Join us this week as Josepha takes a personal journey down memory lane to her first encounters with WordPress. In this episode, she shares the story of her very first WordPress website, the excitement of getting involved with WordCamps, and how those early discoveries shaped her rewarding path in the WordPress community. Whether you're a seasoned user or new to the platform, Josepha's reflections will inspire you with insights from her earliest days in WordPress.

Credits

Host: Josepha Haden Chomphosy
Editor: Dustin Hartzler
Logo: Javier Arce
Production: Brett McSherry
Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod

Show Notes

• Josepha's Blog
• WordPress Playground
• Small List of Big Things
  • WordCamp US arrives this week (September 17-20)
    • WP Briefing: It's your first WordCamp? Welcome!
  • Upcoming WordPress Meetings
    • Data Liberation Project
  • WordPress Events
  • Make WordPress
• Have a question you'd like answered? Submit them to WPBriefing@WordPress.org.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Josepha: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I'm your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go.

[00:00:28] (Music intro)

[00:00:39] Josepha: Folks, this week is WordCamp US, and over the past week or so, I spent a fair amount of time talking to people about that first-time experience. And as with any person who's talking about their version of a shared experience, I started thinking back to mine.

I think my first experience of WordPress was not typical, though. I had never even heard of WordPress when I first went to a WordCamp. I think, I think most of the time people have heard of it before, but I was just there for the plot. So, like many people in my generation, all of us old people of the internet, I was first online with things like Angelfire and GeoCities.

[00:01:16] Josepha: When I went to college, I was keeping friends and family up to date on what I was up to with a little, like, newsletter? And then Xanga made it to our college campus, and eventually, so did Facebook. And I was one of those kids kind of like half-breaking sites with HTML and CSS I found online. I was changing layouts like every week to suit my mood.

Then, when I graduated and found myself in a city with more talent and more competition than I'd actually accounted for, and started to realize that this online stuff I'd been doing for fun might actually be something that I needed to use as a tool professionally. So, I first went out and reserved my screen name everywhere I could think of.

[00:02:01] Josepha: And we're talking, like, LiveJournal, WordPress.com, Blogger, all the things, and eventually wound up building my first site on Weebly. And it was super ugly. I'm not able to design things. I have an okay sense for a design that is good, but like, left to my own devices, it's gonna be what that was, which is like a tie dye background for some reason, and had everything organized into little, like, blocks, I guess? You know, like, old magazine layouts? And it technically had everything that I wanted, but it wasn't necessarily the best version of any of those things either. I could write a little bit about myself and my services, I could add a few photos, there was a way to contact me, and I could do it all by myself.

And so it was a good place to start. Not long after that, though, I graduated into the need for a more professional-looking website, and it was beautiful. I received a website; someone built it for me. It was beautiful; it had this elegant design. Had a lot of custom functionality, but it was built using ColdFusion. I couldn't do anything to it. I couldn't change anything. All minor changes just had to kind of wait until there was enough to make sense to use that maintenance time, that maintenance retainer that I had. It really was just kind of formal. It was an isolated snapshot of all of the sorts of information that was required to be on the web at that time.

[00:03:28] Josepha: And then, later that year, I went to my first WordCamp, and I moved my site over to WordPress. And for the first time, I had that kind of mixture of professional expression that was on top of something that enabled my own expression. And honestly, I didn't learn much more about the software for a few years. It was doing what I needed it to do, how I needed it to be done, and that's really what mattered to me.

And when I skip a few years ahead after that, a few years later, when I was learning by organizing Meetups and WordCamps that had speakers that I wanted to hear from, that had topics that I felt like I needed to learn more about, what I remember most about that learning period for me is that I knew that I wasn't the first person to run into any of my problems, which meant that a solution was probably already out there, and I could find someone to come and teach us about their solution.

[00:04:23] Josepha: And also, I knew that if we were running into a new problem and started breaking things left and right, there was always a way back. I was never really too far away from success. Like I felt like I might be lost, but I still was pretty much findable. And I guess I always want that for new users of the open web now, like new members of our WordPress community.

I want them to feel like the breaking of things is fine and safe and that no mistake is irretrievable. I want us to have some place where perfection isn't the point. Now listen, I know the software is complex right now. The admin is a little mismatched, your first choices are huge choices, and there are a million places to start.

[00:05:03] Josepha: So, all I can say is, start with what you need, and once you've got that, like the back of your hand, move on to what you need next. And keep doing that, bravely and messily, until what you've got is all you ever wanted. I'm gonna leave for you, in the show notes, a link to something called WordPress Playground.

It's gonna launch a little WordPress site in your browser. There will be no host. It's just all in the browser itself. And it will have the latest bundled theme on it, Twenty Twenty-Four, and the latest version of WordPress. And that's it. Go in there and click around on the left-hand menu. Start a post, change a page, modify the theme.

Just play around a while. See if it's something that seems fun to you or valuable, or if it's something that you can use as a time capsule for your kid because that sounds like a nice little mix of fun and work. And remember, sometimes perfection's not the point.

[00:05:57] (Music interlude)

[00:06:04] Josepha: That brings us now to our small list of big things.

Folks, as I mentioned at the top, WordCamp US is happening this week. It is September 17th through 20th this year, quite a few more days. But that also means that we'll have quite a bit more stuff to do. If you have your tickets and haven't looked at all of the presentations occurring over the four-day event, remember to take a look at the schedule and pick out topics that are interesting. And remember, just because you picked it out before you went doesn't mean that if you get in there and it doesn't work for you. You can't choose a different topic while you're there. And as a bonus, if this is your first WordCamp that you've ever attended, I have you covered. You can check out my previous episode on all the things to remember for your first time attending a WordCamp. And we have a pretty active community as well. If you just have questions or want to get in there and say, 'Hey, I'm going to a vegan restaurant for lunch; who wants to join me?' You can do that, and you can definitely find somebody.

Also, there are some upcoming WordPress meetings. So, if you're not attending WordCamp US but still want to connect with the community, there are a ton of team meetings that are happening. You can find those on make.WordPress.org/meetings, I think. So really, really easy URL to remember. You can join your fellow community members and contribute to the WordPress project there.

[00:07:18] Josepha: And I also wanted to just call your attention to a few really big projects that still need a little bit of help around the project. So, on the one hand, we have Data Liberation. That is still a really big project, but specifically, we are nearly ready to start working on some user-facing elements of that. It is being powered by Playground, and because the data liberation, the migration of one site to another, is so complex, once we get those elements built into Playground, I think it also stands to fix a bunch of the problems that we have across our user flow, our user experience for the project. Things like having better theme previews and being able to get a sense for what a plugin functionally will do for you versus what it says it's going to do for you. And getting a sense for what the admin looks like, all of those things. And so, anyone who wants to learn more about contributing to Playground or to Data Liberation, I absolutely encourage you to go check out those meetings, see what's happening, and get your hands a bit dirty with that.

[00:08:26] Josepha: We also have a bunch of stuff happening in our community space. If you had received this podcast from somebody because they were like, hey, I know someone who might like WordPress or who has just learned WordPress and has never been to an event or any other reason that you are listening to this but don't yet know the community, there is an easier option than just jumping straight into a WordCamp like I did. You can go to a meetup. You can see there's a widget in your dashboard that'll tell you what your nearest event is, but if you put your location into that widget, and nothing comes up. Technically, that means that you have an opportunity to bring a bunch of people together to teach you stuff you wish you knew about your site right now. So you can wander over into your dashboard and see those, or you can also head over to the community area on make.WordPress.org and anybody over there is happy to help you get started. And let me tell you, it is a very low-effort sort of thing to do. Here again, perfection's not the point. And so that, my friends, is your small list of big things.

[00:09:28] Josepha: Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast app or subscribe directly on WordPress.org/news. You'll get a friendly reminder whenever there is a new episode. If you liked what you heard today, share it with a fellow WordPresser. Or, if you had questions about what you heard, you can share those with me at WPBriefing@WordPress.org. I am your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing, and I'll see you again in a couple of weeks. Or tomorrow if we're all going to WordCamp US.

[00:09:58] (Music outro)

16 Sep 2024 12:00pm GMT

I noticed recently that WordCamp Nairobi is on the calendar for 1-2 November. Then I noticed their Camp slogan is "Beyond the Savannah: Connecting the Kenyan WordPress Community to the World", and I thought "Yes! That's so perfect for HeroPress!" So much so that it's going to help drive the mission of HeroPress in the future.

