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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:1:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"WordPress Planet";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:8:"language";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2:"en";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"WordPress Planet - http://planet.wordpress.org/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"item";a:50:{i:0;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:36:"WPTavern: Happy 15th Birthday Drupal";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50632";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:46:"http://wptavern.com/happy-15th-birthday-drupal";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4754:"<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/birthday.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-23622"><img class="size-full wp-image-23622" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/birthday.jpg?resize=1023%2C561" alt="photo credit: A30_Tsitika - cc" /></a>photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frozen-in-time/2263904827/">A30_Tsitika</a> &#8211; <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
<p><a href="https://www.drupal.org/">Drupal</a>, the open source CMS founded by Dries Buytaert on December 29th, 2000, <a href="http://buytaert.net/drupal-15-years-old-and-still-gaining-momentum">is 15 years old</a>. Drupal version 1.0.0 was released on January 15th, 2001, &#8220;The early decisions to open-source Drupal and use the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License">GPL license</a> set the cornerstone principles for how our community shares with one another and builds upon each other&#8217;s achievements to this day,&#8221; Buytaert said.</p>
<p>You might be wondering why a site devoted to WordPress is publishing a story about a competing CMS&#8217; birthday. The fact is, Drupal, Joomla and WordPress are more complimentary than they are competitors. Each is open source, licensed under the GPL, and is composed of code submitted by thousands of volunteers located across the world. All three projects make up a combined total of 37 years of experience.</p>
<ul>
<li>Drupal &#8211; 15 Years Old</li>
<li>WordPress &#8211; 12 Years Old</li>
<li>Joomla &#8211; 10 Years Old</li>
</ul>
<p>When Buytaert founded Drupal, many of the social networking services and browsers we enjoy today didn&#8217;t exist:</p>
<blockquote><p>Chrome, Firefox, and Safari didn&#8217;t exist yet; most people used Netscape, Opera or Internet Explorer. New ideas for sharing and exchanging content such as &#8216;public diaries&#8217; and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS">RSS</a> had yet to gain widespread acceptance and Drupal was among the first to support those. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Wikipedia">Wikipedia was launched on the same day as Drupal</a> and sparked the rise of user-generated content. Facebook and Twitter didn&#8217;t exist until 4-5 years later</p></blockquote>
<p>He describes many of the things Drupal got right like hooks and modules. There are some things the project got wrong such as adding support for OpenID which never gained widespread adoption.</p>
<p>Near the end of his post, Buytaert reaffirms his commitment through the Drupal project to protect the privacy, serendipity and freedom of the web we enjoy, &#8220;As the web evolves from a luxury to a basic human right, it&#8217;s important that we treat it that way. To increase our impact, we have to continue to make Drupal easier to use. I&#8217;d love to help <a href="http://buytaert.net/winning-back-the-open-web">build a world where people&#8217;s privacy is safe</a> and Drupal is more approachable.&#8221;</p>
<p>At the <a href="https://videopress.com/v/cmA03MuQ">State of the Word</a> at WordCamp US last year, Matt Mullenweg announced a similar role for WordPress. At the 46:58 mark, Mullenweg discusses WordPress&#8217; APIs being the key to an open web.</p>
<p></p>
<p>At a time when web services are <a href="http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2012/06/30/developers-bracing-themselves-for-twitter-api-retrictions-call-todays-post-ominous/#gref">restricting their APIs</a> to third-party developers, WordPress which is used across 25% of the web with open APIs can help reverse the trend, &#8220;I think that we can use this opening up, especially switching to API driven development to open up more of the web. When you think about what open source looks like, when the code being available isn&#8217;t the most important thing, when we&#8217;re interacting across multiple devices, the APIs become just as important as the code itself being open,&#8221; Mullenweg said.</p>
<p>Last but not least, check out this interview where Mullenweg and Buytaert share the same stage in 2011 at an event called <a href="http://www.schipulcon.com/">Schipulcon</a>. In the interview, the duo discuss open source software and their experience managing open source projects. One of the key takeaways from the interview is Buytaert&#8217;s response when asked, how WordPress&#8217; existence benefits Drupal, &#8220;If WordPress wins, Drupal wins, because it means open source wins.&#8221;</p>
<div class="embed-wrap"></div>
<p>Like Joomla and WordPress, Drupal is a champion of open source. Its existence and continued success should be celebrated. I hope you&#8217;ll join us by wishing the Drupal project a happy birthday!</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 15 Jan 2016 13:47:11 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:1;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"WPTavern: Easily Display Highlights of a Story With the Story Lines Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50583";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"http://wptavern.com/easily-display-highlights-of-a-story-with-the-story-lines-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3902:"<p>If you&#8217;re looking for an easy way to display highlights of a story inside of posts, check out a new plugin called <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/story-lines/">Story Lines</a>, developed by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/arenapigskin/">Jacob Martella</a>. Story Lines adds a meta box to the Posts screen where users can name the highlights box, configure its width, how it&#8217;s displayed, and fields for three highlights with an option to add more.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/StoryLinesMetaBox.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50623"><img class="size-full wp-image-50623" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/StoryLinesMetaBox.png?resize=649%2C602" alt="Story Lines Meta Box" /></a>Story Lines Meta Box
<p>To display highlights in a post, click the SL button in the visual editor which adds a shortcode to the post.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/StoryLinesShortcode.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50624"><img class="size-full wp-image-50624" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/StoryLinesShortcode.png?resize=642%2C348" alt="Story Lines Shortcode" /></a>Story Lines Shortcode
<p>Here&#8217;s what Story Lines looks like on the frontend of the Tavern test site. The colors are bold and grab the reader&#8217;s attention.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/StoryLinesOutput.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50625"><img class="size-full wp-image-50625" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/StoryLinesOutput.png?resize=672%2C544" alt="Story Lines Output" /></a>Story Lines Output
<p>Story Lines doesn&#8217;t have a settings panel to configure its design, &#8220;That’s one of the things I’m still learning about this whole process, is to give people complete control of how it looks. I hope to have something like that for the next version,&#8221; Martella told the Tavern.</p>
<p>If you want to change the design of Story Lines, Martella suggests editing the <strong>story-lines</strong>, <strong>.story-lines</strong>, and <strong>.title classes</strong> with the caveat that you may have to use the <strong>!important </strong>declaration. You should save these changes to a child theme so they&#8217;re not lost when you update the plugin. The list items use the same font as the active theme.</p>
<p>Martella has a background in journalism and is the sports editor for <a href="http://www.dailytexanonline.com/">The Daily Texan</a>. While journalism is his first passion, he&#8217;s slowly transitioning to the web development world by creating themes and plugins for WordPress:</p>
<blockquote><p>I’ve been trying to figure out a niche for myself in the WordPress development world and I’m starting to think it might be creating themes and plugins that replicate what people see on the New York Times or other top newspaper websites for others to use on their sites.</p>
<p>My first plugin, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/jm-breaking-news/">JM Breaking News</a>, and the <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/giornalismo">Giornalismo</a> theme I created are also examples of that. So really, I’m just trying to explore the niche where web development and journalism collide and WordPress is the tool I’m using to do just that.</p></blockquote>
<p>There are two features I&#8217;d like to see added in a future release. The first, is the ability to rearrange highlights with a drag-and-drop interface. The second, is a way to add a URL which links to an anchor point in the article so readers can visit specific parts of a story.</p>
<p>I tested Story Lines on WordPress 4.5 alpha and it works as expected. It&#8217;s <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/story-lines/">available for free</a> from the WordPress plugin directory.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 15 Jan 2016 11:50:35 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:75:"WPTavern: New Upvato Service Offers Free Backups for Envato Market Products";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50606";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"http://wptavern.com/new-upvato-service-offers-free-backups-for-envato-market-products";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5720:"<p>If you&#8217;ve ever purchased files from Envato, chances are that you have them backed up locally or sent to a cloud storage service like Dropbox. <a href="https://www.upvato.com/" target="_blank">Upvato</a> is a new alternative that specializes in <a href="http://market.envato.com/" target="_blank">Envato Market</a> files. The free service allows Envato customers to back up their purchased files. Upvato takes a complete backup of the screenshots, descriptions, titles, and author information. In the event that an item is removed from Envato, customers who have uploaded their files to Upvato have a complete backup.</p>
<p>Freddy Lundekvam, owner of Norway-based <a href="http://www.logik.no/" target="_blank">Logik Web Studios</a>, said that he was inspired to create Upvato after losing purchased files due to the fact that Envato &#8220;<a href="https://help.market.envato.com/hc/en-us/articles/202500244-The-Item-Has-Been-Removed" target="_blank">does not guarantee ongoing availability of items</a> after the initial download.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I’m a heavy user of Themeforest,&#8221; Lundekvam said. &#8220;I’m a full time programmer who doesn’t know much about design, and I’m especially a huge fan of the admin templates and own 15+ of them. In total, amongst all the marketplaces I’ve bought quite a few items. Having purchased many files, I quickly learned about Envato’s right to take down and remove any file at their or the author&#8217;s sole discretion without any warning. I personally have lost 10 files because of this policy, and I find it quite annoying to lose files.&#8221;</p>
<p>Lundekvam used to back up his files to Dropbox but found it frustrating to sort through his library without much information and no way to look them up after they disappeared from Envato. He teamed up with a colleague who is a designer and created Upvato as a solution to this problem. In addition to storing the file you purchased, Upvato also stores the screenshots, file descriptions, comments, and includes versioning &#8211; allowing you access to any version that has been uploaded.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/upvato-backup.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50616"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/upvato-backup.png?resize=908%2C615" alt="upvato-backup" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50616" /></a></p>
<p>Users can back up an unlimited number of files and there&#8217;s no limit on the file size. Upvato creators are also committed to keeping the service free, according to the statement on their website:</p>
<blockquote><p>Upvato is and will always fee a completely free service. We strongly believe that this is something that should be a part of Envato from day one and don&#8217;t agree with their policies.</p></blockquote>
<p>The service uses the Envato API to allow users to back up all of their files automatically. Files can also be uploaded manually into your Upvato account.</p>
<h3>Envato&#8217;s Response to the New Upvato Backup Service</h3>
<p>While Envato does not officially endorse Upvato, the company encourages users to find a backup solution. Venessa Paech, Envato PR Manager, gave WP Tavern the following statement:</p>
<blockquote><p>Envato buyers use a variety of methods for managing their purchases. Whatever service they use, whether Dropbox or a service like Upvato, we always encourage people to back up their digital assets. </p>
<p>Envato Market is an active marketplace with thousands of sellers and millions of items. While we offer a downloads section on every account, our focus is less on post-purchase asset management, and more on discovering and purchasing wonderful digital goods that solve creative challenges.</p></blockquote>
<p>Essentially, after the purchase has been made, Envato doesn&#8217;t find any conflict in users choosing Upvato as a backup solution. The company is unlikely to change its policy about not guaranteeing files indefinitely, as it needs to account for all kinds of circumstances including copyright complaints and technical problems. Upvato&#8217;s free backup solution may reduce the number of Envato customers who are negatively impacted when files are removed without notice.</p>
<h3>&#8220;Storage Space is Cheap&#8221; and Upvato Doesn&#8217;t Plan to Monetize</h3>
<p>I asked Lundekvam how he&#8217;s funding the enormous amount of space required to store files for Envato customers. &#8220;Storage space is cheap these days &#8211; hosting 10 TB of data in an Amazon Glacier is merely $7 a month,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I also take benefit from the automated uploads.</p>
<p>&#8220;If you connect your Envato account and back up the item, then only one file for that item will be used for all users who have the same file (Verified purchased with Envato). Every time you try to download a backup of the file from Envato, we check if the exact same file already exists amongst the items available files. If it does, it’s not stored. Instead, you use the same file that already exist in the system,&#8221; Lundekvam said.</p>
<p>Despite having created a service that solves a real problem for potentially thousands of customers, Lundekvam said he&#8217;s not seeking a revenue model to fund his efforts. For now, the site exists to solve a problem he encountered that also affects many other Envato customers. Monetization isn&#8217;t a priority for him at this time.</p>
<p>&#8220;Currently that’s not the plan,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Running such a site isn’t all that expensive. For now, we just wanted to make something cool and useful that people might want and need.&#8221;</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 15 Jan 2016 06:50:14 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:3;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:65:"WPTavern: Human Made Publishes Free WordPress REST API Whitepaper";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50558";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:75:"http://wptavern.com/human-made-publishes-free-wordpress-rest-api-whitepaper";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3066:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/wp-rest-api.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-43000"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/wp-rest-api.jpg?resize=1025%2C469" alt="wp-rest-api" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43000" /></a></p>
<p>Today Human Made released its new <a href="https://hmn.md/wordpress-rest-api-white-paper/" target="_blank">WordPress REST API Whitepaper</a>, an in-depth guide to how the API is changing the way developers interact with WordPress. The publication was written for a diverse audience, including developers, agencies, project managers, and publishers. It includes a technical breakdown of how the REST API works, along with an overview of the benefits and challenges for teams that take on API-driven projects.</p>
<p>The whitepaper is called &#8220;Talking to 25% of the Web,&#8221; but the title may soon need to be updated as <a href="http://w3techs.com/technologies/history_overview/content_management/all" target="_blank">WordPress usage in mid-January is 25.7%</a> and is forecasted to climb past 26% in Q1. It is a collaborative publication authored by the team at Human Made, which includes several lead contributors on the WP REST API team.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://hmn.md/wordpress-rest-api-white-paper/" target="_blank">overview for the whitepaper</a> summarizes the different topics you&#8217;ll find within the content:</p>
<ul>
<li>Introduces you to the headless CMS</li>
<li>Introduces you to REST</li>
<li>Provides a technical overview of the WordPress REST API</li>
<li>Explores some of the benefits of using the REST API in your project</li>
<li>Talks about some of the ways that the REST API will change WordPress development</li>
<li>Discusses some of the challenges that you may encounter in your REST API project</li>
</ul>
<p>The 44-page guide also includes case studies of companies already using the WP REST API and a list of important resources.</p>
<p>&#8220;<a href="https://hmn.md/wordpress-rest-api-white-paper/" target="_blank">Talking to 25% of the Web</a>&#8221; is an excellent free resource that should be required reading for anyone using WordPress, especially those who are building for the platform, consulting, creating SaaS products, or otherwise deriving their income from the software.</p>
<p>Human Made employs a large contingent of WP REST API team members and subsidizes much of their work on the project. The agency is heavily investing in the future of WordPress and is leading the way in helping developers learn how to build with the REST API. If you want to further your skills in this area, Human Made is also organizing an educational event called <a href="http://wptavern.com/a-day-of-rest-conference-session-highlights-now-available-tickets-selling-fast" target="_blank">A Day of REST</a>, which will be held on January 28, 2016. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from the developers who are building the API as well as those who are already using it in production.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 15 Jan 2016 00:10:37 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:4;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:63:"WPTavern: BuddyPress REST API Feature Plugin Now in Development";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50549";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"http://wptavern.com/buddypress-rest-api-feature-plugin-now-in-development";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3792:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/bp-featured.png" rel="attachment wp-att-16395"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/bp-featured.png?resize=800%2C390" alt="bp-featured" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-16395" /></a></p>
<p>Developers interested in contributing to the creation of a BuddyPress REST API met for the first time yesterday to discuss a path forward. <a href="https://twitter.com/bronsonquick" target="_blank">Bronson Quick</a> is leading the project with the help of <a href="http://modemlooper.me/" target="_blank">Ryan Fugate</a>. Quick works for <a href="https://hmn.md/" target="_blank">Human Made</a> and is a WordPress core contributor. He is also the lead contributor on <a href="https://github.com/Chassis/Chassis" target="_blank">Chassis</a>, a lightweight WP Vagrant install that uses Puppet for provisioning.</p>
<p>John James Jacoby set up <a href="https://github.com/buddypress/BP-REST" target="_blank">a GitHub repository</a> where development for the BP REST API will take place. In summarizing the meeting&#8217;s discussion regarding planning and architecture, Quick said, &#8220;Planning how we tackle this is very important rather than diving straight into the code. As we’re &#8216;standing on the shoulders of giants&#8217; we can use the lessons learned from the WP REST API project and put in time at the start to plan this properly.</p>
<p>&#8220;It makes sense to plan out the data we would like returned from endpoints and how they relate to each other with _links. For example, if we’re displaying the data for the activities endpoint rather than showing a user_id we should link this to a user endpoint.&#8221;</p>
<p>The team will be taking a “schema first” approach and plans to adhere to Test Driven Development &#8211; planning an endpoint, writing tests that fail then writing the code for the endpoint until the tests pass.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is something that’s often talked about as being an ideal development methodology but it’s rarely practiced in the WordPress space,&#8221; Quick said. &#8220;Tackling a project this way should mean less bugs although I do realize this could be a blocker for new contributors.&#8221;</p>
<p>The BP REST API team plans to tackle read-only endpoints first for the activity stream and xprofile components via the _links method Quick outlined. Ryan Fugate opened a GitHub <a href="https://github.com/buddypress/BP-REST/issues/1" target="_blank">issue</a> regarding the plugin&#8217;s folder structure/loader, and the plan is to design it as a feature plugin that will one day land in BuddyPress core.</p>
<h3>What is the Purpose of a BP REST API?</h3>
<p>During the meeting contributors discussed the primary problems that a BP REST API should solve, which Quick summarized in the <a href="https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/bp-rest-api-dev-chat-summary-for-january-14-2016/" target="_blank">meeting notes</a>.</p>
<p>The team agreed that the main purpose for building the API is to expose BuddyPress data in a RESTful way so that developers and site owners can use it to create plugins, mobile apps, or anything else they want.</p>
<p>&#8220;The other main purpose for the BP REST API is that we can use the endpoints going forward to alter some things internally in BuddyPress, as in the past &#8216;the functions throughout BuddyPress are very purpose built to solve one specific theme-side problem,'&#8221; Quick said.</p>
