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+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:8:\"language\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"en-US\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"generator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"https://wordpress.org/?v=5.9-beta4-52419\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"item\";a:20:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:66:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 4\";s: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/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\";s: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, 21 Dec 2021 21:17:58 +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:8:\"category\";a:4:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"beta\";s: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=11876\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:80:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 released on 21 December 2021 and is available for testing. \";s: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:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5158:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site; install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features and get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta4.zip\">zip</a></strong>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, or 3 to Beta 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which is only five weeks away. Your help testing this beta is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\">Beta 3</a>, 20 bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 4:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Bundled Theme: Fixed duplicate CSS rules in Twenty Twenty-One theme (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53605\">#53605</a>).</li><li>Customizer: It&#8217;s possible to switch to a block theme from within Customizer (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54549\">#54549</a>).</li><li>Themes: Provide guidance to users seeking to preview block themes on WordPress versions below 5.9 (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54575\">#54575</a>).</li><li>REST API: The get_theme_item method should respect fields param (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54595\">#54595</a>).</li><li>Editor: Block Patterns: &#8220;Featured&#8221; category &amp; patterns missing from inserter (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54623\">#54623</a>).</li><li>Login and registration: Add a filter to allow to disable the Login screen language dropdown – (#54675).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please post to the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\"> Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums if you find a bug. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\"> bug report</a>, file one on<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"> WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find a list of<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"> known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"got-questions-here-are-some-answers\"><strong>Got questions? Here are some answers</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\"> 5.9-related developer notes</a> that will cover these items in detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;group=component&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;resolution=fixed\">326 tickets and 108 new features and enhancements</a> in WordPress 5.9. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\" target=\"_blank\">@psykro</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" target=\"_blank\">@hellofromtonya</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" target=\"_blank\">@marybaum</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" target=\"_blank\">@webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>costdev</a> and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>meher</a> for contributions to this post.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11876\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:1;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:58:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:7:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:42:\"WP Briefing: Episode 22: A Carol of Thanks\";s: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://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/episode-22-a-carol-of-thanks/\";s: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, 20 Dec 2021 19:22:11 +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:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"wp-briefing\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11880\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:404:\"In this last episode of 2021, Josepha Haden Chomphosy takes the time to appreciate those who make the WordPress project a success and offers a carol of thanks. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor:&#160;Dustin Hartzler Logo:&#160;Beatriz Fialho Production:&#160;Chloé Bringmann Song: [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/WP-Briefing-022.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"Chloe Bringmann\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5720:\"\n<p>In this last episode of 2021, Josepha Haden Chomphosy takes the time to appreciate those who make the WordPress project a success and offers a carol of thanks. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas\">Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas </a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11880\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing. The podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project. Some insight into the community that supports it and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, ages and ages ago, when I first started this podcast, someone basically requested that Matt and I do a duet for the last podcast of the year. A Christmas carol duet; him on the saxophone and me on voice. I obviously did not get that coordinated I don&#8217;t even know why I said obviously. I&#8217;ll tell you right now I did not get that coordinated. I was a very busy lady this year. So I don&#8217;t have a Matt on saxophone. Still, I did think that maybe it might be nice just for me to sing a teensy little Christmas carol for you all just because it seems especially poignant the words this year, especially after the 2020, 2021 COVID, all the things and trying to get back in person. So I&#8217;m going to sing you all one little verse from <em>Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy </strong>01:35 <em>Singing</em>  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let your heart be light</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be out of sight</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make the Yuletide gay</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be miles away</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, my friends, that was from my heart to yours if you happened to listen. If you skipped a few seconds to get through it, which I would totally understand, that is also fine. But I did want to just kind of wrap up the year to let you all know that I am so incredibly grateful for all of the people who show up for the WordPress project to make it a success. I have made so many friends and wonderful acquaintances throughout my time here with the WordPress project. And especially in my three years as the project&#8217;s Executive Director. You all have put a lot of trust in me and a lot of faith. And I know that we have gotten so much done together in the last few years. And I am equally sure that we&#8217;re going to get so much done in the years to come. And so thank you all so much for your continued work with WordPress and the way that you just bring your best at all times. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:32</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One other little thanks I want to give. Over the course of this year, I&#8217;ve had an excellent team that works with me on this podcast. I have editing and design folks and people who&#8217;ve joined me here and there, folks who helped me with my production. So big thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Bea</a>, I realize your name is Beatriz in the actual credits, but I call you Bea, and so thank you. Also, a huge thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé</a>, who does all of our production and wrangling every couple of weeks. A big round of applause and kudos to that tiny but tough team that helps me get this all done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s to go on top of the general thanks to the WordPress project. And if you all are celebrators, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. If you are not celebrators, I hope that you have a wonderful end to your year and that everything you wanted to get done, you did get done, and that you can start 2022 with a fresh slate. Again, this is the WP Briefing. Thank you so much for listening. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in 2022.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11880\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:38:\"Highlights from State of the Word 2021\";s: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:74:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/highlights-from-state-of-the-word-2021/\";s: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, 16 Dec 2021 01:04:17 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Events\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"WrapUp\";s: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=11869\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:60:\"Highlights and the official video for State of the Word 2021\";s: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:\"Anjana Vasan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3636:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/OpiH_P9aGhQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>State of the Word 2021, the annual keynote from WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, happened on December 14. The hybrid event took place in New York City with a small audience (proof of vaccination required). As Matt said, &#8220;we had people join by plane, train, and automobile.&#8221; Those who didn’t make the trek to the live event watched the livestream from wherever they call home, all around the world.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was an exciting moment for the WordPress community which also celebrated its first in-person WordCamp in Sevilla, Spain, after a lengthy hiatus for in-person events.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\">view the full recording</a>, complete with captions and transcripts on WordPress.tv.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was thrilling to see so many meetup organizers host watch parties worldwide. Twenty-six watch parties were held across eleven countries, with more than 300 RSVPs.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similar to past State of the Word events, Matt covered a broad range of topics. This year was no different. WordPress’ past, present, and future were in the spotlight, with highlights on the growth of the contributors, language translations, recent release milestones, and educational initiatives, to name a few.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Audience members and livestreamers alike viewed product demos showcasing upcoming features that will be the hallmark of WordPress 5.9, such as full site editing, block patterns, global styling options, and enhanced image controls.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt took the opportunity to remind everyone of the WordPress roadmap which includes native multi-lingual support and real-time collaborative site editing. He also pointed out that anyone can contribute to WordPress’ progress through a number of different initiatives ranging from creating new features and testing to helping spread the word and educate others.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt emphasized the way that open source software gets better by reminding everyone that “The more people that use a program like WordPress, the better it gets.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Broader topics covering the tech landscape including web3, merger and acquisition activity, as well as the growth and support of open source software, rounded out the energetic presentation.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The one-hour multimedia presentation was followed by an interactive <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2021-qa/\">question and answer</a> session where Matt fielded questions that were submitted ahead of the event, as well as questions from the livestream and studio audience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discover everything that was covered by <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\">watching the official event recording</a> and join the ongoing <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ILoveWP\">#ILoveWP conversation on Twitter</a>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Special thanks to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/dansoschin/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>dansoschin</a> for review and edits! </em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11869\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:3;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:69:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 3\";s: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/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\";s: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, 14 Dec 2021 20:19:29 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:5:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"beta\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"development\";s: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=11835\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:102:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 3 is now available for testing. Help test to make the release as good as it can be.\";s: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:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6087:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 3 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site; install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features and get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 3 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta3.zip\">the beta version</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> If you use WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1 or Beta 2 to Beta 3 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta2</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta3 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which gets closer every minute. Your help testing this beta is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-2/\">Beta 2</a>,<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=11%2F30%2F2021..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\"> </a><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=12%2F08%2F2021..12%2F14%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\">14</a> bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 3:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor: Add FSE infrastructure from Gutenberg plugin into Core (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54335\">#54335</a>).</li><li>Formatting: Allow PDFs to embedded as objects (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54261\">#54261</a>)</li><li>Language switcher on the login screen (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43700\">#43700</a>)</li><li>REST API: Add navigation areas REST API endpoint from Gutenberg plugin (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54393\">#54393</a>)</li><li>Themes: Live Preview button bug (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54578\">#54578</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please post to the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\"> Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\"> bug report</a>, file one on<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"> WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"> known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For even more ways to test, you can also refer to<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\"> this official Full Site Editing post from @annezazu</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"got-questions-here-are-some-answers\"><strong>Got questions? Here are some answers</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\"> 5.9-related developer notes</a> that cover these items in detail. So far, contributors have fixed<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;group=component&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;resolution=fixed\"> 316 tickets in WordPress 5.9</a>, including<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;changetime=..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=changetime&amp;col=owner&amp;col=priority&amp;col=keywords&amp;order=changetime\"> 100 new features and enhancements</a>. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\" target=\"_blank\">&nbsp;</a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\" target=\"_blank\">@psykro</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\" target=\"_blank\">@estelaris</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" target=\"_blank\">@hellofromtonya</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" target=\"_blank\">@marybaum</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" target=\"_blank\">@webcommsat</a>,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\" target=\"_blank\">@cbringmann</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>costdev</a>,</em> <em>and&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\" target=\"_blank\">@audrasjb</a></em>&nbsp;<em>for contributions to this post.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Filed under #release, #5.9, #beta</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11835\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:4;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:75:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 07 Dec 2021 22:02:19 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:7:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"5.9\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"beta\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"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:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"block editor\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"WP releases\";s: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=11794\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:125:\"Can you help test the latest software version of WordPress? 5.9 Beta 2 was published on 7 December 2021, help find any bugs. \";s: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:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6225:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 2 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site. Instead, install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features to get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 2 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the <strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\">WordPress Beta Tester</a> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta2.zip\"><strong>zip</strong></a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1 to Beta 2 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:<br></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One: </p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta1 </code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two: </p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code> wp core update --version=5.9-beta2 --force </code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which is just seven weeks away. Your help testing this version is a vital part of making this release as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-1/\"> </a><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-9-beta-1/\">Beta 1</a>, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;changetime=11%2F30%2F2021..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\">24</a> bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 2:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Block Editor: Remove navigation areas (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54506\">#54506</a>)</li><li>Block Editor: Navigation block view JavaScript error (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54456\">#54456</a>)</li><li>Block Editor: Block template theme error related to child themes (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54515\">#54515</a>)</li><li>General: Fixing existing links to Customizer when the Site Editor is enabled (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54460\">#54460</a>)</li><li>Media: Media library showing only the selected image (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53765\">#53765</a>)</li><li>Media: Fatal error uploading media on PHP8 (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54385\">#54385</a>)</li><li>REST API: Add Global Styles REST API endpoints from Gutenberg into Core (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54336\">#54336</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, note that some users testing 5.9 Beta 1 faced some fatal errors upon upgrade. In turn, these errors revealed the need for some extra work on the filesystem and upgrader.&nbsp;Those fatal errors are no longer a problem, and the enhancements will be part of version 6.0.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please post to the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\">bug report</a>, file one on <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"where-can-i-get-more-information\">Where can I get more information?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">5.9-related developer notes</a> that cover these items in detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;group=component&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;resolution=fixed\">305 tickets in WordPress 5.9</a>, including <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;changetime=..12%2F07%2F2021&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=changetime&amp;col=owner&amp;col=priority&amp;col=keywords&amp;order=changetime\">110 new features and enhancements</a>. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to</em><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\"><em> </em></a><em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>psykro</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>estelaris</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>davidb</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>audrasjb</a>, and </em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbiron/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>pbiron</a><em> for contributions to this post.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11794\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:63:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"The Month in WordPress – November 2021\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/month-in-wordpress-november-2021/\";s: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, 02 Dec 2021 11:30:09 +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:8:\"category\";a:3:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Month in WordPress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"month in wordpress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"the month in wordpress\";s: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=11763\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:337:\"Despite the holiday season being around the corner, the WordPress project didn’t slow down. In a recent episode of WP Briefing, Executive Director Josepha Haden shares the first thing she wants people to notice about WordPress, which is also the heart of this open source project: “Now, the first thing I want people to see [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"Anjana Vasan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18201:\"\n<p>Despite the holiday season being around the corner, the WordPress project didn’t slow down. In a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-20-wordpressblogging/\">recent episode</a> of <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/\">WP Briefing</a>, Executive Director <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">Josepha Haden</a> shares the first thing she wants people to notice about WordPress, which is also the heart of this open source project:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><em>“Now, the first thing I want people to see on that site is that WordPress has not only 18 years of learned knowledge that every single new user benefits from, but that it also has thousands of really smart people making sure it works and gets better every day.”</em></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As always, contributors across various teams are working hard to ensure the upcoming release of WordPress 5.9 doesn’t disappoint. With State of the Word 2021 coming up soon, there are many exciting things in the works. Read the November 2021 edition of the Month in WordPress to learn more about what’s happening.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-5-9-expected-to-release-on-january-25-2022\">WordPress 5.9: Expected to release on January 25, 2022</h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"309\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=632%2C309&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11764\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=1024%2C501&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=300%2C147&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=768%2C376&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?resize=1536%2C752&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?w=1830&amp;ssl=1 1830w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/5.9.png?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The Core Team announced the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">WordPress 5.9 Revised Release Schedule</a>, and the release is now planned for January 25, 2022.</li><li><strong>WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 was recently released and is available for testing.</strong> This version of the WordPress software is under development. Check out the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-9-beta-1/\">release post</a> to learn more about what’s new in version 5.9 and how you can help testing.&nbsp;</li><li>Check out “<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/a-look-at-wordpress-5-9/\">A Look at WordPress 5.9</a>” for a first peek into the exciting features included in this major release.</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-8-2-security-and-maintenance-release/\">WordPress 5.8.2</a>, a security and maintenance release, was out on November 10, 2021. This release includes two bug fixes and one security fix.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong><strong>Are you interested in contributing to WordPress core?</strong> Join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW\">#core</a> channel, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Core Team blog</a>, and check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/\">team handbook</a>. Also, don&#8217;t miss the Core Team’s weekly developer chat on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\">8 PM</a> UTC.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"gutenberg-releases-11-9-and-12-0-are-out\">Gutenberg releases: 11.9 and 12.0 are out</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Two new Gutenberg versions have been released!</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/12/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-9-0-10-november/\">Version 11.9.0</a> brings new Gutenberg blocks for working with post comments, a fullscreen pattern explorer modal, further iterations on the Navigation block, and many other improvements.</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/29/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-0-0-24-november/\">Gutenberg 12.0.0</a>, released on November 24, improves the Block Styles preview and includes featured image block visual enhancements, a site Editor welcome guide, official JSON schema updates, and much more.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Want to get involved in developing Gutenberg? </strong>Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/\">Gutenberg on GitHub</a>, and join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7\">#core-editor</a> channel in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/gutenberg-new/\">#gutenberg-new</a> for details on the latest updates.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"state-of-the-word-2021-join-a-watch-party-in-your-local-community\">State of the Word 2021: Join a watch party in your local community</h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"422\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=632%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"State of the Word 2021 Announcement, which will take place on December 14 between 5 pm and 7 pm ET (22 - 00 UTC).\" class=\"wp-image-11766\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/12/Web-—-Matt.png?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">State of the Word 2021</a>, the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg, will be held on December 14, 2021 <a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">between 5 and 7 pm ET/10 pm – 12 am (December 15) UTC</a>. The event will be <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/join-us-for-state-of-the-word-2021-in-person-or-online/\">livestreamed from New York City</a>, and include a Question and Answer session.&nbsp;</li><li>Host or join a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/watch-state-of-the-word-at-a-watch-party-with-your-wordpress-friends/\">State of the Word watch party</a> to enjoy the event with your WordPress friends. Check <a href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\">Meetup</a> to see if a watch party is scheduled to be held in your local community!</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\"><strong>Add the event to your calendar</strong></a><strong> so you don’t miss State of the Word 2021!</strong> Want to ask Matt a question during State of the Word? Please send your questions ahead of time to <a>ask-matt@wordcamp.org</a> or ask them live during the event via YouTube chat.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"team-updates-nominations-for-some-team-representatives-are-still-underway\">Team updates: Nominations for some team representatives are still underway</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/Requests/releases/tag/v2.0.0\">Requests 2.0.0 has been released</a>. This release is fully compatible with PHP 8.0 and 8.1, indicating that a legacy codebase can be modernized, made more stable and secure <em>without</em> breaking backward-compatibility. The Requests project is a dependency of WordPress core, which was adopted into the WordPress organization earlier this year.&nbsp;</li><li>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress.org-2020-Annual-Survey.pdf\">2020 WordPress Annual Survey</a> results are available to be viewed.&nbsp;</li><li>The Core Team added <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/08/new-committers-2021/\">six new committers</a>.</li><li>Last month, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/11/22/2022-team-nominations-for-marketing/\">Marketing Team</a> opened its call for team representatives, joining <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/26/nominations-for-core-team-reps-2022/\">Core</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/10/27/nominations-call-for-the-themes-team-representatives/\">Themes</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/10/30/call-for-team-rep-nominations-3/\">Accessibility</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/10/team-representative-nominations/\">Support</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/hosting/2021/10/30/nominations-for-hosting-team-reps-2022/\">Hosting</a> from October 2021.</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/24/core-team-reps-for-2020-and-beyond-2/\">Core Team announced its new Team Rep for 2022</a> (and beyond).</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/10/08/moving-to-bi-weekly-meetings/\">Design Team</a> and the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/11/19/accessibility-team-meeting-notes-november-19-2021/\">Accessibility Team’s</a> meetings will be held bi-weekly moving forward.</li><li>The Marketing Team published the latest edition of <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/people-of-wordpress-devin-maeztri/\">People of WordPress, featuring Devin Maeztri</a> from Indonesia.</li><li>There’s an open call for suggestions for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/11/05/2022-goals-for-the-community-team-suggestions-invited/\">Global Community Team</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/11/16/team-goal-setting-2022/\">Training Team</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/11/11/2022-polyglots-planning/\">Polyglots</a> goals for 2022. Please drop your ideas by December 6, 2021.</li><li>The Accessibility Team has opened 1-2 <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1637775719355600\">volunteer positions</a> for the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/diverse-speaker-support/\">#diverse-speaker-support</a> channel.</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/11/22/polyglots-monthly-newsletter-november-2021/\">November 2021 edition</a> of the Polyglots monthly newsletter is out.&nbsp;</li><li>The Marketing Team welcomes any help to <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/11/17/help-promote-wordpress-meetups-each-week/\">promote WordPress Meetups</a> on a weekly basis and thus keep the community connected.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>We want to hear from you!</strong> Suggest your 2022 goals for the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/11/05/2022-goals-for-the-community-team-suggestions-invited/\">Global Community Team</a> by December 6, 2021.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"feedback-testing-requests-test-wordpress-5-9-beta-1-take-the-2021-annual-wordpress-survey-to-share-your-experience\">Feedback/Testing requests: Test WordPress 5.9 Beta 1; Take the 2021 Annual WordPress Survey to share your experience</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 is now available for testing and we’d like to hear from you! Testing is vital to ensure the release is as good as it can be—it’s also a great way to contribute. Read the comprehensive guide, “<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">Help test WordPress 5.9 Features</a>,” to learn how to test WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 and report any bugs.</li><li>There’s an open call for testing for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/11/16/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-18-7/\">WordPress iOS 18.7</a> and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/11/16/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-18-7/\">Android 18.7</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>The </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/take-the-2021-wordpress-annual-survey-and-view-the-2020-results/\"><strong>2021 WordPress Annual Survey</strong></a><strong> is out! </strong>Please respond to the survey, so <em>your</em> WordPress experience is reflected in the results.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"keep-an-eye-out-for-wordcamp-taiwan-and-sevilla-along-with-several-wordpress-workshops-in-december-2021\">Keep an eye out for WordCamp Taiwan and Sevilla, along with several WordPress workshops in December 2021</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Several <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/\">WordPress Social Learning Meetups</a> were held in November by the Training Team, and there will be more in December 2021.</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/tuesdaytrainings/\">Tuesday Training</a> sessions are paused until 2022.</li><li><a href=\"https://saopaulo.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp São Paulo</a> was held online on November 27, 2021.</li><li>Get excited for <a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Sevilla 2021</a>, coming up on December 11-12! Sevilla is the first in-person WordCamp happening in over 18 months, since WordCamps moved online in March 2020 due to COVID-19.</li><li>Don’t miss the following upcoming WordCamps: <a href=\"https://taiwan.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Taiwan 2021</a>, <a href=\"https://birmingham.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Birmingham 2022</a>, and <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/\">WordCamp Europe 2022</a>!</li><li>Check out the latest episodes of WordPress Briefing with Josepha Haden on<ul><li>“<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-21-all-things-block-themes/\">All Things Block Themes!</a>”</li><li>“<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-20-wordpressblogging/\">WordPress=Blogging+</a>”</li><li>“<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-19-the-people-of-wordpress/\">The People of WordPress</a>”</li></ul></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Give back to open source. </strong>Please donate to<a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/news/2021/give-back-to-open-source-this-giving-tuesday/\"> the WordPress Foundation</a>’s mission this holiday season.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Have a story that we could include in the next ‘Month in WordPress’ post? Let us know&nbsp; by filling out </em></strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/\"><strong><em>this form</em></strong></a><strong><em>.&nbsp;</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to November 2021’s Month in WordPress: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/harishanker/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>harishanker</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/callye/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>callye</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/jrf/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>jrf</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>nalininonstopnewsuk</a></em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11763\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 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:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-9-beta-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:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 30 Nov 2021 23:35:51 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";s: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=11584\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:307:\"WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 is now available for testing! This version of the WordPress software is under development. You don’t want to run this version on a production site. Instead, it is recommended that you run this on a test site. This will allow you to test out the new version. You can test the [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"Chloe Bringmann\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10992:\"\n<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This version of the WordPress software is under development</strong>. You don’t want to run this version on a production site. Instead, it is recommended that you run this on a test site. This will allow you to test out the new version.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 1 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Option 1: Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</li><li>Option 2: Direct download the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta1.zip\">beta version here (zip)</a>.</li><li>Option 3: Use WP-CLI to test: <code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta1</code>. <strong><em>Do not use this option if your filesystem is case-insensitive.</em></strong></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release is January 25, 2022, which is just eight weeks away. Your help testing this version is vital to make sure the release is as good as it can be.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\">Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\">5.9-related developer notes</a> in the coming weeks which will break down all upcoming changes in greater detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help-testing\"><strong>How You Can Help – Testing!</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Testing for bugs is a critical part of polishing the release in the beta stage. It is also a great way to contribute. If you’ve never tested a beta release before, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">this detailed guide will help</a> walk you through what and how to test.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you’ve found a bug, please report it to the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">Alpha/Beta area</a> in the support forums. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">file one on WordPress Trac</a>. That’s also where you can find a list of <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To see every feature in the Gutenberg releases since WordPress 5.8, check out the What’s New In Gutenberg posts for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/10/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-8-9-june/\">10.8</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/24/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-9-23-june/\">10.9</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/09/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-0-0-9-july/\">11.0</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/07/21/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-1-0-21-july/\">11.1</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/\">11.2</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/18/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-3-18-august/\">11.3</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/01/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-4-1-september/\">11.4</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-5-16-september/\">11.5</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/01/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-6-29-september/\">11.6</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-7-october-13th/\">11.7</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/28/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-8-0-27-october/\">11.8</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/12/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-9-0-10-november/\">11.9</a>.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the noted changes, which include 580 enhancements and nearly 450 bug fixes, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;group=component&amp;max=500&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=priority&amp;col=component&amp;col=version&amp;order=priority\">297 tickets for WordPress 5.9</a>, including <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&amp;status=reopened&amp;type=enhancement&amp;type=feature+request&amp;milestone=5.9&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=milestone&amp;col=owner&amp;col=priority&amp;col=changetime&amp;col=keywords&amp;order=changetime\">110 new features and enhancements</a>. More fixes are on the way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Want to know what’s new in version 5.9? Read on for some highlights.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"full-site-editing\"><strong><strong>Full Site Editing</strong></strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"styles-interface\">The <strong>Styles Interface</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Combine all the features that went live in 5.8 with those making their entrance in 5.9, and you get <strong>Full Site Editing.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Formerly known as Global Styles, the Styles Interface lets you interact directly with your blocks and elements right in the WordPress Admin. From typography to color palettes, this cohesive design interface means a design change—even a dramatic one—can happen without a theme switch. <strong>No code needed.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"theme-json\"><strong>Theme.json</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Introduced in WordPress 5.8, theme.json has been improved to enable features and default styles for your site and its blocks. With 5.9, theme.json can support child themes and the duotone treatment. Coordinate layers of style with theme.json, taking the weight off of your theme’s required CSS.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other features supported by theme.json include: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Border:</strong> color, style, and width augment the border-radius property that landed in 5.8.</li><li><strong>Flex layouts:</strong> Block Gap support, courtesy of spacing.blockGap.</li><li><strong>Typography:</strong> font families, font style, font weight, text decoration, and text transform.</li><li><strong>Images</strong>: Duotones.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"a-new-navigation-block\"><strong>A New Navigation Block</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to the most intuitive way to build navigation: the Navigation Block.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the features that need testing the most:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Responsive menu options you can turn off, have always on, or opt to use only for small screens.</li><li>Built-in keyboard accessibility.&nbsp; For accessibility, for speed, or both.</li><li>Add extra blocks like Search and Site Icon blocks (and customize them to your liking).</li><li>Submenu items with styling options.</li><li>Horizontal or vertical alignment.</li><li>Reusable navigation? Even across themes? Yes. Because the Navigation Block you build gets saved as a custom post type.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"a-better-gallery-block\"><strong>A Better Gallery Block</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>What if you could treat single images in your Gallery Block the same way you treat the Image Block? <strong>Now you can.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p> Make every image in your gallery different from the next, with inline cropping or a duotone and change layouts with the ease of drag and drop. With the improved gallery block, every image is its own Image block.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>One thing to note: </strong>Have you built a plugin or theme on the Gallery Block functionality?<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/20/gallery-block-refactor-dev-note/\"> Be sure to review this Dev Note, which details what you need to do for compatibility</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"focused-template-part-mode\"><strong>Focused Template Part Mode</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Building template parts can take a level of focus all its own because you’re making decisions for the entire site. So WordPress 5.9 adds a focus mode that shows you only the part you’re working on right now (and you can get back to the regular view with a keystroke).&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"block-pattern-directory\"><strong>Block Pattern Directory</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/patterns/\">Pattern Directory</a> offers a range of prebuilt block patterns, from a couple of blocks that show an image and text, to an entire page layout with columns and sections. Since the 5.8 release, the directory has become a hub for exploratory UI and patterns, taking submissions and offering them to the community. So now, your creation can help other people build out their perfect site.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"twenty-twenty-two-default-theme\"><strong>Twenty Twenty-Two Default Theme</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A whole new way of building WordPress themes.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 introduces features that make Full Site Editing possible, including <strong>the first default block theme</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using minimal CSS, theme styles reside in theme.json so that you can configure them in the Styles interface of the WordPress Admin. Make this theme take on its own personality site-wide, with a wide array of color schemes, type combinations, page templates, premade components (forms), and image treatments to choose from.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"more-improvements-and-updates\"><strong>More Improvements and Updates</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Do you love to blog? New tweaks to the publishing flow let you add new posts just seconds after hitting Publish on your latest post.</li><li>List View lets you drag and drop content as easily as you could always cruise through it – and collapse entire sections – so you can concentrate on a task or get the bigger picture.</li><li><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33955\">The Buttons and Social icons blocks now absorb</a> and display their parent block’s toolbar controls.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li><a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43700\">Choose your language</a> on the login screen.</li><li>More <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33868\">performance improvements</a> (i.e., speed).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Props to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>chanthaboune</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/priethor/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>priethor</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>psykro</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>annezazu</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>webcommsat</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>hellofromtonya</a>, <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>davidbaumwald</a>, and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a> for their research and copy.