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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a: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:75:"WPTavern: New Plugin Uses BuddyPress Email API to Send bbPress Forum Emails";s:7:"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=54863";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"http://wptavern.com/new-plugin-uses-buddypress-email-api-to-send-bbpress-forum-emails";s: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:3011:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/buddypress-bbpress.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/buddypress-bbpress.jpg?resize=1025%2C493" alt="buddypress-bbpress" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-30982" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-5-0-released-features-customizable-emails-and-support-for-emoji" target="_blank">BuddyPress 2.5</a>, released in March, introduced customizable emails via a new <a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-5-will-add-customizable-emails-via-a-new-bp-email-api" target="_blank">BP Email API</a>. This new feature allows community managers to easily edit BuddyPress-generated emails in the admin and make design changes in the customizer.</p>
<p>It didn&#8217;t take long for developers to think of bringing this same customizability to bbPress emails. <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/thebrandonallen/" target="_blank">Brandon Allen</a> has just released <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/bp-emails-for-bbp/" target="_blank">BP Emails for BBP</a>, a plugin that sends forum and topic subscription emails using the new BP Email API.</p>
<p>Once installed, administrators will find templates for new forum topics and topic replies under the same Emails menu item with the 16 customizable BuddyPress core emails.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/buddypress-bbpress-emails.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/buddypress-bbpress-emails.png?resize=1025%2C305" alt="buddypress-bbpress-emails" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54878" /></a></p>
<p>Allen noted that the plugin sends emails differently than bbPress, which puts every subscriber email in the BCC field and sends one email. Instead, it sends a separate email to each subscriber, which Allen said may improve deliverability given that some email providers look unfavorably on emails with large BCC fields.</p>
<p>I tested the plugin and found that it works as advertised for customizing and sending bbPress emails. There are no settings to configure. It simply adds the same functionality that users now expect from BuddyPress core emails with all the same customization options.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/bbpress-subscription-email.png"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/bbpress-subscription-email.png?resize=1025%2C500" alt="bbpress-subscription-email" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54929" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/bp-emails-for-bbp/" target="_blank">BP Emails for BBP</a> is available on WordPress.org. It does not work with bbPress alone but requires both bbPress 2.5+ and BuddyPress 2.5+ to be active. With the help of this plugin, a community manager can brand all the email communications generated by the site so that the design and wording is consistent across both plugins.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 17 May 2016 05:32:44 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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: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:60:"WPTavern: BuddyPress 2.6 to Introduce New API for Navigation";s:7:"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=54803";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-6-to-introduce-new-api-for-navigation";s: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:2401:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/buddypress-logo-blue.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/buddypress-logo-blue.png?resize=839%2C398" alt="buddypress-logo-blue" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-30655" /></a></p>
<p>In an exceptionally well-documented <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/10745/" target="_blank">commit message</a>, BuddyPress lead developer Boone Gorges introduced a new API to manage single item navigation, thanks to contributions from core developers Mathieu Viet and Raymond Hoh. Gorges summarized the changes to how BuddyPress will handle navigation in the upcoming 2.6 release:</p>
<blockquote><p>The new BP_Core_Nav overhauls the way that BuddyPress registers, stores, and renders navigation items. Navigations are now component-specific, eliminating the potential for confusion and conflict between navigation items with similar names in different components, and opening the possibility of generating navs for separate objects of the same type on a single pageload.</p></blockquote>
<p>The previous navigation system used bp_nav and bp_options_nav, global properties that managed nav and subnav across all of BuddyPress&#8217; components. Developers had a difficult time extending navigation and sometimes ended up stepping on each other&#8217;s toes when adding similar navigation items.</p>
<p>&#8220;The new system eliminates most of these problems, by removing direct access to the underlying navigation data, while providing a full-fledged API for accessing and modifying that data,&#8221; Gorges said.</p>
<p>Although the new API ensures backward compatibility with the legacy bp_nav and bp_options_nav, plugin developers whose extensions depend on these methods will want to update their code. With the exception of certain configurations running PHP 5.2.x, most plugins should work the same as before.</p>
<p>However, Gorges&#8217; <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/10745/" target="_blank">commit message</a> details a handful of small ways that the new API may break backward compatibility in a few rare instances. BuddyPress plugin developers will want to review these ahead of the upcoming 2.6 release. Beta 1 is just one week away from release on May 25 and the official release is targeted for June 15.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 17 May 2016 05:06:43 +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:"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:62:"WPTavern: Wes Bos Launches Free React.js + Redux Online Course";s:7:"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=54903";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"http://wptavern.com/wes-bos-launches-free-react-js-redux-online-course";s: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:3193:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/react-redux-course.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/react-redux-course.png?resize=1025%2C465" alt="react-redux-course" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54916" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://wesbos.com/" target="_blank">Wes Bos</a>, a developer and educator known for his high quality video tutorials, has just launched a free online course for building JavaScript apps with <a href="https://facebook.github.io/react/" target="_blank">React.js</a> and <a href="http://redux.js.org/" target="_blank">Redux</a>. The 2.5 hour <a href="https://learnredux.com/" target="_blank">Learn Redux</a> course includes 20 videos that guide developers through building an example &#8216;Reduxstagram&#8217; app to present the core ideas behind Redux.</p>
<p>To get the most out of Learn Redux, students should have a decent foundation of React and ES6. Bos recommends those who are not comfortable with React to start with his <a href="https://reactforbeginners.com/" target="_blank">React for Beginners</a> course.</p>
<p>After you sign up, you&#8217;ll receive an email with a link to the starter files and access to the videos. The example app uses Webpack to bundle ES6 modules into a single JavaScript file, so the course begins with a video on using NPM and Webpack to set up a local development environment. Learn Redux includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Access to all 20 videos</li>
<li>All starter files</li>
<li>Webpack Build Templates</li>
<li>Stepped and finished solutions</li>
</ul>
<p>Bos spent more than 100 hours producing this series in partnership with <a href="https://getsentry.com/welcome/" target="_blank">Sentry</a> as a sponsor. Anyone who signs up receives a $50 Sentry credit.</p>
<p>After Calypso was announced, Bos, who describes himself as &#8220;a huge WordPress fan,&#8221; wrote a <a href="http://wesbos.com/wordpress-calypso-react/" target="_blank">post</a> dispelling rumors that WordPress was ditching PHP and being rewritten in Node.js. He also urged WordPress developers to learn JavaScript.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is thunder in the distance as to what is to come in WordPress,&#8221; Bos said. &#8220;Much of the theme writing I do is already in JavaScript – I often use WordPress as just an API to get data out of, and then use frameworks like Angular, React, Google Maps or jQuery to display that data. I’m not building an entire website in a JavaScript framework, but much of the interactive view layer of these sites is moving into JavaScript frameworks.&#8221;</p>
<p>If you want to be ready to dive into the next generation of WordPress site and application development with knowledge of one of the most popular JS frameworks, the free <a href="https://learnredux.com/" target="_blank">Learn Redux</a> course offers all the tools necessary for getting started with React.js, Redux, and React Router.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our trusty PHP template files aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, but I’ll bet you dollars to donuts you’ll be writing a lot more JavaScript in your WordPress sites in the years to come,&#8221; Bos said.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 16 May 2016 21:50:34 +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: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:134:"WPTavern: Daniel Bachhuber Discusses WP-CLI, the WP REST API, and the Challenges of Contributing to Open Source on Roots Radio Podcast";s:7:"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=54738";s:7:"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:142:"http://wptavern.com/daniel-bachhuber-discusses-wp-cli-the-wp-rest-api-and-the-challenges-of-contributing-to-open-source-on-roots-radio-podcast";s: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:7828:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/daniel-bachhuber.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/daniel-bachhuber.jpg?resize=300%2C300" alt="daniel-bachhuber" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-54898" /></a><a href="https://danielbachhuber.com/" target="_blank">Daniel Bachhuber</a>, maintainer of the <a href="http://wp-cli.org/" target="_blank">WP-CLI</a> project and a contributing developer to the <a href="http://v2.wp-api.org/" target="_blank">WP REST API</a>, joined Chris Carr and Austin Pray on a recent episode of the <a href="https://roots.io/podcast/ep13/" target="_blank">Roots Radio podcast</a>. Bachhuber discussed his recent experience crowdfunding his work on &#8220;<a href="https://wp-cli.org/restful/" target="_blank">A More RESTful WP-CLI</a>&#8221; as well as the challenges he&#8217;s encountered as a contributor to various open source projects over the years.</p>
<p>In the first part of the episode, Bachhuber shared how he spent the 283 hours of time that the WordPress community funded to advance the WP-CLI and WP REST API projects. The funding gave him the opportunity to dedicate time split between the two projects. Bachhuber put in approximately 95 hours towards the REST API in January and February but the bulk of the hours went towards making WP-CLI more friendly for developers who work with the REST API.</p>
<p>&#8220;WordPress developers are going to be putting a lot of time now towards writing REST endpoints that expose their functionality to the world, and it would be really nice if WP-CLI interoperated nicely with that and allowed you to use that functionality at the command line without having to separately write your own WP-CLI commands,&#8221; Bachhuber said.</p>
<p>He discussed the challenge of scoping out this broad goal and what he learned about crowdfunding during the process.</p>
<p>&#8220;The RESTful WP-CLI kickstarter project was intentionally ambitious, because I&#8217;m a guy who has big ideas and likes to do big things,&#8221; Bachhuber said. &#8220;There are some things I feel really happy that I&#8217;ve been able to ship and produce so far, and there are other features that, for one reason or another, I haven&#8217;t quite been able to execute  yet and that&#8217;s a bit frustrating.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a whole different ball game trying to manage the expectations of your Kickstarter backers than it is a single client. I&#8217;ve got 107 clients that I have to make happy,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Bachhuber said he was able to get the issue backlog for WP-CLI down to less than 60 issues and the dedicated time has allowed him to resolve old issues that have &#8220;languished since the dawn of time.&#8221;</p>
<p>As part of the rewards offered for contributors to the crowdfunding campaign, Bachhuber offered his time consulting with individuals and organizations, which he found to be easier than traditional physical swag rewards.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m really glad that I chose [consulting] over having to give out physical swag, because it&#8217;s very difficult to procure and ship to everyone, particularly when you have international backers,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Even though I&#8217;ve spent a lot of my time fulfilling the rewards and talking with people and having calls with them and meeting up with them in person, it&#8217;s a much easier effort to manage than sending 100 coffee mugs across the world.&#8221;</p>
<p>When asked if he&#8217;d do it again, Bachhuber said yes but emphasized that spending this much time on an open source project only works if you keep a healthy balance with other aspects of life.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s really important that if you&#8217;re contributing to open source projects on a regular basis or even maintaining them, that you balance your time between that and other things,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s really easy to get burned out on said open source project if you spend 100% of your time on it for a whole month or six months.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was pretty intentional to say that the money I was raising was going to cover my involvement with the project for six months, a certain number of hours, and that it was going to be a part-time thing. That was a really healthy way to approach it. I think I would have gotten burned out if I had just tried to dive into it, crank it out, and move on to the next thing,&#8221; Bachhuber said.</p>
<h3>The Emotional Challenges of Working on Open Source Projects</h3>
<p>During the course of the interview Bachhuber was asked to share his feelings on what he referred to as &#8220;the kerfuffle with the REST API&#8221; that happened in February. The REST API team had written a merge proposal in September 2015 that recommended merging the API in two parts &#8211; the infrastructure in 4.4 and the posts, comments, terms, and users endpoints in 4.5 or 4.6. After partially executing on that proposal, the team held a status chat to discuss the plan moving forward.</p>
<p>Bachhuber said that the discussion became &#8220;a very emotionally fraught event&#8221; after Matt Mullenweg said the project needed feature parity with the WordPress admin before any of the endpoints could be considered for merge. After putting hundreds of hours into the project alongside a handful of dedicated contributors who were already spread thin, he found this new requirement was a difficult pill to swallow.</p>
<p>&#8220;For better or for worse, as a maintainer or even a participant of an open source project, you have to have a thick skin and realize that all the time the decisions that are made are not about you &#8211; they are about the project,&#8221; Bachhuber said. &#8220;Even if you are personally offended by the decision, it doesn&#8217;t matter because it isn&#8217;t about you. It&#8217;s really difficult to deal with emotionally.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bachhuber&#8217;s years of contributing to and maintaing open source projects has taught him a few things about managing stress and conflict that <a href="https://2016.europe.wordcamp.org/session/my-condolences-youre-now-the-maintainer-of-a-popular-open-source-project/" target="_blank">he plans to share at WordCamp Europe</a> in a talk titled, &#8220;My condolences, You&#8217;re now the maintainer of a popular OS project.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I find a lot of joy in maintaining open source projects,&#8221; Bachhuber said. &#8220;I also have to actively work to address the emotional side of the equation to make sure I&#8217;m in a healthy space to continue maintaining the project and the project is not affecting me personally. It&#8217;s taken me years to come to a point where I&#8217;m comfortable with that.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the case of the WP REST API, Bachhuber has come to a place where he can compartmentalize his emotional reactions and responses to the differing opinions.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve come to a point now where I care but I don&#8217;t care,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I care in the sense that I&#8217;d still love to see those endpoints go into core and see the fruits of our labors realized. I don&#8217;t care because I&#8217;m not emotionally attached to that happening on any particular time frame. I honestly would rather it happen when it&#8217;s ready to happen over prematurely, and I realize I might not be the best qualified person to make that decision.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the remainder of the episode, Bachhuber and Carr discuss React, Redux, Karma, Enzyme, and other tools for testing and developing with the REST API. Check out the recording of the episode on <a href="https://roots.io/podcast/ep13/" target="_blank">Roots Radio</a> for more details about Bachhuber&#8217;s work on WP-CLI and his crowdfunding experience.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 16 May 2016 06:03:31 +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: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:102:"WPTavern: The WordPress.org Recommended Hosting Page is Revamped, Features Flywheel for the First Time";s:7:"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=54822";s:7:"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:111:"http://wptavern.com/the-wordpress-org-recommended-hosting-page-is-revamped-features-flywheel-for-the-first-time";s: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:8235:"<p>DreamHost, Flywheel, and SiteGround have joined Bluehost on WordPress.org&#8217;s new <a href="https://wordpress.org/hosting/">recommended hosting</a> page. In mid 2015, Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of the open source WordPress project, <a href="http://wptavern.com/the-recommended-hosting-page-on-wordpress-org-starts-over-from-scratch">announced</a> the page would be revamped. To have a chance at being listed webhosting companies needed to fill out a 40-question survey.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/RecommendedHostsPage.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-54844" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/RecommendedHostsPage.png?resize=790%2C642" alt="2016 Recommended Hosts Page" /></a>2016 Recommended Hosts Page
<p>This is Flywheel&#8217;s first time on the page. <a href="https://getflywheel.com/">Flywheel</a>, launched in 2013, is a managed WordPress hosting company with an emphasis towards designers and agencies. I asked Dusty Davidson, c<span class="team__role">o-Founder and CEO of Flywheel</span>, what it means to be included on the page. &#8220;We&#8217;re obviously excited to be included, and think it really reflects on the work we&#8217;ve done to create a great experience for WordPress users,&#8221; he<span class="team__role"> said. </span></p>
<p>The recommended webhosting page on WordPress.org is incredibly lucrative. Based on conversations I&#8217;ve had with employees of hosts listed, it can generate millions of dollars in revenue. I asked Davidson what impact this will have on his company, &#8220;<span class="team__role">I&#8217;m sure it will undoubtedly send a good deal of traffic, but honestly we&#8217;re just humbled and excited to be recognized,&#8221; he said. </span></p>
<h2>A New Round of Controversy</h2>
<p>Over the years, companies have come and gone from the recommended hosting page. However, Bluehost in particular has consistently appeared on the list, including the most recent iteration. Bluehost is owned by <a href="http://www.endurance.com/">Endurance International Group</a> who <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/05/prweb11874425.htm">invested in Automattic</a> in 2014. Because Mullenweg is the CEO of Automattic and controls who is listed on the page, it&#8217;s easy to see why it regularly generates controversy.</p>
<p>Kevin Ohashi of ReviewSignal.com, <a href="http://reviewsignal.com/blog/2016/05/12/wordpress-org-updates-hosting-recommendations-nobody-knows-selection-criteria/">criticized the lack of transparency</a> regarding the process for how hosts.</p>
<blockquote><p>Who is responsible for this revamp? What were the selection criteria? How often will it be updated? Will existing companies be continuously re-evaluated?</p></blockquote>
<p>These are important questions to ask and there are no publicly documented answers. In a follow up post, <a href="http://reviewsignal.com/blog/2016/05/13/wordpress-org-hosting-recommendations-listing-criteria/">Ohashi investigated</a> what criteria needs to be met for being listed on the page. The post contains a number of screenshots of his private conversation with <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/macmanx">James Huff</a>, who has volunteered for the WordPress project for 12 years and has worked at Automattic for five years.</p>
<p>Huff was directly related to the project and influenced who was chosen thanks to his involvement on the WordPress Support Team. Within the conversation, he shares details of the process and mentions that no money exchanged hands. Early in the conversation, Ohashi tells Huff that he wants to learn and publish how the process works. However, Huff had no idea that everything he said would be made public.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was invited to what sounded like a friendly chat over direct message from a concerned community member, after he was referred to me by a friend,&#8221; Huff said. &#8220;At no point was it clarified or even implied that anything discussed would be made public.&#8221;</p>
<p><del>Conversations held in a private matter should remain private unless given permission to publish them, something I discovered the hard way.</del> Unfortunately, the post comes across as a public interrogation of Huff. I asked Huff, who was shaken by the experience, how it has affected him moving forward as it relates to the WordPress project.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d be lying if I said my feelings weren&#8217;t at least shaken by the experience, especially considering how polite he was to my friend and how hostile he was towards me apparently just because I work for Automattic, but this isn&#8217;t the first time that has happened to me and I don&#8217;t expect it to be the last,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s an usually prevalent negative bias against Automatticians who contribute to WordPress.&#8221;</p>
<h2>Mullenweg Provides Clarification</h2>
<p>Mullenweg <a href="http://reviewsignal.com/blog/2016/05/13/wordpress-org-hosting-recommendations-listing-criteria/#comment-1011">commented on the post</a> where he not only sticks up for Huff, but answers some of the controversial questions raised by Ohashi. Mullenweg explains how the applicants were chosen, how the criteria is weighted, who makes the final decisions, and how much money is involved. Here is his comment in full.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8216;I would like to see some transparency in the process&#8217;</p>
<p>As stated on the page, the listing is completely arbitrary. The process was: There was a survey, four applicants were chosen, and the page was updated. That might repeat later in the year, or the process might change.</p>
<p>&#8216;how criteria are weighted&#8217;</p>
<p>There is no criteria or weighting. It ultimately is one person’s opinion. Information that is important is reflected in the questions asked in the survey, but that is not everything that is taken into account. (I have looked at this site in the past, for example.)</p>
<p>&#8216;who is making the decisions&#8217;</p>
<p>I am. James helped in sorting through the many submissions that came in, doing additional research, and digging on finalists, but ultimately the decision was mine. You can and should blame me fully for any issues you have with it. I appreciate James’ help in this go-round, but he will not be involved at all with any future updates. (So, please leave him alone.)</p>
<p>&#8216;how much money is involved&#8217;</p>
