fidzu : blog

Hi there,

AI is on my mind a lot these days. It speeds up my life when I research or analyze content, tools and technology. Even more so when working on workflow automation. This week saw an "explosion of visible AI progress in the WordPress project" as James LePage calls it. And on my travel through the feeds Block Themes and theme.json appeared as an important topic.

We are less than two weeks and one Gutenberg release away from WordPress 7.0 Beta 1 release on February 19th. WordPress 6.9.1 and Gutenberg 22.5 were released..

You all have a wonderful weekend!

Yours,
Birgit

Developing Gutenberg and WordPress

As mentioned last week, WordPress 6.9.1 Maintenance Release shipped on Tuesday with 49 bugs fixed throughout Core and the Block Editor. If your site has automatic minor updates enabled you should have it by now. Otherwise you definitely should make it a point to update manually.

Rae Morey, editor of The Repository, has the skinny for you in WordPress 6.9.1 Released

Gutenberg 22.5 was also released. My post on the Make blog gives you What's new in Gutenberg 22.5? (04 February). The highlights:

• Custom CSS Support for Individual Blocks
• Image Block: Aspect Ratio Control for Wide and Full Alignment
• List View Improvements
• Other Notable Highlights, among those, Text-columns support and focal point for fixed Cover background images.

In his trac ticket, Fabian Kägy proposed a "coat-of-paint" visual reskin of the WordPress admin for the 7.0 release. The goal is to modernize wp-admin's appearance. It aims to reduce inconsistencies between older screens and the block editor. All elements should align with the WordPress Design System. Kägy has broken the work into focused sub-tickets covering color variables, buttons, inputs, notices, typography, spacing, and the admin frame. You can test early explorations via WordPress Playground. A new wp-base-styles handle has already landed to share admin color scheme CSS variables across core. Your feedback would be appreciated. 12 days before WordPress 7.0 beta, it's not clear that it makes it into the next WordPress version. Kägy also mentioned that he is working with Tammie Lister on a post on the Make Core blog.

The latest episode is Gutenberg Changelog #125 - WordPress 6.9, Gutenberg 22.1 and Gutenberg 22.2 with JC Palmes, WebDev Studios

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

Troy Chaplin released Planned Outage for Block Themes, a simple maintenance-mode plugin for block themes. You can create your maintenance page directly in the Site Editor or use a maintenance.html template in your theme. Logged-in users can still browse normally, while other visitors see a 503 error with a Retry-After header. It also allows search engine bots to keep crawling during extended outages, helping to maintain your rankings while you make updates.

Johanne Courtright has restructured her Groundworx Core product into a bundle of four focused plugins - Query Filters, Showcase (Embla Carousels), Cards & Sections, and Tabs & Accordion - each now available separately. You can still buy the full bundle or grab just what you need. The core block extensions like responsive column controls and unified breakpoints have been spun off into a free plugin called Foundation, which also adds a new Gravity Forms block with proper block theme styling support.

Hans-Gerd Gerhards released version 1.5 of his Dynamic Header & Navigation for Block Themes plugin in January, fixing an annoying header flicker when scrolling back near the top of a page. You can now try the plugin instantly via a Live Preview directly from the WordPress plugin directory.

Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks

Mike Davey, senior editor at Delicious Brains, published a developer's cheat sheet to theme.json anatomy. You'll learn how setting the $schema property unlocks IntelliSense in VS Code. The settings section lets you lock down color pickers and font sizes to prevent design drift. The styles section replaces traditional CSS with auto-generated variables. The post also covers block-specific overrides. "Once understood, [theme.json] offers a level of granular control over what clients can and cannot do that was difficult to achieve in the classic PHP era." Davey wrote.

As a side note, the post 15 ways to curate the WordPress editing experience by Nick Diego is still one of the most read articles on the WordPress Developer Blog. You'll learn how to turn off blocks, unregister variations and styles, lock down color pickers and font sizes via theme.json, restrict access to the Code Editor and Template Editor, and remove Openverse and the Block Directory. The post covers PHP filters, JavaScript techniques, and Editor settings.

If you want to dive deeper into how to handle common theme-building problems with theme.json, here is a list of articles for your perusal from the WordPress Developer blog, mostly by Justin Tadlock.

