


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



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/openverse/2022/01/25/everything-you-need-to-know-about-openverse-and-the-wordpress-photo-directory/">Everything You Need to Know About Openverse and the WordPress Photo Directory</a></li></ul>
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<h2 id="h-core"><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core">Core</a> </h2>



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/02/03/whats-new-in-gutenberg-12-5-february-2nd/">What’s new in Gutenberg 12.5? (February 2nd)</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/31/ensuring-proper-attribution-for-contributions-to-wordpress-on-github/">Ensuring Proper Attribution for Contributions to WordPress on GitHub</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/28/developer-hours-now-scheduled-first-event-feb-8th-2022/">Developer Hours now scheduled, first event Feb 8th, 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/27/proposal-2022-major-release-timing/">Proposal: 2022 Major Release Timing</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/02/01/a-week-in-core-january-31-2022/">A Week in Core – January 31, 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/26/proposed-improvements-to-the-core-editor-chat-agenda-and-format/">Proposed improvements to the Core Editor chat agenda and format</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/02/01/wp-notify-status-update/"></a><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/02/01/wp-notify-status-update/">WP Notify Status Update</a></li></ul>



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



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/cli/2022/01/26/wp-cli-v2-6-0-release-notes/">WP-CLI v2.6.0 Release Notes</a></li></ul>



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



<h4>Articles:</h4>



<ul><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/comparing-patterns-template-parts-and-reusable-blocks/">Comparing Patterns, Template Parts, and Reusable Blocks</a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/twenty-twenty-two/">Twenty Twenty-Two</a></li></ul>



<h4 id="h-developer">Developer </h4>



<ul><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/block-tutorial/block-supports-in-dynamic-blocks/">Block Supports in dynamic blocks</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/user/application-password/list/">WP-CLI wp user application-password</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/block-themes/internationalization/">Block Themes Internationalization</a></li><li><a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/block-themes/accessibility/">Block Themes Accessibility</a></li></ul>



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



<ul><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/01/31/faculty-program-structure-proposal/">Faculty Program: Structure Proposal</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/01/17/training-team-goals-for-2022">Training Team Goals 2022</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/01/04/january-2022-sprint/">January 2022 Sprint</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/01/07/social-learning-spaces-streaming-platforms/">Social Learning Spaces Streaming Platforms</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/01/07/learn-wordpress-version-taxonomy/">Learn WordPress Version Taxonomy</a></li></ul>



<h4 id="h-lesson-plans">Lesson Plans:</h4>



<ul><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/how-to-create-a-menu-with-the-navigation-block/">How to Create a Menu with the Navigation Block</a></li></ul>



<h4 id="h-social-learning-spaces">Social Learning Spaces:</h4>



<ul><li><a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/social-learning/">Calendar</a></li></ul>
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";s: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:58:"WPTavern: #12 – Amber Hinds on Why Accessibility Matters";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:48:"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=129309";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:72:"https://wptavern.com/podcast/12-amber-hinds-on-why-accessibility-matters";s: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:47815:"<h2 id="about-this-episode">About this episode.</h2>



<p>On the podcast today we have Amber Hinds.</p>



<p>She works at <a href="https://equalizedigital.com/">Equalize Digital</a>, and became interested in online accessibility when she was given the job of creating a website for a public university. Given that the site was funded with public money, the finished site needed to be built with accessibility in mind.</p>



<p>Since then Amber has been learning about accessibility, and educating others in how to build accessible websites through projects like the <a href="https://equalizedigital.com/wordpress-accessibility-meetup/">WordPress Accessibility Meetup</a>.</p>



<p>Today we talk about what online accessibility means, and how it ought to influence any website build.</p>



<p>We consider the situations people who need an accessible website might find themselves in. What are they experiencing as they browse the web and what tools are they using?</p>



<p>Is there a legal / moral responsibility to build accessible websites, and is it enough to have a website which is partially accessible?</p>



<p>What tools can you use to help in this endeavour, and what tools you might want to avoid?</p>



<h2 id="useful-links">Useful links.</h2>



<p><a href="https://equalizedigital.com/wordpress-accessibility-meetup/">WordPress Accessibility Meetup</a></p>



<p><a href="https://equalizedigital.com/accessibility-checker/">Amber&#8217;s Accessibility Checker</a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/policies/">Web Accessibility Laws &amp; Policies</a></p>



<p><a href="https://wave.webaim.org/">WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool</a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.deque.com/axe/">axe&nbsp;Accessibility Testing Tool</a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.nvaccess.org/">NV Access</a></p>



<p><a href="https://siteimprove.com/">Siteimprove</a></p>



<p><a href="https://monsido.com/">Monsido</a></p>



<p><a href="https://pope.tech/">Pope Tech</a></p>



<p><a href="https://overlayfactsheet.com/">Overlay Fact Sheet</a></p>



<p><a href="https://overlayfalseclaims.com/">Overlay False Claims</a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/s/">IAAP (International Association of Accessibility Professionals)</a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1</a></p>



<p><a href="https://webaim.org/">WebAIM</a></p>



Transcript<div>
<p>[00:00:00] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Welcome to the 12th edition of the Jukebox podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley. Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress. The people, the events, the plugins, the themes, the blocks, and in this case, the need for accessible websites.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;ve listened to the podcast last week, you&#8217;d have heard me say that we&#8217;re going to move to a weekly schedule from now on. This means that there&#8217;ll be lots more podcast episodes, and I would encourage you to subscribe to the podcast, so that you can get all of those episodes automatically each and every week. You can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast player of choice, or by going to WP Tavern.com forward slash feed forward slash podcast.</p>



<p>And you can also copy that URL into most podcasts. With so many more episodes, I&#8217;d really like to hear from anyone out there who wants to come on the podcast and talk about whatever it is that you do with WordPress. It might be that you&#8217;re a developer, a WordCamp organizer, a contributor, a designer. Honestly, if it&#8217;s about WordPress, I&#8217;m keen to hear from you and hopefully get you on the show. Head over to WP Tavern.com forward slash contact forward slash jukebox and use the contact form.</p>



<p>Okay. So on the podcast today, we have Amber Hinds. She works at Equalize Digital and became interested in online accessibility when she was given the job of creating a website for a public university, given that the site was funded with public money, it needed to be built with accessibility in mind.</p>



<p>Since then Amber has been learning all about accessibility and educating others in how to build accessible websites through projects like the WordPress accessibility meet up. Today, we talk about what online accessibility means and how it ought to influence the websites that we build. We consider the situations, people who need accessible websites find themselves in .What are they experiencing as they browse the web, and what tools are they using? Is there a legal or moral responsibility here to build accessible websites? And is it enough to have a website which is partially accessible? What tools can you use to help in this endeavor? And what tools might you want to avoid?</p>



<p>If you&#8217;re interested in finding out more, you can find all the links in the show notes by heading over to WP Tavern.com forward slash podcast and search for episode number 12. And so without further delay, I bring you Amber Hinds.</p>



<p>I am joined on the podcast today by Amber Hinds. Hello Amber.</p>



<p>[00:03:17] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Hi, Nathan. How are you?</p>



<p>[00:03:18] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I&#8217;m very good. Thank you for joining us today on the podcast. Really appreciate it. We&#8217;re going to have a discussion today around the subject of accessibility. Accessibility seems to be a word which is cropping up more and more probably for very good reason, but it occurs to me, Amber, that it may well be the case that a lot of us either don&#8217;t have a clear picture of what web site accessibility is or we&#8217;ve got just a vague idea of what we&#8217;re trying to achieve when we want websites to be accessible. So the question is very broad. What is website accessiblity?</p>



<p>[00:03:55] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah. So the short answer to what website accessibility is, is it is a practice of making sure websites will work for everyone. People of all abilities. So we&#8217;re not all accessing the internet in the same way using the same devices, or even able to observe things in the same way with our senses. So some people for example, are blind or visually impaired.</p>



<p>Some people are hard of hearing. Some people can see in here perfectly well, but they have mobility limitations that make it challenging for them to use a mouse or a keyboard. And so they have to engage with the internet and websites in a different sort of way. And website accessibility is really about ensuring that websites can work for all people and not just those who are typically abled.</p>



<p>[00:04:46] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Thank you. It&#8217;s so it&#8217;s a very broad definition. There isn&#8217;t one specific definition. There&#8217;s a whole multitude of different things that come under the umbrella. I wanted to ask that question first. Typically I ask people about themselves and what their relationship is with WordPress at the beginning, but I thought it would be curious to get that first, because then that would lead me on to that question. Could you just tell us how it is that we&#8217;ve got you on the podcast today? You know, in other words, tell us a little bit about how you&#8217;ve come to take accessibility seriously. What have you done in the recent past that makes you interested in this?</p>



<p>[00:05:21] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Sure. So I am the CEO of a company called Equalize Digital. We&#8217;re a certified B corporation, which is, if you&#8217;re not familiar with that, a process that we went through with an external body to have all of our business practices reviewed and to show that we, while we are a for-profit company, we&#8217;re doing more to try and benefit the community and world and our employees than the typical business, and we&#8217;re not just trying to line the owner&#8217;s pockets, if you will. And our focus really is on website accessibility. I got into it, really became aware of it in 2016. When I started working with a university here in the United States, Colorado State University. All universities and publicly funded institutions in the U S are required to have websites that meet certain accessibility standards under the web content accessibility guidelines.</p>



<p>There are laws requiring that. And so I got thrown into it a little bit, which was building a website for the university and it had to be accessible in order for us to launch it. And so initially it was a little bit of checking boxes, but as I started to learn more about it, and research it and then we&#8217;ve gotten to the point now where we have user testers, so people with disabilities who come in and we pay them to test websites for our clients or for us before we launched them, and really having had the ability to talk to them firsthand, watch them navigate the web and hear in their voices some of the challenges that they experienced led to the passion that I&#8217;ve had for trying to make it work for everyone. And so that&#8217;s what brought me to accessibility.</p>



<p>[00:07:02] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Thank you, that&#8217;s really interesting. When we talk about accessibility, it occurs to me that very often we&#8217;re talking about things which on a typical website might be missing. We failed to do something because we&#8217;ve failed to have the understanding that something needs to be done.</p>



<p>Now, forgive me and hopefully anybody listening to this, there are going to be bits in this podcast where probably I misstep and say something, which is not exactly correct, and I probably should have done my research a little bit better, but I would like to, I would like you to describe some of the scenarios, you mentioned just now that you have people who you get user testing done with. For the benefit of the audience, could you describe some of the things which those people are experiencing? So in other words, when I go to a website, I switched on a computer. I sit down. I use a mouse, I use a keyboard. I may very well use my finger if it&#8217;s on my phone. But I am looking through my own eyes and I&#8217;m consuming everything, either through my ears or through my eyes, basically. And that&#8217;s the way that I interact with the web. Now it occurs to me that in the scenarios that we&#8217;re going to be discussing today, much of that is not the case. So could you describe some of the different ways that people experience the web as they browse it?</p>



<p>[00:08:21] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah, the one that most commonly people think about when they think about website accessibility is people who are blind or very low vision. And those users, if they&#8217;re on the spectrum of just being low vision, they might still be able to see, but they might be zoomed in with their browser. So they might have it set where they&#8217;re always viewing a website at say 200%. Or if they have no vision at all, or very little vision then they may be using something called a screen reader, which basically reads out all of the content on the website to them, and it has different sorts of shortcuts that allow them to sort of try to skim in the same way that we would want to skim the content. You know, when you visit a website, you don&#8217;t read it word for word on every page. So there are features built into screen readers that help them jump around through the content so that it can be read aloud to them. Other things that is commonly thought of is people who can not hear. And in that instance, we want to see captions or transcripts provided for podcasts or video content.</p>



<p>But a thing that I think a lot of people don&#8217;t think about is colorblindness. Colorblindness is very prevalent. And if you have certain color palettes going on, or if you&#8217;re describing things by color The green dot means your microphone is on and the red dot means your microphone is off. If I can&#8217;t tell the difference between red and green, how do I know if my microphone is on or off? So that&#8217;s actually very common, but there&#8217;s also situations where I mentioned earlier, people who have mobility issues. There may be people that don&#8217;t have use of any of their limbs or very little use.</p>



<p>And so they might use eye tracking to move around. They might use a voice controller where they&#8217;re speaking and telling their computer or their phone to go to a certain element on a website. And if the actual HTML code behind it doesn&#8217;t match what they expect it to match or see, then the computer won&#8217;t be able to go where they&#8217;re telling it to go.</p>



<p>There&#8217;s also alternative keyboards and devices. So a good example of that is the Darcy USB keyboard, which is a morse code keyboard. So that allows people who may be only have use of one or two fingers to tap out in morse code and use that to interact with the web. So there&#8217;s really a very broad range of ways that people can engage with the web and, accessibility really impacts everyone. So there are people that we might obviously think of as identifying themselves as disabled. And there&#8217;s a lot of people who don&#8217;t identify as disabled, but who benefit from accessibility features. With my corrective lenses on I&#8217;m typically sighted, but I have been on websites on my phone outside where the color contrast is so poor that I can&#8217;t see it on a sunny day, and so that&#8217;s really something that I think a lot of people don&#8217;t realize is that accessibility features can help everyone.</p>



<p>[00:11:15] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It&#8217;s really curious the sort of range and the depth there, it illustrates the spectrum of different things that we&#8217;re dealing with, and it does illustrate to me at least that when we talk about accessibility, we are definitely not talking about one thing. So we&#8217;ll try to tackle that in a minute.</p>



<p>But I was thinking to myself, as you were speaking in the physical world, a lot of this stuff has been mandated by law. So for example, if I was to go to a school or a shop in my local environment, it&#8217;s mandatory for the doors to be of a certain size and width and for there to be alternative arrangements to get people over steps and up ramps and things like that. So it&#8217;s been taken care of over many, many years because those things were identified and put into law. Now, especially in the year 2022, it feels like more and more things are going online, so take as an example, e-commerce it would be illegal, I think, in my country for a shop to have impediments in it, which would make unaccessible to everybody, but if they have their website online, in a sense, you&#8217;re trying to create the same shopping experience. You can see all of the products and examine them and get descriptions of them, and so on. The law hasn&#8217;t been able to catch up, and I&#8217;m curious about the law. I don&#8217;t really know what the position is. Is there a legal responsibility in the majority of countries, only a proportion of countries for things to be done in a certain way? Or are we just working on a kind of moral responsibility where this would be a desired outcome to have websites accessible, but it&#8217;s not mandated by law. What&#8217;s your thoughts on that?</p>



<p>[00:12:55] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> So the W3C has a page on it that is helpful if you&#8217;re trying to get a feel for laws worldwide. It hasn&#8217;t been updated for a while, I can&#8217;t remember how out of date it is. I know that there&#8217;s a stated goal that they&#8217;re going to try and update that sometime early in this year. But as far as, and I&#8217;ll say this I&#8217;m not a lawyer, or a solicitor, depending on where you are in the world. I have listened to a lot of them speak about it, and I feel like I have, comfortable understanding, but I&#8217;m not a legal professional. My understanding is though that there are at least 20 countries that have website accessibility laws that mandate websites have to be accessible.</p>



<p>The EU also does, so that would cover a lot of member countries in EU, and so there are in some places, laws that require it. Now, sometimes those laws don&#8217;t touch the private sector. They only touch the public sector Like here in the United States, there are laws that are specific for, as I mentioned, federally funded agencies or organizations that receive federal grants, which could be schools and universities, could be non-profits. Now we also are increasingly seeing here in the United States that there are laws that are being tried in the courts under the Americans with disabilities act against public businesses. And I think last year it was almost like 78% of those businesses were e-commerce stores.</p>



<p>So that&#8217;s really where people are coming in and law firms are coming in and suing businesses because their websites were not accessible. And in most cases they are winning or settlement is being made where the organization agrees to make their website accessible and they pay. So they not only have to pay for the improved development or content creation on that website, but they&#8217;re also paying a settlement to the plaintiff in the case</p>



<p>In Canada the strongest laws are actually more on the province level. So Ontario has a very strong website accessibility law. As of January of this year, all organizations that have more than, I believe it&#8217;s 25 employees, have to file an annual report with the government of Ontario, stating what the accessibility status of their website is annually. And if they have more than 50 employees, the fines could be as high as a hundred thousand Canadian dollars per half day that their website is inaccessible. So there can be some very large fines. My understanding from talking to people in Canada is it&#8217;s only just starting to be enforced. There&#8217;s not a huge amount of let&#8217;s say government officials going around checking websites of businesses in Canada and sending them fines, right. But they are working towards that. So it&#8217;s a shift that&#8217;s really been happening, I think especially we&#8217;re seeing it accelerate in the last three or four years.</p>



<p>[00:15:47] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It&#8217;s obviously becoming much more important. It brings to mind some further questions about this and you may not have the answers, I don&#8217;t know. But, it&#8217;s a global marketplace. It could easily be that you or I would build a website for somebody in an entirely different jurisdiction. For example, I, in the UK could build something for somebody in Canada. And I wonder whose law may apply in that case? As I&#8217;m the person that&#8217;s taken on the responsibility of building all the things. Do you know if it&#8217;s incumbent upon me to work, in this case, with Canadian law or UK law?</p>



<p>[00:16:26] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> So I kind of tend to think that it&#8217;s going to move in the direction that privacy laws are going. Which is that, if they can prove nexus, which means you have some sort of business operations in an area, then you have to follow the laws in that particular area. This is something that we&#8217;re seeing here in the United States with the majority of the lawsuits are happening in the State of California, but, the businesses aren&#8217;t all located in California, but if they have an employee in California, they have a store in California, they store goods in California, they have a warehouse there, or they ship a vast majority or they run, let&#8217;s say paid Google ads in the State of California, well now they&#8217;ve established that they do a significant amount of business there, and so they have to meet the stricter website, there&#8217;s a state accessibility law called the Unruh Civil Rights Act. And so a lot of businesses that aren&#8217;t California businesses, because they do a certain amount of sales there or something else are falling under that law. And I think we see the same thing, with discussions around the GDPR laws and privacy, which is, I&#8217;m a small business in the United States. I don&#8217;t advertise in the EU. I don&#8217;t do a lot of sales there. I don&#8217;t have employees there. It&#8217;s unlikely I really have to worry about GDPR, but if I started really doing a shift in that direction then I would need to worry about that. And so I think really from a business standpoint or a developer standpoint, you really want to think about where is the business engaging with its customers and whether or not their headquarters or their main office is there. And then those laws might apply.</p>



<p>[00:18:09] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yes, the point that you made earlier, I think we&#8217;ll come back, and we&#8217;ll reiterate it, the point being, if you are concerned about this, the law side of things is of concern, I think you should probably seek counsel from somebody who is in fact an expert in these areas and can give you the correct advice at the time of you publishing those things.</p>



<p>Just as an aside, and it&#8217;s a curious thing I dont know if this is the case. I&#8217;ve heard of things in the past where lawyers, forgive me if you&#8217;re a lawyer, this doesn&#8217;t come across the way it sounds, but where lawyers have gone chasing things which they know are going to be profitable for them, shall we say. In other words, they go and seek cases where person being accused is on the wrong side of the law, and they go and discover that fault. Do you see that happening much in this space? In other words, is the enforcement of law and lawyers in particular, are they going out finding these problems? Do we need to worry about this?</p>



<p>[00:19:05] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> In the United States, and I&#8217;ll say I&#8217;m not familiar with this in any other countries in the world, but in the United States, there&#8217;s a couple of organizations, usable net. They put out twice a year, sort of the status of lawsuits. And one of the really interesting things that they track is the number of law firms. So last year there were slightly over 4,000 lawsuits that were filed and the vast majority of them came out of six law firms. I&#8217;ll also say that when we were doing some research to make sure that we were paying our testers, I was looking at other accessibility testing job boards, just to make sure, are our hourly rates in line with others. And I came across. A tester job that was posted by a law firm, and it was very clear by reading it that they were seeking a blind individual to test websites for them, and then come on as a plaintiff, on websites that didn&#8217;t meet standards or weren&#8217;t usable. Which is definitely, I would say shady, and I think to some degree, that&#8217;s where, people have some major complaints about this because it feels a little bit like sharks out there, circling, trying to ask things of business that maybe aren&#8217;t realistic, in some cases, if they&#8217;re very small businesses. But the other side of that is that at least here in the United States, part of how we motivate laws to be made, or we legislate laws is by enacting things in the court. And right now there are enough cases happening that it might get to a point, and there is actually a bill up for consideration at our federal government level, that would say when can these lawsuits happen and what requirements are there of businesses? So what&#8217;s hard in the United States is people are guessing that the ADA applies to websites, but we don&#8217;t have any legislation that specifically states that.</p>



<p>And so these lawsuits, while they might seem frustrating on one hand to the business owner, on the other hand, this is how in the past people with disabilities, or even people of different colors have gotten more rights. And so, I have a hard time completely villainizing the plaintiffs in all cases, or the law firms in all cases, because it could be possible that they&#8217;re coming from it from a standpoint of, they legitimately want to enact change and this is the way that they see to do it.</p>



<p>[00:21:24] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Okay, thank you. That&#8217;s really interesting. Up until now, it feels like we&#8217;ve put the frighteners on everybody and we&#8217;ve described all of the ways that you can trip over and be caught out. Let&#8217;s flip the conversation. Let&#8217;s try to make it so that now we&#8217;re trying to figure out all the ways where we can do the right thing. Before we begin taking that apart a little bit. I&#8217;m just wondering. Imagine a website, a spectrum of websites. On the one hand, there&#8217;s a website where zero consideration has been given to website accessibility. It is appauling from your perspective. And on the other end of the spectrum is a website where every single box has been ticked. It&#8217;s exemplary. They&#8217;ve spent a vast amount of resource on getting it perfect. And so in between those two will be the vast majority of websites. Some, maybe 30% of the way along that journey, some 50, some 90. And I&#8217;m just wondering what the position is in terms of, is doing 30% okay? Is doing 50% okay? Are we trying to do this thing incrementally, or is this a case of no, no, no, you must achieve all of it. It&#8217;s a hundred percent or nothing.</p>



<p>[00:22:36] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> I think the reality of accessibility, especially accessibility remediation on a website that perhaps already exists, rather than a new build, is that it has to happen incrementally over time. Particularly if it&#8217;s a website that has thousands of pages, maybe even tens of thousands or it has a lot of PDFs. We just launched a website for an organization that has a ton of PDF documents. They&#8217;re government funded. They have to be accessible. But they have PDFs going back to, the early two thousands, in some cases, the nineties. I&#8217;ve seen organizations where they have PDFs from the eighties, where it&#8217;s more of a scan document, that&#8217;s been turned into a PDF. And so the thing is, the reality of going back and remediating all of those PDFs and making them work for someone doesn&#8217;t always make sense. And so you really want to think about a good place to start. The important points in a user&#8217;s journey. And this will vary depending upon what kind of website it is, but, common things are, can they contact you? Can they complete a checkout process, add a product to cart. Those sorts of things, you know, take the main actions that you really want them to take. Can they find really important information about your services. But maybe you have 5,000 blog posts that go way back into time. And if you look in Google analytics, they&#8217;re hardly getting any traffic, then that would not be where you would start, right? You want to start on the most important pages on the website and the most important components. And then yes, obviously we want to say let&#8217;s try and work towards being a hundred percent accessible, but we also have to take, you know, into account the reality of client budgets or internal organization&#8217;s budget. What time looks like, the size of the website and all those sorts of things. And there are definitely aspects of accessibility that can have much greater impact than other things. We commonly see alt tags being cited in lawsuits. We see captions on videos. And really they want to see accurate captions, not YouTube auto captions.</p>



<p>Another thing is headings. That&#8217;s one thing I&#8217;ve learned from observing some of our testers and hearing, seeing them navigate the web is headings are super important. Both that they exist on a page, but also that they&#8217;re used in the right order, because that is one of the fastest way for them to skip. So I could say, read me all the h2&#8217;s on a page, on a screen reader, and then I can say, oh great, I heard this third one, I&#8217;m going to jump here. But if I am missing headings or I have headings in a wrong order, then it can really make it hard for someone to move around the page.</p>



<p>That&#8217;s another really common thing, that is a good thing to fix that anyone can fix. You don&#8217;t have to be a developer, in most cases in WordPress to go in and add headings to your content or make sure your headings are using the correct numerical order. From a developer standpoint, I think, there should be a general baseline, especially if you&#8217;re building new websites, of ensuring that everything that should be actionable can be reached and used with a keyboard only.</p>



<p>This is one of my biggest pet peeves that I hope, plugin and theme developers can work on, is we&#8217;ll just start with a div, and a span is not a button. So following good HTML semantics goes a long way towards accessibility. So if you have a slider plugin or you have an accordion plugin or whatever that might be, making it so that the buttons to navigate through those things or the element that opens is actually a button and can actually be reached by a keyboard and then triggered with either the return or the space bar keys, that really will help a lot. And I think that&#8217;s a big thing for me is with WordPress, right, we build with components, and we&#8217;re using a lot of times someone else&#8217;s theme and we&#8217;re using maybe five, maybe 50 plugins in order to create the amazing websites that we build. And very few of us developers are building every single piece of that website from scratch.</p>



<p>And so really a big part of this and where this needs to come from in the WordPress world is that plugin and theme developers need to take this seriously because they&#8217;re not just impacting the accessibility of one website. If they have 500,000 installs, they&#8217;re impacting the accessibility of 500,000 websites, many of which might be owned by a DIY&#8217;er who has no idea about accessibility and has never heard of.</p>



<p>[00:27:01] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, again, a really good point, and you described there some of the of low hanging fruit. I guess it may be that you&#8217;re in a, an agency, for example that could simply farm this out to another agency who specializes in this, or it may very well be that your agency is big enough that somebody can be dedicated to the role of making the website, giving it the checks and making sure that everything&#8217;s as it should be. But, I&#8217;m guessing that a significant proportion of the people listening to this podcast are people that do this by themselves and the responsibility falls upon them. We&#8217;re all WordPress users, and that&#8217;s the tool that we&#8217;ve decided to build our websites with. Are there any WordPress standards, if you know what I mean? Is there some kind of badge of honor, as a plugin developer that you can wear. Some description that we might be able to see, when we&#8217;re going out finding plugins and themes and all of the different things, more recently blocks, that would indicate to us, okay, the person creating this has done their due diligence, and we can trust what they&#8217;re doing, or is it still a bit wild west?</p>



<p>[00:28:03] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> In the plugin world, it&#8217;s definitely still wild west. There&#8217;s no label or third party vetting for plugins. We&#8217;ve seen some where they say. I think if you look in the repo on.org, there&#8217;s around 40 plugins that use accessibility as a keyword, and I&#8217;ve tested some of them and they have major accessibility problems.</p>



<p>Now on the theme side, and this is good news if you&#8217;re someone who builds websites, but doesn&#8217;t make custom themes. There is an accessibility ready tag in the theme repository, and these are all themes that have gone through a basic level of testing for important basics that need to exist in a theme. Which means that it would be a good starting place for building a website from the is accessible.</p>



<p>So that&#8217;s a great way to go and they&#8217;re all free themes. There are also some paid themes, but again, you kind of have to get into the who&#8217;s vetting them, who&#8217;s not. The accessibility ready tag comes after a vetting from the themes team. So in WordPress land, that&#8217;s probably the best place to start, but on the plugin front, it&#8217;s a lot harder.</p>



<p>I think there are some tools that can be used to test plugins before you even install one. So, or some different practices. There are two great browser extensions a lot of people are familiar with. Wave is one, and the other one is Axe which is by Deque. That one I tend to prefer because it is a more thorough, but both of these, you can have them installed and if you go to a plugins demo, you can click the button and you can get a quick accessibility report. Now it&#8217;s a little hard, cause you have to look at it and assess are these actually coming from the plugin or some of these problems in the theme that happened to be used on the demo page. But another thing, like I mentioned, being able to use things like keyboards, you could also tab through, just use your tab key on a plugin demo and use that to assess. So there are some ways that you can assess and decide whether or not plugins or themes will work, even without being a full expert in accessibility.</p>



<p>[00:30:07] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. Okay. That&#8217;s really good to know. Speaking of tools, I&#8217;m wondering if somebody was listening to this podcast and they decided this was now something they wished to become more interested in and make some more explorations. What tools do you recommend? So this is not from the point of view of exploring WordPress products, but the website after it&#8217;s finished, just checking that everything is as it should be. You mentioned some browser extensions. I don&#8217;t know if it extends to, you know, Windows apps or Mac OS apps and things like that.</p>



<p>[00:30:38] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yes. So the two browser extensions are really great and you can use them when you&#8217;re building. I always recommend trying out a screen reader. If you&#8217;re on a Mac, you&#8217;re going to have voiceover on your screen reader already, or sorry on your computer already. So all you have to do is go into your Mac settings and you can go to accessibility and you can enable voiceover, and that will allow you to hear what the website you&#8217;ve built sounds like.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;re on a PC, I really like to recommend NVDA. It&#8217;s open source and free. So you can install that on your PC and use that, and it&#8217;s one of the most popular, free screen readers for Windows. So using a screen reader is very helpful. The other thing that you might want to do, particularly if you have a large website, is do some bulk scanning of the entire site, instead of the browser extensions, allow you to scan one page and get a picture of one page, which i s helpful, but also there are some things that scanning tools while they can&#8217;t get everything, there are things that they could get that it would be nice to just have a full picture of that. So there are third-party SaaS solutions for this. Site improve is one. Monsido is another one. Pope tech, which uses Wave API.</p>



<p>And then we also have a plugin called Accessibility Checker, Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker, which does the same thing, only it puts the reports right in WordPress dashboard. So you don&#8217;t have to connect with a third party API or pay per page. But the thing that&#8217;s useful about that is, I draw a lot of parallels between SEO and, you know, there are SEO plugins where you have it installed and as you&#8217;re writing your content on the page, it will score it and tell you, oh, maybe you need to add your keyword more, or maybe your reading level is too high or something like that. Our plugin does something similar. And I think the way you want to think about accessibility, whether you&#8217;re using ours or any other tool is really, what can you do to proactively build accessibility in from the beginning so that you&#8217;re not having to go back later and fix things. So think proactive accessibility, not reactive remediation, because that&#8217;s what will really save on the cost and the time, if you can do it right from the beginning.</p>



<p>And so it&#8217;s helpful to use any of these tools that I&#8217;ve mentioned as you&#8217;re creating content. Get that report on your post edit screen or, run an external report, if that makes more sense to you and do it right then rather than trying to go back and fix it later.</p>



<p>[00:33:12] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Now, regardless of the legal or moral responsibility to get this stuff right, there&#8217;s work required to do this. And whenever difficult work presents itself, people always come up with ingenious ways of making it seem like the work can be achieved in a much more straightforward and simple way. And, my understanding is that there are a variety of tools on the market, which purport to offer the solution to website accessibility in a more or less copy and paste of this code and you&#8217;re done kind of way. Perhaps snake oil is a bit too strong a term, but my understanding is also that there&#8217;s not necessarily too much truth in that. I wonder if you could go into some of the tools which perhaps you would steer people away from.</p>



<p>[00:33:56] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> So I think the thing that people most commonly ask about are accessibility overlays. These are typically they&#8217;re JavaScript implementations. They&#8217;re a SaaS solution, but in a lot of instances, but there are also a few just WordPress plugins that are out there on wordpress.org that don&#8217;t connect to a third party.</p>



<p>And what they do, you may have seen these on a website you&#8217;ve visited, they typically put a little icon in the bottom left or right corner that is an accessibility icon. It looks like a little person. It might be on blue or some other color. And when you click it, it can open this panel. It has all kinds of different things. Turn on colorblind mode or change the colors, increase the font, add alt tags, all sorts of different things. The thing about the technology with these is, there are some things that can be fixed automatically after the fact with JavaScript. But there are also a lot of things that can&#8217;t. Automated alt tags is a great example. Frequently it gets it wrong. And then also there are cases where these accessibility tools actually cause accessibility problems, even though they&#8217;re trying not to. And so really I caution people to be careful about using overlays, particularly if the marketing for the overlay sounds too good to be true.</p>



