then open a new tab from link, remove and open a new tab from link preview, is also there. So obviously the feedback was, should be removed as well. So it&#8217;s iterating and really improving those areas.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Definitely. Yeah. What I really like on the link UI, is actually the search from hosts on your site. So if you publish it out there, you can really search for, &#8220;Oh, I want to link to the block bindings API in particular.&#8221; And it finds it for you and you just have to link to it. What it does not find is yet, anchor links on the same page and that is still an open PR, but I think it&#8217;s already worked on.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: That will be magic when that happens, because if you think of, well, very particular education or science documentation, it&#8217;s just all handbooks. It&#8217;s required information.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Absolutely. Yeah. And then maybe we get also a revamp of the table of content blocks when that is in there.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Oh, that would be so good. Yeah.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: All right. So there was a lot of things in this 17.7. There was for the extensibility, that the navigation block can now be used. Third-party blocks can now be used in a navigation block as descendants of the navigation block. We talked about that already here.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I see a note that you&#8217;ve put by the performance, which is really interesting, which is from Riad again, which I always love his performance posts, they&#8217;re just the great ones. There&#8217;s lots of performance improvements in a single release. There&#8217;s two times faster editor loading time. I&#8217;ve always been very careful how I say performance. And four times faster typing, processing, faster previews, interactions like block selection in WordPress 5.0. Wow. Because if you look at-</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: WordPress 6.5?</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: &#8230; sorry. Yeah. 6.5. Yeah. What did my brain just do? My brain&#8217;s just tired everybody. Hello. Thank you for correcting me.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: The performance things that we had here are kind from Riad Benguella, and I think that triggered the 5.0 for you because there&#8217;s been good work.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I think I was maybe going with, since then they&#8217;ve been performance posts, that&#8217;s where I was going. My brain, good morning, my brain, it&#8217;s lunchtime. Can you tell it&#8217;s lunchtime in Europe for us. But those performance posts have always been really good because initially when the editor was created, it was, is it performant? Well, by having some measures that Riad did, it was really useful to literally know how performant it was compared to other things because you always get the perception of things are more or less performant, but actually having stats is really important. So I always get very excited when I see Riad commenting on performance.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. And he&#8217;s working on it and he had this wonderful website. I don&#8217;t think I should mention it, but now I did, where he also tested some of the other plugins, how they work with a block editor and see how their performance is improving or decreasing, so to speak. So yeah, he&#8217;s very keen into that particular section of development. And that&#8217;s a good thing because the more features come in, the more load it might take. So yeah, there were quite a few efforts to bring some of the performance back to the block editor.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Every piece of UI that you add can add or take away, which is something I learned, it can take away with the performance. You sometimes think the most minimal interface is going to be the most performant, and it isn&#8217;t always, which is a brain flip, but just having that baseline and that data has been really true to be able to know. So yes, big shout out and call out on that one.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. So I think we are through 17.7. There was a lot of fixing of things and a lot of adding things and bug fixing.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Right. Yes.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: And there&#8217;s also a huge set of documentation updates there with copying and formatting edits and fixing lists, formatting and all that. So there&#8217;s all this quality of life that it doesn&#8217;t interrupt your reading flow when these things are in there, but it&#8217;s also a residue from the update of the developer resources design-wise that happened in last month or in December. So some of the pages you definitely need to update to kind of follow the new design there.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Which is really good.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What’s in Active Development or Discussed</h3>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Yeah. I think that&#8217;s it. Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. So, well, we are right into the show, and I think we have one section that is, what&#8217;s an active development and discussed. And what a lot of people are missing in Gutenberg and the patterns and the templates are actually a section styling. That you have a section that is styling that you can reuse that styling and apply it to other sections without having to go into fonts, go into color, go into border, go into dimension, go into padding, to replicate some of the styling, but not for the whole page or site, but only for sections. And the contributors are really working on getting that into the editor and I will share the links to that issue. That&#8217;s a tracking issue, where those discussions happen. And have you looked at that?</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: I have, and it reminds me back, my brain&#8217;s going back in the day of when early theme.json conversations about, what if you could just share a piece or you could share that easily with someone and be like, &#8220;Hey, I&#8217;ve created this awesome style snippet kind of thing and I just want to share it.&#8221; So I love that we&#8217;re doing this, but I also want a way that I can just be like, &#8220;Hey, I&#8217;ve got this awesome snippet that I want to share.&#8221; And do that as well. So I think that that&#8217;s also the piece I&#8217;m really curious about. I&#8217;m really curious about the Museum of Block Art and all the patterns. I would love a really easy way to share styling as well. So I feel we&#8217;re getting there, which is super exciting, but that kind of is good to me.</p>



<p>And block styles, which is ish or pattern styles is also something that I would love to see. And really future thinking pattern variations is something that I&#8217;ve had quite a few discussions with people of a need for pattern variations and be able to say, and this kind of falls into that of being able to say, &#8220;This is the default pattern.&#8221; But quite a lot of the time people are using the whole style variation when they don&#8217;t need to because they maybe just want to change a section. So yeah, this solves it, but the sharing and then having a pattern variations option is for the future maybe, as well. Yeah, I think for me, users are thinking of patterns and how can they have variations just as much as they&#8217;re thinking of blocks.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; yeah, it&#8217;s kind of block style variations, is kind of one of the things where saying. Okay.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: People think in patterns, they don&#8217;t think in blocks. If you shut your eyes, you don&#8217;t see a site build of blocks, you see a site of patterns. So you&#8217;re going to want pattern variations, not block variations.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Right. Yeah. Or layout variations. Yeah, if you have certain layouts that you&#8217;re kind, &#8220;This is my site color layout.&#8221;</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Yeah. Or template variations you are going to want. And again, people sometimes take patterns a little bit far and make the whole template a pattern. So yeah, there&#8217;s a whole best practices and conversations, but the sharing as well is super fun. But able to say to someone like, &#8220;Hey, I&#8217;ve got this amazing style that I just want to share.&#8221; And having a bank of them, even for the community, I don&#8217;t know?</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Have a little site there. Yeah. I was wondering…</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: A site of shadows.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: &#8230; well, some users are not really good at putting color combinations together, so there was also that.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: They&#8217;re not. And also accessible colors are kind of hard. There&#8217;s some websites which are good, but being able to have like, &#8220;Hey, here&#8217;s a really accessible pattern style, using a pattern from the pattern directory that I&#8217;ve done a pattern variation, now I&#8217;m sharing the style.&#8221; That could be awesome for someone.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: That would be awesome.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: &#8230; to put up and run, rather than having to be fixed to that style. So all of this is really exciting for the future.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: In your opinion, your listeners counts. So go in and share what you think about things and how you think about things because it will make things better. So that&#8217;s what wanted to share with you, because there was the idea to maybe get this into 6.5, but there was no way that the discussions end in time to act on certain decisions. Yeah. And with that, I think we&#8217;re at the of our Changelog 96 and with Tammie Lister, who is phenomenal to have you on the show again.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Thank you.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: Is there anything that you want to talk about that you didn&#8217;t get a chance to talk about before we close it?</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: No. I got to talk about everything I wanted to. Thank you so much for having me again on the podcast.</p>



<p><em>Birgit Pauli-Haack</em>: All right. Well, it was absolutely my pleasure. And so before we end the show, there&#8217;s a Hallway Hangout coming up February 27th. There&#8217;s also a Developer Hours coming up with the layouts, how to build modern web layouts with WordPress blocks, with Justin Tadlock and Ryan Welcher and it&#8217;s also on February 27th, an hour before the Hallway Hangout on the overlapping problems. So you get the good things that is now possible and then you talk about some of the overlapping problem. Yeah. Or you decide either one of them will be fine. And that&#8217;s it, what I wanted to announce here.</p>



<p>And as always, dear listeners, the show notes will be published on gutenbergtimes.com/podcast and this is episode 96. And if you have questions, suggestions, or news you want us to include, send them to <a href="mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a>. That&#8217;s <a href="mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a>. Yes, that&#8217;s an email address. So thank you all and thank you for listening. And the next show will be after WordCamp Asia. WordCamp Asia is from the 8th to the 9th and the week following, we will have another podcast covering 17.8 and 17.9. And of course, Release Candidate with all the dev notes that we all will have. So thank you all for listening. Wish you all a good time and happy WordPressing. Goodbye. Bye, Tammie.</p>



<p><em>Tammie Lister</em>: Bye. Thank you.</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, 26 Feb 2024 14:35:01 +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: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:62:"Do The Woo Community: Hear From 13 WordCamp Asia 2024 Speakers";s: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=79142";s: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:61:"https://dothewoo.io/hear-from-13-wordcamp-asia-2024-speakers/";s: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:382:"<p>In anticipation of WordCamp Asia 2024, listen to thirteen speakers share what they will be talking about in their session.</p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a href="https://dothewoo.io/hear-from-13-wordcamp-asia-2024-speakers/">Hear From 13 WordCamp Asia 2024 Speakers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce and WordPress Builder Podcast</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, 26 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +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: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: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:23:"Matt: On the Reddit IPO";s: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:23:"https://ma.tt/?p=111742";s: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:40:"https://ma.tt/2024/02/on-the-reddit-ipo/";s: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:1423:"<p>I&#8217;m looking forward to <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1713445/000162828024006294/reddits-1q423.htm">the Reddit IPO</a>, and I think it&#8217;s awesome that they opened up a top-tier IPO tranche to their community. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/22/24079978/reddit-ipo-public-offering-shares-power-users">People with 200,000 karma points or 5,000 moderator actions on Reddit will get access</a> to something that has previously been reserved for the most elite allies of financial institutions. Wow! </p>



<p>I&#8217;m sure this was not easy to do so Reddit users should understand that at this very important juncture in the company&#8217;s history it has gone above and beyond to include you. I&#8217;m mostly a lurker on Reddit so my 958 karma doesn&#8217;t qualify so I&#8217;ll get access with the rest of the normal folks.</p>



<p>If I ever IPO something from Automattic, it will include the same for people who have contributed to WordPress. And every supporting open-source project underneath it. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down">It&#8217;s turtles all the way down</a>.)</p>



<p>My only fear is that code contributions are structured in a way that is easily legible, so is anything that happens on <a href="https://w.org/">w.org</a>, but we may miss including people who have contributed to the growth of WordPress in non-legible ways.</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, 25 Feb 2024 22:42:04 +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:4:"Matt";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:99:"Gutenberg Times: Block Bindings, Layouts, Font Library, Mega Menus and more — Weekend Edition 286";s: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=27510";s: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://gutenbergtimes.com/block-bindings-weekend-edition-286/";s: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:25485:"<p>Howdy, </p>



<p>Next week, I&#8217;ll be heading out to Taipei, ahead of WordCamp Asia, to acclimate and do some sightseeing. If you are in the area, <a href="https://calendly.com/pauli-haack/wcasia">you can double-check my calendar so we can meet</a>. Getting meeting times and places sorted ahead of time,  makes it more likely that the conversations will happen, and not just between doors or sessions.</p>



<p>This week, you can get more insights on what is coming with WordPress 6.5 again. Now that Beta 2 has been released, it&#8217;s time to test your plugins and themes for compatibility and report issues.</p>



<p></p>



<p>I am totally excited about this new release and I wish you fun exploring the new features! </p>



<p>Yours, 💕<br /><em>Birgit</em></p>



<p>PS<strong> ICYMI:</strong> </p>



<ul>
<li><a href="https://wptavern.com/"><strong>WPTavern</strong></a> is publishing again. Seven writers a showing off their skills in a public trial for two permanent positions. For now, James Giroux, Ronny Shani and Adam Silver have published their articles. Good luck to all of them! </li>



<li>Also back from a publishing break: <strong>Rae Morey,</strong> editor of <a href="https://www.therepository.email/"><strong>The Repository</strong></a></li>
</ul>






<div class="wp-block-group has-light-background-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>



<ol><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/block-bindings-weekend-edition-286/#0-word-press-release-information">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</a></li><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/block-bindings-weekend-edition-286/#0-p">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</a></li><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/block-bindings-weekend-edition-286/#2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</a></li><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/block-bindings-weekend-edition-286/#3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.</a></li></ol>
</div></div>




<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="0-word-press-release-information">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</h2>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/wordpress-6-5-beta-2/"><strong>WordPress 6.5 Beta 2</strong></a> is now available for testing. The WordPress test team has a few tips for your testing pleasure: <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2024/02/15/help-test-wordpress-6-5-beta-1/">Help test WordPress 6.5</a>.</strong> In <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/vids-on-data-views-image-aspect-ratio-and-synched-pattern-overrides-modern-js-and-more-weekend-edition-285/#0-word-press-release-information">last week&#8217;s edition</a> I shared tools to set up test sites.</p>



