WP Weekly 201 - Leader - Text Only Emails, WP 0.20% Growth, Woo Issues

WordPress is still a leader in the CMS space, with 35% market space, but its growth rate of 0.20% does need attention. Also, in this issue: many product updates, new themes, two acquisitions, and a bunch of Woo things.

The WP Awards 2024 is back. The Call for Sponsorships is now open for supporting this community event. Thanks to Gold Sponsors: GoDaddy, 20i Hosting, & Pressable. Silver Sponsors: Crocoblock & WP Division.

↑ Community Sponsors supporting this weekly

• New Pro Theme… Mike McAlister and Patrick Posner have released the pro version of Ollie Theme, a block based theme with 200+ patterns and 30+ full page designs. It is priced at $69 /year for 1 website and $249 /year for 10 websites.
  
  
• Quick AI Websites… Divi has launched Divi Quick Sites feature that promises to create a Divi website in less than two minutes using AI website creation powers and pre-made stater templates.
  
  
• HTML to Text Emails… FluentSMTP, a free community plugin, 2.2.80v update now allows you to convert HTML emails into plain text for better accessibility and email deliverability with less chance of getting caught in a spam filter.
  
  

Updates: Future Posts, Calendar, Rest API & More

Future Post Workflows… the PublishPress Future Pro plugin has introduced the Action Workflows feature, allowing you to do things like email admin when post is updated, set post to trash after a week, and more.

FluentBoards 1.2v has introduced a Calendar View for enhanced schedule visualization, Custom Fields for bespoke data management, and a new design of the User Profile section.

Groundhogg 3.4.3v has added access to the Rest API Playground directly from your WordPress site via the Tools page and the ability to lock editing of funnel emails to one person at a time.

MetaBox… now allow bi-directional sync between the Meta Box Builder and the JSON file to make sure the block settings are the same. As a result of continued focus on improving MB Blocks as Gutenberg is evolving fast.

Site Owner & Admin Manager… 2.0v has added emergency use only option for admin accounts and a new Single Business LTD plan.

1. New Integrations… Uncanny Automator 5.9v has added integration for Kadence, Campaign Monitor, and Notion in the free plugin. SureTriggers now has over 700 integrations, with recently added integrations for Facebook Lead Ads, Google Gemini, Freshbooks, Instapage and Gitlab.
   
   
2. Google Drive as Backup gone… Solid Backups, formerly called BackupBuddy, has decided to remove Google Drive as backup destination because of its existing code base limitations and Google’s API access policies.
   
   
3. WP Core & Gutenberg… WordPress 6.6 RC2 download is now available, with 19 bug fixes for the editor. Gutenberg 18.7v update added support for drag and drop of grid items in the manual mode.
   
   
4. WordCamp Asia 2025… the call for speakers is now open for WordCamp Asia 2025 until Aug 20, 2024. Also, check a sneak peek of the amazing venue selected for this event, Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
   
   
5. Acquisitions Train… Kestrel is a new venture from the co-founders of SkyVerge (which was acquired by GoDaddy long back). Recently, the team at Kestrel acquired CheckoutWC from Clifton Griffin, its founder. CheckoutWC adds a Shopify style cart and checkout page to a WooCommerce store.
   
   
6. More Plugin Acquisitions… Saad Iqbal at WPExperts has acquired the Honeypot for Contact Form 7 plugin from the team at Nocean. With this acquisition, WPExperts now has over 1.5 million active users, across all its plugins.
   
   
7. Upcoming Online Events… Stellar Spark, July 19, 2024, online event schedule is now available; Josepha Hayden Chomphosy will be the keynote speaker. Also, Human Made and WP Campus have partnered for edu WordPress in higher education online event scheduled for July 18, 2024.

Quick Bits

• Freebie: Free WpStream Video Streaming Theme released.
• Rockbase Theme with a new sidebar template and patterns.
• 15 code snippets to disable aspects of the Block Editor things.
• Video: Wix’s masterplan to conquer WordPress, & your view?
• Listen: Which page builder plugin scores well on accessibility?
• WPBeginner is celebrating 15th year being in WordPress space.
• Cool animation of changing WordPress market share (Links X).
  
  

Numbers in Focus: Is WordPress growing?

Joost de Valk has published the updated CMS market share with data from the HTTP Archive. WordPress is still the most popular CMS with a 35.47% market share, followed by Shopify (3.81%), and Wix (2.51%). However, WordPress growth was just 0.20% compared to 15.45% for Shopify and Squarespace clocking 31.39%.

In the eCommerce space, WooCommerce is leading with 6.98% share, followed by Shopify (3.81%) and Squarespace Commerce (1.82%). Elementor is still the most popular page builder followed by WP Bakery and Divi.

Woo Things: Woo Hosting, Variations, Bad Experience

Woo Hosting + Builder… Elementor has launched eCommerce Hosting plans tailored for online stores and include WooCommerce, Hello Theme or premium WooCommerce Theme, pro or advanced Elementor builder.

Woo Variation Swatches… the team at Qode Interactive has launched Qode Variation Swatches plugin for WooCommerce (free version) covering attributes, optional variation tooltips, and descriptions.

Woo Experience… Jack Arturo from WP Fusion shared about the, “general frustration with the way new features are being rolled out at WooCommerce” like WooCommerce detecting a few active plugins incompatible, and then what?

↑ Community Sponsors supporting this weekly

WordPress Deals

• xCloud Lifetime Deal for $399 giving access to all features of the cloud control panel and you can bring up to 5 servers.
• Bundle Offer: Breakdance Pro + AI for $249.99 till July 31, 2024.
• Special: 20% OFF Draw Attention, Interactive Image Map Plugin.
• WooCommerce Alternative in the making, North Commerce LTD.
• FluentBoards LTD, a powerful project & task management plugin.
• Themeisle's new Hyve AI Chatbot tool, $149 LTD for 50 Sites.
• Lifetime Deal for the Admin & Site Enhancements Pro is trending.
• Get pCloud's 2TB storage LTD for WordPress Backups and Files.
• 100s of products listed in WordPress Lifetime Deals database.
  
  

Upcoming Events

The WP Awards 2024: Call for Sponsorships is now open.

July 11, 2024: WordCamp Canada 2024 in Ottawa, ON Canada.
July 18, 2024: WordPress in higher education, an online event.
July 19, 2024: Stellar Spark free online event for WP people.
July 25, 2024: WordPress London Meetup, 6.30PM BST.

September 17, 2024: WordCamp US 2024 in Portland, Oregon.
September 23, 2024: Digital Asset Congress 2024 in Iceland.
October 09, 2024: WordPress Accessibility Day 2024, 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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