WP Weekly 117 – Your Say

The WordPress community is alive (and kicking), with many folks expressing “their say” over the decision to remove the active install growth chart. Also, here is another opportunity for “your say” in the WordPress space, as the voting phase for The WP Awards 2022 is now live.

Vote for your favorite WordPress products and get them into the limelight they deserve in real! The WP Awards 2022 is made possible by awesome gold sponsors: InMotion Hosting, StellarWP, 20i Hosting, Cloudways, and GoDaddy Pro.


SafeUpdates for WordPress: Save Time, Increase Security & Automate with Confidence with Cloudways – Get Started Today!

20i® WordPress Hosting has been rated ‘Top-Tier’ by ReviewSignal in 2021 and 2022. Find out why and get your first month for only $1.

LearnDash is the most trusted online course platform for WordPress. Get your course website online with no code and ready-to-use starter site themes.

↑ Community Sponsors supporting this weekly

What’s Buzzing in WordPress 💖

  • Got Noticed… the plugin Elementor Blocks for Gutenberg (yep, read it right), which allow the use of Elementor blocks inside Gutenberg, has received an update. While Brain Gardner, known for Genesis Framework (and child themes), has launched Powder, a base WordPress Theme for your personal and client projects.
  • Price Changes… there will be a price hike for the Bricks Builder plugin from Nov 11, 2022, Starter Plan from $79 to $99, and Ultimate Plan from $199 to $249. Also, from Oct 10, 2022, iTheme Security Pro and BackupBuddy plugins will have new prices (Basic $80 to $99, Plus $127 to $199, Agency $199 to $299).
  • Block Plugins… Both the free(1.6.0) and pro(1.4.0) versions of Generate Blocks have been updated for better support of ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) and FSE (Full Site Editing) usage. While the Stackable addon now promises to be leaner and faster, with the 3.5.0 update focussing on performance improvements.

Extended WordPress Buzz 🔥

  1. Product Updates… Simple Giveaways plugin added support for WooCommerce Variations, WPForms integration, and the ability to add specific giveaway script fields. Also, WordFence with 7.7.0 update added improvements to scan resume functionality, stand-alone MMDB reader for IP address lookup, and option to disable looking up IP address locations.
  2. Dev Focus… learn how to extend the Query Loop block in this new developer document. Also, here is a deep dive into improvements to WP_Query performance in WordPress 6.1 because of caching of database queries in WP_Query class.
  3. WP Perspectives… Eric Karkovack explained why the classic WordPress Themes are not going away anytime soon. While Lana Miro wrote about the best and worst aspects of the recent acquisitions that have happened in the WordPress space.
  4. Plugin Milestones… FluentCRM is celebrating 2nd anniversary, clocking 150% growth compared to the last year, and the future roadmap to focus on more features for email marketing, cart abandonment, and Pipeline Management. Also, the Slim SEO plugin has crossed an impressive 20,000 active install milestone.

Quick Bits 👍

  • The Nexcess website has a new look that is neat and colorful!
  • Damanjeet explained why WooFunnels has rebranded to FunnelKit!
  • Now you can try all Gravity Kit plugins for free before purchasing.
  • WordPress 6.1 Beta 3 download is now available for your testing.
  • The last batch of WordCamp Asia 2023 tickets coming in 1-2 weeks!
  • Automattic at 31 in America’s 100 Most Loved Workplaces 2022.

Vanishing… active install growth chart!

Mark Zahra’s ticket to bring back the active install growth chart is gathering support from fellow WordPress developers. WP Tavern covered the story with more details, and their post’s comment section is buzzing.

But, many folks wanted clarity with Matt Mullenweg’s response “Even if 10,000 people commented and appeared to agree that would still be a small fraction of the wider WP community. That’s one of the hardest things to navigate in open source, and product and community development generally.”

With all this happening, Jean Galea questioned if WordPress entering a death spiral. Also, WPWatercooler conducted a discussion episode on this topic, featuring John James Jacoby, Matt Cromwell, Jason Tucker, Sé Reed, and Jason Cosper.


Performance Reports for AffiliateWP allows you to boost your affiliates’ performance by regularly sharing generated views, clicks, and referrals!

WP Webhooks allows you to create powerful WordPress automation workflows directly within your website. It integrates with more than 40+ plugins.

InMotion hosting provides fast and reliable website hosting for businesses of any size. Launch a website fast with an easy-to-use builder and professional tools.

↑ Community Sponsors supporting this weekly

Upcoming Events 💬

September 27, 2023: WordPress Accessibility Day 2023, Livestreaming Free.
September 28, 2023: WordPress Web Agency AI Summit 2023, by Crocoblock.
September 28, 2023: Best Practices for Email Marketing, BlueHost online event.

Like this WordPress Goodness? Get the next issue directly in your email inbox. Check support options and connect on Twitter and Facebook. This content may contain affiliate links, read the disclosure for more.

❤️ Our Community Sponsors

Tyche Softwares

Power up your WooCommerce store with premium WooCommerce extensions for setting up online bookings and appointments, scheduling of delivery dates, tackling abandoned carts to increase your store sales and profits.

inmotion website hosting

InMotion Hosting provides fast and reliable website hosting for WordPress websites of any busines of any size. Partner with a company that offers 99.99% uptime, free SSL, 1-click WordPress installs, and a free domain for a year.

Pressidium Hosting

Pressidium® free trial is the perfect way to experience our advanced WordPress hosting features and support. Our team is available 24/7, so you can focus on your website's growth. Try our free trial today and see for yourself!

20i hosting

20i® WordPress Hosting that gives you more for your WordPress websites. Save over $200/mo on plug-ins with Staging, Backups, CDN, Cache, SSL, WP Manager, Security, Git Deploy & Email all baked-in. Plus, get 24x7 expert support.

Elementor Cloud

Elementor is the leading website builder platform for professionals on WordPress. Elementor serves web professionals, including developers, designers and marketers, and boasts a new website created every 10 seconds on its platform.

Breakdance

Breakdance is the new platform for WordPress website creation. With 120 built-in elements, a modern UI and workflow, and deep WooCommerce integration, Breakdance is the ultimate website builder plugin for WordPress.

NitroPack

Get first-hand tips and insights on the new Core Web Vitals metric – Interaction to Next Paint (INP). Sign up for the workshop and learn how to pass the responsiveness metric with experts from Google and NitroPack.

visual composer

Here is an opportunity to enhance the visibility of your WordPress products and services among WordPress users, freelancers, and agency owners with the community sponsorship program at 'The WP Weekly'.