The first Featured Plugins cohort bumped up 26,000+ new plugin installs. Got noticed in the community, the launch of WP Packages from the roots team, layoffs at StellarWP, and Automattic rebrands Clay to Mesh. Also, WordPress 7.0 RC 1 is delayed, and WP 7.0 Beta 6 is now available.
Draw Attention lets you turn any image into an interactive experience. Use the built-in drawing tool to add clickable hotspots with tooltips, links, and More Info areas. Drop it in with a shortcode or block, and you’re good to go.
FluentCart combines performance, flexibility, and control in one powerful WordPress eCommerce plugin. Easily sell physical or digital products, hybrid product listings, subscriptions, memberships, and more.
Leave single-server hosting in 2015. Choose 20i’s autoscaling Managed WordPress Hosting, built for traffic surges, complex sites & demanding PHP workloads, all without missing a beat.
ProfilePress is a modern WordPress membership plugin. Build paid membership sites, sell digital products, control content access with Stripe, PayPal & more.
↑ Community Sponsors supporting this weekly
What’s Buzzing in WordPress 💖
- FullText Search for WP… Matt Cromwell has released a community plugin, FullText Search for WP (GitHub). It promises to improve wp-admin search with FULLTEXT, meta, taxonomies, and better relevance. With this, you can find posts by tag, custom field, or SKU – not just by the title and content.
- Self Hosted WP AI assistant… how about a self-hosted WordPress AI assistant that keeps all user data on your own server? Varun Dubey shared WP Private AI (GitHub) built on WordPress Abilities API (WP 6.9+ core) and Ollama (self-hosted LLM). Read more about this private AI Assistant that never sends data to OpenAI.
- SiteSkite for WP Management… Muhammad Abdullah Khan shared about the SiteSkite platform for WordPress website management. It allows developers and agencies to manage, monitor, backup, and optimize multiple WordPress sites from one dashboard.
- WP Rocket with Free Rocket Insights… 3.21v brings free addition of Rocket Insights, powered by GTmetrix, for all WP Rocket licenses at no extra cost. It includes 4 advanced performance indicators, LCP, CLS, TBT, & TTFB, inside WP Rocket, at global and page level.
Free Plugins: ShareButtons, MilliCache, & Monitor
Simple Share Buttons… Chris Eggleston shared (Links X) a free Simple Share Buttons plugin for WordPress. This lightweight social plugin supports nine networks and can be added anywhere through a shortcode. You can also change networks, colors, and visible icons for a custom display.
New MilliCache… Vedran has brought to notice the new MilliCache, a free and open-source full-page caching plugin powered by Redis or Valkey. While most WordPress caching plugins force you to clear the entire cache when content changes, MilliCache doesn’t. It serves pre-built HTML directly from memory, bypassing WordPress and the database entirely.
Monitor from Satollo in Repo… Monitor plugin from Satollo, which adds monitoring features to your WordPress site – the free version is now available in the plugin repository for everyone. This plugin can monitor emails, HTTP calls, REST API calls, scheduler runs with detailed jobs data, and Abilities invocation.
New Updates: Fluent Community, Bricks, & WPForms
FluentCommunity + Custom Profile Fields… 2.3.0v has introduced the Custom Profile Fields feature, providing community admins more control over the information members can add to their profiles. Also, added Following/Follower search and sort functionality and CSV export for course members and quiz results.
Bricks + copy/paste HTML & CSS… 2.3v allows you to copy HTML and CSS from any source and paste it into the builder. Also, the Image Gallery element now supports loading more images on demand through the new ‘Load more’ button, and new query filter controls for datepicker, range, select, radio, and checkbox.
WPForms + Paypal for All Users… PayPal integration was available only to Pro or Elite plan users, but now it is also available to free WPForms Lite users. It should be noted, 3% transaction fee is charged for free WPForms Lite plan users, and there is no such charge for Pro or Elite plan users.
Extended WordPress Buzz 🔥
- New WP Packages… the team at roots .io has launched WP Composer as an alternative to WPackagist, a free service which was recently acquired by WP Engine. Soon after the launch, WP Composer was renamed to WP Packages, which new website at WP-Packages .org URL, promising “A modern, community-funded Composer repository for WordPress plugins and themes”.
- Featured Plugins Bump… the first Featured Plugins cohort, where hand picked plugins were featured on the plugin repository website, is a welcome success. Nick Hamze shared that featured plugins racked up 26,000+ new installs in two weeks, which is 622% growth in installs. Ollie Menu Designer plugin saw the highest growth of 2386.10% with 11,088 featured installs vs 446 regular installs.
- Automattic Rebrand Clay to Mesh… relationship management tool, Clay, was acquired by Automattic last year. It has now been rebranded to Mesh, with a new name for a broader vision. “For the first time, we can actually map, understand, and activate networks at scale – dynamically, intelligently, and in real time”.
- Layoffs at StellarWP… Jeff shared (Links X) about the layoff of the customer success team at StellarWP in the latest round of restructuring. Also, the Director of Customer Success for 8 years at Give/StellarWP/Liquid Web, Amanda Gorman, whose tenure ended (LinkedIn) in this restructuring round.
- WordCamp Asia & Matt… Contributor Day Workshops schedule is now available, it features workshops on WordPress Core Development Setup, Beginner’s WordPress, Full Site Editing (FSE) Theme, and Beginner’s Guide to SEO. Also, Matt Mullenweg has confirmed (Links X), that he is 100% attending WordCamp Asia.
- WordCamp Rajasthan… the 2026 edition of WordCamp Rajasthan (India) has been announced. It is scheduled to take place on October 3-4, 2026, at Rajasthan International Centre, Jaipur. The call for organizers is now open until April 10, 2026.
