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




















































";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"WordPress Planet";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"language";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"en";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"WordPress Planet - http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"item";a:50:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:110:"WPTavern: WordPress Trainer Morten Rand-Hendriksen on Common Pain Points, Roadblocks, and Advice for New Users";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43952";s: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:118:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-trainer-morten-rand-hendriksen-on-common-pain-points-roadblocks-and-advice-for-new-users";s: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:9380:"<p>The WordPress community is filled with resources to learn about WordPress but finding them can be difficult. WordPress is developed around the clock and locating material that keeps pace can also be a challenge.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lynda.com/">Lynda.com</a> is an online learning center devoted to teaching topics such as, business, technology, design, and photography. For more than five years, <a href="http://mor10.com/">Morten Rand-Hendriksen</a> has taught and maintained the <i><a href="http://www.lynda.com/WordPress-tutorials/WordPress-Essential-Training/154417-2.html">WordPress Essential Training</a></i> course on Lynda.com. The course has been viewed by more than 100,000 individuals and to celebrate, Lynda.com is making it<a href="http://www.lynda.com/articles/wordpress-training-100000-views"> available for free</a> for one month.</p>
<p>By maintaining a WordPress training course, Hendriksen is in a unique position to see trends. He&#8217;s also had to keep up with and monitor the vast changes to WordPress that have occurred in the last five years. In the following short interview, Hendriksen describes common pain points users experience with WordPress and shares advice for new users.</p>
<h2>Short Interview with Hendriksen</h2>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/wordpress-swag.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-17801" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/wordpress-swag.jpg?resize=1024%2C441" alt="photo credit: Huasonic - cc" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/huasonic/3008912290/">Huasonic</a> &#8211; <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>
<p><strong>Which aspects of WordPress do users have the most trouble with?</strong></p>
<p>Based on course feedback and a myriad of emails and questions on Twitter, the hangups people encounter when using WordPress fall into three main categories:</p>
<ol>
<li>Installation and migration</li>
<li>User interface and feature changes</li>
<li>Theme and plugin inconsistencies</li>
</ol>
<h3>Installation and Migration</h3>
<p>More and more users create local installs to experiment before launching their sites, and they&#8217;re creating quite advanced sites on their local computers. When it comes time to migrate these sites, they often get stuck.</p>
<p>I think this is partially due to lack of official and understandable documentation about migration, and partially because the general level of technical know-how necessary to build a local install is decreasing. Thanks to tools like MAMP/WAMP, BitNami, and ServerPress, more advanced skills like migration and external hosting become bigger steps up than they were previously.</p>
<h3><strong>User Interface and Feature Changes</strong></h3>
<p>As WordPress evolves, user interface changes are fairly common but in most cases, they are left unaddressed in release documentation. Recent examples include the removal of <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/major-problems-with-image-editing-in-wp-39?replies=12">Advanced Image Options</a> and <a href="http://wptavern.com/how-to-restore-the-link-title-attribute-removed-in-wordpress-4-2">Link Title</a> from the editor modals. When changes like these are encountered by existing users, their first response is to assume they are doing something wrong or there is something wrong with their install.</p>
<p>In my opinion, this is justifiable: In other software and in most other situations in the physical world, when a feature is removed or altered in such a way it is not easily found, this change is clearly addressed.</p>
<p>In WordPress, it is usually only the large feature changes that are explained while the smaller ones are left for the user to discover on their own. When these features are part of the user&#8217;s workflow, that becomes a problem. This is further exacerbated when meta-conversations in the advanced community go public providing confusing and often contradictory information for new users.</p>
<h3><strong>Theme and Plugin Inconsistencies</strong></h3>
<p>The final grouping is the most obvious one. As the theme and plugin landscape becomes more diversified, users often feel overwhelmed and confused about what solutions to choose and how to use them. A search for membership plugins, business themes, or booking calendars returns hundreds if not thousands of widely different solutions that often have little in common.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, you can find blog posts and lists claiming that pretty much every one of them is the best one and the rest are inferior copies. On top of that, more and more themes and plugins are released as freemium offerings or shells that lead the user to a third-party service.</p>
<p>All of this comes together to produce a confusing and frustrating user experience that leaves many users feeling like they are not smart enough to use the application or that they made a wrong choice in going with WordPress.</p>
<p>These are all issues that could be resolved by creating consistent user experiences and by theme and plugin developer communities becoming more mindful of what kind of experiences they provide for the user when they ship freemium solutions or third-party up-sells.</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WordPressRoadBlocks.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-44073" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WordPressRoadBlocks.png?resize=650%2C200" alt="WordPress Road Blocks" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23559988@N05/2931537231">Haven bridge road block</a> &#8211; <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license)</a>
<p><strong>Are there more roadblocks to overcome than there were five years ago?</strong></p>
<p>The answer to this question is both yes and no. WordPress has more roadblocks for the beginner, but for the more experienced user there are also more opportunities. I think one of the major challenges we are facing as a community is that WordPress is becoming too advanced for its core user base. The appeal of click-and-publish services like WIX and SquareSpace is that they do not require an in-depth understanding of the underpinnings of the application for it to work.</p>
<p>In striving to become a full-fledged CMS for advanced developers and large publications, <span class="pullquote alignleft">WordPress has let itself drift away from its core philosophy of democratizing publishing by adding the very level of complexity it originally aimed to remove.</span> Combined with the theme and plugin issues described above and a lack of modern tools that users expect such as, drag-and-drop design tools and front-end editing, I see new users respond the same way to WordPress today that they did to Drupal five years ago.</p>
<p>On the plus side, these roadblocks are more like speed bumps than fortified walls. With patience and access to well-crafted and easy to understand training materials, I stand by my claim that anyone, regardless of previous experience, can learn to build a great website with WordPress. What has changed is the level of complexity, both in use and in what you can produce.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WordPressAdviceForNewUsers.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-44085" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WordPressAdviceForNewUsers.png?resize=612%2C237" alt="WordPress Advice For New Users" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/99329675@N02/11064947983">What You Need To Know About Food Poisoning</a> &#8211; <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>
<p><strong>What advice do you have for those new to WordPress?</strong></p>
<p>My number one piece of advice for new and existing WordPress users is to always remember that WordPress is just a tool that makes it easy for you to put content in a database and your visitors to retrieve that content. When learning a new tool as technically advanced as WordPress, it is easy to get so caught up in the tool itself, that you forget what you wanted to do in the first place. Whatever your goals and intentions were when you picked up WordPress for the first time, make sure you remember them and keep working toward them.</p>
<p>When learning WordPress, whether you are teaching yourself, learning from books or videos, or going to class, remember that every person in the community, even <a href="http://nacin.com/">Andrew Nacin</a>, was at some point in time where you are now: <strong>Just trying to figure it all out</strong>. While every person&#8217;s path to learning is different, they all have one thing in common: <strong>They all learn from each other.</strong></p>
<p>So reach out online, in person, through Twitter, Facebook groups, Meetups, WordCamps, and beyond, and find like-minded people who want to learn with you or help you on your way. When you meet someone who is just starting out, help them get their footing and invite them into the community.</p>
<p>Finally, remember that WordPress is not an island. The web community is a rich ecosystem with many differing solutions based on the same core technology. Learning how the web works gives you the power to use WordPress to move beyond its borders and it&#8217;s beyond those borders where true magic is found.</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, 20 May 2015 19:21:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:1;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"WPTavern: WordPress.org is Testing International Theme and Plugin Directories";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=44068";s: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:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-is-testing-international-theme-and-plugin-directories";s: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:3751:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/flags.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/flags.jpg?resize=1020%2C500" alt="flags" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-16697" /></a></p>
<p>WordPress.org is making strides towards fully localizing the project&#8217;s official theme and plugin directories. Dion Hulse <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2015/05/20/hi-everyone-as-some-of-you-are-aware/" target="_blank">posted</a> this morning that he has enabled localized theme directories for all Rosetta sites. For example, the Romanian themes directory is available at: <a href="https://ro.wordpress.org/themes/" target="_blank">ro.wordpress.org/themes/</a>.</p>
<p>Theme filters, directory sub-navigation, info and download buttons, and other aspects of the details page are all translated. Description and titles are not yet translated, but Hulse says the plan is to add those in the near future.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/romanian-themes.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/romanian-themes.png?resize=1025%2C677" alt="romanian-themes" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-44080" /></a></p>
<p>Those who are interested in helping translate the interface for the localized theme directories are encouraged to visit the <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/meta/themes" target="_blank">meta translation project page</a>. The process for contributing is the same that is used with WordPress&#8217; other Rosetta translations.</p>
<p>Localized plugin directories are being actively tested at /plugins/ and the sites are also <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/meta/plugins" target="_blank">available for contributions from translators</a>. Check out <a href="https://ro.wordpress.org/plugins/" target="_blank">ro.wordpress.org/plugins/</a> to see the Romanian plugin directory as an example.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/romanian-plugins.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/romanian-plugins.png?resize=1025%2C685" alt="romanian-plugins" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-44079" /></a></p>
<p>As the localized theme and plugin directories are new, there are still a few missing pieces and likely a good number of bugs that will need to be resolved. You can help by reporting them on Hulse&#8217;s <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2015/05/20/hi-everyone-as-some-of-you-are-aware/" target="_blank">announcement</a> on the make.wordperss.org/polyglots blog or by opening a ticket on <a href="https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/newticket?component=Theme%20Directory" target="_blank">meta.trac</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://wptavern.com/matt-mullenwegs-state-of-the-word-highlights-internationalization-mobile-and-new-tools-for-wordpress-contributors" target="_blank">Matt Mullenweg&#8217;s 2014 State of the Word address</a>, he highlighted the importance of internationalization improvements for connecting and growing the global WordPress community. Localized directories for plugins and themes on WordPress.org are part of this larger effort and make the project&#8217;s website easier to navigate for non-English speaking users.</p>
<p>In the future, translation of WordPress&#8217; development handbooks, the codex, and other documentation could also play a large part towards inspiring international developers to make more extensions, products for the marketplace, and contributions back to the project. Growing WordPress&#8217; market share outside of English-speaking countries will be facilitated by having all basic WordPress resources available in other languages.</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, 20 May 2015 18:37:34 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"Post Status: Automattic has acquired WooThemes, makers of WooCommerce";s: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=12682";s: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:65:"https://poststatus.com/automattic-acquired-woocommerce-woothemes/";s: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:21325:"<p>This acquisition is an important milestone for <a href="https://automattic.com">Automattic</a>, validation for the bootstrapped <a href="http://woothemes.com">WooThemes</a>, and will be hugely impactful on the WordPress economy as a whole.</p>
<h3>The history of WooThemes and WooCommerce</h3>
<p>WooThemes <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/about/">was started</a> in 2008 as one of the first commercial WordPress theme shops. It quickly became popular and paved the way for hundreds of shops to follow in their footsteps.</p>
<p>With the leadership of Adii Pienaar and co-founders Mark Forrester and Magnus Jepson, WooThemes did a ton of interesting things over the years, and dominated the market with a handful of other shops. They <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/2011/09/woocommerce-has-arrived/">launched WooCommerce in September 2011</a>, in the middle of the commercial theme heyday.</p>
<p>WooCommerce&#8217;s origins are a hot mess and a long story. WooThemes worked for a long time to develop, with partners, their own eCommerce solution. After numerous failed attempts and false starts, they hired <a href="http://mikejolley.com/">Mike Jolley</a> and <a href="http://jameskoster.co.uk/">Jay Koster</a> full time, and forked JigoShop after acquisition negotiations broke down. Jigoshop is a product that Mike and Jay built as freelancers for JigoWatt, but has since been sold off to another consulting company.</p>
<p>Mike and Jay were, and are, the heart of that eCommerce plugin &#8212; the one we know today as WooCommerce. Under their stewardship, and dozens of other full time and part time contributors &#8212; mixed in with outstanding marketing, perfect timing, and a lack of modern competition &#8212; WooCommerce took the WordPress world by storm.</p>
<p>They pioneered the extension model for paid add-ons. They put all doubters to rest over and over again. They made mistakes. But they kept at it, kept working, kept making it better. And soon enough, they took the eCommerce world by storm too.</p>
<p>In a short period of four years, WooCommerce has gone from a struggling concept, to a fork, to a remarkable open source commercial software success story.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve had the privilege of following WooThemes since around the time they started, and have gotten to know the project and their team even more closely since the very early days of WooCommerce&#8217;s launch. In this post, I bring my analysis of the company based on those years of my watching them grow and interacting with them, and hope to share what the acquisition by Automattic may mean for the future.</p>
<h3>Why WooCommerce is attractive</h3>
<p>On the surface, it may seem to many that Automattic was the obvious choice to acquire WooCommerce.</p>
<p>After all, they need eCommerce support for <a href="https://wordpress.com">WordPress.com</a>. As Matt Mullenweg shared with me, they, &#8220;have a ton of demand,&#8221; for eCommerce from WordPress.com users. Acquiring WooCommerce gives Automattic access to the largest single group of eCommerce stores in the world.</p>
<h4>One of many options</h4>
<p>But Mark Forrester and Magnus Jepson &#8212; co-founders and owners of WooThemes &#8212; could have gone many other routes.</p>
<p>WooCommerce is big enough, and has enough brand power, to have attracted significant venture capital investments, as well as suitors from well outside the WordPress space &#8212; suitors like MasterCard, eBay/Paypal, Amazon, or Yahoo.</p>
<p>There are 1.2+ million active installs of WooCommerce. They have a nearly <a href="http://trends.builtwith.com/shop">20% eCommerce marketshare</a> of the top one million websites, and over 24% eCommerce marketshare of all websites.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12685" src="https://poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/woocommerce-builtwith-top-million.png" alt="woocommerce-builtwith-top-million" width="631" height="499" /></p>
<p>The plugin has had rapid growth over its short four year existence, making it a ripe target for the right buyer.</p>
<h4>A natural fit</h4>
<p>WooCommerce&#8217;s popularity has largely been due to the fact that it&#8217;s available on WordPress. WordPress makes WooCommerce an attractive choice for websites that need bolt-on eCommerce.</p>
<p>One of WooCommerce&#8217;s greatest opportunities for growth is for customers that are eCommerce first, other-parts-of-the-website second. It&#8217;s gaining ground quickly as both WooCommerce and WordPress gain further respect for usage on websites of all sizes and scopes.</p>
<p>All of these factors make WooCommerce an attractive choice for Automattic. Automattic&#8217;s team knows, understands, and contributes greatly to the WordPress project. A shared reliance on WordPress core makes a WooCommerce and WordPress.com integration simpler. And 55 talented, eCommerce focused employees makes for an inviting addition to Automattic&#8217;s relatively small workforce.</p>
<h3>18% growth in Automattic employees</h3>
<p>Bringing 55 new people on at once swells Automattic&#8217;s ranks by around 18%, bringing them to over 360 people. Recruiting is not easy. This gain of talented people, in a single fell swoop, should not be underestimated.</p>
<p>But there may be some challenges integrating the two teams. This is, by far, the most people brought under the Automattic umbrella in a single acquisition.</p>
<h4>Team integration</h4>
<p>WooThemes&#8217; theme division and team members will join Automattic&#8217;s theme team, and it&#8217;s my understanding that WooThemes support will join the Happiness team at Automattic as well.</p>
<p>WooThemes has long battled a significant support burden, even before WooCommerce came along. With the demands of supporting eCommerce software that can conflict with nearly infinite plugins, themes, and hosting environments makes support expensive. As long as WooCommerce offers paid self-hosted products, this support will need to be managed.</p>
<p>WooCommerce will certainly benefit from the developer resources at Automattic. Matt told me, &#8220;lots of folks at Automattic [are] interested in working on eCommerce.&#8221; From code audits, to fresh eyes, to more seasoned developers, Automattic&#8217;s team will be able to have an immediate impact on the WooCommerce product line.</p>
<h4>Merging management</h4>
<p>One aspect I don&#8217;t know much about yet is in regard to WooThemes&#8217; middle management. Mark and Magnus own the company, but there is a four person leadership team beyond them:</p>
<ul>
<li>Joel Bronkowski, Chief Business Development Officer</li>
<li>Warren Holmes, Chief Marketing Officer</li>
<li>Matty Cohen, Chief Product Officer</li>
<li>Michael Krapf, Chief Happiness Officer</li>
</ul>
<p>Furthermore, there are product leads for WooCommerce, Sensei, themes, and other elements of WooThemes&#8217; business. As a company, WooThemes is probably as hierarchical as Automattic with six times fewer people.</p>
<p>I anticipate some managers may merge into other Automattic teams under new roles, or play a part in sub-teams of sorts, which is (I believe) how Jetpack works now that it&#8217;s such a big team.</p>
<h4>Already distributed</h4>
<p>WooThemes is already distributed across five continents and perfectly accustomed to remote work. While they have an office (WooHQ) in Cape Town, South Africa, it&#8217;s a &#8220;come as you please&#8221; environment, similar to Automattic&#8217;s San Francisco space.</p>
<p>Joining Automattic will be a much cleaner culture fit than other potential buyers would have been. Some team members will naturally leave or integrate to other roles, but the overall gain is a huge win for both organizations.</p>
<h3>The likely end of &#8220;WooThemes&#8221; as a name</h3>
<p>WooThemes is a staple brand of the WordPress ecosystem. They&#8217;ve been around since 2008 and probably have the biggest single brand presence after WordPress itself; I&#8217;d argue the name is more well-known than Automattic, or even perhaps ThemeForest.</p>
<p>For all practical purposes, I believe the name WooThemes will be retired.</p>
<p>WooThemes has previously considered a name change to reflect the change in their business focus, but have not done it. Under the umbrella of Automattic and WordPress.com, there is really no need to carry on the WooThemes brand.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m told the decision to change the name of the website hasn&#8217;t been officially made yet, but it makes no sense to me to keep WooThemes. I&#8217;d expect the website we see at WooThemes.com to before long be simply <a href="http://woocommerce.com">WooCommerce.com</a>.</p>
<p>They better keep Hiro, the Woo Ninja though. I love that little guy.</p>
<h3>The WooCommerce business model</h3>
<p>The WooCommerce business model is built largely on paid extensions that offer additional eCommerce functionality, updates, and support.</p>
<h4>The current extension model</h4>
<p>WooThemes lists a whopping 346 paid and free extensions on their website, about 150 of which link to third party sites. The remaining 200 or so extensions are either developed in house or in partnership with third party developers, but sold on WooThemes&#8217; website. There are also dozens, if not hundreds more, distributed plugins by other vendors that are not listed.</p>
<p>Companies like <a href="https://www.skyverge.com/">SkyVerge</a> and <a href="http://prospress.com/">Prospress</a> have built their businesses on WooCommerce extension development. If the model were to change drastically, it could have a great deal of impact on them and similar companies or solo developers.</p>
<p>Third party developers have been told that life will be business as usual. In an email to strategic partners, Joel Bronkowski said, &#8220;There are no plans to mess with the magic sauce strategy that has brought us this far.&#8221;</p>
<h4>A conflict of ideology</h4>
<p>However, the model of paid plugins is also counter to Matt Mullenweg&#8217;s often stated beliefs for what commercialization in the WordPress plugin space should look like.</p>
<p>I asked him to explain how his mindset has changed in regard to paid plugins that charge for support and updates. Paid Automattic plugins, like Akismet and VaultPress, are based on SaaS models.</p>
<p>He says that his view has not changed. He told me that one goal with WooCommerce will be to determine, &#8220;what services provide the most value to people over a long period of time.&#8221; He also noted that such a question is due to the fact that many WordPress product sales are one-time.</p>
<p>I found his sentiment curious. He didn&#8217;t directly answer the question about paid plugins, which isn&#8217;t too surprising. It&#8217;s impossible to imagine Automattic doing away with paid extensions in the short term, but there are serious threats to third party developers in the longer term, I believe.</p>
<h4>Expansion of partnerships with larger corporations</h4>
<p>WooCommerce has spent a lot of time doing business development over the last couple of years. Last summer, their leadership team <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/2014/07/woocommerce-journey-irce-2014/">went to Chicago</a> for a big eCommerce conference and had a whole new world opened up to them.</p>
<p>Joel told me they, &#8220;still have a lot to figure out in terms of the road ahead, but [we are] incredibly excited about what this means for us in terms of product development, partner opportunities and for WordPress powered eCommerce.&#8221;</p>
<p>Under the wing of Automattic and in the future WordPress.com, I think WooCommerce will be able to further leverage their position in the eCommerce market with big payment companies and other potential corporate entities.</p>
<h4>Potential changes to the business model</h4>
<p>I would guess that a gradual change in business model will occur over the next several years, especially in regard to extensions. <span class="pullquote alignright">WooCommerce has a dismal 17% renewal rate for extension purchases.</span> This is a number that needs to improve, or something should change.</p>
<p>It may make sense &#8212; and I&#8217;m shocked I&#8217;m saying it &#8212; to make WooCommerce more like Jetpack.</p>
<p>If I were at Automattic, I would encourage the two teams to brainstorm and evolve together. I think a model where a credit card is connected to WordPress.com, and extensions (free and paid) can be easily activated from within the admin makes sense. It would require a lot of change to existing UIs and development infrastructure, but it could also drastically improve what is often a convoluted method for site management with so many add-ons being independently managed.</p>
<p>If we take the potential even further: imagine the VaultPress model of instant syncing, data tracking, and backups being heavily integrated into eCommerce stores. Such a system could be part of a monthly fee.</p>
<p>Extensions also don&#8217;t have to be piecemeal, or the &#8220;nickel and dime&#8221; method. Automattic could make WooCommerce a tiered payment plan, where certain levels unlock particular functionality. Or they could buyout all third party paid extensions they care about and make the entire product free or part of a single package.</p>
<p>The point is that Automattic purchasing WooCommerce gives them an incredible amount of flexibility in terms of how to move forward. WooCommerce store owners should be prepared for a lot of potential change.</p>
<p>As a bootstrapped company, WooThemes had to turn a profit. Automattic has to make the company more valuable, but does not need to care about cash day to day. Their stated goal is to make products people want to use. <span class="pullquote alignright">A very small number of people at Automattic really consider profits and losses regularly. That mindset, when applied to WooCommerce, could bring about significant change indeed.</span></p>
<h4>Bringing WooCommerce to WordPress.com</h4>
<p>An important concern over the next year or two will be how to bring WooCommerce to WordPress.com. There is little question that it will happen.</p>
<p>Matt Mullenweg highlighted the demand from the general WordPress.com userbase, and hosted WooCommerce would be a great answer to Squarespace&#8217;s eCommerce add-on, and the likes of Shopify and BigCartel.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I&#8217;m sure a number of WordPress.com VIP customers will be clamoring for WooCommerce. Automattic&#8217;s Vice President of Platform Services, Paul Maiorana, said, &#8220;VIP tends to follow the same trends as the broader WP community. Initially blogs, then CMS, now everything.&#8221; He is excited about being able to offer a more catered eCommerce experience &#8220;in house to better service those customers.&#8221;</p>
<p>A hosted version of WooCommerce will be a very compelling upsell for WordPress.com if they are able to pull it off well. This too, will not be easy. But they are starting with a heck of a head start, given the WooCommerce brand name, team, and existing plugin infrastructure.</p>
<h3>What the acquisition means for other WooThemes products</h3>
<p>WooThemes makes more than WooCommerce, however nearly all of their products today at least integrate with WooCommerce.</p>
<p>WooThemes&#8217; themes will be integrated into WordPress.com&#8217;s theme offering. Eleven themes are <a href="https://theme.wordpress.com/?theme_shop=woothemes">already listed there</a> from an existing partnership that goes back to early 2011.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/products/sensei/">Sensei courseware plugin</a> will also continue to be developed and maintained. Regarding Sensei, Matt Mullenweg said, &#8220;their team is passionate about it, which is kind of the criteria for what Automattic works on.&#8221;</p>
<p>There is a lot of potential in the course space, and I actually think this could be a nice win for Automattic in this acquisition, especially if Sensei gets additional resources and attention.</p>
<p>WooThemes has other active free plugins that I doubt will change much. WooSlider is their only other paid plugin, but I don&#8217;t think it makes up a considerable amount of revenue.</p>
<p>I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if both WooSlider and Sensei core become free plugins.</p>
<h3>WooThemes&#8217; revenue and the acquisition price</h3>
<p>Everyone wants to know: how much was WooThemes making, and how much was the acquisition for?</p>