• How WordPress 6.9 gives forms a theme.json makeover
• You don't need theme.json for block theme styles
• Mastering theme.json: You might not need CSS
• Adding and using custom settings in theme.json
• How to modify theme.json data using server-side filters by Nick Diego
• Customizing core block style variations via theme.json
• Per-block CSS with theme.json
• Leveraging theme.json and per-block styles for more performant themes

Johanne Courtright makes a compelling case for why she chooses Gutenberg over Elementor. She argues that Elementor became a CMS inside a CMS-duplicating templates, colors, typography, and breakpoints WordPress already provides. The result? Specificity wars, inline styles, and sites that break when you deactivate the plugin. With Gutenberg and theme.json, you get one source of truth: change a spacing value once, see it everywhere. Her clients now update their own sites without calling for help.

Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.

In his latest live stream, Getting the Icon Block ready for WordPress 7.0, Ryan Welcher takes you behind the scenes of contributing. He has been working on the new Icon Block for Gutenberg plugin and the next version of WordPress. He is in crunch mode to finish the new Icon Block in time. Join him to see where we're at and what needs to be done before then! You can read up about the genesis of this block via the GitHub PR.

Ai and WordPress

Jonathan Bossenger has published a helpful article titled From Abilities to AI Agents: Introducing the WordPress MCP Adapter on the WordPress Developer blog. The WordPress MCP Adapter links the Abilities API with AI tools like Claude Desktop. In this article, you'll learn how to change abilities into MCP tools, connect using STDIO or HTTP transport, and create custom MCP servers for your plugins. It also provides easy configuration examples for each client and security tips for turning existing abilities into AI-ready APIs.

James LePage rounds up a remarkable burst of AI progress across the WordPress project. You'll find a proposal to bring an LLM client into WordPress 7.0 core, a mature MCP adapter for building agents, the Abilities API shipping in 6.9, and a new "AI Leaders" micro-credential for students. There's also WP-Bench for benchmarking model performance on WordPress tasks, plus a growing AI experiments plugin nearing 1,000 commits - covering everything from Typeahead completions to content guidelines in Gutenberg.

Speaking of which, you can read more about Content Guidelines: A Gutenberg Experiment on the Make AI Blog. In its the first version. Lots of feedback is expected. The goal is to give site owners a first-class place in WordPress to capture the rules and context that shape how content should be written, edited, and managed on their site.

The WordPress project now has an official Agent Skills repository designed to teach AI coding assistants like Claude, Copilot, and Codex how to build WordPress properly. You'll find portable bundles of instructions, checklists, and scripts covering block development, block themes, the REST API, Interactivity API, Abilities API, performance, and more. Skills install globally or per-project, helping AI assistants avoid outdated patterns and follow current best practices - contributions are welcome, mostly in Markdown.

Jeff Paul published a call for testing to explore new AI experiments you can try right now via WordPress Playground. The experiments are

• Type-ahead suggestions while writing,
• AI-assisted comment moderation,
• Markdown feeds for agent consumption,
• extended provider options,
• an AI Playground for testing prompts,
• MCP integration, and
• request logging for debugging and cost tracking.

The instructions are quite detailed to follow along. The ask is feedback on UX, usefulness, and flow. Jump in and share your impressions on the post or the PRs links with each experiment.

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

06 Feb 2026 11:27pm GMT

Google shares an update on its work and suggestions for how policymakers can help everyone be more secure in the Quantum Era.

06 Feb 2026 10:15pm GMT

Yesterday Ninja Forms became the latest WordPress company to financially support HeroPress! They'll now be listed forever on the Sponsor Wall Of Fame.

I've used Ninja Forms for years, and it's an excellent forms plugin, so if you need one give it a shot!

If you or your organization would also like to support HeroPress financially, please head over to the donate page.

The post Many thanks to Ninja Forms appeared first on HeroPress.

06 Feb 2026 4:18pm GMT

WordCamp Port Harcourt 2026 is set to bring together WordPress users, designers, developers, content creators, entrepreneurs, and digital enthusiasts from across Nigeria and beyond for a day of learning, collaboration, and community building.

