After introducing the Jetpack Mobile app earlier this year, we’re focused on making it the best WordPress experience on your mobile device. We’ve started by updating the design of the mobile editor.
Below we walk you through the changes we’ve made that streamline your writing and editing experience on mobile. You’ll find these improvements when your app updates to version 22.9.
Fresh color palette
We’ve replaced soft blue tones with a striking black and white style, which not only looks cleaner but is simply easier to see as well. Overall, we’ve aligned our styles more closely to the WordPress.com desktop experience, including the more familiar block inserter button.
Cleaner top navigation
We’ve hidden the site title to make room for global actions like “Undo.” Your site icon is shown next to the back arrow, where you can tap to leave the editor. We’ve also added a border to clearly separate the navigation bar from your content.
Faster media insertion
We’ve added in-line media blocks when you have no other block selected, so you can add an image or video faster without opening the full block list.
More space to write
We’ve hidden the blue border around the paragraph block while you’re typing to let you focus on writing.
Unified block controls
It used to be that some block controls were shown on top of the block, taking space from your content. Now all the block controls live in the toolbar, with the settings icon up first.
New ways to move blocks
The up and down arrows, which move blocks within your posts and pages, have moved to the right side of the toolbar. And if you missed it, we introduced drag and drop last year, so you can move blocks manually.
More to come
You’ll find these improvements when your app updates to version 22.9.
We’ll be continuing to make improvements to the mobile editor. In the meantime, we’d love to hear what you like, what challenges you’ve encountered, and any ideas you have. It may very well shape what we work on next.
These prebuilt, customizable templates can be used to create product listings, customer testimonials, payment interfaces, contact forms, and so much more. All told, we have more than 275+ Patterns you can mix and match in your pages and posts at the press of a button.
If you’ve never used Patterns before, they’re like any other site element: Access them by hitting the inserter (or “+”) button at the top left of the page or post you’re working on, then selecting the “Patterns” tab. You can also click on the “Explore” button to bring up our entire library of Patterns, organized by category.
Let’s take a look at a few of the newest business-focused Patterns we’ve added to our library.
Testimonials
Boost trust and credibility for your small business with compelling testimonials. Choose from a number of carefully crafted Patterns to beautifully showcase customer stories and experiences on your website.
Services
Every small business website needs a services section, delivering clear information about your offerings. Whether you’re a restaurant, beauty salon, or local cleaning service, we have the perfect Pattern to showcase your products and services.
Pricing
A well-designed pricing section can be the centerpiece of your business website and a big sales driver. We’ve added a number of Patterns to our library that will make this task easy and fun!
FAQ
Answer common questions about your business, services, prices, and more with a beautiful and functional Frequently Asked Questions section. Adding one to your website is as easy as picking one of our FAQ Patterns, and customizing as desired with your own colors and copy.
Contact
A contact page is a must-have in order to easily connect with visitors, encourage inquiries, solicit feedback, and discover new business opportunities. Pick a Pattern that best suits your business and you’ll never miss a lead.
Payments
Accept credit and debit card payments effortlessly with our Payment Button Block. Choose from a range of stylish design options, making the payment process even more convenient and visually appealing for your customers.
Explore all of our Patterns!
Let our patterns library spark your creativity. We have options for featured products, menus, events, coupons, and more. Dive in by exploring all the hundreds of patterns in the WordPress editor.
If you’re intrigued by Patterns but don’t have a site yet, get started by creating your own unique design today:
As the world’s most popular open source content management system, WordPress acknowledges the European Union’s initiative to bolster the cybersecurity of digital hardware and software products with the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). The Act’s effort to counter the increasing threat of cyberattacks and promote informed usage of digital products with increased security updates and transparency is commendable.
While we wholly endorse the objectives of the CRA, we are apprehensive about the Act’s implications on open source software due to unclear terms and definitions.
Specifically, the Act’s prohibition on “unfinished software” and ambiguous definition of “commercial activity” could inadvertently inhibit innovation and economic participation in the European digital landscape.
Open source projects, like WordPress, often rely on continual updates and improvements—a process that may technically fall under the label of “unfinished.” Furthermore, the ambiguous definition of “commercial activity” could unintentionally encompass open source projects that are largely driven by communities and operate on a not-for-profit basis.
