WordPress Digest #59: Special Holiday Issue (it’s just shorter)

This bi-weekly serves to inform and enlighten our minds on latest happenings in the sprawling countryside we call WordPress Land.

Note: It’s getting into the holidays now, and the flow of WP news has slowed as it normally does around this time each year. I’d normally be writing the next issue for January 2, but naw. I’ll be back in action with your regularly scheduled WordPress updates January 15th! Until then, enjoy the festivities!

Release News

  • WordPress 4.9.2 is expected to release late January. If you are curious about the progress and the plan for further 4.9.x releases, check it out.
  • Oh hi Gutenberg, what have you been up to lately? I’m so tired of talking about Gutenberg, I just want it to launch, for better or worse. Here’s Morten Rand-Hendriksen’s presentation about it from WordCamp US.

Extending WordPress

  • Jetpack 5.6.1 released on December 14 and mainly improves security with the contact form.
  • The holiday season is largely a massive orgy of greed, materialism, consumerism, and the worst of capitalism, and I can’t think of a better way to illustrate that than this plugin that makes snow fall on your website for $11.
  • Storify has closed their free service and will be deleting all the data in May, forcing users to either switch to the paid service or find something else. Viva la open web!

Grab Bag

“Calm acceptance of danger allows us to more easily assess the situation and see the options.” -Simon Sinek