The StellarWP brand no longer exists, and all its WordPress products have switched under the Liquid Web brand; this has promoted many reactions in the community. Also, WordPress 7.0 is on track, Envato 50% fee shakeup, and AI goodness in the form of Novamira Pro, Airo by GoDaddy, and Uncanny Agent.
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What’s Buzzing in WordPress 💖
- Upcoming UnoLMS… Pascal Claro from WPRoads is launching UnoLMS, an elearning plugin for WordPress. The plugin is currently in pre-alpha development, works best with the default Twenty Twenty-Five WordPress theme, and has basic compatibility with other block themes, classic themes, and Elementor.
- All new Unblock… Loïc Blascos, the creator of WP Grid Builder, has launched all new Unblock for Block users, which promises to remove the limits of the block editor. It allows you to style anything, add behavior, feed it data, all inside the Block Editor. There is also an in-built AI assistant which allows you to describe what you want and get a quick start.
- Elementor + New Knowledge Hub… the team at Elementor has redesigned the learning experience at Elementor’s new Knowledge Hub. Now you can ask and receive detailed breakdowns for your specific questions, view related video tutorials, or browse a curated video gallery to learn by topic or skill level.
- Cloudways Site Manager… the team at Cloudways has launched Site Manager, a centralized WordPress management tool built into the Cloudways platform. This provides a unified interface to monitor, update, and manage multiple WordPress websites without switching between dashboards and websites.
The AI Buzz: Novamira Pro, Airo, & Uncanny Agent
Novamira Pro + More Abilities… Giovanni Cintolo shared (Links X) about the 1.1.0v update for Novamira Pro, which introduces dedicated abilities for ACF, JetEngine, Meta Box, Pods, ACPT, and ASE Pro plugins – for field groups, custom post types, taxonomies, options pages, relationships, and field values across posts, users, terms, and options pages.
Airo for WordPress… the team at GoDaddy has launched Airo for WordPress (now in general availability), which allows you to create a fully functional WordPress site using AI powers. Also, there is a single-prompt AI companion functionality to create blogs, update products, refresh webpages, and more.
Uncanny + AI Agent… Uncanny Automator now comes with Uncanny Agent, an AI assistant for WordPress. It answers questions and completes tasks on your behalf, working alongside your automations to help you manage your WordPress website more efficiently.
Big Updates: FluentCRM, BuddyBoss, & Noted
FluentCRM + Big Changes… the 3.0v promises big changes on how FluentCRM feels, performs, and scales inside WordPress. It brings a major shift in how marketing automation works inside your WordPress dashboard with Gutenberg native email builder, completely redesigned dashboard, AI-powered workflows, and SMS marketing.
BuddyBoss + Rebuilt… 3.0v of BuddyBoss brings big changes, starting with a complete rebuild of the admin experience. The new backend promises to be faster, more organized, and shows you everything BuddyBoss can do in one place. BuddyBoss App will also undergo changes in the coming weeks.
Noted + New Features… Kyle Van Deusen shared about the big update to the free Noted plugin, available in the plugins repository. 2.0v added Page-level notes, allowing you to attach notes to any post or page from the block editor sidebar or the classic editor. Also, new Block-level notes, enable you to leave a note on any individual block in the editor.
New Plugins: ProfileSwitch, Notifal, & Importer
ProfileSwitch Free Version… David Parker has released a free version of the ProfileSwitch, which allows you to switch between up to 5 profiles. More profiles and more features like PINs, parental controls, and integration for WooCommerce, PMPro , BuddyPress, in the premium version.
Notifal Popup Builder… Alireza Ebrahimi brought to notice the Notifal Popup and Notification plugin for WordPress (Free Version). It promises to be an all-in-One Popup Builder and CRO Tool for your WordPress website, with advanced settings, templates, analytics, and more.
Directorist + Listing Importer… the team at Directorist has released a new Listing Importer addon, which allows you to import business listings from Google Maps or any RSS/Atom feed directly into your Directorist website. It enables you to turn Google Places data and external feed content into ready-to-review Directorist listings.
Extended WordPress Buzz 🔥
- Developers Recap for May… Justin Tadlock has published the May 2026 edition of what’s new for developers. It features key things like content types system starting to take shape, revisions panel for templates, template parts, and patterns. Also, the new WordPress grid package, and changes for themes and plugins.
- AI + Comment Moderation… 0.9.0v of AI plugin has introduced Comment Moderation Experiment, which automatically evaluates comments using sentiment analysis and toxicity detection. It is designed to help site owners reduce spam, harassment, and low-quality engagement by using AI-powered moderation signals during the comment review process.
- WordCamp US & Europe… WordCamp US 2026 tickets are now available for the event scheduled for August 16 -19, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona. The team at WordCamp Europe has highlighted a few sessions that will be delivered at the event.
- Modular DS Connect Sessions… the free online event, Modular DS Connect, is happening on May 19, 2026. This event will include sessions from Oliver Sild on WordPress Security, Jack Cao from RankMath on AI Search, and Matt on switching to Modular DS.