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11584\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:72:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"People of WordPress: Devin Maeztri\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:69:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/people-of-wordpress-devin-maeztri/\";s: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, 30 Nov 2021 22:21:09 +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:8:\"category\";a:6:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Community\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Interviews\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"Contributor Story\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Indonesia\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:19:\"People of WordPress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"Polyglot Contributor\";s: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=11678\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:111:\"Devin Maeztri, a campaigner from Indonesia talks about the difference WordPress makes in her life and her work.\";s: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:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:16562:\"\n<p>In this series, we share some of the inspiring stories of how WordPress and its global network of contributors can change people&#8217;s lives for the better. This month we feature a translator and campaigner who uses WordPress to highlight good causes and helps people in her area benefit from the open source platform.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"843\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat.jpg?resize=632%2C843&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Devin pictured with one of her cats\" class=\"wp-image-11690\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-with-her-cat-scaled.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>Going to a WordCamp can be a life-changing experience, as Devin Maeztri discovered. Every event she attends is a further step on a journey of discovering the WordPress community and its many opportunities.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>“It is not that hard to fall for WordPress if you have a chance to experience WordPress. For me, it took a WordCamp.”</p><cite>Devin Maeztri</cite></blockquote></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin&#8217;s first experience with camps came when she volunteered impromptu at an Indonesian event, WordCamp Denpasar, Bali in 2016.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, she made a profound discovery: “WordCamps can bring people who will give back to the community, even if they don’t get anything from WordPress directly.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With every WordCamp after that first experience, she became more interested in WordPress and the community.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time, Devin found she wanted to be part of WordPress events more often. She became a regular at Meetups in Ubud and Jakarta, joining as a co-organizer at WordCamp Jakarta in 2017 and 2019. Later, she took on the role of co-organizer for Meetups in Jakarta and Ubud.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smitten by what WordCamps can offer and how they can bring people together across national borders, she joined the organizing team for WordCamp Asia 2020. Sadly, this event was to become the first major WordPress event to be cancelled in the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Naturally, Devin hopes WordCamp Asia will happen someday very soon. Beyond the expected WordPress learning and sharing that event will promote, she believes its very scale will showcase how WordCamps add international tourism and cultural understanding everywhere they take place.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"632\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=632%2C632&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Devin pictured with other WordCamp Asia organizers who attended WordCamp Europe in 2019\" class=\"wp-image-11692\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/wcasia_2020_organizers_in_wceu_2019.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption>WordCamp Asia 2020 Organizers at WordCamp Europe 2019. Devin is pictured in the front row, second from left. Photo Credit: Abha Thakor</figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"showing-how-wordpress-can-be-used-locally\">Showing how WordPress can be used locally</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After experiencing several events, Devin had questions: “At WordCamps and Meetups, you hear stories about how WordPress powers the web. How it changes the lives of so many people, how it helps dreams come true. It made me think, considering WordPress is that powerful, why are there not even more people in Indonesia using websites, and more using WordPress? Why aren’t more talented Indonesian WordPress users, developers, designers, and business owners taking part in WordPress.org projects? Language, for me, was the main answer.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The solution Devin felt was to make WordPress available in the main local language. She said: “I believe, the more content translated into Indonesian, the more Indonesian WordPress users see WordPress as more than just a blogging platform or a content management system. They will realize it’s a huge open source community that works together to make the web a better place. The more plugins and themes translated, the easier the work of the developer and designer will be. The more people see how WordPress can enhance their life, the better the ecosystem for business owners becomes.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"encouraging-others-to-translate-wordpress\">Encouraging others to translate WordPress</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After talking with others about how WordPress could be even more useful in Indonesia, Devin felt she had to make a personal commitment to reviving the polyglot project in Indonesia. With another volunteer contributor and through promotion, the local polyglot team got bigger and the interest in translation grew. She also took on the responsibility of a General Translation Editor for the language.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"318\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=632%2C318&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Polyglot nominatee - Devin Maeztri\" class=\"wp-image-11706\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=1024%2C515&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=300%2C151&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?resize=768%2C386&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/featured-img-used-for-devin-pow2.jpg?w=1247&amp;ssl=1 1247w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the efforts of Devin and the other translation editors, Indonesia took part in <a href=\"https://wptranslationday.org/\">WordPress Translation Day</a> in 2020, and in 2021 held sprints and learning sessions spanning the whole 30 days of the event. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her enthusiasm and dedication to helping others translate WordPress locally and promoting the global community were recognized in the Polyglot Appreciation Nominations for 2021. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"helping-to-give-access-to-more-diverse-audiences\">Helping to give access to more diverse audiences</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Through her involvement in translation, Devin noticed there were not many women involved in the WordPress community in Indonesia. Often, she found herself the only woman at an event.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, along with a couple of community members, she started Perempuan WordPress, a local initiative. This group is open for everyone to join, but prioritizes women as event speakers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin has gone on to support the work of the Diversity Speaker Training group in the Community Team, translating materials and promoting initiatives in Indonesia.&nbsp;She is keen to encourage others to get involved with this initiative which helps increase the diversity of presenters at Meetups and WordCamps. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"534\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-at-wc-jakarta2019.png?resize=600%2C534&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11689\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-at-wc-jakarta2019.png?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/devin-at-wc-jakarta2019.png?resize=300%2C267&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption><em>Organizing at WordCamp Jakarta 2019</em></figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>In her professional roles, Devin is an advocate for WordPress as a tool for people with a wide variety of skill sets. She does not code, but uses the platform extensively for her projects. In 2014, she signed up for a free account on WordPress.com to keep and share notes about what she saw or was thinking about as she commuted on public transport to work. This site did not turn into a blog, but instead introduced her to other opportunities and the vast capabilities of the platform.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-can-support-your-skills-and-passions\">WordPress can support your skills and passions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With a background in environmental activism, Devin has worked for international development organizations on everything from policymaking to campaigning.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind the desk, she worked with policymakers and organized conferences and meetings. That meant doing a lot of writing and translating and working with people on the ground who were impacted by the policies. “My work on the ground usually involved researching, movement building and community empowerment,” she noted.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her work with events inspired Devin to get involved in WordCamps and Meetups and share her energy for making things happen. As in her professional work, she felt WordPress was an opportunity to work and share with people about something that can make a positive impact on someone else’s life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“For me, everything comes from the heart. I do things that I feel so strongly about. Things that call me, and things that I am good at but still giving me room to learn and become better at. WordPress can be the perfect place for this.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While she was between jobs, Devin was encouraged to volunteer at WordCamp Denpasar 2016. With some help, she created an online CV. She also learned to manage a WordPress site, navigate the wp-admin, and make the content appeal to potential employers.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She eventually got a job as a campaigner to build a movement online and offline. The brainchild of many university friends in America, who used digital campaigns to go global, the campaign used WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin worked alongside a digital campaigner and helped shape the content, the call to action, and the user experience. She also had to use the wp-admin to make some amendments. As a global movement, it developed its resources in English, so she also reviewed the work of the translators she worked with.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"474\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation.jpg?resize=632%2C474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"One of Devin\'s cats watches the WPTranslationDay 2021 livestreamed events.\" class=\"wp-image-11688\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/cat-watching-translation-scaled.jpg?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption>Devin&#8217;s cat became a regular on social media posts about #WPTranslationDay 2021</figcaption></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<p>She left her job as a campaigner at the end of 2018 to concentrate on freelancing – and to spend more of her free time contributing to the WordPress community. She also took up the initiative to help street cats in Jakarta.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin said: “So, I am busy helping these cats but also learning how to fundraise using a website. I’m learning to use online forms, set up a payment service provider, work on SEO, and do other new things I need to learn to grow my initiative. I do have the privilege to learn directly from a personal guru. The same person who convinced me to volunteer at WordCamp Denpasar, and who I married in 2018.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"wordpress-gives-everyone-a-chance-to-learn\">WordPress gives everyone a chance to learn</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin was so enthused by being a contributor for WordPress, she took part in the video shorts following the Translation Day events.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/VsiQzdmAz8g?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div><figcaption>Devin talks about translating in this short <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsiQzdmAz8g\" target=\"_blank\">video</a> (opens in a new tab on YouTube)</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>She is also active in other Contributor Teams and decided to become a Community Team Deputy to support meetups in new cities across Indonesia and perhaps future WordCamps.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She said: “One of the things that I like about WordPress is that it is very welcoming and open to people like me, who don’t code at all. At the same time, it shows me a different way of looking at the world.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin believes in the power of WordPress to give ‘everyone a chance to learn new things’ and allows her to contribute and share her knowledge and experience. “By contributing, I hope to make a difference in someone’s life. I hope they feel the benefit of using WordPress and want to give back to create a healthier WordPress community.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"contributors\">Contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to Abha Thakor (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">@</a><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">webcommsat</a>) and Mary Baum (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>marybaum</a>) for the interviews and writing this feature, and to Devin Maeztri (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/devinmaeztri/\">@devinmaeztri</a>) for sharing her story. Thanks to Meher Bala (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\">@meher</a>) for work on the images, and to Chloé Bringmann (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">@cbringmann</a>) and Collieth Clarke (<a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/callye/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>callye</a>) for proofing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp;(@<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">chanthaboune</a>) and Topher DeRosia (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/\">@topher1kenobe</a>) for their support for the series.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on </em><a href=\"https://heropress.com/\"><em>HeroPress.com</em></a><em>, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard. </em>#HeroPress #ContributorStory</p>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11678\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:55:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:49:\"WP Briefing: Episode 21: All Things Block Themes!\";s: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:70:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-21-all-things-block-themes/\";s: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, 29 Nov 2021 12:07:00 +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:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11636\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:436:\"In episode 21 of the WordPress Briefing, Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, talks all things block themes with developers and theme specialists Maggie Cabrera and Jeff Ong. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor:&#160;Dustin Hartzler Logo:&#160;Beatriz Fialho Production:&#160;Chloé Bringmann Song: Fearless [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WP-Briefing-021.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"Chloe Bringmann\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:26887:\"\n<p>In episode 21 of the WordPress Briefing, Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, talks all things block themes with developers and theme specialists Maggie Cabrera and Jeff Ong.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/17/wordpress-5-9-beta-1-delayed/\">5.9 Beta 1 Delay Announcement </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">5.9 Revised Release Schedule</a></li><li><a href=\"https://sevilla.wordcamp.org/2021/\">WordCamp Sevilla 2021</a></li><li>Charitable Giving: <ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/donate/\">WordPress Foundation</a></li><li><a href=\"https://donate.bigorangeheart.org/\">Big Orange Heart</a></li><li><a href=\"https://heropressnetwork.com/support/\">HeroPress</a> <em>(Update: This organization is not a non-profit.)</em></li></ul></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11636\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. See, here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, today, folks, in our podcast, I am joined by a couple of special guests. I know it&#8217;s been a bit since I&#8217;ve had a guest, so I&#8217;m very excited to introduce you to who I have with me today. Today, I have <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/onemaggie/\">Maggie Cabrera</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jffng/\">Jeff Ong</a>. They both are working on themes, and especially the future of themes as we move into this low code, no code block based experience of editing things in WordPress. And there have been so many questions lately about what does the landscape of being a theme developer turns into once we move fully into this excellent promise of user empowerment for Gutenberg? I figured who best to come and talk to us about that than these two. So welcome, Maggie. Welcome, Jeff. I&#8217;m really excited to have this conversation with you today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>01:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for having us. Excited to be here.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:45</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m just gonna hop right in, and we will see what happens. The first thing that I want to chat about, I hear so many questions and so much discussion about patterns in a lot of different places. Like obviously, the work that I helped to steward the most is around like the Block Pattern directory and various other user-facing tools. And so I have never really been able to give a really solid answer about like patterns and how they work inside themes. And so I wondered if you all had anything that you could offer to our listeners to help clarify what is the power of patterns inside themes in the future? Implementation of themes?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>02:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can try to start unless, Maggie? Okay. Well, if you take a look at what I&#8217;ve been doing for the last couple of months working on Twenty Twenty-Two. And if you look at that theme, it&#8217;s mostly just the collection of patterns. Patterns. As you know, if you read the description, the theme, it&#8217;s designed to be the most flexible and kind of like flexible theme ever, dare I say ever created.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:04</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think you can dare to say it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>03:03</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, you know, I think a huge part of that is because of the Full Site Editing being launched, introduced in 5.9. And also that theme itself ships with all of these patterns in it that work with the overall design, but really can be configured to your own kind of unique liking and kind of taste and ultimately, what you want to accomplish, whether that&#8217;s I want to make a portfolio, I want to make, you know, a single-page website promoting like my podcast, or there are patterns for that kind of shipping with the theme. And they&#8217;ve all been kind of designed and tailored to work with the typography choices at a baseline level with the color choices at a baseline level, but can very easily be tweaked. And you can kind of rely on them to work with the editor. And I guess, kind of zooming out for a little bit, not just about Twenty-Twenty Two.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>04:04</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But like patterns as this idea that a theme, hopefully, what it is, it&#8217;s a collection of different design options or layout options that are ultimately presented as patterns to the user, the patterns are just a really easy way to basically say &#8220;I want you this layout, like two columns of text or with like some images here.&#8221; Basically, a theme becomes a way of packaging the patterns together in a way that feels like a coherent piece of a coherent website. And I think that&#8217;s a pretty powerful idea. I know that the patterns directory is also opening up making those patterns pretty widely available. But I think a theme you could think of as like a curation of those patterns in a way that makes sense. And I think Twenty-Twenty Two is a really good example. I mean, I&#8217;m biased.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:03</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also think it&#8217;s a good example. Maggie, did you have anything that you wanted to add to that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>05:08</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, What I really like about patterns is how it empowers the user, even if they don&#8217;t really have like a deep knowledge of code, or they&#8217;re not used to the more complex blocks. When the theme developer gives you this pattern about using the query block, for example, it lays out your posts in a very compelling manner. And you can edit it if you want it or just use it out of the box. And you have this dynamic blog that it&#8217;s, like, such a big important part of your website. Like if you want to have a page where you have, you have maybe a podcast website, and you want to showcase your podcasts differently than your regular blog posts. So you can use a different gray pattern for that. And it&#8217;s like, really, really easy to use, even if you&#8217;re not familiar with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:07</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the things that I have found compelling about this new version of themes and kind of the way that themes are planning to look in the future; it&#8217;s going to be like a super throwback, so everyone get ready for me to sound old, my guests and my listeners alike. It reminds me of my original days of blogging on the web. I was not a developer and even though I had this really short stint of working with JavaScript in my career, at some point. Like no one actually would ever look to me and be like, that one is excellent at design and fixing everything with code, like I was just killer at searching for the right pieces of code, right.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:57</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I remember sitting there on Zynga, which is, of course, now powered by WordPress, I absolutely just went out and found bundles of code that are now what we would consider themes and modified the small pieces that I needed to change in order to like really suit what I wanted to have happen on the site at the time. And they&#8217;re like, I knew I could break it all. Really easily. But also, it was, it was not scary to think about breaking it. Like it was clear how I could fix it if I really broke it. The content, like what I had written, was separate from everything to do with the way that it was looking. And so like, I wouldn&#8217;t destroy all of my work, just because I didn&#8217;t put a semicolon in the right place, or whatever it was in that moment. And so like, this future of themes really reminds me of this a lot where someone has curated how it can look how it should look. And you can just like add in modular pieces that will augment what was already intended, but still kind of work. And if it&#8217;s not gonna work, it&#8217;s kind of easy to fix too. So like, I&#8217;m excited. That was a really exciting time in my learning of the web and certainly was formative in my career, as we all now see. And so yeah, I think that&#8217;s really exciting.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:20</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did have actually another question that this conversation has kind of brought up for me. I have, obviously just use the term modular, which no one has ever used in the context of themes for WordPress. And I know that there is a lot there are a lot of terms kind of wandering around about themes right now. And especially as we&#8217;re moving into what themes can look like in the future. There was block based theme as a term for a while. And now it&#8217;s block themes. There was like this floating around the term, universal themes. And now we&#8217;re looking at just like block themes forever. And so I wondered if y&#8217;all could give us a just like a clear understanding of these terms that had been being used and maybe are going out of fashion? Like, are they important for us to keep knowing?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>09:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So yes, the history of terms around themes. And obviously, even my knowledge only goes back so far. But it was around when we started doing the block based themes meeting. And trying to I think that&#8217;s where that term kind of came from is like, oh, let&#8217;s, let&#8217;s start talking about this idea that themes can be completely made up out of blocks. And what does that mean?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>09:33</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think over time, it wasn&#8217;t just block themes, because, you know, previously, there were themes and even default themes that used and took into account the fact that blocks existed. So there was some confusion there. Enough time has gone on where we focus on this idea that themes whose templates are ultimately made out of blocks are block themes. And to me, it&#8217;s kind of as simple as that. Its themes that supply a set of templates that previously in the past were a collection of PHP and various template tags and whatnot is all transitioned to themes made up including other blocks, as well as themes that supply styles through theme.json configuration instead of supplying it in raw CSS. To me this idea is really crystallizing around like this is a block theme, one that is really, at its core, supplying a set of templates, and styles through a language that WordPress understands natively, and can allow it to be configured and customized in a really powerful way. And then maybe someday in the future, they&#8217;ll just be called themes again. If we do a good enough they will just be called themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>10:57</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m gonna, I&#8217;m gonna take us into a philosophical area now that you&#8217;ve just put us in there. You said, someday they&#8217;ll be called Themes. Again, I&#8217;ve talked about this on this podcast a few times. And for anyone who&#8217;s worked with me for any length of time, like you all probably heard this from me as well. But like, adjectives are so frequently the realm of things that are not what you expect, right? Because like you have coffee, and then decaf coffee, no one&#8217;s like caffeinated coffee, because that&#8217;s what you expect out of it. And so when you&#8217;re like themes, and block themes, it makes it look like block themes are secondary, which at the moment, they are, ish. But in the future, I think you&#8217;re probably right, there will be a time when the modifier isn&#8217;t necessary anymore because it will be hopefully a much better way for people to kind of change the way that their themes work and make it more usable for users and people who are, you know, having to manage their own site without necessarily wanting to or being able to, like, have a Maggie in the room to fix everything that they break.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>12:08</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maggie is nowhere near me. And so she&#8217;s never been in the room when I&#8217;ve broken anything. But I believe that Maggie on one occasion, at least, has come in and helped me fix something that I definitely broke. I&#8217;m an excellent breaker of WordPress things. Maggie, did you have anything you wanted to add to that question?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>12:29</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I guess, maybe clarify a bit, what universal themes are because, yeah, maybe some people have heard about the term but they don&#8217;t really know what they are. And maybe just clarify that. The term was born when developing block themes wasn&#8217;t something that you could actually do for production websites like you could build them to test some experiments, but they weren&#8217;t really ready for users to use. So universal themes want to grasp the power of love themes while still being ready for users. So the way they do it is they are block based, like we used to call them in the sense that the templates are made of blocks. But they are also able to be customized using the customizer, which is the old way of customizing themes, instead of using the site editor. So they can have a balance between two worlds between the worlds of classic themes and block themes. But they are, at heart, a temporary concept. They are bound to be blocked themes in the future, but with maybe a foot in the past, where they can actually serve users who are not ready for full-on site editor. But they are bound to be full block themes in the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>14:00</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s a really interesting concept in there. So universal themes, it sounds like are basically kind of like an on-ramp for people who are not really ready to fully commit to this for any number of reasons. Like we never want to say that we know the reason that people would be a little bit shy to get started with this. But like it&#8217;s kind of like an on-ramp, it&#8217;s a safe way to get back to something that they do know, in the event that what they don&#8217;t know, really hinders their progress makes it hard for them to get the work done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>14:31</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think I wouldn&#8217;t say that they are for people shyer to get into new stuff rather than developers who want to embrace the new stuff before it&#8217;s even really ready. They really want to embrace the power of the blocks instead of doing things the old way. But even if it&#8217;s not fully ready.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>14:54</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They still need to support the old way of doing things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>14:58</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like being backward compatible and being ready for any kind of user.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>15:05</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So mostly for developers, everyone who heard me just talking about how it was a great thing for users, ignore it. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>15:12</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s also good for users; If they feel secure in using the customizer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>15:20</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I think that there&#8217;s something important here that we certainly learned with the adoption of Gutenberg in 5.0. Right, which is that there is certainly one method of helping people to adopt things, which is to go like the art of war style, and kind of smash their rice pots and burn all their boats, like, that&#8217;s one way. Which works for a lot of companies in the world, I&#8217;m sure. But WordPress has always had kind of a commitment, not even kind of, has always had a commitment to backward compatibility. And like, we know that a lot of the work on Gutenberg is going to represent some breaking changes around the around workflows and around the user experience the interface, especially like, we know that. But the opportunity to like have a thing that gives you an early taste of what&#8217;s coming but also the ability to keep kind of working in your old space where you need to, I think it&#8217;s an excellent way to bring people forward into the future of things, I have never been a fan of the just like cut off all avenues and hope that they stay with your method because of course, like you can&#8217;t cut off all the methods. You can&#8217;t cut off all the ways people can get away from you. And even if we could, it wouldn&#8217;t be in line with how WordPress hopes to kind of help people through some tough stuff like making your first website is hard. If you are doing it as part of, an overall campaign that&#8217;s supposed to bring in leads for you or generate revenue like you don&#8217;t want to necessarily play with that in a way that could break things and be risky for you in the long term. So I think all the tools that we offer to help people kind of move forward with the technology move forward with the CMS as it&#8217;s moving forward, I think it&#8217;s really smart. And so universal themes are one of those things, but also not around to stay. As we move into non modified themes, just the word themes that happen to be based in blocks. If I&#8217;ve confused anyone, please email me at wpbriefing@wordpress.org. And tell me how I confused you. And I will do a follow-up to unconfuse everyone.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>17:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So speaking of the way that we help people kind of move forward with WordPress and with the technology. So much has been done in the CMS in the past 12 months in the past 18 months to be able to move themes into this same future as the rest of the editor. Right. So like, for folks who have not been listening to me for the last five years, you may not know this. So I&#8217;m going to tell everybody now, like one of the pain points that Gutenberg overall is solving is the fact that you for a long time had to learn five different editing interfaces to get one thing done in WordPress, right. And so like the advent of blocks and moving it into more and more spaces in the CMS is intended to really flatten the editing experience by making the type of user interaction the type of workflow really similar across all of the editing interfaces in the CMS. And so themes are a natural extension of that, where we can take similar user patterns and workflows, and work them out into themes. So over the last 12 months or so probably a little bit more, there&#8217;s been a lot of work on the CMS to move us forward in that that is now enabling the work that we want to be able to do to move things forward ahead. And so, I mean, this is probably our last question. Is there anything that you all want to offer to people who maybe saw themes early on or saw Gutenberg early on and felt like this is just not for me, in that in that context of like, how far it&#8217;s moved ahead in the past 12 months or so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>19:23</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you&#8217;re asking like, what in the last 12 months has maybe like really surprised me or like sticks out to me as something that like, Wow, look how far we&#8217;ve come?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>19:36</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, yeah. So like, if you&#8217;re looking at what is the one thing that you saw in the last 12 months, that changed in the CMS that really enabled something wonderful for themes or from the other side of it. Like if someone had looked at themes or WordPress 18 months ago, and now they&#8217;re looking at it and seeing this new and different way to do things with the look and feel of their site, like what is one thing that they should be aware of? On either side of that question,</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maggie Cabrera&nbsp; </strong>20:05</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think there&#8217;s more than one thing that has really evolved through this last year, year and a half. Like the maturity of some of the blocks is astounding now, like navigation blog, for example, was really bare-bones at the start and now it&#8217;s full potential, and it&#8217;s really looking really great. I would say the same thing about those days or the features on fire, like how basic it was at the start, was full potential. But now it&#8217;s really, really mature in terms of how much you can do with it. Like, I think the example, the perfect example of that is the work that <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/\">Kjell [Reigstad]</a> has done on Twenty-Twenty Two with the alternative theme.json files, where just changing that file basically feels like a new theme, with just the configuration and the styles. And without writing any CSS without changing any templates. It&#8217;s really, really amazing how that can turn into a reality. And it&#8217;s so easy for users to tinker with that if they want to. And it&#8217;s much easier than having to delve deep into CSS and changing everything in like 2000 lines of code.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Ong&nbsp; </strong>21:23</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I probably would echo most of that. What the thing that astounds me is global styles and how the UI can be shipping a theme or default theme with basically like, 20 lines of CSS, and have it be one of them. A beautiful, beautiful, like crisp and sharp, like, experience. It&#8217;s super fast. And it&#8217;s like, what this is a theme, you know, I thought a theme was supposed to supply all the styles like no, like, it&#8217;s just yeah. And workers do for you. Exactly. And like that. That&#8217;s pretty amazing to think in the last 12 months, we can go from, you know, shipping 1000s of lines of CSS to you none, it&#8217;s like, Wow, pretty cool.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>22:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, my friends, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been a really interesting conversation. I hope that all y&#8217;all out listening. Also find it interesting. As I mentioned, if you have any follow-up questions, absolutely. Send them to me via email. And I collect all of my questions that I get through the year for answering at the end of the year, mostly because I don&#8217;t get lots of questions that people want to be answered on this. Everyone just asked me their questions on Twitter and in Slack, which is fine as well.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>22:41</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, Maggie, Jeff, thank you both for joining me. And I&#8217;m sure that we&#8217;ll talk to you all again soon.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>22:56</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That brings us now to our small list of big things. In the last episode, I got all excited about being in the beta phase. But today, I&#8217;m rolling that back a little bit. As part of our usual open source processes, a group of contributors did a deep dive review on the WordPress 5.9 release and found a workflow that needed some refinement. So we are delaying the beta.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>23:19</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since we are in the midst of a major commerce slash/sales season, and of course, a lengthy holiday season, that delay also means that it makes sense to delay WordPress 5.9 final release a little as well. And so we are delaying that all the way into 2022 to January 25. For me, the trade-off works really well there. Every decision that we make in open source, of course, has some balance to it. It&#8217;s great for these aspects, it is less great for these aspects over here. But for myself, the opportunity to make sure that we have a really excellent experience for our users and also an opportunity to kind of avoid all of the chaos and hustle and bustle of the end of the year. Really, it seemed like a no-brainer for me. So in case you want to learn a little bit more about why we made the decision and get some insight into the actual milestones and where they have moved now, I&#8217;ll include some posts in the show notes below in case you want to read more and of course, if you have any additional questions you can always ask.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>24:33</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second small list of big things is that the first back to people WordCamp. I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re calling it. Our first back to people WordCamp is happening in a couple of weeks actually. WordCamp Sevilla is happening in person on December 11. And I&#8217;m so excited I wish I were local, but I&#8217;m not so if you are local stop by their website and pick up your ticket.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>24:55</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the third thing on our smallest a big things is that it is, of course, charitable giving season. I don&#8217;t know if you do your charitable giving at the end of the year or if that&#8217;s even part of your general ways of giving back. But I can think of two or three charitable organizations inside the WordPress ecosystem. There&#8217;s of course the WordPress Foundation, but also Big Orange Heart and HeroPress. If there are others out there, I certainly do want to know about them. WordPress Foundation also does additional giving on behalf of just like the open web and open source as a whole. So if you&#8217;re the sort of person who does their charitable giving at the end of the year, just a reminder that you have some options inside the WordPress ecosystem if you were trying to figure out some new places to donate to in 2021.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>25:42</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that is your small list of big things. Thank you so much for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. Thank you again to our special guests, Maggie and Jeff. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11636\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:9;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"Watch State of the Word at a Watch Party with your WordPress Friends\";s: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:104:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/watch-state-of-the-word-at-a-watch-party-with-your-wordpress-friends/\";s: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, 24 Nov 2021 18:30:14 +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:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Events\";s: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=11641\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:322:\"State of the Word 2021 is just around the corner!&#160; Although attending State of the Word in person would be ideal, not all WordPress community members get to enjoy the experience of attending the speech live with friends.&#160; This year, as State of the Word is streamed live for the second time, we want to [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Hari Shanker R\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20064:\"\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">State of the Word 2021</a> is just around the corner!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although attending State of the Word in person would be ideal, not all WordPress community members get to enjoy the experience of attending the speech live with friends.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, as State of the Word is streamed live for the second time, we want to restore that in person camaraderie through State of the Word watch parties for WordPress Community members around the world.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><strong>We encourage WordPress meetup organizers and community members worldwide to (safely) host State of the Word 2021 watch parties —</strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/\"><strong>read this handbook to learn more</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"why-organize-a-watch-party\">Why organize a watch party?&nbsp;</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>If you are a <a href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\">WordPress meetup</a> organizer, many folks in your meetup may be unaware of the State of the Word, and a watch party could be a great opportunity to introduce or remind them.</li><li>As meetup organizers slowly bid goodbye to a tough year, the watch party could be an excellent opportunity to revitalize your group, especially if you haven’t had many events this year.</li><li>Along with your Meetup group members, you get a platform to ask questions directly to Matt Mullenweg.</li><li>And last but not least, even if you are not a Meetup Organizer, a watch party can be the perfect opportunity to reconnect and have a blast with your WordPress friends!</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-do-i-organize-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party\">How do I organize a State of the Word watch party?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can choose to host a watch party online or in person. Check out <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/#schedule-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party-for-your-meetup\">our handbook</a> for detailed instructions on how to schedule an event (including event templates).</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3 id=\"online\">Online</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The simplest way to organize an online watch party is to schedule an online event for your WordPress group and add the State of the Word YouTube streaming link directly on Meetup.com. Alternatively, you can schedule an online meeting using tools like Zoom and broadcast the live stream over there by screen sharing––thereby facilitating better engagement. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61cc5d0c3b17c wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/#organizing-an-online-watch-party\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Organize an Online Watch Party</a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<h3 id=\"in-person\">In Person</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If your region meets <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/2021-returning-to-in-person-meetups/\">the guidelines for in person events</a> (if vaccines and testing are freely available), you can organize an in person watch party event (for fully vaccinated OR recently tested OR recently recovered folks) for your WordPress Meetup! Group members can hang out together (following local safety guidelines of course) and watch State of the Word live.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61cc5d0c3b4ce wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/#organizing-an-in-person-watch-party\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Plan an In person Watch Party</a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NOTE:</strong> If State of the Word is happening at an odd hour in your timezone, you can still organize a watch party by organizing a replay of live stream, at a date/time that is convenient for your group.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>If your Local WordPress Meetup is organizing an in person watch party, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/request-swag-for-in-person-watch-parties/\"><strong>fill out this form</strong></a><strong> so that we can ship some swag for your group to celebrate!</strong><br>Deadline: November 30, 2021</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-else-do-i-need-to-know-about-organizing-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party\">What else do I need to know about organizing a State of the Word watch party?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Excited? To help you get started, we’ve put together a few resources:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Check out this </strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/\"><strong>handbook</strong></a><strong> for detailed instructions on how to organize a watch party, </strong>be it online or in person.</li><li>Looking for a Zoom Pro account to host your online watch party?&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/getting-started/special-virtual-events-zoom-request/\">Request a community zoom pro account</a>&nbsp;for your event right away!</li><li>We have prepared some <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/event-formats/2021-state-of-the-word-watch-parties/email-templates-for-state-of-the-word/\">email templates</a> that Meetup Organizers can use to spread the word in their Meetup groups.</li><li>Don’t forget to share on social media about your watch party events using the hashtag <strong>#StateOfTheWord</strong> so we can join in on the fun!</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><strong>NOTE: </strong> The guidelines in this post are primarily aimed at WordPress Meetup organizers. <strong>However, you do not need to be a Meetup organizer to schedule a watch party!</strong> You can simply hang out together with your friends online or in person (while following local safety guidelines) and catch the event live!</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"join-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party-near-you\">Join a State of the Word Watch Party near you!</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We have compiled a list of State of the Word Watch Parties around the world. If you don&#8217;t see a watch party in your region listed here, <a href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">check this page on Meetup.com</a>  to see if your local WordPress group is organizing one. If not, why don&#8217;t you consider organizing a watch party on your own? <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f642.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC\">WordPress NYC Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC/events/282276960/\" target=\"_blank\">An In Person MeetUp: The State of the Word 2021 is in Manhattan.