<p><a href="http://recode.net/2015/05/19/wordpress-parent-automattic-buys-woocommerce-a-shopping-tool-for-web-publishers/">Re/code&#8217;s Peter Kafka</a> has sources that say the acquisition was for, &#8220;more than $30 million in cash and stock.&#8221; I believe this to be a reasonable amount and I don&#8217;t think he&#8217;d make the claim without some confidence.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t know what the terms of the deal were. I&#8217;ve tried all day to find out. The best I can do is tell you what I know, what I think I know, and guess right along with everyone else. Sounds fun, right?</p>
<p>I&#8217;m quite confident that WooThemes&#8217; revenues were around $9-$10 million in 2013. I also know that they have had positive trajectory month over month growth for some time, and I have reason to believe one of their more recent record months well exceeded $1 million in revenue.</p>
<p>If we extrapolate the 2013 numbers with 10-20% growth, we can presume that their gross revenues are somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 million annually.</p>
<p>Based on some feedback from people I trust, a 2x multiple of expected 2015 revenues isn&#8217;t out of the question. In typical proprietary software and product situations, that would be a low multiplier.</p>
<p>But in this case, WooThemes&#8217; sends a lot of money directly to third party developers, and spends a great deal of money on development and support. Furthermore, WooCommerce isn&#8217;t proprietary, it&#8217;s open source; which while I love and advocate for it, it simply would be difficult to valuate the same as proprietary software.</p>
<p>Additionally, I could be naive, but in the case of Automattic I&#8217;d rather more stock than cash. They are destined for an IPO (someday) that will likely put them well beyond their latest <a href="http://ma.tt/2014/05/new-funding-for-automattic/">$1.16 billion valuation</a>, and today&#8217;s stock could be worth many times what it is now in the years to come.</p>
<p>Lastly, I don&#8217;t think Re/code would run a number they pulled out of thin air. I think they got that from somewhere &#8212; perhaps a VC source.</p>
<h3>Good for both sides, but not without consequences</h3>
<p>I firmly believe WooThemes could&#8217;ve continued to grow WooCommerce to be worth $100 million or more. But it would&#8217;ve likely been a long and challenging road.</p>
<p>Under the Automattic umbrella, they have a great shot to continue making an awesome eCommerce product without some of their current burdens and with some outstanding new resources.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, especially if the $30-$35 million price is correct, I think Automattic got a steal. It&#8217;s a brilliant way into a huge market with a major player.</p>
<p>There are potential downsides to this purchase. For one, it makes Automattic further feel like a vacuum that inevitably sucks up the best talent, agencies, and products once they showcase their potential for success.</p>
<p>WooThemes was the bastion all other bootstrapped WordPress products stood behind. Knowing it&#8217;s possible to do something as big as WooThemes was doing, without funding and starting from nothing, is awesome.</p>
<p>Seeing them snatched up by Automattic around the time they&#8217;ve become nearly ubiquitous with the term &#8220;WordPress eCommerce&#8221; is kind of a bummer. <span class="pullquote alignright">It&#8217;s like we now have to start over again to see what WordPress centric product company can grow big enough to stand beside Automattic, not under it.</span></p>
<p>I also have some fear that if Automattic rocks the boat too much with WooCommerce it will cause some big inroads WordPress has made in self-hosted eCommerce to be lost.</p>
<p>My concerns are relatively minor. Would I have loved to see WooThemes continue to grow and dominate eCommerce alone? Yes. Am I excited by what this deal makes possible? Yes. Am I a little concerned what it will do to the WordPress economy? Yes.</p>
<p>We must all weigh the pros and cons of any decision. For Mark, Magnus, and the WooThemes team, this is a move that is good for them during this time, and will likely be good for the company they started seven years ago.</p>
<p>For Automattic, this is a heck of a way to round out their first decade in business. It&#8217;ll be really interesting to see what the next decade holds in store, but I bet Automattic will look a lot different then, like they do now compared to 2005.</p>
<p>Congratulations to both teams. You can read the announcements on <a href="http://ma.tt/2015/05/woomattic/">Matt&#8217;s blog</a> and <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/2015/05/woothemes-joins-automattic/">WooThemes&#8217; blog</a>.</p>
<p>Photo credit: <a href="https://matt.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/woo-announcement-pics/">Matt Mullenweg</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, 20 May 2015 07:15:52 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Brian Krogsgard";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:3;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:41:"WPTavern: Automattic Acquires WooCommerce";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=44023";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:51:"http://wptavern.com/automattic-acquires-woocommerce";s: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:6368:"<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/woomattic.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/woomattic.jpg?resize=1025%2C463" alt="photo credit: Ma.tt - " /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://matt.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/woo-announcement-pics/">Ma.tt &#8211; &#8220;A Celebratory Toast</a>
<p>Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg announced today that the company has <a href="http://ma.tt/2015/05/woomattic/" target="_blank">acquired WooCommerce</a>, WordPress&#8217; most popular e-commerce platform. The <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/woocommerce/" target="_blank">plugin</a> recently passed seven million downloads and stats from BuiltWith show that <a href="http://wptavern.com/woocommerce-dominates-global-e-commerce-platforms-passes-7-million-downloads" target="_blank">WooCommerce is dominating global e-commerce platforms</a>, powering roughly 30% of all online stores.</p>
<p>This is Automattic&#8217;s largest acquisition to date, bringing 55 new employees into the company from 16 countries for a total of 370 Automatticians. Mullenweg confirmed that the acquisition includes <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/" target="_blank">Woo</a>, <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/products/sensei/" target="_blank">Sensei</a>, and all of the other plugins and themes.</p>
<p>Given WooCommerce&#8217;s extensive adoption on the web, Automattic will not be re-branding the newly acquired products. WooThemes and WooCommerce will continue to be sold via their dedicated websites.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’re planning on retaining (and growing) the WooCommerce brand,&#8221; Mullenweg told the Tavern. &#8220;The plan is to keep what has been working going.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mullenweg has spoken frequently over the years about growing Automattic&#8217;s reach into global commerce, but few could have predicted that the company would acquire Woo as opposed to building its own in-house commerce platform.</p>
<p>&#8220;They have a full team that goes to bed every night and wakes up in the morning thinking about commerce; it’s core to their DNA,&#8221; Mullenweg said. &#8220;That’s better than starting it in-house. Also they have a ton of adoption already.&#8221;</p>
<p>In April, WooThemes co-founder Magnus Jepson told the Tavern that <a href="http://wptavern.com/woocommerce-dominates-global-e-commerce-platforms-passes-7-million-downloads" target="_blank">WooCommerce accounts for over 85% of overall sales</a> and processes &#8220;several million dollars per year.” Jepson also confirmed that WooCommerce&#8217;s revenue &#8220;has been climbing steadily over the past few years, and we are regularly breaking monthly revenue records.”</p>
<p>Automattic is not releasing the financial details of the acquisition, but <a href="http://recode.net/2015/05/19/wordpress-parent-automattic-buys-woocommerce-a-shopping-tool-for-web-publishers/" target="_blank">Re/code speculates</a> that it was in the range of $30 million:</p>
<blockquote><p>Sources say Automattic will spend more than $30 million in cash and stock to buy the 55-person company. Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg wouldn’t comment on the price but said the acquisition was the largest his company had made, &#8216;by about 6x.&#8217;</p></blockquote>
<p>In addition to growing the current WooCommerce customer base, Automattic is looking to use the platform to add more selling options for WordPress.com customers, while retaining its existing e-commerce partnerships.</p>
<p>&#8220;Partnerships will remain in place on WP.com, but long-term we’d like to offer Woo as an option there as well,&#8221; Mullenweg said.</p>
<p>When asked about plans to integrate WooCommerce into Jetpack, he said, &#8220;Jetpack could definitely complement WooCommerce (and WooThemes), but not the other way around.&#8221;</p>
<p>WooThemes founders never imagined that WooCommerce would rise to the level of popularity that it has, ultimately bringing them into the Automattic family. Co-founder Mark Forrester <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/2015/05/woothemes-joins-automattic/" target="_blank">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>In 2008, as three strangers in three countries, we set out on a quest to pioneer WordPress commercial theming, never dreaming of the rocket-propelled voyage into the self-hosted eCommerce unknown that lay ahead. It’s been an incredible ride, backed by a unique community, and here we find ourselves powering over 24% of online stores with our flagship product, WooCommerce.</p></blockquote>
<p>The acquisition affects a whole fleet of third-party designers and developers who create products for WooCommerce. They will likely have more opportunities and sales ahead of them with the power of Automattic behind the core plugin. Mullenweg confirmed that the next WooConf, scheduled to take place in Austin in November, will continue on as planned. Those who are heavily involved in the WooCommerce ecosystem will still be able to connect and build for the platform as they have done previously.</p>
<h3>Democratizing Selling with WooCommerce</h3>
<p>With Automattic now at the helm of the most dominant e-commerce platform on the web, it will be interesting to see if the company can make selling online just as simple as it has made publishing online. WordPress.com&#8217;s tremendous success can be partially attributed to the company&#8217;s <a href="http://wptavern.com/matt-mullenweg-on-ensuring-the-future-of-wordpress" target="_blank">commitment to democratizing publishing</a>.</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;I do believe that the web needs an open, independent and easy-to-use commerce platform that you can run yourself on your own website,&#8221;</strong> Mullenweg said in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJOfTB8-daA" target="_blank">video announcement</a>, the first video ever to be published to Automattic&#8217;s YouTube account.</p>
<p>Publishing products and selling them on the web is arguably a more complex endeavor than simple publishing, especially when you factor in location, tax, payment gateways, and everything needed to process transactions. The average non-developer has no concept of what it takes to set up a blog, let alone an online store. But if Automattic can play a part in democratizing the ability for regular folks to sell products online, it has the potential to globally transform e-commerce.</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, 19 May 2015 21:15:08 +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:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:4;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s: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:26:"Matt: Woo &amp; Automattic";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45068";s: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:31:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/woomattic/";s: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:4529:"<p>For years, we&#8217;ve been working on democratizing publishing, and today more people have independent sites built on open source software than ever before in the history of the web. Now, we want to make it easy for anyone to sell online independently, without being locked into closed, centralized services &#8212; to enable freedom of livelihood along with freedom of expression.</p>
<p>It’s not a new idea: at a WordCamp a few years ago, someone stood up and asked me when we were going to make it as easy to create an online store as we’d made it to create a blog. Everyone applauded; there’s long been demand for better ecommerce functionality, but it’s been outside the scope of what Automattic could do well.</p>
<p>That changes today &#8212; drum roll &#8212; as <a href="http://woocommerce.com/">WooCommerce</a> joins the <a href="http://automattic.com/">Automattic</a> team to make it easier for people to sell online. <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/2015/05/woothemes-joins-automattic/">Along with Woo’s announcement</a>, here&#8217;s a short video explaining more:</p>
<p><span class="embed-youtube"></span></p>
<p>In the past few years, WooCommerce really distinguished itself in its field. Just like WordPress as a whole, it developed a robust community around its software, and its products meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.</p>
<p>Woo is also a team after Automattic’s own distributed heart: WooCommerce is created and supported by 55 people in 16 countries. Added to Automattic&#8217;s 325 people in 37 countries, that’s a combined 380-person company across 42 countries &#8212; the sun never sets.* I can&#8217;t wait to meet all my new colleagues.</p>
<p>Just like us, the vast majority of WooCommerce&#8217;s work is also open source and 100% GPL. And just like WordPress, you&#8217;ll find WooCommerce meetups popping up everywhere, from Los Angeles to London, and its global and community-focused work together to make the users’ experiences the best they can be.</p>
<p><a href="http://trends.builtwith.com/shop"><img class="alignright  wp-image-45072" src="http://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2015/05/ecomm-trends.png?resize=447%2C294" alt="ecomm-trends" /></a> The stats are impressive: the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce/">WooCommerce plugin has over 7.5 million downloads and a million+ active installs</a>; BuiltWith&#8217;s <a href="http://trends.builtwith.com/shop">survey of ecommerce platforms shows Woo passing up Magento in the top million</a>, with about triple the number of total sites. Even a conservative estimate that WooCommerce powers 650,000 storefronts means they’re enabling a huge number of independent sellers. They’ve added a tremendous amount to the WordPress ecosystem (alongside everyone else working in this area).</p>
<p>WordPress currently <a href="http://w3techs.com/technologies/history_overview/content_management/all/y">powers about 23% of the web</a>. As we work our way toward 51%, WooCommerce joining Automattic is a big step opening WordPress up to an entirely new audience. I can’t wait to see how much more we can build together.</p>
<p>Automattic <em>turns ten</em> next month: another amazing milestone I couldn&#8217;t have imagined a decade ago. Today&#8217;s news is just the first of a number of announcements we have planned for the remainder of the year, so please stay tuned! There&#8217;s still so much work to do.</p>
<p>* Want to work with us? <a href="http://automattic.com/work-with-us/">We’re hiring</a>. Bonus points if you live in Antarctica, the only continent we don’t have covered.</p>
<p>As I said in the video, please drop any questions you might have in the comments and I&#8217;ll answer them as soon as I can. Also check out the posts from <a href="http://www.markforrester.co.za/2015/05/19/woothemes-has-a-new-home/">Mark</a> and <a href="http://jepson.no/we-are-joining-automattic/">Magnus</a>.</p>
<p>Read more: <a href="https://href.li/?http://mashable.com/2015/05/19/automattic-woocommerce-acquisition/">Mashable</a>, <a href="http://recode.net/2015/05/19/wordpress-parent-automattic-buys-woocommerce-a-shopping-tool-for-web-publishers/">Recode</a>, <a href="https://href.li/?http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/19/automattic-buys-woocommerce-the-popular-plugin-for-turning-wordpress-into-a-store/">Techcrunch</a>, <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2015/05/19/automattic-buys-woocommerce-to-get-into-ecommerce-its-largest-acquisition-to-date/">Venturebeat</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 19 May 2015 18:59:56 +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:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"WPTavern: WordPress Cape Town to Host 2nd Annual Charity Hackathon in June";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43986";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-cape-town-to-host-2nd-annual-charity-hackathon-in-june";s: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:3696:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wordpress-cape-town-charity-hackathon-2015.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wordpress-cape-town-charity-hackathon-2015.jpg?resize=1025%2C529" alt="wordpress-cape-town-charity-hackathon-2015" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-44002" /></a></p>
<p>Last August, the <a href="http://www.wpcapetown.co.za/" target="_blank">WordPress Cape Town</a> meetup group experimented with <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-cape-town-to-host-charity-hackathon-in-august" target="_blank">hosting its first charity hackathon</a> to benefit local charities. The <strong>do_action( ‘wordpress-charity-hackathon’ );</strong> event was so successful in 2014 that organizers were inspired to make it an annual event. The <a href="http://www.wpcapetown.co.za/event/do_action-wordpress-charity-hackathon-2015/" target="_blank">2015 hackathon</a> is scheduled for June 20th from 9:00 AM &#8211; 5:00 PM.</p>
<p>&#8220;With a team of nearly 50 volunteers from the community, we built brand new websites for nine different charitable organizations and we will be doing the same again this year,&#8221; said Hugh Lashbrooke, an organizer for the event.</p>
<p>The concept will be the same as the previous year &#8211; volunteers will build sites for nine Capetown-based charities, giving each their own unique online presence by the end of the day.</p>
<p>A few examples of websites built by the volunteers last year include:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://feedinginaction.co.za/" target="_blank">Feeding in Action</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.stlukes.co.za/" target="_blank">St. Luke’s Hospice</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.equinoxtrust.org/" target="_blank">Equinox Trust</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.carecareers.co.za/" target="_blank">Care Career Connection</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.theup.org.za/" target="_blank">The UPliftment Porgramme</a></li>
</ul>
<p>&#8220;The charities this year are equally as deserving and spread across the whole spectrum of society again,&#8221; Lashbrooke said. The 2015 charities list includes organizations such as the Academy for Adults with Autism, FoodBank South Africa, and the Down Syndrome Inclusive Education Foundation NPC.</p>
<p>Sponsors this year include <a href="http://hetzner.co.za/" target="_blank">Hetzner</a>, <a href="http://oboxthemes.com/" target="_blank">Obox</a>, and <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/" target="_blank">WooThemes</a>. Their generous contributions will help to provide snacks, lunch, dinner, and a prize for the team that builds the best site of the day. All attendees will also receive a ticket to <a href="https://capetown.wordcamp.org/2015/" target="_blank">WordCamp Cape Town 2015</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are still looking for volunteers (there are about 20 spots left at the time of writing this) and it&#8217;s important to note that we are not just looking for developers here,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is open to Project Managers, Designers, Developers, Content Creators, and Social Media Managers, as all of those individuals are needed to bring a complete website together (especially when it is all being done in one day.)&#8221;</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re in the Cape Town area and you&#8217;d like to be part of this event, you can select a charity team to work on and specify your role when filling out the <a href="http://www.wpcapetown.co.za/event/do_action-wordpress-charity-hackathon-2015/" target="_blank">volunteer application</a> form. Check out the recap video below for a closer look at attendees&#8217; experiences from last year&#8217;s event.</p>
<p><span class="embed-youtube"></span></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, 19 May 2015 18:49:31 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"WPTavern: Short Survey on Which WordCamp Organizer Tools to Improve First";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43992";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"http://wptavern.com/short-survey-on-which-wordcamp-organizer-tools-to-improve-first";s: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:1978:"<p>In the past several months, the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/">Make WordPress Community</a> team has engaged in numerous discussions with WordCamp organizers on how they can improve the tools that are available. Those discussions include:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2015/03/05/improving-wordcamp-org-notes-from-the-2014-community-summit/" rel="nofollow">Notes from the Community Summit</a></li>
<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2015/03/05/improving-wordcamp-org-user-experience-of-the-css-editor/" rel="nofollow">Improving the CSS Editing Experience</a></li>
<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2015/04/09/improving-wordcamp-org-adding-more-themes-page-templates/" rel="nofollow">Adding More Themes and/or Page Templates </a></li>
</ul>
<p>The team has created a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2015/05/05/wordcamp-organizer-survey/">six question survey</a> to gather data to determine what tools should be worked on or improved first. If you&#8217;ve worked with any of the tools available on <a href="https://central.wordcamp.org/">WordCamp.org</a> within the last 18 months, you&#8217;re strongly encouraged to take the survey.</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WordCampOrganizerToolSurveyQuestion.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-44005" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WordCampOrganizerToolSurveyQuestion.png?resize=598%2C495" alt="WordCamp Tools Survey Question" /></a>WordCamp Tools Survey Question
<p>The last section has two questions that are open-ended to allow for feedback that extends beyond the tools in question. This is an excellent opportunity for WordCamp organizers to voice their opinion on what direction the team should take on creating and improving the tools available to them. It&#8217;s also a way to tell the team which tools you want to see created that don&#8217;t already exist.</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, 19 May 2015 18:36:50 +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:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:38:"Matt: How to Get Yourself to Do Things";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45054";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:54:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/how-to-get-yourself-to-do-things/";s: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:227:"<p><a href="http://www.raptitude.com/2015/03/how-to-get-yourself-to-do-things/">How to Get Yourself to Do Things</a>. Hat tip: <a href="https://alexjgustafson.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/ignore-stuff-and-do-a-thing/">Alex</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 19 May 2015 05:16:00 +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:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:54:"WPTavern: A WordPress Veteran’s Take on DrupalCon LA";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43963";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:61:"http://wptavern.com/a-wordpress-veterans-take-on-drupalcon-la";s: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:5746:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/MendelKurland.jpg"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-43970" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/MendelKurland.jpg?resize=150%2C150" alt="Mendel Kurland" /></a>This post was contributed by guest author <a href="https://mendel.me/">Mendel Kurland</a>. Kurland is GoDaddy&#8217;s evangelist who travels to WordCamps and is the interface between various open source communities and GoDaddy.</p>
<p>In the following post, Kurland shares his experience attending <a href="https://events.drupal.org/losangeles2015">DrupalCon Los Angeles</a>, a large conference devoted to <a href="https://www.drupal.org/">Drupal</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p>As I flew from DrupalCon Los Angeles, CA to <a href="https://mendel.me/events/wordcamp/wordcamp-maine-2015/">WordCamp Maine</a>, I thought a lot about what the Drupal and WordPress communities could learn from each other. <a href="https://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a> and Drupal are two community-built platforms and each community is powerful. We stand to learn a lot from each other, because<a href="https://mendel.me/articles/business/why-all-open-source-projects-matter/"> all open source projects matter</a>.</p>
<p>With an eye toward looking for the similarities, rather than the differences, both WordPress and Drupal are working to overcome similar obstacles including, brand recognition, threat mitigation, adoption, onboarding, contribution, the list goes on. So why did I go to <a href="https://events.drupal.org/losangeles2015">DrupalCon LA</a>? To learn and give back to another community that’s steeped in collaborative culture.</p>
<h2>The Experience</h2>
<p>Thousands of people attended <a href="https://mendel.me/events/drupalcon/drupalcon-la/">DrupalCon in Los Angeles</a> this year. It’s massive and the layout is similar to a large developer conference. There are sessions centered on technical, as well as business topics, and usually lively question and answer opportunities after each session. There’s a coder lounge, a contribution room, and a huge emphasis on contributing to coding sprints for the next release of Drupal, Drupal 8.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/DrupalConLA.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-43971" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/DrupalConLA.png?resize=1024%2C683" alt="DrupalCon LA" /></a>Photo via <a href="https://mendel.me/events/drupalcon/drupalcon-la/#jp-carousel-16491">Mendel</a>
<h2>Leveling and Onboarding</h2>
<p>Prior to the conference, DrupalCon had summits to help gather community members around a particular vertical or topic such as, higher education, community, business, and training sessions to help level-up skills based on experience.</p>
<p>The theme of organizing around common interests is strong throughout the entire conference with<a href="https://events.drupal.org/losangeles2015/bofs/2015-05-12"> birds of a feather sessions</a> and<a href="https://events.drupal.org/losangeles2015/events"> topical social gatherings</a> with topics like,<a href="https://events.drupal.org/losangeles2015/women-drupal"> women in Drupal</a> and<a href="https://events.drupal.org/losangeles2015/first-time-attendee-social"> first time attendees</a>. When it comes to mobilizing around interest groups, Drupal does a brilliant job.</p>
<h2>Comparing WordPress and Drupal</h2>
<p>I’ve met a higher proportion of people who work on enterprise sites at DrupalCons and a higher proportion of people who work on small business sites at DrupalCamps, local conferences similar to WordCamps. There are some important lessons, however, that I took away from the Drupal community.</p>
<h2><b>Lessons and Questions from DrupalCon</b></h2>
<ul>
<li>Onboarding starts with education. The Drupal community puts an emphasis on training at just about every event while only a handful of WordCamps offer a <strong>Foundation Friday</strong> or some other local onboarding event.</li>
<li>Building community means valuing the same things and aligning along common interests. BoF (Birds of a Feather) sessions are a part of Drupal and other technical community conferences. There are certainly people with specific interests related to performance, security, women in WordPress, WP-CLI, etc. Should the WordPress community offer BoF sessions at WordCamps? Or are the existing <strong>tracks</strong> that many WordCamps offer enough?</li>
<li>Networking with those who work in a similar vertical is important. Just as Drupal holds summits for particular verticals, the WordPress community is beginning to do the same with things like, <a href="https://miami.wordcamp.org/2015/announcing-buddycamp-miami-2015/">BuddyCamp at WordCamp Miami</a>, <a href="http://conf.woocommerce.com/">WooConf</a> (e-commerce), <a href="http://pressnomics.com/">Pressnomics</a> (business), <a href="http://prestigeconf.com/">Prestige</a> (business), <a href="https://loopconf.io/">LoopConf</a> (developer). Can more be done at WordCamps?</li>
</ul>
<h2>It&#8217;s OK to Love Drupal Too</h2>
<p>If you’re reading this article on the Tavern, you’re likely a WordPress loyalist. I love WordPress, and it’s also <strong>ok to love Drupal</strong>. They are both tools in an open source toolbox that we all share. The beauty of our opportunity as developers, designers, and creative professionals is our ability to create awesome things in a million different ways.</p>
<p>In going to DrupalCon, it was refreshing for me to take a second to see the web development industry from another perspective. I’d love to hear your perspective in the comments <a href="https://twitter.com/ifyouwillit">and on Twitter</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 19 May 2015 01:53:43 +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:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:9;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"WPTavern: Community, Translation, and Wapuu: How Japan is Shaping WordPress History";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43605";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:90:"http://wptavern.com/community-translation-and-wapuu-how-japan-is-shaping-wordpress-history";s: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:16719:"<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wcsf-2014-japanese-community.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wcsf-2014-japanese-community.jpg?resize=1025%2C523" alt="Japanese WordPress community representatives at WordCamp San Francisco 2014" class="size-full wp-image-43923" /></a>Japanese WordPress community representatives at WordCamp San Francisco 2014