<p><strong><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ironnysh/">Ronny Shani </a></strong>reported on the release on WPTavern: <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-6-5-is-around-the-corner-test-beta-2"><strong>WordPress 6.5 Is Around the Corner; Test Beta 2</strong></a>. Shani, accumulated quite a collection of links and videos about features already published on the web.</p>



<p><strong>Bud Kraus</strong> invites you to the Learn WordPress Online Workshop: <strong><a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-online-workshops/events/299175971/">What&#8217;s New In WordPress 6.5</a></strong>? on <strong>April 9, 2024, at 19:00 UTC</strong>. He&#8217;ll cover, among other features</p>



<ul>
<li>Font Library</li>



<li>Revisions for Styles, Templates and more</li>



<li>Synched Pattern Overrides </li>
</ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p>Recording the next Gutenberg Changelog episode, <strong>Tammie Lister</strong> and I talked through Gutenberg 14.6 and 17.7 and what comes to WordPress 6.5 and other community initiatives and discussions. The episode will arrive at your favorite pods app over the weekend. </p>



<a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast"><img width="652" height="183" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-24-at-10.29.42.png?resize=652%2C183&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-27649" /></a>



<p class="has-accent-color has-light-background-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-69cab3cf77ae7eea1b9e89a501b514a4">🎙️ Latest episode: <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-96/">Gutenberg Changelog #96 – Gutenberg plugins versions 17.6 and 17.7, Mega Menus, Interactivity API and WordPress 6.5</a> with special guest Tammie Lister </p>



<p>In their post, <a href="https://nomad.blog/2024/02/16/overlapping-problems/"><strong>Overlapping problems</strong></a>, <strong>Anne McCarthy </strong>addresses the complexity that arises when multiple issues co-exist and interact with one another, complicating their resolution. McCarthy discusses strategies for managing these concerns by prioritizing them and employing a holistic approach to understand and resolve their interconnected nature.</p>



<p>They also emphasize the psychological effects of facing such issues and the need for adaptive problem-solving techniques.  McCarthy included practical examples to illustrate how these concepts are applied in real-world scenarios.</p>



<p><strong>Brian Coords</strong> kicked off an interconnected <a href="https://twitter.com/briancoords/status/1758554370810290354">Twitter thread</a> , and as a consequence <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> invites contributors and extenders to a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/02/19/hallway-hangout-lets-chat-about-overlapping-problems-in-the-site-editor/">Hallway Hangout: Let’s chat about overlapping problems in the Site Editor</a> on February 27 at 17:00 UTC.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="0-p">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</h2>



<p><strong>Tammie Lister</strong> published four more Editor Tips: </p>



<ul>
<li><a href="https://editortips.com/highlight-text/">Highlight text</a></li>



<li><a href="https://editortips.com/reset-template/">Reset template</a></li>



<li><a href="https://editortips.com/choose-border-style/">Choose border style</a></li>



<li><a href="https://editortips.com/lock-a-block/">Lock a block</a></li>
</ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Jamie Marsland</strong>, PootlePress recreated <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-afMM8ykemw">NASA homepage with WP Blocks in 30&nbsp;mins!</a> </strong>Follow along as Marsland uses nothing more than WordPress, the default block theme, and core Gutenberg blocks (no plugins, no additional CSS).</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Brian Gardner, </strong>WPEngine<strong> </strong>shows you in his video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc1FHD0DGiM"><strong>how to disable patterns in the WordPress block inserter and site editor</strong></a> for his <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/powder/">Powder</a> theme, available in the WordPress Theme repository. His solution: a simple uncheck the pattern category on a settings page, before you turn over the site to a client.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> posted a new video: <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnx_nkB-O2E">No Code, All Fonts thanks to the Font Library in WordPress 6.5</a>.</strong> She wrote in the description:</p>



<ul>
<li>The Font Library operates globally, similar to the Media Library, allowing you to easily install, remove, and activate fonts across your entire site. </li>



<li>Whether a font is installed by you or provided by your theme or plugin, the Font Library provides seamless selection across your editing experience. </li>



<li>Google Fonts is integrated into the Font Library experience, offering various typography options and quick uploads. </li>



<li>This new ability empowers you to control a foundational aspect of your site’s design without the need for coding. </li>



<li>Extenders can provide their font collections and manage permissions, including turning the feature off.</li>
</ul>




<div class="ngl-articles colored ngl-articles-50_50 ngl-articles-frontend">

	
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			<div class="ngl-article-mobile">
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							<div class="ngl-article-mob-wrap">
							<div class="ngl-article-featured"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/pattern-overrides-an-early-review/" target="_self" rel=""><img src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-07-at-11.29.34.png?w=652&ssl=1" /></a></div><div class="ngl-article-title"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/pattern-overrides-an-early-review/" target="_self" rel=""><span>Synched Pattern Overrides – an early review</span></a></div><div class="ngl-article-excerpt">A month ago, Anne McCarthy suggested Early Opportunities to Test WordPress 6.5. Meanwhile, Gutenberg 17.6 has been released and 17.7 is in the works. For my explorations, I used WordPress&hellip; <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/pattern-overrides-an-early-review/" class="ngl-article-read-more" target="_self">Read more.</a></div>							</div>
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							<div class="ngl-article-featured"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/block-bindings-and-custom-fields-an-almost-no-code-example/" target="_self" rel=""><img src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-21-at-11.06.40.png?w=652&ssl=1" /></a></div><div class="ngl-article-title"><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/block-bindings-and-custom-fields-an-almost-no-code-example/" target="_self" rel=""><span>Block Bindings and Custom Fields &#8211;  an (almost) no-code example</span></a></div><div class="ngl-article-excerpt">With the upcoming release of version 6.5, WordPress will receive the first iteration of Block Bindings API, a way to bind content of blocks to data stored in custom fields.&hellip; <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/block-bindings-and-custom-fields-an-almost-no-code-example/" class="ngl-article-read-more" target="_self">Read more.</a></div>							</div>
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</div>




<p><strong>Eric Karkovack</strong> set out to <a href="https://thewpminute.com/clearing-up-the-confusion-surrounding-block-themes/"><strong>Clearing Up the Confusion Surrounding Block Themes</strong></a>. &#8220;Some users may not know if block themes are suitable for them. Others may have never heard of them at all. And we can’t forget the confusing comparisons with classic themes.&#8221; he wrote. Karkovack lists quite a few reasons why one would use a Block theme over a conventional theme. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/andersnoren">Anders Noren</a></strong>, theme builder from <s>Norway</s> Sweden and early adopter of block themes, just <a href="https://twitter.com/andersnoren/status/1760746342350213127">announced</a> a new block theme: &#8220;<a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/norrsken/">Norrsken</a> is a simple blog theme inspired by the Aurora Borealis.&#8221; <strong><a href="https://andersnoren.se/introducing-norrsken/">Introducing Norrsken</a></strong>. Fun fact: it is Noren&#8217;s 30th theme in the WordPress Repository!</p>



<p>Noren published his first theme, <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/lingonberry/">Lingonberry</a>, in 2013.  His first block theme, <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tove/">Tove</a>, made its debut in September 2021 and <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/norrsken/">Norrsken</a> is his 9th Block theme in the repository. </p>



<a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/author/anlino/"><img width="652" height="404" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-23-at-10.25.20.png?resize=652%2C404&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-27634" /></a>



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



<p><strong>Nick Diego</strong> has been <a href="https://nickdiego.com/experimenting-with-block-based-mega-menus/"><strong>Experimenting with block-based mega menus</strong></a> combining two different extensibility features of the block editor coming to WordPress 6.5: </p>



<ul>
<li>Add  custom blocks to the Navigation block in WordPress. </li>



<li>The&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/02/19/merge-announcement-interactivity-api/">Interactivity API</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>



<p>Diego shared <a href="https://github.com/ndiego/mega-menu-block">his code on GitHub</a>. He is also working on a tutorial for the WordPress Developer Blog.</p>



<p><strong>Jamie Marsland</strong> was inspired to try it out, and created a few examples. In his video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbLOzce43Iw"><strong>WordPress Gutenberg Mega Menus &#8211; Sneak peek!</strong></a> he shares his knowledge and shows you how you can use it, too.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</h2>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/ASKDesign2"><strong>Anne Katzeff</strong></a>, graphic designer, theme builder, artists and fellow WordPress meetup organizer, ventured on the journey of <strong><a href="https://www.askdesign.biz/blog/2024/01/building-my-first-wordpress-block-theme-part-1/">building her first Block theme</a></strong> and shares her progress and pain points. Her blog posts are rich with screenshots and other illustrations. She really takes you along her design process and how she gets things done. </p>



<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.askdesign.biz/blog/2024/01/building-my-first-wordpress-block-theme-part-1/">In part one</a>, she covers setting the stage, with fonts, using the new font library and Global settings for color, dimensions, and layouts. </li>



<li><a href="https://www.askdesign.biz/blog/2024/02/building-my-first-wordpress-block-theme-part-2-navigation/">In part two</a>, Katzeff tackled navigation, menu, and header template part. </li>
</ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p>Next <strong>Tuesday,  Feb 27 at 16:00 UTC</strong>, <strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> and <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> will host the next Developer Hours session on building complex layouts with blocks. Nick Diego <a href="https://twitter.com/nickmdiego/status/1760650662910800239">likes</a> to call this the art of &#8220;block composition&#8221; and you won&#8217;t want to miss this. You can RSVP via Meetup:<strong> <a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-online-workshops/events/298634463/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to build modern web layouts with WordPress blocks</a></strong></p>



<a href="https://www.meetup.com/learn-wordpress-online-workshops/events/298634463/"><img width="600" height="338" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Feb-27-Dev-Hours.webp?resize=600%2C338&ssl=1" alt="How to create modern layouts with WordPress" class="wp-image-27437" /></a>



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




<p>Hey there! Check out the latest&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/">“Keeping up with Gutenberg – Index 2024”</a></strong>&nbsp;where you’ll find a fresh, up-to-date list of all the posts from the teams working hard on Gutenberg. We’re talking Design, Theme Review, Core Editor, and more, from January 2024 onwards. I’ve been keeping tabs on everything just for you.</p>



<p>Want to take a walk down memory lane? No problem! You can revisit the old days with these links:&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/"><strong>2020</strong></a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2021/"><strong>2021</strong></a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2022/"><strong>2022</strong></a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2023"><strong>2023</strong></a>. Have fun diving in!</p>




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



<p>Are you a PHP developer and hate JavaScript? Well, could be you just need someone like you to explain to you the important bits that are used in WordPress. <strong>Aurooba Ahmad</strong> published: <a href="https://aurooba.com/introducing-js-essentials-for-wp-devs/"><strong>Introducing JS Essentials for WP Devs</strong></a>, a course &#8220;with 15 bite-sized lessons delivered daily to help you absorb JavaScript essentials. So you can go from zero to JS development as quickly as possible.&#8221; she wrote. The first lesson will come out on March 4, 2024, <a href="https://aurooba.com/js-essentials-for-wp-devs/">you need to sign up, though. </a>The best part? It is free. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> introduced the first segment of a tutorial dedicated to the Block Bindings API on the WordPress Developer blog. The article, titled <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2024/02/20/introducing-block-bindings-part-1-connecting-custom-fields/"><strong>&#8220;Introducing Block Bindings, part 1: connecting custom fields,&#8221;</strong></a> provides step-by-step instruction and code examples on how to connect custom fields to blocks within the WordPress editor and display on the front end. It serves as a primer to the new API, that helps to streamline the process of binding meta fields to blocks,  </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p>On the WPTavern site, <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/jamesgiroux">James Giroux</a></strong> reported on <a href="https://wptavern.com/interactivity-api-prepares-for-its-official-debut-in-wordpress-6-5"><strong>Interactivity API Prepares for its Official Debut in WordPress 6.5</strong></a>. &#8220;The Interactivity API and how it uses WordPress could be a pivotal moment in the Project’s history. It could create a new way of working with WordPress.&nbsp;&#8221; he wrote. And he might be right. It&#8217;s definitely exciting, and I am excited about all the tutorials and case studies that will be written in the upcoming months.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p>If you don&#8217;t have a lot of time, but are curious about the Interactivity API, you and listen to <strong>Mario Santos</strong>, <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> and <strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> on the 73rd episode of the<strong> <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/episode-73-inside-the-interactivity-api">WP Briefing discussing the Interactivity API</a></strong>. &#8220;a new foundational tool that helps developers create memorable interactive front-end experiences.&#8221; and the show notes lists a ton of resources. </p>