<p>There was no money involved. Obviously being listed on the page is hugely valuable and impacts the listed (or unlisted) businesses a great deal. This is why I take full responsibility for the listing, now and in the future — I have been fortunate to be extraordinarily successful and no financial or business consideration any of the applicants could offer matters to me. A host could offer $100,000,000 to be listed on the page for 1 day, and I would say no.</p></blockquote>
<p>It&#8217;s unfortunate that the information in Mullenweg&#8217;s comment is not published in an official post announcing the changes to the recommended hosting page. If an official post was published that included the same information in his comment, it&#8217;s possible it would have eliminated most of the confusion, uncertainty, and doubt surrounding it.</p>
<h2>Should WordPress.org Have a Recommended Hosting Page?</h2>
<p>Due to the investments EIG has made in Automattic, Mullenweg&#8217;s role at the company, and him making the final decisions, there will always be a potential conflict of interest despite taking full responsibility of the page and the processes associated with it.</p>
<p>Should WordPress.org have a recommended hosting page? What if the page was replaced with information people could use to make informed decisions on choosing a host? It would eliminate potential conflicts of interest and if there was a host Mullenweg felt strongly about, he could label it as a partner of the project. This would make it clear that any financial connection with the company is a business relationship.</p>
<p>Are you hosting with any of the companies listed on the recommended hosting page? If so, tell us about your experience in the comments.</p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:88:"WPTavern: WordPress Accessibility Team Seeks Testers Using Speech Recognition Technology";s:7:"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=54829";s:7:"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:98:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-accessibility-team-seeks-testers-using-speech-recognition-technology";s: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:2791:"<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/glasses.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/glasses.jpg?resize=1024%2C562" alt="photo credit: Let's Read - (license)" class="size-full wp-image-54851" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42788859@N00/320216939">Let&#8217;s Read</a> &#8211; <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>
<p>The World Health Organization estimates that <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/" target="_blank">285 million people</a> worldwide are living with some form of visual impairment and 39 million of those are estimated to be blind. Many people with low vision depend on speech recognition technology to navigate the web and communicate their thoughts. This type of software also assists people who have carpal tunnel, RSI (Repetitive Stress Injuries) and/or limited mobility in their hands and arms.</p>
<p>Rian Rietveld and the Accessibility team are working to improve the experience of using WordPress with speech recognition software, such as <a href="http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm" target="_blank">Dragon Naturally Speaking</a> (widely considered as one of the best for desktop use.) In particular, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/23562" target="_blank">the task of adding media to a post has a number of obstacles</a> that make it nearly impossible for those using speech recognition software.</p>
<p>Rietveld <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2016/05/13/20th-wordpress-accessibility-test-add-media-with-speech-recognition-software/" target="_blank">posted three tests</a> to the Accessibility team&#8217;s blog today, inviting those who use <a href="http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm" target="_blank">Dragon Naturally Speaking</a> or other assistive technology to help the contributors determine the roadblocks that need to be removed for adding media. These tests include actions like adding media, editing attachment details, and creating a gallery.</p>
<p>If you use WordPress with assistive technology for speech recognition, completing these tests and offering your feedback is one way to get involved as a contributor. You don&#8217;t necessarily have to use Dragon Naturally Speaking, as there are many newer alternatives such as Windows Speech Recognition (Cortana) and Chrome&#8217;s speech recognition powered by Google Speech to Text. Testers can report their experiences, along with the assistive technology/browser/OS, in the comments on Rietveld&#8217;s <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2016/05/13/20th-wordpress-accessibility-test-add-media-with-speech-recognition-software/" target="_blank">post</a>.</p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"WPTavern: Happytables Pivots to Provide Restaurant Analytics and Insights";s:7:"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=41046";s:7:"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/happytables-pivots-to-provide-restaurant-analytics-and-insights";s: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:5302:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/happy-tables.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/happy-tables.jpg?resize=1000%2C608" alt="happy-tables" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54835" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.happytables.com/" target="_blank">Happytables</a> is changing from being a platform that hosts restaurant websites to one that provides analytics and insights by tapping into apps that restaurants are already using to promote their businesses. The company uses WordPress as a command center for the application that communicates with various restaurant-tech APIs to deliver information to the dashboard in realtime.</p>
<p>&#8220;We started with the website builder a while back,&#8221; Founder and CEO Noel Tock said. &#8220;It’s been a great ride, but we realized two things: 1) Website builders have become a race to the bottom with regards to revenue as well as extremely competitive, and 2) From our many conversations with restaurants, their challenges have become much larger; consolidating data and insights from all the products they now use.&#8221;</p>
<p>One of the Happytables beta restaurants in London uses 14 different applications to manage its sales, operations, and marketing, and Tock says this trend is only growing.</p>
<p>&#8220;The centre of gravity is shifting from the Point of Sale to a very fragmented collection of siloed products (reservations, online ordering, staff scheduling/wages, loyalty, waitlist, social, etc.),&#8221; Tock said. &#8220;Becoming that 30,000 foot view whilst generating actionable insights across the portfolio of applications is the challenge we’ve taken on with the new Happytables.&#8221;</p>
<p>The first installation of the new Happytables was set up for <a href="http://whyteandbrown.com/" target="_blank">Whyte &amp; Brown</a> in London where the team is focusing their beta testing. The application currently aggregates data from POS (Point of Sale) and Social, but Tock says this will rapidly evolve to providing various insights from POS and Labor, such as revenue forecasting, employee performance, and breakfast/lunch/dinner performance.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s been very exciting working towards actionable insights, whereby we can tell a waiter that he/she was underselling a certain product or category compared to their colleagues, or that a particular employee performs a lot better on lunch then on dinner,&#8221; Tock said.</p>
<p>Below you can see an example of Happytables&#8217; latest kitchen dashboard, using the team view as opposed to the individual employee recommendations/suggestions view.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Happytables_kitchen_dashboard.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Happytables_kitchen_dashboard.png?resize=1025%2C731" alt="Happytables_kitchen_dashboard" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54833" /></a></p>
<p>The new Happytables uses WordPress as a backend and the WP REST API and ReactJS on the frontend.  Although the development team still uses WordPress as one of its core technologies, the infrastructure is a bit more complicated.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s not pure WordPress for the data storage,&#8221; CTO Aaron Jorbin said. &#8220;In fact, very little of it is actually stored inside WordPress. It is used to store some information about the restaurant and manage requests to third parties where we fetch the data and then store it in DynamoDB.&#8221;</p>
<p>The screenshots in this post show the WordPress theme in full screen mode, but Jorbin said the restaurant staff never interact with wp-admin. Restaurant operators use the app to view all the realtime information coming in so that they can make better decisions about how they run their businesses.</p>
<p>Happytables is still hosting its customers from its first iteration as a website builder, but Tock said most are not good candidates for the beta.</p>
<p>&#8220;The infrastructure is quite different now as we’re capturing different types of data (previously web content, now largely transactional data),&#8221; he said. &#8220;Our customers on the website builder platform came from all walks of life, so there’s not many who fit the ideal beta candidate (using Micros/Aloha as POS, based in London, run a multiunit restaurant, etc.).</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re just looking to see how we can fit this into the larger Happytables model downstream,&#8221; Tock said. &#8220;If we’re going to implement so many API’s, there’s also value in tying those back to the website.&#8221;</p>
<p>Not many aspects of the new infrastructure have been open sourced yet, as the team has been moving fast. Tock said they hope to make some of their code public further down the road after it&#8217;s been tested.</p>
<p>&#8220;Once we’re past testing/beta, I’m sure a number of features will become more mature tools and move into their own public repo if they are of that sort of benefit,&#8221; he said. The new infrastructure is one of the many exciting ways that the WP REST API is being used to bring a host of information into WordPress from various third party applications and tie it all together in a useful way.</p>
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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:19:"Matt: Mom on Tinder";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=46572";s:7:"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:36:"https://ma.tt/2016/05/mom-on-tinder/";s: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>If you&#8217;re looking for a fun Friday read, <a href="http://www.gq.com/story/my-mom-ran-my-tinder">check out this story of a young GQ writer who gave control of his Tinder account to his Mom</a>. It&#8217;s adorkable.</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, 13 May 2016 16:35:45 +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: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:89:"WPTavern: GitLab Courts Disgruntled GitHub Customers with Response to Recent Pricing Hike";s:7:"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=54780";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:99:"http://wptavern.com/gitlab-courts-disgruntled-github-customers-with-response-to-recent-pricing-hike";s: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:5016:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gitlab.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gitlab.png?resize=1025%2C371" alt="gitlab" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50741" /></a></p>
<p>Yesterday GitHub <a href="http://wptavern.com/github-introduces-unlimited-private-repositories-hikes-prices-for-organizations" target="_blank">announced</a> pricing changes that give all paid plans unlimited repositories and change plans to a pricing-per-user model. Individual developers are the most likely customers to benefit from the changes, but many organizations will see an exponential increase in pricing.</p>
<p>GitLab, a competitor in the Git repository hosting space, immediately addressed disgruntled GitHub customers with a <a href="https://about.gitlab.com/2016/05/11/git-repository-pricing/" target="_blank">pricing comparison</a> on the company&#8217;s blog. Co-founder and CEO <a href="https://twitter.com/sytses" target="_blank">Sid Sijbrandij</a> noted that the three main players in this space, GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab, all offer unlimited private repositories but that it doesn&#8217;t cost companies more to host additional repositories for a given user.</p>
<p>Sijbrandij attributes the change to the increase in the <a href="https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/build-us-microservices/" target="_blank">microservices model</a>, a development approach that breaks software down into smaller, related pieces that communicate with one another via APIs.</p>
<p>&#8220;As more and more developers, teams, and organizations seek out the advantages of microservices, they’ll need more repositories to support this new code structure,&#8221; Sijbrandij said. &#8220;Basically, the more microservices you have the more repositories you’ll need. That is why it is not surprising that GitHub has announced free private repositories.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sijbrandij referenced several examples where GitHub&#8217;s pricing changes hit open source organizations hard, including <a href="https://github.com/edx/" target="_blank">Open edX</a>, a non-profit with a large number of contributors, which <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11674530" target="_blank">posted</a> the following on Hacker News:</p>
<blockquote><p>I work for a non-profit open source organization that <a href="https://github.com/edx/" target="_blank">collaborates on github</a>. We have lots of people who aren&#8217;t employees, but have signed a contributor agreement with our organization and contribute changes to our software. Our bill will go up from $200/month to over $2000/month with this new pricing. We can afford it (it&#8217;s still a small fraction of our AWS bill) but it will force us to look at other alternatives. Github&#8217;s code review tools are already pretty mediocre compared to other tools like gerrit, and we&#8217;ve long since moved off of GitHub issue tracking due to lack of features compared to JIRA.</p></blockquote>
<p>Sijbrandij emphasized that the team at GitLab believes “everyone can contribute,” a mission which drives GitLab.com&#8217;s pricing structure to offer unlimited private repositories, unlimited contributors, and unlimited CI runners for free. The on-premises solution, which includes enterprise features and support, is what keeps the lights on at the company. GitLab.com, the free, hosted version, runs the same enterprise edition software but is, by Sijbrandij&#8217;s own admission, still <a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/operations/issues/42" target="_blank">struggling with sluggish performance</a>.</p>
<p>Earlier this year when open source project maintainers <a href="http://wptavern.com/open-source-project-maintainers-confront-github-with-open-letter-on-issue-management" target="_blank">confronted GitHub with an open letter on issue management</a>, GitLab differentiated itself by <a href="http://wptavern.com/gitlab-courts-open-source-project-maintainers-with-response-to-dear-github-letter" target="_blank">responding</a> to the situation with a new initiative focused on “making GitLab the best place for big open source projects.”</p>
<p>Nearly a month later, <a href="http://wptavern.com/github-responds-to-letter-from-open-source-project-maintainers" target="_blank">GitHub finally responded</a> with an apology to open source project maintainers and a promise to address their concerns with a steady string of changes.</p>
<p>GitHub has not given any indication of reversing its recent decision to change its pricing structure. However, with competitors like GitLab putting on the heat, GitHub may be forced to make some changes to its paid plans. At the very least, it could inspire the company to address concerns about organizations having to pay for inactive users and perhaps spur GitHub to offer customers the ability to distinguish between collaborators on open source projects and users who simply need access to private repositories.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 13 May 2016 02:33:33 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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: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:106:"WPTavern: How Authors With Plugins in the Official Directory Can Use Tags to Get a Moderator’s Attention";s:7:"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=54441";s:7:"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:113:"http://wptavern.com/how-authors-with-plugins-in-the-official-directory-can-use-tags-to-get-a-moderators-attention";s: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:2627:"<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>It&#8217;s almost inevitable that as a WordPress plugin gains popularity, it will receive a bad review. How plugin authors handle and respond to bad reviews is crucial, especially in a public forum. Mika Epstein, who helps review plugins before they&#8217;re added to the directory and is a dedicated support forum volunteer, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/plugins/2016/05/03/handling-bad-reviews/">gives advice </a>on how to handle and respond to bad reviews.</p>
<p>Bad reviews are classified as those written as spam, trolling, emotional blackmail for support, and those that should have been a support post. Since the plugin review system is powered by bbPress, plugin authors can add tags to reviews in order to draw a moderator&#8217;s attention. The tags include:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Modlook</strong> &#8211; This tag notifies moderators that a particular thread needs their attention. If you think a review is spam, don&#8217;t respond to it. Instead, add the Modlook and Spam tags and let a moderator decide if the review should be deleted.</li>
<li><strong>Sockpuppet</strong> &#8211; If you suspect a review is part of a spamming campaign where a group of people are marking a plugin as one or five stars, apply the sockpuppet and modlook tags to the review.</li>
<li><strong>Wrongplugin</strong> &#8211; Add the wrongplugin tag to the review if you believe it&#8217;s for a different plugin. The team can move the review to the appropriate place.</li>
<li><strong>Pluginmod</strong> &#8211; Add this tag to a review if you need an administrator&#8217;s attention. This usually results in the team performing a full review of your plugin. If it&#8217;s determined that it breaks any of <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/about/guidelines/">the guidelines</a>, it will be removed until they&#8217;re fixed.</li>
</ul>
<p>Developers who host plugins in the official directory should make note of these tags and use them when necessary. The tag system is generally unknown to the public but it&#8217;s a great way for moderators to keep on top of the forums and reviews.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 13 May 2016 01:06:02 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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: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:76:"WPTavern: WPWeekly Episode 234 – All Things WordCamp with Andrea Middleton";s:7:"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=54807&preview_id=54807";s:7:"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-234-all-things-wordcamp-with-andrea-middleton";s: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:2896:"<p>In this episode of WordPress Weekly, Marcus Couch and I are joined by <a href="https://thethingwiththestuff.wordpress.com/">Andrea Middleton</a>, who works at Automattic as a Community Organizer for the WordPress open source project. We discuss a number of topics including, updates to the WordCamp Central website, the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2016/03/02/transitioning-to-wordpress-community-support/">for-profit subsidiary</a>, and the experimental <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-to-launch-experimental-wordcamp-incubator-program">WordCamp incubator program</a>.</p>
<p>At the conclusion of our interview with Middleton, Mendel Kurland, GoDaddy&#8217;s Evangelist, joined us to describe his experiences attending DrupalCons. DrupalCons are events similar to WordCamps but on a larger scale. He tells us what the similarities and differences are and the unique things they do that he&#8217;d like to see WordCamps adopt. We close out the show with Marcus&#8217; plugin picks of the week.</p>
<h2>Stories Discussed:</h2>
<p><a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-5-2-patches-two-security-vulnerabilities">WordPress 4.5.2 Patches Two Security Vulnerabilities</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/automattic-is-protecting-its-woo-woothemes-and-woocommerce-trademarks">Automattic is Protecting its Woo, WooThemes, and WooCommerce Trademarks</a></p>
<h2>Plugins Picked By Marcus:</h2>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/disable-core-update-email/">Disable WordPress Core Update Email</a> allows used to disable the default notification email sent by WordPress after an automatic core update is applied.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/downgrade/">Downgrade </a>enables users to easily downgrade WordPress to an earlier version. It&#8217;s a handy diagnostics tool that helps determine if a new WordPress release is the cause of errors.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/woo-customer-insight">Woo Customer Insight </a>provides greater insight into what visitors are doing on your sites. It allows you to see the pages your customers are visiting, where they&#8217;re clicking, the time spent on the different pages, and more.</p>
<h2>WPWeekly Meta:</h2>
<p><strong>Next Episode:</strong> Wednesday, May 18th 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>
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<p><strong>Listen To Episode #234:</strong><br />
</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 12 May 2016 23:23:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"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: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:11:"Matt: .Blog";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=46554";s:7:"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:27:"https://ma.tt/2016/05/blog/";s: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:858:"<p>It&#8217;s now public that Automattic is the company behind Knock Knock Whois There LLC, the registry for the new .blog TLD. (And a great pun.) We wanted to stay stealth while in the bidding process and afterward in order not to draw too much attention, but nonetheless the cost of the .blog auction got up there (people are <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/13/who_just_bought_dotblog_for_30m/">estimating around $20M</a>). I&#8217;m excited we won and think that it will be both an amazing business going forward and give lots of folks an opportunity to have a fantastic domain name in a new namespace and with an easy-to-say TLD. <a href="https://dotblog.wordpress.com/">You can sign up to be first in line to reserve a domain here</a>. If you have a trademark you can get in August, and then October for the &#8220;land rush.&#8221;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 12 May 2016 19:23:11 +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: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:84:"WPTavern: Automattic to Oversee the Sale and Registration of Top-Level .Blog Domains";s:7:"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=54788";s:7:"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:93:"http://wptavern.com/automattic-to-oversee-the-sale-and-registration-of-top-level-blog-domains";s: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:2974:"<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/blogging.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/blogging.jpg?resize=960%2C521" alt="photo credit: Luis Llerena" class="size-full wp-image-54799" /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://stocksnap.io/photo/3ZHG0XOIT6">Luis Llerena</a>
<p>Automattic <a href="https://en.blog.wordpress.com/2016/05/12/coming-soon-new-blog-domains-for-websites/" target="_blank">announced</a> today that it will begin offering top-level .blog domain registration starting in August 2016. The .blog domain extension will be available to both WordPress and non-WordPress sites.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://twitter.com/markarms" target="_blank">Mark Armstrong</a>, an Automattic subsidiary is exclusively managing the registration of .blog domains and will be offering it for purchase through WordPress.com and other domain registrars.</p>
<p>&#8220;Automattic subsidiary Knock Knock Whois There LLC, in partnership with the domain company Primer Nivel, won the rights to the .blog domain in 2015 through an auction process overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the non profit organization that oversees namespaces of the internet,&#8221; Armstrong said.</p>
<p>In an <a href="https://ma.tt/2016/05/blog/" target="_blank">announcement</a> on his blog, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg said they used the Knock Knock Whois There LLC company name to &#8220;stay stealth while in the bidding process,&#8221; which closed around $19 million.</p>