<p>Japanese WordPress users were some of the earliest to see the project&#8217;s potential and help bring the software to the non-English speaking world. At the end of 2003, just six months after Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little <a href="http://ma.tt/2003/01/the-blogging-software-dilemma/" target="_blank">decided to fork b2</a>, a Japanese version of WordPress was available.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WordPress-ME.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WordPress-ME.jpg?resize=748%2C299" alt="WordPress-ME" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43607" /></a></p>
<p>The version was originally called &#8220;WordPress ME&#8221; and was maintained by a user called <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/otsukare/" target="_blank">Otsukare</a>, whose <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20040802092512/http://wordpress.xwd.jp/" target="_blank">translation notes</a> indicate that he believed WordPress would become &#8220;convenient and increasingly easy to use in the future.&#8221; This Japanese version corresponded with <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2003/10/072-final-version-available/" target="_blank">WordPress 0.72</a>, as WordPress wouldn&#8217;t have internationalization support until version 1.2.</p>
<p>Otsukare was instrumental in demonstrating the demand for translation for all languages with the popularity of his <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/localization-help-needed" target="_blank">multilingual fork of WordPress</a>, which allowed easy modification via the use of a language file. It is rumored that this multilingual edition, along with discussions on the WordPress ME fourms, was influential in bringing <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Filter_Reference/gettext" target="_blank">gettext</a> into WordPress.</p>
<h2>Growing the Japanese WordPress Community Through Local Meetups</h2>
<p>Over the past 11 years, local Japanese WordPress communities have grown steadily. <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/Nao" target="_blank">Naoko Takano</a>, who has been involved with the local community since 2003, attributes that growth to <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/naokomc/wordcamp-europe2013" target="_blank">consistent translation and a reliable release workflow</a>, managed by a dedicated Japanese package team.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/japanese-package-team.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/japanese-package-team.jpg?resize=625%2C247" alt="japanese-package-team" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43918" /></a></p>
<p>An organized system around translation and documentation were two key ingredients that helped germinate the early Japanese WordPress community, but local meetups were ultimately the catalyst for its massive growth.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/search/?tags=wordcamptokyo2008" target="_blank">The first WordCamp Tokyo</a> was held in 2008 with 60 attendees. <a href="https://tokyo.wordcamp.org/" target="_blank">WordCamp Tokyo</a> today now pulls in 1200 &#8211; 1400 people, according to co-organizer <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/shinichin" target="_blank">Shinichi Nishikawa</a>. This event is larger than past editions of WordCamps Europe and San Francisco.</p>
<p>Nishikawa reports that over the past seven years, Japan has hosted 15 WordCamps in Tokyo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Yokohama Nagoyo, Kobe, and Osaka. <a href="https://kansai.wordcamp.org/2014/" target="_blank">WordCamp Kansai</a>, held in the Western part of the country, was organized by WordBench members of that area, including Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara and Wakayama.</p>
<p>Regional WordPress groups in Japan are organized on <a href="http://WordBench.org" target="_blank">WordBench.org</a>, a site that allows users to find, join, and create a meetup. The site was <a href="http://wordpress.tv/2009/04/30/wordcamp-tokyo-2009-takayuki-miyoshi-introducing-wordpress-regional-community-wordbench/" target="_blank">created in 2009 by Takayuki Miyoshi</a>, the author of <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/" target="_blank">Contact Form 7</a>, one of WordPress&#8217; most popular plugins. WordBench has been running on BuddyPress for the past six years and was originally built on RC1 of the plugin.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wordbench.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wordbench.png?resize=1025%2C672" alt="wordbench" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43929" /></a></p>
<p>The site currently lists 48 local groups throughout Japan, named for their cities, i.e. WordBench Tokyo, WordBench Osaka, WordBench Kawasaki. Members and organizers use the site to post about upcoming events and recaps of meetups recently held in various locations. The site serves to keep Japan&#8217;s local communities connected and inspired.</p>
<h2>Japan&#8217;s Unique WordPress Meetups and the Importance of Wapuu</h2>
<p>In addition to the regional WordBench groups, interest-based meetups are also common in the Japanese WordPress community. In this format, members meet around different interests outside of WordPress, such as cooking or photography. For example, the <a href="https://shashinbu.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">WordPhotoclub</a> meetup gathers together to go on walks and take photos. Members&#8217; <a href="http://8bitodyssey.com/archives/1547" target="_blank">photos</a> were printed and displayed at WordCamp Tokyo 2012.</p>
<p><a href="http://takamorry.com/article/20130209_wordcrab.html" target="_blank">WordCrab</a> is another example of one of Japan&#8217;s unique WordPress meetups. Members from all over from Japan gather in the Fukui prefecture, where they combine WordPress sessions with a giant <a href="https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=wordcrab&l=commderiv&ss=0&ct=0&mt=all&w=all&adv=1" target="_blank">crab party</a> where everyone feasts upon the region&#8217;s renowned crabs.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wordcrab.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wordcrab.jpg?resize=1025%2C586" alt="photo credit: WordCrab meetup" class="size-full wp-image-43936" /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=wordcrab&l=commderiv&ss=0&ct=0&mt=all&w=all&adv=1">WordCrab meetup</a>
<p>The <a href="http://2014onsen.wbsendai.com/" target="_blank">Word温泉 (WordOnsen) meetup</a> is centered around the enjoyment of hot springs. Members gather in Fukushima and stay at a hotel where they have WordPress sessions and a party night.</p>
<p>&#8220;In meetups we started doing more things than just learning WordPress,&#8221; community organizer Shinichi Nishikawa said. &#8220;We get friends together and go for a walk and eat lunch/dinner together.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think this a really good way to make the community stronger. <span class="pullquote alignleft">People are talented in different things and by doing something together, other than WordPress, people can show their talents.</span> And of course, it’s fun.&#8221;</p>
<p>Japan&#8217;s holistic approach to meetups incorporates various aspects of life and relationships, as opposed to simply centering around improving WordPress technical skill. As a result, members become more connected and meetups are highly personalized. That&#8217;s where Wapuu enters the picture to bring special meaning to each group.</p>
<p><a href="https://ja.wordpress.org/about-wp-ja/wapuu/" target="_blank">Wapuu</a>, the official mascot character of WordPress, was designed by Kazuko Kaneuchi in 2011. It&#8217;s <a href="https://github.com/jawordpressorg/wapuu" target="_blank">distributed under the GPLv2 or later</a> and can be modified by anyone to add more personality to the character.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thanks to the freedom of the GPL, there have been many <a href="http://jawordpressorg.github.io/wapuu/" target="_blank">forked versions of Wapuu</a>,&#8221; Nishikawa said. &#8220;All local Wapuus are created by someone who belongs to each local community and they hold something that represents where they are from.&#8221;</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/local-wapuu.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/local-wapuu.jpg?resize=627%2C349" alt="photo credit:  Naoko Takano - WordPress History" class="size-full wp-image-43943" /></a>photo credit:<br />Naoko Takano &#8211; <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/naokomc/wordpress-history-21925968/42">WordPress History</a>
<p>Wapuu is so well-loved that the creature ends up making its way onto <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/odysseygate/8509556933/" target="_blank">swag</a>, cakes, and nail and coffee art at Japanese WordPress events.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wapuu-everywhere.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wapuu-everywhere.jpg?resize=1025%2C703" alt="photo credit:  Naoko Takano - Learnings from Growing Local WordPress Communities" class="size-full wp-image-43945" /></a>photo credit:<br />Naoko Takano &#8211; <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/naokomc/wordcamp-europe2013/47">Learnings from Growing Local WordPress Communities</a>
<p>The name &#8220;Wapuu&#8221; was given to the mascot by a users&#8217; poll. &#8220;Japanese people pronounce WordPress as &#8216;WAADOPURESU,'&#8221; Nishikawa said. &#8220;Wapuu sounds like an abbreviation of WAADOPURESU, taking &#8216;Wa&#8217; and &#8216;Pu&#8217; from it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Modifications of the mascot have recently started popping up at WordCamps outside of Japan. <a href="http://wptavern.com/scott-evans-on-designing-the-punk-wapuu-for-wordcamp-london-2015" target="_blank">WordCamp London&#8217;s wapuunk</a> was so popular that it inspired WordCamp Philly and <a href="http://wptavern.com/meet-wapuujlo-official-mascot-of-wordcamp-belgrade" target="_blank">WordCamp Belgrade</a> to create their own unique modifications to the character.</p>
<p>For whatever reason, Wapuu seems to have a special power to bring people together, regardless of culture or location. WordPress has the Japanese community to thank for its unique open source contribution to meetup branding.</p>
<h2>The Challenges of Contributing to WordPress Across the Language Barrier</h2>
<p>Despite having a large WordPress community thriving in Japan, with many of the <a href="http://www.sailor.co.jp/" target="_blank">top</a> <a href="http://womens.marathon-festival.com/2014/" target="_blank">websites</a> <a href="http://tasukeaijapan.jp/" target="_blank">built</a> on the <a href="http://www.kurashi-no-techo.co.jp/" target="_blank">software</a>, Japanese developers have a difficult time contributing back to core.</p>
<p>&#8220;Language is the biggest barrier,&#8221; Nishikawa told the Tavern. &#8220;There are many good developers in Japan (and in other countries) who don’t speak English. Most of them can read documentation but joining in the conversation in tickets and on Slack is a different thing.</p>
<p>&#8220;In my opinion, there is English for native speakers and English for international people, and they are different,&#8221; he explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s difficult to say how different they are, but for us who are not native, ambiguous words, abbreviations like &#8216;FWIW,&#8217; jokes, and slang are difficult,&#8221; Nishikawa said. &#8220;Sometimes nesting a long sentence in another long sentence by using &#8216;that,&#8217; &#8216;which,&#8217; and &#8216;including&#8217; is difficult.&#8221;</p>
<p>He explained that overcoming the language barrier is more than simply learning English; it also includes the hurdle of trying to understand the abbreviations and expressions that are infused by the culture around native English speakers.</p>
<p>&#8220;People would say that you can understand because it’s code, but if we look at the conversations in tickets, the surrounding discussion often concerns more than just the code,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Non-English speaking developers are trying to learn English, but it would be good if people in the ticket / Slack would keep in mind that there are people who don’t share the context or culture behind the words they write,&#8221; Nishikawa suggested.</p>
<p>&#8220;If we make the words and expressions easier to understand, someone who understands 80%  will have the opportunity to understand nearly 100%.&#8221;</p>
<p>However, Nishikawa is unsure of whether or not it is productive to request these kinds of changes, given that communication can never really be separated from culture.</p>
<p>&#8220;Maybe a more welcoming atmosphere needed?&#8221; he said. &#8220;On the other hand, I know that the discussions include a great deal of context and many cultural things. It’s a place for communication, too. So, I don’t know if it’s right to say that something needs to change.</p>
<p>&#8220;Additionally, there are many talented developers who don’t understand English at all and I have no idea what can be done for them,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Nishikawa said that he felt much more connected to the community after attending WordCamp San Francisco and the following summit and contributor day.</p>
<p>&#8220;Even for developers who didn&#8217;t speak English, we had translators and discussed things, looked at the code and shared the WordPress projects they are working on,&#8221; he said. &#8220;After these face-to-face conversations, developers are more relaxed and motivated to work in the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/" target="_blank">core Make project</a>. Inviting developers to meetups/camps in the English world or inviting core contributors travel and join local contribution days will be a big trigger to involve more people.&#8221;</p>
<h2>The Future of WordPress in Japan</h2>
<p>Nishikawa believes that WordPress has a bright future in Japan, thanks to the efforts of Otsukare, Naoko Takano, Takayuki Miyoshi and all the plugin developers, Tenpura (the author of <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-multibyte-patch/" target="_blank">WP Multibyte Patch</a> plugin), bloggers, community organizers, an army of dedicated translators and more.</p>
<p>He is hopeful that positive experiences for developers at global meetups like WCSF will help the Japanese WordPress community find ways to contribute back to core and other projects.</p>
<p>&#8220;There have been a few people who had contributed separately, but now I feel there is a small groove of people who are more interested in contribution,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;For the community, we hope that the activeness of the Japanese community will be exported to other Asian (and global) communities, especially with Wapuu or the unique &#8220;more-than-learning&#8221; style of meetups.&#8221;</p>
<p>He also believes the future of WordPress in Japan will be brighter with the internationalization improvements that are continually being added to core.</p>
<p>&#8220;For the users, when everything is translatable, people are happier. If WordPress can become more mobile friendly, it will be used more by young people. When the WP-API is in core, there will be more diverse apps available.&#8221;</p>
<p>Nishikawa has had such a positive experience organizing WordPress community events in Japan that he is now active in growing the community in Thailand.</p>
<p>&#8220;We now have meetups twice per month in Bangkok for developers/users/designers. We don’t have &#8216;session-oriented meetups&#8217; anymore but we try to have casual talks every time, where everyone can speak in their own languages. Translation is more than welcome but we don’t want to rely on someone.&#8221;</p>
<p>As Japan&#8217;s community-oriented approach to learning has paid off with highly active meetup groups and some of the largest WordCamps on the globe, Nishikawa is hoping to bring his experience to Thailand and help organize a WordCamp Bangkok in the near future.</p>
<p>&#8220;Community has made my life/job much more exciting and fun,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Many things will differ culture by culture but the core value of community should be the same everywhere.&#8221;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 18 May 2015 21:26:06 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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:10;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"Matt: 2 Chocolate Chip 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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45056";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:46:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/2-chocolate-chip-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:494:"<blockquote><p>Sometimes, you just want 2 chocolate chip cookies. This happens to me all of the time. I want a super indulgent, rich and buttery chocolate chip cookie, but don’t want to make the whole 36 of them which I’d inevitably inhale over about the same amount of hours.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.inthiskitchen.com/2014/05/21/just-2-chocolate-chip-cookies-single-serving-recipe/">Ever wondered a good recipe to make just 2 chocolate chip cookies</a>? Now you know.</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, 18 May 2015 06:35:00 +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:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:11;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:23:"Matt: Silk Road, Part 2";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45063";s: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:38:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/silk-road-part-2/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:435:"<p>As <a href="http://ma.tt/2015/05/untold-silk-road/">promised a few weeks ago</a>, a new installment of the Wired Silk Road story is out and I wanted to share it, <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/05/silk-road-2/">The Untold Story of Silk Road, Part 2: The Fall</a>. This one is actually a lot more normal, with some surprisingly simple breaks leading to the downfall of Ross, but there&#8217;s an interesting twist at the end.</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, 16 May 2015 17:14:26 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:12;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:27:"Matt: Memorable Musk Quotes";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45046";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/memorable-musk-quotes/";s: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:224:"<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2015/05/11/the-22-most-memorable-quotes-from-the-new-elon-musk-book-ranked/">The 22 most memorable quotes from the new Elon Musk book, ranked</a>. Hilarious.</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, 16 May 2015 06:14:00 +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:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:13;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:82:"WPTavern: Display Your Contributions to WordPress With the WP Contributions 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:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43823";s: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:"http://wptavern.com/display-your-contributions-to-wordpress-with-the-wp-contributions-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:4327:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContributionsFeaturedImage.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43884" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContributionsFeaturedImage.png?resize=748%2C239" alt="WPContributionsFeaturedImage" /></a><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-contributions/">WP Contributions</a> is a new plugin by Dustin Filippini, Damon Cook, and WebDevStudios that displays WordPress contributions via widgets. Widgets included are:</p>
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<li>Contributions to the Codex</li>
<li>WordPress Core Contributions</li>
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<p>Once activated, browse to Appearance &gt; Widgets to access the new widgets. You&#8217;ll need to know your username for WordPress trac and the Codex to display your contributions. Keep in mind that the core contributions widget only list tickets that are closed and you received props for.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContributionsCoreWidget.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-43880" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContributionsCoreWidget.png?resize=342%2C272" alt="WP Core Contributions Widget" /></a>WP Core Contributions Widget
<p>The Codex contributions widget displays the most recent articles you&#8217;ve edited along with a link to see more.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContributionsCodexWidget.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-43881" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContributionsCodexWidget.png?resize=330%2C296" alt="Codex Contributions Widget" /></a>Codex Contributions Widget
<p>The theme and plugin widgets use the slug of the theme and plugin you want to feature. You can only feature one theme or plugin at a time unless you use multiple widgets. The featured plugin widget displays a thumbnail of the plugin&#8217;s header image, author name, version, description, average rating, total downloads, and when it was last updated.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContributionPluginWidget.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-43882" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContributionPluginWidget.png?resize=331%2C438" alt="WP Contribution Plugin Widget" /></a>WP Contribution Plugin Widget
<p>The featured theme widget displays a small preview of the theme, a short description, average rating, author, current version, total downloads, and when it was last updated.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContribThemeWidget.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-43883" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WPContribThemeWidget.png?resize=379%2C707" alt="Featured Theme Widget" /></a>Featured Theme Widget
<p>Even though the plugin and theme widgets are meant to be used to showcase your own work, they&#8217;re great for featuring any plugin or theme you&#8217;d like people to know about. WP Contributions comes with a series of <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-contributions/faq/">template tags</a> for those who want more control over how the information is displayed.</p>
<p>One thing I&#8217;d like to see in a future version is short code support. This way, users could create a WP Contributions page on their site with easy to use short codes. It&#8217;s not supported now, but Filippini informs me that a future version will include the ability to display badges attached to a WordPress.org user profile.</p>
<p>As WordPress <a href="http://w3techs.com/">continues to increase in marketshare</a>, the ability to show how much you&#8217;ve contributed to the project is a huge resume booster, especially if you can say your code runs on millions of sites. In early 2014, WordPress made substantial <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-profile-redesign-is-live">improvements to user profiles</a> but there&#8217;s no easy way to display those contributions to a wider audience.</p>
<p>WP Contributions does a decent job filling the void and is available for free on the WordPress.org plugin directory. I tested <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-contributions/">WP Contributions</a> on WordPress 4.2.2 and it works without any problems.</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, 15 May 2015 23:28:08 +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:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:14;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"WPTavern: Lasso Frontend Editing Plugin for WordPress Now Available on GitHub";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43852";s: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:"http://wptavern.com/lasso-frontend-editing-plugin-for-wordpress-now-available-on-github";s: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:4698:"<p>WordPress developer Nick Haskins is hoping to revolutionize the way users publish content with <a href="https://lasso.is/" target="_blank">Lasso</a>, his commercial front-end editing plugin. Lasso is sold through his storefront and is also in use on <a href="https://story.am/" target="_blank">Story.am</a>, the hosted platform for <a href="http://wptavern.com/?s=Aesop+Story+Engine" target="_blank">Aesop Story Engine</a>. Haskins recently <a href="http://wptavern.com/story-am-relaunches-now-100-free" target="_blank">made accounts on Story.am available for free</a> in hopes of garnering more feedback on the Lasso editing experience.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/building-with-lasso.gif"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/building-with-lasso.gif?resize=900%2C618" alt="building-with-lasso" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43867" /></a></p>
<p>As of today, <a href="https://github.com/AesopInteractive/lasso" target="_blank">Lasso is now available on GitHub</a> for developers and users to test and offer feedback/contribution.</p>
<p>&#8220;This decision was several months in the making,&#8221; Haskins told the Tavern. &#8220;It included conversations with developers who have their commercially sold code publicly available, as well as A/B testing our presence to verify that the move would be both beneficial to the plugin, as well as the user base that it’s attracting.&#8221;</p>
<p>Making the code public is a calculated risk, which he hopes will not damage sales of the plugin but rather increase its visibility. Haskins recently published a <a href="http://aesopinteractive.com/jan-april-2015-report/" target="_blank">financial transparency report</a> on his 15 month old company, which indicates that Aesop Interactive is on track to double its revenue in 2015 based on numbers from January &#8211; April. Sales of the Lasso product totaled $4,408.36.</p>
<p>As the plugin is open source, you are free to use it anywhere, but Haskins notes that support will only be offered to customers:</p>
<blockquote><p>If you have a suggestion, a bug report, or a patch for an issue, feel free to submit it here. We do ask, however, that if you are using the plugin on a live site that you please purchase a valid license from the website. We cannot provide support to anyone who does not hold a valid license key.</p></blockquote>
<p>&#8220;I decided to make it public today after I was invited in to collaborate on another publicly available commercially sold plugin,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I just needed a final excuse, and that was it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Haskins is not the first developer to make a commercial WordPress product available on GitHub for contribution. Earlier this year, the folks behind GravityView decided to <a href="http://wptavern.com/gravityview-is-now-public-on-github" target="_blank">make their plugin public on GitHub</a> after being inspired by a <a href="https://mattreport.com/interview-matt-mullenweg/" target="_blank">discussion between Matt Medeiros and Matt Mullenweg</a> on ubiquity vs. scarcity as it relates to WordPress product businesses:</p>
<blockquote><p>The one pattern I see most right now that I think is not sustainable is, and it’s because it’s the easiest thing to do, is businesses that are built on a scarcity – the thing not being widely available. If you think about some of the coolest successes so far in WordPress, the Gravity Forms, some of the theme businesses, they are inherently predicated on the fact that you have to pay to access them.</p>
<p>I’ve always been a fan of businesses that grow with ubiquity, that become more powerful the more ubiquitous they are, more valuable. WordPress itself is one of these. Akismet is one of these. Jetpack is certainly one of those.</p></blockquote>
<p>This approach brings up the question of whether or not a commercial plugin developer can run a successful business while giving the code away for free on GitHub. A select few are finding that the benefits of community contribution and feedback outweigh the risk.</p>
<p>Haskin&#8217;s frontend editing plugin is a prime candidate to explore this approach, as this type of plugin was created for users of all technical skill levels. Customers interested in this functionality are less likely to be comfortable installing and updating plugins from GitHub. If you&#8217;ve been eager to try Lasso but couldn&#8217;t get past the <a href="https://lasso.is/pricing/" target="_blank">$129 price tag</a>, now is your opportunity to <a href="https://github.com/AesopInteractive/lasso" target="_blank">download the plugin</a> and put it through the paces.</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, 15 May 2015 20:22:11 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"WPTavern: SiteGround is Organizing Bulgaria’s First PHP Conference";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43825";s: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:"http://wptavern.com/siteground-is-organizing-bulgarias-first-php-conference";s: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:2868:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bulgaria-php-conference.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bulgaria-php-conference.jpg?resize=670%2C287" alt="bulgaria-php-conference" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43829" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.siteground.com" target="_blank">SiteGround</a> is organizing the first ever <a href="http://www.bgphp.org/" target="_blank">Bulgaria PHP conference to be held in Sofia</a>, September 25-27, 2015. The company is headquartered in Sofia and its Head of Development, Mihail Irintchev, has been working hard to develop the local PHP community with the eventual goal of hosting a global PHP event.</p>
<p>Irintchev was one of the founders of the Bulgaria PHP user group two years ago, which meets regularly in the SiteGround offices in Sofia. The meetups have grown steadily, inspiring him to approach the SiteGround management team about working together to host a PHP conference.</p>
<p>&#8220;We see value in making it possible for developers from Bulgaria and the region to meet and learn from some of the most prominent minds in the global PHP community,&#8221; SiteGround representative Reneta Tsankova said. &#8220;It is also an opportunity for our region to once again be recognized as a place with strong IT potential and lots of development talent.&#8221;</p>