<p>So if any company says, sign up for our plan, $39 a month and install this line of JavaScript in your header, and in 24 hours, your website will be 100% accessible. And by the way, we&#8217;ll protect you from getting sued. That&#8217;s when you need to back up and say, hold on, is this real? Probably not, and those are the companies that, we say stay away from. If you really want to learn more about overlays, there are two really great websites. One is the overlay fact sheet, and the other one is, I think it&#8217;s overlay false claims dot com. But they are put out by Karl Groves who was of Tenon, he now works at Level Access. Tenon is who, by the way did the accessibility audit of Gutenberg a couple years ago. He has done a lot of research into overlays and what can they actually do? What can they not? And so those websites are very helpful cause they&#8217;re very like fact-based and they include voices from people on assistive technology.</p>



<p>A lot of whom say they don&#8217;t like the overlays. I&#8217;ve heard people say that they block the IP addresses for those companies so that it won&#8217;t load the overlay when they visit websites. Cause it may actually makes it more challenging.</p>



<p>As much as I wish there was an instant solution, unfortunately there are no shortcuts.</p>



<p>[00:36:36] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> You mentioned a name there, Karl Groves. I&#8217;m just wondering if you have any other resources, any other useful places where you turn for advice that you believe represent a good investment in time that will enable us to quickly get up to speed with this whole subject.</p>



<p>[00:36:53] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> So if I can pitch a little bit, I&#8217;m the lead organizer of the WordPress Accessibility Meetup, which is an official WordPress Meetup through the WordPress Foundation. And we meet twice a month. It&#8217;s the first Thursday of the month in the morning for me, and the third Monday of the month in the evening for me, but we kind of have them spaced out because we get people from all over the world, which is super cool. It&#8217;s permanently virtual. It&#8217;s actually one of the first, topic-based not city-based meetups in the meetup program. And we have a lot of different speakers who come, and we also keep all of the recordings. So you can get more information and watch things if you&#8217;ve missed a talk.</p>



<p>So That&#8217;s a great resource. Also the international association for accessibility professionals, which I&#8217;m going to call, and most of them call the I A A P is they have certification programs and training courses. If you want to become one of theirs is the website accessibility specialist. They have different certifications. And so those are really good well-known resources that are vetted. I always recommend, go read the web content accessibility guidelines. I think a lot of people feel nervous about that, but each individual guideline itself is like a sentence and it&#8217;s broken out. Sometimes you have to read through a few of them to be like wait a minute, what does this mean? And they have links with information that are like, how can I actually implement this? But really go read the guidelines, so that you know what those are. And then the other website that I like to recommend too is web aim, they also talk a lot about how can you actually implement the guidance?</p>



<p>[00:38:37] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That&#8217;s really excellent. There was a whole ton of things. I will make sure Amber that all of those hit the show notes so that the URLs are easy to find so that you don&#8217;t have to go scrolling back through the podcast and write it all down. So, the show notes are always attached, as I might add is a fully corrected version of the transcript. You&#8217;ll be pleased to know. We make the effort of putting this out word for word accurate, hopefully. This all sounds very laudable. Just one thorn I&#8217;m about to throw in the side of this, and I&#8217;m imagining that I work for Evil Corp, and my boss is the chief of Evil Corp, and he doesn&#8217;t care about this. To him this is just a hassle, it&#8217;s a thorn in the side. He&#8217;s quite happy to put the websites out as they are, because it&#8217;s more profitable because there&#8217;s less time to be spent on these things. I&#8217;m just wondering if you&#8217;ve got any advice for people in that situation. People who know that they could do a better job, but are stymied by the situation that they&#8217;re in. Is there any generic advice that you could give or a place that you could go or just some general advice I guess.</p>



<p>[00:39:38] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> My general advice, if you&#8217;re trying to convince your boss or any sort of higher ups in your organization, is that you have to draw parallels between how accessibility will benefit the bottom line or the mission and goals of the organization. So a lot of larger companies have corporate values let&#8217;s say, or they have initiatives for giving back to the community or things like that.</p>



<p>So, it can sometimes be easy to draw a parallel between accessibility and that. Another thing is as I briefly mentioned about accessibility in a lot of ways is similar to SEO. Well there are actual items that when you improve the accessibility, it improves the SEO of the website.</p>



<p>So if bringing in more traffic is helpful, then you might be able to say, we&#8217;ll do this and it might increase our traffic. Or, it will help our conversions because we&#8217;re going to reduce our bounce rate because more people are going to be able to get where they need to go and complete the actions that we want them to do.</p>



<p>So I think there are ways that it can be sold that really show the benefits to the business. As much as I want to approach it from the whole like, I don&#8217;t care about the benefits of the business, I care about the greater good for the world and all human beings. The reality of business and budgets is that we have to talk about what the benefits of the business are.</p>



<p>The other thing I will say is there are a lot of things that can be done for accessibility that don&#8217;t take extra time. Really beyond what you do in the day-to-day practice of your job. And so whether you&#8217;re a marketing person who is writing blog posts, and you said, hey, I just learned about accessibility, maybe my boss doesn&#8217;t want me to go back through all these old blog posts, but every new blog post I put in, I&#8217;m going to make sure it has alt tags. I&#8217;m going to no longer use ambiguous anchor links. So instead of linking the words, click here, I&#8217;m actually going to link the words, contact us. I&#8217;m going to add those headings like we talked about. Those are all things that you can do moving forward.</p>



<p>Same thing from a developer standpoint. If you are coding things in your organization, it doesn&#8217;t take that much longer. Typically it doesn&#8217;t take that much longer to make sure that you&#8217;re using the proper HTML tags. Don&#8217;t just make a span class and use JavaScript to make it act like a button. Let&#8217;s use a button tag and those sorts of things can be done. Even if there&#8217;s not a lot of budget in your company to go back, decide now as an individual that you&#8217;re going to, take the extra, you know, what does it take extra two minutes to maybe make sure you have alt tags on your blog post, right? Whatever it might be. So that at least moving forward, you can meet some baseline to help improve things over time.</p>



<p>And then maybe you can continue to work on selling your boss so that it can be like, hey, we really do need to resolve this issue in the header of our website, which, hey, if we fix it one time, it fixes 555 pages.</p>



<p>[00:42:39] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That&#8217;s really nice advice. Nice to end it on a positive note. The idea being that, although there is a mountain of things to consider here, perhaps the best advice is to take one step at a time, achieve the things that which are achievable to you. Go and explore the tools that Amber mentioned and go and explore the communities and documentation that was mentioned and begin the journey.</p>



<p>You don&#8217;t have to reach the pinnacle necessarily tomorrow, but taking the first few steps is probably a step in the right direction. Amber Hinds, thank you for talking to us.</p>



<p>[00:43:15] <strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Thank you for having me.</p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"WPTavern: Sensei LMS 4.0 Introduces New Block-Based Learning Mode Course 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=129313";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:87:"https://wptavern.com/sensei-lms-4-0-includes-new-block-based-learning-mode-course-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:2320:"<p>Full-site editing has come to Sensei LMS in the plugin&#8217;s latest <a href="https://senseilms.com/wordpress-course-theme/">4.0 release</a>. The headline feature of this update is Learning Mode &#8211; a new block-based theme that gives course authors the ability to customize the learning experience in ways that were not possible before. </p>



<p>This version also updates the nine-year-old plugin&#8217;s menus and admin screens to make things easier to find, reducing the number of top-level menus.</p>



<p>&#8220;Until now, all course content was displayed in your regular WordPress theme, like any post or page,&#8221; Sensei representative Ronnie Burt said. &#8220;However, this is not always the best learning experience for students, as the site header, sidebars, and other content can be distracting. We developed Learning Mode to solve this problem — so your courses are the students’ main focus.&#8221;&nbsp;</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<p>Learning Mode is bundled in the plugin and brings the full-site editing capabilities launched in WordPress 5.9 to lessons and quizzes. It does not apply to the whole site &#8211; only the LMS content URLs. The rest of the site uses the regular, active WordPress theme.</p>



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

</div>



<p>Learning Mode is free, not a paid add-on, and it is also optional. Sensei LMS users who update to 4.0 can continue having their course content displayed directly in their WordPress themes as they have been.</p>



<p>Sensei is one of the first plugins to offer this kind of separate, in-app FSE-enabled theme. It enables course authors to make their own customizations to courses and templates using blocks. Things like extra instructions, announcements, advertisements, links, are now much easier to insert. The colors and design can also be further customized to match the site&#8217;s branding.</p>



<p>This particular implementation highlights the potential of FSE where these kinds of template changes might have cost site owners hours in custom development before template editing was within reach. Many other types of plugins that introduce their own templates could benefit from a similar approach. It will be interesting to see how FSE opens up WordPress customization beyond just themes.</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, 02 Feb 2022 04:16:35 +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:28;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"WPTavern: Look Under the Hood With the Block X-Ray WordPress 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=129206";s: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:78:"https://wptavern.com/look-under-the-hood-with-the-block-x-ray-wordpress-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:4467:"<p class="has-drop-cap">One of my favorite tools in the past few days is the <a href="https://github.com/salcode/block-xray-attributes">Block X-ray Attributes</a> plugin by Sal Ferrarello. It is geared toward developers and shows block attributes in the WordPress editor.</p>



<p>After seeing his tweet on Friday, I immediately installed it.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/webdevstudios?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@webdevstudios</a>, for today's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/5FTF?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#5FTF</a> I got to create a WordPress plugin that displays the attributes of the currently selected block in the block editor.<a href="https://t.co/pW17NcwYEX">https://t.co/pW17NcwYEX</a> <a href="https://t.co/JvZff5anbR">pic.twitter.com/JvZff5anbR</a></p>&mdash; Sal Ferrarello (@salcode) <a href="https://twitter.com/salcode/status/1487176381234663424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>The plugin is currently only available via its GitHub repository, and anyone who wants to give it a spin can grab the latest build from the <a href="https://github.com/salcode/block-xray-attributes/releases/tag/1.0.0">1.0.0 release page</a>. (<strong>Update: </strong>it is <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-xray-attributes/">now on WordPress.org</a>.)</p>



<p>Ferrarello and his colleagues get a full day on company time to give back. WebDevStudios&#8217;s employees <a href="https://webdevstudios.com/?s=five+for+the+future">consistently devote</a> one day each month to <a href="https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/">Five for the Future</a>, an initiative that encourages organizations to contribute five percent of their resources to the WordPress project.</p>



<p>The company&#8217;s <a href="https://webdevstudios.com/2022/01/27/five-for-the-future-friday/">first Five for the Future day</a> of 2022 landed last Friday. Ferrarello opted to build a plugin that will likely be immensely helpful to other developers who are building blocks.</p>



<p>Block X-ray Attributes adds a new tab under the Post sidebar panel in the editor named &#8220;Block X-ray.&#8221; It simply shows a code field with the currently-selected block&#8217;s attributes in JSON format.</p>



<img />Viewing attributes of a Columns block.



<p>When I first installed the plugin, I expected the tab to be under the &#8220;Block&#8221; panel. Since the attributes are specific to the block, it made sense that it would be there. It is instead under the &#8220;Post&#8221; or &#8220;Page&#8221; panel, depending on what type of content you are editing.</p>



<p>One missing feature that I would like to see is a copy button. For nested blocks, the output can be lengthy to copy with a mouse, and having a quick way to grab and paste it in my code editor would save some effort on my part.</p>



<p>I imagine that other developers would find the plugin invaluable in taking a quick look at attributes while building new blocks. That would also be my primary use case for it, so I inserted a breadcrumbs plugin that I need to finish at some point:</p>



<img />Testing custom attributes for a block.



<p>Being able to quickly look at custom attributes for my blocks allows me to see everything I need to know about them. I can note if the values are being added and correct when I toggle options on and off.</p>



<p>Another use case is the wealth of information available when the dreaded invalid block error appears.</p>



<img />Diving into block validation issues.



<p>If there is one feature I want to put to the test, this is it. There are times when WordPress randomly gives me a block validation error within custom patterns for seemingly no reason. Maybe it is stray whitespace or some other invisible ghost poking around underneath it all. The block recovery options do not help. Therefore, I am leaving Block X-ray Attributes installed until I can finally catch one of those oddly-random cases. <em>Will it help?</em> We will see in time.</p>



<p>For now, I recommend anyone developing anything related to blocks to install and activate this plugin. It is a handy tool that could mitigate a headache or two.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content"><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-xray-attributes/">Block X-ray Attributes</a></blockquote>
</div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 02 Feb 2022 01:54:37 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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:29;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"WPTavern: Nesting and Grids: Super List Block Supercharges Lists 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:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=129167";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:87:"https://wptavern.com/nesting-and-grids-super-list-block-supercharges-lists-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:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5135:"<p class="has-drop-cap">Freelance WordPress developer Aurooba Ahmed released the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/superlist-block/">Super List Block plugin</a> earlier today. Essentially, it is like the core WordPress List block &#8212; just supercharged. It is her first publicly-released extension on WordPress.org.</p>



<p>The primary use case for the plugin is adding other blocks within the list items. However, its options allow users to take it further by supporting grid-based layouts.</p>



<p>WordPress does not currently allow end-users to nest other blocks into list items via the editor. It is rich text or nothing, and it can be an irritating part of the editing experience when you need this seemingly run-of-the-mill feature. It is an issue that makes you wonder why we moved on to FSE before smoothing out the content experience. HTML list item elements are, after all, containers for other content.</p>



<p>For me, at least, it is not something I often need. When I do, I code it via the Custom HTML block. That works if the list&#8217;s content is simple but not when you want to nest more complex elements like other blocks.</p>



<p>The Super List block turns its nested Super List Item blocks into containers for pretty much anything. One typical use case would be to add multiple paragraphs or other text-based blocks like headings as single list items.</p>



<img />Headings and multiple paragraphs under single list items.



<p>However, the plugin does not limit users to text. They can stick whatever they want in, even nesting a Super List within a Super List Item block. Unfortunately, its indentation is zeroed out in that scenario, so its items do not appear nested.</p>



<p>The plugin&#8217;s claim to fame may be its grid feature. The closest things in WordPress are the Columns and Gallery blocks. However, Columns are limited to a single row, and Gallery only allows images.</p>



<p>This is also where the Super List block needs a little refinement. When selecting the horizontal (&#8220;grid&#8221;) orientation, a new box appears to allow users to set the maximum width of all sub-list items.</p>



<img />Four-by-four grid of quotes and images.



<p>Wanting to create a four-by-four grid (two rows of two columns), I immediately selected 50%. It made the most sense. However, I did not get any columns. The value was too large and did not account for the gutter space between the items. I then lowered it until I hit a number that worked: 47%. I could have looked at the page&#8217;s source code and simply <em>did the math</em>, but it would be a guessing game for the average end-user.</p>



<p>A more intuitive interface would be to switch the max-width option to a column-number setting. Technically, this would limit the flexibility of the block in a few scenarios. However, it would cover the vast majority of cases where users just want a grid of equal-width columns that span the width of their container.</p>



<p>This assumes that the plugin does not eventually allow users to micro-manage each list item in grid mode. There is an open ticket in the plugin&#8217;s repository to <a href="https://github.com/createwithrani/superlist/issues/9">add the option</a> to individual Super List Item blocks.</p>



<p>Whatever future direction the plugin goes, an easy-to-use block for quickly setting up a grid of items will likely land in many developer and site-owner toolboxes.</p>



<p>Three features make this plugin simpler to use than many core WordPress or third-party blocks. The first is when the user has the Super List selected in the editor. Instead of only the &#8220;+&#8221; icon to nest another block, it appends the text label &#8220;Add Super List Item.&#8221;</p>



<img />Add new Super List Item button.



<p>It is easy to get confused about where new blocks will be inserted after clicking the &#8220;+&#8221; editor icon. Super List Block&#8217;s text label makes it dead simple to understand. I would love to see WordPress and other third-party plugins take the same or a similar approach.</p>



<p>The other two nice-to-have features appear in the toolbar for the Super List Item block. The first is a &#8220;Settings&#8221; button for jumping back to the parent block. The second is a circular &#8220;+&#8221; icon for appending another item to the list.</p>



<img />Settings and append buttons in the toolbar.



<p>Both options seemed to reduce misclicks when selecting blocks or buttons in the editor. However, I prefer WordPress&#8217;s approach to making some parent block settings available in the child block&#8217;s toolbar. Social Links is a prime example of this, allowing users to change justification and alignment without jumping back and forth.</p>



<p>Overall, I am impressed with Super List Block as a first release. I will be keeping my eye on it to see how it matures. It is well worth deploying on any site that requires its features now.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content"><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/superlist-block/">Super List Block</a></blockquote>
</div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 01 Feb 2022 01:35:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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:30;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"WPTavern: Essential Addons for Elementor Patches Critical Security Vulnerability";s: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=129255";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:91:"https://wptavern.com/essential-addons-for-elementor-patches-critical-security-vulnerability";s: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:2665:"<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/essential-addons-for-elementor-lite/">Essential Addons for Elementor,</a> a popular plugin with more than a million active installs, has <a href="https://patchstack.com/articles/critical-vulnerability-fixed-in-essential-addons-for-elementor-plugin/">patched a critical vulnerability</a> that would allow for a local file inclusion attack.</p>



<p>The vulnerability was discovered by security researcher Wai Yan Myo Thet and reported to Patchstack on January 25, 2022. Patchstack customers received a virtual patch the same day. The issue was already known to the plugin&#8217;s developers, WPDeveloper, who issued two insufficient patches before it was ultimately fixed in version 5.0.5.</p>



<p>Patchstack published a summary of the vulnerability and explained how WordPress sites using the plugin could be compromised:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>This vulnerability allows any user, regardless of their authentication or authorization status, to perform a local file inclusion attack. This attack can be used to include local files on the filesystem of the website, such as /etc/passwd. This can also be used to perform RCE by including a file with malicious PHP code that normally cannot be executed.</p></blockquote>



<div class="wp-container-6205d78558359 wp-block-group">
<p>It&#8217;s important to note that the vulnerability primarily impacts users who have the dynamic gallery and product gallery widgets in use. </p>



<p>The plugin&#8217;s changelog makes the update seem more like an enhancement than a serious security concern, so users may not be fully aware that they need to update:</p>



<p> <strong>5.0.5 – 28/01/2022<br /></strong><em>Improved: Enhanced Security to prevent inclusion of unwanted file form remote server through ajax request</em><br /><strong>5.0.4 – 27/01/2022</strong><br /><em>Improved: Sanitized template file paths for Security Enhancement<br />Added: Support for new Capability Queries for WordPress 5.9<br />Fixed: Elementor Popups not being triggered<br />Few minor bug fixes &amp; improvements</em></p>
</div>



<p>All versions earlier than 5.0.5 are considered vulnerable. WordPress.org stats don&#8217;t break down active installs according to minor versions, but approximately 54% of the plugin&#8217;s users are running versions older than 5.0. </p>



<img />



<p>While this might seem like more than half a million users are still vulnerable, they would also need to be using the specific widgets in question. If you are not sure if you are using these widgets in combination, it&#8217;s best to simply update as soon as possible anyway.</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, 31 Jan 2022 21:26:27 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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:31;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:108:"Gutenberg Times: Preliminary Road Map for 6.0, Block Theme Creator, Developer Hours — Weekend Edition #201";s: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=20194";s: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:112:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/preliminary-road-map-for-6-0-block-theme-creator-developer-hours-weekend-edition-201/";s: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:22844:"<p>Howdy, </p>



<p>What a week this was! It was probably the biggest release for the project. Yes, even bigger than WordPress 5.0. Now all areas of a website can be handled by blocks. </p>



<p>I am awed by the massive accomplishments of all the contributors working on a major WordPress release that affects hundreds of million websites. I find these numbers mind-boggling: </p>



<ul><li>1900+ pull request merged for WordPress 5.9 </li><li>by over 600 contributors  </li><li>One hundred eighty of them contributed for the first time. </li><li>before WordPress 5.9 was released, WordPress 5.8 was downloaded more than 107 million times, </li><li>Today, four days after the release, WordPress 5.9 was downloaded already 12 million times. </li><li>87.6% of all WordPress sites are now on version 5.0 or higher</li><li>63.8% of all WordPress sites are on versions 5.7 and higher.  </li></ul>



<p>The transition to blocks for plugins and themes will take a few years for various reasons. The side editor and all Full-site editing capabilities are just the beginning. It&#8217;s important to give feedback from your experience, so the team can iterate and improve fast. </p>



<p>Nothing is perfect, especially not a release with so many code changes and contributors working on it. No amount of testing can surface everything. With so many configurations, settings, codebases and hosting offerings, not all the edge cases get caught. The release team is already preparing for a 5.9.1 version and is working fast to fix the bugs already reported, and those that didn&#8217;t make it into the release after code freeze. </p>





<p>And with that note, have a wonderful weekend ahead, hopefully away from the screens. </p>



<p>Yours, 💕<br /><em>Birgit</em></p>






<div class="wp-container-6205146190679 wp-block-group has-light-background-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container">
<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>



<div class="wp-block-sortabrilliant-guidepost"><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#release-week-wordpress-open-source-project">Release Week WordPress open-source Project</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#blocks-blocks-blocks-they-are-everywhere">Blocks, Blocks, Blocks. They are everywhere. </a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#gutenberg-updates">Gutenberg Updates </a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#gutenberg-for-content-creators-and-site-builders">Gutenberg for  content creators and site builders</a><ul><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#themes">Themes</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#plugins">Plugins</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#building-block-themes-for-full-site-editing">Building Block Themes for Full Site Editing</a></li><li><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/#wordpress-social-learning-events-and-meetups">WordPress Social Learning Events (and Meetups)</a></li></ul></div>
</div></div>




<p>The <strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/28/developer-hours-now-scheduled-first-event-feb-8th-2022/">Gutenberg Developer Hours</a></strong> event series is now scheduled. The first event will take place on February 8th, 2022 at 11 am ET / 16:00 UTC with the panelist <strong>Tammie Lister</strong>, <strong>Nick Diego</strong> and <strong>Fabian Kägy</strong>. This event is geared towards developers to get their questions answered, discuss block development or get help with a bug.  <a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283412026/">Register via the WordPress Social Learning Meetup.com space</a>. Looking forward to talking to you then! </p>



<a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283412026/"><img /></a>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-accent-background-color has-accent-color is-style-wide" />



<h2 id="release-week-wordpress-open-source-project">Release Week WordPress open-source Project</h2>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/josephine/"><strong>WordPress 5.9 Josephine is out now!</strong></a>  </p>



<p>To catch-up on what&#8217;s new in WordPress 5.9, full-side editing and Block themes topics, the <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/whats-new-in-wordpress-5-9-a-reading-list-on-full-site-editing-and-block-themes/">separate reading list </a> has all the information you need. The End User documentation, DevNotes, and also a few curated Block themes you can use to get acquainted with the new features. </p>



<p><strong>Sarah Gooding</strong> covered the release for the WPTavern: <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-josephine-released-introduces-full-site-editing-and-new-twenty-twenty-two-default-theme"><strong>WordPress 5.9 “Josephine” Released, Introduces Full Site Editing and New Twenty Twenty-Two Default Theme</strong></a></p>



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



<p>For folks curious about the impact of the Customizer, <strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> published this video on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMoeYcYgrrE"><strong>All you need to know about the Customizer</strong></a></p>



<ul><li>If your current theme uses the Customizer, the Customizer will remain as is.</li><li>If you switch to a block theme, which is a theme that supports full site editing features, the Site Editor will replace the Customizer.</li><li>If you are using a block theme and you install a plugin that requires the Customizer (like WooCommerce), it will automatically return as a menu item under Appearance. This will happen without you or the plugin author needing to do anything.</li><li>While the menu item is hidden, you can always access it directly with&nbsp;<code>wp-admin/customize.php</code>&nbsp;direct link.</li></ul>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="toolbelt-video-wrapper"></div>
</div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMoeYcYgrrE"><strong>All you need to know about the Customizer</strong></a> video on YouTube by Anne McCarthy



<div class="wp-container-6205146190a2f wp-block-group has-light-background-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container">
<p><strong>🎙️ </strong> New episode: <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-58-devnotes-for-full-site-editing/"><strong>Gutenberg Changelog #59 – Gutenberg 12.4, Developer Hours, Extensibility of the Block Editor and more</strong></a> with co-hosts Grzegorz Ziolkowski and Birgit Pauli-Haack. Special guest: Fabian Kägy</p>
</div></div>



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



<h2 id="blocks-blocks-blocks-they-are-everywhere">Blocks, Blocks, Blocks. They are everywhere. </h2>



<p>In his post <a href="https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2022/01/27/making-the-web-better-with-blocks/"><strong>Making the web better. With blocks!</strong></a>, <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/spolsky">Joel Spolsky</a>,</strong> author and creator of many things, like Stack Overflow, Trello, or Glitch, announced <a href="https://blockprotocol.org/">Block Protocol</a> as a new standard for sharing blocks. He wrote:&#8221;This kind of “insert block” user interface concept is showing up in almost every blogging tool, web editor, note-taking app, and content management system. People like it and it makes sense.&#8221;  and he continues &#8220;Our hope is that this will make life much easier for app developers to support a huge variety of block types. At the same time, anyone can develop a block once and have it work in any blog platform, note-taking app, or content management system.&#8221; </p>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/photomatt/status/1486793646045216769">Matt Mullenweg</a> and Matias Ventura as well as Kevin Marks from <a href="https://indieweb.org/">IndieWeb</a> movement engaged with Spolsky via Twitter  </p>



<p>In her article, <a href="https://wptavern.com/block-protocol-project-aims-to-create-universal-block-system-may-collaborate-with-gutenberg"><strong>Block Protocol Project Aims to Create Universal Block System, May Collaborate with Gutenberg</strong></a>, <strong>Sarah Gooding</strong>, puts this new initiative into larger context. She cites two examples,  Drupal Gutenberg and Laraberg, where the block-editor is used outside of WordPress. She also dived deeper into the Block Protocol. </p>



<h2 id="gutenberg-updates">Gutenberg Updates </h2>



<p>The day after the WordPress 5.9 release, Matias Ventura, the architect of Gutenberg, posted the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/26/preliminary-roadmap-for-6-0/"><strong>Preliminary roadmap for 6.0 for the Gutenberg project</strong></a>. Ventura lists, by area the new features and refinements the team will be working on. </p>



<p>Justin Tadlock recounts the post in his article: <a href="https://wptavern.com/looking-ahead-to-wordpress-6-0-the-early-roadmap"><strong>Looking Ahead to WordPress 6.0: The Early Roadmap</strong></a></p>



<p>What is it that you want to see in WordPress 6.0 for the block editor? Share in the comments on either post.  </p>




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




<h2 id="gutenberg-for-content-creators-and-site-builders">Gutenberg for  content creators and site builders</h2>



<p><strong>Eric Karkovack</strong> explored <a href="https://speckyboy.com/scenarios-block-editor-replaces-custom-code/"><strong>Scenarios Where the WordPress Gutenberg Block Editor Replaces Custom Code</strong></a>. &#8220;Developers may not need to fire up that code editor quite as often these days. Slowly but surely, the Gutenberg block editor is changing how we go about website customization. The result is an increasingly&nbsp;code-free&nbsp;experience.&#8221; Karkovack wrote. </p>



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



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/sandilyakafle"><strong>Ganga Kafle</strong></a> published a comprehensive guide on  <a href="https://sitenerdy.com/wordpress-full-site-editing/"><strong>What is WordPress Full Site Editing &amp; How to Use it?</strong></a> It covers all features, and discussed the advantage, how to use it and showcases the best block themes. It ends with a discussion FSE vs Page builders.</p>



<h3 id="themes">Themes</h3>



<p><strong>45</strong> is the current number of Block Themes, ready for Full-Site Editing in the WordPress repository. The newest one is the WordPress new default theme <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/twentytwentytwo/"><strong>Twenty-Twenty-Two</strong></a> designed by Kjell Riegstad and Jeff Ong. </p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/stewart/"><strong>Stewart</strong></a> is also a fairly new theme by Automattic. It is very opinionated and probably the only one that sports a left sidebar. </p>



<img />



<p><strong>UXL </strong>Theme shop added another new Block Theme <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/framboise/">Framboise</a>, offering style variations of Alara theme. Justin Tadlock took a closer look and shared his review in this article <strong><a href="https://wptavern.com/uxl-themes-releases-framboise-a-colorful-child-theme-variation-of-alara">UXL Themes Releases Framboise, a Colorful Child Theme Variation of Alara</a></strong> and introduced us to the developer of the themes Andrew Starr. Tadlock also noticed, &#8220;Framboise does not add its own set of block patterns. Instead, they all live in the parent, Alara. The same is true of&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/ceres/">Ceres</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/zelia/">Zelia</a>, the other two child themes.&nbsp;&#8221; and concluded: &#8220;This is one of the most fascinating aspects of child theming with blocks.&nbsp;&#8221; </p>



<h3 id="plugins">Plugins</h3>



<p><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/chriscoyier">Chris Coyier</a></strong>, founder of CSS-Tricks, elaborated in his post: <strong><a href="https://css-tricks.com/table-of-contents-block-in-wordpress/">4 Quality Options for a Table of Contents Block in&nbsp;WordPress</a></strong> on what to look for when you search a Table of content solutions, checks each block plugin against these requirements.</p>



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



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/aurooba"><strong>Aurooba Ahmed</strong></a> published her <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/superlist-block/"><strong>SuperList block </strong></a>in the WordPress repository. Use it to nest blocks inside list items, a feature many content creators have been looking for the core List block. You could also use the SuperList Block to create simple grid layouts,  like a properly responsive pricing table, or a wrapping icon list. Ahmed wrote: &#8220;It aims to provide you with as much flexibility as possible, so you can harness it to create the content structure and layout you like.&#8221; <strong>Dennis Snell</strong> started working on <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35870">InnerBlocks for the Core List block</a>.</p>



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



<p><strong>Nick Diego</strong> published the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-pattern-explorer/"><strong>Block Pattern Exlorer plugin</strong></a> in the WordPress repo. The difference to the just released Pattern Explored in 5.9 is that it includes the ability to preview patterns at different sizes (mobile, tablet, and desktop) and displays patterns individually or in a grid view. Diego also experiments with category and types for better grouping in the modal. The Block Pattern Explorer plugin is a safe space to explore different ways to built in explorer can be enhanced. </p>



<h2 id="building-block-themes-for-full-site-editing">Building Block Themes for Full Site Editing</h2>



<p><strong>Daisy Olsen</strong> and <strong>Ryan Welcher </strong>continued their Video Series <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky-bS4iUlDo"><strong>&#8220;Creating a Block Based Theme&#8221; Part 2 </strong></a>is now available on YouTube. They covered: </p>



<ul><li>Created a header.html and footer.html template parts</li><li>Discovered an issue with the Navigation block that has&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37718">already been fixed</a></li><li>Defined a custom gradient in theme.json</li></ul>



<p><a href="https://github.com/ryanwelcher/twitch/tree/stream/jan-13-2021">The code is available on GitHub</a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_7P2lvuwU">Creating a block-based theme with Daisy Olsen. Part 1</a> </p>



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



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/karks88"><strong>Eric Karkovack</strong></a> wrote an essay and explored <a href="https://thewpminute.com/what-does-wordpress-full-site-editing-mean-for-freelancers/"><strong>What Does WordPress Full Site Editing Mean for Freelancers?</strong></a> Karkocack started with &#8220;When we start digging into new features, there’s always a concern for any immediate impacts. But whatever comes from Full Site Editing will happen gradually.&#8221; </p>