<p>Although WordPress.com is currently providing the registration information site at <a href="https://dotblog.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">dotblog.wordpress.com</a>, Armstrong said that the company is using <a href="http://www.nominet.uk/" target="_blank">Nominet</a> (the backend registry provider for .UK) to provide the technical infrastructure for managing the domain extension.</p>
<p>Registration for .blog domains will be offered in a phased approach during the second half of 2016, according to the following estimated timeframe:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Sunrise (August):</strong> Trademark owners will be able to register .blog domains associated with their brands</li>
<li><strong>Landrush (October):</strong> Before .blog becomes available to the public, domains may be registered during the landrush period on an application basis.</li>
<li><strong>General Availability (November):</strong> Automattic plans to begin offering .blog domains to the general public before the end of the year.</li>
</ul>
<p>With the exclusive rights to manage the sale of millions of .blog domains, Automattic has the opportunity to promote WordPress.com as a potential host for new registrants. The company hasn&#8217;t finalized the price but Armstrong said it will be &#8220;in the standard range for new top-level domains with some premium pricing for higher-value names.&#8221;</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 12 May 2016 18:19:44 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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: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:78:"WPTavern: Critical Vulnerabilities Found in PhpStorm, Immediate Update Advised";s:7:"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=54770";s:7:"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/critical-vulnerabilities-found-in-phpstorm-immediate-update-advised";s: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:2128:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/phpstorm-wp-feature.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/phpstorm-wp-feature.jpg?resize=1025%2C471" alt="phpstorm-wp-feature" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-30739" /></a></p>
<p>JetBrains <a href="http://blog.jetbrains.com/blog/2016/05/11/security-update-for-intellij-based-ides-v2016-1-and-older-versions/" target="_blank">announced</a> today that it has released a security update for PhpStorm and all of its other IntelliJ-based IDEs due to a set of critical vulnerabilities:</p>
<blockquote><p>The cross-site request forgery (CSRF) flaw in the IDE’s built-in webserver allowed an attacker to access local file system from a malicious web page without user consent.</p>
<p>Over-permissive CORS settings allowed attackers to use a malicious website in order to access various internal API endpoints, gain access to data saved by the IDE, and gather various meta-information like IDE version or open a project.</p></blockquote>
<p>PhpStorm is by far <a href="http://www.sitepoint.com/best-php-ide-2014-survey-results/" target="_blank">the most favored IDE for PHP developers</a>. It&#8217;s also widely used among WordPress developers, especially since <a href="http://wptavern.com/phpstorm-8-released-with-full-wordpress-support" target="_blank">version 8 added official support for WordPress</a>.</p>
<p>The update issued today patches the critical vulnerabilities inside the underlying IntelliJ platform that powers nearly a dozen popular IDEs. Installing the update is as easy as selecting &#8216;Check for Updates&#8217; inside the IDE. Alternatively, customers can download the most recent version from JetBrains.com and the <a href="http://blog.jetbrains.com/blog/2016/05/11/security-update-for-intellij-based-ides-v2016-1-and-older-versions/" target="_blank">security announcement</a> includes links to download older versions.</p>
<p>Although the JetBrains security team is not aware of these vulnerabilities having been exploited, immediate update is recommended.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 11 May 2016 22:26:43 +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:"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: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:90:"WPTavern: GitHub Introduces Unlimited Private Repositories, Hikes Prices for Organizations";s:7:"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=54746";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:99:"http://wptavern.com/github-introduces-unlimited-private-repositories-hikes-prices-for-organizations";s: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:7590:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/github-octocat.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/github-octocat.jpg?resize=857%2C400" alt="github-octocat" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-42456" /></a></p>
<p>GitHub has been inundated with negative feedback after <a href="https://github.com/blog/2164-introducing-unlimited-private-repositories" target="_blank">announcing a major change to its pricing</a> today. All paid plans now include unlimited private repositories, but there&#8217;s a catch. The new pricing structure requires GitHub.com organizations to purchase a seat for each user. At $9 per user/month, collaborating on private repositories is now far more costly than the legacy plans which started at $25/month for 10 repositories and unlimited members.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/github-pricing.png"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/github-pricing.png?resize=1025%2C392" alt="github-pricing" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54756" /></a></p>
<p>The change is good news for individual developers with paid accounts, as they are no longer charged on a per-repository basis. However, many owners of organizations are finding the new pricing to be untenable and are actively considering alternatives. For comparison, Bitbucket offers unlimited private repositories and <a href="https://bitbucket.org/product/pricing" target="_blank">charges $1/user/month</a>. Unlimited users caps out at $200/month.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/Krogsgard">@Krogsgard</a> EDD org alone will go from $25 per month to $592 per month <a href="https://twitter.com/github">@github</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Pippinsplugins (@pippinsplugins) <a href="https://twitter.com/pippinsplugins/status/730396802638176257">May 11, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>While unlimited private repositories is an exciting benefit that enables developers to make their code more modular, it isn&#8217;t a benefit that every organization needs.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/github">@github</a> Terrible news. I work on an open-source organization &gt;100 devs. We have 2 private repos for internal projects. $900+ vs $25 really!?</p>
<p>&mdash; João Ventura (@jcnventura) <a href="https://twitter.com/jcnventura/status/730319187667759104">May 11, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/williamsba">@williamsba</a> ours jumped to $1,204 :-( <a href="https://twitter.com/github">@github</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Tom Willmot (@tomwillmot) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomwillmot/status/730391291691995136">May 11, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://easydigitaldownloads.com/" target="_blank">Easy Digital Downloads</a> creator Pippin Williamson <a href="http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1solvjd" target="_blank">explained</a> why he is frustrated with what amounts to a 2,276% increase in costs for his organization:</p>
<blockquote><p>I actually have no problems with the pricing for new organizations. It&#8217;s their space and they provide a huge number of valuable tools. It is absolutely worth it.</p>
<p>The problem I have is the drastic increase for existing customers. It&#8217;s largely the principal of increasing a customer&#8217;s cost by 2,276% without giving them any additional value.</p>
<p>The value that Github provides me and my team does not change at all with the new pricing, only what I pay per month.</p></blockquote>
<p>Samuel &#8220;Otto&#8221; Wood <a href="http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1solviv" target="_blank">contends</a> that GitHub&#8217;s $9/user/month is a reasonable price to pay for having all the functionality of GitHub hosted for an organization but that the alternative of building your own is far more economical.</p>
<blockquote><p>A &#8220;private&#8221; repo is, you know, private. On your own server. Git is, after all, decentralized. You could plop a normal git repo on any private VPS you like in a matter of under an hour. If you&#8217;re collaborating with a small group of like 5 people, then coordination is not really a big deal that I&#8217;d pay $45 a month to use GitHub for it. You can use any tooling you like, make any website you like. You could probably reproduce the important parts of GitHub that you need for your private setup using WordPress in like a day or two. </p>
<p>It just seems to me that any advantages of using GitHub at all seem largely nullified by using private repos. Yes, collaboration and using the same toolset you are used to, I get that. But here you&#8217;re falling prey to vendor lock-in once again. You&#8217;re used to it, you like it, you&#8217;re afraid of change, pay up. Simple. </p>
<p>The advantage of open source software is the freedom to say &#8220;up yours&#8221; and build your own version instead. Git is open source. Think about it. A $15 a month VPS could easily fit your needs for both privacy and collaboration.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/github">@github</a> found a way to be more expensive than the datacenter that runs my app. Seriously, what's happening at <a href="https://twitter.com/github">@github</a> ???</p>
<p>&mdash; Adilson Carvalho (@lcadilson) <a href="https://twitter.com/lcadilson/status/730405070819471361">May 11, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>GitHub has established itself as the de facto code collaboration site by offering free hosting for public, open source repositories. However, the emphasis on &#8220;social coding&#8221; no longer extends to private repositories as organization owners will have little incentive to add more collaborators under the new pricing structure. It discourages organizations from adding users to be bug reporters or third-party collaborators. Teams and agencies hit hardest by the changes are now examining competitors like Bitbucket and self-hosted GitLab.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today is for <a href="https://twitter.com/gitlab">@gitlab</a> what 2007 was for <a href="https://twitter.com/WordPress">@WordPress</a>. If code is poetry, Gitlab is your library. Own your code like you own your content. ❤️</p>
<p>&mdash; John James Jacoby (@JJJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/JJJ/status/730417868047790080">May 11, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>Organization owners will not be forced onto the new pricing plans immediately and GitHub promises to give a year&#8217;s notice before mandating a switch to the new plans:</p>
<blockquote><p>We want everyone to have a plan with unlimited private repositories, but don’t worry—you are welcome to stay on your current plan while you evaluate the new cost structure and understand how to best manage your organization members and their private repository access. And while we&#8217;re currently not enforcing a timeline to move, rest assured that you&#8217;ll have at least 12 months notice before any mandated change to your plan.</p></blockquote>
<p>While many individual developers will see lower monthly prices and even prorated credits on their accounts, the exponential cost increase for GitHub&#8217;s largest customers may cause a mass exodus to the company&#8217;s more affordable competitors. Are you moving your organization off of GitHub? Let us know in the comments.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 11 May 2016 19:27:29 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s: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:66:"WPTavern: Affinity: A Free WordPress Wedding 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=54688";s:7:"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/affinity-a-free-wordpress-wedding-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:3832:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/affinity.png"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/affinity.png?resize=800%2C471" alt="affinity" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54691" /></a></p>
<p>Affinity is the latest addition to WordPress.com&#8217;s small collection of <a href="https://wordpress.com/themes/search/wedding/" target="_blank">themes created specifically for weddings</a>. This highly customizable, elegant theme was designed by <a href="http://carolinemoore.net/" target="_blank">Caroline Moore</a> with weddings and family announcements in mind.</p>
<p>Affinity is a one-page theme with support for five different panels. Each panel&#8217;s content can be assigned in the customizer under Theme Options by selecting a page from a drop-down.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/panel.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/panel.png?resize=660%2C231" alt="panel" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54717" /></a></p>
<p>With the customizable panel approach users are not locked into providing content for sections they don&#8217;t need. Single posts and pages support full screen featured images that, if used as a panel, become the background of that section. Affinity offers the option to set the header image opacity to create better contrast with header text. Users can also enable or disable scrolling on the header and front-page featured images.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/affinity-home-page.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/affinity-home-page.png?resize=200%2C474" alt="affinity-home-page" class="alignright size-full wp-image-54693" /></a></p>
<p>Affinity includes support for a sidebar widget area and three optional widget areas in the footer. If widgets are added to the sidebar, the one-column layout becomes a two-column layout. It also has a fullwidth page template for removing the sidebar on select pages.</p>
<p>The different panels give users ample space for adding photos, links to registries, personal stories, info about the bridal party, and anything else related to the event. Affinity includes a Guestbook page template with a special format for displaying visitors&#8217; comments. Turning the Guestbook on is as easy as setting the page template and making sure that comments are enabled.</p>
<p>Another unique feature of the theme is its post intro area that displays beneath the headline before the first paragraph. It pulls content from the excerpt field and post authors can use it to capture readers&#8217; attention with a quick summary or highlight.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/affinity-post-intro.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/affinity-post-intro.png?resize=660%2C328" alt="affinity-post-intro" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54729" /></a></p>
<p>Check out the <a href="https://affinitydemo.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">live demo</a> to see the theme in action. It shows an example of panels that display quotes, an RSVP form, event details, and an engagement story.</p>
<p>Since no wedding or family announcement is the same, Affinity&#8217;s multi-panel approach offers flexibility for many different types of uses. If you&#8217;re creating a wedding website and are not finding enough customization options with a hosted service, this theme makes it quick and easy to set it up with WordPress. It&#8217;s not yet available on WordPress.org, but you can download a copy for your self-hosted site for free from the sidebar of its <a href="https://wordpress.com/themes/affinity" target="_blank">homepage on WordPress.com</a>.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 11 May 2016 06:52:35 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:77:"WPTavern: Help WPCampus Gather Data on How Schools and Campuses Use WordPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54650";s:7:"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/help-wpcampus-gather-data-on-how-schools-and-campuses-use-wordpress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1247:"<p>The organizers of <a href="https://2016.wpcampus.org/">WPCampus</a> are <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/wpcampus05-2016">seeking feedback</a> via a survey on how schools and campuses utilize WordPress in their environments. The survey consists of five sections:</p>
<ul>
<li>How Do You Use WordPress on Campus</li>
<li>Site Demographics, Traffic, and Data</li>
<li>Plugins, Themes, and Features</li>
<li>Security, Performance, and Hosting</li>
<li>Your Team Structure &amp; Workflows</li>
</ul>
<p>There are a couple of perks for those who fill out the survey. Respondents will receive an anonymized version of the complete data set. Those who complete four or more sections will be entered into a drawing to win a free ticket to the conference and will receive a $5 Starbucks or Amazon Gift card.</p>
<p>Answer the questions that you know and skip the ones you don&#8217;t. The team needs as much data as possible to provide a clearer picture of WordPress&#8217; use in higher education. If you know someone or an organization that uses WordPress in higher education, please <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/wpcampus05-2016">share the survey</a> with them. The survey closes on May 27th.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 11 May 2016 03:21:06 +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:"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: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:73:"WPTavern: What Do You Think of the Recommended Plugins Page in WordPress?";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54437";s:7:"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/what-do-you-think-of-the-recommended-plugins-page-in-wordpress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3913:"<p>In late 2014, <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-1-to-introduce-plugin-recommendations">WordPress 4.1 added</a> a Recommended Plugins tab that takes into account the plugins you have installed and suggests plugins based on which ones are commonly used together. After nearly a year and a half since it was added, I asked the <a href="https://twitter.com/wptavern/status/727578470415532032">Tavern&#8217;s Twitter followers</a> if they have ever installed plugins recommended by WordPress.</p>
<p>I was surprised to discover that some people don&#8217;t know the tab exists.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/wptavern">@wptavern</a> There's a "Recommended" tab?!?</p>
<p>&mdash; Joe Taiabjee (@joetek) <a href="https://twitter.com/joetek/status/727581218414407681">May 3, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/wptavern">@wptavern</a> I've just noticed the Recommended tab. It seems to show those plugins with most Active Installs. Interesting, but a bit 'hidden'</p>
<p>&mdash; Alejandro Vargas S. (@Alejandro_V_S) <a href="https://twitter.com/Alejandro_V_S/status/727836820159930369">May 4, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>Steve Brown says the recommendations are useful.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/wptavern">@wptavern</a> yep :) very useful feature indeed</p>
<p>&mdash; Steve Brown (@stevna) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevna/status/727681984504287232">May 4, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>Some people view the page as an opportunity for Automattic to advertise its plugins while others don&#8217;t trust the recommendations.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/wptavern">@wptavern</a> I have no needs for the Automattic plugins that are almost only being recommended there</p>
<p>&mdash; Marko Heijnen (@markoheijnen) <a href="https://twitter.com/markoheijnen/status/727624592399998976">May 3, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/wptavern">@wptavern</a> Once. However 10 of the plugins recommended on page 1 are untested with my version of WP. So wouldnt rely on the recommendations</p>
<p>&mdash; WPin.me (@wp_in) <a href="https://twitter.com/wp_in/status/727725233843671040">May 4, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>When I viewed the recommended plugins page in 2014, the results displayed plugins that weren&#8217;t updated in years.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/RecommendedPluginsTab.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-35318" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/RecommendedPluginsTab.png?resize=1025%2C527" alt="Plugins Recommended To Me Based on Data of Sites with Similar Plugins Installed" /></a>Plugins Recommended To Me Based on Data of Sites with Similar Plugins Installed
<p>Today, the page displays more relevant results with recently updated plugins. On the first page of results for WP Tavern, only one plugin from Automattic is recommended. The second page of results doesn&#8217;t list any plugins authored by Automattic.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016RecommendedPlugins.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-54616" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016RecommendedPlugins.png?resize=1025%2C514" alt="Recommended Plugins in 2016" /></a>Recommended Plugin Results in 2016
<p>To help determine how useful the recommended plugins page is, I&#8217;d like you to take this short survey. Results will be displayed on Tuesday, May 17th. In addition to the survey, you can leave your feedback in the comments.</p>
<div class="pd-embed" type="type"></div>
<p></p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 11 May 2016 03:19:37 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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: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:81:"WPTavern: Automattic is Protecting its Woo, WooThemes, and WooCommerce Trademarks";s:7:"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=54645";s:7:"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:89:"http://wptavern.com/automattic-is-protecting-its-woo-woothemes-and-woocommerce-trademarks";s: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:6735:"<p>When <a href="http://wptavern.com/automattic-acquires-woocommerce">Automattic acquired WooThemes in 2015</a>, it gained employees, plugins, themes, and the company&#8217;s trademarks. These trademarks include, standard character marks, logos, and specific graphics such as the Verified WooExpert badges. One of the responsibilities of a trademark owner is to protect it from infringement.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/VerifiedWooExpertServicemark.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-54702" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/VerifiedWooExpertServicemark.png?resize=1025%2C621" alt="Verified WooExpert Service Mark" /></a>Verified WooExpert Service Mark
<p>WooGPL is a service that provides customers with commercial themes, plugins, and extensions for WooCommerce at a discounted rate. In March, Automattic <a href="https://woogpl.com/woogpl-is-closing/">sent Billy Ablett</a>, owner of <a href="https://woogpl.com">WooGPL</a>, the following notice that informs him that his domain infringes the Woo and WooCommerce trademarks.</p>
<blockquote><p>I’m writing to you on behalf of Automattic Inc. regarding your use of the Woo and WooCommerce trademarks.</p>
<p>As you may know, Automattic owns the Woo, WooCommerce, and WooThemes brands, as well as the associated trademarks. We recently learned of https://woogpl.com, which actively makes use of our registered trademarks in both its name and promotion. We are very concerned that your use of Woo and WooCommerce will create confusion by communicating that your WooCommerce products are endorsed by or associated with Automattic, when in fact it is not.</p>
<p>While Automattic appreciates that you are providing products that build on WooCommerce open source software, that fact does not authorize you to use Woo, WooThemes or WooCommerce trademarks.</p>
<p>To minimize user confusion and to protect our own intellectual property, we unfortunately must insist that you take prompt steps to change your domain name to something that doesn’t include &#8216;Woo&#8217; in the prefix, and change your product descriptions to avoid confusion and potentially misleading consumers to believe they are purchasing our products. An example of this would be: WooCommerce Email Customiser Pro would need to be changed to Email Customiser Pro for WooCommerce.</p>
<p>For more information, please see our <a href="https://www.woothemes.com/style-guide/#sg-trademarks">Trademark Guidelines</a>.</p>
<p>While we are appreciative that you have included a disclaimer on your site, unfortunately this would not be sufficient and we would still insist that the domain name and product names be changed.</p></blockquote>
<p>While it&#8217;s not the sole reason <a href="https://woogpl.com/woogpl-is-closing/">WooGPL is shutting down</a>, the notice provides a convenient opportunity to rebrand to <a href="https://www.gplkit.com/">GPL Kit</a>, something the company was already planning to do.</p>
<p>&#8220;We would have eventually closed down WooGPL due to GPL Kit however, it would have been great to close it down on our terms when the time was right,&#8221; Daniel, who is part of the GPL Kit team told the Tavern.</p>