</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup\">South Jersey WordPress Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup/events/282402090/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Morris County NJ WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group/events/282402069/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Montclair Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup/events/282326195/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv\">WordPress Santa Clarita Valley</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv/events/282056842/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">The Houston WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress/events/282402609/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/\">North East Ohio WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/events/282456476/\">State of Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup\">Birmingham WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup/events/282313212/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Lehigh Valley WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup/events/282304472/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/\">Metro Detroit WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/events/282519538/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp\" target=\"_blank\">Greater Milwaukee Area WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp/events/282598865/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">The East Bay WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup/events/282539457/\">State of the Word 2021 (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress\" target=\"_blank\">Sacramento WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress/events/282593192/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Louisville</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville/events/281858101/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party and Discussion (WP Louisville, KY)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1e8-1f1f4.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Medellín</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin/events/282306436/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021: Discurso de Matt &amp; Fiesta de Comunidad (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ed-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\">Port-au-Prince WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\"></a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup/events/282350488/\" target=\"_blank\">Rejoignez-nous le 14 décembre pour regarder State of the Word 2021 (online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Coventry Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry/events/282302051/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Exeter</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter/events/282293408/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/\">WordPress Meetup Torino</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/events/282467417/\">State of the Word 2021 Video Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f7-1f1fc.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Kigali WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup/events/282321636/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Lagos WordPress Community</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Ijebu-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Ijebu WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Jinja WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup/events/282637298/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party &#8211; WordPress Community Uganda (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/\">Kampala WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/events/282678558/\">State of the Word Livestream</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f5-1f1f0.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Meetups Lahore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore/events/282311458/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal\">WordPress Bhopal</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal/events/282470541/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/\">Bengaluru WordPress</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/events/282271921/\">WordPress Meetup &#8211; State of the word -Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f8-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Singapore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore/events/282296137/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p>If you are planning a watch party for State of the Word, and have questions, please drop us an email to: <a href=\"mailto:support@wordcamp.org\">support@wordcamp.org</a> if you have any questions. We are happy to help you in the best way possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to this post: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>eidolonnight</a> <em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/evarlese/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>evarlese</a></em></em> <em>and <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a></em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11641\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:10;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:63:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"A Look at WordPress 5.9\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:59:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/a-look-at-wordpress-5-9/\";s: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, 23 Nov 2021 21:02:02 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:3:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Design\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Development\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Features\";s: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=11625\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:322:\"WordPress 5.9 is expected to be a ground-breaking release. It will introduce the next generation of themes with Twenty Twenty-Two joining the fun and over 30 theme blocks to build all parts of your site. In anticipation of the January 25th release, we hope you enjoy this sneak peek of 5.9. New design tools will [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Kelly Hoffman\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:2987:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/XvEG9XWD4JI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 is expected to be a ground-breaking release. It will introduce the next generation of themes with <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/06/introducing-twenty-twenty-two/\">Twenty Twenty-Two</a> joining the fun and over 30 theme blocks to build all parts of your site. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">In anticipation of the January 25th release</a>, we hope you enjoy this sneak peek of 5.9.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>New design tools will allow you to create exactly what you want, from adding filters to all your images to fine-tuning the border radius on all your buttons. With WordPress 5.9 providing more design control along with streamlined access to patterns, you can easily change the entire look and feel of your site without switching themes<strong>.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter what you’re editing, whether it&#8217;s crafting a new post or working on a header, improvements to List View make it simple to navigate content regardless of complexity. More improvements and features for everyone are to come in this release and we can&#8217;t wait to see what you create with WordPress 5.9! </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"stay-tuned\">Stay Tuned</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay tuned for more updates as the date draws near. If you want to help, the best thing you can do is <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">test everything</a>! For all the details, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/11/22/wordpress-5-9-revised-release-schedule/\">check out this Make Core post</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Video props: <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>annezazu</a> (also co-wrote the post) <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/michaelpick/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>michaelpick</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/matveb/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>matveb</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>beafialho</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/javiarce/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>javiarce</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/critterverse/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>critterverse</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/joen/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>joen</a>.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11625\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:11;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"Join us for State of the Word 2021, in person or online!\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:90:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/join-us-for-state-of-the-word-2021-in-person-or-online/\";s: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, 22 Nov 2021 21:08:15 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Events\";s: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=11611\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:297:\"As previously announced, State of the Word will be livestreamed from New York City. That means that you can join the fun either online or in person, on December 14, 2021, between 5 and 7 pm EST! To join State of the Word 2021 online, check your Meetup chapter for a local watch party, or [&#8230;]\";s: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:7:\"Josepha\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1726:\"\n<p>As <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">previously announced</a>, State of the Word will be livestreamed from New York City. That means that you can join the fun either online or in person, on <a href=\"https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?qm=1&amp;lid=5128581,100&amp;h=5128581&amp;date=2021-12-14&amp;sln=17-19&amp;hf=0\">December 14, 2021, between 5 and 7 pm EST</a>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To join State of the Word 2021 online, check your Meetup chapter for a local watch party, or simply visit <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/\">wordpress.org/news</a>, where the livestream will be embedded.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like to participate in person in New York City, please request a seat by filling out the registration form by Sunday, November 28. Not all requests will receive a seat due to venue capacity, but everyone who requests one will receive further notification on Tuesday, November 30.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In person attendees will be asked to show their COVID vaccination card at the venue entrance, and are expected to follow the safety measures in place. Because of these safety measures, there is a maximum of 50 attendees.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61cc5d0c431b7 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://wordcampcentral.survey.fm/request-a-seat-sotw-2021\">Request a seat</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you participate in person or online, we are so excited to see you on December 14! Don’t forget, State of the Word will be followed by a Question &amp; Answer session. If you have a question for Matt, you can send your question ahead of time to ask-matt@wordcamp.org, or ask during the event in the YouTube chat.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11611\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:12;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:55:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:44:\"WP Briefing: Episode 20: WordPress=Blogging+\";s: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://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-20-wordpressblogging/\";s: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, 15 Nov 2021 12:00:00 +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:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11556\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:386:\"In this episode, WordPress&#8217;s Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, answers two recently asked questions. 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Credits [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WP-Briefing-020.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"Chloe Bringmann\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10275:\"\n<p>In this episode, WordPress&#8217;s Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, answers two recently asked questions. Tune in to hear what those questions were and her response, in addition to this week&#8217;s small list of big things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress\">W3Techs WordPress Usage Statistics </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">WordPress 5.9 Development Cycle </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/10/22/team-rep-nominations/\">Call for Team Rep Nomination</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11556\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I was in a meeting recently, which I realize isn&#8217;t saying much for me since I spend a quarter of my time in meetings. But in this particular meeting, I was asked a couple of questions that I absolutely loved. The first question was, “if there were one thing you could change in people&#8217;s minds about WordPress, what would it be?” And my answer, predictable though it may be, was that I want to change the idea that WordPress is just a blogging platform.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:06</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress has grown into a lot more than that. But the idea of a content management system, even now, sometimes gets a mental shorthand where content is a stand-in for the word writing or words. If you&#8217;re using WordPress today in an enterprise context, or as part of a governmental agency, or if you use it in a classroom setting, you know that your content cannot be confined that way. And if you&#8217;re supporting or building anything to hand off to clients, you know that timely, easy-to-ship changes on a site are considered a vital part of any overarching brand and marketing strategy. And when was the last time that any marketing strategy was literally only about the words?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:51</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that was the first question. And also my first answer. There is also this kind of annual, not fear, necessarily, but this annual question that is sort of related that is raised to me and has been asked of me recently, that I&#8217;m just going to give you a small answer to. One annual worry that I get every year around November and December is, &#8220;What are we going to do about the fact that the term blog and blogging are declining in search popularity?&#8221; And I was gonna say it&#8217;s been a while since I answered that in any sort of public format. But I think maybe I&#8217;ve never answered it in a public format at all. And so I&#8217;m just going to answer it here. Because I think maybe a lot of people have that same question.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>02:36</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So number one, I think that the way that people search now is different. There&#8217;s a lot more semantic cognition. This is not the way to answer this &#8212;  search engines are smarter now. So like, it used to be the case with early search engines that yeah, there was a lot of just like, individual search terms that were looked for. But now, people are asking full questions; they have, essentially, an entire sentence that they are searching for. And then, search engines are able to parse that information better and get more high-quality answers and information for them. So like, that&#8217;s one thing that I&#8217;m already not worried about. If people are searching for individual words anymore, it&#8217;s so that they can get a definition of that word. So I&#8217;m not specifically worried about a decline in search volume for the word blog or blogging for that reason. But the answer to my first question, if there is probably the real reason that I&#8217;m not actually super worried about any decline in search volume for the word blog, or blogging, is that WordPress has really moved beyond that. And since we have moved beyond that, then it doesn&#8217;t necessarily make sense for WordPress as an entity for WordPress as a project to get overly hung up on the idea that the term blog has gone out of fashion.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:52</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, now that I did my first question, and the answer, and then an additional question that only ever gets asked in private and is being answered by me for the first time in public, I will tell you now, the second question that I loved, someone asking of me, and that question is this: &#8220;What is one thing you&#8217;d like people to see or experience, right when they first land on wordpress.org?&#8221; Now, I often don&#8217;t get asked questions about the wordpress.org website, like administrative tasks, things that we need to update, move around where they should go. Sure. But like, “Josepha, what&#8217;s the point and purpose of this site?” Never. I&#8217;ve never been asked that, and so I was really excited that someone asked me, and I&#8217;m going to give you a heads up. I think some of you might disagree with my answer.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the primary thing that I want people to see or experience when they first get to wordpress.org, the website is the depth of WordPress. Not which audience segment they should belong to or that we believe they should belong to or raw data about the CMS or even how much we care about the freedoms of open source. Now the first thing I want people to see on that site is that WordPress has not only 18 years of learned knowledge that every single new user benefits from, but that it also has 1,000s of really smart people making sure it works and gets better every day, now.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:19</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress is a Goliath in its field. I know that we cite this bit of context. Frequently, we say that we are 42% of the web. And that is true that is the percentage by usage. But in its field, which is websites that are using a content management system, we actually have a 65% market share. This is very easy to find. It&#8217;s on the W3Techs website: I can put a link in the show notes, but you could find it just by searching for it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:46</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So WordPress is a Goliath in its field of websites that are run using a CMS. Because we have always brought our learnings forward with us with the understanding that knowledge, when shared grows rather than diminishes. But open source, the heart of what defines this project, open source is not a Goliath; it&#8217;s barely even David somedays. Even though the web is built on scads of open source software, there&#8217;s a pervasive public perception that it is built by and for hobbyists or that it is inherently risky, and that if there were if it were worth something, then people would pay something. And I just know that if the first impression of WordPress, we&#8217;re, &#8220;we&#8217;ve got 18 years of experience and learning that brought us to today,&#8221; the rest of the sale to adopt software that protects other people&#8217;s freedoms would take care of itself. And I guess, to quote John Oliver, at this point, &#8220;And now this.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:59</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, that brings us now to our small list of big things. There are actually quite a few big things on this small list today. So number one, we have reached the beta phase for the year&#8217;s final release, which means that WordPress 5.9 beta one is happening tomorrow, Tuesday, November 16. And then seven days later, I believe on the 23rd, if I recall correctly, comes beta two.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:24</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second thing on my list is that team rep nominations are happening all over the project right now. I&#8217;ve got a post that I will share in the notes below that I believe all the team reps have put their team&#8217;s nomination posts on. So if you have had an interest in learning more about that and what it means to help keep teams kind of running in the WordPress project, then this is a great opportunity to check those out.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>07:49</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the third thing, this last thing actually isn&#8217;t in the next two weeks, but it is very important, nonetheless. Matt&#8217;s annual State of the Word is coming up on December 14. So basically a month from today. It&#8217;s going to join the growing list of in-person events that are on the calendar. It will be in New York City but will also be live-streamed across the world as usual. Keep an eye out for additional updates about that for anyone who, like me, really looks forward to this particular presentation from our project co-founder every year.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:25</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress briefing. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11556\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:13;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"State of the Word 2021\";s: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://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\";s: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, 13 Nov 2021 00:38:05 +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:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Events\";s: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=11567\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:346:\"Howdy, World!&#160; Mark your calendars; it’s almost time for State of the Word 2021! State of the Word is the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg. Every year, the event allows us to reflect on the project’s progress and the future of open source. This year will include that and [&#8230;]\";s: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:7:\"Josepha\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17591:\"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"632\" height=\"356\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/OpiH_P9aGhQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"></iframe>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Howdy, World!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">Mark your calendars</a>; it’s almost time for State of the Word 2021!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>State of the Word is the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder, Matt Mullenweg. Every year, the event allows us to reflect on the project’s progress and the future of open source. This year will include that and more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to the pandemic, we moved the State of the Word online for the first time ever in 2020. This year, the event will be livestreamed from New York City. That will enable us to take as many folks as possible along for the ride!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Join Matt as he provides a retrospective of 2021, discusses the latest trends he’s seeing, celebrates the community’s amazing wins, and explores the future. Expect to hear about a range of topics, from WordPress 5.9 and Openverse to Web3 and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What:</strong> State of the Word 2021</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When:</strong> <a href=\"https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?text=State+of+the+Word+2021+livestream&amp;dates=20211214T220000Z/20211215T000000Z&amp;details=State+of+the+Word+is+the+annual+keynote+address+delivered+by+the+WordPress+project%27s+co-founder,+Matt+Mullenweg.%0AJoin+Matt+as+he+provides+a+retrospective+of+2021,+celebrates+the+community%27s+amazing+wins,+discusses+the+latest+trends+he%27s+seeing,+and+explores+the+future+of+open+source.%0AState+of+the+Word+will+be+live+streamed+from+New+York+City,+and+is+free+for+all+to+watch.%0Ahttps://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/state-of-the-word-2021/\">December 14, 2021, between 5 and 7 pm ET/10 &#8211; 12 am (December 15) UTC</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How:</strong> If you’re watching from the comfort of your home or <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/watch-state-of-the-word-at-a-watch-party-with-your-wordpress-friends/\">local watch party</a>, the livestream will be embedded on wordpress.org/news.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Have a question for Matt?</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>State of the Word will be followed by a Question &amp; Answer session. If you want to participate, you can either send your question ahead of time to <a href=\"mailto:ask-matt@wordcamp.org\">ask-matt@wordcamp.org</a>, or ask during the event in the livestream chat on YouTube.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re new to State of the Word, the previous years’ recordings (below) will help you get a sense of what the event is about. Check them out:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2020/12/state-of-the-word-2020/\">State of the Word 2020 (online)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2019/11/03/2019-state-of-the-word/\">State of the Word 2019 – WordCamp US, St. Louis</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2018/12/27/state-of-the-word-2018/\">State of the Word 2018 – WordCamp US, Nashville</a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/\">All recordings</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope to see you online on December 14th!</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"join-a-state-of-the-word-watch-party-near-you\">Join a State of the Word Watch Party near you</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We have compiled a list of State of the Word Watch Parties around the world. If you don&#8217;t see a watch party in your region listed here, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://meetup.com/pro/wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">check this page on Meetup.com</a> to see if your local WordPress group is organizing one.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC\">WordPress NYC Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressNYC/events/282276960/\" target=\"_blank\">An In Person MeetUp: The State of the Word 2021 is in Manhattan.</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup\">South Jersey WordPress Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/South-Jersey-WordPress-Meetup/events/282402090/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Morris County NJ WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Morris-County-NJ-WordPress-Group/events/282402069/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Montclair Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Montclair-Meetup/events/282326195/\" target=\"_blank\">JerseyPress: State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv\">WordPress Santa Clarita Valley</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wordpressscv/events/282056842/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress\" target=\"_blank\">The Houston WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/houston-wordpress/events/282402609/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/\">North East Ohio WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/NEOWordPress/events/282456476/\">State of Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup\">Birmingham WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-WordPress-Meetup/events/282313212/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Lehigh Valley WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lehigh-Valley-WordPress-Meetup/events/282304472/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/\">Metro Detroit WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/metro-detroit-wordpress-meetup/events/282519538/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp\" target=\"_blank\">Greater Milwaukee Area WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Milwaukee-WordPress-MeetUp/events/282598865/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">The East Bay WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup/events/282539457/\">State of the Word 2021 (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress\" target=\"_blank\">Sacramento WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-WordPress/events/282593192/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Louisville</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Louisville/events/281858101/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word Watch Party and Discussion (WP Louisville, KY)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1e8-1f1f4.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Medellín</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPressMedellin/events/282306436/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021: Discurso de Matt &amp; Fiesta de Comunidad (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ed-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\">Port-au-Prince WordPress Meetup Group</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\"></a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Port-au-Prince-WordPress-Meetup/events/282350488/\" target=\"_blank\">Rejoignez-nous le 14 décembre pour regarder State of the Word 2021 (online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Coventry Meetup</a>]  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpcoventry/events/282302051/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ec-1f1e7.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Exeter</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpexeter/events/282293408/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f9.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/\">WordPress Meetup Torino</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Meetup-Torino/events/282467417/\">State of the Word 2021 Video Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f7-1f1fc.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Kigali WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kigali-WordPress-Meetup/events/282321636/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group\" target=\"_blank\">Lagos WordPress Community</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f3-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Ijebu-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Ijebu WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Lagos-WordPress-Meetup-Group/events/282321642/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup\" target=\"_blank\">Jinja WordPress Meetup</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Jinja-WordPress-Meetup/events/282637298/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party &#8211; WordPress Community Uganda (Online)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/\">Kampala WordPress Meetup</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Kampala-WordPress-Meetup/events/282678558/\">State of the Word Livestream</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f5-1f1f0.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Meetups Lahore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Lahore/events/282311458/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal\">WordPress Bhopal</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Bhopal/events/282470541/\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (In-person)</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1ee-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/\">Bengaluru WordPress</a>] <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/BengaluruWordPress/events/282271921/\">WordPress Meetup &#8211; State of the word -Watch Party</a></li><li><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f1f8-1f1ec.png\" alt=\"??\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" /> [<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Singapore</a>] <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.meetup.com/WordPress-Singapore/events/282296137/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Word 2021 Watch Party (Online)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p>If you are planning a watch party for State of the Word, and have questions, please drop us an email to: <a href=\"mailto:support@wordcamp.org\">support@wordcamp.org</a> if you have any questions. We are happy to help you in the best way possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Thanks to <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>anjanavasan</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>eidolonnight</a> <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>rmartinezduque</a> for their work on this post. The featured image was created by <a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>beafialho</a></em>.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11567\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:14;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:66:\"Take the 2021 WordPress Annual Survey (and view the 2020 results)!\";s: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:99:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/take-the-2021-wordpress-annual-survey-and-view-the-2020-results/\";s: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, 11 Nov 2021 23:52:12 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Community\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7:\"General\";s: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=11551\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:359:\"Each year, members of the WordPress community (users, site builders, extenders, and contributors) provide their valuable feedback through an annual survey. Key takeaways and trends that emerge from this survey often find their way into the annual State of the Word address, are shared in the public project blogs, and can influence the direction and [&#8230;]\";s: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:7:\"Josepha\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4885:\"\n<p>Each year, members of the WordPress community (users, site builders, extenders, and contributors) provide their valuable feedback through an annual survey. Key takeaways and trends that emerge from this survey often find their way into the annual <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/\"><em>State of the Word</em></a> address, are shared in the public project blogs, and can influence the direction and strategy for the WordPress Project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simply put: this survey helps those who build WordPress understand more about how the software is used, and by whom. The survey also helps leaders in the WordPress open source project learn more about our contributors’ experiences.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure that <strong><em>your</em></strong> WordPress experience is represented in the 2021 survey results, <a href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2021-survey-english\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">take the 2021 annual survey now.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61cc5d0c4e8e3 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2021-survey-english\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Take the Annual Survey! (English)</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<p>You may also take the survey in <a href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2021-survey-french\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">French</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2021-survey-german\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">German</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2021-survey-japanese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Japanese</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2021-survey-russian\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Russian</a>, or <a href=\"https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/wordpress-2021-survey-spanish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spanish</a>. These are the top five languages (other than English) based on the number of WordPress locale downloads. For 2022, additional languages may be considered for translation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The survey will be open through the end of 2021, and the results will be published in a future post on this blog for anyone to view. Next year, there will be a new format for this survey, including which segments and questions are included, so that your valuable time spent responding results in equally valuable information.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"2020-survey-results\">2020 Survey Results</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For the 2020 survey, more than 17,000 responses were collected, representing the highest submission volume in four years, up three times from the prior year. In the inaugural year of the survey (2015), over 50,000 responses were collected. Given the reach and adoption of WordPress, there is a significant number we have not reached. As you take the 2021 survey, consider sharing the link on social media and with other colleagues who use WordPress. Gathering feedback from more folks who benefit from WordPress will strengthen our project.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61cc5d0c4ee80 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress.org-2020-Annual-Survey.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">View the 2020 Survey Results (PDF)</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2020 survey results show that the pandemic has had a major impact on how we operate as a community. With few in-person events, many community members continue to find it challenging to balance community contributions with their own personal and professional obligations.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"footnotes\">Footnotes:</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Data security and privacy are paramount to the WordPress project and community. With this in mind, all data will be anonymized: no email addresses nor IP addresses will be associated with published results. To learn more about WordPress.org’s privacy practices, view the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/\">privacy policy</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like last year, the 2021 survey will be promoted via a banner on WordPress.org, and throughout the make blogs. However, taking a moment to amplify these posts through your own social media and Slack accounts will ensure broader participation. Each of the translated surveys will be promoted through banners on their associated localized-language WordPress.org sites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Thanks to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dansoschin/\">@dansoschin</a> for the initial draft of this post, and to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\">@annezazu</a> &amp; <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zackkrida/\">@zackkrida</a> for review!</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11551\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:60:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48:\"WordPress 5.8.2 Security and Maintenance Release\";s: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:84:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/wordpress-5-8-2-security-and-maintenance-release/\";s: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, 10 Nov 2021 18:20:45 +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:8:\"category\";a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Releases\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Security\";s: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=11546\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:365:\"WordPress 5.8.2&#160;is now available! This security and maintenance release features 2 bug fixes in addition to 1 security fix. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 5.2 have also been updated. WordPress 5.8.2 is a small focus security and maintenance release. The next [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"Jonathan Desrosiers\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3030:\"\n<p><strong>WordPress 5.8.2&nbsp;</strong>is now available!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This security and maintenance release features <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?id=54129%2C54323%2C54207&amp;milestone=5.8.2&amp;group=component&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=priority&amp;col=milestone&amp;order=priority\">2 bug</a> fixes in addition to <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54207\">1 security</a> fix. Because this is a <strong>security release</strong>, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 5.2 have also been updated.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.8.2 is a small focus security and maintenance release. The next major release will be version&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">5.9</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can download WordPress 5.8.2 by downloading from WordPress.org, or visit your Dashboard ? Updates and click Update Now. If you have sites that support automatic background updates, they’ve already started the update process.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information, browse the <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?id=54129%2C54323%2C54207&amp;milestone=5.8.2&amp;group=component&amp;col=id&amp;col=summary&amp;col=owner&amp;col=type&amp;col=status&amp;col=priority&amp;col=milestone&amp;order=priority\">full list of changes</a> on Trac, or check out the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-8-2/\">version 5.8.2 HelpHub documentation page</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"thanks-and-props\">Thanks and props!</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The 5.8.2 release was led by&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/\">Evan Mullins</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the release squad members mentioned above, thank you to everyone who helped make WordPress 5.8.2 happen:</p>\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aristath/\">Ari Stathopoulos</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/bradleyt/\">Bradley Taylor</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidwebca/\">davidwebca</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/\">Evan Mullins</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gziolo/\">Greg Zió?kowski</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jrf/\">Juliette Reinders Folmer</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mukesh27/\">Mukesh Panchal</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/\">Sergey Biryukov</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/shimon246/\">shimon246</a>, and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/fierevere/\">Yui</a>.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right has-small-font-size\"><em>Props </em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>circlecube</a><em> and </em><a href=\'https://profiles.wordpress.org/pbiron/\' class=\'mention\'><span class=\'mentions-prefix\'>@</span>pbiron</a> <em>for peer review.</em></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11546\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:16;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:57:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:36:\"The Month in WordPress: October 2021\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:71:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/the-month-in-wordpress-october-2021/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 04 Nov 2021 23:35:37 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Month in WordPress\";s: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=11501\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:344:\"October 2021 brought a lot of new things to WordPress, from release updates to new versions of Gutenberg. More notably, in the latest episode of WP Briefing, Executive Director Josepha Haden reminded us about the importance of freedom in open source platforms like WordPress. Free speech has with it a lot of responsibility, just like [&#8230;]\";s: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:\"Anjana Vasan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:24011:\"\n<p>October 2021 brought a lot of new things to WordPress, from release updates to new versions of Gutenberg. More notably, in the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/10/episode-18-the-economics-of-wordpress/\" target=\"_blank\">latest episode</a> of <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/podcast/\" target=\"_blank\">WP Briefing</a>, Executive Director <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\" target=\"_blank\">Josepha Haden</a> reminded us about the importance of freedom in open source platforms like WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Free speech has with it a lot of responsibility, just like being a part of a community. Governments or communities, or in our case, <strong>this software is built by the people who show up. </strong><br><br>For WordPress, at 42% of the web, every small choice we make can cause huge changes in the way that people experience the web today and tomorrow.</p><cite>Josepha Haden, Executive Director of the WordPress project</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Last month was yet another chapter in this journey. So keep reading to learn what&#8217;s new. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<h2>WordPress 5.9: All proposed updates will likely be included</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>We announced the<strong> </strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/15/wordpress-5-9-feature-go-no-go-october-14-2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>go/no-go for WordPress 5.9 features</strong></a><strong> </strong>in mid-October. The release will probably include all the proposed features—though not all of them are ready yet, they should be by the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/03/wordpress-5-9-planning-roundup/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposed release date</a> (December 14, 2021).</li><li><strong style=\"color: initial\">WordPress 5.9 will include a new default theme called </strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/06/introducing-twenty-twenty-two/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Twenty Twenty-Two</strong></a><strong style=\"color: initial\">! </strong><span style=\"color: initial\">The theme&#8217;s foundation will be strong, and the unpredictable yet reliable behavior of birds inspired the intentionally subtle design. </span></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"433\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress-Twenty-TwentyTwo-Theme.jpg?resize=632%2C433&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"WordPress Default Theme Twenty Twenty-Two released with WordPress Version 5.9\" class=\"wp-image-11509\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress-Twenty-TwentyTwo-Theme.jpg?resize=1024%2C701&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress-Twenty-TwentyTwo-Theme.jpg?resize=300%2C205&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress-Twenty-TwentyTwo-Theme.jpg?resize=768%2C526&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress-Twenty-TwentyTwo-Theme.jpg?resize=1536%2C1051&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress-Twenty-TwentyTwo-Theme.jpg?resize=2048%2C1402&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress-Twenty-TwentyTwo-Theme.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress-Twenty-TwentyTwo-Theme.jpg?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure></div>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>5.9 bug scrub sessions began in September and will continue each week until the release on December 14, 2021. <strong>View the full </strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/18/bug-scrub-schedule-for-5-9/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>bug scrub schedule</strong></a><strong>. </strong></li><li>Many of you requested a few <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/25/wordpress-5-9-editor-update-26-october/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;must have&#8221; enhancements</a> for the 5.9 release—follow the <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/projects/62\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">5.9 Must-Haves project board</a> to track their status.</li><li>The Test Team <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/10/27/overview-of-the-5-9-test-leads-approach/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shared an overview</a> of the team’s approach to testing WordPress 5.9.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-default\"><p><strong>Interested in contributing to WordPress core?</strong> Join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">#core</a> channel, follow the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Core Team blog</a>, and check out the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">team handbook</a>. Also, don&#8217;t miss the Core Team’s weekly developer chat on Wednesdays at <a href=\"https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&amp;min=00&amp;sec=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">8 PM</a> UTC.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Gutenberg releases: 11.6, 11.7, and 11.8 are here</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We released three new versions of the Gutenberg block editor between the end of September and October:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/01/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-6-29-september/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Version 11.6</strong></a><strong> </strong>brings site logo cropping and rotation, block-level locking, improvements to Query Pagination block, support for child themes and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/29/thunks-in-gutenberg/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">thunks</a>, template focus mode, and enhancements to the writing flow.