The next major WordPress 7.0 release has a new date of May 20, 2026. Also, new interesting projects from community members like Prospect WP, Make WP Fast, and WPFolks space. Plus, many new plugin releases and a spotlight on the reported WooCommerce payments issue.
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What’s Buzzing in WordPress 💖
- Prospect WP Launch… Luke Humble has opened early access to Prospect WP, a tool built from his WordPress agency workflow at Made Neat. It helps agencies generate website audit reports for leads in minutes, so they can follow up faster, appear more prepared, and use audits as part of their sales process.
- Novamira Pro Launched… Giovanni Cintolo shared about the launch of the Pro version of Novamira, which adds expertise and memory, specialized for Elementor and Bricks. It features reusable skills your agent invokes by name, memory across sessions, and more abilities for complex WordPress sites. Paul Charlton from WPTuts has published a video preview (YouTube) of Novamira Pro.
- Make WP Fast… Marcin Dudek brought to notice (Links X) the Make WP Fast project, an online WordPress plugin performance lab. He added, “My goal is to slowly test ALL of the plugins in the repo (currently 12,5k plugins). Using the same, repeatable tests”.
- New WPFolks Community… Satyam Vishwakarma shared (Links X) about the new WPFolks community space, created by Ankit Panchal and Sia Panchal. It promises to be a hub for WordPress users with dedicated sections for speakers, plugins, events, jobs, and more.
Free Plugins: Desktop Mode, Wireframe, Static, Optimizer
WP Desktop Mode… got noticed is the WP Desktop Mode (GitHub) project. A WordPress plugin that turns /wp-admin into a desktop-style interface with movable windows and a dock menu. From contributors Daniel López Sánchez and Roberto Aranda, this re-imagines WP admin as a desktop operating system.
WP Wireframe… Taylor Drayson shared the WP Wireframe (GitHub) project, promising a fast and standardized way to build a WordPress settings page. Just drop into any plugin to build admin settings pages quickly using the core WordPress React component library.
Convesio Static Proxy… Thomas M Fanelli shared (LinkedIn) about the new Convesio Static Proxy (GitHub) plugin. It allows you to load a fully external static website directly into a WordPress route, without touching your theme, templates, or core WordPress overhead.
BINS Instant Image Optimizer… MD Zakaria Islam shared (LinkedIn) about releasing a new BINS Instant Image Optimizer in the plugins repository. It promises instant image compression directly in the browser, with no uploads or use of external servers.
New Plugins: Optiontics, TableKit, & WB Ad Manager
Optiontics for Woo… the team at ThemeWinter has launched an all-new Optiontics plugin, an AI-based product addon plugin for WooCommerce. It allows you to add extra product options easily, generate addon fields using AI instructions, and improve product customization without manual setup.
New TableKit… Wpmet has launched TableKit plugin, promising to be a native, no-code table builder for Blocks. It comes with Table Builder Block, WooCommerce Product Tables, Data Tables for WordPress, and WordPress Post Tables.
WB Ad Manager… Wbcom Designs has released WB Ad Manager, this one plugin promises to replace three plugins for affiliate link, ad rotator, and classifieds. It allows link cloaking and click tracking, with AdSense and BuddyPress integrations.
More Plugins: Modern Fields & Easexport for GF
New Modern Fields… got noticed Modern Fields plugin, promising to be a visual custom fields builder for Gutenberg. The version 1.0 was released with features like Automatic field synchronization with the theme, WP CLI commands, import / export of field groups in JSON, and UI to create your Custom Post Types and taxonomies.
Easexport for Gravity Forms… the team at TechnoCrackers has released Easexport – Gravity Forms Scheduled Entries Export plugin. With this, you can schedule (daily, weekly, or monthly), add recipient email addresses, choose which fields to include.
Extended WordPress Buzz 🔥
- RCP into Kadence… with StellarWP transitioning into the Liquid Web brand, the Restrict Content Pro plugin is joining the Kadence by Liquid Web. The official email stated, “Instead of continuing as a standalone product, RCP’s membership and content restriction tools will become part of the reimagined Kadence by Liquid Web”.
- AI + Refine from Notes…. 0.8.0v of AI plugin has a new ‘Refine from Notes’ experimental feature that automatically applies editorial feedback to your content. This update also brings new AI Dashboard Widgets, and ‘Image Generation and Editing’ functionality has been promoted from experiment to feature.
- Automattic + Radical Speed Month… Matthias Reinholz shared (Links X) about the new endeavor of Radical Speed Month at Automattic. In this, “Two-person teams, one month, building and shipping outside of our usual teams and approval processes”.
- Gutenberg + Revisions Panel… 23.0v brings revisions panel in templates, template parts, and patterns (experimental). Also, Site Title and Site Tagline options are now included in the Design › Identity panel, along with Site Logo and Site Icon.
- WordCamp Europe + Writing Thesis… Kenny James Kuruvilla, a student at Riga Nordic University and a participant in WordPress Credits program, is involved in the first university thesis focused specifically on WordCamp participation. Click here to submit and participate in the survey. Also, the team at WPBakery is supporting Kenny’s trip to WordCamp Europe 2026.
- WP Milestones… Rank Math SEO is celebrating a huge milestone of 4 million+ websites worldwide. Blake Whittle shared (Links X), one of their newer free URL Image Importer plugin had crossed the 600+ active installs milestone.
WordPress 7.0 Release & Core Buzz
WordPress 7.0 New Release Date… Amy Kamala shared the updated release schedule for WordPress 7.0 version. The full schedule will have RC 3 (new Beta 1) on May 8, 2026, RC 4 (new RC1) on May 14, 2026, Dry Run (24-Hour code freeze) on May 20, 2026, and final release on May 20, 2026.