<p>If you want to get involved in building a REST API for BuddyPress make sure to <a href="https://github.com/buddypress/BP-REST/" target="_blank">follow the project on GitHub</a> and jump into the discussion happening in the #buddypress Slack channel.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 14 Jan 2016 19:28:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"WPTavern: WPWeekly Episode 221 – Interview With Micah Mitchell of Memberium";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:44:"http://wptavern.com?p=50567&preview_id=50567";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"http://wptavern.com/wpweekly-episode-221-interview-with-micah-mitchell-of-memberium";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1810:"<p>In this episode of WordPress Weekly, <a href="http://marcuscouch.com/">Marcus Couch</a> and I are joined by Micah Mitchell, who is a partner in <a href="https://memberium.com/">Memberium</a>, a membership development and management plugin for WordPress that connects with <a href="http://www.infusionsoft.com/">Infusionsoft</a>.</p>
<p>During the show, we discuss what Memberium has to offer for those who want to create membership sites using WordPress. Due to time constraints, we skipped the news segment and ended the show with the plugin picks of the week.</p>
<h2>Plugins Picked By Marcus:</h2>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/mc4wp-activity/">MailChimp Activity</a> displays your MailChimp list activity within the WordPress dashboard.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/clean-wp-admin-menu/">Clean WP Admin Menu</a> proves an easy to use interface to hide rarely used items in the admin menu.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/story-lines/">Story Lines</a> adds a list of story highlights at the top of posts to let readers know key points of the article.</p>
<h2>WPWeekly Meta:</h2>
<p><strong>Next Episode:</strong> Wednesday, January 20th 9:30 P.M. Eastern</p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: </strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wordpress-weekly/id694849738" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via RSS: </strong><a href="http://www.wptavern.com/feed/podcast" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
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<p><strong>Listen To Episode #221:</strong><br />
</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 14 Jan 2016 18:11:25 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:84:"WPTavern: WordPress for Android 4.9 Adds Fingerprint Scanner, Improves Media Library";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50533";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:93:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-for-android-4-9-adds-fingerprint-scanner-improves-media-library";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2175:"<p>WordPress for Android <a href="https://apps.wordpress.org/2016/01/13/wordpress-for-android-version-4-9/" target="_blank">version 4.9</a> hit devices today with new support for the fingerprint scanner feature available in Android 6.0 Marshmallow.</p>
<p>The WordPress app on mobile offers publishing access to all the sites you have hooked up, which is a pretty powerful door to the world that you may not want to leave unlocked for anyone who gains access to your phone. That&#8217;s why many users have opted to set up a pin lock for the app. (You can find this under Settings >> Turn Pin lock on.) The fingerprint scanner is a faster alternative to using a pin.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/fingerprint.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50535"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/fingerprint.png?resize=281%2C500" alt="fingerprint" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-50535" /></a></p>
<p>Version 4.9 also adds several key refinements to the media library experience, including a brand new  design for the details screen to match the rest of the app&#8217;s material design. The app now supports better handling of multiple photo and video uploads.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/media-details.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50537"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/media-details.png?resize=281%2C500" alt="media-details" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-50537" /></a></p>
<p>This release fixes a few bugs, most importantly one where posts were deleted instead of sent to the trash. If you accidentally lost a post this way, hoping to recall it, the problem shouldn&#8217;t happen again.</p>
<p>Version 5.0 RC 1 was released to beta testers today via the Google Play Store beta channel. They are currently testing new WordPress.com &#8220;Site Settings&#8221; and &#8220;My Profile&#8221; screens that will allow users to change settings like site title, tagline, and public display name (among others). Look for these features in the next major release of WordPress for Android.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 13 Jan 2016 20:09:22 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"WPTavern: WP Asset Clean Up Plugin Removes Unused Styles and Scripts";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50512";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"http://wptavern.com/wp-asset-clean-up-plugin-removes-unused-styles-and-scripts";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4009:"<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/speed.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-30119"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/speed.jpg?resize=927%2C425" alt="photo credit: SergioMonsalve - cc" class="size-full wp-image-30119" /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seegioo/4334436675/">SergioMonsalve</a> &#8211; <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
<p>In 2010 Google patented its methods for <a href="http://www.google.com/patents/US8645362" target="_blank">using resource load times in ranking search results</a>. The published patent describes how Google factors in page speed when presenting results:</p>
<blockquote><p>A search result for a resource having a short load time relative to resources having longer load times can be promoted in a presentation order, and search results for the resources having longer load times can be demoted. The demotion can, in some situations, result in a search result for a resource having a short load time being presented earlier in the order than a search result for a similarly-relevant resource having a longer load time. Thus, for two resources that, apart from load times, appear to equally satisfy a user&#8217;s informational needs, the user will often select the resource that will likely load the most quickly of the two, resulting in a better user experience.</p></blockquote>
<p>In other words, when it comes to competing resources that might seem otherwise similar, the one that loads faster gets a higher ranking. Prioritizing site speed is not only <a href="https://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2010/04/using-site-speed-in-web-search-ranking.html" target="_blank">important for Google rankings</a>, it&#8217;s also critical to providing the best experience for visitors.</p>
<p>The new <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-asset-clean-up/" target="_blank">WP Asset Clean Up</a> plugin addresses an often overlooked aspect of improving loading times. The plugin allows you to selectively remove unused styles and scripts from any page or post on your site. Once activated, the plugin detects all assets loaded and displays them on the post/page editing screen. You can then select the assets that are not needed for that page.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/wp-asset-clean-up.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50520"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/wp-asset-clean-up.png?resize=1025%2C902" alt="wp-asset-clean-up" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50520" /></a></p>
<p>I tested it and found that it works as expected. It&#8217;s especially handy for home pages and content like &#8220;about&#8221; and &#8220;contact&#8221; pages where you don&#8217;t need to load as much functionality.</p>
<p>WP Asset Clean Up is developer <a href="http://www.bitrepository.com" target="_blank">Gabriel Livan</a>&#8216;s first free plugin on WordPress.org.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve used themes / plugins in the past that were loading lots of assets (.css and .js files) in the front-end in pages where you only needed half of them or even less,&#8221; Livan said. &#8220;Many people have articles about making WordPress faster, but they often overlooked this part of removing the unused files. Often these are minified by caching plugins, but using the plugin I&#8217;ve developed, the minifying will be even smaller.&#8221;</p>
<p>As long as plugin/theme authors have properly enqueued their assets, WP Asset Clean Up will be able to detect them so that you can select them for removal. The plugin helps you decrease the number of HTTP requests loaded but can also be useful for minimizing script conflicts. You can download <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-asset-clean-up/" target="_blank">WP Asset Clean Up</a> from WordPress.org and use it in combination with your favorite caching plugin to improve performance.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 13 Jan 2016 06:29:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"WPTavern: BuddyPress 2.5 Development Kicks Off, BP-API Dev Chat Begins This Week";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50466";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:89:"http://wptavern.com/buddypress-2-5-development-kicks-off-bp-api-dev-chat-begins-this-week";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3693:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/buddypress-wallpapers1.png" rel="attachment wp-att-16156"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/buddypress-wallpapers1.png?resize=800%2C450" alt="buddypress-wallpapers" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-16156" /></a></p>
<p>BuddyPress contributors <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/buddypress/p1452110516002730" target="_blank">met last week</a> to discuss the scope of the 2.5 release, which is slated for the beginning of March. Lead developer Paul Gibbs opened the meeting with a call for tickets that contributors are working on for 2.5.</p>
<p>Core developer Mathieu Viet will be working on <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6482" target="_blank">comment syncing between activity and post comments for Custom Post Types</a>. His patch is currently awaiting more testing and feedback. In a separate <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6772" target="_blank">ticket</a> Viet is also working alongside core developer @r-a-y on BuddyPress embeds for activity, user profiles, groups.</p>
<p>BuddyPress lead developer Boone Gorges will be focusing his attention on <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6534" target="_blank">Navigation API tweaks for single items</a> and a ticket to <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6413" target="_blank">move xprofile field data visibility to be stored in xprofilemeta</a> (as opposed to a serialized array in usermeta).</p>
<p>Paul Gibbs is working on <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6592" target="_blank">overhauling BuddyPress emails with a new Email API and customization features</a>. The proposal he&#8217;s working towards uses a Post Type for email templates and a Taxonomy to store the different types of emails BuddyPress sends. This project would also introduce new HTML email templates into the BP template stack and new classes to represent an email (BP_Email), one for each type of email.</p>
<p>Other features on the <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/roadmap" target="_blank">roadmap</a> for possible inclusion in 2.5 include <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6210" target="_blank">a new Invitations API</a>, <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6347" target="_blank">making xprofile fields used for signup configurable</a>, and <a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6766" target="_blank">companion stylesheets for the TwentyTwelve default theme</a>.</p>
<h3>BP-API Development Chat Starts This Week</h3>
<p>On Wednesday, following the regularly scheduled dev chat, contributors interested in discussing the <a href="https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/2016/01/11/this-wednesday-in-addition-to/" target="_blank">REST API and BuddyPress</a> will meet at <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converted.html?iso=20160113T22&p1=3581&p2=195&p3=137&p4=152&p5=158&p6=64" target="_blank">22:00 UTC</a>. During this first chat they will decide where the BP-API will be developed and what steps are necessary to move forward. A few independent API plugins already exist but contributors hope to unify developer efforts to work on an official feature plugin.</p>
<p>This week&#8217;s dev chat will include discussion regarding what project lead John James Jacoby has called <a href="http://wptavern.com/john-james-jacoby-on-navigating-buddypress-identity-crisis" target="_blank">BuddyPress&#8217; identity crisis</a>. The core team will be gathering feedback on a “Social Network” vs. “Community Software” marketing direction.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 12 Jan 2016 23:35:41 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:9;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:87:"WPTavern: Watch Live: Matt Mullenweg Joins Cape Town WordPress Meetup for Fireside Chat";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50492";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"http://wptavern.com/watch-live-matt-mullenweg-joins-cape-town-wordpress-meetup-for-fireside-chat";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:713:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/wordpress-cape-town.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-26698"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/wordpress-cape-town.jpg?resize=822%2C378" alt="wordpress-cape-town" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-26698" /></a></p>
<p>Matt Mullenweg is in Cape Town and will be joining the <a href="http://www.wpcapetown.co.za/" target="_blank">local WordPress community meetup</a> for a fireside chat at noon EST (7pm Cape Town). The event begins in under an hour and will be live streamed on their YouTube channel. The video will also be available after the meetup has concluded.</p>
<p></p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 12 Jan 2016 16:26:56 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:10;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:97:"WPTavern: How to Assign Icons, Images, and Colors to Categories and Tags in The WordPress Backend";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50478";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:105:"http://wptavern.com/how-to-assign-icons-images-and-colors-to-categories-and-tags-in-the-wordpress-backend";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4600:"<p>When WordPress 4.4 was <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-4-clifford-featuring-responsive-images-twenty-sixteen-and-more">released in late 2015</a>, some <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-4-clifford-featuring-responsive-images-twenty-sixteen-and-more#comment-112322">users questioned</a> how to add colors and icons to categories as illustrated at the 1:17 mark in the <a href="https://videopress.com/v/J44FHXvg">release video</a>. The colors and icons are not something users can define by default. Instead, they&#8217;re exposed by plugins using the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2015/10/23/4-4-taxonomy-roundup/">Taxonomy Term Meta</a> feature in 4.4.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TaxonomyColorsandIcons.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50480"><img class="size-full wp-image-50480" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TaxonomyColorsandIcons.png?resize=685%2C381" alt="WordPress 4.4 Release Video Showing Colors and Icons" /></a>WordPress 4.4 Release Video Showing Colors and Icons
<p>To add icons, images, or colors to taxonomy terms such as categories and tags, I recommend using <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-term-images/">WP Term Images</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-term-icons/">WP Term Icons</a>, and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-term-colors/">WP Term Colors</a>. All three plugins are developed by, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnjamesjacoby/">John James Jacoby,</a> and are part of <a href="http://wptavern.com/stuttter-plugins-now-available-on-wordpress-org">his Stuttter project</a>.</p>
<p>Note, that in order to assign icons, images, and colors to taxonomies in WordPress 4.3 or earlier using these plugins, you&#8217;ll need to install and activate the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-term-meta/">WP Term Meta</a> plugin as it adds Term Meta support.</p>
<p>Once all three plugins are installed and activated, browse to the Categories section of the WordPress backend. You&#8217;ll see new fields where you can assign an icon, color, and image. Icons use the <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/resource/dashicons/#admin-appearance">Dashicon set</a> that ships with WordPress.</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SelectingAnIcon.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50481"><img class="size-full wp-image-50481" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SelectingAnIcon.png?resize=682%2C334" alt="Icon Picker" /></a>Icon Picker
<p>Choosing a color is easy as WP Term Colors uses the built-in color picker provided by WordPress.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SelectingAColor.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50484"><img class="size-full wp-image-50484" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SelectingAColor.png?resize=686%2C562" alt="Assigning a color to Taxonomies" /></a>Assigning A Color to Taxonomies
<p>WP Term Images uses the WordPress Media Library to assign an image. Here&#8217;s what a category looks like with a color, image, and icon.</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AssignedColorImageIcon.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50485"><img class="size-full wp-image-50485" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AssignedColorImageIcon.png?resize=837%2C239" alt="Icon, Color, and Image Assigned To The News Category" /></a>Icon, Color, and Image Assigned To The News Category
<p>The visual queues are only displayed on the taxonomy management page. In a future update, I&#8217;d like to see visual queues in the same areas of the WordPress backend where a taxonomy is displayed. For example, displaying the icon, color, or image for a category on the Post management screen. The category management page is something I rarely visit once a site is established. However, I visit the Post management screen on a daily basis. At the same time, I question the usefulness of displaying something next to individual tags.</p>
<p>These plugins are examples of what&#8217;s possible with taxonomy term meta support in WordPress 4.4. I tested each plugin on WordPress 4.5 alpha and didn&#8217;t experience any problems. If you&#8217;d like to learn more about term meta and how to use it, I encourage you to <a href="http://themehybrid.com/weblog/introduction-to-wordpress-term-meta">read this tutorial</a> by Justin Tadlock. What use cases or scenarios can you think of where the visual queues described above would come in handy?</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 12 Jan 2016 12:17:21 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:11;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"WPTavern: Easily Hide Menus in WordPress With The Clean WP Admin Menu Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50469";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"http://wptavern.com/easily-hide-menus-in-wordpress-with-the-clean-wp-admin-menu-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2400:"<p>The WordPress admin menu is fairly easy to navigate out-of-the-box but can become unruly over time. It can get out of control depending on the number of custom post types registered and plugins that add a top-level menu. If you want to hide rarely used menus from the admin menu, check out the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/clean-wp-admin-menu/">Clean WP Admin Menu</a> plugin developed by,<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/borantula/"> Bora Yalçın</a>.</p>
<p>After activating the plugin, browse to the <strong>Settings &gt; Clean Admin Menu</strong> area in the WordPress backend. This is where you choose which menus to hide. Checking the box next to an item will hide it from view.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WPCleanAdminMenuSettings.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50470"><img class="size-full wp-image-50470" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WPCleanAdminMenuSettings.png?resize=571%2C644" alt="WP Clean Admin Menu Settings" /></a>WP Clean Admin Menu Settings
<p>If you need to access a hidden menu, click the <strong>Toggle Extra</strong> link. Here&#8217;s an animated GIF provided by Yalçın that shows how it works.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/CleanWPMenuInAction.gif" rel="attachment wp-att-50471"><img class="size-full wp-image-50471" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/CleanWPMenuInAction.gif?resize=446%2C769" alt="Clean WP Menu in Action" /></a>Clean WP Menu in Action
<p>Accessing a menu that&#8217;s hidden becomes a two-click process instead of one, but it&#8217;s a trade-off users might make in order to achieve a cleaner interface. Menus are hidden globally and are not tied to user accounts.</p>
<p>Yalçın may add the ability to specify whether a menu is hidden globally or per-user in a future update in addition to a &#8220;Smart Clean&#8221; option. The idea is that if a user hasn&#8217;t accessed a menu in a certain amount of time, the plugin will automatically hide it from view.</p>
<p>I tested <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/clean-wp-admin-menu/">Clean WP Admin Menu</a> on WordPress 4.5 alpha and it works as expected. This plugin is a proof of concept so if you have any feedback or features you&#8217;d like to see added, please provide them in the comments.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 12 Jan 2016 08:32:17 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:12;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:16:"Matt: Thirty-Two";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"https://ma.tt/?p=45743";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:33:"https://ma.tt/2016/01/thirty-two/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3294:"<p>My thirty-second birthday has arrived after a whirlwind year, probably my most challenging and rewarding. It went faster than any year I can remember, absolutely flew by. Luckily it was capped at the holidays with a precious few weeks of downtime in Houston. Now I&#8217;m back to work in Cape Town and just finished a lovely day of great food, wine, and conversation with colleagues who are here for a meetup starting tomorrow.</p>
