Hiring is probably the hardest thing to do in any business. There's so much that needs to go into the interview process, onboarding, and we haven't even begun to think about the actual job description! Lucky for us, Kim Lipari joins WP Product talk to give us all the advice we need to become better employers in the WordPress ecosystem. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it on social media and say thanks to the hosts! Links Kim Coleman Kim Lipari Matt Cromwell Paid Memberships Pro GiveWP Support the WP Minute ★ Support this podcast ★

The 6th episode of WP Product Talk featuring Zach Tirell of WP Events Calendar. Listen in to find out how to hire and manage contractors for your WordPress product (or agency!) business. If you're a WordPress freelancer, this is a fantastic episode to listen to and reverse engineer to better position yourself with employers. If you enjoyed this episode, please say thanks to the hosts and consider sharing this on social media! Links Kim Coleman Zach Tirrell Matt Cromwell Paid Memberships Pro GiveWP Support the WP Minute ★ Support this podcast ★

The idea of using WordPress to power a social networking site isn’t new. The BuddyPress plugin has offered this functionality since 2009. But Elon Musk’s recent takeover of Twitter (and the ensuing chaos) has WordPress community members taking another look at what’s possible. Mike McAlister recently shared a concept for OpenPress, a plugin that would turn your WordPress install into a microblogging platform. Your site’s content can then be connected with, and followed by, other sites using OpenPress. The aim is to build a network of related content that allows creators to maintain ownership. As McAlister puts it, the network “is powered by individuals, but connected as a community.” Who knows where the OpenPress concept will go. But it’s an interesting proposition for those looking to ditch Twitter and other corporately-owned communities. Links You Shouldn’t Miss The WP Minute’s Eric Karkovack is intrigued by the potential of managed WooCommerce hosting. He took a look at what it can and can’t do to simplify the eCommerce platform. In an effort to decrease the barriers to contributing to WordPress core, project lead developer Helen Hou-Sandí has proposed using GitHub Codespaces. The tool allows for the rapid setup of a development environment. Sarah Gooding has the details at WP Tavern. In a tongue-and-cheek effort to compete with Twitter’s new account verification system, Tumblr is selling two “useless” checkmarks for a one-time fee of $7.99. Yes, that’s one penny less than Twitter’s service. The microblogging platform is owned by Automattic. To paraphrase CEO (and WordPress co-founder) Matt Mullenweg’s tweet, two checkmarks are cooler than one. What’s your top WordPress-related story for 2022? The WP Minute wants to know! Share your thoughts with us on Twitter. Classifieds listings buy yours Equalized Digital Get 50% off Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker November 20-30 with coupon code BlackFriday22 and start making your website accessible. From the Grab Bag Now it’s time to take a look at some other interesting topics shared by our contributors. WordPress 6.1.1 was released on November 15 and fixes a total of 50 bugs. If you missed out on WordCamp Italia 2022, a nearly 9-hour recording of the event is available for viewing. How would you like the WordPress Site Editor to work? What pain points would you like to see resolved? The project has put out a call for user feedback. It’s been a long time coming, but WooCommerce 7.1 is finally adding the ability to store orders in a custom database table. Sarah Gooding at WP Tavern reports that it’s currently an experimental feature, but should become the default sometime in 2023. Podcasters using Automattic’s Pocket Casts platform can now embed their episodes on WordPress.com via a custom block. WordPress marketing firm Ellipsis has announced a new web tool from their SEO product FALCON AI. It aims to help content creators conduct more accurate keyword research through machine learning. WordPress.org’s Showcase section is undergoing a redesign and you can take a peek at what’s in store. Thanks to all of the members who shared these links today:  Birgit Pauli-Haack ★ Support this podcast ★

