WP Weekly 124 - Tracking - New Tools, Builders Bloat, Matt Says

Not just tracking over 350+ WordPress Deals, but also all-new ‘super cool’ launches in the WordPress ecosystem like CodeWP, OpenPress, HelpGent, and more. Plus, loads of product updates and all the important news from the community.

The WP Awards 2022, just close to 2 days left before the voting closes on Nov 30, 2022. If you haven’t voted – vote now and don’t miss the chance to have your say! Thanks to everyone for spreading the WordPress goodness and voting. The WP Awards 2022 is made possible by awesome gold sponsors: InMotion Hosting, StellarWP, 20i Hosting, Cloudways, and GoDaddy Pro.

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• New Plugins… the makers of the Directorist plugin have launched the HelpGent solution, which promises to facilitate customers’ and clients’ communication with screen recording, video, voice, and text messaging. Also, check the new better image sizes plugin by Jakub Novák, that is more developer focused with features like focal point selector for images, and function to output responsive sizes.
  
  
• New launches… there is another new AI code generator for WordPress users. Check CodeWP(.)ai by James LePage, you can use code isotropic_alpha for free access to the ‘alpha’ version. While Mike McAlister has launched a dedicated website for the OpenPress concept after positive feedback from the WordPress community.
  
  
• Tracking Builders Bloat… it seems page builder plugins like Cwicly, Breakdance, and the good old Beaver Builder are doing good, at least on the parameter of the total KB size load in the Nov 2022 update of the excel sheet maintained by Mike at SupaDezign.

1. WP Community… after listening to the community feedback, Freemius is making big changes like a new opt-in screen, anonymous license activation, new permissions management layer, and more. With Twitter chaos going on, Matt Mullenweg is looking into ActivityPub support on Tumblr to position it as a more worthy Twitter alternative – more at TechCrunch.
   
   
2. Matt Says… State of the Word 2022 has been scheduled for Dec 15, 2022 (18–19:30 UTC), with the annual keynote address by Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of the WordPress project. You can watch it on Youtube or request to join the in-person audience. Also, you can send questions via email or ask them directly during the live chat.
   
   
3. The Core Buzz… a final reminder, the security team will be dropping support for the WordPress versions 3.7 – 4.0 on December 1, 2022, and the final release for these versions will be on Nov 30, 2022. Also, preview the upcoming new look of the developer documentation landing page. The Gutenberg 14.6 update has added new features like a shortcut to change paragraphs into headlines, and a variation layout picker when grouping blocks.
   
   
4. WordCamp Action… the call for speakers is open till Dec 02, 2022, for WordCamp Birmingham, Alabama, scheduled for Feb 04, 2023. While round two of speakers for WordCamp Asia 2023 have been announced. Also, meet the people on the organizing team of the WordCamp Europe 2023, and the WordCamp Switzerland 2023 has been scheduled for March 31, 2023.
   
   
5. WP Milestones… the WPMayor website is celebrating its 12th anniversary, Mark Zahra shared about this 12 years journey in four chapters or phases. While James Kemp shared about the Orderable plugin crossing the 2000+ active installs milestone in the WordPress plugins directory. Also, InstaWP is now clocking 1000 WordPress websites per day, as shared by Vikas.
   
   
6. Web Perspectives… does the online world has outdated software problem? It looks like it, as Eric Karkovack highlighted the fact, “over 22% of websites are still running #PHP 5”. More from Eric, what do you want to see from WordPress in 2023? “Improved Communication from Project Leadership”, and what else?

• Fluent Support with auto migration for HelpScout & JS Help Desk.
• WP Migrate 2.5 for faster transfers when dealing with big sites.
• Check code to build a membership/paywall site without plugin.
• Makers of TutorLMS teased the upcoming Droip site builder.
• Fonts: This tool checks where Google fonts files are hosted!

New Integrations… FlowMattic has added integration for WSForm submissions to trigger various actions like sending to Mailchimp, WhatsApp, uploading files to Google Drive, and more. Also, now you can connect the GamiPress plugin to MetaBox fields with this newly released integration plugin.

Elementor’s focus on performance continues in Elementor 3.9 and Elementor Pro 3.9 with smaller CSS assets, lazy loading of images, SQL optimization, WebP support, and more. Also, Restrict Content Pro 3.5.24 version is out with updated Braintree integration and other fixes. The next version will focus on giving new styles to the “Your Membership” page.

Breakdance is the ultimate website builder plugin for WordPress with 120 built-in elements, a modern UI and deep WooCommerce integration.

Cloudways to unleash the power of managed cloud hosting. Grab the exclusive offer of 40% Off on all plans this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

WP Webhooks allows you to create powerful WordPress automation workflows directly within your website. It integrates with 40+ plugins.

LearnDash is the most trusted online course platform for WordPress. Get your course website online with no code and starter site themes.

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• WordPress Black Friday Deals 2022 with over 350+ Deals!
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Upcoming Events...

Dec 06, 2022: Workshop on Mastering Project Management with Scrum.
Dec 16, 2022: WordFest Live, The Festival of WordPress (Online Event).
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By
Davinder Singh Kainth
A creative who Loves to Create Online Spaces powered by WordPress.

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