<p>Daniel says that when he started WooGPL there wasn&#8217;t a trademark registered with the Woo character mark until October of 2015.</p>
<p>A search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office for Woo contains over 1K results. However, this is the only character mark for Woo that I found. The filing date is October 22nd, 2015 and is in the approval process.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WooCharacterMark.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-54703" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WooCharacterMark.png?resize=1003%2C557" alt="Woo Character Mark" /></a>Woo Character Mark
<h2>When You Should Ask For Permission</h2>
<p>WooThemes has a <a href="https://www.woothemes.com/style-guide/#sg-trademarks">style guide</a> on its site that explains how the brand is used and has details on when Woo™, WooCommerce®, and WooThemes® names, logos, and related icons collectively known as Woo Marks can be used without permission. The following chart provides some examples.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/PermissionChartForWooTrademarks.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-54704" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/PermissionChartForWooTrademarks.png?resize=1010%2C814" alt="Examples of When You Do and Don't Need Permission" /></a>Examples of When You Do and Don&#8217;t Need Permission
<p>If you&#8217;re in doubt, you can email Automattic&#8217;s trademark team  <a href="mailto:trademarks@automattic.com">trademarks @ automattic.com</a> to receive clarification.</p>
<h2>Woo&#8217;s at Risk?</h2>
<p>There are quite a few businesses in the WordPress ecosystem that use Woo in their name and domain. <a href="http://www.woorockets.com/">WooRockets</a> is a WooCommerce theme shop while <a href="http://wooassist.com/">WooAssist</a> provides support and maintenance for store owners.</p>
<p>I reached out to both companies to determine if Automattic sent them the same notice it sent to WooGPL. While I didn&#8217;t receive a response from WooRockets, John Gamour of WooAssist provided the Tavern with the following statement:</p>
<blockquote><p>No, we haven&#8217;t been contacted by Automattic about that. It would be dissapointing if we were asked to change our name as our founder Nicholas Jones reached out to WooThemes before starting Wooassist and they gave the OK. We have also worked with Matt Cohen and James Koster on a project and nothing was ever mentioned about our name.</p></blockquote>
<p>I tried to get in touch with Paul Sieminski, legal counsel for Automattic, to learn what the criteria is for violating the trademarks, who&#8217;s at risk, and how long they have enforced the marks but he could not be reached for comment.</p>
<h2>Better to be Safe Than Sorry</h2>
<p>As WooGPL discovered, adding a disclaimer to the bottom of your sites may not be enough. Considering the cost and potential impacts of re branding a company or product, it&#8217;s important to know as soon as possible if you&#8217;re infringing a company&#8217;s trademarks.</p>
<p>Business owners in the WooCommerce and WooThemes ecosystem should double-check the <a href="https://www.woothemes.com/style-guide/#sg-trademarks">style guide</a> to make sure you&#8217;re not violating any guidelines. Owners can also take a proactive step and contact Automattic&#8217;s trademark team to determine if your business meets the requirements.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 10 May 2016 20:21:06 +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:"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:86:"WPTavern: WooCommerce Releases Storefront 2.0 with Major Improvements to Mobile Design";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54641";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"http://wptavern.com/woocommerce-releases-storefront-2-0-with-major-improvements-to-mobile-design";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3509:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/storefront-update.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/storefront-update.png?resize=1025%2C451" alt="storefront-update" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54669" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/storefront/" target="_blank">Storefront</a>, the official WooCommerce theme built to work seamlessly with the plugin, has just passed the <a href="https://www.woothemes.com/2016/05/storefront-2-0-release/" target="_blank">2.0 milestone</a>. This release introduces a new &#8220;best sellers&#8221; section to the homepage and adds compatibility with the upcoming WooCommerce 2.6’s tabbed “My Account” section and the average rating widget.</p>
<p>The most important update in Storefront 2.0 is the redesigned mobile experience. According to <a href="http://resources.mobify.com/50-mobile-commerce-stats.html" target="_blank">Mobify</a>, 30% of mobile shoppers will abandon a transaction if the experience is not optimized for mobile. <a href="http://www.themobileplaybook.com/" target="_blank">Google&#8217;s Mobile Playbook</a> says that not having a mobile optimized website is like closing your store one day each week. To keep pace with the expectations of mobile buyers, WooCommerce has drastically reduced Storefront&#8217;s mobile header height by 60% and has added the search, shopping cart, and account links to a sticky bottom menu for easy access.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/storefront-mobile-home.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/storefront-mobile-home.png?resize=799%2C697" alt="storefront-mobile-home" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54671" /></a></p>
<p>Storefront 2.0 includes many design improvements that make the theme cleaner and more flexible. This update removes Helvetica in favor of Source Sans, which WooCommerce says gives them access to a wider variety of weights they can use to &#8220;provide greater depth and cohesion.&#8221; Other notable design changes include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Borders have been largely removed so that pages don’t feel quite so broken up.</li>
<li>The breadcrumb and the main navigation are now wrapped in their own content regions, cementing them as unique components.</li>
<li>Product reviews and comments tweaked to make them cleaner and more scannable.</li>
<li>Blog post meta has been redesigned to include the author Gravatar.</li>
<li>Softer design treatment for tables with colors based on the main background color.</li>
<li>oEmbeds have been styled to match the rest of Storefront (including typography, padding, colors).</li>
<li>Integrated WordPress 4.5’s custom logo feature so users can add a logo without using a plugin.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/storefront/" target="_blank">Storefront</a> is active on more than 50,000 websites. There are nearly a dozen free themes on WordPress.org that use it as a parent theme and another dozen commercial themes on WooThemes.com. If you use a heavily customized Storefront child theme, you may want to test its compatibility with the 2.0 update on a development site to ensure that there are no visual surprises. If you have any ideas or recommendations for updates to Storefront, you can leave feedback on the theme&#8217;s <a href="http://ideas.woothemes.com/forums/275029-storefront" target="_blank">idea board</a>.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 09 May 2016 22:23:17 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:54:"WPTavern: Timber 1.0 Is Now Available on 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:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54396";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"http://wptavern.com/timber-1-0-is-now-available-on-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:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5932:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/timber.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/timber.png?resize=1025%2C405" alt="timber" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54630" /></a></p>
<p>Last week the creators of <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/timber-library/" target="_blank">Timber</a>, the plugin that enables WordPress theme developers to write HTML using the <a href="http://twig.sensiolabs.org/" target="_blank">Twig Template Engine</a>, released version 1.0 on WordPress.org. The plugin is active on more than 10,000 websites where theme authors have elected to keep PHP files separate from HTML. Timber is built on DRY and MVC principles to solve the problem stated in its unofficial tagline: <em>&#8220;Because WordPress is awesome, but the_loop isn&#8217;t.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>Over the past four years, the open source project has evolved from being a starter theme to a plugin that can be added to existing themes. It is now used on <a href="http://upstatement.com/timber/#showcase" target="_blank">thousands of websites</a> and has 83 <a href="https://github.com/timber/timber/graphs/contributors" target="_blank">contributors</a> listed on GitHub.</p>
<p>&#8220;In 2012 I was getting more into WordPress after doing lots of JS development with <a href="http://handlebarsjs.com/" target="_blank">Handlebars</a> (a JS templating language),&#8221; Timber creator Jared Novack said. &#8220;I went to WordCamp Providence to learn more about state-of-the-art WordPress ways. I remember thinking: &#8216;This is great, but I really miss the cleanliness of Handlebars &#8212; I wish someone would make something like that for WordPress.&#8217; That&#8217;s when I realized, I was that someone.&#8221;</p>
<p>Novack was playing around with <a href="http://www.smarty.net/" target="_blank">Smarty</a> and <a href="https://mustache.github.io/" target="_blank">Mustache</a> before he finally discovered Fabien Potencier&#8217;s <a href="http://twig.sensiolabs.org/" target="_blank">Twig project</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;The syntax felt so natural I almost didn&#8217;t need to read the docs (don&#8217;t worry, I did),&#8221; he said. &#8220;I realized what I needed was a way to marry Twig and WordPress, and thus: Timber was born.&#8221;</p>
<p>At that time Novack&#8217;s company, <a href="https://upstatement.com/" target="_blank">Upstatement</a>, was beginning development on a big new project for Random House to enable their marketers to generate unique sites from a library of templates. This client project became Timber&#8217;s first test case.</p>
<p>&#8220;Originally, Timber was a parent theme, like _s. But after we completed the Random House project, I realized I wanted to apply Timber functionality to existing sites,&#8221; Novack said. &#8220;I converted it into a plugin that could be employed on existing themes which is the form it takes today.&#8221;</p>
<p>The plugin allows designers skilled with HTML and CSS to create themes without having extensive knowledge of PHP and WordPress functions. Timber successfully powers sites like Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s <a href="https://www.thetrace.org/" target="_blank">The Trace</a>, <a href="http://everytown.org/" target="_blank">Everytown for Gun Safety</a>, <a href="https://www.hoteltonight.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Tonight</a>, and the <a href="http://harvardlawreview.org/" target="_blank">Harvard Law Review</a>.</p>
<h3>Timber 1.0 Puts the Project on the Path of Stability</h3>
<p>As of Timber 1.0, developers can now include the project as a plugin or require it as a <a href="https://packagist.org/packages/timber/timber" target="_blank">Composer dependency</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;The big news is that 1.0 represents a maturing of the platform — developers can use Timber and Twig with confidence that they’re building on top of a stable and universal platform,&#8221; Novack said.</p>
<p>This release sheds years of deprecated functions and methods dating back to the project&#8217;s early days in 2013. Novack said that technical and documentation debt were the biggest hurdles in getting to 1.0.</p>
<p>&#8220;In hindsight it’s so easy to build stuff, but so hard to build a complete system,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When Timber started it was just for me and the documentation could just live in my head. I’d add and improve stuff and then live with some of the quirks.&#8221;</p>
<p>As the project and its contributors grew, Novack found it difficult to keep up with the growing codebase while running his company. Bringing it to a place of maturity with up-to-date automated testing and documentation took nearly a year.</p>
<p>&#8220;Backwards compatibility was also a major challenge,&#8221; Novack said. &#8220;As ideas and new code got submitted, development slowed as every decision might have implications for existing users. We would deprecate features, but I was hesitant to remove things that I knew were mistakes, but that people were using.&#8221;</p>
<p>Developers are encouraged to read the <a href="https://github.com/timber/timber/wiki/1.0-Upgrade-Guide" target="_blank">1.0 Upgrade Guide</a>, as there may be additional steps required depending on how Timber is being used. This release adds a few new features but the most important change is the bulk removal of older sections of the codebase. The upgrade guide outlines all of the object properties and static methods that will need to be updated so that nothing breaks. In the future, Timber-powered themes will be easier to maintain, with fewer quirks and better-documented features.</p>
<p>&#8220;The key learning for me is that the ultimate &#8216;killer feature&#8217; is stability and predictability,&#8221; Novack said. &#8220;When everything is organized cleanly and developers can use the things that they would intuitively expect — that’s success.&#8221;</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 09 May 2016 17:52:38 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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: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:49:"Post Status: WordPress Security — Draft podcast";s:7:"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=24378";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://poststatus.com/wordpress-security-draft-podcast/";s: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:2375:"<p>Welcome to the Post Status <a href="https://poststatus.com/category/draft">Draft podcast</a>, which you can find <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008">on iTunes</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast">Stitcher</a>, and <a href="http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1061/rss">via RSS</a> for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle &#8212; the CTO of Human Made &#8212; and Brian Krogsgard.</p>
<p><span>Security &#8212; in WordPress core, distributed plugins and themes, and in our custom code &#8212; is a constant battle. It’s important to be vigilant with our security practices, from the perspective of managing our websites and when writing code. In this episode, Joe and Brian discuss the nature of WordPress security, best practices for writing secure code, and dig into various situations WordPress developers and site owners may run into.</span></p>
<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');</script><![endif]-->
<a href="https://audio.simplecast.com/37301.mp3">https://audio.simplecast.com/37301.mp3</a>
<p><a href="http://audio.simplecast.com/37301.mp3">Direct Download</a></p>
<h3>Links</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress">Hardening WordPress</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/about/security/">About WordPress Security</a></li>
<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2015/05/19/a-guide-to-writing-secure-themes-part-1-introduction/">A Guide to Writing Secure Themes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ben.lobaugh.net/uploads/writing-secure-plugins-and-themes/#/">Writing Secure Plugins &amp; Themes</a> by Ben Lobaugh</li>
<li><a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/wpdb">$wpdb</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wpvulndb.com/">WP Scan</a></li>
<li><a href="https://blog.sucuri.net/2015/03/understanding-wordpress-plugin-vulnerabilities.html">Understanding Vulnerabilities</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Sponsor: Pagely</h3>
<p><a href="https://pagely.com"><span>Pagely</span></a><span> offers best in class managed WordPress hosting, powered by the Amazon Cloud, the Internet’s most reliable infrastructure. Post Status is proudly hosted by Pagely. Thank you to </span><a href="https://pagely.com"><span>Pagely</span></a><span> for being a Post Status partner.</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:"Mon, 09 May 2016 01:01:31 +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:14:"Katie Richards";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:26:"Matt: Apple and Podcasting";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=46548";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"https://ma.tt/2016/05/apple-and-podcasting/";s: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:557:"<p><a href="https://marco.org/2016/05/07/apple-role-in-podcasting">Marco Arment has a great take on how the decentralized nature of podcasting is a feature</a>, not a bug, and Apple being more proactive there would be harmful to the ecosystem. As an aside, since I&#8217;ve been in Houston more recently, which means driving a lot, I&#8217;ve been really loving his app <a href="https://overcast.fm/">Overcast</a> and I opted in to the optional paid subscription for it. I just need to get in more of a habit of listening to podcasts outside of Houston.</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, 08 May 2016 14:17:25 +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: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: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:98:"WPTavern: VersionPress 3.0 Adds New Search Feature, Bulk Undo, and Commit Tracking per Environment";s:7:"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=54530";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:106:"http://wptavern.com/versionpress-3-0-adds-new-search-feature-bulk-undo-and-commit-tracking-per-environment";s: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:3843:"<p><a href="https://blog.versionpress.net/2016/04/versionpress-3-0-released/" target="_blank">VersionPress 3.0</a>, released this week, is the first version since the plugin <a href="http://wptavern.com/versionpress-transitions-into-a-free-open-source-project" target="_blank">became a free, open source project</a>. Creators Borek Bernard and Jan Voráček, who originally attempted to crowdfund the project and then <a href="http://wptavern.com/versionpress-raises-400k-in-seed-funding" target="_blank">raised $400,000 in seed funding</a>, <a href="http://wptavern.com/versionpress-transitions-into-a-free-open-source-project" target="_blank">announced</a> last month that they are transitioning to a public development model.</p>
<p>The team&#8217;s goal with this release was to polish up the experience of using VersionPress in the default WordPress installation while adding more useful features. However, it is not yet ready for use in production, according to Bernard.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’re still keeping VersionPress in the <a href="http://docs.versionpress.net/en/getting-started/about-eap" target="_blank">“early access” period</a>, because of the third party plugins integration story but on simpler sites, VersionPress already shines,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>One of the most notable new features in VersionPress 3.0 is the plugin&#8217;s ability to track commits with the environment where they were created. Users can view changes in the admin and easily see if they were pushed to the staging or production environment.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/commit-tracking-in-environment.gif"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/commit-tracking-in-environment.gif?resize=725%2C347" alt="commit-tracking-in-environment" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54599" /></a></p>
<p>Version 3.0 also adds searching capabilities for filtering commits by author, date, commit message, and WordPress action. This release also includes a new bulk undo feature for commits and many improvements to the core versioning engine.</p>
<h3>VersionPress 4.0 to Focus on Support for 3rd Party Plugins</h3>
<p>One of the reasons the VersionPress team decided to go with a public development model was to mitigate the plugin&#8217;s conflicts with third-party themes and plugins. This was only possible if the opened up the codebase for contribution from other developers.</p>
<p>&#8220;While we had most of the WordPress core covered pretty well, there was still this huge ecosystem of WordPress plugins and themes that could cause trouble to VersionPress in million different ways,&#8221; Borek said. &#8220;In the long run, the project had to turn into OSS should it be successful, and, fortunately, we met investors who understood this and supported our vision.&#8221;</p>
<p>Borek and the team plan to focus on adding support for complex third party plugins in version 4.0, tentatively scheduled for mid-2016. One commenter on the post mentioned that a lack of WooCommerce support is a major thing holding him back from using VersionPress on projects. Borek confirmed that WooCommerce is high on their list of plugins they want to support.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our goal remains the same: to take all the incredibly powerful functionality of Git and package it so that every WordPress user can use it,&#8221; Borek said.</p>
<p>Since most site owners interested in this plugin are not running vanilla installations of WordPress, support for third party plugins will be a major leap forward for the project with the potential to greatly expand its user base. Check out VersionPress&#8217; <a href="http://docs.versionpress.net/en/release-notes/roadmap" target="_blank">roadmap</a> to follow along with its progress and see what&#8217;s next.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 06 May 2016 22:04:53 +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: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:62:"WPTavern: WordPress 4.5.2 Patches Two Security Vulnerabilities";s:7:"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=54594";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:72:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-5-2-patches-two-security-vulnerabilities";s: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:1441:"<p>The WordPress core team has <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2016/05/wordpress-4-5-2/">released WordPress 4.5.2</a> which patches two security vulnerabilities in WordPress versions 4.5.1 and below. The first is a <a href="http://www.benhayak.com/2015/06/same-origin-method-execution-some.html">SOME vulnerability</a> (Same-Origin Method Execution) in Plupload, the third-party library WordPress uses for uploading files. The second is a reflected cross-site-scripting vulnerability in MediaElement.js, the third-party library used for media players.</p>
<p>Auto updates are rolling out to sites but if you don&#8217;t want to wait, browse to Dashboard &gt; Updates and click the Update Now button. Mario Heiderich, Masato Kinugawa, and Filedescriptor of <a href="https://cure53.de/">Cure53</a> are credited with <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/reporting-security-vulnerabilities/">responsibly disclosing</a> the vulnerabilities.</p>
<p>In addition to the release, the core team has <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/05/06/imagemagick-vulnerability-information/">published a post</a> concerning the <a href="https://imagetragick.com/">multiple vulnerabilities</a> discovered in ImageMagick, a popular image processing script used on thousands of webhosting servers. The post describes how WordPress is affected and what the team is doing to mitigate issues.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 06 May 2016 20:01:26 +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: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: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:97:"WPTavern: Laravel Releases Valet, a Minimalist Development Environment with Support for WordPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54580";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:106:"http://wptavern.com/laravel-releases-valet-a-minimalist-development-environment-with-support-for-wordpress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3404:"<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/valet-parking.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/valet-parking.jpg?resize=900%2C520" alt="photo credit: Valet Parking, Las Vegas, NV - (license)" class="size-full wp-image-54589" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/55151301@N00/175606346">Valet Parking, Las Vegas, NV</a> &#8211; <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license)</a>
<p><a href="https://laravel.com/" target="_blank">Laravel</a>, the open source MVC PHP framework created for application development, has just released <a href="https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/valet" target="_blank">Valet</a>, a minimalist development environment for Mac. It uses just 7mb of RAM, because it doesn&#8217;t include Vagrant, Apache, Nginx, or a /etc/hosts file. Here&#8217;s how it works:</p>
<blockquote><p>Laravel Valet configures your Mac to always run PHP&#8217;s built-in web server in the background when your machine starts. Then, using DnsMasq, Valet proxies all requests on the *.dev domain to point to sites installed on your local machine.