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



<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> already looked ahead to next week&#8217;s Gutenberg plugin version 12.5, <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/releases/tag/v12.5.0-rc.1">now available as release candidate</a> and found <a href="https://wptavern.com/global-style-variations-skins-for-themes-have-landed-in-gutenberg"><strong>Global Style Variations, “Skins” for themes, Have Landed in Gutenberg</strong></a>. He explained &#8220;a global style variation is user-selectable skin for their currently active theme.&#8221; and called it his most-wanted component for Gutenberg. &#8220;From a theme developer’s viewpoint, they would drop custom&nbsp;<code>stylename.json</code>&nbsp;files under a&nbsp;<code>/styles</code>&nbsp;folder in their themes&#8221; he wrote. The <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/create-block-theme/#global-styles-presets">Create a Block Theme documentation</a> page already has more details for theme developers.  </p>




<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>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total" /></p>




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



<p id="block-theme-generator"><strong>Caroline Nymark</strong> created a <a href="https://fullsiteediting.com/block-theme-generator/"><strong>Block Theme Generator</strong></a> with three levels of Starter Theme. You can create an <strong>Empty theme</strong> with 6 templates (Index, single, page, archive, 404, and search), a theme.json file and not patterns or block styles. </p>



<p>Then you also could create a <strong>Basic Theme</strong>, that has an additional custom template, and Header &amp; footer template parts. It also creates examples for block patterns, selectable style variations, Block styles for specific blocks and HTML forms elements. You&#8217;ll find a more elaborated configuration via the Theme.json file in the downloadable Zip file.  </p>



<p>The <strong>Advanced Theme</strong> adds a Category template and additional post and page templates to the packages, accompanied by six block patterns, and examples for using Google Fonts, example variations to core blocks and unregisters styles and blocks patterns. Its theme.json is also quite opinionated with elaborate configuration for various blocks, and offers 8 gradients, 3 duotones. </p>



<p>If you want to take a deep dive into Block theme development, this is the tool for you to get started and learn from one of the leading full-side editing experts. </p>



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



<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> recounts his journey as a theme developer from Classic to block themes in his post <a href="https://wptavern.com/if-this-is-modern-wordpress-theme-development-sign-me-up"><strong>If This Is Modern WordPress Theme Development, Sign Me Up</strong></a>. He cherishes, the  &#8220;No build process, no php composer, no node_module folder&#8221;  approach to just build a WordPress Theme. </p>



<p><strong>Tammie Lister</strong> express similar enthusiasm when she phrased: &#8220;Let Themes be Themes again&#8221; during our <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/theme-json-for-wordpress-theme-authors-demo-and-live-q-a-w-daisy-olson-tammie-lister-and-jeff-ong/"><em>Live Q &amp; A Theme.json for Theme Authors or Getting started building WordPress Themes for Full-site editing.</em></a></p>



<h2 id="wordpress-social-learning-events-and-meetups">WordPress Social Learning Events (and Meetups)</h2>



<p><strong>February 2, 2022, 12 pm (noon) ET / 15:00 UTC</strong><br /><a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283490996/"><strong>Ride Along: How To Switch From a Classic To Block Theme</strong></a> with Sarah Snow</p>



<p><strong>February 4, 2022 1 pm ET / 18:00 UTC </strong><br /><strong><a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283557865/">Zero to Block Theme Series #3: theme.json Continued &#8211; Styles</a></strong> with Daisy Olsen and Sarah Snow</p>



<p><strong>February 4, 2022, 3 pm ET / 20:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283228078/"><strong>Beginner&#8217;s Guide to Full Site Editing</strong></a><strong> </strong>with Roxy Kohilakis via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>



<p><strong>February 7, 2022, 12pm (noon) ET / 17:00 UTC </strong><br /><a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283323367/"><strong>Taking Control Over the Editor for Client Builds</strong></a> with Fabian Kägy via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>



<p><strong>February 8th, 2022 11 am / 16:00 UTC </strong><br /><a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283412026/"><strong>Developer Hours</strong></a> with Birgit Pauli-Haack and expert panel via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>



<p><strong>February 9th, 2022 5pm ET / 22:00 UTC </strong><br /><a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283371670/"><strong>Using Block Patterns</strong></a> with Wes Theron via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>



<p><strong>February 11, 2022 – 3 pm ET / 20:00 UTC</strong> <br /><a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283228209/"><strong>Breaking it Down: Blocks, Patterns, And Templates with Full Site Editing</strong></a> with Roxy Kohilakis via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>



<p><strong>February 14, 2022 – 4 pm ET / 21:00 UTC </strong><br /><a href="https://www.meetup.com/wordpress-social-learning/events/283237147/"><strong>Exploring Theme Blocks</strong></a><strong> </strong>with Wes Theron via WordPress Social Learning Spaces</p>




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<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, 29 Jan 2022 16:02:00 +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:32;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"WPTavern: Global Style Variations, “Skins” for Themes, Have Landed in Gutenberg";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=129174";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"https://wptavern.com/global-style-variations-skins-for-themes-have-landed-in-gutenberg";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4908:"<p class="has-drop-cap">It was a busy week, and I almost missed one of my most-wanted components landing in <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/releases/tag/v12.5.0-rc.1">Gutenberg 12.5 RC 1</a>. The <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35619">global style variations feature</a> quietly snuck its way in as everyone else was getting acquainted with WordPress 5.9. The official release of version 12.5 is not expected until next week, but that did not stop me from giving it a test run.</p>



<p><em>What are global style variations?</em> I will assume you missed my post <a href="https://wptavern.com/skins-are-back-in-style-proposal-for-themes-to-bundle-user-selectable-design-variations">praising the idea last November</a>.</p>



<p>In essence, a global style variation is user-selectable skin for their currently-active theme. For example, a theme with a default blue color scheme might package green, purple, or red alternatives. The idea is not limited to colors. Anything possible to change through the global styles system is at play, such as typography, layout, borders, and more.</p>



<img />Style variations in the site editor.



<p>From a theme developer&#8217;s viewpoint, they would drop custom <code>stylename.json</code> files under a <code>/styles</code> folder in their themes. Gutenberg and, eventually, WordPress will automatically register these with the system.</p>



<p>The feature was intended to ship with WordPress 5.9, and the Twenty Twenty-Two theme was supposed to be its unveiling. However, it was not complete and is now on the slate for WordPress 6.0.</p>



<p>It did not take me long to build a couple of extra variations for my custom theme. I could change my color scheme and fonts at the click of a button.</p>




<img />



<img />




<p>If this feels eerily similar to another feature that already exists in WordPress, you are not alone in that feeling. Child theming was born out of this same idea of offering design variations for the same theme.</p>



<p>Child themes were not always possible in WordPress. They grew in popularity via a grassroots effort and a third-party plugin, and their first uses were to supply a different design via the standard <code>style.css</code> file. Users could keep everything about their site intact and add a new coat of paint whenever they wanted.</p>



<p>During the late 2000s, there was a stretch where the child theme industry was booming. The <a href="http://www.plaintxt.org/#sandbox">Sandbox theme</a> was among the first to use the feature, and others like Thematic continued pushing the idea forward. Genesis became one of the most well-known to employ child themes over time.</p>



<p>However, child theming became a beast of its own. It steered away from that initial idea of skinning a website into creating full-blown themes as big as &#8212; sometimes bigger than &#8212; their parents.</p>



<p>Global style variations take us back to that initial foundation. It returns us to something more akin to <a href="http://www.csszengarden.com/">CSS Zen Garden&#8217;s</a> beauty of designing with CSS, one of the foundational promises of child theming.</p>



<p>There is one difference. Variations are housed in a JSON file rather than <code>style.css</code>. The former is a standards-based configuration file that lets users further customize their design via the site editor.</p>



<p>Child themes will still have their place in the world of WordPress. There are times when developers and DIY end-users will need to customize beyond what is possible via the site editor. However, global style variations will offer an enticing alternative in many cases.</p>



<p>It is promising to see this land early in the WordPress 6.0 release cycle. The feature will still need some work before it is ready for core, such as figuring out how to best to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/38333">save user customizations</a> of style variations.</p>



<h2 id="notes-for-theme-authors">Notes for Theme Authors</h2>



<p>The block editor handbook already has <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/create-block-theme/#global-styles-presets">documentation on global style variations</a>. It is short, but custom JSON files should follow the standard <code>theme.json</code> schema. Not mentioned in the docs is that you need to add the <code>version</code> key to each file:</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>{
        "verson": 2,
}</code></pre>



<p>If I did not add it, none of my variations worked in testing. I do not know if it is a bug or intentional. I expected it to fall back to the setting from the primary <code>theme.json</code> file.</p>



<p>You also cannot overwrite a single value in an array of items. For example, if adding a <code>settings.colors.palette</code> value, it replaces the entire palette.</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, 29 Jan 2022 01:58:30 +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:33;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:102:"WPTavern: Block Protocol Project Aims to Create Universal Block System, May Collaborate with Gutenberg";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=129129";s: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:112:"https://wptavern.com/block-protocol-project-aims-to-create-universal-block-system-may-collaborate-with-gutenberg";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8485:"<p><a href="https://blockprotocol.org/">Block Protocol</a> is a new project that aims to build a block system for embedding interactive blocks in any web application. The goal is to create a more interoperable and open web where these blocks can be shared through a standardized protocol. The initial draft of the Block Protocol spec is being incubated by the team at <a href="https://hash.ai/blog/announcing-the-block-protocol">HASH</a>, an open source data, modeling, and simulation platform.</p>



<p>When HASH founder Joel Spolsky shared the idea with the world yesterday, through a post on his <a href="https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2022/01/27/making-the-web-better-with-blocks/">WordPress-powered blog</a>, it caught Matt Mullenweg&#8217;s attention.</p>



<p>&#8220;This is 100% what Gutenberg is trying to do, and it&#8217;s designed to not be WordPress-specific, with the idea that Gutenberg blocks become cross-CMS,&#8221; Mullenweg said. &#8220;We have open source Android and iOS versions.&#8221; He recommended the Block Protocol team link up with Gutenberg lead architect Matias Ventura to discuss combining efforts.</p>



<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yes! We’d love to combine efforts and make something universal.</p>&mdash; Joel Spolsky (@spolsky) <a href="https://twitter.com/spolsky/status/1486884028443549697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
</div>



<p>Mullenweg touched on this vision during the 2021 State of the Word address, saying this was one of the reasons the project<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/05/dual-licensing-gutenberg-next-steps/"> pursued dual licensing</a> for Gutenberg.</p>



<p>&#8220;I just wanted to note that the WP apps don’t need the dual-licensing–they’re already&nbsp;GPL&nbsp;(<a href="https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/WordPress-Android/blob/develop/LICENSE.md">Android</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/WordPress-iOS/blob/develop/LICENSE">iOS</a>),&#8221; mobile developer Matt Chowning <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/03/05/dual-licensing-gutenberg-next-steps/#comment-40965">said</a> during the dual licensing discussion with contributors in early 2021. &#8220;The motivation for the change is to broaden&nbsp;Gutenberg’s usage to the vast majority of apps that are not GPL like the WP apps and to grow the community using and contributing to Gutenberg.&#8221;</p>



<p>Mullenweg recast this vision during the State of the Word, saying he would like &#8220;Gutenberg blocks to become a standard that is larger than just WordPress.&#8221; He sees Gutenberg as &#8220;something even bigger than WordPress:&#8221;</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>There is a Drupal version of Gutenberg, et cetera. But I think part of that is that its blocks can become standard across every proprietary system. I make fun of Wix. I think it’s fair. They’ve earned it, but if they adopted Gutenberg, I would toast them and take them out to beers. I think that would be awesome.</p><p>Gutenberg is something even bigger than WordPress, which is basically saying how do we edit and create the web? And can we get as many people, both proprietary and open source collaborating on that as possible? So that is a bet we’ve made. Maybe it’s correct. Maybe it’s incorrect. I hope that you, as a contributor still are excited about being part of Gutenberg.</p></blockquote>



<p>Projects like <a href="https://www.drupal.org/project/gutenberg">Drupal Gutenberg</a> and the <a href="https://gutenbergcloud.org/">Gutenberg Cloud</a>, which shares CMS-agnostic blocks across both Drupal and WordPress, were among the first to demonstrate that this idea could work in the real world. The Drupal Gutenberg module received an <a href="https://wptavern.com/drupal-gutenberg-project-receives-enthusiastic-reception-at-drupal-europe">enthusiastic reception at Drupal Europe in 2018</a> after representatives of Frontkom, the Norwegian digital services agency that ported it over to Drupal, unveiled their work at the conference. </p>



<p>“It is key for us that Gutenberg stays decoupled from both CMSs as a library, and our hope is that Gutenberg core devs will catch onto the vision of Gutenberg as the ‘editor for the open web’ — not just for WordPress,” Frontkom CIO Per André Rønsen said after the event. Shortly after the launch of Gutenberg Cloud, Gutenberg engineers <a href="https://pento.net/2018/09/16/the-mission-democratise-publishing/">reaffirmed their commitment</a> to keeping the architecture platform agnostic.</p>



<p>In 2019,  <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://mauricewijnia.nl/" target="_blank">Maurice Wijnia</a>, a developer at <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.van-ons.nl/" target="_blank">Van Ons</a>, an agency based in Amsterdam, created <a href="https://wptavern.com/laraberg-a-gutenberg-implementation-for-laravel-is-now-in-beta">Laraberg</a> as an easy way for developers building applications with Laravel to integrate the Gutenberg editor. In many cases, Gutenberg usage outside the WordPress ecosystem is implemented to give clients a more friendly way to manage their sites.</p>



<p>The Block Protocol has its own technical objectives that go beyond getting cross-platform adoption of the same blocks. It also includes this idea of block data moving between apps:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><br />The protocol provides standardized, guaranteed methods of bidirectional communication between&nbsp;<em>blocks</em>&nbsp;(user-interactable components) and&nbsp;<em>embedding applications</em>&nbsp;such as web-based, desktop, or mobile apps – in a secure, permissioned fashion. By making it easy to extend functionality for different data types, it allows users to edit data in one block and have the update reflected in other blocks (or applications), each providing useful functionality.</p></blockquote>



<p>Practically speaking,  this means that a user could potentially create a block in a to-do list app and then move that data into a kanban board block on another application, without relying on an API integration. This frees up data from its application of origin and makes it far more portable and interoperable. </p>



<p>The Block Protocol also aims to give developers access to a global registry of reusable blocks so they can embed them in their own applications. The protocol enables developers to pass structured data between applications.</p>



<p>Block Protocol&#8217;s quick start guide recommends building blocks using React but it says the team will be releasing examples of how to write blocks using different frontend libraries in the near future. The <a href="https://blockprotocol.org/hub">Block Hub</a> has examples of blocks they have already built.</p>



<p>When WordPress was developing its <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/browse/block/">Block Directory</a>, the Gutenberg Cloud team <a href="https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-cloud-team-advocates-for-making-wordpress-orgs-new-block-directory-a-cms-agnostic-library">encouraged them to make it a CMS-agnostic library</a> of blocks, but the Block Directory is still strictly tied to WordPress&#8217; infrastructure. </p>



<p>“A more ideal approach however, would be to merge the two efforts,” Rønsen said in 2019. “The key for us, is to make the infrastructure open to other communities, not just WP developers. We are happy to put our project in the hands of the WP core team – given that they share the same open vision.” This didn&#8217;t end up happening, which is why Gutenberg Cloud is still the only place distributing cross-platform Gutenberg blocks.</p>



<p>&#8220;Because it’s all 100% open, we hope that the Block Protocol will become a web standard and commonly used across the Internet,&#8221; Spolsky said in his announcement.</p>



<p>Block Protocol may have more success with distributing blocks that can be used anywhere on the web, since interoperable blocks are the main thrust with this project. The project is open to <a href="https://blockprotocol.org/contact">working with existing block editors</a> whose creators want to contribute to the new standard. Gutenberg combining efforts with Block Protocol has the potential bring a better authoring experience to web apps around the world while also giving users the ability to easily move their data between apps.</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, 28 Jan 2022 23:27:00 +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: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:34;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"Post Status: Who is Post Status?";s: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=93014";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:42:"https://poststatus.com/who-is-post-status/";s: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:9185:"<p>Back in December, we worked with Nicholas Petroski of <a href="https://prometheanresearch.com/">Promethean Research</a> to design <a href="https://prometheanresearch.typeform.com/to/MnSpRXLx">a survey</a> to help us take a fresh look at our members and larger audience. (<a href="https://prometheanresearch.typeform.com/to/MnSpRXLx">You can still take it if you missed it</a>.)</p>



<p>After a few weeks, we collected just over 90 responses. Here is a summary of the results followed by a sampling of the free responses to questions about what's exciting and concerning in the WordPress space today. </p>



<blockquote><p>It is definitely a pivotal moment of high uncertainty with some people seeing the glass half-full while others see it half-empty. One person's threat is another persons's opportunity&#8230;. The most common concerns touch the health and viability of the WordPress community and ecosystem.</p></blockquote>



<h2 id="h-where-do-you-live">“Where do you live?”</h2>



<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/7_XGY_oRJ0_-ykqO2OQYaHhU0ADEU9afG0LvT5hglxYsojzvVlwzUKLnwAa6h9HtaA8DgxV2umcdBefrjfPcoF5bvDQwq0cHBVS6OKoURF6JSWNxm5LJ3gyKp6K_F2ql5FYPvt2D" alt="Where our members are found." /><em>We have a lot of room for growth in the southern hemisphere.</em>



<p>Our survey included responses from people in 18 countries. Two-thirds of the respondents live in the United States while the next most-represented country was India with 7% of the respondents. Other than English, the most commonly spoken languages were German (5%), Hindi (5%), and Spanish (4%).&nbsp;</p>



<p>When asked about ethnicity, 78% of the respondents identified as White, 8% as Asian, 2% as Black or African American, 2% as Native American or Alaskan Native, and 10% indicated Other or didn’t wish to identify an ethnicity.</p>



<h2 id="h-what-is-your-highest-level-of-education">“What is your highest level of education?”</h2>



<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/FCp1Abx58fPFXt8V8uVYo98z5zKAMNO_wcGdqB80ozowhj51Tp_yK-banblJFLoDRH7ZU-pYAX3KmhjLZ8CZrmLXpAcCYeJybTtVXNPj0lXuw0pCt4aLBXLBG4eQ3jpfimdHeGoL" alt="Members' education levels" /><em>We're a well-educated group.</em>



<p>84% of the respondents held a bachelor's degree or higher.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="h-which-of-the-following-best-describes-your-skill-set">“Which of the following best describes your skill set?”</h2>



<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/85botHKP6Pi0uuqspbmbXgnam3sYvvBTLrKzNaQVeRRQXwVEKla32wh-coe-WPISjeWfOI_dxXubPCeYMov27qvY9o8FjNm3mdk0h2atCWdCTk6yCXsLBCOxFBUEm1JctfC4Dnvc" alt="Member skillsets" /><em>Developers are still the largest group.</em>



<p>The community is primarily comprised of developers, managers, and designers. Half of the respondents fell into the Developer skills category, followed by Management (16%), Designer (12%), and Marketer (8%).&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="h-how-many-years-of-experience-do-you-have">“How many years of experience do you have?”</h2>



<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/zUYzDehIt3bI6Oc4LNJf-mMe2HnYuE9e8jYYVhxUIOgxSA9Ry-SaKgm-NdzIg6DgBArmngOQc9vGACd5FmHma5hRY94OlCdMBm2RVqyXJSB485n5XUusAE76WjHMKhiaCbQ6TQH9" alt="Members' experience" /><em>We need more people who are in the early years of their career.</em>



<p>The community is heavily weighted towards senior-level talent. Two-thirds of respondents were senior-level and another 27% were mid-level. We only had a single respondent who was entry-level. There was a pretty even split between focusing on products vs. services and 16% said they worked on both equally.</p>



<h2 id="h-which-of-the-following-best-describes-your-role">“Which of the following best describes your role?”</h2>



<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gxSOUVYtdyrDiGyYKrSyFmPeJyr-yWaZgndKVphnb6oYU8ar6kD2k8MQTjVjAloQQITAY5bWyo31s080VBScoARdGcZIWF4BmZVfTCiR9YghGX55eyDkJomOZtyVMCQFZ_NZgveB" alt="Member roles" /><em>Most of us are owners, employees, and freelancers.</em>



<p>There was a pretty even split between respondents who identified as Owners, Employees, and Freelancers. Much less common were Executives, Managers, and Consultants.&nbsp;</p>



<h2>“How many full-time employees work at your company?”</h2>



<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/kZUSbi7jhK3II9yfK6DepORIYTM3p24et1lv-7QH0MgzLxZkhIPAzI0CXC6_gfWiKnJjbyt6i3F8hge3uYKbKH809WQ8O_OQLt0ScR4Rv8why7afc0wnxaxb2uwR-ZyZfvB8-fS_" alt="Company sizes by employees" /><em>Small and starting to get big — but not much in between.</em>



<p>Almost half of the respondents indicated that there are 50 or more full-time employees at their company. Of those who own their companies, the majority (64%) fell in the 1-9 FTE range.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="h-what-is-your-firm-s-approximate-revenue-for-2021">“What is your firm's approximate revenue for 2021?”</h2>



<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/myPzs9MLm7crrnu0vMEWB1CEVOJ8kfI6oujVeRtnkBVD9SAE_pB5qhVHLqwk98VPLhfhEHTUWqL76fJfhnibqD-HoYzdOAzRAR-OzK3sgsY86CVqE5qvfpYj4Ci2yOFAY9YoGeyj" alt="Company sizes by revenue" /><em>Revenue and employee headcount appear linked.</em>



<p>A third of the respondents indicated that their company’s revenue fell in the $100-499K USD range while just under another third said theirs was $10M+. Of those who owned their companies, 56% fell in the $100-499K range and none fell into the $10M+ range.</p>



<h2 id="h-how-is-your-team-currently-structured-geographically-and-how-do-you-think-your-team-will-be-structured-geographically-in-3-5-years">“How is your team currently structured geographically?&#8221; and &#8220;How do you think your team will be structured geographically in 3-5 years?”</h2>



<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/3Jp0vlCProGcG2e6CMIh_Yf-gcaLbFu4sAPEwJ2Bjcyz-OVOeAU_FDE-48pxOdQfxt-vu3XSUmrqCH2BYyjXu6JvIzL2wcuTdmmK47C2vC8O0Pv0sdkxCev6mqlJy_mwN_MAi1k5" alt="Company structures" /><em>We're happy working as we're working now.</em>



<p>Almost 2/3rds of respondents are working remotely or fully distributed while another 37% are hybrid. The distribution didn’t change when asked about the expected structure 3-5 years from now.</p>



<h2>What's causing excitement — and concern?</h2>



<p>The free response part of our community survey reveals many causes of positive excitement are also things that raise concern:</p>



<ul><li>Block Editor/FSE/Gutenberg</li><li>Headless WP</li><li>No code</li><li>Improved communication flows</li><li>Diversity and Inclusion</li><li>Opportunities and Threats to Devs and Builders</li></ul>



<p>The most common concerns all touch the health and viability of the WordPress community and ecosystem:</p>



<ul><li>Corporate consolidation, lack of diversity, loss of small players and easy entry into the ecosystem.</li><li>Inability to attract and retain talent.</li><li>The pandemic, culture, social and political divisions.</li></ul>



<p></p>



<h2 id="h-what-industry-theme-are-you-most-excited-about-in-the-next-2-3-years">“What industry theme are you most excited about in the next 2-3 years?”</h2>



<p><em>“&#8230;We're transitioning away from hard-tech development toward Strategy, Message, and Marketing.”</em></p>



<p><em>“More enablement of custom solutions through no-code/low-code tech; make things more accessible, greater opportunities.”</em></p>



<p><em>&#8220;Web3 + Decentralization + WordPress”</em></p>



<h2 id="h-how-do-you-think-the-industry-might-change-over-the-next-few-years">“How do you think the industry might change over the next few years?”</h2>



<p><em>“I think the WordPress project is at a make-or-break maturation point and the vast majority of it boils down to communication. I think the ability for WordPress to articulate next-generation Themes, provide more consistent and more transparent communication on timeline and roadmap are going to be why we succeed or why we fail.”</em></p>



<p><em>“A massive price increase of WordPress products is expected. Gutenberg forces developers to learn React. React developers cost 3-4x PHP developers. Using WordPress will become expensive, paying customers will decline as SaaS options will soon appear lucrative. AI in design and small developments will take over. A lot of freelancers will be out of business.”</em></p>



<p><em>“More distributed (OK, that's hopeful). More and more client-side based coding, less server-side as the device environment continues to move more and more to portable. Along with that could be more focus on AR/VR.”</em></p>



<h2>What is this information good for?</h2>



<p>It's great to be able to listen to our members and readers to learn who they are, how (and what) they're doing, as well as the things they are most excited and concerned by. This helps us validate, alter, or add to our our own sense of editorial priorities — the topics to follow, the questions to ask. </p>



<p>Does any of this surprise you — what was or wasn't included or represented? Let us know in the comments, or drop us a line. And <a href="https://prometheanresearch.typeform.com/to/MnSpRXLx">you can still take this survey if you haven't done so yet</a>.</p>



<p></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, 28 Jan 2022 06:16:01 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Dan Knauss";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:35;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"WPTavern: New Proposal Aims for 3 Major WordPress 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=128298";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"https://wptavern.com/new-proposal-aims-for-3-major-wordpress-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:2948:"<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-josephine-released-introduces-full-site-editing-and-new-twenty-twenty-two-default-theme">WordPress 5.9</a> has already been downloaded nearly <a href="https://wordpress.org/download/counter/">12 million times</a> since its release earlier this week. Millions of WordPress users are discovering full-site editing (FSE) for the first time. What will they think? What struggles with they have that will need to be addressed? WordPress developers and power users have done an immense amount of testing on FSE features, but a flood of feedback from real world users is about to make its way back to the architects.</p>



<p>Planning for 6.0 and beyond is already underway with a special recognition of the unique support load that follows such a big, complex release.</p>



<p>&#8220;I believe that the relationship between WP5.9 and WP6.0 will be similar to the relationship between WP5.0 and WP5.1 in that there will be copious user feedback to process so that we can extend, refine, and in some cases even rework the user experience with the vast new feature set introduced in 5.9,&#8221; WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy said in an update published earlier this evening.</p>



<p>Haden Chomphosy is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/27/proposal-2022-major-release-timing/">proposing</a> that WordPress aim for three major releases in 2022, with the next two coming in late May (6.0) and mid-October (6.1). This timeline will &#8220;let WP5.9 breathe a little,&#8221; Haden Chomphosy said. It will also allow contributors to tackle outstanding items on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/26/preliminary-roadmap-for-6-0/">Phase 2 roadmap</a> before the project moves on to the third (Collaboration) phase.</p>



<p>Haden Chomphosy also put out a call for more project manager type contributors to wrangle some of the details moving forward, as those currently managing releases need more support. </p>



<p>Reports of <a href="https://twitter.com/thespacedmonkey/status/1483758890458222595">contributors getting burned out</a> during the 5.9 release cycle may indicate the packing so much into one release over a longer period of time isn&#8217;t optimal, though it may have been unavoidable given how interdependent many FSE features are that were set to launch.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/17/discussion-2022-major-release-timing/">initial discussions</a> about possible release timing for 2022 brought a lot of feedback, as quarterly was being considered as one of the options. This discussion came fresh off a stressful year where WordPress aimed for four major releases but ended up delivering two. With the current shortage of contributors skilled in project management and operations, a well-spaced trio of releases in 2022 seems like a more realistic and healthy approach for retaining contributors.</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, 28 Jan 2022 03:12:17 +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: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:36;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"Post Status: Post Status Excerpt (No. 43) — Accessibility Roundup with Amber Hinds";s: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:61:"https://poststatus.com/?p=93017&preview=true&preview_id=93017";s: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/43/";s: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:33723:"<h3>&#8220;When it comes to accessibility lawsuits, we as developers should be proactive to ensure a site is as accessible as possible.&#8221; — Amber Hinds, Founder and CEO of <strong>Equalize Digital</strong></h3>



<p class="has-drop-cap">In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David chats with <strong>Amber Hinds</strong>, the<strong> </strong>Founder and CEO of <strong>Equalize Digital</strong>. Amber outlines some of the things WordPress professionals should be paying attention to in accessibility. Their conversation covers recent trends and news in the accessibility space: meetups, lawsuits, overlays, and design.</p>



<p><strong>Why This Is Important: </strong>Accessibility is important to everyone, so it is critical for WordPress developers and designers to keep accessibility in mind. David and Amber only scratch the surface of this topic. Amber encourages developers to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2022/01/08/accessibility-teams-goals-for-wordpress-6-0-and-beyond/">read this call from the Accessibility team</a> to share their ideas, take part in the discussion, and suggest what to prioritize for WordPress in the near future.</p>







<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/13.1.0/72x72/26a1.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/13.1.0/72x72/1f3a7.png" alt="🎧" class="wp-smiley" /></p>



<h3 id="h-mentioned-in-the-show"><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f517.png" alt="🔗" class="wp-smiley" /> Mentioned in the show:</h3>



<ul><li><a href="https://blog.usablenet.com/2021-lawsuit-report-trends-and-findings">2021 Year End Report &#8211; App & Web Accessibility Lawsuits Break Records</a></li><li><a href="https://equalizedigital.com/wordpress-accessibility-meetup/">WordPress Accessibility Meetup</a></li><li><a href="https://equalizedigital.com/accessibility-checker">Accessibility Checker</a></li><li><a href="https://blog.usablenet.com/2021-lawsuit-report-trends-and-findings">2021 lawsuit report-trends-and findings</a></li><li><a href="https://www.accessibility.com/digital-lawsuits">Digital Lawsuits</a></li><li><a href="https://www.mhc.ie/latest/insights/overview-of-the-european-accessibility-act">Overview of the European Accessibility Act</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aoda.ca/a-guide-to-the-integrated-accessibility-standards-regulation/#sect14">A Guide to the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation</a></li><li><a href="https://sheribyrnehaber.com/the-ada-lawsuit-settlement-involving-an-accessibility-overlay/">The ADA Lawsuit Selement Involving an Accessibility Overlay (Murphy v. Eyebobs)</a></li><li><a href="https://overlayfactsheet.com/">Overlay Fact Sheet</a></li><li><a href="hps://overlayfalseclaims.com/">Overlay False Claims</a></li><li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-accessibility/">WP Accessibility Plugin</a></li><li><a href="https://bhmbizsites.com/accessibility-and-2022-13-design-trends-from-a-usability-perspective/">Accessibility and 2022: 13 Design Trends From a Usability Perspective</a></li><li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2022/01/08/accessibility-teams-goals-for-wordpress-6-0-and-beyond/">Accessibility Team’s goals for WordPress 6.0 and beyond</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/dimensionmedia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">David Bisset (Twitter)</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/post_status" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Post Status (Twitter)</a></li></ul>



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<h3><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f64f.png" alt="🙏" class="wp-smiley" /> Sponsor: iThemes</h3>



<p>Take the guesswork out of building, maintaining, and securing WordPress websites. Professional plugins and training from iThemes help you create and manage your sites. Secure, back up, and manage them quickly and easily. Master leading-edge WordPress skills to grow your business and make more money. Learn and grow with the experts at iThemes.</p>



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<h2 id="h-transcript"><strong>Transcript</strong></h2>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> I was using super cheap, like earbuds. And I think like something happened and, you know, well, you figured out later, cause I was on a zoom call with someone and they're like the same thing and I unplugged them and all the feedback went away</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> to throw them in the garbage.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yup. And I was like, huh, I will give these to my children.</p>



<p>Cause they don't ever talk</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> let's not let's let's not talk about that. Cause my kid's , it's like the island of misfit toys, but podcast equipment edition cherish this moment because when they get to be 13, 14, they know when you're giving them crap. Well, I've made some mistakes in my day with tech, but one mistake that hasn't been made today is getting to talk to you.</p>