End of StellarWP, now it is all under Liquid Web
StellarWP, the umbrella brand for many popular WordPress plugins, is no more. All these products have been moved under the Liquid Web branding moving forward. A few plugins continue with the same name and branding, while others are being re-branded or features are being merged into other plugins.
- How Products are Changing
- Solid Security Plugin branding changed to Kadence Security.
- IconicWP, WooCommerce addons, now as Kadence Shop Kit.
- Restrict Content Pro plugin will now be Kadence Memberships.
- MemberDash addon will be included within the LearnDash.
- GiveWP, donations plugin for WP, will now be just called Give.
- LearnDash & The Events Calendar, continue standalone plugins.
- Kadence is being expanded as website building suite with more.
- Ecosystem Reactions
- Florian Dee on new Liquid Web menu item in WP dash & a fix.
- WP Plugins from own websites to landing page, by Chris Lema.
- Katie Keith reflecting on why StellarWP changes feel different.
- Vision has not yet been communicated clearly, by Rayhan Arif.
- My honest take on the rebrand to Liquid Web, by Katy Boykin.
- “Matt is 100% correct about private equity“, by Carl Hancock.
Going Open Source: Rareview Starter Theme & Block Bits
Rareview Starter Theme… the team at Rareview has shared about open-sourcing their WordPress starter theme (GitHub). It is a Gutenberg ready theme, which comes with global style variables, one-command Figma sync, and an interactive setup that renames and configures everything automatically.
PRC Block Bits… Seth Rubenstein shared a preview (Links X) of Block Bits, which allows you to register reusable bits like an icon or dynamic text in the middle of a sentence. They have open-sourced Block Bits (GitHub) for anyone to install, test, use, and expand further.
Updates: WPConsent, Max Addons, Divi Forms
WPConsent + Cookie Inspector… 1.1.5v has introduced a new Cookie Inspector tool, which gives you full visibility over every cookie your website sets. Also, a redesigned dashboard with a site consent health score, a built-in docs overlay accessible from any screen, and improved multi-language handling.
Max Addons Pro for Bricks + Tooltip… 1.17.2v update has added tooltip feature to Copy to Clipboard element with full accessibility support. Also, added per-dataset ‘Hide from Tooltip’ option to exclude a dataset from the hover tooltip.
Divi + Multi Step Forms… Nelson Miller has updated the Divi Contact Form Helper plugin with the much requested feature of multi-step forms. Now you can have an integrated multi-step form system that works directly inside the Divi Builder.
More Updates: Knowledge Base & JetBooking
Knowledge Base + Pro Version… Ajay D’Souza has released version 3, which serves as the base for Knowledge Base Pro, a premium edition offering advanced features like improved control options, improved scalability, detailed feedback tools, and additional customization settings.
JetBooking + Widgets… 4.1.0v has added the Booking Form widget for Elementor, Gutenberg block, and Bricks builder. Also, added Price Breakdown widget for Elementor, Gutenberg block, Bricks builder element, and WooCommerce details modal.
Quick Bits 👍
- Check the WordPress 7.0 Field Guide for comprehensive information.
- WordPress 7.0 new release date, May 20, 2026, progress on track.
- It is official now, Divi 5 has arrived – the beta phases have ended.
- SurelyWP has launched custom SureCart development services.
- WPMU DEV’s unlimited hosting has added the EmDash option.
- Check top AI website builder statistics for 2026, from Hostinger.
- WPfolks has launched Folks TV (links X) focused on WP videos.
- PluginJam is back with new a new round, check here (Links X).
- Let’s Learn
- Check ultimate guide for Conditional logic forms with Gravity Forms.
- Use Beaver Builder Loop Module to display events list from EventKoi.
- Perspectives & Insights
- Beau Lebens’s advice for new sellers to start with agentic commerce.
- Why real-time collaboration pulled from WP 7.0, by Ronak Vanpariya.
- Brian Coords on experimental content types management in WP.
- People of WordPress
- Cory Miller on 50th birthday milestone & a raw look back at things.
- Dorcus Nalubega share experience of attending WordCamp Asia.
Business of WP: Branding, Acquisition, & Fees
GravityKit or FluentKit… Carl Hancock, founder of Gravity Forms, posted (Links X) about the naming issue with the upcoming FluentKit product, from the WPManageNinja team. He added, “Prior to seeing your launch post for FluentKit I had randomly run across Fluentwiz, and my initial reaction was, Did David and GravityWiz branch out into Fluent solutions?”. Jewel replied (Links X), “I want to clear a few things. FluentKit is not a business. It’s just an addon plugin name..”.
Relevanssi Acquired… plugin for WordPress Search, Relevanssi has been acquired by comesio solutions GmbH, a software company based in Vienna, Austria. The original developer, Mikko Saari, will remain fully involved as the main developer and decision-maker for the plugin’s direction.
Envato 50% Fee for All… from July 1, 2026, Envato is moving to a flat 50% author fee model. They are ending the exclusive authors model, where selected authors used to make more and paid a lower fee to the platform. Vova shared (Links X), “Going independent is inevitable”. Echoing views, Xaver shared (Links X), “The marketplace model feels dated”. Lawrence Ladomery shared, “is it time to sell direct?”.
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