<p>The speaker lineup for the event has been finalized and includes leaders in PHP community (Michelangelo van Dam, Sebastian Bergmann, Cal Evans, Adam Culp, and more), as well as some influencers from both the WordPress and Drupal communities, including Mario Peshev and Larry Garfield.</p>
<p>Bulgaria PHP Conference will be a three day event that includes one training day and two conference days. All of the sessions will be conducted in English, as the event is pulling in speakers and attendees from Bulgaria, the Balkans, and other parts of the world.</p>
<p><a href="https://automattic.com/" target="_blank">Automattic</a> is now a confirmed <a href="http://www.bgphp.org/sponsors/" target="_blank">sponsor</a>, along with Mandrill, Shopware, SiteGround, and others. The sponsors make it possible for organizers to keep the event accessible to as many attendees as possible with lower <a href="http://www.bgphp.org/tickets/" target="_blank">ticket</a> prices. The earlybird price for the conference pass is just 65 euro.</p>
<p>Sofia hosted <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-beyond-boundaries-a-recap-of-wordcamp-europe-2014" target="_blank">WordCamp Europe 2014</a> and the city is home to a vibrant IT community. If you&#8217;re looking to expand your PHP skills and connect with other passionate developers, the <a href="http://www.bgphp.org/" target="_blank">Bulgaria PHP Conference</a> is one you&#8217;ll want to consider adding to your calendar for September.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 15 May 2015 18:15:57 +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: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:16;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Matt: Trojan Emoji";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45050";s: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:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/trojan-emoji/";s: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:588:"<blockquote><p>Andrew Nacin, lead developer of WordPress, just finished a talk at Loopconf, where he talked about a series of related WordPress security fixes that spanned two years, with the final fix included into WordPress core under the guise of Emoji support.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://poststatus.com/the-trojan-emoji/">Post Status has a good look at some of the really deep security work that has been going on in WordPress lately</a>. There will always be more problems, but we&#8217;re getting to the point where the problems (and the fixes) are often quite subtle.</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, 15 May 2015 06:06:00 +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:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:17;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"WPTavern: Beer Directory: A WordPress Plugin for Brewers and Beer Aficionados";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43140";s: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:"http://wptavern.com/beer-directory-a-wordpress-plugin-for-brewers-and-beer-aficionados";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4464:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/beer.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/beer.jpg?resize=869%2C415" alt="beer" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43810" /></a></p>
<p>Craft beer and WordPress are a magical combination. Both cultures are built on some of the same values, like sharing knowledge and open sourcing happiness. With the explosion of the craft beer scene over the past few years, many new <a href="http://wptavern.com/30-beautiful-brewery-websites-built-with-wordpress" target="_blank">breweries are opting to build their websites on top of WordPress</a>. When you&#8217;re bootstrapping a new brewery, the last thing you need to spend money on is proprietary software.</p>
<p>The WordPress community has many free and open source tools that developers can use to build a beer-centered website. <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/beer-directory/" target="_blank">Beer Directory</a> is a new plugin released this year by Jami Gibbs, founder of <a href="https://rescuethemes.com/" target="_blank">Rescue Themes</a>. She created it to support beer listings on her commercial <a href="http://themeforest.net/item/brewery-a-wordpress-theme-for-beer-makers/full_screen_preview/10941216" target="_blank">Brewery</a> theme.</p>
<p>Beer Directory gives you an easy way to enter beers and their details in the admin. It allows you to categorize and group beers, enter details, and display listings via a configurable shortcode. The post type includes fields for ABV, IBU, OG, FG, SRM/Color, Malts, Hops, and Yeast.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/beer-profile.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/beer-profile.jpg?resize=1025%2C797" alt="beer-profile" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43790" /></a></p>
<p>I tested the plugin by adding the details from a <a href="https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/put-the-blueberries-in-the-basket" target="_blank">blueberry sour beer recipe</a>. The output for an individual listing on the frontend will look something like this, depending on your active theme:</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/beer-listing.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/beer-listing.jpg?resize=626%2C872" alt="beer-listing" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43791" /></a></p>
<p>The plugin includes a shortcode for listing an individual beer: <code>[beer id="17"]</code> and one for displaying all listings: <code>[beer]</code>. The shortcodes can be configured by count, category, id, and any of the WordPress <a href="http://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Query#Order_.26_Orderby_Parameters" target="_blank">Order &amp; Orderby Parameters</a>. Beer posts also include support for a featured image.</p>
<p>Be advised that this is not a beer recipe plugin, so there&#8217;s no easy way to enter your hop schedule, amounts for fermentables, temperatures, etc. Beer Directory was created purely for listing beers on the frontend with a few key details. If you need to enter beer recipes, the <a href="http://wptavern.com/how-to-share-beer-recipes-in-wordpress" target="_blank">BeerXML Shortcode plugin</a>, created by <a href="https://twitter.com/derekspringer" target="_blank">Derek Springer</a>, is a more suitable option.</p>
<p>The Beer Directory plugin is perfect for home brewers, professional breweries, or even beer enthusiasts who want to maintain a personal library of beers they enjoy. With this data saved in a custom post type, it will be transferable no matter how many times you change your WordPress theme. In addition to keeping track of your beers, the admin listing allows you to easily search and sort your library.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/beer-in-the-admin.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/beer-in-the-admin.jpg?resize=1025%2C344" alt="beer-in-the-admin" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43807" /></a></p>
<p>After testing the plugin, I can confirm that it works as advertised. <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/beer-directory/" target="_blank">Beer Directory</a> is fully translatable and available for free on WordPress.org. If you want to contribute to development, the plugin can also be found on <a href="https://github.com/RescueThemes/beer-directory" target="_blank">GitHub</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, 15 May 2015 01:31:27 +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:18;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:72:"WPTavern: cPanel’s Site Software Addon Disables WordPress Auto Updates";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43609";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"http://wptavern.com/cpanels-site-software-addon-disables-wordpress-auto-updates";s: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:8988:"<p>A little more than two months ago, Derek Munson, who goes by the username <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/profile/drumology2001">Drumology2001 </a>published a <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-updates-not-showing-latest-wp-version-available?replies=34">thread</a> in the WordPress.org support forums. While performing maintenance on several WordPress sites on his virtual private server, Munson discovered a number of them running outdated versions. Versions ranged from 3.9 to 4.1 with at least one site using WordPress 3.9.2.</p>
<blockquote><p>I&#8217;m used to seeing the &#8216;nag&#8217; at the top of the screen that lets me know there&#8217;s a newer version available. I am not seeing that on any of these sites which aren&#8217;t on the newest version (4.1.1). When I go to Dashboard &gt; Updates and click &#8216;Check Again&#8217; to force a manual check, it&#8217;s still acting as though everything is up to date when it&#8217;s clearly not.</p></blockquote>
<p>Initially, Munson thought All in One WP Security and Firewall <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-wp-core-file-updates">was blocking update notifications</a>. <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/profile/mbrsolution">Mbrsolution</a>, the plugin&#8217;s main developer, confirmed that it doesn&#8217;t block update notifications. After completing a number of troubleshooting techniques suggested by volunteers on the WordPress support forum, Munson installed <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/">Wordfence Security</a>, a WordPress security plugin.</p>
<p>One of Wordfence&#8217;s noteworthy features is its scanner. It compares clean WordPress core files to those on the server and notifies the user if it detects a difference. Results of the scan shows three files had been changed.</p>
<p><strong>wp-admin/includes/update.php</strong><br />
<strong>wp-admin/update-core.php</strong><br />
<strong>wp-admin/includes/class-wp-upgrader.php</strong></p>
<p>These files were only changed on WordPress sites that were installed using cPanel&#8217;s Site Software addon.</p>
<p><strong>WordPress&#8217;</strong> update.php file.<br />
<code>function get_core_updates( $options = array() ) { $options = array_merge( array( 'available' =&gt; true, 'dismissed' =&gt; false ), $options ); $dismissed = get_site_option( 'dismissed_update_core' );</code></p>
<p><strong>cPanel&#8217;s</strong> update.php file.<br />
<code>function get_core_updates( $options = array() ) { # cPanel override: Disable all core updates to prevent conflict with cPAddons. return false; $options = array_merge( array( 'available' =&gt; true, 'dismissed' =&gt; false ), $options );</code></p>
<p><strong>WordPress&#8217;</strong> update-core.php file.<br />
<code>function core_upgrade_preamble() { global $wp_version, $required_php_version, $required_mysql_version; $updates = get_core_updates();</code></p>
<p><strong>cPanel&#8217;s</strong> update-core.php file.<br />
<code>function core_upgrade_preamble() { # cPanel override: Do not display the current or the latest version, because we've disabled updates. return; global $wp_version, $required_php_version, $required_mysql_version; $updates = get_core_updates();</code></p>
<p><strong>WordPress&#8217;</strong> class-wp-upgrader.php file.<br />
<code>public function is_disabled() { // Background updates are disabled if you don't want file changes. if ( defined( 'DISALLOW_FILE_MODS' ) &amp;&amp; DISALLOW_FILE_MODS ) return true;</code></p>
<p><strong>cPanel&#8217;s</strong> class-wp-upgrader.php file.<br />
<code>public function is_disabled() { return true; // Force this functionality to disabled because it is incompatible with cPAddons. // Background updates are disabled if you don't want file changes. if ( defined( 'DISALLOW_FILE_MODS' ) &amp;&amp; DISALLOW_FILE_MODS ) return true;</code></p>
<p>The code added by cPanel disables core WordPress updates, update notifications, and automatic background updates to point releases. Once Munson restored these files to their original version, automatic updates and notifications worked properly.</p>
<h2>cPanel and cPAddons</h2>
<p>Those who manage dedicated servers or virtual private servers with cPanel have the ability to use cPAddons. According to <a href="https://documentation.cpanel.net/display/1148Docs/Install+cPAddons">cPanel documentation</a>, &#8220;Addons are applications that work with cPanel to perform functions for your users’ websites. Examples of these applications include bulletin boards, online shopping carts, and blogs.&#8221;</p>
<h2>Open Dialogue With cPanel</h2>
<p>George Stephanis, a WordPress core contributor and lead developer of Jetpack publicly called out cPanel&#8217;s actions as a bad practice.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wait, seriously? <a href="https://twitter.com/cPanel">@cPanel</a> is hacking WordPress core to prevent updates? I'm kinda dumbfounded by how bad of an idea this is. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/donthackcore?src=hash">#donthackcore</a></p>
<p>&mdash; George Stephanis (@daljo628) <a href="https://twitter.com/daljo628/status/597794481329590272">May 11, 2015</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>A representative of cPanel saw the tweet and responded that they&#8217;d like to receive more information.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/daljo628">@daljo628</a> re: <a href="https://twitter.com/cPanel">@cPanel</a> w/ <a href="https://twitter.com/WordPress">@WordPress</a> we would like to get more info from you can you provide a email? Or email into sales @ cpanel dot net^MR</p>
<p>&mdash; cPanel Cares (@cpanelcares) <a href="https://twitter.com/cpanelcares/status/597886956945711107">May 11, 2015</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>Stephanis <a href="http://stephanis.info/2015/05/14/please-dont-hack-core/">engaged in a lengthy conversation</a> with cPanel representatives explaining why it&#8217;s a bad idea to disable core updates. cPanel disables WordPress&#8217; native update system because it could cause conflicts with cPanel&#8217;s Site Software version of WordPress.</p>
<blockquote><p>We generally release the latest version of WordPress within 1 to 5 days of the latest WordPress update. At a minimum, server administrators are informed each night of all Site Software applications that need updated. It is up to users to configure their notifications within cPanel to receive such updates.</p>
<p>The way our cPAddons tool tracks software is not compatible with the way WordPress updates, hence why we disable the auto-updates so we can track it through cPAddons.</p></blockquote>
<p>cPanel goes on to explain how updates are handled for software installed using its Site Software cPAddon.</p>
<ul>
<li>Whenever WP releases a maintenance build that addresses security concerns, we react very quickly to get our software updated to be available to customers.</li>
<li>By default, we define that software managed/installed through cPAddons is automatically updated when a new update is available.</li>
<li>Based on the above information, if the server administrator leaves the defaults enabled, once WP introduces a maintenance release that corrects security concerns and we’ve tested and updated our source for it, customers will receive the release automatically.</li>
<li>If the server administrator decides to disable automatic software updates, the end-user and systems administrator will still receive notifications that their installation is out of date accompanied with steps on how to update their application.</li>
</ul>
<p>By default, software installed by cPanel is configured to update automatically but some of Munson&#8217;s sites didn&#8217;t update. He also didn&#8217;t receive update notifications for those sites. cPanel believes there is something wrong with Munson&#8217;s server configuration and pledged to contact him to find out more information.</p>
<blockquote><p>Based upon what Drumology2001 reported on the forum, it appears something is amiss on that server. We’d love to examine that server to determine why WordPress updates were not available to the user.</p>
<p>Based upon the fuzzy dates used on the forum and compared with our internal records, the 4.1.1 update was available to the Site Software system prior to the initial post. We’ll reach out to him to determine whether there is anything we can do there.</p></blockquote>
<h2>Receptive to Change</h2>
<p>The good news is that cPanel is responsive and willing to make any necessary changes to improve the update process. Considering how many webhosting companies offer customers the ability to install WordPress with a one-click installer, it&#8217;s important that sites receive updates as soon as possible.</p>
<p>If you installed WordPress through cPanel&#8217;s one-click installer, check to make sure your site is running WordPress 4.2.2 which is the latest stable version.</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, 14 May 2015 19:45:32 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:19;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:61:"WPTavern: All Sessions from LoopConf Now Available on YouTube";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43528";s: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:"http://wptavern.com/all-sessions-from-loopconf-now-available-on-youtube";s: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:4590:"<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/loopconf-2015.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/loopconf-2015.jpg?resize=1016%2C506" alt="photo credit: LoopConf" class="size-full wp-image-43769" /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://twitter.com/loopconf/status/598233226407088128/photo/1">LoopConf</a>
<p><a href="https://loopconf.io/" target="_blank">LoopConf</a>, a new WordPress conference created for developers, was held in Las Vegas last week with a world-class lineup of speakers. The event was such a success that the organization team is already planning for 2016.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/loopconf?src=hash">#loopconf</a> 2016?! We’ve committed to year 2 and are already making plans! Get on the super early interest list here: <a href="http://t.co/23y5pL4qWv">http://t.co/23y5pL4qWv</a></p>
<p>&mdash; LoopConf (@loopconf) <a href="https://twitter.com/loopconf/status/598620705605844992">May 13, 2015</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>Attendees were impressed with the professional planning of the event, speaker selection, and the quality of the venue.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to say, with emphasis, what I think everyone is probably thinking: LoopConf is what you wish most WordCamps were,&#8221; Speaker and attendee John James Jacoby said in his <a href="http://jaco.by/2015/05/14/loopconf/" target="_blank">writeup</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;I like that WordCamps are casual and inviting, and I like that conferences like <a href="http://loopconf.io/" target="_blank">LoopConf</a> and the <a href="http://vip.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">WordPress.com VIP Workshop</a> strive to achieve something more professional. I think there will be some WordCamps that try to upgrade themselves to compete, and others that will purposely stay intimate and niche,&#8221; Jacoby predicted.</p>
<p>The entire <a href="http://www.woothemes.com/2015/05/woothemes-loopconf/" target="_blank">WooCommerce development team was also in attendance at LoopConf</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/BFTrick" target="_blank">Patrick Rauland</a> found interacting with other developers from the community to be the highlight.</p>
<p>&#8220;The biggest takeaway that I got from Loop was that conferences are about people,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Not that cheesy networking where you try to meet as many people as possible. It’s about meeting people and really getting to know them.&#8221;</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/loopconf-party.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/loopconf-party.jpg?resize=1016%2C632" alt="LoopConf attendees at the SiteGround party - credit: LoopConf" class="size-full wp-image-43771" /></a>LoopConf attendees at the SiteGround party &#8211; credit: <a href="https://twitter.com/loopconf/status/598237685518499842/photo/1">LoopConf</a>
<p>Those who could not attend may have missed out on the networking, but videos for all of the sessions are now <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAwOVsWiMdlz6snWRF2HdSQ" target="_blank">available on YouTube</a>. One favorite session among attendees was Andrew Nacin&#8217;s presentation on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQaRUEwEKxE" target="_blank">The Anatomy of a Critical Security Bug</a>, during which he revealed that the Emoji support added in WordPress 4.2 was also part of a larger plan to fix a <a href="https://poststatus.com/the-trojan-emoji/" target="_blank">two-year old security vulnerability</a>.</p>
<p>Attendees also enjoyed <a href="https://ghost.org/" target="_blank">Ghost</a> founder John O&#8217;Nolan&#8217;s session on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p3nT4ujUk8" target="_blank">The Economics of Open Source</a>, Ryan McCue&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyTeLjsopC4" target="_blank">How to Build a REST API for 23 Percent of the Web</a>,&#8221; and Google engineer Ilya Grigorik&#8217;s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CceyqktMoRw" target="_blank">Performance Guide RAIL</a> keynote presentation. If you have some free time to devote to improving your development knowledge, the LoopConf videos make up a small library of advanced learning on a variety technical topics.</p>
<p>LoopConf attracted 210 attendees as a brand new WordPress event this year. Glowing accounts of its professional handling are likely to increase attendees next year. LoopConf 2016 is already in the planning stages, but the location is yet to be decided.</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, 14 May 2015 19:05:08 +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:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:20;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"WPTavern: WPWeekly Episode 192 – Infinite Possibilities With Dan Griffiths";s: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:44:"http://wptavern.com?p=43747&preview_id=43747";s: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:82:"http://wptavern.com/wpweekly-episode-192-infinite-possibilities-with-dan-griffiths";s: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:3306:"<p>In this episode of WordPress Weekly, <a href="http://marcuscouch.com/">Marcus Couch</a> and I are joined by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/section214/">Dan Griffiths</a>, founder of <a href="https://section214.com/">Section214</a>. We spend the first half of the show learning about Griffiths&#8217; interest in technology at a young age.</p>
<p>Once out of the military, Griffiths experienced difficulties finding a job. He discovered Easy Digital Downloads and explains how working on a ticket and creating an API led to getting a job offer from <a href="https://pippinsplugins.com/">Pippin Williamson</a>. Since accepting the job offer, Griffiths has <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/section214/#content-plugins">published 22 plugins</a> to the WordPress plugin directory and has attended several WordCamps.</p>
<p>Later in the show, we discuss <a href="http://wptavern.com/dan-griffiths-launches-175k-crowdfunding-campaign-to-build-hostpress">HostPress</a>, an open-source, extensible server control panel built on top of WordPress. He describes his motivation behind the project and why he thinks webhosts need a better solution. Near the end of the interview, Griffiths shares his thoughts on the WP REST API that will eventually be added to WordPress and what it means for the project&#8217;s future.</p>
<h2>Stories Discussed:</h2>
<p><a href="http://heropress.com/heros-are-found-in-unexpected-places/">Heroes Are Found In Unexpected Places </a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-3-to-focus-on-mobile-experience-admin-ui-better-passwords-and-customizer-improvements">WordPress 4.3 to Focus on Mobile Experience, Admin UI, Better Passwords, and Customizer Improvements</a></p>
<h2>Plugins Picked By Marcus:</h2>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-rollback/">WP Rollback</a> lets you quickly and easily rollback any theme or plugin from WordPress.org to any previous or newer version. It works just like the plugin updater, except you&#8217;re rolling backward or forward to a specific version. Be sure to read our <a href="http://wptavern.com/wp-rollback-provides-basic-versioning-for-wordpress-org-plugins-and-themes">review of WP Rollback</a> on the Tavern.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/linkedin-oauth/">Linkedin_Oauth</a> allows users to login and register into WordPress using their LinkedIn account.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/strong-password-generator/">Strong Password Generator</a> created by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/fjarrett/">Frankie Jarrett</a>, encourages the use of strong passwords by helping users generate them easily.</p>
<h2>WPWeekly Meta:</h2>
<p><strong>Next Episode:</strong> Wednesday, May 20th 9:30 P.M. Eastern</p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: </strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wordpress-weekly/id694849738" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via RSS: </strong><a href="http://www.wptavern.com/feed/podcast" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Stitcher Radio: </strong><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wordpress-weekly-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Listen To Episode #192:</strong><br />
</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 14 May 2015 07:19:28 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:21;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"Matt: Wearable Gadgets";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45048";s: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:38:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/wearable-gadgets/";s: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:351:"<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2015/05/09/the-revolution-will-be-digitized/">Wearable gadgets portend vast health, research and privacy consequences</a>, the Washington Post takes on the quantified self. I&#8217;m in the medium end of this, I track pretty much everything that&#8217;s easy, but no blood / hormone tests yet.</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, 14 May 2015 05:04:00 +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:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:22;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"WPTavern: WP Engine Rolls Out WP-CLI Support to Select Partners for Beta Testing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43693";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:90:"http://wptavern.com/wp-engine-rolls-out-wp-cli-support-to-select-partners-for-beta-testing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3885:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/wp-engine.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/wp-engine.jpg?resize=1025%2C427" alt="wp-engine" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-34106" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://wpengine.com/" target="_blank">WP Engine</a> is currently beta testing <a href="http://wp-cli.org/" target="_blank">WP-CLI</a> support with approximately 200 select partners. Those who serve clients that host with the company are eager to see it rolled out to more customers, as WP-CLI has become an indispensable part of many WordPress developers&#8217; workflow.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WP-CLI on <a href="https://twitter.com/wpengine">@wpengine</a>!  From the entire WordPress Community, THANK YOU!!!!!</p>
<p>&mdash; Brad Williams (@williamsba) <a href="https://twitter.com/williamsba/status/598526319253663744">May 13, 2015</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>&#8220;We find that with technical products it’s often better to roll out to development partners who we have a prior working relationship with, to get candid feedback from highly technical folks, and thus build a better product before rolling to a wider audience,&#8221; founder <a href="http://blog.asmartbear.com/" target="_blank">Jason Cohen</a> told the Tavern.</p>
<p>There is no set timeframe for beta, but Cohen said that the plan is to offer WP-CLI support to all customers on all plans.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our timeframe for exiting beta is like one of the rules of Fight Club: &#8216;The beta goes on for as long as it has to,'&#8221; he said. &#8220;If everything is smooth and few issues arise, we can roll faster, but if we find things we want to fix, it will take longer. <span class="pullquote alignleft">The main thing is to release high quality product, not to release it as quickly as possible.</span>&#8221;</p>
<p>Many other hosting companies that cater to WordPress customers, such as Bluehost, SiteGround, and Site5, have had <a href="http://wptavern.com/hosting-companies-that-have-wp-cli-pre-installed" target="_blank">WP-CLI pre-installed</a> for years, which makes it curious that WP Engine has taken so long to add support for it. Cohen says that it&#8217;s trickier when you plan to offer it to all customers.</p>
<blockquote><p>Some of our competitors offer WP-CLI only on dedicated plans, not on shared plans, whereas we offer it on all plans. An example of why it’s tricker: there are security implications (e.g. when running system commands outside of the PHP sandbox, which many WP-CLI commands do) in a multi-tenant system that are less of a concern in a dedicated system. We wanted to take the time to get all that right.</p></blockquote>
<p>Cohen said that it wasn&#8217;t hard to come to the decision to support WP-CLI but WP Engine has been concurrently working on launching other technical tools. Most recently, the company has been focusing on polishing <a href="http://wptavern.com/wp-engine-partners-with-10up-to-launch-enterprise-hhvm-wordpress-hosting-platform" target="_blank">Mercury</a>, its enterprise HHVM hosting platform, which launched last year.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’ve been building and releasing features that no one else has,&#8221; Cohen said. &#8220;So, sometimes we’re first-out with a feature, and sometimes not. That seems natural in a market with a dozen good competitors, all innovating in the space.&#8221;</p>
<p>Development partners who have been granted access to WP-CLI during the beta period can find a <a href="http://wpengine.com/support/known-issues-in-wp-cli-in-user-portal/" target="_blank">list of known issues</a> in the WP Engine documentation, which includes a list of commands that are currently not supported. Documentation will be updated throughout the beta period to reflect progress on issues reported by testers.</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, 13 May 2015 23:51:53 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:23;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"WPTavern: WP Rollback Provides Basic Versioning for WordPress.org Plugins and Themes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43696";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:94:"http://wptavern.com/wp-rollback-provides-basic-versioning-for-wordpress-org-plugins-and-themes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4615:"<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/undo-button.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/undo-button.jpg?resize=1025%2C506" alt="The undo key from a computer keyboard" class="size-full wp-image-43721" /></a>The undo key from a computer keyboard