<a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/episode-73-inside-the-interactivity-api"><img width="652" height="367" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/WPBriefingInteractivityAPI.jpeg?resize=652%2C367&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-27606" /></a>



<p><em>A couple of weeks ago, I shared about  <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/using-grid-support-pattern-overrides-power-in-the-details-interactions-are-coming-weekend-edition-284/#interactivity-api"><strong>Buzz around the Interactivity API</strong></a> on the Weekend Edition 284, with links to more documentation and videos. </em></p>



<p><strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> ran a Live Stream on Twitch and working on converting a <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/RyanWelcherCodes"><strong>React app to do blocks with the Interactivity API in WordPress</strong></a>.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p><strong>Leonardo Losoviz</strong> <a href="https://gatographql.com/">Gato GraphQL v2.1</a>, it allows doing GraphQL as Automator, leveraging GraphQL persisted queries to automate data-related and block-related tasks. In his post, <a href="https://gatographql.com/blog/automate-your-wordpress-tasks-using-graphql-persisted-queries-with-the-new-gatographql-v210/?aff=g129E"><strong>Automate your WordPress tasks, with the new Gato GraphQL v2.1</strong></a>, Losoviz added an example how the comments block can be automatically added to the post. &#8220;As you can compose the GraphQL persisted queries and automation rules directly within the wp-admin, it takes no time to create a super-customized automation pipeline, tailored to your needs.&#8221; Losoviz wrote. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />



<p>This week, <strong>Tammie Lister</strong> spoke on the WP Product Talk podcast, where she discussed <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/WPProductTalk/status/1760349021175259185">Designing for the Future of WordPress.</a></strong> You can find the full episode on their website soon, <em><a href="https://wpproducttalk.com/podcast/designing-your-products-to-look-native-to-wordpress/">right here</a></em>.</p>



<p>During her talk with Amber Hinds and Zack Katz, who both own plugin companies, they talked about how WordPress seems to be both moving too slowly and too quickly at the same time, making it hard for people to keep up. She also encouraged people to speak up more when they find something missing in WordPress.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />




<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. </p>



<p>Now also available via <a href="https://playground.wordpress.net/?blueprint-url=https://gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/playnightly.json">WordPress Playground</a>. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? <a href="mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com">Email me </a>with your experience</p>



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




<p class="has-text-align-center has-small-font-size"><em>Questions? Suggestions? Ideas? </em><br /><em>Don&#8217;t hesitate to send <a href="mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com">them via email</a> or</em><br /><em> send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph</em>.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<p class="has-text-align-center has-small-font-size">For questions to be answered on the <a href="http://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast">Gutenberg Changelog</a>, <br />send them to <a href="mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide" />




<p>Featured Image: <a href="https://wordpress.org/photos/author/mkrndmane/">Makarand G. Mane</a> <em>Colorful outdoor wedding stage (mandap)</em> found on WordPress Photos</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide" />



<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 <br />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:"Sat, 24 Feb 2024 10:37:06 +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: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:78:"WPTavern: Proposal: Host non-bundled Blocks in Gutenberg’s GitHub Repository";s: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=154268";s: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:83:"https://wptavern.com/proposal-host-3rd-party-blocks-in-gutenbergs-github-repository";s: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:6234:"<p>Matias Ventura, Gutenberg’s Lead Architect, <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/58773">recently made a pitch</a> to incorporate some single-block plugins in the Gutenberg GitHub repository:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p><em>“There&#8217;s a growing subset of blocks that we may contemplate creating that are either more niche or—for various reasons—not necessarily an immediate fit for the bundled library in core. This would include blocks that have enough appeal, demand, and where offering an endorsed implementation can significantly help both creators and viewers given best practices can be ascertained.”</em></p>
</blockquote>



<p>These plugins won’t just be guests—they’ll become roommates, proudly featured in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/block-directory/">Blocks Directory</a>: “designed, developed, published, and maintained by core contributors in this repository” but available to install as standalone blocks in the directory.</p>



<img width="896" height="503" src="https://149611589.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/block-directory.png" alt="" class="wp-image-95958" /><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/tag/block-directory/">Early design prototypes</a> of the Block Directory



<p>The tension between users’ demand to bundle more functionalities and the maintainers’ inclination toward keeping core as lean as possible won’t be resolved anytime soon. Yet this presents an interesting compromise: if <a href="https://gutenstats.blog">the estimations</a> are accurate, and most websites are built with a combo of Group blocks holding Heading, Paragraph, Image, List, and Button blocks, then having this living arrangement will benefit both segments of the community.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The History of the Block Directory</strong></h2>



<p>The Block Directory features a <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/browse/block/">subset of single-purpose plugins</a> that users can install right in the editor without leaving the page you’re working on.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Included <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-5-eckstine-introduces-block-directory-block-patterns-and-automatic-updates-for-themes-and-plugins">in the Block Editor since</a> WordPress 5.5, it has been the topic of several public debates since Matt Mullenweg prioritized it as an upcoming focus area in 2018.</p>



<p>As <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-explores-proposal-for-new-block-directory-to-host-single-block-plugins">reported on WP Tavern</a>, the original proposal was to host small, JavaScript-based blocks that users could easily install via searchable in-editor UI. The critical responses to the technical limitations, the divergence from the native UX, and the potential performance toll it would entail didn’t prevent the final implementation from being almost identical to the initial version (although a few <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/tag/block-directory/">early design prototypes</a> did address the UX issue).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Evolution of Gutenberg</strong></h2>



<p>No matter where they’re hosted, Blocks are plugins. And plugin developers are the jelly in WordPress’ sandwich.</p>



<p>Treating these smaller-scoped blocks as standard plugins that must adhere to the platform’s Plugin guidelines regarding monetization, along with the introduction of a set of <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/plugins/2020/07/11/you-can-now-add-your-own-plugins-to-the-block-directory/">technical restrictions</a>—no Dynamic Blocks, no block extensions, preferably no block collections, and no style Variations—has left many frustrated.</p>



<p>The same <a href="https://wptavern.com/revised-block-directory-guidelines-proposal-updates-wording-but-changes-little-else">technical and business-related</a> concerns raised during the discussions on the initial proposal remain unresolved in this latest proposal. Still, it does offer a modest promise to share the burden of maintenance and updates and the benefits of the <em>Authored by WordPress.org </em>stamp of approval.</p>



<p>This time, though, the questions aren’t so much the technical functionality, the UI, or the business aspects; Ventura’s exploratory proposal is an administrative reform, hinting at the evolution of Gutenberg: no longer an experimental add-on that ships an ever-expanding array of specialized blocks but a maturate platform that focuses on fundamental core blocks, treating the former as cherished friends who are welcome to stay over.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Examples mentioned in the proposal</strong></h3>



<div class="wp-block-columns has-neutral-100-background-color has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-2 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex">
<div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/abbreviation-button-for-the-block-editor/">Abbreviation Button for the Block Editor</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/copyright-block">Copyright Block</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-catalog">Block Catalog</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-visibility">Block Visibility</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/icon-block">Icon Block</a></li>
</ul>
</div>



<div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/lang-attribute">Lang Attribute for the Block Editor</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/markdown-comment-block/">Markdown Comment Block</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/social-sharing-block/">Social Sharing Block</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/superlist-block">Superlist Block</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/todo-block">Todo Block</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>



<p><em>Update: the term &#8220;3rd-party&#8221; was removed to avoid confusion with non-core plugin developers. (Ronny Shani, 27.02.2024)</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, 23 Feb 2024 21:15:13 +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:11:"Ronny Shani";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:82:"Gutenberg Times: Block Bindings and Custom Fields –  an (almost) no-code example";s: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=27537";s: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:86:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/block-bindings-and-custom-fields-an-almost-no-code-example/";s: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:10801:"<p>With the upcoming release of version 6.5, WordPress will receive the first iteration of Block Bindings API, a way to bind content of blocks to data stored in custom fields. Custom fields have been around for a long time. What wasn&#8217;t available was a way for content creators / no-code site builders to read out the values of custom fields without using plugins like ACF or Metabox, etc. To include values from Custom fields on Theme templates, you also need a developer to help out.</p>



<p>This first iteration is mostly for developers. Justin Tadlock published <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2024/02/20/introducing-block-bindings-part-1-connecting-custom-fields/">Introducing Block Bindings, part 1: connecting custom fields</a>.</p>



<ul>
<li>It&#8217;s only enabled for heading, buttons, paragraphs, and image blocks.</li>



<li>The binding sources are either <code>core/patterns</code> or <code>core/post-meta</code>. </li>



<li>The feature does come with a way to register additional binding sources for your plugin or theme.</li>



<li>A way to add or edit custom fields via the block editor is missing. </li>
</ul>



<p>So you might ask why should I bother? And you&#8217;d be right. Whether you are a no-code site builder or site owner, don&#8217;t quit just yet.</p>



<p>As Custom Fields have been part of WordPress since the Stone Age, there is a way to <a href="https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/assign-custom-fields/">add and modify custom fields</a>. The good ol&#8217; meta boxes.</p>



<p>Block Bindings will open so many possibilities that many users have been longing for since the start of blocks in 2017. I found the feature so intriguing that I wondered if I could make it work now using as little code as possible. And with a minimal squinting in the code editor, you can start using it, too. Even if only as a proof of concept. There is the little warning: Use this in production at your own risk.</p>



<p>Here is a rundown of my idea:</p>



<p>Each blog post is part of a logbook, which reports what happened today&#8211; including a note about the weather, which then appears above the title of a post.</p>



<img width="652" height="419" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-21-at-11.10.24.png?resize=652%2C419&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-27547" />



<p>Here are the broad steps to accomplish this:</p>



<ul>
<li>Use the good ol&#8217; meta box to add a note about today&#8217;s weather to the blog post</li>



<li>Use a block to read the post-meta value, and</li>



<li>Add the block to the single post template, with some styling and a drop-shadow.</li>
</ul>



<p>The middle step is the meat of the matter, and that&#8217;s where the squinting skill comes in.  If you know how to use meta boxes to create custom fields, you can skip over the <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#blockbinding">next section right to the middle step. </a></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to use Meta boxes to create a Custom Field</h2>



<p>First, you need to enable Custom Fields for the post editor via the Preference menu . Go to the 3-dot Options menu and select <strong>Preferences</strong>. But before you go there, make sure you saved all your changes to the post. To show the meta boxes below the post, the block editor needs to reload the page, and unsaved content would be removed. </p>



<p>Here is a short video.</p>



		
			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <div class="toolbelt-video-wrapper"></div></div>
			
			
		
		


<p>You can add a new custom field called &#8220;Weather&#8221; to the post and add the value: &#8220;Sunny with a chance of rain in the afternoon.&#8221;</p>



		
			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <div class="toolbelt-video-wrapper"></div></div>
			
			
		
		


<p>For subsequent posts you can select the name of the Custom field from the dropdown box and add the value.</p>



		
			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <div class="toolbelt-video-wrapper"></div></div>
			
			
		
		


<p>That was our short discourse on handling Custom Fields with WordPress. Now we apply your knowledge a bit further. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="blockbinding">Block Binding Block markup</h2>



<p>The documentation for the Block Bindings shows how you can use the block markup to add information about the meta field (aka Custom field) to the block. </p>



<p>The template looks like this: </p>



<div class="wp-block-kevinbatdorf-code-block-pro"><span></span><span tabindex="0" class="code-block-pro-copy-button"></span><pre class="shiki solarized-light" tabindex="0"><code><span class="line"><span>&lt;!--</span><span> wp:</span><span>paragraph</span><span> {</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>     </span><span>"metadata"</span><span>:{</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>        </span><span>"bindings"</span><span>:{</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>          </span><span>"content"</span><span>:{</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>            </span><span>"source"</span><span>:</span><span>"core/post-meta"</span><span>,</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>            </span><span>"args"</span><span>:{</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>              </span><span>"key"</span><span>:</span><span>"Weather"</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>              }</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>             }</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>            }</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>         }</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>      } </span><span>--&gt;</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>&lt;</span><span>p</span><span>&gt;&lt;/</span><span>p</span><span>&gt;</span></span>
<span class="line"><span>&lt;!--</span><span> </span><span>/</span><span>wp:</span><span>paragraph</span><span> </span><span>--&gt;</span></span></code></pre></div>



<p>The <code>source</code> parameter identifies the place where the system looks for the information. Here it says, &#8220;core/post-meta.&#8221; That&#8217;s the space where custom fields and their values are stored. In the <code>args</code> section, it asks for the key of the custom field, that&#8217;s the name, which is &#8220;Weather&#8221; in our case.</p>



