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• Stewart Brand is selling his tugboat houseboat in Sausalito.
• Benedict Evans gave a nice presentation on the adoption of AI.
• Chris Young reviews a $4,200 silver frying pan, comparing it to other metals with some really cool science and infographics.
• From 2018 in the New Yorker, The Friendship That Made Google Huge. Great profile of Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat, makes me wish we did more pair programming at Automattic. Note the early mentions of machine learning, TPUs, Google Brain, etc.
• Trump did a press conference with Zohran Mamdani, the new mayor of New York.

22 Nov 2025 7:58am GMT

Hi there,

Munich got hit with the first snow for this Winter. It started slowly on Friday morning, and by the afternoon the flakes got larger and the white started to cover tree branches, roofs and cars. It might all be gone by tomorrow, though, as the weather forecast shows -7 °C (19.4 °F) with sunshine. I am still a Floridian Weather whimp, but I like the snow covering the overcast gray of an Autumn day. I just won't go outside if I can help it.

WordPress 6.9 is almost there. If you need a full run down of the changes in the block editor, I've got you covered with the WordPress 6.9 Source of Truth, with screenshot and videos. It clocks in at 5,200+ words. The table of contents as well as the in-post tags will help you navigate it. And I am always here to answer your questions.

But wait there is more below,

Have a fabulous weekend, and if you are in the Northern Hemisphere, stay warm.

Yours,
Birgit

Developing Gutenberg and WordPress

First-time release lead Jonathan Bossenger worked on the Gutenberg 22.1. version. In his release post What's new in Gutenberg 22.1? (18 November, 2025) he highlighted two major block updates and a performance improvement for the image block.

1. New Tabs block
2. HTML block updates
3. Image prefetching when expanding images in the editor

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WordPress 6.9 Release Candidate 2 was released this week. December 2 will be here soon enough for the final release.

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Joe Dolson published a list of all the Accessibility Improvements in WordPress 6.9. More Dev Notes can be perused on the Make Blog

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Sarim Javaid, Digital Ocean posted WordPress 6.9: What's new, release date, features, and why it is important for your site on the Cloudways blog. "You'll get faster load times, more streamlined site management, and new developer tools like APIs and automation features. Also, teams will benefit from block-level commenting for better collaboration" he wrote.

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In this week's stream, Jonathan Bossenger dives into testing WordPress 6.9, specifically focusing on the DataViews functionality. He starts by setting up his live stream, organizing processes, and installing necessary updates. Then, he explores the JavaScript packages involved, particularly the React components that power admin pages. Join him as he fumbles around, copy-pastes examples, and strives to get a basic implementation of DataViews working. If you enjoy watching someone learn through trial and error, give this video a like and subscribe.

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JuanMa Garrido livestreamed about What's new for Devs in Wp 6.9: Interactivity API

Upcoming WordPress 6.9 events

Maruti Mohanty plans a Workshop for November 27 at 10am UTC on How to Prepare Your WordPress Site for WordPress 6.9? via Learn WordPress meetup.

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Also on November 27 at 12:00 UTC, JuanMa Garrido and Jonathan Bossenger invite you to the Developer Hours: WordPress 6.9 Developer Updates. A second edition, covering updates to Block Bindings and Interactivity API.

If you missed the first edition, it's now available on WordPressTV: Developer Hours: WordPress 6.9 DataViews/DataForm & Abilities API.

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The State of the Word, Matt Mullenweg's annual keynote will be live streamed from San Francisco on December 2 at 8pm UTC. For the first time, we are celebrating SOTW alongside the official release of WordPress 6.9 on the same day. Expect demos, and even get an early preview of the future beyond for WordPress. All followed by a Q & A with Matt Mullenweg.

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

Justin Tadlock just dropped his awesome new Media Data WordPress Plugin, which is all about pulling in embedded metadata from your uploaded media files-think EXIF data, ID3 tags, camera settings, dimensions, and a lot more. The plugin comes with two blocks: one to hold everything together and others to showcase specific bits of metadata. Plus, it works seamlessly with WordPress 6.9's block bindings, so you can easily make custom connections between blocks. It's up on GitHub while waiting for approval in the directory.

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Core contributors are getting ready to move the Post Editor into an iframe in WordPress 7.0. This change is all about giving the editing experience a fresh, modern vibe and cutting down on distractions from admin styles and those third-party scripts. Aki Hamano, a core committer, laid out the plans last week in a developer note: Preparing the Post Editor for Full iframe Integration

Rae Morey, The Repository, reports on the various concerns from other contributors in Core Contributors Prepare to iframe the Post Editor in 7.0, Prompting Backward-Compatibility Concerns.