<p>Despite the recent proliferation of plugins that add git-based version control to WordPress, your average user does not require a full-blown version control system as part of regular site management. Developers can certainly benefit from tools like <a href="http://wptavern.com/free-revisr-plugin-offers-git-management-for-wordpress" target="_blank">Revisr</a> and <a href="http://wptavern.com/gitium-provides-automatic-git-version-control-and-deployment-for-wordpress-plugins-and-themes" target="_blank">Gitium</a> for managing projects with Git, but the vast majority of WordPress users are more likely to benefit from a simple &#8220;undo&#8221; button for mistakes or bad updates.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-rollback/" target="_blank">WP Rollback</a> is a new plugin that brings the concept of an &#8220;undo&#8221; button to updates for plugins and themes hosted on WordPress.org. It allows users to easily rollback to any previous (or newer) version without the hassle of manually downloading files.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wp-rollback.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wp-rollback.jpg?resize=925%2C228" alt="wp-rollback" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43711" /></a></p>
<p>Clicking the Rollback link will take the user to a screen where he can select from a list of previous versions or update to newer ones.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wp-rollback-versions-screen.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wp-rollback-versions-screen.jpg?resize=576%2C437" alt="wp-rollback-versions-screen" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43712" /></a></p>
<p>WP Rollback uses WordPress&#8217; native plugin updater to revert to previous versions.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wp-rollback-update.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wp-rollback-update.jpg?resize=556%2C304" alt="wp-rollback-update" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43714" /></a></p>
<p>While using older versions of themes/plugins is not generally encouraged, there are times when it&#8217;s unavoidable. For example, some plugin authors routinely push out buggy updates, seemingly without having run any tests on them, and then rely on their users to discover and report the problems. It can sometimes be 24 &#8211; 72 hours before the author has the chance to push out a fix to the buggy update. WP Rollback allows users to quickly revert to the previous working version of the plugin.</p>
<p>As themes hosted on WordPress.org <a href="http://wptavern.com/do-wordpress-org-themes-need-a-changelog" target="_blank">do not yet have change logs</a>, there may be times when a user updates to a new version of a theme where the author has made some major changes to the markup and/or styles. Without a changelog, the user has no idea what is included in the update or how it might impact a child theme or plugin&#8217;s output. WP Rollback gives you the ability to test a theme update and quickly rollback if necessary until you&#8217;ve had the chance to get your site ready.</p>
<p>Most WordPress users do not have a development environment in place for putting software updates to the test before rolling them out. They simply expect updates to work, but there will always be those rare instances of unforeseen conflicts and bugs. Having WP Rollback in place should help users to be less wary about taking updates, since they know they can easily rollback if something goes wrong.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordimpress.com/" target="_blank">WordImpress</a>, the folks behind WP Rollback as well as the new <a href="http://wptavern.com/give-a-new-free-donations-plugin-for-wordpress" target="_blank">Give plugin</a>, encourages users to backup their sites before performing plugin/theme updates or reverts. Ideally, you would test any changes in a development environment first to ensure that everything works as planned. <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-rollback/" target="_blank">WP Rollback</a> is available for free on WordPress.org and <a href="https://github.com/WordImpress/WP-Rollback/wiki" target="_blank">documentation can be found on GitHub</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, 13 May 2015 19:34:14 +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: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:24;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:24:"Matt: Advanced Hindsight";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45039";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:40:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/advanced-hindsight/";s: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:612:"<blockquote><p>Beginning with the 2015 academic year, the Center for Advanced Hindsight (CAH) at Duke University will invite promising startups to join its behavioral lab and leverage academic research in their business models. The Center is housed within the Social Science Research Institute at Duke University and is led by Professor Dan Ariely, Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://danariely.com/2015/05/08/announcing-cah-startup-lab/">This is a pretty awesome opportunity for entrepreneurs</a>, I hope a reader of this blog pursues it.</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, 13 May 2015 04:19:00 +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:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:25;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:98:"WPTavern: Major Changes to WordPress.org Guidelines Should Have a Request for Comments Time Period";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43595";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:104:"http://wptavern.com/major-wordpress-org-guideline-changes-should-have-a-request-for-comments-time-period";s: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:7603:"<p>For the last three years, the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/">WordPress Theme Review Team</a> has tried to encourage theme authors to adopt the Theme Customizer. In April, the decision was made by the TRT to no longer encourage, but <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2015/04/22/details-on-the-new-theme-settings-customizer-guideline/">require</a> all theme options to be in the customizer. Although the decision was three years in the making, the community didn&#8217;t have an opportunity to provide feedback until <strong>after</strong> the requirement was put in place.</p>
<h2>The Timeline</h2>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/EstimatedReadingTimeFeaturedImage.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-25719" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/EstimatedReadingTimeFeaturedImage.png?resize=639%2C200" alt="Estimated Reading Time Featured Image" /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eyesplash/8467316141/">Eyesplash &#8211; let&#8217;s feel the heat</a> &#8211; <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
<p>Those who follow the official <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/">TRT blog</a> likely saw the writing on the wall. With the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2012/06/green/">release of WordPress 3.4</a> in 2012, which introduced the theme customizer, the TRT held discussions on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2012/05/08/proposed-wordpress-3-4-guidelines-revisions/">proposed changes</a> to the theme review guidelines. One of the proposed changes <strong>recommended</strong> theme options be incorporated into the theme customizer. Of particular interest is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2012/05/08/proposed-wordpress-3-4-guidelines-revisions/#comment-19516">a conversation</a> between Justin Tadlock and Chip Bennett on whether or not the customizer should be recommended so early.</p>
<p>In November of 2014, the team <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2014/11/04/todays-meeting-agenda-ive-gone-back-all-comments/">held a meeting</a> to discuss modifications to the theme review guidelines. Up until this point, theme authors were allowed to create theme options in one of three ways, Theme Customizer, Settings API, or with custom options pages using the Theme Mods API.</p>
<p>During the meeting, <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/themereview/p1415124589001969">Tadlock suggested</a> that the team should <strong>strongly recommend</strong> theme authors to use the customizer. Members in attendance agreed and the theme review guidelines changed to <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2014/04/03/wordpress-3-9-guidelines-revision-proposal-round-2/">strongly recommend</a> theme options be placed into the customizer.</p>
<p>A few days after the meeting, Tadlock published a post asking <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2014/11/11/how-do-we-solve-the-theme-options-problem/">how do we solve the theme options problem</a>? He highlights the lack of educational resources on the customizer as one of the major culprits of its slow adoption.</p>
<blockquote><p>One of the things I’ve always hoped the TRT would become is more of an educational team. I firmly believe that if we didn’t have to spend so much time dealing with theme options, we could spend more time on educating in other areas of the dev/design.</p>
<p>I’m writing this post because I believe this to be the biggest hangup with themes today. It’s the hardest part of the review process. It’s also one of the most critical because theme options means potential security issues.</p></blockquote>
<p>The post opened up a dialogue to discuss ways of dealing with several issues related to getting developers to adopt and use the customizer. Bennett <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2014/11/24/understanding-the-apis-related-to-theme-options/">published a post a few days later</a> that explained APIs related to theme options. It was later followed up by Tadlock with a post on <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2014/11/26/customizer-theme-mods-api-or-settings-api/">choosing Theme Mods API or Settings API</a>.</p>
<h2>The Vote</h2>
<p>Fast forward to April 2015, the team <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/themereview/p1429639190005379">held a meeting</a> and unanimously agreed to require theme authors to place theme options into the customizer. A day later, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2015/04/22/details-on-the-new-theme-settings-customizer-guideline/">Tadlock explained</a> why the change was made and how the team came to its decision.</p>
<blockquote><p>First, I want to say that the team did not take this decision lightly nor did we make it quickly. In fact, this has been an ongoing discussion for nearly 3 years (since the customizer was first introduced in core). Many of us had originally hoped that we could take a more organic approach to this and allow theme authors to naturally make the switch on their own given enough time.</p></blockquote>
<p>The decision created a <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-now-requires-theme-authors-to-use-the-customizer-to-build-theme-options#comments">passionate, lengthy conversation</a> with several people chiming in <em>after the fact</em> on WP Tavern.</p>
<h2>A Request for Comments Period</h2>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/FutureOfCommentingFeaturedImage.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-18515" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/FutureOfCommentingFeaturedImage.png?resize=638%2C200" alt="Future Of Commenting Featured Image" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcwathieu/2945514734/">Marc Wathieu</a> &#8211; <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>
<p>On the TRT blog, there are several blog posts that encourage feedback, especially on guideline proposals. In this instance however, feedback, concerns, and criticism weren&#8217;t encouraged until after the decision was made.</p>
<p>The TRT usually <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2015/04/13/weekly-meeting-agenda-this-week-weve-got-our-2/">publishes an agenda</a> that highlights what topics will be discussed during the meeting. An agenda was published for the April 14th meeting but not for the April 21st meeting. This means only those in attendance were able to voice an opinion and vote on the issue, as there was no advance notice.</p>
<p>I understand the team has discussed this change for the last three years, but I would like to have seen a request for comments period for at least a month on the TRT blog.</p>
<p>This way, people could comment on the decision before it was implemented. The team could have controlled the conversation, provided a more accessible way of participating in the discussion versus Slack, and heard legitimate concerns from theme developers.</p>
<p>I hope major changes like this in the future are addressed in a way where the public can be more involved. The notion that concerned parties should have been in Slack during the meeting to voice concerns before the decision was made is unacceptable. People have things to do and while I think Slack is easier to use than IRC, a blog post with a comment form is accessible to a lot more people.</p>
<p>An RFC period doesn&#8217;t make sense for a lot of what takes place in the world of WordPress development but a change that affects current, past, and future themes in the directory is a great example of where it does makes sense.</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, 12 May 2015 22:10:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:26;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:93:"WPTavern: Customizer Theme Resizer Plugin Offers Live Previews of Your Site on Mobile Devices";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43599";s: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:103:"http://wptavern.com/customizer-theme-resizer-plugin-offers-live-previews-of-your-site-on-mobile-devices";s: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:3729:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/customizer-theme-resizer.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/customizer-theme-resizer.jpg?resize=650%2C300" alt="customizer-theme-resizer" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43646" /></a></p>
<p>Contributors on the <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-3-to-focus-on-mobile-experience-admin-ui-better-passwords-and-customizer-improvements" target="_blank">upcoming WordPress 4.3 release</a> are moving full speed ahead with plans to improve the experience of using the customizer. They&#8217;re also exploring ways to re-architect it to make way for feature plugins that would bring in additional functionality.</p>
<p>WordPress core contributors have continually demonstrated a commitment to improving the customizer to make it better for everyone, and the Theme Developer Handbook was recently <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-developer-handbook-updated-with-comprehensive-guide-to-the-customizer-api" target="_blank">updated with a comprehensive guide to using the Customizer API</a>. Plugin developers are also finding new ways to <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/customizer" target="_blank">extend the customizer</a> to support the increasing number of users who depend on it for live previews.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/customizer-theme-resizer/" target="_blank">Customizer Theme Resizer</a> is a new plugin that is immensely useful for previewing your site on various mobile devices while adjusting options in the customizer. The plugin was created by Japanese web developer <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webnist/" target="_blank">Tatsuki Ohta</a>, who has 10 other extensions listed in the official directory. It allows you to review your design for responsiveness without having to leave the customizer panel.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/customizer-theme-resizer-screenshot.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/customizer-theme-resizer-screenshot.jpg?resize=905%2C561" alt="customizer-theme-resizer-screenshot" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43648" /></a></p>
<p>Customizer Theme Resizer offers nine preset mobile phone/tablet display options, or you can manually add your own screen dimensions. You can also easily switch between portrait or landscape mode.</p>
<p>The plugin works seamlessly within the customizer, so you can set it to iPhone 6, for example, and live preview any of your design choices on that device. This is especially helpful when uploading a site logo or a header image if you want to see how those images resize down for devices. It keeps you from having to go back and forth while making adjustments and testing responsiveness on your phone or simulator.</p>
<p>I tested the plugin and found that it works as advertised. You can see a quick overview of how it works in the video below:</p>
<p><span class="embed-youtube"></span></p>
<p>As a result of the WordPress.org Theme Review Team&#8217;s decision to <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-now-requires-theme-authors-to-use-the-customizer-to-build-theme-options" target="_blank">enforce the use of the customizer for theme options</a>, more themes will be moving to support the customizer ahead of the deadline to comply. The Customizer Theme Resizer plugin is a handy tool to use in conjunction with any theme that supports the customizer. Install the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/customizer-theme-resizer/" target="_blank">Customizer Theme Resizer</a> plugin from WordPress.org the next time you want to live preview the mobile-friendliness of your design adjustments.</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, 12 May 2015 21:52:25 +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: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:27;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"WPTavern: 3 Big Things that Will Happen to WordPress in the Near Future";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43611";s: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:81:"http://wptavern.com/3-big-things-that-will-happen-to-wordpress-in-the-near-future";s: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:6711:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/petersuhm.jpeg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/petersuhm.jpeg?resize=150%2C150" alt="petersuhm" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-43613" /></a>This opinion piece was contributed by guest author <a href="https://twitter.com/petersuhm" target="_blank">Peter Suhm</a>. Peter is a web developer from the Land of the Danes. He is the creator of <a href="https://wppusher.com/" target="_blank">WP Pusher</a> and a huge travel addict, bringing his work along with him as he goes.<br />
&nbsp;</p>
<hr />
<h3>Yet another WordPress prophecy</h3>
<p>Okay, I admit that the title of this post is a bit risky. Honestly, it should probably have been &#8220;3 Big Things That I Wholeheartedly Hope Will Happen To WordPress In The Not Too Distant Future&#8221;. That being said, I am optimistic by nature, and I actually think these three ideas are realistic scenarios. So in all modesty, and without further ado, here is my take on some of the next big things to happen in the WordPress world in the near future.</p>
<h1>WordPress Will Have Dependency Management</h1>
<p>There is no question about it. WordPress needs some sort of dependency management mechanism. We have seen all other fragments of the PHP community, and other languages too, adopt the use of dependency managers. Most likely, WordPress will adopt <a href="https://getcomposer.org/" target="_blank">Composer</a> in some form, either out-of-the-box or by configuration.</p>
<h3>What is a dependency manager?</h3>
<p>A dependency manager is a software tool that can resolve and manage the dependencies (other libraries) that a given library requires. In PHP we have Composer. Each PHP library that supports Composer will have a defined set of dependencies that it depends on. The role of Composer is to fetch all these dependencies and make sure they are all compatible with each other.</p>
<h3>… and why does WordPress need one?</h3>
<p>WordPress needs one so we do not have to reinvent the wheel every time we want to make a new plugin or theme. Every time we write code for WordPress when we could have used one of the existing PHP packages out there, we are essentially wasting our time. Allowing the use of third-party dependencies allows for much more rapid development and better security. So many security issues in WordPress plugins are the same ones showing up again and again.</p>
<h3>What does this mean for you?</h3>
<p>In the short run, for plugin developers, WordPress adopting a dependency manager will mean a huge opportunity for making WordPress specific plugins for all the existing PHP libraries out there. When this happens, we will see hundreds, if not thousands, of plugins that will just be WordPress wrappers around existing libraries. Some of these plugins will end up becoming very popular. So be ready if you are an upcoming plugin author!</p>
<p>WordPress developers will probably also have to deal with some sort of frontend dependency manager, since, with the <a href="http://wp-api.org/" target="_blank">WP REST API</a>, a lot of things will be revolutionized on the frontend side of things. We will touch more on that in the next section.</p>
<h1>WordPress Will Be “Just” a Backend</h1>
<p>This is not my idea, but I am certain this is the way we are moving. With the WP REST API in core, WordPress will essentially be a backend, complete with user management and so forth, for your API-based web application. Themes are going to be JavaScript based and will communicate with WordPress through the API. Plugins will stay mainly PHP, with a dash of JavaScript, just as the backend itself will.</p>
<p>I believe that a main reason for WordPress’ widespread success is the dashboard. It is extremely user friendly and intuitive. Add to that how simple and easy it is to add 3rd party plugins and themes and you have a winner. Extending core is also really trivial because of all the actions and filters that WordPress has built in. There is no way that the WP REST API is going to change this. It is simply adding an extra layer for frontend developers, and most likely, radically changing how we work with theming.</p>
<p>A few years ago, I worked as a full time Ruby on Rails developer. For one project, we needed some kind of CMS to manage the content of our Rails app. One of the developers (a hardcore Ruby guy) suggested using the WordPress dashboard as a backend and just build a simple API around it. We never ended up doing that, but imagine how easy that would be to implement had the API been around at the time.</p>
<h3>What does this mean for you?</h3>
<p>If you are a WordPress theme developer, this means that in the future you will probably not be a WordPress developer any more. You will “just” be a theme developer. You better up those JavaScript skills before this happens.</p>
<h1>WordPress Will Become More Decoupled</h1>
<p>As a result of all this, WordPress will become a lot more decoupled. Obviously, the biggest cut will be between the backend (dashboard and plugins) and the front end (themes). It is also easy to imagine, with an adaptation of Composer, that core itself will become a lot more decoupled. Maybe similar to how the Laravel framework is split up into the Illuminate packages (now we will have to define what “near future” means, though).</p>
<p>As already mentioned, the main component will be the dashboard. Plugins makes sense to keep as a part of the dashboard, but in the future, they might look more like WordPress-specific Composer packages. It makes sense to keep all this in PHP &#8211; of course with a bit of JavaScript here and there.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that if Composer is adopted in the near future, that would naturally mean an upgrade of the minimum required PHP version. That will probably happen very soon, anyways. We might see some sort of frontend plugins as well, but these will be JavaScript and be managed through a frontend dependency management tool.</p>
<h3>What does this mean for you?</h3>
<p>This means that if you are a WordPress plugin developer, you can keep writing good old PHP code. No need to jump straight over to NodeJS, yet, but if you are a theme developer, you might want to keep an eye on what those guys are up to.</p>
<p>It also means that WordPress is going to be much more decoupled and customizable. You will be able to pick the parts you need and skip the rest. If you need something different, you will most likely be able to find an existing PHP package that can do the job. Sounds good, right?</p>
<p>These are my 5 cents. I am curious to hear what you think. Where is WordPress headed?</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, 12 May 2015 18:15:45 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s: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:106:"WPTavern: BuddyPress 2015 Survey Shows Increase in English-Speaking Communities and Commercial Theme Usage";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43531";s: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:116:"http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2015-survey-shows-increase-in-english-speaking-communities-and-commercial-theme-usage";s: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:6558:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2015-bp-survey-results.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2015-bp-survey-results.jpg?resize=1025%2C576" alt="2015-bp-survey-results" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43580" /></a></p>
<p>The <a href="https://buddypress.org/2015/05/2015-buddypress-survey-results/" target="_blank">BuddyPress 2015 survey results</a> are now available. This year&#8217;s survey did not have the same community penetration as <a href="http://wptavern.com/7-surprising-results-from-the-2013-buddypress-codex-survey" target="_blank">2013</a> and <a href="https://buddypress.org/2014/03/2014-buddypress-survey-results/" target="_blank">2014</a>, with 37.5% fewer respondents, but the information is still valuable for gauging how and where people are using the plugin. Volunteers collected feedback from 211 participants in 42 different countries.</p>
<p>Feedback this year shows a few significant shifts from previous years, especially when it comes to languages used on BuddyPress sites. The top three languages in 2015 are English (69.23%), French (10.26%), and German (7.69%). In <a href="http://wptavern.com/7-surprising-results-from-the-2013-buddypress-codex-survey" target="_blank">2013</a>, language usage was fairly evenly divided between English (56%) and non-English sites.</p>
<p>On the surface, the language results seem to indicate a shrinking international community, but it may be due to the fact that the survey lost participants from 20 countries captured the previous year.</p>
<h3>Commercial BuddyPress Themes are on the Rise</h3>
<p>Results indicate that 34% of community managers and developers surveyed are building BuddyPress sites with commercial WordPress themes that offer custom BP CSS and/or template modifications. That number is up from 26% the previous year, likely due to more BuddyPress themes entering the market.</p>
<p>Accessing BuddyPress sites via mobile is also slowly on the rise with 63% of respondents reporting that they&#8217;ve used a smartphone to access their sites. It&#8217;s no surprise that the survey shows mobile responsiveness is one of the most important factors in theme selection.</p>
<p>Other preferred BuddyPress theme features include compatibility with the latest BP version and a light/fresh design. This preference may be due to kinds of sites that users are building, which remain fairly unchanged from previous years:</p>
<ul>
<li>Generic (26.32%)</li>
<li>Academic (23.31%)</li>
<li>Artistic (12.03%)</li>
<li>Sports (11.65%)</li>
<li>Gaming (10.53%)</li>
<li>Scientific (8.27%)</li>
<li>Religious (6.77%)</li>
<li>Travel (0.75%)</li>
<li>Health (0.38%)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Extended Profiles and Activity Streams Remain the Most Used BuddyPress Components</h3>
<p>Results show that the most used BuddyPress components are Extended Profiles (71.13%) and Activity Streams (66.49%), followed by User Groups (57.22%). Although Profiles and Activity remain dominant, they are waning slightly from the previous year while Groups are increasing in popularity.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bp-components-usage.png"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bp-components-usage.png?resize=1025%2C881" alt="bp-components-usage" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43575" /></a></p>
<p>Surprisingly, Friend Connections, which are often associated with social networks, rank quite low on the list of components, trailing Messaging, Notifications, and Account Settings. Site Tracking, a feature used most often with multisite, ranks dead last among components that are always activated at just 8.25%.</p>
<p>If you take a look at the features on track for <a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-3-beta-1-is-ready-for-testing" target="_blank">BuddyPress 2.3</a>, the direction of development seems to be trending toward improving the components that users are mostly likely to activate. Last year&#8217;s major performance improvements <a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-0-ramps-up-performance-reduces-footprint-by-up-to-75" target="_blank">reduced BuddyPress&#8217; footprint by up to 75%</a> in many places, especially for sites that rely on activity and member directories.</p>
<p>The recent additions of the <a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-2-spumoni-released-featuring-new-member-type-api" target="_blank">Member Types API</a> and upcoming <a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-3-will-improve-avatar-uploads-with-the-new-bp-attachments-api" target="_blank">Attachments API</a> greatly improve the extensibility of components that BuddyPress site administrators are most frequently using. The survey results confirm that BP core development is being shaped by community feedback and overall the software is improving for those that are actively using it.</p>
<p>The anonymous comments on the survey provide some critical feedback that indicate it may be time for BuddyPress contributors to reconsider how the software is presented to the world. One respondent feels that the tagline &#8220;social networking in a box&#8221; is inaccurate, given recent developments in other social networking software:</p>