</li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-7-october-13th/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Gutenberg version 11.7</strong></a><strong> </strong>includes bug fixes and polishes to the navigation block and editor, global styles and full site editing (including a handy back button that lets you quickly return to the site editor), and columns block support, among other improvements.</li><li>Finally, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/28/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-8-0-27-october/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Gutenberg 11.8</strong></a> is the second to last version to make it into the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordPress 5.9</a> release, and it comes with plenty of developments to the editing experience: featured Block Patterns, new animations for a few elements (like Dropzone and Insertion Point), spacing tools for heading blocks, and a lot more.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><strong>Want to get involved in developing Gutenberg? </strong>Follow <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the Core Team blog</a>, contribute to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gutenberg on GitHub</a>, and join the <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB2JS7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">#core-editor</a> channel in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/chat/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Make WordPress Slack</a>. For details on the latest updates, follow the &#8220;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/17/whats-next-in-gutenberg-mid-september-2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What&#8217;s next in Gutenberg</a>&#8221; post.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2>WordCamp US returned virtually this year with more than 3,600 attendees</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordCamp US</a> 2021 was on October 1, and it was online for the first time. The event drew more than 3,600 attendees, 27 sponsors, and 18 remarkable speakers on topics ranging from accessibility and sustainability to e-commerce, to name a few. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt Mullenweg&#8217;s “State of the Word” is expected to be held as a separate event later this year, rather than being part of WordCamp US.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p>If you missed the live event, <strong>you can still watch the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vkq4BFZbhI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yukon Track</a> and the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-yAZRXY8k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Columbia Track</a> of WordCamp US 2021.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Team Updates: Polyglots monthly newsletter, a new Performance team, and more</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/10/15/polyglots-monthly-newsletter-october-2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first edition</a> of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/09/27/sign-up-for-the-new-polyglots-monthly-newsletter/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Polyglots monthly newsletter</a> went out on October 15, 2021.</li><li>The following teams opened up their call for team representatives last month, and more are coming soon: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/26/nominations-for-core-team-reps-2022/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Core</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/10/11/community-team-rep-nominations-for-2022/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Community</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/10/27/nominations-call-for-the-themes-team-representatives/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Themes</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/10/30/call-for-team-rep-nominations-3/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Accessibility</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/support/2021/10/team-representative-nominations/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Support</a>, <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/11/02/nominations-for-training-team-reps-2022/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Training</a>, and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/hosting/2021/10/30/nominations-for-hosting-team-reps-2022/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hosting</a>.</li><li>A draft of the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/10/08/proposal-2022-global-community-sponsorship-program/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2022 Global Community Sponsorship program proposal</a> was released on October 8, 2021. </li><li>The October 2021 edition of <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/10/people-of-wordpress-ecommerce-ronald-gijsel/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">People of WordPress</a>, featuring WordPress e-commerce specialist Ronald Gijsel, went live.</li><li>Following excellent responses to the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/12/proposal-for-a-performance-team/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">initial proposal</a>, members of the Core Team announced the next steps in <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/28/wordpress-performance-team-kick-off/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">launching a performance team</a> that aims to increase the performance (speed) of WordPress.</li><li>The Polyglots Team kicked-off <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2021/10/12/new-glotpress-meetings/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bi-weekly Glotpress meetings</a> aimed at improving the functionality of the plugin that powers <a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">translate.wordpress.org</a>.</li><li>A <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/10/27/documentation-sprint/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sprint</a> is planned on November 10-12 to explore a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/10/04/a-dedicated-volunteer-program-for-the-training-team/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dedicated volunteer program</a> for the Training Team, similar to the Deputy program in the Community Team.</li><li>WordPress.org profiles now display <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/meta/2021/10/11/wordpress-org-profiles-now-show-github-activity/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">activity from the WordPress GitHub organization</a>.</li><li>The Test Team <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/10/21/fse-program-pattern-party-summary/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shared results</a> of the tenth Full Site Editing (FSE) Outreach Program: Pattern Party. </li><li>Answers from the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/28/fse-program-answers-from-round-three-of-questions/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">third round of questions</a> from the FSE Outreach Program are now out!</li><li>The Docs Team is<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/docs/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> consulting with independent legal experts</a> to explore whether there are issues with having Gutenberg (which is dual-licensed GPL + MPL) coexist with other contents in WordPress (our documentation has a CC0 license and the code is GPL). </li><li>The Themes Team shared a recap of work happening on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/10/14/theme-tools-and-requirements-recap/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">automation and improvement processes</a> for the WordPress Themes directory. The Team also shared a p2 post highlighting the performance impact of<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/10/04/the-performance-impact-of-using-jquery-in-wordpress-themes/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> jQuery on WordPress themes</a>.</li><li>The Marketing Team participated in a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2021/10/21/make-marketing-workshop-contributor-ladder/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contributor ladder workshop</a> to help plan their future activities.</li><li>The feature<a href=\"https://wptranslationday.org/blog/celebrating-wordpress-translation-day-2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> recap of the WordPress Translation Day 2021</a> is out from the Polyglots and Marketing teams, with the results of the <a href=\"https://wptranslationday.org/wptd-2021/polyglots-appreciation-nominees/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Polyglots appreciation nominations 2021</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong><a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0f93eb6000a019fcbd53d10be&amp;id=04c6fa5c90\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sign up </a>for the Polyglots monthly newsletter</strong>, if you haven’t already.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Feedback/Testing requests: Deadline for redesigned Gutenberg landing page is November 5, 2021</h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"396\" src=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress_Gutenberg_Page.jpg?resize=632%2C396&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"WordPress.Org redesigned Gutenberg page\" class=\"wp-image-11519\" srcset=\"https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress_Gutenberg_Page.jpg?resize=1024%2C642&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress_Gutenberg_Page.jpg?resize=300%2C188&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress_Gutenberg_Page.jpg?resize=768%2C482&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress_Gutenberg_Page.jpg?resize=1536%2C963&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress_Gutenberg_Page.jpg?resize=2048%2C1284&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress_Gutenberg_Page.jpg?w=1264&amp;ssl=1 1264w, https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/11/WordPress_Gutenberg_Page.jpg?w=1896&amp;ssl=1 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>The Design Team is </strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/10/29/redesign-of-the-gutenberg-page/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>working on redesigning</strong></a><strong> the </strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>wordpress.org/gutenberg</strong></a><strong> landing page, and has already shared a </strong><a href=\"https://www.figma.com/proto/Gl653sYvO3RBhVtWSFwMcD/Gutenberg-Page?page-id=1865%3A12926&amp;node-id=1919%3A14707&amp;viewport=241%2C48%2C0.15&amp;scaling=min-zoom&amp;starting-point-node-id=1919%3A14707\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>prototype</strong></a><strong>. </strong></li><li>The team has also shared a few other concepts where they have requested feedback from contributors:<ul><li>Site Editing iA Concepts: <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/10/15/site-editing-ia-concepts-how-to-surface-and-access-new-features/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Part1</a> and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/10/22/site-editing-ia-concepts-part-2/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Part 2</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/10/08/adventures-in-block-theme-switching/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Block theme switching</a> concepts</li></ul></li><li>Version 18.5 of WordPress for <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/10/18/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-ios-18-5/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iOS</a> and <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/2021/10/19/call-for-testing-wordpress-for-android-18-5/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Android</a> are now available for testing!</li><li>The Accessibility Team is <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2021/10/30/accessibility-team-meeting-notes-october-22-2021-2/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">requesting feedback</a> on a new Gutenberg Pull request that <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35896\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announces formatting changes or screen readers</a>.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Share your feedback on the new Gutenberg landing page design in </strong><a href=\"https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5600\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Trac</strong></a><strong> or by </strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/10/29/redesign-of-the-gutenberg-page/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>commenting on the blog post</strong></a><strong> by November 5, 2021.</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2>Keep an eye out for WordCamp Spain, Sâo Paulo, and Taiwan 2021</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We had several WordPress events in October, and several more to look forward to the rest of the year:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>We’re seeking a new host city for <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2021/wordcamp-us-update-city-search-2022/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordCamp US 2022</a>.</li><li>WordCamp Europe 2022 has extended its <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/porto-is-calling/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">call for organizers</a>.</li><li><a href=\"https://italia.wordcamp.org/2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordCamp Italia 2021</a> was held online on October 22-23, 2021. The event had 23 speakers, 17 sponsors, and more than 1,000 registrants. Check out its <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGdoJtlsv9BhODCQ71cOFnQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube channel</a> to watch the event replay.</li><li>Another highlight of the month was <a href=\"https://nicaragua.wordcamp.org/2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordCamp Nicaragua 2021</a> which was held on October 8-9, 2021.</li><li>The <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/wpdiversity/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">#WPDiversity</a> working group of the Community Team organized an <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/10/15/workshops-from-wpdiversity-october-and-november-2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Allyship workshop for event organizers</a> on October 28. <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/10/15/workshops-from-wpdiversity-october-and-november-2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sign up now</a> for the diversity events planned by the team for November! </li><li>A <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2021/10/29/contribute2wp-learn-training-contributor-day/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two-day contributor event</a> focused on <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Learn WordPress</a>, took place on October 29 and 31, 2021. There was also another <a href=\"https://yoast.com/about-us/events/yoast-contributor-day/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contributor day</a> on October 8, 2021, which involved working groups across the board, from accessibility to user testing.</li><li>The Test Team organized the following Hallway Hangouts this week—check out their recaps:<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/10/06/hallway-hangout-pattern-party-testing-walkthrough-6-october/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pattern Party Testing Walkthrough </a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/10/20/hallway-hangout-5-9-go-no-go-site-editor-ia-and-more/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">5.9 Go/No go, Site Editor Internal Audit, and more</a></li></ul></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center\"><p><strong>Don’t miss the following upcoming online WordCamps: </strong><a href=\"https://spain.wordcamp.org/2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>WordCamp Spain 2021</strong></a><strong>, </strong><a href=\"https://saopaulo.wordcamp.org/2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>WordCamp Sâo Paulo 2021</strong></a><strong>, and </strong><a href=\"https://taiwan.wordcamp.org/2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>WordCamp Taiwan 2021</strong></a><strong>!</strong></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Have a story that we could include in the next ‘Month in WordPress’ post? Let us know by filling out </em></strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/month-in-wordpress-submissions/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>this form</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following folks contributed to October 2021’s Month in WordPress: </em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>@anjanavasan</em></a><em>, </em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/harishanker/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>@harishanker</em></a><em>, </em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>@rmartinezduque</em></a><em>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/callye/\" target=\"_blank\">@callye</a></em>, <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" target=\"_blank\">@webcommsat</a></em>, and <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaion07/\" target=\"_blank\">chaion07</a></em>.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11501\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:17;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:55:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48:\"WP Briefing: Episode 19: The People of WordPress\";s: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:70:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/11/episode-19-the-people-of-wordpress/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 01 Nov 2021 12:00:00 +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:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11368\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:463:\"In this nineteenth episode, WordPress&#8217;s Executive director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, discusses and expresses gratitude for the inspiration behind the People of WordPress series, HeroPress. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor:&#160;Dustin Hartzler Logo:&#160;Beatriz Fialho Production:&#160;Chloé Bringmann Song: Fearless First by Kevin [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/WP-Briefing-019.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"Chloe Bringmann\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8207:\"\n<p>In this nineteenth episode, WordPress&#8217;s Executive director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, discusses and expresses gratitude for the inspiration behind the People of WordPress series, HeroPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>References </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/category/interviews/\">People of WordPress series</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://heropress.com/\">HeroPress</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://heropressnetwork.com/\">HeroPress Network</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">WordPress 5.9 Development Cycle</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/10/22/team-rep-nominations/\">Call for Team Rep Nomination</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11368\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing. The podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:29</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The month of November includes the Thanksgiving holiday in my part of the world and in my familial traditions. And one of the things that November always brings up for me is the concept of gratitude. I have a gratitude practice that lasts throughout the year. But this time of year always kind of lets me look outside what makes me feel routinely grateful and explore areas that I don&#8217;t always notice.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:05</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, I&#8217;m taking some time to do that in the context of the WordPress project, and it&#8217;s reminded me of one of the foundational things I talk about a lot that may be a little harder for folks to see. I am routinely grateful, of course, for the people who show up to maintain WordPress, the people who keep the back office work going, the contributors who contribute directly to the WordPress CMS and project, the folks who routinely go out and tell other people about WordPress and make sure others know how to use it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:35</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there&#8217;s another group that I talk about a lot that is a little harder to grasp. And that&#8217;s this conceptual group of people whose lives have been changed by WordPress. I used to run into people like this all the time when I was organizing WordCamps. And the small but meaningful successes that they share year after year made me realize that my small contribution of organizing these events was really quite valuable; valuable to them, and I assumed also valuable to just other people in the WordPress project.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>02:09</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, if you&#8217;re contributing in a way that doesn&#8217;t let you have contact with the same users consistently over time, or if contributing doesn&#8217;t quite balance out in your ledger at the moment, it can be hard to put names to faces in a way that lets you see how your contributions are making an impact. To help with that, a few years ago, the WordPress project partnered with the community Marketing team and the HeroPress team to share the People of WordPress series which you can find monthly on wordpress.org/news. For me, this series provides a glimpse into the humanity of the people who use WordPress, and for me, that&#8217;s enough. If all the series ever did was to remind us that WordPress was made for people whose needs matter, that would be enough to continue to have that series forever. But fortunately, the series does quite a bit more than that.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:04</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The People of WordPress series also lifts up the stories of people who we don&#8217;t always hear from in technology. It highlights the wide array of origin stories that lead people to WordPress. It reminds us of the global nature of what we&#8217;re doing. It reconnects us to the hopefulness of our own first WordPress successes. And it draws a direct line to why we should care about refreshing the commons of this open ecosystem. I&#8217;m sure that there are more things that do as well. But those are just the things off the top of my head, we draw all of the people of WordPress stories that are inside that series directly from the HeroPress essays that have been submitted by users. And I was gonna say users like you in a kind of Reading Rainbow way. But I actually don&#8217;t know if any of you are everyday users who are also using WordPress but maybe not contributing yet. If you are then like I&#8217;m talking to you. And if you&#8217;re not, I&#8217;m probably still talking to you. Because all of these stories that go to HeroPress are very valuable and very important for us to know. Anyway, I digress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:14</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/\">Topher DeRosia</a>, who founded HeroPress, is among the first people I met in the community lo these many years ago. And I think the impact that HeroPress has on the WordPress community as a whole is not always well recognized. So in the spirit of expanding the scope of my gratitude, and in the context of refreshing the commons, I would encourage you to head over to HeroPress.com and their newly launched HeroPress Network and see if there&#8217;s any little way that you can contribute to their commons, submitting your story donating to their network offering a small bit of volunteer time if you happen to have any spare time lying around. I know that the team would be delighted to hear from you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:01</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That leads us now to our small list of big things. We are about a week away from the feature freeze for WordPress 5.9, the final release of the year. Feature freeze caused a little confusion last time. So I just want to clarify there won&#8217;t be a package released with this milestone. But no more enhancements or features will be worked on at that point. And bug fixing will become the primary focus. That will be on November 9, which I believe is next Tuesday. It&#8217;s definitely next week whenever the calendar turns to nine of November 2021. That&#8217;s the day that we&#8217;re going into feature freeze.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:38</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second big thing in our small list of big things is that team rep nomination season is upon us. If you are a team rep or want to learn more about being one, now is the time to kind of look at what&#8217;s going on and how to keep everything moving in that way. I&#8217;ll include a link to the announcement post of that in the notes below.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:57</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, Daylight Saving Time movements are also upon us. Some parts of the world are ending Daylight Saving Time others are starting it and some have already started or stopped that already. So no matter where you are, don&#8217;t forget to check and double-check the timing of things across time zones for the next few weeks.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:21</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. I&#8217;m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in a couple of weeks.</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11368\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:18;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:78:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"People of WordPress: Ronald Gijsel\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:79:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/10/people-of-wordpress-ecommerce-ronald-gijsel/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 30 Oct 2021 12:21:53 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:8:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Community\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Features\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Interviews\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"Contributor Story\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"HeroPress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7:\"meetups\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"WordPress e-commerce\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:7;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"WordPress journey\";s: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=11370\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:132:\"Ronald Gijsel on his path from chef to WordPress e-commerce specialist, in the latest People of WordPress feature. #ContributorStory\";s: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:28:\"webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11713:\"\n<p>In this series, we share some of the inspiring stories of how WordPress and its global network of contributors can change people&#8217;s lives for the better. This month we feature a WordPress e-commerce specialist on the difference it makes.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"empowered-to-make-a-change\">Empowered to make a change</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For WordPress contributor Ronald Gijsel, open source is a lifeline and a perfect place for people with creative minds. It led him on a transformational journey from chef to WordPress e-commerce specialist. Originally from the Netherlands, where he trained in hospitality, he was to find a restorative and energizing power within the WordPress local and global community. </strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ten years ago, life took a sad turn for Ronald and his wife Nihan when their baby daughter passed away only a few days after she was born. At that time, Ronald was a restaurant owner in the UK, working hard in a challenging economic environment.&nbsp;Discovering open source was in many ways his lifeline and helped him and his wife through their considerable heartache. Through this community, a journey to understand the opportunities of the web and new career paths began.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronald believes that working together in WordPress and other open source communities can lead to massive benefits for a large number of users. Not least, an online presence has been essential to the survival of many businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>During recent years, he has visited open source events worldwide as a partnership manager at a WordPress e-commerce plugin company and community supporter. His enthusiasm for WordPress has steered him to being part of local support, solutions and collaboration as a co-organizer of <a href=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/\">WordCamp</a> Bristol, the <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/Cheltenham-WordPress-Meetup/\">WordPress Cheltenham Meetup</a> and more.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"moving-forward\">Moving forward&nbsp;</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When Nihan enrolled in the UK&#8217;s Open University to complete her computer science degree, Ronald found her course materials stirring his own interest. He started to follow the lectures with her and even attempted some of the course work for himself &#8211; all whilst he continued to work as a chef in various local pubs.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through this, he discovered how to generate affiliate commission earnings through blogging on different platforms. “Creating websites was slowly becoming a passion. In these first few years, I enjoyed every part of the steep learning curve, from tackling the basics to more advanced coding and designs,” said Ronald.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"the-start-of-a-web-career\">The Start of a Web Career</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronald reduced his hours as a chef and devoted more time to online courses learning coding, e-commerce, SEO, and online marketing. Yet when he applied for a job as a WordPress designer, he had only heard of the platform in the context of blogging. This was all to change when an online tutor on one of the training sites revealed the many functions available with WordPress. It was the start of a new career and life journey. This tutor was Topher DeRosia, who went on to create <a href=\"https://heropress.com/\">HeroPress</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"467\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/with-topher.jpg?resize=632%2C467&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Ronald Gijsel and Topher De Rosia at \na WordCamp\" class=\"wp-image-11398\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/with-topher.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/with-topher.jpg?resize=300%2C222&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/with-topher.jpg?resize=768%2C567&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption>Ronald with Topher at WordCamp London in 2019</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn WordPress, Ronald ‘binge-watched’ webinars on various development topics and over time he became more familiar with it. Securing a job as a designer was only the beginning of his journey into the WordPress ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A year later in 2015, after landing the job as a WordPress designer, Ronald&#8217;s boss asked him to consider taking on the business and its clients. With his wife, Ronald decided to take on the firm and to expand their work in WordPress e-commerce and online marketing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an advocate for learning new skills and practicing them, Ronald encourages others to continue to expand their knowledge through study, attending talks at Meetups and WordCamps, and using the new <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/\">Learn WordPress resource</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>“WordPress has evolved in so many branches that require different skills. There are hundreds of areas of expertise, roles, and jobs that complement WordPress to make it what it is.”</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"528\" height=\"652\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/meetup3-1.jpg?resize=528%2C652&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Ronald talking about WordPress and e-commerce solutions\" class=\"wp-image-11414 size-full\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/meetup3-1.jpg?w=528&amp;ssl=1 528w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/meetup3-1.jpg?resize=243%2C300&amp;ssl=1 243w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 528px) 100vw, 528px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /></figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">“WordPress is an essential tool in my box.”<br><em><strong>Ronald Gijsel</strong></em></p>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronald believes WordPress thrives on diversity, with many <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/\">contributor opportunities</a> and jobs in the ecosystem that require a wide range of skills.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“A big part of this is that each person’s personal background complements their skill sets. Who you are and what you do is influenced by what you have done and learned. We need to cherish this. These things also add to our culture, language, experience, and knowledge,” he said.<br></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"a-journey-into-wordpress-e-commerce\">A journey into WordPress e-commerce</h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/meetup2.jpg?resize=632%2C442&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Ronald presenting on WordPress and e-commerce at an event\" class=\"wp-image-11400\" width=\"632\" height=\"442\" srcset=\"https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/meetup2.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=900%2C630&amp;ssl=1 1800w, https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/meetup2.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=900%2C630&amp;ssl=1 2700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" /><figcaption>Ronald shares his enthusiasm for building WordPress and e-commerce websites at WordCamp London in 2019</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronald initially extended his interest in the&nbsp;WordPress ecosystem through representing a plugin company at WordCamps in the UK. He became hooked and went on to attend events in many different countries.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2018, he realized he could do more with his connections and create meaningful partnerships. Within a few weeks, he had crafted his dream job and sent a proposal to the CEO of a WordPress e-commerce firm.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But pitching to strangers wasn’t an easy task, as he did not know if they would understand his vision. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronald said: “The doubts went through my head for months. ‘Do I give up my business and work for the benefit of another company? What if I don’t get on? What do I do with my customers?’ But I decided to take the leap.&#8221; His pitch proved successful, joining his current firm in 2019.<br><br>In the firm’s CEO, Ronald found a mentor, supporter, and a friend. He explained: “Nando Pappalardo never tells me what to do, but instead, he asks questions to make me realize what is achievable, or could be even better. He simply makes suggestions that I read something and reach my own conclusions.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"looking-back-at-the-journey\">Looking back at the journey&nbsp;</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Taking risks or changing directions in mid-career often involves a giant leap. In Ronald&#8217;s view, through WordPress, you don&#8217;t need to be alone. He believes its community can offer support and help to process thinking.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronald said: “I often think back to the moment my daughter passed away. She only lived for a few days. Every day, I wonder how events would have unfolded if she had survived. Maybe her memory lives on in every decision I make and the paths I decide to take.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From his experience, he found that&nbsp;changing a career can sometimes take a few years and have a period of transition. He said: “Only looking back do I realize that each small step slowly made a difference in my life.”</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>“It was WordPress that made the online world easier to navigate and empowered me to make a change”&nbsp;</p><cite>Ronald Gijsel</cite></blockquote></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He added: “Feeling welcomed into the WordPress community through Meetups and WordCamps added a human dimension and confidence that I can do ‘this’ too.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronald’s wish is that his story will offer support to others who may have experienced tragedy in their lives. “I hope that I can give you the hope and strength to try and put your energy into something else that can lead to more significant changes in your life. Try to take it as one positive decision at a time.”</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"share-the-stories\">Share the stories</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Help us share these stories of open source contributors and continue to grow the community.&nbsp;Meet more WordPressers in the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/category/newsletter/interviews/\">People of WordPress series.</a>&nbsp;#ContributorStory.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"contributors\">Contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to Abha Thakor (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">@</a><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">webcommsat</a>), and Surendra Thakor (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sthakor/\">@sthakor</a>) for the interviews and writing this feature, and to Ronald Gijsel (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/just2ronald/\">@just2ronald</a>) for sharing his story.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Meher Bala (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\">@meher</a>), Chloé Bringmann (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">@cbringmann</a>), Anjana Vasan (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/\">@anjanavasan</a>), Collieth Clarke (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/callye/\">@callye</a>), and Reyes Martinez (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rmartinezduque/\">@rmartinezduque</a>) for their content contributions, and Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp;(@<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/\">chanthaboune</a>), and Topher DeRosia (<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/\">@topher1kenobe</a>) for their support for the series.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on </em><a href=\"https://heropress.com/\"><em>HeroPress.com</em></a><em>, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard.&nbsp;</em>#HeroPress</p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:30:\"com-wordpress:feed-additions:1\";a:1:{s:7:\"post-id\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"11370\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:19;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:55:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n\n			\";s: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:4:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:51:\"WP Briefing: Episode 18: The Economics of WordPress\";s: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:73:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/10/episode-18-the-economics-of-wordpress/\";s: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, 18 Oct 2021 12:00:00 +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:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11351\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}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:364:\"In episode 18 of WP Briefing, Josepha Haden Chomphosy reflects on a recent lecture that she gave to students at Hendrix College in which she explored the economics of WordPress and the principles that sustain the project&#8217;s ecosystem. Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:9:\"enclosure\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:3:\"url\";s:60:\"https://wordpress.org/news/files/2021/10/WP-Briefing-018.mp3\";s:6:\"length\";s:1:\"0\";s:4:\"type\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"Chloe Bringmann\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20806:\"\n<p>In episode 18 of WP Briefing, Josepha Haden Chomphosy reflects on a recent lecture that she gave to students at Hendrix College in which she explored the economics of WordPress and the principles that sustain the project&#8217;s ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>References </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/showcase/\">WordPress Showcase</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wpengine.com/resources/value-of-wordpress-worlds-first-study-of-wordpress-economy/#An_Expansive_WordPress_Ecosystem\">The Value of WordPress: The World&#8217;s First Study of the WordPress Economy </a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/\">Five for the Future</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/15/wordpress-5-9-feature-go-no-go-october-14-2021/\">WordPress 5.9 Feature Go/No-Go </a></p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Digital Citizenship Resources</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2019/10/becoming-better-digital-citizens-through-open-source/\">Becoming Better Digital Citizens Through Open Source</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2019/10/empowering-generations-of-digital-natives/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"7413\">Empowering Generations of Digital Natives</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2019/10/responsible-participation-in-online-communities/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"7386\">Responsible Participation in Online Communities</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11351\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host, Joseph Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:40</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So today marks the start of Digital Citizenship week. This year in 2021, it is the week of October 18th, and to kick it off, I want to share with you a bit of a lecture that I gave to a college class last week.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:55</p>\n\n\n\n<p>An economics professor teaches this class. And so, a little bit, I went to talk about how WordPress is essentially a microcosm of global societies. That was mostly why I was invited to come and give the talk. But one of the students asked a really interesting question about economics, and especially the economics of WordPress. And so, I&#8217;m going to take some time to do my best to answer that question here as well. But first, we&#8217;re going to start with some big picture information about WordPress that I shared with the students, and then maybe you also don&#8217;t necessarily know.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:00</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the first place that we started was with the question of what WordPress is. Most of them had heard of it but didn&#8217;t necessarily have a good handle on what it is. And so this is the definition that I gave to them. This is a bit of each of the facets of WordPress that we kind of see right now.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>01:57</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Firstly, WordPress is, of course, a content management system, which means it&#8217;s a piece of software that uses a copyleft license, which means that it&#8217;s open source, and no one individual necessarily owns the rights to the code. If you get very specific, WordPress is, of course, a FOSS project or a free and open source software project. I know that there are discussions around when a piece of software is free, then what are you using to pay for that piece of software or to pay for your access to that software? And often, the answer is that you&#8217;re using your personally identifying information to pay for something commonly referred to as the data economy. If you&#8217;re not familiar with that, it&#8217;s a little bit of a three-pronged effort there. So you submit your data to get access to the software, or you can join the platform, depending on what it is that you&#8217;re working with. That platform or that software collects your data so that they can build a profile about what sorts of content engages you and so that they can share, essentially, audience cohorts like groups of people that kind of are talking about what you&#8217;re talking about, agree with what you agree about, and find interesting, the same sorts of things that you find interesting. And then those companies sell access to your attention. This is something that I refer to as the attention economy. I think there are a lot of startups at the moment that refers to the attention economy. The most iconic recent example was when the folks over at Netflix said that they weren&#8217;t competing against other streaming services; they were competing against sleep.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:54</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think that might ring true for quite a few of us at the moment. But anyway, to scoot us back one level, I had, as I said, WordPress is free software. But the difference with WordPress is that to get a copy of WordPress, you are not necessarily required to hand over any data. You don&#8217;t need to give anyone data to get a copy. You don&#8217;t need to give anyone money or data to open up a copy that you own or to build a website in it if you&#8217;re just doing it locally, but especially around that data side because WordPress is not collecting any data, we&#8217;re also not brokering access to anyone&#8217;s attention.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:37</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another answer to the question of &#8220;What is WordPress?&#8221; WordPress software and the project enable nearly half a trillion dollars of revenue in the global digital economy, as we learned from a recent study from one of the hosting companies inside the WordPress project&nbsp; &#8211; oh, Inside the WordPress ecosystem anyway. And WordPress also runs 42% of the web, with some of the biggest sites we know using WordPress. Such sites like the New York Times, Rolling Stone, many, many others, which you can see in the WordPress showcase as well. I don&#8217;t necessarily want to just like call out all the big groups that use it. But it&#8217;s a lot.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:22</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;To recap what we just learned about WordPress and what WordPress is. It is software that one uses a copyleft license, meaning no single entity owns it. Two, it is available at no cost, meaning no money changes hands for you to own a copy. Three does not track you, which means that you don&#8217;t have to give WordPress any personally identifying information to get a copy. Four is an enabler of a massive digital economy massive portion of the digital economy even. That, you know, means their services, extensions, themes, plugins, all of that stuff. And five, it is software that supports 42% of the web. Practically every other site you visit uses the software. So that&#8217;s WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this massive free software, you might be thinking to yourself a couple of things. The first thing you might be thinking is, &#8220;Well, that sounds impossible.&#8221; But if that&#8217;s not what you&#8217;re thinking, you may be thinking, &#8220;how is it possible that a software that is technically owned by no one and takes no money or data to obtain &#8211;&nbsp; how is it that a software like that can power 42% of the web.&#8221; This brings me, of course, to a topic that I specialize in, which is how WordPress is made.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>06:45</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress is, by now you know, built by a global community of contributors. And it&#8217;s partially contributors that are self-sponsored or giving of their own time freely, and partly sponsored volunteers, people who are paid by Five for the Future initiatives inside various companies. I have said many times, most recently at WordCamp US, that I have an ideal ratio of about two to one in that kind of volunteer or self-sponsored versus corporately sponsored set of voices. And also, as I said, at WordCamp US, we’re not necessarily getting to that ideal ratio right now because of the nature of the way the world is at the moment. However, this community functions almost like a tiny little digital society. There are ways to get your voice heard ways to take on leadership roles; there is a little bit of light governmental structure. And as with any society, any community like this, there&#8217;s a relationship inherent there. There&#8217;s almost a transactional element that takes place when you&#8217;re participating fully. Although I know that for the WordPress project, especially for open source in general, there is a reminder that we should always be contributing without the expectation of reciprocity. But even if you are contributing without the expectation of reciprocity, you still are engaging in an existing community, which means that you are fostering a relationship with the community or with the people who are also participating in the community with you. It&#8217;s just inescapable if you have people around and working together.