<p>Yes, it can be a bit intimidating.  You need to enter the code editor for a minute to add this to your post.</p>



<p>Now, here comes the hard part for non-coders. </p>



<ul>
<li>Use the copy button on the right of the code block to add the content to your clipboard.</li>



<li>Switch to the code editor via the <strong>Options</strong> menu or use the Keyboard shortcut. </li>



<li>Then  paste the code above into the code editor</li>



<li>Save everything and exit the code editor. </li>



<li>When you return to the visual editor, you only see one word in the space where the block went: Weather. Don&#8217;t worry, that&#8217;s a little downside of this process, there is no preview in the editor. </li>



<li>Click on the <strong>Preview in new tab</strong>, and you see the post&#8217;s value for the custom field &#8220;Weather&#8221; displayed on the front end.</li>
</ul>



<p>Here is a video of the whole process.</p>



		
			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <div class="toolbelt-video-wrapper"></div></div>
			
			
		
		


<p>Phew! For the first time, that seems like a complicated move. You might not want to do too often, right? Or maybe it gives you a bit more confidence. I&#8217;d be happy to help you while you try to figure it out. Just email me at <a href="mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com">pauli@gutenbergtimes.com</a> or ping me in WP Slack as @bph.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Add the block with bindings to the single post template</h2>



<p>The next and final step is easier. Now that you know how this works, you might want to add the block to the Single Post template. So every time an editor makes a logbook entry and adds the weather to the meta box, it will display on the front end.</p>



<p>Here is the video of the steps.</p>



		
			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <div class="toolbelt-video-wrapper"></div></div>
			
			
		
		


<p>From there, you can embellish the weather section of your posts some more. </p>



<p>After I transformed the block into a column, I added another paragraph to the template section with a drop shadow.</p>



<img width="652" height="372" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-21-at-17.44.26.png?resize=652%2C372&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-27575" />



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Some things to consider</h2>



<p>Although it works well when you always remember to add the weather note to every post, there is no reminder, and we know there is no preview. I also see two major issues: </p>



<ul>
<li>There is no default option on what to display when the value of the custom field is empty. It will display the empty white box.</li>



<li>All you can do with custom field in meta boxes is a text input field. There is no select box to make sure only a certain set of values is added, no control of numbers, etc. and shadow just. These issues and a few more are better solved with code.</li>
</ul>



<p>In his post, <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2024/02/20/introducing-block-bindings-part-1-connecting-custom-fields/">Introducing Block Bindings, part 1: connecting custom fields</a>, Justin Tadlock wrote about how to user <code>register_meta()</code> function to add custom fields properly. </p>



<p>Meta boxes are also a legacy system that doesn&#8217;t really fit the block editor way of doing things anymore. The Gutenberg developers are working on the interface to add and edit custom fields as well as make the block show that it&#8217;s connected to a custom field.</p>



<p>If you are interested in the Block Binding API work  you can <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/54536">follow along this tracking issue.</a></p>



<p>Please share in the comments if you run into trouble, and you are welcome to share your ideas and implementations if you followed along. Furthermore, please post your questions so we can answer them.</p>



<p>On the WordPress Slack  space there is also an <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C015GUFFC00"><strong>#outreach channel</strong></a> where I and other contributors hang out to answer questions and facilitate discussions about upcoming features. You are more than welcome to join. If you are not on the WordPress Slack yet, you can sign up with your <a href="https://login.wordpress.org/register?locale=en_US">WordPress.org account</a> and then <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">follow the instructions. </a> <br /></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, 22 Feb 2024 18:31:11 +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: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:46:"WPTavern: WooCommerce Releases 8.6 &amp; 8.6.1";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=154232";s: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:51:"https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-releases-8-6-8-6-1";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:7002:"<div class="wp-block-group has-neutral-100-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">tl;dr</h2>



<p>WooCommerce 8.6, delayed due to an Order Attribution Tracking issue, has been released. It features a new Product Details block style, six new layouts for the Product Collection block, and a sales column for marketing analytics. </p>



<p>For developers, it offers improved logging, a notice on Legacy REST API removal, simplified customer history calculation, and 8.6.1 patching four issues. </p>
</div>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<p>After a slight delay, <a href="https://developer.woo.com/2024/02/15/woocommerce-8-6-product-blocks-order-attribution-updates/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WooCommerce 8.6 was released</a> last week. An Order Attribution Tracking issue discovered in 8.5.2 <a href="https://developer.woo.com/2024/02/13/woocommerce-8-6-0-delayed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">prompted the delay</a> so that a fix could be included in the 8.6 release. With 365 commits from 73 contributors, this latest version of WooCommerce introduces some slick new features and enhancements for merchants and developers.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Features</h2>



<img width="556" height="206" src="https://149611589.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/block-styles-section.png" alt="Product Details Block Styles Section" class="wp-image-154233" />



<p><strong>New Block Style for Product Details Block</strong></p>



<p>WooCommerce 8.6 introduces a new ‘Styles’ area for the Product Details block with two options; Classic and Minimal. By default the Minimal style is selected on new installs with the Classic style being maintained to ensure compatibility with theme-based CSS customizations.</p>



<p><strong>Product Collection Block Gains Six New Layouts</strong></p>



<p>Probably the most impactful feature for merchants and marketers is the introduction of six new layouts for the Product Collection block. Now merchants can select between New Arrivals, Top Rated, Best Selling, On Sale, Featured and Product Catalog.&nbsp;</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<img width="1506" height="1240" src="https://149611589.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/product-collection-layouts.png" alt="Screenshot of Product Collection Layouts Interface." class="wp-image-154234" />



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<p>These new layouts can be combined, mixed and matched on a single page to respond better to the needs of merchants. For example, promote your new spring arrivals in a block above your winter sale items that leads into your complete product catalog.</p>



<p><strong>Sales Column Added to Marketing Page</strong></p>



<p>For merchants who are using WooCommerce to view and manage their marketing channels (i.e. Google Ad campaigns), a new column in the Sales card provides a quick look at how various campaigns are performing.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Developer Updates</h2>



<p><strong>Logging System Changes</strong></p>



<p>Significant improvements have been made to the internal logging system in WooCommerce 8.6. Merchants and developers now have an interface for browsing and viewing log entries that will improve debugging and auditing in the future.</p>



<p>There is now a log file browser that lets users filter, sort and manage log files. Users can now click individual log files and view them right within their WordPress dashboard. Search has also been improved to enable selecting a group of files to search within, filtering, sorting and linking individual lines in files that contain the search term. Logs have also now been made fully exportable. Users can download individual files or in bulk via a zip file.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Legacy REST API Removal Notice</strong></p>



<p>As WooCommerce prepares for the removal of its legacy REST API in 9.0, merchants still using the legacy API will now see a notice of the upcoming change. Given the pace of releases, this means deprecation/removal is about 4 months away.</p>



<p><strong>Simplified Customer History Calculation</strong></p>



<p>With Order Attribution Tracking the main cause for the delay in releasing 8.6, a simplified customer history calculation was introduced to mitigate the risk of a calculation resulting in 500 errors (server errors) on larger shops.</p>



<p><strong>8.6.1 Release Patches 4 Issues</strong></p>



<p>A patch was released earlier this week that fixes four issues identified with the release of 8.6. These issues were significant enough that this release was issued very quickly. Check out the details on the <a href="https://developer.woo.com/2024/02/20/woocommerce-8-6-1-fixes-to-issues-introduced-in-8-6-0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WooCommerce Developer blog</a>.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<div class="wp-block-group has-neutral-100-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">w00t Dev Docs</h3>



<p><em>By Ronny Shani</em></p>



<p>Shortly before the release, the team <a href="https://developer.woo.com/2024/01/31/introducing-new-woocommerce-developer-documentation/"><strong>launched a brand new</strong></a> documentation website for developers. The <a href="https://developer.woo.com/docs/"><strong>Woo Developer Docs</strong></a> embraces the docs-as-code approach, hosting markdown files in a centralized location: <a href="https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/tree/trunk/docs"><strong>the docs folder of the project’s GitHub monorepo</strong></a>.</p>



<p>This approach is a win-win:</p>



<ol>
<li>It encourages community collaboration and empowers users to contribute to the documentation.</li>



<li>It enables the plugin’s developers to update docs whenever they modify or update WooCommerce’s codebase.</li>
</ol>



<p><a href="https://developer.woo.com/roadmap/improving-docs/"><strong>Improving the developer experience</strong></a> is part of Woo’s roadmap; V1 is a great example of how to do it right.</p>
</div>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Progress On New Product Editor</strong></h2>



<p>Finally, a small tweak to the new Product Editor was introduced, adding the ability to mark a product as Featured. Merchants using the new Product Editor can click an inline star icon in the title field. The new product editor is making steady progress as it reshapes the way merchants interact with WooCommerce in the product creation flow. </p>



<p>If you have not yet, now is a good time to give the new Product Editor a test drive to see what’s coming and how the interface of WooCommerce is changing.</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, 22 Feb 2024 18:10:09 +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:12:"James Giroux";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:74:"Do The Woo Community: WordCamp Asia 2024 with Andy Saw &amp; Huanyi Chuang";s: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=79134";s: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:39:"https://dothewoo.io/wordcamp-asia-2024/";s: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:377:"<p>Volunteers from the organizing team, Andy Saw &#038; Huanyi Chuang cover all the ground for the event coming in Tapai in March.</p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a href="https://dothewoo.io/wordcamp-asia-2024/">WordCamp Asia 2024 with Andy Saw &amp; Huanyi Chuang</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce and WordPress Builder Podcast</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, 22 Feb 2024 09:56:38 +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:43;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:"WPTavern: Navigating the Nexus: A Chronicle of Recent WordPress Acquisitions";s: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=154211";s: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:86:"https://wptavern.com/navigating-the-nexus-a-chronicle-of-recent-wordpress-acquisitions";s: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:3440:"<p>Over the past four months, some exciting developments have been bustling in the dynamic mergers and acquisitions arena of WordPress. To catch everyone up let&#8217;s grab a beverage of choice and take a stroll down the calendar of memories.</p>



<p>Most recently, on February 15th, <a href="https://optinmonster.com/optinmonster-acquires-beacon-lead-magnet-creator">OptinMonster announced</a> its acquisition of Beacon Lead Magnet Creator. Per the press release from OptinMonster &#8220;Beacon makes it easy for anyone to create and deliver professional lead magnets, without needing a writer, graphic designer or developer.&#8221; This move adds another layer to OptinMonster&#8217;s robust toolkit, reinforcing its position as a go-to resource for businesses seeking to optimize their lead-generation strategies. Additionally, the founders of <a href="https://beacon.by/">Beacon.by</a>, brothers Kevin &amp; Eion McGrath will be moving on to other ventures.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Stepping back two weeks lands us on the date of January 28th when Andrew Wilder at <a href="http://nerdpress.net">NerdPress.net</a> shared the news that they acquired the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/rvg-optimize-database/">Optimize Database After Deleting Revisions Plugin</a>. As Andrew states. &#8220;It&#8217;s a tool we&#8217;ve long relied on &#8212; installing it on all our clients&#8217; sites&#8230;.and less than a day after releasing our first update (patching minor security vulnerabilities), the plugin has already been downloaded nearly 23,000 times&#8221;.</p>



<p>Rolling back the calendar yet another seven weeks we see the calendar shows the date of December 6, 2023, and we once again hear from Andrew Wilder of NerdPress.net. This time the news is a bit more celebratory as it&#8217;s about their first acquisition ever! They acquired the social media sharing plugin <a href="https://www.nerdpress.net/announcing-hubbub/">Grow Social from Mediavine</a>. Part of the agreement in the acquisition was to rename the plugin to clear up any confusion between Mediavines properties &#8220;Grow Social&#8221; and &#8220;Grow&#8221;, which they have by rebranding the plugin <a href="https://morehubbub.com/">Hubbub</a>. Kudos to Andrew and NerdPress for consistently expanding their offerings and enriching the WordPress community.</p>



<p>Finally, our trip down memory lane comes to a stop two months earlier on Oct 5, 2023, when Jamie Madden <a href="https://twitter.com/dcwhatwhat/status/1710102476396122397">announced</a> on X/Twitter that his plugin <a href="https://licenseserver.io/">License Server</a> plugin was acquired by&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/peter_4sure">@peter_4sure</a> via <a href="https://acquire.com/">acquiredotcom</a></p>