<blockquote><p>BuddyPress is some distance behind the features people now expect of modern social networks. OK for school, or small intranet purposes, but to call it &#8216;social networking in a box&#8217; is slightly stretching reality.</p></blockquote>
<p>BuddyPress also continues to be somewhat daunting for beginners. Developers can be sold on its extensibility, but your average user trying to set up a social network will have a sharp learning curve when it comes to adding features beyond what is offered in BP core. That frustration, when it comes to extending the software, seems to make its way into users&#8217; opinions of BuddyPress in general.</p>
<blockquote><p>I&#8217;ve been trying to learn BuddyPress for about a year. Setup is super easy. Mods are always a pain. I understand this has to do with community support. Everybody wants answers. Few pitch in to help.</p></blockquote>
<p>This year&#8217;s survey results and user feedback provide BuddyPress core contributors and volunteers with some important ideas to consider for shaping both development and community support in the future. The full results of the survey are <a href="https://mercime.github.io/BuddyPress-2015-survey-results/" target="_blank">available on GitHub</a> with a more detailed breakdown and charts for each question.</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, 11 May 2015 19:31:15 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:35:"Matt: New Yorker on Marc Andreessen";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45044";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:51:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/new-yorker-on-marc-andreessen/";s: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:371:"<p>Tad Friend has a <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/18/tomorrows-advance-man">great New Yorker profile of Marc Andreessen</a>, one of my favorite people to debate and talk to (though it happens all too rarely). Check out <a href="http://pmarcasays.golaun.ch/">Pmarca Says</a> if you want to catch up on some of his recent thinking from tweetstorms.</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, 11 May 2015 15:56:40 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:66:"WPTavern: Gazette: A Free WordPress Magazine Theme from Automattic";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43501";s: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:"http://wptavern.com/gazette-a-free-wordpress-magazine-theme-from-automattic";s: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:3367:"<p><a href="https://theme.wordpress.com/themes/gazette/" target="_blank">Gazette</a> is a new WordPress magazine theme from the folks at Automattic, designed by <a href="http://thomasguillot.com/2015/05/07/new-theme-gazette/" target="_blank">Thomas Guillot</a>. Since the majority of themes produced for WordPress.com are well-suited to single author blogs, Gazette&#8217;s fine-tuned focus on digital publications is a welcome addition to the collection.</p>
<p>Magazine themes are generally few and far between, because they have to be designed for a constant flow of content with a homepage that allows the reader to quickly scan multiple featured stories. Gazette takes a minimalist approach to the magazine style in that it isn&#8217;t cluttered with skinny columns of varying widths, obtrusive advertising slots, etc. It could easily be used for a personal blog or photography site.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/gazette-homepage.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/gazette-homepage.jpg?resize=1025%2C906" alt="gazette-homepage" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43507" /></a></p>
<p>As you scroll down the page, the sticky navigation/search bar pins the menu to the top for easy access. Gazette makes a strong impression with fullscreen featured images that display above post and page titles. The content area has been decluttered for readability with post meta pulled out into a separate column.</p>
<p>Gazette supports image, gallery, video, and link post formats. The theme includes two optional widget areas (the right sidebar and footer), and two custom menus. With Jetpack active, Gazette adds an option to upload your site logo. The plugin also manages the featured content display, along with the related posts functionality seen in the <a href="https://gazettedemo.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">live demo</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/gazette-author-bio.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/gazette-author-bio.jpg?resize=300%2C282" alt="gazette-author-bio" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-43552" /></a>Gazette includes a handful of layout and content options in the customizer:</p>
<ul>
<li>Display header image on blog index only</li>
<li>Show author bio on the sidebar of single posts</li>
<li>Display content in the footer, i.e. basic HTML, links, et.</li>
</ul>
<p>Gazette is responsive and maintains its striking visual appeal and readability on mobile devices. The design is similar to popular mobile news apps that display posts with titles overlayed on featured images.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/gazette-responsive.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/gazette-responsive.jpg?resize=560%2C222" alt="gazette-responsive" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43508" /></a></p>
<p>Check out the <a href="https://gazettedemo.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">live demo</a> on WordPress.com to see Gazette in action. The theme is not yet available on WordPress.org but should be soon. In the meantime, the zip file for self-hosted sites can be downloaded from the sidebar of the <a href="https://theme.wordpress.com/themes/gazette/" target="_blank">Gazette theme page</a> on WordPress.com.</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, 11 May 2015 06:30:18 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:15:"Matt: Undercity";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45042";s: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:31:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/undercity/";s: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:190:"<p>A great video going underneath the streets of New York, Ninja Turtle Style:</p>
<p><span class="embed-youtube"></span></p>
<p>Hat tip: <a href="http://dentedreality.com.au/">Beau</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:"Sun, 10 May 2015 15:47:46 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:24:"Matt: Hint Water Founder";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45037";s: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:32:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/hint-water/";s: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:585:"<blockquote><p>When Kara Goldin started putting fruit in her water 10 years ago, she had no idea that she had stumbled upon a business idea that would eventually lead to the creation of a new category in the beverage industry, grow to a 40 million dollar company, and help her lose over 25 pounds in the process.</p></blockquote>
<p>Cool interview with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anjali-varma/mompreneur-spotlight-foun_b_7198902.html">Kara Goldin, the founder of Hint Water</a>, which I drink 3-4 of a day and is also an <a href="http://audrey.co/">Audrey</a> company.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sun, 10 May 2015 03:42:18 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:29:"Post Status: The trojan Emoji";s: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=12600";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:40:"https://poststatus.com/the-trojan-emoji/";s: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:5500:"<p>Andrew Nacin just spoke at <a href="http://loopconf.io">Loopconf</a> about the nature of a critical software bug.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>No strict mode on WordPress databases</h3>
<p>At a base level, the problems originated in that WordPress did not enable strict mode for MySQL. If <code>STRICT_ALL_TABLES</code> has been enabled, the security vulnerability that was addressed in WordPress 4.2 would not exist.</p>
<p>Without strict mode, MySQL allows more flexible inputs, and doesn&#8217;t require the same level of precision in what it allows. For example, a long username would just truncate to the maximum allowed characters, versus be rejected.</p>
<p>Since MySQL can do strange things without strict mode enabled, there are obscure but significant ways for hackers to take advantage.</p>
<h3>Defining the scope of a vulnerability</h3>
<p>A vulnerability was disclosed to the WordPress security team about two years ago. At its core, the method for forcing MySQL truncation was by using four-byte characters, and then using tricks to store nefarious code in the database.</p>
<p>Nacin used an example of inserting two comments in the database with single quotes and attached four-byte characters. MySQL would truncate the four-byte characters on databases using UTF8 (and don&#8217;t allow four-byte characters), and a hacker could utilize the truncated comment (or any other field, really) to add a second comment to finish the exploitation.</p>
<p>The initial vulnerability was fixed in 3.6.1. In 2014, an <a href="https://cedricvb.be/post/wordpress-stored-xss-vulnerability-4-1-2/">new disclosure came in from Cedric Van Bochhaven</a> to note that there was still a vulnerability under particular circumstances.</p>
<p>After months of work and &#8220;tens of thousands of lines of code&#8221; for rewrites and tests, the team realized that they needed to check inputs to the database at a base level of WordPress.</p>
<p>In WordPress 4.2, approximately 1,000 lines of code were inserted into wpdb.php under the guise of Emoji support, but were really for fixing this vulnerability.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12604" src="https://poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/utf8mb4.png" alt="utf8mb4" width="751" height="520" /></p>
<p>The original report identified three requirements for the site to be exposed:</p>
<ol>
<li>MySQL truncating everything after a four-byte character</li>
<li>It&#8217;s not exposed when utf8mb4 is enabled</li>
<li>It&#8217;s theme dependent</li>
</ol>
<p>It turned out that really only part of number one needed to be true. They discovered, &#8220;this could affect any two fields that would be rendered anywhere near each other.&#8221;</p>
<p>Between 11 default database tables and hundreds of fields, basically all parts of WordPress were vulnerable, and core itself also &#8220;extensively&#8221; relied on non-strict mode functionality.</p>
<p>Furthermore, they realized that even three-byte characters could cause truncation, if they aren&#8217;t valid upon insertion.</p>
<p>So of the requirements from the original report, most were not actually required.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12606" src="https://poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/utf8mb4-notreally.png" alt="utf8mb4-notreally" width="745" height="517" /></p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re deeper and deeper and deeper into this hole, and we have no idea how to get out.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The team went back to a discussion from the 3.6.1 vulnerability fix, that does what Nacin calls &#8220;preflight checks&#8221; that checks many layers of WordPress to ensure allowed data is being inserted.</p>
<p>Checking allowed character sets was not only on the database and table level, but also on columns and fields. Furthermore, the client, the connection, and the server can have their own character sets.</p>
<p>Nacin defines the method for checking as both using a scalpel and a sledgehammer.</p>
<blockquote><p>We need this to work two different ways: with a scalpel via <code>update()</code>, <code>replace()</code>, <code>insert()</code>, and <code>delete()</code>, and with a sledgehammer via write queries via <code>query()</code>.</p></blockquote>
<h3>Trojan Emoji</h3>
<p>The code has been in trunk since January, months before the release of 4.2. But it was there under the guise of Emoji support, as &#8220;noone had any idea what it did because it was 1,000 lines of the database abstraction layer to just remove invalid characters.&#8221;</p>
<p>Because of how opaque the vulnerability and the corresponding fix were, the team was able to spend a very long time working on and fixing the issue, all without exposing the vulnerability to the general public.</p>
<p>When 23.9% of the internet uses WordPress, security becomes an even more enormous challenge than in other software. There was an easy fix for this all along: strict mode on MySQL.</p>
<p>However, it would&#8217;ve broken &#8220;everything.&#8221; Alternatively, exposing a vulnerability to the public without a fix that doesn&#8217;t break websites makes the vulnerability that much more powerful. It takes a ridiculous effort for the WordPress core team and security team to ensure practical solutions to keep the WordPress software secure and reliable for millions of users.</p>
<p>By the way, if you ever find a vulnerability in WordPress or you get really excited about problems like these, you can email security@wordpress.org to get involved.</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, 08 May 2015 20:18:11 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:15:"Brian Krogsgard";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:27:"Matt: Where Does Weight Go?";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45034";s: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:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/where-does-weight-go/";s: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:156:"<p><a href="http://mitchkirby.com/2015/04/21/where-does-weight-go/">When You Lose Weight, Where Does it Go?</a> I&#8217;ll be honest that I had no idea.</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, 08 May 2015 13:10:04 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:23:"Matt: Slot Machine Tech";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45031";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:39:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/slot-machine-tech/";s: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:469:"<p>The Verge: <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8544303/casino-slot-machine-gambling-addiction-psychology-mobile-games">Slot machines perfected addictive gaming. Now, tech wants their tricks</a>. Includes information from one of my favorite authors <a href="http://www.nirandfar.com/">Nir Eyal</a>, who also <a href="http://wordpress.tv/2012/09/03/nir-eyal-automatic-customers-how-to-design-user-habits/">spoke at WordCamp San Francisco a few years ago</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, 08 May 2015 06:55:58 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:67:"Post Status: How to create better, more accessible WordPress themes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"https://poststatus.com/?p=12536";s: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:65:"https://poststatus.com/how-to-create-accessible-wordpress-themes/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:23972:"<p>This is not the ultimate guide for accessibility. You will not be an accessibility expert after reading this, not even a ninja! But I&#8217;d like to share what I have learned about accessibility in WordPress Themes. Hopefully that&#8217;ll help someone to build more accessible themes, and we can share ideas of how to make the web better place for all of us.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve learned most of my knowledge from <a href="https://www.joedolson.com/">Joe Dolson</a> and <a href="http://davidakennedy.com/">David A. Kennedy</a>. They both contribute to the <a href="http://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/">WordPress Accessibility Team</a> and have been kindly answering my questions on Github and Twitter. Our goal is to understand the basics of accessibility and how we can prepare our themes to receive the official <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tags/accessibility-ready/">accessibility-ready</a> tag.</p>
<h3>What is accessibility and why should we care?</h3>
<p>Web <strong>accessibility means that people can browse the web</strong>, with or without disabilities, using any device they might have. In this article, I mostly concentrate on people with disabilities including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. We can improve our sites and help such people use, navigate, and interact with them.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/viljamis">Viljami Salminen</a> talks about different input methods and performance in his article called <a href="http://viljamis.com/blog/2015/the-many-faces-of-the-web/">The Many Faces of the Web</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>On a bigger scale, I mean things like making our websites accessible to everyone. Making them work with different input methods like touch, mouse, keyboard or voice. Making them load and perform fast. Providing everyone access to this vast network of connected things. And if we don’t strive for all of this, what’s the point of working on the web?</p></blockquote>
<p>If nothing else, you should care about the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpbbuaIA3Ds">money</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/brad_frost">Brad Frost</a> nails it in his article about <a href="http://bradfrost.com/blog/post/accessibility-and-low-powered-devices/">accessibility and low-powered devices</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>“Do you want to reach more customers?” the answer is always yes. When I ask them “Do you want your experience to load blazingly fast?” the answer is always yes. Both accessibility and performance are invisible aspects of an experience and should be considered even if they aren’t explicit goals of the project.</p>
<p>There it is. Make efforts to make Web experiences accessible and performant; make money.</p></blockquote>
<p>Let&#8217;s start with the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/accessibility/required/">required</a> parts of the puzzle.</p>
<h3>.screen-reader-text for hiding text</h3>
<p>Using <code>.screen-reader-text</code> is actually not required but I&#8217;ll use it in several examples. WordPress uses the CSS class <code>.screen-reader-text</code> to handle any HTML output that is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2015/02/09/hiding-text-for-screen-readers-with-wordpress-core/">targeted at screen readers</a>. The purpose of screen-reader targeted text is to provide <strong>additional context</strong> for links, document structure, or form fields. This is helpful for whoever is using screen readers when browsing the web.</p>
<p>Since WordPress 4.2, the <code>.screen-reader-text</code> class is used in front-end code also, not just back-end. For example <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/comments_popup_link">comments_popup_link()</a> can output something like this by default:</p>
<p><code>4 Comments&lt;span class="screen-reader-text"&gt; on My article about accessibility&lt;/span&gt;</code></p>
<p>Did you notice the <code>.screen-reader-text</code> class? The text <em>on My article about accessibility</em> is supposed to be hidden on screen but readable for screen readers. This provides additional information about what <em>4 Comments</em> stands for and which article we&#8217;re talking about.</p>
<p>If you don&#8217;t have .screen-reader-text in your theme&#8217;s style.css that&#8217;s okay too. Then all users in this scenario would see the entire text (<em>4 Comments on My article about accessibility</em>), but nothing is broken. Naturally there is a plugin for <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/screen-reader-text-theme-support/">adding support for .screen-reader-text</a> as well.</p>
<h4>Add .screen-reader-text in your theme&#8217;s style.css</h4>
<p>The following snippet is the recommended method for adding a screen-reader class in your theme&#8217;s styles at the moment. You can also follow <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/_s">the Underscores theme</a> for this and other recommended methods.</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>You can style the <code>:focus</code> styles differently but this a solid start.</p>
<h3>Headings and headings hierarchy structure</h3>
<p>Headings are important way to navigate your site. They are the first step most screen reader users take when they start to navigate your site. And regular users can also browse the a website more easily when there are structured headings.</p>
<p>But headings and heading hierarchy structure can be challenging, I certainly have had <a href="https://github.com/samikeijonen/kuorinka/issues/18">issues with headings</a> in my personal experience. Should we use just one H1 element on each page? Can there be more than one H1? What about other headings: H2, H3 and so on?</p>
<p>With the acceptance of HTML5 standards, there can be more than one H1 on each page, but it&#8217;s important to be consistent with your headings hierarchy. Here is example of my blog page headings structure:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>And again for single posts:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>The problem is that the headings hierarchy breaks if a user enters H1 in the article text or mixes headings in the wrong way. Plugins that output markup may also mess with the hierarchy.</p>
<p>Read more detail info about <a href="https://www.joedolson.com/2014/11/headings-hierarchy-problem/">heading hierarchy structure</a> and be consistent in your theme. And as a writer, think about the hierarchy structure of your theme and try not to break it. <img src="https://poststatus.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/simple-smile.png" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" /></p>
<h3>ARIA landmark roles</h3>
<p>Aria landmark roles programmatically identify sections of a page. This helps navigate to various sections of a page for assistive technology users.</p>
<p>These are the most common roles:</p>
<ul>
<li>header: <code>role="banner"</code></li>
<li>main content: <code>role="main"</code></li>
<li>sidebars: <code>role="complementary"</code></li>
<li>footer: <code>role="contentinfo"</code></li>
<li>search form: <code>role="search"</code></li>
<li>navigation menus: <code>role="navigation"</code></li>
</ul>
<p>If the same role appears more than once on a page, you should provide an ARIA label for that role:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>Try not to use too many ARIA landmark roles. Otherwise it wouldn&#8217;t be helpful for screen reader users to navigate your site. Ten to fifteen roles is probably a good rule of thumb as a maximum limit.</p>
<p>Here is a simple example for how your HTML structure could look with ARIA roles:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>An the screenshot from <a href="http://accessibility.oit.ncsu.edu/tools/aria-landmark-inspector/">Aria landmark inspector</a> website:</p>
<p><a href="https://poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/aria-landmark.png"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-12538" src="https://poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/aria-landmark-752x526.png" alt="Aria Landmarks" width="752" height="526" /></a></p>
<h3>Link text</h3>
<p>Imagine your blog archive using ten <em>Read More&#8230;</em> links. That&#8217;s not very helpful for screen reader users browsing trough your links. In general, avoid repetitive non-contextual text strings.</p>
<h4>Using the_content() function</h4>
<p>By default <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/the_content"><code>the_content()</code></a> function outputs <em>more&amp;hellip;</em> text when using &lt;!&#8211;more&#8211;&gt; in post content. Fortunately, you can change this output using the function&#8217;s first parameter: <code>$more_link_text</code>. It&#8217;s recommended to use the post title for additional context:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>This will output <code>Read more &lt;span class="screen-reader-text"&gt;My Article Name&lt;/span&gt;</code>, not just the repetitive <em>Read More</em>. Note that we&#8217;re using class <code>screen-reader-text</code> again, which means that the post title can be hidden (if theme supports it), but screen readers will still read it.</p>
<h4>Using the_excerpt() function</h4>
<p>By default <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/the_excerpt">the_excerpt()</a> function adds <code>[...]</code> to the end of the excerpt. We can replace with something similar to what we used in <code>the_content</code> example, using the <code>excerpt_more</code> filter.</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>That&#8217;s more like it. You can change the HTML structure, but you get the general idea how we added post title after the default text.</p>
<h4>Descriptive link text</h4>
<p>Try to be descriptive when using link text, and bare urls should not be used as link anchor text.</p>
<p>Bad example:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>Good example:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<h3>Controls</h3>
<p>Let links be links, buttons be buttons, divs be divs, spans be spans to ensure native keyboard accessibility and interaction with a screen reader. Article <a href="http://www.karlgroves.com/2013/05/14/links-are-not-buttons-neither-are-divs-and-spans/">links are not buttons. Neither are divs and spans</a>.</p>
<p>All controls must also have text to indicate the nature of the control, but it too can be hidden inside the <code>.screen-reader-class</code>.</p>
<p>For example, when toggling a menu, the control should be a button, not a link, div or span.</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>You can always style the button using CSS. Many theme developers add a font icon indicating the menu, like the commonly named &#8220;hamburger menu.&#8221; This is a bad way of adding the font icon:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>Font icons alone don&#8217;t have any meaning for screen readers. In general <a href="http://thomasbyttebier.be/blog/the-best-icon-is-a-text-label">the best icon is a text label</a>.</p>
<p>Instead you could do this:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>Then add the icon font using a pseudo element, such as <code>#nav-toggle::before</code>.</p>
<p>You can also use the icon font and <code>.screen-reader-text</code> together.</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>Sighted users will see only the hamburger icon, and screen reader users will now understand that this control is for the menu.</p>
<h3>Keyboard navigation</h3>
<p><a href="http://themeshaper.com/">On ThemeShaper</a>, there is fantastic article about <a href="http://themeshaper.com/2015/03/12/keyboard-accessibility/">keyboard accessibility</a>. In short, <strong>users must be able to navigate your site using only a keyboard</strong>. For example people who are blind or have motor disabilities use the keyboard almost exclusively.</p>
<p>I&#8217;d like to challenge you to put your mouse away for a while and test your own website. Can you navigate through links, dropdown menu and form controls using the tab and shift + tab keys? Enter can be used to activate links, buttons, or other interactive elements.</p>
<h4>:focus is important</h4>
<p>Note that only links, buttons and form fields can be focused on by default. That&#8217;s why I keep noting that we should let links be links and buttons be buttons. Don&#8217;t try to replace them with divs or spans. Users should see and elements should have visual effects to notate their state when they navigate your site using a keyboard. This is where :focus steps in.</p>
<p>This is a poor implementation:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>That disables outline style for all links! This is much better:</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>Now users have a visual effect &#8212; a dotted line around the link &#8212; on links when focused. You can style the thin dotted to something else, but do not disable it. Remember that you can of course style buttons using CSS also, for example to change the background on :focus.</p>
<p>Make sure that colors are not your only method of conveying important information. That will help color blind people to see visual effects.</p>
<h4>Dropdown menus and keyboard accessibility</h4>
<p>Have you tried accessing your submenus in a dropdown menu using only keyboard? If you can&#8217;t successfully do so, let&#8217;s see what we can do about that, starting with the current <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/accessibility/required/#keyboard-navigation">guidelines for navigation menus</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Fails: Dropdown navigation menus are hidden using <code>display:none;</code> and brought into view on <code>:hover</code></li>
<li>Passes: Dropdown navigation menus are hidden using <code>position: absolute;</code> and brought into view on <code>:hover </code>and <code>:focus</code>, and are navigable using the <code>tab</code> key</li>
<li>Better: Dropdown navigation menus are hidden using position: absolute; and brought into view on <code>:hover</code>, <code>:focus</code>, and are navigable using either the <code>tab</code> key or by using the keyboard arrow keys.</li>
</ul>
<p>Once again, the <a href="http://underscores.me/">Underscores</a> theme has a good example of dropdown menu markup which is navigable using the <code>tab</code> key. I&#8217;ll hope there will be support for arrow keys in near future. I personally use <a href="http://responsive-nav.com/">Responsive Nav</a> as a starting point for accessible, responsive menus.</p>
<p>We need some Javascript magic for enabling keyboard support for dropdown menus. For reference, checkout this <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/_s/blob/master/js/navigation.js">navigation.js file</a>. This is the basic idea:</p>
<ul>
<li>Each time a menu link is focused or blurred, set or remove the <code>.focus</code> class on the menu link. This is done with the <code>toggleFocus()</code> function.</li>
<li>Add class <code>.focus</code> your stylesheet, where you have <code>:hover</code> styles for the menu.</li>
<li>You can now navigate your menu and submenus using the <code>tab</code> and <code>Shift + tab</code> key!</li>
</ul>
<p>There are some other aspects we should consider for more accessible dropdown menus:</p>
<ul>
<li>Use ARIA markup like aria-haspopup=&#8221;true&#8221; in menu items that have submenus.</li>
<li>What about touch devices? Have you tried accessing submenus using iPad when menu is in &#8220;Desktop&#8221; mode? I believe touch support is also coming to the Underscores theme.</li>
</ul>
<p>There could be another in-depth article for creating accessible, responsive menus so I&#8217;ll move on.</p>
<h3>Contrasts</h3>