<p>Since I started tracking, 2015 was the first year that I traveled fewer miles than the year before, clocking in at 398k, down 27k. (398,553 miles, 111 cities, 20 countries.) In 2016 I&#8217;m going to try and get that even lower. It was also one of my best years for blogging on this site, with the most posts (252) I&#8217;ve made since 2008, and the most words (24,605) since 2005. (If anyone is curious, I wrote about 60k words over the same time period in <a href="http://automattic.com/">Automattic&#8217;s</a> internal <a href="http://p2theme.com/">P2s</a>.) In a weird omission, though, it&#8217;s the first year since this site started in 2002 that I didn&#8217;t post a single gallery of photos. I&#8217;ve developed a mental block around processing and posting the fancier pictures, even as I carry hundreds of gigabytes of them around the planet several times over. Hopefully this is something I can get past in 2016.</p>
<p>I ran 163 miles in 2015, more than I did the year before, and I think that trend will continue. Last year <a href="https://ma.tt/2015/01/thirty-one/">I talked about habits and small actions</a>, and a daily todo list with some small items to nourish the mind, soul, and body has become central to my routine. I dyed my hair (grey) just for fun and also to show the rest of Automattic they could too, how you look doesn&#8217;t matter one iota. My restaurant quest has continued, and I&#8217;ve now been to 38% of <a href="http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners">the current top 50 list</a>.</p>
<p>More so than before, I really don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s around the corner. While there is a lot in motion, there is even more still being defined and started. There&#8217;s freedom in the groove, to reference <a href="http://joshuaredman.com/">Joshua Redman&#8217;s</a> great album, and I&#8217;m getting a lot more comfortable with ambiguity and the faster pace of life in general. More than ever, I consider myself incredibly lucky, so it&#8217;s exciting to make the most of the opportunity that the volatility, love, loss, glory, failure, inspirations, and setbacks that 2016 will bring.</p>
<p>Previously: <a href="https://ma.tt/2003/01/bday/">19</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2004/01/so-im-20/">20</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2005/01/hot-barely-legal-matt/">21</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2006/01/matt-22/">22</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2007/01/twenty-three/">23</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2008/01/twenty-four/">24</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2009/01/twenty-five/">25</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2010/01/twenty-six/">26</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2011/01/twenty-seven/">27</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2012/01/twenty-eight/">28</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2013/01/twenty-nine/">29</a>, <a href="https://ma.tt/2014/01/matt-3-0/">30</a>, and <a href="https://ma.tt/2015/01/thirty-one/">31</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 11 Jan 2016 23:58:27 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:13;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:57:"WPTavern: Stuttter Plugins Now Available on WordPress.org";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50441";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"http://wptavern.com/stuttter-plugins-now-available-on-wordpress-org";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4714:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/stuttter.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50449"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/stuttter.png?resize=1025%2C452" alt="stuttter" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50449" /></a></p>
<p>The whole collection of plugins from John James Jacoby&#8217;s <a href="http://jaco.by/2015/10/16/meet-stuttter/" target="_blank">Stuttter project</a> is now <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/stuttter/#content-plugins" target="_blank">available on WordPress.org</a>. Jacoby created Stuttter as &#8220;a conduit for rethinking WordPress from the outside in,&#8221; and started pushing the plugins to the official plugin directory a couple months ago.</p>
<p>During the first half of 2015, he worked full-time on WordPress&#8217; sister projects (BuddyPress, bbPress, and GlotPress), thanks to the <a href="http://wptavern.com/buddypress-bbpress-and-glotpress-development-campaign-is-now-fully-funded" target="_blank">successful funding</a> of his independent IndieGoGo campaign. After completing this project, Jacoby returned to consulting via Flox where he had the chance to test and use the Stuttter plugins in production.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s a way to independently test the waters for what we can do with it [WordPress], without deviating from its history, beauty, charm, and chutzpah,&#8221; Jacoby said.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was recently inspired by Jeremy Felt’s <a href="https://jeremyfelt.com/2015/10/02/what-wordpress-plugins-are-excellent/" target="_blank">post about what he looks for in plugins</a> that he would want to use. We’ve chatted about it before, and he finally put it into words. Stuttter sticks to those philosophies (no nags, no licenses, nothing to cut out, etc…),&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>The new <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/stuttter/#content-plugins" target="_blank">Stuttter profile on WordPress.org</a> is home to 18 lean plugins, each carefully chiseled to do one thing well.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/stuttter-plugins.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50458"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/stuttter-plugins.png?resize=1025%2C1001" alt="stuttter-plugins" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50458" /></a></p>
<p>&#8220;My end goal is to point most public facing links for each plugin to a product on <a href="https://store.flox.io/" target="_blank">store.flox.io</a> (using Easy Digital Downloads) and sell them for a few pennies, and then use WordPress.org for updates and distribution,&#8221; Jacoby said. &#8220;That way people get a zip of a plugin they purchased and get to &#8216;own&#8217; their copy, plus I have a record of their purchase on <a href="https://flox.io/" target="_blank">flox.io</a> so they can use that plugin on their hosted networks eventually too.</p>
<p>Jacoby plans to make the Stuttter plugins available on Flox for the communities hosted there.</p>
<p>&#8220;Many of them will be on by default, like WP Chosen and WP Pretty Filters,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Others will be &#8216;unlocked&#8217; through purchases, like User Activity and User Parents.</p>
<p>&#8220;The goal is to strike a balance between a good default experience, and letting people upgrade through purchases, and then being able to take those purchases with them if they decide to self-host eventually (vs. losing them like on wpcom),&#8221; Jacoby said.</p>
<p>Developers who are interested in the code can find the Stuttter plugins <a href="https://code.flox.io/groups/stuttter/" target="_blank">publicly mirrored on Flox</a>. They are actively developed there and then pushed out to <a href="https://github.com/stuttter" target="_blank">GitHub</a> in bulk.</p>
<p>&#8220;Almost all of these are ideas I’ve been imagining in one way or another for years, particularly WP User Profiles,&#8221; Jacoby said. &#8220;I’ve wanted that for BuddyPress forever, but it’s always been too big of a gamble to commit to something this drastic for a project like BuddyPress that is so well established.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think whenever you have a long time to imagine what life would be like once something is possible, you can execute very quickly once it is. Most of the current generation Stuttter plugins came rapid-fire because of several years of thought about them first. I hadn’t even done much research into alternatives (the Stream plugin vs. WP User Activity for example, and WooCommerce has its own Term Meta tweaks too). I just knew I wanted to solve a certain problem in a certain way, and had the time and motivation to make it happen,&#8221; he said.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 11 Jan 2016 22:09:49 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:14;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:26:"Matt: Interview in El Pais";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45737";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"https://ma.tt/2016/01/interview-in-el-pais/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:314:"<p><span class="embed-youtube"></span></p>
<p>If you speak Spanish, or know someone who does, check out this video and <a href="http://one.elpais.com/gracias-a-el-se-publica-la-cuarta-parte-de-las-webs-del-mundo-matt-mullenweg-fundador-de-wordpress/">article that was on the El Pais homepage earlier today</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 08 Jan 2016 22:48:19 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"WPTavern: WordCamp Europe 2016 Sold Out, Organizers Working to Get More Venue Space";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50345";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:92:"http://wptavern.com/wordcamp-europe-2016-sold-out-organizers-working-to-get-more-venue-space";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2701:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wceu-2016.png" rel="attachment wp-att-49423"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wceu-2016.png?resize=1025%2C407" alt="wceu-2016" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-49423" /></a></p>
<p>If you waited to buy your ticket to <a href="https://2016.europe.wordcamp.org/" target="_blank">WordCamp Europe 2016</a> in Vienna, you may be out of luck. The event sold out on December 31, 2015. All 1550 tickets, including 50 micro-sponsorship tickets are now gone.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re currently at full capacity of our venue, but working towards expanding by hiring more halls in the MuzeumQuartier so we can meet the strong demand,&#8221; organizer Petya Raykovska told the Tavern.</p>
<p>&#8220;We will try and release 200 more tickets in the days to follow, depending on the availability of the halls around the MQ,&#8221; she said. A <a href="https://2016.europe.wordcamp.org/wordcamp-europe-is-sold-out-sign-up-for-the-tickets-waiting-list/" target="_blank">waiting list</a> is now open for those hopeful to grab a ticket when more venue space opens up. According to Raykovska, the list already has nearly 100 signups.</p>
<p>Based on the attendees confirmed so far, WordCamp Europe 2016 will have 58 countries represented, which is six more than the event had in 2014 and 2015. Including micro-sponsor tickets, the countries with the highest number of attendees include Germany (8%), Netherlands (8%), UK (8%), Austria (7%), and the United States (6%).</p>
<p>Planning early has paid off for the organizing team with another year of successful ticket sales in the bag. Raykovska attributes this to the location and the quality of past WCEU events.</p>
<p>&#8220;Obviously, Vienna being central for Europe and a fabulous location, has helped us attract more people this year,&#8221; Raykovska said. &#8220;But I believe above all, the huge interest is a testament about the quality we&#8217;ve been able to provide in previous years, establishing WordCamp Europe as a can&#8217;t-miss event for anyone running or involved with a WordPress business.</p>
<p>&#8220;I also think people appreciate that we released tickets so early. More than 80% of WordCamp Europe attendees come from outside the host country so being able to plan early helped people make a decision,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://2016.europe.wordcamp.org/the-call-for-speakers-for-wceu-2016-closes-in-4-weeks/" target="_blank">call for speakers</a> will close on January 31st. Speakers will be notified by March 16th as to whether or not their session will be on the schedule.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 08 Jan 2016 21:54:16 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:16;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"WPTavern: WordCamp US Is Accepting Applications for 2017-18 Host City";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50402";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:79:"http://wptavern.com/wordcamp-us-is-accepting-applications-for-2017-18-host-city";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1735:"<p>The application process to be the host city for WordCamp US 2017 and 2018 <a href="https://2016.us.wordcamp.org/2016/01/08/applications-for-the-wordcamp-us-2017-host-city-now-open/">is now open</a>. A lot of work goes into making WordCamp US successful and planning needs to start as soon as possible. The goal is to have future host city organizers be involved in the second year&#8217;s planning to learn the process and pass on the lessons learned to the next group of organizers.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re thinking about applying to be the host city, you&#8217;ll need to know the following information.</p>
<ul>
<li>The names and contact information for your organizing team.</li>
<li>Information about your location, including:
<ul>
<li>Do the venues have hotels within 3 miles that can support 1,500-2,000 attendees? Average hotel costs for budget, mid-range, and high-end hotels.</li>
<li>Flight costs from the West Coast, East Coast, Midwest, Mexico, and Canada.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Venue information with an option to suggest a second venue. Each venue requires:
<ul>
<li>A budget</li>
<li>Room capacities</li>
<li>Dates available</li>
<li>Additional venue details</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Contributor day information, including:
<ul>
<li>Venue</li>
<li>Wifi information</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The new location will be selected before WordCamp US 2016. When the six cities were chosen to possibly host WordCamp US 2015, <a href="http://wptavern.com/which-one-of-these-six-cities-should-host-wordcamp-us">Tavern readers voted</a> for Phoenix, AZ over Philadelphia, PA. If you have any questions or need help filling out the application, contact <strong>support @ wordcamp.org</strong>.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 08 Jan 2016 19:37:26 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:17;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:88:"WPTavern: How WordCamp Paris Streamlined Speaker Submissions with the Idea Stream Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50381";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:98:"http://wptavern.com/how-wordcamp-paris-streamlined-speaker-submissions-with-the-idea-stream-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:11361:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/jenny-beaumont.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-50383"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-50383" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/jenny-beaumont.jpg?resize=150%2C150" alt="jenny-beaumont" /></a>This post was contributed by guest author <a href="http://www.jennybeaumont.com/" target="_blank">Jenny Beaumont</a>. Jenny Beaumont is co-organizer of WordCamp Paris &amp; WordCamp Europe, a frequent speaker at WordCamps in France and abroad, and a contributor to a number of blogs. After 17 years building things in and around the web, she is taking a year-long sabbatical to get a new outlook on life.</p>
<hr />
<p>If you’ve organized a WordCamp or similar event, then you know the work involved in managing a call for papers. With every submission comes lots of information, both about the candidate and the proposed talk. And with some candidates submitting multiple proposals, the total number of submissions can be 3-4 times the number of slots available.</p>
<p>The call for speakers for <a href="https://paris.wordcamp.org/2016/" target="_blank">WordCamp Paris 2016</a> brought in upwards of 70 candidates and over 100 proposals!</p>
<p>In the past, most WordCamps have taken proposals through online forms and then organized them within spreadsheets for deliberation. But just as WordCamp Paris has grown in recent years, so has the organizing team, and the spreadsheet method became increasingly laborious and inefficient.</p>
<h3>There’s a plugin for that</h3>
<p>While preparing for <a href="https://paris.wordcamp.org/2015/" target="_blank">WordCamp Paris 2015</a>, the organizers decided to tackle this problem, and turned to <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-idea-stream/" target="_blank">WP Idea Stream</a>, a plugin developed by <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/imath" target="_blank">Mathieu Viet</a> (who has since joined the organizing team).</p>
<p>As the name suggests, WP Idea Stream is a collaborative tool built for the purpose of sharing and managing ideas between members of a WordPress site. A close look shows us that this simple concept contains a lot of intricate and useful features.</p>
<h3>Advantages for users</h3>
<p>Filling out a form one time is no trouble, but what if you want to submit multiple proposals? Or, what if you’re interrupted while filling out a form and have to start over?</p>
<p>WP Idea Stream solves this problem by giving talk candidates a simple one-time sign-up. With their own account they can:</p>
<ul>
<li>Update their personal information at any time (name, biography, social media accounts, email address, phone number, etc)</li>
<li>Submit multiple proposals without needing to resubmit personal information</li>
<li>Edit each proposal for up to one hour after submission</li>
<li>Access and consult their submissions at any time</li>
</ul>
<h3>Advantages for organizers</h3>
<p>Some team members wait until closing to sit and evaluate the proposals in one go, while others prefer to react over time as talks roll in. How do you keep track of those you’ve seen? How do you exchange thoughts and opinions with your teammates? How do you navigate through all of this information?</p>
<h3>Vote</h3>
<p>WP Idea Stream uses a five-star rating system to vote on ideas (or talks in our case). This makes it easy to see which are the most popular among a large group of organizers.</p>
<p>The plugin settings page includes an easy way to customize the wording for each level.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/hover-captions.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50387"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/hover-captions.png?resize=1025%2C133" alt="hover-captions" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50387" /></a></p>
<h3>Comment and debate</h3>
<p>To compliment this voting system, organizers can leave comments on each submission to further bolster their argument for or against a talk. They also have the opportunity to point out information that might be lacking, ask questions of the candidate, or make notes of recurring themes that emerge.</p>
<h3>Track and filter</h3>
<p>As an administrator, there are two ways to view talk proposals: the main “post” view, and a view from within your own profile.</p>
<p><strong>The “post” view</strong> is much like the default blog home page on a standard WordPress site. Submissions are listed in chronological descending order by default, including pagination and a display of the total number of talks to date. Then, there is the possibility to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Search by keyword</li>
<li>Filter by votes (highest ratings first)</li>
<li>Filter by most commented</li>
</ul>
<p>The excerpt for each talk submission includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>The avatar of the candidate (candidates are encouraged to use the email address associated with their Gravatar account at sign up)</li>
<li>The name of the talk</li>
<li>The number of comments with a quick link to that section of the talk</li>
<li>The current average rating, with a quick link to vote on that talk</li>
<li>An excerpt of the talk description</li>
<li>A list of all category and tag selections</li>
<li>The date of submission</li>
<li>A quick link to edit the proposal in the WordPress admin</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/excerpts.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50389"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/excerpts.png?resize=1025%2C778" alt="excerpts" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50389" /></a></p>
<p><strong>The “profile” view</strong> is intended for subscribed users to view their own submissions and to manage their personal information. As an admin, this front-end view also includes some very useful tabs to help keep track of your participation in the deliberation process.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/profile-view.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50390"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/profile-view.png?resize=1025%2C737" alt="profile-view" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50390" /></a></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Published.</strong> Shows any and all submissions you might have made. Yes, WordCamp Paris organizers are also often speakers!</li>
<li><strong>Commented.</strong> Shows all talk proposals that you’ve already commented on.</li>
<li><strong>Evaluated.</strong> Shows all talk proposals that you’ve already voted on.</li>
<li><strong>To be evaluated.</strong> Shows all talk proposals that are still awaiting your vote.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Organize</h3>
<p>By default, WP Idea Stream comes with standard WordPress category and tag taxonomies, allowing submissions to be further classified and qualified. This year for WordCamp Paris, we used categories to represent three talk formats: 10, 20 and 30-minute preferences.</p>
<p>We use tags for what we call talk “zooms” (basically just thematic tags). The advantage here is that, just like standard WordPress tags, users can be prompted with “most used” keywords to describe their talk’s theme.</p>
<p>Categories and tags have quick links to filter the view by those terms.</p>
<p>This has proven extremely useful for spotting recurring subjects and trends, comparing similar proposals, and even for figuring out subjects that haven’t been covered that we might want to find speakers for.</p>
<h3>Export</h3>
<p>When it comes down to it, you can’t get around the good old-fashioned spreadsheet for finalizing the job.</p>
<p>Once the team has finished rating all of the talks, the submissions can be easily exported to a spreadsheet, and sorted by vote, theme, and talk duration. From here, the program is built up and finalized, and the bulk of the work is already done.</p>
<h3>Requirements</h3>
<p>Using WP Idea Stream does requires us to have and maintain a WordPress installation separate from our official WordCamp site, but this is also proving to have a number of advantages including:</p>
<ul>
<li>A dedicated domain for emails</li>
<li>A permanent site that can act as a long-term archive, essentially regrouping information and links to each year’s dedicated site</li>
</ul>
<h3>Customization</h3>
<p>WP Idea Stream doesn’t work like this out-of-the-box. Many of these features were built specifically for our purposes. Because the plugin is developed to be highly extensible, adapting it for your own needs is relatively easy.</p>
<h3>Templates</h3>
<p>WP Idea Stream is built with a templating system, allowing you to easily override any of the front-end views from your own theme.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/templates.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50392"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/templates.png?resize=398%2C506" alt="templates" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50392" /></a></p>
<h3>Custom functions</h3>
<p>Placing a file named <a href="https://github.com/imath/wc-talk#wordcamp-talk" target="_blank">wp-idea-stream-custom.php</a> in wp-content/plugins/ extends the plugin, allowing you to build on the default functionality.</p>
<p>Here are some of the features we’ve added to adapt the plugin to our needs:</p>
<ul>
<li>Publish the content (talks) in private mode</li>
<li>Extended user fields, including language preference (the site then displays by default in the preferred language)</li>
<li>Time limit for editing talk submissions</li>
<li>Front-end admin tabs for viewing submissions by those rated and those still needing to be rated</li>
<li>Back-end modifications so that the plugin name and icon are changed in the admin menu.</li>
<li>Added a metabox with additional checkboxes to further classify talks by targeted audience</li>
<li>Added user role of “speaker,” essentially with the same permissions as the standard “subscriber”.</li>
</ul>
<p>We also added a fun little function in case any candidates try to sneak a peek by hacking the site’s comment RSS feed:</p>
<pre class="brush: php; light: true; title: ; notranslate">
/**
 * Redirect the speaker trying to cheat by adding the feed argument to the talk url :)
 */
function wc_talk_neutralize_feeds_step_two() {
	if ( is_feed() &amp;&amp; wp_idea_stream_is_ideastream() ) {
		wp_idea_stream_add_message( array(
			'type'    =&gt; 'info',
			'content' =&gt; __( 'Ah! caught trying to spy!', 'wc-talk' ),
		) );
		wp_safe_redirect( wp_idea_stream_get_redirect_url() );
		exit();
	}
}
</pre>
<p>We have used this system for two consecutive years now, improving the functionality as we learn what features are needed to make the process as smooth and efficient as possible. Overall, we might actually spend more time on the process, but it’s qualitative time. These tools humanize the process, allowing us to easily navigate the information and further invest ourselves in both the candidates and their ideas.</p>
<p>As a collaborative tool, it adds an element of fun that you can’t get out of a spreadsheet! This brings an added dynamic to the group, allowing us all to participate in the process and have a voice (except for those organizers who propose talks, of course! ;) ).</p>
<p>Like the idea? You should give it a try!</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 08 Jan 2016 17:50:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:18;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:60:"WPTavern: Progress Report: Measure Jetpack Benchmark Project";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50395";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"http://wptavern.com/progress-report-measure-jetpack-benchmark-project";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1062:"<p>Late in 2015, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ideag/#content-plugins">Arūnas Liuiza</a>, a WordPress plugin developer, <a href="http://wptavern.com/measure-jetpack-an-independent-project-aimed-at-measuring-jetpacks-performance">announced a new project</a> called <a href="http://blog.arunas.co/project-measure-jetpack/">Measure Jetpack</a>. Measure Jetpack is an independent, comprehensive series of benchmarks that will show how much impact Jetpack has on a site&#8217;s performance.</p>
<p>Over the last few months, little information has been shared on the project&#8217;s status. I reached out to Liuiza for an update, &#8220;We&#8217;ve built a decent set of sample data for testing and hope to begin actual testing next week. The plan is to have all the data by the end of the month and publish some of the results in February,&#8221; Liuiza told the Tavern.</p>
<p>While the results are not likely to be conclusive, the benchmarks will be an important resource in an area where similar data is scarce.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 08 Jan 2016 17:04:49 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:19;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:104:"Post Status: Challenges managing a WordPress consulting business and doing client work — Draft podcast";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"https://poststatus.com/?p=15517";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:111:"https://poststatus.com/challenges-managing-a-wordpress-consulting-business-and-doing-client-work-draft-podcast/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1493:"<p>Welcome to the Post Status <a href="https://poststatus.com/category/draft">Draft podcast</a>, which you can find <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/post-status-draft-wordpress/id976403008">on iTunes</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/krogsgard/post-status-draft-wordpress-podcast">Stitcher</a>, and <a href="http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1061/rss">via RSS</a> for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle &#8212; the CTO of Human Made &#8212; and Brian Krogsgard.</p>
<p>This week’s Post Status Draft podcast is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and Joe Hoyle. This week, they talk working in an agency and doing client work.</p>
<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');</script><![endif]-->
<a href="https://audio.simplecast.fm/24151.mp3">https://audio.simplecast.fm/24151.mp3</a>
<p><a href="http://audio.simplecast.fm/24151.mp3">Direct Download</a></p>
<p>Joe and Brian discussed a variety of facets to agency and client work, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Hourly billing, daily billing, and project billing</li>
<li>Tracking time for internal or external purposes</li>
<li>Pricing websites</li>
<li>Taking on large versus small projects in both large and small agencies, and how risk changes in each scenario</li>
<li>Making payroll and managing cashflow</li>
<li>Being selective with clients</li>
<li>Retainers and monthly maintenance plans, and how it can fit in</li>
<li>Team structures for projects</li>
<li>And more!</li>
</ul>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 08 Jan 2016 15:15:14 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Katie Richards";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:20;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"WPTavern: Custom Contact Forms Plugin Passes 1 Million Downloads on WordPress.org";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50343";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:91:"http://wptavern.com/custom-contact-forms-plugin-passes-1-million-downloads-on-wordpress-org";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5469:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/custom-contact-forms-featured.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50363"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/custom-contact-forms-featured.png?resize=670%2C324" alt="custom-contact-forms-featured" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50363" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-contact-forms/" target="_blank">Custom Contact Forms</a> has just passed one million downloads after nearly six years in the WordPress Plugin Directory. Last year <a href="https://taylorlovett.com/" target="_blank">Taylor Lovett</a>, Director of Web Engineering at <a href="http://10up.com/" target="_blank">10up</a>, released version 6.0, a completely rewritten version that made it one of the first plugins to incorporate the new WP REST API. It is now one of the most popular plugins to do so and has more than 70,000 active installs.</p>
<p>The plugin was built to provide the best user experience possible for building forms. It is unique in that it puts the form creation process inside the media manager, instead of a separate forms admin page. Custom Contact Forms also offers live previews while the user is building a form.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/custom-contact-form-creation.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50367"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/custom-contact-form-creation.png?resize=900%2C445" alt="custom-contact-form-creation" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50367" /></a></p>
<p>Getting the REST API integrated with the plugin was the culmination of nine months of development for version 6.0. Unlike many other early plugins that rely on the API, Custom Contact Forms does not require the WP REST API plugin. Instead, the plugin includes its own version of the WP REST API, which is cleverly activated if necessary.</p>
<p>&#8220;The plugin includes a small fraction of that code,&#8221; Lovett said. &#8220;Compressed it is 1.6MB and the whole thing is built to be very performant scale for enterprise.</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s a good user experience to make 70,000 people install a plugin dependency,&#8221; Lovett said. &#8220;The main thing about CCF is it has an attractive fully JS powered interface that looks like the WP media modal. It really goes with Matt&#8217;s message at the State of the Word on JS.</p>
<p>&#8220;I would argue the user experience is better than all the popular alternatives (Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, etc.) The plugin does not have as much functionality as GF or Ninja Forms but is quickly catching up &#8211; it&#8217;s also 100% free,&#8221; Lovett said.</p>
<p>Since Custom Contact Forms is capable of handling much more than simple contact forms, Lovett is considering a name change that will help people understand the broader possibilities for its use. He has seen it used for employment forms, product creation (the plugin has extensive hooks and can create posts on each submission), digital product creation, and event creation.</p>
<h3>JavaScript-Powered Form Creation is the Future</h3>
<p>Lovett believes that the most popular forms plugins will need to adapt in order to keep pace with the modern web.</p>
<p>&#8220;By using the REST API and heavy JS, CCF can do things like live form previews which Gravity Forms and Ninja Forms can&#8217;t do,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;The modern web requires things to be done without page reloads so I do think the traditional form plugins will need to modernize. The only thing standing in their way is time &#8211; I spent nine months rewriting CCF for the JSON REST API,&#8221; Lovett said.</p>
<p>&#8220;AJAX has become expected on the web. Anything less is not going to stand the test of time. Can you imagine using the media modal, if you had to reload the page every time you added an image? The same concept applies to forms,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Custom Contact Forms is not as full-featured as the most popular contact forms, and Lovett says he gets quite a bit of pressure from users to add more features.</p>
<p>&#8220;I want to tastefully add features slowly,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think a lot of plugins try to do all the things and I don&#8217;t want CCF to be like that.&#8221;</p>
<p>Lovett plans to add Paypal and Stripe integration along with a variety of form templates in future releases. When asked if these would be separate add-ons, he said that they would mostly likely be built in.</p>
<p>&#8220;The only reason to separate things in my opinion is to make money off of them,&#8221; Lovett said. &#8220;The plugin will still be a small file size and performant &#8211; so why separate?&#8221;</p>
<p>Lovett has struggled to maintain a high rating on Custom Contact Forms, as it went through a tough transition in order to adapt the JSON REST API.</p>
<p>&#8220;I had to write DB upgrade scripts for thousands of people using the old plugin,&#8221; he said. &#8220;During that transition, I got a lot of 1-star reviews.&#8221; The database upgrade scripts provided a seamless transition for some users but not for others. This is sometimes the price users pay when a plugin updates to be on the cutting edge.</p>
<p>&#8220;The JSON REST API being merged into core has made support much easier,&#8221; Lovett said. &#8220;I don’t think it’s &#8216;fringe technology&#8217; anymore.&#8221;</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 08 Jan 2016 00:07:42 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:21;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"WPTavern: WPWeekly Episode 220 – Automattic’s Relationship With WordPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:44:"http://wptavern.com?p=50342&preview_id=50342";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"http://wptavern.com/wpweekly-episode-220-automattics-relationship-with-wordpress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2654:"<p>In this episode of WordPress Weekly, <a href="http://marcuscouch.com/">Marcus Couch</a> and I discuss the latest news in the WordPress ecosystem. On the first episode of 2016, I rant about the conspiracy theorists who believe Automattic owns and controls the WordPress project.</p>
<p>I try to set the record straight and explain why it&#8217;s not the case. Later in the show, Marcus explains what <a href="https://www.ampproject.org/">AMP</a> is and why site owners need to pay attention to it. Last but not least are his plugin picks of the week.</p>
<h2>Stories Discussed:</h2>
<p><a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-4-1-patches-xss-security-vulnerability">WordPress 4.4.1 Patches XSS Security Vulnerability</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-added-910-new-themes-in-2015">WordPress.org Added 910 New Themes in 2015</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/sixty-three-percent-of-wordpress-core-committers-are-not-employed-by-automattic">63% of WordPress Core Committers Are Not Employed by Automattic</a><br />
<a href="http://wptavern.com/wordcamp-miami-2016-adds-new-javascript-track-freelancers-workshop-and-kids-panel">WordCamp Miami 2016 Adds New JavaScript Track, Freelancer’s Workshop, and Kids Panel</a><br />
<a href="https://loopconf.io/">LoopConf in 2016</a></p>
<h2>Plugins Picked By Marcus:</h2>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/ip-login/">IP Login e</a>nables you to login from a trusted IP without entering a password by specifying ?bypass_login=username in the browser&#8217;s address bar.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/slide-anything/">Slide Anything </a>allows you to create a carousel where the content for each slide can include, images, text, HTML, and shortcodes.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-smart-export/">WP Smart Export (Free Version) </a>is a smart and highly customizable data exporter for outputting posts and user data that you can read.</p>
<h2>WPWeekly Meta:</h2>
<p><strong>Next Episode:</strong> Wednesday, January 13th 9:30 P.M. Eastern</p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: </strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wordpress-weekly/id694849738" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via RSS: </strong><a href="http://www.wptavern.com/feed/podcast" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Stitcher Radio: </strong><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wordpress-weekly-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Listen To Episode #220:</strong><br />
</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 07 Jan 2016 20:24:56 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:22;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"WPTavern: More Than 655M Comments Were Published on WordPress.com in 2015";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50336";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"http://wptavern.com/more-than-655m-comments-were-published-on-wordpress-com-in-2015";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1375:"<p>Between posts and comments, <a href="http://www.wordpress.com">WordPress.com</a> is an enormous hub of activity. The service recently published its <a href="https://en.blog.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/the-2015-wordpress-com-year-in-review/">2015 year in review</a> and the numbers are staggering. Last year, users published 660M posts that generated more than 655M comments. The review looks back at posts that went viral, books published by authors, and coverage of world events.</p>
<p>Other noteworthy events include <a href="https://en.blog.wordpress.com/2015/06/26/celebrating-10-years-of-wordpress-com-automattic/">WordPress.com&#8217;s 10 year anniversary</a> and the first conference devoted to WordPress.com called <a href="http://presspublish.events/blog/">Press Publish,</a> which took place in Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona. Late in the year, the service <a href="http://wptavern.com/automattic-unveils-open-source-wordpress-desktop-application-for-the-mac">unveiled Calypso</a>, a revamped backend interface for WordPress.com.</p>
<p>Suffice to say, it was a productive year for Automattic and WordPress.com with no signs of slowing down in 2016. Be sure to check out the <a href="https://en.blog.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/the-2015-wordpress-com-year-in-review/">full post</a> to see a detailed list of milestones.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 07 Jan 2016 18:58:40 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:23;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:72:"WPTavern: WordPress 4.5 Development Kicks Off, Release Set for Mid-April";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50322";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-5-development-kicks-off-release-set-for-mid-april";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2808:"<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/coffee-newspaper.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-50330"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/coffee-newspaper.jpg?resize=680%2C346" alt="Coffee Cup on Table --- Image by © Michael Prince/CORBIS" class="size-full wp-image-50330" /></a>Coffee Cup on Table &#8212; Image by © Michael Prince/CORBIS
<p>WordPress 4.5 development is now in full swing with Mike Schroder at the helm, leading the <a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/core/p1452114055008649" target="_blank">kickoff meeting</a> today. Schroder is joined by newly named deputies, Mel Choyce and Adam Silverstein, who will help manage the release.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/version-4-5-project-schedule/" target="_blank">4.5 project schedule</a> is now posted. The merge window for feature plugins opens February 3rd and the first Beta is expected the last week of that month. April 12th is the target date for the official release.</p>
<p>The call for feature plugins is beginning early this time around and a Feature Plugin chat is scheduled for Tuesday, January 12, 2016, 3:00 PM CST.</p>
<p>&#8220;The main purpose of the early chat is for plugins that believe they are ready for merge, and to start up new ones for future releases,&#8221; Schroder said. Those who have ideas and/or plugins to put forward will have an opportunity to get feedback from other contributors.</p>
<p>During the kickoff meeting, Schroder took stock of the general areas that contributors have shown interest in working on for WordPress 4.5. Weston Ruter and other contributors on the customizer component have several features in progress, including <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/32296" target="_blank">Customize Pane Resizer</a>, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/31195" target="_blank">Customize Device Preview</a>, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/34893" target="_blank">Customize Setting Validation</a>, and the <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/34923" target="_blank">creation of page stubs for adding nav menu items</a>. Ruter considers the Transactions and Selective Refresh features ready to go for consideration in 4.5.</p>
<p>Michael Arestad said that he is exploring &#8220;a series of smaller projects that can make Post New and the publishing process a bit nicer.&#8221; Joe McGill is hoping to make progress on improving the compression of resized images in core. John Blackbourn expressed interest in working with a team on<br />
&#8220;No More Mixed Content&#8221; https improvements.</p>
<p>More detailed discussion about potential feature plugins for 4.5 (and future releases) will happen in the scheduled chat next week.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 07 Jan 2016 05:59:40 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:24;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"WPTavern: Briar: A Free Minimalist WordPress Theme Based on Bootstrap";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50289";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"http://wptavern.com/briar-a-free-minimalist-wordpress-theme-based-on-bootstrap";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3972:"<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/briar/" target="_blank">Briar</a> is a new minimalist theme that landed in the WordPress directory last month. It&#8217;s the type of bold, non-flashy theme that puts the spotlight on content and images without trying to stuff widgets into the reading experience.</p>
<p>Briar was created by the folks at <a href="http://slicejack.com/" target="_blank">Slicejack</a>, a Croatia-based development company and a brand new WordPress.org theme author. The theme uses the Bootstrap framework to provide a responsive layout for desktop, tablets, and mobile.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/briar-screenshot.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50293"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/briar-screenshot.png?resize=1025%2C769" alt="briar-screenshot" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50293" /></a></p>
<p>One of Briar&#8217;s most interesting features is the ability for users to create a full-width heading using a shortcode. The content and background image specified in the shortcode will have a parallax effect, which you can see when scrolling on single posts.</p>
<p>The theme&#8217;s primary menu can be toggled into view using the hamburger icon. It includes support for multi-level navigation.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/multi-level-navigation.gif" rel="attachment wp-att-50316"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/multi-level-navigation.gif?resize=600%2C334" alt="multi-level-navigation" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50316" /></a></p>
<p>Briar also has a unique fixed footer with post meta that disappears as you scroll down the page. On mobile the post meta is pared down to just the author and post date.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/briar-post.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50299"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/briar-post.png?resize=1025%2C492" alt="briar-post" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50299" /></a></p>
<p>The theme supports more than a dozen customization options for colors, backgrounds, layouts, and social buttons. Its elegant layout and color selections are some of the nicest customizer controls  I&#8217;ve seen in recently launched themes. The layout controls allow you to select from three different options for the home, blog, single, archive, category archive, search, 404, and default page templates. Briar includes six prepared color schemes as well as 15 different color pickers for customizing individual elements of the theme.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/customizer-layouts.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-50319"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/customizer-layouts.jpg?resize=1025%2C612" alt="customizer-layouts" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50319" /></a></p>
<p>The theme supports an optional sidebar widget area, which will appear on the templates where you assign a layout with a sidebar. If you&#8217;re using Jetpack, you can enable the infinite scrolling module without having any conflicts.</p>
<p>Briar&#8217;s design provides excellent readability with contrasting fonts &#8211; Noto sans for headlines and Martel for paragraph text.</p>
<p>Check out the <a href="http://demo.slicejack.com/briar/" target="_blank">live demo</a> at SliceJack to see the theme in action with the single-column layout.</p>
<p>Briar is Slicejack&#8217;s first free theme but they have another in the pipeline for approval. The theme is <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/briar/" target="_blank">available on WordPress.org</a> and is also hosted on <a href="https://github.com/themejack/briar" target="_blank">GitHub</a>. If you&#8217;re looking to restart your blog in 2016 with a no-frills, content-focused WordPress theme, Briar fits the bill.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 07 Jan 2016 00:27:44 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:25;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:60:"WPTavern: WordPress 4.4.1 Patches XSS Security Vulnerability";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50297";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-4-1-patches-xss-security-vulnerability";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1415:"<p>WordPress 4.4.1 is <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2016/01/wordpress-4-4-1-security-and-maintenance-release/">available for download</a> and includes 52 fixes, one of which patches a cross site scripting vulnerability <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/reporting-security-vulnerabilities/">reported</a> by <a href="https://hackerone.com/crtc4l">Crtc4L</a>. This release address two severe bugs and updates the polyfill used for emoji to support Unicode 8. Support for Unicode 8 adds new diversity emoji to WordPress.</p>
<p>Other notable changes include the <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/35152">removal of Rdio embed support</a>, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/34976">plugins failing to update after WordPress 4.4 is installed</a>, and a <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/01/05/4-4-1-release-candidate/">handful of changes</a> to responsive images. Sites configured to receive automatic updates should update within 24 hours. Since 4.4.1 is a security release, you should initiate the update process as soon as possible.</p>
<p>A total of 36 people contributed to this release. If you encounter problems after updating, please <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting">create a new thread</a> in the WordPress.org support forums where volunteers are standing by to help out.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 06 Jan 2016 20:33:09 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:26;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:111:"WPTavern: Save Time Editing Multiple Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types With the Destination After Save Plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50275";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:119:"http://wptavern.com/save-time-editing-multiple-posts-pages-and-custom-post-types-with-the-destination-after-save-plugin";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2411:"<p>If you need to edit a lot of content and want to save time doing so, check out a new plugin called <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/destination-after-save/">Destination After Save</a> created by, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/robertwhitis/">Robert Whitis</a>. Destination after save overrides WordPress&#8217; default save behavior and creates a new meta box on the post and page creation screens. Users can choose what to do after saving a post, page, or custom post type.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/DASMetaBoxSettings2.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50280"><img class="size-full wp-image-50280" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/DASMetaBoxSettings2.png?resize=273%2C246" alt="Destination After Save Meta Box Settings" /></a>Destination After Save Meta Box Settings
<p>It also adds a setting to the user profile screen where users can choose whether the default behavior of WordPress is to view the content or continue editing after clicking the save button.</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/DASUserSettings.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50281"><img class="size-full wp-image-50281" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/DASUserSettings.png?resize=412%2C128" alt="Destination After Save User Profile Settings" /></a>Destination After Save User Profile Settings
<p>Whitis was inspired to create the plugin after editing large volumes of content and revisions on a regular basis. Destination after save can also increase performance on large WordPress Multisite installations by reducing page loads, &#8220;If you are paying for web hosting based on usage, reducing the number of page loads in this way could have a real effect on the cost of bandwidth if thousands or millions of users are producing content,&#8221; Whitis told the Tavern.</p>
<p>One thing I discovered during testing is that content with long titles are cut off because of the drop-down menu location. Other than that, it works as expected on WordPress 4.5 alpha. Whether it&#8217;s creating, editing, or doing repetitive tasks to manage content, destination after save can save you some time. Destination after save is free and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/destination-after-save/">available for download</a> from the WordPress plugin directory.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 06 Jan 2016 08:53:29 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:27;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"WPTavern: Linode Confirms Data Security Breach That Matches Recent WP Engine Attack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50236";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:93:"http://wptavern.com/linode-confirms-data-security-breach-that-matches-recent-wp-engine-attack";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5158:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/linode.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50256"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50256" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/linode.png?resize=768%2C363" alt="linode" /></a></p>
<p>Cloud hosting provider <a href="http://status.linode.com/incidents/mmdbljlglnfd" target="_blank">Linode has been combatting DDoS attacks</a> since Christmas Day, which have caused multiple disruptions and service outages across its global data centers. The attacks are ongoing and the company is struggling to keep its status blog up to notify customers.</p>
<p>In addition to the DDoS attacks, <a href="http://status.linode.com/incidents/ghdlhfnfngnh" target="_blank">Linode has also confirmed a data security breach</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>A security investigation into the unauthorized login of three accounts has led us to the discovery of two Linode.com user credentials on an external machine. This implies user credentials could have been read from our database, either offline or on, at some point. The user table contains usernames, email addresses, securely hashed passwords and encrypted two-factor seeds. The resetting of your password will invalidate the old credentials.</p></blockquote>
<p>All Linode Manager passwords have been expired as a precaution after customer credentials were found in the wild. The team is working around the clock to mitigate the DDoS attacks and further investigate the unauthorized access to customer accounts. Linode has not yet determined whether there is a link between the two attacks.</p>
<p>Several days ago, WP Engine <a href="http://wptavern.com/wp-engine-identifies-cloud-infrastructure-providers-as-entry-point-for-recent-security-breach" target="_blank">identified its cloud infrastructure provider as the entry point for the company&#8217;s recent security breach</a>. The company is listed as one of Linode&#8217;s customers. Jason Cohen, the company&#8217;s founder and CTO, jumped in to answer several <a href="http://wptavern.com/wp-engine-identifies-cloud-infrastructure-providers-as-entry-point-for-recent-security-breach#comments" target="_blank">questions in WP Tavern comments</a> earlier today but would neither confirm nor deny that Linode is the cloud infrastructure provider in question.</p>
<p>PagerDuty, a former Linode customer and <a href="https://www.pagerduty.com/blog/july-2015-security-announcement/" target="_blank">victim of a similar attack</a>, speculates that <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10845985" target="_blank">Linode may have been compromised since July 2015</a> and is only now announcing it:</p>
<blockquote><p>We immediately reached out to them not only to inform them of their compromise, but to assist them in investigating it. We were confident that the Linode database had been breached, and that the secret key used to encrypt information in the database had been compromised as well.</p>
<p>In addition to reaching out to Linode, we also worked with a third-party security firm to audit our work done during the incident. Likewise, around the same time we reached out to law enforcement to assist in investigating the attack. We did not get confirmation in July that there was a breach of the Linode Manager or any associated credentials.</p></blockquote>
<p>PagerDuty migrated away from Linode in August because of this breach, but the company was not allowed to disclose to its customers that Linode was the point of entry.</p>
<p>WP Engine&#8217;s security breach is strikingly similar, as the company&#8217;s attacker bypassed multiple layers of authentication to gain access to an administrative panel. According to Cohen, &#8220;the criminal’s behavior in this exposure matches a pattern seen in other attacks throughout 2015.&#8221;</p>
<p>If multiple Linode customers have been affected and are unable to reveal the point of entry, they may have put pressure on the cloud hosting provider to finally publicly disclose the nature of the attack.</p>
<p>In an age when nearly every hosting provider will have attacks and service disruptions, what matters is how they handle it and communicate with their customers. Linode has been plagued by <a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/03/bitcoins-worth-228000-stolen-from-customers-of-hacked-webhost/">multiple</a> <a href="https://blog.linode.com/2013/04/16/security-incident-update/" target="_blank">security</a> <a href="https://blog.linode.com/2014/01/19/an-old-system-and-a-swat-team/" target="_blank">issues</a> in the past. Failure to disclose incidents in a timely way can be costly, especially in the current competitive hosting market where transparency with customers is at a premium.</p>
<p>When Linode&#8217;s investigation of the criminal activity is complete, it would be appropriate for them to disclose how long they knew about this compromise and when they first acted on it. The most <a href="http://status.linode.com/incidents/ghdlhfnfngnh" target="_blank">recent update</a> on the security breach does not include a specific timeline of events.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 06 Jan 2016 07:04:58 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:28;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:52:"WPTavern: WordPress.org Added 910 New Themes in 2015";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50170";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:62:"http://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-added-910-new-themes-in-2015";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6275:"<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/rainbow.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-28301"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/rainbow.jpg?resize=1024%2C514" alt="photo credit: Βethan - cc" class="size-full wp-image-28301" /></a>photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/beth19/4912628387/">Βethan</a> &#8211; <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
<p>The WordPress.org Theme Review Team has just wrapped up a busy year of adding new themes, approving updates, and overhauling procedures. In 2015, the team <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2016/01/04/happy-new-year-thank-you/" target="_blank">reviewed and approved 910 new themes</a> with the help of 236 reviewers, according to TRT member Ulrich Pogson.</p>
<p>Despite their best efforts, the team cannot keep up with the massive influx of themes. The queue has been bogged down by submissions from authors whose themes have not been run against <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Unit_Test" target="_blank">Theme Unit Test Data</a> and the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/theme-check/" target="_blank">Theme Check Plugin</a>.</p>
<p>At the end of 2015, some <a href="http://wptavern.com/why-some-theme-authors-are-waiting-two-months-or-more-for-their-first-review" target="_blank">theme authors were waiting two or more months</a> before their first review. One of the reasons, according to TRT member Justin Tadlock, is that many of the themes submitted are far from ready to be approved upon their initial review.</p>
<p>“The majority of themes submitted don’t follow the guidelines, which considerably slows down the process,&#8221; Tadlock said. &#8220;Themes will often have 20-30 issues or more. If we can get to a point where the majority of submissions only have a few minor issues, we really wouldn’t have a queue.”</p>
<h3>Automation is Coming Soon</h3>
<p>The Theme Review Team made a number of controversial decisions at the beginning of 2015, including the move to <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-now-requires-theme-authors-to-use-the-customizer-to-build-theme-options" target="_blank">require theme authors to use the customizer for building theme options</a>. Negative pushback from the community came to a head when the team started cracking down on <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-review-team-is-cracking-down-on-violations-of-the-presentation-vs-functionality-guideline" target="_blank">violations of the presentation vs. functionality guideline</a>.</p>
<p>At the end of May, Matt Mullenweg joined in on the Theme Review Team&#8217;s slack channel and challenged them to look at the review process and directory in a new way, opening up new avenues for the team to pursue in <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-review-team-seeks-feedback-on-the-review-process-themes-and-the-directory" target="_blank">improving that experience</a>. This was a watershed moment for the Theme Review Team that resulted in the unanimous approval of <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-review-team-unanimously-approves-roadmap-to-improve-directory-and-review-process" target="_blank">a new roadmap to improve the directory and review process</a>.</p>
<p>The team is now <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2015/10/07/automation-here-we-come/" target="_blank">moving towards more automation</a>, the first item on the roadmap, starting with auto-approval of theme updates. Automation will make a major impact on the time themes spend in the queue. The team has yet to implement it fully, because they&#8217;re still putting the code in place to improve the system.</p>
<h3>2015 Theme Review Team Milestones</h3>
<p>Despite delays on the roadmap, the Theme Review Team implemented many excellent changes during 2015, especially pertaining to education and documentation. In February, the team <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-review-handbook-updated-to-include-design-recommendations" target="_blank">updated the Theme Review Handbook to include design recommendations</a>. These recommendations were created to encourage design feedback on submissions to the directory and are formatted to help the theme author think more critically about design decisions.</p>
<p>Following the new requirement for WordPress.org themes to use the customizer for creating options, the TRT rallied, putting together more customizer resources and documentation. Nick Halsey assisted the team by updating the Theme Developer Handbook with <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-developer-handbook-updated-with-comprehensive-guide-to-the-customizer-api" target="_blank">a comprehensive guide to the customizer API</a>. The team also began <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-review-team-launches-code-examples-library-on-github" target="_blank">curating a library of code examples on GitHub for theme developers</a>, with the first section devoted to customizer code.</p>
<p>When WordPress 4.3 added the site icons feature, the Theme Review Team began working with authors to <a href="http://wptavern.com/theme-review-team-begins-phasing-out-favicon-support" target="_blank">phase out favicon support</a> in themes. By the time WordPress 4.5 rolls around, all themes hosted in the official directory should be on track to use the core-supported method of adding site icons.</p>
<p>In July, the team <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-theme-review-team-votes-to-allow-themes-to-use-the-rest-api-plugin" target="_blank">voted to allow themes to use the WP REST API plugin</a>, officially welcoming these new types of themes into the directory.</p>
<p>Throughout 2015, the Theme Review team moved quickly to navigate new waters as WordPress core improved. All of these initiatives and resources were created in addition to the 910 new themes that were reviewed and added to the directory. This is remarkable, given that the team is primarily made up of volunteers.</p>
<p>With the improved tools coming in 2016, WordPress.org theme authors can expect faster reviews, freeing up more time for reviewers to focus on improving the directory, creating more educational resources, and mentoring new reviewers.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 06 Jan 2016 00:28:50 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:29;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"WPTavern: 63% of WordPress Core Committers Are Not Employed by Automattic";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50208";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:99:"http://wptavern.com/sixty-three-percent-of-wordpress-core-committers-are-not-employed-by-automattic";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4262:"<p>In 2014, we <a href="http://wptavern.com/trend-more-people-getting-commit-access-to-the-core-of-wordpress">wrote about the trend</a> of more people receiving commit access to WordPress core. Fast forward to the beginning of 2016 and a total of 35 people can commit code to the core of WordPress. Helen Hou-Sandí, WordPress Lead Developer, <a href="https://twitter.com/helenhousandi/status/682240497528750080">published the stat</a> on Twitter and notes that 22 out of the 35 committers are not employed by Automattic.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Of the 35 WP core committers, 22 do not work for Automattic. Just in case you were still thinking that WordPress is an Automattic project.</p>
<p>&mdash; Helen 侯-Sandí (@helenhousandi) <a href="https://twitter.com/helenhousandi/status/682240497528750080">December 30, 2015</a></p></blockquote>
<p></p>
<p>Aaron Jorbin, WordPress Core Developer, <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronjorbin/status/682294815116124160">published additional</a> statistics on Twitter.</p>
<ul>
<li>Automattic employees made up 20.4% of all commits</li>
<li>Employees of 10up represented 18.8% of all commits</li>
<li>Scott Taylor represents 18.7% of all commits</li>
<li>13 people had more than 100 commits</li>
<li>Self-employed folks represented 9.7% of all commits</li>
</ul>
<p>Here is the same information in a colorful pie chart:</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WPCoreCommitterPieChart.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50209"><img class="size-full wp-image-50209" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WPCoreCommitterPieChart.png?resize=497%2C398" alt="Core Committer Pie Chart by Aaron Jorbin" /></a>Core Committer Pie Chart by Aaron Jorbin
<p>A WordPress core committer is someone who has access to merge code into the WordPress code base, used by millions of people. It&#8217;s an enormous responsibility and a recognition of trust, quality, and activity.</p>
<p>In WordPress&#8217; early years, the number of people with commit access consisted of just a handful of people. In 2010, Matt Mullenweg, Co-Founder of the WordPress project, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2010/01/12/dd32-whatcha-gonna-do/">started the process</a> of expanding that number, &#8220;One of the goals for the team in 2010 is to greatly expand the number of people with direct commit access, so the emphasis is more on review and collaboration,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>There are a myriad of titles given to people involved in the WordPress project. Here are the main titles used to describe those contributing to core.</p>
<ul>
<li>Release Lead is a temporary title given to those who are leading a WordPress release cycle.</li>
<li>Lead Developers are those who influence the project&#8217;s direction and are highly involved in the decision-making process.</li>
<li>Core Developers are permanent committers.</li>
<li>Contributing Developers are guest committers, feature plugin lead developers, and other contributors highlighted by the release lead.</li>
</ul>
<p>In addition to increasing the number of people with commit access, it&#8217;s important to recognize the employment of those individuals. In WordPress&#8217; early days, some people were concerned that too many Automattic employees with commit access meant that the company owned and controlled the project. WordPress development only served the commercial interests of Automattic.</p>
<p>Hou-Sandí&#8217;s statistic that 22 out of the 35 core committers are not employed by Automattic is proof that this isn&#8217;t the case. It also disproves the theory that Automattic owns and controls WordPress. To say that <strong>Automattic is WordPress</strong> is false and a slap in the face to the countless number of people who contribute to the project.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;d like to be part of the awesome statistics shared above, check out <a href="https://nacin.com/2014/02/07/how-wordpress-chooses-committers/">Nacin&#8217;s post</a> on the qualities of a great WordPress contributor. Also, if you ever want to know who the people are creating WordPress, visit the About page in the WordPress backend and click the Credits tab.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 05 Jan 2016 22:33:03 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:30;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"WPTavern: WordCamp Miami 2016 Adds New JavaScript Track, Freelancer’s Workshop, and Kids Panel";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50187";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:101:"http://wptavern.com/wordcamp-miami-2016-adds-new-javascript-track-freelancers-workshop-and-kids-panel";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5003:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/wcmia-session.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-50188"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/wcmia-session.jpg?resize=1025%2C525" alt="wcmia-session" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50188" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://2016.miami.wordcamp.org/" target="_blank">WordCamp Miami 2016</a> organizers are ramping up for their 8th event to be held February 19-21 at the Florida International University School of Business. Ptah Dunbar is stepping up as the lead organizer for the event, which is expected to draw more than 700 attendees.</p>
<p>BuddyCamp Miami will kick off the event on the 19th, led by John James Jacoby who will be sharing on the current state of BuddyPress.</p>
<p>“Last year I think organizers and speakers were impressed with the developer-related talks and how many people were learning first-hand what BuddyPress can do.” organizer David Bisset said. “This year we are hoping to do that plus explore how others are using BuddyPress (in building websites and plugins) beyond the obvious ways it can be used.&#8221;</p>
<p>WordCamp Miami will also host its usual Beginner&#8217;s workshop and will continue its How-To track, which received positive reviews last year. Speakers will continue the camp&#8217;s new tradition of going directly to the Happiness Bar to answer questions after their talks.</p>
<h3>New “Learn JavaScript Deeply” Track</h3>
<p>In response to Matt Mullenweg urging developers to learn JavaScript, WordCamp Miami will be hosting its first “Learn JavaScript Deeply” track for attendees on Sunday, February 21st.</p>
<p>“The track is very much setup as an almost full day workshop with a great local developer Michael Schofield hosting,&#8221; Bisset said. &#8220;As it’s planned now, the day starts off with several speakers introducing the required tools for working with JavaScript and WordPress. From there we explore the more advanced aspects of JavaScript while touching on frameworks such as BackBone, AngularJS, and React.”</p>
<p>WordPress developers Josh Pollock, Camden Segal, and Kevin Stover will be presenting along with local and surprise speakers. Attendees will receive resources after the event that they can use to continue learning and writing code.</p>
<h3>New Freelancer’s Workshop</h3>
<p>In 2015, WordCamp Miami hosted a general workshop day for more than 300 attendees. This year the conference will host a <a href="https://2016.miami.wordcamp.org/2016/01/03/announcing-our-freelance-workshop-february-19th/" target="_blank">Freelancer&#8217;s Workshop</a> on February 19th.</p>
<p>“We have so many freelancers (or people wishing to jump into freelancing) in South Florida, it seemed like a no-brainer once we clearly saw that the number of speaker submissions would support such a workshop,” organizer David Bisset said.</p>
<p>The workshop will cover subjects like pricing strategies, branding yourself as a freelancer, and client relations. Keeping freelancer topics in a separate workshop allows WordCamp Miami&#8217;s business track (held on Sunday, February 21st), to be more focused towards businesses and less on individual freelancers.</p>
<h3>WordPress Users: The Next Generation</h3>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/kids-blogging-feature.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-23102"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/kids-blogging-feature.jpg?resize=1025%2C490" alt="kids-blogging-feature" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-23102" /></a></p>
<p>WordCamp Miami will be hosting its first kids&#8217; panel, “The Next Generation of WordPress Users,&#8221; on Sunday, February 21st. Organizers are actively looking for children under 18 who use WordPress and/or those who blog on other platforms. The panel will showcase how young people are using WordPress, what they think about blogging, and what other technologies they are using for publishing.</p>
<p>“Miami has always been youth-friendly but we thought a panel would be a good way to bring more young ones into the weekend schedule so that WordPress developers and leaders get to hear the childrens&#8217; viewpoints and thoughts &#8211; what tools they are using &#8211; why they are using them, etc,&#8221; Bisset said. &#8220;The newest generation will soon be the ones creating the new WordPress themes or plugins (or perhaps building something totally unique). I think their viewpoints are just as important as those who might be looking for that next great JavaScript app powered by WordPress.”</p>
<p>The 2016 edition of WordCamp Miami will have something for everyone, from beginners to more advanced WordPress users, with its schedule of unique tracks and workshops. This event has sold out every year, so if you intend to go you&#8217;ll want to <a href="http://2016.miami.wordcamp.org/" target="_blank">grab your ticket</a> soon.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 05 Jan 2016 16:59:36 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:31;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:39:"Akismet: Akismet WordPress Plugin 3.1.7";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"http://blog.akismet.com/?p=1897";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:59:"http://blog.akismet.com/2016/01/04/akismet-3-1-7-wordpress/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:998:"<p>Version 3.1.7 of <a href="http://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/">the Akismet plugin for WordPress</a> is now available.</p>
<p>This update fixes a bug that caused Akismet&#8217;s &#8220;Remove author URL&#8221; feature to be incompatible with WordPress 4.4, and it improves the post-activation process for those using screen readers or other assistive devices.</p>
<p>To upgrade, visit the Updates page of your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions. If you need to download the plugin zip file directly, links to all versions are available in <a href="http://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/">the WordPress plugins directory</a>.</p><br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/akismet.wordpress.com/1897/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/akismet.wordpress.com/1897/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://pixel.wp.com/b.gif?host=blog.akismet.com&blog=116920&post=1897&subd=akismet&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 04 Jan 2016 23:29:17 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:17:"Christopher Finke";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:32;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:102:"WPTavern: WP Engine Identifies Cloud Infrastructure Provider as Entry Point for Recent Security Breach";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50158";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:113:"http://wptavern.com/wp-engine-identifies-cloud-infrastructure-providers-as-entry-point-for-recent-security-breach";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2709:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/wp-engine.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-34106"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/wp-engine.jpg?resize=1025%2C427" alt="wp-engine" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-34106" /></a></p>
<p>On December 9th, 2015, WP Engine sent out an urgent notice to its customers regarding a <a href="http://wptavern.com/wp-engine-security-breach-customer-credentials-exposed" target="_blank">security breach wherein customer credentials were exposed</a>. This incident prompted an investigation, which is now complete.</p>
<p>According to the most recent and <a href="https://wpengine.com/support/infosec/" target="_blank">final update</a>, investigators determined that the security exposure came through one of the host&#8217;s cloud infrastructure providers. Customer credentials were exposed on December 4th and detected by WP Engine on December 9th. At that point customers were notified, the investigation was launched, and customer credentials were reset as a security precaution.</p>
<p>&#8220;WP Engine was attacked by an external criminal whose point of entry came through one of our cloud infrastructure providers,&#8221; founder and CTO Jason Cohen told the Tavern.</p>
<p>&#8220;An investigation by our own security team and independent security experts revealed the attacker bypassed multiple layers of authentication and gained unauthorized access to an administrative panel provided by this infrastructure provider. The criminal&#8217;s behavior in this exposure matches a pattern seen in other attacks throughout 2015,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>When news of the breach was first published customers expressed frustration about the host’s lack of two-factor authentication. However, Cohen said that 2FA would not have made an impact for those affected by the recent security breach.</p>
<p>&#8220;Because the point of entry wasn&#8217;t one of our systems, 2FA would not have prevented this event,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That said, 2FA is a best-practice, and so we do have plans to roll out 2FA in our User Portal in early 2016.</p>
<p>&#8220;We also recommend that our customers enable 2FA for their WordPress site using one of the following recommended plugins: Google Authenticator or Clef, or use an external authentication system such as Google OAuth,&#8221; Cohen said.</p>
<p>WP Engine contacted the companies that were directly impacted by the attacker and implemented a plan to ensure their security. The independent investigation is now complete, but WP Engine continues to work with law enforcement authorities who are conducting a criminal investigation.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 04 Jan 2016 22:24:40 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:33;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"WPTavern: Git for WordPress Developers: A Free Video Course from WP Pusher";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50150";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"http://wptavern.com/git-for-wordpress-developers-a-free-video-course-from-wp-pusher";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4290:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/git-4-wp.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50165"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/git-4-wp.png?resize=1025%2C510" alt="git-4-wp" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50165" /></a></p>
<p>Peter Suhm, creator of <a href="https://wppusher.com/" target="_blank">WP Pusher</a>, just released a new free video course for WordPress developers. After the success of his email-based <a href="https://wppusher.com/wordpress-git-crash-course" target="_blank">WP Git Crash Course</a>, Suhm jumped head-first into creating more educational material in video format. <a href="https://git4wp.com/" target="_blank">Git4wp.com</a> launched this week with more than 1.5 hours of recorded lessons, split up into 35 videos.</p>
<p>The new course offers a comprehensive look at commands, workflows, and anything a WordPress developer would need to know about using GitHub. Suhm&#8217;s teaser for the course is a 5-minute screencast demonstrating how to contribute to an open source WordPress plugin on GitHub.</p>
<p><span class="embed-youtube"></span></p>
<p>More Git-proficient WordPress developers means more potential customers for Suhm&#8217;s WP Pusher product, which allows you to deploy WordPress themes and plugins from GitHub.</p>
<p>&#8220;The videos are a great way for me to educate developers who might be interested in WP Pusher, so we can be more on the same page,&#8221; Suhm said. &#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of jargon in the world of Git.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition to the new video format, he opted to take a beginner-friendly approach with bite-sized tutorials for all skill levels.</p>
<p>&#8220;The email course I made last summer was very well received and the number one piece of feedback was to create a similar thing in video format,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The email course was very much chronological, mostly showing my own workflow. With the videos I wanted to make something that was more for everyone &#8211; from beginners to developers already using Git. I think there will be a video for everyone, even more advanced Git users.&#8221;</p>
<p>The course begins with videos explaining what Git is and why you might want to use it, the difference between Git and Subversion, and covers the most commonly-used Git commands. The following videos include a breakdown of more advanced commands like <code>git bisect</code> and <code>git rebase</code>.</p>
<p>With more WordPress-related projects moving to GitHub, Suhm thought that it was a good time to create a video resource to help developers get on board. He underestimated the effort it would require until after he had already jumped headlong into creating <a href="https://git4wp.com" target="_blank">Git4wp.com</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Honestly, when I started recording the videos, I didn&#8217;t realize the amount of work I was in for,&#8221; Suhm told the Tavern. &#8220;Since I&#8217;ve been using Git professionally on a daily basis for a good amount of time, I thought I could just hit record and start talking. Recording and especially editing the videos ended up taking way more time than I thought initially.</p>
<p>&#8220;Screencasts are something I&#8217;ve wanted to try for a while. I&#8217;m not a native English speaker, so it&#8217;s also been a personal challenge releasing the videos,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Suhm plans to keep updating the videos and will add more as time permits. He is committed to keeping the course free as an educational resource for WordPress developers.</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t need to make money from the videos, since they are in a sense subsidized by my product WP Pusher,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s much like when a company contributes to open source, which they can only afford if they have income coming from somewhere else.&#8221;</p>
<p>The last set of videos include an overview of how to contribute to GitHub-hosted open source projects as well as tips for incorporating WP Pusher into your workflow. <a href="https://wppusher.com/" target="_blank">WP Pusher</a> is 100% free for open source projects that are hosted in a public repository, so students of the course can easily follow along and practice with their own projects.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 04 Jan 2016 17:29:23 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:34;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:30:"Matt: Dorm Room Tycoon Podcast";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45726";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:47:"https://ma.tt/2016/01/dorm-room-tycoon-podcast/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:133:"<p>I joined an episode of the Dorm Room Tycoon podcast, <a href="http://drt.fm/matt-mullenweg/">which you can check out here</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Sat, 02 Jan 2016 18:56:18 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:35;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"WPTavern: WPWeekly Episode 219 – The 2015 Year in Review Part 2 of 2";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:44:"http://wptavern.com?p=50137&preview_id=50137";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"http://wptavern.com/wpweekly-episode-219-the-2015-year-in-review-part-2-of-2";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1226:"<p>In this episode of WordPress Weekly, <a href="http://marcuscouch.com/">Marcus Couch</a> and I wrap up our year in review. We look back at the biggest stories from July-December of this year. Thank you to everyone who listened to the show throughout 2015. Marcus and I plan to expand beyond WordPress in 2016 to discuss mental health, distributed worker health, and accessibility. If you know someone who would make a great guest on any of these topics, please contact me at <strong>jeffc at wptavern.com</strong>.</p>
<h2>WPWeekly Meta:</h2>
<p><strong>Next Episode:</strong> Wednesday, January 6th 9:30 P.M. Eastern</p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: </strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wordpress-weekly/id694849738" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via RSS: </strong><a href="http://www.wptavern.com/feed/podcast" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Stitcher Radio: </strong><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wordpress-weekly-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Listen To Episode #219:</strong><br />
</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 31 Dec 2015 21:43:27 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:36;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"Matt: The Changing Web";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45728";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:39:"https://ma.tt/2015/12/the-changing-web/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:985:"<p>Hossein Derakhshan was a key blogger in Iran who was jailed for his writing, and recently released. He has entered a new world:</p>
<blockquote><p>I miss when people took time to be exposed to opinions other than their own, and bothered to read more than a paragraph or 140 characters. I miss the days when I could write something on my own blog, publish on my own domain, without taking an equal time to promote it on numerous social networks; when n<span class="text_exposed_show">obody cared about likes and reshares, and best time to post.</span></p>
<div class="text_exposed_show">
<p>That’s the web I remember before jail. That’s the web we have to save.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/29/irans-blogfather-facebook-instagram-and-twitter-are-killing-the-web">You should read the entire article (it&#8217;s long) on the Guardian</a>. <cite>Hat tip: <a href="http://kevin.lexblog.com/">Kevin O&#8217;Keefe</a>.</cite></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 30 Dec 2015 19:11:11 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:37;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"WPTavern: Microsoft Adds WordPress Data Source and Template to Windows App Studio Beta";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50125";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"http://wptavern.com/microsoft-adds-wordpress-data-source-and-template-to-windows-app-studio-beta";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1923:"<p>Budding Windows App Studio developers who want an easy way to create a Windows application of their WordPress sites are in luck. In the December update, the <a href="https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2015/12/22/windows-app-studio-december-2015-update/">Windows App Team announced</a> a couple of new features including, a WordPress data source and template.</p>
<p><a href="https://appstudio.windows.com/">Windows App Studio</a> is a template-driven, drag-and-drop software development tool that enables developers to publish Windows applications.</p>
<p>The new data source enables developers to easily connect Windows Applications to WordPress sites. Not only can developers pull content from WordPress sites and display it within an app, they can also publish the app to the <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps-and-games">Windows Store</a>.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WindowsAppWordPressTemplate.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50126"><img class="size-full wp-image-50126" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WindowsAppWordPressTemplate.png?resize=1025%2C724" alt="Windows App Studio WordPress Template" /></a>Windows App Studio WordPress Template
<p>Also part of the update is the ability for application developers to use <a href="http://advertising.microsoft.com/en/home">Microsoft Advertising</a>. Using Microsoft Ad Control, developers can place advertising within their apps. Combining a Windows application that hooks into WordPress that&#8217;s available for purchase by millions of Windows 10 users opens up a new monetization opportunity for site owners.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re interested in developing an application in Windows App Studio, check out <a href="https://appstudio.windows.com/en-us/home/howto">Microsoft&#8217;s how-to guide</a> that walks you through the process.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 30 Dec 2015 08:12:20 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:38;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"WPTavern: Progress Report: Adding Shiny Updates for WordPress Themes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50112";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:77:"http://wptavern.com/progress-report-adding-shiny-updates-for-wordpress-themes";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4973:"<p>Earlier this year, WordPress 4.2 <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-2-radically-improves-the-plugin-install-and-update-process">added the ability</a> to install and update plugins in-place. This feature is known as &#8220;Shiny Updates&#8221;. I&#8217;m a big fan of this feature because it&#8217;s substantially quicker than updating plugins via the updates page. Here&#8217;s what it looks like in action.</p>
<a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NewPluginUpdateRoutine.gif" rel="attachment wp-att-41064"><img class="size-full wp-image-41064" src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NewPluginUpdateRoutine.gif?resize=837%2C688" alt="New Plugin Update Routine" /></a>New Plugin Update Routine
<p>Due to complications near the end of the 4.2 development cycle, <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/31529">shiny updates for themes</a> was pushed back to a later release. Since WordPress 4.3 and 4.4 didn&#8217;t add shiny update support for themes, I reached out to <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/obenland">Konstantin Obenland</a>, WordPress core developer, to find out its progress.</p>
<h2>Experimental Plugin</h2>
<p>The feature is currently on hold as the development team figures out the best way to implement it. The team is experimenting with different approaches <a href="https://github.com/obenland/shiny-updates">using a feature plugin</a>. When installed, updates can be quickly applied from a theme&#8217;s detailed information panel by clicking the update now link.</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ExperimentalThemeShinyUpdates.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50116"><img class="size-full wp-image-50116" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ExperimentalThemeShinyUpdates.png?resize=474%2C236" alt="Shiny Update Support Added" /></a>Shiny Update Support Added
<p>Not a lot of people know about the plugin because it was created around the time of WordCamp US. &#8220;Most of the things that are in the plugin are just quick ideas, a first iteration to get us going. We haven’t performed any user testing nor have we had a proper design iteration yet,&#8221; Obenland told the Tavern.</p>
<h2>My Experience With Shiny Theme Updates</h2>
<p>When I&#8217;m browsing themes that I&#8217;ve installed on my site, they&#8217;re displayed in a card format. When a theme has an update available, the update text displays at the top of the card. I tried to click on the text thinking it would update the theme but instead, it opened the theme&#8217;s details panel.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ThemeCardUpdateNotification.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50117"><img class="size-full wp-image-50117" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ThemeCardUpdateNotification.png?resize=384%2C307" alt="Theme Card Update Notification " /></a>Theme Card Update Notification
<p>In the same way I can update plugins on the plugins page, I should be able to update themes on the themes page. Having the shiny update link in the details pane requires an unnecessary mouse click. There are at least two challenges to overcome. The first is rewording the Update Available text to something that serves as both a notification and a link to initiate the update. The second is determining whether it&#8217;s an improved user experience.</p>
<h2>Why Shiny Updates Are so Fast</h2>
<p>Since shiny updates were added for plugins, I&#8217;ve been curious as to why they&#8217;re so much quicker than the normal update process. According to Oblenland, shiny updates are quicker because, &#8220;We don’t need to reload the entire admin page, twice if you include navigating back to the plugin screen. We only send the update request itself and receive the result of that. So instead of 85 requests over two page loads when deleting a plugin, we only have one,&#8221; he said.</p>
<h2>How You Can Get Involved</h2>
<p>Although the development team is not sure which direction they&#8217;ll go with shiny updates, Obenland says they want to use it to unite various actions in WordPress, &#8220;We want to unify the flows of installing/updating/activating/deleting plugins/themes/core with it and ultimately be able to get rid of the bleak screen of sadness that users currently see when performing these actions,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Shiny updates is a feature plugin not tied to a specific trac ticket. If you want to keep up with development, you can <a href="https://github.com/obenland/shiny-updates">follow the project</a> on GitHub.  You can also follow <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/chat/">discussions on Slack</a> in the <strong>#feature-shinyupdates</strong> channel. Obenland notes that the team is looking for more people who want to help develop, test the plugin, and share feedback at their weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 1900 UTC.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 29 Dec 2015 23:16:08 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:39;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:49:"WPTavern: Add Telegram to Jetpack Sharing Buttons";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=49931";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:59:"http://wptavern.com/add-telegram-to-jetpack-sharing-buttons";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4042:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/telegram.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50107"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/telegram.png?resize=1025%2C469" alt="telegram" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50107" /></a></p>
<p>On December 17, telecommunications companies <a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/brazil-whatsapp-ban-idINKBN0U00CT20151217" target="_blank">cut off access to WhatsApp in Brazil</a> after the company did not comply with police wiretapping requests. Many of the app&#8217;s estimated 100 million users went in search of an alternative, landing on <a href="https://telegram.org/" target="_blank">Telegram</a>, WhatsApp&#8217;s rival messaging app. Telegram  <a href="https://twitter.com/telegram/status/677604437905580032" target="_blank">gained 5.7 million new users</a> in one day as a result of the 48-hr blackout.</p>
<p>Incidents like this offer Telegram an opportunity to chip away at WhatsApp&#8217;s dominant marketshare. As of May 2015, the app reported <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/13/telegram-says-its-hit-62-maus-and-messaging-activity-has-doubled/?ncid=rss" target="_blank">62 million monthly active users</a>. If you are looking to prioritize and increase mobile traffic on your blog, this is one service you can&#8217;t afford to ignore.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/telegram-sharing-button-for-jetpack/" target="_blank">Telegram Sharing Button for Jetpack</a> is a plugin that gives mobile readers the ability to send content from your site to Telegram users on any platform, including Android, iPhone, Windows, and desktop clients for Mac, PC, and Linux. The plugin was created by Brazilian WordPress developer <a href="http://valeriosouza.com.br/" target="_blank">Valerio Souza</a>, who is also the the author of the <a href="http://wptavern.com/new-plugin-adds-a-whatsapp-button-to-jetpacks-sharing-module" target="_blank">WhatsApp Sharing Button for Jetpack</a>.</p>
<p>After activating the plugin, if you&#8217;re already using Jetpack&#8217;s sharing module, you can visit the settings page to drag the Telegram icon into the enabled services section. The new Telegram sharing button will not appear on the desktop version of your site. You will need to test it by visiting a post from a mobile device.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/telegram-sharing.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50086"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/telegram-sharing.png?resize=1025%2C515" alt="telegram-sharing" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50086" /></a></p>
<p>The only complaint I have is that the white circle around the icon makes it look somewhat out of place among the other icons that share a simpler design. The icon&#8217;s resolution also needs to be improved for retina displays. Other than that, everything looks and works as advertised when sharing a post to Telegram.</p>
<p>If you haven&#8217;t recently taken inventory of your Jetpack sharing buttons, you may want to review your most popular content to see what services readers are using to share your posts. Depending on the demographics of your site&#8217;s visitors, both the WhatsApp and Telegram sharing buttons may be more beneficial than the &#8220;Email,&#8221; &#8220;Google+,&#8221; or &#8220;Print&#8221; buttons, for example. These could be hidden behind the share button. As groups and channels become more common on mobile messaging apps, prominently displaying sharing buttons for these services may help your posts travel faster and further than any kind of search engine optimization.</p>
<p>Both the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/telegram-sharing-button-for-jetpack/" target="_blank">Telegram</a> and <a href="http://wptavern.com/new-plugin-adds-a-whatsapp-button-to-jetpacks-sharing-module" target="_blank">WhatsApp</a> Sharing buttons for Jetpack can be downloaded for free from the WordPress.org plugin directory.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 29 Dec 2015 20:53:41 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"WPTavern: Automattic’s WordAds Network is Now Open to Self-Hosted WordPress Sites";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50053";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:90:"http://wptavern.com/automattics-wordads-network-is-now-open-to-self-hosted-wordpress-sites";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3909:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/AdControl.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50071"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/AdControl.png?resize=1025%2C481" alt="AdControl" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50071" /></a></p>
<p>Automattic <a href="https://wordads.co/2015/12/28/adcontrol-plugin-is-here/" target="_blank">announced</a> today that its <a href="https://wordads.co/" target="_blank">WordAds</a> advertising network is now available to self-hosted WordPress sites via Jetpack and the new <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/radcontrol/" target="_blank">AdControl</a> plugin. WordAds, which bears a name confusingly similar to Google&#8217;s <a href="https://www.google.com/adwords/" target="_blank">AdWords</a>, delivers all the advertising seen on WordPress.com&#8217;s free sites. (Ad display on VIP or upgraded sites is opt-in.)</p>
<p>Self-hosted WordPress site owners who want to earn money with WordAds must first <a href="https://wordads.co/signup/" target="_blank">apply</a> to join the network and are required to meet a minimum traffic requirement. Automattic doesn&#8217;t publish the exact minimum necessary for eligibility but the <a href="https://wordads.co/faq/" target="_blank">WordAds FAQ</a> page says &#8220;a site generally needs thousands of page views each month.&#8221; The site will also need to have both Jetpack and the AdControl plugin installed.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been working on the plugin off and on (mostly off) since mid 2014,&#8221; said Derek Springer, a Code Wrangler at Automattic who helped write the AdControl plugin. &#8220;We took a big pause to completely re-work the back end (WordAds 2.0) which is what we are now using all over WordPress.com.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="https://wordads.co/2015/11/02/introducing-wordads-2-0/" target="_blank">WordAds 2.0</a>, unveiled in November 2015, integrated WordAds into WordPress.com’s main Settings interface with earnings reports and payout information. It also introduced a real time bidding environment where ad agencies and buyers can bid on global ad impressions.</p>
<p>In 2013, Automattic paid out around $1 million to WordAds publishers whose sites delivered 1 billion ad impressions per month. Published numbers are not yet available for 2015, but WordAds 2.0 has increased interest in the program, according to the <a href="https://wordads.co/2015/12/28/adcontrol-plugin-is-here/" target="_blank">announcement</a> today. With the release of AdControl for self-hosted sites, the number of publishers available on the network has the potential to increase significantly.</p>
<h3>Why Does AdControl Require Jetpack?</h3>
<p>For years, the WordPress community has been <a href="http://wptavern.com/how-important-is-jetpack-on-wordpress-road-to-50-market-share" target="_blank">waiting to see how Automattic will monetize Jetpack</a>. In addition to giving self-hosted users access to many of WordPress.com&#8217;s features, Jetpack now serves as a gateway to Automattic&#8217;s advertising network for more than 1 million active installs.</p>
<p>I asked Springer why AdControl requires Jetpack and he cited the following reasons:</p>
<ul>
<li>We need the site’s unique ID (assigned to each Jetpack site) to track ad impressions in the back-end.</li>
<li>We piggyback on Jetpack’s REST API connection to access some authenticated endpoints in the WP.com API.</li>
<li>The payout/earning settings are all controlled via Calypso and we want a singular, unified experience.</li>
</ul>
<p>WordAds is deeply tied into WordPress.com&#8217;s infrastructure and as such requires authentication for tracking and rewarding participating sites. Jetpack provides the connecting link and is now key to opening up the world of independently-hosted WordPress blogs to Automattic&#8217;s advertising network.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 29 Dec 2015 06:27:08 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:41;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:58:"WPTavern: Pique: A Free Small Business Theme for WordPress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50031";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"http://wptavern.com/pique-a-free-small-business-theme-for-wordpress";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3605:"<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/pique-cafe-theme.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50040"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/pique-cafe-theme.png?resize=1025%2C496" alt="pique-cafe-theme" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50040" /></a></p>
<p>Most of the themes created by the professional design team at WordPress.com are geared towards bloggers. Business themes make up a much smaller segment of those designed in-house. That&#8217;s why the latest <a href="https://wordpress.com/themes/pique" target="_blank">Pique</a> theme is an unusual and exciting release.</p>
<p>Although the theme was originally designed for coffee shops, it also works well for other small businesses like cafés, bakeries, hair salons, and shops. Pique can be instantly branded for any business by uploading a logo and a custom header.</p>
<p>Its unique scrolling front page is created by adding panel sections, which are actually standard pages with content and featured images. Pique includes eight optional panels, which can be assigned within the customizer. Each panel control includes a dropdown selection of pages for the panel content, a background color option, and the ability to adjust the featured image&#8217;s opacity.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/pique-front-page.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50044"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/pique-front-page.png?resize=1025%2C2032" alt="pique-front-page" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50044" /></a></p>
<p>Single posts have an optional sidebar and the footer also includes three widget areas. Pique supports different page designs via three unique templates: full-width, grid, and testimonials. A grid style page needs to be set as a parent page and individual items will show up if they are set as child pages. The featured image of the child page displays as an image in the grid. It&#8217;s a somewhat convoluted process that&#8217;s not terribly intuitive, but it works.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/grid-template.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50047"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/grid-template.png?resize=660%2C343" alt="grid-template" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50047" /></a></p>
<p>Testimonials and recent blog posts can be displayed within the panels following instructions in the theme&#8217;s documentation. All testimonial content can also be viewed via its dedicated archive page at /testimonial/.</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/testimonial-template.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50049"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/testimonial-template.png?resize=660%2C264" alt="testimonial-template" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-50049" /></a></p>
<p>Pique has the capacity for special formatting using icons from <a href="http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/icons/" target="_blank">Font Awesome</a>. Call-to-action buttons and panel overlay text can be added using short HTML snippets from the theme&#8217;s instructions.</p>
<p>Pique makes it easy for anyone to build a one-page, branded website with all the specialized content sections that you would traditionally expect from a business theme. It has not yet arrived on WordPress.org but self-hosted uses can download the theme as a zip file from its <a href="https://wordpress.com/themes/pique" target="_blank">homepage on WordPress.com</a>.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:30:08 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:85:"WPTavern: What’s Your Limit of Advertising and Upselling in Free WordPress Plugins?";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=50018";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:91:"http://wptavern.com/whats-your-limit-of-advertising-and-upselling-in-free-wordpress-plugins";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4834:"<p>On the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/advancedwp/">Advanced WordPress Facebook group</a>, a member recently <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/advancedwp/permalink/1059920750736805/">raised the issue</a> of display banner advertising in plugins. After installing <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/ultimate-woocommerce-brands/">Ultimate WooCommerce Brands</a> developed by <a href="http://magniumthemes.com/">MagniumThemes</a>, a large admin notice appears with an affiliate linked display banner for Bluehost.</p>
<a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BluehostBannerInsidePlugin.png" rel="attachment wp-att-50021"><img class="size-full wp-image-50021" src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BluehostBannerInsidePlugin.png?resize=815%2C363" alt="Bluehost Banner Admin Notice" /></a>Bluehost Banner Admin Notice
<p>Ultimate WooCommerce Brands is a freemium plugin and while I&#8217;m not against plugin authors making a few bucks through advertising, displaying a webhosting banner seems irrelevant.</p>
<p>The advertising banner also shows up on every admin page in the WordPress backend which I feel abuses the admin notice function, even though there&#8217;s a &#8220;Hide This Message button&#8221;. Upsells and advertising should be confined to the plugin&#8217;s activation and settings pages according to number 11 of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/about/guidelines/">WordPress plugin directory guidelines</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Plugins should not hijack the blog admin. It is fine to include an Upgrade prompt on the plugin admin page, but not throughout the blog. It is acceptable to embed a widget on the dashboard but this should be the same size as others and be dismissable. It&#8217;s fine to put an error message at the top of the admin for special cases, but it should be linked to a way to fix the error and it should be infrequent. Any form of &#8220;nagging&#8221; is absolutely prohibited.</p></blockquote>
<p>Samuel &#8216;Otto&#8217; Wood, a member of the group and plugin review team <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/advancedwp/permalink/1059920750736805/?comment_id=1062714040457476&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D">confirmed</a> that plugins that display advertising on every admin page violate the guidelines and users should report them by emailing <strong>plugins at wordpress.org. </strong></p>
<h2>The Guidelines Provide Wiggle Room</h2>
<p>The plugin review team polices content in plugins, prevents spam, and attempts at bad faith from entering the directory. They also advise authors when they feel something that the plugin does is a bad idea. It&#8217;s important to note that <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/about/guidelines/">the guidelines</a> are not black and white. Instead, they&#8217;re somewhat subjective which allows the team to make decisions on a case by case basis.</p>
<h2>The Power of Reviews</h2>
<p>The WordPress plugin directory gives users an opportunity to provide feedback directly to plugin developers and users through reviews. Reviews are an excellent way to tell the developer why you dislike or like a plugin and it also gives fellow users in the community a heads up.</p>
<p>So far, no one has mentioned the display advertising in <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/view/plugin-reviews/ultimate-woocommerce-brands">their reviews</a> of Ultimate WooCommerce Brands. Perhaps it&#8217;s not an issue or users have chosen to disable it and move on to a different option. One of the benefits of WordPress is that there&#8217;s usually more than one plugin available to accomplish a task.</p>
<p>Jan Dembowksi, a volunteer moderator for the WordPress.org support forums, explains another benefits to reviewing plugins &#8220;Some of the forum moderators read <em>every</em> review. Occasionally, there may be a pattern if there’s a complaint such as not being able to dismiss the upsell banner or taking over the dashboard.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sometimes that leads to the moderator installing the plugin or theme on a test installation. This is to see if there’s really a problem or not. If there’s a valid concern then it gets reported up. It doesn’t happen often thankfully, but it has occurred and the plugin or theme author got a polite shoulder tap,&#8221; Dembowski told the Tavern.</p>
<h2>What&#8217;s Your Breaking Point?</h2>
<p>We know that upsells and display advertising are allowed in plugins as long as they follow the directory guidelines. How a plugin&#8217;s settings pages are displayed is up to the developer, but, as a user, how much advertising or upselling is too much? What&#8217;s your advertising limit inside a freemium plugin before you purchase the pro version or move on to an alternative?</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 28 Dec 2015 20:35:35 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:43;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:58:"WPTavern: 10up Open Sources IE 8 and 9 Support for Flexbox";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=49981";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"http://wptavern.com/10up-open-sources-ie-8-and-9-support-for-flexbox";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3211:"<p>Frontend developers working with <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-flexbox/" target="_blank">Flexbox</a> no longer have to sacrifice support for older versions of IE. The folks at 10up have open sourced <a href="https://github.com/10up/flexibility" target="_blank">Flexibility</a>, a polyfill that uses JavaScript to allow Flexbox to work with IE  versions 8 and 9.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/flexibility.png" rel="attachment wp-att-49998"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/flexibility.png?resize=1025%2C386" alt="flexibility" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-49998" /></a></p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, Flexbox support wasn’t added to Internet Explorer until version 10, leaving older versions – still popular in some corners – out of the Flexbox revolution,&#8221; said Taylor Lovett, 10up&#8217;s Director of Web Engineering. &#8220;This idea didn’t sit well with 10up’er Jonathan Neal, tasked with engineering a beautiful layout for a Fortune 50 forced to contend with supporting older versions. We decided to subsidize his time to see if we could introduce Flexbox support under less-than-ideal browser requirements.&#8221;</p>
<p>CSS Tricks has a comprehensive <a href="https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/" target="_blank">guide to to Flexbox</a>, a layout it recommends as more appropriate for components of an application or smaller-scale sites, (as an alternative to the <a href="http://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/complete-guide-grid/" target="_blank">Grid</a> for large-scale layouts).</p>
<p>The idea behind Flexbox, according to the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-flexbox/" target="_blank">w3.org docs</a>, is to provide a flexible container that expands or shrinks based on available layout space:</p>
<blockquote><p>In the flex layout model, the children of a flex container can be laid out in any direction, and can “flex” their sizes, either growing to fill unused space or shrinking to avoid overflowing the parent. Both horizontal and vertical alignment of the children can be easily manipulated. Nesting of these boxes (horizontal inside vertical, or vertical inside horizontal) can be used to build layouts in two dimensions.</p></blockquote>
<p>Flexbox is ideal for creating layouts that work with various screen sizes and devices, especially in cases where the layout&#8217;s container size is unknown or dynamic. Flexibility extends this to IE 8 and 9 by tapping into the browser&#8217;s <code><a href="http://help.dottoro.com/ljqkvomc.php" target="_blank">currentStyle</a></code> and <code><a href="http://help.dottoro.com/ljhddfwr.php" target="_blank">runtimeStyle</a></code> proprietary features to manipulate and overwrite style declarations.</p>
<p>Once you include flexibility.js somewhere within your project, it will automatically detect Flexbox elements and write new styles to make them work with IE 8 and 9. Flexibility is licensed under the GPL v2 (or later). Check out the <a href="https://github.com/10up/flexibility" target="_blank">repo on GitHub</a> to get more details on how to use it and how it works.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 28 Dec 2015 19:09:33 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:44;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"WPTavern: WPWeekly Episode 218 – The 2015 Year in Review Part 1 of 2";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:44:"http://wptavern.com?p=50009&preview_id=50009";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"http://wptavern.com/wpweekly-episode-218-the-2015-year-in-review-part-1-of-2";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:1206:"<p>There&#8217;s a lot that happens in the WordPress ecosystem throughout the course of a year. In this episode, <a href="http://marcuscouch.com/">Marcus Couch</a> and I run down our selection of big news stories from January to June.</p>
<p>One trend we noticed is that there were quite a few unsuccessful crowdfunding campaigns. Listen in to find out if any of the services and companies that launched earlier this year are still in business. Part two will record on Wednesday, December 30th.</p>
<h2>WPWeekly Meta:</h2>
<p><strong>Next Episode:</strong> Wednesday, December 30th 9:30 P.M. Eastern</p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: </strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wordpress-weekly/id694849738" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via RSS: </strong><a href="http://www.wptavern.com/feed/podcast" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Stitcher Radio: </strong><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wordpress-weekly-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe</a></p>
<p><strong>Listen To Episode #218:</strong><br />
</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 28 Dec 2015 18:49:08 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:45;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:22:"Matt: Merry Christmas!";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:21:"http://ma.tt/?p=45719";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:40:"https://ma.tt/2015/12/merry-christmas-2/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:436:"<p>I hope it&#8217;s filled with lots of comfortable sweaters, <a href="https://mercantile.wordpress.org/product/wordpress-ugly-christmas-sweatshirt/">like this one</a>.<a href="https://mercantile.wordpress.org/product/wordpress-ugly-christmas-sweatshirt/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-45721" src="http://i2.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2015/12/ugly-sweater-wp.jpg?resize=604%2C604" alt="ugly-sweater-wp.jpg" /></a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 25 Dec 2015 19:48:29 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4:"Matt";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:46;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:61:"WPTavern: Milestone: WP Tavern Publishes its 30,000th Comment";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=49987";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"http://wptavern.com/milestone-wp-tavern-publishes-its-30000th-comment";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:3186:"<p>When I <a href="http://wptavern.com/welcome-to-the-wordpress-tavern">founded WP Tavern in 2009</a>, comments were an important part of the site&#8217;s initial success. After six years, the site has published its 30,000th comment.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/30KComments.png" rel="attachment wp-att-49988"><img class="size-full wp-image-49988" src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/30KComments.png?resize=1025%2C245" alt="The 30,000th Comment" /></a>The 30,000th Comment
<p>At a time where large websites such as <a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/removing-blog-comments/">Copyblogger</a> and the <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/2015/12/16/toronto-star-closing-commenting-on-thestarcom.html">Toronto Star</a> are closing down comments in favor of social media, the Tavern continues to be a source of open conversation about WordPress. However, 2015 has been a tough year as a moderator.</p>
<h2>A Year of Firsts</h2>
<p>For the first time in years, I created a <a href="http://wptavern.com/comment-policy">comment moderation policy</a> to establish a baseline of expectations for moderators and commenters. Also for the first time in the site&#8217;s history, I banned an individual from leaving comments on the Tavern.</p>
<p>In the Tavern&#8217;s early days, I looked forward to discussing things with people via the comments and did everything I could to encourage them. Some of the conversations over the years have been great and have led to positive changes in WordPress. Six years later, many of the comments on the Tavern appear to be filled with anger, mostly from the same people. Dealing with so much negativity all the time makes comment moderation difficult.</p>
<h2>Taking a More Active Role in Discussions</h2>
<p>One of my New Years resolutions for 2016 is to take a more active role in the discussions on the Tavern. I want to reestablish the feeling the Tavern had a few years ago where everyone is welcome to share their opinions as long as its done in a respectful way.</p>
<p>Comments are a great way to share feedback, ideas, opinions, and look at things from a different perspective. But when the conversation turns into a mud-slinging contest which has recently happened too often on the Tavern, it turns into a pile of meaningless words.</p>
<h2>Commenting Goals for 2016</h2>
<p>In 2016, let&#8217;s try to having meaningful conversations where words transition into action. Let&#8217;s discuss ideas, opinions, and perspectives without getting or taking things personal. Let&#8217;s encourage collaboration instead of infighting. Let&#8217;s assume the best in someone&#8217;s words instead of the worst. In the New Year, I&#8217;ll do my best to try to lead conversations in these directions but I need commenters to do their part as well.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who&#8217;s commented on the Tavern over the years. Your feedback is and continues to be a valuable asset to this site. Instead of leaving the lights on, we&#8217;ll leave the comment form open and we encourage everyone to continue sharing their thoughts and opinions with us.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 23 Dec 2015 23:27:35 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Jeff Chandler";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:65:"WPTavern: WordCamp Lahore, Pakistan Application Approved for 2016";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=49963";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"http://wptavern.com/wordcamp-pakistan-application-approved-for-2016";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2551:"<p>Earlier this week we interviewed Muhammad Kashif about the <a href="http://wptavern.com/wordpress-community-growing-in-pakistan-500-attend-lahore-meetup" target="_blank">phenomenal growth of the WordPress community in Pakistan</a>. Kashif organizes the local Lahore meetup, which started with a few dozen attendees three months ago and grew to more than 500 this past weekend. His team has been working hard to bring WordCamp to Pakistan, and today their application was approved by the WordPress Foundation.</p>
<p>The event will officially be called WordCamp Lahore. Kashif said that they originally proposed &#8220;WordCamp Pakistan&#8221; but were asked to keep it local to the city. The Foundation&#8217;s reply to their request was as follows:</p>
<blockquote><p>We stay away from labeling WordCamps with the country name rather than the city, because we have found that doing so discourages local organizers from doing additional WordCamps in the country. We had some problems with this in the past, where because there was a &#8220;national&#8221; WordCamp, no other WordCamps ever happened in that country. When we changed the naming convention to be city-focused, that country developed stronger local communities and several WordCamps per year.</p></blockquote>
<p>The application proposed September for the event but the dates have not yet been finalized. WordCamp Lahore organizers will have an orientation meeting with WP Foundation representatives tomorrow to begin the planning process.</p>
<p>Kashif told the Tavern that they are looking at the <a href="http://www.expolahore.com/" target="_blank">Lahore International Expo Centre</a> as a possible venue, since it has an 820 seat capacity. The team will be meeting with a few different venue providers to find a good fit.</p>
<a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/expo-centre-lahore.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-49973"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/expo-centre-lahore.jpg?resize=600%2C360" alt="Lahore International Expo Centre" class="size-full wp-image-49973" /></a>Lahore International Expo Centre
<p>As Pakistan is a multilingual country, most of the Lahore meetup sessions are conducted in English. This means that the WordCamp will likely be accessible to a wide range of people outside of Pakistan as well. If the Lahore meetup attendance numbers are any indication, the first WordCamp in Pakistan has the potential to be one of the largest first WordCamps in history.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 23 Dec 2015 18:25:05 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:48;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"WPTavern: Mailbag Plugin Offers Dead Simple Email Subscription Forms";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=49923";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"http://wptavern.com/mailbag-plugin-offers-dead-simple-email-subscription-forms";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:4053:"<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/mailbag.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-49927"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/mailbag.jpg?resize=1025%2C390" alt="mailbag" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-49927" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/mailbag/" target="_blank">Mailbag</a> is not a new plugin but it&#8217;s one of those convenient tools you&#8217;ll want to bookmark if you build WordPress sites that require email subscription forms. The plugin makes it easy to add a MailChimp or Campaign Monitor email form to posts or pages using a shortcode.</p>
<p>I only recently came across it while <a href="http://wptavern.com/politics-a-free-wordpress-theme-for-political-campaigns" target="_blank">reviewing the Politics theme</a>, which prominently features an email signup form powered by Mailbag.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/politics-screenshot.png" rel="attachment wp-att-49589"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/politics-screenshot.png?resize=705%2C460" alt="politics-screenshot" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-49589" /></a></p>
<p>If you have your Mailchimp or Campaign Monitor API key handy, then you can add your email subscription form in under a minute. Paste in the key, select your list, and customize your button text. (Your API keys must be saved before you can select a list to add subscribers.) Once these settings are saved, you can place the shortcode anywhere within your content.</p>
<p><a href="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/mailbag-settings.png" rel="attachment wp-att-49929"><img src="http://i0.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/mailbag-settings.png?resize=1025%2C889" alt="mailbag-settings" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-49929" /></a></p>
<p>The flexibility for styling the forms is what sets this plugin apart. You can opt to use the built-in minimal Mailbag styling or allow your theme to dictate the style. If you choose to disable the default style, the usage tab on the plugin&#8217;s settings page outlines the CSS classes you will want to customize.</p>
<pre class="brush: css; light: true; title: ; notranslate">
.mailbag-wrap { /* Wraps entire form */ }

.mailbag-wrap label { /* Label styles */ }

.mailbag-wrap input[type="text"] { /* Name and email input styles */ }

.mailbag-wrap input[type="submit"] { /* Submit button styles */ }
</pre>
<p>Mailbag was created by the folks at <a href="https://arraythemes.com/" target="_blank">Array</a> for use with <a href="https://arraythemes.com/themes/transmit-wordpress-theme/" target="_blank">Transmit</a>, a landing page theme that features an email subscription form. Array built it to be compatible with any theme (not just their own) and made the plugin freely available on WordPress.org</p>
<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/transmit-mailbag.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-49933"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/transmit-mailbag.jpg?resize=984%2C783" alt="transmit-mailbag" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-49933" /></a></p>
<p>If you&#8217;re a theme developer and your theme requires an email subscription form, there&#8217;s no need to reinvent the wheel or bloat your theme with extra functionality. It&#8217;s much easier to select professionally supported plugins from WordPress.org and present the user with plugin recommendations using a tool like <a href="http://tgmpluginactivation.com/" target="_blank">TGM Plugin Activation</a>. You can design around your recommended plugins without having to support and maintain them.</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/mailbag/" target="_blank">Mailbag</a> is easy for users to configure, publicly distributed on WordPress.org, and doesn&#8217;t take a heavy hand to styling. If you want a solid, simple plugin to use and recommend, this is a handy one to tuck into your toolbag.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 23 Dec 2015 06:54:04 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:49;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:76:"WPTavern: New WordPress Feature Plugin Lets Users Resize the Customizer Pane";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"http://wptavern.com/?p=49895";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:86:"http://wptavern.com/new-wordpress-feature-plugin-lets-users-resize-the-customizer-pane";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:6756:"<p><a href="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/customize-pane-resize.png" rel="attachment wp-att-49906"><img src="http://i1.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/customize-pane-resize.png?resize=1025%2C385" alt="customize-pane-resize" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-49906" /></a></p>
<p>Contributors to the WordPress core <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/components/customize/" target="_blank">Customize component</a> are targeting the upcoming 4.5 release for inclusion of a new feature plugin. <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/customize-pane-resizer/" target="_blank">Customize Pane Resizer</a> allows users to drag the edge of the pane to make the customizer wider than the default 300px.</p>
<p>According to Customize component maintainer <a href="https://weston.ruter.net/" target="_blank">Weston Ruter</a>, the idea for the plugin came out of the community summit held earlier this month in Philadelphia, where it was raised as a usability improvement.</p>
<p>&#8220;Justin Sternberg took ownership of the idea and we collaborated on it over the course of the community summit and WCUS,&#8221; Ruter said. &#8220;He did all the real work, and I just contributed ideas and provided Customizer architectural pointers.&#8221;</p>
<p>At the moment, the pane simply resizes when the user drags the resize icon, but even this one feature involves refining many tiny details. Ruter said the immediate roadmap for the plugin is to resolve the <a href="https://github.com/xwp/wp-customize-pane-resizer/issues" target="_blank">GitHub issues</a> that have already been logged.</p>
<h3>Future Possibility of Undocking the Customizer and Adding Inline Controls</h3>
<p>Contributors have many other ideas for extending this feature, including the possibility of introducing positioning options (ie. right/left/bottom). These ideas are in the discussion phase and are not set in stone.</p>
<p>&#8220;In addition to being able to move the pane to the right (or to the top/bottom, which are technically problematic), Justin had the idea of allowing the pane to be dragged anywhere on the screen,&#8221; Ruter said.</p>
<p>&#8220;In this way the Customizer pane would work like panels in PhotoShop which can be docked into the sidebar or they can be dragged out to float freely. This would allow the Customizer to be positioned anywhere on the screen, with a full page preview in background.&#8221;</p>
<p>Alongside the idea of the customizer pane becoming a floating window, contributors are also <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/32296" target="_blank">discussing</a> applying this same concept to individual customizer controls. This ties into one of the items on Ruter&#8217;s <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2015/09/23/outlining-a-possible-roadmap-for-the-customizer/" target="_blank">longer-term roadmap for the Customizer</a> &#8211; inline controls:</p>
<blockquote><p>​<strong>Bootstrapped Customizer</strong>:​ Lazy-load the Customizer into the current frontend view without having to leave the page. With selective refresh implemented, inline controls and frontend bootstrapping would be possible since full-page refreshes would no longer be required.</p></blockquote>
<p>&#8220;Instead of all of the controls being docked into the one pane and organized into panels and sections, they could instead (or in addition) be displayed alongside the elements in the preview that they modify,&#8221; Ruter said. &#8220;For example, editing a widget could pop open a floating widget form control next to the widget in the preview.&#8221;</p>
<p>These alternative UI considerations are currently beyond the scope of the Customize Pane Resizer feature plugin, which Ruter said will be limited to polishing up the resizing feature for 4.5.</p>
<h3>The Customize Pane Resizer Addresses Important Usability Concerns</h3>
<p>When <a href="http://wptavern.com/menu-customizer-officially-proposed-for-merge-into-wordpress-4-3" target="_blank">menus were added to the customizer in WordPress 4.3</a>, many thought that the narrow width of the pane created a cramped menu management experience. The ability to resize the customizer pane addresses this concern by allowing users to expand it for tasks that require more real estate.</p>
<p>Ruter doesn&#8217;t anticipate many objections to merging the Customize Pane Resizer plugin, given that it solves several usability problems.</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think it is very controversial,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It seems a major complaint I hear often about the Customizer is that it doesn&#8217;t give the user enough room, so this would allow the user to have as much room as they want.</p>
<p>&#8220;Another concern I&#8217;ve heard is that people don&#8217;t know the pane can be collapsed at all (even though there is a collapse button on the bottom), so this greatly improves the visibility of collapsing and it implements a common UI paradigm where panes can be resized by dragging on their edge (e.g. Chrome dev tools),&#8221; Ruter said.</p>
<p>In making the pane resizable, Ruter&#8217;s chief concern is ensuring that the controls will respond nicely to varying widths, including those created by plugins. Expanding the customizer pane with the resizer plugin currently stretches the controls somewhat awkwardly and in some cases leaves a lot of empty real estate.</p>
<p><a href="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/customize-pane-expanded.png" rel="attachment wp-att-49918"><img src="http://i2.wp.com/wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/customize-pane-expanded.png?resize=1025%2C396" alt="customize-pane-expanded" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-49918" /></a></p>
<p>&#8220;The biggest concern I have is that controls are designed for the 300px width, generally,&#8221; Ruter said. &#8220;So if the width is all of a sudden 900px, then the (custom) controls may well not look right.</p>
<p>&#8220;The controls in Core need to be updated to ensure they work in a variable-width pane. But plugin controls would need to do the same.&#8221;</p>
<p>If you want to help contribute to the Customizer Pane Resizer&#8217;s development, check out the plugin&#8217;s <a href="https://github.com/xwp/wp-customize-pane-resizer" target="_blank">GitHub repo</a>. It is <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/customize-pane-resizer/" target="_blank">available on WordPress.org</a> but the GitHub version is always more up-to-date. If you have developed a plugin or theme that extends the customizer, you may want to test the resizer and offer feedback/code improvements on GitHub. Anyone interested can join the conversation in the #core-customize channel on WordPress Slack.</p>
<div id="epoch-width-sniffer"></div>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 22 Dec 2015 20:42:01 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:13:"Sarah Gooding";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:"type";i:128;s:7:"headers";a:10:{s:6:"server";s:5:"nginx";s:4:"date";s:29:"Fri, 15 Jan 2016 16:20:42 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:14:"content-length";s:6:"204895";s:10:"connection";s:5:"close";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Fri, 15 Jan 2016 16:00:16 GMT";s:15:"x-frame-options";s:10:"SAMEORIGIN";s:4:"x-nc";s:11:"HIT lax 249";s:13:"accept-ranges";s:5:"bytes";}s:5:"build";s:14:"20130823204057";}