Our letter to the EU Commission
We have jointly authored an open letter addressing these concerns alongside fellow open source projects Drupal, Joomla!, and TYPO31. The letter emphasizes the significant contribution of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to the EU’s economy and how the proposed regulations might undermine these efforts. Our shared goal is to further bolster the security of digital products without compromising the values of freedom, democracy, and innovation inherent to both the open source community and the EU’s Aims and Values.
The letter invites the EU Commission and interested parties to participate in a seminar in Brussels to discuss how we can align the objectives of the CRA with the realities and needs of the FOSS community. We are optimistic that, with mutual understanding and cooperation, we can achieve secure digital products without limiting the vital contributions of open source projects.
Drupal, Joomla!, TYPO3, and WordPress are the most popular FOSS content management systems on the web today. While all are based on the PHP programming language and distributed under the GPL open source license, each platform takes a different approach to website publishing. With strength in diversity, they form the Inter-CMS Working Group, promoting the values and benefits of free and open source software. ︎
WordPress 6.3 RC3 is ready for download and testing.
This version of the WordPress software is under development.Please do not install, run, or test this version on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, you should evaluate RC3 on a test server and site.
The WordPress 6.3 release is scheduled for August 8, 2023—just one week away. Now is your last opportunity to test it before the general release.
Since the RC2 release on July 25, 2023, there have been approximately 14 issues resolved in Github and Trac. To prepare for 6.3 general availability, RC3 also addresses several bugs and adds fixes for retrieving templates (#4940) and resolving child theme issues (#53138). Thank you for testing, WordPressers!
WordPress is open source software made possible by the community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline a variety of ways you can help, regardless of your technical expertise.
Download RC3 for testing
You can test WordPress 6.3 RC3 in three ways:
Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).
Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.3-RC3
Keep WordPress bug-free—help with testing
Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether you have experience or not. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is too.
Encountered an issue? Please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.
New to testing? This detailed guide is a great place to start if you’ve never tested a beta/RC release.
The monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled between the Beta 1 release and the final release candidate (RC). Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.
Update your theme or plugin
Do you build themes or plugins? Your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for users of all types worldwide.
This is your final opportunity to test your latest versions against RC3. You will want to continue your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.3.
If you find compatibility problems, please post detailed information to the support forums.
A domain is your most valuable online asset. A great domain name says something about you—your personality, your work, your creative spark. People understand this intuitively: when coming up with new ideas for a business or website, we don’t start with design or specific content. We start by giving it a name.
But if your domain name is currently with Google Domains, things recently became complicated. You may have heard that your account has been sold to Squarespace. Everything is expected to transfer and close later this year.
Fortunately for you, you’re not locked into that deal. And we think we can do better. For the first million domains that move from Google to WordPress.com, we’ll pay your transfer fee, which also extends your registration for an additional year.
That’s just the beginning. Here’s our commitment to you when you bring your domain from Google to WordPress.com:
Your renewal price will be the same or even lower than what you were paying with Google Domains—and that goes for every one of the 400+ top-level domains (TLDs) we offer. This will also apply to existing WordPress.com customers across most domains, meaning that in many cases we’re lowering your prices!
This isn’t a temporary thing. We’re committed to keeping domain prices low, and will only raise them if our wholesale costs go up (we’ll run our domains business like Costco).
You may know WordPress.com as a leading platform for building stunning websites, but we’ve been a domain name provider for over a decade. You don’t even need a site or hosting plan to manage your domains with us.
And you’re getting much more than just a URL:
Performance: Our DNS speeds are faster than Google, GoDaddy, and Digital Ocean. But don’t take our word for it. Feel free to check for yourself at dnsperf.com.
Security: We install SSL for free for all domains hosted with us. And when you host your site at WordPress.com, we provide serious security features to keep your site running smoothly such as real-time backups, one-click restores, malware scanning, WAF (web application firewall), DDOS mitigation, and more.
What it really comes down to is that WordPress.com, along with the larger Automattic family, is committed to the open and inclusive web. Our mission is to democratize publishing for the entire world. Ultimately, we will always support your ability to truly own your content and identity on the web.
From administrator to web developer thanks to the supportive WordPress community. Through learning from other software users in Pakistan, Ihtisham Zahoor knew that his life would change. He moved cities and careers to make his life through open source.