<p>So it was good to have you on, thank you very much for deciding to talk with me. And this is not the first time we've been together on a podcast. Um, uh, we, you were recently on one of our, uh, news draft podcasts on Post Status comments. So if anybody wants to hear more of Amber, please feel free to look at that episode.</p>



<p>If you haven't had the chance to listen to Amber before Amber tell us briefly about yourself.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah. So I am the CEO of equalized digital. We're a certified B corporation and we specialize in WordPress accessibility. So we are WordPress, VIP partner. We do a lot of enterprise builds and we really got started in accessibility around 2016 when I started working for Colorado state university. And it was right around the same time that they were getting serious about accessibility. And the first website we did for them, there was like loosely did it, but there's no process. And then the second website, oh, this has to go to an accessibility committee.</p>



<p>And so I really got forced to learn accessibility cause it started getting audits. and so that was sort of when I started getting my feet wet with it. And then, um, since then we've had, you know, other government clients, large businesses where, you know, it's, it's a priority for them. And not just a checkbox in part of the launch process.</p>



<p>And, and I will say, I don't say that to imply that it is that way for CSU. Um, it's also a priority for them as well, around like 2017, 2018 is when I really started like diving into it and learning a lot more about it. And, um, Equalize Digital was a spinoff launched that in 2020, and we have a plugin called accessibility checker.</p>



<p>And I also organize the WordPress accessibility meetup, which is twice a month and super fun.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Oh, yeah, I hear that hassled good turnout. Is that, um, how many of those accessibility and meetups are.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah. So actually we are a permanently virtual meetup. We're actually one of two meetups in the official WordPress meetup program that are not city-based.</p>



<p>The other one is a hosting meetup. I'm pretty sure hosting insecurity. And so we are always virtual and we always will be even with COVID we meet twice a month. It's on the first Thursday. In the morning for us people. And then in third, Monday in the evening for us people. So we have kind of worldwide coverage, which is cool because we get people from all over the world who come to the meetups and we can have anywhere from 30 to 70 attendees, which is really cool.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> And you talked about an accessibility checker too, that your company does. Um, think I've seen that before. There is a, there is a free and a paid model there, right?</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yep. Um, so accessibility checker, you can find on wordpress.org, the free version, which scans unlimited posts and pages. It's not something that fixes your website, but what it does is it, it's almost like we use the analogy.</p>



<p>A lot of it's like the Yost for SEO</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Now I am going to get copyright notices. Now</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> I know maybe I shouldn't say that I should go right in Post Status and ask, can I say this about my tool, but it's a good analogy, right? It puts a box on your poster page edit screen that shows you the results of an accessibility scan. Not everything with accessibility can be identified with a scan, but we can get a lot of things and it will help you to figure out what can be fixed.</p>



<p>Uh, in your content, we're in the header, footer, sidebar of that page in order to, um, make it more accessible. And it's great because it can be helpful with even post-launch of websites. So we really started it because our clients, we would build these websites, they were accessible and then clients would start adding content and they would start.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Adding content</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> over time, it would become less and less accessible, which, you know, if you're in an industry, especially here in the U S where there's a lot of lawsuits, you can't really risk that. And so we wanted to create something that would help to educate clients as they're adding content, but it's now become a tool that as we're building, we use it.</p>



<p>You can use it while you're developing locally, because it doesn't connect to an API. Your site doesn't have to be live anywhere for it to be scanned by a third-party tool. It can run right on your local server. Um, and you can use it to test while you're developing. Um, and it works really well for collaborative testing and then remediation also,</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> um, Amber and I are talking today because a lot of WordPress professionals have so much on their plate to think about accessibility should be one of those things that they think about.</p>



<p>But let's be honest. There's not enough hours in the day. Dig deep into some aspects or at least get the cliff notes of the highlights of what the accessibility trends are with what's going on in the community. Normally you would probably go to a WordPress meetup and hear a presentation about it. Amber, with her experience is going to share with us kind of like the cliff notes, I don't know if that's a good phrase, but at least the highlights in the next 20 minutes or so all of the links that we're about to share now, and probably even more are going to be in the show notes. So feel free to follow along if you can. But Amber, you said something about lawsuits and I know I've seen lawsuits in the news.</p>



<p>So when we hear about the, the lawsuits that are in the tech news now, what are the key things that we're taking away from those lawsuits?</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah. So when we're talking lawsuits related to website accessibility, we're typically talking about the United States. It's very specific states in the US where we see most of it, like California, New York, Florida.</p>



<p>These are typically cases that are filed under the Americans with disabilities act we're in California. There's a law called the Unruh civil rights act. That references website accessibility. Basically it's an individual who is unable to use the website with assistive technology frequently. In these lawsuits, it is someone who is blind and they are using a screen reader to navigate the web.</p>



<p>Sometimes there have been some pretty high profile cases also for against, um, universities, for example, that have a lot of video content on the web that don't have captions or transcripts for podcasts, or they do have captions. But the captions are auto-generated and not corrected. And they have been sued because the auto-generated captions are so poor that no one can really understand what's happening in the video if they are deaf.</p>



<p>So those are, those are probably what we see as far as most lawsuits, but there are other ones where people have mobility issues, things like that. I was follow usable net and we can post the link, but they put out a report twice a year about the status of lawsuits in the United States. Um, they just released one at the end of December for what it looked like in 2021, a little bit over 4,000 lawsuits.</p>



<p>But as a web developer, I think the way you have to think about this is getting a lawsuit dismissed doesn't mean that your client got their money back from their lawyers who had to work to do that, to get it dismissed in the first place. Um, it also doesn't mean that there wasn't a headache with having to deal with that.</p>



<p>So really we want to be kind of proactive on the accessibility side. And then, and the other way I kind of look at lawsuits is I have a hard time completely being anti lawsuits or upset about them because for better, for worse than the U S this is part of how our laws are made. Right. We want. Bring a bunch of things to the courts and maybe that prompts our legislators to actually enact stricter laws.</p>



<p>And, and that's sort of a problem in the US for for-profit businesses is we don't have really specific guidelines about what counts as an accessible website and what doen't.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> if you're not an expert in this, so you don't have the time to become an expert, what resources or what would you do as a WordPress professional building a site for someone to make.</p>



<p>Outside of probably hiring someone else. Cause it was probably a good idea. What would be some, maybe some initial homework that somebody could do or where they would go to?</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah. So I think of course, going to the source is really important. Most laws around the world site the web content accessibility guidelines, the current version for that is 2.2.</p>



<p>Some laws are outdated and so they cite 2.1. But going there and I'm going to call this WCAG, W-C-A-G going through Wikipedia and actually reading the guidelines. It's like a long list, but each one is maybe a sentence, um, and sort of familiarizing yourself with what it is. And particularly what's at the AA level.</p>



<p>So there'll be labeled with either A, AA, or AAA and AA is generally what's considered the best practice. So other resources that I recommend a international association of accessibility professionals, and there are courses that you can take to prepare for. They have certifications. If you're interested in getting certified, which as a developer, if you have some certifications through them that can really help you on the job hunt.</p>



<p>So they have courses that will help you prep for that. And they also have ones that are focused on content creators, or designers or things that are not necessarily just coders. Um, of course our meetup is a great place to come and our meta actually counts as continuing ed credits for those certifications.</p>



<p>Uh, WP accessibility days, an annual conference that it should be in, uh, November of this year, we just set the dates. Actually earlier today, we had an organizer meeting. It's going to be November 2nd and third. It's a 24 hour conference.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I love hot breaking news. There you go.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> But I think like that's a good place to get started as far as learning, once you're building a website, my recommendation.</p>



<p>Um, of course you can use tools like ours, or there are browser-based tools. Ax by DQ is one that we like and recommend a lot. Um, wave is one that a lot of people have heard of. I don't think it says thorough, so I don't typically recommend it as a browser-based tool, but it's one that a lot of people use, um, go to the front end of the website, or if you're a theme developer or a plugin developer, whatever page you have your piece of code on.</p>



<p>Try to interact with it fully without using a mouse. So use your arrow keys and your tab keys and the enter key and the space bar and see if you can do everything that you would want to do on that way.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> You know, what I do is eat something with my right hand while I'm trying to do something on a website or sometimes type something in your left hand.</p>



<p>So that's my own personal testing. It's not as easy on some sites as it is on others.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> I think the biggest thing too, if you're a developer is brush up on HTML, semantics</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> is HTML have accessibility built in into it if you do HTML correctly.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah. This is probably one of the most common things we fix in plugins that are actionable elements that should really be buttons, meaning using a button and HTML button tag are just like a div or a spin class.</p>



<p>And then the plugin developer has. Written scripts that applies to that div or that span class in order to let's say, move the sides in a carousel or open a modal in a chat window, right. Or submit a form. Sometimes it's the submit button rather than being an input or a button is just a div or span the result then is that dibs in space.</p>



<p>Are not focused, simple. So you can't even go to them with your keyboard. Like if you hit the tab key, it'll just jump right past that element. Sometimes they do an okay job of adding focus, but it doesn't, it can't actually. Uh, interacted with, with an inter or a space bar, which is what we expect the button to do.</p>



<p>Um, so really just like using a keyboard to test what you do is very helpful. And if you follow correct HTML, if you're like, well, if this is a button to go to the next slide, then I use a button tag that gets you. Very close to accessibility.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> It's when you start getting creative is when things go wrong.</p>



<p>And then I don't mean</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> And I don't want to say that, cause that makes it sound like you can't be creative.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Yeah. But yeah, there is a challenges in there between having these great designs. Elements or these design trends and then, you know, thinking to yourself, am I about to do something that's just going to affect you usability?</p>



<p>Should I, or excuse me, accessibility. Should I stick? You know, how far do you, do you kind of go out on a ledge a little bit and that's, it's a difficult path to walk? I think it sounds like,</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> I think I will say I've been noticing just in general, like design trends over the last like year or two, at least on major brands.</p>



<p>I feel like there's been this shift. Away from some of the like crazy movement that we saw a ton of parallax or things like flying or fading in, I, I see a lot more like minimalism kind of happening, which can be helpful. Now. I wish that some of the, like if you go on some of the themes, demos that you, certain page builders, you see all this crazy stuff flying in and I'm like, man, I wish people would get on it.</p>



<p>But like, if you follow a major brands, like I think a lot of. You know, background videos were super hot several years ago and I hardly see those any more on major, right. And, and so I do feel like some of the design trends have moved back towards things that are more accessible, but you know, the plus side of that too, is they're better on first speed and performance, which is super important for the fact that most of us have a huge chunk of our traffic coming from mobile devices.</p>



<p>And then of course we all care about our search engine ranking. So that's, what's kind of neat about accessibility that a lot of people don't realize is that when you focus on accessibility, you can actually increase the traffic to your website and increase or decrease your load times, right. Which might decrease your bounce rate.</p>



<p>Like a lot of things can be really helpful on accessibility, beyond making it work for people of all abilities.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Does dark mode help accessibility?</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Dark mode can. Yes. I think the thing that is really interesting, we actually just had a talk, um, at our, one of our recent, um, accessibility meetups was on the use of overlays.</p>



<p>and one component of overlays, or sometimes you don't use a full. Powered like JavaScript overlay, but there's a lot of plugins in WordPress that are like add a dark mode toggle to the front end of the website. Um, and one of the conversation points there is that a lot of browsers and or operating systems themselves have dark mode options.</p>



<p>And typically those dark mode options function better than a dark mode option that has been added to a website. With a plugin or an overlay tool because the plugging in her overlay might not always catch everything. Uh, so unless you've very specifically coded your dark mode option for your theme and your plugins and everything that is on your site, it might like miss some headings or misplace holder texts or miss, you know, and then you have.</p>



<p>It's actually creates a readability problem for everyone. If it gets turned on and it's not catching everything.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So preferably, you want people to probably code that into their own theme directly rather than try to grab a plugin.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Preferably yes. If you want it. But I think going back to the fact that it exists on operating systems, a lot of people who know they need dark mode.</p>



<p>Um, that have certain disabilities. Like if you have glaucoma, some people with glaucoma white, like the FFF white really bothers them. Um, they probably know that and they have a filter turned on on their computer to always add a color overlay right. To that. So it won't bother them. So the real question is, is do people actually use that beyond us developers for like, oh, it's so cool.</p>



<p>We go to a website, you know, like whitehouse.gov. We all turned it on. Right. When it launched and we're like, oh, they have a dark mode. Let's go turn it on. But. Do real users use that on a daily basis? I don't know because the people with accessibility is probably have some other tool that does it for everyone.</p>



<p>Right. Not just this one. So they don't really need a tool that does it just on this one website.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> There's also, um, a way in CSS that you can, um, but respect the system wide preferences for dark mode as well. So you don't need a switch on the website.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> It'll it's just going to say on that mode, there's the same thing.</p>



<p>There's a system preference for. Um, decreasing movement. And if you do add movement, which I'm like, don't do it, don't make these fly in at all. But if you do, you want to make sure you code websites in a way that respects that as well.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> So I, I don't, I literally just want to spend a minute or two on this because I think I would be kicked if I, we didn't, you mentioned overlays a minute ago, we're going to drop some links in the show notes.</p>



<p>So basically. If something says, um, we can fix your accessibility issues or add accessibility to your website with an overlay. That is a bad thing. No. And if so, what would you say for someone who has an existing site that might be tempted to use something like that?</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> The biggest thing I think that website owners or developers need to be aware of is that having an overlaid does not protect you from getting sued.</p>



<p>Or even having to settle or losing your lawsuit? Um, the number that I saw was I want to say, uh, between like 12 and 15% of the lawsuits last year were websites that already had overlaid accessibility overlays on them. Um, and the big one that I mentioned when we did the Post Status draft was, um, an e-commerce brand called eyebobs and they had the excessive.</p>



<p>On it. And excessively is probably a good case in point for why I think a lot of accessibility professionals really don't like overlays because they. Promise more than they can really deliver. And so they say we'll make, you know, install a single line of JavaScript. We'll make your website accessible in 24 to 48 hours.</p>



<p>And part of me wonders if the Overlake companies didn't promise that and they didn't promise we'll protect you from lawsuits. If they wouldn't get so much negative press, if they were more like we are part of the solution to being accessible, because there are some things. That automated technology can fix.</p>



<p>And um a good example of that is Joe Dolson has the WP accessibility plugin, which in some, in some sense of the word acts sort of like an overlay, it uses JavaScript to add things like add skip links to a theme that doesn't have skip links. He only does things he knows. He can do, right. And a lot of the bigger, like SAS based overlay solutions, they're promising that it will be 100% accessible, which is not realistic because there's just things that computers cannot do.</p>



<p>And human beings have to make decisions about like, even writing all texts, like you said, there's some cases where maybe I can get kind of close and there's other cases where. It just has no idea and it writes something completely wrong or, or it's like factually. Correct. But contextually makes no sense about why that image was selected.</p>



<p>And, and so that's really the thing about overlays is that, you know, they promise a lot more than they can deliver. And there's a great website that Karl groves put together. Well, he's got two, he's got the overlay, false claims.com where he talks about all of them. False marketing that they do. Um, and then the overlay fact sheet, which has come out of a ton of research research he's done into like, what can they literally actually achieve and what can they not?</p>



<p>And he's got a ton of like quotes and like tweets and stuff that he's included from actual people with disabilities and Mo a lot of them say that. Some I've heard, some of them say that they blocked like accessibility and user way, and some of these bigger plugins, their IP address so that the it won't load.</p>



<p>If they go to a website with that,</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> if you ask someone quickly to summarize what the accessibility to overlays are, and if you're someone who's looking into it, probably in the middle of a site project that may be accessibility, probably wasn't given that much consideration of in the beginning. And. There is a hint for you.</p>



<p>Maybe do it in the beginning then I guess, look at these links and just be very, very careful and realize that slapping a solution on something is probably not going to say. All of your problems, even the accessibility plugin. I think that accessibility plugin, the WP dash accessibility, I think it's fantastic.</p>



<p>Ideally, you want to start fresh. So it is that about summarize when it comes to overlays?</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah. That pretty much summarize it. Yeah. I think the only other thing on that, that was really interesting that came out of the, that particular lawsuit with the eyebobs was eyebobs came out with a statement afterwards they've since removed AccessiBe, but they said.</p>



<p>Part of AccessiBe contract, as they promise to help you, if you get sued and they reached out to AccessiBe multiple times and assessed to be just didn't even</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> respond. I think if you have to put that in your contract clause, I think you've got other, you've got other concerns. Um, let's, let's talk about, very briefly to close things up here.</p>



<p>Cause we have, we've gone over lawsuits. We've gone over. Thing, you know, things, particularly from those lawsuits, we want to pay attention to design trends and dark mode and overlays. There was a post about accessibility teams goals for WordPress WordPress, 6.0, we're going to include the link in the show notes.</p>



<p>So we don't have to cover it too much here. But what was the biggest thing that you think we should pay attention to in this.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Accessibility team for core has, um, they actually put up a post and they're kind of going back to how they assess which bugs or, um, accessibility issues to handle. And they are wanting to get feedback and input.</p>



<p>So if you are someone who uses WordPress and has experienced accessibility issues. I would highly recommend going and checking out the posts. They have a whole process for how you can submit, but they're going to use user and community feedback in order to make an order to prioritize their approach for 6.0,</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> okay.</p>



<p>So you heard it here. This is, this is something you may want to keep your eyes on, especially if you want to see what accessibility progress is being made for. Would you say these are calls for contributions, calls for feedback, but definitely this is a blog post about like the future. At least we're looking ahead into the future.</p>



<p>I think this is a definite the transparency, the openness, or at least the acknowledgement that these are concerns. Um, you know, some, some things can be fixed faster or better than others ways. Probably it's a complex issue when you've got an ever evolving product. And I'm looking forward to your analysis as well.</p>



<p>It may be in a couple of months, we can touch base again. And see, um, how WordPress specifically is addressing accessibility after, um, it releases 5.9 this month. So great. Yes. Yes. She's just saying yes, just to get rid of me. We have a great list of links here. Make sure to check them out and show notes.</p>



<p>You gave your comments about general designs or in general design trends. There's also a link or two in there about design trends that, um, you should probably think about from a usability perspective. You throw that</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> in there. Yeah, that that link is, uh, from bet Hannon's website. Um, one of her employees wrote it and it's actually really thoughtful about the different design trends and how some of them impact accessibility.</p>



<p>Um, it's a great blog posts, relatively newly published.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Fresh news. Yes. Whenever I see 2022 in the URL, that's a good sign.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Cause that's how they get you with the SEO, click.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> I'm a sucker. And then we talked about accessibility overlays and of course the word per 6.0 blog posts. Check that out as well.</p>



<p>So that in a nutshell, if you have been feeling a little bit guilty about not keeping up with accessibility, news and trends, Amber, just basically something. Probably all you need to know, at least for now. And then you up to you now to dig in those show notes for those links and get further familiar, Amber, what would be a good place for people to follow you in any other big accessibility stuff on social media so they can continue being an.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah. So we're just at equalized digital we're on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and the best place to find out about the meetup is if you go to equalize digital.com/meetup, you can get recordings of all the past events and see what's coming up.</p>



<p><strong>David Bisset:</strong> Fantastic. Well, Amber again, thank you very much for joining me here.</p>



<p>One-on-one to bring the WordPress community a little up to speed on some latest accessibility trends and stuff.</p>



<p><strong>Amber Hinds:</strong> Yeah. Thank you.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 28 Jan 2022 02:07:39 +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:37;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:59:"WPTavern: Looking Ahead to WordPress 6.0: The Early Roadmap";s: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=128968";s: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://wptavern.com/looking-ahead-to-wordpress-6-0-the-early-roadmap";s: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:10934:"<p class="has-drop-cap">With <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-josephine-released-introduces-full-site-editing-and-new-twenty-twenty-two-default-theme">WordPress 5.9</a> only just stepping its toes out the door and greeting the world, the lead developers seem to have hardly taken a moment to catch their breath. Yesterday, Matías Ventura posted the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/26/preliminary-roadmap-for-6-0/">preliminary roadmap for 6.0</a>. It covers the general scope of the planned features to land this year.</p>



<p>Version 6.0 is expected to be a conceptual wrap of Phase 2 of the Gutenberg project, covering the visual site-building tools. They will continue playing a crucial role in future development, but developers will likely shift much of their focus to Phase 3 for WordPress 6.1 and beyond.</p>



<p>The following are the four phases outlined in the long-term roadmap:</p>



<ol><li><strong>Easier Editing:</strong> Block-based content editing.</li><li><strong>Customization:</strong> FSE, block patterns, block directory, block themes, and global styles.</li><li><strong>Collaboration:</strong> Co-authoring content.</li><li><strong>Multilingual:</strong> Implementation of multilingual sites.</li></ol>



<h2 id="editor-enhancements">Editor Enhancements</h2>



<p>Ventura listed 10 high-level focus areas around the post and site editors in core WordPress. They range from big-ticket items like a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/23328">site-browsing mode</a> to a more back-to-basics approach to the writing experience. I will focus on some things I most look forward to.</p>



<h3 id="theme-global-styles-variations">Theme Global Styles Variations</h3>



<img />Twenty Twenty-Two theme design variations.



<p>I have a running list of features that I cannot wait for. It seems that I find something new to add to it every other day or so. However, <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35619">global styles variations</a> would easily land in the top three.</p>



<p>The feature was expected but did not quite make it into WordPress 5.9. The goal was to allow users to select from multiple presets, transforming their site&#8217;s colors, fonts, and more at the click of the button. Several variations for Twenty Twenty-Two are already in progress.</p>



<p>This is sort of like a light version of child theming where only the <code>theme.json</code> file can be switched around. <a href="https://wptavern.com/skins-are-back-in-style-proposal-for-themes-to-bundle-user-selectable-design-variations">Essentially, they are <em>skins</em>.</a></p>



<h3 id="navigation-structure-as-a-dedicated-ui">Navigation Structure as a Dedicated UI</h3>



<p>This will most likely be one of the most crucial features of wrapping up Phase 2 of Gutenberg. Some pieces of it can be tough to follow, but several screenshots and videos are in the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/36667">associated ticket</a>.</p>



<p>Essentially, the goal is to refine the experience of moving around and interacting with the site editor, global styles, templates, and navigation. The work in 5.9 was stellar, but now there is a need to create a more intuitive interface.</p>



<p>Part of this is exposing the site structure as navigation outside the Navigation block in the UI. Users can currently only edit this from within the site canvas.</p>



<p>Such things are easier said than done, so contributors will have their work cut out for them. It will take a community effort.</p>



<h3 id="template-creation-and-theme-switching">Template Creation and Theme Switching</h3>



<p>There is currently a limited number of templates that users can create through the site editor interface. For example, they can add an archive design but not break that down for specific types of archives (e.g., <code>category</code>) or slug-based versions of them (e.g., <code>category-news</code>).</p>



<p>Eventually, the site editor should allow the creation of any possible template from the template hierarchy. Presenting that in an easy-to-use interface will be a challenge. The hierarchy is limited only by the number of objects (posts, terms, etc.) on a site.</p>



<p>The other piece of the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/37407">template-creation process</a> is decoupling them from themes. Users should never lose their customized templates when switching from one to another. This becomes even more vital as plugins begin to introduce block templates.</p>



<h2 id="patterns-as-first-class-creation-tools">Patterns as First-Class Creation Tools</h2>



<img />Block pattern explorer.



<p>Since their introduction alongside WordPress 5.5, patterns have been one of the most powerful tools available to users. I have been telling anyone who will listen that <a href="https://wptavern.com/block-patterns-will-change-everything">they will be a game-changer</a> for at least two years. WordPress 6.0 might just make good on my promise.</p>



<p>One proposal would make patterns a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/31153">central part of template and page building</a>. Several pieces to this may fit into various flows, but one of the overarching goals should be for end-users to figure out what to do with an empty template or page. If done right, patterns can help them get off the ground running.</p>



<p>A proposal to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/27575">transform existing content sections</a> with patterns is also on the table. I wrote about how this was a <a href="https://wptavern.com/if-this-is-modern-wordpress-theme-development-sign-me-up">missing component</a> of the user experience earlier this week.</p>



<p>For theme authors, pattern registration may become less complex. Currently, they must use the Patterns API to register them via PHP. However, there is a proposal for WordPress to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/36751">automatically recognize them</a>. Patterns would most likely live in a dedicated <code>/patterns</code> folder in the theme and be registered similar to page templates. However, the final solution has yet to be determined.</p>



<h2 id="block-enhancements">Block Enhancements</h2>



<p>There is an array of block-related enhancements to look forward to. Much of that will revolve around continued iteration on the Navigation block. Theme authors should also have more blocks for <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/34994">controlling the output of comments</a>.</p>



<p>However, let me dive into some of the features I am most looking forward to.</p>



<h3 id="featured-images-with-superpowers">Featured Images With Superpowers</h3>



<img />Concept design of post featured images used in the Cover block.



<p>Instead of superpowers, this would cover the use cases already possible in traditional theming. As much as I like block themes, one of the most glaringly-obvious issues is the Post Featured Image block. Essentially, it currently outputs the <code>post-thumbnail</code> image size.</p>



<p>Theme authors can set the width and height but not use cropped sizes that they have registered (<a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/38044">fixed</a> in the dev version of Gutenberg). They also cannot use it within the context of other blocks like Cover and Media &amp; Text.</p>



<p>Beefing up featured image capabilities will hand over much-needed design tools to theme authors. Right now, the missing features are blockers for many layouts.</p>



<h3 id="inline-tokens">Inline tokens</h3>



<p>If there has been one feature I have seen developers ask for more than most, it is the ability to output dynamic data within blocks or HTML templates. Some of this is solved with the Pattern block, but it does not cover every use case.</p>



<p>For example, there is no way to output the current date within a paragraph. This is a routine use case for the site footer copyright line. More typical is grabbing dynamic URLs to theme or plugin resources like images. Ventura noted in the post that they would explore the viability of inline tokens in this release cycle.</p>



<h3 id="other-blocks">Other Blocks</h3>



<img />Table of Contents block.



<p>There may be a Table of Contents block on the way. It has been just under a year since I first <a href="https://wptavern.com/the-gutenberg-wordpress-plugin-to-introduce-a-table-of-contents-block">wrote about such a proposal</a>, so I am eager to see this land.</p>



<p>The Quote and List blocks should finally <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/25892">allow child blocks</a>. Both are severe limitations that were always possible in plain HTML and the classic editor. I know more than a few bloggers who will be happy to see this happen.</p>



<p>Improvements to the Table block are also likely coming. At the moment, it offers a poor user experience &#8212; users cannot even tab through cells. At most, it handles the most basic of use cases. Currently, there are <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/32400">over two dozen open tickets</a> to clean it up.</p>



<h2 id="design-tools">Design Tools</h2>



<p>Several components should make theme authors, in particular, excited about 6.0.  We could be looking at new height and width controls for more blocks, providing more flexibility in theme designs. And <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/34641">using <code>min</code> and <code>max</code> CSS features</a> along with flex-based containers could make fine-tuning responsive designs easier.</p>



<p>On the typography front, there is a ticket for <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33543">introducing responsive fonts</a>. This is relatively easy to handle with custom CSS at the moment if a user chooses a theme&#8217;s predefined size. However, with custom sizes and line-heights, it is problematic. Because these tools exist in WordPress, we need responsive handling baked in.</p>



<p>One long-awaited typography feature is likely to launch in this cycle: the <a href="https://wptavern.com/a-web-font-api-possibly-coming-to-wordpress">Web Fonts API</a>. After being <a href="https://wptavern.com/proposed-web-fonts-api-not-coming-to-wordpress-5-9-possibly-landing-in-gutenberg-first">pulled from WordPress 5.9</a>, it is now being <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/37140">developed within Gutenberg</a>. I expect this to land sooner rather than later because the bulk of the code is finished.</p>



<p>Support for customizing captions across various blocks and possibly finding a solution for link hover and focus states are also on the slate for 6.0.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-tavern-separator" />



<p>What features are you looking forward to the most in WordPress 6.0?</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 28 Jan 2022 01:42:44 +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:38;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:112:"Post Status: WordPress 5.9 “Joséphine” Introduces Full Site Editing and Themes Created Entirely with Blocks";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"https://poststatus.com/?p=93038";s: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://poststatus.com/wordpress-59-josephine-released/";s: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:3554:"<p class="has-drop-cap"><strong>WordPress 5.9</strong> “Joséphine” was <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/josephine/">released as planned this past Tuesday</a>. <strong>Matt Mullenweg</strong> was the lead on this release. 5.9 involved 470 tickets on <strong>Trac</strong> and over 1,900 pull requests.</p>



<p>71 locales had translated 90% or more of WordPress 5.9 into their language at the time of release. There were more volunteers on this release than the previous 5.8 version. (624 now and 530 then.) <strong>Aaron Jorbin</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronjorbin/status/1486091167381008393">noted that</a> WordPress 5.9 was the 8th release with 200 or more first-time contributors, and the total number of contributors (632) was the fourth-highest total in WordPress' history.&nbsp; Also notable — 40 people have contributed to 20 or more releases since 3.2.</p>



<p>The 5.9 release introduces the <strong>Full Site Editor</strong> — a new suite of editing capabilities based on blocks that enable the editor beyond a post or a page. It can be used across an entire site now, and there are blocks for headers, footers, and menus. Full Site Editing (FSE) makes possible a &#8220;no coding&#8221; experience for site-building.</p>



<p>5.9 comes with a new default theme, <strong>Twenty Twenty-Two</strong>, which was built for FSE as a block theme. Twenty Twenty-Two ships with relatively little <strong>CSS</strong>, as its goal is for all theme styles to be configured through <code>theme.json</code> and editable through <strong>Global Styles</strong>.</p>



<p>At the time of this writing, there are 45 block themes ready for Full-Site Editing <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tags/full-site-editing/">in the WordPress repository</a>. Traditional themes work fine with 5.9, so the transition time between traditional and “full block” themes will likely be gradual. Nevertheless, WordPress 5.9 will be seen as one of the biggest steps in the second phase of the Gutenberg project.</p>



<p>Those not moving to a block theme will still be able to enjoy enhancements such as an improved Gallery block, more block controls and design tools (including typography, color, and dimension options in blocks), and a revamped List View that facilitates navigation between layers of content and nested blocks. Developers should make sure to check <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/10/wordpress-5-9-field-guide/">the WordPress 5.9 field guide</a> for additional filters, actions, and performance enhancements.</p>



<p>WordPress' Executive Director <strong>Josepha Haden Chomphosy</strong> notes, &#8220;WordPress 5.9 is a halfway point on this massive, multi-year project to rebuild the way that people work with their content online. It started with a call to &#8216;learn Javascript deeply,' and I think this release helps prove that vision we were first given way back in 2013.&#8221; </p>



<p>Josepha also acknowledged “the work of over a thousand people who show up every day to help make getting online easier, to make crafting your personal brand a little more fun, and to do all that while also making sure users have basic freedoms that are vital to the open web.&#8221;</p>



<p>Looking ahead, Josepha has proposed <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/27/proposal-2022-major-release-timing/">a schedule of two major releases this year</a>, and Matias has shared <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/26/preliminary-roadmap-for-6-0/">a roadmap to 6.0</a>. </p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 28 Jan 2022 01:38:57 +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:39;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:57:"WPTavern: #11 – Vinny McKee on His Block Builder 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:48:"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=128962";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://wptavern.com/podcast/11-vinny-mckee-on-his-block-builder-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:51922:"<h2 id="about-this-episode">About this episode.</h2>



<p>On the podcast today we have Vinny McKee.</p>



<p>He’s the creator of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wicked-block-builder/">Wicked Block Builder plugin</a>, which is a tool to make the job of creating your own custom blocks as easy as possible.</p>