- Core & Community Buzz
- Check design tools per block for the WordPress 7.0 version.
- The WP Project is building formal path for new contributors.
- Bluehost joins 2026 Global Partners program for WordPress.
- A recap of community booth activity at WordCamp Asia 2026.
- The Plugins Team has over 4,891 plugins in the review queue.
New Updates: FluentCart, ASE, & SEOPress
FluentCart + Page Browsing History + EDD… FluentCart has introduced the Page Browsing History feature, which displays the complete browsing path for every order. You can see all pages visited by user before the order was placed. Also, one-click migration from EDD to FluentCart is now available.
ASE + Backup & Restore… Admin & Site Enhancements (ASE) has introduced a full suite of backup, restore, migrate, sync and storage features for your WordPress websites. This is available in the ASE Pro version and allows you to store backups on Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, SFTP, or another WP site you control.
SEOPress Insights + Custom Google Locations… 3.0v of SEOPress Insights bring the ability to set custom Google locations per keyword. This makes it possible to track the rankings of each keyword in your chosen Google location. This updates also added a new dashboard and custom tables for better performance.
More Updates: AIOSEO, Meta Box, & WPForms
AIOSEO + AI Schema Generator… 4.9.6v has introduced AI Schema Generator feature, where AI figures out schema for your post or page contents. It comes with smart schema option, which is automatic with no user input, and a prompt based schema, where you can describe for custom schema building.
Meta Box + New Field Type… 5.12v update has introduced New Field Type Link, which allows you to add links (via code or MB Builder) using the native WordPress pop-up. This field type works well for buttons, CTAs, cards, and more.
WPForms + Survey Reporting… the new WPForms Surveys & Polls addon has been rebuilt from the ground up with reimagined survey reporting. It features a powerful filtering system, graph style settings, advanced export options, and more.
More Updates: PowerPack, Eventin, & Directorist
PowerPack + Marquee Widget… PowerPack for Elementor has introduced an all-new Marquee Widget, allowing you to display scrolling text, images, logos, and announcements. You can customize scroll directions and separator icons.
Eventin + Global ticket… 4.1.10v update has introduced the Global ticket stock management feature, and the direct event import from Eventbrite and The Events Calendar plugins. Also, added integration for FluentCart, enabling you to sell event tickets using Eventin and FluentCart.
Directorist + New Fields… 8.7v update introduces two new fields for custom implementation. First is the button field, where listing owners can then set their own button text and URL. Second is the HTML field that provides listing owners a blank canvas to drop in whatever they need.
Quick Bits 👍
- WP Plugins sales down in April? X post & replies, by Michael.
- Ottokit has crossed 1400+ integrations for various services.
- 150+ business prompts that actually work, from FluentCart.
- WP Site Showcase feature, Cap Plastic Now site, looks neat.
- Major publication ‘Daily Kos’ moved to WordPress (LinkedIn).
- For targeting Irish market, . ie domains now available at 20i.
- Top vibe coding statistics & trends for 2026, by Hostinger.
- Have your Say
- Take 8-minute survey for State of WordPress Agencies report.
- Participate survey on WordCamps by submitting this form.
- Let’s Learn
- Add fancy Radiant Shaders to a WordPress site, by Matt Wiebe.
- Check 18 retention ideas for reducing membership churn rate.
- WordPress Plugin Development Quality Checklist for 2026.
- Claude Code commands for visual development with MCP.
- Using Studio Code to build WP sites locally, by Pablo Postigo.
- Insights & Perspectives
- Learnings from ‘Five Releases in Five Days’, by Shahjahan Jewel.
- Why WordPress is so hard to use & its changing, by Varun Dubey.
- Carrie Webster explain changes to UX designer role due to AI.
- WordPress on YouTube
- Etch preview of future feature, publishing directly to a static site.
- Craylor share results of hiring 3 WordPress developers for $500.
- People of WordPress
- Konstantinos in role of Senior Engineering Manager at WP Engine.
- Shital Marakana’s WP journey from small village to WordCamp.
- Michelle Frechette on coming back from burnout & looking ahead.
Metorik 2026 Report: Insights for WooCommerce
The team at Metorik published 2026 edition of Metorik Insights for WooCommerce report, built from over 65 million orders in $6.6 billion in revenue, and a randomized sample of 6,000+ WooCommerce stores. It shared insights like: 72% of WooCommerce orders are now placed on mobile, but desktop AOV is 2.3x higher.
Customers 1,000-5,000km away spend roughly 2x more than local buyers, and refund rates have nearly halved, from 2.4% in 2023 to 1.4% in 2025. Interestingly, WooCommerce plugin stack isn’t shrinking – on average 58 active plugins on a Woo store has remained stable.
WooCommerce Buzz: Broken Payments & Tools
WooCommerce Payments Issue… Sybre Waaije published (Links X) a detailed overview of potential broken payments for users of WooCommerce Subscriptions. “I doubt any of them know their payments are broken. Any store with $1M ARR could be missing $700k+ in revenue”. This has official attention (Links X) for remediation.
WooCommerce + YouTube Shopping… Jay Walsh shared about YouTube Shopping now a direct sales channel for WooCommerce stores. Connect your store to your YouTube channel using the Google for WooCommerce extension, then tag products from your catalog in your YouTube videos and Shorts.
WooCommerce Command Palette… Luigi Teschio shared (Links X) about the WooCommerce 10.8.0 coming with better command palette support across admin screens. This would enable quicker access to common actions like adding products, creating orders, and jumping to key areas without extra clicks.
Stokkap for WooCommerce… Daniel brought to notice the Stokkap .app – an inventory operations system for WooCommerce users. It enables teams a faster way to manage inventory day-to-day outside of WordPress, with a focus on real workflows like stocktakes, barcode scanning, transfers, and pick/pack.
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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.
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