The People of WordPress series shares inspiring stories of how people’s lives can change for the better through WordPress and its global community of contributors.
Ihtisham, from Haripur, a city in northern Pakistan, said: “The WordPress community made me a firm believer in the power of open source software. This is why I am an enthusiast and one who enjoys contributing back to the community via writing, speaking, and helping organize meetups.”
When Ihtisham discovered WordPress, his fascination for working with computing grew. He knew he did not want to just work in administration his entire career.
Ihitsham describes himself as an ‘introvert’ and therefore the idea of remote work appealed as he could still add value to others through technology. He was intrigued by the thought of the freedom to choose his work hours. However, without access to others who had already transformed their careers and lives through web development, he felt he ‘had no path to follow to turn my dream into a reality.’
Challenges become opportunities to learn when there is an active community
Lacking any kind of informed support network to advise or guide him, Ihtisham devoted time to online research to find the next steps he could take. Looking back, he believes that for those who are not in a network with others with similar interests, it can be hard to keep learning and experimenting with new things. Isolation can be a barrier to working in web development.
He said: “I think it is not easy to stay motivated when there aren’t immediate rewards for the hard work we do. Sometimes, weeks would go by when my only focus would be to stay motivated rather than give up.”
After another two years of combining learning and work, Ihtisham took up using WordPress as a full-time career. He moved to the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. It was not easy at first. He recalls: “After many failed attempts at getting hired and desperate moments, I finally received an offer from a digital agency as a web developer focused on the WordPress platform.”
He added: “Moving to work with a bigger agency was one of the best decisions of my life as it helped me with my professional growth by becoming familiar with the whole WordPress ecosystem in a supportive environment. I was valued for my opinions in the web projects in which I was involved. I was also appreciated and encouraged for the open source work I did for the company.” He summarized his enthusiasm for WordPress like this: “It is really interesting figuring out what is happening in the backends. I like problem-solving and finding solutions which you can do with WordPress.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ihtisham moved to join a start-up based in his hometown which provides web development services to international clients. He works as a developer and has the opportunity to learn more about client communication and project management. “WordPress has opened up so many opportunities for me. It has been an exciting journey for me with lots of learning every day,” he said. In particular, he has discovered an interest in APIs and regularly uses his spare time to follow tickets in the hope of one day contributing even more to topics, such as, third-party app integration through APIs on WordPress sites.
Give back through WordPress community
It was not just software that made a difference in Ihtisham’s life. Joining a welcoming and sharing community was transforming for him. Recalling those early days of isolation, he values the WordPress community and is wholly committed to the power of open-source software. He now enjoys writing, speaking, and organizing meetups to give back to both to the community. He has written software for the platform and contributes to the Core work, which he describes as a ‘humbling’ experience. He is fond of WordCamp Islamabad and in 2023 is on the organizing team to help bring both WordPress and its community to others in Pakistan.
“My first experience,” he said, “was that everyone was so friendly and open to sharing what they have learned, even though they were all busy working. This really had an impact on me. It really helped me and gave me the confidence that I could work with WordPress…. It was a real step forward for me joining this community.”
A particular meeting in 2018 led to new friendships through the WordPress community. Ihtisham was on a train to Karachi for the first ever Pakistani WordCamp in 2018 and met a group of fellow attendees he now regards as close friends. What impressed him most about the camp was that although he met many people with considerable expertise, they also had a generosity of spirit and humbleness in their willingness to share this knowledge. in sharing it. Now, he and this group of friends make a point to taking trains across the country, which allows him to fulfil another dream of traveling widely. He says these things and other ‘side benefits’ have been made possible by the WordPress community, and for that, he is ‘forever grateful’.
Ihtisham particularly wanted to share his story through this People of WordPress article to encourage those starting with little or no support to remain persistent. He knows from experience breaking into the tech world can be hard, especially when you may be switching from doing something else and have no ‘track record’ to offer.
He feels he is a living example of how perseverance can lead to success. He offers these words to anyone thinking of making a move into development using the WordPress platform: “I attribute my success (financial and mental well-being) to the open-source nature of WordPress and its amazing community. It would not be possible to learn and use the plethora of free tools WordPress provides if it weren’t an open-source platform. It is for that reason I feel obligated to contribute back to this platform to the best of my abilities.” To those who are finding getting going difficult, as he did, he adds: “Get yourself a clear learning path and just dive in doing WordPress, and things will get better for you over time as they were for me, I promise. Good Luck!”
