WP Weekly 179 - Hosting - GatherPress, New Cloud Hosts, Dodge WP Game

This week is buzzing with new web hosting ventures showing up and new features appearing in existing web hosting players of the WordPress ecosystem. Can GatherPress become a meetup alternative? Also, SEOPress with new pricing plans and a new shortcut to quickly spin up a WP install.

Omnisend is perfect for WooCommerce shops, offering easy-to-use email and SMS tools, including intuitive popups and automated messages like cart abandonment.

InMotion hosting provides fast and reliable website hosting for businesses of any size. Trust your website to the web hosting experts at InMotion Hosting.

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• New Plugins… Krishna Kant Chourasiya has released the pro version of Really Simple Featured Video that allows changing of video aspect ratio and the video order on Woo products (Starter Lifetime offer). Andrea Gandino shared (Links X) about the availability of Advanced Columns Block plugin in the plugins directory, try it.
  
  
• Blocks & Builder… Spectra Blocks 2.12v has a new Quick Action Bar feature, which adds a dynamic panel on the left side of the editor for easier building. Robby McCullough shared about the upcoming Beaver Builder update of CSS Grid and Flexbox support via the new Box module and popup functionality on Beaver websites.
  
  
• New Launches… Mor Cohen has launched Branding Sprints for WordPress users looking for custom design and branding to help keep web creations easy and consistent. Marcus Burnette has launched WPPhotoStats website that shows the WordPress Photo Directory stats like number of contributors and a contributors page.

1. AI+ WordPress… HeroThemes has released Heroic AI Assistant for the Heroic KB plugin which allows custom chatbot trained on your knowledge base for better customer interactions. Also, now with the AI power via OpenAI, Feedzy Pro 2.4v allows you to auto generate missing featured images, preview (Links X), in RSS feed.
   
   
2. New Integrations & Beyond… with the aim to provide integration for popular form plugins with their platform, Omnisend has released addons for Contact Form 7, Ninja Forms, and Formidable Forms. Also, the Brizy builder is going beyond WordPress and is working on launching the Shopify version of Brizy builder.
   
   
3. Plugin Updates… FluentCRM 2.8.40v has added one click unsubscribe feature, dynamic contact activity tracking, and the option of multi threaded email sending. Ajay D’Souza has updated Better Search Plugin 3.3v that comes with a major code rewrite and new dashboard view for instant insights like popular searches.
   
   
4. Core & Community… check the preview of more robust revisions feature coming to the site editor to easily revert back changes. Check the progress of the GatherPress plugin from the community, a Meetup alternative, as an events management tool. Also, Hari Shanker shared about the upcoming improvements coming to the Five for the Future program.
   
   
5. WordCamps Action… the upcoming WordCamp Asia 2024 has opened applications for diversity scholarship that will provide financial assistance for the recipient to attend, including travel from the recipient’s home city, accommodation for the duration of the event, and a event ticket.
   
   
6. Year in Review… 20i Hosting in 2023 went big on managed hosting for WordPress and launched many features like WordPress Blueprints, client reports, and new UI for dashboard. Also, WPGivesAHand endeavor in 2023 managed to raise $11,200 donation for nine charities across the world.

• Fun: Check Dodge WordPress game by Jonathan Bossenger.
• Siteground has launched new site care service for WP users.
• SEOPress new pricing with Unlimited Pro Plan at $149 yearly.
• Handy: Use try.new shortcut to spin up a new ZipWP website.
• Jonathan and Kurt at WP-Tonic interviewed Matt Mullenweg.
• Behind the Scenes: Moving Rolling Stone site to WordPress!

The Buzz from Website Hosting Ecosystem!

New Hosting Features… Rocket .net is working on better disaster recovery setup for WordPress websites with every customer with two sets of encrypted backups and full server recovery in minutes. Cloudways has launched Cloudways Autonomous (previously Autoscale) that promises managed hosting experience with built-in auto scaling designed for WordPress to handle traffic and resource spikes.

New Cloud Hosting… the team at WPDeveloper is launching xCloud Platform promising to be the next generation cloud hosting and website management solution for WordPress users. Shahjahan Jewel from Fluent Forms has joined it as as investor and guiding partner. Also, the new Rapyd Cloud hosting from the Buddyboss team is going for the public launch in two days.

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WordPress Deals 🚀

• Launch LTD of Really Simple Featured Video Pro at $69.99 price.
• Lifetime Deal for the Admin & Site Enhancements Pro from $49.
• Big Discount Presto Player LTD for $399 and discounted yearly plan.
• Get pCloud's 2TB storage LTD for WordPress Backups and Files.
• 100s of products listed in WordPress Lifetime Deals database.
  
  

Upcoming Events 💬

February 09, 2024: WordCamp Phoenix 2024 at Phoenix College.
February 26, 2024: WP Publisher Success Week, an 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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