- WP Milestones… eCommerce plugin for WordPress, FluentCart has crossed 4,000+ active installs milestones in the repository. While the backup solution for WordPress and Servers, Backuply has crossed 700K+ active installs milestone in the plugins repository.
WordPress RC Delay, Core Updates, & More
WordPress 7.0 Release Candidate 1 has been delayed by a few days due to concerns raised about enhancements for real time collaboration performance, client-side media image optimization, and release package size. It was originally scheduled for release on March 19, 2026, and will now be released on March 24, 2026, at 08:30 PM GMT+5:30.
- WordPress 7.0 Beta 6 is now available for download & testing.
- Plugin Check plugin updated to use WP 7.0 core AI connectors.
- Darin Kotter on using AI featured images in WordPress AI plugin.
- WP Plugin Directory available as a local development environment.
- Plugin Directory MCP Server for a direct connection of your AI tools.
- Connect AI coding agents to WordPress Playground with MCP server.
New: FastPixel, Novashare, JetAppointment, & FuseWP
FastPixel + Object Cache… FastPixel has added Object Cache support, which allows you to connect FastPixel directly to your Redis or Memcached server, without additional plugins. Also, dynamic pages, especially WooCommerce product pages, can now load faster thanks to cached database queries stored in memory.
Novashare + Gab Buttons… 1.6.6v has added new share and follow buttons for Gab, and a new ‘novashare share link target’ filter. Also, updated Mastodon share link to use their new official share landing workflow.
JetAppointment + Booking Query Type… 2.4.0v has added the booking query type in the Crocoblock’s Jet Appointments plugin. Also, added Google Meet links via email and custom Zoom meeting titles.
FuseWP + New Integrations… 2.1.25.0v update has added multiple new integrations for FuseWP users. Now you can connect your WordPress website through FuseWP to services like SendPulse, Bento, Mailercloud, BirdSend, and Engage.
More: Strakture, Password Policy, & Woo Memberships
Strakture + FSE Theme… Aleksandr Samokhin shared (Links X) 1.1.3v update for Strakture with FSE WordPress theme without bloat, full WooCommerce integration, responsive margin/padding controls, transparent glass header, 14 color schemes, and 7 typography presets.
WP Password Policy + AI Integration… Bartosz Gadomski shared that the WP Password Policy plugin now registers all policy management actions as WordPress Abilities. When paired with the MCP Adapter plugin, this lets AI assistants like Claude or ChatGPT list, create, update, and delete password policies through natural language, while fully respecting WordPress roles and permissions.
Woo Memberships + Abilities API… 1.28.0v brings Abilities API integration in the WooCommerce Memberships extension from Skyverge. It has started registering abilities with the WordPress Abilities API, which was introduced in WordPress 6.9.
Quick Bits 👍
- Free Course: Web Dev focusing on accessibility, from Builderius.
- 96% plugins at fewer than 10 installs (Links X), by Pavel Ciorici.
- AI agent to create, edit, & manage content on WordPress .com
- ClassicPress 2.7.0 Release Candidate 1 is now available for testing.
- Hostinger share €11.8 million with employees via stock options.
- TheWPWeekly, proud media partner for WordCamp Europe 2026.
- Let’s Learn
- How to cut token usage of Claude Code for WP, by Varun Dubey.
- How to generate a WordPress Theme with Telex & its AI powers.
- How to build a partner logo gallery in WordPress with FooGallery.
- WP Perspectives
- Matt Cohen on why plugins should feel like part of WordPress.
- Kathy Zant on risk of software dependency & surprises it brings.
- Joost de Valk on why moving WordPress website to static HTML.
- Coen Jacobs on fear of voicing unpopular opinion in WP space.
- WordPress on YouTube
- Learn WordPress Compliance with Raffaele Riconosciuto, Termly.
- Novamira preview that turn Claude into WP Assistant, by Paul.
- MailerPress is getting Automations soon, check preview video.
- Learn WP Hooks like actions, filters, & callbacks, by Crocoblock.
- Check the 1st episode of WordCamp Europe Community Insights.
- People of WordPress
- Jason Adams now Director of Engineering (LinkedIn), AI, Automattic.
- Brian Gardner share next chapter (LinkedIn) as Authority Design.
2026 Web Designer Survey: Impact of AI & Market
The team at 20i Hosting has published findings of the 2026 Web Designer Survey. “Over 75% say competition from AI has made their job more challenging in the last year”. Also, rising cost of tools & software (46%), cuts to design and marketing budgets (35%), and the shift to voice and screenless search (23%).
Statistically, “3 in 4 say finding new clients has become more difficult in the past year. Nearly 80% would move state for a better job opportunity. Over half report struggling with a lack of clear career progression”.
WordPress in 2026: Comprehensive Foundations
WP:26 event concluded, and you can catch the replay for all the insights. Noel Tock, CGO, Human Made and Altis, shared “Also interesting is that WordPress may actually have an edge on other CMSes here and not because it ships the most polished AI features out of the box, quite the opposite actually. It’s because it ships some of the most comprehensive foundations out there”.
Melapress builds professional-grade WordPress security & management plugins: WP Activity Log, Melapress Login Security, Melapress Role Editor, & WP 2FA.
WP Engine Newsroom: Designed specifically for media organizations publishing at scale, learn how WP Engine Newsroom simplifies publishing with fewer tools, connected workflows, and performance insights.
Kinsta managed WordPress hosting with unparalleled speed, leveraging Google Cloud and the latest C3D servers, it ensures lightning-fast performance.
↑ Community Sponsors supporting this weekly