<p>As the WordPress world keeps spinning on its axis of innovation, it seems our beloved industry is playing matchmaker, setting up mergers and acquisitions like they’re going out of style. It’s like watching a rom-com where everyone ends up happily ever after, except here, the happy couples are plugins, platforms, and services tying the knot. So, raise your virtual glasses to the lovebirds&#8230; here’s to them finding their soulmates in the vast sea of code and content. May these digital unions spark a renaissance in our WordPress universe, bringing us new features, faster sites, and maybe, just maybe, fewer “Error establishing a database connection”</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, 22 Feb 2024 01:00:00 +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:11:"Adam Silver";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:44;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:"Gravatar: Securing Cyber Space: Role of Digital Identity Verification";s: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:"http://blog.gravatar.com/?p=1152";s: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://blog.gravatar.com/2024/02/21/securing-cyber-space-role-of-digital-identity-verification/";s: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:14701:"<p>We all have an online identity in all kinds of scenarios, from joining a social media platform, opening a bank account, applying for a loan, and buying services, just to name a few. For each of these to be possible, the person or organization on the other side must be sure that this identity is legit.</p>



<p>With more than <a href="https://www.javelinstrategy.com/2022-Identity-fraud-scams-report">42 million folks reporting to have been victims of identity fraud just in 2021</a> and just in the USA, everyone must be highly vigilant regarding their digital information. This guide covers why digital identity verification is necessary and the various methods you can use to enable it.</p>



<p>You’ll also get familiar with a standout solution in digital identity management – <a href="https://gravatar.com/">Gravatar</a>. Our platform simplifies digital identity verification and facilitates more seamless integration for developers creating websites, web apps, or digital stores.</p>



<p>Let’s jump right into it!&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is digital identity verification?</h2>



<p>Simply put, this is the process of <strong>authenticating users to confirm their identity is legitimate</strong>, preventing fraud attempts and elevating cybersecurity.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This involves collecting various <em>types </em>of user data – from personal information like name and date of birth to biometric data such as fingerprints or facial patterns. This data is then carefully analyzed, creating a digital identity that the system uses to assess whether the user is genuinely who they claim to be.</p>



<p>In sectors such as cybersecurity, online banking, and eCommerce, digital identity verification is essential. Online banking, for instance, can prevent unauthorized access to private accounts, avoiding substantial financial losses. Similarly, in ecommerce, verifying customer identities can deter fraudulent transactions, leading to a safer shopping environment.</p>



<p>Digital fraud has serious real-life consequences. In 2022 alone, <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/11020/online-fraud-in-the-united-states/#topicOverview">cybercrime accounted for monetary losses, amassing an astounding 10.3 billion U.S. dollars</a>, making it evident just how critical digital identity verification is.</p>



<p>Thankfully, with advanced technological strategies, such as multi-factor authentication and AI-powered checks, and by following regulatory mandates such as Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML), you can effectively keep cybercriminals at bay and create a secure digital environment where users can interact fearlessly.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Compliance with Know Your Customer and anti-money laundering regulations</h3>



<p>KYC guidelines require financial businesses to corroborate the identity and suitability of every customer while continuously monitoring their transactions for suspicious activities. Similarly, AML regulations are comprehensive policies designed to combat illicit actions like money laundering or terror financing.</p>



<p>As you can probably guess, to comply with these regulations, you need to apply different digital identity verification methods; for example – Artificial Intelligence (AI)-aided digital identity verification. Advanced algorithms can quickly detect anomalies in user profiles, enabling faster, more accurate determination of a user&#8217;s identity.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Website security</h3>



<p>Implementing a solid verification process can protect many different website elements from unauthorized access and potential data theft, including user login interfaces, transactional pages, and backend data storage facilities.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Without a secure verification process, websites become easy targets for cybercriminals and are exposed to threats with potentially catastrophic outcomes – from loss of sensitive user information, identity theft, and damaging brand reputation to great financial losses.</p>



<p>Thankfully, this can be easily prevented by implementing robust digital identity verification methods and ensuring that all employees and partners know the security protocols. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Advantages of automated identity verification</h2>



<p>Automated identity verification is a technology-based process that uses algorithms and data analysis to confirm an individual&#8217;s identity without human intervention.</p>



<p>Let’s take a look at how it can benefit identity verification procedures.&nbsp;</p>



<ul>
<li><strong>Decrease in human errors: </strong>Typically, manual identity checks are prone to oversights, inconsistencies, and delays. Automated verification eliminates these drawbacks by employing superior algorithms and databases that enhance accuracy and reliability. </li>



<li><strong>Improved efficiency: </strong>Automation speeds up identity checks, making it faster for users. For instance, if someone wants to make a big online transaction, automated identity checks would greatly reduce the time it takes to verify whether the customer is legitimate, allowing them to proceed with the transaction while providing a hassle-free experience. </li>



<li><strong>Convenience: </strong>With automated identification, there is no need to go through mountains of documentation or force the customer to be physically present to seal the deal. </li>



<li><strong>Increased security provisions: </strong>Modern-day systems incorporate a range of sophisticated technologies, including AI and biometrics, adding multiple layers of security. For instance, AI algorithms are designed to adapt and evolve to potential threats, while biometric checks like fingerprint or facial recognition provide an endless series of verifications, preventing nearly all attempts at identity spoofing.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Common methods for digital identity verification</h2>



<p>There are <strong>six primary techniques for digital authentication</strong> that can be combined or used separately:</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">ID document verification</h3>



<img src="https://gravatar.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-4-edited.png" alt="A diagram showing that OCR can transcribe images, PDFs, and docs into text." class="wp-image-1157" />



<p>Identity Document Verification is used to verify the authenticity of government-issued identification documents such as passports, driver&#8217;s licenses, or voter ID cards. </p>



<p>It uses advanced OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to extract data from a document&#8217;s text fields. This data is then analyzed and verified against numerous databases and real-time information.&nbsp;</p>



<p>You can use many tools for ID Document Verification, such as <a href="https://ekata.com/">Ekata</a>, <a href="https://onfido.com/use-cases/identity-verification/">Onfido</a>, or <a href="https://www.jumio.com/">Jumio</a>.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Biometric verification</h3>



<img src="https://gravatar.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-5-edited.png" alt="Facial and fingerprint recognition." class="wp-image-1159" />



<p>This method gives businesses a very high level of security as it focuses on fingerprint recognition, iris or retina scanning, and face recognition. It uses the unique biological traits of an individual that are hard to forge or steal instead of relying on what a user knows (like a password) or what a user has (like an ID card) for identification. </p>



<p>Companies like <a href="https://www.apple.com/">Apple</a> have implemented face and fingerprint recognition techniques for user identification. Their cultivated databases have proven to be instrumental in enhancing user access management, proving crucial in fields beyond consumer electronics like border control and banking.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Security aside, privacy considerations around biometric data must be addressed keenly with robust data-protection frameworks to prevent misuse.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Liveness detection</h3>



<img src="https://gravatar.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-6-edited.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1161" />



<p>Liveness detection is an integral component of the digital identity verification landscape. It refers to the technology that authenticates whether the user engaging with a service or application is indeed a ‘live’ human and not a spam bot or an impersonator, significantly fortifying cybersecurity.</p>



<p>This technology relies on evaluating user interactions for signs of natural human behavior such as eye movement, facial expression changes, and depth perception – traits that bots find challenging to mimic. For example, platforms such as <a href="https://www.id.me/">ID.me</a> and Jumio use methods like optical-based motion analysis to accurately detect living entities and mitigate identity fraud.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA)</h3>



<img src="https://gravatar.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-7-edited.png" alt="A form asking, 'What is your childhood pet's name?'" class="wp-image-1163" />



<p>Knowledge-based Authentication (KBA) is an identity verification process that uses private information unique to the user for authentication.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It comes in two forms:&nbsp;</p>



<ul>
<li><strong>Static KBA:</strong> Uses pre-set questions like &#8220;What is your mother&#8217;s maiden name?&#8221;.</li>



<li><strong>Dynamic KBA: </strong>Revolves around public information, with questions such as &#8220;Which one of these addresses are associated with you?&#8221;.</li>
</ul>



<p>However, KBA has its vulnerabilities, such as people often choosing very predictable questions and answers. So, it’s no wonder the cybersecurity industry is gradually tilting towards safer alternatives. Biometric authentication and multi-factor authentication are growing trends, offering a more secure way of verifying digital identities.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What is rel=me?</h3>



<p>The <a href="https://microformats.org/wiki/rel-me">rel=&#8221;me&#8221; attribute</a> is a way to <strong>indicate that two different web pages are owned or controlled by the same person or entity</strong>. This can be useful for search engines and other services that try to understand the connections between different parts of your online presence.</p>



<p>Imagine you have a professional blog and a <a href="https://twitter.com/">Twitter (now X)</a> account. To link these two and establish your authority over both, you can use the following code on your website and affirm ownership of both profiles in the digital space.</p>



<table><tbody><tr><td>&lt;<strong>a</strong> href=&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/yourTwitterHandle&#8221" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/yourTwitterHandle&#038;#8221</a>; rel=&#8221;me&#8221;&gt;Follow me <strong>on</strong> <strong>Twitter</strong>&lt;/<strong>a</strong>&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table>



<p><a href="https://gravatar.com/">Gravatar</a>, for example, leverages rel=me to authenticate <a href="https://mastodon.social/">Mastodon</a> accounts, providing credible proof for the influential role of this tag in elevating the digital identity verification process.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Identity providers</h3>



<p>Identity Providers (IdPs) are trustworthy platforms that authenticate the identity of a user. After confirming the identity, IdPs grant authorization credentials, such as tokens or digital certificates, enabling users to access a website or application without creating unique logins for every site.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Despite simplifying processes massively, IdPs do not compromise security. They adhere to rigorous security standards like <a href="https://openid.net/developers/how-connect-works/">OpenID Connect</a> and the <a href="https://www.oracle.com/security/cloud-security/what-is-saml/">Security Assertion Markup Language</a> (SAML) to guarantee protection from unauthorized access.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Gravatar: The digital identity verification provider you need</h2>



<p>Verifying the identity of users who sign up to a website/web store/web app can be a complicated task, but you can make this much easier with a trusted provider such as <a href="https://gravatar.com/">Gravatar</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Gravatar simplifies the process of digital identity verification by assigning globally recognized avatars. These avatars are linked to users&#8217; email addresses, authored posts, comments, and more, reinforcing a robust and unique digital identifier.</p>



<p>Simply put, a user is verified when they prove they own the particular service’s login credentials, including <a href="https://twitter.com/?lang=en">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/">TikTok</a>, <a href="https://github.com/">GitHub</a>, <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/">Twitch</a>, <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/">Stackoverflow</a>, and many more. The moment an account is added to a profile, it is deemed “verified” and, thereby, securely validated.</p>



<p>Gravatar profiles are implemented across many platforms, such as <a href="https://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a> and <a href="https://openai.com/">OpenAI</a>, making every digital journey a consistent and streamlined experience.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This digital verification system stands out with many impressive features, such as:&nbsp;</p>



<ul>
<li><strong>Privacy-forward approach: </strong>The complete control over personal data remains with the user. They decide what&#8217;s public and what&#8217;s private, catering to the needs of privacy-conscious netizens.</li>



<li><strong>Easy integration: </strong>Integrate with Gravatar in just a few minutes using the <a href="https://docs.gravatar.com/general/hash/">developer API</a>. </li>



<li><strong>Optimized customer experience:</strong> For instance, new users registering on a blog site would find their Gravatar avatar automatically displayed instead of an impersonal placeholder. This can significantly reduce the number of steps in the profile setup and make the sign-up process quicker and smoother.</li>
</ul>



<p>Be it enriching user experiences, simplifying the digital identity verification process, or ensuring avatar consistency, Gravatar proves to be an indispensable tool. So, if you’re a business or an individual who wants to enhance cybersecurity and identity management, <a href="https://docs.gravatar.com/">check out what Gravatar can do for you</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, 21 Feb 2024 20:30:32 +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:11:"Ronnie Burt";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:45;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:57:"WPTavern: WordPress 6.5 Is Around the Corner; Test Beta 2";s: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=154192";s: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/wordpress-6-5-is-around-the-corner-test-beta-2";s: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:11592:"<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/wordpress-6-5-beta-2/">WordPress 6.5 Beta 2</a> was released yesterday, featuring exciting capabilities and dozens of updates and bug fixes.</p>