<p>Color contrast is something we might have to compromise on in our design. We need to provide enough contrast between text and background colors so that it can be read by people with moderately low vision. There are many beautiful themes out there that use for example light grey colors but might not pass the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/accessibility/required/#contrasts">guideline for color contrast</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>Theme authors MUST ensure that all background/foreground color contrasts for plain content text are within the level AA contrast ratio (4.5:1) specified in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 for color luminosity.</p></blockquote>
<p>I test color contrast using Joe Dolson&#8217;s <a href="https://www.joedolson.com/tools/color-contrast.php">tester tool</a>. Accessibility doesn&#8217;t make your site ugly or boring, that&#8217;s always you. <img src="https://poststatus.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/simple-smile.png" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" /> But it does set some preconditions we need to follow. Aaron Jorbin also has a great <a href="https://wordpress.tv/2014/07/01/aaron-jorbin-color-theory-for-web-developers/">talk on color theory and accessibility</a> from WordCamp Chicago 2014.</p>
<h3>Skip links</h3>
<p>A website&#8217;s primary content is usually not at the top of the page. There can be dropdown menus, header sidebars, search forms or other information before the main content. For keyboard and screen reader users it&#8217;s annoying to navigate this extra content over and over again before arriving at the main content. That&#8217;s why themes must have skip links, which help to navigate directly to content. The skip link is usually added in the header.php file after the body or first div tag.</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>Make sure the link is one of the first items on the page and visible when keyboard focus moves to the link. We already did that when we added .screen-reader-text class in our stylesheet.</p>
<p>Also move focus to the main content area of the page when skip link is activated. I believe there is still a bug in WebKit-based browsers that prevents focus being moved, but once again, <a href="https://github.com/Automattic/_s/blob/master/js/skip-link-focus-fix.js">the Underscores theme has you covered</a> offering a good example.</p>
<h3>Forms</h3>
<p>WordPress default comment and search forms are accessible-ready, but be careful if you tweak them. I have made mistakes doing so in the past.</p>
<p>Hiding the search button using <code>.search-submit { display: none; }</code>. <strong>Do not use this CSS if you want the content to be read by a screen reader.</strong></p>
<p>A better option is the filter <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/get_search_form">get_search_form</a>, and add our now familiar <code>.screen-reader-text</code> class to the search form&#8217;s submit button.</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>If you use a custom <code>searchform.php</code> in your theme, remember to keep appropriate field labels and do not use only a font icon as the submit button.</p>
<a href="https://gist.github.com/bee3e380c614542776de" target="_blank"><em>View this code snippet on GitHub.</em></a>
<p>In short from <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/accessibility/required/#forms">the guidelines</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Use form controls that have explicitly associated <code>&lt;label&gt;</code> elements.</li>
<li>Create feedback mechanisms (such as via AJAX) that expose responses to screen readers. Look at techniques with ARIA for further information.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>Also keep an eye on a <a href="https://github.com/wpaccessibility/a11ythemepatterns">collection of patterns</a> for creating accessible-ready WordPress themes. Like <a href="https://github.com/wpaccessibility/a11ythemepatterns/tree/master/comment-form-with-js-aria">an accessible comment</a> form powered by JavaScript and ARIA.</p>
<h3>Images and alternative text</h3>
<p>As a user I&#8217;ve failed to add alternative (alt attribute) text to my content images, at least good ones. I promise to improve! You see, blind people of course can&#8217;t see your content images. Computers and screen readers can&#8217;t determine what the image presents. That&#8217;s why there is alt attribute and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/accessibility/required/#images">guidelines for images</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li>If there are images in template markup, like features images, they must utilize the alt attribute. Or provide the end user to enter alt text.</li>
<li>All decorative images should be added via CSS versus inline. Examples of decorative images are  lines for style or background images.</li>
<li>Note that sometimes an empty alt=&#8221;&#8221; is <a href="http://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/">the best choice</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Media</h3>
<p>Sliders and carousels must not auto start by default. The same goes for videos and audios. This is mostly plugin territory, but it&#8217;s good to mention, especially as the broader web is more and more often auto-playing this content.</p>
<h3>Not allowed</h3>
<p>There are couple of things that are <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/accessibility/required/#not-allowed">not allowed</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Any positive tabindex attribute. Negative or zero value tabindex is allowed in specific circumstances (assessed on a case-by-case basis).</li>
<li>The inclusion of the accesskey attribute.</li>
<li>Spawning new windows or tabs without warning the user.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<h3>Build accessibility-ready themes</h3>
<p>We have gone through the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/accessibility/required/">required guidelines</a> for getting the official <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tags/accessibility-ready/">accessibility-ready</a> tag in our themes when we submit them to the WordPress theme repository. It wasn&#8217;t that bad was it!</p>
<p>I challenge you to build an accessibility-ready theme when you start your next project. Or look into your current site and start with small steps, like adding better support for keyboard users. I hope this article will help you do that. Let me know in the comments if there are mistakes in the article, you have questions, or you have ideas for part two.</p>
<p>It doesn&#8217;t matter are you building themes for customers, commercial themes for marketplaces or free themes for WordPress.org. We can all improve our skills and create more accessible websites.</p>
<hr />
<p><em>About the author: <a href="https://poststatus.com/profiles/sami-keijonen/">Sami Keijonen</a> is a teacher who likes to learn about the web, WordPress, and life. He runs <a href="https://foxland.fi/">Foxland Themes</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:"Thu, 07 May 2015 18:59:54 +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:"Sami Keijonen";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:72:"WPTavern: CampPress: A 2-3 Day Social Experience for Geeks and Creatives";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43466";s: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:81:"http://wptavern.com/camppress-a-2-3-day-social-experience-for-geeks-and-creatives";s: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:2591:"<p>I attend WordCamps on a regular basis and have often joked with attendees as well as organizers that there should be a WordCamp where people camp out. GoDaddy&#8217;s WordPress evangelist, Mendel Kurland, is taking it upon himself to turn the joke into reality. He&#8217;s in the preliminary stage of <a href="https://mendel.me/articles/news/the-hunt-for-a-camppress-venue-is-officially-on/">planning CampPress</a>.</p>
<p>CampPress is a 2-3 day social experience for geeks and creatives to disconnect from technology to focus on community and creativity. The event is an adult geek summer camp infused with <a href="http://burningman.org/culture/philosophical-center/10-principles/" target="_blank">burning man values</a> and is not affiliated with GoDaddy. I asked Kurland what his inspiration is to organize such an event.</p>
<p>&#8220;As creative professionals, sometimes we forget to disconnect. CampPress is inspired by the simpler lives we lived as kids, where social interactions and creativity were the hallmarks of great growth experiences. Traditional conferences are incredible at transferring knowledge and skills and creating personal connections. CampPress is about deepening connections between participants and strengthening bonds that encourage collaboration within the community.&#8221;</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CabinCampCampbell.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-43469" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CabinCampCampbell.jpg?resize=1024%2C683" alt="Camp Campbell is a Possible Venue" /></a>Camp Campbell is a Possible Venue
<p>Some items will be provided, including, food staples for breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with a preparation area, space to camp, a cabin or RV hookup depending on the final location, and ice for beer. CampPress will also have a Pit of Creativity. Information on what the pit of creativity is for will be published on the official CampPress site at a later date.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re interested in attending, volunteering, or simply want to stay updated on the event&#8217;s progress, <a href="http://eepurl.com/blHmE9">sign up</a> to the updates list. Based on initial reactions in the comments, people are excited to see such an event take place.</p>
<p>I would love to camp out for a few days with members of the WordPress community and disconnect from technology at the same time. Let us know in the comments if you&#8217;re interested in attending such an event. Also, give us your suggestions for venues you think would be a good fit for CampPress.</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, 07 May 2015 16:59:27 +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:"Jeff Chandler";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:73:"WPTavern: TGM Plugin Activation Library Publishes Roadmap for Version 3.0";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43432";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"http://wptavern.com/tgm-plugin-activation-library-publishes-roadmap-for-version-3-0";s: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:5704:"<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/domino.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/domino.jpg?resize=1020%2C484" alt="photo credit: domino - (license)" class="size-full wp-image-43493" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31059504@N08/6803420982">domino</a> &#8211; <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a>
<p>This week contributors on the <a href="http://tgmpluginactivation.com/" target="_blank">TGM Plugin Activation</a> (TGMPA) library published a roadmap for the future of the project. TGMPA is widely used by WordPress developers to require and recommend plugins for themes (and other plugins). The library is recommended by Themeforest, CodeCanyon, and the WordPress.org Theme Review Team as an alternative to bundling everything in one theme/plugin.</p>
<p><a href="https://gamajo.com/" target="_blank">Gary Jones</a> is leading the upcoming 2.5 release, expected in May, with help from fellow lead developer <a href="http://twitter.com/jrf_nl" target="_blank">Juliette Reinders Folmer</a>, to whom he credits most of the recent activity on the project. This release will add support for installing from a GitHub repo source, separate menu items out from under the Appearance menu, add Travis CI support, improve accessibility, and fix a number of bugs.</p>
<h3>The Future of the TGM Plugin Activation Library</h3>
<p>The project&#8217;s contributors are also planning ahead for this summer&#8217;s 3.0 release, which Folmer will lead. This release will be a major turning point for TGMPA and will essentially constitute a complete rewrite.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://github.com/TGMPA/TGM-Plugin-Activation/issues/394" target="_blank">roadmap for 3.0</a> includes several ambitious items that will likely affect the way developers integrate TGMPA into their projects:</p>
<ul>
<li>Multisite compatibility</li>
<li>Fix conflicting UI messages for usage in themes / plugins</li>
<li>Improved UI by having the admin page always in the same location</li>
<li>Updatability of TGMPA independently of the plugin/theme which ships it</li>
<li>Show dependencies more clearly</li>
</ul>
<p>This plan includes an architectural change that would allow for the integration of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/plugin-dependencies/" target="_blank">Plugin Dependencies</a> (PD) plugin to provide UI for dependency management and cascading deactivation if dependencies are not met.</p>
<p>According to Jones, the eventual goal is to turn TGMPA into a plugin that can be added to the WordPress.org repository for easier updating:</p>
<blockquote><p>Some of the logic in the rewrite will be handled by the Plugin Dependencies plugin, and TGMPA itself will be turned into a plugin and added to the WPORG repo so that it can be updated automatically. The TGMPA library will then consist of a bootstrap file, the TGMPA plugin (as a zip) and the PD plugin (as a zip). The bootstrap file will then check if the TGMPA + PD plugins are installed, and if not, install them from the embedded zips.</p></blockquote>
<p>TGMPA contributors are currently in discussion with representatives from WordPress.org about the possibility of allowing their planned plugin in the official directory. As the plugin has not yet been produced and submitted, it&#8217;s still too early to know the outcome of the decision.</p>
<p>&#8220;If we can&#8217;t go onto the WordPress.org repo, then we&#8217;ll be looking at simply hosting the plugin version on GitHub, and use some (if needed) of the GitHub Updater plugin (or similar) code within the bootstrap file to pull the latest tag from GitHub instead,&#8221; Jones said.</p>
<p>One of the main focuses for version 3.0 is to allow different plugins and themes to use TGMPA without the concern of compatibilities resulting from plugin A including 2.4.1, for example, and plugin B including 2.5.0.</p>
<p>&#8220;The v3 setup should also be able to handle instances of v2 gracefully, and the v2 branch may have a 2.6 release to make the logic for that easier,&#8221; Jones said.</p>
<p>After version 3.0 is released, the project will contain multiple repositories &#8211; one for the standard plugin, and one that uses Grunt to pull in files from the plugin repository and zips them up next to the bootstrap file. In anticipation of these changes, contributors have moved the current repository into a new GitHub organization at: <a href="https://github.com/TGMPA" target="_blank">https://github.com/TGMPA</a>.</p>
<p>As TGMPA does not currently track its usage, it&#8217;s difficult to nail down exact numbers for how many theme/plugin developers these changes will impact.</p>
<p>&#8220;I have no idea what sort of numbers of products this entails,&#8221; Jones said. &#8220;But there is a non-trivial amount of usage that requires us to step up the game in order to provide the exceptional functionality other developers can rely on.&#8221;</p>
<p>TGMPA is a critical tool that many developers in the WordPress ecosystem depend on for managing plugin requirements and recommendations. As theme development continues to move in the direction of separating theme and plugin functionality, TGMPA will play an important role in serving developers who want to structure their projects according to WordPress best practices.</p>
<p>Getting the new TGMPA plugin included in the WordPress.org plugin directory would be a big win for the project, as it would allow users to update more easily in the future. You can <a href="https://twitter.com/tgmpa" target="_blank">follow TGMPA on Twitter</a> for all the latest news as the team moves into development for version 3.0.</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:"Thu, 07 May 2015 16:35:59 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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: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:52:"WPTavern: BuddyPress 2.3 Beta 1 is Ready for Testing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43440";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-3-beta-1-is-ready-for-testing";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2493:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/bp-featured.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/bp-featured.png?resize=800%2C390" alt="bp-featured" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18726" /></a></p>
<p>BuddyPress <a href="https://buddypress.org/2015/05/buddypress-2-3-0-beta-1/" target="_blank">2.3 beta 1</a> is now available. Project lead John James Jacoby encouraged site administrators and BP plugin/theme developers to jump in and test the new features.</p>
<p>One of the highlights in the upcoming release is the new <a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-3-will-improve-avatar-uploads-with-the-new-bp-attachments-api" target="_blank">Attachments API</a>, which makes it possible for developers to create components that manage uploads. You can see this API in action alongside the newly improved <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6290/" target="_blank">avatar upload UI</a>, revamped to include drag-and-drop upload and support for device cameras.</p>
<p>This release will also ship with <a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-3-will-introduce-companion-stylesheets-for-wordpress-default-themes" target="_blank">companion stylesheets for WordPress&#8217; latest default themes</a>, Twenty Fifteen and Twenty Fourteen. These stylesheets provide a broad sweep on BP elements to harmonize the appearance of the plugin with the default themes and could use more testing and feedback from the community.</p>
<p>Jacoby noted a few other important items to test in 2.3 beta 1, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6177/" target="_blank">Blog Post Activity</a> generates better looking excerpts when posts contain images or other embedded media content</li>
<li><a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6331/" target="_blank">Star Private Messages</a> allows for improved marking of important inbox messages</li>
<li>The Member Types API now supports <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6286" target="_blank">member-type-specific directories</a></li>
<li>Continued object and query cache enhancements</li>
</ul>
<p>BuddyPress developers and community managers have plenty of time to test their themes and plugins against the upcoming 2.3 release. A release candidate is scheduled for the week of May 12th. The official release is expected to drop May 26th, shortly before the BuddyCamp that will take place at WordCamp Miami 2015.</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, 07 May 2015 15:31:39 +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: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: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:69:"WPTavern: WPWeekly Episode 191 – Proven Guilty by a Washing Machine";s: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:44:"http://wptavern.com?p=43443&preview_id=43443";s: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:"http://wptavern.com/wpweekly-episode-191-proven-guilty-by-a-washing-machine";s: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:2901:"<p>On this episode of WordPress Weekly, <a href="http://marcuscouch.com/">Marcus Couch</a> and I discuss the news of the week. We inform you of the recent security vulnerability discovered in Jetpack and the Twenty Fifteen theme. We also discuss a new crowdfunding campaign to create a server manager built on top of WordPress called HostPress.</p>
<p>I shared a personal story of a bad habit I&#8217;ve developed in the last two years that&#8217;s decreased my reading comprehension. Last but not least, Marcus tells a story from a conference he recently attended where the technology inside of a washing machine contained the evidence needed to convict a murderer.</p>
<h2>Stories Discussed:</h2>
<p><a href="http://wptavern.com/xss-vulnerability-in-jetpack-and-the-twenty-fifteen-default-theme-affects-millions-of-wordpress-users">XSS Vulnerability in Jetpack and the Twenty Fifteen Default Theme Affects Millions of WordPress Users</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-com-suspends-theme-submissions-from-new-sellers">WordPress.com Suspends Theme Submissions from New Sellers</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/dan-griffiths-launches-175k-crowdfunding-campaign-to-build-hostpress">Dan Griffiths Launches $175K Crowdfunding Campaign to Build HostPress</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/new-plugin-reorders-the-wordpress-admin-menu-using-drag-and-drop">New Plugin Reorders the WordPress Admin Menu Using Drag-and-Drop</a><br />
<a href="https://jeffc.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/why-am-i-in-a-hurry-to-do-everything/">Why am I in a Hurry to do Everything?</a></p>
<h2>Plugins Picked By Marcus:</h2>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/hamburger-menu/">Hamburger Menu</a> is a side menu that you can add to your site that will be viewed on mobile devices or you can use it to completely replace the main menu on a site.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/rest-console-embed/">REST Console embed</a> provides a shortcode to embed a REST API console into a page or post. It&#8217;s based on Automattic&#8217;s WordPress.com console.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/plugin-auditor/">Plugin Auditor</a> records details of who installed and activated each plugin on your website and why.</p>
<h2>WPWeekly Meta:</h2>
<p><strong>Next Episode:</strong> Wednesday, May 6th 9:30 P.M. Eastern</p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: </strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wordpress-weekly/id694849738" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via RSS: </strong><a href="http://www.wptavern.com/feed/podcast" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Stitcher Radio: </strong><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wordpress-weekly-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Listen To Episode #191:</strong><br />
</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 07 May 2015 14:45:24 +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:"Jeff Chandler";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:23:"Matt: Decades are Short";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45029";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:39:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/decades-are-short/";s: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:352:"<p>Sam Altman of YCombinator wrote a great post on the occasion of his thirtieth birthday, <a href="http://blog.samaltman.com/the-days-are-long-but-the-decades-are-short">The days are long but the decades are short</a>. There&#8217;s a lot of subtlety and nuance in each point, so even if you&#8217;ve read it already it&#8217;s worth another pass.</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, 07 May 2015 04:05:24 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:111:"WPTavern: XSS Vulnerability in Jetpack and the Twenty Fifteen Default Theme Affects Millions of WordPress Users";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43415";s: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:121:"http://wptavern.com/xss-vulnerability-in-jetpack-and-the-twenty-fifteen-default-theme-affects-millions-of-wordpress-users";s: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:3045:"<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack/changelog/">Jetpack</a> and the <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/twentyfifteen/">Twenty Fifteen</a> default theme have been updated after a DOM-based Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability was discovered. <a href="https://blog.sucuri.net/2015/05/jetpack-and-twentyfifteen-vulnerable-to-dom-based-xss-millions-of-wordpress-websites-affected-millions-of-wordpress-websites-affected.html">According to Sucuri</a>, any plugin or theme that uses <a href="http://genericons.com/">Genericons</a> is vulnerable due to an insecure file included within the package.</p>
<p>Genericons ships with a file called example.html which is vulnerable to attack from the Document Object Model level or DOM for short. The <a href="https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Main_Page">Open Web Application Security Project</a> defines a DOM based attack as:</p>
<blockquote><p>DOM Based <a class="mw-redirect" title="XSS" href="https://www.owasp.org/index.php/XSS"> XSS</a> (or as it is called in some texts, &#8216;type-0 XSS&#8217;) is an XSS attack wherein the attack payload is executed as a result of modifying the DOM &#8216;environment&#8217; in the victim’s browser used by the original client side script, so that the client side code runs in an &#8216;unexpected&#8217; manner. That is, the page itself (the HTTP response that is) does not change, but the client side code contained in the page executes differently due to the malicious modifications that have occurred in the DOM environment.</p></blockquote>
<p>The payload for these types of attacks is executed directly in the browser. Even Sucuri&#8217;s website firewall is unable to block the attack since it never gets the chance to see it. The company however, has virtually patched the vulnerability.</p>
<p>Sucuri worked with a number of hosting providers to identify and remove the example.html file from their servers. If you use the following webhosts, you should already be patched as of a week ago.</p>
<ul>
<li>GoDaddy</li>
<li>HostPapa</li>
<li>DreamHost</li>
<li>ClickHost</li>
<li>InMotion</li>
<li>WPEngine</li>
<li>Pagely</li>
<li>Pressable</li>
<li>Websynthesis</li>
<li>Site5</li>
<li>SiteGround</li>
</ul>
<p>According to Sucuri, the example.html file was used for debugging and testing purposes but was mistakenly left inside the directory after the project was packaged for production environments. This simple oversight has placed millions of sites at risk as Twenty Fifteen is a default theme that ships with WordPress.</p>
<p>You should update the Twenty Fifteen theme and Jetpack regardless of which webhost you&#8217;re using. You should also remain vigilant and keep an eye out for additional plugin and theme updates. If possible, manually remove example.html from within the Genericons directory.</p>
<p><em><strong>Update</strong></em></p>
<p>WordPress 4.2.2 <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2015/05/wordpress-4-2-2/">is available</a> as a security update that addresses the Genericons issue and contains bug fixes.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 06 May 2015 18:56:17 +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:"Jeff Chandler";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:59:"WPTavern: Andrew Nacin on Challenging WordPress Assumptions";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=42281";s: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:"http://wptavern.com/andrew-nacin-on-challenging-wordpress-assumptions";s: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:1162:"<p>WordPress lead developer <a href="http://nacin.com/" target="_blank">Andrew Nacin</a> spoke at the <a href="http://world2014.phparch.com/" target="_blank">php[world] 2014</a> conference on &#8220;Challenging Your WordPress Assumptions from 2009.&#8221; The video was recently published on YouTube and provides an excellent overview of the major ways WordPress has changed over the past six years.</p>
<p>Nacin explores common assumptions, such as &#8220;WordPress is insecure,&#8221; &#8220;WordPress doesn&#8217;t scale,&#8221; and &#8220;WordPress is not OOP,&#8221; among others. Some of these assumptions are false, some are true, some used to be true and others are partially true. If you&#8217;re a PHP developer who is new to WordPress or curious about how it&#8217;s changed over the years, this presentation will give you a quick 30 minute overview.</p>
<p>Check out the video embedded below to learn more about WordPress&#8217; philosophy for building user-centered software, its commitment to maintaining backwards compatibility, and how major publishers and companies are using it in innovative ways.</p>
<p><span class="embed-youtube"></span></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, 06 May 2015 18:15:39 +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: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: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:51:"WPTavern: Inside BuddyBoss with Michael Eisenwasser";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43380";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:61:"http://wptavern.com/inside-buddyboss-with-michael-eisenwasser";s: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:8724:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/buddyboss.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/buddyboss.jpg?resize=1025%2C453" alt="buddyboss" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43387" /></a></p>
<p>Over the past couple years, <a href="http://www.buddyboss.com/" target="_blank">BuddyBoss</a> has emerged as a leader in the <a href="https://buddypress.org/" target="_blank">BuddyPress</a> products marketplace. Founder Michael Eisenwasser launched the business in 2010 after discovering BuddyPress while building an international job site to help online workers find employment.</p>
<p>&#8220;BuddyPress blew me away,&#8221; Eisenwasser said. &#8220;It allowed for a sophisticated and fully customizable membership site while still benefiting from the WordPress ecosystem. We launched our online community almost overnight, and a year later 30,000 people were logging in every day and hiring each other.&#8221;</p>
<p>BuddyBoss entered the BuddyPress ecosystem while it was still in its infancy. Eisenwasser saw an opportunity to help other entrepreneurs launch communities by creating products that solved common problems. In addition to the products, his team also offers development for custom requests.</p>
<p>&#8220;I’ve been focusing on BuddyPress for so long now that I sometimes forget you can run WordPress without it,&#8221; he said.</p>
<h3>Growing a Business in a Small Niche</h3>
<p>As BuddyBoss products are targeted towards a small niche market, hiring has posed a continual challenge for Eisenwasser.</p>
<p>&#8220;A company is only as good as its employees, and our biggest challenge has always been finding the right people to hire,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We need talented people who can move the company forward, knowing that we’re in a niche market and skilled developers who understand BuddyPress are harder to find.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s taken us many years to put together our current staff, and even now I still spend a considerable amount of time on hiring and training.&#8221;</p>
