X-post: PHP related improvements & changes: WordPress 5.5 edition

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You can now add your own plugins to the Block Directory

Introducing the BlockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. Directory in WordPress 5.5

The WordPress 5.5 BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. releaseRelease A release is the distribution of the final version of an application. A software release may be either public or private and generally constitutes the initial or new generation of a new or upgraded application. A release is preceded by the distribution of alpha and then beta versions of the software. that’s now in testing includes Block Directory support enabled by default. In case you missed it, the Block Directory is a subset of plugins in the plugin directory that can be instantly and seamlessly installed from the GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ editor with a single click. We call these new plugins “block plugins†and have worked hard to make it easier for people to contribute to this new feature coming to WordPress 5.5. This post is meant to help show how to get your very own block pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party added to the directory and share some helpful resources along the way.

Step 1: Create your own block plugin

If you haven’t yet had a chance to create a Block Plugin, don’t fear! There’s still some time until the August 5.5 release. Here’s a new and improved tutorial that walks you through the process of creating a block plugin. More documentation is on its way too and you can join the discussion about what would be helpful to have shared in this GitHub overview issue.

The guidelines for Block Plugins are still in the process of being finalized. Block Plugins need to be much more minimal than a regular WordPress plugin in order to be safely installed with a single click. That means as well as keeping to the regular plugin guidelines you’ll also need to follow some additional rules. In particular, you should stick to mostly JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. code and keep PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. http://php.net/manual/en/intro-whatis.php. to the bare minimum; and not add any UIUI UI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing. or other code outside of the Gutenberg editor.

Step 2: Run your block plugin through the checker tool

In order to help developers follow the guidelines and best practices, we’ve been working on some documentation and a new tool. It’s called the Block Plugin Checker. Give it a plugin repo URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org, and it will examine the code to look for possible problems to resolve before your block plugin can be added to the directory:

This is still a work in progress so if you find any fun bugs or omissions, please let us know. We’d love the chance to fix them and to make the Checker a more useful tool.

Step 3: Add your block plugin directly to the Block Directory

If you’re a committer of a block plugin that does meet the criteria for adding it to the Block Directory as confirmed by the Checker tool, you can then add it yourself using the same tool:

Likewise you can remove it at any time using that same tool if you notice problems or would prefer it wasn’t included. 

Going Forward

We’ll be making improvements to the Block Plugin Checker, and doing additional testing of plugins that are added, so please expect some changes along the way. If you have any feedback or questions, please comment here or in #meta on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

#features #block-directory

X-post: New CSS styles for buttons with disabled state in WP 5.5

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X-post: External Linking Policy – “Commercial blogs”

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X-post: External Library updates in WordPress 5.5: call for testing

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RESOLVED! Plugin Update Issues – 18 June 2020

As of 21:45 ET on 18 June, this SHOULD be resolved.

The original post remains below.


We are currently experiencing issues with pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party updates properly displaying on the front end.

Systems is looking into this. We will have this resolved as soon as possible, however we do not have an ETA at this time. We ask for your patience and understanding.

12:31 ET – The issue has been identified, and the people to address it are being brought in. At this time, we ask you NOT attempt to push your code again. It won’t help.

12:46 ET – While we’re working on a permanent fix, we are attempting to manually clear the backlog. You may see some plugins updating, but this does not mean the issue is resolved.

13:10 ET – We’ve cleared out as much of the backlog as possible, however the issue has not been resolved. No new commits will go through. Again, please don’t try to push code. It’s still down.

15:15 ET – Some preemptive patches have been applied for when the fix is finalized, however updates are still not functioning properly.

17:10 ET – The situation is still ongoing. Our attempted fixes did not correct the issue.

19:20 ET – No ETA, fix is still being worked on. In the meantime, we’re devising a way to let us manually run the jobs without the need for system intervention, in order to ensure security fixes are pushed in a timely fashion.

21:45 ET – A commit has been made to properly trigger the cron job that does the magic. We believe the situation to be resolved.

Please thank @otto42, @ocean90, and @dd32 for their hard work!

#systems #downtime

X-post: External Linking Policy – Trusted Sources

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X-post: Call for feedback – WP Notify v1 requirements document

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X-post: Merge Announcement: Plugins & Themes Auto-Updates

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SimplePie Updated for WordPress 5.5

An early commit for WordPress 5.5 (which isn’t even in betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process., don’t get scared) is a long awaited update to SimplePie! That’s right #36669 has finally gone through.

The library has been updated in WordPress trunk from version 1.3.1 to version 1.5.5. Trunk always contains the bleeding edge, unreleased WordPress code that is being worked on for the next releaseRelease A release is the distribution of the final version of an application. A software release may be either public or private and generally constitutes the initial or new generation of a new or upgraded application. A release is preceded by the distribution of alpha and then beta versions of the software.. When you have a chance, please take the time to test your pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party on trunk to ensure you do not experience any issues or unintended behavior after this update.

Here are some resources that may help you:

  • A full list of changes in the library: https://github.com/simplepie/simplepie/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md
  • The changeset updating SimplePie in WordPress: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/47733

Later, we will be emailing people whom we feel would be directly impacted by this change, but for now if your plugin uses RSS feeds in any way, or directly integrates with SimplePie, we ask you take the time to check if everything is still working.

#updates #simplepie