<p>The first major release of 2024, WordPress 6.5 will <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/6-5/">officially launch</a> on March 26, 2024. Now’s the best time to start poking around, see what’s new, make sure your project(s) are ready, and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2024/02/15/help-test-wordpress-6-5-beta-1/">help test the system</a> so the team can get to the finish line with as few bugs as possible.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center has-neutral-100-background-color has-background">To experiment with the latest beta, try <strong>WordPress Playground</strong>; this no-code browser-based WordPress instance comes pre-installed with extra plugins and test content.<br /><a href="https://playground.wordpress.net/#%7B%20%22preferredVersions%22:%20%7B%20%22php%22:%20%228.0%22,%20%22wp%22:%20%22beta%22%20%7D,%20%22features%22:%20%7B%20%22networking%22:%20true%20%7D,%20%22steps%22:%20%5B%20%7B%20%22step%22:%20%22login%22,%20%22username%22:%20%22admin%22,%20%22password%22:%20%22password%22%20%7D,%20%7B%20%22step%22:%20%22importFile%22,%20%22file%22:%20%7B%20%22resource%22:%20%22url%22,%20%22url%22:%20%22https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wpaccessibility/a11y-theme-unit-test/master/a11y-theme-unit-test-data.xml%22%20%7D%20%7D,%20%7B%20%22step%22:%20%22importFile%22,%20%22file%22:%20%7B%20%22resource%22:%20%22url%22,%20%22url%22:%20%22https://raw.githubusercontent.com/WordPress/theme-test-data/master/themeunittestdata.wordpress.xml%22%20%7D%20%7D,%20%7B%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20%7B%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22query-monitor%22%20%7D,%20%22options%22:%20%7B%20%22activate%22:%20false%20%7D,%20%22progress%22:%20%7B%20%22weight%22:%202%20%7D%20%7D,%20%7B%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20%7B%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22create-block-theme%22%20%7D,%20%22progress%22:%20%7B%20%22weight%22:%202%20%7D%20%7D,%20%7B%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20%7B%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22debug-bar%22%20%7D,%20%22progress%22:%20%7B%20%22weight%22:%202%20%7D%20%7D,%20%7B%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20%7B%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22health-check%22%20%7D,%20%22progress%22:%20%7B%20%22weight%22:%202%20%7D%20%7D,%20%7B%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20%7B%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22test-reports%22%20%7D,%20%22progress%22:%20%7B%20%22weight%22:%202%20%7D%20%7D,%20%7B%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20%7B%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22user-switching%22%20%7D,%20%22progress%22:%20%7B%20%22weight%22:%202%20%7D%20%7D%20%5D%20%7D" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Click here to open a standalone Beta 2 window in a new tab</a>.</p>



<p>Let’s see what’s new:</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Improvements and Bug Fixes</h2>



<p>The <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-2023-survey-block-editor-on-the-rise-positive-feeling-about-contributing-drops">results of the WordPress 2023 Survey</a> revealed that users already rank performance and accessibility among their favorite things about the platform but would like to see even more done to enhance both. Ask, and you shall receive.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Performance and Accessibility</h3>



<p>According to <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/wordpress-6-5-beta-1/">the announcement post</a>, the upcoming version “contains more than 110 performance-related updates”, including <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/57935">improved loading speeds</a> across the Post and Site Editor:</p>



<table><thead><tr><th>Item</th><th>WP 6.4</th><th>WP 6.5</th><th>Speed<br />Increase</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Typing</td><td>60ms</td><td>15ms</td><td>4x</td></tr><tr><td>First block load</td><td>20s</td><td>8.4s</td><td>&gt; 2x</td></tr><tr><td>Patterns load</td><td>2s</td><td>1.5s</td><td>1.33x</td></tr><tr><td>Site editor first block load</td><td>7s</td><td>4.6s</td><td>1.5x</td></tr></tbody></table>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p><em>The loading time for translated sites gets a boost due to </em><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/11/08/merging-performant-translations-into-core/"><em>merging Performant Translations into Core</em></a><em>. This greatly improves the load time of translated sites across the board by loading multiple locales simultaneously, making switching between them a faster and more enjoyable experience.</em></p>
</blockquote>



<p>As an open-source software whose mission is to democratize publishing, WordPress adopted a set of <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/coding-standards/wordpress-coding-standards/accessibility/">Accessibility Coding Standards</a>. These apply to the project’s core and official plugins, complemented by its long-term goal of <a href="https://wordpress.org/about/accessibility/">achieving Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0 compliance</a>.</p>



<p>To deliver on this promise, version 6.5 ships with over 65 accessibility improvements, including “fixes to contrast settings, cursor focus, submenus, positioning of elements, and more.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Design and Customization</h2>



<p>Since you can never have too much of a good thing, 6.5 comes packed with design, UI, and UX:</p>



<ul>
<li>Background images in Group blocks get <code>backgroundSize</code> and <code>backgroundRepeat</code>&nbsp; support.</li>



<li>The Cover block gets <code>aspectRatio</code> support.</li>



<li>The Column, Columns, Image, and Button blocks get box-shadow support.</li>



<li>Rename blocks in List View. The name will appear as metadata. For example, <code>&lt;!-- wp:paragraph {"metadata":{"name":"p2"}} --&gt;</code>.</li>



<li>Overriding default right-click behavior to allow custom WordPress contextual menus.</li>



<li>Better drag-and-drop experience—in List View and throughout the Editor</li>



<li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/pattern-overrides-an-early-review/">Synced Patterns override</a> (formerly Reusable Blocks) for the Paragraph, Image, Heading, and Button blocks.</li>



<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aLngyrXuVc">New Meta Views</a> in the Site Editor, supporting Grid layouts, sorting, and smart filters.</li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/01/22/core-editor-improvement-robust-revisions-in-the-site-editor/">Better Revisions</a> in the Site Editor’s Styles and Style Book sidebar.</li>
</ul>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">

</div>Editor Triage Co-Lead <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> demonstrates the new Meta Views in WordPress 6.5



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Shiny New Features</h2>



<p>If you clicked the Synced Patterns link above and visited the Gutenberg Times, you might have spotted the word bindings popping up <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/pattern-overrides-an-early-review/#a-look-behind-the-scene-of-the-pattern-block-markup">at the end of Birgit Pauli-Haack’s post</a>. An obvious segue into one of the most transformative features of 6.5: the Block Bindings API.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Block Bindings API</h3>



<p>Automattic’s Mario Santos <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/54536">described the goal</a> of the new API:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>&#8220;<em>This API aims to connect block attributes to values, obtained from different sources, that might vary depending on the context. For example, a value like post_author that changes depending on the current post.</em></p>



<p><em>This will expand the capabilities of existing blocks […] For example, having a Heading block with the content of the Post Author without needing a new Post Author block.</em>&#8220;</p>
</blockquote>



<p>The API already powers the Synced Patterns and the much-anticipated ability to connect custom fields to block attributes. The list of supported blocks and attributes is short, but that’s only the beginning:</p>



<ul>
<li><strong>Paragraph:</strong> content</li>



<li><strong>Heading:</strong> content</li>



<li><strong>Image:</strong> URL, alt, title</li>



<li><strong>Button: </strong>text, URL, linkTarget, rel.</li>
</ul>



<p>Custom fields have been neglected in the Block Editor, hidden behind the Preferences window like a lost treasure. Let’s hope this is the first sign of their comeback. If you’re interested in what you can build with this powerful combo, <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2024/02/20/introducing-block-bindings-part-1-connecting-custom-fields/">check out Justin Tadlock’s tutorial</a> on the WordPress Developer Blog.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Font Library</h3>



<p>Next on the <em><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-6-4-font-library-feature-punted-to-6-5-release">finally</a></em> list is the Font Library, aka the WordPress font manager. </p>



<p>Soon, you won’t need to write any code or install any plugins—from now on, you can do it yourself, regardless of your active theme. The fonts are stored under /wp-content/fonts which makes it as theme-agnostic as the Media Library.</p>



<img width="1500" height="991" src="https://149611589.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Font-Library.png" alt="A screenshot of the new Font Library (WP 6.5 Beta 2)" class="wp-image-154203" />



<p>To access the Library, open the Styles sidebar, click on Typography, and click the icon next to FONTS. Try to upload, install from Google Fonts, activate, and, well, manage your fonts. Once installed, use it across the Editor, wherever the blocks’ Typography attribute is enabled.</p>



<p>Developers can access the Font Library programmatically, create custom Font Collections for their users, or disable it altogether. <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/54477">Take a peak at the still-WIP documentation</a> for instructions.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Interactivity API</h3>



<p>The grand finale of this impressive lineup is the Interactivity API. <a href="https://wptavern.com/interactivity-api-prepares-for-its-official-debut-in-wordpress-6-5">James Giroux covered it here on the Tavern</a> earlier this week, so we’ll only give you a taste of <a href="https://wpmovies.dev/">WP Movies Demo</a>:</p>



A walkthrough of <strong>WP Movies</strong>, a demo project that features the Interactivity API (<a href="https://github.com/wordpress/wp-movies-demo">Source</a>)



<p>If you’re a developer interested in the nitty-gritty details and want to try what’s already possible, visit the <a href="https://github.com/wordpress/wp-movies-demo">WP Movies GitHub repository</a>, where you’ll find a getting started tutorial.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-tavern-separator" />



<p><em>That Playground link is tempting, so go experiment, and then come back to tell us which feature you’re most excited about. Have you tried the new APIs? Did you find (and file) any bugs?</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:"Wed, 21 Feb 2024 20:23:47 +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:11:"Ronny Shani";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:46;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:"Akismet: What is a Spambot? How to Identify and Stop Them Using AI";s: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:"http://akismet.com/?p=283763";s: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:43:"https://akismet.com/blog/what-is-a-spambot/";s: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:22802:"<p>Anyone who has interacted online with others through comment sections, social media posts, or discussion forums is probably familiar with spambots. These annoying automated computer programs generate unwanted, unrelated comments that are sprinkled among legitimate ones in an effort to sell products or services or attract clicks that can spread scams or malware.&nbsp;</p>


<p>In fact, according to <a href="https://securitytoday.com/articles/2023/05/17/report-47-percent-of-internet-traffic-is-from-bots.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Security Today</a>, more than 30% of all internet traffic is generated by malicious&nbsp;bots.</p>

<p>Today, we’re going to learn about spambots, how they work, common types of spambots used, signs of spambot activity, and how to stop them. Finally, we’ll see how <a href="https://akismet.com/features/">Akismet’s top&#8209;rated AI&#8209;driven anti&#8209;spam solution</a> is successfully leading the charge of blocking spambots on the&nbsp;internet.</p>


<span id="more-283763"></span>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is a&nbsp;spambot?</h2>

<p>A spambot is a computerized program that repetitively sends spam throughout the internet. It is often used to post irrelevant messages in places where people interact with one another, including comment sections of websites, social media messaging platforms, or online discussion&nbsp;forums.</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How do spambots&nbsp;work?</h2>

<p>Most spambots begin their nefarious activity by automatically setting up fake accounts on social media, email hosts, or forums, which typically only require basic information such as a name and email&nbsp;address.</p>

<p>Once spambots gain access to their target websites, they can begin posting spam messages based on a specific set of rules. Email spambots might scan, scrape, and save email addresses or phone numbers on the web to fuel future spam&nbsp;activities.</p>


<img width="1082" height="396" src="https://akismet455732288.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-7.png" alt="example of a spam comment on a website4" class="wp-image-283765" />


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What are common types of spam caused by&nbsp;spambots?</h2>

<p>Spambots can be extremely agile and used in a wide variety of places on a website. Here are a few of the most common ways you might encounter&nbsp;spambots:</p>


<ul><li><strong>Contact form spam</strong>. spambots can be programmed to automatically fill out contact forms online. This allows them to gain access to a particular website or admin who receives the form submissions. Sophisticated bots may be able to implement SQL injection attacks as&nbsp;well.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Comment spam</strong>. Many websites offer comment sections where users can post questions, share ideas, or express opinions. spambots may automatically insert a spam comment in these areas, advertising unwanted products or services or tempting users to interact with them. The malicious actors can then cause those users to fall for scams or insert malware onto their&nbsp;devices.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Fake account registrations.</strong> Imposter accounts can be automatically generated, especially if websites ask for only a few basic pieces of information like a name and email address. These accounts allow spambots to gain access to websites for future spamming activities such as posting negative reviews or wasting the time of a sales team focused on non&#8209;existent&nbsp;customers.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Forum spam</strong>. Online forums are great places for people to discuss just about anything they are interested in. spambots pollute these spaces by posting unrelated information among legitimate comments and discussions. Forums that allow anonymous posting can be especially&nbsp;vulnerable.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Email spam</strong>. Gaining access to a large number of email addresses can fuel spam activity. Some spambots can scrape the web, access email lists, and save them to a database, which can then be used by cybercriminals to spread malware, run phishing attacks, or set up future&nbsp;scams.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Doxxing</strong>. Doxxing occurs when spambots maliciously publish private information on a public forum. This may include publishing financial details or posting private data that could put people in potential physical&nbsp;harm.</li></ul>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What are the motivations behind&nbsp;spambots?</h2>

