Gutenberg 0.6.0 was released over the weekend with significant changes to the way paragraphs are created within text blocks. In previous versions of the plugin, pressing enter would create a line break inside a paragraph. This release modifies the behavior of the text/paragraph block to split the block when a user presses enter. (Line breaks…
When WordPress 4.8 was released last month, it introduced TinyMCE functionality to the Text widget. Unfortunately, this caused issues for those who use Custom HTML as the Visual editor often strips out portions of the code. WordPress 4.8.1 Beta 1 is available for testing and addresses this problem by including a dedicated Custom HTML widget. “For advanced…
Contributing to WordPress or other open source projects can be intimidating for first-time contributors. Sometimes, all you need is a helping hand to overcome fear, intimidation, or other barriers. In 2013, with the help of Konstantin Obenland, a WordPress core developer, I overcame my fear and contributed my first patch to WordPress. This is one of…
Gutenberg is still in beta but developers are already getting ready for creating their own custom blocks. Over the weekend Ahmad Awais released a new project called Gutenberg Boilerplate For Third-Party Custom Blocks. Awais’ introductory post includes a rundown of his thoughts on the current pros and cons of developing for the Gutenberg project. Although…
Another round of Gutenberg updates was released today. Last weekend brought version 0.4.0, which didn’t have too many noteworthy visible changes on the frontend but introduced an API for handling pasted content. Gutenberg developers are aiming to have specific handling for converting pasted content from applications like Word, Markdown, and Google Docs to native WordPress…
The new Gutenberg editor has an open ticket for allowing users to sort blocks via drag and drop. Blocks can currently be sorted with up and down arrows located to the left of the content but the beta only allows for single-column stacking. One of the goals for Gutenberg is to provide “a page building…
Gutenberg development is marching ahead with version 0.3.0 released today. New releases are shipping out on a weekly basis, so testers will get to discover another round of new additions after updating to the latest. The changelog has a full list of the 50 additions and improvements included in this release, but here’s a quick…
Testing Gutenberg Outside of the WordPress' Developer Community is Critical to Its Success
The Gutenberg plugin is moving fast with version 0.2.0 now available. This is the first release since the plugin was added to the directory last week. It includes two new block types, along with other new features, improvements, and fixes for many bugs that previously severely impaired the editor’s usability. A new Custom HTML block…
Matt Mullenweg, the overall product lead for core releases in 2017, has published an overview for what users can expect in WordPress versions 4.9 and 5.0. After the success of 4.8 and the initial release of Gutenberg last week, Mullenweg is aiming to see the plugin installed on 100K+ sites during the next few months…
One of the featured sessions at WordCamp Europe 2017 was Om Malik’s interview with Matt Mullenweg, followed by a 20-minute Q&A from the audience. After showing a preview of the new Gutenberg editor with dynamic blocks replacing widgets, Mullenweg announced that it is now available as a plugin on WordPress.org. Gutenberg has been in development…
WordPress’ Marketing Team has launched a set of surveys to gather case studies and usage data from agencies, clients, and enterprises, with the goal of providing more resources for adoption. The Usage Survey was created to capture feedback on the factors that influenced an organization to select WordPress as well as any barriers to using…
Last week WordPress core contributors narrowed their considerations for a new JavaScript framework to React and Vue. As the core team has more collective knowledge of working with React, they have reached out to developers with different experiences of using other frameworks in a WordPress context. One of the chief concerns contributors have regarding Vue…
WordPress core contributors met this morning to continue the discussion on selecting a new JavaScript framework for use with new core features. The discussion on the Make/Core post intensified over the weekend with more Vue.js proponents commenting to add their thoughts. Adam Silverstein and Andrew Duthie facilitated this morning’s meeting and began by opening up…
Before the release of PHP 7 in 2015, many WordPress managed hosting companies looked to Facebook’s HHVM to provide better performance. Pagely, WP Engine, and SiteGround added HHVM hosting options in 2014 and early 2015. However, PHP 7 performance gains have been enough to preclude wider HHVM adoption. WordPress core developer John Blackbourn announced yesterday…