</p></blockquote>
<p>Valet supports Laravel, Lumen, Statamic, Craft, Jigsaw, and even has a driver for WordPress. It&#8217;s handy if you just need a simple, fast development environment without virtualization. Developers can also share sites publicly via local tunnels. It&#8217;s as easy as navigating to the site&#8217;s directory in the terminal and running the <code>valet share</code> command, which generates a publicly accessible URL.</p>
<p><a href="https://wppusher.com/" target="_blank">WP Pusher</a> founder Peter Suhm, who is active in both the Laravel and WordPress communities, wrote a <a href="http://blog.wppusher.com/a-minimalist-development-environment-for-wordpress-with-laravel-valet/" target="_blank">tutorial</a> for setting up Valet for WordPress development.</p>
<p>&#8220;For larger apps, I generally prefer my development environment to be very similar to production,&#8221; Suhm said. &#8220;Vagrant and Docker are great for that. Valet is great for all those quick and dirty WordPress installations you need, just to test something or quickly work on an idea. If you don’t need anything else besides PHP 7 and a database, Valet is a great setup.&#8221;</p>
<p>Since it doesn&#8217;t require a ton of dependencies, Valet is quick to set up and doesn&#8217;t require any configuration. Developers don&#8217;t even need to make Valet aware that their app is WordPress &#8211; you can simply drop WordPress core files into a folder on your machine and then access the site in your browser.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re looking for a new lightweight development environment or just a quick way to do some PHP 7 testing for WordPress plugins, Valet may fit nicely into your workflow. You can install it using <a href="http://brew.sh/" target="_blank">Homebrew</a>. View the <a href="https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/valet#installation" target="_blank">docs</a> for installation and site setup or follow along with Suhm&#8217;s <a href="http://blog.wppusher.com/a-minimalist-development-environment-for-wordpress-with-laravel-valet/" target="_blank">tutorial</a>.</p>
<p>To see a quick demo of Valet in action, check out the two-minute introduction video created by Adam Wathan:</p>
<div class="embed-wrap"></div>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 06 May 2016 18:44:40 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:79:"WPTavern: WordPress 4.6 to Drop Open Sans in the Admin in Favor of System Fonts";s:7:"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=54507";s:7:"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:89:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-6-to-drop-open-sans-in-the-admin-in-favor-of-system-fonts";s: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:2130:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/system-fonts-firefox-osx.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/system-fonts-firefox-osx.png?resize=1025%2C450" alt="system-fonts-firefox-osx" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54575" /></a></p>
<p>WordPress 4.6 will bid farewell to Open Sans in the admin in favor of using system fonts. Open Sans, which loads from Google Fonts as an external resource, has been in use in the admin since 2013.</p>
<p>&#8220;At the time of introduction in 3.8, there were not good system fonts common to all platforms at the time,&#8221; WordPress lead developer <a href="http://helenhousandi.com/" target="_blank">Helen Hou-Sandí</a> said in her <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/37361" target="_blank">commit</a> message. &#8220;In the years since, Windows, Android, OS X, iOS, Firefox OS, and various flavors of Linux have all gotten their own (good) system UI fonts.&#8221;</p>
<p>Now that the admin doesn&#8217;t have to load fonts from Google, it should feel faster and will provide a better experience for developers who are working offline.</p>
<p>Dropping Open Sans originated as part of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/features/font-natively/" target="_blank">Font Natively</a> feature project led by WordPress designer <a href="https://mattmiklic.com/" target="_blank">Matt Miklic</a>, Mark Uraine, and Helen Hou-Sandí. The project page provides screenshots for the WP admin with Open Sans in Firefox on OSX vs the admin with system fonts, but the team noted that they are in need of more screenshots from different environments.</p>
<p>Anytime that WordPress can shed a third-party dependency while improving the experience in the admin is a win for everyone. The commit comes early in the release cycle in order to get more people testing for misalignments and any other issues. Feel free to report any bugs you experience with the change, as work is still ongoing on the <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/36753" target="_blank">ticket</a>.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 05 May 2016 20:50:27 +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: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:68:"WPTavern: Ninja Forms Update Patches Critical Security Vulnerability";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54556";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"http://wptavern.com/ninja-forms-update-patches-critical-security-vulnerability";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4325:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NinjaFormsFeaturedImage.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-40019" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NinjaFormsFeaturedImage.png?resize=840%2C273" alt="Ninja Forms Featured Image" /></a><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/ninja-forms/">Ninja Forms</a>, a popular plugin active on more than 500K websites, released an update 48 hours ago that addresses a critical security vulnerability. Wordfence <a href="https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2016/05/ninja-forms-shell-upload-vulnerability-high-risk/">is reporting</a> that Ninja Forms versions 2.9.36 to 2.9.42 contain multiple security vulnerabilities.</p>
<p>One of the vulnerabilities allows an attacker to upload and execute code remotely on WordPress sites. The only information needed to exploit the vulnerability is the URL of the target site that&#8217;s using a form powered by an affected version of Ninja Forms.</p>
<p>Kevin Stover, CTO of Ninja Forms, explains to the Tavern how they discovered the vulnerabilities:</p>
<blockquote><p>About two weeks ago, we were contacted by a security researcher, James Golovich, regarding a file upload issue within Ninja Forms. He demonstrated that it was possible to upload an arbitrary file using some test code that hadn’t been removed during our build process.</p>
<p>We realised that the test code had accidentally been utilised in other areas of the plugin, and we immediately began working on a fix. While the issue was being patched, we reached out to the devs at the <a href="http://wordpress.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">WordPress.org</a> repo and began the processes of preparing for auto updating users of the affected versions.</p>
<p>Once the patch had been tested, we pushed version 2.9.43 and .1 versions of 2.9.36 &#8211; 2.9.42. Shortly after, <a href="http://wordpress.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">WordPress.org</a> began pushing out automatic updates.</p></blockquote>
<p>As to why there wasn&#8217;t a post published immediately on the official <a href="https://ninjaforms.com/blog/">Ninja Forms blog</a> announcing the update, &#8220;We didn’t want to go public with the vulnerability until our users had time to update, both to the newest version and the .1 versions,&#8221; Stover said.</p>
<p>&#8220;James Golovich&#8217;s responsible disclosure gave us time to fix the issue and for our users to update to safe versions before disclosing the vulnerability on his site,&#8221; he said. The company has since <a href="https://ninjaforms.com/important-security-update-always-hurt-ones-love/">published a blog post </a>concerning the update.</p>
<p>Working with the WordPress security team, automatic updates started rolling out on Tuesday, May 3rd. If automatic plugin updates are disabled, you&#8217;re highly encouraged to update manually to 2.9.45 as soon as possible. The Ninja Forms team is also working with a number of large webhosts to ensure as many sites as possible are updated.</p>
<p>Wordfence is not detecting wide-spread exploitation but this could change in the next few days as details of the exploit emerge.</p>
<p>When it comes to security vulnerabilities, the ability to upload and execute code remotely is about as severe as it gets. Golovich is credited with <a href="http://www.pritect.net/blog/ninja-forms-2-9-42-critical-security-vulnerabilities">responsibly disclosing</a> the vulnerability to the Ninja Forms team. He also provides technical details of each vulnerability, most of which are in the Ninja Forms 3.0 code base.</p>
<p>According to Golovich, the most vulnerable code is a proof of concept:</p>
<blockquote><p>The following vulnerable code was, according to Kyle Johnson of the WP Ninjas team &#8216;not a live feature of Ninja Forms, but was more of a proof of concept for a future free feature.&#8217; Unfortunately, even proof of concept code that is accessible is still vulnerable to attack. This is the most critical vulnerability here because it potentially allows an attacker to execute arbitrary php code on a site.</p></blockquote>
<p>Users should update as soon as possible as it&#8217;s only a matter of time before tools are created that can easily take advantage of the exploit.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 05 May 2016 20:46:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"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: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:65:"WPTavern: WordPress.org Support Forums Adds Accessibility Section";s:7:"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=54472";s:7:"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/wordpress-org-support-forums-adds-accessibility-section";s: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:3619:"<p>Earlier this year, the WordPress project made a huge move by <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-adopts-accessibility-coding-standards-for-all-new-and-updated-code">adopting accessibility coding standards</a> for new and updated code. If you&#8217;re struggling to meet <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag">WCAG 2.0 guidelines</a> in your WordPress projects and need help, check out the new <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/accessibility">Accessibility section</a> in the WordPress.org support forums.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WPAccessibilitySupport.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-54551" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WPAccessibilitySupport.png?resize=1025%2C487" alt="WordPress Accessibility Support" /></a>WordPress Accessibility Support
<p>Amanda Rush, who helps WordPress developers make their themes and plugins accessible, says the forum is the result of a conversation with a support team member at WordCamp Atlanta.</p>
<p>&#8220;I <span class="message_body">mentioned that part of what makes the job difficult when it comes to making WordPress accessible is stopping during our work to answer occasional questions.<br />
</span></p>
<p>&#8220;Most of the time the answer is not a quick one, because in the case of screen reader users, you have to first find out how well they can use their tech, how familiar they are with WordPress itself, and if neither of those chances are high, you spend time giving them a crash course in either one or both, and then answer their question,&#8221; <span class="message_body">Rush said. </span></p>
<p>Most of the people on the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/">WordPress Accessibility team</a> are volunteers with full-time jobs which limits their ability to provide one-on-one support. Many of the support queries come through email or direct messages to individuals on the team. The forum enables everyone to participate in the support process.</p>
<p>&#8220;If people ask their questions publicly, I or others not necessarily on the Accessibility Team can answer, and the answers are then public,&#8221; Rush said.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have a pattern library on GitHub, which we all contribute to when we have time. But there are all kinds of solutions being passed around on Twitter and spread across other people&#8217;s GitHub accounts. So if someone asks a question like that, we can either point to something in specific cases, which is most of them, there&#8217;s probably already a specific solution that someone&#8217;s built, and we can link to that,&#8221; Rush told the Tavern.</p>
<p>The accessibility support forum also comes with a side benefit, &#8220;W<span class="message_body">e don&#8217;t have to say no all the time when people ask for support, or what looks like all the time to some people. Everyone can help each other </span><span class="message_body">out and Google has a public resource,&#8221; Rush said.<br />
</span></p>
<p>The support forum comes at a time where accessibility is an increasingly important part of web development. For example, the European Union <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-1654_en.htm">recently agreed to new rules</a> that will make public sector websites and apps more accessible.</p>
<p>If you have any questions related to accessibility, you can post them on the forum. If you have experience and knowledge in the accessibility field, consider answering questions as it&#8217;s a great way to contribute to the WordPress project.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 05 May 2016 20:13:11 +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:"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: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:110:"WPTavern: Font Awesome CDN Now in Beta, Loads Icons Asynchronously with Automatic Accessibility Best Practices";s:7:"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=54509";s:7:"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:119:"http://wptavern.com/font-awesome-cdn-now-in-beta-loads-icons-asynchronously-with-automatic-accessibility-best-practices";s: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:2903:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/font-awesome.png"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/font-awesome.png?resize=1025%2C326" alt="font-awesome" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54532" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/" target="_blank">Font Awesome</a>, the open source vector icon collection used by more than 300 plugins on WordPress.org and many free and commercial themes, <a href="https://articles.fortawesome.com/announcing-font-awesome-cdn-81773e0b301f#.egol888o7" target="_blank">announced the beta release of its new CDN</a>. Developers can now add a single line of code to bring the icons and CSS toolkit into their projects.</p>
<p>The icon files and CSS are hosted by <a href="https://www.maxcdn.com/" target="_blank">MaxCDN</a>, which serves a cached version that loads quickly on websites that use Font Awesome. The CDN uses <a href="https://github.com/typekit/webfontloader" target="_blank">Web Font Loader</a>, which was co-developed by Google and Typekit, to load the icons asynchronously. This also gives developers <a href="https://github.com/typekit/webfontloader#events" target="_blank">CSS and JavaScript events</a> to hook into on loading.</p>
<p><a href="http://wptavern.com/font-awesome-4-6-0-adds-new-accessibility-icons-category" target="_blank">FontAwesome 4.6 added a new accessibility icon category</a> and the new CDN helps to automate outputting the correct markup. If the icon you&#8217;re using has semantic meaning, including an accurate title attribute with the inline icon will trigger Font Awesome&#8217;s JS to do the rest.</p>
<p>Font Awesome requires an email address from those want to use the CDN so it can issue a unique embed code for each. Developers also have the option to register a Font Awesome CDN account to keep track of sites and apps where they are using the icons, and manage multiple embed codes. Once logged in, you can enable or disable auto-accessibility, asynchronous icon loading, easy updates to newer Font Awesome versions, and CSS or JS embed.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/font-awesome-account.png"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/font-awesome-account.png?resize=1025%2C865" alt="font-awesome-account" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54543" /></a></p>
<p>One of the most convenient reasons to use the CDN is to simplify updates. WordPress plugin and theme developers do not have to bump versions or push any code to use the latest version. Font Awesome version changes can be triggered on an individual basis for each embed code in a developer&#8217;s account dashboard. Check out the instructions at <a href="https://cdn.fontawesome.com/" target="_blank">cdn.fontawesome.com</a> to get your project hooked up.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 05 May 2016 18:09:31 +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: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:50:"WP Mobile Apps: WordPress for Android: Version 5.3";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"http://apps.wordpress.com/?p=3352";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:72:"https://apps.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/wordpress-for-android-version-5-3/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3203:"<p>Hello WordPress users! <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.wordpress.android" target="_blank">Version 5.3 of the WordPress for Android app</a> is now available in the Google Play Store.</p>
<h1>Account Settings and App Settings</h1>
<p>We split the old Account Settings into two distinct screens: Account Settings for everything related to your account, and App Settings for everything specific to the App, like the interface language, PIN lock, and Analytics opt-out.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3354" src="https://apps.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/screenshot-2016-04-04_15-43-50-172.png?w=640" alt="screenshot-2016-04-04_15.43.50.172" /></p>
<h1>Delete WordPress.com site</h1>
<p>With 5.3, you can now export your content (posts, pages, and settings) by email and delete your WordPress.com site from the app.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3356" src="https://apps.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/screenshot-2016-04-04_15-45-34-504.png?w=640" alt="screenshot-2016-04-04_15.45.34.504" /></p>
<h1>Other Changes</h1>
<p>Version 5.3 also comes with a few other enhancements:</p>
<ul>
<li>New styling of the action bar in the Reader.</li>
<li>If you made changes to a post, you&#8217;ll see a confirmation blink on <strong>Blog Posts</strong> when returning to the <strong>My site</strong> screen.</li>
<li>Better styling of the Post and Page Preview screen.</li>
<li>An updated support tool reduces crashes.</li>
</ul>

<a href="https://apps.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/wordpress-for-android-version-5-3/screenshot-2016-04-04_15-59-35-639/"><img width="84" height="150" src="https://apps.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/screenshot-2016-04-04_15-59-35-639.png?w=84&h=150" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="screenshot-2016-04-04_15.59.35.639" /></a>
<a href="https://apps.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/wordpress-for-android-version-5-3/screenshot-2016-04-04_16-01-41-971/"><img width="84" height="150" src="https://apps.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/screenshot-2016-04-04_16-01-41-971.png?w=84&h=150" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="screenshot-2016-04-04_16.01.41.971" /></a>

<p>We&#8217;re working hard on new features for the next version &#8212; you can track our development progress for the next release by visiting <a href="https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/WordPress-Android/milestones/5.4">our 5.4 milestone on GitHub</a>.</p>
<h1>Thank you</h1>
<p>Thanks to our contributors: <a href="https://github.com/aforcier">@aforcier</a>, <a href="https://github.com/daniloercoli">@daniloercoli</a>, <a href="https://github.com/hypest">@hypest</a>, <a href="https://github.com/kwonye">@kwonye</a>, <a href="https://github.com/maxme">@maxme</a>, <a href="https://github.com/mzorz">@mzorz</a>, <a href="https://github.com/nbradbury">@nbradbury</a>, <a href="https://github.com/oguzkocer">@oguzkocer</a>, <a href="https://github.com/rishabh7m">@rishabh7m</a>, <a href="https://github.com/roundhill">@roundhill</a>, and <a href="https://github.com/tonyr59h">@tonyr59h</a>.</p><img alt="" border="0" src="https://pixel.wp.com/b.gif?host=apps.wordpress.com&blog=108068616&post=3352&subd=apps&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 05 May 2016 08:57:23 +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:6:"Maxime";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:65:"WPTavern: WPWeekly Episode 233 – Recap of WordCamp Chicago 2016";s:7:"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=54518&preview_id=54518";s:7:"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/wpweekly-episode-233-recap-of-wordcamp-chicago-2016";s: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:2903:"<p>On this episode of WordPress Weekly, I describe my experience attending WordCamp Chicago 2016 this past weekend. Marcus Couch and I then discuss the news of the week including a new tool that helps WordCamp organizers create customized name badges.</p>
<p>We also have a lengthy discussion on the freemium business model and how it&#8217;s affecting users of themes and plugins downloaded from the official directories. Last but not least, we talk about WooCommerce Connect, a new SaaS tool from Automattic that has a tight relationship with Jetpack.</p>
<h2>Stories Discussed:</h2>