Feed drop time! Feed drop is when an entirely new podcast shows up in a podcast feed...just like this one!  I'm sharing my friend, Matthew Bliss' Dead Drop podcast with you. It's just like the WP Minute, short form news, but for the video game industry. From the casual gamer to the sweaty l33t, this podcast has it all for your gaming needs.  Links Matthew Bliss on Twitter Dead Drop Podcast Want to feed drop your podcast? Contact us. Support The WP Minute: Donate or get a classified listing ★ Support this podcast ★

The advent of WordPress Full Site Editing (FSE) has sparked plenty of discussion within the community. But it’s not just the technical aspects that have received attention. Giving the feature a more user-friendly name has also been a hot topic. On November 4, 2022, WordPress project Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy announced that the feature will be simply referred to as the “Site Editor”. Simplicity was only one consideration, however. Haden Chomphosy notes that the term can also be effectively translated into hundreds of languages. Given WordPress’ considerable international user base, a consistent name is desirable. Paired with the Block Editor, the Site Editor name should provide users with a clearer distinction between editing environments. Links You Shouldn’t Miss When we discuss the challenges facing WordPress, we often focus on WordPress core. However, The WP Minute’s Eric Karkovack says that the WordPress Ecosystem Needs Closer Scrutiny. He opines that what happens in the world of themes and plugins can be just as consequential. The phrase “Just another WordPress site” should be familiar to anyone who has installed the software. It’s been the default setting for the Site Tagline for years - but no more. Sarah Gooding at WP Tavern reports that, as of WordPress 6.1, the tagline is now blank. For the sake of nostalgia, the phrase does stick around in the form of placeholder text. In the wake of WordPress.org’s removal of active install growth data from the plugin repository, developers are still looking for relevant information. In response, the folks at AyeCode have launched wp-rankings.com. The site scrapes the repository’s popular plugin data and shows historical comparisons for active installations. WP Tavern has more details on the project. If you couldn’t make it to Spain for WordCamp Sevilla this past weekend, the event has published a virtual tour using the Spatial metaverse platform. Visitors can create an avatar, walk around the space, and access a stream of the event. Classifieds listings buy yours See your ad in this space! From the Grab Bag Now it’s time to take a look at some other interesting topics shared by our contributors. Designer Anders Norén has released Oaknut, a WordPress block theme that lets users create a profile page similar to that of Linktree. Big Orange Heart have announced that their WordFest Live event has been rescheduled to Friday, December 16, 2022. If you run a WooCommerce store and use Stripe for payment processing, be on the lookout for fraudulent orders. Wordfence takes a look at a security flaw in the Blog2Social WordPress plugin. New Members This Week  Jamie Marsland, follow @pootlepress If you’re not a member yet, go to thewpminute.com/support/ to join. Thanks to all of the members who shared these links today:  Birgit Pauli-Haack Michelle Frechette ★ Support this podcast ★

WordPress 6.1, “Misha”, was released on November 1. The new version features more than 120 enhancements and fixes over 240 bugs.  Performance was a focus in this release, including increased efficiencies within WP_Query and the REST API. Query caching is said to provide a significant speed boost. WordPress core contributor Jonny Harris has tweeted test results to back up the claim. Also of note are multiple accessibility enhancements, a myriad of improvements to the block editor, the ability to use block-based template parts within “Classic” themes, the introduction of the Twenty Twenty-Three default theme, and a whole lot more. Check out the WordPress 6.1 Field Guide for a full rundown of what’s new. And if you’re interested in who contributed to the release, Jean-Baptiste Audras has put together some detailed contribution statistics. Links You Shouldn’t Miss The 2022 Web Almanac reports that 72% of WordPress-powered mobile pages may be overusing native lazy loading on images, resulting in a negative impact on performance. Sarah Gooding at WP Tavern offers more details and some possible reasons for this surprising number.  Gutenberg project lead Matías Ventura recently highlighted some improvements to the block editor’s writing experience. Meanwhile, a blog post at Make WordPress Core has further details and demos to check out. eCommerce platform (and WooCommerce rival) Shopify saw rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many of the online stores opened during that time didn’t last. Classifieds listings buy yours See your ad in this space! From the Grab Bag Now it’s time to take a look at some other interesting topics shared by our contributors. Eric Karkovack and Dan Knauss discussed ideas for improving the WordPress user experience on the Post Status Excerpt. The Bertha AI Writing Assistant has introduced the ability to generate images based on artificial intelligence (AI) from within WordPress. Elon Musk’s controversial purchase of Twitter has been finalized. And while some people have vowed to leave the platform, Sarah Gooding reports that many WordPress community members are planning to stick around. The new Missing Menu Items plugin adds hard-to-find block and site editor links to the WordPress Appearance menu. WP Tavern recently took a look at what it does. Matt Mullenweg shared thoughts on why Tumblr’s previous policy on adult content no longer works on the modern web.  Thanks to all of the members who shared these links today:  Andrew Palmer Birgit Pauli-Haack Eric Karkovack ★ Support this podcast ★