At the moment we're simply a Media Partner, so I'm here to tell you that the call for speakers is open! If you can attend you should apply to speak, we need as many voices as possible.

I recently met with Moses Cursor Ssebunya, Patrick Lumumba, and Emmanuel Lwanga, all organizers of the WordCamp. If you see them, say hi and shake their hand for me. It sounds like it's going to be a great event.

The post WordCamp Nairobi, Call For Speakers appeared first on HeroPress.

16 Sep 2024 8:00am GMT

In this episode, Maggie Cabrera and Birgit Pauli-Haack discuss Developer Hours, Playground, WordPress 6.6.2, Gutenberg 19.2, Data Views and Design Systems

Show Notes / Transcript

• Editor: Sandy Reed
• Logo: Mark Uraine
• Production: Birgit Pauli-Haack

Show Notes

Special Guest: Maggie Cabrera

• X (former Twitter: @one_maggie
• WordPress @onemaggie

• Community themes on GitHub
• Twenty-Twenty-Five Default Theme on GitHub
• Block Themes by Automattic in WordPress Directory
• Recap Hallway Hangout: Theme Building with Playground, Create-block-theme plugin, and GitHub

Announcements

Developer Hours

• Developer Hours: A First Look at the Template Registration API in WordPress 6.7
• Next Developer Hours: Sept 24 at 15:00 UTC Developer Hours: An Introduction to Data Views

Developer Blog

• What's new for developers? (September 2024)
• Registering block templates via plugins in WordPress 6.7
• Using Data Views to display and interact with data in plugins
• Subscribe to the Developer Blog

WordPress 6.7 & 6.6.2

• Roadmap to 6.7
• WordPress 6.6.2 Maintenance Release
• WordPress 6.6 CSS Specificity

Community Contributions

• Providing content for your demo with WordPress Playground
• WordPress Playground for Theme Developers
• WordPress Playground for Plugin Developers

Gutenberg 19.2

• What is new in Gutenberg 19.2 (11 September)
• Gutenberg 19.2 Released with Enhancements and Bug Fixes

What's discussed or in the works

• Data Views Update #1
• Advancing the WordPress Design System

Stay in Touch

Transcript

The transcript is in the works.

15 Sep 2024 9:26am GMT

After revamping the WordPress.org homepage, Theme Directory, Plugin Directory, Pattern Directory, and HelpHub, the Meta team has now updated the Five for the Future site. Members of the Meta, Design, and Community teams collaborated to redesign and launch the site in time for WordCamp US 2024.

A Fresh New Look

Developer Relations Advocate Nick Diego shared, " This visual update is part of an ongoing effort to create a consistent design language across WordPress.org… This change marks the beginning of modernizing Five for the Future."

New Home page

The update features a block-based child theme built on top of the shared WordPress.org parent theme, streamlining aesthetics and simplifying future updates. Key changes include:

• All content has been converted to blocks, making it easier to manage and update.
• The layout, typography, and color scheme have been standardized to align with the broader WordPress.org ecosystem.
• A new contributor testimonials section featured both on the homepage and as a dedicated page, showcases the experiences and contributions of community members
• An updated pledges directory lists organizations committed to contributing to the Five for the Future initiative.

What's Next?

Future plans include adding new features and content, such as case studies and more testimonials from participating organizations. A Five for the Future blog and newsletter are also in the pipeline.

Nick Diego added, "Forthcoming updates will aim to improve organization profiles by listing activity, automating emails, enhancing onboarding, and adding options for sponsored contributors. The goal is to showcase the strength and impact of Five for the Future with a refreshed, feature-rich website."

You can suggest improvements or report issues with the new theme by opening a ticket on GitHub. For updates on upcoming WordPress.org changes, join the #website-redesign Slack channel.

14 Sep 2024 6:23pm GMT

Hi there,

WordCamp US is upon us, even for those of us not going: We can watch talks on the livestream, depending on the timezones. We can shut down our social networks to avoid FOMO (Fear of missing out). We can enjoy the calm on other platforms, and start testing a few things coming to WordPress 6.7, or we can catch up on Learn.WordPress interactive learning paths.

On a different note, I have been diving more into AI Essentials, prompt design and the testing of various tools. It's such a brave new world. I had excellent results in making some of my work easier by using an AI tool: a draft outline of a presentation in a second language (Claude) , getting a tailored list of sightseeing activities in a new city (Perplexity) , or correcting code examples to WordPress Coding Standards (ChatGPT), are only three examples of well executed AI assistance. I also took a glimpse at Google's AI Studio, that allows you to build apps or integrations that tap into Google Gemini AI. All very fascinating, I found.

My latest go-to AI tool replaces Google search for me. Google gives me short snippets and the links, I still have to weed through and spend some time finding the right information. Perplexity provides the answer with details and sources. No further trip around the Internet necessary.

What is your day-to-day experience with AI? What did you test lately? Please let me know in the comments or hit reply on the email.

And now back to regular programming….

Have a lovely weekend, and if you are traveling to Portland, Oregon, have a safe trip.

Yours, 💕
Birgit

Developing Gutenberg and WordPress

This year, the State of the Word will take place on December 16, 2024, at 09:00 UTC and will be live-streamed from Tokyo, Japan. Matt Mullenweg will provide a retrospective of 2024, demos the latest in WordPress tech, and comments on the future of the WordPress open-source project.

This week, the design team published the landing page for the event, where you can request an in-person ticket for the Tokyo Node Hall. Soon you can find a list of local watch parties. I saved the date in my calendar to watch the live stream from my living room, a week before Christmas.

---

Lauren Stein invites you to Tour the New Learn WordPress site. In her post she offers a 2- min YouTube video and student testimonials about the new site and the ever-growing learning path courses and tutorials.

---

Joen Asmussen posted his Design Share #63 (Aug 26-Sep 6) to update us all on the wonderful work the WordPress design team produces. He highlighted:

• Image Block: Surface autocomplete width options
• WP.org 2fa improvements
• Twenty Twenty-Five Patterns
• Style Book in Classic/Hybrid Themes
• Five for the Future refresh
• Lesson learning flows

---

In this month's edition of the What's new for developers? (September 2024) on the WordPress Developer Blog, I highlighted for several key updates in WordPress Core, Gutenberg, and Playground. You'll also find details on upcoming developer-focused events and resources.

Subscribe to the Developer Blog, and you'll never miss a post again.

Upcoming Events

September 19, 13:00 UTC: WordPress Playground Block code editor theme support with Jonathan Bossenger.

September 24, 15:00 UTC Developer Hours: An Introduction to Data Views with JuanMa Garrido, André Maneiro and Nick Diego

As a reminder, JuanMa Garrido published recently Using Data Views to display and interact with data in plugins on the WordPress Developer Blog.

WordPress 6.6.2

The maintenance and security release of WordPress 6.6.2 came out on Tuesday of this week.

Jyolsna JE has the skinny for you in WordPress 6.6.2 Released with 26 Bug Fixes on the WPTavern.

---

Gutenberg 19.2

The latest version of the Gutenberg plugin was released on September 11, 2024. 193 PRs, 58 bug fixes, 59 Enhancements by 54 contributors, 6 of them first time contributors. Release lead, Vicente Canales, highlighted in his release post What is new in Gutenberg 19.2 (11 September)

• Block Bindings UI
• Preview options API
• Other notable highlights.

---

Jyolsna JE also covered the release for the WPTavern in Gutenberg 19.2 Released with Enhancements and Bug Fixes."One of the most significant updates in Gutenberg 19.2 is removing the experimental flag from the Block Bindings UI. This feature, now fully integrated into the editor, allows users to link block attributes with external data sources seamlessly. " she wrote.

---

This week we also recorded an episode of the Gutenberg Changelog podcast (107), My special guest, Maggie Cabrera and I enjoyed chatting about WordPress 6.6.2, Roadmap 6.7, the next default theme, Design systems and Gutenberg 19.2. The episode will drop into your favorite podcast app on Sunday. If you enjoy listening to the podcast, please write us a review on any of the podcast directories (Spotify, PocketCasts, Apple etc.)

🎙️ Latest episode: Gutenberg Changelog #107 - WordPress 6.6.2, Gutenberg 19.2, Data Views and Design Systems with special guest Maggie Cabrera

WordCamp US Showcase talks

It's more and more difficult to glen from session description how relevant certain talks will be for Gutenberg enthusiasts. It's become so mainstream that most talks about WordPress will include block related content. The full WordCamp US schedule (in PDT) is available on their site. There are way over 50 talks scheduled for this year's WordCamp US and the time difference is nine hours for me.