<p><a href="http://wptavern.com/wordcamp-organizers-get-new-tool-for-creating-personalized-wordcamp-badges">WordCamp Organizers Get New Tool for Creating Personalized WordCamp Badges</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-is-now-100-translated-into-marathi">WordPress is Now 100% Translated Into Marathi</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/templatic-hacked-files-and-databases-compromised">Templatic Hacked, Files and Databases Compromised</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-review-team-votes-on-new-guidelines-to-ban-obtrusive-upselling">WordPress Theme Review Team Votes on New Guidelines to Ban Obtrusive Upselling</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/automattic-introduces-woocommerce-connect-hosted-components-for-e-commerce">Automattic Introduces WooCommerce Connect, Hosted Components for E-Commerce</a></p>
<h2>Plugins Picked By Marcus:</h2>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/rss-feed-canceller/">RSS Feed Canceller </a>provides more control over your RSS feed. You can turn it on or off per post and control whether or not a post is excluded from the feed.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/tld-woocommerce-downloadable-product-update-emails/">TLD WooCommerce Downloadable Product Update Emails</a> is a simple plugin that notifies customers who purchased a downloadable product via email that there&#8217;s an update available.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/inline-click-to-tweet/">Inline Click To Tweet</a> allows authors to highlight text from within the visual editor and make it tweetable by clicking within the post or page.</p>
<h2>WPWeekly Meta:</h2>
<p><strong>Next Episode:</strong> Wednesday, May 11th 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>
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<p><strong>Listen To Episode #233:</strong><br />
</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 05 May 2016 08:46:25 +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:"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: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:54:"WPTavern: WordCamp Chicago 2016 Was a Deep Dish of Fun";s:7:"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=54453";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"http://wptavern.com/wordcamp-chicago-2016-was-a-deep-dish-of-fun";s: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:5547:"<p><a href="https://2016.chicago.wordcamp.org/">WordCamp Chicago 2016</a> was held at University Center in the heart of Chicago, IL, where more than 300 attendees spent the weekend learning about WordPress. The event was organized by Ryan Erwin and a <a href="https://2016.chicago.wordcamp.org/organizers/">team of volunteers. </a></p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/JJJWCChicago2016.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-54500" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/JJJWCChicago2016.jpg?resize=1024%2C768" alt="John James Jacoby talking about bbPress and BuddyPress" /></a>John James Jacoby talking about bbPress and BuddyPress
<p>Tracks were split up into three separate rooms limiting the amount of background noise during sessions. Giving attendees a schedule is handled differently at most camps. Some provide a paper schedule while others put it on the back of the name badge.</p>
<p>At WordCamp Chicago, schedule boards were displayed outside each room that corresponded with a track number. This made it easier for attendees to determine if they wanted to stay in the room for the next session.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WCChicago2016Schedule.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-54501" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WCChicago2016Schedule.jpg?resize=1024%2C1365" alt="Schedule Board Outside The Room Hosting Track 1" /></a>Schedule Board Outside The Room Hosting Track 1
<p>WordCamps are a great way to stress test a venue&#8217;s network but the WiFi at WordCamp Chicago was flawless. I didn&#8217;t experience any issues and it remained fast throughout the event. I didn&#8217;t stick around for lunch as there are plenty of lunch options available within walking distance of the venue.</p>
<h2>The After Party</h2>
<p>Most WordCamps host an after party at a restaurant, bar, or other establishment away from the venue. WordCamp Chicago&#8217;s after party was held at the venue. It included, non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks, food, and card games on each table. It was fun mingling and networking with people without having to compete with blaring music or a loud atmosphere.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WCChicago2016AfterParty.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-54503" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WCChicago2016AfterParty.jpg?resize=1024%2C768" alt="WordCamp Chicago 2016 After Party" /></a>WordCamp Chicago 2016 After Party
<p>Out of all the sessions I attended, my favorite is <a href="https://2016.chicago.wordcamp.org/session/disastrous-deals-to-profitable-projects-comparing-my-best-and-worst-client-experiences/">by Kyle Maurer,</a> who shared experiences and advice from <a href="http://realbigmarketing.com/">building client websites</a> over the years.</p>
<p>One of the biggest pieces of advice he shared is to build direct relationships with clients. No one is going to fight your battles as much as you and third-parties are unlikely to stick their neck out. Managing direct relationships leads to trust, referrals, and being rehired to do additional work.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/KyleMaurerSlideWCChicago2016.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-54504" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/KyleMaurerSlideWCChicago2016.jpg?resize=1024%2C768" alt="A Slide from Kyle Maurer's Presentation" /></a>A Slide from Kyle Maurer&#8217;s Presentation
<p>His session contains a lot of great information and I highly encourage you to watch it when it&#8217;s published on WordPress.tv.</p>
<h2>WordCamps Offer a Lot of Value For The Price</h2>
<p>Throughout the event, I spoke to a number of people and noted the following. Many attendees said they received more value than expected paying $40 a ticket. Some have spent hundreds of dollars on conference tickets and didn&#8217;t enjoy themselves or come away with nearly as much information.</p>
<p>I discovered a number of attendees are part of one or more WordPress meetup groups. According to Meetup.com, there are at least <a href="http://www.meetup.com/find/?allMeetups=false&keywords=Chicago+WordPress&radius=25&userFreeform=chicago+I&mcId=c60601&change=yes&sort=recommended&eventFilter=mysugg">four WordPress groups </a>with hundreds of members spread throughout the Chicago area. It&#8217;s a strong indication that the WordPress community in Chicago is thriving and supportive of each other.</p>
<h2>WordCamp Chicago in 2017</h2>
<p>It was a pleasure attending WordCamp Chicago and making new friends. I especially enjoyed speaking to WordPress Weekly listeners and getting their feedback. Also for those wondering, I satisfied my craving for deep-dish pizza via <a href="http://www.loumalnatis.com/arizona-phoenix">Lou Malnati&#8217;s</a>. The pizza tastes better than I remembered. If you&#8217;re ever in the Chicago area, you have to try Lou Malnati&#8217;s pizza.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/TheLou.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-54505" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/TheLou.jpg?resize=1024%2C768" alt="The Lou!" /></a>The Lou!
<p>Everyone involved with WordCamp Chicago 2016 did a great job. If you didn&#8217;t get a chance to attend this year, don&#8217;t worry. After taking a break for a few weeks, the organizing team plans to begin organizing WordCamp Chicago 2017.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 05 May 2016 03:00:06 +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:"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: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:85:"WPTavern: Automattic Introduces WooCommerce Connect, Hosted Components for E-Commerce";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54476";s:7:"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/automattic-introduces-woocommerce-connect-hosted-components-for-e-commerce";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5426:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/woocommerce-logo.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/woocommerce-logo.png?resize=1025%2C466" alt="woocommerce-logo" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54492" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.woothemes.com/woocommerce/" target="_blank">WooCommerce</a> is the current leader in e-commerce software, capturing <a href="https://wappalyzer.com/categories/ecommerce" target="_blank">31% of the market</a>, thanks to its relatively user-friendly interface and connection to WordPress. However, setting up a WooCommerce site, or any e-commerce site for that matter, is not for the faint of heart, no matter how user-friendly the software. It requires knowledge of hosting, PCI compliance, payment gateways, SSL certificates, shipping methods, tax, and more.</p>
<p>When <a href="http://wptavern.com/automattic-acquires-woocommerce" target="_blank">Automattic acquired WooCommerce</a> last May, the company accepted the challenge to make it as easy to create stores online as WordPress.com has done for websites.</p>
<p>“I believe that the web needs an open, independent and easy-to-use commerce platform that you can run yourself on your own website,” Matt Mullenweg said in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJOfTB8-daA" target="_blank">video</a> announcement of the acquisition.</p>
<p>Automattic has been working to simplify selling with WooCommerce and today the company announced <a href="https://www.woothemes.com/2016/05/woocommerce-connect-announcement/" target="_blank">WooCommerce Connect</a>, the secret project that Mullenweg <a href="https://twitter.com/WooConf/status/717725650916741120" target="_blank">hinted</a> at during WooConf.</p>
<p>WC Connect is WooCommerce&#8217;s new Automattic-hosted SaaS architecture that was created to offer store features in a more user-friendly way. It is built on the WP REST API and offers a simplified Calypso-style interface for configuring options.</p>
<p>The first service offered via the alpha version of WC Connect is real-time USPS shipping rates for US-based stores. It eliminates the need for a USPS API key as well as a subscription key from WooCommerce. One of the advantages for the user is that there are fewer software updates to install for extensions, as all the code is maintained on Automattic&#8217;s servers.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/usps-wc-connect.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/usps-wc-connect.png?resize=650%2C362" alt="usps-wc-connect" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54493" /></a></p>
<h3>What&#8217;s Next for WooCommerce Connect?</h3>
<p>If the testing goes well, WooCommerce plans to roll Connect into the plugin&#8217;s core to make it easier to serve more hosted e-commerce components. The team is also working on expanding shipping options for the beta.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the near future we hope to integrate with further shipping services, most likely Canada Post next,&#8221; said WooThemes co-founder <a href="https://twitter.com/mark_forrester" target="_blank">Mark Forrester</a>. &#8220;Shipping and payment options seem the logical place for us to start.&#8221;</p>
<p>Forrester confirmed that while the USPS shipping method is free, WooThemes is exploring monetizing other service offerings in the future. If WC Connect has a successful beta period, the team will consider using the same model for offering payment gateways in the future.</p>
<p>&#8220;Setting up payments for your store should be simple and behind the scenes,&#8221; Forrester said. &#8220;We believe we can offer better options for our customers working closely with payment partners and using connected services.&#8221;</p>
<p>Forrester said that the team hopes WC Connect can be baked into WooCommerce core soon, but they will make the decision based on user feedback from the alpha/beta period.</p>
<p>Those who create WooCommerce extensions and depend on its ecosystem may be wondering whether the SaaS model will overtake the plugin entirely. Last May, during his WooCommerce Q&amp;A, Matt Mullenweg <a href="https://ma.tt/2015/05/woomattic/#comment-583541" target="_blank">confirmed</a> that Automattic is not moving towards a 100% SaaS model.</p>
<p>&#8220;If or when we do SAAS, the plugin isn’t going away, it’ll continue as it has,&#8221; Mullenweg said.</p>
<p>WooCommerce is not being rolled into Jetpack, as many suspected when Automattic acquired the product. However, WC Connect does require users to connect to WordPress.com via Jetpack.</p>
<p>&#8220;We feel it makes sense to leverage the code/infrastructure of one of the most powerful WordPress connected services,&#8221; Forrester said.</p>
<p>The team is aiming to make WC Connect a simpler way to connect services to online stores without users having to leave their WooCommerce dashboards. Many store owners would rather pay for hosted software they don&#8217;t have to update as opposed to self-hosted extensions that require regular maintenance.</p>
<p>If the strategy of offering hosted e-commmerce components succeeds at making store management easier for non-developers, Automattic will be able to profit from offering compelling commercial WC Connect services, such as payment gateways, and expand WooCommerce&#8217;s global reach.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 04 May 2016 22:20:21 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:34;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"WPTavern: New Super Emoji Plus+ Plugin Adds an Elegant Emoji Picker to WordPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54422";s:7:"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:89:"http://wptavern.com/new-super-emoji-plus-plugin-adds-an-elegant-emoji-picker-to-wordpress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3082:"<p>Last week when Beyoncé released her new Lemonade album, <a href="http://www.wired.com/2016/04/beyonce-lemonade-lemon-emoji/" target="_blank">lemon and bee emoji usage spiked on Twitter</a>. According to Twitter&#8217;s stats, during the month of April there were more than 2 million tweets that included at least one lemon emoji, 62% of which happened since the album release. The bee emoji, representing the Beyhive of Beyoncé fans, also found its way into 1.8 million tweets during April.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s no denying that emoji permeate our culture and communication on the web, especially the mobile web. When people are excited, when they are communicating from the heart, they often use emoji. According to a study performed by emotional marketing platform Emogi last year, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/report-92-of-online-consumers-use-emoji-infographic/627521" target="_blank">92% of people online use emoji</a> and 63% of them are frequent users.</p>
<p>Last year WordPress 4.2 <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-2-on-track-to-expand-core-support-for-emoji" target="_blank">expanded core support for emoji</a>, adding along with it the ability to natively handle Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters. This improvement came not a moment too soon, but emoji are still not readily accessible when publishing with WordPress until you launch the emoji keyboard for your operating system. There&#8217;s something disjointed about having to launch a separate keyboard when you&#8217;re trying to compose your thoughts.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/super-emoji-plus/" target="_blank">Super Emoji Plus+</a> is a new plugin that makes emoji more accessible. It was created by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ericlewis/" target="_blank">Eric Andrew Lewis</a>, a WordPress core contributor and developer at The New York Times. The plugin adds an elegant emoji picker to the post edit screen. It can be launched from the toolbar or via autocomplete when you start typing an emoji name, such as &#8220;:lemon&#8221;.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/super-emoji-toolbar.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/super-emoji-toolbar.png?resize=1025%2C640" alt="super-emoji-toolbar" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54458" /></a></p>
<p>If you use emoji in your WordPress posts, Super Emoji Plus+ provides convenient access to the full list. There&#8217;s no easier way to add emoji if you&#8217;re working from a desktop, as most emoji keyboard experiences are inferior to the one presented in this plugin. Having it installed removes the need for cheat sheets and saves you from having to remember the correct key combinations to launch an emoji keyboard. Super Emoji Plus+ <a href="https://ericandrewlewis.com/2016/04/super-emoji-plus-is-now-in-beta/" target="_blank">went into beta last week</a> and is now <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/super-emoji-plus/" target="_blank">available on WordPress.org</a>.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 04 May 2016 06:15:27 +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:35;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"WPTavern: bbPress 2.5.9 Patches Cross-Site-Scripting Vulnerability";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54439";s:7:"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:76:"http://wptavern.com/bbpress-2-5-9-patches-cross-site-scripting-vulnerability";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:945:"<p>John James Jacoby, lead developer of bbPress, has <a href="https://bbpress.org/blog/2016/05/bbpress-2-5-9/">released bbPress 2.5.9</a> to patch a security vulnerability, &#8220;bbPress 2.5.8 and below are susceptible to a cross-site-scripting vulnerability that&#8217;s due to the way users are linked to their profiles when they are mentioned in topics and replies,&#8221; Jacoby said.</p>
<p>Marc-Alexandre Montpas is credited for <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/reporting-security-vulnerabilities/">responsibly disclosing</a> the vulnerability to the WordPress security team. The patch has already been applied to bbPress 2.6, which is currently in development. Users are advised to update their bbPress installations as soon as possible. Users who encounter issues updating to 2.5.9 can report them to the <a href="https://bbpress.org/forums/">bbPress support forums</a>.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 03 May 2016 23:10:48 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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: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:88:"WPTavern: WordPress Theme Review Team Votes on New Guidelines to Ban Obtrusive Upselling";s:7:"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=54428";s:7:"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:98:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-review-team-votes-on-new-guidelines-to-ban-obtrusive-upselling";s: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:4201:"<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/post-no-bills.jpg"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/post-no-bills.jpg?resize=1024%2C602" alt="photo credit: Post no bills - (license)" class="size-full wp-image-54450" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24415314@N02/26151211080">Post no bills</a> &#8211; <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>
<p>One of the main items on the agenda for the Theme Review Team this week was to finalize what type of upselling is allowed in themes hosted on WordPress.org. With the requirement of using the customizer for options, theme authors have gotten creative with upsells and will sometimes include panels and sections that are inoperable unless the user purchases the commercial version.</p>
<p>The team voted on a set of guidelines previously discussed. The counts shown below represent votes in favor of each individual guideline, and no members voted against any of them, according to the reckoning Justin Tadlock posted in the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2016/05/03/may-3rd-meeting-notes/" target="_blank">meeting notes</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>No global nags at top of admin pages. +12</li>
<li>One top-level link in the customizer (other unobtrusive links in sections allowed). +8</li>
<li>Allow one Appearance sub-page. +11</li>
<li>No options or panels/sections behind a paywall. +11</li>
</ul>
<p>Overall, team members agreed that any upsell links should be unobtrusive and the new proposed guidelines favor keeping the customizer clean and the Appearance menu simple. Although the majority of Theme Review Team members are in favor of the items above, their inclusion in the handbook is not yet set in stone.</p>
<p>&#8220;Note that we might change some of the wording for clarity if/when these become guidelines,&#8221; Tadlock said. &#8220;The admins will review these items for inclusion as guidelines and have further discussion if need be.&#8221;</p>
<h3>Theme Review Team Considers Adding a Tag to Designate Themes with a Commercial Upgrade</h3>
<p>Contributors are looking to add a new designation for freemium WordPress.org extensions that have commercial counterparts available elsewhere. In a recent Meta Team meeting, Matt Mullenweg <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/meta/p1461801845000324" target="_blank">proposed an agenda item</a> for consideration in the redesign of the Plugin Directory.</p>
<p>&#8220;I would love for y&#8217;all to figure out a tagging system that will help people know better what&#8217;s behind the installation of a plugin,&#8221; Mullenweg said. &#8220;Does it connect to an external service? Is there a premium version? Is it useful without those things?</p>
<p>&#8220;If we can figure out a way to classify those three as examples, it&#8217;ll cover a lot of business models people are attempting in the directory,&#8221; Mullenweg said, referring to the original examples of Akismet, VaultPress, and Jetpack that he mentioned previously.</p>
<p>&#8220;This can be separate from the 3-tag limit,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s really a special tag, and honor system is fine to start for self-classification.&#8221;</p>
<p>This hasn&#8217;t yet been implemented in the new Plugin Directory, but Konstantin Obenland has the item on his list for when the Meta Team moves forward with an <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/plugins/2016/02/25/re-thinking-tags-in-the-plugin-directory/" target="_blank">overhaul of the tagging system</a>.</p>