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>08:38</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So two concepts really informed my work to future-proof the WordPress project. And the first one is digital citizenship, which is why this particular WordPress Briefing fits today. And the other is the Tragedy of the Commons, especially how we go about refreshing those commons. So digital citizenship, I talked about it a bit in the last WP Briefing. But it&#8217;s still true today that that&#8217;s important. And the thing that really matters to me as we are working through how to make sure that WordPress is moving forward together. But most discussions of citizenship are location-specific, which makes plenty of sense. However, with so many mobile devices and broader access to some level of internet, we have increasing opportunities to be connected because of interests or skill sets. And even the things that we aspire to or aspire to be with a community like WordPress, which has no home office or main location. Of course, it&#8217;s very important that all of the leaders in WordPress, all of the team reps in WordPress, are proactively engaging with the people in their teams and in their portions of the community instead of waiting for like happenstance running into people. We also use a bunch of social stuff to get people together: twitch screams, not twitch screams because it&#8217;s not that Halloweeny! Twitch streams, hallway hangouts, events that are both online and off. Everything that the Learn section of the community is doing with their discussion groups. There are so many ways that WordPress proactively engages with each other and engages with itself. And that work is all really important to keeping the community involved, which is key to any organization&#8217;s long-term success, and certainly is true for WordPress as long-term success. Because when your community or your organization or your society is engaged and invested in your collective success, then you are (get ready for a list) one, more likely to see obstacles early and be able to overcome them, two more likely to see upcoming trends and prepare for them, three more likely to see what is broken and be able to repair it before it is a major issue. And four, you are more likely to be a resilient and fruitful organization long after any single member has stopped participating.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>11:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The more connected to the community you are and the more active, the greater your influence and the ability to affect changes also become. And so, not only is it important for us to remain connected as a community just to make sure that everything is going well. But also, it&#8217;s one of the primary ways that people who are giving back can sort of have more of an opportunity in this particular ecosystem. In open source, anyone can gain influence by helping others by helping the software and by keeping the trains on the tracks. And so, one of the only lasting limits to long-term potential in an open source project is how good you are at seeing beyond yourself and seeing what good action can make beyond just your own benefits. I understand that there are also specific hurdles to contribution in your free time that I have dedicated a couple of different podcasts to, so I don&#8217;t want to neglect that reality.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>12:19</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have found in my experience that one of the limiting factors that sometimes cannot be unlearned is not being able to see kind of a broader scope, a broader perspective than what you&#8217;re already bringing into it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>12:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So being a good digital citizen, that&#8217;s a really important part of keeping any society together any organization together and moving forward. But especially is in the context of digital citizenship, is true for WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>12:48</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second thing that is really important to me is this concept of the Tragedy of the Commons, which is, of course, an economics term, open source has borrowed. We have talked about it in this podcast in the past. And today, I specifically am talking about how WordPress works to consistently be refreshing the commons. So the theory of the Tragedy of the Commons says that all societies can withstand a certain volume of free-riders. A certain number of people who reap the benefits of that community’s society without necessarily putting anything back into it. And that is no different in open source than in any other place where you would apply this concept. The particular catch for WordPress is of course, that it is free, freely available and has no specific copyright holder. And so in those circumstances, it is incredibly easy for a small group of people to maintain the software while the whole world uses it for free. And not only is it possible for a small group of people to maintain it, but if you&#8217;re not careful, it&#8217;s also easy for a small group of unpaid people and unacknowledged people to maintain something forever. And at the volume that WordPress operates at, that&#8217;s a really risky choice. It doesn&#8217;t help to support those people; it puts the long-term stability of the software in jeopardy. And at the end of the day, it just does not help to replenish the commons to make sure that everybody keeps getting to have the benefits of this ecosystem in the long term.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>14:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As many of you know, there is this program called Five for the Future. And that program is essentially modeled after a tithe. So the invitation to this program when it was first introduced in 2014 was that if you or your company or your community is made better or made possible by WordPress, you should give back to the WordPress project 5% of your resources.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>15:07</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is an aspirational 5%, of course, and some groups give back their time while others give back with their money. But almost anyone who wants to give back has some skill that WordPress needs. That particular program has really grown in leaps and bounds since it was introduced. I don&#8217;t know exactly how many team members were considered Five for the Future contributors when it was first introduced in 2014; it was a little before my time. But at the moment, it&#8217;s about 150 people that I am routinely aware of or in contact with, which is still a small number considering how many people use WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>15:52</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, many corporations who have seen the most benefit, including, you know, the company that I work for (Automattic), and a lot of other hosting companies in the ecosystem, all do a really good job of refreshing the commons so that WordPress is still usable for businesses of all levels.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>16:11</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I want to leave us with one final big picture thought about open source. This is going to be a callback to one of my earliest episodes in this podcast. But I think that it&#8217;s always worth remembering. We&#8217;re going to talk about this really popular phrase in open source projects &#8220;free as in speech, not free as in beer.&#8221; And for WordPress, as you know, it&#8217;s a little bit of both. It&#8217;s literally free. But also, since it&#8217;s open source, it has a free as in speech component to it as well.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>16:46</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The four freedoms of open source as laid out in the 90s. 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And that, to my mind, is really no different than participating in any sort of civic infrastructure. The changes that are made today, or the errors that we prevent, set the tone and the circumstance and the potential to thrive for everyone who comes after us.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>18:17</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That leads us into our smallest of big things. I just have a couple of things for you all today. Firstly, at the time of this recording, this is prior to the Go/No-Go demo meeting for WordPress 5.9. So I have no idea what&#8217;s happened. But by the time this podcast has been released, we will have had the Go/No-Go meeting and also have shipped the post that summarizes what happened, what we hope to change in the next essentially sprint so that we can confidently move forward with a clear set of features for the 5.9 release. I will include a link to the notes below in the show notes. Kudos to everyone, props to everyone who participated in that meeting. And also props to all the people who have been helping us as we head into this final release of the year and all of you who are going to help us make it successfully to the end.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>19:15</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second thing I already kind of alluded to at the top of the podcast, it is Digital Citizenship week; two or three years ago, the WordPress blog had a series about digital citizenship and what it means to be a good digital citizen, what it means to do that in the context of WordPress. I will drop a link to those posts in the show notes as well. They are very well written and very important, and fairly evergreen content. If I think that there is something worth updating, I will update it before putting it in the show notes. 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Contact form spam is a problem every website owner deals with at some point. Spambots target websites of all sizes, regardless of the amount of traffic you get.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sifting through hundreds of messages to separate spam from genuine inquiries is time-consuming and frustrating. Luckily, there are some easy and effective ways to protect your WordPress site from spam and take advantage of the benefits of contact forms. Let’s discuss!&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-2177\"></span>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-is-contact-form-spam\">What is contact form spam?&nbsp;</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before solving this common issue, you’ll need to understand what contact form spam is and how it affects your website and business.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact form spam is exactly what it sounds like:&nbsp;unwanted messages that are submitted through the contact forms on your site. Since these forms have blank fields, an individual spammer (or bot) can fill these out however they’d like.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might just get one or two occasional messages with irrelevant promotional material or even offensive language and links. Or, you’ll sometimes receive hundreds or even thousands of form submissions to your inbox. You’re left sifting through the spam so that you don’t miss real messages from interested followers or potential customers. Worse yet, all of these submissions can hog server resources,&nbsp;resulting in a slower site or errors when you try to make changes.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spammers target contact forms in one of two ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"1-manual-spammers\">1. Manual spammers</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Manual spammers are humans who navigate to your website, fill out your forms, and submit them personally. They typically use false information, often copying and pasting to spam your site quickly. In most cases, these spammers are trying to promote specific websites. But they can also spread malware and funnel traffic to malicious sites. Manual contact form spam is more difficult to overcome because spammers can get past many anti-spam solutions like CAPTCHAs.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"2-spambots\">2. Spambots</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Spambots are the most common sender of form spam and often the most dangerous. These programs automatically search the internet for forms and, depending on how spammers program the bots, they leave junk text and phishing links that appear in your inbox.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spambots threaten the integrity of your website when programmed to perform more malicious activities like taking personal information, spreading malware, or taking control of your website. These automated programs can leave a larger number of form submissions at once. But they’re easier to stop because they can’t combat specific anti-spam solutions.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"why-do-bots-and-human-spammers-target-contact-forms\">Why do bots and human spammers target contact forms?&nbsp;</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With all the advances in technology and increased security options, it’s hard to think that this type of spam still exists. But bots and human spammers still target contact forms because they can, and it works.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are several reasons spammers look for loopholes and vulnerabilities in your website forms:&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><strong>They want to send you spam.</strong> Most spam includes links to phishing sites or revenue-generating ad sites.</li><li><strong>They want to exploit your contact form to spam others</strong>. Spammers use your contact forms to relay email spam messages to others. When these emails land in people’s inboxes, they typically look like an email you sent. Unaware that it is spam, users open these emails and click links that lead them to another website. This increases website traffic and engagement to that site, rewarding the spammer.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>They’re searching for vulnerabilities to access the backend of your website or server</strong>. This is typically where malicious intent comes into play. When spammers target your contact forms to look for vulnerabilities in your website, they often want to attack it. Spammers can install malware that leaves your website and visitors at risk. They can also steal personal information, a significant risk for eCommerce sites with sensitive customer data.&nbsp;</li></ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"how-to-identify-contact-form-submission-spam\">How to identify contact form submission spam</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Keeping a close eye on your contact form submissions makes it easy to identify spam. Watch out for the following signs that indicate spammers are targeting your website:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Phishing links</strong>. Spammers use phishing URLs to obtain sensitive information for malicious use. This includes usernames, passwords, or banking details. Phishing links appear to direct to a legitimate site, but it’s really a fake one meant to steal this valuable data.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Irrelevant messages</strong>. Another typical indication of spam is unsolicited or irrelevant messages. Spammers send these messages out in large numbers for advertising, phishing, or spreading malware.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Submissions with no real name</strong>. If you get submissions with no real name or a fake name, you’ll want to look into blocking form spam.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Grammatical errors or typos</strong>. Most spammers don’t take the time to proofread their submissions or check for grammatical errors. Instead, they work hard to send as much spam as possible in the shortest amount of time. Therefore, if you notice messages or comments with a significant amount of typos or grammatical errors, your website is likely under attack.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>An offer that’s too good to be true</strong>. Like everything in life, an offer too good to be true also indicates a problem. Don’t fall for this easy trap.&nbsp;</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you notice a spam issue, it’s vital to find a fast and effective solution. While it’s both annoying and potentially dangerous, spam can also damage your brand reputation. Let’s explore some ways to prevent contact form spam on your website.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-block-contact-form-spam\">How to block contact form spam</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"1-install-the-right-wordpress-anti-spam-plugin\">1. Install the right WordPress anti-spam plugin</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest and fastest way to combat contact form spam is to install the right <a href=\"https://akismet.com/\">anti-spam WordPress plugin</a>. Anti-spam plugins work independently from your forms by comparing submissions to blocklists of words, names, IP addresses, and email addresses. They use both global and local learning to identify spam. Some also give you the ability to manually mark items as spam (or not spam), so it learns what you like and don’t like on your site.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With several options available, it’s critical to pick the right anti-spam plugin. <a href=\"https://akismet.com/\">Akismet</a> is an excellent option used by millions of websites to filter out hundreds of millions of spam comments and form submissions. It will check all comments and form submissions for spam and filter out any that look suspicious. You can review all filtered submissions directly in the WordPress dashboard.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>An option like this frees up your time to focus on the more critical parts of your website. It also gives you the peace of mind that your site, visitors, and reputation are safe. While there aren’t many disadvantages to this method, you’ll need to make sure you update the plugin as recommended to avoid any security issues in the future.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-set-up-an-anti-spam-plugin\">How to set up an anti-spam plugin:</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Installing a WordPress plugin is easy. In your WordPress dashboard, go to <strong>Plugins ? Add New</strong>. Search for the one you’d like to add, then click <strong>Install ? Activate</strong>. Then, follow any specific instructions for the tool that you chose. For example, Akismet provides a great <a href=\"https://docs.akismet.com/getting-started/activate/\">how to activate</a> tutorial with easy-to-follow instructions and visual cues.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"2-add-a-custom-captcha\">2. Add a custom CAPTCHA</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/23/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/\">Custom CAPTCHAs</a> are another way to target and resolve spam problems. You can add a custom, word-based code or random math question to your website that visitors must answer to submit forms successfully. When users attempt to add a comment or submit a form, they’ll need to answer the question or type what they see above the submit button to proceed. You can add several custom word-based questions that users cycle through randomly.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While CAPTCHAs are a great way to combat spambots, they aren’t effective with human spammers. They can also be frustrating and time-consuming for legitimate site visitors who struggle to answer the questions or answer them incorrectly. If you choose to add a CAPTCHA to combat spam, you’ll also need to think about users with limited sight or other challenges.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-implement-a-captcha\">How to implement a CAPTCHA:</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>To add a CAPTCHA to your website, you’ll need to choose a service provider. Google is the most popular CAPTCHA service, with essential functions offered at no cost to website owners. You can find your options in the <strong>Products</strong> part of the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://developers.google.com/products#r\" target=\"_blank\">Google Developers</a> page. Make sure to sign in to your Google account. Next, you’ll read through a short overview before clicking on <strong>Sign up for an API key pair</strong>. You’ll need to fill in your website information and follow the prompts to complete the process.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"3-use-google-recaptcha\">3. Use Google reCAPTCHA</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Google’s reCAPTCHA is a more advanced option than custom CAPTCHAs. Initially introduced to overcome the user frustrations of custom CAPTCHAs, reCAPTCHAs require users to answer more straightforward questions to submit forms. reCAPTCHAs also work by detecting user behavior while visitors navigate your site and assigning each user a “spam score” based on what the tool considers suspicious activity.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most common form of reCAPTCHAs is the picture puzzle you’ve seen on many websites. Instead of typing a word or answering a math question, users answer an image-based question. Visitors must select all the squares in the picture with a specific object like a car or a traffic light. Once all images have been selected, the button switches to allow the user to submit their form response.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some other types of reCAPTCHAs:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Checkbox reCAPTCHA v2 </strong>is a simple box that users must check to submit a form. It’s the popular option you see on many websites accompanied by the “I am not a robot” text.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Invisible reCAPTCHA v2</strong> does not display any visible fields to human users. Instead, it monitors user behavior for suspicious activity to identify potential spammers. Invisible reCAPTCHA also adds an extra field into the code of your form. Since most spambots use code to submit responses, these spammers automatically fill in the fake fields before being flagged. Human users never even notice the spam control as they submit answers directly on the form.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>reCAPTCHA v3</strong> is an advanced option that uses JavaScript to detect human visitors. It is the most advanced form of reCAPTCHA, so you should only use it if you’re a WordPress expert.&nbsp;</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>reCAPTCHAs can still prevent genuine visitors from submitting forms, but they’ve improved from the earlier custom CAPTCHA options. Most come with the ability to add an audio option for those with visual impairments. The visible option they offer is also a solution for the hearing impaired.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Photo © Google\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-implement-google-recaptchas\">How to implement Google reCAPTCHAs:</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You’ll add reCAPTCHAs to your website following the same steps listed above for CAPTCHAs. Google reCAPTCHA is also a free service for basic functionality, but you can purchase the Enterprise solution for more advanced options. You’ll need to sign up for an API key pair for your site and follow the prompts to proceed.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"4-use-an-ip-access-list\">4. Use an IP access list</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you notice a lot of spambot action on your website coming from specific sources, you can use an IP access list to block spam. With this method, you add IP addresses to a list that restricts access to your website from that location. You’ll do this by adding IPs to the <strong>Comment Blacklist</strong> section of the <strong>Discussion</strong> settings page in the WordPress admin.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using an IP access list is an excellent option for blocking specific people. But it takes a lot of work to block a more significant number of spammers and requires constant maintenance. You can also accidentally block legitimate form submissions from the IP addresses you list, so make sure you’re confident before using this method.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-implement-an-ip-access-list\">How to implement an IP access list:&nbsp;</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to block an IP address, navigate to <strong>Settings ? Discussion ? Comment Moderation</strong> in your WordPress dashboard. Then, simply add any IP addresses you want to block and save your settings.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"5-take-advantage-of-the-honeypot-method\">5. Take advantage of the honeypot method</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re not a fan of CAPTCHAs, try the honeypot method. Honeypots are little bits of code used to catch spambots. The code creates a hidden field in your form that’s invisible to human visitors but visible to spambots who are usually looking at the code of your form. Spambots automatically fill out the hidden field and submit the forms. The additional information flags these submissions and rejects them, saving you time and effort.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One advantage of honeypots is that they stay hidden from human visitors. Your visitors don’t need to deal with the inconvenience of CAPTCHAs. Some WordPress form plugins even allow you to add the honeypot method in their settings.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"how-to-implement-honeypot\">How to implement honeypot:</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Some plugins allow you to quickly check the option to add honeypot to your forms. But if they don’t, you’ll need to add a hidden field to your form manually. Once you add the form to your site, use the CSS style “display: none !important;” to make the field hidden and tabindex=&#8221;-1&#8243; autocomplete=&#8221;false;&#8221; to ensure the field is empty by default.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"protect-your-wordpress-contact-forms\">Protect your WordPress contact forms</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact forms are a great tool to connect with your audience and enhance your website’s user experience. But they can also be a problem when spammers attack. Don’t be the target of human spammers and spambots that reduce the effectiveness of your website forms. Use the six steps listed above to successfully stop spam from your WordPress site so you can focus your time and effort on more essential tasks.&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, 29 Dec 2021 12:28:15 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Simon Keating\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:1;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:75:\"WordCamp Central: The first in-person WordCamp Europe in 3 years is coming!\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:39:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/?p=3143787\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:102:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2021/12/28/the-first-in-person-wordcamp-europe-in-3-years-is-coming/\";s: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:1047:\"<p>WordCamp Europe organizing team has shared what we are planning for <a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/a-sneak-peek-at-wceu2022/\">the first in-person WCEU in 3 years</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s taking place in Porto, Portugal, on 2-4 June 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With all safety measures, our beautiful spacious venue,&nbsp;Super Bock Arena can hold up to 4000 people, and we can&#8217;t wait to welcome you there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-sponsors/\" target=\"_blank\">Call For Sponsors</a> and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/call-for-speakers/\" target=\"_blank\">Call For Speakers</a> are already open!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/a-sneak-peek-at-wceu2022/#newsletter-form\">Subscribe to WordCamp Europe Newsletter</a> to get to know about all WordCamp Europe 2022 updates first!</p>\n\n\n\n<img src=\"https://europe.wordcamp.org/2022/files/2021/12/WCEU-assortment-pic.jpg\" alt=\"\" />\";s: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, 28 Dec 2021 12:52:36 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Sabrina Zeidan\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:25:\"Matt: Saving the Internet\";s: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:22:\"https://ma.tt/?p=55240\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:42:\"https://ma.tt/2021/12/saving-the-internet/\";s: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:1935:\"<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/pierce\">David Pierce</a> wrote a deep profile, over 4,000 words, for Protocol and asks the question in the headline, <a href=\"https://www.protocol.com/matt-mullenweg\">Can Matt Mullenweg save the internet?</a></p>\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https://www.protocol.com/matt-mullenweg\"><img /></a>\n\n\n\n<p>Which brings to mind <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines\">Betteridge&#8217;s law of headlines</a> (née Hinchliffe&#8217;s rule), &#8220;Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word&nbsp;<em>no</em>.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can&#8217;t save the internet. But you know who can? A movement. A community of like-minded individuals, unified by a common philosophy, and working together to create <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/\">tools of freedom</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>It&#8217;s a human right to be able to see how that technology works and modify it. It’s as key to freedom as freedom of speech or freedom of religion. So that is what I plan to spend the rest of my life fighting for.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Working together we&#8217;ve created something special, unlike anything the internet has seen before, and I&#8217;m excited to continue.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to David Pierce for taking such an in-depth look at the history of WordPress and Automattic and talking to dozens of sources. Thank you to the people quoted in the article: <a href=\"https://scottbeale.org/\">Scott Beale</a>, <a href=\"https://om.co/\">Om Malik</a>, <a href=\"https://toni.org/\">Toni Schneider</a>, <a href=\"https://rustyshelf.org/\">Russell Ivanovic</a>, Deven Parekh, <a href=\"https://paulmayne.org/\">Paul Mayne</a>, and <a href=\"https://anildash.com/\">Anil Dash</a>. Thank you to <a href=\"https://arturoolmos.com/\">Arturo Olmos</a> for the photos, and <a href=\"https://www.odilidonaldodita.com/\">Odili Donald Odita</a> for the amazing painting behind me.</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, 24 Dec 2021 13:07:33 +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:3;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:73:\"WPTavern: Multiple State of the Word Attendees Test Positive for COVID-19\";s: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=127655\";s: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:191:\"https://wptavern.com/multiple-state-of-the-word-attendees-test-positive-for-covid-19?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=multiple-state-of-the-word-attendees-test-positive-for-covid-19\";s: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:6225:\"<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img />State of the Word 2021 in NYC</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt Mullenweg&#8217;s <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/state-of-the-word-2021-wordpress-passes-43-market-share-looks-to-expand-the-commons-through-openverse\">2021 State of the Word</a> address was held in New York City nine days ago with a live studio audience. On Sunday, December 19, all in-person attendees were notified by email that they were possibly exposed to COVID-19 after one of the attendees tested positive. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although proof of vaccination was required at the door, multiple people have reported recent infections after traveling home from the event. Aaron Jorbin tweeted about his case today, and four more have been reported in a private channel on Post Status Slack.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I don\'t know where I actually got infected, State of The Word is just one possibility and it being \"swag\" is a good joke. A great joke even.</p>&mdash; Aaron Jorbin (@aaronjorbin) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/aaronjorbin/status/1474074897580277760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 23, 2021</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s no way to know for certain whether the attendees who contracted COVID-19 caught the virus at the State of the Word, as many of them traveled from far away places and had meetups with other attendees outside of the main event. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Concerns about the lack of masks and no requirement for rapid tests began popping up prior to the event. From the perspective of <a href=\"https://youtu.be/OpiH_P9aGhQ\">viewing the livestream</a>, masks were scant and attendees were quite close together in a small space. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Anyone tracking the COVID cases coming from the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/StateOfTheWord?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#StateOfTheWord</a> ?<br /><br />Hate to be a downer, but it’s still a raging pandemic and all those people traveling from all over and in groups without masks has my anxiety spiking.</p>&mdash; Pandemically Joshua <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f489.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> ³ (@onemorejosh) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/onemorejosh/status/1470756580551536645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 14, 2021</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>The day before the event, the WHO warned that evidence suggested the new Omicron variant could escape prior immunity and would lead to surges with a high transmission rate. Studies were already showing reduced effectiveness of existing vaccines against the variant. On December 13, New York governor Kathy Hochul <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/omicron-coronavirus-variant-12-13-21/index.html\">announced a new temporary indoor mask mandate</a> for public spaces, which could be bypassed by requiring vaccines for entrance. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked how the State of the Word&#8217;s coordinators decided on the precautions, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy said the event met the local guidelines while allowing attendees to make their own choices for anything beyond the requirements.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We followed the guidelines as laid out by the city,&#8221; Haden Chomphosy said. &#8220;Masks and hand sanitizer were liberally available throughout the venue, and we encouraged attendees to make informed decisions about their health.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has been <a href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html\">well-documented</a> that indoor masking can significantly reduce transmission, so it was curious that the event did not require them at this pivotal time when governments are taking more stringent measures to stop the spread of the virus.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately all those who were recently infected have reported mild illnesses, but the incident raises an important question for onlookers: Is this an indicator of how in-person WordCamps are going to go in 2022? There are already several on the <a href=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/schedule/\">schedule</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Agreed. It has definitely killed any thought I had of attending a WordCamp for a good long while.</p>&mdash; Chris Wiegman (@ChrisWiegman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChrisWiegman/status/1474167091372642312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 23, 2021</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether or not attendees&#8217; infections originated at the State of the Word or in outside gatherings is going to be impossible to pinpoint, but the nominal safety protocols sends a message to all those considering attending in-person events in 2022. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since receiving the notification of possible exposure, many State of the Word attendees have been monitoring their health with tests. One attendee reported in Post Status Slack that she has had difficulty getting tested and is still waiting for one in the mail. In the meantime, she has opted out of a family gathering for Christmas as a safeguard.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“As someone who wants nothing more than to be able to attend WordCamp Europe or WordCamp US in person next year this doesn’t give me much confidence,&#8221; Gravity Forms CEO and co-founder Carl Hancock said. &#8220;With such a small event the COVID protocols could and should have been super tight to test things out for larger events. The lack of masks and social distancing at an indoor event without added protocols such as rapid testing for entry was disappointing to see.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp organizers will need to consider how they can protect attendees beyond simply meeting the basic, local requirements, which may not fully acknowledge the nature of the current threat. They will also need to be responsive to the rapidly changing pandemic landscape and be ready to implement more safety protocols at the last minute, if necessary. If the State of the Word is any indication, future WordCamp organizers will need to have a plan for sending exposure notifications to attendees, in case the events become the source of an outbreak.</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, 24 Dec 2021 04:38:34 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:4;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:35:\"BuddyPress: BuddyPress 10.0.0-beta2\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:32:\"https://buddypress.org/?p=322588\";s: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:55:\"https://buddypress.org/2021/12/buddypress-10-0-0-beta2/\";s: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:3714:\"<p>Hello BuddyPress community!</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f3b6.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" />  <em>All BuddyPress wants for Christmas</em><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f9d1-200d-1f384.png\" alt=\"???\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> <em>is you</em> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f3b5.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> &#8230; to <strong>test this new pre-release</strong>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you haven’t tested our first&nbsp;<a href=\"https://buddypress.org/2021/12/buddypress-10-0-0-beta1/\">10.0.0 beta release</a>, here’s another opportunity to help us put the final touches on our next major release so that we make sure it will fit perfectly into your WordPress-/ BuddyPress-specific configuration.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beta testing is very important, and we need you all, whether you’re a novice or an advanced user, a theme designer or a plugin author. <strong>Please contribute</strong> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" />.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-container-61cc1c8dd2601 wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.10.0.0-beta2.zip\">Try BuddyPress 10.0.0-beta2</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-has-changed-in-10-0-0-beta2\">What has changed in 10.0.0-beta2?</h2>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Custom Group Extensions: if you activated one or more plugins adding a new tab to your groups or if you built one or more plugins playing with the <a href=\"https://codex.buddypress.org/developer/group-extension-api/\">Group Extension API</a>. It&#8217;s very important you take some time to make sure everything is working as expected in this area.</li><li>Contribute to <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\">WordPress 5.9 beta tests</a> as well! Let&#8217;s all check that BuddyPress pages are getting along well with Twenty Twenty-Two, the next WordPress default theme.</li><li>The Private Messages component just got a new feature: <strong>messages thread exit</strong>. Users can now remove themselves from a conversation.</li></ol>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-get-10-0-0-beta2\">How to get 10.0.0-beta2?</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Try the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/bp-beta-tester/\">BP Beta Tester</a>&nbsp;plugin.</li><li><a href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.10.0.0-beta2.zip\">Download the beta here</a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.8.0.0-beta1.zip\" target=\"_blank\">&nbsp;(zip file)</a>.</li><li>Check out our SVN repository:&nbsp;<code>svn co https://buddypress.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/</code></li><li>Clone our read-only Git repository:&nbsp;<code>git clone git://buddypress.git.wordpress.org/</code></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<p>The final release is slated for early January and <strong>we need your help to get there</strong>: please test <a href=\"https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.10.0.0-beta2.zip\">10.0.0-beta2</a>. If you find a bug, please <a href=\"https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">report it on our Trac</a> or as a reply to this <a href=\"https://buddypress.org/support/topic/buddypress-10-0-0-beta2/\">forum topic</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The BuddyPress core team is wishing you all: <strong>Merry Christmas</strong> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f384.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 22:14:17 +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:\"Mathieu Viet\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:94:\"WPTavern: WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 Fixes 20 Bugs, Polishes Workflow for Switching to a Block Theme\";s: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=127650\";s: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:231:\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-beta-4-fixes-20-bugs-polishes-workflow-for-switching-to-a-block-theme?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-9-beta-4-fixes-20-bugs-polishes-workflow-for-switching-to-a-block-theme\";s: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:3004:\"<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\">WordPress 5.9 beta 4</a> was released this week with fixes for 20 bugs since beta 3. There are a few important changes to note in this release regarding how the WordPress admin will direct users who are exploring block themes. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to a fix in beta 4, it was possible for users to <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54549\">switch to a block theme within the Customizer</a>. This has been changed so that users will see a banner notifying them that the block theme is incompatible, if they try to switch within the Customizer. Here&#8217;s the commit message:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Starting in 5.9, block themes are not compatible with (do not support) Customizer; rather, they use the Site Editor. Viewing installed themes in Customizer, this commit adds an overlay message to alert users and give them a way to activate the block theme. Clicking on the &#8220;Activate&#8221; button activates the block theme and redirects back to the Appearance &gt; Themes interface, where the user can then enter the Site Editor for customization.</p><p>Non-block themes are not affected by this change and continue to work in Customizer.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Having themes work only in the site editor or the Customizer, depending on which they support, is likely to be a confusing workflow for users when testing themes. This incompatibility message and redirection is necessary but not ideal for the long term. Streamlining the customization workflow will depend on how quickly the WordPress community is able to produce and adopt block themes. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some testers also reported that the Site Editor doesn&#8217;t allow users to edit or preview non-active block themes. The preview only works with active themes. This isn&#8217;t necessarily a bug but rather a feature that needs to be discussed for the future. A <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/37201\">ticket</a> is open in the Gutenberg repository, recommending the implementation of a Live Preview for non-active block themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Featured patterns from the pattern directory should be displayed under Patterns in the the block inserter, but for some reason this wasn&#8217;t included in 5.9. It has been <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54623\">backported in beta 4</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This beta also adds a filter that allows developers to disable the login screen language switcher, which is a <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-language-switcher-on-login-screen\">new feature coming in 5.9</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The release team has determined that a fifth beta will not be necessary, as of <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/dev-chat-summary-december-22-2021/\">yesterday&#8217;s core dev chat</a>. The revised <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/5-9/\">5.9 release schedule</a> has RC1 shipping on January 4, 2022, and the official release on January 25.</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, 23 Dec 2021 18:42:46 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: WP Engine Acquires Brian Gardner’s Frost, Opens It to the Public\";s: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=127547\";s: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:189:\"https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-acquires-brian-gardners-frost-opens-it-to-the-public?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wp-engine-acquires-brian-gardners-frost-opens-it-to-the-public\";s: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:7120:\"<img />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Brian Gardner <a href=\"https://wpengine.com/blog/wp-engine-adds-frost-to-open-source-wordpress-project/\">announced  today</a> that WP Engine has acquired his latest project, <a href=\"https://frostwp.com/\">Frost</a>. In an email sent out to all customers, Gardner said his team had issued refunds to all current customers. The business model is changing, and Frost will be a freely-available project going forward and focus on full site editing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frost is a WordPress theme that Gardner released earlier this year as the main product of a new startup business. The original version was shipped as a child theme of Genesis, the StudioPress theme framework he had spent much of his WordPress career working on. <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-acquires-studiopress\">WP Engine acquired StudioPress</a> in 2018, and Gardner <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/brian-gardner-steps-down-from-studiopress\">stepped down from his role</a> in October 2019. It did not take him long to find his way back into the WordPress theme development game, bringing his personal style back to the theming world with Frost. Then, he landed a new job within WP Engine&#8217;s ranks in September.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I am leading the WordPress Developer Relations team at WP Engine,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We have a simple mission: Accelerate innovation in WordPress and help the community transition to the block editor and Full Site Editing (né Gutenberg). In addition, we want to cultivate an interactive and immersive community resource that serves as a treasure chest of knowledge and operates as a conduit between the WordPress project and its users.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I asked if there was something concrete he could share, maybe what form that would take, but he did not go into any other details. In general, the more resources the development and design community have around the block system, the faster the ecosystem can evolve. Only time will tell what Gardner&#8217;s team within WP Engine creates.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When I joined WP Engine in late September, it was evident to me [WP Engine] saw the value in building relationships with designers, developers, and creators &#8212; within our <a href=\"https://wpengine.com/atlas/\">Atlas</a> product line, as well as with WordPress,&#8221; said Gardner. &#8220;While there was interest in Frost when I came on board, it wasn&#8217;t until my vision for our team became clear did an acquisition enter the picture. I recommended bringing Frost into the company and hiring Nick Diego.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Diego is the creator of the <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/from-ecommerce-integration-to-location-based-controls-block-visibility-pro-expands-upon-its-free-version\">Block Visibility</a> and <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/add-custom-svgs-via-the-icon-block-wordpress-plugin\">Icon Block</a> plugins. He also began working on Frost in late September.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In alignment with WP Engine&#8217;s core value of &#8216;Committed to Give Back,&#8217; Frost is transitioning from a paid product to a free one,&#8221; said Gardner. &#8220;Given the change in business model, we issued full refunds to all active customers. By open-sourcing Frost and focusing on Full Site Editing, we hope to encourage a community of builders to experiment with the expanding capabilities of the block editor. We believe in its potential and look forward to helping it grow.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frost is open to everyone <a href=\"https://github.com/wpengine/themes/tree/trunk/frost\">via the WP Engine themes repository</a> on GitHub.