The saga of WordPress.org active install data continues as more details trickle out. At WP Tavern, Sarah Gooding reported on an appearance by WordPress contributor Samuel Otto Wood on the WPwatercooler podcast. Wood says the decision to remove the data originated from a private Slack conversation amongst contributors that was started by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg back in May. It has also been revealed that the removal was not due to security or privacy issues, as previously indicated. According to Wood, the data chart was removed because “by and large, nobody was using them”.  Regardless of the reasoning behind the decision or worthiness of the data, no official outreach appears to have been made by project leadership to the developer community. Meanwhile, WordPress community members continue to voice concerns via a Trac ticket started by RebelCode CEO Mark Zahra. The ticket was created on September 30 and has over 100 comments. Links You Shouldn’t Miss The first ever WordPress Documentation team Contributor Day took place on Tuesday, October 25. The virtual event was held to help team members catch up on tasks and onboard new contributors. Development agency Human Made has published 1001 ways to implement Gutenberg blocks. The guide includes a handy flowchart for determining what blocks to use and when to use them. The inaugural WPWealthBuilder Summit has put a call out for speakers and sponsors. The virtual event focuses on building personal wealth through WordPress and takes place on February 3, 2023. Sarah Gooding of WP Tavern reports that the Openverse Audio Catalog now boasts 800,000 files that are available free of charge. Formerly known as Creative Commons Search, Openverse is now part of the WordPress project. Classifieds listings buy yours WebDevStudios WebDevStudios is seeking a full time, remote Engineering Manager candidate interested in joining our growing team.Sitewide Sales Are you literally losing sleep on Black Friday? Schedule your WordPress site's Black Friday sale so you can sleep off Thanksgiving dinner.GapScout Sign-Up for Early Access - AI that scans reviews (on WordPress.org or elsewhere), revealing to you the most profitable opportunities!WP Mayor Reach a larger, targeted audience of WordPress users with your Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers. Get them listed on WP Mayor. From the Grab Bag Now it’s time to take a look at some other interesting topics shared by our contributors. Automattic’s Pocket Casts podcasting platform has announced that their mobile apps are now open-source.Gutenberg project contributors released a video of a streamlined “browse mode” concept for the WordPress Site Editor.WordPress Accessibility Day takes place from November 2-3 and has released its speaker lineup.The WordPress.org support portal, dubbed the “HelpHub”, is set to be redesigned. Thanks to all of the members who shared these links today:  Birgit Pauli-HaackMichelle FrechetteEric Karkovack ★ Support this podcast ★

In today's episode of WP Product Talk, we'll explore the methods organizations go through to level up entry-level WordPress developers on their team. This is a fantastic discussion with your weekly hosts Kim Colemen & Matt Cromwell. Today's guest is Courtney Robertson, Web Design Dev Advocate at GoDaddy Pro. If you enjoyed this episode, please re-share it on social media and follow the hashtag #wpproducttalk on Twitter. Links Kim ColemanMatt CromwellCourtney RobertsonPaid Memberships ProGiveWPSupport the WP Minute ★ Support this podcast ★

