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Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute Get the links, show notes, original YouTube video, and transcripts from The WP Minute website.Thanks for listening! Please tell us what you liked about State of the Word 2023 on social media! Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute Read full show notes here: https://thewpminute.com/?p=13127 Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute Read the full post here. Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute WP Minute+ News Round Table Episode 1. This will be a monthly series on WP Minute+ Podcast. Make sure you're following the podcast!Follow WP Minute+Read the full shown notes: https://thewpminute.com/?p=12987Get the weekly newsletter: https://thewpminute.com/subscribeSupport the show! https://thewpminute.com/support Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute I’ve been learning the Twenty Twenty-Four theme deeply over the last few weeks, as I feel this is one of the most important default themes ever released. A theme that has a good set of patterns at launch, a less opinionated design than previous default themes, and with the site editing and block experience at an acceptable level for customizations. TT4 provides a solid starting point for many small business or creators looking for a new website. My only hope is that the design team behind TT4 continue to improve the feature set, and not let it sit after launch. Let’s make this theme better over the next year!I’m not surprised with Mullenweg’s offensive take on the recent price hike at Elementor, but I also feel it’s a bit short sighted for the industry as a whole. Does it have to be core vs 3rd party plugins for WordPress to survive? Do the future enhancements to site editing and blocks slowly erode the page builder market? I understand why it’s happening, and as frustrating as it can be, the fragmentation of WordPress experience has brought us a lot of choices and innovation over the years. Get the rest of the show notes: https://thewpminute.com/?p=12945 Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute Today’s update is a brief one. If you hadn’t heard the news, WordPress 6.4 was released on November 7th. Things didn’t go as smoothly has we all hoped, with the core teams rushing to release 6.4.1 to catch a nasty bug in older versions of the curl package. The good news is, everything was patched and buttoned up for users. I’ve been spending a lot of time using, reviewing, and recording videos covering the Twenty Twenty-Four theme. I think it’s a fantastic step in the right direction and expect to see more users adopting it to build out their websites. It’s really important that users are delighted when using a default theme, and I think that’s what this theme does better than the last.Read the full blog post including links. Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute WooCommerce is now Woo, kinda. Here’s a quote from their announcement Say hello to Woo.com - WooCommerce post:You can call us Woo, WooCommerce, Their Supreme Wooness — whatever you’d like. But if you want to be specific:Woo is how we refer to the brand/company.WooCommerce is the open-source ecommerce platform for WordPress — Woo’s core product.So WooCommerce is now tucked away into the inner layer of Woo’s brand. Also tucked away, according to those keeping anGet all the show notes here. Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute On the latest WP Minute, we delve into the release of WordPress 6.4 RC 2, potential implications for the WordPress professional community, and a spotlight on the upcoming Twenty Twenty-Four theme. Is it set to revolutionize the market? The episode also touches upon the challenges in the WordPress arena – from declining sponsorship dollars for media to the broader perception of WordPress among end users. Moreover, the episode delves into the nuances of the WordPress market and the potential challenges and innovations in the theme landscape. Finally, there's a special mention about supporting the WP Minute through memberships, and shoutouts to the integral sponsors of the show.Important Links:Turning Defeat into Success with Justin FerrimanOne Inbox to Rule Them AllOn People Breaking up with WordPressWordPress 6.4 Field GuideIntroducing Real-Time Editing! 🧑🏾‍💻 👩‍💻👨🏻‍💻State of the Word 2023 – Save the DateWordPress Product Black Friday Placements Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute WordPress 6.4 is coming packed full of 100+ performance updates, along with some minor iterative changes to the overall UI. In a recent YouTube video, I took a look at RC1 available now to demo. Now’s your chance to dive in ahead of time and see what changes are coming, for either you or your clients.The biggest impact will be the new Twenty Twenty Four theme, which I’ve also previewed on the channel, but sans the Google Font management feature we were all looking forward to. Fret not, if you’re running the standalone Gutenberg plugin, it’s there. (Hat tip to Mark Constable on that one.)Notable features will be:New Twenty Twenty Four themeNo more attachment pagesBlock HooksStart testing and providing feedback now.WooCommerce services down nearly 40%?Rodolfo Melogli posted that his WooCommerce services are down -37% compared to his last year billings. Rodolfo Melogli on XIn Meloglis’ post, “For context, 2022 was +31%, 2021 +7%, 2020 +10%, 2019 +7%” and expands on the actual hours billed:2023 – 914hrs so far2022 – 1138hrs2021 – 992hrs2020 – 1403hrs2019 – 1350brs2018 – 1029hrsThe heath of client services is something I’m always keeping a watchful eye on. While his experience might be silo’d to only his business, it’s important to watch where the market is being disrupted.