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"leaping-into-block-theming\">Leaping into Block Theming</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">When Gardner sold StudioPress in 2018, several factors played a part in the decision. Among them were the uncertainty around the Gutenberg project and WordPress&#8217;s future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It took some time for me to put the pieces together, but when I did, I saw just how powerful the block editor has become,&#8221; he said. &#8220;In particular, I am excited about block patterns, global styles, and building themes that folks can use to create beautiful websites with little effort.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The result of his newfound enthusiasm around the block system was Frost. I have had the opportunity to tinker around with the theme. It has Gardner&#8217;s signature minimalist design style, a focus on readable typography, and ample breathing room for the content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simpler designs almost feel par for the course with any block theme these days, regardless of the theme author. What is likely to set Frost apart is its <a href=\"https://frostwp.com/patterns/\">block patterns</a>. It currently ships with 38 of them. The layouts should allow users to quickly set up their sites, along with the theme&#8217;s custom block styles.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I am a huge fan of block patterns and see their potential when paired with the growing support of design/style elements within <code>theme.json</code>,&#8221; said Gardner of the things he is excited about. &#8220;Additionally, the site editor is something I feel, once mature, will be a game-changer for WordPress and those who build for it.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-pattern-explorer/\">Block Pattern Explorer</a> plugin was initially a part of the Frost library plugin, but Gardner and Diego pulled it out and make it available to everyone. They also wanted to serve the Frost patterns through it. The hope is that the enhancements already in place via the plugin find their way into core WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Frost theme patterns via Block Patterns Explorer\n\n\n\n<p>The design is a bit more polished than core. It includes category types, a feature the theme uses to separate its own pattern categories from others. The experimental explorer plugin allows users to preview patterns via desktop, tablet, and mobile views. And, it has a clear &#8220;Add Pattern&#8221; button for inserting a block pattern into the post.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, they plan to sunset the plugin once its features make their way into WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress theming has come a long way since Gardner first dove in over a decade ago. Back then, users had to open template files to customize bits and pieces of their homepage. As we move toward WordPress 5.9, users will have that same power. However, they will modify Frost via the WordPress site editor instead of PHP files.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Yes, I feel we are circling back to some degree,&#8221; he said. It was in response to a question of his early days designing themes for WordPress in comparison to now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;While WordPress will never be solely a blogging platform ever again, it seems like the software is shedding its skin. The irony here is that we see WordPress used in sophisticated ways that &#8212; to be honest &#8212; I never thought would be possible. As for me, I believe in the power of simplicity. That has become my north star for everything I create and has allowed me to navigate the ebbs and flows of an ever-changing software and industry.&#8221;</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, 23 Dec 2021 15:35:47 +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:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"Akismet: Do CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA Protect WordPress Sites from Bots?\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2164\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:95:\"https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/23/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/\";s: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:17231:\"<p>If you’ve used the internet anytime in the last decade, chances are you’ve had to pass a CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA test. You may have done so many of these little quizzes that you groan just seeing one on a form.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are quite a few different versions, but they all can help protect your WordPress website from spambots and make your life simpler.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, we’ll cover the evolution of CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA. We’ll also go over the different versions and the pros and cons of each one. Then, we’ll show you how to enable reCAPTCHA on WordPress and explore additional security measures you should implement.</p>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-2164\"></span>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-are-captcha-and-recaptcha\">What are CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA serve the same purpose: protecting your website against bots and other security threats. They’re typically found on contact, comment, login, and password reset forms. But there are some key differences between the two safety checks. Let’s take a look at each one in detail.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-is-captcha\">What is CAPTCHA?</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The acronym <a href=\"https://support.google.com/a/answer/1217728?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CAPTCHA stands for</a> Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. It’s a mouthful, but the name says it all —&nbsp;it can decipher the difference between a human and a computer operator. Still, the specifics are important.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the <a href=\"https://www.britannica.com/technology/CAPTCHA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">early 2000s</a>, when it was created, CAPTCHA used a distorted text (letters and numbers) test to prevent bots from compromising websites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When faced with a CAPTCHA, users needed to decipher broken text correctly to prove that they were, in fact, human. If they couldn’t identify the letters and numbers, the test wouldn’t submit their requests.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was revolutionary because most humans could pass it easily, but computers couldn’t solve it themselves.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-is-recaptcha\">What is reCAPTCHA?</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>reCAPTCHA follows a similar principle, but instead of just utilizing meaningless text to see if the user is a real human, it was designed to help computers digitize old books and newspapers. The test was essentially split into two parts shown side-by-side —&nbsp;one traditional CAPTCHA to determine the humanity of the user, and a second image of letters from a piece of text the computer was trying to digitize. If the human could pass the first part, it would accept the user&#8217;s input for the second part as an accurate translation.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img /><em>Photo from <a href=\"http://www.captcha.net/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http://www.captcha.net/</a></em>\n\n\n\n<p>The point is that reCAPTCHA added a second part to the test to put millions of human users to work —&nbsp;a few seconds at a time —&nbsp;to digitize historical text for ongoing record keeping. Now sites were protected from bots and users weren’t totally wasting their time.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Google <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/luis-von-ahn-creator-of-duolingo-recaptcha-2014-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">purchased the technology in 2009</a> and improved upon it over the years. You see, artificial intelligence (AI) eventually became sophisticated enough to read and decipher even the most challenging text with <a href=\"https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2014/12/are-you-robot-introducing-no-captcha\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">99.8 percent accuracy</a>. By doing so, they could pass the test and trick it into thinking bots were humans.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To deal with this new issue, reCAPTCHA made things even more challenging, introducing new options like the famous “I’m not a robot” check box.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Today, reCAPTCHA is a widely-used security measure that protects websites from various spambots and cybercriminals by helping to ensure that comments on blog posts or in forums, and submissions on forms come from real people.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-are-the-different-versions-of-recaptcha\">What are the different versions of reCAPTCHA?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are technically four different types of active <a href=\"https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/docs/versions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reCAPTCHAs</a>. Instead of text, some tests may use images, audio, or even math equations. They also utilize some variation of&nbsp; “<a href=\"https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2014/12/are-you-robot-introducing-no-captcha#:~:text=reCAPTCHA%20protects%20the%20websites%20you%20love%20from%20spam%20and%20abuse.&text=We\'re%20calling%20it%20the,having%20to%20solve%20a%20CAPTCHA.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA</a>”, which determines whether a user is suspicious simply based on their behavior on a site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re setting up <a href=\"https://jetpack.com/features/security/\">WordPress website security</a>, you may have the option to choose between different reCAPTCHA types. For example, you can select a checkbox or background verification:</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the different types of reCAPTCHA:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v2 (“I’m not a robot” checkbox):</strong> This is the simplest and easiest test to add with limited coding knowledge. Sometimes it passes or approves users right away and prompts them to check a box. Other times, it asks them to verify that they’re human with a puzzle challenge.</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v2 (Invisible reCAPTCHA badge):</strong> For this version, there’s usually no checkbox. It simply uses an existing button on your site or a JavaScript API call for verification. You’ll see a badge that says <em>Protected by reCAPTCHA</em>. Essentially, verification happens in the background. Only the strangest behavior will prompt a test.</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v2 (Android):</strong> This version utilizes a reCAPTCHA Android library that’s part of Google Play’s <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://developer.android.com/training/safetynet\" target=\"_blank\">SafetyNet APIs</a>. This validates requests from within an Android app, so it’s not the right choice to use for a WordPress site.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA v3:</strong> This is the most advanced and discreet of all the versions. Visitors won’t even know it’s happening. It uses a JavaScript API and automatically assigns a score to each user to approve or deny them. This version also gives more advanced developers extended flexibility for integrations with other security measures to dictate the level of site security.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>ReCAPTCHA Enterprise:</strong> Like v3, this runs in the background. It gives each site visitor a score based on their behavior. If a visitor is deemed suspicious, it may require them to verify their identity through custom options determined by each site —&nbsp;two-factor authentication or email verification. As its name implies, this is typically for enterprise-level sites and requires advanced customization.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-should-i-consider-when-choosing-a-recaptcha-version\">What should I consider when choosing a reCAPTCHA version?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since reCAPTCHA Enterprise is reserved for larger companies, it’s safe to say that most websites will need either reCAPTCHA v2 or reCAPTCHA v3. Still, it’s important to know what you’re getting into with each one.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-recaptcha-v2\">What are the pros and cons of reCAPTCHA v2?&nbsp;</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The most significant advantage of reCAPTCHA v2 is that, whether you choose to include the “I’m not a robot” checkbox or leave it discreetly running in the background, it protects you from spam while offering humans the opportunity to prove that they’re real.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the invisible version, if it detects suspicious behavior, it will require a test. If it doesn’t, the user can proceed none the wiser.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, any reCAPTCHA v2 test can seriously hurt the user experience for site visitors. To combat increasingly smart AI technology, tests have become so tricky that many real humans have trouble passing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The test’s difficulty may leave users frustrated, wondering why they fail when they are actual humans. In fact, the situation has become so bad that popular tech magazines <a href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/im-not-a-robot-why-captchas-hard-to-solve\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">give people tips</a> on passing these tests.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plus, it’s also important to consider <a href=\"https://www.w3.org/TR/turingtest/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the accessibility of reCAPTCHAs</a>. A graphical puzzle, for example, would be inaccessible for people who have vision impairments. So, if you do decide to use reCAPTCHA v2, it’s important to present other options, like audio or text-based tests.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-recaptcha-v3\">What are the pros and cons of reCAPTCHA v3?</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>reCAPTCHA v3 was specifically designed to improve the user experience. With no verification tests to complete, it’s seamless. Website visitors are happily unaware of the entire process.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also gives administrators much more control. With reCAPTCHA v3, you have advanced options to customize your interaction with Google’s API to adjust scoring thresholds and define what is considered suspicious behavior.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some may consider this added control a good thing, while others may find it a weighty and cumbersome responsibility. Additionally, <a href=\"https://www.fastcompany.com/90369697/googles-new-recaptcha-has-a-dark-side\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some critics believe</a> that reCAPTCHA v3 may pose a privacy risk because it provides Google with too much data.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, reCAPTCHA v3 can deter good bots from doing important work. People tend to remember the villains like spambots, but forget about their positive counterparts. Good bots deal with things like SEO and performance monitoring. If you get in their way, your overall website success could suffer.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A final downside is that, since spam scoring happens in the background, there’s no alternative test provided to suspicious users (like with the invisible reCAPTCHA v2 badge). Visitors who are wrongly flagged as bots don’t have an opportunity to prove their legitimacy. This means that you could turn away real customers, clients, and followers.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"can-bots-bypass-recaptcha\">Can bots bypass reCAPTCHA?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the big question. Unfortunately, the answer may not be straightforward or definitive.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The many versions of reCAPTCHA are evidence that malicious spambots evolve quickly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They’re constantly adapting to outsmart reCAPTCHA. When the original CAPTCHA was introduced, it was revolutionary in its ability to decipher between real users and bots. But it didn’t take long before the bots caught on. People have even started <a href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/augustinefou/2020/09/19/you-didnt-know-bots-solve-captchas-and-do-pharming-with-humans/?sh=706e34951a4d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">using human labor</a> to get past tests manually.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Computer scientists are regularly working to increase the effectiveness of reCAPTCHA, however. Some have <a href=\"https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/1/18205610/google-captcha-ai-robot-human-difficult-artificial-intelligence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposed new challenges</a>, like puzzles that require a user to maneuver pieces or nursery rhyme completion games based on the location of site visitors.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That’s one major reason tests have become so frustrating for real users —&nbsp;difficulty has had to increase to stay ahead of computer learning. Unfortunately, it seems we’re at a point where to continue to outsmart computers, we have to make tests that are sometimes too difficult for real users to solve&nbsp;— a major problem.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It’s gotten so bad that <a href=\"https://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&S1=9767263.PN.&OS=PN/9767263&RS=PN/9767263\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon now owns a patent</a> for a new kind of CAPTCHA-esque test that is so difficult to solve that only a computer can do it. Meaning… if you pass, you’ve actually failed because you’ve proven that you can’t possibly be human.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"so-can-recaptcha-stop-bots\">So can reCAPTCHA stop bots?&nbsp;</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, it can stop many of them. But it can’t stop them all. And the percentage of bots that make it through is increasing by the day. This means you can’t simply rely on reCAPTCHA to prevent spam submissions. You’d be signing up for a highly imperfect, temporary system that’s only going to get less effective.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what <em>should</em> you do?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"other-security-measures-to-protect-your-website-from-spambots\">Other security measures to protect your website from spambots</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"1-lock-down-your-comment-forms\">1. Lock down your comment forms</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The best place to start is by configuring your WordPress comments in a way that protects your site against bots. Navigate to <strong>Settings ? Discussion</strong> in your site dashboard and and consider requiring:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Comment authors to submit a name and email</li><li>Users to be registered and logged in to comment</li><li>Comments to be manually approved before publication</li><li>Authors to have a previously approved comment to submit a new one</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In the <strong>Comment Moderation</strong> box, you can also flag a comment that contains a certain number of links —&nbsp;lots of links is a common indication of spam. Or, if you’re getting a lot of spam that contains certain words, email addresses, IP addresses, and other characteristics, you can ban them entirely.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"2-protect-your-login-forms\">2. Protect your login forms</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To lock down your login forms without using a CAPTCHA, you can implement <a href=\"https://jetpack.com/features/security/secure-authentication/\">two-factor authentication</a>. This requires a user to have both login details <em>and </em>a physical device to access your site. When someone logs in, they’ll have to enter a username and password as well as a one-time code that’s sent to the mobile device on file. This is virtually impossible for bots to get past.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"3-use-honeypot\">3. Use honeypot</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Honeypots are an option for protecting contact forms. Think of them as a mouse trap for bots. They essentially create a hidden field in your forms that isn’t visible to site visitors but that can be seen by spambots. If the field is filled out, the bot is stopped in its tracks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many contact form plugins allow you to implement this feature in their default settings.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"4-protect-your-comment-and-contact-forms-with-akismet\">4. Protect your comment and contact forms with Akismet</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Akismet is hands-down the best way to eliminate the headaches of bots (or even real humans) spamming your comments or sending unwanted messages through forms on your site.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With millions of users, Akismet has blocked over 500,000,000,000 spam submissions at the time of writing this article. With each one, it learns a bit more. So while bots might have AI to get past reCAPTCHAs, Akismet’s AI is working to protect your site in an entirely different way.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Akismet can accurately identify spammy behavior and keeps a blocklist of words, IP addresses, names, and emails to prevent pests. Plus, it gives you control to provide feedback about any spam it misses or real comments that it accidentally flagged. Then, it customizes its spam-fighting solution just for your site. Amazing.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>You can get a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/\">free version of Akismet</a> for your personal blog. In addition, there are three <a href=\"https://akismet.com/plans/\">paid plans</a> for commercial sites starting at just $10 per month.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"win-the-fight-against-spam-bots\">Win the fight against spam bots</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Spam bots and less-than-ethical cyber actors are always trying to take advantage of visitors and the sites they love (like yours!). They can cause annoyance or even do real-world damage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA have evolved many times over the years and continue to be one trusted way to prevent bots from flooding sites. But these solutions aren’t perfect, and sites need other measures to prevent spam from causing trouble. Consider protecting login forms with two-factor authentication, deploying WordPress best-practices, and using <a href=\"https://akismet.com/\">Akismet</a> to filter comment and contact form submissions automatically.&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:\"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 10:25:20 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Simon Keating\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:77:\"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 38) — In Person For State of the Word\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=91657\";s: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:34:\"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/38/\";s: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:38726:\"<h2>&#8220;I believe our community can make significant contributions to Gutenberg and the Block Editor.&#8221; —Cory Miller</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory shares his experience among the 30+ individuals who attended the State of the Word in New York in person. David and Cory talk about how Matt presented himself, his views on the necessary ratio of community contributions to open source projects, Five for the Future, the next generation of leaders, and what it means to give back to the community and WordPress core.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also: </strong>Cory hints at what Post Status will be doing in 2022 when it comes to giving back — along with how Post Status will encourage and assist people in contributing to the WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\">Every week <strong><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">Post Status Excerpt</a></strong> will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what\'s new in WordPress in a flash. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/26a1.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />You can listen to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">past episodes</a> of <strong>The Excerpt</strong>, <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/\">browse all our podcasts</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe on <a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7\">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d\">Castro</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts\">Player.fm</a>, <a href=\"https://pca.st/05rR\">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\">Simplecast</a>, or by <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f3a7.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpiH_P9aGhQ&feature=emb_title\">YouTube: State Of The Word 2021</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.godaddy.com/garage/state-of-the-word-2021\">GoDaddy Review And Timeline of State of the Word 2021</a></li><li><a href=\"https://thewpminute.com/state-of-the-word-2021/\">The WP Minute (Audio + Transcript)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"http://twitter.com/nathaningram\">Cory Miller (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Sponsor: <a href=\"https://poststat.us/pagely\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow\">Yoast SEO</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yoast</strong> is SEO for everyone. Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support and extra features like internal linking, social previews, a redirect manager, tutorial videos, and integration with Google Webmaster Tools. Get on board today with the premiere SEO plugin for WordPress — <strong>Yoast</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-transcript\"><strong>Transcript</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> [00:00:00] Since I wasn\'t there because as I was telling somebody earlier, I couldn\'t, hurt my Twitter game by being there. I had to be in front of my computer with with my keyboards and making a bingo games and hashtag&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> that\'s my fondest memories of you, David is like going to these events and somebody live tweeting.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s like, here\'s this dimension media person. And it\'s like, holy crap.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. They used to call me dementia media. So.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Signature though is still in the lodge waiting. And I remember when Twitter kind of first came out and it was a thing to live tweet a lot. And but I always like yours because you always summarize what.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The takeaway is like you\'re starring the cool quotes along the way. And that\'s part of what we\'re trying to do at post status is give you the too long, didn\'t read content, the inside analysis commentary for the stuff that matters to you. So that\'s your claim to fame or friend?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, that\'s how I took notes and I really didn\'t care who listened. I that\'s how I just took [00:01:00] notes. It kind of knocked off a couple of killed a couple birds with one stone, but enough about me. Let\'s. Let\'s talk about you being there in person. And can you tell me where this place w what was this place like?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Was it in like a tall building or like, I hear it was tumblers all the offices or something.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> So my understanding was it\'s the automatics new event space in New York city. And of course, some of their investors in New York city and things like that. And it was incredible space. I would try to guess how big of a space it was.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I couldn\'t tell, the camera angles were just, they did the camera angles just right. So you never got a true dimension of the room on the live stream</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;yeah, that\'s&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> what I just said. I do more tell me I bet you it\'s about 15,000 to 20,000 square feet in there that I saw really great space. And it\'s a whole floor of a billion is my understanding, but it was gorgeous.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then there\'s the sunset of New York city out the window rep for state of the word. And it was really good, but I. I, you know, I got to see [00:02:00] Matt about a month ago and San Francisco, we got to talk and he mentioned inviting you David, to stay the word. And also he\'d love to have Post Status there. So I was like, yes, we\'re going to make that happen.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know you had things that come up, you couldn\'t be there. But you know, I want to guess there\'s about 25 30 people there in person. And it was a really nice night. I mean, automatic. Rolled out the carpet for all of us, which is super nice. Matt as always is a charming, elegant presenter and host and did a fantastic job.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I thought it was normal. You know, I want to give him kudos, but like, he\'s really good on stage.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Well he was different this time and I realized I wasn\'t in the room, but I almost had, I have a 30 inch monitor. So I saw a lot of him and I saw a lot of his facial expressions pretty clearly. There was there was something different about them in a good way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I can\'t, I think he, you know, not just not to put emotions on a person, I\'m pretty sure he was nervous in some regard. I think anybody is nervous to some extent of public speaking, but he definitely had some sort of [00:03:00] energy that he was releasing. And you know, me, I record animated gifs all the time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I decided not to post, I don\'t know what I decided to post, but in the very beginning before he was kind of. He was almost dancing a jig right before way before the state of the word started up on stage. So he was really excited and really, you know, anxious maybe, but you could just see the energy even before he spoke anything.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You could just see the pent up energy that he had, which was reflected later, by the way.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> And not trying to speak for him, but if for me, I go, I haven\'t done this in two years. There\'s some cool people here that I have invited to be here and I\'m talking about the thing that I want to spend all of my life doing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so. Yeah, totally. I spoke a couple of weeks ago at our three recurring revenue retreat. And I remember getting feeling nervous cause I\'m like I was rusty, you know? And there was this quote and I\'m trying to remember what it was, but it\'s basically turning fear, the anxiety into [00:04:00] energy and excitement.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\'s what I tried to do is like channel that\'s now Matt doesn\'t need my public speaking tips, but those are my thoughts. What I. As long as I\'ve known him. And it goes back to 2008, where camp DFW in Frisco, Texas. There\'s one thing that\'s always standard with Matt and that is his passion for the WordPress open source project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. So, you know, and it just has never wavered. And I think he mentioned on state of the word that he wants to spend the rest of his life. He\'s 38 rest of this. On WordPress project. And I totally believe this. This is his contribution to humidity, you know, and at Post Status makers of the open web WordPress, this 42% of this big number that he shared out there, I think we should all take a moment, take a big deep breath and go.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The web is still in its infancy. I don\'t know, life-stage wise where it would be comparatively to like a human, but it\'s still early, like in history of all that\'s going to happen in this world. In the future, the web is [00:05:00] still kind of an infant. And if you think about it, our place is WordPress makers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>People that build on WordPress, extend WordPress, teach WordPress, all that stuff people have. Post-test the business to WordPress is this is historic and what we\'ve been doing. I started with WordPress, my first blog in 2006. That was just me using this amazing platform called WordPress, but, you know, history historically sake and going through.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>42%, that number, it just keeps getting bigger. And that\'s exciting for us, those of us that make our living with on for WordPress.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah, he did. I got a couple of quotes out of them and it was, you know, livestream is a little bit easier. Cause you can pause and rewind a little bit just to make sure, because you want to get it as close as possible. Regarding the The WordPress space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He did say the court word press belongs. Just, you know, just to anybody it\'s not just you or me it\'s regardless of economic or political situations. And he said something about WordPress can\'t be [00:06:00] created by just one company and people adding a line of code is like giving that, give a penny, take a penny and I feel like there\'s quite a number of people that thanks to five for the future that are giving that he was, he actually said he actually gave a quote or something about, I don\'t know if you caught it. He was studying other CMSs. And he said for every dollar that has made $20 has made in the ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\'s ratio is how they came up with the five for the future. Did you know that. I did not.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> You know, I don\'t know how long, far, because the future has been out, but there\'s two things I wanted to highlight. Part of State of the Word you\'ve just put a square in this one, which is contributing back to core five for the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\'t know how long that\'s been going, but, you know, I know our Post Status members. I mentioned this to Matt. They, you know, like me and I themes, we had, let\'s say at her height, I want to say 27, 28 people or something like that. And you go, okay, how do we, excuse me, our team or company contribute to core.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We don\'t have the profit bandwidth, all that stuff to take a full-time dev for instance&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> right</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> [00:07:00] off. And I mentioned this because I know there\'s so many giving hearts in WordPress and founders and entrepreneurs and people that lead companies. That benefit from WordPress that want to do five for the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\'s tough. I get it from your standpoint of how do we meaningfully contributed, even though we believe we are contributing to the ecosystem or what we\'re doing. And I grant that a hundred percent, what we want to do at Post Status though I did tag on the contributions that push to continue to contribute to core.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that\'s the reflective I dunno, KPI for the ecosystem too, by the way. But, and I know there\'s companies that do it, even if it doesn\'t fall under the strict banner of farm from feature or whatever it is that like, they\'re doing it just like, we felt like we were contributing to WordPress for years.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What I want to do is translate that help that better for our Post Status crowd to, to actually meaningfully contribute. So Courtney Robertson on our team, who is also great, awesome person at Go Daddy pro is really [00:08:00] taking the banner for the contributor days for post status. So next year, we\'re going to be talking about enrolling out contributor days, but that\'s one thing to say, we\'re going to do a contributor day, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\'s nothing new. This is where Courtney\'s idea was. Let\'s go to the team leads and ask for their wishlist. Things they would love for people of post status to contribute. And from that gives us something that we can go. Let\'s say we take that day eight hours. And we\'re going to show up for contributor today. at Post Status, were gonna, make it a contribute and then pick something off the board.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we\'re already trying to help you do a little thinking in the stuff that\'s going to be most valuable to the core team, core teams that are doing things, and then say pick one off the list and try to get as far as you can. You know, and I\'m excited about that. I know it\'s very meaningfully and for good reason to Matt, both as CEO of automatic, but also the leader of the WordPress open source project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that was one thing that for sure came out, you know, to me in that call.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. There, [00:09:00] there was quite a bit talk about, there was talk about the contributors earlier in the live stream. And then afterwards it was how to get new and especially young people involved and you know, young people, they have so many distractions these days, but they have more time and they more energy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then we do cause we were running, families were running businesses and so forth like that. And I liked the question that Allie posed about. How can these people learn WordPress? But contributing I, you know, I, I lost my thought there for a second, but I really wanted to. I was hoping that the five for the future was going to spark some more ideas.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think it will, because if you have people that are, if companies are being sponsored or sponsoring people to work on contributing and there should be. Like an on-ramp in there somewhere for people who want to get into it too, because you know, like many people have pointed out. You have to, unless you\'re a young person within, [00:10:00] with an inordinate amount of time, you don\'t have the time to do that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So even for a couple of hours, and I think part of five for the future, and some people have brought this, you know, written about it after state of the word. And about that five for the future, maybe someday five for the future can be expanded a bit to help some people not only contribute, but also kind of help them find people are willing to cover them so they can contribute whether that\'s financially or some other means.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or maybe it\'s just some sort of internship if somebody is brand new and needs to be exposed to anything in WordPress. So I think five for the future is a great thing now, and I think it has got room to grow, but you know, it needs that it needs. Momentum of support right now and whether that\'s the repost status and all these other methods, I think we\'re still seeing the early stages of a comprehensive program for contributing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> And I understand the apprehensions from companies and founders and leaders. You know, you have to make a [00:11:00] profit for sure. And you\'re like, okay, I want to give back, but I, can\'t just, I\'m not a nonprofit, I\'m a profit in enterprise and everything, and I want to help with them and contribute to these.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But something you mentioned just a second ago was pinged for my second thought. And when you said next generation, the no, our intern Here and has helping to post that by the way. But I also know your passion, heart for next generation with WordPress too. And it, that just brings up, well, one Sandy Edwards work with kids camp.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Talk to her about that a couple of weeks ago at our three, how post-test wants to contribute to that. But the other thing, the second theme is Gutenberg. You know, you can\'t probably talk to Matt about WordPress without hearing Gutenberg and for good reason, here\'s the thing. I was not a vocal advocate at all of ruling out Gutenberg in the way we did&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I like how politically, that was so eloquently put, but yes.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Yeah, I thought it was way early and everything, and it took me a year or two to finally [00:12:00] okay. You know, use Gutenberg and but it here\'s the reality situation, no matter what, the way we feel about the past, it is here and it\'s not going away.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you hear this over and over from Matt and for good reasons, there\'s some cool stuff coming. That he talked about the styles, some of the typical libraries. I see that as a very similar innovation and direction, that themes as a whole went when I started, I think back in 2008, There\'s so much innovation to do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So first and foremost, it\'s here. We\'ve got to accept it and move on. And I think what his plea here was too, and again, probably my nuance. It\'s not, I\'m not going to play, but I\'m just saying my nuances. It\'s not going away. We should accept it and embrace it. And then the question becomes, how do we improve that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think our community can make considerable contribution. To the conversation and the actual implementation of Gutenberg, the block editor for WordPress. I\'ll tell ya, I\'m looking, I\'m going to redo my [00:13:00] personal site cause I want to start blogging every day. And I say blogging, it\'s going to be just sharing my thoughts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not just on Twitter, but you know, my site and I\'m probably going to pig blank canvas. I\'m still up in the air and I want to use. And I want to really like embrace using it and see what I, what my takeaways are. And I did that back in August with the click publish. I want to use Gutenberg because I\'ve criss cross the threshold.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And for me, I\'ll tell you the big benefit David was used to because no one even believes I\'m ever been a developer. I\'m not, but I was like&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Don\'t be ashamed. I\'m a programmer. I do websites. I do plug-ins. I do all of that. And what does Matt say to everybody that I am during state of the word?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I tweet a lot. So that\'s my claim to fame. That\'ll be on my tombstone where the developer, but you\'re not a developer, but&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> I was looking for, I wanted to do a buy now button or something. You know, I just wanted to button and I can\'t, I can [00:14:00] figure it out. I mean, I don\'t want to figure out how to write a button coordination, or, CSS or whatever.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I, what I normally would have done is went look for a plugin. I can\'t remember. I want to say max plugins or something was that max buttons was out there as a plug in. Well, and I can\'t remember what might\'ve been AGA again. But it was like, that\'s a block that was a game changer for me to go.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You don\'t have to get something extra to do things you want to do in the post. That was pretty cool turning point for me. It\'s not there. It\'s getting better, this awesome people working on it. And I think we should. We can and should contribute to the conversation and the implementation once it gets going, because it\'s not going away.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And back to your point about next generation Syed Balkhi that if you WP Beginner and awesome motive, I remember asking him a couple of years about Gutenberg. I was like I kind of expect he\'s going to get on the bandwagon. Let me it\'s like, we don\'t like it. It shouldn\'t be out there. And Syed was like, I love it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was like why? And he goes, because the next generation look at how people are [00:15:00] publishing today and it\'s changed from what you and I learned now. He\'s like, he\'s over 10 years, 15 years younger than me. But like even young kids like Olivia and like the platforms have changed in the way to express yourself change.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that always stuck with me what Syed said. And so I really have high hopes for Gutenberg. Yeah, again, now that I am in strong, like of it.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So another thing Matt talked about which I\'m actually a little bit surprised he did bring it up. I\'m wondering who, by the way, Tuesday was when WordPress 5.9 was supposed to be out before they pushed it to January. So I talked to Anne McCarthy today. And first of all, I mentioned to her, like you mentioned, like 5.0 release when Gutenberg first came up, was rough around the edges. And she has assured me that the full site editor coming out in January with 5.9 is it may not have the entire kitchen sink, but it is very stable and doable. So I can\'t wait to share that [00:16:00] interview with everybody, but Matt did call out acquisitions and I like, and I thought is this one of the things that if 5.9 was out, would he gone over more quickly? I don\'t know, but they got on one slide. He started with 42 logos. And I thought there were more acquisitions than that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'ll have to go back to our Post Status tracker. But he had 42 logos up there and then he proceeded with, and I\'m not a finance person. I\'m just going to take his word for it. , his charts were taken from other people\'s analysis. He gave proper credit to them, but he says the number of the deals that are happening in the tech space, he says there were 10,000 transactions in the first nine months of 2021 alone.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which is up 24% over the last year. And then he brought out another chart that was called inflows to stocks. And I couldn\'t even, I don\'t even know what that was. I was, but all I know is there was a big bar at the end with the, with our year in it though. And I guess what he was trying to prove is that [00:17:00] don\'t panic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The acquisition space is not unique to the WordPress space right now. This is all going, you know, bonkers. And it\'s not just WordPress. So I, you know, with you being a business person, how did you feel, do you feel that was properly delivered or delivered? Well, do you think he got the message.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> But the question I think about that is what prompted him to even do the slides, you know, and that\'s the bigger question we always want to be thinking about here, you know, for our people is what is the founder co-founder of WordPress, the movement of open source project. Fill the need to say that. And we have some sense of the people that are like change sucks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nobody likes change, you know, and the fact of the matter, if you bullet down these acquisitions, why would anybody even care? It\'s because it could potentially change something that I\'m used to doing. And I\'m not saying it\'s good, right? Bad, wrong indifferent. I\'m just saying, you know, I think change is [00:18:00] tough and I\'ve heard some sentiment from the WordPress community about, I don\'t even recognize it anymore and all this stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then I just go down, like, here\'s my comparison for it is when I left.iThemes and started this new journey and Post Status . It was over a year before I became a partner and it was probably nine months before Brian and I even started talking about me becoming a partner. There was a big gap there and I was like, I didn\'t know what I was going to do next and trying to figure that out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I did one simple thing, which was, I\'m never going to say publicly privately, I\'m leaving WordPress. I joked all the time. I\'m going to be a WordPress user a blogger, which I was still am. But the important thing is I didn\'t want to lose or even think all the amazing friendships I\'ve made over 15 years being in the space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To say, I\'m saying goodbye to you. That\'s not it. You heard Pippin Williamson when he left Sandhill dev that he was like, I\'m not saying about a difference, but I need to step away from the project. [00:19:00] And I just go that sentiment to me comes back to this acquisition. Like things are changing, all that stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I, I totally get that. I\'m not trying to change your emotion. My way of thinking about it though, is the people are still here and that\'s what matters. I\'ve known you David for God. Has it been 10 years since&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'ve known you for 10 years?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Since the first conference in Arizona whose name is escaping my. I think that\'s where we may have known.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We may have known each other prior to that. That\'s the first time we met in person, I think officially,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> but you know, the premise of all, this is like, the people are still here, for the most part. Now you\'re always going to get people leaving the ecosystem, leaving it, you know, and coming in new people, coming in, who I met, one of our post-test members was when Stina and I\'d love to hear her story.