<p>I’m sure that you know that WordPress’ editor is all about blocks. You can create content, and now whole websites with small components. A title here, and a paragraph there. But the real power of blocks is the way that they can be extended so that they can consume and display any kind of content in any way that you can imagine.</p>



<p>The WordPress landscape is moving towards blocks as the way to create and present all-the-things, and we’re just at the start of a very exciting journey.</p>



<p>You can download and try out blocks for almost everything. Some do one thing, other block packs bring entire suites of interesting blocks to the table.</p>



<p>But there is a problem… blocks are not all that easy to create. Yes, you might very well be a talented developer who has taken the lead in learning block creation. You burned the midnight oil and got your head around the complexities of it all. I suspect that it was an uphill struggle.</p>



<p>But WordPress’ mission is to democratise publishing. In an ideal world not just publishing, but extending WordPress would be something available to the masses.</p>



<p>Step in Vinny McKee. His Wicked Block Builder plugin is one of the tools out there that enables you to build your own blocks without the need to understand much of what’s going on behind the scenes, and there’s a lot going on behind the scenes.</p>



<p>Page Builders allowed users to create beautiful websites without needing to learn code, block builders are doing the same thing for blocks.</p>



<p>Today on the podcast we learn about why Vinny built the plugin, as well as how it works. What problems does it overcome, and are there any limitations to what you can build?</p>



<h2 id="useful-links">Useful links.</h2>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wicked-block-builder/">Wicked Block Builder on the WordPress repo</a></p>



<p><a href="https://wickedplugins.com/plugins/wicked-block-builder/">Wicked Block Builder website</a></p>



<p><a href="https://wptavern.com/wicked-plugins-launches-ui-based-wordpress-block-builder">Justin Tadlock&#8217;s post &#8220;Wicked Plugins Launches UI-Based WordPress Block Builder&#8221;</a></p>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/wickedplugins">Wicked Plugins Twitter account</a></p>



Transcript<div>
<p>[00:00:00] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong>  Welcome to the 11th edition of the Jukebox podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley. Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress, the people, the events, the plugins, the themes, and in this case, the creation of blocks with a plugin. Up until now, we&#8217;ve released this podcast each month. But we&#8217;re going to move to a weekly schedule from now on. And that leads to a couple of things. Firstly, it goes without saying that there will be lots more podcast episodes, and I would encourage you to subscribe to the podcast so that you can get all of those episodes automatically each and every week. You can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast, player of choice, or by going to wptavern dot com forward slash feed forward slash podcast, and you can copy that URL into most podcast players. Secondly, with so many more episodes, I&#8217;d really like to hear from anyone out there who would like to come on the podcast and talk about whatever it is that you do with WordPress. It might be that you&#8217;re a developer, a WordCamp organizer, a contributor, a designer, honestly&#8230; if it&#8217;s about WordPress, I&#8217;m keen to hear from you and hopefully get you on the show. Head over to wptavern dot com forward slash contact forward slash jukebox, and use the form there. Once again, wptavern dot com forward slash contact forward slash jukebox. And I look forward to hearing from you.</p>



<p>So on the podcast today, we have Vinny McKee. He&#8217;s the creator of the Wicked Block Builder plugin, which is a tool to make the job of creating your own custom blocks, as easy as possible. I&#8217;m sure that you know, that the WordPress editor is all about blocks. You can create content and now whole websites with small components, a title here, and a paragraph there.</p>



<p>But the real power of blocks is the way that they can be extended so that they can consume and display any kind of content in any way that you can imagine. The WordPress landscape is moving towards blocks as the way to create and present all the things, and we&#8217;re just at the start of this very exciting journey. You can download and try out blocks for almost everything. Some do one thing. Other block packs bring entire suites of interesting blocks to the table. But there&#8217;s a problem. Blocks are not all that easy to create. Yes, you might very well be a talented developer who has taken the lead in learning block creation. You burned the midnight oil and got your head around all the complexities. I suspect that it was an uphill struggle. But WordPress&#8217; is mission is to democratize publishing. In an ideal world, not just publishing, but extending WordPress would be something available to the masses. Step in Vinny McKee. His Wicked Block Builder plugin is one of the tools out there that enables you to build your own blocks without the need to understand much of what&#8217;s going on behind the scenes. And there&#8217;s a lot going on behind the scenes.</p>



<p>Page builders allowed users to create beautiful websites without needing to learn code. Block builders, well they&#8217;re doing the same thing for blocks. Today on the podcast we learn about why Vinny built the plugin as well as how it works. What problems does it overcome? And are there any limitations to what you can build? If you&#8217;re interested in trying it out, you can find the links in the show notes, head over to wptavern dot com forward slash podcast, and look for episode number 11. And so without further delay, I bring you Vinny McKee.</p>



<p>I am joined on the podcast today by Vinny McKee. Hello Vinny.</p>



<p>[00:04:40] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Hey, Nathan. Thanks for having me on the podcast.</p>



<p>[00:04:42] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> You are most welcome. Now, Vinny is going to be talking to us today around the Gutenberg subject is the best way to describe it and blocks in particular. He has a great deal of expertise in this area and has a plugin which may be of real interest to the people who are listening to this podcast.</p>



<p>This whole episode really was brought to my attention by Justin Tadlock, who on the 14th of January, 2022, wrote a piece called Wicked Plugins Launches UI Based WordPress Block Builder. So be sure to go and check that out. So I asked Vinny if he wanted to come onto the podcast today and here we go.</p>



<p>We&#8217;re going to be talking about blocks and building blocks. First question though Vinny, if it&#8217;s all right with you, I&#8217;m going to ask a more generic question. Would you mind just telling us a little bit about yourself, your history with WordPress and so on.</p>



<p>[00:05:33] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. So I&#8217;m a freelance web developer and plugin author. I&#8217;ve been a freelance developer since around 2006. And I think the first time I really started using WordPress was actually in 2006. At that time, I didn&#8217;t really know anything about it really. And to be honest, didn&#8217;t even really care that much about it at the time. It was just a way to solve what I needed at the time, which was two blogs for clients so that they could easily create blog posts.</p>



<p>And so then I think it was probably around maybe 2008 or 2009, if I have my timing correct, when I really started using WordPress more and started to build lightweight sites that used it more as a CMS and started to build custom themes for it and everything. And then of course, fast forward to today and I&#8217;m using WordPress almost exclusively for all of the clients sites I built or build.</p>



<p>[00:06:27] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Where are you based?</p>



<p>[00:06:28] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> I am based in Seattle, Washington.</p>



<p>[00:06:31] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Okay. So we&#8217;re probably going to be talking today around the block builder plugin that you&#8217;ve got, and probably it&#8217;s going to be the easiest thing to just mention where that URL is right at the start. So the company is called wicked plugins, and you can find wickedplugins dot com easily enough, and from there, you&#8217;re going to be searching around for wicked block builder that will enable you to see what we&#8217;re talking about today. There&#8217;s also a wordpress dot org version. And obviously that&#8217;s over at wordpress dot org forward slash plugins forward slash Wicked Block Builder. Each of those words is hyphenated. I will put those links into the show notes and anything else that we discussed today that comes up, I&#8217;ll endeavor to put those into the show notes as well.</p>



<p>Tell us why you decided to put all of your bits and pieces into blocks. I know that for many people, this is clearly the future. There&#8217;s a lot of interest in this, especially right now. But a lot of people are staying away from it at the same time. What is it that you saw all those months, years ago that made you endeavor to build this solution?</p>



<p>[00:07:35] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah, I think it&#8217;s similar to what WordPress has been great for a long time, which is extensibility. So I think what&#8217;s really cool about blocks and what I like about it is that you can extend the block editor by creating your own blocks. And so that gives you a lot of freedom. It gives you the ability to create blocks that are tailored to individual projects. And I think that&#8217;s really useful. And I think that&#8217;s one area where it stands apart from other ways that you can build a site with maybe a page builder or something.</p>



<p>I know you can extend other page builders as well, but I feel like with blocks and Gutenberg, I like that it&#8217;s baked directly into WordPress. And I just think that it&#8217;s neat that you can extend it just like you can extend WordPress in other ways.</p>



<p>[00:08:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. I guess the page builder analogy is quite a good one in that if you are a heavy user of a particular page builder, you may well be interested in creating the equivalent of blocks. So app like functionality within that particular page builder. But the issue I suppose there is that it will be confined to that page builder, and so the audience potentially may be limited. Whereas the block based initiative enables everybody with the default install of WordPress to manage to do these bits and pieces.</p>



<p>Yeah. So really nice inspiration. So why did you decide to actually put your elbow to the metal as it were and get stuck into this. It seems that this is a problem of building blocks. It&#8217;s tremendously difficult if you&#8217;ve never done this before, but equally you could have just sat there and waited for somebody else to build a solution or indeed for that to be no solution at all. What compelled you to create a sort of GUI interface in order to assist people who have the challenge of building their own custom blocks?</p>



<p>[00:09:22] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. So what happened is, as I started to use the block editor to build sites for clients, I found myself wanting to create my own blocks. And because I felt that I needed to do that in order to achieve the look and feel and layout and functionality that the designers I was working with wanted for their sites. And so, I felt like I needed to create my own blocks in order to have the control I wanted over the markup and to achieve all those things as far as the look and feel and layout and those types of things. So what I did is I started creating blocks for the sites that I was working on. But what I found is, as I was going through and creating these blocks, I noticed a few things.</p>



<p>One is that, so when you create a block, blocks have two different functions to generate their markup. There&#8217;s one called the edit function, which generates the markup that you see for the block when you edit a page and you see your block in the editor. And then, blocks also have what&#8217;s called a save function, which is responsible for generating the markup that actually gets saved to the database when you save a page, and then that&#8217;s what you see on the front end when you view the page. And so if you want your blocks to look the same in the editor, as they do on the front end and vice versa, which is what I wanted, you have to basically code the block twice. And, you know, even if the markup is almost identical for both views.</p>



<p>And so that was one thing where I noticed it was a duplication of effort and took a little bit of extra time. And even if you want the block to look exactly the same in both of those views, you have to tweak the code slightly. You can&#8217;t just copy and paste. And so it ends up being a lot of&#8230; it can be a lot of work.</p>



<p>Something else I noticed was that I was spending a lot of time referencing documentation as I was building blocks. So even after I learned how to build blocks, was was still looking at the documentation a lot, because I couldn&#8217;t remember things like, okay, what is that control named? If I wanted to add a text field to a block, for example, is that called text control or is that called text field?</p>



<p>And then I would always forget like what attributes those components or controls accepted. So for example, when I would add a drop down to a block, I would forget what the attributes that allowed you to set the options was called options, or was it called choices? And then how did, how did the data needed to be formatted to go into those options?</p>



<p>Things like that. So I still had to spend a lot of time looking at the documentation, even though I had learned how to build blocks. I kept running into design patterns that were hard. So for example, if I wanted to add an arbitrary number of items to a block, something that would be good for a repeater, for example, like adding an arbitrary number of images, or if you wanted to create like a team block that displayed a grid of people where you could sort the people in the block that would take awhile and it was hard to do.</p>



<p>I guess what I&#8217;m trying to say is that what I found was there a lot of things that were adding up to take a significant amount of time, and I just felt I needed to create these blocks for these in order to build the sites that I wanted, but that it was too time consuming for it to be economical. And that I just felt like I wouldn&#8217;t be able to produce these sites without being able to build these blocks faster.</p>



<p>[00:12:27] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. This is the problem that we hear about so much is that the move over to blocks really does create a technical debt, really. What I mean by that is, it&#8217;s difficult. There&#8217;s a new, whole new raft of things that must be learnt, new techniques that need to be acquired, whole systems that you need to put in place in terms of software as well and what have you. And I feel that a lot of people are put off just by this problem. They simply don&#8217;t have the time. They&#8217;re working. They&#8217;re busy. They&#8217;re building websites, possibly for clients or what have you. And the time to go out and spend learning is simply not available to them, and obviously in your case, you managed to find that time and create that bridge for yourself and make it happen.</p>



<p>Was that a difficult journey? So going from no blocks, several years ago to the ability to now create not only blocks, but software, which builds blocks. Did you find that journey fraught with difficulty? Was it fairly straightforward? What was your impression?</p>



<p>[00:13:24] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah, for me, it was actually fairly difficult because prior to Gutenberg, I didn&#8217;t really have a lot of experience with React and I didn&#8217;t have a lot of experience with a lot of the tooling either that you would use in a React project. So for example, NPM, Webpack, and some of the other tools that we use to maybe set up a React project. I&#8217;d worked with it just a little bit before Gutenberg, but not much. And yeah, I didn&#8217;t have that much experience with it, and to be honest, I was pretty intimidated by it because that just wasn&#8217;t something that I was familiar with.</p>



<p>And so it did take me quite a while to figure out how to learn React of course, but then also I think for me, what was even more challenging was some of the command line stuff and configuration stuff. Setting up Webpack, for example, to be able to compile the project. And I know now there&#8217;s ways you can use other tools like WP Scripts.</p>



<p>I also wanted to understand for myself, make it easier, but yeah, at the time, I also wanted to understand for myself, you know, how those things worked, but yeah, it was a challenge. And even today there&#8217;ll be weeks where I might spend hours trying to solve a configuration issue with Webpack. Yeah, it was definitely challenging.</p>



<p>[00:14:37] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I think that&#8217;s a really valid point. This is not something which is going to be for everybody. If you are of a certain mindset and you have the time available and possibly the skills available, this might be open to you. And then of course, there&#8217;s the other people who presumably you&#8217;ve built your Wicked Block Builder for, is the crowd of people who perhaps don&#8217;t want to go through all of those steps, learning all of those different things. You mentioned React and the build process and all of that. They just simply don&#8217;t want to do that. But they would like to dabble in creating blocks, either for themselves, or for their clients. And I guess that&#8217;s the tool that you&#8217;ve built. Have I got your target audience about right there? Is it people who are keen to build blocks, but don&#8217;t really wish to do the learning that might be required if you wanted to do it all by hand, if you know what I mean?</p>



<p>[00:15:28] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. I think that&#8217;s a big part of it. And that was certainly one issue I was trying to solve was to make the barrier to entry much lower. But I think too, I was also, the main reason I was inspired to build it was actually to save myself time. Even as a developer, I wanted a way to be able to build blocks faster.</p>



<p>And so, yeah, I mean, it&#8217;s definitely for people that maybe don&#8217;t want to learn React, or set up the tools needed to build blocks from scratch. I also aimed it at developers as well, hopefully make their lives easier and make it much more efficient to create blocks so that when you&#8217;re working on a client project, you can spend less time working on some of those other things I mentioned earlier and focusing more on just creating the blocks you need.</p>



<p>[00:16:12] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Okay. Let&#8217;s dig into the tool. It is a plugin for WordPress. As we mentioned at the top of the show, it&#8217;s available in a free version on the repo and also a commercial version over on the website, which I&#8217;ll link in the show notes so that anybody who doesn&#8217;t want to hear the URL in the podcast can just find it, but would you just at the outset, just describe the main differences between the free and the pro so that everybody is really clear where that boundary lies.</p>



<p>[00:16:40] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> They&#8217;re exactly the same. The only difference is that the pro version has a couple of advanced features. And so the main features that one has, is a repeater component that allows you to add repeating items to a block as well as conditional logic. And then it has a couple of other advanced components as well. But for the most part, the free version has almost everything and you can actually build the exact same blocks.</p>



<p>The only difference would be something maybe like a repeater where if you wanted to have an arbitrary number of links in a block with the free version you had maybe add slots for five links to your block or something. Whereas with the pro version, you could use a repeater so that you can add an arbitrary number of items or links the block.</p>



<p>[00:17:21] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Okay. Got it. Thank you. That&#8217;s made it really clear. Okay. So we&#8217;re going to try to describe, cause it&#8217;s a difficult thing trying to describe what is a graphical user interface on a podcast, but we&#8217;ll give it our best go. As with all things plugin, you must install it on your website. And then you&#8217;re presented with a range of new menus in the admin area.</p>



<p>Wicked Block Builder is what I&#8217;m seeing currently. And you have the option to add new. And the intention is that you go through the tool and at the end of it, when you go to a post or a page, And you click the little inserter, the plus button, you will hopefully have yourself a ready-made block available to be used to put whatever kind of custom data it is that you want to display on your website.</p>



<p>So, with all that in mind, do you want to try, you know the tool far better than I, I&#8217;ve really had just the briefest of plays, but did you want to just describe the process that you would go to in order to set up a simple block with some simple attributes and just discuss what kind of things we&#8217;re doing.</p>



<p>[00:18:21] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Sure. Yeah, I&#8217;ll do my best. Yeah. Like you said, once you install the plugin, then to create a block, you just go to Wicked Block Builder in your admin menu, and there&#8217;s an add new option. So you click add new. And what that does is that opens up the block builder tool, which is just an interface within WordPress that lets you create your block.</p>



<p>And so that tool is organized into six main screens. And so what you see first is the setting screen and the settings screen just lets you enter basic information about your block and configure some things. So for example, you can enter the name of your block. You can give it a description that you can choose, like what alignment options it supports and whether or not you&#8217;d like to make it dynamic.</p>



<p>So then the next screen is attributes. And so the attributes screen lets you configure the attributes for your block. And if you haven&#8217;t worked with blocks before then, what attributes are a way to store and, or extract data from your blocks. So they kind of hold the data that&#8217;s for your block. And so once you configure attributes, which to configure attributes, it&#8217;s really just a matter of dragging and dropping an attribute type, a type, meaning like the data type that you want that attribute to store.</p>



<p>So that could be like a string, for example, or, a true false value or a number and array as the other type of attribute. So once you&#8217;ve got your attributes added to your block, then the next screen is called the editor view. And like I was talking about before, there&#8217;s two views, two blocks, there&#8217;s the edit view, which is what you see in the block editor. And then there&#8217;s the front end view. In this plugin we start with the editor view and on that screen, what you do, that&#8217;s the kind of the meat of it and where you really build the block. And you build your block by dragging and dropping HTML elements and components. So components are things like text fields or drop downs or radio buttons or check boxes or color pickers, anything that you want to add to your block, to allow people to interact with it, to change settings or to input content.</p>



<p>And so what you do is you drag the HTML elements that you want. So like a div tag, for example, if you want your block to be a div and then maybe if you want another div nested inside of it, you would drag another div and nest it inside the first div. And then if you want a rich text control to be able to input some texts, you would drag that inside. You know, one of the divs, but the idea is that you have full control over the markup and, you create the markup however you want by dragging and dropping. And there&#8217;s no limits to, you know, what markup you can add that you can put any valid tags in. So what that does is create the editor view and then the next screen is the front end view.</p>



<p>So you have the option of building the output that your block will generate when it gets saved to the database, and what you see when the block is viewed on the front end, when you view a page. However, that screen is actually completely optional. You can skip that step. And if you do then plugin will use the markup and everything that you set up on the edit screen, and will use that as the, for the front end view.</p>



<p>That&#8217;s one of the ways that saves you time is you don&#8217;t actually have to create those two separate views anymore. You can just create the edit view and then the plugin will use that same view for the front end, if you want your block to look and use the same markup on the backend and the front end.</p>



<p>And then next is the sidebar screen and the sidebar screen works similar to the previous two screens. It lets you drag and drop HTML markup and components, but it puts all those things in the block sidebars when the block is selected in the page editor. Yeah, once the blocks selected, then whatever HTML and components you add to the sidebar appear on the block sidebar on the right hand side.</p>



<p>And finally there&#8217;s a style screen. And that&#8217;s just basically a CSS editor that lets you put in CSS for your block. It&#8217;s completely optional. You don&#8217;t have to put any CSS there. You can, you know, enqueue CSS like you normally would through your theme or through a plug-in or however you&#8217;re most comfortable with it, but it&#8217;s there for people who want a really easy way to include CSS for their block.</p>



<p>And that&#8217;s kind of the process of building the block and then you hit save. And from there, you should be able to add it to a page.</p>



<p>[00:22:38] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I&#8217;m going to, to sort of run over a few of those bits and pieces. And I&#8217;m going to draw an analogy for those of you who have used a tool like Advanced Custom Fields or Metabox or something like that. The similarities here are fairly striking to me in that the attributes that the sort of fields that you might create, so for example, you would like an image when you need an image attribute, you might need like a number attribute or a true / false, like you said, and you can set all of these different things up and then you move on to the next area.</p>



<p>And as Vinny was just saying, this is how it&#8217;s going to look when you&#8217;re user inserts it, what is it going to look like to them as they&#8217;re actually creating the block? And then interestingly, you&#8217;ve got the front end view. That&#8217;s what it will look like once it&#8217;s complete and you&#8217;ve published it and it&#8217;s visible to the world.</p>



<p>And then, like you said, there&#8217;s the sidebar so that you can modify all of the settings that may be associated with that. And then obviously the style. So I think if you&#8217;ve used Advanced Custom Fields or Metabox or something like that before, you&#8217;ll be very quick to the party. You&#8217;ll learn how this works really quickly.</p>



<p>I have to say having had the chance to play with it a little bit today, I went through the three step&#8230; building your first block tutorial, which I found to be really straightforward. Probably took me about an hour, I would say. And I was able to follow along with the steps and I had a completely functional block, fairly straightforward example. It has an image, it has a title, some text, and then ultimately there&#8217;s a button, depending on what text you put in that button appears. It doesn&#8217;t do a lot, but it&#8217;s a really nice way to get going. So I would say that if you&#8217;re confused by any of this, go and look for the support documents that Wicked Blocker Builder guide, and you want the building your first block section.</p>



<p>I think you&#8217;ve done a really great job of explaining how it all works there. Well done.</p>



<p>[00:24:31] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Thank you.</p>



<p>[00:24:32] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So the backend then handles all of that. I&#8217;m just curious. Is there any situation that you can imagine where the editor view, what it is that we&#8217;re doing in the backend to actually create the block on our website, where you would like that to be radically different from the front end view. Perhaps the editor view is going to be much more basic and stripped back. And then ultimately the view that people see on the website is going to be a bit richer. I&#8217;m just trying to figure out why those two sections are separate.</p>



<p>[00:25:01] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. So I think part of it could come down to user preference and then another part of it might just depend on block output, starting with user preference.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s possible that some users might just have a preference where in the editor view, maybe they want almost more of a forum based approach to inputting the data for the block. So rather than displaying a rich preview of the block, maybe they just want to way for clients to input data. But then on the front end, of course, you know, it needs to be formatted properly or the way that they want to look. And that might be one example where you would create a separate view for the front end versus the editor view. I think another example is where maybe you needed the market to be different. So for example, say you want to create a grid, a block that displays a grid of, logos for example, and you want each logo to be linkable, and this might be a contrived example because there&#8217;s probably other ways that you could do it as well. But just as an example, let&#8217;s say you wanted to create a block like that, and you could, in the end of their view, add like an image component that would allow you to select an image for the logo. And then you could add a text field that would allow you to enter the link for the logo. But you may not want to wrap the image component within a link in the editor view because you don&#8217;t want it to interfere with being able to select an image, and when you&#8217;re editing the blocks. So maybe you want to tweak the markup for the front end. So then on the front end, it would actually wrap the image within a link element, if that makes sense. So that&#8217;s another example. And especially with the free version, because there&#8217;s no conditional logic, that would be one way you could achieve altering the markup.</p>



<p>[00:26:40] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Actually, the more I think about it, the more that I can imagine situations where the two might be really useful to be separated. So I&#8217;m just at the minute been looking recently at real estate agent websites, and it might be quite useful if you had a block to do with a house and you were uploading all of the bits and pieces associated with that house, particularly the images. You might want those images to display in a really full on way on the website, large colorful, and what have you, and you may just want the thumbnail on the backend so that you can see that something has been uploaded, but you don&#8217;t as the person maintaining that block, you don&#8217;t actually need to see them in all their glory. But the person coming to the website, who&#8217;s thinking about buying that house would probably wish to see them in all their glory. So yes, I&#8217;m making in roads into what you&#8217;re thinking there, I think. Is that the right idea there?</p>



<p>[00:27:26] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah, exactly. That&#8217;s a great example. And I think similar to that, something like maybe a slide show or like a hero section where maybe it displays just one image, but changes on page reload or something. So on the front end, you really only see one image, but on the back end, you need to be able to add multiple images, but you might want to way to show which images are selected. So you might display those images in the block, on the back end, but then on the front end, you would only see one image at a time. But yeah, the example that you gave to you, I think is, perfect.</p>



<p>[00:27:54] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yes. So the tool itself is a very much a drag and drop tool. You&#8217;re dragging in components that you wish your block to have, be those images, text fields, buttons, what have you. Imagine you&#8217;re building up these Lego bricks to make your block.</p>



<p>There must be a little bit of understanding of various bits and pieces of web technologies. For example, I would imagine you at the very basic you would need to have some understanding of HTML in order for this to work. Is there a bare minimum set of things that you need to be able to understand, to make basic use of the plugin?</p>



<p>[00:28:29] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah, like you mentioned, I think you have to have a decent understanding of how HTML works and how tags are nested, because you do create the markup yourself in this plugin, it is drag and drop, but yeah, you do have to kind of understand how markup works and then to understand some of the attributes that certain tags support in that case block attributes, but you know, HTML attributes that are added to a tag in case you need to configure those. For example, if you want to add a simple anchor link to your block, you would add an a tag, and then you might add an href attribute. But if you haven&#8217;t worked with HTML before and don&#8217;t know that&#8217;s what&#8217;s required to create a link, then yeah, you might be a little lost or that might be a little challenging.</p>



<p>And then too, I think, to get good results, you do have to know some CSS because just adding, you know, most blocks I would imagine that you want to have some styling. And so, you know, in theory, you could just create a block that&#8217;s unstyled that allows you to input some content. And then of course it could output it on the front end, but without any styling, you probably wouldn&#8217;t get the best results or the results you want.</p>



<p>So I think it does require a little bit CSS knowledge as well, although I think, you know, you can get pretty far with just very basic CSS. So there, I think it just depends on how far you want to take it.</p>



<p>[00:29:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, if you want something functional, which works, you can probably get away with minimal CSS, but if you want it to look nice, then yes, there&#8217;s going to be a little bit of a learning curve there. So I guess caveat emptor, if you are going to be looking into this plugin, there is a little bit going on.</p>



<p>Now, as with all tools that make something as straightforward as this does, I&#8217;m curious to know what&#8217;s going on in the background that you are relieving us the burden of. So for example, I&#8217;m adding in my attributes and that literally is a two second job. I basically click a button and add an attribute and then give it a name, an attribute name, something that I can remember and use later. And I can do that, and I could probably put five or six different attributes into my block in the space of just a couple of seconds really. Again, the same would be true with the editor view. I&#8217;m able to create all of those bits and pieces and link them up to the attributes that I made. What complexity are you stripping away? What difficult things are going on in the background? Now it may be that there&#8217;s too many to talk about, but I&#8217;m curious as to some of the challenges that you&#8217;ve stripped away.</p>



<p>[00:30:51] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. So, I mean I think one challenge is just the whole build process that&#8217;s involved with creating blocks from scratch. So, because you&#8217;re using a plugin, it&#8217;s going to, based on how you build the block, it&#8217;s going to generate that block for you. And so you don&#8217;t have to worry about, you know, any command line stuff or knowing JavaScript or knowing React any of those things because you&#8217;re creating the block to the plugin.</p>



<p>So I think that&#8217;s one big thing that it addresses. Things like the attributes, it&#8217;s not hard to add attributes to a block when you&#8217;re building from scratch, other than takes a little bit of time to just to code them. But it does make it a little bit easier, I think, to be able to do it through an interface.</p>



<p>Something else it does as well is if you&#8217;ve created a block from scratch before, you&#8217;ve probably run into this where if your block is, let&#8217;s say you create your block and then your block is used on some pages and then say, you need to make some changes to the markup of the block. What happens is if you just make those changes to the block, you&#8217;ll actually, the next time you go to edit a page, you&#8217;ll see an invalid content warning, which is kind of scary because it looks like the block is broken and it doesn&#8217;t display correctly in the editor. And so in order to avoid that, you actually have to create a deprecated version of the block and then behind the scenes, what WordPress does, is it migrates the markup from that block that was previously added to the page, to the current blocks version or markup.</p>



<p>What Wicked Block Builder does is behind the scenes. Anytime you make changes to your block, it automatically creates a deprecated version of it. So that in the next time you go to edit a page that already has that block, it won&#8217;t display an error. And then there&#8217;s some other things too, like I was talking about before, how you can just create the edit view, and if you want to look the same on the front end, you don&#8217;t have to worry about that. It&#8217;ll just create the front end view based on the edit view that you created, so.</p>



<p>[00:32:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yes, I was quite pleased in the tutorial that you did that, just simply putting the CSS in and missing out the front-end view step altogether. Still the block looked great because, presumably it was working on what you&#8217;d put into the edit view and the CSS that was there, which was about 50 lines or something like that, made it look really nice.</p>



<p>Okay. So I guess the offering that things like page builders brought to the table is that it makes things much easier. Some people are critical of things like page builders. I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;s many other things that we could point the finger at, but you get the idea, because they say that the code that is output on the front end of the website might not always be the most optimal. And I guess this is one of the features that Gutenberg has, one of the poster features is that it creates lean code. I&#8217;m just asking the same question of you. The way that your building blocks, do you have anything to say about, does it create a block that is streamlined and optimally built or have you had to make concessions in order to achieve the sort of GUI aspect of it? In other words, if I knew everything there was to know about building blocks and I did the same block by hand, and then did it through your tool, would there be a noticeable difference in either of them?</p>



<p>[00:34:06] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. So I can&#8217;t think of a notable difference offhand, other than instead of the block being pre-compiled the block is generated on the fly when it&#8217;s used in the editor. It creates a native block, and so yeah, whatever attributes you add, those are all translated to the attributes that you would code by hand. It only outputs markup that you add to the block. The only exception to that is for the components that you add. So if you add like an image component, for example. There&#8217;s a little bit of markup that it adds in the editor view to handle being able to select the image and display the image. And then of course, when it&#8217;s saved on the front end, if you don&#8217;t output or if you don&#8217;t specify specifically how you want the output to be for that front end view, then the image component will automatically generate an image tag. But yeah, for the most part, it only puts out whatever markup you define an add to your block, but yeah, as far as how the block functions and works. It&#8217;s identical to a native block. It just happens to be generated on the fly when you edit a page as opposed to something that&#8217;s compiled ahead of time.</p>



<p>[00:35:17] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. Thank you. That&#8217;s a good answer. In terms of where this is all stored, one thing that&#8217;s coming to my mind is if I am an agency owner say, and I have a niche, let&#8217;s go for real estate, as we were talking about that a moment ago, and I&#8217;m building several websites every month. And I put a lot of work into creating a block with your tool. Is there a way that I can use these on a multitude of websites? Is there an option to export a block and then import it onto a variety of different sites? How does all that side of it work?</p>



<p>[00:35:51] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. So that&#8217;s actually a really good question. At the moment in the plugin itself, there is no way to export and import blocks. However, those blocks are stored as a custom post type. And then the data for the block itself is saved in a post meta field and a json object. And so you can actually because it&#8217;s just another post type you can use WordPress&#8217;s default export functionality and export them that way, and then import them using the WordPress importer tool. Of course, important export is something that we have in the roadmap and something that I plan to add to the plugin. But yeah, right now it doesn&#8217;t have that functionality built in, but you can achieve it through the WordPress tools.</p>



<p>[00:36:31] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That&#8217;s great. We&#8217;ll come back to the sort of roadmap, cause there&#8217;s a few items which I think are worthy of discussion and we&#8217;ll do that in a few minutes time. Staying with the actual plugin and how it works currently. I&#8217;m interested, you mentioned about things like conditional logic. I know this is getting into the territory, I think of the pro version, but nevertheless, would you just describe what that enables you to do? What kind of conditions are we able to display our blocks on?</p>