The event will take place on 21 February 2026 at the Celebr8 Center, 35 Olu Obasanjo Road, Port Harcourt, and is fully volunteer-led, in line with the global WordCamp tradition.

Growing the WordPress Community in the Niger Delta

Port Harcourt has a fast-growing tech and creative ecosystem, and WordCamp Port Harcourt continues to play a key role in nurturing local talent, encouraging open-source contribution, and creating access to digital skills.

Since its inception, the WordCamp Port Harcourt community has focused on:

• Supporting beginners taking their first steps with WordPress
• Helping freelancers and agencies improve their workflows and businesses
• Introducing students and young professionals to open-source culture
• Connecting local creators to the global WordPress ecosystem

WordCamp Port Harcourt 2026 builds on this foundation by creating a space where people can learn, share experiences, and form meaningful connections.

What to Expect at WordCamp Port Harcourt 2026

Attendees can look forward to a full day of practical and engaging sessions covering topics such as:

• WordPress for business and entrepreneurship
• Design, performance, and user experience
• Content creation and digital publishing
• Security, hosting, and website management
• The future of work, skills development, and WordPress

The event will feature talks from a variety of speakers, panel discussions, speed build challenge, and opportunities to interact with sponsors and community partners.

As with all WordCamps, sessions are designed to be accessible to a wide range of experience levels-from complete beginners to seasoned professionals.

Community, Not Just a Conference

Beyond talks and presentations, WordCamp Port Harcourt 2026 emphasizes the importance of community. Attendees will have opportunities to:

• Network with fellow WordPress users and professionals
• Meet contributors and community organizers
• Learn how to get involved with WordPress meetups and future events
• Share ideas and experiences in a welcoming, inclusive environment

Meals, drinks, and community freebies are included with tickets, helping to create a relaxed and engaging atmosphere throughout the day.

Organized by Volunteers

WordCamp Port Harcourt 2026 is organized by a dedicated team of local volunteers who contribute their time and skills to make the event possible. The organizing team works closely with the global WordCamp community to ensure the event aligns with WordCamp guidelines and open-source values.

Support from sponsors helps keep ticket prices affordable and ensures the event remains accessible to students, freelancers, and small business owners.

Get Involved

Whether you're a WordPress user, a business owner, a student, or someone curious about open-source technology, WordCamp Port Harcourt 2026 offers something for you.

To learn more, purchase tickets, or find out how to get involved as a volunteer or sponsor, visit:
https://portharcourt.wordcamp.org/2026/

WordCamp Port Harcourt 2026 looks forward to welcoming the WordPress community to the Garden City for a day of learning, sharing, and celebrating the power of open source.

06 Feb 2026 11:54am GMT

Learn how Google's NAI framework uses AI to make technology more adaptive, inclusive and helpful for everyone.

05 Feb 2026 5:00pm GMT

Google Cloud built an industry-first AI tool to help U.S. Ski and Snowboard athletes.

05 Feb 2026 4:00pm GMT

Quand on gère une entreprise avec un flux important de production, la gravure laser s'impose comme LA technique à adopter, voici pourquoi.

L'article Gravure laser : comment cette technologie optimise les flux de production en entreprise est apparu en premier sur 20SIX.fr.

30 Jan 2026 11:41am GMT

Comment éviter le chaos numérique en entreprise ? Structure, sécurité, outils centralisés et données maîtrisées : adoptez une vraie stratégie digitale !

L'article Les méthodes utilisées par les entreprises pour mieux structurer leur environnement digital est apparu en premier sur 20SIX.fr.

23 Jan 2026 12:36pm GMT

Découvrez comment configurer une carte eSIM pour votre voyage à l'étranger. Guide complet avec étapes simples, compatibilité téléphone et avis Yesim.

L'article Comment configurer votre eSIM avant votre départ ? Guide étape par étape pour préparer votre voyage est apparu en premier sur 20SIX.fr.

22 Jan 2026 2:50pm GMT

Acheter des originaux sur le site LesDessinateurs.com Vous pouvez me suivre sur Instagram, Bluesky ou Facebook.