<p>As a result of this discussion, the Theme Review Team is also considering adding a &#8220;pro&#8221; designation for themes that have a commercial version available. Tadlock said that the team will be following up on the plugin directory discussions and will look to implement improved tagging in line with what the Meta Team decides.</p>
<p>The Theme Review Team ran out of time during this week&#8217;s meeting but will discuss the possibility of a &#8220;pro&#8221; tag next week. If you want to be part of this discussion, make sure to join the #themereview channel on WordPress&#8217; Slack.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 03 May 2016 21:58:41 +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: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:100:"WPTavern: WordCamp Incubator Program Receives 182 Applications, Narrows Candidates to 16 Communities";s:7:"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=54398";s:7:"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:109:"http://wptavern.com/wordcamp-incubator-program-receives-182-applications-narrows-candidates-to-16-communities";s: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:3358:"<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/incubator.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/incubator.jpg?resize=1024%2C505" alt="photo credit: Chilliwack Chicken Chick - (license)" class="size-full wp-image-54415" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/15521309@N05/16688186434">Chilliwack Chicken Chick</a> &#8211; <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a>
<p>In February the WordPress Community team announced that it would be <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-to-launch-experimental-wordcamp-incubator-program" target="_blank">launching an experimental WordCamp Incubator program</a>. After a short application window of less than two weeks, the team received 182 applications from cities all over the world. Andrea Middleton <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2016/04/28/wordcamp-incubator-update/" target="_blank">reported</a> that the team has narrowed the submissions down to the following 16 communities:</p>
<ul>
<li>Denpasar, Indonesia</li>
<li>Chandigarh, India</li>
<li>Colombo, Sri Lanka</li>
<li>Thessaloniki, Greece</li>
<li>Harare, Zimbabwe</li>
<li>Budapest, Hungary</li>
<li>Kalamata, Greece</li>
<li>Kampala, Uganda</li>
<li>Kochi, India</li>
<li>Lagos, Nigeria</li>
<li>Medellin, Colombia</li>
<li>Nagpur, India</li>
<li>Nairobi, Kenya</li>
<li>San Jose, Costa Rica</li>
<li>Udaipur, India</li>
<li>Ulyanovsk, Russia</li>
</ul>
<p>Some of these communities already have active local meetups and others have no organization whatsoever. Selection of the final cities will be based on the location&#8217;s potential to foster an emerging WordPress community.</p>
<p>The original plan was to incubate three WordCamps in 2016, but due to staffing changes the new scaled back plan is to commit to two events and intensively mentor a third. Middleton explained that the difference between the two is in the amount of support the local team will receive from the designated community team deputy:</p>
<blockquote><p>Incubating an event will involve the deputy both advising local volunteers — acting as a kind of project manager for the team — as well as doing some of the organizing work on the event, like a lead organizer usually does. Intensively-mentoring will be more project management and involve less actual organizing work on the part of the deputy.</p></blockquote>
<p>Middleton said the team is speaking with the remaining applicants about their communities and assessing their abilities to organize a one-day, one-track WordCamp with the help of the community team. The small events will focus on getting the local community connected for future events.</p>
<p>The WordCamp Incubator program is an intriguing concept that has so far received a great deal of interest from potential new organizers. Many locations in the remaining list of candidates are situated in regions that are not as easily accessible to existing WordPress communities. These are places that might not otherwise have an opportunity to host a WordCamp for years without a little boost.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ll be following the progress of the Incubator program to see if the experiment can successfully hatch a handful of new local communities. The three locations selected will be announced this month.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 03 May 2016 16:15:10 +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: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:78:"WPTavern: BuddyExtender: A Plugin for Configuring Internal BuddyPress Settings";s:7:"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=54342";s:7:"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/buddyextender-a-plugin-for-configuring-internal-buddypress-settings";s: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:2297:"<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/controls.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/controls.jpg?resize=960%2C443" alt="photo credit: 	Drew Patrick Miller" class="size-full wp-image-52988" /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://stocksnap.io/photo/2724C9A9DE">	Drew Patrick Miller</a>
<p>The BuddyPress codex has a long list of <a href="https://codex.buddypress.org/getting-started/customizing/changing-internal-configuration-settings/" target="_blank">internal configuration settings</a> that are not exposed in the plugin&#8217;s admin settings page. These are short definition lines that can be added to a site&#8217;s <em><a href="https://codex.buddypress.org/themes/bp-custom-php/" target="_blank">bp-custom.php file</a></em> to make changes to BuddyPress default settings.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddyextender/" target="_blank">BuddyExtender</a> is a new plugin from the development team at <a href="https://webdevstudios.com/" target="_blank">WebDevStudios</a> that aims to make it easier for community managers to access extra configuration options. The plugin puts a dozen internal BuddyPress settings at your fingertips, including avatar sizes, autocomplete settings, the ability to disable @mentions, and more.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/buddy-extender.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/buddy-extender.png?resize=678%2C1141" alt="buddy-extender" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54389" /></a></p>
<p>Once installed, the plugin can be configured at Settings -> BuddyExtender in the admin. Each setting has an explanation on <a href="https://pluginize.com/buddyextender-plugin/" target="_blank">the plugin&#8217;s homepage on Pluginize</a>, WebDevStudio&#8217;s new plugin shop. Some of these settings have the ability to powerfully affect the display of your BuddyPress site, so its creators warn users to try it on a test environment before going live with their selections. The team plans to add more options to the plugin in the future. You can download <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddyextender/" target="_blank">BuddyExtender</a> for free from WordPress.org.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 02 May 2016 22:33:30 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"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:121:"WPTavern: Customize Posts Plugin and Selective Refresh are Paving the Way for Front-End Editing Powered by 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:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54345";s:7:"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:131:"http://wptavern.com/customize-posts-plugin-and-selective-refresh-are-paving-the-way-for-front-end-editing-powered-by-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:5016:"<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/customize-posts.jpg"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/customize-posts.jpg?resize=1024%2C583" alt="photo credit: Paintbrush - (license)" class="size-full wp-image-54351" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/93249705@N03/13067171403">Paintbrush</a> &#8211; <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license)</a>
<p>Last week Weston Ruter and the folks at XWP released <a href="https://make.xwp.co/2016/04/29/customize-posts-v0-5-released/" target="_blank">Customize Posts version 0.5</a>, which includes a new framework for postmeta and the ability to preview featured images. The feature <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/customize-posts/" target="_blank">plugin</a> aims to <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/34923" target="_blank">introduce basic content authorship in the Customizer</a> to improve the new user site setup experience and make it easier to edit existing content.</p>
<p>As of 0.5, Customize Posts supports the ability to change and preview the page template, and will sync changes back to the metabox on the page edit screen. It also supports changing the post author, excerpt, and comment/ping status, with live previews and changes saved to the editor. Check out Ruter&#8217;s screencast touring the plugin&#8217;s newest capabilities:</p>
<div class="embed-wrap"></div>
<h3>Front-End Editing Powered by the Customizer: A Not-Too-Distant Possibility</h3>
<p>With all these advanced editing capabilities, it doesn&#8217;t take a giant leap to imagine a future where the customizer provides the architecture for a front-end post editor. While WordPress&#8217; <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/tag/front-end-editor/" target="_blank">front-end editor project</a> seems to have gone dormant, improvements to the Customizer are steadily chipping away at the various aspects of content authorship that are not yet editable on the frontend.</p>
<p>&#8220;Now that we have the ability to selectively refresh elements without doing full page reloads, this opens the door to using these Customizer components outside of the Customizer itself, such as in the frontend,&#8221; Ruter said.</p>
<p>Front-end editing of partials, which are similar to customizer controls but exist in the preview, is a natural extension of the selective refresh architecture and a concept that Ruter will be exploring in the near future.</p>
<p>&#8220;Consider, for example, being logged-in on the frontend,&#8221; Ruter said. &#8220;You see something you want to edit and you click on it. Since the Customizer partials all have selectors associated with them, if the partials are registered with each logged-in frontend request, then there are containers that can be targeted for editing.&#8221;</p>
<p>Ruter envisions that clicking on an element would load the controls for that element on demand via a lazy-loaded Customizer pane or a floating control. He said that this would work in concert with customizer transactions (aka snapshots) to store the changes persistently in a transaction.</p>
<p>Front-end editing powered by the customizer, according to Ruter, would involve the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Being able to click Customize in the admin bar to lazy-load the Customizer pane&#8217;s controls into the existing page without having to having to navigate to `customize.php`</li>
<li>Being able to click on individual containers that have associated partials to start editing controls that relate to those partials</li>
<li>All changes made on the frontend to be persisted in a transaction draft that is initialized on demand</li>
</ol>
<p>The ability to edit posts in the customizer on the front-end isn&#8217;t going to happen overnight, but Ruter thinks a proof of concept could be available this year.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to take some discovery and prototyping, similar to Customize Posts,&#8221; Ruter said. &#8220;My guess is there would be something to play around with in Q3, depending on other projects and having enough time to put down on paper these ideas that have been floating around for a couple years.&#8221;</p>
<p>An important step towards making that possible will be getting <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/34923" target="_blank">basic content authorship added to the Customizer</a>, which Ruter and contributors are working towards for the upcoming WordPress 4.6 release.</p>
<p>These will be welcome changes for those who are looking to do more on the frontend, but it still leaves the bulk of content editing behind the admin. Unless you&#8217;re a developer who follows every update to the customizer, it&#8217;s still confusing for the average WordPress user to know what content can be edited on the frontend vs. content that requires returning to the admin. The editing experience will remain disjointed until the majority of tasks can be done on the frontend.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 02 May 2016 18:15:58 +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: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:59:"WPTavern: Templatic Hacked, Files and Databases Compromised";s:7:"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=54339";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"http://wptavern.com/templatic-hacked-files-and-databases-compromised";s: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:2362:"<p><a href="https://templatic.com">Templatic</a>, a WordPress commercial theme company, <a href="https://templatic.com/news/our-site-was-hacked/">reported on</a> Saturday, April 30th, that its site was hacked. Files and databases containing customer usernames and passwords were compromised. According to R. Bhavesh, founder of Templatic, the data is being held for ransom money.</p>
<blockquote><p>The hacker is now threatening us via email and demanding ransom money be paid. This hacker is also threatening to misuse the data they’ve illegally gained access to and email our data to customers.</p>
<p>While this is a very serious and dangerous threat, we are not going to give in to threats and we will not be negotiating with any hacker and that’s no matter how much they try.</p></blockquote>
<p>Bhavesh is working with local authorities and security experts who are investigating the matter. Since transactions on Templatic are handled directly by PayPal or 2Checkout, hackers were not able to obtain credit card information.</p>
<h2>Customers Should Immediately Change Their Passwords</h2>
<p>If you&#8217;ve ever shared cPanel, FTP, or wp-admin, login credentials with Templatic, you should immediately change your passwords. If you are using a product that relies on the Tevolution plugin and haven&#8217;t updated yet, you should <a href="https://templatic.com/news/security-vulnerability-found-themes/">do so immediately</a>.</p>
<p>Customers are advised to ignore emails sent from Templatic, &#8220;The email we sent today is the last email we will send regarding this matter. Anything further, we will share it on our social mediate accounts at <a href="https://twitter.com/templatic">twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/templatic">facebook</a> and <a href="https://templatic.com/blog">our official blog</a> here,&#8221; Bhavesh said.</p>
<p>Customers are also advised to create a full backup of their sites and use a <a href="https://sitecheck.sucuri.net//">free site scanning tool</a> to scan for unknown files. Bhavesh apologized for what happened and says he accepts full responsibility, &#8220;I take up the responsibility of this and I sincerely apologize to each single one of our customers. We assure you that we are taking best security measures and fight this, no matter what.&#8221;</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 02 May 2016 17:18:53 +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:"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:55:"WPTavern: WordPress is Now 100% Translated Into Marathi";s:7:"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=54325";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-is-now-100-translated-into-marathi";s: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:2089:"<p>The Polyglots team announced this week that <a href="https://mr.wordpress.org/" target="_blank">WordPress is now 100% translated into Marathi</a>, an Indian language with an estimated 73 million native speakers. Marathi is one of the official languages of Western India and is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers" target="_blank">19th most spoken language in the world</a> ranked by the number of native speakers.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wp-in-marathi.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wp-in-marathi.png?resize=1025%2C252" alt="wp-in-marathi" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54327" /></a></p>
<p>Less than a week ago, the Marathi translation was at just 10%, but the new translation teams rallied during the <a href="http://wptavern.com/global-wordpress-translation-day-draws-448-participants-from-105-countries" target="_blank">Global WordPress Translation Day</a> event to complete it in a matter of days. According to organizer Petya Raykovska, “India was the big surprise with four of the big Indian languages getting new contributors, forming teams, and connecting across India with one another to collaborate live.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Last year Hindi was far from 100%. Today 8 events in India translate to bo_IN, hi_IN, mr, gu, ml <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WPTranslationday?src=hash">#WPTranslationday</a> <a href="https://t.co/Lq5DoJrf0Q">pic.twitter.com/Lq5DoJrf0Q</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Petya Raykovska (@petyeah) <a href="https://twitter.com/petyeah/status/724103477002166272">April 24, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>Thanks to the eight local translation team events in India, Marathi received a strong enough push to get all WordPress strings translated at 100% just a few days after the event concluded. Hindi is also now at 100% and the other Indian languages are off to a good start with the newly-formed translation teams.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 29 Apr 2016 21:48:12 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"WPTavern: Create Beer Menus with the Easy Beer Lister Plugin for WordPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54030";s:7:"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/create-beer-menus-with-the-easy-beer-lister-plugin-for-wordpress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5072:"<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>The explosion of the craft beer scene in recent years means that more breweries and beer bars are <a href="http://wptavern.com/30-beautiful-brewery-websites-built-with-wordpress" target="_blank">building their websites on WordPress</a>. What are you looking for when you visit one of these websites? Why, the beer of course! Unfortunately, with the demands of brewing and serving customers, owners of these establishments don&#8217;t always have time to update their available beers.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-beer-lister/" target="_blank">Easy Beer Lister</a> plugin was created to help breweries keep their information up-to-date. It offers an easy way for users to organize beer on on their websites with the additional benefit of being able to create beer menus with the same information. The menus are mobile friendly and can be printed or displayed on a TV screen.</p>
<p>Alex Standiford initially started on this project out of a desire to improve his WordPress plugin development skills, but it quickly grew from there once he learned how difficult it is for brewers to keep their beer information up-to-date across all of their mediums.</p>
<p>&#8220;Many breweries copy/paste their beer menu to their website, or simply don’t update their website at all,&#8221; Standiford said. &#8220;I even heard of a brewer who was staying up late every Friday to update his powerpoint presentation for his beer menu!</p>
<p>&#8220;Once I realized how much time this was taking from the busy brewery owner, I knew that I needed to do something better than what others have done. I needed to provide them with a single place to update their beer information, where they could efficiently display it to customers in many different ways.&#8221;</p>
<p>Easy Beer Lister adds a Beer Post Type to your WordPress site with special fields for ABV, OG, IBU, Untappd URL, video, and an image gallery.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/beer-post-type-easy-beer-lister.png"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/beer-post-type-easy-beer-lister.png?resize=793%2C476" alt="beer-post-type-easy-beer-lister" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54312" /></a></p>
<p>Beer styles can be added as categories and beer pairings as tags. Availability can also be specified via a custom taxonomy using terms such as On-Tap, Spring, Summer, Year-Round, etc. Beers take on the design of the active theme, but you can further customize the post type to improve its display. The plugin comes with a few basic templates, but Standiford is also creating more that can be added on.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/beer-page.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/beer-page.png?resize=1025%2C826" alt="beer-page" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54314" /></a></p>
<p>Once beers are organized and added to WordPress, users can create custom beer menus to display available beers. Sorting methods, such as availability, food pairings, and what&#8217;s on tap, can be bulk-edited in the admin.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/beer-menu.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/beer-menu.png?resize=1025%2C577" alt="beer-menu" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54317" /></a></p>
<p>Easy Beer Lister also includes shortcodes for displaying a specific beer or a list of beers:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>[beer]</strong> &#8211; Create a URL to a specified beer. The link also shows a preview of the beer when you hover over it with your mouse.</li>
<li><strong>[beer_list]</strong> &#8211; Create a list of beers based on specified parameters, such as style or pairings.</li>
</ul>
<p>Standiford plans to open a marketplace for GPL add-ons that extend Easy Beer Lister. <a href="http://www.easybeerlister.com/downloads/untappd-importer/" target="_blank">Untappd Importer</a> is his first add-on, which makes it easy for breweries to get started without having to manually enter all of their beers.</p>