<p>[00:36:57] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. So if you&#8217;ve ever used a form builder and wanted to, you know, only show a certain field, if another condition is true, that&#8217;s essentially what conditional logic allows you to do.</p>



<p>And you can apply these conditions to all sorts of things. So the way it works is when you add, for example, an HTML tag to your block, it&#8217;s actually, all of the parts of the tag are broken up. So you can add like classes in line styles, attributes to that tag. And because they&#8217;re split up that way, you can actually add conditions to each of those things.</p>



<p>And so what that means is say, for example, you want to add, conditionally add a class to a block, say for example, you have a block where maybe you want to give an option of you have an image on one side and then text on the other side and you want to provide the option to swap them. So by default the images on the left, text on the right, but you have an option to flip them. So that text is on the left and then the image is on the right. Yep. Let&#8217;s say you add it. You create a class that changes that layout. So what you can do is you can add that class to the block. It says image on, right, but instead of always outputting it to the block, you can add a condition that says, okay, only add this class if the option display image on right is checked.</p>



<p>And so, so that&#8217;s an example, and then you can also use it to conditionally output tags. So what I was talking about before, where maybe you, you don&#8217;t want to output an image wrapped in a link tag on the back end, but you do on the front end. You could add some conditional logic to the tag itself and say, okay, only I&#8217;ll put this tag, you know, if this is true, or, and then there&#8217;s also conditional logic to show or hide things based on whether or not the block is selected in the editor. So things like that.</p>



<p>[00:38:41] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> The brain is ticking over all the different possibilities there. That sounds really ingenious. One of the things that I always thought would be nice if I were a plugin developer, which I am not, is it would be nice to see my plugin out in the wild being used by people and the curious and interesting ways that they can implement the plugin. And I&#8217;m wondering if you have any little anecdotal tales of people who&#8217;ve used your plugin and remarkable things that they may have done with it that perhaps you didn&#8217;t anticipate.</p>



<p>[00:39:10] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. That&#8217;s a good question. I don&#8217;t know that I have any yet, because I just released the plugin in November. And so it really, yeah, I don&#8217;t know that I&#8217;ve had anyone reach out with any particular ways that they&#8217;ve used it. I guess I&#8217;ve had maybe some questions about how to do some things that I hadn&#8217;t thought of before. And so it made me realize that, oh, okay here&#8217;s another way that people might want to approach things.</p>



<p>[00:39:35] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> To be fair, I didn&#8217;t realize it was as new as that. So yeah, that&#8217;s absolutely fine. Like I said, right at the top of the show, there is a different pro version. The pro version, we won&#8217;t get into the actual pricing because it may be subject to change who knows, but there are three options. You can go for single site license, a 10 site license and the unlimited site license. So three different options. Of course you can. If you&#8217;d like stay on the free wordpress dot org repository version. That&#8217;s absolutely fine.</p>



<p>The last little bit, just before we tie this off is the roadmap. And obviously you&#8217;ve had some feedback. You&#8217;ve just described some of the things that have come back to you from your customers. Apart from the import and export which we talked about already, what are you hoping to be adding in the near term?</p>



<p>[00:40:20] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Yeah. So in the near term, one thing that&#8217;s been requested multiple times or quite a bit is the ability to assign an icon to the block. I&#8217;m planning to add that in as well as, there&#8217;s also been requests to add more options as far as, so blocks what&#8217;s called these support features or these support flags where you can say, okay, this block supports something like an anchor so that you can in the block sidebar, you can add like an anchor and that&#8217;s something that&#8217;s kind of WordPress adds automatically, if the block says that, okay, I support this or things like topography, you can have font size and line height support, or you can add spacing support for things like padding and margins. So just adding some more settings so that you can enable those things for your block. And then of course adding more component types. So right now there&#8217;s all the basic ones you would expect, but then adding some more, like for just more component types. So you have more options of how you build your block. And then I would also like to add an ability to save the blocks as a json. So to like a folder within your theme or wherever you decide. The blocks when you create them in the interface, they would get saved to the database like they do now, but they would also get saved to a local json file. And so that way developers could commit their blocks to version control so that they kind of have so that they can version control their blocks. And that&#8217;s kind of what I&#8217;m hoping to add in the near term.</p>



<p>[00:41:43] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Just something which has occured to me just as you were saying those things, there&#8217;s an increasing commercial marketplace for blocks, not as is the case with yours, the block builder, but the blocks themselves. There might be a marketplace for relatively inexpensive blocks, which do a single thing and do it really well.</p>



<p>And I was wondering if there&#8217;s any possibility from your plugin to commercialize the blocks that you make? I don&#8217;t know if that&#8217;s possible, even something you&#8217;re giving any thought to, but if I spend a lot of time creating a block that&#8217;s incredibly complicated and it has some value, with your tool, would there at any point ever be options to pull that out and make it available commercially.</p>



<p>[00:42:27] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> So I think the challenge right now is it in order for it to work, you do have to have the plugin to generate the blocks. So if you create the block and then export it and import it on another site, it&#8217;s only going to work if you have the plugin installed. I do think it would be really cool is if there was a way to actually export the block code. So that you could just import the block without having to have the block builder plugin installed. But I also think that&#8217;s a fairly complicated feature to build. So probably not something that I&#8217;ll be able to add soon, but I think if that were available, then yeah, there would be a way then that you could create blocks using the tool and then publish them and be able to distribute them without having to have the plugin in order to use the block.</p>



<p>[00:43:13] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Well, thank you very much for joining us today and talking about your fabulous tool, Wicked Block Builder. As I mentioned, there will be links in the show notes down below to the repository version, as well as the Wicked Block Builder website as well. But Vinny really appreciate you coming on today.</p>



<p>Just prior to ending, if people are curious about what you&#8217;ve talked about today and wish to reach out to you, what are some of the best ways to do that?</p>



<p>[00:43:40] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> So, you can find me on Twitter @wickedplugins, or you can also contact us through our site at wickedplugins dot com.</p>



<p>[00:43:48] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Thank you very much. I appreciate you joining us today.</p>



<p>[00:43:50] <strong>Vinny McKee:</strong> Thanks for having me, Nathan.</p>
</div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 27 Jan 2022 15:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Nathan Wrigley";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:82:"WPTavern: UXL Themes Releases Framboise, a Colorful Child Theme Variation of Alara";s: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=128990";s: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:92:"https://wptavern.com/uxl-themes-releases-framboise-a-colorful-child-theme-variation-of-alara";s: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:4230:"<img />



<p class="has-drop-cap">It seems that Andrew Starr is quietly building a legion of block themes. He is the sole developer behind UXL Themes and has released six of them in the past year, with most landing in the last few months. <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/framboise/">Framboise</a>, his latest project, is a child theme of <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/alara/">Alara</a>.</p>



<p>He promised a new design variation, child theme, or block pattern when he launched Alara. It looks like he has consistently kept things moving along. Since I last <a href="https://wptavern.com/alara-block-theme-promises-a-new-pattern-or-design-variation-every-week-for-the-next-year">reviewed it a month ago</a>, the theme has gained four new patterns, bringing the total to 45. Starr has also created two new child themes for a total of three.</p>



<p>My motivation for installing, activating, and tinkering with Framboise was twofold. First, a friend keeps asking me where all the fun WordPress themes are, and this latest outing by Starr has just enough of a weird, funky personality that it feels right up his alley. Those who want a design that shouts for visitors to step into their world could hardly go wrong with it.</p>



<p>I also wanted to see what someone other than Automattic was doing with block child themes. Not many other theme-related businesses or authors have created parent themes yet, and even fewer have created children for them. If Starr keeps up his pace, he has a shot of pulling ahead of the pack, at least in sheer block theme numbers.</p>



<p>I like a bit of visual flair from time to time. I typically prefer to do that within the confines of a clean, minimal, and boring design. I suppose that is more of a sprinkling of flair than anything. However, Framboise&#8217;s color scheme, a pastel blue mixed with pink, has me in a cheerful mood today.</p>



<p>I am digging this about page pattern in particular when paired with the child theme&#8217;s colors:</p>



<img />An about page pattern.



<p>The background shape is handled via a gradient &#8212; <em>I am sticking the code for that in my toolbox</em>.</p>



<p>Framboise does not add its own set of block patterns. Instead, they all live in the parent, Alara. The same is true of <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/ceres/">Ceres</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/zelia/">Zelia</a>, the other two child themes. This is a wise decision by Starr. The more that goes into the primary project&#8217;s extensions, the more maintenance it creates over time. By keeping them all in Alara, users of each child theme benefit from a shared pool of patterns.</p>



<p>This is one of the most fascinating aspects of child theming with blocks. With a few simple configuration changes, theme authors can create vastly different designs, as shown in the full-page patterns for the theme:</p>




<img />Framboise full-page patterns.



<img />Alara full-page patterns.




<p>I have built child themes in the past with similar methods, but they were always on unsteady ground. Because WordPress had no standard design system under the hood, changes in the parent could easily break child themes.</p>



<p>With themes now using a standard <code>theme.json</code> file to control settings and most styling, child themes have some extra layer of protection against breaking changes. Plus, templates will always work because they are made of blocks.</p>



<p><code>theme.json</code> also makes it easy to create design variations without touching another file. While Framboise includes a custom header and footer templates, all other aspects of its design alterations are handled in one place.</p>



<p>I did not even recognize that the theme was related to Alara until I installed it and noticed the author. That is the magic of child themes, and it seems that they are finally living up to their potential now that core WordPress has standards to facilitate them.</p>



<p>My excitement around block theming continues to grow with each new project that lands on WordPress.org. Tomorrow, I can only hope to see something new. But, for now, I think I will continue playing around with Framboise for a little longer.</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, 27 Jan 2022 02:07:14 +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: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:41;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"WPTavern: Google Abandons FLoC in Favor of New Topics API, a Replacement for Third-Party Cookies";s: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=128966";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:106:"https://wptavern.com/google-abandons-floc-in-favor-of-new-topics-api-a-replacement-for-third-party-cookies";s: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:3704:"<p>Google is burying <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/2021-01-privacy-sandbox/" target="_blank">FLoC</a> (Federated Learning of Cohorts) in its sea of abandoned experiments. FLoC&#8217;s proposed mechanism for replacing third-party cookies grouped people together and labeled them using machine learning. The controversial origin trial caused a group of WordPress contributors to <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-contributors-propose-blocking-floc-in-core">propose blocking it in core</a> before it was even out of the experimental stage.</p>



<p>In July 2021, Google concluded FLoC&#8217;s origin trial and removed the project from the testing phase while analyzing feedback. The company did not elaborate on why it dropped FLoC but had previously <a href="https://wptavern.com/google-concludes-floc-origin-trial-does-not-intend-to-share-feedback-from-participants">stated an intention not to share any feedback from the project</a>. </p>



<p>FLoC ran in limited markets and received overwhelmingly negative feedback from the tech industry that left Google with an uphill battle to get enough buy-in to proceed. Google was not able to get any major browsers on board and Amazon, GitHub, Firefox, Vivaldi, Drupal, Joomla, DuckDuckGo, and other major tech companies and open source projects had opted to block FLoC by default.</p>



<p>As an alternative, <a href="https://blog.google/products/chrome/get-know-new-topics-api-privacy-sandbox/">Google is now proposing Topics</a>, an interest-based advertising approach, which it says was informed by community feedback from the FLoC trials:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>With Topics, your browser determines a handful of topics, like “Fitness” or “Travel &amp; Transportation,” that represent your top interests for that week based on your browsing history. Topics are kept for only three weeks and old topics are deleted. Topics are selected entirely on your device without involving any external servers, including Google servers. When you visit a participating site, Topics picks just three topics, one topic from each of the past three weeks, to share with the site and its advertising partners. </p></blockquote>



<p>Google contends that this new system would give users more control and plans to build controls into Chrome for viewing the topics and removing irrelevant ones, as well as disabling the feature completely.</p>



<p>The Topics API would be implemented at the browser level and curated to exclude topics like gender or race, data which could be deemed sensitive. </p>



<p>Chrome&#8217;s weighty market share would position Topics to be widely used if Google decides to move forward with it, but one hurdle with industry-wide adoption would be convincing other browsers to invest in implementing new ad tech.</p>



<p>A list of <a href="https://github.com/jkarlin/topics/blob/main/taxonomy_v1.md">proposed taxonomies</a> is available on the <a href="https://github.com/jkarlin/topics">Topics API GitHub repository</a>. The README file includes a technical rundown of how the API will work. It also explains <a href="https://github.com/jkarlin/topics#evolution-from-floc">Topics&#8217; evolution from FLoC</a> and lists FLoC&#8217;s various deficiencies &#8211; i.e. adding too much fingerprinting data to the ecosystem, lack of transparency in the API for users, inclusion of sensitive data, among others.</p>



<p>Google plans to launch a developer trial of Topics in Chrome that will include user controls and allow  developers and the ad industry to test it. The technical details of the API are expected to change as Google gets more feedback.</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, 27 Jan 2022 00:02:09 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"Akismet: How to Block a Specific IP Address from a WordPress Website";s: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=2249";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"https://blog.akismet.com/2022/01/26/how-to-block-a-specific-ip-address-from-a-wordpress-website/";s: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:18340:"<p>Let’s face it: the internet isn’t always a safe place and malicious attacks can come from anywhere. But one good solution to protect your site from hacks and spam is to block malicious IP addresses.</p>



<p>Fortunately, you don’t have to be a tech whiz to protect your site. By understanding how IP addresses work and how you can manage them on your WordPress website, you can help prevent spam and secure your data.</p>



<p>In this article, we’ll introduce you to IP addresses and cover why you might want to block some of them. We’ll also show you how to find and remove any problematic ones. Finally, we’ll share three extra ways to prevent WordPress spam.</p>



<span id="more-2249"></span>



<h2 id="an-introduction-to-ip-addresses">An introduction to IP addresses</h2>



<p>Every single one of your users has an IP address. IP addresses are unique numbers that identify which internet connection a visitor is using. That means the address stays the same, even if the person uses a different account.&nbsp;</p>



<p>IP addresses appear as four sets of numbers divided by individual dots. For reference, here’s what the basic structure looks like, though it also might be longer and more complicated:</p>



<p><em>123.45.678.9</em></p>



<p>WordPress collects this number and stores it in an access file whenever someone connects to your site. But some visitors may be using a <a href="https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/vpn-endpoint-security-clients/what-is-vpn.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Virtual Private Network (VPN)</a> to prevent this data storage. Given this possibility, it’s even more important to block any malicious IP addresses that you <em>can </em>identify.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="three-reasons-you-might-want-to-blocklist-an-ip-address">Three reasons you might want to blocklist an IP address</h2>



<p>The IP addresses that access your site will be perfectly harmless most of the time. Still, there’s always a chance that you’ll want to exclude some. Here are a few reasons why you might need to blocklist an IP address on WordPress website:&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="1-stop-spam-comments">1. Stop spam comments</h3>



<p>A comments section can be a vital part of a website’s community. That’s because it offers connection: your visitors can join the conversation, interacting with your content and each other.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Organic comments will typically be relevant and intelligible, like the below example:</p>



<img /><em>Credit to a comments section on </em><a href="https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/smores-bars/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>gimmesomeoven.com</em></a><em>. </em>&nbsp;



<p>The chances are good that real, well-intentioned visitors wrote these comments. Still, this won’t always be the case. Some people or bots will use the <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2022/01/12/how-to-stop-comment-spam-in-wordpress/">comments box as an opportunity for spam</a>.</p>



<p>A spam comment might just be completely unrelated commentary. It might also be garbled, unintelligible, or gibberish. These types of spam can drown out real comments and make people’s experience on your website less enjoyable.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Additionally, spam can cause search engines to flag your site as unsafe. So blocking the IP addresses behind spam can help preserve your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.</p>



<h3 id="2-keep-out-potential-hackers">2. Keep out potential hackers</h3>



<p>Gibberish comments aren’t the only concern. Hackers might use comments to promote malicious links. These URLs can lead to sites designed to steal information from you and your audience.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Unfortunately, this danger isn’t limited to comments. Hackers may try to gain access to your site with repeated login attempts. These are commonly referred to as <a href="https://jetpack.com/features/security/brute-force-attack-protection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brute force attacks</a>. They usually come from one IP address, meaning that blocking that address could solve your problem.</p>



<p>Finally, there’s also a more advanced technique where malicious actors try to inject bad code into your site. By using entry ports like your comments section or sign-up forms, they can try to trick your website into giving them access. Once they’re in, they can do some serious damage to your site.</p>



<h3 id="3-limit-access-to-authorized-users">3. Limit access to authorized users</h3>



<p>A membership model is a popular way to run a website. The benefits of more engaged users and lucrative subscription models can be desirable. Still, there’s always a chance that someone tries to access an area they haven’t paid for.</p>



<p>Membership websites aren’t the only ones who have to deal with this. Any site with user roles may need to be on alert.&nbsp;</p>



<p>For example, a hacker might try to access an admin-only area. Once they’re in, they’ll have full access to your website.</p>



<p>In both cases, blocking the visitor’s IP address is easy. It just takes a few minutes to prevent future attempts. Overall, we recommend learning this skill no matter which kind of site you run.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="how-to-find-a-user-s-ip-address-in-wordpress">How to find a user’s IP address in WordPress</h2>



<p>If you want to block an IP address, the first step is to identify it. Here are two ways that you can uncover someone’s IP address in WordPress:</p>



<h3 id="1-use-the-comments-section">1. Use the comments section</h3>



<p>Like we mentioned before, WordPress automatically stores the IP address of every visitor. Fortunately, discovering one is pretty easy — especially if the spam comes from your comments section.</p>



<p>Start in your WordPress dashboard. Then, go to <strong>Comments</strong><em> </em>and look under the <strong>Author</strong><em> </em>column.</p>



<img />



<p>From here, you can view the IP address of whoever left the comment on your WordPress website. You should see this data regardless of the post.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="2-check-the-cpanel-access-logs">2. Check the cPanel access logs</h3>



<p>If you can get to your website’s access logs, you can use them to check IP addresses.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Start by going to your hosting account. Then, find the cPanel dashboard, look for the area labeled <strong>Logs,</strong> and click on <strong>Raw Access</strong>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<img />



<p>From here, you’ll be able to click on your domain name and download the access logs. After extracting the records, you should be able to see the IP addresses that have tried to interact with your website.&nbsp;</p>



<p>We recommend looking through this record to find any addresses that have made many requests. If you find one, chances are good that they’re malicious, and you may want to consider blocking them.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="how-to-block-specific-ip-addresses-from-accessing-your-wordpress-site">How to block specific IP addresses from accessing your WordPress site</h2>



<p>Once you’ve discovered the IP addresses that you want to block, you have a few options for doing so. Here are four different ways to get started:</p>



<h3 id="1-use-the-comment-blocklist-feature">1. Use the comment blocklist feature</h3>



<p>The first route is arguably the easiest: using WordPress built-in features. Start by collecting the IP addresses you want to block from your WordPress website. You can single out one or compile as many as you need — it’s up to you.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Then, all you have to do is change a few settings. Start in your WordPress dashboard, then go to <strong>Settings → Discussion</strong>. Scroll down until you find the <strong>Disallowed Comment Keys</strong><em> </em>box.</p>



<img />



<p>From here, you can grab the list of addresses you made earlier and paste it into the box. Make sure that you only include one IP address per line. Now, anytime someone with that IP address tries to leave a comment, it will go directly into the trash. Keep in mind that this method still allows the person or bot to access your site, just not post any comments.</p>



<p>This setting serves two main purposes. For one thing, it can cut down on your workload. You won’t have to worry about assessing a massive amount of comments that you already know are spam.</p>



<p>On the other hand, this setting also helps protect your visitors. That’s because it doesn’t matter what type of spam that IP address is trying to leave — whether it’s gibberish or malicious links — every single message will be blocked.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="2-use-a-plugin-to-block-entire-countries">2. Use a plugin to block entire countries</h3>



<p>If you see that most IP addresses are coming from a specific country, the above method may not work for you. It would require you to constantly monitor your comments and add to a seemingly never-ending list of blocked users.</p>



<p>Instead, you can opt to block an entire country. This setup may end up being less work, especially when you use a plugin like <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/iq-block-country/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iQ Block Country</a>.</p>



<p>Start by adding the plugin to your website. After you’ve activated it, you should get an alert asking you to upload a database file. To access this file, you’ll need to sign up for an account on the <a href="https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geolite2-free-geolocation-data" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MaxMind website</a>. Don’t worry — it’s all free.</p>



<p>After you’ve logged in, you can go to <strong>Database Products and Subscriptions → Download Databases</strong>. Find the <strong>Country Database</strong><em> </em>and download it. Then, extract the file and upload it using a <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/ftp-clients/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client</a>.</p>



<p>Once you’ve completed the upload, go back to the iQ Block Country plugin. Choose whether you want to block addresses from your site’s front or back end. You can also select both.</p>



<p>Navigate to the tab for the area you want to restrict. Then, select the country you wish to exclude. If you’re going to choose several, hold down the <em>ctrl </em>key while selecting. Finally, save your work. Your website should now ban any IP addresses from your selected countries.</p>



<p>This method is only recommended if you are certain that all traffic from a specific country will try to negatively influence your website. If you have genuine traffic from those countries, you might want to find <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2022/01/12/how-to-stop-comment-spam-in-wordpress/">an alternative method to block spam</a>.</p>



<h3 id="3-edit-your-htaccess-file">3. Edit your .htaccess<em> </em>file</h3>



<p>Another option is to edit your <em>.htaccess</em> file directly. If you don’t want to get too involved in your website’s code, you may want to choose another option. A single mistake or edit could potentially break your site.</p>



<p>If you’re confident in your ability to edit files, you can use this method as a fast way to ban IP addresses. Nevertheless, we still recommend <a href="https://jetpack.com/2021/11/11/how-to-back-up-your-wordpress-site/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">backing up your site</a> beforehand if something goes wrong.</p>



<p>Gather the IP addresses that you want to ban. Then, log in to your site using your FTP client of choice. Once you’re in, look for your website’s root folder. It’s most likely named after your domain or called <em>public_html.</em></p>



<p>Open that folder and find the file named <em>.htaccess</em>. Note that the .<em>htaccess</em> file could be hidden and, depending on the FTP client you use, you’ll need to turn on the option for <a href="https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/filezilla-show-hidden-files/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">showing hidden files.</a> Then, use a text editor to open it. Scroll down to the very bottom of the file.</p>



<p>Once you’re there, paste the following code:&nbsp;</p>


<div class="wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code "><pre class="brush: plain; title: ; notranslate">
Order Allow,Deny
Allow from all
Deny from 111.222.333.444
</pre></div>


<p>Remember to replace the example IP address with the one you want to block.</p>



<p>If you want to block more than one address, repeat the final line with the new IP address. Remember to save your work before exiting the file. Now, those specific IP addresses should be denied access to your site.</p>



<p>There’s a chance that an error in the process breaks your site. Make sure it’s working properly and, if there are any issues, <a href="https://jetpack.com/2021/11/30/how-to-restore-a-wordpress-website-from-a-backup/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">restore an earlier backup</a> before going any further.</p>



<h3 id="4-use-cpanel">4. Use cPanel</h3>



<p>This method might be particularly convenient if you already use cPanel to discover which IP addresses you want to ban.</p>



<p>Start at the cPanel dashboard for your hosting account. Then, scroll down to the <strong>Security</strong><em> </em>section and select <strong>IP Blocker</strong><em>.</em></p>



<img />



<p>From there, fill in the fields with the IP addresses you’re trying to prevent. After you save your work, your hosting provider should block those visitors from your WordPress site.</p>



<h2 id="how-to-remove-banned-ip-addresses">How to remove banned IP addresses</h2>



<p>Everybody makes mistakes. Whether you mistyped an IP address or misjudged it as spam, you may need to undo your work. Fortunately, it’s a fairly simple process.</p>



<p>The exact steps will vary depending on which blocking method you chose in the first place. However, the process mostly involves reversing the steps:</p>



<ul><li><strong>Undo the blocklist method: </strong>Return to your WordPress dashboard and delete the IP addresses you want to unblock.</li><li><strong>Undo the iQ Block Country method</strong>: Return to the plugin settings and remove the chosen countries or disable the plugin altogether.</li><li><strong>Undo the </strong><strong><em>.htaccess </em></strong><strong>file method: </strong>Reopen your <em>.htaccess </em>file and delete the code you added.</li><li><strong>Undo the cPanel method</strong>: Return to your hosting dashboard’s IP Blocker tool and remove your chosen addresses from the list.</li></ul>



<p>As you can see, it only takes a few steps to undo this work. However, that time can start to add up if you have a ton of blocked IP addresses. Because of this, we recommend that you carefully pick the ones you want to exclude before going through the process.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="two-extra-tips-to-prevent-spam-on-your-wordpress-website">Two extra tips to prevent spam on your WordPress website</h2>



<p>Blocking IP addresses can be a powerful way to prevent spam. However, it’s not your only option. Here are two more ways you can prevent spam:</p>



<h3 id="1-filter-out-contact-form-spam">1. Filter out contact form spam</h3>



<p>Spam can come from more than just comment forms. If you have a contact form on your website, you’ve probably already noticed some malicious submissions. That’s why we recommend spending time on this area of your site.</p>



<p>One way to filter this spam is by <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/23/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/">adding a reCAPTCHA checkbox</a>. Google offers this tool for free. It’s a Turing test: humans can complete it, but bots can’t.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Adding a reCAPTCHA checkbox to your contact form is a simple way to cut out a large number of junk entries.</p>



<img /><em>Photo © </em><a href="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/about/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Google</em></a>.



<p>If you’re running a membership site with different user access roles, you might also choose to only show the contact form to certain members. Even restricting access to logged-in users can decrease the amount of spam you have to deal with.</p>



<p>But an even more effective way to <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/29/how-to-stop-contact-form-spam-on-wordpress/">prevent contact form spam</a> is to use <a href="https://akismet.com/">Akismet</a>. It automatically blocks spam form submissions so you never even have to deal with them. And, thanks to an advanced list of IP addresses and spam characteristics, it knows exactly what to watch out for. And it works without a reCAPTCHA, so it’s one less thing for real visitors to deal with.</p>



<h3 id="2-detect-misleading-links">2. Detect misleading links</h3>



<p>Another option is to keep a close eye on the links that appear on your site. Unfortunately, you probably can’t monitor every URL. That’s why we recommend using Akismet.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Akismet monitors all of your comments for spam signals and characteristics, like phishy links. It can automatically detect malicious URLs and block those comments from appearing on your site.&nbsp;</p>



<p>And, if you want to go the extra mile, you can also automatically block all comments that contain a link —&nbsp;or a certain number of links —&nbsp;from your site using WordPress default settings. Simply go to <strong>Settings → Discussion </strong>in your WordPress dashboard. Then, in the <strong>Comment moderation </strong>section, change the line that says, <strong>“Hold a comment in the queue if it contains&nbsp;2 or more links”</strong> to one link.</p>



<h2 id="block-ips-and-eliminate-spam">Block IPs and eliminate spam</h2>



<p>Spam can bog down any website. As more malicious actors try to access yours, you could be looking at a serious problem. Fortunately, blocking IP addresses is a quick and simple way to help keep your site safe from known spammers.</p>



<p>In this article, we introduced you to an IP address and covered a few reasons why you might want to block one. We also showed you four ways to do so. Finally, we provided a couple extra methods to keep your site spam free.</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, 26 Jan 2022 22:45:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:8:"Rob Pugh";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:43;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:57:"Akismet: How to Stop User Spam Registrations 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:31:"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=2234";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"https://blog.akismet.com/2022/01/26/how-to-stop-user-spam-registrations-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:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:17803:"<p>Offering a user registration feature on your website can be a great way to generate leads and encourage brand loyalty. On the other hand, it can also make your site vulnerable to spam registrations.</p>



<p>Fortunately, there are ways to reap the benefits of registrations without opening your site to bad-faith users. By taking some simple precautions, you can block bots and hackers from creating accounts and accessing your WordPress dashboard.</p>



<p>In this post, we’ll discuss why user registration spam can damage your site. We’ll then share eight ways to stop these unwanted signups.&nbsp;</p>



<span id="more-2234"></span>



<h2 id="what-is-user-registration-spam">What is user registration spam?</h2>



<p>User registration spam occurs when unwanted users register for an account for purposes other than what you intended. They may do so to post malicious comments or even gain access to your dashboard.</p>



<p>While many know that <a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2020/07/06/akismet-five-hundred-billion-with-a-b-spam/">spam is a huge problem</a> for almost all websites, unwanted user registrations is a kind of spam that’s often overlooked.</p>



<p>If you allow people to create an account, WordPress’ default registration form is located at <em><a href="https://example.com/wp-login.php?action=register" rel="nofollow">https://example.com/wp-login.php?action=register</a></em>. From there anyone can choose a username, enter an email address, and create an account.</p>



<img />



<p>As you can see, malicious third-parties and bots can use this to create spam accounts. They can just append the same URL to any WordPress domain, enter a bit of information, and create an account — it’s that simple.</p>



<h2 id="why-do-spammers-register-on-a-website">Why do spammers register on a website?</h2>



<p>Once registered on your site, they can start spreading more spam. This may include posting comments that contain malicious links or self-promotion, which can instantly make your site appear less professional. Junk comments are notorious for damaging the visitor experience, and may even negatively <a href="https://jetpack.com/2020/01/02/comment-spam-google-cares/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">impact your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).</a>&nbsp;</p>



<p>Depending on how you handle registrations, these spam accounts might even have elevated privileges. This can include everything from moderating your site’s comments, to creating new posts, or even accessing your dashboard.</p>



<p>If a spammer manages to reach the WordPress dashboard, the results could be disastrous. Spammers typically want to spread more spam, but in the worst case scenario they may use this elevated access to launch more sophisticated attacks. This might include deleting your content, stealing your data, or even installing dangerous software.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 id="how-to-stop-user-spam-registrations-in-wordpress">How to stop user spam registrations in WordPress</h2>



<p>Hackers and bots are constantly coming up with new techniques for spam registration. For this reason, we recommend using multiple anti-spam strategies simultaneously. This can give you the best chance of catching spambots and malicious third parties. With that in mind, here are eight ways to stop user spam registrations in WordPress:&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="1-disable-user-registrations">1. Disable user registrations</h3>



<p>User registrations can benefit your site in lots of different ways. Often, they can be the first step towards monetizing your content. Free registration can also be a great way to generate leads or build a mailing list.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Yet not every website requires user registration. If you run a personal blog or business website, you may not necessarily need to offer this feature.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Depending on your goal, there may be alternative, safer ways to achieve the same results. For example, if you’re planning to use registration as a lead generation tool, you could <a href="https://jetpack.com/support/jetpack-blocks/form-block/newsletter-sign-up-form/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">create a newsletter</a> or <a href="https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/tips-tricks/how-to-allow-your-website-visitors-to-request-a-callback" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a callback request form</a> instead. Both of these techniques can generate leads without exposing your site to user spam registrations.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It’s also possible to accept guest submissions without registration. If you want to feature guest posts on your site, you could use a plugin like <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/user-submitted-posts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">User Submitted Posts</a>.</p>



<p>Disabling user registration isn’t appropriate for every website. For membership sites, forums, and eCommerce sites, user registration is a must-have, and the benefits far outweigh the negatives.</p>



<p>If you do decide to disable registration, navigate to <strong>Settings → General</strong> in your WordPress dashboard. Then find the <strong>Membership</strong> setting and deselect <strong>Anyone can register</strong>.</p>



<img />



<p>Now, no one can register on your WordPress website. This includes those pesky spambots!&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="2-change-the-wordpress-registration-url">2. Change the WordPress registration URL</h3>