\Is the software of WordPress getting better, leading end users to DIY?Is there a competitor coming in and chipping away at our massive pie?Are budgets getting cut because of the global economy?Which also leads me to explore and circle back on a small trend I’ve spotted: web hosts getting into the services business.In a video I recorded over 2 years ago, I spell it WordPress now, I commented on Automattic getting into building websites for endusers. It’s a long listen, but Matt Mullenweg hopped in and left some comments. Click the link to jump in your Time Machine and take a trip down memory lane.Recently I spotted that Nexcess web hosting is also offering services for building websites too. Their price points range from $750 – $1,500 for core WordPress services. There’s a WooCommerce option, but I don’t have an account to see what they are charging a shop owner. Automattic’s range from $500 to $5,000.The Freelancer DilemaAs the software gets better, customers begin to focus on DIY. As page builders and AI improves, more competition also floods into the market. Web hosts cut your customer off at the hosting path before knocking on your door, reeling them back into their in-house services.What’s a freelancer to do?I believe over the next two years we’re going to see some strong consolidation for page builders on the market. Core WordPress page building will improve tremendously, and with the entirety of WordPress admin getting redesigned, potentially making all of WordPress blocks, we’re going to relive a debate we had years ago:Is WordPress a CMS or a framework?I know, we just went 0 to 100mph real quick.Freelancers looking to bolster business or stand out from the crowd should look to enhancing the services around them. Be more knowledgeable about your customer’s business, than you are about WordPress the software. Know that we’re in a 2 year dip where the chaos of where WordPress is headed, is just that, chaos.I believe we’re going to see WordPress evolve into something really great. If I could tell ChatGPT to build me an entire app using blocks and it’s a portable piece of software I can take to any host — who wouldn’t want that?Is it going to disrupt everyone? Surely.Do I trust AI to do a good job? No.Will WordPress still be the best open source software for humanity? Hope so.What I’m saying is hunker down for now. There’s still money to be made in services, when done right. Marketing, branding, packaging are going to be extremely important to your success.Important links this weekt’s been a while since I put together a grab bag of links, but here we are!WP Product Talk aired an exceptional episode on promoting your WordPress product. Go behind the scenes on how Barn2, SolidWP, and GravityKit do their holiday promos.Eric Karkovack published a list of ways for WordPress product owners can promote their products Promoting a WordPress Product? Keep These Tips in MindMatt Mullenweg shares his opinion on Twitter charging $1 to save spam. Cost of Spam Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute WordPress.org briefly introduced 1-click plugin previews this week. If you found yourself looking at the plugin page on the world’s largest directory this week you could enter the official WordPress playground to explore what the plugin had to offer.The first problem? Well, it didn’t work. This sent authors scrambling to understand why their plugins weren’t working or more generally making the case for why this lead to a worse experience overall for the end user.The root of the issue, however, was that none of these changes were communicated to authors. No deadline, no opt-out — nothing.The changes have been reverted, and while I think this is a great idea — I mean, who would’n’t want to try before you buy? — it needs much more thought, planning, and communication next time.Plugin authors: we’re really seeing whose playground this really is these days aren’t we?Ollie without onboardingOllie, the theme I covered in last week’s monologue, is now available in the repo but looking a little thinner than when it started.The block theme that made a controversial splash won’t offer its “innovative” onboarding experience for users. That feature will come in a plugin in the near future.Vote vote voteGet out and vote!The WP Weekly has launched its annual WordPress awards. Vote for all things WordPress, including this podcast. We’re in section 20. If you love our podcast, please vote for us!Nathan Wrigley is also selling awards. Name yourself your own winner for only $20. All proceeds will be donated to WPCC The WP Builds WordPress Awards 2023Open source and AIMeta is trying to shake up the AI world, specifically OpenAI and Google, with its open source Llama model.“Open source drives innovation because it enables many more developers to build with new technology,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.This open source “debate” has spurred, apparently, a lot of debate in the VC world. Here’s a recent episode of the This Week in Startups where in the first 5 minutes you can get some insight into what a billionaire investor thinks about it. Bill Gurley and Sunny Madra talk open-source vs. proprietary AI | E1825Open Source and AI is worth mentioning because Jetpack uses OpenAI, which isn’t open source at all. I’m really curious to see what Mullenweg decides to do with the AI features in Jetpack and WordPress.com as he refines that product.Going all-in on a closed sourced product like that, after alerting us all to learn AI deeply recently would be…weird.Matt Mullenweg on the Silicon SlopesSpeaking of Matt Mullenweg, he recently appeared on a short interview at the Silicon Slopes Summit.He talks to a media personality about open source, Automattic, and remote work. I wanted to play a few clips that you might find interesting. The value of Automattic, the value of the WordPress ecosystem, and how he sees his role (at least to an outsider) in the community.“ Automatic’s close to 2,000 people. The business has been very, very successful, valued at over seven billion dollars.”Matt MullenwegWordPress started very much just as a personal volunteer project. And it was really just about blogging, kind of that personal journaling. Over the years though, really in concert with the community.You know, I’m just a figurehead, really. All the good stuff from WordPress comes from the tens of thousands of volunteers around the world.Matt MullenwegOne cool thing is the WordPress ecosystem, which is over 10 billion a year of revenue going through it now is a lot of the companies look just like automatic and that they’re often distributed, they do open source and everything.Matt Mullenweg Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★