Share the stories
Help share these stories of open source contributors and continue to grow the community. Meet more WordPressers in the People of WordPress series.
To help you discover more about how to use the WordPress software, there is a free resource from the community, Learn.WordPress.org
Contributors
Thanks to Ihtisham Zahoor (@shaampk1) for sharing about his adventures in WordPress.
Thank you to Abha Thakor (@webcommsat), Nalini Thakor (@nalininonstopnewsuk), and Meher Bala (@meher) for interviews, the feature and collaborating on images. To Chloe Bringmann (@cbringmann), Mark Smallman (@marks99), and Mary Baum (@marybaum) for reviews. Thanks to the late Surendra Thakor (@sthakor), Maja Loncar (@majaloncar), and Maedah Bahtool (@maedahbatool) and other members of the Marketing and Polyglots Team for their contributions.
The People of WordPress series thanks Josepha Haden (@chanthaboune) and Topher DeRosia (@topher1kenobe) for their support.
This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on HeroPress.com, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard. #HeroPress
The WordPress.com team is always working on new design ideas to bring your website to life. In July, we published so many new designs that a “Part Two” of our monthly theme roundup is in order. Check out these latest stylings especially if you have a blog or portfolio.
To create Fotograma, our designers borrowed from the fun and unique Stacks theme, which gives your website the look of a professional presentation. To that concept, we added a Cover Block to make this a one-page portfolio theme perfect for a photographer who wants to make a big visual impact.
Curriculum is a resume-like theme that echoes the structure of a professional profile page like you’d find on LinkedIn. It features original a unique visual structure and navigation, and a primary content area that’s perfect displaying your education, experience, work portfolio, and other information.
In this split layout design, the right side offers a “sticky” profile image while the left side features a large block of scrollable content. We chose a high-contrast color palette of blue with cream for the default style; there’s also a variation in maroon if you prefer something a little bolder.
Bute is a simple blogging theme that features a full-screen Cover Block on the home page. It’s epic in every way, inviting the reader directly into whatever adventure you’ve embarked on yourself.
Loïc is a theme designed with writers in mind. One small detail that sets it apart: for most pages and templates, we’ve replaced the site title with the post or query title. And whereas most of our modern themes utilize a sans serif font family, with Loïc we opted for Crimson Text, which is a serif typeface often found in book printing.
We’ve provided a total of six style options for this theme, allowing you to effortlessly transform your website’s tone to suit your individual aesthetic.
Artly is a blog theme designed for publications that place a premium on visuals. Its modern, offset layout for posts and pages allows you to showcase your content in a stunning but also functional way.
To install any of the above themes, click the name of the theme you like, which brings you right to the installation page. Then click the “Activate this design” button. You can also click “Open live demo,” which brings up a clickable, scrollable version of the theme for you to preview.
Premium themes are available to use at no extra charge for customers on the Premium plan or above. Paid themes are third-party products that can be purchased for $79/year each.
You can explore all of our themes by navigating to the “Themes” page, which is found under “Appearance” in the left-side menu of your WordPress.com dashboard. Or you can click below:
Synced patterns are replacing Reusable blocks, offering a unified creation experience for new pattern functionality coming to WordPress 6.3. Patterns, first introduced in WordPress 5.5, are a collection of blocks that make it simple to add complex layouts and designs to any WordPress site without starting from scratch. With WordPress 6.3, set to be released on August 8th, you will be able to arrange blocks in unlimited ways and save them as patterns for use throughout your site, directly within the editing experience. You can also specify whether to sync your patterns, so that one change applies to all parts of your site, or to keep them unsynced, so you can customize each instance.
Create your own patterns
The ability to create your own patterns, on top of using the ones bundled into each WordPress release, opens up a world of possibilities. Need to repeat the same contact information across your site and keep it up to date? Create a synced pattern with all the details, and say goodbye to repeating yourself, with the ability to quickly insert the synced pattern wherever you need it. If you find yourself creating various banners for your site and want them to have the same layout with unique content, creating an unsynced pattern speeds up your workflow and ensures a level of consistency in approach. While themes and plugins have been able to offer patterns to users and curate the experience, this update allows agencies and site builders to do the same for their clients, directly in the site building process.