<p>The BudddyBoss team is now up to 14 people who collaborate on design, development, support, and marketing. They currently serve several thousand customers, thanks to tremendous growth over the past couple of years.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our revenue is 12.5 times larger today than it was three years ago, and most of that growth has been in the past year,&#8221; Eisenwasser said.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the past 6 months, product revenue has grown 5 times larger due to improved product offerings, word of mouth from our customers, and better marketing. When I speak of products, I am combining themes and extensions together.</p>
<p>&#8220;Currently we have several thousand paying customers, with an average checkout order of $130. Many customers purchase two or three products in one order, as we design our themes and plugins to work together for a unified experience,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Despite the success of BuddyBoss&#8217; themes and plugins, the company&#8217;s time is still divided 50/50 between product support and custom client work.</p>
<p>&#8220;Custom development generates an important part of our revenue, and our product revenue is quickly catching up,&#8221; Eisenwasser said.</p>
<p>&#8220;We actually have two teams, each equipped for development, support and maintenance. I personally manage our product team, while my business partner Tom Chedd manages our client team.</p>
<p>&#8220;Many of our clients start as customers, and so when we develop products we’re always thinking about how our clients might use them. I think this has contributed to better products, because we actually use what we build,&#8221; he said.</p>
<h3>Focused, Intentional Product Growth</h3>
<p>In the early days of BuddyBoss, Eisenwasser took a job managing SongLyrics.com. Although he learned some valuable skills from the position, theme development at BuddyBoss was slow for the first few years.</p>
<p>As product revenue has grown, BuddyBoss is looking to invest in adding more offerings to the store.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’ve been working hard on assembling a team of talented developers who can help us build more products, however we’d rather spend a couple of months working on a theme than pushing out a bunch of themes fast,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Instead of pumping up the BuddyBoss store with a proliferation of products, Eisenwasser and his team have intentionally kept the number of offerings on the smaller side. For years, their primary product was the original <a href="http://www.buddyboss.com/product/buddyboss-theme/" target="_blank">BuddyBoss</a> theme before adding the new <a href="http://www.buddyboss.com/product/boss-theme/" target="_blank">Boss</a> theme this year. Branching out into BuddyPress <a href="http://www.buddyboss.com/plugins/" target="_blank">plugins</a> was also a more recent development.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/boss-1100x760.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/boss-1100x760.jpg?resize=500%2C345" alt="boss-1100x760" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-43398" /></a></p>
<p>&#8220;Designing for social networks requires a lot of thought, and we take our time considering every aspect,&#8221; Eisenwasser said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our customers give us all kinds of feedback about what they want, and there are many more themes coming down the road based on what we’ve learned.&#8221;</p>
<h3>Current Landscape of the BuddyPress Theme and Plugin Market</h3>
<p>Despite the fact that BuddyPress is now an eight-year-old plugin with a solid community of contributors supporting it, the marketplace for BP themes and plugins remains relatively small. Eisenwasser does not believe that the market is large enough to sustain a full-time theme business, but his team is working to expand its audience outside of the traditional WordPress/BuddyPress community.</p>
<blockquote><p>BuddyPress has an active developer community and it’s been growing every year. Even if there are not enough people building on BuddyPress to sustain a larger theme business today, we can help change that. </p>
<p>By building quality products we can improve the usability and perception of BuddyPress and encourage other people to come and join the community. <strong>There are many people building social networks every day &#8211; the question is whether or not they choose to build them within the BuddyPress ecosystem.</strong></p></blockquote>
<p>As BuddyPress core cannot encompass all the functionality required by the many varied social networks people want to build, part of making BuddyPress more appealing is providing third-party add-ons that are compelling and reliable. BuddyBoss has started carving out a name for itself with useful plugins that extend the platform to support <a href="http://www.buddyboss.com/product/buddyboss-media/" target="_blank">media uploads</a>, <a href="http://www.buddyboss.com/product/buddypress-edit-activity/" target="_blank">activity editing</a>, <a href="http://www.buddyboss.com/product/buddypress-global-search/" target="_blank">global search</a>, and a Facebook-like <a href="http://www.buddyboss.com/product/buddyboss-wall/" target="_blank">wall</a> functionality.</p>
<p>&#8220;We always envisioned ourselves building both themes and plugins,&#8221; Eisenwasser said. &#8220;I don’t really see a distinction. To me, we’re building solutions.</p>
<p>&#8220;Layout issues are best solved within themes, and functionality issues are best solved by plugins. All of our products are designed to work together seamlessly, and work great with other themes and plugins too.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the future, Eisenwasser said that BuddyBoss may open up its marketplace to third-party developers, but his primary concern is to maintain the same level of quality that customers have come to expect from BuddyBoss products.</p>
<p>&#8220;For now, we are focusing on the theme market and bringing value / creating solutions for different niches,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We plan on evolving with the market as we grow. This could eventually require integrating with other platforms and putting more focus on other types of devices.&#8221;</p>
<p>While there are a handful of successful BuddyPress themes on Themeforest, BuddyBoss is arguably the most dominant independent BuddyPress theme development shop at the moment. Eisenwasser&#8217;s experience indicates that the landscape of the BuddyPress product market is not yet wide open. Businesses looking to push into this space will need to produce top quality products while simultaneously tilling the soil to expand the WordPress + BuddyPress market in general.</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, 06 May 2015 17:30:09 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s: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: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:22:"Matt: Untold Silk Road";s: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:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45025";s: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:38:"http://ma.tt/2015/05/untold-silk-road/";s: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:521:"<p>This <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/04/silk-road-1/">Untold Story of Silk Road</a> is pretty amazing writing, a gripping story regardless of the genre (non-fiction, in this case). I can&#8217;t wait for the next chapter to come out on May 14. Also when reading about Ross, <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/02/ross-ulbricht-didnt-create-silk-roads-dread-pirate-roberts-guy/">it&#8217;s interesting to keep in mind Vanity Jones who was in many ways the brains behind the operation</a>, and also undiscovered.</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, 06 May 2015 06:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:79:"WPTavern: Dan Griffiths Launches $175K Crowdfunding Campaign to Build HostPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43256";s: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:88:"http://wptavern.com/dan-griffiths-launches-175k-crowdfunding-campaign-to-build-hostpress";s: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:5350:"<p>When it comes to hosting, there are predominately two choices to manage your account or server; <a href="http://www.odin.com/products/plesk/">Plesk</a> and <a href="http://cpanel.com/">cPanel</a>. Dan Griffiths wants to shake things up by adding a third choice with <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hostpress-redefining-web-hosting-control-panels">HostPress</a>. HostPress is an open-source, extensible server control panel built on top of WordPress.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/HostPressLogo.png"><img class="wp-image-43267 size-large" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/HostPressLogo.png?resize=500%2C333" alt="HostPress Logo" /></a>HostPress Logo
<p>Griffiths has started an <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hostpress-redefining-web-hosting-control-panels">Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign</a> to generate $175k. The money will be used to cover personal expenses, take care of his son, and cover the server fees and salary of an experienced server administrator for one year. cPanel and Plesk have several shortcomings, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Minimum requirements</li>
<li>Extensibility</li>
<li>Ease of branding</li>
<li>Sustainability</li>
</ul>
<p>HostPress will have a smaller footprint on servers and customers will be able to brand it with just a few lines of code. By using WordPress, the platform taps into existing development resources which will help it stay on top of security issues.</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/HostPressConceptImage.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-43376" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/HostPressConceptImage.png?resize=620%2C467" alt="HostPress Concept Image" /></a>HostPress Concept Image
<p>Server managers will be able to extend the platform through an API as well as plugins. HostPress will have a robust set of plugins available to the public, covering the most popular server software at the time of launch.</p>
<h2>Market Share</h2>
<p>According to <a href="http://builtwith.com/">BuiltWith</a>, there are more than 4.1 million individual servers running active, licensed cPanel and Plesk installations. Base on this number, Griffiths calculates more than $82M is spent on control panels assuming a $20 per month price tag. Dedicated servers using cPanel, however, cost $45 per month.</p>
<h2>Funding Specifics</h2>
<p>The funds generated through the campaign will go to Griffiths, even if it&#8217;s not fully funded. However, if the project is fully funded, he expects to ship a beta of the product in June of 2016. He also plans to release the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>A modern, open-source, extensible server control panel</li>
<li>An intuitive (and responsive) interface</li>
<li>A fully-localized platform (HostPress speaks your language!)</li>
<li>A platform developers can build on, including the ability to simply rebrand the panel without complex template languages.</li>
</ul>
<p>If the project doesn&#8217;t reach its funding goal, development will continue but at a slower pace. &#8220;The goal is to provide the Internet with an alternative to the clutter and complexity of server management. Even if we don&#8217;t become a major contender in this space, the support we do get will put pressure on the existing solutions to up their game,&#8221; Griffiths said.</p>
<h2>Market Demand</h2>
<p>When asked how much demand he&#8217;s witnessed in the hosting space, he replied, &#8220;There’s constant demand for fresh blood in the control panel space. Just take a look at a few of the cPanel/Plesk discussions online and you’ll see a lot of people complaining about their various flaws, or looking for a good alternative. In fact, there have been a number of other attempts made over the years, but none have gained traction due to one fatal flaw. They’re all written by engineers, so while the underlying functionality is solid, the interface always sucks.&#8221;</p>
<p>If there is high demand from webhosts and server managers for a solution that&#8217;s better than Plesk or cPanel, Griffiths should have no problem reaching his funding goal. To find out what major webhosting companies think of the campaign and if they&#8217;ll financially contribute, I contacted GoDaddy and InMotion hosting. Both companies did not respond to my inquiries, despite multiple efforts to contact them.</p>
<h2>Largest WordPress Crowdfunding Campaign on Record</h2>
<p>Griffiths isn&#8217;t a stranger to the WordPress community&#8217;s generosity. Near the end of 2014, he started a <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-community-pulls-together-to-help-a-member-in-need">crowdfunding campaign</a> to raise $2,500. He ended up with nearly three times that amount. In this case however, it&#8217;s a product and $175k is a lot of money. If successful, it will be the largest WordPress crowdfunding campaign on record, dwarfing <a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-bbpress-and-glotpress-development-campaign-is-now-fully-funded">John James Jacoby&#8217;s campaign</a> by $125k.</p>
<p>HostPress looks like it could be an interesting product but without the financial aid of companies with large pockets, I don&#8217;t see how the campaign will reach its funding goal. Let us know your reactions to the campaign in the comments.</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, 05 May 2015 22:16:14 +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:13:"Jeff Chandler";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:74:"WPTavern: New Plugin Reorders the WordPress Admin Menu Using Drag-and-Drop";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43236";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"http://wptavern.com/new-plugin-reorders-the-wordpress-admin-menu-using-drag-and-drop";s: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:3626:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/reorder-admin-menu.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/reorder-admin-menu.png?resize=1025%2C482" alt="reorder-admin-menu" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43336" /></a></p>
<p>Every WordPress administrator has different needs when navigating the admin. For example, one may require frequent access to the Posts menu and rarely touch the Appearance menu. Another admininistrator may have a certain custom post type that is accessed more frequently than any other menu item.</p>
<p>In some cases plugin developers take their liberties placing their menu items at the very top of the admin. Jetpack is a prime example of a plugin that assumes preeminence above Posts, Media, Comments, and other more frequently used publishing items.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/admin-menu-manager/" target="_blank">Admin Menu Manager</a> is a new plugin that allows you to take control of the admin and order menu items to suit your workflow. The plugin, created by <a href="https://spinpress.com/" target="_blank">Pascal Birchler</a> and the folks at <a href="http://required.ch/" target="_blank">required+</a>, adds a simple drag-and-drop interface for decluttering and reordering menu items.</p>
<p></p>
<p>As you can see in the demo, Admin Menu Manager allows you to drag menu items from top level to a sub-menu or pull sub-menus out to top level for easier access. The plugin is unobtrusive and doesn&#8217;t require its own settings page.</p>
<p>&#8220;I got the idea for this particular plugin when I stumbled upon a similar one that used a drag and drop interface just for reordering menu items,&#8221; Birchler said. After searching for other comparable solutions for the admin, he decided to take it one step further and produce a proof-of-concept. The result was a useful new plugin.</p>
<p>&#8220;I learned that such side projects are great for adapting new technologies and digging deeper into WordPress,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is already my third plugin leveraging Backbone.js in my first three months working at required+. Before that I had no idea how to use this library.</p>
<p>&#8220;Also, I now know that the WordPress admin menu can be quite a mess. I mean, there aren&#8217;t even unit tests for it. I&#8217;ll see how I can change that in core.&#8221;</p>
<p>Birchler said he counts himself lucky that his employer offers him time to work on open source projects. Before he started at required+, the company had no plugins listed on WordPress.org. Now they are up to five after polishing up a few that were lying dormant on GitHub for awhile.</p>
<p>Version 1 of Admin Menu Manager is <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/admin-menu-manager/" target="_blank">now available on WordPress.org</a> and the team is working on adding the following features to version 2:</p>
<ul>
<li>Completely remove (and restore) menu items</li>
<li>Edit existing menu items and their icons</li>
<li>Add custom items to the admin menu</li>
</ul>
<p>In its current state, the plugin is a good option for re-arranging the admin to suit a client&#8217;s needs or for simply getting Jetpack and other less-frequently used menus out of your way.</p>
<p>New users often complain about how confusing the WordPress admin can be, especially when many active plugins are adding their own top-level menus. With the features promised in version 2, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/admin-menu-manager/" target="_blank">Admin Menu Manager</a> has the potential to become a solid tool for decluttering the admin.</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, 05 May 2015 21:11:01 +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: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: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:89:"WPTavern: Themekraft’s Difficult Experience Switching to the WordPress Theme Customizer";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43297";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"http://wptavern.com/themekrafts-difficult-experience-switching-to-the-customizer";s: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:7022:"<p>Sven Lehnert, CEO of <a href="http://themekraft.com/">Themekraft</a>, published <a href="http://themekraft.com/what-it-means-for-us-and-others-to-follow-the-theme-review-guidelines/">his company&#8217;s experience</a> migrating from a custom theme options page to the theme customizer. He describes how difficult it was to move between the two and how it caused user frustration.</p>
<p>&#8220;I’m sorry for the trouble some users are experiencing. We receive positive as well as frustrated feedback and I understand how users feel this way,&#8221; Lehnert said.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CustomThemeOptionsPage.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-43339" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CustomThemeOptionsPage.png?resize=1025%2C493" alt="Custom Theme Options Page" /></a>Custom Theme Options Page
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CustomizerThemeOptions.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-43338" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CustomizerThemeOptions.png?resize=1025%2C515" alt="Using the Customizer" /></a>Using the Customizer
<p>Themekraft is migrating to the customizer because of <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-now-requires-theme-authors-to-use-the-customizer-to-build-theme-options">a new requirement</a> that forces themes hosted in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/">WordPress theme directory</a> to use it to build theme options. The requirement has sparked controversy and with 175 comments, is the most discussed article in Tavern history.</p>
<h2>Consequences of Doing the Right Thing</h2>
<p>Although Themekraft believes the requirement is the right decision, it&#8217;s come at the price of losing users. Lehnert expressed frustration that doing the right thing has caused users to jump ship, &#8220;I think it&#8217;s really frustrating, that our choice to use the customizer to create better themes has made users switch to a different theme. Our decision to use the customizer has pushed users to Themeforest.</p>
<p>A lot of users have told us they moved to Themeforest and gave up on themes hosted on WordPress.org. To them, Themeforest does the job of WordPress.org and WordPress.org themes are outdated with limited functionality.&#8221;</p>
<p>Two to three years ago I would have agreed with the opinion that themes in the WordPress theme directory leave a lot to be desired. I&#8217;ve read enough <a href="http://wptavern.com/tag/free-wordpress-themes">reviews of great looking free themes</a> that I&#8217;ve nearly erased this mindset. I used to discourage users from browsing for themes on the directory, now I encourage them.</p>
<h2>The Educational Problem</h2>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ChalkboardLearning.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-30030" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ChalkboardLearning.png?resize=640%2C250" alt="Chalkboard Learning" /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/signifying/582602054/">Clint Gardner</a> &#8211; <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>
<p>For years, the WordPress community has <a href="https://managewp.com/themes-design-plugins-functionality">discussed and educated</a> users on why it&#8217;s important to separate presentation from functionality. Lehnert thinks it&#8217;s something normal users can&#8217;t understand, &#8220;They want to buy solutions and base their purchasing decisions from a graphical point of view. The separation from design and functionality is not understandable for the normal user.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-now-requires-theme-authors-to-use-the-customizer-to-build-theme-options#comment-67849">recent comment on the Tavern</a>, Chip Bennett explains his perspective on the educational part of the problem, &#8220;You are absolutely right that the wider (i.e. more than just the developers/insiders/one-percenters) have a very long way to go to educate those users.</p>
<p>The reality is that, for far too long, commercial Theme developers attempted to add &#8216;value&#8217; to their Themes by creating Theme+Plugin combinations.&#8221;</p>
<p>There&#8217;s been some movement on this front with some theme authors <a href="http://wptavern.com/why-wordpress-theme-developers-are-moving-functionality-into-plugins">moving theme functionality back into plugins</a>.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is explaining the difference between themes and plugins. If you ask 10 WordPress developers where the line is drawn, you&#8217;d likely get at least five different answers. Since plugins can do everything a theme can do, it can easily become a never-ending debate between presentation and functionality.</p>
<h2>The Balancing Act</h2>
<p>Creating a WordPress product that balances user and developer needs is tricky. The main impetus for requiring the theme customizer is to provide a standardized experience between all the themes hosted in the directory. It will also help the Theme Review Team review themes more efficiently.</p>
<p>Lehnert trusts the Theme Review Team&#8217;s decision but feels the change is geared towards developers. &#8220;I really believe in the WordPress community and I trust there will be a solution to the problem some day. At the moment however, the theme review guidelines only make sense from a developer&#8217;s perspective.&#8221;</p>
<p>He suggests that the WordPress theme directory add support for <a href="http://wptavern.com/up-to-the-community-to-improve-theme-demo-data">better theme previews</a> with customizer access. This way, users can see how flexible and customizable a theme is.</p>
<h2>Food for Thought</h2>
<p>Based on Lehnert&#8217;s experience, there is a perception problem between WordPress.org hosted themes and those on Themeforest. It will be interesting to see if other theme authors and companies have a similar experience when they make the switch.</p>
<p>It was disheartening to read this statement by Lehnert, &#8220;In the case of a theme business, staying outside of the community is easier!&#8221; Developers and users have at least one thing in common, they don&#8217;t like change, especially when it comes to requirements or guidelines. Developers have always had two choices:</p>
<ol>
<li>Abide by the requirements and guidelines to have a plugin or theme hosted on WordPress.org</li>
<li>Do things on your own terms through your site and GitHub</li>
</ol>
<p>Outside of WordPress.org, it&#8217;s the wild west. You can use whatever custom options page or framework you want without anyone telling you what to do.</p>
<p>Theme developers and companies are going to experience growing pains meeting the new requirement, but I think users of themes hosted on WordPress.org will be better off in the long run. They&#8217;ll know what to expect thanks to a standardized interface and eventually get used to interacting with the customizer.</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, 05 May 2015 20:45:45 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";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:90:"WPTavern: BuddyPress 2.3 Will Introduce Companion Stylesheets for WordPress Default Themes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=43120";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:100:"http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-3-will-introduce-companion-stylesheets-for-wordpress-default-themes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4909:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/wp-bp.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/wp-bp.jpg?resize=1025%2C383" alt="wp-bp" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14611" /></a></p>
<p>Two years ago, <a href="http://codex.buddypress.org/developer/releases/version-1-7/" target="_blank">BuddyPress 1.7</a> introduced WordPress theme compatibility, which meant that sites no longer required a BuddyPress-specific theme in order to run the plugin. The vast majority of themes that use <a href="http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development" target="_blank">WordPress&#8217; standard template loading</a> should be compatible with BuddyPress.</p>
<p>However, some themes still need a little help to make the BuddyPress UI elements more harmonious with the rest of the theme. This is the case with the WordPress default themes, which prompted BuddyPress contributors to look into creating a set of companion stylesheets to address any conflicts arising between the plugin and the themes.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hnla" target="_blank">Hugo Ashmore</a>, who is leading the task of creating supporting styles for BuddyPress when activated on the default WordPress themes, summarized the goal on the <a href="https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/companion-styles-task-updates/" target="_blank">BP development blog</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>We discussed and agreed in essence that it would be nice that BP displayed at its best when activated on these default WP themes as they may well be a user&#8217;s first impression of BP and first impressions last.</p></blockquote>
<p>As of BuddyPress 2.3, the plugin will check and enqueue an additional set of styles if either <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6291" target="_blank">Twenty Fifteen</a> or <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6338" target="_blank">Twenty Fourteen</a> are active on the site. The same process will be used moving forward to support new WordPress default themes as they are released.</p>
<p>Work on the tickets for these two themes has already been committed to <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk" target="_blank">BP trunk</a> and is on track for inclusion in 2.3. Whereas previously you might have seen messy unordered lists and BP component UI elements in various states of disarray, the new companion stylesheets resolve many of these issues with BP in use on the default themes.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bp-twenty-fifteen.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bp-twenty-fifteen.png?resize=1025%2C468" alt="bp-twenty-fifteen" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43320" /></a></p>
<h3>A New Approach to User Account / Single Group Navigation Menus</h3>
<p>If you take BuddyPress 2.3-alpha for a spin, you&#8217;ll notice that the companion stylesheets take a new approach to the user account and single groups navigation, with the primary object nav now displayed vertically on the left.</p>
<p>The traditional horizontal nav often causes problems, as plugin developers can dynamically add to this menu, pushing it out to two or more rows of menu items. The vertical menus in the stylesheet eliminate the crowding that you often see in the horizontal user/group navigation.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bp-user-account-nav.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/bp-user-account-nav.png?resize=1025%2C792" alt="bp-user-account-nav" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43323" /></a></p>
<p>In the most recent <a href="https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/2015/04/29/companion-styles-an-update/" target="_blank">update</a> on the task, Ashmore requests that users bear in mind it&#8217;s &#8220;less about theming every aspect as about ensuring a broad sweep on elements to ensure the majority of critical issues are addressed.&#8221;</p>
<p>The primary goal is to make BuddyPress render in a more seamless manner in the default themes. Refined styling to tweak specific BP elements is next on the agenda. If you want to test 2.3-alpha and find that the stylesheets aren&#8217;t loading, make sure to add <code>define ('SCRIPT_DEBUG', true);</code> to your <em>wp-config.php</em> file if you want to run trunk directly.</p>
<p>Contributors working on the companion stylesheet tickets <a href="https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/2015/04/29/companion-styles-an-update/" target="_blank">welcome feedback</a> from the community regarding the layout refactoring of the parent theme containers for the BP directories and user account screens, as well as the vertical menu approach. Testing these elements ahead of the BuddyPress 2.3 beta, expected out this week, will help contributors ship more polished stylesheets in the official release at the end of May.</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, 05 May 2015 18:30:39 +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: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:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:"type";i:128;s:7:"headers";a:10:{s:6:"server";s:5:"nginx";s:4:"date";s:29:"Wed, 20 May 2015 21:47:31 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:14:"content-length";s:6:"274389";s:10:"connection";s:5:"close";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Wed, 20 May 2015 21:30:12 GMT";s:15:"x-frame-options";s:10:"SAMEORIGIN";s:4:"x-nc";s:11:"HIT lax 250";s:13:"accept-ranges";s:5:"bytes";}s:5:"build";s:14:"20130911030210";}