Discussion rolls on within the WordPress community regarding the removal of active install growth data from the WordPress.org plugin repository - but still no firm resolution is in sight. As we reported last week, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg said that adding some form of stats for plugin developers is “doable”. We’ll have to wait and see where the discussion goes from here. Meanwhile, The WP Minute’s Eric Karkovack wrote about what plugin developers should realistically expect from the WordPress project and its leadership. It might be that the project simply isn’t there to help developers make money. Instead, their focus is likely trained on providing us with a platform to build upon. How a developer monetizes their product is ultimately up to them. And Alex Denning of Ellipsis argues that WordPress.org is an ineffective place to distribute plugins. He provides some key data to back up this point. On the other side of the coin, Liquid Web’s Matt Cromwell respectfully disagrees. Next up (listen to the podcast for more): Matt Cromwell discusses distributing plugins via WordPress.org Links You Shouldn’t Miss Security is the focus of WordPress 6.0.3, which was released on October 17. Be sure to update your websites, as this release patches several vulnerabilities. If you’d like a rundown of the vulnerabilities involved in WordPress 6.0.3, Patchstack offers a full analysis. Users of the Shortcodes Ultimate plugin will also want to update to the latest version. Sarah Gooding of WP Tavern reports that a fix for an undisclosed security issue was recently added. Registration is now open for WordPress Accessibility Day. The 24-hour virtual event will take place from November 2-3 and will feature a bevy of presentations that aim to demystify the subject. From the Grab Bag Now it’s time to take a look at some other interesting topics shared by our contributors. WordPress 6.1 Release Candidate 2 is now available for testing.Designer and software engineer Mike McAlister announced his new project, Ollie - an educational hub for WordPress creators.Development agency 10up has published a guide to Gutenberg Best Practices.Sarah Gooding provides details on the new Plugin Dependencies feature plugin that is available for testing. It’s an effort to help developers specify plugin dependencies via WordPress core.Devin Walker introduces himself as the new General Manager of iThemes, and hints at some changes coming to the longtime WordPress development company.Jetpack Social has added a paid tier to their automated social media sharing function. Free users will now be limited to 30 shares per month. Classifieds listings buy yours WebDevStudios WebDevStudios is seeking a full time, remote Engineering Manager candidate interested in joining our growing team.Sitewide Sales Are you literally losing sleep on Black Friday? Schedule your WordPress site's Black Friday sale so you can sleep off Thanksgiving dinner.GapScout Sign-Up for Early Access - AI that scans reviews (on WordPress.org or elsewhere), revealing to you the most profitable opportunities!WP Mayor Reach a larger, targeted audience of WordPress users with your Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers. Get them listed on WP Mayor. New Members This Week Nate Finch, follow @n8finch Zack Katz, follow @zackkatz If you’re not a member yet, go to buymeacoffee.com/mattreport to join. Thanks to all of the members who shared these links today:  Amber HindsEric KarkovackJustin FerrimanMatt Cromwell ★ Support this podcast ★

Have you started a WordPress theme or plugin that didn't quite succeed like you had hoped it would? It might be time to sunset your WordPress product. There's 2 major things to consider: your mental health & your existing customers/users. When I spun down my first go at WordPress themes, it was embarrassing. The crazy thing was, the embarrassment was only in my head. I didn't want to give up, I wanted to keep going. Shutting it down felt like a failure. It took me years to realize that shutting down, provided me more clarity and the best lessons in marketing I've ever learned. But how do you relay this to your customers? Especially if the recently paid you? Today's episode of Product Talk featuring Kim Coleman, Devin Walker, and Matt Cromwell will touch on all the points I just mentioned. Be sure to follow them and tune in to their Twitter Space every week! Links Kim ColemanDevin WalkerMatt CromwellPaid Memberships ProGiveWPSupport the WP Minute ★ Support this podcast ★