<p>By default, all WordPress registration pages are located at /<em>wp-login.php?action=register</em>. This makes it easy for automated scripts and bots to access your site’s signup form. From there, they can create hundreds or even thousands of spam accounts, and flood your site with unwanted content.</p>



<p>You can reduce this bot-based traffic by changing your registration page URL. Human attackers will still be able to access this form, but an obscure URL can make it virtually impossible for spam bots to attack your site.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Behind the scenes, the user registration form is actually part of the WordPress login page. This means you can use any plugin that alters the login URL, like <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wps-hide-login/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WPS Hide Login</a>.</p>



<p>After installing and activating this plugin, navigate to <strong>Settings → WPS Hide Login</strong>. You can now enter your new URL. To really make life difficult for the bots, try to opt for an address that isn’t easy to guess.</p>



<img />



<p>Depending on how your site is set up, you may need to update any links, menus, or other content that points to your old registration page URL.</p>



<h3 id="3-perform-email-verification">3. Perform email verification&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Every time someone tries to register with your site, you can send an email to the address they provided. The user can then open this email and perform a verification task, like clicking on a link. In this way, email verification can prevent bot-based spam, and will even stop human spammers from registering using fake contact information.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The drawback is that email verification does add another step to the registration process. To drive conversions, it’s smart to make registration as smooth as possible, and email verification adds friction.</p>



<p>The good news is that email verification is widely used by many websites. Most internet users are familiar with this technique, and will accept it as a necessary part of creating an account.&nbsp;</p>



<p>By default, WordPress doesn’t support email verification. But you can add this functionality using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/user-verification/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">User Verification plugin</a>.</p>



<p>After installing and activating this plugin, navigate to <strong>Users → User Verification</strong>. You can then set <strong>Enable email verification</strong> to <strong>Yes</strong>.</p>



<img />



<p>You can also configure some additional options, like choosing the page where users will be redirected following a successful verification.</p>



<p>This plugin also comes with built-in templates that you can use for your verification emails. To take a closer look, click on the <strong>Email Templates</strong> tab.</p>



<img />



<p>You can now explore the various templates and make any desired changes. Once you’ve finished, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on <strong>Save Changes</strong>.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="4-require-admin-approval-for-new-registrations">4. Require admin approval for new registrations</h3>



<p>One of the best ways to stop spammers in their tracks is to review each registration. This is a manual process, so if your site receives a large number of signups this can quickly become a time-consuming and frustrating task for your WordPress admin team. For this reason, manual approval is only appropriate for websites that receive a small number of registrations.</p>



<p>You may also want to opt for this method if you’re highly selective about who can register on your site. For example, if you’re running a private company portal for employees only, it may make sense to review each registration manually.</p>



<p>If you’ve weighed the pros and cons and decided that manual approval is the preferred way to handle user registrations, you can add this functionality using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/new-user-approve/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New User Approve</a> plugin.</p>



<p>The plugin works out of the box, so there are no settings for you to configure. As soon as you activate this plugin, it will add an admin approval notification to your registration form.</p>



<img />



<p>Whenever a user completes the registration form, you&#8217;ll receive a notification via email. You can then review the submission by navigating to <strong>Approve New Users → Pending New Users.</strong>&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="5-add-a-captcha-field">5. Add a CAPTCHA field</h3>



<p>A CAPTCHA is a puzzle or challenge that visitors must solve in order to register with your site. These can be an easy way to differentiate between genuine registrations and bots.</p>



<p><a href="https://blog.akismet.com/2021/12/23/do-captcha-and-recaptcha-protect-wordpress-sites-from-bots/">CAPTCHAs may be effective</a>, but they’re not particularly popular with internet users. There’s even evidence to suggest that CAPTCHAs may reduce your conversion rates by <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/~jurafsky/burszstein_2010_captcha.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">up to 40 percent</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<p>If you do add a CAPTCHA to your registration page, you should ensure that the challenge is easy to solve. You may also want to review your registration process to make sure it’s as painless as possible — even with the addition of a CAPTCHA.</p>



<p>You should consider that users with visual impairments may find it more difficult to complete certain CAPTCHAs. In particular, we recommend avoiding picture-based puzzles, and opting for text-based challenges wherever possible.</p>



<p>If you’re using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Contact Form 7</a> plugin for your registration form, you can add a CAPTCHA using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-captcha/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Really Simple CAPTCHA</a> plugin.</p>



<p>You can also add an easy, text-based CAPTCHA to your login form using <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-login-captcha/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Simple Login Captcha</a>. This may not prevent spammers from registering with your site, but it will prevent bots and automated scripts from accessing their new accounts. In this way, Simple Login Captcha can minimize the damage that spammers can inflict on your site.</p>



<h3 id="6-opt-for-google-s-recaptcha">6. Opt for Google’s reCAPTCHA</h3>



<p>When it comes to weeding out the bots, CAPTCHA isn’t your only option. In 2014, Google released <a href="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/intro/v3.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA</a>, which simply requires visitors to select an <em>I’m not a robot</em> checkbox.</p>



<p>This is much faster and easier compared to CAPTCHA’s picture-based challenges. It’s also accessible to a wider range of users, particularly people with visual impairments who might be accessing your site using a screen reader.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It’s important to know that there are <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90369697/googles-new-recaptcha-has-a-dark-side" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">privacy concerns</a> surrounding Google’s reCAPTCHA. In particular, some researchers have theorized that Google may be using cookies to determine whether you&#8217;re a human or a bot.&nbsp;</p>



<p>You can add a reCAPTCHA checkbox to your site using a plugin like <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-captcha/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reCaptcha by BestWebSoft</a>. This plugin has additional features that can make the reCAPTCHA authentication less intrusive, including hiding the reCAPTCHA field for whitelisted IP addresses.</p>



<p>After installing and activating this plugin, navigate to <strong>reCaptcha → Settings</strong>. In the <strong>General</strong><em> </em>section, you can choose which version of reCaptcha you want to use:</p>



<img />



<p>Version 2 simply requires visitors to click on a checkbox. Google then determines whether they’re a bot using advanced risk analysis.</p>



<p>With Version 3, you can either use a checkbox or opt for invisible CAPTCHA. The latter distinguishes between legitimate users and bots by running a script in the background. Since the visitor doesn’t need to manually select a checkbox, this enables you to guard against spammers without affecting the visitor experience.</p>



<p>The final option is “Invisible”. As the name suggests, this setting evaluates the visitor by running an unobtrusive script. Once again, this promises to minimize spam signups without adding friction to the registration experience. After making your selection, you’ll need to generate a <a href="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/admin/create#list" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">site key and secret key</a>, and follow the instructions from Google to configure your reCAPTCHA.</p>



<h3 id="7-use-a-geolocation-plugin">7. Use a geolocation plugin</h3>



<p>Some websites have a strong connection to a particular location. This includes online stores that only ship to specific countries and websites that specialize in local news. In this scenario, it’s unlikely that someone outside of these areas will need to register.&nbsp;</p>



<p>If this is the case, you may want to detect each visitor’s whereabouts using a geolocation plugin. You can then grant or deny access to your WordPress registration form based on their current location.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This can minimize user spam registrations on your WordPress website. At the same time, it may also prevent some legitimate users from registering with your site. There are always going to be special cases where someone may want to create an account from an unexpected location. For example, someone may try to register with your European-based online store while on holiday in America.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Before enabling geolocation, it’s smart to examine your traffic using a tool like <a href="https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google Analytics</a>. By evaluating where your visitors originate from, you can identify areas that you may be able to blocklist without losing out on conversions.</p>



<img />



<p>You can restrict access to your registration page using the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/ip2location-redirection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IP2Location Redirection</a> plugin. Unlike some other geolocation plugins, IP2Location enables you to redirect the visitors to an alternative web page depending on their location.</p>



<p>This can improve the experience for any legitimate visitors who may attempt to register from a blocklisted country. After activating this plugin, select <strong>Redirection</strong> in the left-hand menu. It will then ask you to complete a registration process in order to generate a download key. After inputting this key into the WordPress dashboard, navigate to <strong>Redirection → Rules</strong>.</p>



<img />



<p>In the <strong>From</strong><em> </em>field, you can either block access to your registration page or your entire website. Then you can specify all of the locations that you want to block.</p>



<h2 id="protect-your-registration-forms">Protect your registration forms</h2>



<p>Many websites use registrations to monetize their content, generate leads, and build relationships with their visitors. But it isn’t all positive! WordPress user spam registrations can flood your database with junk and even put your site at risk.</p>



<p>While you could simply disable user registrations, this isn’t appropriate for all websites. Fortunately, there are plenty of plugins you can use to offer this functionality safely. This includes performing email verification via the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/user-verification/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">User Verification plugin</a> and adding your choice of visible or invisible reCAPTCHA using <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-captcha/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reCaptcha by BestWebSoft</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 26 Jan 2022 15:02:30 +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:44;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:34:"Post Status: WP Career Summit News";s: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=92839";s: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:45:"https://poststatus.com/wp-career-summit-news/";s: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:4285:"<p><strong><a href="https://wpcareersummit.com">The site is live</a>!</strong></p>



<p><strong>The Call for Speakers is live!</strong></p>



<p><strong>The Call for Sponsors is live!</strong></p>



<p><strong>Registration is open!</strong></p>



<p>The first ever WordPress Career Summit is scheduled for Friday, April 8, 9am-5pm CDT.</p>



<p>What we have planned:</p>



<ul><li>7 sessions for Job Seekers</li><li>7 sessions for Employers</li><li>Interactive rooms for Sponsors</li><li>Recorded commercials for Sponsors</li><li>Speaking opportunities</li><li>A Job Fair</li><li>Networking opportunities</li><li>Lots of guidance and instruction!</li></ul>



<h2 id="opportunities-for-sponsors">Opportunities for Sponsors</h2>



<p>There are only 12 sponsor spots, so act early if you'd like to sponsor this event. Sponsors will have the opportunity to show why potential employees would want to work with them, as well as the chance to meet career seekers, accept résumés, and even schedule interviews. The summit will include an online job fair, too.</p>



<p><a href="https://wpcareersummit.com/sponsorship/">Call for Sponsors Link</a></p>



<h2 id="opportunies-for-speakers">Opportunies for Speakers</h2>



<p>We will do specific outreach for some speakers with specific knowledge but will also open a call for speakers, too! And because we believe in honoring those who so generously donate their time, we'll have a speaker honorarium. So if you have something to talk about that will help others with job searching, or helping businesses do better recruiting and hiring, watch for our call for speakers soon.</p>



<p><a href="https://wpcareersummit.com/apply-to-speak/">Call for Speakers Link</a></p>



<h2 id="opportunities-for-job-seekers">Opportunities for Job Seekers</h2>



<p>If you're someone who is looking for a new career, or to make a move to a new role or company, this will be the perfect opportunity to meet with employers, learn about their workplace cultures, and hear about open positions.</p>



<p>The job seeker track will also be a great way to learn how to find a new position. It will cover résumé development, job searching, interviewing techniques, portfolio assembly, and more. </p>



<p><a href="https://wpcareersummit.com/register-to-attend/">Registration Link</a></p>



<h2>Opportunities for Employers</h2>



<p>If you're someone in HR or who does recruiting, hiring or training for your company, this will be the perfect opportunity to learn best practices for onboarding new employees, recruiting talent, and recruiting underrepresented groups.</p>



<p><a href="https://wpcareersummit.com/register-to-attend/">Registration Link</a></p>



<h2 id="dont-miss-it">Don't Miss It!</h2>



<p>Keep an eye on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/post_status">Post Status Twitter</a>&nbsp;and Slack to keep on top of the many opportunities the WP Career Summit presents.</p>



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



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile has-background"><a href="https://poststatus.com/"><img src="https://cdn.poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/vertical-post-status-logo-250.png" alt="Post Status" class="wp-image-85823 size-full" /></a><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<p class="has-text-align-left has-normal-font-size" id="h-get-ready-for-remote-work">You — and <a href="https://poststatus.com/business-membership/">your whole team</a> can <a href="https://poststatus.com/post-status-membership-club/">Join Post Status</a> too!</p>



<p class="has-text-align-left has-small-font-size"><strong>Build your network. Learn with others. Find your next job — or your next hire.</strong> Read the <strong>Post Status</strong> <a href="https://poststatus.com/newsletter/">newsletter</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/2709.png" alt="✉" class="wp-smiley" /> Listen to <a href="https://poststatus.com/podcasts/">podcasts</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f399.png" alt="🎙" class="wp-smiley" /> Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/post_status/">@Post_Status</a>. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/1f426.png" alt="🐦" class="wp-smiley" /></p>
</div></div>



<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 26 Jan 2022 03:45:08 +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:"Michelle Frechette";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:45;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:42:"HeroPress: The Power Of Women 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:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=4342";s: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:136:"https://heropress.com/essays/the-power-of-women-in-wordpress/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-power-of-women-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:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:7025:"<img width="1024" height="512" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/012522-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: To get something new you have to stop doing something old." /><p>I would like to share a glimpse of my experience from this tiny but adventurous journey. I would start with the culture of the city I was born in “Lake city Udaipur” located in the state of Rajasthan. It’s a beautiful city with a sparkling culture but also a bit of rigidness about girls&#8217; education. But unlike the societal mentally my parents were the biggest supporters for my education and not only the schooling but till the graduation. With their support and encouragement I completed my graduation in Computer Science Engineering</p>
<p>After completing my graduation I was able to secure employment at Bosch.</p>
<p>But later on I ended my journey at Bosch and joined the Ideabox as a QA in my home town Udaipur.</p>
<h2>How I started my WordPress Journey</h2>
<p>I started my career/journey with WordPress back in the year 2015. During the time of my graduation I came to know about WordPress but didn’t have much information about the operations of it but I was excited to learn new technology and luckily a couple of years later I got a chance to work as WordPress Quality Analyst. And my Journey with WordPress began with it.</p>
<p>When I started working as a Quality Analyst I was able to explore WordPress and take a deep dive into it. From that moment, I decided to make it an integral part of my ever learning professional career.</p>
<p>WordPress is not just a tool that can be used to simplify website building, but also a platform where you can meet new people, share your thoughts, learn from them and improve yourself through the process.</p>
<p>When I first started out, I had many questions in mind, some really basic ones too, like.</p>
<p>What are Themes &amp; Plugins ?</p>
<p>Who developed WordPress ?</p>
<p>What is WordCamp ?</p>
<p>It’s the same time where I thought maybe I’ll contribute to WordPress one day.</p>
<h2>Becoming A Contributor</h2>
<p>I started contributing to WordPress in 2015 with Theme Review. Where I got a chance to work with WordPress code experts and at the same time I learned concepts of theme development. It was a great opportunity for me to learn and improve my development skills. As I was very much interested in testing from the beginning, I did the same in WordPress and contributed to Core.</p>
<p>My first contribution was in WordPress 4.7 and I remember the day when I first saw my name in the WordPress contributor list. This thing encourages me to make more contributions towards WordPress. I continued my contribution in all WordPress core updates and am happy to be a part of the community.</p>
<p><a href="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image2.png"><img /></a></p>
<p>Then I thought of translating WordPress in my native language Hindi. From there, I started contributing to Translation and became GTE (General Translation Editor) of the Hindi project.</p>
<p><a href="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image4.png"><img /></a></p>
<p>Then we organized WordCamp Udaipur 2017, and it helped me to connect to new people, and I got to know many people already working on WordPress. This was my first WordCamp, and the experience was superb. It gave me a chance to share my WordPress contribution journey with all members and I participated as a Panelist. It was a great moment for me when I was speaking in front of hundreds of people and everyone cherished my journey. It inspired me to continue my contribution to another team like Meta, Support WordPress TV.</p>
<p><a href="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image3.png"><img /></a></p>
<p>I was very crazy to get new badges on my profile and these things redirect me in all directions.</p>
<h2>Big Changes</h2>
<p>In 2019 my life revamped when I got married and with the support and guidance of my life partner, I took a new step in my life and joined Brainstorm Force. where I got a chance to work on WordPress top most product and learned many things from designing to marketing.</p>
<p>In November 2019 Josepha Haden sent out a call for an all-women release squad. I’ve always felt that not enough women take part in WordPress, so I decided to jump in.</p>
<p>We talked, and I got on board as the <strong>Test Lead</strong>. It’s been a wonderful journey— worth every second and this was a proud moment for me when I saw my name on the WordPress Noteworthy list . You feel proud when you see your small contributions used by 40% of the web.</p>
<p>As a test lead, my first priority was to ensure that the release would be stable and more importantly, ready for production sites. To effectively manage all the testing, we decided to run test scrubs every week, and talk about the testing areas to get the entire team involved.</p>
<p>We initiated the first test scrub on 29th September and we got a great response from everyone. So, we continued to run the scrub every week and also picked up tickets that needed an immediate resolution.</p>
<p>I continued my role in WordPress 5.7 as well. This was the moment where I met with new people and got a chance to look into WordPress core release.</p>
<p>This is how I improved my skills and got the chance to work on the core release of WordPress 5.6 &amp; WordPress 5.7.</p>
<p><a href="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image1.png"><img /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image5.png"><img /></a></p>
<p>Skills you have with yourself will eventually fade away unless and until you start working on them and sharpen it. so don’t underestimate the value of any skill. It will eventually help you somehow in your career.</p>
<p><strong><i>“Believe in Yourself and achieve Success.”</i></strong></p>
<p>To get something new you have to stop doing something old, and I got the chance to work on WordPress top product MemberPress. In October 2021, I joined Caseproof LLC, a company that specializes in producing WordPress plugins and services for online businesses.</p>
<p>It’s not difficult to manage personal &amp; Professional life if you have dedication towards the work and I am really enjoying my work with personal life.</p>
<h2>What’s next ?</h2>
<p>There is no chance that I’ll stop working with WordPress. I would love to continue working with the community and help more people get involved in WordPress. It is true that many people are working on WordPress, but they don’t know much about contribution. Therefore, my future goal is to help people (especially women) contribute more to WordPress and take this platform on a large scale. I’ll try to be a part of more local and International WordCamp &amp; Meetups.</p>
<p>So get involved with WordPress and you will eventually evolve.</p>
<p>Thank you Topher and HeroPress team for giving me a chance to share my experience.</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, 26 Jan 2022 02:00:56 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:10:"Monika Rao";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:46;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:118:"WPTavern: WordPress 5.9 “Josephine” Released, Introduces Full Site Editing and New Twenty Twenty-Two Default 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=126378";s: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:122:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-josephine-released-introduces-full-site-editing-and-new-twenty-twenty-two-default-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:3820:"<p>After a short delay, <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/josephine/">WordPress 5.9 &#8220;Josephine&#8221;</a> has finally arrived with the long-awaited full-site editing features that give users more control over site design and page templates. </p>



<p>This release is named for American-born jazz singer Joséphine Baker, who found success on broadway before moving to Europe and becoming very popular in France.  She frequently made her way back the US in the 1950&#8217;s to advocate for the Civil Rights Movement, participating in demonstrations and boycotting segregated venues.</p>



<p>For many years, non-technical WordPress users were told to stay away from the Theme Editor menu and were warned that changes made there could make their sites inoperable. A new era in WordPress theme editing has dawned with the debut of the new template editor. It allows users to manipulate templates (home, single post, etc) and template parts (headers, footers, etc) with a visual interface.</p>



<img />Appearance &gt; Editor (beta) &gt; Site



<p>For block themes, the new Site Editor and Styles interface has replaced the Customizer. <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/styles-overview/">Styles</a> lets users customize their sites with different colors, typography, and layouts, as well as give blocks a more unifying appearance.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><img /></div>



<h3 id="twenty-twenty-two-a-new-default-theme-for-building-beautiful-block-based-websites">Twenty Twenty-Two: A New Default Theme for Building Beautiful Block-based Websites</h3>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/twentytwentytwo/">Twenty Twenty-Two</a> is bundled in WordPress 5.9 as the first ever block-based default theme. It comes with a collection of pre-designed color palettes and a beautiful <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/files/2021/10/Example-Layouts-scaled.jpg">array of patterns</a> for all kinds of creative combinations. Twenty Twenty-Two was built to showcase full-site editing features, so the layout of every page can be completely customized, making it a truly multipurpose theme.</p>



<img />



<h3 id="a-new-navigation-block">A New Navigation Block</h3>



<p>WordPress 5.9 introduces block-based site navigation. Users can select from a responsive menu that always displays or one that adapts to the viewport. The menu is saved in the database as a custom post type and can be used across templates and even after switching themes.</p>



<img />



<p>Other notable updates in the 5.9 release include the following: </p>



<ul><li><strong>Pattern Explorer</strong>: browse patterns with a near full-screen view. Add new patterns and edit them to suit your site with just a few clicks.</li><li><strong>Revamped list view</strong>: drag and drop list items, expand and collapse sections, add HTML anchors to blocks</li><li><strong>Improved block controls</strong>: new typography tools, flexible layout controls, and finer control of design details like spacing and borders</li><li><strong>Updated Gallery Block</strong>: give all images the same style or style each one differently, change the layout with drag-and-drop</li></ul>



<p>Developers also have some new tools in 5.9 &#8211; a new API for <a href="https://wptavern.com/wordpress-5-9-to-introduce-new-api-for-locking-blocks">locking blocks</a>, register multiple stylesheets per block, and theme.json support for child themes.</p>



<p>WordPress 5.9 was made possible by the efforts of 624 contributors, who worked on 371 Trac tickets and submitted <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/compare/v10.8.0...v11.9.0">1,919 PR&#8217;s on GitHub</a>. Translators have made WordPress available in 205 languages, and 71 locales were more than 90 percent translated at the time of the release.</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, 26 Jan 2022 01:20:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"WPTavern: If This Is Modern WordPress Theme Development, Sign Me Up";s: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=128830";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"https://wptavern.com/if-this-is-modern-wordpress-theme-development-sign-me-up";s: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:8772:"<p class="has-drop-cap">I have had a block theme idea rattling around in my brain for a while. For months, I have considered building a single-page profile/card theme, and I finally sat down and put in the work over the weekend. In part, I just wanted to do this for fun. However, another part of me wanted to see how block theming has progressed from a developer perspective.</p>



<p>Inspiration for this theme came from a few other people and projects. Kjell Reigstad&#8217;s <a href="https://wptavern.com/carrd-like-theme-experiment-provides-a-glimpse-into-the-future-of-theming">two-column landing page experiment</a> from October 2020 first triggered it. A recent question to the Ask the Bartender column about <a href="https://wptavern.com/ask-the-bartender-are-there-any-compact-and-personal-block-themes">compact-and-cozy themes</a> got my creative juices flowing again. However, seeing the Themes Team approve a similar block theme, <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/miniblock-ooak/">Miniblock OOAK</a>, by Carolina Nymark meant that the rules were now lax enough to possibly put something like this out into the world.</p>



<p>One of the problems is that block-based theming has burned me before. I spent months building a new project last year in my precious free time only to have Gutenberg plugin updates wipe out my progress weeks later. I knew things could change with the unstable foundation of alpha-level software, but it was still deflating. Needless to say, I could never find the motivation to pick it back up.</p>



<p>With WordPress 5.9 and a more stable block-theming system just mere days ahead, it was time to give it another shot.</p>



<p>I wanted to <em>learn block theming deeply</em>. The only way I could do that was to go back to the beginning. I needed to reacquaint myself with those foundational elements of plain ol&#8217; HTML, CSS, and PHP. And forget everything I thought I knew building on top of the modern web. I needed to become a <em>noob</em> again.</p>



<p>Technically, it is impossible to forget everything I know without incurring some sort of amnesia. However, maybe &#8212; <em>just maybe</em> &#8212; I could get back to the building blocks of the web.</p>



<p>Could I spin up a WordPress theme without a complex web of dependencies spanning over 900 projects in my <code>/node_modules</code> folder?</p>



<p>Could I create something without dutifully pulling in my base PHP scripts via Composer?</p>



<p>Could I, <em>you know</em>, just build a WordPress theme?</p>



<p>The first step was to check my ego at the door. When I set aside years of modern tooling and a workflow built around them, what I found was a beautifully-simple theming system that pays homage to WordPress&#8217;s roots but is flexible enough to extend for advanced builds.</p>



<p>This is not to say that there were no hiccups along the way, but we hear about those enough. Plus, I consider programming/development to be the art of solving problems.</p>



<p>I had a restless weekend. I got four, maybe five, hours of solid sleep between Friday and Saturday night. Perhaps I had so many projects and things going on that my mind could not shut them out. Regardless, I was back awake at 3:30am on Sunday morning, tired but unable to catch those much-needed Z&#8217;s. So, I cracked open my code editor and created a new theme project.</p>



<p>Within an hour, it was working. It was in decent enough shape to share with friends over Twitter in two.</p>



<p>The following is a screenshot of the current homepage. Technically, it is the only page. I have tinkered a bit since I pushed my first commits live.</p>



<img />One-page profile card theme.



<p>This is a block pattern named &#8220;Reflections.&#8221; The <a href="https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/32661ecf00/">mountain reflecting on the lake photo</a> is from WordPress Photos and shot by Anne McCarthy. The gradient used for the background is a reflection of the image&#8217;s colors too, which I thought was a nice touch.</p>



<p>The theme includes several other patterns. The goal is to allow users to pick their favorite for their profile card, customize the content, and save. <em>Easy peasy.</em> I hit a snag with this, which I dive into at the end of the post. For the most part, everything went well.</p>



<h2 id="what-i-learned-from-the-experience">What I Learned from the Experience</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">Creating WordPress themes with blocks is easy. Most things are structured and play by a standard set of rules. Templates go here. Parts go there. Plug in your settings over yonder. We are likely to see even more structure in future WordPress versions.</p>



<p>I built the theme from scratch using only my code editor and a local WordPress install. No Node modules. No PHP libraries. No build setup whatsoever.</p>



<p>I will likely use those things before this project is complete. Some tools simply make development easier. However, not needing them or diving into more complex PHP APIs has lowered the barrier to entry.</p>



<p>It felt like I had been transported back to the mid-2000s, just with a better system in place to take care of all the complex bits. For once, I could almost entirely focus on the design.</p>



<p>There are issues aplenty with the underlying system. Oddities like extra wrapper elements around wide-aligned blocks still exist in the editor. And, several blocks need updating &#8212; <em>I am looking at you File block for not reusing the existing Button block</em>.</p>



<p>Basically, there are quirks. As a themer, you learn to work with them in mind, wait for a fix upstream, or risk your sanity trying to find workarounds.</p>



<p>I am hesitant about sharing unfinished work, but I should also show proof. Those interested can check out the <a href="https://github.com/x3p0-dev/x3p0-profile/tree/e65b2604c3bd695c67cb16062673519cd48c9ea1">GitHub repo</a> at the date of this article, at least before I do anything too crazy with it.</p>



<p>Some theme authors may look at my project and think it is too simple of an example. However, I could easily apply everything about it to a full-blown theme. The standards are the same, regardless of the size.</p>



<p>Maybe we should start rethinking what a <em>theme</em> is. With block-based theming being so young, we should all be doing a bit of experimentation.</p>



<h2 id="a-missed-opportunity">A Missed Opportunity</h2>



<p class="has-drop-cap">I will get slightly technical in this bit because it is crucial for explaining a missed opportunity for a well-rounded user experience. The site editor is in a place where it is easy to build for more advanced users. Patterns help bridge the gap for those less technical, but they are not enough.</p>



<p>Think about the major sections of a webpage. Pieces like the header, footer, sidebar, content, and even sub-sections of those. As a user, how do you replace the entire content area design that is already on the screen with a different content pattern?</p>



<p>You could delete the one that is there and insert a new pattern. However, deleting and inserting sections of a page is a high-risk action.</p>



<p>If the area you want to change is a template part, you can replace one with another. That is assuming the theme author has registered any for that area. This is a low-risk action and one of the best features of the site editor.</p>



<p>For example, here are header templates that Twenty Twenty-Two registers as they appear under the &#8220;Replace&#8221; toolbar menu item:</p>



<img />Replacing header template part in Twenty Twenty-Two.



<p>However, that is not the theme&#8217;s entire array of header patterns &#8212; it has 18 in total. I imagine that most end-users will never discover them.</p>



<p>One of the downsides of creating patterns meant for specific template parts is that end-users have no way of replacing or transforming a part wholesale with a new pattern.</p>



<p>Theme authors can duplicate their efforts by copying the pattern code into the template part, assuming it has no PHP mixed in. Or, they can create those parts and pull in the associated pattern via the Pattern block:</p>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>&lt;!-- wp:pattern { "slug":"namespace/slug" } --&gt;</code></pre>



<p>The issue with this approach is that the site editor does not display the pattern content in the &#8220;Replace&#8221; dropdown (<em>did I just discover a bug?</em>):</p>



<img />Template parts that use the Pattern block.