As a follow-up, Aki Hamano started a discussion on GitHub on Documentation to help with the migration to Block API version 3 #73138, with comments from Ella van Durpe and Riad Benguella with ideas on how to navigate the migration.

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In her post Introducing Accelerate: Redefining Experimentation in WordPress, Gianna Legate, Head of Content at Human Made, explores how the new Accelerate platform bridges WordPress and modern marketing. The plugin enables marketers to run A/B tests, personalize content by geography, and promote high-performing blocks directly within the editor, shifting WordPress from content-centric publishing toward data-driven customer engagement without requiring external tools or custom development work. The premium plugin is free for up to one million monthly page views.

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Hans-Gerd Gerhards announced an update to his plugin Dynamic Header & Navigation for Block Themes, a lightweight WordPress plugin developed specifically as a navigation solution for most Block Themes. "I am very pleased that my plugin now has more than 100 active installations." he wrote on LinkedIn.

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Johanne Courtright published her The Complete Guide to Groundworx Carousel Block. She walks through setting up responsive carousels using Splide.js and Gutenberg, exploring nine professional templates and eight responsive breakpoints for precise control. The guide covers styling via theme.json, creating custom templates using CSS Grid, and building reusable block variations for your team's consistent configurations across WordPress projects. The plugin is available in the WordPress repository: Groundworx Carousel v 2.0 was released last week after a complete redesign.

Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks

Ellen Bauer's talk at WordCamp Kansai is now available on WordPressTV: Building a WooCommerce Store Using Block Themes and AI Site Building. In this hands-on session, you'll learn how to use a lightweight starter block theme and AI site-building tools to create a fully editable WooCommerce store design that you can refine directly in the WordPress editor.

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Rich Tabor continues his explorations. The second post is all about the Application Menu. "An application menu would act as a consistent anchor-an always-present spot where you can see the full range of available actions. Not a replacement for other controls, and not a move to strip the interface down." he wrote.

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Ryan Welcher livestreamed part 3 of his quest to use every Interactivity API feature in one site

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

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

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21 Nov 2025 11:27pm GMT

In 2015, the WordPress Foundation established an annual memorial scholarship to honor the memory of Kim Parsell, a beloved and influential contributor to the WordPress community. Kim's legacy continues to inspire connection, mentorship, and inclusivity across WordPress.

In 2024, the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship was expanded to include WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe, reflecting Kim's dedication to inclusivity and empowering more contributors to engage in global collaboration.

This year, the scholarship for WordCamp Asia was awarded to Zeel Thakkar and Pooja Derashri. Two recipients were selected this year because Pooja could not attend WordCamp US in the year she was selected for the scholarship.

Remembering Zeel Thakkar

Zeel Thakkar (@zeelthakkar) of Ahmedabad, India, brought energy, leadership, and kindness to everything she did. A talented freelance WordPress developer at Jpadweb, Zeel's journey began with a simple internship that evolved into a lifelong passion for development and community building.

Within the WordPress Ahmedabad community, Zeel was a tireless organiser, helping lead events including WordCamp Ahmedabad 2023 and Do_Action 2024. Her work united contributors, fostered collaboration through regular meetups, and upheld her belief in empowering women in technology.

Zeel's technical contributions were equally significant. She played a key role on the WordPress 6.7 Testing Team, helping ensure the platform's ongoing stability, and contributed to the Training Team to create educational resources for learners across the world. Her dedication to professional growth and commitment to inclusivity continue to inspire those who had the honor of working alongside her. Zeel's passing is a tremendous loss, and she will be remembered with deep respect and gratitude.

Celebrating Pooja Derashri

Pooja Derashri (@webtechpooja), from Ajmer, India, first started using WordPress in 2013 and went on to co-found WPVibes, a WordPress plugin development agency, with her husband Anand. While she began her career as a developer, she has since expanded her expertise into SEO and Content Marketing, helping shape WordPress projects holistically.

Pooja's contribution journey began in 2017 with the WPTV and Polyglots teams, where she helped localize content and make WordPress more accessible to Hindi speakers. Since 2021, she has served as a Global Translation Editor for Hindi, and in 2019 joined the WordPress Training Team. As a Co-Team Rep, Pooja now helps lead efforts behind LearnWP, creating educational materials that support trainers and learners worldwide.

Both Zeel and Pooja embody the spirit of dedication, generosity, and empowerment that the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship was created to celebrate. Their contributions continue to enrich the WordPress community and inspire others to share knowledge and support one another.

21 Nov 2025 9:07pm GMT