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She was there. Got invited to State of the Word we got to talk Post Status member and That\'s a new person, I didn\'t know, a year ago or two years ago, you [00:20:00] know? And so some may leave and you\'re always going to have that in some, and cause there was even a picture. I think one of those slides, David of Kim. Oh, you know, and you think about people who have left and for instance, this world Kim back in the day but I saw her picture on one of those slides, you know, and it made me smile, but all that to say, WordPress is not about code it\'s about the people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that is what I hang on. I\'m not trying to change your heart, your feelings, but I\'m just saying, if you think about it, go it\'s about the people. No matter if it\'s a team, if it\'s outside of WordPress, whatever it is, it\'s like, what matters are the people there? And are we growing together and all that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that\'s the way I think about that, but that the merger is that it\'s I it\'s right for people to go and question what\'s what the heck\'s going on here. Things are changing on that space, but I still go the Michelle Frechette. Actually as a team member of people, some of my best friends and my former team and I themes now, is that interesting?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I\'ve known Michelle for a long time and now she\'s a part of the scene. That\'s cool. You know, that, that change happened where gives, [00:21:00] got by. And cellar rolled out and she moved over roles and now we get to work with her Post Status too. And again, I just call back to, if you\'re worried about that, just go back to the people now there\'s other worries, but I just, the heart of it is about people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. And&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also, I have also have a motto too, in terms of you don\'t let the people that are leaving a community, distract you from who is coming into the community or who they should, or who should be invited into the community and vice versa. But don\'t let one side distract you from who\'s coming in versus who\'s going out and that sort of thing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think we\'re doing a pretty good job with that. What happened after state of the word after it ended what happened.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Well, so there was about, I can\'t remember how many, but at least 20 of us, I could probably adapt touch straight back to Post Status and we all kind of stayed at the same hotel and had a little, two day fun before the event and all that stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so a bunch of us went back to our hotel and we\'re at the restaurant, the hotel restaurant bar, [00:22:00] and just kinda talking, you know, and I got to meet great people. I\'ve just met in like Robert. Who runs OSTP training there? I got to see again for the third time, Robert Jacoby of cloud waves. The hero press couple Kate, and Tofor, I\'m trying to think of othersAC Morse was there? Gravity forms.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Aaron Campbell was there.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> The Aaron and I laughed. He lives in Oklahoma. Like me, he\'s literally an hour away. I bet it\'d take me 45 minutes to be on his doorstep and vice versa. And we\'re like, we had to laugh. So we\'re sitting in New York city Soho, somewhere in the coffee shop. We\'re like, isn\'t it funny how we have to either go out of the country or to go across the states to see each other when we live like that close to each other.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I love Aaron. He has such a great. For WordPress, all things WordPress and I love what he\'s doing.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Bob was there too. Of course, he traveled by train. He traveled by training the width of the Wu train clan. And it was, I think one of the best moments of the night was when he got up to ask the question and he had the simplest of questions, which was like, he [00:23:00] like, what\'s up for WooCommerce or in the next year I traveled 2000 miles to ask this question.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And how did Matt respond&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> that\'s all the bingo card and slack Post Status slack light up because Bob asked it, you know, finally he got the invoke. Woo. Yeah. I love Bob. Bob does and has been around for a long time too. And what I said about him personally at the vent was the one thing I admire about him is he has just consistently showed up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And get work in this space and has mad respect from everybody because of it. So we sponsored his train trip out because we wanted to I mean, Bob is such a vital member of the WordPress community and then specifically WooCommerse. So Bob did all of that kind of community logistic, wrangling there, in addition to being like, and he was trying to record, he set up a studio in his room and I got to be with Robbie and Robert and Bob and</p>\n\n\n\n<p>do the woo podcasts there. So, it was a great time for that on the note of getting people together. And Post Status [00:24:00] specifically we\'re right now getting our in person. Camps together for Post Status Brian and intended to do it last year. And you know what, two years ago, and you know what happened, right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this year we\'re putting some plans in place to get together in a small way to talk shop, to do life together as a community. I would love for everybody to be there next. December 22nd for, it\'s going to&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> say, as we wrap up here, what is the schedule look like for our post status members?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What do they, pay attention to?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> So we\'re doing a year in, remember huddle. We\'re going to be doing these next year, by the way, in which I\'ll be talking about, but our member huddle you\'re in next Wednesday, December 22nd, 11:00 AM central time. There\'ll be zoom links in slack and all that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so. We\'re going to do our, that member huddle. How-to it\'s going to be one part like reflective review last year, thinking about next year. So look back, look forward, and then we\'re going to do some fun stuff. I want you to meet the Post Status team. All the people that are doing all this crazy awesome [00:25:00] stuff behind the scenes that you don\'t all see.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then talk about some of the things we got in store for our Post Status community. A couple of times I\'ve heard people say energy with post status and it is, and it ain\'t just me, by the way, it\'s people like David who had been here faithfully for years, Michelle Frechette, Courtney Robertson, Taleesha, you\'ll get to meet her.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\'s our new director of operations and all kinds of people in between. I can\'t wait to do that. And then laugh together. Our theme for the ongoing, I hesitate to say it\'s going to be 2022, because I just want it to be forever is give. Together.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> What was that again?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Give, grow together. It\'s part of what I want to be our member mantra.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The thing we come to post to us and say, I\'m here to give of myself my time, talent, treasure, all that stuff. Not true necessarily, but like give up myself in the spirit of open source to the commuity. To each other. Second is I\'m here to grow. I want to grow myself. I want to grow my business.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I want to grow my career. We\'ve got specific plans for the growth side and then together, it\'s [00:26:00] just the thing that wraps everything together. It\'s not I. It\'s not you. It\'s always, we at Post Status. It\'s not just me. I happen to be on, you know, I had my face out there and stuff like that. But if this is truly a community and truly a team too, and I want us to just emphasize those three things, give in spirit of WordPress, same thing, just give to each other in the community business of WordPress second is to grow commit. You want to be here, let\'s grow yourself, grow professionally, grow your business, whatever it is, come here to grow. And then to do it together do it all of us together. So, even our products, like, as you will know David is called and that\'s a Portuguese word for probably mispronounced it, but together we\'re together.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it\'s been a theme of my life even before clinical campaigns and the COVID time. But I really mean it next year as I\'m going to do these things from in-person camps, how we do slack, how we do some of the cohorts, we\'re going to be rolling out. And I hope you\'ll show up next week and we can talk more about that and get your feet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> What was the date again?</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> [00:27:00] December 22nd.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So December 22nd, Wednesday, are we going to see any sign of a state of post status with you in a suit? Is that something we can look forward to?&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> You\'re probably not the second&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> the people that are listening for the people that are listening at home.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cory shook his head so quickly that I thought his neck was about to snap.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Yeah, I think we should do these types of things where as our leader of post, as getting in front listing talk, discuss, put things out there that help you learn and grow and all that with postdocs, for sure. And I always want to get to Canada.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So maybe to the first to the second one, the suit, you know, I mean, I\'ve got two suits. I probably don\'t fit currently. So. I think you\'re more likely to see me in a Chewbacca outfit than a suit, but no shady. Anybody else? It\'s just,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> no, you have to stand up. You gotta make yourself stand out with all these other state of the blah-blah-blah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, if Matt does a [00:28:00] suit, I think. Any, if you\'re going to wear a hairy Chewbacca outfit, I think that\'s a good countermove. But anyway,&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Somebody is gonna remember this and come back and say, Cory memory, you say you do that.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh, people will remember it. I might have a little bit of a night terror about it. I\'ve got a thing against Wookiees. But other than that, I think it\'s a fantastic idea. Well, it sounds like you had a blast and it was a blast watching. I see you in some of the photos. Sometimes you\'re in the background You\'re in the background photo bombing. It\'s fantastic. I\'m glad that this happened and I\'m glad to see Matt so open.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe it was because it was a smaller venue or it was the fact that there wasn\'t a word campy west surrounding Matt. You know how draining that is even to, just to be at a work camp us and then, and that WordCamp us with a talk in front of a thousand, 2000 people, it would look like a really nice event with a ton of energy, but.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personable intimate. And I\'m glad you all in this, in the few got to experience that. And I, of course, next year though, [00:29:00] or next time this happens, hopefully it will be under different circumstances and we\'ll have more people. In fact, think he said, if all goes well, San Diego is going to be the work camp spot for 20, 22.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever been to Sandy? Oh, really? I\'ve never been. So it\'ll be interesting for me. Was there anything else that you wanted to share? I think we, it was good seeing you. It was good seeing you. I\'m glad you\'re home safe. And then it sounded like they do all the safety precautions and everything, which was fantastic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\'m glad they did that. And it was good to see Josepha and the others there as well representing so great. So next time. Let\'s it sounds like we\'re going to talk about wrapping up our thoughts about the year with the biggest news stories that you think Corey or the most influential to you personally.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And we\'ve asked the same question to our post status members, this awesome service zip message. I want to say zap message, but that sounds more painful. Zip message. It\'s zip message. And we\'re encouraging people [00:30:00] to go in there and just leave a brief clip about what story to them was the most influential for WordPress this year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And to them personally, and maybe by the time we talk next time, we will have a couple of us to talk about and share our own as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Miller:</strong> Thanks, david. And thanks everybody.</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, 23 Dec 2021 04:32:17 +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:\"David Bisset\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:9;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:64:\"WPTavern: Gutenberg 12.2 Focuses on User Experience Improvements\";s: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=127612\";s: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:173:\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-2-focuses-on-user-experience-improvements?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gutenberg-12-2-focuses-on-user-experience-improvements\";s: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:5854:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Some Gutenberg plugin releases feel like heavy-hitters with new user-facing features. Others, such as <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/22/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-2-22-december/\">today&#8217;s version 12.2 update,</a> smooth over problems and create a more well-rounded experience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Switching between the site editor and templates is smoother. The color picker is no longer a hot mess. And, border controls now <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34061\">use the tools panel</a> approach of allowing users to enable or disable the options they want.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contributors have made progress on updating the Comments Query Loop block, which will eventually be the backbone of displaying comments in block themes. One of the tallest hurdles was <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36065\">making nested comments work</a>. With that now fixed, moving forward with other comment-related components should be less problematic. The latest release also introduced the <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36890\">Comments Pagination Numbers block</a> for handling paginated comment lists.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"view-templates-without-a-page-reload\">View Templates Without a Page Reload</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Templates view in the site editor.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">When <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-12-1-fixes-block-appender-layout-shift-adds-template-list-views-and-enhances-global-styles\">Gutenberg 12.1</a> launched two weeks ago, I was happy to see the new and much improved slide-out panel in the site editor for viewing templates. My primary complaint: it was slow. Switching between the editor and template view required a page reload.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the latest 12.2 release, this has all changed. Thanks to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36488\">client-side routing in the site editor</a>, the transition between the editor and templates feels fast and smooth.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Changes like this are one of the reasons I have welcomed the postponement of WordPress 5.9 until late January. Some of these little wrinkles needed ironing before showing the site editor to the world.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"improved-color-picker\">Improved Color Picker</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Color picker popup.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Gutenberg 12.2 introduces a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37067\">much-improved color picker</a>. The previous iteration was unwieldy, bulky to the point of being an annoyance. Users would have to scroll and scroll and scroll some more just to jump between changing a block&#8217;s text color and its link color. This was especially true if the theme showed both its colors and those from core.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest iteration tightens up the UI to the point where users can see the text, background, and link color options all at once. If they want to customize any of them, they can click on one to pull up the color picker popup.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps this change will open the door for other color options in the future, such as one for link hover/focus. It would have been far too messy in the old UI. However, the new minimalist design leaves ample room.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would love to see the border-color control get the same treatment. However, there is a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/35602\">separate ticket</a> that offers more fine-tuned control.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"font-size-ui-change\">Font Size UI Change</h2>\n\n\n\n<img />Numbered-style font-size selector.\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The font size control for supported blocks looks much different. It shows a <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37038\">list of numbered buttons</a> for themes with five or fewer custom sizes. The font-size name appears when one is selected. Otherwise, it is simply a list of numbers with no context.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have generally liked the progress made toward updating the block options UI. But, I am not a fan of this change. As a user, what do these numbers even mean? Is the &#8220;1&#8221; size small or medium? There is no way of knowing without testing it. Plus, the context will change from theme to theme. A UI change like this may have been OK on the back of a standardized naming scheme. However, that will be tough to implement after three years of usage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, clicking a single button feels like a better experience than clicking a dropdown, followed by a second click of making a selection. I am just not sure that it works here. However, I am open to seeing where it goes upon further iteration.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is also no visible way to clear the current selection and return to the default size. If the theme supports custom sizes, users can switch to the &#8220;Custom&#8221; field and clear it out. This is not obvious unless you stumble upon it. Users could also hit the &#8220;Reset All&#8221; button, but doing so resets all typography options.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest way to avoid this UI change is for theme authors to register at least six custom font sizes. The option will automatically revert to its former dropdown select field. Fortunately, I have 13 in the theme I primarily work on, so it is a non-issue for me.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"block-template-part-hooks\">Block Template Part Hooks</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Theme and plugin developers now have <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36884\">additional action hooks</a> around the block template part system. These should be handy for debugging or other complex use cases.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><code>render_block_core_template_part_post</code> fires when a part is found from the database.</li><li><code>render_block_core_template_part_file</code> fires when a part comes from a theme file.</li><li><code>render_block_core_template_part_none</code> fires when no part is located.</li></ul>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 23 Dec 2021 01:19:05 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:10;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:84:\"WPTavern: WordPress Contributors Discuss the Possibility of 4 Major Releases in 2022\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=127550\";s: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:213:\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-the-possibility-of-4-major-releases-in-2022?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-contributors-discuss-the-possibility-of-4-major-releases-in-2022\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6344:\"<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Last week, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/17/discussion-2022-major-release-timing/\">opened a discussion</a> on how many releases the project will aim for in 2022. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Given that we have a release in January already, I wonder if we might be able to use 2022 to attempt four releases,&#8221; Haden Chomphosy said. She proposed three different release schedules: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Quarterly releases: January, April, July, October</li><li>Trimester-ly releases: January, May, September</li><li>Known release and then evenly spaced targets?: January, May, August, November</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When she <a href=\"https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW/p1639001383392000\">brought it up in the #core Slack channel</a>, a few contributors said they would like to see the project move towards more frequent releases. They were optimistic that it can be done, since a January release is already on the schedule.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Responses to the post on make.wordpress.org were markedly different. A few commented that they would be comfortable with a quarterly releases as long as they avoid major holidays. Several participants in the conversation have urged WordPress to slow down to two or three releases. Others suggested WordPress simply wait to release new features until they are ready, with no schedule. This particular suggestion makes it difficult for various stakeholders, like hosting companies, agencies, and WordPress product businesses, to plan effectively.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2021, WordPress released version 5.7 in March and 5.8 in July. A third major release planned for December was postponed due to critical blockers and decreased volunteer availability. A jump to four releases next year seems overly ambitious without a change in processes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Is it realistic to plan four releases for 2022 right after three releases per year plan was not fulfilled?&#8221; Oleg Kharchenko asked in the comments. &#8220;I don’t get what’s the benefit of having more releases just for the sake of number. It looks good in business reports but it has no real value for WordPress users as frequent releases lead to half-baked features which are hard to use. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Also plugin and theme authors will have to put more time into testing instead of their product development. Finally, there are many tickets on Trac with &#8216;early&#8217; keyword which are punted for years just because everybody is too busy to find time to include these tickets in the upcoming release, making the release schedule tighter would worsen this situation even more.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jessica Lyschik, a developer and an active member of the German WordPress community, said she would prefer two releases for the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;As several people already mentioned, planning more releases did not work out in the past, so why should it work now?&#8221; Lyschik asked. &#8220;5.9 got postponed to have refined features included so it can be actually used. The complexity of the new features is huge and trying to split that up in smaller releases is not something I see to work in the future.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The roadmap for 2021 originally planned for four major releases but was <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-discuss-scaling-back-releases-4-major-releases-is-not-a-viable-plan-in-2021\">scaled back to three in February</a>. At that time Haden Chomphosy cited a lack of automation and the necessary personnel to execute the plan without risking contributor burnout and update fatigue.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress core committer John Blackbourn commented on the discussion, urging Haden Chomphosy to elaborate on why she is proposing the potential of more frequent releases. He also requested she summarize the original list of challenges and needed changes and the progress that has been made towards improving them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a post titled &#8220;<a href=\"https://nomad.blog/2021/11/23/why-i-voted-to-delay-wordpress-5-9/\">Why I Voted to Delay WordPress 5.9</a>,&#8221; Anne McCarthy explained a few of the factors and blockers that caused the release to be postponed to January 2022. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;What I’d like to understand better is what are we going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?&#8221; WordPress 5.9 release lead Matt Mullenweg commented. &#8220;There could always be more polish, more bugs fixed, and I would challenge you to pick a year in the past decade that didn’t have its share of human issues. I’d like us to really understand and agree what went wrong, particularly in the first months of 5.9, and what we’re starting now to make sure 6.0 is effortlessly on time.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCarthy responded, citing the following reasons: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>lack of contingency plans around the interrelated features </li><li>lack of clarity around scope for various individual features (particularly the browsing feature) </li><li>lack of a comprehensive check in early enough ahead of feature freeze </li><li>a need for more decision makers who have a high level view of where the work is headed</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Personally, I’d love to see the Go/No Go meeting overhauled to be less aspirational and more concrete as to where things stand as I think that’ll set the tone early enough in the release cycle to avoid some of these problems again,&#8221; McCarthy said. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few of these challenges with 5.9 correspond to the items Haden Chomphosy identified in February as needing to change in order to make WordPress releases easier and more frequent: better testing, more seasoned core developers available with time focused on core, better handoff in design/dev iterations, and shifts in collective philosophies towards continuous development.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the absence of a comprehensive 5.9 retrospective, it may be difficult to plan the next year&#8217;s release schedule based on the reality of what contributors experienced most recently. Moving to four major releases will be a tough sell after closing out a year where WordPress could not post three major releases. It will require significant changes to how the work is scoped and managed as it is in process. The topic will be up for discussion again during today&#8217;s weekly core dev chat at 20:00 UTC.</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, 22 Dec 2021 19:50:40 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:11;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:72:\"HeroPress: Living Well and Enabling Success For Others Through WordPress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=4328\";s: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:196:\"https://heropress.com/essays/living-well-and-enabling-success-for-others-through-wordpress/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=living-well-and-enabling-success-for-others-through-wordpress\";s: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:12420:\"<img width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/122121-min.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Pull Quote: Success is a life well lived.\" /><p>From a very young age, I can remember dreaming about a business I would one day own. It would be a restaurant named “The Comfy Chair.” Serving mainly breakfast and light lunch, I pictured a funky space with a mix of unique, comfortable chairs. Patrons could choose the chair that fit their mood of the day.</p>\n<blockquote><p>I’m sorry to report that my childhood dream never came true.</p></blockquote>\n<p>Instead, I now lead a 15-person remote team that develops open source software on WordPress, our primary product is the membership plugin <a href=\"https://www.paidmembershipspro.com\">Paid Memberships Pro</a>.</p>\n<p>The road that led me to WordPress didn’t begin with a passion for the web, or democratizing publishing, or coding, or anything technology-related.</p>\n<p>I began my career in WordPress through my passion for entrepreneurship. A passion to control my earnings, “be my own boss,” and maybe more specifically, work when I want, on what I want, and for the price I choose.</p>\n<blockquote><p>That is the most kickass thing about WordPress—people can enter our community and leverage WordPress for free, from anywhere, anytime, for any reason.</p></blockquote>\n<h2>From Craigslist to Plugins</h2>\n<p>Throughout college, I freelanced doing simple brochure websites, graphic design, and a lot of print work. I used Craigslist and word of mouth to get projects, taking nearly any job that a) paid and b) I could handle on my own or with some help from my “high school sweetheart, husband, co-founder, and best friend” Jason.</p>\n<p>After graduation, my parents were cautiously enthusiastic about my decision to start a web design business. I knew I had many months of runway and felt it was a no brainer. Starting a business is a risk. The bigger risk was missing the opportunity to create my own business in the “carefree” days of youth.</p>\n<p>Business ownership teaches you a ton—I was learning not just about emerging web technologies like WordPress. I had to learn every aspect of small business: sales and marketing, project scoping, invoicing and accounts receivable, taxes, healthcare…everything.</p>\n<p>In Fall 2006, Jason left his job at Accenture and joined me full time. I had my projects and clients, Jason had his. He led the projects that were more development-focused, I led the more design-focused projects.</p>\n<p>By 2007, we started doing WordPress sites almost exclusively. WordPress was about four years old at the time. The community was starting to take shape. Meetups and WordCamps were becoming a thing, but the events were very different back then.</p>\n<p>I didn’t identify with the early WordPress community. Events were primarily attended by developers and coders, who were primarily male. So I stayed on the periphery of the community.</p>\n<p>Jason and I continued operating Stranger Studios as a two-person team. In an agency, there are two main ways to grow revenue: charge more per hour or bill more hours (grow the team). I couldn’t picture myself <i>managing other people</i>. Life and business was good just the way it was. So we regularly raised rates, focused on high value clients, and tried our best not to keep too many clients on maintenance plans.</p>\n<blockquote><p>The WordPress “CMS” helped us increase the number of clients we could serve by giving them more independence in managing their own sites.</p></blockquote>\n<p>Then, life decided to push me into my next chapter with an event that happened when we had our first child, Isaac.</p>\n<h2>A Building Block For Change</h2>\n<p>Isaac had a rough start to life 13 years ago and needed surgery a day after his birth. We are endlessly grateful to St. Christopher’s Hospital and The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House for supporting us through his first two weeks.</p>\n<p>And while going through those heartbreaking, chaotic, and hopeful weeks, <i>we still had to work</i>. I remember waiting in our hotel room for Jason to wrap up an urgent call with a client so we could go see our days-old baby. It’s a ridiculous scene to reflect on.</p>\n<p>I thought I was living life my way. In reality, I was financially tying myself to a handful of long-term clients. And what’s worse: there was no one to hand things off to when my personal life needed attention.</p>\n<blockquote><p>Consulting work felt like being on call 24/7.</p></blockquote>\n<p>That event changed my life in more ways than I could ever put into words. For the intention of this essay, let’s just say that our business needed to change dramatically, quickly.</p>\n<p>When I talk with other entrepreneurs and business owners, we often break down the differences between a services company and a product company. You may have heard a WordPress talk on this very topic: the move from “consulting to products”.</p>\n<p>It’s an appealing path for many WordPressers. And now that I’m on the other side of the transition, I can’t deny it is an awesome space to be in—even with the product space going through some major shifts with all the acquisition activity. But that’s a topic for another conversation entirely…</p>\n<p>The biggest turning point in my WordPress journey was the decision to create a product. By moving to a product company, I could make more money without working 24 hours a day or (immediately) having to hire people and grow as an agency.</p>\n<p>But what kind of product should we build? What untapped market could we serve? What was missing in the WordPress ecosystem?</p>\n<p>We found the answer by looking at our history of proposals and projects.</p>\n<p>A growing number of our freelance projects had a “membership-type” component. People wanted to protect access to features of their site (content, tools, applications). People wanted to get paid through their WordPress site. More specifically, they wanted to “make money while they sleep” and get paid on a recurring basis. Sell once, get paid over and over again.</p>\n<p>Jason and I recognized this trend and the lack of a leading WordPress plugin for memberships. We focused only on freelance projects for “membership-type” sites built on WordPress. These projects helped us bootstrap the development of what is now Paid Memberships Pro.</p>\n<h2>Open Source Products Are Better Products</h2>\n<blockquote><p>I believe in open source. I believe open source products are better products.</p></blockquote>\n<p>We release all of our products with an open source license, just like WordPress. We make our code publicly available on GitHub in a format that removes barriers to collaboration for internal and external contributors. And we make a very good living for ourselves and our team by building a business on top of our open source products.</p>\n<p>The decision to be open source has made an overwhelmingly positive impact on the growth of our business. But there’s another major reason why we’ve made it in the WordPress product space.</p>\n<blockquote><p>Paid Memberships Pro is a success in large part because we release the full version for free in the WordPress.org Plugins repository.</p></blockquote>\n<p>Putting my beliefs in OSS aside, the repo makes your plugin available for every WordPress site. That’s <a href=\"https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress\">43.1% of websites</a> that exist today. The repo is an amazing resource for every site <i>using</i> WordPress and also for every <i>business</i> building a WordPress product. Not only does the repo facilitate installs and updates, it also builds in a layer of security for WordPress users.</p>\n<p>I am deeply grateful for the WordPress community members (the Plugins team) that maintains, reviews, and supports the repository. Without you, I wouldn’t be sitting here today writing an essay about my WordPress journey.</p>\n<h2>Building a Team That’s Diverse In Many Ways</h2>\n<p>I’ve always been a woman business owner in a male-dominated field. But I can’t say that my being a woman was something that limited or, on the flip side, catapulted my career forward.</p>\n<p>I say this because there are many people in the WordPress community that speak intelligently and openly about important topics like diversity, inclusion, and the serious problem of underrepresentation. I have not devoted enough time to educate myself on their efforts.</p>\n<p>But as a person who has interviewed and hired people for a variety of roles, I do have some perspective on the value diversity has brought to our team.</p>\n<p>Nearly half of our team are women. And we are diverse in other ways including age, geography, physical ability, and experience.</p>\n<p>I value diversity as I value any other positive trait that an employee brings to the table.</p>\n<p>When I am interviewing another woman, I recognize that they bring a woman&#8217;s perspective to the team, which is valuable. When I am interviewing someone with very little experience, I recognize that I can teach anyone that’s willing to learn and grow, which is valuable. When I am interviewing someone that lives a 20-hour plane ride away, I know that we work remotely and don’t have to overlap for our entire work day.</p>\n<p>The diversity in our team has changed my worldview. I have learned endless things about other cultures, such as the troubling issues that a Nigerian mother has faced to find a safe and enriching school for her daughter. I’ve learned about the lasting effects of apartheid in South Africa, about the progess has been made to unify the country and where there is work to be done.</p>\n<p>As a parent of “tweens”, I’ve learned valuable lessons from people with adult children. And on the flip side, I’ve shared my stories with people at an earlier stage in the parenting journey.</p>\n<p>WordPress is an open, free, accessible tool used by the whole world. Getting involved in WordPress doesn’t require a special form of education, grasp of the English language, or boatloads of money.</p>\n<p>I wouldn’t have been able to build a diverse team if the WordPress community, itself, wasn’t diverse.</p>\n<h2>Live Your Way</h2>\n<blockquote><p>Live your life your way. Do more of the things you want. Do less of the things you don’t want.</p></blockquote>\n<p>I am extremely grateful that I am safe, comfortable, and able to live my life, my way. I know that many people are in a place where this type of thinking is not possible.</p>\n<p>But even people with everything can have a feeling that something is missing. For me, that feeling is influenced by what <i>other people want for me</i>, when I feel pressure to live out <i>someone else’s dream</i>.</p>\n<p>Jason tells me (and others) that my skills are wasted on this product. He boosts me up with encouragement and praise. He says that I am capable of bigger, grander things.</p>\n<p>The message I take from this is that I can do anything. So I will do what I want to do. I will do more of the things I like to do, and less of the things I don’t.</p>\n<p>In work, that looks like filling senior roles on our team to do things I am currently responsible for. Freeing up my time to nurture the next big product. Or, freeing up my time to spend in ways that my kids need me. Or, I could get another dog.</p>\n<p>What I want to leave you with here is that you don’t have to feel pressured to go after someone else’s dream. I’ve watched companies like mine get acquired. Their founders take extended vacations and are living semi-retired lives. I think “is this what I’m supposed to do next?”</p>\n<p>Then I join my team on a call and I think “I never want to stop working with these people. This is my family.”</p>\n<p>I’ve had opportunities to swing for the fences. To push harder. To get bigger, faster. To be wildly successful.</p>\n<p>This is a monetary measure of success. This is feeling successful because other people think you are.</p>\n<p>To me, success isn’t measured by dollars or ego. Success is a life well lived. I want to energetically pursue living well. I want to build products that help people find this success. I want to grow a team that has the same freedoms in life that I humbly enjoy.</p>\n<p>I want to keep pursuing success with WordPress.</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, 22 Dec 2021 13:00:21 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Kim Coleman\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:12;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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: Ask the Bartender: Will It Become Easier To Create Block Patterns?\";s: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=127545\";s: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:193:\"https://wptavern.com/ask-the-bartender-will-it-become-easier-to-create-block-patterns?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ask-the-bartender-will-it-become-easier-to-create-block-patterns\";s: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:4048:\"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Do you know if WordPress FSE is working to make it easier to create block patterns? Templates and Parts need to just click a button to download them. But patterns are very manual, and you need to register all of them programmatically.</p><cite>Thiago</cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">You are not the first person to ask this question, and it is something that I have been mulling over for a while. With <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/the-next-generation-of-wordpress-theme-authors-will-design-from-the-site-editor\">theme development quickly encroaching</a> a point where it could almost exclusively be done via the site editor, it makes sense that block patterns follow along with their template counterparts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The feature has not been given any sort of official green light. I am not aware of a specific ticket for it, but it seems like it will be a part of the natural evolution of themes and patterns. I encourage opening a new ticket via the Gutenberg GitHub directory.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two core features need to precede it:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>A standard folder for storing patterns in themes.</li><li>A way to save patterns in the database.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, there are tickets for both of these. Last month, Gutenberg lead Matías Ventura opened a new issue for <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/36548\">standardizing how themes are organized</a>. WordPress 5.9 will see the introduction of <code>/templates</code> and <code>/parts</code> folders for templates and template parts, respectively. These will be the officially-supported locations in block themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That same ticket proposes future enhancements of a <code>/styles</code> folder for global style variations and <code>/patterns</code> for block patterns. Having a standard location for these things is vital because the exporter in the site editor needs to know where to put them in the exported ZIP file.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A side benefit of this feature is that theme authors would no longer be required to register their custom patterns via PHP. They could merely drop the files into their <code>/patterns</code> folders and move on. The format of this is nowhere near official at this point. There is an <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36751\">unmerged pull request</a> that implements this by searching file headers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second piece of solving this issue is figuring out how to allow users to <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/31298\">save patterns via the UI</a> similarly to reusable blocks. This is a more complex issue. There are existing plugins that already do this, such as my own <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-pattern-builder/\">Block Pattern Builder</a>, which sorely needs updating, and <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/blockmeister/\">BlockMeister</a>, a more robust solution. <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/reusable-blocks-extended/\">Reusable Blocks Extended</a> even allows users to convert reusable blocks into patterns. So, there are already folks who are trying to solve the problem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are still questions about the implementation before it can be officially supported. Are saved patterns a subtype of <code>wp_block</code>, which is currently the post type for reusable blocks? Are they something separate? Then, the project must also decide whether it wants to allow custom pattern categories via a new taxonomy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are also other considerations before adding another feature into core, such as <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/32682\">adding a design library</a> for components in the global space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are not quite to the point where you want, but we are on the path. The <code>/patterns</code> folder alone would remove the code-writing requirement. If it lands in WordPress, you could copy and paste block HTML over. It is not the same as exporting them alongside templates, but I hope the platform arrives at that destination one day.</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, 22 Dec 2021 01:36:04 +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:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:13;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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 5.9 Beta 4\";s: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=11876\";s: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/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-4/\";s: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:5144:\"<p>WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 is now available for testing!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This software version is still under development.</strong> Please do not run this software on a production site; install it on a test site, where you can try out the newest features and get a feel for how they will work on your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can test the WordPress 5.9 Beta 4 in three ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 1:</strong> Install and activate the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/\"> <strong>WordPress Beta Tester</strong></a><strong> </strong>plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 2:</strong> Direct download the beta version here (<strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-5.9-beta4.zip\">zip</a></strong>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Option 3:</strong> When using WP-CLI to upgrade from Beta 1, 2, or 3 to Beta 4 on a case-insensitive filesystem, please use the following command sequence:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Command One:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Command Two:</p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wp core update --version=5.9-beta4 --force</code></pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The current target for the final release of 5.9 is January 25, 2022, which is only five weeks away. Your help testing this beta is vital: the more testing that happens, the more stable the release, and the better the experience for users and developers—and the entire WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"some-highlights\"><strong>Some Highlights</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\">Beta 3</a>, 20 bugs have been fixed. Here are a few of the changes you will find in Beta 4:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Bundled Theme: Fixed duplicate CSS rules in Twenty Twenty-One theme (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53605\">#53605</a>).</li><li>Customizer: It&#8217;s possible to switch to a block theme from within Customizer (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54549\">#54549</a>).</li><li>Themes: Provide guidance to users seeking to preview block themes on WordPress versions below 5.9 (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54575\">#54575</a>).</li><li>REST API: The get_theme_item method should respect fields param (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54595\">#54595</a>).</li><li>Editor: Block Patterns: &#8220;Featured&#8221; category &amp; patterns missing from inserter (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54623\">#54623</a>).</li><li>Login and registration: Add a filter to allow to disable the Login screen language dropdown – (#54675).</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-you-can-help\"><strong>How You Can Help</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do some testing!</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">Testing for bugs</a> is vital for polishing the release in the beta stage and a great way to contribute.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please post to the<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\"> Alpha/Beta</a> area in the support forums if you find a bug. If you’re comfortable writing a reproducible<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/reports/\"> bug report</a>, file one on<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\"> WordPress Trac</a>, where you can also find a list of<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\"> known bugs</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"got-questions-here-are-some-answers\"><strong>Got questions? Here are some answers</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the coming weeks, follow the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/5-9+dev-notes/\"> 5.9-related developer notes</a> that will cover these items in detail.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, contributors have fixed <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&group=component&milestone=5.9&resolution=fixed\">326 tickets and 108 new features and enhancements</a> in WordPress 5.9. More bug fixes are on the way with your help through testing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Props to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/\" target=\"_blank\">@psykro</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\" target=\"_blank\">@hellofromtonya</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\" target=\"_blank\">@marybaum</a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\" target=\"_blank\">@webcommsat</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>audrasjb</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>cbringmann</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>costdev</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/\" class=\"mention\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>meher</a> for contributions to this post.