Dig into the details
Any previously made Reusable blocks will continue to function as they do now, just under the new Synced pattern name. To help adjust to these changes, a few contextual notices will be placed throughout the interface. Specifically, the menu item in the creation flow will show as “Create pattern/reusable block” until the prompt describing the switch is dismissed in one of the various locations, including the naming and syncing modal:
For folks using block themes, all patterns will be listed alongside template parts in the Site Editor > Patterns section, where you can enter a focused editing mode to make changes. For Classic themes, the prior reusable block management page will now house patterns in a list, similar to the Posts > All Posts view.
For a complete overview of patterns on your site, all patterns provided by themes and plugins will be shown in this section but without the option to edit directly.
Go further
With the ability to create your own patterns baked into the creation experience, remember that you can copy the patterns available in the Pattern Directory and contribute back, an excellent way to democratize design for every WordPress user and the web.
This completely free online course is designed to share the key skills of creating, managing, and monetizing your newsletter. Whether you’re a blogger, entrepreneur, or part of a non-profit organization, this is your gateway to reaching the hearts and minds of your audience directly in their inboxes.
Let’s dive in!
The power of newsletters
Newsletters offer creators and businesses a unique advantage: a simple way to establish a personal, direct line of communication with their audience, free from the whims and distractions of social media algorithms. Publishing a newsletter can help you forge stronger relationships with your subscribers, nurturing a loyal following over time.
And newsletters are an invaluable tool for generating revenue, too. People who sign up for your newsletter are much more likely to be interested in what you have to offer, which means they’re more receptive to your ideas, recommendations, and products.
Get set up for success
In this course we’ll walk you through the basics of setting up a newsletter, even if you don’t have a website. And if you already have a website you’d like to turn into a newsletter, we’ll also guide you on how to do so with just a few clicks.
Our Newsletters 101 course will get you started with what you need no matter where you’re at or what your niche is. You’ll find pro tips, ideas, how-tos, and resources for getting the most out of your newsletter.
The best part? The course is free and no registration is required. Just click the button below and get started!
Want to make money through your newsletter? We’ve got you covered! We’ll walk you through setting up paid subscriptions, so you can start generating recurring revenue by simply sharing what you’re passionate about.
We’ll also explore affiliate marketing, a way to earn commissions through carefully curated product recommendations. Plus, we’ll guide you on integrating ads or sponsored content, offering a win-win scenario where your audience benefits from valuable content, and you earn from your efforts.
Making it real
You might be thinking, “I’m not a techie, can I really do this?” Absolutely, yes! In this course, we break down everything into bite-sized pieces, making it simple to follow along, no matter your technical abilities.
And to support you on the way, we have an Education Community Forum where you can ask questions and celebrate your progress.
WordPress 6.3 RC2 is ready for download and testing.
This version of the WordPress software is under development.Please do not install, or run, or test this version on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, you should evaluate RC2 on a test server and site.
While release candidates are considered ready for final release, additional testing and use by the community can only make it better.
WordPress 6.3 is scheduled for release on August 8, 2023 – just two weeks from today.
The About Page now includes a “Get Involved” section (#23348).
The dark mode option has been restored in the block editor iframe for Twenty Twenty-One (#58835).
Max height value was fixed in the image scaling in the Edit Media screen (#50523).
Additionally, some issues regarding internationalization were addressed.
Test features in WordPress 6.3
Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether you have experience or not. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is too.
Encountered an issue? Please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.
New to testing? This detailed guide is a great place to start if you’ve never tested a beta/RC release.
Vulnerability bounty doubles during the Beta/RC phases
The monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled between the Beta 1 release and the final release candidate (RC). Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.
Get WordPress 6.3 RC2
You can test WordPress 6.3 RC2 in three ways:
Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).
Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.3-RC2
Thanks to WordPress plugin and theme developers
Do you build plugins and themes? Your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for users of all types worldwide.
Hopefully, you have already tested your themes and plugins with WordPress 6.3 betas by now. With RC2, you will want to continue your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.3.
If you find compatibility problems, please post detailed information to the support forums.
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