<p>&#8220;With this add-on, I was able to import all 600+ beers from Dogfish Head Brewing’s Untappd page in about three minutes, including the ABV and IBU information,&#8221; Standiford said. He is working on other add-ons such as a beer image generator, an Instagram photo import function, and a bartender suite that allows bartenders to access a page to add/remove beers from the tap menu/website quickly.</p>
<p>&#8220;The plugin is more than a tool to help brewers manage their beer on their website,&#8221; Standiford said. &#8220;I aim to use it to dramatically reduce the amount of time a brewer spends updating beer information on all facets of their business.&#8221;</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 29 Apr 2016 18:46:22 +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: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:84:"WPTavern: WordCamp Organizers Get New Tool for Creating Personalized WordCamp Badges";s:7:"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=54270";s:7:"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/wordcamp-organizers-get-new-tool-for-creating-personalized-wordcamp-badges";s: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:3947:"<p>Creating personalized WordCamp badges for attendees has traditionally been a time-consuming task for event organizers. Last year the community held 89 WordCamps with 21,000 attendees, and each person received a name badge customized for the event they participated in. That&#8217;s a massive number of badges to prepare for printing.</p>
<p>In the past, WordCamp organizers <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/wordcamp-organizer-handbook/first-steps/helpful-documents-and-templates/create-wordcamp-badges-with-gravatars/personalized-badges-with-indesign/" target="_blank">used an InDesign template for making the badges</a>, but this required a tedious process of creating a CSV file of attendees, running a custom script, and completing a list of complicated steps. George Stephanis, who had experience using the InDesign template, wanted to simplify this process for organizers and help them move away from having to use a proprietary, commercial software product.</p>
<p>He <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2016/02/12/name-badges-are-hard-to-make-and-confusing-for-organizers/" target="_blank">built a proof-of-concept plugin</a> that allows organizers to create badges with HTML and CSS inside the WordPress admin. After several iterations and contributions from the community team, Ian Dunn <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/2016/04/26/new-tool-for-creating-personalized-wordcamp-badges/" target="_blank">announced</a> that the tool is now ready for use.</p>
<p>WordCamp organizers can access the tool under Tickets > Tools > Generate Badges or by navigating through the Customizer to the CampTix HTML Badges panel. The default badge design is shown below with the back of the badge (upside-down) and the front beneath it with a marker for poking the lanyard holes. User names and gravatars are automatically displayed.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordcamp-badges-with-html-css.png"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordcamp-badges-with-html-css.png?resize=900%2C783" alt="wordcamp-badges-with-html-css" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54285" /></a></p>
<p>Stephanis included the CodeMirror bundled with Jetpack’s Custom CSS module to make it easier for organizers to customize the badge design to suit the theme of the WordCamp. The plugin also makes it fairly easy to customize any aspect of the badge using CSS.</p>
<p>&#8220;The underlying markup has plenty of CSS classes to help with customization,&#8221; Dunn said. &#8220;For example, you could make volunteer badges have a different background color (so that volunteers are easier to find), or make attendees&#8217; last names appear in a smaller font than their first names. There are also plenty of empty &lt; div > elements that you can re-purpose for arbitrary design features.&#8221;</p>
<p>Once the design is finished, organizers can export as a PDF and take it to a print shop. Documentation for customizing the badges is <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/wordcamp-organizer-handbook/first-steps/helpful-documents-and-templates/create-wordcamp-badges-with-gravatars/personalized-badges-with-html-css/" target="_blank">available in the WordCamp Organizer handbook</a>.</p>
<p>Organizers are still welcome to use the InDesign tool to create badges, but the new plugin for the customizer is a much easier entry point for those who aren&#8217;t familiar with InDesign. If you can help improve the tool, the code is open source on the <a href="https://meta.svn.wordpress.org/sites/trunk/wordcamp.org/public_html/wp-content/plugins/camptix-badge-generator" target="_blank">Meta repository</a> and <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/wordcamp-organizer-handbook/first-steps/web-presence/contributing-to-wordcamp-org/" target="_blank">available for anyone to patch</a>.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 28 Apr 2016 23:15:39 +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:72:"WPTavern: WordCamp Tokyo 2016 Calls for Speakers, Adds New English Track";s:7:"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=54145";s:7:"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/wordcamp-tokyo-2016-calls-for-speakers-adds-new-english-track";s: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:2318:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordcamp-tokyo.png"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordcamp-tokyo.png?resize=1025%2C506" alt="wordcamp-tokyo" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54265" /></a><br />
<a href="https://2016.tokyo.wordcamp.org/" target="_blank">WordCamp Tokyo 2016</a> will be held September 17-18 at the <a href="http://www.bellesalle.co.jp/room/bs_shinjukugrand/" target="_blank">Bellesalle Shinjuku Grand</a>. This will be the 9th edition of the event, which sold out last year with 750 attendees.</p>
<p>Yesterday the WordCamp&#8217;s organizers put out a <a href="https://2016.tokyo.wordcamp.org/04/27/call-for-speakers-en/" target="_blank">call for both for English and Japanese speakers</a>. Last year the event hosted a selection of <a href="https://2015.tokyo.wordcamp.org/session/6-3/" target="_blank">English sessions</a>, but the 2016 edition will add a dedicated track for English speakers with simultaneous interpretation.</p>
<p>The WordCamp will be broken into three tracks: User, Technical, and Global. Descriptions and example topics for each are available in the <a href="https://2016.tokyo.wordcamp.org/04/27/call-for-speakers-en/" target="_blank">post</a> calling for speakers. All English language presentations will be placed under the Global track but speakers are welcome to submit any topic.</p>
<p>The theme of WordCamp Tokyo 2016 is &#8220;breaking dawn.&#8221; With the advent of the WP REST API and the recent surge in WordPress-powered application development, the WordPress community is entering a new era. Organizers have selected a motto as part of the theme:</p>
<p>&#8220;<em>Let’s try something new</em>,” said organizer Toru Miki. &#8220;That is the message we want to get across to the WordCamp Tokyo 2016 attendees. Our goal is to offer sessions that can motivate and stimulate them, just like the beam of sunlight in the dawn.&#8221;</p>
<p>If you want to attend one of the biggest WordCamps on the planet and you have a topic that you think can inspire attendees, the speaker application deadline is Friday, June 10. Presentations can be 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 75 minutes. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance status by mid-July.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 28 Apr 2016 20:38:40 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i: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:67:"WPTavern: WPWeekly Episode 232 – Recap of WordCamp San Diego 2016";s:7:"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=54156&preview_id=54156";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"http://wptavern.com/wpweekly-episode-232-recap-of-wordcamp-san-diego-2016";s: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:2847:"<p>In this episode of WordPress Weekly, <a href="http://marcuscouch.com/">Marcus Couch</a> and I discuss the news of the week as our guest couldn&#8217;t make it.</p>
<p>Marcus shares his experience at WordCamp San Diego this past weekend and offers feedback to the organizing team. We let you know what&#8217;s in the recently released WordPress update and discuss what happens to the data WordPress.org collects from users sites. As usual, Marcus ends the show with his plugin picks of the week.</p>
<h2>Stories Discussed:</h2>
<p><a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-5-1-fixes-12-bugs">WordPress 4.5.1 Fixes 12 Bugs</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/global-wordpress-translation-day-draws-448-participants-from-105-countries">Global WordPress Translation Day Draws 448 Participants from 105 Countries</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-for-ios-adds-geotag-support-comment-moderation-gestures">WordPress for iOS Adds Geotag Support, Comment Moderation Gestures</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-6-to-update-theme-filter-tags-in-the-admin">WordPress 4.6 to Update Theme Filter Tags in the Admin</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/what-wordpress-org-does-with-the-data-it-collects-from-users-sites">What WordPress.org Does with the Data it Collects from Users Sites</a></p>
<h2>Plugins Picked By Marcus:</h2>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/video-gallery-awesome-responsive-youtube-vimeo-gallery/">Video Gallery &#8211; YouTube and Vimeo Video Gallery </a>is a responsive plugin that allows you to show YouTube and Vimeo videos in various formats.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/on-sale-page-for-woocommerce/">OnSale Page for WooCommerce </a>is an extension for WooCommerce that enables you to have a On Sale page with paging, sorting, and filtering options.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/embed-google-adwords-codes-on-woocommerce/">Embed Google AdWords Codes on WooCommerce </a>enables users to implement Google AdWords conversion tracking to determine how effective ads are. It provides information such as the number of clicks that are generating sales.</p>
<h2>WPWeekly Meta:</h2>
<p><strong>Next Episode:</strong> Wednesday, May 4th 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>
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<p><strong>Listen To Episode #232:</strong><br />
</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 28 Apr 2016 06:24:05 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s: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: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:65:"WPTavern: Array Cuts Theme Club Pricing, Releases Free Theme Pack";s:7:"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=54083";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"http://wptavern.com/array-cuts-theme-club-pricing-releases-free-theme-pack";s: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:4007:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/array-logo.png"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/array-logo.png?resize=956%2C440" alt="array-logo" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54154" /></a></p>
<p>Array <a href="https://arraythemes.com/welcome-to-array-3-0/" target="_blank">launched a redesign</a> of its theme shop this week along with drastic price cuts for single theme and club purchases. After conducting a <a href="https://arraythemes.com/complete-a-brief-survey-for-50-off/" target="_blank">customer survey</a> earlier this year, the company moved to act on feedback regarding its pricing structure.</p>
<p>Previously, Array offered single theme purchases ranging in price from $49 to $89 and the entire collection for $199. The new pricing is more straightforward with all single themes at $49 and club membership for $89.</p>
<p>The company, which began under the name Okay Themes and rebranded two years ago, announced last April that it would be <a href="http://wptavern.com/array-returns-to-themeforest-after-disappointing-experiences-selling-on-creative-market-and-wordpress-com" target="_blank">returning to Themeforest</a> after disappointing experiences selling on Creative Market and WordPress.com. Array currently has five items in its <a href="http://themeforest.net/user/arraythemes/portfolio" target="_blank">portfolio on Themeforest</a> ranging in price from $44-64. The company negotiated an agreement with the marketplace that gives them a better rate than other non-exclusive authors typically receive.</p>
<p>&#8220;Although I can’t go into this in too much detail, we are actually not operating at the typical non-exclusive author rates, as most would rightfully assume,&#8221; founder Mike McAlister said in a <a href="http://wptavern.com/array-returns-to-themeforest-after-disappointing-experiences-selling-on-creative-market-and-wordpress-com#comment-66896" target="_blank">comment</a> on our post about the news. &#8220;We’ve worked out a mutually beneficial agreement with Envato that gives us a little more room for experimentation and bandwidth for providing quality support.&#8221;</p>
<p>With equal or more affordable pricing at Themeforest, customers had little incentive to buy directly from the Array website with the previous pricing structure in place. The new $89 club membership is now more compelling for those who are interested in purchasing multiple themes directly from Array.</p>
<p>In addition to the the redesign and new pricing, Array released a free theme pack to help potential customers get acquainted with their products before purchasing. The pack includes five of their most popular themes, some of which were not previously offered for free, including Author, Editor, Fixed, Typable and Transmit. Editor is also available on WordPress.org and WordPress.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/free-theme-pack.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/free-theme-pack.jpg?resize=1025%2C772" alt="free-theme-pack" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-54143" /></a></p>
<p>Array&#8217;s journey over the past two years, which includes pulling out of Themeforest, rebranding, and then jumping back into the marketplace with a more beneficial arrangement, necessitated an update in its pricing structure in order to remain competitive. Customers gravitate towards straightforward pricing that they can understand, especially when products are sold across multiple marketplaces.</p>
<p>The theme shop&#8217;s experimentation with selling on Themeforest, WordPress.com, Creative Market, Mojo Marketplace, and Array&#8217;s own website shows how much it has had to adapt to reach potential customers. Commercial WordPress themes are a multi-million dollar industry, but there&#8217;s no single avenue paved to success even when partnering with one of the dominant marketplaces.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 28 Apr 2016 05:32:29 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18:"Matt: You Yourself";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=46523";s:7:"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:35:"https://ma.tt/2016/04/you-yourself/";s: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:419:"<blockquote><p>You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.</p></blockquote>
<p>This quote is almost always attributed to Buddha. <a href="http://fakebuddhaquotes.com/you-yourself-as-much-as-anybody-in-the-entire-universe-deserve-your-love-and-affection/">Luckily there&#8217;s a great WordPress site called Fake Buddha Quotes that tracks down its actual provenance</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, 27 Apr 2016 21:55:24 +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: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:35:"Matt: Secret History of Tiger Woods";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=46519";s:7:"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:52:"https://ma.tt/2016/04/secret-history-of-tiger-woods/";s: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:283:"<p>ESPN has a fascinating longread on <a href="http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/15278522/how-tiger-woods-life-unraveled-years-father-earl-woods-death">The Secret History of Tiger Woods, especially in the context of his relationship with and the death of his father</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, 27 Apr 2016 03:33:40 +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: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:63:"WPTavern: A 42-Year-Old Developer’s Advice on Working in 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:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=54077";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"http://wptavern.com/a-42-year-old-developers-advice-on-working-in-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:5455:"<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/glasses-computer.jpg"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/glasses-computer.jpg?resize=960%2C557" alt="photo credit: Aliis Sinisalu" class="size-full wp-image-54120" /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://stocksnap.io/photo/2SLJBDK4T0">Aliis Sinisalu</a>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/akosma" target="_blank">Adrian Kosmaczewski</a>, a 42-year-old, self-taught developer, published an article today titled <a href="https://medium.com/@akosma/being-a-developer-after-40-3c5dd112210c#.5nju9pdg8" target="_blank">Being A Developer After 40</a>. The piece is full of sage advice that is resonating with developers of all ages. His post is a summary of a talk he gave at the <a href="https://www.appbuilders.ch/" target="_blank">App Builders Switzerland</a> conference in April with the accompanying slides <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/akosma/being-a-developer-after-40" target="_blank">available on Speaker Deck</a>.</p>
<p>Kosmaczewski gives readers a glimpse into what the world of technology was like in 1997, the year he began his career as a developer before the days of unit tests and continuous integration, before SVN even existed.</p>
<blockquote><p>My first job consisted of writing ASP pages in various editors, ranging from Microsoft FrontPage, to HotMeTaL Pro to EditPlus, managing cross-browser compatibility between Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer 4, and writing stored procedures in SQL Server 6.5 powering a commercial website published in Japanese, Russian, English and Spanish — without any consistent UTF-8 support across the software stack.</p></blockquote>
<p>If you worked as a developer in those days you may fondly remember working with some of these technologies. Since then, countless new ones have been introduced but the requirement to keep learning remains unchanged. Kosmaczewski offers advice on navigating the hype surrounding the newest programming languages.</p>
<blockquote><p>Do not worry about hype. Keep doing your thing, keep learning what you were learning, and move on. Pay attention to it only if you have a genuine interest, or if you feel that it could bring you some benefit in the medium or long run.</p></blockquote>
<p>It&#8217;s easy to get overwhelmed with all the new languages and frameworks that people say you need to learn in order to stay relevant, but Kosmaczewski encourages readers to follow their own interests and learn about software history. Otherwise, you&#8217;ll be forever chasing new architectures and ideas but never learning them in depth or gaining more than a shallow understanding of their implementation.</p>
<p>In an industry where professionals are valued by their abilities in specific languages, many programmers allow their identity to be wrapped up in the tools they use. Kosmaczewski encourages readers to be ready to change course:</p>
<blockquote><p>Do not criticize or make fun of the technology choices of your peers; for other people will have their own reasons to choose them, and they must be respected. Be prepared to change your mind at any time through learning. One day you might like Windows. One day you might like Android. I am actually liking some parts of Android lately. And that is OK.</p></blockquote>
<p>His perspective comes from nearly 20 years of working as a developer. The lesson I saw in this section of his essay is that the technologies you work with are part of your journey, and you&#8217;ll cycle through many of them. However, be careful not to allow them to become your whole identity, because you are still learning.</p>
<h3>The Value of Teaching</h3>
<p>One of the most inspiring parts of his post is the section on teaching. We often hear the saying, &#8220;Those who can, do; those who can&#8217;t, teach,&#8221; thrown around smugly, but this devalues educators. Teaching is somewhat of a lost art in an industry where many professionals are self-taught. Yet, Kosmaczewski says there are some things you cannot learn without having taught someone else:</p>
<blockquote><p>Teaching will make you more humble, because it will painfully show you how limited your knowledge is. Teaching is the best way to learn. Only by testing your knowledge against others are you going to learn properly. This will also make you more respectful regarding other developers and other technologies; every language, no matter how humble or arcane, has its place within the Tao of Programming, and only through teaching will you be able to feel it.</p></blockquote>
<p>Kosmaczewski also shares some moving stories of how his teaching and mentoring have made a difference in the world, especially for those who are just beginning.</p>
<p>If you have a few minutes, I highly recommend reading &#8220;<a href="https://medium.com/@akosma/being-a-developer-after-40-3c5dd112210c#.5nju9pdg8" target="_blank">Being A Developer After 40</a>.&#8221; This article is a window into one developer&#8217;s journey but his advice and habit recommendations are relevant to everyone from experienced programmers to those just starting out. Kosmaczewski explores some of the darker aspects of the industry but also the beauty of sticking with it. His closing statement sums it up nicely:</p>
<blockquote><p>As long as your heart tells you to keep on coding and building new things, you will be young, forever.</p></blockquote>
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