Cloudfest WordPress hackathon, changes at Yoast, and thanks to the plugin team

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well-represented. Over at WP Tavern, Sarah Gooding reports that a Hackathon event has led to some innovative WordPress projects.

For instance, there’s an in-browser development environment that uses the VS Code editor and allows developers to see changes in real-time. Meanwhile, the Wapuugotchi project uses the familiar Wapuu character to display notifications and unlock features. On the more serious side, Eco-mode for WordPress aims to reduce outgoing server traffic, thus saving energy.

But that’s not all. March 20 saw the first-ever WordPress Day event. Several presentations were given on topics ranging from security and performance, to “The Automattic advantage”.

Links You Shouldn’t Miss

Organizational changes are underway at SEO development firm Yoast. CEO Thijs de Valk announced that he has stepped down from the role, effective March 16. de Valk has been with the company since 2012 and is leaving to pursue “other dreams”. The search for the next CEO has begun.

A few weeks ago, we reported on ThemeKraft's open letter critiquing the WordPress plugin review process. This time around, WordPress developer Alan Fuller has posted a letter thanking plugin reviewers for their “hard work and dedication in reviewing new plugins and ensuring the security of WordPress websites”. Fuller also points out steps that plugin developers can take to ensure a smoother process, while acknowledging the challenges reviewers face.

Mika Epstein of the WordPress Plugins team posted a reminder regarding the use of AI-generated code. Any code hosted on the official plugin repository, regardless of how it was written, still needs to be GPL compatible. As more developers are using tools like ChatGPT to generate plugins, this is becoming a relevant issue. Epstein noted that AI tools may simply be copying code from an existing plugin without crediting the original author.

From the Grab Bag

Now it’s time to take a look at some other interesting topics shared by our contributors.

• The final countdown to WordPress 6.2 is underway. The last scheduled Release Candidate (#3) is now available for testing.
• Congratulations to WordPress community member Michelle Frechette on being named as a finalist for the RochesterFirst.com Remarkable Women awards. Frechette holds many roles, including the Director of Community Engagement at StellarWP, along with co-founder of Underrepresented in Tech.
• As part of WordPress’ 20th anniversary celebration, volunteers have been busy triaging old Trac tickets. You’re invited to take part in the next session, happening on Thursday, March 23.
• The WordPress Documentation team needs your help writing docs for WordPress 6.2. A call for volunteers has been published that details how to get involved.
• Talent recruitment website The Org recently published its list of the 50 Most Transparent Companies. WordPress.com owner Automattic was included at #27.
• Developer Nico Mercado wrote an opinion piece on the complex relationship between WordPress and PHP. Mercado opines that WordPress is a driver of PHP’s market share, but may not be providing the best developer experience.
• How hard should it be to cancel a WordPress plugin subscription? WebDevStudios CEO Brad Williams tweeted a product flowchart that might just blow your mind.
• Is WordPress giving too much layout control to end-users? There’s a lively debate on Reddit worth checking out.
• Building a successful WordPress product team is challenging. TeamWP’s James Giroux joined the Do the Woo podcast to discuss the subject.
• ChatGPT's new GPT-4 model can pass standardized tests. But does that make it any closer to replacing human professionals? Not so fast, says one essay.

The WP Minute+ Interview: Zack Katz

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Zack Katz of GravityKit & TrustedLogin joins the show to talk about running multiple products in the WordPress space. The conversation explores the ups-and-downs of doing a product rebrand, plus, what it's like to build a business in the Gravity Forms (and WordPress!) ecosystem.

Listen at:
https://wpminuteplus.transistor.fm/episodes/gravitykit-rebranding-a-wordpress-product

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