<p>The solution should be simple. Patterns registered for a template part should be interchangeable via the UI. Or, parts that use the Pattern block should display correctly in the &#8220;Replace&#8221; dropdown.</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, 26 Jan 2022 00:57:25 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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:48;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:49:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 5.9 “Josephine”";s: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=12089";s: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:45:"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/josephine/";s: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:55987:"<img width="632" height="428" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/01/5-9-inline-v2.png?resize=632%2C428&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-12139" />



<h2 id="welcome-to-josephine">Welcome to Joséphine!</h2>



<p>Introducing 5.9, “Joséphine”. Named in honor of acclaimed international jazz singer Joséphine Baker, this latest, most versatile WordPress release is here: <a href="https://wordpress.org/download/">download it</a> or update it directly from your dashboard. <br /><br />As a lifelong civil rights campaigner, Joséphine Baker believed that all people could live in harmony together, just as different instruments in a jazz band blend together to make a whole piece. Turn on a playlist from your favorite music service and enjoy her famous renditions of “You are the greatest love”, “Sans Amour”, and “Love is a Dreamer” as you discover all the features of this brand-new WordPress release. </p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2 id="full-site-editing-is-here">Full site editing is here.</h2>



<p>It puts you in control of your whole site, right in the WordPress Admin.</p>



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



<img width="632" height="474" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/01/5-9-release-1.png?resize=632%2C474&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-12101" />



<h3 id="say-hello-to-twenty-twenty-two">Say hello to Twenty Twenty-Two.</h3>



<p>And say hello to the first default block theme in the history of WordPress. This is more than just a new default theme. It’s a brand-new way to work with WordPress themes.</p>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/block-themes/">Block themes</a> put a wide array of visual choices directly in your hands, from color schemes and font combinations to page templates and image filters, all from the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/article/site-editor/">Site Editor</a>. So in one place, you can give Twenty Twenty-Two the same look and feel as your organization’s other materials—or take your site’s look in another direction.</p>



<p>You already have the Twenty Twenty-Two theme—it came installed with WordPress 5.9. You will find it with your other installed themes.</p>



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



<img width="632" height="474" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/01/5-9-release-2.png?resize=632%2C474&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-12102" />



<h3 id="your-personal-paintbox-awaits">Your personal paintbox awaits</h3>



<p>Twenty Twenty-Two is not the only theme built for full site editing. More block themes are in the Themes directory, and the number will grow.&nbsp;</p>



<p>When you use any of those new themes, you no longer need the Customizer. Instead, you have all the power of the Styles interface inside the Site Editor. Just as in Twenty Twenty-Two, you build your site’s look and feel there, with the tools you need for the job in a fluid interface that practically comes alive in your hands.</p>



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



<img width="632" height="474" src="https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/01/5-9-release-3.png?resize=632%2C474&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-12103" />



<h3 id="the-navigation-block">The Navigation block</h3>



<p>Blocks come to site navigation, the heart of user experience.</p>



<p>The new Navigation block gives you the power to choose: an always-on responsive menu or one that adapts to your user’s screen size. And your choices are remembered! In 5.9, the block saves menus as custom post types, which get saved to the database.</p>



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



<h2 id="more-improvements-and-updates">More improvements and updates</h2>



<p>Do you love to blog? New tweaks to the publishing flow help you say more, faster.</p>



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



<img width="632" height="474" src="https://i1.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/01/5-9-release-5.png?resize=632%2C474&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-12105" />



<h3 id="better-block-controls">Better block controls</h3>



<p>WordPress 5.9 features new typography tools, flexible layout controls, and finer control of details like spacing, borders, and more—to help you get not just the look, but the polish that says you care about details.</p>



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



<img width="632" height="474" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/01/5-9-release-4.png?resize=632%2C474&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-12104" />



<h3 id="the-power-of-patterns">The power of patterns</h3>



<p>The WordPress Pattern Directory is the home of a wide range of block patterns built to save you time and add to your site&#8217;s functionality. And you can edit them as you see fit. Need something different in the header or footer for your theme? Swap it out with a new one in a few clicks.</p>



<p>With a nearly full-screen view that draws you in to see fine details, the Pattern Explorer makes it easy to compare patterns and choose the one your users need.</p>



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



<img width="632" height="474" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/01/5-9-release-6.png?resize=632%2C474&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-12106" />



<h3 id="a-revamped-list-view">A revamped List View</h3>



<p>In 5.9, the List View lets you drag and drop your content exactly where you want it. Managing complex documents is easier, too: simple controls let you expand and collapse sections as you build your site—and add HTML anchors to your blocks to help users get around the page.</p>



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



<img width="632" height="474" src="https://i2.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2022/01/5-9-release-7.png?resize=632%2C474&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-12107" />



<h3 id="a-better-gallery-block">A better Gallery block</h3>



<p>Treat every image in a Gallery Block the same way you would treat it in the Image Block.</p>



<p>Style every image in your gallery differently, or make them all the same, except for one or two. Or change the layout with drag-and-drop.</p>



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



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h2 id="wordpress-5-9-for-developers">WordPress 5.9 for developers</h2>



<h3 id="theme-json-for-child-themes">Theme.json for child themes</h3>



<p>In 5.9, theme.json supports child themes. That means your users can build a child theme right in the WordPress Admin, without writing a single line of code.&nbsp;</p>



<p><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/04/block-themes-a-new-way-to-build-themes-in-wordpress-5-9/">This dev note</a> has all the details. Take a look!</p>



<h3 id="block-level-locking">Block-level locking</h3>



<p>Now you can lock any block (or a few of them) in a pattern, just by <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/08/locking-blocks-in-wordpress-5-9/">adding a lock attribute to its settings in block.json</a>—leaving the rest of the pattern free for users to adapt to their content.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 id="multiple-stylesheets-in-a-block">Multiple stylesheets in a block</h3>



<p>Now you can register more than one stylesheet per block, which lets a given block load only the styles its markup requests, and not a whole sheet. Read the details in this <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/12/15/using-multiple-stylesheets-per-block/">dev note</a>.</p>



<h3 id="a-refactored-gallery-block">A refactored Gallery Block</h3>



<p>The changes to the Gallery Block listed above are the result of near-complete refactor. Have you built a plugin or theme on the Gallery Block functionality? Be sure you read this <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/20/gallery-block-refactor-dev-note/">dev note</a>. It tells you what you need to do for compatibility.</p>



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



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h3 id="learn-more-about-the-new-features-in-5-9">Learn more about the new features in 5.9</h3>



<p>Want to dive into 5.9 but don’t know where to start? Check out this free course about <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/course/simple-site-design-with-full-site-editing/">Simple Site Design</a> from <a href="https://learn.wordpress.org/">Learn WordPress</a>. There are a variety of learning materials including short how-to video tutorials and resources on new features in WordPress 5.9, with much more planned.</p>



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



<hr class="wp-block-separator" />



<h3 id="check-the-field-guide-for-more">Check the Field Guide for more!</h3>



<p>Check out the latest version of the WordPress Field Guide. It has lots of useful information with links to detailed developer notes to support you building in WordPress for everyone you serve. <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/01/10/wordpress-5-9-field-guide/">WordPress 5.9 Field Guide</a>.</p>



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



<h2 id="the-squad"><strong>The Squad</strong></h2>



<p>The WordPress 5.9 release was led by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/matt/">Matt Mullenweg</a>, and supported by this highly enthusiastic release squad:</p>



<ul><li>Release Lead: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/matt/">Matt Mullenweg</a></li><li>Core Tech and Release Coordinator: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/">Tonya Mork</a></li><li>Triage Leads: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/">Jb Audras</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaion07/">Ahmed Chaion</a></li><li>Editor Tech: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/noisysocks/">Robert Anderson</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mamaduka/">George Mamadashvili</a></li><li>Theme Leads: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/">Kjell Reigstad</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jffng/">Jeff Ong</a></li><li>Technical Writer: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/">Jonathan Bossenger</a></li><li>Documentation Leads: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/">Marcus Kazmierczak</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/milana_cap/">Milana Cap</a></li><li>Marketing &amp; Communications Leads: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/">Mary Baum</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/">Abha Thakor</a>, and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">Josepha Haden Chomphosy</a></li><li>Test Leads: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/boniu91/">Piotrek Boniu</a> and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/">Anne McCarthy</a></li></ul>



<p>WordPress 5.9 also reflects the hard work of 624 generous volunteer contributors. Collaboration occurred on <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&milestone=5.9&group=component&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=milestone&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&order=priority">370 tickets on Trac</a> and more than <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/compare/v10.8.0...v11.9.0">1900 pull requests on GitHub</a>.</p>


<p><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/2linctools/">2linctools</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aaroncampbell/">Aaron D. Campbell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorbin/">Aaron Jorbin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aaronrobertshaw/">Aaron Robertshaw</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/abesell132/">abesell132</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/">Abha Thakor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/acosmin/">acosmin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpmudev-support8/">Adam - WPMU DEV Support</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bosconiandynamics/">Adam Bosco</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/adam3128/">Adam Morgan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamsilverstein/">Adam Silverstein</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zieladam/">Adam Zielinski</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/addiestavlo/">Addie</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aadilali/">Adil Ali</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aduth/">aduth</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aezazshekh/">Aezaz Shekh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chaion07/">Ahmed Chaion</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajotka/">ajotka</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/soniakash/">Akash Soni</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/atachibana/">Akira Tachibana</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/schlessera/">Alain Schlesser</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alanjacobmathew/">Alan Jacob Mathew</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/xknown/">Alex Concha</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajlende/">Alex Lende</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alexvorn2/">Alexandru Vornicescu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alexeydemidov/">alexeydemidov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alexislloyd/">Alexis Lloyd</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alexstine/">alexstine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/algala/">AlGala</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/firewatch/">allilevine</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/almendron/">almendron</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/amandariu/">Amanda Riu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/anandau14/">Anand Upadhyay</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nosolosw/">Andr&#233;</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/afercia/">Andrea Fercia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/andraganescu/">Andrei Draganescu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nacin/">Andrew Nacin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/anevins/">Andrew Nevins</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/azaozz/">Andrew Ozz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/andrewserong/">Andrew Serong</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oandregal/">André</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/afragen/">Andy Fragen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/apeatling/">Andy Peatling</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/andy-schmidt/">Andy Schmidt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/andynick/">andynick</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/la-geek/">Angelika Reisiger</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/anjanavasan/">Anjana Vasan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ankit-k-gupta/">Ankit K Gupta</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ankitmaru/">Ankit Panchal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/">Anne McCarthy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/antpb/">Anthony Burchell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/anthonyeden/">Anthony Eden</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/paranoia1906/">Anthony Ledesma</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/antonvlasenko/">Anton Vlasenko</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/antonisme/">Antonis Lilis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/arena/">arena</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aristath/">Ari Stathopoulos</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/arthur791004/">Arthur Chu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ashfame/">Ashfame</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ayeshrajans/">Ayesh Karunaratne</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/baelx/">baelx</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/allerune/">Bartlomiej</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beafialho/">Beatriz Fialho</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/beaulebens/">Beau Lebens</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bedas/">Beda</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/scruffian/">Ben Dwyer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/utz119/">Benachi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/benitolopez/">benitolopez</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rainbowgeek/">Benjamin Denis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/benjamingosset/">Benjamin Gosset</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/benjaminanakena/">benjamin.anakena</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bernhard-reiter/">Bernhard Reiter</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bgardner/">bgardner</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bijayyadav/">Bijay Yadav</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/binarykitten/">BinaryKitten</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/birgire/">Birgir Erlendsson (birgire)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bph/">Birgit Pauli-Haack</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bobbingwide/">bobbingwide</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/boonebgorges/">Boone Gorges</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bjorsch/">Brad Jorsch</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bradparbs/">Brad Parbs</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bradleyt/">Bradley Taylor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kraftbj/">Brandon Kraft</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bravokeyl/">bravokeyl</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bgoewert/">Brennan Goewert</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rzen/">Brian Richards</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bronsonquick/">bronsonquick</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ribaricplusplus/">Bruno Ribaric</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/brylie/">Brylie Christopher Oxley</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/icaleb/">Caleb Burks</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/calebwoodbridge/">calebwoodbridge</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/carepsules/">carepsules</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/carike/">Carike</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbravobernal/">Carlos Bravo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/carlosgprim/">Carlos Garcia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/">Carolina Nymark</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cdyerkes/">cdyerkes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ceyhun0/">Ceyhun Ozugur</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/shireling/">Chad Chadbourne</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chiaki/">Chiaki</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chintan1896/">Chintan hingrajiya</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chipsnyder/">Chip Snyder</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cbringmann/">Chloe Bringmann</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chouby/">Chouby</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cklosows/">Chris Klosowski</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chrisvanpatten/">Chris Van Patten</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chriscct7/">chriscct7</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/christianztamayo/">Christian Tamayo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/amethystanswers/">Christina Workman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vimes1984/">Christopher Churchill</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/clucasrowlands/">clucasrowlands</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/">Colin Stewart</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/callye/">Collieth Clarke</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/collizo4sky/">Collins Agbonghama</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/copons/">Copons</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/coreyw/">Corey</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cr0ybot/">Cory Hughart</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/courane01/">Courtney Robertson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/craigfrancis/">craigfrancis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mitogh/">Crisoforo Gaspar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/critterverse/">critterverse</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/littlebigthing/">Csaba (LittleBigThings)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidszabo/">D&#225;vid Szab&#243;</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/daisyo/">Daisy Olsen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/colorful-tones/">Damon Cook</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/danfarrow/">Dan Farrow</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dansoschin/">Dan Soschin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/danielbachhuber/">Daniel Bachhuber</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/danielpost/">Daniel Post</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/talldanwp/">Daniel Richards</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chthnc/">Daniel Shaw</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/danieldudzic/">danieldudzic</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mte90/">Daniele Scasciafratte</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/darerodz/">darerodz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dariak/">Daria</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/daschmi/">Daschmi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/datagutten/">datagutten</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/datainterlock/">datainterlock</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davecpage/">Dave Page</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidanderson/">David Anderson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/">David Baumwald</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbinda/">David Biňovec</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dpcalhoun/">David Calhoun</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dgwyer/">David Gwyer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dlh/">David Herrera</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidkryzaniak/">David Kryzaniak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidmosterd/">David Mosterd</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/daviedr/">David Rozando</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dryanpress/">David Ryan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/get_dave/">David Smith</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidwebca/">davidwebca</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/devutpol/">Deb Nath Utpol</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dkarfa/">Debabrata Karfa</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/deepaklalwani/">Deepak Lalwani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/denisco/">Denis Yanchevskiy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dingo_d/">Denis Žoljom</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dmsnell/">Dennis Snell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dhanendran/">Dhanendran</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dhusakovic/">dhusakovic</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/diedeexterkate/">DiedeExterkate</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dilipbheda/">Dilip Bheda</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32/">Dion Hulse</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dlt101/">dlt101</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ocean90/">Dominik Schilling</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/donmhico/">donmhico</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/codezen8/">Donna Botti</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dontgo2sleep/">dontgo2sleep</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dougwollison/">Doug Wollison</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dpegasusm/">dpegasusm</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/raubvogel/">Dr. Ronny Harbich</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dratwas/">dratwas</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/drewapicture/">Drew Jaynes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/drosmog/">drosmog</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dustinrue/">dustinrue</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/seedsca/">ecotechie</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ehtis/">ehtis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ekojr/">EkoJR</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ellatrix/">Ella van Durpe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/manooweb/">Emmanuel Hesry</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/empatogen/">empatogen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/enchiridion/">Enchiridion</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/enej/">Enej Bajgorić</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nrqsnchz/">Enrique S&#225;nchez</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/erayalakese/">erayalakese</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/teachlynx/">Eric Malalel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ethitter/">Erick Hitter</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kebbet/">Erik</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/etoledo/">etoledo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/circlecube/">Evan Mullins</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fabiankaegy/">Fabian K&#228;gy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gaambo/">Fabian Todt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/faisal03/">Faisal Alvi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fedepia/">fedepia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/felipeelia/">Felipe Elia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/felipeloureirosantos/">Felipe Santos</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/flixos90/">Felix Arntz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mista-flo/">Florian TIAR</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fpcsjames/">FPCSJames</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/piewp/">fperdaan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/francina/">Francesca Marano</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fcolombo/">Francesco</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/galbaras/">Gal Baras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/garrett-eclipse/">Garrett Hyder</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/garyj/">Gary Jones</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pento/">Gary Pendergast</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gazchap/">gazchap</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/generosus/">generosus</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/soulseekah/">Gennady Kovshenin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/revgeorge/">George Hotelling</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mamaduka/">George Mamadashvili</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/georgestephanis/">George Stephanis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/geriux/">Gerardo Pacheco</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gilbitron/">Gilbert Pellegrom</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/glendaviesnz/">Glen Davies</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/goldsounds/">goldsounds</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gkloveweb/">Govind</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/grantmkin/">Grant M. Kinney</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gregrickaby/">Greg Rickaby</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gziolo/">Greg Zi&#243;łkowski</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/guillaumeturpin/">Guillaume TURPIN</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/priethor/">H&#233;ctor Prieto</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hansjovisyoast/">Hans-Christiaan Braun</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/haosun/">haosun</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hareesh-pillai/">Hareesh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hasanuzzamanshamim/">Hasanuzzaman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/azhiyadev/">Hauwa Abashiya</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hazdiego/">Haz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/henrywright/">Henry Wright</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/herbmiller/">herbmiller</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hermpheus/">Herm Martini</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/herregroen/">Herre Groen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hilayt24/">Hilay Trivedi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hirofumi2012/">hirofumi2012</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hitendra-chopda/">Hitendra Chopda</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/h71/">Hossein Farahani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/htmgarcia/">htmgarcia</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hudson-atwell/">Hudson Atwell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hlashbrooke/">Hugh Lashbrooke</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hugod/">hugod</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/iandunn/">Ian Dunn</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ianhayes94/">ianhayes94</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ianmjones/">ianmjones</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ignatggeorgiev/">Ignat Georgiev</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ibenic/">Igor Benic</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ilovecats7/">ilovecats7</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/infected/">infected</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ipstenu/">Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/iluy/">Isaac</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/isabel_brison/">Isabel Brison</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ismaeld/">ismaeld</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jdgrimes/">J.D. Grimes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jackreichert/">Jack Reichert</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/whyisjake/">Jake Spurlock</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jakubtyrcha/">jakub.tyrcha</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mcjambi/">Jam Viet</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/macmanx/">James Huff</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jameskoster/">James Koster</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/janthiel/">Jan Thiel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/janwoostendorp/">janw.oostendorp</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jsnjohnston/">Jason Johnston</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/evermail/">Jason R. Johnston</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/javiarce/">Javier Arce</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/javiercasares/">Javier Casares</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jayupadhyay01/">Jay Upadhyay</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/">Jean-Baptiste Audras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/teucrium/">Jean-Philippe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jblz/">Jeff Bowen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jffng/">Jeff Ong</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffpaul/">Jeffrey Paul</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jdy68/">Jenny Dupuy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremyfelt/">Jeremy Felt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeherve/">Jeremy Herve</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremyescott/">Jeremy Scott</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremyyip/">Jeremy Yip</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/amieiro/">Jes&#250;s Amieiro</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/engelen/">Jesper van Engelen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/luminuu/">Jessica Lyschik</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jigneshnakrani/">Jignesh Nakrani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joedolson/">Joe Dolson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joemcgill/">Joe McGill</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joegasper/">joegasper</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joelcj91/">Joel James</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joen/">Joen Asmussen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnbillion/">John Blackbourn</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnillo/">John Espiritu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnny5/">John Godley</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnjamesjacoby/">John James Jacoby</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zenithcity/">john zenith</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lwangaman/">JohnRDOrazio (CLPTE)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/psykro/">Jonathan Bossenger</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/spacedmonkey/">Jonny Harris</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonoaldersonwp/">Jono Alderson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joostdevalk/">Joost de Valk</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorgefilipecosta/">Jorge Costa</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/josklever/">Jos Klever</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/josephdickson/">Joseph Dickson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/">Josepha Haden</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joyously/">Joy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jsnajdr/">jsnajdr</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/juanruitina/">Juan Ruiti&#241;a</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/juanmaguitar/">JuanMa Garrido</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/juhise/">Juhi Saxena</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jrf/">Juliette Reinders Folmer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/junaidbhura/">Junaid Bhura</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nukaga/">Junko Nukaga</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/justinahinon/">Justin Ahinon</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/justindocanto/">Justin DoCanto</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/greenshady/">Justin Tadlock</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kadamwhite/">K. Adam White</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kafleg/">KafleG</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kevin940726/">Kai Hao</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kallookoo/">kallookoo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/akabarikalpesh/">Kalpesh Akabari</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kaneva/">kaneva</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kapilpaul/">Kapil Paul</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryelle/">Kelly Choyce-Dwan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kellychoffman/">Kelly Hoffman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/keoshi/">keoshi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sourav926/">Keramot UL Islam</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kingkero/">kero</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gwwar/">Kerry Liu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kevinfodness/">Kevin Fodness</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/keyur5/">keyur5</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kharisblank/">Kharis Sulistiyono</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kjellr/">Kjell Reigstad</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/knutsp/">Knut Sparhell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vdwijngaert/">Koen Van den Wijngaert</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/obenland/">Konstantin Obenland</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/xkon/">Konstantinos Xenos</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kurudrive/">kurudrive</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kwisatz/">kwisatz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/devnel/">Kyle Nel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/kzeni/">KZeni</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lalitjalandhar/">lalitjalandhar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/laurelfulford/">laurelfulford</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/laxman-prajapati/">Laxman Prajapati</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/leemon/">leemon</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/leogermani/">leogermani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lgladdy/">Liam Gladdy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/liammitchell/">liammitchell</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rudlinkon/">Linkon Miyan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/linux4me2/">linux4me2</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webaxones/">Lo&#239;c Antignac</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/loranrendel/">Loran A. Rendel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/karpstrucking/">Lucas Karpiuk</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lucasw89/">lucasw89</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lucatume/">lucatume</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zaguiini/">Luis Felipe Zaguini</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecarbis/">Luke Carbis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecavanagh/">Luke Cavanagh</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/luovalabs/">luovalabs</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/lynk/">lynk</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/asif2bd/">M Asif Rahman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/gorby31/">Madalin Gorbanescu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/aetherunbound/">Madison</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/onemaggie/">Maggie Cabrera</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mai21/">Mai</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/malae/">Malae</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/malthert/">malthert</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/manfcarlo/">manfcarlo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/manishamakhija/">Manisha Makhija</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/manzoorwanijk/">Manzoor Wani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fullofcaffeine/">Marcelo de Moraes Serpa</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mciampini/">Marco Ciampini</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkaz/">Marcus Kazmierczak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marekhrabe/">Marek Hrabe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tyxla/">Marin Atanasov</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/clorith/">Marius L. J.</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mark-k/">Mark-k</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/">Mary Baum</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wetah/">Mateus Machado Luna</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/matveb/">Matias Ventura</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mhuntdesign/">Matt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mattchowning/">Matt Chowning</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/matt/">Matt Mullenweg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mattwiebe/">Matt Wiebe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mattoakley/">mattoakley</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wppunk/">Max</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/max-dayala/">MaxD</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/maximeculea/">Maxime Culea</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mclaurent/">mclaurent</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/medusor/">MEDUSOR</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/megphillips91/">Meg Phillips</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/">Meher Bala</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/melchoyce/">Mel Choyce-Dwan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mgol/">mgol</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpscholar/">Micah Wood</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdawaffe/">Michael Adams (mdawaffe)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tw2113/">Michael Beckwith</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mburridge/">Michael Burridge</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mnelson4/">Michael Nelson</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/czapla/">Michal Czaplinski</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelwppi/">Michel - xiligroup dev</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mcsf/">Miguel Fonseca</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikaelmayer/">mikaelmayer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikejolley/">Mike Jolley (a11n)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikeschroder/">Mike Schroder</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dimadin/">Milan Dinić</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/milana_cap/">Milana Cap</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/multidots1896/">Minal Diwan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/0mirka00/">mirka</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mjaschen/">mjaschen</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mjulian7/">mjulian7</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mmxxi/">mmxxi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/moch11/">moch11</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/opurockey/">Mohammad Rockeybul Alam</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/monikarao/">Monika Rao</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mt8biz/">moto hachi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/computerguru/">mqudsi</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mreishus/">mreishus</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mrjoeldean/">mrjoeldean</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mtoensing/">mtoensing</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wparslan/">Muhammad Arslan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/muhammadfaizanhaidar/">Muhammad Faizan Haidar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mukesh27/">Mukesh Panchal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/musabshakeel/">Musab Shakeel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/amustaque97/">Mustaque Ahmed</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/assassinateur/">Nadir Seghir</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nalininonstopnewsuk/">Nalini Thakor</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/namithjawahar/">Namith Jawahar</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nao/">Naoko Takano</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/natewr/">NateWr</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/greatislander/">Ned Zimmerman</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nettsite/">NettSite</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/eidolonnight/">Nicholas Garofalo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ndiego/">Nick Diego</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/celloexpressions/">Nick Halsey</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nickcernis/">nickcernis</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nico23/">Nico</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jainnidhi/">Nidhi Jain</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nielslange/">Niels Lange</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ntsekouras/">Nik Tsekouras</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nikschavan/">Nikhil Chavan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nlpro/">nlpro</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ockham/">ockham</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/oglekler/">Olga Gleckler</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/domainsupport/">Oliver Campion</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/alshakero/">Omar Alshaker</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/omarreiss/">Omar Reiss</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/opr18/">opr18</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ellenbauer/">Outzen Larkin</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ov3rfly/">Ov3rfly</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ovann86/">ovann86</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ovidiul/">ovidiul</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/paaljoachim/">Paal Joachim Romdahl</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pablohoneyhoney/">Pablo Honey</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/iaaxpage/">page-carbajal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/palmiak/">palmiak</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/pankajmohale/">Pankaj Mohale</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/">Pascal Birchler</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/patrick-b/">Patrick Boehner</a>, <a 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href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/welcher/">Ryan Welcher</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/skierpage/">S Page</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sebastienserre/">S&#233;bastien SERRE</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/soean/">S&#246;ren Wrede</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sabbirshouvo/">Sabbir Hasan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sabrib/">Sabri Bouchaala</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zeo/">Safirul Alredha</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/solarissmoke/">Samir Shah</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/otto42/">Samuel Wood (Otto)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sandipmondal/">Sandip Mondal - a11n</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sanketchodavadiya/">Sanket Chodavadiya</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mikachan/">Sarah Norris</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sarayourfriend/">sarayourfriend</a>, <a 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href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/shohag121/">Shazahanul Islam Shohag</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/shimon246/">shimon246</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/shital-patel/">Shital Marakana</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/shivapoudel/">Shiva Poudel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/rsiddharth/">siddharth</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/nomnom99/">Siddharth Thevaril</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/siliconforks/">siliconforks</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/simonhammes/">simonhammes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/siobhan/">Siobhan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/siobhyb/">Siobhan</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sirreal/">sirreal</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sjlevy/">sjlevy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/skunkbad/">skunkbad</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/smit08/">Smit Rathod</a>, <a 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href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/cybr/">Sybre Waaijer</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/synchro/">Synchro</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/szaqal21/">szaqal21</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tacoverdo/">Taco Verdonschot</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/takahashi_fumiki/">Takahashi Fumiki</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/karmatosed/">Tammie Lister</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sparklingrobots/">Tara King</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tareiking/">Tarei King</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tellyworth/">Tellyworth</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/terraling/">terraling</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/terriann/">Terri Ann</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wildworks/">Tetsuaki Hamano</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/themiked/">theMikeD</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tweetythierry/">Thierry Muller</a>, <a 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G</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ttahmouch/">Tony Tahmouch</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/">Tonya Mork</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/toro_unit/">Toro_Unit (Hiroshi Urabe)</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zodiac1978/">Torsten Landsiedel</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/sierratr/">Tracy</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/travisnorthcutt/">Travis Northcutt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tubys/">tubys</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dinhtungdu/">Tung Du</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/twstokes/">twstokes</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/desaiuditd/">Udit Desai</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/umesh84/">umesh84</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webulous/">Venkat Raj</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/versusbassz/">versusbassz</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bartoszgrzesik/">verybg</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vcanales/">Vicente Canales</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/szepeviktor/">Viktor Sz&#233;pe</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vishitshah/">Vishit Shah</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vladytimy/">Vlad T</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vondelphia/">Vondelphia.com</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vortfu/">vortfu</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wb1234/">wb1234</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webmandesign/">WebMan Design &#124; Oliver Juhas</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/west7/">Wes Theron</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/westonruter/">Weston Ruter</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wfmattr/">WFMattR</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/skorasaurus/">Will Skora</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/earnjam/">William Earnhardt</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/williampatton/">williampatton</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wojsmol/">wojsmol</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/woodyhayday/">woodyhayday</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wp_kc/">wp_kc</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpnomad/">wpnomad a11n</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpweaver/">wpweaver</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yagniksangani/">Yagnik Sangani</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fierevere/">Yui</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/yvettesonneveld/">Yvette Sonneveld</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zebulan/">Zebulan Stanphill</a>, and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/zoiec/">zoiec</a>.</p>



<p>By release day, 71 locales had translated 90 percent or more of WordPress 5.9 in their language. Community translators are hard at work ensuring more translations are on their way. Thank you to everyone who helps to make WordPress available in 205 languages.</p>



<p>Many thanks to all of the community volunteers who contribute in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/">support forums</a>. They help to answer questions from people across the world. The success of releases, from the first one in 2003, owes much to the efforts of the support contributors.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>If contributing to WordPress appeals to you, it’s easy to learn more and get involved. Discover the different teams that come together to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/">Make WordPress</a> website and find out the latest plans on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/">core development blog</a>.</em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 25 Jan 2022 16:17:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Matt Mullenweg";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:49;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"WPTavern: WordPress.org Gets New Global Header and Footer 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:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"https://wptavern.com/?p=128824";s: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:75:"https://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-gets-new-global-header-and-footer-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:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5296:"<p class="has-drop-cap">If you happened to be browsing <a href="https://wordpress.org/">WordPress.org</a> on Sunday, you might have been in for a shock. The website got a bit of an upgrade. A partial one, at least, as developers implemented a new <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/wporg-mu-plugins/issues/38">global header and footer across the site</a>. This is the first stage of a longer-term overhaul of the site&#8217;s front end.</p>



<img />Global header and footer sections on WordPress.org.



<p>Not everyone was ecstatic about the change, and there were at least some mobile-related issues. Some visitors could not close an open nav menu when browsing with mobile Safari, but that issue has <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/wporg-mu-plugins/issues/110">since been addressed</a>.</p>



<p>Others, such as Support Team rep Steve Stern were concerned about the rollout. &#8220;It bothers me that changes like this are made with no notification,&#8221; he said over WordPress Slack in the #meta channel. &#8220;Yes, it&#8217;s on GH, but really, if you&#8217;re going to change the look/feel of support pages, it might be nice to drop a note in a place where the support team lives (or at least notify the team rep via DM or some Slack message). I can&#8217;t patrol forum messages, Slack, and things hidden in a repo about mu-plugins.&#8221;</p>



<p>His criticism of keeping track of things is fair. Aside from the Slack app, I have 15 browser tabs open that are somewhat related to this story. WordPress has always seemed to have this problem, and you have to be in it neck-deep to keep up with the channels where everything is happening, lest you be surprised with an update like this one.</p>



<p>Some people noticed the growing list of links in the navigation menu. It now displays 12 top-level items. Previously, it had 10, but links for <a href="https://wordpress.org/patterns/">Patterns</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.org/openverse/">Openverse</a> were added.</p>



<p>&#8220;We need a structure,&#8221; said Dennis Žoljom in the Slack #meta channel. &#8220;Not everything can be a top-level menu, that just doesn&#8217;t make any sense. If everything is an important piece of information, then nothing is important. Somebody should get the analytics on what page is most visited and those should be left, and the other parts should be categorized in dropdown menus or placed in the footer.&#8221;</p>



<p>Dion Hulse noted that this is merely Phase 1 of an ongoing design project. There is more to come.</p>



<p>&#8220;So understandable for it to feel odd,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But it&#8217;s one part of a lot of design work that the design teams have been up to.&#8221;</p>



<p>I am a fan of the sharper and cleaner look of the new header and footer. I just have one complaint. The header is sticky, staying attached to the top of the site as readers scroll down the page.</p>



<p>I know it is a personal hangup, but large sticky headers feel like walls are closing in on me as I scroll the page. It can get bad enough that I have trouble breathing. I have written about this in the past while <a href="https://wptavern.com/rosa-2-restaurant-theme-provides-a-frustrating-and-satisfying-experience">reviewing a theme</a>. Do not worry about me, though. There is still a developer underneath this writer-like exterior and plenty of browser extensions for storing custom, per-site CSS. So, I am enjoying a sticky-free browsing experience.</p>



<p>WordPress.org actually has two sticky sections at the top of the page. The first is the standard WordPress toolbar, and the second is the new header. Together, they combine for about 135 pixels of valuable screen real estate.</p>



<p>With the design update, at least one inconsistency across the site is blaring. Not every page displays the toolbar.</p>




<img />Homepage with toolbar.



<img />News page without toolbar.




<p>The sticky header is more acceptable on the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/">News page</a>, but it does not display the toolbar. Snipping a few extra pixels off its top and bottom still would not hurt.</p>



<p>Speaking of the News page, it should be receiving a new coat of paint within the next week or so. Beatriz Fialho first <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/2021/06/03/redesign-of-wordpress-org-news/">introduced the proposed redesign</a> in June 2021.</p>



<img />



<p>The News page redesign has its own <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/wporg-news-2021">GitHub repository</a>. There is also a <a href="https://wordpress.org/news-test/">test site</a> and <a href="https://www.figma.com/file/O9I8Jl7kaUMTX39LlRGbGO/News-Page">Figma project</a> for people who want to visually browse it.</p>



<p>Hulse said that its update &#8220;will form the base for further rollout of the style and design to other sites.&#8221; In this instance, &#8220;sites&#8221; are the subsites across WordPress.org, such as the individual Make blogs.</p>



<p>I have been looking forward to the fresh style. The News section has always felt like an afterthought, especially when compared to the rest of the site.</p>



<p>I am eager to see more parts of WordPress.org updated. The design was getting a bit stale. What do you think of the progress so far?</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, 25 Jan 2022 01:36:01 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:"type";i:128;s:7:"headers";O:42:"Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary":1:{s:7:"*data";a:8:{s:6:"server";s:5:"nginx";s:4:"date";s:29:"Fri, 11 Feb 2022 05:12:14 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Fri, 11 Feb 2022 05:00:08 GMT";s:15:"x-frame-options";s:10:"SAMEORIGIN";s:4:"x-nc";s:9:"HIT ord 1";s:16:"content-encoding";s:4:"gzip";}}s:5:"build";s:14:"20211220193300";}