02 Jan 2024 10:41am GMT

Dans le journal L'Equipe du dimanche et du lundi, vous pouviez trouver un de mes dessins en dernière page. Voici un petit échantillon des dessins réalisés en 2023 pour le quotidien sportif. Acheter des originaux sur le site LesDessinateurs.com Vous pouvez me suivre sur Instagram, Bluesky ou Facebook. Acheter des originaux sur le site LesDessinateurs.com Vous …

Continuer la lecture de « Une année de sport »

01 Jan 2024 9:11am GMT

Acheter des originaux sur le site LesDessinateurs.com Vous pouvez me suivre sur Instagram, Bluesky ou Facebook.

30 Dec 2023 1:06pm GMT

Much as I love pasta, I'm not sure it loves me. Last year my carb-heavy comfort food diet led to some weight gain so I looked into low carb pasta as an alternative. There's a lot out there and I'm still trying different brands and styles, but I thought now would be a good time to share what I've learned so far.

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts

My introduction to legume and bean-based pasta was thanks to Barilla. I was lucky because I got to attend a webinar with Barilla's incredible chef, Lorenzo Boni. I tried his recipe for pasta with butternut squash and Brussels sprouts which I definitely recommend and have now made several times. If you've seen his wildly popular (150k+ followers!) Instagram feed you know he's a master at making all kinds of pasta dishes and that he often eats plant-based meals. I followed up with him to get some tips on cooking with pasta made from beans and legumes.

Pasta made with beans and legumes is higher in protein and so the recommended 2-ounce portion is surprisingly filling. But the texture isn't always the same as traditional semolina or durum wheat pasta. Chef Boni told me, "The nature of legume pasta makes it soak up more moisture than traditional semolina pasta, so you always want to reserve a bit of cooking water to adjust if needed." But when it comes to cooking, he says that with Barilla legume pasta you cook it the same way as semolina pasta. "Boil in salted water for the duration noted on the box and you'll have perfectly al dente pasta." They are all gluten-free.

Chickpea pasta

When I asked Chef Boni about pairing chickpea pastas with sauce he said, "Generally speaking, I prefer olive oil based sauces rich with vegetables, aromatic herbs and spices. Seafood also pairs well with chickpea options. If used with creamy or tomato-based sauces, keep in mind to always have some pasta water handy to adjust the dish in case it gets too dry." He added, "One of my favorite ways to prepare a legume pasta dish would be a simple chickpea rotini with shrimp, diced zucchini and fresh basil. The sauce is light enough to highlight the flavor of the pasta itself, while the natural sweetness helps keep the overall flavor profile more appealing to everyone." I like the Barilla brand because the only ingredient is chickpeas. Banza makes a popular line of chickpea pasta as well although they include pea starch, tapioca and xanthan gum.

Edamame pasta

I tried two different brands of edamame pasta, Seapoint Farms and Explore Cuisine. The Seapoint pasta has a rougher texture than the Explore. With the Seapoint I found the best pairings were earthy chunky toppings like toasted walnuts and sautéed mushrooms. The Explore Cuisine edamame & spirulina pasta is smoother and more delicate, and worked well with an Asian style peanut sauce. I was happy with the Seapoint brand, but would definitely choose the Explore brand instead if it's available.

Red lentil pasta

Red lentil pasta is most similar to semolina pasta. Barilla makes red lentil pasta in a variety of shapes. But for spaghetti, Chef Boni says, "Barilla red lentil spaghetti is pretty flexible and works well with pretty much everything. I love red lentil spaghetti with light olive oil based sauces with aromatic herbs and some small diced vegetables. It also works well with a lean meat protein." I have to admit, I have yet to try red lentil pasta, but I'm excited to try it after hearing how similar it is to semolina pasta. It is made only with red lentil flour, that's it. It's available in spaghetti, penne and rotini.

Penne for Your Thoughts

Do you remember seeing photos from Italian supermarkets where the shelves with pasta were barren except for penne? I too seem to end up with boxes of penne or rotini and not a clue what to do with them so I asked Chef Boni his thoughts on the subject. He told me, "Shortcuts such as rotini and penne pair very well with all kind of ragouts as well as tomato based and chunky vegetarian sauces. One of my favorite ways to prepare a legume pasta dish would be a simple chickpea rotini with shrimp, diced zucchini and fresh basil. The sauce is light enough to highlight the flavor of the pasta itself, while the natural sweetness helps keep the overall flavor profile more appealing to everyone." Thanks chef! When zucchini is in season I know what I will try!