If you wish to put your own list together, you'll find the respective livestream links for the three days and four rooms on the official WordPress YouTube Channel > Live.

The many hours of livestream out of each room will be online for a couple of weeks, until the AV team manages to separate each talk into individual videos. The video of Matt's Q & A will probably online within the hour and available the next day. Many talks will be past my bedtime. I will wait for the individual videos to show up and catch up in the following weeks.

Birgit Personal Watch List (as per 9/14)

With below list, I leaned into my self-centered personality and publish my personal watch list. haha. The times are in UTC. This is not a list of all the talks I want to watch. These are the talks I might be able to watch on the live stream. The links under "Room" point directly to the YouTube Live stream for this room on the particular day.

Date	Time UTC	Talk title	Room
9/18	16:15 UTC	Disney Experiences' Magical Transformation with Gutenberg	Rose City
9/18	17:30 UTC	Unlocking Disney's Digital Evolution: Navigating the Gutenberg Era	Stumptown
9/18	18:30 UTC	How WordPress Powers The New York Post	Stumptown
9/20	16:00 UTC	How TIME Uses Patterns to Drive Recirculation and Engagement	Mt. Hood

Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners

Bud Kraus has good news for you! In his post for GoDaddy Pro, A primer on WordPress block markup for the non-programmer, he wrote: "Understanding the fundamentals of any WordPress block is not as difficult as mastering PHP as you would have back in the pre-Gutenberg era." Following along you'll learn about the various concepts of the modern WordPress theme, template and patterns, and of course, blocks. Then he continues to give you a glimpse under the hood and shows you some block markup code and teaches you what attributes are.

It feels similar to when my dad showed me how to exchange spark plugs on my car or start my car with a jumper cables or replace a tire. I never aimed to be a car mechanic, but having a bit of knowledge can save you when you get stranded in a foreign place with no cell phone reception. Although you are not a programmer, knowing a bit about the underlying code base, can go a long way.

---

Kathryn Presner and Helena Artmann recorded their online workshop on Exploring the Query Loop block. "The Query Loop block might sound bland, but it's actually the driving force behind the layout of modern WordPress blogs. Dive into this critical block together with Presner and explore ways to show off your content and learn how to configure it to get the result you want. They also cover the different types of blocks you might want to nest inside it. Finally, you uncover some lesser-known ways to use the Query Loop block, to display pages and other types of content besides posts."

---

Mike McAlister from Ollie WP just dropped a cool tutorial on how to build smarter and faster with synced patterns. He shows how you can use synced patterns in WordPress to make site building a breeze. With these patterns, you can tweak multiple parts of your site at once, making your workflow smoother and keeping your design consistent.

---

The number of Block themes in the Themes directory was 942 this morning. You find now a great collection of themes for businesses, writers, photographers, agencies, and products. The newly released pattern browser you can use when clicking through a single theme page gives you a great insight in how various parts of your website will look, when using a theme. Many themes showcase, services, FAQ, content form, or about us patterns, that, make building a site a streamlines process.

The latest five Themes approved were:

Hello Blocks by Md Ataur Rahman of Wpmet, builder of the GutenKit and other WordPress plugins. This is their first theme in the WordPress Repository.

Margarethe by the theme builders at Automattic and built for site owners in the interior design space. It's the latest of 209 block themes built by Automattic's designers.

Happening, also out of the workshop at Automattic, designed for events and ceremonies.

TributeToGovPress by Tommaso G. Scibilia from Italy it's his second block theme published in the repository within the last few weeks. This theme seems to be the block theme version of one of his favorite themes: Gov Press by Govfresh, that hasn't been updated since August 2019.

Eternal by Uxl themes, a theme, opinionated about its design and suitable for all screen sizes and the patterns offer design for business websites, like services, price lists, process steps or for the about page. It's the 23rd theme from Uxl in the repository and their eighth block theme.

---

On WordPressTV, Wes Theron posted a new video Use the Create Block Theme plugin for exports, and theme variations. You'll learn how to use the Create Block Theme plugin to customize, save, and export a WordPress theme. You'll explore how to apply changes to colors, fonts, and layouts and export your modified theme as a zip file for use on other websites.

---

Adam Jones, HumanMade, identified Five key features for enterprise users in the upcoming version of WordPress 6.7. Those are:

• Streamlined site management with the Template Registration API
• HEIC image support for optimized media management
• Zoom-out editor for patterns for a high-level view of content creation
• More flexibility in content display with the enhanced Query Loop block
• Performance improvements & developer enhancements

Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks

Simone Maranzana, co-creator of Advanced Columns, built the Figma plugin Block Flow that "allows you to easily convert your designs into WordPress blocks. This plugin is designed to simplify the process of transforming your visual projects into functional WordPress code. The exported blocks do not contain inline styles and rely solely on the logical attributes of the supported blocks. You can read more details in her X-Thread.

---

"Keeping up with Gutenberg - Index 2024"
A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly. The previous years are also available: 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023

Building Blocks and tools for the Block Editor

In this week's Developer Hours, Justin Tadlock and Nick Diego took a first look at the Template Registration API in WordPress 6.7 and explored how to register custom block templates in your plugins. This long-needed feature lets you create default front-end output that plays nicely with themes while also being customizable from the Site Editor by users.

---

Alex Standiford shared publicly how he made his WordPress Archive style different post formats, using the Block Visibility plugin and a short code snippet. More in his post. There is also a discussion on the topic
Bring post formats to block themes on GitHub, you can follow along and chime in.

---

Siddharth Thevaril, working for 10up, shared his experience in Building an extendible WordPress admin Settings page with Gutenberg Components. Thevaril covered setting up a custom settings page, using React for the interface, and integrating Gutenberg UI components for a clean, responsive design. The tutorial includes code snippets and practical tips for developers.

---

Ajit Bohra, an early Gutenberg contributor, announced the latest project he has been working on with the team of Lubus, a web development company out of Mumbai. WPUI is "a design pattern library built upon WordPress components which gives you the building blocks you need to build your react-powered WordPress plugin or app" (quoted from their site). The project is built in public and available on GitHub. "It was born to avoid the mundane task of assembling UI for WordPress." Bohra tweeted.

---

Daniel Bachhuber, CEO of WordPress.Com (the commercial WordPress hosting company) announced on X (former Twitter) a new prototype of plugin that offers building Custom Content Models from within the Block Editor. The plugin is available on GitHub from Automattic's repository. It's open-source and can be extended or forked. It's more a proof of concept rather than production-ready code, and for the developers it seems to be just an exercise, of "would it be possible" than actually geared towards getting into WordPress Core?

---

Brain Coords tells the story around his contribution to the Custom Content Model in his video Custom fields and post types inside the block editor - with WordPress.com. WordPress.com invited Coords to explore and build the prototype. In his video, Coords takes you through the genesis of the project and the approach the development took. He also gives you a demo and answers audience questions.

---

Matt Medeiros sat down with Mark Szymanski in their episode 65 of the WPMinute podcast to discuss Was The Create Content Model Prototype Good Enough?

---

WordPress Playground

JuanMa Garrido announced, that three new guides published in the WP Playground Docs

• Providing content for your demo with WordPress Playground
• WordPress Playground for Theme Developers
• WordPress Playground for Plugin Developers

The hope is that these resources can help inspire and guide theme and plugin developers to fully take advantage of WP Playground's potential.

Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg's master branch?
Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review.

Now also available via WordPress Playground. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? Email me with your experience

Questions? Suggestions? Ideas?
Don't hesitate to send them via email or
send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph.

---

For questions to be answered on the Gutenberg Changelog,
send them to changelog@gutenbergtimes.com

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Featured Image:

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Don't want to miss the next Weekend Edition?

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14 Sep 2024 9:39am GMT

The reimagined Learn WordPress experience launched just over a month ago. It introduces Learning Pathways, a new approach to educational content from the Training team.

In case you haven't explored the updated Learn WordPress site yet, take a peek at what you've been missing in this short and sweet virtual tour:

The reception of the new experience and Learning Pathways courses has been positive, with the average learner rating at 4.5/5 since the site's relaunch. Here's what learners have been saying:

The Training team is working hard to add more Learning Pathways to the existing roster, with the Designer and Intermediate Plugin Developer Learning Pathways already in progress. In the meantime, explore the four Learning Pathways at Learn WordPress.

There's always more to learn.

13 Sep 2024 7:26pm GMT

Just the other day Lana Miro wrote her HeroPress essay from from Mykolaiv, Ukraine. In it she gives some credit to the WordPress community for helping her literally not lose her mind while bombs fell in her neighborhood. Additionally she credits her company, which builds tools for WordPress.

In the past I've said "WordPress won't help you. It's software, it just sits there." But if that software hadn't been just sitting there, a group of people in Ukraine wouldn't have been able to make this company, to become friends and co-workers, and support each other.

WordCamp Crazy is a group of men from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh that travel together to WordCamps around the world. If that doesn't seem odd to you then you don't know the history of those three countries. On the whole they don't get along. Yet because WordPress exists these men met on common ground and became friends. Sure it's just a small group of people, but it's one step in healing the wounds between their countries. How many other groups or even just two people around the world are like them, that we never hear about?

There are almost 300 stories on HeroPress now, we've been building it for 10 years. But there are so many more stories that I've heard that never made it to the site. So many lives changed.

I think "How did this happen?" and I look at WordPress as a tool. Who built it? So many people. Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Not just core, not just plugins, themes, hacks, tweaks and code. All the support questions answered, all the talks given, all the translations, tutorials, blogs, videos, events, and simply time sitting quietly explaining something to one person who needed it.

Here's my point, right here.

If you've ever contributed to WordPress in any way, YOU did this. I did this. WE did this.

Think about that, and about your impact on the world. Because of your actions, the world is a better place.

Thank you.

Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

The post You Did This appeared first on HeroPress.

12 Sep 2024 9:04pm GMT

Gutenberg 19.2 was released on September 11, 2024. This latest release includes notable changes such as Block Bindings UI, enhancements to the Zoom Out mode, an experimental client-side media processing feature, and some bug fixes.

Here's a rundown of the key features and changes:

Block Bindings UI Moving Out of the Experimental Phase

One of the most significant updates in Gutenberg 19.2 is removing the experimental flag from the Block Bindings UI. This feature, now fully integrated into the editor, allows users to link block attributes with external data sources seamlessly. By default, only admin users can create and modify bindings, ensuring greater control and security.

Vicente Canales from the Core team has shared this video in the announcement post.

Preview Options Extensibility

The new release also adds extensibility to Preview Options via the Plugin API.Plugin and theme developers can now introduce custom preview options in the block editor's preview dropdown. This allows users to preview content in different formats or environments, offering more flexibility in how they view their creations.

Enhanced Zoom Out Mode

The toolbar now has an "Edit" button, making it easier to switch between modes. Users can also exit Zoom Out mode by double-clicking on blocks and the "Shuffle" block toolbar button has been removed.

Content-Only Mode Enhancements

In Content-Only mode, top-level locked blocks now support block styles, providing more consistent designs. Block icons are also now displayed in the toolbar for easier identification.

Experimental Client-side Media Processing

Gutenberg 19.2 introduces an experimental client-side media processing feature. This reduces the server load and potentially improves performance and efficiency.

Other notable highlights include:

• A new reorder control is available at the field level on the new view configuration UI.
• The minimum supported WordPress version for Create Block is now set to 6.6.
• Only admin users are allowed to create and modify block bindings by default.
• Block editor improvements include a 'Reset' option for the MediaReplaceFlow component and Block Library enhancements include better handling of social icons and pagination blocks.
• 10 bug fixes, including a fix for pagination arrows pointing the wrong way in RTL languages and resolving an editor error in Safari caused by the checkVisibility method.

There has been one reported issue with this release, where it causes problems with the Web Stories editor. WordPress Core Committer Pascal Birchler has confirmed that the issue is related to Gutenberg and not Web Stories. Interested users can also check out Riad Benguella's post on Gutenberg development practices and common pitfalls.

12 Sep 2024 8:47pm GMT

Episode Transcript

In this episode of Scaling Enterprise WordPress: The Inside Track, co-hosts Brad Williams and Tom Willmot discuss the evolving role of WordPress in the enterprise space with special guest James Giroux, Technical Account Manager at WordPress VIP.

James shares insights from his 15-year journey through the WordPress ecosystem, touching on his experiences across freelancing, product development, and enterprise-level projects.

The conversation covers key topics such as the challenges and opportunities of scaling WordPress for large organizations, the importance of community and networking in career development, and the future of WordPress in the enterprise market.

They also highlights the need for more enterprise WordPress champions, the role of thought leadership in driving adoption, and the exciting developments to come at WordCampUS.

Takeaways

The Importance of Enterprise in WordPress Growth: James emphasizes that for WordPress to continue its growth and dominance in the CMS market, it must break into enterprise-level organizations, which house large teams and complex systems. The WordPress community has historically catered to smaller users, but scaling up is necessary for future growth.

Learning Enterprise Deeply: James shares his experience transitioning into the enterprise space, learning about complex systems, technical challenges, and the unique needs of large-scale organizations. He introduces terms like DXP (Digital Experience Platform) and highlights how enterprise WordPress involves more than just a large website-it's about integrating with systems, APIs, security, and compliance.

The Role of Community and Networking in Career Development: All three hosts stress the importance of attending events, engaging with the community, and making connections to advance in the WordPress ecosystem. James credits much of his career growth to attending events like WordCamp and building relationships within the community.

Challenges in the Enterprise Space: There are many moving parts when it comes to WordPress in the enterprise-more stakeholders, longer sales cycles, complex integrations, and technical requirements. James points out that many people in the WordPress community might not realize the depth of these challenges until they dive in.

The Opportunity for Product Companies: WordPress product companies often don't realize how their tools are being used at an enterprise level. There's a need for more collaboration between product companies and enterprise organizations to align pricing models, service levels, and support structures that suit large-scale projects.

Influencers in the Enterprise WordPress Space: There is a growing need for WordPress "enterprise influencers"-people who can champion WordPress as a solution for large organizations and communicate its advantages to a broader audience. By doing so, WordPress can challenge competitors like Adobe and Sitecore more effectively.

The Value of Events Like WordCamp US: Events like WordCamp US provide a platform for showcasing what WordPress can achieve at scale. Presentations like NASA's website migration highlight WordPress's capabilities for handling massive projects, and these showcases help promote WordPress as a serious contender in the enterprise CMS space.

Long-term Goals in Enterprise WordPress: James is focused on becoming a top-tier Technical Account Manager while also serving as an ambassador for enterprise WordPress, bridging the gap between the community and large organizations. His long-term goal is to help more companies adopt WordPress by educating and advocating for its enterprise capabilities.

Links

• James Giroux's Blog
• WordPress VIP
• WordCampUS
• NASA
• Scale Consortium

12 Sep 2024 9:18am GMT

It's a tough pick, but I think Inside Out 2 might be my favorite Pixar movie. Just everything about it was just so well done. How they incorporated the different aesthetics, neuralinguistic concepts, everything. Chef's kiss.

12 Sep 2024 2:31am GMT

WordPress 6.6.2, released on September 10, 2024, brings 15 bug fixes to Core and 11 to the Block Editor. Led by Tonya Mork and Vicente Canales, with Aaron Jorbin mentoring the team, this is a short-cycle maintenance release ahead of WordPress 6.7, scheduled for November 12, 2024.

Core Fixes

This update addresses 15 Core issues, including CSS specificity changes in certain themes and the resolution of Button Block CSS conflicts. Other notable improvements include:

• Global Styles now blocks empty CSS rules and malformed selectors for custom CSS for blocks.
• Text-wrapping issues on the About page, which caused line breaks in Japanese, have been fixed.
• A bug that wiped out template contents when renaming templates has been addressed.
• The Site Health Tool now correctly loads directory sizes.
• Autofocus query string parameter in the Customizer URL has been fixed.
• Issues with the search functionality in the installed themes section have been resolved.

Block Editor Fixes

This release addresses 11 issues in the Block Editor, including improved layout style specificity in the non-iframed editor and fixes for pseudo-element selectors in custom block CSS. The release also reduces the specificity of the default featured-image block style rules and prevents the duplication of template parts in non-block-based themes. Post Editor has received multiple improvements.

Tonya Mork's post gives the complete list of bug fixes in WordPress 6.6.2.

Websites with automatic background updates will automatically get updated to WordPress 6.6.2 while others can download it from WordPress.org or update the website via the WordPress Dashboard.

11 Sep 2024 8:56pm GMT

Meet the all new and improved Gravatar Enhanced - a plugin that brings more Gravatar goodness to WordPress while keeping privacy at the forefront.

What's in the box? Let's take a look inside:

Gravatar Privacy Shield

Your users' privacy matters. That's why we've built robust privacy features into Gravatar. We're not in the business of tracking or selling data. Instead, we're focused on helping you share only what's necessary and curating your profile for the open web.

Our Privacy Shield features of the Gravatar Enhanced plugin give you control:

• No referrer information: By default, your site won't send referrer data on Gravatar requests. Even if sent, we don't use or store it.
• Opt-in proxy service: This extra layer keeps requests to Gravatar at a minimum and masks them. It's peace of mind for you and your users.

These features are a direct response to feedback from the WordPress community. We're committed to transparency and putting you in control.

Learn more about the proxy service here.

Gravatar Profile Block

Gravatar is evolving beyond avatars. Our new Profile Block lets you showcase user information anywhere on your site. It's dynamic, it's sleek, and it's effortless.

Here's what you get:

• Avatars, names, bios, and links - all pulled directly from Gravatar profiles
• Automatic updates whenever a Gravatar profile changes
• No need for manual edits or giving WordPress dashboard access

Think of the possibilities:

• Professional author bios without granting full site access
• Team pages that stay current without your intervention
• Enhanced user profiles for courses, memberships, and forums

Right now, the block displays a default card. But we're cooking up something special. Soon, you'll be able to customize both design and content.

Want a sneak peek? Check out these upcoming patterns we're working on…

Once you've enabled the plugin, just look for the Gravatar Profile block in the editor to get started.

Additional Enhancements

There is more to the plugin that you will want to explore:

• Hovercards are enabled by default to increase engagement and letting visitors see who an avatar belongs to
• Enable email notifications to prompt commenters without a Gravatar to create one
• Visit Users > Your Profile to change your avatar with the Gravatar Quick Editor
• We ensure an alt tag of the display name is added to avatars whenever shown
• We ensure the stronger SHA256 encryption is used

Watch this space, as there is a lot more to come soon!

Questions or feedback? Drop them in the comments below.

Get Gravatar Enhanced today.

11 Sep 2024 3:30pm GMT

Transcript

On the podcast today we have Matthias Pupillo.

Matthias has extensive experience in the technology and creative sectors, and is currently working as the co-founder of FluentC.ai, an AI-powered language technology company. With a background in technology, he's focusing on developing solutions to enhance communication across different languages and platforms. He's been involved with WordPress since its early days around version 1.2, and has a rich history of web design and consulting, having worked on hundreds of WordPress websites. But it's only recently that he's become more engaged in the WordPress community through events like WordCamp Buffalo.

In the podcast today we talk about AI-driven language translations, particularly focusing on Matthias's work with FluentC, which is his translation plugin for WordPress. It supports multithreaded, simultaneous translations of up to 140 languages, enabling your pages and posts to be offered in other languages in just a few moments.

We cover the differences between AI models designed for translation, such as ChatGPT and Llama, which aren't specialised for this task, and how his platform builds a contextual layer above those. He emphasises the importance of context and diverse multilingual data in producing high-quality translations. FluentC's functionality involves local storage of translated content, in an effort to maintain website speed. This is done using native WordPress hooks and URL modifications.

Matthias also offers his thoughts on the ongoing multilingual support phase of the Gutenberg project, and his hopes for FluentC to evolve from a standalone plugin to an API which could be used by WordPress Core.

We get into the broader implications of AI in translation, the need for open-source models to compete in this rapidly evolving space, and the parallels between AI evolution and past trends like blockchain and Web 2.0.

If you're interested in the intersection of AI and WordPress, or are looking to enhance your website's multilingual capabilities, this episode is for you.

Useful links

FluentC website

FluentC plugin

ChatGPT

Llama

Google Translate

DeepL

AWS Translate

WPML plugin

Polylang plugin

Matthias on WordPress.org

11 Sep 2024 2:00pm GMT

If you have an unsecured contact form on your website - one that doesn't use any kind of spam-prevention technology - you'll likely get a lot of time-wasting, irrelevant submissions. That's because, without some sort of protection in place, contact forms are simply wide open for malicious actors and bots to submit spam.

There are several ways you can protect a contact form, whether you're using WordPress or not. You can add CAPTCHAs, make contact forms only available for logged‑in users, or add a smart, automated anti‑spam protection tool like Akismet.

Sites that care about the user experience and maximizing conversion rates should almost always choose a solution from that last category - one that stops contact form spam without annoying site visitors.

In this article, we'll go over the most effective ways to stop contact form spam. We'll also discuss why CAPTCHA is no longer the preferred tool for spam protection and show you what you should be using instead. Let's get to it!

The best solutions to stop form spam in 2024

In this section, we'll walk you through the best solutions to stop contact form spam. We'll explain how each solution works, as well as its pros and cons, to help you decide which option to implement for your website.

1. Akismet

Over 100 million websites use Akismet to protect against form spam. Once you set up Akismet on your site, it will analyze submissions and determine what is real content and what is spam.

Akismet leverages machine learning to do this. The software has removed over 500 billion pieces of spam from the web. Every time it does this, it gets better at identifying spam. It's gotten so good, in fact, that it boasts an accuracy rating of 99.99%.

The best thing about Akismet is that it doesn't force users to solve puzzles or interact with elements on your site before enabling them to submit a form. Akismet does its work in the background and prevents contact form spam from reaching your inbox.

If you use WordPress, you can easily integrate Akismet with a plugin. Akismet also offers integration options for other content management systems (CMS), including Joomla and Drupal.

You can also integrate Akismet with other types of sites using its API. This makes it a near‑universal solution for spam protection.

2. CAPTCHAs

Completely automated public Turing tests (or CAPTCHAs) are tools designed to help block bots from being able to submit forms. CAPTCHAs are everywhere on the web, from login pages to comment sections and contact forms.

There are several types of CAPTCHAs you can use to protect a contact form. Google reCAPTCHA, for example, provides CAPTCHAs with visual puzzles that users need to solve or elements they need to click on to prove they're human. The latest versions of reCAPTCHA don't require interaction, but you're free to choose which option to use.

While CAPTCHAs are popular, they do have a few downsides. We'll explore the cons of using CAPTCHAs later in the post.

3. Honeypot

Using honeypots is a creative way to mitigate contact form spam for a website. This method involves setting up an input field within the form and hiding it from human users in some way (typically using CSS).

Although real visitors won't be able to see the field, they'll still be able to submit forms as usual. Spambots, on the other hand, are typically configured to fill out every field in a form, including honeypots.

This method can help you identify which form submissions come from bots. You can use that information to filter these messages and keep your focus on real submissions.

Although the honeypot approach can be effective, you'll still receive contact form spam, which can clutter your inbox. Plus, you'll need to understand basic CSS to hide a contact form field. If you use a CMS with a contact form plugin, it might not allow you to easily hide elements.

Some spambots are also capable of bypassing honeypot fields. And, you run the risk of real users stumbling into the hidden fields, which can lead you to think their submissions are also spam.

4. Session cookies

As you may know, some websites use session cookies to track your information and activity on their pages. This means you can also use cookies to identify bots due to the way they behave on your site.

Bot activity can be relatively simple to identify. Spambots often go straight for contact forms, fill them out immediately, and attempt to make multiple submissions. In contrast to how real users behave, they're also unlikely to interact with other elements on a site.

You can use this information to block form submissions for sessions that engage in suspicious behavior. But this only works if you're comfortable configuring cookies to detect suspicious behavior.

That process requires you to configure the cookies to flag behavior that you would typically see with spambots. There can be a lot of trial and error involved in this process, and it's arguably a lot more difficult than using an available tool or service to block contact form spam.

Typically, this solution is more common among enterprise websites and businesses that have the technical know‑how to implement advanced security measures. Even then, the results you get might not be worth the trouble when there are out‑of‑the‑box solutions you can use to achieve similar (or even better) results.

5. Email filtering

Most modern email clients offer some type of message filtering functionality. You can use these filters to flag emails from specific addresses or those that contain keywords you associate with spam.

In general, you shouldn't use email filtering tools to deal with contact form spam unless you get a very low number of messages. For this method to be effective, you need to decide what terms to filter and continue to add new keywords over time.

Flagging the wrong keywords can lead to situations where your email will falsely flag messages from real users. Identifying these false positives will often require you to spend time in your email's spam folder, which is precisely what you want to avoid.

Why CAPTCHA is not the best option

CAPTCHAs are one of the most common forms of spam protection on the web. You can see CAPTCHAs everywhere, but that doesn't mean they're the most effective spam protection method.

There are several reasons why using them may not be the best option:

• CAPTCHAs negatively impact the user experience. Some types of CAPTCHAs require users to interact with an element to prove they're human or to solve one or more puzzles. If you've ever had to solve multiple CAPTCHA puzzles to access a form, you know how frustrating this can be.
• CAPTCHAs are prone to false positives. Even humans can make mistakes when it comes to CAPTCHAs. The detection algorithms aren't perfect, which can lead to situations where a website flags a real user as a bot and prevents them from submitting a contact form.
• CAPTCHAs require work to set up and constant updates. Spambots and CAPTCHAs are constantly trying to beat each other. Some types of spambots can bypass CAPTCHAs with a decent success rate. This means you may need to update your CAPTCHA implementation regularly. Plus, you have to set up CAPTCHAs individually for each form you want to protect.

It's important to note that your experience using CAPTCHAs can vary a lot depending on which service you use. Some CAPTCHAs, like the latest versions of reCAPTCHA, don't require users to solve puzzles or interact with elements on the web. Even so, it's safe to say that CAPTCHAs are becoming outdated.

Instead of using a CAPTCHA, consider a more powerful alternative to the contact form spam problem, like Akismet.

Akismet: the best anti‑spam solution

Most anti-spam tools focus on identifying spam content and bots before they can submit a contact form. Akismet does things differently.

The service uses machine learning to constantly improve its spam detection capabilities. That constant improvement has led to the point where Akismet can boast a 99.99% accuracy rate in detecting spam.

You can choose whether to save spam comments for review or let Akismet discard them immediately.

Akismet will automatically detect contact form spam and filter it for you. The service also offers a host of other benefits, which include the following:

• Easy setup. If you use WordPress, you can set up Akismet in minutes. All you have to do is install and activate the plugin, and it will automatically start protecting your site against spam submissions. This ease of use also applies to installing Akismet on other types of sites.
• A more seamless user experience. The service works in the background and doesn't involve elements that require user interaction. This reduces the friction of submitting a contact form, which can improve your conversion rates.
• Integration with any kind of website. Akismet offers simple integration protocols for several popular platforms, including WordPress. You can also use the Akismet API to make the service work with nearly any other kind of website or application.

Keep in mind that if you want to use the Akismet API, you'll probably need to work with a developer to set up a custom integration for your site.

How to integrate Akismet on any website

Akismet offers different integration methods depending on what kind of website you run. If you're using WordPress, you can get Akismet up and running in a matter of minutes.

To start, install and activate the Akismet plugin. Then, Akismet will ask you to select a plan.

Hobbyists can select a Personal plan and pay a fair rate of their choice. Incredibly affordable commercial plans are available for other situations.

Once you sign up for a plan, you'll get access to an Akismet API key. Enter that key in WordPress by going to Settings → Akismet Anti‑Spam.

Click on Connect with API key and that's it. Akismet will activate and start protecting your site from spam immediately.

Note that if you're using Akismet with WordPress, the plugin integrates with some of the most popular contact form tools. That includes options like Jetpack's form blocks, Contact Form 7, and Gravity Forms.

As we mentioned before, Akismet also offers integrations with other CMSs, including Joomla and Drupal. Those integrations work differently than with WordPress, so you'll need to check the Akismet documentation to set them up.

You also have the option of using the Akismet API to integrate the service with any kind of website or application. This requires some level of development work, but enables you to leverage Akismet's spam detection and protection functionality on any website.

Frequently asked questions

If you still have questions about how to stop spam from website contact forms, this section will answer them.

What is contact form spam?

Contact forms are common targets for spammers and bots. If the form doesn't use some type of security feature, spammers are able to make all kinds of useless and potentially‑harmful submissions through the form. These can include links to other websites, promotions for fraudulent services and products, and automatically‑generated content.

How does contact form spam affect a website?

Contact form spam shouldn't affect your website on the front end, unless the form is open to some kind of attack that can compromise your site's security (like SQL injection).

In most cases, the biggest downside of contact form spam is having to deal with it. This spam can quickly fill up your inbox and make it harder for you to separate the real messages from the fake ones.

Why is Akismet considered the best solution for contact form spam?

Most solutions that focus on stopping contact form spam do so at the expense of the user experience. CAPTCHAs, for instance, force users to solve problems or click on elements before they can submit a form. This can reduce the number of people willing to use the form and can even make them inaccessible to those with disabilities.

Akismet is highly effective in stopping contact form spam, with a detection accuracy rate of 99.99% for spam content. Plus, Akismet doesn't impact the user experience whatsoever, as it works in the background during form submission.

What are honeypot fields, and how do they work?

A honeypot field is an element in a contact form that only bots should be able to engage with. You can create one by using CSS to hide a field in plain sight or through a plugin that will handle this for you. Regular users will skip the hidden field, but spambots won't.

Once the honeypot is set, you can filter all contact form submissions that fill out the field. You may also be able to blocklist the IP addresses that make the submissions, depending on which contact form tool you're using.

How effective is CAPTCHA in preventing spam?

CAPTCHAs are among the most popular solutions for protecting your website from contact form spam. Their popularity makes them a significant target for attackers, who are constantly devising ways to bypass them using automated tools.

It's also not uncommon for CAPTCHAs to flag real users as bots. Overall, CAPTCHAs can be highly effective, but they're not without several downsides.

Can spambots bypass honeypot fields and CAPTCHAs?

Yes, some spambots can bypass honeypot fields and CAPTCHAs. Attackers are constantly trying to bypass form security measures, and that means creating new bots and constantly updating them so they remain effective.

Akismet bypasses this problem by focusing its spam detection tools on the content of the form submissions. The service also learns from each submission, which makes it the most accurate spam detection and prevention tool on the market.

Can Akismet protect against all types of spam?

Spammers and bots tend to target any public form on websites. Akismet can protect all the forms on your site by monitoring submissions. It does this without you having to set up individual protection for each form, as is the case with CAPTCHAs.

Where can I learn more about Akismet?

You can visit the Akismet features page to learn more about how its spam protection functionality works. If you're ready to start using Akismet on your website, check out the available plans.

Stop contact form spam using Akismet

If you're spending time dealing with contact form spam, you may be missing out on submissions from real users. Using tools that enable you to stop form spam will free up your time for other tasks. Moreover, with the right tools, it's relatively easy to stop contact form spam.

There are several ways to stop contact form spam on WordPress and other platforms.. Akismet is the leading option since it doesn't impede navigation for real users. It's also easy to implement (particularly if you're using WordPress), and it has a 99.99% rate of accuracy for spam detection.

You can use Akismet for free on your personal website or choose from affordable plans for commercial sites, where spam protection becomes even more essential. Start using Akismet today!

11 Sep 2024 1:00pm GMT

Episode Transcript

In this episode of Woo BizChat, hosts Adam Weeks and Emma Young dive into the world of asynchronous communication, sharing insights on how to effectively communicate across different time zones and platforms.

They explore the do's and don'ts of async communication, the importance of over-communicating, using emojis and tone to convey clarity, and when to switch to a real-time conversation.

Adam and Emma also tackle the tricky topic of swearing in professional contexts, the value of getting feedback, and how to build rapport while keeping communication clear and human.

Takeaways

Over-communicating is better than under-communicating: In asynchronous communication, providing thorough context is essential, especially if the person hasn't met you in person or doesn't know your communication style. Clear, detailed messages help avoid misunderstandings.

Use emojis strategically: Emojis can add warmth and tone to otherwise cold, text-based communication. However, don't overdo it-use them to enhance clarity and express emotions without distracting from the message.

Break up complex messages: When you need to ask multiple questions or cover several topics, break your message into separate posts or threads to keep discussions organized and avoid overwhelming the recipient.

Timing and consistency matter: Whether it's a recurring meeting agenda or an important message, being consistent with when and how you communicate helps establish predictability and reliability in your workflow.

When to switch to real-time communication: If a conversation becomes too complex or emotional, it's often best to switch from async to synchronous communication. A quick Zoom call or Slack huddle can save time and prevent misunderstandings.

Be mindful of your audience: Different cultures and communication styles may require adjusting your approach. Always be respectful and considerate, especially when using acronyms, jargon, or informal language.

Feedback is key: Regularly ask for feedback on your communication style to improve. It helps you ensure that your messages are clear and interpreted as intended.

Set expectations clearly: Don't be afraid to set clear deadlines and expectations in your messages. It's unkind to be unclear-people appreciate knowing when something is due or when to take action.

Use peer reviews for important messages: When sending out important or client-facing communication, consider drafting in a tool like Google Docs and getting feedback from peers before hitting send.

Know when it's okay to swear: Swearing in async communication depends on the company culture and your relationship with the person you're communicating with. Keep it professional, especially in client-facing conversations, and avoid being the first to swear.

---

11 Sep 2024 9:38am GMT

Here is Lana reading her own story aloud.

Це есе також доступно українською.

My name is Lana Miro, shortened for Svitlana. I'm a Partnerships Manager at Crocoblock. This article is my personal story about how WordPress and my work have been helping me stay on board during the war in Ukraine.

Brief Introduction

I'm 28 years old, born and raised in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. It's a peaceful, small city (before the war, about 400,000 people lived here). I never thought about moving because travelling and exploring other cities for short periods was enough for me. Mykolaiv was always my comfort zone, where I felt safe.

This city provides me with a sense of peace - the river, the parks… the river - yes, I'm a fan of water.

My Introduction to WordPress

I began my journey with WordPress in 2017 when I started an internship at TemplateMonster. That's when I discovered this incredible platform that captivated me with its scope and possibilities.

At TemplateMonster, I worked as a Partnerships Manager. At that time, the company's niche was templates for various CMS platforms. So, I'm well-acquainted with all of WordPress's competitors.

During my three years with the company, I realized that WordPress was the largest and most interesting CMS for me.

Why?

• The community and the number of people creating content about WordPress is enormous!
• A variety of plugins and templates.
• An interesting and intuitive dashboard.

In 2020, during the Covid pandemic, I started experiencing issues with my back and mental health, so I decided to take a one-year break. I left the project and rejoined another Holding project a year later - Crocoblock.

Crocoblock was a breath of fresh air for me because of its amazing community and cool plugins that I wanted to work with.

My main tasks involved finding partners for collaboration, organizing events, and more. I've described partnerships in more detail in my free guide - WordPress Partnerships Basics.

Invasion: How to Work?

The war with Russia has been ongoing since 2014, so the Russian invasion in 2022 wasn't a surprise to us. However, what was surprising - that bombs, missiles, and artillery could be used with such intensity in the 21st century.

For the first two weeks, we were paralyzed.

The beginning

The first two weeks of the war were a real shock. We were all paralyzed, but the Crocoblock team quickly came together, creating an operational chat to support each other. This was a time when words, actions, and even just being present in the chat meant so much.

For example, one of our employees immediately went to the army, so we collected money, and our developers bought everything he needed to start.

I checked my work email on the second day of the escalation. Lying in the basement, with the internet barely reaching, I decided, "I'm relatively safe, so I can respond to partners." I reviewed critical messages, and let them know that we were okay and would respond as soon as we adapted.

A few days later, we decided to write a blog post to let the Community know we were okay and to explain what was happening.

After two weeks of lying in the basement (yes, my family of nine spent two weeks in the basement, occasionally sleeping in the corridor or bathroom for safety), a bomb was dropped near our street, and that became a critical moment for our family.

By a majority vote, we decided to move to the western part of our country.

Adaptation period

Once we were safe, I was able to start working at 100% (okay, maybe 80%, as 20% of me was still in shock ). Of course, the news, conditions, and stress affected me, but work helped me get back into a routine and begin to adapt.

Work became my lifeline.

It brought me back to life, giving me a sense of stability when everything around me was falling apart. We recorded a video message for our clients, which was an important step not only for synchronization but also for my personal recovery.

Not to mention the numerous words of support we received afterward.

We once again realized that Crocoblock clients are the best.

Part of the team immediately moved to safer cities or went abroad. But some stayed in Mykolaiv, and Anna, our CEO, was in an occupied city - Kherson. But that's her story. I was incredibly happy when she finally left the occupation, and we exhaled in relief.

After three months (which felt like a year), my husband and I decided to move closer to Mykolaiv to be near his parents. It was safe there, but due to the constant changes, my depression reached its peak.

Fortunately, part of Kherson was liberated, and Mykolaiv was being shelled less frequently, so we decided to return home. That's when I started treatment with a psychiatrist. She helped stabilize my condition and bring me back.

2022 was the hardest year for me and my family, but the ability to work and be part of the WordPress community helped me Just Continue. At the end of the year, I decided to thank everyone who supported me, asked how I was doing, joked, and was kind to me in a post on Medium.

Team changes

Of course, the war impacted our team, and I immediately noticed how management changed its approach to focus on caring for each team member.

We started having training sessions based on the team's requests (e.g., anxiety management), management helped with healing supplies (since there are blackouts or Internet issues in Ukraine), and relocation if needed.

During the war, our HR team introduced the IDP (Individual Development Plan), which allows you to outline your development for the year, focus, and receive better feedback. This helped me during my depression. The war brought changes, and I became more anxious, chaotic and found it hard to focus.

The constant support from my manager was also crucial. My manager is Anna, our CEO. I regularly receive feedback from her, which is often needed to work better. She also supports my initiatives and ideas, which is incredibly motivating.

I try to implement her skills in managing my team of three wonderful women - Victoria, Community Manager; Nikki, Content Marketer; and Dashel, our blog Editor.

Today

I'm writing this article on August 26, during one of the biggest attacks by Russia (just one day after our Independence Day celebration). More than 100 missiles and drones were launched this morning.

We woke up at 7:30 a.m. and saw the attack begin. Thanks to monitoring channels, we can continue to live and hide in shelters when they announce. I had breakfast, did some exercise, and started working with sirens in the background.

Next came the emergency electricity offs, as one of Russia's goals is to break our energy system and plunge our country and people into chaos. But besides anger and hatred, I no longer feel anything for them. We are prepared; we have power banks, EcoFlows, water reserves, and are ready to work full force so our country can survive.

We are currently actively preparing for our 2nd WordPress Agency Summit in September, and this helps me feel like I can be useful to the community. Join us; it's free.

We're also trying to participate in more WordPress events. For example, this year we sponsored WordCamp Europe 2024, and we're planning to sponsor a local event in Spain for the first time.

In general, I'm finding my place in the WordPress community, which inspires me with its kindness and support. The first step was my guide on partnerships. Next, I plan to:

• Launch my blog - a home for my thoughts - on partnerships, event organization, mental health, etc.;
• Contribute photos to the WordPress directory (since this is an old hobby I forgot about);
• Plus, I have many ideas that I want to gradually implement.

What Helped Me

My strength comes from the support of my team, family, and the WordPress community. Along with that, therapy, household chores, and even simple joys like cafes or books helped me find inner harmony to continue living.

My top glimmers:

• Donating to the military (I try to donate at least 10% of my income every month);
• Car trips (this is my therapy and childhood dream);
• Household chores to distract myself and declutter;
• Cafes (many atmospheric places have opened in the city);
• Supporting Ukrainian businesses (we try to buy local products);
• WordPress events and activities;
• Books and good music;
• Comfortable and beautiful things;
• The support of my family and sister;
• Flowers and small gifts (I didn't see the point before, but now they bring a smile and improve my mood).

Because only in harmony with myself can I help my country.

---

Як WordPress та робота допомагають мені залишатись на плаву під час війни?

Слухайте власну історію Лани вголос.

Мене звати Лана Міро, скорочено від Світлани. Я - партнерський менеджер у Crocoblock. Ця стаття - моя особиста історія про те, як WordPress і робота допомагають мені залишатися на плаву під час війни в Україні.

Короткий вступ

Мені 28 років, я народилась і проживаю у місті Миколаїв, Україна. Це спокійне, не велике місто (до війни, тут проживало близько 400 тис. людей). Я ніколи не задумувалась про переїзд, бо мені було достатньо подорожей і дослідження інших міст на короткий період. А от Миколаїв завжди залишався моєю комфортною зоною, де я почувала себе в безпеці.

Тут є те, що дає мені відчуття спокою - річка, парки… річка - так, я фанат води.

Знайомство з WordPress

Я почала свій шлях з WordPress у 2017 році, коли прийшла на стажування до TemplateMonster. Тоді я відкрила для себе цю неймовірну платформу, яка захопила мене своєю масштабністю і можливостями.

У TemplateMonster, я працювала менеджером з партнерств. На той період ніша компанії - це шаблони для різних CMS. Тому я обізнана з усіма конкурентами WordPress.

Протягом 3х років роботи в компанії, я зрозуміла, що WordPress найбільша і найцікавіша для мене CMS.

Чому?

1. Ком'юніті та кількість людей, які створюють контент про WordPress - величезна!
2. Різноманітність плагінів, шаблонів
3. Цікавий і інтуїтивний дашборд

У 2020, під час Covid, я почала більше відчувати проблеми зі спиною і ментальним здоров'ям, тому вирішила зробити паузу на 1 рік. Звільнилась з проекту і поновилась через рік у інший проект холдингу - Crocoblock.

Crocoblock став для мене новим ковтком повітря, бо тут крутезне ком'юніті і класні плагіни, з якими хочеться працювати.

Моїми основними завданнями було пошук партнерів для співпраці, організація заходів, і т.д. Більше про партнерства, я описала у своєму, безкоштовному посібнику - WordPress Partnerships Basics.

Повномасштабна Війна: як працювати?

Війна з росією триває з 2014 року, тому для нас не був сюрпризом наступ росіян 2022. Але сюрпризом було, що у 21 столітті можуть використовуватись бомби, ракети, та артилерія в такій інтенсивності.

Перші 2 тижні ми були паралізовані.

Початок

Перші два тижні війни були справжнім шоком. Ми всі були паралізовані, але команда Crocoblock швидко згуртувалася, створивши оперативний чат для підтримки один одного. Це був час, коли слова, дії і навіть просто присутність у чаті значили дуже багато.

(наприклад, наш співробітник одразу пішов воювати, тому ми зібрали гроші і наші розробники купили все що йому потрібно для початку).

На робочу пошту я зайшла десь на другий день ескалації. Лежачи в підвалі, інтернет трошки дотягував, тому я вирішила - "Я відносно в безпеці, отже можу відповісти партнерам :D". Я оглянула критичні повідомлення, дала знати що у нас все окей і відповімо якомога скоріше як адаптуємось.

Через пару днів, ми вирішили написати блог статтю, щоб дати знати нашим клієнтам та партнерам - ми в порядку і що взагалі відбувається.

Через 2 тижні, лежачи в підвалі (так, 2 тижні моя сім'я з 9 людей провела в підвалі, періодично сплячи в коридорі або ванній кімнаті дому для безпеки) недалеко від нашої вулиці скинули бомбу і це стало критичним моментом для нашої сім'і. І методом голосування - ми виїхали на захід нашої країни.

Період адаптації

Будучи в безпеці, я змогла почати працювати на всі 100 (ну окей, на 80%, 20% мене ще досі було шокована). Звичайно, новини, умови і стан стресу вплинули, але робота допомогла повернутись в режим і почати адаптуватись.

Робота стала моїм рятівним колом. Вона повернула мене до життя, дала мені відчуття стабільності, коли все навколо руйнувалося. Ми записали відеозвернення для наших клієнтів, що стало важливим кроком не лише для синхронізації, але й для мого особистого відновлення.

Не кажучи вже про численну кількість слів підтримки, яку ми отримали потім.

Ми ще раз зрозуміли - Crocoblock клієнти - найкращі.

Частина команди одразу переїхала в безпечніші міста або виїхала закордон. Але дехто залишався в Миколаєві, а Анна - наша CEO взагалі була в окупованому місті - Херсон. Але це вже її історія. Я була неймовірно рада коли вона нарешті виїхала з окупації і ми видихнули з полегшенням.

Після 3х місяців (для мене вони тягнулись як рік), я і мій чоловік вирішили переїхати ближче до Миколаєва до його батьків. Там було безпечно, але через зміни, моя депресія досягла апогею.

На щастя, звільнили частину Херсону і Миколаїв став менше обстрілюватись, тому ми вирішили повернутися додому. Де я почала лікування з психіатром. Вона допомогла стабілізувати мій стан і повернути себе.

2022 рік був найскладнішим для мене та моєї сім'ї, але можливість працювати та бути частинкою WordPress ком'юніті допомогло мені вистояти та допомагати моїй країні. В кінці року, я вирішила подякувати всім, хто мене підтримував, запитував як справи, жартував, був добрим до мене, у своєму пості на Medium.

Командні зміни

Звичайно війна вплинула на нашу команду і я одразу помітила як менеджмент змінив підхід до управління з акцентом на піклування про кожного члена команди.

У нас почались тренінги згідно запитів команди (наприклад, боротьба з тривожністю), менеджмент допомагає з засобами заживлення (так як в Україні бувають блекаути/проблеми зі світлом або зв'язком) та релокацією за потреби.

Під час війни, наша HR команда ввела IDP (Individual development plan), який дозволяє окреслити розвиток людини протягом року, сфокусуватись і отримувати кращий фідбек. Мені це допомогло під час депресії. Бо війна внесла свої корективи і я стала більш тривожною, хаотичною і важко було сфокусуватись.

Важливою є постійна підтримка менеджера. Мій менеджер - це Анна, наша СЕО. Від неї я постійно отримую фідбек, який так часто потрібен, щоб краще працювати. Також вона підтримує мої починання та ідеї, що неймовірно мотивує.

Я стараюсь наслідувати її навички у своєму управлінні моєю командою з трьох прекрасних жінок - Вікторія, Community Manager; Ніккі, Content Marketer, та Дашель, Editor.

Сьогодення

Пишу цю статтю 26 серпня, в день однієї з наймасштабнішої атаки росії (буквально 1 день від святкування нашого дня Незалежності). Більше 100 ракет і дронів було випущено зранку.

Зранку ми прокинулись о 7:30 і побачили початок атаки. Завдяки моніторинговим каналам, ми можемо продовжувати жити і підглядати коли треба сховатись в укриття. Я поснідала, зробила зарядку і почала працювати з серенами на фоні (це значно краще ніж вибухи).

Далі почались аварійні відключення, бо одна з цілей росії - зламати нашу енергосистему і ввести нашу країну і людей в хаос. Але, окрім злості і ненависті я більше не відчуваю нічого до них. Ми підготовлені, маємо пауербанки, екофлоу, резерви води і готові працювати наповну, щоб країна вижила.

Зараз ми активно працюємо над підготовкою до нашої 2гої WordPress Agency Summit у вересні і це допомагає мені відчувати, що я можу бути корисною ком'юніті. Доєднуйтесь, це безкоштовно.

Також стараємось більше брати участь у заходах WordPress. Наприклад, спонсорували WordCamp Europe 2024, та плануємо спонсорувати вперше локальний захід у Іспанії.

В загальному, я шукаю своє місце у WordPress ком'юніті, яке надихає мене своєю добротою та підтримкою. Першим кроком був мій посібник про партнерства. Далі, я планую:

• запустити свій блог - дім для моїх думок - про партнерства, організацію заходів, ментальне здоров'я і т.д.;
• контриб'юторство фотографій у директорію WordPress (так як це моє стареньке хоббі про яке я забула);
• Плюс маю безліч ідей, які поступово хочу втілювати.

Що мені Допомогло

Моя сила - це підтримка моєї команди, родини, і ком'юніті WordPress. Разом з тим, терапія, побутові справи, і навіть прості радощі, такі як кав'ярні або книжки, допомогли мені знайти внутрішню гармонію, щоб продовжувати боротьбу.

Мої топ глімери:

• Донати на військо (щомісяця стараюсь не менше 10% доходу донатити);
• Поїздки на машині (це моя терапія і дитяча мрія);
• Побутові справи, щоб відволіктись і не думати;
• Кав'ярні (у місті відкрилось багато атмосферних закладів);
• Підтримка українських бізнесів (намагаємось купувати локальні товари);
• WordPress заходи та події;
• Книжки та хороша музика;
• Зручні та гарні речі;
• Підтримка моєї сім'ї, родини та сестри;
• Квіти та дрібні подарунки (раніше не бачила в тому сенсу, а зараз дарують посмішку і настрій).

Бо тільки у гармонійному стані я можу допомагати своїй країні вистояти.

The post How WordPress and My Work Help Me Stay on Board During the War - Як WordPress та робота допомагають мені залишатись на плаву під час війни? appeared first on HeroPress.

11 Sep 2024 5:00am GMT