<p>Do you ever wonder why cybercriminals spend time creating spambots and what their ultimate purpose could be? The motivations behind spambots are varied and numerous. Here are a few of the most popular reasons for creating&nbsp;spambots:</p>


<ul><li><strong>SEO manipulation</strong>. Some spambots attempt to trick Google’s algorithms into believing that a particular website deserves top ranking by adding backlinks from other&nbsp;sites</li>

<li><strong>Phishing</strong>. Other spambots work to promote phishing scams, hoping that users will give up key account information such as passwords or usernames. These spambots may attempt to gain access to credit card or other financial information.&nbsp;</li>

<li><strong>Malware distribution</strong>. spambots may also be used to distribute malware through the continued sharing of tempting links in comment threads.&nbsp;</li>

<li><strong>Social media manipulation. </strong>Like trying to trick Google Analytics, spambots may be used to manipulate social media activity as well. Spam comments or posts may attempt to sway public opinion or create an illusion that something is more widespread and popular than it actually&nbsp;is.</li>

<li><strong>Advertising and promotion</strong>. Finally, spambots may be used to promote products and services, adult content, or too&#8209;good&#8209;to&#8209;be&#8209;true offers in an attempt to attract user&nbsp;interaction.</li></ul>



<img width="1260" height="442" src="https://akismet455732288.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-8.png" alt="spam comment that's unrelated to the post" class="wp-image-283766" />


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What are common signs of spambot&nbsp;activity?</h2>

<p>In order to stop spambot activity, it’s important to understand common signs before unwanted posting gets out of hand and your user base is inundated with unwanted email or spam messages. Here are things to look&nbsp;for:</p>


<ul><li><strong>A sudden surge in traffic</strong>. From a system perspective, if your IT department suddenly notes a rapid surge in traffic on your website, you may be a target for spambot&nbsp;activity.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>High bounce rates with short session durations</strong>. If you happen to see higher than normal bounce rates with very short session times, you may have spambots visiting your&nbsp;site.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Inconsistent or patterned user behavior</strong>. spambots that are posting on website forums or in comment sections will display inconsistent and nonsensical user behavior. They won’t respond appropriately to other&nbsp;posts.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Irrelevance</strong>. In most cases, spambots will post irrelevant advertisements, comments or questions in public forums that don’t follow the existing conversation. If they’re programmed to respond to others, the language used may also seem out of&nbsp;place.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Activity from known malicious IP lists</strong>. If you keep a list of malicious IP addresses as part of your cybersecurity practices, you may be able to flag anything from the same IP address as potential spambot&nbsp;activities.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Excessive errors</strong>. Many spambot messages contain a great deal of errors in terms of grammar or spelling. They may not even make sense at&nbsp;all.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Ridiculous deals</strong>. If a product or service is advertised at prices that sound way too good to be true, they probably exist only to draw clicks to a malicious site or activate malware or phishing&nbsp;attempts.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Pushing users to click or forward</strong>. spambots designed to spread malware or facilitate phishing attempts need users to click on links or forward them to others on their contact list. Urgent requests to do so should be a red flag for spambot&nbsp;activity.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Unknown respondents</strong>. If activity is coming from individuals who seem suspicious, in combination with any of these other clues, you may be dealing with spambot&nbsp;activity.</li></ul>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What are the implications of not blocking&nbsp;spambots?</h2>


<p>For a busy website manager or IT department, it can be tempting to ignore spambot activity, at least for the time being if other technical issues are pressing. spambot activity may be seen as merely annoying, but not as dangerous as other cybercriminal activity.&nbsp;</p>


<p>However, not blocking spambots can have far&#8209;reaching consequences for your overall business. Here are a few to&nbsp;consider:</p>


<ul><li><strong>A bad user experience</strong>. First and foremost, spambots can contribute to a negative user experience. If you are trying to encourage discussion, comments, and questions on a public forum, having random spambot postings throughout can be irritating and annoying to those trying to truly interact with one&nbsp;another.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>A tarnished site reputation</strong>. Not only can you develop a poor site reputation if spambot activity is regularly associated with your website, but some spambot activity may include posting fake negative reviews or the generation of false complaints, which can have negative implications for your business as a&nbsp;whole.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>The risk of penalties from search engines. </strong>Search engine algorithms are constantly being developed to deal with spambots and false optimization attempts. Your site could be penalized for carrying irrelevant links to other sites if they violate search engine&nbsp;rules.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>The risk of site blocklisting</strong>. If dangerous spam becomes a rampant problem on your site, search engines and web browsers may actually blocklist your site or display warnings to potential visitors. This could eliminate the majority of your site traffic in a matter of&nbsp;days.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Reduced site performance</strong>. It takes time and server resources to process spambot activity. This may slow down the performance of your site for legitimate&nbsp;users.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>Increased server costs</strong>. Some server hosting companies charge based on the resources used. Unwanted spambot activity may increase these&nbsp;costs.</li></ul>



<ul><li><strong>A waste of time and money</strong>. If spambots operate by generating fake inquiries, your business could waste valuable sales force time trying to follow up or sort through junk leads to get to actual&nbsp;prospects.</li></ul>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to stop&nbsp;spambots</h2>

<p>The good news is that there are several tools and solutions to help you stop spambots effectively. Each has advantages and disadvantages, but all of them can help you eliminate unwanted posts, email scraping, and fake account&nbsp;set&#8209;ups.</p>


<img width="1600" height="695" src="https://akismet455732288.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-9.png" alt="Akismet homepage" class="wp-image-283767" />


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Akismet: The #1 AI&#8209;powered anti&#8209;spam&nbsp;solution</h3>

<p>The top choice to stop spambots is <a href="https://akismet.com/features/">Akismet</a>, which is an AI&#8209;powered anti&#8209;spam solution used by more than 100 million websites today. It uses machine learning technology to identify and get rid of 99.99 percent of all&nbsp;spam.</p>

<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What is&nbsp;Akismet?</h4>

<p>Akismet is a powerful anti&#8209;spam solution built on cutting edge artificial intelligence and machine learning technology. It has been blocking spam for nearly two decades, and its technology is continuously learning to stay ahead every step of the way. It’s successfully removed more than 500 billion pieces of spam across more than 100 million&nbsp;sites.</p>

<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How does Akismet&nbsp;work?</h4>


<p>Unlike some other spam blockers, Akismet works completely in the background, so your users experience zero friction on your site. They simply navigate to the areas, discussion boards, and contact forms they want and proceed without so much as a CAPTCHA or box to click.&nbsp;</p>


<p>However, spambots are detected with near&#8209;perfect accuracy and are booted from the site or prevented from submitting forms. Depending on your settings, Akismet can even toss comments directly in the trash without you ever having to see&nbsp;them.</p>


<img width="1280" height="860" src="https://akismet455732288.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-10.png" alt="spam settings in WordPress" class="wp-image-283768" />


<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What are the benefits of using&nbsp;Akismet?</h4>

<p>Sites that rely on Akismet reap many benefits. First, since Akismet works in the background without relying on your users to “prove” that they’re not spambots, the user experience is far superior to other prevention methods like CAPTCHA. A faster, less annoying user experience often results in better conversion rates and higher overall visitor&nbsp;satisfaction.</p>


<p>Second, since Akismet’s technology learns from every spam it’s removed from more than 100 million websites, you benefit from all this knowledge. Just about everything that’s known about spam is stored in a cloud-based database, ready to inform Askimet’s actions for your specific site. This learning will continue over time, keeping your site nearly free of all new spam —&nbsp;even new spam techniques that have yet to come!&nbsp;</p>


<p>Third, because the database is stored in the cloud, you get the benefits of Akismet without any negative effects on speed or storage for your&nbsp;site.</p>

<p>Want to know how it works in real life? Explore <a href="https://akismet.com/blog/convertkit-customerstory/">how ConvertKit is using Akismet</a> to protect entrepreneurs from spam. In this case study, ConvertKit executives walk through their spam challenges, potential negative effects spam has on their business and the entrepreneurs they support, and how Akismet is helping them solve their spambot&nbsp;problem.</p>


<img width="1600" height="602" src="https://akismet455732288.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-11.png" alt="stats about ConvertKit, using Akismet" class="wp-image-283769" />


<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How to get started with&nbsp;Akismet</h4>


<p>If you’re ready to eliminate spam without frustrating visitors, you can download <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/">the Akismet plugin for WordPress</a> today. On another platform? Developing a unique app? Learn about the<a href="https://akismet.com/developers/"> flexible Akismet API</a> to integrate it with your project.&nbsp;</p>



<img width="1600" height="699" src="https://akismet455732288.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-12.png" alt="Akismet in the WordPress plugin library" class="wp-image-283770" />



<p>Enterprise companies can <a href="https://akismet.com/enterprise/">reach out to the Akismet team</a> to get a custom solution just for them.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Honeypots and&nbsp;reCAPTCHA</h3>

<p>Two other common ways that companies can stop spambots are honeypots and CAPTCHA&nbsp;puzzles.</p>

<p><a href="https://akismet.com/blog/what-is-a-honeypot/">Honeypots</a> are set up like a trap, attempting to lure spambots to complete an invisible, unneeded field so that spam can be quickly identified. While real users do not see the invisible field, spambots are automatically scanning code for fields to complete and fall for the honeypot&nbsp;trap.</p>

<p>Although honeypots are effective at blocking spambots targeting form completion, they do not effectively stop email scraping or other types of spambot&nbsp;activity.</p>


<img width="1262" height="356" src="https://akismet455732288.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-13.png" alt="example of a reCAPTCHA" class="wp-image-283771" />


<p><a href="https://akismet.com/blog/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/">reCAPTCHA puzzles</a> are familiar to nearly everyone, requiring that the user check certain boxes that contain specific images to prove that they’re human or complete other types of puzzles. CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA puzzles are often frustrating because images can be difficult to decipher or even understand across&nbsp;cultures.</p>

<p>Although a wide variety of other CAPTCHA alternatives have been developed in an effort to address these issues, they all still require user interaction and can be impossible to complete for those with various&nbsp;impairments.</p>

<p>Since CAPTCHAs are often needed at key points in the customer journey — such as requesting a sales call or checkout points — they can create a negative user experience and significantly diminish conversion&nbsp;rates.</p>

<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Web application firewalls&nbsp;(WAFs)</h3>

<p>Traditional web application firewalls (WAFs) were created to guard against things like SQL injections, cross&#8209;site scripting, and session hijacking. However, they often fail to keep up with the evolution of bad actors, including those using&nbsp;spambots.</p>

<p>While next&#8209;generation firewalls (NGFW) tried to make headway in detecting new applications, they still use basic methods like simply blocking repetitive inquiries, identifying browsers, or blocking specific IP addresses. Many improvements rely on filters to identify malicious activity but are only somewhat effective at blocking threats. As bots advance, these NGFW also have trouble keeping up with more sophisticated&nbsp;activities.</p>


<p>In addition, businesses often struggle with managing WAF policies that can be operationally complex, leaving patches undone and resulting in an increased number of vulnerabilities.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">IP blocking</h3>


<p>Another proven method of stopping spambots is traditional IP blocking. Many IT departments have a list of IP addresses that have generated a great deal of malicious or spam activity in the past and can automatically block any traffic coming from those particular IP&nbsp;addresses.</p>

<p>Although generally effective, this approach does not prevent more sophisticated spambot activity and could potentially block activity from a legitimate source. It’s limited in overall effectiveness and more manual to set up and&nbsp;manage.</p>

<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Confirmed opt&#8209;in (COI) or double opt&#8209;in&nbsp;(DOI)</h3>

<p>Businesses can also use a confirmed opt&#8209;in or a double opt&#8209;in approach to stop spambots that are trying to sign up with fake email addresses. This process requires that new contacts be verified, requiring them to click on a link in an email sent immediately after they submit a&nbsp;form.</p>


<img width="1420" height="972" src="https://akismet455732288.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-14.png" alt="MailPoet email sign-up confirmation" class="wp-image-283772" />


<p>Although this process can be somewhat effective, screening out fake sign&#8209;ups, it only addresses spambots that are setting up false accounts. Other malicious system activity or sophisticated spambots may go&nbsp;undetected.</p>