15 Feb 2022 6:46pm GMT

Julia is a new film based on Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz and inspired by My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme and The French Chef in America: Julia Child's Second Act by Alex Prud'homme. Julia Child died in 2004, and yet our appetite for all things Julia hasn't waned.

I grew up watching Julia Child on TV and learning to cook the French classics from her books, And while I never trained to be a chef, like Child I also transitioned into a career focused on food, a subject I have always found endlessly fascinating. I enjoyed the new film very much and while it didn't break much new ground, it did add a layer of perspective that can only come with time. In particular, how Julia Child became a ubiquitous pop culture figure is addressed in a fresh way.

I reached out to the filmmakers,Julie Cohen and Betsy West to find out more about what inspired them and why Julia Child still holds our attention.

Julia Child died over 15 years ago and has been off TV for decades. Why do you believe we continue to be so fascinated by her?

In some ways Julia is the Godmother of modern American cooking - and eating. Her spirit looms over cooking segments on the morning shows, The Food Network, and all those overhead Instagram shots the current generation loves to take of restaurant meals. Beyond that, though, Julia's bigger than life personality and unstoppable joie de vivre are infectious. People couldn't get enough of her while she was living, and they still can't now.

There have been so many Julia Child films and documentaries, what inspired this one?

Well there'd been some great programs about Julia but this is the first feature length theatrical doc. Like everyone else, we adored Julie & Julia, but a documentary gives you a special opportunity to tell a person's story in their own words and with the authentic images. This is particularly true of Julia, who was truly one of a kind.

The impact of Julia Child how she was a groundbreaker really comes across in the film, are we understanding her in a different light as time passes?

People understand that Julia was a talented television entertainer, but outside the professional food world, there's been an under-recognition of just how much she changed the 20th century food landscape. As Jose Andres points out in the film, almost every serious food professional has a sauce-splashed copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" on their shelves. We also felt Julia's role in opening up new possibilities for women on television deserved more exploration. In the early 1960's the idea of a woman on TV who was neither a housewife nor a sex bomb but a mature, tall, confident expert was downright radical. She paved the way for many women who followed.

The food shots add an extra element to the film and entice viewers in a very visceral way, how did those interstitials come to be part of the film?

We knew from the start that we wanted to make food a major part of this story, not an afterthought. We worked with cook and food stylist Susan Spungen to determine which authentic Julia recipes could be integrated with which story beats to become part of the film's aesthetic and its plot. For instance the sole meunière is a key part of the story because it sparked her obsession with French food, and the pear and almond tart provides an enticing metaphor for the sensual side of Julia and Paul's early married years.

Note: Susan Spungen was also the food stylist for Julie & Julia

Julia is in theaters now.

23 Nov 2021 11:30pm GMT

I met Rick Rodgers early in my career as a recipe developer and food writer when we were both contributors to the Epicurious blog. Not only is he a lot of fun to hang out with, but he has also been incredibly helpful to me and is usually the first person I call when I'm floundering with a project, client, or cooking quandary. His interpersonal skills, business experience, and cooking acumen explain why he's been recognized as one of the top cooking instructors in America. Literally.

You built a career as a cooking instructor and cookbook author. How many cookbooks have you written?

I was asked recently to make an official count, and It looks like an even hundred. Many of those were collaborations with chefs, restaurants, celebrities, bakeries, and business entities, such as Tommy Bahama, Williams-Sonoma, and Nordstrom. I made it known that I was available for collaboration work, and my phone literally rang off the hook for quite a few years with editors and agents looking for help with novice writers or those that wanted a branded book.

Which cookbook(s) are you most proud of?

There are three books that I get fan mail for almost every day: Kaffeehaus (where I explore the desserts of my Austrian heritage), Thanksgiving 101 (a deep dive into America's most food-centric holiday and how to pull it off), and Ready and Waiting (which was one of the first books to take a "gourmet" approach to the slow cooker). These books have been in print for 20 years or more, which is a beautiful testament to their usefulness to home cooks.