</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, 21 Dec 2021 21:17:58 +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:\"Jonathan Bossenger\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:14;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:70:\"WPTavern: WordPress 5.9 to Introduce Language Switcher on Login Screen\";s: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=127496\";s: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:185:\"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-language-switcher-on-login-screen?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-language-switcher-on-login-screen\";s: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:2867:\"<p>More than half of all WordPress sites (<a href=\"https://wordpress.org/about/stats/\">50.5%</a>) are using translations for non-English speaking locales. It&#8217;s only natural that these users would want the ability to register, log in, and reset their passwords in their own languages. A new language switcher on the login screen has finally made its way into core, four years after the <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43700\">ticket</a> was opened.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 5.9 will introduce a new dropdown on the login screen that will display all the languages that are currently installed. (New languages can be added under the <strong>Settings > General</strong> screen in the admin.)</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img /></div>\n\n\n\n<p>In a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/20/introducing-new-language-switcher-on-the-login-screen-in-wp-5-9/\">dev note</a> for the new features, WordPress Core Committer Jb Audras demonstrated how developers can filter the default arguments for the languages dropdown.  This might be useful for sites that have dozens of languages installed where administrators only wish to display a handful in the dropdown.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/wordpress-5-9-beta-3/\">WordPress 5.9 beta 3</a> was released last week. In addition to the new language switcher, the latest beta also includes the following:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor: Add FSE infrastructure from Gutenberg plugin into Core (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54335\">#54335</a>).</li><li>Formatting: Allow PDFs to embedded as objects (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54261\">#54261</a>)</li><li>REST API: Add navigation areas REST API endpoint from Gutenberg plugin (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54393\">#54393</a>)</li><li>Themes: A fix for the Live Preview button bug (<a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54578\">#54578</a>)</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>RC1 is expected January 4, 2022, which will bring a code freeze for both Gutenberg and core and a hard string freeze. Contributors are also aiming to have the field guide with dev notes published at this time. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have time to contribute during the upcoming holiday weeks, the 5.9 release team welcomes more <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/\">testing for bugs</a>. Anne McCarthy has published a detailed guide to <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/11/30/help-test-wordpress-5-9-features/\">testing the full-site editing features</a> that are anticipated in 5.9. Testers should check against the list of <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major\">known issues</a> before <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket\">reporting bugs on Trac </a>or in the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/\">Alpha/Beta</a> forums.</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, 21 Dec 2021 04:23:18 +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:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:92:\"WPTavern: The WordPress Photo Directory Is the Open-Source Image Project We Have Long Needed\";s: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=127492\";s: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:229:\"https://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-photo-directory-is-the-open-source-image-project-we-have-long-needed?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wordpress-photo-directory-is-the-open-source-image-project-we-have-long-needed\";s: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:6333:\"<img />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In last week&#8217;s annual <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/state-of-the-word-2021-wordpress-passes-43-market-share-looks-to-expand-the-commons-through-openverse\">State of the Word address</a>, WordPress project lead Matt Mullenweg announced the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/\">WordPress.org photo directory</a>. Officially, it has not yet &#8220;fully launched.&#8221; However, it is live on the site, and anyone with an account can submit their photos.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus far, the directory has 103 submissions and are under the CC0 license. Unfortunately, there is only a <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/21761b9297/\">single photo of a house cat</a>. <em>Perhaps I will need to contribute to the commons that this project has made possible.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a separate project from <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/creative-commons-search-is-now-openverse\">Openverse</a>, a search engine for finding open-source media, launched before the State of the Word event. Eventually, images from WordPress Photos should be discoverable via the Openverse search.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, I was already envisioning <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/openverse-why-this-project-is-good-for-wordpress-and-the-web\">what Openverse could be</a>. However, what I really wanted was a WordPress photo directory. Actually, I wanted a WordPress media directory, but starting with images is easier:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Openverse must become more than a media search engine. It needs to be a project where the Average Joe can upload a nice nature picture he took over the weekend barbecue. A place where Average Jane can share a video clip of the ocean waves hitting the shoreline from her beach trip. And a place where professionals can pay it forward to the world.</p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>When Jeff Chandler of WP Mainline <a href=\"https://wpmainline.com/2021/12/17/submitted-my-first-photo-to-the-wordpress-cc-0-photo-directory/\">shared his first photo</a>, I quickly turned it into a block pattern that wrapped the image in a wooden frame (pattern and image links <a href=\"https://gist.github.com/justintadlock/86251f6641c0f3110f7682e1644b28c9\">available via Gist</a>). When the WordPress pattern directory opens its submission process, I would love to submit it or some variation.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Wooden frame block pattern around Chandler&#8217;s image.\n\n\n\n<p>My customization was not anything special. I wanted to showcase how vital CC0 photos are to those building WordPress extensions like patterns and themes. Having a reliable image resource is invaluable to our creator community. It also gives non-developers another way to contribute to the project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also like seeing the faces of people I know listed in the directory. It very much feels like a photo directory made by the people of WordPress. One of my favorites is this <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/13461c0ff9/\">one from Topher DeRosia</a> (he has already submitted five):</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Single image posts provide additional photo information, categories, and tags. Each photo also has multiple download sizes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The front page and search could still use a little work. Being able to at least search for images based on orientation (e.g., landscape vs. portrait) would be helpful. A nav menu with all of the categories would be handy too.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"the-space-needed-disruption\">The Space Needed Disruption</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The stock imagery space needed to be turned upside down. More and more, creators from the WordPress community have stepped away from some of the sites they once loved.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/unsplash-responds-to-image-licensing-concerns-clarifies-reasons-for-hotlinking-and-tracking\">Unsplash.</a> <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2018/11/29/pexels-images-are-no-more-allowed/\">Pexels.</a> <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2019/01/13/pixabay-images-are-not-allowed/\">Pixabay.</a> They have all had an opportunity to become the most significant open-source photo website in the world. They are places for snagging a quick photograph for free. And, for the most part, they have allowed people to give back with their art.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, these stock photo sites that previously distributed images in the public domain began adding restrictive licensing terms. It <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2017/06/30/theme-review-meeting-summary-june-27-2017/\">started with Unsplash</a> in 2017. Pexels soon followed, and Pixabay was in lock-step with the others by 2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of these restrictions disallow users to build similar &#8220;collection sites&#8221; with those same images, essentially creating a competing service. However, they all have other restrictive terms on selling photos, especially unaltered ones. <em>Note: Pexels still allows its contributors to choose between the Pexels License and CC0 (public domain).</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many photo-sharing sites built their empires on top open source, only to turn their backs on it down the road. The open-source spirit embraces competing websites. The art itself is meant to be shared. That is kind of the point. To be fair, the aforementioned were not the only such sites. They were just the most prevalent in the WordPress ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress theme authors were often champions of those sites in years prior. However, they saw service after service disappear before their eyes as they were banned from use on WordPress.org. Themers could not distribute the images because the users who downloaded them would not have the same freedoms as promised by the GPL. It was a loss for open-source.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that WordPress has a pattern directory, the issue has become more evident. In the coming months and years, creators will need high-quality photos to showcase their patterns.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest path was to leverage the millions of people who use WordPress and build our own thing. WordPress Photos could very well become the <em>de facto</em> standard of open photos on the web, and that is something we should all welcome with open arms.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The project is necessary. WordPress.org has the resources to make something remarkable: a photo-sharing site that is 100% open and will never change.</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, 21 Dec 2021 01:43:34 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:16;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"WordPress.org blog: WP Briefing: Episode 22: A Carol of Thanks\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?post_type=podcast&p=11880\";s: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://wordpress.org/news/2021/12/episode-22-a-carol-of-thanks/\";s: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:5718:\"<p>In this last episode of 2021, Josepha Haden Chomphosy takes the time to appreciate those who make the WordPress project a success and offers a carol of thanks. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Have a question you&#8217;d like answered? You can submit them to <a href=\"mailto:wpbriefing@wordpress.org\">wpbriefing@wordpress.org</a>, either written or as a voice recording.</strong></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"credits\">Credits</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Editor:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin Hartzler</a></li><li>Logo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Beatriz Fialho</a></li><li>Production:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé Bringmann</a></li><li>Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"references\">References </h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas\">Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas </a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"transcript\">Transcript</h2>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"more-11880\"></span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing. The podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project. Some insight into the community that supports it and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>00:39</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, ages and ages ago, when I first started this podcast, someone basically requested that Matt and I do a duet for the last podcast of the year. A Christmas carol duet; him on the saxophone and me on voice. I obviously did not get that coordinated I don&#8217;t even know why I said obviously. I&#8217;ll tell you right now I did not get that coordinated. I was a very busy lady this year. So I don&#8217;t have a Matt on saxophone. Still, I did think that maybe it might be nice just for me to sing a teensy little Christmas carol for you all just because it seems especially poignant the words this year, especially after the 2020, 2021 COVID, all the things and trying to get back in person. So I&#8217;m going to sing you all one little verse from <em>Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy </strong>01:35 <em>Singing</em>  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let your heart be light</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be out of sight</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have yourself a merry little Christmas</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make the Yuletide gay</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From now on our troubles</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will be miles away</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we are as in olden days</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy golden days of yore</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faithful friends who are dear to us</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gather near to us, once more</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the years we all will be together</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the fates allow</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hang a shining star upon the highest bough</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have yourself a merry little Christmas now</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>03:34</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, my friends, that was from my heart to yours if you happened to listen. If you skipped a few seconds to get through it, which I would totally understand, that is also fine. But I did want to just kind of wrap up the year to let you all know that I am so incredibly grateful for all of the people who show up for the WordPress project to make it a success. I have made so many friends and wonderful acquaintances throughout my time here with the WordPress project. And especially in my three years as the project&#8217;s Executive Director. You all have put a lot of trust in me and a lot of faith. And I know that we have gotten so much done together in the last few years. And I am equally sure that we&#8217;re going to get so much done in the years to come. And so thank you all so much for your continued work with WordPress and the way that you just bring your best at all times. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>04:32</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One other little thanks I want to give. Over the course of this year, I&#8217;ve had an excellent team that works with me on this podcast. I have editing and design folks and people who&#8217;ve joined me here and there, folks who helped me with my production. So big thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinhartzler/\">Dustin</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/\">Bea</a>, I realize your name is Beatriz in the actual credits, but I call you Bea, and so thank you. Also, a huge thank you to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/\">Chloé</a>, who does all of our production and wrangling every couple of weeks. A big round of applause and kudos to that tiny but tough team that helps me get this all done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy&nbsp; </strong>05:10</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s to go on top of the general thanks to the WordPress project. And if you all are celebrators, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. If you are not celebrators, I hope that you have a wonderful end to your year and that everything you wanted to get done, you did get done, and that you can start 2022 with a fresh slate. Again, this is the WP Briefing. Thank you so much for listening. I&#8217;m your host Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I&#8217;ll see you again in 2022.</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, 20 Dec 2021 19:22:11 +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:15:\"Chloe Bringmann\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:17;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:93:\"Gutenberg Times: Charts &amp; Memes Blocks, State of the Word,  and more Weekend Edition #197\";s: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=19863\";s: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:94:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/charts-memes-blocks-state-of-the-word-and-more-weekend-edition-197/\";s: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:12746:\"<p>Howdy,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wow, this is already the fourth year-end message, I send out with this newsletter. There isn&#8217;t much, I have been doing so consistently then this weekly newsletter.  It&#8217;s been such an inspiring journey, thanks to you and the WordPress contributors, extenders and users. Your creations, questions, comments have been wonderful, especially when in-person contact have been sparse and zoom-fatigue set in. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Gutenberg, the block editor the best is yet to come.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2021/12/15/matt-mullenweg-2021-state-of-the-word/\"><strong>State of the Word presentation</strong></a>, Matt Mullenweg mentioned for next year Full-Site Editing in WordPress 5.9, which he called the MVP, minimal viable product, Openverse and WordPress Photos, maybe four WordPress releases and in-person meetings. Work on Phase 3, Collaborative editing, won&#8217;t come until 2023. This was not all and below you&#8217;ll find an array of Recap posts and media for your perusal. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is my last edition of the year 2021. I wish you a great time with family and friends and a Happy New Year. I am excited to connect with you again around January 9th with the next weekend edition.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yours, ?<br />Birgit</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>PS: 2129 users voted at the <strong><a href=\"https://thewpweekly.com/awards/\">WPAwards</a> </strong>produced by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/idavinder\">Davinder Si ngh Kainth</a>. It&#8217;s all in good spirit and a fun activity. In the category of Page builders, Gutenberg landed on second place behind Elementor and before Beaver Builder. ?  Thank you, for those who voted for the Gutenberg Times and the Gutenberg Changelog. Seems we need to do some more community outreach and lobbying next time around. ?</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>PPS: To bridge the gap until the next edition, I sprinkled some Gutenberg highlights of the year sprinkles among the links below: starting with the recordings of Gutenberg talks from <strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/event/wordcamp-us-2021/\">WordCamp US 2021 on WordPress.TV</a></strong>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-dots\" />\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-sortabrilliant-guidepost\"><ul><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#state-of-the-word-and-q-and-a\">State of the Word and Q and A</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#building-custom-blocks-and-developing-for-gutenberg\">Building Custom Blocks and developing for Gutenberg</a></li><li><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#block-themes-for-theme-developers\">Block Themes for Theme developers</a></li></ul></div>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2021&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test and Meta team from Jan. 2021 on. Updated by yours truly.  <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/\"><em>The index 2020 is here</em></a></p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"state-of-the-word-and-q-and-a\">State of the Word and Q and A</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My longtime Webdev friend, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/redcrew\"><strong>Deborah Edwards-Onoro</strong></a> shared her thoughts in <strong><a href=\"https://www.lireo.com/takeaways-from-state-of-the-word-2021/\">Takeaways from State of the Word 2021</a></strong>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Posts Status</strong> team collected voices from the community after the State of the Word &amp; Q &amp; Two ways.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/post-status-team-responses-to-the-state-of-the-word-2021/\"><strong>Responses to the State of the Word 2021</strong></a> &#8211; Openverse. Diversity. Training. Future generations. A whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. These are our quick takes on SOTW ’21.</li><li><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/comments/4/\"><strong>Comments (No. 4) — State of the Word 2021 Analysis</strong></a> The recording of the Twitter Spaces with held after the State of the Word event, moderated by <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\">David Bisset</a></strong></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/courtneyr_dev\">Courtney Robertson</a></strong>, WordPress Training team, sponsored by GoDaddy, also wrote a <a href=\"https://www.godaddy.com/garage/state-of-the-word-2021/\"><strong>Recap of both Mullenweg&#8217;s presentation and the Q &amp; A</strong></a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>The Feedback for the 11th Call for testing from the FSE program is in, and <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> published the <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2021/12/16/fse-program-site-editing-safari-summary/\">Site Editing Safari Summary</a>.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;As folks dug in, there were numerous enhancements that quickly came to mind as awesome nice to haves. These desired enhancements not only underscores the potential of various full site editing pieces when put together, but also highlights the frustration around the current limitations&#8221; McCarthy wrote. She also created a list of GitHub Issue for those feature requests. Check them out and comment if you are interested in those features as well. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"building-custom-blocks-and-developing-for-gutenberg\">Building Custom Blocks and developing for Gutenberg</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you start thinking about building a custom block, read <strong><a href=\"https://twitter.com/karmatosed\">Tammie Lister</a></strong>&#8216;s <a href=\"https://extendify.com/block-patterns-are-better-than-blocks/\"><strong>Block patterns are better than blocks</strong></a>, published on the <strong>Extendify</strong>&#8216;s blog.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Team at Learn.WordPress.org has two workshops for developers and more are coming. </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/registering-block-patterns/\">Registering Block Patterns</a> with Daisy Olsen</li><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/intro-to-gutenberg-block-development/\">Intro to Gutenberg Block Development</a> with Jonathan Bossenger</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ari Stathopoulos</strong> posted a WordPress 5.9 DevNote on <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/\"><strong>Using multiple stylesheets per block</strong></a> </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Blocks will now be able to register multiple stylesheets, and load styles from other blocks when needed. Themes will be able to add styles on a per-block basis instead of loading monolithic stylesheets that are force-loaded anywhere. This has a greater impact on block themes where stylesheets loading is optimized based on the page &amp; layout contents, but can also be used by classic themes.&#8221;, Stathopoulos wrote.   </p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continued: &#8220;This change can benefit both block developers and theme developers, further reducing the total page-weight by only loading styles for blocks that exist on a page.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Justin Tadlock reviewed a new plugin providing chart blocks in this post: <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/hello-charts-launches-a-native-chart-building-experience-for-the-block-editor\"><strong>Hello Charts Launches a Native Chart-Building Experience for the Block Editor</strong></a>. In the article, he also lists other block plugins that allow you to create charts. There are actually four: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/sb-chart-block/\">SB Charts</a> by WordPress plugin developer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/herb_miller\"><strong>Herb Miller</strong></a></li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/chart-block/\">Chart Block</a> by the bPlugins Team from Bangladesh</li><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/charts-blocks/\">Charts Blocks for Gutenberg </a>by Sandip Mondal, and</li><li><a href=\"https://hellocharts.co/\">Hello Charts</a>, by Luke Carbis, Rob Stinson and Byron Keet. </li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello Charts is not available in the WordPress repository,<a href=\"https://hellocharts.co/\"> only from their website</a>. It&#8217;s the first block-based product site, I noticed, that sells single block features.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his last stream before the holidays, <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> took his viewer through extending the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bE3J64brps\">meme block he created last week</a>, to use images from the Media library. You can watch it on YouTube: <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTT_ZIpU-Fk\"><strong>Expanding the Meme Generator plugin</strong></a>. <br />If you prefer not to watch the programming part and just look at the code, you can see <a href=\"https://github.com/ryanwelcher/twitch\">all code from the Twitch stream on GitHub.</a> Be aware they are educational and not meant to be used in production. </p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/\">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s main (trunk) branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. <br />Have you been using it? Hit reply and let me know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><img alt=\"GitHub all releases\" src=\"https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total\" /></p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"block-themes-for-theme-developers\">Block Themes for Theme developers</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://twitter.com/one_maggie\">Maggie Cabrera</a> published the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/12/17/gutenberg-themes-week-of-december-13th-2021/\"><strong>Gutenberg + Themes Digest</strong></a> for this week. She highlights  PRs and discussions on four topics: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Typography supports for group and row blocks</li><li>Nameless font sizes</li><li>Approach to global padding</li><li>Default font sizes renamed</li><li>Template parts in child themes</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>I suffered from serious flashbacks, when I noticed that <strong>Riad Benguella</strong> recreated the <strong>Kubrick Theme as a block theme</strong>. Matias Ventura <a href=\"https://twitter.com/matias_ventura/status/1471114929012891658\">tweeted a short video</a> on how to change the header color gradient with the site editor. You can study the <a href=\"https://github.com/youknowriad/kubrick2\">block theme on GitHub</a>. It might even show up in the WordPress repository.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> also has a few more thoughts and screenshots <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/yes-a-block-based-version-of-the-kubrick-wordpress-theme-exists\"><strong>Yes, a Block-Based Version of the Kubrick WordPress Theme Exists</strong></a></p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Post&#8217;s Featured Image: </strong><a href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00/46694369234\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Building blocks, color, abstract, international, global, corporate, colorful&#8221;</a> by <a href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wonderlane</a> is licensed under <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/?ref=openverse&atype=rich\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CC0 1.0</a></p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>\n\n\n\n<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\">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 class=\"ngl-form-button\">Subscribe</button><p class=\"ngl-form-text\">We hate spam, too and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay\"><div class=\"ngl-message-svg-wrap\"></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay-text\">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"ngl_list_id\" id=\"ngl_list_id\" value=\"26f81bd8ae\" /><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"ngl_double_optin\" id=\"ngl_double_optin\" value=\"yes\" /></form>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator 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, 18 Dec 2021 06:11:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Birgit Pauli-Haack\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:18;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:77:\"WPTavern: Disable Over a Dozen WordPress Features With the No Nonsense Plugin\";s: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=127402\";s: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:199:\"https://wptavern.com/disable-over-a-dozen-wordpress-features-with-the-no-nonsense-plugin?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=disable-over-a-dozen-wordpress-features-with-the-no-nonsense-plugin\";s: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:3429:\"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">One of the best things about WordPress is the hundreds of ways of turning things off. There are likely dozens of plugins for disabling various items, each with its own unique set of options. <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/no-nonsense/\">No Nonsense</a> is no different. It is a plugin that allows users to control whether they want to use over a dozen features.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin was developed by <a href=\"https://room34.com/\">Room 34</a>, a Minneapolis-based web development and creative consulting studio. No Nonsense is the team&#8217;s 11th free plugin available through the WordPress.org plugin directory.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team&#8217;s plugin caught my eye because it has options for features that I routinely disable on WordPress site builds, such as emoji JavaScript, individual dashboard widgets, and the toolbar. Today&#8217;s update (version 1.2) even added an option to permanently remove the Hello Dolly plugin.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before anyone asks &#8212; someone always asks &#8212;, the plugin does not disable the block editor. However, it does have an option for turning off the block-based widgets editor.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Room 34 released the plugin on Tuesday, so it has fewer than 10 active installs at the moment. It also does not have any reviews. I suppose this post will suffice as the first. Based on my experience and a peek at its code, the plugin looks solid.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />Plugin settings screen.\n\n\n\n<p>I tested each feature and did not find any issues, so it gets a 5/5 for doing what it says on the tin. I would love to see a few more options.  One example that immediately comes to mind is the the &#8220;Posts&#8221; screen.  Since users can remove the &#8220;Comments&#8221; section in the admin, it makes sense to have a similar setting for posts. Both are related to blogging, and not all WordPress websites need them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>No Nonsense includes one of my favorite admin-access limitations. It can redirect logged-in users to the homepage when accessing anything other than their user profile in the WordPress admin.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its toolbar options are all things I have lying around in my code toolbox. The plugin has settings for hiding it for users without editing access, removing the WordPress logo, and ditching the &#8220;Howdy&#8221; text.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plugin includes options for many commonly-disabled features, but a new one that I had not thought about was the core update email. When managing sites for several family and friends, those &#8220;your site has updated to WordPress x.x.x&#8221; emails can become irritating. The plugin allows you to disable those except in cases of an error.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If someone has not already done so, I would love to see a <em>deactivation plugin to end all deactivation</em> plugins. It would feature a complete list of things that a site owner can turn off, disable, deactivate, remove, or whatever you want from a WordPress website.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>No Nonsense looks like a good starting place, but there are always other things that I might remove from an install. I almost always give the ax to the theme and plugin editors. As well as the plugin works, there&#8217;s always just a little something more I need to get rid of, depending on the site in question. So, I am still looking for that behemoth plugin that gives me that one-click access to disable anything. For now, I can see myself deploying this on a few sites.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 18 Dec 2021 00:20:59 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:19;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"WPTavern: Free Software Foundation Adds a Code of Ethics for Board Members\";s: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=127388\";s: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:193:\"https://wptavern.com/free-software-foundation-adds-a-code-of-ethics-for-board-members?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=free-software-foundation-adds-a-code-of-ethics-for-board-members\";s: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:4441:\"<p>The Free Software Foundation (FSF) <a href=\"https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-adopts-new-governance-framework-for-board-members\">announced</a> it is implementing a new <a href=\"https://www.fsf.org/about/board-member-agreement\">Board Member Agreement</a> and  <a href=\"https://www.fsf.org/about/board-of-directors-code-of-ethics\">Code of Ethics</a> that is meant to guide members in their responsibilities, decision-making, and activities. The documents, which FSF says were &#8220;designed to help make FSF governance more transparent, accountable, ethical, and responsible,&#8221; were created as part of a six-month long consultant-led review.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In March, FSF founder and GPL author, Richard Stallman, announced that he was returning to the board, after <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gpl-author-richard-stallman-resigns-from-free-software-foundation\">resigning</a> as director of the board and president of the FSF in 2019. His resignation followed a series of controversial remarks on rape, assault, and child sex trafficking, along with two decades of <a href=\"https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman\">behaviors and statements</a> that many have found to be disturbing and offensive. He was subsequently <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/gnu-project-maintainers-move-to-oust-richard-stallman-from-leadership\">ousted by GNU project maintainers</a> from his position as head of the project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/free-software-community-condemns-richard-stallmans-reinstatement-to-fsf-board-of-directors\">Stallman&#8217;s controversial return</a> was supported by the majority of FSF&#8217;s board, with the exception of board member Kat Walsh who resigned after voting against his reinstatement. The organization’s executive director, deputy director, and chief technology officer also resigned in protest. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>At that time, the FSF&#8217;s board published a statement saying they &#8220;take  full responsibility for how badly we handled the news of his election to a board seat. We had planned a flow of information that was not executed in a timely manner or delivered in the proper sequence.&#8221; His reinstatement took FSF&#8217;s staff by surprise, as they were not informed or consulted.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mozilla, the Open Source Initiative, Red Hat, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and other prominent tech organizations also opposed the decision in published statements and removed their support for FSF and critical funding.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpressfoundation.org/\">The WordPress Foundation</a>, which previously listed FSF among the project’s inspirations, quietly removed the link from the website following the controversy. WordPress’ executive director Josepha Haden Chomphosy published a <a href=\"https://josepha.blog/2021/04/02/on-recent-news-about-the-fsf-board-of-directors/\">statement</a>, saying she did not support Stallman&#8217;s return as a board member, and confirmed to the Tavern that this is also the WordPress project’s official stance.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In what appears to be an attempt to claw its way back to a semblance of accountability, FSF&#8217;s newly approved <a href=\"https://www.fsf.org/about/board-of-directors-code-of-ethics\">Code of Ethics</a> is targeted at preempting future incidents of board members acting on behalf of the organization without permission. A few relevant ethics in the document include the following:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Members of the board of directors will not undertake an activity that substantially hurts the FSF. When acting as board members, they will work toward the success of the FSF.</em></li><li><em>Board members shall all avoid placing&#8211;and the appearance of placing&#8211;one&#8217;s own self interest or any third-party interest, including the interests of associate members, above that of the organization as a whole.</em></li><li><em>Board members shall not speak on behalf of the FSF unless given explicit permission. Directors must not represent that their authority as board members extends any further than it actually extends. The board speaks as a whole, not as individuals.</em></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>New governance is a positive step towards transparency and accountability, but after all the damage done during the botched rollout of Stallman&#8217;s reinstatement, it&#8217;s not likely that opposing organizations will settle for anything less than his removal from the board. </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, 17 Dec 2021 21:45:36 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:20;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:75:\"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 37) — WordPress Community In Africa\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=89996\";s: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:34:\"https://poststatus.com/excerpt/37/\";s: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:3639:\"<h2>&#8220;You shouldn\'t be the one to always take, you want to be the one to always give.&#8221; —Mary Job</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David chats with special guest <strong>Mary Job</strong>. Mary is a remote, &#8220;nomad&#8221; worker in Africa who travels from city to city. She is an engineer with <strong>Paid Memberships Pro</strong> but also spends a large amount of time growing and stimulating the African WordPress community. Mary has helped start <strong>WP Africa</strong>, a site devoted to the community of WordPress users on the continent. She talks about challenges they face, compares the WordPress presence with <strong>Google</strong> in Africa, and looks forward to the day when there can be a <strong>WordCamp Africa</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also: </strong>Mary shares how she got involved in WordPress, and how appreciative she is of the giving nature of the WordPress community. David will have to figure out how to get Mary\'s invite to Matt.</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\">Every week <strong><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">Post Status Excerpt</a></strong> will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what\'s new in WordPress in a flash. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/26a1.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />You can listen to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcast/the-excerpt/\">past episodes</a> of <strong>The Excerpt</strong>, <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/category/post-status-podcasts/\">browse all our podcasts</a>, and don’t forget to subscribe on <a href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/1m3xwXbe0MG5BzFVPtB0A7\">Spotify</a>, Amazon Music, <a href=\"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8ySkU5c2M4UA\">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008\">iTunes</a>, <a href=\"https://castro.fm/podcast/c53552c6-1ee0-4fc4-9de4-08ed6bf1ee4d\">Castro</a>, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/PostStatus\">YouTube</a>, <a href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast\">Stitcher</a>, <a href=\"https://player.fm/series/wordpress-post-status-podcasts\">Player.fm</a>, <a href=\"https://pca.st/05rR\">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href=\"https://wordpress-post-status-draft-podcast.simplecast.com/\">Simplecast</a>, or by <a href=\"https://feeds.simplecast.com/2JE9sc8P\">RSS</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f3a7.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-mentioned-in-the-show\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f517.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wpafrica.org/\">WP Africa</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"http://twitter.com/nathaningram\">Mary Job</a><a href=\"http://twitter.com/maryojob\"> (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.0.1/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Sponsor: <a href=\"https://poststat.us/pagely\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow\">Pagely</a></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites.&nbsp;Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today!</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, 17 Dec 2021 13:00:00 +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:12:\"David Bisset\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:21;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s: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:\"WPTavern: Yes, a Block-Based Version of the Kubrick WordPress Theme Exists\";s: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=127153\";s: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:191:\"https://wptavern.com/yes-a-block-based-version-of-the-kubrick-wordpress-theme-exists?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=yes-a-block-based-version-of-the-kubrick-wordpress-theme-exists\";s: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:4464:\"<img />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It is literally the one thing that no one was asking for, but we can all collectively agree is kind of cool. A <a href=\"https://github.com/youknowriad/kubrick2\">block-based version of the old-school Kubrick WordPress theme</a> exists.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gutenberg lead Matías Ventura tweeted a quick video of it in action yesterday. Fellow Automattic engineer Riad Benguella had put the theme together.</p>\n\n\n\n<div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Wait, what? <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f92f.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />(I had no part in this, all credit goes to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/riadbenguella?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@riadbenguella</a>.) <a href=\"https://t.co/2WF8HShvSa\">pic.twitter.com/2WF8HShvSa</a></p>&mdash; Matías Ventura (@matias_ventura) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/matias_ventura/status/1471114929012891658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 15, 2021</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>I am always on the lookout for those nostalgic plugins and themes that harken back to my early days on the web, the early-to-mid 2000s, the golden age of blogging. And, there is nothing that embodies that more than Kubrick, WordPress&#8217;s second default theme. It was literally named &#8220;Default&#8221; and represented the platform for over half a decade.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even today, <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/themes/default/\">Kubrick/Default</a> still has over 10,000 active installs. I wonder whether it is running on now-defunct sites or if the number represents still-active bloggers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The theme was the face of WordPress during its rise to dominance as a CMS. Theme authors owe more credit to it than any others. It was copied, forked, repackaged, and redistributed more times than most of us will likely ever know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kubrick 2, as it is named in the GitHub repository, is still a work in progress. There are still a few kinks, such as single posts showing the excerpt instead of the full content. However, it is a working theme.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The shocking thing about it is how little code it took to recreate Kubrick with the block system. The original theme, last updated in 2020 and now at version 1.7.2, falls short of 11 kb of CSS. I cannot remember the last time I saw a classic WordPress theme with so little code. The block-based version currently uses a handful of <code>theme.json</code> settings and has no CSS.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, it did not take me long to dive into the site editor and start customizing. The most recognizable design aspect of Kubrick was its gradient-blue header. It was also one of the pieces that users from around the blogging world would customize to make their site feel like their own. They would decorate it with custom colors, gradients, and even images.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, with the block editor, that is far simpler than a decade and a half ago. Plus, there are more options.</p>\n\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n\n<p>With such power in my hands back in 2005, I am not sure if I would have pursued theme development at all. I probably could have done everything I needed to do within the WordPress admin. Kubrick was one of my first introductions to theme design, and I owe an unpayable debt to it. It is nice to know that its legacy continues to live on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For old time&#8217;s sake, I spent a few minutes making modifications via the site editor &#8212; ever so slightly modernizing it. However, I did not want to lose the flavor of the original work.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>I am as comfortable as anyone can be in the editor. I know most of its pain points, but this somehow felt more natural than usual. Maybe it was the simplicity of a theme from a bygone era. Perhaps the site editor and I were just seeing eye to eye today. Or, it might simply have been in the cards. I had a lot of fun venturing down memory lane.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I doubt Kubrick 2 sees a lot of action in the real world. Maybe a few folks who are as nostalgic as I am will install it when it is ready for production.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Much like Ian Stewart did with <a href=\"https://themeshaper.com/2010/01/06/new-default-theme-wordpress-kirby/\">Kirby in 2010,</a> maybe some adventurous theme author will take it upon him or herself to build a modern-day successor to Kubrick. One that both leans into the block system and has readable typography. I am getting older and blinder. A 13px font size is not as easy on the eyes these days.</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, 17 Dec 2021 00:29:48 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Justin Tadlock\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:22;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:86:\"Post Status: Matt on Acquisitions and Work in WordPress — An interview with Michelle\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=91488\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s: