A WordPress Commenter

This story was produced in collaboration with Mark Szymanski and Adam Weeks. Check out Mark’s full interview with the CloudFest USA Hackathon leads. Real-time security labeling for WordPress plugins and themes is one step closer to reality. At the first CloudFest USA Hackathon in Miami on November 4, contributors from the FAIR Package Manager project, Patchstack, and several […]

WordPress is moving closer to Google Docs-style collaborative editing. In an update on Phase 3 of the Gutenberg roadmap posted this week, Automattic-sponsored contributor Anne McCarthy revealed real-time collaboration has been flagged for “possible inclusion” in WordPress 7.0, expected in 2026. Work is currently underway to “extend and improve” the experimental implementation of the feature… Source

The WordPress Foundation’s bid to trademark “Managed WordPress” and “Hosted WordPress” in the United States remains on track for registration after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently reviewed evidence showing the phrases have been widely used across the hosting industry for more than a decade — and decided it wasn’t enough to refuse them. The applications… […]

WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg will deliver this year’s State of the Word in San Francisco on December 2, the same day WordPress 6.9 is set for release — a first for the project, turning the keynote into both a reflection and product launch. This year’s address will feature Mullenweg’s keynote alongside “special guests,” demos of WordPress 6.9, a […]

Automattic has teamed up with the Internet Archive to launch a new plugin designed to fight one of the web’s oldest problems: link rot. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer, now available on WordPress.org, automatically scans posts for external links and replaces dead ones with archived snapshots from the Wayback Machine. It also works preemptively — each […]

The WordPress Plugins Team is now automatically scanning every plugin update on WordPress.org for security, compatibility, and compliance issues, expanding its use of automation to strengthen plugin quality and review consistency. In a post on the Make WordPress Plugins blog, team co-rep David Pérez, a Hostinger-sponsored contributor, said the Plugin Check plugin (PCP) now runs automatically… Source

The WordPress Community Team is calling for contributors to help overhaul the tools that power WordCamps, including CampTix, the ticketing plugin organizers have long wanted to fix, finally replacing Meetup.com with GatherPress, and exploring the development of a dedicated WordPress events app. In a call to action published on the Make WordPress Community blog this week… Source

As October winds down, so too does Blocktober, Tammie Lister’s month-long challenge to create a WordPress block every day with Automattic’s experimental AI tool, Telex. Lister, a product designer and long-time WordPress core committer, launched the project on October 1, publishing her creations daily at blocktober.fun. The initiative is much like an earlier project, Patternspiration… Source

The WordPress Foundation and WooCommerce have joined Automattic and Matt Mullenweg in countersuing WP Engine, accusing the hosting company of trademark infringement, false advertising, and unfair competition in a court filing that puts WP Engine’s use of the WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks under scrutiny. Filed October 23 in the U.S. District Court, the counterclaims allege WP Engine… Source

The first-ever CloudFest USA Hackathon, taking place November 4 in Miami, will bring together contributors from the FAIR project, Patchstack, and several hosting companies to build the FAIR Software Security Assistant, a new open-source integration designed to automate vulnerability screening and policy enforcement for repositories using FAIR’s decentralized package manager. Source