How did you get started as a cooking instructor and what are some highlights of your teaching career?

I was a theater major at San Francisco State College (now University), so getting in front of a crowd held no terrors for me. When more brick-and-mortar cooking schools opened in the eighties, I was ready for prime time. During that period, there were at least twelve cooking schools in the Bay Area, so I made quarterly trips here a year from the east coast, where I had moved. My Thanksgiving classes were so popular that I taught every day from November 1 to Thanksgiving, with a couple of days off for laundry and travel. The absolute pinnacle of my teaching career was being named Outstanding Culinary Instructor of The Year by Bon Appétit Magazine's Food and Entertaining Awards, an honor that I share with only a handful of other recipients, including Rick Bayless and Bobby Flay.

Flódni

How have cooking classes changed since you started?

Because there are so many classes available, I can teach at any level of experience. At the cooking schools, we tended to walk a fine line between too difficult and too easy. The exposure to different cuisines and skill levels on TV also has seriously raised the bar. Unfortunately, students want to walk before they can run. They want to learn how to make croissants when I doubt that they can bake a pound cake correctly. It is best to build on your skills instead of going right to the top. That being said, in my online classes, I am concentrating on the more challenging recipes because that is what the market demands of me.

Tell me about your baking school, coffeeandcake.org

As much as I loved my cookbooks and in-person classes, I knew there was a more modern way to reach people who wanted to cook with me, especially since so many cooking schools had closed. I retired the day I got my first Social Security check. But…as I was warned by my friends who knew me better than I did…I was bored, and wanted a new project. I heard about online classes through other teachers who were having success. I found an online course specifically for cooking classes (Cooking Class Business School at HiddenRhythm.com), got the nuts and bolts down, and I finally entered the 21st century!

How do you decide which recipes to teach?

I felt there were plenty of other places to learn how to make chocolate chip cookies and banana bread-just take a look on YouTube alone. I had a specialty of Austro-Hungarian baking thanks to my Kaffeehaus book, so I decided to niche into that category. I have branched out to a few other locations, but my goal is to expose students to something new and out of the ordinary. I also survey my students on what they would like me to teach, and those answers are amazing. People are truly interested in the more difficult desserts. Perhaps it is because so many people discovered baking as a hobby during the pandemic?

For students who have your cookbooks, what are the advantages of taking an online class?

There is no substitute for seeing a cook in action. Plus you get to answer questions during class. In a recent class, I made six-layer Dobos Torte in two hours' real-time to prove that you can do it without giving up a week of your life. And we don't have to travel to each other to be "together." My classes are videotaped so you can watch them at your convenience.

What are some highlights of your upcoming schedule of classes?

Honey cake

In October, I am teaching virtually all Hungarian desserts, things that will be new to most people. I am making one of my absolute favorites, Flódni, which is a Jewish bar cookie (almost a cake) with layers of apple, poppy seeds, and walnuts between thin sheets of wine-flavored cookie dough. San Franciscans in particular will be happy to see a master class that I am teaching with the delightful Michelle Polzine, owner of the late and lamented 20th Century Cafe and author of Baking at the 20th Century Cafe. We will be making her (in)famous 12-layer honey cake on two coasts, with me doing the heavy lifting in New Jersey and Michelle guiding me from the west coast. That is going to be fun! In November and December, I am switching over to holiday baking and a few savory recipes for Thanksgiving, including my fail-proof turkey and gravy, which I have made over 300 times in classes over 30 years' worth of teaching. It ought to be perfect by now

Head to Coffee and Cake to sign up for classes or learn more.

05 Oct 2021 3:56pm GMT

03 Dec 2014 8:12pm GMT

16 Jul 2014 6:08pm GMT

Après presque un mois et demi d'absence, deux bouclages d'albums et plein de projets, je trouve enfin le
temps de poster quelque chose sur ce blog ! Ces jours-ci, je vais avoir pas mal de choses à vous montrer !
On commence tranquille avec un petit dessin aux couleurs estivales.

14 Jul 2014 4:25pm GMT