<p>In addition, the DOI process means extending the sign-up process. The more you require of prospects, the more likely some of them will abandon the sign-up process.&nbsp;</p>


<p>In addition, the younger generation often doesn’t check email as frequently as older generations, which causes a bottleneck in your engagement or purchase process. Finally, some users may not confirm and therefore slip through the cracks for future marketing&nbsp;outreach.</p>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Multifactor authentication</h3>



<p>A wide number of businesses now use multifactor authentication to provide an extra layer of security on their sites. This usually involves a user confirming their identity through more than one method, such as an email account or phone.&nbsp;</p>



<img width="1600" height="976" src="https://akismet455732288.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/image-15.png" alt="setting up two-factor authentication with WordPress.com" class="wp-image-283773" />


<p>Although this can be very effective at ensuring that users are legitimate customers or prospects, it again adds another step in user engagement, potentially causing additional friction that can cause lost leads or abandonment of a checkout&nbsp;process.</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Akismet: Leading the charge in blocking&nbsp;spambots</h2>

<p>While many solutions exist to help businesses block spambot activity, it’s clear that the number one choice is <a href="https://akismet.com/features/">Akismet</a>. Its years of experience with blocking spam, coupled with powerful artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, make it the clear choice for a comprehensive, effective spambot blocking&nbsp;solution.</p>

<p>More than 100 million websites agree, taking advantage of the cumulative knowledge that Akismet has gathered since 2005. With 99.99 percent effectiveness and an impressive track record of removing more than 500 billion pieces of spam from the internet, it’s hard to argue about the solution’s&nbsp;success.</p>

<p>Most importantly, Akismet completes its job unbeknownst to your users and visitors. Prospects and customers can journey smoothly through your sales funnel without stopping to complete CAPTCHA puzzles or double opt&#8209;in confirmations at inopportune times. This means a smoother engagement process and less friction, leading to happier users and a better&nbsp;reputation.</p>


<p>With its advanced technology and comprehensive spam database residing in the cloud, Akismet doesn’t affect processing time, server activity, or loading speeds. This ensures that your site continues to operate quickly and effectively without diverting resources to spambot detection and removal activities.&nbsp;</p>


<p>Finally, Akismet will continue learning into the future, which means that, even if spambot creators get more sophisticated, Akismet will be ready with a spambot blocking&nbsp;solution.</p>


<p><a href="https://akismet.com/talk-to-sales/">Get started with Akismet.</a>&nbsp;</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, 21 Feb 2024 14:15:03 +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:11:"Jen Swisher";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:47;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:65:"Do The Woo Community: WordPress and WooCommerce at CloudFest 2024";s: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=79129";s: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/wordpress-and-woocommerce-at-cloudfest-2024/";s: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:396:"<p>Hosts Tammie and Jonathan talk about WP Day at CloudFest this year and the increased visibility of WordPress and Woo at the event.</p>
<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a href="https://dothewoo.io/wordpress-and-woocommerce-at-cloudfest-2024/">WordPress and WooCommerce at CloudFest 2024</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dothewoo.io">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce and WordPress Builder Podcast</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, 21 Feb 2024 10:50:25 +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:48;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:48:"WPTavern: WP Tavern Launches Writer Hunger Games";s: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=154148";s: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:58:"https://wptavern.com/wptavern-launches-writer-hunger-games";s: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:3923:"<div class="wp-block-group has-neutral-100-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">tl;dr</h2>



<p>Seven folx from the WordPress Community have been selected as finalists for two positions as writers for the Tavern.</p>



<p>May the odds be ever in your favor.</p>
</div>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<p>If you’ve been around the Tavern for a while you’re probably aware that it has been without a full-time writer or two since December 2023. Back in November, the Tavern’s last standing writer, Sarah Gooding joined her predecessors Jeff Chandler and Justin Tadlock in announcing her departure.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Matt Mullenweg later put the call out for those interested in becoming full-time writers. Hundreds applied and from that list, earlier this February, seven were chosen to participate in a public trial.&nbsp;</p>



<p><s>Each travelled by train to a meeting where they were introduced to each other and then dropped into the middle of an arena with the only rule being to survive.</s></p>



<p>It may feel a bit like the Hunger Games have come to WordPress. But, behind the scenes, it&#8217;s a ton of enthusiasm and collaboration. After all, it&#8217;s for a platform and community we are all passionate about.</p>



<p>Hitting publish is stressful (at least for me), but, we’re excited about this chance. We&#8217;re eager to bring our unique views to Tavern readers and the wider WordPress community.</p>



<p>Each person in the trial has two weeks with full access to the Tavern to create content. The trial contributors have not been given any restrictions on how much content they can contribute, the format of that content, or the subject matter of the content. </p>



<p>Unlike the Hunger Games, we’re each other’s biggest fans and supporters as we go through this process.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The availability of trial contributors varies so for about a month, each of the seven will have staggered start dates. You’ll see content from each appear over time as they begin their trials.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>So what’s it like day-to-day to run the Tavern?</strong></h2>



<p>It’s everything you would imagine an industry journal would have. We’re collaborating in a private Slack channel, sharing ideas and figuring out how to create the content we’re passionate about. Early on the crew self-organized around a content calendar.&nbsp;</p>



<p>We’re sharing article drafts for feedback from each other. Giving way to each other when we have similar ideas for articles. Challenging ideas and pushing each other to be better. All to create the best experience for Tavern readers.&nbsp;</p>



<p>We’re still figuring things out. For example, we need to find the right images to use. We also need to reconnect the X/Twitter account so articles are broadcast from it. And, we need to clean up comments on existing articles. The day-to-day things that keep the Tavern humming along.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>We’re keen to engage with Tavern readers</strong></h2>



<p>We’d love to hear your thoughts on what we’re creating. All of us are in the Make WordPress Slack so feel free to ping us with your thoughts and feedback. We’re keen to grow and improve throughout this process so if a story resonates with you (or not) we’d love to hear about it.</p>



<p>This is a unique season for the Tavern. While eventually there will only be two primary voices, for now, there are seven. Seven different perspectives and lived experiences shaped by WordPress. Enjoy it, get stuck in and tell us what you think.</p>



<p>We haven’t all gone public yet but as our content hits the Tavern’s pages, say hi, tell us <strong>your</strong> story and help us share the awesomeness of WordPress with others.</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, 20 Feb 2024 17:51:17 +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:12:"James Giroux";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:49;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:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 6.5 Beta 2";s: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=16955";s: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:56:"https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/wordpress-6-5-beta-2/";s: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:7631:"<p>WordPress 6.5 Beta 2 is now ready for testing!</p>



<p><strong>This beta version of the WordPress software is under development</strong>. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it is recommended you evaluate Beta 2 on a test server and site.</p>



<p>You can test WordPress 6.5 Beta 2 in four ways:</p>



<table><tbody><tr><th>Plugin</th><td>Install and activate the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin on a WordPress install. (Select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</td></tr><tr><th>Direct Download</th><td>Download the <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-6.5-beta2.zip">Beta 2 version (zip)</a> and install it on a WordPress website.</td></tr><tr><th>Command Line</th><td>Use the following <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/cli/">WP-CLI</a> command:<br /><code>wp core update --version=6.5-beta</code>2</td></tr><tr><th>WordPress Playground</th><td>Use the <a href="https://playground.wordpress.net/#{%20%22preferredVersions%22:%20{%20%22php%22:%20%228.0%22,%20%22wp%22:%20%22beta%22%20},%20%22features%22:%20{%20%22networking%22:%20true%20},%20%22steps%22:%20[%20{%20%22step%22:%20%22login%22,%20%22username%22:%20%22admin%22,%20%22password%22:%20%22password%22%20},%20{%20%22step%22:%20%22importFile%22,%20%22file%22:%20{%20%22resource%22:%20%22url%22,%20%22url%22:%20%22https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wpaccessibility/a11y-theme-unit-test/master/a11y-theme-unit-test-data.xml%22%20}%20},%20{%20%22step%22:%20%22importFile%22,%20%22file%22:%20{%20%22resource%22:%20%22url%22,%20%22url%22:%20%22https://raw.githubusercontent.com/WordPress/theme-test-data/master/themeunittestdata.wordpress.xml%22%20}%20},%20{%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20{%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22query-monitor%22%20},%20%22options%22:%20{%20%22activate%22:%20false%20},%20%22progress%22:%20{%20%22weight%22:%202%20}%20},%20{%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20{%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22create-block-theme%22%20},%20%22progress%22:%20{%20%22weight%22:%202%20}%20},%20{%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20{%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22debug-bar%22%20},%20%22progress%22:%20{%20%22weight%22:%202%20}%20},%20{%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20{%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22health-check%22%20},%20%22progress%22:%20{%20%22weight%22:%202%20}%20},%20{%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20{%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22test-reports%22%20},%20%22progress%22:%20{%20%22weight%22:%202%20}%20},%20{%20%22step%22:%20%22installPlugin%22,%20%22pluginZipFile%22:%20{%20%22resource%22:%20%22wordpress.org/plugins%22,%20%22slug%22:%20%22user-switching%22%20},%20%22progress%22:%20{%20%22weight%22:%202%20}%20}%20]%20}">6.5 Beta 2 WordPress Playground instance</a> to test the software directly in your browser without the need for a separate site or setup.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table>



<p>The current target date for the final release of WordPress 6.5 is <strong>March 26, 2024</strong>. Get an overview of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/6-5/">6.5 release cycle</a>, and check the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/6-5/">6.5-related posts</a> in the coming weeks for more information.</p>



<p class="is-style-default"><strong>Catch up on what&#8217;s new in WordPress 6.5</strong>: <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/wordpress-6-5-beta-1/">Read the Beta 1 announcement</a> for details and highlights.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to test this release</h2>



<p>Your help testing the WordPress 6.5 Beta 2 version is key to ensuring everything in the release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2024/02/15/help-test-wordpress-6-5-beta-1/">This detailed guide</a> will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.5.</p>



<p>If you encounter an issue, please report it to the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/">Alpha/Beta area</a> of the support forums or directly to <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket">WordPress Trac</a> if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major">known bugs</a>.</p>



<p>Curious about testing releases in general? Follow along with the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/">testing initiatives in Make Core</a> and join the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/messages/core-test/">#core-test channel</a> on <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/">Making WordPress Slack</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Vulnerability bounty doubles during Beta 2</h2>



<p>Between Beta 1, released on February 13, and the final Release Candidate (RC) scheduled for March 19, the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/security/2024/02/12/welcoming-2024-with-wordpress-6-5-beta-1/">monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities</a> is doubled. Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the <a href="https://hackerone.com/wordpress">HackerOne page</a> and in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/about/security/">security white paper</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Beta 2 updates and highlights</h2>



<p>WordPress 6.5 Beta 2 contains more than 50 updates to the Editor since the Beta 1 release, including 40+ <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&changetime=02%2F14%2F2024..02%2F19%2F2024&milestone=6.5&col=id&col=milestone&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&order=id">tickets for WordPress core</a>.</p>



<p>Each beta cycle focuses on bug fixes; more are on the way with your help through testing. You can browse the technical details for all issues addressed since Beta 1 using these links:</p>



<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/commits/wp/6.5?since=2024-02-14&until=2024-02-20">GitHub commits for 6.5</a> since February 14</li>



<li><a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&changetime=02%2F14%2F2024..02%2F20%2F2024&milestone=6.5&col=id&col=milestone&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&order=id">Closed Trac tickets</a> since February 14</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A Beta 2 haiku</h2>



<p>Help out with testing<br />Contribute! Make an impact<br />Let’s find all those bugs</p>



<p><em>Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dansoschin/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>dansoschin</a></em>, <em><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/huzaifaalmesbah/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>huzaifaalmesbah</a></em>, <em><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rajinsharwar/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>rajinsharwar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>swissspidy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/courane01/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>courane01</a>.</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:"Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:25:18 +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:12:"Lauren Stein";s: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:"type";i:128;s:7:"headers";O:48:"WpOrg\Requests\Utility\CaseInsensitiveDictionary":1:{s:7:"*data";a:9:{s:6:"server";s:5:"nginx";s:4:"date";s:29:"Fri, 08 Mar 2024 14:30:57 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Fri, 08 Mar 2024 14:15:30 GMT";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:15:"x-frame-options";s:10:"SAMEORIGIN";s:16:"content-encoding";s:2:"br";s:7:"alt-svc";s:19:"h3=":443"; ma=86400";s:4:"x-nc";s:9:"HIT ord 2";}}s:5:"build";s:14:"20240127171416";}